Oktoberfest 2010

Oktoberfest brewing for this year is complete! I want to take a moment and share some numbers with all of you.

-This year Left Hand brewed 900bbls of Oktoberfest, that’s 15 brews into 5 tanks

-Wort production alone took 120 hrs man hours

-The brewers lifted and milled 26,625 kg (58,698 lbs) of malt, that’s 1,065 25 kg bags!

-118.74 kg (261.7 lbs) of hops were used

-89 bbls of water in the brewhouse per batch, that’s 41,385 gallons total

At last year’s Oktoberfest celebration in Munich, a record 6.5 million liters of beer was consumed over a 15 day period. Based on the hours of service in the beer tents, the 900 bbls (105,612 liters) Left Hand brewed would have been consumed in 3 hrs 12 mins.

The season is approaching!

Prost!

Ro Guenzel

Head Brewer

Left Hand Brewing Company

Tasting Room Happenings - June 2010

Tasting Room Hours

Sunday: 2pm to 8pm

Monday to Thursday: 3pm to 8pm

Friday and Saturday: Noon to 9pm

Spring Concert Schedule

We’ve got live, local music here at the Left hand Tasting Room and you can count on it every Saturday and Sunday. The show gets started on Sundays at 4:30 and 5pm every other day. Grab a pint and join us in the Malt Room.

Saturday, June 5th: Denny and Friends (Rock)

Sunday, June 6th: Scott Von (Folk)

Saturday, June 12th: Andy Eppler (Rock)

Sunday, June 13th: Kort McCumber (Folk)

Saturday, June 19th: Bonnie and Taylor Sims

Sunday, June 20th: Trio Blue (Jazz)

Saturday, June 26th: The Culhanes (Alt-Country)

Sunday, June 27th: The Adam Bodine Trio (Jazz)

Beer Specials for June

Black Jack Porter pints just $3.25 all month

Imbiber of the Month

Every month we reach out and honor the guests that went above and beyond the call of duty during the previous month. This month I am pleased to bring attention to a returning recipient of our prized Imbiber of the Month title. Scott is not just our Imbiber of the Month, but he is part of a small group of folks that really call Left Hand home and we love them for it. He has a great group of friends and it is a genuine pleasure to serve him day in and day out. So, if you will. Raise your glass with me and cheers Mr. Scott Seymour. Prost!

Father’s Day Party

Last month we had a blast with chocolate pairings for Mother’s Day, and we sold out within a few hours. So, we thought we’d keep the party rolling for the Dads. We’re thanking the Dads this month by putting on tap our incredibly popular; never to be brewed again, Fade to Black Export Stout, just in time for Father’s Day on Sunday, June 20th. Just a heads up, when we put on the Fade to Black last month, it lasted about 3 hours.

Bike to Work Day

Left Hand is all about biking and being green and we dig it when our guests do their part. On Wednesday, June 23rd, we’re giving you a killer deal on your favorite beers, just for showing your bike helmet. Show us your bike shoes, helmet, or anything that proves you just biked to the brewery, and we’ll give you $2.50 pints for our Sawtooth, Jackman’s, Polestar, Haystack, and Blackjack.

Indian Peaks Alers

If you’re reading this newsletter, you’re probably a beer geek. You like beer a little more than your average Joe, and you may have even considered making your own. Well, we have a great club that has been meeting once a month at Left Hand for years now. The Indian Peaks Alers is Longmont’s Homebrew Club comprised of newbie homebrewers and nationally recognized, award winning homebrewers that talk, taste, judge, and teach beer the 2nd Wednesday of the month in our Tasting Room. Their next meeting is on June 9th at 6pm. For information send an email to ipa.pres@gmail.com.

Dog Wash

Every summer we do a series of Dog Wash events that benefit the Longmont Humane Society. There’s brats and beer, soap and hoses, nail trims and micro-chipping. The proceeds go to a great cause and you get a clean pooch. Join us on Sunday, June 13th from 11am to 3pm for our next event.

Ales4FemAles

Left Hand Brewing has been hosting a beautiful event every month for years now. Every month Cinzia Wallace and Sue Smith-Troy bring in over 100 ladies in a club focused on beer education for women, by women. Every meeting the ladies learn about beer, drink beer, pair beer with food, and spend time with other like-minded ladies. This month, the ladies will meet on Monday, June 7th and Monday, June 21st. The events are always booked with a waitlist, so reach out to ales4females@gmail.com to get more info and to get on the list.

Rocky Mountain Rollergirls

We’ve been hosting a party bus down to the Rocky Mountain Rollergirls for several months now, and every bus has sold out weeks in advance. They’re a freakin blast! Beer, roller derby, and a safe bus ride down and back, it is awesome! Join us on June 5th for the next bout. $27 guarantees you a night of fun, laughs, and great beer. Get your tix at www.rockymountainrollergirls.com

Brewer's Corner - March 2010

We’re almost there. After successful wort boiling, the assimilation of various aspects of hop character and hot break removal we are ready for the final steps before primary fermentation. The wort in the whirlpool is still very hot. It is much too hot to pump to the fermenter for fear of killing our all important yeast. In order to protect our precious wort from contamination it is vital for a rapid chilling en route to the fermenter to secure vigorous yeast fermentation as quickly as possible. This is critical to the microbial stability of the beer. Enter the heat exchanger.

In line between the whirlpool and the fermentation vessel we have a heat exchanger in place. It works much like the radiator in your car but instead of using air as a cooling media we use chilled water. The heat exchanger consists of a series of heat exchange plates. These plates separate the wort path from the chilled water path. Hot wort enters on one side of the plate as the chilled water courses through the other. An exchange of heat occurs between the hot wort and the 5 degree Celsius water. Hot water is evacuated from the chiller and collected to the hot liquor tank for later use. What was once hot wort has now been chilled to the desired fermentation temperature.

Besides the necessary cooling to ensure we do not poach our yeast another miracle of brewing occurs at this time. The rapid chilling of the wort also precipitates what’s called cold break. This is basically the continuation of what we began in the wort boil as hot break. The cooler temperatures enhance the further precipitation of protein and protein- polyphenols. Lack of cold break can enhance ester production by the yeast as well as the formation of fusel alcohols. The presence of fusel alcohols are always a defect and are characterized by a solvent- like heat or alcohol taste in the finished beer. This is not to be confused with the alcohol taste from a strong beer. The key phrase “solvent- like” is critical to understanding and tasting this. A strong ester profile may or may not be a defect depending upon the style of beer being brewed. As the beer enters the fermenter the cold break settles and can be removed after primary fermentation. Some amount of cold break in the wort is considered important to enhance cell growth due to the presence of sterols, a vital element in the production of cell walls.

One last element to wort chilling is the injection of oxygen into the wort stream. Oxygen is important at only this step and its dissolution should be avoided at all other points in the brewing process. The yeast as it moves through its fermentation stages begins with aerobic fermentation. At this point the yeast metabolizes the O2. Oxygenation levels going to the fermenter may influence cell growth by providing fatty acids for sterol production which is as mentioned, important for cell wall growth. Ester and phenol formation are also greatly influenced by oxygenation levels.

There you have it dear readers, the final steps up to when the little fungi take over and render our wort to that most delicious of beverages. Beer… guaranteed to conquer any thirst and assure that for a brief moment, we are all bullet- proof.

Joe Schiraldi

VP Brewing Operations

Brewer's Corner - February 2010

I have spent the last few Brewer’s Corners addressing technical topics regarding the beer making process. I certainly see no reason to stop now. I have not heard a complaint from anyone lamenting the relentless assault of technical mumbo jumbo. So here we are again. I have written about malting, mashing and lautering. This segues nicely to the next subject, the wort boil. Wort boiling occurs in the wort kettle.

The first job of the wort kettle is to prevent the sweet nectar that was the result of mashing from spilling all over the brewhouse floor. After all, we need somewhere to put the run- off and a proper wort kettle is excellent at preventing this. Wort kettles are equipped with some kind of heat source. They vary in design from direct fired to steam jacketed as a means of applying heat energy to the wort. In some brewhouses a device known as an external calandria is utilized. In this situation a pump moves the wort through an external tube equipped with heating coils and the wort is boiled in this manner. More modern brewhouses use an internal calandria. The heating column is located inside the kettle and convection rather than a pump is used to continually supply wort to the heating tube.

One of the main reasons for wort boiling is the sterilization of the wort. This conveniently establishes a point in the process when the wort is devoid of unwanted wild yeast, fungi and bacteria. Brewer’s refer to all steps before post boil cooling as “hot side”. After this we must take great care to ensure sanitary conditions are maintained through a series of cleaning and chemical sanitizing procedures. As you recall from the mashing discussion enzymes are optimally activated by temperature to maximize starch and protein degradation. The boiling wort assures that all enzymes are denatured and the scarification process stops.

Hops are added into the wort kettle at various stages depending upon what their purpose is in the beer. Alpha acid is the bittering agent in hops. The alpha acid must be extracted and dissolved into the wort. One hour of boiling is long enough to isomerize the alpha acid and render it soluble. Boiling also extracts the essential oils from the hops. These are responsible for hop flavor and aroma. These are added later in the boil because extended boiling will send these volatile compounds out the kettle stack and therefore not impart there aroma and flavors to the beer. In addition to this undesirable hop oils, ketones, sulfur compounds and esters are evaporated.

The formation of what is referred to as hot break is another major benefit of the wort boil. During the boiling process, albumin and polyphenols collide in the convective boiling movement. When the boil is done, these precipitate from the mixture and the wort is subsequently removed leaving behind harsh tasting tannins and undesirable proteins that result in haze formation in the finished beer. They are removed by pumping the boiled wort to a whirlpool vessel. The wort is pumped into the tank at a tangent and this results in a spinning mass of liquid in the whirlpool. Particulates including the precipitated proteins and tannins are collected at the bottom center of the whirlpool along with hop material and other solids. This is called the trub (pronounced troob). From here the wort can be rapidly cooled through a heat exchanger and sent on to the unitank for fermentation.

So there you have it, another essential part of beer making. Boiling the wort is responsible for many things from hop oil extraction, sanitization to clarification through protein coagulation. Now my stolen catch phrase from that all too famous credit card company, “The wort boil…drink no beer without it.” Unless of course it’s a Berliner Weiss!

                               - Joe Schiraldi (VP Brewing Operations)

Brewer's Corner - January 2010

Thanks for tuning in for this, the first Brewer’s corner for 2010. I hope your holiday season was as enjoyable as mine.  Last time we talked about malting and mashing and in particular how mash temperature effects beer quality. I’d like to finish out the mashing process by talking about wort separation. At this point we have selected a grain bill that reflects the style of beer we want to make and further have mashed at an appropriate temperature to gain the desired body and sweetness. After a 45 minute to one hour mash rest the diastatic enzymes have simplified the starch chains into either fermentable or dextrin sugars. The important step of separating the grains from the wort is next on the agenda. This is also known as the lauter.

Lauter is a German word which means to cleanse or purify. In essence this is what we are doing here. In some breweries the mash tun and the lauter tun are two separate vessels. Mashing is done in the mash tun and then the whole grist is pumped via a mash pump to the lauter tun. Here at Left Hand we have a combination mash/ lauter tun. This is perhaps the most common approach in small breweries. It is easy to see how the capital expenditure on one vessel is less than two. Plus you don’t need additional floor space for a second vessel for lautering. Why would a brewery want to have separate mash and lauter tuns? Efficiency is the most common reason. We can’t mash in the next batch of beer until the mash/ lauter tun is empty. With separate vessels you can mash in a second brew into the mash tun after the first mash is converted and pumped to a separate lauter tun.  As a result you are converting the starches in batch #2 while concurrently lautering batch #1 to the brew kettle. In larger breweries this helps increase output volume of the brewery without building a larger capacity brewhouse by increasing how many batches can be brewed in a day. Overlapping brewing processes is critical to maximizing output and efficiency. Mash tuns or mash kettles are basically steam jacketed vessels with mixers (motorized paddles) built into them. This allows for step and decoction mashing and assures the even dispersal of thermal energy to the mash. Lauter tuns have false screen bottoms upon which the mash rests and are most commonly capable of single infusion mashing only. 

The first step to lautering is called the vorlauf. This again is a German word referring to the recirculation of wort through the grain bed. As you recall the false screen bottom has the mash bed resting on it. The process of vorlaufing re- circulates the wort from under the mash screen and deposits it back on top. This allows the grain bed to stratify by particle size. The larger husk material settles towards the bottom of the mash bed while the powdery smaller particles are deposited on top. The mash bed becomes a filter for the wort. At first clarity is not very good but after a short period of time the husk material traps the smaller particles and clarity is greatly enhanced.  Once the wort has no visible grain particles the flow is diverted to the brew kettle. The first wort is very strong with a high density of sugar present. Typically about 20%- 25% of the wort volume is now collected to the kettle. It is important to not run all the wort over at this time. This will collapse the grain bed and the permeability of the grain bed will be compromised. There are still plenty of sugars left in the mash bed and it would be downright silly to leave this behind. Before the bed is run dry we begin what is called sparging. This is quite simply the re-introduction of hot water to the top of the grain bed. This is then collected in the kettle and those sugars are extracted. After a period of time, usually about 1 ½- 2 hours the kettle is full to capacity and the wort boiling can begin.

There are a few things to remember regarding lautering that will affect the quality of beer being produced. Clarity of the run- off must be maintained. A cloudy lauter produces a beer easily susceptible to haze formation later down the road. It is also important to not oversparge. Too much extraction is not a good thing. Tannins are extracted from the husk in this context which produces a beer displaying astringent flavor characteristics. Once lautering is complete, we have successfully separated the wort from the mash. The spent grains can now be removed and the next step for the wort is the boil. Alas dear readers this is food for another day. Cheers!