My Recipe Library: Ziggy Brau in the Beer Fridge!

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)

Beer 49: Yin AND Yang (Not Together)

Shared today’s beer with my friend Mike.  He’s probably more of a beer geek than me if you can picture that!  We reached deep into my beer fridge (well … the one on the right … haha) and pulled out an Evil Twin set of beers:  the Yin and the Yang.

The Yin is an Imperial Stout.  The Yang is a Double IPA.

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Both of these beers are very good.  Apparently, they are intended to be mixed like a black and tan.  You can buy the mixed version at the store.  We, on the other hand, decided to drink them separately.  Yummy.  They were quite good.  I drank the stout first and then the IPA.  Definitely worth picking up at your local specialty beer outlet!

Beer Mentor

 

Beermentor’s Neighborhood: 4Hands Brewing (Beer 28/Day 28)

Welcome Back to Beer Mentor’s Neighborhood!  We are visiting a brewery 1.4 miles from my place but in another world because of the beers they are making!  This place is awesome. 4Hands Brewing.

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I usually like to mix it up when I visit but today I stuck with the Resurrection IPA (28th beer in 28 days … keeping the train going!).  This beer is fantastic!  Maybe it is the Mosaic hops they are using … I don’t know.  But the Aroma and Flavor in this IPA is really satisfying.  I thought the flavor was Simcoe at first … but I guess Mosaic is derived from Simcoe and Nugget.  What a great kiddo.  haha.  Quick note: I’d go get some if you haven’t yet … it may be coming off the menu for a while.

They have a tasting option too and it is well presented.  Here’s a couple of pics of the Resurrection and the tasting flight.

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This is really a nice place.

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They have food available as well–however, it is a separate service so you will pay for the food separate from your beer.  

They have a great variety of beers and they have an extensive barrel-aging effort.  I didn’t try it this time but they have a beer called “Smoked Pigasus” — a smoked rye porter.  Can’t wait to try that one!

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They have great events going on here and all over the city.  These folks are very involved in the Craft Beer industry and support local homebrewers.  Every 2nd and 4th Wednesday they have a bottle-swap event … worth checking out.  A few more photos for those who enjoy a nice brewery! Oh, I should tell you — you can buy growlers or take home some bottles too.  

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Welcome to the Neighborhood!

Beer Mentor