Underground Brewers of Connecticut

The Underground Brewers returned to Valor Wines for our January meeting. You may remember that we were there last January as well. This meeting was every bit as informative as the last one. Maybe more so. And, just like last year, there were a number of new members in attendance.

We simply cannot thank Ray enough for his hospitality and support. Just like last year, he opened the doors for us on a night when the winery is usually closed, gave us samples of many ciders, and educated us about cider and cider apples. (More on that below.) He also let us hang with Zelda the dog.

The meeting started in a most unusual way. Longtime members may recall that the club used to have a rule: “No club business may be conducted during club meetings.” Things have changed and we are a little more organized now. So we actually did some club business. We sold merch. We discussed plans for upcoming events. And we elected a new slate of officers.

The new Board consists of: Santi (Events), Caysey (Education), Pierre (Outreach), Matt (Communications), and Andy C (Treasurer).

Yes, I am no longer Communications Director for the club. As a result, this will be my last regular blog post. It has been an honor to server the club in this capacity for years. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity. But I’m excited to see where Matt takes things. And I look forward to serving the club in other capacities when called upon.

After electing the new Board, we got down to judging. So. Many. Great. Beers. It was really kind of amazing. Tasting notes below.

The last few homebrews we tasted were ciders, and ciders are part of Ray’s core business. This triggered the educational part of the meeting.

Ray would like to elevate single varietal ciders to the same plane as single varietal wines. He sees no reason why all ciders should be blends and disagrees with the BJCP guidelines. He poured several single varietals for us to taste, including Baldwin, Chisel Jersey, and Golden Russet. The differences were mind-blowing. If this is the future of cider, we’re all in.

So, huge thanks to Ray and Valor Wines for being wonderful hosts. And good luck to the new Board!

Tasting notes:

• American Lager, Santi. Grainy. A little sulfur. Low malt. Very dry. Light and refreshing. 10/3/16/4/8 = 41
• Saison, Matt. Floral, esp. lavender. Marshmallow. Bubblegum. Does not finish dry enough. A little tart and astringent. “Old world saison blend” yeast. Finished at 1.000 despite sweeter taste. 7/3/13/3/6 = 32
• Strong Bitter, Santi. Good English hop aroma with malt backbone. Nicely balanced. Caramel and toast. Finishes a little harsh – hop bite, a little astringency. A bit thin. Was supposed to be a West Coast IPA. 10/3/12/3/6 = 34
• American Amber, Santi. Malt-forward. Toffee and coffee. Citrusy hops. Earth and brown sugar. Dry finish. Smooth and drinkable but should probably finish a little sweeter. 10/3/15/3/7 = 38
• NEIPA, New Andrew. A big ol’ bag o’ hops. Sweet and mellow. No off-flavors but needs more body. A little more bitterness might bring out flavors. 9/3/14/4/7 = 37
• ???, Mike H. Prune juice. Oxidized. Grainy. Pale with a white head. Figs. Made with yeast and hops from his backyard. Had a pellicle. No scores.
• New World Cider, Pierre. Golden and crystal clear. Very fizzy. Apple, gooseberry, grape juice, grapefruit, tannin – very complex. But all front-loaded, no follow-through. Dry finish. 3 years old, Beardsley juice. 6/8/17/7= 38
• Cranberry/honey cider, Christine. Rose gold and crystal clear. Menthol and eucalyptus. Honey and Smuckers grape jelly. Quite tart. Very long, balanced finish. Cannot tell that it is 9%abv. 6/7/18/8 = 39

Your correspondent had to miss the festivities this year. What follows is a guest post by our leader, Andy Cox.

The holiday season is here and the spirits were high at the joint Brew Haven and Underground Brewers party at Armada Brewing on December 15^th. 

Some of our party goers got started early at Bob Burger’s house in the filling of the club 55-gallon rye whiskey barrel.  Brewing of the Imperial Stout was split up in 5- and 12-gallon batches and brewed by club members.  After purging the barrel with C02, we had four lines all pushing the beer to fill up the barrel.  The process went off perfectly!  We can only hope getting it all out will go as well.  Sampling will be Bob’s job over the coming weeks and plans are to brew a Wee Heavy for round #2 – volunteers needed!

Ok, back to the party: we were upstairs at Armada in the same space that hosted SNERHC.  Way too much food, beers to sample, and Armada’s excellent line up of beers to try.  Great turnout by both clubs and the night ended with Brew Haven’s usual White Elephant gift exchange.  Always a good time getting the clubs together.

Lots of plans in the works for 2024:  January meeting will be at Valor Wines in North Haven and February at Spacecat in Norwalk.  January will also have club elections – posts will go up on the Facebook feed shortly.  We are hoping to bring in as many new folks who are willing to serve. 

February will also bring the release of Caysey Welton’s SNERHC winning Biere de Garde brewed at Reverie Brewing in Newtown.  We are planning a release party at the brewery on Sat February 4^th and will invite all the CT homebrew clubs to come on down and join in the fun.

Spring competition season will be here before you know it – Homebrew Alley in NYC, Ocean State in RI, and maybe Hudson Valley will make it back?  Lots of opportunities to enter and judge locally coming up. 

As always, the full event calendar is up at https://www.undergroundbrewers.org/events/

[Guest post by Andy Cox.]

First off, a huge thank you to our host Peter Cowles the Founder/CEO/Chief Beer Scientist at Aspetuck Brew Lab.  Not only did he open up for us on his night off and joined in on all the fun, he also provided fresh glassware for each tasting – such luxury!

Next up, Andy Tipler and Pierre brought us up to date on their experimentation in CO2 dispensing for home brewers.  If you haven’t already seen it, Andy and Pierre have already published two articles in Zymurgy and are working on the third article of the series.  As a proof of concept, they have modified wine or plastic bags to slide in a normal corny key to hold the beer and then applied a bicycle pump to demo a CO2 free way to pour beer while keeping oxygen out.  Super cool! 

Ok, on to the tasting notes.  Hmm…  I really should pack some paper in case Paul H. isn’t able to make it, I’m scoring my prep a 0 out of 5.  So yes, we tasted and discussed homebrew but no scoring was attempted.  Examples included a 2021 Beardsley cider on local CT honey, a ginger cider, coffee blossom hydromel, brown ale, a SNERHC award winning Biere de Garde, table mixed fermentation on grape skins, and a 2015 Braggot.

Upcoming:

Sat Dec 2^nd: Twelve Percent Home Brew Competition

Thurs Dec 14^th: December Club Party with Brew Haven at Armada

January: Club elections

Full schedule of upcoming events up on the website or available as a calendar link so you never miss out.

Reminders:

We will be placing a club shirt and cap order at the end of November so get your order in!

Results of the club survey are up on the Facebook group page, so check it out.  

Everyone thinks they have the best dog. And none of them are wrong. — W.R. Purche

Our October meeting was at the Huxfords’ house. The October meeting always is. Cathy Huxford loves Halloween and so their Halloween decorations are always over the top. And that’s what we usually talk about when we talk about a meeting at the Huxfords’.

But Halloween decorations are not the only notable thing at their house. They also have the Best Dogs Ever, two English Labs who love people and carrots and scratches and the occasional beer.

I know what you are saying. How can these be the Best Dogs Ever when your dogs are the Best Dogs Ever? I refer you to the quote above and assert its fundamental truth. And then I tell you that the Huxfords’ dogs have absolutely no concept of personal space, which is the very best kind of dog, and that a meeting at their house involves a lot of intimate dog contact and perhaps a bit of slobber, which is the very best kind of meeting.

Oh yes, there was beer, too. And a charcuterie spread to die for. And Phil was a bit late but the consummate cicerone once he got home. And Cathy and Phil insisted that they haven’t been in a brewing groove lately but somehow pulled excellent homebrews from their cellar.

And the Best Dogs Ever fell asleep on our feet, as all the best dogs do.

Tasting notes:

• Steam Beer, Andy T: Caramel. A little clove and banana. Faint herbal hops. Bitter, dry finish. Could use a bit more hop presence. Northern Brewer and Cascade, Mangrove Jack Cali Lager yeast. 8/3/15/5/8 = 39
• Festbier, Pierre: A pure Pils malt showcase. Doughy and grainy, with just a hint of floral hops. Carbonation explodes on the tongue. Intensely malty with a dry finish. Double decoction; Styrian and Saaz. 10/3/16/4/8 = 42
• English Pale Ale, Paul B-S: Hints of black tea. Slightly earthy. A little fruit. A bit too sweet; sweetness lingers. A bit thin, but Andy T would drink a lot of it. A Maris Otter/Fuggle SMASH beer. 9/2/13/4/7 = 35
• English IPA, Andy T: Wet wool and peppery spice. Fruity. Hint of citrus. Aggressively phenolic. Boldly malty with a bitter lingering finish. First English IPA Andy has made that he likes. High temp mash and Bobek hops. 10/3/17/5/9 = 44
• American IPA, Cathy and Phil: Lemon Pledge. Very hoppy. Very clean. A bit thin and soapy in flavor. Well over a year old. Sabro hops. 10/3/11/2/5 = 31
• Hazy IPA, Andy T: Very hazy. Huffable. Lovely hop aroma w/o malt. Finish is a little too bitter. 20 IBUs Columbus FWH for bittering. 11/3/15/4/7 = 40
• American Porter w/Coffee, Cathy and Phil: Tons of coffee. Some dark chocolate. Hint of solvent. Vinous, with a hint of olive. English brown porter with lots of coffee malt – no actual coffee. 7/3/15/4/7 = 36
• Semi-sweet Mead, Cathy and Phil: Lots of honey aroma. A bit boozy. A hint of apple and solvent. Finishes hot. Needs tannin. Wildflower and orange blossom honey, apple cider yeast. Needs to age more. 7/5/17/6 = 35

We forgot to take pictures. But they’d probably just be pictures of the dogs.

Way, way back in time, when your humble blogger first joined the Underground Brewers (c. 2002), the geographical center of gravity for the membership was Newtown, CT. The most active members – and most of the best brewers – lived near there.

Two of that Old Guard were Mark Tambascio and John Watson. Both fantastic brewers. Both active club members.

Mark got busy running his restaurant and started brewing less, although no less well. John started brewing more and more, sweeping every competition he entered, including the Nationals.

15 years passed. John shut down his plumbing business and went pro, building the Watson Farmhouse Brewery in his backyard. Mark opened his own brewpub, NewSylum, and hired John as head brewer. Neither brewed as amateurs anymore. We saw them less and less at meetings.

But membership in the Underground Brewers is a permanent condition, impossible to shake off. They are still members. And a club meeting at NewSylum is an opportunity for the Old Guard to show the kids how it’s done.

Now, a lot of us brew pretty good beer. But we don’t brew beers that win medals at GABF, like the rauchbier that John brewed on NewSylum’s system. When Mark poured that, we knew we’d been owned.

A fantastic meeting overall, with a larger-than-usual attendance, new members to welcome, a number of excellent homebrews, and a tour of the catacombs by Mark. Huge thanks to our hosts for the hospitality and the beers!

Tasting notes:

• Hoppy Blonde, Matt: Like a session IPA, very light, very clean, dry, tasty. Not scored.
• Kolsch, Pierre: Pear esters, too fruity, not very Kolsch-y. Cloudy. Some oxidation and grassy notes. A bit big and astringent. 9/2/10/4/6=31
• Czech Pils, Pivo and Pierre: Tons of Saaz aroma. Crackers. Clean. Single decoction, 34/70 yeast. 12/3/18/5/9=47
• Cream Ale, Cameron: Melon, orange, grapefruit, Granny Smith. A bit vegetal. Not thirst-quenching enough. Pils + corn, Magnum and Willamette, US-05. 6/3/10/3/5=27
• Marzen, Matt: Very buttery. A little sea salt. Some caramel. Exceedingly dry. 5/2/11/5/5=29
• Marzen, Jim: Some ethanol and solvent. A lot of tea. Herbal. A little astringent. A year old, has oxidized and attenuated. 7/3/10/4/6=30
• German Pils, Cameron: Fruity. Hoppy, but not noble hops. Beautiful to look at. Crisp, dry, bitter finish. “Super-quaffable”. Excellent beer, if a bit out of style. 7/3/15/5/8=38
• Helles Bock, finished in rye barrels, Watson Farmhouse (ringer): Clean. Burnt oak and pils malt. Lager-y nose. A little heavy on the rye – “session rye whiskey”. Very dry finish. Would be perfect if the base beer was just a little more prominent. 10/3/17/5/9=44
• Belgian Pale w/Mandarin Orange, Pivo and Pierre: Generically fruity, hints of Brett? Orange is too subtle to call out – don’t tell the judges. S-33 yeast. 9/3/14/5/6.5 = 37.5
• American Wheat, David and Andy: Hop forward – Citra and Mosaic? Very clean. Very refreshing. Crisp and easy to drink. “Peach Chobani yogurt.” Actually used Lemon Drop and Citra, Belgian Wit yeast. 8/3/16/5/8=40
• Rauch Bock, NewSylum (ringer): Clean smoke, with almost nothing else. So clean. Dry finish. Too perfect. Cannot feel the strength at all. 12/3/19/5/9=47
• NE Pale Ale, David and Andy: IPA nose – VERY hoppy. Clean. Mara likes it. Could use a little malt backbone. Astringent finish, like grapefruit pith. 10/3/12/4/6=35
• NE Cider with Maple, 16%abv, Paul B-S: Lovely maple aroma and flavor. Plenty of apple to balance. Cannot sense the alcohol at all. Dangerous. 5/8/20/8=41

We’ve had some bizarre weather this summer. It’s been cold and rainy. It’s been too hot to go outside. It’s been so smoky that the sky turned orange. And it’s been hot and smoky and raining all at the same time.

So, imagine our delight when the weather for our summer picnic turned out to be perfect. Absolutely perfect. Sunny, dry, cool, with a little breeze. Just right.

The picnic was at Pierre and Kim’s again this year. Attendance might have been a bit small, but we enjoyed ourselves immensely. The food was excellent. The beer was outstanding. The company was beyond compare.

Not much else to say, really. Just a lovely day in a lovely space, with good weather, good friends, and beer!

Our July meeting was a social event a Fox Farm Brewing in Salem.

Although the day was hot and there was a threat of thunderstorms, we were more than comfortable at a long, shaded table next to the barrel house. Easily our largest crowd in many months. We chatted. We drank delicious Fox Farm beer. We rehashed recent club-adjacent events like the Beer Trials competition and the aborted MakeHaven/Armada collaboration brewing. We discussed the work to be done for SNERHC.

In short, we had a fantastic time.

So good, in fact, that no one thought to take any pictures. So don’t look for any here.

Befitting our reputation, we clogged up the pick-up window line at closing time. At least four Underground Brewers’ vehicles were in line to take home bottles, and several of those vehicles contained multiple members.

Many thanks to Fox Farm for taking good care of us!

Our June meeting was hosted by Bad Sons Brewing in Derby who served us excellent beer and pizza and had no problem as we drank homebrew in their tap room. Huge thanks to them!

As usual, we judged a number of excellent homebrews. Three were brought by new member Peder who looks to be a formidable competitor in this space. We’ll need to be on our game. Judging notes at the bottom of the post.

In between homebrews, Andy Cox challenged us with a new game. We think of ourselves as pretty good beer judges. Are we? Can we prove it? I’ll let him explain in the guest post below.

The club completed its first bulk grain purchase from Thrall Family Malts in Windsor, CT.  Thrall’s has an impressive list of malted barley, wheat, rye, oats and other grains.  In total we kept about $800 in the CT economy!  Visit your local homebrew store if you can (Zok’s in Willimantic and Brew&Wine Hobby in East Hartford) but for those of us in the homebrew “desert” of lower FC we will continue to support brewing through group purchases.

Are you game?  Hidden behind the impressive CO2 article penned by our own Andy Tipler and Pierre Margraff in this month’s Zymurgy magazine was an article about games/activities for club meetings.  Being the adventurous club we are, we gave one a go at the June club meeting.

The “Pale Beer Challenge” consisted of 5 blind samples of a Czech Premium, Munich Helles, Kolsch, German Pils, and a “mystery” beer.  The challenge: match each sample with the right BJCP category and guess the style of the mystery beer.

Ok, this was hard!  All four of the known styles were commercial examples listed in the BJCP guidelines (German/Czech sourced for the most part).  Most of the group correctly picked out the mystery beer (Weihenstephaner Kristall Weissbier) with several correctly identifying it as a wheat beer.  The Rothaus German Pils really set the determination way off: it had very little bitterness/hop presence.  It was likely an old bottle (no date), but anyone using it to study to the BJCP exam would have been way off the mark.  In the end, Mara (our hop expert!) got the most correct and went home with an example of each.

Now, tasting notes:

• British Golden Ale, Andy T: Some green apple, some juicy fruit, light earthy hops with a very dry finish. 6/3/15/5/6 = 35
• Marzen, Mike H: Malty and phenolic, leather, tannic, very dry finish, a little hot. 6/2/10/3/5 = 26
• Dampfbier, Peder J: Clove and banana, heavier on the clove, super dry finish, a little tart, too dry? 10/3/15/4/7 = 39
• Irish Red, Pierre M: Black tea and peat, sweet up front with a very dry finish, a little too hoppy and roasty, astringent. 8/2/12/3/6 = 31
• Czech Dark, Peder J: Sweet malt and cola, hint of butter, very malty flavor, finish is a little too dry. 10/3/13/3/7 = 39
• Hazy IPA (Session), Peder J: Melon, guava, grapefruit, orange, tangerine – a whole fruit salad – plus a little dankness, taste doesn’t quite match flavor, a little oxidized? 10/3/16/5/8 = 42
• RIS, Jim L: “Oh my god” – Andy C, toffee, molasses, raisins, leather, plum, quite huffable, pours like used motor oil, clean, not hot at all, a touch of sherry, alcohol is there but very smooth. 11/3/17/5/9 = 45

May brings warmer weather and longer days. That, inevitably, makes us want to take our meetings outdoors. This May found us in Steve and Sue Victor’s backyard, among the flower and vegetable beds, enjoying our first outdoor meeting of the year.

We were joined by the good folks from Brew Haven for a potluck dinner and bottle share. No judging this month. All of the homebrew was declared “excellent” by common consensus. So was the food. And the conversation. And the company. We’ll return to being all judgy next month.

A few photos