time for some overdue professional, homebrew, and beer scene updates!

• a couple of weekends ago the phantom carriage’s first release, muis, made an appearance at the tour of long beach’s craft beer garden.  inspired by my all-brett blonde experiment, muis is an all-brett belgian blonde with terrific mouthfeel, a smooth backing bitterness, and a great earthy tropical fruit aroma.  this batch was keg conditioned instead of being force carbonated, which results in a fine effervescence and great fluffy head.  stay tuned for mainstream release information – this beer will be on LA south bay taps soon!
• last weekend I kegged and bottled vizcaino II, the latest iteration of my golden strong wild ale.  while my other pipeline wild beers were inspired by commercial brews, vizcaino’s recipe was formulated from scratch, and my first stab at it left me a little disappointed.  however, after reworking the recipe and mash schedule based on my pipeline experience and racking the batch onto a mess of raspberry puree, I ended up with what I can only describe as an “imperial framboise” – a 10.23% (finished at 1.005) brilliant red brew with an intense yet smooth acidity that transitions seamlessly into some serious raspberry flavors.  I can’t wait until this carbs up.
• on a final note, I want to congratulate beer paper LA on the release of their first physical publication.  I stopped by their release party at beachwood BBQ long beach and was filled with pride for the ever-evolving LA beer scene (kip at bierkast has a great writeup that I completely resonate with).  it’s never been a better time to be a beer drinker in LA!  

as you might have guessed, the majority of my available brew time over the last few months has been spent working on the phantom carriage project.

• instead of filling this year’s sour beer pipeline in my basement, I have been starting another, more substantial pipeline by helping develop an ever-growing barrel collection over in torrance based on my own wild lineup.
• the latest batch destined for the barrel racks was also the first one completed using the phantom carriage’s 3bbl nano system.  although a simple lambic-style recipe (60/40 pils/wheat, low alpha bittering) and a single infusion mash schedule promised a straightforward brew day, snags such as a missing mill, thermometer discrepancies, a wonky burner, and a flawed kettle whirlpool design resulted in long hours and headache for everyone involved.  on the positive side, the mash and sparge went down without a hitch, system efficiency was terrific, and all the other hiccups can easily be addressed during the next brew day.
• on another note, the phantom carriage facebook page is live – check it out!  MS and I have been working on delivering a steady stream of content for the page, including details on upcoming releases and events.  for example, check out the teaser video I tossed up yesterday, featuring production and a soundtrack by yours truly.  more great developments are on the horizon – stay tuned!

last weekend I met up with other members of the la beer bloggers to embark on what would turn out to be an unforgettable beer expedition.

• as guests of firestone walker, we were given an all-access pass to the brewery, barrel houses, and environs in an attempt to experience what sets FW apart from other craft breweries.  after a quick trip up north on a chartered bus (made quicker by a bottle share and a steady supply of 12 oz firestone staples provided by our gracious host), we arrived not at the brewery but windrose farm, a local family farm that provides produce to FW’s restaurant.  bill and barbara, who live on and run the farm, kept everyone educated and entertained with discussions of biodynamic practices and responsible agriculture while we feasted on freshly picked greens and house-raised lamb expertly prepared by FW’s head chef and paired with an intense lineup of FW specialties ranging from bretta weiss to parabola.
• after hitching a tractor ride back to the bus, we headed over to the brewery, where matt brynildson and dustin kral gave us the VIP tour.  beers in hand, we went from the brewhouse to the lab to the roof of the facility, finally ending up in the barrel house, where dustin grabbed a thief and proceeded to pour everyone a three-barrel flight of a one-off beer aged in straight oak, bourbon, and tequila barrels.  minds already blown, we were then whisked away to herman story wines, where winemaker russell had a full spread and barrel sampling lineup at the ready.  after a few more hours of debauchery we ended the night at FW’s taproom restaurant with some great eats and a homebrew share (punctuated by some on-the-spot homebrew/food pairing suggestions by FW’s head chef).
• the next morning, having shook the cobwebs out of our heads and limbered up, we headed down to buellton to check out FW’s new barrelworks facility.  ”sour jim,” the resident master blender, gave us a tour of the growing barrel stacks and set us up with a wild beer blending session after a fantastic lunch.  after the session, GN sweet-talked jim into supplying us with some sample bags to take home some barrel bugs, and after talking shop for a while (over a full flight of FW one-offs and wild beers) jim snuck us back to the barrel room, where he started pulling nails and let us in on some of his long-term projects.  the trip finished off with a drive down the coast and yet another bottle share.
• oh, and the kicker? the whole even was hosted by david walker, the co-founder himself.  david was a generous, receptive, and intelligent host who made everyone feel at home in paso robles.  the event left me with not only a great admiration for the care, passion, and innovation FW brings to the craft brew game, but also with a profound respect for all parties involved with the beer scene in paso robles and the surrounding areas.  that sixer of DBA in my fridge never looked so good.

last tuesday AP and I headed up to golden road to participate in their “winter situational” meetup with the LA beer bloggers.

• the event was at chloe’s, a private club adjacent to the main brewpub.  they had homebrewers/authors drew beechum and john palmer speaking, complimentary drafts pouring, and great food offerings.  I definitely have to hand it to golden road for embracing the blogosphere and throwing an impressive event to foster community and connectivity amongst both brewers and writers.  bierkast’s review can be found HERE, and I uploaded some pics from the event HERE.

in other news, the first batch of phantom carriage beer was pumped out last weekend.

• 14bbl of wort inspired by banning were racked into two 7bbl fermentors, and will be shortly transferred to barrels for the long haul.  as usual, more details are forthcoming, but there are some awesome projects in the works!

after a couple of months in the bottle, it was finally time to try out my apricot lambic.

• to celebrate, I grabbed some raincoast crisps and humboldt fog and headed over to PP and DP’s house, where I had picked the apricots nineteen months earlier.  I also chilled a bottle of ’08 fou’ foune from cantillon for the sake of comparison (and to see where my version might be headed in a few years).  here are my thoughts on each:

• cantillon fou’ foune 2008
• appearance: great carbonation, turbid, white head that quickly fades to lacing
• aroma: intense, complex, dirty barnyard funk
• taste: bracing acidity, slight sticky stone fruit evident on finish
• overall: enjoyable, but the high acid level made this beer far from sessionable.

• house apricot lambic
• appearance: light straw color, crystal clear, solid carbonation, quickly vanishing head
• aroma: sweet ripe apricot, lingering funk
• taste: assertive complex funk with tart apricot and a tangy, dry finish with a fresh, complex acidity.  very drinkable.
• overall: I can’t think of a tastier beer I’ve made to date, really happy with this one.  I’m excited to take my first solera barrel pull soon to experiment with other local fruit.

well, the cat is finally out of the bag.

• last sunday AP and I attended the 11th dionicess dinner at beachwood long beach.  the theme was zombie apocalypse survival, which included off-the-wall courses such as octopus, snails, heart, and brains paired with unique beers from top-notch local breweries.
• one highlight of the dionicess event was the introduction of a new socal brewing project – the phantom carriage.  this introduction was exciting to me and AP because, if all goes well, I’m going to be brewing with the phantom carriage.
• specifically, I will be in charge of “alternative fermentations,” and will focus on wild ales similar to my current pipeline lineup that are fermented both in stainless and oak.  more details will be divulged once they are finalized, but things should get interesting in the near future.  stay tuned!

last weekend AP and I headed to lomita to stock up on some persimmons.

• a few weeks back our friend JB mentioned that she had a sizable fuyu persimmon tree in her backyard and that this year’s yield was more than she could handle.  what an understatement – behind her house was the largest persimmon tree I had ever seen, loaded to the hilt with ripe fruit.  AP and I spent a couple hours up in the leaves, relieving the sagging branches of their pesticide-free bounty while JB’s dogs darted around, investigating our growing piles of fruit.
• I then spent a few more hours destemming, washing, and organizing the fuyus.  after all was said and done, we ended up with close to one hundred pounds of fruit, and barely made a dent in the tree.  prepping that volume of fruit is no joke for one person – so far I’ve only managed to cut, vacuum seal, and freeze half of our haul, and am not looking forward to finishing the other half.  it will all be worth it in the future though – how does one hundred pounds of persimmons in a barrel of lambic sound?  not that it hasn’t been done before, of course…

on another note, last week kip from bierkast headed over to overcarbed HQ to check out my setup.

• over the course of a few hours we toured my fermentation room/beer cellar and checked out my homebrew rig, while sampling some of my current lineup.  I tossed some of my neighbor’s fresh caught chucklehead on the grill while we talked shop, covering a variety of topics from lambic brewing to sourcing local ingredients.  his well-written writeup can be found HERE.

last weekend I kept rolling with the funk and put together an all-brett blonde split three ways.

• I based my grain bill on various recipes for sanctification, but kept to a 60 minute boil and mashed at 151F (in hindsight, I could have kicked it up to around 154 or 155F, since all-brett beers tend to finish a little thin).  my starting gravity was 1.055 and I kept the IBUs to around 27.
• after cooling the wort to the mid-70s, I divided it up into three fermentors (two 5gal and on 2.5gal), aerated, and pitched a different isolated brett strain into each fermentor.  a vial of WLP653 went into five gallons, my ramped-up starter of WLP644 went into another five, and a vial of WLP650 was pitched into the smaller 2.5 gal better bottle.
• the 644 took off vigorously within hours, while the slightly underpitched WLP650 took a day or so to get going.  I had read that the 653 was a notoriously slow starter, which rang true – it took three days to see visible activity, but by that time the airlock was churning and there was a healthy krausen.

after hosing down my brewstand, ML and I headed for beachwood BBQ long beach to meet up with the LACBB crew for our monthly summit.

• julian shrago (brewer), gabe gordon (owner), and daniel drennon (writer) all spoke at the event, although I arrived late and was admittedly distracted by a killer brisket sandwich and tasty house IPA.  kip’s article over at bierkast summarizes the event nicely (and includes a pretty unflattering profile shot of me at the bar).  not a bad way to spend a sunday!

last saturday I headed over to santa monica for the annual beer, art, and music (BAM) fest.

• a comprehensive beer selection accompanied a friendly crowd and a great music lineup at the 18th street arts center parking lot.  standout taps included a fresh hop beer from pizza port and a barrel aged imperial stout from smog city.  I got caught up talking shop with a bunch of brewers at the event and only managed to get a couple shots off, but bernie over at friends of local beer took a great set you can check out HERE.

the next morning I found some time to keg and bottle my homegrown saison.

• the beer finished at 6.5 brix (1.006) for an abv of 6.63%.  since it finished so low I decided to skip the brett b addition and just keg up ten gallons straight.  initially, a loose-fitting siphon hose introduced some oxygen into the beer line and eliminated suction when racking the beer, but after a quick fix with some zip ties and CO2 pressure the kegs were topped off for carbonating.  the gravity sample had diverse and intense spice and fruit notes – it seems the yeast really liked the high fermentation temps.  I’m definitely looking forward to the finished product in a few weeks!

last weekend I weighed out and bagged this year’s hop harvest.

• I ended up with 2.5 oz. of vojvodina, 2 oz. of cascade, and a paltry 0.5 oz of chinook.  my goal next year is to mulch with compost, maintain a regular fertilization schedule, and let all runners have at it up the vine.  hopefully that will increase yields, especially with my in-ground rhizomes.

I also received some good news from the pacific brewer’s cup, a local homebrew competition hosted by three homebrew clubs.

• I was stoked to hear that my turbid mash lambic took second place in the cat. 17 sour ale category under straight (unblended) lambic.  a bunch of homebrewer buddies also cleaned house, which helped to cement an overall competition club win by my homebrew club, pacific gravity.  great job everybody!

I’ve also been busy participating in some festivities for LA beer week, which is going on all this week and weekend (check it out if you’re local!).

• I kicked off beer week in style by heading over to the monthly pacific gravity meeting, and helped out during the weekend by pouring some of my homebrew (white and light house saison) over at monkish during a bus tour of four local breweries.

I also finally got around to taking a decent shot of my fermentation room for those who are curious (see below).  big things are in the works, so stay tuned for updates!