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January 17, 2017

The Brewers Workshop: Extract Brewing Tips.

Each and every homebrew supply store offers a bevy of options when it comes to extract beer kits. They make claims that extract is capable of making great beer, but oftentimes; the beer can fall a bit short of expectations. However there are some things you can do to brew award winning beers with extract? Here are some tips from the workshop:

Attack of the “ZING”. First, and most importantly: Do full volume boils. The most frequently heard complaint about extract brews is “extract zing”. One of the best ways to help avoid the dreaded “zing” is to boil the full volume of liquid you plan on using. Full volume boils will also help ensure proper hop utilization; speaking of hop utilization…

Hop Utilization. One of the great things about brewing with extract is that, if you need to, you can make a big batch of beer in a small pot. Once your wort is cooled down, simply add enough bottled water to reach your final volume. While I recommend doing full volume boils on everything, a partial boil for wheat beers, porters, stouts and other “malt-forward” beers is a major convenience. However, partial boils can be a major hindrance when it comes to producing a top-quality IPA. To get the most out of your IPA or any other hop-heavy beer, a full boil is your best option. The more malt sugar that is in your boil, the less hop extraction you get from each hop addition. So you end up requiring more hops to reach an equivalent IBU. So, if you can, go with a full boil for that big, gnarly IPA.

Steeping Grains. Put no more than 2 lbs of steeping grains in a muslin bag. Ever. If you’ve ever dumped grain into water, you’ll notice that it has a tendency to clump up. So what happens when you dunk a muslin bag with 4 lbs of grain in to your kettle? The outside grains clump together to form a nice waterproof barrier for the other 1.5 lbs of grain in the middle. So how can we remedy this? Easy! Use another muslin bag!

A “Brew in a Bag” bag is an excellent way to steep a lot of grains.

Nylon Bags. To get the most out of your steeping grains, you could borrow (or buy) nylon bag from a “Brew in a Bag” brewer and dump the grains in your kettle and give them a gentle stir. These bags are much larger than the muslin bags that typically come in beer kits; so your grains come in greater contact with the water. When you remove the nylon bag, all of the grains come with it. This method will add 30-40 dollars to your equipment cost, but the bag is reusable and it’s a great way to venture into partial mash and all-grain brewing.

Fresh is best. Use fresh ingredients! Extract can get stale and over time it will affect flavor. Old extract can be a major contributor to “extract zing”. Hops are also affected, so store them in the fridge or freezer. Lastly, don’t forget about the freshness of the other ingredients. I.E. When brewing a Belgian wit, use fresh coriander and fresh orange zest. The difference will be obvious in the finished beer.

Stir it! Add extract SLOWLY after you remove your steeping grains and stir, stir, stir, stir with the heat source OFF! This is especially important if you’re using liquid extract. Nothing ruins a batch faster than liquid extract being scorched on the bottom of the kettle. Note: Some brewers add extract at the end of the boil to help keep the color light. I only recommend doing a late addition if you are using dry extract. It’s super easy to scorch liquid extract while the boil is going and dry extract is also lighter in color vs. liquid extract.

So there you go! Hopefully these tips will help your brew day go a bit smoother and aid in crafting a great beer. Extract brewing is fun, easy and can make AMAZING beers. And just like anything else, it takes a bit of practice and patience. Utilize these tips to help you on your brewing journey. Prost!

November 23, 2016

Anatomy of a Recipe: German Pilsener

Sleek. Sexy. Flawless production. The perfect blend of elegance and utility with nothing out of place. The same oft used descriptors for precision-engineered German automobiles also apply to the most popular style of beer within Germany—the German Pilsener. pilspic

All German Pilseners share four characteristics 1) A grist composed almost exclusively of European pale malt with minimal (if any) specialty grains and NO adjuncts, 2) Assertive hopping with Tettnang, Hallertau, Spalt, Saaz and related noble varieties, 3) Cool fermentation with a clean, highly attenuative lager yeast, and most importantly, 4) Stringent brewing process and quality control. They’re German beers, after all.

For a good introduction to German-brewed Pilseners, start with my personal favorite, the 40 IBU herbaceous hop-forward Jever, pronounced “Yay-ver”, then move on to the bready and soft Weihenstephaner Pils from Bavaria, the zingy Bitburger, then conclude your whirlwind tour with one of the many perfectly balanced Pilseners brewed by Warsteiner, Bamberger, Kulmbacher, or Koenig. To avoid the light-struck skunk flavor, look for these exports in cans or covered packaging. Not to be outdone, many American breweries produce a fine German Pilsener as well. Victory’s Prima Pils, Firestone Walker’s Pivo, and Trumer Pils are three well-crafted examples of the style and stand up to any of their continental brethren.

Now that your thirst has been quenched, let’s talk about filling your refrigerator with a delicious home brewed German Pilsener. First, let’s address fears and misconceptions about brewing pale lagers:

Lagers are not forgiving of off flavors – This is certainly true. Like your first solo acoustic open mic gig, you cannot hide behind distortion and flavor pyrotechnics. However, if you can manage process-related factors such as mash temperature, yeast cell count, oxygenation and wort temperature at time of pitching and sanitization to brew a delicious ale, you can also brew a fine German Pilsener in your kitchen or garage. Don’t believe me? Try it once and see. I double-dog dare you!

I need a temperature controlled fermentation chamber – While temperature control is important, the winter and early spring months in the Midwest provide a window of opportunity for primary fermentation at the ideal range of 45-55⁰F. If you have an unheated shed, garage, or mud room, keep an eye on your local forecast for a 7-10 span where the midpoint between the daily high and low temperature is 38⁰F to 48⁰F. Yeasts like Safale 34/70, WY2007 and WY2124 are fairly forgiving of modest temperature swings. Remember that a five gallon fermenter represents a lot of thermal mass and will not be immediately impacted by ambient temperature swings. During winter months where more hours lean towards the daily low temperature, your five gallon fermenter will generally stay a several degrees above the midpoint temperature. After the first 10 days or so of cool fermentation, simply move the fermenter to a slightly warmer (but cool) part of your home for a few days for a diacetyl rest.

Who wants to wait three months for a lager to be ready? – In my opinion, a 5% abv German Pilsener peaks around Day 60. That’s two months. By this point, in my house, usually the keg has been half-enjoyed and/or sent off for competitions. Your patience will be rewarded.

A complicated and lengthy mash procedure scares the bejeezus out of me – It is possible to brew a delicious German Pilsener without a direct fired mash tun and/or decoction mash. However, in my opinion, to truly replicate a commercial example of the style, a decoction mash is absolutely necessary. Don’t change the channel now, because there’s more on this later.

Recipe Formulation

At this point in a home brewing article, the author usually provides extract and all grain recipes for the style, then with a pithy ‘goodbye’ encourages the reader to get busy brewing. However, this author believes the relationship between ingredients and process in European pale lagers is much, much more critical, in general, than in the average ale recipe. Remember, we’re brewing a Mercedes C-Class, not an F-150 pickup. To that end, I think that you, the fearless home brewer will be best served with a range of grists and their ideal mash schedule.

I did a meta-analysis of over 60 German Pilsener recipes — 36 from personal experience brewed over the last decade and the rest from brewing publications. My results are summarized below. Note the relationship between Munich and Melanoidin malts and mash schedule. Each one of these recipes and mash schedules will produce a delicious German Pilsener. Pardon the esoteric road trip, but in my experience there is something magical about a 130/146/154/168 rest schedule. A 130⁰ protein rest is not absolutely necessary, but I have found it results in the beer pouring clearer, earlier from the keg.

mash1pic

Extract brewers should consider adding half of the extract in the last 20 minutes of the boil to improve bittering hops utilization and keep the wort from darkening too much. A full wort boil is highly recommended.

A typical decoction step is listed below:

Remove about 25-30% of the grains with a strainer and place into a side kettle. In a 5 gallon batch with approximately 10 lbs of grain, this will equate to about 1 gallon of grain. In double and triple decoctions, the last decoction is usually thin, meaning the decoction is mostly wort.
Heat the decoction to 168⁰ and rest for 5-10 minutes, stirring while heat is applied.
Heat the decoction to a boil and continue boiling for 15-30 minutes, stirring at least once every minute.
Pour decoction back into the main mash, stir, and briefly heat (if necessary) to the next rest temperature.

Water profiles range in commercial German Pilseners from soft to moderately sulfated. My go-to water profile, which results in a slightly hop-forward and crisp German Pilsener is [Ca (58) Mg (8) Na (10) Cl (77) SO4 (86)]. Per 5 gallons of brewing water, this equates to 0.5 tsp gypsum, 0.35 tsp epsom, 0.1 tsp NaCl, and 0.6 tsp CaCl. Avoid iodized table salt for the NaCl addition.

Not being one to shirk homebrewing convention, here’s my standard German Pilsener recipe which has won its share of hardware. Now that you have all my secrets, get brewing!

97% Best Malz Pilsner Malt

3% Munich Light

3 oz Acidulated Malt

Double Decoction per the above table

75 minute hard boil to drive off DMS precursors

30 IBU’s Magnum Hops @ 60 minutes

10 IBU’s Hallertau Hops @ 15 minutes

1 oz Hallertau when kettle cools to 150⁰

Safale 34/70: 350-400B cells per 5 gallons pitched when wort reaches 48⁰

Fermentation: 10 days-48⁰, 5 days-58⁰, 5-7 days-38⁰, rack to keg w/ gelatin around Day 22

September 12, 2016March 4, 2019

Meadful Things and Outciders Festival Recap

Last Saturday, Indianapolis got to experience the first of its kind: a festival devoted entirely to cider and mead. The Meadful Things and Outciders Festival was sponsored by Indianapolis’ own New Day Craft. Co-owner Tia Agnew and everyone at New Day Craft deserve a big congratulations for hosting an entertaining, well-run festival (no small feat when it’s the first year running a festival). Hundreds of craft cider and mead lovers descended on the Circle City Industrial Complex to sample the wares from over thirty artisan cider and mead makers from the Midwest as well as such far-flung places as Galicia, Spain, Northern California, and South Africa.

Having a chat with fellow club member Rami Lazarus

The last decade has seen a boom in the popularity of hard cider. And, yes, most of this is thanks to sugary, artificial-tasting alco-pops like Angry Orchard and Woodchuck (not to name names). But let’s focus on the positives: people who learned about cider through these avenues are now exploring and discovering smaller craft cideries and meaderies. In turn, these craft cideries and meaderies are challenging their customers and themselves to produce unique, top-quality product. When my wife and I vacationed in Traverse City this past July, I was shocked to see a bar devote more than a quarter of its 46 tap draft list to ciders and meads. Indiana still has a ways to go to catch up to its neighbors in Michigan, but if this past Saturday is any indication this may soon be the rule here and not the exception.

The creativity on display this past Saturday rivals what is going on in the American craft beer scene. Do you want to try a mead aged in a scotch barrel? What about a mead that tastes like a gin and tonic or a mojito? Maybe you prefer something a little simpler and want to stick with a dry cider. In that case, do you prefer American, French, or Spanish-style? Hell, there are even ciders and meads for the hophead in us all. New Day Craft came out with guns blazing, providing eight different ciders and meads, including a full keg of their Imperial Breakfast Magpie. I’m not ashamed to say I went back for seconds…and thirds…and fourths.

There were plenty of other standouts as well. Michigan’s B. Nektar, which besides having some strange and aggressively-named (and delicious) meads, also had a Cherry Limeade for VIP customers that was very refreshing and tasted like the genuine article. Indiana’s top cidery, McClure’s Orchard, brought a wide variety of their most popular and tasty ciders. But the stealth MVP of the day would have to be Crafted Artisan Meadery in Northeast Ohio. They weren’t even on my radar before that day, but they showed a lot of creativity with their meads and everything I had of theirs was uniformly great. Thanks to this festival, I also learned that I love French Cider. Dry, fruity, slightly tart, and heavily carbonated like champagne, it was the perfect libation for a warm September afternoon outdoors.

There was plenty of open air seating and three food trucks were on hand to make sure the slowly-drunken masses were well fed. And the smaller audience lent a friendly, laid-back vibe (and short lines). And did I mention there were puppies and kittens?! Since this was a charitable festival supporting the FACE Low Cost Spay and Neuter Clinic, they had several cute kittens and puppies to play with and hopefully adopt. I am going on record saying every beer and wine festival should have puppies and kittens. Make it happen. Having said that, there were some minor hiccups during the festival. Much of the venue was roped off due to ongoing construction. This meant that vendors were placed too close together, making for a bit of a crunch at the front of each line. Also many vendors seemed to run out of samples well before the 5 PM end time. But these are all things that can easily be fixed, and in fact, the construction will probably allow more vendors and a better venue in subsequent years. Lastly, with everyone pouring and drinking right next door to several art galleries, I would love to see that component integrated in subsequent years. Maybe have some of the galleries inside open for guests to browse, or have some resident artists display their pieces at the festival proper.

Imperial Breakfast Magpie. I drank a lot of these.

Overall, New Day Craft and everyone who volunteered put on an excellent festival. I would rank this just below Upland’s Sour+Wild+Funk Fest and Sun King’s Canvitational, which is an amazing feat for a first-year festival. As they continue to work out the kinks and attract more vendors, this could easily become Indianapolis’ top drinking festival.

August 29, 2016March 5, 2019

Grand Junction Brewing Special Release Party

Grand Junction Brewing will be releasing Dorado Falls, Seconds to Midnight, and Weezie’s Happy Wheat this Wednesday. Dorado Falls is a double IPA weighing in at 8.5% abv with 120 IBU. It’s continuously hopped with El Dorado hops. Seconds to Midnight is a Black IPA at 7% abv with 70 IBU, and Weezie’s Happy Wheat is 5% abv with 29 IBU. The tapping is this Wednesday (8/31/16), and should be a fun event. If you are a part of Grand Junction’s brew club there is a special tapping on 8/30/16.

August 14, 2016March 5, 2019

Anatomy of a Recipe – Classic Rauchbier

Anatomy of a recipe is a new feature where Circle City Zymurgy members walk you through the process of developing and perfecting either an award-winning recipe, or a recipe they are just very proud of. Our first entry is by me, Steve Kent. My classic Rauchbier, Bamberger Helper, won silver at the Hammerdown Brewcup in April, made it to mini-best of show at the UpCup, and just last month finished third in the smoke and wood-aged category at the Indiana Brewers Cup. It is a very good beer.

Centuries ago all malts were kilned on wood fires, lending them a smoky-sweet flavor. But with the onset of the industrial revolution, these beers quickly fell out of favor and were replaced with beers brewed with the clean, neutral malt produced using steam power. But the small town of Bamberg in Northern

Bavaria made sure that smoked beers wouldn’t go extinct. Their rauchbier (literally “smoke beer” in German) is brewed like a maltier, higher-alcohol Marzen with an unmistakable smokey flavor and aroma. Far and away the most popular exemplar of the style is Aecht Schlenkerla; and for good reason. It is an excellent beer, and if you can find it fresh (not always an easy task) it is delightful. Rauchbier was one of those styles that I knew I would love, even before I ever tried one. And when I had my first Aecht Schlenkerla at the Rathskeller, my hunch was confirmed. If you’re still on the fence, you just have to trust me. A good rauchbier is not like drinking a fire pit. When done right the smokiness is mild and serves to heighten and accentuate the clean, rich, malty flavor of the base beer. For me, rauchbier is the perfect beer for when you’re sitting in front of a fire on a March or April night; when it’s probably too cold to have a fire, but you’re too sick of winter to care. It is no coincidence that Bamberg is also the home of the Weyermann Malting Company. Their Rauchmalt, which is smoked over beechwood and is my preferred base malt for rauchbier. It clocks in at about 2.1-3.6 Lovibond and has enough diastatic power to self convert.

Attempting to brew a clone of Aecht Schlenkerla is a quixotic endeavor because, depending on who you believe, they either smoke their own malt or get their smoked malt specialty made by Weyermann. So the best I could do was make the best version of a rauchbier using the ingredients available to me. Based on everything I read, a beer brewed with 100% rauchmalt has too overpowering a smoke flavor. I wanted an assertive but not overpowering smoke flavor in my rauchbier, so I settled on 65% rauchmalt. Luckily that ended up providing just the right level of smoke. This style should be light amber to dark copper in color, moderately strong, and have a rich, sweet and toasty malt character. Given this information, the instinct is to incorporate crystal malt in the recipe, but I prefer not to use crystal malts in my continental lagers; instead I prefer to achieve a malty beer using richer base malts and multi-step mash schedule. I rounded out the grain bill with 30% dark Munich malt which provides an orange color, a pleasant breadiness, and a rich, malty sweetness, 3% melanoidin for even more maltiness, and 2% Carafa III to give it that deep copper color I wanted.

Even though this is a malt-forward style, I knew I was dealing with a very malty grain bill, so I couldn’t be shy with the hops. I went with about 23 IBU of Magnum for bittering. Usually a single bittering addition is enough, but I opted to add ½ oz of Tettnang hops with 15 minutes left in the boil. My reasoning was that the subtle hop flavor would help balance the maltiness better and it would allow the beer to be drinkable for a longer time. This particular beer won its two awards nearly three months apart, so I feel like that strategy worked perfectly.

I perform a Hochkurz mash on all my continental lagers. This involves a beta rest at 145 degrees F and an alpha rest at 158 degrees F. Doughing in at a lower temperature allows me to better control the fermentability of their wort, and the higher alpha rest helps improve maltiness and head retention. Beers brewed with a Hochkurz mash will be well attenuated and still have a nice, malty finish, characteristic of the best German lagers. A 30 minute rest at each step followed by a mashout was sufficient. If I am not feeling lazy, I will perform a double decoction with this mash. The small differences between rest temperatures makes decocting easy. If you plan on performing a decoction, feel free to omit the melanoidin.

Water is very important when making rauchbier. You 100% can not use spring water or tap water. Chlorine and smoke don’t mix. Since I didn’t want my rauchbier to taste like rubber bands, I started with a base of 100% distilled water. Beyond that, I just kept my minerals low. I used a small amount of gypsum and a moderate amount of calcium chloride; enough to get my calcium levels close to 50 ppm.

Saflager 34/70 (the Weihenstephaner strain) has been my go-to yeast for most lagers. It has never done me wrong, so I figured why switch things up. I always pitch an insane amount of yeast and keep it as cold as it can possibly handle–46-48 degrees with a diacetyl rest after seven days. I wanted this beer to be clean, clean, clean.

The power of the homebrewer is being able to take a beer brewed solely in a German city of 70,000 people and say, “I can do that”. There is nothing quite like a fresh homebrewed rauchbier done right. And now that you know how to do it, go out and brew it. Prost!

August 7, 2016March 5, 2019

Indiana Microbrewers Festival Recap – Never too Late to Celebrate!

Thank you to CCZ member Matt Wolford for writing this recap and for repping our club! If you have any ideas on how to contribute to our website, email erik@circlecityzymurgy.com.

Sorry this post came a week late, but in my opinion it’s never too late to talk about beer. It was a great weekend for a beer fest, but let’s be honest, what weekend isn’t great for a beer fest? Big shout out to Indiana Brewer’s Guild for putting together a great event for everyone to come out and enjoy great craft beer from Indiana. The weather cooperated and there was a lovely breeze that allowed participants to remain cool. Circle City Zymurgy was well represented at the event; not only pouring for the first hour (and then some) but also as supporters of Indiana craft beer.

CCZ was granted the opportunity to pour during the VIP portion of the event. Vickie Meehan and Mickey Bovin provided a zombie dust clone called Aim for the Head and a Dry Cherry Cider that was a huge hit. My wife Lauren and I brought a SMaSH IPA called Hulk Smash and a Hefeweizen called The Noble of Hefe. While the crowds for VIP session were a little sparse at our stand, we were able to keep the Cherry Cider and the SMaSH on tap during the first portion of general admission thanks to Great Fermentations. The overall re

sponse to CCZ beers was outstanding as there were many compliments given and referrals sent to the booth asking for our beers. We also received great feedback from some of the other brewers who stopped by and congratulated us on our wonderful beers and were kind enough to talk shop and share brewing knowledge.

Once again CCZ is leading the way in producing great homebrew. We are always trying to deliver the best, most unique beer at festivals. We were able to reach out to several members of the homebrewing community, and we will hopefully see our numbers grow as a result. Our participation also garnered Lauren a photo in the Indianapolis Star! (though the caption was attributed to Great Fermentations). Awesome work by everyone involved, and onward and upward to greater zymurgy!

July 30, 2016March 5, 2019

Tap Takeovers in Town – 7/29 – 8/6

Burn ‘Em Brewing Tap Takeover at Twenty Tap – 7/29
Rhinegeist Tap Takeover at La Margarita – 7/29

Rhinegeist Tap Takeover at Twenty Tap – 7/30

Byway Brewing at BoomBozz Pizza in Carmel – 7/29

18th St. Tapping at The Pint Room in Carmel featuring Hunter Vanilla – 8/2

Upland Crab Boil at the Carmel Tap Room – $25 at the door. You get 4 crabs, unlimited sides, and $1 drafts $3 snifters. 8/6

TwoDeep TWOYear anniversary. Barrel and cask-aged beers, food trucks, music, and games – 8/6

July 13, 2016March 5, 2019

2016 Indiana Brewers Cup…That’s a Wrap!

The Indiana Brewers Cup is kind of a huge deal. Over 1500 entries (both homebrew and professional) are judged by dozens of certified judges. Competition is fierce, and should you happen to win here, you can consider yourself one of the best homebrewers in the Midwest. Think of every other festival as the regular season and this as the World Series. Even though Circle City Zymurgy has only been existence for four months, we came in to this granddaddy of homebrew competitions hoping we could make some noise. And while we came short of our ultimate goal of being crowned homebrew club of the year, we still had a very strong showing (and a heck of a lot of fun).

The tasting reception before the actual awards ceremony always promises a good time. It is set up like a low-key beer festival, only this time breweries and homebrew clubs are treated as equals. There six commercial breweries and eight homebrew clubs sampled out some of their best beer, cider, and mead (and even barrel-aged coffee!). Highlights of the evening included McClure’s Orchard’s Paige’s Peaches and Razzled (a gold medal winner that night), The Tap’s Double Barrel Buckshot (a smoked roggenbier), and the Broad Ripple Brewpub’s Welcome to Helles (the homebrew best of show recipe from 2015). Circle City Zymurgy was there pouring, nestled right between The Tap and New Day Craft (and gleefully smuggling samples from each. We served a California Common, a gose with cucumber and jalapeno, a Flanders red with cherries, a Belgian sour with crab apples, and a Hefeweizen run through a Randall stuffed with blueberries. Lines were long and steady and our beers were roundly praised. Speaking of which, did you know that Circle City Zymurgy is on Untappd? You can check out all of our offerings and review our beers. Your support is valuable!

As for the awards ceremony, five Circle City Zymurgy members took eight ribbons, and we finished as the second most successful club at the event. Club results can be found on our events page and Full results can be found here. The awards ceremony got off to an emotional start when the Godmother of Brewing in Indiana (and, full disclosure, my employer) Anita Johnson won the Golden Growler Award (think of it as sort of a lifetime achievement award). It was also exciting and rewarding to see several of our professional compatriots bring home medals. Friends of the club Bier Brewery, Tow Yard Brewing Company, Grand Junction Brewing Company, Flix Brewhouse Carmel, McClure’s Orchard, and New Day Craft all emerged highly successful.

But Circle City Zymurgy saved the best for last with our fun, rip-roaring, porkified after party hosted by our own Brady Smith. We had seven excellent beers on tap (including two award winners from that night), and the appetizers were a revelation. Highlights included bacon donut hole skewers, sopressata, and manchego cheese, and deviled scotch eggs. Outside people were hanging out, playing corn hole and beer pong, and enjoying a rare mild July evening. All this was soundtracked by the live bluegrass stylings of The Barefoot Hollers. From what I can remember, it was an excellent party (did I mention seven beers on tap?).

Whether they won awards or not, we are proud of all the club members who participated in the Brewers Cup. Their help coordinating our plan of attack and their willingness to step out of their comfort zones helped make this such a success. We only spent two months planning for the Brewers Cup and we still ended up with nearly seventy entries and eight awards. From here the sky is the limit.

July 9, 2016March 5, 2019

2016 Indiana Brewers Cup Preview

Judging is already underway for Indiana’s largest brewing competition, and Circle City Zymurgy is looking to win big. During our short existence, club members have been racking up medals at regional competitions, but this event will really show where we stand in the local homebrewing scene. Over the past couple months, we have made a concerted effort to win big, and as a result over a dozen club members have nearly seventy entries in this competition. Not only is individual glory up for grabs, but we are also vying to win Homebrew Club of the Year. This category has long been dominated by the Foam Blowers of Indiana, but this year we have what it takes to unseat them.

But enough with the motivational speak. There is much more to the Brewers Cup than the competition. CCZ will also be pouring during the reception, along with several other professional breweries and homebrew clubs. And let’s not forget the (hopefully) yummy buffet to be served before the awards ceremony. No matter what happens, win or lose, it is going to be a fun time for everyone (though let’s hope we win).

We will be live tweeting (@cczymurgy) and live snapping (cczymurgy) the Brewers Cup. So you can still follow along even if you can’t make it. But if you are there, come and say hello, try our beers and cheer us on.

Where: Elements Financial Blue Ribbon Pavillion

When: TONIGHT at 5 pm

June 9, 2016March 5, 2019

2016 Sour + Wild + Funk Fest Is In The Books!

Upland Brewing sure knows how to throw a beer fest! When Circle City Zymurgy showed up early Saturday morning to the 5th annual Upland Sour + Wild + Funk Fest drop off point, there were already a multitude of vendors setting up tents, tables, fencing, and signage. Everything came together really quickly, and within hours the stage had been set for VIP ticket holders of the event. I cannot stress how many amazing sours were at this event.

From Rivertown‘s uber viscous and delicious Kriek to coveted Upland’s Paw Paw lambic, there were an outstanding number of funky varieties available. CCZ was nestled comfortably between Central State Brewing and Country Boy Brewing, which made it painstakingly easy to fill up on CB’s Ghost Gose and Central State’s House. But wait… there’s more! We teamed up with Great Fermentations and Wilks and Wilson for a super unique pouring experience as the first homebrew organizations at the event!

CCZ and Great Fermentations brought the funk with our Berliner Weisse (paired with cherry, ginger, and raspberry Wilks and Wilson gommes), Templeton Rye Whiskey Barrel Aged Flanders Red, Apple Brandy Barrel Aged Flanders, Persimmon Lambic, Brett Saison de Brawndo, and a random assortment of beautiful, beautiful, bombers. We had a really positive response from the people we poured for, and some even asked my favorite question “Where can I buy this?” For those of you that missed out this year, STAY TUNED. We definitely plan on attending SFF again next year.

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