Monday, November 23, 2009

A quiet return home...


A jet-set week ago, I was sitting in Burlington at Vermont Pub and Brewery, surrounded by Kimmich (Alchemist), JF, Luc, Stephane (Dieu Du Ciel) and drinking a glass of the original Vermont India Pale Ale. A farewell/rememberance event at American Flatbread for the late pioneer and friend Greg Noonan had led me across the street to abandon the camaraderie and sit in silent contemplation. Until I was joined by the aforementioned throng of brewing virtuosos. Alone or not, my reflection continued - what is 'a' life? what is important? an idea? It all keeps moving, and the overarching "why" keeps on... but, as Kimmich said to me, sitting at the bar, " 'it' is not gears in continual churning but clunking, like small train collisions that seem to form a cohesive 'whole' " Insightful words... like cars slowly falling off of the train and the chain keeps moving. What we created, idealized, is left behind - is its own entity. What will be the spawn of Shaun? Of John Kimmich? Of Greg Noonan? Do we leave there, behind us, the same energy that we ourselves emulated? Spawn...and spawn of spawn...and on and on.

Moments before the reflections noted above, I was in Montreal at Dieu Du Ciel spending a relaxing first weekend back 'home' in... Canada. JF, Luc, Stephane and I had pieced together a vision of an Imperial Black IPA (Black Hoppy Ale, perhaps, to avoid the paradox and contradiction of Black/Pale) that would serve as our own honorable tribute to Noonan.


Sensible, really. Just a few weeks back I was contacted by Mitch Steele (brewmaster of Stone Brewing Co.) because back in the spring of 2006 he had tasted his 'first' black ipa - Darkside from The Shed Brewery. He is conducting some research into the India Pale Ale category and I had to inform him that my own inspiration for the beer had come from Kimmich at the Alchemist... whose own inspiration had come from brewing Blackwatch IPA at Vermont Pub and Brewery in the mid 90s... a recipe that John had 'resurrected' from Noonan's archives from the early days at VPB. Three breweries in Vermont had created black IPAs by the end of 2005 - evidently a Vermont original.


And so an idea for our collaboration was born from humble Vermont roots... Simcoe, Amarillo, Cascade, and Columbus. Roasted and biscuit malts. A mash tun that would be virtually overflowing... the brew day began a bit later than I am used to - mashing in around 10 in the morning (Luc had managed to secure 4 hours of sleep before arriving at the brewery in the early morning in order to transfer a beer, harvest yeast, and clean the fermenter for us) - no doubt, partially due to a late night in the pub. Peche Mortel on Cask, Aphrodisiaque on draft... Does Montreal ever sleep?


We knocked out 550+ liters of 20.2º Plato wort - hopped in the range of 100 ibus - supposedly the hoppiest beer ever created at Dieu Du Ciel! A most noble effort, methinks, in crafting a tribute to a kindred soul and innovator. Thus, I suspect that the gentlemen of DDC will release a beer titled "Pioneer" Imperial Black IPA within the next 3 weeks...

On the home front and abroad, things continue to come together. Rather, are being placed together - equipment and layout at Hill Farmstead slowly falling into place. In Denmark, Grassroots has a VAT/CVR number (why can't US approval be as easy as it is in Denmark!?) is releasing its first IPA next week - with the first pallets going to Rome (Ma Che Siete Venuti A Fa) and Copenhagen. IPA Version 1.0 is also tentatively titled Winter IPA/HumleJul (more creative names to follow, I promise...). The next beer released will be in early to mid January - and will be....surprise... a Black Hoppy Ale - tentatively titled... Broken Spoke.

Today I am off to Three Penny Tap Room. There will be a series of beer tastings around New England over the course of the next few months. I've shipped home 20+ cases of my barrel aged Limited Release Beers from Nørrebro Bryghus and will do a promotional tour... a sort of "reflections upon Copenhagen" that will also feature a few of Mikkel and Christian's beers. If the timing is right (and, sometimes it can be...), this tour will also coincide with the arrival of draft versions of Mikkel's Beer Geek Brunch and Breakfast. Thus far, only two dates have been confirmed:

January 7th: Three Penny Taproom, Montpelier, VT (was held on January 10th)
February 14th: La Laiterie/Farmstead, Providence, RI (postponed until April)
(Tentative): January 17th: Blind Tiger, NYC (not going to happen!)

A location for a Boston (Deep Ellum?) or Philadelphia (Tria? Monks?) event are still up in the air. Since I have such a limited amount of beer (in 375ml bottles), attendance has to remain cozy and intimate (under 25 people)... in true Danish fashion...

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Departing Denmark: Nørrebro Bryghus/Fanø Bryghus, Grassroots Brewing, and Hill Farmstead Brewery...

This is likely to be my final writing from my 20 month tenure in Denmark as Head Brewer at both Nørrebro Bryghus and the relaunched Fanø Bryghus. One full week from this expatiation I'll be moving onward (both forward and backward, in a sense...) - returning to Hill Farmstead with an ever more worldly perspective and, perhaps, a more settled ability to continue the Hill legacy in Greensboro. This generation, however, as a brewer rather than a dairy farmer...

I'm sitting on the island of Fanø, listening to Wilco, and dry hopping my latest IPA. Fanø Bryghus is back on track - our Christmas Porter is receiving great compliments (Chocolate, Coffee, Cinnamon, and Vanilla) - and I suspect that an American Pale Ale will soon be added to the year round catalog. Ryan Witter-Merithew (formerly of Duck-Rabbit Brewery in North Carolina) seems to have settled into life on the island. His 'Chug" (Chihuahua/Pug mix) "Hamburglar" has been making rounds on the Copenhagen beer scene - and has gained a reputation as a magnetic force to the opposite gender... thus, earning him the nickname "P. Mag." Multiple visits to the island by Mike Murphy and Michael Jordan over the last month have brought much needed respite from a hectic work schedule and we all attended the Esbjerg beer festival together last weekend.



The fermenters at Nørrebro Bryghus are full of beer in the wake of my departure. Søren Parker Wagner (famed bartender of Lord Nelson and Orsted and creator of Croocked Moon brewing in Denmark) is going to be working part time at Nørrebro in order to keep the gears running smoothly and Rasmus Broge will effectively become the senior brewer at Ryesgade (while maintaining his position at Hedehusene's production brewery...)

So... what have I left behind at Nørrebro Bryghus? Many beers which, sadly, I'll never have the pleasure to consume! But, hopefully will be savored by the discriminating palates of the Copenhagen beer scene.
Over the last months, I've brewed a beautiful american pale ale called "Hop Something." 10 kilos of Palisade and Glacier went into the whirlpool of a 1,000L (that's 264 gallons for the metrically challenged) batch. I have teamed up with the pinnacle of the coffee craft to create two new beers - The Coffee Collective - located on Jægersborggade in Copenhagen: http://www.coffeecollective.dk/). Kasper from CC and I put together a wonderfully subtle beer - 4.8% and full bodied- called Kenya Coffee Stout. The next beer in the coffee series will be a new version of La Granja Stout - brewed with an abundant addition the Coffee Collective's Guatemalan coffee.

We were joined by Eric Wallace of Left Hand Brewing Company in Colorado on October 17th. Eric shipped over 25kg of hackberry smoked malt (smoked at their brewery!) for our version of a Smoked Baltic Porter. The beer finished out at 7.2% abv, 35 ibus, and has a beautifully smooth and subtle smoke character the compliments the rounded malt character of the beer. This beer should debut sometime around Christmas and is tentatively named Eric's Smoked Baltic Porter. 200 liters of this limited batch will be aged in an Islay whiskey barrel throughout the winter months and hopefully through next summer... Hopefully someone can carry a sample to the states for Eric and I to taste?

Next week I'll be brewing an Oatmeal Brown Ale for the draft calendar at Nørrebro as well the new La Granja and a (now not so much of a) surprise "farewell" beer that shall rest nicely in the tanks for a month or two until a gap opens up in the draft list at the pub.

There are also at least 2 new IPAs ahead for Nørrebro. I brewed "Hoppier Something" (though the name is likely to change before it hits the draft lines) - a bigger, hoppier brother to Hop Something - mostly dominated by Simcoe hops.

And, lastly - next Saturday, November 7th, at 4pm, we'll debut a new Double IPA at Nørrebro Bryghus named Hill Spawn Double IPA. This is my reincarnation of a beer that I brewed at The Shed (in Stowe, VT and the brewery that first gave me creative freedom!) named Hell Spawn. I brewed Hell Spawn back in June of 2006 specifically for the Hop Head Throwdown at the Publick House in Brookline, Massachusetts. My attempt was 220 theoretical ibus and the beer finished out around 10.5% abv. Analyzed, Hell Spawn was 87 ibus. Hill Spawn is a bit more over the top. I wanted 300 theoretical ibus in hopes of breaking the 90+ *real* ibu level - the beer is finished nicely at 10.8% abv and required more than 20kgs of hops for a 900L batch. After dry hopping and kettle loss, I am hoping to keg 500 liters of beer.

On Sunday, November 8th, my last full day in Denmark as a 'temporary resident', I'll go to the Royal Danish Theater, sit in the 4th row, and watch/listen to Wilco play a fantastic set of music. Which will carry me home...

But not without leaving something behind.

For nearly a decade now I have been dreaming of starting my Grassroots Brewery - my original plan was to find a brewing space somewhere in Northern Vermont and conduct brewing operations long enough under the title of Grassroots in order to raise funds to move all operations to Hill Farmstead. At that time, I would have two brands or lines of beer - Grassroots and Hill Farmstead (this was several years before Tomme Arthur launched the Port Brewing/Lost Abbey brands under the same roof). I registered the tradenames, LLC, and bought the domain names for Grassroots Brewery nearly 5 years ago. Now, as I transition into my last days in Denmark - I have finally found a means of starting Grassroots Brewery here on Danish soil.

Last weekend, here in Fanø, I brewed my first American Pale Ale under the Grassroots name - I am contract brewing the beer (for now, myself, and after I leave, Ryan will take the reins) here at Fanø. The focus is American style IPAs, Pale Ales, and hop-forward beers. For now - draft only - and the first batch will be divided between Copenhagen, Sweden, and Italy. The first batch has been effectively pre-sold and tomorrow I'm brewing another 1,000L of this winter pale ale - here in DK - HumleJul (hoppy christmas). Each season will see a different variation on the IPA - whether more flavor forward or bitterness oriented - all beers will be round and elegant - with soft bitterness and flavor forward hop profiles. Look for them on draft in Copenhagen (at the usual beer bars) in about 3 weeks. Beer #1 is a Simcoe forward IPA - 5.5% abv and 120 theoretical ibus and predominantly late hopped. The bitterness is relatively unexpressive and the hop character builds on the aftertaste into a resiny and pleasant linger. It's quite dry and highly drinkable. Think 3 Floyd's Alpha King meets Hop Something meets Bell's Hop Slam...


Grassroots Brewery in Denmark means permanent ties for me in this country - and it will keep me coming back. Anders (Kissmeyer) and I have been steadily entertaining the notion of a yearly guest brew at Nørrebro - laying beers down in oak - and possibly coinciding my visit with the arrival of another American brewer for a three fold collaboration. Alesmith/Hill Farmstead (Grassroots)/Nørrebro, for example? (Damn, this IPA, that I am dry hopping, is almost too pleasant to sip...)
Grassroots is a subsidiary of Hill Farmstead in Vermont - a purposeful connection -in light that my friends and investors can never question my intention and focus...
Look for a sessionable stout in mid-winter and possibly some bottles of the IPA once the bottling line here in Fanø is up and running.

And Hill Farmstead? Almost immediately upon my return, my first weekend home, I am off to Montreal to brew with the crew at Dieu Du Ciel!... The style is still undecided but I can imagine it to be relatively hoppy and abundantly late hopped. As our great friend, and one of the most influential figures on my brewing career and understand of beer - Greg Noonan - passed away several weeks ago - I suspect that Stephane and JF and myself will want to pay some sort of tribute to the man that inspired all of us to brew better beer. In fact, it's pretty easy to follow the lineage of my brewing education and inspiration: Noonan --> John Kimmich (owner/brewer of The Alchemist, worked for Greg as a brewer for many years...) --> Me.

I'm leaving too many friends behind in Denmark. Every day I am divided - leave/stay... leave/stay... but I must continue to follow my passion and share my experience with the world. Annual returns to DK are certainly in the cards - and the future of Hill Farmstead remains to be written. I've assembled a pretty amazing support team to help me launch - between my investors (who may or may not want to be named... yet), my graphic designer, my distributors, my brewing colleagues, friends, family, ... We'll see how it progresses. Worst Case Scenario: I return to Denmark as a brewer and finally attempt to learn the language. Things could be worse, right?

There remains an uphill battle back in Vermont. But I have found my investors, the money, the equipment, and maintain the spirit. Hill Farmstead now... a brewpub in a few years... maybe a longer term return to Denmark...as long as the energy and the consciousness of those involved in this project (that has ever become greater than my microcosmic 'I' ) continues to grow and sustain, then I suspect that we can expect further projects to evolve...

Saturday, July 25, 2009


2 weeks... Into the Wild.


The hours are turning into weeks and my return to Vermont, my adventure into the folds of dream-destiny, is just two weeks away. My return to the wilderness with which I identify... the connection between place, spirit, and passion, is glowing like a beacon at the end of an exhausting journey. Some people follow their passion and allow things to fall into place...and others... just want to follow the sun. I'm no longer sure what I'm following - perhaps I'm lost in my own confusion, my crazy loneliness, and reuniting with my sense of place.  I miss living in Vermont (I do not miss living in the United States). The most organic farms, the most breweries, and the most artisan cheese makers per capita in the United States... The area in which I live has been named the #1 Food Town in America by Eating Well Magazine.  Is there any doubt as to why I would feel more connected to my landscape, more at peace with myself in Vermont, than anywhere else...? Considering more than two hundred years of heritage upon Greensboro soil... My forefathers (and mothers) are the very agrarian ancestors that settled (1781) and worked the soil that is now heralded...(by the New York Times, for example...)


Reflections upon time spent in Copenhagen - my tenure at Nørrebro Bryghus, enduring friendships, and impossible romance - shall never cease to find a place in my heart...


Best to enjoy my remaining moments...

Last weekend, Peter Sonne (Halsnæs Bryghus) and I guest brewed a Black Rye IPA at Svaneke Bryghus in Bornholm with brewmaster, Jan Paul. 70 ibus of Simcoe and Columbus in the whirlpool. To be named Black Hill IPA (the hills behind my home in Vermont are called the Black Hills...) Also, sitting in the fermenters in Ryesgade are Hill Pale Ale, Seven Russian Imperial Stout, North Bridge Extreme, Double Knot Brown, Skargaards Porter, Biere de Miel, and some misc. barrels - such as an american oak barrel with Skargaards Porter, cocoa nibs, and coffee beans...


Today I'm on the island of Fanø (just 10 minutes off the southwestern coast of Denmark and 3 hours west of København) at Fanø Bryghus - where I have assumed the position of "consultant" to their restructuring and launch of brewing operations. Kasper and I just finished drinking (well, taking a sip and then spitting out) an infected bottle of 2008 Alesmith Decadence. Strange. Very. In the meantime... 

I'll keep dreaming... Hoping that the glass will find its way to half full...yearning for peace of mind...tranquility...answers...(purpose). Anyone? 


Monday, June 15, 2009

8 weeks...


8 weeks from yesterday I will set down upon American soil for the duration of what will likely prove to be a difficult and painstaking experiment in passion and dream fulfillment... and I can't help but wonder why we hold onto some dreams and allow others to fade... how it is that some dreams manifest our entire being, become our identity, our ontology - simultaneously limiting and freeing us all at once.  What would this Danish experience have become without Hill Farmstead?  


I gave my resignation more than a week ago and am now undergoing the process of preparing Nørrebro for my departure.  This includes a great deal of hand bottling, writing/documentation of processes, and training/questioning of what is to follow.  The highlight for me will be tasting the North Bridge Extreme Extreme (not a typo) in three or four weeks.  

Just Eight Weeks...


I spent most of yesterday in some sort of wilderness/deer garden/park 30+ minutes or so outside of the city. A picnic and a nap in the sun atop a hill beneath a grove of beautiful beech trees.  I felt at peace, once again.  Home amidst nature.  As if all of the chaos within me is unleashed within the city - psychological clutter and stress within the pavement  and unfamiliar faces of this unique culture... I feel more alone in the city, surrounded by a million strangers, than I do in the woods.  It will be beneficial to return to my own sanctuary.  A walk in the woods and chirping birds, a sunset over Barr Hill, and hay fields in August are meditative bliss...


I have also booked the tickets for Peter Sonne (my former assistant brewer and now the owner of Halsnæs Bryghus) and Kristoffer Wolff (brewer at Herslev Bryghus) to come to Boston/Vermont for 10 days during the time of the Backwoods Brewdown.  They actually arrive in the US two days before I do.  Alex will pick me up at the airport on Sunday night, and hopefully we'll meet Peter and Kristoffer that evening (in Burlington?) or the next day.  I'll be surrounded by a half dozen friends for an entire week, 200 friends by the following weekend... and then emptiness. And the weight and responsibility of preparing my brewery.  As all things contain their opposite, I can't deny that my fear/anxiety currently outweighs my excitement.


The fermenters have arrived and have been unloaded.  I've signed on to attend the Kennett Square Beer Festival in Pennsylvania on October 10th - I'll bring along some one offs - like a 2 year old Flemish Red, Fresh/Wet Hopped IPA, Smoked Sour Wheat beer (loosely based on a Lichtenhainer - a suggestion by Loren (aka Venom)) - 50% home smoked malt, fermented with Brettanomyces and conditioned with Lacto).  And a saison, of course... 


On another note, today Kasper and my new inter/assistant Simon and I hand bottled 1300 bottles of the Niepoort (Port) Barrel SEVEN Russian Imperial Stout.  All bottle conditioned in 375ml champagne Grand Cru bottles (think Russian River and Lost Abbey).  Tomorrow we'll be bottling the Bordeaux Barrel SEVEN, Wednesday we'll brew the North Bridge (NEX) and Thursday/Friday we'll brew a double batch of Skargaards Porter.  Busy week, indeed! But it feels great to take these beers out of their temporary home and commence their entry to the marketplace so that other folks can appreciate consuming them as much as I've enjoyed producing them... and... waiting... for... them...  Next week we'll try and bottle the Oud Bruin (Funky Viking) and also blend the Saison Vermont with more of the 2 year old Drie Fonteinen and bottle it off... Busy weeks ahead! And I'm glad that I'm not doing it all alone.  Hopefully some of these bottles will find their way to VT for the Brewdown...



Sunday, May 31, 2009

And so it goes...

And so it is.  This life is such that fleeting moments are oft overlooked. Unaware as we are, that distractions become the essence of living and, when we are not distracted, boredom settles into our bones... at a young age, I had established a vision of "what it is to be thirty."  As such, this imaginary dreadful vision proceeded as thus... that some mature level of cohesion and self-affirmed career obligations might be realized and achieved - with or without the hands of matrimony and child.  Closer to death. Accomplished. Aged. Removed from youthful tendencies... enlightened, even? The end of the 20s -  a decade of living that inevitably is defined, for me, by travel, adventure, honesty, love.  The pursuit of Hill Farmstead. Brewing. Airplanes. Painting houses. Dylan. Europe. Tom Robbins. An enthusiastic departure into a world of all things 'fine' and 'beyond' (beer, food, thought). Localization. Vermont. Obsession. Damon. Family. And a tendency to drown in the undercurrent of romance until finally I resurface for breath and life once again... only to be pulled down under.  


The 20s were perfect. And, at four days into 30, I am convinced that the 30s will be even better...


And, let me just state that I can't stop listening to Bon Iver... and I'm blown away, captured, can't put it down... Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts...


My fermenters are on the road from Seattle to Vermont - solenoids and temperature control panels included. 



My brother is remodeling our house and the former garage.  Funds from investors should be deposited in the coming month.  Wastewater permit will be in the mail within the next week.  Environmental permit not far behind.  The state of VT is going to allow me to have a small retail space at my brewery location - which will make the release of barrel aged and experimental bottlings much more enjoyable.


And, I may have even found a full time brewing gig to carry me away for several months while preparing and launching the farmstead.  An auspicious turn of events (for me, at least) has led to a change of plans for a new brewpub startup 'somewhere' in New England - and, accordingly, if all falls into place, shall allow me an opportunity for promised creative freedom and barrel aging... and an opportunity to be instrumental in the launching of a potentially premiere establishment.  More to come... 


Meanwhile, here in Bryghuset, coming up: the bottles have arrived for the barrel aged beer series and I will begin bottling these beers soon. Right after I call Peter Zien and ask him for advice on how to bottle condition my Imperial Stout.  The end of June should see the release of these beers - Funky Viking (sour brown), Saison Vermont/Lambic Blend, Port Seven, Bordeaux Seven, and three different versions of Little Korkney Barleywine - Cognac, Bourbon, and Port.  Several brews ahead of me, as well, throughout the summer.  Another batch of Hill Pale Ale, Skargaards Porter, and Brown Ale will allow me to prop the yeast necessary for brewing a small and very fresh batch of North Bridge Extreme, Triple Knot (bigger version of Double Knot - the collaboration with Nøgne Ø - only to be aged in Cognac and Port), another batch of Seven (to leave with Kasper and the gang here...) - potentially in a Bourbon edition, and a strong Sølbær (Black Currant) sour beer aged in Cabernet barrels.  I'll also be returning to Svaneke Bryghus, in Bornholm, sometime before August to brew a beer with my very good friend Jan Paul.  Perhaps one more brew with Jacob at Amager - a weekend trip to Cologne/Bonn - a weekend road trip to Belgium with some friends - and one more collaborative beer at Nørrebro and then... going away party on August 2nd at a secret location. Whirlwind. =) 

Monday, May 4, 2009

Vermont, Boston, and Copenhagen

Having just returned from the United States for a brief 10 day sojourn, I must admit that I am amazed by the transition that beer culture is undergoing.  My local bar, Parker Pie (yes, local, as in a 10 minute drive on pavement TO and a 20 minute drive on dirt FROM), might now possibly be the best watering hole in VT (based upon selection and pricing). The stores are beginning to carry a staggering selection of 22oz and 750ml bottles at affordable prices... all within the stream of my few months abroad.  BeerAdvocate shelf tags at Stowe Liquor store? Stone IRS on draft at several locations. Nice. Good work.  Then there was Boston...

Dieu Du Ciel's Aphrodisiaque and Saint Lamvinus on draft at Daniel Lanigan's "The Other Side." Pliny the Elder and Ithaca Brute on draft at Deep Ellum.  Witnessing the new beers from Dann Paquette (Pretty Things) selling at a staggering pace while I was visiting Julio's Liquors.  The time is right, I reckon... The time is right... I hope that Vermont will someday see such novelty in draft selection.  Better yet, I hope that Vermont will be responsible for creating such novel products...

The Craft Brewer's Conference was a social event, indeed.  Conference? Maybe. Social hour(s), moreso.  The highlights for me were the evenings spent at Deep Ellum with Anders, Greg Koch's keynote speech, and the barrel aging seminar with Tomme Arthur (even though Bourbon barrel aging is not my intended direction or foremost desire...).  Miraculously, I found my bed (a couch), most evenings, no later than 11:30pm and rose in the morning before 8am. Responsible in 29th year? Almost.  My greatest sense of satisfaction seemed to come from morning or early afternoon conversations with fellow brewers that were, seemingly, still intoxicated and beginning their hangover. Oh, Boston, I remember that feeling from too many BeerAdvocate festivals...

Most notably, while back in Vermont I spent nearly all of my time doing something brewery related (surprised?).  Darren and I hung some insulation and, by the end of the weekend, my entire family was participating in the activity... So, with funds committed by investors (all friends) and the still steady momentum of tomorrow... We continue to move toward opening day.  Indeed, I think we will finally open the 3 Liter bottle of 2003 Double Bastard at the Brewdown.  Who's coming?

Friday, April 10, 2009

things falling into place: Barrels, Brewdown, and Brewery


Yet another much overdue post.  Things are falling into place for Hill Farmstead Brewery - after many years of visualization and concerted effort, it appears that momentum and rhythm are finally leading toward an epoch.  Whether or not this new era will see brewing activity at 403 Hill Road, is yet to be determined.  However, gauging by the last three weeks, I think it is fair to assume that I am moving forward... toward... something.

I have purchased six 7 barrels fermenters which should arrive in Vermont sometime within the next few weeks.  Thankfully, my father and brother will be there to receive them.  I am still searching for a 7 barrel kettle and burner - but, again, I am sure that things will continue to fall into place (can you sense the optimism?).  Here is a picture of one of the new fermenters:


Fortunately, I am also blessed with wonderful and ambitious friends.  Due to their ambition and generosity, there is also a 10 barrel Mash Tun, formerly belonging to my very good friend John Kimmich and his Alchemist brewpub, resting in my garage back home.  10 barrel mash tun, seven barrel kettle,... Nice.  Reminds me of Tom Baker and Heavyweight Brewing Company - Tom used to have a 15 barrel mash tun for a 7 barrel kettle. Certainly a great many options here.  Mike went into the Alchemist on a weekend morning and did the dirty deed of removal. Pretty awesome - that's Mike with the sunglasses and water hose:


I am still working on raising the remaining the capital (any takers?) and the business plan is polished, initial brewing and release line-up planned, and the financial projections actually show that I could earn a living!   Imagine...

In more news, I am continuing to place more beer into oak at Nørrebro.  Current oak aging includes Imperial Skargaards Porter in Cabernet barrels, Triple de Lente in Sauterne, CCC in Pinot and Merlot, Saison in Pinot, Oud Bruin, and SEVEN in Port and Bordeaux.  Within the next few weeks several more beers will be added to the mix. 

More pictures of the barrel aging room will be posted soon.  Some of these beers - especially the blended Saison/Drie Fonteinen beer, will debut at the Copenhagen beer festival next month.  I'm still trying to source 375ml champagne bottles for the bottling of the SEVEN and Oud Bruin.  

In other news - I will soon begin mailing out invitations to this year's Backwoods Brewdown. If you don't know what this is, or haven't heard about it, then perhaps you should come out and join us this year...the picture that opens this entry is a fantastic photo taken by Alex at last year's event.  

Lastly, for now, I'm going home next week and will be in Boston the following week for the Craft Brewer's Conference. My first Craft Brewer's Conference and I'm anticipating spending some evenings with my friends at the Publick House as well as attending a few great seminars and making more contacts with fellow brewers and industry suppliers.  Also, equally exciting, I'm going to be a judge at next year's GABF.  With my 30th birthday just six weeks away... things seems to be moving in the right direction.  


Thursday, January 29, 2009

Onward into Spring...and Vermont?

Just returned from a 3 day adventure to Belgium with Peter and my new Alaskan brewer friend, Ben Millstein from Kodiak Island Brewing Company  (he and I brewed a 27 Plato Braggot together a few days ago...).  Look up Kodiak Island on a map and imagine what this guy must have to go through to produce beer... Managed to meet up with Urbain Coutteau at 't Brugs Beertje, sample some great lambics, and had an opportunity to taste and choose between barrels at Drie Fonteinen (hauled back a few kegs of 2 year old lambic that I will use for blending and serving later on. Possibly even a Backwoods Brewdown surprise...?)  Here is part of what I brought back with me:

In the fermenters right now, we have some particularly wonderful upcoming beers.  Two different versions of a Belgian Trippel (one brewed with Orval yeast, a la La Rulles, the other brewed with Rochefort yeast and Honey) - the La Rulles inspired Trippel is destined for Tokay barrels and a marriage with Brettanomyces.  We also, as I mentioned before, just brewed a 27 Plato Braggot - 200kg of Maris Otter/200kg of Orange Blossom Honey (Orval yeast and to be finished with Champagne yeast).  The intention is to barrel age a fraction of this collaboration as well.  Yesterday I brewed my Brettanomyces Saison - not that any of the followers of this blog will remember (nor have they ever attended...?) Belgium Comes to Cooperstown but this last batch of Saison is loosely based on my Substance D (from The Shed) as well as the Saison that I brought to BCTC in 2007.  And so forth... it is all too likely that I will blend a fraction of this Saison (aptly titled Saison Vermont, I think) with 3-8% of the 2 year old Drie Fonteinen that I just carried back with me over the weekend (think of the Saison from Yvan at De La Senne - which I tried at Poechenellekelder on Friday evening) and have it available at the pub and the Copenhagen Beer Festival in May...  also very likely that I will debut the Oud Bruin and the Barrel Aged versions of the SEVEN at the same festival and the pub (on the same weekend).

What else? Well, perhaps eve more importantly than all of this rambling, is the fact that I have finally come to terms with a feeling that I had upon returning to Copenhagen from Vermont at the end of December.  The feeling of which I refer is best expressed as a notion that "this is what it feels like before the storm..." or "this is what it feels like when you make the wrong decision to return to a location." I somehow knew that I would not be able to make the move back homeward to the country, to the bucolic woodland and serenity of lonely Northern Vermont and Greensboro until I had tired of population density - had my fill of asphalt, cars, foreign language, consumerism, absence of trees, the subtle tones of alienation, and the constant cough/congestion/and 'sickness' that has become so very characteristic of my stay here (indeed, the very opposite of my life in Vermont where health is normative).  

What does this all mean?  Well - I guess it means that, yet again, I am sincerely considering *the* departure. A real going away party. Listening and honoring those misanthropic tendencies within me that are discouraged here... and... working for myself.  Returning to the life of impoverished artist. Struggling cynic.  And, I dearly hope, the rebuilding of a once abundant farmstead alongside the motivation and vision of my brother.  Anyone have a 7 barrel direct fired kettle that they would be willing to part with?  Foolishly, I am ignoring the wisdom of my good friend John Kimmich (The Alchemist) and postponing any thought on opening a brewpub. Instead, I will launch head first into a barely profitable, ridiculously consuming life as a single employee owner/brewer/distributor.  Why not? 

Thus, onward with permitting and the remnants of work that needs to be completed. I'll be living off of pasta and 50 bottles of Drie Fonteinen (what is that? 2 a week?) for the next four months.  Feel free to send contributions in the form of solid foods, beer/libation, or surplus brewing equipment.  No licorice, please. 
Cheers...

OH! And I almost forgot - Tomme Arthur will be joining me here at Nørrebro for a guest brew the first week of March.  Not quite sure yet what we'll be brewing... but I'm pretty sure that it won't be too bad.  Only trouble with all of these barrel aged beers is that if I leave, I won't get to taste them... and... who is going to look after them?

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

SEVEN Russian Imperial Stout Release


On Thursday, January 8, at Nørrebro we'll be releasing an early tasting (3 months) of the Russian Imperial Stout project.  Just a few days before I departed for a two week holiday in Vermont, Murphy, Mikkel, Jens Ungstrup, and myself sat down for beers at Ølbaren and, unintentionally, began brainstorming names.  Eventually I threw out the name "Seven Sins" and Jens countered with simplicity: Seven.  The name stuck. For obvious reasons - seven brewers, seven recipes... and all seven of these project participants are expected to attend on Thursday.  This current release is of the stainless steel version (my personal favorite). The picture shown here is me topping off the Bordeaux barrel. The oak aged version(s) will either be blended or released individually - hand bottled, bottle conditioned, with some limited draft (most likely at the debut at the brewpub).

In other news, the 2008 brewing of the Stevns CCC (originally a guest brew with Will Meyers of Cambridge Brewing Company, modeled after his Cerise Cassee) was nearly successful... A five hour sparge and less than expected yield and gravity. My first 48 hour sour mash.  It will be introduced to Pinot Noir and Merlot barrels in the next two weeks - where it will be blended, in each barrel, with the 2007 version and introduced, again, to Lactic bacteria and several strains of Brettanomyces.