Full Suspension Pale Ale Clone (Lessons Learned So Far)

Well it's been a while since I've posted, and Kevin and I bottled our Full Suspension Pale Ale clone this weekend so I thought it appropriate to post.  The reason for brewing that beer was to test a couple of things we've learned over our first several batches and our process in general.  Basically, the first few beers had some common problems.

• The color was too dark for the style (our wheat looked like a brown)
• Some strong phenolic/medicinal flavors in the first 3 beers
• Carbonation was lacking (majorly)
• The taste was generally not acceptable to either of us

To start, everything we've done to this point has been extract with specialty grains.  We found that the color issues came from boiling our full weight of extract for a full 60 minutes.  Being that liquid extract is already dark to begin with and that we were only boiling 3 of our 5 gallons for the full batch, our wort would darken considerably more than we had hoped.  Add to this the fact that we were likely scorching some of it during the boil and you add up to some dark colored beers with unpredicatble results.

The phenolic overtones I think came from poor temperature control during fermentation.  It simply swung too much as the temperature changed throughout the day.  As an example, our Bitter Belgian sat anywhere between 64 and 72 degrees during primary!  What we likely ended up with was stressed yeast which led to the phenolic taste in our beer.  This was confirmed by judges at Siciliano's Annual Homebrew Competition when they judged the Irish Red Ale we submitted.

To carbonate the first three we attempted to make a wort with some dried malt extract and prime accordingly.  I used some rules of thumb found on the interwebs and found none of them to be terribly good.  The first three brews turned out painfully flat.  Some had no 'sprite' whatsoever when opened.  This of course broke our hearts.

 As far as the last point is concerned, we just weren't satisfied with our results, so we set out to learn more and move forward.  After much reading in brewing texts, magazines, and web research I stumbled on some clone recipes and we settled on a pale ale to try our hand at getting the color and flavor right.  I won't post the recipe here because it can be found on the BYO website.  Here is how we addressed our issues.

• Color - Using a combination of dry and liquid malt extract; boiling less weight for the full 60 minutes and adding the rest in the last 15 to pasteurize; we will likely only work with pale or extra pale extracts as a base going forward and using specialty and adjunct grains to supplement flavor and color.
• Phenolic notes -  We are building our own fermwrap with a temperature controller and moving the primary fermentation to my nice, cool Michigan basement.  I will link to another site later with some info on how to do this for those who are interested.  This will allow us to hold the temperature consistent throughout fermentation and achieve better control of our flavor, especially with respect to styles that favor certain esters found in particular temperature ranges.
• Carbonation -  We have done our homework and will actually calculate down to the hundredth (.01) of an ounce the amount of corn sugar required to prime for a given volume of CO2.  We are also taking in to consideration the ending fermenation temperature and the residual disolved CO2 already present in the beer as to not over or under carbonate for a style.  We have been researching how to better prime with wort, but we'll get back at that once we build some confidence with this method.
• Taste - Well, to deal with this issue we'll just have to simply brew more beer!

On to the clone!
At bottling time the color was a nice straw to golden color.  It had sat in secondary dry hopping for 5 weeks (Kevin was in Ireland; I was lazy) so it had plenty of time to clear up.  It is easily our clearest looking beer to date.  The 5 weeks of sitting on an ounce of columbus pellets lent nicely to a strong, spicy hop aroma.  The taste of the beer at bottling was spicy, hoppy and slightly warming.  We came in right around 4.6% ABV, so it's a little heavy to call a session pale, but I think 2 or 3 is not a stretch on a warm summer day.  Neither of us detected much in the way of yeast or phenolic notes, so we're happy about that as well.

Once the bottle conditioning is complete and we've had a chance to evaluate one I'll post a review.  Happy brewing!

Respect Beer.  Drink Only the Exceptional
-Mike

Chocolate Chili Stout

So yesterday marked the tasting of the chocolate chili stout.  This was important for a couple of reasons.  First, because the priming solution was measured out correctly for the style for the first time since Kevin and I started this journey.  Second, we were hoping that this might be an entry in to Siciliano's home brew competition and I think it will be.

I've also wanted to make a chili beer for a while because the ones I've tasted are either way too aggressive to enjoy more than one or fall well short of what I think a chili beer should be.  We felt like a stout was a good canvas to try this because it's got a big backbone and can support some ancillary flavors like chocolate and chili well.  As a reminder, it was an American Stout brewed with coffee and  fresh chili peppers (membrane and most of the seeds removed).  The secondary fermenter saw dried chili peppers (with seeds) and roasted cocoa nibs.  On hand to taste it was Tim, Kevin, Meagen, Pickett and myself.

Appearance:  Served in a Samuel Adam's perfect pint.  Black and opaque with a thick tan head.  I shined a flashlight through the back of my glass and hardly saw a thing.  Upon pouring the head was a good 2 fingers and lingered for a few minutes.  Being an extract brew I didn't expect much in terms of retention or lacing and I was correct.  Carbonation was evident coming up the sides of the glass.

Aroma:  Coffe and chili pepper in the nose with a hint of sweetness.  The cocoa wasn't strong but it is detectable.  Roasted notes from the chocolate malt finish out the bouquet leaving the palate excited for a taste.

Taste:  The chili kicks in immdiately and the coffee follows to smooth things out.  A nice amount of carbonation plays well with the chili pepper flavor to excite the tongue.  It was noted that it's hard to tell whether the chili or the carbonation are giving the effect, or both!  Roasted malt flavor is there, with a little bit of cocoa if you reach.  Hops are only present to bitter and they balance things nicely.

Mouthfeel:  Not too heavy and not too light.  In my opinion a well balanced stout.  I felt it a bit on the weak side (watery) but the consensus was that it was rich without being overbearing.  All in all a good opinion of the feel.

Kevin and I are definitely proud of this one.  Tim liked the play between the carbonation and chili so much it caused him to suggest that there were little 'Tiny Dancers' on his tongue messing with his head!  As a result, the beer has been renamed:

The Tiny Dancer - A Chocolate Chili Stout

We also transferred our clone (Full Suspension Pale Ale).  The color is looking good and the taste is promising.  It's a basic pale ale we decided to brew to test our process.  The recipe can be found in the March issue of BYO magazine, so I won't take up the space here.  We've been researching color and issues with extract brews and we feel we have some things figured out.  I'll post when we taste it to see how things go.  Until then...

Respect beer.  Drink only the exceptional.

-Mike

Brew and Q

Tim hosted a brew and barbecue yesterday and it was fantastic.  Just what I needed after a long week of work (that was topped off by 8 more hours on Saturday).  I had an opportunity to meet some of the other Brewsquito's after missing the first official meeting.  It's nice to talk to people about beer on the same level you enjoy it once in a while.  Usually I just watch my friends eyes glaze over when I start.

I had a chance to try Steve and Jason's excellent Oatmeal Stout.  Coffee, roasted barley, a little bit of chocolate.  No hop aroma and just enough bitterness to keep it from tasting like chocolate milk!  They will definitely be entering that in to Siciliano's competition.  I traded Tim a Jet Pack Irish Red for one of his stouts too.  I love that beer!  Using a gift card from my birthday I was able to purchase some Kentucky Breakfast from Founder's and we had one of those as well as some other great beers.

The barbecue was incredible courtesy of Jerry.  Those who didn't stick around missed out on some truly great ribs.  The carnitas and jalapeno poppers were awesome too.  I want to learn a few things from Jerry this summer hopefully and do some slow cooking of my own.  Nothing like good barbecue with good food.

After talking with a few of our fellow club members Kevin and I are very excited to retry a couple of recipes and hit the color marks better.  We've been doing a lot of research this week and think we can better hit our carbonation marks and flavor marks as well.  Some new information about hopping has led us to believe we may be a little light in our previous attempts.  I think we'll brew this week and if so I'll definitely post.  Until next time.

Respect beer.  Drink only the exceptional.

-Mike

A Brewery Birthday

Let me just say that spending the day going to different breweries and tasting great beers is the perfect way to spend a 28th birthday, or any birthday (21 and over of course).  Meg and I had the good fortune to spend the day in Traverse City, MI and check out three great Michigan breweries.  In addition to the beer we had a chance to have some good food too.

North Peak Brewing Company (who happens to be a sister of Jolly Pumpkin) was first on the list.  We started out with a flight of 5 beers to get a feel for what they had to offer.  Of note were Sally's Irish Stout (a smooth nitro stout) and the Porter.  Their take on the American Pale was also a good one.  Meg settled on a pint of that while I checked out they're cask conditioned chocolate stout.  Room temperature and wonderful.  I also gave a try to their 6th tap which was a Belgian Dark Ale.  The Belgians are growing on me.  If you stop there, try the White Cheddar Ale soup and get some of their wings made with a Cherry Ale barbecue sauce.

Next was Mackinaw Brewing company.  Meg had a cherry mead and I tried their nut brown ale.  For sustenance we tried their smoked meat platter.  It included portions of brisket, ribs and sausage, all with their house barbecue sauce.  This was an awesome seventh inning stretch.  Barbecue and beer, mmmmmmm.

Last on the list for the day was Right Brain Brewery.  It's located in a larger office complex that's rented out by a hair salon, a lawyer and some others.  They brew in one large room and have the taproom in another.  This was by far our favorite.  Meg did a six beer sampler (six ounce pours here people!) and I went straight for the IPA aged with California grapefruit peels.  Of note on the sampler was their Belgian Trippel (it was hoppy as hell, so I loved it), Distill My Heart Bourbon Stout and their Black Orchid Vanilla Baltic Porter.  I also thoroughly enjoyed my pint of their Triple Hopped IPA that was not technically on tap yet.  Thanks to Gavin for setting me up with that one after talking about being hop heads.

All in all it was a great time and I can't wait to get back up there again to sample more.  We look forward to going to Shorts too some time this year up in Bel-Air.  Until next time.

Respect beer.  Drink only the exceptional.

-Mike

Just an aside

After reviewing (and thorougly enjoying) my pint of South Island IPA last night, a woman and her husband stepped up to the bar next to me.  The husband ordered a Pale Ale and then the following conversation between the woman and the bartender ensued.

Woman:  Do you have anything like Corona?
Bartender:  Ummm, no.  We don't have anything like Corona.
Woman:  [visibly flustered, body language changes to closed] Well what do you have that's light?
Bartender:  [smiling and in a nice warm tone]  We have Solid Gold, that's our extra Pale Ale.
Woman:  [begins shifting her weight on her feet, now slightly irritated]  So you don't have anything like Corona.  Something, like, with a lime?
Bartender:  [still smiling] No.
Woman:  Well, then let me try the Solid Gold and the lightest dark beer you have

[The Bartender leaves to get the samples, returns with one light and one dark]

Bartender:  Here you go, ma'am, our Solid Gold and our Oatmeal Stout.
Woman:  [scoffing]  Uh, I'll have the Solid Gold.  That other one is just too dark.  I already know I won't like it.  [Turns to her husband]  I don't know why they don't just have something like Corona with a lime.

I had to laugh.  I talked with the bartender after the incident and we laughed about it.  It made me think though, being an aspiring brewer with bigger dreams than my kitchen can hold, that I should hope to have customers like that some day.  Maybe I can take the time to educate them and bring them on board the craft beer train. 

I was once like her (before I was baptised in water infused with hops, malt and yeast) and skeptical.  I think there's still a big market in customers just like her, waiting to be tapped.  So patience is truly a virtue with people like this.  Kudo's to the bartender for getting the product in her hand and telling her how it is not too hoppy and clean in the finish.  Great sell.  Another point too for not apologizing for not having something like Corona.  You do have to have a standard and most craft brewers set themselves above that.

She also shared with me another favorite question she receives.  "Do you have domestic beer here".  Now that's laughable!  I said, "I don't know how much more domestic you can get.  You brew it in the next room!"

[1960's sit com laugh track.  Camera pulls out and fades]

Respect beer.  Drink only the exceptional.

-Mike

Founder's South Island IPA

Got a message from my favorite Facebook friend Founder's Brewing today announcing the release of a tap room only IPA called South Island IPA. I couldn't resist a chance to try my favorite style at my favorite brewery so I decided to try one. It's brewed only with hops from the southern island of New Zealand which makes it unique.

Appearance: Rich copper in color with a good finger of head. Nice and clear. As I look at my half full pint I see lacing reminding me of great tastes gone by.

Aroma: Peppery and citrus with a small hint of the malt sweetness. Hops prevail though in this one.

Taste: Immediately bitter with citrus and pepper. I'm told that's the pacific jade hop. Just enough malt to remind you it's there but this one is all the way bitter. At 60 IBU it's most certainly an IPA.

Mouthfeel. Wet and then dry. Those who love hops know what I'm talking about. It's refeahing and bitter and leaves the mouth a bit warm with alcohol.

Bottom line this is a good one for me. I'll be back for more. Hell, with the release of Kentucky Breakfast on Saturday I'll be back sooner than later! Until next time.


Respect Beer. Drink only the exceptional.

-Mike

Tasting the Jet Pack and the EXT Chocolate Chili Stout

Yesterday brought about the tasting of the Jet Pack Irish Red.  In attendance were Tim, Kevin and I as well as our friends Sands and Nick.  I must admit I was nervous because we've brewed two other beers since that one and had no idea whether our work flow with cleaning and sanitizing was effective.  I should have listened to Charlie Papazian though: "Relax.  Don't worry.  Have a homebrew."

I've been sick so I can't give it a proper review right now (my nose has been congested) but I will say that it tasted great.  It's definitely a red.  The beer was decanted in to a Samuel Adam's Perfect Pint glass.  The color was a deep amber with a good two finger head that laced as I drank it.

 

The Jet Pack Irish Red

It had almost a fruity quality to it for me.  Only a hint of alcohol in the after taste.  This is a very well balanced, easy everyday drinker.  Those who tried it agreed.  Once I get to feeling 100% I will taste it again and give it a proper review.

In addition to tasting the red we bottled the Bitter Belgian.  This one has turned out better than I expected.  I'll be excited to try it in two weeks once it has conditioned.  I did a comparison with Flying Dog's Raging Bitch and I think I got the idea.

We also brewed up a stout.  Not just a stout, but a stout with chili peppers.  We tasted the peppers and it turns out I didn't pick very hot ones.  But for this go around I'm looking to try the idea.  We'll work on the heat in future batches.  I also plan to age it in secondary for 4 weeks over cocoa nibs with additional roasted peppers.  The bill looks like this.

EXT Chocolae Chili Stout

OG: 1.05

FG: 1.012

IBU: 25.0

60 SRM

ABV:  5.8%

7 lbs Dark DME

1 lb Chocolate Malt (350 L)

.5 lb Black Patent Malt (500 L)

2 Tbsp ground coffee (to steep in partial mash)

1 oz Perle Hop Pellets (60 min)

.5 oz Centennial Hop Pellets (20 min)

.25 lb Chili peppers; halved and tops removed

Safale US-05 Ale Yeast (pitched dry to aerated wort)

Steep grains and coffee in 2 gallons at 160 F.  Sparge with 1 gallon at 160 F to bring boil volume to 3 gallons.  Add 7 lbs DME and bring to a boil.  Add hops and peppers by the schedule.  Chill to 70 F before combining with 2 gallons of pre-boiled water to make 5 gallons of wort.  Aerate and pitch.

Tim brought along one of his stouts to taste.  Don't let him tell you otherwise, it's a good beer.  Personally, it should be submitted to Siciliano's.  He didn't agree, but that's okay, it's all in the spirit of tasting and sharing good brew.  

Here's a few more photos from yesterday.

 

Dare I taste it?

 

 

 

Caliente Cerveza!

  

Sands stirring the EXT

 

Until next time.

Respect Beer.  Drink only the exceptional.

-Mike

Extreme Beer Fest Part 2 - The Fest

I'm finally at a point where I can sit down and write about the weekend and beer fest so I wanted to share some highlights.  First things first though, Boston is an amazing town and a great beer town to boot.  We walked by (and stopped in) so many bars carrying great craft beer I couldn't even begin to name them all.  I'll just say that if you're ever in Boston you must check out the Sunset Grill and Tap.  It's amazing.  And also, go to Zaftigs Delicatessan for breakfast.  Your soul will thank me.

There was a hell of a line to get in to the festival.  We got there about 20 minutes until opening and out of the thousand people there we were likely numbers 900 - 905.
 









The line wrapped around three sides of the block.  Once the doors opened things went pretty quickly.  Based on last years experience, the guys and girls split up and the guys spent the first 30 minutes tasting beers from smaller companies like Allagash and Cisco while the initial rush to Dogfish and Sam Adam's died.

It is important to note here though that I did have an opportunity to taste Samuel Adam's holy grail, Utopias.  Those in the know are aware that this beer is 27% ABV, is only brewed once every two years in limited quantities and fresh pulls a hefty $175 per bottle.  Older vintages will command upwards of $500.  It is thick and smooth like a bourbon or cognac, yet still retains the malty sweetness of a very high gravity beer.  Swirling it produces a film that clings to the glass and takes several seconds to subside.  It is to be sipped and enjoyed several times over several years.  My only advice:  get a bottle if you can and savor it.





Before I get to the list of beers tasted I wanted to mention Randall the Enamel Animal from Dogfish Head.  You can see it in the picture below.  Basically, a tube is stuffed with hops, orange tree wood, espresso beans or whatever else you could dream up and the bear is forced through it on the way to the tap.  You basically end up with a very dramatic aroma and flavor effect that you might only get after aging or dry hopping for some time.  Was it kind of a novelty, yes.  But are they on to something, I think so.






From these guys I was fortunate to try the 120 minute IPA through Randall with whole leaf American Hops and the Burton Baton through Randall with orange tree chips.  There's not enough space to write about it here, but let's say that it was a treat.  I'm a 120 fan through and through, and Burton is one of my favorite beers by far and wide.  So having this special version was truly a treat.  Those who know the 120 are probably asking how anything could be any hoppier.  Well, Randall is the answer.  And the addition of the orange flavor to Burton made it all the more smooth and drinkable.

I also had the fortune to try their Black Thai (which was brewed with Edamame), Red and White through Randall with orange peels and a heaven and hell (World Wide Stout mixed with 120, both through Randall).  This is why Dogfish is and will continue to be one of my favorite beer brands.  That and Sam was walking around greeting people and having the time of his life.  The man truly enjoys what he does, as well he should.

So, what was tasted?  Here's the list in it's entirety.  I won't review anything as trying to do so would be near impossible.  If you've been to a big fest you know that after so many tastes your reviewing skills begin to diminish.  I will however point out some personal highlights and things I think anyone reading should try.  So here goes.

Allagash 
2008 Interlude brewed with brett (Brett is wild yeast) aged in french oak Merlot and Syrah barrels
Bourbon Black Belgian Stout aged in Jim Beam bbls (great beer, good luck finding it)

Avery
duganA IPA (This is a must find, new in their demon series, blew me away)
The Beast Grand Cru
Mephistopheles' Stout
Black Tot Imperial Oatmeal Stout

Boston Beer Company (Samuel Adam's)
Utopias
Chocolate Chili Bock (inspiring me to make a chili beer that has some heat)


Brewery Ommegang
Ommegeddon (I don't typically like Saison's, but this was good)

Cambridge Brewing
Weekapaug Gruit (for those not in the know, gruit is an ale brewed with spices.  Spices were used before hops were discovered to balance beer.  They are very good and worth your taste if you get a chance)


Captain Lawrence Brewing Co
Captains Reserve IIPA

Cisco Brewers (NKOTB.  They've been operating 18 months)
Lady of the Woods French Oak and Chardonay bbl aged
Dark Woods (both of these beers are worth a buy if you see them)

Dark Horse Brewing Co.
Double Double Crooked Tree IPA  (I had high hopes but was let down by this quad IPA.  It fell flat for me)


Dogfish Head Craft Brewery
Burton Baton meets Randall w/orange tree chips
Red & White meets Randall w/orange peels
120 minute IPA meets Randall w/whole leaf hops
Black Thai
Wrath of Pecan

Founder's (how I love thee)
Canadian Breakfast Stout
Double Trouble
Spite Pepper Pale
Hand of Doom
Kentucky Breakfast Stout

Harpoon Brewery (fast becoming a favorite through their Leviathan series of Imperial Ales)
Wood Aged Leviathan Baltic Porter
Leviathan Red (this is a must try for any fan of a Red.  It pushes the style because if you didn't know better you might think you had a DIPA on your hands!)

Lagunitas Brewing Co
Hop Stoopid
Cappucino Stout

Russian River Brewing Co  (they had Pliny the Elder shirts proclaiming, "No Randall.  No Problem."  Loved the friendly competition)
Pliny the Elder (always a great IPA)
Pliny the Younger (may be better than the Elder.  I will have to try it again and decide)

Shorts Brewing Co
Key Lime Pie (Holy shit if this didn't taste like lime and graham cracker)
Caramel Apple Ale (Holy shit if this didn't taste like apples, skin and all)
Richs Rye Ice

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co
Hoptimum  (This may be my favorite IPA of the show.  Find it, try it, love it)
Sierra Nevada deserves an aside here too.  I asked the guy about Hoptimum because on the bill was listed "Torpedo Hops".  So I had to know what the torpedo was.  They have a 6 foot tube in the middle of the fermenter and the pack it with whole leaf hops.  The circulate the beer through it and it comes out of holes near the top.  This all happens while fermentation is occurring for the first five days.  Brilliant!

Smuttynose Brewing Co
Bacon Brown Dog (Old Brown Dog dry hopped with bacon...bad idea)
Potato Maple Porter (potatoes placed in the mash.  Good meat and potatoes beer)

Southern Tier Brewing Company
Unearthly IIPA (153 IBU's.  The son of a bitch is bitter!)
Gemini (blend of Unearthly and Hoppe Imperial Pale.  Very fruity and hoppy)
Iniquity Imperial Black Ale (find a bottle of this and thank me)

Stone
2010 Old Guardian Belgo Barley Wine (I don't usually go for barley wine's but I liked this enough to try it again)

So 40 beers were tasted.  I'd say not bad.  There may have been a few more than that which were handed to me by Meg or other friends that I didn't capture, but that's the short list anyway.  If you have a chance to get out to Boston for EBF 2011, I strongly encourage you to do so.  Ticket's go on sale mid-October and sell out fast so plan for it.

I was inspired while there to brew up a chocolate chili stout, so I think Kevin and I will be attempting that this weekend.  We'll also be bottling The Bitter Belgian, transferring Uncle Ester's Weibier and tasting (for the first time) the Jet Pack Irish Red Ale!  I'll be sure to let you all know how it goes.

Until then.






Respect Beer. Drink only the exceptional.

-Mike

Extreme Beer Fest - part 1

Just a quick one prior to the festival to recount the great beers so far. Dan, Bryan and I did the Sam Adam's tour yesterday and got to sample the Red Brick Ale which is only available in Boston.

The group had lunch at John Harvards and we had samplers to try the eight beers they had on tap. The cask conditioned saison and the raspberry stout were highlight's for me.

The evening was filled with great beer, food and conversation with an old friend at Sunset Grill and Tap. Let me preface the following list by saying this bar has 110 taps and 500+ bottles. The following are the pints I had on draft.

Dogfish Head Red & White
Brooklyn Cookie Jar Porter
Stone Vertical Epic
Dogfish Head Palo Santo

Prior to the pints I had a flight that included Goose Island's Bourbon County Brand Stout from the tap. There are simply no words.

Photo's and commentary later from the fest. Until then.


Respect Beer. Drink only the exceptional.

-Mike

Bottling, Transferring and the Birth of Uncle Ester

I meant to post this on Saturday when the action was happening but we got pretty busy, so here's a look back with some photo's.  The day started with the transfer of the Jet Pack out of secondary and in to the bottling bucket.  Kevin and I (with a huge assist from Tim all day, thanks again Tim!) racked it out and decided to give it a taste.  I have to say that all three of us agreed that even before bottling this beer tasted great.  It had an excellent color with a good toasty malt flavor.  Just enough hop bitterness to balance.  The dry hop is going to work out well too I think.  We will definitely post a critique in a couple weeks.

Mike bottling the Jet Pack.  Tim's assisting with the last bit.

Kevin ensuring a smooth rack. 
Following bottling was cleaning and preparation for the transfer of the Bitter Belgian.  We took a taste of this beauty too after measuring the FG (1.012 from 1.067!)  Before the rest in secondary it has some promise.  I'd call it interesting for now.  You can see from the photo below that this thing had a ton of activity in primary.  It was a tough one to clean up after.  Needless to say we'll be excited to taste it again in two weeks.

The Bitter Belgian was active

Once we were cleaned up (again) it was time to prepare for the brew.  The next several hours gave birth to a new stirring tradition in the Three Kings Brewhouse as well as the crazy old man now affectionately known as Uncle Ester.  You can see an example of the former in the photo below.  As for the latter, they'll be more details in the future.  For now let's just imagine a crotchety old man with big bushy eyebrows and a wrinkled face in boxer shorts holding a bottle of his favorite Three Kings brew.  He's an opinionated son of a bitch too, so be careful!

Glockenspiel:  A percussion instrument cosisting of a set of graduated metal bars mounted on a frame and played with small hammers

What follows is the recipe used on Saturday.  This is a Kevin original.

Uncle Ester's Weibier

Estimated OG: 1.056
Estimated FG:  1.012 (assumes 80% attenuation)
ABV: 5.5%
15 IBU
6 SRM

7.8 lbs Wheat Malt Extract
1.5 lbs Weyermann Wheat (2 deg L)
0.5 lbs Roasted Barley

.5 oz Cascade Hops (7.5%) - 60 minutes
.5 oz Hallertauer Hersbrucker (4.5%) - 20 minutes
.5 oz Centenial (9.2%) - 5 minutes

.2 oz Ground Allspice - 45 minutes

Safbrew WB-06 (Pitched dry after aeration)

Steep grains in 2 gallons at 170 F for 30 minutes.  Sparge with 1 gallon of 170 F water to bring boil volume to 3 gallons and discard grains.  Add LME and boil for 60 minutes following the hop schedule.  Add allspice with 45 minutes to go.  Chill to 70 F and transfer to primary.  Add 2 gallons of boiled water to bring the total volume to 5 gallons.  Aerate, pitch and lock it down.

We used an immersion chiller to cool the wort and boiled (and chilled) the make up water during the boil.  Actual finish volume was about 4.75 gallons.  Measured OG (using a thief) was 1.066 which is higher than expected but probably due to the loss of fluid during the boil.  Fermentation has taken off after about a 12 hour lag and is going nicely so far.  Given the higher OG we could see Uncle Ester emerge raging mad and full of fire.  Somehow this seems appropriate...fate perhaps?

I used the 2 liter bottles filled with sanitizing solution (we use iodophur) for ease after using bowls the last couple of times.  I highly recommend this.  The photo below shows the marriage of what I hope are two tasty and ornery brews.  I think they make quite a pair.


Uncle Ester (Left) and the Bitter Belgian 

Until next time.

 

Respect Beer. Drink only the exceptional.

-Mike

Blogging On The Fly

I thought I'd give the mobile blogging a try too in preparation for Extreme Beer Fest in about a week. Meg and I are pretty excited to hang out in Boston with some Florida friends and drink some of the best and most unique beers in the country. 2009 was awesome and I have no doubt that 2010 will not disappoint.

In the meantime the Kings will be brewing Saturday. I'll be sure to post. Until then...


Respect Beer. Drink only the exceptional.

-Mike

Bells Batch 9000 Imperial Stout

Since this one is still fresh in my head from last night, I thought I'd post a review.  I had this one at The Meanwhile in Grand Rapids, MI.

Location:  Meanwhile Bar - Grand Rapids, MI

Serving:  Pint glass

Appearance: It was dark in the bar, but with the couple of overhead lights I could use this beer showed to be a very dark cherry bordering on black.  It was all but opaque.  The half inch or so of head was brown and lingered for about a minute or two.

Smell: The aroma was very sweet with dates, fennel seed (black licorice), and roasted barley.  A little bit of chocolate for me and I could smell some of the alcohol this one was going to deliver.

Taste:  The taste was immediately sweet.  I picked up dates, raspberries, chocolate, some soy and fennel.  There was just enough of a hop bitterness as to not allow the sweetness to knock you over.  If I had to guess though, not much for flavoring hops in this one.  The aftertaste lingered and gave way to the warming alcohol content on the back of my pallet.

Mouthfeel:  Mouthfeel was what I like to describe as chewy.  This beer has a lot of body and it lets you know right up front.  I would imagine this is due to the high OG (the ABV is 12.5%).

In the end, I would definitely recommend this beer to any fans of stouts and imperial stouts.  I am a hophead personally but have a lot of friends who aren't and I sometimes have trouble finding them bigger beers that don't knock their teeth out with hops.  I would recommend this one to them though.  Hopefully I can snag a few bottles to put in the cellar and review it again in year!

Respect Beer.  Drink only the exceptional.

-Mike

Starting Fresh - Three Kings Brewing Blog

Hello to my two (or so) followers.  I have decided after stumbling upon several others like this to start a brewing blog.  I attempted last year to make a post a day but found it hard to get around to so it is time for a change.  I hope to accomplish two things with this.  First, this blog will offer a way for me to track recipes, successes and disasters so I can look back in the future.  Second, it will serve as a means to (hopefully) generate discussion about one of my favorite things:  Beer! 

You may also find me talking about barbecue.  That is something else I plan to venture in to this year.  And I'm not talking about grilling hamburgers here.  I'm talking about low and slow cooking:  Pork shoulders, ribs, loins, chicken...the list goes on.  Once the weather breaks some good food is going to be cooked on that kettle.  But I digress...

My friend Kevin and I have recently ventured in to the world of brewing our own  beer.  We did so out of interest and our love for great craft beer.  Being that we're both engineers, I'm sure in some way we both see it as a way to challenge ourselves to create something great that others will enjoy.  I mean, let's be honest, are we really going to drink all four cases of beer each time we brew (not that we wouldn't)? 

To date we have an Irish Red Ale in secondary fermentation and my first attempt at a Belgian Style IPA in primary.  I'm already looking ahead to tweaking that recipe for next time but can't wait to try it none the less.  I spent the time reading and learning the math behind recipe creation and built it like grandma would, from scratch!  This weekend will bring bottling, transferring and brewing of Kevin's first recipe which is thoughtfully titled Unser Erstes Weibier.  For those who don't know, that is a wheat beer.

In addition to the brewing, Kevin has also organized a local brewing club, The Brewsquito's.  Based in Grand Rapids, MI we're made up of brewers of all ages, backgrounds and experience levels.  Kevin and I are starting out as extract/specialty grain brewers.   We have members that brew all grain and members that are kegging their own beer for use in tapped set ups.  We're hoping to learn a lot from eachother and enjoy a lot of good beer.

So if you enjoy beer, follow along.  I hope you get something out of it.  And as for Three Kings Brewing, stay tuned.  If things go the way we'd like them to, you may hear about us some day.

Respect Beer.  Drink only the exceptional.

-Mike