A Great Night by the Lake

The Great Lakes tasting was at the Oscar Event center at Jungle Jim's on the evening of the 19th of February. It was one that I nearly didn't attend. I did not feel well that day and worked from home. In the early evening, the opportunity to attend presented itself. I arrived a few minutes late and only missed the pour of the first beer.

Eliot Ness Amber Lager

This one is clean, start to finish. Caramel sweetness mid-mouth and hints of hops through out. 7

Conway's Irish Ale

Deep golden color. Malt and fruitiness on the nose. Some hops and malt on finish. 7

Dortmunder Gold Lager

This is an award winning Dortmunder for which Great Lakes is known. It is a medium gold color. There is malt on the nose. It is smooth through out. It has a good balance of hops and malt. There is a hint of honey on the finish. 8

Burning River Pale Ale

Malt and hops on nose. It starts with bitterness with fruitiness and piney notes mid-mouth. The finish has hopey flavors and bitterness. 7

Commodore Perry IPA

Citrus and pine on the nose with a pale golden color. Bitterness and hops mid-mouth. The finish has hints and sweetness and hop bitterness. 9

Edmund Fitzgerald Porter

A nice dark porter with hints of coffee on the nose. Starts coffee and chocolate and it continues to mid-mouth. The finish is mostly coffee, but the feel of the bitterness is a bit thin. 7

Alberta Clipper Porter

Brought directly from pub in Cleveland, this on draft only porter is made from Belgian chocolate and Raspberries. The berries are quite noticeable on the nose and mid-mouth they blend with the chocolate very well. The beer is smooth throughout and both the chocolate and raspberries are present on the finish. 8

Blackout Stout

The nose is hit with coffee and roasted malt. There are also hints of hops on the nose once the beer reaches proper serving temperature. Mid-mouth, the coffee presence becomes mixed with hints of alcohol and hops. The finish is good blend of malt and hop bitterness. 9

Raging the Bee Yotch

I finally bought a bottle of Flying Dog's Raging Bitch. As are most of their bottles, this one is Gonzo and unique. It's all their style and nothing less. Can't wait to see what is contained inside.

From the pop of the top, you know this is something different. The citrus smell of hops is very noticeable, even before the pour. It pours golden and clear, with a nice white head. The citrus smell grows stronger as the pour continues, mixed with subtle yeast of Belgian yeast. The first sip gives delights of hops and some malt mellowness as only an IPA can. The finish is clean and again subtle hints of a Belgian yeast.

A swirl after warming a bit gives release of hops and malt. The mild tones of this Belgian style IPA make it very drinkable. This is not just an IPA with Belgian yeast thrown in. This is an IPA designed around the ideas of hops and a complimenting yeast. The planning and care can be tasted in each sampling. The hops and malt dance around the tongue in a well written waltz. The clean finish leaves one linger for the next sip. Well done, Flying Dog, well done.

A Time of Craziness

Finally finishing this post...

The 2010 Cincy Winter Beer Fest is nearly 2 days behind us and my ears are still ringing. What a fun time it was! Crazy too! I'm not sure of the total official numbers, but 1,800 people bought VIP tickets and at least 800 additional people bought main session tickets. The event was sold out before hand and they ran out of volunteer t-shirts and commerative tasting glasses (including leftovers from the summer event).

The VIP session started at 5, while Rock Bottom started serving beer to waiting participants at 4. The Hyatt Regency in Cincinnati didn't know what hit them. Machinery failed. Toilets had issues. And people were everywhere.

I took pictures of the 2009 Cincy Summer Beer Fest and Craig asked me to do likewise for this event. Since I had quite a bit of fun doing so before, I was quite willing to do it again.

It was a long, hot day, but well worth it. The pictures can be found on Shutterfly.

Eight Days a Week

In just a few, short days, eight actually, the 2010 Cincy Winter Beer Fest will be here. This is the third such fest and the first time it is actually in Cincinnati. Do you have your tickets yet??

As was true for the Summer fest, I will be taking pictures during the event. Being indoors, the lighting should be a bit more consistent. Over the days afterward, I will be putting them on the ShutterFly site so that people may order prints. Last year, I found it easier to publish pictures to ShutterFly than to other sites. Sure, I am giving up control over labs and don't need to fill out all the forms places like Mpix require, but if someone really wants a fancy print of a picture, I can make such arrangements. Most people just wanted to print a few of their favorites and move on. So, have fun and visit both fest photo sites.

Some may be wondering where I have gone. I'd love to say I won millions and moved to a deserted beach, but alas, such is not correct. Yes, I've been busy and I am WAY behind on tasting notes and "what I'm brewing" updates, but the simple matter is I've been a bit lazy. Though I make no promises....

The Sierra Nevada/Dogfish Head tasting at Jungle Jim's on the 15th was very nice. The two year old Bigfoot and the new Life and Limb were both very excellent. I finally tasted Midas Touch and bought some afterward. I'll save more for the tasting review. It was also the first time I tweeted, with pictures, each beer, though I did not state if I liked them. I'm not sure I will do that again, but we shall see.

Currently in the secondary is a pale, hoppy ale over medium French roast chips. An ounce on Sterling hop pellets was also in secondary. As for the chips, they were placed in Mason jars and sealed last summer. Bourbon was also in the the jars. The chips turned the Bourbon quite dark and now they are imparting flavors to the ale. It has been nearly two weeks, but I will let them rest at least two more.

What will be brewed next?? No idea. A revisit and update to my Barley wine recipe? May be. Make something quite "over the top". It is a possibility. All I know for sure is that it will not be something Belgian. I'm a bit over that, for now.

Bashah me mate

bashah is another in what seems to be becoming a line of great collaborative beers betwixt Stone and Brew Dog. Similar to the Black Pilsner, this one is a black Belgian Double IPA. This is quite a cross of styles and is befitting the efforts of two very good breweries.

On the pour, bashah is dark, dark brown with a medium brown head. A deep breath brings an assault to the nose; a mixture of hops and what seems to be whiskey. There is also the scent of Carafa malt, as is fitting a beer with Belgian influence.

The tip of the tongue is meet with the bitterness the nose portrays. As the beer washes to mid-tongue, the bitterness is a blend of hops and roasted malt. The feel is more like an extra stout, but with hops. The hop bitterness gives play to its double IPA roots, while the roasted flavor comes from the generous chocolate malt on the grain bill. There are no discernible yeast esters, so I am not sure where the Belgian portion is, apart from the Carafa malt.

The finish is like a stout, with hints of whiskey. Not sure if this beer was aged in whiskey barrels, but it sure seems to be. The 8.6% ABV gives a nice warm feeling, but not too much. This is no session beer, but would be nice with a cleansing cheese.

Of beer and blogging

Finally, I am back to a blog entry after far too long an absence. I am finding that Twitter consumes my ideas on a far quicker basis and leaves me not wishing to type at the end of the day. I would write that I resolve to do better, but I know such a declaration will not be long met. I will strive to do better though.

As I sit in my kitchen awaiting the boil, I am reminded that the last time I made this beer, I blogged during the boil, though it was a bit into it before I started. This is a recipe I've made before, though I am trying to make only one change. Until such time as my regular tasters have had their guess, I will not reveal here what I have made. It is enough, perhaps too much, to state that it is a crowd favorite and one long overdue for a revisit.

The one change, however, is something I do care to discuss. When I racked the Black Abbey to secondary, I took some of the yeast dregs and placed them in a sanitized mason jar. This was placed into the fridge awaiting a vessel to house a starter. I have never used a yeast starter, so I consulted multiple sources before pursuing. I would like to thank @derekclayton for allowing me to use his half-gallon growler. We had met at @rockbottomcincy to try their beers, but he was not able to get them to fill his growler with their Barley wine. All was not a total loss though was we were able to speak to their header brewer Mitch for a good length of time.

Boil nearly ready to start.

The hops scheduled to go the full 75 minute boil are in a bag that I hope is large enough. Paradise did not have any of the smaller hop bags, so I cut larger one that I tend to use for grains into three sections. Time will tell how well this will work.

Boil has started and so has timer. Hot break starting to form on the top. I will start scooping it out soon. The next hops do not go in for about 35 minutes. I have noticed that I get more foam when using grains from Paradise. I am beginning to wonder if they are perhaps cracking the grains too well and I'm getting more grain dust than I do when I crack the grains at Listermann's. One of these days, I'll get my own grain mill and have no one to blame save myself.

One of my nephews spent the night and today he and my son wanted some of the Root Beer we made several months ago with their lunch. When we made it, somewhere we goofed and the bottles do not tend to have carbonation (natural, of course). The bottle my son had, however, did have fizz. Hey, made it does work??!?! We will have to try some again later.

I am still in extract mode, though I am getting closer to at least trying a partial mash. Currently, I do not have a large enough pot in which to boil 6 gallons of water down to 5.5. I am wondering if perhaps I use 6-7 pounds of malt to get 3-3.5 gallons of water if that will be partial enough. I have begun the practice of boiling the fill water before pitching. I know that is not the same, but at least the water is boiled of its city water chemicals.

The first hop bag is floating well. It is 25 minutes till the next ounce.

Now more about the change. Technically, there are a few others, though they should have limited affect on the outcome. One being that the extract is different, though about the same SRM, but it is not made from a different grain. Another is that the alphas of the hops do not match. Again, I am not too bothered by that. One of these days though, I will need to decide on the IBU and adjust my hops and boils accordingly. The most significant difference is the yeast. Instead of an American ale yeast like last time, this one will have the White Labs WLP570. This will give a Belgian twist and it should be interesting.

I have some cleanup to do and the fill water needs to get boiled. Tomorrow will be a busy day with bottling the Black Abbey and I am sure my wife will want to start decorating the Christmas tree. I don't tend to get into the right mood for such until about the 20th of December, so I just smile and help.

Until then.

Belgian Barley Mead

My latest hair-brained idea of a recipe. I want to make this next, if I can keep the wort warm enough to ferment at 70-75F.

Ingredients

5# light/amber malt extract
4# buckwheat honey
1# Crystal 80L
1.5# Munich
.25# Carafa III
.5# Chocolate Malt
2oz Warrior or Simcoe hops (maybe 1 each??) 60 min
1oz Simcoe (1/3 @ 30, 1/3 @ 15, 1/3 @ off)
1oz Sterling (½ @ 10, ½ @ off)
1 tsp. Gypsum
1 tsp. Irish moss (15 min)
Belgian Strong ale yeast

Procedures

Put 2 gallons of water and Gypsum in a pot and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let cool to 170F. Add grains and steep grains at 155F for 20 minutes. Remove grains, add extract and bring to boil. Hops as scheduled.

For honey, bring 1 quart of water to a boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in honey. Cover and let set at least 20 minutes. Add to boil at heat off.

Cool to 70F, rack, fill to 5.5 gallons and pitch yeast. Would be best with a big starter. After 2 weeks, rack to secondary for at least 2 more.

For a twist, secondary for at least 4 weeks over 1 pound of medium oak chips.