Hannah brews a beer at Red Brick

Let me begin by saying, Wednesday evening ended in an anticlimactic (but totally necessary) trip through the Del Taco drive thru.

In addition to enjoying a very tasty milk stout on tap (February is stout month, obviously. Yum.) I got to stick my nose in a little Mosaic when I visited Red Brick Wednesday night. A new, small batch brew was in the works. Hannah, super smarty who does accounting and social media for Red Brick, and the only woman I've seen who gets paid to hang around the place, was hard at work learning to brew a cream ale with some pretty special hops: Mosaic and Moteuka.

She plans to add strawberries in during secondary fermentation to give it some sweetness. With an estimated ABV of somewhere around 6.5% (I think I remembered that right) it will likely be a somewhat deceptively pale knockout of a beer. In other words, plan ahead. Attendance at the next brew off will likely require a late night drive thru of sorts.

Mosaic is a pretty tasty smelling hop variety with an aroma that broadcasts its family relation to Simcoe (a smell I am fondly familiar with by now). Terrapin is working on a beer that uses Mosaic, and after meeting said hop in person, Terrapin's side project is now on my must have list. It's purportedly scheduled for release sometime this year (March, please).

It should also be said that Hannah had some help from one of Red Brick's brewers, Steve Anderson, winner of the employee brew off I attended last year. You may remember him from this bit of creative genius. Steve is a man who really knows his stuff, and among other things, makes some pretty stellar collaboration brews with The Burnt Hickory as part of Anderson Bros. Brewing. From what I saw, he is also a very patient, very thorough brewing instructor.

Did I mention that it's stout month? Did I mention the stout they had on tap was amazing? Mildly sweet with a creamy mouth feel and a roasted coffee nuttiness. I had at least one glass. At least.

Although it's a bit of a hike from my neck of the woods, it's definitely worth the trip to Red Brick. If you haven't been, the place has a cozy, somewhat familial feel, from their tasting space, to the hands-on approach they take with their beer, to the people that they pay to run the place. It's good vibes. I'm only taking applications from good vibes these days. Also, they're pretty tolerant of my ubiquitous picture taking (another plus).

I'm definitely making up for last month by attending three beer related happenings this week. One more to go, and then a scheduled day of rest. And by day of rest, I mean another brew day on the home front (or so I hear).

Looking forward to trying that beer, Hannah.

Cheers!
hb