Rootstock Wine & Beer Bar

Last night we decided to keep things in our area and check out a new spot. Rootstock has been getting a lot of buzz but i had heard very little about it from the perspective of a beer lover. What we intended to be a quick stop turned into a full evening at the bar sampling the menu and fine libations.

The bottle list was carefully selected. They kept a few selections from local craft brewers Three Floyds and Two Brothers, notably "Behemoth Barley Wine" but also "Gorch Fock" and "Dog Days". Domestic offerings from Allagash, Lost Abbey, North Coast, Lagunitas and Great Lakes. You will notice a leaning towards Belgian ales but dig a little deeper and they keep one good example of most styles. The imports list kept English Bitters like "Bombardier" and "Old Speckled Hen", French Canadian Belgian style ales from Unibrou, Lagers from Schlenkerla and Weihenstephan plus several Belgian and French ales. All price points on the bottles but of course it's great to pick out a pricier bottle to share with the table.

They had a two draft tower with Goose Island "Matilda" and Brooklyn "Sorachi Ace Saison". Matilda is great but what really brought me in was the Sorachi Ace Saison. Fresh grassy hop aroma and flavor. Citrus notes with grains of paradise meld well with the somewhat aggressive hopping for a Saison. I could have had this all night and will definitely be back again for another glass.

The partner who was running the bar, John, had an incredibly knowledge of the selections. You will notice the bar is not over ran by a pack of well known bottles. Like the beer selection, the spirits all were hand selected. I was impressed to see they had Templeton Rye. When He found out I was a big fan of brewing with Rye, he shared a sample of Wasmund's Rye Spirit, a small batch from Virginia. You can tell a lot of thought and love went into this bar and they were passionate about showing it off.

You can check them out at http://rootstockbar.com . They are located on the South West corner of Augusta and California in the Humboldt Park neighborhood.

On a side note, please vote for "The Best Chicago Beer Venue". #Gents will be reviewing one every Tuesday in August. Voting closes Sunday at 8pm. http://www.fellowshipofgentlemanlygentlemen.com/

Brew Day Pictures

Doing The Pliney Clone..

Finally! I have been wanting to do this clone for a long long time. In the recent issue of BYO Vinnie Cilurzo did an article on creating Double IPA's and shared a recent version of his famous Pliny The Elder recipe. His recipe had a simple malt bill and much different hop bill than other clone recipes. Notably omitting Chinook addition, Mash Hops and First Wort Hops. He had his mash efficiency at 80%, I average about 75% on my system. Still with the decrease in efficiency I was coming a little under both the SG of 1.070 and FG of 1.011. Increased the grain portions and really stepped up the sugar to keep this bad boy dry. Kettle hops act as a great filter for trub and break from the boil. I increased the amount of water to account for hop absorption so I am not left squeezing wort out. Also doing a Gypsum and Calcium Chloride mash salt addition to make the hops pop and get suitable brewing water for a lower SRM pale ale. Here is my modified recipe.

14C-India Pale Ale(IPA)-Imperial IPA


Recipe Overview
Wort Volume Before Boil: 7.50 US gals
Wort Volume After Boil: 6.40 US gals
Volume Transferred: 5.50 US gals
Water Added To Fermenter:0.00 US gals
Volume At Pitching: 5.50 US gals
Volume Of Finished Beer: 5.25 US gals

Expected Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.052 SG
Expected OG: 1.070 SG
Expected FG: 1.013 SG
Apparent Attenuation: 81.2 %
Expected ABV: 7.7 %
Expected ABW: 6.1 %
Expected IBU (using Rager): 246.4 IBU
Expected Color (using Morey): 6.0 SRM
BU:GU ratio: 3.50
Mash Efficiency: 75.0 %
Boil Duration: 90.0 mins
Fermentation Temperature: 67 degF


Fermentables

US 2-Row Malt 13lb 0oz 83.9 %

US Caramel 40L Malt 10.00 oz 4.0 %

US Carapils Malt 10.00 oz 4.0 %

Sugar - Corn Sugar/Dextrose (Dry) 1lb 4oz 8.1 %


Hops
Variety Alpha Amount IBU Form When
US Columbus(Tomahawk) 13.9 % 3.50 oz 190.4 90 Min
US Columbus(Tomahawk) 13.9 % 0.75 oz 31.3 45 Min
US Simcoe 13.0 % 1.00 oz 24.8 30 Min
US Simcoe 13.0 % 2.50 oz 0.0 0 Min
US Centennial 8.5 % 1.00 oz 0.0 0 Min
US Columbus(Tomahawk) 15.5 % 1.00 oz 0.0 Dry Hop
US Centennial 8.5 % 1.00 oz 0.0 Dry Hop
US Simcoe 13.0 % 1.00 oz 0.0 Dry Hop
US Columbus(Tomahawk) 15.5 % 0.25 oz 0.0 2nd Dry Hop
US Centennial 8.5 % 0.25 oz 0.0 2nd Dry Hop
US Simcoe 13.0 % 0.25 oz 0.0 2nd Dry Hop

Mashing at 151F for 60 minutes.

Brew Day Pictures - American Wheat 2.1 part 1

Brew Day Pictures - American Wheat 2.1 part 2

Russian Imperial Stout Brew Day Pictures

American Wheat Redux

It's been awhile since I last updated, took a much needed vacation to Mexico AKA land of the Mexican Light Lager. It's good to be back in a country who's climate support a wide variety of beer styles. Came home to find Maibock, American Wheat(American Heffer) and a IIPA ready for consumption. So it is definitely great to be home.

American Wheat has been one of my favorite styles as long as I can remember. Boulevard Wheat being the standard "Micro Brew" where I grew up, then moving out to Chicago where Gumball Head takes the style to new heights. I have a standard German Hef recipe that I am quite fond of. Last month I tried to convert it over to an American Wheat with some success. Aiming for the hoppiness and body of Three Floyd's Gumball Head, I was right where I needed to be for Bitterness and Aroma. Fell flat in the flavor additions. Body was nice and light but I felt it could use a slight lift in the sweetness. Two recipe's below have a slightly beefed up grain bill, the first recipe has a shifted hop bill, second has an all together new hop bill.

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American Heffer 2.0

VOL: 5.5 Gal

OG: 1.052
PG: 1.042
FG: 1.013

ABV: 5.2 %
IBU: 40
COLOR: 5.9 SRM

Mash at 154F 60 minutes. Boil 90 minutes.

German Wheat Malt 5lb 0oz 43.5 % 1.4
US 2-Row Malt 4lb 0oz 34.8 % 1.3
US Carapils Malt 1lb 0oz 8.7 % 0.2
US Rice Hulls 8.00 oz 4.3 % 0.0
US Caramel 40L Malt 8.00 oz 4.3 % 3.6
US Caramel 10L Malt 8.00 oz 4.3 % 0.9

US Magnum 14.4 % 0.25 oz 17.2 Loose Pellet Hops 90 Min From End
US Simcoe 12.7 % 0.50 oz 10.0 Loose Pellet Hops 20 Min From End
US Cascade 6.0 % 0.50 oz 4.7 Loose Pellet Hops 20 Min From End
US Simcoe 12.7 % 0.50 oz 5.4 Loose Pellet Hops 5 Min From End
US Cascade 6.0 % 0.50 oz 2.6 Loose Pellet Hops 5 Min From End
US Amarillo 5.0 % 1.00 oz 0.0 Loose Pellet Hops In Hop-Back
US Simcoe 12.7 % 1.00 oz 0.0 Loose Pellet Hops Dry-Hopped
US Cascade 6.0 % 1.00 oz 0.0 Loose Pellet Hops Dry-Hopped
US Amarillo 5.0 % 1.00 oz 0.0 Loose Pellet Hops Dry-Hopped
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American Heffer 2.1

VOL: 5.5 Gal

OG: 1.052
PG: 1.042
FG: 1.013

ABV: 5.2 %
IBU: 74
COLOR: 5.9 SRM

Mash at 154F 60 minutes. Boil 90 minutes.

German Wheat Malt 5lb 0oz 43.5 % 1.4
US 2-Row Malt 4lb 0oz 34.8 % 1.3
US Carapils Malt 1lb 0oz 8.7 % 0.2
US Rice Hulls 8.00 oz 4.3 % 0.0
US Caramel 40L Malt 8.00 oz 4.3 % 3.6
US Caramel 10L Malt 8.00 oz 4.3 % 0.9

US Summit 18.0 % 0.33 oz 25.8 Bagged Pellet Hops FWH
US Cascade 4.5 % 0.33 oz 6.5 Bagged Pellet Hops FWH
US Summit 18.0 % 0.25 oz 21.5 Loose Pellet Hops 90 Min From End
US Summit 18.0 % 0.34 oz 9.6 Loose Pellet Hops 20 Min From End
US Cascade 6.0 % 0.34 oz 3.2 Loose Pellet Hops 20 Min From End
US Summit 18.0 % 0.34 oz 5.2 Loose Pellet Hops 5 Min From End
US Cascade 6.0 % 0.34 oz 1.7 Loose Pellet Hops 5 Min From End
US Amarillo 5.0 % 1.00 oz 0.0 Bagged Pellet Hops In Hop-Back
US Summit 18.0 % 1.00 oz 0.0 Bagged Pellet Hops Dry-Hopped
US Cascade 4.5 % 1.00 oz 0.0 Bagged Pellet Hops Dry-Hopped
US Amarillo 5.0 % 1.00 oz 0.0 Bagged Pellet Hops Dry-Hopped
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