DIVINATION #1 - 9% ABV

Divination #1 is the first in a series of brews experimenting with wine and beer hybrids and was served for the first time at the 2012 Hart House Craft Beer Festival,. A mixed fermentation IPA brewed with Belgian, wine and champagne yeasts. Primary fermentation with Belgian ale yeast before being blended with 20% active Chardonnay lees (originally destined for a sparkling wine). After 3 weeks of secondary fermentation we added Champagne yeast to finish the beer. Aromas of peach and mango with a touch of oak. Citrus upfront in the taste with a juicy hop bite and sweet chardonnay in the middle leading into a dry finish. Special thanks to Flat Rock Winery for their expertise and assistance in the brewing process.

Hey everyone,

Blake here from The Amsterdam Brewing Company. Wanted to fill you all in on a little trip Amsterdam brewers Iain, Cody and myself (wannabe brewer) took to wine country last weekend to pick up some oak barrels. We’re gonna use these 228L, French oak beauties to make some amazing beer. Not going to say what kind… yet… But there’s reason for excitement. Boo Yeah!

So we start the day early. It’s a beautiful January Saturday morning. Ian and Cody are first at the brewery and loaded up some beer samples to take as a gift for the wine guys. Being a brewers you gotta share the love, right? I rolled in a little later than the planned on meeting time due to some unaccounted for festivities that tend to happen on Friday nights in Toronto…. but we loaded into the van and were off. Here’s Cody’s seat:

The destination winery was Flat Rock Cellars in Jordan, Ontario. We met Greg, the assistant winemaker there and he had all our barrels ready to go. We ended up getting 2 white wine and 2 red wine barrels from 2007 - Beautiful year. Greg also was kind enough to take us for a tour of the facilities at Flat Rock Cellars and gave us a few sips right out of the barrels in their cellar room which was very, very cool.

I always thought that I only liked red wines, but after this trip I realized there are some excellent local Ontario white wines available. I’m a big fan of Ontario Rieslings now.

After a late lunch and a quick drive around lake Ontario we were back in Toronto with some new things to play with at the brewery. Can’t wait till Iain and Cody brew into these barrels and we all get to try the beer!

Cheers,

Blake