Russian River’s Publication has finally landed! Here is what brewer Vinnie Cilurzo had to say about it.
PUBLICATION
OG: 1.066 (16.5 Plato)
8% ABV
BU’s: 48
Style: Saison finished with Brettanomyces
Tasting Notes: Golden in color, strong yeast aroma with mild aromas of barnyard and leather from the Brettanomyces. Flavor’s of malt and spice dominate the palate with a dry nutty (malt) character mixed with a funky Brettanomyces finish. The hops are dominate but well placed with-in the brew.
Publication started out as a test beer we called Empirical 7 which was a blonde ale fermented with a Saison yeast I wanted to test out for the PNC beer. The Empirical 7 was extremely hoppy and very very dry and the use of Brett for keg conditioning was very heavy handed. The Empirical 7 was meant to be a test batch for the members of the PNC to taste and based on their feedback I would build the recipe for the first ever PNC beer. At about midnight the night before the brew, over a game of Washoe’s and 10 beers into the night we finally got around to talking about the beer. A higher ABV was requested with more characteristics from the yeast and fermentation were also wanted in the PNC beer. With that in mind I set out to tweak the test batch and brew the next day. In the end I did bump up the malt bill so we could reach an ABV of 8%. I also switched out some of the base 2-row malt for some pilsner malt which would add another dimension with the malt characteristic in the beer. We used the same hop bill as the test batch so with a higher ABV and more malt on the palate the hops would be a little less aggressive. In fermentation we fermented about 6 degrees warmer to get more yeast characteristic in the final beer. Once the beer was ready to keg we used a smaller amount of Brett so there would be more flavor from the fermentation coming through. At a young age, this beer drinks very well, but, there are still some rough edges which will round out nicely as the beer ages.
Vinnie Cilurzo
Brewer / Owner
Russian River Brewing Company