The Alchemist Pub And Brewery

My oh my , it has been a long time….

It’s 2010, and the beers are flowing like crazy here at The Alchemist.  I’m sure some have come and gone since my last update and I apologize for that.  If you missed any of them , I guess you should have come in!!!

Right now, we still have a little bit of our Blackout and Beelzebub left on tap. These are a few of the stouts I spoke about brewing this winter.  The next one, Knuckle Dragger , is waiting patiently in the cooler.  It should be released some time in the next two weeks.  It is a Belgian-inspired milk stout, and it is going to be really nice, best batch yet, I believe.  Sterk Wit is also done fermenting, aging, and awaiting release in the next few weeks.  When I get to work tomorrow, I will be racking and carbonating this years batch of Petit Mutant.  This American wild ale was brewed back in June, spent a lot of time on a lot of cherries, a little time on french oak, and then a lot of time in stainless steel.  Tart, sour , and full of deep cherry character, yum……

I’ll be brewing two batches this week.  First comes a batch of Broken Spoke, an all Amarillo brew.  It’s been a pale ale, an IPA, and a few variations in between.  This one will be about 60 IBU and 6-7% abv.  Usually it is exclusively Amarillo , but I have 7 pounds of Vermont grown Cascades in my cooler that I may just dump in at the end of the boil….. should be nice.

The other this week is Menage a Trois, a Belgian-style strong golden ale.  It will be fermented with the Bastogne yeast, but I may up the hops a little and add some Brettanomyces Bruxellensis, again, we’ll see…..I WAS just drinking Orval last night….

Heady Topper is on tap right now, it is just delicious, come and get it while it’s fresh, because it won’t last long.  I also released Celia Saison, our latest gluten free offering. The flavor of the sorghum is really suited  to the style, and you’ll probably see it back again in summer.  The next gluten free beer will be a very hoppy pale ale some time toward spring.

Other than that , I think I’ve got you up to date.  Hopefully, by summer, I will have my new tanks in, and you’ll have cask Holy Cow on 7 days a week!!!!

Stay tuned.

John

Well, it certainly is about time I get a new blog out to you folks.  For the last three days my house has been full of flu ridden people with 102` fevers, good stuff…

The first of several stouts is now on tap.  Brecky, our first oatmeal stout is flying out of the taps.  Last week I brewed a batch of Beelzebub, a very hoppy and very roasty American stout.  It really is a labor of love to brew that beer. All of the roasted malts make for a VERY difficult mash.  It will come in at about 8% A.B.V. and has 80 I.B.U.’s of hoppy goodness.  I will be brewing a batch of Blackout tomorrow whether my fever is gone or not.  Our friend Stacy has been busy making the coffee for this coffee stout and it will be on tap the same time Beelzebub is on tap.

This year’s batch of El Jefe will be racked and carbonated on Wednesday for a release on the Friday after Thanksgiving.  For those of you unfortunate enough to have never tried El Jefe, it is an American dark IPA, or as we like to call it, an India Dark Ale, IDA.  I brew this beer with only Simcoe hops which give it a distinct aroma of spruce. It certainly lives up to its motto, “ Bold, Black, and bitter as hell”.  At 6.5% A.B.V., it is a very sessionable and drinkable.  It goes VERY quickly, so don’t bet on it lasting into January.

On December 10th, I will be brewing the beer for release on 10/10/10.  I had been back and forth as to what this beer should be, but with the death of my dear friend, Greg Noonan, I decided it would be a Wee Heavy.  My head chef, Jeff Lang, will be helping me during a very long brew day.  It will be brewed by using the first runnings of two mashes, and will also produce a “small” beer from the second runnings. The working title for the Wee Heavy will be Wee Wittle Wabbit.  I know it’s silly, but I think it will be incredibly funny to hear people order it and sound like they are talking baby talk.  If anyone would have laughed at the idea, it would have been Greg.  The small beer has no name yet, but it will be along the lines of Shut The Hell Up, hoppy and low alcohol content.

The next stout to be brewed this winter will be a batch of Knuckle Dragger, a Belgian-inspired milk stout.  When I bring in the Belgian yeast, I will do a string of beers with it.  Definitely a batch of Sterk Wit, maybe some Menage a Trois, maybe a batch of Honky as well.  If you have any requests, let me know. I will be sure to ignore every one of them… (j/k)

Until my next update, have a safe and happy holiday season.  Don’t drink and drive.

John

And all of a sudden , it’s October…..

Aside from an employee bash and a wedding of a dear friend in Jackson Hole (see photos below), it’s been quite a busy month; but I guess the biggest news is our two new medals from the Great American Beer Festival!

Both were in the Gluten-Free category, a Bronze for Celia IPA and a Gold for Celia Framboise.

When Jen found out six months ago that she would no longer be able to drink my beer, I set out on a mission to brew her something better than what she was bringing home from the stores.  Last year, Anheuser-Busch took the gold medal , this year all they got was the silver….

I’ve gone ahead and brewed a second batch of the Celia Framboise which will be ready in about 3-4 weeks.  The IPA may have to be shelved for a while because I just can’t add two more full-time offerings.  So for the near future, the framboise will be your gluten-free choice at The Alchemist.

The Heady Topper is flowing freely as you read this.  It is certainly a good time to come in for a visit if you are a fan of the hops.  Heretic turned out just wonderfully, and the next batch of Holy Cow is a choice one.

I’ve got a second batch of Harvest Ale fermenting right now.  I’ll take it a bit drier than the batch currently pouring, and I think I’ll jack up the dry-hopping.  It should be on through the month and into November maybe.

Uncle Daddy 2009 has finished fermenting and will be put onto the spices late this week.  I bumped up the pumpkins from 75# to 100# and moved them all into the kettle.  Wow.  The pumpkin flavor is very pronounced, and the color is a beautiful shade of orange.  That should be released somewhere around the middle of October.  For those of you that don’t remember, it is a 7% abv Pumpkin Hefeweizen.  And for you Boston area folks, Uncle Daddy will once again be poured at Cambridge Brewing Company’s charity event on Halloween.

I will be racking the Petit Mutant off of the cherries sometime soon.  Look for this beauty late October/ early November……

Other than that, I’ll be making a big oatmeal stout for my next seasonal.  I’ll keep you informed about it as I figure it out.  Before you know it, I’ll be making El Jefe…

Until then, drink up…

John

Here it is, September.

First and foremost, the hops have been harvested and they are already soaking in the Heretic.  They were harvested on the 23^rd, and I put them into the Heretic on the 30^th.  I will rack the beer to the serving tank on Tuesday, for a Wednesday release.  See you at opening on 9/9/09.

The harvest went well with my generous volunteer crew organized by Tim Cropley. We got there bright and early Sunday morning, bing bang boom, we were finished and on our third beer by noon.  I was just able to get all of my hops on the trays I had rigged.  I ended up with 6 pounds of wonderful, resinous hops, so if you figure a ten to one ratio, it was probably about 60 pounds wet.

It is always entertaining to pick hops with first-timers.  I remember my first time very well.  It sounds like the coolest job on earth until you get about an hour into it, that’s when reality sets in, and you become VERY thankful that there are people around you to help.  Everyone really hung in there and worked hard, I can only hope I made their time there as enjoyable as I could.

The hops were in pretty good shape in most spots, with the exception of a few patches that were too close to the wall.  Over the years , they have crept toward the base of the wall, so I will be moving them out a bit.

When I do this, I will also be splitting up the rhizomes.  Any extra will be packaged up and available to the public on a first come, first served basis. I can’t tell you exactly what strain they are due to the mixing of roots, but it could be Cascade, Willamette, or Chinook.  Very healthy and very FREE.  Stay tuned to this blog for the actual date…

This years Harvest Ale is on the dry hops as you read this.  Very malty and lightly dry-hopped with Columbus.  I will be making a second batch next week.

Uncle Daddy will be brewed next week .  The pumpkins are on order as well as a big pile of organic vanilla beans.  I’ve saved enough of the Moat Mountain yeast from the Hefty Weizen to ferment it,  hopefully the clove character will carry through for a second time…

Heady Topper is just about done fermenting….

I might make an oatmeal stout soon……

I’m sick of writing…..

And if you don’t work for me , don’t even think of showing up to our employee party!!!!!

And just like that it is August.

The Vermont Brewers Festival has come and gone and we are in the thick of it at The Alchemist.  The gluten-free beers are both on tap now and are being very well received.  I think that the Celia Framboise will be the direction I take with that beer.  I like the Celia IPA, but the flavor of sorghum seems to be really suited to the fruit and wild yeast.  The next batch is potentially going to be sour-mashed much like the last batch of Wild Child.  Look for that sometime in the early winter…

The Rapture is currently on tap and is flying away as we speak, so come and get it soon.  This years batch of Ouroboros will be ready to go on August 10th, the day after KENNY’S WEDDING!!!! It was a special request by the groom himself.  So if you were lucky enough to get an invitation, you’ll have a chance to drink it before anyone else.  When I get to work today, I’ll be racking this years Hefty Weizen (6.2%ABV).  I was once again able to obtain yeast for this batch from my friend Wil Gilson at Moat Mountain and it will be pouring mid-August into September.  And, as always, we will NOT allow you to put a lemon wedge in it…

Tomorrow morning I will be brewing a new IPA.  I’ve got a can of British yeast, my usual British malt, and an overabundance of Fuggles that must be used.  So it will come in at about 6.5% ABV and it will be absolutely overflowing with hops.  Technically it will be a British IPA, but the hopping rates will be very much American.  Still haven’t been able to come up with a good name, but the working title is Ello Guvnah! (spoken loudly, in a terrible cockneyed accent).  I’m sure I’ll come up with something.

Other than that, I’m just trying to keep up.  The next round of seasonals I brew will be Harvest Ale 2009.  I’ve ordered 100# of wet hops from Washington.  Instead of using them wet( Harvest Ale 2006- not my favorite), I will dry them myself and use them immediately after drying. Should be nice.

The hops on the side of the building have started forming cones and are on schedule to be ready for use in Heretic. ( release date 9/9/09).

Before you know it, I’ll be brewing winter beers;  so stay sharp and stay tuned in…