Devils Backbone Brewing Company

The "Low Hanging Fruit" is a non-traditional Belgian-inspired blond ale fermented with a Trappist yeast strain and finished with apple juice added to the fermenter.  The "Low Hanging Fruit" was a collaborative brew between two general managers of two Charlottesville restaurants and us here at DBBC.  Casey Hall general manager of Brixx Wood Fired Pizza and Josh French GM of Rapture joined us to brew this beer.  We wanted something that woulden't be overly heavy on the pallet yet complex. The trick of this beer was to create enough body to balance out the juice addition which would dry the beer out.  We mashed in low to maximize the production of the clove component to fermentation then immediately raised the mash temperature to a level that would unsure some dextrin production adding body to the beer.  We lightly hopped the beer with the experimental hop HBC 342 and Sorachi Ace.  To add to the complexity we lightly spiced the beer with Jasmine Green tea during the whirlpool.  While this all might sound a little "busy", I can assure you everything was done with subtlety in mind.  After primary fermentation was complete we added 15 gallons of apple juice concentrate (an equivalent of 90 gallons of juice!!!) letting the beer itself re-constitute the juice concentrate and create a secondary fermentation that naturally carbonated the beer.  The beer is being cooled to lagering temperature and tastes great. The malt body holds up to the natural acidity and complete fermentedness (I just made that up) of the apple juice and the fruity notes from the yeast create a wonderful synergy.  Look for this beer to be on tap and Brixx, Rapture, and Devils Backbone in April.

Also in the tank is a beer we're calling "1949 Heartland Lager" and a beer I've wanted to brew for years.  The idea came from an excerpt in a rare 1949 beer book and I'll write more about it soon.

Attached are a couple of links to some youtube videos of us (myself, Nate, & Hayes) describing some of the beer coming from our Lexington "Outpost" production brewery with Marc Smith from Virginia Eagle Distriution.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOLa3FwTcPI 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bB0v9tyZQhc&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHI9HHu7K-w&feature=related\

Cheers,

Jason Oliver - Brewmaster

Once again it's time to update the goings on here at Devils Backbone Brewing Company.  Beer is flowing out of our Outpost production brewery with Nate and Cory working their tails off to keep up with demand.  The Italians are setting up the new SBC bottling line as I write so the first bottles of Eight Point IPA & Vienna Lager should be in the marketplace in March.  The "Belgian Congo Pale Ale", a Belgian inspired IPA has been brewed and is in the tanks at the Outpost fermenting away.  The Belgian Congo Pale Ale will be the first packaged seasonal from the brewery, look for it in a month.  Also in the tanks at the Outpost and ready on draft for St. Patty's Day is our Reilly's Red Ale. 

From the Basecamp Pilot Brewery (brewpub) we have no shortage of new and exciting beers.  For March expect to see our Trukker Pils, Namibian Pale Ale, Four Point Pale Ale, Black Summit (our Heavy Seas collaboration black pilsner), Ramsey's Draft Stout, Dead Bear Imperial Stout, and Kilt Flasher Wee Heavy on tap along with our core year round offerings.  Out of those, the new ones that have never been brewed here are the Namibian Pale Ale and the Black Summit Heavy Seas Collaborative Black Pilsner.  I already wrote about the collaboration so here's the skinny on the Namibian Pale Ale..

The Namibian Pale Ale is a Germanic inspired IPA.  The name comes from the dark days of colonialism and the question "what if" the Germans made a hoppy ale for their colonists, what could it be like?? (Germany held a colony called German Southwest Africa, now named Namibia)  The Namibian Pale Ale is brewed with German pilsner, munich, and dark wheat malts, hopped like an IPA with German Northern Brewer, Tettnang, and Hallertau Tradition (with some Czech Saaz) hops, and fermented with a German kolschbier yeast strain.  Nothing traditional about this beer but a fun "what if".

Well that's it for now..next I'll write about another local collaboration and a beer we're calling "Low Hanging Fruit".

Cheers,

Jason Oliver - Head Brewmaster

Happy New Year from all of us at Devils Backbone Brewing Company.  The new year holds much promise and I am looking forward to it.  We will be rolling out our first kegs of Eight Point IPA and Vienna Lager from our "Outpost" production brewery Mid-January and have lots of events to celebrate.  Check our website for the events near you. 

Also in January our collaboration with Heavy Seas Brewing Company of Baltimore Maryland will commence it's first stage with the 8.5 barrel pilot batch of our joint "black pilsner" here at Devils Backbone brew pub.  Growing up in Maryland and having spent most of my brewing career in the greater Baltimore / DC area, I have long been a fan of Heavy Seas Brewing Company (formerly Clipper City Brewing Company) and have know it's founder Hugh Sisson for years.  I was extremely honored when Hugh inquired if I would be interested in doing a joint project and of course the answer was yes.  Hugh founded Maryland's first brewpub "Sisson's" which was the first brewpub I ever visited (Legend in Richmond was the first brewery), and it was Clipper City's (now Heavy Seas) first brewmaster who inspired me to choose the UC Davis Master Brewers Program as my formal brewing education.  Anyway, to make a long story short, I've been influenced greatly by Hugh Sisson and his impact on craft brewing and I'm so happy to have the opportunity to work with his brewing team at Heavy Seas.  I was put in touch with Heavy Seas Brewmaster Ernesto Igot and the brainstorming began on what beer to create.  Both Ernesto and I have a lot of respect for lagers so it was quite natural to decide to design one jointly. Ernie initially suggested a dark lager similar to the Xingu black lager from Brazil but I found that was too similar to the Schwartz Bier we brew several times a year here.  I am personally a big fan of crisp hoppy pilsners so we compromised and decide to merge our tastes together and design a "black pilsner".  We designed it to have subtle dark malt notes without being too heavy and balanced by the pronounced noble hop character of a pilsner.  With both our breweries doing multiple black versions of previously paler beer styles this approach seemed to satisfy our collective tastes and fill a niche neither of us have done before. The Heavy Seas gang will be coming down here on the auspicious day of Friday the 13th this January to brew the first run with us on our 8.5 barrel system.  The DBBC crew then will be heading up to Baltimore a few months later to scale it up on their 50 barrel brewhouse.  Expect to see the pilot brew available here at the pub and finer beer bars around central Virginia starting late February.  The production run out of Heavy Seas should hit the taps and shelves this coming spring.  If you haven't had a Heavy Seas beer I encourage you to pick some up.  I especially enjoy their ever popular & hoppy "Loose Cannon" ale and their multiple award winning "Marzen Lager".

Happy New Year,

Jason Oliver - Head Brewmaster

It's been busy around here.  The Outpost production brewery is being installed and will be on-line shortly.  The Eight Point IPA and Vienna Lager are being scaled up for the new facility, and the original DB brew pub (Base Camp) is brewing a wide variety like always, and about to brew even a wider variety once the Outpost brewery goes on-line.  This winter will see the return of some old favorites as well as some new beers.  Double award winning "Danzig" Baltic Porter will return late November with it's award winning coffee counterpart "Baltic Coffee" hitting the tap around Christmas.  "Kilt Flasher" Wee Heavy will return early December to help keep the chill off.  Several batches of "Kilt Flasher" will be brewed this year to satisfy demand.  The award winning Kollaborator Dopplebock will return in January and the ever popular & dangerous "Dead Bear" Imperial Stout will be unleashed in February.  Expect to see wood aged versions of the "Kilt Flasher" and "Dead Bear" late this winter.

Some of the new beers will be "Cru Noir", a black Belgian inspired wit beer (oxymoron I know) that brewer Aaron Reilly designed.  It's a light black colored wheat beer that's lightly spiced with coriander, orange peel, and pink peppercorns.  '"Cru Noir" will be on tap early December.  Another new beer that will grace the taps is "Baracus", a Bad Attitude Big Brown Ale!  This Imperial Brown Ale will be big, complex, and supper hoppy.  Expect to see "Baracus" in mid to late December, I pity the fool who doesn't check it out.  We are experimenting with our first bacteria and the rare sour beer style of Berliner Weiss. Expect to see the first batch of this very light bodied tart beer in late November / early December.  As Berliner Weiss is ofter served with shot of raspberry or woodruff syrup, our kitchen staff are designing unique syrups to add to it if requested.  Expect to see some imaginative syrups like blood orange, lemon grass, and rosemary among others. DBBC will also be brewing it's very first smoked lager this winter in the Bamburg Rauchbier style. 

Anyway, this is just a quick update, expect to see other new beers throughout the winter as well.  Great things are happening with DB. It's going to be a busy winter season with the DB Outpost production brewery being fired up, but at least we have refreshments ready at hand.

Cheers,

Jason Oliver - Head Brewmaster

Grüß Gott! I'm Nate Olewine, the lead brewer at the Devils Backbone Outpost brewery in Lexington, VA.  With construction efforts in full swing, I recently had a chance to visit Bavaria and see first hand what we're all feverishly making preparations for...the arrival of our brewing equipment.  

Upon arrival in Munich, I was picked up by a representative of Rolec and driven to Chieming, a town nestled closely to the Bavarian Alps.  Uwe Janssen, part of Rolec's Sales and Marketing department, did not initially strike me as a Formula One driver.  However, he quickly put that notion to bed, as we screamed down the Autobahn towards Chieming at speeds in excess of 160 mph.  He reassured us these were typical speeds, and kindly joked about pale-faced customers and their first trips on the Autobahn. I laughed off the notion immediately, while discreetly checking my skin tones in the side view mirror.  Ahhh, flush as can be.  Virginia could use one of these....

Arriving in Chieming, we made a quick trip into Rolec to meet the rest of the team.  We were greeted with two Bavarian specialties:  Weißwurst and Weißbier.  For those that know me well, I can enjoy a deliciously cooked sausage and beer at perhaps any time of the day, so this was a welcomed surprise.  Its also a comforting fact, being a brewer, to see how beer is a part of everyday Germany, it's a part of their culture, their identity.  It is typical for people to enjoy a beer at most meals (including lunch), and there's a sense of pride in drinking and supporting the local product.  This is certainly an idea we're trying to foster not only at Devils Backbone, but in America as a whole.  Good beer can be enjoyed locally.

Following the meet and greet, we headed out for a quick and totally unnecessary bite of schnitzel (I would later go on to try every type of schnitzel Germany has to offer) before making our way to the fabrication facility.  The shop is owned and operated by Pöschl, the stainless steel fabricators employed by Rolec to construct the various brewing and fermentation vessels we purchased.   As the garage doors ascended we were given our first glance at the heart of our new brewery.  The stainless glistened in the late afternoon sun, and as any brewer can tell you, the sight of finely polished stainless steel is a beautiful thing.  Seeing in person what has only been on paper for the past few months was a gratifying experience.  The welders and fabricators take great pride in their work, and the craftsmanship is evident from the beginning and second to none.  Like a kid in a candy store, I walked alongside Karl Lechner, one of the two founders of Rolec (Wolfgang Roth being the other founder), as we discussed the finepoints of each vessel.  The attention to detail was staggering, no stone was left unturned.  I left knowning Rolec and Pöschl have truly put together a showcase brewery for the Outpost, something we'll be proud to call our own.

Within the next month, all of the brewing equipment will have made the journey across the Atlantic and have arrived in Lexington.  We look forward to its arrival and installation, we hope you do to...

Prost!

Nate

Yesterday we were honored to have beer writer / historian Ron Pattison graciously taking time out of his family's American vacation to join us to brew a rendition of a historic beer.  Ron grew up in Great Britain and has a love for the history of British brewing.  Ron goes to archives and digs through old brewing logs and posts the recipes of long gone beers.  As a brewer I find what Ron does to be enlightening and he has really changed my out look on British beer.  Far too many beer writers in the 80's and 90's merely regurgitated what each other wrote with little analysis on how beers were really brewed in the 19th and early 20th century.  Ron's works have opened up my eyes and many others.  Check out his blog http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/ , and you can buy his books through Lulu.com .

Also joining Aaron, Ron, and myself was previous collaborator Alastair Reece from Charlotesville who is a friend of Ron's, a Scotsman, and a lover of all things beer.  Al was instrumental in setting up this collaboration with Ron.  We kicked around different historic beers to do via e-mail for a while and settled on a rare English dark lager.  England of course is famous for it's ales not lagers, but they brewed them never the less (and still do).  In fact it kind of makes what we did all that much rarer.  Ron had a copy of a brewlog from 1930 Barclay and Perkins Brewing Company for a beer they did called "Barclay's London Dark Lager".  Having a brewhouse that is well equipped to do lagers it seemed appropriate.  We used 100% English malt made up from; Munton's lager malt, Hugh Baird maris otter pale ale malt, Munton's crystal malt, and Thomas Faucett roasted barley.  Saaz hops were used in the kettle.  It was interesting following the historic brewlog because some things they did back then are not what I do today.  But that's great, if I was going to do it my way, it would loose some of it's historic integrity.  It was fun brewing in an old fashioned manner.  The wort has a brilliant deep garnet color and tasted rich in caramel.  I think this beer will be amazing. We'll lager it for the traditional 6+ weeks and expect it to be on tap around the middle to end of June.

Thanks to Ron and Al for coming to brew this special beer with us.

Cheers,

Jason

We'll we've finally brewed it, the Wheat Stout.  It is made with 100% Weyermann malts from Bamberg Germany, Fuggle hops, and Fermentis 04 yeast.  50% of the malt bill is wheat malts, with the wheat producing the majority of color and flavor.  The other 50% is Weyermann Pale Ale malt.  I don't mind sharing the grist bill for this beer: 10% Chocolate Wheat malt, 10% Caramel Wheat malt, 30% Dark Wheat malt, and 50% Pale Ale malt.  One hop addition of Fuggle hops for bittering at an estimated 28 IBU's. It is a 15 plato beer so it should come in around 6.0% abv give or take. 

This was a fun brew.  Fun because my assistant Aaron was doing most of it, and doing a great job btw!  Expect to see it on tap in a few weeks.

Cheers,

Jason Oliver

Just a quick catch-up on what we've been brewing here at DBBC and what we'll soon be.  The seasonal brews in the fermenters are currently the Blue Ridge Trail Collaborative India Black Ale, Maibock, and the Kolsch.  Soon to be brewed is the Wheat Stout, Wit Bier, and Jack Browns Collaborative Pale Ale. 

Currently on-tap are the four regulars plus Wheat Pilsner, Ale of Fergus Mild, Styrian Blonde (Single Hop Belgian influenced ale), Morning Bear Coffee Imperial Stout, Kilt Flasher Wee Heavy, and the Four Point Pale Ale (Single Hop Imperial Session beer). 

In the wings will be another Ten Point double IPA (ten hops varieties added ten times), A Nelson Brown Ale blend, and IPA+.

Cheers,

Jason

So it's a new year and I started out the new year like I did last year by brewing our double GABF Gold medal winning Gold Leaf Lager.  It's our best selling beer.  It's a delicate easy drinking lager and one of my go to beers.  Before I brewed lager I brewed a lot of ales and one of my favorites is next in line.  The kolsch.

I am excited to brew kolsch tomorrow.  I have brewed that style since 1998, I starting brewing it at my second brewing job at Virginia Beverage Company (VBC) which was in Old Town Alexandria.  I have brewed the style of kolsch at three breweries now (VBC, Ellicott Mills brewing Co (EMBC), and Gordon Biersch (GB)) and have been itching to brew it here at Devils Backbone.  I won a bronze medal at the 2007 Great American Beer Festival with the Gordon Biersch Sommer Gold kolsch. Kolsch's are golden ales that originated in Cologne Germany which share some aspects of both ale and lager.  I like to say kolschs blend the best aspects of ale and lager together.  On an opposite note I think steam beers blend the worst aspects of ale & lager together.  Back to kolsch.  The kolsch yeast can ferment a little cooler than most ales strains and as a result provides a restrained fruitiness that is pleasant but not overwhelming.  These beers are often matured like lagers with extended cold conditioning which makes for a smooth lager like finish. 

 Expect our kolsch to be around 4.7% alcohol with 21 IBU's.  It is made with Weyermann Bohemian Pilsner malt, Canadian Malting Superior Pilsen malt, Weyermann Pale Wheat, Weyermann Cara-foam, and Weyermann Acidulated malt.  It will be hopped with German Northern Brewer for bittering, and Hallertuaer Tradition for flavor.

When I was was brewing kolsch at VBC I was always yearning to brew lager.  When I brewed primarily lager at GB and EMBC I always looked forward to brewing kolsch.  I guess the grass is always greener...  Now that I am brewing a huge range of styles I still want to brew kolsch.  Being a delicate golden beer perhaps I should wait to spring or summer, but the urge is too great, and thus tomorrows brew.  I have no doubt that I will brew kolsch again this spring and summer.  Expect to see DBBC's first ever kolsch on tap late February.

Prost,

Jason

New Years Eve 2010 has found me brewing our Eight Point IPA, the same beer that I finished off 2009's brewing season with on New Years eve last year.  I have been slightly adjusting the Eight Point IPA ever since opening and am getting pretty close to where I want it.  Looking back at my brew log and one year to the date of last years brew of Eight Point IPA has shown me how it's changed over 2010.  Let's look at some of the changes.

12/31/09's IPA had a grist containing:

Pilsner Malt, English Maris Otter malt, English Cara-stan (crystal malt), Munich malt, and Torrified Wheat.

The hops of last years IPA was Northern Brewer for first addition, Amarillo for second addition, Cascade for third addition, Columbus for fourth, and a split of Centennial and Amarillo for the last kettle addition.  A total of 11.25 pounds of hops for a ten hectoliter batch.

Over one full year in tiny increments I simplified the recipe and got it to where it is now.  Some ingredients got dropped, some added. The 2010 IPA ended with a grist of:

Pilsner Malt, English Cara-stan, German Cara-Foam (a dextrin malt, provides body), and Torrified Wheat. The Munich and Maris Otter malt was removed with Cara-foam being added.

The hops for the 2010 IPA are Cascade first addition, Columbus second, Centennial third, and Simcoe fourth.  A total of 18 pounds for a ten hectoliter batch. 6.75 more pounds than last years IPA, a considerable amount. I chucked the Amarillo and added a huge last addition of Simcoe, which adds a great piney character.

I tried to streamline the recipe in favor of a more pronounced hop character, supported by malt but with a medium body.  Maris Otter and Munich are great malts but were replaced by Cara-Foam and a touch more Cara-Stan than in the 2009 recipe.  The color of the beer remains similar to last year.  I dropped the Northern Brewer & Amarillo hops in favor of Simcoe.  Five kettle hop additions from 2009 has been slimmed down to four, one at first wort (pre-boil), one at 30 minutes before boil end, one at 15 minutes before, and one at whirlpool in the current IPA.  This is a little techno-geeky but I thought I'd throw these changes out there.

In addition to the American-style Eight Point IPA, four other IPA's were brewed at Devils Backbone in 2010.  The Congo Pale Ale, our Belgian inspired IPA, the Ten Point IPA (a double IPA) where we used ten different hops blended together and added ten times during the brew, the UK-IPA which was an English inspired IPA, and the Kung Pow Enter The Hop which is our Asian inspired IPA brewed with Japanese Sorachi Ace hops and flaked rice.  I also brewed the Four Point Pale Ale again in 2010 which is a single hop varietal mini-IPA session beer (2009's was Columbus hops, 2010's was Centennial hops, 2011's will be all Amarillo).  I call it an "Imperial Session Beer" because it has all the hop character on an IPA but is only 4% abv.  Even though I finish the year writing about IPA's, I am drinking our "Hoppy Wheat Pils" writing this.  Next year may see an India Pale Lager or a Pilsner brewed with an American hop variety to keep up my my lager responsibilities.

Hoppy New Year,

Jason