Underground Brewers of Connecticut

Meetings at Mara’s are always fantastic. May’s meeting was no exception.

Attendance was on the lighter side, mostly due to Mother Nature being uncooperative. But it was no less enthusiastic for that. Pierre kept us entertained with his skills on djembe, Mara and Andy T revealed a new business collaboration to bring homebrewing gadgets to market, and Mara’s legendary beer cellar provided us with some outstanding items to sample.

The meeting opened with an educational presentation by Andy T. He brought a sample of a sour-beer-in-progress that had become “sick”, or “ropy”. This happens when Pediococcus excretes long molecular chains of sugars, making the beer thick and viscous. This can be a disaster for a “clean” beer, but it neither unusual nor disastrous for a sour which also contains Brettanomyces. The Brett will eat up these chains over the course of weeks or months and the beer will return to its proper viscosity. It just looks a bit gross in the meantime.

Beers judged:

NZ Brut IPA, Andy T

Beautiful hop nose with some bread dough and a little pepper. Perhaps a touch of sweetness or diacetyl (opinions differed). Yellow, very hazy, with a long-lasting head that left lace. Tastes of citrus and honeydew with a very dry finish and a firm bitterness. Just a little alcohol warmth. Light body and high carbonation. Dangerously drinkable.

This had been Andy’s entry at the Charter Oak competition, where it received very low marks. No one could figure out why. Outstanding beer.

10/3/16/5/8 = 42

Heirloom Cider, Sully

Smells of leather, wood, charred apples; just a little funk and alcohol. Pale and crystal clear with just a few bubbles. Slightly sweet with a firm tartness behind. Lots of tannin. Light body. Sweetness and tannin linger. Maybe just a little too acidic.

Beardsley’s 2023 blend, wild ferment, left on lees in Sully’s garage ever since it was pressed. One can of concentrate added to backsweeten when kegged recently. Will be outstanding after a little time for flavors to meld. No evidence of autolysis.

8/6/16/7 = 37

Smoke Porter, Cameron

Toasted marshmallow and burnt sugar – like creme brulee. Light roast, light smoke. Not aggressive at all. Very inviting nose. Black with ruby highlights and a thick, dark head which lasts forever and leaves lace. Complex flavor. Plenty of residual sugar but the dark malt bitterness leaves it perfectly balanced. Just a little smoke. Everything well-integrated. Drying finish. Creamy and rich; very smooth; smoke and carbonation work well to make it scary drinkable. Pierre: “One of the best beers I’ve had in a long time.” Outrageously good.

Cameron based the recipe on a beer he had at a commercial brewery. Aiming for less-aggressive smoke character. Fairly fresh.

9/3/19/5/9 = 45

Festbier, Pierre

Lovely spicy hop nose with a little crackery malt and bread crust. Squeaky clean. Maybe just the barest hint of vanilla and sulfur. Clear and golden; could use more head. Prominent bready/toasty malt flavor with a little sweetness. Medium-low bitterness. A hint of melon (hops?). Soft mouthfeel – needs a bit more carbonation. Very nice.

Pierre unhappy with it. Thinks it needs more hops. Was originally brewed as a kolsch but he had no kolsch yeast so he used lager yeast.

9/3/15/4/8 = 39

If you haven’t had the chance to get to Foolproof Brewing in Bridgeport, you are missing out. The space is absolutely gorgeous (and HUGE!), and we were welcomed in with open arms. Incredible beers, along with a cocktail program that looks outstanding and incorporates a number of their beers… it’s well worth a stop in if you haven’t experienced it yet. Our hosts gave us an in-depth tour of the facilities, including their larger brewing system that is about to get up and running. It was a wonderful meeting, and Foolproof is a brewery we’ll be back to time and time again.

Prior to beer judging, we got an amazing presentation on oxidation from our Education Guru, Andy Tipler. He brought an American Barleywine as a “fault beer” to share with the club, and to talk through what causes, and how to deal with, oxidation in your beers. Oxidation (T-2-nonenal) often comes through as a cardboard or wet newspaper quality. It can be detected at 0.035-0.100 ug/L, which is as small as 2 drops in an olympic sized swimming pool!

Oxidation can come from hops or malt. From malt, hot side oxidation can occur during the mash or on transfer to the kettle, while hop oxidation often occurs from dry hopping with air-filled hops (that’s why your IPAs don’t keep!). Vitamin C (80ppm) and sulfites (10ppm) can help, as can bottle or keg conditioning your beers.

Judged Beers

11B – Best Bitter – Andy T. (27/50)

Aroma 5/12 | Appearance 3/3 | Flavor 10/20 | Mouthfeel 4/5 | Overall 5/10

Green apple, diacetyl… some kind of bubblegum sweetness. Light grainy. Beautiful – for those who had earlier pours. Great bubbles. Spicy/rye… phenolic, fruity in a green apple bubblegum way. Very tannic finish, but there’s some malt presentation there. Fruit Stripe gum. Higher carb than expected even for a bottle conditioned example. Andy T. says – tasted good out of the keg, but it was bottle conditioned… just something went wrong.

C1B – Heirloom Cider (Beardsley 2024) – Pierre (38/50)

Appearance 6/6 | Bouquet/Aroma 7/10 | Flavor 18/24 | Overall 7/10

Light vinegar, soy/umami, baked apple… pie spices… leathery, “in a good way” – very pretty, clear on the initial pours – quite tart, such a nice puckering sour apple quality. Apple flavor does carry through. “We would drink a lot of this”, flavor is quite nice! Very drinkable.

Alternative Grain Beer (Wheatwine + Rye) – Santi (42/50)

Aroma 11/12 | Appearance 3/3 | Flavor 16/20 | Mouthfeel 4/5 | Overall 8/10

Really perfume-y, copper pennies, light marshmallow and molasses… deep dark fruit jam… some dried apricot, lemon zest and pear… some wheatwine characteristics… bettter than a wheatwine or ryewine. Super complex. Andy C says “appearance = yes” Pierre says it has “1 thicc leg.” Light haze. Can taste the alcohol… rye comes through in the finish. Full bodied, but carbonation is barely there.. which kind of works… but we could use a bubble or two. For 9% it’s really drinkable. 30% rye, 50% wheat.

17A – British Strong Ale – Andy C. (44/50)

Aroma 10/12 | Appearance 3/3 | Flavor 18/20 | Mouthfeel 4/5 | Overall 9/10

Caramel, toffee, rich malt complexity, dried fruit… light earthy hops. Santi keeps talking about wax. Beautiful, thin tight bubbles. Wonderful light dry finish, rich malty character. Luxardo cherries, deeply complex. Layers of caramel. Could maybe use a touch of a longer finish… touch. Paul says his mouth can feel it. A touch of astringency/tannic quality on the finish. And absolutely wonderful beer. This one is advancing to Nationals!

Belgian Honey Quad – not scored/judged!

16% ABV is so well hidden here. Lemon, toffee… hint of sweet cocoa. Could have a touch more of a spicy phenolic character. Just absolutely gorgeous beer. Rich ruby, brilliant clarity on initial pours.

Our March meeting was hosted by Pat Sullivan at his incredible home in Trumbull. Sully is an incredible host, and we were treated to a beautiful spread of food, including corned beef burnt ends that were absolutely delicious. The meeting was very well attended, and the beers were flowing throughout the evening. Eventually we settled in for the judging portion of the meeting – notes are included below.

11A – Bitter – Cam L. (38/50)

Aroma 8/12 | Appearance 3/3 | Flavor 15/20 | Mouthfeel 5/5 | Overall 7/10

Slight caramel, slight grainy note. Perhaps a light corn-y quality? Touch of sulphur. Light floral hop. Bubbles, long lasting head. Pale, clear. Upper end of bitterness, quite dry. Lacking a little bit of sweetness/malt support. Quite easy to drink. Good carbonation. Good body. 

15A – Irish Red – Dave K. (25/50)

Aroma 5/12 | Appearance 2/3 | Flavor 10/20 | Mouthfeel 3/5 | Overall 5/10

Caramel, toasty… but quite a bit of a solvent note to it (nail polish remover). A touch of potato famine. Not clear, but the color is beautiful. Caramel, bitter… minerality on the finish. Nice light toast at first – really nice . Solvent character carries through to flavor. Bitterness lingers. Not very smooth. hits a lot of the right notes, but the solvent + minerality impacts the drinkability. 

5D – German Pils – Mike D. (34/50)

Aroma 10/12 | Appearance 3/3 | Flavor 12/20 | Mouthfeel 3/5 | Overall 6/10

Light dry cracker, touch of honey, citrus-floral hop presence… could use a little more noble hop aroma maybe? Saaz is the dwarf planet of noble hops… like Pluto (thanks Andy!). Straw, quite clear. Very clean fermentation. Astringency? A bit aggressive. Good clean malt presentation – honey wheat bread without being sweet. Good hop presentation. Astringency definitely impacts flavor. Flinty… can we detect that? What is flinty? Astringency impacts it here too. Still quite tasty. Could be a water thing. 

11B – Best Bitter – Walter (38/50)

Aroma 9/12 | Appearance 3/3 | Flavor 15/20 | Mouthfeel 3/5 | Overall 8/10

Toasty, bready. Some sulphur, but the good British kind, not that bad stuff. Light caramel/marmalade. Very British. Quite proper. Beautiful clarity. Lovely. Dry and bitter (but not overly so), but really nice malt carrying it through. Impression of sweetness, but not a sweet beer. Toffee. Nice layers of flavor. Perhaps a touch of acidity as it warms? Bitterness and sweetness run in parallel, apparently (Santi). Quite full bodied, a bit more than medium. Might be a bit too much of a beer for a best bitter. Might be better served as an ESB.

4B – Maibock – Jim L. (39/50)

Aroma 7/12 | Appearance 3/3 | Flavor 16/20 | Mouthfeel 5/5 | Overall 8/10

Love the aroma. Hops are hiding a bit of the malt presentation. A little boozy, more than just light. Gets stronger as it warms. Tea-like character. Honey-like sweetness. Gorgeous beer. Brilliantly clear. A lot going on. Rich malt, very bready. Well-attenuated, quite drinkable. Not too sweet, but gives a bit of that impression. Good carbonation, light alcohol. Really great. Hard to find places to give it to improve. Try one fewer hop pellet? – Santi

6A – Marzen – Mike D. (43/50)

Aroma 9/12 | Appearance 3/3 | Flavor 18/20 | Mouthfeel 4/5 | Overall 9/10

Smells very good. Really nice toasty malt. There’s something there that’s not malt… solvent? Some nice maliard character. Deep red. Beautiful. We like the flavor a lot. Rich malt. Paul could drink a shit load of this. Easy to drink. Sweetness doesn’t linger. Maybe the slightly bite way back in the finish. Just a beautiful beer. Great mouthfeel.

6C – Bock – Jim L. (44/50)

Aroma 10/12 | Appearance 3/3 | Flavor 17/20 | Mouthfeel 5/5 | Overall 9/10

Raisin/prune/dates… lightly supporting the malt. No real hop presence. A light touch of alcohol. Great bready malt profile. Looks like beer. Gorgeous clarity. Quiet sweet, more of the sweet dark fruits. Maybe a touch of a belgian character? Toffee, toasted bread. Could it use more malt complexity? Doesn’t finish sweet… but perhaps could be a bit more attenuated? Finish makes it really drinkable. Quiet smooth. No astringency.

C1B – Beardsley 2024 – Steve V. (33/50)

Appearance 6/6 | Bouquet/Aroma 6/10 | Flavor 14/24 | Overall 7/10

Good Apple quality… but there’s an ACV character. Not clean here… smells more like an English cider? Apple skin for sure. Fresh cut apple. Could be some oxidation, leading to some acetic acid perhaps? A little nail polish? Sharp. Slightly cloudy appearance. There’s something just weird about the fermentation (Steve V). Pleasant tartness. Not clean. Something wild here. Good tannins. Apple skins. Apple flavor is quite nice. It’s nice – but more English than a clean heirloom cider. Acidity is quite soft… MFL? Would score it a lot differently (higher!) if it was entered as an English. Quite drinkable.

28C – Apricot Sour – Andy T. (43/50)

Aroma 10/12 | Appearance 3/3 | Flavor 16/20 | Mouthfeel 5/5 | Overall 8/10

Intense aroma. Tons of fruit, some pit/spicy/cinnamon/clove notes. Definitely alcohol present. Some solvent, perhaps. Could be the alcohol? Legitimate to ask where’s the beer? Holy apricot. Dried and fresh. Sour! Dry! The apricot just shines here. A real food beer. Quite a lot going on. Hard to judge! Is it too much? It’s a style allowed to have no bubbles, much to the chagrin of Paul H. 

(This post comes courtesy of Pat Sullivan – thanks for taking the notes!)

February’s meeting kicked off with a tour of MakeHaven, led by Mara. The space is packed with tools for printmaking, embroidery, laser printing, pottery, ham radio, woodworking, jewelry, metalworking, and a compact but functional brewery.

The brewery setup is a single-vessel Spike system with a 14-gallon conical fermenter. Glycol chilling comes from a converted AC unit, and beer is served via two kegs hidden inside a video gaming cabinet. Mara & Liam are expanding the cabinet to increase compact storage while maintaining easy access for small-batch brewing.

After the tour, we moved upstairs for the tasting and judging portion.

Judged Beers

While we focused on aroma, flavor, and balance… there may or may not have been a faint note of fried chicken in the air.

11B – Best Bitter – Andy (40/50)

Aroma 10/12 | Appearance 3/3 | Flavor 15/20 | Mouthfeel 4/5 | Overall 8/10

A very drinkable, well-executed Best Bitter with balanced malt and hops and a pleasant toffee note. Clean, balanced, and solidly within style — an enjoyable example of the classic English pub ale.

23C – Oud Bruin – Pierre (35/50)

Aroma 11/12 | Appearance 3/3 | Flavor 12/20 | Mouthfeel 3/5 | Overall 6/10

Aroma showed layered sour character with notes of raisin, sherry, cherry, and a subtle peppery nuance. Fine bubbles with light tan lacing. The aroma suggested more acidity than was present in the flavor, indicating a beer that is likely still developing. Slightly young and not yet fully integrated, but showing promising complexity. With additional aging, this beer could evolve nicely.

26B – Belgian Dubbel – Michael (37/50)

Aroma 11/12 | Appearance 3/3 | Flavor 14/20 | Mouthfeel 3/5 | Overall 6/10

Approximately three years old, with honeyed malt character and nutty notes along with a gentle warming alcohol presence. Flavor leaned slightly sweet with lingering malt richness. Additional phenolic character and slightly higher carbonation could help further lift the profile and enhance the mouthfeel.

20C – Imperial Stout – Andrew (28.5/50)

Aroma 6/12 | Appearance 2/3 | Flavor 12.5/20 | Mouthfeel 2/5 | Overall 6/10

Aroma featured dark chocolate with fruity notes reminiscent of cherry and blueberry. As the beer warmed, alcohol became more prominent with a slight solvent edge. Flavor leaned somewhat sweet (almost banana), and mouthfeel was lighter than typical for the style. Brewer noted fermentation began warmer than intended, which likely influenced the final profile.

2A – Italian Pilsner – Pierre (38/50)

Aroma 9/12 | Appearance 3/3 | Flavor 15/20 | Mouthfeel 4/5 | Overall 7/10

Light floral hop aroma with a faint corn note that became slightly more noticeable over time. Golden yellow appearance with fine bubbles and excellent clarity. Flavor balanced hop character with a touch of corn sweetness, with bitterness slightly elevated. Very drinkable and visually excellent. Note: the beer was served somewhat warm; consensus was that at a colder serving temperature it would likely present an even crisper profile and could score even higher.

Coffee Blossom Hydromel / Pétillant Mead – Liam & Mara (41/50)

Aroma 9/10 | Appearance 4/6 | Flavor 20/24 | Overall 8/10

Honey-forward with floral and fruity aromatics. Excellent balance of sweetness, tannin, and acidity — per Andy T. the classic “golden triangle.” Fermented with winemaker yeast D117 in a keg; beautifully structured and highly drinkable.

Smoked IPA – Mike D. (Not officially Judged)

Mike shared his experimental beer which he poured at the 12% Competiton. Brewed with beechwood smoked malt. Faint smoky aroma with a golden/light amber color. Smoke-forward flavor balanced by lingering bitterness — a fun and unique beer. Would pair especially well with chili or other hearty dishes.

Chest Freezer Bonus Round 🍻

After the meeting several stayed behind for a sampling a variety of MakeHaven creations from the chest freezer — including ciders, kombucha, sour ales, IPAs, and other house experiments. A relaxed and fun tasting session in the storage area – sitting on boxes or leaning up against storage racks. A blast!

The Underground Brewers are probably the one homebrew club with two priests as members, both named Paul. This unique state of affairs has been true for some time. But only this past month have we trespassed onto hallowed ground for a meeting.

Okay. Maybe not “hallowed” in the proper sense of the word. But Paul Bryant-Smith certainly blessed us with an overabundance of homebrew to share and delicious food to eat. There was absolutely no shortage of either.

In addition to judging homebrew and making gluttons of ourselves (Paul graciously abstained from reminding us all that gluttony is a sin), we also attended to some club business. January brings club elections, when we choose our Executive Committee for the coming year. It is also when we begin collecting the year’s dues.

Our existing Executive Committee had been doing exemplary work, and we probably wouldn’t have made any changes if we didn’t have to. But club by-laws insist that we choose a new Treasurer at least every 3 years. Andy Cox had reached the term limit and had to step down.

After a short discussion, the dues-paying members voted in the new Committee. Santi remains in charge of Events, Andy T in charge of Education, Pierre in charge of Outreach, and Matt in charge of Communications. Paul H takes over as Treasurer. His first official act was to collect dues from a dozen or so members.

The entire club wishes to thank Andy C for his work as Treasurer. It was under his guidance that we obtained both AHA liability insurance and MHP club membership. He also ran several successful merchandise sales which helped us cover exceptional expenses related to our 50th birthday celebration. Our club did important things with its funds during his tenure yet remains in excellent financial shape. The new Treasurer has big shoes to fill.

There were, of course, homebrews to judge. Tasting notes:

• American Lager, Santi. Light corn aroma with a little banana, bubblegum, and wintergreen. Beautiful grainy flavor, cleaner than the aroma. Dry. Could use a little more carbonation. Pat thinks it is a “perfect football beer”. Saphir hops. 6/3/17/4/8=38
• Hazy IPA, Mara. Amazing hop aroma – grapefruit, melon, strawberry, guava. Not quite as iridescent as desired. A bit of salty bite in the flavor; too much added minerals? Some bitterness and astringency. Might score better as a West Coast. 11/2/12/3/7=35
• Tripel, Pierre. Lots of herbal hop aroma, menthol, some spicy phenols and alcohol warmth. Just a little banana. Needs better head retention. Flavor is phenolic and dry, just a little warming, very drinkable. A “SMASH tripel” made with Eraclea pilsner malt and Mistral hops. Double decoction. 5lbs of homemade invert (beet) sugar. 10/3/15/3/7=38
• English Stock Ale, Andy T. Complex, with plenty of Brett. Alcohol, leather, raisins, dried cherries, herbal notes. Gorgeous deep ruby color with amazing head retention. Low malt flavor with a dry finish. A Brett showcase. 11/3/16/5/9=44
• American Porter, Santi. Cocoa powder and black coffee. A hint of sweetness. Clean. No hops. Beautiful ruby color. Lots of chocolate flavor. Dusty dry finish. Extremely drinkable. 10/3/18/5/9=45
• Unknown, Pat. Old, unlabeled bottle found while cleaning his brewhouse. Phenolic and hoppy. Obviously infected. Lots of cherry aroma. Dark color. Light body. Fizzy. Dry, with a little Brett and leather. Actually quite drinkable. But impossible to give it numbers.
• Java Plum Mead, Paul B. Woody, with some wax, licorice, black tea, and a few floral notes. Wood overpowers the honey in both aroma and flavor. Boozy. Dry, tannic, alcoholic finish is a little rough. Light body. Would be better with some backsweetening. Over-oaked with a vodka-based oak tincture. 8/6/15/6=35

Well… we can pretend this post was actually posted back in October, when it should have been. The fall has been a whirlwind, but as always, it’s important to capture these club memories. Our October meeting, just week and change before SNERHC (that post is coming too, I promise), served as an important time to gather, connect, and recalibrate our judging palates for the 35th Annual SNERHC.

Our meeting was hosted by Pierre (and Kim!) in Trumbull. The meeting was quite well attended, and we had plenty of beers to sample as we enjoyed some food and lively conversation. Tasting notes from the beers are below… stick around until the end for a sampling of our new “emoji based scoring system” we tried out on Pierre’s cider!

Tasting Notes:

• Irish Stout (15B): Pat S. – coffee, cocoa powder, light creaminess. A lot more nose than Guinness. A touch ashy. Looks beautiful. Rich roasted malts. Very dry on the finish – just perfect. Didn’t try to be Guinness. A bit minerally, fairly sharp. Roastiness is quite high. A touch over carbonated, missing some of that smoothness. Some astringency, but that’s to be expected. A damn good beer.
  10/3/16/3/8 – 40
• International Pale Lager (2A): Santi – corn, slight grainy sweetness, but not a ton of . A touch of wine-like character than blew off. Med herbal hops. A little hoppy for the style? Inoffensive. Quite clean. White grape-y. Maybe a little much for the style for the hops and the corn. Wonderful appearance. Quickly dissipating head. Crisp dry finish. Lightly white grape upfront, but a grainy, neutral bready finish. Hint of bubblegum. Perhaps not quite as clean as you’d want. Very drinkable. Could use bubbles… 
  8/3/15/3/7 – 36 – it definitely needs bubbles. No corn, all pilsner malt. Liberty hops. Paul suggests maybe entering it as a Pre-Prohibition lager.
• International Pale Lager (2A): Pierre and Joe – very light aroma, touch of melon, plum… smells a bit like sake. Lightly sweet. Has a lager smell. Lightly golden. Could be clearer. Needs time. Thin wispy head. Finish is a bit harsh right now, could age out. A little grassy… hop bite is a bit aggressive. Nice malt character, rice coming through. Needs more bubbles and is a little full. 
  10/3/13/4/7 – 37 – 10# of jasmine rice 14# of malt
• Schwarzbier (8B): Santi – smells lovely. Lightly minerally. Getting that touch of caramel. Subtle chocolate. Roast is slightly too high there. Ruby, mahogany. Clear. Great head. Toasted bread, smoother and lower roast character than the aroma. Very dry finish but gives a light impression of sweetness on the finish. Really spot on. Maybe a touch of astringency. Could use a bubble. Lightly creamy.
  9/3/17/4/7
• Honeydew Mead (Traditional Mead – M1B): Andy T. – lots of alcohol on the nose. Honey presentation is great. Gorgeously clear. Great legs. “There’s like 1 bubble in there.” – Santi. So, technically not still. Not boozy at all, only a little on the finish as a warmth, which is surprising given the aroma. Umami. Walnut. This is really nice.
  7/6/21/8 – 42
• New World Cider (C1A): Steve V. – dry, sparkling – very pleasant apple-y nose. Light celery. Green apple. Very crisp smelling. Impression of spiciness. Crystal clear. A bit watery. Very light. More tannic than anticipated given the aroma. Would expect a little more acidity. Quite dry on the finish. “You could drink this in gallons.” – Andy T. Disappears from the glass. Want a little more flavor given the 
  10/6/20/7 – 43 – 3/4 Baldwin, 1/4 Northern Spy – from an orchard in Western Mass.

Post-Chili Cider

• New World Cider (C1A): Pierre – semi-sweet, petilant – great apple aroma. Crisp, a little bit of funk, a light red apple. Friendly wild yeast. Complex – moreso than you’d usually expect. Maybe a bit more like an English cider? A touch hazy/cloudy. Tastes cleaner than it smells. Lots of good robust apple flavor. Sweet up front, with a beautiful finish. It’s pretty sweet in the flavor… but the finish isn’t sweet.
  Numerical Scoring: 8/4/21/8 – 41 (2024 Beardsley with a touch of fresh cider from this year)
  Emoji-based Scoring: 🐴/💨/🪵🐿️🍎/😌

[Your regular correspondent was unable to attend this month’s meeting due to parental responsibilities. This is a guest post by the B Team.]

Our November meeting brought us once again to Tribus Brewing in Milford, one of our favorite places. Their beer is great, the back room is secluded and comfortable, and the staff is always good to us. Huge thanks to Tribus for hosting us!

The meeting began with an educational presentation by Andy T. Fully retired now, Andy has far too much time on his hands. Luckily, he also has a fertile imagination and excellent fabrication skills. He keeps coming up with great ideas for new brewery gadgets and building prototypes, several of which he brought to the meeting.

I took a bunch of photos but I will not publish them here. At least, not yet. I don’t want to steal Andy’s thunder. He has (yet another) article coming out in next month’s Zymurgy which explains each gadget much better than I can. You’ll have to wait and see them there. All I’m going to say is that each of them is something you didn’t know you needed until you saw it and can be made for a small fraction of the cost of the nearest equivalent available at retail. Kudos to Andy!

The educational portion done, we turned to judging homebrews. Not very many this month, but most were of excellent quality. It’s getting harder to give constructive feedback on beers these days; there just isn’t much room to improve. Tasting notes:

Weissbier (10A), Andy T: A lot of bubblegum on the nose, “more Belgian than German” according to Pierre, and could use a little more malt there. Flavor nails the style. Dry finish makes it very drinkable. Needs more bubbles. 7/3/17/3/7 = 37

76% wheat, no rice hulls. Andy designed and printed a special manifold holder to allow for a very long braided hose false bottom. 6ft for a mash tun sized for 5gal batches. Thinks he can go to 100% wheat without a stuck sparge.

Marzen (6A), Pierre: Nose is quite fruity, mostly dried fruits. Flavor is right to style except a bit too intense – actually improved with a little water. Needs more bubbles. 7/2/13/4/7 = 33

“Same score it got at SNERHC!” – Pierre

Black IPA (21B), Andy M: Piney, a little citrus. Nose could use a little more complexity but flavor is spot on. Just a hint of coffee. Lingering finish has a hint of bite. Otherwise perfect. 11/3/16/5/8=43

Was afraid it had gotten oxidized due to equipment problems during packaging. Apparently not.

Pre-Prohibition Porter (27), Santi: Chocolate, grainy malt, and licorice with some earthy hops. Squeaky clean, lagery. Gorgeous color and clarity, “blood of the vampire” according to Pierre. Very flavorful. Just about a perfect clone of Yeungling. Dry finish. 11/3/17/5/8=44

This was the base beer to which Santi added coffee beans to create the beer that is going to the second round in the Twelve Percent competition. Pale malt and triticale from Blue Ox plus some pale chocolate malt, fermented with 34/70.

Guilford might be a little bit further of a hike than our club often goes, but Paul H. hosting and the promise of some Polish mead was more than enough to entice the crew to head out east and enjoy the generous hospitality and incredible libations offered. The meeting was well attended, and we all enjoyed some excellent beers, hop water (courtesy of Andy C.!), and food before kicking off the meeting in earnest.

Paul was gracious enough to share 4 different Polish meads with the club that he had shipped back from Poland on his recent trip overseas. His presentation is available on our Discord channel – it’s well worth checking out! Meads are certainly not in my wheelhouse, and I learned a ton during his presentation. Polish meads are a distinct style, where honey is always the most prominent flavor – any fruit or spices will have a light touch. The residual sugar content is balanced by alcohol, rather than acid or tannins, and oxidation is common (and welcome!) in sweeter styles. We tried one of each of the different strengths – with my personal favorite being the Dwójniak.

Following a few pours of mead and the excellent presentation, we continued on to our traditional tasting portion of the evening. Notes are below. Again, a huge thanks to Paul and Kathi for hosting and sharing their home and meads!

Tasting Notes:

• Czech Premium Pale Lager (3B): Santi – extremely subtle, biscuity, a touch of honey, crackers. Not very much hops… maybe a little herbal? Geranium as it warms – sweet floral. Freshly picked corn. Could have more head… could be a little clearer. There’s a bit of a sharp hop bite, harsh bitterness. Peppery. Malt character is there, very crackery. Bitterness is pretty aggressive. We thought it needed more bubbles, but we were wrong. A nice beer, but a bit out of the style, and the bitterness comes across harsh.
  7/2/12/5/5 = 31 – Totally agree with all the comments. Used all Saaz that is low AA (5oz 5gal) and it was a lot of hop matter to boil. “That’s what you get when you boil the shit out of hops”
• German Pils (5D): Mara – this is lovely – so floral. Not much malt. Light honey-cracker malt. Light cucumber. Could use a touch more pils malt character. Could be a little clearer, could use more head. Firm, clean bitterness without being harsh. Invites another sip quickly. Very dry. Maybe a touch of cardboard. Could use at least one more bubble… a little astringency. Really nice beer. I would pay for a pint of that – Paul.
  10/2/16/3/8 = 39 – All Thrall Pils
• Vienna Lager (7A): Santi – full marks on appearance. Just a stunning beer. Okay, back to aroma. Like sticking your nose in a bag of Vienna malt. Toasty. Bready. Super clean. I want to jump into the glass. What would you want different? Wow. Amazing flavor – great balance between the malt and hops. A small touch of astringency in the finish. Not a soft finish. Could be a water profile thing – could maybe be a high sulfate level? Maybe a grain husk-y quality.
  12/3/15/4/8 = 42
• Marzen (6A): Santi – again, gorgeous. Drinking with our eyes first. A good amount sulphur that’s dissipated. Some barnyard/hay. Toasty, crusty bread. Honeydew melon? A hint of honey. Could be that the fermentation could be a little more clean. Flavor is a lot of crusty bread, a hint of maybe burnt bread… molasses? New Haven style bread. It has some real character. Maybe a touch of smoke? It’s certainly not boring or un-interesting. Missing some of that clean fermentation character. A little tiny bit astringent.
  8/3/13/4/7 = 35
• New World Cider (C1A): Pat – looks gorgeous, could be a tad clearer. I smell apples. Full of apples, a little floral. There’s a little alcohol there. A little peppery, but pretty clean. Very drinkable. The alcohol is a little present. A little more sweetness could balance it out a bit more? Good acid. Dryness lingers, makes us want to drink more. Has a wine-like character. Just a really nice cider.
  6/9/20/8 = 43 – Beardsley 2024 w/ yeast added
• Cyser (M2A): Pat – needs some clarity – it’s almost a hazy white. Aroma is very subtle – but there’s a light apple, a touch of grapefruit pith. A little lemon. Some wet papery notes. No honey at all in the aroma. Could be good with some herbal additions. Flavor is quite watery, with some astringency. There’s a salty quality to it, too. Some apple-like character, but nothing is strong here. A bit bland. 3/6/12/5 = 26 – Only 2# of honey added – lots of comments about it being just a cider, wouldn’t enter as a cyser
• Mead w/ Red Currant: Andy T. – lots of legs, fucking gorgeous. Very earthy. Alcohol is readily apparent – not harsh. Deep berry, tart, not juicy. Very layered. Tart – it’s got a great bite. There’s a vegetal, almost green and stemy… broccoli rabe? Currents are super present… almost overtaking the honey, but it’s still there. Vermouthy… there’s a bitterness to it. Would like some more honey flavor. It’s very drinkable, especially given the alcohol.
  6/9/18/8 = 41 – 6 years old!
• Mead w/ Buckwheat Honey and Black Currents: Lyn – BLACK… purple and mahogany hues around the edges. Clear. Not noticing much in terms of legs. Aroma is pretty good. Molasses. Coffee. Barnyard. Feels like the buckwheat is coming through well. The fruitiness of the currents are present. Alcohol is noticeable but not dominant or offensive. Warming. T.A.R.T. Currants are making themselves known. Very dry, out of balance there – aroma gave an expectation of some sweetness. This would go really well with food – savory. Pomegranate molasses. A controversial one – especially given the difference between the aroma and flavor!
  6/10/15/7 = 38

August brought us to Berlinetta Brewing Company in Bridgeport where they spin GenX-oriented vinyl and serve truly excellent beers, two of our favorite things.

Summer meetings can be small. People are busy with vacations and other activities. But turnout was solid, with about 10 people braving the heavy rainstorms to make the trip. Several of us came early to sample Berlinetta’s beer and pizza and we were not disappointed.

No lecture topics this month. So, once we were suitably filled up, we started judging homebrews.

That’s when we came face to face with our limitations as judges.

Andy C presented us with an American Light Lager. You’ll see in our tasting notes below that we liked it a lot. In fact, we thought it was a great example of the style and scored it very highly. The joke was on us. The grist was 30% rye – half flaked and half malted! It truly did not have the viscosity or the spicy notes one expects in a rye beer. And, in our defense, competition judges agreed with us. Still, we were left wondering how we could have missed such a large rye addition.

As usual, the homebrews were generally quite good. Tasting notes below.

With just a few to judge, we had time afterward for more Berlinetta tipples and some conversation. We also detoured into cookie judging, trying the rye cookie recipe that Justin is tuning for potential retail sale. We rated it “Yummy. 12/10. Would recommend.”

No one remembered to take pictures.

Major thanks to Berlinetta Brewing for hosting us!

Tasting notes:

American Light Lager. Matt. Lovely floral hop nose with pilsner malt and maybe a little elderflower. Crystal clear and pale. Bone dry and perfectly clean. Lightly grainy and just a little too bitter for style. Very drinkable. Only real ding is that it might be too flavorful and aromatic for the target style. 9/3/18/4/9 = 43

American Light Lager. Andy C. Subtle melon and green apple but a very “macro” nose. Crystal clear and pale yellow. Grainy and a little sweet up front with a dry finish. Almost no hops. Nails the style. Very drinkable. 10/3/17/4/9 = 43. Ha-ha, contains 30% rye!

German Pils. Cameron. Butterscotch nose which hides the hops, with honey rather than crackery pils malt. Hazy and pale gold. Subtle notes of wintergreen in the flavor along with honey malt. Solid bitter finish which lingers. A bit too full in the mouth, probably due to the diacetyl. Still, very drinkable and not too far out of style. 5/1/12/3/6 = 27

Hazy IPA. John. Hardcore fruit salad nose: grapefruit, orange, melon, passionfruit, kiwi. Everyone in raptures. Cloudy, rather than opalescent, and without a head. Very sweet up front with a little too much bitterness in the finish. A little too much tannin. Tons of hop flavor. Can feel suspended hop material. 12/2/15/4/7 = 40. Grain to glass in 6 days with kveik yeast; still very young. Will be amazing when the hop material drops out.