BEER! I'll tell you why it's awesome!

Kasteel Tripel

2011-11-08T23:31:00.005-05:00

Triples are known to be strong, yeasty and malty. Tripels Pale in comparison to other Belgian styles, but with a more notable hop profile.

Brewery: Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck
Beer: Triple
Style: Belgian Triple
ABV: 11.0%
Price: About $3.89 USD

This beer pours hazy yellow/orange with a dense white head. Aroma is malty sweet and yeasty, with notes of fruits and spices. Flavor is "in your face" cloves, oranges, coriander and yeast. This beer has a certain complexity to it. The spices seem perfectly balanced. Phenomenal across the board. I almost want to believe this beer could end wars. The sensations my brain is receiving are surreal, if my mouth could orgasm, it would have done so at least ten times now. Palate is light, carbonation is lively. Flavor wise, the alcohol isn't detectable until the beer warms. Your stomach will know otherwise : )

Aroma: 7/10
Appearance: 5/5
Taste: 9/10
Palate: 5/5
Overall: 17/20
Final Score: 43/50

Hoppin' Frog's Outta Kilter Wee Heavy Scotch Style Red Ale

2011-11-08T00:23:00.005-05:00

Out of all of the styles of beer, the Scotch Ale is one that never seems to grow tired on my palate. There's just something about it's bold maltiness that excites my taste buds time and time again.

Brewery: Hoppin' Frog
Beer: Outta Kilter Wee Heavy Scotch Style Red Ale
Style: Scotch Ale
ABV: 8.2%
IBU: 23
Price: $7.99 per 22oz bottle

This beer pours a clear deep amber/red color with a thin off white head. Aroma is caramel, more caramel, malt, and slightly fruity. Flavor is very sweet, with some caramelization and a hint of fruitiness from the yeast. Body is medium with a slightly oily texture and light carbonation. As this beer warms the alcohol becomes more evident.

Aroma: 7/10
Appearance: 3/5
Taste: 8/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall: 15/20

Final Score: 37/50

This beer may not perfectly fit the Scotch Ale category, I didn't really get any roasty notes on this beer. Ignoring the style constrains for the scoring this is a fantastic beer.

Brasserie Lefebvre's Hopus

2011-08-11T00:02:00.003-04:00

I think I'll devote this month to Belgian Beers. Why, you ask? THEY ARE AWESOME, that's why.

Brewery: Brasserie Lefebvre
Beer: Hopus
Style: Beglian Strong Ale
ABV: 8.3%
Price: ~$4-$5 USD for 330ml bottle

This beer pours a light hazy golden color with the a fluffy white head that never seems to diminish. The aroma very sweet/malty, with a buttery hop presence. Flavor is very sweet, with hints of coriander. The finish is somewhat spicy, dry, maybe even acidic. Texture is somewhere between medium and heavy.The aftertaste is quite nice, a combo of malty sweet and hop bitterness.

Aroma: 7/10
Appearance: 3/5
Taste: 7/10
Palate: 3/5
Overall: 13/20

Final Score: 33/50

La Trappe Quadrupel

2011-05-16T23:36:00.002-04:00

What's better than a trappist quadrupel? Not much my friend, not much. La Trappe is the only trappist brewery not located in Belgium. Fun fact, there are only 7 trappist breweries. Let's see what these monks have come up with.

Brewery: De Koningshoeven (La Trappe)
Beer: Quadrupel
Style: Abt/Quadrupel
ABV: 10.0%
IBU: 25
Price: $5-6 11.2oz bottle, $11-$12 25.4oz bottle

This beer pours a deep copper, almost red color with two fingers worth of off white head. Aroma is full of dark fruits (plums, pears, and cherries come to mind). This beer has a very deep and complex aroma, full of deep esters. Flavor is sweet, fruity, with a hint of spice from the yeast. The aftertaste is plums and alcohol. Body is medium with a good amount of carbonation.

Aroma: 9/10
Appearance: 5/5
Taste: 8/10
Palate: 3/5
Overall Score: 17/20

Final Score: 42/50

Hoppin' Frog's Turbo Shandy Citrus Ale

2011-05-12T00:38:00.000-04:00

Since summer is here, it's time to pound out a new round of seasonals. You might be asking yourself, wtf is a shandy? I pondered the same thing as I stood in line for a beer at a baseball game last summer. I was greeted with a beer that resembled lemonade. Today I shall be reviewing Hoppin' Frogs Shandy, which happened to be bottled this week (SUPER FRESH!).

Brewery: Hoppin' Frog
Beer: Turbo Shandy Citrus Ale
Style: Fruit Beer
ABV: 7.0%
IBU: 7
Price: $7-$8 per 22oz bottle ($28 at progressive field, eek!)

This beer pours a light shade of gold with a thin white head. Aroma is sweet with lemon being the only thing I can detect. Flavor is lemony with a hint of maltiness, has a very sweet aftertaste. The body medium with light carbonation. Note to self, this beer goes down easy, especially on a hot summer day. A 22oz bottle of beer @ 7% ABV + dehydration from being outside is a bad combo.

Aroma: 7/10
Appearance: 3/5
Taste: 6/10
Palate: 3/5
Overall Score: 12/20

Final Score: 31/50

Something different...an unreleased, unnamed batch of beer

2011-05-11T01:07:00.002-04:00

An opportunity came up recently, one that allowed me to get my hands on a sample of beer that won't be released for production until next year. To make it more mysterious, I won't reveal the brewery, or its potential name, just to keep your imagination running wild.

Brewery: ████████████
Beer: ████████████
Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 9.4%
IBU: 60-70?
Price: Not set yet

This beer pours a pitch black with a thin, dark tan head consisting of the tiniest bubbles conceivable. The aroma is mostly whiskey, with chocolate, roastiness, and caramel in the background. Flavor is balanced between whiskey and chocolate. The aftertaste is mostly chocolate. Mouthfeel is heavy, the beer leaves a thin black film on the glass. As this beer warms, the alcohol becomes noticeable. If you love a good aged stout that is not sweet, nor bitter, with a bold flavor, ████████████ from ████████████ brewery is a beer to look out for in the future.

Aroma: 9/10
Appearance: 5/5
Taste: 9/10
Palate: 5/5
Overall Score: 18/20

Final Score: 46/50

Old Man Pale Ale

2011-05-06T15:56:00.004-04:00

I thought I'd change things up this time, and share a recipe I've made for the ultimate session pale ale. This recipe leans on the malty side, making it great transition for those who are only familiar with piss water.

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: Safale US-05
Yeast Starter?: No
Batch Size: 6.0 Gal
Original Gravity: 1.055
Final Gravity: 1.013
IBU's: 23
Boil: 60 minutes
Fermentation: 65F for 3 weeks

Grain Build
9 lbs 2-row malt
2 lbs Vienna malt
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal 20L malt

Mashing (Batch sparge)
I use 1.33qt/lb, using hard water
1 hour @ 152F, drain
10 minutes @ 170F, drain

Hop Additions
60 min, 1.5oz Cascade 5.5%AA
20 min, 0.5oz Cascade 5.5%AA
05 min, 0.5oz Cascade 5.5%AA

Other Additions
15min, 1/2 whirlfloc tablet

Bottle Carbonation
4.3oz table sugar to achieve 2.3 volumes of CO2,
let sit at room temp for 3 weeks to fully carbonate
keep in fridge for another week to prevent chill haze

or

Keg Carbonation
10-11psi @ 40F, ready in 1-2 weeks

This recipe costs about $20 to make 6 gallons
If you are bottling, this recipe has a 6 week turnover rate.
If you are kegging, you can knock that down to 4-5 weeks.

Great Lakes Holy Moses White Ale

2011-05-04T00:26:00.002-04:00

Even though it doesn't feel like summer where I live, why not buy a 12 of a local summer seasonal and have a good time. ^_^

Brewery: Great Lakes Brewing Co.
Beer: Holy Moses White Ale
Style: Belgian White (Witbier)
ABV: 5.4%
IBU: 30
Price: $9 6-pk 12oz/$16 12-pk 12oz

This beer pours a straw color with a fingers worth of head. Aroma is spicy with notes of coriander and citrus. Flavor is full of wheat, coriander, and a hint of orange. Body is light with an average amount of carbonation. Finish is dry and lightly spiced. I'm not a huge fan of wheat beers, but this one seems to do a good job of covering up what I dislike (or there's not much wheat in it). As I'm writing this I'm on my 3rd bottle and has yet to become dull, (easy to drink).

Aroma: 6/10
Appearance: 4/5
Taste: 7/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall Score: 13/20

Final Score: 34/30

Shorts Uber Goober Oatmeal Stout

2011-05-02T23:35:00.003-04:00

I am back, how exciting! In my absence, I have had many excellent beers.

One of the more odd beers I encountered includes a Sweet stout brewed with peanuts.

Brewery: Shorts Brewing Co.
Beer: Uber Goober
Style: Sweet Stout
ABV: 6.5%
IBU: ?
Price: ?

This beer pours a very very dark brown with a thin tan head. Aroma is full of peanuts and chocolate nibs. Aroma is robust with a strong roasty presence. Taste is bitter from roastiness, with a slight sweetness to it. Body is medium with a creamy texture. The finish is surprisingly dry and not very clingy, making this an easy beer to drink. Nicely Balanced and very interesting, though it feels like the chocolate and peanuts didn't combined as well as I was hoping.

BTW: Yes, that is a peanut wearing a cape on the label. (lol)

Aroma: 7/10
Appearance: 4/5
Taste: 7/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall Score: 15/20

Final Score: 37/50

Dogfish Head Miles Davis Bitches Brew

2010-11-21T20:15:00.003-05:00

Tonight on the Discovery Channel, a new series titled "Brewmasters" will be aired. It will follow the brewmaster of Dogfish head around. To celebrate this series (which is going to air in a tad under 2 hours from now) I decided to bring out a special beer from Dogfish Head.

I'll do some copying and pasting from their website to give the overall gist of this beer.

"In honor of the 40th anniversary of the original release of Bitches Brew, Miles Davis’ 1970 paradigm-shifting landmark fusion breakthrough, we’ve created our own Bitches Brew - a bold, dark beer that’s a fusion of three threads imperial stout and one thread honey beer with gesho root, a gustatory analog to Miles’ masterpiece."

Brewery: Dogfish Head
Beer: Miles Davis Bitches Brew
Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 9.0%
IBU: 38
Price: $13 for a 750mL bottle

This beer pours pitch black with a large creamy off color head. Aroma is huge on cocoa, roasty notes, a tad of honey, and a hint of coffee and caramel. The first sip reveals roast dark malts, a floral like honey, and a touch of earth tones. The body is medium with a smooth, almost oily texture. Carbonation is on the lesser side. This is one very interesting brew. It has a complex flavor to say the least.

Aroma: 8/10
Appearance: 5/5
Taste: 8/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall Score: 16/20

Final Score: 41/50

Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold

2010-11-18T20:01:00.003-05:00

Well, after having suffering through that pack of pisswater, I needed to have a good lager. I'm not talking about the typical "great" american lager here, I'm talking about the Dortmunder/Helles style of lager. For those of you who want something with some backbone, give this style a try, it'll be a nice step up from anything that is massively commercially available.

For those who are unfamiliar with the style, A dortmunder/helles is a pale lager with a bready maltiness to it, with an ABV around 5-6%. They are known for a super clean flavor and easy to pound down.

Brewery: Great Lakes Brewing Company
Beer: Dortmunder Gold
Style: Dortmunder/Helles
ABV: 5.8%
IBU: 30
Price: $9 / 6pk 12oz bottles, $16 12pk 12oz bottles

This beer pours a deep gold with a nice white head. Aroma is slightly malty, very sweet, and has a hint of hops. The first sip is heavenly, revealing a very sweet, smooth malt backbone with just a hint of bitterness. The malt flavor is more grainy than caramel. The carbonation is lively, keeping the mouthfeel on the lighter side. What gets me every time I drink this, is that it still tastes great as it warms up. I haven't had too many lagers that do well past 55F. The other thing that makes this beer stand out is how balanced it is. 30IBU's is bitter enough to turn someone away from a beer. The extra malt in this brew keep it very balanced.

Aroma: 8/10
Appearance: 9/10
Taste: 8/10
Palate: 3/5
Overall: 16/20

Final Score: 39/50

When I was younger, this was the first beer to introduce me to something other than cheapass pisswater. Even today, there's something about this style that never lets me down. Sure, it may not seem as magical as the first sip, but it is without a doubt one hell of a fine beer.

For the lulz, I present you, Genesee Beer

2010-11-17T03:06:00.003-05:00

I don't know why I bought this beer, other than the fact that I had never seen it. The price was something around $2.50 for a 6 pack of 16oz cans, so I had absolutely no expectations whatsoever. I figured, why not? I keep drinking all of these awesome beers, why not balance it out and drink some piss water so I can further appreciate the good stuff.

Brewery: Genesee Brewing Company
Beer: Beer (no, I'm not kidding on the title of it)
Style: Pale Lager (piss water)
ABV: 5.0%
IBU: ?
Price: $15 / 30pk 12oz cans, $2.50 6pk 16oz cans

Opening a can of this was a mistake. Notes of ass and corn comes to mind. This beer pours a pale straw color with a fingers worth of white head. Aroma starts to lean towards sweet corn and grain. The first sip/gag revealed abosolutely nothing the aroma didn't already tell me. Corn, corn, and lastly, corn was the flavor. I'm not talking about a pleasant corn flavor, I'm talking about corn that should only be used as livestock feed. Yeah, it's pretty wretched. As this beer warmed to 40F, the flavor became even worse. Mouthfeel is light, with a decent amount of carbonation to try to hide the terribleness that is this "beer".

After suffering through a can, I went to Genesee's website to figure out exactly wtf they put in this "beer". Here's a quote.

"Fully kraeusened to produce carbonation naturally for a clean, smooth taste, "Genny" is brewed with six-row barley malt, corn grits, hops from the Yakima Valley and Genesee’s exclusive bottom-fermenting yeast"

I started to cry once I got to the "clean, smooth taste" part.

I'll try to judge this beer as fairly as I can for its style.

Aroma: 2/10
Appearance: 2.5/5
Taste: 2/10
Palate: 2.5/5
Overall: 4/20

Final Score: 13/50

If you had a choice between drinking water out of a ditch vs a can of genesee, I'd call it a draw.

Hoppin' Frog Frosted Frog Christmas Ale

2010-11-15T20:14:00.003-05:00

Yeah yeah, I know. Another Christmas ale review. Despite it being half way through November, how could I possibly resist the urge to have Christmas early?

Brewery: Hoppin' Frog
Beer: Frosted Frog Christmas Ale
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable Beer
ABV: 8.6%
IBU: 12
Price: $7.99 / 22oz bottle

This beer pours a dark amber with a quickly disappearing white head. The aroma really hits you hard. Ginger, vanilla, cinnamon, all of which are perfectly presented. Mouthfeel is heavy, with a slight syrupy texture, very little carbonation. Flavor is huge on ginger, cinnamon, and malt. As this beer warms the alcohol becomes more pronounced. If you can imagine the scent if you were inside a gingerbread house, this beer could be it. Absolutely delightful!

Aroma: 9.5/10
Appearance: 4/5
Taste: 8.5/10
Palate: 3/5
Overall: 18/20

Final Score: 43/50

Brewing Beer 101

2010-11-11T01:05:00.007-05:00

Chris requested some knowledge about brewing beer. As a homebrewer, how could I possibly refuse?

If you are too lazy to read, watch the video.
If you are too lazy to do either, SEE MY PICS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST!

Boring Disclaimer: If homebrewing is illegal in your area, do not do it. Fines and jailtime could be thrown upon you. I can speak for US folk and tell you that it is legal for anyone of any age to buy all of the equipment and ingredients necessary to brew beer. Law states that you must be 21 to produce alcohol. Also, the amount of beer you can produce per year varies between countries and states. It's usually around 100 gallons per resident over the legal drinking age.

I am going to be lazy and let Alton Brown do most of the talking for me. ^_^

Beer is made up of barley, hops, water and yeast. the barley provides color, flavor, and fermentable sugars for the yeast to turn into CO2 and alcohol. The hops provide bitterness, a lot of flavor, and a lot of aroma. The yeast produces the alcohol and can carbonate beer if desired. (FUN FACT, the term "wort" is used to describe beer that is unfermented, (no yeast added)).

Have you seen those shitty beer commercials where they claim "triple hops brewed" to make it sound fancier. THEY ARE ASSUMING YOU ARE RETARDED. In order to achieve bitterness, hops must be added in a certain time frame, same case for flavor and aroma. Here's a pretty graph to visually see wtf is going on with hops. (the % on the left hand side shows hop utilization.)

I don't feel like writing a whole book on the process of making the beer, instead, I'll summarize what happens.

You'll need to use either malted barley or malt extract to get the fermentable sugars you need to make beer. Beginners should go the malt extract route, it's super easy to learn.

I'm making 2 assumptions before I get into the process. I'm assuming we are making a pale beer that requires no grain. I'm also assuming we are brewing an ale. Ale yeast needs to ferment between 60-80F, depending on the strain of yeast.

The first step will be to bring a bunch of water to a boil, followed by adding the malt extract (comes in either powder or liquid form). Stir this constantly until it completely dissolves. Once this starts boiling, start a timer for 60 minutes and add your bittering hops. You'll want to add hops again with 20 minutes left in the boil to add flavor. To get aroma you'll want to add hops again with 7 minutes left in the boil. After this has boiled for an hour, you'll want to cool the wort down to room temperature as fast as you can. (for malt extract recipes, you can just be lazy and add ice, as long as you didn't start with too much water you won't water down the beer). Once the beer has cooled, move into a fermenter, throw the yeast, attach an airlock, and wait 3 weeks for the beer to fully ferment. After 3 weeks, you can either bottle the beer, adding a little big of sugar to allow the yeast to carbonate the beer, or you can be lazy and throw it in a keg hooked up to a CO2 line. If you bottle the beer, it will take anywhere from 2-3 weeks for the beer to carbonate, depending on how high the alcohol content is. The more alcohol, the longer it takes.

The initial cost to get into brewing is around $100 + ingredients.
A typical 5 gallon beer kit based off of malt extract (easy) usually runs between $25-$50.
A typical 5 gallon beer kit based off of grain usually runs between $15-$35.

Brewday will take anywhere from 3-5 hours, depending on your process.
After that, it will take 3 weeks to ferment.
If you bottle your beer, it'll take another 2-3 weeks to carbonate fully.
If you keg it, it can be carbonated in as soon as 3 hours, or 2-3 days, depending on your technique.

Beer with yeast in it literally has the same shelf life of spam. It'll only go bad if you had an infection of the beer to start with (from poor sanitation) or if the seal goes bad on your bottle cap. It will also get better over time. I try to hide a few bottles of each batch so I can come back a year later and thoroughly enjoy them.

Homebrewing is a very rewarding experience. As I type this, I am drinking a homebrewed cream ale (6% ABV). The cost to make it comes out to $0.21 USD per 12oz bottle. For comparison, a 12oz can of natural light (3.2% ABV) would run about $0.46, and a 12oz bottle of a microbrew beer would run about $1.50. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention it tastes pretty damn smooth, smoother than any cheap lager on the market.

TL:DR, here are some damn pictures of a pale ale I made.

OMG, watch my beer boil!

Using a hydrometer to determine the specific gravity. The tan stuff floating in there is yeast btw.

Here's that whole batch after I bottled it.

And lastly, here's the end product! Damn tasty!

St. Bernardus Christmas Ale

2010-11-09T20:37:00.002-05:00

Oh yes, another christmas ale. : )

Brewery: St. Bernardus
Beer: Christmas Ale
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
ABV: 10%
IBU: ?
Price: ~$10 for a 750ml bottle

This beer pours a shade of reddish brown with a thin tan head. Aroma is bready, yeasty, along with dark fruit, and some spice. Flavor is much the same, consisting of a heavy belgian yeast flavor, raisins, and cinnamon. Mouthfeel is creamy/full bodied, which has this beer coming off as a delicate dessert. : )
There's something special about this beer. After going a few sips, it feels as thought you are in a nice cozy log cabin next to a roaring fireplace. The whole experience feels warm and fuzzy. No, that's not the alcohol talking, I'm only half way done with it ; ) The head retained throughout the duration of me enjoying this brew, as is true with most bottle conditioned beers.

Aroma: 9/10
Appearance: 4/5
Taste: 8/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall: 18/20

Final Score: 43/50

Tröegs, The Mad Elf Holiday Ale

2010-11-07T18:22:00.004-05:00

Tis the season for Christmas ales. : )
A friend of mine gave me a bottle, so why not review it?
I'm sure you guys are sick of east coast beer reviews, but what the hell, here's one from Pennsylvania.

Brewery: Tröegs
Beer: The Mad Elf Holiday Ale
Style: American Strong Ale
ABV: 11%
IBU: 15
Price: ?

The bottle that I received had a bad seal. It appeared to have no pressure released upon opening, and the head was pretty much non existent. I guess my picture says it all. With that in mind, flat beers tend to sway on the sweeter side. I'll keep this in mind as I drink it. Anyways, this beer pours a very reddish orange. Aroma is yeasty (specifically belgian), slightly fruity on the cherry side and alcohol. Flavor is HUGE on the cherries, slightly overripe. There is a slightly spicy side to this beer, I can't quite figure out what it is, but its very pleasant. This beer is on the sweet side. I'd contribute this to the fruit and yeast more so than the lack of carbonation on my bottle. What gets me is that the alcohol is perfectly masked in this brew. For an 11% beer it's very impressive. Mouthfeel is very heavy, almost like a light syrup. As this beer warmed into the cellar range of temperatures, the alcohol became more pronounced, but not in an intrusive manner. Overall, I was very pleased with this beer. From the first sip to the last it was very enjoyable.

Aroma: 8/10
Appearance: 4/5
Taste: 8/10
Palate: 3.5/5
Overall: 17/20

Final Score: 40.5/50

Great Lakes Christmas Ale

2010-11-06T00:51:00.004-04:00

There are a few things that remain constant in the city of Cleveland.

1) in general, it's depressing
2) all of their sport teams fail year after year, the local phrase is "there's always next year)
3) the whole city goes nuts around November 1st every year because Great Lakes Christmas Ale becomes available. Seriously, I can't log into failbook without seeing a dozen status updates saying "ITS HERE!!!!!!!!!!"

So anyways, onto the review

Brewery: Great Lakes Brewing Company
Beer: Christmas Ale
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable Ale
ABV: 7.5%
IBU: 40
Price: $10.99 / 6pk of 12oz bottles

This beer pours a nice shade of copper/red with a nice off white head. Aroma is heavy on caramel malt, some ginger, a tad of cinnamon, and a smidget of alcohol. Maybe a hint of honey too. Body is medium. Flavor is big on cinnamon, caramel, and malt. Very smooth and balanced. The aftertaste kinda fades quickly, so I ended up drinking this one faster than I would have liked. I swear, this specific beer always gets me into trouble. It's literally impossible to just have one, or four. I really need to look into cloning this beer and making it myself in barrel quantities.

Aroma: 8/10
Appearance: 4/5
Taste: 8/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall: 17/20

Final Score: 41/50

I'd recommend picking this one up while you can. Each year they sell out sooner and sooner. Last year for example, it was nearly impossible to find bottles of it mid-December.

Stone Smoked Porter

2010-11-04T21:10:00.002-04:00

Sorry about the lack of updates. I've been busy slaving away my kitchen makes gallons upon gallons of applesauce. As a result, I haven't had time to really write out reviews. Right now, I'm done for the day, so I thought I'd crack open a beer adn write out a review.

I thought I'd give the west coast some love tonight. So I'm reviewing Stone's Smoked Porter.

Brewery: Stone Brewing Co.
Beer: Smoked Porter
Style: Porter
ABV: 5.9
Price: ~$6 for a 22oz bottle

This beer pours a dark reddish brown with a dense tan head. Aroma is full of chocolate, malt, and maybe a tad of smoke. Flavor is slightly sour, with chocolate, roasty malts, with a certain sweetness to it. Smokey flavor is non existent Mouthfeel is medium with a creamy feel to it. Well, to be honest, this beer was kinda a let down. It comes off as a nice porter, but nothing spectacular.

Aroma: 6/10
Appearance: 3.5/5
Taste: 7/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall: 14/20

Final Score: 34.5/50

Something different, a beer recipe review : )

2010-10-31T23:02:00.003-04:00

Sorry for the delay in updates, but life comes first.

Anywho, tonight, after a long days work, I was in the mood for a homebrew. On 10/4, I brewed an Imperial India Pale Ale (IIPA). I bottled it on the 10/25 and decided to give it a taste test today. This beer came out to ~8.3% ABV, so I should have honestly waited 3-5 weeks for this brew to carbonate in the bottles. Whoops. : )

I'd score this beer in my review, but I'd be biased, so instead, I'll just post the recipe/techniques used to make this beer, along with a short description of the end results. ^_^

Recipe type: All Grain
Yeast: Safale US-05 Dry Yeast
Yeast Starter: None
Batch Size (US gal): 1.2 gallons
Predicted Original Gravity: 1.080
Measured Original Gravity: 1.082
Predicted Final Gravity: 1.022
Measured Final Gravity: 1.019
Level of Carbonation: 2.5 volumes of CO2
IBUs': 86.3
Boil Time: 60 minutes
Color in SRM: 8 (gold/copper)
Fermentation: 3 weeks @ 68F

Recipe

Malt Build
2 lb Maris Otter 2 row pale malt
1 lb Vienna malt
8 oz Crystal 10L

Hop Schedule
0.35oz @ 60 min of Magnum @ 10.0% AA
0.25oz @ 20 min of Amarillo @ 8.3% AA
0.25oz @ 7min of Amarillo @ 8.3% AA
0.50oz @ 0min of Amarillo @ 8.3% AA
0.50oz @ 0min of Cascade @ 5.0% AA

Mashing Schedule, batch sparging
add 4.375qt @ 171F, sit 60 minutes (goal is mash temp of 155F after 1 hour)
add 1.4qt @ 180F before draining
add 4.375qt @ 175F, sit 10 minutes and drain

All together, this batch took me 3 1/2 hours to brew, and maybe 10 minute to prep/bottle.

After only 6 days in the bottle, this beer has enough carbonation to be very enjoyable. Hop aroma is awesome, oranges and grapefruit. Flavor leans towards a very sweet orange with a hint of malt. By the way, for those who normally use a regular two row malt, try maris otter, it adds another dimension of flavor. To be honest, this beer tasted more like candy then beer. Maybe it's because the beer itself is only 27 days old (hoppy beers taste best fresh), or maybe it's from the hops.

This small scale recipe cost me about $11 to brew. I ended up with 10 bottles of it. I'm sure a 5 gallon batch couldn't cost more than $35 to do.

Overall, I'm very happy with this recipe. In fact, I can't think of any way to improve it atm. : ) And no, you can't have a bottle of it, I only have 9 left!

St. Bernardus Abt 12

2010-10-28T20:52:00.003-04:00

I can never resist a good Belgian beer. This specific beer was the very first Belgian I've ever had. I wasn't sure what to expect. The nectar in this bottle completely changed my outlook on what a good beer is.

As a homebrewer, I've always wanted to try to clone this beer. The ingredients are easy to acquire, but the fermentation temperature schedule is brutal to work with. So instead, I decided to go out an buy a bunch of it instead.

Brewery: St. Bernardus
Beer: Abt 12
Style: Abt/Quadrupel
ABV%: 10%
IBU: 15?
Price: ~$18 for a 4pk of 11.2 oz bottles or ~ $9 for a 25.4oz bottle

Upon opening the bottle, a yeasty/fruity smell is evident. This beer pours a very dark reddish brown with an offwhite head. Sediment can be seen floating around. (I kinda wish I poured gently so I could harvest the yeast, maybe next time). The aroma shifts towards malt, caramel, dark fruits, and a touch of alcohol. The first sip is mind blowing. The yeast profile really shines here, which generated a very fruity/yeasty flavor. A heavy malt backbone is also present. There's a unique sweetness from this, probably from belgian candi sugar. Mouthfeel is full bodied with the perfect amount of carbonation. As this beer warms, the alcohol becomes more pronounced, while the rest of the flavors stay strong.

Aroma: 9/10
Appearance: 5/5
Taste: 9/10
Palate: 5/5
Overall: 18/20

Final Score: 46/50

For this godly style, only a couple other beers can top it (rochefort 10, westvletern 12). If you want to taste near perfection without spending $20 for a 11.2oz bottle, this beer is for you. Side note, the rochefort 10 is more like $5 - $6 for a 11.2oz bottle, but isn't as wildly circulated as St. Bernardus (in my experience).

Hoppin Frog Barrel Aged Boris the Crusher

2010-10-27T12:34:00.003-04:00

For those who want a smooth, bold, bombass Imperial Stout, this beer is for you.

Brewery: Hoppin' Frog
Beer: Barrel Aged Boris the Crusher
Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 9.4%
IBU: 60
Price: $13.99 / 22oz bottle

This beer has been aged in whiskey barrels to give it a new dimension of aroma and flavor. Only 4 small batches (~1000 bottles per batch) of this brew have been made so far, so they aren't very easy to find.

Upon opening the bottle revealed notes of whiskey, vanilla, and chocolate. Poured into a glass reveals a bitch black color with a quickly dissipating brown head. The first sip is very smooth, with dominate flavors of dark chocolate and whiskey. The aroma expanded with notes of wood and alcohol. Mouthfeel was on the medium side for a beer of this magnitude, considering oatmeal was used. As this warmed, the flavors only became more pronounced. Yum! I'd recommend serving this around 55F.

Aroma: 9/10
Appearance: 5/5
Taste: 9/10
Palate: 3/5
Overall: 17/20

Final Score: 43/50

Zomg, I have the interwebs back!

2010-10-26T09:50:00.002-04:00

Omg, my 5 days of no interwebs is over. Once I get my fill of it I'll start to read your updates and start some of my own. I've had a lot of tasty brews since my last update, so expect a lot of them. ^_^

Sorry guys, no updates for a while. : (

2010-10-22T10:35:00.002-04:00

I'm in the process of closing and reopening my account with my ISP so I can continue to get an introductory rate. The end result will be me saving $420 over the next year. The downside though, is that this isp is retarded. I had asked them to disconnect me on Monday of this week. Instead, they disconnected me Thursday. To make matters even sillier, the way their database is setup it's not possible to sign up for service until the previous service has been discontinued. As a result, I won't be able to get the service back until some time next week.

Haha, I didn't really realize how much I used the internet to kill free time. Yesterday was a realization of that. Thank god I have a bunch of tv shows recorded on my dvr, so that came in handy. Overall though, life was not too exciting yesterday.

Today, I have high hopes though. Going out to the bars, then going to a hanuted house while drunk. That should be a fun time.

While I'm randomly rambling, aside from being bored out of my mind, my house currently smells like duck butter because the sewer pipe backed up. I guess I can help kill this morning and try to snake through it. I guess I'll survive this boring period of no interwebs.

Russian River's Pliny the Elder

2010-10-20T01:58:00.003-04:00

If you are a hop lover, you probably at least know the name of this bamf. (badass mofo). Russian River Brewing, located in Santa Rosa, Ca, is arguably one of the better microbrews in the US. They are best known for their two Imperial/Double IPA's. Pliny the elder and Pliny the Younger.

Brewery: Russian River
Beer: Pliny the Elder
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
ABV: 8.0%
IBU: 100
Price: ~$5 for a 16oz bottle

For those who aren't familiar with IBU's, (International Bitterness Units), 100 IBU's is the threshold for the human palate. Pliny the Elder has 100, so if you LOVE bitterness, this beer is for you.

Opening the bottle unleashed a sweet hoppy aroma with a nice malt backbone. Grapefruit is the dominant citrus aroma, with a hint of pine. This beer pours a slightly dark shade of gold with a small white head. The first sip revealed a very concentrated hop presence with a hint of caramelized malt. The aftertaste is very long and pleasant. Mouthfeel is medium with a slight oily texture to it. This is one fine beer.

Aroma: 9/10
Appearance: 5/5
Taste: 9/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall: 18/20

Final Score: 45/50

Stone's Double Bastard Ale

2010-10-19T16:04:00.002-04:00

I'll start this one off with a quote from the bottle.

"This is a lacerative muther of a beer. The evil big brother of Arrogant Bastard Ale. It is strongly suggested you stay far, far away from this beer. Those foolish enough to venture close enough to taste will experience a punishingly unforgiving assault on the palate. ’Course there’s always the masochists... "

Brewery: Stone Brewing
Beer: Double Bastard Ale
ABV: 10.5%
IBU: 100+
Price: ~$10-$12 for a 22oz bottle

Anyways, upon opening this beer has notes of sweet malt and a hint of berries. It pours a coppery-red, with a small tan head. Flavor is very hoppy, but balance from the huge malt presence and berries, with a slight hint of roasty notes. Mouthfeel is oily, which fits this brew perfectly. When warmed the alcohol presence starts to come out. I'd serve this beer between 40-50F.

Aroma: 8.5/10
Appearance: 4/5
Taste: 8/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall: 17/20

Final Score: 41.5/50