Check out the new logo pints and mugs!

We got a new batch of logo pints and mugs for sale.  Come to either one of the Yak and Yeti locations.  $5 for a pint and only $8 for our infamous 18oz dimpled mugs.  See your server for details.  Wish the photo showed how cool they look in person.

Prost! (with new glass in your hand)

Introducing the Haunted Beer Series

Some of you already know that our brewpub resides in an 1864 mansion that is actually “haunted.” Our owner, Dol, had hired some ghost hunters (it’s probably more PC to say “paranormal investigators”) to do some surveillance and you can see the news story about it here. The haunting is supposedly from a woman named Cora who fell down the stairs and died. (there is also an Uncle Ned who may be one of the ghosts). The stories that I’ve h

eard are basically harmless. Neither are ghosts that pull practical jokes or tries to scare the bejeepers out of you. I personally haven’t had any run-in’s myself and since I’m usually at work a few hours before anybody else, I’ve spent a lot of time in the building alone. Any encounters will definitely be blogged about, so stay-tuned (indefinitely!) If you like to know more about the history of the house or Cora, this page has the most information that I’ve run across.

Beer brewed in a haunted fermentor and served from haunted kegs via a haunted tap handle = The Haunted Beer Series. But seriously, this small batch series I am targeting to release on a monthly basis. These beers will all be bigger beers and will showcase double IPA’s, barleywines, Belgians and maybe I’ll pull out the recipe for my infamous Draegerator dopplebock.

On Sept 1st we will be releasing “Haunted Hops” an Imperial IPA (IIPA) or Double IPA depending what school of thought you subscribe. Haunted Hops comes in at 9.4% ABV and contains only Cascade and Centennial hops. Experts say that the taste threshold for hoppy beers is around 100 IBUs (international bittering units), so take it with a grain of salt when I say that this beer has a calculated bitterness rating of 181 IBU’s (our Himalayan IPA has about 75-80 IBU’s for comparison) This beer was also dry-hopped for a week as well. Dry-hopping a beer will add aroma and flavor, but cannot increase the IBU’s, which is usually done in the kettle.

The Haunted Beer Series will be served in 1/2 pint snifter glasses for the same price as a full pint of our regular offerings (happy hour still applies!) or $1.50 for a 4oz sample. In addition, every time a person orders a 1/2 pint of these beers you have a chance to win a hand-made wooden tankard by Don Lewis (click link to see his awesome work). Just fill out a simple tag with your name and way to contact you if your name is drawn (phone, email, address, etc). The drawing will be held during our Anniversary celebration on July 1st. The more glasses you buy, the better your chances to win (limited to serving only 2 glasses per visit due to the high alcoholic content—drink responsibly please!)

Stop in to see the tankard that is on display above the bar or to celebrate the Haunted. Prost!

Stories from a long time local

I never caught the guy’s name, but a person came into the bar the other night and was telling me about Arvada.   He says his family moved here in 1947 and Arvada had a population of only 1700 people (nope, it’s not missing any zeros).  

Although he moved away from the area, he still comes back to Arvada about once a year.  He has seen every High School and Middle School open, change and close, including the one that apparently used to be where the strip mall is next to Gunther Toodies.  He told me that the library is the location of the first King Soopers and that Carr St. used to be the edge of town.  Also that farmhouses speckled the country-side between Denver, Arvada, Golden, and Westminster. 

I had the chance to ask questions that only a transplant like myself could ask, like “Why is it called Church Ranch Rd?” (I learned that Church is a last name and their ranch was located there)  And in exchange for learning some cool history, I even listened intently when he and his friend drummed up fond memories when he played football for the Buffaloes (apparently both offensive, defense, quarterback and running back)

This guy remembers when the Yak and Yeti Brewpub was still a home that was lived in and tells me of what the neighborhood was like.  Neat stuff.   Here’s to last 60 years in Arvada growing to over 100,000 in population and the next 60.   Prost!

Some like it hot…

This Wednesday Wheat will be a Chili Pepper Wheat available at 4PM as usual.  You’ve heard of dry hopped beers?  This is a dry peppered beer!  I used about a dozen dried Guajillo chili peppers (actually a dried Mirasol pepper is called a Guajillo and has a Scoville rating between 2500-5000).  Instead of my usual format for blogging about the wheat beer flavorings, I thought I’d give you more information about using peppers in beer.

Here’s the trick to a hot or a mild and flavorful beer using peppers: pith and seeds.  I scraped out the pith and seeds leaving just the meat of the pepper thus this beer should have plenty of chili flavor without the heat.  (if you want hot, you’ll have to bring a bottle of your favorite habanero or ghost face pepper sauce to spike it)  Some like it hot….I like them flavorful.  For those who want to make hot homebrews and not have much pepper flavor, just use the pith and seeds and don’t add the skins.  I guess it’s like the 95/5 rule.  95% flavor and 5% heat for my beer and if you just used the hot components, your additions would have 95% heat and 5% flavor.

Colorado has actually been embracing the chili peppers in beer for quite some time.  The three most noteworthy examples are Wynkoop’s Patty’s Chili Beer, Coopersmith’s Sigda’s Green Chili Lager and Twisted Pine’s Billy’s Chilies (the hottest of the three).   Twisted Vine also has a chili beer that uses the ghost face pepper, (I’m told is currently the hottest pepper in the world). 

There are many different approaches to using the peppers in beer, I described my approach.  Other recipes and processes can found here, here and here.  Another philosophy, especially if you are a commercial brewery, is to skip the cutting and skinning and just use pure pepper extracts for flavor and heat.  One could have greater consistency and control by using such a method.  I haven’t heard of homebrewers successfully using this approach.  If you have experience with this, please comment in the form at the bottom of this blog.

My first experience with a pepper beer was Cave Creek Chili Beer.  I’m not sure if it is still available, I’ve heard the company went under, but maybe somebody has saved the label and is contracting it again.  I was at “The Perfect Pint” in Platteville, WI, which is a beer bar that is still in existence.  This was at over 10 years ago when I was trying all the different microbrews I could find.  The bar always had free popcorn so I grabbed a basket of buttered goodness and ordered the chili beer, which came with two little peppers in the bottom of the bottle. (way less offensive than the worm in the tequila).  What I remember most about my first sip was that it was nice and cold, but then the heat hit.  The first reaction when you have hot in your mouth is to wash it down with something cool and cold, so I quick had another drink.  The downward spiral was futile, so I switched to the popcorn to drown out the heat.  Two baskets of popcorn later I had finished the 12oz bottle!  Sweet defeat.  I’ll normally eat the peppers off a Chicago style hotdog or other foods that it is used as a garnish, but as I sat there holding the pepper in my hand agonizing over whether or not I should eat it….I ended up giving up and not finishing the peppers at the bottom, so maybe I didn’t defeat the bottle after all.

For those who want more, need more, there is even a chili beer website dedicated to the lover of chili beers. (enjoy the cheesy intro)

Prost!

Raz-barry’s

I always have to mispronounce the word “raspberry” in order to spell it correctly.  (“rasp” and “berry”) Guess what?  It may be in the middle of NFL preseason, but it is also Raspberry season right now as well, so come on down to the Yak at 4PM this Wednesday for some tasty Raspberry Wheat.  Last week’s Cantaloupe Wheat was finished off in record time, so who knows how long this keg will last.  If you wish to learn some history about the berry, read on…

• There is actually a black raspberry and blue raspberry variety out there
• Also known as the “hindberry”
• between Russia and Serbia, they produce about 1/2 the world’s production of raspberries
• there are approximately 100 drupelets on each berry
• a raspberry is hollow when picked, but a blackberry is not (thus a black raspberry is hollow when picked)
• the Boysenberry and Loganberry are both hybrids that came from the Raspberry’s genus—Rubus
• they are high in antioxidant vitamin C
• the raspberry aroma comes from a phenolic compound called the creatively named “raspberry ketone”
• The raspberry grown in Colorado is probably the “Boulder Raspberry” or scientifically, “Rubus deliciosus” (yes indeed!)
• They can grow in elevations up to 7000 ft

There are many uses for Raspberries (besides beer, of course), and I won’t be able to capture all of them here, but here is a sampling:

• Raspberry leaf tea
• Baking: pies, pastries/donuts, cakes, bread, cookies, cobbler, muffins, Raspberry Tart
• Flavorings: candy, ice cream, lip balm, yogurt, frosting, cream cheese, popsicles, vinegar
• toppings: cereal, ice cream, yogurt, cake
• jams and jellies
• sauces, salsas, spreads, glazes (eg. for chicken)
• smoothies, and other ice drinks
• alcohols: schnapps, liquors (specifically rums and vodkas), malt beverages
• perfume and other scented products like shampoo and lotion
• aren’t you hungry yet?

My memories about raspberries go back to when I was little and we’d visit my grandma, who grew many raspberry plants.  She would take a bowl of freshly picked raspberries (and maybe some blackberries or black raspberries too), then she would sprinkle on some sugar to cut the tartness and just have us eat it straight from the bowl with spoons.  I’ll take that over a candy bar any day of the week!  I also remember our local IGA bakery making a cream cheese pastry with raspberry filling that was unbelievable.   When I worked at the store I would have at least 1 or 2 of those a week.   In recent years, I ran across the peanut butter aisle in the Gateway Market.  They had an amazing peanut butter from “P.B Loco” (who appears to be out of business now) with chunks of white chocolate and raspberry, what a crazy and tasty combo?!  I guess the only negative thing about raspberries are the teeny tiny seeds.  No promising that your beer won’t end up with seed or two in it…but I guess you’ll have to order one to find out.  Do you have any other good uses or stories about raspberries?  Comment on my blog.

Prost!

Confession from a melonhead…

• I must confess that on Wednesday at 4PM, when we release the Cantaloupe Wheat, there won't be any Cantaloupe in it.   We Americans have come to call our Muskmelons, "cantaloupes", so much that it is official accepted to call them "Cantaloupes" and anything with orange melon flesh, for instance "Rockmelons".  (scroll to bottom of blog for a pic of a real European Cantaloupe)These melons (yes, fruit) come from the species of Cucumis Melo.  If you want other little known facts about this melon, read on:

 

• The cantaloupes of Europe were originally non-netted and had deep ridges (like the honeydew melon)
• First cultivated by the Egyptians
• name comes from the "Gardens of Cantaloupo" near Tivoli, where they were once cultivated
• Our netted version came from France around 1881 (who also brought us the honeydew 20 years later)
• not surprisingly the melon is about 90% water (but who is knocking it,...so is beer)
• Part of the same species as the Armenian Cucumber
• high in potassium, vitamin A and folate
• so rare in Japan that they can pay between $30-$70 US dollars for them
• Europeans are known to refer to them as "pepo"
• first brought to the New World on Columbus' 2nd journey
• “Cantaloupe Island" - Herbie Hancock on Blue Note in 1964
• smashing

There are also many uses for muskmelons (aka Cantaloupes):

• eaten as just fruit
• eaten as a dried fruit
• put on skewers with other fruit
• used in desserts like pie
• liquors
• Stews
• jams
• salsa
• soup
• salads
• used for it's oil (from the seeds actually)
• pureed and used in drinks or milkshakes
• as an antipasta (pieces are wrapped in prosciutto)

Growing up I always remember having the mixed fruit bowls of sliced fruit including watermelon, strawberries, blueberries, grapes, and cantaloupe.  I find that it also tastes great on the rind with a little salt to bring out the sweetness.  What other uses for cantaloupe have you and your family used?

Brewer’s Tools

Yes, I have come to the realization that certain tools are just necessary and I would have a hard time living without these tools to do my job.  There are some necessary tools and other ones that are just (really, really) nice to have.

Tools I have found essential around my brewery:  Screwdriver, crescent wrench, pliers, tape measure, flashlight, shovel, zip-ties, measuring cup, funnel, all sorts of buckets, teflon tape, scissors!, pen/paper, and even my laptop with wifi access. (I didn’t mention some of the standard: hop scale, hydrometers, sanitation spray bottle, mash paddle, etc and focused on ones that aren’t dedicated to breweries)

Tools that are more in the nice to have category: three-hole punch, hose cutter, electrical tape, 7/8” wrench, fans (several of them), and a new tool that I purchased for a whopping $3.95 and I love it! – “retractable cord for belt” of which I keep my flashlight hooked. 

This was actually an LED flashlight that Chris left behind for me (essential in looking in the kettle, fermentors and bright tanks).  I saw how he was always fishing it out of his pockets and it looked inconvenient.  I too, was inconvenienced by the fact that it kept falling out of my shirt pocket when I bent over to pick stuff of the ground.  All I could think was if I accidentally dropped this in a batch of fermenting beer that I would contaminate thousands of dollars of finished beer (and I’d have to buy a new flashlight)…..   So I solved two problems at once – easy to access flashlight, and tether it so it can’t fall into a fermentor…..brilliant!

Prost!