In this second BrewLocal Podcast episode we talk to Dann Paquette and his wife Martha of Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project Massachusetts. To subscribe with a podcast downloader use: http://brewlocal.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
Audio
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
An Evening with Pretty Things
After our brew day at Mayflower, we drove back to Boston and had dinner at Redbones, a great, and hugely popular, concept barbeque and good beer joint where the pulled pork married well with Cambridge Brewing Company's "Imperial Skisbol", a dark Danish smoked lager brewed in collaboration with Nørrebro Bryghus. After dinner, we met up with Pretty Things duo Dann Paquette and his wife Martha on the back deck of Deep Ellum, which proved to be the metaphysical nexus of the day, including several Mayflower beers on tap and cask, Pretty Things' own "Jack D'Or" and "Confounded Mr. Sisyphus" on tap, along with other local standouts from High and Mighty, Berkshire and Cambridge. The laundry list of creative New England breweries and a focus on session beer made for an extremely smart tap list, and it was great to hear how interconnected all the brewers are with each other.
Dann was a fixture of the Bay State brewing scene having brewed at Ipswich, John Harvard's, The Tap and inventing the Rapscallion beer line (where Matt Steinberg also worked), before moving to England and brewing at Daleside for a couple of years. Now back in Massachusetts, the beers he is currently producing span his experience, from riffs on saison to a British brown, to a session lager coming shortly.
Dann and Martha seem to share an impish-psychedelic-storybook imagination and funhouse spirit that is readily apparent in their highly personal and brilliant website. There is a real charm to the Pretty Things mystique, we weren't surprised to hear that Dann looks to fellow madcap Kris Herteleer from De Dolle Brouwers for inspiration. Our conversation lead towards a real interesting mash-up of eccentric Belgian and traditional British beer-ways. Dann's alternate persona "Jack D'Or", an Edwardian character of his and Martha's design furthers the spirit of fun at the heart of the Pretty Things Project.
It was really enlightening to be able to drink Pretty Things beers while Dann expounded on the virtues of authenticity and fun that are the drive of the project. Of particular interest is the brew house rental (not contract brew) model that Pretty Things has worked out with Paper City Brewery in Holyoke, MA (which also has a more traditional contract brewing arrangement to produce High and Mighty). The model has worked well for De Struise and De Ranke in Belgium before they got their own respective breweries.
Thank you to the inimitable Dann Paquette and the eminently charming Martha Holley for a memorable evening.
We'll be posting Dann's Guidelines to a Proper Bitter and a podcast of our conversation on the site shortly.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Matthew Steinberg Interview
In this first BrewLocal Podcast episode we talk to Matthew Steinberg of Mayflower Brewing in Plymouth MA. To subscribe with a podcast downloader use: http://brewlocal.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
Podcast
Podcast
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Matthew Steinberg's Recipes
Mayflower Porter
Taking its cues from “Three Threads”, a bartender’s blend of three distinct ales, Porter became the beer of choice for 18th-century Londoners. Mayflower Porter embraces this history. This complex brew is smooth and full-flavored with notes of roasted coffee beans and bittersweet chocolate that will warm the palate all year long.
Recipe Specifics
----------------
Batch Size (Gal): 5.00
Total Grain (Lbs): 11.86
Anticipated OG: 1.063
Anticipated SRM: 34.6
Anticipated IBU: 38.8
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %
Wort Boil Time: 75 Minutes
Grain
-------
9.50 lbs. American Pale Malt(2-row)
1.00 lbs. Chocolate Malt America
0.75 lbs. CaraMunich 120
0.50 lbs. Brown Malt
0.15 lbs. Scottish Peated Malt
Hops
------
0.68 oz. Pilgrim @ 70 min.
0.77 oz. Glacier @ 20 min.
----------------
Batch Size (Gal): 5.00
Total Grain (Lbs): 11.86
Anticipated OG: 1.063
Anticipated SRM: 34.6
Anticipated IBU: 38.8
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %
Wort Boil Time: 75 Minutes
Grain
-------
9.50 lbs. American Pale Malt(2-row)
1.00 lbs. Chocolate Malt America
0.75 lbs. CaraMunich 120
0.50 lbs. Brown Malt
0.15 lbs. Scottish Peated Malt
Hops
------
0.68 oz. Pilgrim @ 70 min.
0.77 oz. Glacier @ 20 min.
Extras
--------
1.00 Unit(s)Whirlfloc Fining 15 Min.(boil)
Yeast
-----
S-04 SafAle English Ale
Water Profile
-------------
Profile: Plymouth
Mash Schedule
-------------
60 min @ 152
Notes
-----
Pitch at 73
Ferment at 66
--------
1.00 Unit(s)Whirlfloc Fining 15 Min.(boil)
Yeast
-----
S-04 SafAle English Ale
Water Profile
-------------
Profile: Plymouth
Mash Schedule
-------------
60 min @ 152
Notes
-----
Pitch at 73
Ferment at 66
FG 1.021
Crash chill to 32 after fermentation is finished for 1 week.
Hop Goddess
Crash chill to 32 after fermentation is finished for 1 week.
Hop Goddess
"The beer itself is a dedication to a girl...cunning and blatant, embodied among succulent notes of earth and spice. I wanted to make a really hoppy beer that was in the Belgian tradition. De Ranke XX Bitter happens to be one of my favorite beers in the world, not that I was trying to brew a beer specifically like that, but I used that beer as a stepping off point."
-Matthew Steinberg
Recipe Specifics
----------------
Batch Size (Gal): 5.00
Total Grain (Lbs): 11.06
Anticipated OG: 1.062
Anticipated SRM: 5.4
Anticipated IBU: 69.0
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70 %
Wort Boil Time: 90 Minutes
Grain/Sugar
-------------
8.00 lbs. Belgian Pilsener
1.38 lbs. Munich Malt
0.81 lbs. Corn Sugar/Dextrose
0.63 lbs. Flaked Oats
0.25 lbs. Biscuit Malt
Hops
-----
0.50 oz. Chinook @ 60 min.
1.00 oz. Sterling @ 60 min.
1.00 oz. East Kent Goldings @ 30 min.
0.38 oz. Sterling @ 20 min.
1.00 oz. Sterling @ 5 min.
3.00 oz. Amarillo @ Dry Hop
Extras
-------
0.25 Tsp Yeast Nutrient @ 15 min.
1.00 Unit Whirlfloc @ 15 min.
Yeast
-----
White Labs WLP510 Bastogne Belgian Ale Yeast
Water Profile
-------------
Profile: Martha's Vineyard
Mash Schedule
---------------
90 min @ 146
Notes
-----
Begin ferment in the low 80's
Aim for high carbonation (~3 volumes)
If you're feeling randy spike with Brett B, but do not age for an extended period.
FG 1.010
84% AA
6.9% abv
----------------
Batch Size (Gal): 5.00
Total Grain (Lbs): 11.06
Anticipated OG: 1.062
Anticipated SRM: 5.4
Anticipated IBU: 69.0
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70 %
Wort Boil Time: 90 Minutes
Grain/Sugar
-------------
8.00 lbs. Belgian Pilsener
1.38 lbs. Munich Malt
0.81 lbs. Corn Sugar/Dextrose
0.63 lbs. Flaked Oats
0.25 lbs. Biscuit Malt
Hops
-----
0.50 oz. Chinook @ 60 min.
1.00 oz. Sterling @ 60 min.
1.00 oz. East Kent Goldings @ 30 min.
0.38 oz. Sterling @ 20 min.
1.00 oz. Sterling @ 5 min.
3.00 oz. Amarillo @ Dry Hop
Extras
-------
0.25 Tsp Yeast Nutrient @ 15 min.
1.00 Unit Whirlfloc @ 15 min.
Yeast
-----
White Labs WLP510 Bastogne Belgian Ale Yeast
Water Profile
-------------
Profile: Martha's Vineyard
Mash Schedule
---------------
90 min @ 146
Notes
-----
Begin ferment in the low 80's
Aim for high carbonation (~3 volumes)
If you're feeling randy spike with Brett B, but do not age for an extended period.
FG 1.010
84% AA
6.9% abv
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