Brew #18 went off well, a Belgian style Saison, which was brewed and kegged a few weeks ago. It came out VERY good, maybe the best beer to date. "Saison of the Witch". It clocked in at 6.5%abv, 35 IBUs, and FG of 1.009. Half of this went right into the keg, and the other half went into another fermenter with Brettanomyces! My first experiment with Brett, so it should be interesting. I'll continue to sample that and see how it's coming along, and add more sugar if needed to bring more of the Brett funky flavors out. That will be bottled so it can continue to develop.
Next up for brewing will probably be Memorial Day. It will be either a light amber ale for summer with some nice hop additions and light spices maybe, or the first of the winter beers with a big heavy oatmeal stout with coffee which will get bourbon oak chips, similar to Kentucky Breakfast Stout.
Cheers!
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Central NE BA Meetup Feb 19, 2011
Another successful meetup. We did have a slight incident with the Skillebrau, but that will be explained later. If I screwed up on who brought what beer I apologize, please let me know and I will correct it, and hopefully remember to record it next time.
To get things started we cracked a growler of Kern River Citra DIPA, very fresh, tons of delicious musty fresh hops, plenty of citrus and tropical fruits, etc.
From there we settled in and started the real tasting, beginning with Rock Art Infusco, from Melissa's cellar from 2007 I believe. It was labelled as a Belgian Strong Dark Ale, bringing some chocolate covered raisins, licorice, candi sugar, some booze, smoked apple and cherry wood, caramel, toffee, very complex.
After that we took on our first compare and contrast with Berkshire's two Bourbon Barrel Scotch Ales, the Julios release from 2 years ago, and the latest Gude Greg. I believe Chris V. brought the Julios BB Scotch Ale, and I offered up the Gude Greg for comparison. We came to the conclusion that they were different recipes, and very different beers. The Julios one is now about 2 years old or so, and definitely has lost its edge. Most of the bourbon and oak, and nice scotch ale flavors have subdued to the point it's not that great anymore. The Gude Greg is just average overall, some bourbon and oak but not a lot, and the base beer is not the greatest.
Next on the list was Element's Dark Element versus the Double Dark Element, thanks to Chris H. The regular is a nice beer, some raisin and dark fruits, dark malts, a bit sweet, but the double was almost literally doubled that. Very sweet and heavy, lots of dark fruits and raisin, some bit of earthy hops, some booze, etc. Both great beers.
We then moved onto the Imperial Stout Trooper vertical, '08, '09, and '10, thanks to Andrew P. The '08 brought some woody esters, dark fruits, aged malts, a little smoked, and a nice aged flavor. The '09 seemed the most bland overall, a bit more chocolate but just seemed to be missing something. THe '10 was really tasty, lots of fresh hops, earthy, dark malts, fairly luscious.
Sorry for a quick break, Lucic just started the THIRD fight of the Bruins game tonight, damn!
TO change the pace we moved into Trinity Old Growth thanks to Phil. THis was crazy sour, some dour dark malts, malt vinegar, mouth and even eye watering puckering sourness, some acetic acid, solventy, but interesting.
Then we moved into the Surly Smoke Lager '09, also brought by Phil. This brought a nice smoked malt and campfire, some woody esters, a bit chalky with chewy malts, roast, creamy, but all that on the foundation of a crisp lager flavor. Very interesting.
After that I offered up a Gumballhead as a quick palate cleanser, before we moved onto the Abyss vertical. Evan brought the three initial bottles, '08, '09, and '10. The '09 ended up being VERY sour, so we tasted it quickly and I brought one up from my cellar, which also ended up being infected, but was much less infected just in the early stages. The '08 actually brought a fresh wort taste with some hops and bitterness, dark chocolate, black patent malt, dark fruits, and nice and roasty, tasty! The '09s speak for themselves, and offered an interesting drink when blended. The '10 was fresh and a bit boozy, a bit of fluffy nougat, fresh hops, and more bitter.
Next was the Great Skittlebrau Incident of 2011! As a joke I suggested some Skittlebrau, a reference from The Simpsons, and Phil immediately jumped on it, so I had to deliver. We decided to drop the skittles in the Bud Light tall boy can and let them settle and dissolve a bit. However, we were all apparently unaware that skittles have the same properties as Mentos, and dropping them into the Bud Light caused a big eruption of Bud Light all over the place. EEEEwwwwww!!!! After we cleaned up, it tasted like Leinenkugels fruity sugary cheap crappy beer.
After that we needed something with meat! Ivan the Terrible! Also thanks to Xenon I believe. This was all i had hoped it would be, dark and roasty, heavy but light and fluffy, caramel, vanilla, oak, plenty of oats, light earthy hops, smooth and creamy, a bit of booze but drinks well.
Then we raided my cellar and stood around in the cold cellar for about an hour just talking, and eventually came up with Zapata bot and Alpine Duet, and probably some other beers I didn't record.
Thanks to Evan for some great photos again, our unnoficial photographer.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2323070&id=42407965
Not sure when the next event will be, but shouldn't be too long. Theme is also open, any suggestions welcome. See you next time.
Cheers!
-Jared
To get things started we cracked a growler of Kern River Citra DIPA, very fresh, tons of delicious musty fresh hops, plenty of citrus and tropical fruits, etc.
From there we settled in and started the real tasting, beginning with Rock Art Infusco, from Melissa's cellar from 2007 I believe. It was labelled as a Belgian Strong Dark Ale, bringing some chocolate covered raisins, licorice, candi sugar, some booze, smoked apple and cherry wood, caramel, toffee, very complex.
After that we took on our first compare and contrast with Berkshire's two Bourbon Barrel Scotch Ales, the Julios release from 2 years ago, and the latest Gude Greg. I believe Chris V. brought the Julios BB Scotch Ale, and I offered up the Gude Greg for comparison. We came to the conclusion that they were different recipes, and very different beers. The Julios one is now about 2 years old or so, and definitely has lost its edge. Most of the bourbon and oak, and nice scotch ale flavors have subdued to the point it's not that great anymore. The Gude Greg is just average overall, some bourbon and oak but not a lot, and the base beer is not the greatest.
Next on the list was Element's Dark Element versus the Double Dark Element, thanks to Chris H. The regular is a nice beer, some raisin and dark fruits, dark malts, a bit sweet, but the double was almost literally doubled that. Very sweet and heavy, lots of dark fruits and raisin, some bit of earthy hops, some booze, etc. Both great beers.
We then moved onto the Imperial Stout Trooper vertical, '08, '09, and '10, thanks to Andrew P. The '08 brought some woody esters, dark fruits, aged malts, a little smoked, and a nice aged flavor. The '09 seemed the most bland overall, a bit more chocolate but just seemed to be missing something. THe '10 was really tasty, lots of fresh hops, earthy, dark malts, fairly luscious.
Sorry for a quick break, Lucic just started the THIRD fight of the Bruins game tonight, damn!
TO change the pace we moved into Trinity Old Growth thanks to Phil. THis was crazy sour, some dour dark malts, malt vinegar, mouth and even eye watering puckering sourness, some acetic acid, solventy, but interesting.
Then we moved into the Surly Smoke Lager '09, also brought by Phil. This brought a nice smoked malt and campfire, some woody esters, a bit chalky with chewy malts, roast, creamy, but all that on the foundation of a crisp lager flavor. Very interesting.
After that I offered up a Gumballhead as a quick palate cleanser, before we moved onto the Abyss vertical. Evan brought the three initial bottles, '08, '09, and '10. The '09 ended up being VERY sour, so we tasted it quickly and I brought one up from my cellar, which also ended up being infected, but was much less infected just in the early stages. The '08 actually brought a fresh wort taste with some hops and bitterness, dark chocolate, black patent malt, dark fruits, and nice and roasty, tasty! The '09s speak for themselves, and offered an interesting drink when blended. The '10 was fresh and a bit boozy, a bit of fluffy nougat, fresh hops, and more bitter.
Next was the Great Skittlebrau Incident of 2011! As a joke I suggested some Skittlebrau, a reference from The Simpsons, and Phil immediately jumped on it, so I had to deliver. We decided to drop the skittles in the Bud Light tall boy can and let them settle and dissolve a bit. However, we were all apparently unaware that skittles have the same properties as Mentos, and dropping them into the Bud Light caused a big eruption of Bud Light all over the place. EEEEwwwwww!!!! After we cleaned up, it tasted like Leinenkugels fruity sugary cheap crappy beer.
After that we needed something with meat! Ivan the Terrible! Also thanks to Xenon I believe. This was all i had hoped it would be, dark and roasty, heavy but light and fluffy, caramel, vanilla, oak, plenty of oats, light earthy hops, smooth and creamy, a bit of booze but drinks well.
Then we raided my cellar and stood around in the cold cellar for about an hour just talking, and eventually came up with Zapata bot and Alpine Duet, and probably some other beers I didn't record.
Thanks to Evan for some great photos again, our unnoficial photographer.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2323070&id=42407965
Not sure when the next event will be, but shouldn't be too long. Theme is also open, any suggestions welcome. See you next time.
Cheers!
-Jared
Friday, February 11, 2011
New Location and Brew
Wow, it's been a while since I updated this. With the move and winter and new house and all, it's been busy. SO the new house in Spencer is setup for the most part, with the brewery built into the garage now. All fancy, much easier to brew than at the shed in Milford.
The first brew at the new place was a success as well. It was a DIPA cleaning out some old hops. Theoretical 120 IBUs, SG of 1.068 and abv of 7.6%. The hops were continuously hopped every 5 minutes, spreading it out, with a 2oz dry hop of Simcoe in the keg. I don't have the recipe in front of me, so if I remember later I'll update teh hop schedule. It was brewed on Jan 15th, and kegged on Feb 5th to be on tap for the super bowl. It has a really nice taste, the hops and bitterness build, but are not too much, and a nice malty backbone with a decent balance. A really nice beer.
So more updates to come hopefully. I think I'll start trying to brew more often. Next up will probably be my first attempt at a sour/lambic style, when I have a weekend to do it. I'll sour the mash, and add some fresh fruits to the fermenter with some lacto.
The first brew at the new place was a success as well. It was a DIPA cleaning out some old hops. Theoretical 120 IBUs, SG of 1.068 and abv of 7.6%. The hops were continuously hopped every 5 minutes, spreading it out, with a 2oz dry hop of Simcoe in the keg. I don't have the recipe in front of me, so if I remember later I'll update teh hop schedule. It was brewed on Jan 15th, and kegged on Feb 5th to be on tap for the super bowl. It has a really nice taste, the hops and bitterness build, but are not too much, and a nice malty backbone with a decent balance. A really nice beer.
So more updates to come hopefully. I think I'll start trying to brew more often. Next up will probably be my first attempt at a sour/lambic style, when I have a weekend to do it. I'll sour the mash, and add some fresh fruits to the fermenter with some lacto.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Brews #15, #16
Sorry for the delay in updates, work has been kicking my butt lately. Anyways, the MexiCali TropicIPA, brew #15, went off well. The SG was a little low at 1.048 instead of 1.057, but this was my first time milling my own grain. So I think I will have to adjust my grinder. The FG ended at 1.007 bringing the abv to 5.4%. I added in the purreed fruit, 2 mangoes and a peach, and it added an interesting fruit quality, but not as much as I hoped. I also went with cognac soaked oak chips rather than the tequila, which came through really strong at first but seemed to mellow out over the past week. I entered this beer into the BeerNuts homebrew competition, so we will see how it goes.
Next brew is this Saturday, at Dr. Gonzo's Emporium in Worcester. He is hosting a homebrew day, for which I will be bringing samples and brewing on site. I'll be "contract" brewing for a friend. Ricky, formerly part of our 6-strings/Meat Robot brewing crew, will be purchasing the ingredients and assisting the brewing, then taking home most of the beer. He was not a beer fan before, and we've introduced him to beers he likes, the Grey Lady being one of them. So initially we made a clone, but if you read back in the posts you can see how bad that went (way too heavy on spices). However, he loved it this way. So we're doing it again, this Saturday about 2PM.
More updates to follow later. Still to brew this summer will be a super heavy beer for the winter, either big imperial stout, or Belgian quad. Also attempt at an ale version of an Oktoberfest.
Next brew is this Saturday, at Dr. Gonzo's Emporium in Worcester. He is hosting a homebrew day, for which I will be bringing samples and brewing on site. I'll be "contract" brewing for a friend. Ricky, formerly part of our 6-strings/Meat Robot brewing crew, will be purchasing the ingredients and assisting the brewing, then taking home most of the beer. He was not a beer fan before, and we've introduced him to beers he likes, the Grey Lady being one of them. So initially we made a clone, but if you read back in the posts you can see how bad that went (way too heavy on spices). However, he loved it this way. So we're doing it again, this Saturday about 2PM.
More updates to follow later. Still to brew this summer will be a super heavy beer for the winter, either big imperial stout, or Belgian quad. Also attempt at an ale version of an Oktoberfest.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Updates and Brew # 15
Kegged the Ayaz Ayaz Heart-y Hopemeal Stout, and blended 2/3 with the Bourbon Goatmeal Stout, so it has a slight bourbon flavor, and tasty, and the other 1/3 by itself. It racked at 1.015 bringing the abv to 5%, so it's really drinkable. Lighter in color than I expected, but a nice creamy oatmeal body and taste.
Next up is Brew #15, soon to be called MexiCali TropicIPA. It will be a tropical fruit IPA, with a touch of mango in the secondary, and tequila soaked oak chips, as well as some agave nectar, etc. The hops list includes Chinook, Cascade, Centennial, Simcoe, Williamette, and Citra... all the citrus fruity hop varieties I can pack into it. It should weigh in around 1.065 for about 7% abv, and 75 IBUs. Should be a really interesting beer. Brew happens this coming Saturday, July 24 around 1-2PM.
Next up is Brew #15, soon to be called MexiCali TropicIPA. It will be a tropical fruit IPA, with a touch of mango in the secondary, and tequila soaked oak chips, as well as some agave nectar, etc. The hops list includes Chinook, Cascade, Centennial, Simcoe, Williamette, and Citra... all the citrus fruity hop varieties I can pack into it. It should weigh in around 1.065 for about 7% abv, and 75 IBUs. Should be a really interesting beer. Brew happens this coming Saturday, July 24 around 1-2PM.
Friday, June 11, 2010
More brewing updates
From Alpha to Wazoo was kegged yesterday, it racked in at 1.017, adding just a touch of sweetness and bringing the abv to around 7%. The addition of the bottle of Wazoo in the secondary really added a huge Wazoo kick, with more lime and ginger coming out, and a lot more heat. Still get the coconut flavor. The addition of fresh Cascade hops in the secondary added some hop flavor as well, but that and the bitterness are overshadowed by the Wazoo and heat, so it's hard to tell how it will taste after carbonation and chilling. We shall find out on Sunday when it gets brought to Dr. Gonzo's cookoff.
The next update includes the next beer that will be brewed on Saturday. It is dedicated to the memory of Behrooz Ayaz, who left us unexpectedly last Sunday, to a heart attack at the age of 51. He was healthy and fit, but due to heart clogging genetics he Aorta was completely clogged. With this, I decided to make an oatmeal stout, for oatmeal to help with cholesterol, low abv and low calories, but nice and hearty body and taste. It will be called Ayaz Heart-y Hopemeal Stout. It will ring in at an estimated SG=1.053 and abv of 5%, with 43IBUs.
The next update includes the next beer that will be brewed on Saturday. It is dedicated to the memory of Behrooz Ayaz, who left us unexpectedly last Sunday, to a heart attack at the age of 51. He was healthy and fit, but due to heart clogging genetics he Aorta was completely clogged. With this, I decided to make an oatmeal stout, for oatmeal to help with cholesterol, low abv and low calories, but nice and hearty body and taste. It will be called Ayaz Heart-y Hopemeal Stout. It will ring in at an estimated SG=1.053 and abv of 5%, with 43IBUs.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Brew Updates
The Alpha to Wazoo brewed really well, assistance thanks to Pemmet. We hit our target gravity of 1.071, which is a little above expected. It's fermenting away nicely now. The plan for Wazoo juice was adding 1.5 bottles in the boil (1 at 30min and 1/2 at 5 min), as a similar plan for hops, let some parts boil down, some just hit flame, and I'll then add 1-1.5 bottles into the secondary to flavor to taste.
Jamaica Me Crazy was bottled, and hit a final FG of 1.009, which is good. I was worried about it as it still tasted very sweet when I racked it to the secondary and added the coffee, but now it tastes great. We'll see how the bottle conditioning does. The final abv is about 7.4%.
More brews coming up in the coming weeks. Soon to come: Grey Lady Clone #2 (gonna rename it now that it's not really a clone anymore), Smoked Rauchbier, Tropical IPA, Monster Mash heavy stout.
Jamaica Me Crazy was bottled, and hit a final FG of 1.009, which is good. I was worried about it as it still tasted very sweet when I racked it to the secondary and added the coffee, but now it tastes great. We'll see how the bottle conditioning does. The final abv is about 7.4%.
More brews coming up in the coming weeks. Soon to come: Grey Lady Clone #2 (gonna rename it now that it's not really a clone anymore), Smoked Rauchbier, Tropical IPA, Monster Mash heavy stout.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
