Monthly Archives: January 2023

NEW Club Series – How’m I Cloning

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It is with great pleasure that we get to announce the newest TVH brewing series, How’m I Cloning. The name is an obvious play on the How’m I Brewing series. That’s where all participants brew a particular set of ingredients or to a particular beer style. This new project takes it to the next level.

For each How’m I Cloning project we will select a beer from one of our many local breweries and the task will be to clone that beer. We will then gather with all the entries at the brewery where a winner will be selected. The brewers from that brewery will be involved in the selection process too.
The winning brewer will earn themselves a prize pack from the brewery and a customized trophy from TVH, plus all the glory that comes with being the inaugural HIC Champion.
For our first HIC we have selected Goat Hill by Blackberry Farm Brewery. It is a 5% Kolsch style ale (sorta), but the BFB’s own description doesn’t mention the word Kolsch. This is a sneakily tricky and nuanced target, and that’s the point of the series.
The tasting date will be the weekend of May 6th. The specific day/time will be finalized in the weeks to come. That’s over 3 months away, so you should have plenty of time to taste, plan and execute your best Goat Hill clone.
I’ll see you all at the tasting!

Check us out on Facebook

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Be sure to check us out on Facebook!  We have an open group for pictures, comments, questions, and general discussions.  Always happy to welcome brewers, new and old!

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/knoxhomebrewer

HIB 15: Altbier

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HIB 15: Altbier      

Format: Free- form. Just try to brew an example of the Altbier (or Alt) style. Pick a recipe or formulate one based on the style guidelines. No restriction on grains, hops, yeast, water or techniques.

Goals: Educational and fun. A wide variety of knowledge of the style is expected. No pressure. The intent is to learn and enjoy.

Notes: Plenty of time was given to brew the beer and allow time for ageing, as is the custom of the style. The original notice was sent out on September 21, 2022, and the tasting took place at Crafty Bastard West on January 11, 2023. Fourteen beers were submitted. Each beer was evaluated by all entrants, as well as by Aaron McClain, owner of Crafty Bastard. Comment cards included two simple “slide bars”, one for “is it to style” and one for “how much do I enjoy it”, as well as ample comment space. Each beer was assigned a number, the entries were evaluated “blind”, and the intent was for each brewer to wear his number at the end. That format was roughly followed.

Conclusions: A good time was had by all, and everyone seemed to learn a lot. All the beers were quite tasty – no off flavors in any of them – and a few were judged to be good examples of the style. Aaron preferred Daniel Hillesheim’s fuller, richer interpretation, saying that to him it represented the Altbier style perfectly. His second choice was John O’Neil’s dryer, crisper interpretation. His third was Tom Brandeis’ and his fourth was Wayne Colbenson’s. The majority of participants chose John O’Neil’s. His beer had a surprisingly solid malt presence considering that pilsner malt made up almost all of the grain bill. Interestingly, Daniel confessed that his “Alt” was actually his Dunkel recipe. Which just goes to show that styles (and preferences and interpretations) can overlap a good bit.

John O’Neil’s “Ancient Ways” recipe:

OG: 1.048

FG: 1.010

IBU: 36

Color: 12 SRM

ABV: 5%

Pre-boil: 7 gallons @ 1.043

Post-boil: 6.25 gallons @ 1.048 (45 minute boil)

Mash 45 minutes @ 152.6 F.

8 # Avangard Pilsner

4 oz. Crystal 60

4 oz, Briess Chocolate (350 L.)

41 g/1.5 oz Perle @ 7.1% for 45 minutes (30 IBU)

30 g/1.06 oz Hallertauer Mittelfrueh @ 4% for 15 minutes (7 IBU)

3.6 g baking soda, 4.3 g calcium chloride, 1.5 g Epsom salts, 1.9 g gypsum added to mash

Ca: 82 ppm, Mg: 12 ppm, Na: 45 ppm, Cl: 83 ppm, carbonate: 210 ppm

WLP029 German Ale/Kolsch yeast fermented @ 66 F. for 5 days, then 72 F. for 2 days