Wine Shop
APPARELCustomer Care
1-800-716-9463
To buy alcohol, we MUST have a copy of your Driver's License on file (not just the number).
Please fax to (269) 422-5038 or scan and email it to orders@roundbarnwinery.com.
Due to image quality, faxes should also include your name and birthdate written on the paper.
Recent Visit to The Round Barn Brewery
By Eric Strader - The Elkhart Truth | November 30, 2009
Recently I had the opportunity to spend some time with the new Round Barn Brewery head brewer, Jason Mattlock. Jason is new since my last visit which was before the summer and their busy season. Now that things are not as fast paced in the brew house, he is finding some time to "tweek" some of the recipes. Jason told me that all last summer he kept getting requests for special brews, but was just barely able to keep up with the demand of his regular house beers.
His background is chemistry and he was involved with wine making before coming to the Round Barn. As a child, he loved to create smoothies, and his mom would go out of her way to find exotic fruit that he could incorporate into his recipes. Jason has brought that creativity and passion to the Round Barn.
After spending some time in the brew house, we went up to the tap room to run through the RBB line up. We started with the Kolsch (4.6 ABV). Jason has taken the wheat malt out of the recipe and now uses all pilsen malt, and an American version of a German style hops. At some point he hopes to change the yeast strain to a truer Cologne yeast style. I liked this one and thought it was a nice malty beer with good drinkability.
We moved from there to the Amber Ale and the one I was really looking forward to, the Harvest Ale. The Harvest Ale is Jason's first recipe of his own design that he's brewed on a commercial scale. According to Jason, his goal was to create a beer that showcased hop flavor and aroma without being bitter and astringent. He told me "I wanted to get people that might not drink the IPA due to its finish to enjoy hops." Amarillo, Nugget, Centennial, and Cascade hops are used, and it is hopped during the mash as well as four times during the boil. The hop additions are very small initially and become exponentially larger to favor aroma and flavor. In addition, it is dry hopped as well as wet hopped with hops grown on the Round Barn property. Jason describes the nose as "fantastically citrusy with not so subtle notes of stone fruits as well." After all of that, you now know why I was so looking forward to this one. I was not disappointed, and I have a growler that will be opened at my Holiday Pottery Open House and Beer Tasting on Friday, December, 4 and Saturday December 5. Look for details in the next post.
The next beer and one of my favorites was the Oaked IPA (6.5% ABV). Recently I had picked up a 6-pack and was happy to be going right to the source. The grain bill for this beer is straight forward. They use a blend of North American Pilsen and Pale Malts balanced with a touch of dark caramel. Nugget hops are used for bittering with Cascade and Centennial hops for flavoring/aroma. Then the beer is dry hopped with a generous helping of Centennial hops. Previous batches have used Toasted French Oak Beans in the secondary tank for the oak aging. However, Jason found that the contact time was not sufficient to fully develop the desired wood flavors. Now he has begun to use an American Oak powder added during fermentation to provide the wood component to the beer. He is still dialing in the amount, but the current batch is in the bottle, and he opened one to sample when we were still in the brew house. Jason believes this method will allow Round Barn to have a beer that contains wood flavor without sacrificing the freshness of an American IPA. The technique of using oak powder is commonly used in wineries, which is where he got the idea. There will be a growler of Oaked IPA as well at my Holiday Pottery Open House and Beer Tasting.
The last two beers on tap were stouts, Chocolate Swartz, and their signature Cocoa Stout (milk stout at 4.7% ABV) which is served on nitrogen instead of CO2. This stout is extremely smooth with flavors of chocolate and roasted malts.
Round Barn Beers are available locally in 6-packs at Chalet Party Shoppe and City Wide Liquors. Or if you are up for a drive, the Round Barn Winery, Distillery, and Brewery is about 56 miles from my house in Goshen, which usually takes around an hour driving time. And if you like wine and vodka, you had better plan a full afternoon of your trip.
<< Back to news
Jason "tweeking" a recipe in the test brewing system
His background is chemistry and he was involved with wine making before coming to the Round Barn. As a child, he loved to create smoothies, and his mom would go out of her way to find exotic fruit that he could incorporate into his recipes. Jason has brought that creativity and passion to the Round Barn.
Test mash for a new recipe
We moved from there to the Amber Ale and the one I was really looking forward to, the Harvest Ale. The Harvest Ale is Jason's first recipe of his own design that he's brewed on a commercial scale. According to Jason, his goal was to create a beer that showcased hop flavor and aroma without being bitter and astringent. He told me "I wanted to get people that might not drink the IPA due to its finish to enjoy hops." Amarillo, Nugget, Centennial, and Cascade hops are used, and it is hopped during the mash as well as four times during the boil. The hop additions are very small initially and become exponentially larger to favor aroma and flavor. In addition, it is dry hopped as well as wet hopped with hops grown on the Round Barn property. Jason describes the nose as "fantastically citrusy with not so subtle notes of stone fruits as well." After all of that, you now know why I was so looking forward to this one. I was not disappointed, and I have a growler that will be opened at my Holiday Pottery Open House and Beer Tasting on Friday, December, 4 and Saturday December 5. Look for details in the next post.
Sampling the Harvest Ale
The last two beers on tap were stouts, Chocolate Swartz, and their signature Cocoa Stout (milk stout at 4.7% ABV) which is served on nitrogen instead of CO2. This stout is extremely smooth with flavors of chocolate and roasted malts.
Round Barn Beers are available locally in 6-packs at Chalet Party Shoppe and City Wide Liquors. Or if you are up for a drive, the Round Barn Winery, Distillery, and Brewery is about 56 miles from my house in Goshen, which usually takes around an hour driving time. And if you like wine and vodka, you had better plan a full afternoon of your trip.
<< Back to news
