The Hall of Champions

12/17/08 - Sam Adams Patriot Homebrew Comp
Unibrau Oktoberfest - no placement - BJCP score - 21/50

5/15/10 - Worcester Homebrew Challenge Cup #1

Lawnmower IPA - Second Place - Avg score - 41/50

6/14/10 - Gordon's Wine + Spirts Homebrew Comp #1
Lawnmower - IPA - well recieved. rosemary apparent
Churchill's Dry Wit - Juniper Pale Ale - also well received. juniper subdued.

10/12/10 - Worcester Homebrew Challenge Cup #2
Weizenschaaft ist Cool - Weizenbock - third place - score unknown

12/19/10 - Sam AdamsPatriot Homebrew Comp 2011
Durin's Grain - Imperial Stout w/ Anise - very well received. suggested re-categorize to cat. 23, spiced special. would have done better? - 31/50

AHA - National Homebrew Comp 2011

Sclama Baltic Porter - good ranking 30/50
Sclama Oak Simcoe Black IPA - good ranking 27/50

5/23/11 - Sam Adams Longshot 2011

Springtime fur Hitler - Maibock - 34/50
Nine Dragons - Jasmine Witbier -24/50 offstyle. meh.

6/12/11 - Worcester HomebrewChallenge Cup #3

Nine Dragons - Jasmine Witbier - did not place /9. score unknown
Darkwing - Dunkelweizen - did not place /9. score unknown

6/15/11 - Gordon's Wine + Spirts Homebrew Comp #2
Nine Dragons - Jasmine Witbier - did not place. well received - 35/50
Springtime fur Hitler - Maibock - did not place. well received - 32/50
Au - Belgian Strong Golden - did not place. well received 34/50

2/25/12 - Boston Homebrew Comp - WORTS

Misery Mild - English Mild - 2nd place, cat 11 - 34.5/50

4/1/12 - Ocean State Homebrew Comp - Jbrew

Misery Mild - English Mild - 2nd place, cat 11 - 37/50
Bismarck - Traditional Bock - miscategorized? - 27/50

4/21/12 - South Shore Homebrew Comp

Misery Mild - English Mid - 2nd place, cat 11 36/50
Bismarck - Munich Dunkel - 3rd place, cat 5  33/50
Biohazard - Saison Brett - did not place. 27/50

Nine Dragons - Jasmine Witbier

second collaboration with DT. his original idea, now all grained and modified.

OG: 1.054/ 1.053 IBU - 20
FG: 1.015/ 1.008 SRM - 4.5-5 and cloudy as fuck

Malz

adjunct mash
3# flaked soft white wheat
2# US 6 row for diastic power

main mash
4# pils
1# munich
1# wheat malt
1# rice hulls

Hopfen
.44oz tettnager 5.1
.87oz saaz 4.0
.87 saaz 4.0

Hefe
Wyeast 3944 Belgian White, no starter

H2O - stock

Adjunct-
.5oz coriander crushed
1.5 TBSP lavender flowers
1.3oz jasmine green tea dragon pearls + .5 oz for dry jazzing
lemon zest of 3 lemons

STANDARD AMERICAN ADJUNCT MASH

Main mash-
1. strike 7.5 qt to 115
2. hit 110, rest 30 min
3 .continue to hold @ 115 1 hr NO PROTEIN REST

Adjunct Mash
1. strike 6.5qt to 137
2. hit 122 +2 extra qt h20
3. hold 15 min protein rest
4. direct heat to 150 --> TOO FERMENTABLE TEMP HERE
5. hold 15 min sacc rest
6. direct fire boil 15 min (+2 qt h20 to account for boil loss)

add mashes together 104 + 212 ---> 158F
7. hold 45 min
8. mashout - add 6t boiling h20 --> hit 160-168ish hard to calc
9. rest 10 min
10. recirc 3qt, milky as all hell
11. collect 1st runnings ~1/2 way through, added 4qt boiling h20 to keep liquid
a fly sparging of sorts, no sparge/ runoff issues. collect 6.5 gallon to kettle
12. pre-boil OG - 1.038 @120 = 1.048 standardized
13. boil 60
@60 draw extra qt from the tun
@60 + .44 oz tettnager5.1
@30 +.87oz saaz 4.0
@5 +.87oz saaz
+.5oz ocriander
+1.5oz TBSP lavender
+1.2oz jasmine tea ball/ dragon pearls
zest of 3 lemons
14. post boil vol 5.5gal
15. chill to 78
16. strain to primary, vigorously aerate, pitch
17. post-boil OG: 1.050 @ 80 = 1.053 standardized (ok, higher vol)
4/25/11 -primary @ 72 1 wk
4/30/11 - allowed to remain in pri, big shake
5/8/11 - + .5oz dargonballz. still in primary on yeast. FG: 1.008
5/15/11 -bottle to 2.5/ 2.4 vol CO2 -- 5gal @70F = 4.5oz dextrose

Accalades:

5/16/11 - submitted to Sam longshot 2011 -
6/12/11 - Worcester Homebrew Challenge Cup #3 - DID NOT PLACE /9 others
6/15/11 - Gordons' Second Annual Homebrew Comp -

Teutonic Shift - Oktoberfest

Classic style, the long lager.

Stats:

expt/ act

OG: 1.056 / 1.052 SRM - 15 /11
FG: 1.012 / 1.010 IBU - 25/?

Malz

3# Pils
1# Munich
6# vienna
1# caramunich

Hopfen

1.5oz Saaz
.5oz Tettanager

Hefe

re-cultured 250ml of the Wyeast 2203 Bavarian Lager from Maibock post 6 week lagering
- 2L starter 1/2 cup DME for 2 days

DOUBLE DECOCTION MASH - modified from Mosher/ braukaiser

1. Strike 4.62 gal to 112 - infuse ratio - 1.68qt/#
2. Mash in to 104
3. Acid rest 20 min
4. Take ~1/2 mash vol 12qt vol THICK - heat to 155
5. rest 148 5 min --> 155 10 min
6. boil 30 min (212)
7. add 5qt to main mash - hit 132
8. protein rest 10 min
9. re- heat decoction 1 to 210, add remaining 7 qt to main mash - hit 151
10. sacchrification rest 45 min
11. heat sparge water while resting 4 gal to 190 or so
12. mashout -hit only 155 +8qt boiling water. oddity. FORGOT TO PULL SECOND DECOCTION
13. mashout rest 10 min
14. manifold clogged bad- cut, re-mix, cut- re-mix mash
15. recic 2qt/ 2qt/1qt careful not to disturb bed
16 collect 1st runnings --> 6.5 gal. no sparge necessary.
17. pre boil OG: 1.034 @ 100F = 1.040 standardized
18. boil 60
@ 60 + 1oz saaz
@ 30 + .5 tettnager
@ 15 + .5oz saaz + 1tbsp irish moss
19. chill to 60F
20. OG post boil --> 1.052 (bit short of the mark, lack of sparge? old malt? no second decoct?
21. Primary chart
4/10/11 - day 1 @ 61
4/11/11 - move to 50
4/17/11 - report - some flux in temp from 45-60 over the week, craptacular
4/23/11 - move to 62/ RT for 2 days diacyl rest
4/25/11 - rack to secondary for lagering 40F- lighter than expected. dry/ nutty FG: 1.010
- begin lagering for 4 months then bottle for another month

ACBF 2011- BOSTON EPIC

but back to other people and their beers:

going to a fest is fun. working a fest is nutz. very much like a union job. 12 hours of manual labor straight hauling water out to the drunken horde. but got to drink on the shifts, very much like a union job...

Ill start with humans then move on to beer -

met a ton of very cool people, brewers, Brewery reps, other vols, Alstrom Bros. many cool conversations with the smaller guys. Jackie O's is an incredible brewery, read latest BA issue. thats the brewmaster on the cover. super nice. doing loco things with odd styles, incredible souring/ wild barrell lab for a brewery that size (someone said it was 7 barrels?, way too low i assume.... but maybe). explorations into aging in wine, rum and infected barrels of all kinds to get crazy flavors yet unseen. true innovators.

another vol homebrewer was also keen on the spruce beer concept as well as other funky effects. right up our alley. met peeps how came up from Atlanta, Nashville and NY just to network with people trying to get into the industry, one as a brewer's apprentice, another looking to startup a distribution co to India. crazy.

talked to Ommegang Brewer - commended him on the 21st saison. effing epic. he said it should be, they used the Dupont strain for it. makes sense. also, look for "Aphrodite" in coming months. think he said it was a raspberry? lambic/ sour wild beast. cant remember...

spoke with the brewer from Atlantic Brewing/ Bar Harbor/ Manly Men Brewing Club Brewing (of which there are apparently 5 different beers in that line, not just sea smoke, only 3 on Ba...) - El Hefe, apparently wheatwine that doest suck. also bashed NH's testing policy on beers. apparently they must run their own ABV tests on anything that is sold in state under a single label. so if you get all you shit tested by them and a strict setup, are approved, then make a mixer 12 pack using only approved beers, you have to get it all re- certified the same way again as its a new packaging. its such a pain in the ass Allegash doesnt even bother with the state, they drive their beer straight through it to Mass. Live free and fuck off New Hampshire.

ok now the boozing. it got hazy towards the end. not as many as i'd thought, just got tired as hell. here goes

Atlantic Brewing (ME) - Manly Men Sea Smoke - still beautiful and subtly smokey and old ale oxidized sweet. so nice to sip.

Blue Hills Brewery (MA) - Anti-Matter Pale Ale - crap beer. light yellow for a pale, all stale hops. got this cause I wanted a coaster. no other reason. it was also late in the night.

Boulevard Brewing (MO) - Tank 7 saison. very nice if i recall. somewhat yeasty, but lacking a tad if reference to what comes later. Dom also had the 6th Glass Quad. like it.

Brewery Ommegang - 2011 Belgian Independence Day Saison - gorgeous beer. say it again, one of the very few here in America to get Belgians dead right. so much yeast flavor, pepper, lemon, spice/ clove, ever so slight wild tinge of farmhouse to it. I'm starting a campaign to dethrone Sam Summer and plot the rise of the Jacobin People's Army of Saison. Do you Hear the People Sing?

Brooklyn - The Tonic/ The Concoction/ "The Chronic" - based on a mixed drink called "Penicillin" Lemon, ginger, something else and medicinal herbs and hops. crazy one. very very different to taste.

CBC - Saison and Hefeweizen (ok had it at the next day brunch. Alstroms picked up the tab. yet another sighting of Dann Paquette, like a God amongst men). saison was too subdued for my liking, slight citrus, slight yeast, not much else. sadface. however, the weizen was fucking perfect. let it be said, best German Style Hefe i've ever had. perfect temp served helped. banana/ bubblegum aromas, sticky like a carnival or artificial candy flavoring. rich body, only mild sour tinge of the wheat. yeasty/ earthy/ muddy and full. get this now. I plan on grabbing a growler for the next beer night.

Cisco (MA) - Pechish Woods - second in sour barreled series after raspberry which we also had a few months ago. only a spare few barrels were made and bottled for the public. before i even got to the counter he started pouring it for me. said " been a lot of you Orange (color of the staff shirt) folk asking for this today." soured as hell and wild. thin and spritzy, peach doesnt come through that well except in light aroma. like a peach sour patch kid but so much finer.

Coastal Extreme (RI) - aka Newport Storm - got a big swig of what they called a black IPA in between sessions when we werent allowed to drink but did anyway. really good black strong ale, very little hop character. boozy and thick, very rich and a nice sipper actually.

Dogfish - Robert Johnson Hellhound on my Ale - DIPA - curious one. hops present, but just full of lemon and spice. yeast was nice too.

Element (MA) - Dark Element - wasnt super impressed by this one. too much hype/ price. intense with some anise type warmth if i recall. not much more to say.

Grand Teton - The Grand Saison - like so many out there, almost gets it. aromas of yeast and pepper and kinda there, just not enough. clean saison just dont cut it, when Ommegang is around town, boy.

Harpoon Rye IPA - (from Harpoon 5 mile run a few weeks ago) - very tasty, strong rye, sharpens the hops nicely, but highly drinkable.

Jackie O's - ditto on berliner weiss, fantastic brew. so sour and clean. really like nothing else there that day. Raccoon dubbel. not so impressed with this, but like the effort/ concept. Dom also like the hopped up tripel they presented.

Lawson's finest liquids - Acer Quercus - odd name, odd beer. heavy heavy rye here and a sharp booziness to it that i didnt care for. malingering flavor on the tongue wasnt all that pleasant either. cant explain the line on this one other than their exceptionally rated DIPA.

Notch Brewing - Dark Mild - on cask - very nice to see some real ale out there. super low alc, packed with flavor. nutty, smooth yeasty and creamy. a very nice change of pace.

Odell - 90 shilling - again, not overwhelmed by this one. good sweetness to it, but lacked some sort of depth i was expecting. was also at end o the night when it all starts blending together from fatigue. Dom give big props on the Myrcenary IPA as well. epic stance.

Olde Burnside - Ten Penny Ale reserve - remember liking it. not much else. not super peaty but its there. Penny Weiss Wit - not so good. compared on the spot to Orangina.

Peak Organic - Espresso Amber - very interesting combo, and they actually made it work. powerful coffe flavor/ aroma in a like colored beer. strange stuff.

Pretty Things - Our Finest Regards Barleywine - Self explanatory. picked up aroma of grape popscicle at one point. for total complexity, his beers are unrivaled.

Prodigal Brewing (NH) - Effinghamburgherbrau - Helles Lager - not a lot of character to it, bright and clean. Misty Mountain Bock - a bit better, but not all there with full maltiness im looking for. Prognosticator Doppelbock - here they nailed it. deep and smoky malty malt. sharp finish and great for a bockbier.

Redhook - Wee Heavy - actually liked this one. little boozy, but full without sharpness or cloyingness.

Surley - Furious DIPA - a head above the others at this comp. nothing but beautiful hops laid atop the perfect bed of malts. can see why it was rated best in the country some time back.

Thomas Hooker - Liberator Doppelbock - fell well short of the style. quite dissapoining overall. not way off. just. not. good.

White Birch - Wrigian - Rye mystery - fantastic beer. rediculous rye explosion. thick and earthy. bready spice as fuck. great beer. gotta get on this one fast.


think that should do it.

cool

Sweet Sassy Mo-lassy

Hey chilluns. Time again to feed from the high trough of beery knowledge.

So its been months since I've posted. what of it. gonna get on recipes soon too.

but for now, a couple of recaps.

Cisco Brewers of Nantucket. A local brewery that often gets overlooked in the shadows of Boston Beer Company and the other big boys out West. BBCBC was lucky enough to get a good taste of their linup some time back to see what they have to offer. Now, at first glance, their roster looks pretty stock for a small American brewery: Pale Ale, IPA, Porter, Summer Weizen-type, stout. very stock indeed. but as they say, its all in how you make them.

First off, they go English style. As in, "ENGLISH MOTHERFUCKER, DO YOU SPEAK IT!?"
As in a subtle hand in hop use. As in balance in their beers. As in Marris Otter pale and English Fuggles, Northdown, Target hops imported from England exclusively for their stuff. This is very interesting.

First off, flagship. Whale's Tail Pale Ale - Seen all over, but here's the kick, English Pale. Instead of american hops pissing all over your tongue, you're greeted by the kiss of biscuity malt as if to say, "O, 'ello there! C'mon in, freshen yer drink gov'nor?" Instead of a thin lacking body, its full and rich without being sweet. the hops come in to compliment the malts ("good show, Winston my dear chap...good show"). earthy and lightly floral. I really felt ashamed that I've passed this rather unassumingly labeled bottle of beer over so many times while reaching for something more"extreme."

Next up - Indy Pale Ale - English IPA. See above for malt description. Gorgeous earthy deep hopping on a delicate but substancial malt base. Seriously one fo the best IPA's I've had in a very long time. its so uiquitous now in the US to go hop bombing that so many fall into mediocrity by mixing pale malt + metric assload of cascade/ centennial and assuming its gonna be great. I need more of this beer. it conjures images of a small pub on a rainy day, talking wistfully about the decline of The 'ol Empire.

Skankaty Light - They brought a light lager to the tasting. the audacity! the ignominy! the word "skank" in the very name of it! Excellent beer. A "light" lager with a strong body, very even flavor that wraps up clean as ever. no adjunct bite, no skunky tinge, very low sulfur. I was immensely pleased with this and could drink it for days. Again, subtlety in all things with this leads to a great beer.

Moor Porter - ok, time to get robusto up in this piece. thick and dark (not black, hear that amateurs, NOT BLACK) reeking of the rare deals like dark brown malt, chocolate malt, biscuit malt, dark crystal malt. full and rich, roastiness is in there, definitely not astringent or cutting. rather pleasing, getting more rewarding as it warms. no hop cut thankfully. another big full of win beer

Grey Lady - Belgian Blonde type - this is the only one where they missed the mark. overly fruity/ apricot, without enough belgian yeast profile. thinninsh body, just wasnt feeling it. Which again proves the point, so very very few do the belgians justice in America. #Ommegang and friends.

Now, with a lineup like that you might think they'd be content to rest on their laurels and now rising reputation. NAY CITIZEN. there's more. something frightfully more lurking about. that place where homebrewers fear and all bust the boldest turn aside.

Wood-aged, lactobacillus, wild yeast, brett, french oak and fruit reeking experimental beers - Behold, the Woods Series:

http://sites.google.com/site/ciscobeers/beer/the-woods

read this. one description, example - Flemish Braggot Smoke Spice Oak: Lambic critters, French oak barrels. Pinot Noir grapes. Mulling spices. 1000 lbs raw local honey. Cherrywood smoked malt.Unreal.

and thats just one of em. they had a single bottle of the Cherry Woods on. brutally sour, bright sour cherry, pleasant oaking, gushing and refreshing as all hell. so nice to see the flemmish sours making a dent in the world. So much more to come from these guys.

So all in all, big things from a small local brewery. Support a mofo and nab some next time you're oot and aboot.

C