Noah Himmel and Kevin McMahon just informed me that they're ready for their next beer from us! We're going to shoot for a release date of January 2016 so the in-house competition/judging should occur some time late November/early December. Here's what we need ASAP:
(1) A style (they suggested staying away from the typical stouts/porters);
(2) A solid date for the in-house competition/judging;
(3) JUDGES!
So, post up your thoughts, ideas, and desires! I'd like to get this hammered out ASAP but no later than Friday, September 18th: the longer we give members to brew/ferment/bottle, the better!
1) Belgian dubbel
2) Wednesday, November 18th
3) I'll judge. Like last time, we should use BJCP judges.
I like Dubbel.
1) I'll cast my vote for Weizenbock.
2) Not a Wednesday.
Does judging preclude someone from entering?
Good question, Kyle. I don't think we had anyone in that situation last time. How does BJCP run it? Can you not volunteer to judge a competion in which you entered a beer or vice-versa?
Yes, you just judge a different flight than the one that contains your beer.
Yeah, it would be be the right thing to do. Also just realized a Weizenbock is a wheat beer which y'all did last round.
For a style I vote for the Belgian IPA.
It's a good test for brewers, tricky, with a lot of leeway. But if done right, you marry two of the best parts of modern beers: beautiful Belgian yeast and impactful new world hops.
Assuming the dates work, I would help with judging, if its needed. Because its a single style competition, it might be easiest to ask folks to choose between judging or entering a beer. Keeping the brewers anonymous to the judges is really the key - especially since we'll be judging our friends' beers.
www.singingboysbrewing.com
I'd love to judge!
Jim, I think some day during this week or the next works to give people time for brewing, then giving Gino's time for brewing. Let's ask Noah what works for them during this time frame,just keep in mind that FOBAB is on the 20th and 21st, so may affect judging participation.
I'll ask Noah but I'm very, very reluctant to expect people to brew for this in the next 14 days. I would like to give them at least a little more time...
They gotta want it! LOL! We may be able to push the judging to early December, but with them wanting to serve the beer in January, I wouldn't go past the aexrond week.
Of course! We want serious, quality entries!
But, we also want more than just a couple entries! Unless that's how you're planning on winning...small field... :-)
I've been exposed!!
How about an mid November date for the judging, with entries dropped off by a week before? For example, judging on Saturday Nov. 14th and deadline for entries to be physically at the brewhouse would be Tuesday November 10th? Should give brewers enough time to brew and enter if they want and also give Ginos enough time to get a beer to the public in January.
Jim
www.singingboysbrewing.com
I like both the Belgian Dubbel & IPA. So the winner then gives the recipe to Ginos which in turn brews it?
That's correct, Brandon!
Winner joins Gino's brew master Kevin McMahon to talk through scaling up the recipe and ultimately help him brew it. Then it's on tap at Gino's on LaSalle!
Should we leave this thread open to style suggestions for a day or two longer then cull all the suggestions into a poll and vote?
I'll let the judging date dictate whether or not I judge or enter :)
Will it be full-on scoresheet or BOS-style?
We did full score sheets last time, then a BOS round. Noah then picked the one he liked best out of the top three.
I think we'll go with the same format; seemed to work well.
We can keep this discussion up and going for another few days and then we'll make the final decision on date and style.
Looks like facebook likes the way you look, Brandon: when I listed the link to this thread, it automatically pulled your profile pic as the thumbnail pic for the post. Ha!
One idea might be to let Gino's select the style that they want to serve - they're the ones who've got to sell it.
www.singingboysbrewing.com
I think one of their core beers is a belgian ipa if I remember correctly so that is probably not the best option
They explicitly asked us for suggestions. If it would be easier to just have them choose, though, I can do that.
Or, I'll just go back to them with all the styles that are suggested here and they can choose from that list.
Yes, they do a a Belgian IPA.
Here's what Gino's has been brewing:
Lasalle St. Lager in the Munchner Helles Category. LaSalle Street Lager is a traditional German Helles brewed with Pilsner, Munich and CaraPils malts. German Magnum hops offer bitterness while German Splat offers noble hop aroma that blends beautifully with the malty, yet crisp balance of this refreshing light lager
The Silver Medal for Extra Special Bitter went to Broken English, a full-bodied, sessionable English pub ale. English Marris Otter, CaraMunich, and Belgian Special B offer a biscuity sweetness to its rich amber color. The English East Kent Goldings and Challenger hops offer floral and piney nose with a hint of lemony citrus.
Gino’s Brewing Company won the Bronze Medal for Killarney Connection in the Foreign Stout Category. This craft beer is named after the town of Killarney in Southwestern Ireland. Roasted Barley, Chocolate, and Black Malts offer its obsidian color while also attributing a roasty espresso and dark chocolaty sweetness to the nose. With a creamy tan head, and balanced finish, this is a wonderfully drinkable stout.
Gino’s Pale Ale won the Bronze Medal in the Belgian Pale Ale Category. A touch of biscuity sweetness, paired with the fruity aroma of Amarillo and French Aramis hops, helps round out the spicy characteristics of the blended saison yeast culture.
Witte Chicks Dig Me - Belgian Style Witbier, brewed with Pilsner and White Wheat malts. Unmalted wheat and flaked oats help round out the body, while sweet orange peel, coriander seed and East Kent Goldings hops offer a floral, earthy and citrusy nose to this hazy ale. English IPA, Brewed In-house. 4.8%
The Great Bam-Gino - twist on the Cascadian Dark Ale style, our Black Rye IPA is packed with flavor. Enough bitterness to satisfy hop heads, yet balanced and drinkable over a few pints. Chinnok, Amarillo, and Centennial hops attribute to its citrus and piney nose while Pale, Rye, Special B, and Black Patten malts offer a spicy, yet, full caramely body to this robust version of India Pale Ale. Rye Cascadian Dark Ale, Brewed In-house, 7.0%.
Red Ale?
Winter Warmer?
Seems like English Strong Ales lend themselves to spices, more room to play with. I guess you could say the same for a Belgian Dubbel.
http://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/lists/2013/12/the-15-best-winter-beer...
I would love to do an English strong ale.
Do you gus think there will be enough time for the strong ale to age? Gino's wants to have this on tap by January.
Will just show who can brew a good, clean, strong beer in a short amount of time without having to age it :)
Be it Belgian or British, we are basically looking to come in at the low end of a Strong Ale (ABV: 6 – 8%).
Could we just say we are interested in a Strong Ale, then let the brewer decide the specific category?
The original intent on Gino's collaborating with CHAOS is we would be bringing unique one of a kind beers to the mix. It seems weird we would stick to rigid basic style guides.
Maybe my assumption is off, could we add atypical adjuncts, fruits, syrups, and spices to any given category and still be included?
I would like to brew for this, but I do not know anything about BJCP guidelines. Is that necessary for this?
Not at all! Just brew whatever style we decide on.
That's correct Steven, we can add spices, fruit, whatever to the base style.
Josh should chime in here. How close to the mark did Kevin get the tea addition? That is, if it's hard to hit the tea/spice/fruit addition when scaling up (or if it's cost-prohibitive) we might want to encourage people to stick to a more "traditional" beer: grain, water, hops. Josh would definitely have more insight, though, having gone through this.
Oh I'm glad this conversation happened, I did not understand that non-traditional additions were a requirement or at least what Gino's is looking for. A riff on a recognized style with speciality ingredients or unusual procress is interesting. In BJCP parlance, that's style 20 (fruit beers), style 21 A and B (spice, herb, vegetable), style 22 B and C (smoked and wood-aged) or style 23 (specialty beers).
So the club is picking a base style to use in a beer that could be entered in the above special categories, do I have it correct, now?
Edit: Never mind, Jim C and I were writing at the same time. It can be either.
www.singingboysbrewing.com
No special/non-traditional additions are required or expected.
This will only be the 2nd recipe chosen from CHAOS so there's no "usual" style/method that is required.
In fact, barring any cost restrictions (i.e., if 20 lbs. of saffron are required, I'm sure it will be too expensive to scale up) I would say that there are really no restrictions on additions or methods.
I just brought up the above because if Kevin and/or Josh really missed the mark on the tea addition for the scaled up version (i.e., if the Gino's version didn't come close to Josh's original), it may not be desirable to the CHAOS member to actually win with a beer needing non-traditional additions.
But, it was merely an idea I wanted feedback on. Once again to clarify, there is mandatory/required additions. Just a specific style.
Ha! I didn't see your edit before I bit send, Jim!
So, Jim, let's pull the trigger on this. How about we offer the weizen bock, dubbel and strong ale styles for Noah and Kevin to choose which one they want us to brew.
Sounds good to me, Jeff. I'll pitch those ideas and see what Kevin and Noah say.
The tea infused wheat beer that was brewed at Gino's was different than what was expected in terms of the fruit chosen, but the effect was pretty spot on with a nice grainy wheat ale with a touch of fruit. Their brewer Kevin prefers sticking with standards, but he seemed to enjoy working with Josh and sourcing a tea, at least that's how he came off when he addressed the club at the tasting. We had a wide array of submission under the umbrella of wheat/weizen/wit, so I thought it would be good to clarify how to handle specialty versions of styles.
I like the idea of assuming you can add a specialty category to the selected style. Fruit in a wheat ale is a natural, coffee and stout are awesome together, so why not give the people what they want? Sourcing local additives also makes for a better story from a foodie angle, and it's cool when local businesses collaborate.
Some styles are hard to mess with (anything German), but Strong Ales have some really great specialty versions, like the Winter Warmer:
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/style/47/
Just my two cents...love all of these ideas except for the Belgian IPA.
I know lots of people who age Dubbels for a LONG time before drinking it though to round out any weird off flavors. If they want this on tap in January it may not end up tasting so good. Then again i've never brewed at the scale Ginos is going to be brewing at.
They said they'd like the dubbel!
So, let's decide on the in-house competion date.
How about Friday 11/20?
11/20 and 11/21 are the FOBAB dates, so it may be difficult to get people for judging on that weekend.
What about Friday the 13th?
MUAHAHAHAAHA.....MUAHHAHAHAHAHA.
Haha! Sure, why not. Are you going to do the same as last time and make this an actual BJCP competition so judges can get points? That would probably help in getting some outside the club judges. I feel like Brian E, Cesar, and Jordan judged last time. Am I remembering that correctly?
Yes to BJCP for points and yes to those three.
I'll get it on the calendar tonight and ask everyone to spread the word about brewing and judging.
I'm going to brew for this myself! Can't wait!
Me, too! It's my first time brewing a dubbel!
In. Josh needs to feel some heat this time around.
Do we need to sign up somewhere for this? I'd love to try my hand at a Dubbel and see how it stacks up against my fellow brew masters.
No sign up required. Just make sure you get your beers to the brew house by the due date.
Jim, would you like help recruiting/organizing judges for this?
www.singingboysbrewing.com
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