Citra Celebration!

Easter Monday found the brew crew at Fieldpointe South for a kickoff to Spring and to reflect on the message of Easter: Christ is risen. He is risen indeed! Easter blessings to all of you.

Christ’s resurrection means two things: 1) Our sins have been paid in full and heaven is ours. 2) Just as Christ rose victoriously from the grave, death has been conquered and we too will be raised on the Last Day. Easter is so much more than colored eggs, fluffy bunnies and Peeps. Thanks be to God!

It is time to shift gears to summer beers. The Maibock, a Spring beer, is still doing its thing on the Dorothy Door steps. It will be evaluated in a few weeks to see if it is ready for the keg.

The first beer of summer is a recipe that has been brewed a number of times now and has not disappointed. Just like spring house cleaning, a name upgrade is in order so the afore Zombie Dirt (a semblance of 3 Floyd’s Zombie Dust) is now Citra Celebration. Citra hops are a celebration in a glass!

Things got underway at what seems to be the standard start time – 10 AM. A new experience for Mark is that he got to use the hand mill to crush the grains. Usually the grains are milled at the malt shop with the powered mill. This works when the grain is to be used within a short period of time. With Holy Week, the timeframe was unsure as to when the goodies would be acquired so unmilled grain was attained. (The order was placed a good week in advance.) The author milled perhaps a third of the bill and Mark had at it – and finished strong. A power drill has previously been used but hasn’t had the best results. More torque is needed. Arm Strong power seems to be the best and Mark surprisingly had some.

Following the mash, Mark took his share of the spent grain and headed off to make the pretzels and then later, the pizza and then dog biscuits, while laughing that the poor chipmunks would be cut short on their spent grain ration yet again. Sometimes he can be so insensitive to wildlife.

Last time (the first time) Mark made pretzels, his wife, Helen, was out of the office so Mark made “dog pile” pretzels. (See a previous post.) This time Helen was available to assist (and bail Mark out of his predicaments. More on that in a bit.) so the creativity of the pretzel presentation has improved.

As with Pretzel Version 1.0, 2.0 tasted just as great. Sometimes looks are not everything. 1 of 3 done. Check √.

Phase 2: Get the dough ready for pizza. Since Mark has done this a couple of times now, this procedure should go just fine. But, as with middle school kids, don’t get your hopes up. Just when you think you are making progress …

Mark prepared the dough and had it going along nicely. He even comment on how he enjoys punching the dough because it doesn’t punch back. Perhaps it should have on this occasion.

Where is a great place to put rising dough? Of course, in the oven! That is where it is going to end up anyway so why not get it acclimated ahead of time, right? Makes sense.

However, one needs to account for a slight transition when said oven is also used for baking the pizza – preferably before preheating the oven to pizza baking temperatures. The following is a paraphrase of the conversation that might have taken place in the kitchen.

Helen: “Are you preheating the oven for the pizza?”

Mark: “Thanks for the reminder. I’ll do that now.”

A short time later….

Mark: “It is getting a bit smoky in here Helen. Did you spill anything in the oven?”

Helen: “You know I take the utmost pride in my culinary skills and wouldn’t make such a careless mistake as to spill something in the oven. Who do you think I am, a middle school rookie cook?”

Mark: “Yeah, you are right. But something is burning and causing the air in here to have a bluish tint. Open some windows.”

Helen: “Ok. Well, whatever it is, when you are finished making your mess in here, get the pressure washer out and get this taken care of.”

Mark: “Sounds like a plan. Will do.”

Mark grabs another beer and heads outside to wait for the preheat timer to sound. And then….

Mark: “Helen, did you move the pizza dough?”

Helen: ” No, haven’t touched it. It is probably right where you left it.”

Bewildered Mark: “I don’t see it. Are you sure you didn’t move it? I’m positive that I left it …. in …. the …………. Helen!!!”

At this point I must stop my paraphrasing as it might not have been suitable for publication.

Once the comotion died down, Mark came out with a sullen expression indicating that there would be no pizza on the menu. Not only did the dough not make it for its intended purpose, the poor towel that was draped over the dough succumbed to heat stroke – and more. Sadness & Disappointment. Iron Chef? Not so much.

Helen, being used to bailing Mark out of his predicaments, saved the day by effortlessly putting together a bar-b-q brisket nacho platter which was enjoyed by all. Mark dried his tears and it all worked out just fine.

In other news, the Dorothy Door Report: This week has experienced some fabulous summer-like weather. So, the DDs were OPEN! It sure is great to have this access to the man cave from the patio available once again . Beverages can be replenished so much faster! And one doesn’t need to pass through a smoke filled kitchen.

Unlike the great pizza debacle, the brew session went smoothly – which means there isn’t much interesting to report. Therefore, I’ll transition directly to the stats of Citra Celebration.

Grain

• 10.5 lb – 2 Row Brewers’ Malt
• 1.5 lb – Munich Malt
• 0.5 lb – Cara-Pils
• 0.5 lb – Crystal 60°

Hops

• 1 oz Citra – 60 minutes
• 1 oz Citra – 30 minutes
• 2 oz Citra – Flameout
• 2 oz Citra – Storage (Keg)

Yeast

• Lallemand LalBrew Verdant IPA

Projected / Unmeasured Analysis:

• OG: 1.063
• FG: 1.016
• Color: 11.3 SRM
• ABV: 6%
• Bitterness: 70 IBU

This was a great way to spend Easter Monday. Thanks to Mark for giving something interesting to share with the 1.5 readers of this blog. Easter Blessings!