Tag Archives: Beer Mentor

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

New Home Brewery Name Change!

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Well … I finally did it … after years of humming and hawing about it, I finally pulled the trigger and changed the name of my Home Brewery. The new name is Cockatrice Brewing! I’m pretty excited about it.

Why Cockatrice Brewing?

Cohesion with My Style: I brew structured, traditional European beer styles (like a Munich Dunkel and German/Czech Pilsners … or Lambics and Monastic Ales). These beers are perfectly suited to the classic, “Old World” authority of Cockatrice Brewing.

The Cockatrice also blends with my current work with Ogopogo: Specifically with the Ogopogo Challenge. Having my own brewery named after another mythical beast (the Cockatrice) creates a powerful, unified brand narrative.

It positions me as the curator of Legendary Beers. lol. Let’s hope!

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

112. t’Brugs Beertje, Bruges, Belgium (#79)

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I’m up to 79 places on the Growler List visits … What a concerted effort! But I am determined to complete as much of the list as I can — all in the name of good beer drinking!

I was able to visit t’Brugs Beertje, number 112 on the list, during a recent trip to Belgium. With around 300 different Belgian beers, it’s a pretty good place to find a winner–the Orval in this picture was a 2013 version … tasty (and was made the last time I visited Orval, which made it even more special)! This place is definitely worthy of a spot on the list.

But, really, if you are going to visit Belgium, I would recommend the other spots on this list first: 1) Orval, 2) Halve Maan Brewery, 3) Cantillon … maybe even the Grand Place in Brussels. Don’t get me wrong, this is a great bar … but that’s what it is. There are other bars in Bruges that we found to be as intriguing and well stocked with beer:

  1. Le Trappiste Brugge

27 beers on tap and a pretty extensive bottle list. Cool cellar bar.

2. De Garre

This place, down a narrow alley, is well worth the visit!

Very cool venue, excellent beers, and great presentation!

There are so many good places with great beer in Bruges. Even sitting on the patio of our hotel, we enjoyed a refreshing beverage and checked out the views.

We didn’t even make it to Halve Maan this trip …

I loved #112 … the bar is quite eclectic, and the beer selection was phenomenal. What a treat to visit Bruges, and this place in particular. If you have a chance to visit here, these places are well worth the visit. Make sure you spend some time walking around the city and taking in the sights — this will make the great beer taste that much better! 🙂

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

My Recipe Library: Ziggy Brau in the Beer Fridge!

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The photo above is a current snapshot of the Ziggy Brau beers I have in my beer refrigerator. Several years ago, Volkswagen had a commercial talking about Fahrvergnügen. It basically meant “Driving Pleasure.” Here’s a link to one of the commercials. In a fit of creativity, I came up with this slogan for my beer fridge (and made it my Ziggy Brau slogan): “Biervergnügen in der Flasche.” It’s German for “Beer pleasure in the bottle.” To keep that “Biervergnügen” going, I’ve developed a brewing schedule to keep a plethora of different beers available in the fridge.

As I posted earlier, I standardized my brew setup and have now developed a pretty consistent brew routine/process. I’m pretty settled now on a Library of 20 Beers. There are three below that are not highlighted — I haven’t developed those recipes yet. The rest are in the library, and as you can see above, several are in the fridge!

This list covers all the styles I like to drink:

  1. Belgian Lambic-style Ale (Name: Hefenebel [Translation – Yeast Galaxy]). This is a continuing experiment — I just brewed the third version of it and will be making a Gueuze out of it at the end of this year! Oh, I also make a Fruited-Lambic (Name: La Prugna) with locally-grown plums. So (a) Lambic, (b) Gueuze, and (c) Fruit Lambic.
  2. Belgian-style Blond (Name: Keoni Blond). I brewed the first iteration of this beer on the day my grandson was born! April 11, 2021. Version 2 and 3 were right around his birthday as well. I love this beer — great flavor/color.
  3. Belgian-style IPA (Name: St Hommel). This is my attempt to clone the Hommelbier from Leroy Breweries in Belgium. I’m taking a trip there this year so I want to gather some notes on the flavor to use in adjusting my recipe. Would like to narrow it down and nail this one. I like the current version, but I’m just not convinced the hops are right yet.
  4. Orval Clone (Name: Valle Dorado) — my favorite beer — my clone is so close in flavor–I’m just off on color now–next iteration should dial it in!
  5. Monastic-style Dubbel (Name: Dubbel Trubbel). My Trappist-style Dubbel (Westmalle / Chimay clone). This one is very nice, but I haven’t made it in a couple of years. Looking at later this year (early winter, possibly)
  6. Monastic-style Tripel (Name: Die Drie Draken) My last Tripel was a little under-carbonated — I put it in the cold storage too soon. Flavor was nice. Gonna be a do-over–maybe 2025.
  7. Belgian/Monastic Dark Strong Ale (Name: Drakengeist) Also known as a Belgian Quad. This beer turned out very well (and has aged very well). I still have a few–need to work it back into the schedule … 
  8. Belgian-style Pale Ale (Name: Merlin’s Magical Elixir). I made two of these right in a row. The first one not so great, but the second one was nice. It is coming up again on the radar!
  9. Baltic Porter (Name: Polly Porter). I brewed this beer last year on my second grand-child’s birthday! Yum. I will be brewing it again this year. What I like about this one is that I can use the left over ingredients from my Barrel-aged Imperial Stout.
  10. Bourbon-oaked Imperial Stout (Name: Morganna’s Mystical Merkin) This beer has been great–I’ll do a whole post on this one later (Brewing again in March 2024). I char my own oak staves and soak them in Maker’s Mark Bourbon. This will be the fifth iteration — it just keeps getting better. I have a bottle from each of the last 3 years (I think). Time for a vertical tasting! 
  11. American Brown Ale (Name: Big Brown Beer) I made this one and it ended up having Brett in it. Still tasted good, but want a do over as well So far (fingers crossed), this is the only cross-contaminated beer I’ve had in my brewery. I should have called it “Big Brown Brett Beer.” haha.
  12. (Imperial) American-style IPA (Name: Wedding IPA). I made this beer in 2016 to celebrate our wedding and have made it four times since. Sometimes it is just big enough for a Imperial IPA and other times my mash efficiency keeps it in the IPA category.
  13. German-style Pilsner (Name: OK Premium Pils). This is a mid-winter beer for me to make — so it can lager into the early spring summer. This year I made the Eis-bock instead. OK stands for Okanagan (where I live), but also “OK” in the sense of OK. I found it funny using OK and Premium together.
  14. German-style Weizen Doppelbock/Eis-bock (Name: Frosty Billy). See previous post on this one. I really liked the flavor of this as a Weizen Doppelbock — but making the Eis-bock is fun, too. I might alternate them (every third year with the Pils)
  15. German-style Dunkel Weizen (Name: TBD). This is a beer in initial design phase. I have a smoked-pecan weizen recipe I really like … I might make it again as part of this recipe.
  16. Irish-style Red Ale (Name: Auburn Sunset). This is a collaboration I did with Kelowna Brewing Company — think Kilkenny or Smithwicks. It turned out nice — we are still working on this one to dial in the recipe.
  17. English-style Strong Bitter (Name: The Finger). Another collaboration with Kelowna Brewing Company. This one has turned out great — it’s been brewed a few times now. Ask me about the name over a beer. haha.
  18. Finnish-style Sahti (Name: Surreal Sahti). My experimental Finnish beer — turned out very nice–want to reduce the amount of liquid, bump up the rye and add a little more juniper next year. This will be a yearly brew (around December). Will make less than 3 gallons because it needs to be consumed fresh!
  19. Flanders-style Red Ale (Name: TBD). Work in progress.
  20. English-style Barley Wine (Name: TBD). Work in progress.

My schedule so far this year (2024) is quite full! Brewing approximately nine different beers.

  1. 2 Jan – Surreal Sahti
  2. 21 Jan – Frosty Billy
  3. 11 Mar – Morganna’s Mystical Merkin
  4. 11 Apr – Keoni Blond
  5. 12/13 Apr – Attend Penticton Fest of Ale
  6. 9 May – Polly Porter
  7. 23/24 May – Brew St Hommel with Sierra Nevada Brewing
  8. Jun (TBD) – Valle Dorado
  9. Oct (TBD) – St Hommel
  10. 6 Dec – Lambic #4 (Gueuze #1)