Earlier this summer, the Rahr Technical Center Brewery had a chance to trial the new SafAle BE-134 yeast. We caught up with head brewer and BSG Product Development Manager Mike Miziorko to get his impressions of this 6.6% abv saison.

How did the yeast perform?

Performance-wise, I think the yeast did very well: the beer was mostly fermented after 5 days and continued to slowly dry out over another 4. 

How would you describe its kinetics?

I would say the yeast is very highly attenuative, we have not used anything else quite like it. This beer finished at 1.5°P, probably due to the 10% Caramalt used in the grist. 

And the sensory aspects?

From an organoleptic standpoint, the yeast delivered what it promised: lots of esters and phenols one would expect from a Saison, plus a low final gravity.

Overall I’d say I am pleased with the yeast and would recommend it, but would remind brewers to plan for high attenuation when using this strain.

SafAle BE-134 will be available from BSG in late summer 2017.

Bad Weather Brewing Company of St. Paul, MN has built a reputation on their flavorful ales like flagships Ominous (a double brown ale) and Windvane (a red IPA). Recently, though, they’ve added a series of German lagers to their lineup that have been very well received both in and out of the taproom - BSG HandCraft was lucky enough to pour a couple kegs of their Dortmunder at their beer station during Homebrew Con in Minneapolis this June.

We sat down with Bad Weather’s head brewer Andy Ruhland to talk lagers:

BSG: The Dortmunder is one of a few pale lagers that Bad Weather has done after many years of intensely-flavored ales – what brought it into being? Market forces, labor of love, a challenge, or just an opportunity to change it up? 

AR: From day 1 of being hired it was my intention to brew lagers. Specifically Pale German Lagers. They are my favorite styles to drink, they are simple and elegant yet incredibly hard to brew, and I love a challenge.  Limited tank space kept us from doing that right away. After our first cellar expansion the window opened. We started with a Munich Helles, then the Dortmunder Export, and a Maibock (available at the time of this writing, taproom only). I'm hoping to continue at least 1 lager offering fairly regularly at the taproom. 

BSG: What were the malts used in the Dortmunder?

AR: We used all Weyermann® malts with the Dortmunder. Barke® Pils, Barke® Munich, Carafoam®, and Acidulated malts.

BSG: How were they to work with? 

AR: We had excellent extract and clarity on the brewhouse. I was looking for a malt that would help me get that authentic "Dort" character. I think we achieved that along with the double decoction mash. In reality a single infusion would suffice for these malts but when I think of how these beers have been brewed historically you don't mess with tradition.

The Yakima-based staff of BSG Hops works closely with growers throughout the year to ensure we receive the highest-quality hops at harvest. Our agronomist Patrick O'Brien sends us this dispatch from the fields with a look at the progress of the 2017 crop: 

Variety: El Dorado

Training Date: May 25^th

Growth Phase: Vegetative/reproductive

Hops are a perennial rooted planted with annual above ground growth, so in March the root system starts to push new shoots that emerge through the soil surface. The growers then prune back the shoots to get the growth timing just right. When there is enough new growth the hops are trained. The training date is very critical and varies depending on the variety. The training date is important because if you train to early you run the risk of early bloom. This can lead to inconsistent maturity at harvest. If you train too late you run the risk of not maximizing yield. Training starts in the Yakima Valley in late April/early May and concludes by the end of May.

The El Dorado field shown here was trained on May 25^th. Between the time of my pictures below and the training date 36 days had passed. It is now June 30^th and most of the hop bines have climbed the 18’ trellis. Hops are phototropic (light) and thigmotropic (touch), so this causes them plant to climb the twine in a clockwise formation as they follow the sun.

The plant grows vegetatively with longer day length, so when the summer solstice came around (June 21^st) and the days get shorter, the plant is triggered to start growing reproductively. This doesn’t mean that all vegetative growth has stopped though; the plant will now produce lateral bines through the month of July. The lateral bines are where the cones will form. At this time, there are only a few plants with any bloom. The blooms on a hop plant are referred to as burrs and they are pictured below.

Note on field work: the growers are currently irrigating and fertilizing frequently. They have been fighting some powdery mildew pressure and aphid presence to this point and have field crews scouting every week to determine when treatment is necessary. Spider mite populations are starting to increase with increased temperatures.