Where we interview Dan Schmidt (winner of the Flying Bike Homebrew Open)

 

Recently we had an opportunity to sit down with Dan Schmidt, the winner of the latest Flying Bike competition - the Homebrew Open, with his Rye Saison.  This recipe will now become an official Flying Bike recipe, and be ensconced in our recipe book as a standard Flying Bike brew.  We sat down with him recently after his win to ask him some questions.

FBC: How long have you been a Flying Bike member?

Dan: I joined in September of 2012

FBC: How long have you been homebrewing?

Dan: I learned the ropes helping my Dad back in 1997.  I've been homebrewing on my own since 2002.  I made the jump to all grain in 2011.  .  I've been involved in homebrewing for about 16 years!

FBC: What are your favorite hops and malts?

Dan:  I've never really thought about this, I'd have to say Franco Belges Pilsen malt since it's produced so many delicious Belgian beers for me.   As for hops, Saaz is always great! I am also excited about Galaxy Hops from Australia.  I've had some really delightful results with dry hopping: citrusy, slightly fruity, clean and refreshing.

FBC: What is your favorite style to brew? Favorite recipe? Favorite beer to drink?

Dan: This might not come as a surprise, but I'm really into Saisons.  I've played around with yeasts, ingredients, fermentation temperatures, etc.  I love how interesting yet drinkable they can taste and how much flavor is really driven by the yeast and fermentation temperatures.  My favorite recipe and homebrew to drink is without question, the Rye Saison I submitted for the open style competition!

FBC: What is your favorite commercially brewed beer?

Dan:  This question always comes up and remains un-answered, there are so many styles I have favorites of.  I contend to have a top 10 though, with no single beer being the favorite.

Here are some all time favorites:

- Eric's Ale - Sour Peach Ale by New Belgium

- Oude Kriek - Old Cherry Lambic by Brouwerij Boon

- 1554 - Enlightened Black Ale by New Belgium

- Saison - Funkwerks Brewing - Ft. Collins, CO

FBC: What is your favorite piece of brewing equipment?

Dan:  My Erlenmeyer flask for making yeast starters, who doesn't like the look of an Erlenmeyer flask in their brewing equipment?  But seriously, I really love my temperature controller / heater wrap / fermenting setup.  It's really kicked my brewing consistency and quality up a notch!

FBC: Can you tell us how your winning recipe came to be?

Dan:   It all started two years ago after brewing a batch of doppelbock with my friend Nick in Colorado Springs after Christmas.  While we were brewing, we tasted many of his latest brews and I really enjoyed his Saisons, one of which included rye.  I started with his recipe, and brewed roughly 15 variants playing around with the grain bill, fermentation temperatures and hops. All in all, I've brewed about 20 five gallon batches of Saison style beers over the past 3 years.  The recipe I submitted for the competition is the product of all this experimentation. It's safe to say, I really like this style!

FBC: What beer will you make next? 

Dan: As I just had a beer with spruce tips in it, I would really like to try brewing with spruce tips.  The flavor was incredibly unique and delicious. However, until I can harvest spruce tips, I think I'm going to brew this really tasty oatmeal stout recipe I have, it's extra chocolaty and rich.  I'd love to age it in a whiskey barrel some day!

Well Dan, we're really excited to have your recipe in the co-op's recipe book, and we are actively making plans to brew it up in time for Seattle Beer Week!  We're looking forward to having you participate in the scaled-up brewing of your beer, and drinking it for years to come!