Beer Updates

Thanks to everyone who came out to J.R. Bentley’s in Arlington last Friday night, it was a huge success!  The saison and porter were both big hits with the crowd.  We actually ran out of the saison toward the end of the night, so I’ll have to brew up another batch soon.  The pale ale also got good reviews, and we got some good feedback on the IPA.  While people did really like it, I think we can make it better by bumping up the bitterness just a bit, and adding to the aroma by having a longer dry-hopping.  I’ll brew that again soon, with the slightly tweaked recipe.  I’m going to do a 90 minute boil, with the bittering hops boiled the entire time.  That should bump up the bitterness some.  I’m also going to split up the flavor and aroma additions and add some earlier in the boil.  The dry hops will get increased to 10 days from 5.  I also plan to change the OG from 1.060 to 1.062.

I’m doing a one-off brew this weekend by brewing up an Oktoberfest.  It’s a few months late to be brewing it (usually brewed in March), but that’s ok.  I’m going to be out of town for a couple of weeks, and letting a lager sit at a lower fermentation temperature while I’m gone just seemed to make sense.  When I get home, I can push the temp up for a diacetyl rest before cold crashing and transferring to a keg for lagering.  Here’s the recipe I’m going with:

7.5lbs German Pilsner

7.5lbs German Light Munich

1lb German Dark Munich

0.5lbs German CaraMunich II

1oz Hallertau @ 60

0.5oz Tradition @ 15

1oz Czech Saaz @ 5

WLP820 or WLP830, or Wyeast equivalent, depending on what the store has.  It’s going to need a pretty big starter from two vials most likely.  Should be fun, only my second lager.

New Main will next be pouring at Pantegofest on Saturday, September 24^th.  Come out and see David and Amanda, and try some great beer!  We’re working on getting more events scheduled for the rest of the fall, as well as putting out our next fundraiser.

The winners for Martin House's Riverside Shootout were announced this week.  Unfortunately, neither David no I won, but David's pineapple stout did make the top 10!  I'll be turning in my entries for Labor of Love 4 today, and I have high hopes that more medals will be coming our way on September 4th.  Stay tuned for more info on that.

And finally, today is IPA Day, so get out there and be hoppy!