Bagombo Bottling

After patiently waiting for our IPA to fully ferment, my brewing friend and I were ready to get it into bottles and come one step closer to drinking our creation. Unbeknownst to my friend, bottling is the most labor intensive part of homebrewing. My initial thought was to save us from the tedium by kegging that batch, but as my friend is leaving town in just a couple weeks, we wanted to be able to split up our bounty.

As we prepared the priming sugar and set to work on cleaning the many and various implements of our tasks, we adhered to the first rule of homebrewing; “relax, grab a homebrew.” Being our first batch together and being more than a year removed from the time I last had a bottle of my brew on my shelves, we opted for a professionally brewed beer. To celebrate the special occasion, I decided to bring over the bottle of Gouden Carolus Hopsinjoor by Brouwerij Het Ancker in Mechelen, Belgium that I purchased at Bottleworks on my last visit to Seattle. Pouring a luscious golden yellow with a thick head that lingered for quite some time and a nose of fruity malts mixed with subtle hop spiciness, the Hopsinjoor was sweetly delicious with amazing balance that carried through until the crisp aftertaste and was easily quaffed as we went about performing our brewing duties.

Thirsty Zymurgist Score: 46/50

Once we had the beer racked to a new carboy, we set in on cleaning our bottles which gave the beer ample time to settle out again. The utility sink in the basement was our base of operations and I was glad that we could use a bottle sprayer; a luxury I had not been afforded in my previous brewing experiences. The scrubbing and rinsing took some time because we had received our bottles from another homebrewer but they had been in storage for a couple years and were subsequently dusty. Cleaning and sanitizing being the keys to turning out quality homebrew, we took our time and double washed a few bottles so that our minds could be at ease that our glorious beer was not going to be tainted in the last stage of its life.

After the cleaning and sanitizing were complete, we set up our stations to begin the actual bottling. My friend filled the bottles and passed them off to me for capping while I stirred the beer in the carboy to ensure even distribution of the priming sugar. Bottling went smoothly and we ended up with twenty five 22oz bottles and a little left over in one last bottle which became a sample.

We achieved a high original gravity and high attenuation compared to previous similar versions of this particular IPA and that translated to the taste being even more hop forward but leaving the body of the beer to be a bit thin. The grapefruit flavors and aromas were still prevalent while the hops never fully dominate the tongue which will make this a great early summer tipple.

Brewing Granfalloons Belgian Tripel

My new brewing friend recently received amazing news: not only was he accepted into grad school at LSU, but furthermore, he received a fellowship grant and will in effect be paid to go to college (congrats!). On the one hand, I am very excited for him and wish him all the best. On the other hand, I am despondent that my new brewing location will shortly be no longer accessible. Looking at the calendar, my brewing partner and I decided we had just enough time to brew one last batch before he leaves in early June.

Although my brewing partner expressed interest in brewing a Belgian, I had my trepidations due to a complete lack of experience in brewing anything in that broad definition of a style. Throwing caution to the wind and stepping off the cliff of experimentation, we decided to go for broke on what may be our last batch of beer together. Our decision was helped along by fortune dropping a tripel recipe into my lap.

Brewing a Belgian proved to be only slightly different than brewing a traditional ale. We had to monitor the mash temperature a little more closely and remember to dissolve the candi sugar before adding it to the mash, but there was nothing too disorienting about the process thanks to my experience brewing other styles.

The wort was a couple degrees warmer than I would have like when we pitched the yeast, but a careful transportation of the carboy to the basement and the yeast took over less than twelve hours later, producing tempestuous activity and the brew continued to ferment vigorously for quite some time.

Although I am sad to see my friend go, I am excited for him to begin the next stage in his life. I am also excited for the two liquid mementos we brewed before his departure: the Bagombo IPA, which we will be bottling tomorrow and the Granfalloons Belgian, which will experience different storage conditions in our cellars separated by 2,358 miles (an interesting experiment in itself), but it is good to have put the effort into creating these ales together before our lives diverge.

Montana Road Trip

My best friend moved over to the Bitterroot Valley in western Montana a couple of years ago to pursue a job and to be closer to his family. Being just a four hour drive away, we have maintained our friendship through various digital means and by taking numerous road trips. My friend earned a spot on the Bitterroot Blaze semi-pro football team this year, so my girlfriend and I made the trek to see him play a game and support the team.

Leaving after work on Friday, we did not reach Missoula until late in the evening. My friend drove up from Corvallis, where he lives, to meet us at the Iron Horse Pub for some dinner and brews. The Iron Horse always has a large selection of Montana-brewed beers including Bayern, Big Sky and Kettlehouse. We decided to split a pitcher of Bayern’s Dump Truck, a special Summer Bock that enticed me because Bayern is heavily influenced by the brewer’s German heritage and they brew quality beers. Pilsner malt, German sauermalt and Montana-grown spitz malt combine to give the beer a substantial mouthfeel with sweet, bready tones and using German Hallertauer and Tettnang hops round off the sweetness, making this bock an easy quaffer despite its high alcohol content. The proprietary yeast strain that was specially designed for this beer lends a myriad of nuances to the flavor profile, hinting at red berries and other fruits, citrus, green earth and caramel. Dump Truck didn’t knock my socks off, but it was an enjoyable offering from a solid brewery.

Thirsty Zymurgist Score: 39/50

Saturday saw us taking a short morning hike at nearby Lake Como and then cobbling together a late lunch before my friend had to get ready for the game. We drove him to the game and got to soak in the community that was there to support the Blaze before the game started. The stands filled up quickly even though the horizon was clearly threatening rain and we all bundled up against the wind. The game moved in fits and starts, as both the Blaze and the visiting team from Utah had solid defenses and could never quite click on offense. After being awarded a safety, the Blaze scored a touchdown late in the first quarter and were able to add to it as the game wore on and they had to fight off a desperate surge by the team from Utah in the fourth. The game ended 22-6, marking the first time the Blaze had a touchdown scored on them and their tightest margin of victory all season. All in all, it was a great game.

The team had a celebratory meal at a makeshift beer garden beyond the north end zone where the various players’ wives had thrown together a huge potluck meal and someone had provided a keg of Bud Light. My girlfriend and I snuck in our own craft beers so we were able to enjoy the evening. The Blaze invited the team from Utah to join in the fun and a couple of guys took them up on the offer. It was good to see the Montanans hospitality after such a bitter game and the Utah guys fit right in with their football and farming stories. We Washingtonians from the city were the only ones out of place (but we were never made to feel that way).

I never would have thought I would have enjoyed a semi-pro football game as much as I did and I am glad that I got the opportunity. Go Blaze!

Brewing an IPA

Since being announced in front of Congress in 1988, National Homebrew Day has been celebrated by brewing enthusiasts and beer lovers around the country and the globe. The AHA organizes a yearly “Big Brew,” a commemorative recipe meant to be brewed around the world simultaneously and which yielded over 13,000 gallons brewed by over 5,000 people in six continents in 2009. My friend has never brewed a batch and offered up his home as a brewery if I agreed to teach him what I know, so we seized the occasion to brew our inaugural batch together. Admittedly, we would be brewing our own recipe for an IPA and we would be three days late, but life comes before beer more often than we would like and we would be contributing our five gallons to the greater cause none the less.

Having procured the last few pieces of equipment and the ingredients the day before, I was ready to head over to my friend’s house at 9am. We got the equipment in order, did the preliminary cleaning and then began bringing our water up to temperature. Once there, we began steeping the grains and I was happy to once again fill a house with the smell that comes off of a brew kettle; bready, sweet and inviting. After a nice long bath for the grains, we sparged them and began bringing the water to a boil. We then removed the kettle from the burner just long enough to stir in the malt extracts and, once the brew was back on the burner and up to a boil, we added the bittering hops.

Forty minutes until the next hop addition gave us plenty of time to clean and sanitize the rest of the requisite brewing paraphernalia. That done, we added the hops and went to the basement to utilize fifteen minutes to ready the carboy. One final hop addition and a five minute finishing boil and then we whisked the brew kettle down stairs to be dunked in an ice bath (in lieu of a wort chiller). Down to pitching temperature, we funneled and filtered the wort into the carboy and added water to top off the volume. A final transfer back upstairs to the pantry and then we pitched the yeast and set the blow off tube.

After a final round of clean up, my friend and I headed out to get some lunch and he remarked how he felt like we accomplished something and was surprised at the combination of skills that goes into brewing. I couldn’t agree more.

At its finest, the art of brewing owes much to the worlds of both refined scientific knowledge and practical know-how that, once combined with wholesome ingredients and honest labor, produces a precious liquid gold that nourishes the body and fortifies the soul. Seek the Alchemist, indeed.

It may not be possible for everyone to celebrate National Homebrew Day by actually brewing. If you are counted among that lot, my recommendation is to start assembling your kit for next year, seek out a new friend that homebrews or go to your local brewery, buy a pint or five and thank the brewer.

Actually, that last recommendation stands pretty much every day of the year. Sláinte!

Final Night in Orange County

After a long day at the office, it was time to make another stop by Selma’s Tap Room. I was running out of days in Orange County and lamenting that I only able to peek in the windows at Cismontane Brewing in Rancho Santa Margarita; I would be getting on a plane about the time the tasting room would be opening the next day. What better way to sooth my wounds but with a pint at my (adopted) local?

Parking in front of the television with the Habs-Caps Game 7 nearing its final minutes, I spied a new handle or two behind the bar. My bartender, gracious as always, offered tastes of the Stone Imperial Russian Stout and Selma’s own Hefeweizen. The hefe is brewed by Firestone Walker exclusively for The Tap Room and it went down citrusy and smooth, but a little too sweet for my tastes and while the Stone never disappoints, I was in the mood for something Belgian. Ommegang’s Three Philosopher’s presented itself as a fine choice.

Poured into a tulip glass, the beer was deep reddish brown that retained just a small collar of suds when the head dissipated. Caramel and candy sugar sweetness mingle with red berries, banana, spices and bread that waft up through my nose before I take my first taste which adds luscious chocolate with the slightest hints of clove and peppercorn before fading to malt and cherry lingering on the tongue. The alcohol is noticeable but never approaches over-powering. An amazing blend of a malty quadrupel and a cherry lambic from the consistently delicious Brewery Ommegang in Cooperstown, New York, Three Philosophers gives a quaffer much to contemplate and praise.

Thirsty Zymurgist Score: 47/50 (9.8% ABV)

As I was finishing that delicious brew, a couple of gentlemen sat near me at the bar. One of them ordered a Three Philosopher’s as well and I applauded him on his good taste. A conversation ensued that slowly revealed that we shared an intense passion for all things beer. Then my compatriot introduced himself as Evan from Cismontane Brewing. We continued to discuss beer in slightly more technical terms and before I left to meet up with my sister and her family, Evan told me to let him know next time I am in California and maybe I can get a short tour of their facilities. All things considered, it proved to be a fortuitous final night in the O.C. for this zymurgist-in-training and I look forward to my return in June.