One morning while reading The Heavy Table, Shawn learned about one of Minnesota’s newest breweries, Boom Island Brewing Company. The biggest difference between Boom Island and many other breweries that have hit the news recently, is that Boom Island was already putting its beer up for sale. I attended a quick tasting at The Four Firkins in Saint Louis Park, where I grabbed two of the first bottles released. Boom Island Brewing is Belgian-inspired brewery, based in Minneapolis. The story of Kevin Welch, brewer, is one of a homebrewer’s dream. What could turn out to be Boom Island’s “ace in the hole” is the fact that Kevin is cultivating his own yeast strains, gathered during a trip across Belgium. We review the some of first releases available from Boom Island Brewing: Silvius Pale Ale and Thoprock IPA. On its website, Boom Island also teases the eventual release of a Dubbel and Tripel in bottles.

Boom Island Brewing Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Silvius Pale Ale, American Pale Ale
ABV (Alcohol by Volume): 5.5%

Boom Island Brewing Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Thoprock IPA, American IPA
ABV (Alcohol by Volume): 8%

Show Notes
Recorded January 11, 2012
00:00 – 06:05: Introduction
06:05 – 22:12: Silvius Pale Ale by Boom Island Brewing
22:12 – 38:25: Thoprock IPA by Boom Island Brewing
38:25 – 44:17: Boom Island Brewing Wrap-Up

Show Links

• Boom Island Brewing Company; @boomislandbeer on Twitter
• Heavy Table: Kevin Welch of Boom Island Brewing

Runtime: 44 minutes
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Music — When It Stings by Pictures of Then

We’ve reached into the archives to release a “lost” episode of The Happy Hour. Back in 2010, Jason and Mike were lucky enough to receive a bottle of Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout. This annually released beer shouldn’t be considered a simple oaked version of Founders Breakfast Stout, but is a wholly different beer. Kentucky Breakfast Stout is a bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout brewed with coffee and chocolate. It’s tempting to draw parallels between KBS and Goose Island Bourbon County Stout, or more specifically, the Bourbon County Coffee Stout. The beer leads coffee and is bourbon second.

Kentucky Breakfast Stout is good. But it fits the bill better as an after dinner desert, rather than a breakfast starter.

KBS should be hitting the shelves in March of 2012.

Founders Brewing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Kentucky Breakfast Stout, American Imperial Stout
ABV (Alcohol by Volume): 11.2%
IBU: 70

Music — When It Stings by Pictures of Then

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Specs from Goose Island:

ABV: 6.2%
Color: Ruby, Chocolate
Hop Bitterness (IBU): Changes year to year
Malts: Pale Ale, Munich 10, Caramel 20, Caramel 60, Caramel 120
Hops: Change year to year
Availability: November – December

Serving Suggestions:

Preferred Glass: Nonic
Food Pairings: Ham, Turkey, Lamb
Cheese Pairings: Aged Gouda, Dry Jack
Cellaring Notes: Develops in the bottle for up to 5 years

The Review

Appearance: The body is a deep garnet, with fluffy toasted marshmallow-colored head, which quickly subsides and leaves no lacing.

Aroma: The nose is soft, but as the beer warms, the body of hazelnut appears. There is a slight alcohol hint lingering, that becomes less present when the beer reaches room temperature.

Flavor: I detect a bit of aged hops with the first sip. There’s a bitter finish that quickly fades. I can imagine there’s a brown sugar / spice duo, but it’s only a very faint notion. It’s certainly a warm, sweet brew, but at 6.2%, not alcoholic.

Mouthfeel: Christmas Ale 2011 is sweet, with very low carbonation. There is a roasted caramel toffee aftertaste. This beer reminds me of a ramped-up version of Mild Winter.

Overall: I’m pleasantly surprised by this one. When I think of a Christmas ale, Anchor Brewing’s Christmas Ale comes to mind. However in this example, Goose Island nailed it. They produced a centric, not overly-hoppy, smooth-malted ale. This beer works well throughout the Christmas gathering. I’ve been sipping on it while grazing appetizers, and plan to open another bottle to enjoy during dinner.

Thanks to Ken Hunnemeder at Goose Island for providing me this sample.

Supplementary Review (by Mike)

Appearance: The Christmas Ale poured hazy amber with a tan, bubbly froth on top. If you swirl the glass around, the beer will slowly drain off the sides. There does seem to be a bit of carbonation as bubbles cling and rise against the glass edge.

Aroma: This beer comes off as slight sweet and somewhat toasted. If you hold your nose to the glass long enough, you can convince yourself that you’re smelling banana bread.

Taste: I get a fair amount of effervescence with this beer. Not that it’s a bubbly champagne, but it doesn’t fall flat on the palate. I get that metallic tinge with slight bitterness. The real flavors here, however, are the roasted malts balanced with some sort of spice (maybe cinnamon) element.

Overall: The beer tastes rounded, and I believe it’s because of the alcohol content. It’s not too high of an alcohol content at 6.2%. But that ABV does make the beer a little warmer and leaves a balance between the sweet and the spice.

Specifications from Goose Island:

ABV: 5.6%
ABW: 4.4%
Color: Toffee Brown
Hop Bitterness (IBU): 20
OG: 14.0° Plato
Malts: 2 Row, Carapils, Dark Chocolate, Roast Barley, Rye Flake
Hops: Pilgrim, Centennial, Tettnang
Availability: December – March

Serving Suggestions:

Preferred Glass: Willi
Food Pairings: Beef, Stews, Sausages
Cheese Pairings: Gruyere, Fontina
Cellaring Notes: Enjoy within 180 days

The Review

Appearance: The body is a ruby to toffee brown. The head is fluffy white, and as it subsides, it laces the glass. I poured into a Saison Dupont glass, the only example of a willi glass I own.

Aroma: Soft, caramel roast, raisins. Fleeting finish, with peppery rye notes.

Flavor: Mild Winter is only slightly sweet. It’s very reminiscent of a British mild or a bitter, with low hop presence and a slight toffee bitterness. I enjoy the fact I’m not drinking a boozy behemoth. I could comfortably quaff a few of these at a sitting.

Mouthfeel: Sweet, low carbonation. It feels slightly like corn or unfermented grain. The beer finished with little bitterness and no alcohol heat.

Overall: Mild winter is a great change of pace for the season. When friends are bringing out high ABV brews like Russian Imperial Stouts and barley wines, or spicy winter warmers, this beer would please a broad range of beer drinkers’ palettes. I know I plan to share this brew with my family (they’re typically drinking American adjunct lagers at get-togethers).

Thanks to Ken Hunnemeder at Goose Island for providing me this sample.

Much of my excitement for homebrew derives from drawing inspiration from my surroundings. Fall in Minnesota is one of my favorite experiences, and sadly, Fall will be coming to a close in the coming weeks. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate its passing with a beer.

Wild Rice in Minnesota is a grain typically harvested in September. Truth be told, Wild Rice is not actually rice but a water-grass seed.¹ The techniques for harvesting wild rice have remained unchanged for centuries. Two people will occupy a canoe in which one, the “poler”, pushes the canoe through the wild rice bed of a lake, and the other, the “knocker”, uses cedar sticks to bend the wild rice stalks over the side of the canoe and taps the kernels off the stalk.² In Minnesota, the celebrated grain finds its way into many food dishes like salads, soups, and Thanksgiving stuffing. Even Fitger’s Brewhouse in Duluth made a vegetarian wild rice burger. So, when looking for a Minnesota native ingredient to infuse in a Fall-seasonal beer, it is only sensible to make one with wild rice.

How Will This Be Used

Wild rice has to be considered in your homebrew recipe much differently than American white rice. Though there are exceptions, white rice will contribute little pronounced flavor to your recipe and can be used to give your beer a lighter mouthfeel. Wild rice, on the other hand, can contribute a nutty flavor as well as color. In the summer of 2010, August Schell Brewing Co. of New Ulm, Minnesota released their Wild Rice Farmhouse Ale. The Schell’s ale married the nutty characteristics of the wild rice with the yeast to create a self-described “dry and quenching”³ beer.

My intent in using wild rice was to experiment with the Minnesota-native grain and find a late-fall seasonal beer recipe that I could continue to share and revisit each year. From what I had read I would want to focus on allowing the nutty, earthy flavors and aromas from the wild rice to shine through. I had a basic idea of what I wanted and knew that I would use wild rice. But there is so much more to a beer recipe that needs to properly come together before you have a worthwhile product.

Let’s Get Into It

I am a fan of using Kölsch yeast in my homebrew. I thought that perhaps a lower temperature fermentation with time could lead to a clean finishing beer. However, I feared that whatever unique flavors Kölsch yeast brings along may distract from the raw flavors in the wild rice. I opted, instead, to play it safe by utilizing Wyeast 1056, American Ale yeast — a relatively neutral choice. The direction I took with my beer was instead in the form of an amber or brown ale. When the snow hits the ground, I want my beers to be a little darker. An ale with the malty backbone of something like a nut brown resonated well.

As I said I wanted the wild rice to shine, but I would need some malt character. Nuttiness and chocolate would be the aim. It wasn’t hard for me to imagine a beer like New Belgium’s Fat Tire to slip into place nicely as a base beer.

The Recipe

Fermentables

• 5.0 lbs Extra Light Dry Malt Extract (DME)
• 0.25 lbs Crystal 20? L
• 0.25 lbs Crystal 60? L
• 0.5 lbs Carared Malt
• 0.5 lbs Biscuit Malt
• 0.5 lbs Chocolate Malt
• 1.0 lbs Minnesota Wild Rice (more about preparation later)

Hops Schedule — (90 minute boil)

• 1.0 oz. Willammette (4.5%) @ 90 minutes
• 1.0 oz. Fuggle (4.0%) @ 60 minutes

Yeast

• 1 packet Wyeast 1056 – American Ale, pitched from a starter

Specifications

• Batch Size: 5 gal
• Original Gravity: 1.066
• Final Gravity: 1.029
• ABV: 4.9%
• Bitterness: 26.9 IBU
• Color: 17 SRM

Preparing Your Wild Rice

I think there are a few ways wild rice can be prepared for your homebrew successfully, but I followed the direct advice of Schell’s David Berg. He recommended that I boil the wild rice and add it directly in to my mash. For now I am an extract brewer, and I treated the wild rice much as I would specialty grains.

For my 5 gallon recipe, I started with one pound of hand harvested wild rice. Most recommendations have you consider using wild rice for about 5-10% of your grain bill to bring through the desired nutty characteristics. I rinsed it first in the sink and then soaked the wild rice overnight for about 8 hours in cold water. I wanted the wild rice to absorb the water in an attempt to soften the husks. Once I had strike water, I placed the wild rice in a strainer inside of the boil kettle. With that, I slowly raised the temperature of the water to boiling. I boiled the rice for about an hour before rinsing and removing the husks. I re-used the water I had been boiling the wild rice in and pitched it into my wort and began my regular extract brewing process. At this point I had both the wild rice and specialty grains in their own straining bags in my brew kettle.

The Results

When I was transferring the beer from carboy to keg, I was amazed by the intense nutty-aroma coming from the wild rice. However, somewhere between that transfer and the serving glass, most of the aroma was lost. When I was pouring the beer for Jimmy Carter Happy Hour in Des Moines, the reaction towards the wild rice was mostly because of its curiosity. It allowed me to start many conversations with other homebrewers and beer drinks that were not familiar with the ingredient. It definitely struck a chord with a number of the attendees. I think the resulting beer allowed the wild rice adjunct to stand alone, but I didn’t support it enough with the rest of the beer. I know that during my brew day that I had a bit of panic during the morning hours and felt more hops were needed. Again I was seeking a balance between making the beer right and not distracting from the characteristics of the wild rice. You will notice that I did a 90 minute boil, and that was a last minute decision to raise the bitterness of the beer by using the hops I had already added. As a result, whatever aroma the hops were meant to add was quickly boiled away. I will also add that the finishing gravity wasn’t as low as I had expected, but I was initially successful in hitting my target original gravity. To sum it up, there were definitely fans of the beer, but I felt that the flavors were a bit muddled and not as complementary as hoped.

I will be trying this beer again because I know that it could be awesome. I didn’t dislike my first trial, but I know it can be stronger and it will have its fans. I encourage anyone who has read this far to research using wild rice as an ingredient in recipes of their own. With some more trials we can create a unique and flavorful beer.

I have to admit that I have missed our conversations through the microphone but we are at it again. Our scheduled programming returns this week with an exploration of some delicious sour beers. We delve into a comparison of a homebrew sour versus a commercial sour beer.

Long overdue, Shawn and I share a bottle of homebrew blonde ale from project friend Peter Kennedy. The beer was aged on New Jersey sour cherries. Peter has written a post or two about this beer on his blog Simply Beer.

Our second beer up for discussion is from Avery Brewing Company. Quinquepartite is No. 5 in Avery’s Barrel-Aged series. It is an an American Wild ale with an ABV of 9.91%. The beer was split into five parts and aged in several different types of wine barrels. The breakdown is such: 37% Ale aged in Cabernet Savignon barrels, 25% Ale aged in Chardonnay barrels, 21% Ale aged in Port barrels and 17% Ale aged in Zinfandel barrels.

The Beer Genome Project #32 Show Notes Runtime: 59:41

Update: We received a message back from Peter Kennedy regarding his blonde ale

@MikeBGP @ShawnBGP enjoyed the podcast.It was my 1st sour, no barrel, used carbtabs (mistake) glad you enjoyed it.

— Peter Kennedy (@SimplyBeer) December 13, 2011

With the holiday season upon us, more family and friends are regularly hosting gatherings. With gatherings come food and beverage, particularly of the fermented nature.

This week I had been in Iowa visiting friends when a message came across that Peace Tree Brewing Company had placed a recently finished apple cider on draft in their taproom. The Knoxville, Iowa based brewery is tucked away behind a 45 minute drive from Des Moines. I hadn’t been to the taproom since its beginnings about two years ago. The brewery is certainly an enjoyable space with room for entertainment including a bar with fresh offerings.

Peace Tree has been exploring their range of fermented opportunities since opening in 2009. They introduced one of the first Iowa produced beers that had an alcohol content higher than 6.5%,the Belgian-style Blonde Fatale. In 2010, Peace Tree brewed a farmhouse-style ale using sweet corn, and iterated upon it this past summer by infusing a batch with Brettanomyces. With Autumn fading, but in time for holiday gatherings, Peace Tree has now released a Champagne-yeast based cider, currently available only in their Knoxville taproom.

It sounds like this is the second shot Peace Tree has taken at creating a cider, the first having been only a 5-10 gallon batch. This time around Peace Tree has enough to serve on tap, and will as well sell about 200 bombers within the coming weeks. I stopped in for a pint in the taproom, but also took a home a growler to share with friends over dinner.

The cider was a rather hazy yellow and didn’t present itself as a light, refreshing drink. I think the cleanest looking cider I have come across is a Crispin Light, and Peace Tree’s entry looked more like a Crispin Honey Crisp. Again, this was not a cider looking at refreshment but I think rather attempting to produce a bit more daring flavor.

The cider has a big punch up front. I didn’t catch what the ABV of the cider was, but it led with the bite and followed with a residual sweetness. This cider was a sipper to best balance the flavors and prevent a clash across the palate.

Peace Tree is not the first Iowa brewery to make a cider in-house, but they’re giving it a go with one of the state’s best entries.

Every so often, something new comes along that really gets us excited to be a part of the craft beer community. We have an expanding craft beer market in Minnesota as more people are looking for high quality, locally produced beer. Today’s announcement marks an important step in the vision for our friend Tom Hill as he is joining his new Bemidji Brewing Company as head brewer.

Bemidji Brewing Company today announced their strategy to fund and build their microbrewery in northern Minnesota. They are beginning a 60-day fundraising effort through Kickstarter to secure a nano-brewing system. We have included their press release below, and we look forward to sharing more about the new venture in the near future.

Fresh, local craft beer. This is what the founders of the up-and-coming Bemidji Brewing Company hope to bring to Bemidji and northern Minnesota. But starting a brewery, even something as small as a microbrewery, comes with a hefty price tag, and in tough economic times, these young entrepreneurs are getting creative to source their start-up funds. Bemidji Brewing’s founders, Tom Hill, Tina Hanke, and Justin “Bud” Kaney are utilizing several grassroots start-up and funding strategies: from starting with a very small “nano” system of 25 gallons of beer per batch and renting space at a commercial kitchen, to looking to raise funds via online fundraising campaigns.

“The state of Minnesota is experiencing a craft beer boom–from the increased consumer awareness to the exciting number of new breweries opening, craft beer is no longer something for the coasts or big cities,”

says head brewer and Bemidji State Alum Tom Hill, “people everywhere are looking for a high-quality beer that is made locally.” This demand, especially in northern Minnesota, is what Bemidji Brewing hopes to quench. “In order for us to bring fresh, local craft beer to Bemidji and northern Minnesota, we hope to launch a pilot brewing system, basically a very small-scale system that will allow us to serve a few local accounts,” says Tina Hanke, one of the few female brewery founders in Minnesota.

“Then, when we have documented sales and demand data we will be able to approach more traditional capital raising entities such as banks and investors to build a larger production brewery.”

However, building even a small pilot brewing system is a pricey endeavor, so the founders are looking to the community to help make it happen. They are launching an online “Kickstarter” campaign that will run for 60 days in hopes of raising the $15,000 goal the founders have set to help cover the costs of securing a small brewing system. According to the Kickstarter.com website, “Kickstarter is the world’s largest funding platform for creative projects.” The concept is simple: someone with a creative project submits an online project campaign through Kickstarter and then folks can go online to view and donate to the project. If, and only if, the project meets its goal amount, is the project funded and the donors charged. It’s all or nothing. This is where the Bemidji Brewing Company is looking to local communities and northern Minnesota: to help them meet their $15,000 goal by Sunday, January 22, 2012. Bud Kaney, also a BSU Alum, stresses the founders’ commitment to providing locals with fresh, high-quality craft beer, and their hopes of having a production brewery and taproom in Bemidji someday where folks from all backgrounds can enjoy the community aspect of craft beer.

“For us, beer is more than just a beverage, it’s a passion, and we look forward to sharing it with our friends and neighbors.”

To learn more about Bemidji Brewing Company, its founders, and their Kickstarter campaign, visit: http://bemidjibeer.com. You can meet the founders, and chat about the Brewery at their fist public event on Friday, December 2, 2011 from 4-7pm when they present a one-night art show entitled “Beer: Beyond Taste” hosted by KD Floral and Gardens, located at 325 Minnesota Ave in downtown Bemidji.

Update: We are including a link to the Bemidji Brewing Company’s Kickstarter campaign.

From the bottle:

ep•ic adj.

(1) Heroic and impressive in quality.

(2) Surpassing the usual or ordinary, particularly in scope or size.

(3) Of, constituting, having to do with, or suggestive of a literary epic.

The tenth in an “epic” series.

“As with any good epic, herein lies the promise of larger-than-life experiences, heroics and twists & turns as the adventure unfolds. This bottle-conditioned ale is chapter ten, and is specifically designed to be aged until sometime after December 12th, 2012. Provided you can wait that long. At that time, enjoy it in a “vertical” tasting along with its ten Stone Vertical Epic Ale brethren. Each one unique to its year of release. Each with its own “twist & turn” in the plot line. Each one release one year, one month, and one day from the previous year’s edition.

This year’s Stone Vertical Epic Ale might justifiably be considered the non-sequitor edition. We somehow came to the conclusion that adding Anaheim chilies from New Mexico’s Hatch Valley, plus whole cinnamon sticks, to an amber-hued brew fermented with Belgian Flanders Golden Ale yeast (which provides fairly invest character, with lots of clove & banana overtones) would create a very tasty result. And we believe it does! The Anaheim chili is known for its rich flavor more than endorphin-inducing heat, and the cinnamon adds a nice twist… part of the promise behind the Vertical Epic Ale series itself. As with any epic, remember that it is not just the destination, but the journey!”

[As with all Stone VE editions, a detailed home-brewing recipe is available at www.stonebrew.com/epic ]

Specs from the Stone Brewing Blog:

ABV: 9.4%

IBU: 65

OG: 20.5° Plato

TG: 2.5° Plato

Malts: Pale, Crystal, Munich, CaraBohemian and Special B

Hops: Warrior, Target, Perle and Pacific Jade

The Review

(As with most reviews we post here, I try to loosely stick to the form for a BJCP review.)

Appearance

The body is deep, bright ruby/brown, approximately 20 SRM. The head is dirty white, pouring rocky, and lacing the glass as it subsides.

Aroma

Initially, the sweet qualities of a Belgian dubbel transition to a slightly smoky–yet very present–pepper. I’ve never had (at least as far as I can remember) an Anaheim chili. It seems similar to a chipotle pepper, only less intensely smoky, with secondary kicks of warmth.

Flavor

The clove/banana notes the yeast impart shift to a spicy paper on the sides of the tongue, swinging back to a Belgian ester, then it finishes with a very mellow cinnamon punch.

Mouthfeel

The 11•11•11 is bigger than most beers, but it’s pretty standard for Stone’s limited releases. What I mean by that is they have done very well at balancing a beer with a higher percentage ABV, while at the same time, not overpowering the flavor. It’s not thin, as sometimes happens with larger beers. It’s malty and sweet, not viscous and oily. The aftertaste is very much reminiscent of an Abbey dubbel (if you can look past the notion of a Belgian beer with pepper and cinnamon).

Overall

This is only my second time sampling a beer in the Stone Vertical Epic Ale series (the first was 08•08•08, which I shared with friends in early 2009). It seems like a nice shift from others in the lineup, and I can only forecast this beer beer will be even more mellow and balanced with a year’s time in the cellar.

It would be a great beer to pair with a fajita and fried rice, since the food would accentuate the spicy flavor the Anaheim imparts, while the fruity Belgian tones from the yeast would lend a contrasting sweetness.

11•11•11 was a fun beer to try. It’s nice to throw your palette a curveball once in a while. I went into the beer expecting a very subtle, then suddenly intensely spicy beer (think Fitger’s Wildfire, a lager brewed with Serrano, habenero, and jalepeno peppers) but I ended up concluding this is a Belgian-inspired ale, like a hybrid of a golden and a dubbel, with palette curveballs of pepper and spice.

Definitely worth seeking out.

Thanks to Randy Clemens at Stone Brewing for providing me this sample.

It was at about this time last year that I started putting together my ideas for what a pumpkin ale should taste like. Granted, I was not sure if I would actually be able to deliver on the vision, but I was willing to give it a go. My pumpkin ale in 2010 was my first recipe from scratch; meaning, for the first time I was not brewing my beer from a kit, but instead with a crazy concoction of extracts and grains that I felt would generate the right flavors and characteristics. A year has passed and I have used each new homebrew since then as a chance to hone skills and further develop my process.

The New Brew

I created a Pumpkin Stout last Fall. This year I decided I could not make the same beer again, but instead I would make two new beers. I could have reused and followed my recipe from last year but I will tell you why I did not. First, I have not brewed all too many beers in the past year. I like to keep things interesting and once I really feel comfortable with my technique then I will try the same beer again and look for improvements. Secondly, I actually still have a few bottles of last year’s Pumpkin and it is drinking very well. So I did not see much need to try making the same beer again, yet. Instead my fervor for creating a pumpkin ale this year really came down to reading a few reviews and press releases of what other breweries were doing. The release that excited me most for the season was Oak Jacked Imperial Wood Aged Pumpkin Ale by Uinta Brewing Company.

Jacked is brewed with fresh pumpkin and fall spices and has been aging in Oak barrels for 6 months. The oak barrels add subtle nuances of toasted vanilla and bourbon notes. With an ABV of 10.31% (a play on the date of Halloween), Jacked is a big, unique pumpkin ale.

My mouth could not stop watering. I have not tried this beer and I doubt I will, sadly. But it gave me the Brewer’s Itch™ and I knew I had to recreate this beer for what my mind thought it should be. Again, though, today’s story is not about my take on this beer. That idea will become pumpkin beer number two for the season. It did however fuel the flames and lead us to today, where I present the story of a desire for an Oktoberfest, but with pumpkin.

Septoberfest

I love a traditional, German Oktoberfest. My favorites have a rich, malty backbone. If one were to look at the grain bill for one of these beers, I would venture a guess that very few different grains are used. Last year I decided on brewing something of an Irish ale, with dark malts and an Irish ale yeast. This year I wanted a lighter colored beer, but still the rich body.

Pumpkin ale and Oktoberfests are the two popular seasonal beers available at this time of year, but they can be quite different. A pumpkin ale can choose to embrace its unique flavor and delve into the world of sweet and spicy by mimicking the flavors of pumpkin pie. Other brewers instead choose to make their pumpkin ales using the fruit as a way to add a bit more earthiness and body to what is usually an Amber lager. These are two different interpretations (and there are more) of the seasonal beer, and I think both can be great.

The other idea floating around was to make a traditional Oktoberfest. This presented a number of problems for me as well. I don’t have the proper lagering facilities. I cannot control the temperature of my fermenting beer enough to really get it in the range that lager yeast do their work, roughly 45 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit. The other problem in my mind is that I believe Oktoberfests to be a fairly simple grain bill and probably more appropriate to be brewed using all-grain methods as opposed to extract. I did not rule out the idea, however, and decided to conduct some unofficial research by sampling whatever Oktoberfests I could find at the local store. It was in the Victory Festbier and Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest that I found my answers. These wonderfully malty, and nutty beers were the flavors I craved. I would recreate them, but I would not be creating an Oktoberfest. I would instead use their recipes and inspiration and brew an ale with pumpkin.

Putting It All Together

Maybe I was making an Oktoberfest. By any traditional means, and especially by the reinheitsgebot, this was no Oktoberfest. But the flavors I tasted in the Hacker-Pschorr and Victory cemented in my mind that I needed to use a simple grain bill to build out that malty backbone. I lacked the proper fermenting temperatures to lager the beer, or did I?

Wyeast 2112 California Lager ferments in the range of 58 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit, and will help me retain some of the lager characteristics I seek if I can keep the temperatures just a little bit lower. This was my answer going forward. In choosing my yeast it was important to try and find something that wouldn’t necessarily impart a lot of flavor but at the same time perform respectably at these early Fall temperatures. I had also considered using Wyeast 1338 European Ale but it gets very active and likes a bit higher gravity than what I was aiming for, I believe. Even when I first started conceptualizing the beer I had considered a Scottish Ale yeast. Rich and malty? You bet. It’s homebrew and it’s pumpkin; why not be crazy?

In researching the Oktoberfest beers I scrounged for clone recipes and tidbits residing on brewers’ websites. It became evident that one of my main grains would be Munich. Fortunately it seems that Northern Brewer, a local homebrew shop, recently added Munich Malt Syrup to their inventory. This would become my “base malt”. In keeping true to the idea of a simple grain bill, I didn’t stray far from the German malts and included a small amount of Vienna as well.

The Recipe

Fermentables

• 6.0 lbs Munich Malt Extract
• 0.5 lbs Dark Dry Malt Extract (DME)
• 0.5 lbs German Dark Munich
• 0.5 lbs German CaraMunich II
• 0.5 lbs Vienna
• 45 oz. Canned Pumpkin @ 15 min left in boil — pre-baked for one hour in oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit

Hops

• 1 oz. Cluster (6.8%) @ Sparge
• 1 oz. German Tettnang (3.7%) @ 60 minutes

Other

• 1 tsp Nutmeg @ 15 minutes
• 1 tsp Cinnamon @ 15 minutes

Yeast

• 1 packet Wyeast 2112 – California Lager, pitched from a starter

Proposed Specifications

• Batch Size: 5 gal
• Original Gravity: 1.054
• Final Gravity: 1.013
• ABV: 5.5%
• Bitterness: 24.4 IBU
• Color: 10.9 SRM