The Great Belgian Beer Run: Getting There

The two could not be more different, aside from the fact that both of the crafts possess the ability of flight. The first leg of our Beer Run required us to travel from Grand Rapids, MI to Chicago in the most cramped accommodations as possible. Small, and I feared rickety, our first tiny plane got the job done. Sporting only three seats across and a surprisingly spacious 13 inch wide seat, our first plane was quite half pint (BEER PUN!!!). As we taxied along to the runway, I couldn't help but wish that our recent snowfall weren't so present. Full disclosure, I am not afraid of flying, but taking off and landing do tap into a very primal level of anxiety for me. Sweaty palms aside, leg one of our journey went off without a hitch.

O'Hare was ok, biggest ding against them was that they do not offer free wifi, but they are swell enough folk to let you purchase it at an hourly rate. I would have loved to be tweeting my little buns off during our time there but this post will have to carry the load. Before picking up a bite to eat,  we surveyed our wing of the airport and found that Goose Island brewery had a tap room there. 

Score. 

They make great beers, and had an offering especially well suited to our occasion, a Belgian inspired ale called Matilda. I am a big fan of this beer with it's soft bready malt presentation backed up by pleasant pear and pineapple-esque esters of moderate intensity, accented by gentle peppery phenols. There is a dash of herbal hop flavor and balancing bitterness that really makes this beer refreshing. We all enjoyed it, and can not wait to see how it compares to the beers that inspired it. 

Plane number two is much bigger. Not being part of the 1% (too soon?) my traveling partners and I passed First Class with lust in our hearts. It was ever so plush and inviting. Crazy recliner-type Freedom Sofas (is that a thing?), an assortment of beverages I dared not touch, and leg room that I would later learn to covet like my neighbors wife. Not to be out done, my Coach seating offers narrow seats, butt numbing flotation devices for seats, and come with a complimentary four foot tall woman seated behind me who uses the back of my seat as a speed-bag while yelling loudly in french every time I prepare to greet sleep. I will admit that the little 'asian' chicken meal that I had was rather tasty, as was the miniature brownie that was all served with love. Well played United. 

We left Chicago at 6 pm on Thursday. Our eight hour flight should get us there, allowing for time change at around 9am the following morning, which is really 2 am for us. I have only dozed occasionally as previously mentioned, thanks pint-sized lady! I am not too worried about it though. Nothing can mess this trip up. It is going to be amazing. I am going to get to delve into one of the richest beer cultures on earth with two of my closest friends. Friday's plan of action is landing, finding the hotel, the hitting Brewery Cantillon. We will roll with the punches from there. 

Anyhow, as I type this there is only another hour and three quarters until we touch down in Brussels. The little map on the seat in front of me says we are almost over the UK  I will try to update when I can. If you have questions or want more of the hot beer by beer action as it happens, follow me on Twitter @adammmills. Until then...

Drink good beer with good people! 

I know I will be :)

Follow The Entire Experience:

#TGBBR – The Great Belgian Beer Run: Brussels Bound

The Great Belgian Beer Run: Getting There

The Great Belgian Beer Run: Day One, Part One

The Great Belgian Beer Run: Day One, Part Two

The Great Belgian Beer Run: Day Two: Saint Sixtus Abbey

The Great Belgian Beer Run: In Bruge

#TGBBR - The Great Belgian Beer Run: Brussels Bound

This is what did it.

Thanks, monks.

My friend Kevin came over hours after finishing his last test to complete his degree. To toast and celebrate his success, he brought along three small 11oz-ish bottles from the Trappist brewery of Rochefort. He brought the 6, the 8, and the above enshrined 10. For those of you that have to claim these beers as untasted, do the humane thing and remedy that.

It was our third five ounce pour, the number 10 that lead to this discussion.

Me: This (the internets) says that the 6 is difficult to get. Speaking of which, the 'Greatest Beer in the World' Westvleteren 12 isn't even legally available in the US.

Kevin: Really?

Me: Yeah, you can only buy it directly from the monestary, or from the cafe across the street from it.

Kevin: That would be an awesome trip. Just fly to Belgium, go there drink their beers, then come home.

Me: Yeah, hahahaha! That would be amazing!

Then we crossed the line into the land of Why Not?

Fast-forward seven weeks later. We are about to step on a plane that will begin our whirlwind beer run. Our goals are simple: Westvleteren,  Cantillion, and whatever else we can get into. I will keep you posted.


If you have any tips or suggestions for breweries, beers, eateries, or the like, comment below or on my Twitter.

Drink good beer with good people! (I know I will be)


I will post tons of pictures and other updates while we are on the ground. Follow me on Twitter for the latest: @adammmills 


Also, if you have any questions about the trip as it is happening let me know, and I will try to answer them.

Follow The Entire Experience:

#TGBBR – The Great Belgian Beer Run: Brussels Bound

The Great Belgian Beer Run: Getting There

The Great Belgian Beer Run: Day One, Part One

The Great Belgian Beer Run: Day One, Part Two

The Great Belgian Beer Run: Day Two: Saint Sixtus Abbey

The Great Belgian Beer Run: In Bruge

Brewing With Oak

I have finally started using a brewing technique that I have wanted to try for years, brewing with oak. It all started for me by listening to an amazing show on the Brewing Network. One of their shows, The Sunday Session, had Shea Comfort on as a guest to talk about wine yeast and oak in beer. Shea is amazing. His knowledge of wine and oak is incredible. He lays out basic flavor and aroma expectations for oaked beers, oaking techniques, and information about the various types and toast levels of oak. Now I am finally putting that information to work. Click here to link to the interview with Shea. (Please note, adult language is used in these podcasts, use headphones if the kids are in the room). Also, do yourself a favor and check out these articles on oak from the Brewing Newtwork's Jason Petros. Jason has also done a lot of work with oak and cacao nibs in beer. Click here to see Jason's oak article and discussion of his oak and dry nibbed oatmeal stout from his blog. There is a ton of great info in these two sources.

You have a couple ways you can use oak in your beers, during fermentation and post fermentation. First, when you utilize oak in the ferment you lose some of the compounds that will be metabolized by the yeast, and oak aromatics will blow off with the vigor of fermentation. So why oak the ferment you ask? For body and structuring tanins. French and Hungarian oak especially lend slight notes of spice, roast coffee, and mild woodsyness, but these oaks in particular will lend a fullness and complexity to the body of the beer. Secondly, you can use oak after fermentation. This is where you will get the fullness of what oak can contribute to a beer: aromatics, flavors, and structuring tannins. You can mix and match these techniques to crate very unique beers.

Before adding oak to beers, this is how I handle it. I use one ounce of oak at a time. I put that ounce into a small microwaveable jar with 1/4 cup of water and microwave it until it just starts to boil, let it sit for a bit, then repeat. Do this with your container covered to effectively steam your cubes (I use cubes for the greater flavor complexity they offer over chips). Then they can be added to your fermenter or keg for aging. This steaming method also helps to extract flavors and aromas from the wood to jumpstart the oaking process, sort of like an instant infusion. You will see what I mean after you smell the container you steamed the oak in. Oak your beers to taste, usually shoot for one to two weeks. Please be patient with your oaked beers, and give them at least a few weeks to put themselves together after packaging. Your patience will be rewarded.

I did my only me second oaked beer just a few weeks ago, a batch of my Old Siberian Winter Warmer.

As brewed for the first time as a pilot batch, it is like a slightly strong malt forward english brown ale featuring American medium toast oak post fermentation. Early tastings of it have encouraged me to make my next two beers oaked as well.

Later this week I will be brewing my Fifth Voyage Coconut Porter.

For this beer I will utilized medium toast Hungarian oak during fermentation. Again, the goal here is to capitalize on the positive structuring tannins that the Hungarian oak is good for, along with very minor flavor and aroma potential. I am using this as a way of fleshing out the complexity of my porter's body, in hopes of an interesting complex beer.

In short order after Fifth Voyage, I will be brewing my Irish Breakfast.

Irish Breakfast is an oatmeal stout that will get fed oak at both stages, fermentation and post ferment. It is a standard oatmeal stout brewed to 4.7%. I like the idea of brewing low gravity, high flavor session ales. The first year of my homebrewing career was spent on these small beers, they can be wonderful. With Irish Breakfast I use a blend of oak, both French and American. I plan on using heavy toast French in the ferment to, again, bolster and add complexity to the body, and American medium toast to drive in some of the vanilla, caramel, and aromatic sweetness notes to the beer.

I will keep you up to date on the progress of these beers, and I hope that you would touch base with me about your own adventures into the world of brewing with oak.

Drink good beer with good people!

Follow me on Twitter: @adammmills

Dr. Charles Bamforth

Hey everyone. One of my all time favorites in the craft beer world is Dr. Bamforth of the Brewing Science program at UC Davis. He is a wealth of knowledge, and an interesting guy as well. I have heard him interviewed a few times, and he is alway informative and enjoyable.

A fellow homebrew made me aware of a free webinar that you can take part in on Thursday March 15 from 2:00-3:00pm ET. The site says he will cover: I just registered today.

What You Will Learn

• Why malt makes such a difference for beer and how brewers secure the best malt
• Why “adjunct” is usually not a dirty word.
• How to achieve product diversity with hop materials
• When and why yeast makes a difference
• How water is acquired, conserved and replenished
• And much more…

I just registered today. If it seems like something you are in to, check it out with the link below!

More Advanced Beer and Brewing –Tips, Tricks, and Tidbits You Wish You Knew - Dr. Charles Bamforth

Drink good beer with good people!

Twitter: @adammmills

Heretic Review & Yeast Review: White Labs - San Diego Super Yeast WLP090

So here is a compilation of some of the comments I have strewn about the interwebs the past few days in regard to WLP090, and a brand spanking new review of a couple of Heretic beers. Some of it you may have seen in other crannies of the internet that I frequent, but there are some new angles, and other stories as well.

I had the pleasure of being invited over to a fellow BN'ers (Brewing Network listeners) home to try some Heretic beer, both Evil Twin and Evil Cousin, some of my pilot batches, and some other homebrewed beers. The previous week, I met up with another BN listener that lives pretty close by, so our host, in his generosity extended the invitation to him as well.

First let me make note of the Heretic beers. One of my brewing mentors has been Jamil Zainasheff. Recently he opened a new brewery call Heretic Brewing in Pittsburg, CA. The beers we drank from Jamil were nice fresh examples as they were brought home by our host's daughter, as Heretic is not currently distributing to Michigan. (You can buy it online though). The Evil Twin was really a great beer. The hops were expressive, really jumping out of the glass. The hop character was resiny, and green, very fresh dry hoppy goodness. I got a lot of pink grapefruit out of it. The color was is killer red, and the malt (dark caramel and toast) bill was substantial enough to make it a balanced hoppy beer, with a smooth base bitterness. Really well done. The Evil Cousin was good as well. The hop profile was a bit less aggressive than the Twin, and it was more catty, but in a good way. Jamil and his brewer Chris really know what they are doing.

After those beers we moved on to tasting my Torchlight Munich Blonde and Bulldog Irish Red that were both brewed with the San Diego Super Yeast. I have been working with 090 for a few batches now and I am very pleased. Let it be said that it is a very clean clean yeast in the same vein as 001. The advantage to it is speed and floc time. On the homebrew side, if you have the time, feel free to stick with 001. If you need to shave a few days off your process, give 090 a shot.

It starts pretty fast, under 12 hour if I let the starter go for 24 or so hours. It attenuates well. I mashed my helles type beer (no crystal malt) @156 and got 77% attenuation with 090, with the majority of fermentation happening at 60. It does generate more heat than a 001 fermentation, so keep an eye on your temps. I got 70% attenuation when I mashed at 159 for my Irish Red (15% of grist crystal malt). I have a cal common on now @ 63 and I will report back on that beer when it finishes. That was mashed at 155. Thus far, the beer hit high krausen by 12 hours and by 48 hours was beginning to clear. Stay tuned.

I find that it flocs out 33-50% faster than 001. One day on gelatin in a 30 degree finished beer, and it gets bright.

As we were trying my beers at the Heretic tasting, some people tasted a slight berry type ester, raspberry in particular. It had warmed quite a bit by the time we drank it, but it was there nonetheless. I am curious if others have noted this as well. I also got comments that night, and with other tastings, that the 090 does allow the malt to shine through. It really emphasizes the pilsner malt base in Torchlight.

Anyhow, there is the low down on my recent beer adventures. I will be trying the Heretic beers again when I travel to San Diego in May for the Craft Brewers Conference, so I may come back with a follow up to this review.

Drink good beer with good people!

Follow me on Twitter: @adammmills

Lineup Shift

I have been working with different yeast strains over the past several months. I originally fell in love with White Labs WLP007 Dry English Ale yeast. What drew me to this yeast was the rocket speed with which it ferments and flocks out. With it I can get away with many American styles and British styles as well. I spent some time with the old stand by of WLP001 American Ale yeast and it's dry counterpart, US-05 from Fermentis. After being spoiled by the fast finishing 007, the 001 seemed like a snails pace for me. The problem was, I want a clean fermenting yeast like 001, but with the speed and flocculation ability (how fast the beer drops clear) of 007.

Originally I planned on carrying two lagers in Cranker's, a Helles and a Marzen. For production reasons I later decided to handle these beers as ales. I felt as if I was being dishonest as calling my helles a helles if it was done with ale yeast. Therefore our light beer is called Torchlight Munich Blonde. The beer is brewed will german pilsner malt and german hops, and the flavor is so close that, in competition I will still enter this beer as a helles.

After using WLP090 San Diego Super yeast, I believe I may have found my happy medium yeast-wise. It ferments very clean and at low temperatures (60*F). It is a vigorous fermenter, about twice as fast as 001 in comparison. Now back to the marzen.

I have decided to drop the marzen from the lineup in favor of a California Common. The benefits for our beer menu is another hop featured beer that gives diversity in hop profiles between our citrusy IPA and our woody and minty Cal Common. It will take the name from the marzen and be The Local - Cal Common.

Drink good beer with good people!

Twitter: @adammmills

Happy New Year!!!

Here is to a great 2012!

Drink good beer with good people!

Twitter: @adammmills