Saturday, May 13, 2006

 

Saison du Sevier

Today I made use of my new stainless false bottom for my 14 gallon kettle while brewing 10 gallons of saison. I am going to try to move to more and more whole-hops instead of pellets, and the stainless bottom gives me the perfect opportunity. I have to say that I have never had so wort so clear with so little debris in the fermenters as today's brew session, even with 1.5oz of Perle pellets for bittering - the whole Strisselspalt hops (6.5oz for 10 gallons) I used formed a natural filter bed.





After today my "whole leaf" hops inventory is limited to just 10oz of Strisselspalt 1.6% and some Northern Brewer, but I intend on slowly replacing my pellet hop inventory with whole hops. Yeah, they absorb wort and all that jazz, but with a false bottom - I don't ever have to worry about them plugging the valve again.

I tapped the Maibock tonight, and the McBride's several nights ago - I sure hope you guys love these as much as I do at the meeting on Friday. For a first attempt at a lager, I think the Maibock turned out AWESOME. My only quibble at this point is head retention, but it is CRYSTAL clear. I imagine my protein rest might have been a little excessive, and there are no head-forming proteins left anymore :-\. Good to keep in mind for my upcoming Belgian Pale and Tripel combo in a few weeks.

There was a private "Grand Opening" party at Twin Lakes today that was pretty cool. It was my first experience with their "Tweed's Tavern Stout", which was VERY roasty and tasty. I liked it alot, although I felt it needed a little more crystal to balance it out, but I would still buy the hell out of it over most commercial stouts. It had a deep coffee colored head, strong roasted notes, and a very smooth hop character that made it dangerously drinkable. Apparently one of our homebrewing friends from over in NJ assisted on this first batch - very cool.

It was also the first time I had tried their Greenville Pale Ale, which I must admit is equally quaffable and tasty. I do forsee a quarter keg of that taking up residency in my kegerator sometime in the future. I caught up with our Hockessin friends, the Zimms, who were there too.... Hopefully we'll see them at May's meeting.

While Mark Fesche was very busy during most of the day giving tours, I did get an opportunity to chat with him briefly. We'll cover some details at the May meeting... Any of you guys want to spend a day being his biotch and brewing a REALLY big batch of beer? I'd gladly scrub a mashtun and haul grain for the sheer experience of living a professional brewer's life for a day....

Comments:
HI Garrett, what is your address for the meeting? I may/may not be able to make it, but I want to make sure where it is. Thanks - Chris
 
Hey man! Drop me an e-mail and I'll send the details to you. Scott hasn't sent out the Wort's Hoppening newsletter yet... but I'll give you the info anyways. Its garrett @ firststatebrewers.com (no spaces).
 
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