Labels.

I have finally gotten around to making and affixing labels to my recent brews...


From left to right - Bokonon Bitter, Gris (two bottles to show the full label), and Fantome my wild beer. I made the labels myself, copied them at Kinkos, colored by hand, and then attached with a glue stick. I used a glue stick because I read it is easy to dissolve and get the labels off. This is alot better than having 100 identical bottles jammed in my closet!

A sour brew day and improvements to the brewery.

Well, I have made some recent improvements to my brewery. The first seen above is the purchase of some bulk hops. Lately I have been having trouble finding what I wanted at my local home brew store, so I did some reading and went to hopsdirect.com and ordered five pounds of hops. The price at my local hbs has also been a factor, as I have been paying 3+ dollars an ounce for hops.
Including shipping, I am looking at 76 cents an ounce for the hops I got. Not bad. Of course the bad thing is that you can only buy in pound or more increments. I got hops that work with the styles I like to brew and if I do need anything else, I can get them by the ounce at the hbs.
The next, seen above, is a cajun cooker. I got it from a seller on Ebay, but they can be found all over. It is a portable outdoor propane powered burner. One of the major problems I was having with my stove was boiling 5+ gallons of liquid. I had to keep a lid on the pot to get it to boil and keep it boiling. So this 185000 BTU burner should really help there. Today I would say it boiled around 7 gallons in maybe 20 min. Not bad!
And last, a larger brew pot! This is actually an old keg I obtained and cut the top off of using my angle grinder. This way I can do all the boiling in one pot. I have been splitting my all grain batches into a 6 gallon and a 5 gallon pot. It's worked fine so far, but has been annoying.
And onto the brew....
I have been reading a ton about traditional styles made in Belgium, but about those made in America? Unfortunately, much of our brewing history was lost in the great experiment. After prohibition ended, the lager style that is still popular today came in and took over everything.
One style that has been resurrected is California common, which is now brewed by Anchor as Anchor Steam beer. Brewed with lager yeast, but at ale temperatures, this style is a take off on beer that was brewed during the gold rush in the 1800's.
Another style, which I have tackled today, is called Kentucky common. Unfortunately, there are no producers of this style today. My goal was to brew an interpretation of what I understand this style to be using modern ingredients.
So what is it? What I can find -
-Brownish in color
-25-30 IBU's
-25-30% corn
-A percentage of soured malt
-Starting gravity of 1.040-1.050
With that in mind(and knowing what is used in whiskeys in the area), here is what I came up with.
6lb 13oz American 6 row pale malt
2lb flaked maize
1lb flaked rye
3oz chocolate malt
4oz rice hulls
1 oz Northern Brewer pellet @ 60 min
.5oz Amarillo leaf @15 min
.5oz Amarillo leaf @ 2 min
.5oz Amarillo leaf dry hop @ 1 week to bottling.
Wyeast 1056 - American ale
Estimated og - 1.051
Measured ig - 1.005
Final gravity- 1.004
6.25% Abv
92% Apparent attenuation
75% Actual attenuation
32 IBU
4/27/10- Mashed 2 or so pounds of the barley with 6 oz of corn and 3 oz of rye (approx 30% of grain bill) boiled for 60 min. Mashed at 145ish for 90 min. The temp pretty much varied from the low 150s to high 130s during that time. Let this cool down to 120 and then added a handful of grain to introduce lactobacillus. Left this in a cooler overnight to sour.
4/28/10- Boiled the corn and rye with water, burnt to the bottom of the pan a bit, but didn't taste bad. Mashed with remaining barley and rice hulls at 147 for 90 min, added sour mash to this (smelled alot like yogurt as lacto is one of the main bacteria in that) and sparged with 5 gal of 170 degree water. Dropped and broke my hydrometer again. Argh. I need to keep it in one of the lower cabinets. Boiled for 90 min, added to fermenter, straining through a bit of additional Amarillo hops, pitched yeast. At this point it tastes very sweet from the mash, but has a nice sour twang to it, as well as a definite hoppiness. Maybe more than I like. But we shall see.
I used my new burner and pot today. I managed to get a boil over from 7 gallons of wort in a 15.5 gallon pot. Go me. Also that pot when full is pretty heavy. Also the bottom gets very hot and I burnt a few circles into one of our rugs. I didn't even think about that since I have always set my other pot down and nothing happened. Oh well, now I know. I can just spray it down with the hose before I bring it in to cool it. Also installing a tap on the pot would be a great idea. I think once I get used to this system, my brew days will be shorter, though I still ran about 7 hours today. I had gotten used to my two pot boiling system, inefficient though it was.
5/4/10- Racked to secondary (5 gal better bottle). I got a new hydrometer that I hopefully won't drop for awhile. Gravity is at 1.005 which I guess is somewhat lower than I expected but at the low end of the range for what the yeast is capable of. Tastes pretty good, hoppy with a nice carmelly malt finish. Doesn't taste all that sour though. I have some plans forming for another sour mash beer though...
Racked to the secondary fermenter.
Intermediate gravity before racking. I think I will also dry hop this beer. The color looks like it should be a nice copper to red so I got that right at least.
5/11/10- Added .5 oz of Amarillo leaf to dry hop, plan to bottle in a week. Tasting more sour now possibly...
5/18/10- Bottled today with 5 oz of corn sugar boiled in a pint of water, should give me just under 3 volumes of co2. I added a jar of washed b. lambicus to half of the beer. I am thinking this will ferment some of the added sugars and help give it a more rustic taste. I am sure sanitation wasn't what it is today in the 1800's.
At this point I would say it tastes pretty good, though not really all that sour. I get a slight sour tinge right at the end. But it is a good American ale, nice hoppiness, and nice flavor. Despite the low ending gravity, I still find a good malty flavor/sweetness. I think my next sour mash beer will undergo souring in a different container and for a longer period of time. I feel adjusting those two things will give me the more sour taste I am looking for.
After being dry hopped for a week.
Final gravity.
Onto the priming sugar.
In bottles. I got 36/12 oz and 8.5 bombers of around 20 oz. Split that evenly between brett and non brett.Light through a clear bottle. Looks like I did get the nice rich red color I was after.
6/2/10- First tasting of the brett side.

Bitter - First tasting.

I am having the first taste of my bitter today, only a week after bottling and three weeks after brewing. It is nice to do a batch with a shorter maturation period after the several in a row month long plus brews that I have been doing.
In the glass this beer is a vibrant copper color. Little head, but that is fine by me. I don't think you would get a big head from a bitter unless it was nitro'ed or real cask ale. Little carbonation, just enough to feel.
As for taste... This beer is definitely better at cellar temps or around 50 degrees. The second glass had a much better and brighter taste. Nice light malt and caramel sweetness, a light amount of bitterness, floral hop bouquet both in the nose and in flavor. Nice light moderately lingering finish of caramel and malt.
Entirely too drinkable!

Jolly Pumpkin - Oro de Calabaza.

Jolly Pumpkin opened in Michigan in 2004 and has quickly gained a reputation for brewing authentic Belgian style beers. It seems as though their website is currently having some troubles, but I believe they age all of their products for a time in oak before bottling or putting them on draft. This is their take on a biere de garde or strong golden ale, depending on who you ask.
Nice golden color with a big, creamy white head. Lots of lacing as it is drunk, with good carbonation and mouthfeel.
Interesting smell, with a Brett aroma present as well as notes of citrus and other fruity aromas you would expect in a Belgian style beer.
Taste is good. The Brett is definitely there, along with citrus, tart apple, bitterness. Light oak, lingering finish. Very dry as expected for the style and yeasts used. Alcohol content is not present, nice, easy sipping beer. Quite delicious.
My rating: Definitely worth a try
Abv: 8%.
Volume: 750mL/25.4 fl oz.
Website: jollypumpkin.com (apparently marked by google as harmful at the moment)
Price paid: 12.49 at Liquormart.
Number of cans of Bud Light you could buy for the same price: 20.

Brouwerij Girardin - 1882 Gueuze black label.

First off, great stuff! Gueuze is a blend of 1, 2, and 3 year old lambics. Lambic is a type of beer produced in Belgium that is spontaneously fermented, meaning no yeast or other organisms are added by the brewer. It is left open to the air in the building and the environment, where all the organisms needed for fermentation naturally occur. Sipping this beer is like slipping back in time, when fermentation was not understood and all 'beer' was spontaneously fermented.
After inoculation, the beer is aged in oak casks that are also home to all the organisms that can ferment this beer. And fermentation can take a long time, in this case up to and beyond three years.
Another thing that makes Gueuze unique is its method of carbonation. No priming sugar is added. It is not force carbonated. Rather the one year old beer in the blend still contains some unfermented sugars that are eaten in the bottle, producing a very effervescent, champagne like carbonation. In fact, I have read that Gueuze producers consider there to be very little difference between their end product and champagne.
This beer opens with a nice pop of the cork. It pours out golden with streaming carbonation and a white fluffy head that dissipates as the beer is drunk. Nice lacing. Nice citrus aroma, some light funk and oak.
Great mouth feel, with citrus and a pleasant acidity in the forefront. Also the light funk/hay, oak, vanilla. Very drinkable, each taste begs for more!
I have always considered Cantillon and their beers to be the standard for all things lambic, and I would say this beer is right up there with them in quality. I would like to do a head to head tasting some night between several different brands.
My rating: a unique and world class beer. Seek it out.
Abv: 5%.
Volume: 12.7 fl oz.
Website: www.specialtybeer.com/beer,index,girardin_gueuze.html
Price paid: around 9 at Harvest Wine and Spirits.
Number of cans of Bud Light you could buy for the same price: 14.

Brasserie Caracole - Saxo.

Sorry for the crappy pictures, my camera occasionally doesn't work so well anymore.
I remember the first time I had this beer. It was at Monk's Cafe in Philly and I was there with my ex Melissa. They happened to have it on draft. I remembered liking it then, so when I saw a bottle recently, I grabbed it.
The aroma is of hops, citrus fruit, yeast. The first sip finds me thinking this would be a good introductory Belgian beer for those who haven't really had any of the style before. It actually tastes less fruity and more of what you would find in a typical American beer. But then the flavors come in...
Nice head and lacing in the glass, fruit and spice and earthy hop taste. I have read this beer has a small amount of coriander added. Not something you could pick out, but I am sure if you tasted it head to head with the same recipe brewed without, it would be apparent.
Finishes smooth and begs you to drink more. No perception of the 8% abv. A really great example of the style, in fact won a gold medal and exceptional rating at the 2002 world beer championships.
My rating: seek it out. This is a great beer.
Abv: 8%.
Volume: 750 mL/25.4 oz (also available in 33cL/11.2 oz bottles).
Website: www.specialtybeer.com/brewery,index,caracole.html
Price paid: 8.99 at Liquor Mart.
Number of cans of Bud Light you could buy for the same price: 14.

First tasting - Grisette.

A grisette.

Light golden ale, lots of streaming carbonation, little head surviving. Initial aroma of fruity yeast, light oak, little perceptible hop aroma. Tastes much the same. Forward fruitiness, oak after taste(some vanilla/toastiness), more perceptible hop, light astringency, very dry. The dryness is not surprising, as this beer ended up at 1.001, only .001 point above the specific gravity of water. Actually pretty good flavor while still staying very light. I am sure this will be majorly refreshing on a hot summer day, especially after a bike ride or climbing session.
I guess I have pretty much accomplished what I wanted to do with this one. In the future, I would avoid using oak chips and stick with oak cubes. I feel the chips do impart flavor too quickly and it is a bit one dimensional..

First tasting - wild ale.

Tonight I am having the first taste of my wild ale. It pours out very clear yellow, though even with a careful pour, some of the yeast got kicked back up, ending a hazy yellow/tan in the glass. There is little to no head, carbonation might be a little light at this point for my tastes. However, I can see some streaming bubbles in it and feel it dancing on my tongue.
On the nose I get some light brett funk and tropical fruit. The first sip is interesting, with both of those flavors mingling and dancing with each other. Upon swallowing, the brett flavors definitely seem to take over with some leather and maybe tobacco apparent. Maybe a touch of hay as well. The almost 8% abv doesn't come through. Be careful with this one!
All in all, an interesting and good beer. It's something I would buy occasionally if it were made commercially. Not bad for my first all grain batch!

De Dolle Brouwers - Extra Export Stout.

I had this on St. Patricks day. I figured it would be a good way to try something new, while still being able to drink a stout on the day that everyone is Irish.
Brewed in Esen, Belgium by De Dolle Brouwers (the mad brewers) this is an export stout, so it should have a higher level of alcohol and hop rate to ensure its safe passage to where ever it ends up. And looking at the bottle, you can see that it is indeed 9% abv. Quite a bit stronger than Guinness.
Huge mocha colored head when poured that settles down eventually. Very dark beer. Abundant carbonation, seemingly so much at first that it turned into bubbles as soon as it hit my mouth, making it hard to taste. Very complex flavors. Brewed with wild yeast and bacteria, but these are not very present by themselves, but rather add to a whole.
Lots of roasted malt, coffee, chocolate, licorice, spices. Very dry and bitter but highly drinkable on a colder night. The alcohol content does not come through and can catch up to you. Definitely a good alternative to Guinness on St. Pats day, though it is not Irish. Then again, most of the people celebrating St. Pats day aren't Irish either.
My rating: If you like stouts and darker beers and want to try something a little different than everything else, buy this.
Abv: 9%.
Volume: 33cL/11.2 fl oz.
Website: www.dedollebrouwers.be
Price paid: 6.99 at Liquor Mart (a bit more expensive than Guinness).
Number of cans of Bud Light you could buy for the same price: 11.
(My Bud Light estimation numbers are off I realize. From here on I will use the figure of 14.95 for a 24 pack of 12 oz cans or 62 cents a can.)

Bitter.

Bitter is one of my favorite styles, but one that seems hard to find good authentic versions of here. What you should see is a copper/amber color, light malty sweetness, and accentuated hop aroma. You will not see the over powering (in my opinion) hops found in American pale ales and IPAs. Alcohol should be in the range of 3-7% abv, with ordinary bitters being on the low end of that range and extra special bitters (ESB) being towards the higher end.
To me the benchmark of the style of ordinary bitter is Coniston Bluebird Bitter. Brewed with Maris Otter and caramel malts and Challenger hops, this one weighs in at 3.6% abv, and if you ever get a chance to try it, take it!
I brewed a bitter using malt extract several months ago, and it was one of the best beers I have made thus far. Now that I have moved on to all grain brewing, I wanted to try to brew a bitter again in this method. I also wanted to do something that would mature quicker. I am fine to have something take a month plus, but at this point, I wanted something I could have in the bottle in 14 days or less.
This recipe comes straight out of Beer Captured by Tess and Mark Szamatulski. It is their clone of Bluebird bitter, though it does end up with a few more alcohol points.
7.5 lb Maris Otter
7 oz medium crystal
4 oz torrified wheat
.5 oz roasted barley
23 g Challenger pellets @ 60 min
7 g Challenger pellets @ 15 min
7 g us Saaz pellets @ 15 min
1 tsp Irish moss @ 15 min
14 g Challenger pellets @ 2 min
Wyeast 1968
Target og- 1.043-44
Actual og- 1.044
Final - 1.009
4.6% Abv
79% apparent attenuation
65% actual attenuation
4/7/10- 90 minute single step infusion mash at 150 degrees. Had to add some boiling water to bring the temp back up when it dropped into the 140's. Sparged with 5 gal 170 degree water, collected 7+ gallons. I had to do part of the sparging pretty quickly as I noticed it was 330pm and I had to leave the house at 6, and wanted to do a 90 minute boil. Ran the beginning slow, then tried to alternate between some slow and fast running. Ended up only boiling for 1 hour and 15 min, but that worked ok as I was left with 5.25 gal of wort (or so). Hit the target og on the head! Pitched yeast a little hot, 89 degrees. Active fermentation by the next morning.
4/21/10- Bottled today with 2.5 oz corn sugar, aiming for 1.75 volumes of co2. Tastes sooooo good already! Should be drinkable in another week or so.

Final gravity.

A great copper color.

In bottles. I forgot I was so low on bottle caps. I only had 28. Fortunately I thought of this before I sanitized 60 12 oz bottles. I had just enough caps to do 28 bombers.
4/28/10- First tasting.
5/19/10- Second tasting.