Rockit Cup Rye Pale Ale Brewday

Ah, Rockit Cup,why are you so delightful? I mean, besides the fact that you bring beer into my life. Any who, here it is, this month’s delightful installment, almost four weeks ahead of when I need it. It’s like a Christmas miracle in late May, the kind that everyone loves. Oh, and Chris Wyatt, there is a secret surprise below for you.

146. Rockit Cup Rye Pale Ale

7 ½ lbs. Breiss 2-row

2 lbs. Breiss Rye

¾ lb. Breiss Crystal 20 L

¼ lb. Breiss Carapils

¼ lb. Breiss White Wheat

Mash @ 150° F for 60 minutes w/ 3 gallons of RO water & 2 g. gypsum; collected 1 ¾  gallons @ 1.080

Batch sparge @ 168° F for 20 minutes w/ 4 gallons RO water & 2 g. gypsum; collected 4 gallons @ 1.034

Collected 5 ¾ gallons; added ¾ gallons RO water, brought to a boil (60 minutes), & added:

w/45 to go: ½ oz. Columbus leaf 13.0% AA

w/30 to go: ½ oz. Cascade leaf 7.7% AA

w/10 to go: 1 oz. Cascade leaf 7.7% AA

w/5 to go: 1 oz. Columbus leaf 13.0% AA

Let stand for 20 minutes, chilled, and pitched Wyeast 1056 (You get that, Wyatt? I cheated!)

Brewed: 5/18/2013

Secondary:  ; dry hopped with 1 ½ oz. Columbus leaf 13.0% AA & ½ oz. Cascade leaf 7.7% AA

Bottled:

OG: 1.054
FG:

Tasting Notes:

Brett Also Brewday

More is better, right? Time to add to the growing fun that has become my-now-long-term Brettanomyces experiment. Warmer weather is leading to active fermentations: as with the second run of custersianus, the 100/ECY04 version is currently trying to add a permanent contribution to my house character.

145. Brett Also
4 lbs. MFB Special Aromatic
4 lbs. Weyermann Pilsen
2 lbs. Breiss White Wheat
1 lb. Acidulated Malt

Mash @ 150° F for 90 minutes w/ 3 ½ gallons of RO water & 2 g. gypsum; collected 2 ¼ gallons @ 1.084
Batch sparge @ 173° F for 20 minutes w/ 4 gallons RO water & 2 g. gypsum; collected 4 gallons @ 1.024

Collected 6 ¼ gallons; added 1 ¼ gallons RO water, brought to a boil (60 minutes), & added:
w/60 to go: 1 ¼ oz. Comet leaf 11.0% AA 

w/5 to go: 1 oz. Comet leaf 11.0% AA

Let stand for 20 minutes, chilled, and racked onto:
145a. yeast cake of 136e. Wyeast 5526 Brettanomyces lambicus plus 3 Hungarian house toast oak cubes
Brewed: 5/10/2013
Secondary:
Bottled: 

145b. yeast cake of 138a. batch 100 wild raspberry/ECY04 combination plus 3 Hungarian house toast oak cubes
Brewed: 5/10/2013
Secondary:
Bottled: 

OG: 1.050 @ 73° F; dropped to 68° F over first 8 hours
FG:

Tasting Notes:

563. Bruery Rueuze

Another beer from the Bruery, the place that continues to taunt me with membership opportunities not available to those living outside of California. And yes, that makes the Bruery a tease. A dirty, dirty tease. Although if you wanted to sign me up in secret, I promise never to tell. Hint hint. Any-whoo, this is another to add to the list of Bruery beers that I compromised my morals to obtain, which includes: 5 Golden Rings, Marrón Acidifié (a collabo with Cigar City), Autumn Maple, Humulus Session, 3 French Hens, Saison de Lente, Rugbrød, Hottenroth, Orchard White and Saison Rue.

Rueuze pours a crystal clear gold with a thin white head that disappears well-nigh instantly, although the small, consistent stream of small bubbles keep a thin ring on the glass—very thin. It is bright and luminescent, throwing plenty of golden highlights in the light refracted through the beer. The nose is musty earth, oak, tartness, and vinegar pretty much in that order. Flavors start with citric lemon-y tartness and a slight doughy softness from the malt, moving into oak mixed with an acetic tang in the middle—the two play off each other nicely on the tongue. The finish is tart and puckery with some residual sweetness returning after the initial bite. While the carbonation comes across as a bit low, the beer remains active in the glass, although the tartness provides more mouthfeel than the carbonation. In a similar manner, the dry body does have some residual sweetness lurking in the background. Thus, Rueuze is simultaneously soft and bright on the palate—soft from the light malt and body, but bright via the lactic and acetic tang, both of which are exacerbated by the gentle tannic oak bite. The dryness and tartness are in competition with the acetic flavors and softness: each is vying for the upper hand, but neither really takes control. While it could a bit more snap in the finish, it is nonetheless an interesting and enjoyable beer, one that is (or in this case, was) a good contender for further aging. The last pour was the best; the touch of yeast heightened the lemon-y tartness and rounded the whole of the beer. As it warmed, Rueuze hit that gueuze tang and bright bite that the first two-thirds of the bottle were missing—I was left with the small rosettes of bright flush on my cheeks that tell me I’ve found the tart sweet spot. Our final comments are summed up by the picture below: if the yeast culture produces anything even in the ballpark of this one, we’re all winners here.

From the bottle: “Our take on a gueuze-style ale, this intensely tart and funky beer combines three different vintages of our barrel aged sour blonde ale.”

From the Bruery website: “Rueuze is our take on the traditional Belgian-style blend of lambics of different ages. We carefully select a number of oak barrels from our warehouse that have been aging our sour blonde ale for various lengths of time and blend them to what we think is the ideal flavor. this is one complex beer.  Notes of hay, barnyard funk, apricots, and even olives play wonderfully with the balanced acidity.”

ABV: 5.9%

And here is my attempt to give this beer more life in order to add it to the various other concoctions existing in my domicile.

(5/5/2013)

562. Victory Swing

A session saison made for easy, enjoyable drinking? I think I’ve got some of that summer love thing going on for Victory right now. Or, as Art puts it in Justified, I’ve got a little bit of a “marshal stiffy” for Victory Swing. I know, I know. But that was a joke that needed making. Scarred or not, you’ll live. Previously from Victory: Saison du Buff Trifecta, Summer Love, Headwaters Pale Ale, Yakima Twilight (now Yakima Glory), plus Prima Pils, Baltic Thunder, HopDevil, and WildDevil.

Swing pours a faint, slightly hazy straw with a meringue-like white head that carries solid staying power and laces the glass in nice rings. The beer is active in the glass—lots of small tight bubbles streaming up the inside of the glass, making for a pretty visual. Aromas open with cracker mixed with hints of Pilsner malt sweetness; there are floral and citrus fruit yeast esters that smell similar to 3711, although I am not completely convinced that this actually is 3711. As well, I get a touch of lurking hop bitterness accompanied by the light mineral mintiness I find in Styrian Goldings. All in all, a complex, delicate, and entrancing aromatic performance. Flavors follow suit and are equally engaging, starting with cracker malt, floral esters, and a lemon-y mintiness in the front; the clean mineral bitterness comes to the forefront in the middle: light, bright, and clean into the finish. The body is light and dry while the carbonation is bright and lively; it cleans the palate and sets up the gentle mineral bitterness and slight pepper bite of the finish. There is also a slight creaminess in the mouthfeel that suggests oats or another similar adjunct to build some residual body to help compensate for the attenuative yeast; while I do love a dry saison, here the contribution balances the beer on the tongue by helping round and transition between the different elements of the beer: the dry cracker body, the mineral bitterness, and the bright carbonation. And this is a damn fine beer for this kind of attention to detail. While it does lose a bit of its snap as the carbonation bleeds off in the last couple of sips, it is an excellent example of the fluidity and possibility of saison as a style. And as a session beer, this beer rocks as well—it is another example of American craft brewing expanding the palates of craft beer drinkers beyond the “bigger is better” mantra that currently holds sway in several circles. So thank you, Victory, for the beer. And for the hope. Craft brewing needs more beers like this.

From the bottle: “Swing. It’s a lively jazz rhythm, a vigorous
sway, a change of view or even a roll in the proverbial hay. Now, it also means the welcome jolt of joy you’ll experience upon your first sip of this session saison. Bracing but benign, this Belgian-style ale enlivens any experience with a spicy, aromatic start, citrus snap and fresh finish. Swing into spring with taste!”

ABV: 4.5%

(4/23/13)

AHA NHC Zanesville 2013 Beer Judging

Ah, beer judging. Promise me you’ll never let me down. This weekend featured the opening round of the American Homebrewers Association National Homebrew Competition in Zanesville, OH. Sadly, my beers didn’t make it here—they ended up in Milwaukie. oh well. At least I got them entered. Judging was held at Weasel Boy Brewing. The good thing about Weasel Boy Brewing is that it has nice spaces for judging. And since there was lots of beer to judge, Jeff Fortney and I got a room at the luxurious and fanciful Baymont. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Saturday morning started early. I mean real early. On the road at 6:15 am to be in Zanesville by 9:00 am. Can you feel the dedication, dear reader? Once the coffee kicked in, though, things got better, especially since I was to be judging 16. Belgian and French Ales in the morning, followed by 17. Sour Ales in the afternoon. Perfect judging selections as far as I am concerned. The only downside to the morning session was that none of the good beers came my way. While I sampled several well-made beers, nothing really stood out: the two beers we passed along to the mini-BOS got booted right off the bat, much as I suspected they would. Still, an enjoyable set of beers. After a quick lunch, it was on to 17. Sour Ales. Again, another pleasant round of beers. I got to try several different cherry lambics, which was nice, but the best beer of the lot was an unblended lambic (17D) that had nice tartness and complexity mixed with a fresh oak vanilla oak bite. Sadly, the judges for the mini-BOS put it in third. But it is still moving on the final round, so I won’t complain. Much.

My new insight from today’s judging: Gordon Strong might be on to something when he argues that brettanomyces doesn’t belong in saisons. While I’m not yet fully convinced, between the 16E and 17D & E beers that I tried today, too many of the saisons with brettanomyces tasted more like lambics than saisons: while the flavors were interesting, they had lost the characteristics that would make them saisons. While I do still think that there is space for a saison with brettanomyces, to be successful it will need to maintain hop bitterness to accompany the dryness and tartness. Because without that—as with the samples I tried today—the dryness and tartness come across more like a lambic/gueuze than a saison. The two flights back to back highlighted this quite well.

After we finished judging, Fortney and I headed to the Baymont for a quick nap before dinner. After all, a day of beer judging + an early early morning = nap time. You try that math. By the time we got back, Weasel Boy had started to swing: the new flavor of the evening was ironic mustaches and patchouli. After dinner and doling out the awards for the day, Jeff and I did our best to introduce several new people to the appropriately patented and trademarked “Worst In Show” beer drinking game (the dump bucket was for the “Worst In Show” winners not even worth drinking). After a couple of rounds, we headed back over towards the band and the influx of ironic mustaches. More discussion was had, which led to the following snarky gem of the evening comes courtesy Frank Barickman. We were discussion IPAs, and someone mentioned Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA. Frank’s response: “90 Minute IPA? Guys that like that are the guys who trade beer on RateBeer.” I offered a high five for that one. Not surprisingly, it continued to go downhill from there. No wings, though.

The Sunday morning flight was quick and easy: 1. Light Lager. I ended up judging with Fortney, which made the whole process run even smoother. After all, once you drink beer with some one for several years, you start to pick up on the way they will respond to beers. So after rolling through our section of the flight and passing along our beers to the mini-BOS (nice beer, Phil), it was time to hit the road and roll for home. We did stop in Columbus for brunch at the Northstar Café. Who can resist the sweet siren song of brunch? Not this guy. And since I was driving, neither could Fortney.

(4/20 & 21/2013)

June Rockit Cup: Rye Pale Ale

Rockit Cup: the newest sensation sweeping the nation. Want to be involved? Want your chance to sit at the table jam-packed full of beers? All you need to do is brew! June’s recipe is courtesy Travis Lewis, winner of the most recent Rockit Cup fiasco.

June Rockit Cup: Rye Pale Ale
OG: 1.052 @ 70%
FG: 1.012
IBU: 42
Color: 7 SRM
ABV: 5.2 %

7 ½ lbs. Briess 2-row
2 lbs. Briess Rye
¾ lb. Briess Caramel 20L
¼ lb. Briess Carapils
¼ lb. White Wheat

Mash at 150˚ F for 60 minutes

60 minute boil

½ oz. Columbus @ 45 minutes
½ oz. Cascade @ 30 minutes
1 oz. Cascade @ 10 minutes
1 oz. Columbus @ 5 minutes
½ oz. Cascade dry hop
1 ½ oz. Columbus dry hop

White Labs 001 California Ale

Ferment @ 67.0° F

Carbonate to 2.0 volume

Let the odyssey begin!

Yellow Springs Brewery Grand Opening

Finally. Today was the day Yellow Springs Brewery was going to officially start crafting truth to people’s mouth. And, not surprisingly, I volunteered to help. I pitched in two weeks ago for the soft opening for locals, which was crazy nuts. So I was expecting more of the same today. Let’s just say it: it got brought. Big time. From the official opening at 1:00 pm to almost 8:30 pm, there was a solid line of people waiting to be served—sometimes running as many as 20 deep out the door. Sure, at times that line became almost manageable—almost—but mainly it was the beast that needed constant care, vigilance, and attention. I haven’t had to be that helpful, well, umm, ever, and I was a bartender for five years. Maybe this will help provide perspective: we sold out of growlers.

Doors were at 1:00 pm; the first indication of the coming day was the people milling around in the parking lot when Jeff Fortney and I arrived about 12:15. Since we walked straight in, some tried to follow suit. And got denied. Once we got inside and everyone arrived, Jeffrey and Lisa ran everyone through the roles they would be playing. I was told I would taking orders and would be the face greeting them—hence my aforementioned description of the line that was my day-long nemesis. Time for that game face! In addition to the five regular beers on tap, there were also five special beers that would be tapped over the course of the day. Being that I am a wise man, I took the brief respite before the doors opened for business to try the Captain Stardust, since I knew would disappear quickly once it went up. I also tried the Smoked Brown Ale, which I’ve been harassing Jeffery to make since the last time he made it. About time, Jeffrey! Hey, you know what they say about patience, right?

Once the doors opened the tasting room was inundated with people. Everyone figured out their roles, and some semblance of détente was established, aided mainly by drafting those who showed up to work later into earlier service. Yes, it was sheer pandemonium. Which, if you have worked in the service industry before, you always come to expect. Although never quite to this degree. The question I answered the most: “when is Captain Stardust/ English Dark Mild/ German-style Hefeweizen/ Smoked Brown Ale going to be tapped?” The good thing about not being in charge: deferral is always an acceptable answer. When it was time to actually announce the tapping of one of selections, Jeffrey told me to do it using my “teacher” voice. Which I took as license to be loud. Very very loud. After all, I will admit to a certain joy in projecting my voice over that of a loud and boisterous room full of beer drinkers. Especially when that announcement brings cheers.

Besides the tapping announcements, though, most of the rest of the afternoon and evening is a blur. I recall the shock of realizing it was already 6:00 pm, and the brief respite where I wolfed down some fish tacos from the Harvest food truck. Elli showed at around 7:15 pm, and I talked to her briefly, and then it was 8:30 pm, and the first real lull in the day. There is one other thing I clearly remember: poor attempts at homonym humor. Special note to dudes: when there is a Blonde on tap—Towhead Blonde, in this case—think before you speak. I know you think comments like “I’ll have a Blonde, and then I’ll have a beer” or “I’ll have a Belgian and a Blonde, and a beer later” or any of the other numberless variations on this theme are clever. But they’re not. Not at all. If they were already lame and passé the last time I worked behind a bar in the mid-90’s—and they were—then they’re still going to be painful and tedious today. So just let it go. I may smile, and even pretend to laugh, but trust me when I say that everyone involved will be happier if you refrain.

Not surprisingly, the announcement of last call was not met with the same excitement as earlier proclamations. Still, for those behind the counter, it was time to call it a day. After the tap room was cleaned and cleared, there was a short after-hours party featuring a couple of fancy bottles in celebration of a successful day, including Cantillon Rose de Gambrinus and Lou Pepe, along with several other delights. As well, we got to sample the last remaining bottle of Jeffrey’s Orval clone, courtesy of Jeff Fortney, whose cellaring power exceeds my own—I drank the bottle I had stashed away (with both Jeff and Jeffrey, of course) like 6 months ago.

All in all, today’s Grand Opening was a smashing success. Congratulations to Lisa, Nate, and Jeffrey! Your dream is now a reality!

(4/13/13)