American Amber Ale Zach & Jack's African Amber

[Bitchin]

Yes. I ferment this one at 68F and let it rise to 70F after 4 days for a D-rest. So, not as low as it can go but also not at high either. Crash to 40 and keg. And then age for 2-3 weeks cold.

 

[Harguf]

Yes. I ferment this one at 68F and let it rise to 70F after 4 days for a D-rest. So, not as low as it can go but also not at high either. Crash to 40 and keg. And then age for 2-3 weeks cold.

Well, I did the partial mash recipe over the weekend. What worries me is that in the midst of the chaos I put the Cascade hops in for 60 minutes instead of the Centenniel. The rest of the recipe I followed to a T.

Ought to be interesting how it turns out given the hops screw up.

 

[Bitchin]

If you simply swapped the Cascade and Centennial additions you'll be about 10-15 IBU short.

I pre-measure my hops into labeled solo cups during the sparge because I've done this by accident before too. The overall difference will be minor other than bitterness.

You may want to boil some more hops in wort for an hour, calculated to add your missing IBU back to the mix. In this case I'd opt for a high alpha like summit or magnum given the utilization issues in such a small boil.

It won't be perfect but it will bring you back to 35 IBU where you need to be.

 

[Harguf]

I let the recipe be. The color is Mac n Jack's and the taste is closer than what I had done previously. Very smooth and drinkable though, and considering I prefer low IBU beers, I'm fortunate.

I feel confidant enough now to do a full mash. Next time around I'll follow your recipe.

 

[Bitchin]

I just made another 10gal batch of this. It's waiting to be kegged. I'm running out of my citra IPA and my barleywine needs a couple more months yet. Cheers!

 

[Bitchin]

My Final Recipe:

For 10 Gallons

OG 1.060
TG 1.016
SRM 12.5
ABV 5.8%
35 IBU

7.55kg 75% Gambrinus ESB Malt
1.0kg 10% Gambrinus Wheat
1.0kg 10% Gambrinus Munich 10L
350gm 3.5% C80
350gm 3.5% C120

1.75 oz Centennial 60 min
1 oz Cascade 5 min
2 oz Mt Hood 5 min
1.5 oz Cascade (.75 oz dry hop per keg)

Mash 154F, no mash-out, batch sparged in equal batches

WY1318 Yeast (460 billion)

Ferment 68F and let rise 70F after 4 days for a D-rest. Crash to 40 and keg. Age for 2-3 weeks cold.


What a great beer! Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread.

Update: I still think the recipe is right there now that everything has been dialed in... BUT there were two problems in the last brew that warrant sharing.

1. I goofed and mashed at 156F instead of 154F.
2. I usually ferment in a temp-controlled fridge but ran out of space. I didn't have time to compensate so I just let 'er rip, not realizing it'd get so hot. The coolest place in the house made for a 75F peak temp during the ferment. (average temp during active fermentation was about 72F).

Well, the results were fantastic in spite of a sloppy brew! The body was a little fuller as a result of the higher mash temp. The Safale S-04 yeast didn't suffer at the high temps. In fact, it benefited. The esters were complimentary in every regard and I thought better mimicked the M&J's house yeast strain. The TG was still 1.016, so possibly better yeast health, possibly the temp, or a combinations of factors.

Conclusion:
For future batches, I'm going to raise my mash temp to 156F. I'll still let the fermentation start at 68F but will set the fridge to 72F, letting it rise naturally and will continue using S-04. Additionally, carbing to 2.3 vols CO2 seems to be the sweet spot for this beer.

 

[Harguf]

Thanks for continuing to fine-tune this recipe.

 

[Bitchin]

African Amber really reminds me of an early micro from the Vancouver, British Columbia area which began around the same time as M&J's. It was called Shaftebury Cream Ale. It wasn't a cream ale by style but similar to M&J's. A few breweries started making this easy drinking style which became known as either West Coast Cream Ale or PNW Cream Ale. The small brewery began to grow quickly in the late 90's and the accountants killed the beer. I don't know if anyone even brews the style anymore. The Shaftebury brand still exists but it's a contract brewed lager made somewhere around here in BC.

 

[troglodytes]

I haven't brewed this for a couple of years now. I've gotten really lazy since the brewery is only 15 mins from the house. The last time I brewed it I did a blind test with my brew and the real thing. Both my wife and another friend (who are both very familiar with the real thing) picked mine as the real thing! I still say the yeast is the key. Thought I'd post my current recipe in case anyone wants to try it:

The 1.016 FG seems key to getting the correct body for this beer. I'm going to do this one over the weekend with WY 1968 but having never used it before and seeing that it has a "max" attenuation of 71%. Should I lower my mash temp down to 152F to try to get this to finish at 1.016 or just mash at 154F do a healthy pitch and let the yeast do what it can even if it only gets down to 1.018?

 

[RaHarmakis]

The Shaftebury brand still exists but it's a contract brewed lager made somewhere around here in BC.

Interesting thing about Shaftbury. Tree Brewing in Kelowna actually bought the Brewhouse from Shaftbury, then a few years later bought the brand, so Shaftbury is now brewed in Kelowna by Tree, on the exact same brewhouse that it was originally brewed on!

 

[brewcat]

The 1.016 FG seems key to getting the correct body for this beer. I'm going to do this one over the weekend with WY 1968 but having never used it before and seeing that it has a "max" attenuation of 71%. Should I lower my mash temp down to 152F to try to get this to finish at 1.016 or just mash at 154F do a healthy pitch and let the yeast do what it can even if it only gets down to 1.018?

I generally get 80%+ attenuation with 1968, even mashing at 155.

 

[Bitchin]

Interesting thing about Shaftbury. Tree Brewing in Kelowna actually bought the Brewhouse from Shaftbury, then a few years later bought the brand, so Shaftbury is now brewed in Kelowna by Tree, on the exact same brewhouse that it was originally brewed on!

Well I'll be damned. I didn't know that. I was brewing with Redbird right across the street a few weeks back and was thinking about the Shaftebury thing. Hehehehe. Right under my nose the whole time.

I'm not sure it was Shaftebury's original system though. I remember when they installed the new system when they moved to Tilbury in my early brewing days. I'd guess it was that Tilbury system that is now at Tree.

I still brew the beer that Shaftebury helped me design. It's like their Cream Ale meets Fuller's ESB. I call it Ambient Ale. It was my first AG brew.

Cheers and thanks for that tidbit of info.

 

[Bitchin]

The 1.016 FG seems key to getting the correct body for this beer. I'm going to do this one over the weekend with WY 1968 but having never used it before and seeing that it has a "max" attenuation of 71%. Should I lower my mash temp down to 152F to try to get this to finish at 1.016 or just mash at 154F do a healthy pitch and let the yeast do what it can even if it only gets down to 1.018?

I think you are right. 1.016 is key to the mix.

The yeast strain doesn't matter as much from my angle. I've tried a few English yeasts that work equally as well. M&J is rumored to either crash or stop the fermentation at 1.016 but I'm unsure whether their house yeast wants to go beyond that.

Sure, try adjusting your mash temp to compensate if you use the 1968.

 

[Bitchin]

Interesting thing about Shaftbury. Tree Brewing in Kelowna actually bought the Brewhouse from Shaftbury, then a few years later bought the brand, so Shaftbury is now brewed in Kelowna by Tree, on the exact same brewhouse that it was originally brewed on!

Had a red ale at Marten/Naked Pig in Vernon today. A little like M&J's. Much drier finish and more bitter but just as quaffable.

 

[VipperOfVipp]

I still brew the beer that Shaftebury helped me design. It's like their Cream Ale meets Fuller's ESB. I call it Ambient Ale. It was my first AG brew.

Cheers and thanks for that tidbit of info.

That’s a heck of a teaser. Would you mind sharing the recipe? Interested in how it compares to African Amber.

 

[RaHarmakis]

Well I'll be damned. I didn't know that. I was brewing with Redbird right across the street a few weeks back and was thinking about the Shaftebury thing. Hehehehe. Right under my nose the whole time.

I'm not sure it was Shaftebury's original system though. I remember when they installed the new system when they moved to Tilbury in my early brewing days. I'd guess it was that Tilbury system that is now at Tree.

I still brew the beer that Shaftebury helped me design. It's like their Cream Ale meets Fuller's ESB. I call it Ambient Ale. It was my first AG brew.

Cheers and thanks for that tidbit of info.

Cheers!

How is Red Bird? I was working at Tree for last summer, and got to be there for Kettle River to open, but just heard from some others about Red Bird. That's a pretty boozy little intersection there now! I need to make a pass back through Kelowna soon!

 

[Bitchin]

Cheers!

How is Red Bird? I was working at Tree for last summer, and got to be there for Kettle River to open, but just heard from some others about Red Bird. That's a pretty boozy little intersection there now! I need to make a pass back through Kelowna soon!

Red Bird is just getting started of course. They have a crisp contract brewed Kolsch and a decent IPA. I helped him design a hoppy citra/cascade pale as his first house brewed ale but not available yet. Still working the bugs out of it and the system yet. They also have the tacos so win-win place to be!

 

[Miraculix]

Subscribed and on my to do list!

 

[Bitchin]

That’s a heck of a teaser. Would you mind sharing the recipe? Interested in how it compares to African Amber.

Maybe I'll start a new thread. Hehehehe. Brew the African Amber recipe. It's better!

 

[brewcat]

The 1.016 FG seems key to getting the correct body for this beer. I'm going to do this one over the weekend with WY 1968 but having never used it before and seeing that it has a "max" attenuation of 71%. Should I lower my mash temp down to 152F to try to get this to finish at 1.016 or just mash at 154F do a healthy pitch and let the yeast do what it can even if it only gets down to 1.018?

Rechecked my notes. Last time I was at 76%. Mashed at 157. I should check my thermometer but I'm pretty sure it is calibrated.

 

[troglodytes]

Rechecked my notes. Last time I was at 76%. Mashed at 157. I should check my thermometer but I'm pretty sure it is calibrated.

Awesome to know. Your one of a couple people who have stated high attenuation that Wyeast states on their website for that beer. I'm going to follow the recipe's mash temps and see where it ends up. Worst comes to worst I'll be at 1.017-1.018.

 

[troglodytes]

Quick followup here. I brewed drightr8's version of this recipe. I got an OG of 1.055 and pitched a nice healthy starer of WY1968. I saw no krausen formation, no sediment on the speidel wall (so I didn't miss it in the middle of the night or anything). My fermentation chamber was set to 64F so I thought it may be a little low and started ramping slowly toward 67F over the past day. Still no activity so I decided to take a hydrometer reading today (2.5 days post pitch). Its already down to 1.015!. I started the cold crashing process promptly to see if I can lock in that gravity and keep a decent body.

Now here's two issues. One, although the hydrometer sample tasted great, this yeast has had no time to clean up after itself and wont be given the change if I'm already cold crashing. Two, I bottle, and now have no clue how much priming sugar to add as I don't know how much more fermentability is remaining. I'd hate to have a second fermentation in the bottle and with priming sugar end up with an over carbed beer.

Any suggestions on these two issues (besides get a kegging setup)??

 

[Bitchin]

Would have been best to let it ferm out naturally but yeah, kegs.

 

[troglodytes]

Would have been best to let it ferm out naturally but yeah, kegs.

Perhaps I take a small sample and do a FFT test to see what the expected FG will be. Then calculate that when deciding how much additional priming sugar is needed.

I was thinking an estimation could be ok here because I'm using WY1968. I was reading others experience with this yeast that the average attenuation is 74%; and see that Wyeast says the max attenuation is 71%. I'm currently at 72%, so if I assume I end up getting 74% that means there is 1 more point for it to drop. Using Kai's krausening calc I see that a 1 pt drop in bottle plus 2.9 oz of sugar gets me to 2.3 vols. If worst comes to worst and I end up getting 76% attenuation (unlikely with this yeast and mash temp) then at worst I'm carbed to 2.9 vols which is overcarbed certainly for the style, but not a bottle bomb. Fingers crossed.

I feel silly for having done this cold crash so soon, but I was completely taken off guard by how fast this got to my expected FG, and based on what I had read in this thread I wanted to be left with the body targeted. Oh well, lets see how this goes. Either way, this will officially be the fasted turn around I've ever had on a beer.

 

[Bitchin]

Perhaps I take a small sample and do a FFT test to see what the expected FG will be. Then calculate that when deciding how much additional priming sugar is needed.

I was thinking an estimation could be ok here because I'm using WY1968. I was reading others experience with this yeast that the average attenuation is 74%; and see that Wyeast says the max attenuation is 71%. I'm currently at 72%, so if I assume I end up getting 74% that means there is 1 more point for it to drop. Using Kai's krausening calc I see that a 1 pt drop in bottle plus 2.9 oz of sugar gets me to 2.3 vols. If worst comes to worst and I end up getting 76% attenuation (unlikely with this yeast and mash temp) then at worst I'm carbed to 2.9 vols which is overcarbed certainly for the style, but not a bottle bomb. Fingers crossed.

I feel silly for having done this cold crash so soon, but I was completely taken off guard by how fast this got to my expected FG, and based on what I had read in this thread I wanted to be left with the body targeted. Oh well, lets see how this goes. Either way, this will officially be the fasted turn around I've ever had on a beer.

Go for it and let us know how the beer turns out. Cheers!

 

[brewcat]

Perhaps I take a small sample and do a FFT test to see what the expected FG will be. Then calculate that when deciding how much additional priming sugar is needed.

I was thinking an estimation could be ok here because I'm using WY1968. I was reading others experience with this yeast that the average attenuation is 74%; and see that Wyeast says the max attenuation is 71%. I'm currently at 72%, so if I assume I end up getting 74% that means there is 1 more point for it to drop. Using Kai's krausening calc I see that a 1 pt drop in bottle plus 2.9 oz of sugar gets me to 2.3 vols. If worst comes to worst and I end up getting 76% attenuation (unlikely with this yeast and mash temp) then at worst I'm carbed to 2.9 vols which is overcarbed certainly for the style, but not a bottle bomb. Fingers crossed.

I feel silly for having done this cold crash so soon, but I was completely taken off guard by how fast this got to my expected FG, and based on what I had read in this thread I wanted to be left with the body targeted. Oh well, lets see how this goes. Either way, this will officially be the fasted turn around I've ever had on a beer.

The biggest concern will be diacetyl. I wouldn't be so concerned with the FG. Finishing gravity will be based on the wort composition and yeast.

 

[brewcat]

So just looking on Mac & Jack's website. Listing the hops for African Amber as Cascade and Nugget. Their distributor site lists the IBU at 30.

Take that for what it is worth.

Next time I'm thinking I'll add some carapils and maybe some 60L. And I guess I might bitter with Nugget and possibly use a little at 5 minutes.

 

[troglodytes]

The biggest concern will be diacetyl. I wouldn't be so concerned with the FG. Finishing gravity will be based on the wort composition and yeast.

I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of diacetyl taste in the hydrometer sample I pulled, so it just may turn out fine. Time will tell. I feel like an idiot for having done this. After brewing for so many years, I should know better, but if it turns out great than maybe I should start experimenting with really fast turnaround beers.

 

[Bitchin]

So just looking on Mac & Jack's website. Listing the hops for African Amber as Cascade and Nugget. Their distributor site lists the IBU at 30.

Take that for what it is worth.

Next time I'm thinking I'll add some carapils and maybe some 60L. And I guess I might bitter with Nugget and possibly use a little at 5 minutes.

I had to look for myself since the website previously didn't say anything about these details. Mac & Jack's is teasing us with a little cleavage. Hehehehehe. Let us know it turns out!

 

[Bowen1911]

I took inspiration from this thread to brew this last weekend:

8.5 lbs 2 row
1 lb munich 10L
1 lb Crystal 120L
.5 lb Crystal 10L

Mash at 155 for 60 minutes

Hops (all pellet)
.25 oz Summit 60 min
.5 oz Cascade 20 min
1.5 oz Cascade 5 min

1 oz dryhop for 4-5 days Cascade after 10 days fermentation. Haven't decided yet.

Wyeast 1028 London Ale yeast

OG 1.052
FG expected 1.014-1.015


It looks good!

 

[Bitchin]

I took inspiration from this thread to brew this last weekend:

8.5 lbs 2 row
1 lb munich 10L
1 lb Crystal 120L
.5 lb Crystal 10L

Mash at 155 for 60 minutes

Hops (all pellet)
.25 oz Summit 60 min
.5 oz Cascade 20 min
1.5 oz Cascade 5 min

1 oz dryhop for 4-5 days Cascade after 10 days fermentation. Haven't decided yet.

Wyeast 1028 London Ale yeast

OG 1.052
FG expected 1.014-1.015


It looks good!

Let us know how it turns out. I'm curious about the rationale behind your recipe strategy.

Cheers!

 

[Bitchin]

Exciting news! I spent some time this past weekend with a guy who was formerly a brewer for Mac & Jack's. Since he no longer works there he was more than willing to share information about M & J's. Here are some of the things I learned:

OG = 1.054
Grainbill: Pale malt, Munich, Crystal 120, and Wheat (hence the cloudiness)
Hops: Bittering - Cascade 60 mins, Aroma - Mt Hood (Last 5 Mins), Dry - Cascade

They also add something called Allfloc. Not too sure what this is or exactly what it does.

He couldn't tell me anything specific about their yeast other than it is proprietary and they harvest from their kegs to keep it going. He agreed with what I have always thought - the yeast is probably the most important ingredient. The nice thing is they don't filter so it is fairly easy to harvest yeast from a keg or growler (if you're in the Great Northwest).

Since my last batch was fairly close I can't wait to tweek my recipe and try again.

Cheers,

Dwight

I meant a to comment on this before. If they attempt to stop fermentation at 1.016, and the OG is 1.054, that results in a 5% beer. If it's truly 5.8% ABV as M&J's says, it needs a 1.060 OG. Maybe the recipe has evolved since this guy worked there?

Dwight, do you still have a connection with this guy? I wonder what mash temp they use.

 

[gambo]

Update: I still think the recipe is right there now that everything has been dialed in... BUT there were two problems in the last brew that warrant sharing.

1. I goofed and mashed at 156F instead of 154F.
2. I usually ferment in a temp-controlled fridge but ran out of space. I didn't have time to compensate so I just let 'er rip, not realizing it'd get so hot. The coolest place in the house made for a 75F peak temp during the ferment. (average temp during active fermentation was about 72F).

Well, the results were fantastic in spite of a sloppy brew! The body was a little fuller as a result of the higher mash temp. The Safale S-04 yeast didn't suffer at the high temps. In fact, it benefited. The esters were complimentary in every regard and I thought better mimicked the M&J's house yeast strain. The TG was still 1.016, so possibly better yeast health, possibly the temp, or a combinations of factors.

Conclusion:
For future batches, I'm going to raise my mash temp to 156F. I'll still let the fermentation start at 68F but will set the fridge to 72F, letting it rise naturally and will continue using S-04. Additionally, carbing to 2.3 vols CO2 seems to be the sweet spot for this beer.

Hi, I'm curious, has anyone converted this latest recipe for 5 Gal Dry Extract? Interested in trying this out.

Thanks.

 

[Bitchin]

Hi, I'm curious, has anyone converted this latest recipe for 5 Gal Dry Extract? Interested in trying this out.

Thanks.

Beersmith will do this for you with a mouse-click, not to mention dozens of other features a brewer can use over and over again. If you don't have Beersmith, get it, like yesterday. It's the best $20 you'll spend all year. You can also upgrade to add the mobile version for an extra few bux.

 

[gambo]

Thanks, I have it, will do.

 

[Bowen1911]

Still haven't tapped my keg, but I did have enough left over in the fermentor to fill two bottles. I also found Mac & Jacks on tap locally, so I got a growler to compare and popped a bottle.

M&J on left, mine on right.

Color looks about spot on. Mine is hazier, but some gelatin, a longer cold crash, or more time in the keg/bottle should drop some of the haze out.

Aroma is dead on to my novice smell receptors. Neither my wife nor I could tell which was which based on a blind whiff test.

Taste is extremely close. Bitterness and alcohol flavor was indiscernible. Nutty/malty flavor and caramel/crystal flavor is what my palate would call identical. The hops are where the two diverge, but not by much. My recipe had a cascade hops flavor that started late and lasted, whereas the M&J hops flavor seemed to start late and taper off quickly. Either dropping my 1.5 oz addition to 1 oz, or a longer aging time would probably make it more similar in this regard.

All in all, it's a great recipe. Good job to those that did the heavy lifting for this recipe.

 

[Bitchin]

Still haven't tapped my keg, but I did have enough left over in the fermentor to fill two bottles. I also found Mac & Jacks on tap locally, so I got a growler to compare and popped a bottle.

M&J on left, mine on right.

Color looks about spot on. Mine is hazier, but some gelatin, a longer cold crash, or more time in the keg/bottle should drop some of the haze out.

Aroma is dead on to my novice smell receptors. Neither my wife nor I could tell which was which based on a blind whiff test.

Taste is extremely close. Bitterness and alcohol flavor was indiscernible. Nutty/malty flavor and caramel/crystal flavor is what my palate would call identical. The hops are where the two diverge, but not by much. My recipe had a cascade hops flavor that started late and lasted, whereas the M&J hops flavor seemed to start late and taper off quickly. Either dropping my 1.5 oz addition to 1 oz, or a longer aging time would probably make it more similar in this regard.

All in all, it's a great recipe. Good job to those that did the heavy lifting for this recipe.

Your cloudiness is likely just suspended yeast which will settle out. You're a little darker than the original and it will darken some more as the yeast drops. No biggie if your flavors are there as you note.

So much of the resulting beer depends on the individual brewer's equipment, process, ingredients, and even the shape of the fermenter. So it stands to reason that a clone brewer will not be able to clone a beer by simply repeating a recipe to a T because a different system will produce different results even with the exact same recipe. Therefore a clone brewer will need to tweak the recipe in accordance with his or her system and even our own interpretations of M&J's will vary. But we do know that no amount of orange peel will make a M&J's African Amber. ;0)

You made some changes by removing the wheat and adding some extra light crystal which also resulted in a lower OG. You also omitted the Mt Hood and may have dry hopped twice. So you steered back toward some of the older recipes. Still curious about that strategy.

Your hops were bolder because you added more Cascade. Using both Cascade and Mt Hood while dry hopping only at .75-1 oz per 5 gallons and going with 30-35 ibu seems to land you right in that sweet spot - at least at some of the bigger OG's in the 1.060 range.

I intentionally worked my OG upward to get the density to match M&J's. Even with higher mash temps and lower attenuating yeasts, I couldn't match the maltiness of this beer until I hit 1.060. It's a fatter beer than it seems. Dwightr8 went 1.062 and added some Cpils and mashes a tad cooler. There is that dependent relationship between wort fermentability (temp/gravity) and yeast attenuation such that there are a number of ways at arriving at the same TG but each combination will still yield varying results.

I saw your recipe but what were your measured specs for OG, and TG and IBU? The photo looks to be about 13 but may be 14'ish SRM with less haze. Did you dry hop twice? Also curious about your fermentation temp.

Cheers!

 

[Bowen1911]

I don’t know where you got the double dry hopping idea. Just one ounce for the last few days of fermentation. Fermentation temp was 67-68. I’m without a chamber at the moment, so I can only go off my brew buckets thermometer in the morning and evening, and it was constant.

My “strategy” is just make a brew in brewers friend and go with it. I pulled malt numbers loosely from this thread, and hop numbers from my ass. I don’t have nugget, but I have 9 or so pounds of other various pellets, so I use what I’ve got. I didnt take any gravity readings for this beer out of laziness, but I am almost always 72-75% efficiency. Easy to get theoretical numbers from that. Water is Redmond Oregon tap water.

I don’t have good lighting anywhere in my house except my reloading bench. My wife only likes shitty soft lit everything, so I take my photos with a grain of salt.

 

[VipperOfVipp]

I don’t know where you got the double dry hopping idea. Just one ounce for the last few days of fermentation. Fermentation temp was 67-68. I’m without a chamber at the moment, so I can only go off my brew buckets thermometer in the morning and evening, and it was constant.

My “strategy” is just make a brew in brewers friend and go with it. I pulled malt numbers loosely from this thread, and hop numbers from my ass. I don’t have nugget, but I have 9 or so pounds of other various pellets, so I use what I’ve got. I didnt take any gravity readings for this beer out of laziness, but I am almost always 72-75% efficiency. Easy to get theoretical numbers from that. Water is Redmond Oregon tap water.

I don’t have good lighting anywhere in my house except my reloading bench. My wife only likes poopyty soft lit everything, so I take my photos with a grain of salt.

Does Mac and Jack still add the “bung” with hops attached to the finished kegs? I remember when I was up there a few years ago it was a proud part of their process as they had to have the special kegs to do it.

If so, it this considered a second cold dry hop?

 

[Bitchin]

Does Mac and Jack still add the “bung” with hops attached to the finished kegs? I remember when I was up there a few years ago it was a proud part of their process as they had to have the special kegs to do it.

If so, it this considered a second cold dry hop?

Unsure. I misread Bowen's original hopping comments. I don't think the original is double dry hopped. In such a subtly dry hopped beer, their dry hops are likely only added in the keg (if they still do it this way). While the home brewer can do this, the same effect could be achieved in the late primary or in a secondary if you use one.

Hopping in the keg can leech tannins and unwanted flavors over time in larger hopping quantities but I have hopped the keg in earlier versions without troubles in this beer.