Posts Tagged ‘the friday question’
The Friday Question
Friday, 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
The Friday Question
Friday, 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 Friday Question
Sunday, March 13th, 2011
Yeah, o.k. it’s Sunday but cut me some slack people, it was a brutal 5 brew day week last week and yesterday I had a long day in D.C. for the Brewer’s Ball (which was a great event by the way). I had planned to post Friday evening after Jacob went down for the night but made the mistake of deciding to watch CSI first! Of course I woke up on the couch in the middle of the night barely able to move my neck, ho hum. So anyway, here it is … the fashionably late Friday Question. But first let me ramble on about other beer related news. Strongman Sorachi Ace is out and about now, seek it out and let me know what you think. Sorachi Ace is like no other hop I’ve used, it imparts some very interesting flavors & aromas. It’s famed for having a lemon citrus finish but there is so much more happening in this beer. It has the malt backbone & underlying sweetness you’d expect of my Strongman series, with hints of caramel/toffee as a result of both the crystal malt used (hence the golden color) and of course the yeast metabolism. The first thing that I noticed about the beer were hints of vanilla, almost as if it had been oaked and indeed a gentleman at The Brewer’s Ball last night was convinced that it was barrel aged. Personally it’s my favorite of the series so far. I’m not sure what hop(s) I’ll use for the next brew yet but your suggestions are welcome. I’m also edging closer to brewing the single hop Bramling Cross version of Ironman that I’ve been threatening for the last year (trying the wonderful BrewDog Bramling Cross “IPA Is Dead” has served to strengthen my resolve!) By the way we shared some of the leaf Bramling with our friends at The Brewer’s Art which they have used in their latest Zodiac brew, which I believe should be on tap by the end of this week …can’t wait to try it. Speaking of the Brewer’s Art, we’re planning a “triple brewery tap takeover” of Meridian Pint in D.C. in April along with Stillwater Ales. You can expect to see a few exclusives there, including a blended “sweet & sour” cherry ale … half of our sweet Cherry Blossom Ale, half Brewer’s Art Sour Cherry Ale! Yum! The latest Meridian brew will also debut at the event.
The whole “exclusive” brew for a particular bar thing seems to be catching on! In the wake of the Meridian brew we’ve received a couple of enquiries from other venues interested in brewing something … I’ll keep you posted should these ventures progress beyond the planning stage.
So, onto the Friday Question. Last week I asked how many owner operated brewpubs brewing in Great Britain at the end of 1972.? The answer, I’ve got to admit, surprised me. My source material informs me that a hundred years previously there had been 30,000 pubs & beerhouses brewing, representing almost 25% of the total commercially brewed beer. In 1972 there were 4! Incredible! That makes Bryan F. this weeks winner. Congratulations sir, you win a growler of Oliver Ale and a bottle of something (I’ll pick up from the Wine Source later).
I’ll be brewing the Cherry Blossom Ale very soon, what is the percentage of malted wheat in the grist for this brew? As usual please answer via the comment option below. A growler of Oliver Ale is up for grabs.
The Friday Question
Friday, February 18th, 2011
Channel Crossing #3 in oak at Max's today!
… and it’s not just any Friday … it’s the first day of the legendary Belgian Beer Festival at Max’s Taphouse, without doubt one of the most amazing beer festivals I’ve been to … have you seen the beer list … it’s incredible?! This year I have the privilege of not just being an eager attendee but, by virtue of my collaborative relationship with Stillwater Ales, having a beer pouring there … awesome, I feel like a proud Father again! Brian & myself debut Channel Crossing #3 today, an “Anglo-Belge Barleywine” … in an oak barrel … on the beer engine!!!! It doesn’t get much better than this! I’ve just cleaned the lines and tapped the draft at the Ale House and I have to say, I’m a happy man. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do! The Oliver Ales anniversary ale, “18″, also debuts at the Ale House today. It’s a smoked porter brewed with 18 lbs each of smoked malt, chocolate malt, flaked barley, dark crystal malt and malted wheat on a base of Optic pale ale malt. It’s got a subtle, slightly sweet smokiness and I’ve got to say, I’m lovin’ it (but not in a McDonalds way!) If you happen to be in Fells Point at Max’s today, take the time to stop in at Bertha’s across the street where there will be a pre-release cask of Biere de Garde on gravity pour today. As usual it’s fermented with Brewer’s Art Resurrection yeast but this year sees a different recipe (as I had a lot of different Franco-Belge malts available as a consequence of my recent brews with Stillwater) …it’s deep amber in color, 6.8% abv … haven’t had a chance to sample it myself yet though!
O.K., onto the Friday Question. Last week I asked how Porter can be detrimental to your health and one of you hit the nail on the head, though Bryan F. provided scant details, he wins with his observation that “A tank of porter burst and drowned some english folks a long while back.” Indeed, on 17th October 1814 a disaster occurred at the Meux Brewery when a 20, 000 gallon vat of Porter burst sweeping away tenements and killing 8 people “by drowning, injury, poisoning by fumes and by drunkeness’! Congratulations Bryan. This week, as you may know I’m taking a break from the brewery and returning to Dear Old Blighty. As soon as I walk out of here on Monday morning, my first vacation for almost 4 years begins … what will be the first beer that I drink on vacation? As a prize I will bring back a bottle of something from my trip that isn’t available over here. As usual, answer via the comment option below, good luck.
The Friday Question
Saturday, February 12th, 2011
OK, I know, I’m a day late (again) but it was a busy day yesterday and I couldn’t find the time! I’m almost at the end of my brew marathon. Porter today, Ironman Monday and maybe a Red Tuesday and then no brewing for 2 weeks. Lots of processing/kegging of course next week but I am looking forward to not digging out a mash tun, that’s for sure. We’ve got some cool events going on in the next week as well. Monday is, of course, Valentine’s day so sees the release of Hot Monkey Love batch #3, a 10% abv strong ale brewed with 17lbs/barrel of honey. So, for all of you gentlemen who’ve been procrastinating and bashfully lurking outside Victoria’s Secret, get it done, make her happy and then come along to The Pratt Street Ale House and get some Hot Monkey Love! Ladies, don’t feel left out, I encourage you to come partake in some Monkey lovin’ also! I’ve been trying to decide whether I should tap a cask of “My Monkey’s Got Wood” (American Oak) or a cask of “My Minkey’s Got wood” (French Oak) for the release and then it dawned on me … it’s a no-brainer … French is the language of love, so My Minkey’s Got Wood it must be! On Wednesday I’ll be at the Columbia Firehouse in Alexandria for a very special cask event (see previous post for details). Friday sees the release of our 3rd Channel Crossing collaboration with Stillwater Ales. It will debut in oak cask at Max’s Belgian Beer Festival and will be on draft at The Ale House. Also on Friday, Bertha’s in Fells Point will have a pre-release cask of the new Biere de Garde (6.8% abv, fermented with Brewer’s Art Resurrection yeast) on gravity pour, take a breather from Max’s and grab a pint! As I’m sure you realise, we brewers like nothing better than releasing new beers so I’m very excited to announce a triple release for the D.C. market at ChurchKey on sunday 20th at 4pm. Brian of Stillwater Ales and myself will be there to welcome Channel Crossing #3, Hot Monkey Love & Stillwater’s “25 to 0ne” to D.C. Each will be available on draft and cask and, in the case of Channel Crossing, it is an exclusive cask with roasted, caramelised cocoa nibs and vanilla beans! Hope you’ll be able to join us.
Got wood? Our Monkey does .... come get some lovin' on Valentine's Day!
So, onto the business in hand, The Friday Question. There are two correct answers to last week’s question …. sort of …. my book of trivia states that “S.S. Egholm is sunk by a mine on passage from Leith to London with a full cargo of Wm. Younger’s beer” (on this day in 1945) which makes Dave Abernathy a winner (despite getting the ship’s name slightly wrong). However, when I researched the vessel it is commonly reported that it was sunk by a torpedo from U-2322 which makes Platypotamus a winner also. Congratulations gentlemen, you both get a growler of Oliver Ales and a bottle of something from the brewery fridge. I have to say, I loved all of the less serious answers … it was my intention to award a prize to my favorite but I simply can not choose between them so it would be my pleasure to buy all other participants a beer … stop by the Ale House or catch me at one of our events. For this weeks question I return to my book of bizarre beer related facts … HERE GOES … I’m partial to a pint of Porter but it can be detrimental to your health … how so? As usual, please answer via the comment section and if you haven’t got a clue, make me laugh and there could be a beer in it for you. Good luck, a growler of Oliver Ale is up for grabs.
The Friday Question
Friday, February 4th, 2011
Ah, Friday, here again so soon?! If you follow the brewery on facebook (oliver ales) you’ll already know that I’m on a bit of a brewing marathon at the moment. I’m taking a vacation in a few weeks and popping across the pond to Dear Old Blighty so I’m brewing like crazy to make sure that there’ll be plenty of beer flowing while I’m away! Among these brews there’ll be a couple of one-offs. Already in process is “eighteen”, a smoked porter, brewed to celebrate 18 years of Oliver Ales. I’ll be racking it tomorrow and it should be on tap in a couple of weeks. This week also saw the brew day for my Biere de Garde. This year sees a different recipe as I had some interesting Franco-Belge malts left over from the recent Channel Crossing brew. As was the case with last year’s brew though,it’s being fermented with Resurrection yeast, generously provided by our friends at The Brewer’s Art. I’ll be aging a few firkins on French oak. The Biere de Garde will be released in early March. Speaking of Channel Crossing, our collaboration with Stillwater Ales, #3, a barley wine style, fermented with Rochefort yeast and Ringwood yeast will debut at Max’s Belgian beer festival. It will be available on beer engine from a 10 gallon oak barrel and on draft. Tomorrow I’ll be brewing the Sorachi Ace single hop Strongman Pale Ale. I’m looking forward to seeing how those hops change the beer, I’ve never used the variety before.
See you at Max's Belgian Beer Fest!
Look out for the Pagan Porter on tap now at The Hamilton Tavern and Godgifu on tap soon at The Falls and The Tavern in St. Leonard. A firkin of Old Habit will be the featured cask at Metropolitan on Thursday 10th February. Next thursday’s cask at The Pug will be the Bishop’s Breakfast with coffee.
So, last week’s Friday Question marked the occasion of my Father’s 73rd birthday which makes Mr. Sandy Mitchell the winner. Congratulations Sandy, now you can stop complaining that you never win! This week I’m turning to my book of “facts, fables & folklore from the world of beer’. The question is this … in February of 1945 a shipment of Wm. Younger’s beer was lost … how? Now, unless you happen to own the same book (which, no doubt, someone does) chances are you might have a little trouble with this one so I urge you to be creative! I will be judging not only the correct answer but the most creative/amusing answer, so have at it! A growler of Oliver Ale is up for grabs as well as a bottle of “something”!
Cheers
The Friday Question (Goodbye 2010) Part 2.
Monday, January 3rd, 2011
Channel Crossing #3 mash
After a 90 minute stand in the mash tun at 152F the wort was pumped into the brew kettle and hot liquor was sparged across the mash surface.
sparging the mash
Wort was collected over a three hour period and boiled for two hours. Hop additions were made at the start of the boil (First Gold), one hour into the boil (Cascade) and 5 minutes prior to flame out (Kent Goldings). The hop back was packed with a 3:1 ratio of whole leaf Kent Goldings and Bramling Cross through which the boiled wort is passed prior to cooling during collection in the fermenting vessel.
Leaf hops are steeped in hot liquor in the hop back
Belgian Dark Candi Syrup and brown sugar were added to the boiling wort 10 minutes prior to flame out and the wort was rested for 45 minutes post boil. Wort was transferred to fermentation at 70F and pitched with a Rochefort yeast slurry obtained from Brian’s recent Anniversary Ale fermentation.
Brian pitches yeast during wort transfer
The final wort gravity was 1.096+ so we’ll be aiming to ferment to around 10.5 % abv.
The Channel Crossing fermentation
The beer will be released at Max’s Belgian Beer Festival in February in draft and a 10 gallon oak barrel on beer engine.
It seems appropriate that, as the Olivers/Stillwater collaboration was the last brew of the year, the last Friday Question of the year (if you excuse my late post) should follow the theme. The prize this week is therefore a growler of Oliver Ale and and the two beauties pictured below.
the question is this … what is the gyle (batch) number of the Channel Crossing #3 brew? Please enter via the comment option below and good luck!
The Friday Question
Friday, December 10th, 2010
Ah,Friday again. Jacob’s Winter Celebration has just about finished fermenting … it’ll rest overnight (to help facilitate diacetyl reabsorption by the yeast) and will be crash cooled tomorrow. I’ll be racking casks on Monday and transferring the remainder to a conditioning tank. The Hot Monkey Love is fermenting nicely despite the plunging ambient temperature in the brewery and has dropped from the original gravity of 1.099 t0 1.048 since the start of fermentation on Tuesday evening. I also have a double batch of Coventry Cream Ale and a batch of Ironman in fermentation. Next week I’ll be starting with a Blonde Ale followed by the Scottish Ale, the all new “Godgifu” another Ironman and finishing off with a Dark Horse mild. Somehow I’ll also squeeze in a pint night at Clyde’s in Columbia on Tuesday evening so please brave the cold and come out for a Winter Warmer with me.
There was a nice spread of answers for last week’s question but there was a subtle clue in there for the detectives among you (or those with too much time on their hands). I mentioned that I’d be purchasing the prize from The Wine Source which, as it happens, is where I purchased my bottle from. The possibility exists therefore that the bottles at The Wine Source are from the same case run and indeed Scott took the bait and his guess of 2048 was closest to the actual number of 2046 (incidentally, the prize bottle is 2040). I checked with Scott today and he indeed confirmed that he checked which number bottle was still on the shelf at the shop. Congratulations sir, you win a Fraoch 20th Anniversary and a Lazy Boy Brewing Mistletoe Bliss (kindly donated by previous winner Mike). Speaking of donations, another previous winner, Peter, was kind enough to drop by with a bottle that I’ll be using as this week’s prize. It’s a bottle of Ale Smith’s (San Diego) “Yule Smith”.
Wouldn't that look nice in your fridge!
I’ll also pick up a bottle of something else festive to add to it. The question is this … one of the ingredients of next weeks brew “Godgifu”, a Chestnut brown ale, 7% (ish) abv is malted wheat …. what percentage of the total grain bill does the wheat contribute? Good luck and, as usual, please post your answer via the comment section below.
Don’t forget that the Strongman Pale Ale is back on tap at The Ale House now and this time it’s been brewed with all American hops (Cascade, Chinook and Mounthood). Also, if you haven’t tried the Merry Ole Ale yet come and do it soon, we’re on the last keg!
Cheers
Steve
The Friday Question
Friday, December 3rd, 2010
I love this time of year … I always seem to end up brewing more Fall/Winter seasonals than I do in the Spring and Summer and I have a “one-off” scheduled every week for at least the next 4 weeks. Today I’m brewing “Jacob’s Winter Celebration”, a “seasonally adjusted” version of the Summer Celebration. I’ve kept the same specs in terms of abv and hop additions but have tweeked the malt a little. I’ve substituted crystal 65 for caramalt and added a little black malt to deepen the color and I’ll also be adding a little orange peel into the mix! The brew will be released at the Pratt Street Ale House on Tuesday 4th January at 5.35pm (as Jacob turns 6 months old) on both cask (with oak) and draft, I hope you’ll come along and join me for a tipple! Next week I’ll be brewing Hot Monkey Love batch #3 which will be released on Valentine’s Day 2011 along with an oak barrel of batch #2 which has been aging since June. The following week I’ll be brewing the Scottish Ale for January release and just before Christmas Brian (Stillwater Ales) will be back in the house for Channel Crossing #3. Shortly after that I’ll be brewing an ale with the folks of Meridian Pint in DC which will be sold exclusively at The Ale House and Meridian Pint. As ever I’ll post updates on the blog and the Oliver Ales facebook page.
There was a nice response to last weeks question and a good few of the answers were pretty close but there can only be one winner and this week it’s Mike with his guess of $1.75. Congratulations sir, you win a growler fill of your choice and a bottle of Three Philosophers 2007 Belgian Style Blend (which has remained unclaimed from several weeks ago and, after all, it is the season for re-gifting!) The correct answer (as shown below) was $1.80.
On to this week’s question. On Jacob’s first birthday next July I shall obviously be celebrating with a glass or two of Jacob’s Summer Celebration which will be released that day. I will also be enjoying a bottle of Fraoch 20th Anniversary Ale which I’m saving for the celebration. The Fraoch is a limited run of 7500 bottles … which number bottle is mine?The prize will be (as long as they’ve still got some in the Wine Source) a bottle of the Fraoch. Have at it and good luck. As always please post your answer via the comment option below, the closest to the actual number gets it. Cheers!
The Friday Question (Updated)
Friday, November 12th, 2010
No messing about with last week’s question … the answers came thick and fast and one hit the nail on the head … William weighed in at 9lb 14oz at birth which makes AB the winner. Congratulations, you win a growler of William’s Winter Warmer, a bottle of 2007 Three Philosophers blend and the BrewDog/Mikkeller bottles rolled over from the previous week.
You have probably already heard the sad news that the Wild Goose brands are being discontinued by current label owners Flying Dog. For an overview of the history of the Wild Goose brand check out Sandy’s excellent post at http://beerinbaltimore.blogspot.com/2010/11/wild-goose-beer-1989-2010.html . As a tip of the hat to one of the area’s pioneering craft breweries I’ve popped the cap on a bottle of’ ’97 Snow Goose and I’m offering up a six-pack of the same as this week’s prize … that’s right ’97 Snow Goose! I’ve given this beer away before, I had a case of it in cold storage but we’re down to the last few bottles now. Obviously I can’t guarantee the quality of the beer but the bottle I drank this afternoon was still pretty damn good, a little thinner maybe but after all these years, still drinkable, a testament to the quality of the brewery (still back in Cambridge in those days). Regardless, it’s still a little piece of local craft beer history and I know that some of you collectors out there will enjoy it. I’ve got to admit, I’ve never tasted the Flying Dog brewed version so maybe if I can get hold of a sixpack of the latest Snow Goose I’ll add that to the prize so that you can make a “then and now” comparison.
A little bit of local craft beer history up for grabs!
No question this week though … if you want the prize just enter your name via the comment section below and a winner will be chosen at random next Friday. Good luck!
Update : Thanks to the generosity of local beer aficionado Nick, we have a six pack of the latest Flying Dog brewed version of Snow Goose to add to the ’97 for the prize!