Tap Time from Sept 6th w/Josiah Moody

Tap Time radio show from Sept 6th is posted, with Josiah Moody discussing what's happening at Bike Rack Brewing in Bentonville and also what's up with his Moody Brews brand.  Check it out below:  

Arkansas Beer Buzz #6 with Josiah Moody and Brandon Mize

Recorded Jan 25th, 2017: Randy and I chat with Josiah Moody of Moody Brews about his upcoming move from Vino's to Bike Rack Brewing and also Brandon Mize about his move from Lost Forty Brewing to Vino's to replace Josiah! Lots of changes in the Arkansas beer scene to discuss while we drink a delicious Moody Brews 2017 Katchiri's Bier. Check it out!

 

Video: Earl Grey ESB In The Making

It looks like this excellent video was uploaded to YouTube by user LemkeNewsroom back on Dec 11th, but hey I'm still drinking this Earl Grey ESB every time I get the chance so I'm still talking about it. Check out a cool video with my heroes Josiah Moody (Moody Brews) and Sammi Stephenson (Apple Blossom) brewing up some deliciousness:

Arkansas Brewing Collaboration by Ashton Eley

"Fayetteville's Apple Blossom is partnering with Josiah Moody, founder and master brewer of Little Rock's Moody Brews, to create an Earl Grey ESB. "This is a quirky session beer," Moody said. "It has a big citrus and black tea aroma, but also has a very approachable, nutty malt. With each sip, these attributes stand out differently and keep the palate guessing." 

From the Colonial Tasting Bar: Moody Brews

Consider me a HUGE fan of the Moody Brews Half Seas Over beer. I picked up an 8-pack myself and have been easily working my way through it. It's just so easy-to-drink yet very satisfying for a hop head like me. More please!

Now check out this cool video posted by the fine folks at Colonial Wine & Spirits in West Little Rock from their tasting and launch:

"Moody Brews founder Josiah Moody visits the Colonial Tasting Bar with Half Seas Over, his first Imperial IPA!" 

An Update From Vino's Head Brewer Josiah Moody

It's time to catch up with Vino's head brewer Josiah Moody on what's going on there lately and what they have coming up this Spring. 

ArkBeerScene: Last time I was by Vino's Brewpub (earlier this week) you had a nice Saison on tap and it seems like you've had several of those lately, what's been going on there?

Josiah Moody: Yeah, it's the Slaughterhouse Series of Saisons. Slaughterhouse is a reference to my former assistant, Brian Youngblood (who goes by "Slaughter"), who moved out to L.A. and became level 2 Cicerone certified, which is a big deal, so to kind of celebrate that we did this series. He'd been home brewing with a French Saison yeast and we brought that in to the brewery and to keep it interesting we change it up. I don't know what it is about it that just makes me keep experimenting but I can't brew just a straight-up Saison. This is the 2nd year of it and I've done everything from mangoes and habanero peppers to pluots to the most recent, an experimental hop called HBC 342, a New Zealand strain. I thought it came out with lots of melons, tropical fruit... that kind of stuff. I was pleased with it. Currently in the fermenter is a blood orange Saison which I think I'm going to add hibiscus flowers to. I was just talking to the good folks at Loblolly Creamery today actually and they convinced me to add some hibiscus. I've actually learned a lot about working with fruit from them. You know, that's what they do, and do it very well. They give me a lot of tips along the way.

ABS: So that's going to wrap up the Slaughterhouse Series?

JM: For the foreseeable future it is. We've got some other projects so I'll probably move the Slaughterhouse off for a little while.

ABS: Other projects you can share?

JM: I've been jonesing to do my single hop Amarillo IPA, one of my favorite beers I've made. Pinnacle IPA is more of an British vs American IPA, British malts with a heavy dose of American hops. The Amarillo IPA is obviously BIG on Amarillo hops, strong and distinct. Coming soon.

ABS: I also noticed some new nitro taps in Vinos the other day?

JM: Yeah, we did that for St. Paddy's Day, barely got it in, we already had Guinness tap so we had nitrogen gas going in so I split that line and added our refurbished nitro tap and put our Oatmeal Stout on for St. Patrick's and it will stay on probably indefinitely.

ABS: It sounds like Left Hand Brewing is trying to trademark the name nitro, better be careful. Ha.

JM: I'm so surprised, you know Left Hand is such a solid brewery that doesn't seem to be so corporate I guess. Nitro is nitro! There are thousands of tap handles all over the country referred to as nitro. Now they were probably one of the pioneers of putting it in a can, like Guinness.

ABS: It seems the industry as a whole now, the gloves are off a bit. There weren't as many and everybody was friendlier maybe and now there aren't as many pieces of pie? We'll see where it goes, maybe that's a whole interview itself. New subject, I saw some casks in the brewery the other day?

JM: Yes, 15 1/2 gallon cask kegs, 3 of them. I pulled off Oatmeal Stout as the base and added molasses to each as priming sugar. Added cocoa nibs to one, G3 Coffee beans to the second and added little of both to third one for more of a mocha style. Those will be coming as the standard Oatmeal Stout comes off.

ABS: Sounds great. Last question I had for you. It's almost baseball season, my favorite sport, and I'm hearing you guys won't have any beer at Dickey-Stephens Park this year for the Arkansas Traveler's games? As long as I can remember you have!

JM: It's with some regret that I will say we are not doing the ballpark this year. It's a combination of factors. Summer is our busiest time for sales with patios open and people out so it's enough to keep our beers and keep experimenting in the restaurant. So adding 30 kegs over to the park, when I only make 7 at a time, takes a chunk out. In effect it means I don't get to do pilsner, I don't get to experiment... we're going to just have to pull back.

ABS: I see. You're shipping beer up to Jonesboro's Vino's location now too right?

JM: Yes, we are. We have 1 tap and rotate our beers, maybe 6 kegs a month. We're starting to get around town, that's part of the calculus about pulling back from the park. I probably get more bang for the buck getting a keg out to the local establishments and the keg will last a bit long and get more exposure.

ABS: Once again, thanks for your time and we'll be talking to you again soon as I hope!

You can sample some of Josiah's excellent work for yourself at Vino's Brewpub. Get a growler while you're there.

Beer Spotlight: Vino's Pulaski Pilsner

OK, let's start at the basics. Pilsner (also pilsener or simply pils) is a type of pale lager. It took its name from the city of Pilsen (Plzeň, Bohemia, Czech Republic, where it was first produced in 1842). In my opinion it's a delicious style of beer that doesn't get the respect they deserve. Personally I love them more so during the hot Arkansas summer months, but drink them year-round. It seems lately in this world of big imperial IPAs and super-hopped this-and-thats it's a style that's definitely becoming harder to find. A few of my favorites include Victory Prima Pils, Boulevard KC Pils, Marshall Old Pavillion, Oskar Blues Mama's Little Yella Pils and North Coast Scrimshaw Pils.

Locally a new one made it's way into the market in the last few weeks, and that's Vino's Brewpub's Pulaski Pilsner, a flavorful, golden-yellow, refreshing beer thats a nice representation of the style. I talked to Vino's head brewer for the last 3 years, Josiah Moody, about the beer and thought I'd share some insight. Obviously, this interview is much more enjoyable over a pilsner too, so pour one up and read on.

ArkBeerScene (ABS): So what made you decide to make a pilsner?

Josiah: It's the wrong time of year really as we're sitting here in January of an especially cold Winter this year. It's just that I had been brewing stouts, porters, a swartzbier, which is a dark lager, and an imperial dark IPA. So all of these dark beers and I just said "let's do something classic and refreshing" which is really why a pilsner came out in sort of a weird time of the year. I usually keep that to the Summer.

ABS: Really there aren't a lot of pilsners coming out at all lately.

Josiah: Ya know pilsners are also harder to do, to do true pilsner styles. They require more time to ferment, you can't turn it out as quick, but you're still producing a session beer. So in a lot of ways it doesn't make the most economic sense to do... same price as ales but take twice as long to make. You could make blonde ales or American wheats much faster and they have similar light notes. They won't have the crispness though, a trademark of the pils. And again, as simple as they are, I think they're hard to pull off. It shows your technique in making a clean beer, there's no way to cover mistakes up say with caramel malts or something.

ABS: So was this a new recipe or were you tweaking on some older one? Did you have some other pils in mind as you were coming up with this?

Josiah: I slightly tweaked an older Vino's recipe. Sure though, their style isn't open to loads of interpretation. Pilsner Urquell is the gold standard. I am an unabashed hop head, I just love it, and that's one of the fun things about a good pils, fun to brew, is that you can actually make it really hoppy. You are limited to the style of hop you want to use, that being noble hops, I used Hallertau, so you can still make it hoppy but in a very "European" way, very different than the American pungent hops. They're more refined, earthy and grassy. It's a fun way to slide in that hop fix I have to have.

ABS: OK, let's say it's Super Bowl Sunday and you're not drinking your pilsner, what are the top pilsners you'd have in the fridge?

Josiah: Well, the Reverb Imperial Pilsner from Boulevard, the KC Pils from Boulevard is delicious. Pilsner Urquell is certainly there, I mean how do you overlook that? Hmmm. Man there are not just loads of pilsners to choose from. North Coast Scrimshaw is another great one.

ABS: Last question I have for you, are you going to be making this one again soon as the temps warm up?

Josiah: Oh yea, well I don't have a time frame, I've made myself 5 new brews that I want to do before it gets too crazy in the Summer, but I still want to do the pils again before the Summer.

Vino's Pulaski Pilsner 

IBU: 37.1
ABV: 5.39%
Malts: Pilsner malts, Vienna for body
Hops: Noble Hops (Hallertau)
Gravity: 1054

https://untappd.com/b/vino-s-brew-pub-pulaski-pilsner/413657