V3
Beer Name: Bullhead
Style: Vienna Ale
ABV: 5.0%
IBU: 31
Color: A shade of gold that draws you in like a tractor beam and demands you drink it
Cheese Pairing: Petit Basque.
Food Pairing: Bigass hot dogs.
Music Pairing (Jimbo's Choice): "June Bug" by the Melvins
Music Pairing (Jared's Choice): "Bar-X the Rocking M" by the Melvins or "Prig" by the Melvins (but only the first like two minutes)
Best Occasion to Drink: Before, during, and after getting lost in a corn maze for like three hours.
Brewers' Notes: Bullhead. Our unicorn. This beer was originally created to be a wet hop beer way back in 2016! We partnered up with* our friends at Four Star Farms in central Mass and Blue Ox Malthouse outta Maine to make a malty, lightly bready base beer that would really let them some wet-hop Rakau shine! ...but the fates conspired against us and there was an issue with hop harvesting (it rained on our brewday and you can't harvest on a rainy day) so it ended up being a beer made with normal hops like how chumps do it.
But there was a silver lining! We ended up liking that beer so much that a few months later we decided to use the same recipe to test the mettle and the merits of a new (to us) maltster! That was also quite delightful, but it left us with a cold hankerin' for the original idea that birthed this beer...
Turnin' the clocks forward several more months, we entered hop season again! And then as we stood at the ready with mash paddles in-hand, Problems arose. The nice folks over at Four Star Farms weren't able to harvest any Rakau this year for Farming Reasons that we don't entirely understand. It's a huge bummer, to say the least, underscored by the fact that we - once again - had to make another batch of regular ol' delicious Bullhead instead of the wet hop one (I mean, we had all the other stuff on hand). So we did! And it's so good, you guys.
*Bought stuff from
Style: Vienna Ale
ABV: 5.0%
IBU: 31
Color: A shade of gold that draws you in like a tractor beam and demands you drink it
Cheese Pairing: Petit Basque.
Food Pairing: Bigass hot dogs.
Music Pairing (Jimbo's Choice): "June Bug" by the Melvins
Music Pairing (Jared's Choice): "Bar-X the Rocking M" by the Melvins or "Prig" by the Melvins (but only the first like two minutes)
Best Occasion to Drink: Before, during, and after getting lost in a corn maze for like three hours.
Brewers' Notes: Bullhead. Our unicorn. This beer was originally created to be a wet hop beer way back in 2016! We partnered up with* our friends at Four Star Farms in central Mass and Blue Ox Malthouse outta Maine to make a malty, lightly bready base beer that would really let them some wet-hop Rakau shine! ...but the fates conspired against us and there was an issue with hop harvesting (it rained on our brewday and you can't harvest on a rainy day) so it ended up being a beer made with normal hops like how chumps do it.
But there was a silver lining! We ended up liking that beer so much that a few months later we decided to use the same recipe to test the mettle and the merits of a new (to us) maltster! That was also quite delightful, but it left us with a cold hankerin' for the original idea that birthed this beer...
Turnin' the clocks forward several more months, we entered hop season again! And then as we stood at the ready with mash paddles in-hand, Problems arose. The nice folks over at Four Star Farms weren't able to harvest any Rakau this year for Farming Reasons that we don't entirely understand. It's a huge bummer, to say the least, underscored by the fact that we - once again - had to make another batch of regular ol' delicious Bullhead instead of the wet hop one (I mean, we had all the other stuff on hand). So we did! And it's so good, you guys.
*Bought stuff from
V2
Beer Name: Bullhead
Style: Vienna Ale
ABV: 5.8%
IBU: 29
Color: Burnt sienna.
Cheese Pairing: Wensleydale.
Food Pairing: Puff pastry filled with goat cheese.
Music Pairing (Jimbo's Choice): "Blood Witch" by the Melvins
Music Pairing (Jared's Choice): "Rat Faced Granny" by the Melvins
Best Occasion to Drink: Early afternoon on a not-quite-spring morning, as you make an ill-advised attempt to wear a skirt and/or shorts before it's really warm enough out.
Brewer's Notes: We originally brewed this beer to celebrate the (then ongoing) hop harvest whilst testing out the grainy goodness from our (at the time) new malty friends over at Blue Ox. And ever since then, we haven't been able to stop thinking about it. So! When we made some new malt friends (don't worry, there's plenty more Blue Ox beers to come) - specifically the fine folks at Two Track Malting* - we figured that the best test of their mettle would be our beloved Bullhead. So here it is! Whether you were a fan of the original, or you're new to this malty masterpiece, you're in for a treat.
* They like to use the phrase "field to pint," meaning we have the ability to know the exact field each bag of grain was grown in. Pretty durn cool.
Style: Vienna Ale
ABV: 5.8%
IBU: 29
Color: Burnt sienna.
Cheese Pairing: Wensleydale.
Food Pairing: Puff pastry filled with goat cheese.
Music Pairing (Jimbo's Choice): "Blood Witch" by the Melvins
Music Pairing (Jared's Choice): "Rat Faced Granny" by the Melvins
Best Occasion to Drink: Early afternoon on a not-quite-spring morning, as you make an ill-advised attempt to wear a skirt and/or shorts before it's really warm enough out.
Brewer's Notes: We originally brewed this beer to celebrate the (then ongoing) hop harvest whilst testing out the grainy goodness from our (at the time) new malty friends over at Blue Ox. And ever since then, we haven't been able to stop thinking about it. So! When we made some new malt friends (don't worry, there's plenty more Blue Ox beers to come) - specifically the fine folks at Two Track Malting* - we figured that the best test of their mettle would be our beloved Bullhead. So here it is! Whether you were a fan of the original, or you're new to this malty masterpiece, you're in for a treat.
* They like to use the phrase "field to pint," meaning we have the ability to know the exact field each bag of grain was grown in. Pretty durn cool.
V1
Beer Name: Bullhead
Style: Vienna Ale
ABV: 5.0%
IBU: 31
Color: Shines like burnished brass, topped with a creamy cap of foam.
Cheese Pairing: Havarti, preferably with dill.
Food Pairing: A big honkin' soft pretzel, slathered with beer cheese and tangy mustard.
Music Pairing (Jimbo's Choice): It's Shoved by the Melvins
Music Pairing (Jared's Choice): Boris by the Melvins
Best Occasion to Drink: Early afternoon on a crisp fall morning, as you make an ill-advised attempt to wear a skirt and/or shorts just one more time before the weather gets cold.
Brewer's Notes: We wanted a beer that would help us celebrate the ongoing hop harvest - while simultaneously showcasing some tasty-ass grains from our new friends at Blue Ox Malthouse - so we dreamt up own spin on a classic Oktoberfest staple and brewed the heck outta this light-bodied yet malt-forward easy drinker! Since we ain't exactly about rigid adherence to style guidelines around here (and since the original style is a lager, which ain't exactly in our brewing wheelhouse), we also decided to go on ahead and chuck in a bucket or two fulla some fresh 'n' fruity hops from Four Star Farms, which ends up giving an overall impression of jam on toast. Not bad for a morning's drinking.
Style: Vienna Ale
ABV: 5.0%
IBU: 31
Color: Shines like burnished brass, topped with a creamy cap of foam.
Cheese Pairing: Havarti, preferably with dill.
Food Pairing: A big honkin' soft pretzel, slathered with beer cheese and tangy mustard.
Music Pairing (Jimbo's Choice): It's Shoved by the Melvins
Music Pairing (Jared's Choice): Boris by the Melvins
Best Occasion to Drink: Early afternoon on a crisp fall morning, as you make an ill-advised attempt to wear a skirt and/or shorts just one more time before the weather gets cold.
Brewer's Notes: We wanted a beer that would help us celebrate the ongoing hop harvest - while simultaneously showcasing some tasty-ass grains from our new friends at Blue Ox Malthouse - so we dreamt up own spin on a classic Oktoberfest staple and brewed the heck outta this light-bodied yet malt-forward easy drinker! Since we ain't exactly about rigid adherence to style guidelines around here (and since the original style is a lager, which ain't exactly in our brewing wheelhouse), we also decided to go on ahead and chuck in a bucket or two fulla some fresh 'n' fruity hops from Four Star Farms, which ends up giving an overall impression of jam on toast. Not bad for a morning's drinking.