World Beer Cup 2018

Though this took place on May 3rd, I wanted to educate myself on the details of this event in order to better convey my personal attachment. Unlike GABF that takes place every year, WBC is only every 2 years making it even more of a medal winning rarity. 

So by the numbers there were:

8,234 entries a 25% increase from 2016 (72% outside the US) from 2,515 breweries (807 from outside the US) 

Judged by 295 judges from 33 countries during 6 session over 3 days

302 awarded medals (out of 303) in 101 different beer style categories

US dominated at 242 medals, Canada (or Canadia as my wife has called it) 14, Germany at 9. Belgium apparently gets an Honorable Mention as the highest rate at 10% (big deal they enter 10 and 1 wins, that's just playing with statistics!)

Brew Batch #95 Cherry Wood Porter

Old school bottling took place tonight in the form of 50 longnecks. It's been such a long time since I bottled a complete batch I had to look for the spigot that went on my bottling bucket! FG 1.018+0.001@77F gives this old Baltic porter recipe favorite a 7.1%. I think the 6oz of cherry wood uncharred is a bit much over previous batches with only 4oz but it's bottle conditioning and my hopes are that it will mellow out some of the wood astringency allowing more of the chocolate notes to come through and marry with the cherry. However, ALL but 7 go to Dr. C, a big fan and supporter of Beat-12. So that'll be 2 comps at the minimum and a little QC to track and compare.

Brew Batch #98 Pill Roller v2.0

Having revamped this recipe a little by using continental malt and Czech Lager yeast, I feel like this is my best attempt at a good pilsner so far. Kegged tonight and pressurized to 40 pounds and simply allowed to sit a while, like maybe a month or so before trying. FG 1.006-0.001@49 to give a nice 5.6% tells me that my BE was too good for the style parameters and at least my yeast propagation turned out well. Initial swill tests have it being extremely clear with a definite Saaz presence, but will it be enough once lagered and carbed up?

Brew Batch #99 Smurf Whizz

I contracted this brew out to RP while on vacation in the hopes of getting a different Berliner that was just as good as Orange Creamsicle. The idea behind this one is to use the same Berliner base but instead of a neutral lacto base like Mango Goodbelly Plus, I'd use the blueberry/acai form for color and add blue popsicles and vanilla extract at kegging to really ramp up the color and raspberry/blueberry tones. We'll see what happens to this one since I have temp control this go around. OG 1.043+0.005@100F.

2018 Semi-Annual Beach Balls 5K

The Beach Balls 5K is not only an endurance race usually done in only the heat of the day (in of course a salty humidity laden environment) but also an Our Tastes event. So each time my brood visits sea level I find a local trail and some local brew to enjoy, one after the other. This year I ran part of the Hugh S Branyon Back Country Trail, specifically the CatMan road. I think I saw Cat-Man but at mile 3.5 a little dehydration kicks in and I was thankful to just make it back to the trailhead! Scenery was bland until 1.5 miles in when I reached the Pavilion kept up by the local garden club and the Boulder Chair park (think boulders 2 stories tall chair shaped, naturally. I have no idea how they got them in there and if you want to reach the part you sit in you better be ready to climb a little) followed by my turning point at Little Lake at mile 2.1. I don't think the scale on the map is correct because my Garmin can't be that off! I can say one thing for certain, at the end of this 4.2 mile trek, I've never had a better gose than Trim Tab's Margarita Gose. I'm new to this style but it's growing on me like the Berliner category. The lime and salt could not have satiated better, but then again these guys won the only medal in the state at last year's GABF. 

Brew Batch #97 Electron Cloud

Kegged today and on 40psi with an FG 1.010+0.00 @45F. ABV 6.69% like all the other before it in the BP series. Initial tastes seem to have Bravo winning this hop pileup with a pretty good play on it's orange bitter background.

Brew Batch #98 Pill Roller v1.1

An overhaul of a favorite brings us v1.1 of Pill Roller, OG 1.048+0.000 @64F. Overshot the gravity by a few points but if it hangs at 1.012 or so, it'll pan out. Simple recipe using RO water with only Perle and Saaz. So 2 weeks maybe of fermenting and another month or so lagering?

Brew Batch #96 Hemerodromos

So I wanted a cream ale to cut my teeth on and I did. FG 1.008@70F gave me 4.6%abv (5.5%) expected. But as I hone my new brew system BE should improve and it tastes great! My only complaint at the AG stage is I should have dry-hopped double. Easy fix. Get your “day runner” while you can.