My inability to keep up = your ability to drink reserve beers on a random Tuesday.  This time of year always kills me.  Brewing four batches of Oktoberfest really ties my tanks up.  (Lagers require at least 3o days in the tank).  So once they kick, they tend to leave a big gap in seasonals in their wake.  I’m down to four seasonals on tap right now and I don’t like doing that.  So I’m digging into my reserve cellar.  I’ve got a couple of beers I was was saving for a beer dinner or special occasion.  Instead they’re going on …. NOW.  Both are Russian Imperial Stouts from this past March.  One is a Cherry Vanilla Russian Stout, aged on whole Mexican vanilla beans and finished with sour Michigan cherry juice.  They go on tap tonight at 5 pm.  Enjoy!

Remember the Iron Brewer contest we sponsor every year? (Here’s an article Joe Sixpack wrote about it if you don’t) Well I finally got around to having the contest winner in to brew his batch of beer.  We’ll be debuting it on November 28th at 7 pm and I’m sure the Barley Legal homebrewers will be out in force to celebrate its launch. Michael (this year’s Iron Brewer winner) wrote an account of his experience; here it is.

Cheers,

Chris

This past Saturday I had the awesome opportunity to come into Iron Hill and brew a beer with the head brewer, Chris LaPierre.  Why me?  I was fortunate to win the 2011 Iron Brewer’s Contest back in May for my Aztec Ale, a beer based on Mexican hot chocolate (sort of like a south of the border winter warmer if such a style existed).  This is the second year that Chris has run this contest at the Maple Shade location, an “Iron Chef” style competition for members of the Barley Legal Homebrewers.  Every participant receives five gallons of free wort.  From that wort each home brewer has the freedom to make any type of beer they can imagine as long as it fits a few simple guidelines.  Around twenty homebrewers submitted their entries and waited for the results from the judges.  The beer gods smiled on me that day and my beer was heralded as the winning brew.  My prize?  Getting to brew a big batch of it at Iron Hill (as well as getting to take home a keg of it for my personal kegerator). And of course, the bragging rights.  I arrived at 8:30 in the morning and “helped” to brew my recipe.  I’m not sure how helpful I was, although I did manage to put in enough physical labor to avoid the gym (at least that is what I told myself).  My little five gallon homebrew batch included an ounce of chipotles and eight ounces of cocoa powder as well as a number of other ingredients.  The IH batch contained a whopping 2.5 pounds and 29 pounds respectively!  At the end of the day I learned a ton, had a great experience, and fully enjoyed the day.  Yes, even cleaning out almost 1,000 pounds of spent grain from the mash tun was fun for this one day.  Waiting is always the most difficult part of brewing for me, because the proof is in the pudding as they say.  Soon those little yeast critters will finish their job and magically the pot of ingredients will become beer.  I can hardly wait to share this beer with you.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it.  Cheers! Michael Bittner

I just realized there were a couple of video links I’ve been meaning to post for a while.  I’ve finally got a second to do it!  The first is a piece that Jeff Linkous did for his website Beer Stained Letter.  If you haven’t come across it yet, check it out.  It’s all about craft beer in New Jersey.  This bit is on the chocolate beer and event we put together with Reily’s Candy.

The next one is some footage of the awards ceremony at the Great American Beer Fest.  This year we had a film crew cover our experience at the GABF.  They covered everything from the blind tasting we hold to see which Iron Hill location will represent the company for each beer we enter, to our GABF employee party where we pick the lucky employees we’ll send out to Denver, to the actual shenanigans that take place out there.  I have to admit, a lot of us weren’t too keen on having a film crew out there.  We’re a superstitious bunch and we saw them as a potential jinx. What if we got shut out for the first time ever?  Who wants a camera in their face when something like that happens?  Fortunately they weren’t a jinx, in fact they may have been a bit of a good luck charm.  Here’s a video of us collecting our bling in Denver.

Remember Sander?  Last year he came into the restaurant and offered me some fresh, off-the-vine hops from his backyard.  We dry hopped a few firkins with it last year with some great results.  Once again Sandy was generous enough to share his crop with me.  I dry hopped two kegs of our Kolsch with a 1/2 pound each of  locally-grown whole-leaf Nugget hops.  They literally got into the beer within hours of having been pulled off the vine.  We’ll be tapping Sander’s Cones at 5:15 on Wednesday.  Sander will be in enjoying a few pints and some Iron Hill grub with his family if you want to say Hi.  See you then!

Cheers,

Chris

I just wanted to take a moment to congratulate Bob, Vince and all of our brewers on our recent wins at the Great American Beer Fest.  Bob continued his uninterrupted ten-year winning streak with a silver medal for his Russian Imperial Stout.  Vince took his first (of many we’re sure) GABF medal in the form of a bronze for The Grand Inquisitor.  I flew home with Maple Shade’s first medal, a bronze for Vienna Lager. 

Vienna Lager was an all-play, so congrats to every one of our head brewers.  Several years ago we decided we needed to change up our house beer line-up and finally settled on adding a Vienna Lager to the list.  We all gave our input on the recipe until Mark came up with something we were all happy with.  Once we had all brewed a couple of batches of the new recipe we each brought a growler of Vienna to a head brewer’s meeting and did a blind tasting.  After that tasting and some discussion we did a little tweaking and arrived at what we thought was a perfect example of the style. 

I have to admit that my first reaction at the end of the awards ceremony was that I wished I’d won a medal for one of the beers I’d created from scratch.  All of my previous medals were for beers I’d written the recipe for.  Then I realized there’s something really cool about winning a medal for a house beer.  It’s always on tap and we brew it all the time.  There’s no “This is going to GABF so I’d better make it just right,” it’s really just coming to work in the morning.  That’s the way it should be, great beer all the time, contest or no contest.  Congratulations again guys!

Cheers,

Chris

Here at Iron Hill we’re all about pairing beer and food.  Most of you are familiar with the beer dinners we do here.   When I was working in West Chester I used to do a lot of beer and cheese events with a local cheese shop (Carlino’s) and did one really great chocolate event with Eclat which was just down the block.  I’ve been wanting to do more of these since I’ve started brewing in Maple Shade but I hadn’t yet made a chocolate or cheese connection.  When we pair up with other companies we like to keep it local, and we like to do it with friends rather than just get on the phone and start calling people.  Several months ago I found out that one of our mug club members was actually a professional chocolatier.  Not only that, but he works for the candy shop I grew up with in my home town.  Since then, Mike Collins of Reily’s Candy and I have been talking about combining our crafts and we’ve finally gotten around to it. 

A couple weeks ago Mike came and spent a day in the brewery with me to help me with the brewing of Reily’s Chocolate Ale and just the other day I headed out to his shop with a canister of sterile wort (unferrmented beer) that he’s using in his Iron Hill Truffle.  Both the beer and the truffle will be released next Wednesday night when Mike and I host our beer and chocolate pairing event.  The event is a ticketed event ($25 a head) and reservations are strongly suggested.  From 7-9 pm we’ll be matching up six chocolates from Reily’s with six Iron Hill beers.

I spent a couple of hours at Reily’s when I dropped off the wort to see how things are done there.  It’s amazing how many similarities there are between making beer and making chocolate.  They’re really both all about temperature, time, a little bit of chemistry and the perfect mix of ingredients.  When Mike was stirring the mash for Reilly’s Chocolate Ale he even commented that it was a lot like stirring the caramel cooker in his shop.  Think about all of the flavors that you find in both beer and chocolate too; caramel, vanilla, roast, malt to name a few.  We even use a product called Chocolate Malt in our Pig Iron Porter and some of our seasonals.  You’ll be amazed at how well these flavors tie in together.  Call the restaurant to hold your spot, we expect it to fill up! 856-273-0300

Cheers,

Chris

Some of you know that I used to work for the original Dock Street way back in the day.  That was a fun time in my life.  I made a lot of great friends there and have kept many of them.  One of them resurfaced after about a decade, my old buddy B.J. (uh, that’s Bernard now.  He’s all growed up!)  It turns out he found out I was still in the beer biz and had also joined the dark side as a rep for Unibroue.  Once we got back in touch, Bernard told me he’d really like me to get together with Jerry, the Master Brewer at Unibroue.  “I consider you both friends, and I’d love to see you work together” he said.  How could I say no to that? 

So Jerry’s coming down through Philly on his way to Charm City for Baltimore Beer Week and he’s going to spend a day with me at the ‘Hill.  On Monday October 3rd, we’ll be brewing during the day and having a couple of beers at the bar after work.  Of course we’ll have a few Unibroue treats on tap that evening alongside our usual fare.  Jerry and I will be on hand from 6-8 pm to chat and share beers.

Don’t look for our collaboration anytime too soon by the way.  Jerry wants to referment the beer in kegs and do a couple of barrel aged versions.  We won’t be putting any of it on tap until he can make it back stateside to enjoy it with us some time this winter.  On a side note, when he does come down we’ll be combining the unveiling of this beer with a Unibroue / Iron Hill beer dinner.  Can’t wait for that one!  See you on the 3rd.

Cheers,

Chris

Unibroue Beers on Tap

Maudite

Raftman

Cassis

I’m also bringing in a case of La Fin Du Monde bottles and hopefully Jerry will bring a treat or two!

I think I’m getting smarter in my old age.  For years (almost a decade in fact) I’d come to work super early and borrow the chef’s ovens to get my pumpkins roasted for the pumpkin ale.  I’d struggle with the unfamiliar kitchen and run back and forth between my mash in the brewery and my roasting pumpkins in the ovens.  This year I figured I’d save myself some trouble and have the experts help me out.  I can’t believe it had never occured to me to have a chef do my roasting while I took care of the brew.  Thanks Chuck!  Chuck came in at the crack of dawn with me to roast up 200 pounds of pie pumpkins before the rest of the kitchen got in to start making your lunch that day.

Anyhow the batch of Pumpkin Ale is fermenting away and the double batch of Imperial Pumpkin Ale is almost ready to go.  Half of it in bottles and half of it on draft.  That’s right, we decided to bottle a batch of the Imperial Pumpkin Ale this year.  Complete with a Jeff Schaller label.  As a big fan of the Peanuts holiday specials I’m really excited about the pumpkin patch label.

We’re rolling it all out in style too.  At noon on September 24th I’ll be donning my world famous Lappy-Lantern costume and performing the annual tapping of the pumpkin.  Here’s what else you can expect!

We’ve invited the Cartoon Christmas (Halloween) Trio to play some Peanuts tunes for us.

You’re invited to join our pumpkin carving contest.  Bring a carved pumpkin and get a free pint!  Plus you’ll put yourself in the competition for a $50 gift card (first prize) or bottle of Imperial Pumpkin Ale (2nd prize).

We’ll be playing “It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown” (one of my favorites!) all afternoon.  (I really hope I get to keep the DVD afterward)

Harvest / Pumpkin themed features from the kitchen.

A pumpkin patch! (I have no idea what this means, but I’m told we’ll have one)

Aaaaand I’LL BE TAPPING ONE KEG OF BOURBON IMPERIAL PUMPKIN ALE I’VE BEEN SAVING SINCE LAST YEAR!

Alright everyone, I’ve got a costume to work on!  I’ll see you in a couple weeks.

Cheers,

Chris

The Iron Fish is almost ready to surface!  This past Sunday Casey and I met up in one of our favorite center city bars to taste the Iron Fish and talk about how we wanted to dry-hop it.  I smuggled in a flat growler straight from the fermenter.  I dry-hopped it accordingly on Monday and again yesterday.  Iron Fish will get yet another healthy dose of hops in the serving vessel when I transfer it early next week.  I’m liking where this fish is swimming and I’m excited to share it with you next Saturday.  In addition to the release of Iron Fish (at 2pm by the way) we’ll also be featuring seven other Iron Hill IPAs and special guest Flying Fish Exit 16.  (This very well may be the last keg of Exit 16 out there).  For the past six months I’ve been squirreling away one keg from every batch of IPA or Double IPA I’ve done just for this event. All eight of those beers will be on tap at noon.  Of course we’ll be offering a sampler, (four ounces each of all eight) if you want to try them all and still be a functioning human being.  The list is just below my signature.  See you next Saturday!

Cheers,

Chris

OG: 1.070   Color: 7   IBU: 100   Alc by Vol: 6.5%
The 100th batch brewed in Maple Shade. Made with 100 pounds each of Maris Otter, Harrington, Pilsner, Vienna, Munich, Rye, Wheat, and Carahell malts and 100 pounds of corn. Bittered with 100 BUs worth of Centennial hops and finished with 100 ounces of Centennial.

Belgian IPA

OG: 1.083   Color: 14   IBU: 80   Alc by Vol: 8.5%

India Black Ale

OG: 1.073   Color: 22   IBU: 40   Alc by Vol: 7.0%

Kryptonite Imperial IPA

OG: 1.090   Color: 10   IBU: 80   Alc by Vol: 9.0%

The Situation

OG: 1.101   Color: 6   IBU: Maxed Out   Alc by Vol: 10.2%

Rising Sun

Second Rising

Flying Fish Exit 16

Wild Rice Double IPA.  Rice helps the beer ferment dry to better showcase the five different hops we’ve added. We then dry-hopped with even more generous additions of Chinook and Citra hops to create a nose that hints at tangerine, mango, papaya and pine. 8.2% abv

World Premier at 2 pm

Iron Fish

OG: 1.077   Color: 22   IBU: 50   Alc by Vol: 8.2%
Brewed in collaboration with Casey Hughes of Flying Fish Brewery.  An Imperial Black Belgian IPA.  Loads of American hop bitterness, aroma and flavor mingling with fruity and spicy characters from Fish’s house Belgian yeast and all balanced by a touch of roast.

 

 

 

 

 

Hey all. Just wanted to let you know that I’ll be tapping a firkin of Christmas in July tomorrow at 4 pm and leaving it on ’till it’s gone. Christmas in July is our Winter Warmer, a strong dark ale brewed with winter spices, aged in a used Bourbon barrel for several months. I came across a firkin of it and it seemed like a good time to tap it! This isn’t an event, just a heads up. I may not even be able to stick around to drink it! If I’m not, please have one for me and tell me how it was.

Happy Holidays,

Chris