Every May, along with the much anticipated arrival of summer, Chicago opens its doors, sets up its patios and raises a glass to the annual celebration that is Chicago Craft Beer Week. While the spirit of camaraderie is alive and well in the craft beer community all year long, it’s never more evident than in these 11 days. This year our annual CCBW beer prom was dubbed Steampunk Ball and we were pretty excited to have Penrose Brewing Company collaborate on a special beer for the occasion.
Tom and Sarina of Penrose came to the pub and we developed the idea for a pear saison. We pitched a culture of Lactobacillus to wort in our kettle overnight. To help create a protective barrier from too much oxygen, a few blocks of dry ice were added to create a layer of CO2 that blanketed the surface of the wort.
As with all beers, this tart saison eventually had to be transferred into the fermentation tank where we’d be adding 200 lbs of fresh pears. Easy right? Eh, not quite.
Cutting and pureeing 200 lbs of pears is was no easy task. Originally, it was looking like Christian would be processing each pear all by himself. Luckily, that was not the case and we were able to assemble a motley crew and get the job done in only five hours! Certainly tedious and certainly worth it.
Pearadise City Tart Pear Saison is a wonderfully fruity, tart ale with subtle spice flavors. A perfect early summer beer. At the end of the day, it’s great to sit down to a glass of refreshing, balanced beer made for great people, with the help of great people. Thanks Penrose.
Pearadise City is on tap at the Burnt City Brewing pub located at 2747 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago, IL 60614