Such Great Heights



Standing on top of Independence Pass (12,095 ft)

 My torrid love affair with the state of Colorado resumed last week as Mrs. HolzBrew and I visited Boulder and Vail on vacation.  The trip was largely made possible by my fun loving in-laws, for which I am eternally grateful.  The trip involved plenty of hiking, cycling, and eating and of course plentiful consumption of Colorado craft beer.

A highlight of the trip involved a visit to the Avery Brewing Co taproom for beer and dinner.  While we tasted several beers at the taproom, the most remarkable beers I tried were the Lilikoi Kepolo and the Columbus/Chinook IPA.  The Lilikoi Kepolo as described by Avery is, "... slightly sour and on the palate is very fruity, with plenty of wheat, a hint of citrus and generous taste of yeast. The mouth feel is dry, yet refreshing, which makes for the perfect early summer drink."  I couldn't agree more!  This is definitely the king (or should I say Queen?) of summer beers.  As mentioned, the Columbus/Chinook IPA was really good as well.  I was skeptical at first as many Chinook beers to me taste overly earthy, but this IPA had more to offer.  Maybe I should reconsider brewing with Chinook (for those who are unfamiliar, Chinook is a type of American hop).

In other news, I should be bottling my first brew in Bloomington, Hoosier Daddy IPA, this week.  Also, as I mentioned in my previous post, upon my return from Colorado I was greeted by approximately 15 lbs. of wheat from a friend in Kansas.  I need to learn how to clean and malt wheat.  Does anyone know how?  If so, please drop me a line.  I'm thinking of brewing a Trappist fermented wheat wine with it.

Holz   

The Church Brew Works

A few weeks ago, Meg and I were up in Pittsburgh for a wedding and we had a little time before the service started. As you'd probably expect, my brain started thinking of a cool beer related thing to do. Several years ago I remembered reading an article in Beer Advocate magazine about a church that was converted into a brewery. Through the modern magic of the iPhone (Meg's not mine. I've got a BB, frowny face.) I was able to find the address and operating hours of the Church Brew Works. Upon entering, we were blown away by the shear sight of this fantastic establishment. The picture above is an accurate depiction of what the inside of this place looks like. Just stunning! They actually brew where the altar used to be.



We promptly got seated in an old converted pew and ordered lunch and brew (rhyme intended). We both order a Pittsburgh buffalo chicken salad which included French fries in the salad (people in the ‘burgh will put fries on freaking everything). The salads were tasty, but the brew was even better. I got the opportunity to try the Saaz Monster and the Dunkel. Both brews were incredible, but the Saaz Monster really stood out in my head, because it never occurred to me to highly hop a brew with Saaz hops before. I love using Saaz as aroma hops in Belgian ale, but I’ve never experimented with them in other beers.


A few days later I emailed the brewery and inquired about the recipe. Steve Sloan, the brewery manager, was kind enough to get back to me with some solid parameters to attempt a homebrew clone of this beer. If you are in Pittsburgh and have a couple of extra hours, find this place. You will not regret it! Below is my first shot at a Saaz Monster clone recipe. I hope to brew it sometime this fall.


Saaz Monster Clone


Style: Unassigned    
OG: 1.064
Type: All Grain    
FG: 1.016
ABV: 6.29 %
Calories: 209
IBU's: 42.86
Efficiency: 70 %
Boil Size: 5.83 Gal
Color: 6.8 SRM
Batch Size: 5.00 Gal

Boil Time: 60 minutes


Fermentation Steps

NameDays / Temp

Primary 7 days @ 62.0°F

Secondary 21 days @ 70.0°F


Grains & Adjuncts

Amount Percentage Name Time Gravity

13.00 lbs  92.86 % Pale Malt (2 Row) US60 mins 1.036

1.00 lbs  7.14 % Melanoiden Malt60 mins 1.037


Hops

Amount IBU's Name Time AA %

2.00 ozs 25.13 Saaz First Wort 4.00

2.00 ozs 15.22 Saaz 20 mins 4.00

2.00 ozs 0.00 Saaz 0 mins 4.00

2.00 ozs Saaz 7 days4.00


Yeasts

AmountNameLaboratory / ID

1.0 pkgKolsch YeastWyeast Labs 2565

Mash Profile

Medium Body Infusion In60 min @ 154.0°F

Add 17.50 qt ( 1.25 qt/lb ) water @ 170.9°F

Sparge

Sparge 15.10 qt of 170.0°F water over 60 mins

Mainely Awesome

Meg and I just returned from a fantastic week long trip to Maine. The scenery was beautiful, the hiking was fantastic, and the beer was pretty damn good. All of the successful ingredients for a relaxing vacation.

In addition to touring and visiting many fine brew pubs and beer bars, we had the opportunity to tour the Allagash Brewery. A fantastic way to spend a few hours if you find yourself around the Portland, ME area. Additional highlights were Navare Res and Gritty McDuff's in Portland, as well as, Lumpoc Cafe in Bar Harbor.

A few pictures from the trip:


Standing next to a couple of barrels of my favorite wood-aged brew, Allagash Curieux


Meg hanging out between the bubble mountains


The Maine shoreline

Visiting Brasserie Cantillon

If you like sour ales, chances are that you've at least heard of Cantillon. While I was in Brussels I had the opportunity to visit the brewery. When you first enter right off the streets you get the feeling that you shouldn't be there. You find yourself in a warehouse type building. And it is somewhat dark and there is the constant drone of machinery in the background.


After your eyes adjust to the light and you acclimate yourself to your new surroundings, you kind of shuffle 10 - 15 yards from the door where you are greeted by an attractive middle aged blond haired woman. She efficiently explains that you have signed up for a self guided tour of the brewery, which upon your completion you are entitled to two free beers. She gives you a quick run down of your stops along the way and sends you stumbling off into the brewery.


Once you find the first stop on the tour you start to realize just how cool the place is. The brewery is somewhat old, but very functional. The immediate charm of the dusty brewery starts to rub off on you. You realize that this place brews ale that is spontaneously fermented, so they really can't risk cleaning the brewery head to toe with bleach, because the brewer wants to attract the microbes that are required to inoculate the brew. Their coolship is beautiful and the barrel room even more striking. And the cobwebs, ah yes, the cobwebs. The brewery is full of cobwebs because as the wort cools overnight in the coolship the brewer believes that the spiders catch errant insects lurking around the brewery, therefore keeping those bugs out of the cooling wort.


Their beers are unmatched in terms of quality. The basic gueze is a blend of aged and young lambic, and more importantly it is incredibly quaffable. The Kriek and Framboise, aged with Cherries and Raspberries respectively are not sweet girly beers. These bad boys pack some sour punch and they finish quite dry. As complex as any wine you've ever had. In short, you've got to try them.

The brewer and owner Jean-Pierre Van Roy was a teacher by training. However, his wife was a Miss Cantillon. And her father who was the previous brewer and proprietor asked Van Roy to take over the brewery or he was going to close it. No real option, he took it over. Below is a picture of me and Jean Pierre.


If you've got the time and your in Brussels and you want to see how authentic Belgian sour ale is produced, this is your place!

-HolzBrew

Belgium Flashbacks

-HolzBrew

A Few Amsterdam and Belgium Shots

Some cities

Some cities just aren't beer destinations. I've been in Miami for a few days and the craft brew options at the restaurants I patroned were more or less nothing. I managed to find the only brewpub in Miami Beach (however, I don't think they brew on premises), Abbey Brewing Company. Despite what is listed on the website, they only had one self-brewed beer available, an IPA. After telling this to Meg she said that they weren't really a brewery, but rather an IPA-ery. The brew wasn't half bad, but not hoppy to really be considered an IPA.

-Holz

Monks (Cafe) and Madness

(the view of Logan Circle from our hotel balcony)

Meg and I took a quick 24 hour trip to Philly this weekend, just to get out of town. We did the obligatory Philly touristy things. We had cheesesteaks and went to the art museum. We also went to the famous Monk's Cafe for dinner and experienced the madness that is Monk's Cafe. First, despair, upon hearing that the wait for a table would be at least an hour. Then, hope, when a single seat at the bar became open after a few minutes. Next, satisfaction, after getting the bar man's attention after patiently waiting for 15 minutes and eventually tasting some their fine libations.

Eventually a second seat opened at the bar and we had dinner there. We each put in for an order mussels and frites. I had a Monk's Cafe Flemish ale there which was pretty cool. All in all it was a cool experience, but the place was packed and they only had one bartender. With all the press and the great reputation I can't believe they haven't expanded that place.

-Holz

Where Brooklyn at?

Above, a slightly edited camera phone picture from my trip to Brooklyn Brewery on Sunday.

We enjoyed some of the brewer reserve offerings, Blast and Detonation, as well as, the Weisse and Sarabrossa. All excellent beers. The chill environment at the brewery made for a relaxing visit. Highly recommended if you are in the NYC area.

-Holz

2. Sour ales are all the rage on the west coast, and for good reason. They are awesome.

1. Porters are better in the Pacific NW. Something about the cool and cloudy weather makes porters taste better

I've learned at least two absolute truths during our west coast trip thus far:

Back in the USA

Meg and I are traveling the Pacific NW because she just graduated from her Masters program. She gets one last hurrah before starting a real job. We just spent three days in Vancouver. Vancouver was a beautiful city (see picture of a cloudy day in Vancouver), highlights included seeing grizzly and black bears up on Grouse Mountain, fantastic sushi, Granville Island, and hikes along the waterfront. Unfortunately the beer in Vancouver was pretty mediocre. We tried brews from many local establishments and the only place of note was Yaletown Pub.

Last night we pulled into Seattle and found a proper pint or two at Pike Pub and Brewery (their 'XXXXX Extra Stout' was life changing). It felt good to be back in the US, drinking American beer. We've got a couple of more days in Seattle and then on to Portland.

Cheers,

HolzBrew

Hotlanta and HolzBrew Happenings

During my stay in the glorious south I learned a few things. Chiefly, that Atlanta is a bad ass city for beer. I was somewhat surprised considering that until 2003 the state of Georgia was restricted to beers with 6.0% ABV or lower. Second, Sweetwater is the king of the thing in Atlanta.

While in Atlanta for the Hokie - Tide game (the game that need never be mentioned again, from hereon forward) I managed to sneak in a little beer travel. On the flight, I remembered to bring a BeerAdvocate from last year that featured Atlanta. We were put up in Midtown at the Hotel Palomar (great name, sounds like Shalamar). The closet bar to the hotel was Marlow's Tavern and as this trip was for a bachelor party, we spent many an hour at Marlow's. I was pleasantly pleased to find that Marlow's had a nice selection of draft craft. I got by with a steady diet of Sweetwater's 420 Pale Ale and IPA.

Other haunts that we hit up while on the prowl were The Vortex, a biker style bar with an impressive selection of draft and bottled beer; Engine 11, a cool bar setup in an old firehouse, make sure to ask for Quickie, he'll buy you a shot on the house; Taco Mac, this place wins hands down for most robust draft selection I have ever seen with 140 on tap; Sidebar, a sister bar to Engine 11; Front Page News, a New Orleans style bar with a bloody mary bar and plenty of Sweetwater on draft; and STATS, a massive sports bar, that I was lucky enough to find Terrapin Rye Pale Ale at.

I tried a whole lot of different beers while in ATL, but I'd have to say Sweetwater's IPA was the most impressive. A very balanced IPA, the maltiness and hopiness are quite evenly dominant. The hops provide an intense floral flavor. The malt gives a bready and biscuit flavor.

My only regret was that I did not get to visit the famous Brick Store Pub in Decatur. Oh well, I guess you've can't check everything off the list, because then you'd never have a reason to go back.

Other happenings lately in the homebrew world, I racked the Tripel Sunrise today to secondary. I siphoned off a little for a taste and was pleasantly surprised. Real sweet and fruit juicy up front with a noticeable hop kick. The only thing negative was that it was somewhat dirty in appearance, with lots of yeast in suspension. But considering that I plan to shelf it for at least another 2.5 months before bottling, I hope some of that yeast with fall out of suspension.

I also brewed a Belgian brune ( or brown) ale today. This one I kind of threw together without much in the way of research, but sometimes I find that you are pleasantly surprised when brewing with nothing but an idea. I racked the wort on top of the Tripel Sunrise's yeast cake. Instead of using my usual immersion chiller setup, which frequently takes well over an hour to chill to 75 degrees, I immersed the copper tubing in a bucket of ice water and ran the wort through the tubing. Next time I am going to have to add more ice, because the wort came out around 95 degrees, which is most likely going to mess with my brune.

Last, I have been kicking around a brew project in my mind for the last week or so. Operation barleyquor, why stop at barleywine? Barleyquor would be a naturally fermented libation hopefully reaching 25% ABV. Is it even possible? I have no idea. I have read up on some homebrewers making 120 IPA clones such as Homebrew Chef at 21% ABV. I think this would be a great novelty to brew that could be enjoyed over the next couple of years.

That's all for now. Stay inspired!

-HolzBrew