MASH Ales of Summer Beer Judging

Time to get back on that horse. Blogging. Beer Judging. Brewing. All of those things. You head to Europe for several weeks, and all of your momentum is dashed in one long, extended swoop of non-United States fun. Like exploring the world of Irish craft beer. Or going to Cantillon. But as per usual, I digress. So back to the task at hand: MASH Ales of Summer.

This was a nice, small competition: a morning flight, lunch, then the BOS. The competition was held at Cellar Dweller (aka Valley Vineyards), and was smooth and clean. So I was back home in time to ride out and meet Elli on the way home from work. Proper. Results for the competition are to be found here. See you again soon.

(8/6/2016)

Amaranth Saison Brewday

Apparently, amaranth is more of a brewing oddity than I thought. When I went looking for ideas, I found the recipe from Ryan Brews in 2011 and mention of the soon to be released Saison Z from Jolly Pumpkin. And that was pretty much it. I didn’t release amaranth was such a brewing rarity. Anyway, I toasted the amaranth at 225° F for about 45 minutes before mashing it; I chose toasting over boiling since I am more interested in the flavor amaranth imparts in the beer than making the starches fermentable. I would have used more (a pound would have been nice), but this is all I harvested last year from the back yard. Yes, this is home grown amaranth. Making this yard saison number two.

228. Amaranth Saison 

Mash:

4 lbs. Best Malz Pilsen

2 lbs. Best Malz Wheat

½ lb. Acidulated 
¼ lb. Amaranth

Mash @ 150° F for 70 minutes w/ 3 gallons RO water, 4 g. gypsum, and 2 g. CaCl; collected 2 gallons @ 1.054

Batch sparge @ 165° F for 20 minutes w/ 4 gallons RO water; collected 4 gallons @ 1.014

Topped off to 7 gallons, brought to a boil (70 minutes), & added:
w/60 to go: ½ Comet pellet 8.6% AA
½ oz. Azacca leaf 9.9% AA

w/10 to go: ½ Comet pellet 8.6% AA
½ oz. Azacca leaf 9.9% AA

w/0 to go: ½ Comet pellet 8.6% AA
½ oz. Azacca leaf 9.9% AA

Let stand for 20 minutes, chilled, & racked on to Wyeast 3276 yeast cake from 227. Table Saison w/ Dandelion Flowers

Brewed: 4/30/2016 @ 66° F

Secondary: 

Bottle: 

OG: 1.032

FG:

Tasting Notes: 

Dandelion Flower Saison Brewday

The dandelion saisons I made last year were all delightful, so it is time to start another round of them while all the flowers are bright and fresh and plentiful. In last year’s version, I was also experimenting with corn; I’ve dropped the corn for now to focus on making a table-strength version of this beer. I also cut the flower petals off of the head/stem for this year’s version to try and emphasize the flower-based contributions to the beer, and to minimize some the green/grassy flavors found in last year’s version.. This is the first in a run of yard-inspired table saisons to start off the spring in the correct manner.

227. Table Saison w/ Dandelion Flowers

Mash:

4 lbs. Best Malz Pilsen

2 lbs. Best Malz Wheat

½ lb. Acidulated 

Mash @ 152° F for 70 minutes w/ 3 gallons RO water, 4 g. gypsum, and 3 g. CaCl; collected 2 gallons @ 1.058

Batch sparge @ 167° F for 20 minutes w/ 4 gallons RO water; collected 4 gallons @ 1.012

Topped off to 7 gallons, brought to a boil (70 minutes), & added:
w/60 to go: 1 oz. Azacca leaf 9.9% AA

w/10 to go: 5 g. Wyeast yeast nutrient

w/0 to go: 3.15 oz. dandelion flowers (snipped off base so mainly just petals)
1 g. coriander
1 g. grain of paradise

Let stand for 20 minutes, chilled, & pitched vial of Wyeast 3276 from Brett Smith

Brewed: 4/24/2016 @ 69° F

Secondary: 4/30/2016 @ 1.006

Bottle: 

OG: 1.030

FG:

Tasting Notes: 

Barrel Project Lambic Solera First Pull

Today was the inaugural pull from the Lambic Solera Barrel. I didn’t realize that it was one year to the day from the last addition until I got home and started bottling the first three gallons. Anyway, we pulled six gallons total, three which got bottled straight, and three that got put onto three pounds of Michigan tart cherries. The smaller pull was to see where the beer was at; it seems headed in a positive direction currently (see below), so the plan is for a larger 20-25 gallon pull later in the summer. After the the initial pull, we topped the barrel off with almost ten gallons of 221. New Year’s Lambic and 222. Lambic Party. 

As to the beer coming out of the barrel, it was bright, tart, and crisply acidic. There is still a fair amount of bourbon in the beer—that will most likely take several more pulls to completely work itself out—but it is balanced by the tannic oak character. It was not as funky or developed as some of the other lambics I’ve made that were of a similar age, but we can wait and how this plays out over time. Certainly a very drinkable and enjoyable beer, even flat straight outta the barrel. I’m looking forward to seeing what it tastes like when it is carbonated.

Solera 1: Three gallons
Bottled: 3/20/2016 w/ 2.5 oz. table sugar

Tasting Notes:

Solera 2: Three gallons racked onto 3 lbs. of Michigan tart cherries
Secondary: 3/20/2016
Bottled:

Tasting Notes:

Old Beer Blending Party

Sometimes, things get put on the back burner of the list of brewing projects to fulfill, or just plain get lost in the shuffle of brewing. Maybe you don’t brew enough to have that problem, but I certainly do. I’ve been trying to clean up and organize the numerous carboys gracing my dining room (at some point, I’ll actually start calling the room what it actually is: our bicycle and carboy room), and I realized that tucked in amongst the all the various current projects were several older carboys that had fallen by the wayside. So I pulled them out, tasted them, and decided to try my hand at blending. You know, to get things moving again, and away from their current de-railed project trajectories. Several of these were quite acidic (both versions of 165 had dry airlocks) and sharp; I decided to incorporate batch 203 to bulk up the overall volume, and give me enough to try two different blends. 

The first blend went into the 10 gallon oak barrel that also lives in the bike/carboy room.

10 Gallon Barrel Blend:
151b. ECY05 Brett Blend #9: approx. 1 ½ gallons @ 1.000 (July 2013)
165. The Great Brett Experiment II 005/008: approx. 4 gallons @ 1.006 (December 2013)
196b. Rueuze Lambic: approx. 1 ½ gallons @ 1.000 (February 2015)
203. One Last Lambic Hurrah: approx. 3 gallons @ 1.000 (March 2015)

The second blend went onto the wild raspberries that were previously used in 168b. Wild Raspberry Lambic; I bottled the beer and then added this beer to it. I’m hoping to pick up some tannic skin character to round the beer as a whole; the left over beer mixed in with the fruit was more than enough to already give the beer a pinkish hue.

Second-Use Wild Raspberry Blend:

151b. ECY05 Brett Blend #9: 1 gallon @ 1.000 (July 2013)
196b. Rueuze Lambic: 1 gallon @ 1.000 (February 2015)
203. One Last Lambic Hurrah: 1 gallon @ 1.000 (March 2015)

I’ll probably rack the barrel beer onto fruit before bottling it, and possibly try and finish it with champagne yeast since I want to make sure there are no post-bottling surprises. 

10 Gallon Barrel Blend
Barrel: 2/21/2016
Secondary:
Bottled:

Second-Use Wild Raspberry Blend
Blended: 2/21/2016
Bottled: 3/20/2016 @ 1.000

Tasting Notes:

Cleaning Up Brewday

Today was about moving stuff along; after two weeks, nothing had happened with the two cakes from the Great Brett Experiment II that were on the better tasting side, so I racked both onto the yeast cake from 203. One Last Lambic Hurrah after the Old Beer Blending Party. However, what I am really interested to see is what becomes of the wort that got dumped on the remains of 132a. Wild Yeast Lambic Raspberry, which had done something since the last time I checked; the previous beer on that cake got racked onto the yeast cake from 196a. Yeast Bay Lo Christi. Buncha fucked up stuff that will most likely get dumped. Still, gonna play that game.

224. Cleaning Up

Mash:

4 lbs. Best Malz Pilsen

2 lbs. Best Malz Wheat

1 lb. MFB Vienna
½ lb. Acidulated 

Mash @ 153° F for 80 minutes w/ 3 gallons RO water, 4 g. gypsum, and 3 g. CaCl; collected 2 gallons @ 1.062

Batch sparge @ 168° F for 20 minutes w/ 4 gallons RO water; collected 4 ¼ @ 1.012

Topped off to 7 gallons, brought to a boil (70 minutes), & added:
w/60 to go: 1 oz. Choice debittered hops

w/10 to go: 1 oz. Comet pellet 8.6% AA
5 g. Wyeast yeast nutrient

Chilled & split into 3 gallon carboys between 165 002 Great Brett II, 165 009 Great Brett II, and 132a. Wild Yeast Lambic Raspberry

224a. Great Brett II 002/224b. Great Brett II 009

Brewed: 2/7/2016

Secondary: 2/21/2016; nothing happening, so dumped both 3 gallon carboys onto yeast cake from 203. One Last Lambic Hurrah

Bottle:

OG: 1.038

FG:

Tasting Notes: 

224c. Wild Yeast Lambic Raspberry

Brewed: 2/7/2016

Secondary: 

Bottle:

OG: 1.038

FG:

Tasting Notes: 

Flanders Red Brewday

Another rift on a similar yearly theme. The main changes to this one were to raise the mash temperature and use a half pound of caramel malt, mostly because last year’s version was called thin and over-carbonated by AHA NHC First Round Judges. While I know the contributions from the caramel malt will ultimately disappear—as will the long-chain dextrins from the higher mash temperature—via the slower acting wild yeast, I figured experimenting and waiting to see the end results was the best path forward. See you next year! 

223. Flanders Red

Mash:

4 lbs. Best Malz Pilsner

4 lbs. Weyermann Vienna

1 lb. Weyermann Dark Munich

1 lb. Best Malz Wheat

1 lb. Special B
½ lb. Maltexco/Patagonia Caramel 70-80 L. 

Mash @ 158° F for 60 minutes w/ 4 gallons RO water, 4 g. gypsum, and 2 g. CaCl; collected 2 ½ gallons @ 1.076

Batch sparge @ 160° F for 20 minutes w/ 4 gallons RO water; collected 4 gallons @ 1.028

Topped off to 7 gallons, brought to a boil (60 minutes), & added:

w/60 to go: 1 ½ oz. Choice debittered hops

w/10 to go: 5 g. Wyeast yeast nutrient

Chilled and pitched mason jar of ECY 02 Flemish from 195. Flanders Red; added .55 oz. Hungarian oak, house toast

Brewed: 1/23/2016

Secondary:

Bottled:

OG: 1.056

FG:

Tasting Notes:

Lambic Party Brewday

Slow and steady wins the race. Once this beer and 221. are ready, they will be the replacement beers for the first small pull from the Barrel Project, the goal being to see where the barrel is at, and to then start planning for the next larger pull later in the year. I’m guessing the pull will be three gallons to bulk age and five gallons on sour cherries, but we’ll make the specific call on game day. 

222. Lambic Party

Mash:

7 lbs. Best Malz Pilsen

5 lbs. unmalted wheat

Mash @ 158° F for 90 minutes w/ 4 gallons RO water, 4 g. gypsum, and 4 g. CaCl; collected 2 ½ gallons @ 1.064

Batch sparge @ 169° F for 20 minutes w/ 4 gallons RO water; collected 4 gallons @ 1.024

Topped off to 7 gallons; brought to a boil (70 minutes), & added:
w/60 to go: 1 oz. Choice debittered hops 

w/10 to go: 5 g. Wyeast yeast nutrient (added w/ boiling water after beer racked to carboy)

Chilled and racked onto ECY01 Bug Farm yeast cake from 181b. ECY01 Bug Farm

Brewed: 1/14/2016

Secondary: 2/28/2016 @ 1.002

Bottle: 3/20/16

OG: 1.050

FG: 1.002

Tasting Notes (2/28/2016): Tart and game-y; lemon zest and pith up front, followed by earthiness and game-y brett funk. Looks like the unmalted wheat is paying off. 

New Year’s Lambic Brewday

Time to start out the New Year right, and get back to massively over-producing lambic. In part, this is because I am thinking ahead to the first pull off of the Barrel Lambic Solera, which should happen in a month or so. But also because I am ridiculously intent on building up a massive reservoir of lambic and gueuze, and that requires having plenty on hand. We’re getting there. Happy New Year’s, everyone. 

221. New Year’s Lambic

Mash:

7 lbs. Best Malz Pilsen

5 lbs. unmalted wheat

Mash @ 158° F for 90 minutes w/ 4 gallons RO water, 4 g. gypsum, and 4 g. CaCl; collected 2 ½ gallons @ 1.070

Batch sparge @ 170° F for 20 minutes w/ 4 gallons RO water; collected 4 gallons @ 1.024

Topped off to 7 gallons; brought to a boil (90 minutes), & added:
w/60 to go: 1 oz. Choice debittered hops 

w/10 to go: 5 g. Wyeast yeast nutrient

Chilled and racked onto ECY Bug County yeast cake from 201. Post-Barrel Lambic 

Brewed: 1/1/2016 @ 64° F

Secondary: 2/27/2016 @ 1.004

Barrel: 3/20/16

OG: 1.050

FG: 1.002

Tasting Notes (2/27/2016): Bright and tart going into the secondary; lemonade-like with some funky undercurrents and light spritziness from the CO2 still in solution. 

Iron Brewer Honey Tripel Brewday

In an effort to get more club members brewing, my local homebrew club, DRAFT, stole and re-packaged the Rockit Cup as the club Iron Brewer competition. The Rockit Cup had a three year run, so I can’t really complain. Plus, less to be in charge of, honestly. Anywhoo, I decided on taking a stab at a tripel using honey instead of table sugar to dry out the body. Yes, the late hopping is a bit aggressive, but, well, too bad. Felt like it. Here’s to honey. I’m coming for you, Joe Harrington. 

220. Iron Brewer Honey Tripel

Mash:

10 lbs. Best Malz Pilsen

½ lb. MFB Vienna 

½ lb. MFB Pale

Mash @ 149° F for 90 minutes w/ 3 ½ gallons RO water, 4 g. gypsum, and 3 g. CaCl; collected 2 ¾ gallons @ 1.064

Batch sparge @ 162° F for 20 minutes w/ 4 gallons RO water; collected 4 gallons @ 1.024

Collected 6 ¾ gallons; brought to a boil (90 minutes), & added:
w/60 to go: 1 ¼ oz. Styrian Golding pellet 2.0% AA
¾ oz. Azacca leaf 9.9% AA

w/10 to go: 5 g. Wyeast yeast nutrient

w/0 to go: 2 oz. Azacca leaf 9.9% AA

3 (or so) lbs. Bob Irwin honey
2 g. coriander
1 g. cumin
1 g. grains of paradise 

Let stand for 20 minutes, chilled, & pitched mason jar of Iron Brewer yeast from 218. Iron Brewer Cider

Brewed: 12/27/2015 @ 64° F

Secondary: 1/23/2016 @ 1.008; added 5 g. Wyeast yeast nutrient

Bottle: 4/23/2016 w/ 4 ¾ oz. table sugar

OG: 1.076

FG: 1.000

Tasting Notes: Dry with some earthiness and slight sweetness at bottling. Some alcohol warmth but no heat, even as dry as it is. 

Alan McLeod’s 2015 Yuletide Photo Contest

Welcome to my yearly (or almost yearly) attempt at being arty and shit. For your viewing pleasure, these are the photos I entered into Alan McLeod’s Xmas Hogmanay 2015 Photo Contest. Bit last minute, really, but that is how things go around these here parts. Anyway, if you’d like to see all the photos from this year, go here and here and here. Oh, and maybe here too. 

I missed entering last year because, well, I don’t rightly recall. I just did. Things happen around the holidays. See above. But here are the photos I sent in, along with a quick run down of each. The first picture came on the way to a early morning beer judging competition in Zanesville. Some one forgot to fill up the tank before we left, so we got to hoof it for gas part way through the trip. Nothing says good times like early morning walking along I-70. I thought the YSB sweatshirt was a nice touch, so I took a picture to entertain myself on our walk. Even with running out of gas, we were only ten minutes late. Yes, there might have been some speeding involved. 

The next picture is from Brugge Brasserie in Indianapolis; we stop in at Brugge pretty regularly after cyclocross races for beer and fries before driving home. I took the picture from underneath the table through the hole for french fries. I love the Christmas lights in the background, the matching colors between beer, copper, and wood, and the warm light on the glass reflecting the slightly hazy beer. 

The third picture is an old wall advertisement from a local Dayton brewery, Sachs-Prudens’ Brewing Company, featuring Diamond Brand Pale Ale, amongst other things. The mural is on the side of a house at 101 McClure in the Saint Anne’s Hill neighborhood in downtown Dayton (it was formerly a saloon and grocery store). For more on the house and the neighborhood, see here. Sachs-Prudens’ opened in 1881; in 1895, Sachs-Prudens’ was sold to the Dayton Brewing Company. The building that originally housed the brewery on Wyandot was for a long time the Hauer Music building, and now houses the Dayton Metro Library Operation Center. 

The fourth picture was from a beer tasting in my kitchen with long time friend of the blog Jeff Fortney. I believe this was the night I tricked him into drinking through a complete run of the beers from the Great Brett Yeast Experiment on a work night. I’m not sure how old the beers were at that point, but I think it was something like a little over a year in the bottle, and I had been hankering to see where everything was at. So Jeff was willing to help out. You know, for science and all. For the record, custersianus is still the best single strain to work work, although the claussenii performed well this night. There are notes somewhere. But not here. The light through the glasses with the bottles and Jeff in the background creates a nice overall image. 

The final picture is from Blue Stallion Brewing Company in Lexington, KY. They were a very pleasant discovery when I was in Lexington for the Craft Writing: Beer, the Digital, and Craft Culture conference in February 2014. They focus mainly on lagers, and do an excellent job at it. and their brewery is gorgeous: almost all copper. Anyway, this was from a later visit after another cyclocross race, where lunch and a couple of crisp clean beers were in order. The open doorway behind the glass helps illuminate the light, and I was happy that I actually successfully made the glass the focus so that the background was blurry—I love the contrast between the beads of condensation on the bright, in-focus glass, and the gloomier, darker, hazy background. 

So there you have it: a quick rundown of my entries for this year’s Xmas Hogmanay! 

(12/15/2015)

Table Saison w/ ADHA 529 Brewday

Another small, light, and eminently drinkable saison. Again, the perfect excuse to experiment with new hop varieties. Again, this beer will be excellent and so so drinkable. Again, I find myself talking to myself. Well, at least I have beer to drink while doing so.

219. Table Saison w/ ADHA 529

Mash:

4 lbs. Best Malz Pilsen

2 lbs. Best Malz Wheat

1 lb. MFB Vienna
½ lb. Acidulated 

Mash @ 150° F for 80 minutes w/ 3 gallons RO water, 4 g. gypsum, and 4 g. CaCl; collected 2 gallons @ 1.062

Batch sparge @ 168° F for 20 minutes w/ 4 gallons RO water; collected 4 ¼ @ 1.012

Collected 6 ¼ gallons; topped off to 7 gallons, brought to a boil (70 minutes), & added:
w/60 to go: ½ oz. ADHA 529 10.6% AA

w/20 to go: ½ oz. ADHA 529 10.6% AA

w/10 to go: ½ oz. ADHA 529 10.6% AA
5 g. Wyeast yeast nutrient

w/5 to go: ½ oz. ADHA 529 10.6% AA

w/0 to go: ½ oz. ADHA 529 10.6% AA

Let stand for 20 minutes, chilled, & racked onto 3276 yeast cake from 216. Table Saison w/ ADHA 484

Brewed: 10/4//2015

Secondary: 12/26/2015 @ 1.000; 219a. bottled 3 gallons w/ 3.0 oz. table sugar; 219b. dry-hopped 3 gallons w/ ½ oz. each of Pekko, Jarrylo, and Comet

Bottle: 12/31/2015 w/ 2.55 oz. table sugar (219b.)

OG: 1.036

FG: 1.000

Tasting Notes: When you don’t carefully label your carboys, this is what happens: you confuse a table saison and a cider and swap the plans for the secondary for each. Which is why this got split and dry-hopped with something besides ADHA 529, while 218. Iron Brewer Cider got dry-hopped with ADHA 529. Classy, yo. Yes, the taste should have given it away, but that assumes that I tasted them, doesn’t it? 

Iron Brewer Cider Brewday

Time for the yearly cider. Especially since I need to bottle the second half of the Barrel Cider from last year (the one sitting on a half pound of maltodextrin). As with my last one, I scored my cider at Peifer Orchards in Yellow Springs. Somebody got a new website.

218. Iron Brewer Cider

6 gallons Peifer Orchards cider

Dumped on top of yeast cake from 217. Iron Brewer Saison

Carboy: 10/3/2015

Barrel: 12/26/2015 @ .98; dry hopped w/ 1 ¼ oz. ADHA 529

Bottled: 12/31/15 w/ 3 ¼ oz. table sugar

OG: 1.060

FG: 0.98

Tasting Notes: When you don’t carefully label your carboys, this is what happens: you confuse a table saison and a cider and swap the plans for the secondary for each. Which is why this got dry-hopped with ADHA 529, and 219. Table Saison w/ ADHA 529 got split and dry-hopped with something besides ADHA 529. Yes, the taste should have given it away, but that assumes that I tasted them, doesn’t it? 

Iron Brewer Saison Brewday

More table saison brewing, this time with the ADHA hops that have already acquired themselves names, namely Pekko (ADHA 871) and Jarrylo (ADHA 881). You know, the cool kids on the block. Azacca already got some play recently around these parts, so it will have to wait its turn to get an ADHA shout out. Not sure what is going on with the Jarrylo logo (the hop is named after Jarilo, the Slavic god of fertility and springtime), but I do know that is less offensive than the Pekko logo, so I went with this one. And no, I won’t provide you a link to the Pekko logo. Go find it your damn self.

217. Iron Brewer Saison

Mash:

4 lbs. Best Malz Pilsen

2 lbs. Best Malz Wheat

1 lb. MFB Vienna
½ lb. Acidulated 

Mash @ 152° F for 80 minutes w/ 3 gallons RO water, 4 g. gypsum, and 4 g. CaCl; collected 2 gallons @ 1.058

Batch sparge @ 163° F for 20 minutes w/ 4 gallons RO water; collected 4 @ 1.020

Collected 6 gallons; topped off to 7 gallons, brought to a boil (70 minutes), & added:
w/60 to go: .4 oz. each of Pekko (15.4% AA) and Jarrylo (13.9% AA) pellet

w/20 to go: ½ oz. each of Pekko (15.4% AA) and Jarrylo (13.9% AA) pellet

w/10 to go: ½ oz. each of Pekko (15.4% AA) and Jarrylo (13.9% AA) pellet
5 g. Wyeast yeast nutrient

w/5 to go: ½ oz. each of Pekko (15.4% AA) and Jarrylo (13.9% AA) pellet

w/0 to go: ½ oz. each of Pekko (15.4% AA) and Jarrylo (13.9% AA) pellet

Let stand for 20 minutes, chilled, & pitched Iron Brewer yeast cake from 215b. Fresh Hop Iron Brewer

Brewed: 9/19/2015

Secondary: 10/4/2015 @ 1.004; dry-hopped w/ 1 oz. each of Pekko and Jarrylo pellet

Bottle: 10/9/2015 w/ 3 ¼ oz. table sugar

OG: 1.036

FG: 1.000

Tasting Notes: 

Table Saison w/ ADHA 484 Brewday

Now that the fresh hop beers have grown the yeast up, time to churn out some small, easy-drinking saisons. And nothing serves as a more perfect excuse to experiment with new hop varieties than a table saison. Learning never tasted so good. Plus, the dwarf hops are so gosh-darned cute!

216. Table Saison w/ ADHA 529

Mash:

4 lbs. Best Malz Pilsen

2 lbs. Best Malz Wheat

1 lb. MFB Vienna
½ lb. Acidulated 

Mash @ 150° F for 80 minutes w/ 3 gallons RO water, 4 g. gypsum, and 4 g. CaCl; collected 2 gallons @ 1.058

Batch sparge @ 163° F for 20 minutes w/ 4 gallons RO water; collected 4 ¼ @ 1.016

Collected 6 ¼ gallons; topped off to 7 gallons, brought to a boil (70 minutes), & added:
w/60 to go: ½ oz. ADHA 484 10.6% AA

w/20 to go: ½ oz. ADHA 484 10.6% AA

w/10 to go: ½ oz. ADHA 484 10.6% AA
5 g. Wyeast yeast nutrient

w/5 to go: ½ oz. ADHA 484 10.6% AA

w/0 to go: ½ oz. ADHA 484 10.6% AA

Let stand for 20 minutes, chilled, & racked to carboy and pitched Wyeast 3276 yeast cake from 215a. Fresh Hop Saison

Brewed: 8/30/2015

Secondary: 10/4/2015 @ 1.002; dry-hopped w/ 1 ¼ oz. ADHA 484 10.6% AA

Bottle: 10/9/2015 w/ 3 ¼ oz. table sugar

OG: 1.036

FG: 1.002

Tasting Notes: 

Smith Hop Fresh Hop Saison/Iron Brewer Brewday

While I will most likely not get around to brewing as many fresh hop beers as usual this year, I cannot stand by the wayside and watch the free Smith hops from next door go to waste, especially since I have such a long and storied history with them, and they are so so delicious. To complicate my brewing matters, I am also using this opportunity to make a split batch of beer and grow up some yeast to suitable pitch sizes. One is Wyeast 3276, their American Farmhouse, which is a pleasant, spicy, and slightly fruity saison yeast. The other is the Iron Brewer yeast created/blended by Brett Smith for the DRAFT club Iron Brewer brewing challenge that so ignominiously replaced the Rockit Cup. Whatever, haters. The Rockit Cup ain’t afraid of your Iron Brewer malarkey.

215. Saison/Iron Brewer Fresh Hop

Mash:

2 ¼ lbs. MFB Vienna
2 lbs. MFB Pale
2 lbs. Best Malz Wheat

1 ¼ lbs. Best Malz Pilsen

Mash @ 151° F for 80 minutes w/ 3 gallons RO water, 4 g. gypsum, and 4 g. CaCl; collected 1 ¾ gallons @ 1.062

Batch sparge @ 163° F for 20 minutes w/ 4 gallons RO water; collected 4 ¼ @ 1.022

Collected 6 gallons; topped off to 7 gallons, brought to a boil (70 minutes), & added:
FWH: 4 oz. fresh hops

w/20 to go: 4 oz. fresh hops

w/10 to go: 4 oz. fresh hops

w/0 to go: 4 oz. fresh hops

Let stand for 20 minutes, chilled, split into two three gallon carboys, and pitched Wyeast 3276 in one (215a.) and Iron Brewer yeast in the other (215b.)

215a. Fresh Hop Saison
Brewed: 8/16/2015

Secondary: 8/30/2015 @ 1.002

Bottle: 9/19/2015 w/ 1.2 oz. table sugar

OG: 1.036

FG: 1.002

215b. Fresh Hop Iron Brewer
Brewed: 8/16/2015

Secondary: 9/19/2015 @ 1.000

Bottle: 9/20/2015 w/ 1.2 oz. table sugar

OG: 1.036

FG: 1.000

Tasting Notes: 

Hibiscus Saison Brewday

Another in the long litany of summer saisons. I made a Hibiscus Saison last year, which was something of a dud—the yeast ended up being a huge disappointment, leaving me with a rather pedestrian beer—although the brightness and slight acidic sourness from the hibiscus and acidulated malt were delightful. Hence my interest in revisiting the beer. You can follow the link to read all about last year’s stupendous failure, but in this case, I’d let the past be the past. Like, move on, man. So here’s to moving on.

211. Hibiscus Saison

Mash:

4 lbs. Best Malz Pilsen

2 lbs. Best Malz Wheat

1 lb. MFB Vienna
½ lb. Acidulated 

Mash @ 152° F for 80 minutes w/ 3 gallons RO water and 6 g. gypsum; collected 2 ¼ gallons @ 1.060

Batch sparge @ 168° F for 20 minutes w/ 4 ½ gallons RO water; collected 4 ¼ gallons @ 1.012

Collected 6 ½ gallons; topped off to 7 gallons, brought to a boil (70 minutes), & added:
w/60 to go: 1 ½ oz. Styrian Golding leaf 3.7% AA

w/10 to go: 5 g. Wyeast yeast nutrient

w/0 to go: 1 oz. Styrian Golding leaf 3.7% AA

3 ½ oz. hibiscus 

Let stand for 20 minutes, chilled, & racked onto saison yeast cake from 210. Barrel American Saison w/ Dandelion Root

Brewed: 6/14/2015

Secondary: skipped

Bottle: 7/10/2015 w/ 3.0 oz. table sugar

OG: 1.036

FG: 1.002

Tasting Notes: This beer is straight drinking pleasure. 

Brewvet 2015: My Submission

So here it is, in all its masterful glory: my Brewvet summary for 2015. I covered 233.8 miles in eight rides, which is not too shabby, if I do say so myself. I hit a little bit of everything: a couple of breweries, a brewpub, a homebrew club meetings, a grocery store, and even managed to fit in a couple of your old fashioned hanging out on the lawn drinking beers after a bike ride. Well, really only one of those, as one was actually inside, and the other one got rained out. But the real winner—besides me for all the beer I got to drink along the way—is craft beer. And John Roche. Plus bicycling as well. Or even everyone’s fitness. So a lot of winners. And for those of you that may have missed any of the various rides along the way, here are quick, easy links to my eight different rides:

Brewvet 1: Yellow Springs Goat’s Eye IPA
Brewvet 2: Founders All Day IPA
Brewvet 3: Hoppy Brett Beer
Brewvet 4: Fifth Street Herbivore No. 2
Brewvet 5: DRAFT Homebrew Meeting
Brewvet 6: Warped Wing Tres Carnales
Brewvet 7: Blank Slate Movin’ On
Brewvet 8: Boulevard Radler

Probably my favorite part of this year’s Brewvet were the longer rides—I used the Brewvet as a chance to get out on some of the local bike trails I haven’t recently ridden. While the first couple of longer rides certainly hurt, the last one in particular was much easier. And those primed me for the 100+ mile I managed to complete a couple days ago, the first one that long in over twenty years. So thanks again to John Roche for combining beer and bicycling. It does make for good outdoor fun. Oh, and in the off chance that it is not self-evident, I “borrowed” the Brewvet graphic above from portajohn. Hope to see all of you out there next May for Brewvet 2016. 

(6/9/2015)

Land-Grant Brewing Company

One of the fun perks of traveling for bicycle racing is visiting the new craft breweries that are springing up everywhere. Today we headed to Columbus for the Tour of Franklinton Criterium. And as luck would have it for me, Land-Grant Brewing Company was right on the course. So while Elli got all her bike gear together and warmed up, I went to the brewery, ordered a sampler, and headed to the front windows to watch some bike racing and sample some beers. They only had four of the five beers listed available—they were out of Greenskeeper, the session IPA—so the beers left to right in the picture below follow the comments from top to bottom.

Creamsikölsch: Their dry-hopped American Kölsch infused with orange and vanilla. Nose carries creamsicle, as does initial flavor in the front, followed by graininess and hop bitterness. Good flavors, but a bit uneven across the profile; would be more enjoyable and balanced without the bitterness in the finish, but I am sure it does well as a summer beer. 

1862 Ale: This is their dry-hopped take on a traditional German Kölsch. It has the doughy rounded malt character of a Kölsch; it is clean and bright, with hop flavor and bitterness coming through in the middle, and some lingering grainy bitterness in the finish. Overall, a nice American interpretation of a German classic.

Son of a Mudder: Described as “a drinkable and balanced American brown ale.” Chocolate and caramel in the nose with a slight creaminess, with a medium body and mouthfeel, followed by cocoa and chocolate flavors. Bitterness comes in in the middle to final third. Balanced and clean overall, although it could use a touch more body. Very drinkable, though. 

Stiff-Arm IPA: A West Coast IPA interpretation with orange, orange pith, and pine resin hop aromatics in the nose. Orange citrus and slight candy malt in the front, followed by a clean, pleasant bitterness in the middle. Citrus and pine lead into the finish, with some lingering resin bitterness. Well-balanced—not as extreme or punchy or aggressive as many West Coast IPA interpretations, which is meant as a compliment. 

Stiff-Arm was my favorite of their offerings, although the 1862 Ale was a close second. As a whole, all of their beers were clean and well-made, And it appears that cans are soon to be released, so I’ll be certain to keep my eye out for those. Especially since I’ll be spending a fair amount of time in Columbus in July! 

(6/7/2015)

Barrel American Saison w/ Dandelion Root

Quite similar to the first batch, but with a few modifications. I just used dandelion root in this version, lessened the late hop additions, and cut the sugar addition. Hopefully, I will be able to discern the flavors contributed by the dandelion root. At least that is the intended goal. I’ll bottle a couple to try later before racking the rest into the barrel. Check back!

210. Barrel American Saison w/ Dandelion Root

Mash:

6 lbs. Best Malz Pilsen

2 lbs. flaked maize

Mash @ 148° F for 80 minutes w/ 3 gallons RO water and 6 g. gypsum; collected 1 ½ @ 1.072

Batch sparge @ 164° F for 20 minutes w/ 4 ½ gallons RO water; wort collected 5 @ 1.026

Collected 6 ½ gallons; topped off to 7 gallons, brought to a boil (70 minutes), & added:
w/60 to go: ½ oz. Azacca leaf 9.9% AA
1 oz. Comet leaf 10.9 AA

1 ½ oz. dandelion root, coarsely chopped

w/10 to go: 5 g. Wyeast yeast nutrient

w/5 to go: 1 oz. Styrian Golding leaf 3.7% AA
3 ½ oz. table sugar

w/0 to go: ¾ oz. Comet leaf 10.9 AA

2 g. coriander
2 g. grains of paradise

Chilled, & pitched mason jar of saison yeast blend from 207. Dandelion Saison

Brewed: 5/31/2015

Barrel: 6/14//2015 @ 1.002

209/210a. 1/30/2016 @ 1.000; racked onto 2 lbs. wild plums

209/210b. 1/30/2016 @ 1.000; racked onto 4 lbs. 10 oz. tart cherries
209/210c. 1/30/2016 @ 1.000; bottled w/ 2.5 oz. table sugar

OG: 1.044

FG:

Tasting Notes: