Brewing Mother Night ASIBA

There are many reasons why the craft beer renaissance in the United States has been a good thing. Now celebrating over a quarter-century of producing artisanal ales and lagers, small American breweries have had a tremendous impact on the beer industry the world over. Having carved out a relatively tiny but comfortable share of the marketplace, they are now even applying considerable pressure on the macroswill peddlers; evidenced by the big boys various attempts to appear more like craft breweries either by clever labeling and marketing or simply acquiring smaller breweries.

Setting the good fight aside, another measure of American craft breweries global impact is the growing influence they exhibit on other parts of the brewing world. Belgians are making West Coast IPA’s, Germans and Scotsmen battling to steal the highest ABV crown from an American brewery; the list goes on. I believe this influence has its seed in the exuberance American brewers across the board have shown for gaining knowledge on many varying brewing techniques, their penchant for creativity and for artfully breaking rules handed down from more traditional brewing cultures.

That creativity has most recently brought on a wave of what have been called Black IPA’s or Cascadian Dark Ales but have now been officially named American-style India Black Ales (ASIBA). Essentially they can be characterized as hop monster imperial IPA’s with a small amount of the grain bill being filled by black or chocolate malts to add considerable color and hints of roasty or smoky flavors. Widmer’s W-10 Pitch Black and Deschutes Hop in the Dark are the two examples I have tasted but there are many more entrants to the party such as Barley Brown’s Turmoil and Hopwork’s Secession.

My homebrewing partner and I decided to get on the bandwagon and brew up a batch of Mother Night ASIBA. I wrote the recipe after doing some research into clone recipes of the above commercial examples and thinking about how to interpret the style to my own liking. Specialty grains beyond the darker grains were in order, so I concocted a grain bill that was complex but with the purpose of adding some mouthfeel and to add sweetness for balance. Wanting to highlight rounded bitter instead of smoky tones from the grains, I used more chocolate malt than black for color. A considerable amount of dry hops will be utilized in order to up the aroma to the point that it isn’t overshadowed by the roasted grains. I chose a yeast strain that accentuates the malty flavors for balance and finishes dry to bring out the hop bitterness. Not that it will need help in that department as my calculations found the estimated IBUs to be well over 100. Overall, I was going for a huge hop monster emphasizing flavor over bitterness that is only partially reined in by the bready sweet and roasty malts with a nice solid mouthfeel.

Carl and I got started early, despite him feeling slightly under the weather. We decided to move the brewing operation onto Carl’s covered patio with a cast iron propane stove so we took some time setting up stations for cleaning, staging and brewing and then getting acquainted with the operation of the stove. We measured out the many hop additions, put the ones for dry hopping back in the freezer and then mashed in when we knew we could comfortably control the temperature. I stirred the grains more often than I would for other batches due to the sheer amount of grains I was trying to float in the brew bag, eventually just holding the bag to maximize contact surface for all the grain. A little bit of fidgeting with the stove to keep the temperature in check was required but otherwise the mashing went smoothly. A good sparge and then a bit of a time getting up to boil (understandable when there is that much dense fluid) but we were adding the first hops in no time. More cleaning filled our time between hop additions; myself with the brewing paraphernalia and Carl with his baby. The boil went well and we resorted to the ice bath technique again to cool our wort but without problem.

Once we topped off the carboy with water, the temperature was perfect to pitch the yeast. However, a gravity reading confirmed what I had expected – we were over 1.070 and required a second vial of yeast to reach the proper pitching rate. We pitched the first vial and set the blow off tube, then finished cleaning. Carl was relieved to finally get some time to lie down in bed to fight his illness (although I did most of the beer work, if only to protect our precious liquid from his germs), and I made a trip to the homebrew shop. At my behest, Carl asked them if we would need two vials of yeast when he picked up the rest of the ingredients but they said we would be fine. Without rubbing that in their faces, I asked about pitching two vials hours apart and got some tips.

After some other errands and a break for dinner, I returned to Carl’s to rack the beer, making sure to aerate well as we went along and then pitched the second vial of yeast. Carl went promptly to bed and I left to enjoy a Bagombo IPA at my house. Quite a bit of work involved in making this beer stuff, but always worth the reward that the product of your labors embodies.

Brewing Pool-Pah Pale Ale

It wasn’t long after losing access to one brewing location that I was able to connect with another homebrewer friend of mine and get back to smelling grains in the mash tun, fresh hops and, yes, even iodophor. Mayhap a slight bit quirky, but I find those smells to be comforting to my soul and long for them on days that I cannot be brewing. After my friend Carl expressed his interest in homebrewing more often and picking my brain for brewing knowledge, we quickly put our equipment and heads together and came up with a recipe. A trip to the homebrew and restaurant supply stores and we were ready to brew.

After arranging our brewing paraphernalia, I weighed out our hop additions. Being a huge fan of Dogfish Head’s exercises in continual hopping, I had been wanting to try it for myself and with a northwest style pale ale on the docket, my thought was to round the edges of the hop presence and bring out their flavors. Carl had a few sample cups from previous beer tasting lying around, so we utilized those to hold the hops. As the brew day progressed, we found ourselves wandering over to the cups and taking a large sniff or two, attempting to note differences between the Cascades, Centennials and Columbus hops.

We got the water up to temperature and then took some time to stabilize it at 152°F. Brewing on new equipment always requires some adjustments, but I enjoy the challenge of repeating a similar process in dissimilar circumstances. Once comfortable with our level of control of the stove, we mashed in our grains, a mixture of two-row Pale and Crystal malts with a small amount of Rye thrown in to add some character. After a nice, warm dunk, we removed the grains and sparged them and added some malto-dextrin to aid mouthfeel.

We then ran into a bit of a snag when it was time to bring the wort up to a boil. Turns out Carl’s stove is just a little guy and was not pushing out much in the way of heat. Not enough to bring multiple gallons of dense liquid to a boil, anyway. We cranked the heat and put a lid on our brew pot and were rewarded with a nice rolling boil. The next brew day for us will be on Carl’s covered patio with a propane cast iron stove. Heat will not be a problem, methinks.

In with the first batch of hops and then we set to cleaning the carboy and necessary accoutrements. Juggling cleaning and responding to the timer’s buzzer to add more hops provided much movement for the next hour, but all went smoothly. After a relaxing ice bath, we transferred the wort to the carboy and topped off with some water and pitched our yeast. The ubiquitous clean up followed, helped along by a bottle of the Bagombo IPA.

Fermentation started sluggishly, but a careful move to a warmer room and the yeast happily began doing their job. I am sure Carl is getting sick of me calling or texting to check up on the beer, with a baby of his own to take care of, but we are both anticipating the delicious fruits of our labors and excited to get in another brew day this week.

For our next batch we have decided to throw our hat in the Cascadian Dark Ale ring with a hop monster featuring Warrior, Cascade, Mt. Hood and Magnum hops which we are calling Mother Night. It is shaping up to be a wonderful summer.

Brew like a Monk

Over the last couple of months I have amassed a considerable library of brewing books by scouring second-hand websites and supplemented by a trip to Powell’s in Portland. I set out with a list I compiled from both the Brewer’s Association and Beer Judge Certification Program’s recommended reading lists. Not by any means comprehensive, I still have enough beer reading to keep me busy up until I move to Davis.

Although I am interested in most styles of beer, I have been fascinated with all things Belgian as of late so I decided to read Brew like a Monk by Stan Hieronymus. Second in a trilogy that focuses on Belgian and northern French beers and the breweries that produce them, it easily stands alone as a guide to Trappist, Abbey and Strong Belgian Ales. Bursting at the seams with knowledge both gained first-hand and relayed to the author, “Monk” is filled with amusing and insightful anecdotes, often from the brewers themselves, never allowing the narrative to become dry or numbingly technical.

But make no mistake, although an interesting read, it is technically oriented and I would recommend it for people with a more than cursory knowledge of brewing techniques and terms. I found the individual brewery histories fascinating, especially discovering the amount to which they influenced each other, sometimes directly. Just learning the distinction between true Trappist and abbey ales proved helpful and it was interesting to see how the monk’s fought to preserve the distinction (beers or any item carrying the official Trappist label must meet three criteria: they must be brewed within an abbey, overseen by the monks and abbot and the largest share of the profits must be spent on social work).

“Monk” left me with much to contemplate and a smile on my face due to Hieronymus and the monk’s superb and understated wit (as in, intellectual humor, not the Dutch beer style). But it also left me with the feeling that one of man’s highest callings is to contemplate their beer. In that spirit and tradition, I purchased a couple of the beers highlighted in the book for sampling.

First up was what many people consider to be the beer that defines the Belgian golden style; Duvel from Moortgat. The bubbly head formed quickly and lasted for days. Smelling of sour banana rounded by sweet malts, the flavors of Duvel are layered and very nuanced for a beer as light as it is. Sweet bread and biscuit tones are buoyed by banana with deep red berry at the edges and a subtle but splendid hop presence, accented ever so delicately by a blend of spices. Duvel is described in “Monk” as tasting like the “tears of an angel,” a claim which I would find hard to refute.

Thirsty Zymurgist Score: 47/50

Next was Orval, which has long been one of my favorite beers. Pouring toffee-orange with a slightly off-white head, the aroma of sweet bread and flowers, orange zest, musty leather and the yeast invade the nose. Delicious malty/yeasty flavor washes over the tongue and is accompanied by more citrus and flowers, hints of spice hiding in the corners and that beautiful brett funkiness keeping the hops in check. Unique while remaining accessible, Orval is a delight to drink alone but it pairs well with just about any meal as well.

Thirsty Zymurgist Score: 48/50

High scores, I know. But when you either define a style (such as Duvel) or encompass a style onto oneself (like Orval) and taste as amazing as they do, it is the very definition of world-class.

Budge Brothers – Revisions

As a blogger I would consider myself a far cry from anything even resembling a journalist, but I do strive to be accurate in the hard information that I provide. I would be the last person to claim that I am perfect and it seems in a previous post that I lived up to my imperfection.

Firstly, I would like to extend an apology to the Budge brothers (especially to Bruce) and all that are helping with getting the brewery on its feet. My intention was to spread the word about a brewery that many people in Spokane are already excited about and shed some light on the brewery. The information was provided to me by a mutual friend, but I will fully take responsibility for any and all inaccuracies. Brad originally left this information on a comment posted to my previous blog, but I felt impelled to relay it on the big board, as it were.

Brad Budge has teamed up with his brother Bruce to form Budge Brothers Brewing and are utilizing a 7-bbl system. They have received approval for the labels and tap handles for their IPA, Amber, Pale Ale and Stout, so look for them on tap at local Spokane bars in the near future.

I wish Budge Brothers Brewing the best of luck in the future and I can tell you that no matter how inaccurately their efforts are reported upon, the quality of the beer will speak for itself.

End of an Era

A short but beautiful partnership in brewing ended last Wednesday when my good friend Brian moved back home to attend graduate school at LSU. Yet, one tasked remained; so I enlisted my girlfriend to assist me in bottling the Granfalloons Tripel that Brian and I had brewed.

We set to work moving the carboy with the beer in it upstairs and then cleaning another carboy and all the implements of bottling. A small snafu manifested itself in the form of a nearly empty iodophor bottle, but there was just enough to fill the carboy with sanitization fluid.

Finally, the time had come for a wet and low-down battle with bottles. Half of the bottles were ones I had recently accumulated so I knew that they had been rinsed well. However, they did possess the bane of a homebrewer’s existence: stubborn labels. The rest of our crop of bottles were donations from a friend of Brian’s that were label-less but dusty. We checked the latter group for any hardcore gunk or suspicious growth and rejected a few on those grounds. After much scrubbing, peeling and rinsing, we had enough bottles for the batch.

We transferred the sanitization fluid to the bottles and then transferred the beer to the clean, empty carboy. Then the sanitization fluid got dumped into a bucket with all of the tubes and bottling implements and the bottles got a final rinse, thus concluding the battle of the bottles with the brewers emerging victorious. We celebrated by filling our vanquished foes with golden liquid.

A quick gravity reading and then in with the priming sugar and off we went. I filled the bottles while my girlfriend capped and stirred the beer to keep the dextrose in equal suspension. The actual bottling went incredibly fast and we yielded twenty-three 22oz bottles and one 330mL champagne bottle. After the final clean up, we packed all of my gear into its respective boxes and loaded it into the car.

It is sad to see Brian and I’s brewing adventures come to an end, but I have talked another friend into allowing me to brew at his house with him and even though he has only brewed a few batches, he is quite knowledgeable about all things beer.

The reward for all of our labor came in the form of tasting the first bottle of Brian and I’s first batch, the Bagombo IPA. Pouring golden yellow and pretty clear, the bubbles were a bit sluggish, but I expected the carbonation to be a little low only two weeks after bottling. Grapefruit and fresh flowers fill the nose and the first sip reveals much of the same with a sweet candy finish. Another taste reveals complexities in the malt backbone while pine and cut grass accents come out in the hop profile. Not as overwhelmingly delicious as I remember previous batches, but a solid citrusy IPA none-the-less. A little more time resting peacefully in the bottle will help round this one out. Lucky I am leaving for California tomorrow so I am not tempted to drink them as is.

Thirsty Zymurgist Score: 39/50