A couple of weeks ago one of our hosts walked into the brewery and said “There’s a guy out front to see you.  He say’s he wants to donate hops.”  I went out front and met Sander Cohen.  Sander is a regular customer at Iron Hill.  He comes from a family of gardeners, has a degree in botany and is a homebrewer.  Makes sense that he grows his own hops in his back yard in Cherry Hill!   He asked me how I’d like some fresh local hops.  Can’t say no to that…    He told me he’s been growing hops for years and that he was willing to give me this year’s crop of Nugget hops if I could use them.  We didn’t have quite enough for a whole batch of beer, but we did have enough to agressively dry-hop four firkins with some really fresh, really local hops.  Sander picked them and immediately froze them.  They were in beer less than 48 hours after they were picked.  For those of you who aren’t familiar with hop farming, hops are a hardy perennial.  There’s only one harvest a year and its right around now.  That means the hops we brew with in June of 2011 are the same hops we were brewing with in October of 2010.  The hop industry is pretty good at drying and packaging hops so they’ll degrade as litte as possible, but the drying process itself actually strips away some of the aroma and flavor of the hop.  So there’s nothing quite like using hops right off the vine.  You’ll often see breweries making “harvest”,  ”fresh hop” or “wet hopped beers“.   Breweries will have hops picked and overnighted to them and they’ll go right into the beer.  Lots of fun, but very expensive and you can only do it once a year.  So we’re very lucky to have a neighbor who can provide us with some fresh wet hops.  We’ll be tapping these firkins on Monday the 18th at 5:30.  I’ll be around to have a beer with Sander and whoever else is around.  See you then.

Cheers,

Chris

Or will die very soon that is.  Clark’s Ale House in Syracuse, NY will close its doors this Saturday with no immediate plans to reopen.  When I first read about it on Jack’s Facebook page, I thought “bummer, always sad when a craft beer bar closes”.  I’m a Syracuse alum, so I know Clark’s pretty well.  But then I really started thinking about it.  Not only was it a craft beer bar, but it was  my first craft beer bar.  Not only was it my first craft beer bar, but it was probably where I had my very first draft microbrew.  The closest I’d gotten to craft beer in a pint before that was a Guinness and Bass Black & Tan at Faegan’s Pub.  Like a lot of people of my era, my college days consisted of lots of Milwaukee’s Best and well liquor. Fortunately I grew beyond that by my senior year and eventually found Clark’s.  I remember twisting arms to get my roomates to leave the bubble of campus and head to Armory Square for a pint at Clarks.  I convinced classmates to hold study sessions there instead of a smoky late night coffee shop.  My experience at Clarks is at least responsible for my foray into brewing.  I bought my first homebrew kit from (the also now defunct) Heller’s Homebrew Supply not too far from Clark’s.  Since my college days I’ve managed to create new memories in Clark’s once or twice.  On the way to the very first “Belgium Comes to Cooperstown” I convinced Larry to keep his rusty Pathfinder going north when we should have gone east so he, I and Becky, a brand new Iron Hill server could stop in for a pint.  We took a rest stop with some Rodenbach, all the while having no idea what we were in for once we got to Ommegang.  Just months ago, also on the way to Ommegang, I was able to convince the Beer Lass to accompany me to Clark’s.  This time I did it right though, I got us a hotel so we could enjoy Clark’s without having to get back on the road.  Clark’s was quiet that night.  Just Suz and I, a guy with his two sons, and the staff.  We had a nice time though.  I was reminded about how many things Clark’s had that fell into my ideal pub category; no barstools, no TVs, board games, patio seating, walk-homeable location, darts and other tests of skill, and a really good sandwich (“their motto was 23 beers and a sandwich” when I was in school).   Back in July I was excited to revisit Clark’s and to introduce Suz to a great bar and part of my beer history.  I had no idea though, that I was enjoying my very last pint there, or that Suz was having her first and last.  But I’m certainly glad we made it a point to visit.  So long Clark’s and thanks for the beer, education and memories.

Cheers,

Chris

Wow, we were sweating for a bit.  We’d gotten through about 3/4 of the awards ceremony without grabbing any medals.  But man did we finish well.  We grabbed gold medals for both our Russian Imperial Stout and the Pig Iron Porter.  According to the judges at the GABF the Porter recipe we use at all of our locations is the best in the country.  And you can get it any time.  I love it when we win for house beers.  Both of our winning entries this year were brewed by Bob and Kevin at our Media location.  No surprise there, Bobby has often been referred to as the medal machine.  Our boys at Troeg’s didn’t do too shabby either.  They brought home a gold, silver and bronze medal. McKenzie’s Brewhouse also snagged a gold for their Saison.  (Grrrr, I had one in that category).  Also, looks like before Patrick Jones left Triumph, he put some medal winners in the tanks.  Someone’s going to be lucky to pick him up! Lastly, while I usually focus on local craft, I have to give a shout out to my good friend and long ago co-worker Victor Novak.  He and Taps Fish House and Brewery took best brewpub group brewer of the year.  Nice work Vito.  Well I’m going to put down the computer and pick up a beer.  I’m off to Falling Rock to help bob celebrate!

Cheers,

Chris

P.S. Here’s a list of all of the 2010 GABF winners.

You may remember my blog post about the Flemish Sour Ale we brewed way back in January.  That beer has spent the past 9 months aging in used Beaujolais barrels spiked with a funky wild culture and its finally ready to come out!  On Saturday September 25th at noon, we’ll be selling signed and numbered hand-filled 750 ml bottles of Fred.  We’ll also have a few kegs on tap for you to taste if you’re not sure sour is your thing.  We’re pretty excited about this because its more than one first for us here in Maple Shade.  Our first sour beer, and the first beer we’ll sell in bottles.

I love sour beer, and most hard-core beer geeks do too, but they aren’t for everyone.  To a lot of people sour means something’s gone bad.  To Belgian beer fans its often a  dream-come-true.  However uber beer geeks are a relatively small percentage of our customer base, so I was preparing myself to have this beer on tap for a looooong time and have to work around a half full serving tank for months.  Then it occurred to me, “why not bottle it?”  This is a style of beer that’s really at home in a bottle.  And it’s also a beer that will continue to get better and better with time (unlike most beers).  So I thought it would be the perfect style to bottle up and lay down for a while without having to tie up precious tank space.

We’ll be bottling this beer right here in the brewery so you’ll be able to get a peek at how we do it.  You’ll be able to buy a bottle within minutes of its having been corked (that’s right, corked and caged, not capped).  Keep in mind, this beer will be bottle conditioned, so you’ll have to hold on to it for as long as a couple of months before its carbonated enough to drink.  But I think you’ll find it worth the wait!

Hopefully I’ll see you on the 25th to sample some sour and leave with a bottle.

Cheers,

Chris

Nuff said… 

We made FOUR batches this year.  Last year you guys ripped through three batches and I almost ran out before the end of October.  I even had to tell the staff they weren’t allowed to drink Octoberfest.  I hate doing that, but people want my scalp if I don’t have it on until Halloween!  Never mind that the actual Octoberfest is well past over by then ; )  Unfortunately I won’t be around to share the first pints with you.  I’ll be on a plane for Denver, but do enjoy! And please save some for me.

Prosit,

Chris

Just a quick reminder that we’ll be tapping some fun new beers on Wed night.  The long awaited Pete’s Celebration will premier at 5 pm.  Also at 5 will be the return of Rising Sun.  This beer went so fast last time we brewed it we just had to brew it again.  Lastly we’ll be putting a couple of pins of Pete’s with a twist on the bar.  One will be a dry-hopped version with a generous dose of Styrian Goldings. (love this hop in dark Belgian beers!)  The other has been herbed with fresh rosemary.  Jeff used Rosemary in the Appreciation Ale we did for the staff and everyone loved it.  It works well with dark rich beers.  So drop by and have a beer with Jeff and I on Wednesday!