04/01/2009 | Letters from homebrew land..
Just got a really cool e-mail. Those of you who aren’t uber beer geeks or homebrewers probably won’t enjoy it as much as I did but I’m posting it anyway. It’s from a homebrewer that stopped into Iron Hill 5 years ago while visiting from California. He tasted one of my beers and sent me an e-mail asking how he could replicate it. I shot him the recipe, yeast info and fermentation profile and also gave him the name of the commercial beer that inspired it.
Well I’d long since forgotten about this, but he’s apparently been working on it for the past 5 and a half years and has finally gotten the beer where he wants it. That’s dedication! Homebrewers have far more persistance than I do. I don’t know if I could stick with it if I didn’t have all this fancy equipment to make my job easier! Glad he got there.
Anyhow if was a nice bump in the day to get this e-mail. Like most professional brewers, I started at home, so h
earing stories like this one make me nostalgic. The only thing that would make it better is if I was actually drinking one of Tom’s beers while I read it. Thanks for the e-mail Tom, I’m off to the bar to get an Aventinus!
earing stories like this one make me nostalgic. The only thing that would make it better is if I was actually drinking one of Tom’s beers while I read it. Thanks for the e-mail Tom, I’m off to the bar to get an Aventinus!Cheers,
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Chris
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(Here’s the e-mail)
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Chris,
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You and I exchanged e-mails back in Dec 2003 after I’d visited your West Chester location when micro-brewery hopping during the Thanksgiving holiday. I’m an all-grain homebrewer from Encinitas, Ca, and sampling microbrews has become a favorite pastime. However, I’ve become something of a snob…those all-grain beers are pretty reliably good. So, when I thoroughly enjoyed every one of a flight of your beers, I was, to say the least, impressed. Hefeweizen is pretty much my favorite style, so when I tried your Weizenbock, I found a new and different (dark) twist on a favorite. You were gracious enough to send me the recipe, as well as pointing me at Aventinus, the beer which (I assume) you were patterning after.
I had a bit of a stumble on my first attempt (batch #49) at your beer. I couldn’t exactly match all your grain bill, and I messed up by substituting a Red Wheat Flake for the Briess Red Wheat Malt; I ended up with oatmeal and a stuck mash. Nonetheless, we perservered (as Papazian would say, “Relax, have a homebrew”) and got a beer out of it. Tried it again at batch #58 (no flakes this time), and the result was better. I just racked #70 (”Bent Iron Hill Weizenbock”); “bent” because we were forced into substitutions again, and my brewbuddy (who filled the grain bill) was jonesing for something dark:
10.0# German Pislner
11.0# White Wheat
0.1# 2-Row Domestic
1.5# Carapils
.5# Chocolate Malt
1.5# Cara Vienne
1.0# Cara Munich
.5# 80L Crystal
.25# Special B
2.0 Oz Hallertauer 3.7%AA, all boil, no finishing hops (16.6 IBU)
White Labs Hefeweizen yeast (WLP300)
Oh, doctor…this one’s a keeper. The nose is just what I like about a classic Hefe, (banana) fruity and clove-y. And the taste is true to the nose, as is the finish. But it’s got that dark thing going, both in color and sweet flavor.
When I went back to read your recipe & e-mail, I finally payed attention to your mention of Aventinus. When I was at Beverages & More this past weekend, whaddaya know, they had it. Even the label matched your description! I bought a bottle so I could compare my result to “the yardstick”. I haven’t tried the Aventinus yet, but I will soon…and I’ll report back.
Just thought I’d regale you with a story from the field. You let a recipe free, you should know how it’s doing.
Take care,
Tom __________
April 1st, 2009 at 11:20 pm
Yum. I just had an Aventinus tonight (Devil’s Den) and it is still by far one of my favorite beers ever.
How often do you do a weizenbock. I so rarely see local interpretations. Sounds like yours was a winner if it inspired a clone from across the country!
(Someday I hope to do something along the lines of your ‘Heywood’… Have to finish reading ‘Wild Brews’ first though!)
April 5th, 2009 at 9:59 pm
nice Sunday night reading.Thank you.
Love me a weizenbock.
April 8th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
Chris,
I enjoyed reading the letter from Tom and his attempts at the weizenbock. Aventinus is one of the world’s great beers. I’m Chris Goddard’s Bro-in-law and have met you several times. We’re all sitting here in in South Jersey with bated breath waiting for the Iron Hill in Maple Shade to open. How much longer will our wait be? Take care.
April 8th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
I shoot for once a year with that style. It’s a bear though. High gravity + wheat = loooong runoffs. And sometimes bad efficiencies! I once had to sell it as a Dunkelweizen because the gravity was too low and I couldn’t call it a W-Bock in good concience. That was one big Dunkelweizen!
April 8th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
Mike,
We’re still looking at July 1st for an opening date. I’m slated to start the brewery install in the beginning of May. Getting excited!