Scottish 80 (Oak) Tasting

The beer:  This is the second half of my Scott 80 beer that I brewed up 10 gallons of back in
January.  Full Recipe here.  Tasting for the 'clean' half here.  For this part, I aged it an additional 5 weeks on
1 ounce of medium toast Hungarian oak cubes.
OG=1.049, FG=1.012 ABV=4.75%

Appearance: Pours with a think head whith good retention, which leaves lacing all the way down the glass.
There is a decent clarity through the dark reddish-brown body.

Aroma:  A nice toasted oak aroma.  Some nuttyness. 
It gives it some of the toffee flavor I was looking for in the base beer.
The oak is not overly strong like cut lumber.  Something I have heard too much can give.

Taste: Again, oak is the dominant character here. A little bit of matiness sneaking in the background.  From the oak, I can taste some vanilla, caramel, wood, slight fruitines and maybe some nuts.  Its like a whisky without the burn.

Mouthfeel:   Slight creaminess, but overall a thinner beer. The carbonation is just right to not make it seltzery.  It does leave a slight dryness to the mouth afterwards; this may be from the oak tanins.

Overall:  I think the 1 ounce oak for 1 month was just about right for this.  It could go a little more,
but much more would be way too overpowering.  Much of the subtle characteristics of the base beer are lost in the oakiness, but since the primary goal of this batch was to experience what oak gives the beer, I don't mind that at all.
The extra month of aging did help the beer.  The clean half was kegged too soon and the first few pints
had way too much yeast. 
I will definitely use oak in beer again, although I will probably take a break from it for the summer. 
I might even do this recipe - the only change would be to up the malt character and possibly something to give it more body - Like flaked barley or oats.
I have the cubes I pulled from this currently soaking in some Vodka to make me some cheap imitation whiskey.  It is intersting to see what flavors you can get out of it over different lengths of time.
Some day I would love to work with barrels, but good luck talking the wife into that one!

Notes:
1/29/12 - Brewed 2x5 gal   OG=1.049
  2/15/12 Secondary Oaked Scott 80
     +1oz JD soaked Med-Toast Hungarian oak  
  3/23/12 - Keg FG=1.012    4.75% ABV
     Decent clarity.  Dark reddish brown.
     Nice oaky flavor.  there but not overpowering.  Almost a buttery sweetness to it.
  4/19/12 - This tasting

Zythos IPA - brewing

I thought it was about time to make something hoppy. Over the last 6 months, I have been making malty, roasty or sour beers. With such a long break from hops, I wanted this one to be big. As I was putting the recipe together, I decided to focus more on the citrusy side of American hops, but I soon found out that all of the good ones are sold out until the next harvest (early fall). What I did find was the hop bled from hop union called Zythos. It is apparently a blend of quite a few American hops. I ordered a pound of this and worked 1/2 of that into this recipe. 6 ounces in the boil and 2 more for dry hopping. I needed a malt bill that can stand up to that much hop flavor.
I started with a base of standard 2 row, a pound of caramel 80 (I happened to have some I wanted to use up) another pound of cara-pils and a pound of sugar to top it off. The goal is an ~8% abv beer. Full recipe here. Also with 6oz hops in the kettle, you lose quit a bit of wort, so I planned this as a 6 gallon recipe and will hopefully end up with 5 in the keg.

For today, I wanted to keep it simple and focus just on this one beer. I didn't start the water or crushing the grains until after 9am and I had the chiller going in time to make it to the farmer's market by 12:30. For the most part, the day went smoothly although during the boil, there was some boil over, but strangely no wort escaped, it just pushed all of the hops out. I scooped them back in and kept the fire going. Everything looked like it was going well, but when I checked the gravity, it was much lower than expected. 1.061, which means I only got 60% efficiency. Depending on where it finishes, I may have a 6.5% beer. Not quite as big as I was hoping, but will still be OK.
My daughter really liked sampling the sweet wort. I may have to start making some non-alcoholic malt beverages.

I then used a half gallon of the final runnings to top off my sour cultures and set a couple out in an attempt to capture wild yeast. We will see how that goes...

Second run Heffeweizen - tasting

This is the perfect beer to welcome in the spring - a German Heffeweizen. It is a refreshing wheat beer fermented with a characterful yeast that gives clove and banana esters. This year I did not dedicate a brew day to just this one beer. Instead, I made it from the second runnings from the lambic mash. The difference is that I pulled some for a small decoction. This is where you boil some of the mash before adding it back in. This is supposed to impact the color and flavor, but I cannot really say how as I have never compared two side by side.

Appearance. Pours with a thick pillowy white head that hands around forever. The body is a nice yellowish orange, hazy but with a little more clarity than it should have.

Aroma. Definitely a heffe here. The banana/clove dominates the aroma.

Taste. Tastes of a refreshing wheat beverage with a hint of tartness. No detectable hops. Neither sweet nor bitter.

Mouthfeel. Light creamy texture, which is interesting considering the low finishing gravity and high carbonation. Not sure what is keeping it from being seltzer like, but it is nice. The body is light and refreshing. I am looking forward to some hot weather so I can sit out in the sun with this.

Overall. This is a nice refreshing beer with enough character to not be boring. Considering this was the leftovers from another beer, I save times and money making it. Of course the hops, yeast and some malt extract and propane were not free.
It. Does not have as much of the banana that I was secretly hoping for. Next time I may have to raise the ferment temp.

Notes:
'Recipe' here
  2/20/12 - Brewed 5.3 Gal  OG=1.040
   Fermented cold (~60F)
  3/9/12 - Keg   FG=1.009  ABV=4%
     Great hazi-ness.  Not yeast-murky, but more of a starch haze.
     More clove, less banana, maybe a little sweet.  has potential.  will be good carb'd  

Scottish 80 (clean) Tasting

For this beer I wanted something more malt focused with a toffee sort of flavor but not overly sweet. I was also looking for something that I could make 10 gallons of and oak half of. After some back and forth, I decided Scottish 80 was the right place to start. Low bitterness, very little hop flavor to get in the way, a darker beer in the 5%abv range.
I put together a recipe of base malt, some English caramel malt, roasted barley, some English hops and a dry English yeast (S-04).  I boiled down the first gallon of wort drained from the mash.
   Full recipe here.   Brew day here.
This tasting is for the clean half. The other half is still on oak waiting for a free keg. I hope to have it ready soon enough to compare these side by side, but that is a story for another day.

Appearance:  pours with a thick off white head. The beer is dark but with great clarity. In the light you can see a lot of red. Its much better than the first week of murky, yeasty beer I was getting. I have to be more careful when racking to the keg next time.

Aroma:  Maybe a hint of roastiness with a mild aroma of medium dark malt and a hint of sweetness.

Taste:  Not enough of that caramel toffee flavor that I was so hoping, for but the flavor is nice. Low fruitiness and almost no hop flavor leaves room to taste the subtle malt flavors.

Mouth feel:  This beer has a great creamy start that finishes crisp. Its at the same time silky and refreshing.

Overall:  I really like how this turned out, but am a little sad that I missed the toffee flavor I was aiming for.
It reminds me a little of Smithwicks, which isn't too surprising considering how close this is to an Irish red ale. I have been working to develop a couple house beers to have on tap at all times. This recipe is now in the running. I brought a growler to my father in law's birthday and it was well received.
Can't wait until I can try the oak'd half!

3 way cider tasting

Over the last year or so, I made 4 batches of apfelwein (hard cider). This is basically wine made from apple juice instead of grapes. The first, a 1 gallon test batch is long gone, but today, I get to compare apfelwien II, III, IV. Inspired by this: Man I love apfelwein
I had a gallon of macintosh cider.  Must have been the first one I did.  I would like to do more single variety ciders, but it is hard to find the juice around here.
Disclaimer:  I have never really been much of a cider drinker.  In fact it is usually the last drink of choice when out, so bear in mind, I am no expert.  Not a fan of woodchuck, strongbow or woodpecker.

Apfelwein II	Apfelwein III	Apfelwein IV
Pours with a decent head that fades quickly. Translucent yellow. Like "Cider" but lighter. Streaming bubbles which kick op some sediment.	Massive head taking up 1/2 the glass. This recendes to nothing in a minute or two. Crystal clear apple juice yellow. You can see bubbles streaming up through it.	No head whats so ever. Perfect crystal clear and perfectly still.
Aroma of tart apples with slight cider-i-ness.	This one had a little more of that ciderness in the aroma	Something off...Meaty? Dank? Apples with some off aroma. Hard to place.
Tastes like apple champagne. Slightly tart with an apple flavor that lingers long after you swallow.	Milder apple flavor. Almost tastes like watered down apple juice.	Some apple, but that musty, old yeast? rubber band? flavor distracts.
Has a spritzy champagne like mouth feel	This one has a softer, creamier feel to it. Surprising considering the size of the head, but that could be from the fast pour knocking CO2 out.	Still and flat (Have not carbonated this one yet)
This one is the most interesting of the three. The apple flavors are well represented. Sadly that might have been my last bottle from that batch.	This one is the most drinkable. Not as interesting as the first but goes down too easy. Looks like I had too much pressure in the keg. Lowering that will give a more controlled pour that keeps more CO2 dissolved.	I dumped most of the third glass. It is drinkable if you really need some alcohol, but definitely is not ready. Hopefully some more aging will help here.

Recipes & Notes:
Apfel Wein II
1 Ga 365 Organic unfiltered AJ
6oz sugar, pinch nutrient, D47 yest
4/9/11 - Started OG=1.060
5/13/11 - Bottled 9 G=1.011 ABV=6.7%
+ 1 Sugar cube/bottle
Lots of dissolved co2...
Cloudy + Brett smell?

Cider (Apfelwein) 3:
7/31/11 - Started. vOG=1.058
2xMotts, 3xShoprite AJ, 2# Cane sugar, D47.
Started separate w/ 1/2G AJ + Pinch yeast nutrient. Did not measure G
9/17/11 - Keg G=1.000 ABV=7.5%
Good clarity. apply smell/taste. warming but not harsh. Some residual carb. head fades quick.
Not much trub
9/30/11 - Taste - No head, but medium carbonation. A little cidery, but not bad.

ApfelWein IV
11/4/11 - Start OG=1.060
3Gal Shoprite juice, 2 gal shoprite cider, 1# brown sugar, 1/2# sugar, US-05 from ESB slurry
1/7/12 Secondary G=.0996 vOBR=14.7 BR=5.1 ABV=8.3%
Great clarity. Not bad, but slight plastic? taste? Left on yeast too long?
3/10/12 - Tasting + G=.0996
Aroma and flavor off. rubber? Yeast autalosys?

Kriek 2010 - Tasting

Back in May 2010, I brewed up a batch of Norther Brewer AG Dawson Kriek.  This is a Lambic style ale aged on sour cherries.  These beers can take years, but I was impatient and had this kegged within a few months.  While it was a decent beer, the shortened timeline limited its potential.  I did bottle a few for extended aging.

I also bottled a few blended 50/50 with some NB Belgian Tripel that I brewed in August.  These precious few were dated for sampling at 6 month increments.

This tasting marks 18 months in the bottle.

I could smell the classic lambic funk as soon as I cracked the first one open.  On closer inspection, the kriek did have a bit more cherry aroma.

Both have great clarity and a good sized head, but that faded to a small layer of bubbles in short time.
The kriek has a great pinkish hue, while the blend was more orange.

Kriek still had some cherry flavor to go with the brett funk and noticeable, but not overpowering acidity, which was almost enough to pucker you up.  The blend had a more mineraly flavor and a bit less acid, but still some hint of cherry.  Maybe even a little metallic in the finish.  I did sensed a touch of this in the Kriek also, but not as much.

They both had great carbonation - The blend had champagne like carbonation that made it feel much fuller that it really was, while the kriek had a nice light and spritzy body.

Overall I like the kriek best, which is interesting because when Mike and I sampled these 6 months ago, we both liked the blend better.  It's like candy that doesn't leave a sticky sugar coating in your mouth.
They are both enjoyable beers, but still not as complex as some of the better true Lambics.  Hopefully my current projects will get me closer.
I only have one of each left, which I will be tasting in September.
Notes:
  4/26/10 Ordered
    5/?/10  Brew
    6/?/10  Secondary w/ 2x Oregon can Cherries
    ~7/3/10 Keg-condition
     7/29 - Tasting {Aroma - sour cherries??  Taste - sour, but not too sour  - reminds me of...something 
          one dimentional. all cherry?  feel - smooth, not TOO thin}
    8/19 - Bottled 1 + a 50/50 with triple
    8/25 - Tasting (Still un carbed) {Still not too sour, but flavor mellowing.  Starting to really like it..}
    9/6/10 - 4 bottles to cellar 6/12/18/24 mo Also Carb'd Keg
    9/15~  -  really cloudy from keg, carbonated, but some foam wouldnt clear?  maybe from the shaking try again.
     9/26 - Carbonated (could be a little more), clearing, tasting not bad.  maybe brett flavor?
    10/1 - Tasting - turning nice.  young flavors mellowing, sour starting to show - got a little lemon finish
    ~10/30/10 - Served at Halloween party
    3/1/11 - Bottle tasting - not bad - clear red/brown.  good carbonation.  not much funk, sour -cherry/lemon.  light body
     4/23/11 - Finished Keg.
          Final Taste - Sournes approaching puckering.  Little hint of metallic.  Some cherry, but not much else.
           OK beer, but really could have been done better.  I really did rush it too much.  I needed the carboys for other beers..
   9/10/11 - Tasting - Kriek .vs. Blend
     Tasted both with Mike.  Best after 9/1/11 bottles.
     Kriek - Red, medium clear, little head, tart, some cherry sediment.
     Blend - light red/pink, mediam clear little head, mild tartness, some funk
     Both liked the blend better, but kriek was good too.
      Got some brett funk from the blend.  Kriek was more just sour cherry.
      Both light and drinkable. 
   3/6/12 - Tasting - Kriek .vs. Blend  (This blog entry)

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!