Working Man Goes To Beau’s

[GuingesRock]

“Working Man”, won the BOS and grand prize. Apparently the prize is, I can go to Beau's brew a commercial sized batch. Beau’s is now the largest organic beer brewery in Canada: http://beaus.ca/beaus-brewery-becomes-c ... anic-beer/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I started this thread to document the journey, and also to tap into this great resource (Brewnosers) if I may.

“Working Man” has won many awards and regularly scores in the mid 40’s. It has six Gold Medals and two Best of Show placings. The award that I am most proud of, apart from this one, is the gold it won at a big competition in New York City. This beer was first designed and brewed for Keith’s Advent Brewnosers’ beer exchange last December. It was the first of many fine beers to be presented.

“At one time, mild ale was the favorite drink of the English working man. It was a minimalist beer with low alcohol and low hops, with a flavour from tannins that was reminiscent of tea.”

It is a cheap beer to make (low ABV and low hops), and it’s ready to drink in a couple of weeks, so I’m hoping it will be popular and profitable for them.

Next year I would like to take my hobby in a different direction from competing, and one of the things I was thinking of was somehow/somewhere, to get my beers into commercial production, so this opportunity is perfect.

I have been thinking about this and making some preliminary enquiries. I emailed them with my ideas today.

I read from Tim’s thread, when he did this, that there was some difficulty getting the ingredients because they use only organic, but the ingredients in this beer are very basic. I had a concern about the yeast though, because it needs to be Conan …then, I think Jimmy posted about a new yeast bank, was it in Ontario, that has conan and supplies commercial breweries?

I also wondered about contacting the NSLC, and giving them a spiel about the beer and the awards etc, and see if they would pre-order for NSLC stores. Is that a pipe dream or a possibility? I had thought of contacting Jennifer Katona there. Would she be the best person?

Any help or ideas would be very much appreciated, and I will update as things go along.

Beau's 1.jpg

Beau's 2.jpg

I really enjoyed the taste I had. Well done!

Thinking I may brew up 15 gallons of this sans jasmine. Need some quaffable beer around for the holidays.

Thanks for sending me the bottle. I don't review beer often but I can give'r a try.

Appearance: Dark brown. Pours crystal clear. Some head that fades. Good carbonation.

Aroma: Chocolate predominates. Stronger but similar aroma to mine. Little hops aroma.

Taste: Biscuity and chocolate up front. Finished with a roasted smoke flavour. Reminiscent of a stout/porter. Definitely want a second sip. Minimal bitterness.

Overall it's delicious!

Aroma – Malty, Chocolate low hop aroma.
Appearance – Dark brown to style
Flavor – Nicely malty, chocolate & dark sugars. Higher in hop than style. No jasmine.
Mouthfeel – Surprisingly full for the ABV and style.
Total score 41
Love this style and can’t find enough examples.

Sandy

also an advent cheater here. I'll provide some feedback:

It tastes like malt balls from my childhood (like whoppers, but the really big ones that aren't really whoppers) or Ovaltine.

malt balls

Marks new name!

Sandy

Nice job on the beer mark. Drinking it now while brewing up a 5 gallon batch of my American Wheat.

I had it last night after midnight so it technically wasn't cheating!

I found it good, roasty, very mild as described. I could definitely taste the earthiness and grassiness from the EKG. Personally I'm not a fan of EKG due to that earthy flavour, but in this brew is was very subtle and worked well.

Thanks!

Well done, Mark. I really enjoyed it after working all day! I'd definitely drink this on the regular.

G Rock just finished your beer and really enjoyed it. Well balanced and I like the malt backbone. I thought this thread would have lit up by now with reviews. Only issue with this beer is I don't have another one.

Thanks for this, Mark! Enjoyed it when I had it before, and enjoying it again.

When it's cold (regular fridge temp), it's way more bitter and less flavourful. Let it warm up a bit, and then it's really at its best.

-Keely.

I quite enjoyed #1 and could definitely see drinking more of it.

For the record, I both tasted and sensed jasmine. Would I have been able to identify the flavor as jasmine if I hadn't been primed? Possibly not and it would have driven me batshit insane. The the additional tannic sensation is an interesting touch; beer that makes your mouth water for more beer. And like a lot of English styles, definitely better when you let it warm up a little from fridge temperature.

Great start to the month. Thanks!

Great way to start the month. Proper job.

Yeah, it's better at crawl space temperature. I liked the mouthfeel, it tasted fuller than the low gravity would suggest.

Das Bier!

Thanks for this one Mark. Like the others, I enjoyed it more and more as it warmed up from my fridge temp. By the end I was gulping it and looking around for another.

Really enjoying this and totally surprised at the amount of body the beer has. I'd like a little less chocolate malt flavour, but that's just a personal preference.

Getting some of the jasmine now that the glass is warming up. Quite nice.

Eric and I enjoyed tonights sampling. ..while he was wiring up a temp controller.
Great body for a low abv beer...I like the amount of chocolate in it...great job

I really enjoyed it as well. Thought maybe a little less chocolate malt but then again it might be too thin without it.

Very well made beer, balanced, with nice mouthfeel. But not my thing, I really dislike tea and tea like flavours, which this beer has plenty of. Plenty of jasmine in the aftertaste.

I really like this beer, not my normal style at all but I am enjoying the body and back end flavors. I am surprised at the lower ABV......well done.

Sent from my Z10 using Tapatalk 2

The working man Chalmers brought over The Working Man to Charlottetown last night to share.

Nice clean flavour to it. Well done.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - new and degraded

my first impression is that I like it, but the entire beer seemed to melt away in my mouth leaving behind the jasmine flavour which, whilst I can't say I dislike it, I also can't say I like it. With every sip I found myself liking it a little more.

It's a good beer, but I'd have to try another to make a final decision.

I had this when I got home from work yesterday. Great beer, very enjoyable, definitely what the end of the work day calls for.

I enjoyed this. I'm not really sure what jasmine tastes like, and couldn't detect it. If I knew what I was looking for, it may be more noticeable.

finally starting my advent calendar. quite enjoying this, gave the bjcp style a read through and i think it fits very nicely. maybe a touch more body would be nice but not at all necessary. makes me want to brew a mild ... i might start january with 29 new brews on the planning sheet.

Pic By LiverDance.jpg

Pic by Hogie.jpg

[LeafMan66_67]

Given that it was an Advent beer last year, was the recipe ever posted? Would love to give it a shot to have around for those brunch time meals that need a beer.

[GuingesRock]

Given that it was an Advent beer last year, was the recipe ever posted? Would love to give it a shot to have around for those brunch time meals that need a beer.

Derek, I wasn't sure of the regulations from Beau's about the recipe being made public, so I took it out from the Advent thread for now, but decided I would PM people if they need it and if they agree not hand it on or post it online. If anyone wants to have a shot at it please PM me.

I sent you a PM. Good luck with it and give it your best shot!



ps. the recipe that won the Beau's thing was exactly the same mild ale (brewed the same with consistency ), but had no jasmine.

[LeafMan66_67]

Thanks!

[mcgster]

I'd be curious to try it as well. I'm certain there are no rules against you publishing your own recipes!

Given that it was an Advent beer last year, was the recipe ever posted? Would love to give it a shot to have around for those brunch time meals that need a beer.

Derek, I wasn't sure of the regulations from Beau's about the recipe being made public, so I took it out from the Advent thread for now, but decided I would PM people if they need it and if they agree not hand it on or post it online. If anyone wants to have a shot at it please PM me.

I sent you a PM. Good luck with it and give it your best shot!



ps. the recipe that won the Beau's thing was exactly the same mild ale (brewed the same with consistency ), but had no jasmine.

[GuingesRock]

I'd be curious to try it as well. I'm certain there are no rules against you publishing your own recipes!

Given that it was an Advent beer last year, was the recipe ever posted? Would love to give it a shot to have around for those brunch time meals that need a beer.

Derek, I wasn't sure of the regulations from Beau's about the recipe being made public, so I took it out from the Advent thread for now, but decided I would PM people if they need it and if they agree not hand it on or post it online. If anyone wants to have a shot at it please PM me.

I sent you a PM. Good luck with it and give it your best shot!



ps. the recipe that won the Beau's thing was exactly the same mild ale (brewed the same with consistency ), but had no jasmine.

Um, PM sent to one of my competitors on the BOTY

Good luck.

[mcgster]

Hahaha i'll call mine the "lazy man's mild"

[GuingesRock]

Hahaha i'll call mine the "lazy man's mild"

go for it, I'm backing out next year any way.

[GuingesRock]

Nice reply from my email at the weekend today:

Hi Mark,

Congratulations on the win - we're really excited for you and happy to know we'll be brewing together! Many thanks for the background information as well - sounds like brewing is definitely a hobby, passion, and award-collector for you!

In order to keep this process moving, I've included Beau's Brewmaster Matt, as well as our logistics manager, Phil, on this email. They'll be able connect regarding next steps.


Matt + Phil - please let you know if there is anything else you need from Becky and I right now.

Cheers,
Korina

[GuingesRock]

An email today from the logistics manager. The beer is to be released at their Oktoberfest next year, so wont be brewed until August/September.

[GuingesRock]

I sent them the full list of awards won by "Working Man" with a picture of some of them.

CABA - All About Ales 2014 – Gold
Homebrew Alley - New York City 2015 – Gold
ALES 2015 – Gold
Vanbrewer Awards 2015 – Bronze
Aurora Brewing Challenge 2015 – Gold & Third Place Best of Show
Great Canadian Homebrew Competition 2015 – Silver
Because Beer Competition 2015 – Silver & Bronze
National Capital Homebrew Competition 2015 – HM
Saskatoon Headhunters 2015 – Gold
MoB & Beau's Oktoberfest Homebrewing Competition 2015 - Gold & Best of Show

Brewmaster responded:

Holy! Super impressive! I look forward to working on this with you and meeting you Mark! As Phil noted, we can't use phosphoric but acidulated malt is a go, as is gypsum and I imagine epsom as well. We can't necessarily get the exact malts you mentioned but I am confident that a suitable equivalent exists for all of them in organic.

Cheers!

Also they are having a meeting this week and will discuss my proposal to try to get the NSLC to stock this.

Working Man Awards.jpg

[mcgster]

Is the red ribboned medal from the Sask comp?

[GuingesRock]

Is the red ribboned medal from the Sask comp?

Yes. You got one there too They are heavy solid metal. Was a great competition. http://saskatoonheadhunters.ca/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[mcgster]

I think everything was sent to NB so i haven't seen it yet!

[GuingesRock]

Working Man got another gold at the Winnipeg Pro-Am last night.

[GuingesRock]

Ty Keep ‏@blacktiebrewing 3h3 hours ago

@GuingesRock Tried your dark mild tonight (we finally divided the leftovers). Still damn tasty 2 mo. later.

Working Man.jpg

[gm-]

Glad that the jasmine is gone

[MitchK]

If this does wind up for sale at NSLC or rockhead I'll definitely pick up a few

[GuingesRock]

If this does wind up for sale at NSLC or rockhead I'll definitely pick up a few

I'll have to make another batch some time.

[GuingesRock]

Working Man.jpg

[jtmwhyte]

Working Man.jpg

These are awesome! I think I'm going to enter some comps in 2016. I've got a stable of recipes that I'd be confident entering now.

[GuingesRock]

I just replied to a query from Beau's about "the amount of time this beer will require for residency in a fermenter"

Thanks Korina, Thanks Phil,

My ales never spend long in the fermentor. 2 weeks max, and my lagers aren't far behind that.

This one is a low ABV (3.5%). Mild Ale is a "minimalistic" beer and was the favorite beer of the working man in England in the 17th century. If I remember right, mild ale later evolved in to the british bitter. I researched it when I first came up with the design over a year ago and I first brewed it Oct 11th 2014.

Minimalistic; as in low alcohol (3.5%), and low hops, and that makes it very cheap to make.

Because of the low ABV, fermentation time is minimal. It is a great beer and simple to make. I think it would be an ideal and interesting style for a commercial brewery. Many experienced judges have told me that mild ale is their favorite style when done well, and I have found that inexperienced craft beer drinkers find it very enjoyable also. Historically the style was said to be reminiscent of tea, because of the tannins present from the malts used.

Because it tastes a bit like tea, I have brewed two versions. One version was straight forward “Working Man Mild” and the other was “Working Man Meets Jasmine”. The Jasmine version had dried jasmine flowers added to the last 2.5 minutes of the boil. I thought “jasmine tea” is nice, and the jasmine might work in the beer also, and it did seem to work well. Both versions have won many golds.

The yeast is Conan which is an ancient ale yeast discovered and brought back from the UK by the Alchemist brewery and is the yeast they use in their famous “Heady Topper”. It has peach/apricot taste and aroma, but depending on the generation, this can be variable. I have a commercial brewer friend who gets his supply of Conan yeast from a place in Ontario. They only supply commercial brewers, but the brewer friend I know says he thought they would be delighted to supply to Beau’s for this brew as it would be a feather in their cap. Perhaps you already use this supplier? There’s some clues on how to use this yeast in a “Chop and Brew” video of a talk by John Kimmich, the Alchemist brewer. You need to read between the lines a bit, but at one point he talks about brewers complaining of under attenuation with this yeast, and he says they just don’t know how to brew with it. What he is referring to, I am fairly sure, is you have to let it warm up a bit after the initial active fermentation is over. Here’s the video and it’s a great watch in general also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdfySDN2mF0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I fermented mine for 3 days at 20C, and then let it ride at room temperature for 10 days, before chilling and force carbing. Might want to stop it going much above 25 as a big batch might go too high, although it seemed everything had really died down to a dead stop at the three day mark.

This beer does well in cold storage and that batch kept doing well for 6 months, right up until my supply ran out. Beer from that 11th Oct 2014 batch, which was a jasmine batch , was still winning golds in Feb 2015 at a big competition in New York City 22nd February 2015: http://homebrewalley.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;, April 2015 (Gold) at ALES, and (Gold & 3rd BOS) at Aurora at the end of May 2015.

The new batch that won at your competition was plain “Working Man” without Jasmine. That batch also won the following:
Great Canadian Homebrew Competition 2015 – Silver
Because Beer Competition 2015 – Silver
Saskatoon Headhunters 2015 – Gold
MoB & Beau's Oktoberfest Homebrewing Competition 2015 - Gold & Best of Show
Winnipeg Pro-Am 2015 – Gold

The first medal the Oct 11 batch won, was a gold at the Canadian Homebrewers Association “All about Ales” competition and Judging started for that competition 31st October when the beer was 3 weeks old.

I have some I’ve kept at cellar temperature too for aging. The cellar aged beer tastes good, but I haven’t sent any of that off to competitions.

It’s a toss-up between the Jasmine version and the plain version of “Working Man”. They have performed the same and both done very well, and it’s all to be credited to the 17th century hard working English men, who liked their beer.

I hope that isn’t too much detail. If it might be a consolation at all, it took me a long time to look up everything and get this email together.

Long story cut short. 2 weeks in the fermentor, then chill and carb and it’s pretty well ready for drinking right away, but a bit of time in cold storage might not go amiss.

Regards,
Mark

[GuingesRock]

Goig to brew this at Beau's Tuesday August 2nd. Worked out the chemistry with their water and brewing methods today. Should be good. The beer is now called "Punch Clock" because there is a brewery in the US named "Working Man". Their marketing department came up with the name. I like the name actually, it's weird enough that it arouses curiosity. I like that clock picture too. If anyone is in the area (Chalmers?) come and join in.

[jacinthebox]

That's awesome have fun

[LeafMan66_67]

Excellent! Have fun with it!