Well, as I teased in my last post, I waskicking around the idea for a smoked wheat ale. The kicking, however, has ended, and I have arrived to my next recipe: Scorched Earth Ale. I am going to be probably changing this one and taking a lot of advice from some brewing friends, but this is a drastic direction that I am curious to play out.
I want it to be similar to a rauchbier, but I want to go a step further by merging it with an American wheat beer. So, to accomplish this, I am using the smoked malt, but I'm sticking to the wheat malts that I think will get me as close to the wheat counterpart of a Marzen. This I feel will allow me to arrive to a slightly darker color of the rauchbier, but also allow me to stay true to the wheat beer at heart.
The hop side of this equation is the part I am REALLY debating myself about. I want it to be hoppy, but I'm unsure of the mixtures and the IBUs. I am going to be wrestling with this one and also looking into some suggestions from friends, but right now I'm aiming at the highest end of the scale I am comfortable with and then working my way back.
I know that I can continue to try making the typical beers, but I want to test my skills and perspective as a brewer to be further outside the box than expected.
I would welcome anyone's input or advice as this is still very early in the planning stages.
As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte!
Monday, July 30, 2012
Friday, July 27, 2012
Inspiration & Updates
Ok, so I know I have been away for a bit, but I have a good reason. The Feelin' It imperial pilsner is on its way (update on that thread to follow) and I had to make a trip to St. Louis for a wedding...and some beer.
Let's talk about that one for a second. In St. Louis, there resides a company called Schlafly, which became essentially a true guide in the wonderful world of craft beer. I not only learned about what I liked in beer, but learned about the brewing process, the various styles of beer, and overall the beer culture. For those reasons and many more, I will always hold Schlafly and brewers in general in a very high opinion (unless they make meh beer...mushroom beer, seriously?!).
As for the trip to St. Louis, Coren and I got to explore the Schlafly Tap Room (via a guided tour from a wonderful individual within that company. Cheers to you sir!), the Schlafly Bottleworks, and Urban Chestnut. Now, as far as the overall vibe, I always have liked Bottleworks more because I find it is just chill, but Coren liked the Tap Room for its energy. We both liked the beer at Urban Chestnut, but the service was just terrible; we had roughly 6 people behind the bar, and it took me asking for a second round to get one.
We wrapped things up with the wedding of two dear friends, where I presented them with their gift of a 6 pack of the Flint Hill Scotch Ale, from which I chilled and poured them a bottle and the response was very surprising ("Neither of us like dark beer, but that was super smooth. You have found your calling.").
We left St. Louis with: 6 Yakima Wheat, 6 AIPA, 6 Oatmeal Stout, and 30 Dry-Hopped APA. I am always finding it difficult to pass those as I move to attend to the pilsner, but I'm staying strong for a good day to break them open.
Now, the beer inspiration and updates. As for inspiration, I am kicking around an idea of a smoked hoppy wheat ale, and I think it may have 2 versions (a la the Plowed Porter). The first will be a late harvest wheat ale, with hints of smoke and citrus (Amarillo and Cascade) hops; should come in roughly at 6.5-7.0 ABV and 50-70 IBU. The second will be its big brother, and imperial wheat, where I ramp it all up and aim for 8.0-10.0 ABV (not going to be easy, but who doesn't like a good challenge) and 80-100 IBU. I'm still in the kicking around phase with ingredients, but I know that I am going with smoked barely and 2 row American pale. The wheat malt I am still debating on, mostly on if it should be American or German.
That is about it, but make sure you check out the updates on the pilsner. I am getting close to the end of secondary fermentation and nearing conditioning, so the results will be in shortly.
As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte!
Let's talk about that one for a second. In St. Louis, there resides a company called Schlafly, which became essentially a true guide in the wonderful world of craft beer. I not only learned about what I liked in beer, but learned about the brewing process, the various styles of beer, and overall the beer culture. For those reasons and many more, I will always hold Schlafly and brewers in general in a very high opinion (unless they make meh beer...mushroom beer, seriously?!).
As for the trip to St. Louis, Coren and I got to explore the Schlafly Tap Room (via a guided tour from a wonderful individual within that company. Cheers to you sir!), the Schlafly Bottleworks, and Urban Chestnut. Now, as far as the overall vibe, I always have liked Bottleworks more because I find it is just chill, but Coren liked the Tap Room for its energy. We both liked the beer at Urban Chestnut, but the service was just terrible; we had roughly 6 people behind the bar, and it took me asking for a second round to get one.
We wrapped things up with the wedding of two dear friends, where I presented them with their gift of a 6 pack of the Flint Hill Scotch Ale, from which I chilled and poured them a bottle and the response was very surprising ("Neither of us like dark beer, but that was super smooth. You have found your calling.").
We left St. Louis with: 6 Yakima Wheat, 6 AIPA, 6 Oatmeal Stout, and 30 Dry-Hopped APA. I am always finding it difficult to pass those as I move to attend to the pilsner, but I'm staying strong for a good day to break them open.
Now, the beer inspiration and updates. As for inspiration, I am kicking around an idea of a smoked hoppy wheat ale, and I think it may have 2 versions (a la the Plowed Porter). The first will be a late harvest wheat ale, with hints of smoke and citrus (Amarillo and Cascade) hops; should come in roughly at 6.5-7.0 ABV and 50-70 IBU. The second will be its big brother, and imperial wheat, where I ramp it all up and aim for 8.0-10.0 ABV (not going to be easy, but who doesn't like a good challenge) and 80-100 IBU. I'm still in the kicking around phase with ingredients, but I know that I am going with smoked barely and 2 row American pale. The wheat malt I am still debating on, mostly on if it should be American or German.
That is about it, but make sure you check out the updates on the pilsner. I am getting close to the end of secondary fermentation and nearing conditioning, so the results will be in shortly.
As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte!
Friday, July 6, 2012
Brewing this Summer...
I have been doing some serious crunching at work and at home, so I haven't been able to post lately, for which I apologize. That doesn't mean, however, that the brewing thoughts have stopped.
I have a few beers in mind for the next few batches. First up, we have the Plowed Porter, which was inspired by and had its recipe in part written by Coren McLeod, who heads up the marketing aspect of things for me. The recipe for it can be found here.
I am really excited about the challenge of making such a dark and complex beer, which explains another new recipe. I took the basic components of the Plowed Porter and made, with some input from Coren, a holiday version of Plowed, which will be brewed in the fall and allowed to age until the holiday season (approximately 2-3 months). The recipe is all booted up and ready for a view.
I am still kicking around a few others, but I already posted about the imperial pilsner I am going to be making next. A few of the others I have some thoughts on are a mixed up version of the Belgian IPA (American hops, Belgian malts, and English yeast), a cracked wheat hoppy ale with some biscuit malt, and there is also an Octoberfest in the mix.
Of course, when I get more specific about recipes, I will share those here.
Stay tuned for another festival review, even if it was terribly belated.
As always, drink well and be merry. Slante!
I have a few beers in mind for the next few batches. First up, we have the Plowed Porter, which was inspired by and had its recipe in part written by Coren McLeod, who heads up the marketing aspect of things for me. The recipe for it can be found here.
I am really excited about the challenge of making such a dark and complex beer, which explains another new recipe. I took the basic components of the Plowed Porter and made, with some input from Coren, a holiday version of Plowed, which will be brewed in the fall and allowed to age until the holiday season (approximately 2-3 months). The recipe is all booted up and ready for a view.
I am still kicking around a few others, but I already posted about the imperial pilsner I am going to be making next. A few of the others I have some thoughts on are a mixed up version of the Belgian IPA (American hops, Belgian malts, and English yeast), a cracked wheat hoppy ale with some biscuit malt, and there is also an Octoberfest in the mix.
Of course, when I get more specific about recipes, I will share those here.
Stay tuned for another festival review, even if it was terribly belated.
As always, drink well and be merry. Slante!
Feelin' It Imperial Pilsner
After careful consideration, I have made a new recipe to celebrate the summer heat, or rather to offer me some relief from it. In the tradition of one of our family lines (a very small part, but still a part), I am made my own version of an imperial Czech pilsner, titled Feelin' It. Considering the midwest has seen record heat for more than 5 days now, I figure the name was appropriate.
I tried to stick as close to the style while still imparting some of my own personal flavor into the mix. I am going to sit on the recipe for a bit and get some feedback from some homebrewing friends, but I like the direction the recipe took me.
I am hopefully going to be brewing this one within the next 24 hours, so I will be able to provide an update to the recipe, if there is one, and also let you all know about how the brewing day goes.
As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte!
Update 1: The beer gods have spoken and I have made my slight adjustments to the recipe and purchased my ingredients. Tomorrow, we BREW!
Update 2: The beer was brewed, and I must admit, that is one hoppy damn beer! The malt and hops are going to really come together as time goes on, but the chilling was something I was stuck on, until my inner MacGyver spoke to me. I ended up using a big storage bin, filled it more or less to the top with cold water, added a garden pump to circulate the water, wrapped a towel around the carboy to use the wick effect (pull the water up as it evaporates on top), pointed a fan at it to speed up evaporation, and have begun a rotation of replacing frozen items to bring the temp down even further. Let's hope it is worth my efforts and Richard Dean Anderson approves.
Update 3: Wow, what a crazy fermentation! I am literally speechless at the length of this aggressive round, with a krausen (foamy stuff on top) that looks like a B-movie monster. It has gone on for roughly a week, so I'm going to let it sit right where it is and continue the chilling regiment.
Update 4: The beast has finally returned from whence it came! The fermentation has calmed down in a big way, but I still want to give it a chance to really mellow out before a transfer.
Update 5: Finally, the first of two racking days has arrived. I moved the beer to the secondary vessel and sampled the product. The FG on this is around 1.011, which gives me an ABV of ~7.0, which is right about where I wanted it to be. The taste is totally hopped to the heavens, which will chill out with some aging, but that means being patient, and I'm already dying to try this one.
Update 6: 1 week of lagering in the chilling station down, 2 more to go. Then 3 weeks in the bottles (we all know I will be sampling them at the end of each week anyways).
Update 7: I sampled again, and it looks like not only was I right about the ABV (it has settled and is sitting pretty at just about 7%), but I am finally seeing it calm down a bit. Sadly, I fear the lack of the proper lagering temperatures will result in this being more akin to a IIPA, but I could be wrong. The nice thing is that even if this is not hitting the style I wanted, it is still going to be a fantastic beer! Sometimes the mistakes are the ones worth keeping!
Update 8: I bottled this 8/10/2012 and I am already surprised. The slightly harsh alcohol flavor not only mellowed out, but the beer is becoming delightfully smooth. I have a feeling this will be a fun one! For those that are interested, I primed with 5 ounces, allowed the carboy to reach a moderately warmer temp to avoid any shocks from the sugar, and finished in about 20 minutes (bombers make ALL the difference).
Update 9: I tasted this 2 days after bottling, to see if the conditioning was occurring, and I am happy to report that the refreshing pssst escaped from the bottle, and the head is already starting to form, even if it has a long way to go. 1 week tasting next weekend!
Update 10: I have given this one an extra amount of time for conditioning, and I'm pleased to say the carbonation is spot on. Unfortunately, due to the inability to maintain the consistent lagering temps, I find that the pilsner aspect of this is severely lacking. Is it still a good beer and drinkable? Oh heck yeah! It just isn't quite as crisp as I would like it to be. Plus, I think the time of it sitting out for so long combined with not quite enough hops made the hoppy aroma and taste die off rather quickly. I already have formed a new plan of attack for this one the next time I brew: 3 times as much hops during the boil (some bittering, some aroma) and 2 times as much during dry hopping. Oh yeah, and the next time it will be lagered properly at 40 F the entire duration. The rig worked for what it was worth, but I would not recommend that to anyone else that wants to get those cellar temps. So, this one I will chalk up to the universe getting the best of me...for now. On to the next brew!
Update 11: After 3 weeks in bottling, this beer has not only finished its work, but damn what an easy to enjoy brew! I have to admit, there are some imperfections due to the changes in the temperature while I lagered it, but nonetheless, this is very drinkable and has a nice strong head and a hint of citrus on the head. Next time, there will be more hops in the boil and the dry hopping. I want this to be a flagship beer, so the recipe will be tweaked to represent that. To the next batch!
I tried to stick as close to the style while still imparting some of my own personal flavor into the mix. I am going to sit on the recipe for a bit and get some feedback from some homebrewing friends, but I like the direction the recipe took me.
I am hopefully going to be brewing this one within the next 24 hours, so I will be able to provide an update to the recipe, if there is one, and also let you all know about how the brewing day goes.
As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte!
Update 1: The beer gods have spoken and I have made my slight adjustments to the recipe and purchased my ingredients. Tomorrow, we BREW!
Update 2: The beer was brewed, and I must admit, that is one hoppy damn beer! The malt and hops are going to really come together as time goes on, but the chilling was something I was stuck on, until my inner MacGyver spoke to me. I ended up using a big storage bin, filled it more or less to the top with cold water, added a garden pump to circulate the water, wrapped a towel around the carboy to use the wick effect (pull the water up as it evaporates on top), pointed a fan at it to speed up evaporation, and have begun a rotation of replacing frozen items to bring the temp down even further. Let's hope it is worth my efforts and Richard Dean Anderson approves.
Update 3: Wow, what a crazy fermentation! I am literally speechless at the length of this aggressive round, with a krausen (foamy stuff on top) that looks like a B-movie monster. It has gone on for roughly a week, so I'm going to let it sit right where it is and continue the chilling regiment.
Update 4: The beast has finally returned from whence it came! The fermentation has calmed down in a big way, but I still want to give it a chance to really mellow out before a transfer.
Update 5: Finally, the first of two racking days has arrived. I moved the beer to the secondary vessel and sampled the product. The FG on this is around 1.011, which gives me an ABV of ~7.0, which is right about where I wanted it to be. The taste is totally hopped to the heavens, which will chill out with some aging, but that means being patient, and I'm already dying to try this one.
Update 6: 1 week of lagering in the chilling station down, 2 more to go. Then 3 weeks in the bottles (we all know I will be sampling them at the end of each week anyways).
Update 7: I sampled again, and it looks like not only was I right about the ABV (it has settled and is sitting pretty at just about 7%), but I am finally seeing it calm down a bit. Sadly, I fear the lack of the proper lagering temperatures will result in this being more akin to a IIPA, but I could be wrong. The nice thing is that even if this is not hitting the style I wanted, it is still going to be a fantastic beer! Sometimes the mistakes are the ones worth keeping!
Update 8: I bottled this 8/10/2012 and I am already surprised. The slightly harsh alcohol flavor not only mellowed out, but the beer is becoming delightfully smooth. I have a feeling this will be a fun one! For those that are interested, I primed with 5 ounces, allowed the carboy to reach a moderately warmer temp to avoid any shocks from the sugar, and finished in about 20 minutes (bombers make ALL the difference).
Update 9: I tasted this 2 days after bottling, to see if the conditioning was occurring, and I am happy to report that the refreshing pssst escaped from the bottle, and the head is already starting to form, even if it has a long way to go. 1 week tasting next weekend!
Update 10: I have given this one an extra amount of time for conditioning, and I'm pleased to say the carbonation is spot on. Unfortunately, due to the inability to maintain the consistent lagering temps, I find that the pilsner aspect of this is severely lacking. Is it still a good beer and drinkable? Oh heck yeah! It just isn't quite as crisp as I would like it to be. Plus, I think the time of it sitting out for so long combined with not quite enough hops made the hoppy aroma and taste die off rather quickly. I already have formed a new plan of attack for this one the next time I brew: 3 times as much hops during the boil (some bittering, some aroma) and 2 times as much during dry hopping. Oh yeah, and the next time it will be lagered properly at 40 F the entire duration. The rig worked for what it was worth, but I would not recommend that to anyone else that wants to get those cellar temps. So, this one I will chalk up to the universe getting the best of me...for now. On to the next brew!
Update 11: After 3 weeks in bottling, this beer has not only finished its work, but damn what an easy to enjoy brew! I have to admit, there are some imperfections due to the changes in the temperature while I lagered it, but nonetheless, this is very drinkable and has a nice strong head and a hint of citrus on the head. Next time, there will be more hops in the boil and the dry hopping. I want this to be a flagship beer, so the recipe will be tweaked to represent that. To the next batch!
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