Bruery Hoarder Blending Session

The White oak samples we were working with were in no way Tart. In fact, based on the tap handle, I think we were actually working with White Oak, and not White Oak Sap. If it was White Oak Sap, it may have been last years, or next years, but either way, the winning blend consisted of two other sours, so I can't see how that would do anything but compliment it.

 

I'm not sure if I like this Midwest/Southern trend of adjuncting the shit out of beers to create new insta-whales. Something about it screams Guy Fieri to me.

 

Thanks for the write up Retsinis. Your Black Tuesday/anniversary ale combo with peanut butter powder and marsh mallow cream sounds amazing. How did you use the marsh mallow cream?

 

That PB and Marshmallow Cream beer sounds amazing

The winner, not so much. Pity.

 

Slowly stirring it by with a spoon, by hand, into a french press until it was fully dissolved, and then french pressing it, and pouring the blend into the sample container. I would imagine a full scale of that beer would be really messy, and a lot of work, but it sure tasted delicious to us, and since it was judged as 2nd place, they felt it was pretty good too. Also, we wondered if there would be separation after a while too, so it may be such a beer would only work in a cask, or french press. The PB was de-fatted, so there were no oils in it. Not sure I could say the same for the marshmellow, but maybe there is a powdered commercial version of that ingredient as well.

 

The group I was in came in third. So in case anyone was wondering what we did (if I remember correctly):

8 parts Rueze, 4 parts Oude Tart, and one part each of White Oak and Tart of Darkness. This was over peppercorns and a serano chile.

I'm not a fan of chili beers but the tart and spicy was pretty enjoyable. We also, since we had a little extra time, made two delicious beers that we didn't or couldn't submit. One was a simple Sour in the Rye over mint and the other was an attempt to re-create Dirty Beaver Juice Weekend using 4 parts White Oak, 2 parts bourbon Bois, and 1 part bourbon Smoking Wood. It's been years since I've had Melange 5 but I thought that blend was pretty close (and delicious).

 

So, are they going with 1st place? I kind of like the sounds of your blend better. But that just might because it's chilly out.

 

I think this is more akin to putting together meat and seafood and calling it surf and turf, which is awesome.

 

Second and third sound way better than first.

 

I was worried about 2013 M3 but it is excellent, can anyone give the ratios for it? I think it's pretty high with BT?

 

I'm hopeful the winning blend is offered up to Hoarders next year, since the list for next year could use more sours.

 

Yep, that was pretty much it (although I think the pepper we used was Habanero). We called it "Hot and Sour Soup" (and the fresh mint Sour in the Rye, which was delicious, was dubbed the "Mojito in the Rye'). It was a lot of fun and a good learning experience, but I noticed a few folks dragging (myself included) after Saturday's Barrel Party.

 

Really wish we had more time to blend... My team created a Framboise with a splash of black tuesday that was pretty amazing but decided to go with the Fluffernutter Blacktuesday/Ann blend. Overall this was an amazing event and I hope The Bruery does more things like this in the future.

Beers I didn't have time to make:
Rueze 70% Sitr 30% coconut and lime
Rueze 70% Sitr 30% with kiwi (actually made this one but fruit was overpowering, needed work)
Black tuesday 65% Anniversary 35% with Portola coffee and coconut
Bruery sour suicide: equal parts of Tart of darkness,Sitr,rueze,Oude tart with raspberries&blackberries.

 

Yeah!

 

I find a vegetable peeler gets citrus rind off very easily, makes it into neat strips and only needs to spend a few extra minutes to infuse the extra oils.

 

I just tried a Grey Monday infused with dried cherries and black peppercorns, pretty damned nice but I think I'm going to double the peppercorns tomorrow.

 

Huh? Not really. Surf and turf would be like doing a sake bomb of Dewazakura with Black Tuesday. Two good things on their own that really shouldn't be paired because they mix a lot of flavor profiles and strengths.

Adjuncting out beers is like taking a rib-eye, miso glazing it, wrapping it in bacon, deep frying it, smothering it with a habanero peach sauce and topping it with fried onions. Sure those things all might sound good in theory but at some point it becomes a hot mess. And thus, Guy Fieri.

 

Of the top 3, I like the sound of the winner the most. However, I could go without ginger. Seems to be a difficult ingredient to find the right balance - either taste too much or none at all (I prefer none at all). The rest of the ingredients sound very good.

 

My group with 45% Rueze, 45% SitR, 5% Oude Tart and 5% White Oak Sap with Blackberries and Pomegranates. Tasted pretty damn good, but need more carb and more acid in my mind. But I will say that a straight 50/50 blend of SitR and Rueuze tastes amazing.