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The Fox in the Glaciers: A Mentor’s Visit to Cerveceria La Zorra

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Last month, my travels took me to the stunning landscapes of El Chalten and El Calafate, Argentina. Wow!

While the mountains and the glaciers are the main draw for most, for a brewer, there is always a different kind of “cool” to seek out. I found it at Cerveceria La Zorra – FABRICA.

The Human Connection: Meeting Diego

Diego and I at Cerveceria La Zorra brewery

One of the best parts of the global brewing community is the immediate connections we share. I had the pleasure of meeting the owner, Diego, who was kind enough to step away from the daily grind to show me around the “Fabrica” (The Factory).

There is a specific energy in a production facility like this—the smell of grain and sanitizer is a universal language. Seeing how Diego and his team manage a high-quality operation in such a remote, rugged part of Patagonia was truly inspiring. It’s a reminder that great beer isn’t just about the equipment; it’s about the persistence of the person at the mash tun.

The connection was amazing. Once Diego and I got going discussing yeast and brewing profiles time start slipping away! His knowledge and passion were in the forefront of our discussion … I love where he’s going with his brewery!

The Mentor’s Perspective: Technical Takeaways

From a BJCP judging perspective, I’m always looking for how a brewery handles its environmental challenges. In a place like El Calafate, temperature control and ingredient logistics are massive hurdles. As an example, take the requirement for CO2 … for me, a simple task to go to my local supplier here in Kelowna. For him, the nearest supplier is 308 kilometers away and the shipping costs are prohibitive! His solution was to install a Nitrogen generating facility and he carbonates all his beer with Nitrogen … a great solution.

He also has a similar problem with malt — It is prohibitive to try and ship trucks of malt to his production facility, so they have to rely on brute strength and get by with emptying lots of 25 kg bags. As I said the passion and the creativity are all on display here!

The Highlight: I was particularly struck by the balance in their core lineup. In many emerging markets, breweries lean too heavily into “extreme” hops or sugar to hide flaws. Not here. They have two tap rooms: one in El Chalten and one in El Calafate. Check out their beer lists here! Awesome locations and great atmosphere. You’ll see a great selection of styles and have the opportunity to sample before you buy!

  • The Evaluation: At the brewery, I sampled the American IPA — fresh out of the fermenter.
  • it was showing some hop aroma restraint, but it had a great Pacific Northwest Nose (citrus, pine) and a matching flavor of hops with just the right amount of malt in support. I’m not sure Diego was super happy with it, but I felt like it represented the style well. Of course, like most brewers, he is probably always looking to improve! They couldn’t get a better water profile—a benefit of the local glacial sources, which are naturally low in mineral hardness.

A Lesson for Cockatrice Brewery

Walking through La Zorra reminded me of why I maintain my Standard 20 recipes back home. Whether you are brewing in a world-class facility in Patagonia or a home setup in Kelowna, consistency is the ultimate goal. Diego’s focus on the “factory” side of the business—the process, the cleaning, the repetition—is exactly what I advocate for when mentoring new brewers.

I really appreciated Diego taking the time to show me around the facility. If you are in the area of Calafate, I recommend a visit to his great brewery!

🏭 Brewery Profile: Cerveceria La Zorra

FeatureDetails
LocationEl Calafate & El Chalten, Santa Cruz, Argentina
Water SourceLocal Glacial Melt (Low mineral hardness)
Carbonation MethodOn-site Nitrogen Generation (due to CO2​ logistics)
Production ScaleManual/Hand-fed (25 kg grain bags)
Core PhilosophyBalanced, approachable styles with a focus on process

💡 The Mentor’s Summary: Patagonia Grit

The Takeaway: Brewing in a remote environment like Patagonia strips away the “easy” button. When CO2​ is too expensive to ship, you generate Nitrogen. When you can’t get a grain silo, you haul bags.

For the Homebrewer: If you’re struggling with an equipment limitation in your garage, remember Diego. Consistency isn’t about the shiny toys; it’s about mastering the variables you can control—like your sanitation and your mash temp.

Beer Mentor

2026 – Let’s Brew!

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I’m the kind of person who finds fulfillment in Task Accomplishment. It gives me great pleasure to not only write a task list, but then to do the task, check it off and ultimately line through it. No matter the job I need to do, I like to write it down and mark it off. Even the goal to write it down and mark it off gets marked off and lined through. 2025 was a pretty productive year, brewing-wise, for me. I hope that 2026 holds up as well. For the sake of a nice list, here is my planned brew schedule for the year …

January
1) No Name Yet (Style: Dry Cider) – This is a continuation of an experiment with about 100 pounds of apples. I’ll be uploading a final post giving the details on this one later.

2) Wald Braun (Style: Munich Dunkel) – For the last five Januaries I’ve focused on brewing either a Sahti or a Lager. Using the cooler temps to help my lager time. I’m going for a darker brown lager this time with more malt character coming through. I used the AI to help with my label this time …

February – No Brew this month … but the lager will be lagering and the Plum Lambic continuing its journey … both in the Fermentarium.

March

3) Morganna’s Mystical Merkin (Style: Imperial Stout) – This is my annual Bourbon-Oaked Imperial Stout (I try to use Maker’s Mark as my bourbon of choice … this year I’m going to use the Cask Strength one). This has 20+ lbs of grain malting in my 20 lb limit Brew System. It requires careful monitoring …but the final outcome is well worth it!

4) La Prugna (Style: Fruit Lambic-Style). This is the final product of my five year Gueuze / Lambic Experiment. Although I love the outcomes, it’s too much work or the payoff. The plums are from a local friend’s yard (Italian) … overall fermentation period of about 15 months … I’ll be bottling this one only … no brew required.

April
5) Keoni Blond (Style: Belgian-style Blond Ale). This is the sixth year for this particular beer. I began brewing it the day my first grandson was born, so it’s named after him. I really like this iteration — the WLP 550 Yeast is fantastic and has provided a great foundation for this particular beer. Looking forward to brewing it AND drinking it.

May
6) A Proper Polly Porter (English-style Porter). This is a beer I brewed on my second grandchild’s birthday. lol. It started as a Baltic Porter, but it was just too much. I dialed it back to an English-style Porter — very nice toasty flavor … I’m enjoying making these lower ABV, more malty styles currently. (I do have a balance, though, with the spicy, hoppy Belgian-styles I’ve been making).

June — This month’s beer (#7) is still to be decided. Celebrating my third grandchild’s birth, I tried a couple of different options last year. The first was a Kentucky Common — I didn’t find it to be appealing to me. My daughter and her husband asked if I would make a Cider since my grandchild’s name is “Pomona.” I did that — see entry for January above. However, it was very labor-intensive and I’m not really set up to make ciders — I’m a beer brewer. haha. As Paul Harvey used to say “Stand by for news!”

July
8) Saint Hommel (Belgian-style IPA). Alright! Back to the Belgian styles. This beer has become a favorite for me … it will be the 5th time brewing it — it’s the one we brewed together at Kelowna Brewing Company (my friend Josh and I). It’s also the one we brewed in 2024 at Sierra Nevada Brewing in Asheville, NC. I loosely based it on the aroma/flavors I get from the Poperings Hommelbier. I think it’s pretty close … it is quite tasty!

This beer has moved up in my list of favorites. Of course, Orval is my favorite all-time — and the clone of it is for July … see below. However, I would say this beer is a close second. I love that blend of hop/yeast character. There’s just something about it that really appeals to me. The fact that I won a big bottle of it and a pair of socks the last time I was drinking it in Poperinge has nothing to do with my decision. This is all about the flavor!

August
9) Liquid Valor or Valle Dorado (Orval Clone). My all time favorite beer and my recipe is dialed in pretty close. I can’t decide on my favorite name, so I’ll update the label when I brew the beer. I’ve run out of the appropriate yeast, so it’s time to re-stock and rebuild my supply. I now have a dedicated room/fridge for brew supplies, so one of my goals this year is to get my lab / yeast propagation back in order. So much fun, so little time.

September
10) Dubbel Trubbel (Belgian-style Dubbel). Sticking with the Belgian theme, I felt it was time to get a Dubbel going again. I really like this style. Trying for a clone of the Westmalle or Chimay Dubbels. Those both come in as favorites, too. The recipe needs just a little tweaking and we’ll see how it goes!

October
11) Merlin’s Magical Elixir (English-style Barley Wine). I’ve decided for the month of “Jamestober” to transition from my Lambic experiment to a Barley Wine. I’ve never made a great one of these and I’m now up to the challenge! It’s named Merlin’s Magical Elixir since I live in “Magic Estates” on “Merlin Court.” It only makes sense, then, that it be an English-style. I can’t wait to make it!

November
11) Drunkenheimer (American IPA). This will be the second iteration of this beer. Yes, I used Ai for the beer label. Yes, a gnome and a Snow Leopard. When you drink big beers, you see strange things. haha. This was quite tasty — I’m hoping the second iteration is as good!

December
12) Weizen Bier. My final beer of the year will be a Weisse. I will be modeling it after the Schneider Weisse Tap #7 (the Original). I love their beers. The Doppelbock they make (Aventinus) is probably my 3rd favorite beer — but so dangerous. haha. I’m sticking with the standard Hefeweizen. This is going to be a challenge on my brew-in-a-bag system, but we’ll see how it comes out. Life is meant to be challenging, i think. lol

It’s a big brew year — hopefully I can keep track of it on the site as well… Enjoy!

Beermentor

Belgium, Part 3: Chimay et Orval

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My most recent visit to my favorite Trappist Breweries (Chimay et Orval) was August 2024. My first visit to both of these was fifteen years earlier in November of 2009 — see my Trappist Thanksgiving Post(s).

Although much remains the same, there have been many changes. Fortunately, they both still make the same great beers.

At first, when I drove down into the valley near Florenville and saw the Abbaye d’Orval, I thought, this is my favorite brewery location in Belgium. However, as I’ve grown older and after a few trips, I’ve found that I favor the Abbaye Notre Dame de Scourmont. I find that it is less busy with tourists now. If you book far enough ahead, you can stay in the Auberge de Poteaupre. Then walk through the forest to get to the Abbey. It has always been very welcoming and serene.

An added bonus is the Michelin-starred restaurant just around the corner! Ferme des 4 Saisons is wonderful — the food delicious, the service impeccable, and the beer — well. Chimay! Yay!

Now, make no mistake. I love the locale and the beer. But Orval is still my favorite beer, hands down. And a visit to the Valley of Gold is always in order. If you can swing a tour of the brewery, the tour is awesome. The grounds are spectacular — they have a wonderful brewery museum and another art exhibit in the cellar of the monastery. Wow. Maybe it is my favorite after all. Hmmm … so hard to choose.

I guess the best thing for folks to do is to visit both and decide for themselves.

Enjoy! Beer Mentor

My Top 5: Favorite Commercial Beers

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This is a tough one — narrowing down all the great beers I’ve had over the last 30+ years to a list of only five. I’ve based this on a loose set of criteria, the most important of which is 1) Is this beer still available for purchase? It would be silly to list them as options/favorites if you couldn’t purchase them anymore. In fairness, the Leroy Breweries (I think) have stopped exporting the Hommelbier to the USA. So, if you want to drink this one, you’ll have to go to Belgium. Expensive, I Know. But worth it if you are in that area.

The other criteria, in my mind, are these: 2) Do I like this beer so well that I would go out of my way to visit the source? 3) Have I tried to make a clone of this beer? 4) If it is available, do I have it in my beer fridge right now? 5) If it was an option at any pub/bar/locale, would it be the first one I chose? Everyone of these beers meets these criteria.

My #1: Orval (Orval Brewery)

My favorite. In my fridge right now. My clone is in the fridge right now. I’ve visited the monastery three times (maybe four … lol). I would drink this every time (and I have). This is the right kind of Wild Beer.

My #2: Poperings Hommelbier (Leroy Breweries).

I love this “Belgian Blond/IPA.” When I visited the hop yard around Poperinge, the aroma is what hits me every time I open one of these bottles. I have (750ml) bottle in my fridge right now. I have two versions of a clone recipe (one in the fermenter right now). One of the photos below is in St Louis … anywhere I see this beer, I buy it or drink it. I’ve been to this region five times and would like to make it six!

My #3: Schneider Aventinus (Schneider Weisse Brauerei).

Good Lord. Could this beer be any tastier! The Aventinus is a Weizen Bock (8.2% ABV). It’s dangerous. We were fortunate to meet the brewery owner on the day they had their strong beer festival. After we started drinking at the festival, I’m not sure he would invite us back. haha. Wonderful people. Awesome beer. Awesome locale. I highly recommend stopping in Kelheim (if you are anywhere near there). I love the Eisbock version as well. When I see it, I buy it. I have a clone recipe for this AND the Eisbock. Will be brewing it later this year.

My #4: Union Jack IPA (Firestone Walker Brewery).

My ideal in terms of West Coast IPA. I love this beer … hard for my to get right now (in Canada). When I see it in stores, I buy it. On tap somewhere? I’m drinking it. I have a recipe that I think is close to the flavor, but not sure it is a clone (I made it for my wedding). A great organization and they make wonderful beers. If you are in the Paso Robles, California area — stop by for a visit!

My #5: Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (Sierra Nevada Brewing)

A great Pale Ale. Probably the best. I love this beer. This is another one I would drink every time. I try to keep it (when it’s available) in the fridge. I have a Pale Ale recipe, but haven’t come close to replicating this one yet. However, my friends and I did go the Asheville location and brewed a Belgian Beer (My Hommelbier clone) on their pilot system! I’ve been to both locations (Chico, California and Asheville, North Carolina). Both are so cool. The tours are great and so are the beers!

I guarantee if you drink any of these five beers you will not be disappointed. Oh … and those locations are well worth the visit!

Enjoy!

Beer Mentor

— EDIT —

I meant to say that the only beer-specific glass I am missing is the Firestone-Walker. Maybe a nice Jamestober gift? haha.

Ziggy Brau: Malz de Quixote

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This is the first entry in my new Recipe Review Series. The Series is about each of my basic 20 recipes of my home brewery “Ziggy Brau.” Typically I will choose a recipe which I have recently brewed. Hopefully it will be interesting and informative. lol. Here we go!

Recipe #1: Malz de Quixote

Base Beer Style: Kölsch (BJCP) Style: 5B (Pale Bitter European Beer)

Description: This beer style originated in Köln, Germany. The name is protected so I call it a “Kölsch-style” ale. It is fermented at ale temperatures but then cold-conditioned (lagered). It is a very delicate beer and should be consumed fresh. I modeled my version on the beers produced by Brauerei zur Malzmühle. Their particular beer is slightly malt-forward compared to other kölsches in Cologne (Köln). The name Malzmühle means “Malt Mill” and their log has a windmill associated with it. So, as a BIG stretch, I named mine “Malz de Quixote” since Don Quixote did have an encounter with a windmill!

I use Brewfather for my recipe archive. Here’s a copy of this recipe.

Basic ingredients were: 1) Canada Malting Europils Malt and 2) Perle/Saaz Hops.

I brewed this beer on the 12th of January (2025). At the beginning of each year I’ve been trying to make a lager-style or specialty beer. Two years ago I brewed a German Pils and last year I made a Sahti. This year I decided on another German beer and I wanted something with a little lower ABV. Although the beer (traditionally) should be brewed by the Reinheitsgebot (Germany Beer Purity Law), I made a couple of modifications — I added a box of Firni Khas Ground Rice Pudding and some Belgian Candi Sugar. The Pudding because I had the box and wanted to get rid of it. I was suspicious that it might affect the flavor/aroma, but it doesn’t appear that it did. The Candi Sugar to add a little more fermentation without giving it more body. I did use the Imperial Dieter Yeast — almost a mistake because this batch was very slow in fermenting — so slow, in fact, that I added a packet of EC1118 to try and get it kick started! I don’t know if this is typical for the Dieter–I did make a starter. That seemed to go ok. Both of those yeasts combined have given a very clean fermentation profile, but it took 17 days in the Fermenter to get to my target gravity.

On the 29th of January I transferred to secondary and lowered the temperature over 3 days to 35F. I left it lagering until the 4th of March (33 days). I raised the temperature to 60F on the 5th, 68F on the 6th, and then bottled on the 7th. I added a second package of EC1118 for carbonation purposes.

Here it is in all its glory! As far as style goes (according to the BJCP), I get a low grainy malt aroma with a touch more hop (floral, herbal) than malt. The hop aroma might be closer to medium which would be a touch out of style but doesn’t detract. The golden color and delicate white head are spot on but there’s a touch of haze that’s out of style (might be from the rice pudding?). For flavor, there is a medium honey / light bread malt flavor followed by a medium floral hop flavor. The bitterness is medium. It has a medium-light body with a soft, dry finish. The aftertaste has a light lingering hop flavor/bitterness. I really like this version, but next time I’ll leave out the rice pudding and see if that helps it clarify (maybe I’ll add Irish Moss next time).

Enjoy!

Beer Mentor

Belgium, Part 2: The Hommelbier!

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The continuing story of my 2024 trip to Belgium goes back 25 years earlier! From 1998 to 1999 I was the USAF Commander of a Special Detachment that maintained microwave antennas and towers across Europe. This particular tower was in Houtem, Belgium.

Since I didn’t start drinking beer until 1995, you could say that I was pretty inexperienced in what constituted great beer and the locales associated with it. This tower is only a 20 minute drive from The Abbey of St Sixtus, home of the Trappist beer, Westvleteren. I remember distinctly my guys telling me “Sir, we have to go pick up some special beer and then we’ll be back.” I didn’t realize the significance of this until years later.

However, I fondly remember this place, because my guys challenged me to climb this tower and I agreed. It took my 1.5 hours to get to the top, but you can see that I made it! I did take the elevator back down. I wish I could remember the celebratory beer I had.

I didn’t realize it would be another 10 years before I made it back to this area–by then my beer knowledge had grown exponentially. I knew that Belgium produced some of the best beers in the world and I realized I’d been right there and didn’t know it. I had a plan! I was on deployment to Stuttgart in 2009/2010. I decided that I would spend the Thanksgiving Weekend (25-28 Nov 2009) traveling to all the Trappist Breweries in Belgium–on the first full day (the 26th) we visited three: Orval, Westvleteren, and Westmalle.

Unfortunately, the Westvleteren Cafe (In de Vrede) was closed on that day. I still didn’t know the process for purchasing this beer so we walked around the grounds trying to find information. One of the folks who worked there had pity on us and allowed us to buy 4 bottles of the Westvleteren 12. He then explained to us the process … you have to call the brewery ahead of time to place your order. You were allowed to purchase two cases maximum (at the time). You had to provide the license plate number of the vehicle with which you were picking up your beer. You were to show up at your designated date/time and pick up your beer–cash only. Now that I knew the process, I was determined to get two cases!

Setting aside a lunchtime, I began calling the one number I had for the brewery (no convenient on-line ordering here). After thirty minutes of a busy signal, it finally started ringing. I let it ring. 18 times. Someone finally answered and, thankfully, they spoke English! I was able to place my order. Europeans don’t celebrate the same holidays as Americans–I was able to set my “pick up” for a Tuesday at 1000, which meant I could drive the 7 hours back in time for work on the Wednesday. What I didn’t know at the time is that this was the trip in which I would have the Hommelbier for the first time! Or how significant the Poperinge-area is for Belgian Beers. I arrived on the Sunday and had the Monday to visit the area — to include a hop farm and (finally) the Cafe In de Vrede! I stayed at the quaint (and special) Hotel de la Paix. I fell in love with the area!

Here I am drinking my Hommelbier! The photo above of the machine that says “2008” is a “Hop Pelletizer.” I’m not sure that’s what it’s called, but it is what it does. My camera battery died that morning, and the farmer let me borrow his camera (with my SD card) to take photos. Obviously his date was off. haha. I was able to get my two cases of Westvleteren 12 PLUS a couple more 4-packs with glasses at the Cafe.

The Hommelbier has become one of my favorites. I just enjoy the blend of Belgian Yeast character with the local Hops. I guess the aroma brings me back to the hop yard I visited there and how nice all the people were to me. The Hommelbier has been brewed since 1981 (Originally 15 minutes away in the town of Watou) by Leroy Breweries. It truly captures the character of the local area.

Another brewery a few minutes away from Poperinge is St Bernardus, which used to brew the Westvleteren 12 for the Abbey until they moved the brewing back to the Abbey. St Bernardus now makes the St Bernardus Abt 12 (based on the same recipe).

My next stop in Poperinge was in 2012 (I only had to wait 2 years this time). When my brothers and best friend joined me for a two-week beer tour around Europe, I told them we had to go to this location. It just so happened we stopped through on my birthday! We stayed at Hotel de la Paix and celebrated with them! Another very special time–especially having the opportunity to try beers we just couldn’t get in the US (like the Nunnebier in the photos). The next day, we hit In de Vrede and then continued our journey, solidifying Poperinge and the Hommelbier in my mind as a special place/beer.

Once again, I didn’t realize it would be so long before I was able to visit Poperinge again. However, when my wife and I decided to visit Europe in 2024, I knew I had to share this special place with her! What an awesome time we had in Poperinge. We stayed again at the Hotel de la Paix (where else?) We stayed two nights and both nights enjoyed a great dinner in their cafe. Luckily for me, Leroy Brewery had a marketing event going with the Hommelbier! For each beer you bought, you received a “scratch-off” card with an opportunity to win prizes. I ended up winning twice (or would that be four times since I had the beer too?!) Oh, and the empty glass was a gift when I asked where to buy one!

With the extra time we had in Poperinge, we rented bikes and toured the area. I tried very hard to line up a tour of the Leroy brewery — they closed their original brewery in Watou and had consolidated their operations in Boezinge (still only 13 minutes away). I couldn’t do it, so we booked a tour at St Bernardus! While I was slightly disappointed in the brewery tour, the rooftop cafe was awesome. We did ride by the old Leroy Brewery. Oh, we also rode by In de Vrede (who knew it would be closed on a Friday. Oh well) … all in all, another great trip to Poperinge and the surrounding area!

I’m not sure when, but a sixth trip to Saint Sixtus would be cool … until then, I will enjoy drinking my own version of the Hommelbier in my sweet Hommelbier glass …

Stay tuned … up next — Chimay & Orval!

Enjoy!

Beer Mentor

2025: Ziggy Brau “Schedule”

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So far, 2025 has started out pretty well in the Ziggy Brau! Although not really beer-related, we had a great Burns Supper evening in January to kick off the year. Our featured Scotch was the Ardbeg “Heavy Vapours.” I had to substitute since I couldn’t find it and went with the Ardbeg “An Oa.” Delicious.

As I had mentioned in a previous post, I’m pretty well setup with my Brew Equipment (Brewtools), Recipe Tracking Software (Brewfather), and 20 Standard recipes and a good brewing process.

This last year, I adjusted my 20 Standard Recipes and have decided to add an additional 10 Flex Recipes. I realized my Standard Recipes were all Strong Beers (mostly). My 10 Flex Recipes are lower ABV (<= 5%) and will really challenge my skill in producing a flavorful beer with fewer ingredients. First, here is the list of my Standard Recipes:

  1. Belgian Lambic-style Ale (Name: Hefenebel [Translation – Yeast Galaxy]).
  2. Belgian-style Blond (Name: Keoni Blond).
  3. Belgian-style IPA (Name: St Hommel).
  4. Belgian-style IPA (Name: St Hommelganger). The Dark Version of #3.
  5. Orval Clone (Name: Liquid Valor)
  6. Monastic-style Dubbel (Name: Dubbel Trubbel).
  7. Monastic-style Tripel (Name: Die Drie Draken) 
  8. Belgian/Monastic-style Dark Strong Ale (Name: Drakengeist)
  9. English-Style Barley Wine (Name: Merlin’s Magical Elixir). 
  10. English-Style Porter (Name: Proper Polly Porter).
  11. Bourbon-oaked Imperial Stout (Name: Morganna’s Mystical Merkin) 
  12. American-style Brown Ale (Name: Big Brown Beer)
  13. (Imperial) American-style IPA (Name: Wedding IPA).
  14. German-style Pilsner (Name: OK Premium Pils). 
  15. German-style Weizen Doppelbock/Eis-bock (Name: Frosty Billy). 
  16. German-style Kölsch (Name: Malz de Quixote).
  17. Irish-style Red Ale (Name: Auburn Sunset).
  18. English-style Strong Bitter (Name: The Finger).
  19. American-style Kentucky Common (Name: TBD)
  20. German-style Pale Kellerbier (Name: Ziggy Zwick’l)

Here are my Flex Recipes:

  1. Finnish-style Sahti (Name: Surreal Sahti).
  2. French-style Saison (Table-Strength) (Name: TBD).
  3. Monastic-style Single (Name: TBD)
  4. English-style Dark Mild (Name: TBD)
  5. German-style Altbier (Name: TBD)
  6. Scottish-style Heavy (Name: TBD) (Not really heavy in the sense of ABV).
  7. Irish-style Stout (Name: TBD) (My Beamish Clone!)
  8. German-style Weizen (Name: TBD) (A Schneider Clone!)
  9. German-style Munich Dunkel (Name: TBD)
  10. German-style Dunkel Weizen (Name: TBD) – possibly my Smoked Pecan version)

I owe a few more updates on the blog — I have a couple of beer trips on which I’m way overdue in posting. I also owe an update on my Gueuze Process (I think a successful one!). I will be stepping through each of my Standard Recipes as an informative post.

I hope you enjoy this year!

Stumblingpiper … Ziggy Brau

Morganna’s Mystical Merkin (M3): A Bourbon-Oaked Imperial Stout

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Today I brewed the M3. This is the sixth iteration of this one. My friend, Mike, and I brewed the original of this one back in 2018. This was on my old brew set up. His recipe was out of this world. We really enjoyed that beer … my only problem was I couldn’t find the recipe the next time I wanted to brew it! Haha.

I didn’t get around to brewing it in 2019 (I was still enjoying all the bottles from the previous batch). I used Maker’s Mark Bourbon in this first batch and all following batches. In that first one I used “small french oak” blocks I was given from a local supplier. I soaked the chips (but didn’t char them).

In 2020 and 2021, I crafted a recipe and bounced it off Mike. He said it sounded good–I used my French Oak Blocks again in 2020 but I made a mistake and bought pre-soaked (bourbon) chips for 2021. I found that I had the wrong kind of oxidation in that batch. They both were so big that they blew out the fermenter each time! I brewed these two batches on my old system. I think the 2021 batch was the last one before the new system arrived!

In 2022, I brewed it for the first time on the new system. This time, I made my own “oak staves.” I bought some American Oak, cut them to length, and then charred them on my grill. I soaked them in Maker’s Mark and then dropped them in to the secondary fermentation. I found that 3 days was just about the right length of time for that. I used those staves in 2023 and plan on using them again on this batch.

In 2022, I put 20 pounds of grain in my new brew system to make the Imperial Stout–it was too much! I was lucky to have some DME to use in the boil to boost up my gravity to make it an imperial stout. Last year and this year, I used around 18 pounds of grain (still too much) and added 3 pounds of Traditional Dark DME.

This year’s batch definitely has the viscosity appropriate for an Imperial Stout. The gravity was up around 1.095 … pretty happy all the way around.

About 3 weeks, and the sixth iteration of the Merkin will be available for all to enjoy! 🙂

Beer Mentor

La Prugna — A Lambic-style Beer with Plums

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As stated in a previous post, I started brewing a lambic-style beer in December 2021. In December 2022, my friend gave me a bag of Italian Plums from the tree in his backyard … I used a couple of gallons of my wild-fermenting lambic-style beer as a base and, bottled in March 2023, La Prugna was born! Another 6 months later (October 2024), and it was ready to drink. Here it is March 2024 and I’m down to two bottles remaining. However, no need to worry that I will run out … I’ve bottled the next batch! This batch is from the December 2022 wild-fermenting lambic-style beer. Unfortunately my friend’s plum tree didn’t produce in 2023–again, no worries–I was able to obtain some locally grown plums again!

Here’s a couple of photos of the “initial pitch” of plums … It’s sitting in my “Lambic Cellar (under the stairwell).” It looks pretty plain with some initial fermentation activity — this was from 13 Dec 2023.

In the background of the photos you can see my “wood staves” to be added to my lambic (my simulated cask staves …)

I pulled the fermenter out of my Lambic Cellar a couple of weeks ago planning on bottling it, but it kept fermenting. I felt the gravity could go a touch lower, so I left it sitting in my “brewery.”

You can see the plums are pretty “squishy” looking — I know I got full sugar conversion on them, even without cutting them up or pulping them. I didn’t pit them either — my friend thought it would help with a “tannic” characteristic.

I bottled it on 16 March 24. Ended up with close to 1.75 gallons (about 18 33cl bottles). Really like the color and the flavor of this Fruit Lambic — the brett is evident but well supported by the plum. Now to wait 90 days or so for it to carbonate …

I hope you enjoy the process discussion!

Beer Mentor

Yeast Wrangling

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One of the things I’ve tried to do in recent years is to recapture and harvest yeast from the beers I’ve been brewing. Even one pack of dried yeast is $6 bucks! If you go with some of the specialty yeasts (liquid/what not) you are looking at $12 to $15 a package. With 9 brewing sessions this year, that would add up to about $100. I’ve worked really hard on capturing and storing the yeasts I use the most often. Here’s a picture of those in my beer fridge:

You’ll see I have one vial of “Brettanomyces Bruxellensis” from White Labs. The rest of the vials are all recaptures. I’ve got WLP 550, WLP 565, Hornindal Kveik, a few misc Orval (Brett Bs). I still have some dry yeasts packets as well.

Knock on wood, so far I’ve had great luck by re-pitching a starter (2 cups water, 1/2 cup DME) about 2 to 3 days ahead of brew day. I usually check my yeast health and do some random cell counting.

If it’s a big brew, I’ll do a bigger starter. I have a couple of 1 liter, a 2 liter, and a 5 liter flask if I need them! I had built a laminar flow hood, but I “gifted” it to a local brewery while I was living in Tucson (hopefully they are still using it). I would like to do some yeast culturing, so I’m probably going to have to build a new one — I’d like to build a smaller version — I’ll just have to figure out the noise reduction/venting issues in my “brewery.”

One of my goals over the next couple of years is to try and capture a local yeast (from one of the many fruit orchards near here) and see if I can make a passable beer from all British Columbia ingredients. The Gambrinus Malt house is about an hour north of me. I can get locally grown hops — I just need the yeast! I’ll keep my fingers crossed that I can capture some and it doesn’t smell like dirty socks. Stay tuned for more of this adventure!

Beer Mentor