Video: 1930's German Brewery

Brewers, check out this excellent video that shows the workings of a German brewery in the 1930's, including decoction mashing and the use of a coolship.

RMMS 2009 - Part 1

The 14th annual Rocky Mountain Microbrewing Symposium Was held February 20, 2009. Once again, the event was hosted by the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. The Symposium was founded by Dr. James Mattoon of the UCCS Center for Biotechnology & Bioinformatics. Dr. Mattoon helped host the event, and along with Jeff Biegert of New Belgium Brewing, introduced many of this year's outstanding presenters.

This year's sold-out symposium was a great success. The presentations were informative, breakfast and lunch were tasty and fortifying, there were dozens of excellent beers to sample, and the camaraderie among attendees was second to none. When a group of 120 brewers and allied trade professionals get together in one room, knowledge is shared, ideas are born, friendships are strengthened, and a good time is had by all. Thank you Chris Stubbs, RMMS Coordinator and the event organizers for another great year.

The morning session got rolling with Andy Parker and Matt Thrall, the wood experts from Avery Brewing. They discussed how Avery Brewing Company approaches barrel-aging beer. During their talk, Matt and Andy shared what they have learned about barrel-aging, and discussed some of the successes and failures they've had along the way. They talked about different types of barrels for aging beer: wine, whiskey, port, etc., how to care for barrels, sources of equipment, blending aged beers, and different types of bacteria that can be found in (or added to) barrels.

Andy and Matt shared some aged beer samples with us. Among those samples was Avery's recently released Brabant. Brabant was aged for 8 months in zinfandel barrels, and inoculated with two strains of Brettanomyces. This beer is dark, slightly tart, and immensely complex. It weighs-in at 8.65% ABV.

The next session was on beer stabilization, presented by Mustafa Rehmanji of International Specialty Products. He discussed the importance of stabilization in the production of beer. He explained that drivers for beer stability include:

* Increased competition from imports
* Expanded brewery distribution range
* Consumer expectations for better quality and product consistency
* Need to reduce costs from returns of beer

Mustafa talked about the benefits of clarification of wort in the brew kettle, and how it can simplify and reduce the cost of downstream processing before filtration. He discussed some of the causes of haze in beer such as oxalates in malt, tannins and over sparging, and the importance of proper temperature control prior to and during filtration. He compared and contrasted the benefits of various beer stabilizers and presented research to support his discussion.

Doug Odell of Odell Brewing Company was up next with a talk on pilot brewing and recipe development. He talked about the 5 barrel pilot system at Odell Brewing. They use the pilot system for testing ingredients, developing new recipes and training employees. Odell Brewing connects with home brewers through the GABF Pro-Am Competition and a CSU brewing class gets to brew their own recipe on the system each semester. Also, the brewers at Odell's get to use the pilot system to express their brewing creativity and produce single batch brews for the tasting room. Having an ever-changing variety of beers available in the tap room helps keep customers coming back to discover "what's new."
















Doug walked us through his new recipe development process. He explained how employees do a blind tasting of commercially available examples of the target style. From this tasting, they discuss the qualities of each brew and decide how the new Odell recipe will fill a niche within the style. After an initial pilot brew of the new recipe, all of the beers (including the new Odell beer) are blind tasted again, and recipe adjustments are made if needed. This level of refinement would be difficult and costly without a pilot brewing system.

Tour: New Belgium Brewery

7th Annual Boulder Strong Ale Fest.

I'd like to tell you about a great beer festival coming up this Friday and Saturday Feb. 27 & 28. The Boulder Strong Ale Festival. There will be some outstanding beers on tap at this event, but beware, they are all over 8% ABV. The following is from the Avery Brewing website:

Featuring 60+ of the finest high gravity draft beers from across America. Beers will be over 8% abv, with some created especially for this event. We have planned that ALL beers will be available at the start both sessions. $25 at the door gains you entry, a commemorative tasting glass, and sixteen, 2oz pour, tasting tickets. Additional sample tickets are two for $1. There are no advance ticket sales to this event. Proceeds will go to support The Colorado Brewers Guild.
The 2009 fest will be bigger than ever. We have a ton of new participants with exciting offerings!

Friday, February 27th: 4:00pm-10:00pm, Saturday February 28th: Noon-6:00pm

Featuring:
Avery (CO), Allagash (ME), Full Sail (OR), Shorts (MI), Stone (CA), Pizza Port (CA), Lagunitas (CA), Jolly Pumpkin (MI), Shorts (MI), Snake River (WY), Smuttynose (NH), Russian River (CA), Bear Republic (CA), Dogfish Head (DE), New Holland (MI), Moylans (CA), Flying Dog (MD), Left Hand (CO), Boulder Beer (CO), Golden City (CO), Pumphouse (CO), Mountain Sun (CO), Twisted Pine (CO), Oskar Blues (CO) Wild Mountain (CO) with still more to confirm!

Where: Harpos Sports Grill, 2860 Arapahoe Avenue, Boulder 80303
www.harpossportsgrill.com
There will also be discount hotel rooms available at The Boulder Outlook Hotel and Boulder Inn, both walking distance form the fest.

If you have any questions regarding the Boulder Strong Ale Fest please contact peter@averybrewing.com.

Call To Action

Preserve Your Right to enjoy Colorado Craft Beer

Go to www.votesmart.org to find your legislator's phone number and email address.

This information provided by the Colorado Brewers Guild

www.coloradobeer.org

• Colorado is home to 106 craft brewers spread across the state in local communities. Colorado craft brewers contribute financially and culturally to Colorado. These breweries flourish, in large part, due to a strong tier of independent retailers that provides vital access to market.

• Independent Colorado retailers promote our local economy, stock many craft beer brands, and offer vital access to market for Colorado craft brewers.

• Continued access to market is crucial for Colorado craft brewers and the state’s growing beer culture. Many Colorado craft brewers have limited distribution outside of Colorado. Some small, local craft brewers will disappear if access to market is limited.

• Colorado craft brewers and independent retailers in Colorado provide 67,000 jobs and inject $12 Billion annually into our economy and create beer tourism.

• Oppose upcoming legislation allowing chain grocery stores to sell full-strength beer. Large national chain stores make beer stocking decisions from out of state headquarters often without considering interest in local beer. Protect your freedom of beer choice and protect Colorado jobs! YOUR HELP IS NEEDED NOW TO OPPOSE UPCOMING LEGISLATION. Contact your State Legislators NOW and let them know that you OPPOSE State Representative Buffie McFadyen ( D-Pueblo West ) and State Senator Jennifer Veiga's (D - Denver) bill HB1192 that would allow out-of-state owned chain grocery stores to sell full strength beer. Go to www.votesmart.org to find your legislator's phone number and email address. Protect your freedom of beer choice and preserve Colorado Craft Beer. Information provided by the Colorado Brewers Guild Coloradobeer.org

Beer Books

I recently discovered a great place to buy brewing related books. One of the best selections I've seen. Please use the link below. Your purchase will help support The Colorado Brewer.

Welcome!

Greetings, and welcome to The Colorado Brewer. I will be bringing you news and views about the Colorado brewing scene. Did you know that Colorado produces more beer than any other state? Those of us fortunate enough to live here can experience one of the most vibrant and diverse beer cultures in the nation.




Friday, Feb. 20th, I will be traveling to Colorado Springs to attend The Rocky Mountain Microbrewing Symposium. This is an annual educational event which features presentations from some of the region's most successful brewing professionals. This year, the speakers include: Mike Bristol (Bristol Brewing), Mustafa Rehmanji (ISP), Dale Katechis (Oskar Blues), Brendan McGivney (Odell Brewing Co.), Joe Schiraldi (Left Hand), Nathan Venner (Altitutde Chophouse), Doug Odell (Odell Brewing), Dave Thomas (EcoLab), Andy Parker (Avery Brewing), Matt Thrall (Avery Brewing), Alan Stiles (Shamrock Brewing), and Jason Yester (Trinity Brewing).

Check back for my post-symposium report in The Colorado Brewer.