Antsaint

Holding my newborn son, Connor

Baby needs a beer. Or, rather, the birth of my and Jodie’s first child merited a homebrew to commemorate bringing our first wee kiddo into the world.

When thinking about what to brew before baby arrived, I thought too about going back to my roots, so to speak. I wanted to brew again the very first beer I’d ever brewed.

My first solo beer was a porter, brewed in 2007, and it turned out not too shabby at all for a first-timer. I recall mocha and chocolate notes, and a rich dark color. I looked forward to seeing what would be different, now that I was more experienced.

The Recipe

We worked with a NW Mocha Porter recipe from Falling Sky (formerly Valley Vintner & Brewer), with a few slight modifications.

Ingredients

All ingredients from Home Fermenter Center, Eugene, OR

• 1 lb. amber DME
• 4-3/4 lb. light DME
• 1 lb. British Chocolate Malt
• 1/2 lb. Crystal Malt (40L)
• 1/2 lb. Munich Malt
• @60 minute boil, 1 oz. Sterling hops
• @30 minute boil, 5/8 oz. Goldings hops (5.7 alpha)
• @30 minute boil, 3/4 oz. Fuggles hops (6.0 alpha)
• @15 minute 1/2 tsp. Irish moss
• @5 minute aroma/boil, 1/4 oz. Sterling hops
• 1275 Wyeast Thames Valley Yeast
• @ bottling: 1-1/4c. dried malt extract

Our Brew Stats

The recipe did not list target values

• Brew Date: Nov. 27, 2011
• Initial Gravity Reading (O.G.): 1.078
• Bottling Date: Dec. 18, 2011
• Final Gravity Reading (F.G.): 1.022
• Alcohol: 5.6%
• Bottling Counts:
  • 12 oz.: 28
  • Flip-top: 1
  • 22 oz.: 12

Brewing & Fermentation

Place crushed grains in 2 gallons of 150-160ºF water and let steep for 30 minutes. Strain out and sparge with ~2 quarts hot water. Bring to a boil, while adding malt extract and 60-minute hops.

Clean/sanitize carboy and other equipment during this time. Add 1 gallon cold water to sanitized carboy. At 30 minute mark, add Goldings and Fuggles hops. At 45 minute mark, add Irish moss. At 5 minute mark, add aroma Sterling hops.

Remove from heat and cool wort to 90-100ºF.

Strain wort into carboy, sparging through hops. Add cold water until total amount of liquid in carboy is 5 gallons. Shake to aerate. Take a sample for initial gravity reading.

When wort temperature is between 68-76ºF, pitch yeast. Cap carboy and set in a warm, quiet place.

Ferment at approx. 72 degrees F for 3-30 days. Bottle with DME solution. Age one month.

Notes

Mon., 11/28/11 – Will name beer after kid’s first name [we wanted gender to be a surprise]. New carboy location, in kitchen near fridge/shelves. Will use space heater as needed to modify and maintain temperature. 7 a.m., 67ºF, just starting fermentation. Ran space heater, turned off once strip read 72ºF. Evening, 74ºF. Nice thick, foamy krausen.

Thur., 11/29/11 – 74ºF. Krausen not as thick.

Sat., 12/1/11 – Fermentation slowed, let sit another week.

Sun., 12/18/11 – Bottling day! Beer has been 60-64ºF for the past couple weeks. Cloudy, medium-brown; like chocolate.

Last call

It’s so, so much easier to brew beer than to bring a baby into the world. But both have worked out well. The porter has good flavor and body (though I wish it had a bit more mouthfeel). The baby, wee Connor, is amazing. Can’t wait for him to start brewing with Dad…

Beer lover’s guide to 97 brewpubs and breweries in Colorado

Whether you live in or are traveling to Colorado, Ed Sealover’s handy book, Mountain Brew: A Guide to Colorado’s Breweries, tells you far more than just where to snag an excellent pint. Yes, there are handy maps and extensive listings of breweries throughout the state. More importantly, Sealover goes in-depth on what makes the beer great to drink, and the pubs great places to have a pint.

The story behind the suds

Pub by pub, brewery by brewery, Sealover tells you the story of each brewery and the people behind it. What makes someone devote their life to brewing? What makes a place stand out from just another watering hole? Sealover brings the story alive, and in the process makes you thirsty:

Customers lucky enough to make Trinity Brewing’s first anniversary party in August 2009 were greeted by a man in a dress banging a tambourine and a flutist stomping around the room to the beat of a Jethro Tull cover band. Many, no doubt, had to remind themselves of where they were—in a strip mall surrounded by chain restaurants in the suburban area of the most conservative city in Colorado. The culture clash would have been confounding. Yet Jason Yester—a dreadlocked hippie who serves slow food and makes thirty-eight types of saison—has found a way for his brewery to not just survive but thrive in this seemingly unlikely atmosphere.

I find this book very practical, too. My in-laws live in Colorado Springs, and on our next trip we’ll be putting Sealover’s book to the street test. (Trinity Brewing in particular is on my list—especially the dozens of types of saison brewed there.)

Both guidebook and good book for the road

If you want only utilitarian listings of where to get a beer, this book may seem like it has more than you need. But for anyone who loves not just a good beer, but also loves the story behind a good beer, then Mountain Brew will leave you with a buzz that isn’t just from a pint of New Belgium Fat Tire, Durango Dark Lager, or Trinity Nocturnum Black Saison.

Get Mountain Brew: A Guide to Colorado’s Breweries

• Amazon.com
• Powells.com

My wife always gets a batch of homebrew as a birthday gift. Last year’s saison, however, remained undrunk. That’s what happens when the day before your birthday, you find out you’re pregnant.

Hidden under a blanket next to the fridge, boxes of Joie de Vivre Saison spent most of 2011 quietly aging.

No more.

Now that baby is here, the saison can come out to play, too, and we’ve been most happy with it. Saison may well be the world’s most refreshing beer, and ours has plenty of spice, dry fruit and tartness to slake thirst. Pairing with meals has also been a joy. From bean-and-squash stew to Thai curry, red chile chicken enchiladas to bread and cheese and pickles, the saison stands up to anything and dances with any flavor combo.

Saison is going to be one of my brewing stand-bys from now on. It’s a favorite to drink—and that makes it a natural to be a favorite to make, too.

Want the recipe and notes? They’re here.