Underground Brewers of Connecticut

On Feb 19, the Underground Brewers gathered around the long tables in the Veracious Brewing tap room to perform a most solemn duty: to select the 3 beers which would move on to the next round of the CT Inter-Club Championship Competition. Since we hold the cup for the current year, the pressure was on to select 3 beers with excellent chances of winning.

There were 12 to choose from: 4 singles, 2 dubbels, 3 tripels, and 3 quads. (At least 2 other singles were known to exist but failed to arrive on the evening in question. We’ll never know if one of those could have bested the 12 on the table.)

The judges took their duties seriously. So seriously, in fact, that they were shaving half-points this way and that when assigning scores to the entries. There was some agreement, some disagreement, and some heated discussion.

In the end, 3 entries were duly chosen. The styles and the brewers’ identities should remain somewhat under wraps until the competition finals in late March. But you might be able to guess at some of them by perusing the tasting notes below.

With that task out of the way, the group went on to judge ANOTHER 8 or 10 homebrews. (And a few commercial beers. And some excellent Veracious beer left for us by Mark and Tess.) I won’t even try to decipher the scribe’s handwriting on these beers. You are free to check out the notes yourself.

Overall, a wonderful evening. As always, the club owes and enormous debt of gratitude to Mark and Tess, Maltose Express, and Veracious Brewing, for hosting and supporting us the way they do.

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On the afternoon of Feb 16, 12 eager judges sat for one of the first BJCP Cider Judge tasting exams at Veracious Brewing in Monroe.

Our very own Andy Tipler was the driving force for this event, handling most of planning for the exam and for the several study sessions beforehand. James Link was the official Organizer, running the exam itself and interfacing with the BJCP. Eric Sforza was the cellarmaster, preparing and pouring a number of doctored ciders for us. Steve Victor and Mark Tambascio were our proctors.

Examinees included Underground Brewers new and old – some second generation – plus others from as far away as Boston and Syracuse.

For 2+ hours, we tasted and wrote and wrote some more, filling out our scoresheets as best we could. Each cider was subjected to rigorous analysis, each flaw dissected.

Now we wait, probably for 4 or 5 months, to find out if we passed.

Huge thanks to Andy, Jim, Eric, Steve, and Mark for making this possible. Thanks also to the Szamatulskis for the use of the Veracious tap room and to Ron Sansone of Spoke & Spy Ciderworks who provided tutoring, endless study samples, and encouragement.

Where are the notes from the January meeting?

Clay was due to be our January host at his new(ish) house in Redding. But a wave of flu-like symptoms swept through the membership in the 24 hours before meeting time, resulting in a rash of cancelled RSVPs. We decided that the better course would be to call the meeting off.

We will reschedule with Clay for a future month.

What could be better than a holiday party with a homebrew club? A holiday party with TWO homebrew clubs, of course! And that’s exactly what we had this year: a holiday party collaboration with Brew Haven.

Brew Haven took the lead here, negotiating use of the upstairs room at Counterweight Brewing. They also set the evening’s agenda and decided on all the activities. We were just along for the ride.

This did expose a bit of a culture mismatch between the two clubs. BH has this silly idea that club business – dissemination of calendars, discussion of upcoming competitions, etc. – should happen during club meetings. The UBC, of course, has followed a strict “no club business during club meetings” rule since its inception. But we can roll with it when on another club’s turf. No need to start a rumble.

With the boring administrivia out of the way, a number of BHers shared various stouts they had made. All were interesting; many were excellent. Much fruitful discussion of ingredients and techniques followed.

It’s very important in these situations to adopt the correct pose:

With the stouts judged and consumed, it was time to move on to the Yankee Swap. Another BH idea, and MUCH more fun than club business.

And finally, the food! A fantastic pot-luck, including fresh oysters from Cape Cod.

All in all, a great night with great beer and even better people. HUGE thanks to Brew Haven for including us. Already looking forward to next year!

Britain drinks beer. Everyone knows this.

When the Normans took over, they brought their effete wine-drinking ways to the royal table. But they could never convince the rest of the populace to give up their good, solid ale. Even decades of misguided tax policy, which weakened and degraded British ale into a ghost of its former self, couldn’t kill it off entirely. Eventually, the Brits invented CAMRA to revive and preserve their beer-drinking heritage. It just wouldn’t be Britain without beer.

So it is only right and proper that we have several Brits in our club. They may brew Belgian ales and even the odd sour. But they carry on the proud British tradition of ale-making bred into their DNA.

One such Brit is Andy Tipler, of course, host of our November meeting. We invaded the poor man’s house this past Wednesday, demanding good English ale and cider. And we were not disappointed.

As tends to happen at Andy’s, there were several kegs of beer and cider in the kitchen. The table was groaning under a huge spread of excellent food. Members who were “not attending the meeting” showed up and had a few tastes. It was a good time.

We even welcomed a new member into the club. Another Paul. (Some sort of differentiating prefix or nickname will be necessary here.) Facebook tells me that New Paul is a pastor. I think it’s pretty clear that we could use such a person in our little group. I just hope we don’t horrify him too much.

A number of truly excellent beers, meads, and ciders were judged:

• Pils, Liam & Mara (Makehaven). Grain, husk, corn, a little butter. Perfumey hops and a little spicy phenols. Dry, bitter finish. Could use a few bubbles. 36
• “Stone-smoked Kolsch”, Steve and Pierre. Just a kiss of smoke in aroma. Fruity but restrained. Much more smoke in flavor. Dry finish. VERY drinkable. Was brewed as a saison but heating element charred the wort in the boil. Sat for a year until drinkable. 40
• Rye lager, Andy Cox. Spicy rye nose. Clean. Hint of sulfur. Very fruity in flavor. A little too sweet. Needs hops and bubbles. Very cloudy. 29
• Dark mild, Eric. Toffee, caramel, nuts, earthy hops. Just beautiful to look at. So much flavor for a session beer. Dry finish. Super drinkable. 2.2%abv. 42
• English porter, Pierre. Acrid, spicy. Caramel and bread dough. Cloudy. Astringent. Not enough base malt. Pierre says this is the first pint off the keg and rest will be better. Will bring to a future meeting. 27
• Wee heavy, Eric and Andy. Syrupy sweet, sugary. Caramel, toffee, alcohol, dark fruit, grapes, burnt sugar, raisins. Ruby highlights. Chewy. Stone-brewed ale. Lots of kettle caramelization. Finished at 1.022. 42
• Imperial stout, Mark. Not enough fruit character. Some roast, tobacco. Vinous. Well balanced. A bit light on flavor. Bitter finish. Needs bubbles. But quite drinkable. 36
• English cider, Steve. Clear and yellow with a white head. A little barnyard. Andy likes it. Tannic, with bright acid. Fizzy. Extremely drinkable. Blend of heirloom apple juices from Cider Days. 39
• Cyser, Pierre. Phenolic. Straw-colored and hazy. Bitter. Tastes a bit of raw honey with an alcohol bite. But actually quite drinkable. Blend of sweet and dry cysers. 33

Back when the BJCP developed the Mead exam, a group of Underground Brewers were among the first in the nation to jump on the chance to get accredited. We studied for and passed one of the first Mead tasting exams offered.

Well, we’ve done it again. The BJCP administered one of the first Cider exams at Homebrew Con this past June and the UBC was there. Results just came in.

Congratulations to Eric Sforza, Steve Victor, and Matthew Bellemare, some of the first credentialed BJCP Cider judges in America! Woot!

If you are interested in becoming a Cider judge, get on the waiting list for the Cider exam that we are hosting in February. Ask at any club meeting about how.

Halloween is Cathy Huxford’s favorite holiday. She goes all-in on decorations, starting early and filling the house. So, of course, Cathy and Phil requested October as the month to host a club meeting. How could we say no?

Mother Nature, on the other hand, did not seem so pleased with this. She whipped up her own brand of fright for the night, with howling winds and inches of rain. She very nearly succeeded in derailing the meeting. But our stalwart band of trick-or-treaters battled through. We were damp, but we were there.

Some meeting hosts put out a few munchies. Some put out a healthy spread. And then there’s Cathy Huxford. There was a simply massive amount of food on the table, plus more on the stove. Everyone ate well, and then some.

And there was beer, of course. And mead. And cider. Some of it was homebrew. And some was special stuff, brought up from the basement just for us.

In short, a good time was had by all.

Homebrew tasting notes:

• Belgian Pale, Andy Cox. Honey and phenolics, slightly tart, nutty, biscuity, with lots of fruity esters. Could be drier. Could use a little punch. But definitely drinkable. 36
• Belgian Golden Strong , Pierre. Licorice notes, with earthy hops, spice, a little solvent, sour apple, caramel, and tannins. Sour. But wait! It really was a sour. Pierre had brought the wrong beer! 25 (as a BGSA)
• Kveik Farmhouse, Mara and Liam (Makehaven). Citrus, lemon peel, lots of hops, cloudy, extremely bitter, some chlorophenols, low carbonation. System had not been properly cleaned before use. Fermented at 75F. 28
• American Blonde, the Huxfords. Light, balanced, bready, clean hops, clear and beautiful, hint of corn, light fruit, clean finish. Extremely drinkable. All 2-row and Willamette. 6 months old. 43
• Specialty IPA, Jaime. Citrus, passionfruit, solid malt backbone, sweet, clean, opaque, smooth, very full in the mouth but drinkable. 4lb strawberries and 2lb lactose plus a crazy amount of hops. 43
• NEIPA, Liam and Mara (Makehaven). Orange peel, lemon, butterscotch, a little tangy, bready, balanced finish, extremely drinkable. 3 weeks old. All Citra. 40
• Belgian Tripel, the Huxfords. Soft phenols, earthy hops, sweet aroma, a hint of green apple, banana, alcohol, pepper, hazy. Could be a little drier. Needs a little body. Only 1 month old. 31
• American Wild, Pierre. Extremely subtle sour apple, hint of caramel and maple, dry, mild lactic character, drinks like a dark mild, needs bubbles. Was a brown ale, pitched with “dirty dozen” blend. Got lighter in color over time? 34
• Standard Perry, Liam. Heavy solvent note at first which blows off. Very fruity, sweet up front with a dry finish, nutty, solid tannins, delicious, drinks like a tawny port, yummy. 2 years old. Fermented on the pomace with saison yeast. 40

Results from the 2019 Southern New England Regional Homebrew Competition have been posted at https://snerhc.undergroundbrewers.org

Scoresheets have all been scanned and uploaded. You can view yours by logging into the registration web site. If any of yours seem to be missing, it just means that we fat-fingered a filename. Shoot us an email and we will fix it.

Congratulations to all of the winners and thank you to all of the entrants, volunteers, and sponsors. See you next year!

After a number of meetings at local breweries, we recently returned to our usual practice of meeting in members’ homes. And since one particular deadbeat member hadn’t hosted a meeting in years, it was time for him to step up, stop being a slacker, and do the hosting thing.

That particular member would be me, of course.

Now, in my defense, I will remind you all that I now live out on the far eastern frontier. Guilford is a very long drive for many members. That’s been my excuse, anyway. But, yeah, I owed the club one.

Since we’ve been in collaboration mode lately – co-hosting SNERHC with the Krausen Commandos, banding together with Brew Haven for the cider pressing, sharing the “CT Ghetto” at Homebrew Con with most of the CT clubs – I thought it would be good to invite members of M.A.S.H. to join us as well.

It was a small but lively meeting attended by members of both clubs and featuring a number of excellent beers and ciders. The nominal “Oktoberfest” theme was quickly forgotten once everyone realized that Mara had brought IPAs from Treehouse. Food was eaten. My brewing space was shown off. There was much discussion of RO water and brewing systems. (I’ve switched to an indoor, induction-fired, BIAB system for nearly all my beers now.) Etc.

In short, we had a good time. I guess I shouldn’t wait another 5 years before hosting again.

Tasting notes:

• New Word Cider, dry, sparkling. Pivo. Nose of apples, pears, and berries with some funk and leather. Quite tannic. Very drinkable. Would really pop with more carbonation. Cider Days juice with elderflower and tea. 38
• Cream Ale. Mark V. Sweet up front with a dry finish. Estery and fresh. Slight vegetal note blows off. Very drinkable. 39
• New World Cider, dry, still. Liam. Strawberry and papaya. Slightly solventy. Chlorophenol? (Andy makes that go away with a plastic bag.) Made with sweet mead yeast. 30
• New World Cider, dry, still. Liam. Brett and apples. Much more inviting. Very clear. Complex yet very drinkable. Made with Belgian ale yeast. 38
• American Strong Ale. Patrick. Toffee, dark fruit, caramel, licorice. Lots of burnt sugars. Balanced bitterness. Great for sipping. 38
• Trappist Dubbel. Pierre. Fruity, peppery, spicy nose with some sweetness and bubblegum. Fantastic head with lace. Malty and peppery but a tad too bitter. Maybe a little too dry. Very young. Will mellow. 39
• American Wild with Fruit. Patrick. Strong butyric acid aroma blows off leaving a surprisingly drinkable beer. Tart. Lots of tannin. 30
• Sour Imperial Belgian Quad with Zante Currants and Concord Grapes, 14.5% ABV. Andy T. Fruity, with lots of malt. Just a little tart. Brown sugar, molasses, and grapes. Super sweet with tons of fruit flavor. Can’t taste the alcohol. “3D” mouthfeel. 3 years old. 46 and it deserves every stinking point.

Pierre, it seems, is immune to heat. While the rest of us spent the summer hiding in the air-conditioning, avoiding large pots of boiling liquid, Pierre was brewing repeatedly in the hot sun. Does he not feel the heat? Does he not care?

One presumes, however, that even Pierre would object to setting his house on fire. That might be a little too hot.

So it was somewhat startling to find Pierre encouraging other YAHOOS (Jaime and Mara, to be precise) to show off their skills with flaming rope darts on his front lawn. I’ll be honest: I would not want fiery projectiles in flight near my house, or even my shrubbery. Pierre thought it would be fun.

In the end, no flames were lit. Mara thought it would be unwise and, since she is the only club member who actually owns rope darts that can be set alight, her good sense prevailed.

While the August meeting may have lacked dangerous fire tricks, it did not lack for excellent homebrew. Many great beers were judged. Tasting notes as best I can decipher:

• Hydromel “dry flowered” in the bottle with lavender, Paul. Not judged, just discussed. Nice herbal aroma but a bit flabby. Lacking florals. Needs to be repeated with better honey.
• Session NE IPA, Andrea and Dave. Aroma of melon and spice, a little dank, some DMS, bitter finish. Very drinkable. All Citra and Mosaic. 34
• Berliner Weisse, Mark. Strong aroma of parmesan and bleu cheese, which dissipated. Raw bread dough and cherries, tart, hoppy, somewhat under-carbed. Soured at 95F – should be a little warmer. 27
• Specialty IPA, Jaime. Herb and pineapple, tropical, somewhat too bitter, super hoppy, some vegetal notes. Contains oats. 33
• Dubbel, Pierre. Dark fruit and alcohol, spice, cedar, a little tart, somewhat harsh, not quite as drinkable as it should be. Only 2 weeks old. 35
• Pale ale, Mara. Sweet malt, DMS, butter, herbal hops, straw, a little bready. Definitely quaffable. Undercarbed. 34
• Cream ale, Paul. Corn, chlorine, subtle grain, canned veggies, tea. Balanced and fits style guidelines. Needs more bubbles. 37
• Blended kriek, Andy. Tart cherries, barnyard funk, solvents, earth, a little vinegar. Tastes more like a Flanders red. Briny finish. Needs more bubbles. Extremely drinkable. 35
• American IPA, Caysey. Tropical fruit, coconut, guava. Clean, clear, great head, balanced, super-drinkable. Sabro hops and pearl malt. 41
• Saison, the Huxfords. Fruity, slightly medicinal, coriander, raisins, pepper, clove. Would score higher as a tripel. Needs to age a little. 29
• Blonde ale, the Huxfords. Esters, pepper, grain husk, very dry finish, very drinkable. Was cleaner when young. 36
• Saison, Jaime. Citrus and spice. Very bright nose. Cloudy. Sweet up front with a super dry finish. Very drinkable. Needs more bubbles. Styrians, Saaz, and Citra. Made with kveik durint the heat wave. 40