2007
I brewed up thirteen batches this year – my lucky number!
This year I’ve started using a draft setup (Cornelius kegs). I received the corny kegs (two of them) as gifts from my brother years ago. But I’ve finally started using them after receiving other parts (CO2 canister and regulator) as birthday gifts from friends at work. So every batch below was kegged, not bottled. Several of them found their way into bottles – but they were dispensed from the keg versus being bottle-conditioned (though they may benefit from some bottle-conditioning since I do not filter my beer).
The first several brews turned out with a slightly higher original and finishing gravities than expected. I had a similar problem with the finishing gravity of several recipes in 2006, too. At one point I thought my latest hydrometer (acquired in November, 2006 after breaking my previous one) is poorly calibrated, but the last three beers have not measured high. So maybe they really were a little higher in gravity and I need to do a better job of measuring volume and hitting my targets (could be related to the fact that I think my thermometer is off by a few degrees).
American Schwarzbier
★★★★
OG: 1.067
FG: 1.020
ABV: 6.2%The idea for the recipe was a German Schwarzbier, but a little stronger, with more hops, and using exclusively an American hop variety (Cascade). The result was fantastic. A remarkably complex brew – clean flavors with a decent amount of chocolate and roasted grain flavor and a sublime Cascade hop flavor and aroma. I couldn’t have asked for this one to go better. And this was my first batch of homebrew to be kegged. It was also the shortest lived batch I’ve ever made: completely gone in less than three weeks. When the keg started spitting air, I was distraught. Now, I can only remember it fondly without the aid of its luscious flavor.
Humble Hop Juice
★★★★
OG: 1.062
FG: 1.018
ABV: 5.7%I hadn’t made a hoppy pale ale in quite some time (2003). And I was having strong cravings for delectable hops. So I whipped up a recipe for a pale ale that would be decently bitter with lots of hop flavor and aroma. The recipe worked. After three weeks of aging in the keg (during which time I’ve consumed just over half of it already!), it has matured to a lovely plateau. It pours a cloudy orange with an off-white head. The aroma is heavy with hops. The flavor is a nice balance of honey-sweet malts and Cluster hop bitterness – with a strong flavor and aroma of Centennial hops. Overall, I’m quite pleased.
Stout Porter
★★★★
OG: 1.056
FG: 1.016
ABV: 5.2%I originally designed this recipe as an Irish-style dry stout. However, the beer did not attenuate as planned: the beer is a little less dry and a little more sweet and full-bodied than I intended. So I decided the name “Stout Porter” was more appropriate. The pleasing taste of roasted grains combine naturally with the mellow aroma and taste of East Kent Goldings hops. This is a welcome addition to my improving repertoire of recipes.
Belgian Witbier
★★★★
OG: 1.048
FG: 1.010
ABV: 4.9%A lovely Belgian Wit! I used Belgian candi sugar to insure the beer finished dry to make for a refreshing, warm-weather brew. At first the large doses of coriander and orange peel seemed almost too much. But after a few weeks of aging in the keg, the spices mellowed, the wheat shines through, and the beer is a very tasty and refreshing example of the style. This beer also finished extremely clear and gold – a very bright and beautiful product.
Better Bitter
★★★★★
OG: 1.054
FG: 1.013
ABV: 5.4%This was my first attempt at a true mini-mash. I had done “pseudo”-mashing in the past, but never used sufficient quantities of base malt to call it a real mash. The original recipe was designed to be an IPA. The finished product could still be called an IPA, but it isn’t as strong as I designed (I used too much water and didn’t have time to boil it off).
The finished product is very nice. A big, citrusy hop nose; a lovely malt profile (caramel, honey, hints of chocolate) combine with a nice hop flavor; and a very noticable bite of hop bitterness. This batch used mostly Simcoe hops – my first time using this variety. I used them for bittering and dry-hops, and they worked out well.
Berry Weizen
★★★★
OG: 1.050
FG: 1.012
ABV: 5.0%An interesting Dunkelweizen that benefits from an addition of three pounds of berries (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries). The aroma is lovely with spices, wheat, and a hint of berries. The flavor slowly improved over an aging period of a few months. It still has a touch of acid and wine-like flavor from the fruit, but it is still refreshing and palatable.
Blissful Bock
★★★
OG: 1.074
FG: 1.019
ABV: 7.3%A lovely, malty Maibock. This beer is a lovely gold with hints of orange. It turned out bright and beautiful (thanks to the wondrous magic of kegging). It does contain some less-than-perfect artifacts that I think are primarily attributable to three things: a couple of days of warm fermentation (I forgot to put the carboy in the cooler until after two days had already passed), the use of non-“noble” hops, and -perhaps most importantly- the yeast (Carlsberg lager yeast). After a lengthy period of lagering, most of these defects disappeared: a recent bottle tasted quite good.
Farmhouse Ale
★★★★
OG: 1.085
FG: 1.014
ABV: 9.3%A delicious, strong, malty, spicy Belgian Saison. This one is spiced with coriander seed and orange peel and was fermented using a special Farmhouse Ale yeast strain from Wyeast. It attenuated well and has resulted in a nice, sweet, complex, strong, dry ale. This might be the best beer I’ve made so far this year. As it has aged, it has taken on a very nice, estery, fruity, spicy, peppery profile with a hint of butterscotch (diacetyl?). Even after a few months, it is still strong with ethanol, so I have several saved away to see how well it mellows after an even longer period of aging.
Peachy Ale
★★★★
OG: 1.052
FG: 1.011
ABV: 5.3%This brew turned out delightfully complex. It is a modest-gravity Belgian ale made with a small amount of wheat (about 18% of the malt bill), lightly hopped with Perle hops, and then steeped with nearly eight pounds of peaches. It was fermented with a special yeast strain from Wyeast named Ingelmunster Ale Yeast (aka Dutch Castle). The resulting beverage is quite dry with a strong aroma and noticeable flavor of peaches, accompanied by a slight tartness and acidity. I probably couldn’t have asked for a better result.
Best Bitter
★★★★
OG: 1.057
FG: 1.015
ABV: 5.6%The original intent behind this recipe was a nice, hoppy, English strong bitter (or “ESB”, which stands for “Extra Special Bitter”). The finished product is a bit hoppier than originally intended, but, for hopheads at least, it is quite delicious. The bitterness is pleasant, but does not overpower the very decent, sweet, malt tone of the beer. The aroma is green with fresh hop cones, and there is a good bit of resiny hops in the flavor, too.
Praying Monk Ale
★★★★
OG: 1.073
FG: 1.018
ABV: 7.2%This batch, a Belgian Dubbel, has turned out quite pleasant. It has a good ester profile – lots of soft fruit and caramel with a hint of spice. There is a bit of roasted malt flavor – mainly toffee and a touch of chocolate. The carbonation level is quite high, but just right. The overall finish is full-bodied and malty. I was quite pleased with the results – a very quaffable, yet potent, beer. I think I like it even more than the Farmhouse Ale from earlier this year.
Holiday Ale
★★★
OG: 1.056
FG: 1.015
ABV: 5.2%This beer is a gorgeously clear American Brown Ale. It has all the right stuff… and then some. I spiced it with a mixture of cinnamon, coriander, and orange peel. Unfortunately, the cinnamon is a bit strong. The beer has mellowed significantly in the past few weeks, but it still has too much cinnamon flavor in it. The beer has some interesting fruit and hop flavors that are very good, but the clashing flavor of cinnamon distracts the tongue too much. It is still a decent beer, and it turned out much more drinkable than the cloven brew that was the 2006 Holiday Ale…
Humble Monk Ale
★★★★
OG: 1.055
FG: 1.012
ABV: 5.6%This beer, a Belgian Pale Ale, was made using the same yeast that New Belgium uses in their Fat Tire Ale. The brew is awfully cloudy, but this could still improve (it’s only been on tap for a week – sometimes it takes that long or longer for the beer to brighten). The aroma is pleasant and hoppy with notes of bready malts. The flavor is also malty, and well balanced. Both malts and hops participate in the tantalizing taste.
