Homebrew Update

It's been a while since I dedicated a post to my homebrews. I actually haven't posted about any of the beers I have brewed in 2012. I have done four and two are currently in secondary fermentation in preparation for my sister-in-law's wedding in June.

Achocalypse
I got a kit for Christmas from my mother-in-law (Steve picked it out) and it was for an imperial chocolate coffee stout. It's definitely, based on price alone, one that I wouldn't have sprung for on my own, so it was a good choice. It was my first attempt at a stout and it was a doozy. It came with about 3 lb of specialty grains along with some dry malt extract. Extra additions included unsweetened cocoa bars, unsweetened cocoa powder, vanilla beans, and coffee. Steve and I brewed this one together, on New Year's Eve, before going to the Dogfish Alehouse New Year's dinner in Fairfax, VA. The brew itself was pretty straightforward, except that the grains came uncracked so we had to improvise by throwing them in a coffee grinder (it worked, but I wouldn't recommend it if you can at all avoid it). Also, right near the end of the boil, the recipe called for 8 oz of unsweetened chocolate bars. So basically, we threw in two large bars of chocolate and let it melt into the wort. The wort was as thick as chocolate syrup as it was cooling.

Since this was supposed to be imperial, I made a massive, 2-liter yeast starter that used three packets of a liquid Irish yeast strain. The OG was supposed to be around 1.090, but ended up quite a bit lower at about 1.063, bumping the final ABV from around 9-10% to around 6-7%. It bubbled away happily in primary for about a week before I transferred it to secondary. Then came the interesting part. It had to stay in secondary for about 6 weeks, with numerous additions along the way. I added a couple of split vanilla beans right off the bat to give a slight hint of vanilla (which is unnoticeable in the final product). Then about two weeks later, it called for, basically, a whole canister of unsweetened cocoa powder. I let that sit for another two weeks before bottling. At bottling, the recipe called for coffee. I bought a bag of fresh Starbucks Sumatra coffee beans and a French press, fresh brewed the coffee and chilled it slightly before adding to the bottling bucket and bottling the beer. The reason to add the coffee right at the end is to give it a coffee kick upfront and it was immediately evident. Strong coffee notes up front, bitterness from the chocolate in the middle and a dry, chocolatey finish. Not a bad overall effort, but it was missing something in the way of mouthfeel. Steve suggested we try to add some maltodextrin next time we brew it to thicken it up. I did hit a snag in bottling, as many of the bottles got over-carbonated. I had to crack every bottle, let the fizz pour out, and recap them, then cold-crash to halt carbonation. What a mess. Overall grade: 7/10

Hoppelganger
This is a beer that I brewed in June of 2011, but I tweaked the recipe a bit this year. Last year's was OK; this year's was pretty phenomenal. This beer is modeled off of one of my personal favorite IPAs, hence Hoppelganger, but this batch turned out to take on characteristics of its own. In fact, it didn't taste much like its "doppelganger" at all this year, which made me even happier. This beer contains 4 different kinds of hops and two dry hoppings in secondary. The aroma is to die for for any hop head. Lots of floral, citrusy head to this one. The only thing better than the aroma is the first taste. It tastes more like a west-coast IPA than an east coast one (which is funny, because its "doppelganger" is decidedly east coast), with lots of light citrus and floral notes throughout, light carbonation, and a dry finish. This was a huge hit with my friends and family, with several people requesting more. All in all, it was all gone within a couple weeks. My one friend said that if I ever start a brewery, this beer has to be one of my regulars. Overall grade: 9/10

Saison Cerise
This is an exciting one for me. I brewed a Saison last summer that was a big hit. It was a farmhouse style saison with lots of earthy and grassy notes and a strong French saison yeast strain that imparted a lot of spiciness. This beer is basically the same recipe, with a couple twists. I tweaked the grains slightly, but for all intents and purposes, it is the same as last year's saison. This year, however, I am experimenting with a little thing called Brettanomyces for the first time. Northern Brewer sells a couple strains of Brett now and the Lambicus strain looked perfect for what I wanted to do: a sour cherry saison. I was turned onto this idea last year when reading an issue of Zymurgy detailing saisons and all the different ingredients you could add to them. I love cherries so I figured it would be a perfect opportunity to try something new. The Brett will turn this super earthy saison into a sour, and the Lambicus strain is for use in Belgian styles and imparts a cherry pie like flavor along with the funk that comes with using Brett.

I brewed this beer about two months ago and it's currently sitting in my secondary fermenter. I was dead-on with my gravities and I used a yeast starter even with the beastly WLP3711 yeast strain. It fermented clean down to almost an even 1.000 within 4 days. I transferred to secondary and added a 3 lb. jar of sour cherries, along with the Brettanomyces Lambicus. The Brett went to work almost immediately, along with whatever yeast was left from primary. I actually thought that I would need to install a blowoff on my secondary fermenter because the wort was bubbling almost up through the airlock within hours. It eventually settled down and now the Brett is slowly working on the remains of the cherries, which are now more white than red. I am planning on throwing in another 1-2 lbs of fresh sour cherries when they come into season. I expect this beer to turn out around 9-10% ABV and have a very earthy, sour, cherry flavor. I tasted a bit a week ago and all I can say is: so far, so good.

Hoppily Ever After (or, 115th Dream Hopbursted IPA)
I don't normally buy kits, but I spotted this one on Northern Brewer a couple months ago and had to try it. The thing that caught my eye: a pound of hops. That's right, one whole pound of hops. And it's all in the boil. Six different hop additions included in this one and, from what I can tell, about 4 or 5 different varieties of hops. This kit came with a giant bag labeled "Hopburst hops", which was a combination of four different hop varieties. It's a proprietary blend, but I am pretty sure I know which hops come in the bag. The other curious thing about this beer is that there are no specialty grains. It came with 12 pounds of liquid malt extract and 6 pounds of that came as a late addition with 15 minutes left in the boil. In order to thin the beer, it called for 2 pounds of corn sugar at flameout. This was by far the strangest boil I have done so far. I decided to go with dry yeast for this one and it worked out great. My OG was almost spot-on and the dry yeast kept it bubbling for 11 straight days. It was actually still going when I transferred to secondary, but I had to get it transferred so it could start the clearing process. It actually bubbled in secondary for a day or two and settled down to a good gravity that should yield about a 9.5% beer. When I transferred this beer to secondary two weeks ago, the first thing I noticed was a lack of hop aroma. It has a very light hop aroma, which is surprising considering there is a whole pound of hops in there. I think I might do a dry-hop just to give it a little head. I'm really excited about this beer.

My fermenters are full for now, but I'm planning on brewing more in June and July, and I may even try a mead this summer (my wife has been wanting to try one for a while now). More updates to come.

Unleash the Beast

My last post focused on a very special tasting of a very special beer called Founder's KBS. This time I'll be tasting another very special beer, Avery Brewing's The Beast Grand Cru. It is "brewed with Rocky Mountain water, two-row malted barley, honey malt, and imported Belgian specialty grains (aromatic, pale wheat, roasted wheat, and Special B), hops (Magnum, Galena, Saaz, Hallertau, Tettnang, and Hersbrucher), brewing sugars (raisins, dates, blackstrap molasses, alfalfa honey, turbinado sugar, and dark Belgian candi sugar), and a hellion of a Belgian yeast strain." Phew. They make this beer every year and have since 2004, with slight modifications each year. The one I am tasting is the 2011 version, which was brewed last August. This one is the second-highest it's ever been in alcohol content at 16.83% ABV. Woof. I'll literally be giving tasting notes as I taste it for the first time, so here goes.

It pours a beautiful dark amber hue with a small foamy head. I'm using a snifter for tasting this one. First thing that comes to mind is how little sediment there is for having so much sugary content and hop. The smell is super sweet and I can instantly catch whiffs of raisins, dates, and sugar, and perhaps some honey. First taste: wow, very dark and roasty, with a strong alcohol middle and a sweet, dry finish. Definite notes of raisin and date, and a little bit of a dry honey finish with next-to-no hop flavor. You can definitely tell that it is high in alcohol content by its middle. This beer reminds me a lot of Dogfish Head Raison d'Extra. It has similar ingredients but is maybe slightly more complex. The main taste is very similar though, as both feature a heavy raisin taste throughout. The honey, dates, and extra sugars are what sets this beer apart from Raison d'Extra though. The more I taste, the less roasty it feels. The mouthfeel is thick and is something that lingers on the palate. This is definitely a fantastic beer and it's one I'll be trying to find again to age. From what I have heard, it is even better when aged for a couple years. I'm going to go finish this beer. I'll post another update soon on my latest homebrew adventures.