Rockit Cup Brett Trois IPA Recap

As suspected, Brian Gallow and myself were the only two participants. Alas, alas. Still, a fun experiment, since we both had two versions: I had a custersianus version as well as the standard Trois version, while Brian brought a version hopped with Zythos that he had used to grow up the yeast cake for the Rockit Cup version of the beer.

As well, both of us could pick out all four of the beers even though we were served them blind. Of the four, the two Trois versions were clearly better than the other two; I liked my version better and Brian liked his better, so we polled a couple of people, which gave Brian the title. Stupid Gallow and hoppy beers. Between the other two, I like the custersianus version better than the Zythos, even though the Zythos was also Trois—something about that hop/yeast combination didn’t sit as well on my palate. But this has also certainly given me food for thought in regards to brewing projects to pursue: I think Comet and Centennial would make a delicious Brett Trois IPA. Don’t worry—I’ll keep you posted.

The other results worth reporting from this evening: I am now officially the 2013 Fresh Hop King of Ohio. Brent Osborn’s challenge to my throne was rebuffed; his minion, Ryan Tarpley, brought Brent’s two fresh hop beers to challenge the two I had in the bottle at that point, and my Smith Hop Fresh Hop was declared the winner. I’ll be interested to see how it stacks up against the version I made today with bike path hops. Go fresh hop beers!

December’s Rockit Cup will be a Mini-Cask Fest, while the Rockit Cup for February will be a Robust Porter; the recipe for that one will be posted shortly.

(10/11/2013)