Still an Ass-Clown

Yes, it's true.

I did finally build the kegerator though.

Currently on draft in my former dining room:

Opus 3 Raspberry Lambic
"Not Medically Relevant" Brown Ale
Pliny the Welder Xtreme Double IPA

They have vintage tap handles, respectively Schlitz, Lowenbrau Special, and Pabst Blue Ribbon.

Joining them next will be "Robin's Revenge" English Bitter and an Oatmeal Stout (weird name TBA). I'm kegging those tomorrow, I hope.

Recent bottled beers to mature include Bitch Bastard Blizzard Bock (awesome), Amanuensis Ale (very good American blond ale), Sunny Thursday Bavarian Weizen (also good), and Primary Pilsner (lovely, all-Tettnang hops).

In fermenters are Vinification Chardonnay Ale, a young lambic shortly to be krieked, my old lambic (really, I'll bottle it soon), a Flemish sour brown, and a spring pale ale. I obviously went on a wild beer spree. . .

Shortly to be brewed:

Barley Wine
More Pilsner
Steam beer
Black IPA
Witte
A serious series of Belgians (Singel, Dubbel, Tripel, Strong Pale, Saisons, you name it)

A brewer's work is really never done. Especially when he's also a professor and publishing scholar. . .

Non-Posting Ass-Clown

It's been a while. Random brewery update:

After an alarming nine-week hiatus, the brewery kicked into high gear and I temporarlily lost my mind. Currently in fermenters:

Vinification Charbonnay Barrel Beer (Roeslare + Lambic Blend)
Pliny the Welder (pretty close to the Pliny the Elder recipe)
No-Name American Brown Ale
Amanuensis Ale (American pub-style Blonde)
Sunny Thursday Bavarian Weizen
2.5- year-old Lambic that I may bottle soon

Currently boiling is an all-Tettnang Pilsner.

Shortly to follow:

Framboise Lambic (pack is swelling)
Some sort of IPA with Flying Dog yeast?
A British bitter (West Yorkshire yeast)
Something dark . . .

Northern Brewer order needed soon to replenish bottle caps, yeast stocks, and minor specialty malts.

Thanks to the Bambergers for delivering malt from North Country to Randy's house, whence I have three new sacks of grain.

Promising new beers include Bitch Bastard Blizzard Bock (all-Vienna Helles-Bock) and a Belgian IPA Tripel type of thing. . .

Cheers!

Pumpkin Evaluation

Comparing my pumpkin ale to the Smuttynose model again; I did this once before and decided the spice level in mine was too low and added further spice directly to the keg. Something like 6 cloves plus cinnamon and nutmeg to the tune of a scant .2 oz total. Gotta get a scale that converts to grams for stuff like this...

My beer is a big loser in visuals. I put pumpkin right into the primary and this created a serious haze. Honestly I don't care though.

Other than that, the beers are really close in quality. Both have big, full spice noses. Being bottled, the Smutty has pricklier carbonation, whereas mine has a softer draft feel (probably a plus for this style actually). The spice flavor is underlain by a fairly solid malt foundation, with a delicate carameliness. The Smutty is a little bit more firmly hopped. If I were going to do a bottled version and drink it off and on for a year or more, it'd make sense to give it 8-10 more IBU's.

Overall, that was encouraging...

X-Mas Beers 5

I'm struck by these Ridgeway beers. Wow. Just when you thought all British ales were basically subtle, along comes these whalloping huge holiday specialties. I had a Very Bad Elf a few weeks ago and loved it--forgot to take notes. It's essentially a strong pale ale brewed according to a historical recipe, I think with pale amber malt (a real oddity).

Now I'm having Lump of Coal Dark Holiday Stout. Given the name, it could be a touch darker. But then I've been drinking crazy homebrewed stouts that all have absurd amounts of roast barley. Lump of Coal is definitely black, but also quite translucent when light hits it. The malt character is tremendous though; I'd say it has more malt character than a keg of Guinness....

The malt aroma and heady flavor derive, I suspect from really liberal use of all those yummy intermediate malts: Brown? Amber? Various dark crystals? Anyway, you get a whiff of this intense rum-soaked fruitcake thing and it's basically everything lovely about the holidays with none of the senseless horror. I like it.

X-Mas Beers IV

OK, why I'm suddenly blogging daily I have no idea...

De Proef Kerstmutske: This is another of those Belgian malt-bombs, and the last member of my late, lamented Shelton Bros. X-Mas beer box (a source of genuine pleasure). The palate is pretty darn malty, with a delicate teasing acidity to help out with the balance, hops being scarce in this one. A darker beer, this resembles last night's offering but with a smaller black malt quotient. I find the nose quite enchanting but am annoyed that I cannot describe it. What is that odd little combination of aromas? Oak and rhubarb? Can't do it justice...

Belgian X-Mas Beers III with an update from the brewery

Tonight brings Brouwerij Kerkom's WinterKoninkske. From the brewery's website:

"The ‘Winterkoninkske’ is the ideal beer to make a cold and chilly winter evening pleasant.
The ingredients are: seven types of malt (among which rolled oats), two belgian types of hop, brewing liqour and yeast.
Our winter beer is a dark and heartwarming beer with a pure, sugary flavour and a long, bitter aftertaste.
The alcohol content of this heavy beer is 8,3 % vol.alc."

And the bottle says it's brewed with juniper berries. It's a gorgeous looking beer, quite dark, sort of a burnt ruby topaz, definitely using some black malts. The juniper berries definitely leave a mark, both in the nose and on the palate--quite peppery. Big and velvety; really pretty sweet. There's just enough hops to balance and keep some structure to the finish. Very enveloping and heady. I like it.

By way of a brewery update, the last few kegged beers have been really good. Even the bizarre sour beer blend with raspberries is delicious. Really delicious. Today I bottled Fence-Post Porter, racked Red-Headed Stepmother IPA onto dry hops, and kegged Oatis McOatmeal's Oat-tastic Stout. All were promising, especially the IPA which I am seriously excited about; it's wildly bitter and dripping with hop aroma already. Shortly, I'll be bottling the IPA, plus the other pale ale, and dry hopping the Belgian IPA Tripel that is glugging away in my office.

Probable upcoming beers: Vienna bock. Another kegged IPA (can't keep it on draft...) designed to use up stray year-old hops. Maybe another brown ale? Something subtle and British. A weird sour oaky 18-month project beer. An old British beer for Christmas would be a must. RyePA. A Pliny the Elder clone. A barley wine for the love of crumb cake. That's a lot of priorities. . . I need to keep getting bottled beers made to straighten out the basement stock. I'd also like to have a big wintery dark beer and a serious IPA on draft for winter guests (maybe a honey one like last year?).

Belgian X-Mas Beers II

Brouwerij Achilles is apparently a garage microwbrewery, sort of like Blaugies used to be. Their "Serafijn Christmas Angel" is sort of like a lighter, perkier, drier Scaldis Noel. O.K., that's a lot of exceptions/qualifiers. The aroma has a very Scaldis-esque, candy-candy-candy maltiness. Then it gets drier, cleaner, and brighter: brilliant, effervescent palate; appley nose; surprisingly dry, given the deep, malty nose. A rather lovely beer, all around.

Oh, home-brewers, do NOT forget that Belgian beers are NOT all complex with a capital "C." Au contraire, many of them are surprisingly direct and uncomplicated. Here, in the grand scheme of things, some bright, fruity esters overlay a rich malt palate lightened by sharp carbonation. That's about it. And yet it's awesome. Go figure.