Peroni
Since I occasionally get beer as a gift, I tend to set aside specific brews that I don't think I'll like so much until my sampling stock runs low, which is the case as we speak. I'm down to six or seven samples in my collection at the moment, so I decided to hit one that has been sitting here for a while.
Peroni is not a beer I'm unfamiliar with. I have seen it around and my favorite New York style pizza shops in the area all sell it. Peroni IS one of those beers that I consider to be marketed towards US beer drinkers who enjoy imports, but I was pleasantly surprised when I popped the cap and poured this glass. The thick head hung around for a little while and then dissipated, but not completely. This beer did maintain a thin head through the entire glass, which I find unusual in beers that I would normally toss into the BudMillerCoors class. Peroni also seems to have a slightly sweeter flavor than the BudMillerCoors beers, while maintaining a very crisp and refreshing flavor. There is not much significance in the aroma of this beer, but I would call it a good "lawn mower beer." It's a pale lager that rings in at 4.7% ABV, so you can quaff several of these while mowing the lawn without endangering yourself or your neighbors. I wouldn't be embarrassed to purchase a six-pack of this stuff.
Brew Day – 6/27/2009
I got off to a good start today. I got all my gear out and set up by 11am. I wanted to give myself plenty of time since I was trying out the new techniques (new to me) of all-grain brewing. It was also quite hot today, so I actually broke a sweat before the noon hour... The above photo shows my brew kettle and burner, my mash tun, and my immersion chiller soaking in a bucket of water...
Today's beer had a 14.2 pound grain bill, so it took quite a while to crank all of it through the Barley Crusher...
Tonya and I finally got all the grains crushed and into the mash tun with the strike water. Since this was my first attempt at this, I heated the strike water a few degrees higher than I actually needed to make sure I didn't undershoot the temperature. In the above photo, I'm letting the mash settle down to about 156 degrees before closing it up...
I fashioned this handy-dandy insulation block to fill the dead space in my mash tun during the mash process. It worked extremely well. The mash lost less than 1 degree during the hour process...
This photo shows the first runnings coming out of the mash tun.
Pretzels with mustard go great with beer :)
I finally got the boil going and added my first round of hops. This is when things really start to smell good...
A nice rolling boil... at this point, it doesn't require much attention except for the occasional addition of hops and irish moss...
When someone gives you a growler of Rogue's Dead Guy, cherish the moment! I sorta quit taking photos at this point in the day ;)
The beer is in the primary fermenter and will be for 14 days. I'll rack it to a secondary and leave it there for 2-3 weeks before bottling it...
Saturday is BREW DAY!
Saturday is BREW DAY! I have been waiting for this particular brew day for a while now. It's going to be my first attempt at all-grain brewing. I'm gonna be brewing "Two Fingers Amber Ale" for my first attempt at this method. Here's the ingredients list for this brew:
12 lbs Maris Otter Pale Malt (2L)
1 lb Munich Malt (10L)
1/2 lb Crystal Malt (20L)
1/2 lb Caramunich Malt
1/8 lb Chocolate Malt
3/4 oz Cascade Leaf Hops (60 mins)
1/2 oz Cascade Leaf Hops (30 mins)
1/2 oz Williamette Leaf Hops (5 mins)
White Labs WLP001 California Ale Yeast (1-liter Starter)
My uneducated attempt at this schedule will be as follows:
10:00 - Gather all my gear, prepare sanitizer, sanitize equipment
11:45 - Fill coolers with ice and beer for me and guests :)
12:00 Noon - Start crushing my grain bill with the Barley Crusher
12:30-ish - Heat strike water
1:00 - Mash in
1:15 - weigh, separate, and prepare hops for boil
2:00 - Collect first runnings / heat sparge water
2:20 - First round batch sparge
2:40 - Second round batch sparge
3:00 - Start boil
4:30 - Chill and rack to fermenter
5:00 - Pitch yeast
Since I don't know how long some of these events in the mashing process will actually take, I guess these times are flexible... I hope to have a few friends hanging out with me throughout the day!
Redhook ESB
I was at a local grocery store last week, and they had a mix your own six pack with only eight different choices of beers. Tonight's sampling is from the Redhook Ale Brewery in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Redhook ESB is a very tasty blend of 2-row and caramel malts which create the beautiful copper color in this beer. At 28 IBU, this beer isn't as hoppy as an IPA, so it's got a really nice balance between the hops and malts, and the caramel malt sweetness of this beer shines through nicely in each sip.
I have never really understood why they call these beers bitters (extra special bitter). They aren't really bitter, but they do have a pronounced hop presence. This beer rings in at 5.7% ABV and is definitely worthy of future visits...
Flensburger Pilsener
I picked up a couple samplings from Flensburger on my last visit to Gail's Hops and Grapes. My first taste is their German Pilsener. This beer has a rather nice hop bite compared to most pilseners and the aroma has a nice floral and spicy undertone. It's also packing a very crisp and refreshing flavor while only ringing in at 4.8% ABV. I was rather surprised at the head retention and lacing on the glass that followed this drink. It's not the finest pils I have quaffed, but it's not the worst either. I'm not sure yet if it will make my repeated consumption list, but it very well might. I have another Flensburger in waiting that I'm sure I'll like better than this one, so we'll get a taste of it in the near future.
I absolutely LOVE the swing-top bottles though. I like re-filling them with my own beer at bottling time in the brewing process. They are a lot easier to work with compared to capping regular bottles. The rubber gasket on these can be re-used 4 or 5 times before it needs to be replaced, which makes it almost as cheap as crimp caps.
PS - I broke a beer glass tonight. That pissed me off because it was the glass I use to photograph these beers. I don't normally drink from the glass in these photos, but I do occasionally...
Spaten Premium
I pulled another sampling from the assorted eight-pack from around the world that I received as a gift a while back. Spaten Premium is my drink this evening from Spaten of Munich, Germany. This beer poured with a nice golden color and a decent head, but the head died rather quickly and was unimpressive overall. There is not a lot of aroma, but the flavor is rather crisp and a little on the malty side with an average balanced presence of hops. In the long run, I'm not a fan of this beer. I can't find anything special about it that would make me want to have it again. If you look at the gold band around the top of the label on the neck, you will see that this beer might fall into a category that I have spoken of in previous blog posts here :) I really do believe that the IMPORTED label on a beer bottle is designed to sell beer to those upper-crust beer enthusiasts here in the United States.
I put another German beer in the fridge for my next sampling that should be pretty decent.... we'll see...
