2026 – Let’s Brew!

Posted on January 11, 2026 by Stumblingpiper

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

Posted on May 5, 2025 by Stumblingpiper

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

Posted on April 23, 2025 by Stumblingpiper

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

Posted on April 21, 2025 by Stumblingpiper

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

2025: Ziggy Brau “Schedule”

Posted on April 7, 2025 by Stumblingpiper

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:

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

Here are my Flex Recipes:

Finnish-style Sahti (Name: Surreal Sahti).
French-style Saison (Table-Strength) (Name: TBD).
Monastic-style Single (Name: TBD)
English-style Dark Mild (Name: TBD)
German-style Altbier (Name: TBD)
Scottish-style Heavy (Name: TBD) (Not really heavy in the sense of ABV).
Irish-style Stout (Name: TBD) (My Beamish Clone!)
German-style Weizen (Name: TBD) (A Schneider Clone!)
German-style Munich Dunkel (Name: TBD)
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

Posted on March 18, 2024 by Stumblingpiper

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

Posted on March 18, 2024 by Stumblingpiper

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

My Recipe Library: Ziggy Brau in the Beer Fridge!

Posted on February 19, 2024 by Stumblingpiper

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:

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.
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.
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.
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!
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)
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.
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 …
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!
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.
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!
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.
(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.
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.
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)
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.
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.
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.
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!
Flanders-style Red Ale (Name: TBD). Work in progress.
English-style Barley Wine (Name: TBD). Work in progress.

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

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

Beermentor, an “Award-winning” Songwriter

Posted on January 9, 2024 by Stumblingpiper

Last September (2023), my friend sent me a link to an article about a “Beer Contest.” Here’s the link. He said “We should enter!” … I said “Hell’s Yes!” When you click through to the contest, you’ll see that it was put on by Sierra Nevada Brewing. This already piqued my interest! One of my favorite breweries in the US and (as I mentioned in my previous posts) one of my Top 30 places to drink a beer.

This particular competition was for their newest brewery–in the Asheville, North Carolina area. So, if you win, you get to 1) go to the brewery and brew a custom beer with the brewers, 2) hang out and drink great beer, and 3) enjoy all the fun that being in Asheville provides (for me Mountain Biking and Disc Golf are two that come to mind).

We decided to enter. Being my normal “not really into the details” kind of guy, I skimmed the rules and saw we needed to provide a video not longer than 30 seconds. The competition rules stated this was a “Friend’s Reunion” competition to celebrate the history of the 40-plus year-old Sierra Nevada Pale Ale–‘Still the One! that brings friends together.’

Fortunately, my friend looked a little closer at the rules and found the criteria for the judging. They were: 1) relevance to the theme, 2) creativity and 3) originality. Our first thought was to have a rotating list of pictures of our group of friends from the last twenty-plus years, supported with our version of a “Still the One” song. The two songs i could remember were Shania Twain’s “Still the One” and Orleans “Still the One.” Either one of those two would have worked with some modified lyrics, but we read the rules even closer and realized we couldn’t use copyrighted material.

We decided to go ahead and write our own tune–my focus was having a catchy rhythm, keeping in mind the theme of the contest. I cracked open a Sierra Nevada and started strumming my guitar. haha. I came up with this chord progression: G – D – Dsus2 – A to open G, G and repeat. Here’s a link to my initial attempt. Although not fully developed at the time, these are the lyrics that were kind of floating around in my head while I was playing:

Crafting it and Brewing it … for a long time!
Bringing it and Drinking it … for a good time!
Wanting to Remember it … for a lifetime! (Sierra Nevada. Still the Beer!)
Chugging it or Sipping it … what a flavor!
With my Friends enjoying it … All Together!
40 plus and going strong … Classic Pale Ale!

My friend worked his musical magic on my song, we added the lyrics above, and (after having to change some pictures based on an additional reading of the rules … haha) we submitted it to the contest. Here’s a link to the actual 30-second submission.

We submitted our entry pretty early in the contest window — the site had a scrolling list of the entries. Remember when I said we needed to submit a video? All I saw for the entries from other people were photos. My friend and I both thought these were thumbnails from submitted videos from other entrants. After we had submitted ours, we waited to see our “photo” show up in the list. However, when it showed up, it was a video! Apparently, if I had paid closer attention, I would have seen that you could either submit a video OR a photo. haha. Good thing I didn’t see that, because we might have just submitted a photo.

On my 60th birthday (!!), the contest ended … we had to wait another three weeks to find out who won. On the 8th of November I was out on a bike ride–I had checked the site that morning to see if they had posted anything–there wasn’t anything there, so I forgot about it. My friend was the actual person to submit the entry–I typed up the text for our written entry to answer the questions for submission: (1) Tell Us Why Your Friends are the Best, and (2) Tell Us Why You All Deserve an Ultimate Friend Reunion Trip to Asheville. He submitted the video and the “essay.”

That meant he was the one notified — and we won! Woo Hoo! We are heading to the Sierra Nevada Brewery near Asheville for a fun-filled weekend! That’s why I consider myself to be an “award-winning” songwriter. haha. Stand by for the report on the festivities!

Beermentor

Ziggy Brau: The Beers!

Posted on January 1, 2024 by Stumblingpiper

My “new” brewery is now more than two years old … and I’ve been brewing away on it!

The Brewtools B40 — their smallest (40L) integrated system — has really worked well for me. I will say that every comment I’ve seen on reviews are spot on — if you don’t know the process you are using and you don’t have a good idea why you do certain things in the process, you will be a little challenged. The only issue I’m having (currently) with my system is mash efficiency — it has been in the60 to 70 percent area … I’d like to get it up closer to 80 percent. I’m changing up my grain crush now to see how that goes. In the meantime, I’ve been using the recipe scaler on the brewfather app and it is helping me hit my targets.

My focus the last couple of years (as mentioned previously) is on German and Belgian-style beers (and a couple of miscellaneous American-styles). So far I’m having excellent success with my process, my equipment, and my ingredients—only one of my recent beers didn’t turn out the way I wanted.

Here is my current library of beers:

Belgian-style Blond (second/third editions of this one!). 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. [ 1a — is a Brett one off from my extra wort]
(Double) American-style IPA (fourth iteration). I brewed the original version of this for my wedding and have continued to make it.
Belgian-style Pale Ale. 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!
Barrel-aged Imperial Stout (Yum — 3rd iteration!). This beer has been great–I’ll do a whole post on this one later.
Belgian Lambic-style Ale. 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 with locally-grown plums.
German-style Pilsner. This is a mid-winter beer for me to make — so it can lager into the early spring summer. This year I’ll be substituting the following beer for it instead.
German Eis-bock. Another entry on this beer (quite involved). lol.
Belgian/Monastic Dark Strong Ale –– also known as a Belgian Quad. This beer turned out very well (and has aged very well).
Monastic-style Dubbel and Tripel. These two were also good. The Tripel was a little under-carbonated — I put it in the cold storage too soon. Flavor was nice. Both do overs!
Baltic Porter — I brewed this beer last year on my second grand-child’s birthday! Yum.
Belgian-style IPA — I brewed this one to make a clone of the Poperinge Hommelbier. It’s close — I need to work on my dry hopping … flavor and color are awesome.
American Brown –– I made this one and it ended up having Brett in it. Still tasted good, but want a do over as well. haha.
Orval Clone — my favorite beer — my clone is so close in flavor–I’m just off on color now–next iteration should dial it in!
Sahti — My experimental Finnish beer — next on tap for brewing! Stay tuned.