Victory Brewing Company (Downingtown, PA) had to put “Old Ho” aka Old Horizontal on hold due to capacity issues. The last time that barleywine has seen the light of day was nearly 2 years ago. The Continue Reading →
Stone Brewing Co has released the home brew recipe for the three-way collaboration saison with Victory Brewing, & Dogfish Head. (I believe it was already published in the recent Stone book…) Regardless, for those home brewers out there, have at Continue Reading →
Victory Brewing Company is prepping their first ever wine barrel aged release Red Thunder. The brewery took Baltic Thunder and has been aging it in red wine barrels from Wente Vineyards.
(Downingtown, PA) — On Wednesday, November 21, Victory Brewing Company will release its first-ever wine barrel-aged beer: Red Thunder.
Victory Brewing Company is known for melding traditional styles and unique concepts to produce the highest quality, full flavored beers. Red Thunder does just that. Continue Reading →
Potential release from Victory Brewing Company: Red Thunder. The Downingtown, PA brewery has aged their a porter (Baltic Thunder?) in red wine barrels.
First brewed in England in the 18th century, porter-style beers were transported to Baltic maritime cities in oak Continue Reading →
Zymurgy Magazine, the official Journal of the American Homebrewer’s Association just published their results from the reader’s rankings. For the 4th year in a row, Russian River’s Pliny The Elder takes 1st place. Bell’s Two Hearted and Dogfish Head 90 Minute aren’t Continue Reading →
Victory Brewing Company (Downingtown, PA) had to put “Old Ho” aka Old Horizontalon hold due to capacity issues. The last time that barleywine has seen the light of day was nearly 2 years ago. The above indicates plans by Victory to release a bourbon barrel aged version of Old Horizontal.
Dark Intrigue(Storm King in bourbon) was released last year, and found instant success. More barrel aged offerings were being planned. Fingers crossed for more Old Horizontal in the near future. (It won’t be in 2012.)
Stone Brewing Co has released the home brew recipe for the three-way collaboration saison with Victory Brewing, & Dogfish Head. (I believe it was already published in the recent Stone book…) Regardless, for those home brewers out there, have at it.
Dogfish Head / Victory / Stone Saison du BUFF homebrew recipe
Is this a complete guide to homebrewing? No way. Is it a recipe you can use alongside such a guide? Absolutely.
1 (125 ml) package Wyeast Labs WY3711 French Saison Yeast
0.77 ounce Citra hops (11.0% alpha acid)
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons light dried malt extract
I can’t stress it enough: clean and sanitize everything.
Mashing
In a 10-gallon brew kettle, combine the crushed malts and flaked rye with 4 gallons of 163°F water. The water should cool slightly when mixed with the grain. Cover and hold the mash at 149°F for 2 hours.
For safety’s sake, set up your propane burner outside. Set the brew kettle of mash on top and heat to 160°F, stirring frequently to avoid scorching. Turn off the heat. The mash will continue to increase in temperature to about 165°F.
Lautering and Sparging After mashing is complete, carefully transfer the mash to the lauter tun to separate the liquid (the wort) from the grains. Run a length of vinyl tubing from the lauter tun to the brew kettle. Let the first few quarts of liquid run through. It will be cloudy and contain some undesirable particulates. Once the liquid coming through is clear, stop the flow and pour the cloudy liquid back into the lauter tun, where the husks from the crushed grain will act as a natural filter and help remove the sediment.
Allow the remainder of the wort to drain into the brew kettle at a slow, steady rate, restricting the flow with a plastic crimp on the tube. Once the liquid is lower than the level of the grain bed, begin the sparge by slowly sprinkling 5 gallons plus 1 cup of 168°F water over the grains.
The sparge water, which should never exceed 170°F, is added to the grain and allowed to drain off at a slow rate (regulated by the plastic crimp), extracting the remaining sugars and maximizing yield. This is not a step to be rushed; be prepared to spend at least an hour on lautering and sparging. Once the last of the sparge water has filtered through the grains and the flow from the lauter tun stops, you’re ready to begin the boil.
The Boil
Set the brew kettle of wort on your outdoor propane burner and add water to bring the wort level up to about 6 gallons plus 12 cups, if needed. Bring the wort to a rapid, rolling boil. As it begins to come to a boil, a layer of foam and scum may develop at the surface. Skim it off and discard. Once the wort is at a full boil, put a hops bag containing the Centennial hops in the kettle and set a timer for 90 minutes. Stir the wort frequently during the boil, and be watchful to avoid boilovers.
At 15 minutes before the end of the boil, stir in the Irish moss. When the boiling time is over, turn off the heat and put a hops bag containing the Amarillo hops, parsley, rosemary, lemon thyme, and white sage in the kettle. Cover the kettle and immediately begin cooling the wort quickly. Place the brew kettle in a large sink, bathtub, or cooler partially filled with ice water. Place your sanitized wort chiller in the wort and run cold water through it until the wort comes down to 70°F.
Pitching the Yeast and Fermentation Once the wort has cooled to 70°F, discard the spent hops and herbs and check the specific gravity of the wort with a hydrometer. The target starting gravity is 1.059 (14.5 Plato).
The yeast should be removed from the refrigerator about 2 hours before use so it acclimates to room temperature. Slowly pour the cooled wort into a sanitized primary fermentation bucket. Stir vigorously with a sanitized spoon or carefully shake the fermenter (sealed of course) for about 10 minutes to aerate the wort. Shake the container of yeast, add it directly to the wort, and stir vigorously to combine. Cover the bucket with the lid, fitted with the proper stopper and an airlock filled halfway with water. Place the bucket in a cool, dark place and keep it at 70°F.
Signs of primary fermentation should be evident after about 6 to 12 hours. Let the wort ferment until the bubbles coming from the airlock have slowed to a rate of about one per minute. This can take anywhere from 4 days to over 1 week.
Once this occurs, it’s time to transfer the beer to a (sanitized) glass carboy for secondary fermentation. Attach a length of (sanitized) vinyl tubing to the (sanitized) racking cane, and carefully siphon the wort into the carboy, being careful to leave behind the sediment at the bottom of the plastic fermenter. The vinyl tubing should extend to the bottom of the carboy to prevent splashing. While oxygen is crucial for the yeast at the beginning of fermentation, after that you want to minimize the wort’s exposure to it.
Dry Hopping Put the Citra hops in a hops bag and place it in the carboy. Seal the carboy with the drilled stopper and an airlock filled halfway with water and ferment at 70°F. After 7 days, dry hopping is complete. Remove the hops bag and discard the hops. Check the specific gravity of the beer. If it’s reached the target final gravity of 1.007 (1.8 Plato), it’s ready to bottle. If not, allow it to continue fermenting at 70°F until it reaches the target.
Bottling
When you’re ready to bottle, be sure to clean and sanitize the bottles, caps, bottling wand, racking cane, and tubing. Put the dried malt extract in a medium saucepan and stir in just enough water to dissolve it. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat. Remove from the heat, cover, and let cool slightly. Pour this mixture into a clean, sanitized bucket with a spigot. Attach a length of vinyl tubing to the racking cane and carefully siphon the beer into the bucket, being careful to leave behind the sediment at the bottom of the carboy. The vinyl tubing should extend to the bottom of the bucket to prevent splashing.
Remove the racking cane and attach the bottling wand to one end of the vinyl tubing and the other to the spigot at the bottom of the bucket. Open the spigot
and begin filling the bottles, leaving about 1 inch of headspace in each bottle. Once the bottles have been filled, cap them using a bottle capper (or simply close the tops if you’re using swing-top style bottles). Store properly in a cool, dry place for 2 weeks so the beer can properly carbonate. Cheers!
Victory Brewing Company is prepping their first ever wine barrel aged release Red Thunder. The brewery took Baltic Thunder and has been aging it in red wine barrels from Wente Vineyards.
“While enjoying our first batch of Baltic Thunder in 2007, Ron and I immediately sensed that the deep complexities of this nuanced brew left almost no room for improvement,” said Victory Brewing Company President and Co-Brewmaster Bill Covaleski. “But as our experience with Baltic Thunder grew, we became intrigued with barrel-aging it, and red wine barrels proved to deliver the perfect level of flavor enhancement.”
Flavor?
…The burnished cocoa creaminess of the Baltic-style porter is accented by the tannic dryness of the wood to produce a rich, fruity final product.
Red Thunder arrives on November 21, 2012. Only available in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts and Ohio
(Downingtown, PA) — On Wednesday, November 21, Victory Brewing Company will release its first-ever wine barrel-aged beer: Red Thunder.
Victory Brewing Company is known for melding traditional styles and unique concepts to produce the highest quality, full flavored beers. Red Thunder does just that. By aging their popular Baltic Thunder in once-used red wine barrels from Wente Vineyards, Victory Brewing Company created Red Thunder. The burnished cocoa creaminess of the Baltic-style porter is accented by the tannic dryness of the wood to produce a rich, fruity final product.
“While enjoying our first batch of Baltic Thunder in 2007, Ron and I immediately sensed that the deep complexities of this nuanced brew left almost no room for improvement,” said Victory Brewing Company President and Co-Brewmaster Bill Covaleski. “But as our experience with Baltic Thunder grew, we became intrigued with barrel-aging it, and red wine barrels proved to deliver the perfect level of flavor enhancement.”
Packaged in 750 mL corked bottles, Red Thunder will be available at Victory Brewing Company’s Downingtown retail store beginning on Wednesday, 11/21 and in additional markets shortly after. Red Thunder will be distributed throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts and Ohio.
Alcohol by volume is 8.5%.
Victory Brewing Company is a privately held craft brewery headquartered in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. Begun by Bill Covaleski and Ron Barchet, childhood friends who met on a school bus in 1973, the brewery formally began operations in February of 1996. Victory, Pennsylvania’s widely acclaimed brewery and restaurant, now serves fans of fully flavored beers in 29 states with innovative beers melding European ingredients and technology with American creativity. To learn more about Victory Brewing Company visit us on the web at www.victorybeer.com.
Potential release from Victory Brewing Company: Red Thunder. The Downingtown, PA brewery has aged their a porter (Baltic Thunder?) in red wine barrels.
First brewed in England in the 18th century, porter-style beers were transported to Baltic maritime cities in oak casks. As the style roamed through Europe, it picked up flavor influences along the way. We guessed that this drifting, vagabond style would enjoy a bit of downtime, so we gave it a new home for a few months. We filled oak barrels that previously held red wine with our Baltic Thunder and waited patiently for results.Subtle and seductive, the burnished cocoa creaminess of this beer is now accented with the tannic dryness that the wood imparts. Like our Baltic Thunder, Red Thunder honors the Baltic god of heavenly rumblings, as the ever-changing porter is as unpredictable, yet romantic, as an evening storm.
Zymurgy Magazine, the official Journal of the American Homebrewer’s Association just published their results from the reader’s rankings. For the 4th year in a row, Russian River’s Pliny The Elder takes 1st place. Bell’s Two Hearted and Dogfish Head 90 Minute aren’t far behind for best IPA in the country. Interestingly, the harder to find Pliny The Younger ranked at the other end of the list, at #48.
More than 16,000 votes were received in this years vote. Check out the full story for brewery rankings. (T= Tied) [AHA]
