Underground Brewers of Connecticut

This post comes to us from Santi, who offered to draft a blog covering our April meeting, which I was not able to attend.

Our July meeting – coming right on the heels of our club’s trip to Vermont, was graciously hosted by Andy T. at his home in Trumbull. Given recent conversations within the club around different fermentables, Andy put together and conducted a presentation on different sugars, with a focus on brewing of course. He went through slides that analyzed the chemistry of these sugars, their diferences in perceived sweetness, fermentability and other related topics. This was met with much interaction and discussion about mashing techniques and wort composition, which is to be another educational moment down the line.

At the end of the slides, Andy had prepared solutions of equal concentration for a variety of different sugars for us to taste and compare their sweetness and flavors. (Author’s Note: I am deeply disappointed to have missed this presentation – and I certainly can’t wait to pick Andy’s brain, and the brains of those who attended the meeting!)

It was the perfect finish to a fantastic educational segment outside on a gorgeous summer night. Everyone was so wrapped up in the presentation that the only thing we’re truly missing is pictures from the event to capture all the new learning!

As part of the continued 50th Anniversary Celebrations, a handful of the Underground Brewers took the trek up to the Northeast Kingdom in Vermont, for a visit to Hill Farmstead Brewery and a day on Seymour Lake, courtesy of Andy and Jacqueline Cox!

On Friday, Hill Farmstead was gracious enough to offer a space for us to gather and enjoy their fantastic beers. There were plenty of lagers poured, including their fantastic 15th Anniversary Festbier, and more than a few bottles opened as well. A particular highlight and topic of conversation was the fantastic hop water, No Bad Parts, brewed by Hill Farmstead. Lightly fermented, and featuring lime juice and Strata hops, this was a huge hit with the club, and has led to more than a few attempts at creating a copycat hop water!

Saturday was spent relaxing on the lake, where we shared excellent food, beers, and naps (see pictures below). Some of us even took advantage of the lake for some kayaking, canoeing, and fishing! A day by the lake was exactly the recovery we all needed after the hours spent at Hill Farmstead. While there are a few pictures to document the days we spent up in Vermont, for the most part we were simply enjoying each other’s company, which seems like a perfect way to continue our anniversary celebration. It certainly will not be the last time the Underground Brewers make their way up to northern Vermont!

May didn’t have a typical “monthly meeting” – instead, we gathered to celebrate one of our own. Andy Cox won this year’s Twelve Percent Beer Project homebrewing competition and with that, the right to brew his beer on their system! Andy’s Essential Vienna took home the win in a crowded field of excellent beers – and he generously shared his recipe on our club’s Discord channel!

A few months after claiming the title, Andy got the chance to brew his beer at Twelve Percent – and on Friday, May 23 we got together to celebrate and try out the beer – which was absolutely fantastic (although I may have a bias towards the homebrewed batch). The release party was even better – with friends and family coming together to enjoy a great beer and celebrate the brewing accomplishments of an even better person. Cheers, Andy! Here’s to hoping you can retain the title at this year’s competition!

Well, it wouldn’t be an Underground Brewers gathering in 2025 without a little (or a lot!) of decoction going down! I almost titled this post “99 Bottles and 99 Decoctions” – because that’s certainly what the day felt like. We got an early start, with brewing underway a little after 8 AM. That is also when the bottles started getting opened. What began with a bottle of 2017 CBS from Founders Brewing led to many many more being opened. Some were unexpectedly outstanding for their age – like the 2013 Bourbon County Coffee Stout – while others were… less than stellar. It was a great day filled with food, beer, and brewing! In all, we opened more than 50 bottles of beer – something that definitely has to be done again to help me clear out more from the garage! Many pictures are included below – at least as much as we were able to document throughout the day.

Pierre & Andy (with the help of Beth!) brewed up a 7(!!!) decoction grisette that may or may not have reached a full boil as the day progressed, while Matt and Santi brewed a take on the Underground Brewers Golden Anniversary Ale using Nugget and Victoria hops from Argentina!

If you’re interested in trying out our take on the 50th Anniversary recipe (appropriately named Dorado Anniversary Ale), it will be pouring at our 50th Anniversary Party on June 20!

I am incredibly grateful for everyone who came, hung out, and brought things to share. I can’t wait for the next one – hopefully this fall. Group brews and big bottle opening sessions are the best – thanks again to everyone for coming to hang out!

Our April meeting brought us to Ridgefield, CT and one of CT’s more hidden gems, Nod Hill Brewery. With an outstanding food truck and fantastic tap list, many arrived early to take advantage of some good conversation over sandwiches and beer before the meeting started. We had quite the turnout, too, with some new faces and some we haven’t seen in a very long time!

Tasting notes from the meeting are included below. We took a break in the middle of the tasting for an “educational interlude” where Andy T. led the group through a discussion about butyric acid including what can lead to its development, how to avoid creation of the compound in the first place, and the limited options for remediation (mostly through the use of brettanomyces to metabolize the compound into a more desirable flavor) should you find it present in your beer. It was an incredibly informative and engaging discussion, and I think we all learned a lot from the conversation! Some notes from the session are included here:

• Butyric Acid – it doesn’t smell or taste very nice. Vomit/rancid/cheese flavors and aromas. Not dangerous. Very beneficial – we have a lot of it in our gut… but not flavors/aromas you want in your beer.
• Human taste sensitivity – 2-10ppm… but aroma is much more sensitive (0.2ppm)
• Where does it come from? Raw food – glucose… bacteria converts to butytric acid (glucose + water) – source is from the grain!
• Water + grains gives you glucose and the bacteria are present… still active below 150F, and apparently they can still survive a boil of 90 minutes.
• Biggest risk is between mash and boil (TIME)… and a slightly lower risk between boil and fermentation – Time is the biggest factor.
• Adding CO2 increases activity of the bacteria.
• Reduce risk: grain – dry, cold, sealed. If you are doing a kettle sour or sour mash, lower the pH below 4, bacteria can’t work below that. Time – minimize time between mash/boil/start of fermentation – yeast outcompetes, takes up the glucose… alcohol produced hampers production… and lowers the pH.
• So what do you do if you have it? The longer you boil, the more you concentrate it. Brett – some strains will convert it into Ethyl Butyrate (pineapple).

Tasting Notes:

• Czech Pale Ale (3A): Matt J. – smells cold, very clean, meadow – grassy, in a good way. Herbal hops – more hoppy than malty. Light honey, lemon. Could be maltier. Lightly hazy – not quite brilliant. Bready comes through more on the flavor. More malt driven on the flavor. A little herbal-spicy hop character. Well carbonated, beautiful lacing. Maybe a little astringent. Very drinkable. Solid 7. Easily down a liter.
  8/2/15/5/7 – 37
• American Pale Ale (18B): Jon/Joe/Ernie – guava, pear, grape. Very tropical. White grape. NZ vibes. A touch of fresh mint. Not getting a ton of malt, but could just be hiding behind the hops. Absolutely beautiful. Herbal flavor… thyme, mint… pine? Spruce? The malt needs to be brought up to support the hops. Whatever the source, it’s overpowering the balance. Clean, well fermented. A little more body, a little more carb. 
  10/3/11/3/6 – 33 – Spruce Tips and Cascade
• Session WCIPA (21B): Pat S. – Orange rind/peel, pine resin, the aroma is almost chewy, light prune, maybe some green apple. Maybe too much going on in the malt… too much crystal for an American IPA. Stunningly beautiful beer. Right on the upper limit for color. Tastes like 1991. Bitter. Super bitter. Lingers forever. Gives some alcohol off that. Wouldn’t declare it as a session. Bitterness overpowers… would live well in a Red IPA. Lots of hop-plant flavor. A little harshness from the bitterness, missing some body – not quite smooth. Drinkable, needs some tweaks and would be better as a Red IPA.
  9/3/13/3/6 – 34 – leftover expired extract cans… Cashmere/Columbus/Centennial/Chinook
• Belgian Dubbel (26B): Pierre – missing some malt character. Some spicy/pepper. Yeast phenolic – good fermentation character. Needs everything to be turned up a bit, this is a little subtle. Gorgeous beer, maybe needs more bubbles. Hard to tell with these glasses. Coming across like a biere de garde. Needs more bubbles to carry it through. Sweet bready, light cherry. Needs more phenolic and esters, and some more deep malt character. Peppery. A really well brewed beer. As a BDG it would be higher. Could use at least 1 more bubble, but preferably quite a few. He should bring his bubbly friends. Delicious, drinkable, loving it… just not to style. Very sessionable.
  7/3/13/4/7 – 31 (Pierre) – “it’s a fair assessment” – aiming for a quad or a dubbel… lots of tweaking… brewed for the Armada event. Way too much residual sweetness… blended with a Czech amber lager! 50/50 blend.
• Belgian Tripel (26C): Pierre – strong phenol… but it’s so nice. Melon. Ripe banana, light clove. Baking. Inviting. A touch of earthy hops, a little apple estery. On the dark end. Maybe missing some head/effervesence. Too sweet. Lots of overripe banana. Needs to be drier. Some green banana too. More attenuated this would be spot on. Sweetness is really hurting it. No off flavors, but that’s what’s hurting it. A little thick/sweet. Some astringency. Needs more bubbles. Still quite drinkable. Needs to drop a bunch more points.
  10/3/10/3/6 – 32 – shooting for a Belgian strong blonde, but classified it as this for the Armada comp
• Irish Stout (15B): Matt J. – roasty, pale chocolate. Something vegetal. Dusty. Licorice. Light green pepper maybe? Something lightly solventy- like a water-based polyurethane. Brownies. Apple-y esters. More chocolate than coffee roast. Gorgeous appearance. Complex, dry… more roasty grain in the flavor, but still moderately low. Carrot? Coffee flavor kind of lingers. Light creaminess. Pretzel like bready quality. Toasted almond? Infinitely more complex than Guinness. Mouthfeel is fantastic. Carbonation is just right. 
  7/3/15/5/8 – 38
• Lambic with Roselle: Andy T. – smells beautiful. The barnyard-y notes are subtle and supporting, adding to the complexity. Light raspberry/fruits… vinegar… appearance is perfect. Flavor complexity is off the charts. Maybe a little something savory/meat-y… acidity is so wonderful. Sweet cherry, raspberry. Bone dry, a little tart, and so drinkable. What else would you want? Wonderful mouthfeel. Just exactly what you want from a beer with dinner.
  12/3/18/5/10 – 48 – 9 years old, using Roselle (hibiscus) from Thailand.

Our monthly meeting for March brought us to Pierre and Kim’s home in Trumbull. As always, there was plenty of amazing food, beers aplenty on tap, and lively conversations surrounding fermentation, equipment, and everything homebrewing.

Let’s start at the end of the night… jumping ahead to the end of the tasting portion, where Andy T. brought along some samples from a company working to create “umbrella” valves that work at different pressures, making a cheap alternative to currently expensive spunding valves that homebrewers use. The possibilities are really cool – as is the fact that they are using 3D printers to come up with the prototypes! Connect with Andy for more info – I know I’m excited to see how these work when they come to market.

As for the tasting portion of the night, this was a particularly spectacular evening. Everyone brought incredible beers – some of the best examples of styles many of us had enjoyed in quite some time, and beers that would clearly medal in competition. The scores may seem high, but they were all well deserved! There were some memorable quotes… and they’re included in the tasting notes below.

Tasting Notes:

• Roggenbier (27): Santi – cloudy, banana- clove. A little bubblegum. Very classic. Light spicy phenol. Rye doesn’t seem to show in the nose. Beautiful fermentation. Almost like juniper. Beautiful head, lasts. Cloudy hazy. Exactly as describe. Perfect color. Right down the middle of the flavor. Rye flavor is present. Toasty rye bread. Light caramel. Orange peel. Maybe a bit too much bubbblegum. Full marks mouthfeel. Lots of bubbles. Full mouthfeel. A wonderful example of the style.
  10/3/17/5/8 – 43
• German Pils (5D): Santi – very delicate smell. More malt than hops. Crackery Pilsner. A little earthy on the hops instead of floral. A little herbal. Brilliant clarity, great color. Right firmly bitter finish. Crackery, dry, very clean. Super drinkable. Snappy. Would benefit from some more bubbles. Quite drinkable, very enjoyable. A summer day beer for sure. 
  7/3/16/4/8 – 38 – meant to be the bad beer of the night – over oxygenated the beer, and it had a sharp metallic quality… but it appears to have aged out. Could it be that the yeast was still in suspension when tried previously? This is a very good beer!
• Belgian Wit (24A): Pat – lemon zest, coriander, floral aroma. Bitter orange. Seems to blend quite harmoniously. Very appealing, inviting. Fruity. Bread dough. Orange marmalade. Opens up with thermal enhancement. Full marks on appearance. Light. Hazy. Gorgeous. “Oh man that flavor.” Spicy fruity flavor. So much beautiful malt carrying through. Dries out nicely, beautiful bitterness on the finish. A few more bubbles and it might be absolutely perfect. Needs more, larger bubbles. It has everything but the bubbles. Just a phenomenal. Honey, spice.
  12/3/20/3/9 – 47 – added spice tincture post-ferm
• Flanders Red (Mulberry) (29A – base 23B): Andy T  – “that’s a happy smell.” Berry – you can tell there’s fruit there. Otherwise, very classic Flanders red. Red currant. A touch of vinegar, very balanced. Light red copper, missing some head. No acetic at all, even when it felt like should have been there. Beautiful complex sourness. Cranberry tartness. All sourness in the tongue. Very tannic, but not astringent. Low carb, “yeah, that’s it.” It’s a beautiful beer – worth the wait. “It’s old enough to be drunk.” – Steve V.
  12/2/18/5/9 – 46
• Brett American Porter (28A, base 20A): Paul H. – licorice. Young Brett, very light. Coffee. Light Cherry. Could use more porter and brett. Lots of light notes. Some roast. Beautiful brown with red highlights. Looks like a porter. Way more Porter in the flavor. Very drying finish, roasty, some astringency. Needs some age, time. Needs bubbles. 
  “I’m just thinking about whether it needs more bubbles.” – Paul
  “Paul likes big bubbles and he cannot lie.” – Andy
  7/3/14/4/6 – 34
• Sour Porter (28B – 20A): Pierre – lots of dark fruits, chocolate. Not roasty. Very pleasant. tart not sour. Very clear. Pretty. Lots of the same on the flavor. Tart finish. Refreshing, loaded with fruit. Wine like – could use a little more body, maybe more bubbles to carry that. Very drinkable. Chocolate just carries through.
  10/3/17/4/8 – 42 – similar, but older version to Paul’s. This was a mixed fermentation beer, not just brett.
• Belgian Tripel (26C): Santi – all the bubbles! Very spicy. Maybe a little sulfur/farmhouse that blew off. Complex phenolic. Impressions of something that makes you think of orange. Zest. A touch of coriander. Stunning. Want to give it four points for appearance. Lovely fermentation character. So light and dry. Good balance between the bitterness. Creamy effervescence. I don’t know what the alcohol content is, but it’s so easy to drink. A hint of warmth. Not boozy, just sneaky. That one defining character. I wouldn’t change a thing. Where would you knock points? What do you want different?
  11/3(+1 pt from Pierre)/20/5/10 – 49
• Cider with Other Fruit (C2B): Pierre – Pear + apples. Maybe a little paint thinner. Apple skin. Creamy pear. Can tell it’s not pure apple. A little cloudy. Opalescent. Very tannic, expected from pears. Good balance between – apples more present, but creamy pear balances out. Some of the fruit flavors come across as unfermented, holds it back. Very drinkable. 
  8/5/19/8 – 40
• Cider (C1A): Steve  – very inviting cider aromas. Lots of tannins. A little tobacco. A little touch of sulfur that blew off. Maybe could have more intensity. Clean and subtle. Lovely. A little cloudy. Beautiful color. Opalescent (there’s no such thing as too much). Very tannic. Not harsh. Not astringent. Tannins linger forever. A cider to drink by the pint. “If you had to shotgun a cider, it would be this cider.” – Santi. Do we want more acidity? Might impact the drinkability. Light bodied. Goes down. Paul doesn’t want more bubbles… the crowd is silenced. A cider for a hot day.
  9/5/21/9 – 44 – just kegged, hasn’t had a chance to settle out.
  “Do you intend to drink in quantity?” – Andy T
  “That’s why it’s on tap.” – Steve
• Beardsley 2024 (C1A): Steve – a little sulfur, takes a bit more time to blow off. A little funk? Smells like apples. Slightly cooked, almost apple sauce “Smells like Shelton” – Pat. Brilliant clarity. Beautiful appearance. The balance is really nice between the tannins and acidity. The apple is there. The sweetness carries it, but the finish isn’t overly sweet. “Difficult to fault it but we’re right bastards so we can do it.” – Andy T.
  8/6/20/9 – 43
• Cider with Raspberry (C2B): Pat – blended with a commercial cider to bring back the sweetness – raspberry seeds, flesh. Raspberry dominates the apple. Tea-like. Raspberry Arnold Palmer.

Our February meeting took the Underground Brewers to North Haven to visit Ray at Valor Wines. To say that Ray is a wonderful host may be the understatement of the year. In addition to sharing his space, Ray was generous with his knowledge of all things fermented, as well as opening a number of beautiful bottles of wine. Conversation shifted between different fermented beverages, the process of making ice cider, to the impact of wildfire smoke on hops and grapes. As always, our time at Valor was well spent.

As we shifted from enjoying Ray’s fantastic ciders and wines over to homebrew, we also got deep into a conversation led by Andy T. about chlorophenol. We discussed the origins, chemical traits, and how homebrewers can avoid this fault through the use of campden tablets, filtration, and boiling. It was an incredibly enlightening conversation – and a welcome addition to the meeting. Some additional notes are included below, with Andy’s 10 year old sour that he brought to demonstrate the fault for all in attendance. 

Tasting notes are included below. Mark your calendars for our March meeting at Pierre’s house!

Tasting Notes:

• American Blonde (18A): Santi I. – Smells like beer, floral, a sweet bread/corn, very clean (maybe some sulphur). Golden, no head. Paul “could drink that all day.” Very clean. Nice biscuit. Finish is slightly tannic, a little dry, just right. A little honey sweetness. Good bitterness. It needs bubbles. Great body. More bubbles would round everything out. First criticism – it’s not a pint (Andy T).
  10/3/17/3/8 =41 – opened a can with more bubbles… immediately +3/4 points.
• British Golden (12A): Cam – lightly woody, coconut? Cracker/biscuit. Maybe some acealdeydle. Earthy hop. Appley ester. Straw, low white head, cloudy/hazy, opalescent. Good bitterness – a little sharp, lingers. Very dry, nice finish. Flavor a lot like the aroma. Earthy. Resiny-fruity hop mid note. Finish is a little harsh and lingers. Tannic. A little astringency present. 
  7/2/13/5/7=34 – 3 weeks old
• Witbier (24A): Cam – a little bubblegum, lots of clove/banana. Menthol (Santi). Carrot (Paul). Cheese (Andy). Peppery. “I like the aroma.” Inviting. Missing the malt. Complex. Great color. Not cloudy at all. Completely clear. No haze. No head. Clove very strong on the flavor. Goes into menthol. Missing some of the bready-malt. A little too heavy on the spice balance. Needs more bubbles. Otherwise fine. Very drinkable. Maybe a touch of lactic sourness.
  9/1/13/3/7=33
• Pre-Prohibition Porter (27): Santi I. – hint of cocoa/nibs, roasty, light tobacco. Maybe a little more aroma needed. Brilliantly clear. Lots of red/brown hues. Could use a little more head. Burnt malt seems a little high? Raw dark chocolate. Acidity from the chocolate. Molasses. More than moderately dry. Not heavy. Water + Hersheys cocoa powder. Seems a little more balanced towards the hops. Thin but appropriate. Slightly astringent.
  10/2/14/5/7=38
• American Porter (20A): Matt – happy noises from Paul. Roasted malt aroma. A touch of raisin. Coffee covered raisin. A little alcohol heat. A little fruitiness. Fig. Cocoa. Great amount of roast. Not overpowering. Some kind of dried fruit. Complex. Medium brown, ruby highlights. Good head retention. Very well balanced. Nothing sticks out. Quite dry. Starts out sweet. Complex. Cocoa. Not aggressive. A bit of burnt malt character. Great mouthfeel. Slight dark malt astringency. 
  9/3/17/5/8 =42
• Apricot Sour (28C): Andy T. – dried apricot, spicy. Slightly sulphuric. Maybe some solvent w/ swirl, then blows off. Some acetic. Gummy apricot ring. Not a juicy fresh. Paul has a chunky thing floating in his. There are some floaties. Great balance between fruit and sour. A slightly acetic finish. Dry without being harsh. Does that tongue smack thing. Beautiful balance. Good body.
  9/2/17/5/9=42
• Sour Cherry Pomegranate Cranberry (28C): Andy T. – tons of cranberry. Ethyl acetate. Something like tobacco/leather, maybe Brett? Gorgeous appearance. Very tart. Cinnamon/cherry pit. Lots of cranberry. Some more of the ethyl acetate – there but not a real flaw/fault. Cherry and cranberry more present than pomegranate. Tannic finish. Lovely mouthfeel. High carb.
  8/3/14/5/8 =38

The Sour Cherry Pomegranate Cranberry was the “bad beer of the month.” A 10 year old beer, but this bottle was quite a bit better than the one he opened over the weekend. That beer was not carbonated and had more prominent chlorophenol notes.

• Chlorophenol – plastic/mouthwash 
• Comes from the water, mostly. 
• Humans are super sensitive to chlorophenols.

How to get rid of chlorine?

• Boil (will not get rid of chloramines, or at least not quickly)
• Filter (charcoal filters, RO)
• Potassium metabisulfate (takes out chlorine/chloramine almost instantly)