End of the Hiatus a.k.a. Spring is Here!

I haven't brewed since September, probably the longest stretch in 5 years. To think a year ago, Tony and I were at it about 2 nights a week. I'm thinking of supplementing all grain brewing with a little extract here and there, just to keep the supply up. But until then, I'll be taking advantage of the legislative spring break and cooking up a Saison this week, which will be ready just in time for summer.

Seems like as good as a time as any to resume more regular blogging. Other social networking sites have diverted me from Capitol Brew-haha, but I'm back now. At least until some other distraction takes hold.

Saison Athene

One might not think of Florida as being a beer mecca--I surely didn't--until last night. A friend of mine, having missed my birthday outing, took me to the Muddy Pig for a beer, and was kind enough to agree to share a 750 ml bottle of Saison Athene from Saint Somewhere Brewing Company out of Trapon Springs, Fl.

It was easily one of the best Saison's I've ever had. Fruity and spicy and crisp, yet full of enough barnyard hay and grass to remind you that it's a Saison. I've never seen it on the shelf at a liquor store, but if I do, I'm buying a bottle or 12.

Saison for change

My home brew supply is dwindling--or at least I'm not drinking a bunch of my dark brews that will be better in October or November. The hefeweizen is gone, soaked up at a party. I have one bottle left of a couple different lagers, and one of the brown pale ale. So what do you do? Brew!

Tony, my brew compadre, had time on his hands to whip out a couple batches, while I was saving the children at the Minnesota capitol. So as soon as he skipped town to climb a mountain, I brewed a Saison. It was certainly a challenge doing it myself, from planning the recipe to measuring the water to filling the carboy, but I enjoyed getting more into the science of it. My friend and award winning homebrewer Don provides good advice, and he sat in for the mash. In some ways I leaned on him too much, but it's nice to get another perspective.

The beer is still in the primary fermentor, but it's ready to age a bit in a secondary. I'm excited to try it, as I added some orange peel and went light on the hops, and hopefully the yeast character will be interesting and tasty. I've been drinking a lot of Saisons this summer, so it will be good to compare.

While this summer certainly hasn't been the brew summer I expected, due mostly to our switch to all grain, which take a lot more time, things are about to change. Tony bought a 15 gallon brew kettle, so we can whip out 10 gallons at a time. Tomorrow will bring our first batch in the kettle, a pale ale. Yay!

Some Updates

Couple updates here for ya on a Saturday night as I'm waiting to get tired enough to go to bed.

***I received a nice email from the "Director of Quality" at Boulder Brewing about the culprit behind the recent bad batch of Hazed and Infused:

The number one problem with the Hazed and Infused you ran into was the actual age of the product. For whatever reason, we had beer on the shelves in MN well past the pull date, and old beer isn't usually a good thing. The pull date on the beer you came across was October 2, 2006, almost 6 months past it's pull-date at the time of purchase. Also, due to the fact that Hazed and Infused is an unfiltered beer, even the slightest contamination can cause serious flavor issues over a 9 month period. The age of this beer made finding the culprit very difficult, as we don't even store archive bottle samples for that long. The samples of the beer I got back from MN showed very little signs, other than the sour taste of course, of a wide spread contamination.

He also had this to share with me:

On another front, keep your eyes open for our latest release Cold Hop. Maris Otter malt gives this beer a unique maltiness and the Saaz and Nelson Sauvin hops finish it off perfectly.

Thanks, man.

***I learned at a visit to Big Top tonight that Bridgeport Brewing will no longer be distributing to Minnesota. Fortunately this meant that I got four six-packs at $4 a piece. Unfortunately you won't be able to drink beer from this solid brewery in Minnesota anymore, unless you come to my house in the next couple weeks.

***My home brew is aging well. The Sasion, still clocking in at about 5% abv., is sweet with a nice bitter undertone. A couple weeks will round it out and give it some more body. The ESB is near perfect, but lacks consistent carbonation, nothing a week or two more in the bottle won't solve.

***Finally, I tried this years' CynicAle from Surly, this time in a can. An amazing Saison, worth every penny. God, I love those cans.

Bottles and bottles

The Saison went into bottles last night! The final gravity was 1020, which, using a handy brew calculator, means the ABV is about 5%. I'm a little surprised that its so low, since I added a pound of candied sugar during the boil. It still needs another 6 weeks in the bottle, so maybe the gravity will change again. Either way, it will be a great session beer for the summer.



While bottling, we drank a bottle of Collaboration, not Litigation from Avery and Russian River. The story behind the beer is almost as good as the beer:

Salvation. The name of two intricate Belgian-style ales, created by us, Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River Brewing and Adam Avery of Avery Brewing. After becoming friends a few years ago, we realized that we both had a Salvation in our line-ups. Was it going to be a problem? Should one of us relinquish the rights? Hell no! we said. In fact, it was quickly decided that we should blend the brews to catch the best qualities of each and create an even more complex libation. In April 2004, in top-secret meeting at Russian River Brewing (well actually it was packed in the pub, and many were looking over our shoulders wondering what the hell was going on), we came up with the perfect blend of the two Salvations. Natalie, Vinnie’s much more significant other, exclaimed, We should call this Collaboration, not Litigation Ale! Perfect! we shouted. We celebrated deep into the night, (or is it morning?). Fast forward to November 14, 2006. After talking about it for over 2 years we finally decided to pull the trigger and Vinnie flew out to Avery to brew his Salvation exactly as he does in his brewery. This was blended with Avery’s Salvation December 11th, 2006. We hope you enjoy it as much we enjoyed brewing and blending it.

I couldn't have said it beter.

Spring will wait

This weekend wrapped up the much needed legislative spring break, marking the half way point of the 2007 session. I feel like I could use another week, as this year has been balls to the wall since day one, and I expect it to continue until May 21. At least it will be cold and wintery for the rest of the month, making it easier to sit through long committee hearings.

The extended winter also has made it difficult to switch to lighter beers, but I am trying. I made it to Town Hall Brewery this weekend for their limited release Wine Barrel Aged Saison, tapped in honor of the end of prohibition. Fermented for a year in a Honey Wine barrel, it was really like no other beer I have ever had. A little sweet, even a bit sour, but extremely pleasant to drink. I could see drinking this on a hot July afternoon, but unfortunately, they only had one keg.

While there I also had their legendary cask IPA, one of the best beers made in Minnesota, which prompted me to buy a growler of the non-cask version. They were also kind enough to let me have a sip of one of their guest taps, Duchesse de Bourgogne, a wild ale from Brouwerij Verhaeghe in Belgium. Yeah, that's right, I said, "Brouwerij Verhaeghe." It was amazing.

Finally I transfered my Saison to the secondary fermenter:

I shoulda taken a picture of the actual transfer, with the tubes and all, but I was transferring beer. As expected it's much clearer than when it went in the primary. And, as expected, it's already drinkable and a fine ale. But it deserves another couple months, to mellow out the hops and develop a little more character.

'Tis the Saison

The Saison is in the primary fermenter! I strayed from the original recipe and added some Belgian candied sugar for more flavor and alcohol (yeast + more sugar = alcohol). The original gravity--the first measurement to determine alcohol content--was aboout 1058, so this should weigh in at 6-7%.

Darren was along for the ride and helped me drink my second to last bourbon barrel porter. I shoulda waited to open the first bottle because it is so much better now than it was two months ago. Expecting this, I'm saving the last bottle for next winter.

As is the custom we imbibed on a specialty brew during the brewing, choosing Maudite from Unibroue, a strong amber ale. Unibroue, from Canada, only brews Belgian-style beer, and is always wonderfully consistent and cheaper than their Belgian counterparts. La Fin du Monde is another favorite.