Cellarmanship - Interview with Chad Yakobson of Crooked Stave and beer writer Patrick Dawson

We met up with Chad Yakobson, brewer and owner of Crooked Stave in Denver along with Patrick Dawson, author of the soon-to-be-released book Vintage Beer. The interview was conducted by our own Scott Simmons, with Daniel Flanders behind the camera for our Cellarmanship series. We talk about the thrills of aging beer, how people can make informed decisions on cellaring beer based off their personal taste, and how Brettanomyces affects a beers ability to age.

As Patrick points out, cellaring beer is all about allowing a beer to change into what it could be. He notes that it’s really important to understand the mechanisms that beer undergoes as it changes. So, in that spirit, this video is quite educational. It lasts about 47 minutes so be sure to come back and finish the video if you can't watch the whole thing now. Below we've included a general timeline of what we talk about, in case that's helpful.

And also, be sure to check out our other Cellarmanship videos with New Belgium and Avery Brewing. Chad has some different opinions than those brewers so it's very fun to see the differences throughout makers of wild beers in Colorado.
Timeline of talking points in this video:

• 00:00 - Introductions 
• 02:00 - Talking about the Wild Wild Brett series and exploring the possibilities of Brettanomycs
• 05:10 - "What's your take on cellaring beer?" Personal taste, subjectivity, and changing profiles.
• 13:55 - Aging hoppy beers with Brett, especially WWBG. What age has done to the wwb series
• 17:28 - Bottling with Brettanomyces and how Brett works with complex sugars and cellulose
• 22:20 - Petite Guava and aging as experiment and education
• 26:50 - Laying down corked beers for home aging
• 37:00 - Aging Fruit Beers, and tasting Persica
• 40:55 - Strains of Brettanomyces, blending, and acids in beer beer

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Crooked Stave Tap Takeover: April 26th

Crooked Stave Tap Takeover
At Brewer's Republic
Fri. April 26th / 5pm-close
Facebook Event

Brewer's Republic has teamed up with Focus on the Beer to bring you another lovely Tap Takeover. This one comes from our wild wild friends up in Denver, Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project. Crooked Stave specializes in beers with wild yeast strains and barrel aging. We'll have six beers on tap, two of them are from Crooked Stave's currently-most-popular line and the other four are specialty one-off beers that you won't want to miss! We will also have Kyle Krebsbach, the Crooked Stave representative to answer all your questions about wild yeast, Brettanomyces, barrel aging, the brewery's plans and more.

The Beers:

• Vieille Artisanal Saison - A 4.2% farmhouse saison with a touch of Brett and dry hopped with Citra
• Surette Provision Saison - A 6.2% provision saison with a tart and vinous character from extended barrel aging
• Apple Whiskey Barrel Vieille -  The Vieille Saison aged in Leopold Bros. Apple Whiskey Barrels, brining the ABV up to 5%
• Hop Savant - Pale Ale fermented with 100% Brett to showcase the hops flavor and aroma instead of the bitterness
• Saint Bretta - Witbier with 100% Brett yeast and Minneola Tangelos
• Origins Burgundy Sour - A blend of two beers aged in French Oak barrels from 1.5-2 years. An homage to the history of barrel aging.

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I visited Crooked Stave for their Grand Opening

Crooked Stave's L'Brett D'Or

Crooked Stave Artisin Beer Project made a great second impression today. My first impression of Crooked Stave was when I decided to join their cellar reserve society. I felt like joining was kind of a roll of the dice since not that many beers had come out when the reserve society was offered. I have been thankful I joined and so excited for every beer they've released I couldn't pass up the opportunity to try two new ones yesterday at their tap room grand opening.

Recap: Avery Sourfest 2012

Avery's barrel room

Armed with a pocketful of Tums, a camera, and two tickets, Lefty and I made a trek to Boulder on Saturday for the third annual SourFest. We arrived about 45 minutes before opening, and there was already a line of over 100 people. As we stood in line, a bearded brewer (redundant) walked up to me and introduced himself as Ron Gansberg, the brewmaster and blender from Cascade Brewing in Portland, OR. He was wondering if I brewed for Lost Abby since I wore a Lost Abby brewers shirt. What a way to start Sourfest! I unfortunately had to say no but did get to talk to Ron for awhile. This was his first time coming to SourFest, and he brought four beers with him. Since Cascade Brewing does not participate in GABF anymore, I was pretty excited to get the chance to sample some of these rare Oregon treats! 27 breweries brought beer for the event with 49 beers on tap and 10 bottled beers.

2012 Saison Fest Image Recap

Saison Fest 2012 has come and gone and we have to wait another 365 days till the next one. After living in Colorado Springs for a year and a half I have come to love Saisons and Farmhouse Ales, due in large part to Trinity Brewing and their persistence in exploring the possibilities of these beers. We've seen Saisons of all kinds, from clean, dry, and sharp to messy, playful, and complex. We've seen farmhouse ales with wild yeast, with vegetables grown in our own backyards, with saffron, with heather, without hops, with fruit, with almonds, with large amounts of tartness and many other variations. It makes perfect sense that Trinity's newest flagship beer is Saison Man, a clean and dry saison named after Jason Yester, and it also makes sense that Jason organizes the annual Saison and Farmhouse Ale Festival. This is a day where breweries all over Colorado do some experimentation and bring some very playful offerings. Many of the beers are created for this event, while others are special beers that we just can't really get this far south of Denver (yet). It's a lovely festival, I really can't emphasize it enough. This year I had just as much fun as last year and I'm looking forward to the next one, although I wish we could have it again in 30 days. I hope you enjoy our photos and our recap.

What in the World Do We Call These Wild Beers Anyway?

I've been thinking a lot about Wild Beers lately, appreciating them more and more, and also wanting to stay educated about them. I've heard brewers say they don't want people going around calling all wild beers 'sour beers' because, well, they aren't all sour. Take Trinity's TPS Report, Oakshire's Skookumchuck, or any of Crooked Stave's Wild Wild Brett series as an example, many of these could be described as delicate, rosy, lightly citrusy, and some of them have light acidity. These beers are neither Ales nor Lagers in the yeast-sense of those words, here's what Chad Yakobson says, "Brettanomyces is not ale or lager because those designations refer to a species of yeast, when you boil it down, Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ale yeast and Saccharomyces Carlsbergensis as lager yeast. Brettanomyces Bruxellensis and other species variants are a different type of yeast thereby not making ale or lager beer." So it's actually a bit strange to call one of these beers a 'Wild Ale' because it is not an ale if it's fermented with Brett...or is it an ale if it's fermented at ale temperatures? It get's confusing eh?

Chad forwarded me an email he recently sent around to some of his colleagues. He goes on,

...But what can we call it? Brettanomyces, that's the yeast.. So how to properly designate what it is like in Belgian Ale...Belgian Brettanomyces? That doesn't fit for me...But what is going to? Maybe nothing because we are so ingrained in ale and lager. Brett isn't even much of a top fermenter...and it is aged for a while (you should or else it keeps eating away in the bottle and the bottles gush unless carefully opened...(All of our beers sadly do this.. I'm working on it..) So my best comparison for Brett is actually to lagers. That is more reasonable. Flavor wise, no.. but it's not about flavor it's about fermentation characteristics and genetics.

The Crowd Goes Wild: A Recap of the Wild Game & Wild Beer Dinner

The Wild Beer & Wild Game dinner at Trinity the other night was a real work of art. There were six courses, each with an element of wild game, with the exception of the fondue and the dessert which used local ingredients. The beers, all 'wild' in that they used traditionally wild yeast strains (usually Brettanomyces), ranged enormously from the acetic and sour, to incredibly fruity, to hoppy, to delicate and rosey. Everything was paired beautifully by chefs Brian Blasnek and Chad Conway. I'm going to write about some of the pairings but I don't intend for this to be a review, just a mouth-watering recap. If you want a review...I give it two thumbs up and I would highly recommend the next dinner.

The first course really set the stage for the rest of the night. The Colorado cheddar fondue sat next to apples, pears, and a couple different types of local breads. It was absolutely delicious. But even more incredibly it paired perfectly with the acetic Old Growth. The beer is perhaps Trinity's most tart offering, with notes of green apple. The cheese in the dish was creamy and smooth and so nicely cut through the tart qualities of the beer, which was also complimented so nicely with the pear.

Reading List: Embrace The Funk

I just read a really nice interview with Chad of Crooked Stave on a blog titled Embrace the Funk. I just wanted to direct your attention there because it is perhaps the best and most concise interview I've seen so far about what he's doing, what he's got planned, and his worldview on Brettanomyces yeast. Additionally, the Embrace The Funk blog looks really great and I plan to follow it on a more regular basis. Hope you don't mind how often we post about Crooked Stave since they aren't from the Pikes Peak area, but we really enjoy their beer, we think they are doing some fascinating stuff, and they do bring their beer down here on occasion. Here's an older interview that we did with Chad last year too.

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Vail Big Beers 2012 Image Recap

I think I've talked enough about the Vail Big Beers Festival over the past month. I've been to quite a few beer festivals, I've written a few times about my opinions on good vs. bad beer festivals, and this one is hands-down my favorite. If you go next year, you should plan to go to the seminars earlier in the day, and if you can afford it, go to the ones the night before too. Because I've talked about the festival so much already I'm not going to say a whole lot in this post, I'm going to let the photos do most of the talking. Oh! And if you haven't seen it yet, here is our recap of the DJ Dogfish Head seminar, here's a recap from Denver Off The Wagon and another nice summary from the Beer Run Blog.

One reason to go to this festival: you can meet and talk to
all these pretty amazing brewers and brewery owners.

And if you needed another reason to attend the festival...

Yes, this happens there too... (from Crazy Mountain Brewing)

Wild Beer Dinner Coming Up at Trinity

If you can afford it, you should get your tickets to the Wild Beer and Wild Game Beer Dinner at Trinity Brewing before it sells out. With the exception of Avery's Beer and Breakfast dinner at GABF, this may be the most exciting beer dinner I've seen. This will be a six course setting paired with six beers from Trinity, Crooked Stave, AC Golden and the Super Saison League (Buddha Nuvo). These three breweries are perhaps the most innovative in the state as it goes with experimentation with wild yeasts (Avery could be in there too... And yes, AC Golden included, they make damn fine, experimental beer) and they contend with the most innovative breweries in the country.

So, the dinner is pricey for sure at $80 but I just wanted to give you the DL because it should fill quickly. Below you'll find the pairings as well as descriptions of the beer:

Wild Beer and Wild Game Dinner
February 12 / Seating at 8pm
$80 - RSVP Only - 719.634.0029
At Trinity Brewing, Colorado Springs

Getting Access to Specialty Crooked Stave Beers

Crooked Stave beers have become highly sought after since their initial releases just months ago. Currently they operate out of the Funkwerks brewery space in Ft. Collins, and Funkwerks has become incredibly popular as well...which means both breweries have been super busy and trying to use the same space. Chad Yakobson, brewer and founder of Crooked Stave is planning to set up their own brewery space in Denver and he's been looking for ways to help fund it. He's come up with what I believe is a pretty good looking plan at a reasonable cost point. For $300 you could become a Cellar Reserve Member and have access to special and exclusive beers from the cellar and other exclusive merchandise. Space will be limited to 400 members due to the small batch nature of these beers, membership opens on Saturday Dec 17th at 10am, so move quickly! Here's information from the Crooked Stave website on what you would receive as a member:

Below are the details for the 2012 Cellar Reserve Membership which will be available through membership.crookedstave.com starting at 10am MST on Saturday, December 17, 2011. We look forward to seeing you at future Cellar Reserve Member events!

Crooked Stave's Officially In Town

Thanks to everyone who came out to our first event last night. This was a big Colorado Springs roll-out-party for Crooked Stave. At Another Pint we had four Crooked Stave beers to offer customers - Wild Wild Brett Rouge, WWB Orange, Surette Wood Aged Farmhouse, and the Pure Guava Petite Sour. The beers were a big surprise to me as they really pushed the way that I thought about Brettanomyces yeast. The Wild Wild Brett series, for example, are fermented with 100% Brett but they weren't 'sour' beers at all. Instead they highlight the different fruity, barnyard, and ultimately delicate characteristics of the yeast as well as the yeast's ability to pull and push the spice and fruits that were in the beer. Chad, the brewer, is making a beer in this series for every color of the rainbow (yellow is next). These beers were exciting examples of why the Brewer's Association category 'American Style Sour Ale' needed to be expanded into 'American Style Brett Ale.' We hope to hear more from Chad in the near future, but you can look for his beers around town now.

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We've started organizing events...and we want to knock your socks off...

UPDATE - The date/time has been changed to Oct 22nd at 6pm.

We've started organizing events...and we want to knock your socks off...

Focus on the Beer is super proud to present to you Meet the Brewer Night with Chad Yakobson, the owner and brewer for one of Colorado's newest breweries, Crooked Stave. This is the first time that any of Crooked Stave's finished beers will be available in Colorado Springs, so come celebrate! We've mentioned Chad numerous times on this blog and have been really excited about his beer so it is only fitting that he be involved in our first Meet the Brewer event. All of Crooked Stave's beers are aged or soured, often using various strains of Brettanomyces. There will be a number of different specialty beers for purchase at Another Pint/A Second Cup, he'll give a little talk about his beers and the unique things he's doing at his brewery, and he'll be available to chat with you if you want to ask him any questions or make small talk. There is no cover charge, but the beer is available for purchasing.

This event will be the first of many that we organize. We're really excited to be an active part of the beer community here in Colorado Springs, and we have many more ideas/plans that are in the works. If you enjoy reading this blog, then you can support us by attending this event.

Meet the Brewer: Crooked Stave
Fri. Oct 22nd / 6pm
Another Pint (at A Second Cup) / 13860 Gleneagle Dr., Colorado Springs

Also, check out the Facebook Event Page for this.

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Ft. Collins Part 2: Interview with Crooked Stave

Chad Yakobson of Crooked Stave pouring aged beers from the barrel

Our recent journey to Ft. Collins was one hell of a good time. You've probably already read about our time at Odell. But what we haven't shared is that our favorite part of the trip was when we visited Crooked Stave. We've introduced you before to Chad Yakobson, the brains behind the brewery, and we've mentioned him numerous times on this blog because we really are very excited about what he's doing. We finally made a visit and got to see him at work. Read on to see pictures of what's happening in the brewery space and for a full interview with Chad.

Chad operates the brewery in the same building as Funkwerks Brewery. They share some of the brewing equipment, including a lauter tun that sits over the top of their hot liquor tank. Funkwerks has three of their own fifteen barrel fermenters, which are often full of fermenting beer so Chad has purchased a couple of his own. One is similar to the steel fermenters in the other room and the other is an oak foeder, a gigantic looking barrel that houses beer during it's primary fermentation. Here's some information about this beautiful piece of equipment:

The 25hl foeder was shipped from Napa [recently] where it was previously used for only 3 years to ferment and age white wine. Commissioned in 2007 and custom produced by Tonnellerie Radoux, it is made completely of French oak and has stainless steel coils on the inside for temperature controlled cooling allowing for precision fermentations to take place inside the walls of her gorgeous oak staves.

The foeder was approximately half full of beer, we weren't able to see inside it though. It's

Buddha Nuvo is Bottled and Almost Ready

Last week the collaborative and long-awaited Buddha Nuvo beer was bottled. You might remember this beer from our earlier image recap of the brew day. Check out that earlier post to see more info about how the beer was made and who contributed what in making it. The beer was originally brewed on Feburary 11th, and after initial fermentation it was stored in Oak Barrels. Numerous breweries all over Colorado have had a hand in the making of this beer, whether it was help conceptualizing it, providing equipment, ingredients, or simply lending a helping hand during production. The beer is a fundraiser for the Colorado Brewer's Guild. More information on that, where to find the beer, and a lot more pictures are below. I had a video but it's having problems. I'll post it later if I can get it to work (sorry Kjell!)

Here's the final product, dipped in wax and signed by
Jim Stinson of Rockyard and Jason Yester of Trinity

The beer is a 12% Saison, conceived initially by Jason at Trinity and added to and changed by many other brewers. Rockyard Brewing in Castle Rock provided the brewing space, fermentation space, checked in on the beer, and is handling the distribution. The malt bill of the beer consists of a complex blend Weyerman Pilsen, Vienna, Rye, and spelt for a golden color yet vinous body. Pumpkin was added in the boil for the smooth textures dancing over the palate. Several varieties of whole peppercorns were added to the boil to further reinforce the expected spiciness of this Saison. 5 distinct yeasts creating a spicy and fruity ester profile. 3 of the yeasts were provided by Troy at AC Golden. Post fermentation the batch aged on American Oak Chardonnay barrels, 6 varieties of Bretta, and the rare fruit known as Buddha's Hand. Buddha's hand was also in the boil.

A look from the top on bottling day

We had sampled the un-aged version of the beer at the Saison Fest earlier this year and it seemed quite promising. The oak barrels were provided by Chad Yakobson of Crooked Stave. Earlier in the week he and Jim Stinson mixed the beer from the barrels and prepped it for the bottles. The bottles were pre-labeled by some very appreciated folks at Rockyard.

Collaborative Buddha Nuvo Image Recap

Last Friday a gathering of Colorado brewers took place. The project they were/are working on is a collaborative beer called Buddha Nuvo, named after the Buddha's Hand citrus fruit that has been added to the beer. There are more breweries involved in the project that I can beautifully list here, but I've got a bunch of pictures from the brew date below. Here's a bit of information about the beer:

Our malt bill consists of a complex blend Weyerman Pilsen, Vienna, Rye, and spelt for a golden color yet vinous body. Pumpkin was added in the boil for the smooth textures dancing over the palate. Several varieties of whole peppercorns were added to the boil to further reinforce the expected spiciness of this Saison. In fermentation, we mixed 5 distinct yeasts creating a spicy and fruity ester profile. Post fermentation the batch will age on American Oak Chardonnay barrels, 6 varieties of Bretta, and the rare fruit known as Buddha's Hand. Expected ABV is 12%. (Buddha's Hand was also added to the boil).

If you want more information on this beer, there is hours worth of information online about it at this point. Jason Yester took a lot of video from the event, so check his video-blog page to see the activities. Additionally, Rockyard Brewing set up a blog page devoted to this collaborative beer, which includes a wonderful entry of the email exchange happening between the brewers. Check it out!

This is what a Buddha's Hand looks like. Pretty friendly looking fruit, eh?

Jason Yester of Trinity Brewing mashing in the grains. *

Jason Yester, Jason Leeman of Rock Bottom COS, and Tim Myers of Strange Brewing checking mash temperatures.

Jim Stinson of Rockyard Brewing checking to see if the mashing procedure had finished extracting sugars from the malt. They were shooting for 16-18 degrees Plato.