Owd Müller's Blog de Garde

Fermented News

2011-01-27T16:20:00.021-06:00

There is a new coalition trying to get rid of the ridiculous law that only allows grocery/convenience stores to sell low gravity beer (3.2% ABW). Their big hook is increased jobs which I find that questionable, but whatever lies they have to spin to make buying beer/wine more convenient is okay with me. Lots of other states (missouri) allow it and they all still have plenty of independent liquor stores. [LJ World]

Saturday is Kansas's 150th Birthday as a State and everybody is invited to celebrate by raising a glass of Kansas beer, wine, or cider at 6:00pm when the KU - K-State game tips off. I'm sure I'll have a growler of something nice from Free State (Iron Man Imperial Stout?) [facebook]

Hops Shortage. Everybody Panic. [Rouge Wire Service]

In Boulevard Brewing news:

Their collaboration with Christopher Elbow should be on shelves in time for Valentines Day. Mmmmm Chocolate. [KC Beer Blog]
Imperial Stout is in bottles so keep an eye out for that, probably won't last long. [facebook]
Rye-on-Rye is in barrels. [facebook]

Ashburne/Cascade SMaSH

2011-01-15T15:28:00.000-06:00

Single Malt and Single Hop = SMaSH. It's a fairly popular homebrewing technique. The idea is to pick one malt and one hop and really focus on highlighting the flavors of those two ingredients. It's a fun way to get familiar with brewing ingredients and can help with recipe creation down the road.

For the malt I decided to go with Ashburne Mild from Briess. It's a base malt kilned to 5.3 Lovibond, which puts it in the neighborhood of a Maris Otter, light Munich or Vienna malt. I thought it gave a nice bread crust flavor with a touch of sweetness. It defiantly had more flavor than the regular 2 row pale malt, I can see myself using it more in the future. The only real problem with it is it cost a little more than 2 row.

For the hops I went with the classic, Cascade. Originally developed by the U.S.D.A. and released as an aroma hop in 1972. It has become the standard for American hop aroma, and can be found in many IPAs and Pale Ales. Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale is probably the most popular and one of the first to popularize its use. Another great example is Hopalicious from Ale Asylum in Madison. The beer I brewed reminds me of Hopalicious, lots of Cascade, a little malt. On a side note: If you ever visit Wisconsin, fly into Madison (a Frank Lloyd Wright designed airport) and head down the road to Ale Asylum for your first stop and repeat on your way home. It's a great way to start & end a vacation.

Recipe:

Expected OG: 1.046

Actual OG: 1.055

Expected FG: 1.015

Actual FG: 1.010

IBU: 41

BU:GU: .77

Boil: 60 minutes

Pre-boil Volume: 6.2 gallons

Final Volume: 4.8 gallons

Apparent Attenuation: 81.1%

ABV: 6.05%

Grains:

10 lbs. Ashburne Mild (Briess)

Hops:

2.0 oz. Cascade (pellet 4.1% AA) @ 30 min.

1.0 oz. Cascade (pellet 4.1% AA) @ 10 min.

1.0 oz. Cascade (pellet 4.1% AA) @ 5 min.

2.0 oz. Cascade (pellet 4.1% AA) @ flame out

2.0 oz. Cascade (pellet 4.1% AA) dry hop

Yeast:

Safale US-05

Water:

Spring water from Welpman Spring in Morgan County, MO

Mash Schedule:

60 min @ 155° (15 qt @ 165°)

Sparge

20 min @ 168° (16 qt @ 190°)

Should be about 6.5 gallons of sweet wort.

Notes:

Brewed on 12/08/10 by myself.

I used this spreadsheet to calculate temps, it worked well for the barleywine.

12/8/10:

8:20am - Brrrrrr 11° outside.

9:00am - Somehow I missed way to the low side on my mash temp (I thought I was getting better at this) sat around 140° for about 25 min then I added 6.5 qt of boiling water which brought the temp up to 156°. That temp had dropped to around 150° by the time I started sparging. I think the sub-freezing temperatures outside might be a contributing factor to the low mash temps. I wanted to mash at a high temp to ensure there was plenty of body in this small beer. Looks like it'll be on the dry side now.

10:40am - preboil gravity is about 1.043 with only 6.2 gallons collected. I'm going to have to adjust my original hopping schedule to account for the increased gravity.

12:15pm – 1.055. Nice.

1:30pm - Pitched yeast at about 68°. A little less than 5 gallons, going to call it 4.8. 78% efficiency? That would be my best ever.

12/11/10 - High kraeusen, temp is 64°

12/12/10 - Still chugging along at about 64°

12/21/10 – Added dry hops. Temp has settled down to the mid 50s.

12/29/10 – Bottling Day. 2.25 Vol. CO2 + 4.75 gal. + 65° = 3.2 oz. Table sugar.

16 x 22 oz. + 1 x 24 oz. + 1 x 750 ml + 2 x 500 ml + 4 x 12 oz. = 3.77 gallons. Might end up with carbonation in the 2.6 volume range instead. Glad I started low, kinda forgot how little wort there was to start with, plus trub. Sample smells very citric, orangy. With a toasty, bread flavor.

1/11/11- 1^st taste. Pretty nice. Big orange/cascade burst with a little spice, and a bread crust backbone. Clear with a short rocky head.

1/15/11 – Clear deep golden color, small rocky head, some lacing on the side. Orange-ish citrus in the nose, hint of bread. A touch of sweet, bread crust, more citrus. Clean finish, lingering grapefruit-ish flavor, mild bitterness. Carb is on the low side, I like it that way. Mouthfeel is on the light side of medium. Very drinkable.

Boulevard's New & Improved Website.

2011-01-10T21:16:00.001-06:00

I'm sure you've seen Boulevard's website redo by now. If you haven't go take a look. There was one improvement I found to be especially interesting as a homebrewer that I wanted to point out.

They've added ingredient, gravity, and bitterness information for all their beers. They even have CO2 info, which I've never seen a brewery disclose before. I like it when a brewery is willing to disclose this much information about their beers, it only increases my appreciation of them. (see also: Sierra Nevada) And it helps with recipe formulation if you know what commercial brewers are using in beers you enjoy. I'm not sure why they have the annoying date of birth thing at the beginning. It seems all the bigger craft breweries are doing it, probably to appease some whiny nanny somewhere.

Now, if anybody knows exactly what they mean by "dark sugar" please let me know...

Red Ale #3

2011-01-01T21:40:00.000-06:00

This is my third attempt at brewing a hoppy red ale. The two previous versions were both pretty good. This recipe is pretty much the same as the first version except I reduced the amount of pale chocolate malt. I thought there was a little too much roast flavor in the previous versions. I originally started with the recipe from Brewing Classic Styles. I want this to be a red ale with a hop forward flavor. I missed my mash temp way to the low side, resulting in a pretty low final gravity. I think I'll lower my target to 152° next time so I can keep it on the dry side. If I use the Wyeast 1450 again I might reduce the amount of Crystal a little as well, it does a nice job of accenting the malt flavors.

Color is a rich amber, pretty much what I want. Pretty clear too. The aroma is mostly malt, caramel, bread, and a little toast. Some citric overtones from the hops. Next time I want to add some dry hops to give it a little more hop aroma. The malt aromas carry through to the flavor. Toasty bread with a caramel flavor but not very sweet, thanks to the low FG. Finish is dry and smooth. Well balanced and easy to drink. Won't last long.

Recipe:

Expected OG: 1.055

Actual OG: 1.055

Expected FG: 1.015

Actual FG: 1.010

IBU: 45

Boil: 60 minutes

Pre-boil Volume: 6.25 gallons

Final Volume: 5 gallons

Apparent Attenuation: 81.1%

ABV: 6.05%

Grains:

10 lbs. Two-row Pale (Briess)

1 lbs. Crystal 40 (Briess)

8 oz. Victory (Briess)

4 oz. Crystal 120 (Briess)

2 oz. Pale Chocolate (Thomas Fawcett & Sons)

Hops:

1.0 oz. Centennial (pellet 8.6% AA) @ 25 min.

1.0 oz. Cascade (pellet 5.0% AA) @ 10 min.

1.0 oz. Centennial (pellet 8.6% AA) @ 10 min.

1.0 oz. Cascade (pellet 5.0% AA) @ flame out
1.0 oz. Centennial (pellet 8.6% AA) @ flame out

Yeast:

Wyeast 1450 Denny's Favorite 50, 1 quart starter

Water:

Spring water from Welpman Spring in Morgan County, MO

Mash Schedule:

60 min @ 154° (4 gallons @ 168°)

Sparge

20 min @ 168° (4 gallons @ 190°)

Sparge

Should be about 6.5 gallons of sweet wort.

Notes:

Brewed on 10/22/10 by myself.

10/21/12:30pm – made a one quart starter using 4 oz. DME.

Estimated mash water temps with help from brewheads.com

10/22/2010:

10:30am – Initial mash temp is around 145°. Grain temp was closer to 70°. added about 4 ½ cups of boiling water, still not as high a temp as I wanted. Ended up with a little over 6 gallons of wort, call it 6.25.

2:20pm – 1.055 on the money! Around 63% efficiency.

2:30pm – Pitched yeast at about 67°. 5 gallons on the nose!

Instead of the flame out hop addition I added them after the wort had cooled to about 120°, I read somewhere that you get better aroma than at flame out this way because there is less heat to drive off volatile aroma compounds. Some of the pellets never full dissolved, so I'm not sure if I got all the aroma from them, we'll see.

10/23/2010 :

10:00am - Fermentation is going strong. Should have used blow off, a little bit of yeast leaking out the top. Temp is around 68°.

2:00pm – added a blow off. Fermentation is still going strong. I wonder how low it will finish considering the mash temp was pretty low.

10/25/2010: Fermentation is starting to wind down a bit, temp seems to be holding around 68°.

12/3/10: Bottling day. 4.8 gal, 65°, 2 vol CO2 = 2.7 oz table sugar. 20 x 22 oz. + 5 x 24 oz. + 4 x 12 oz. = 4.75 gallons. FG was low, probably due to the low mash temps. Didn't smell as hoppy as I wanted it.

Happy Festivus

2010-12-23T22:49:00.000-06:00

First a grievance then we'll move on to the the feats of (alcohol) strength...

My grievance: seasonal creep. I don't want to see Christmas displays in the summer (looking at you Hobby Lobby) and I really don't need to hear Christmas music until late December. What I really don't want is a Spring seasonal beer when it's still freezing outside. Apparently Boulevard has already released it's Irish Ale, which is billed as their Spring seasonal. I like the beer just fine, but come on, Christmas isn't even past yet and Winter is just getting started. Maybe you should call that your Winter seasonal or, you know, release it in the Spring. Moving on.

Last year's Festivus Ale was mostly a success. The only negative feedback I received was that the alcohol was a little strong ("it's like beer flavored vodka" Ouch!). So this year I tried to make it a little lighter (only 8.5%) and I brewed it earlier in the year so it would have a little more time to mellow. I also used less cane sugar this year which should help reduce the booziness. I really didn't want to use any cane sugar but my mash efficiency was so low I had to add some to get the gravity up. Next year I might try adding more caramel malt and or mashing a little higher to give it some more body and a slightly higher final gravity.

The beer pours a hazy, rich chestnut with a wispy tan foam. Aroma reminds me of figs and caramelized apples. A burst of noble hops from the Hallertauer and a hint of peppery esters. Flavor starts off with a slight sweetness that fades to a grainy cracker with herbal and pepper notes. Finish is slightly tart, like a granny smith apple, and dry. Mouth feel smooth and medium bodied with just enough carbonation.

Recipe:

Expected OG: 1.070

Actual OG: 1.066

Expected FG: 1.004

Actual FG: 1.001

IBU: 35

Boil: 130 minutes

Pre-boil Volume: 7 gallons

Final Volume: 5 gallons

Apparent Attenuation: 98%

ABV: 8.5%

Grains/Sugar:

10 lbs. Pilsner (Rahr)

2 lbs. 10 oz. Munich (Weyermann)

12 oz. CaraMunich III (Weyermann)

8 oz. Cane Sugar

2 oz. Debittered Black Malt (Castle)

Hops:

2.0 oz. Hallertauer (pellet 3.8% AA) @ 115 min.

1.0 oz. Hallertauer (pellet 3.8% AA) @ 5 min.

1.0 oz. Hallertauer (pellet 3.8% AA) @ Flame out

Yeast:

Wyeast 3711 French Saison

Water:

Spring water from Welpman Spring in Morgan County, MO

Mash:

75 min @ 149˚ (19 qt. @ 164˚)

Sparge

20 min @ 165˚ (16 qt. @ 185˚)

Sparge

Hopefully I have about 7 gallons of sweet wort.

Notes:

Brewed on 5/7/10 by myself.

5/7/ - Mash went fairly well. Was a little low at first, so I added about 1 ½ cups of boiling water to get it up over 150˚. I collected 7 gallons of wort. Had to boil a lot longer than I thought, my 75 minute hop addition turned into a 115 minutes. Missed my OG by a bit, added 8 oz. of table sugar to help make up the difference. Pitched yeast slurry around 8pm at around 70˚.

5/8 – Fermentation took off strong. Temp got up around 76˚.

6/10 – Bottling day. 4.8 gallons, 76˚, 2.5 volumes = 4.2 oz table sugar. 11 x 12oz. + 20 x 22oz. + 1 x 16oz. = 4.6 gallons.

6/29/10 – First sample bottle, aroma is real nice, spice from the hallertauer, some breadiness, a bit of light fruitiness from the yeast. Carbonation is about right, smooth and velvety in the mouth. A little rough around the edges, the alcohol is there but not harsh, spicy. Doesn't feel as dry as it is. Finish is crisp, herbal, spice.

Boulevard Bourbon Barrel Quad

2010-12-18T14:20:00.000-06:00

I got mine. Did you get yours?

One of my favorite beers was beers was released earlier this week. If you see any be sure to buy some and stash it away. This beer is lovely with a year or so of aging. They also make great Christmas presents.

A special note for the 2010 batch:

The 2010 edition is unique because, unlike previous batches, it is 100% barrel-aged. The length of aging time ranged from eight months to three years using a blend of first-use, second-use and third-use oak bourbon barrels. Because more barrels were combined to create this batch, the cherry tartness is slightly more pronounced than in prior years, contributing to a greater overall complexity and depth of flavor.

Yummy!

Some notes from a 2008 bottle I had back in May.

02414 of 10630 Batch 2008-2
Clear deep mahogany color with a tan head that settles into a thin wispy film.
Toffee. A little cherry. Some subdued vanilla/bourbon booziness. The sum aroma is better than its parts.
I really like the subtle cherry note that runs through the sip from begining to end. Dry, a little tart, a nice balance to the caramel/toffee sweetness.
The bourbon barrel flavors are nice and subdued, well blended with the other flavors.
No alcohol burn, you feel it more so than taste it.

I wish I could buy cases of this.

Hurricane Burner

2010-12-10T16:20:00.002-06:00

I finally stepped up to a propane burner (Thanks Mom & Dad) so I can start brewing outside. The 60,000 BTU's make my brew days noticeably shorter. Highly recommended.

Another Year, Another Fail.

2010-12-07T16:20:00.009-06:00

The Turd Birds unleashed another summer of stench (67 – 95, -169 run differential*) so of course I had to brew another batch of Turd Bird Ale. And just like last year I brewed like the Royals play. For some reason the yeast never finished fermenting during primary and waited until it was bottled to finish up. Maybe I didn't pitch enough yeast? The result was explosive, literally. I lost about eight bottles.

*I'm not even going to bother to recap the season, I stopped paying attention in July. The only thing you need to know is that the kids in the minors were awesome last year, lots of post-season awards. There is reason to be hopeful, as long as Moore doesn't find a way to screw it all up...

If you wait for the carbonation to dissipate, it's a pretty good beer. Creamy chocolate, bread crust, toffee, lots of yummy malt goodness going on in this one, too bad I screwed it up. Next year I'm brewing the same recipe, hopefully I get it right. Third times a charm, right? Maybe I'll brew it in the spring, just for practice (like spring training).

Ever wonder what twelve ounces of foam looks like?

Recipe:

Expected OG: 1.085

Actual OG: 1.075

Expected FG: 1.022

Actual FG: 1.023

IBU: 46

Boil: 90 minutes

Pre-boil Volume: 7.0 gallons

Final Volume: 5.5 gallons

Apparent Attenuation: 68%

ABV: 7.28%

Grains:

14 lbs. Maris Otter (Crisp)

1 lbs. 8 oz. Crystal 50 - 60 (Simpson's)

1 lbs. 8 oz. Brown Malt (Crisp)

8 oz. Coffee Malt (Simpson's)

Hops:

2.5 oz. Kent Goldings (pellet 4.5% AA) @ 75 min.

0.5 oz. Kent Goldings (pellet 4.5% AA) @ 10 min.

Yeast:

Wyeast 1968 London ESB (Fuller's)

Water:

Spring water from Welpman Spring in Morgan County, MO

Mash:

60 min. @ 154˚ (24.5 qt. @ 167˚)

Sparge

20 min. @ 165˚ (12.25 qt. @ 180˚)

Notes:

Brewed on 9/17/10 by myself.

9/16/12pm – made 1 quart starter using 4 oz. of DME.

Estimated mash water temps using this calculator.

9/17 – Mash in was more around 155˚-156˚ – pretty close to what I wanted. Grain temp was closer to 78. Sparge water could have been hotter, didn't get up over 160˚ like I should be.

1.075 – around 66%? If I had boiled it down to 5 gallons I'd be close to 1.085

Pitched yeast at 2:50pm at about 70˚.

10/14 – Bottling day. 75˚ + 4.7 gallons + 2 volumes of CO2 = 2.9 oz table sugar.

28 x 12oz. + 6 x 22oz. + 6 x 24oz. + 1 x 500ml = 5.05 gallons.

Sample tasted pretty good, creamy chocolate, a little coffee. Should be a good one.

11/10 – Some how I over carbonated, I suspect that the FG has dropped below 1.023. Once the carb settles down a bit it tastes pretty good.

11/20 – I measured the gravity and it was lower, around 1.017. No wonder bottles were exploding. I should have known it wasn't done at only 68% AA.

Amarillo IPA

2010-12-04T16:36:00.001-06:00

After abut five months of no home brew I was really eager to brew up a nice hoppy IPA. I decided to go with all Amarillo hops again. I should really branch out and try some different hops in my IPA but the wife and I both love the grapefruit blast from Amarillo hops, so delicious.

Bright cooper color with a touch of haze from the dry hopping. Fluffy white head that settles into a thin film, slight lacing on the side. Aroma is a big blast of juicy grapefruity citrus goodness. In the mouth, more grapefruit, a little resin, and something a bit sweet, kinda like sweet tea. Finish is a little chalky, dry. Carbonation is spot on. Bitterness is a bit bracing but not overpowering. I've brewed a similar extract recipe twice in the past and I can see myself repeating this recipe at least once a year.

Recipe:

Expected OG: 1.065

Actual OG: 1.063

Expected FG: 1.012

Actual FG: 1.009

IBU: 77

Boil: 90 minutes

Pre-boil Volume: 7.0 gallons

Final Volume: 5.5 gallons

Apparent Attenuation: 86.7%

ABV: 7.33%

Grains:

13 lbs. Two-row Pale (Briess)

8 oz. Carapils (Briess)

8 oz. Caramel 20 (Briess)

Hops:

1.5 oz. Amarillo (pellet 8.6% AA) @ 75 min.

1.0 oz. Amarillo (pellet 8.6% AA) @ 20 min.

1.0 oz. Amarillo (pellet 8.6% AA) @ 10 min.

1.5 oz. Amarillo (pellet 8.6% AA) @ Flame Out
3.0 oz. Amarillo (pellet 8.6% AA) Dry Hop

Yeast:

2 Packets Safale US-05

Water:

Spring water from Welpman Spring in Morgan County, MO

Mash:

60 min @ 152° (19.5 qt. @ 167°)

Sparge

20 min @ 165° (15.5 qt. @ 190°)

Notes:

Brewed on 9/10/10 by myself.

9/10/10am – mash was a little hotter than I wanted, around 154-155˚ should be ok.

9/10/5pm – pitched yeast at around 72˚ a little warm, put the better bottle in the old kettle and filled with cold water.

9/11 – everything seems to be going well. I'm using frozen bottles of water to keep the fermentation temps down around 70.

9/17/1pm – added dry hops, already smells hoptastic.

9/30/2010 – Bottling Day. 4.6 gal + 74˚ + 1.9 volumes = 2.6 ounces of table sugar. Ended up with 19 x 22 oz. + 6 x 12 oz. + 2 x 500 ml = 4.09 gallons. A little less than I was expecting, good thing I aimed low on the carbonation.

The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated

2010-09-12T00:16:00.005-05:00

I'm going to try and get this blog going again.

First a quick recap of what I've done during my hiatus.

Added a new brew kettle:

So far this year I've managed to brew eight beers.

Twelve Pound Red 1.0 - A hoppy red ale using Centennial and Cascade hops. Pretty good beer with a nice balance between the hops and the malt.

Collison Stout - My second attempt at a dry stout. This time I tried to use nottingham yeast and it ended up under attenuated and a little on the sweet side. Pretty decent overall, but not what I was trying for.
Twelve Pound Red 2.0 - Went with Simcoe and Amarillo this time. Also nice.
Saison - Bunch of Pilsner, touch of wheat, a mix of Kent Golding, Saaz, and Styrian Golding, and some 3711 French Saison yeast. Nice.
Peter's Pale Ale - alot like the first Robot Pale Ale, brewed to celebrate my son's first birthday. It was well received. (I should take better tasting notes)
Festivus Ale - I'll do a separate post on this with tasting notes later in the year...
Citra Xtra Pale Ale - A really delicious hoppy pale ale.

Amarillo IPA - Separate post coming soon...

Anniversary Ale I

2010-03-07T00:50:00.001-06:00

I can't believe it's been a year already. Why it seems like it was just the other day that I was over-pouring my extract, mis-measuring my gravity, and forgetting to stir in my priming solution. I've come so far in the last year. Now I'm screwing up my mash temps, missing my target OG, and still forgetting to stir in my priming solution. Progress, right?

The recipe is basically the same as my first batch except it's all grain now, I dropped the late hop additions, and I (tried too) beef up the gravity. I wanted a big beer, but I had some problems hitting my mash temps and ended up with about 55% efficiency so I ended up with a beer in the 7% ABV range. Going forward I'm going to try a series of recipes that all have twelve pounds of grain and work on hitting a consistent mash temp. I really didn't want to start my all-grain brewing with a couple of high gravity beers, but those were the beers I wanted so I went for it. One was good, one was not. Once I get my mash technique figured out I think I'll be a little better with my efficiency. By the time this December rolls around I should have my all-grain system dialed in better and I'll be able to hit that higher OG, maybe add some more chocolate as well.

Besides the mash everything else with this brew turned out really well. Color is a deep dark black with a light brown head that eventually settles down to a thin film that leaves a touch of lacing on the sides. Aroma has a milk chocolate mixed with coffee smell to it. Flavor is even better with more of a dark chocolate bitterness mixed with caramel. Mouthfeel is rich and creamy, I think the carbonation is perfect. Alcohol isn't noticeable at all, I kept the fermentation temps pretty low. There really isn't anything I don't like about this beer, I wanted it to be stronger but it's really good as is. It has this chocolaty creaminess to it that I'm really digging. It works well as a dessert beer, I like to pair it up with various pieces of gourmet dark chocolate.

Recipe:

Expected OG: 1.090
Actual OG: 1.073
Expected FG: 1.020
Actual FG: 1.021
IBU: 55
Boil: 75 minutes
Pre-boil Volume: 7 gallons (estimate)
Final Volume: 5 gallons
Apparent Attenuation: 70%
ABV: 6.9%

Grains:
15 lbs. American 2-Row (Briess)
1 lbs. Caramel 40L (Briess)
1 lbs. Caramel 80L (Briess)
12 oz. Chocolate Malt (Briess)
8 oz. Black Malt (Briess)

Hops:

1 oz. Warrior (pellet 15.8% AA) @ 75 min.

Extras:
8oz. Ghirardelli Cocoa Powder @ 0 min.

Yeast:
1 packet each Safale US-05, Safale S-04

Water:
Spring water from Welpman Spring in Morgan County, MO

Mash:
Heat 6 gallons of water to 169˚, also heat up a gallon or so to a boil to use to preheat the cooler.
Add preheat water to cooler and let sit until strike water is ready.
Dump preheat water and add grains and Ph 5.2 buffer.
Add strike water, stir. Should be about 154˚
Stir every 20 min for a total of 60.
While mash is sitting heat 3.5 gallons of water to about 175˚
Drain cooler into bucket – be sure to recirculate until its clear.
Add sparge water, stir, let sit for about 20 min
Recirculate, drain.
Hopefully I have about 6.5 gallons of sweet wort.

Boil:
Heat to a boil, add hops.
Boil wort for 75 mins.
Add cocoa powder.
Chill wort to about 70˚ or less, transfer to carboy, aerate, take gravity, pitch yeast packets.

Notes:

Brewed on 12/6/09 by myself.

12/6/8:40am – The 170˚ strike water was not quite enough, only got up to 150˚, had to add a little bit of boiling water, and then some ice cubes, and then some more boiling water to get it to about 150˚ (I'm really good at this).

12/6/9:30am – With the extra additions I collected almost 4 gallons of first runnings. Added about 2.5 gallons of sparge water and it didn't get close to a mash out temp, so I added a little more to get it up around 155˚, still not there but oh well.

12/6/11:30am – Pre-boil gravity looks to be about 1.060 from about 7 total gallons, hopefully this boils down to 1.090, we'll see. (I don't think this is right. 7 gallons of 1.060 should boil down to about 1.084, I think)

12/6/12:30pm – OG looks to be about 1.073 which would be about 55% efficiency.

12/6/1:15pm – Pitched both yeast packets into 68˚ wort, dry.

12/7/9:00am – About 1.5 inches of kraeusen. Temp is around 59˚

12/7/6:05pm – Churning along real nicely, kraeusen is at the neck of the carboy. Beer is at about 57˚ and ambient temp is like 49˚ so I'm going to try to warm it up a bit.

12/9/9:00am – Primary fermentation appears to be about done, removed blow-off and moved to office where it can warm up a bit and finish. Fermentation temps never got above 62˚.

12/15 – Moved it back into the cellar (mid 40s). Hopefully it's finished, going to let it sit and condition for a few weeks.

12/31 – Bottling day. 44 x 12 oz for 4.13 gallons. Used 2.9 oz corn sugar for about 2.2 volumes of CO2.

Turd Bird Brown Ale

2010-02-21T13:51:00.009-06:00

This is a brew that I had originally planned as a partial mash, but since I had my cooler mash tun up and operational, I decided to adjust the recipe to be almost all grain with just a few pounds of extract at the end to kick the gravity up.

But what about that name?

Glad you asked. The name of the beer is an homage to the worst baseball team of the decade ('00 – '09), the Kansas City Royals. The phrase “Turd Bird” comes from an old AM sports talk show, The DA Show, that I used to listen to during my morning drive. The host and some of the regular callers took to calling the Royals the Turd Birds and it fit. So ever since, that's the name I use to refer to the Royals whenever they are playing like shit, which happens to be most of the time.

A few quick notes and links about the Royals 2000 – 2009*:

*I should preface this by saying that I really, really love the Royals and, to a greater extent, baseball. I watch or listen to games all season long. I am constantly reading Royals or baseball related blogs, websites, and articles. I study advanced statistical analysis, sabermetrics, for hours at a time. If you called me a seamhead or a baseball nerd, I'd take it as a compliment. But with all this knowledge comes the acute realization that the Royals, as an organization, are severely flawed. Which makes it even more painful to watch, yet still I watch, and study, and analyze. And what does that make me? Crazy? Or just fanatical? I need a drink...

Notes:

672-948, that's the Royals record for the decade. Second place is the Pirates with a 681-936 record.
The Royals never had a league average offense (as measured by OPS+). Not once.
Only once, in 2007, when they lost 93 games, did they have an average pitching staff (as measured by ERA+) and just barely.
For the decade they were outscored by 1,316 runs. One thousand three hundred and sixteen. That's a lot.
They fired one of the worst general managers in baseball and replaced him with somebody who is proving to be even worse.
Someday we'll look back at the Neifi Perez trade and say: “Man, that was a bad trade but it was nothing compared to that Betancourt trade."

Links:

Royals Rotten Decade (Wrap-Up) [Kings of Kauffman]
The Royal Decade [Joe Posnanski]
Best and worst teams of the decade [ESPN]
I could go on but this is a beer blog...

I was aiming for a mash temp of about 154˚ and I missed to the low side. In an effort to bring the temp up I threw some boiling water in, not sure how much but it was too much, and my temp ended up around 160˚. So then I tried some ice to bring the temp back down to where it needed to be. I think the inconsistent temperature is the source of my 58% mash efficiency. I obviously need to practice this a bit more. I ended up with 77% attenuation from the yeast so I think most of the conversion occurred at the lower temp before I added the boiling water, which probably made it hot enough to stop most of the conversion so I didn't extract all the fermentable or unfermentable sugars I wanted.

I thought the flavor ended up okay. The major problem is overcarbonation which is amplifying a mineral/metallic flavor that I don't really like. Not sure if it is from the recipe or just the carbonation. After it warms up the flavor get a little better, but still seems a little off. I'm pretty sure it was mainly the carbonation that caused the problems, but next time I want to simplify the recipe a bit as well.

So the beer was not quite what I had intended, but the Royals weren't quite the team that the owners intended them to be. So in a way, I guess this is the perfect tribute beer. I'm planning on repeating this beer every year the Royals have a losing season, so I should have plenty of opportunities to get it right.

Recipe:

Expected OG: 1.090
Actual OG: 1.081
Expected FG: 1.020
Actual FG: 1.018
IBU: 50
Boil: 60 minutes
Pre-boil Volume: 6.5 gallons
Final Volume: 5 gallons
Apparent Attenuation: 77%
ABV: 8.3%

Grains:
10 lbs. Maris Otter ( Crisp)
1 lbs. Victory (Briess)
1 lbs. Caramel 60 (Briess)
12 oz. Special Roast (Briess)
8 oz. Brown Malt (Crisp)
4 oz. Chocolate Malt (Briess)

Extract/Sugar:
3 lbs. Pilsner DME ( Briess)

Hops:
1 oz. Warrior (pellet 15.8% AA) @ 60 min.

Yeast:
Wyeast London Ale 1028

Water:
Spring water from Welpman Spring in Morgan County, MO

Mash:

Heat 5 gallons of water to about 167˚ also heat up a gallon or so to a boil to use to preheat the cooler.
Add preheat water to cooler and let sit until strike water is ready.
Dump preheat water and add grains.
Add strike water, stir.
Stir every 20 min for a total of 60.
While mash is sitting heat 3.25 gallons of water to about 170˚.
Drain cooler – be sure to recirculate until its clear – into bucket.
Add sparge water, stir, let sit for about 20 min.
Recirculate, drain.
Hopefully I have about 6.5 gallons of sweet wort.

Notes:

Brewed on 11/15/09 by myself.

11/15 - OG was only 1.081 which means I got about 58% efficiency, which is bad. I had problems hitting my mash temp, was around 160˚ for awhile, so that is part of it. Chilled the wort down to about 68˚ and racked onto yeast cake from spice ale at about 1pm.

11/16/9am – Chugging away at 63˚ with about 2 inches of Kraeusen.

11/17/8am – Good thing I used a blow-off. Still around 63˚

11/19 – Primary fermentation appears to be over. Removed blow-off.

11/21 – Temp is in the mid 50s. Going to let it sit and condition for a couple weeks.

12/09 – Bottling Day. Bottled 25 x 12 oz, 11 x 22 oz, and 3 x 24 oz for a total of 4.8 gallons. Sample had an odd roasty/toasty flavor, not sure if I liked it, we'll see.

1/2/10 – First tasting. Pretty good, nice toasty, roasty flavor, bready with a touch of caramel. Also a mineral like flavor that I'm not really liking. Mouth feel is a little on the light side and I definitely over carbonated it, which is making it seem more bitter than I wanted.

Cooler Mash Tun

2010-02-06T17:30:00.005-06:00

I know I'm a little behind with the posts around here, but I assume you're used to that by now. All grain brewing posts coming soon, or your money back. But first a few pictures and words about my new cooler mash tun.

Back in September I was the happy recipient of a 50 quart Coleman Xtreme5 cooler. I didn't get around to converting it into a mash tun until October, but I've been brewing all grain beers ever since.

The first step was to take out the drain plug and replace it with a valve. I loosely followed this guide over at Home Brew Talk. They use a piece of PVC pipe on the outside to help it seal better and it give a more stable base for the valve. The PVC on the outside plus the fact that I was able to reuse the rubber grommet that came with the cooler gave a nice tight, clean looking seal. I was impressed with how well it all went together. The only improvement I want to make is replacing the washers on the inside with stainless steel ones, but I haven't been able to locate any in the size I need.

Another thing I didn't like was the angle of the drain valve. It comes out at a 45 degree angle instead of just straight out. Not much I could do about that, but I would like to build some kind of stand for it.

Next is the manifold, I decided to go with a pipe manifold instead of a stainless hose. No real reason, thats just what I did. One note: if you use plastic pipe you want to be sure to use CPVC instead of regular PVC. CPVC has a higher heat rating so it won't leach any chemical into your wort.

Here is a detail of the pipe. I went with drilled holes instead of cutting slots. It seemed less labor intense.

Here is one last picture of the inside fully assembled.

Fall Spice Ale

2010-01-24T15:37:00.003-06:00

For the fall I wanted to make a nice spiced ale using pumpkin pie spices. I decided to follow Jamil's recipe from Brewing Classic Styles. I agree with his idea that it's not really the pumpkin that makes the pie good, it's the spices. Plus I thought it would be a lot easier to not use pumpkin in my beer. Because I'm using the yeast cake for a high gravity brown ale I decided to go with Wyeast 1028 London Ale which has a little higher attenuation than some other English yeasts.

The brew day went pretty well, I don't recall having any problems. I think this is the first of my partial mashes that went smoothly which is kinda funny because it's my last one. I received a cooler for my birthday and converted it to use as a mash tun.

The only problem I had was on bottling day. I forgot to stir in the priming solution after I racked the beer into the bottling bucket. Since I also added the spices to the priming solution, I ended up with some bottles that were over carbed others that were near flat and the spicing was weak in general with virtually no spice flavor in the under carbed bottles.

Luckily, the base beer was pretty good. Nice carmely flavor with a touch of toffee and dark fruit. The mouth feel, and spice aroma varied depending on which bottle you had and how carbonated it was. Overall, I think the recipe was good. I just need to clean up my technique a bit. Maybe next year...

Recipe:
Expected OG: 1.061
Actual OG: 1.063
Expected FG: 1.016
Actual FG: 1.015
IBU: 26
Boil: 60 minutes
Pre-boil Volume: 5.5 gallons
Final Volume: 5 gallons
Apparent Attenuation: 75%
ABV: 6.3%

Extract/Sugar:
Briess Pilsner DME 5 lbs.

Partial Mash Grains:
Crisp Maris Otter 2 lbs.
Briess Caramel 40L 8.6 oz.
Castle Aromatic 8 oz.
Briess Special Roast 4 oz.
Briess Caramel 120L 4.4 oz.

Hops:
60 min, Warrior 15.8% 0.6 oz.

Other:
½ tsp Cinamon
¼ tsp Ginger
1/8 tsp All Spice
1/8 tsp Nutmeg

Yeast:
Wyeast 1028 London Ale 1 qt starter

Water:
Spring water from Welpman Spring in Morgan County, MO

Partial Mash (stove top method): In a 8 qt. stock pot, heat 7 quarts of water to 165˚, meanwhile pre-heat another 8qt pot in oven (set to warm) add grain bag and grains to preheated pot, then slowly add water and stir thoroughly. Mash temp should be about 154˚. Move pot to preheated oven for 60 minutes.

After about 30 minutes, heat 5 quarts of water to about 175˚. When mash is done, pull out the grain bag and let it drain for a few minutes. Add bag to heated water stir and let sit for 20 minutes to rinse out any remaining sugars. Should end up with around 10+ quarts of wort.

Add 3 gallons water and wort to brew kettle (for a total of around 5.5 gal.), add 2 lbs. DME and stir, heat to a boil, add hops and start 60 minute timer. At about 15 min. add a 1 tsp of Irish Moss to help with clarity and the rest of the DME.

Chill wort to about 68˚ or less, transfer to carboy, aerate, take gravity, pitch yeast.

Notes:

Brewed on 10/7/09 by myself.

10/8/12:30 – pitched yeast at about 66˚. No real problems with this batch, went pretty smooth. About 70% mash efficiency.

10/15 – beer cellar is a little cold, temps are below 60˚. Moved into office. I think it fermented out but I'm not sure, going to let it warm up a bit just to make sure.

11/15 – Bottling day. 4.2 oz of corn sugar boiled in 2 cup water plus spices added to sugar water at flame out and allowed to cool. Filled 24 - 12 ounce bottles, 13 - 22oz bottles and 2 - 330 ml bottles (the 2nd one only about ¾ full).

Weizenbock

2009-11-25T15:20:00.001-06:00

Next up is my first attempt at repitching a yeast cake. I saved the Wyeast 3068 from my last Hefeweizen in a growler that I stored in the fridge until I needed it (about 3 weeks). I also corrected my partial mash mistake from the last brew and went with a “double partial mash”. Basically I mashed in 2 pots instead of just one, and I have to say it worked out fairly well, except my efficiancy was a little low but I'm getting used to that.

The recipe is pretty much all mine. I did some research and looked at some different recipes to get an understanding of the basic ingredients and then made up my own combination of malts. I decided to go light on the Crystal 120 to keep the dark fruit flavors in the background, I really wanted the caramel and banana to be the main attraction. I think I did a pretty good job of accomplishing this. I don't think I would change this recipe much, maybe add a little more caramel malt and a slightly lower fermentation temp, it got away from me a little.

The aroma has a nice balance of banana fruitiness and caramel/tofee sweetness, with a bready background. A touch of dark fruit but not to much. Clove esters combine with the alcohol to add some spiciness. Deep ruby/brown color. Decent head retention. Full bodied with just enough bitterness to keep everything in check.

Recipe:
Expected OG: 1.080
Actual OG: 1.075
Expected FG: 1.020
Actual FG: 1.021
IBU: 24
Boil: 60 minutes
Pre-boil Volume: 5.5 gallons
Final Volume: 5 gallons
Apparent Attenuation: 71%
ABV: 7.1%

Extract/Sugar:
Wheat DME 3 lbs.
Briess Pilsen DME 2 lbs.

Partial Mash Grains:
Weyermann Light Munich 4 lbs.
Weyermann Dark Wheat Malt 2 lbs
Weyermann Cara Wheat 8 oz.
Weyermann Cara Munich III 4 oz
Briess Crystal 120 4 oz.
Weyermann Chocolate Wheat 2 oz.

Hops:
60 min: Warrior, 15.8% 0.5 oz.

Yeast:
Wyeast 3068 cake saved from Hefe

Water:
Spring water from Welpman Spring in Morgan County, MO

Double Partial Mash (stove top method): In brew kettle, heat 11 quarts of water to 165˚, meanwhile pre-heat two 8qt pots in oven (set to warm) add grain bags and grains to preheated pots, then slowly add water and stir. Mash temp should be about 153˚. Move pots to preheated oven for 60 minutes.

After about 30 minutes, heat 8 quarts of water to about 175˚. When mash is done, pull out the grain bags and let it drain for a few minutes. Add first running to kettle. Pour 4 quarts of heated water to each pot and add grain bags, stir and let sit for 20 minutes to rinse out any remaining sugars. Should end up with around 14 – 16 quarts of wort.

Add 1 gallon or so of water and wort to brew kettle (for a total of around 5.5 gal.), add DME and stir, heat to a boil and add hops.

Chill wort to about 70˚ or less, transfer to carboy, aerate, take gravity, pitch decanted yeast starter.

Notes:
Brewed on 9/19/09 by myself

9/18/09 – made 2 cups of wort with about 1.8 oz. of DME and pitched it onto the decanted yeast cake.

9/19/2:00pm – OG came out low, again. Calculating about 55% efficiency, not good. Pitched starter at about 68˚. I bought a small fountain pump and used it to recirculate ice water through chiller. Worked great. Need to make a bigger chiller.

9/19/11:00pm – Fermentation is under way, about a ½ inch of kraeusen. 70˚

9/20 – Fermentation has been rocking all day. Lots of yeast through the blow-off. Temp got a little higher than I wanted, around 77˚

9/21 – Fermentation has started to settle down a bit, temp is holding around 72˚. Removed blow-off and replaced with foil.

9/25 – Temps have been dipping down into the upper 60s, hope they stay like this or go lower.

10/15 – Bottling day. Bottled 24 – twelve ounce bottles, 12 – 22oz. Bottles and one 750ml bottle. Used 6 oz. of corn sugar for about 3 volumes of CO2.

Collision Stout

2009-11-23T20:33:00.004-06:00

Continuing with my catch up posts. For my next brew I wanted to brew something on the lighter side, that wouldn't be terribly difficult to brew. I decided to go with a dry stout, by light I meant low gravity. Expecting a quick brew night, I was met with adversity right from the beginning. Seems that I have a bit of a problem with spacial recognition, what I thought was a twelve quart pot was actually eight. So here I am at about 8:00 at night with twelve quarts worth of grain and water and not enough pot to mash it all. In the end I ended up with all my grains and mash water in the brew kettle but it's bigger around than my grain bag so it ended up looking more like steeping grains than mashing. In the end I made a pretty damn good stout so I can't complain much, yet another lesson learned.

The beer I ended up with had a solid black color with a deep ruby edge. Muted aroma of roasted barley, bitter sweet chocolate. Flavors are similar, roast and chocolate with an ample bitterness. Mouth feel is rich and creamy, smooth, I could drink a few of these. When I first started drinking this batch there was a weird mineral/metallic off flavor but that cleared out with a little more bottle conditioning and now I have an easy drinking dry stout.

Recipe:
Expected OG: 1.058
Actual OG: ??
Expected FG: 1.012
Actual FG: 1.010
IBU: 53
Boil: 60 minutes
Apparent Attenuation: ??
ABV: ??

Extract/Sugar:
Briess Pilsner DME 4.0 lbs.

Partial Mash Grains:
Maris Otter 2.0 lbs.
Flaked Barley 2.0 lbs.
Roasted Barley (extra crush) 1.0 lbs.

Hops:
60 min. - First Gold, 8.0% 2.0 oz.

Yeast:
Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale 1 qt. Starter

Water:
Spring water from Welpman Spring in Morgan County, MO

Partial Mash: In a 8 qt. stock pot, heat 7.5 quarts of water to 162˚, meanwhile preheat 12qt crock pot, add grain bag and grains to preheated pot, then slowly add water and stir. Mash temp should be about 150˚.

After about 30 minutes, heat 5 quarts of water to about 170˚. When mash is done, pull out the grain bag and let it drain for a few minutes. Dump wort into kettle, add bag and heated water back to crock, stir and let sit for 20 minutes to rinse out any remaining sugars. Should end up with around 10+ quarts of wort.

Add 3 gallons water and wort to brew kettle (for a total of around 5.5 gal.), add DME and stir, heat to a boil and add bittering hops. At about 15 min. add a 1 tsp of Irish Moss to help with clarity.

Chill wort to about 80˚ or less, transfer to carboy, aerate, take gravity, pitch decanted yeast starter.

Notes:
Brewed on 9/2/09 by myself.

8/31/09 – made starter with about a quart of water and 4oz of DME.

9/2 - Totally screwed up the mash. Not a 12qt pot. More like 8. Ended up mashing in the brew kettle. Not ideal. Stupid, I am.

9/3/12:45am – Pitched yeast at about 70. Forgot to take gravity reading. Maybe I shouldn't brew at night?

9/8/09 – Primary fermentation is over. I had the carboy in a water bath, pretty sure temps stayed around 70 or lower.

9/24 – Bottling Day. Eleven 22 oz. and twenty-four 12 oz. bottles used 2.8 oz. of corn sugar for about 2 volumes of CO2.

11/23 – Taste comparison with an O'Hara's Irish Stout. Mine was more bitter with more of a bittersweet chocolate versus the sweeter coffee flavor of the O'Hara.

Stout

Festivus Ale

2009-11-19T12:30:00.002-06:00

I decided a while back that I wanted to make a big Christmas beer to hand out to friends and family during the holidays, I just wasn't sure what style I wanted to brew. At first I considered brewing up one of those ambiguous “winter warmers” that almost every craft brewer seems to put out this time of year, then I remembered that I don't even really like very many of them. Then I read about this french saison yeast the Wyeast had released as part of their “Private Collection” special release program. It's a french saison yeast, rumored to be from Brasserie Thiriez, that doesn't need ridiculously high fermentation temperatures like their regular saison yeast. Bingo, I quickly decided, after consulting Farmhouse Ales, that the beer I would brew would be a Bier de Noel, basically a dark, high gravity saison. The recipe was based off the info in the book.

Most of the bottles are still in my cellar waiting for me to design a label and get them ready for Christmas, but I did crack one open the other night to see what I had made. I have to say it turned out to be real good, maybe my best beer to date.

The aroma has a weird peppery flavor from the yeast mixed with a caramel/nutty malt note, hard to describe but I liked it. Alcohol is nicely integrated but very noticeable. Mouth feel is silky smooth with a little more body than you would expect from a beer this dry. It even has pretty good head retention. Should be even better after another month or so in the cellar. I might even save a few of the 12 ounce bottles for a competition.

Recipe:
Expected OG: 1.074
Actual OG: 1.077
Expected FG: 1.010
Actual FG: 1.004
IBU: 24-27
Boil: 60 minutes
Pre-boil Volume: 5.5 – 6 gallons
Final Volume: 5 gallons
Apparent Attenuation: 94% (!!)
ABV: 9.6%

Extract/Sugar:
Briess Pilsner DME 4.5 lbs.
Cane Sugar 1.5 lbs.

Partial Mash Grains:
Weyermann Light Munich 3.5 lbs.
Weyermann Cara Munich III 12 oz.
Castle De-Bittered Black 2 oz.

Hops:
Brewers Gold 8.0%, 60 min 1.0 oz.
Vanguard 4.4%, 15 min. 0.25 oz.
Vanguard 4.4%, 0 min. 0.25 oz.

Yeast:
Wyeast 3711 French Saison 1.5 qt starter

Water:
Spring water from Welpman Spring in Morgan County, MO

Partial Mash (stove top method): In a 8 qt. stock pot, heat 5.5 quarts of water to 165˚, meanwhile pre-heat another 8qt pot in oven (set to warm) add grain bag and grains to preheated pot, then slowly add water. Mash temp should be about 150˚. Move pot to preheated oven for 60 minutes.

After about 30 minutes, heat 6 quarts of water to about 170˚. When mash is done, pull out the grain bag and let it drain for a few minutes. Add bag to heated water stir and let sit for 20 minutes to rinse out any remaining sugars. Should end up with around 9+ quarts of wort.

Add 3.25 gallons water and wort to brew kettle (for a total of around 5.5 gal.), add DME and stir, heat to a boil, add hops at intervals above. At about 15 min. add a 1 tsp of Irish Moss to help with clarity, at about 5 min. left add sugar. After boil is finished let sit for about 20 min. to aid in hop flavor.

Chill wort to about 80˚ or so, transfer to carboy, aerate, take gravity, pitch decanted yeast starter.

Notes:
Brewed on 08/12/2009 by myself.

8/11 /12:30pm - 5oz DME + 1.5 qt water = starter

8/13/12:30am – OG is a little low, yet again, added 8oz of sugar boiled in 2 cups of water. Working backwards in Beer Calculus, I'm figuring that my mash efficiency is about 68%. I also need to use less sparge water since the grain is already saturated.

8/13/1:30am – pitched starter at about 75˚ with a temp corrected OG of 1.077. I put the BB in a tub of cold water and by 2:20am the temp was down to 70˚. I want the fermentation to start out low then I'll take it out and let it rise naturally.

8/13/11:30am – Fermentation has started, about a 1 ½ inches of Krauesen. Temp is around 70˚, replaced ice bottles. I think I'll let the temp ramp up a little from here.

8/18 – Temp has been holding around 72-74˚ the last few days. Moving into office (where temps can get up to 77˚ for some reason) for a while to make sure it finishes.

9/16/09 – Bottled eight 12oz., eighteen 22oz., and two 24oz. Bottles with roughly 16oz left over that went into a 24oz bottle. Total of about 4.3 gallons. Primed with 3.6oz. of corn sugar @ about 72˚ for about 2.3 volumes of CO2.

Hefeweizen Part II

2009-11-19T09:00:00.001-06:00

So...I'm way behind on posts around here so I decided today I'm going to try to catch up a little (Peter willing). I didn't even take any pictures of this batch.

First up is my second batch of Hefeweizen. I told you back in July that I was going to brew it again with a better yeast and that is exactly what I did. Wyeast 3068 did exactly what I wanted and this batch turned out better than the first batch. The banana aroma is more pronounced with a more subdued clove note. Carbonation was better with just over 3 volumes of CO2. It lacks head retention which I think is due to it being all extract. There were some slight off flavors that are probably from a fermentation that got a little to hot or the extract. Next summer I'll brew this again, only as an all grain recipe and I bet it'll be even better. I'll definitely be using 3068 as my regular wheat yeast from now on.

Original Gravity: 1.053
Actual FG: 1.013
IBU: 12-15
Apparent Attenuation: 75%
ABV: 5.2%

6 pounds of Muttons Wheat DME
1 ounce of Vanguard (5.0%) for 45 minutes
Wyeast 3068 Weihenstephan Wheat from a 1 quart starter

Brewed on 08/06/2009 by myself.

Add 5 gallons of water and 6 pounds of extract, heat to a boil, add hops and boil for 45 minutes. With about 5 min. left add the chiller to sanitize it.
Chill wort to about 80˚ or less, transfer to carboy, add water to 5 gallons, pitch yeast.

Notes:
8/5 - Made a yeast starter using about a quart of wort (3 oz DME) in a growler.

8/6 – Forgot to take final gravity. Pitched entire 1qt starter at about 77˚ at 11:30am Using a blow off this time because this yeast is supposed to produce gobs of Kraeusen. Had full Kraeusen by 8:00pm and by 9:30 the blow off tube was full. Temp is around 75˚

8/7 – Blow off tube still full this morning, bucket is filling up with yeast. Temp is holding at 75˚

8/13 – Fermentation is pretty much done, temp has been holding at ambient 72 – 73˚

8/26 – Bottling Day. Used 6.5oz. of corn sugar in close to 5 gallons for about 3.3 volumes of CO2. 24-22oz, 4-12oz, 1-24oz. Saved yeast cake for weizenbock.

Robot Pale Ale - Baptism Batch

2009-08-29T00:00:00.000-05:00

My second batch of Belgian Pale Ale was brewed for my son's baptism reception. This was my first partial-mash and my first time making a yeast starter. I also changed just about everything from the original recipe, bad idea. The beer turned out okay and everybody liked it or at least pretended to but I thought the first batch was a little better.

I tasted it side-by-side with my first batch. Here are my notes:

The partial-mash came out a little low on my mash efficiency and I had to add some sugar to get the gravity up.
The color is about the same as last time but a bit clearer – better cold break or more floc from the yeast?
A lower final gravity that gave the beer the dryness I was looking for.
I think the biscuit malt was a little too pronounced there is a grainy, biscuity flavor that is a little off. I'll definitely go back to the specialty grain amounts I used in the first batch.
I'm not sure which yeast I like more, the first seems a little fruitier and the second I'm not sure about, not as fruity maybe a little peppery, masked by all the biscuit.

Recipe and Notes:

Expected Original Gravity: 1.053
Actual OG: 1.051
Expected Final Gravity: 1.014
Actual FG: 1.009
IBU: 20
Boil: 60 minutes
Boil Volume: 5 gallons
Final Volume: 5 gallons
Apparent Attenuation: 82%
ABV: 5.5%

Extract:
Briess Pilsner DME 2 lbs. 12.5 oz.
Corn Sugar 1.5 lbs.

Partial Mash Grains:
Briess Pilsner 3 lbs.
CaraMunich 8 oz.
Biscuit 8 oz.

Hops:
Vanguard (pellets) 4.4%, 60 min. 1.5 oz.
Halertau (pellets) 3.8%, 1 min. 1.0 oz.

Yeast:
Wyeast 3522 Belgian Ardennes (Achouffe) - slurry from a 1 qt. starter.

Water:
Spring water from Welpman Spring in Morgan County, MO.

Notes:
Brewed on 06/17/2009 by myself.

Partial Mash (stove top method): In a 8 qt. stock pot, heat 5 quarts of water to 164˚, add grain bag. Mash temp should be about 153˚. Move pot to preheated cooler for 60 minutes (using heated towels).

After about 30 minutes, heat 2 gallons of water to about 170˚. When mash is done, pull out the grain bag and let it drain for a few minutes. Add bag to heated water for 10 minutes to rinse out any remaining sugars.

Add extract and 7 quarts of water. Heat to a boil.

Boil for 60 minutes, adding the hops at the intervals listed above. At about 5 min. add the sugar and the chiller to sanitize it.

Chill wort to about 76˚, transfer to carboy, add water to 5 gallons, aerate, pitch yeast slurry.

6/16 – Made a yeast starter using about a quart of wort (3.5 oz DME) in a growler.

6/17 – My gravity was about 8 points low so I boiled up another ½ pound of sugar in 2 cups of water and added that so my total sugar addition was 1.5 lbs instead of the pound I had planned. I must have had a low efficiency on my partial mash

6/17 – Pitched yeast at about 73˚

6/18/10am – Fermentation is very active with about a 2 – 3 inch kraeusen, ferm temp = 72˚

6/19/11am – Fermentation still pretty active, looks like it's just past peak. Kraeusen is beginning to fall a bit.

6/24 – temp has been in the 72˚ – 73˚ range the past few days – man is it hot outside. Kraeusen is long gone, conditioning now.

7/12 – Bottled 48 12oz bottles, one 750ml bottle and a 330ml bottle. Used 3.8oz of corn sugar for about 2.2 volumes of CO2.

8/1 – Everybody seemed to like the beer, my mom had two! I think next time I want to keep the Biscuit at 4 – 6 oz, 8 seems like a bit much to me. Also might want to cut the sugar down to ½ a pound.

Nevermind...

2009-07-23T12:00:00.001-05:00

It appears that the report (via Fat City) that Rick Martin had left Free State is inaccurate. Rick posted this comment on my previous post:

I have not left Free State, nor will I ever. I have a new place that continues the level of food that illustrates what I want in a beer pairing. Please come and see for yourself. And continue to see me at Free State as well. Thanks for your support! Your blog is great!

Rick Martin

So there you go.

I think I'll head down to Free State to celebrate.

The End of an Era

2009-07-21T15:48:00.007-05:00

It was with fear and trepidation that I followed the recent articles on the new restaurant, The West Side Local. Not because I don't like the idea of a beer-centric restaurant that makes it's own kraut and pickles, I love the idea. Rather, I was fearful because my favorite chef, Rick Martin, was the Executive Chef and that must mean he has left Free State, the greatest brewery ever, and that made me sad. But none of the articles I read definitively stated he had left, so I held out hope that maybe he would be working at both places, maybe. Then I saw this,

"I just want to make comfort food -- food that makes people feel welcome," said Executive Chef Rick Martin, who left Free State Brewery after 17 years for the chance to run his own kitchen.

Damn!

Double Damn!

If you don't know Rick Martin, he is one of the better food & beer chefs in the country. He's talked or presented at some of the biggest beer events, including Savor, the Great American Beer Festival, and the Craft Brewers Conference, his recipes are featured in Lucy Saunders' book about beer and food, and he was recently awarded Mentor of the Year by the Kansas Restaurant and Hospitality Association.

He will surely be missed by myself and many of us in Lawrence who look forward to his daily specials and especially the Annual Beer Banquet where he comes up with amazing dishes. My wife and I have been to about five banquets now and it was beer that originally attracted us, but it's the food that keeps us coming back year after year.

Hefeweizen

2009-07-20T16:20:00.001-05:00

My fifth brew is a nice simple Hefeweizen. This is the simplest recipe I've done to date (no steeping grains, dry yeast) but, you wouldn't have been able to tell by the mess I made, spilled water, spilled wort, broken hydrometer, nothing was going my way. In the end, I still made beer and it tasted good.

The key to good Hefeweizen is a good German wheat yeast that kicks off plenty off banana and clove aromas. I really enjoy the one that Free State makes every summer. For this brew I decided to give a dry yeast a try and see if I could make a good Hefe with it.

Tasting Notes: Pours with a huge fluffy white head, I think I overdid the carbonation a bit. Color is a hazy golden straw color. Aroma is full of cloves with just a hint banana, not the balance I was looking for. Flavor is about the same, wheaty with a nice clove flavor, not a lot of malt or sweetness. Finish is rather dry with plenty of carbonation, very refreshing. Mouth feel is a little light. Good beer overall*, but not exactly what I was aiming for. I was really surprised that the FG came out so low.

*I had picked up some Sam Adams Hefeweizen to use as a comparison beer because I usually find Sam Adams' beer to be pretty true to style, they're never great but always solid and accurate. Well not this time, what I bought was just another boring American wheat. It made my Hefe taste great in comparison. It's frustrating that breweries can't label their wheat beer correctly – If you want to use German words, use German yeast, simple enough.

For the next batch I want to try to get more banana than clove and hopefully a little creamier body via less carbonation and yeast attenuation. I'm going to try using a liquid yeast instead of the dry. The dry was good, but not the profile I want.

Recipe & Notes:

Original Gravity: 1.055
Expected Final Gravity: 1.013
Actual FG: 1.010
IBU: 12-16
Boil: 45 minutes
Pre-boil Volume: 5 gallons
Final Volume: 5 gallons
Apparent Attenuation: 81% (!!)
ABV: 5.9%

Extract:
Muttons Wheat DME 6.0 lbs.

Hops:
Vanguard 5.0%, 45 min. 1.0 oz.

Yeast:
Safbrew WB-06, 1 pack

Water:
Spring water from Welpman Spring in Morgan County, MO

Notes:
Brewed on 05/21/2009 by myself.

Add 5 gallons of water and 3 pounds of extract, turn heat up. Add hops and boil for 45 minutes. At about 5 min. add the rest of the extract and the chiller to sanitize it.

Chill wort to about 80˚ or less, transfer to carboy, add water to 5 gallons, pitch yeast.

5/21/9:00pm – Pitched yeast at about 68˚. Managed to break my hydrometer and spill water and wort on multiple occasions.

5/22/10:30am – Kraeusen starting to form, just a thin film. Temp = 66˚.

5/23/7:30pm – Kraeusen starting to settle down, primary appears to be past. Temp = 68˚.

6/5/09 – Bottled ten 650ml bottles, ten 22oz bottles and seven 500 ml bottles which is about 4.6 gallons. Used 8.7oz of corn sugar which came out to about 4.3 volumes of CO2.

Boulevard Saison Brett

2009-07-13T16:20:00.000-05:00

So, I'm finally getting around to reviewing a bottle of Boulevard's Saison Brett. This was a bottle from their 2008 batch (bottle 00212 to be exact), it's been hanging out in my cellar for about 8 months now and I decided it had aged long enough/I could wait no longer. The Saison Brett starts out as slightly beefed up version (8.5%) of Boulevards regular Saison but then it is dry-hopped with delicious Amarillo hops and is inoculated with some brettanomyces, a special kind of beer yeast that kicks off unusual flavors, at bottling time.

The appearance was pretty simple and understated. A bright, clear straw colored beer with a big tight, slightly yellow head that left plenty of lacing in its wake. The aroma was complex and hard to describe. Here's a sample of the smells I thought I smelled: floral perfume, pineapple, must, coriander, pepper, lemon zest, etc. Did I mention that it was very complex?

The drink pretty much followed the aroma, maybe a little less complex but very tasty. Earthy and musty with a light citric tartness. Mouth feel is light and crisp, but not watery. A touch of alcohol burn in the back followed by a crisp dry herbal finish. More, I must have more.

I have to say that this is one of the finer Saisons I've ever tasted, hell it's one of the finer beers period. It just recently cracked the Top 100 over at beeradvocate.com. I was really impressed that I was able to hold off so long before drinking the first bottle. I wanted to give the brett plenty of time to do it's thing, and it did. The question now is how long can I hold out on the other 2 bottles of the '08 batch?

Robot Pale Ale

2009-07-09T16:20:00.001-05:00

As some of you may know, I'm a proud new Father of a baby boy and as a homebrewer I decided it would be apropriate to give out bottles of homebrew instead of the traditional cigar (or cigar shaped gum, if that's your thing). For the style I chose to go with something that would have a fairly wide appeal and be drinkable, instead of a big beer that would age well. I also wanted it to have an interesting flavor profile. I settled on Belgian Pale Ale, I figured the flavors from a Belgian yeast would make a nice tasty brew that most would enjoy.

The color is a nice hazy copper/amber color, about what I wanted, Aroma has a classic Belgian yeast aroma, slightly fruity with an underlying bready sweetness. The flavor is similar with a little caramel sweetness up front followed by some dried fruit flavors and a little hint of spice. A nice overall Belgian character. Not overly complex or deep. Body is about medium and could use a little more dryness and carbonation.

Overall: I think the beer came out pretty tasty and went over well with friends and family. On the next batch (Baptism Robot Ale) I'm going to try for a lower FG and a little more carbonation. It'll also be my first partial-mash brew.

Recipe & Notes:
Original Gravity: 1.062
Final Gravity: 1.016
IBU: 22-25
Boil: 60 minutes
Pre-boil Volume: 4.5 gallons
Final Volume: 5.5 gallons
Apparent Attenuation = 73%
ABV = 6.0%

Extract:
Muttons Extra Light DME 6.0 lbs.
Corn Sugar 1.0 lbs.

Steeping Grains:
CaraMunich 12 oz.
Biscuit 4 oz.

Hops:
East Kent Golding 5.4%, 60 min. 1.5 oz.
East Kent Golding 5.4%, 1 min. 0.5 oz.

Yeast:
Wyeast 3864-PC Canadian/Belgian Ale (Unibroue), 1 smack pack

Water:
Spring water from Welpman Spring in Morgan County, MO

Notes:
Brewed on 04/19/2009 by myself.

Steep grains for 30 min. at 150˚ in one gallon of water. While the grains are steeping heat 3.5 gallons of water up to about 170˚ in the boil kettle. When the steep is finished take the bag out and dunk it around in the boil water for about 5 minutes.

Add the steep water and 3 pounds of extract, turn heat up. Boil for 60 minutes, adding the hops (all pellets) at the intervals listed above. At 5 min. add the rest of the extract, the sugar, and the chiller to sanitize it.

Chill wort to about 80˚, transfer to carboy, add water to 5.5 gallons, aerate, pitch yeast.

4/19/2:00pm – Pitched yeast at about 74˚.

4/20/9:20am – Kraeusen is already near the neck of the bottle. Temp is around 66˚ or so.

4/21/12:50pm – Kraeusen has fallen a bit, but fermentation still looks active.

5/16 – bottled 48 - 12 oz. bottles and 1 330ml bottle.

The Grapefruit Express

2009-06-16T14:58:00.005-05:00

For my third batch of home brew I decided it was past time for a hoppy brew. After looking at several different recipes I settled on an Amarillo IPA recipe that I found on the home brew forum at BeerAdvocate.com courtesy of Homebrew42. It is a single hop recipe that uses Amarillo hops for all the flavor and aroma additions. Amarillo is known for its distinct grapefruit aroma, hence the name. I added a pound of sugar to help lower the final gravity, my first two brews both ended a little higher than I wanted.

Pours a hazy dark golden color, almost copper with a fluffy white cap that leave plenty of lacing on the side of the glass. Aroma starts with a load of grapefruit with little else, maybe a little grassy. Just a hint of bready malt as it warms.

Flavor follows the aroma, a little sweetness up front followed by a big grapefruit blast from the hops. Solid bitterness with a grassy/chalky finish. Carbonation is just crisp enough to help wash away all the delicious hop resin.

Overall this is easily my best brew to date and it didn't take me very long to drink it all. As a result I've already brewed another batch, with a slightly different timing on the hop additions, but no major changes, to replace this one.

Recipe & Notes

Original Gravity: 1.075
Final Gravity: 1.017
IBU: 80-85
Boil: 75 minutes
Pre-boil Volume: 4.5 gallons
Final Volume: about 5.5 gallons
Apparent Attenuation : 76%
Estimated ABV: 7.7%

Extract:
Muttons Extra Light DME 6.0 lbs.
Corn Sugar 1.0 lbs.

Steeping Grains:
Crystal 20˚ 8 oz.
CaraPils 8 oz.

Hops:
Nugget 13.7%, 75 min. 1.0 oz.
Amarillo 8.6%, 20 min. 1.0 oz.
Amarillo 8.6%, 10 min. 1.0 oz.
Amarillo 8.6%, Dry Hop 2.0 oz.

Yeast:
Safale US-05 Dry Ale Yeast 2 packets

Water:
Spring water from Welpman Spring in Morgan County, MO

Notes:
Brewed on 03/26/2009 by myself.

Steep grains for 30 min. at 150˚ in one gallon of water. While the grains are steeping heat 3.5 gallons of water up to about 170˚ in the boil kettle. When the steep is finished take the bag out and dunk it around in the boil water for about 5 minutes.

Add the steep water and 3 pounds of extract, turn heat up. Boil for 75 minutes, adding the hops (all pellets) at the intervals listed above. At 5 min. add the rest of the extract, the sugar, and the chiller to sanitize it.

Chill wort to about 70˚, transfer to carboy, pitch both packets of yeast.

03/26/12:45 pm – pitched yeast at 72˚

03/27/11:45am – Fermentation has already started, about 2-3 inches of kraeusen. Ferm temp = 67˚

03/28/around 8:00 – Kraeusen blew out the top of the fermenter had to clean it up and put a new piece of foil on top. Still smells delicious.

4/16/10:20am – Added the 2oz of dry hops and moved carboy to the beer cave for cool conditioning.

4/23 – Bottled 24 12-oz and 12 22-oz bottles for a total of 4.31 gallons (552 oz.) used 2.5 oz. Of priming (corn) sugar at around 65˚, which should get me about 2 volumes of CO2. FG measured at 1.017.

Oktoberfest Style Ale

2009-05-13T23:38:00.007-05:00

So I decided maybe it was time to finally put up another post. Sorry about the long lay-off, no excuses I've just been ignoring the blog.

I received a home brew recipe kit from my brother as a Christmas gift and back in February I decided to brew it. The kit was for an Oktoberfest style ale. Normally an Oktoberfest beer is a lager made with lots of Munich or Vienna malt, but since this was an extract kit, and those two malts can't be steeped, it came with pale malt extract, some Crystal malt, and instead of a lager yeast, some Danstar Nottingham ale yeast.

The aroma hop is Vanguard which is an American cousin of the German noble hop, Hallertau. So basically, an amber ale that's finished with German hops. I threw in an extra ½ ounce of Goldings that I had left over from my first batch to help account for the age of all the hops (they were all from the 2008 harvest).

Tasting notes: It pours a clear, bright copper color with a chunky, off-white head. The aroma comes across as a light caramel flavor with a bit of a herbal hop aroma fairly weak overall.

Flavor is more of the same, a little bread and caramel with an herbal dryness from the hops. Carbonation is a lot better in this batch compared to my first. Mouth feel is moderate and crisp. Just enough bitterness to balance everything out and make it very drinkable.

When I first started sampling this batch I thought I had some diacetyl problems that might have been caused by using only one pack of, possibly old, yeast. Over time the buttery flavors seem to have worked their way out. Lesson learned. In my next batch I use 2 packs of yeast and get better results.

Recipe & Brew Notes:
Original Gravity: 1.055
Final Gravity: 1.017
Pre-boil Gravity: 1.027 (estimated)
IBU: 24-25
Boil: 60 minutes
Pre-boil Volume: 4 gallons
Final Volume: 5 gallons

Extract:
Muttons Pale LME 6.6 lbs.

Steeping Grains:
Crystal 60˚, 8 oz.
Crystal 20˚, 4 oz.

Hops:
Goldings 4.7%, 60 min. 0.5 oz.
Willamette 4.6%, 60 min. 1.0 oz.
Vanguard 4.4%, 5 min 1.0 oz.

Yeast:
Danstar Nottingham Ale Yeast, 1 packet

Water:
Spring water from Welpman Spring in Morgan County, MO

Notes:
Brewed on 02/05/2009 by myself.

Steeped grains for 30 min. at 150˚ in one gallon of water. While the grains were steeping I heated 3 gallons of water up to about 170˚ in the boil kettle. When the steep was finished I took the bag out and dunked it around in the boil water for about 5 minutes.

Added the steep water and one can of extract, turned heat up. Boiled for 60 minutes, added the hops (all pellets) at the intervals listed above. At flame out I added the other can of extract.

Cooled wort with immersion chiller to about 70˚, transferred to carboy, filled to 5 gallons and shook to mix. Took a hydrometer reading 1.054 + .0012 adjustment for 70˚ = 1.055 original gravity.

Let wort sit in carboy for about an hour, pitched packet of yeast straight in at 2:12pm, temp is about 66˚. Placed carboy in basement by the washer.

02/28/2009 – Bottling day. Filled 20 12 oz bottles and 13 22 oz bottles.

Free State's 20th Anniversary

2009-02-22T14:36:00.003-06:00

To celebrate their anniversary my favorite brew pub has been serving up small batches of some of their more popular brews. The festivities started on the 18th and I believe they run through Monday the 23rd, check their website for more details. When Free State opened up in 1989 it was the first post-prohibition brewery in the good state of Kansas and I've been visiting it on an almost weekly basis ever since I moved here in 2000.

I was lucky enough to be able to stop in twice to enjoy the celebrating. On Thursday I stopped by in the afternoon and enjoyed three pints. The first was Ironman Imperial Stout which is my favorite stout, period. It is rich and creamy and has a beautiful balance of roast and chocolate flavors that makes it an absolute joy to sip. Next I had a light colored Bier de Garde that was finished with a champagne yeast, kinda fruity with a dry finish. My third and final was C³ IPA, a big double IPA that is hopped with a whole bunch of Columbus, Chinook, and Cascade hops, delicious.

Friday night I wandered back down because I knew they were going to have Eccentricity on tap, a blended, barrel aged beer. Unfortunatly, by the time I arrived the Eccentricity was gone so I had to “settle” for Owd Mac's Imperial Stout. I believe this was the 2005 vintage, same vintage I had last year. The big stout still has a lot of malty complexity, a mix of molasses, oak, vanilla, bourbon, and anise. I also had a nice dark rye called Black Eye Rye and another pint of C³. All in all, a great two days of craft beer. Congratulations Free State, on your twenty years of brewing. I hope the next twenty are just as awesome.

Uerige Doppelstick

2009-01-10T20:22:00.005-06:00

Now that I finally have my home brew in bottles I thought maybe I should review another beer. Even though I have some local beers from Boulevard and Schlafly that I need to drink and review, I decided to go with Dopplesticke from Uerige Obergärige Hausbrauerei in Düsseldorf, Germany. This Düsseldorf Altbier ale is a special high gravity version, you could call it a Double or Imperial Alt, that they only brew for export to America. I've been wanting to try this beer for quite a while so I decided today was the day.

The bottle I picked up the other day has a bottled on date of “05.07” I assume that means May of 2007, making this beer s little over a year and a half old. Good thing it's a 8.5% ABV brew with a rich malty profile which should hold up well to a little age.

The first thing I notice upon “popping” the top is a rich malty aroma. The beer pours a rich brown color that has a filtered clarity to it. The head is a thick tan foam that settles into a thin film and leaves some moderate lacing on the sides of my glass. The aroma has definite sweetness to it that is molasses-like, but a little lighter, like fresh figs. Very complex, not sure if I can describe this properly. I also pick up a solid toasted bread aroma and a hint of a peppery spiciness from the hops. It is almost like an English Barleywine.

The flavor has the same complex maly sweetness to it, I also detect some toasted bread and toffee notes. The mouth feel is rich and full with a nice smoothness to it. The hops try to bring about a dry earthy finish. Only after sipping about half the beer do I start to notice the warming effects from the alcohol. I don't know if it's the age or craftsmanship, probably both, but the alcohol is very well hidden in this brew. Overall this is a deliciously complex brew and I'm sad I only bought one. I would absolutely recommend it, even if it's been sitting on the shelf for awhile.

Fermented News

2008-12-18T20:46:00.007-06:00

There appears to be a new brewery in Kansas City. Dead Canary Brewery is a new, female owned brewery located in the West Bottoms of KCMO. It looks like they'll have some pretty kick-ass beers. It'll be awesome to have another brewery in the area. I can't wait 'till they launch.

Meanwhile, over at Boulevard, they are pumping out new beers left and right. In case you missed it, they recently released a funktified version of their Saison. I have three of these aging in the cellar right now.

To follow that, they just released a special version of Sixth Glass that was fermented on tart cherries and then aged in bourbon barrels. I just picked up two bottles today I should have a review up soon. (More info on the two special releases here)

As if that wasn't enough, They also released a new year-round IPA called Single-Wide IPA. I can't wait to get my hands on one of these. Right now the Single-Wide is only available on tap, I hear they have it at the Jazzhaus, so I'm going to have to hit that up soon.

The Begining: Adventures in Homebrewing Part I

2008-12-07T19:07:00.017-06:00

I have had the itch to brew my own beer for quite a while now and thanks to a kick in the pants from my lovely wife (gift certificate and a book) my new ~~addiction~~ hobby has officially begun.

The first step was to study the craft, I've never been one to rush into things without preparing first. I found two books to be especially helpful, How to Brew by John J. Palmer and Brewing Classic Styles by Jamil Zainasheff. How to Brew has a lot of info in it and can get pretty technical. If you want a book that's not as in-depth, The Complete Joy of Home Brewing by Charlie Papazian is the book for you. I have also found reading the homebrewing forum over at Beeradvocate.com to be very helpful. Now, on to the brewing...

The recipe was supposed to be Jamil's Chocolate Hazelnut Porter, only I was going to omit the hazelnut. Of course since this is my first time, I encountered a few problems and committed a few errors along the way.

First, the local - and by local I mean 35 miles away in Shawnee - home brew store, Bacchus & Barleycorn, didn't have any Munich malt extract so I went with more pale extract at the suggestion of the clerk. Second, I ended up pouring in a little extra extract than the original recipe called for so I ended up with about 9.1 pounds of extract instead of 8.8 lbs. Third, instead of leaving some wort in the kettle with all the trub, I strained it through a funnel with a strainer in it – I think Jamil's recipes factor in a half gallon of wort being left in the kettle. As a result I over-shot my original gravity by about .04 (assuming I can read a hydrometer and adjust for temperature correctly).

More problems, the first Wyeast smack pack of yeast never inflated like it was supposed to. Turns out the clerk gave me a year old smack pack, nice. After a quick call to Bacchus I was off to exchange it for a fresh one – 70 miles, round trip. Next time I'll be sure to pick up some dry yeast as a backup. Finally, I pitch my yeast at 6:30 pm, the wort was ready at about 12:30. Next I have problems getting the damn stopper to stay in my carboy, apparently you need to dry the stopper off after sanitizing it. As of right now, 24 hours after pitching, everything looks good. I'm getting a steady stream of bubbles coming out of the overflow valve and my temperature control looks good. I just hope the yeast can chew up enough sugar to leave me with a tasty brew.

So here's my recipe, notes, and more pictures. I'm thinking I'll call this one Jumbo Cocoa Porter or maybe Rookie Porter:

OG: 1.106
IBU: 33-36 (assuming I estimated the boil gravity right.)
Boil: 60 minutes
Pre-boil Volume: 4 gallons
Pre-boil Gravity: 1.056 (estimated)

Extract:
Muttons Light LME, 9.1 lbs.

Steeping Grains:
Crystal 40˚, 1.0 lb.
Crystal 80˚, 1.0 lb.
Chocolate Malt, 0.75 lb.
Black Patent Malt, 0.5 lb.

Extras:
Ghirardelli Cocoa Powder, 0 min., 0.5 lb.

Hops:
Goldings 4.7%, 60 min., 1.3 oz.
Willamette 4.7%, 30 min., 0.8 oz.
Willamette 4.7%, 15 min, 0.8 oz.
Goldings 4.7%, 0 min., 0.4 oz
Willamette 4.7%, 0 min., 0.4 oz

Yeast:
Wyeast 1056 American Ale, 1 smack pack

Water:
Great Value spring water from Welpman Spring in Morgan County, MO

Notes:
Brewed on 12/06/2008 by myself.

Steeped grains for about 35 min. at 150˚ - 170˚ (accidentally let it get too hot) in 3.5 gallons of water. I also squeezed the bag a bit which can lead to extra tannins and it may be possible that my steeping efficiency was higher than the estimate used in the recipe.

Added about 4.5 lbs of extract and a half gallon of water, turned heat up. Boiled for 60 minutes, added the hops (all pellets) and cocoa as listed above. IBUs may be lower than estimated due to pre-boil gravity possibly being higher than estimated. Added the rest of the extract.

Cooled wort with immersion chiller to about 80˚.

Transferred to carboy, and filled to 5.5 gallons. Took two hydrometer readings to make sure I was doing it correctly. 1.105 + .0012 adjustment for 70˚ = 1.106 original gravity.

Notice my yeast pack is still pretty flat, decide to break for lunch to give it more time to inflate, approximate time: 12:30.

Return from lunch at about 2:30 - Nutcracker on tap has a lot more hop flavor and aroma than the bottles I had. Decided to give up on yeast and headed to Bacchus for a replacement. I should have also picked up some dry yeast.

Aerated wort with a Mix-Stir Agitator – I used two approximately 30 sec. bursts. Finally pitched yeast at 6:30pm. Figured out you need to dry the stopper in order for it to stay in the bottle.

12/07 9:00am – looks like a small kraeusen has formed. The blow-off tube managed to come out of the water bucket so no bubbles to note. Secured tube back in bucket.

12/07 9:45am – Bubbles!

12/07 2:30pm – Bubbling has increased to a steady rate and kraeusen looks about ½ inch thick, maybe less. Room temp = 60˚ Fermenter temp = 66-67˚

12/07 6:45pm – 24 hours since pitching, bubbling is still steady and kraeusen looks about the same as before. I was hoping to have more activity by now, obviously I should have pitched more yeast. Room = 60˚ Fermenter = 67˚

More updates and pictures will be posted below.

[Update 1]
12/07 10:00pm – Fermenter temp approaching 68˚, adjusted space heater setting down 2˚ - I suspect fermentation will heat up in the next 24 hrs. Fermentation appears to have picked up a tick. Observed some foam in the kraeusen expanding and collapsing.

[Update 2]
12/08 5:30am – Fermenter still at 68˚ and room is still around 60˚, turned space heater down another 2˚. Kraeusen looks about the same as last night.

12/08 6:40pm – Room = 60˚, fermenter = 69˚. Bubbling is still constant, kraeusen looks a little puffier.

12/08 9:45pm – Room = 62˚, fermenter looks like it's getting close to 70˚. Kraeusen is thicker and not as dark. Cut the space heater, opened door to let cool air in from unfinished part of basement and turned a fan on the fermenter.

12/08 11:30pm – Room = 63˚, fermenter = 68˚ Kraeusen looks even thicker than it did two hours ago. I'm not sure why the room temp keeps going up. I'm going to leave the door open and fan on over night.

[Update 3]
12/09 5:30am – Room = 58˚, fermenter = 63-64˚ Kraeusen has increased to about 3 inches, very poofy. Looks like the cooler air helped keep the temp down, turning fan off for day, room temp should drop a little more as outdoor temps drop.

12/09 9:10pm – Room = 55˚, fermenter = 60˚ Looks like high kraeusen has come and left. Lots of foam residue on the top of the bottle, almost to the neck. Turned space heater back on (set to 58˚). Almost a one second gap between bubbles.

[Update 4]
12/18 4:00pm – Day 12 - Fermenter and room about 62˚. Gravity = 1.028, a little higher than I want it to be. Chocolate and roast aroma and flavor a bit of bitter from the hops. Not as sweet as I expected, not a bad thing. Finish is a little grainy. Switched from overflow to a double-bubble airlock. After asking a few questions on-line, it's possible that my original gravity was not as high as measured. Apparently you're supposed to mix the wort up after you add water so you can get an accurate reading, duh. Turned heat up to 70 and gave the fermenter a little swirl to help the yeast finish.

[Update 5]
1/8/2009 – Day 33 - Bottling day. Siphoned about 4 gallons into bottling bucket and filled 27 twelve and twenty-two ounce bottles. Final gravity stayed at 1.028, hight than I wanted it. Beer has a pronounced chocolate flavor, no real off flavors detected. Should make a nice dessert beer.

New Glarus Staghorn Octoberfest

2008-10-26T12:38:00.003-05:00

Last weekend I had to drive up to Wisconsin and while I was there I was able to stock up on some Wisconsin craft beer. Up first is an Octoberfest from New Glarus. Available exclusively in the state of Wisconsin, New Glarus is well known for crafting excellent ales and lagers, especially those of German origin.

Crafted from Wisconsin malts and water and German hops and yeast Staghorn pours a crystal clear deep cooper color with a short white foam that quickly settles into a thin film. The Aroma is spot on for the style, toasted grain and biscuit with a dose of spice from the hops (probably Hallertau).

The flavor pretty much follows the aroma. A little bit of sweet bread flavors to start, followed by a mix of biscuit like flavors and some earthy spiciness from the hops. Everything is balanced towards the malt side but it is not overly sweet. The finish is clean with a slight herbal hop bite, maybe a slight metallic twang in there as well. Mouthfeel is creamy with excellent carbonation. I think this is my new favorite American made Octoberfest.

Samuel Adams Hallertau Imperial Pilsner

2008-10-16T18:39:00.004-05:00

Today we'll sample one of my favorite seasonal beers, Samuel Adams Hallertau Imperial Pilsner. Brewed by the Boston Beer Company, it was created as a tribute to the noble hop Hallertau Mittelfrau which are grown in the Hallertau region of Bavaria in Germany. If Germans made hop bombs this is probably what they would make.

The beer pours a deep golden straw color with a bright white head. Its not crystal clear like a Pils should be, there is a slight haziness to it, maybe from all the hops? The aroma is dominated by the spicy floral aroma of the Hallertau hops, with a hint of honey and malt lurking underneath it all. A real treat for the nose.

The flavor starts out with a touch of caramel sweetness, this is quickly replaced by the spicy bitterness of the hops. There is some citrus notes mixed in there as well. The mouth feel is a little creamy and has a tendency to stick to the tongue. The finish is bitter and perfumey with a touch of heat form the alcohol. There is just enough malt in there to keep the beer slightly balanced but the Hops are definitely the main attraction.

This beer is very drinkable, if it wasn't for the 8.1% ABV I'd have a hard time stopping after just one. The bitter finish could be a drawback for some but I like it. I really enjoy how the Hallertau hops are so clearly put on display. Jim Koch should make this part of their regular line-up. This is not a beer to be missed. It is sold in four packs and they'll set you back about ten bucks.

Beware the Red Menace

2008-10-04T15:27:00.010-05:00

The picture of Lenin on the bottle should have been enough warning to keep me away from this beer, but for some reason, I bought it anyway. Red Menace from Hale's Ales in Seattle, Washington is supposed to be a big amber ale with lots of hops in it. Like Lenin's theories of social order this beer is an epic fail.

Appearance is a cloudy iced tea color, an odd color for an amber ale, with a dingy white head. Aroma is a mix of grainy malts, a little bit of sweetness and some earthy spiciness from the hops, but there is also a bit of an off smell, metallic perhaps, that makes the aroma a bit unwelcoming.

Flavor is completely dominated by the off flavors, metallic or medicinal. I don't think I'm going to be able to finish this glass, the aftertaste is really terrible. This is a beer that is only fit for dirty, Lenin loving commies. All beer (and freedom) loving people should steer clear of this crap.

Ayinger Oktober Fest-Märzen

2008-09-25T20:38:00.004-05:00

Today we'll be sampling Ayinger's Oktoberfest beer, one of my favorite examples of the style. The Oktoberfest style is a lager beer made with lots of Munich malt and nobel hops. You probably already know the history of Germany's Oktoberfest if not check it out.

Ayinger is one of the best German breweries that exports to America and their fest beer is a prime example of their skills. The beer pours a bright copper color with a frothy white head that settles down to a wispy film. The aroma is sweet biscuit with a touch of caramel and some faint spiciness from the hops.

The taste starts off with some caramel sweetness up front followed by plenty of chewy bread flavors in the middle, along with some nut flavors. Balance is provided by just the right amount of noble hops. The finish is almost tart instead of bitter. Mouth feel is crisp and light bodied with a mostly dry finish. A very interesting lager. If you haven't tried this classic example of a classic style, you need to do so.

Racer 5 IPA

2008-09-15T22:14:00.003-05:00

In an earlier post I mentioned that there are a gaggle of new beers available in Kansas, today I'm going to review one of those great new beers. Racer 5 IPA is a award winning west coast IPA brewed by the Bear Republic brewery located in Healdsburg California in Sonoma County, right in the heart of wine country.

Pours a deep golden straw color with a touch of copper in it and frothy, off-white foam. The Columbus and Cascade hops make themselves known right away with a blast of tangerine and mangoes followed by some pine and floral aromas. Later I pick out some caramel sweetness from the malts.

The first taste presents a more bitter fruit profile, more to the grapefruit side of the citrus spectrum with a touch of orange. The malt lays down a subdued biscuity backbone with just a touch of caramel, the hops are the main focus of this beer.

The bottle conditioning gives it a nice smooth body. Finish is appropriately bitter with a touch of a spicy burn from the 7% alcohol. Overall, a really well done, hops heavy IPA that is sure to satisfy your hop yearnings. I wouldn't recommend it for the hop novices out there, but I'll be drinking more than a few this fall.

Hefe' for Breakfast

2008-08-30T20:14:00.005-05:00

This weekend is considered the symbolic end of summer, although around here summer has a ways to go still, so I thought I should finally review a “summer-time” beer.* There is no summer-time beer I enjoy more than a nice fresh Hefeweizen.

*My first pozterisk (you'll have to scroll to the botom of that link). Most beer geeks like to drink a lighter beer, like Lagers, Pale ales, Wits, and Hefeweizen, in the summer and darker beers, like Porters, Barley wines and Stouts, in the winter. Personally, I drink whatever beer I'm in the mood for at the time, with the modern technology that is indoor climate control, season isn't as important as it once was.

Hefeweizen is a traditional south German beer made with at least 50% wheat and a special strain of yeast that gives the ale a banana and clove aroma. Since freshness is paramount to a good Hefe', and we know the freshness of imported beer from Germany is questionable at best, I like to stick to locally made examples like the one from Free State.

I picked up a growler at Free State last night so I would have a nice beer to drink while I embark on my Labor Day weekend list of chores. After finishing my morning mowing I poured a nice tall glass of the cloudy, golden straw colored ale with a thick white head to sip while I prepared my breakfast.

The aroma is thick with bananas, clove, and wheat malt – a delicious start. The first sip taste like fresh banana cream pie sprinkled with nutmeg and clove. The mouth feel is creamy and smooth with just enough heft. The wheat tartness kicks in in the finish and it has just enough hop bitterness to balance it all out.

This just might be the perfect accompaniment to eggs and bacon. There are a couple of other good Hefes out there and I hope to bring you some reviews of them before the summer really ends.

The breakfast of champions!

Sierra Nevada Anniversary Ale, 2008

2008-08-17T14:07:00.004-05:00

Sorry about the long hiatus. I just moved into a new house and I've been a little busy with all that, plus a mild bout of laziness. I'm back now and I should have several new posts coming soon, there are lots of new beers available in Kansas now. Today we'll take a look at a seasonal favorite of mine, Sierra Nevada's Anniversary Ale.

Anniversary Ale is a IPA ale that Sierra Nevada releases every fall to celebrate another successful year. This beer is a lot more balanced than you might expect from a west coast IPA, it's basically a beefed up version of their regular pale ale.

It pours with a big foamy head and a brilliant copper hue. The nose is a mix of malt and hop aromas. The pine and citrus from the Cascade hops fight with the toast and caramel of the malts.

Taste is more of the same delicious balance, toasty malts balanced by the pine and citrus of the hop oils. Mouth feel is crisp with plenty of carbonation and a chalky, dry finish. Bitterness is there but not as overbearing as many IPAs can be.

Overall a really easy drinking IPA that doesn't blow you away with the hops. Instead, it impresses you with the overall balance, and flavor. If you don't normally drink IPAs you might consider giving this well crafted brew a try.

1554 Enlightened Black Ale

2008-05-08T16:09:00.003-05:00

Today we'll take a look at one of my wife's favorite beers, New Belgium's 1554 Enlightened Black Ale. This ale, weighing in at 5.6% ABV, is the recreation of a long lost recipe that was found in a library in Belgium and then recreated using modern brewing techniques.

Dark brown almost black ale with a ruby glow when held to the light. A thick beige colored head that settles into a light film on the surface and some lacing on the sides. The aromas start of with roasted malts and cocoa that are followed by some fruit, dark cherry and figs.

Flavor starts of with a creamy coffee note mixed in with some fruitiness and a touch of caramely sweetness. Some spice and earth notes from the hops make a quick appearance in the middle. The mouth feel is rich and velvety smooth. Finish is slightly dry with a lingering chocolate-like bitterness. Pretty complex mix of flavors, kind of like mixing a belgian dubble with a porter, very interesting and enjoyable. Don't hesitate to pick this one up and give it a try.

Goose Island India Pale Ale

2008-05-04T13:35:00.002-05:00

Today I found myself in the mood for a hoppy beer, so I thought I would give the Goose Island IPA a try. Goose Island is a brewery based in Chicago and thanks to a distribution agreement with Anheuser-Busch you can find their beers everywhere.

Their IPA is a little on the mild side with 5.9% ABV and a decent 58 IBUs. Not quite as strong as the Odell or Titan. On the plus side Goose Island lists the bottled on date on the back label of their beers, which is always nice. Today's selection is a little on the old side with a bottled on date of January 17.

The ale pours out a rich golden straw color with a thick off-white head. The aroma is nice mix of pine and citric hops with a touch of malty sweetness, not as pungent as I'd like it to be.

The flavor is also a little on the subdued side. The first flavor I notice is a sweet bready maltiness that is quickly followed by the hops, mostly pine and floral. Good balance, but I'd like to taste more hops.

Mouth feel is medium bodied and smooth with a crisp dry finish and some moderate bitterness. Overall a good, but not great, IPA. I'll probably choose another brand if given the choice.

Boulevard Pale Ale

2008-04-20T14:17:00.003-05:00

Today we'll review local favorite, Boulevard Pale Ale. This ale weighs in at 5.1% ABV and 31 IBUs. You can find this and their Wheat on tap just about anywhere in Kansas and Missouri so it makes a nice alternative to the usual crap from Bud, Miller, Coors.

Pale Ale pours crystal clear golden amber in color with a quickly deflating white head. The Cascade, Magnum, Simcoe, and Fuggles hops create aromas of lemon, flowers and hint of grass. The pale, Caramunich, and Caravienna malts add a light touch of caramel sweetness.

Flavor is similar to the smell, some light malty sweetness mixed in with a citric twang from the hops. Bitterness is mild at best. Mouth feel is light to medium bodied with a slightly dry finish. Overall this is a delicately balanced beer with no bold flavors but what is there is very good. A good ale for long sunny days.

Titan IPA

2008-04-12T19:45:00.004-05:00

I found myself in the mood for some hops today, so I headed down to the Cork & Barrel Downtown to see if they had any fresh IPAs. I settled on Titan IPA from the good folks at Great Divide that was bottled in mid January. After my recent experience with a bottle of old beer I've been paying more attention to bottle dating and beer freshness.

Weighing in at 6.8% and 65 IBUs, the Titan pours out a hazy orange tinged copper with a big chunky white head that leaves plenty of lacing on the sides of the glass. This ale appears to be bottle conditioned so look out for some junk in the bottom of the bottle (you can see some floaties in the pictures).

The hop aromas hit right away with a burst of pine resin and grapefruit. There is also some caramel mixed in there as well. The flavor follows the same blueprint, the hops lay down a pine and grapefruit blanket of bitterness but there's just enough caramel malt sweetness in there to keep things balanced and tasty. The mouth feel on this one is just about perfect for an IPA, smooth and full with a long dry finish and lingering grapefruit bitterness.

Overall this is another really good IPA from Colorado with plenty of tasty American hops and just the right amount of malt balance. Compared to the Odell IPA I would probably choose Odell, but just barely, they are both really good and worth your time and money.

Trappistes Rochefort 8

2008-04-10T15:28:00.005-05:00

Today we'll take a quick look at another great beer from the fine monks at Brasserie de Rochefort. Last time we looked at a young and amazing Rochefort 10, now its a Rochefort 8 that is over two years old.

The ale pours a beautiful deep mahogany color with a wispy tan head. The nose has a sweet banana and gingerbread-like malt aroma with a little anise mixed in. The flavor starts out earthier with some malty sweetness in the background. The mouth feel is a little light, but still rich, with plenty of carbonation and finishes with a light alcohol sting and a touch of anise.

Overall a very fine beer, I think I would like it more if it was younger – remember to subtract five years from the best-by date on all Rochefort beers to find the bottled on date. The body is not a rich as the 10 and, due partially to age, the aromas and flavors are not as strong as they could be.

Old Franziskaner

2008-03-29T17:02:00.005-05:00

So, here's that post on the Dunkelweiss that I promised. I picked this bottle of Franziskaner up at a local shop where I didn't think I needed to worry about how old a bottle was, turns out I do. The date code on the bottle, located in the lower left of the front label, is “12263”. A little on-line research revealed that this translates to a bottling date of the 122nd day of 2006 (May 2) and that it was bottled on line #3. This means by beer is almost 2 years old. Wheat beers are best when they are consumed fresh.

As are pale ales, on the same trip I picked up a six pack of Hazed & Infused and it also seemed old, there was almost none of the enjoyable hop aroma. Boulder Beer Co.'s beer lack any kind of bottled on or best by date so I have no way to tell exactly how old those beers were.

As a result of the beer being old, I'm not going to post any tasting notes but I did take some pictures, so enjoy...

Odell IPA

2008-03-28T09:56:00.002-05:00

I've been in the mood for hops this week so today we'll take a look at one of the best IPAs available in the area, Odell Brewing Company's IPA. This 60 IBU, 7% ABV ale won gold at this years Great American Beer Fest, which is no small feat considering that the IPA category had 120 entries.

This bright copper colored beer with the fluffy off-white head has a great hop bouquet. Oranges, flowers and pine needles all battle to be the dominate hop aroma but there is also a mango-like sweetness in there that is very inviting.

In the mouth the citric and tropical fruit flavors fade to the background and the flavor becomes more herbal and piny. There is plenty of hops bitterness and a perfect biscuit-like malt backbone to keep it all balanced. Long dry finish and an almost perfect medium bodied mouth feel. Really solid IPA and one of my favorites, unfortunately hoppy beers of this quality seem to keep going up in price so if you see it for less than $10 a six-pack it's probably a good deal.

I should also apologize for not having posted in a while, I was out of town for Easter and haven't been able to get any good light for pictures until yesterday. I should have a couple more posts coming this weekend. I have a dunkelweizen waiting in the fridge and I might be headed down to Free State tonight to check out the projection screen they have set up for Jayhawk games. So check in later for those posts.

Hazed & Infused

2008-03-20T12:51:00.004-05:00

Welcome to the madness, I hope you were able to avoid work and enjoy all the basketball action today. For my session beer. on this bright spring day, I decided to go with one of my favorite pale ales, Boulder Beer's Hazed & Infused. This is a lovely dry-hopped ale, which means there were extra hops added at some point after the wort boil, this tends to infuse a beer with extra hop aromas without adding extra bitterness.

The pour is a hazy orange-copper color with a fluffy off-white head that slowly settle into a nice film and leave some decent lacing on the sides. The aroma pops with a bouquet of hops. Orange zest, pine oil, some floral notes dominate the nose. There is a touch of biscuit malt in there as well. A really great smelling beer.

The flavor continues the citrus theme with grapefruit and a lemony tartness. Balance is provided by a touch of malty sweetness and some grain-like flavors. There is some bitterness but it does not distract form the other flavors. The swallow is dry with a piny tart finish. Moderate carbonation and medium body provide a crisp mouth feel.

Overall this is a nice easy drinking ale that has a great hop aroma and very little bitterness. Really, every pale ale should be dry-hopped, a regular pale ale pales in comparison. This brew would make a good starter beer for the hop newbie who might be intimidated by the bitterness of IPAs. Add in the fact that this brew has a mere 4.85% ABV and it's a beer that can be enjoyed during a full day of basketball madness or any other spring time activities of your choice.

Irish Ales, Jayhawks, and Irish Stout

2008-03-16T17:38:00.003-05:00

Since I won't be able to bar-hop with all the amateurs tomorrow I decided to go ahead and do a little celebrating today while I enjoy another epic battle between the Jayhawks and Texas Longhorns (and another victory). In homage to St. Patrick we'll take a look at three different Irish styled beers, Boulevard's Irish Ale, Free State's Grace O'Malley's Irish Ale, and finally, Murphy's Irish Stout.

The Boulevard Irish Ale is a clear, rich amber colored ale with an off-white head. The aroma is an enticing mix of caramel sweetness, fruity yeast esters, and a crisp, citric hops smell. Flavors are pretty much the same with a lightly bitter finish and a pine-like aftertaste. Mouth feel is medium-light with proper carbonation, Overall, a tasty example of the style with perhaps a little more of a hop profile than some, but I like it. Look for this beer on tap while you're out and about on Monday.

Meanwhile the Free State version is a richer maltier version of the style. Almost the same color with a rich malty aroma mixed with some fruity esters from the yeast. The flavors start off with a caramel and biscuit-like sweetness followed by a quick fruitiness and then a light, toasty finish. Not as bitter as the Boulevard but richer in the mouth with an excellent malt heavy flavor. Both would be an excellent choice, but I'm going to go with Boulevard as my favorite right now.

Finally, Murphy's Irish Stout is an InBev owned beer (the A-B of Europe) that is widely available in 16oz cans that have that nifty widget in them that allows us to get that creamy nitrogen infused pour. Color is black with a dark ruby highlight and a thick, creamy, dirty white head that lingers...and lingers. Aromas and flavors are mild at best. A slight milk chocolate aroma then some roasted flavors show up in the mouth to help give it a dry finish with a chalky aftertaste. Mouth feel is velvety smooth, a little watery at the end. Overall, a notch above Guinness in the flavor department but not as good as the other dry stouts I've reviewed (Avery, Boulevard, & North Coast).

Trappistes Rochefort 10

2008-03-13T20:18:00.009-05:00

Today we'll take a look at Trappistes Rochefort 10, one of the top rated beers in the world. Both Beeradvocate.com and RateBeer.com have it rated in their top 10. I picked up my sample at the Lucas Liquor Superstore in Kansas City, MO. You can also find Rochefort at liquor stores on the Kansas side of the border. Wherever you happen to find it be sure to grab it right away as they never seem to stay on the shelves for very long.

Brewed by monks at the Brasserie de Rochefort which is part of the Abbaye de Notre-Dame de Saint-Rémy, 10 is a Belgian Quadruple Ale of the highest caliber. The abbey brews three different beers, 6, 8, and 10. All follow the same basic recipe the only difference is the strength of the beer with 10 being the strongest. I probably should have started with the 8, I have one in the fridge, and worked up form there. Oh well, I'll be different and start at the top and work down.

The bottle has a best-by date of August 29th, 2012 and according to this site it was bottled five years prior. That makes my sample about six and a half months old.

The beer pours a dark mahogany color with a huge light brown head that leaves all kinds of lacing on the sides of my chalice. The aroma is very inviting with notes of caramel, figs, ripe bananas, clove, and a touch of coriander. A really delicious and complex smelling beer.

The taste follows the aromas and adds a little bread-like flavor. Right now I'm imagining figs and bananas that have been dipped in caramel and sprinkled with clove. The finish has a cocoa dryness to it with a little bit of spice mixed in. Mouth feel is a little light which is probably due to the above average carbonation. I'm very impressed that the alcohol is barely noticed at any point, just a slow warming effect, pretty good for a 11.3% ABV brew.

I was really impressed with the great aromas and flavors of this beer. This is definitely one of the better beers I have ever had the pleasure of drinking. I'm really glad I bought all four bottles I saw at the store. I understand now why I rarely see these little bottles in the stores and why I'll be buying more of these in the future, and I recommend you do the same.

Fermented News

2008-03-08T13:15:00.000-06:00

Craft beer takes another bite out of the beer sales pie [beertown.org]

Missouri State Rep. Curt Dougherty proposes to make Budweiser the official state beer. Only in Missouri. [KC Star]

Good article about beer glasses [SF Gate]

Matthew McConaughey, proving he has bad taste, wants to name his kid Bud. "You just gotta keep livin' man, L-I-V-I-N." [Trans World News]

Good news, hops farmers are planting more hops [kimatv.com]

Avery Out of Bounds Stout

2008-03-07T23:25:00.001-06:00

I have one last stout rolling around in the fridge and I figured since its cold, today is a good day to review it. Avery Brewing Company's Out of Bounds Stout is a 5.1% ABV, 51 IBU Irish Dry Stout. It pours jet black with with a tan head that settles into a light film with moderate lacing on the sides of the glass. Mild aromas of milky coffee and chocolate with hints of fruit and roasted malts. Flavor has more roasted and bitter chocolate than the nose. The taste never seems to blend together like I'd like it to. Finish is dry and chalky with lingering bitterness. There is plenty of carbonation and a medium mouth feel that is a bit on the light side. Overall, I wasn't overly impressed with this stout. While it had more flavor that the Boulevard it wasn't as balanced and the North Coast was definitely a better stout.

HopSlam!

2008-03-02T14:23:00.006-06:00

After a whole month of drinking mostly stouts, it's time for a big ol' hop bomb. And by hop bomb I mean HopSlam, a big Double India Pale Ale (DIPA) from Bell's Brewery. Thats right, I'm going to go with two straight Bell's posts in a row, I hope you're okay with that.

Back in late January, thanks to the good people over at the Beeradvocate.com forums, I was able to pick up 2 six packs of the limited release HopSlam. As a side note, if you're ever looking to pick up a limited release brew that sells out quickly the BA forums are a great resource, as is The Left Side of the Store, a blog run by Phil Devitt who works over at Lukas Liquor Superstore in KC, MO.

The DIPA style is a uniquely American beer style. It takes the already hop heavy India Pale Ale (IPA) and adds a bunch more hops and just enough extra malt to keep it in the neighborhood of balanced. The Bell's version adds some honey to the malt bill in an attempt to add more balance.

The pour is a bright orange tinged copper color with a fluffy white head. The aroma hits right away, huge hop aromas are a mix of citrus and tropical fruits, like a mix between a mango and a grapefruit. Pine needle aromas sneak out as it warms. On the tongue it's more of the same hop flavors, a little more pine flavor with plenty of grapefruit and orange and plenty tongue burning hop bitterness. Honey and biscuit flavors make an attempt at balance, they mostly fail. The finish is dry and bitter with a spicy burn form the 10.5% ABV. This one grades out at an A-plus.

If you haven't been bit by the hop bug yet, you may want to steer clear of this one. On the other hand, if you associate yourself with the phrase “hop head” then you must seek out this big, brutally bitter beer. I have yet to try a beer that comes closer to capturing the essence of American hops.

Bell's Expedition Stout

2008-03-01T01:17:00.008-06:00

Since this is the last day in February (at least it was when I started this post), I figured I should finally get around to reviewing that Bell's Expedition Stout I've had sitting in my beer fridge for about a month and a half. This is a big Russian Imperial Stout with 10.5% ABV. This is the first bottle from a rather expansive six-pack that I picked up at the Lukas Liquor Superstore in Kansas City, MO. I was thinking about hanging on to the other five for awhile to see how they change over time.

Bell's website has a handy feature where you can enter in the batch number located on the back of a bottle and find out what day the beer your drinking was bottled on. While it'd be even better if they'd just put the date right on the bottle, a batch number is infinitely better than having no idea how old a beer is. It surprises me that so many craft breweries have no bottled on or best by date on their products, I mean even Budweiser dates their swill, you'd think a small craft brewery that cared about the quality of their product would go to the trouble and expense of dating their bottles. Okay, I'll stop my ranting now and get on with the review.

There's no doubt that this is an imperial stout. It pours like heavy whipping cream only its the complete opposite in color, black as night. The thick, creamy, dark brown head slowly settles into a dense film. An appealing start. The aroma was a little softer than I thought it would be. Notes of roasted malt, and chocolate cappuccino are underpinned by a light molasses sweetness. Occasionally I pick up a faint fruitiness but I can't nail it down.

The flavor starts out with a sweet mix of caramel and toffee that fades into a mild dark chocolate with a roasty and slightly bitter finish. The thickness of this brew coupled with a moderate carbonation allows the chocolaty bitterness to really linger around. Alcohol is not noticed at all in the mouth, but at 10.5% it does slowly warm you up.

Overall, a really tasty stout. It could use a little more carbonation which should help the aroma pop a little more. I like how the alcohol is very subdued and the overall balance of sweet and bitter is spot on. According to the website this bottle was packaged on September 14, 2007. That makes it about five and a half months old. Based on my tasting tonight I don't know if the other five will age much longer.

Boulevard Dry Stout

2008-02-28T09:14:00.003-06:00

Today we'll take at look at another local brewery, Boulevard Brewing Company in Kansas City, MO. To me, Boulevard's brewing philosophy seems to be brewing simple, flavorful, low ABV beers that one could enjoy over a long drinking session (I'm referring to their regular lineup here, not the new Smokestack Series). Their strongest year-round beer, Bully Porter, is only 5.4% ABV. The Dry Stout weighs in at a mere 4.9% and 28 IBUs, but does it have enough flavor to stay interesting for multiple servings?

Pours black with a light brown head. Mellow aromas of milk chocolate and creamy coffee, not as intense or complex as other stouts, but still a pleasing aroma. Flavor has more chocolate and roasted coffee flavors. Swallow is smooth with a subtle dry and earthy aftertaste. Not the greatest stout ever made, but I would easily pick it over a Guinness. While not as interesting as their porter, which I almost never see on tap, I could easily drink several pints and be perfectly happy with my choice. I'll go ahead and give it a B-minus.

Vintage Owd Mac Imperial Stout

2008-02-25T22:13:00.004-06:00

This past weekend the great Free State Brewing Company officially turned nineteen years old. Earlier this month they held a beer banquet to commemorate their anniversary. This weekend was a little more low-key. Friday through Sunday they served up some of everybody's favorite specials from the last year, like their awesome tuna tartar. And of course, they busted out the beer, and plenty of it. They had several seasonal beers on tap including Bowersock Bock, Fireside Imperial Pilsner, Coeur de Saison (The Wife's favorite), and Old Backus Barleywine. But the real star of the weekend was the 2005 vintage Owd Mac's Imperial Stout.

Owd Mac is a big, burly stout that is aged in oak whiskey barrels from McCormick Distilling Co. in Weston, MO. It's also the inspiration for the first part of my name (owd is an old english way of saying old and Müller is the correct spelling of my family name, in case you were wondering). The very first time I tried this beast was back in '01 or '02, I ordered it to with a burger during a work lunch. Oops, little did I know that I was about to try my first oak aged beer, and probably the strongest beer I'd ever had...during lunch...with coworkers. Luckily I made it through the rest of the day, and headed back for more. Owd Mac was the most unusual and unique beer I had ever had, I was a big fan.

Now that I have a little more seasoning and a more experienced palette, I couldn't wait to taste a four year old sample. The appearance is a thick murky black liquid with no head, none. Big nose is full of dark treacle, vanilla, oak, hints of raisins and bourbon. The longer you sit and sniff it the more flavors you can pick out. The first taste is molasses and caramel accompanied by vanilla and traces of burnt oak. Mellow and complex at the same time. The finish is fairly dry with lingering raisin and licorice flavors, alcohol is barley noted. The mouth feel is like a watered down syrup. There is no carbonation which gives it a very unbeer like feel. Alcohol slowly warms the belly. An acquired taste, but very good. While I admire Free State for serving this on cask, I think it could benefit from a touch of forced carbonation to give it a livelier feel in the mouth and really bring out all the flavors. A few bubbles short of an A-plus.

Look at the geek taking notes at the table

Unintended Consequences

2008-02-23T12:19:00.005-06:00

I 'm sure most of you are aware of the increasing cost of your favorite beer. And some of you are probably aware that this increase is being at least partly blamed on ethanol subsidies. Well now the unintended consequences of government interference in the market is affecting almost all food costs. [Environment News Service]

The world is facing the most severe food price inflation in history as grain and soybean prices climb to all-time highs. Wheat trading on the Chicago Board of Trade on December 17th breached the $10 per bushel level for the first time ever. In mid-January, corn was trading over $5 per bushel, close to its historic high. And on January 11th, soybeans traded at $13.42 per bushel, the highest price ever recorded. All these prices are double those of a year or two ago.

And its not just affecting your budget, in some parts of the world a small increase in the cost of food can equal death.

The World Bank reports that for each 1 percent rise in food prices, caloric intake among the poor drops 0.5 percent. Millions of those living on the lower rungs of the global economic ladder, people who are barely hanging on, will lose their grip and begin to fall off.

So who is responsible for this perversion of basic economics, why it's our fearless leaders in D.C. And their corporate ~~whores~~ buddies. [U.S. News & World Report]

The federal government gives preferential treatment to domestic, corn-based ethanol in the form of a 54-cent-per-gallon tax on imported ethanol, which largely affects Brazilian producers of ethanol from sugar cane. That tax comes on top of a 51-cent exemption from the federal excise tax on gasoline that goes to fuel mixed with ethanol.

These subsidies raise the demand for domestic ethanol. That drives up the price of not only the corn used to produce the ethanol but also of wheat and soybeans, which farmers plant less of because they switch to corn. That, in turn, translates into a scarcer supply—and higher prices.

While corn-as-fuel might have started out as the bright idea of some hippy who wanted to stop greenhouse gases it was large corporate bribes that created the current situation. [zFacts.com]

The ethanol explosion began in the 1970's and 1980's, when ADM's chief executive, Dwayne O. Andreas, was a generous campaign contributor and well-known figure in the halls of Congress who helped push the idea of transforming corn into fuel.

For those of you who vote, McCain seems to be the anti-ethanol choice, at least for now. [Bioenergy Business]

While supporting wider use of biofuels, McCain is opposed to subsidies for ethanol production – a stance which may have cost him a victory last month in the state of Iowa, which is a leading US producer of ethanol and its main US feedstock, maize (corn). Rather, he thinks that there should be a broader mix of sources for biofuel production beyond maize, such as sugar cane and switchgrass.

I'm guessing that higher beer and food prices are here to stay for the foreseeable future. The hop shortage will clear up in a couple of years, but the unintended consequences of the government's abuse of power will take decades to overcome.

Old No. 38 Stout Keeps on Rollin'

2008-02-21T19:36:00.007-06:00

Now that I'm finally over my head cold and I can smell again, its time for another stout review. Today we'll take a look at North Coast Brewing Co.'s Old No. 38 Stout. Opened in 1988 in Fort Bragg, California, North Coast is one of the early west coast micros. The late, great Michael Jackson once said that it was "possibly the best stout made in America." Pretty big billing for a little 5.5%, 53 IBU Irish Dry Stout.

Pours nearly black with a ruby edge and a frothy tan head. Aroma has hints of coffee, cocoa, and some citric hops. Not an overwhelming nose, but a pleasant one. Dry roasted notes with a touch of figs and chocolate in the middle that leads into a dry finish with touch of a citric tanginess to it. Flavor fades fast with little to no aftertaste. There's enough carbonation to to give a creamy mouth feel thats a little on the light side.

Best stout in America? Probably not, but this is a good sipping stout that would make a nice session beer. Grades out at a solid B-plus. Now, I wonder if I can find this on tap somewhere?

Fermented News

2008-02-13T23:02:00.003-06:00

The idea is to bring you interesting beer related news and links at least once a week. Enjoy.

A local look at the hop shortage - Free State is altering their IPA recipe. This is bound to get worse before it gets better. [LJ World]

A somewhat technical artical about a fancy new temperature control system at Bell's Brewery [InTech]

The first casualty in the Carlsberg and Heineken split aquisition of Scottish & Newcastle, Britians last major brewery [Guardian]

Is real ale the second? [Bromley Times]

A-B's monopolistic distributorship polocies come home to roost [Rocky Mountain News]

I wish politicians would make bets like this...[Daily News Tribune]

S.P. Dinsmoor's Scotch Ale

2008-02-12T21:42:00.005-06:00

Tonight we take a look at S.P. Dinsmoor's Scotch Ale from Free State Brewing Company located here in Lawrence, Kansas. The beer is named after Samuel Perry Dinsmore, who created the somewhat famous and completely weird Garden of Eden in Lucas, Kansas. I wish I had some kind of crazy story to add in here about a drug-fueled road trip to the Garden of Eden, but I've never been, so you'll have to settle for a boring beer review.

The beer pours with the color of brewed tea accompanied by a small newspaper colored head. The aroma is a mix caramel and a distinct smoke aroma from the peat smoked malts. The flavor profile starts with caramel and prune sweetness that quickly fades into a smoky, chalky swallow. The body is smooth and mild.

Overall, a pretty good beer. Not a beer I anticipate or seek out, but the peat smoked malt gives it enough uniqueness to earn a solid B. For extra credit it helped add an extra layer of flavor to my Chipotle Super Bowl Chili.

Hunting Yeti

2008-02-10T16:29:00.000-06:00

Saturday, while out shopping in big box land on the south side of town, The Wife and I stopped in at Mass Beverage to pick up some provisions for the weekend. Mass Beverage has the best beer selection in town, it's a shame it's located so far away from the converted garage we're forced to call home (it's nice, but really, really small).

They have a bunch of shelves in the back with a large selection of single bottles for mix-and-match six packs and also plenty of bombers, 750ml bottles, and imports of various size to chose from. There is also a large cooler section with more six packs and bombers. I settle on a six pack of North Coast Brewing Co.'s Old No. 38 Stout for daytime activities and a bomber of Great Divide Brewing Co.'s Yeti Imperial Stout for my Saturday nightcap.

After enjoying a closer-than-it-should-have-been victory by the hometown Jayhawks and a dramatic victory by Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the Budweiser Shootout in the evening I was ready to get down to business.

Yeti is a year-round offering from Great Divide that comes bottled in 22 oz. bombers. It's brewed in the Russian Imperial Stout style. Basically a high alcohol, highly hopped version of a regular stout. It was originally brewed by British brewers for export to Russian Czarina, Catherine the Great who had a healthy appetite for stout. Yeti weighs in at 9.5% ABV with a hefty 75 IBUs, not the biggest stout on the block but, this mythical beast will be more than enough to send me off to dreamland.

Hugo says: "Drink more stout or I'll eat you!"

The pour is a thick, black color with a dark, frothy head that looks like chocolate mousse. Initial aromas are of sweet molasses, you should really let this stout warm up to around 50-55°F before pouring - I skipped this step. After warming, the complex malt bill began to reveal aromas of milk chocolate, creamed coffee, and a touch of roasted malts. The hop additions revealed themselves as mostly piney, earthy aromas, but also a hint of fruity citrus aromas.

The first sip brings the roasted malts more to the fore, also some semi-dark chocolate and a touch of caramel sweetness. The mouth feel is rich and full with enough carbonation to give it a velvety smoothness. The swallow finishes dry with lingering bits of slightly burnt pine needles and dark chocolate flavors. Also, a slight warming effect from the alcohol.

Overall, I give it an A grade. A big, bold beer, you'll need to take your time and sip it slowly. I definitely enjoyed it, and I'll buy more, but I'd recommend sharing it with a friend, 22 oz. was a bit much for me.

Bumble likes to eat cookies with his stout.

Obovoid Empirical Stout

2008-02-08T23:21:00.002-06:00

I'm on my way home from work and I have orders form The Wife to stop and pick up a bottle of wine, and of course that means I'm also grabbing some beer. So, I pull into Smitty's Wine and Spirits at Antioch and College Blvd., my goto spot on the way home from work (yeah, I work in the Magical Land of Blah, aka Johnson County). I've decided that February, my first month of blogging, is going to be all about stouts. I have a bottle of the huge Bell's Expedition Stout waiting in the beer fridge and I wanted to warm up with something a little tamer. I settle on a bottle of Obovoid Empirical Stout from Boulder Brewing Company in Boulder, Colorado and a bottle of pinot noir. After a light supper consisting of some bland, Target salmon and some tasty cumin coated roasted carrots, it's time to get down to business.

Obovoid is a oak aged oatmeal stout weighing in at 7.5% ABV. This is the 8th release in Boulder Beer's Looking Glass Series of extreme brews. To date, I've been pretty impressed with the Looking Glass Series, Hazed and Infused is a most try. Tonight will be my first dance with Obovoid.

Obovoid pours a dark, thich brown with a frothy mocha colored head. Oak and damp earth mixed with chocolate and just a touch smoke provide a delicate and inviting aroma. The flavor starts off with a brief, malty sweetness that quickly fades into a mix of toasted oak and dark chocolate with some earthy hops dancing around the edges. The swallow leaves a lingering taste of bitter chocolate and a woody dryness. This stout is medium bodied and very smooth, the alcohol is completely hidden and unnoticed.

Overall I give it an A-minus grade. This is a smooth, quick drinking stout. I like how the oak from the barrel aging is mellow and subdued, I'm not sure if the oatmeal contributes to this or not, but it is a good introduction to wood aged beer. Next I'll have to kick it up a notch to a slightly bigger, bolder stout.

Free State Beer Banquet

2008-02-07T16:31:00.000-06:00

On February 6th, 2008 my wife and I attended the Free State Brewing Company 19th Anniversary Beer Banquet. This is the fifth banquet that we have had the pleasure of attending. The dinner includes a five course meal (appetizer, salad, intermezzo, entree, and dessert) and eight different beers selected to match the food.

The evening started with an aperitif, Stille Nacht (silent night) from Brouwerij De Dolle Brouwers in Diksmuide, Belgium. This Beligian Strong Dark Ale clocks in at a hefty 12% ABV. Stille Nacht is a tawny colored beer with an off-white head. Initial aromas are of sweet raison bread and spice. Drinking adds additional flavors of caramel and that classic belgian yeast flavor. This rich, full bodied brew finishes with a spicy burn from all the alcohol.

Next on the menu is 1809, a berliner-style weissbier from Brauerei Weihenstephan in Freising, Germany. This pale, straw colored ale has a lemony tart flavor to it that makes it a perfect match for the appetizer. Egg on toast with hollandaise vinaigrette, sheep's cheese and micro-greens. The tartness in the vinaigrette was a perfect compliment to the 1809.

Our next beer is the classic Hoegaarden Original White Ale, the beer that revived the now popular witbier style. This beer and brewmaster Pierre Celis are the main reason you see posers everywhere sucking on bottles of Blue Moon. While I was enjoying the yeasty, citric, and spice notes of the well made Hoegaarden, our server brings out a butter lettuce wedge topped with gorgonzola, carrot-corriander salad and a raisin vinaigrette.

This is the point in the night where we start getting two beers for each course, also the point where my notes start to go downhill, not sure why.

To finish off the salad, we had a glass of Boulevard Brewing Company's Long Strange Tripple. This strawberry blonde brew had a melon-like sweetness that provided an interesting contrast to the gorgonzola and acidity of the vinaigrette, while the corriander provided a match to the subtle spiciness in the tripple.

Next stop on our tour of belgian beer styles is Leffe Blonde, a belgian pale ale that used to be brewed by monks in Belgium but is now, like Hoegaarden Brewery, just another piece of the InBev empire.

While the Leffe had a subtle mix of light honey sweetness and clove spiciness, the intermezzo, a huckleberry cumin sorbet, was much more bold in its mix of sweet and savory. The interplay between the fruit and the cumin was very unusual and quite interesting, like making taco meat with fruit instead of meat.

Leading into our main entree, we finally get one of Free State's own, S.P. Dinsmore's Scotch Ale. The peat smoked malt (the same malt used to make scotch whiskey) used in this ruby brown colored ale adds another level of complexity to the malty sweetness.

Finally, the main course. A big bowl full of seared beef sirloin with brussels sprout kraut, parsnip mash and a spiced malt reduction. This was one delicious dish, the meat was perfect, and the reduction had a slightly orange twang to it that made the whole dish really pop.

The second beer served with the entree was, La Seigneuriale, a strong belgian ale from the crazy Canadians at Unibroue. This copper hued brew greeted us with some citric aromas folowed by some rich raison and yeast flavors that played well with the food.

Finally, I've made it all the way to dessert! We start off with another Free State brew, and one of my wife's favorites, the Cœur de Saison is a saison or farmhouse style belgian ale. The hazy amber colored ale has a floral and lightly citric aroma with a yeasty, fruity flavor and a long, dry, slightly spicy finish.

Dessert is a delicious banana custard on white chocolate brownie with vanilla cream, local honey and strawberry syrup. The dryness of the saison provides a yin to the sweet yang of the dish, a perfect finish to the evening.

Chef Rick Martin and Head Brewer Steve Bradt have put on another awesome evening of beer and food glutony. I'm already anticipating next years event. If you ever get a chance to attend a beer dinner of any kind, I recommend seizing the chance. Cheers!

Special thanks to my wife for taking all the awesome photographs!