This is the HOTV Brewsletter
VOLUME XXV, NUMBER 3
March 2005
PRESIDENT: Scott Caul
VICE-PRESIDENT: Matt Arsenault
NEWSLETTER EDITOR: Mare Goeger
TREASURER: Scott Leonard
FESTIVAL DIRECTOR: Joel Rea
THIS MONTH'S MEETING
The Heart of the Valley Homebrew Club meets on the third Wednesday of
each month, alternating between Corvallis and Albany. Our next meeting will be Wednesday, March 16, at 7:00 p.m., at the home of John Sterner in North Albany.
Directions to John's:
From Albany, cross the Willamette River/Highway 20 bridge like you're heading to Corvallis. Turn Right at the 2nd traffic light, which is North Albany Road. Soon after you cross RR tracks, you will be approaching a school zone. Turn Right onto East Thornton Lake Drive. If you pass the school on your right, you've missed his street. John's house is the first one on the Left, 735 E Thornton Lake Dr.; phone 757-6112
From Corvallis, take Hwy 20 to North Albany Road (the first traffic light you come to as you approach the bridge over the river entering downtown Albany). Turn Left on North Albany Road. Road. Soon after you cross RR tracks, you will be approaching a school zone. Turn Right onto East Thornton Lake Drive. If you pass the school on your right, you've missed his street. John's house is the first one on the Left, 735 E Thornton Lake Dr.; phone 757-6112
Business to be discussed: Progress on May's festival and maybe some licking and sticking for fest mailings; update from Michael on pub crawling; upcoming festivals (see Calendar below).
LAST MONTH'S MEETING
Thanks go out to Derek and Joel for hosting the February meeting. Most of the business discussed focused on our upcoming festival. Our fest leader, Joel, says he feels good about where things areŠ"A lot has happened, but not a lot has happened" Beto Zuniga has done up a great logo for us. Flyers were handed out at the Eugene beer fest. T-shirts, glasses etc were also brought up as being pending on the soon-to-do list. Keep your eyes peeled for a call for worker-bee stuff.Treasurer Scott Leonard called for discussion on the club's insurance. We apparently were dropped by our original carrier, but Scot is working with a new group to get reinstated at our old rate. The festival serving company would also be willing to extend their insurance to us for the Friday night of the festival for a small fee, but members agreed that we should carry our own policy throughout the year so that we would be covered for all our events and meetings. On the pub crawl front, Michael Villiardos suggested a 4-stop coast trip (Siletz, Rogue, McMennamins, Pelican or Golden Valley), but will work up some other options too. There were lots of new faces at this meeting; Nick and Kristen, Louis Hans, Brian and Jeff. Hope we didn't scare them off.
MASH HOPPING
by Joel Rea
Most brewers understand the concept that hops essentially add three things to beer; bitterness, flavor and aroma. Most brewers also practice traditional brewing practices of adding hops to the kettle for bitterness, flavor and aroma characteristics.
Of late I have been practicing a couple of unheard of additions called "first wort" and "mash hopping". First wort hopping is hops added to your kettle prior to run off from your lautertun hitting your boil kettle. The warm +/- 170 F wort magically binds with aroma qualities of the hop and retains its character throughout the boil and into the finished beer. Similarly, hops added to the mash have aroma compounds that molecularly bind and retain finishing qualities into the finished beer. Are these two additions sufficient enough to replace late boil kettle additions? I don¹t think so! But, what if you can get a more complex beer through hop additions at during multiple additions? Case in point; have you ever-tried Dog Fish Head Breweries 90 minute IPA? Hops are constantly added the entire 90 minutes of the boil. Think that¹s crazyŠtry their 120-minute IPA!! For a hoppy brew and me it is all about the layering effects with multiple additions of hops.
But does it work? Well, I decided to try an isolation experiment. The most extreme beer would be mash hopping ONLY. I decided the best beer to check this out would be a very light beer. My recipe consisted of 8 lbs. of Great Western 2 row and 2 oz. of Northern Brewer Hops. I wanted a middle of the road alpha hop with a delicate and floral hop nose. N.B. fit the bill although I will say now that more experimenting is necessary! I adjusted my water with 2 tsp. Gypsum to the mash and 2 tsp. to the sparge water. I boiled the wort for 60 minutes with only the hops added to the mash. I pitched a neutral flavored yeast andŠ
The beer was brewed on Feb. 19th, racked to secondary on the 24th and kegged on March 1st. The beer had an original gravity of 1.045 and final gravity of 1.011. From primary to secondary the beer was malty with some slight hop flavor and aromaŠvery slight. When I moved the beer, from the secondary to the keg, I noticed a decrease in malt profile and an increase in hop floral qualities.
A Special Invite For You!
So, in my mind, the experiment did work. I invite you to come and try it out (as long as supplies last!) and you tell ME if there is any hop flavor and aroma to my mash-hopped only beer!
EXPERT MATCHES
submitted by Scott Bruslind, excerpted from the San Francisco Chronicle
The following pairings are based on suggestions from beer experts Tom Dalldorf, Garrett Oliver, Lucy Saunders and Mark Todd and have been tested at the table..
With: Young, fresh, tart cheeses such as fresh chevre, mozzarella and crescenza
Try: Wheat beers such as hefeweizen, Bavarian-syle weissbier and Belgian- style witbier; pilsners.
With: Humboldt Fog and other goat cheeses with a little age
Try: A Belgian-style saison such as Ommegang Hennepin or Saison Dupont.
With: Garrotxa and other aged goat cheeses with some caramel notes
Try: Sierra Nevada Stout or similar dry, creamy stouts with coffee and chocolate aromas.
With: Lamb Chopper and other mild, medium-aged sheep's milk cheeses with sweet, cooked-milk notes
Try: Fat Tire, Red Tail Ale or similar amber ales well balanced between malt and hops.
With: Ossau-Iraty, mature Pecorino Toscano and other aged sheep's milk cheeses with pronounced salty, nutty flavors
Try: Lost Coast Brewery Downtown Brown or other brown ales.
With: Soft-ripened triple creme such as Seal Bay, Pierre Robert or Mt. Tam
Try: A Belgian-style saison such as Ommegang Hennepin or Saison Dupont; a dry kriek or other fruit beer.
With: Aged Gruyere, Comte or other aged Swiss-style mountain cheeses
Try: Anchor Porter, Rogue Shakespeare Stout or other sweet, mellow porters or stouts with chocolate, caramel and roasted coffee notes; brown ales.
With: Montgomery cheddar or other classic English-style cheddar
Try: McEwen's IPA or other pale ales with abundant hopping; Anchor Steam.
With: Munster Gerome or other washed-rind cheeses with strong earthy aromas
Try: Chimay Grande Reserve (blue label), Red Tail Ale or French biere de garde, such as Jeanlain or La Choulette Ambree.
With: Saenkanter or other aged Gouda with pronounced caramel notes
Try: Anchor Porter or other gently sweet, mellow, rounded porters; or nut- brown ales or amber ales.
With: Stilton or other mild to moderately piquant blue cheeses
Try: Old Foghorn Barleywine Style Ale or Moylan's Barleywine Style Ale. Serve barley wine at cellar temperature.
-- Janet Fletcher
