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!

 

Last Night In Little Rock, Put Me In A Haze

To kick off this new year, we decided on a whim to hit all of the central Arkansas breweries yesterday and see what's up. I'm going to call it the "Central Arkansas Hop District" as opposed to whatever name people trying to make money selling t-shirts and such come up with. There are 5 breweries all within about 2 miles of each other in downtown Little Rock and North Little Rock. Each offers something different, each is quite unique, each have their own charms and here's the kicker... they all make beer. See how this works?

I've done the Fayetteville Ale Trail a couple of times (all in 1 day once actually) and love it, but the difference is that around Little Rock the breweries are all packed pretty tightly. We actually are going to walk the entire thing often I'm sure, but yesterday's rain and cold made that not sound like much fun.

So we decided while finding something for lunch that Arkansas Ale House sounded like a good place to eat. And hey if you're having a beer at a brewery at noon on a Saturday, why in the world WOULDN'T you just hit them all? AMIRIGHT?

The new Diamond Bear brewery is really great. There is tons of room, free parking, really good food in the restaurant and a nice atmosphere. I had their Oatmeal Stout, a very nice version of the style. We hit the grandfather of Arkansas breweries, Vinos, next for a nice ESB, then Stone's Throw for a pint of their hot, hot, hot Chipolte Porter, which they're calling "Hawt"... for good reason. Great beer. Next we stopped by and visited with the great people at Blue Canoe over their milk stout, hit The Flying Saucer for a Saddlebock Java Stout (to keep the Arkansas theme going you know), then visited Little Rock's newest brewery, Lost Forty. These guys have just nailed it with everything they've done this first month. Excellent food, facility, atmosphere and oh yes... beer. I've called their operation "world class" and I mean it.

So there it is, the first of many days spent just wandering around the Central Arkansas Hop District. The beer lovers of this state should all do the same, and we actually saw many groups of people at multiple locations. Call some friends, make a plan, get a designated driver (or load the UBER app)... this is going to be HUGE.

The first pub crawl if 2015 begins at @Diamond_Bear Just like Marty McFly planned it. pic.twitter.com/JJVlQfIbw0
— Woo Pig Brewey! (@WooPigBrewey) January 3, 2015

Rain hasn't dampened the enthusiasm on the pub crawl. Knocked out an ESB at @VinosBrewPubLR on stop 2. pic.twitter.com/NAp4KmznAQ
— Woo Pig Brewey! (@WooPigBrewey) January 3, 2015

Like it hot? Get some of this Chipolte Porter at @StonesThrowBrew right now. Wow! #NailedIt pic.twitter.com/UX19oOin4N
— Woo Pig Brewey! (@WooPigBrewey) January 3, 2015

Nice crowd at @bluecanoebrewco for the Hogs game and nice line-up of brews. #LocalBeerDay pic.twitter.com/xt5yJFYNC4
— Woo Pig Brewey! (@WooPigBrewey) January 3, 2015

The pub crawl ends at the kick ass @lost40beer taproom. If you haven't been here, you should. World class. pic.twitter.com/oCKcTeEQ1W
— Woo Pig Brewey! (@WooPigBrewey) January 4, 2015

Arkansas At GABF By The Numbers

It doesn't take long to recap Arkansas' history in the grandaddy of American beer festivals, Great American Beer Festival, running October 2nd through the 4th this year in Denver, Co. But we're sending some big hitters this year to bring home some hardware as Apple Blossom, Core, Diamond Bear and Saddlebock all head to the mountains with some tasty Arkansas made brews in tow. With the state's craft beer scene really just beginning to take off in the last few years, it may be surprising to some that we actually do have a nice history at the festival dating back to our first medal in 2003.

Here's my historical breakdown, by the numbers...

1 - medal for Boscos Little Rock
2 - medals for Vino's Pizza Pub
2 - the most medals for 1 beer (Diamond Bear Pale Ale & Vino's Rock Hopera)
2 - the most medals in 1 year for the state (2007 & 2005)
3 - total number of gold medals for the state
3 - number of breweries in Arkansas to claim medals
5 - medals for Diamond Bear Brewery, the state's leader
6 - years since the state claimed a medal
7 - total medals for the state of Arkansas

(click to enlarge)

A Few Pics From The 1st Hot Springs Craftbeer Festival

I went down to Hot Springs for their inaugural craft beer festival last weekend and had a great time. I didn't take a whole lot of pictures but I'll share a few. I got to try a couple of the first beers from Superior Bathhouse Brewing (a Kolsch and a pale ale) and was pleased. Lots of excitement for them going on with huge wait lines to try out the new stuff. I sat around their tasting room a few times during the day drinking from their quality tap selection also. Great addition to Hot Springs IMO.

So you know the routine at these... walk around with your tiny cup, talk about beer, get tipsy, talk more about beer, pee a lot, etc...

Enjoyed an Evil Twin Low Life Pils at Superior to start

Some drafts at Maxine's, home of a Leaky Roof Meads tap takeover later in the night

Capone's Ohio Club is a cool old bar

The Copper Penny Pub has Founders taps

Rebel Kettle table

Piney River table

Stone's Throw table

The Founders All Day IPA truck

Founders table

Vino's table

Ended the day with a Founders Devil Dancer at Superior

Video: Crafting a Legacy with Vino's Brewpub

Not sure how I haven't seen this until now, but check out this great video from Arkansas Life on Little Rock's own Vino's Brewpub. Great stuff here on one of my favorite all-time breweries.

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.

New Brew: Vino's Sweet P Honey Rye Porter

It looks like Josiah, head brewer at Vino's Brew Pub, is at it again. Their latest brew is called "Sweet P" and it's a honey rye porter and should be tapped today.

Here's more specs for you:

Malts: 37% honey malt, 9% rye

IBU: 26
ABV: 6.5%

He says "This is all about malt complexity. Chocolate, honey and spicy rye malt flavors behind a clean, Northern Brewer hop profile."

Here's your link on Untappd: https://untappd.com/b/vino-s-brew-pub-sweet-p/581118

If you missed my profile on their Pulaski Pilsner you can catch-up right here.

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