Scott Panfil brings you WNY Brews from beautiful Buffalo in Western New York. Whether you think its a Noun or a Verb, the word “brew” has numerous meanings and all of them are well-worth talking about.
This is a LONG one.
I think of it like a mullet. I tried to edit it to be a tight discussion at the front and let it flow a little more loose in the back. Thanks to What The Hops and Buffalo Beer Reviews for hanging out at Big Ditch for the shuffleboard tournament to kick off Beer Week.
Buffalo Beer Week is in it's 10th year and we're right in the middle of it right now. Check out BuffaloBeerWeek.com for all the events heading into this weekend!
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Publish Date: 9/19/2019
Bryan Rabe is a homebrewer with over 1300 brews under his belt. He's been trying to emulate brewing styles in Western Europe for many of those brew; which means that he's trying to remove as much oxygen as he can from his process.
In this episode we go through the why, when, and how of brewing with low dissolved oxygen levels.
You can find Bryan at LowOxygenBrewing.com
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Publish Date: 7/30/2019
The Buffalo Beer League offered an invitation to taste Resurgence Brewing imperial Sponge Candy Stouts led by Jeff Ware himself. I would be a fool to turn them down.
I'm glad I joined them as we tried Imperial Sponge Candy Stouts from 2014 through 2018 INCLUDING barrel-aged version of each.
It was a wonderful evening drinking some phenomenal beer. Short version is, if you can get a 2015 Imperial, do it! The 2018 barrel-aged version is pretty awesome too.
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Publish Date: 12/10/2018
Mead is a fermented beverage made from honey and Tricia and Joe Marshall have been working on it for over 10 years. The three that I tried while I was there were phenomenal and one of them was a non-alcoholic soda. It's a family-friendly place with live music right in the Heart of the Village of Lancaster. Find them at LillyBelleMeads.com
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Publish Date: 11/7/2018
What do you know about CO2? We use it to force carb our beer or to serve through a kegging system, but is all CO2 the same? Can you fill it at a welding shop or does it have to be "beverage grade"? Is there even such thing as "Beverage Grade"?
Pamela Irish Bronkie and her family have been providing Buffalo with CO2 for generations and on this episodes she provides answers to all those questions. Let's demystify our favorite bubble-producing gas together.
See Irish Companies at their website: IrishCompanies.com
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Publish Date: 10/23/2018
Check out all of the Buffalo Beer Week Events at www.BuffaloBeerWeek.com
"Celebrating the Evolving History and Continuous Education of our Beloved BeverageBuffalo Beer Week® promotes Buffalo’s growing craft beer culture by sponsoring a ten-day festival in Erie and Niagara counties and Western NY that attracts beer tourism, fosters knowledge of our regional brewing heritage, and serves as a showcase for Buffalo’s breweries, restaurants, pubs, and other businesses with ties to the craft beer community."
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Publish Date: 9/16/2018
On this episode, I chat with Karl Kolbe about Pressure Drop Brewing. Karl is the head brewer/CEO and is cranking out some killer West Coast IPAs. The day I was there he was finishing off a batch of Sticky Trees. If you haven't had it yet, you should seek it out.
It was a really laid-back and nice conversation, proving how awesome the local brewers are.
Check them out at http://www.barrelfactory.com/pressure-drop-brewing.html
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Publish Date: 5/19/2018
is a new proposed brewery coming to the North-East suburbs of Buffalo. On this episode, I pulled Sara and Patrick Alexanderson aside up at Santoras Pizza Pub and Grill on Transit Rd to talk about the brewery. They were there along with their partners Bill and Stephanie Beecher to showcase 6 of the beers that they plan to have on tap when they eventually open in the near future.
The event was attended by investors and local beer-lovers and was a great evening of food, beer, and really great conversations.
Follow One Eyed Cat Brewing on Twitter @One_EyedCat
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Publish Date: 5/8/2018
are two of my favorite events of the year. The local breweries seem to save their special beers and on-offs for these two events in the beginning of the new year.
Beerology is a fundraiser for the Buffalo Museum of Science featuring local and regional craft beer after normal museum hours. My wife, kids, and I love the museum, we're there multiple times a month and even more in the summer, so the first time I went to Beerology it was somewhat surreal to see grown adults, in various levels of inebriation, enjoying the exhibits. It's the kind of event that bring beer-snobs, casual craft-beer lovers, and the Labatt drinkers out in equal force. The local brewers generally bring a seasonal or one-off beer, and the local homebrew clubs set up experiments to test out brewing myths or to explore ingredients in a deeper way.
This year, I'm bringing interviews with the local clubs to describe their experiments.
The second half of the episode is from New York Beer Project for the BNBA Brewers Invitational. This is another of my favorite events where the brewers seem to bring their best and newest creations. On this episode we have a Pączki beer, a Manhattan beer, some killer NEIPAs and some local favorites that have been on hiatus.
If you've never been to this event, check out the BNBA Events page for details next year, it's worth it.
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Publish Date: 4/24/2018
There are many things that one must consider while setting up an electric brewing system at home. Brian Huntley runs one of the best resources for electric brewing information on YouTube. Short Circuited Brewers (Youtube.com/shortcircuitedbrewers) is a channel that helps you pick a system, build a system, troubleshoot a system, etc.
On this episode, we get into a birds-eye view of the pros of going electric.
You can follow and subscribe to them at:
YouTube.com/ShortCircuitedBrewers
Intagram.com/shortcircuitedbrewer
or at their website
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Publish Date: 4/11/2018
Let's go inside Buffalo on Tap to talk to local brewers about their latest beers. Held at The Buffalo Niagara Convention Center, Buffalo On Tap is a huge event and is not to be missed by Buffalonian craft-beer drinkers.
In this episode, I talk to Hamburg, CBW, Southern Tier, 4 Mile, Big Ditch, Woodcock, New York Beer Project, Pressure Drop, Flying Bison and more. As an added bonus, I let Brendon Van Allen from CBW loose with my audio recorder! Let's see what he got out of the brewers!
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Publish Date: 2/7/2018
The Final Selection Event for Jonah Epstein's My City Brew was this past week at World of Beer. On this episode, I speak to Jonah, Dave Schiralli, the recipe designer, and a bunch of others including (in order)
Scott McMillan from The Buffalo Beer League,
Paul Marko from the Buffalo Beer Geeks
Ethan Cox from Community Beer Works
Dan Syracuse from Pizza Plant
Dave Rivers from Keg Works
Jonah Epstein from My City Brew
Dave Schiralli from 12 Gates Brewing
and Jonah Epstein again from My City Brew
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Publish Date: 1/31/2018
John Domres is running the greatest one-man show in Buffalo at Buffalo Brewing Company. Open since 2016 and kickstarted with a handful of backers, Buffalo Brewing Company has just completed a renovation to bring their 2-barrel operation to a 5-barrel brewhouse. Nestled in a former horse foundry about the size of a garage on Myrtle Ave, the small brewery has big plans for 2018.
Check them out at Buffalo-Brewing-Company.com
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Publish Date: 1/19/2018
What have I been doing?
Besides the holidays and the general business that 2 kids cause, I've been working on Voice Over work, side-gigs, recorded an audiobook, AND have put time into the podcast, just not in a forward-facing way:
-I've been updating the site to be more secure
-Working on a searchable water database (send any local water reports you have to Scott@WNYBrews.com)
-Recording audio of some BJCP materials for personal study guides.
-Brewing a bunch.
-Working on a Grainfather review.
After summer, I would love to get back to doing an episode a week, but it's hard to do with 2 kids and all the side-gigs I take on.
Same with the episodes, except the videos take a little more time.
This is the big announcement. There are many home brewing blogs on the internet and some of them are great...some, are not. We have the collective knowledge in Buffalo to make a truly great one, but I need people to write or simply contribute
-Recipe's
-Reviews
-Moderation
-Events
-Videos
-Articles
I want to keep it simple, so if you write an article, recipe, etc. for WNY Brews, you can monetize it however you'd like. If you want to run ads on it, all of that revenue goes to you. If you write an article that brings in hundreds of thousands of views, you make any advertising revenue from that page. I keep nothing. It's not about building a media empire, it's about building a resource and making it worth it for all involved.
You can support the podcast in many ways and almost all of them are free:
On whtever podastcher you use. If you're not sure how, go to WNYBrews.com/Rate
Stay up to date on new videos. Also, by subscribing, it's like you're raising your hand and saying you watch the content. People and Google see that and it helps to get out in front of more people.
I'm much more active on Twitter, but I plan on ramping up the Facebook feed this year to feature more quick videos.
You can directly help the podcast through a monetary donation at Patreon.com/WNYBrews.
Send an email and let me know what you think. I'm always open to suggestions and willing to try practically anything if people like it.
We are a member of The Hopped Up Network. A growing podcast network of independent beer podcasts based across the country. Check out all of the latest episodes from each podcast at HoppedUpNetwork.com
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Publish Date: 1/3/2018
and you can't have clean beer without clean lines. Don't spend your money on good beer if it's being pulled through terrible lines.
In this episode, I talk to Andy Dvornski of The Clean Beer Initiative about his business and his process. The Clean Beer Initiative handles dozens of establishments' draft systems around Western New York making sure the lines are cleaned on a regular basis. It makes finding a good place for craft beer much easier.
If you follow @CleanBeerWNY on Twitter, you can even see what lines were changed and when at all of their accounts.
We also talk about a second beer-business Andy has taken on: 716 Tapped.
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We are a proud member of The Hopped Up Network
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Publish Date: 10/31/2017
A dreaded Just-Me episode. I had some housecleaning things to talk about and didn't want to stack the front part of the next episode with them. Since I had some extra time I decided to get into a story that illustrates my current political feelings regarding independent breweries. I may delve into this deeper if I can ever find a mutual moment with the planned guest.
About a month back I ran a contest to coincide with @BuffaloEats Buffalo Brewery Battle on Twitter. After all was said and done, Big Ditch came out victorious, but what I asked for were predictions.
I received a handful of filled-in brackets and scored them using a 1-2-3-4 system (4 points for predicting the final, 3 for the final two, 2 for the final four, and 1 for the elite eight).
We had two winners tie with 17 points so each will be receiving a consumers gift card so I may "buy them a growler fill".
I started a Patreon page a while back. Patreon is a way for listeners to pledge money for content in a style similar to NPR. It's a monthly pledge and this month, we got our first Patron in Andy Dvornski of The Clean Beer Initiative. Look for en episode with him soon.
I generally don't like to get political, but take a listen. InBev sucks and I lay out a rant about why.
Publish Date: 10/11/2017
I sit down with Brian and Scott from The Buffalo Beer League @BuffBeerLeague to discuss all of the featured events during this year's Buffalo Beer Week. You can find all the info at BuffaloBeerWeek.com
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Publish Date: 9/22/2017
@BuffaloEats is running a Twitter tournament to determine the best brewery in Buffalo and I want to make it a contest! Fill out a bracket at WNYBrews.com/bracket and email it to me at Scott@WNYBrews.com or send it to me via Twitter @WNYBrews. The person who fills in the most accurate bracket will win a $15 gift card to Consumers Beverages from me.
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Publish Date: 9/8/2017
Publish Date: 7/14/2017
Drew Hardin comes back to talk about making a New England IPA. It seems like everyone is jumping on board the bandwagon. They're often described as "juicy', "hazy", or "creamy" and they're everywhere at the moment.
Drew has brewed a few for himself and for CBW and walks us through each ingredient based on his experiences. I've already started following his advice, and can't wait to see how it will turn out.
You can generally find Drew at Community Beer Works
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Publish Date: 6/1/2017
Welcome to a retrospective episode of Western New York Brews! I’ve hesitated releasing anything for 42 because of how significant the number is. Episode 42 is easily the most important number I’ve recorded so far, and probably the most significant until episode 100. It is after all, the ultimate answer to life, the universe, and everything.
It’s been 41 episodes so far (in more time than it should have taken) and I finally figured out what I should do. Using the theme of life, the universe, and everything, I thought I would talk about what we’ve done and what I’ve been planning in regards to WNY Brews.
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Publish Date: 5/9/2017
Bill Serowski, a certified BJCP judge and a member of Das Hausbrauers Von Buffalo talks through some tips and tricks to get your first medal at a BJCP competition.
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Publish Date: 4/16/2017
I'm joined by Jason Johnson and Dean Wiensch from The Brewnology Podcast (www.Brewnology.com) to talk about switching over from drinking beer to evaluating beer. We also discuss the process of becoming a BJCP certified judge and about their podcast. It's a must listen if you ant to become a judge. I started at the beginning and binged!
Also joining me is Bill Serowski from Das Hausbrauers Von Buffalo (www.TheHomebrewers.com) to talk about his BJCP exam.
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Publish Date: 3/19/2017
In this episode, I speak to Eric Stellrecht, and Mar and Andy Urban about stewarding at the annual Amber Waves of Grain Competition. This year it's held on March 24th and 25th.
Being a steward is a great way to get in the game without the stress of passing BJCP exams or writing all day. Plus you get to hang out with nice people who make good beer. Those a good friends to have!
Please go to AWOG.niagarabrewers.org
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Publish Date: 3/11/2017
We're back and kicking off 2017 with an episode featuring Jonah Epstein from MyCityBrew.com
He's spent a year polling Buffalo to come up with a representative Buffalo Beer! After over 8000 votes, they've finally settled on a style and are looking for help with the name. You can vote at
MYCityBrew.com/vote
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Publish Date: 2/18/2017
Publish Date: 1/21/2017
Drew Hardin fills up his apartment, bookshelf, fridges, and free-time with beer. He's a brewer at Community Beer Works, helping with My City Brew, consulting with Sato Brewpub, and will throw an ax from time to time at Hatchet's and Hops. On this episode, he walks me through a simple kettle sour for my first Berliner Weisse. It's full of good suggestions.
Want to sour a beer? Listen to this first!
Publish Date: 1/7/2017
Christopher and Jessica Budde opened Brewed and Bottled at 402 Center Street in Lewiston, NY back in August and have had a warm welcome from the community. With a great attitude and a great selection, it's easy to see why.
I talked to both of them seperatley and put the two interviews together (they took turns so they could run the store, they're doing it all themselves).
I was amazed at how similar their answers were!
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Publish Date: 12/11/2016
So Aaron and I didn't discuss how we would each name this episode, and I chose to go with a "showdown" type of title. In reality, it was a great evening of sampling beers from each others' regions.
Aaron is the host of The Cascadian Beer Podcast, found at Cascadian.beer, it's a regional beer podcast from the Cascadia Region of The US and Canada. It's produced very well and is filled with interesting stories from the brewers in his region.
I met Aaron online in a podcasting group on Facebook and we devised a plan to drink each other's beer and talk about them over Skype.
For a full list of beers and more information, check out the show notes at WNYBrews.com/episode34
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Publish Date: 12/3/2016
The Buffalo Brewpub is the oldest brewpub in New York State and you don't get to claim that unless you have something special going on. In this episode I sat down with Chris Townsell, who's family has run the Buffalo Brewpub from the beginning.
Go to BuffaloBrewpub.com and check out their menu and hours and then go a get some great food and drink. (None of this is a paid-endorsement. I just like it there).
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Publish Date: 11/26/2016
Homebrewers are fickle. You would think that AB-In Bev's recent acquisition of Northern Brewer and Midwest Supplies would mean massive drops in sales and an exodus of loyal customers, but time will tell. In this episode, I talk with Ethan Cox of CBW about the recent acquisition and about business in general.
You can find the full video on youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rl6IhvNIZpY
Here is the link to the full show notes:
Http://www.WNYBrews.com/episode32
Here is the link to Homebrewsupply.com's Belgian Lager
https://www.homebrewsupply.com/budweiser-clone-extract-recipe-kit.html
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Publish Date: 11/21/2016
Brian and Scott from the Buffalo Beer League join me to talk Buffalo Beer Week events.
You can find the full show notes at WNYBrews.com/episode31
Quick Links:
BuffaloBeerLeague.com (Facebook Page)
http://www.BuffaloBeerWeek.com
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Publish Date: 9/23/2016
I want to start profiling all of the Western New York breweries in more of a formal fashion and just happened to be out at NYBP! I was there for their first annual homebrew competition and asked if head-brewer Jason Crossett and co-owner Kelly Krupski would sit down and discuss the current state and future direction of New York Beer Project.
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Publish Date: 9/15/2016
Josh Dziomba is spending 60 plus hours a week on top of a full time job trying to start Clarence's first nano-brewery. West Shore Brewing get's it's name from the rail line his grandfather worked on when his family moved to the area.
Despite the financial strain, the legal hurdles, and the lack of free time, Josh's excitement for the project is palpable in the interview.
Help Josh out at his kickstater page!
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Publish Date: 9/7/2016
Ted Hawley of New York Craft Malt and Bob Johnson of Niagara Malt join me to talk about one of the four major components of beer: Malt.
We discuss the history of malting in Buffalo, their processes, and even the science behind brewers malt.
You can find them at http://www.NiagaraMalt.com
and http://www.NewYorkCraftMalt.com
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Publish Date: 8/31/2016
Rudy "Rudybob" Watkins, formerlly of CBW, is now the head brewer at one of Buffalo's newest breweries: Thin Man.
We talk about his expectations for Thin Man as well as his previous brewing experiences.
Check them out at ThinManBrewing.com
As always find us on Facebook, Twitter, and WNYBrews.com!
Publish Date: 8/18/2016
Four Mile Brewing: On the Bank of the Allegheny, is a beautiful building with great food and beer. Craig and Greg join me to discuss their history, process, reception, and future plans for the brewery. Next time you're out in Olean, you can't miss stopping by...or better yet, plan a trip just to sample so of their beers for yourself!
Publish Date: 8/5/2016
Christopher universal is a manager over at Kegworks and joins me to talk about cleaning draft lines, setting up a kegerator for the first time, and common problems people run in to.
For all the links, head over to WNYBrews.com/Episode25
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Publish Date: 7/27/2016
Publish Date: 7/20/2016
Ethan Cox is the owner and co-founder of Community Beer Works and author of the book Buffalo Beer: The History of Brewing in the Nickel City.
You can buy it at local book stores like Talking Leaves or at CBW.
Is Buffalo producing more beer now than ever? Just how significant is the current renaissance in the Buffalo beer scene? Listen to a quick overview and go read the book. Ethan is a wealth of information and a great time to talk to. Visit him at Community Beer Works and get your copy signed.
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This episode is brought to you by FastBrewing.com
Publish Date: 6/15/2016
What kind of beer should we be making base on our local water chemistry? Do we have similarities with waters from Burton on Trent? Pilsen? Dublin?
John Palmer, the author of some of brewing's most revered books, joins us to talk about the water we have here in Buffalo. We break down the numbers and discuss why they're important. We discuss why certain beers made with our water end up beautiful and complex and others seem one-dimensional.
Clay and Scott talk to John via Skype while on location at 42 North Brewing in East Aurora with our water reports on hand.
John explains why we should care about water, how to test it, how we should interpret it, and what we can do to make our beers better.
Check out John Palmer's website HowToBrew.com
and his podcast on the Brewing Network: Brew Strong with John Palmer and Jamil Zainasheff
Today's podcast is brought to you by FastBrewing.com. Makers of the FastRack (Love it), FastFerment (Want it), and FastLabel (Gonna buy it)
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Publish Date: 5/26/2016
The Farm to Pint event is hosted by Hamburg Brewing Company and the Buffalo Niagara Brewers Association each year to show the many sides of local beer.
Beer is famously made from 4 ingredients in it's "purest" form (I'm looking at you Bavaria): Water, Malted Barley, Hops, and Yeast. The Farm to Pint event is a way to showcase beers made with local malts, local hops, and in one case, local yeast.
For a list of the beers at the 2016 event, and a video from inside the amazing train room at Hamburg Brewing Company, check out WNYBrews.com/episode21
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Publish Date: 5/21/2016
Saturday, May 7th is THe Ameican Homebrew Association's National Homebrew Day. Are you brewing? Are you participating in a Big Brew event? Are you toasting at 12 CDT?
Are you a member of the AHA?
In this special quick episode, I literally join the AHA "on air". I'm now an official member in good standing. I can't believe I haven't done it before now, but I feel better.
Some of the homebrewing laws date back to prohibition. The AHA works to get homebrewing available to everyone.
Also, I talk about DrinkThisBuffalo.com
It's a new feature of the podcast. Call or email in your favorite beers and we'll mention them on the podcast!
http://www.americanhomebrewersassociation.org
Publish Date: 5/7/2016
The "Golden Dragon" that people often chase is a higher brew
house efficiency. I understand that I may have made up a nonsense
phrase just now, but the point is the same: higher efficiency is
the goal right?
First, Clay and I talk quickly about how he checks his efficiency
at 42 North, then I talk to Bert Dyster of Niagara Traditions about home
brewing efficiency. To get the full show notes, go to WNYBrews.com/episode19
As always, please check out: WNYBrews.com
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Publish Date: 4/27/2016
This was fun!
The Buffalo Niagara Brewers Association presented the first annual Brewers Invitational at Pettibones Grill in Coca-Cola Field on Saturday, April 2nd. They had over two dozen breweries showing off some experimental flavors!
It seemed to be the "year of the sour" with something like 8 or 9 examples.
Trust me when I say you should listen to the end. The Buffalo Beer League stopped by the WNY Brews table and talked to any brewer who walked by.
Check out the Buffalo Bear League and The BNBA at their webpage:
http://www.buffaloniagarabrewersassociation.org
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Publish Date: 4/9/2016
Happy Dyngus Day!
Since this is a regional podcast, I asume you're all aware of Dyngus Day. It's the day after Easter, and Dyngus Day is a Polish tradition culminating in a post-lenton festival and parade.
That's at least what it looks like in Buffalo: The Official Dyngus Day Capital of the World. To go back and figure out the history of any holiday, religious or otherwise, gets complicated and difficult. What concerns me more is the celebration of Polish culture. Being Polish and Irish guarantees some spring-time activities and in Buffalo that translates to beer. I've tried to stray away from the Killians, Guiness, and colored German or Canadian lagers in favor of local examples of similar beers.
Aviator Red is my go-to beer while at Schwabls and Hamburg's Irish Red was a nice change, which hit me more bitter than other examples.
In this episode, Clay and I try a Pivo Grodziske from Jopen in Haarlem, Netherlands. It's an historic style from Grodzisk, Poland featuring a 100% smoked-wheat grain bill. The people of Grodzisk, and the former workers of the brewery there, hold a competition each year to see which homebrewer can make the best representation of what this beer used to be.
A Pivo Grodziske in modern times is also known as a Gratzer, taking it's name from the same town but while under Prussian or German rule, although this bottle claims to be based on an older recipe and differs from a Grazer in it's yeast strain.
Sometimes called “Polish Champagne” because of it's carbonation, I found this to be a balanced and understated beer. Samual Adams put out a Gratzer last year as part of their Long Shot 6-pack that packed a significant increase in smoked flavor which overpowered the beer. This example of a Grodziske, in contrast to the Sam Adams offering, is easily drinkable and at 4% would be a great addition to a summer cookout.
Making a Gratzer/Grodziske
One of the members of Das Hausbrauers, Bill Serowski, has been making Gratzers regularly for the past year or so. His beer was featured on episode 59 of Dr. Homebrew, where the panel members admitted a lack of experience with the style. Who can blame them when someone sends them a beer based on a style that is regional to a small Polish town and, of which, the last commercial example has been out of production since 1993?
Bill, a really knowledgeable brewer and BJCP judge, has been working on his recipe and techniques to make a Gratzer he can be proud of.
After you listen, please rate and review us on iTunes and get a hold of us at Scott@WNYBrews.com Clay@WNYBrews.com or on twitter @WNYBrews
Publish Date: 4/2/2016
Do you want to become a certified BJCP judge? What about a steward? Do you want to enter a beer into one of the nations largest regional homebrew competitions? Well we have Alex Placito of The Niagara Association of Homebrewers on to talk about the Amber Waves of Grain competition in April.
It's about time to get your entries in, and I wanted to get the full breakdown of becoming a judge (btw, there's a lot of free homebrew in it if you do).
Alex takes us through the judging process, the AWOG particulars, the stewarding process, and the step by step to becoming a judge.
If you want in with the BJCP, check them out at BJCP.org
for info on Amber Waves of Grain, check out AWOG.niagarabrewers.org
As always, go to WNYBrews.com/episode16 for more information.
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