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.
