Celebrating Milestones
The year was 1995. Toy Story, Apollo 13, and Batman Forever dominated the big screen. Hootie and the Blowfish, TLC, and Better Than Ezra were climbing the Billboard charts. The OJ Simpson trial dominated headlines. Craft beer big guns like AleSmith, Allagash, and Bear Republic were founded. And a magazine named Brew Your Own was established with the intent of helping people brew better beer at home.
So much has happened in the past 25 years! As our magazine celebrates its silver anniversary, we reflect upon how much has changed in the beer world. Startup breweries became icons, craft beer went mainstream, and IPAs became a requisite part of any tap lineup. Most importantly, breweries continued to open at a record pace, with the number of operating breweries now north of 7,000 in the United States.
Anniversaries are meant to be celebrated. While some people take a trip of a lifetime or splurge on luxury items, the beer world typically recognizes anniversaries by brewing big, unique, and interesting celebratory beers. There’s no better way for us to celebrate than with a story that features five iconic breweries and the recipes they are toasting with on their own anniversaries.
The highly awarded and beloved brewery in Greensboro, Vermont, Hill Farmstead, is celebrating a decade in business with a unique take on a traditional Pilsner. Florian Kuplent’s Urban Chestnut Brewery in St. Louis, Missouri, is celebrating its anniversary by concocting an American-style hazy IPA, quite a departure for the German-centric brewery.
Craft beer legend Mitch Steele of Atlanta, Georgia’s New Realm is going big with Radegast, a monster-sized triple IPA, to celebrate his brewery’s second anniversary. Boulder, Colorado’s Avery Brewing, with an assist from Leopold Brothers Distilling, created a unique take on their famed Mephistopheles imperial stout to help celebrate the 20th anniversary of Colorado’s Big Beers, Belgians, and Barleywines festival.
The elder statesman on the block, and cornerstone of the craft beer movement, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, turned 40 in 2020, and celebrated in style with Hoppy Anniversary Ale. This classic IPA from the Chico, California brewery showcases the classic hops that ushered in a new generation of brewing four decades ago. After learning more about these legendary breweries, you can try your hand at replicating their celebratory beers at home and then fill your glass to toast your next big anniversary!
A Way of Life: The Hill Farmstead Story
Hill Farmstead is so much more than just a brewery. It’s a destination for many and it’s a way of life for Owner/Brewmaster Shaun Hill.
An eighth-generation member of the Hill family that founded the town where the brewery resides (Greensboro, Vermont), Shaun Hill brought to fruition the brewery he envisioned as an 18-year old who was searching for his life’s calling.
“I started homebrewing at age fifteen as a science fair project,” said Hill. “I realized that one way I can live and work here in this beautiful land we call home was to open a brewery.”
The vision he saw as an 18 year-old took him not only off the farm, but eventually out of the country altogether. After learning his craft working at several Vermont breweries, Hill went international honing his skills and winning multiple World Beer Cup medals with popular Nørrebro Bryghus in Copenhagen, Denmark.
“While still in Denmark, I wrote a business plan and raised money from friends. When I returned to Vermont in 2009, I started this brewery with just $60,000 and a goal of focusing on pale ale, IPA, and mixed-fermented beer,” said Hill.
Best Brewery in the World
Hill Farmstead has won the distinguished “Best Brewery in the World” award from RateBeer.com multiple times, including each of the past four years. With that kind of attention, a substantial increase in brewery foot traffic was inevitable.
“The idea was never to get big,” said Hill. “After the RateBeer awards, the scale started to tip and the amount of people coming became more than capacity could handle. When it became commonplace for people to wait outside in the freezing weather just to get in, I knew I had to do something. So we expanded onsite to be as large as the land trust we’re a part of would allow.”
A tale of two breweries
If Hill Farmstead Brewery is the culmination of many years of travel and insight, blending new brewing horizons with the history of 220 years of Hill heritage, it can also be considered two breweries in one, both physically and philosophically.
Traditional styles are all well-received staples; brewed in one part of the brewery. Hill Farmstead also gets a great detail of attention — and international renown — for their “wild side,” which is crafted on the other side of the facility.
“The ‘wild side’ is where we can take more chances,” said Hill. “We still use science and general brewing principles as usual, but we take it further than traditional brewing. For example, we may split a batch and employ different ingredients or techniques to learn what happens when you do things differently. We are willing to take more chances and learn as we go. There’s more room for learning and fun.”
Even with all of the experimenting, the very first beer Hill Farmstead brewed, Edward Pale Ale, has always been the brewery’s biggest seller. The beer’s signature hazy appearance is a byproduct of the house yeast strain and being unfiltered. “It’s the true definition of pale ale — it’s 5% ABV and hop-forward, featuring Simcoe®, Chinook, and Centennial hops. Funny thing is, I had to defend the haziness of the beer for a long time. Many of our fans were initially skeptical, until they tried it, of course.”
Celebrating Ten Years
After ten years of overcoming obstacles, beating the odds, and establishing itself as one of America’s (or, the world’s, we should say) finest craft breweries, it was time to celebrate. Of course, world events put an indefinite hold on those celebration plans, but Hill and his team are determined to make sure that celebration happens when the time is right.
To that end, he and his team are hard at work creating special beers to celebrate the 10-year milestone, highlighted by several imperial stouts and a playful, reimagining of their Pilsner, Mary.
“For nearly a decade, I have wanted to see what would happen if we placed a lager, after primary fermentation, into some empty wine barrels that formerly held one of our Farmstead ales,” said Hill. “I imagine that this might be similar to how lager could have tasted long before robust sanitation practices were in place.”
Taking one of the world’s most traditional beer styles and giving it a special Hill Farmstead twist, Hill first brews a traditional Pilsner, before aging the beer in a French oak barrel that previously housed Arthur, one of Hill Farmstead’s mix-fermented saisons.
“We have produced several versions of clean, wood-conditioned Mary,” said Hill. “This anniversary version attempts to tease out the intersection of a brewer’s intention (process, technology, sanitation) and the extent to which surrendering to nature (flora, the unknown) deviates and occasionally leads us to a pleasant and familiar outcome — in this case: American wild ale.”
Hill Farmstead Brewery’s Old World, Wild Mary Pilsner clone
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.048 FG = 1.010
IBU = 42 SRM = 3 ABV = 4.9%
According to Shaun Hill, Owner of Hill Farmstead Brewery, “This is an unreleased beer (at press time) that we internally refer to as Old World, Wild Mary. The base beer is our German-style Pilsner, Mary, aged in oak barrels that previously held our farmhouse ale, Arthur.”
Ingredients
8.8 lbs. (4 kg) European Pilsner malt
0.3 lb. (130 g) malted wheat
0.5 lb. (220 g) acidulated malt
8 AAU Perle hops (60 min.) (1 oz./28g at 8% alpha acids)
4.4 AAU Hallertau Mittelfrüh (15 min.) (1.1 oz./32g at 4% alpha acids)
2.3 oz. (65 g) Hallertau Hersbrucker hops (0 min.)
SafLager 34/70 or Wyeast 2124 (Bohemian Lager)
The Yeast Bay TYB184 (Brettanomyces bruxellensis) or Omega Yeast OYL-201 (Brettanomyces bruxellensis)
5.3 oz. (150 g) dextrose (if bottling)
Safale US-05 or LalBrew CBC-1 (if bottling)
Step by step
Utilize a thin mash (~1.7 qts./lb. or 3.5 L/kg) to minimize the sparging volume. While this will produce weaker first wort, it will aid in less tannin extraction and help prevent contaminating the wort with potentially unsavory last runnings. Target a mash temperature of 148 °F (65 °C). Mash in with 4.1 gallons (15.5 L) of water. If using reverse osmosis water, add 1 tsp. of calcium chloride to achieve 50 ppm of calcium. Rest for 60 minutes. Measure mash pH at 20 minutes and adjust with food-grade acid (lactic, citric, phosphoric) as necessary to hit a target of 5.2 to 5.3.
When mashing is complete, recirculate (vorlauf) at least ten minutes until beer is very clear. (For the advanced homebrewer, adjusting and monitoring mash and boil pH will be paramount in producing the best beer).
After collecting first wort, sparge with 3.4 gallons (13 L) of water at 170 °F (77 °C) and collect 6.6 gallons (25 L) of wort into the boil kettle. Pay attention to the last runnings! Density (gravity) should never fall below 1.010 (2.5 ºP) and should taste pleasant. If last runnings become husky or tannic, cut the sparge and stop collecting wort. Water can be added directly to the kettle in order to reach desired volume.
Boil for 90 minutes, adding hops as indicated. At the end of the boil, cut the flame and let rest for 5 minutes. Whirlpool with the Hallertau Hersbrucker hops. After about 20 minutes of whirlpool, rapidly chill the wort to 45–50 °F (7–10 ºC). Transfer wort to the fermenter and pitch the lager yeast (at least two packets of dry yeast or, if liquid yeast, prepare a healthy starter and ensure activity and viability), oxygenate well. Ideal fermentation is at 45–50 °F (7–10 ºC). A prolonged 24–48 hour lag is common at this temperature.
When fermentation appears to have ceased after 2 to 3 weeks, transfer the beer to a secondary vessel (a neutral oak barrel would be preferred), and inoculate with Brettanomyces. Do not be concerned with a temperature rise or diacetyl rest.
The beer should condition at 50–54 °F (10–12 ºC) for several months in a neutral barrel (if possible). When ready for packaging, boil 5.3 oz. (150 g) of dextrose in 1 cup of water. Cool to room temperature, then very slowly sprinkle in 0.07 oz. (2 g) of a dry, neutral yeast. Add this sugar and yeast cocktail to your bottling bucket. This should produce 3 volumes of carbonation conditioned at room temperature. Open your first bottle in one month. Or, keg and carbonate to 3.0 v/v.
Hill Farmstead Brewery’s Old World, Wild Mary Pilsner clone
(5 gallons/19 L, extract only)
OG = 1.048 FG = 1.010
IBU = 42 SRM = 3 ABV = 4.9%
Ingredients
5.3 lbs. (2.4 kg) Pilsen dried malt extract
8 AAU Perle hops (60 min.) (1 oz./28g at 8% alpha acids)
4.4 AAU Hallertau Mittelfrüh (15 min.) (1.1 oz./32g at 4% alpha acids)
2.3 oz. (65 g) Hallertau Hersbrucker hops (0 min.)
SafLager 34/70 or Wyeast 2124 (Bohemian Lager)
The Yeast Bay TYB184 (Brettanomyces bruxellensis) or Omega Yeast OYL-201 (Brettanomyces bruxellensis)
5.3 oz. (150 g) dextrose (if bottling)
Safale US-05 or LalBrew CBC-1 (if bottling)
Step by step
Heat 3 gallons (11.4 L) of water to 150–160 °F (65.5–71 °C). Add malt extract off heat while stirring until all extract is dissolved. Return pot to the heat Boil for 60 minutes, adding the hops as indicated. Using lactic acid or phosphoric acid, adjust pH to 5.1–5.2 near the end of the boil.
Follow the remainder of the all-grain recipe, making sure to top up the fermenter to 5 gallons (19 L) before pitching yeast.
The Best of Both Worlds: Urban Chestnut Brewing
Urban Chestnut Brewing Co. (UCBC) may be an interesting name for a brewery, but to German-born Brewmaster/Co-Founder Florian Kuplent, it makes perfect sense.
“Urban” pays tribute to craft beer enthusiasts who are actively building and supporting the artisan-based communities in which they live — including their favorite craft breweries. “Chestnut” is a symbol of the tradition and heritage of his homeland’s beer. Many Bavarian brewers have used chestnut trees to shade their beer cellars and biergartens for centuries.
Modern craft and classic brewing styles intersect in UCBC’s philosophy known as Beer Divergency. The brewery’s Revolution series explores modern American craft styles while the Reverence Series pays tribute to classic European styles and methods. Recently, a third series has emerged showcasing small batches of Bavarian brewed/imported beers via the Hallertauer Series, brewed in Kuplent’s German UCBC outpost in the heart of the famous Bavarian Hallertau hop
growing region.
A long and winding road
Long before opening his popular breweries in St. Louis, Missouri, Kuplent got his start in Germany delivering beer and working on the bottling line at a small brewery called Brauerei Erharting. With a natural interest in the fields of biology and chemistry, Kuplent developed an immediate interest in learning about all facets of the brewing process. He became the brewery’s first apprentice in decades, where he honed skills beyond brewing, including working in their onsite malthouse. This gave young Kuplent the confidence to pursue a career in the brewing industry, first by enrolling as a student at the Bavarian College of Food and Beverage Science, and later at the prestigious Technical University of Munich-Weihenstephan, famous for its brewing programs, where he earned a Master’s degree in malting and brewing science.
Armed with classroom and real-life experience, Kuplent’s brewing travels became global, with stops in America, England, and Belgium before spending several years working for beer giant Anheuser-Busch, first in New Jersey, then in St. Louis.
Kuplent and his US-born wife decided to call St. Louis home. With brewery ownership on his mind, he finally took the plunge and founded Urban Chestnut in 2010 with business partner David Wolfe.
We’re open! Time to expand
With success came challenges. Brewing both traditional German styles along with modern craft favorites, UCBC’s demand was soon outpacing production. Enter UCBC 2.0. “The first couple years, we kept doubling our sales volume and quickly realized we were going to have issues producing beer in our original 10,000-square-foot building,” said Kuplent.
A 60,000-square-foot building in the entertainment district known as “The Grove” was soon purchased to meet demand. A short while later, a space opened up near the new production brewery that the partners eyed as a potential pilot brewery. Brewing small batch “test” beers, the Urban Research Brewery (known as The U.R.B.) creates online surveys where fans provide feedback about the test beers, giving them a voice in the future of the business. The U.R.B. has become a true hit with the local community.
While IPAs remain all the rage across America, UCBC does 70–75% of their business in lagers. An unfiltered helles, UCBC Zwickel, is their #1 seller.
Kuplent’s connections in his homeland led to UCBC going international. Acquiring the brewing assets of a small, defunct brewery in Wolnzach, a town in the Hallertau region of Bavaria — the very region from which the brewery sources a majority of its hops — allowed Kuplent to open an outpost in his homeland.
Hallertau Haze
This fall marks the company’s tenth anniversary and it plans to celebrate with a beer that is quite the departure from what fans have come to expect.
“Most people see us as a German brewery, focused mostly on lagers, so brewing a hazy IPA is an interesting angle,” said Kuplent.
Not just any hazy IPA, UCBC’s hazy will consist of a variety of hops all originating from the Hallertau region, hops traditionally not found in IPAs. The relationships forged with the maltsters and hop farmers of Kuplent’s homeland have paid huge dividends when it comes to the success of UCBC.
“Working with the farmers and hop merchants is interesting and it allows us opportunities not all breweries have access to,” said Kuplent. “It’s a huge part of what we’re all about; working with the people close to
the ingredients.
These hops will allow Kuplent to create a special anniversary beer that intersects modern American craft and classic European brewing.
“These hop varieties are fruitier than traditional classic German herbal, spicy hops. We’re using Mandarina, Blanc, and Huell Melon hops, even dry hopping with these varieties. It brings out a unique characteristic that combines the best of US and German brewing,” said Kuplent.
Urban Chestnut Brewing Co.’s Hallertau Haze clone
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.050 FG = 1.011
IBU = 25 SRM = 5 ABV = 5.2%
A departure for a brewery known for its lagers, this groundbreaking hazy IPA, designed for Urban Chestnut’s tenth anniversary, uses the best of Old World brewing tradition and modern craft innovation, and is brewed using 100% German hops and kveik yeast.
Ingredients
9 lbs. (4.1 kg) American 2-row pale ale malt
1.1 lbs. (0.5 kg) German wheat malt
0.1 lb. (45 g) Carahell® malt (11 °L)
1.5 AAU Hallertau Merkur hops (75 min.) (0.13 oz./3.7 g at 11.4% alpha acids)
8.4 AAU Mandarina Bavaria hops (0 min.) (1.1 oz./30 g at 8% alpha acids)
8.4 AAU Hallertau Blanc hops (0 min.) (0.88 oz./25 g at 9.5% alpha acids)
2.65 oz. (75 g) Hallertau Blanc hops (dry hop)
1.76 oz. (50 g) Huell Melon hops (dry hop)
1.76 oz. (50 g) Hallertau Mandarina hops (dry hop)
1⁄2 tsp. yeast nutrient
White Labs WLP520 (Sigmund Kveik), Omega yeast 061 (Voss Kveik), LalBrew Voss yeast, or The Yeast Bay WLP4045 (Sigmund’s Voss Kveik)
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by step
Mash with 3.7 gallons (14 L) of water. Add 1 tsp. of gypsum and start your mash at 140 °F (60 °C). Raise temperature immediately to 153 °F (67 °C) and hold for 45 minutes. Next, raise temperature to 170 °F (78 °C) for mashout and recirculation. Begin collecting your wort and sparge with 176 °F (80 °C) water acidulated to a pH as close to 5.2 as possible.
Boil for 75 minutes, adding the bittering hop addition at the beginning of the boil. With 45 minutes to go, add 1 tsp. of gypsum to the boil. (Since some calcium ions get “consumed” during mashing, adding more during the boil assures a proper level required during fermentation.) Add 1⁄2 tsp. of yeast nutrient with 10 minutes to go in the boil.
Add flameout hop additions then whirlpool for 20 minutes. When settled, chill rapidly to 72 °F (22 °C) and oxygenate thoroughly. Ferment up to 75 °F (24 °C). Once attenuation is 50% complete, allow temperature to free rise to 79 °F (26 °C) for diacetyl rest and fermentation completion. When final gravity is reached, add the dry hops. 24 hours after dry hopping, chill to 41 °F (5 °C). Hold at this temperature for one day, then drop temperature to 34 °F (1 °C) for a 10-day maturation period. Keg and carbonate to 2.5 v/v or prime and bottle condition.
Urban Chestnut Brewing Co.’s Hallertau Haze clone
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.050 FG = 1.011
IBU = 25 SRM = 5 ABV = 5.2%
Ingredients
4.5 lbs. (2 kg) extra light dried malt extract
1 lb. (0.45 kg) wheat dried malt extract
0.1 lb. (45 g) Carahell® malt (11 °L)
1.5 AAU Hallertau Merkur hops (75 min.) (0.13 oz./3.7 g at 11.4% alpha acids)
8.4 AAU Mandarina Bavaria hops (0 min.) (1.1 oz./30 g at 8% alpha acids)
8.4 AAU Hallertau Blanc hops (0 min.) (0.88 oz./25 g at 9.5% alpha acids)
2.65 oz. (75 g) Hallertau Blanc hops (dry hop)
1.76 oz. (50 g) Huell Melon hops (dry hop)
1.76 oz. (50 g) Hallertau Mandarina hops (dry hop)
1⁄2 tsp. yeast nutrient
White Labs WLP520 (Sigmund Kveik), Omega yeast 061 (Voss Kveik), LalBrew Voss yeast, or The Yeast Bay WLP4045 (Sigmund’s Voss Kveik)
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by step
Bring 3 gallons (11.4 L) of water to 160 °F (71 °C). Remove from heat and add your grains to a grain bag and submerge. Allow grains to steep for 20 minutes then remove grain bag and rinse with warm water. Slowly stir in the extract until fully dissolved. Bring wort to a boil and boil for 60 minutes, adding the hop additions as indicated.
Follow the remainder of the all-grain recipe, making sure to top up the fermenter to 5 gallons (19 L) before pitching yeast.
Tips for success:
Fermentation temperatures in the mid- to upper-70s °F (24–26 °C) is on the cool end for kveik strains, which are often fermented in the 90s °F (mid-30s °C) and warmer. Florian Kuplent says there are a couple of reasons he does this, which he acknowledges is based on “gut feel” and experience, not scientific data to back it up. “I prefer to control fermentation and like to not overly stress yeast — high temps seem to do that more. (And) with a lower fermentation temperature the fermentation is less vigorous, which removes fewer volatiles (aroma compounds we look for in the beer).” That said, you will notice yeast manufacturers suggest the optimal temperature to ferment this strain (depending on which manufacturer’s yeast you use) ranges from around 70–100 °F (21–38 °C), so you have the option to turn up the heat.
For Legendary Brewmaster Mitch Steele, It’s a New Realm
For a man who has the ultimate brewing resume, there was just one thing left to do: Build a brewery from scratch. Mitch Steele’s impressive experience includes several years managing new beer formulations at Anheuser-Busch to his tenure as Brewmaster during the meteoric rise of Stone Brewing Company. The idea of brewery ownership became a reality when Steele met future partners Carey Falcone and Bob Powers. Together, the three would create New Realm Brewing Company in Atlanta, Georgia.
CEO Carey Falcone had been in the beer business his whole life, part of a family-owned beer distributorship near Scranton, Pennsylvania. He later got a job with Anheuser-Busch, a common denominator between the three future partners. Chief Commercial Officer Bob Powers was a sales expert with the large brewing conglomerate. Steele didn’t know Falcone or Powers during their tenure at AB. When Falcone and Powers reached out to Steele, he initially declined; happy with his role as Stone’s Brewmaster. The two persisted, and eventually Steele considered the opportunity. The rest, as they say, is history.
Racking up airline miles
Making this work was no small feat, considering that Steele was living clear across the country in Temecula, California. Not wanting to uproot his daughter who was getting settled in her new high school, Steele did the impossible and commuted cross-country for three long years. Upon his daughter’s graduation, Steele packed up and moved his family to Atlanta.
Originally, the working plan for New Realm was to open in Asheville, North Carolina. The team struggled to find the right property at the right terms, forcing them to expand their search. Falcone had been living in Atlanta for several years and found the perfect location. Upon first glance, Steele knew he could build his dream brewery in that spot. Centrally located with a great view of the Atlanta skyline and a rooftop bar, it was too good to pass up. Plans changed, and New Realm was heading to Atlanta.
A brewery is born
Redefining the term “trial by fire,” the unofficial grand opening was New Year’s Eve of 2017 and the official public opening happened January 8, 2018 — the day of the college football championship. The game featured Georgia playing Alabama at the new Mercedes Benz stadium in Atlanta, meaning that every bar in the state would be packed wall-to-wall that day. The openings were successful and New Realm has been going strong ever since.
Gaining an immediate following, the writing was on the wall for a production facility to handle growing demand. The initial 20-barrel facility could only produce between 10–15,000 barrels per year.
Around that time, Green Flash’s outpost in Virginia Beach, Virginia went into bank possession, and it had everything the team was looking for in a production brewery. Basically, all the equipment — as well as a brewing team — was already in place. The New Realm team bought the contents of the brewery, leased the building, and just like that, they had their
production facility.
Radegast Triple IPA
Brewing popular styles such as porter, Pilsner, pale ale, IPA, and hazy IPAs, New Realm found immediate success. But a bigger beer was on Steele’s mind, a beer he thought would be a perfect “celebratory” beer — a triple IPA he called Radegast (a name attributed to a Middle Ages Czech god of hospitality). Steele is known for making some heavy hitting IPAs, having been a huge part of behemoths such as Stone Ruination 10 and Heretic’s Evil 3, both triple IPAs.
During his relentless cross-country travels, he spent a lot of time at Refuge Brewing of Temecula, California. He befriended brewery Co-Owner Curt Kucera who offered Steele the opportunity to brew pilot batches for his future brewery on Refuge’s five-barrel system with their Head Brewer Dan Kelly. Steele jumped at the chance, and the third batch he brewed was the prototype for the beer that later became Radegast Triple IPA.
Using the Chico yeast strain, careful attention to fermentation is key to achieve the lofty 11.5% ABV of this massive beer. Overpitching the yeast at a rate of 30 million cells per milliliter helps to ensure less yeast growth and, as a result, less fusel alcohols that can result in “alcohol burn.”
The dry hop blend changes every year to showcase different hop varietals. “The massive dry hopping additions help to balance the alcohol heat and take the edge off,” said Steele.
From its start as a pilot batch at Refuge Brewing to its current status as New Realm’s esteemed anniversary beer, Radegast Triple IPA is a hop lover’s dream.
New Realm Brewing Co.’s Radegast Triple IPA clone
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.098 FG = 1.009
IBU = 100+ SRM = 5 ABV = 11.5%
Named after the Czech god of hospitality, Mitch Steele’s Radegast IPA was first created with friends at Refuge Brewing in Temecula, California before becoming the annual anniversary beer at his brewery, New Realm of Atlanta, Georgia.
Ingredients
17 lbs. (7.71 kg) American 2-row pale malt
1 lb. 12 oz. (0.8 kg) dextrose corn sugar
18 AAU Warrior hops (60 min.) (1.2 oz./34 g at 15% alpha acids)
38.4 AAU Citra® hops (0 min.) (3.2 oz./91 g at 12% alpha acids)
48 AAU El Dorado® hops (0 min.) (3.2 oz./91 g at 15% alpha acids)
19.6 AAU Mosaic® hops (0 min.) (1.6 oz./45 g at 12.25% alpha acids)
3.2 oz. (91 g) Falconer’s Flight® hops (dry hop)
3.2 oz. (91 g) Citra® hops (dry hop)
3.2 oz. (91 g) El Dorado® hops (dry hop)
1 Whirlfloc tablet
1⁄2 tsp. yeast nutrient
Wyeast 1056 (American Ale), White Labs WLP001 (California Ale), or SafAle US-05 yeast
2⁄3 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by step
Using a thin mash to maximize enzymatic activity and fermentability (roughly 4:1 water-to-grain by weight), mash for 75 minutes at 150 °F (65.5 °C). A mash pH between 5.2–5.7 is ideal. A 1⁄4 tsp. addition of phosphoric acid should get your mash in range if using reverse osmosis water. After mash is complete, raise temperature to 168–170 °F (76–77 °C) for mashout and recirculation. Begin collecting your wort and sparge with 170 °F (77 °C) water with a pH as close to 5.2 as possible.
Boil for 60 minutes, adding the Warrior hop addition at the beginning of the boil. Add 1⁄2 tsp. of yeast nutrient and dextrose with 10 minutes to go in the boil, as well as a Whirlfloc tablet to produce a clearer finished beer.
At the end of the boil, whirlpool for 10 minutes after adding the flameout hops. Chill rapidly to 68 °F (20 °C) and oxygenate thoroughly. It’s important to keep your fermentation temperature from rising in order to avoid fusel alcohol production. After 7 days of primary fermentation, reduce temperature to 60 °F (16 °C) and add your dry hops. After day 10, add Biofine® or another clarifying agent if you want a clearer finished beer, then chill to 32 °F (0 °C). Hold at this temperature for another two weeks, then keg and carbonate to 2.3 v/v or prime and bottle condition.
New Realm Brewing Co.’s Radegast Triple IPA clone
(5 gallons/19 L, extract only)
OG = 1.098 FG = 1.009
IBU = 100+ SRM = 5 ABV = 11.5%
Ingredients
9.2 lbs. (4.2 kg) extra light dried malt extract (DME)
1 lb. 12 oz. (0.8 kg) dextrose corn sugar
18 AAU Warrior hops (60 min.) (1.2 oz./34 g at 15% alpha acids)
38.4 AAU Citra® hops (0 min.) (3.2 oz./91 g at 12% alpha acids)
48 AAU El Dorado® hops (0 min.) (3.2 oz./91 g at 15% alpha acids)
19.6 AAU Mosaic® hops (0 min.) (1.6 oz./45 g at 12.25% alpha acids)
3.2 oz. (91 g) Falconer’s Flight® hops (dry hop)
3.2 oz. (91 g) Citra® hops (dry hop)
3.2 oz. (91 g) El Dorado® hops (dry hop)
1 Whirlfloc tablet
1⁄2 tsp. yeast nutrient
Wyeast 1056 (American Ale), White Labs WLP001 (California Ale), or SafAle US-05 yeast
2⁄3 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by step
Use 3 gallons (11.4 L) of clean water and heat to around 150–160 °F (65.5–71 °C). Take the pot off the flame and slowly add the DME while stirring continuously until all extract is dissolved. The exact temperature is not all that important since there is no mashing, but keeping it in this range will help avoid boil over when putting in the DME. Once dissolved, return pot to the heat and bring to a boil. Boil for 60 minutes, adding the hops as indicated.
In the meantime, prepare 2–2.5 gallons (7.6–9.5 L) of water to add to your wort to top up after boil is complete. To be safe, it’s best to boil that water, then chill it, to ensure elimination of any contaminants in the water.
Add 1⁄2 tsp. of yeast nutrient and dextrose with 10 minutes to go in the boil, as well as a Whirlfloc tablet to produce a clearer finished beer.
At the end of the boil, whirlpool for 10 minutes after adding the flameout hops. Chill rapidly to 68 °F (20 °C) and oxygenate thoroughly. It’s important to keep your fermentation temperature from rising in order to avoid fusel alcohol production. After 7 days of primary fermentation, reduce temperature to 60 °F (16 °C) and add your dry hops. After day 10, add Biofine® or another clarifying agent if you want a clearer finished beer, then chill to 32 °F (0 °C). Hold at this temperature for another two weeks, then keg and carbonate to 2.3 v/v or prime and bottle condition.
Avery Brewing Co.: Go Big or Go Home
Avery Brewing Company of Boulder, Colorado has built its reputation by producing eccentric beers that often defy styles and categories. Blending ingenuity, creativity, and boldness, Avery is a brewery founded on passion and hard work.
An avid homebrewer, in 1993 27-year-old Adam Avery passed on law school and somehow convinced his father, Larry, to contribute his life savings and start a brewery despite having no professional experience. Renting a small space in the back of an industrial alley, they started making beers that they packaged in bombers.
A brewery ahead of its time
With craft beer still in its developmental stages, Avery Brewing bottled the state’s first IPA in 1996. Viewed by some as “too hoppy” at the time, the mostly unchanged beer is now considered an iconic commercial example for the style. Go figure.
Despite being a small brewery in a less-than-ideal warehouse, Avery continued to brew beers he thought people would like, expanding his brand’s reach into several states. The beer was well received, but wasn’t exactly breaking any sales records.
About four years into the business, with future prospects looking somewhere between questionable and bleak, Avery decided he was going to brew a beer that he liked. Creating a 9% ABV monster of a beer (for the time), Hog Heaven Barleywine was his answer to Sierra Nevada’s Bigfoot. Sure, Avery liked it, but interestingly, so did countless others. Avery Brewing had made its mark almost by accident.
With more people taking notice — and buying its beer — Avery Brewing began to grow. By 1999, Adam Avery could finally hire people so he wasn’t working 18 hours every day. The confidence he gained from the success of Hog Heaven spawned other big beers. First came The Reverend Belgian Quadrupel and Salvation Belgian Golden Ale, and later The Beast and Mephistopheles’ Stout. Barrel aging sour and non-sour beers followed.
Going big
However, continuous expansion was not always ideal. One small industrial space turned into six, but the spaces weren’t all attached to each other. They were cobbled together with packaging lines installed over other businesses, with most of the fermenters outside, using flexible hoses to move wort and beer back and forth. Brewery personnel cleaned tanks outdoors in snowstorms, just trying to keep up with demand. In springtime, they battled wasp nests lodged around the outdoor tanks. Professional brewing isn’t always as glamorous as everyone thinks.
In 2015, Avery built a dream brewery in northern Boulder with a full restaurant and thirty taps. According to Barrel Herder Andy Parker, the brewery is now stocked with every technological advancement in the brewing world, which means more options for experimentation and even more consistent flagships.
“Over 125 different projects go on tap each year. And on the production side, we have this really cool thing called a roof. You don’t know how valuable a roof is in your working day until you don’t have one for a decade,” said Parker.
Interestingly, while Avery Brewing continues to garner praise from experts of the craft beer world for their experimentation, the more traditional White Rascal Belgian-style white ale and IPA continue to be the company’s two best sellers. Avery has created a loyal following of ultra beer geeks and mainstream craft lovers, a difficult feat to accomplish in the modern craft beer universe.
Mephistopheles 2.0
Avery Brewing Company has an extensive history of making unique beers for its own anniversaries. But this anniversary beer was different.
“We made fifteen ‘one-off’ beers between 2003 and 2018 to celebrate another year in the beer business,” said Parker. “This particular beer is about the friends we make in this industry. Back in 2000, beer event organizer Laura Lodge saw an opportunity. She created the now legendary Big Beers, Belgians, and Barleywines festival made to highlight the early iterations of ‘extreme’ beer.”
Twenty years later, Lodge asked Avery to make a special beer for the 20th anniversary of the festival.
“I contacted Todd Leopold of Leopold Brothers Distilling to see if he might have something interesting. If he had a great barrel, we felt confident that we’d be able to match it up with the right beer. I didn’t know it at the time, but they were also celebrating their 20th Anniversary. And it just so happened that they had just emptied the only barrel of the whiskey they made for the occasion. A Tennessee-style whiskey, steeped with freshly charred sugar maple chips in Bourbon distillate and aged for nine years. Leopold offered us that single barrel for this project. I love it when a plan comes together.”
For Parker, it was a no-brainer to age Mephistopheles’ in the barrel.
“It tasted like a chocolate cake with a caramel drizzle, yet it was over 17% ABV with less ethanol heat than a 9% ABV IPA. Chuggable, even. Dangerous,” said Parker.
Avery Brewing Co.’s 20th Anniversary Mephistopheles’ Stout clone
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.102 FG = 1.020
IBU = 45 SRM = 70+ ABV = 11%
A “devil” of a beer, this iteration of Mephistopheles’ was made specifically for the 20th anniversary 2020 Big Beers, Belgians, and Barleywines festival. This decadent imperial stout was aged in a 20th Anniversary Leopold Brothers’ whiskey barrel. While the actual beer rang in at 17% and required some tools most homebrewers don’t have access to, this is a scaled down, homebrewer-friendly version provided by Avery Barrel Herder, Andy Parker.
Ingredients
11 lbs. (5 kg) American 2-row pale malt
1.63 lbs. (0.74 kg) Special B malt
1.44 lbs. (0.65 kg) roasted barley
1.06 lbs. (0.49 kg) black malt
0.88 lb. (0.39 kg) aromatic malt
2.25 lbs. (1.02 kg) golden dried malt extract (DME)
2 lbs. (0.91 kg) dextrose corn sugar
12.2 AAU Sterling hops (60 min.) (2 oz./56 g at 6.1% alpha acids)
1 oz. (28 g) Apollo hops (0 min.)
1 package oak cubes
~1 oz. (28 g) maple chips, charred
~1 cup Bourbon
Wyeast 3787 (Trappist Style High Gravity), or White Labs WLP530 (Abbey Ale), or LalBrew Abbaye Belgian Ale yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by step
The maple chips may be found in the grilling section of your hardware store. A propane torch can be used to scorch the exterior. You are just looking to caramelize the sap in the maple, not to turn them into charcoal. Soak the oak cubes and charred maple chips in Bourbon — just enough to cover. They should be soaked a minimum of two weeks, more if possible. If you can get your hands on a small used Bourbon barrel, then skip the oak cubes but still soak the maple chips.
On brew day, add 1 tsp. of CaCl2 and 1⁄8 tsp. of CaSO4 (gypsum) along with 1⁄4 tsp. of 10% phosphoric acid. Employing a thick mash (1.5 qts./lb. or 2.5 L/kg), achieve a mash temperature of 153 °F (67 °C) and hold for 60 minutes or until fully converted. After mash is complete, raise temperature to 168–170 °F (76–77 °C) for mashout and a 10-minute recirculation. Begin collecting your wort and sparge with 170 °F (76 °C) water with a pH at or near 5.2. Sparge with enough water to collect roughly 6.5 gallons (24.6 L) of wort.
Boil for 60 minutes, adding the first hop addition, dextrose, and DME at the start of the boil. With 30 minutes remaining, add another teaspoon of CaCl2. The first and most important reason to add this is to make sure there is enough calcium in the wort for yeast health, knowing that you will lose some of your original addition in the mash. Secondly, the CaCl2 addition will round out the flavors and bring out the grain/malt character desired in the beer. With 10 minutes remaining, add a 1⁄2 tsp. of yeast nutrient. One Whirlfloc tablet can also be added at this time to help with beer clarity, although the beer will be opaque black. At knockout, add the Apollo hops.
After conducting a 10-minute whirlpool, chill rapidly to 66 °F (19 °C). Oxygenate thoroughly and pitch yeast. When gravity reaches 1.060 (after about four days of primary fermentation) increase temperature to 70 °F (21 °C) for warm conditioning for at least six additional days. If terminal gravity hasn’t yet been reached, letting it go a few more days is fine. Rack the beer into a secondary fermenter on top of the wood and Bourbon, or if you have a Bourbon barrel, then rack beer onto the maple and Bourbon in the barrel. Once flavor profile is achieved with a distinct wood and Bourbon character it’s time to package. Carbonate to 2.5 v/v or prime and bottle condition.
Avery Brewing Co.’s 20th Anniversary Mephistopheles’ Stout clone
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.102 FG = 1.020
IBU = 45 SRM = 70+ ABV = 11%
Ingredients
9.4 lbs. (4.26 kg) golden dried malt extract (DME)
2 lbs. (0.91 kg) dextrose corn sugar
1.63 lbs. (0.74 kg) Special B malt
1.44 lbs. (0.65 kg) roasted barley
1.06 lbs. (0.49 kg) black malt
0.88 lb. (0.39 kg) aromatic malt
2.25 lbs. (1.02 kg) golden dried malt extract (DME)
2 lbs. (0.91 kg) dextrose corn sugar
12.2 AAU Sterling hops (60 min.) (2 oz./56 g at 6.1% alpha acids)
1 oz. (28 g) Apollo hops (0 min.)
1 package oak cubes
~1 oz. (28 g) maple chips, charred
~1 cup Bourbon
Wyeast 3787 (Trappist Style High Gravity), or White Labs WLP530 (Abbey Ale), or LalBrew Abbaye Belgian Ale yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by step
See instructions for maple chips and oak cubes in the all-grain recipe.
Bring 3 gallons (11.4 L) of water to 162 °F (72 °C). Remove pot from the heat source then slowly stir in the DME until fully dissolved. Add your crushed grains (in a grain bag) and steep for 10–15 minutes. Remove grain bag and bring wort to a boil for 60 minutes, adding the hop additions as indicated.
Follow the remainder of the all-grain recipe, making sure to top up the fermenter to 5 gallons (19 L) before pitching yeast.
My Kind of Town: The Sierra Nevada Story
Ken Grossman has always been a man ahead of his time. With a natural curiosity for taking things apart and putting them back together, if anyone was destined to succeed in the beer world, it was he. Never shying away from a challenge, a teenage Grossman got his first homebrewing kit in 1969 and tried his luck at brewing.
An avid outdoorsman, Grossman visited Chico, California in 1972 and realized it was his kind of town, relocating there just two weeks later. Homebrewing regularly, he focused on several beer styles but gravitated toward hoppier beers.
Trying to find his niche within the beer world, Grossman opened a homebrew supply shop in 1976, two years before homebrewing was officially legalized by the US government. Improved homebrews were one of the results, including honing in a recipe for a beer he really enjoyed, a hop-forward pale ale.
Sierra Nevada
In 1980, Grossman took the plunge and opened his own small brewery, named after his beloved Sierra Nevada mountains. Using mostly recycled dairy equipment, this jack-of-all-trades was more than happy to build his brewhouse by hand.
Starting with a stout, it wasn’t long until Grossman brewed his soon-to-be-famous pale ale. After about ten iterations, he dialed in the recipe and process. Featuring Cascade hops, this deep-gold beer would eventually change the hearts and minds of beer drinkers everywhere. Hop-forward and 5.6% ABV, this was unlike the watered-down light beers that were pervasive at the time.
Success did not come quickly, however. According to Grossman, the first few years were very lean. All revenue came from bottle sales, most of it going directly back into the brewery. In the early 1980s, a viable draft market for these types of beers didn’t exist. In order to increase production, Grossman and his team would fabricate or repurpose used equipment.
In 1983, Grossman purchased a 100-barrel copper brewhouse from a defunct German brewery. Unfortunately, his tiny 3,000-square-foot brewery had neither the space to accommodate the new brewhouse, nor enough money to expand. At the time, banks considered it far too risky to lend money to upstart breweries. The new brewhouse sat in storage for years, while Sierra Nevada maxed out its current capacity.
The Rebirth
After years of significant growth, Sierra Nevada was finally able to secure the needed funding for expansion. It was time to shine up that beautiful copper brewhouse and put it to work.
The new brewhouse greatly increased Sierra Nevada’s ability to expand its footprint. Palates for new “microbrewed” beers were also on the rise. Establishments began to increase draft offerings, opening up new markets for Sierra Nevada, where Pale Ale became a staple in bars and restaurants across America.
In 1997, with demand outpacing production, Grossman added a 200-barrel brewhouse to go alongside the original. In 2015, a second brewery was built in Mills River, North Carolina to ensure the delivery of fresh beers to both sides of the country.
Forty years later, Grossman can reflect upon everything he and his team has accomplished. With the odds stacked heavily against him at the outset, he gambled on his vision. In the process, he set the standard for craft beer. With beautiful brewing facilities on each side of the country, the man whose original business plan called for 2,500 barrels per year (3,500 barrels if they overachieved) exceeded all expectations, including his own.
“We can always do better and are continuously looking for ways to improve,” said Grossman. “We’ve invested a lot of time and money back into our brewery and hopefully it shows in our products. We’ve been successful because of our committed following. All I can say is, ‘Thanks for supporting us all these years.’”
After all Grossman has accomplished, he’s earned the right to celebrate with a special beer — a beer that celebrates the monumental accomplishments of a once tiny, fledgling brewery that eventually became one of America’s most treasured icons.
Hoppy Anniversary Ale
Hoppy beers may be all the rage today, but it was not always the case. When it came time to develop a beer that would properly represent 40 years of brewing, creating a West Coast IPA was a no-brainer. “We’ve always been focused on hops,” said Grossman. “We wanted to feature the hops that were important back in the era of the brewery’s beginning.”
Billed as “a tribute to the best of the West Coast IPA and craft beer’s long, strange journey,” Hoppy Anniversary Ale is gold with intense, yet balanced, pine and citrus, and just enough caramel sweetness. Checking in at 6% ABV and 60 IBU, the beer is a classic West Coast IPA that, once again, sets the standard for the style.
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.’s Hoppy Anniversary Ale clone
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.056 FG = 1.011
IBU = 65 SRM = 6 ABV = 6.0%
A tribute to the best of the West Coast IPAs, and craft beer’s long strange journey, Hoppy Anniversary Ale can be considered both a celebration and an autobiography of the craft beer movement. It features Cascade, Centennial, and Cluster hops —three critical hops in the early days of America’s craft beer business.
Ingredients
10 lbs. (4.5 kg) North American Pilsner malt
1 lb. (0.45 kg) malted oats (with hull)
0.5 lb. (0.23 kg) caramel/crystal malt (60 °L)
5.75 AAU Cascade hops (85 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 5.75% alpha acids)
7 AAU Cluster hops (85 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 7% alpha acids)
4.3 AAU Cascade hops (10 min.) (0.75 oz./21 g at 5.75% alpha acids)
8.6 AAU Cascade hops (0 min.) (1.5 oz./43 g at 5.75% alpha acids)
15 AAU Centennial hops (0 min.) (1.5 oz./43 g at 10% alpha acids)
1 oz. (28 g) Cascade hops (dry hop)
1 oz. (28 g) Centennial hops (dry hop)
1 Whirlfloc tablet
1⁄2 tsp. yeast nutrient
Wyeast 1056 (American Ale), White Labs WLP001 (California Ale), or SafAle US-05 yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by step
Achieve a mash temperature of 154 °F (68 °C) and hold for 60 minutes or until fully converted. After mash is complete, raise temperature to 168–170 °F (76–77 °C) for mashout and about a 10-minute recirculation. Begin collecting your wort and sparge with 170 °F (77 °C) water acidulated to a pH at or near 5.2.
Boil for 90 minutes, adding the first hop additions five minutes into the boil. With 10 minutes to go in the boil, add 1⁄2 tsp. of yeast nutrient and a Whirlfloc tablet to help with beer clarity.
At the end of the boil, whirlpool for 10 minutes after adding the flameout hops. Then chill rapidly to 68 °F (20 °C) and oxygenate thoroughly. Fermentation should last 4–5 days, then allow another 9–10 days for conditioning. Add your dry hops on or around day 10. Upon completion of the fermentation cycle (about two weeks after brew day), chill the beer to 38 °F (3 °C) and keg. Chilling the beer first will help pull dry hop matter out of suspension, producing a cleaner beer. Carbonate to 2.5 v/v or prime and bottle condition.
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.’s Hoppy Anniversary Ale clone
(5 gallons/19 L, partial mash)
OG = 1.056 FG = 1.011
IBU = 65 SRM = 6 ABV = 6.0%
Ingredients
5.5 lbs. (2.5 kg) Pilsen dried malt extract
1 lb. (0.45 kg) malted oats (with hull)
0.5 lb. (0.23 kg) caramel/crystal malt (60 °L)
5.75 AAU Cascade hops (85 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 5.75% alpha acids)
7 AAU Cluster hops (85 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 7% alpha acids)
4.3 AAU Cascade hops (10 min.) (0.75 oz./21 g at 5.75% alpha acids)
8.6 AAU Cascade hops (0 min.) (1.5 oz./43 g at 5.75% alpha acids)
15 AAU Centennial hops (0 min.) (1.5 oz./43 g at 10% alpha acids)
1 oz. (28 g) Cascade hops (dry hop)
1 oz. (28 g) Centennial hops (dry hop)
1 Whirlfloc tablet
1⁄2 tsp. yeast nutrient
Wyeast 1056 (American Ale), White Labs WLP001 (California Ale), or SafAle US-05 yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by step
Heat 3 qts. (2.8 L) of water to around 160 °F (71 °C). Take the pot off the flame and put the oats and crystal malt into a grain bag and add into the water at this time. Try to hold the grains at 154 °F (68 °C) for roughly 45–60 minutes. Place the grains in a colander and wash with 1 gallon (3.8 L) warm water. Top up to 3 gallons (11 L) then slowly add the extract while stirring continuously until all extract is dissolved. Add heat and bring to a boil. Boil for 60 minutes, adding the hops as indicated.
In the meantime, prepare 2–2.5 gallons (7.6–9.5 L) of water to add to your wort to top up after boil is complete. To be safe, it’s best to boil that water, then chill it, to ensure elimination of any contaminants in the water.
Upon conclusion of the boil, chill rapidly to 68 °F (20 °C), add the pre-chilled water to top up, pitch yeast and oxygenate thoroughly. Fermentation at 68 °F (20 °C) should last 4–5 days, then allow another 9–10 days for conditioning. Add your dry hops on or around day 10. Upon completion of the fermentation cycle (about two weeks after brew day), chill the beer to 38 °F (3 °C) and keg. This will help pull dry hop matter out of suspension, producing a cleaner beer. Carbonate to 2.5 v/v or prime and bottle condition.