Side Project Brewing is once again elevating its beer blending game and releasing a new dry-hopped version of its popular Grisette.
I’ve always been a fan of mixing beers and wrote about my experiences last year. Mixing beers, or blending beers makes for a new experience with every glass. Not every blend is a winner, but it’s a fun process.
Beer blending is also among one of the most essential facets of brewing. Many breweries combine batches of beer to create consistency. By adding a bit of water, brewers can lessen a lager’s unwanted sulfurous aroma or dilute a boozy beer. The distinct aromas of an IPA come from distinct hop blends. Moreover, breweries merge different beer styles to create a flavorful new ground.
Next week Side Project Brewing will release its latest blending project, Continuance.
“Continuance is a brother series to Derivation, a series of blended beers, all from our clean-barrel warehouse of Imperial Stouts, Barleywines, Adambiers, and other non-sour, Spirit Barrel-Aged Beers,” wrote the brewery on its blog.
Continuance is an idea to creating a series of beers that showcases Side Projects blending capabilities, but focusing exclusively on non-sour, Spirit Barrel-Aged Beers. “We also wanted an outlet to experiment with using adjuncts in something other than stouts, as you will see in Continuance Blend #2 – Single Barrel-Aged M.J.K. with Cinnamon and Vanilla,” wrote Side Project.
The Process
The brewing team used one of their favorite beers, For Gabe as their base. The blending took place over 2 days and included the following beers in the blend.
- M.J.K. – a Barrel-Aged English Barleywine
- Anabasis – a Barrel-Aged American Barleywine
- Omega – a Barrel-Aged Stout brewed for Derivation and Beer : Barrel : Time blending
- Vibes – a Barrel-Aged Stout brewed for Derivation and Beer : Barrel : Time blending
- D5 – a Barrel-Aged Stout for Derivation blending
- … (ellipses) – a Barrel-Aged Stout for Derivation and Beer : Barrel : Time blending
Blending for Continuance Blend #1 took place over a 2-day blending session. The blend is 45.3% Barrel-Aged Barleywine and 54.7% Barrel-Aged Stout.
“As always, we blend to taste, blindly, so we are not influenced by anything other than our palates,” wrote Side Project. “These beers rested in their barrels of Willett 4 year Bourbon, Willett 8 year Bourbon, Buffalo Trace, BLiS Maple Bourbon, and Rittenhouse Rye for 32 to 50 months.
Continuance Blend #1 will be released through Side Project’s online shop for reservations on Tuesday, April 20th, and are allowing for 14 days to pick it up (proxies are welcome).
Dry-Hopped Grisette Blend #1
Grisette is one of the Side Project’s most endearing beers. The European Session Blonde Farmhouse Ale sits in Chardonnay barrels for 6 months with Brettanomyces and Lactobacillus. From my count, the brewery created 8 different blends of Grisette.
“As we have evolved, we have looked for ways to continue to elevate and experiment with our favorite beers,” said Rachel Manning, the events manager for the brewery. “Grisettes is inspired by the soft session beers of Belgium with its blond color, notes of floral European hops, and a delicate bright finish.
Side Project brewers gently dry-hopped this Foedre Aged Farmhouse Ale with New Zealand Pacifica and Slovenian Styrian Golding Hops. Next, it aged in a Missouri Oak Foedre for several months before naturally conditioning it in bottles.
You can purchase Dry-Hopped Grisette Blend #1 online right now.
