Pour un Pugno di Luppolo- retasting.

This is my 'Fistful of Hops' ale that I brewed last summer(6/16/10). I was inspired by a bottle of my Grisette that had been infected with Brett, and though that was completely accidental, I really liked the taste of it.
Tasting 4/25/11-
Cloudy lemon color. Great foamy white head that left nice lacing in the glass. Ample, streaming carbonation.
Brett aroma, citrus, earthy hops, dry, dusty.
Earthy brett taste. Soil, hay, citrus. Highly carbonated, light mouth feel. Champagne like effervescence. Short finish, but some hanging on flavor remains with you.
Still drinking ok, but from my previous tasting, it seems like the remainder should be drunk soon.

Ligne Maginot- First Tasting.

This is what I have decided to call my beer/wine blend. The Maginot line was a series of fortifications erected by France on their shared border with Germany after WWI. The idea was that the line would protect France from another invasion. Well, WWII rolled around and after a brief siege, Germany invaded Belgium and from there headed south into France, completely outflanking all of France's protection. This went down in history as one of France's greatest military blunders.
This beer pours a slighty hazy golden color. Ample, streaming carbonation, but no head. Brett is definitely apparent in the aroma- tropical fruit, nuts, hay, a little barnyardy.
The beer definitely tastes more 'beery' than it smells, by which I mean more like a beer brewed with a captive yeast strain. A nice nuttiness and hay continue into the flavor, with nice carbonation and mouth feel. I am not sure how much the wine really adds, but I am sure if you had some without to taste against this, you would notice the difference.
All in all, I would say I am happy with the results, and it is an experiment worth repeating.

An experiment in blending wine and beer.

This is probably the only week I will be able to brew in August due to family visits and fermentor space. I have been kicking this idea around for awhile, and I figured now would be a good time to get around to it. In the beer I am using a 100% Pilsner malt, light hopping, and fermenting with Brett C. which should produce tropical fruity esters.
To the secondary I will add 1 oz of medium toast Hungarian oak cubes that have been soaking in Reisling, as well as 1-2 bottles of wine. I am also thinking of Alsatian Riesling, as those seem to have some of those fruit characteristics and will have less sweetness to them. Another good bet and maybe a better option would be an unoaked Chardonnay.
11 lb German Pilsner
1.5 oz Crystal leaf @ 90 min
.5 oz Crystal leaf @ 0 min
5151 Brettanomyces Claussini
1-2 bottles of wine added to secondary
1 oz medium toast Hungarian oak cubes added to secondary
Og- 1.052
Fg- 1.001
6.8% abv
80% attentuation.
8/10/10- Made starter for washed jar of yeast.
8/11/10- Mash at 148 for 90 min. Sparged with 6 gallons of water. 90 minute boil. Hops clogged spigot several times when moving to primary fermentor.
9/1/10- I still have yet to get another secondary fermentor, so I am going ahead with this in the bucket for the time being. Today I added the oak cubes that were boiled in water for 30 min and then soaked in Riesling for a few weeks. Look at what the wine looked like after...
It tasted pretty nasty. Very oaky, tannic, and astringent. It is always a good idea to soak your oak in some sort of alcohol so those hard flavors don't end up in your beer. Something neutral can be used if you don't want the soak to add any flavor itself. I also added a bottle of white Burgundy. This is an unoaked Chardonnay that should compliment the flavors present in the beer pretty well. I bought a second bottle if I need to add more.
10/22/10- Bottled with 5 oz corn sugar and reyeasted with 2 packets of Safale 33. Looked like the yeast I used to ferment had been killed from the sulfites in the wine. Very interesting taste.

Bavik- Petrus Aged Pale.

Yum! Petrus is made by Bavik in Belgium. I am under the impression that this is one of the larger brewers in that area not owned by Heineken or InBev. Looks like that is correct. Good for them.
This beer is great. This is what Bavik uses in the blend that becomes their old bruin. The late Michael Jackson (the beer writer) suggested that they release this brew all on it's own. Good idea.
It is aged in oak barrels for 20 or more months before being bottled. Of course that can make it a little pricey, around 5.50 for a 11.2 fl oz bottle. However, this seems to be pretty even in pricing with other sour ales from Belgium and you don't have to open and drink a 750mL/25.4 oz bottle in one sitting.
The first whiff I get is that of a fine cider. Tart, apply, with maybe a touch of lemon.
Very pale clear yellow, with some yeast dregs remaining in the bottle (added this to my saison). A thin white head that stays with it to the end. Little to no lacing.
The taste is similar, pretty sour but not in a bad way. It is actually very refreshing. Alcohol is not noticeable. Very vinous in some ways, probably good for wine or champagne fans who 'don't like beer'. The carbonation is nice, abundant, not too much though. Pretty dry and light bodied. Light bitterness. After you swallow you get an amazing taste of oak that just takes over your whole mouth. Lingering vanilla and oaky finish.
Michael Jackson was onto something.
My rating: I would put this in my 10 best of all time.
Abv: 7.3%.
Volume: 11.2 fl oz.
On teh interwebz: Bavik.be
Price: 5.50 at Liquor Mart.
Number of cans of Bud Light you could buy for the same price: 8, almost 9.

Avery Brewing Co. - Depuceleuse.

I have no idea how to even pronounce the name of this beer and I'm not going to try. But wow.
It is hard from that photo to see the coloration of this beer, I'd say mahogany about does it. Light white head that quickly dissipates. Aroma of tart cherry, Brettanomyces funk, reminds me of some kriek lambics. The gravity sets it aside from those however.
First sip is great - tart cherries in the forefront, Brett and light malt up in there too. Good carbonation, really dances on the tongue. Great flavor, long lingering finish. Great sipping beer.
I have had some good Avery beers, but this one is a must try. Yeah you'll pay eight dollars or more for a 12 oz bottle, but it is worth it! I would like to try to do something similar. Now is probably the time as I know that Wyeast has Brett Claussenii out as a VSS strain and that is used by some brewers in the area. Not sure if that is what is used in this or not.
My rating: seek it out! Call your local liquor store, and if they don't have it, force them to get it for you!
Abv: 9.59%
Volume: 12 fl oz.
Website: Averybrewing.com
Price: 8.49 at Liquor Land.
Number of cans of Bud Light you could buy for the same price: 13.

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!

In the beginning...

This week I bottled one of my firsts - my first all grain batch of beer as well as my first beer brewed solely with Brettanomyces. The recipe came from Wild Brews, and other than using a different yeast strain that he suggests, it is pretty much right out of the book.
10 lb Pilsner malt
11 oz white wheat malt
5 oz acidulated malt
2 oz crystal pellet @ 90 min
.5 oz crystal pellet @ 2 min
Wyeast 5526- Brettanomyces Lambicus
Target og- 1.060
Actual og- 1.063
fg- 1.005
7.85% abv
91% apparent attenuation
75% actual attenuation
2/17/10- Mash at 148 for 90 min - temperature actually rose into the low 150's near the end. Sparge and boil for 90 min. Chilled and added to fermenter with yeast.
2/19/10- No visible fermentation activity.
2/20/10- Late in the evening, finally visible fermentation. Bought a second yeast strain just in case this didn't happen. In a water bath at 78 degrees.
2/26/10- To secondary. Gravity at 1.006. Tastes yeasty, slightly sour. Moved to garage to cold age.
3/20/10- Tasted twice since moving to secondary. Very fruity upfront, with a long, lingering finish similar to red wines - leather, hay, tobacco. Flavors developing. Temps in the garage have varied, but I would say the average is in the low 40's with lows in the 30's and highs in the 50's.

Cold aging in the garage.
3/25/10- Bottled with 3.75 oz corn sugar. Got 4.25 gallons or 44/12 oz bottles. Can't wait for it to carbonate!

In bottles.

Clearing and carbonating.
4/11/10- First tasting.