Brewing Pliny the Elder
The American Homebrewers Association launched an interesting project yesterday. They selected one beer from one brewery in each state and did a Secrets of Master Brewers thing: a full recipe and formulation. (Okay, not a complete Secrets thing--all you get is the recipe and formulation, with none of the style background or comments from the brewer. Shameless plug: Secrets is pretty cool that way, and so you should go buy it.) The selection of beers is pretty solid. There are a few offbeat choices, but it seems that where possible, the AHA has tried to track down a classic beer.
- Alaskan Smoked Porter
- Pliny the Elder (CA)
- Three Floyds Alpha King (IN)
- Bell's Two-Hearted (MI)
- Boulevard Tank 7 (MO)
- Brooklyn Lager (NY)
- Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter (OH)
- Deschutes Black Butte Porter (OR)
- Victory Prima Pils (PA)
Not everybody was fully forthcoming. The Alchemist gave Focal Banger instead of Heady Topper, and Maine Beer Co proffered Peeper rather than Lunch. New Glarus may not have offered anything; in any case the AHA has cobbled together a version of Wisconsin Red that is nothing like the actual beer. Having written a book that covered the same material, I know how this goes. Overall, it's a pretty impressive list. If you're a homebrewer, it's worth paging through these for tips--even if you don't want to recreate the recipe entirely.
As a program note, I'm in Connecticut to give a speech (I write you from PDX at an indecent hour), so no blogging tomorrow or over the weekend.
PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES