From the Brewer: Intrinsic Smokehouse and Brewery Collab Update

When we first racked into the Intrinsic Smokehouse and Brewery collaboration barrels, the Facebook community Milk The Funk was abuzz with questions. Having used all Ohio malt from Haus Malts, Texas hay and smoked honey infused with rosemary, cilantro, thyme, and a spontaneous Texas culture, many people were understandably excited. On the thread about the collab/brewing process, someone asked if we would write a blog post about our first trial of the barrels, which I said I would do. So here we are three months and four days later, and the barrels taste…fantastic.

Aroma: The barrels have an amazing aroma of light smoke, citrus, and intense rosemary. The smoke aromatics are restrained and not offensive — almost like a light whiff of BBQ from your next-door neighbor.

Taste: Extremely clean lactic acid, accentuated by the savory rosemary/smoke flavor. Again a light lemon-like citrus flavor enhances the overall flavor of this beer. Rounding out the taste is a hint of brettanomyces funk that provides depth.

Process: As always, we let this beer age in barrels for three months before we tasted it. All barrels are close to finishing — or are finished — fermenting. Total titratable acid is high on all except one barrel. We will continue to taste and let the beer evolve, as we see a fair amount of yeast and bacteria still in suspension.

Recipe:
85% Efficiency
8.5bbl Batch

Grist:
Pilsner — 275 lb.
Oat Malt — 55 lb.
Spelt — 55 lb.
Texas Hay — 10 lb.

Hops:
60 Minutes — Columbus — 7 oz.

Whirlpool:
Rosemary Smoked Honey — 60 lb.