564. Brewery Vivant and New Belgium Lips of Faith Biere de Garde

So we’ve got both a collaboration beer and a Lips of Faith beer, all in one bottle. Did I also mention it is a biere de garde? Which, while not precisely a saison, is pretty much saison’s kissing cousin. Throw some chickens on the label, and this beer becomes downright irresistible, even before it gets opened. Who can fight that much confluence of goodness? Certainly not this crowd. While we’ve never had a beer from Brewery Vivant, if New Belgium says nice things about them, that’s good enough for us. And New Belgium? They’re pretty much golden around our way. We could chiggity-check the books for backing, but we’ll let this one stand on its own.

Lips of Faith Biere de Garde pours a clear, bright golden straw: with the long lasting white head, lacing, and profuse bubbles, it’s like liquid sunshine in a glass. The nose is juicy ripe fruit and citrus with pear and apple hints; there is a bit of husky malt hidden behind the yeast character followed by just the slightest hint of tartness, although that may be more of the yeast fruitiness. As it opens up, there is some creamy mustiness that borders on earthiness—you know, your usual Belgian rusticity in a glass. Flavors start sweet although the beer is very dry as a whole—the residual Pilsner candy sweetness gives way to fruit and a touch of bitterness in the middle, although the malt is in charge. In the finish, there are hints of lemon zest and dry cracker along with an impression of nuttiness. There is also some alcohol flavor and warmth, which increases as the beer warms, although so too does the juicy yeast character. The initial mouthfeel is creamy and dry; as it warms, the creaminess remains, but the dryness gives way to alcohol warmth and a slight sharpness in the back of the throat. While this is an enjoyable and certainly well-made beer, it could use better balance between the size and the flavors: as it warms, the subtlety starts to fade and the residual sweetness turns towards stickiness, and the juxtaposition between the dryness of the beer and the gumminess in the mouthfeel becomes uneven. Coupled with the increasing alcohol presence, this disjunction detracts from the overall impression of the beer—it comes across currently as almost a young and brash tripel. Part of this may stem from the style; Biere de Gardes are intended to age, and some of the rougher edges might disappear with time, but, well, we’re drinking it now. Still, something certainly worth trying—the quality is there, it is just young and rough around the edges. Sorry, we just couldn’t resist the sweet siren song of a new Lips of Faith beer any longer. You know y’all been there before, haven’t you? 

From the bottle: “Famous in Michigan for their Farmhouse Ales, our friends at Brewery Vivant introduced us to their Biere de Garde ale yeast strain. From there, we imagined a slightly tart, intentionally  dry beer with hints of bergamot citrus that pairs perfectly with French cheeses.”

ABV: 9.0%

(5/30/2013)

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: 6/3/2013 @ 1.010; dry hopped with 1 ½ oz. Columbus leaf 13.0% AA & ½ oz. Cascade leaf 7.7% AA

OG: 1.054
FG: 1.010

Tasting Notes (8/10/2013): So I almost drank all of this before I got around to typing notes up on it (this is my last deuce deuce), which is not surprising given that this is a delicious and very drinkable beer—this is what I would call another Rockit Cup success. While 

Guess who grabbed
the wrong cap?

it is not as fresh and chewy as it was during the first month, it still maintains all of the others hallmarks of a delicious and drinkable beer. The beer pours a hazy tan copper with a mousse-y white head that refuses to leave, while the nose is a pungent spicy evergreen followed by herbal citrus that it almost minty. Flavors start with spicy rye followed by a hint of caramel sweetness before the herbal and evergreen hop flavors flex their muscles—the spicy resin hop flavors offer a pleasant transition in conjunction with the rye spiciness in the front before heading into the dank and herbal pine finish that features just a hint of lingering mintiness. The mouthfeel is chewy and rounded, and while the carbonation is a bit high—it borders on spritzy—the carbonic bite helps in the finish to offer a definitive closure to things. The herbal and minty hop characteristics also remind me of Millenium, albeit in a bit more aggressive form here. Still, this beer s a solid and drinkable pleasure—nice work, Travis!

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. The 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!