cooking with beer • home brewing • upcoming beer events • Beer Geer • have you tried...
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CraftPittsburgh | Issue 27
table of contents upcoming events editor’s notes style profile - pumpkin beers hand crafted - spent grains good herbs & good times - full pint gruit ale the hoppy couple - hop farm under construction - couch brewing road trip - gettysburg pgh cicerones
breaking ground - southern tier, north shore pgh pizza - a’pizza badamo have you tried... brewer sit-down - kiel batanian cooking with beer - shrimps & grits home brewing - doppelbock illustrated breweries of pa - yards
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CraftPittsburgh.com
6. 7. 8. 10. 12. 16. 18. 20. 22. 26. 28. 30. 32. 34. 36. 38.
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staff
PUBLISHER
P•Scout Media, LLC
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Rob Soltis rob@craftpittsburgh.com
MANAGING EDITOR
Mike Weiss mike@craftpittsburgh.com
COPY EDITORS
Frank Cunniff, Michael Dostal
CONTRIBUTORS
Brian Meyer, Beth Kurtz Taylor, Joe Tammariello, Amanda Stein, Mindy Heisler-Johnson, Hart Johnson, Ian Mikrut, Kenny Gould, Frank Cunniff, Nathan Stimmel, Nils Balls, Jack Smith, Dan DeLucia, Ben Emminger. Kathleen Ganster
PHOTOGRAPHERS Tim Burns, Mike Weiss
AD SALES
sales@craftpittsburgh.com
CREATIVE
CraftPittsburgh | Issue 27
Soltis Design soltisdesign.com
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FOR INFORMATION ON CONTRIBUTING EDITORIAL CONTENT OR PLACING DISPLAY ADVERTISING PLEASE CONTACT US AT INFO@CRAFTPITTSBURGH.COM Craft Pittsburgh is issued bi-monthly by P•Scout Media, LLC for readers of legal drinking age. All information and materials in this magazine, individually and collectively, are provided for informational purposes. The contents of this magazine do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of P•Scout Media, LLC., nor does the mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation for use. No portion of this magazine may be reproduced in whole or part without expressed written permission from the publisher. Advertisements are subject to the approval of P•Scout Media, LLC. P•Scout Media, LLC. reserves the right to reject or omit any advertisement at any time for any reason. Advertisers assume responsibility and complete liability for all content in their ads.
KICK OFF THE SEASON
WITH YOUR FAVORITE BREWS! HUNDREDS of DOMESTIC, IMPORT and CRAFT BEERS NOW AVAILABLE in over 40 Giant Eagle, Market District and GetGo Cafés in western PA
For store locations or more information, please visit www.GiantEagle.com/Beer. Not all items available in all locations. Restrictions apply. See store for details.
upcoming events Check out CraftPittsburgh.com for even more events and make sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram. September • 3 The Pittsburgh Brewery Tour @ PA Brew Tours • 4 Steel Valley Brew Tour @ PA Brew Tours • 6 Britsburgh Ale Release @ East End Brewing • 9 Zoo Brew @ PGH Zoo • 9 Pour at the Park @ North Park • 10 Steel City Big Pour @ Construction Junction • 10 C aptain Sean M Ruane Memorial Corn Hole Tournament @ Greater Pittsburgh Aquatic Club
• HOP JUJU • GOLD AWARD • IMPERIAL INDIA PALE ALE • WORLD BEER CUP ® 2016 GOLD MEDAL • IMPERIAL INDIA PALE ALE • GREAT AMERICAN BEER FESTIVAL® 2015, 2013 • MIDNIGHT MOONLIGHT • BRONZE AWARD • AMERICAN-STYLE BLACK ALE • WORLD BEER CUP ® 2016 GOLD MEDAL • AMERICAN-STYLE BLACK ALE • GREAT AMERICAN BEER FESTIVAL® 2015 • BONE HEAD • GOLD MEDAL • DOUBLE RED ALE • GREAT AMERICAN BEER FESTIVAL® 2015 • BLACK KNIGHT • SILVER MEDAL • GERMAN-STYLE SCHWARZBIER • GREAT AMERICAN BEER FESTIVAL® 2015 • BLITZKRIEG BOCK • GOLD MEDAL • RYE BEER • GREAT AMERICAN BEER FESTIVAL® 2015
• 11 Big Pour Brunch @ Fat Head’s • 15 Hops for Hazelwood @ Elsie H. Hillman Auditorium • 16-17 Drink a Beer Fest @ Monroeville Convention Center • 17 PGH Pup Crawl @ Roberto Clemente Bridge • 17 TRUB September Picnic @ North Park • 17 Mars/Cranberry Craft Beer TapFest! @ Double Wide - Mars • 17 DWNI Brew & Food Fest @ Downtown West Newtown • 17 Green Flash Wild Game Grill Out @ Blue Dust • 17 Harvest Brew Fiesta @ Mad Mex - Robinson • 16-18 & 23-25 Oktoberfest @ Penn Brewery • 18 Stanton Hops: Celebration & Fundraiser @ Roundabout • 21 Beer Industry Happy Hour @ Rock Bottom • 24 Brews in the Park @ Kennywood Park • 24 Oktoberfest @ All Saints Brewing • 24 Breaktoberfest @ Breakneck Tavern • 28 Porktoberfest @ Osteria 2350 • 28 Rocktoberfest Special Olympics Fundraiser @ Rock Bottom • 30 Samuel Adams Rocktoberfest @ Stage AE
CraftPittsburgh | Issue 27
October
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• 1 Virtues & Vices Brew Tour @ PA Brew Tours • 7 Haunted Brewery Tours @ Rivertowne Brewing - Export • 8 Pumkinfest @ Under the Bridge - Homestead • 8 Zelie on Tap @ Zelienople Community Park • 9 Smoketoberfest 2016 @ Roundabout Brewery • 9 PGH Cider & Mead Fest @ Spirit Lounge • 15 Brew Up a Cure @ PPG Wintergarden • 15 Bierport Barrel Bash! @ Bierport • 21 A Few Bad Apples Cider Fest @ Bayardstown Social Club • 22 Boo & Brew Bash @ Downtown Pittsburgh • 26 5th Annual Halloween Bash @ North Country Brewing
SAMPLES, FLIGHTS & FRESH-BREWED PINTS! MUNCHIES. SWAG.
call for tours: 216.898.0242 18741 Sheldon Road middleburg hts., oh 44130
November • 5 Beers of the Burgh, Winter Warmer @ TBA • 6 Brewtal Beer Fest @ Spirit Lounge
editor’s Notes to theh burg
Oh My Gourd It’s Fall
PIT TSBURGH
• I think the bulleted list of random thoughts worked out pretty well last issue. I’m just going to keep it going. • Look to the left at the massive amount of events going on all over the Greater Pittsburgh Area the next two months. Maybe use one of these events as a reason to get out and see a part of the city you’ve never been to.
• If you haven’t heard some major changes have been made to Pennsylvania’s liquor laws. One of the most exciting and least talked about changes is PA breweries/distilleries/wineries are now able to carry each others products. That means local craft beer on tap at distilleries and cocktails at breweries. • Aurochs Brewing, in Emsworth has just re-opened after a lengthy expansion project. They’ve been brewing gluten-free beers since 2012, which is probably before you knew what gluten was. • Blue Dust’s Pumpkinfest is October 8th. If you haven’t drank beer out of an actual pumpkin, under a bridge, in Homestead, you’re missing out. • Last issue in the CraftCocktail section, our dapper friend Will said “Wearing bow ties is fucking awesome.” Which actually lead to a few angry emails. Ok, by a few I mean one from my mom and one other person. To my surprise they weren’t angry that Will thinks bow ties are cool, but because we printed the f-word. My thought has always been this magazine is about a product you have to be over 21 to enjoy. So, I have assumed our readers are adults and never felt the need to censor the language of our writers. Am I wrong? Would using “F-ing” or “F*cking” make it less offensive? We’re interested in hearing what you think. Hit us up on Twitter or email our Managing Editor: Mike@CraftPittsburgh.com. He’s more than happy to address your thoughts and concerns. Cheers,
Rob Soltis
great! menu
CHICKEN LITTLE HEADWICH
original smoked wings burgers • munchies headwiches • salads award-winning beer 6 &12 Packs • growlers A VA I L A B L E NOW!
1805 e. carson st • south side • pgh., pa 15203 CALL FOR TAKE OUT: 412.431.7433
FATHEADS.COM
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• Congratulations to The Brew Gentlemen on having General Braddock’s IPA named the second best American IPA by Paste Magazine. I normally hate “Top Whatever Lists” of anything but Paste did it right with a blind taste test. It’s not only great for the Gents but shines a national spotlight on the Pittsburgh beer scene.
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style profile Words Brian Meyer
LOVE How I Learned to
PUMPKIN BEERS
A
s I write this article it’s currently the middle of August and a balmy 91 degrees outside, and I sit here with three different pumpkin beers in my refrigerator. The disparity experienced between the flavors we’ve come to associate with cool nights, changing leaves, and Thanksgiving Day and the sweltering temperatures and sunny days we’re currently enjoying is enough to launch even the calmest of craft beer drinkers into a Gallagher-esque frenzy in the nearest pumpkin patch. Who would have thought that a simple gourd-based beer could be such a divisive force within craft beer? While there are a variety of different pumpkin beers out there, many offering very unique flavor profiles, these seasonal beers seem to draw ire and contempt from many in the craft beer world for their simplicity and, dare I say, basicness. Pumpkin beers, much like their spiced latte counterparts in the coffee world are often looked upon as not being “real beer” and while yes, a pumpkin beer won’t be bitter and hoppy like an IPA, and it won’t be funky and refreshing like a saison, pumpkin beers are, in their own way, an important category of beers with historical value.
CraftPittsburgh | Issue 27
Enjoying a pumpkin beer shouldn’t be something anyone is ashamed to admit. Nobody should tell anyone what beer they should or should not like. If you love pumpkin beers, great! If you don’t like them because you dislike the flavors they typically have then that’s great, too. Just don’t hate an entire style category just because it’s not an IPA or stout. I, for one, am not ashamed to admit that I love pumpkin beers.
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Historical and personal value aside, the overall disdain for pumpkin beers can be viewed as a warning sign to not be so serious about beer and allow yourself and others to enjoy something that is ideally only around once a year. At the risk of not taking ourselves or our pumpkin beers too seriously, the need to understand where these beers came from and how they became the poster children for season creep is important because believe it or not, pumpkin beers didn’t start with the craft beer movement of the 20th century, they’ve been around much, much longer.
Pumpkin Beers: A Short History
Pumpkin beers made their debut far before craft beer was a thing, and actually before this crazy thing called America was a thing, too. The first use of pumpkin as an important ingredient in beer dates back to the mid-1600s by colonists looking for something resembling a beer. Since malted barley was in extremely short supply in the colonies, inventive brewers had to turn to other sources for their fermentable materials to use in the making of beer. Pumpkins, being a native plant to the would-be United States, were completely unknown to Europeans for quite some time. The gourd was used for a variety of purposes including the making of bread, custards, pies, and even molasses and vinegar. This made pumpkins an obvious choice to use in the brewing of beer. It’s the sugar content of the pumpkin that makes it so versatile, which is what attracted colonists to it in the first place. Colonists developed a taste for these true pumpkin beers and their popularity continued well into the 18th century. As the nation entered into the 19th century, however, their use in beer began to wane due to the pumpkin being considered unsophisticated. Also, as malted barley and other grains began to be cultivated en masse in the United States, there wasn’t a need to use ingredients like pumpkin to get fermentable sugar any more.
Pumpkin Beers: Modern Times
Fast forward to the 1980s and Buffalo Bill’s Brewery and what do we find: a pumpkin beer, while unique for its time, that’s inspired by a recipe from none other than George Washington. The original version of this new-age pumpkin beer used a heavy dose of the orange gourd in the brewing process, which today has given way to the use of pumpkin pie spices instead. Today’s pumpkin beers are quite a bit different than the original colonial brews, as the majority of the beers you’ll find today are focused on the spice aspect of the beers and very little on the pumpkin itself. While yes, many pumpkin beers today utilize actual pumpkins in the brewing process, they’re present more for bragging rights than anything else. The
majority of the flavor in today’s pumpkin beers is derived from spicing, sometimes entirely so. A great example of this comes from Pittsburgh’s very own East End Brewing Company. Each year Scott, Brenden and crew brew their Nunkin Ale for the fall season each year. Brewed with home-grown nunkins (see: no pumpkin), this beer uses zero pumpkins, opting instead for just the right amount of spices to give it that pumpkin pie flavor and aroma that’s become synonymous with pumpkin beers. Today there are well over 400 different pumpkin beers distributed throughout the United States, and while they are a welcome treat to have with Thanksgiving Dinner, or while neighborhood kids are trick-or-treating, the biggest complain offered about pumpkin beers today is their very noticeable season creep.
Pumpkin Beers and Season Creep
Our brains are trained to pair certain things with one another. Christmas seems right when it’s snowing outside, Halloween seems correct when the leaves are starting to change and it’s colder outside, and pumpkin beers are just about perfect around Thanksgiving. If our brains say this is correct, then why are there pumpkin beers on the shelves in August? The reason for it is none other than the hated season creep. The idea of season creep is something that is generally hated while being embraced all at the same time. These beers are complained about while they’re being purchased. It’s this disparity of opinion and buying patterns that makes the fall-centric beers come out while summer is still in full swing. The answer is actually pretty simple: competition. Remember how many different pumpkin beers we mentioned above? With that many choices of basically the same beer all coming out at the very same time, it pays to be early. Most people at best will purchase one case of pumpkin beer, with most of us consuming far less than that. This means that if a brewery waits until we think it’s time to release their pumpkin beer, the majority of pumpkin-loving beer fans have already made their choice of pumpkin flavored beer for the year, leaving those opposed to season creep in the dust.
Enough Hating
Beer should be fun. Yes, beer is a business for some and a hobby to many, but at its core if beer can’t be fun, then we’ve lost the war. It shouldn’t matter what type of beer you like or dislike, and the same goes for everyone else, too.
Made fresh everyday, be sure to try the one with peanut butter. Really!
a great sele ction of seasonal craf t beer on tap. Espe cially the local br ews.
Pumpkin beers aren’t going anywhere, and we’re stuck with season creep pretty much forever so we might as well get used to it. With hundreds of pumpkin beers out there, there’s bound to be one you like. Appreciate the part played in brewing history by pumpkin beers, and learn to love these seasonal beers too, even if you don’t drink them.
Brian founded and writes for pghcraftbeers.com and craftbeeracademy.com.
north park boathouse • historic southside
otbbicyclecafe.com
CraftPittsburgh.com
Season creep shouldn’t make you hate pumpkin beers, but rather it should just be accepted as a way of life. There was a time when pumpkin beers were somewhat rare, and if you wanted your bottle of Pumking from Southern Tier Brewing you had to hunt for it and get it while you could. The same went for most of the other pumpkin beers out there, too. With production fairly low for each brewery’s run of these seasonal beers, it was rare to see them hanging around even into November. Today however, things are very different. Production of most pumpkin beers have increased to meet and even exceed demand. That means for those of us that still enjoy these seasonal flavored beers can purchase them when we think we should be enjoying them and not have to hunt a fall beer down in the middle of August.
On the trail or in the woo ds, we’re here fo r your post ri de ... refreshments .
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hand crafted
Spent Grain can you eat
that stuff? Words Beth Kurtz Taylor
We all know that beer is made from malted grains. So what does that mean and what becomes of the grain between the initial steps of the brewing process to when it is poured into our empty glass?
CraftPittsburgh | Issue 27
A crash course in malting and early stages of the brewing process is helpful. Converting barley, wheat, rye, oats or even rice into malt involves first sprouting the grain’s in water, then drying them to halt the germination process. This develops the enzymes needed to convert the grains starches into sugars which are essential for the first step in the brewing process, the mash. By boiling the malt in water, the fermentable sugar is extracted from the malt. Before the fermentation process can begin, the liquid, or wort, is drawn from the mixture. The brewer is left with the wet gruel-like byproduct commonly referred to as spent grain.
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As the craft industry has flourished, more and more creative uses of this substance arise on the scene. Most often, we hear of breweries selling or giving the grains to farmers for livestock feed or to compost. What if your brewery is in Alaska and there are no nearby cows? Alaskan Brewing Company for many years dried the mass and shipped it to grain farmers and ranchers in the Pacific Northwest. That was until 2012 when they introduced a method for using it to fuel their beer making process. By launching the first of its kind steam boiler fueled entirely by spent grain, they are on their way of attaining their goal of reducing their overall oil use by 65 percent.
But closer to home, what are Pittsburgh’s breweries doing with their porridgey byproduct of the mash? Hop Farm Brewing Company, like others, sends it to cattle farm and the beef makes its way back to their pub. A “Beer to Burger” hamburger is new to their menu. The patty is made of beef from Crotallo’s Farm in Ford City. The cows are “fed a diet of Hop Farm’s spent grain and Armstrong County grass” so that the grain comes full circle! As grass fed beef tends to be more lean, Hop Farm guilds the lily by grinding bacon from DJ’s Butcher shop in Bloomfield with the meat. The sandwich is topped with a special sauce, and choices of cheese, lettuce, and tomato plus chips on the side. As people in the craft beer world are always open to experimentation with food and beverage, someone along the line discovered that spent grain is fit for human consumption. After drying, it can be ground to produce a flour of sorts. After giving up enzymes and sugars through the malting and mashing stages, the grain does not have much to lend to the bread fermentation process. Therefore, other varieties of flour are incorporated into the mix to produce a wide variety of baked goods. Incorporating the spent grain enhances the flavor and texture of the baked goods. Mark Kegg of Full Pint Brewing in North Versailles makes pizzas with chewy, malty spent grain crusts. He also grinds some straight malt with the spent grain to enhance the flavor. The crust may be darker from time to time. This is due to the type of grain that is used. Spent rye, for example, from their Rye Rebellion, yields a dusky crust. As an aside, their Wild Side Pub in Lawrenceville serves sandwiches on pretzel-like buns baked by Enrico Biscotti Company. The liquid portion of the dough is half water, half All In Amber. Maybe you know a brewer and can get your hands on some spent grain. Both Beer Advocate and Food 52 offer some advice if you would like to experiment with it at home. Believe it or not, there is a “Spent Grain Chef.” Brooklyn Brew Shop’s web page offers a myriad of sweet and some savory baked good recipes. Also, many sites have ideas for dog biscuits. Be adventurous, find some spent grain and bake on!
䈀䰀䄀䌀䬀 一 䜀伀䰀䐀 匀唀一䐀䄀夀匀
䌀伀䰀䰀䔀䜀䔀 䘀伀伀吀䈀䄀䰀䰀 匀䄀吀唀刀䐀䄀夀匀
䔀嘀䔀刀夀 䜀䄀䴀䔀 ㈀ 䠀䐀 吀嘀匀 䌀䄀吀䌀䠀 匀䄀吀 ☀ 匀唀一 吀䤀䰀 㐀倀䴀
䈀䰀伀伀䐀夀 䴀䄀刀夀 䄀一䐀 䴀䤀䴀伀匀䄀 䈀䄀刀
䈀刀䔀䄀䬀䘀䄀匀吀 䐀䤀一一䔀刀
匀吀䄀刀吀䤀一䜀 䄀吀 㠀䄀䴀 䘀刀䤀Ⰰ 匀䄀吀 ☀ 匀唀一
匀倀䔀䌀䤀䄀䰀匀 ㌀ⴀ倀䴀
㐀㈀ⴀ㔀㘀ⴀ㜀㐀㐀㐀
㌀㈀㌀㤀 圀攀猀琀 䰀椀戀攀爀琀礀 䄀瘀攀⸀ 倀椀琀琀猀戀甀爀最栀Ⰰ 倀䄀 㔀㈀㘀
CraftPittsburgh.com
䌀愀椀渀猀匀愀氀漀漀渀⸀挀漀洀
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GOOD HERBS & GOOD TIMES AN AFTERNOON SPENT HARVESTING WITH JAKE KRISTOPHEL & DESIREE SIROIS FOR FULL PINT’S GRUIT ALE Words Ben Emminger
Photo Mike Weiss
S
itting adjacent to I-79 in Volant, Pennsylvania, Fallen Aspen Farm is a 60-acre homestead with archetypal farm qualities. There is a rustic farmhouse, a plentiful garden, various livestock, and adjacent fields of corn and grain. What separates Fallen Aspen from the rest, aside from its certified organic status, is the operator, Jake Kristophel, and what he has managed to do with this land of beauty and bounty over the last two years In conjunction with his farming, Kristophel is also brewer and part owner at Full Pint Brewing Company in North Versailles. Kristophel became involved with Full Pint in February of 2009 after apprenticing under Sean McIntyre at North Country Brewing Company in Slippery Rock. “Basically it was myself and Sean McIntyre from North Country, Andrew Maxwell and Barrett Goddard from Rivertowne Brewing, as well as Sean Hallisey and Mark Kegg. We had all been brewers except for one of us, so we all kind of just got together and did our own thing,” Kristophel said on his entrance into the craft beer industry. On this particular day, Kristophel and his partner, Desiree Sirois, are harvesting various herbs for a Gruit Ale that will soon be available for distribution through Full Pint. Gruit, a historical beverage once widely popular before the extensive use of hops and the passage of purity laws in the 15th and 16th centuries, has seen a resurgence among microbreweries over the last 30 years, with re-experimentation becoming more and more practiced. There is even a pseudo holiday, International Gruit Day, on February 1 to celebrate the ale. For Kristophel, this will be his second attempt at a Gruit, after brewing the concoction with Evil Genius Beer Company of West Grove, Pennsylvania last year. Before heading into the fields for harvest, Kristophel provided a small tour of the estate, and it was quickly understood that his passion for fine quality did not stop at just beer. After walking through his ¾-acre garden, full of a Technicolor spread of lettuces, tomatoes, greens, and peppers, Kristophel explained that the land was part of the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, a private nonprofit organization involved in the preservation of the region’s natural lands and species. With a 10year agricultural lease for the property, Kristophel has maintained the organic nature of the land and also maintained its selfsufficiency through his various farming techniques. Spreading his arms and pointing to the fields and pastures as an artist would in showcasing his work, Kristophel then lead us into a barn full of clucks, honks, and smells to grab his tools for the Gruit harvest. As we maneuvered through the free-range chickens, ducks, and geese, Kristophel stopped before making it to the workbench to showcase his rabbits. These rabbits, he explained, will be processed and sold at local food markets in the next few months, pending USDA certification. “They are such an easy and renewable resource,” Kristophel said. Words Kenny Gould Photos Buzzy Torek
“Basically they just take a very little amount of food to produce a decent amount of protein. They are easy to raise and multiply very fast. Their manure is amazing for fertilizer, too. Honestly, if third world countries could embrace these animals, then they could seriously solve world hunger.” While Kristophel explained that the rabbits are by themselves renewable, he also stated he is looking to make a majority of the land renewable with the introduction of more perennial fruit and nut trees along the property to create more of an ecosystem for Fallen Aspen. “The thing is when you are tilling soil, and tilling and tilling and tilling, you are kind of losing your ability to capture carbon or
CO2 in the ground. It is a lot more resilient to use something that lives constantly instead of having to save the seed, save the soil, and also deal with the diseases associated with annuals,” Kristophel said. Before heading out to collect the herbs for the Gruit, which had taken a backseat for the moment in order to fully take in all of the intriguing aspects of Fallen Aspen, Kristophel had one last item to show us: the pigs. Located in two plots behind the barn sat eight of the snout-nosed creatures. Unlike what most would think of when conjuring up images of farm pigs, these hogs were kept in pasture, and to Kristophel, they are more than livestock; they are family. “Basically they’ve become like our dogs. They are extremely smart and intuitive and a real pleasure to be around. They will come and just lie down on top of me and just let me rub their bellies. They definitely have their own personalities and they are just amazing creatures,” he said. The affection was clearly present once Kristophel made his way into the plot. Led by the largest sow in the bunch, Delilah, each pig came up to Kristophel with interest and excitement. A few even joined him in savoring some beers, rearing up on their hind legs as they sipped, resembling puppies scavenging for a treat. With all of the excitement and interest centered on Fallen Aspen, we had almost forgotten the initial reason for the visit: the Gruit harvest, so with hand scythe and bucket in tote, we headed out, first on foot, to collect the herbs for this historic brew. We began by collecting Queen Anne’s lace, wormwood, and mugwort. While explaining the characteristics of each herb, Kristophel also collected some yarrow, elderberries, goldenrod and Hawthorn berries. Kristophel also added that he would include some sassafras in the mixture once brewing commenced.
Before we parted ways, Kristophel confirmed that the Gruit would be available to the public sometime in September in draft only. With the experiences collected from the harvest, as well as the herbs themselves, Full Pint’s Gruit Ale looks to be as interesting as the man, and farm, that produced it. Fallen Aspen Farm is open to the public and does have produce available for purchase. To keep updated on all happenings at the farm, be sure to like their Facebook page, Fallen Aspen Farm, follow them on Instagram, @FallenAspenFarm, or contact them at info@fallenaspenfarm.com.
CraftPittsburgh.com
As we rode in the farm truck to collect more herbs, Kristophel said that a typical brew uses roughly 30 lbs. of herb. He continued to guide and showcase the various aspects of Fallen Aspen. From the abundance of milkweed plants, which in turn caused the abundance of Monarch butterflies, to the bat boxes, to oaks and hickories along the fence lines, the tour carried on forever. As we didn’t want this field trip to end, it could be sensed that Kristophel didn’t want to stop guiding. Due to our limited time and the muggy weather, however, we had to call it day.
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hoppy couple
HopBREWING Farm CO. 5601 Butler St, PGH 15201
Joe
Location
No surprise here that a newish, awesome brewpub is in Lawrenceville. Hop Farm is located at the east end of Butler Street and it’s worth the jaunt. The Hoppy Couple has been to Hop Farm on numerous occasions; it’s one of my personal favorites in Pittsburgh, so I was excited to finally write about them. Located within walking distance of other great brewpubs, Full Pint comes to mind, Hop Farm is a great way to start or end a day. There is street parking and some off-street spots on the side of the brewery. There’s never been an issue finding off-street parking when we go.
Beer
I’ll say it again, sours have invaded my palate, and my dreams. Whenever a place has them, I try them, and Hop Farm always seems to have one or two on tap. This day was no different and I was happy to find out they had a new one! In the past, I have indulged in their ‘Blulinerweisse’ which is a berliner weisse style beer made with blueberries and their ‘Fresh Pot of Porter ‘ which might be (is) my favorite coffee porter of all time. When we went this time though the star of the show was their mango sour ‘Mango Brett.’ This sour beer was brewed with 84 lbs. of mango puree and fermented with brettanomyces. At only 4% ABV, I drank it the whole time I was there!
CraftPittsburgh | Issue 27
Atmosphere
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Probably the coolest thing about the inside of Hop Farm is their tap system. It is unlike any system I have seen before. How often have you seen taps coming from the ceiling?? Hop Farm installed a hefty steel pipe as the main feeding line from the ceiling that comes down to create an upside down T above the bar. Then, the perpendicular, horizontal steel pipe contains the actual taps. At first glance it appears as though the tap system is floating. Pretty neat addition and adds to the overall ‘farm’ aesthetic. Hop Farm isn’t a huge place, but everyone that was there that day seemed to have a seat at one of their large wooden tables or at the bar itself.
Food
Hop Farm’s menu has changed recently. They used to have various sausage sandwiches but have decided to replace them with burgers. The sausages were great and the burgers are even better! Being that it was the first burger that I’ve tried from them, I went with their basic ‘Hop Farm Burger.’ The burger itself is made from ground beef, lamb, and bacon... yeah, bacon. I think just the burger on their awesome brioche bun would have stood alone but they added some arugula, tomato, onion, and their Hop Farm sauce (you’ll have to ask them what’s in it). The beef is local and the cows are fed grass and spent grain from the brewery. Local businesses helping local businesses, love it!
Amanda Location
It’s no secret that Lawrenceville is the cool place to be around the ‘Burgh. It offers so many different restaurants, bars, breweries, shops, and more. Hop Farm is on the quieter end of the main drag of Butler Street with some other hotspots nearby like Pusadee’s Garden (a fabulous Thai restaurant with the most beautiful outdoor seating), Allegheny Wine Mixer (a bar with plenty of wine to choose from and even a few local brews on draft), and a few boutique shops. Good ‘ol Larryville never disappoints.
Beer
Hop Farm usually offers a few beers that are fairly low in ABV which I really appreciate. So many breweries seem to be trending on the higher ABV beers (which, don’t get me wrong, I still love!) so it’s a welcomed break to visit Hop Farm and indulge in more than a few low alcohol content brews. Their ‘Small Crop IPA’ will change every few visits but each one usually focuses on a single hop variety at a time and they are really nice hoppy IPAs that are low in ABV—a great session beer. I also love their flagship, Hop Farm IPA, which is a great and refreshingly crisp IPA at 6.5% ABV. I haven’t met a Hop Farm beer I didn’t like!
Atmosphere
One of my favorite things about Hop Farm is their Trivia Night every 2nd and 4th Thursday of each month. I’m a huge fan of trivia (even if I’m not very good at it) so we try to make it out for that every so often. Another great thing about this favorite spot of ours is that no matter how busy it may get, there always seems to be a seat for everyone which makes it feel so welcoming. Their farmhouse interior design is rustic yet cozy and owner, Matt Gouwens, even brought his hop farming skills to the brewery with some hop vines growing along the outside of the building—an agrarian twist in an urban setting.
Food
Hop Farm’s recent switch from their usual sausage sandwiches to their new burgers was a great decision. Like Joe said, their sausages were great but their burgers are even better! I had the ‘Yinz Guys’ burger which is a kielbasa patty with kraut and was phenomenal. The bread was super fresh, the meat was tender and moist, and the peppers and kraut put it over the top. I’ve also had some of their flatbreads before (the Greekish and the Weiss Guy to be precise) and wow...just, wow. They also have a cheese board (mmm...cheese) and a chocolate sampling which I plan on trying in the near future.
n e p O r e Be n Robinso
CELEBRATING 10 YEARS 16 ever-changing regional craft beers on tap rotation One-of-a-kind treats from ”Brewser” the Infuser Beeried Treasure debuts of rare and unique beers Fresh, local homemade food ‘til midnight
Summary
Hop Farm has been a long-time favorite of ours so we’re thrilled to finally be able to feature them. Their beers are crisp and funky, their food is fresh and savory, and their locale is warm and inviting. We are never disappointed with a Hop Farm visit and we know you won’t be either. Pay them a visit on a Trivia Night and join our team!
Robinson Across from Target | 412-788-2333 | @bocktown | bocktown.com
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The Hoppy Couple is one part Joe Tammariello and one part Amanda Stein. Amanda is the charitable creative type, while Joe is the nerdy eccentric type. Together we make a perfect brew, har har. We don’t consider ourselves beer experts but we spend a good bit of our free time exploring the city of Pittsburgh and sampling all of the food and drink it has to offer. We also try our hand at brewing beer from time to time at our home in Swissvale. We hope that our points of view will pour a wellrounded pint of our experiences with Pittsburgh’s local craft beer scene. Say “Cheers!” if you see us out!
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Under construction Photos & Words Kenny Gould
COUCHBREWING O
ctober 2014, Darren Gailey, Cary Shaffer, Mike Pearrow, and Barry Himes began kicking around the idea of opening a Pittsburgh brewery. The four friends worked at WWCP Fox 8 in Johnstown and they enjoyed the beer of Shaffer and Pearrow, who brewed two five-gallon batches every weekend. Additionally, they had some construction and engineering experience, and were confident that they could build a brewery and brewing equipment from scratch. They wanted a “home away from home”—as Pearrow said—“Because what better place to enjoy a beer than on a couch in your living room?” Couch Brewing became a reality.
CraftPittsburgh | Issue 27
But less than a year later, Himes, an Emmy-award nominated photojournalist, videographer, and filmmaker, passed away in a tragic car accident. He and his girlfriend, Jackie McCann, drove back to Pittsburgh from visiting McCann’s parents in Florida when their Jeep got pinned under a tanker truck. Five people died in the accident, including Himes, McCann, and a family of three from Ontario.
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Himes’ brother and mother made Gailey, Shaffer, and Pearrow promise to continue their dream, and they followed through. Gailey and Shaffer built a three-barrel system from scratch, and in August they laid 50,000 pounds of concrete to form the brewery floor. Although legal reasons prevented them from laying the pipes, they dug the holes for the plumbing and sanitation lines by themselves—with a little help from friend Andre LaVan. They ordered another four seven-barrel fermentors and a sevenbarrel bright tank. Their 1940s bar top came from an out-of-business tavern in Tarentum.
“We’re keeping the patina...thousands of beers have already crossed that bar,” Shaffer said. Gailey, Shaffer, and Pearrow looked at several different sites around the city before arriving at Couch’s current home, which they chose for its location as well as its ample parking: 87 spots, nearly unheard-of for every Pittsburgh brewery except Spoonwood. Located at 1351 Washington Boulevard, the brewery will open sometime in the fall.
“Barry loved IPAs, so we named our flagship Loveseat IPA for him and Jackie,” Pearrow said. Their other beers have similar, living room-themed naming conventions: Plush Pale Ale, Ottoman Empire Double IPA, Recliner Stout, Zitten (Dutch for “sit”) Wit, Blonde Shag, and Hifi Hefeweizen, among others. Though they haven’t started serving, their beers are already a hit: last year at the Construction Junction Big Pour, their Recliner Stout rated #1, and their Loveseat IPA took #5, the only IPA in the top ten. Couch will fill a gap in a loop that runs from East End Brewing in Larimer to Dancing Gnome in Sharpsburg, through Lawrenceville’s Hop Farm and Roundabout Brewery, to Grist House and Draai Laag in Millvale, down to Arsenal Cider, and back to East End Brewing. Ample parking, a great location, a fun vibe, and terrific beer make Couch an upcoming mustvisit. Additionally, because of recent changes in Pennsylvania’s alcohol law, breweries are allowed to serve local spirits, and Couch is in talks with Maggie’s Farm about draft cocktails. Hopefully it won’t be too hard to find an open cushion.
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BLOODY MARY BAR EVERY SUNDAY 10AM - 3PM 19
Road Trip Words & Photos Kathleen Ganster
GETTYSBURG Spirits in more ways than one
CraftPittsburgh | Issue 27
When the brewer excuses himself to get ready to lead a ghost tour, you know you must be in Gettysburg.
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Daniel Kulik is the head brewer, distiller and partner at the Battlefield Brew Works & Spirits of Gettysburg Distillery. Kulik also leads ghost tours, a popular tourist attraction in the historic town of Gettysburg. “It’s something I really enjoy and it’s fun,” Kulik said about his ghost tour work. For his other “spirits” work, Kulik brews and distills at historic W. H. Monfort Farm, a former Confederate field hospital after the battle of Gettysburg. Kulik started brewing in Gettysburg in 2013 with beers including the appropriately named Lincoln Lager, Red Circle Ale, Robert E. Lee IPA and others. If Kulik’s name sounds familiar, it may be because he was an assistant brewer at Rock Bottom in Homestead for four years. A native of nearby Apollo, Kulik started brewing beer when a student at the University of Pittsburgh. Spirits of Gettysburg Distillery followed in 2015 and is the first licensed distillery in Gettysburg and Adams County
since prohibition. Kulik’s drinkable spirits include: Rye Smile Rye Whiskey, Burnt Bum Rum, Far Gin Movement, Discount Unicorn White Whiskey, Chambersburg Peach Brandy and my favorite, Biglerville Apple Pie Moonshine. And that may be fitting for the region—Gettysburg is a leader in apple growing in PA and our state is fourth in the nation. That means there are a lot of apples and an impetus behind the area’s newest kids on the block: cideries. Like many areas in the country, cideries are popping up right and left in the region. In honor of this growing trend, in late June Gettysburg hosted their first PA Cider Fest held on the Hauser Estate, home of Jack’s Hard Cider and Hauser Winery. My husband, Paul, and I ventured from Pittsburgh to check it out. Over a dozen cideries joined forces to offer their variety of ciders in what is fast becoming coined as “Cider Town” and apple country in Pennsylvania, according to Carl Whitehill, director of communication of Destination Gettysburg. “The abundance of local apples makes it a natural for cider production,” he said. The PA Cider Fest was sponsored by Cider Culture, Jack’s Hard Cider, PA Preferred (an agricultural organization), and Pennsylvania Apples. The event also promoted the
PA Preferred happily promotes the hard cider industry in the state and shares fun facts to know and tell. For instance, it takes four to six apples to make one glass of cider, and currently, Pennsylvania ranks first among northeast states and second in the country for fermented beverage exports. With 11 million bushels—525 million pounds—of apples grown in PA and 60 percent of those used in applesauce, apple butter and cider, it is no small wonder that we have so many cideries. The setting for the PA Cider Fest couldn’t have been more beautiful. The Hauser Estate is located in Biglerville, a small town just 8 miles west of Gettysburg. Home of Jack’s Hard Cider since 2008, Crystal Mort, the manager of the tasting room, took us on a tour where they make the cider. The farm had been in the family for three generations and the younger generation was looking for ideas to carry on the agriculture tradition, but stay current. “Jonathan (Patrono) wanted to expand their family business. They were looking at ways to really save the apple orchards, making hard cider was a natural [decision],” she explained. Jack’s is named after Jack Hauser, Jonathan’s grandfather and patriarch of the Hauser family. Hauser was a driving force that led Musselman’s into national recognition in the 1950s. Jack’s cider maker, Brian Bolzano, and his staff were canning cider on our late June visit. All of the apples they use are grown on the family farmland (there and a few miles away according to Mont), hand pressed on site and blended by Bolzano. The ciders have no added preservatives and there are seven varieties featured on tap in the tasting room—and that alone is reason enough for a visit. Keeping in tradition with ciders made in Adams County, they tend to be drier than other, sweeter ciders. Both my husband and I prefer the snappier taste, and since I love hoppy beer, my favorite was the Dry Hopped. They also feature seasonal flavors such as peach, pear and cherry. Jack’s Hard Cider introduced their seasonal rhubarb cider at the PA Cider Fest—and it delivered as promised: tart, snappy and delicious in the heat. The Cider Fest itself drew a healthy crowd—an estimated 1,200—on a perfect day. Several Central Pennsylvania cideries were in attendance including: Rowan Asher Winery Winery and Hard Cidery; Civil War Cider, Wyndridge Farm; Reid’s Orchard & Winery; Bad Apple Ciderwerks (with our favorite logo and yes, we bought shirts); and Pittsburgh’s own Arsenal Cider made the journey to participate in the festivities. The most unusual offering was a peanut butter caramel cider named Decider made by the Vineyard at Hershey. It sounded weird and indeed you couldn’t drink too much of it, but it was delicious and my husband I couldn’t stop talking about it. I think it would be even better in cold weather. With plans already in the works for the PA Cider Fest in Gettysburg for 2017, according to Whitehill, we’ll be back to see.
What to learn more? • For more information on apple orchards in Pennsylvania visit PAPreferred.com • You can learn more about cider and apples at PACiderGuild.org • The Gettysburg Wine & Fruit Trail promotes wineries, farms, distilleries and cideries that use local produce and fruits. Over 58 sites and venues are listed in their map available at gettysburgwineandfruittrail.com • Visit battlefieldbrewworks.com or spiritsofgettysburgdistillery.com for more information about Kulik’s products • More information on Hauser Estate Winery and Jack’s Hard Cider is available at hauserestate.com • Interested in visiting and staying in Gettysburg? We loved the Lodges at Gettysburg at gettysburgaccommodations.com Set on a beautiful setting a few miles out of town, the private, individual cottages are perfect for a get away. More information on sights, restaurants and lodging is available at destinationgettysburg.com • The North East Cider Trail promotes hard cider makes from Virginia to Maine. Visit northeastcidertrail.com for more information
Fun facts about cider • Thirty-five apples are needed for one gallon of cider • Ciders are gluten free • In the state of PA, ciders 5.5 percent ABV or less are distributed through beer distributors. Others sold in state stores and tasting rooms generally have a higher alcohol content • Cider makers often blend different types of apples to get their unique taste. There are four main types of cider apples: bittersharps, sharps, bittersweets and sweets Thanks to Pennsylvania Cider Guild & Pennsylvania Apples
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Pennsylvania Cider Guild (PACG), a “trade organization created in 2014 that unites cider makers, cideries, cider enthusiasts and related businesses to promote, protect, educate, and represent members and consumers.”
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PGH CICERONES Words Nathan Stimmel
Beer is demanding.
Store it improperly and it skunks or oxidizes. Run it through neglected lines and it picks up nasty off-flavors. Pour it improperly and beer (and money) gets wasted. For as assertive and bold an image as beer has, it can be surprisingly fussy.
CraftPittsburgh | Issue 27
Likewise, beer drinkers are becoming more demanding—some might say fussy—all the time. We want our bartender to recommend something good based on our preferences. We want the rep pouring at a festival to tell us what hops the brewer put in that IPA. We expect proper glassware for the style. We want the salesperson on the floor to point out an authentic bottle of oude gueuze and tell us what “mit Hefe” means. We want professionals to demonstrate professional knowledge and service.
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Ray Daniels, one of the country’s foremost experts on beer and brewing, realized this after one too many bad pours. In his eyes, if beer was to be taken seriously, those in the industry needed to know how to give it the care and respect it deserved. In 2007, Daniels founded the Cicerone Certification Program, a standard of know-how for beer professionals, analogous to Sommeliers in the world of wine. Those certified through the program demonstrate knowledge of storage and service; brewing ingredients and process; beer styles and their history; flavors, both appropriate and “off”; and pairing beer with food. There are currently four levels of certification: Certified Beer Server, an entry level certification for those working with beer; Certified Cicerone, for career beer pros; Advanced Cicerone; and this past December, the program crowned its eleventh Master Cicerone.
Zach Shumaker wasn’t initially interested in becoming a Cicerone, but a combination of camaraderie and competition with a former assistant brewer drove him to studying and passing the test. “I did it because I certainly wasn’t going to let him think he knew more about beer than I did,” he shared. But it was more than a sense of pride that he gained from the endeavor. As ShuBrew’s owner and head brewer, Zach wears many hats, and on any given day might find himself brewing, managing, or pouring—“and I always wear my Certified Cicerone pin while bartending,” he said. Having an educated conversation with a customer is just one of the perks of certification. “I’d say for me the biggest advantages include being able to troubleshoot just about any draft system issue that could arrive,” Shumaker said. Though his service staff are all themselves Certified Beer Servers, issues do arise and it’s helpful having extra expertise on hand. Justin Viale, a Cicerone, feels the Beer Server certification is “an affordable way for a brewery or bar to show the general drinking public that you expect a minimum level of knowledge from your bartenders and servers.” Viale recently left his position as brewery manager at Church Brew Works for the role of head brewer at Canonsburg’s upcoming Rusty Gold Brewing Company. As a brewer, Justin saw certification as a way to focus on the big picture. “The test itself doesn’t teach you...it forces you to learn things if you don’t already know them to pass, and in the end a passing grade lets you say ‘I know this stuff and here’s the proof’,” he said.
Studying for the test made Justin consider the front of house more, the people serving the beer that he brewed. Do bartenders have the information they need to sell the beer correctly? How is the beer received by the public? Can we work with the kitchen to incorporate beer more in the menu? Moving into his position at Rusty Gold gives him an opportunity to flex those muscles. “Working in a small environment...I feel like I will have a chance to expand these thoughts even more because it will be a smaller staff and [include] more customer interaction,” he said. For Asa Foster of The Brew Gentlemen in Braddock, the Cicerone program offered him and co-founder Matt Katase two benefits: education and credibility. “We wanted to rapidly increase our knowledge and awareness on the subject, and taking an academic focus added a lot of necessary structure for that pursuit,” Asa said. Having recently graduated from college, the duo saw the program as an intensive self-guided curriculum. “Even if we hadn’t worked for years in the brewing industry, we needed to have proof of expertise within the field.” Although Asa and Matt are currently the only Cicerones at Brew Gentlemen, the premium they place on staff learning is evident. Beer Server certification is “highly encouraged” for employees, Asa said. “We’re currently working on a more concrete program for staff education that will include off-flavors, brewing process, and draft system maintenance,” he continued. Certification equipped Randy Langford, beer manager at Giant Eagle’s Market District Shadyside, with the knowledge and the authority to do right by the product and, subsequently, the customer. “There is a lot of misinformation in the general public and in the craft beer community about beer,” Langford said. “Being certified...allows someone in my position to cut through the noise,” he said. As a retailer, he’s the last line of defense between the brewer’s vision and the customer’s hands, and he’s not afraid to step in if an outside interest threatens the quality of the beer. Echoing a common sentiment among those interviewed, Randy contends that awareness of the Cicerone name would benefit the average beer drinker, “More so to understand that some establishments are taking a more active role in trying to bring great beer service to customers,” he said.
Does this mean that Cicerones are the only ones in craft beer who know what they’re doing? Absolutely not—the industry has thrived on selfeducation, real-life experience, and collective knowledge for decades. Many places boast well-trained staff who know beer from the boil to the tap, and whose path has had zero intersection with the Cicerone program. But with a Cicerone on staff, you know what you’re getting: someone who’s made a personal investment in their knowledge of beer and providing customers with an optimal experience. We’re fortunate in Pittsburgh to have a beer scene challenging itself to raise the bar to an international standard. As Asa Foster eloquently put it, “It’ll be a glorious day when calling yourself a beer-focused establishment and not knowing a damn thing about beer becomes totally unacceptable.”
CraftPittsburgh.com
Cicerones are also finding support at the wholesaler level. “Beer is finding its place alongside wine in the best restaurants, and there has always been a level of trust and respect for wine Sommeliers,” Jim Mooney, sales manager at Wilson-McGinley, Inc., said. When he, Wilson-McGinley’s vice president Ryan Wilson, and sales supervisor Patrick Vallely took the Cicerone exam almost two years ago, they too wished to elevate their understanding of and commitment to the product they live by. “I think that there could be a benefit to consumers if they are looking for a unique beer experience or food pairing ideas,” Mooney said. A seventeen-year veteran in Pittsburgh’s beer scene, Mooney said he learns something new about beer every day, something he feels can win the hearts and palates of consumers. “I take it as a personal challenge when I meet someone that says, ‘I don’t like beer’.” And most of the time, I can find a beer style that they do enjoy,” he said.
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CraftPittsburgh | Issue 27
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If you brew it, they will come Words Ian Mikrut Photo Mike Weiss
CraftPittsburgh | Issue 27
Lakewood New York’s Southern Tier Brewing Company is establishing its first satellite brewery in Pittsburgh. Offering a large beer garden and exclusive releases to its number two market, the new brew pub is set to open this fall on the North Shore.
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In the blazing summer heat on an August afternoon, the seeds for what will become Southern Tier Brewing Company’s first satellite pub were sown at 316 North Shore Drive. The company’s founder and president, its CEO, the architect and construction managers overseeing its design and completion, among other local partners involved, poured out cans of Southern Tier’s 2XIPA over the future 10,000 square foot beer garden. For Southern Tier, it’s yet another exciting expansion following their recent alliance with Philadelphia’s Victory Brewing Company under the parent company Artisanal Brewing Ventures. For Pittsburgh, it’s yet another exciting expansion in its own developing beer community in welcoming such a high-profile brand to the fold.
Yet there’s more Pittsburgh ties to Southern Tier than endless Pumkings every fall. For one, Pittsburgh is the company’s number two market behind its immediate New York consumers. Much of that’s in part to it being distributed here for nearly a decade, making it a constant on shelves before this decade’s craft beer wave. “We started with Southern Tier in December of 2008, back then we moved maybe 5,000-6,000 cases in this market,” Frank B. Fuhrer III of Frank B. Fuhrer Wholesale said. “We’ll probably sell 130,000 cases of Southern Tier this year,” he continued. Southern Tier’s proximity to Pittsburgh is another reason the move made sense. With the Lakewood brewery about a three hour trek away and the area being a summer retreat in general, yinzers enthusiastic about craft beer aren’t new to Southern Tier. “The idea was, we get a lot of folks from Pittsburgh in the brew pub in Lakewood, who always say hey we’d love to have you in Pittsburgh,” Southern Tier’s CEO John Coleman said. With a prime location on North Shore drive right next to Bar Louie, the location is prime to become a hotspot for Steelers and Pirate fans as well as Stage AE concert goers. “So we started thinking about this, where we wanted to put our first [satellite]. We looked at several different cities and Pittsburgh kept coming to the top, and then we saw some different sites and thought this one would be a perfect fit,” Coleman said. The facility will be an identical replication of the Lakewood pub, with Southern Tier and Victory favorites on tap as well as Pittsburgh exclusives and a full menu. In warmer seasons the big draw will most likely be the large beer
garden. “We’re going to definitely be a part of the community, a part of the brewing community, it’s very important to us,” Phin DeMink, Founder and President of Southern Tier said. “We’re super excited to see the Pittsburgh brewing scene thrive, and we want to be a part of that, we want to help that.” DeMink mentioned that collaboration with Pittsburgh brewers will definitely be in the works and plans to host many of them at the Lakewood location for what they’re calling the “Pittsburgh Speed Date,” an opportunity for brewers to flex their Chopped skills with a set amount of ingredients and time to produce a winning beer to eventually be tapped in Pittsburgh. Lately, satellite pubs seem like the next step as the craft beer world continually develops. For Southern Tier, DeMink said the importance is being able to share and engage with longtime fans and new consumers alike while being more than just a case of beer on the shelf. In many ways, it’s the start of a new challenge. “It’s the creation of something new,” Coleman said. “When Phin built the brewery [in Lakewood] it was from scratch, there was nothing there. And we kind of feel the same way, now we get to create something here in the community for fans of the brewery that have been great to us and very supportive of us,” he continued.
CraftPittsburgh.com
Having a great new destination on the North Shore is definitely a win, and— oddly enough—Pittsburgh has never been so happy to be number two.
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PGH PIZZA Words & Photo Dan DeLucia
A’Pizza
BADAMO 656 Washington Rd., PGH
The South Hills is home to some of Pittsburgh’s most renowned pizza shops. There are some real gems scattered amongst the boroughs and townships south of the city. A’Pizza Badamo is a relatively new spot along Washington Road in Mt. Lebanon, but when you walk into the place you’d think you stepped into a time warp to 1960s New York City. After having opened up in 2010, they’ve transformed the old neighborhood favorite Caruso’s counter style shop into a wide-open old-fashioned pizza parlor. The 2014 renovation brought in a fresh, classic black and white ceramic tile, dark stained wood, and the uncovering of the original decorative tin ceiling. A long counter stretches most of the length of the shop, behind it you can see them prepare your order. Usually, it’s Herb or Anthony Badamo himself overseeing the operation. Traditional New York style thin crust is the main jam but they’ve also got killer thick crust Sicilian, all available in whole pies or cuts.
CraftPittsburgh | Issue 27
When I stopped in, I had to try both so I asked Herb for a plain square and a 10-cut round pie with pepperoni and banana peppers. The Sicilian is more of a large rectangle than a square, thick and crusty. The dough browns up real nice with a buttery crisp yet stays soft and fluffy in the middle. They do it up with a generous amount of cheese here and an ideal amount of sauce. You’re gonna put in some work on these cuts, great for a quick meal. The thin is a spot on New York pie. Not overly crispy or chewy, but nice and soft with enough sturdiness to fold it up and eat it with one hand. The taste is extra fresh. The dough, sauce, cheese, meat, and veggie toppings are all of the best quality found in Pittsburgh’s Strip District. The sauce is a straight up classic red made fresh from San Marzanos. It’s not overly sweet or zesty, well balanced. Paired with that is a classic Mozz- Prov blend. It is just good honest pizza. Badabing.
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Anthony Badamo, a Peters Township native learned his trade at a few local pizza shops. After working for Cricket Wireless, he decided he was ready to go off on his own and open up his own pizza shop. He got together with the Caruso’s who were looking to get out of the business and took over, bringing in his own recipe. With a bit of trial and not so much error, he hit the ground running. He picked up where Caruso’s left off. With plenty of foot traffic on Washington Road, they fit right in as the new neighborhood favorite for Lebo locals.
One thing that sets Badamo’s apart is the realness of it. It’s this writer’s opinion that when it comes to pizza shops, customers really appreciate the places that have been around forever because they know what to expect. Although Anthony and company have only been in business for going on seven years, they’ve been able to capture that old school pizza shop feel right away. The younger guys behind the counter are experienced. It’s like those old Italian guys that have been doing it for 50 years, they don’t take any crap. It really adds to the New York feel of the place. Just know what you want when you step up to the counter, capisce!? In addition to the traditional pizza pies, they have a full selection of stellar hoagies, calzones, and salads. I have yet to try it, but I hear great things about the meatball sub. Anthony’s own mother makes those very meatballs. Available regularly are three specialty pies as well as various daily specials that they whip up. They also have a really great selection of sodas and other drinks. I didn’t know that it was BYOB at the time so I had to save my adult beverage for afterwards (A few Narragansett tall boys at the Korner Pub did the trick). A’Pizza Badamo is a no frills, no nonsense place; that doesn’t mean no flavor. It’s a breathe of fresh air in a time when most new entries in Pittsburgh pizza market have been “artisan” or coal or wood fired. That’s a great thing, but sometimes it’s a little pretentious for my liking. You see the words “New York style” pizza written on menus quite often. Badamo’s does it perfectly. Stop by and see for yourself...as Anthony says himself “Let’s Enjoy It!”
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CraftPittsburgh.com
have you tried... Words Hart Johnson Photo Tim Burns
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CraftPittsburgh | Issue 27
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1. L agunitas 12th of Never
2. F at Head’s Jack Straw
Way back in the history of the world in 2012, the ever quotable owner of Lagunitas said they’d be the last brewery on earth to put beer in cans. Well kids, I could use the old adage of “never say never” but I think “Always do sober what you said you’d do drunk, that’ll teach you to keep your mouth shut” works better since they owned up to their words on the label. Long winded rants of the sustainability of glass vs aluminum aside, all but the staunchest of staunchy can haters have come around on good beer in cans. So, it probably would’ve been enough for Lagunitas to just plow their IPA into some cans and call it a day, they really didn’t have to go all out and make a new beer for it. But hey, if you’re gonna basically brew a smaller version of Lagunitas Sucks and put it in cans? I’m not gonna complain. This is everything Lagunitas does well, incredibly hop forward on the aroma and flavor, low bitterness and enough malt to give the hops a juiciness. Rebuilding the bridge between Session IPA and IPA, the long forgotten Pale Ale.
I caught myself being a real jagoff a few weeks ago. I was a in World Class brewery a few states away and ordered a Pilsner. One of the brewers at said brewery asked me what I thought of it and I gave the the old “meh” response. Then immediately apologized and explained that I come from the Pilsner Mecca of Pennsylvania, not that it makes my jagoffery any better, but come on man, there’s so many fresh delicious Pilsners available in this state it’s a bit ludicrous. I’d like to personally thank all the German immigrants of the 19th century who brought the tradition of making delicious golden lagers here. So I told you all that about Pennsylvania to review a beer brewed in Ohio. Right. Because I seriously judge every Pilsner I drink against my favorites. Victory Prima Pils, Troegs Sunshine Pils and All Saints St. Josef. Almost every Pilsner falls somewhere inside the flavor triangle created by those three. Jack Straw leans heavily toward the bombastic hop flavor and bitterness you find in the German influenced Prima, but also has a similar rich understated Czech maltiness found in St. Josef. Pulling hard towards those two leaves it pretty far away from the soft and delicate Sunshine Pils. And, as the brewer responded to my jagoffery, “shit man, to even be compared to those Pilsners is a compliment.”
5.5% Pale Ale - lagunitas.com
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Recommended if you like: Alesmith - San Diego Pale Ale .394, Brew Gentlemen - CPA, East End - Pedal Pale Ale, Green Flash - 30th Street Pale Ale, Knee Deep - Citra Extra Pale Ale
5.3% Pilsner - fatheads.com
Recommended if you like: Victory - Prima Pils, All Saints - St. Josef Pils, Sly Fox - Pikeland Pils, Penn - Kaiser Pils
3. O ff Color Troublesome
Recommended if you like: Anderson Valley - The Kimmie, The Yink & the Holy Gose, Rock Bottom - Big Boots Gose, Insurrection - Pink Yoga Pants, Full Pint - Wild Side Salz & Pfeffer Gose, Sierra Nevada - Otra Vez
4. R oundabout Tangerine Orbit
6.1% Wheat Pale Ale with Tangerine - roundaboutbeer.com
Last issue I wrote about the Crowler and who all was using them locally, this issue I’m adding another one to the list! But, there’s a catch. While the aforementioned locations will put anything on tap into a crowler and seal it to order, Roundabout is pre filling theirs in an effort to keep their crowlers fresher, longer. See, oxygen is bad for beer, it makes hops taste like cheese and malt taste like wet cardboard. When you fill a growler or a crowler right off the tap, you’re introducing all sorts of oxygen to the beer. This isn’t a real big concern if you fill a growler and drink it within a day or two, but if you’re buying a crowler to send to your brother in Wisconsin? Well, see, now you’re at a day or two to get it in the mail, a couple days en route and then who knows how long it’s gonna sit in his fridge until he drinks it. Now he has oxidized beer and thinks Pittsburgh beer tastes like sadness. Roundabout is purging their crowlers of oxygen prior to filling and filling them using a fancy beer gun which drastically reduces onset tastes of sadness. The drawback is only a few beers are available each week. I picked up one filled with their Tangerine Orbit Wheat Pale Ale and took a day or two to review it and maybe it’s the beer talking but it tastes better than at the brewery. Bright juicy tangerine aroma, the Orbit hops are there in a grapefruity way, but almost buried under tangerine. This is a juicy beverage right here. The wheat lends a fluffy richness for the tangerine and there’s a nice white grape and pine bitterness to clean up the finish. Recommended if you like: Bells - Oberon, Green Flash - Tangerine Soul Style, Full Pint - Social Grapefruit Session IPA, Flying Dog - Bloodline IPA
5. N ew Belgium Glutiny Pale Ale
6% Gluten Reduced Pale Ale - newbelgium.com
Buried deep in the heart of every beer drinker is the fear of developing an aversion to gluten. We all have the friend, the one who is stuck on vodka sodas and cider now. Not that there’s anything wrong with those, they’re just not beer. And there’s a few gluten-free beers made from sorghum and rice and other grains, but even those aren’t very beerlike. And until there’s a Lactaid for gluten, well, options are limited. So there’s a new trick in the brewing world. Gluten Reduced. Made using a enzyme initially created to reduce haze in beer, these beers fall below the 20 parts per million of gluten required to be “gluten free,” but can’t be labeled so. I don’t know, call your
Doctor and your Congressman, I’m a bartender not a lawyer. New Belgium launched a pair of these fancy reduced gluten beers last year, a golden ale and this pale ale. This is your straight up American Pale Ale. Chewy caramel malts balanced with some piney American hops. Maybe not the most exciting beer ever brewed, but if this was my first beer after a couple years of cider, it’d probably be the best beer I’ve ever had. Recommended if you like: Beer, but gluten hates you.
6. V ictory Festbier
5.6% Oktoberfest Style Lager - victorybeer.com
The blessing and the curse of Oktoberfest beers is their release in early August. Seasonal creep you scream? Ok, the actual Fest starts in September every year, I think 45 days early is acceptable. But Oktoberfest beers scream “drink me on a cool early fall evening surrounded humming crickets.” And man while the idea of a cool fall evening sounds great in early August, reality is too damn hot. So, like the arrival of pumpkin dust across the nation, the first Oktoberfest sighting of the season says maybe I won’t have to take 3 showers a day soon. And then I immediately block out the thought of the impending winter slushfest. Anyway, somewhere on these pages, I’ve gushed about Victory’s Pilsner prowess, you think a brewery that makes arguably the greatest Pils on earth is gonna phone in an Oktoberfest? NOPE. There’s so much about this beer that screams fall, the dark garnet tinged amber color, the toasted malt & herbal hop aromas, the rich slightly caramel malt flavor. Maybe because it’s the reigning champion of Leaf Raking Beers since 1999, but everything about this beer says fall. Recommended if you like: Penn - Oktoberfest, Paulaner - Oktoberfest, Hofbrau - Oktoberfest, Hitchhiker - Oktoberfest
7. G reen Flash Sea To Sea Lager 4% Zwickel Lager - greenflashbrew.com
Because I’m everything I hate about beer drinkers, I’ve gotten to the point I don’t buy a new to me beer without consulting the internet. Heaven forbid I plunk down a few bucks without seeking the affirmation from complete strangers that this beer will be the best beer ever. So I’m talking to my Green Flash rep about this here unfiltered Pilsner, whilst browsing the Untappd and I see the clinching review. “Tastes like the best Budweiser ever. Meh.” I’m sold. I love the idea of The Industrial American Lager a lot more than I love the actual liquid, they’re all missing something. Bitterness. I’m not saying we need more India Pale Lager—please, no more of those—but come on man add another hop cone or 3 to High Life and balance out the corn a bit. Or don’t and I’ll keep a couple of these around for these screaming hot days of August. Slightly hazy from the lack of filtering, the fresh aromas of outdoors jump out of this. Fresh cut clover, lemon grass and a hint of sweet malt. Light and refreshing on the palate, the German hops provide the near perfect level of bitterness to complement the crackery Pilsner malt. A beauty of a beer that screams take me outside. Recommended if you like: Victory - Braumeister Pils, Sierra Nevada Nooner Pils, Terrapin - Sound Czech Pils, Roundabout - Polish Hill Pils, Evil Twin - Low Life
Follow Hart on Twitter, not Twiiter. @MoarHops
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4.1% Gose - offcolorbrewing.com
In the span of a few years, Gose has gone from a traditional style of beer damn near extinct because everyone just forgot about it to a traditional style of beer that’s been smacked, flipped and rubbed down with just about every fruit flavor you can imagine. Quickly soured and fermented Gose is all the rage as long as you don’t mind watermelon, kiwi, blood orange or key lime all up in your beer. Off Color from Chicago takes a more traditional approach, a blend of two differently fermented beers, one tart and one not-tart, lightly spiced with coriander and salt. The end beer is straw golden with an aroma of fresh cracked coriander and proofing sourdough. There’s always chatter about traditional Gose when it comes to tartness, saltiness and coriander. Because those qualities are expected, some people want to be their tongues destroyed by a salty lemon bomb. I like that Troublesome walks the delicate line of balancing all the flavors. All the flavor is there, just not constantly tugging on your sleeve mindlessly crying for your attention. You don’t want your Tomato Basil soup to be an inedible basil bomb, thanks for the restraint on the coriander.
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brewer sit-down Words & Photo Ian Mikrut
kiel
Batanian RIVERTOWNE BREWING
In late July, Monroeville’s Rivertowne Pour House offered their first Brewmaster’s Dinner—a four-course food and beer pairing which is planned to become a regular, seasonal iteration. Rivertowne has always been a popular destination for craft beer fans as a hometown restaurant and brewery, and meet-thebrewer events helped Rivertowne further establish itself as a beer-centric establishment as well as a restaurant. The evening started with an Aperitif beer, the Daemmerlicht Dunkelweizen, a dark German wheat beer balanced enough to spark an appetite for the rest of the evening without being too filling. A ceviche with tortilla chips served as the next primer along with Sea of Gold: a newly released IPA with El Dorado hops. The ceviche’s citrus flavors nicely complimented the IPA’s fruity El Dorado aromas. A Summer Citrus Salad followed along with the Mango Kettle Sour. The Mango Kettle Sour was a highlyapproachable, refreshing sour whose tart notes didn’t overpower the dish it was paired with. The main course consisted of beef burgundy, roasted potatoes and asparagus paired with the most interestingly simple beer of the evening: the “JFP” Robust Porter. That’s “Just a Fuckin’ Porter,” real name, no gimmicks. What felt like too soon, the dinner concluded with a blueberry cheesecake and the blueberry-infused dessert IPA, Vegan Pancakes. While the evening was an opportunity for Rivertowne to showcase their diverse menu and educate consumers on constructing beer pairings, it also helped bring the location’s new brewmaster, Kiel Batanian, into the spotlight along with what he’ll be bringing to the company’s growing brew portfolio.
Age? 25
Hometown?
I was born in Evansville, Indiana, but I’m a yinzer. I spent most of my life here.
How long have you been brewing? About 4 years.
Brewing Background?
I went to school for International Relations. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, I was homebrewing in college, and had a bartending job and got into it that way. It sort of became my move into the business—I was in the Bay area in California and got my start out there. West Coast is my influence.
First craft beer you drank? Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.
If you were to buy a case of beer right now, what would it be? CraftPittsburgh | Issue 27
Probably Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.
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Guilty beer pleasure?
Pabst Blue Ribbon and Miller High Life, the little stub bottles.
Favorite music to brew to?
Metal, anything that gets your heart going, gets you jacked. Today it was Trivium.
Favorite Pittsburgh bar? James Street Gastropub.
If you weren’t brewing?
I would be probably watching a Pirates game or listening to one on the radio.
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HEIDELBERG, PA
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cooking with beer
RoundAbout Tangerine Orbit
Shimp & Grits O ur summer vacation took us to Georgia for some amazing time in the Blue Ridge Mountains. If you plan your route right you just happen to drive through Asheville, NC. Asheville has exploded with beer in the last few years and as a chef married to a Supreme High Mugwump Beer Nerd it’s pretty much a required stop. We didn’t have much time, an overnight stay on the drive back north—the crowned King and Queen of our tribe, The Dogs, were ready to be home after a week playing in the woods and aren’t the biggest fans of staying in hotels—so we did some research, talked to some local-ish folks and decided New Belgium for some beers and dinner at Wicked Weed Brew Pub. Me and SHMBN? We make good decisions.
CraftPittsburgh | Issue 27
New Belgium was impressive. I got to drink Sunshine Wheat on tap, in the sunshine, overlooking a river, with a slew of super excited soccer fans watching the EPL final. Absolutely loved it. Dinner at Wicked Weed was memorably awesome. Loved the look and energy of the place, beers were all delicious and I had the best, BEST, shrimp and grits that I had ever had. And I have had quite a few; I order it whenever I suspect it will be good. I am often disappointed. So knowing that I can’t just pop down to Asheville for dinner, and knowing that all other Shrimp & Grits will pale in comparison to those I had just eaten I decided I should probably get it together to make it for myself. Mission accomplished. You’re Welcome!
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It is surprisingly easy to make and super fast. It is more about the right ingredients—stone ground coarse white cornmeal, super sharp cheddar, fresh as possible gulf shrimp and a citrusy, but not hop aggressive, pale ale or saison. The beer is going to be reduced to make a sauce—hops will get bitter, bitter is not delicious with sweet shrimp. I chose Roundabout Tangerine Orbit Pale Ale. The orange is subtle and not sweet, the hop is mild and the breadiness of the malt lends itself to a well rounded sauce. Bonus—you are steaming the shrimp so you don’t need much, meaning you get to drink the rest! Woo! Let’s talk details - I use 16/20 shrimp if I buy with the shell on, peel and devein myself. If I buy the already peeled and deveined I get the 21/25. Personally I do it myself, the price per pound savings for the better shrimp is well worth it. But it is gross, so I get not being into that. Regardless of which you do take off the tails before you cook them, no one wants to deal with those while eating.
This recipe makes a restaurant style and sized dinner for four almost exactly with 2# of shrimp. To make it a generous dinner for 2 use 1¼# of shrimp and leave everything else alone. Your cornmeal choice is also important. The grits are best with a stone ground, coarse white corn meal. The rougher the better. You want the texture. You can use plain white or yellow cornmeal, but you get a delicious cheddar polenta; to get the texture of grits you want the coarser meal. Last note—get a good cheddar and shred it, don’t buy pre-shredded cheese. That’s a good life rule, actually. Start to finish this is less than an hour. It looks and tastes like a whole lot more. Cook the grits first all the way to completion—they need to hang out and get delicious, during which time you will cook the shrimp. If you are doing your own shrimp work make sure it is all done before you start cooking. Ready to harness your inner southerner? Let’s go!
Cheddar Grits
• 2 cups chicken stock • 2 cups milk • 1 tsp Kosher salt • Generous grind black pepper • 1 cup coarse white cornmeal • 4 Tbsp butter • 6oz grated extra sharp white cheddar
Put the stock, milk, salt, pepper and cornmeal in a saucepot over medium high heat, bring up to a simmer and stir until it starts to thicken. This takes a minute. Or 15. It will get thick, and gloppy, and sound all weird when it gets thick. Drop the heat at this point and keep stirring. You want to cook it longer than you think you should, it should be almost gummy when it is done. You will be adding butter and cheese to it, which will thin it some—so you want to hit the consistency you think is perfect and go a step further, so when the final ingredients go in it goes back to perfect, not too thin. Once it is cooked down enough take off the heat and mix in the butter and cheese. Stir until combined. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Cover and let sit for 10-15 minutes on the stovetop to set up right.
Words & Photo Mindy Heisler-Johnson
RoundAbout Tangerine Orbit Shrimp & Bacon
Clean your shrimp and dry on a paper towel. Heat a large saute pan over medium high heat. Add the bacon, reduce heat to medium and render until crisp. Add the onion and garlic. Continue to cook over medium heat until the onion softens and starts to caramelize. Take your time with this step, it is necessary. When the onion is caramelized up the heat to high and get the pan hot. Add the dry shrimp and toss with the bacon and onion to coat. Let the shrimp start to saute and the pan get hot again. Add the beer and lemon juice, season with salt & pepper. Let it hard simmer, finishing the cook on the shrimp and reducing the beer by half. When the beer is reduced turn off the heat, add the softened butter and swirl in to make the sauce. Serve in a deep bowl with grits mounded in the center, 8-10 shrimp placed on top, spoon some of the sauce and that bacon onion amazing all over and garnish with snipped fresh chives. With a cold beer...can’t forget that!
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• 2lbs peeled, deveined, detailed shrimp • 4 slices thick slab bacon, diced • ½ of a sweet onion, small diced • 2 cloves garlic, minced • 4oz Tangerine Orbit Pale Ale • Juice of half a Lemon • Salt & black pepper to taste • 4oz softened butter • Fresh chives (garnish, not really necessary, but yummy)
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home brewing
Words Jack Smith Photos Gregor Bender
Decocting Doppelbock
If It’s Worth Doing, It’s Worth Overdoing!
If you’re going to brew a strong, malty German lager, sure, you could get by with a single infusion mash incorporating a judicious application of specialty malts to provide the rich melanoidin character so prevalent in the doppelbock style.
CraftPittsburgh | Issue 27
But if you want to do it right you have to perform a decoction. You see kids, this is what our forefathers did. They walked out into the brewery, picked out a simple grain bill, and they stirred the boiling mash with their bare hands. I mean, if you’re out in the brewery and you’re committed to brewing a doppelbock, you’re gonna do it right, and you’re gonna do it big. You want something you can be proud of, don’t you? Sure you do.
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The recipe included here was developed for us by BSG Craft Brewing Content Manager and former BrewingTV host Michael Dawson to be used in a brew day episode of the popular homebrewing video podcast, Chop & Brew. The beer was brewed by a handful of TRASH & TRUB homebrewers and came out excellent. It advanced to the final round of the 2015 National Homebrew Competition and won first place in
the bock category at the Beer & Sweat Keg-Only Homebrew Competition in Cincinnati. In other words, follow the process described here and you’ll make yourself a pretty good doppelbock. It’s true—with today’s brewing malts decoction is never truly necessary. Some even argue that it’s a silly waste of resources, that you can get identical results with some combination of specialty grain selection and mash temperature and schedule. I feel you can get close that way—really close— but you simply cannot develop the depth of malt flavor decoction brings to the party unless you actually decoct. What is decoction? In short it is a means of performing a multi-temperature mash whereby the temperature increases are achieved through boiling part of the mash and adding it back to the rest of the mash. It was done historically to help get the most out of grain that wasn’t malted as well as it is today and to bring some consistency to mash temperatures— since thermometers weren’t entirely common and boiling temperature is effectively constant. Today we do it not because we have to, but because we can do or want to. Yes, it adds a few hours to your brew day and uses more propane but what do you have to lose? If you’re in this hobby to have fun and learn new things, give this recipe and this process a try. It’s rewarding. Doubly so when you’re drinking a half liter of rich, malty, homemade doppelbock by the fire.
Batch Size: 5.25 gal Boil Time: 90 minutes OG: 1.090 FG: 1.025 ABV: 8.5% IBU: 25 SRM: 18 Difficulty: Advanced (decoction + fermentation temperature control) *Assuming 70% brewhouse efficiency
Grainbill
17 lbs, 12 oz Munich malt 6 oz Caraaroma malt 6 oz Melanoidin malt 2 oz Carafa II malt * Extract Brewers: Sorry, this recipe is designed for a decoction mash.
Hops
28 grams Hallertauer Mittelfrueh (5.5% AA) @ FWH 14 grams Hallertauer Mittelfrueh (5.5% AA) @ 15 min.
Mash & Boil
Decoction requires your mash to start out much thinner than single infusion. You probably typically mash at 1.25 quarts of water per pound of grain. Here you want more like 2-3 qt/lb. The limiting factor is usually how much you can fit in your mash tun. Start by adding 28 quarts of 140F strike water to your tun then dough in. That’s about 1.5 quarts per pound. Then add more 135F water until your mash tun is full - up to another 20 quarts if it will fit! Monitor the mash temperature —you want it to come in at 133F. Let the mash rest for 10 minutes, then start the decoction. Pull one quart of the thickest,
porridge-like part of the mash for every pound of grain and deposit it in your boil kettle. Cover the mostly-liquid portion that you left behind and hold it at 133F. The thin portion goes through a standard resting period while you work the decoction. Meanwhile, apply medium heat to the kettle with the thick mash and stir constantly to avoid scorching the grain on the bottom. After half an hour or so it should reach a boil. The porridge will become thinner and easier to stir as time passes. Once it reaches a boil, continue to stir while it gently boils for 30 minutes. Seriously, never stop stirring. After boiling for 30 minutes, kill the heat and begin adding the decocted grain back to the main mash (the mostly-liquid part that didn’t get boiled) a quart at a time. Stir each addition in and monitor the mash temperature. You’re aiming for a 2nd mash step temperature of 156F. If you reach that temperature before adding all of the grain back to the mash, stop adding it and let the decocted portion cool to 156 before adding it back in. Hold the entire mash at 156F for 45 minutes, then mash out, lauter, sparge, and boil as you typically do. Sounds like a lot of work, right? It is. It’s all part of the experience, honey. And it’s a lot easier if you have helpers. Get a friend or two and make a day of it. You won’t regret it. After all, the most enduring traditions of homebrewing are best enjoyed in the warm embrace of kith and kin.
Yeast/Fermentation
Use your favorite German lager yeast. WLP833 German Bock works well here. Follow a typical lager fermentation schedule, noting that the high OG will require more oxygen than usual and it will take longer to ferment fully. Make a huge starter. Better yet, brew 5 gallons of Helles and save the yeast to pitch into this beer. Oxygenate
with 2 minutes of pure O2 just prior to pitching, then give it another minute of O2 twelve hours later. Pitch at 48F, allow to free-rise to 50F. Hold at 50F until SG hits about 1.040, then start ramping 1F every 12 hours until you get to about 65F. Should finish around 1.020. Hold at 65 for a week, then crash cool to near freezing, hold for 3-4 days, then transfer to a keg and age near freezing for at least six months before serving.
Suggested Pairings
Rich, malty lager like this is the kind of beer that stands on its own without need to be paired with anything. This beer is the center of attention. In that sense it pairs amazingly with a sofa and a fireplace. But if a food pairing is what you’re after, it’s well at home with traditional Bavarian food like sauerbraten with spaetzle or weisswurst with potato pancakes. It’s also a great dessert beer try it with a rich, fruity spiced bread pudding and eggy frozen custard. Fireplace and sofa optional.
Additional Resources
The brew day episode of Chop & Brew can be viewed at: chopandbrew.com/episodes/chopbrew-episode-41-chopinator-choppelbock/ It chronicles the brewing of this exact recipe (albeit a double-sized batch) and shows how the color (and by extension, flavor) develops in the mash through decoction. It also includes a tasting discussion between Chip Walton & Michael Dawson over a glass of the finished beer. Cheers! A homebrewer since 2002, Jack Smith is a National BJCP Judge, the president of the Three Rivers Alliance of Serious Homebrewers, and an active member of the Three Rivers Underground Brewers.
CraftPittsburgh.com
Choppinator Choppelbock German Doppelbock
Follow him on Twitter @whenyeastattack 37