07 Dec Thoughtful Presentation is a Way to Show Us Your Heart – Heartwork Brewing in Bloomington
by Mark E. Lasbury for Indiana On Tap
Bloomington has had a nice beer scene for years – Upland Brewing, The Irish Lion, The Tap Brewery, Bloomington Brewing, and Switchyard Brewing have been pouring great beer for a while, and Metal Works Brewing and beer bars like The Sinkhole have added to the options. But now there is a new name in town, and they’re rarin’ to make a name for themselves – Heartwork Brewing on College Avenue (the name comes from founder/brewer Dan Dutcher’s favorite 90’s metal album, Heartwork, by the band Carcass).
Dan is a big fan of lagers, and he’s going to be brewing early and often at Heartwork. His brewing pedigree is excellent – Bearded Iris, Mantra Artisan Ales, Yazoo, etc. – but these aren’t exactly well-known lager houses. Bearded Iris has made 52 New England IPAs as compared to just a couple hybrid beers and one lager, and Mantra made four kolschs and a bock in their entire history.
Yazoo made a few more lagers over their 20 year history, and this may be where Dan developed his love of lagers. Nevertheless, making all the hazys for the past few years has left Dan with a great desire to make lagers. But let’s not kid ourselves, Heartwork is already showing us that they can brew well across all styles. We had 11 different styles at their place on opening weekend (plus a seltzer), helped along by the fact that they are the first brewery in Bloomington to put their water through reverse osmosis and then build it back for individual styles.
A side pull tap faucet. image credit: Kegworks
One of the ways they are showing us their dedication to all things beer is to install a couple of side pull faucets and to display which beers are on side pull right on the tap menu. Side pulls, or Czech faucets as they are sometimes called, are good for several styles of beer, but they were originally designed to present pilsners as they are often poured in Europe.
A side pull faucet looks a lot like a regular tap faucet, but the handle moves left and right instead of front and back, and the spigot is longer and of a slightly larger diameter. Not seen but just as important is the microscreen inside the faucet to create the small bubbles, much like the disc inside a nitro faucet. What do you get with these differences? The ability to micromanage the head of a beer.
The head (or collar or foam cap or krausen or froth) is an important part of every beer, but is of historical importance with pilsners. Lagers are known to be crisp and sharp, but using a side pull faucet lets a server control the foam, from none (cochtan, meaning neat) to almost completely foam (mliko, the Czech for milk). The more foam, the creamier, smoother, and sweeter the pour and the more aroma you get from the hops.
A side pull faucet facilitates the control of foam by using all of the differences we mentioned above. The side pull is much more sensitive than a traditional faucet, with every minute movement resulting in a change in the amount of beer coming out. The larger diameter of the opening on a side pull faucet allows for a smooth delivery (almost laminar), and to control the foam based on the angle at which you draw beer.
image credit: Indiana On Tap
Finally, the longer length of the faucet allows a pourer to reach the bottom of a glass when pouring, giving more control over the density of the foam and the escape of carbonation. The microscreen aerates the beer, creating that wet foam that is unique to a side pull pour and gives much smaller bubbles – a key to creaminess and having the head last longer. All together, you end up with a wet foam that is denser, more flavorful, and longer lasting than the collar from a traditional tap faucet handle.
It matters to a minority of craft beer fans in the US (for now), but different pour types can really affect the experience of the beer, and why wouldn’t you want to know more about how to enjoy beer? Who knows, the mliko may become your favorite thing on Earth, or may simply make lagers more palatable to you. In older Europe, the mliko was poured as basically a dessert – aromatic, sweet, creamy – a hoppy whipped cream with slight carbonation.
The snyt pour is about 60% foam and the angle of the pour changes the carbonation and the bite. The hladinka pour is a classic lager pour, with about 3 fingers of dense head, while the cochtan is all beer, no head. I don’t really recommend drinking beer the cochtan way, but some west coast IPA fans swear by it because it maximizes bitterness and bite, and minimizes hop aroma and flavor. (There are couple more pour types, but they mostly depend on the order of the angle and straight portions of the pour.)
Some breweries will specialize in the seven minute pour for their lighter lagers. Pour a bit…. wait, pour a bit….. wait, repeat as needed until the foam forms a creamy head that sits high on top of the glass. They often have a dozen or more in the pipeline at any one time, so you don’t actually have to wait seven minutes for a beer, but waiting can be part of the experience and gives you time to talk to the people at the bar. Bierstadt Lagerhaus is big into this for their Slow Pour Pils, but I don’t know if Heartwork will have the time to invest in this kind of pour.
As for Heartwork Brewing’s side pulls, Jeff Browne (co-owner in charge of operations) told me, “We want to provide the most authentic experience possible. We’re proud that these side pull tap faucets are the first and only ones in Bloomington. We put their icons on our menu to intentionally drive questions and spark the education process – we’re doing a lot of things that Bloomington has never seen before, and that can require some extra explanation. The side pulls impact our beer’s body and mouthfeel, as well as create a wetter, denser head. I would be ecstatic if someone ordered a mliko pour! It is my personal shift beer after work. We’re glad that the taps have been well received so far.”
And the pilsner is just the start of side pull experience. ESBs and ambers work on a side pull, giving them extra creaminess, and wheat beers, with the effect of high wheat content on the head, make for excellent side pull beers. Here’s hoping that Heartwork fully explores the possibilities of their two LUKR (a brand of side pull) faucets.
We welcome Jeff and Dan to the Indiana brewing community, and we look forward to the new experiences we will get to enjoy because of the thoughtful presentation of their beers. Make your way to Bloomington and start your journey.
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