Phase Three Brewing (2019)

Is Crack they Sky barrel aged, or just the beans?

 

So true. This article happened to pop up on my twitter feed today and it's somewhat related. Someone asked if breweries change their recipe over time. One of the reasons for change is change in ingredients (e.g. hops and grains can vary from batch to batch).

https://thetakeout.com/how-often-do-breweries-change-a-beer-recipe-1833330451

 

I would prefer to use my final breaths to explain how special Galaxy Bowl batch 1 was and how none of the sequels measured up

 

You obviously left "bitch about Transient's IPA pricing" off as an option.

 

It happened to Mikerphone though and I bet half of you guys would say they deserved it!

 

They're still in business? Guess you learn something new everyday....

 

His explanation for things going wrong were things that Shaun couldn't even control. losing power? getting a bad shipment of grain? None of these things have anything to do with the topic at hand. These are professionals that have learned Shauns process and know the recipes/ingredients that he used.

Everyone here is acting like they will be putting out complete crap now because shaun is the second coming and no one could possibly be as good. It's almost like everyone is trying to justify their obsession with him and his beers because they are so invested at this point.

 

Yes if Shaun personally walked you through the process and said "do this, then that then this then that" you will absolutely get something close to his beer. I don't understand why people portray him as a god. He makes great beer. He's great at building recipes. But that doesn't mean it is impossible for anyone else to take his exact recipe and process and get a similar product. Although, I can guarantee that most here will say everything they make is worse now even if it's good.

 

As with most things, the actual truth lies somewhere between two extremes.

 

I mean, if the bar is turning water into wine, he's pretty darn close.

 

I know you're just doing your thing here, but his point is not an invalid one. You can work to be as detail oriented and consistent as possible, but life is still going to throw randomness your way that you don't have control over at all. Trees fall on your power lines, thiefs trying to steal your AC units' copper, etc. If you're a homebrewer, that's a bummer. If brewing is your livelihood, little bit more than a bummer.

Sipping on the newest P3 brew here. Triple fire under a double rainbow.

 

Did you read the post?

 

Yes? the process of getting to a good beer that can be consistently made is full of all the tweaking and mistakes. Saying a person that has been brewing with him this whole time at More can't replicate it just because he isn't Shaun is a little ridiculous.

If this was the case then why do so many great brewers leave and their breweries don't die? How do they continue to make the same beers that still taste the same?

 

I thought Daisy Cutter was the best with brewer number 3.

Two Hearted’s sweet spot was brewer number 5.

Don’t even get me started on Fist city’s second brewer.

 

I don't think "More is gonna suck because Shaun isn't there anymore" has been a thing for at least a couple of pages in this thread now. That was a really interesting and odd knee jerk reaction to the news and never had merit, even before More announced they were hiring Eric from Corridor.

The point was that dumbing the act of brewing beer down to "recipe and process" is a gross oversimplification of what goes into making a quality product. People who think that's all it is, and that those things alone are why More will continue to pump out good beer, aren't showing a whole hell of a lot of respect to the 2 guys who've been asked to step up and make that happen. Their days have been (John w/ Shaun/Eric at Corridor) and will continue to be full of chaotic on-the-fly adaptation to the environment and equipment. I don't need hands to show you how many brew days I've had where everything went right. The answer is 0. Every brew day there's some new bullshit to deal with.

Give em the credit they deserve for handling it and putting out solid beers.

 

I think the best anecdotal evidence we have for how much a specific brewer really takes a good product to the next level is Mike Saboe for Toppling Goliath. When he left (and when their recipes were being brewed by Brew Hub in Florida), their beer unquestionably suffered. It is not as simple as following the recipe, just as 3xAnthony said.

 

I think his point was very valid and I agree with them completely. I just found the power outage to be an extreme example. Can you hold a brewer accountable for producing a subpar batch if he has no power or if damage has been caused to the equipment due to an electrical surge? How about if someone drives their car through the brewery wall? Or if a fire burns down part of the building (obviously experience counts in this one FFF never misses a beat)? Obviously every brewer who has been through something like this has gained wisdom and experience but, hopefully lack of these experiences doesn't have a negative affect on a candidates job interview- "You are otherwise extremely qualified but, I'm afraid we are looking for someone who has brewed through a polar vortex, an earthquake and a small pox infestation and you don't have experience with small pox..."

 

Don't give Mikerphone any more ideas please. They've done enough damage.

And does a measles outbreak count? If so, @3xAnthony has 2 of 3 covered. Just a matter of time before the earthquake comes. #newmadrid

 

It's not dumbing it down. It's incredibly hard to get the recipe and process down.

Also I think it's a little too much to assume breweries are experiencing the same problems that homebrewers are. They surely don't fuck up their strike temp every single time like I do and they sure as hell don't miss their gravity but 10 points because of a shitty mill. Sure, they likely have things that throw them a curveball every now an then but these guys are brewing non stop and have seen just about everything. It isn't disrespectful to say that they were so good at their job that they have a process down that less experienced people can use to reproduce their stuff. In fact, that should be a huge compliment.

 

I think that was Bob... Fuck Bob!