Autumn Collaboration 2012: Oaked Imperial Pumpkin Ale & English Bitter

The Story: When you're asked what you would like to serve at a beer festival, especially a homebrew festival, what should you bring? For me there are a few approaches: something "extreme" in style, something "unique" in technique, or just a crowd pleaser. To fit those approaches into a single brewday and collaborate with the other festival organizers I advocated the use of Parti-Gyle brewing. This traditional English method produces a big (higher alcohol) beer from the first wort runnings and then a smaller (lower alcohol) beer from the second or third runnings, effectively brewing two distinct beers from one grist (grain profile). Additional grains, different hops, yeast and other additives can be added to produce drastically different results while optimizing your use of base malt profile.

The Beers: To keep with the Autumn Theme, we decided on an Imperial Pumpkin Ale with a twist (Aged in a 5gl Medium Toast American Oak Barrel- for only 3 days). Aiming for a good amount of lightly toasted biscuity quality to compliment the flavors of pumpkin pie while being mildly sweet and showcasing the delicate flavors of real Oak (rich vanilla undertones). And then a crowd please: English "Indian" Bitter to the tune of 60 IBUs of East Kent Golding, Challenger hops and served from a Pin, which is a 5gl variety of English Cask.

Ingredients:
Malt: American 2-Row, German Munich, Caravienna, Belgian Biscuit, Crystal 60 (Extra for Bitter: Maris Otter and British Amber malt)
Extras: Pumpkin pie spices and Brown Sugar for Pumpkin
Hops: Perle, Styrain Goldings to 30 IBU and East Kent Golding, Challenger  to 60 IBU for Bitter
Yeast: California/Dry English (Pumpkin) and English (Bitter)

Specs: Imp Pump-1.077OG, 8.9%abv, 30IBU; Bitter-1.052, 5.8&abv, 60IBU

***UPDATE: This brew won Judges Choice at the Monterey Autumn Charity Festival!***

Monterey Autumn Brewer's Comp and Fest: A Beer Charity to benefit Wounded Warriors

One of my recent beer goals was to become a Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP), beer judge. While there are many paths to take in earning this certification, I believe some of the best opportunities for learning are through teaching. This interest in teaching others about the BJCP and beer judging in general lead me to want helping or organizing a sanctioned competition. With the help of a friend of mine, Marc, who had been a longtime homebrewer also in the Coast Guard, we thought the Monterey area could use the excitement of a major homebrew event like a competition. Along with the Bottoms Up homebrew shop owner, Duane, the team set out to create something that would be great for both homebrewers and the community-at-large.


Through several weeknight planning sessions and brewdays we had settled on the idea of a BJCP sanctioned homebrew competition and a homebrew festival to top it off and announce the winners. The festival would have to be a non-profit affair because of alcohol public serving laws; so we thought of creative solutions to this requirement. Charity seemed a natural fit to help the community. The proximity of Veteran's Day made the choice of charity fairly easy; Wounded Warriors is the benefactor of the festival which will take place next Saturday!

On a personal note, I also recently received my BJCP Tasting exam scores and have become a Recognized Certified Beer Judge!

This post is dedicated to all the volunteers for these great events and more importantly every American Veteran out there. Happy Veterans' Day!