It's The People, Stupid

Drink good beer with good people. It has been my closing line for my internet ramblings since I started this blog several months ago. If I remember correctly it came from one of many work sessions that I had with my friend David Phelps as we tried to hammer our the branding message and label concepts for Cranker's Brewery. We work well together. David is far more talented than he knows, and when I am in proximity of his creativity, he gives me credit for being a part of it.

We spent hours in his house upstairs bouncing some good, but mostly bad creative concepts off of each other until we created a label line up that we are both quite proud of. These sessions were facilitated by samplings of the homebrewed pilot batches of beer that I was tweaking in preparation for the brewery's opening. Even though the majority of these work sessions consisted of each of us buried in our respective iDevice, it was always a tremendous amount of fun, and one of those memories that will always remain with me. Seeing these images in the brewery today helps to make work feel like home.

Ever since I started homebrewing and I stopped making beer that tasted like wet cardboard I have had the dream of brewing professionally. I never actually expected to, but the concept was always there in the back of my mind. Then somehow, the stars aligned, and here I am at the helm of a fifteen barrel brewhouse. I always imagined myself watching people drink my beers and enjoying their time out. I figured that would be the best part of the whole head brewer thing. That proved to not be the case. Don't get me wrong, it is awesome to see patrons enjoying the brewery. However my best times as a brewer have come from visits from friends old and new.

I guess it spills into some of my past commentary on food, family, and beer. I view food and family as one. The dinner table is where my family congregates and celebrates. It is were we share and mourn. In many ways, it is our hub. Also, beer is food. It brings people together in the same way that food should. I find that I feel the same way whether I am putting a beer in front of someone, or a rack of ribs that I just slow cooked on the grill. There is always pride and emotion behind those items. I want people to enjoy their time. This is why my favorite role in the brewery is that of host.

Jestin and David, childhood (and still to this day) friends. Lee and Kim, he was the first person I judged beer with. Pat and Ray, homebrew buddies turned bff's. Isaac and Megan, two charter members of the Brewing Network: Homebrew Division. Jeff, potentially the finest cider maker in the country. Seth and Laura, beer bloggers and foodies (insert plug here: http://www.michiganbeerblog.net/). Rick and Kim, my favorite local beer tasting buddies.

The fact that these people have taken time out of their schedules to support me is the most edifying part of what I do. Some of them drove from several hours away. Others carved time our of their busy work and family schedule to visit. To all of those who have visited, and to those of you who will, you make this experience special. Thank you for supporting me, the brewery, and in extension, my family.

 Drink good beer with good people!

The Dust Settles

I could tell that life was getting back to normal when I began thinking of messing around on Facebook and Twitter again. For so long, writing blog posts and attempting to create a social media base was my work. When school ended in June of 2011, I had no idea that I would not begin working in the brewery until April 2012. I had things on the brewery front to keep me busy: recipe design, equipment research, contributing to branding duties, and trying to grow the aforementioned social media opportunities. However, those things did not stack up to anything near full time work.

Once I could get into the brewery and start cleaning the world around me sort of shrunk away. I tend to get tunnel vision when it comes to the things that I am passionate about. I started working 12-14 hour days seven days a week. I have listened to countless interviews with brewers who participated in launching a new start up like I was. I knew that things would be demanding and exhausting, I didn't walk into this blind, but I didn't realize how intense the whole thing would be. I know that the journey is not over, but I feel as if I have started to come out the other side.

I am proud to say that I have brewed a total of 120 barrels of beer so far and that they have been clean and in the ballpark of where I want it. Sure the will be tweaks made along the way, but I can live with the start that I had. It is pretty wild watching a restaurant full of people drinking the beer that you have made. The local community has really embraced us at the brewery and have been very supportive. I have met a lot of great people. The biggest thrill for me thus far has been speaking to people who drink Bud Light only, sit down and drink my IPA, and then order a second.

I have plans to start posting more regularly. I am excited to share some of the things I have learned about hopping techniques, malt crushing size in relation to extract efficiency, and maybe some general interest stuff. Until then...

Drink good beer with good people!

Without a Net

I knew that the day would come. For the past seven months I have been on sabbatical from teaching. I have taught in alternative high schools for a decade, servicing an 'at risk' student population. It is challenging work and I love it. Once you have earned the trust and respect of my students, they are fiercely loyal and very loving in their own way. Teaching is a secure profession for the most part, job stability, good pay, quality benefits, and a comfortable schedule.

I took my leave from all of these things to explore the possibilities of becoming a professional brewer. My teaching job is 135 miles away from my house, while the brewery is half a mile away. Brewing is a real opportunity for me to be more a part of the day to day routine of my family. It was my hope to be able to be brewing for the majority of my sabbatical, but it did not work out that way. Anyone who has been part of a brewery startup will tell you that delays in the process come with the territory. Then with my March first deadline looming, I had to officially make my decision. Was I going to roll the dice on a career in brewing, or return to the safety of my teaching job?

As I was writing the letter to my Superintendent informing him of my decision, an array of emotions washed over me. I am a bit of a safety cat by nature, so to see the words I was typing on the screen was admittedly a bit frightening.

"I regret to inform you that I will not be returning to teach for Kelloggsville Public Schools at the end of my sabbatical"

I felt that I was truly stepping off of a ledge.

I don't know about you, but for good or for bad, my career identifies so much about me. I remember when the first school I taught at abruptly closed it's doors leaving me jobless. I felt empty, nameless. 'Teacher' was and is a big part of what I am. In part, it was that title that forced my hand, demanding that I grow up. It is a profession that has given me some of my loftiest highs and some enveloping lows.

There is a small part of me that fears I have made the wrong decision for my family. Time will tell. I hope to be able to look back at all of this and be able to honestly say that I was fortunate enough to have two careers I loved.

Drink good beer with good people.

The Great Belgian Beer Run: Day Three - In Bruge

Jet lag got the best of us.

After sleeping for only a handful of hours the night before, my travel partners and I expected another short night of sleep. Due to that assumption, no alarm was set. We woke up at 10:30 am. We had hoped be have been on the road for hours by this time, but we continued to embace our mantra of just rolling with the punches. We cleaned up fast and took off on foot for the Diegem train stop. Despite the short duration of our stay in Belgium, things were beginning to feel more familiar. Our goal for this, our last full day in Europe would be to take in Bruge.

Our free-wheeling (read foolish) travel plans were to go to Bruge, find beer, and drink it. It had worked for the previous two days, so why would it stop now? The train ride out continued to hold charm for me as we sped away from Brussels. The particular train car we were in was more comfortable than others that we had been on, so I took advantage of the time to settle down and to work on previous blogs in this series. About the time we arrived in Bruge and got off the train was when I realized how poorly I had scouted the city, both for beer and food. Mercifully, my phone was recieving enough of a signal to help navigte us on foot into the historic portion of our destination.

We had always planned for our trip to just be about beer, but Bruge caught us off guard. It was georgous. All of the places we had been in Belgium had a wonderful distinct visual flavor, but Bruge is on another level. The city center is wreathed by various waterways. Many ease through the city center itself, creating picturesque scences wherever you look. The canals encouraged a romantic Old World feel that made me promise to try and bring my wonderful wife out there with me for another among many trips I hope to take back. This is an area that demands that you take your camera out. Despite our intent to remain beer-centric, the beauty of the city turned us into tourists.

With our patented travel approach that has come to be known as "walking around", we managed to find the city's historic center. In all honesty, we set off to see things that we had only seen in the movie In Bruge. I know what you are thinking, and yes we are super savy travelers. The city center was swarming with tourists just like us, picture taking, posing, and being buffeted by heavy warm winds blowing in from the coast. We took our share of pictures and marveled at the archetecture. Lou saw that a nearby museum had a Salvidor Dali exihibit that he wanted to check out, so we did. All I knew about him prior to viewing the hundreds of pieces they had on display was the painting with the floppy clock, what can I say, I am well rounded.

We caught some lunch at one of the little restaurants that line the heart of the city. The beer list looked descent, and there were a lot of french speakers inside eating mussels. This was my cue to follow suit. I like trying to eat local specialties where ever I happen to travel to. In Belgium, one of those items are mussels. I would rate lobster, crab, and shrimp all above mussels when it comes to personal preference, but when in Rome. The food was excellent, and the beers were fine. There was a local 'gueuze' that they served, which was tasty enough, but it did not have authentic flavors. The body was too full and you could tell that it had been back sweetened, robbing it of what should be it's textbook dryness and refreshing snap of acidity.

The rest of the afternoon was filled with picture taking, and nabbing some presents for friends and family back home. As we were walking about town, we were confronted by a jovial man that was dressed as a castoff from a Renaissance Festival here in the USA. He wanted the three of us to take one of those propped and staged tourist photos. I believe that at one point that he called the three of us "Zed-Zed Top" due to the beards we had. Despite his flattery, we moved on.

As the sun approached the horizon and hunger began to stir once agian, we decided to head back to Brussels for dinner and beers. Despite the fact that Day Three of The Great Belgian Beer Run had more of a sightseeing spin, I was glad for it. It gave us another opportunity to take in a culture that is not our own, and provided what ended up to be one of the more invigorating days that we spent abroad.

Drink good beer with good people!

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

Brewery Construction: A Check In

Things are really coming into focus. This week I stopped in to the brewery to help Bruce, our Operations Manager, place our serving tanks in the mezzanine. 

Tanks in the loft prior to being set in place

When I first walked in and looked at the four 15bbl serving tanks I was wondering how we were going to get two more 7bbl tanks up there. Bruce and I climbed the ladder to begin situating the the tanks with a hand truck. After some manipulation and a lot of talk about the final look and functionality of the loft area, I feel as if we came away with some really workable space and a look that will really be cool for the patrons of the bar and restaurant. 

In the loft with tanks arranged.

On the functional side, I was really excited to see the pitch of the floor, or the way the floor angles to the floor drain. That will really help out a lot for clean up, and the like. 

This was the first time that Bruce and I could really take a walk through the building that we will be working in and our time was very productive. We ironed out some issues with cleaning and sanitation that are particular to our equipment as well as concepts for spot keg filling and beer line chilling.

The interior walls are all studded out. The final flooring coat is going in on the brewery in days, then the brewhouse, various fermenters, etc. will be placed in the final week of February. As far as opening dates, a lot of that will depend on when we get our final inspection from the Feds. Stay tuned...

Drink good beer with good people!

The Great Belgian Beer Run: Day Two - St. Sixtus Abbey

Jet lag effects some people differently than others. For my traveling partners and I, it manifested itsself in us all waking up at 3am. Since we had been up for well over thirty hours straight the day before, I figured we all would have hauled in more that the five hours or so of sleep that we did. We took our time getting around for the day as we had a few hours to kill before we could get started on our beer adventure of the day: the beers of Westvleteren. St. Sixtus Abbey in Westvleteren produces some of the most highly sought after beer in the world. They produce a 6, 8, and 12, or a Blonde, a Dubbel, and a Dark Strong. To add to the mystique of their beers, they are label-less and can only be defined by their different color caps.

These beers are not distributed (this will soon change), as the goal of the monks of the Abbey is to sustain their cost of living, not to generate as much profit as possible. The 12 has taken on mythic proportions for hardcore beer lovers as 'The Best Beer in the World'. Also, it was the original goal of The Great Belgian Beer Run.

 Train stop near our hotel.

Diegem: Home base

We left our hotel after a delicious (and over priced) breakfast. It was a ten minute walk to the nearest train station. We all had empty packs on in expectation of bringing back large volumes of Trappist beer from the day's travels. The train stop was, as usual at that of day, sparsely populated. When our train came, we boarded, en route to a small town outside Westvleteren, a place called Poperinge. Train travel was definitely one of the interesting parts of our travel abroad. It is convenient, fairly comfortable, and not very expensive. We spent close to ten hours of our time in Belgium on the trains, I much preferred that to the concept of us driving unable to read the french signs. Yikes.

 Keeping it real on the train.

I loved view from my train seat. I don't know why it is so fascinating to watch the urban landscape meld into country side, but it is. The further we moved away from Brussels the wetter our surroundings became. The water table must have been high, as the further west we moved, cemeteries began to show above ground vaults. Each adorned with simple to elaborate, but always prominent crosses. The small towns we sped past looked so much like the rural sprawl I grew up with, but with some exceptions. All roofs are pitched much steeper than home. Most house's downspouts are recessed into the line of the homes. Several homes that looked like they belonged in subdivisions here in the US, still had pens for livestock in the backyard.

To stay consistent with our theme, when we arrived in Poperinge, we wandered about the downtown area trying to figure out how to get to Westvleteren. The typical method during the summer months is to rent a bike and ride out to the Abbey. We were of course traveling out of season. Back home in Michigan, temperatures were well below freezing. That day in Poperinge in was a near balmy 45 degrees. Lou encouraged us to take bikes anyway. He figured it would make for a more memorable experience, and a better story. You be the judge.

We rented our bicycles from a friendly man in his mid forties. His shop rented out bikes frequently, but not usually at this time of year. He drew us a crude map:

How could we go wrong?

He stressed many times that we needed to have the bikes back by 6pm. He said too many times he has had to wait until late in the night for people to find their way back into town with his bike after they over indulged at the Abbey. We assured him we knew what we were doing.

We figured that we should take our bikes back over to a local cafe, for a quick beverage break before hitting the Abbey.

It was just a small little place, probably not more than ten tables within. I love the fact that you can walk into a place like this and order a beer like this:

Add to that, the fact that every beer we drank in Belgium was properly poured into the appropriate glassware, this really is Beer Nerd Heaven. After some Prior 8 refreshment, we headed out perched atop our bikes, bound for Westvleteren.

Three guys who definitely don't look like tourist.

The ride out to the Abbey was not particularly difficult. It was windy, and we didn't really know for sure where we were going, but once again the kind people of Belgium helped us out again. We asked a young man who was also on bike if he knew if we were on the right road to St. Sixtus. His english was poor, but he pointed us onward before he pedaled on ahead of us. It ended up that he was showing us the way. At the point where our paths diverged, he waited for us to catch up, and he pointed us down the road to the Abbey.

The ride is several miles, but due to our excitement, it seemed to be much longer than that. We passed hop fields that lay dormant and large plots of brussel sprouts that were not too far removed from harvest. The wind blew strong, but the majority of the trip was downhill, a fact that was lost on me at the time. Finally we arrived at St. Sixtus Abbey in Westvleteren.

 Gates to heavenly beer

Post bike ride face of anticipation

The Abbey is not where beer pilgrims purchase their beer. Across the street from the Abbey is a building that looks a bit like one of the newer fancy turnpike rest stops (no offense intended), this is the In de Vrede Cafe. We parked our bikes and walked in with great excitement and anticipation. Soon after finding our own table and sitting, our server came over to take our orders. We figured we should progress numerically, so we requested three number 6's, and two plates, one of cheese, and the other of their pate. The next three hours are one of those 'all-time beer experiences.'

 Westvleteren 6

Westvleteren's beers deserve the hype. The 6 was light, crisp, and flavorful. All elements were in balance. Their beers do not beat you over the brain with phenols, alcohol, or cloying sweetness (take note american brewers of the style). The 6 was subtle and direct: firm pilsner/crackerlike malt as it's base, punchy herbal and spicy hops up to a medium-low level both in aroma and bitterness, and a gentle suggestion of banana and clove. The medium to high carbonation is not stinging on the palate, but rather it creates a pillowy softness that helps to put this beer on another level.

Case with four 6's, and one each 8, 12, and Westvleteren chalice

It paired wonderfully with the pate and cheese, the pate tasting like a blend of smooth fatty smoked meat and hints of black pepper. The cheese was buttery and smooth, with a gentle nuttiness that suits all the beers that Vrede has to offer.

Westvleteren 8 is the finest strong ale I have ever tried, belgian or otherwise. It was aromatically superior to the St. Bernardus Prior 8 that we had all drank hours before.

Westvleteren 8

Big dark brown sugar aromas wafted up off of it's two fingers of gauzy off white head. With the mild spice of the phenols, it almost took on a warm molasses cookie aroma. No hop aroma, simply a malt showcase with a touch of alcohol, but by no means hot fusel alcohol, like in spirits. High carbonation fills the mouth and creates a soft, silky mouthfeel for the beer. It sports flavors of plum, rummy burnt sugar, and a medium-low hop bitterness and flavor (spicy, herbal) that really drives home its splendid balance.

Westvleteren 12 is capped with a large meringue-like tan head that stuck around to the bottom of the glass. Magnificent lacing on the glass. Visually it is majestic.

Westvleteren 12

The malt profile starts with a breadiness that is taken over by dark fruit (fig) and burnt sugar (this is a good thing, think dark caramel). I assume that we were drinking fresh examples of these beers being that we were drinking them from the source, that being said, the alcohol was pronounced in both aroma and flavor. It is still not boozy hot, but we were probably not drinking this beer at it's peak. Remember this is a 11+% abv beer. I found the alcohol almost port-like, as it fills the sinuses with alcohol that can be perceived with exhaling. The alcohol bitterness contributes to the hop bitterness. I cannot wait to try this beer after some proper cellaring.

We loaded up on beer, chocolate, and other Westvleteren swag and tried to figure out how we would handle it all while on our bike ride back. We all had around 30-40 lbs. of beer and goodies strapped into our packs as we started the ride home.

This was where I realized that the majority of the trip back would be uphill. We struggled though high winds, aching shoulders, and a uncooperative bike chain to get back to the bike store just short of 6pm. We stopped back into the Poussecafe for a little dinner and our final beer of the day.

After that, all that was left was trying to catch up on a few z's on our way back to the hotel. A wonderful end to day two. Poperinge is especially beautiful at night, by the way.

Drink good beer with good people!

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

The Great Belgian Beer Run: Day One - Part Two - Brewery Cantillon

Blogging from Belgium on the train: My excuse for crazy typo's

They were outside settling up with the cab driver as I tore open the unassuming front door. I usually attempt to maintain some semblance of manners with others, especially my friends, but in my excitement, I nearly ran in to Brewery Cantillon. This was one of two real crown jewels of our travels. Day one was for Cantillon and day two was for Westvleteren, home of the Trappist beers of St. Sixtus Abbey. To me however, Cantillon was the real prize for so many reasons. 

Upon entering Cantillon I was immediately struck with how rustic it was. It propelled me back in time to my years growing up on a farm with all of the requisite outbuildings. The walls were rough stone covered with plaster and paint. There is a simple set of tables and shelves to display there various wares, a small tasting area with tables and barrels to place your glasses on and to sit, and at the tasting rooms center a small potbellied stove that was fed wood by staff members a few times an hour. The decor was simple. They left the complexity to their beers. 

For 6€ you can receive the tour. They allow you to wander about freely with a guidebook to explain the various stations the brewery was broken in to. The breweries equipment looked to belong in a museum rather than in the work place of an actual operational brewery. My friends and I examined every inch of the brewery that was made available to us. As a brewer, a lover of history, and a beer enthusiast, it could not get much better. 

Brew Kettle

At the end of our tour we seated ourself in the tasting room awaiting our two samples that are a part of the tour's end. A young woman brought us each a glass of gueuze. Before I go further allow me to give you the abridged version of what these beers are, how they are made. 

These are low alcohol beers that usually include a solid portion of wheat in the recipe. They also utilize aged hops rather than fresh. They do this gain the preservative qualities the hops bring to beer, but without the hop flavor and aroma that leaves the hops during their aging process. Once the brewer is done boiling the wort (unfermented beer), they transfer it hot, up to the top level of the brewery into something called a cool ship. Their cool ship is a large copper vessel, wide but shallow that helps the wort to cool, due to the large amount of surface area exposed to the cool winter's air. 

 Cool ship

 Vents open to the outside

What is unusual about their beer is that they do not add yeast once the wort is cooled. Instead they open up large slats in the walls that allow the natural airborne yeast to find the surface of the wort and begin the process of fermentation. Said fermentation takes place in large oak barrels for one to three years prior to being bottled. 

The base beer that Cantillon makes is their lambic. It is still (uncarbonated) and served at cool. A gueuze is a blend of a one and three year old lambic, that is blended to maximize the final beer's complexity. This beer is carbonated, as the younger lambic still has some sugar in it, and the blended beer completes fermentation in the bottle, leaving a carbonated beverage behind. From there, the brewers will blend the gueuze with various fruits: wine grapes, apricots, raspberries, cherries, etc. 

Our goal as a three man tasting party was to taste every beer that they have available. It is not a difficult task as all of their pours are small, around four ounces. Add to that the fact that they all weigh in at a moderate 5% abv, and you have a broad horizon for beer appreciation. We tasted out way through the menu, thoroughly impressed with the depth of character that each beer displayed. I was and am wary of posting too high of praise for this brewery due to their reputation and my expectation of greatness. However, I think I can confidently say that there beers are supremely complex and so well balanced. I have tasted a long line of sour beers, and none are as consistently complex and as skillfully handled as Cantillon.  The gueuze is my favorite. 

My traveling partners were encouraging me to speak with Cantillon's brewmaster, Jean Van Roy. He is one of my brewing heroes, not just for the beers he makes, but for his brewing philosophy. I remember an interview he gave with the Brewing Network on their show, the Sunday Session. When asked if Jean had ever felt pressure to produce his beers faster, Mr. Van Roy replied, "We do not want to betray our lambic, we do not want to betray our beer." When I finally worked up the courage to approach him, I told him that I had heard that quote from him, and I explained how it was so inspirational for me, and now, the bedrock of my philosophy on beer and brewing. 

He I could tell that he was a touch embarrassed by hearing his words recited back to him, but then he continued in that same vein. He explained to me that his brewery is his family business, and that he feels as if they are maintaing a piece of history that was almost lost a few decades before as flavorless maco-beers were sweeping the globe. He took over brewing from his father, his sister does tours and sells their wares. This is why the brewery is so familiar and comforting, it is an extension of the family for them. 

It ended up that the woman who had been serving us beers all day was his sister. She interrupted Jean and I's conversation to speak with him in french. Having no idea of what she was saying, I watched her gesture to where we had been sitting as she went on for some time. Jean replied in french, but he started to say some words that I understood: Cuvee, Gueuze, and 2006. They were discussing which off the menu reserve beer they would pour us. His sister walked away to be back moments later with bottle of their six year old gueuze. It was poured, Jean told us to enjoy, and excused himself back to his work in the brewery. 

 2006 Gueuze with tasting room

2006 Gueuze merchandise counter in background

At his point my friends were enjoying their gueuze at the counter by the merchandise. I withdrew to a corner of the tasting room with my beer. As I have done with every beer I have tasted on is trip, I took pictures of it, and took audio notes. It feels silly to admit, but I held back tears while drinking our reserve gueuze. It was for so many reasons, the enormity of our trip and how unexpected it is, the time I was spending with friends, lack of sleep, Cantillon, and the people that brought it to life. It was obvious that I was near tears. Jean's sister saw this and asked my friends what I was doing, and they explained my pictures and note taking. 

When I approached the counter after finishing our six year old gueuze, I began speaking to Jean's sister. I asked her how long she had been working there, at this point I still did not know that she was family. She held her hand out and down to her knees and said, "forever." I asked her what her favorite beer was from the brewery and she admitted the gueuze to be her favorite. I asked what was her favorite place that was not Cantillon. She smiled as she said, "There is only one beer, one brewery, and one girl." gesturing to herself. Despite her joke, she gave me a small brochure for a lambic bar near by that offers a wide line of beer, cheeses, and breads that she highly recommended. When I asked to purchase a block of their cheese and a tulip glass, she would not allow me to pay, insisting that it was on them. I don't know why she extended me this kindness but it will never be forgotten. It was the perfect end to a perfect first day in Belgium. 

Drink good beer with good people!

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