Zuvaruvi

Took a trip to Plattsburg, NY a few years back. Stayed in a hotel with a brewpub. Didn’t know it was there, just lucked out…one of those zuvaruvi coincidences. The owner let me help tinker with a couple recipes. Their “Three Nut Brown” was pretty tasty; I didn’t do much to change it. Didn’t get around to brewing it on a homebrew scale until years later when the beer goddess asked me to make her an American Brown. I dusted off the recipe, and what appears below turned out nice; quite nice actually. I can’t claim any higher knowledge; you just stumble into a good beer every now and then.

A note about the homegrown hops in this recipe. My buddy Harold has a buddy Hal who lives in Oregon. He has too much time, money, and land on his hands so he grows hops…for fun! He was nice enough to give me a few bags. Some went into this recipe; some went into a randalizer for another beer. Both uses were wonderful!

9 lbs. Halcyon 2.2L
8 oz. Paul’s Malt 42L Crystal
8 oz. Munich II 9.7L
8 oz. Wheat Malt
6 oz British Chocolate

154f for 60 min.

90 minute boil.
0.5 oz Mt. Hood homegrown 60 min.
1.0 oz. 5.2% Mt. Hood 40 min.
1.0 oz. 5.2% Mt. Hood 20 min.
1.0 oz 5.2 % Mt. Hood 2 min.
0.5 oz Mt. Hood homegrown KO.

Safale US-05 American Ale Yeast, 64f fermentation.

5 gallons tap water
4 gallons rain water
5.5 gallons in the fermentor
1.053 OG
1.008 FG
16.3 SRM
34.4 IBU’s
.653 BU/GU

Good news today! Received word from a distributor that they will be providing a wonderful selection of Belgian beers for this year’s IBF. Distributors are the unsung heroes of the beer world. Chances are, unless you are sitting in the brewery where it was brewed, or you brewed it yourself, the beer you are holding in your hand passed through the hands of a distributor. Many importers/distributors scour the world for finely crafted beverage. Were it not for the people like Shelton and Carlton and many others, we in the west wouldn’t know such beers as de Proef, Cantillon, Urthel, and many many others.

So the next time you lift your glass and admire your next conquest, toast the distributor or importer who brought you that beer.

Prost!