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.

It is with profound sadness that we need to pass on some news regarding the passing of our friend and business partner Peter Simpson. Peter always put his customers first and we will miss his infectious charm, high energy, and deep appreciation and passion for good malt. 

Peter passed away peacefully on May 20th following a short battle with cancer. 

From Simpsons website read here.

Jordan, MN
Population: 5,873
http://roetsjordanbrewery.com/ 

It sounds like the start of a bad joke: How many landslides does it take to start a brewery? The historic Jordan Brewery was built in 1866 and has survived a multitude of tribulations: prohibition, a fire, abandonment and plans to tear it down. Built at the base of a river bluff where caves could be carved into the hillside to lager beer, its location would ultimately be its downfall. 

Tim Roets was knocked out at first sight and immediately began planning to bring brewing back to Jordan, MN. A year later and one day before he placed his brewery equipment order, soaking rains loosed a massive chunk of the hill; sending a deluge of mud, trees and rock tumbling and crashing through the back wall of the building. No one was hurt, but the dream of opening a brewery appeared dead.

But the community of Jordan was determined to bring brewing back to the city to capitalize on the craft brewing trend that has been revitalizing dilapidated buildings and tourism in towns just like it all across the country. With the city’s help, Tim was able to move his plans into a vacated library building literally across the street. The library itself was converted from a 1940's bank and the vault is still there in the basement – perhaps a place to lager after all?

Tim, with his two sons Dylan and P.J., remodeled their plans and were finally able to open Roets Jordan Brewery late last year. Tim explains, “For over 150 years, several different families bought the breweries in Jordan, hung their family name on the shingle and started brewing. We did the same thing.” 

They had previous professional experience as mead and cidermakers, and Tim had been a successful and awarded homebrewer, but this is their first commercial brewery undertaking. Joining their adventure is a brewing school intern and assistant brewer Jeff Malek who is a maltster by trade at nearby Rahr Malting.

The change in location also meant reconfiguring the brewing system he had spent months designing. In a bold move, he changed the design completely and opted to go for an all-electric brewhouse. Tim says, “We opened with a 3.5BBL Brewhouse, 8 x 3.5BBL Fermentors and 3 x 3.5BBL Brites. We have space to more than double that capacity, and sourcing more equipment and further expansion of the Brewhouse is in process now.”

Support from locals was strong right out of the gate with the taproom packed most of the time. For now, they are focusing on taproom sales, but plan to eventually do some self-distribution locally in the near future. When asked about his brewing philosophy Tim simply says, “Make good beer. With the smaller brewhouse, we'll have the opportunity to try many different styles, but we tend to lean towards more balanced and sessionable beers.” 

The biggest difference between homebrewing and professional brewing? “It becomes your job, so you blow a good hobby. Now I play guitar for sanity...get a hobby.” Tim advises. 

Their slogan is simple and direct: "Drink Roets Beer” If you’re ever in the area, we would recommend doing just that.

Malthouse #6 Premium Pilsner, a collaboration between Rahr Malting Co. and Badger Hill Brewing of Shakopee, was brewed to commemorate the successful commissioning of Rahr’s new Malthouse #6. 

The Premium Pilsner malt utilized for this beer was the first batch from Malthouse #6, made from Pinnacle barley, a two-row variety developed by the NDSU Barley Breeding Program.

BSG designed the label artwork and Badger Hill hosted a release party for the first kegs of Malthouse #6 Premium Pilsner at the brewery taproom in Shakopee.

SHAKOPEE, MN – The Rahr Technical Center Brewery at Rahr Malting Co.’s Shakopee campus is now up and running. The brewery will produce beer for R&D, conducting product evaluations, and host demonstrations for visiting brewery customers who purchase ingredients from the Shakopee-based maltster and its distribution arm Brewers Supply Group (BSG).

The brewery was built as part of Rahr Corporation’s 2015-2016 expansion project, which also included construction of a technical center and malt laboratory, as well as a new 115,000 square foot malt house which made Rahr’s Shakopee headquarters the largest single-site malting facility in the world.

The centerpiece of the brewery is a state-of-the-art brewhouse from Esau & Hueber, a worldwide leader in brewery design. The brewery has a capacity of 2.5 barrels.

“The mission of the brewery is to serve as a pilot facility,” says head brewer and Product Development Manager  Mike Miziorko , “allowing Rahr and BSG to perform real-world trials on their malts, hops, yeasts, and other ingredients. It also lets us collaborate creatively with visiting brewers and suppliers.”

The first batches of beer produced on the new system include a Weissbier, a Bavarian-style Helles lager, a pale ale, and an English brown ale, with many others to follow. “One of my very favorite beer styles is a pale-colored German ale called Kölsch,” says Miziorko. “So I think you can expect a bunch of those as well.” 

The 2017 Craft Brewers Conference in Washington D.C. was a great success, and BSG was so happy to be there with 13,000 of our friends and colleagues for the premier gathering of craft brewers in the world. We believe there's great value in meeting your suppliers face to face over a beer, and we're excited to bring that opportunity from all over the globe to the BrewExpo America each year. Below are just a few of our highlights from D.C - hope to see you in Nashville in 2018! 

Our West Coast Regional Sales Director Peter Hoey teamed with Half Moon Bay Brewing Co. to brew a double IPA for San Francisco Beer Week using BSG ingredients, including our variety-specific hop extracts.

The beer, titled I Need A Miracle, features Cashmere hops at a ratio of 2 lbs/bbl in the whirlpool.

If you’re there this weekend, make sure to get some of this intensity! There will be a release event on Saturday the 11th at Pacific Standard in Berkeley and it will make an appearance at The Bistro double IPA Festival and opening Gala. More release info can be found here.

I Need A Miracle Double IPA

9.0% abv, 90 ibus.

Grist:

48.4% Weyermann® Premium Pils

48.4% Simpsons Best Pale Ale

3.2% Gambrinus Honey Malt

Hops:

Citra, El Dorado extract, El Dorado and Mosaic.Cashmere and Mosaic Flowers.

Dry hopped with Citra Simcoe and Mosaic. 

Idaho 7 burst onto the scene in 2015 with a sensory profile that reminded some of Mosaic in its multifaceted character. By turns it seems to show pine, tropical fruit, citrus, and tea leaf. You may have first tasted it in Sierra Nevada’s single hop series, but it’s becoming much more commonly seen in flights and pints all over the country.

An experimental variety with undisclosed heritage bred at the Jackson Hop Farm in Wilder, ID, Idaho 7 is named for its home state. It’s known for late maturity in the field but good yields of up to 2200 lbs/acre.

One day at the beginning of this year we received a plain brown box from hop country with plain foil bags inscribed in plain black Sharpie - a mix of pelletized and whole Idaho 7 from the first crop. An ad hoc hop-rubbing committee was formed on the spot and noted powerful aromas of pungently dank balsam fir, juicy fruit gum, and red grapefruit. Fingertips became thoroughly yellow and sticky – both the pellets and the cones had a tangibly high quantity of aromatic oils.

That high oil content makes Idaho 7 a natural finishing, whirlpool, and dry hopping all-star, where it can deliver most strongly on its complex and powerful character. Expect overtones of resiny pine needles with big notes of pungent tropical fruit and citrus (think apricot, orange, red grapefruit, papaya) and earthy/fruity suggestions of black tea leaves.

Idaho 7 hops are available on spot and for contracting through BSG – please contact your sales manager for details.

(updated January 12, 2017)

Please watch this page for updates.

Please feel free to contact your CSR or Sales Manager with any questions or concerns. We would like to thank you for your business, and we look forward to working with you in 2017 and beyond.

Cheers!