Knotted Root Brewing Company
Dear Replicator,
While out in Colorado on a business trip, I stumbled upon Knotted Root Brewing Company in the mountains just west of Boulder. I ended up chatting with Co-Founder and Head Brewer Chris Marchio who it turned out went to college just a few towns north of me in Vermont, at Green Mountain College. Tasting his beers, I felt like I was tasting the four best DIPAs coming out of my home state. While they were all delicious, Perpetually Unimpressed was exactly not that . . . it was incredible! While we chatted for a while about Vermont, we never really got into brewing. So if you can track down Chris’ recipe, it would be greatly appreciated.
Jeff Sands
Dorset, Vermont
That must’ve been one enjoyable business trip. I wish I could’ve been there with you. Thankfully we can take readers on a little trip of our own to Nederland, Colorado, the home of Knotted Root Brewing Company.
Knotted Root stems from the inspiration of Chris Marchio, whose background provided him with the education and tools to pull off his dream. He attended Green Mountain College in Poultney, Vermont, where he developed his thirst for homebrewing that culminated with his senior thesis focusing on sourcing local ingredients and food at a locally-focused brewpub. From there, he went on to study Fermentation Science at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington.
But school only generates bills; it doesn’t pay them. Straight out of brewing school, Chris landed his first paid brewing gig at Anderson Valley Brewing Company in Boonville, California. From there he was offered a position to help start Fiction Beer Company in Denver, Colorado as their Assistant Brewer. After a few years at Fiction, he developed his approach to unfiltered IPAs. Through this exploration, he became one of the first brewers in Colorado to brew the style; the beer was named Cosmic Unity. From Fiction, he moved up in the brewing world and was awarded the title of Head Brewer for Joyride Brewing, in Edgewater. But in order to satiate the curiosity sparked from his years of brewing, he desired to own his own brewery. So, in late 2016, he left Joyride and focused solely on developing the brand and vision behind Knotted Root Brewing Company alongside Co-Founder and Operations Manager Chris Klein and Assistant Brewer Jordan Lanter. According to Lanter, “We will make beer with integrity.” No compromises.
Knotted Root has a unique philosophy and approach to brewing and managing a brewery. They’re located at the end of a dirt road in the small mountain town of Nederland, Colorado, which is situated ~15 miles west of Boulder at an elevation of 8,256 ft. (2516 m). On a 10-BBL brewhouse and 70-BBL fermentation capacity, they approach brewing with the necessary scientific prowess and rigor, but with more of an intuitive and artistic lens. To this end, they use these skills and aim to create nuanced, subtle, yet balanced and bold beers, ranging from unfiltered IPAs to fruited sours, traditional German Pilsners, and dessert-inspired stouts.
Perpetually Unimpressed is a double dry hopped, unfiltered double IPA whose flavors focus on one of Chris’ favorite hops: Nelson Sauvin from New Zealand.
Some might ask, “Why start the brewery in Nederland?” It’s not in the larger cities of Denver, Boulder, or even Fort Collins. Maybe it was the similarities to Vermont and Chris’ beginnings. Or maybe it was simply that the town is colorful, zany, and completely not corporate at all; a perfect place to experiment on beers letting intuition guide them, all the while taking in the gorgeous vistas of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.
Their brewing intuition leads them down numerous pathways. One of which includes the design and naming process of their beers. During the conception phase they try to get input from everyone involved to create a unique artistic connection to the beer. For example, currently on tap is Thick Strawberry Goo, a Berliner weisse with 420 lbs. (190 kg) of strawberry, raspberry, and passion fruit as well as Blue Light Rain, an unfiltered German Pilsner that employs the German Callista hops to provide a noble, grape-like character. But that’s only a snippet of their line-up.
Perpetually Unimpressed is a double dry hopped, unfiltered double IPA whose flavors focus on one of Chris’ favorite hops: Nelson Sauvin from New Zealand. The massive amount of dry hops and an English yeast strain produce intense fruit flavors and aromas such as grape must and peaches. The beer is dedicated to Chris’ dog, Asa, who, “. . . internalizes the spirit of striving for more in life, as does this beer.”
Despite the beer being quite hop-forward, you’d be shocked by a few of its attributes. First off, no hops are utilized during the actual boil. Although many calculators may render 0 IBUs due to how they handle post-boil additions, this beer does have supportive bitterness. Also, the hop bill is relatively straightforward with only two different hop varieties used over the course of three charges. Thirdly, the malt bill is more complex than one would presume from such a hoppy beer with flaked oats and wheat malt helping in the haze arena. The Golden Naked Oats® and honey malt both provide hints of additional sweetness to support the hops.
When I asked Chris if there are any aspects that one should take into account when brewing at 8,200 ft. (2,500 m), he commented saying, “The only considerations are a lower boiling point, less oxygen in the atmosphere for pitching yeast, and a slightly lower hop isomerization rate. More hops!” So, go ahead, take a walk on the hoppy haze side. I dare you to be “Unimpressed”.
Knotted Root Brewing Company’s Perpetually Unimpressed clone
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.076 FG = 1.015
IBU = 80 SRM = 7 ABV = 8.1%
Ingredients
6 lbs. (2.7 kg) Pilsner malt
5.5 lbs. (2.5 kg) Simpsons Golden Promise pale ale malt
1.6 lbs. (0.71 kg) flaked oats
1 lb. (0.45 kg) Rahr white wheat malt
1 lb. (0.45 kg) Golden Naked Oats® malt
7 oz. (200 g) honey malt
4 oz. (113 g) acidulated malt
6 oz. (170 g) Citra® hops (hop stand)
10 oz. (283 g) Nelson Sauvin hops (dry hop #1)
10 oz. (283 g) Nelson Sauvin hops (dry hop #2)
Wyeast 1318 (London Ale III) yeast or Omega OYL-052 (Conan) or LalBrew New England yeast
¾ cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Mill the grains, then mix with 4.9 gallons (18.5 L) of 167 °F (75 °C) strike water to achieve a single infusion rest temperature of 152 °F (67 °C). At this time add 50 ppm of gypsum. Hold at this temperature for 60 minutes. Mashout to 170 °F (77 °C) if desired.
Vorlauf until your runnings are clear before directing them to your boil kettle. Batch or fly sparge the mash to obtain 6.5 gallons (25 L) of wort. Pre-boil pH should 5.2 to 5.4. Boil for 90 minutes.
After the boil, add 150 ppm of calcium chloride, cool the wort to approximately 190 °F (88 °C), and add the Citra® hops. Whirlpool for 40 minutes before further chilling the wort to 68 °F (20 °C). Pitch yeast. Maintain rough fermentation temperature but allow for a free rise to 72 °F (22 °C) by the end of primary fermentation for this beer.
Once primary fermentation is complete, rack the beer off the trub or drop the cone at ambient temperature. Add the dry hops sequentially as indicated and let them extract for 1 day each. During this time shake the carboy or degas with CO2 to increase the rate of hop oil extraction. Cold crash for 24 hours before bottling or kegging the beer. Carbonate to approximately 2.3–2.4 volumes.
Knotted Root Brewing Company’s Perpetually Unimpressed clone
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.076 FG = 1.015
IBU = 80 SRM = 7 ABV = 8.1%
Ingredients
3.3 lbs. (1.50 kg) Pilsner dried malt extract
3 lbs. (1.36 kg) pale ale dried malt extract
0.75 lb. (0.34 kg) wheat dried malt extract
1.6 lbs. (0.71 kg) flaked oats
1 lb. (0.45 kg) Golden Naked Oats® malt
0.5 lb. (0.23 kg) honey malt
½ tsp. 88% lactic acid
6 oz. (170 g) Citra® hops (hop stand)
10 oz. (283 g) Nelson Sauvin hops (dry hop #1)
10 oz. (283 g) Nelson Sauvin hops (dry hop #2)
Wyeast 1318 (London Ale III) yeast or Omega OYL-052 (Conan) or LalBrew New England yeast
¾ cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Bring 5.5 gallons (21 L) of water to roughly 150 °F (66 °C). Steep both types of oats and the honey malt for 15 min before removing and draining. Add all the types of DME, with stirring, before heating to a boil. Add the lactic acid, then boil for 15 minutes.
Follow the remainder of the all-grain recipe instructions for post-boil and fermentation directions.
Tips for Success:
With such a fruity, hop-forward beer, you could correctly assume that water chemistry is quite important. For the all-grain brewer, shoot for a 3:1 ratio of chloride-to-sulfate prior to pitching. Unfortunately, for the extract brewer, you’re at the whims of the maltster. If you’re feeling adventurous, add 50–100 ppm of calcium chloride to tilt the balance to chlorides. Personally, I’d err on the side of caution as too little will still make the batch drinkable but too much may cause it to leave a “chemical” taste on the tongue.
The other major consideration to concern yourself with is the yeast pitch rate. With an OG = 1.076, I’d recommend a fresh starter. A strong, healthy fermentation will afford a well-attenuated beer with proper biotransformation of hop oils.
