this must be "quote" week for me...

"The world doesn't need one more American IPA, the world doesn't need another hefeweizen. Make something that adds to the beer drinkers' choices."

I agree.

I have my Aliteration ale fermenting now. It's my Sarasota summer seasonal sparkling sour-mash something-or-other. I'm searching for the perfect beer for our summers, and I'm getting close...

Brasserie Caracole

I first tried a Br. Caracole beer last year, at a H.A.M.S. pub social held at The Cock 'n Bull in Sarasota. They had Saxo (named after the Belgian inventor of the saxophone) on tap at I believe $7! They said it was a Belgian golden ale and I liked Duvel, so I thought I'd try it. I didn't realize until it was pulled that it was basically a half-portion (served in a tiny fancy glass). Turned out I didn't mind.

This is what I'm tasting tonight. It was on the discount shelf at the Beer Monster.

Spicy nose. Sweet aroma. Very carbonated. Light, but malt/hop balance is wonderful. Some alcohol in the flavor, but also in balance.

I don't know what it is- maybe yeast- about this brewery- but I think they're my current international favorite.

The link to Saxo is a beer review which I thought came pretty darn close to being a description of their amber ale, too! The one point I'd definitely argue though would be the finish on this one it extraordinarily long- perhaps 30 seconds, maybe even more.

By the way: we first went to The Cock n' Bull a few years ago for the halloween "Witches Ball". It was pretty chilly for October in Sarasota, but they had a fire pit going out back and a crock pot full of mulled mead at the bar. If you get the chance, I'd suggest taking a trip there.

infection

Well, I thought I had it whipped! ...



...but the bottles of WSSAle3.0 now have a film/scum on them. I figure that as long as they don't live past 2008 they'll be alright. They are developing a crust (pellicle?) though, so you have to ignore that because it breaks up when pouring and flows out with the beer, but they don't taste bad yet.



WSSAle v3.1 is still in the primary. In case I didnt't post about it (and I don't think I did), It was 9lbs. of Munton's mild ale malt+ 1lb. Weyermann's CaraAroma [mashed~150 for 90 minutes] + 1/2oz. EKG 60min. +1/2oz. EKG 7minutes, +1.25lbs. panela sugar (from Columbia- the ingredients' list is: "pressed cane juice") for a starting gravity of 1.060, cooled in kettle on the lanai (that's like a patio to y'all up north) and pitched the next day with SafAle's 33 (IIRC). It is not showing any signs of infections after a week and a half in the fermenter and I will not rack or bottle it until I replace my tubing. That's the number one suspect right now.

Special Beer Tasting Night

Orval Trappist Ale 6.9%abv 11.2oz (aka 330ml):

distinct "skittle" bottle shape!

nice CO2 hiss and cloud on escape.

beautiful creamy/meringue like head that lasts too long when thirsty.

great aroma: just a hint of wildness, woodiness, sweettartiness, carbonation is high and forces aroma into the nose upon swallowing.

light golden/orange color.

tastes of: wood, copper, hoppy but not distinct it blends into the beer, slightly sweet, tart, very slight bitter/hoppy aftertaste, brett flavor grows as beer warms .

I tossed the bottle dregs into my continuously fermenting mead. I just couldn't help myself.



Dogfish Head 90 minute Imperial India Pale Ale 9%abv 12oz:

unassuming standard brown 12 ounce bottle with distinctly non-laminated label suggesting recyclability and/or cheapness.

bread-dough head. not as long-lasting as the Orval, but still a lingerer.

malty-sweet and floral-citrusy hop aroma. amazing. I couldn't help getting foam on my nose because I couldn't get enough. I'm realizing as I type this that even though the glass is a good 18" away from my nose, I can still pull it in.

beatutiful deep golden amber color.

Oh, my gods... the taste...


sweet, brown sugar, molasses, MALT, and the hops- how can I describe them- they are there the whole way, citrusy,- but for an IPA they are not overwhelming or dominating. I have to stop typing now so I can drink...


... why must it be so expensive?!?!...

... it tastes like gold should taste if you could drink it. With hops, especially at the finish...

...It lingers on the palate like pecan pie...

...I'm having this at Thanksgiving with my signature pecan pie!!!


...sure doesnt't tasste like 9%...


... my face is warm...


...sorry to see it go.



I'm afraid to open the next one, that's going to be a devestatingly tough act to follow.




Altenmunster Doppelbock Winterbier 7.2%abv 1pt, 0.9oz (aka500ml):

flip-top!!!

Great pop, with a little spray on the forearm.

Quite foamy, dissipates faster than the other 2. Bread-dough also, but with slightly bigger bubbles.


Very dark reddish-braun.

Surprisingly "fresh" malty aroma. Something I just can't put my nose on...

Surprisingly "fresh" taste. Perhaps it's an out of balance acid of some sort. Not too roasty/toasty and light malt for a doppel. Slight raisiny flavor. I might really like it some other time, but that DFH90.....

...roasted barley, maybe chocolate malt... It certainly doesn't taste like Spaten.

It's taking a very long time to drink, which considering the abv of these beers is not necessarily a bad thing. I'll be back...














Guten nacht!

Delerium Nocturnum Belgian ale 8.5%abv 11.2oz (aka330ml):

flecked-painted bottle to keep the light out so it won't skunk and there's a pink elephant on the label!





head is puffy, but deflates pretty quickly. May have been the glass.






aroma is of caramel, toasty-raisin, light toffee, slightly sweet, no hops.







color is dark brown, with unappealing fuzzy chunks.







taste is tangy, malty-sweet. slight burnt-caramel. is the tanginess and the fuzzy chunks on purpose?









Nice lace.







I think this bottle's off. The tanginess is too much, and the chunks are hanging in the beer in exactly the same way that bricks don't (thank you, Douglas Adams).

Congratulations to Ernesto and Pam!!!

A great couple, and great friends.

Inspired by a BYO magazine recipe for a Mountain Dew Beer, I made this for their wedding. Ernesto is a Mountain Dew drinker, you see.

I was honored to not only brew, but to make ribs and also officiate the ceremony.

3 gallons Mountain Dew poured into fermenter

boiled:

2.5 gallons water

4lbs. Munton's light DME

1/2 oz. Cascade 45 min.

1/2 oz. Cascade 10 min.

pitched:

Safale 05





It was a love/hate reception. About a third of those who tried it hated it immediately and the other two-thirds said it was really interesting and then proceeded to empty the keg.

.

All Grain II update III

You wouldn't believe how hard it is to get a good picture through the glass with a bunch of condensate and kreusen all over the inside of it. This is what it looks like tonight:

Anyway, it looks like it's turning into beer at this point. At the pub social, it was theorized that perhaps the dry hops' antibacterial properties managed to keep whatever the weird stuff was from taking control. Sounds good to me. So the photo is through a clear spot in the wall of the glass surrounded by kreusen and is still a little out of focus, but in the middle on the left side you can see the nice bready yeasty normal thing happening.

Here's another photo attempt from earlier today:

All Grain II update II

Sorry about the quality of this picture, but it turned out to be the best of the lot from last night. There's a bit of condensation on the inside of the carboy and that proved difficult to work around.

Still odd looking, but not quite as weird.

All Grain II (update w/pic)

That potentially wild-yeasted beer:
This is what it looked like prior to racking. I tasted it and noticed nothing out of the ordinary. We shall see.

All Grain II

There's a film on top of the wort. The dry hops are underneath the film.

possible problem?

I don't know, but I think it may be wild yeast.

does anyone know?

Thanks to Fred from H.A.M.S. for the brew day at his house last weekend. His homebrewery is AWESOME!

1st time All-Grain

Malt. Mild Ale, Crystal, and Chocolate. All you can really see is the crystal and a little bit of the mild ale.




My humble brewpot:

Saxo, for inspirational purposes:

My humble mash-tun, overfilled. I had to put a bit into the brewpot early so I could close the lid.

A Fuggle plug, for those who don't know. Surpisingly, many homebrewers have only ever seen pelletized hops. I prefer these:

As they say in all the books: a "vigorous boil":

Terrible efficiency, I know, but for my 6 gallons of 1.033 wort I used:

12 lbs. mild ale malt (Munton's)

2 lbs. crystal malt, 80 L

1/4 lb. chocolate malt

1/4 oz. Fuggle in the mash

1/4 oz. Fuggle 1st wort hopped

1/4 oz. Fuggle last 15 minutes, flavor

1/4 oz. Fuggle last 7 minutes, aroma

added 1 lb. sugar to come to 1.040 starting gravity

Wyeast Activator pack of the Ringwood strain. Yes, I did a diacetyl rest in case you wondered, though I'm not sure it was required.

Fermented at ambient temps around 74-76F and finished at 1.004! A pretty classy lawnmower beer, if I say so myself. Did the trick when I got done mowing yesterday, anyway.

Poor extract aside, it turned out to be really good! I'll post some new pics after Independance Day so you can see the finished product.

(edit to add a couple pics 7-7-08)

Last Beer.

The last of the brown bitter, anyway.

Beer.

I made it with ingredients I had left over from last year. You wouldn't know it to taste it, though.

Check these guys out! I have only just discovered what PodCasting is for!

brew notes

Then:

The mead (brewed at Mead Day, courtesy of HAMS club) was not stuck, just extremely slow. It still bubbles, but you really have to wait for it.

The elderberry wine tastes pretty good, could use a little more body, but the majority of the bottles blew their corks out! The gravity was so low, I thought I shouldn't need to sulfite. Perhaps I was wrong, eh?

The gingered ale was a hit. I kegged it with the setup Misty bought me back at xmas '03. It was sweet (not the beer, that was a bit on the dry end).

Now:

I'm letting some apple wine ferment complete before adding cherries for "Reverend Olson's Chapple Wine".

Last night I bottled a "Spiced Solstice Ale". The spice seems a little heavy, but will probably mellow shortly. I figure it will be ready by New Year's Eve. I should have bottled it sooner, but I was recently diagnosed with diabetes and wasn't even sure if I was going to be able to drink it. Turns out that "moderation is the key" to controlling blood sugar, so I am able to hold onto my hobby. Anyway, I used (for the first time ever) a kit. It was English, Munton's "Old Ale", and it was much hoppier than I had expected. The orgininal intent was a Fruitcake ale and I brewed it with ginger, brown sugar, and honey, but the hoppiness killed that idea. Instead I spiced it with a cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg tea at bottling.

Next:

A dry mead. 9lbs honey and champagne yeast. Not sure what else.

more later...