Hop Shower

I have been brewing a bit more than usual lately. Usually I team up with someone and brew 10 gallons when I want a hoppy beer. But in January I made an excellent IPA and now super hoppy Pales and IPAs are all I want to brew. A few weeks ago Earth, Bread and Brewery had a homebrew competition in partnership with The Malt House in Mt Airy. The base malt needed to be predominately Vienna. I thought a Vienna Saison sounded nice. So a simple malt bill of Vienna and German Pils with Saaz and Styrian Goldings were brewed up and fermented with Wyeast French Saison. I was pretty pleased with the super dry, bready finish. Nice pepper notes and high carbonation rounded it out to what I expected.  This beer is also a take home gift to the baby shower attendees (see next paragraph). I'll doll it up with a label when I post some reviews on all the beers in this post.

As for Pale Ales, I have a baby shower coming up and needed something for, a hopefully pleasant Sunday afternoon. Hoppy Pales can be a challenge if you do not want a malty finish, but are avoiding a grassy one as well. 9ozs of hops made their way into the kettle and secondary. I've been adding a bit of Pils malt in all of my beers lately. I have 30 pounds left from a sack and adding 20% to the grist hasn't altered any flavor. I am not sure what I thought it would do. It will be finished carbonating in a another day or two, but upon kegging I was pleased. I was so pleased that I wanted to brew up another Pale, similar, but with that malty finish and piney, dank hops that work well in a high ABV IPA, and we'll see what it could do in a 5.6% Pale.

The IPA that I brewed in January was a standout. I dedicated most fermentors to Sours last year and although I need to get back on that Bretty horse soon, I also have a few pounds of hops that I want to use now. I ended up parting with half of the keg to a friend and I will probably do it again with this IPA that I brewed on Tuesday. There was nothing out of the ordinary with this recipe. 2 Row, a small amount of Pils, Crystal 40, Carapils and Dextrose with a nice hop explosion to boot. 5.5 gallons made it into the fermentor somehow. A blow off chugged it's way up 36 hours later. It smells Divine.

Pale Ale 1 

1.054-1.008

2 Row, Pilsner, Carared, Cystal 40, Cara 8 Malts

Columbus, Simcoe, Citra, Centennial and Cascade

Wyeast 1056

Pale Ale 2

1.052-1.010

2 Row, Crystal 20, Honey Malts

Chinook, Columbus, Simcoe, Centennial, Zythos

White Labs 001

Big Flavor IPA

1.064

2 Row, Pilsner, Crystal 40, Cara 8, Dextrose

Columbus, Simcoe, Centennial, Zythos, Amarillo (Boil)
Columbus, Amarillo, Centennial (Dry Hop 1st Addition)
Simcoe, Centennial, Amarillo, Zythos (Dry Hop 2nd Addition)

Fresh Slurry of White Labs 001

Tasting: Big Aroma IPA

For once I am more than pleased with an IPA that I've brewing. It's still a bit cloudy, but that is expected. It's only been conditioning for 6 days and if I can hold myself back from enjoying too many then it be a will a treat to have on tap for a few weeks. My efficiency was way down on this beer. Maybe it was all the hop additions, maybe it was the cold temperature outside. I didn't take a preboil gravity reading. Efficiency doesn't always matter a whole lot, but I did use more Specialty Grains that I would normally want to use with this. I aimed for higher alcohol, but it finished out below 1.010 and the dry finish is what I truly aimed for. 

It's got a beautiful orange hue and head that lasts halfway through. The Munich, Crystal 40 and Carapils didn't add much color, but with it was a very vigorous 75 minute boil. 

It smells very piney, and dank. There is a fair amount of Simcoe and Columbus in this beer. It is a nice punch in the nose, but hops are all that you pick up on.

As for the rest of the beer. It is right to my liking for this style. It has a bit of a Firestone Walker Union Jack maltiness to it, but less sweet. The Cali Ale yeast and the dextrose addition dry it out nicely and let the hops shine through. There is a fair amount of body perceved as well.  The cabonation level is just right. It is West Coasty to say the least.

Big Aroma IPA

OG: 1.062

FG: 1.008

75 Min Boil

Great Western 2 Row, Munich, C40, Carapils, Dextrose

Columbus, Simoce, Centennial, Cascade, Amarillo Hops

WLP 001: Cali Ale Yeast

Brewing: Big Aroma IPA

Brewing an IPA when it is snowing outside, and you are brewing outside is not on my repeat list. I have wanted to brew an IPA for months now. I have collaborated on few and they came out beautfully. I brewed an Oat IPA back in the Fall, but I keg hopped and forced carbed a few bottles so that it would be drank quick and fresh. I've been out of that beer since the month I kegged it. I've also been reading the IPA book by Mitch Steele since the holidays and it is very inspiring to say the least. My IPAs are one of the brew styles that I feel I can do better on each time. So research was what I let my eyeballs devour over the past few weeks. I went after this brew session with some tips by Nathan Smith. I like his agressiveness with hopping and his malt bill overall. I am also a big fan of drying out all my beers the best I can.

Excessive hopbursting seems to be the technique that I have found myself using with the past three or four IPAs that I made. After many stuck runoffs into the fermenter I shied away a bit. I don't know why. I've been using a hop spider for any hopping over 6 ounces. I found it a bit annoying when adding late hops as my immersion chiller was in the way. As for dry hopping, I obviously shy away from heavy amounts also. Keg hopping I am all for though. So I went at this beer with the 7, 7, 7 method that Nathan has used. 7 Days in the Primary, dry hop in the primary for 7 days as soon as fermentation slows down, and then again at the 14th day. Keg on 21 day and let it settle out. All this in the primary was an interesting approach. I wasn't sure about that 14th day hopping in the primary again, so here is where I racked. I may have done this whole thing wrong. The gravity was at 1.008. That is pretty much where I wanted it at. I pitched at 62 and ramped up to around 64 for dry hopping. At 12 days in I brought it up to about 66-67 will leave it there until day 20 or so and bring it back down to get in the keg.

The Aroma was beautiful when racking off. 11ozs of hops total until I keg and I am pretty sure I will keg hop with 1-2oz as well of Amarillo. This was a pretty standard IPA (2 row, C40, Carapils, Munich, Columbus, Centennial, Amarillo, Simcoe, Cascade, and Cal Ale yeast. I am looking forward to enjoying this by months end.

Brewing: Russian Imperial Stout

I was chatting it up at Tired Hands in December when the man behind the bar asked what I like to brew. My response stuck with me as I thought about what was currently fermenting or aging or next up on the brew list. I thought about what I brewed throughout the year. I was a bit dumbfounded. "I tend to brew a lot of stouts and saisons," I said. Now when beer shopping I do not often buy stouts or saisons. I rarely buy Belgian beers in general and stouts are usually a few 22oz bombers of the Imperial variety. Every once in a while in the summer I see a big stout on tap and I can't wait to brew it. Saisons are always a toss up. A sweet saison is rough for me. They are pretty hard to get down when the yeast is more than overwhelming and the carbonation is lower than it should be. Conversely, a dry, effervescent straw-like Belgian drives me to brew saisons. I've been working on a dozen or so saison recipes over the past two years. I've dialed in one that I am happy with, but continue to work with different sugars, temperatures, and yeast strains that I will lead me from brewing these sweeter saisons that take up so much of my basement square footage.

But back to stouts. Although late in the year, I brewed a Russian Imperial a month back. I wanted to test my mash tun limit, but I did not think about water absorbtion as much as I should have when the false bottom sits so high up in the kettle. Going down from my usually 1.25-1.33 qts/gallon down to 1.15 qts/ gallon and 19 pounds of grain caused some chaos. The mash tun was nearly full and I still had a bit more grain to stir in, but I had no room. I drained off as little as I could to fit the last pound or so from the bucket. I do love the heat that holds in my mash tun when it is full though. I still do not recirculate, but direct fire when I need to. I keep a thermometer at arms reach and use the kettle's thermometer as well. Oh well. It is my method for now. Conversion went pretty well and OG was 1.096. I under shot only slightly from 1.100.

I racked off after 3 weeks. My starter was excellent, but I didn't think the blow off was going to be so vigorous. I lost just about one gallon. So with 4 gallons left I racked 3 into a 3 gallon carboy and 1 gallon into a 1 gallon vessel. I added Oak Chips that were in bourbon for 2 months. I have never used chips (as opposed to cubes or sprirals), so I am not sure what to expect other that what I have read on forums. I'm figuring on bottling the 1 gallon in April and see how long I want the rest to go.

Russian Imperial Stout
90 Min Boil
OG: 1.096
Pale Malt, Flaked Barley, Flaked Oats, Chocolate Malt, Roasted Barley, Crystal 120, Carafa III
Willamette and Chinook Hops
WLP 004 -Irish Ale 

Bourbon soaked oak chips added to secondary. Aging for 3.5 months.

Winter Saison

Last year the Holiday-Style Brew was a Belgian Dubbel with a variety of spices w/ a decent amount of fig additions. We opted for the title, "Dubbel de Figs." This year I had a hankering to brew the Northern Brewer Saison de Noel. I must have a thing for beer names with "de" in them. What I ended up making was a Dark Saison. I went with a decent Pils base, some Aromatic, Special B, and Debittered Carafa III. Honey and Turbinado Sugar have been a nice addition to my Belgians. I picked up that little mosaic of sugars from a Brewing Network episode with Jolly Pumpkin.

I love a very dry saison. The WLP Saison I is a bit sweeter than any of the other saison strains and with the temperature in my basement hoovering around 65 degrees I had to smoother blankets around the carboy to keep the temperature as high as I can get it without a heating pad of some sorts. Why did I do this without a heating pad? I don't know, but never again without one for a saison in the winter. I had deep, looming fear of the gravity stalling in the 1.030 range. I had done my best to let go for 2 weeks.  At 12 days in I checked the gravity and sure enough it was struggling. Time to rouse the yeast. But with the Aromatic and Special B malts, a bit of fruitiness might be nice, but maybe to dubbel(ish).

It ended up finishing out at 1.010 and I am pretty satisfied. It showcases the Special B nicely, but for future dark saisons I would rather a dehusked black malt. I seem to have a bit too many Belgians laying around and nothing dark and strong. A week ago I had two nice IPAs tapped and now none. My Dark Farmhouse V.2 is bottle conditioning so adding a sour to my refrigerator is going to be nice. The Chocolate Oatmeal Stout that I brewed for a holiday gift is tapped as well. I only kegged 4 gallons and bottled a few for family. In need of something with a higher ABV during the winter I have been buying some Russian Imperials as of late. Philly Brewing Co. Shackamaxon Stout has hit the shelves and it is a nice local treat. The RIS that I brewed late in the year has nothing but months of aging to look forward to. So for now it looks like the Rye Farmhouse and future IPA will replace those kegs soon.

A Winter Eden- Robert Frost

A winter garden in an alder swamp,
Where conies now come out to sun and romp,
As near a paradise as it can be
And not melt snow or start a dormant tree.

It lifts existence on a plane of snow
One level higher than the earth below,
One level nearer heaven overhead,
And last year's berries shining scarlet red.

It lifts a gaunt luxuriating beast
Where he can stretch and hold his highest feat
On some wild apple tree's young tender bark,
What well may prove the year's high girdle mark.

So near to paradise all pairing ends:
Here loveless birds now flock as winter friends,
Content with bud-inspecting. They presume
To say which buds are leaf and which are bloom.

A feather-hammer gives a double knock.
This Eden day is done at two o'clock.
An hour of winter day might seem too short
To make it worth life's while to wake and sport.

Winter Saison
OG: 1.068 FG 1.010
90 Min Boil
Pilsner, Aromatic, Carafa III, Special B Malts
Orange Blossom Honey, Turbinado Sugar
Magnum, Amarillo Hops
WLP 565-Saison 1

Cycle Brewing's End of the World Barrel Aged Beer Party

Cycle Brewing's Rare D.O.S.

by douglas reeser on December 24, 2012
Back from Belize
and missing the stout,
December 21st
is taking us out.
What better way
than to enjoy the day
with a barrel-aged brew
from the Cycle Brewing Crew!

A year and a half working on research in Belize has left me pretty broke, so I haven't been able to truly enjoy the crazy variety of beers available here in the Tampa Bay area. I've had a few good ones to be sure (like Cigar City's Moat Water), but drinking craft beer on a budget has meant lots of Sierra Nevada beers. I've been trying to keep my eyes open for can't miss events since I've been back, and have really only missed out on a few at Cigar City. One I circled on the calendar though, was the Rare DOS event scheduled for the End of the World. I decided I couldn't miss it.

The Rare D.O.S. beers are building a small legend around themselves, and for good reason it would appear. It has a score of 100 on both Rate Beer and Beer Advocate. Impressive. And with the recent announcement that the brew works will be expanding from the small bungalow restaurant, Peg's Cantina, to a new brewery location under the name of Cycle Brewing, this would probably be the last chance to get this beer in such a small-event atmosphere. It's a drive, and I was alone, so I didn't get to try everything, but here's what made it into my belly:

The 12-21-12 Beer Menu

Rare D.O.S. ~ a deep, dark, and thick stout, reminiscent of some of the best big stouts I've had from Cigar City. Bourbon was very present in the aroma and the taste, along with some chocolate, and even a hint of anise. Sweet, but not sugary. The perfect belly-warming way to start off a beer event. This beer is outstanding and delicious!

Waste Not Want Not Sour Brown Ale ~ I love me a sour, and I couldn't wait to try this one. Doug, the head brewer, has brewed an excellent Berliner Weiss in the past, so I had some expectations with this one. To my surprise, this was a real sour, and a really good one. A nice puckering brown, low carbonation, but very nice and drinkable. A surprisingly good sour.

Sun Exploder Tart Cherry ~ I tried this one next since I was already on the sour-kick. I was expecting a light fruity beer, but it came at me dark as night. It turned out to be a sour cherry stout! Thick and chocolatey at the beginning, but as I drank it down, the cherry really started to pop. By the end it was something like a sour cherry dipped in chocolate. Yummy.

The RareR DOS growler.

Funky D.O.S. ~ I couldn't pass up one last D.O.S. (Doug's Original Stout), and this one had my attention all evening. I wasn't disappointed. The funk really stood out, and I was wondering if I was getting lactose in there - lactose soured? The Funky was another big beer, but the light souring made it a very easy drinker. Another excellent beer.

Sadly, I only had these four beers. As you can see from the menu, prices were pretty steep, and these were all big beers at somewhere between 8-11%. I also wanted to pick up a growler of a Rare(r) D.O.S., a special, older version of the Rare D.O.S. that I had on draft. The keg of Rare(r)was kicked before I got there, so my only choice was to bring one home. At $20 for a 500ml bottle though, I wasn't able to get as many as I wanted. Since the world didn't end, I'll be able to drink that one on Christmas.

Oat IPA

A few of us meet up a every week or every other week at Appalachian Brewing Co. in Collegeville, PA. Appalachian is one of those brewpubs that has 15 on tap, 8 are various lagers, an IPA, a stout, and a few others that never change. Even a Barleywine is always on. This isn't a complaint and the IPA never sits too long and is pretty fresh, always. They don't brew on this Appalachian and it is the furthest away from their other pubs in the Gettysburg area. What am I getting at? Get to the point. A few months ago I was pleasantly surprised to see a trio of of different adjunct IPAs on. I saw Three Grain IPA and was happy enough, but I was then served three 10oz tulips of a Rye IPA, Wheat IPA, and an Oat IPA. The Oat stole the show. Granted all three were 7.5% ABV and the Oat was the last one that I finished. I did sip on each throughout though.

So I set out to brew an Oat IPA. I wanted a very hop forward, and slightly grainy brew. I kept the grain bill as simple as possible. 2 Row, Crystal 40, Carapils, and Oats. I went with Golden Naked Oats. They were nice and biscuity, similar to a Vienna Malt. On the hop side I thought long and hard about  it. I bittered with a bit of Nugget, but with 15 mins to go I used generous amounts of Columbus, Simcoe, Amarillo and Citra. It was dry hopped with Amarillo, and, for a first time, keg hopped with Citra.

I was spot on with OG (1.066) and slightly shocked that it dropped to (1.008). Dryness is what I was going for. I mashed at 149 and boiled for 75 mins. I've been boiling for 75 mins lately so that 90 min boils don't seem as long and to drive off DMS. I've never had a problem with DMS, but I might as well stop thinking about it.

It is currently carbonating now. I did lose a bit with dry hopping and I am sure that the Citra are soaking it up nicely in the keg. The picture above is 5 days in the keg. It is super cloudy, but I have stopped using Irish Moss. I expect it to clear up a bit though. And this is the first full glass poured. A full review will come soon.

Wild Oats by Philip Larkin

About twenty years ago
Two girls came in where I worked -
A bosomy English rose
And her friend in specs I could talk to.
Faces in those days sparked
The whole shooting-match off, and I doubt
If ever one had like hers:
But it was the friend I took out,

And in seven years after that
Wrote over four hundred letters,
Gave a ten-guinea ring
I got back in the end, and met
At numerous cathedral cities
Unknown to the clergy. I believe
I met beautiful twice. She was trying
Both times (so I thought) not to laugh.

Parting, after about five
Rehearsals, was an agreement
That I was too selfish, withdrawn
And easily bored to love.
Well, useful to get that learnt,
In my wallet are still two snaps,
Of bosomy rose with fur gloves on.
Unlucky charms, perhaps.

Oat IPA
Great Western 2 Row, Crystal 40L, Carapils, Golden Naked Oats
Nugget, Columbus, Simcoe, Amarillo, Citra (dry hopped with Amarillo, keg hopped with Citra)
WLP Cali Ale (1L starter on plate)