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Thank you all for your loyalty and support over the years.

That is it for my groveling.

On to the beers.

First of all, disregard my cask Holy Cow announcement on my last blog. It will not be on until August-ish.  Good things come to those who wait…..

I have a double batch of Focal Banger sitting on the dry hops as you read this.  This IPA will be poured at the pub, and at this years Vermont Brewers Festival.  It will be known as Ball n Chain IPA at the fest in honor of my niece’s wedding the same weekend.  I will be at that wedding, and my head chef, Jeff Lang, will be running our tent for the event.  We will also be pouring our annual lager, Your Mother, a German-inspired Pilsner.  This little beauty was fermented with a classic strain of lager yeast,  heavily hopped with Hersbrucker and Opal, and cold conditioned for 14 weeks.  Since half of it will be given away at the festival, it will only be making a BRIEF appearance at the pub.  3.5 barrels of Pilsner does not last long in the summer…..

With an additional fermenter coming online soon, I may be able to sneak a batch of Fluxcapacitor through the system in the late summer.  I will be carbonating and kegging the Wee Wittle Wabbit on Wednesday.  This not so Wee Heavy is stunning, and will sit patiently until 10/10/10, its release date.

I also have a batch of Farmers Daughter aging in the cellar.  I’ve been very pleased with this spring’s string of Belgian-style ales.  This one is no exception.  A little more bitter than past versions, but everything else stayed the same.

Honky , our house white ale, is absolutely at its best these days.  I had one the other night, and the phenolics have settled so nicely into place.  Well balanced and very drinkable.

Menage a Trois  will be on for the next 3 weeks or so.

If you haven’t been in during the last two weeks, I suggest you do.  El Jefe is making an off-season appearance, and it won’t be around long. I give it 2-3 more weeks.

As with all of my beers, the benefits of unpasteurized and unfiltered beer is that you get to taste them evolve over the course of their existence.

Before you know it, I will be brewing Rapture and Ouroboros.  Stay tuned, and stay thirsty.

John

Petit Mutant, and Heady Topper fans should probably come in sooner, than later.  Both will be gone in about a week.  You won’t see Heady for a while, and the next batch of Petit won’t be released until winter.

There is a little bit of Celia Saison left, so if you want to taste the best gluten-free beer in the world, come and get it.  We recently won a Gold Medal at the World Beer Cup for the Celia.  The next gluten-free offering is getting brewed in two weeks, Celia Pale Ale.

I have had MANY requests to bring back the IPA, but it was just too bitter in my opinion.  So I will compromise with making a 25-30 ibu hop bomb to be released some time in May.  We will most likely have a two week gap in our gluten-free offering around the early part of May.

Brecky is back on tap.  This is the second batch, and I changed things up a little.  Instead of 5.5%abv, it is at 7.5%.  This makes a big difference in the final taste, the most obvious is that the new batch is a little drier.  All in all, it is still an incredibly satisfying beer.  Don’t look for it to come back any time soon, it was a bitch to brew, and I always get a terrible yield.  That is the double whammy death knell for any beer.  Should be on through May.

Sterk Wit will be around for a few more weeks. This is one of my favorite batches so far.

Coming down the line are a couple of old favorites.  When the Heady Topper is gone, we will be releasing this years batch of Shut The Hell Up!.  An American mild ale coming in at 3.8% abv.  LOADED with Simcoe hops, and absolutely oozing with the flavor and aroma of pink grapefruit.  As always it will be served in a larger glass so that our employees will have the option of offering their indecisive customers a “nice tall glass of Shut The Hell Up”.  Good stuff….

Menage a  Trois will come on tap when the Petit is gone.  This Belgian-inspired strong golden ale has been aging in my cooler for the last ten weeks. Smooth, delightful, and nicely phenolic.

The new batch of Honky is just about done fermenting, and will replace the Sterk Wit.  Honky is our house white ale brewed in the traditional manner, using coriander and Curacao orange peel in the kettle.  Light and Summery, just in time.

So that is it.  Hope this helps.

Drink good beer…..

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

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

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

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!!!!!

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…

The next subject is all of the tasty beer coming up here at The Alchemist. I’ve just finished carbonating the new batches of Mortal Sin and The Crusher.  They will both be released some time in the next week, so look out for a new tweet announcing the exact time.  We’ve gone ahead and added a little something for your viewing pleasure.  It is the episode of Bugs Bunny from which The Crusher got its’ name.  The name of the short is “Bunny Hugged” and it is as hilarious as ever.  Enjoy…..

I’ve got a new batch of Petit Mutant fermenting as you read this, and I will be making our first 7 barrel batch of gluten free beer this Sunday.  Celia Framboise will be a Belgian-inspired sorghum beer fermented with red raspberries and pomegranate.  Celia IPA will be brewed in a few weeks in time for the Vermont Brewers Festival.  And don’t forget, Rapture will be making a return in July as well.

Lastly, I would like to ask all of you to kindly take the time (about 5 minutes) to go to the following link and fill out the 7 Days Vermont Daisies Reader Picks.  We have never asked our customers to fill out this form, because quite frankly, I always spaced it.  But this year is different and we are on top of it.  The most important categories are 15-Best Brewpub, and 18- Best Apres Ski.  If you’d like to give a nod to our web designer, it is Moosedog Studios of Stowe.

Thank you all for making our little pub such a fun place to be.

Hops: 5/12/09

As you can see, the hops are really taking off.  Probably up to about twelve feet now and growing about 4-6 inches a day.

I just released this years batch of Heathen, and a couple of days ago, I released Sass-Mouth, a Saison-inspired hoppy treat.

The primary reason I put out this new blog is to inform all of my red drinkers that we will be temporarily out of Donovan’s Red. Gasp!!! “What will I drink?” you might ask?  Something else, that’s what you’ll drink.  The process of brewing has an uncanny way of throwing you curve balls, and this is a new one.  Two nights ago I was carbonating the latest batch of Red before I left for the evening, and when I came in yesterday morning, I was STILL carbonating the batch of Red….. SHIT!

The long and short is that I now have to brew a new batch to cut with the horrendously over-carbonated batch in order to come out with two batches of tasty, delicious Donovan’s Red.  So you’ll have your red back in about two weeks.

Other than that, The Crusher is just about done with fermentation and should blow your hoppy socks off.  Stay tuned …..

Hops 4/20/09

can’t even believe it.  The hops are absolutely going nuts right now. I took a picture last week, and it is out of date, so here is a shot of last week, and this week.  I chopped a bunch of the shoots back, and they are well on their way up the twine.  Keep in mind , I’ll be giving away A LOT of rhizomes next spring…..

Hops 4/27/09

I just put Shut The Hell Up! on tap this afternoon.  I’m very pleased with it. Very hoppy and crisp for an American mild ale, and coming in at 3.9% ABV! It’s a little stronger than I wanted, but I am still figuring out my new mash tun. Sometimes I get very good extract and overshoot it a bit.  Oh well…

The Heady Topper will be on for about three more weeks, and after that, this years batch of Heathen will be released.  A beautiful blond hop bomb coming in at 7% ABV.   The Wild Child is as sour and delicious as ever, and on tap for May.

I also have a new spring Saison sitting in a serving tank waiting to drop bright.  I’ll release it as soon as I come up with a name.

Next week, I will be brewing a new batch of The Crusher. If you loved the last one, just wait…Also being brewed in the next few weeks will be Mortal Sin, to be released on June 6^th.

As for the gluten –free beer, Celia, I will make it in the next three weeks or so.  The test batches came out with encouraging results. I should be able to brew a very good pale ale with the sorghum, but I think it is best suited for a Belgian-style beer. As for which version I make first, we’ll see.

For now, that is all the updates on the beer front.