Rock The Kasbah Saison

Welcome back to Off the Hinge Brewing!  Working two jobs can be taxing and the amount of brewing has dwindled at my home, however I had the fortunate luck of being able to brew with Coalition Brewing in SE Portland.  Coalition offers home brewers a chance to brew with them on their pilot system.  To participate in the "Collator Series," a home brewer fills out an application and they choose a brewer to collaborate with.  As a side note, tomorrow if you are in town they will be opening their new brewery tasting bar, check out their website for more details http://www.coalitionbrewing.com/. 

My second job is at Imperial bottle shop and taproom, we are celebrating our 1st year in business tonight at 7PM!  My boss Alex Kurnellas and Shawn Stackpoole, have a good relationship with Coalition and asked them if they would be willing to do the Collator Series with me for our first year anniversary.  Elan Walsky, was more than willing and we met and discussed a recipe.  We decided to make a North African Saison with Apricots and Apricot Kernels.

Alex came up with the name, Rock the Kasbah Saison.  This beer's North African Spices and fruit, French/Belgian yeast strain and our bottle shop name "Imperial," made imperialism pop into my head.  During the unfortunate time of colonization in the 19th century, spices made their way around the world and sparked new culinary traditions.  Although, unfortunate circumstances like this occurred there are ways to bring humanity back together in a respectable manor.  One of those ways is through beer!

Beer history is vast and has been recognized as being around since the beginning of civilization.  It helps cities work by giving the crowded and downtrodden masses something to help them relax and be social, which has in turn helped generate interesting ideas.  Not only has it been a good social lubricant, but it has helped people stave off disease as healthy alternative to unsafe drinking water.  Alright, now I will stop with the history lesson and move to more interesting things...

  
The idea spawned from smelling Ras El Hanout, which is a North African spice blend.  Ras El Hanout, is arabic and translates to "Head of the Shop."  It is a blend of the best spices the shop keeper carries.  The complex mixture blew my mind.  It had several spices that are often used in Spiced Saison beers. Juxtapose summer heat with a refreshing brew and my thoughts went straight to a Spiced Saison.

Spiced beers can be a tricky thing to nail down, and the beer needs to have balance.  I found good information in the book 'Farmhouse Ales,' by author Phil Markowski.  Using a table in the book on spice additions helped us to figure out the right amount to use.  A French/Belgian yeast strain can cause spicy yeast notes, which add even more spice to this brew.  We decided to balance this with another North African ingredient, Apricots.  The sweetness of the Apricot rounds off some of the spice.

Saison styles generally have a moderate bitterness to them.  Brad Basil and Elan Walsky, came up with the idea to add the Apricot Kernels, which I had never heard of.  They are sometimes referred to as Bitter Almonds.  The kernels have an amazing aroma of pistachios, cherries and biscotti.  To bring out more of those aromas Brad roasted them for a short bit.

After primary fermentation ended we added the fruit.  We made a ten gallon batch so, we split up two carboys evenly.  In one we added a puree of Apricots along with the kernels, and in the other we added quartered Apricots only.  The reason we did it that way was to give us an opportunity to blend the beers for our desired outcome.

Wednesday, I met up with Elan and Brad to taste our brew and was very excited about the outcome of both brews.  We decided to blend roughly a 60/40 blend with 60% of the quartered fruit and 40% of the pureed fruit.  The beer has a beautiful golden orange hue with a stark white frothy smooth head.  I love the aroma, which smells of Cumin, Cinnamon and Coriander.  The flavor has a nice subtle Apricot note with just a touch of acidity.  The aftertaste was spicy and fruity with a slight bitterness.  I enjoyed the mouthfeel, which felt medium to medium light.  Overall, I am excited about the beer and hope you all can make it out and try this colonial concoction.  

As a side note, Elan asked me to brew with them for the Willamette Weekly Pro/Am competition in Septemeber.  I couldn't be more grateful!  I also, wanted to point out that my Co-workers made a beer with the Portland U-Brew.  Word on the street is that it is a hop bomb, for all you hop heads.  So, get over to Imperial tonight for some good libations and vibrations.  Remember to drink good beer responsibly and be merry, Cheers!  

P.S.  I wanted to thank Imperial and Coalition for the awesome experience!