Pilot Batch: Farmhouse Ales

If you've ever shared a pint with me, you know that I thoroughly enjoy the flavors of a rustic farmhouse ale.  It's a preference that developed over years of exploring the vast universe of craft beers.  I think that the past will shape the future, and this historically significant style of beer will certainly have an influence on what we do at The Good Beer Company.  With that, I dedicate this blog post to all things farmhouse, from funky barnyard and dry hay to lemon rind and tropical fruit.

Blending geographies, we start our journey in Wallonia, a French-speaking portion of Belgium, where Saison (literally, "Season" in French) was historically brewed to quench the thirst of seasonal farm workers.  The classic representation of the style started brewing commercially around the mid-eighteenth century.  Today, the array of farmhouse flavors inspire American brewers - including myself.

Farmhouse Ale:  To me, the flavors contributed by a used wine barrel meld seamlessly with the flavors of a farmhouse ale.  Last summer, I brewed a simple saison recipe with my friends and fellow homebrewers David Larsen and Mike Roberts.  We brewed up one wine barrel worth and it has been aging in my garage since then.  In December, we brewed up 20 more gallons,  pulled out a couple kegs worth, and refilled the barrel - a process called solera.  We brewed this recipe again last weekend to continue the process.  It's beyond exciting to always have a fine wine barrel aged farmhouse ale available.  The beer features soft oak, red wine, and fruity aromas and flavors with a tartness on the palate and very dry finish.

Wild yeast meets the West Coast:  Last summer I started experimenting with different yeast strains not commonly used in American beer production - Brettanomyces vs Saccharomyces (the later is used in brewing and wine production across the world, the former is often considered a spoilage organism in breweries and wineries).  While Brettanomyces throws of some unsavory flavors when used in a mixed fermentation (it can destroy years of hard work by a winemaker), the flavors it produces in a pure culture fermentation are what interest me.  I'm having a ton of fun blending the flavors of this wild yeast with some flavors we're much more used to here on the West Coast - hops!  The citrus, lemon, mango, pineapple and explosive tropical fruit salad flavors contributed by wild yeast pair up nicely with flavorful American hops prevalent in West Coast India Pale Ales and Pale Ales. 

I blogged about these experiments last summer and I'm happy to report that, with nearly a year worth of refinement, we're heading in the right direction.  

Beer Experiments

Between brewing pilot batches and moving Good Beer forward, August has been a busy month! 

This past month, the home pilot brewery crafted some really cool beer concepts.  I have several beers I'm extremely excited about, even though I haven't even tried them yet.  Between late July and this past weekend, I brewed a Farmhouse Strong, an Imperial Stout, a Sour Session ale, a Wild Pale Ale, and enough beer to fill a used oak barrel - literally.

The Farmhouse Strong was bottled almost two weeks ago.  The Farmhouse Strong is a dark, strong, American-hopped beer with Belgian yeast flavors.  It was fermented with a delicious Belgian Saison yeast blend which I've been using for a couple years with great success.  It is definitely my go-to Belgian yeast.  I added some dark malts (Special B and Chocolate) to try and achieve a chocolatey raisin flavor.  And, in the spirit of Southern California, I added copious amounts of Cascade, Columbus, and Chinook hops.  It clocked in at 8.0% alcohol by volume.  Like I said, I bottled it a couple weeks ago, and have yet to taste it, but it tasted great along the way.  I'll surely open a couple this weekend (Labor Day) while relaxing by the pool.

The Imperial Stout was inspired by the Haven Brewing Breakfast Stout brewed by my good friend Dave Larsen.  He used a lot of chocolate malt to create a viscous and decadent Breakfast Stout.  I had the pleasure of trying it from the fermenter a few months back, and had the barrel aged version on Monday night at the Haven 3rd Anniversary Party in Orange.  Anyways, I used a bunch of chocolate malt and as many malts as I could to create a thick, viscous mouthfeel.  This beer is sitting in fermenters right now, and I've been toying with the idea of racking it on some oak or vanilla beans before bottling it up.

The Sour Session ale was quite an experience.  I decided to try my hand at a pseudo-sour mash.  I've done a lot of research in sour mashing, recently, and it finally inspired me to try it out.  Boy, was that scary.  I mashed and sparged a grain bill for a pilot batch of pseudo-Berliner Weiss, then drained the wort to a 5 gallon corny keg.  In the corny keg, I let Lactobaccilus and a host of other microorganisms free.  For four days, the keg sat at about 104 degrees to promote the souring.  By day two, the keg was carbonated.  By day three, it was getting scary and I had thoughts of sour beer explosions in the garage.  By day four, I decided I could not just sit back while a time bomb sat in my garage.  I attached a beer serving line to the keg's "outlet" and put the other end in the kettle.  To my surprise, the keg was so carbonated that it pushed all the beer out and in to the kettle.  I boiled the beer (to stop the souring process), added hops, and I am fermenting it with an ale yeast.  It's an interesting experiment.

Photo: pH measurement of the soured session wort

I'm very much looking forward to the Wild Pale Ale.  It's a style that is just now becoming popular in the craft beer world, but wild ales have been brewed for ever.  My Wild Pale Ale is hopped up with citrusy American hops and fermented with Brettanomyces bruxellensis, bruxellensis 'Trois' and lambicus.  I have never used this yeast, and many brewers fear letting it loose in their brewery, but I can't let that stop me. From what I've been able to ascertain from internet research, B. bruxellensis 'Trois' is producing magnificent tropical fruit flavors - think pineapple, mango, papaya.  The B. bruxellensis and lambicus were added to the other fermenter to experiment with yeast blending and to compare the different strains.  Based on this, I thought a hoppy Pale Ale was the way to go.  I'll return with results in the future.

Photo: Brettanomyces yeast strains

Photo: Brettanomyces yeast starters

 Photo: Wild Pale Ale fermenting away (Saison in the background)

Finally, in a collaborative effort with Dave Larsen and Mike Roberts, we brewed enough beer to fill a used oak barrel. In. One. Day.  I'm not kidding.  In a single day, the three of us combined for over 50 gallons of beer.  We brewed a simple, low-gravity Saison, knowing fully well that it would be aged in a french oak barrel that had previously been used for wine, and most recently used by a local brewery for a soured Imperial Saison.  The simple beer we put in the barrel is going to sit there for a while, developing additional flavors, absorbing the oak, and taking on the essence of what had previously filled the barrel.  I also plan on releasing some additional souring strains of Lactobacillus, Pediococcus, and Brettanomyces, to add complexity.  It's going to come out of the barrel a completely different beer.  I'll report back with results in several months.

Photo: I guess you could say we're starting a barrel program.

Pilot Batch: Double IPA

Craft beers are constantly brewed to higher and higher strengths - from higher alcohol to more bitterness, it's a growing trend that is not going to disappear.  For some, this trend is an adulteration of craft brewing and historic beer styles.  For others, it's a symbol of the creativity and defiant nature of craft (and home) brewers.  I subscribe to the later.  Brewing extreme beers and breaking style guidelines is good for craft beer because it usually translates to increased flavor, aroma and experience.  Because I hold this perspective, a Double IPA was one of the first beers I wanted to master...

The judges at the Mayfaire Homebrew Competition think I've figured out the style. Five hundred and fifty entries in the Mayfaire and I had the best beer in Class 13 Double IPA and Barleywine.  How awesome is that? Golden - literally!  I'm getting closer and closer to becoming a "pro brewer" thereby disqualifying me from these competitions, so I need to relish in the glory of victory at the home brew scale.

Enough gloating, how about the beer?  It clocks in at around 9% alcohol by volume and rocks about 80 IBU.  The hop flavors are attributed to a pretty elusive hop combination - Citra and Simcoe. These two hops have high oil contents and contribute loads of flavor and aroma.  The Citra hop contributes flavors of tropical fruit and the Simcoe hop provides a piney resinous bitterness - a pair of contrasting hops that is just sensational.  You have to try this beer to believe it!

Pilot Batch: Pale Ale

Every great brewery needs a great pale ale.  Lucky for The Good Beer Company, we are well on our way to having an notable pale ale.  My house pale ale recipe recently placed second in the American Ale class of the first round of the National Homebrew Competition.  It has been brewed again and was selected to advance to the final round of the Competition - it will be judged in mid-June.

The house pale ale is an all-American.  It has a nutty and toasty malt flavor that is complemented by a soft floral and citrusy hop flavor.  It's overflowing with nutty and floral aromas and it is deep gold to pale amber in color.  It clocks in at about 5% alcohol by volume.  It's full flavored and small enough to make it a great choice year round. 

As mentioned, this Pale Ale placed second in the American Ale Category in the first round of the National Homebrew Competition (San Diego).  There were 71 entries in this category and it was chosen to advance to the final round.

Pilot Batch: Wheat Beer

This beer has been a hit, let me say.  This beer was brewed as an homage to summer, but exhibits some qualities that set it apart from the mass market wheat beers on the shelves today.

This simple wheat beer is born out of the American style of brewing - there are never enough hops.  The hops add so much orange and lemon aroma and flavor to this beer that you will never need to add a slice of citrus to the rim of your pint glass.   And the hops are balanced by a subtle grainy and bready flavor.  It's a hazy, light colored beer with a big frothy head that reminds me of the surface of the moon.  The lightness and citrus presence make it a fantastic summer beer!

This is a beer that can be enjoyed by anyone, from the macro-beer drinker to the craft beer enthusiast.  It is a beer that a novice should feel comfortable ordering up.  And that's where I need some help... I'm not sure what to call it - does "wheat beer" sound too simple? What would sound good to you?

Let me know what you think it should be called - share on facebook, twitter or via email!

Pilot batch: Belgian Specialty Ale

This marks the first of many blog posts we'll make in the coming year (and perhaps beyond) in which we profile a pilot batch.  We want to be ready to pounce on some really exciting beers right out of the gate, so we'll be refining a few concepts until the brewery opens.  Who knows what Good Beer #1 will be, but it could be an iteration of one of these pilot batches... if not, at least we'll share some great beer stories along the way. 

Homebrew Batch #45:  Brewed five weeks ago, this Belgian specialty ale is delicious.  It fermented to a gravity of 1.001 and is 5.9% alcohol by volume.  It also sports a lofty 59 IBU's with a big portion of the IBU's coming from late kettle hop additions.  The hops were Citra leaf hops and they compliment the Belgian characteristics quite well.  The overall impression is a citrusy and bready Belgian beer with a dry finish.  Oh! This beer will be served at the Southern California Homebrew Festival in Ojai next month, so keep an eye out and let us know what you think!

More to come: Yesterday was a brew day at the pilot home brewery and all the carboys are loaded up.