Monday, November 17, 2008

NABC brewery news and notes: Solidarity, Naughty Claus and cask-conditioned Phoenix Komon.

Before reviewing last week's brew schedule, let's take a look at the hand pull, where a firkin of cask-conditioned NABC Phoenix Komon just went on tap. Phoenix is our dark, sour throwback recipe from olden Louisville times, and normally it is intended as a brew-quick, drink-quick quencher, but this firkin is special because Jared experimented.

The ale inside has spent a year on oak chips. The characteristic tartness remains intact, albeit balanced by oakiness. The cask breather component that cracked has been replaced, so we can taking our time drinking this one.

Last week, the brew crew revived one historic NABC formulation and recast a second.

Solidarity, a Baltic Porter originally brewed by founding NABC brewmeister Michael Borchers, will return for the February 27 opening of Gravity Head 2009. Here's the recipe:

2-row, aromatic, crystal, chocolate and black malts
Saaz and Spalt hops (50 IBUs)
California Common yeast
Circa 10% abv

The 2008 version of NABC Naughty Claus was put to bed last week, and it's different from last year in more than one respect. The contents:

2-row, chocolate, aromatic malts
No hops used.
Dutch dark cocoa and fresh mint
House London yeast
Circa 7% abv

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