It's been a while since my last post, but I've been busy with vacation and brewing. My latest creation is a saison. I've always loved the saison style. It's a light, crisp, high volume beer, with a dry taste resembling champagne. The best part about homebrewing it is that it ferments at very high temperatures. When I say high, I'm talking between 80-90 degrees Fahrenheit. So it's perfect for a homebrewer with no way to regulate temperature in the sweltering heat of the summer. I found an award-winning recipe online and decided to try it out, with some minor modifications made due to ingredients I had lying around. The most important ingredient, though, is the yeast. I used a French Saison yeast, the 3711, and I have to say-this yeast is a beast. I read a lot about it online before brewing this batch, but even I was impressed. This is a beer with an OG of around 1.070-1.072 (mine came in just below that, at 1.067) and a finishing gravity right around 1.000, so you know the yeast strain has to be good. The recipe recommended just one smack pack of this stuff and I have to say, I was skeptical. I read online that this yeast strain brought the FG down to its expected level in about two weeks. Well in my case, it only took 7 days. My OG was 1.067 and 7 days later it was all the way down to 1.002. The recipe also calls for sugar to be added when the fermentation slows down. I decided to go with Belgian Candi Sugar and the fermentation started up again and lasted about another day or two before dying out again. The FG wasn't affected much, but the alcohol content will be a bit higher since Belgian Candi sugar is 100% fermentable. I carbonated it with 1 oz of corn sugar per gallon to give it a nice, crisp, sparkling character and dry it out real good. It's finished after about 3 weeks in the bottle. More on this below.
To celebrate my saison homebrew. I have been looking for The Bruery's Saison Rue for a while now, but it's always been sold out. It's been billed as one of the best saisons in the country by a lot of publications, and I've wanted to try it so I could compare it to mine. Well, I settled for another one of The Bruery's saisons, Saison de Lente. It's a bit lower gravity that the Saison Rue, but it was fantastic. It has the carbonation of a champagne but was incredibly light at 6.5%. It starts sharp but finishes smooth, leaving spicy notes in the back of your mouth. Today, I went back on my search and found some Saison Rue. It's Saison de Lente's big brother at 9%. I have to say that I was a little disappointed. For as much as it is hyped, I came away with just an okay opinion of it. It's certainly more earthy than any saison I've tasted, and almost had a grassy taste, with not much carbonation, but it finished incredibly dry. I would drink it again, but it certainly wasn't my favorite.
Along with that, I picked up a bottle of Saison DuPont, another saison billed as one of the best in the country. It's a little bit lighter than the Rue, but I liked it much better. When I think of a saison, I think of the DuPont. It's light and crisp, sparkling and finishes dry with a nice heady middle. Also, I bought a new flavor from Victory called V-Twelve. It's billed as a Belgian Ale, but tastes kind of like a saison. It's definitely the heaviest of the ones I picked up at 12%. It's another win for victory (pun intended) as it was a great-tasting beer, but deceptive at such high alcohol content. Last but not least, I finally found some of Dogfish Head's Chateau Jiahu. It's a seasonal beer that comes out around July or August every year and it's possibly my favorite beer that Dogfish brews. At 9,000 years old, it is the oldest known beer recipe. It's brewed with Hawthorn fruit and fermented with grape juice, and it comes in at 10%. It's a bit sweeter than their year-round Midas Touch, but similar in flavor. I also was able to get one on tap at the brewpub before they were all out. Also on the Dogfish front, I was able to grab a couple bottles of their Sierra Nevada collaboration, Life and Limb 2. It's brewed with birch and maple syrup, and it's supposed to symbolize the union of the two breweries or something, and contains live yeast in every bottle (news flash, most good beers do) to encourage aging. Anyway, it's a solid beer, not fantastic, but definitely worth a try. You don't get much of the sweetness of the syrups in the final taste, which is disappointing, but it's still a solid effort from two of my favorite breweries. We'll see how much the taste changes after aging a bottle for a year or two.
As for comparing the different saisons that I tried, I have to say that the DuPont was probably my favorite, with the DeLente coming second and the Rue as my third place finisher. Now, on to my saison. What I was going for with this beer was a sharp, crisp, heady taste, with a dry finish that leaves spicy notes on the back of your mouth. I may be biased, but I think this was the best of the saisons that I tried. It has a medium body, darker than many of the others that I tried, but it has more character as well. The spice from the 3711 yeast hits your taste buds right away and stays with you, but it finishes very dry, begging you to take another sip. I think this could be the best beer that I ever brewed. I also did an experiment with cloves, adding a couple to the final quarter gallon or so before bottling and the spice stands out even more in the final product. Delicious. I did complete one more beer since, my first attempt at a pumpkin beer. I just bottled it Sunday night. More on this later!
E
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Troeg's, Harrisburg Brewers Fest, and homebrew update
Last weekend was my long-awaited trip to Troeg's Brewery and the Harrisburg Brewers Fest. I went with 7 other people, a couple of whom had already been to Troeg's. It's quite a small brewery, as it pretty much only ships beer to the states surrounding Pennsylvania. There's a small bar area when you walk in that has all their year-round beers on tap, including a seasonal (Sunshine Pils) and maybe a specialty (Flying Mouflan FTW). I got a sampler tray, which consists of 3 oz samplers of all 7 beers on tap for $7. And yes, I finished all of them myself before my tour (but it wasn't easy).
The cool thing about the brewery tour is that one of the two Troeg's brothers gives the tour. We got John, who is more into the brewing side of things. It was interesting to hear the story of how the brewery was started. In a nutshell, the brothers were both working jobs they couldn't stand and decided to start a brewpub, but neither of them knew how to brew or how to cook. After some bouncing around in the industry, they decided a brewery was more their style. They started the brewery in 1997 and have been steadily expanding for the last 14 years, although they're still a small business, employing just 49 people in the brewery. They are moving to a brand new brewery in Hershey, PA later this year and selling the current one to a local brewery. It was interesting to hear John speak about Troeg's business, which is basically just, "brew what we like". They have strong ties to the local community and other local breweries in Pennsylvania (they sponsored the Harrisburg Brewers Fest) and the surrounding areas. If you see any of their beer in your local store, pick some up. The Flying Mouflan is fantastic, but my favorite non-seasonal flavor of theirs is their Hopback (but if you ever see Nugget Nectar, GET SOME).
Then it was time for the Brewers Fest. I meant to take some pictures, but after a few beers I didn't even think of it. It wasn't a large event, not nearly as large as SAVOR or the Great American Beer Fest, but there were still about 40 breweries there, including some big names like Dogfish, Stone, and Ommegang. Unfortunately, the selection of beers from the big names left much to be desired. Instead, I found myself trying a lot of the local brewers' offerings. Among the local PA breweries, I tried beers from Yards (Philly), Weyerbacher (Easton), Sly Fox (Collegeville), Victory (Downingtown), Swashbuckler (Manheim), Marzoni (Duncansville), Otto's (State College), Allentown (Allentown, duh), and Iron Hill (various). I can't say I had a bad beer among the lot, but a couple of my favorites were the Hopsolutely IPA from Allentown, the Yakima Glory from Victory (one of my favorite PA breweries), and the 113 IPA from Sly Fox.
As for the out-of-town breweries, I sampled varieties from Fatheads (Ohio), Thirsty Dog (Ohio), Union (California), Oskar Blues (Colorado), Boulder (Colorado), Stone (California), and Ommegang (New York). Some of my favorites here were the Headhunter from Fatheads, the Mojo IPA from Boulder, the Smoked Porter from Stone, and the BPA from Ommegang. Overall, I sampled about 16 or so different beers before we ran out of time. It was a great time and I would definitely do it again, but next year, I want to make sure I hit a bigger event like SAVOR in addition to this one.
As for homebrew news, I finally got to try my Nugget Nectar clone. My wife came up with the name for it, Hoppelganger IPA (trademark pending). The aroma is quite hoppy, but the taste is surprisingly smooth. There is a subtle hop character, but the Nugget hops don't bite the way Nugget Nectar does. There are couple possible reasons for this. First, I think I just need to add more hops in the finishing phase, or even possibly in the flavoring phase. The other thing that I didn't do (because I didn't have the facility to do it) is a hop back. I've read this is possible by using a french press and making what basically amounts to a "hop tea", but I didn't have the equipment for this, so I bypassed it. I think adding this could really bring out that extra hop burst present in Nugget Nectar. Overall, it's a good IPA, but not quite a clone.
I also cracked a bottle of my English Honey Brown Ale last night (name pending) and I think it's really good. There isn't much of a honey taste left, but it's just sweet enough to be enjoyable. It's light, crisp, and dry, and it turned out surprisingly clear for an extract brew. The original and final gravities of this homebrew came out almost exactly to my estimates and this is by far the most perfect beer I've brewed to date. This one is a keeper. I also got to try a couple of homebrews from my friends this weekend. My friend Alex brewed up a hoppy amber IPA called Surly Furious and man was it good. It has an outstanding hop aroma that arrests your nose and just the right amount of hop bite. My friend Steve, in honor of the final Harry Potter movie set for release in a month, brewed one called Harry Porter (and the Wizarding School of Hopwarts), a strong, bitter porter that is just fantastic. My wife said it definitely has a "Dogfish taste" to is, which is pretty much the best complement you can give a homebrewer. My next project is going to be a little more advanced, as I'm going to try my hand at a saison, the perfect late summer beer. I'll update the blog with my brewing experience. Later!
The cool thing about the brewery tour is that one of the two Troeg's brothers gives the tour. We got John, who is more into the brewing side of things. It was interesting to hear the story of how the brewery was started. In a nutshell, the brothers were both working jobs they couldn't stand and decided to start a brewpub, but neither of them knew how to brew or how to cook. After some bouncing around in the industry, they decided a brewery was more their style. They started the brewery in 1997 and have been steadily expanding for the last 14 years, although they're still a small business, employing just 49 people in the brewery. They are moving to a brand new brewery in Hershey, PA later this year and selling the current one to a local brewery. It was interesting to hear John speak about Troeg's business, which is basically just, "brew what we like". They have strong ties to the local community and other local breweries in Pennsylvania (they sponsored the Harrisburg Brewers Fest) and the surrounding areas. If you see any of their beer in your local store, pick some up. The Flying Mouflan is fantastic, but my favorite non-seasonal flavor of theirs is their Hopback (but if you ever see Nugget Nectar, GET SOME).
Then it was time for the Brewers Fest. I meant to take some pictures, but after a few beers I didn't even think of it. It wasn't a large event, not nearly as large as SAVOR or the Great American Beer Fest, but there were still about 40 breweries there, including some big names like Dogfish, Stone, and Ommegang. Unfortunately, the selection of beers from the big names left much to be desired. Instead, I found myself trying a lot of the local brewers' offerings. Among the local PA breweries, I tried beers from Yards (Philly), Weyerbacher (Easton), Sly Fox (Collegeville), Victory (Downingtown), Swashbuckler (Manheim), Marzoni (Duncansville), Otto's (State College), Allentown (Allentown, duh), and Iron Hill (various). I can't say I had a bad beer among the lot, but a couple of my favorites were the Hopsolutely IPA from Allentown, the Yakima Glory from Victory (one of my favorite PA breweries), and the 113 IPA from Sly Fox.
As for the out-of-town breweries, I sampled varieties from Fatheads (Ohio), Thirsty Dog (Ohio), Union (California), Oskar Blues (Colorado), Boulder (Colorado), Stone (California), and Ommegang (New York). Some of my favorites here were the Headhunter from Fatheads, the Mojo IPA from Boulder, the Smoked Porter from Stone, and the BPA from Ommegang. Overall, I sampled about 16 or so different beers before we ran out of time. It was a great time and I would definitely do it again, but next year, I want to make sure I hit a bigger event like SAVOR in addition to this one.
As for homebrew news, I finally got to try my Nugget Nectar clone. My wife came up with the name for it, Hoppelganger IPA (trademark pending). The aroma is quite hoppy, but the taste is surprisingly smooth. There is a subtle hop character, but the Nugget hops don't bite the way Nugget Nectar does. There are couple possible reasons for this. First, I think I just need to add more hops in the finishing phase, or even possibly in the flavoring phase. The other thing that I didn't do (because I didn't have the facility to do it) is a hop back. I've read this is possible by using a french press and making what basically amounts to a "hop tea", but I didn't have the equipment for this, so I bypassed it. I think adding this could really bring out that extra hop burst present in Nugget Nectar. Overall, it's a good IPA, but not quite a clone.
I also cracked a bottle of my English Honey Brown Ale last night (name pending) and I think it's really good. There isn't much of a honey taste left, but it's just sweet enough to be enjoyable. It's light, crisp, and dry, and it turned out surprisingly clear for an extract brew. The original and final gravities of this homebrew came out almost exactly to my estimates and this is by far the most perfect beer I've brewed to date. This one is a keeper. I also got to try a couple of homebrews from my friends this weekend. My friend Alex brewed up a hoppy amber IPA called Surly Furious and man was it good. It has an outstanding hop aroma that arrests your nose and just the right amount of hop bite. My friend Steve, in honor of the final Harry Potter movie set for release in a month, brewed one called Harry Porter (and the Wizarding School of Hopwarts), a strong, bitter porter that is just fantastic. My wife said it definitely has a "Dogfish taste" to is, which is pretty much the best complement you can give a homebrewer. My next project is going to be a little more advanced, as I'm going to try my hand at a saison, the perfect late summer beer. I'll update the blog with my brewing experience. Later!
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Burton Baton, bottling day, and other random things
I finally experienced the joy that is Dogfish Head's Burton Baton the other night. I kept hearing about how good this was and how limited it was, but the funny thing is, there was no shortage of it in Northern Virginia. Every store I went to that sells beer seemed to have it, most notably the Total Wine stores. It's pricey at $14.99 for a 4-pack, but I decided to suck it up and buy a pack because I had to try this stuff for myself. The general gist of this beer is that they brew up an English-style Old Ale and an Imperial IPA. After fermenting the each separately in their stainless tanks, they combine the two in large oak tanks. It then sits on the wood for about a month before it's bottled. The Dogfish Head website says that you should notice citrusy notes from the Northwestern hops melding with vanilla notes from the oak. And that's pretty accurate. The oaky flavor is a nice subtle addition to this smooth ale. I don't taste much of the citrus, as the hops are drowned out somewhat by the oak flavor. But all in all, it's a very smooth beer, not too hoppy (even at 70 IBU) and it has a great finish. I drank my bottle with a steak dinner and it was the perfect compliment. Careful though... this is a 10% ABV beer but does not at all taste like it. Dogfish says this is a good beer to age, so I'm planning on doing just that. I have three left that I'm planning on aging for 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years, respectively. Now let's see if I can wait that long.
I tried a couple of other beers this week as well. I keep seeing this Dogfather Imperial Stout and I see it rated highly so I thought I would try it. I have to say, it's a bit overwhelming. I know stouts are heavy, but this one is very heavy. You can instantly taste the notes of chocolate in this one. I could only have one glass and had to save the rest of the tall bottle. It's good, solid stout though. I had another new one last night, this one from Sierra Nevada. It's their new seasonal Southern Hemisphere Hop Ale. If you're a hop head, get this beer. This beer contains hops imported from New Zealand. See, hops normally ripen in the fall, but it's fall in New Zealand when it's spring in the US. The hops are imported days after the harvest and put in this beer fresh. This is definitely a hop head's beer. The aroma is pure hops and you can smell the freshness. The taste of this one bites you almost instantly. It's a very bitter beer and may even take some getting used to. I personally like that hop bite so this beer was a welcome surprise. And at $4.50 for a tall bottle, it's worth the price.
As for my own beer, I bottled my Nugget Nectar clone last Friday night. I was a little disappointed by the batch size of this one at under two cases (43 bottles). I think I lost a lot in the boil, as it was a 90-minute boil. I also had a lot of trub from secondary due to the dry hopping process. Next batch I make of this will be a 6- or 7-gallon batch. I did sneak a taste of it though and even though it's not carbonated, I think it tastes pretty good. I think I'll crack one tomorrow night to try again and test the carbonation, but the goal is to have this one completely ready for the Harrisburg Brewers Fest on June 18th. I also racked my English Honey Brown to secondary on Friday night. This beer fermented super quick, completing in just 4 days. I gave it an extra day just to be safe, but my thinking is that the yeast went nuts on the honey. It was a fairly aggressive yeast strain as well (Nottingham), but I never expected it to be finished within 5 days. The gravity reading was right on and I'm looking forward to this one as well. I tasted a bit and I think it's going to turn out great. Tasted like a brown ale with just a hint of honey up front. Bottling for this one might happen as early as tomorrow.
That's all for now. The Harrisburg Brewers Fest is taking place in just over a week and I'll be there, sampling beer from up to 40 breweries. I'm also taking the tour of Troeg's Brewery on the same day. I'll take plenty of pictures and post them later!
I tried a couple of other beers this week as well. I keep seeing this Dogfather Imperial Stout and I see it rated highly so I thought I would try it. I have to say, it's a bit overwhelming. I know stouts are heavy, but this one is very heavy. You can instantly taste the notes of chocolate in this one. I could only have one glass and had to save the rest of the tall bottle. It's good, solid stout though. I had another new one last night, this one from Sierra Nevada. It's their new seasonal Southern Hemisphere Hop Ale. If you're a hop head, get this beer. This beer contains hops imported from New Zealand. See, hops normally ripen in the fall, but it's fall in New Zealand when it's spring in the US. The hops are imported days after the harvest and put in this beer fresh. This is definitely a hop head's beer. The aroma is pure hops and you can smell the freshness. The taste of this one bites you almost instantly. It's a very bitter beer and may even take some getting used to. I personally like that hop bite so this beer was a welcome surprise. And at $4.50 for a tall bottle, it's worth the price.
As for my own beer, I bottled my Nugget Nectar clone last Friday night. I was a little disappointed by the batch size of this one at under two cases (43 bottles). I think I lost a lot in the boil, as it was a 90-minute boil. I also had a lot of trub from secondary due to the dry hopping process. Next batch I make of this will be a 6- or 7-gallon batch. I did sneak a taste of it though and even though it's not carbonated, I think it tastes pretty good. I think I'll crack one tomorrow night to try again and test the carbonation, but the goal is to have this one completely ready for the Harrisburg Brewers Fest on June 18th. I also racked my English Honey Brown to secondary on Friday night. This beer fermented super quick, completing in just 4 days. I gave it an extra day just to be safe, but my thinking is that the yeast went nuts on the honey. It was a fairly aggressive yeast strain as well (Nottingham), but I never expected it to be finished within 5 days. The gravity reading was right on and I'm looking forward to this one as well. I tasted a bit and I think it's going to turn out great. Tasted like a brown ale with just a hint of honey up front. Bottling for this one might happen as early as tomorrow.
That's all for now. The Harrisburg Brewers Fest is taking place in just over a week and I'll be there, sampling beer from up to 40 breweries. I'm also taking the tour of Troeg's Brewery on the same day. I'll take plenty of pictures and post them later!
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Black & Blue and Brew Day
I'm a huge fan of Dogfish beers. There aren't many that I have tried that I'm not good friends with (ahem, Black & Red). I've been hearing the hype behind Dogfish Head Black & Blue for a few months now. It's the first time they have brewed this beer and it's a limited release, meaning it could also be the last time. I spent the last couple of weeks casually searching for it, until I went into Total Wine a few nights ago and asked a clerk if they had any in stock. He said they already sold through a shipment and that a Whole Foods in the area had some. Well, wouldn't you know I was heading to the homebrew store the next day and I just so happened to drive right by a Whole Foods. After scanning the shelves for a minute, my heart dropped. None left. But wait! What's that odd-looking bottle on the wrong shelf? You guessed it! It was the last bottle of the stuff. So I took it home, chilled it and cracked it at sunset, sharing half with my wife, Sarah. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that this could be one of my favorite Dogfish Head beers. It has just the right amount fruit flavor (black raspberries and blueberries) and only in the finish. It's incredibly smooth and extremely drinkable. It's a great spring/summer beer, and is best sipped (10% ABV) while in a relaxed environment. Sarah said it's the perfect sunset beer, as we sat on our balcony and watched the sun set. If you get the chance to try it, by all means, do it.
Also on my agenda is brew day. I've recently started homebrewing again. See, I started homebrewing with my buddy Steve but I moved out of state about 8 months ago so haven't done a homebrew since. He's done a couple, with some success, but I'll let him post about that. I have a batch in my secondary fermenter and today I'm putting one back in the primary. In my secondary is a clone of one of my favorite beers of all time, Troeg's Nugget Nectar. This is an outstanding beer for hop heads and is only brewed three months out of the year (February-March-April), so it's out of stores right now. If you've never had it, it's got a crisp, clean taste with lots of hops, but the hops don't overpower your palate. It's finished with a hint of sweet, which is likely the nugget and warrior hops that go in during the dry hopping phase. Mine is dry hopping at the moment and bottling day is coming up next weekend. I can't wait to see how this one turns out.
Today though, is a new creation. Today I'm trying my hand at an English Honey Brown Ale. I've always been a fan of English Browns and Newcastle Brown Ale in particular. I had my list of ingredients for a Newcastle clone but when I went into my LHBS, they had a kit that the owner said is even better than Newcastle, with a bigger flavor. I thought I would take it one step further and add some honey at flameout. My only fear is that the yeast attack the honey, filtering out any sweetness and drying out the beer. But hey, this is why we experiment as homebrewers, right? For the honey, I found all natural honey imported from Germany, complete with honeycomb and all. I really hope this turns out because this honey is top grade and is amazingly sweet. I'm hoping that hints of honey come through in the final product, making this a great beer to please your palate on a warm summer evening.
I'll post results of my brews when they're finished. If you want my recipes, let me know. Until next time.
Also on my agenda is brew day. I've recently started homebrewing again. See, I started homebrewing with my buddy Steve but I moved out of state about 8 months ago so haven't done a homebrew since. He's done a couple, with some success, but I'll let him post about that. I have a batch in my secondary fermenter and today I'm putting one back in the primary. In my secondary is a clone of one of my favorite beers of all time, Troeg's Nugget Nectar. This is an outstanding beer for hop heads and is only brewed three months out of the year (February-March-April), so it's out of stores right now. If you've never had it, it's got a crisp, clean taste with lots of hops, but the hops don't overpower your palate. It's finished with a hint of sweet, which is likely the nugget and warrior hops that go in during the dry hopping phase. Mine is dry hopping at the moment and bottling day is coming up next weekend. I can't wait to see how this one turns out.
Today though, is a new creation. Today I'm trying my hand at an English Honey Brown Ale. I've always been a fan of English Browns and Newcastle Brown Ale in particular. I had my list of ingredients for a Newcastle clone but when I went into my LHBS, they had a kit that the owner said is even better than Newcastle, with a bigger flavor. I thought I would take it one step further and add some honey at flameout. My only fear is that the yeast attack the honey, filtering out any sweetness and drying out the beer. But hey, this is why we experiment as homebrewers, right? For the honey, I found all natural honey imported from Germany, complete with honeycomb and all. I really hope this turns out because this honey is top grade and is amazingly sweet. I'm hoping that hints of honey come through in the final product, making this a great beer to please your palate on a warm summer evening.
I'll post results of my brews when they're finished. If you want my recipes, let me know. Until next time.
First Post!
So I had an idea whilst sipping some Dogfish Head Black & Blue and watching the sunset last night... beer blog! This is probably going to end up being more for me (and the other potential authors that contribute) than anything else, but if anyone else reads this... you're welcome. Anyway, this is a blog that is all about beer. I've become quite fond of beer in the last few years and a couple of my friends and I have started homebrewing with dreams in our heads of one day starting our own brewery. Who knows if that will actually happen? I can say that homebrewing and craft beer have become a big part of my life and I hope to continue this for a long time. Enjoy!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)