Refocusing the Vision: Traveler, Judge, and Brewery

Just as the idea of craft beer is evolving, so is my focus. I’ve kind of meandered through the years and generated different categories here and there. To make moving around the Beer Mentor blog easier, I am refocusing this blog around three core pillars:

The Traveler

Beer is a journey. This pillar captures the exploration of regional styles, brewery visits from the Okanagan to Belgium, and the stories behind the people who pour the pints. Expect deep dives into the culture and geography that define world-class beer.

The Judge

Technical excellence requires a disciplined eye—and palate. Through my work with the Ogopogo Brewers Challenge Society, I will share insights into the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) standards. We will explore sensory analysis, style accuracy, and how to turn a technical score sheet into a roadmap for better beer.

The Brewery

This is the heart of the operation: Cockatrice Brewery. Here, the theory meets the kettle. I will document the trials, the recipes, and the fermentation science behind my own brews, offering a transparent look at the successes and “learning opportunities” in the brewhouse.

These three pillars represent the full circle of the craft—discovery, evaluation, and creation.

I will be adjusting my categories — stay tuned for the next “Recipe Review” from one of my “Standard 20!”

Enjoy!

Beer Mentor

Cockatrice Brewery: Morgana’s Mystical Merkin

Entry #2 in my Recipe Review Series. The Series is about each of my basic 20 recipes of my home brewery “Cockatrice Brewery.” I brewed this beer today! (March 11, 2026).


Recipe #2: Morgana’s Mystical Merkin

Base Beer Style: (20C) Imperial Stout
(BJCP) Style: 33B (Specialty Wood-aged Beer)

Description: The base beer style is an American Imperial Stout. Originally an English-style, it has been a “craft beer” favorite in the USA almost since the kick-off of the current craft revolution. The American style will typically have more finishing hops, bitterness, and roasted character. To make mine a “specialty wood-aged beer,” I made my own White Oak staves and “charred” them on my BBQ grill. I then soaked them in Maker’s Mark Bourbon for three days (~3 ounces). I put them in at the end of my dry hopping for 3 days (I add any leftover bourbon from the soak). The name is a combination of themes / references. I live in a neighborhood called “Magic Estates” on a street named “Merlin Court.” “Morganna,” in traditional mythology, is King Arthur’s sister. Firestone Walker made an Imperial Oatmeal Stout called the Velvet Merlin (with the Barrel-aged Version called the Velvet Merkin). I modeled this version (slightly) after theirs (no oatmeal in mine), I decided to follow along with their playful name. My version is very full-bodied (I use wheat malt), slightly higher in ABV (~9 to 10%), and drier with more chocolate/roast character.

My Brewfather recipe: Morganna’s

Basic ingredients were: 1) Simpson’s Golden Promise (Pale Ale) Malt and 2) Northern Brewer / East Kent Goldings Hops.

Today, I brewed the 8th edition of Morganna’s Mystical Merkin. It looks like it’s going to come in between 10.7% and 11% ABV. Wow! Before I even got brewing today, I made a massive starter two days ago to give my yeast a chance to tackle the giant gravity I expected in this beer.

This beer always pushes my Brewtools B40 to its limit. Today, I made a slight modification to the recipe and lowered the grain bill to a measly 17-lbs grain 🙂 With my system, I mashed for approximately 90-minutes at a temperature range of 147–150°F. My final numbers show it was worth the effort! I held off until about 15 minutes were left in the mash and then added my Black Malt. Once through with the sparge, I ended up with a pre-boil gravity of 1.077 on 6.45 gallons of wort—before any extract was even added.

To move this into the “Arthurian Mystical realm of Stouts” (11% Imperial Stout), I added a total of 4.5 lbs of DME (3 lbs traditional dark and 1.5 lbs of Bavarian wheat). This is one of my changes — I replaced 1.5 lbs of Wheat Malt with the 1.5 lbs of Bavarian wheat DME. These additions put the pre-boil gravity well over 1.100. During my 90-minute boil I added a ton of hops (over 7.5 ounces!!) to help balance that massive malt bill.

Even with that add, the IBUs are still around 81 … hopefully the bourbon staves will have room to shine.

I chilled the wort to 68°F and achieved a near-perfect Original Gravity of 1.1075. If my final gravity hits around 1.026, I’ll be pretty close to the 11% mark. I’m going to have to bottle this in small bottles. haha. I find the flavor already incredible—rich, chocolatey, and roasty.

What’s Next? My Stout is now fermenting vigorously on a healthy 410 billion cell pitch of Nottingham yeast. It will spend 10 days in primary before I move it onto the Maker’s Mark bourbon staves for a slow 5-day secondary to build that signature oak and whiskey complexity.

The first beer brewed under my new Brewery’s name! I call that a success! Biervergnügen, indeed!

Beer Mentor

New Home Brewery Name Change!

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!

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 …

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

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

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.

Cockatrice Brewery: Malz de Quixote

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 “Cockatrice Brewery.” 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

2025: Cockatrice Brewery “Schedule”

So far, 2025 has started out pretty well in the Cockatrice Brewery! 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

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

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