Category: Gatherings

Crowning a Champion and Even More Decoction!

Well, we couldn’t let another weekend go by without more adventures from the Underground Brewers! Saturday was yet another busy day for our crew, with Andy and Santi competing in Round 2 of Twelve Percent Brewing’s 4th Annual Homebrew Competition, and Pierre hosting a Czech Dark Lager brew day at his home in Trumbull. The winter months are certainly active ones for the Underground Brewers!

Crowning a Champion!

As always, Round 2 of the Twelve Percent Homebrew Competition features 8 brewers who advanced from Round 1, held in December. The beers are judged blind by a panel, and the winner announced just over an hour into the pouring. There was no shortage of outstanding beers, nor was there a lack of variety. Attendees were able to sample lagers, wits, bitters, stouts, IPAs, and sours – a little something for everyone to enjoy!

After three years of victories by Brew Haven members, Andy Cox took home the trophy this year with a stunning Vienna Lager! He will now have the chance to brew his beer on their system – keep an eye out for details on the release party for his beer. We should all congratulate Andy on this huge accomplishment! He was even generous enough to share the recipe on our Underground Brewers Discord server (click here to join if you haven’t already). Now for the big question… can Twelve Percent handle a double decoction?

Speaking of Decoction…

January (we’ll count February 1 as “close enough”) was clearly the month of decoction for the club. After a double-decocted German Pils brewday at Andy’s, a triple-decocted Czech Pale Lager at Matt’s, and now a triple-decocted Czech Dark Lager at Pierre’s, we had our kettles roaring over these past few weeks (that includes Pierre and Paul brewing their batches at Andy and Matt’s, respectively, too!). The wort was dark, the basement smelled like freshly baked bread, and the beers shared were delicious. Now, just as with all the other batches, we wait for the results.

If anyone is interested in learning more about decoction (or any other brewing technique or style!), I highly recommend reaching out to someone in the club to host another brew day. You can learn so much from watching someone brewing on their own system – and the questions asked help refine the process and understanding of even the most seasoned brewers. If anyone is brewing again soon and wants to host some club members thirsty for beer and knowledge, let us know and we’ll put out the call.

Decoction 2: Rainy Day Brew

So nice we had to do it twice! Inspired by Andy’s double decocted German Pilsner brew day, we had to run it back the following weekend. Paul brought his equipment to my house, braving the wind, cold, and rain to brew up a double decocted Munich Dunkel. Armed with a pop up tent, propane burner, and plenty of layers, nothing was going to stop this brew day! I was able to retreat to the shelter of the garage, brewing a Czech Pale Lager, with a triple decoction thrown in for good measure (and to extend the brew day an extra couple hours). 

For me, this was a day of many firsts. From a different approach to water treatment (including deoxygenating the mash water!), three decoctions, and post-boil pH adjustments (using Andy’s homemade sauergut), few aspects of my typical brew day was left unadjusted. That’s why brewing with others can be so incredibly valuable. I was able to lean heavily on Andy and Paul’s experience to work through ideas, make changes on the fly, and to begin planning out tweaks and improvements in my system and process. If you haven’t spent a day (or more) brewing with friends, I highly encourage it. The company alone is amazing, but having like-minded friends who you can bounce ideas off of in real time is incredible. Homebrewing is about sharing knowledge (at least in my opinion), and I know I’m a better brewer today because of the people who have been generous with their time and experience.

So, now we wait – the yeast are doing their thing, and in the coming weeks/months we’ll see how all these process changes impacted the final product. I know I’m looking forward to sampling Paul’s Dunkel, and seeing how this Czech Pale ends up turning out. If you have an upcoming brew day and want some company, be sure to post! There are plenty of Underground Brewers ready to join in, whether brewing alongside, or just coming to hang out on brew day. Have gear, will travel.

DeCOXtion

This past Saturday, Andy Cox generously opened his home to the Underground Brewers for a decoction brew day. I had been interested in learning more about the technique, and it was an incredibly enlightening experience! Andy brewed up a German Pilsner, performing a double decoction by scooping out a thick portion of the mash into a separate pot, and heating it to boiling on a hot plate. The change in appearance and aroma was immediately noticeable – and the process was not nearly as complicated as I had anticipated. Brew day proceeded without any issues, and I think we’re all looking forward to sampling the results when the beer is finished.

Andy wasn’t the only one brewing though; Pierre brought along a setup for its maiden voyage. Using a Spike Flex as both the kettle (along with a basket to mash in) and as the fermenting vessel, Pierre demonstrated his ingenuity and how capable he is of pushing equipment to its limits. A saison is currently fermenting away in the same vessel it was mashed and boiled in, which is undoubtedly a very cool and unique approach to “mobile” brewing. He even used his own, homemade apple cider vinegar to acidify his beer!

With 4 Underground Brewers in attendance (Andy, Pierre, Paul, and myself), we enjoyed a few beers – some quite old from my garage “cellar” – and Andy’s son David cooked up incredible pizzas in their Ooni oven on the deck. The homemade hot honey was the perfect touch on the pepperoni pizza, and I may find myself seeking out more of that. Mike’s Hot Honey has nothing on Andy’s!

For me, the best part of the day was how we all shared our knowledge and experiences brewing with each other. There is so much that can be learned by reading books or articles, but those face-to-face conversations drive a deeper understanding and spark more curiosity, in my experience. So much so that I found myself ordering a hot plate for this coming weekend… where I will try my hand at brewing a triple decocted Czech Pale Lager. Wish me luck!