Church Street Brewing Co. Head of Brewery Operations Thomas Bachorz Talks Devil's Advocate

We spoke with Church Street Brewing Co. Head of Brewery Operations Thomas Bachorz about Devil's Advocate.

Who came up with this beer’s recipe?
Our Brewmaster and owner Joe came up with the recipe as it exists today after I brewed a test batch of Belgian blonde with different yeast back in 2012. It has since been tweaked to balance out the extremely dry finish by altering our hop additions and adding the right kinds of sugar to give the beer just the right residual sweetness. A change in the yeast turned it into an extremely high attenuator and it became our signature year-round high-gravity offering.

What’s your favorite aspect of this beer (flavor, aroma, etc.)?
My favorite aspect of the beer is how it evolves over time. I love the yeast and the dry finish it provides for the beer. It is our best beer to cellar, bar none, and when it's aged for 6 months or longer, the hops begin to fade and the rich malt body of the beer stands out more among the yeast's spicy, fruity characteristics. One of my favorite "basement beers."

Where does this beer’s name come from?
We were inspired by the Belgian breweries and their mastery of the various Belgian styles, particularly Duvel, which is what Devil's Advocate was modeled after. Duvel translated to Devil, so Devil's Advocate became a natural choice to name the beer. For the art, we knew we wanted to play off of the Devil name, while sticking to our consistent art style. I think we took some inspiration from The Lost Abbey on this one. 

Is this your “desert island beer?”
The alcohol might be a bit too high for this to be my crushable desert island beer. I'd rather enjoy Devil's Advocate as a special treat to pair with a meal or as an after-dinner beverage.   

Can you describe this beer in 10 words or less?
Funky, spicy, dry and dangerously refreshing.

Do you know a story – or have a personal story – that revolves around this beer?
I love introducing brewers to Devil's, because from a technical perspective, it's a very strange beer. We hired a new chemist to handle the laboratory side of brewing. On his first day he was taking readings on all of our beers and when he got to the finished batch of DA we had conditioning he went into a minor panic as the hydrometer was swallowed up whole by the tube full of beer. When I told him that that's just how that yeast operates he let out a big sigh of relief. DA weighs in at 9 percent ABV and it's always fun to see people's faces when I tell them that it has the same starting gravity as other beers of ours that finish at 6.5-7%.

What's a good food pairing for this beer?
DA is favored by a lot of chefs when we plan beer dinners. Anything spicy pairs rather well, particularly chicken dishes. A favorite of mine was an Indian-cuisine inspired beer dinner that we did with Burger Bar Chicago. DA was paired with Moroccan spiced crispy chicken with turmeric basmati rice and cured egg yolk. That was an incredible pairing. Our friends as Wildfire Restaurants also paired DA with a spicy Korean braised chicken. Amazing!

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