Recently I asked a couple of friends of zoowithroy.com if they would want to come in to design, brew a beer, and enter into a competition amongst each other. Those friends were Ryan @petzrawr, Craney @cranekicker, and Alexandra @Alex_Reardon. Petz brewed a Czech Pilsner and naturally named it @petzrawr Pilsner, Alex will be brewing a Bock and naturally she called Instigator because she starts trouble and Craney is brewing a beer with Sorachi Ace hops (Japanese hops) and calling it Aka-Oni (The Red Devil, Charlie Manuels nickname when he played in Japan).  All three will be released separately, but on Friday, July 27th at 5 p.m. all three beers will be on tap.  The competition will take place from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on the 27th and here is how it works.  When you come in you can vote for one of the three beers and at 9 p.m. when we stop the voting, the beer with the most votes wins(hopefully we kick a keg so we have a clear winner).  If you voted for that beer you have a chance to win the grand prize.  We’ll pull one ticket from the winning beers ticket basket and you win the opportunity to come in to design your own beer, brew it, and name it.  As an extra bonus you will also win a $200.00 StubHub gift certificate, which you will OBVIOUSLY use to go see your Fightin’ Philadelphia Phillies.

I asked each of the guest brewers to write a little something for the blog after they brew.  First up is Petz, whose beer goes on tap tomorrow at 5 p.m.  Here is what he had to say about his brew day.

     “I was ecstatic when Vince invited me to Iron Hill to brew my very own beer. I was less ecstatic when he told me a few days before I was scheduled to come in and brew just how much work was going to be involved in the process. I don’t know what exactly I expected, but whatever it was, it certainly wasn’t 10 hours of hard labor. 

     I’m a beer-lover. I thought I knew all there was to know about the process. But when Vince started describing all the variables that went into making this Pilsner, I started flashing back to chemistry class. I didn’t exactly think this dude sat around knocking back beers all day or anything, but I didn’t know he works as hard as he does to produce these brews for us. It’s unbelievable. 

     I think you’re really going to like Petzrawr Pilsner. I wanted to create a beer that wasn’t too heavy but wasn’t too bland. Most of all, I wanted a beer that was refreshing. Basically, I wanted something that I could drink a bunch of on a hot summer day as I listen to the Phillies on the radio in my back yard. I think we’ve done that with Petzrawr Pilsner.”

    There you have it kids.  Stay tuned for the release dates of Alex’s And Craney’s beers.  Oh ZWR, I didn’t forget about you.  Lookin good hammer!

There are few days in the brewery that are as fun as when you get to taste a beer out of one of your aging barrels.  Cabernet barrel, bourbon barrel, bourbon barrel with vanilla beans, Sauvignon Blanc barrel spiked with some kind of delicious, funky, sour, Belgian love.  It doesn’t matter, they are all fun.  It kind of feels like when I was a kid and I opened my new “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Sewer Playset.”  Yes, I really do measure my present happiness up against the pure bliss of a sewer playset.  I believe one of the reasons it is so exciting to finally open a barrel and taste it is because each layer of flavor that is provided by the barrel is immensely complex.  For example, last year I  aged Russian Imperial Stout in a bourbon barrel for 6 months.  The morning we opened that barrel and had our first taste, I immediately loved the soft vanilla character we seemed to get from the oak.  It’s so much more smooth than any extract you can buy.  The oak, charred oak, and sweet bourbon characters were evident alongside the chocolate and roast flavors from the Russian Imperial Stout, but the vanilla undertone really seemed to hold the entire beer together.  It is still one of my favorite beers we have ever had on tap.

With that in mind, I decided to get serious about a barrel program here at North Wales.  As part of this program I had to remove our old six-foot stainless steel table and replace it with a much smaller 2 foot version. 

This opened up enough space for us to add six bourbon barrels to the brewery.  Naturally we brewed Russian Imperial Stout and filled all six bourbon barrels with it.  Russian Imperial Stout has already begun it’s long journey to becoming; “The Grand Inquisitor”.  We have a really special plan for a single barrel release of one of these barrels.  It will involve a local charity, and a golden ticket contest for our first ever single barrel release of 750 ml Bottled Reserves of The Grand Inquisitor.  The bottles will be individual numbered and signed by Craig and I.   The event and release date will be September 15th, 190 days from now.  For now, The Grand Inquisitor sits and waits.  Mark September 15th on your calendar.  Follow the countdown to The Grand Inquisitor on twitter #grandcountdown

Click here for more information on the Keystone K-9s Search and Rescue group and the “Give 20″ coupon from Iron Hill to present at the fundraiser.

About 2 weeks ago our Head Chef Dave Foster and Mug Club member Jason Uhl joined me in brewing “Rojo Grande”.  Rojo Grande is an Imperial Red Ale that weighs in at 7.5 % alcohol, is medium bodied and has fresh citrus and perfume aromas and flavors.  Simply put, this is a big hoppy beer.  On Friday the 18th at 5 pm Dave, Jason and I will tap Rojo Grande and also a special cask of Rojo Grande that was fermented with wildflower honey. 

 Now, on to the good cause part.  If you bring a toy in between 5-9 pm and donate it to Toys For Tots, I will personally buy your first glass of either version of Rojo Grande.  You know the deal, they only accept new and unwrapped toys.  I’ll make Dave wear a Santa hat and we can take pictures with him, it will be great. 

Today in the brewery we learned about sharing. Jason (left), Dave (right).

Your Brewer,

Vince

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@ChefDavidf

@JasonUhl

So for the past 3 years I have hollowed out a pumpkin, filled it with beer and hammered a tap into its side.  I am always afraid that the pumpkin is going to crack and beer will spill everywhere.  I present exhibit A.  While tapping last years pumpkin (which weighed in at 168 lbs.)  I asked the crowd to back up because I wasn’t paying for shoes if the pumpkin cracked.

After seeing how much fun everybody has had the last couple years, I am finally hosting a Tapping of the Pumpkins party.  Pumpkins, plural.  I am tapping TWO GIANT PUMPKINS this year.  Along with the tapping of the pumpkins we are having a costume contests for guests, and one for all the Iron Hill employees.  The kitchen didn’t want to be left out so our Head Chef Dave Foster-a.k.a. Rojo Grande is going to make a bunch of pumpkin flavored goodies, last year his pumpkin cookies were AMAZING.  I know he has more planned for this year as well.  As if that wasn’t enough, we are also handing out a bunch of prizes for the best costumes!  So plan on getting dressed up.  We do have one other thing going on.  Actually 7 more things going on, the 7 pumpkin beers we are putting on tap and having a separate sampler for.  So for those of you keeping score at home that is 7 pumpkin beers for the sampler and two secret beers pouring out of BIG pumpkins.

We have 4 beers from Iron Hill – Ichabod Imperial Pumpkin Ale, Pumpkin Berliner Weisse, Pumpkin Ale, and the http://www.zoowithroy.com/ sanctioned Doctoberfest.  The Doctoberfest is one of the fastest moving beers I have ever made.  I had to set a keg aside about 3 weeks ago just for this event because every time I put a keg on tap Donkey Nation showed up in full effect and it was gone in a matter of minutes.

One beer from The Cambridge Brewing Co. – The Great Pumpkin Ale

Two beers from The Elysian Brewing Co. – Pk-47, and Dark O’ The Moon Stout.  I am still shocked that we have two beers from these guys.  They are amazing.  I can’t wait to drink them myself.

Pumpkins being tapped, costume contest, pumpkin goodies from the kitchen, and 9 pumpkin beers to choose from.  Beat that!  The fun starts at 5 p.m. and when a beer kicks, it kicks so get here early.

Your Brewer,

Vince

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It never ceases to surprise me that Pumpkin Ales are so popular.  I’m pretty sure that is how I got my Dad into craft beer.  I would hear “Hey, if you are coming up to visit can you bring some of your Pumpkin Ale with you?”…..in February.  I would have to explain to my Dad for the 20th time that we only have Pumpkin Ale on tap in the Fall. I would say that I think it adds a nice to touch to the season and gets everybody in the mood for the upcoming change in weather and scenery.  He already knew all of that of course, but it is his way of saying “Vince, make some more pumpkin ale.”

Well Dad, here you go (Happy early Birthday).  Today we tap Pumpkin Ale and through the month of October we will have 11 different variations of Pumpkin Ale on tap.  Some from Iron Hill and some from our friends.  Here is the lineup. 

9/23-5pm-We tap Pumpkin Ale.

9/27-5pm-We tap Doctoberfest, a playoff beer in honor of Roy “Doc” Halladay.  Oktoberfest blended with pumpkin spices!  Hi WWW.ZOOWITHROY.COM, word has it that if you wear a ZWR shirt, you get a free piece of pumpkin pie!

9/30-I will be in Denver attending the Great American Beer Festival, so no we won’t tap anything new.  I don’t want to miss out on the Pumpkin fun either you know!

10/7-5pm-We tap a cask of Pumpkin Ale.

10/14-5pm-We tap a cask of Pumpkin Ale aged with raw honeycombs.

10/21-5pm-We will have a cask challenge VS. our Media location and Head Brewer Robert Barrar.  North Wales will tap a cask of Pumpkin Ale aged with Madagascar Vanilla beans.  Media will tap a cask of Rye IPA blended with Pumpkin Spices.  The first cask to kick wins!

10/28-The tapping of the Pumpkins-Starting at 5 pm we will have 7 Pumpkin beers on tap!  We will also have a costume contest for guests with prizes being awarded AND we will be tapping 2 real pumpkins this year.  Last year the Pumpkin was 168 lbs and filled with Imperial Pumpkin Porter.  This year, it’s a surprise!  Here is the lineup.

ON TAP FROM THE ELYSIAN BREWING CO.

 pk 47 pumpkin malt liquor

 dark o’ the moon pumpkin stout

ON TAP FROM THE CAMBRIDGE BREWING CO. 

One of our most popular beers is Oktoberfest.  It’s a traditional German festival beer.  It’s a  full-bodied deep amber lager and has a wonderful malty and bready aroma and a firm malt flavor, balanced with mild bitterness and a clean dry finish.  I’m shocked every morning after we put it on tap because the level of beer in the Serving Tank has dropped so much. 

We will tap our first batch(yep, we made 2 batches! WooHoo000!) of Oktoberfest, Saturday Sept. 17th @ 5 p.m. 

Saturday is also a Mug Club Appreciation event where you get double Mug Club points for your entire check.  We will also have traditional German fare available.  The fun starts at 5 p.m.  If you wear Lederhosen, you win.  Not sure what, but you win.

Drink up!

Vince

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Part of being a Brewer is dealing with things breaking.  We push our equipment pretty hard and things break.  You make the best of it and keep brewing until your parts/technicians show up and things get back to normal.  We had one of these issues a couple of months ago when our boiler shut down on us in the middle of a brew.  Without a well-timed boil, I had no way of measuring if the hops were utilized or not.  We had two choices; 1.  dump the product we had so far and start over. Or, 2.  experiment. 

We chose to experiment by adding 3 varieties of hops that you don’t usually see in any beer style.  Sorachi Ace hops from Japan have a lemony and coconut character to them, East Kent Golding hops have a floral and perfumy flavor and aroma, while Citra hops from the U.S. have an intense citrus flavor and aroma.  We quickly named it North Wales Pale Ale because it is uniquely local and fell in love with its flavor.

We re-created NWPA recently by shutting the boiler off midway through the brew.  Friday the 5th at 5 p.m. we will tap the recreated version.   We also tap a cask of NWPA aged with Vanilla beans for First Friday. 2 versions, 1 night.

Drink UP!

V

Follow me on Twitter @ironhillnw

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