The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast
We love craft beer! Each week we will taste a number of beers from around the country and give you our thoughts, not only will we talk about the flavor, but also the artwork and anything else that comes to mind.
We will also go on location and visit breweries and try a number of their offerings and give you our thoughts as well.
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The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast
Ep 113 - Hops, Malts, and Memories: A Brotherly Beer Adventure
What happens when brothers reunite to taste forgotten beers? That's exactly what unfolds as Mike welcomes his brother Brian—known affectionately as "the mad scientist"—to the Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast for a unique tasting experience. Together, they crack open a time capsule in the form of unopened Beer of the Month Club boxes that have been sitting in Brian's basement, containing craft offerings from breweries across America that most drinkers will never encounter.
From a historic pilsner once insured for a million dollars to a questionable oatmeal stout that leaves them reaching for a palate cleanser, the brothers evaluate six distinctly different beers while sharing stories of brewing adventures and misadventures. As Brian reveals details about his brewing process at Five Alarm Brewing, listeners are treated to an insider's perspective on everything from managing fermentation to the science behind hop bitterness measurements. His tale of encountering a band called "Sweet and Juicy" (featuring musicians dressed as a banana and strawberry) while beer-touring in Oregon proves that the craft beer journey is filled with unexpected delights.
The conversation flows naturally between technical brewing insights and casual brotherly banter, creating an atmosphere that makes you feel like you're sitting at the table with them, tasting glass in hand. When Brian explains why some IPAs rated at 99 IBUs can taste less bitter than those rated at 20, and shares his experimental approach to brewing a forthcoming pickled jalapeño beer for a wedding, you understand why he's earned his "mad scientist" moniker.
Whether you're curious about the mysterious ways beer changes during aging, wondering what makes a brewery worth joining their barrel society, or simply enjoy authentic conversations about craft beer without pretension, this episode delivers with warmth and humor. Pour yourself something special and join these brothers as they toast to exploration, creativity, and the joy of discovering both gems and disappointments in the world of craft beer.
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Grab a beer and pull up a chair. Welcome to the Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. Hey, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome back to the Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. This is Mike, the Northwoods Beer Guy, and today I am actually joined in studio by my brother, the mad scientist Brian. How's it going? Pretty good, you survived our trip to Missouri. Yes, it was a cool trip that checkers that we were in.
Speaker 2:It was a little loud it was a neat place, though it was small, but it was fun.
Speaker 1:Yeah, ladies and gentlemen, if you listened to last week's podcast, you'll understand. I did the best I could to try and cut the background out and it was pretty loud at times, so we do apologize for that. But so today we are actually in the studio and, brian, you brought over some beers that were in a Beer of the Month Club that you were a member of.
Speaker 2:Yep, there's the Craft Beer of the Month Club. What they did was they, I believe, were out of california, but they picked two different breweries each month. You got I did the 12 pack so you got four different beers, two by each brewery, two different styles from each one. You never knew what you were getting each month.
Speaker 1:It's just a variety of different styles yep, well, and you remember, that's kind of how I actually started trying craft beer was that friend of of ours, bob. His sister would get him a three-month membership for Christmas and he would keep one of each of the different beers that he got and then he'd bring them up to the camper and then Ron and Bob and myself would try them. So that's kind of how we got kick-started in this and it just went downhill from there. So, yeah, so we're going to try some of these. Like I said, I've never heard of most of these breweries. Even so, it'll be interesting to see you know how they are. And, like I said, it's kind of a mixed bag here. We've got anything from what do we have? A Pilsner all the way up to an Oatmeal Stout in this group of six, and it should be interesting. I mean, some of the labels are pretty cool.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and these ones here. I have not tried any of these. I went down to my basement, found two boxes that were unopened and opened them up and grabbed beers from each one. There you go, that'll work.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, I guess we might as well get kicked off here a little bit. So the first one that we have is actually from Upland Brewing Company and it's Champagne Velvet or, as the fancy people, champagny Velvet, something like that. They're out of Bloomington, indiana. The brewery is, I looked on, untapped because we don't have notes or anything for them. So I wanted to let you kind of know what these ones were.
Speaker 1:This one's got a big long thing here. It says in 1902, walter Braun, the son of German immigrants, created a recipe for a new Pilsner beer named Champagne Velvet. Over the next 50 years it grew to become one of Indiana's most popular beers, a go-to for many of our grandparents and great-grandparents. It was, in quotation marks the beer with the million-dollar flavor. Yeah boy, they're building this up, which wasn't just marketing fluff. It was actually insured with a $1 million policy. Industrial Consolidation took down this regional favorite and the recipe went missing for many years until a fan rescued the handwritten recipe from deep in a trademark portfolio. Upland reformulated oh see, they reformulated it. So now it's probably only 750,000 instead of a million. Uh see, they reformulated the recipe using that scrap of paper and proudly brings this midwestern legend back to life.
Speaker 1:Champagne velvet has a refreshingly light pilsner body with some sweet complexities given off by the corn malt used in this recipe, making this the perfect lager. It's smooth, smooth and light, but still full of flavor. The perfect everyday beer for craft beer drinkers and a step up for domestic drinkers. Oh, so they're taking a shot at the domestic people. Uh-huh, and you know something? I forgot to grab a bottle opener. Oh, you happen to have one Perfect. I should have known Always. You happen to have one Perfect.
Speaker 2:I should have known. Always have one on your keychain. Yeah, you never know when you might need one.
Speaker 1:Exactly Okay. So there's your keys for now. Cap was just plain old red, so we are going to try this, see if it's a million dollars or not. Extremely light color, I think, for a lager, wouldn't you say.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's very light. It doesn't have like the real gold, no, it looks more like what you'd think of as a pilsner.
Speaker 1:I would think. Aroma-wise it smells kind of like a lager. Definitely get the corn. So that's what we're. The flavor is the corn that we're picking up more.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's probably a flake corn.
Speaker 1:See, it's got a little bit of a kind of a I don't want to say a harshness, but like on the finish After you swallow, it's got kind of that. Aftertaste is a little tougher. Yes, I don't know exactly how to describe it, but it's not terrible and, like they said, if it's somebody that's never had craft beer before, this would be a decent introduction yes, yeah, the normal american lager drinkers could drink this one.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's no hot bite at all. No, it's. You know, it's a clean beer.
Speaker 1:Oh, I should say it's 5.2 percent abv and 29 ibus as well. So, yeah, I don't't get any IBU. No hot bite at all, no 5.2,. I mean it drinks smooth for a 5.2, but there's just not a huge amount of flavor.
Speaker 2:No, there's not a lot there, but I can see where people would like them on a hot day. Right, you have them. Ice cold. On a hot day, people can drink a lot of them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly, good lawnmower beer, yeah there you go, say out of a cooler, you know, when it's cold, the beer it would be good, yep. So yeah, I don't, it's okay, I guess, score-wise, what do you think you know?
Speaker 2:our scoring system 0 to 5, tenth of a point, 2.5 point two and a half is average. What would you say for the champagne velvet by upland brewing? Well, for what it is for, that style of beer is pretty good. Um, I would say I'm conflicted here because if I rate it on the beer style or just in my general opinion of it, well yeah, I guess that's a good question you know, j Jim asked that before too.
Speaker 1:Are we rating us against other loggers or are we just? You know how do you do it? I guess, just whatever you think, whatever your score is, you know, there's no set thing, Just whatever you think it is.
Speaker 2:I'm just going to go in general, since they're all different that we have right now and I'll say I'm going to give it a 2.4.
Speaker 1:Okay, and what gave you that?
Speaker 2:It's not a bad beer. There's just nothing there for flavor.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:And, like I said, we have a variety of different ones that are going to get more flavor in them as we go. But if it was just rating a Pilsner, I probably would give it like a 2.8.
Speaker 1:So is a Pilsner, is a type of log, yes, okay, yeah. So, yeah, I, I'm gonna go. I was gonna say two and a half, like it's average, but I think I might go a two, four as well, just because the same thing. There's not a huge amount of flavor, and I was, I guess, when they built it up a lot, saying it's's a million-dollar beer and all that and it's decent, don't get me wrong. But again, it's not like I would be like, oh my gosh, I got to get that. You know what I mean. Yep, so yeah, I'll go a 2.4 as well and, like I said, good lawnmower beer. You know, hot day, ice cold, it would be good. So, other than that, I mean it's okay, you know. So let's see, the last time we were talking, you were brewing boy. What was it?
Speaker 1:a double chocolate and double chocolate oatmeal stout okay, so that's in the works and you had the, your breakfast of champions, yep, okay yep, I got both of them caged up now, so they're aging in the cooler okay right now I don't have anything going.
Speaker 2:I get when I, when we get back from our trip here, I gotta go make a pickled jalapeno beer for a wedding.
Speaker 1:Wow have you done one of those before?
Speaker 2:nope it's gonna be an experiment.
Speaker 1:Oh, there you go living up to the name so crazy. So everything else is going good and all that kind of good stuff. Yep, so as so those people may or I think they've. If you've listened before, you know he does the brewing at Five Alarm Brewing in Lake Mills. You've been basically whatever styles you want to make, right. I mean, it's kind of.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a nice thing, for down there the owners don't care what I make, as long as the taps are filled, right. So I've been brewing there for the last three years now, and so I've kind of gotten to know what the community likes. So I have three beers I keep on try to keep on all the time my Delmatian Ale, a Cream Ale and then a Mosaic IPA Okay, and then the other taps. I'm able to just rotate whatever I want to have on, you know, from sours to stouts Nice.
Speaker 1:So yeah, as we get into this more, we'll kind of go back into a little more of the backstory as well, because you were a home brewer for a long time, for quite a while, yep, and it kind of sprouted from there. But we'll save that for after the next few beers and kind of go into. It Sounds good. So the next beer that we have is by double mountain brewery. They are out of hood river oregon. When you were out in oregon, you weren't there, were you?
Speaker 2:no, not that I know of. That's a story we'll have to tell during this one so hang on.
Speaker 1:Uh, this is their kolsch. And let me see and like I said, I'm on tap just reading the description. Oh, this one's a lot smaller description. It has, in Cologne many a brewery, produced a light-bodied ale with a delicate fruitiness and rounded maltiness attributed to the unique yeast strain commonly used. Our Kolsch is unfiltered and more generously hopped than its German cousin 5.2% ABV and 40 IBUs.
Speaker 2:So this one has pretty much the exact same color as the first one did.
Speaker 1:It's a little bit more, a little cloudier. You know what I mean. The other one was pretty clear. This one is a little bit cloudy, a little haze to it. Smells like a Kolsch, yep, or, as Jim says, klosh, but it smells like a Kolsch, I mean it's what you'd expect Not bad.
Speaker 2:It has more of a hot bite to it than some of the other Kolschs that I've had.
Speaker 1:I was going to say it's not over the top or anything, but you definitely get that little bit of a hint.
Speaker 2:A little bitterness on the end, yeah there you go.
Speaker 1:Definitely get the bitterness Interesting. I mean it's smooth, but you do get that bitter aftertaste. Yep.
Speaker 2:Well, I kind of like that one myself, this one.
Speaker 1:Yep. What has drawn you to it?
Speaker 2:I think just that bitterness. I love IPAs, but it kind of reminds you of a weak IPA, you know Right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, like I said, you get that Kolsch taste, but then the finish is definitely a little bit different than most of them we've had Yep, so I give them credit for that. You know, it's unique, I like that.
Speaker 2:It reminds me of I've made a couple of Kolsch beers and it kind of reminds me of those ones.
Speaker 1:Does it? Yeah, because you put a little more hops in it, or you mean just the.
Speaker 2:Just the flavor, I mean the one I did. Mine wasn't 40 IBUs, I think it was 30 that we did, but you know, we used Hallertau and Saas hops in it, which I'm guessing is what they used in this one.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:But yeah, I kind of like that one.
Speaker 1:Well, you know, and I know you and I I had asked you about the IBU rating scale. I had asked you about the IBU rating scale and Jim and I talk about it all the time too where it's like we'll have beers that'll say 70 IBUs and you can't even taste anything. Then you have ones that are oh 20, and you're like whoa, that's. You know.
Speaker 2:Yeah so.
Speaker 1:I don't necessarily know if the IBU scale is an exact science.
Speaker 2:yet Right it only when they figured it out, figured out the bitterness for the IBU scale. It's just going by the hop information, right, your alpha acids and your beta acids. So it doesn't take into account the formula, doesn't your grain bill? Because, oh yeah, depending on what your grain bill is, you may not taste any hops in some of them. Because didn't?
Speaker 1:you say too, that part of it also is like the aroma besides the flavor, or is it more just the flavor For the IBU.
Speaker 2:That's just the bitterness, just the bitterness. Okay, so just the tiny scale is basically Yep, okay.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't know. It's like we always joke.
Speaker 2:I made one that I was trying to make one called Hop Head. It was a 99 IBU IPA. I we wanted to make one called Hop Head. It was a 99 IBU IPA. I was so excited for it and I made it up. I mean I used a ton of hops in it. I mean probably five pounds of hops in this batch, which big breweries that's not going to sound like much Right, but for my barrel size that I do. But anyways, it's supposed to be 99 IBUs according to the scale. And we got it out and you couldn't taste any hops at all to begin with. But I had a big grain bill. We had one keg. After the first keg blew, I unhooked it, I put the other keg off in the corner and just let it sit there for about eight months and then we hooked it up. Then you got more hops in it again.
Speaker 1:You got more hops, yeah, okay interesting.
Speaker 2:It still didn't seem like it was 99, but you definitely got more hops the longer it aged.
Speaker 1:That's interesting because you know like a lot of times you think more about letting it age, like that it's more barrel-aged, or even some stout stuff. The longer they sit, the more flavor, so you don't really think about it, though with hops that it does the same kind of thing Yep Interesting.
Speaker 2:So yeah, I guess, what do you think on the?
Speaker 1:double mountain colesh, I think you think you need to have another.
Speaker 2:I think I need another taste to make up my mind now when we were talking about uh.
Speaker 1:Well, here, we'll get into that after you I mean it's still.
Speaker 2:I'm still gonna give it a two.
Speaker 1:Six okay, and what, uh? What's driving you to that?
Speaker 2:I like. I think it's a little better than average. It's definitely better than the first one, I think, but it's not to my opinion. It's not worth a three, you know? Oh right, so I'm going to go with that.
Speaker 1:Okay, so you want a 2.6.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I'm going to go with 2.5, just one step down. I do enjoy it. I think that aftertaste a little bit kind of throws me at first. It's definitely not your normal Kolsch aftertaste but it's not offensive. But it's different and, like I said, I do give them credit for trying something a little more unique. I have no problem with that. I guess I shouldn't knock it down that much because of it. But, like I said, it's just a little different flavor on the end. But yeah, it was good. Same thing. I think it would be a decent lawnmower on a hot day.
Speaker 1:If it was cold, I think you could drink a number of them. So, getting back to when I asked him if you were in whatever town in In Oregon or in Hood Hood River, because you had went out there for work a few different times and you were in uh eugene yep, and it was funny because he he'd call me or text me or send me.
Speaker 2:Stayed in eugene, yeah, and then I where I was working, they had a plant in junction city which was only 20, 25 miles.
Speaker 1:Okay, but then you'd go. Then you went to Black.
Speaker 2:Butte Yep, I went out to.
Speaker 1:Bend. He'd send me pictures and I'll send oh, check this place out in there. Whichever place it was, it had like the elk mounts. Yeah, Elkhorn Brewing was the name of that place, you know, and I'm just like, oh my gosh, but my favorite story now was it a brewery or was it just like a craft beer bar where that band was? It was a brewery or was it just like a craft beer bar where that band was?
Speaker 2:It was a brewery.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:And I'm trying to remember the name of it. I'm thinking it was like it was Ironworks, I think it was. I think that was the name of it. It was all. Their taps were like old forged tools.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay, so you send me a text.
Speaker 2:Well, you tell the story because you can. I went to. I was trying to hit all the breweries that were in Eugene when they would send us out there. They sent us out for two weeks at a time and it was on a rotating schedule. Every other week we were out there. So I went to this brewery. I got there, there was only three people in there.
Speaker 1:And what time was this?
Speaker 2:This was at like 5.30, 6 o'clock.
Speaker 1:Oh, it's 5.30, 6 o'clock, oh, so it was after work time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, okay, and there's a band, they're setting up their instruments and that, so I wasn't paying too much attention, I just wanted to. I had got my flight and was trying the beers and they started playing at 7. The band did and they had really good pizzas, homemade wood-fired pizzas, so I had ordered one of them. I the band, came out and it was a two-piece band, a drummer and a guitar player. One was dressed as a banana and the other one was dressed as a strawberry, and Sweet and Juicy was the name of the band, and they were really good. They played like Van Halen and 80s rock music, but, yes, sweet and juicy. But the funniest part was when they got started. They made all of us stand up and say our name and where we were from and I'm just going what the heck is going on.
Speaker 2:And so I stood up and I told them my name and where I was from Minnesota and they were like really, what brings you out here? I said I just came to see you guys. Stood up and I told him my name and where I was from minnesota and they were like really, what brings you out here? I said I just came to see you guys they go okay, so I got a free uh sticker out of it.
Speaker 1:Oh did you there, you go that's funny because he I remember you sent me the picture and you said, yes, that's a strawberry and a banana. I thought that was just crazy. I give them credit. You remembered them, yep.
Speaker 2:If they'd have been just two dudes in blue jeans.
Speaker 1:You probably would have never even remembered it.
Speaker 2:Yep, they made an impression, that's funny.
Speaker 1:I tell you what Now, because you had went to a number of different breweries out there. What do you think was the coolest? I'm sure Black Butte was probably pretty cool. I'm sure, uh, black butte would is probably pretty cool. I'm sure that was the biggest one that you went to when you were out there yeah, that was in bend.
Speaker 2:Okay, I had over the for one of the weekends. I decided I was gonna, I was gonna go to bend and because they had like 25 breweries or something in bend so I said I'll go see how many I can hit and and I ended up just going to one. That, uh, there were so many one-way streets in Bend, oregon. I just got really mad when I was trying to drive because the uh Deschutes did not have their parking lot labeled very well so I kept driving past the driveway for the parking lot, then you have to go around the block, yeah
Speaker 2:so I finally got in there and I'm like I'm staying here. So, yeah, then I did the tour and I think I was there for five hours and uh, they had 30th anniversary black butte porter on tap, um 13 abv, and so I was having that and yeah, so I was there talking to anybody from from new york to california, you know, and uh, all of a sudden it dawned on me. I'm like, just like a light bulb turned on, I'm like I'm in band and I grabbed my phone and my phone was dead and I'm like, oh no, I'm in band. I finished up, went and got in the rental car and went to look for a Walmart and couldn't find a Walmart at first, but I found another brewery, so I stopped there and then went from there to and somehow they didn't have a phone charger, did they no?
Speaker 2:but they had fish and chips.
Speaker 1:Oh, there you go.
Speaker 2:So I had fish and chips and a flight, of course, then ended up finding a Walmart, and then that's when I called you on the way back.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, uh, all of a sudden I get a text message. First you up and I'm like, yeah, and I can't remember what time it was, it was 10 o'clock, 11 o'clock or somewhere in there. So then you called me. Like I'm on my way back from bend, you need to make sure to help me stay away, because it was like a two-hour drive, yeah, so we just talked the whole time and well, and I took the mountain route on the way there and it was, it was nothing but curves the whole way zigzagging through the mountains yeah, and I'm going oh lord, what am I in for?
Speaker 2:and I just used the gps and it was the straightest road I've ever been on every turn, didn't? Have one turn on it. I'm like, yes, someone was looking out for me?
Speaker 1:no doubt, so, no doubt. So the brewery itself Deschats. I'm sure that was a pretty big, pretty cool place.
Speaker 2:Oh yes, that was amazing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because we've had their Black Butte Porter. We've had some of the variations and such. We've had some others, but I think that's really what they're known for is their Black Butte Porter. Yep, you know, and it's definitely a good one, so you, big bottling lines.
Speaker 2:They could bottle like 500 and some bottles a minute. Wow, they look like they are 10, 12 foot in diameter, these bottling machines.
Speaker 1:I suppose they just load them, like some of them. We've seen where they just load them like bottles by the pallet. Yep, you know.
Speaker 2:and it's just like wow, yeah, and they had the conveyors that fed the bottles into there and it was just spinning you bottles into there and it was just spinning, you know, filling them Interesting.
Speaker 1:So the next beer we got Brian, we're going to try is Irresistible Amber Ale, and this is by Madison River Brewing Company. And it's of course amber or red ale, american amber, 5.5%, 28 IBUs, and Madison River Brewing is out of Belgrade, montana. Let's see what they have to say here. Oh, it's got a style guide that says this amber is created with the use of choice hops and a unique blend of specialty malts to produce a rich and tasty brew. It is especially unique due to its original flavor, influenced by biscuit and earthy characteristics. Then it gives beginning gravity 14.5, ending 14.5, ending Gravity 3.5, hops Magnum, willamette and Mount Hood Malts, montana, two Row Barley, special B, crystal Caramel 80, and Carapils Carapils, yeah.
Speaker 1:So that's kind of interesting that they give that?
Speaker 2:Which hops did you say they used? They have?
Speaker 1:Magnum, willamette and Mount Hood. Okay, so they got three different ones. In this one it looks like an amber. I mean, they got the color right, boy, that's got a little different aroma to it. Yeah, I'm trying to figure out what that is, boy. What is that? I'm trying to figure out what that aroma is, because I've smelled beers like that before, but I'm trying to remember what style they are. Normally your ambers don't smell like that. It's definitely a maltier amber the flavor is better than the aroma.
Speaker 1:Yes, it definitely it. The malt shines on it. It's definitely a multi characteristic. Trying to see if I get like a biscuit. It'll be interesting to see, once it warms up a little more, if the flavor changes at all right boy, because usually you know, we've had some ambers that have really had a good flavor and flavor-wise this isn't bad. No, you know, I don't mind it. Off of the aroma. I was a little bit worried, I'm not going to lie. I was kind of like I don't know if it's, you know.
Speaker 2:But it's not bad. Well, I say we can.
Speaker 1:There's still some in the bottle, we can come back once we get done and try it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we'll let the rest of that warm up and we'll see what it's like, Because yeah, it's either going to get a little smoother or we'll see if it's one of them. That's better cold Right, right.
Speaker 1:Usually you think if it's warmer, sometimes it's better.
Speaker 2:Better.
Speaker 1:yeah, but we've had some that the colder the better, because when it warmed up oof. Some of them have up a little bit here because we've got taster glasses, of course, and trying to see what we can do here.
Speaker 2:I can't figure which. Well, this is a magnum. I haven't used a whole lot of magnum, hops, okay, but I've used a lot of Mount Hood and the Willamette, so that aroma or that little bit of a bite isn't from those.
Speaker 1:Okay, Interesting. So you wonder if it's the magnum, then, or if it's something with you know, whatever they're doing. So when they talked about like beginning gravity and ending gravity, what does that determine in a beer?
Speaker 2:That tells you what the ABV is going to be. Oh, so the so you're measuring how much sugar is in the wort, okay. So yeah, after you get done brewing it and adding your hops in, when you put it in the fermenter, you take a reading and that'll tell you how much sugars are in the word.
Speaker 1:That would be the beginning.
Speaker 2:Gravity, yes, okay and anyone doesn't know wort is your basically your sugar water that you make. When you're making the beer, yep and uh, then when you put it in the fermenter, the yeast yeast turns it into beer.
Speaker 1:Yep, so then at the end then you take another reading and then that's how you figure. Okay, interesting.
Speaker 2:That'll tell you, because there's times where your yeast will stall out, so your ABV you planned on isn't anywhere close to that.
Speaker 1:Sure.
Speaker 2:And if it's dependent on the beer stall, you may have to try and kickstart it again to get it going.
Speaker 1:Okay, and how would you do that? Because?
Speaker 2:and kickstart it again to get it going. Okay, and how would you do that? Because you don't just dump sugar in it or anything, do you? No, I've actually been working on that with one of my beers. I'm trying to do an Imperial Stout and my yeast keeps dying off at 8%.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:I tried just adding more yeast, but it just stayed stalled out, didn't do nothing. But I believe I need to get some oxygen, pump oxygen into the wort again, okay, and that should get the yeast activated.
Speaker 1:Because now, based on the yeast, is there certain like strains of yeast that will produce higher alcohol, naturally or not?
Speaker 2:really Is that there are strains of yeast, like your London ales, your Trappist ales, abbey ales, that can live in higher ABV environments where it doesn't die off from the alcohol, but like your normal mild yeast, like your American ale yeast, and, yeah, they won't stand up to anything over 8%.
Speaker 1:So another silly question. But like brewer's yeast, whatever yeast you use for beer, is that different than what they would use for, like, making bread, or is it the same type of?
Speaker 2:thing. It is different. It is different. Okay, yeah, you can use it. You know, if you're trying to make some homebrew in a hurry, you could use it, but you could get some funky aftertaste.
Speaker 1:Okay, I just wondered about that because you always hear, you know, when you're talking about yeast, you know, and you always see the stories about oh you know, this was bread, that or you know yeast that wasn't made into beer, it was made into bread, or whatever. So I didn't know if it was the same thing. You know what I mean, but I'm sure there's different.
Speaker 2:Each yeast strain will give you different flavors to the beer. So I've never tried using a bread yeast, but I've seen some homebrew recipes where they say to use it.
Speaker 1:Oh, sure, and I'm sure some of the Belgian yeast and stuff. That's where you get almost a banana-type flavor. Yes, right, yep, okay, interesting. Well, I see you. Still, I might as well go first on this. This amber, I like it. Like I said, the only part of it that was a little questionable to me was the aroma. The initial aroma was a little bit eh yeah, the flavor I thought was decent. I'm going to go. I'm going to go a 2.6 on this one myself. I do like it and I think it's a decent amber. You know, I wish that that little bit of a funk on the aroma wasn't there, because I'd have probably went to like a 2.7, maybe a 2.8. But I could see where that may turn somebody off. Right, you know when you smell it and you're like eww, you know, yep, that's my opinion anyway.
Speaker 2:And that's what I was going to do. I was going to give it a 2.7 is what I was going to give it.
Speaker 1:Same kind of reasons? Yep. Well, let's see, we talked a bunch in there so I'm kind of thirsty, so we might as well get this next one going. So this is by is this Bent River? Yep, bent River. Let me see if we can get a description All right here. I'll give you that, brian. So this is QC Haze by Bent River Brewing Company, and they're out of Moline, illinois. Of course. I've actually been to that brewery a couple times. Oh nice, yep. And they gave absolutely no description. On untapped, it's a 7% ABV, 70, 7-0, 70, 70 ibus.
Speaker 1:You can get the hops right so I was hoping that they had at least a little bit of a description, and when we laid these out, they, they kind of foamed a little.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's, it's a little, a little. Uh, a little charged, yeah, a little little carbonated, a little bit more than normal, probably just because of how long I've had it.
Speaker 1:I mean you can definitely smell the hops, but it smells good. I mean it's not like a ooh. I think it's got really a nice that's interesting, like a smooth aroma. For sure. It's got a little different flavor, and not different in a bad way, just different Like you can get the hops. You definitely can taste the hops, yes, but it's like almost a crispness you know what I mean Like a bright kind of flavor, almost Yep.
Speaker 2:Interesting. I'm kind of wondering if they used fresh hops in it instead of pellets, if they used fresh leaf hops.
Speaker 1:Of course you know it doesn't say I was going to say. The writing that's on there is really small so it's hard to read it. They didn't give a description. So if you use the pelletized hops, that has a different flavor than if you use actual no, the pellet hops usually are a little stronger.
Speaker 2:Oh, okay, you need a lot more of the leaf hops. Okay, Fresh leaf cones. You need a lot more of them to equal the same amount of pellets Of pellets.
Speaker 1:Okay, so now what you grow? A hop plant, what variety is?
Speaker 2:that Nugget Nugget, okay, nugget hops, which are basically just a bittering hop, okay. But yeah, we started out. Our uncle's dentist I believe it was the receptionist there had hops at her house and he went to them for years. So they always chit-chatted while they were waiting and he had said that well, that I brewed beer. So she brought in four rhizomes from her plants and gave to them to give to me and, uh, that's went from four little little flowers to, uh, taking over half the yard in the backyard, oh yeah, and have you used them?
Speaker 1:have you brewed with them? Okay, now I tell you you know one of the beers that you make that is really good, I think is your, your spruce tip IPA. Of course I'm a little bit biased because the spruce tips you got from my spruce trees. I'd go out and pick them.
Speaker 1:And then we sold that place and the trees are still there. But my brother-in-law got the extra trees we had left over and they're growing by his driveway and he's told me I could go and pick them anytime I want. So we didn't get out there. I'm sure right now they're probably a little bit too big now, right, uh, this time you have to be out there earlier, but maybe next year I can go pick some more. But yeah, I mean that was always a cool when you, when you try it, like I said, when, when, uh, I always thought it was neat because it was my spruce tips and and stuff, but it had a real mellow flavor. But you definitely got that spruce.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, it was very tiny, yeah, you know, and it was like really good.
Speaker 2:And it's crazy because when it when it first made it, we put it on after, and once I had caged it, it was in there for probably six weeks and we put it on and it was super piney oh yeah, like almost too piney, you know, and really, and uh, but there was people that loved it, I mean just loved it, and other people you know Really, but there was people that loved it, I mean just loved it, and other people you know hated it. Of course, that's the thing with craft beer you either love them or hate them. Well, and that's especially with IPAs.
Speaker 1:I think hops are extremely polarizing. You know, you get the people that and a lot of people that, especially when they're just either just getting into it or their, their main beer is like your big beer brand. You know that they don't have a lot of flavor. So then when you get hops, they, they don't. Oh, I don't like that, that's bitter, you know, and it's like you know. But then there's people that are the other way too. And well, and I've told this story before, I mean one year I, I drank almost nothing but IPA so I could get to where I could stand them. I did the same thing with sours, I'm not sure why, but I did, but you know. And now it's like you know and I give Jim credit, because when we first started doing this he couldn't stand IPAs, and now he's actually coming around.
Speaker 1:He's like you know, there's actually some good ones, you know, and I almost started crying, you know but yes, exactly. But you know, we're the same way. When we first started, I mean, ipas were like oh, you know, and you just get used to it. Yes, you know, but so anyway. So you were saying that. So some people loved it because it was really piney.
Speaker 2:Yep, and after the first keg, that one, I only put in like five gallon kegs, okay, so I stuck the rest of them months. We put one on again and, oh my God, the flavors completely changed. It wasn't, it was. It was. When we first put it on, it was almost like you were licking on a pine cone. It was so piney, wow, and, and then. But now, after like seven months of aging, oh man, it just got to be a complex beer. You got more of the malt flavors.
Speaker 1:And to be a complex beer.
Speaker 2:Uh, you got more of the malt flavors and uh, yeah, because when I tried it it was really good. Yep, you know and that's just wild, how that and then changed it, and once we put it on the second time, you know the same batch then just oh yeah, it moved really fast, right, right people are like I shouldn't like this, but it is. So this is awesome, but I can't help myself.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, that's funny. All right. Well, let's see the QC Haze. I'm kind of torn on it a little bit. I'm going to try a little bit more. The aroma to me was really good. Flavor-wise it almost has a sweetness. Does it almost have like a sweetness on the taste? The initial?
Speaker 2:taste yes.
Speaker 1:And it's definitely fizzy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, on the taste, the initial taste, yes, it's it, uh, and it's definitely fizzy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah that's probably not helping, I mean, right, so I don't know I'm gonna.
Speaker 1:What do I do? I'm gonna go. I'm trying to decide. Do I go? Because you know we try not to have ties, we try to yep. Do I do a 2.3? Or do I go a 2.7? Because I do like the aroma, the flavor is decent'm going to go a 2.3, partly because of how fizzy it is and then, like I said, I do get a little bit of a sweetness on it, which is not bad. But then when you get that sweetness and then the hops kick in, it almost makes it more bitter on the taste buds a little bit. So I think that maybe turned some people off.
Speaker 2:But it could, be like you said, if it was more fresh.
Speaker 1:Uh, maybe it would have been a different flavor. So just my opinion.
Speaker 2:I was gonna go a two, four I don't think I've done a, two, four, um, so I was gonna do that. You actually did it. Oh, did I on the first one?
Speaker 1:okay two, five. Okay, you have not done that yet it's.
Speaker 2:I think it would have been better if it wasn't a little charged in the bottle.
Speaker 1:You know, I think that's, that's definitely, I think, messing with the flavors a little bit, and like I said, it's still not bad, but we may want to rinse out our glasses because it definitely was foamy, all right. So the next one we have is Batch 202 IPA, and this is by Dick's Brewing Company and they're out of Centralia, washington. So apparently this box was out of out of, uh, the west coast. Apparently it started to foam up a little bit so we were like so let's see, they're out of centralia, washington. It says 202 ipa is a tropical fruit and citrus hop blend of goodness. This beer is all about hop, flavor and aroma, brewed and dry hopped with equinot, equinot, columbus, cascade and simcoe, so it's got four different.
Speaker 2:It's gonna be.
Speaker 1:Should be pretty, no, oh 60, 6 abv and 60 ibus. Smells good.
Speaker 2:Got a little different flavor to it yeah, not getting much of the hops, I'm just getting a lot of the malt.
Speaker 1:Well, I get some of the hop, but it's almost a. It's definitely a bitter kind of a flavor.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because usually when I've used the Econoc hops it's been real and a real citrusy beer yeah, I don't get citrus at all, do you in this one?
Speaker 1:Because when it said about tropical, I was like Right, you know tropical. I was like right, you know, and that's always one of those that's I'm sure it's from. Like you said before, you're trying to get the characteristics of the hop, but because some of the hops definitely taste like grapefruit, you know, you get that kind of a lemon zest type of a flavor, melon, melon and then you hear the ones that are tropical and I've really have yet to have a beer that really has really a tropical hop flavor. Right, you know what I mean. You get it if they add mango or stuff like that, but you know what I mean.
Speaker 2:They always talk about these tropical hop flavors and I don't necessarily know if I've ever really had one that tastes like a tropical yeah, you know right, a lot of times, a lot of them that they say are tropical, you mainly get like a grapefruit flavor from it. Okay, because I've definitely had the grapefruit. When you taste it, man, this one, I don't get citrus at all. I'm getting more of just a bitter yeah, kind of a note to it, a maltier ipa. They talked it up big. Yeah, it sounded, yes, amazing, but it's not a bad beer, but it's just this one.
Speaker 1:I wouldn't recommend this one to a new person going into an ipa. No, and not that it's super strong uh hop flavor, but it's got just that. It's just it lingers, yeah, you know, I mean I still got that kind of that bitter hop on the on the back of my throat kind of yeah flavor, I don't know dude, and this one's not really my no favorite boy score wise, I'm doing like a 2.2 on this one. Yeah, I mean, I'm gonna do a 2.3 yeah, I just I don't know.
Speaker 2:It's uh, it's disappointing.
Speaker 1:I was looking forward to them too, and there you go, they were both kind of just off a little bit, you know and, like you said, it could be that you've had them for a while, but but I I'm pretty sure they're pretty close to right what they were before you know that one foamed up a little bit when I opened it, it's when we poured it it didn't, it wasn't fizzed up at all.
Speaker 2:So it wasn't. No, not like the first one.
Speaker 1:First one, you know really foamed up, and then this one really didn't have much of a head at all on it when you poured it, yep, but yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 2:I guess I'm just a little bummed by those, those two but I'm glad I got them because because there's probably a good chance I'll never get out to that brewery.
Speaker 1:Well, you know that is the one thing that is kind of cool with, like this Beer of the Month Club when you were doing it, because these are beers that we probably never would have ever tasted before, right, you know, if they wouldn't have been in it. You know the one thing with those clubs they are a little expensive, you know, and I know there's shipping and such, and sometimes you wondered with the breweries that were in there and that you're like, is it? They're just kind of providing the ones that don't sell real well or what?
Speaker 1:Right, you know, because remember the one time one of our local breweries were in it and we were like all excited because we thought, oh, we're going to have Oscars, you know, and it was two other ones that were two of their lighter ones. Yeah, you know, and you're like, okay, you know. So I don't know how they pick them, you know, but I'm sure if it's a huge seller, the brewery doesn't have time to provide all these bottles right to, like a club like that and who knows, maybe they, maybe the breweries are sitting on some cases and weren't able to get them get rid of them at the time, so they sold them to that place.
Speaker 1:Here you go you, you divvy them out you know. So who knows? But but still, like I said, I do enjoy it and uh such, because there's a lot of these beers we never would have even known about, you know and I liked it because it's like christmas every month. See you never knew what you're gonna get. See santa showed up every month?
Speaker 2:awesome. I just had to make sure somebody was at the house because you had to sign for them. Since it was alcohol, they were shipping right. The original uh delivery guy who was must, he must have retired. He must not have cared. Towards the end he knew what it was and who it was for, so he just left it on the steps. But the new ones won't do that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and then you got to go to the, so be to the post office before they close and, yep, no, all right. Well, hey, we got one beer left, and this one I'm actually really excited to try. Uh, it could be bad, but you never know. So this is also by the madison river brewing company, but this one is their black ghost oatmeal stout, seven and a half percent abv. And once again, madison river is out of belgrade montana and they have absolutely no description. So I was just scrolling through here and a person on Untapped had wrote a little thing and it said Montana, micro black with tan head, mild nose, creamy and smooth, with a little sweet, a lot of malt and a nice dry finish. Chewy and good is what they said.
Speaker 2:So we'll see.
Speaker 1:Like I I said it's always one of those. It's nice when the brewery has a description on there so you just at least have a little bit of an idea, even though it's their. You know most of the time it's their marketing spin, but you know, it's uh always interesting. I do like the label. It's got a bear with a salmon in his mouth on it looks like a stout dark. Has that, that tan head. Well, I don't know an aroma. I do get a little bit of a malty aroma, but not a whole lot, I don't know that that one doesn't just hmm, that one's got almost a almost a funk to it.
Speaker 1:A sour yeah, taste to it. It's got a little bit of a funk to her. That's interesting. You wonder again like you said you've had this for a while if could it have went bad.
Speaker 2:I doubt it, though, with a stout right and it's been always been in the dark cool place so down in the corner of the basement boy I'm. I'm almost thinking that might have been from the process, that something went.
Speaker 1:You know, right it almost reminds me of remember some of the times when you taste and it's almost. It's almost like it's too young. You know what I mean when you have a young beer. It has almost like that kind of a soury taste to it. Now, this isn't young, but it's got that like they put some sour in it, like sour cherry or some kind of a weird. Yeah, yep, you know, boy, I hate to say it, but that's kind of a disappointment.
Speaker 2:Yes, I had high hopes for that one. I do like the label. I may have to try and peel that label off, but boy I just kind of I don't know if I want a second taster of that one. I was going to say it's wow. I don't know. Typically, if I had one that got that flavor, I'd dump it down the drain, which sucks. I hate dumping batches down, but I said if I don't like it I'm not going to serve it, right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm sure, when you've listened to the podcast, when Jim and I have been talking and we have had beers, that you're just like that's bad. And Jim he's like does the brewmaster sit there, taste it and go, that's what I was looking for, or does he go, oh, get it out of here. Right, you know, you just wonder, yep.
Speaker 2:Well, especially some of these where they distribute, when they're doing 10 barrels at a time or more, when they're doing a big batch, it's expensive to dump it.
Speaker 1:you know, yep, but boy, I don't know. It doesn't taste like salmon, but it definitely doesn't taste like 99.9% of the stouts that we've had.
Speaker 2:It does kind of remind me, like you said, almost like when they put like a tart cherry in it but it didn't say anything about cherry.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there was no description on untapped. I don't know. If on the bottle there's anything, what's the?
Speaker 2:Nope, just the Surgeon General Okay.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so they didn't give any kind of description, so I mean 7.5% give any kind of description.
Speaker 2:So I mean seven and a half percent. It drinks pretty smooth for seven and a half percent. I give them that yep, but flavor wise it uh needs a little, a little something. Yeah, it's, I'm, I'm, I'm gonna have to go with two for a rating on that one. Yeah, I'm gonna join you there and hopefully it's just this bottle, maybe something, something happened.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, because we've had that before, where you have one bottle of a beer and it's amazing, get it out of the same six-pack or whatever, and it's just really bad. You know Right, but I don't know. Yeah, this one is just not super. No.
Speaker 2:Super good. That's disappointing, yeah.
Speaker 1:So I guess, looking at our scores, I guess we're in agreement that I guess the winner of this group was the Irresistible Amber. It was basically the best one, and then we had the Double Mountain. Kolsch was two. So yeah, it was definitely interesting to see what these are. Like you know, and like I said, we never would have tried any of these. Well, I take that back because I was at Benton River, so you know I could have had this one before, but when I looked I don't think I had, but the rest of them, I'd never even heard of them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was part of that group, I think, for three years. I think I got it and that was just reason why, because you know, there's so many breweries across the country and, like I said, we maybe had one or two in that whole time of the breweries that we had been to, yeah, so it was fun just seeing what the other places were doing. Like I said, they were hit or miss. Some were really bad, some were really just amazing, right.
Speaker 1:You know and it's kind of interesting because like this one, a lot more of them were you didn't get a whole lot of stouts. You got some, but not huge numbers. It was more kind of your lagers pilsners.
Speaker 2:IPAs, stuff like that. It depended on the time of the year too, because come fall you'd get a lot of Oktoberfest. Yeah, spring, you'd get a lot of box.
Speaker 1:No, I did. I had looked online one time and I saw they had kind of a club like that, but it was for barrel-aged beers. Aged beers, but holy cow, there's no way you could afford to be in that very long, because it was expensive, you know. So I was like, nah, never mind, we can find those.
Speaker 2:So yeah, I'd even seen some breweries that do that. They offer, uh, their barrel clubs they call them and uh, you got like I think it was like one I don't know if it's one bottle a month or something they have they have barrel-aged beers going, so each month you'd get a different barrel-aged beer. You got a free pour or something at the brewery, yeah, and maybe I can't remember if it was a free crawler, fill or growler or something.
Speaker 1:Well, I know Jim and I are members of the Barrel Society. At Three Sheeps we went in together and joined.
Speaker 2:Where is Three sheeps out? There over, like in sheboygan it's over towards uh milwaukee kind of over in that area, uh, but uh, we haven't.
Speaker 1:Every so often we're getting email because we we're guaranteed, when they have a barrel society release, we automatically get two bit, two bottles. It's covered by our membership, yep, and then they, of course, then they introduce all these other barrel age beers and they'll send you an email. Hey, this one's going to be released and if you know, being in the barrel society, you can order one. You know, however, up to however many bottles you know, and, and they have a sellering program, they call it. So, like our beers are all sitting together and we can drive over, we have to do. We just have to pick them all up by january, something of next year oh, okay, and they'll.
Speaker 1:They'll store them for a year yep and uh, so that we've already bought. I don't know how many extra ones we've bought, but it's, it's going to be interesting to try some of these because, uh, they sound really interesting, you know, and you know, so we'll buy an extra bottle of this, bottle of that, whatever it is, you know, but, uh, yeah, so it'll be neat and, like I said when we joined it, it's expensive, you know, and we're just like, oh geez, you know, but same thing, we can go. They have the barrel society. Nice, well, it's.
Speaker 1:You know, that's a number of hours from here and they usually have them on it's like sunday you know, and it's like well, we aren't going to be able, but we do have to plan a trip sometime this summer to go over there and maybe pick up the first batch and all that good stuff. But it'll be interesting to see how that goes and, like for next year, we'll see how it goes. I don't know if we'll join that one again or if we'll do a different one, I don't know. We have to wait and see. Yep, you know how it goes, but it's definitely interesting, so Cool. So yeah, I guess, like I said, we're pretty much in agreement, I think, with our scores. I think the Ember was one, the Kolsch was two, and then they kind of just went from there. Yep.
Speaker 2:So yeah, then I poured us each a taster of Buffalo Sweat and Oatmeal Stout.
Speaker 1:Oatmeal stout, yeah, I said because it tastes a little bit, a little bit better than that I say we can't end the show with that stout yeah, that, that uh black ghost one was. This one doesn't taste like uh, no, doesn't taste sour like that one no, you guys want a good oatmeal cream stout at tall grass brewing.
Speaker 2:Uh, their buffalo sweat is amazing um, yeah, they they're actually teamed up with wichita brewing. Wichita brewing is brewing the the buffalo sweat for tall grass, because tall grass got rid of their production facility and went back to just a tap room yeah, because they and they had.
Speaker 1:It was just kind of crazy because they had tall grass was known for buffalo sweat, and they had other beers that they did, but they didn't sell as much. You know, they weren't as popular by far. And then they and they had other beers that they did, but they didn't sell as much, they weren't as popular by far. And then they had put a $7.5 million expansion on their facility and all that. And then shortly after that they were gone, they were shut down and it really just was a bummer, because Buffalo Sweat was like my favorite just go-to oatmeal stout. I mean you could drink it and it's just glorious, you know. And then they were shut down for a while and then they did come back, but then you could only get it in Kansas and a friend of ours well, bk, he still has family in Kansas, so he went down there and he brought back, I think like a case of it for us or something, yep. And well, now you said you're finding it in Iowa.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I can get it in Lake Mills at the grocery store, so they're starting to slowly get back into a little more distribution.
Speaker 1:So that's good, because it's still a very good beer.
Speaker 2:Yes, it was definitely better than the last tote. Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1:If this would have been grouped with these, this would have been the winner of this group by far. Yep, well, awesome, well, brian, thank you so much for bringing these uh beer of the month club beers because, like I said, we didn't know what we're gonna try. And, uh, it was cool. I'm glad we tried them, even though a couple of them were kind of but yep, but still, they were really good.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, thanks for inviting us over. Yeah, for sure. Um, we gotta gotta do it more often, oh, yeah get away from the brewery for a weekend.
Speaker 1:There you go, that is for sure. So I know we've got some plans to. We're going to be up in the Northwoods together here in a few weeks and do some run around. We're not going to probably do any recording on that. That's more. They have like some t-shirt runs that we go on and you have to stop at different resorts and have a drink and then you get a t-shirt after the you know these different ones they have. So that's more going to be just an enjoyable weekend. So anyway, uh, yeah, I'm sure we will uh probably record some more yet and, uh, try some other beers. See what we come up with. So, hey, like we always say, ladies and gentlemen, I hope your campfire is always warm and your beer is always cold see you.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the northwoods beer guy podcast. If you you have a question, a comment or a beer you'd like us to review, please feel free to send us a message at northwoodsbeerguy at gmailcom. You can also find us on Facebook, twitter and Instagram. If you're on untapped, look up Northwoods Beer Guy and send a friend request. Until next week, I hope all your campfires are warm and all your beer is cold.
