Blogging with Briess

As a lot of people will be attending New Years Eve parties tonight and counting down the last few moments of 2011 so  I thought I’d share a picture that I think is quite appropriate for a festive evening.  Brewer (and evidently master artisan) Bill Jenkins of Elliott Bay Brewing Company in Seattle hand-crafted this “disco ball keg” by applying what appears to be several million tiny mirrors to a 1/4BBL keg.  This well constructed item might be the most creative use of a keg I’ve ever seen and this close up picture was taken in front of their 10BBL brewhouse.  Bill had this hanging at EBBC for our District NW MBAA cask fest (click for cask presentations) a few months back and it was a great addition to the brewhouse I’d say!  I hope everyone has a wonderful New Years Eve and I hope to see you in 2012!

Every brewery should have one of these!

Are those barrels in the back?

I received this picture recently from our good friends at Noble Ale Works in Anaheim, CA who are getting ready to celebrate their first anniversary on January 28.  They will be having a party at the brewery with live music and food trucks, sure to be a blast!  The Briess-centric beers from Noble I sampled at the GABF were outstanding and their Dark Sybian IPA (Cascadian Dark Ale) featuring our Midnight Wheat malt was quite tasty.  At their anniversary party they will be launching the new beer Nobility as well as tapping into some of these special barrel aged beers you can see in the attached photo.  Pictures of the event to be posted next month!

We’ve extended the length of time that our Maltster’s Reserve Series malts are available from three to six months. That means that Caracrystal® Wheat Malt, which is now available from Briess or our distributors, can be ordered through the end of June. That’ll be followed by Carabrown® Malt in July which can be ordered through the end of December.

Aren’t familiar with Caracrystal® Wheat Malt? It’s a different from other caramel wheat malts. It has the caramel sweetness you’d expect along with  a really nice roasted flavor that made us think of “dark toast”. Let us know what you brew with it!

The winter edition of Brewing With Briess has been posted on the Briess website. There’s an article with an important update on our Maltster’s Reserve Series, information about Caracrystal® Wheat Malt which is now available, a report on the 2011 North American barley crop and dates for the 2012 Malt & Brew Workshop. Check it out! And add a comment to this blog if there’s a specific malt-related topic you’d like to see covered in the newsletter. Cheers!

Merry Christmas! Here’s our holiday schedule:

• Friday, Dec. 23 – Closed
• Monday, Dec. 26 for Christmas – Closed
• Friday, Dec. 30 – Closing at noon. Limited truckload shipping from 8-11 a.m.
• Monday, Jan. 2 – Closed

Recently I had the privilege of doing a collaboration brew with Elan Walsky and Bruce McPhee at Coalition Brewing in Portland, Oregon.  We brewed a 100% Briess 10BBL batch of a Cascadian Dark Ale/Black IPA/American-style Dark Ale (or whatever you want to refer to it as this week) on their newish JVNW brewhouse.  Like most brewers we got an early start and got mashed in before caffeine.  I’ll have the brew recipe posted on our website but can tell you that we were not shy on the hops as it takes a LOT of them to shine through on this style of beer.  As this CDA made generous use of Apollo hops the beer was named Apollo Creed and they had Rocky on the big screen punching it out for the tapping party!  The final product had a nice dryness and a nice creamy mouthfeel with only a minor amount of roasted malt flavor from the use of our Midnight Wheat malt (550L) which is a great malt to use when you’re looking for color but none of that acrid/bitter/husky flavors.  Thanks a mil to Elan and Bruce for letting me be a part of a wonderful beer!

The hopback filled with Apollo and Willamette hops!

Coalition Brewing Portland, OR

Elan and Bruce in front of their 10BBL JVNW brewhouse.

Now that Blackprinz® Malt is available year round, you may be wondering what styles of beer it’s best suited for. Once you understand its flavor profile, that’ll be easy…and fun because there are so many beer styles it can go in.

Blackprinz® Malt is a bitterless black malt that has no bitter, astringent, dry flavors or aftertaste. It has a very delicate, clean flavor, is subtle and smooth and contributes mild roasted malty flavor. At 500º Lovibond, Blackprinz® Malt delivers a lot of color in the dark brown to black tones.

If it sounds like a replacement for debittered black malt, you’re spot on. But it’s what Blackprinz® Malt doesn’t have that distinguishes it as a true “bitterless” black malt rather than a “debittered” black malt.

Blackprinz® Malt is made from hulless barley. Debittered black malt, on the other hand, is made by removing a great deal of the husk (but not all of it)  from malting barley. Since it’s the husk that develops bitter notes during roasting, debittered black malts will contribute a certain amount of bitter, astringent or dry flavors or aftertaste to beer.

Blackprinz® Malt never had a husk to begin with, so it won’t pick up bitter flavors during roasting. That’s why it has such a delicate, clean flavor. And that makes it a perfect substitute for debittered black malt. Once you brew with it, you’ll probably come up with all kinds of beers to try it in. I recommend starting with a Schwarz Bier so you really get to know this malt, then try it in whatever else you want…Porters, Stouts, Dark Lagers, etc. Happy brewing!

The October-November-December member of our seasonal Maltster’s Reserve Series, Blackprinz® Malt, is now available. Better yet, it’s now available year round and can be purchased directly from Briess or from one of our authorized distributors. Here’s the press release.

Blackprinz® Malt is a bitterless black malt that can be used in any recipe calling for debittered black malt. It’s smooth and mellow, with no bitter, astringent, dry flavor or aftertaste. It also has a very delicate, clean flavor with hints of toasted malty flavor. Use it in any beer style—ale or lager— for color addition with delicate, clean flavor. Happy brewing and cheers!

The two-page Briess Typical Analysis flyer has been updated. Maltster’s Reserve Series Malts have been added, and more complete descriptions have been added for most malts. Just a few specs changed. Click here for the printable pdf. Cheers! Homebrew shops - feel free to print and distribute these to your customers, or link to the pdf on the Briess website. Cheers!

The fall issue of Craft Beer Quarterly, published through the joint efforts of Briess, Hopunion and White Labs, is in the mail to breweries throughout the United States. Or click here to download the pdf. It’s 2.15 mb so be patient.

This issue features formulating strong ales plus news and updates from the three suppliers. Enjoy!