Walking the PLANK I

In 2008, the New Yorker Magazine profiled John Gasparine, a woodworker in Baltimore, Maryland. On his suggestion, the Dogfish Head Brewery, in Delaware, had built a fermenting tank entirely out of Palo Santo wood —from Paraguay— sweet and aromatic, and one of the hardest woods in the world.

Hugh Sisson, owner of Baltimore brewery Heavy Seas, read the piece and was intrigued by the possibilities, if not only of Palo Santo, but of creative uses of wood in brewing. (Heavy Seas —like Dogfish and other 'craft' breweries— already ages some of its beers in oak barrels which previously have contained bourbon, other spirits, or wine.)

Sisson met with Gasparine and introduced him to Steve Marsh, the cellarmaster at Heavy Seas.

Marsh has overseen Heavy Seas' cask ale program since 2005, growing the brewery's inventory of firkins (10.8 gallon stainless steel casks) from two to nearly 300 today, and winning Heavy Seas numerous plaudits, including a silver medal at the Great BRITISH Beer Festival, the world's most prestigious cask ale festival and competition.

Marsh and Gasparine hatched an idea. What would happen if wood planks were introduced into a vat filled with fermenting beer, rather than aging already fermented beer in a wooden barrel? The question became a three year partnership.

The two experimented with different woods, all of which had been specially heat-treated for commercial purposes. They tried out different sizes of planks and wood chips; they used different malts and hops; they fermented beers in different batch sizes with different yeasts. Marsh chuckles when describing the size of the spreadsheet they built.

The end result has just been released. Heavy Seas calls it PLANK I.

PLANK is a series of beers showcasing unique wood ageing treatments to add flavor and nuance. Our first offering --PLANK I-- features an English Style Olde Ale matured with specially treated Poplar wood planks. Look for a subtle, "roasty" wood character <...> There will be new PLANK offerings from time to time Alc./Vol. 8%.

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• On 7 June, Plank I was released in northern Virginia in three nearly simultaneous cask tappings: Evening Star Cafe in Del Ray, Eventide in Clarendon, and Fire Works, in Arlington (Court House area). Photos from Eventide: here.
  
• Caveat lector: As a representative for Select Wines, Inc. —a wine and beer wholesaler in northern Virgina— I sell the beers of Heavy Seas.

Pic(k) of the Week: Bovine Gothic

National Zoo
Washington, D.C.
May 2011.

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Pic(k) of the Week: one in a weekly series of personal photos, often posted on Saturdays, and often, but not always, with a good fermentable as a subject.

Pic(k) of the Week: Spring Soup

An anodyne for a hot May afternoon ...

Chilled 'English' Pea Soup, at Eventide Restaurant, in Arlington (Clarendon), Virginia. Served with a can of Mama's "Little Yella Pils, from Oskar Blues Brewery (Colorado): a tasty pair.

If you're resistant to the possibility of quality beer in a can, consider this: a keg is, in reality, a large can.

Unlike bottled beer, canned or kegged beer is impervious to skunking —a reaction of sunlight (or florescent light) with a compound in hops— and it is better protected against the staling effects of oxidation. Since all beer cans are lined, there is no 'metallic' taste derived from the interior of the can itself.

More and more 'craft' breweries are packaging their beers in cans, although the total number remains small.

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• From a different restaurant, here's a recipe for Chilled Pea Soup, pared down to a home-size portion.
• More on beer in cans: here.
• Pic(k) of the Week: one in a weekly series of personal photos, often posted on Saturdays, and often, but not always, with a good fermentable as a subject.

YFGF in the press, thanks to Joe Gold!

This photo —in cropped form— appears on the back page of the current issue of All About Beer Magazine (Vol. 32, #3):

On the left, that's Joe Gold —founder and co-organizer of Baltimore Beer Week— with me (Yours For Good Fermentables.com), on the right. He's carefully clutching the Star-Spangled Banger, the Week's official cask mallet.

The photo was snapped by Dominic Cantalupo —a fellow organizer of Baltimore Beer Week— at the Week's official kick-off party, hosted by the Brewer's Association of Maryland (BAM), at the Pratt Street Ale House, in October of 2009, the first year for the Week.

In the magazine, the photo accompanies an essay by Joe Gold, entitled:
IT'S MY ROUND
Is it the Culture-Or the Beer?

Gold discusses his youthful adventures in London, England, at Young's Brewery, now closed (it's operations moved to Charles Wells Brewery). Last year, Gold wrote a similar piece, for YFGF, in which he recounted his first-ever experience with cask-conditioned ale, at Young's.

A thank you to both Joe and Dominic, and to All About Beer.

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• Joe Gold is currently the National Sales Manager for Heavy Seas Brewing, of Baltimore, Maryland.
• Caveat lector: As a representative for Select Wines, Inc. —a wine and beer wholesaler in northern Virgina— I sell the beers of Heavy Seas.

Pic(k) of the Week: Ride a Bike to Work Day

Friday, 20 May 2011, was Bike to Work Day in the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area. A server at Fire Works Pizzeria, in Arlington, Virginia, did her part.

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Pic(k) of the Week: one in a weekly series of personal photos, often posted on Saturdays, and often, but not always, with a good fermentable as a subject.