Experimental arrangement
By Darrell Laurant on Apr. 28, 2010
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Not so long ago, a wall existed between “real” beer makers and home brewers.
Real beer was what was produced in vast factories and sold in bars and convenience stores and supermarkets. Home brewing was just a hobby, spawning barely palatable concoctions that the hobbyists foisted upon their friends.
Now, that wall is cracking and crumbling all over the United States, allowing lots of very drinkable beer to flow through it. And last Saturday night at the Waterstone Pizza and Brew Pub on Jefferson Street, John Steenis and Michelle Jones gave it another whack.
Through an experimental arrangement with Waterstone, the Hill City Home Brew Club — nearly 50 members strong — staged a contest for the best ESB (English Special Bitters) recipe. That beer, if it passed the taste buds of Waterstone brewmaster Wes Chastain, would then be sold on tap at the restaurant’s bar.
“I think it’s a great idea,” Chastain said Saturday, “but I’m not going to sell bad beer.”
No problem. According to Doug John, owner of the Pints O’ Plenty home brew shop and one of the brew club leaders, the “Dr. Evil ESB” that Jones and Steenis brought forth is one of the hottest sellers.
With a little tweaking, of course.
“Wes helped us some there,” said Jones, “and we used caramelized sugar in the recipe, which helped make it different.”
The club plans to stage a contest every three months, always with a theme. This time, that theme was ESB, which Jones admits gave her pause.
“I didn’t want to drink anything with the word ‘bitter’ in it, much less make it,” she said.
But she and Steenis, both engineers, came to savor the challenge. Their entry in the contest was mixed, sampled and aged in four weeks.
“We had no intention of winning,” Jones said. “We just wanted to get some honest feedback.”
The beers in the contest were judged by the entire membership in a blind taste test, with Chastain weighing in, as well.
“It’s always subjective,” said John, “but there’s no doubt in my mind that the best-tasting beer won.”
Along the way, Steenis said, “we had to scale it up from five gallons to 120. That was interesting.”
The beer was unveiled for club members and random Waterstone customers last weekend after it was brewed in an upstairs vat.
“To be honest, I hadn’t tasted it before tonight,” Steenis said. “We’ve still got some of the original beer, though.”
According to John, the biggest change in home brewing over the last decade has to do with yeast.
“There used to be only a couple of kinds of yeast available to the home brewer,” John said. “Now, there’s more than 100.”
Jones and Steenis both credited other brew club members for helping them get their beer on top once a winner was decided.
“It really reflects on everybody in the group,” John said.
COMMENTS
I have never brewed a beer or wine in my life. I went to Pints-O-Plenty and got all the help and advice from Mr John. My first batch was not great, but after a second try and a little more advise, it turned out really well. My hats off to a man and a company that can teach me how to make a fine tasting beverage. Next, I am trying wine.