Page 15 - Indulge December/January 2017

Scott Bicksler, Head Brewer at Weyerbacher

Age: 36
Hometown: Quakertown
Spouse: Rachel Bicksler
Children: Lukas, 4; Zoë, 2
Hobbies: Fishing, farming, woodworking
What inspired you to become a brewer? I started bartending when
I was 21 in a bar that carried most of the local brews, and
that really turned me on to craft beer. I started home brewing
with my brother-in-law; that led to taking courses at Siebel and The
American Brewers Guild.
What’s your go-to style of beer? Session IPAs/pale ale or a fresh German lager.
What’s the best thing about your job? The people. Also, every day is a new challenge, with new problems to be solved and
new ideas to be worked.
Ever have any brew ideas that didn’t work? My first homebrew was a Dunkelweiss that ended up being 1.5 percent ABV and
terrible. Luckily, it didn’t stop me from trying again.
What are a few of your favorite things about the Lehigh Valley? Great fishing, hiking and camping … beautiful scenery; the great
restaurants and breweries ... the festivals ...
What was the thought process behind Mellow Monks? Mellow Monks is coming from our passion for Belgian beers, but
a willingness to recognize a modern need for more “sessionable” beers. Merry Monks is a 9.3 percent ABV
Belgian Tripel, but you can only have a few before you need to figure out where you’re sleeping that night.
Mellow Monks, at 4.5 percent ABV, has many of the same Belgian flavor qualities, but without the need for bail
money and a lawyer.
WhaT do you wish more people knew about beer? Big, hoppy IPAs and other styles should be consumed as close to the
packaging date as possible. Leave the cellaring to big ABV beers and sours.
What’s one thing people would be surprised to learn about you? I went to college on a voice scholarship and spent a great deal of
my younger life learning, practicing and performing music on an amateur and quasi-professional level.

Saccharomyces and Brettanomyces yeast and lactic and was “produced using 100 percent Pennsylvania-
acid bacteria to produce funky, sour and fruity flavors sourced ingredients, including the yeast indigenous to
and aromas. It’s then aged for more than a year in oak the cider apples used to press the 50 gallons of Scholl’s
barrels with even more raspberries, “giving the beer Orchards Cider.” Der Hase (“The Rabbit”) was brewed
a pungent raspberry aroma, a lovely red color and a using mostly German malt and all German hops and
balancing wood character,” the brewers say. Because is, in the brewer’s words, “a big, golden-orange, hazy
its character relies on microflora that reside in the hoppy, double pale ale-like brew” and is scheduled to be
wood barrels and can change over time, Riserva varies out by early December. Bonn Place is also working with
somewhat in color and tartness from year to year. Monocacy Coffee Roasters on a dessert beer that should
be out around Christmas, if all goes to plan … but they’re
Bonn Place Brewery keeping the details under wraps.

310 Taylor St, Bethlehem — continued on page 16 —
610-419-6660
bonnbrewing.com

Talk about a play with a happy ending: The lead
actors from “Tony ‘n Tina’s Wedding” liked each other so
much, they got hitched. Then they liked Bethlehem so
much, they hitched their brewpub, Bonn Place, to Taylor
Street. Although they’ve been serving up brews since late
summer, Sam and Gina Masotto held their grand opening
in November. To celebrate, they brewed up a Thanksgiving
beer: an imperial black saison called Merci! It weighs
in at 9.90 percent ABV and was brewed with roasted
butternut squash, maple syrup, (secret) spices, dark malts
and a French saison yeast. They’ve also released PA Wild
Apple Tarte, a sour/wild ale that’s around 6.2 percent ABV