A long time ago, in a bar far far away...

Hey R2, lets go get a beer

Can I join you guys?

Yum yum, what rebellion?

Apparently, they like my Scottish 80.  If they drank this instead of building a death star, things would have turned out differently.
Oh and that new camera is pretty cool!

Big lambic brew day

 Today was a busy day. After taking the kids hiking and starting the garden, I completed my first 15 gallon brew day.
 I converted 22# of grain into the wort that will eventually become 10 gallons of lambic and 5 gallons of wheat beer. The wheat being ready MUCH sooner.
You can find the recipe here.

 I seem to always want to push a little bit more out of each brew session. On other brew days I have done two 5 gal brews, partigyle and a 10 gallon batch. Today combined 10 gallons and partyigyle (2 different beers from the same mash)

 With the day already so busy, I didn't want to do a full traditional turbid mash, so I came up with a simpler schedule that should yield similar results. Protein rest at 125, then drained 2qt of very milky looking wort. I boiled this in a separate pot while continuing with the main mash, which I did a sach rest around 155. After draining and sparging to get the first 9 gallons, I even did a mini decoction for the wheat beer. 

This is where you scoop out some of the grains (1/2 gal in this case) and boil those separate from the mash. Similar to the turbid part, but done after the sacc rest, so there shouldn't be any starch. Also, boiling the grains brings out some more malt flavors.

    What comes next?
For the lambic, I am pitching 1 pack of Wyeast lambic blend, slurry and a few oak cubes from last years bath and a bit of a sour starter I have been keeping. This has dregs from a number of commercial sour beers. Sometime over the summer, I will blend with last years to get 6 gallons. This will be split in 3. The first third will age on local peaches; the next on wild Croton raspberries; the last will remain unflavored gueuze. This should leave ~6 gallons from this years batch for longer aging and future blends
The wheat beer gets a pack of wyeast 3068 and should be ready in a few weeks.

My little helper

Dumping a failed beer

It is always a sad day when you have to dump a beer, but for this one it is time to say "good bye". 5 months ago, I got impatient while waiting for ingredients for my barleywine, so I brewed a quick extract batch of English mild.
Numerous things went wrong and in the end, I was unable to save it. I now need the keg space for another beer, so this one goes down the drain.

What went wrong?
  1. Purchased expired wlp002 yeast at a slight discount
  2. Did not use a starter
  3. Had a massive boilover - lost 1/4 of the wort
  4. Ferment took 3-4 days to start. (Probably from #1&2)

The smell out of primary was way off. I would say phenolic. It was sort of medicinal plastic. The flavor matched the off smell and left a plasticky aftertaste. After secondary, the off flavor was not as strong, but it was clear it would not go away on its own. I decided that since this batch was probably ruined anyway, it was time for an experiment.
The wild bugs that ferment lambic and flanders type beers might be able to turn this into something good. They produce other flavors that could cover it up and possibly even metabolize the esters or phenols causing the off flavors. I moved it to my 'sour' keg and pitched the dregs from a couple sour beers. Fast forward 2.5 months and we have...not much better...You probably wouldn't die drinking it, but it is better to dump bad beer than to force yourself to drink something you won't enjoy.

9/39/11. Brew og=1.035
10/9/11. Secondary. G=1.010
10/22/11. Kegged. G=1.005
11/3/11. Moved to new keg and added souring microbes
2/17/12. Dumped keg

Flanders Red - Tasting

It has been 16 months since I brewed this beer. While still young for the style, it has been bottles for almost 4 months now and I thought it was ready for review.  (See recipe at bottom)

Pours with almost no head. Reddish brown with medium clarity.
Fruity brett like mild wild yeast aroma.  Maybe some cherries.
Mild tartness, fruity and refreshing with a hint of malt.  Some Cherry and citrus.
Light and refreshing, with a little carbonation.
It goes down easy. Goes well with a meal, but could also be a summer thirst quencher.  Everyone who has tried it so far says they like it.  I would have liked it to be more sour, more carbonation and higher original gravity.
Lauren says: she liked this one, it wasn't too hoppy or too syrupy, but still has a little sweetness.

About the beer:
I brewed this beer back in September 2010 based off of a recipe on themadfermantationist, which is based from someone else's beer inspired by Roddenbach.  Still early in my all grain days, I came in a bit low with the gravity, but it still came out good. After 1 month in primary, it aged for another 11 months before I bottled.

Flanders red is a Belgian beer fermented with a variety of wild yeast and aged in large oak vats for many months. As home brewers, we can purchase this yeast as the wyeast Rosselear blend. Similar to the organisms used in brewing lambic beer.

Recipe:
  3lbs Rarh pilsner
  3lbs German Vienna
  3lbs German Munich
  1lbs Rahr white wheat
  1lbs Briess Caramel 60L
  1/2 lbs Belgian Special B
Mash @ 157 for 60 min
  1oz German Hellertau (60 minute)
  WYeast Rosalere blend

Notes:
   9/12/10  Brewed   OG=1.045  (poor efficiency)
    9/24/10  G=1.011
   10/10/10 Secondary  G=1.011
    4/16/11 G=1.08
       'Wild' aroma+taste.  Not much sour.  Reminds me of La Roja
       Hazy reddish-brown
    6/22/11 G=1.005 + 1/2 oz med toast french oak
       Cherry pie?  good clarity.  Reddish brown.  not much sour
    9/18/11 - Bottled 4gal + 4oz sugar  G=1.005  ABV=5.25%
       Reddish brown; medium clarity
       Smells of a sour beer.  Taste of sour but not too tart.

Braggot - tasting

Braggot, being a mead, gets more than half of the fermentables  from honey.  The rest are from Malted barley.  Some versions have hops, but even in those it is usually light.  I made this kit just over a year ago.  It spent  almost 8 months bulk ageing before I bottled.

Pours with a small head that lasts a minute or two.  
Slight haze that prevents it from being crystal clear.  The photo makes it look much less transparent.

Aroma of light honey and maybe a little apple?  It does smell similar to my cider...No hops in the aroma.

The flavor has really mellowed over the last few months.  When they say this needs some age, they are right, but the waiting is worth it.  A little cidery floral character mixed with malty alcohol.  Not bad for a 9%abv drink.  Still a little sweeter than I like.

Medium carbonation with enough to feel the bubbles, while leaving it a bit creamy.  Mead often finishes very dry, so it must be the malt balancing it out.  It did finish with a final gravity of 1.025.  Higher than expected.

This is a good sipping drink - perhaps for desert.  It is better than straight mead that I have tried so far - Not that I have had many to compare.
This is not a chugger, but I also don't have any problems finishing 12oz at a time.  Will look forward to see how it develops over the next few years.

12/25/10 - Present from Lauren
     6lbs pilsner LME, 9lbs wildflower honey, 1oz ? Hops 20-min, D47 Yeast
1/1/11 - Brewed  OG=1.095 (Should have been 1.011) (Was over by 1/2 gal)
 2/5/11 - Secondary  G=1.025
       Taste - Interesting ... sweet with a little graininess
4/16/11 - G=1.025.
       Moved to boiler room to warm up.  Also swirled.
       Still a little sweet, but not 'meady'
 6/22/11 - G=1.025
       Good clarity.  flavor mellowing.  light, sweet mead.  bottle soon.
 7/17/11 - Bottled + 3.5oz corn sugar  G=1.025  ABV=9.5%
        6x1L, 1x.5L, 30x12oz
 7/25/11 - Sampled 1st bottle-  Slight hiss, but not carb'd yet.  Little sweet, slight "meady"
       Left a bottle with my sister after helping her move - Joanne said "'Braggot' is delicious!"
 8/14/11 - drank bottle - getting good.  Light honey flavor, not hot at all.
 2/6/12 - This tasting!