Smooth Brew Stout

Well, it didn't take long from the last time I posted to get the desire to brew again. I decided to go with the appropriate brewing choice for the year, so I made the final stout of the season for me, and this time it is a vanilla coffee stout. I was inspired by some of the wonderful stouts I'd been enjoying, and it seemed a crime to not give it one more go befor I run into my spring beers.

 

The brew itself was pretty simple, mostly due to the fact that I dialed down the recipe to accentuate the speciality malts and ingredients. There was a generous amount of sugar and DME used in this batch to keep costs down, but I think the addition of the coffee will dial down the generic maltiness in a big way. It is going to be roughly 7% with approximately 50 IBUs, so it will be big enough for the season, but will not overwhelm the drinker. This will be a great one to have when the weather is still cold and the driveway needs shoveling.

 

The thing I'm most proud of about this batch is that it is utilizing Intelligista coffee (espresso to be specific). Not only is this a great coffee in its own right, a number of really amazing beers have used this exact same kind of coffee, so it is cool to have a connection to them. I  plan to brew up a pot of coffee, cool it down, and add it to the secondary, where I will add some more vanilla beans for dry hopping. From my research, this is the smartest way to do coffee, because it adds some bitterness/flavor/aroma without adding needless tannins. The vanilla beans, since they were mostly in a sterile enviroment (sealed bag), will not be boiled, but rather soaked for about 10 minutes in StarSan ("Do not fear the foam").

 

I suspect I should be enjoying this beer right around Valentine's Day, which will make this a fantastic gift for a certain malt muse (yeah, go on and keep on enjoying your new nickname).

This beer was a simple run, mostly getting me ready for my next batches that will be a real challenge: Maibock & Oktoberfest. Stay tuned for those as the season moves us along.

As always, drink well and be merry!

UPDATE 1: Here is a picture of the carboy after 24 hours of fermntation. I'm pretty happy with the results, to say the least.

UPDATE 2:  The coffee has been brewed (8 oz), cooled, and added to the secondary along with the beer. It smells so damn good!

UPDATE 3: A small sample was taken for myself and my resident coffee stout geek (AKA Coren), and we both thought this will need a bit more coffee. I am going to do it in small additions on bottling day, so watch out for that update!

Certifications & Cicerones

Happy New Year everyone!

I know it has been some time since I last generated a new post, aside from updates here and there. What can I say except that the holidays demand a lot of attention, especially when having great beer and enjoying good times!

Well, the holidays now over, so I can once again refocus my efforts on the world of beer. First of all, I'm in the process of reading some new material in order to better hone my skills at recipe design. This is helping me as I decide what I'd like to make and with what ingredients. So far, I have some fun ideas in front of me for 2013, which I'm hoping will be an even bigger year for my home brewing than last year (I already have 4 new ideas I'm toying with, and a total of 5 recipes I want to make before April).

Aside from reading all this new material (which I owe to a very thoughtful Coren, my malt muse), I have been exploring some new options. One thing I was handed not too long ago was an article of a guy my age that is working part-time as a cicerone, which is essentially the beer version of a sommelier (even if it does pain me to simplify it that much). The role requires the certificate-holder to be well versed in beer styles, the brewing process, the history of beer, an understanding of how to serve beer, and some basis in draft management system & etiquette. Needless to say, I'm intrigued, so I have researched it a bit, and well, I'm not too surprised that the first test is something I crushed with little to no effort, but also gave me a good idea of where to focus my studies. I'm officially a certified beer server, and with a simple request to one of the many industry amigos I have made thus far, I can save up & study for the cicerone exam, which is quite a bit more involved.

So, I'm pretty pumped about this, because it is a form of true acknowledgement by the industry to have something. Besides, when was the last time anyone ever said, "Being noticed is uncool"?

That confirms a goal to have the cicerone exam scheduled and completed no later than October 2013.

Now, the other test I'm exploring requires some serious consideration and time commitments. The BJCP, or Beer Judge Certification Program, is the program in place for competitions, as small as a local club contest all the way up to the GABF. The format is to take an online test of 200 true/false questions as an entrance exam, followed within 1 year by a full exam that includes tasting several beers and providing a score card.

I'm looking forward to bigger & better challenges that will allow me to improve my own beer knowledge and have some fun! Be prepared to hear more about these programs and my advancement through them, because I'm playing for keeps.

As always, drink well and be merry.