Lando
A little Lando learning for ya.
Lando is Rob's biere de raison d'etre, his concept album, his play toy. The base stays relatively the same: sometimes the grains change, sometimes it has plenty of aged hops, sometimes only a little. The real thing that sets Lando apart, however, is in during aging and blending. Each successive batch is aged in different types of barrels, or on different fruit (1st, 2nd or 3rd use), or made specficially to highlight the constantly evolving mixed culture which makes Lando, Lando. The final stage is to blend in fresh beer before naturally carbonating in bottles or kegs.
Here are the deets on the blends we've done so far, so you can follow along the story which takes place in a galaxy far, far away:
Lando (A) is what started us all in this mess. Beautifully balanced; soft oak, bright funk, cheesy hops.
Lando (C) was aged in Chardonnay barrels from sunny California. In this version, our classic house Saison character blends with a more prominent barrel character, providing an oaky complexity.
Lando (VB) contains a small amount of Lando (A), blended with fresh saison and then matured with mixed field berries harvested from Steckle Heritage Farm. Secondary fermented with a mixed Brett culture from Omega Labs.
Lando (RS) is a blend of two California Chardonnay barrels. One barrel was showing off a little more funk, while one was developing a delightful acidity. Together, with some fresh saison, they are a perfect balance of barrel/oak, with the house saison character.
Lando (PPP) is a blend of three batches of our Lando base. The first portion was open primary fermented on halved peaches, including their pits, including daily punchdowns to encourage maximum extraction. The second portion was aged in second use gin barrels and then matured on peaches, and the third is fresh saison fermented in stainless. (PPP) showcases our base house saison character, with the added fruity complexity of many uses of peach.
Lando (AB) is a blend of two neutral oak barrels (4th use gin, and 3rd use wine to be exact). This blend accentuates the Lando culture of yeast and bacteria in its truest form. You can expect a combination of aromas/flavours from blue cheese, parm rind, earthy/hay, citrus all in one happy, funky family.
Lando (W) is a blend of California Chardonnay barrel aged Sour saisons, dry hopped with Wakatu and Willamette. Citrus, wildflower & floral notes from the hops combine with a slight oaky richness and the quintessential Lando funk.
Lando (F2) was pulled from a second use (stay with us, there's a theme here) Chardonnay oak barrels. We split it in three and sat it on second use strawberries, blackberries, and plums individually. We then blended all three together with some fresh saison just before bottling. The result is by far the fruitiest (read: least Lando) blend yet. The saison character takes a back seat to a round, juicy fruit profile. If you're a fan of our barrel aged fruited sours (G. Lite Foote & Ain't No Sunshine), this blend is for you.
Lando (SZ) is a batch of Lando that accentuates Czech Saaz hops. The base of this beer is a blend of two neutral oak barrels, one aged on golden plums, and fresh lando. The three were blended together and then dry hopped with Czech Saaz, at the rate we use in our pale ales. The herbal, tea notes of the hops give a juicy kick to the saison character.
Lando (PHD) is a blend with a high percentage of barrel aged saison aged on Niagara golden plums. It was then blended with fresh saison before packaging. The plums give a zippy acidity and tannic texture that makes this one of the most mouthwatering Lando's to date.
Lando (PB) means Puncheon Blush (or Panic Buy?). 90% of this batch is Lando co-fermented with Zinfandel Blush must and aged in fresh French Red Wine Puncheons. This batch of Lando is very close to our “A” series which are all meant to solely express the house culture that is Lando. There is a very pleasant grape and stone fruit addition to the base expression of Lando. I am not classifying this as a grape ale but a blush blend of Lando.
Lando (AC) is the third neutral oak batch of Lando to be released to date. It offers up a pronounced acidity that works well and brings out big stone fruit notes. The finish is fresh and clean, but will develop nice funk as it ages. Batch AC is a blend of three different barrels, all on their third use, meaning that pre-existing flavours have been stripped to allow the house culture to shine through. As always, a small portion of fresh Lando was blended in to liven up the Saison notes.
Lando (NZ) spent 12 months in second-use California Chardonnay barrels. It was aggressively dry hopped with NZ Wakatu and Waimea hops, then blended with fresh sour Lando. In this version of Lando, the New Zealand hops come out very tropical and sweet, with accents of melon and papaya.
Lando (CE) used heavy Tettnang hop additions on brew day. It was in neutral oak barrels for 12 months and then spent time on a second-use Simcoe dry hop. This blend has a healthy portion of fresh bitter Lando in it as well. Batch CE has a solid saison character that plays well with the bittering component of the Tettnang. It offers light tartness that plays well with the hop-forward component; the marriage of sour and bitter is not an easy feat. Very close to the “A” batches of Lando, which are a neutral sour, this has a much punchier hop component.
Lando (NK) This was the second of three blends to be released inspired by an American brewery in Texas. This is not remotely a clone beer, but a tip of the hat to the inspiration we found in our pint glass. The majority of this blend was aged for 13 months in second use red wine barrels. The fresh component came from two batches of Lando, one heavy with Saaz and the other heavy with Tettnang, both used on brew day (not dry hopped). The nose on this batch has a light Lando funk mixed with pears and tangerine. The acidity is well-rounded and soft, playing nicely with a mandarin orange note on the finish. This batch is ready to drink but will cellar beautifully.
Lando (JK) This version of Lando is the third in our series of beers inspired by a beloved Texas brewhouse (Batch NK and Space King being the others). Aged in neutral oak barrels for fourteen months, it was then blended with fresh Saison that was brewed with American Cascade hops before being dry-hopped with fresh Centennial. Part of the blend was also aged on a second-use Simcoe dry hop. This batch, which may well be the best of the year, offers well-balanced acidity and a bitter finish.
Lando (OC) A special batch that would even make Ryan Atwood cry with joy. The blend consists of 2 neutral oak barrels on the 3rd and 4th use. 10% fresh Lando was blended in on a dry hop of “OC” old cascade leaf hops. This is the first time we have used old leaf hop for a dry hop and it imparts a very unique note to this batch. Notes of orange rind with a lemon tart are in the aroma. This follows through in the taste that mixes with notes of dry cut field grass. An expressive funk note comes through adding depth.
Lando (FP) 80% of this batch spent 16 months in freshly emptied French Puncheons, 10% is our 2021 Billy D. and the remaining 10% is fresh Lando.
Lando (AD) This batch was 30% neutral blend from third-use California red wine barrels, 50% second-use French Puncheon, and 20% fresh and hoppy Lando. Looks like we salvaged this whole crappy year with one beer release; you’re welcome!
Lando (AE) This batch is the 20th iteration of Lando. Classic Lando 5th of the neutral blends - notes stone fruit, lemon rind, under ripe cherries and sour peaches. 70% of the blend spent 2 years in two different 3rd use American white wine barrels. 30% of the blend is fresh Lando that spent 3 months in stainless. Conditioning in bottle July 2021. Expected Shelf life June, 2051.
LANDO (T2) This blend comes through like a Tangerine Tea. Again lots of funky barnyard in the background which opens up as it warms up, but the Tangerine citrus is the driving force. This blend was the original batch AE (neutral Lando) that was further refermented on second use Tangerines from our pale ale release Tang Jan 2022.
LANDO (SF) This blend may be the fruitiest to date without having fruit in it. Loads of sour peaches come through over the base funky Lando barnyard notes. As this batch warms up a beautiful musty barnyard character starts to show up. The most acidic of the 3 releases for Lando Day 2022. It is a blend of 2 barrels both 3rd use (60%) and a mix of pale ales and some Aliens exist. Refermented with our house culture producing insane peach character.
Lando (AF) AF is the 6th verison of our neutral oak Lando. This is an expression of our house culture without any barrel, fruiting or additional dry hops. Blended and brewed to be our bastard interpretation of a Geueze. Aroma and flavour consistently come through with overripe peaches and stone fruit mixed with a grassy earthy hop. The acidity is balanced and clean and the finish is a light bitterness that balances and accents hints of slate and stone. A blend of 3 versions of Lando: 2 barrels of 3rd use California white (24 months) and the rest fresh lightly bitter Lando in stainless (5 months). A very true representation of what Lando is and should always be.
Lando (AG) AG is the 7th verison of our neutral oak Lando and our first draft only version . Aroma and flavour consistently come through with overripe peaches and stone fruit mixed with a grassy earthy hop. The acidity is balanced and clean and the finish is a light bitterness that balances and accents hints of slate and stone.
Lando (AH) This is the 8th batch of neutral oak Lando. Blended and brewed to be our bastard interpretation of a Geueze. This blend has lots of candied lemon notes in the aroma and it follows through to the flavour. The candied lemon notes balances the acidity with a perceived sweetness. Classic Lando flavours come through behind the lemon with stone fruit, and slate. The acidity is clean and soft. This is a blend of 3 different beers; 25% from 2nd use French puncheon (30 months) , 40% from last 3rd use American white wine (24 months) and 35% fresh stainless saison (5 months).
Lando (MT) MT is a variant of our AG release of Lando. Same blend but prior to bottling it was dry hopped with a healthy amount of aged Mount Hood hops. Mt. Hood is an American hop that imparts a healthy amount of hop character to the aroma, lots of hay and grass notes that works nicely with the barnyard hints. The aroma follows into the house but softens with a balanced bitter dry finish. Classic Lando vibes of stone fruit and slate are in the back behind in the Mt. Hood. As the beer warms up these notes become more prevalent adding depth to this beautiful blend. Best served at cellar temp
Lando (BT)…was named jokingly as the Breakfast Television batch as we planned to take Lando to a whole different scale and market. This blend is classic Lando the aroma is straw and and over ripe Peaches. The taste follows into stone fruit, (peaches) slate and a clean acidic finish. Hints of Riesling in the backend that are delightful. The main base of this beer was selected from one of our Puncheons after aging for 26 months. Two additional barrels were blended in adding depth to the palate and then 30% Fresh stainless fermented Lando was added to liven up and layer hop character to the blend.
Lando (AI)