Four Brewers: Craft Beer and Homebrew

FOTS 2: Crosbo and Hello, LA from Highland Park Brewery.

Go here to see notes for this episode of Fresh Off The Shelf: https://www.fourbrewers.com/fots2-highland-park-brewery/

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Episode Chapters:

00:00:00: Fresh Off The Shelf

00:02:31: Crosbo Pils - Highland Park Brewery

00:07:43: Hello, LA - Highland Park Brewery

Season 2, Episode 20 – This week on the show, we’re back in the studio in classic Four Brewers style, drinking homebrew, craft brew, reading beer reviews, and blind tasting. BOOM!

We kick off the show with a beer that’s has been 6 months in the making, John and Matt’sbrettanomyces-conditioned saison. You may recall a similar beer from episode 27 of season 1, their grisette-style saison. This is essentially the same beer, but with some corn sugar added at the end of the boil to dry out the beer a little more. This beer was fermented with Matt’s super-secret saison yeast. Ten gallons of this beer was made, and five gallons was keg-conditioned with ECY34, the “Dirty Dozen” brettanomyces yeast from East Coast Yeast. Matt and John are quite happy with how this beer turned out, and everyone agrees that it’s a winner.

Monkish Brewing Co. – Rara Avis

Next up is a very special beer provided to us by Brian White of Monkish Brewing Co., Rara Avis. This beer was made specifically for The Rare Beer Club, and was also served at The Bruery’s recent anniversary party, Copperversary, in Anaheim, California. Huge brett funk with a bit of acidity and fruity hop character make this beer absolutely fabulous. Big thanks to Brian for the hook up!

We end the show with “Guess That Brew” and “Going In Blind”. We haven’t played these games in quite a while, and their return is welcomed by all of us. Yvonne England joins us as our pouress for this session.

BREW THE SHIT OUT OF IT.

Links to things from this week’s episode:S2/E20 Show Outline

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Season 1, Episode 5 - This week, we chat about Session IPA and safely chug Beachwood BBQ Alpha Waves out of Long Beach, California, followed by Going in Blind! Then, Nagel’s non-beers: Sake and Cider.

We start off the show this week with a sessionable IPA from Beachwood BBQ, Alpha Waves then dive into non-beer homebrews from Nagel.

Beachwood BBQ & Brewing – Alpha Waves

Alpha Waves from Beachwood BBQ & Brewing in Long Beach, CA, is a described by the brewery as a “trickster of a ‘session IPA’ that will knock you down with surges of flavor and aroma.” “Session IPA” have been all the craze this year. Beachwood Brewing’s stands out from the rest in that it is a true session ale, clocking in at 3.8% ABV. It has a healthy malt backbone, and quite a big hop presence, even though it’s only 50 IBU.

Feature: Homebrew – Greg‘s Homebrew Sake and Cider

Greg’s Sake, named “Kamakazi Gang Bang” was an experiment to see how good a homebrew Sake can be. Much how Japanese WWII pilots would get tons of ass before their final flight, Nagel purchased a Sake kit from homebrewsake.com. Following the arduous broken English daily instructions, the rice/koji was soaked overnight, baked, cooled quickly, then fed it to the yeast. Every day, the amount doubles until the kit is finished. Once primary fermentation is complete, it’s racked into secondary, then tertiary after 30 days. After six months, it’s like fuel for a Japanese Zero, but mellows out over time with big vanilla, banana and stone fruit notes.

Greg’s Sake in a Bottle of Mother Funker, with Dregs.

We also sample Greg’s Cider, named “Cummin’s Cider,” that was ‘brewed’ easily from bringing a carboy up to Oak Glen’s Law’s Cider Mill. Step one: Sing The Sound of Music’s “The Hills Are Alive” while running through the apple orchards, dumping your sanitizer out of our carboy all over the ground. Next, add five crushed campden tabs to the carboy. Have the cider mill crush five gallons right into the carboy. Taste some to make sure it’s not gross. Pitch yeast after 24 hours (I used White Labs Old English Cider yeast). Add yeast nutrient twice daily while swirling and control temp to 68F. After primary, rack to secondary and wait 30 days. Improves considerably with age. Some people like to back-sweeten, which is gross. Save the trouble and buy the millions of sweet ciders available at the store.

Feature: “Going In Blind...”

We’re back for another round of “Going In Blind,” and this time, the beers were chosen and served up by Yvonne England. John wasn’t able to participate in the first round, since he “accidentally” saw the beer that was being served. Doh!

Going In Blind, with Dale’s Pale Ale and Coconut Porter

Ultimately, we find out that we’re drinking Dale’s Pale Ale from Oscar Blues, and Maui Brewing Co.’s Coconut Porter. We can’t stress how fun blind tasting is to do. Give it a try with your homies!

Cheers, and we’ll see you next week!

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This week, Matt was feeling frisky for some tasty and somewhat odd Belgian treats.

Go here to see notes for this episode.

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Support the show: Patreon | PayPal

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Email 4B: [email protected]

4B Theme Song: The Sleeping Sea King

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Chapters:

00:00: Support the Show on Patreon!

00:09: Theme Music

00:17: Begin Show

03:33: Weird Belgian Beers

03:52: Saison Dupont Cuvée Dry Hopping (2017) - Brasserie Dupont

17:35: Cuvée Angelique - Brouwerij de Glazen Toren

27:29: Cuvée De Ranke (2017) - Brouwerij De Ranke

32:32: Oude Geuze Boon à l'Ancienne - Vat 109 Mono Blend - Brouwerij Boon

43:24: Back To Black - Brouwerij De Ranke

52:39: Four Brewers on YouTube

The Four Brewers podcast uses mp3 files with chapter markers that allow you to easily skip to different parts of the show. Overcast for iOS and Podcast Addict for Android are two examples of apps that utilize this handy feature. If your podcast player doesn't support chapter markers, then simply reference the time stamps listed above for this episode.

Season 1, Episode 20 - This week, we’re diving into some blind tasting, drinking some Nagelbier, and reaching exponential levels of hoppiness.

We’re not messing around this week. We’re coming out swinging with some blind tasting, courtesy of Jason’s girlfriend, and our bud, Sara. Matt accidentally caught a peek of the first beer, and it takes us a seemingly odd amount of time to guess said beer. We’re then a bit blown away by one of the selections and learn that preconceived notions about any particular beer are just that, and beers should be just by the actual product in the bottle, or in this case, the 25.4oz can they are packaged in.

Next up is a long overdue homebrew segment. Greg brought us his Belgian strong-something-or-other that he brewed with local homebrewing legend, Brad Daniels. Brad is a local craft beer and homebrewing enthusiast from Anaheim, California, who’s probably best known for is unique and badass home brewery named Peace Brewing. Without getting into much detail, the dude’s brewery has hot water on demand, a hoist for his kettle, a bar, and a freaking urinal all built into his heavenly facility. We hope to feature his place on a future video episode.

Brad invited Greg over to his place for “brewing and brunch”, as it were, and that’s where this beer got its name, Belgian Brunch. Fermented with Safale T58 yeast, brewed with some non-specific hops, and then finally corked and caged (fancy!), this 12 day old homebrew came off a bit hot, and had all of the indicators that led us to believe that it ultimately needed more time in the bottle. Greg told us that Brad agrees, and that six months of cellar time will probably work wonders on this brew.

Next up is something of a treat from the San Diego region of Southern California, Exponential Hoppiness from Alpine Brewing Co.. This beer is a triple IPA, and of course, is delicious. Alpine puts a spin on the style by adding oak chips to the secondary to round out all of the flavors. If you’ve never tried it, seek it out. It’s worth the trek to Alpine for a day of drinking brews and hanging out on their back patio.

Finally, we end the show with some discussion on smaller breweries and if they feel the pressure to constantly innovate, and if it’s necessary due to their small size and consumer demand of their mainstay beers.

Brew the shit out of it!

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