Beers of Poland Part 2: Lezajsk

Continuing with the Beers of Poland series, I present to you: Lezajsk:

Lezajsk is owned by Zywiec, which is, as mentioned in my previous post, part of the Heineken family. The brewery itself is located in the town of Lezajsk in southeast Poland and was founded in 1525.

The beer is clear and golden in appearance and offers a medium to high carbonation. The aroma is very sweet and biscuity but as it warms up more flowery notes from the hops can be picked up. The first thing I pick up in the taste is molasses type sweetness. There's also something of a burnt caramel quality. I find the bitterness in this one is at the end of the palate and in the aftertaste. There is also a very distinct metallic taste that lingers long after the sip.

For Lezajsk, like many European lagers, malt is the driver of taste and hops is used to balance out the sweetness, however, I still find it a bit too sweet for my liking compared to other beers of the same style. It's not my favourite beer but I wouldn't kick it out of bed either.

And in the end, it still pairs well with a chicken salad sandwich, which is always important.

Here's a picture I found of the outside of brewery itself

Recipe Project for Heartbreak Porter: The Malt!

So, it looks like I'll be using this blog for a few class assignments, the first of which is the malt portion of a recipe I'll be designing throughout the semester.

I've decided to create a Robust Porter that is partially based on a recipe I found in John Palmer's "How to Brew" but with a few adjustments. I'm calling it Heartbreak Porter.

The malt bill (as of now) consists of 80% Maris Otter, 10% Crystal 60, 5% Chocolate, and 5% Black Patent.

I chose these malts because I think it'll give a nice biscuity and rich sweet quality to the beer. The Black Patent, of course, will provide a lot of the colour that I'm looking for (over 30 SRM when all is said and done). Also, this malt bill will take the ABV% to around 7, which is on the high end of a Robust Porter.

Here is an interpretation of me preparing this recipe! Next up in this series will be the hops additions that will balance out the malty malty goodness. Cheers!

Beers of Poland Part 1: Zywiec

Dzien Dobry!

I've been feeling nostalgic for the beers of Poland as of late, so on my latest trip to the beer store I picked up several beers from the Motherland.

First one up is Zywiec (which is part of the Heineken family of breweries).

This is the most recognizable beer from Poland. You see their umbrellas all over the place when you visit no matter where you are in the country. From the large metropolis of Warsaw to the mountain town of Zakopane, you can be sure that Zywiec is on tap!

Zywiec is your very prototypical European Pale Lager. It gives a clear, golden appearance and a nice frothy white head. The aroma is very sweet and bready with a hint of yeast. You can also pick up some sulfur and metallic notes. The taste offers a floral bitterness upfront that can be attributed to the hops. This is followed by a sweet bready malt and a hint of pear. There's a bit of metallic flavours in there as well, but I find that the sweetness takes over in this beer. Overall, it's a good European Lager. I find the sweetness can be a bit cloying but it's refreshing and it is my go to at most Polish functions.

So, if you want to take a short vacation in your mind to the hustle and bustle of Krakow's old square... just open up a Zywiec and imagine yourself here for a little while..... Na Zdrowie!

Back to Brewing!

Finally! After about 4 months of mostly just goofing off with home kits over the summer, I finally got to brew on our Olds College pilot system this last Thursday!

We brewed a pale ale we're calling the Wet Hopped Canadian Summer Pale Ale. We kettle hoped it with Bravo and then circulated the wort through wet Centennial hops we acquired from Northern Girls Hopyard in Alberta.

It's been fermenting away vigorously the last few days! I tasted it today and it's coming along very nicely.... Very floral. Lot's of tang still.... but it's young. Can't wait to see how it turns out once it conditions!

Our Summer at Alley Kat in Edmonton

I'm trying to get my old blogging legs back and thought I'd post up this picture of my friend Jim (on the far left) and I at the Alley Kat brewery. This summer was the summer of working so I don't go into crushing debt via student loans. So, instead of travelling and goofing off, as I do, I got down to work in the packaging department..... It was a lot of work but my back held out and I made it through!!

We did a lot of filling bottles and kegs, wrapping pallets, and scrubbing floors.... and in case anybody is confused, let it be known that the majority of brewery work is cleaning! It's not glamorous.... but at least it's honest! And you get a fair share of perks in the form of beer :)

                          And here's one more of Jim and I at K-Days! We ate a lot of ribs!

BACK AT 'ER!!!

Hello!

Well, it has been a while since I've updated this blog! Years, in fact! Of course, the reason for that is that the purpose of this blog was to document my cross-Canada beer tour in 2011. And, what a trip it was! I met a lot of cool people and drank a lot of great beers during my travels... Once I got home, life went on.... I pursued other interests in my life and left my little beer blog to live on amongst the millions of others that have been abandoned in the black hole of the internet... So, why am I back now?

By some series of events that I don't completely understand, last year I found myself accepted into the Olds College Brewmaster and Brewery Operations program.... I am going into my second and final year of the program and have decided to flirt with blogging once again. Maybe it'll help me land a job when I'm done school!

Now, giving the day to day of what I learn at school is boring and not necessary and I know I won't keep up with it at all once I start getting into the meat and potatoes of the semester... So, I figure I'll use this blog to write about some of my beer musings and such... beers I taste, articles about brewing and the like that I find interesting, and so on.... :)

So, thanks to whomever may stumble in here.... hope you enjoy!

Me at the Edmonton Craft Beer Festival June 2014