Who's entering the Beehive Brew Off?

It's only five months away, better hurry!

I've kind of been on a homebrewing hiatus these last couple months. I really need to get back on the horse.

I guess it's time to start planning out our recipes. It'll be here before you know it.

I brewed several batches in January and froze in my garage so I've been holding off for warmer weather. I do plan on entering something this year, but what...

I'd really like to try my hand at a sour beer, maybe a Flanders Red. Probably not for this year but next. That's more than a little daunting.

I'm thinking maybe a Dunkel for this year. That'll give me some time to play with a recipe.

My brewbuddie and I are planning on entering a thing or two. It was such a blast last year, the judges comments were very very helpful and we even won a couple awards. It was a huge encouragement to have pro-brewers and other professionals tell you what they thought of the weird stuff you brewed up in you kitchen.

A Flanders Red sounds like a lot of fun to brew, I've never made a Flanders before. I've been experimenting with some historic styles recently. I've modified my Braggot that I entered last year and have been hammering out some Milds recently. A lot of the weirder stuff that we've been doing will have to age more than 5 months, so maybe next year for those.

We should collaborate on an entry and have the brewer listed as "Utah Beer Blog people". If the brew won something, think about how much that would draw people to this site.

---Ricky Hansing

rickyhansing wrote:

We should collaborate on an entry and have the brewer listed as "Utah Beer Blog people". If the brew won something, think about how much that would draw people to this site.

That would certainly be interesting. I'm totally down for doing it.

Losati wrote:

rickyhansing wrote:

We should collaborate on an entry and have the brewer listed as "Utah Beer Blog people". If the brew won something, think about how much that would draw people to this site.

That would certainly be interesting. I'm totally down for doing it.

I'd be up for that as well.

Well, now the question is, what are we going to brew? Should we take a poll? I vote we keep it to all grain and Ale Yeast, but that's just 'cause my lagering fridge is acting a bit off. Any suggestions?

---Ricky Hansing

I agree in keeping it all grain, and I've yet to try a lager so I'm good keeping it an ale. Any categories that don't tend to get a lot of entries? I wouldn't mind trying something that it's a bit out of the ordinary.

We could enter some sort of specialty category. Maybe do something like a chili beer or other vegetable beer. Or some spiced or herbed beer. Basically BJCP Categories 21-23. Maybe even 20, if you're, you know, into that sorta thing....

I agree, something weird would be a lot of fun. I've been wanting to make a chili beer for about a year now, but any idea like that would do. Losati, you make that blue ribbon porter last year right? So how about we hammer out a dark-ish chili beer. When I think spicy beer, I typically think Mexican Lager, but it would be interesting to have a deep dark beer with some kick. What other ideas do you all have? How about a spiced holiday beer?

I tried a chipoltle chocolate stout last year at NABA that was incedible. You would never think that those two flavors would work as well as they did. Just an idea.

I'm down with the chili beer concept. Maybe something along the lines of an imperial chili stout? Perhaps throw some chocolate in there? I think I've got a recipe for Brooklyn Brewery's Chocolate Stout somewhere.

Actually, it was the red ribbon in the porter category. But I like the idea of a dark chili beer.

Mikey, how smokey was the chipotle chocolate stout? That actually sounds really good. Makes me think of a mole sauce. Mole beer! If we want to move away from the chipotle to make it a little more unique, we could consider ancho or pasilla as our pepper.

I'm liking where this is going. A smoky, spicy chocolate stout sounds damned fine to me. I think a bit of sweetness would really round out a smoky heat. What kind of hops should be mix with that, I think Fuggles and stout are a match made in heaven but would they work with the heat?

My concern is that we have a dark beer (possibly porter or stout) that has a potentially strong roast character, and we're adding chocolate, pepper, and smoky flavors. I wonder if we should try and go for a less-flavorful hop. Just bitter it up a little bit and the let the other flavors dominate.

Where do people usually start when making a pepper beer, dark or otherwise? I've never looked into it.

My inclination is to focus on the chocolate and roasted flavors, and add enough pepper to give it a slight smoky and peppery tint.

Losati wrote:

Actually, it was the red ribbon in the porter category. But I like the idea of a dark chili beer.

Mikey, how smokey was the chipotle chocolate stout? That actually sounds really good. Makes me think of a mole sauce. Mole beer! If we want to move away from the chipotle to make it a little more unique, we could consider ancho or pasilla as our pepper.

Losati, you nailed it. It was very close to a chocolate mole. Similar to one they make a the Red Iguana.
I think the trick here is to use the essence of the chilies with just a hint of peppery notes.

I think a good piney hop. Maybe Nugget?

This could be a tough one.

Saying "Red Iguana" mole was the magic words. I live a minute or two from there, and spend way too much money on their moles. But anyway... I think with something like this we should lean to the side of subtlety. The idea of just a good clean bittering hop and then rounding it out with some pepper sounds nice to me. However, it may be nice to have some aroma hop in there that will bring out the smokiness. I'll look into it and see what people have done in the past. I do what this to be complex, not complicated; that's always the trick with these weird beers.

Also, I was just thinking. How would a smoked pepper Rauch beer taste? I've heard of pepper stouts but what about a beer that is traditionally smoked? Just an idea...

Not on the topic of chilis but I'll be entering again. I have a few lagers and ales all ready to go.

Are there any more details about the brew-off? Any sort of official announcement / date / webpage?

Last I checked with Jamie at the Beer Nut, there wasn't a set date yet but it would be in August. In addition, the requirement is three bottles this year.

I wish I would have known about it last year, I would have made an attempt.

I've got a vanilla porter to be brewed this weekend that if it comes out well, I might enter and see how it goes.

cavehamster wrote:

I wish I would have known about it last year, I would have made an attempt.

I've got a vanilla porter to be brewed this weekend that if it comes out well, I might enter and see how it goes.

Hell yeah, enter it!