Thursday, August 27, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Brewhouse Sessions: Wet-hop 'Hurricane Harvest' DIPA
Results from the wet-hop 'Hurricane Harvest' DIPA brew session, they are a little off the mark, believe it or not we had issues - again! This little system just doesn't like this many hops.
Problems:
- my electronic scales are out of calibration which I didn't discover until after the first two hop additions so the beer may very well be more bitter than anticipated, the quantities could be off by as much as 10%, then allow another 10 - 20% either way for the guesstimate of alpha acid content.
- getting the wort out of the kettle with that many hops in there was the real issue. I stuffed the 2" kettle outlet with a copper pot scrubber, tested water flow through it which was great and since whole hops act as a natural filter knock-out from the kettle to fermenter should have been a breeze. NOT. The scrubbie became clogged nicely with proteins and other trub matter before the hops had the opportunity to build a filter bed around the outlet. Not good at all. I ended up getting all the wort in the fermenter after four long, sweaty hrs. I backflushed, I siphoned, I cursed, I pumped, I stirred, I prayed then I cursed at least once more. I mean really, there was no need of that, not at all. I ended up with about 30L of H2O blended into the wort from backflushing several times to unclog the scrubbie, that diluted the OG down to 17P/1.070. Thankfully the kettle is insulated and sealed to keep the heat and volatiles in the wort but crap, what a long steep on the finish hops. I think it's still going to be a fantastic beer, but I never want to attempt a duplication of this process!
Next year I am looking for nylon mesh body bags. Results below:
Brewhouse Yield = 79%
- Actual = 81%
Target Colour = 9.7 SRM
Target IBU's = 78.6
Target Mash Temp = 152F/66.666C
- Actual = 153F
Mash Time = 20 mins
Boil Time = 75 mins
- Actual 90 mins
Brew Length = 570 L
- Actual 600 L
Target Plato/OG = 17.4P/1.072
- Actual = 17.0P/1.070
- Final Gravity = 3.4P/1.013
Potential ABV ~ 7.6%
- Actual ABV = 7.5%
H2O Added From Wet-hops = 32 L
Yeast - Ringwood Ale pitched @ 67F
Fermentation = 70F
Malts & Adjuncts:
Canadian Pale Ale - 160kg - 88.89%
Melanoidan - 5kg - 2.78%
Carapils - 5kg - 2.78%
Crystal 75 - 5kg - 2.78%
Cane Sugar - 5kg - 2.78%
Total = 180kg - 100%
Liquor/Grist Ratio = 2.9:1
Wet Hops @ assumed 5% A.A. - Wet/Dry Ratio = 5:1
Cascade @ 40 mins = 10kg = 49.4 IBU
Cascade @ 15 mins = 5kg = 8.6 IBU
Cascade @ 10 mins = 7.5kg = 9.8 IBU
Cascade @ 6 mins = 10kg = 10.8 IBU
Cascade @ 2 mins = 7.5kg = 0.0 IBU
Total = 40kg fresh wet hops = 8kg dried or ~ 3.65lbs/bbl hop rate
- 3.5lbs/bbl hop rate
Primary fermentation = 4 Days
Crash Cooled Conditioning = 8 days
Tapped @ 12 days out from brew day
Knock-out time from the kettle to fermenter was 4 hrs which had me a little worried but the end result is a beautiful thing. It's tasting fantastic.
Problems:
- my electronic scales are out of calibration which I didn't discover until after the first two hop additions so the beer may very well be more bitter than anticipated, the quantities could be off by as much as 10%, then allow another 10 - 20% either way for the guesstimate of alpha acid content.
- getting the wort out of the kettle with that many hops in there was the real issue. I stuffed the 2" kettle outlet with a copper pot scrubber, tested water flow through it which was great and since whole hops act as a natural filter knock-out from the kettle to fermenter should have been a breeze. NOT. The scrubbie became clogged nicely with proteins and other trub matter before the hops had the opportunity to build a filter bed around the outlet. Not good at all. I ended up getting all the wort in the fermenter after four long, sweaty hrs. I backflushed, I siphoned, I cursed, I pumped, I stirred, I prayed then I cursed at least once more. I mean really, there was no need of that, not at all. I ended up with about 30L of H2O blended into the wort from backflushing several times to unclog the scrubbie, that diluted the OG down to 17P/1.070. Thankfully the kettle is insulated and sealed to keep the heat and volatiles in the wort but crap, what a long steep on the finish hops. I think it's still going to be a fantastic beer, but I never want to attempt a duplication of this process!
Next year I am looking for nylon mesh body bags. Results below:
Brewhouse Yield = 79%
- Actual = 81%
Target Colour = 9.7 SRM
Target IBU's = 78.6
Target Mash Temp = 152F/66.666C
- Actual = 153F
Mash Time = 20 mins
Boil Time = 75 mins
- Actual 90 mins
Brew Length = 570 L
- Actual 600 L
Target Plato/OG = 17.4P/1.072
- Actual = 17.0P/1.070
- Final Gravity = 3.4P/1.013
Potential ABV ~ 7.6%
- Actual ABV = 7.5%
H2O Added From Wet-hops = 32 L
Yeast - Ringwood Ale pitched @ 67F
Fermentation = 70F
Malts & Adjuncts:
Canadian Pale Ale - 160kg - 88.89%
Melanoidan - 5kg - 2.78%
Carapils - 5kg - 2.78%
Crystal 75 - 5kg - 2.78%
Cane Sugar - 5kg - 2.78%
Total = 180kg - 100%
Liquor/Grist Ratio = 2.9:1
Wet Hops @ assumed 5% A.A. - Wet/Dry Ratio = 5:1
Cascade @ 40 mins = 10kg = 49.4 IBU
Cascade @ 15 mins = 5kg = 8.6 IBU
Cascade @ 10 mins = 7.5kg = 9.8 IBU
Cascade @ 6 mins = 10kg = 10.8 IBU
Cascade @ 2 mins = 7.5kg = 0.0 IBU
Total = 40kg fresh wet hops = 8kg dried or ~ 3.65lbs/bbl hop rate
- 3.5lbs/bbl hop rate
Primary fermentation = 4 Days
Crash Cooled Conditioning = 8 days
Tapped @ 12 days out from brew day
Knock-out time from the kettle to fermenter was 4 hrs which had me a little worried but the end result is a beautiful thing. It's tasting fantastic.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Hop Harvest - Success!
The hop harvest was a great success thanks to all the volunteers that stepped up to the plate. It was a fun day for everyone involved and a great way to spend a beautiful Saturday with friends, beer, food and hops all contributing to making this epic event a total blast!
Update & wrap-up: Now that I've got a little sleep here's a brief run-down of the day - We arrived at Lazy Acres Hopyard about 9:00 a.m. and started picking right away in the field - we quickly realized the forecast for showers wasn't going to happen with the hot sun beating down on us and NOBODY had sunblock! Change of plan was needed so we cut the vines down and lugged them under a large tree with a picnic table and harvested the cones there all day. Hopyard owner Josh Herbin did most of the vine lugging for us as we picked flowers, and picked and picked and picked, these little suckers are as light as a feather, I figure we picked somewhere in the vicinity of 100,000 - 120,000 hop flowers and around 50kg's in total. 40kg for the brewery batch then a kg or so for those that wanted some. When we were done raping the hopyard there were about four vines left standing in the field, Josh suggested we take them too since the hurricane would most likely destroy them so we cut them down and threw them in the trunk of my car. The crew riding with me took their respective vines with them as I dropped them at their homes back in Halifax. Big healthy beautiful 3rd year vines. Josh also supplied us with tons of food and fluids even though the latter weren't touched much since most seemed to prefer the keg of hoppy wheat pale ale we had on site. There were 12 of us from Halifax as well as Josh and a couple of his friends whom also helped for the last hr or so, the last of the crew left the naked field some 6 hrs after arriving.
It couldn't have went any better and couldn't have been any more fun! This will definitely become a yearly event that I, and I think everyone else will look forward to. It's a very close and romantic connection to the finished product we'll be quaffing in just a few short days. I'm hoping we'll see (and taste) a few clones of our recipe popping up around the city too :) I can't thank the volunteers enough for helping to make this happen and a big thank you to Hurricane Bill for prompting us to get the job done in fine style.
As one soulful volunteer put it:
We had a professional photographer onboard that snapped a ton of shots, I hope to have a few to post over the next couple days. The photos below are from my old 5mp Olympus. Click on the photos to enlarge
Update & wrap-up: Now that I've got a little sleep here's a brief run-down of the day - We arrived at Lazy Acres Hopyard about 9:00 a.m. and started picking right away in the field - we quickly realized the forecast for showers wasn't going to happen with the hot sun beating down on us and NOBODY had sunblock! Change of plan was needed so we cut the vines down and lugged them under a large tree with a picnic table and harvested the cones there all day. Hopyard owner Josh Herbin did most of the vine lugging for us as we picked flowers, and picked and picked and picked, these little suckers are as light as a feather, I figure we picked somewhere in the vicinity of 100,000 - 120,000 hop flowers and around 50kg's in total. 40kg for the brewery batch then a kg or so for those that wanted some. When we were done raping the hopyard there were about four vines left standing in the field, Josh suggested we take them too since the hurricane would most likely destroy them so we cut them down and threw them in the trunk of my car. The crew riding with me took their respective vines with them as I dropped them at their homes back in Halifax. Big healthy beautiful 3rd year vines. Josh also supplied us with tons of food and fluids even though the latter weren't touched much since most seemed to prefer the keg of hoppy wheat pale ale we had on site. There were 12 of us from Halifax as well as Josh and a couple of his friends whom also helped for the last hr or so, the last of the crew left the naked field some 6 hrs after arriving.
It couldn't have went any better and couldn't have been any more fun! This will definitely become a yearly event that I, and I think everyone else will look forward to. It's a very close and romantic connection to the finished product we'll be quaffing in just a few short days. I'm hoping we'll see (and taste) a few clones of our recipe popping up around the city too :) I can't thank the volunteers enough for helping to make this happen and a big thank you to Hurricane Bill for prompting us to get the job done in fine style.
As one soulful volunteer put it:
I honestly can't think of anything I'd rather be doing than sitting in the shade on a hot sunny day in the country, drinking your hoppy ales, and picking hop buds while yakking with a bunch of beer geeks.
We had a professional photographer onboard that snapped a ton of shots, I hope to have a few to post over the next couple days. The photos below are from my old 5mp Olympus. Click on the photos to enlarge
A hop in the hand is worth.....?
Dry-hopped in the glass
The last of the vines taken back to Halifax in the trunk for harvesting at home
Some of the team with 40kg's of the hops stacked in the SUV.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Wet-Hopped 'Hurricane Harvest' Ale Recipe
Here is the recipe for this years wet-hop harvest ale. May the fermentation gods be with us all so we can sit down to a beautiful pint in a couple weeks or so.
Target Brewhouse Yield = 79%
Target Colour = 9.7 SRM
Target IBU's = 78.6
Target Mash Temp = 152F/66.666C
Mash Time = 20 mins
Boil Time = 75 mins
Brew Length = 570 L
Target Plato/OG = 17.4P/1.072
Potential ABV ~ 7.6%
H2O Added From Wet-hops = 32 L
H2O PPM Sulfate = 300
Mash: Malts & Adjuncts:
Canadian Pale Ale - 160kg - 88.89%
Melanoidan - 5kg - 2.78%
Carapils - 5kg - 2.78%
Crystal 75 - 5kg - 2.78%
Cane Sugar - 5kg - 2.78%
Total = 180kg - 100%
Wet Hops @ assumed 5% A.A. - Wet/Dry Ratio = 5:1
Cascade @ 40 mins = 10kg = 49.4 IBU
Cascade @ 15 mins = 5kg = 8.6 IBU
Cascade @ 10 mins = 7.5kg = 9.8 IBU
Cascade @ 6 mins = 10kg = 10.8 IBU
Cascade @ 2 mins = 7.5kg = 0.0 IBU
Total = 40kg fresh wet hops = 8kg dried or ~ 3.65lbs/bbl hop rate
My yeast strain is yet to be determined because I don't have any! - since this wasn't supposed to happen until next week after my yeast arrives. I will post up what I get my hands on to pitch as well as all the real numbers from the brew session after I get the little beast in the tank.
Edit: brewhouse session for this beer here
Target Brewhouse Yield = 79%
Target Colour = 9.7 SRM
Target IBU's = 78.6
Target Mash Temp = 152F/66.666C
Mash Time = 20 mins
Boil Time = 75 mins
Brew Length = 570 L
Target Plato/OG = 17.4P/1.072
Potential ABV ~ 7.6%
H2O Added From Wet-hops = 32 L
H2O PPM Sulfate = 300
Mash: Malts & Adjuncts:
Canadian Pale Ale - 160kg - 88.89%
Melanoidan - 5kg - 2.78%
Carapils - 5kg - 2.78%
Crystal 75 - 5kg - 2.78%
Cane Sugar - 5kg - 2.78%
Total = 180kg - 100%
Wet Hops @ assumed 5% A.A. - Wet/Dry Ratio = 5:1
Cascade @ 40 mins = 10kg = 49.4 IBU
Cascade @ 15 mins = 5kg = 8.6 IBU
Cascade @ 10 mins = 7.5kg = 9.8 IBU
Cascade @ 6 mins = 10kg = 10.8 IBU
Cascade @ 2 mins = 7.5kg = 0.0 IBU
Total = 40kg fresh wet hops = 8kg dried or ~ 3.65lbs/bbl hop rate
My yeast strain is yet to be determined because I don't have any! - since this wasn't supposed to happen until next week after my yeast arrives. I will post up what I get my hands on to pitch as well as all the real numbers from the brew session after I get the little beast in the tank.
Edit: brewhouse session for this beer here
Hops.....
....the beautiful flower we all love and crave so much!
Click on the image for the uber-hopped edition
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Call For Volunteers - HURRICANE HOP HARVEST!
Ladies and gentlemen we need your help to make more great beer at the Hart and Thistle!
What: Hop Harvest
When: Sat August 22nd 2009, 9:00 a.m. sharp (weather permitting) - leaving HRM ~ 8:00 a.m.
Where: Lazy Acres Hopyard - 2055 Melanson Rd., Wolfville, NS
Why: Simply put: Hurricane Bill. Josh Herbin owner of Lazy Acres Hopyard is having a very tough time rounding up enough hands to pick 40kg's of fresh Cascade hops in one day for us to do a wet-hop harvest ale and is worried the looming weather forecast for this Sunday from Hurricane Bill could destroy or seriously damage the prime flowers which were scheduled to be picked next week! Since Lazy Acres doesn't have million$ in harvesting equipment we need help to make this feasible for the brewery and the hop farm both.
This means we need to round up a crew of at least 8 - 10 able hop pickers for a few hrs of fun this Sat. August 22nd 2009 weather permitting. The more the merrier, I'd love to see more like 20 - 30 of us to bang it out and git'er done fast!
Remuneration:
- I am offering 1kg of fresh wet hops to every set of hands on deck but you have to pick them yourself (after we achieve our 40kg goal!)!
- Refreshments (b-e-e-r)!
- Treats down at the Hart and Thistle at the release party for the wet-hop brew you helped make happen which has yet to be named!
- Full disclosure of the recipe for the wet-hop beer which I will post here on the blog for cloning your own, or simply as a point of interest as you sit and enjoy the finished product!
If you're a homebrewer, 1kg of fresh hops equates to ~6 - 7oz of dried hops - lots to make your own wet-hop beer or dry them yourself at home and use them as you please throughout the year!
Photos and video of the harvest party will be posted here by next week!
Please post here in the comments below or email me directly if you can help this Sat!
Transportation: If you need transportation or would like to carpool I will have room for four adults plus myself in my car, we can meet at a predetermined spot in HRM for pickup. Bruce Keith, owner of the H&T should also be joining us and drives an SUV. If required, volunteers with a vehicle will be appreciated!
Thanks so much for any and all help! I will update this post as we progress!
Update:
Volunteers confirmed so far:
1 - Nash
2 - Bruce Keith
3 & 4 - Chris McDonald & his better half!
5 - Jeremy Stewart
6 - Catherine Webb
7 - Kai Miller
8 - Judith Booth
9 - Chris Lumsden
10 - Sarah Howell
11 - John Macky
Local Celebrity Volunteers:
12 - Andrew Murphy
13 - Bruce MacKinnon
***Hop are prickly little buggers & the forecast is calling for showers so I have a couple recommendations for the gang of ever-so-kind volunteers:
- bring workgloves or gardening gloves - I bought a dozen pair of light cloth gloves today!
- wear a lightweight long sleeved shirt (or you will hate your arms (and possibly hops! This could be disastrous!))
- bring a sandwich just in case - Update: Josh Herbin has informed me he's a cookin'! There will be plenty of food and water onsite!
- bring insect repellant
- be in high spirits and only think about the beer you'll be drinking in two weeks (or so)!
View Larger Map
What: Hop Harvest
When: Sat August 22nd 2009, 9:00 a.m. sharp (weather permitting) - leaving HRM ~ 8:00 a.m.
Where: Lazy Acres Hopyard - 2055 Melanson Rd., Wolfville, NS
Why: Simply put: Hurricane Bill. Josh Herbin owner of Lazy Acres Hopyard is having a very tough time rounding up enough hands to pick 40kg's of fresh Cascade hops in one day for us to do a wet-hop harvest ale and is worried the looming weather forecast for this Sunday from Hurricane Bill could destroy or seriously damage the prime flowers which were scheduled to be picked next week! Since Lazy Acres doesn't have million$ in harvesting equipment we need help to make this feasible for the brewery and the hop farm both.
This means we need to round up a crew of at least 8 - 10 able hop pickers for a few hrs of fun this Sat. August 22nd 2009 weather permitting. The more the merrier, I'd love to see more like 20 - 30 of us to bang it out and git'er done fast!
Remuneration:
- I am offering 1kg of fresh wet hops to every set of hands on deck but you have to pick them yourself (after we achieve our 40kg goal!)!
- Refreshments (b-e-e-r)!
- Treats down at the Hart and Thistle at the release party for the wet-hop brew you helped make happen which has yet to be named!
- Full disclosure of the recipe for the wet-hop beer which I will post here on the blog for cloning your own, or simply as a point of interest as you sit and enjoy the finished product!
If you're a homebrewer, 1kg of fresh hops equates to ~6 - 7oz of dried hops - lots to make your own wet-hop beer or dry them yourself at home and use them as you please throughout the year!
Photos and video of the harvest party will be posted here by next week!
Please post here in the comments below or email me directly if you can help this Sat!
Transportation: If you need transportation or would like to carpool I will have room for four adults plus myself in my car, we can meet at a predetermined spot in HRM for pickup. Bruce Keith, owner of the H&T should also be joining us and drives an SUV. If required, volunteers with a vehicle will be appreciated!
Thanks so much for any and all help! I will update this post as we progress!
Update:
Volunteers confirmed so far:
1 - Nash
2 - Bruce Keith
3 & 4 - Chris McDonald & his better half!
5 - Jeremy Stewart
6 - Catherine Webb
7 - Kai Miller
8 - Judith Booth
9 - Chris Lumsden
10 - Sarah Howell
11 - John Macky
Local Celebrity Volunteers:
12 - Andrew Murphy
13 - Bruce MacKinnon
***Hop are prickly little buggers & the forecast is calling for showers so I have a couple recommendations for the gang of ever-so-kind volunteers:
- bring workgloves or gardening gloves - I bought a dozen pair of light cloth gloves today!
- wear a lightweight long sleeved shirt (or you will hate your arms (and possibly hops! This could be disastrous!))
- bring a sandwich just in case - Update: Josh Herbin has informed me he's a cookin'! There will be plenty of food and water onsite!
- bring insect repellant
- be in high spirits and only think about the beer you'll be drinking in two weeks (or so)!
View Larger Map
The Times They Are a Changin'
And so is the Hoppin' Vice!
I dry-hopped it in the serving tank so it's getting hoppier by the hour - the 'Vice' just keeps squeezing harder and harder on those hops!
I dry-hopped it in the serving tank so it's getting hoppier by the hour - the 'Vice' just keeps squeezing harder and harder on those hops!
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Welcome Chef Colin Stone
Ladies and gentlemen - Colin Stone of O'Carroll's fame is in process of taking over the kitchen at the Hart and Thistle. Welcome aboard Colin, I'm looking forward to working with you and mowing down on some of your creations.
Chef Sean Kettley will be heading back to the NSCC Akerley Campus where he teaches the Culinary Arts. All the best to you Sean, I'm sure we'll be seeing you around the Thistle kitchen in your spare time - I hope so at least!
Cheers
Chef Sean Kettley will be heading back to the NSCC Akerley Campus where he teaches the Culinary Arts. All the best to you Sean, I'm sure we'll be seeing you around the Thistle kitchen in your spare time - I hope so at least!
Cheers
'Hoppin' Vice' - PWA (Pale Wheat Ale)
Born August 18th 2009
'Hoppin' Vice' is now on tap! Our latest release at the pub is a thirst quenching mini-hop-bomb in the form of an American Pale Wheat Ale, essentially an APA brewed with 40% white wheat malt.
Tasting notes:
Light hazy orange-ish appearance. Fruity esters with a citrusy, grassy zing from dry-hopping awaken the senses in preparation for the first swallow. Fresh, fresh, fresh. The ensuing mouthful doesn't dissappoint with bready yeast and biscuit notes, more grass, wood, fruit flavours of apricot, grapefruit and tangerine all dance together before leaving the floor with a spicy, lightly acidic, bright and crisp lingering finish.
Vital Stats:
Gravity - 11.4P/1.046
IBU's - 28
Hop Rate - 2.0 lbs/bbl
Malts - Pale Ale, White Wheat
Hops - Amarillo, Cascade
ABV - 4.8%
'Hoppin' Vice' is now on tap! Our latest release at the pub is a thirst quenching mini-hop-bomb in the form of an American Pale Wheat Ale, essentially an APA brewed with 40% white wheat malt.
Tasting notes:
Light hazy orange-ish appearance. Fruity esters with a citrusy, grassy zing from dry-hopping awaken the senses in preparation for the first swallow. Fresh, fresh, fresh. The ensuing mouthful doesn't dissappoint with bready yeast and biscuit notes, more grass, wood, fruit flavours of apricot, grapefruit and tangerine all dance together before leaving the floor with a spicy, lightly acidic, bright and crisp lingering finish.
Vital Stats:
Gravity - 11.4P/1.046
IBU's - 28
Hop Rate - 2.0 lbs/bbl
Malts - Pale Ale, White Wheat
Hops - Amarillo, Cascade
ABV - 4.8%
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Simcoe SMaSH is.......
.....dead and gone! What a terrible thing to have happen on such a beautiful day.
Cheers
Cheers
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Simcoe SMaSH...
....is on it's last legs people! It'll be gone very soon and it will be a sad sad day.
Hot on its heels we'll be tapping a Pale Wheat Ale (PWA) which is sort of a play on an American Pale Ale (APA) only it's brewed with lots of wheat making it a bit lighter and more refreshing with a slight acidity to it. It is 4.8% ABV and was brewed with all Amarillo hops in the kettle then dry-hopped with Amarillo and Cascade both. I hope to have this tapped on August 17th but will post back with any updates.
Cheers
Hot on its heels we'll be tapping a Pale Wheat Ale (PWA) which is sort of a play on an American Pale Ale (APA) only it's brewed with lots of wheat making it a bit lighter and more refreshing with a slight acidity to it. It is 4.8% ABV and was brewed with all Amarillo hops in the kettle then dry-hopped with Amarillo and Cascade both. I hope to have this tapped on August 17th but will post back with any updates.
Cheers
Friday, August 7, 2009
An Illicit (Slightly) Beer Tasting....
It was past 11:00pm Friday July 31st at the Halifax airport when Bruce Keith and I met Stephen Beaumont for a tasting of Black Nitro and 37hr Simcoe SMaSH. Stephen was on his way to the Great British Beer Festival but had a 90 minute layover in Halifax, just enough time for an impromptu beer tasting.
The Black Nitro was first up. Now it's pretty tough to bottle and transport a nitogenated beer but being somewhat creative, Bruce Keith served it from an N2 charged whipped-cream bomb, the latest in molecular gastronomy so to speak. Two 12oz stemmed flute glasses on the tailgate of Bruce's SUV in a nearby parkade - between swirls and somewhat poetic descriptors Beaumont dubbed the tasting 'shady' which brought on giggles all around. Surely my old and abused palate couldn't keep pace with Beaumont so I was all ears as he sipped - discussing subtleties and complexities of the black and bitter brew. Citrus hops, fruit, coffee, chocolate, caramel and the massive lingering finish.
Next we moved on to the 37hr Simcoe SMaSH which is more of a fun beer, for me at least with its intensely fruity palate, bouquet and long lingering bitterness. Beaumont agreed and had a lot of fun with the beer, he didn't seem to want to put the glass down until it was empty at least! The intense fruitiness is surprising - juicy grapefruit, mango, apricot and peaches with wonderful malt complexities of caramel, biscuits and toast derived from the 26hr simmer with a big lingering, well integrated bitter finish.
We had a great time and I was honoured to sit in (or actually stand-in) with Stephen for a personal tailgate tasting. The icing on the cake was a copy of the Beerbistro Cookbook he lugged with him from Toronto and signed for me during the tasting. Good times :) Thanks so much Stephen!
The Black Nitro was first up. Now it's pretty tough to bottle and transport a nitogenated beer but being somewhat creative, Bruce Keith served it from an N2 charged whipped-cream bomb, the latest in molecular gastronomy so to speak. Two 12oz stemmed flute glasses on the tailgate of Bruce's SUV in a nearby parkade - between swirls and somewhat poetic descriptors Beaumont dubbed the tasting 'shady' which brought on giggles all around. Surely my old and abused palate couldn't keep pace with Beaumont so I was all ears as he sipped - discussing subtleties and complexities of the black and bitter brew. Citrus hops, fruit, coffee, chocolate, caramel and the massive lingering finish.
Next we moved on to the 37hr Simcoe SMaSH which is more of a fun beer, for me at least with its intensely fruity palate, bouquet and long lingering bitterness. Beaumont agreed and had a lot of fun with the beer, he didn't seem to want to put the glass down until it was empty at least! The intense fruitiness is surprising - juicy grapefruit, mango, apricot and peaches with wonderful malt complexities of caramel, biscuits and toast derived from the 26hr simmer with a big lingering, well integrated bitter finish.
We had a great time and I was honoured to sit in (or actually stand-in) with Stephen for a personal tailgate tasting. The icing on the cake was a copy of the Beerbistro Cookbook he lugged with him from Toronto and signed for me during the tasting. Good times :) Thanks so much Stephen!
Monday, August 3, 2009
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