The Friday Question
April 22nd, 2011
A little over a year ago I sat in Max’s enjoying a beer with Brian Strumke, discussing a possible collaboration with his soon to be brewing venture, Stillwater Ales. A little time passed, Brian launched his Stateside Saison to much critical acclaim and exploded onto the local (and soon national) craft brewing scene. After the dust had settled a little we exchanged some e-mails and planned a series of collaborative brews, the Channel Crossing series, taking elements from both English and Belgian styles to create something (hopefully) unique that captures the essence of both. We brewed Channel Crossing #1 on 4/27/2010 and yesterday, a little short of a year later we brewed Channel Crossing #4. CC#4 is an Anglo-Belge take on an ESB, based largely on Oliver’s ESB but substituting Belgian Dark Candi Syrup, biscuit malt and Special B for the our normal English chocolate and crystal malts. It is fermenting with a Belgian yeast strain kindly provided by our friends at The Brewer’s Art (as used in their Proletary Ale). The “ESB” will be 6.7% abv and will debut at The Real Ale Festival at The Pratt Street Ale House on May 14th.
Brian pitching yeast into the CC#4 wort.
Lots of other new stuff on the horizon as well. On Monday I will have been gainfully employed as a brewer for 17 back breaking years and to celebrate I will be releasing “17″. I went back to my roots for this one … it’s an English session bitter, 3.8% abv brewed with Marris Otter malt with a touch of caramalt and malted wheat from maltsters extraordinaire, Thomas Fawcett & Sons of Castleford. It’s generously hopped with Kent Goldings and Bramling Cross and is an easy drinking delight! I’ll be having a couple of pints after my brew day on monday (3pm), come join me for a pint (which, by the way is only $3). Tomorrow I’ll be transferring Golden Glory to maturation tank. It’s a golden wheat ale brewed with root ginger, coriander and lemongrass and will be available late next week. Next week I’ll also be brewing a couple of one-off brews specifically for local watering holes. On Tuesday I play host to Dave from Punk’s Grill in Annapolis to brew an IPA for them (code name “Draft Punk”) … we’ll be using a lot of Cascade & Chinook and aiming for an abv in the mid 6%s. On Wednesday Chris of T-Bonz and Jason of Victoria Gastro Pub to brew a wheat ale (codename “HoCo Rising”) with agave and Elderflowers. Both brews should be available at their respective locations during American Craft Beer Week (and a limited supply will be on tap at The Pratt Street Ale House).
So, onto the Friday Question. Last week I’d asked how many times I’d brewed so far this year. It was a tricky one and you needed to take account of the fact that my recent vacation took out 2+ weeks of brewing (as I couldn’t brew during the week before my vacation as I wasn’t going to be there to process the brews)! Also we’ve had a little down time due to mechanical problems, mostly with the glycol system. That being said, as of last Friday I had put through 56 brews, not bad going I’d say! That makes Mr Mooy this week’s winner as he hit the nail on the head, congratulations sir, you win a growler of Oliver Ale and a few bottles of delicious Founders beers. This week another growler of Oliver Ale and a bottle of something tasty is on offer to the person who can tell me how many songs are on my i-pod (which is a constant companion during our brew days). You may recall I’ve asked this question before … I’ve added more songs of course but at least you have a starting point (if you can be bothered to dig through the blog archives!). As usual please post you
The Friday Question
April 15th, 2011
Brew day 5 of 6 today … busy, busy week and I don’t think it’s going to change any time too soon. Derek starts his brewhouse training next week and when he’s ready we’ll be stepping up to a 7 -8 brew week schedule … exciting times for sure … we’ll be squeezing in as many one off brews as we can get on tap. Speaking of one-offs I’ll be posting about the Fall Homebrew competition next week so look out for it. I saw last year’s winner, Judy, on the MPT documentary “Brewed On The Bay” last night so let that be a lesson to you … fame, if not fortune, could be yours! Judy, by the way, ruled with her “High Tea” bitter infused with black tea!
I have to say a huge thank you to the folks of Meridian Pint in D.C. for hosting the Baltimore tap takover this past Wednesday, it was a truly awesome event. It was great to see so many folks there enjoying what I’d consider to be an embarrasment of riches from The Brewer’s Art, Stillwater Ales and of course Olivers. Here’s a couple of photos courtesy of Alexander D. Mitchell IV, Mid-Atlantic Brewing News
Brian (Stillwater), Steve (Brewer's Art) and myself enjoying the calm before the storm!
Tapping "Jacob's Winter Celebration" aged in a beaujolais nouveau cask for 4 months. Sam Fitz, beer director of Meridian Pint, lends a hand!
OK, on to the Friday Question though it wasn’t a question … the Friday draw I should say! Each response was assigned a number, the numbered tickets placed in a pitcher and assistant brewer Derek pulled out the winning ticket which belonged to Mr. Tim Hoffman, congratulations sir. Full disclosure … Tim is an owner of The Falls in Mt. Washington, my local as it happens. A happy coincidence I assure you … there is no corruption in the corridors of power Oliver Breweries. This week I’m offering up a growler of Oliver Ales and a couple of bottles of Founders Ales. All I want to know is, how many times have I brewed this year thus far (and remember, I’ve actually had a vacation, albeit a short one)! Answers via the comment option, good luck.
The Friday Question
April 9th, 2011
It’s been quite a week, that’s for sure! Opening day at Camden Yards is always a “special” time for the brewery … A keg poppin’ good time at The Ale House of course translates into a frantic brew week down in the basement. I’m happy to announce the addition of Derek as assistant brewer, who, although new to game, has “got stuck in” and proven invaluable this week. We’re putting out a lot of beer at the moment. I had scheduled six brews but my baby boy got sick and I had to cancel one of those. Still, 5 brews this week, 5 next, 5 the week after …. you get the picture …. busy times! I also had the pleasure of hosting an Oliver Ales pint night at The Falls in Mt. Washington at which we tapped their first ever cask, 3 Lions Ale aged with French Oak. The cask kicked in timely fashion. There’s still a little of the Cherry Blossom Ale, Sorachi Ace Strongman and Biere de Garde left on tap so stop by for a pint if you get a chance, it’s a great place. Next week, Wednesday to be precise, I’ll be at Meridian Pint for the Baltimore Tap takeover with our friends Stillwater Ales and The Brewer’s Art. Here’s the provisional beer list:
Casks:
MP2: Le Revelateur w/ Vanilla & Cacao
Oliver / Stillwater Channel Crossing #3
Oliver Jacob’s Winter Celebration in Beaujolais Nouveau
Brewer’s Art Drafts:
Bière De Mars
Débutante (Collaboration w/ Stillwater)
Green Peppercorn Tripel
Ozzy
Resurrection
Sour Cherry Ale
Oliver Drafts:
18 Smoke Porter
Bière De Garde
Bishop’s Breakfast
Channel Crossing #3 (Collaboration w/ Stillwater)
Cherry Blossom Ale
Cream Ale
Hot Monkey Love
Le Revelateur
Strongman Sorachi Ace
Sweet & Sour Cherry (Collaboration w/ Brewer’s Art)
Stillwater Drafts:
25 to 1
Cellar Door
Existent
Quite an impressive line-up, I hope you’ll agree! Join us if you can.
OK, last week I asked what was first brewed in Britain in 1879? Some creative and amusing answers but the answer according to my source is that on the 19th April 1879, lager beer was first brewed in Britain by William Younger & Co. (Edinburgh). Rick Z. was first off the mark with lager but Jonathan chimed in with the brewery name so you both win a growler of Oliver Ale, congratulations gentlemen!
I hope by now that you are aware of the forthcoming Real Ale Festival to be held at The Ale House on May 14th. You can buy tickets at www.prattstreetalefest.com. There’s going to be a huge amount of wonderful beer there from your favorite local and national breweries and you know there’ll be some amazing rare treats that you’re not likely to see again. So this week I’m offering V.I.P. admission for two to the festival and all you have to do to participate is leave a comment via the option below and I’ll hold a draw next Friday to choose the winner. Sound good? Then get to it.
Cheers
Steve
The Friday Question
April 1st, 2011
Today is brew day 5 of this week and I’m not too proud to say I’m hurting and wishing I was 20 years younger! More of the same next week, the brewing schedule is pretty relentless at the moment but I have appointed a part time assistant to start Monday so there’s a glimmer of hope for my aching back. Of course Monday is opening Day at Camden Yards with all of the “fun & frolics” that ensues. Make sure you stop by for a beer before the game.
Don’t forget, Thursday 7th April is our Pint Night at The Falls in Mt. Washington featuring their first ever cask (3 Lions Ale with French Oak) as well as Sorachi Ace Strongman, Biere de Garde and Cherry Blossom Ale on draft. I’ll be tapping the cask at 5.30pm. Early birds will have a chance to grab a souvenir pint glass and I’ll be holding a free draw to win tickets to the Spring Real Ale Festival (draw at 6.30).
So, onto The Friday Question … oh, yee of little faith. Some of your estimates of the aerobic bacterial count in the Strongman sample I had analysed were, frankly, disturbing (and I’m especially pointing a finger at you Mr. Mooy!) Now I know that this basement is a crazy place to undertake open fermentation but c’mon, I’d like you to think that I know what I’m doing! So you may consider it to be the Miracle On Pratt Street but the actual answer was 0. Yep, that’s right … zero, zip, zilch! That makes Scott the winner with his guess of 8 … your faith will be rewarded with a growler of Oliver Ale!
This week I’ll return to my book of beer trivia to ask … what was first brewed in Britain in 1879? Easy really so have at it. Answer via the comment option and a growler of Oliver Ale could be yours.
Cheers
Steve
The Clone Wars Round-Up
April 1st, 2011
The Clone Wars is over! One stands victorious!
In case you’ve missed it, I’ve had the pleasure of hosting a Clone Wars Homebrew Competition in conjunction with Brandon of the Chesapeake Real Ale Brewer’s Society. This year we opened the competition up to other clubs and individuals and invited all to brew a “clone” of my 3 Lions Ale (a strong brown ale, 7.5% abv). I provided the recipe and technical aspects of the brew and of course our house yeast strain (Ringwood), the homebrewers did the rest. In mid March I sat down with Justin (Co-owner of The Pratt Street Ale House), Brad (Beer in Baltimore blog author) and Scott (friend and craft beer fan) and we blind tasted the 30 entries (or should that be “tasted until we were blind”). We tasted in flights of 5 and eliminated samples to give a final 8 which we then revisited for a more critical tasting to decide upon a final 3. We of course had no idea who the brewers of those 3 clones were until the award presentation yesterday evening. The results are as follows …
In third place … David Galloway, winner of a growler of Oliver Ale and 2 souvenir 3 Lions pint glasses.
In second place … Greg Slack, winner of a $25 Ale House gift certificate and a growler of Oliver Ale.
and (drum roll) the First Place goes to Kevin Berry, winner of the Clone tap handle trophy with all associated bragging rights, a $25 Ale House gift certificate and an invitation to join me for a 3 Lions brew day and a sixtel of the resultant brew. Congratulations Kevin, and to all who entered and set such a high standard to follow … kudos to you all.
photos courtesy of Sandy Mitchell
- Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Kevin Berry, winner of the Clone Wars.
Oliver’s Pint Night At The Falls
March 28th, 2011
I hope that you’ll be able to join me at the wonderful Falls in Mt. Washington on Thursday April 7th for our pint night. I’m honored to be tapping The Falls’ first ever cask ale (3 Lions Ale with French Oak) at 5.30pm. We’ll also have Sorachi Ace Strongman, Biere de Garde and Cherry Blossom Ale on tap. The early birds will receive a complimentary Oliver’s 3 Lions pint glass. we’ll also be holding a free draw at 6.30pm to win a pair of tickets to the forthcoming Spring Real Ale Festival at The Pratt Street Ale House. If you haven’t already checked out the Falls, you’re missing out, it’s an oasis of great beer and great food in Mt. Washington and it just happens to be my “local” which I’m pretty happy about. They’ve recently held events with Heavy Seas, Flying Dog and Stoudts. Come along and help me kill the cask and then hopefully it might become a regular venue for cask ales. Hope to see you there.
Mmmm, cask conditioned 3 Lions Ale ... come get some at The Falls!
The Friday Question
March 25th, 2011
Today is the day, the only local firkin of Sorachi Ace Strongman Pale Ale will be tapped at The Judge’s Bench at 5pm. I’ve got to say, I’m excited … I love the draft but haven’t tried the cask version yet. The only other 2 casks I filled went to ChurchKey and Meridian Pint in DC and are long gone. In fact I received the empty firkins back this week and they’re already washed and refilled with Old Habit. By the way, in case you didn’t already know, we’re staging a Real Ale Springfest at The Pratt Street Ale House on May 14th. Unlike last year’s festival, which was fairly low key, this one is going to be a biggie, featuring your favorite local breweries and as many regional ones as we can get our hands on! I’ll be giving away a pair of tickets to the festival at tonight’s event at the Judge’s Bench … the draw will be at 6pm.
So, last week I asked you to guess at the IBU value of the Strongman Sorachi Ace, which I recently submitted to White Labs for analysis. The analysis results were interesting, the abv was 9% which was as I’d calculated (up a little from the regular 8.6% as I had a great extract yield from this batch) but the IBU value was a little lower than expected. One thing is for sure, it’s not a “lite beer”, but I think we all knew that. The IBU result is shown below
Strongman Sorachi Ace Firkin At The Judge’s Bench This Friday
March 23rd, 2011
That’s right folks, mark your calendar … this Friday The Judge’s Bench will have the only remaining firkin of The single hop Sorachi Ace Strongman Pale Ale. Big and bold, 8.6% abv, full of crazy Sorachi flavors this version of the popular Strongman Pale Ale is probably my favorite thus far so I can’t wait to finally try it the way the Brew Gods intended, straight from the cask! I’ll be tapping it at 5pm …. be there!
We’ll also be giving away 2 tickets to the Spring Real Ale Festival (Pratt Street Ale House May 14th) at 6pm (and of course there’ll be some free glassware!)
The Friday Question
March 18th, 2011
Damn, another busy week at the Ale House …. the beer has been flowing big style, it’s been tough trying to keep up. Started a fresh yeast pitch this week (we house our strain with White Labs) which only allowed me to brew 3 times (first pitches have high viability but take longer to ferment) so Blonde, Old Habit & Ironman it was. Next week I’ll have to play catch up. The cherry puree arrived today from Oregon Fruit Farms, so Monday will see the Cherry Blossom Ale brew day, it’ll be on tap early April. On Tuesday I’ll have the pleasure of hosting Meridian Pint’s Beer Director Sam Fitz for the second Meridian brew day. We’ll be brewing a variation of the first recipe but this time fermenting with a Belgian Ale Yeast (tip o’ the hat to the fine folks at The Brewer’s Art again for letting us use rezzie yeast!). Speaking of brewing exclusive brews for a particular bar, we’ll be teaming up with Dave & crew at Punks Backyard Grill in Annapolis to brew a little something for them. We’ll be hammering out the details in the next couple of weeks but it’s looking like being an IPA, bittered with Chinook and Cascade, finished with Cascade and dry hopped with even more Cascade … gotta say I’m pretty excited about it as Punks is a very cool place and I’ve never really tried to brew an American style IPA before!
I hope you’re already aware that the very limited Sorachi Ace Strongman Pale Ale will be at the awesome Judge’s Bench on March 25th IN CASK …tapping at 5pm … come join me for one! I haven’t tried it from cask yet as the only other two casks went to D.C.
So, on to the business of the day, The Friday Question! Last week I asked what percentage of the grist of Cherry Blossom Ale did malted wheat constitute? This was sort of a trick question …. the Cherry BlossomAle is a wheat ale so you’d expect a relatively high percentage of wheat …true enough! However I’d asked for the percentage of malted wheat. The wheat proportion of the grist is comprised of malted wheat and torrefied wheat. The total wheat percentage is 43. Malted wheat represents 28% of the total grist. That makes Paul R. the winner with his answer of 30%, congratulations sir, you win a growler of Oliver Ale and a tasty 750 bottle of Ommegang Zuur. This week I offer a growler of Oliver Ale and a bottle of my current favorite tipple, BrewDog Paradox Port Dundas (their Imperial Stout aged in 1966 Port Dundas casks) The question is this … I’m not one for IBU’s but once a year we send a couple of samples off to White Labs for analysis as part of their QC Day promotion and, of course, IBU’s is one of the components analysed! I sent the Strongman Sorachi Ace … what will be the reported IBU value?
By the way, check out Chris’ account of his 3 Lions clone brew on the CSI Homebrew website at http://csibrewers.org/content/?p=452
The Clone Wars
March 16th, 2011
It’s over! The Clone Wars have been fought and won. Last night for a little over 2 hours Justin, Brad,Scott and myself sampled thirty homebrewed “clones” of my 3 Lions Ale to judge who had managed to come closest to the real thing. Kudos to all of the brewer’s who entered the competition and made a difficult job of it with some quality brews. We sampled each “blind” in flights of 5 narrowing the field to 8 which we revisited and reassessed. Throughout we cleansed our palates with saltine crackers and water and of course had the draft 3 Lions as our reference point (hey, it’s a dirty job but someone’s got to do it). One particular entry stood head and shoulders above the others and was a unanimous winner. Second place also came easy though had not been the one I’d predicted from the first round. Third place sparked some lively discussion and wasn’t my third place pick but I bowed to the majority of 3:1. Overall I think it was a great competition and I’m particularly pleased that so many people entered, I hope all of the brewers out there had fun with it and maybe will look on the much maligned Ringwood yeast and the joys of open fermentation in a new light. The results have been sealed in an envelope and will be revealed at an awards party, likely to be the evening of Thursday 31st at 6pm. I’ll confirm the date in Friday’s blog post. A huge thank you to Brandon for organising the competition and to the volunteer judges and stewards (Jeremy, Denise and Jason (( http://www.beercruiser.net/) from whom I’ve stolen the judging photo below) without whom it would not have been possible. Cheers!
hard at work!
