found drama

As I continue to wax nostalgic for the days when I was brewing “a lot” (oh say… twice a month?) — the thought occurred to me to reflect on the beers that became my favorites. The ones I was most proud of, or else became in some way obsessed with. There were certainly quite a few that were “very good” (even “excellent”) but these were the ones I couldn’t get out of my head.

1. Tilde Festbier

My Festbier. The one that went on to earn a 38 in the first round of National Homebrew Competition (though it didn’t advance). The one that became the foundational recipe for Feats of Strength at Black Flannel. I only brewed it once as a homebrewer, but think it’s rare to get a beer so right on the first attempt.

2. Honestatis

My signature beer. I brewed it at least 9 times in 4 years. I’ve always been a sucker for a well-made amber ale — even as they’ve fallen out of favor with craft brewers. And I remember when I was first cutting my teeth at homebrewing and thinking what if I made a SMOKY amber ale? …with rye? While it wasn’t exactly a kitchen sink moment of homebrew hubris, I really did believe that I could bring all those elements together into a great beer. Seven batches later and it earned a 42 at NHC first round. And that ninth batch was a nearly unanimous winner of a style challenge “duel” among the North Seattle Homebrewers.

3. Tilde Galaxy

In my early homebrewing days, I made a deliberate attempt to stay away from brewing IPAs. I live in Vermont — I have access to some of the best IPAs in the world so why would I want to compete with that? …if not for the challenge of just seeing how I could stack up. My first IPA came out of a kit, but I learned enough that I thought I could make an at least decent one on my own. Especially if you just throw a ton of cheater hops like Galaxy at it. So that’s exactly what I did … and then it earned me my first ribbon. (The second batch didn’t score as well as the first, but I still maintain it was better overall.)

4. Le Rousse

This beer could so easily have been a case of over-reaching — could so easily have been a hot mess. Seriously: how many bières de garde do you see in the States? (And when you do see them… isn’t the name being used as a cover story for a barrel-aged something-or-other that got infected?) While I wouldn’t go so far as to say “I had no right to attempt this beer”, I certainly did not have any reliable yardstick by which to measure it. But it turned out delicious, and then scored well enough in competition that it got picked up by a local brewery for a pilot batch.

5. Avout

I continue to obsess over the idea of this beer, even as previous iterations have been good although only questionably what I had in mind. I had been making small talk and banter with a friend about different recipes to brew when he floated the idea of a “Belgian RED Strong”. This stuck with me and I proceeded to spend nearly 2 years trying to work out a recipe before I finally just said “fuck it” and went for it. I missed my gravity, but I got the color in the ballpark (albeit a little darker than I’d hoped). I enjoyed its aromas and flavors but… it felt like I’d missed the mark. This was pretty much where I landed both times I brewed it: this is good and sooooooo close but… not quite.

Bonus: Uncle Rico

Uncle Rico is a cream ale. It had simple ingredients and an equally simple brew day. I wish I’d taken more pictures of it after the one above because it cleared so well and was gone so fast. Every brewer needs a beer like — something unfussy and delicious.

About Rob Friesel