The Burnt Hickory Brewery: Replicator
Dear Replicator,
I’m hoping you can help me with a beer I never thought I would plan to brew. Let me say that I have been somewhat a beer purist and was totally against fruit in any brew. That changed with my first taste of the apricot saison from The Burnt Hickory Brewery near Atlanta, Georgia. All of their beers were very good but the wallop of delightful apricot in this beer was amazing — I am converted. They don’t offer this beer all the time and it is a 110-mile drive for me anyway. Let me know if you can get the details and I’ll never poo-poo fruit beers again.
David Griffith
Chattanooga, Tennessee
I would question if there is another brewery owner/brewer in the country that has received a TV News Emmy award. Owner of The Burnt Hickory Brewery Scott Hedeen was awarded 15 while employed for 20 years as a television news cameraman (10 of those for the Atlanta NBC affiliate station). During that same time he also became an accomplished homebrewer. As many of us did, he started with 5-gallon (19-L) buckets, cans of liquid extract and packets of dried yeast that came with them. The news business was changing and eventually he decided it was time to expand upon his love of making great beer. Knowing that he would need more knowledge of brewing on a commercial scale he completed the Siebel Institute’s concise course in 2010.
After several months of federal and state applications, Scott opened the doors of The Burnt Hickory Brewery in Kennesaw, Georgia during the spring of 2012. He brewed the first batch on April 1 of that year. The brewery is named after Burnt Hickory Road that goes through Kennesaw Mountain. He purposely started with only a 2-barrel heat exchanged recirculating mash system (HERMS) he lovingly named “The Falcon.” He wanted to start small in order to avoid loans or taking on
investors and was able to obtain the initial financing by selling his collection of punk rock albums and Nirvana memorabilia. As he explained, the other reason he wanted to start small was “to properly dial in his recipes and maintain full control over the product.” All of his initial beers were based on his homebrew recipes and he wanted to make sure the profiles carried over when scaling up to commercial size batches.
Georgia’s laws were not very conducive to supporting the burgeoning craft beer revolution. “Compared to places like California, Colorado, and Oregon, it was like a babe in the woods,” he said. Acknowledging that he was not exactly in a beer geeks paradise, Scott decided that he would have to create somewhat of a unique business model. Hence the self-proclaimed title of “a small brewery with big beers.” It seems he has fulfilled that moniker with beers like Cannon Dragger, a potent IPA, Fighting Bishop, a Belgian Tripel, Courageous Conductor, a red velvet Porter and, of course, the White Flag Third Strike Apricot Saison.
Even though his plan has been to stay small, popular beers have forced him to grow. When being faced with performing all of the duties became overwhelming he brought on Will Avery to become the Brewer. With a background of 12 years of homebrewing, Will had plenty of opportunities to create his own good beers. Needless to say, he caught on quickly and the lineup of brews expanded. Unique beers of high quality created increased demand. This dictated the need for more capacity. The big move came in November of 2014 when they brewed their first batch on a new 20-barrel system, named “Clementine,” from Sprinkman Industries in Wisconsin. This has allowed them to expand distribution throughout Georgia. They are presently hand bottling 22 oz. (650 mL) bottles, which takes a full hour to package one barrel of beer. The next addition is scheduled to be a 6-head automatic filler.
Scott reports that White Flag Third Strike Apricot Saison was originally based on Randy Mosher’s recipe for “Nit Wit,” however over time the recipe has been tweaked so much that it is now much closer to a saison than a wit. The beer’s name is a tribute to one of his favorite punk rock bands. The selection of hop varietals and yeast was made to complement the fruit profile. Scott recommends a long conditioning period to allow the complex flavors to fully develop. The real goal of the beer, Scott said, was to have the apricot flavor dominate — making this beer live up to his slogan “to be minimal would be criminal!”
David, you won’t have to make that long drive for your new favorite fruit beer because now you can “Brew Your Own.” For more information about The Burnt Hickory Brewing Company and their other fine beers visit them on the web at www.burnthickorybrewery.com.
The Burnt Hickory Brewery: White Flag Third Strike Apricot Saison clone
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.069 FG = 1.008
IBU = 38 SRM = 6.2 ABV = 8%
This Belgian-style wit is brewed with apricot, and Pilsner malt to create a medium-bodied, tart beer with fresh fruit aroma.
Ingredients
7.5 lbs. (3.4 kg) Pilsner malt
3.75 lbs. (1.7 kg) white wheat malt
1.25 lbs. (0.56 kg) rye malt
12 oz. (0.34 kg) Caravienne malt (20 °L)
8 oz. (0.23 kg) corn sugar (10 min.)
5 lbs. (2.27 kg) apricot purée (secondary)
6.1 AAU Citra® hop pellets (60 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 12.2% alpha acids)
3 AAU Amarillo® hop pellets (60 min.) (0.3 oz./8.5 g at 10% alpha acids)
0.5 oz. (14 g) Citra® hop pellets (0 min.)
0.5 oz. (14 g) Amarillo® hop pellets (0 min.)
1⁄2 tsp. Irish moss (30 min.)
1⁄2 tsp. yeast nutrient (15 min.)
White Labs WLP566 (Belgian Saison II) or Wyeast 3711 (French Saison) or Lallemand Belle Saison yeast.
3⁄4 cup (150 g) dextrose (if priming)
Step by Step
This recipe is a single step infusion mash. Mix all of the crushed grains with 4.9 gallons (18.5 L) of 168 °F (76 °C) water to stabilize at 148 ºF (64 °C). This is a medium thin mash using 1.5 quarts of strike water per pound of grain (3.1 L/kg). Mash for 90 minutes, then slowly sparge with 175 °F (79 °C) water. Collect approximately 6.2 gallons (23.5 L) of wort runoff to boil for 90 minutes. While boiling, add the hops, Irish moss, yeast nutrient, and 10-minute corn sugar addition as per the schedule. After the boil is complete, cool the wort to 75 °F (24 °C). Pitch your yeast and aerate the wort heavily. Allow the beer to cool to 67 °F (19 °C). Hold at that temperature for the first two days and gradually ramp up to 76 °F (24° C) over the next 3–7 days. Hold at 76 °F (24° C) until fermentation is complete. This may take 10–14 days. Gently transfer to a carboy, avoiding any splashing to prevent aerating the beer and add the apricot purée. Allow the beer to condition for an additional week. Prime and bottle condition or keg and force carbonate to 2.8 volumes CO2. Allow the beer to age for two more weeks to fully develop the flavors.
Extract with grains option:
Substitute all of the malts in the all-grain recipe with 6.6 lbs. (3 kg) Coopers light liquid malt extract, 1.75 lbs. (0.79 kg) Pilsner malt, 12 oz. (0.34 kg) white wheat malt, 4 oz. (0.11 kg) rye malt, and 2 oz. (57 g) Caravienne malt (20 °L). Steep the milled grains in 2.5 gallons (9.5 L) of water at 148 °F (64 °C) for 30 minutes. Remove grains from the wort and rinse with 2 quarts (1.8 L) of hot water. Add the malt extract and boil for 60 minutes. Follow the remaining portion of the all-grain recipe.
Tips for Success:
If you are unable to locate apricot purée, whole apricots may be substituted in either the all-grain or the partial mash recipe. If using fresh apricots, discard the pit and cut the apricots into small slices. Immerse the slices in 190 °F (88 °C) water for two minutes to sterilize the fruit. Crush the slices and allow them to cool before adding them to the secondary fermenter.
