Underground Brewers of Connecticut

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

As everyone knows, the most important homebrew competition of the year is our in-house, bare knuckles, no-holds-barred cage match for Best Underground Brewer Of The Year.

This the the one meeting each year where we abandon all pretense of collegiality and let our animal natures show. Winner gets Von’s spoon, his/her name on the ceremonial cup, and unlimited rights to talk trash about other members’ beers for the year.

This year’s competition was held at Clay Viands’ new house in Redding. A lovely place, with lots of room for this sort of thing. Clay was his usual consummate host, working the grill and pouring yumminess from his extensive cellar. A meeting at Clay’s place is always an amazing sensory experience.

Eight brewers competed this year, entering 14 beers and meads (half of which were Saisons). Bottles were obfuscated. Teams were made up. Judging commenced.

When all the noise died down and the blood was wiped off the walls, Andy Tipler stood alone, reigning supreme for another year with yet another outstanding English Barleywine. The spoon and the cup go back to his house and the rest of us lick our wounds and plot to unseat him next year.

Also in the Best-of-Show round: Mara Henecks with her American IPA, myself with a dry hydromel, and Andy Cox with an American Brown Ale.

Congrats to Andy T!

But don’t get complacent. We’ll be ready for you next year.

For our May meeting, we were once again hosted by one of our pro-brewer friends. In this case, it was Aspetuck Brew Labs who graciously provided space. Owner Peter Cowles was behind the bar, pouring his delicious beer, and also gave us a tour of the brewing area, answering our many nosy questions.

Aspetuck is part of Bridgeport, of course. Connecticut natives of a certain age, like me, grew up with a mental image of Bridgeport. Not a good one. There was even a song about it (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvvPsFTjPRM), released when I was in high school and played in heavy rotation on the New Haven radio stations for a while.

Can a brewery change the image of a city? I’m thinking maybe so. ABL is cozy, friendly, and makes great beer. Definitely a destination worth traveling to. Maybe it’s time to retire that song.

Peter provided the space. Zach provided the food and poured the entries. He handled both of these duties like an old pro despite the fact that this was his first time. I forgot to take pics of the spread (or of anything, oops), but nobody went home hungry.

Zach was faced with a happy problem which we’ve had at a number of our recent meetings: a zillion homebrews for judging. The club seems to be in high gear, with everyone brewing often and looking for feedback. We were awash in beers. Zach had it all organized. Never broke a sweat.

We had a number of new members as well, another happy trend of late. We’re never organized enough to get everyone’s name. All are welcome, nonetheless.

We also saw one of our longest-serving members, who hasn’t come to a meeting in years: Gregg Hero Glaser. Let’s hope he rejoins us on a regular basis.

Tasting notes:

• Dark Mild, Eric: Dark sugars and molasses, fruity, coffee notes. “Wonderfully watery, just like it should be” (Andy T). Dry, tart finish. Low carbonation. To be served on beer engine at Homebrew Con. 34.
• Ordinary Bitter, Andy T: Fuggles and sulfur, light malt. VERY bitter finish, almost astringent. Very dry. “I’ve just been to England and this is what they taste like there” (Andy T). 32.
• Czech Pils, Caysey: Very fruity, phenolic, green apple, grassy, tannic. Very young. Needs time to clean up. 27.
• Pilsner, Mara & Liam (Makehaven): Banana, green apple, butter, chlorophenols?, no hops. A bit sweet. Cloudy. Needs bubbles. 25.
• NEIPA, Caysey: Grapefruit and pineapple and a million other tropical fruits. Super strong aroma. Smells sweet. Whiff of chamomile. Dry, bitter, slightly tannic. Drinkable. Needs bubbles. Session strength, 5.5%. 41.
• Session IPA, Andy C: Resiny, piney, grassy. Hint of malt. Opalescent. Tannic and fruity. Needs bubbles. Nugget, citra, mosaic. 3.8%. 36.
• German Lager, Andy C: Banana, green apple, butterscotch, somewhat medicinal. A bit sour. Dry and bitter. Needs bubbles. Stressed yeast? Starter was very old and a little funky. 26.
• IPA, David: Clone of Pliny The Elder. Mint, menthol, SUPER bitter, malty, rich. Truly old school. Not scored.
• American Amber, David & Andrea: Toffee, subtle hops, clean, inviting, drinkable, yummy. 41.
• Coffee Chocolate Porter, David & Andrea: Lots and lots of coffee. Some roasty malt. Bitter finish. No chocolate. Hard to find the beer under the coffee. Needs bubbles. Dry-“hopped” with coffee beans. Chocolate in the boil for bitterness. 30.
• Hoppy Kweik Farmhouse, Mara & Liam (Makehaven): Bandaid, grass, pine, green pepper. Cleaner flavor. Hoppy and bitter. Tannic. Needs bubbles. Drinkable. 36.
• Tripel, Pierre: Clove and bubblegum. Candy sweetness. Traditional. Metallic, dry finish. Thin, but drinkable. 37.
• Tripel, Pierre: Clove and bubblegum, citrus (lime). Sweetness. Pepper. Perfectly clear with a great head. A bit chalky and thin. 31.
• Lemon-ginger Hydromel, Andy T: Fantastic nose, great mouthfeel, fizzy, enormous mousse-y head. Very drinkable. Not scored.
• Raspberry Berliner Weisse, Liam: Tons of raspberry. No lactic acid on nose. Clean and tart. Berries overpower the beer. Beautifully pink and clear. Needs bubbles. Drinkable. 34.
• English Cider (dry), Pivo: Tobacco and cloves. Clear. Tastes like apple pie. Dry and very drinkable. Soft tannins. Cider Days blend. 42.
• New World Cider (medium dry, sparkling), Pivo: Lots of Brett – horse blanket, mussels, brine. Not quite enough apple. Flavor cleaner than aroma. Not scored.
• Bochet Cyser, Jackson: Smoke, mushrooms. Boozy. Made with freeze-concentrated juice, Lapsang Suchong tea, peat smoke? Honey boiled for 25 minutes. 33.

Were there more? Probably. I began to lose track by the end. Sorry!

The Underground Brewers have been the recipients of massive amounts of support and love from area breweries and brewpubs lately. No fewer than five different breweries have offered to host our meetings this year, and a brewery that hasn’t even opened yet has offered to host SNERHC. It’s an understatement to say we are grateful. But we’ll say it anyway: Thank you!

Our April club meeting was held in the brewing area of Bad Sons Brewing in Derby. This is in a great old factory building near the center of town. A beautiful space with plenty of room for us.

Most of us arrived early enough to sample some of Bad Sons’ wares. No one was disappointed. They have an excellent line-up of fine brews. Hats off to the brewers.

We were excited to see several first-timers, all of whom brought excellent beers for judging. We certainly hope they’ll become regulars.

Andy Tipler provided the food and ran the meeting. He overdid it on the munchies, as usual. No one complained.

Many excellent beers were judged. Notes:

• Helles Export, Andy Cox. Strongly malty, some chlorophenols, not quite crisp enough, some banana esters. 27
• English Brown, Zach. Roasty, with lots of caramel, toffee, coffee, and toast. Earthy hops. Dry finish. Could use a little more body. 40
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter, Rich. Lots of peanut butter. Hints of mint. Some fusels, solvents, phenols. A touch or roast. 27
• Imperial Milk Chocolate Stout, the Huxfords. Chocolate, roast, honey, sweet raisins. Boozy. A bit thin. Was brewed with cocoa nibs and lactose. A year old now. 33
• Belgian Strong Golden, Zach. Bubblegum and banana. Spicy finish. Alcohol is well-hidden. Could use a touch more malt. Very drinkable. Made from Charter Oak competition wort. 39
• American IPA, Zach. Tropical hops – pineapple, melon, sour banana. Not a lot of malt. Some hop astringency. Needs more bubbles. Made with 007 hop blend. 35
• American IPA, ??? (sorry!). Piney. A touch of solvent. Crystal clear. More malt in flavor than in aroma. Lingering bitterness. Old school. 37
• Gose, Mike. Floral and sweet in aroma. Tart and salty in flavor. Lemongrass. Fizzy and refreshing. Just freaking perfect. “Cheater” beer – Mike added lactic acid to sour it. Do we care? 44
• Wild Fermentation IPA, Andy T. Dusty Brett. A little musty, cellar-y. Not a lot of hops, but some lemon. Dry and bitter. Made from just wheat and oat, no barley at all. 38

Our March 2019 meeting was not the first one hosted by Eric and Jessica Sforza and The Cutest Puppy On Four Legs ™. But it was the first hosted in The Love Shack, their renovated home office party room pub in the back yard. It will not be the last.

First, the space is simply awesome. Everyone (except the Sforzas) felt more than a twinge of envy surveying the wood paneling, 6-tap bar, timber-framed hearth, Vermont Castings wood stove, and comfy furniture. I’m sure there were a few discussions later that evening about transforming similar structures at other homes. But it would be very hard to equal what the Sforzas have done with that space.

Second, the bar is amazing. Beautiful reclaimed wood. Numerous taps. A beer engine. Tasting glasses. A glass rinser. Yeah, a real one. The amount of joy provided by that rinser was just a bit obscene. (We’re all going to look at Pierre a little differently from now on.)

Third, the food was over the top. Homemade sourdough. Many cheeses. And homemade cookies bearing the host’s own face. (For real.)

Fourth, the puppy. They don’t come any cuter.

And finally, the host’s own beer, mead, and cider. Which was all fantastic.

We dispensed with formal judging for this meeting and just sampled. There was a HUGE variety of entries across the range of beer, mead, and cider. Some commercial. Most homebrew. Almost all excellent. (My mead was a rare clunker.) Notes below.

So, an enormous “thank you” to the Sforzas! We will be back!

Tasting notes. I actually think I’m missing a few. I know I’m missing my own mead (which was bad anyway). And they were still pouring when I had to leave. But this is most of it:

• Jaime’s Orange Blossom Mead. Still, semi-sweet, 9%. LOTS of citrus, good acid, slightly petillant, hint of vanilla. Young (3 months). Made with Wyeast cider yeast(?)
• Eric’s Pyment. Still, dry, sack (18%). Made with 9lbs Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. Left on skins for months. Pink/red, hazy, very floral, hint of vanilla, bone dry, a touch too tannic, some peppery alcohol. Could benefit from a little backsweetening.
• Eric and Andy’s Acerglin (maple syrup mead). Still, standard strength. Made with maple sap and syrup. Blend of two fermentations. With vanilla and oak.
• Pierre’s Traditional Mead. Still, sack. Wildflower honey. A bit boozy and solventy, some apple notes, a little fusel, good acid/tannin balance, crystal clear. 3 years old.
• Pierre’s Cyser. Still, standard strength. NY juice and Costco honey. Hazy, sweet, tastes like plums and apples, tangy acid, balanced. 6 months old.
• Mara’s Cider. Backyard pressing with natural yeast and Brett. From 2015. Super funky, very acidic, briny, bone dry.
• Eric’s Cider. Beardsley juice from 2017. Placed at SNERHC. Caramelized apples, almost dry, petillant, a little thin.
• Eric’s Cider. Beardsley juice from 2018. Just kegged. Hazy, note of walnuts, refreshing, just a hint of sweetness.
• Jaime’s International Dark Lager. Dark brown, hazy, clean except for a slight vegetal note, very lager-y, super dry, quite roasty. Make with 3 year old Boho Lager yeast.
• Pierre’s Saison. Made from Charter Oak wort and Affligem yeast. Kegged 3 days prior. Aroma of dill, no funk, some pepper, very dry finish, needs bubbles.
• Eric’s US Blonde. Very grainy, clean, slightly hoppy, quite dry, refreshing, aromatic.
• Gerry’s US Amber with Peach Extract. Extract beer. Smells of mint and nutmeg, light in color.
• Eric’s Mint Chocolate Imperial Stout. Black, head never quits, smells and tastes exactly like Andes Mints in a glass. Made with Godiva powdered chocolate and mint tea leaves. Tea added when pitching yeast.
• Eric’s Dark Mild. Served via beer engine. Dark brown, loose head, light body, low carbonation, very malty, floral, dry. Yum.