Jonathan Moxey of Perennial

Jonathan Moxey of Perennial Artisan Ales (Flash version)

  Non-Flash podcast   

On Dec. 6, 2013 Proletariat hosted Jonathan Moxey of St. Louis' Perennial Artisan Ales. And while it wasn't quite the extreme tap take over by Perennial at Barcade earlier this year, there was plenty of great beer and good cheer to welcome Jonathan back to the city where he discovered the art of brewing!

Full house on a rain drenched Friday night.

Jonathan explained to us how a friend introduced him to homebrewing while working as an editor for the financial services industry in New York, biding his time as he sought to discover what he really wanted to do for a career. He immersed himself the craft brewing world, joining the NYC Homebrewers Guild, becoming a beer judge, brewing scores of beers, entering contests, and taking in all things beer. His success in contests gave him the confidence to return to his hometown and apply for an internship at St. Louis' Schlafly Beer. After an arduous month of brewery hard labor, he applied for a position at Perennial Artisan Ales, where he interned for 6 weeks before being hired on full-time.

Currently, Perennial brews at a full capacity of 2,000 bbls per year on their 8 1/2 bbl system. The brewery is tiny in size, but enormous in stature, brewing some of the most interesting, delicious, intriguing and creative brews you could imagine. A big part of the brewery's identity is their use of fresh, local ingredients. Their Peach Berliner Weisse, which in late summer annually, utilizes local Missouri and Illinois peaches -- 750lbs per batch! Jonathan explained that while they could brew the beer with less expensive and more readily available Georgian peaches, their concept source as many ingredients as possible from local producers.

"Needs more bird!"

B.R. ribbed Jonathan a bit by asking if Perennial uses Cardinals in their Vermilioin Winter Ale. He played along and noted that it is their only non-vegetarian beer! More seriously, he noted that their Walnut Dunkel Weisse uses Black Walnuts from Stockton, MO, and that Woodside honey from Maplewood, MO goes into their triple, and said that coffee is specially roasted for them by local roasters Sump Coffee for their Sump Coffee Stout.

B.R. has that Perennial glow.

When asked about any special brewery projects, Jonathan told us that he recently took part in the blending of Perennial's La Bohéme, which involves fermenting a Belgian Brown Ale with Michigan tart cherries in used wine barrels, allowing the naturally present bacteria and Brettanomyces to transform the beer into something magical. He also mentioned an on-going project involving an all-Brett version of their Aria Strong Belgian Ale. They take a portion of the aging beer out of the barrels each year to bottle and keg, and replace it with fresh beer, adding layer after layer of depth and complexity to the beer over time.

Cory of Proletariat, David of Hearth, B.R., Jonathan and beer writer Chris.

We spoke with Jonathan on day two of the Belgium 2 Brooklyn fest at Mugs Alehouse on Sunday Dec. 8, 2013 and learned a few new things about the brewery, owned and run by Phil Wymore, which adds to our knowledge from previous blogposts on Perennial.

Same crew, different pose.

Bob and Jonathan at Mugs Alehouse.

Menu at Proletariat.

John of the NYC Homebrewers Guild at Proletariat.

Jonathan and Chris O'Leary.

Black Walnut Dunkel

  [link to podcast page]

Review of Black Walnut Dunkel podcast

We picked up a bottle of Perennial Artisan Ales Black Walnut Dunkel recently from Good Beer. At $17 for a 750 ml bottle, it's a beer that you want to slowly and carefully enjoy -- this is not something with which to wash down some pizza or burritos!

 

This is a dunkel-weizen beer made with black walnuts grown in Missouri, which is where Perennial is located -- in St. Louis to be exact. The beer had a pleasant earthiness in both aroma and flavor, making us think "keller dunkel weizen". There was a nice yeasty ester coming off the thick, solid head, but not the overly cloying esters often wafting off of German wheat beers. It had a somewhat refined yeast character.

The deep brown colored beer had a slight sour tinge and a mild roastiness, along with a woody, earthy quality, and a bit of tannic bitterness. There was more heft in the body than most dunkel weizens that we've had.  B.R. noted that this beer would pair well with a hearty, rustic meal. As with pretty much all of Perennial's creations, Black Walnut Dunkel provides a definitively unique beer experience. 

The walnuts are given a rough chop, put into a mesh bag and are added to the bright tank, similar to dry-hopping. Oddly enough, the nut oils don't seem to bother the beer's head, as one might expect.

The leaf in the logo is that of a ginkgo tree.

When asked about the logo of Perennial, brewer and founder Phil Wymore said, "I'm a fan of ginkgo trees. They're considered a living fossil and are the least related to all other trees. They're very enduring. I tied those basic concepts to Perennial, which means enduring, and I envisioned a brewery that set itself apart from most others." Known for its use of non-standard, locally sourced, and organic specialty ingredients --  maple roasted quash, Missouri peaches, strawberries, rhubarb -- and for barrel aging, not to mention their beautiful label artwork, they certainly have set themselves in their own class!