Apparently, the iPhone ap that allows me to blog from my phone...doesn't. There have been four updates that are somewhere in cyberspace. I figure I should just give a basic summary instead of trying to recreate them.
Like I said before, the Porter ended up tasting great, and I was about to brew a ten gallon batch. That was a success, and I am drinking one right now. Dark, roasty, and warming, this beer is a great Winter brew. Obviously its not Winter yet, but it is cold enough to enjoy a dark brew. There are some minor issues I will have to address in the next batch, but nothing that keeps this one from being a winner.
I am also just about done fermenting the IPA. Yes, this is the same one from last year, but I loaded up the later additions to up the flavor and aroma. The experimental batches turned out so well, that I went right to the ten gallon. I'm gonna dry hop one of them and just keg the other for a secondary experiment.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Come On In, the Porter's Fine!
It looks like the beer I started these experiments, the Robust Porter, has reached the levels of flavor, aroma, and overall character that I was looking for. It took 4 batches, and there still may be some minor tweaks to increase head retention, mouthfeel, and yeast character, but these are all process-driven things that can be worked out as I switch to brewing on the larger system.
The beer pours black with a ruby highlight, building a thin tan head that dissipates shortly after the first few sips. The aroma is all roast, beautiful, beautiful roast with a VERY mild hint of chocolate. The flavor is roast-forward with notes of dark chocolate and a dry finish. The sharpness and harshness on the tongue are gone, but for a slight "burnt toast" note, which is pleasant and welcome in the beer.
I would still like my brewing partner to give it a shot before I make a final decision, but methinks I may be drinking this one out of a 5 gallon keg pretty damn soon. I'll also use one or two of the bottles I have chilling to try out some adjunct flavors, such as coffee and bourbon, to see what happens.
The IPA is the next tasting, and the Brown is the next brew.
The beer pours black with a ruby highlight, building a thin tan head that dissipates shortly after the first few sips. The aroma is all roast, beautiful, beautiful roast with a VERY mild hint of chocolate. The flavor is roast-forward with notes of dark chocolate and a dry finish. The sharpness and harshness on the tongue are gone, but for a slight "burnt toast" note, which is pleasant and welcome in the beer.
I would still like my brewing partner to give it a shot before I make a final decision, but methinks I may be drinking this one out of a 5 gallon keg pretty damn soon. I'll also use one or two of the bottles I have chilling to try out some adjunct flavors, such as coffee and bourbon, to see what happens.
The IPA is the next tasting, and the Brown is the next brew.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Back From Vacay, Back to the Experiments
Yeah, Yeah...I know it's been a while, but I've been on vacation at the Jersey Shore for a week, and had to go right back to work. That doesn't mean, however, that the experiments aren't progressing nicely.
While down there, I gave the second Pale and Wheat versions a shot, sharing some with my brewing partner, and came up with some cool new ideas. Essentially I am going to steal from the Wheat to improve the Pale. Willamette hops, I've discovered, are not the best hops to use for a brew that is supposed to display a big hop character. While they may be delicious, with their subtle floral, slightly spicy tendencies, it seems I would have to use insane amounts to feature them in a SMaSH beer.
The Wheat, on the other hand, has a super spicy, bright, hop-forward flavor from the big Citra hop additions. Not great in a wheat beer, but (probably) amazing in a pale ale. So I'm taking the Citra hop schedule and transplanting it, with very little changes, to the Pale.
The Wheat, which seems to be having trouble tasting like a wheat, is going to get a new hop schedule entirely, and a bigger percentage of wheat. I know I have to be careful and change just one thing at a time, but this one's just so far off from what I was looking for that I think I need something drastic to reign it back in.
When I got back, the first thing I did was bottle the Porter that was a week overdue for bottling. Even though I used more UNFERMENTABLE sugars in this one, in the form of extra Crystal Malt, it seems to have fermented MORE than the others, reading 1.009 SG. Kind of weird, but my AC was set at 75 for the week since I was away, so maybe the yeast just went a little nuts with the warmer temps. The taste was great. High hopes again for this one...high hopes. We shall see in two weeks or so.
I also brewed the IPA that started this blog, with the small change of doubling the flavor and aroma hop additions for no other reason than to see what happens. It was the first beer brewed with my new mash tun, which is just a 2 gallon drink cooler wrapped in hot water heater insulation. It worked very well, losing only 4 degrees during the 60 minute mash. I may try the preheat-then-turn-off the oven trick for the next brew...which, by the way, I haven't decided on. I really want the brown to work, and soon, so that may be the one.
The Barleywine (remember that one?) got it's charge of dry hopping yesterday, so That will get bottled in two weeks.
While down there, I gave the second Pale and Wheat versions a shot, sharing some with my brewing partner, and came up with some cool new ideas. Essentially I am going to steal from the Wheat to improve the Pale. Willamette hops, I've discovered, are not the best hops to use for a brew that is supposed to display a big hop character. While they may be delicious, with their subtle floral, slightly spicy tendencies, it seems I would have to use insane amounts to feature them in a SMaSH beer.
The Wheat, on the other hand, has a super spicy, bright, hop-forward flavor from the big Citra hop additions. Not great in a wheat beer, but (probably) amazing in a pale ale. So I'm taking the Citra hop schedule and transplanting it, with very little changes, to the Pale.
The Wheat, which seems to be having trouble tasting like a wheat, is going to get a new hop schedule entirely, and a bigger percentage of wheat. I know I have to be careful and change just one thing at a time, but this one's just so far off from what I was looking for that I think I need something drastic to reign it back in.
When I got back, the first thing I did was bottle the Porter that was a week overdue for bottling. Even though I used more UNFERMENTABLE sugars in this one, in the form of extra Crystal Malt, it seems to have fermented MORE than the others, reading 1.009 SG. Kind of weird, but my AC was set at 75 for the week since I was away, so maybe the yeast just went a little nuts with the warmer temps. The taste was great. High hopes again for this one...high hopes. We shall see in two weeks or so.
I also brewed the IPA that started this blog, with the small change of doubling the flavor and aroma hop additions for no other reason than to see what happens. It was the first beer brewed with my new mash tun, which is just a 2 gallon drink cooler wrapped in hot water heater insulation. It worked very well, losing only 4 degrees during the 60 minute mash. I may try the preheat-then-turn-off the oven trick for the next brew...which, by the way, I haven't decided on. I really want the brown to work, and soon, so that may be the one.
The Barleywine (remember that one?) got it's charge of dry hopping yesterday, so That will get bottled in two weeks.
Monday, July 16, 2012
The Stout and the Brown had their inaugural tastings over the last week, and the second Pale and the second Wheat each got tossed in bottles. In addition, I also (finally) got the ingredients for the Porters latest version. I think the Beer Gods may have wanted it to happen this way, since I did learn some cool stuff.
With the Stout and Brown, the chocolate malt was exposed (thanks to my brewing partner-I knew I kept him around for a reason) as the "sharp" flavor I was referring to in earlier posts, not the black patent malt, as I had assumed. So in each of these, I'm replacing it with different kinds of chocolate malt. The Brown, which is delicious except for the sharp aftertaste, will be getting a dose of PALE chocolate malt instead of the chocolate malt. The roastiness I have been calling "sharp" is supposed to be diminished in the pale variety; The color seemed a little darker than I expected as well, and the paler malt will fix that, so it just seems like the right thing to do. The Stout, which I was quite...no DAMN proud of as a first attempt, was pretty good to begin with. The IBU's are somewhere in the stratosphere, but the intensity of the malt bill keeps the bitterness in check. So for this one, I am replacing the chocolate malt with an equal amount of chocolate WHEAT malt. The roasty characters are also diminished in this malt, but not so much color is lost. The wheat adds some haze to the beer, but its black as night as it is, so who cares?
Watching the Pale and Wheat sit next to each other for a while was really interesting. I found it odd that the wheat was the clear one. I've always been under the impression that wheat malt lent a hazy character to the beer, but there it was in its mini fermenter, clear as polished amber, while the Pale held on to haze right through to the bottle. Also, since/ the Pale had a poop-ton of hops in it, I was expecting a thick trub at the bottom, but the wheat had the thicker, more separated trub when the two were compared. That whole thing about yeast loving wheat must be true...since they were happier, they produced more babies (don't we all), and flocculated better, clumpimg up and settling to the bottom faster.
The Porter brew went very well, and it looks like I'm finally getting a handle on my processes, shoring up efficiencies, and enjoying smoother brewdays. The recipe was almost identical to the last one, except for just a touch more Crystal 40, to lend some extra body and sweetness. I'm happy with the one I have, but I think it might just need a little something...something that's not Chocolate malt.
With the Stout and Brown, the chocolate malt was exposed (thanks to my brewing partner-I knew I kept him around for a reason) as the "sharp" flavor I was referring to in earlier posts, not the black patent malt, as I had assumed. So in each of these, I'm replacing it with different kinds of chocolate malt. The Brown, which is delicious except for the sharp aftertaste, will be getting a dose of PALE chocolate malt instead of the chocolate malt. The roastiness I have been calling "sharp" is supposed to be diminished in the pale variety; The color seemed a little darker than I expected as well, and the paler malt will fix that, so it just seems like the right thing to do. The Stout, which I was quite...no DAMN proud of as a first attempt, was pretty good to begin with. The IBU's are somewhere in the stratosphere, but the intensity of the malt bill keeps the bitterness in check. So for this one, I am replacing the chocolate malt with an equal amount of chocolate WHEAT malt. The roasty characters are also diminished in this malt, but not so much color is lost. The wheat adds some haze to the beer, but its black as night as it is, so who cares?
Watching the Pale and Wheat sit next to each other for a while was really interesting. I found it odd that the wheat was the clear one. I've always been under the impression that wheat malt lent a hazy character to the beer, but there it was in its mini fermenter, clear as polished amber, while the Pale held on to haze right through to the bottle. Also, since/ the Pale had a poop-ton of hops in it, I was expecting a thick trub at the bottom, but the wheat had the thicker, more separated trub when the two were compared. That whole thing about yeast loving wheat must be true...since they were happier, they produced more babies (don't we all), and flocculated better, clumpimg up and settling to the bottom faster.
The Porter brew went very well, and it looks like I'm finally getting a handle on my processes, shoring up efficiencies, and enjoying smoother brewdays. The recipe was almost identical to the last one, except for just a touch more Crystal 40, to lend some extra body and sweetness. I'm happy with the one I have, but I think it might just need a little something...something that's not Chocolate malt.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Delay
So I went to this new homebrew shop that opened in the area, you know, to support local businesses. He had nothing...not literally, but I was really surprised by the fact that #1 he didn't have Maris Otter, #2 He didn't have Crystal 40 (really?), and #3 he wouldn't give me less than a pound of each grain. Now I realize there are some limittions to what some small businesses can do, but those things just chased me away.
I didn't have much time to run anywhere else, so this week's brew is delayed. I'm not off until Wednesday, which is the Fourth of July, so I'm not sure it will even get done then. It's disappointing, since I had a good streak going, but reat beer is worth the wait, right? Right?
I didn't have much time to run anywhere else, so this week's brew is delayed. I'm not off until Wednesday, which is the Fourth of July, so I'm not sure it will even get done then. It's disappointing, since I had a good streak going, but reat beer is worth the wait, right? Right?
Friday, June 29, 2012
What Now?
As the title suggests, I'm a bit stuck as to what to do with this Porter. Don't get me wrong, its good, just not great. Its a dry, true-to-style, robust porter, with no hot alcohols, just the right touch of hop flavor, and a deep, rich mouthfeel. The Black Patent malt seems to be at the right level, giving some sharpness, but not enough to call it astringent or harsh. I think it needs just a touch of something else...but what?
Crystal 40? Chocolate? They are the only components that will have the effect on the character I feel is missing from the beer. Maybe the 40, which would make it more caramely (is that a word?); Maybe the chocolate, which would add some richness and...well...chocolate flavor, but that can build on the harshness that just lingers beneath the surface in this style.
I really have no idea. I guess I'll just have to start with the Crystal, taste it, and go from there. Its a really good beer though, so at least I'm getting close.
Crystal 40? Chocolate? They are the only components that will have the effect on the character I feel is missing from the beer. Maybe the 40, which would make it more caramely (is that a word?); Maybe the chocolate, which would add some richness and...well...chocolate flavor, but that can build on the harshness that just lingers beneath the surface in this style.
I really have no idea. I guess I'll just have to start with the Crystal, taste it, and go from there. Its a really good beer though, so at least I'm getting close.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Porter Time
This week's brew was the second Pale. As mentioned, I simply doubled the hop additions all the way through. I also did a 90 minute boil. The more research I do, the more I find that the extra half hour at the beginning of the boil makes better beer. I haven't had the chance to taste any of the ones I've done this with, but that will change after today, as the 3rd Porter is ready to go.
I have high hopes for both of these beers. I liked the faint flavors and aroma present in the first Pale, and I'm hoping to get that significantly bumped up in this one. As for the Porter, I liked the taste of the young beer during bottling, so I feel like this might be the one.
Either way, I'm brewing another Porter this weekend, but the result of today's tasting will determine wether I'm doing a repeat to determine reproducability, or a new recipe.
Here's the Pale:
-1.5lbs Pale Ale Malt
-0.4oz Willamette @60
-0.8oz Willamette @15
-0.8oz Willamette @0
-5g Rehydrated US-05
I have high hopes for both of these beers. I liked the faint flavors and aroma present in the first Pale, and I'm hoping to get that significantly bumped up in this one. As for the Porter, I liked the taste of the young beer during bottling, so I feel like this might be the one.
Either way, I'm brewing another Porter this weekend, but the result of today's tasting will determine wether I'm doing a repeat to determine reproducability, or a new recipe.
Here's the Pale:
-1.5lbs Pale Ale Malt
-0.4oz Willamette @60
-0.8oz Willamette @15
-0.8oz Willamette @0
-5g Rehydrated US-05
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