Saturday, November 26, 2016

Estes Park? More like Bestes Park

Belgian Porter

or

That scene in Wayne's World where they had backstage passes and are showing it to everyone


6 pounds 2 Row
.5 pounds black malt
.5 pounds chocolate malt
1 pound caramel 40

Belgian dark candi sugar @10 minutes

1 ounce Northern Brewer @60 minutes
1 ounce Northern Brewer @10 minutes

Belgian Ale Yeast WLP 550

The club (all two of us) were invited to the Fall Back Brewfest up in Estes Park. It was a small event but man, look at that view:


We were set up on the side in the homebrewer's section along with the Fort Collins based Liquid Poets Society.  And oh man, what a day. (What a lovely day!) We were there to answer questions and drink, and brew and drink, and help folks get into the hobby. And drink. Do you know how much they overpour you if you're wearing a brewer's badge? It got to a point where we missed the one ounce pours at other brewfests. 

By the way, how long have I waited for one of these?

Refer back to the Wayne's World gif.

That's a Brewer's badge baby. I was feared and respected, adored and congratulated. I had festival volunteers say, "Can I get you anything?" Rather than, "Sir, you're making a scene."

I'm a teacher by nature and profession, so getting folks excited and educated about the hobby was just about my dream day. Plus beer and brewing? Lovely. 

It was small. It was cozy. There were good food trucks aplenty. And there was a sweet folk country bluegrass band playing the entire time. 


I deviated a bit from my tried and true porter recipe because I wanted more of the Belgian candi sugar to come through with plum and molasses flavors. And it did, but the beer is way lighter than I expected. It has a hint of roast with a backbone of plum and molasses. But it's good, and it's easy to drink. And I'll be happy to drink it. I think next time I'll stick with my tested porter recipe and just add the candi sugar and Belgian yeast, but that's for another time. 

Until then, enjoy this picture of the brewclub:

Me, Ryan Marks, Joey Lechuga