HopfenTreader

Cranberry Sour Red Ale

2012-01-26T09:10:00.000-05:00

Cranberries are one of only three fruits that originated on North American soil, along with blueberries and concord grapes. Cranberries are usually only served as a side dish at Thanksgiving, but I enjoy cooking with cranberries year round. A few years ago I used cranberries for a different sort of holiday ale inspired from an orange ginger cranberry sauce recipe. I've been wanting to brew a sour beer with cranberries because the natural tartness of cranberries should complement the sour flavors in a Flemish inspired red ale very well. So, I'm going to add a copious amount of whole cranberries and cranberry juice for a deep ruby color and a lip smacking tart flavor.

Cascade Brewing in Oregon made a sour cranberry ale and New Belgium did as well as part of their Lips of Faith series. This home brew Gose with cranberries sounds good too.

In this batch I'm using whole cranberries from Vermont Cranberry Company and (100%) cranberry juice for a deep cranberry color and flavor. The whole cranberries were added with ten minutes left in the boil, while the juice was added to the fermentor.

Recipe: Pale malt, Aromatic malt, Honey malt, Caramunich 60, Melanoidin malt, and chocolate malt. Mash warm. Lightly hopped. A pound of fresh cranberries, half a gallon of juice. Fermented with Wyeast 3628 Roeselare Yeast Blend.

Autumnal Squash Ale

2011-11-30T09:36:00.001-05:00

As an alternative to brewing a pumpkin beer I brewed a fall seasonal beer with a medley of squash (acorn, buttercup, and delicata) and barely any spices (1/4 tsp). This beer was brewed for Thanksgiving Day to pair with a pumpkin cheesecake. The dessert itself had all the traditional pumpkin spice flavors, so it was nice to have a refreshing gourd flavored ale to pair with the dessert that wasn't overly spiced.

With this batch I also tried a new technique for the squash (pumpkin, etc.) addition. In the past, I've always added the cooked pumpkin meat to the mash. This time I added the cooked squash with five minutes left in boil. As I'm drinking this beer right now I'm happy with the results. The squash flavor is more present in the aroma and flavor with an aftertaste of honeydew melon. Great clarity with orange, copper color. Pairs well with the pumpkin cheesecake.

The grist bill was fairly simple with three malts. Pale malt, Munich malt, and Aromatic mashed warm at 152*f for a malty balance for the squash. Six pounds of assorted winter squash (three pounds cooked) added with five minutes left in boil. Bittered with super galena hops and spiced with Chinese Five spice at end of boil. Fermented with US-05.

Strawberry Sour

2011-10-06T10:02:00.001-04:00

Brewing with my favorite childhood fruit is always fun, but I wanted to try this fruit in a sour style beer such as Upland Brewing Co.'s Strawberry Lambic and I believe Mr. Barlow brewed a strawberry sour that is currently ageing. While many home brewing texts state that it is difficult to attain a pleasant strawberry flavor or that it changes into something like apricot I have not had this problem. By using fresh fruit and adding it to primary fermentation the flavors of the fresh fruit have been woven into the beers aroma and flavor in ways that surprised me.

With this beer I added two pounds of strawberries to two and a half gallons of amber wort (12.6*p) and pitched wyeast roeselare yeast blend. I'm really enjoying the flavors that are developing in my aging flanders inspired red, framboise, and oud bruin that featured this yeast blend. I brewed this batch a couple weeks ago and the aroma is already fantastic. I'm looking forward to drinking this sometime next year. I may or may not add more strawberries next spring when strawberries are in season once again depending on flavor development until then.

Recipe: Pale malt, Munich malt, Melanoidin malt, Flaked Barley, Briess Crystal 120. Fermented with Roeselare yeast blend and two pounds of strawberries.

Pomegranate Wild Ale

2011-10-04T10:08:00.001-04:00

My first experience with this brand of Pomegranate juice was while I was working at my first brewery job at Olde Saratoga Brewing Co. in Saratoga Springs, NY where we poured hundreds of bottles just like the one pictured into fermentors to create Origin by He'brew.

Olde Saratoga Brewing Co. is a contract brewery that is owned by the UB Group which owns a plethora of different distilled brands, malt beverage brands, a chemical and fertilzer co., an airline co., and an Engineering co.. That's why Kingfisher brand beers are brewed at Olde Saratoga. I didn't realize who owned the company until after I saw my first pay check and didn't recognize who was paying me. So, I took the time to look up the company. For me, it rubbed me the wrong way, this isn't what craft beer means to me. I felt like all of a sudden I was a number that worked for huge multi-national company that probably didn't care about a lowly factory worker. I don't have a problem with contract brewing I have a problem with profits going to a far off land away from the American economy in which I live.

In this world in which we live in I believe one of the only ways we have left to vote is with our wallets and pocketbooks. Every time we buy something we're making a political, social, and philosophical act. Do you want to support this or that? Who do you want to give your hard earned money too? I prefer to support the community in which I live. For example; independently owned restaurants, not chains. Now, I'm not trying to be all high and mighty as not everything I buy is a responsible purchase (upcoming iphone release for example) but I try hard to choose the more responsible purchase than not, even if it costs more. I'm shocked that even many retailers sometimes don't even know where the beer their selling and stories their regurgitating come from. For example I had to explain to a retailer that cans of 21st Amendment are not brewed in San Fransisco (Bitter American by 21A is one of the best new beers around, go try it) but are contract brewed in Minnesota. He wouldn't believe me until I showed him on the side of the can exactly where it was brewed. Also, I find many self proclaimed beer geeks hold beer stories near and dear to their hearts without actually looking into the origins or whether the story (marketing) is actually true. Even after I've told people truths I know about the process of how beers are produced they still don't want to believe it. I've even over heard them tell the same false story to somebody else after knowing the truth. Why is this? Why do so many people prefer (and even knowingly choose) romance over reality? As you probably figured out I'm a purist that's become a little jaded from what I've seen (and had to do). When brewing my beers I hold myself to the highest possible standards. We're here (on earth) for such a short period of time, what's the point of pulling the wool over peoples eyes or allowing ourselves to be blind. Be honest, buy local, and take the time to investigate. Ignorance isn't bliss it's just ignorant, rant over.

I've been wanting to brew with pomegranate juice for awhile and I felt the cranberry like tannins and tartness of pomegranate juice would be great in a sour beer. I pitched a Lambic yeast blend and 32 fl. oz. of juice into the primary fermentor. Time will tell how it turns out as this will age for up to a year.

Recipe: Pale malt, Munich malt, Melanoidin malt, Flaked Barley, Briess Crystal 120. Lambic yeast blend and Pomegranate juice.

Kriek

2011-10-04T08:28:00.001-04:00

As I discussed in the Pineapple Wild Ale post a great way to stretch a brew day is to brew a batch of lower gravity wort and split the batch between different fermentors and add a twist to each fermentor whether being yeast, fruit, spices or keep one as a control. As part of a double brew day this batch of Amber wort started at 12.6*P (1.050 SG) and was hopped to 10 IBU's but then had different juice added directly to each fermentor. In this one I added dark cherry juice and pitched roeselare yeast blend to try and re-create the flavors of classic Kriek.

Recipe: Pale malt, Munich malt, Melanoidin malt, Flaked Barley, Briess Crystal 120. Aging with Roeselare yeast blend. Black cherry juice (32 fl. oz) added to primary fermentor.

Carrot pLambic

2011-09-13T10:08:00.000-04:00

As the title suggests I brewed a carrot beer. A couple months ago I made a small one gallon test batch (50/50 wort/carrot juice by volume) and fermented it with American ale (dry) yeast to see what a carrot beer would even taste like first. The finished beer was very earthy, slightly tart, and orange. At a rate of 50/50 by volume of wort and carrot juice it was a little absurd but it allowed me to fully understand the impact of carrot sugars in a fermented beverage. I could see carrots working in many styles such as saison, Belgian white, Gose, and Berliner Weiss. Or even something malty with many carrot wine recipes having a rum raisin or even pumpkin pie like spice blend why not try other orange vegetables such as butternut squash, carrots, sweet potatoes and yams in fall seasonal beers and not just pumpkins.

The direction I'm taking with this batch though is a bit more wild, pitching Wyeast 3278 Belgian Lambic Blend. Accentuating the earthy and tart flavors the carrot juice provided. This was the third part of a split batch of golden wort that also produced pineapple wild ale and a tropical wild ale.

Recipe: Pale malt, Flaked Oats, Wheat malt, Flaked Barley, Flaked Maize, and CaraPils. Bittered with whole leaf centennial. Fermenting with Wyeast 3278 Belgian Lambic Blend. 80/20 wort/carrot juice by volume.

Tropical Wild Ale

2011-09-13T09:33:00.000-04:00

As part of the split batch discussed in the pineapple wild ale post this fermentor had a tropical juice blend added to primary and was dosed with brettanomyces lambicus and brettanomyces bruxellensis. The juice "Morning Blend" consisted of pineapple, apple, orange, pear, peach, papaya, and grape. When using juices for brewing I prefer to use natural and/or organic juices that are free from growth inhibitors (chemicals added to any food to prevent/ward off spoiling) that may kill the yeast and not allow the wort to ferment.

Recipe: Pale malt, Flaked Oats, Wheat malt, Flaked Barley, Flaked Maize, and CaraPils. Bittered with whole leaf centennial. Fermented with a blend of brettanomyces strains.

Pineapple Wild Ale

2011-09-11T18:34:00.001-04:00

One way to stretch a brew day is to brew a big batch of lower gravity wort and split the batch between smaller fermentors and add a different twist to each fermentor (or keep one for a control). Whether it's using different yeast strains or adding different ingredients such as spices or fruit to the different fermentors it's a great way to experiment.

For this batch I brewed a large volume of golden wort with a starting gravity of 12.6*P (1.051sg) and split the batch three ways. One fermentor with pineapple juice, another with carrot juice, and a third with a tropical fruit juice blend. Pitching different blends of wild yeast strains into each fermentor. This pineapple wild ale is fermented with brettanomyces lambicus and brettanomyces bruxellensis.

Brewing alternative yeast beers has been a lot of fun. The only drawback is the much longer learning period per batch. More traditional yeast fermentations have much quicker turnarounds allowing the brewer to evaluate the beer much sooner. Thus learning more rapidly about brewing. No matter what the size of a batch a brewer learns something from every batch to make the next one even better.

Currently I now have sixty five gallons (would only fill one oak barrel) of beer in eighteen fermentors at different stages of souring with the oldest being one at the time of this post. Tasting along the way as the flavors have developed and matured has been fascinating. Beginning to understand when flavors start developing and the impact of different ingredients and what they contribute to the overall impression of each batch. All while being amazed at the visual seemingly big bang theory like primordial growth of a pellicle reminds me of the deeply interwoven history of humans and fermentation as food preservation for survival.

Recipe: Pale Malt, Flaked Oats, Wheat Malt, Flaked Barley, Flaked Maize, CaraPils. Bittered with whole leaf centennial. Fermented with a blend of brettanomyces strains.

Best in Show Brown Porter

2011-08-27T20:55:00.004-04:00

Whenever someone asks me what my favorite style of beer is my response is always, "a brown ale". Quite simply the toasted and lightly roasted malt flavors balanced with a light hop flavor is what I crave to drink everyday. Looking back at my blog over the last (almost) three years I've brewed eight different brown ales using everything from buckwheat and wild rice to ancho chilies and chicory. The first batch of home brew I ever brewed (September 8th 2006) was an English Brown Ale kit, five years later this post represents my 163rd batch of home brew on my journey to understanding the art and science of brewing. This brown ale sits at the intersection of brown and porter.

For the Tap Vermont tasting I presented this beer as, "An English inspired brown ale brewed with an array of specialty malts creates a garnet, russet colored ale with a biscuit, toffee, and chocolate flavor and aroma. Brewed with a new hop variety, Delta, an American grown descendant of traditional English hop varieties that lends an earthy backdrop for this toasty, malty, Mild."

Brown Porter

Briess Pale Malt

TF Brown Malt

Aromatic Malt

Flaked Barley

TF Crystal 45

TF Pale Chocolate

mash 154*f

Super Galena :60 pellet

Delta :10 pellet

12.7*P (1.051sg)

Safale US-05

Judging

Aroma

#1- Roast and toasted malts up front. A little over the top. No hop aroma. No DMS. No diacetyl. Low fruity esters. No alcohol.

#2- Heavy roasted malts with toasted malts. No hop aroma.

Appearance

#1- Dark amber. Clear. Dense tan head with good retention.

#2- Good color with persistent head. Off white to tan in color.

Flavor

#1- Chocolate malt. No hop flavor. Low bitterness leaves a malty barely sweet finish, well balanced for a Brown Porter. Some caramel, bit of toast. No DMS. No diacetyl.

#2- Chocolate malt appears to dominate with caramel malts balancing out the chocolate. Medium to low bitterness with low hop flavor.

Mouthfeel

#1- Medium body and mouthfeel

#2- Appropriate body to style with no alcohol. No astringency. Carbonation is great.

Overall Impression

#1- Very drinkable well made example of a Brown Porter. Roast/toasted malts a bit high in aroma otherwise no problems. Just a hint of added bitterness and some hop flavor would add to depth of character.

#2- A well made brown porter. Balanced nicely with the malts. Drinkable, maybe increase hop flavor a tad but otherwise well made.

#1- Grand Master IV 39/50

#2- Non-BJCP 37/50

Overall 38/50---Excellent (38-44)

1st Place in category winning Best in Style also
Winning Best in Show at the Delaware State Fair Home Brew Competition

Needless to say I was ecstatic, elated and down right excited with the results. Next batch I'll up the ten minute hop addition to bring more "depth of character" as one judge said. The two hundred and fifty dollar prize is nice but the real joy is in my creation being blind tasted and judged to be the most delicious beer on that particular day (over 200+ beers entered). A priceless pat on the back for the work I've put in over the last five years burning the candle on both ends brewing ridiculous amounts of research and development batches at home while brewing professionally by day.

The judges thought my Saison was...meh

2011-08-27T18:26:00.001-04:00

The previous post in the To Style Series I discuss how I entered an Oatmeal Stout in two similar categories (dry stout and oatmeal stout) with surprising results. Well, I did the same thing with this next batch of beer. I brewed a 'Saison' and entered it as such in category 16c but I also entered it as a Belgian Pale Ale into category 16b. It's been an educational experience thus far doing this To Style Series of batches/posts, outlining recipes, posting feedback from judges, and critically thinking about how to improve subsequent batch's of beer.

This beer was also served at the first tasting for my brewery in planning as "Vernal Equinox: A farmhouse inspired ale traditionally brewed in the Francophone region of Belgium This style is quickly becoming a favorite of American Craft beer drinkers and brewers. This beer is brewed with barley, rye. wheat, and oats creating a bready background. With whole leaf east kent golding hops providing balanced bitterness and flavor, rounded out with whole leaf Czech saaz hops for aroma. The unique saison yeast lends a peppery, fruity, almost tropical fruit aroma and flavor. A complex, aromatic, thirst quencher."

Saison
Best Malz Pilsner 47%
Rye Malt 20%
Wheat Malt 14%
Flaked Oats 8%
Munich Malt 7%
Cara Pils 3%
Acidulated Malt 1%

mash 154*f

EKG 1 oz. first wort whole leaf
EKG 1 oz. :60 whole leaf
Saaz 2 oz. whirlpool whole leaf

13.2*P (1.053sg)
Wyeast 3711 French Saison

Judging

Entered in Category 16c Saison

Aroma

#1- Orange peel? Feel like maybe a wit crossover.

#2- Fruity - lemon and spicy phenols and and citrus

Appearance

#1- Great color, clarity appropriate for style

#2- Straw color with slightly hazy clarity. Nice small bubbles. White head on side of glass.

Flavor

#1- Slight astringent hop flavor

#2- Soft malt with hoppy and slight sour, astringent finish. Bitterness is high.

Mouthfeel

#1- Carbonation high but works

#2- Light to medium body, with good carbonation. Crisp.

Overall Impression

#1- Balance could have been better between malt/phenol/spice.

#2- Good drinkable beer with no perceived faults except bitter hops make the finish astringent.

#1- Professional Brewer 27/50

#2- Certified 27/50

Overall 27/50---Good (21-29)

Same beer entered as a Belgian Pale Ale in category 16b with same judges

Aroma

#1- Nice aroma - spicy undertones with a malt background.

#2- Malty, fruity with spicy background. More malt/biscuit as it warms.

Appearance

#1- Color is too light for style. Wish it was a little more copper to red to golden.

#2- Pale straw color. Hazy. Nice Head

Flavor

#1- Malt is enjoyable but bitterness is strong on finish.

#2- Fruity and spicy. Light malt flavor with a spicy/phenolic finish. High hop bitterness.

Mouthfeel

#1- Could be maltier

#2- Medium to light body

Overall Impression

#1- Not too bad a beer. A little darker next time with higher mash temp?

#2- Good drinkable beer. Like a mix/blend of wit and pale. Soft, drinkable beer - just not fully to style.

#1- Professional Brewer 30/50

#2- Certified 28/50

Overall 29/50---Good (21-29)

The hop rate is calculated to only 30 ibu's so I'm a little surprised the judges reacted to the "noble hop" bitterness that way. This beer went over very well at the tasting with some naming it as their favorite of the nine featured. I've really fallen in love with creating Saison inspired beers brewing thirteen different Saison's over the last two and a half years. Using spices, fruit, and hops to put interesting twists on the classic Saison. I have to admit I was a bit disappointed with how this beer performed. Guess I'll dial back the first wort and sixty minute hop additions to lower the bitterness. The yeast character is continuing to develop in the bottle and the bitterness is mellowing with time as I enjoyed a bottle last night.

Still trying to crack this Oatmeal Stout egg?

2011-08-14T19:49:00.006-04:00

Stouts, especially Oatmeal stout are mysterious, full bodied, roasty, deliciousness. With this next batch for the To Style Series I brewed an Oatmeal Stout that I entered into two stout sub categories, Oatmeal Stout 13c and Dry Stout 13a. The results were a bit surprising.

Oatmeal Stout
Briess Two Row 53%
Flaked Oats 14%
Oat Malt 7%
TF Roasted Barley 7%
TF Chocolate Malt 7%
TF Crystal 45 7%
Melanoidin Malt 5%

mash 152*f

Super Galena :60 .5 oz.
Delta :10 1 oz.

15.4*P (1.061sg)
Safale US-05

Judging

Entered in category 13 c Oatmeal Stout

Aroma

#1-Some coffee. Mild Roast character. Low hop aroma. Mild fruity ester. No diacetyl. Clean

#2-Roasty, Coffee, Sweet Malt.

Appearance

#1-Black color, ruby highlights, clear. Light brown head with moderate retention.

#2-Dark Brown/Black color. Good head/carb

Flavor

#1-A high level of roast character. Finish is dry from high roast level. Some malt sweetness in background. Moderate hop bitterness. Balance is toward roast but malty sweetness is not far behind.

#2-Roasty but to the point of being burnt, astringent. Don't get too much oat, silky, smooth flavor per the style

Mouthfeel

#1-Medium body. Light astringency from roast malt.

#2-Medium body. Sweet but not too creamy.

Overall Impression

#1-A very roasty yet sweet example of an Oatmeal Stout. Clean fermentation character. Try reducing roast malt addition and increasing body to bring this beer more in style. Needs more creaminess.

#2-ok, drinkable beer. A bit too much roast which leaves more of a burnt flavor vs. a silky chocolate coffee sweetness. Watch use of black malt, try de-husked dark malts instead. Mash at 152-154*f

#1-Certified 29/50

#2-Certified 25/50

Overall 27/50---Good (21-29)

Same beer entered as a Dry Stout in category 13a with the same judges.

Aroma

#1-Some roasty coffee aroma, light malt sweetness, slight fruity esters. No diacetyl. No hop aroma.
#2-Big roasty, coffee rich nose. Slightly burnt.

Appearance
#1-Black color, clear with garnet highlights. Low tan head with with low retention.
#2-Black color, opaque, tight bubble tan head with medium retention.

Flavor
#1-Moderate to high roasted malt character. Slightly burnt but not astringent. Dry, unsweetened chocolate. Clean fermentation quality. Some light fruit esters. Finished somewhat sweet with a roasty balance.
#2-Roasty malty but not as strong as the aroma was. Slightly bitter with chocolate aftertaste. Hop/malt background noticed. Smooth

Mouthfeel
#1-Medium to light body with low carbonation. Slight roast malt astringency but not overwhelming.
#2-Medium to light body. Dry finish but not too harsh.

Overall Impression
#1-A roasty, sweet, light bodied example of a dry stout. Could use a little more body. Try mashing higher. Clean well attenuated. Good job.
#2-Nice, drinkable beer. Big aroma with smooth balance with roast and malt. Might benefit from more roasty, coffee flavor.

#1-Certified 33/50
#2-Certified 33/50

Overall 33/50---Very Good (30-37)

Clearly if I want this recipe to be an oatmeal stout I must create more body. First step for next batch will be to raise the mash temperature up to 154-156*f from 152*f. I've been experimenting with Oatmeal stouts at home the last couple of years with some success but still missing the elusive full body character present in some of the best examples. At this point I think it's more than just a higher finishing gravity and it's not necessarily just oats in any form (flaked, malted, steel cut) that gives the necessary body. My next batch of Oatmeal stout will also contain some flaked barley and bumping up the melanoidin malt addition to help give the tongue something to hold onto. It also appears the roast character needs to be dialed back a little bit and/or I need to look into making water adjustments. I find it interesting that this beer scored higher as a dry stout than the oatmeal stout style I was aiming for. I think this illustrates the subtle differences in processes and ingredients that can separate styles.

Strawberry Cream Ale

2011-08-14T13:55:00.004-04:00

Continuing the "To Style Series" with an entry for category 20 Fruit Beer. Last summer I brewed a "Farm Fresh Series" featuring locally grown and procured fruits and vegetables from my local farmers market. It was a lot of fun not knowing what I would find each weekend to brew with at the farmers market. Strolling through the season I ended up brewing a Strawberry Cream ale in May. A Tart Cherry Porter and a Blueberry Belgian ale in June and a Mixed Berry Saison in July. As summer was coming to close I brewed a Smoked Pumpkin Porter (with smoked pumpkins and not smoked malt) at the end of August. I really enjoyed coming up with the recipes for each batch based upon accentuating the farm fresh ingredients. I was also experimenting with adding fruit into primary fermentor, where most brewing text recommends adding the fruit to secondary or at bottling. For me, I enjoy my sugars fermented and adding fruit into secondary or later in the process just creates a fruit beer that is too sweet. Adding the fruit to primary fermentor didn't drive off all the delicate fruit flavors. I felt the yeast being in contact with the fruit during fermentation helped to marry the flavors of the fruit and the base beer style and created a properly attenuated beer.

For the Tap Vermont tasting I presented this Strawberry Cream ale as follows, "Strawberry Split: An experimental batch using farm fresh strawberries from my local farmer's market. A traditional style Cream ale brewed with barley malt, flaked maize, and honey malt. The beer is barely hopped allowing the flavor and aroma of fresh strawberries to shine through, and it has fruit in it, so, it's good for you". This beer of course went over very well with the women in attendance but even the guys liked it because it's still a crisp, dry beer with out being overpowered by fruit flavor.

Strawberry Cream Ale

Briess Two Row

Flaked Maize 14%

Honey Malt 4%

mash 154*f

Celeia first wort .3 oz.

13.2*P (1.053sg)

7 lbs. of Fresh Strawberries

3 sliced Bananas

White Labs WLP009 Australian Ale Yeast

Judging

Aroma

#1-Strawberries up front with some banana on the back note. Quite sweet smelling

#2-Initial aroma of strawberry and banana. Light hay, straw, and meal malt. No hops or fruity esters. Clean

#3-Strawberry is the dominant aroma but banana does emerge. Very light malt character, to be expected from a cream ale.

Appearance
#1-Crystal clear amber orange, not much head.
#2-Clear. Orange with light ruby notes. Small, fizzy head. Short to no retention
#3-Brilliantly clear. Pours low head fades fast. Light copper with reddish hue

Flavor
#1-Slightly tart banana like malt followed quickly by a wave of strawberry. Slight dryness and tartness in the finish.
#2-Hay, straw, and meal malt with lightly tart strawberries. Faint banana flavor. Light to no hop flavor or bitterness. Fully fermented with no residual sugar. Dry finish
#3-Clean, crisp with a dry finish. Nice strawberry fruit flavor balancing light malt and low hop character. Banana is very subtle and if not cited may not have noticed.

Mouthfeel
#1-Medium bodied, medium carbonation
#2-Light body. Medium-low carbonation. No warmth. Medium Creaminess.
#3-Light body with medium carbonation and overall crisp.

Overall Impression
#1-I enjoyed this. Needs a bit more maltiness from the beer to really bring some complexity. Strawberry and banana were well balanced but needs a little more to bring it together.
#2-Nice beer. This could be better with more mouthfeel, and a persistent head.
#3-Very refreshing. Fruity & crisp a nice balance between strawberry and a light cream ale. Unfortunately banana got lost. Still, a well made beer.

#1-Recognized 32/50
#2-Certified 31/50
#3-Certified 32/50

Overall 31.6/50---Very Good (30-37)

3rd Place in Category

After brewing the same seasonal beer twice in a row I really feel I'm starting to dial in this seasonal one off. The head retention issue is most likely from the pectins present in the fruit. I could use a pectic enzyme to breakdown the pectins that destroy the head but I'll probably try adding Weyermann Carafoam next time. Also, I add the bananas not for flavor per say but as a strawberry flavor enhancer and to add a creaminess to the body. This is a trick I learned from a friend, former co-worker and master mead maker Jon Talkington of Brimming Horn Meadery where the banana adds body and boosts other fruity flavors present in the liquid whether it be mead, wine, beer, melomel , or cyser's. Thus I didn't mention bananas at the Tap Vermont tasting. I've found if something is in a batch and it's not a dominate flavor then it's better to just not mention it's presence. Keep it as a your brewer secret ingredient adding complexity and a depth to a batch. One judges comment in flavor section sums it up as, "Banana is very subtle and if not cited may not have noticed". Next up in the To Style Series is an Oatmeal Stout that I entered as a Dry Stout and an Oatmeal Stout with interesting feedback.

Robust Smoked Porter

2011-08-13T18:54:00.005-04:00

Next up in the to style series was a beer brewed for the other smoked beer style category 22b. With this category you can basically brew any base style and add smoked malt. Judges are looking for a balance of smoke in the base style and how the smoke blends into the balance of the style. Now I enjoy the smokiest of beers ie: Schlenkerla where many of the beers have nearly one hundred percent smoked malt but many people don't enjoy drinking liquid bacon cooked in a campfire. This robust porter was brewed with only a modest amount of smoked malt accounting for 25% of the overall grist bill.

For the Tap Vermont tasting I presented this robust smoked porter as, "Test Batch #161- This robust porter brewed with traditional German smoked malt creates a background of, bacon. Before the advent of in-direct fire malting techniques all beer had a smokey character. Brewed with English barley malt, pale chocolate malt, crystal malt, and flaked barley this 19th century London inspired ale transports you to another time." People enjoyed this beer but didn't love it. Many had never had a smoked ale before and enjoyed the barbecue flavors blending with the roastiness of the robust porter.

Robust Smoked Porter
Briess Two Row
Best Smoked Malt 25%
TF Roasted Barley 8%
TF Pale Chocolate 8%
TF Crystal 45 7%
Flaked Barley 7%

mash 152*f

Super Galena :75 .7oz pellet
Delta :5 1 oz pellet

15.2*P (1.061sg)
Safale US-05

Judging

Aroma

#1-Very Roasty - coffee, dark chocolate followed by a noticeable but not excessive smokyness

#2-Heavy chocolate & roasted malt; smoke is present, layers in nose, no diacetyl

Appearance

#1-Black nearly opaque, mahogany hues, thick tan head with good retention, legs, and lace work

#2-Black, opaque beer with nice clingy brown tan head

Flavor

#1-Lots of roast malt flavor, coffee, and dark chocolate. Lingering hop flavor in finish and aftertaste.

#2-Very rich chocolate initially, then complemented by smokyness; hops hard to distinguish from overwhelming chocolate flavor. Heavily malt flavored with little yeast character; no diacetyl

Mouthfeel

#1-thin body, moderate carbonation level. Some warming from alcohol

#2-Creamy and full bodied beer with no astringency. Slight alcohol warmth.

Overall Impression

#1-Well made beer, the smoke is not excessive. The roast malt is a tad strong for me maybe reduce roast slightly or replace with chocolate or de-bittered black malt. Raise mash temp.

#2-Interesting beer, I enjoyed it. Beer would benefit from less extreme chocolate slant, unless you were looking to develop a chocolate porter. Probably needs a cooler mash temp to loosen that body some.

#1-Professional Brewer 31/50

#2-Recognized 31/50

Overall 31/50---Very Good (30-37)

2nd Place in Category 22

Blonde Ale

2011-08-13T16:36:00.003-04:00

This is going to be the first post in a series about brewing "to style" beers that were entered into the Delaware State Fair's inaugural home brew competition. The purpose of this was to challenge myself, my recipes, and my understanding of flavor development contributed from the myriad of yeast, barley, and hop choices available to the contemporary brewer to re-create classic beer styles.

First off, I have mixed feelings about brewing "to style". A large part of me honors the past, the unique circumstances in which all beer styles were created. Whether being ingredients available, water profiles, gruit taxes (increasing hops popularity in brewing), or yeast strains present (ales in England, lagers in Germany, phenolic Belgian strains for example) all styles are steeped in history, tradition, and dogma. Ultimately though people were generally just trying to create a delicious libation with what was available and what we have available today is global by comparison, but back to brewing to style.

For this brewing exercise I relied more than usual on the BJCP style guidelines since it was a sanctioned event. The guidelines are cliff notes for styles, with ingredient lists, stats (og, ibu, etc) and commercial examples listed. Also, most of the beers in this to style series we're also poured at my first brewery in planning (Tap Vermont) tasting party that I hosted in July in Vermont so I'll include those descriptions as well as the judges comments and scores.

Blonde Ale
Briess Two Row
Wheat Malt 22%
Flaked Barley 8%
Cara Pils 6%

mash 151*f

Willamette :60 1 oz. whole leaf
Willamette :0 1 oz. whole leaf
Centennial :0 .2 oz pellet

13.4*P (1.053sg)
Safale US-05

It was left in primary two weeks longer than I'm comfortable (total 4 weeks) is my only concession going in.

Judging

Aroma

#1-fruity, green apple, hop aroma low, malt aroma subtle, no diacetyl, phenolic, plastic
#2-fruitiness (cherry, bubblegum) seems to overpower whatever malt character is present. Strong green apple. Smells like a fruit roll up, no hops.

Appearance
#1-light burnt/rusty range, hazy, thin white head, good retention
#2-light copper with thin white head that sticks around. Decent clarity

Flavor
#1-grainy malt, a little caramel, hops are low. Both bitterness and flavors are low, balance is toward malt, finish is very dry, fruity aftertaste, light fruit esters present, green apple and plastic phenolic signs of under attenuation
#2-Malt sweetness, with orange citrus followed by a sweet finish with a low level of hop bitterness. Green apple not nearly as present in aroma. Very fruity.

Mouthfeel
#1-medium body, medium attenuation, low warming, low to medium creaminess, medium astringency, drying
#2-medium body, medium carbonation, no alcohol warmth or astringency

Overall Impression
#1-Seems underattenuated - yeast derived acetaldehyde present and phenolic - could lower fermentation temperature. Also make sure to use a starter and make sure more yeast is healthy. Get a quickly starting fermentation and make sure to complete before bottling. Just to be sure check sanitation procedure. Good try
#2-Too sweet to be an "easy drinking" beer. Be sure to pitch plenty of healthy/viable yeast, watch fermentation temperature and if all grain adjust mash temp. Up hop bitterness/dryness and lower sweetness to increase drinkability.

#1-Recognized- 25/50
#2-Certified- 29/50

Overall 27/50---Good (21-29)

Alright, so what's to learn from this entry to make the next batch better. First changes will be to lower the mash temperature to 149*f to create a more fermentable wort. Next the fermentation temperature needs to be kept lower, if someone says it "smells like a fruit roll up" it's too warm a ferment and not a to style character in a Blonde ale. I do suspect that the green apple and plastic phenolics one judge kept picking up is from leaving the beer in primary for too long causing flavors from yeast autolysis to enter the beer. It also appears I need to increase the hop presence in the finish. The color was also a little darker than it should be for a Blonde ale, the carapils malt I used is 10*Lovibond, so that's the culprit. This was my first shot at a blonde ale. I think a few minor adjustments will get this beer to score over 30, whatever that means.

This beer went over well at the tasting party. Some people scored it as their favorite of the nine that were served. I called it Dirty Blonde and the description was as follows: "Refreshingly crisp golden ale, brewed with barley & wheat malt. Lightly hopped with whole leaf Willamette for bittering and flavor with a touch of Centennial for aroma. Flavors of toasted bread and floral hop aroma create a balance for this easy drinking ale."

An inspiration for this series was Peter Kennedy's post More Homebrew Lessons Learned.. Where his beer entries performed less than favorable and I think it took some cajones to post about it. One sentence struck me as positive critical thinking when he said, "Maybe it is time to go back to basics and reset".

Berliner Weisse (Lactobacillus)

2011-08-13T13:58:00.000-04:00

A couple of weeks after brewing a no-boil Berliner Weisse using White Labs Berliner Blend WLP630 I brewed another no boil batch this time giving an isolated Lactobacillus strain a head start and then finishing with a clean ale strain a couple weeks later. These are my first couple batches of Berliner Weisse and I'm trying to understand how I can create the flavors I've found in the great commercial and home brewed Berliner Weisse's I've been able to sample.

So far each batch is very different. To my surprise the White Labs blend is outperforming the isolated Lactobacillus batch in terms of lactic acid production (tartness). The Lactobacillus head start batch tastes more like a very low alcohol wheat beer with a light tang, while the white labs blend batch is puckering and smells like baby diapers. Blended 50/50 they balance each other out. Which I may do at bottling depending how these age. Aged only five months at this point I'll check back in another.

Brewed with Wheat Malt, Torrified Wheat, Unmalted Wheat, Pale Two Row. First wort hopped with Delta.

Rose Water Wit

2011-05-29T08:49:00.001-04:00

A Belgian style White ale brewed with rose water. Belgian style White beer is a refreshing summer beer that is perfect in the kitchen for cooking with and outside to drink by the grill. Traditionally brewed with a large proportion of Wheat in the grist bill and spiced with Orange peel and Coriander. The twist for this batch will the be the addition of rose water.

To make the rose water I steeped roses in warm water overnight. This "rose water" was then used as the strike water. The bouquet of aromatics from the water the next morning was intense and tasted of perfume, grass, and just plain floral. I felt the White beer style would complement these flavors much the way Hibiscus flowers flavor Dieu du Ciel!'s White beer Rosee de Hibiscus.

Grist bill of N. American two row malt, Wheat Malt, Torrified Wheat, Unmalted Wheat, and Flaked Oats. First wort hopped with locally grown whole leaf Cascade (which are nothing like traditional Cascade) by Chesapeake Hop Co. Fermented with Wyeast 3463 Forbidden Fruit.

Berliner Weisse (no boil)

2011-05-08T13:42:00.003-04:00

Berliner style Weisse beer is from a by gone era, nearly a style forgotten by time. The BJCP style guidelines talks about the history of the style as, "A regional specialty of Berlin; referred to by Napoleon's troops in 1809 as the Champagne of the North due to its lively an elegant character. Only two traditional breweries still produce the product." Thankfully this refreshing, tart, session beer is making a comeback.

In 2008 at the La Fete Bieres & Saveurs in Quebec and I had the privilege of sampling my first Berliner Weisse that happened to be brewed by Hopfenstark. Weighing in at 3% I was amazed at the complexity in such a "small" beer. The grainy, malty background held up with a lactic tang was a shock to my palette. I had recently been indulging in the new, to me, world of sours and this was a wonderful surprise. Up until that point I had only read about this style of sour beer and after a couple of bottles were greatly enjoyed I knew one day I would attempt creating my own Berliner Style Weiss beer. I've had a few more examples of this style since 2008 but two of the best have been home brewed. One by Jamey Barlow which was spot on and the other by Nate Zeender of DesJardin Brewing which was technically a Kvass style beer, it could have easily passed for it's wheat based cousin.

Since the grist bill is 48% un-malted wheat, 38% base six row malt, and 14% flaked oats I performed a step mash (122*f, 149*f, and mashed out hotter than normal to 185*f, for run off purposes) to break down and convert the un-malted wheat. The high diastatic power of six row malt compared with two row malt will also help to convert the un-malted wheat. I'm using the un-malted wheat instead of wheat malt for a softer mouth feel and I'm trying to get closer to the original grains flavor as possible in the finished beer, very wheaty. Also mash hopped this beer with some locally grown Willamette whole leaf hops. Run off was slow but only had to reset the bed once. After collecting the wort I brought it up to a boil then turned the heat off. Added a little crushed coriander, cooled the wort, knocked out into a carboy,and pitched the yeast blend. The yeast blend was White Labs WLP630 Berliner Weisse Blend. Looking forward to the results many months from now.

Loco Roja IPA

2011-04-27T23:26:00.004-04:00

This beer was brewed for a unique home brew competition created by Peter Kennedy of Simply Beer called Iron Brewer. Iron Brewer brings together home brewers from across the country to create a beer from secret ingredients. Like Iron Chef which has one secret ingredient to showcase in all the dishes, Iron Brewer presents three secret ingredients for each brewer to showcase in one beer. After winning the third round with a Bourbon Infused Vanilla Bean Robust Smoked Brown Porter featuring Vanilla, Smoked Malt, and Centennial hops I was invited to compete against the winners of all six rounds for the Iron Brewer championship. In the Championship Round we had to feature Chili Pepper, Crystal 120, and Horizon hops.

When I first heard the ingredients I was surprised by the choice of chili peppers but the challenge of brewing a beer that also featured a strong hop character seemed like a difficult pairing. Then I decided I would just roll the dice and go for it and brew a vibrant red IPA (the red representing the heat of the chili peppers, and the color achieved from crystal 120) with chili peppers. I didn't know how the hops would meld with the chili peppers flavor and heat. Having never used the Horizon hop variety before I wasn't sure of there flavor either. From what I read they were spicy and earthy. So that was encouraging. Nothing to crazy about the brewing process except I added three quarters of an ounce of re-hydrated and pureed chipotle chili peppers at end of boil to lay a foundation of chili flavor and what I thought would be enough heat. Here's the recipe.

After fermenting with an American Ale strain (Safale US-05) and racked to secondary I realized the heat wasn't where I wanted it to be so I created a red chili pepper tincture in vodka to boost the heat. The beer was dry hopped with two ounces of Horizon hops and keg'd. At which point I added the chili pepper tincture adding the heat to this hoppy red ale. After force carbonating I used a blichmann beer gun to bottle.

You can listen to the tasting of the championship round here, but long story short, I won! The Championship round had some really excellent beers, especially Jim Lavin with a chocolatey chili pepper ale and Jonathan Moxey with a delicious Red Chili IPA. After winning all I could say was "my jaw is dropped". It felt great to be recognized by my peers to have brewed the best beer that day. Looking forward to defending my title in the Championship Round of Batch #2.

8/28/11 Update: With the prize winning money from winning batch #1 of Iron Brewer I built a five tap home brew draft setup. Nice to be done with cobra party taps at home and pour a pint from a stainless steel faucet. There were a few bottles leftover of this batch so I decided to enter this beer into the Delaware State Fair Home Brew Competition. There was a little age on the batch (5 months) but I thought why not, it fits into category 21a Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer.

Judging

Aroma

#1- Fresh herbal American hop nose. Pepper is a secondary aroma. Malt as well in the background with some caramel malt to support.

#2- Great classic amber ale aroma with hints of pepper hanging out.

Appearace

#1- Dark reddish-amber color. Creamy off white head with good retention.

#2- Color is deep amber. Great head retention.

Flavor

#1- Malt up front followed by hops and a bit of chili pepper at the finish. Some berry like fruity esters add a layer of complexity. Balance swings from malt to pepper spicy to hoppy.

#2- Sweet malt up front that fades as you wait for the slow creep of heat.

Mouthfeel

#1- Medium body and carbonation. Carbonation adds fullness to mouthfeel. No alcohol warmth, but capsaicin warms the finish. Some creaminess. No astringency

#2- Carbonation is great. Hot on the finish.

Overall Impression

#1- A nicely balanced and well made spice beer. The base style comes through nicely and chili peppers are not overdone. A bit more of a malt balance would push underlying beer closer to the style.

#2- I like the blend of malt and chili peppers. I just can't help but wish it had more hop character.

#1- Grand Master III 36/50

#2- Professional Brewer 37/50

Overall 37/50---Very Good (30-37)

First place in category winning Best in Style

Chateau Federal Saison

2011-03-29T22:44:00.001-04:00

After living together for almost two years my house mate, Josh Tierney, is moving to Portland, Maine to brew for Allagash. Congratulation man! This batch of beer will be our last collaboration at the federal (our house). For this one off batch we pulled out all the stops. Using spices, fruit juice, and a unique yeast choice (for style). Our goal was to brew something that would age well and we could enjoy together for years to come. Taking stock of what was available at the federal we decided to push Wyeast 9097 English Old Ale blend (an attenuative ale strain and a Brettanomyces strain) into Belgian territory by fermenting warm and allowing the Brettanomyces yeast strain to develop (age min. 6 months) a sour and funky character. We also wanted to increase the tropical fruit flavors in the finished beverage so we kicked around the idea of using mangoes, coconuts, pineapples, papaya, and guava. To finally decide on using pineapple juice (best option at store). We then decided to add Coriander, Red Peppercorns, and Saffron to really promote the development of traditional 'Saison' flavors while it ages and melds together. With a starting gravity of 21*Plato (SG 1.084) and potential abv over 9% this is not a shy Saison and anticipation is the only word that comes to mind when thinking about this colloid aging in a glass carboy upstairs. Cheers Josh, looking forward to sharing one in Portland when it's "ready".

Recipe: American Two Row, Honey Malt, Belgian Aromatic Malt, and Acidulated Malt. First wort hopped with UK Golding. Bittered with Super Galena hops. With Cascade and Delta hops added near end of boil. Ground Coriander, Red Peppercorns, and Saffron at end of boil. Fermented with Wyeast 9097 Old Ale blend.

100% Brettanomyces Brux. Pale Ale

2011-03-13T13:31:00.002-04:00

An American style Pale ale 100% fermented with an isolated wild yeast called Brettanomyces Bruxellensis, instead of traditional brewers yeast Saccharomyces Cerevisiae. A hop bill like an American Pale Ale using Amarillo, Chinook, and Centennial hops for a classic grapefruit, pine, citrus flavor hop bite but with a yeast that will impart unique flavors. Classified under the broad banner of American Wild Ales, one of the most exciting styles being brewed across the country. This pale ale of sorts is meant to be dry, refreshing, and hoppy, but with a yeast character to add complexity, not overpower the beer. Planning to keg this beer fairly young so it only has a light funk character that's (hopefully) leaning toward tropical fruit flavors from the yeast to interact with the citrus hop notes.

Grist bill of American Two Row, Munich malt, Flaked Barley, and Belgian Aromatic. Bittered with Chinook hops. Aroma addition at end of boil with Chinook and Amarillo. Dry hopped with Centennial. Fermented with Wyeast 5112 Brettanomyces Bruxellensis.

Raspberry Chocolate Stout

2011-03-13T11:39:00.077-04:00

A dessert beer in one of the most obvious forms. A full bodied stout recipe turned into a beer to make even St. Valentine happy. With the addition of a little raspberry concentrate at the end of boil you can twist an ordinary stout into a beer with a pleasant, but not overpowering fruit flavor (cloyingly sweet). The cocoa powder addition helps to accentuate the chocolate flavors already present from the specialty malts in the recipe. Stouts with fruit are brewed both seasonally and year round at brewpubs across the country since the 1980's. The flavors of raspberry, cherry, and other fruits are obvious pairings for chocolate forward stout recipes to try this with. Last summer I brewed a Tart Cherry Porter with fresh fruit from my local farmers market that turned out very well, but the concentrate is very easy to work with and tastes great.

Simple grist bill of American two row, flaked barley, crystal 45, pale chocolate malt, and roasted barley. Bittered to balance with super galena. One and a half cups of cocoa powder and twelve fluid ounce of raspberry concentrate added at end of boil. Fermented with Safale US-05.

8/28/11 Update: This batch of beer was entered in the Delaware State Fair competition into the Fruit Beer category 20. As well as featured at my brewery in plannings first tasting event where I described it as follows: "Lava Cake Stout, brewed with organic cocoa powder and raspberries this, dessert in a glass has an aroma bursting of fresh raspberries and chocolate. The complex flavors of dark chocolate are layered with crystal malt, pale chocolate malt, and a touch of roasted barley with just enough raspberries in the finish."

Judging

Aroma

#1- Raspberry right off the bat, some chocolate sweetness, very slight roastiness.

#2- Raspberry and chocolate aroma initially. Toasted and caramel malt. No hops or fruity esters. Clean.

#3- Raspberry and dark chocolate evident right away. Underlying dark grain and low hop aroma as well.

Appearance

#1- Dark brown bordering on black. Tan head.

#2- Near opaque black. Medium, fizzy tan head, medium to short retention.

#3- Pours low beige head. Falls fast. Color is black.

Flavor

#1- Tart raspberries up front with some chocolate dryness. Low bitterness leading to additional fruitiness and cocoa powder. Raspberry prominent. Low roast with more chocolate as it warms.

#2- Tart raspberry to start. Chocolate supports with caramel malt. Earth hops. Well fermented, low residual sugar. Balanced beer with dry finish and subdued chocolate.

#3- Tart raspberry fruit with low level of chocolate. Moderate level of roasted grain. Not sure if chocolate is from powder or grain. Medium hop bitterness to balance.

Mouthfeel

#1- Medium body with medium carbonation.

#2- Medium body and carbonation. Low creaminess. Slightly warming.

#3- Medium carbonation. Medium to light body. Carbonation is soft and creamy.

Overall Impression

#1- Pretty good. Raspberry was spot on but overshadowed chocolate. A bit of roast from roasted barley would also help this beer tremendously. Also needs more body. Not bad.

#2- Nice beer. A longer lasting head with some residual sugars cold make this even better.

#3- First, a blend of fruit and spice (chocolate) better entered in cat. 23. That said, well made. Good use of raspberry but chocolate gets a bit lost in the dark grain flavors. Still, well done!

#1- Recognized 30/50

#2- Certified 35/50

#3- Certified 30/50

Overall 31.6/50---Very Good (30-37)

One thing I've learned from this To Style Series is how subjective judges can be. In hind sight if I had entered this beer into category 20 fruit beer with a base style of Porter instead of Stout and called it a Raspberry Porter with no mention of cocoa powder the beer may have fared better. Picking the best base style is important in many categories. Also, picking the right category is important. I think this is a fruit beer, but one judge mentioned it should have been entered in category 23 spice/herb/vegetable category because of the cocoa powder. I disagree, but this illustrates how important category placement can be and that if you say an ingredient is used in a batch, even just to play a supporting role, since you mentioned it it then becomes a major player in the minds of the drinker.

Entering your beers into competitions helps you get insight into your beer you otherwise wouldn't have. Most times judges offer constructive feedback about your beer and this will always help you to become a better brewer.

Oud Bruin with Figs & Raspberries

2011-03-02T11:03:00.003-05:00

My FunkHouse (beers with wild yeast and/or bacteria) is growing rapidly as of late last year and into two thousand eleven. I now have over thirty gallons of beer getting "funky". It's been an exciting new realm of brewing that's pushing my understanding of malt, hops, water, and Yeast (especially fermenter's besides Saccharomyces Cerevisiae). Watching pellicle's grow on the top of some, while smelling and tasting what's happening along the way. It's amazing the flavor development taking place from the use of Brettanomyces Bruxellensis, Brettanomyces Lambicus, Lactobiccullus, and Pediococcus.

My next foray into the world of sours is an Oud Bruin brewed with Figs & Raspberries. Knocked out January 16th and pitched Wyeast Roeselare Yeast Blend 3763. I used this yeast blend in my Flemish style Red brewed November 2010 and the flavors are developing in the same direction I would like this Oud Bruin to go.

A layered grist bill of Munich Malt, US Two Row, Belgian Aromatic, Honey Malt, Belgian Cara 60, Briess Chocolate Wheat, and Thomas Fawcett Chocolate Malt. Target color is 15*SRM, a dark ruby edged color that fades to chocolate in the middle of the glass. A ninety minute boil for extra kettle caramelization and a more dextrinous wort. At the end of boil four liquid ounces of Fig concentrate and Raspberry concentrate each was added at start of cool down and stirred in. This is to boost the abv some and add a layer of complexity to this Bruin (may add fresh fruit from farmers market this summer when racked to 2nd). With a starting gravity of 18*Plato (1.072SG) this is no lightweight Oud Bruin. Looking for this one to be ready sometime early in two thousand twelve, tasting along the way to see how it develops. Did I mention, this is fun!

Saison d'Brettanomyces Bruxellensis

2011-03-02T09:45:00.003-05:00

Fermented with a Saison yeast strain then inoculated with Brettanomyces Bruxellensis. Over the last few years this has become a very popular style across the country. A great example of this reinvigorated style is brewed by Boulevard Brewing Co.'s Saison-Brett, which I've had the chance of trying and was quite impressed. The use of Brettanomyces also helps to dry out the Saison, a problem in many American brewed Saison's. For me the Saison style should have a final gravity below 2.5*Plato (1.010SG), many of my Saison style beers I've brewed finished around said gravity but they still don't seem dry enough to compare to Saison Dupont, the definitive Saison. Fellow home brewer Jamey Barlow just kicked ass with his at Batch 300 the Bruery competition (I've had it, it rocked!).

Knocked out into primary January 16th. After fermenting in primary with a Saison yeast strain I racked to secondary where I inoculated the beer with Brettanomyces Bruxellensis (BB). I'll allow to age in secondary for 2-3 months at which point I'll begin tasting the beer to see how much BB character is present. Also, thinking about dry hopping at some point closer to bottling depending on how the flavors develop.

Recipe: American Pale Malt, Gambrinus Honey Malt, and Belgian Aromatic. First wort hopped with Citra, bittered with Super Galena, and finished with more Citra. Starting gravity of 17.8*Plato (1.071SG)

Framboise

2011-01-30T14:51:00.002-05:00

This style of beer is part of the Lambic "family" of beers that have fruit added. These are Framboise (Raspberries), Kriek (cherries), Cassis (currants), and Peche (peaches). These four fruits are the most traditional in the Belgian brewing tradition of adding fruit to oak barrel aging Lambic beer. Recently, American brewers having been adding all types of fruits to the fast growing segment in the brewing industry, American Wild ales, this link also provides a list of the top American Wild ales as rated on Beer Advocate.

The grist bill for this Framboise is based off of my Flanders style Red I recently brewed in November 2010 which I tasted last week and am happy with the direction. A grist bill of Munich malt, Aromatic malt, Honey malt, Flaked Oats, and Chocolate malt. A cup of Raspberry concentrate was added at end of boil to lay a foundation of tart berry flavor. When raspberries are in season this summer at my local farmers market I will rack into secondary and add a few pounds of fresh raspberries for the punch you in the face kind of tartness. Fermented with Wyeast 3763 Roeselare Blend. I'm having a lot of fun brewing with wild yeast strains and bacteria. If you have the space you should have a go at it.

German Pilsner

2011-01-30T11:24:00.007-05:00

A crisp, clean, cold fermented Pilsner. The subtle interplay of floral and spicy noble hops with a Graham cracker grainy malt flavor that is characteristic of the style is a thing of beauty. Perfected in Germany but the new American renditions are new classics of the Pilsner style. Brewery's such as Victory Brewing's Prima Pils and Stoudts Pils. With these American Pilsner's tending to be hoppier than their German brewed cousins. I brewed a few Pilsners at home last year. A pre-prohibition style Pilsner with Basmati Rice, a German style Pilsner with Sorachi Ace hops, and a Bohemian style Pilsner. I also find full flavored Pilsners pair very well with Sushi.

Today's batch is a simple recipe of German Pilsner Malt. First wort hopped with Saaz and Tettnanger. Celeia hops for bittering and Saaz at end of boil. With a light dry hopping of Saaz. Fermented with Fermentis Saf-Lager 34/70.

This batch will be maturing for up to 8 weeks in traditional lager fashion. Cooler fermentation temperatures produce much more sulphur compounds than ale fermentation. Sulphur aroma and flavors fade with lagering (german for: to store). This is one reason for the longer maturation period of all lagers (35-90 days) compared to ales (10-28 days).

Single Hop Citra Saison

2010-12-05T13:49:00.009-05:00

The complexity of Citra hops are amazing. Since made famous by Sierra Nevada Torpedo IPA this new variety has quickly been calculated into recipes at breweries across the International craft brewing scene. After working with this hop at home and professionally I really enjoy it's flavor profile. Looking up up the parentage I was surprised to see Hallertau Mittlefruh, Tettnanger, and East Kent Golding to be it's pedigree since the flavor of Citra is tropical mango,papaya, and pineapple. Citra hops also have a flavor profile that seems to have a refinement to it that newly developed hop variety's usually lack. After looking at it's parentage this may explain the refinement of this newer hop variety. Earlier this year I brewed an Abbey Ale with Citra hops and enjoyed the Belgian yeast flavor interaction with the Citra hops flavors.

Recipe: American Pale Malt, Flaked Oats, Wheat Malt, Acidulated Malt, Honey Malt, and Biscuit Malt. First wort, bittering, and whirlpool additions of Citra. Fermented with Wyeast 3711 French Saison

India Pale Lager

2010-11-21T15:04:00.008-05:00

The idea for this batch is to brew a Vienna style Lager but increase the hop bill to IPA levels. While still using traditional German Noble hops Hallertau and Tettnanger. This batch will be fermenting outside in the cool early winter temperatures in the mid 40's to mid 50's. Perfect for fermenting lager beers. I'm brewing this beer to discover the flavor of an aggressively hopped German style beer. When Americans travel to Germany I've many times heard that the beers were great but that everyone missed the flavor of hops. Most German beer styles are barely hopped compared American Craft Beer. Using Munich malt as the base malt to create a traditional Vienna style lager malt character with Noble German hops being showcased.

Recipe: Munich Malt, Biscuit Malt, Honey Malt, and Carastan. Bittered with Super Galena hops, flavored with Celeia hops, and then finished with Hallertau and Tettnanger hops. Fermented with Fermentis Saflager 34/70 German Lager Yeast.

Munich Dunkel

2010-11-21T11:48:00.009-05:00

As Winter approaches and the temperatures drop I'm able to brew Lager's at home. My first lager this season will be a Munich Dunkel, a rich, dark, and malty beer brewed with noble German hops. The cool fermented Lager yeast strains prefer temperatures around fifty degrees Fahrenheit (which it just happens to be outside right now). While Ales prefer fermentation temperatures around 70 degrees Fahrenheit (room temp, making it easier to brew ales at home). The BJCP comments that Munich Dunkels "can taste like liquid bread, with a yeasty, earthy richness not found in the exported filtered Dunkels". So the next best thing to going to Germany to try this style of beer is to attempt to create it at home in all it's unfiltered glory.

Recipe: American Pale Malt, Munich Malt, Carastan, Caramunich 60, Chocolate Wheat. Hopped with Super Galena for Bittering. Hallertua and Tettnanger for flavor. Fermented with Fermentis Saflager W-34/70 German Lager Yeast.

Flemish Style Red

2010-11-14T15:40:00.008-05:00

The complexity in the best examples of this style of beer called the "Burgundy of Belgium" by BJCP is nearly sublime. A red ale fermented with a plethora of different yeasts and bacteria such as Brettanomyces, Lactobicillus, and Pediococcus. This is done to create sour beers ranging from lightly tart to full on pucker face. The sourness comes from the lactic and acetic acid produced from these acetobacters that convert ethanol into aforementioned acids. Where as usual brewers yeast ferments from start to finish (for the most part) in less than two weeks it can take up to at least 6 months or more until there is a noticeable sourness in the beer, many times aged up to two years. Putting patience to task and creating an opportunity to blend different aged beers in the souring process to hit a desired flavor profile you're looking for. Blending young and 'old' beer for not only consistency but to balance the vinous flavor, sourness, and fruitiness (cherry pie, plum, and red currant flavors are desired) in the final beer.

For my first attempt at this style of beer I'll be using Wyeast Roeselare Blend which has brewers yeast, sherry yeast, and myriad of souring bacteria (as talked about above) to achieve the complex flavors in this style of beer. The Wyeast website suggests that it takes 18 months of aging to achieve desired flavor profile. Is it sour yet?

Recipe: Munich Malt, Biscuit Malt, Honey Malt, Carastan 30-37, and Chocolate Malt. First wort hopped with Celiea. Fermented with Wyeast Roeselare Blend.

pLambic 1.2

2010-11-14T11:09:00.012-05:00

In August I brewed my first beer fermented with wild yeast and bacteria. A pLambic style (more info on style in first post) beer fermented with White Labs WLP655 Belgian Sour Mix. Today I'm brewing up a batch using Wyeast 3278 Lambic Blend in one carboy. Then I'll be racking the first batch out of primary into secondary and knocking out the rest of today's batch of wort onto the White Labs yeast cake. The grist bill in today's batch is similar to the first with only the addition of some Honey malt to add more un-fermentables for the bacteria to feed on during conditioning. Excited to taste the 3 month old batch of pLambic when I rack it today. To start racking these 'wild' beers I purchased a new Auto Siphon and retired my old one to rack my FunkHouse beers only. Unless you have an autoclave at home I would recommend not using the same equipment (cane, hose, bottling bucket, etc.) for racking both funky beers and 'clean' yeast strains beers. Have separate equipment and keep it separate, or everything could go sour.

Recipe: American Two Row, Munich Malt, Flaked Maize, Wheat Malt, Honey Malt, and Acidulated Malt. First wort hopped with Celeia. Now we wait.

Table Beer(s)

2010-10-03T19:21:00.010-04:00

A low gravity full flavored session ale has become a favorite 'style' of mine. It's also gaining popularity by the greater craft beer community. In January 2009 Lew Bryson started The Session Beer Project a blog to promote session beer. Also this last year Notch Brewing was founded, a brewery that will only brew beers below 4.5% abv. In a time where 6% abv beers have become the new standard for 'session' beer in America, I'd rather be quaffing a flavorful beverage under five percent that is full flavored. Today's batch of beer will accomplish this by having a thirst quenching toasted malt flavor with a spicy, herbal flavor from blending Styrian Golding, Perle, and Hallertau Hersbrucker hops into the beer. For experimentation I'll be splitting the batch between two carboys pitching American Ale yeast Safale US-05 into one and Safale T-58 in the other.

Recipe: American Two Row, Honey Malt, Biscuit Malt, CaraMunich, Munich Malt. Hopped with Hallertau Hersbrucker, Warrior, Perle, Styrian Goldings. Fermented with Safale US-05 and Safale T-58.

Porter with Smoked Paprika & Fennel Seeds

2010-09-26T22:41:00.012-04:00

This is definitely a batch to file under experimental. A porter designed to pair with a well seared and seasoned steak. Where the golden brown toasted bread and chocolate flavors of a Porter are blended with the licorice flavor of the Fennel Seeds and unique flavor of Smoked Paprika creating a one of a kind Porter. The fennel seeds were toasted in the oven for twenty minutes before being crushed in a mortar and pestle.

Recipe: American Pale Malt, Munich Malt, Victory Malt, Amber Malt, Coffee Malt, Crystal Malt, and Chocolate Malt. Super Galena hops for bittering. Half an ounce of Smoked Paprika and three quarters of an ounce of Fennel Seeds added to end of boil. Fermented with Safale US-05 American Ale yeast.

White Heat 2.0

2010-09-26T21:19:00.011-04:00

Very excited to brew up another batch of this beer because people really liked it. A family friend proclaimed it was like an "Explosion!" of flavor. A group of chefs tried this beer and really enjoyed the heat and were excited to cook Mussels with it. I first brewed White Heat in November 2009 in great esteem for chefs worldwide and Marco Pierre White in particular. Many of my beers are inspired by different chefs cooking styles and flavors from around the world. Where I try to blend unique spices into complementary beer styles to create new beer and food pairings. This beer is perfect for seafood and tacos, and I wouldn't even be offended if someone asked for a lime with it.

A Double White Beer brewed with Habanero Chiles, Coriander, Orange Peel, Lemon Peel, and Red Peppercorns. Pilsner Malt, Wheat Malt, Torrified Wheat, and Flaked Oats. First wort hopped with Hallertau Hersbrucker. Fermented with Wyeast 3463 Forbidden Fruit yeast strain.

Belgian style Dubbel with Figs & Honey

2010-09-26T16:01:00.022-04:00

The plan is to brew a big, chewy Belgian style Dubbel with Figs and Honey. The style is known for deep caramel and dark fruit flavors and an abv above 8%. Traditionally brewed by Trappist Monks the style is now emulated around the world and often referred to as a Belgian style Strong Dark ale. Some would argue that Belgian style Dubbel and Belgian style Strong Dark ales are different, but they're darn close in flavor profiles with only slight differences in my opinion.

In my riff on the style today I'll be adding honey which will add gravity to the beer while the Figs will enhance the raisin and toffee malt flavors derived from the specialty malts used in the grist bill. I brewed a Belgian style Dubbel in April of 2009 (post has more history about the style). The beer was okay with nice ale fruit flavors and slightly phenolic, but finished too dry and was too thin to be a good Dubbel. So I've added over a pound

of Weyermann Carahell malt as well as some CaraPils to the grist bill to provide unfermentable sugars to the wort thus creating more body in the finished beer. I'll also be mashing in warmer, 155*f, which also provides more body to the finished beer compared to mashing in at a lower temperature, 148*f for example. Even just a few degrees difference (149f-156*f, dry to sweet) in mash rest will affect your final gravity by at least half a degree Plato. So when planning a recipe remember that your mash rest temperature is another tool that can be used in creating the flavors your after in the final beer.

Recipe: American Pale Malt, Munich Malt, CaraMunich, CaraHell, CaraPils, Dark Crystal Malt, and Chocolate Malt. Hopped with Super Galena to balance. Fermented with White Labs WLP550 Belgain Ale yeast from A'Chouffe brewery in Belgium.

Imperial Amber Ale

2010-09-26T12:02:00.014-04:00

Today's batch is an Imperial Amber ale. A style that's basically a pumped up version of an American Amber Ale in the same way a Double IPA is scaled up version of an IPA. More malt means bigger flavors and higher alcohol levels. More hops mean a bigger hop bitterness, flavor and aroma. A bigger, bolder Amber with emphasis on dark malt flavors and huge hop character. One of my favorite Imperial Amber Ales is Flying Mouflan by Troegs Brewing. On the dark side of the style but recently won a gold medal at GABF 2010.

Recipe: Amercan Two Row, CaraMunich Malt, Amber Malt, CaraPils, Chocolate Malt. Bittered with Warrior hops with a late kettle addition of Centennial hops. I'll be dry hopping this one but haven't come up with hop bill yet. Fermented with White Labs American Ale yeast.

Amber Ale

2010-09-13T20:39:00.015-04:00

Was going to brew an American Pale ale tonight but decided to blend in some darker malts to create a bready Amber Ale with a pronounced hop aroma and flavor. Not an overly exciting style but you can find an example of one at nearly every brewpub in America. The darker malt character helps to carry the style to gateway craft beer drinkers. An American Pale ale can many times be noticeable bitter to the drinkers palette. While an Amber ale, although many times brewed with higher IBU's, is greatly enjoyed. The darker malts help to blend and hide an otherwise surprising hop flavor to the new craft drinker. This amber ale will have a noticeable hop flavor and aroma though. So, some drinking experience is required for this Amber.

Recipe: American Pale malt, Munich malt, Amber malt, Briess Extra Special Roast, and Chocolate malt. Hopped with Warrior, whole leaf Centennial, and Chinook. Fermented with White Labs WLP001.

California Common

2010-09-12T18:41:00.011-04:00

A style of beer resurrected by an early craft beer pioneer Fritz Maytag, who recently did an interview for Reason magazine. The style of beer that was resurrected was Steam Beer of Anchor Brewing who has trademark rights to be the only brewery to be able to call it Steam Beer. If another brewery makes this style they call it a 'Common'. Common beers are a hybrid style that's fermented with a lager yeast strain but at a higher temperatures. Most lager yeast strains ferment at less than 55*f making a cleaner crisper beverage, but this style pushes the normally cold fermenting yeast into warmer temperatures. Creating a reserved ale yeast fruit character while retaining some malt accentuating lager qualities. Generously hopped, traditionally with Northern Brewer variety, to have a lingering hop bitterness to complement the toasted malt flavors. My batch today will feature three hop variety's Super Galena, UK Goldings, and Northern Brewer. A busy triple brew day in eleven hours was a breeze with duel burners.

Pumpernickel Porter

2010-09-12T17:25:00.006-04:00

The first time I brewed this beer I brewed 150 gallons of it at the Dogfish Pub while I was working as a brewer at the production brewery in Milton, DE. When it was my turn to brew at the pub I went through my research and development folder and looked at my list of styles and beers I was planning on brewing at home. A porter brewed with caraway seeds and rye malt inspired by Rye Bread was half way down the list. I decided this would be a fun one off for the pub that I called Daily Wry. Overall I was happy with the finished beer and it's reviews. To make this beer better I'm going to try and get a more pronounced flavor from the caraway seeds. Adding a half ounce of crushed caraway seeds at end of boil might do the trick. We'll see. Also first wort hopped this batch with Hallertau Hersbrucker which I've found lends a peppery flavor which will complement this brew.

Belgian Pale Ale

2010-09-12T12:09:00.009-04:00

Brewing an easy drinking Belgian style pale ale today. Using White Labs WLP550 yeast. A versatile strain that ferments wort into an array of delicious beers. A blend of Slovenia Celeia, Styrian Goldings, and Centennial hops will create a floral bouquet of aromas to accompany the spicy Belgian yeast. With a slighty toasted, biscuit finish in the malt flavor. I'll probably be dry hopping this beer but will decide when I rack to secondary. Looking forward to this batch being on draught.

White Beer with Lime

2010-09-04T16:23:00.009-04:00

Brewing a collaborative recipe today with my good friend Brent Baughman. He's moving to Portland in a few weeks to continue his brewing adventures and if anyone is looking for a damn good veteran brewer they should hire him. We began taking stock of what was available to brew with. With the yeast selection (chico, lager, hefe, and two wit strains) on hand we decided to brew a Belgian style White beer with fresh Lime peel instead of the traditional curacao orange peel. A small twist on a classic style. We used the zest of three limes and a half cup of lime juice added at the end of boil as well as the ground coriander. Fermented with Wyeast 3463 Forbidden Fruit yeast strain for a classic wit biere flavor profile.

Farm Fresh Series: Smoked Pumpkin Porter

2010-08-29T15:37:00.025-04:00

After a hot summer this year Fall is finally in sight. The changing of the season signifies the time of year when almost every brewery in the country is brewing a spiced Pumpkin ale. An amber ale that sweeps you away on a sensory experience of Halloween, Thanksgiving, and well, Autumn.

For my fall seasonal I'll be using a heirloom pumpkin variety called Red October. A smaller, sweeter, pumpkin that is ready for harvest early in the season. The pumpkins were grown at Wright's Farm in Delaware. They were roasted and then smoked. The smoker that was used is a well seasoned smoker that contributed a huge smoked bacon flavor. After cooking the pumpkins there were twelve pounds of pumpkin meat to add to the mash. The base style to complement the flavor of the smoked pumpkins is a strong porter with a target abv of 7.5%. I'm not using any smoked malt in the grist so the smoked pumpkins will be the only smoke flavor in the beer. Also won't be using any spices to muddle the flavor of this harvest ale. Allowing the smoked pumpkins and dark malt flavors of the Porter to shine.

Heather Scotch Ale

2010-08-22T18:48:00.011-04:00

Brewing an ale in the Gruit tradition. Before hops were used in beer there were a whole bunch of spices, herbs, and roots that were used to flavor and add the needed bitter counterpoint to what would otherwise be a sweet fermented barley beverage. In the tradition of Northern European Gruit I'm going to brew a Scotch ale with Heather flowers to add bitterness, flavor, and aroma. There are some commercial Heather Ales being produced and many mead makers carry on the tradition of brewing with Heather. Dried Heather flowers lend a floral, earthy, fruity aroma that blends well with malty beer styles.

Recipe: American Two Row, Munich Malt, Briess Extra Special Roast, and Roasted Barley. Barely hopped with Celeia. With Heather flowers added for flavor and aroma. Fermented with Wyeast 1318 London III.

Steel Cut Irish Style Oatmeal Stout

2010-08-21T23:09:00.013-04:00

Most oatmeal stout's are brewed with flaked oats(that have been pre-gelatinized) and/or Oat Malt to lend the style it's signature body. To make flaked oats, raw oats have been rolled while being steamed making the starches ready to be converted by the enzymes present in the mash. For today's Oatmeal Stout I'm going to use raw Steel Cut Irish Style Oats that need to be cooked for 30 minutes to break down the starches in the raw oats before being added to the mash. After the oats are cooked the enzymes in the mash can convert the starches in the oats into fermentable sugars. I'm hoping the steel cut oats add even more body than flaked oats, creating a motor oil oatmeal breakfast stout.

Recipe: American Two Row, Irish Style Steel Cut Oats, Roasted Barley, Dk. Munich malt, Crystal malt, and Chocolate malt. Hopped with Warrior for bittering and Willamette for flavor and aroma. Fermented with Fermentis Safale US-05.

Iron Brewer Robust Smoked Brown Ale

2010-08-21T15:52:00.024-04:00

Today's brew is for the Iron Brewer competition where three mystery ingredients are picked and each brewer much concoct a beer to showcase these ingredients. So far there has been two rounds of six brewers and this is the third round of six. The three ingredients this round are Smoked Malt, Vanilla, and Centennial hops. With the hops adding a big citrus, grapefruit flavor I'll be using the hops for bittering because I'm not sure how smoke,vanilla, and grapefruit go together in beer, but grilled grapefruit with vanilla foam sounds good. Anyway it's very exciting to be invited to brew in this competition. The competition is steep this round with home brewers who brew damn good beers. Really looking forward to try what everyone brews up, but especially Slovak Brewer Stephen Freshnock's Belgian 'house smoked' Golden ale. He is by far taking the biggest risk while the rest of us are being 'safer' and brewing darker beers (3 porters, a dunkelweizen, and my brown ale). The dunkel is a pretty bold move as well though.

Allez Brasser! With these three ingredients I decided upon a Robust Brown Ale as a base. A baltic brown porter of sorts. With 37% of grist bill being Cherry Wood Smoked Malt to create a sweet bacon malty backbone. A halved Vanilla bean will be added to secondary after infusing in Bourbon for a week. Centennial hops will be used for bitterness to balance out this burly brown ale. Click here for recipe.

pLambic 1.1

2010-08-17T10:00:00.006-04:00

The title for this post is not a spelling error. The lower case 'p' stands for 'pure culture' since real Lambic beers are only produced in the Pajottenland region of Belgium. Lambic beers from this region are brewed with a plethora of wild yeast and bacteria that creates sour and vinous flavors. These bugs of the brewing world lend a complexity to beer that doesn't exist in pure brewers yeast. Tomme Arthur writes about these bugs on the White Labs webpage. To read more about the history of Lambic beers read on.

For my pLambic today I performed a single decoction mash to create the web of dextrins necessary to make a flavorful Lambic. Also did my best to have a turbid mash which is to do the opposite of what good brewing technique dictates. By stirring the mash periodically during runoff I affected the turbidity of the wort I collected. Again, normally you want clear wort when you runoff but when preparing wort for wild beers it's a little different. You want tannins, dextrins, and other proteins to make there way to the fermentation vessel. What normally is a detriment to creating a high quality beverage is in this case needed to feed the bugs.

I'm going to split this batch between two 3 gallon FV. One I'll pitch White Labs WLP655 Belgian Sour Mix. The other I will pitch a pure brewers yeast strain, Fermentis US-05. To then pitch a different blend of bugs to that 3 gallon version later on. The caveat with these bugs is they take up to six months to really begin to emerge. So what is brewed today is enjoyed a very long time from now.

Farm Fresh Series: Mixed Berry Saison

2010-07-11T14:03:00.015-04:00

Raspberries and Blackberries fermented with a blend of Saison yeast strains to create what I imagine will be a spicy, fruity, a little tart, easy drinking ale. It's been lots of fun brewing these fruit beers recently. Results have been good with whole fruit in primary during fermentation thus far so I'll be doing the same today.

Grist Bill: Belgian Pilsner malt, Honey malt, and Aromatic malt. Lightly hopped with Celeia. With three and a half pounds of blackberries and raspberries.

Cascadian Dark Ale

2010-07-05T14:38:00.015-04:00

A collaborative brew with friend and fellow pro brewer Brent Baughman. We decided to brew up a decidedly American style of beer in honor of this holiday weekend celebrating the 234th birthday of America. We both agree it's a great time to be apart of this New American Craft Beer Renaissance that has been growing since the 70's. This fairly new style, first called black IPA, but renamed Cascadian Dark Ale, origins discussed further by Lisa Morrison. In her article she discusses how it's a style created in the Pacific Northwest, but Greg Noonan brewed a 'Black IPA' called BlackWatch in 1990. Anyway, I do like the name Cascadian Dark Ale and the idea and spirit of creating truly new beer styles, with new names that aren't derivative mash ups of existing beer styles. Let's agree on a name and start brewing even more regional beer styles to be celebrated nationally.

Grist Bill: Briess Two row, Honey malt, Flaked Rye, CaraPils, Chocolate malt, Black malt. First wort hopped with Perle and Centennial hop variety's. Finished with a heavy hand of whole leaf Centennial hops. Fermented with Safale US-05 American Ale yeast.

Centennial Pale Ale

2010-07-04T11:08:00.006-04:00

Kicked my most recent batch of pale ale on draught and I have quitea bit of whole leaf Centennial hops. So, I'll be brewing an American Pale ale today with over a quarter pound of hops at end of boil. Also, I'll be collecting 900 ml of wort from today's brew to start a prop for a batch of Saison to be brewed tomorrow. The yeast for tomorrow's Saison is White Labs WLP568.

Grist Bill: Briess Two row, Munich malt, Dk. Munich malt, Toasted Flaked Rye, Amber malt, Briess Xtra Special malt. Hopped with over a quarter pound of whole leaf Centennial. Fermented with Safale US-05.

Farm Fresh Series: Blueberry Belgian Ale

2010-06-28T18:35:00.001-04:00

Continuing my Farm Fresh Series with fresh Blueberries from my local farmers market. So far in the series I've brewed a Strawberry Cream ale and a Tart Cherry Porter. I kegged the strawberry ale yesterday and racked cherry porter to 2nd. I'm very happy so far with how both batches are maturing. Strawberry flavor comes through surprisingly well.

Today's recipe is similar to strawberry cream ale's grist bill, but instead of flaked maize I'll be using flaked barley and oats. Creating a golden ale for the blueberries to influence any way they please. Hopefully with some color and flavor. To mix it up from most commercial examples I'll be fermenting this batch with a Belgian yeast strain creating spicy and fruity flavors of it's own that hopefully won't overwhelm the blueberries. Just like the strawberry and cherry beers I'll also be adding the fruit directly into primary FV during knock out. Good results so far with whole, well slightly crushed or cut up, fruit fermentation.

Grist Bill: Pale two row, Honey malt, Flaked Barley, and Flaked Oats. Slightly hopped with Celeia variety with five and a half pounds of fresh blueberries from Fifer Orchards in the fermentation vessel. Fermented with White Labs WLP570 Belgian Golden Ale yeast.

Belgian Table Biere(s)

2010-06-19T10:37:00.002-04:00

Brewing up a big batch today of low gravity Belgian blonde ale that I'm going to split between two carboys and ferment each with a different yeast strain from White Labs. It's always interesting to see how different strains affect the flavor profile of the same wort. In one carboy I will pitch WLP500, a strain from the Chimay Trappist Brewery. In the other carboy I'll pitch WLP575 which is a blend of Chimay yeast, Westmalle Trappist yeast, and Achouffe yeast. Originally I was looking for WLP550 which is just the Achouffe strain but alas my local home brew store didn't have any this weekend so I went with the WLP575 Belgian Blend. I'm able to find out the origins of these strains by using the yeast strain chart that Mr.Malty has created. It's very interesting and useful to determine what yeast to use knowing the flavor impact the yeast makes in the beers brewed from the brewery's where the yeast comes from. Giving you an idea of what your beer will taste like using that yeast.

Grist Bill: Belgian Pilsner malt, Briess Pale malt, Rye malt, Aromatic malt, and CaraPils. American whole leaf Palisade hops for bittering and finished with whole leaf Centennial hops. Adding a citrus kick to the nuances of the two different Belgian yeasts from White Labs, WLP500 and WLP575.

Petite Saison

2010-06-13T17:34:00.007-04:00

Brewed with Barley, Wheat, Oats, and Rice. First wort hopped with Saaz andCeleia. With East Kent Golding hops at the end of boil. Fermented with Wyeast 3711 French Saison. Simple recipe, but most likely a delicious beer. Step mash for today's brew to break down extra proteins in the large portion of wheat and oats in the grist. This was a great beer for the middle of Summer. Dry and drinkable, but spicy enough to be interesting. Some more noble hop flavors from dry hopping would be a nice addition to recipe. Styrian Golding, Saaz, or Tettnanger would add the needed hop flavor.

Farm Fresh Series: Tart Cherry Porter

2010-06-13T12:23:00.004-04:00

This weekend at the farmers market there were some fresh Tart Cherries and Blueberries. I decided to brew a Porter with the cherries. I'll be adding the cherries directly into the primary FV as I did during knockout for the Strawberry Cream Ale. Both the cherries and previously mentioned strawberries were from Fifer Orchards in Wyoming, Delaware.

Grist Bill: English pale malt, Amber malt, Crystal malt, Coffee malt, Chocolate malt, Black Patent, and CaraPils. Six Pounds of Tart Cherries. Lightly hopped with Willamette. Fermented with Safale US-05.

Abbey Ale

2010-06-12T19:08:00.005-04:00

After working with and living with my house mate, who is also a professional brewer, for over a year now we haven't done a collaborative brew yet. Which is kind of ridiculous. We're brewing an Abbey style ale with Citra hops and dried orange slices. A blonde 7% hoppy citrus Belgian style ale.

Grist Bill: Belgian two row, Munich malt, Biscuit malt, and Aromatic malt. First wort hopped with Saaz and Willamette. Citra hops for finishing hops along with dried oranges at end of boil. Fermented with the Westmalle Trappist brewery strain the White Labs WLP530 Abbey Ale yeast.

Smoked Session Stout

2010-06-08T21:26:00.002-04:00

This is a beer I would like to serve using nitrogen. The beer would be greatly improved by this serving method. A firkin would also compliment the flavors in this Stout. It's a low alcohol but full flavored offering. It's your usual 'sessionable' Stout but brewed with over 30% smoked malt adding a delicious old world twist. As most beers had smoke flavor back in the day due to open fire malting techniques.

Grist Bill: Pale two row, Smoked malt, Chocolate malt, Roasted Barley, Crystal malt, Flaked Barley, and CaraPils. Hopped with Super Galena and Willamette. Fermented with American ale yeast WLP001. I do need to get some Thames Valley and/or London III yeast around for when I decide to do brews like this, but this one will be fermented with chico.

Copper Ale

2010-06-07T20:22:00.006-04:00

Brewing up an easy drinking Copper ale tonight. Brewed with 24% Biscuitmalt to give this brew a bold bready character. Commercial examples of this 'style' of beer are Otter Creek's Copper Ale and New Belgium's Fat Tire. Both are very biscuity, malty, well balanced ales with enough hops to hold up to the malt but not overpower it. A style of beer that doesn't really have a category. It's American but doesn't have the American citrus hop character that Category 10 American Ales have. Copper ales are similar to German Alt beers but the yeast character in American Copper ales contributes more flavor than a traditional German Alt beers yeast that has a cleaner, lager like yeast characteristics.

Grist Bill: American two row, Biscuit malt, Aromatic malt, Dk. Munich malt, and Briess Xtra Special malt. Bittering hops are Super Galena, finishing hops are Willamette and Celeia. Fermented with Safale US-05.

BBQ Bourban Brown Ale

2010-05-31T09:18:00.002-04:00

On Memorial Day this year I'm brewing a big brown ale inspired by the many barbecue's that are taking place today. To turn this brown ale into a barbecue inspired batch I'll be brewing with Smoke Malt, Molasses, and Ancho Chilies. Lending the delicious flavors of well done barbecue. Brown ales are the best style to pair with grilled and barbecued foods. This is because of the Maillard Reaction. Think toasting bread, searing a steak, the browning action of your favorite foods. The flavor of toasted bread, biscuits, seared and roasted meats, and dark beers are made from "a chemical reaction between amino acid and a reducing sugar, usually requiring heat. It is vitally important in the preparation or presentation of many types of food." Going to be aging this beer on house charred either mesquite, hickory, or oak chips soaked with Bourbon. Nothing like a Bourbon infused Barbecue sauce. The boiled wort has nice chocolate, toffee and caramel, with a ripe dark fruit pepper flavor from the Ancho chilies. Should be interesting.

Fin de Printemps Saison

2010-05-30T17:03:00.003-04:00

An 'End of Spring' Saison. I've brewed a few different spin-offs of the 'Saison' style of beer this last year, a Black Saison, and most recently a Saison with red peppercorns and sumac berries. I've been very pleased with results. Today's will have no spices and be a more 'traditional' style Saison. I will be doing a step mash for extra added more traditional, time consuming, dividend paying, and multiple step taking process that is a step mash. This mash procedure will insure conversion and more importantly break down extra proteins that are in the flaked rye, wheat malt, flaked maize and flaked oats that will be in the mash along with malted barley. These other grains have a much higher protein content and these proteins can be broken down by performing a step mash.

One of my favorite styles of beer is Saison. Drinking them, brewing them, and cooking with them. Whether brewed in France, Belgium, America, or by some other independent spirited brewer they can be delicious. Thirsty quenching when either strong or 'sessionable'. Brewed with spices, fruit and can get better with funk. The possibilities are endless with this traditional farm hand field beverage.

Farm Fresh Series: Strawberry Cream Ale

2010-05-30T14:11:00.001-04:00

Brewing up a Cream Ale today with fresh local strawberries and bananas. Brewing a somewhat traditional style cream ale by using flaked maize in the mash. The somewhat will be the addition of 6 pounds of whole strawberries and 3 bananas into the primary fermenter. Now, I recommend and prefer fermenting in glass for a couple reasons, plastic scratches much easier and never smells 'clean'. Regardless I've purchased a 7 gallon plastic FV for a 'Farm Fresh Fermentation Series'. The plan is to brew with whatever fresh local fruit's and vegetables that are available throughout this year's season at my local farmers market. First batch of series will be a Strawberry Cream ale. My friend Jon Talkington, Master Meadmaker of Brimming Horn Meadery makes a strawberry mead and has found that the addition of bananas to fermentation doesn't add much banana flavor but does seem to enhance the strawberry flavor. The flavor of strawberry is delicate and often difficult to brew with, probably a reason there are not many commercial examples (compared to blueberry for instance). I'm especially excited to brew something with cantaloupe, honey dew melons, and carrots later this year. Of course the randoms will be most fun, kohlrabi ale anyone?

Simple grist bill of pale two row, flaked maize, and honey malt. Barely hopped with Celeia variety and fermented with White Labs WLP009 Australian Ale yeast. White Labs claims this yeast "can ferment successfully, and clean, at higher temperatures."

Pale(s) In Comparison

2010-04-30T19:00:00.002-04:00

The attention to detail will be hyper focused on the task at hand. Which is to brew two batches of my American Pale Ale recipe that placed 2nd in First Round of National Homebrew Competition in Category 10 'American Ale'. This means it was the 2nd best 'American Style' ale out of the 76 entries in that particular category. There are three sub category's in category 10, they are as follows: 10a Pale ale, 10b Amber ale, 10c Brown ale (further reading, BJCP style guidelines). So, all of the 76 entries of 'American style' beer were judged against each other on which was the, 'most true to style'. The winners of category 10 were an Amber ale(10b) that received 1st and a Brown ale(10c) receiving 3rd. Meaning of all Pale ales(10a) entered into Northeast region that, on the day of judging, mine was 'best' pale ale entered by getting 2nd. After burning my candle on both ends for quite some time this is a nice 'pat on the back' for all my hard work. I really enjoy crafting delicious brews whether using strange grains, herbs & spices, and wood aged beers, but to place with an American style pale ale means more than my other beers I entered into previously mentioned experimental categories. The fact the judges recognized on that day the 'quaffability' of my take on what has become a flagship style in the bedrock of this New American Craft Brewing Renaissance is an honor.

Since I don't have anymore of that batch of pale ale around I'll be brewing more to send to nationals. The batch I sent in was brewed at the end of January and was mostly a prop batch for what was an upcoming Imperial Coffee Stout. I didn't even blog about it in between a Schwarzbier and a Rye'd Pale ale. I did try new hopping technique which is a combination of hop additions that I've found work well. Basically I 'first wort' hopped during run off. Which is the practice of adding hops to your wort which weaves together a unmatched hop flavor (first wort technical reading). I then added just enough bittering hops to balance and didn't add another hop addition the rest of boil. With my theory being, "if I'm going to dry hop the beer, why not just move late kettle additions to dry hops as well." So I added the ounce of what would have been my zero minute hop addition and added them on day 2 of fermentation. After fermentation I racked to 2nd and dry hopped a second time the way I do normally. It was then bottled in the middle of February and two months later at the end of April a couple of BJCP judges enjoyed it. My friends and I couldn't wait that long, we enjoyed the whole batch much sooner.

Now that I'm brewing up a couple batches that will be in bottle a little over two weeks instead of two months before they are judged I'm wondering if I should try and reverse engineer the hop levels to what they may have been after two months in bottles. As many hop heads know, hops are best fresh, and that hop flavor fades and fades fast. I'm probably over thinking it, but I'm going to brew one batch exactly the same and the other with a 10-15% decrease to the overall hop bill and then decide later which to send to nationals.

Rye'd Pale Ale(s)

2010-04-11T15:40:00.004-04:00

Brewing a ten gallon batch of a an American Pale Ale with just over 15% Rye malt. I'll be doing a little bit of a hop experiment on this one. I've got quite a bit of whole leaf hops that need to be used up (In freezer for 6 months). I am confident they are still 'fresh' enough' to use but I would like to use them up quickly at this point. So I'm going to be adding over half a pound of whole leaf Palisade, Simcoe, and Amarillo hops all combined at end of boil. Still leaving me with part of a brick of Simcoe to use up. I've heard/read about this hop technique being used by Deschutes for their Hop Trip. Brewed with very little, if any bittering hops and a truck load of whole leaf hop flowers at the end of boil. So I'll be first wort hopping with some Chinook hops, which provides some bitterness, then not adding another hop until end of boil. Today's brew is based off my Rye'd Pale Ale recipe I brewed in January 2010.

Grist Bill: Briess two row, Rye malt, Munich malt, Crystal malt, and Amber malt. Hopped with Chinook, Palisade, Amarillo, and Simcoe. Fermented with Chico yeast.

Sahti Altbier

2010-04-11T10:13:00.001-04:00

The end of last April 2009 I brewed a Juniper Rye Ale that I wasn't thrilled with. Some changes to today's recipe will be moving the crushed juniper berry addition back to later in the boil. I experimented with adding juniper berries to the mash and middle of boil. Not much juniper berry flavor remained. What little was left was tannins and the oily bitter flavors of the berry on the tongue after each sip. The first time I brewed a beer based on this traditional beer style called Sahti was in January 2007. For that brew I added some juniper berries at end of boil, and at bottling I made a juniper berry tea which I added to bottling bucket with the priming sugar. The flavors from the tea and late boil additions were much more enjoyable. Aroma was floral,spicy gin with a finishing pine character. An addition to the grist bill will be a traditional Rauch(smoked) malt. Only 3% smoked malt in the grist will add authenticity to this traditional style without overpowering the palette.

Grist Bill: Baird Pale malt, Briess two row, Rye malt, Crystal Rye malt, Smoked malt, and a couple ounces Roasted Barley for color. First wort hopped with Hallertau Hersbrucker. Crushed Juniper Berries added at End of Boil. Fermented with Wyeast 1007 German Ale yeast.

Quadruple

2010-04-04T12:06:00.001-04:00

Brewed a Quadruple with Pinot Noir juice/concentrate last November 09', and today's batch is an evolution of the recipe. Changing some specialty malts to create more toffee/raisin flavors in the malt backbone. Also going to be collecting the first gallon of first runnings and reduce by half to caramelize the delicious wort. The first batch, at 11% and even after six months still tastes young. The oak and red wine notes are the aroma. Happy with the batch but can always be better. The Briess Extra Special Roast in the first batch produced roast malt character that is out of place in what I want this beer to taste like (great specialty malt for Brown ales though).

Grist Bill: Pale two row, Munich malt, CaraMunich 40, Crystal 65, Biscuit malt, and CaraPils. Hopped to balance with Vanguard. 25% of extract from Pinot Noir grape/concentrate. Fermented with 2nd generation Wyeast 3711. Although not a true Trappist yeast strain, this yeast provides high attenuation and Trappist yeast type flavors. Origins of yeast, Brasserie Thiriez located in francophone Flanders.

Lemon Pepper HefeWeizen(s)

2010-04-03T22:25:00.003-04:00

A traditional style German Hefeweizen, brewed with Lemongrass, Bay Leaves, Black Peppercorns, and Lemon peel. Based off two similar beer I did last year. One in March 09, and other in July 09' (which I just realized I didn't blog about last summer). I enjoyed how the banana/clove flavors from the yeast played off the earthy lemongrass, green tea flavor of bay leaves and subtle pepper spice undertones. I'm adding fresh lemon peel to bounce off the earthiness of lemongrass with the acidity of fresh lemons. Also added 1/2 cup lemon juice at end of boil for some dry, tart, sour background to the overall brew. Brewing two batches of the same recipe so I can blend together in newly made 10 gallon bottling bucket.

Grist: Wheat malt, Pale two row, English pale malt, Flaked Wheat, and Flaked Oats. Hopped with Hallertau Hersbrucker. Spiced with Lemongrass, Bay leaves, Black Peppercorns, and Lemon Peel.

Saison d'Hiver

2010-03-29T17:44:00.001-04:00

Last September 09' I brewed an Imperial Black Saison. Spiced with Meadowsweet, Chamomile, and Nutmeg. Aged on French Oak for two months, called Saison d'Hiver. At 10% it's a big beer and has gotten better with age. One complaint I have with the first batch is head retention. I'll be making some changes to grist bill to aid in head retention. I believe the problem is in the use of spices (oils) and the high alcohol content doesn't help either. Another shortcoming is because of the high alcohol and low finishing gravity, thin body. Other tweaks to recipe are to give more body to the brew. Making it a true, Winter Warmer, of sorts.

Grist bill: Pale malt, Flaked Oats, Chocolate Malt, Black Patent malt, Biscuit Malt, Crystal Malt, and Coffee Malt. Maxing out my mash tun with twenty five total pounds of grain. Hopped lightly with Vanguard. Spiced with Meadowsweet, Chamomile, and Heather (no nutmeg in house).

Small Table Beer

2010-03-27T18:20:00.001-04:00

With the final running's of Batch 100 I'm brewing a 3 gallon batch to create a small table beer around 3.5%. Hopped lightly with Celeia hops. Fermenting with Safale T-58, creating a Belgian style amber ale. The most famous commercial American small beer using this technique of collecting lower gravity running's for a separate beer from it's high gravity brother is Anchor Steam Brewing's Small Beer. Basically when brewing high gravity beers you use a bunch of grain to create enough sugar to reach higher gravity but don't want to collect all of possible wort otherwise you'll just have a big batch of more average gravity wort. So, by collecting the rest of the running's after you've collected what you what for the big brew you can now not waste any of the sugar you've made by brewing a small beer. Glad I decided to do this, used my original 16 qt kettle from when I started extract brewing four years ago to boil on my stove top. Good memories.

Batch 100 Barleywine

2010-03-27T10:46:00.001-04:00

Ninety nine batches in the making. After home brewing for four years now I have brewed ninety nine batches and today's will be number 100. Brewing something special for the occasion. I've wanted to brew an English style Barleywine for some time now. Batch 100 seems like a good place to brew one (Nogne Brewery did a Batch 100 Barleywine that is delicious). I'm collecting the first gallon of first running's and boiling (reducing by half). Adding this caramelized concentrated wort to the rest of the wort before start of boil. I'll be aging this Barleywine on French Oak chips that are already soaking in Malbec wine from Argentina.

Simple grist bill of English pale malt, biscuit malt, and crystal malt. Ninety minute boil. Hopped with Super Galena, and fermented with 2nd generation English yeast.

UK Session Bitter(s)

2010-03-22T10:08:00.002-04:00

Brewing a low alcohol offering today. Brewed an English Special Bitter last year that I was very pleased with. A flavorful ale that was 4.1%. I really enjoy full flavored low alcohol beers and I'll be tweaking the grist bill slightly from the one I made last year. I'll again be adding organic barley flour to the mash and mashing in warm (156*/157*) to add body. Brewing a 10 gallon batch today, which is possible because I'm borrowing a converted keg/kettle from the owner of my local home brew store (thanks Doug!). At the home brew store I've been teaching home brew classes, a few extract classes,an all grain class, and a recipe development class. Lots of fun teaching, I hope the students have learned something, I know they have taught me a lot.

Today's grist bill is Baird pale malt, Biscuit malt, Amber malt, Crystal malt,and a touch of Roasted Barley. A balanced, bold hand of East Kent Golding hops. Fermented with an English yeast strain, dry Safale S-04.

Saison(s) Printemps

2010-03-20T10:17:00.001-04:00

Double brew day today. A beautiful first day of spring, I'll be moving the stereo to the back deck and brewing two Saison's with red peppercorns and sumac berries. I brewed two Saisons last year that I'm building off of, one in August 09', and another in November 09'. I was pleased with both and I'm just slightly changing the grist bill. The only 'big' change will be the addition of previously mentioned Sumac berries. My fellow brewer and master mead maker Jon Talkington said he used to pick them wild and make sumac lemonade when he was growing up. Adding the sumac berries gently crushed with out breaking seed inside and adding to end of boil along with the hand ground red peppercorns. Both of these spices I'm using are to accentuate the flavors in traditional farmhouse style Saison with out being over powering. The sumac berries have a tart lemon licorice flavor, while red peppercorns are 'lemony juniper berry' type flavor.

Grist is pale malt, wheat malt, rye malt, flaked oats, biscuit malt, aromatic malt, and honey malt. Hops are a Golding variety and will be dry hopped with Saaz and Tettnanger. Fermented with Wyeast 3711 French Saison strain.

Chicory Brown Ale

2010-03-02T20:12:00.001-05:00

Brewing a big brown ale tonight. Target gravity 18* Plato and finish with over 8% alcohol. This is a big over the top brown ale brewed with roasted chicory root. The chicory root adds a coffee and chocolate flavor. As well as providing some bitterness from the natural oils. Chicory has long been a substitute for coffee, or today you will see pre mix blends of coffee and chicory grinds. With a complex grist bill combined with the heavy hand of chicory this is going to be a robust brown ale. Fermented with chico yeast and lightly hopped with Willamette.

American Pale Ale(s)

2010-03-01T12:38:00.002-05:00

Beer Advocate describes the style, "Of British origin, this style is now popular worldwide and the use of local ingredients or imported, produces variances in character from region to region. Generally, expect a good balance of malt and hops. Fruity esters and diacetyl can vary from none to moderate, and bitterness can range from lightly floral to pungent. American versions tend to be cleaner and hoppier, while the British tend to be more malty, buttery, aromatic and balanced."

In my version today I'll be adding some of the extra English malt character by using both Maris Otter and American two row as my base malts. Rounding out the grist bill with some Amber, Crystal, and Wheat malt. First wort hopping with Palisade and Willamette, bittered with Warrior hops. Some whole leaf Palisade hops at thirty minutes and the only other hops added will be dry hops. Used similar hopping technique in a pale ale and Rye'd Pale ale I brewed earlier this year. For the second batch of the day I'll be brewing the same recipe with the only change being no crystal malt, substituting more amber malt for the crystal malt. I just want to see if I can notice a difference in the pale ale without the crystal malt, basically to see which I prefer overall.

Maibock

2010-02-28T15:30:00.001-05:00

Kegged two of my pilsners today and both were very clean with low esters and sulphur. So I decided to brew another lager on a 2nd generation yeast cake from my Bohemian Pilsner. A couple twists on today's brew will be the addition of Pecan Smoked malt and toasted flaked oats. The rest of the grist is American Pale two row, Maris Otter, dark Munich, Biscuit, and Crystal malts. The grist bill is much different from the 50/50 Munich/Vienna in traditional maibocks. Another part of today's brewing process will be to reduce the first gallon of first runnings in half and add back to start of boil. This process of reducing the first runnings aids in creating a malty finish in the brew. First wort hopped with Vanguard, Celiea, and Willamette. Bittered with Willamette and finished with Celiea and Willamette hops.

Triple Smoked Cocoa Brown Porter

2010-02-20T21:15:00.003-05:00

Brewed with three different smoked malts. Cherry wood smoked malt, pecan smoked malt, and German rauchmalt. With almost 30% of the grist being smoked malt this is a fairly smokey beer. Still not Schlenkerla Brewery in Bamberg levels of smoke but still smokey. I just decided to add some minimally processed S. American cocoa to the end of today's boil for this smoked Brown Porter. The cocoa is cured over a open fire which gave a slightly smokey flavor to my Chocolate Porter I brewed with it. I think the cocoa will be a nice addition to this brew, adding a layer of complexity and depth. Watched the sunrise as I was pitching yeast into this brew.

Grist bill: Briess two row, Cherry Wood Smoked, Pecan Smoked Malt, Weyermann Rauchmalt, Amber Malt, Coffee Malt, Crystal malt, Chocolate Malt. Hopped with Vanguard. Fermented with chico yeast.

Wild Rice Brown Ale

2010-02-20T15:27:00.004-05:00

Once again using an alternative grain in a Brown ale. Brewing with Minnesota grown Wild Rice. Adding a nutty character to this robust brown ale. Target abv of 6%. Brewed a few brown ales last year. A brown shugga clone, toasted rye brown, and most recently a buckwheat brown ale.

In the mash tun today. Pale malt, Amber malt, Coffee malt, Crystal malt, Chocolate malt and Minnesota grown wild rice. The rice adds complexity to an ordinary brown ale. Lightly hopped with Willamette and fermented with chico yeast. The rice added a great flavor to the finished brew and really made it an interesting brown ale. Rice in beer isn't always a bad thing.

another Tangelo Wit

2010-02-12T01:02:00.001-05:00

Brewing the same recipe Tangelo Wit as I did this last Sunday. The only change will be different yeast. Fermentis Safbrew T-58, a very versatile dry yeast. I enjoy both brewing and drinking Belgian whites. Today's beer is brewed with barley, wheat, and oats. Spiced with hops, coriander, lemon peel, and tangelos. Most likely I'll be brewing two batches of my White Heat (a double white with hot peppers) onto the yeast cakes of the two tangelo wits.

Beer Advocate describes Belgian White biere as, "A Belgian Style ale that's very pale and cloudy in appearance due to it being unfiltered and high level of wheat, and sometimes oats, that's used in the mash. Always spiced, generally with coriander, orange peel and other oddball spices and herbs in the back ground. The crispness and slight twang comes from the wheat and the lively carbonation. This is one style that many brewers in the US have taken a liking to and have done a very good job of staying to style. Sometimes served with a lemon, but if you truly want to enjoy the untainted subtleties of this style you'll ask for yours without one. Often referred to as 'white beers' (witbieren) due to the cloudiness/yeast in suspension."

Bohemian Pilsner

2010-02-11T17:20:00.002-05:00

The next few weeks are supposed to be cold. Lows in 20's and highs of 35f. I've never really been able to brew lagers at home because they ferment cool, around 45-57f. The basement where I'm living right now has been staying steady at 50-55f during the winter. I've been able to brew a couple lagers so far and I'm happy to brew another before temperatures start rising and I won't be able to brew anymore lagers this season at home. The other four lagers I've brewed this year are 'lagering'. The word lager by the way translated in German means 'to store'. Lagers are beers brewed to store and mature before drinking. The lighter and more subtle flavors of most lagers leaves little for the brewer to hide behind. Leaving only the ingredients and skill of the brewer to be judged. I prefer to brew and drink ales but lagers are a fun new challenge, weather permitting.

The Bohemian Pilsner, first brewed in 1842 was the original clear, light colored beer. I'm using Wyeast Bohemian Lager 2124 for a classic crisp pilsner flavor. Brewed with German pilsner malt and American pale two row.

Tangelo Wit

2010-02-07T15:44:00.003-05:00

Went to the grocery store the day before the Mid-Atlantic blizzard to get clementines to brew another batch of Clementine Wit. Though when I arrived at the store I noticed a lack of clementines and the only other interesting citrus was tangelo's. Tangelo's are a hybrid of tangerines and/or pomelo and grapefruit. I brewed an Amber Tangerine Wit last October and was pleased with the flavor the tangerines contributed. In short, I'm brewing a Tangelo Wit beer today.

Brewed with barley, wheat, and oats. Spiced with hops, coriander, lemon peel, and tangelo's.

Imperial Coffee Stout(s)

2010-01-31T10:01:00.002-05:00

Brewing an Imperial Coffee Stout. A Russian Imperial Stout that I'll be adding coffee to in 2nd fermentation. I brewed a coffee stout in November 09' last year. The beer turned out very well and I'm going to be making minor malt bill adjustments. I brewed a batch yesterday and one today. Same recipe but I'll be changing the type of coffee in each batch. I'm working to dial in the coffee flavor and I will be brewing many more batches playing around with different coffee from around the world. Tanzania peaberry, Ethiopian Harrar, and S. American variety's as well. Focusing on geographic origin of the coffee and generally medium roast.

Both batches were brewed onto 2nd generation yeast cakes. One from Rye pale ale, and anther pale ale that was pretty much just a prop to have enough yeast for this high gravity coffee stout I'm brewing.

#xbrew Imperial Porter

2010-01-24T22:05:00.004-05:00

A unique beer. Brewed with the energy of brewers across the country. Collaborating to create a special brew. One to share amongst each other and friends. Using 21st century technology to communicate live via google wave, twitter, and live video streams. This #xbrew collaboration is organized by Justin Boswell @theBrewDude.

This batch of Porter will be fermented using second generation lager yeast. The main twist is I'll be aging this imperial porter on home infused coconut rum and french oak. A Coconut Rum Porter.

The other other home brewers are:

TheBrewDude

fermentnation

newbrewthursday

slovakbrewer

averagebeersnob

ABeerADay

hoptrollop

simplybeer

Check out collaborative #xbrew blog.

Google Wavebook comments on the collaboration.

Justin's Examiner post.

Rye'd Pale Ale

2010-01-18T17:58:00.002-05:00

A favorite style of mine. Take an American pale ale and sub in 10-20% rye malt into the grist bill. The rye malt adds body, complexity to the malt backbone, and a peppery spiciness. Balanced with pungent pine and citrus flavors from Northwest hops. An American pale ale brewed with rye malt and traditional American pale ale hop schedule makes for a delicious brew.

I brewed two Rye pale ales last year, one in June 09', and another in August 09'. I thought the second one turned out better because of all the "C" hops that were used. I will be adding a blend of "C" hops to dry hop with. Keeping malt bill similar with only some minor changes.

Schwarzbier

2010-01-18T11:36:00.001-05:00

Schwarz is German for black. So, schwarzbier is translated as 'black' beer. Traditionally a lager that is brewed with a little black malt to create a dark beer that can still be seen through when held to light to reveal a scarlet hue.

In the mash today, Dark Munich malt, Briess two row, CaraMunich III, Briess extra Special Roast, and debittered black malt. Hop bill is Vanguard first wort and whole leaf Glacier hops in the boil. Fermented with Saflager W-34/70.

History of the style is described by BJCP as, "A regional specialty from the southern Thuringen and northern Franconia in Germany, and probably and variant of the Munich Dunkel style." BJCP also states the overall imperession is, "A dark German lager that balances roasted yet smooth malt flavors with moderate hop bitterness."

German Altbier

2010-01-17T10:37:00.001-05:00

BJCP states this about the style, "The traditional style of beer from Dusseldorf. Alt refers to the "old" style of brewing (ie., making top-fermented ales) that was common before lager brewing became the popular. Predates the isolation of bottom-fermenting yeast strains, though it approximates many characteristics of lager beer. The best examples can be found in brewpubs in the Altstadt ("Old town") section of Dusseldorf."

Grist bill today: German pilsner malt, dark Munich malt, and cara Munich III. Hopped with whole leaf Glacier hops and Vanguard hops to 20 IBU's. Fermenting with dry yeast K-97. Kind of it sounds like Wyeast 1007 but then the comment about being able to make Belgian wheat beers is kind of strange. The yeast, K-97, has a wide fermentation range (59f-72f). Reminds me of S-33 "edme" strain, where the temperature you ferment at has a major impact on ester production. Meaning whether it tastes like a 'Belgian' (high temp.+70f) or like a fruity English ale (lower temp.-68f). I'll be fermenting this altbier in the low 60's to keep ester levels low. I've never used K-97 so we'll see how it goes.

Sorachi Ace Pilsner

2010-01-12T15:38:00.003-05:00

A German style pilsner brewed with Sorachi Ace hops. A cross between the British hop brewers gold and Czech Saaz, it exhibits a strong lemon and spicy aroma. I've never brewed with Sorachi Ace hops before. Lager don't mask hop flavors as much as ales, so a little goes a long way and the flavor of the hop is more pronounced because in lagers yeast flavors are subdued compared to ales.

Grist bill today is Briess pale, German pils, wheat, and Victory malt. Bittering hops are whole leaf glacier and finished with two ounce of whole leaf Sorachi Ace hops. Fermented with Fermentis Saflager S-23.

Basmati Rice Pilsner

2010-01-11T12:06:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year! Good to be back brewing after a great holiday. First brew of the new year will be inspired by the pre-prohibition style lager. My cellar is at 49f, a little warmer than I would like but I don't think it's going to get much colder down in the cellar. This style was created by German immigrants in the late 19th century. Using German brewing techniques, German lager yeast and American ingredients (six row barley, maize, rice, and Native American hop variety's).

My version today will be brewed with American two row, German pilsner malt, basmati rice, and wheat malt. Hopped with a heavy hand, for the style, of continental hops.

BJCP describes the style as, "History: A version of Pilsner brewed in the USA by immigrant German brewers who brought the process and yeast with them when they settled in America. They worked with the ingredients that were native to America to create a unique version of the original Pilsner. This style died out after Prohibition but was resurrected as a home-brewed style by advocates of the hobby.

Comments: The classic American Pilsner was brewed both pre-Prohibition and post-Prohibition with some differences. OGs of 1.050-1.060 would have been appropriate for pre-Prohibition beers while gravities dropped to 1.044-1.048 after Prohibition. Corresponding IBUs dropped from a pre-Prohibition level of 30-40 to 25-30 after Prohibition.

Ingredients: Six-row barley with 20% to 30% flaked maize to dilute the excessive protein levels. Native American hops such as Clusters, traditional continental noble hops, or modern noble crosses (Ultra, Liberty,Crystal) are also appropriate. Modern American hops such as Cascade are inappropriate. Water with a high mineral content can lead to an inappropriate coarseness in flavor and harshness in aftertaste."

WeizenBock

2009-12-15T14:01:00.001-05:00

Beer Judge Certification Program's overall impression and comments of style 15C, "a strong, malty, fruity, wheat based ale combining the best flavors of a dunkel-weizen and the rich strength and body of a bock." "A dunkel-weizen beer brewed to bock or doppelbock strength. Now also made in the Eisbock style as a specialty beer. Bottles may be gently rolled or swirled prior to serving to rouse the yeast." BJCP claims, "Aventinus, the world's oldest top-fermented wheat doppelbock was created in 1907 at the Weisse Brauhaus in Munich using the 'Methode Champenoise' with fresh yeast sediment on the bottom. It was Schneider's creative response to bottom-fermenting doppelbocks that developed a strong following during these times"

The grist is made up of German pilsner malt, munich malt, wheat malt, Special B, crystal 80, and chocolate malt. I won't be doing a traditional triple decoction brewing today, but will be doing a step mash and caramelizing the first gallon of first runnings. To, in theory make up for the lost nuances of decoction brewing.

Beer Blogger Brew Off 'Stout'

2009-12-13T11:30:00.001-05:00

Peter at Simply beer contacted a group of home brew bloggers to have a cross country brew off on the same day, Sunday the 13th of December 2009, to brew a stout. The concept is for us all to brew the same stout recipe and we each to change one thing. This could be a regional ingredient, a grain, a hop, spices, chocolate, chilies, anything. My changes are going to come a little out of necessity. I wasn't able to get to my local home brew store this weekend, which is only open on Saturday's. In short I don't have flaked barley or tettnanger hops. Instead of the flaked barley I'm going to toast 4 oz. of flaked oats instead. To me that is my "one" change to the recipe, a grain and extra process change.

For the tettnanger I'm just going to substitute glacier hops (I hope this is okay with everyone involved)by doing an alpha acids substitution calculation.

(AAU% of hop in recipe*weight)/AAU%=weight of hop substituting with

So in this case I'm substituting Glacier 5.5%AAU for the Tettnanger 4.0%AAU that 's in the recipe.

(.04*1 oz)/.055=.72 oz Glacier

Simply Beer blog explains what were up to, "I(Peter of Simply Beer) came up with this idea a couple months back. I’m not entirely sure what dark unused part of my brain it was spawned from, but has been warmly received from the Beer Blogger’s I’ve approached about it. Basically the idea stemmed from seeing my fellow bloggers tweeting about brewing beer. It seems to me, you get a deeper understanding of beer when you make your own. But I digress, since I’ve been doing the Beer Brawl™ podcasts, reviewing beers, and brewing them, I thought it would be fun to combine it all together! So, I enlisted the help of some beer bloggers you probably know…
Aaron – Captain’s Chair(@captainschair)

Derek – Luther Public House(@LutherHaus)

Erik – Top Fermented(@topfermented)

Ethan – Geek Beer (@geekbeer)

Joseph – Hopfentreader (@hopfentreader)

Michael – Thank Heaven For Beer (@heavenlybrew)

Nate – Thank Heaven For Beer (@THFBeer_nate)

Peter – Simply Beer (@simplybeer)

Thomas – Beer Genome Progect (@TomBGP)

So what is the “Beer Bloggers Brew-off“?
We are all going to brew the same base Stout recipe with the same time frame, but we all get to change ONE thing about the recipe, our secret ingredient. The secret ingredient can be anything, as long as the 5 gallon batch is completed on time. Once the batch of beer is bottled, we’ll ship each other a couple bottles of our Stout and we do a virtual tasting. I will record a podcast for all to hear. Sounds cool, huh?
The recipe:
9 lbs. Domestic 2-Row barley

16 oz. Chocolate Malt

16 oz. Roasted Barley

4 oz. Flaked Barley

4 oz. Caramel 60°L

1 oz Williamette hops (60min)

1 oz tettnang (2 minutes)

60 min mash @ 152

~75 min sparge @170

60 minute boil.

American Ale Yeast (wyeast 1056)

base recipe has estimated gravity of ~1.046 and finish around 1.014.

The Schedule:
Brew day will be December 13th, Beer bottled on January 10th, 3 bottles of Beer shipped to each of us on Feb 1st Tasting on Fri Feb 12th(subject to change) Very simple! I’m excited to see what these accomplished home brewers can put together. I’m sure it is going to be 6 exceptional brews that we’ll be tasting February."

Cranberry Winter Wheat

2009-12-11T17:21:00.001-05:00

A different sort of Holiday ale. An American wheat ale brewed with whole cranberries, the zest and juice of naval oranges, crystallized ginger and toasted oats. Malts include German pilsner, wheat malt, and biscuit malt. I'll be spicing this ale with Hibis cus flowers for color and depth. With a sprinkle of whole leaf glacier hops at the beginning of boil for balance.

When I added the cranberries to the kettle they began to pop like a semi automatic toy rifle. This is my first time using cranberries in brewing. Started with whole fresh berries that I added to the freezer to break down the cell wall of the berry. Then let thaw and added to kettle with five minutes left in boil. Very interested to see how the tartness of the cranberries comes through.

Dunkelweizen

2009-12-10T16:53:00.001-05:00

"Similar to a Hefeweizen, these southern Germany wheat beers are brewed as darker versions (Dunkel means "dark") with deliciously complex malts and a low balancing bitterness. Most are brown and murky (from the yeast). The usual clove and fruity (banana) characters will be present, some may even taste like banana bread." as described by Beer Advocate. Beer Judge Certification Program explains the history for style 15B: Dunkelweizen "Old fashioned Bavarian wheat beer was often dark. In the 1950's and 1960's, wheat beer did not have a youthful image, since most older people drank them for their health-giving qualities. Today, the lighter hefeweizen is more common"

My grist bill today consists of Munich malt, wheat malt, crystal 60, and Special B malt. Doing a step mash because of the large proportion of wheat malt in the grist. I find the protein rest helps the runoff further down stream, helping to prevent a stuck runoff. As well as insure conversion in a wheat based beer. This wheat beer is hopped with whole leaf glacier hops. Yeast being used is Safbrew WB-06.

English Special Bitter

2009-12-09T13:02:00.001-05:00

"The Bitter style came from brewers who wanted to differentiate these ales from other mild brews, enter pale malts and more hops. Most are gold to copper in colour and are light bodied. Low carbonation. Alcohol should be low and not perceived. Hop bitterness is moderate to assertive. Most have a fruitiness in the aroma and flavor, diacetyl can also be present. These are traditionally served cask conditioned, but many breweries have bottled versions." as explained on the Beer Advocate website.

I'll be using East Kent Golding hops which are traditional English aroma hops as well Willamette hops for bittering and flavor. The grist bill consists of pale, munich, biscuit, brown, and crystal malt. Also added a 1/4 pound of organic barley flour to the mash. In theory to add body to this low alcohol offering. Mashed in warm at 157f and let rest for :45 then mashed out to 168f. Boiled for seventy five minutes to increase kettle caramelizing. Looking forward to enjoying this English session ale.

Export Oatmeal Stout

2009-12-06T19:19:00.001-05:00

A strong (7%abv) oatmeal stout is the plan for this evenings brew. Not quite imperial, but stronger than a session beer. Using oat groats as well as flaked oats in the mash. I need to get some oat flour, as I would have added that to the mash as well. Next time. This stout is somewhere between a Russian Imperial stout, foreign export stout and an oatmeal stout. Roasty, full bodied, a little sweet but with enough strength to fortify you.

Buckwheat Brown Ale

2009-12-06T12:47:00.001-05:00

Brewing a flavorful brown ale today using organic toasted buckwheat groats. Buckwheat is used in cuisine around the world. Making noodles, kasha, and pancakes. Buckwheat is gluten free and being used in a variety of new settings because of this. I'm using toasted buckwheat to add complexity to this brown ale. Will also be collecting the first gallon and a half of first runnings and reducing down to less than half a gallon and adding back to the kettle. Which adds body and downright maltiness to the beer. Lightly hopped with whole leaf simcoe.

Wikipedia says this about the agricultural history of buckwheat, "Common buckwheat was domesticated and first cultivated in southeast Asia, possibly around 6000 BC, and from there spread to Europe and to Central Asia and Tibet. Domestication most likely took place in the western Yunnan region of China. Buckwheat is documented in Europe in the Balkans by at least the Middle Neolithic (circa 4000 BC) and the oldest known remains in China so far date to circa 2600 BC, and buckwheat pollen has been found in Japan from as early as 4000 BC. It is the world's highest elevation domesticate, being cultivated in Yunnan on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau or on the Plateau itself. Buckwheat was one of the earliest crops introduced by Europeans to North America. Dispersal around the globe was complete by 2006, when a variety developed in Canada was widely planted in China."

classic American IPA

2009-12-04T16:29:00.002-05:00

The style re-invented in America. Beer Advocate describes it as "The American IPA is a different soul from the reincarnated IPA style. More flavorful than the withering English IPA, color can range from very pale golden to reddish amber. Hops are typically American with a big herbal and / or citric character, bitterness is high as well. Moderate to medium bodied with a balancing malt backbone."

I used a little amber and crystal malt to add a color and complexity to the malt backbone of this IPA. Used a variety of citrus forward northwest American hops. Will be dry hopping with more hops, one and a half more ounces. Calculated color 7 lovibond, 45 IBU's and around 6% abv.

Belgian Quadruple

2009-11-24T11:13:00.001-05:00

"Inspired by the Trappist brewers of Belgium, a Quadrupel is a Belgian style ale of great strength with bolder flavor compared to its Dubbel and Tripel sister styles. Typically a dark creation that ranges within the deep red, brown and garnet hues. Full bodied with a rich malty palate. Phenols are usually at a moderate level. Sweet with a low bitterness yet a well perceived alcohol." as described by BeerAdvocate.

The twist I'll be putting on the brew today is that I'll be adding two pounds of pinot noir juice which will contribute 25% of total extract for the recipe. Going to be aging this on oak for at least a month. Using three types of crystal malt, including crystal rye. Racked to secondary fermentation and added medium toast French oak chips. Quad was at 11% abv when racked.

Brown Shugga' clone

2009-11-22T14:18:00.002-05:00

Brewing a clone beer today based on Lagunita Brewing Co. Brown Shugga'. A big brown ale brewed with lots of brown sugar. Based on the numbers on the website they use one pound of sugar for every 5 gallons. I'm going to be using just over a pound of brown sugar but I'm going to be inverting the sugar using lemon juice. By mixing the sugar with water and lemon juice then bringing to a boil and simmering for twenty minutes. The sucrose that is the brown sugar will convert to glucose and fructose which are more fermentable. This process has the added benefit to caramelize the brown sugar, which I think is a good thing. I did notice a change in the appearance of the boiling sugar during the process. You can see in the pictures how on the left it looks like boiling priming sugar but on the right the boil has large bubbles that arrived about seventeen minutes into the twenty minute boil, not sure if this means that I successfully inverted the sugar just something I noticed during the process. Any candy makers know? Good brew day, wort fermenting within three hours after knock out.

Smoked Porter

2009-11-21T13:40:00.001-05:00

This will be the third variation of a smoked porter I've brewed this year. Brewed the first one back in May and the second one in September. Making some minor adjustments to the grist bill, adding some crystal malt and roasted barley and increasing the percent extract from wheat malt. Keeping the hop additions the same with an addition at sixty minutes and ten minutes. Just mashed in at 152f, letting rest for one hour than mashing out to 168f. Great runoff. Used whole leaf vanguard hops in the boil and fermenting with dry American ale yeast (Safale US-05).

Le Freak clone

2009-11-20T15:45:00.001-05:00

Inspired by a great beer, Le Freak by Green Flash Brewing Co. a "Belgian IPA" of sorts. In the mash is German pilsner malt, wheat malt, flaked oats, and dark munich malt. I'll be drying out the fermentation using a couple pounds of crystallized honey. As well as tossing handfuls of northwest hops in during the boil. Fermented with 2nd generation yeast off a 6.5% abv Cali-Belgique I brewed. The wort was fermenting within hours after knockout.

Imperial Coffee Stout

2009-11-11T22:08:00.001-05:00

The plan for the night is to brew a strong imperial stout and to add coffee through cold extraction later down stream. Total grist has twenty two pounds of malt. Nine different malts and four different hop variety's. Fermented with second generation American ale yeast. This brew is over 10% abv, with a quarter pound of coffee added to secondary. After three days on the coffee beans I bottled. Smooth cofffee flavors with dark chocolate notes. Can't wait for this to be carbonated and fully enjoyed.

French Saison

2009-11-11T17:07:00.001-05:00

Brewing a Saison this afternoon. Using Wyeast 3711 French Saison yeast. It's a yeast that Wyeast releases seasonally. Planning on re-using yeast for a second generation to brew a Belgian Quadruple. The grist for this batch uses pale, German pils, wheat malt, dark Munich, and Amber malt. Hopped with East Kent Goldings (pellet) and Vanguard (whole leaf).

Beer Advocate describes the style, "Saisons are sturdy farmhouse ale that was traditionally brewed in

the winter, to be consumed throughout the summer months. Not so long ago it was close to being an endangered style, but over recent years there's been a massive revival; especially in the US. This is a very complex style; many are very fruity in the aroma and flavor. Look for earthy yeast tones, mild to moderate tartness. Lots of spice and with a medium bitterness. They tend to be semi-dry with many only having touch of sweetness."

American style Amber Ale

2009-11-10T15:05:00.002-05:00

Brewed an American style Amber ale yesterday. Scaling up the grains and hops to create a 6.5% abv with 50 IBU's (international bittering units). Using some crystal, and roasted malts to attain the amber color. The hops in this batch are warrior, palisade, and lots of simcoe towards the end of the boil. Fermenting with a dry English yeast to accentuate the malt back bone of this hoppy offering. The English yeast will help to balance the hops and malt.

Cali Belgique

2009-11-08T10:43:00.002-05:00

The style of beer I'm brewing today is a completely modern American style of beer. It's a cross between a West Coast style IPA and a Belgian Triple. A great new style that combines the citrus hoppy notes of an IPA with the spicy yeast character of Belgian beers. Stone Brewing makes one that is literally their IPA recipe but with a different yeast. Another example is Green Flash's Le Freak. The grist today is pale, wheat, dark munich, and amber malt. Hopped with warrior, palisade, and amarillo. Fermented with a blend of Belgian yeasts.

White Heat

2009-11-02T18:22:00.001-05:00

The idea for this beer has been swirling my mind for quite some time. Brewed with great esteem for the world famous chef Marco Pierre White and his classic 1990 cookbook titled White Heat. Called the first celebrity chef, Marco Pierre rose to fame in the 80's. As famous for terrines as kicking out customers. When he recieved three Michelin stars he was the youngest ever to recieve three Michelin stars. Then made history by giving them all back. Wikipedia describes his career, "On completion of his training in 1987, White opened Harveys in Wandsworth Common, London, where he won his first Michelin star almost immediately and was awarded his second in 1988, before moving on to become chef-patron of The Restaurant Marco Pierre White in the dining-room at the former Hyde Park Hotel now Mandarin Oriental, (where he won the third Michelin star) and then moved to the Oak Room at Le Meridien Piccadilly. By the age of 33, Marco Pierre White had become - at the time - the youngest chef to be awarded three Michelin stars (This record is now held by the Italian Massimiliano Alajmo, who won three stars at the age of 28 in 2002). During these years White had working for him Gordon Ramsay, Eric Chavot (The Capital), Heston Blumenthal (The Fat Duck), Bryn Williams(Odette's), Matt Tebbutt (The Foxhunter), Robert Reid, Thierry Busset, Jason Atherton and in front of house Max Palmer, Claude Douart, Philippe Messy and Chris Jones. Although White worked relentlessly for 17 years to pursue his ambition, he ultimately found that in spite of his accomplishments, recognition and fame, his career did not provide him with adequate returns in his personal life. So in 1999, he retired and returned his Michelin stars. I was being judged by people who had less knowledge than me, so what was it truly worth? I gave Michelin inspectors too much respect, and I belittled myself. I had three options: I could be a prisoner of my world and continue to work six days a week, I could live a lie and charge high prices and not be behind the stove, spend time with my children and re-invent myself. During his early career in the kitchen, White regularly ejected patrons from his restaurants if he took offence at their comments. When a customer asked if he could have a side order of chips with his lunch, White hand-cut and personally cooked the chips but charged the customer £25 for his time."

The brew is a Belgian style Double White brewed with Hot Chilis, Coriander, Oranges, Lemon peel, and Red pepper berries. Get it, White Heat. Never homebrewed with chilis but have had a few beers brewed with this ingredient. Interested to see how and where it burns through this beer. Simple grist bill: pale malt, wheat malt, and flaked oats. Step mash, mashed in at 145 degrees and rest for fifteen minutes. Raise temp to 156 degrees and rested for thirty minutes. Finally mashed out to 168 degrees. Adding all the spices, chilis, and citrus with five minutes left in the boil. The yeast will be 2nd generation from the Tangerine Wit I brewed recently. The yeast was a blend of White labs Wit WLP400 and Safbrew T-58. It was a great brew day.