August « 2009 « Brews and Blues

30Aug/090

August Brew Day

It wasn't terribly hot today. The mercury didn't climb out of the low 80s and the sun was in and out behind some occasional clouds. Today's brew was a chocolate oatmeal stout (recipe is in the Log/Recipes section) that I have been wanting to brew for a long time. I have never brewed with chocolate or oatmeal, so this beer is going to be a surprise in some way or another no matter how it comes out.

In this photo, I'm getting ready to run the grains through the barley crusher with the help of my 3/8" drill to turn the mill. The drill allows me to crush 13 pounds of grain in just a few minutes...

What would brew day be like without some tunes? I like to kick it old-school with the world's mostbaddestass iPod dock and a little Stevie Ray Vaughan...

Today we mashed in at with four gallons of water at 155° for 60 minutes and then ran two batch sparges...

This photo shows the first runnings from the mash. I wish you could have taken a whiff of this concentrated wort as it was coming out of the tun. It had the most wonderful roasted smell...

After the hops and other ingredients had been added and the boil completed, it was time to chill the wort. This is actually my biggest brew day problem at this point. I need to chill the wort down to 70° as quickly as possible (because 70° is my fermentation temperature). When the ground water coming out of the hose is 83°, getting down to 70° can be a problem. Today, I broke the cooling stage up into two sections...

I used the immersion chiller and the regular garden hose to bring the wort temperature down to about 120° and then I switched over to an ice water recirculation pump system to get it down to 70°. People often ask me why it's important to chill the beer quickly and I haven't been able to SHOW them why up until today. See the following photo...

This is the blonde ale that I brewed at the end of July. As you can see, it's cloudy! That's a phenomenon called "Chill Haze" that occurs when you chill a beer that didn't get cooled quickly enough on brew day. The beer tastes fine... it's just cloudy. I used irish moss in that brew to help prevent that, but I had a big problem cooling that beer down to 70°. I didn't have the ice water recirculation system at that time. I'm also switching to Whirlfloc as my primary clearing agent, but I didn't use it on today's stout. You can't tell if a stout is clear or not by looking at it usually, so I just used the irish moss. I'll use the Whirlfloc on my next brew, whatever it may be...

Oh well... I got 5.5 gallons in the fermenter with an original gravity of 1.060. It's going to ferment in primary for 14 days in then for 28 more in secondary before it goes into bottles for 8 weeks. It's gonna be a while until we taste this one. I'll definitely brew one or two more batches before we even crack the top on one of these...

I'm not sure what I want to brew next. Someone please make some suggestions...

Filed under: Brewing Equipment, Home Brewing No Comments

23Aug/090

White Wolf Golden Ale

It sucks when I get really busy at work. I'm not sure why, but when those times come around, I tend to drink less beer rather than more. I had a very long week and I didn't try any new beers at all. So tonight, I'm having a White Wolf Golden Ale from Wolf Beer Company in Wilmington, North Carolina. I picked up this bottle at the World Market as part of a mixed sixer a couple weeks ago, so I chilled it and gave it a pour. As noted by the beer's name, it poured a very rich golden color with a thick foamy head. The beer has a nice clean and crisp flavor with a light to medium body. It has a delicious malty sweetness with what seems to be a mild taste and aroma of citrus. I had never heard of this brewing company before, but since it's a North Carolina shop I had to give it a try and I'm glad I did.

This isn't the ONLY beer I have had in the last week. I'll have to admit that I had one last night as well. I cracked the top on one of my Blone Ales that I brewed most recently. I just wanted to see how it was progressing because I thought it might just be near ready, and I was right. The flavor was fantastic. The head and head retention were both up to snuff, but the carbonation hasn't quite finished up yet. It's almost there, but it needs a little more time in the bottle. Oh... I also had two sampler glasses of beer on Thursday from Starr Brewing during a tasting at Gail's Hops and Grapes. I tried their Barvarian Hefe and their Stout. The Hefe was really nice. I can't quite comment on the stout yet. I think I would need to work my way through a whole bottle of a beer like that to give any decent feedback on it. It did have a very nice roasted flavor though...

Until next time...

Filed under: American Blonde Ale, Beer Reviews, Home Brewing No Comments

16Aug/090

O’Hara’s Irish Red

I grabbed a 4-banger of O'Hara's Irish Red at Gail's Hops and Grapes the other day so I could give it a try. They had some O'Hara's Irish Stout as well, so I'll probably give it a go next time around. This offering comes from Carlow Brewing Company in Carlow, Ireland. Even though it says "Imported from Ireland" on the bottle, this beer doesn't fall into that 'import' category of sales that I have mentioned in previous posts. This beer isn't really targeted at the "I only drink yellow fizzy imports" crowd.

O'Hara's Irish Red poured with an excellent foamy head and a darker reddish-brown color in the glass. The bottle lists this beer as a full-bodied irish red, but in my humble opinion, the body is a little lighter than what I'm used to in the realm of full-bodied brews. The beer has a rather crisp mouth feel and a nice presence of hops. It's not quite as malty sweet as some other Irish Reds I have had in the past, but all-in-all, this is an excellent beer.

I went to the Carlow Brewing Company website (see above link) to see what information was available on this brew, and couldn't find it. I'm not sure if this brew is discontinued or if the website just isn't up to date. It's hard to tell sometimes, but I'm thinking that the website must me a little out of date. They only list three beers coming from this brewery, and the comment listed on their Red Ale is from 2000...

Anyway... if you enjoy this style of beer, definitely give this one a try. At 4.3% ABV, it won't hurt you much :)

Filed under: Beer Reviews, Irish Red Ale No Comments

13Aug/090

Les Paul – R.I.P.

In memory of Les Paul...

Filed under: Smokin' Blues No Comments

12Aug/090

Siberian Night Imperial Stout

Here's another catch from the mixed sixer wall at the World Market... Thirsty Dog Brewing Company's Siberian Night Imperial Stout. My last trip to the World Market produced a couple new faces on the shelf, and this is one I hadn't seen there before. I haven't had an imperial stout in a while so I decided to give this one a try. Imperial stouts, by nature, are rather high in alcohol, and this one is no different at 9.7% ABV.

This beer poured the expected coffee black color with a rather rich and dark head that maintained itself very well through the entire drink. The roasted malts in this beer are rather dominant in the flavor and the IBU rating of 58 indicates the hop punch provided by this beer. This beer, as with many like it, seems to be best consumed at 55°-58°. At this temperature, the alcohol flavor subsides and the malts and hops really stand up and shout. The roasted flavor of this stout is above average. From the bottle:

Imperial Stouts are by far the "GRAND - DADDY" of all stouts. They are very, very dark and rich, with a deep-roasted, satisfying flavor. Siberian Night is made in this tradition. It is creamy and full-bodied, with a complex character from generous amounts of roasted, toasted, and caramel malts. For those who demand flavor, this is the perfect libation.

This is a beer you should check out for sure :)

Filed under: Beer Reviews, Russian Imperial Stout No Comments

7Aug/090

St. Terese’s Pale Ale

I picked up a bottle of St. Terese's Pale Ale from Highland Brewing Company as part of a mixed sixer last week. If you follow this blog much, you can see that I don't often buy pale ales, but I do get some occasionally. It's not because I don't like them though... it's just because I prefer malty beers most of the time. This beer is an American style pale ale which is more balanced between the hops and the malts than the India pale ales. The St. Terese's Pale Ale poured a very nice golden color with a thick foamy head. The head maintained itself well throughout this drink and laced the glass nicely. This beer rings in at 5.2% ABV and 24 on the IBU scale, so the hop presence is well stated but not overpowering in this delicious brew from Highland. I will eventually try their Kashmir IPA which boasts an IBU rating of 60 :) The St. Terese's will definitely make the drink-again list...