Kings Pointer Collaboration 1.0: Belgian Dubble

The Story: Over the past three years, I've been lucky enough to see many of my best friends from college get married. Just last week, we were down in Austin, Texas for Luke and Cheryl's spectacular wedding. Luke had the full spread of brews being served included a wonderful Belgian Brune and even a Melomel (Fruit Mead). As I was the first of the group to get married I was pretty excited to see the tradition of wedding homebrew continuing at each of the weddings!

Unfortunately, distance and schedule keeps most of us apart so we can't share many beers throughout the year. To combat this, we decided earlier this year, I believe over brews at Adams wedding,  to take a stab at one of the latest craft beer phenomenon's: Collaboration. Brewing the same of very similar recipes on our individual setups around the country and seeing how they turn out. This is the first in our series of collaborative brews! Cheers.

The Brew: To start things off we wanted a style of beer that could really take on some individualized personality. The Belgian family of beers seemed perfect because of their inherent individuality even amongst the same style. This beer is our take on a Belgian Dubble and seeks to provide the appropriate balance between moderate alcohol warmth, richness, and superior drink-ability or "digestible" as the Belgians might say. The grain bill may seem involved, but at the end of the say the signature ingredients are the yeast choice and Dark Candi Sugar. Minor variations in fermentation characteristics such as temperature or yeast strain will likely produce nuanced variations on the same theme.


Some tasting notes: A remarkable clean fermenting Belgian with reddish-ruby highlights and low to moderate yeast fruity esters that possess a pleasant but distinct banana quality. The rich quality of caramel and plum undertones is coupled with round notes of toasty bread and biscuit and concluded with a slight dryness.

Check out the great book Brew like a Monk for more information on Belgian breweries and their wonderful history and beers.

Ingredients:
Malt (148-150F; Filtered Water w/ 1/4tsp CaCl2,CaSO4 per 5gl):

• 11# American 2-Row (Great Western)
• 1# Belgian Aromatic
• 1# Belgian Biscuit
• 0.5# Briess Crystal 40
• 0.25# Briess Crystal 135-165
• 0.15# German Carafa II

Hops:

• 2oz. Liberty 4.9%AA 60min 

Extras: 1# Dark Rock Candi Sugar, Irish Moss, Wyeast Nutrient
Yeast: WhiteLabs WLP500 Trappist (Source: Chimay) (68F allowed to free rise)
Specs: 1.064 O.G., 7.2%abv, 28 IBU

KP Collab 2.0: Munich Dunkel

The Story: Some styles are harder to come across than others, and Munich Dunkel is certainly one of them in the US. But, one of the joys of homebrewing is the ability to brew just about any style you want, the way you want it. To continue our collaboration series, we're brewing a lager with some true German character, perfect as we start to enter the colder winter months.

The Brew: As with all lagers, a clean and vigorous fermentation is key to success. To showoff the richness needed for this style without being overly sweet or full, we'll use German Munich malt for the majority of the grain bill, accented with a bit of Carafa, Caramunich, and Vienna to round out a slightly toasty caramel quality. Hops are of the noble variety and restrained to let the grain and yeast shine through. To really develop a traditional Munich Dunkel malt profile, a decoction mash is called for, but I leave that choice and time commitment up to you. Prost!

Ingredients:
Malt (Filtered Water w/ 1/2tsp CaCl2 per 5gl):

1. Protein rest at 122F for 25 min

2. Saccharification rest at 152F for 45 min

3. Mashout at 165F for 10 min

• 80% German Munich
• 10% German Vienna
• 5-8% Belgian CaraMunich II
• 2-5% German Carafa II

Hops:

• 1.5oz. Czech Saaz 3.5%AA 60min 
• 0.5oz. Czech Saaz 3.5%AA 10min 

Extras: Irish Moss, Wyeast Nutrient
Yeast: **Double Pitch or make a 2L Starter**
WhiteLabs WLP833 German Bock (48-50F (primary), 66-70F at end of primary, 1 month at 32-35F)
Specs: 1.050 O.G., 5.2%abv, 23IBU

Christmas Brew 2013: Biere De Noel

The Story: Beire De Noel has been said to be a seasonal offering from many Belgian and French brewers that is typically stronger and more robust than the breweries year-round offerings to reward their most loyal customers. This year I wanted to make a offering along the same characteristics as Scaldis Noel, which I recently had on-tap at a great local beer bar called Rustico. At a whopping 12.5% abv, I didn't have the time or inclination to attempt such a bruiser for this year's holiday season. So this is my attempt at capturing Christmas in a glass, the Belgian way, without any spices or gimmicks. Happy Holidays!

Check out this great book for more info on this style: Farmhouse Ales: Culture and Craftsmanship in the Belgian Tradition. 

The Brew: Festive but restrained, this strong Belgian ale sits nicely between a Dubble and Quadruple. A low mash temperature and additional fermentables in the form of honey near the end of the boil helped dry it out and enhance overall drink-ability. A modest hopping rate is used for the bittering addition to simply stand up and balance the large grain bill. Finally, the Belgian blend yeast strain was pitched on the cooler side at around 66F and allowed to free rise;  after being hit with pure Oxygen for about 1 minute. The lower temperature helped keep the yeast esters in check for a moderate yeast character of dark fruits and spices. This batch was split between an unblended version and one with Kriek added to the keg for a touch of Cherry goodness.

Ingredients (8gl batch):
Malt (147F for 1.5 hour; Filtered Water w/ 1/2tsp CaSO4, CaCl2 each):

• 15# Dingeman's Pils
• 3# German Munich
• 2# White Wheat
• 0.5# Belgian Biscuit
• 0.5# Belgian Caravienna
• 0.5# German Carafa II
• 0.25# Gambrinus Honey Malt
• 0.33# Belgian Aromatic

Hops:

• 2oz. Zythos 9.4%AA 60min 

Extra: 2# Clover Honey, Irish Moss, Wyeast Nutrient
Yeast: 3 viles WhiteLabs WLP575 - Belgian Blend (68F Allowed to free rise)
Specs: 1.080 O.G., ~8.6%abv, 40IBU

From the Brewery to your Glass: Some thoughts on Beer Storage

When i first started getting into craft beer a few years ago many people were, and still are, fostering an opinion that verticals, vintages, and the like are the climax of beer geek-dom and an ultimate beer experience. While I think this is true for a few styles, for the vast majority aging is not your friend. In addition, aging in less than ideal conditions can destroy an otherwise amazing beer. So here's a few tips I've picked up that help me buy, store, and enjoy commercial and homebrews at their best.

First off, styles can be really important to consider when you go to your local beer store. I'm a firm believer that every beer style has its place and should be enjoyed to its fullest extent by those who love it, even if it isn't trendy, "craft", or extreme. 


Buying Beer:

• Try to buy beers from a store that has a high turnover rate, this will help ensure you get the freshest beer. Did a new beer just get released? It's probably fresh if they just came out with it and its on the shelf, better yet...in the fridge at the store? Do you have the choice to get the same beer from the fridge or floor...99% of the time you're safer with the fridge!
• Consider the manner in which the store handles their beer, does it have dust on it? Is it a $15 bottle of Double IPA that's been sitting there for who knows how long in a warm climate? Probably not the best bet for enjoying that beer. This is another reason why I try and give beers I've tried another chance if I am unsure of how they were handled, a great beer served fresh could be mediocre or downright poor if improperly handled and/or aged.
• Be a curious consumer: A new trend that I love is the inclusion of best by or bottled/canned on dates. These are an awesome indicator to how old the beer of the shelf is.  (Sidenote: Don't shy away from Cans, tons of craft brewers are putting everything from IPA to Barleywine in cans these days) Bottled on dates are much better because the best by date is subjective to the brewers individual interpretation, ranging from 3-4 months to a year or more past bottling, I'd rather make that call on my own. Also, consider that most commercial brewer's only release a beer when it is ready to be consumed, so the assumption that 3 year old barleywine is in some way better than fresh, may be poor.

Storing Beer:
Most beers are intended for consumption within the season they are brewed, albeit there are notable exceptions and factors that impact how well and nuanced a beer ages.

Style Overview

• Hoppy Beers are typically most vibrant within 3-4 months, some argue sooner.
• This does not mean they may be bad after that period but will certainly lose some of their trademark hop-forward flavors. 

• Wheat beers are notoriously bad at shelf-life, the nuances of styles such as Belgian Wit and German Hefeweizen are really great young.
• Higher alcohol (7%+) , more bitter, and sour beers are typically much better for aging than average alcohol (4-7%) , malty, clean beers.

Storage Environment: Basic approach for all beer includes a cool (less than 68F) and dark (avoid skunking from light) space.  While a beer fridge works, many styles are better cellared, ironically at "cellar temperature", which is arguably between 45-55F. Avoid vast temperature swings, but more importantly, try to store all beers below 70F. I have read studies that show a direct correlation between accelerated degradation (oxidation) at 70 vastly outweighing changes between 55 or 32F.

**Corked (Belgian) bottles of beer are typically best stored upright, contrary to wine, this helps encourage the layer of yeast ("lees") to settle at the bottom and facilitate pouring when you actually enjoy the beer.**

Enjoying Beer:
Everyone has their own way of doing things, so these are a few of my takeaways.

• Seasonality: Drink seasonally, sometimes we get wrapped up with bigger is better, but it's really refreshing to recharge your palate as the seasons evolve with unique session beers.
• Glassware: Use a clean properly shaped glass that will not hinder the experience (i.e., stifled aromatics in a hoppy IPA or fruity Belgian). I'm a glass nerd, so I go overboard here but I'd recommend everyone tries their favorite beers in the appropriate glass...drinking from the bottle is a last resort (you'll never fully experience the aroma...which actually contributes a ton to taste!)
• Temperature: Serve at an appropriate temperature: most lagers should be colder than ales, but many English beers are wonderful at around 50-55F, if you have a kegerator give a try and see how it goes, you may be surprised of the different flavors that come out a bit warmer. That being said, give some of the bigger beers time to warm up if you're getting them straight from the fridge, "ice-cold" and "frost brewed" are propaganda with no real meaning or benefit for the beer lover.

"Zorn-Vort" Maibock

The Story: Brewing is always better with a friend. This beer was a collaboration with my friend Bill, who is from the first generation of American homebrewers. I think with the mass influx of new brewers and beer lovers, we can still learn a lot from the generation that started brewing in the dark days of draft beer, they challenged the status quo and brewed their own before anyone ever heard of Extreme Beer.

The Brew: Utilizing Bill's awesome MoreBeer brew sculpture and cooled conical fermenator, we wanted to brew a kick ass lager. For the Spring Monterey Competition and Festival, a Maibock was natural, but we wanted to hop it up a bit more. It has the classic character of a German Maibock

Ingredients:
Malt: (60%) Golden Promise, (27%) Vienna, (10%) Munich, (3%) Caramunich
Hops: (First wort hopped) Cascade, Saaz, Hallertau Mitt., French Strisselspalt
Yeast: German Lager
Specs: 1.069 OG, 7.4%abv, 30IBU

Saison Du Monterey

The Story: Saison means season in French and I think that is a perfect name for a style of beer. Afterall, we remember certain beers we've had based on our experiences, and the seasons play a big role in that. Maybe it's that crisp Pilsner or Pale Ale on a Summer day, or a nice roasty Stout or high-octane Barleywine on a cold winter night. The seasons are ingrained in our lives and our beers...naturally.
 
The Brew: So for my last season in Monterey, late spring and summer, we went back to the classic Belgian roots and made a hoppy pale saison  with classic ingredients. Although it's hopped up a little more than most, it's not in Belgian
IPA territory. That's the beauty of using traditional noble hops, in my experience they provide a much more refined and subtle complexity to moderately hoppy beers than your typical IPA hops. This is a jazzed up hoppy Belgian summer ale for the geerbeek in all of us.

Ingredients:
Malt: American 2-Row (75%), White Wheat (15%), German Munich (7%), Honey Malt (3%)
Hops: Cascade (Bittering); Styrian Goldings, French Strisselspalt (Late Hopping)
Extras: Turbinado Sugar, Wyeast Nutrient, Irish Moss
Yeast: Belgian Saison Blend (WLP565), Dry Belle Saison
Specs: 1.053 O.G., 6.2%abv, 27IBU

UPDATE: Won People's Choice 2013 MASH831 Spring Monterey Homebrew Invitational

Romping Rye India Pale Ale

The Story: There are a ton of great beers out there, and good IPAs are pretty easy to come by, on the West Coast especially. For the upcoming Monterey Spring Homebrew Competition and Festival I helped organize, we decided to do a special ingredient showdown. I've been a part of these over the past few years with herbs, spice, fruit, etc. But I wanted to go a little more mainstream to really see where brewers went with a unique but fairly classic ingredient. Rye seemed natural, it's been used in brewing for centuries and contributed a wonderful spicy quality in various styles and intensities... and not just in Roggenbier.


The Brew: Leaving Monterey soon, I had a stock pile of wonderful Aroma hops to contribute to this brew. The key was the right balance of malt backbone and character with the rye and hop aspects, I think we hit it on the mark with a bit more malt character than I would call for in a standard IPA.

Ingredients:
Malt: (73%) American 2-Row, (13%) Malted Rye, (3%) Crystal 40, (2%) Crystal 60, (3%) Victory, (2%) Honey Malt
Hops: (First wort hopped and Dry Hoped) Cascade, Columbus, Galaxy, Galena, Palisade
Yeast: California V (WLP051), Cali (WLP001)
Specs: 1.062 OG, 6.7%abv, 70IBU