The Wedding

So, it's been a while since my last post, mostly because I've been so busy getting ready for my friend's wedding this past January. We decided on three beers: Blonde Ale, Strawberry Chocolate Porter, and the Irish Red. I pretty much stayed true to the original recipes, so I'm not going to post those here, but they are on my blog and pretty easy to find. I also made a flat cider, that we served as a wine due to its very high alcohol content (about 11%). The cider was simple: 5 gallons of apple juice, 2 pounds brown sugar, 2 pounds honey, and one pack of champagne yeast. I fermented it for 2 weeks before transferring it to wine bottles.

 I did make some minor changes in the malts to try and get the color just a bit better on the beers. Although it is perfectly fine for porters to be brown, I really like a very dark porter, so I added a little more roasted barley to the original recipe which did help. We also lightened the malt bill on the red, which helped a little. Instead of being black like the first go round, it was a dark brown, which is as good as it's going to get apparently.

Everything was a success. Everyone who visited me seemed to enjoy what they were drinking. A few even asked me where they could buy it. Some asked me for my information so they could get in contact with me about making their own beer, or having me make some for them. This all made me very excited. I am very glad that everyone seemed to like the beer. I'm also very excited that my friend's idea of having me make the beer went over so well.

At the end of the night, we ran out of the red and cider. We had more blonde than porter left. The blonde, while well received, seemed to be the least favorite of the night. This doesn't surprise me because the flavors of the other two beers are so much more complex and robust, which is going to attract people who like beer more than the simple offerings of a blonde. And ultimately we had a lot of beer drinkers in the house. However, those who were more casual beer drinkers really did seem to like the blonde a lot. The cider was a hit among those who were looking for something closer to wine to drink.

While I wouldn't necessarily want to do this all of the time due to the time constraints (and not to mention the pressure of getting it right), it was a lot of fun and I definitely wouldn't mind doing this again for very special occasions. We also came up for names for the brews (with the exception of the porter), which are entertaining but apt. I'm still taking suggestions on the porter. Leave me your idea in the comments section of this post.

What we served:

Strawberry Chocolate Porter (name pending)
OG: 1.070
FG:  1.018
ABV: 7%

"Black Irish" Red
OG: 1.064
FG:  1.020
ABV: 6%

Dirty Blonde
OG: 1.060
FG:  1.012
ABV: 6%

Sinful Sippin' Cider
OG: 1.090
FG:  1.010
ABV: 11%


Until Next Time,
RHSC

Irish Red

I brewed this one at the same time as the witbier (see Lemon Wit). I've never brewed a red before, and I really like them, so I thought I'd give it a try. In my opinion, reds can be a perfect compromise of beer tastes. They are not as heavy as super dark beers (like stouts and porters), but they have more flavor and malt characteristics than really light beers (like blondes, goldens, and some lagers). This is a really easy recipe and should hopefully taste really good.

Ingredients:

• 6.6 pounds Light (or English Pale Ale) LME
• 2 pounds Light (or English Pale Ale) DME
• 6 ounces Crystal 40L
• 6 ounces Crystal 120L
• 6 ounces Roasted Barley
• 1.25 ounces Kent Goldings Hops
• 10 grams Irish Ale Yeast

Instructions:

• Steep grains and barley at 150-160 F for 30-60 minutes.
• Add dry extract and hops. Boil for 60 minutes
• At 15 minutes left, add liquid malt.
• After one hour, remove from heat. Cool wort and add to fermenter.
• Pitch yeast. *I used one packet Fermentis Safale US-05. If using liquid yeast, you could use up to 2 packets. You could use White Labs WLP004 or Wyeast 1084.
• Ferment for 7-14 days.
• I will keg with CO2.

OG: 1.064

Until Next Time,

RHSC

Lemon Wit

I really like wheat style beers, especially Belgian wits. I've brewed two citrus wheats in the past (both recipes can be found on my blog), and they both turned out nicely. I decided to go down a little different path this time. Not only did I follow a more traditional Belgian wit recipe, but the citrus flavor I used was lemon instead of orange.

Ingredients:

• 6.6 pounds Bavarian Wheat LME
• 1 pound Flaked Oats
• 1 pound Pilsner Malt
• 1 ounce Dried Lemon Peel
• .4 ounce (11 g) Crushed Coriander
• 2 grams (.06 ounce) Dried Chamomile Flowers
• 1 ounce Hallertau Hops
• 2 packages liquid Belgian Wit ale yeast 

Instructions:

• Put the oats and pilsner in a mesh bag and perform a partial mash for 30-60 minutes at 160 F.
• Remove grains. Add half of extract and the hops to the wort and boil for 60 minutes.
• At 15 minutes left, add the remaining extract. 
• At 5 minutes, add the chamomile, coriander, and lemon peel.
• After 60 minutes, remove from heat.
• Cool wort and add to fermenter. Add water to get 5 gallons.
• Pitch yeast. *I used White Labs WLP400 and Wyeast 3944. You can use two packs of the same yeast, but I am curious as to how the subtle differences will affect the taste.
• Ferment for 7-10 days. 
• I will keg using CO2.

Notes:

The original recipe called for 1.5 ounces citrus zest, as opposed to peel. I went with 1 ounce of lemon peel because in order to get that much zest, you need a lot of lemons. The dried lemon peel is only about $3 at your local HBS. 20 lemons would be a lot more than that. Also, because it calls for unspecified citrus zest, you can substitute oranges if you like. Be careful with playing with the levels of the coriander. Coriander is very strong and putting in more than the 11 grams could really give it a stronger than desired aroma and taste.

OG: 1.043

Until Next Time,

RHSC

Updates on Cider and Porter (pt. 2)

I finally kegged the strawberry cider and the chocolate strawberry porter after about 4 weeks in the fermenter. Both have turned out nicely.

The cider is nice and refreshing with a very smooth texture. It has a little more sweetness than the last batch, which I'm attributing to the strawberries, but it has no noticeable strawberry flavor. I did some research and found that when using mild fruits in beer, such as strawberries, you really need to use a lot more of said fruit (one pound of puree to one gallon of beer or more) in order to get the desired flavor. I forgot to take a gravity reading (I know, I know... a rookie mistake), so I don't have a clear idea of ABV, but I'm guessing at least 8% (OG was 1.074 with fruit).

The porter really turned out well. The aroma has some dark chocolate overtones right up front, which I really like. You can also get a hint of the strawberries in the aroma, which really does add to initial impression of the beer. The beer has a nice smooth mouthfeel with a slight bitter taste to begin with and finishes off with a slight sweetness in the aftertaste (thank you, strawberries!). I was a little worried when the strawberries didn't show up at all in the taste of the cider that the same would be true about the porter, but I think the longer than normal fermentation time (a little over 4 weeks) really helped the strawberries to contribute to the flavor of the beer. I think next time I might use more strawberries, but I don't think I'll use more than about four pounds of puree (I used three in this batch). I didn't get quite the strawberry flavor I was hoping for, but you can definitely taste the strawberries. Overall, I really like this beer. It is a nice, rich porter with a lot of flavor. It did turn out to be very high gravity, so I will definitely go easy on it.

OG: 1.072 with fruit
FG: 1.018
ABV of about 7.25%

Until Next Time,
RHSC

Craft Beers

What is a craft beer? There are actually a lot of definitions, and there is even a legal definition, apparently. A craft beer is basically a beer that does not use rice or corn as a major ingredient. The craft beer movement started in the 1970s to get away from the beer created by the mega breweries (such as Budweiser, Miller, Coors, etc.). The problem with craft beers these days is that they are trying to do exactly what they originally were trying to get away from. They are trying to take over the market and become leaders in the industry. They started as regional breweries that provided original high quality products to the people of that region. I recently read a blog post from "Top Fermented" about this subject that I really liked. He stated that these breweries are throwing around the word "consistency" lately. This is the same word that the mega breweries throw around. Each Budweiser is supposed to taste exactly the same. It's not necessarily about making good beer as much as it is about making consistently tasting beer. What about consistently good beer?

The blogger even states that making a product that tastes exactly the same year after year shouldn't really be possible. Think about it. You're using organic materials that change from year to year, not to mention that yeast is a living organism, which reacts differently from batch to batch. Even if you use the same materials each time, there will most likely be a slight taste difference. Will it be similar? Of course. The same? No. And it shouldn't be expected to be. This is one of the principles behind home-brewing. One of the exciting parts of creating your own beer is that even if you make the same batch again, it will probably display different characteristics each time. The craft beer industry started with this idea in mind, but these companies have basically become smaller versions of the mega breweries. They are more interested in creating a flagship beer with a few supporting styles and marketing them across the country and even world-wide. Don't get me wrong; you start a business to make money. No one ever goes into starting a business with the intent to lose money. And people typically don't like change, so they don't want their favorite beers to change. However, I feel like this makes it harder for smaller, truly local breweries to provide their craft beers to the community.

I like the idea of craft beers. The whole idea of using corn or rice is to control the flavor of the product. Using malted barley and wheat, without using rice or corn, allows for the unique complexities of the beer to come out. I even think it's okay for the beer to be different from batch to batch. Isn't this the same for the wine industry? The same style of wine from different years is not expected to be exactly the same. That's why we put emphasis on labeling the years of the wine. Why can't we do this for beer?

The author of "Top Fermented" is starting a small brewery in NC. His mission is to create good beer that has variability, as all good beer does. I really like this and am excited about his brewery. If more breweries took this chance with their beers, the beer industry would be completely different. They would be getting back to actually creating "craft beers."

Check out his post at http://www.topfermented.com/2011/06/01/real-beer-has-variability-or-mystery-brewings-mission-statement/.

Until Next Time,
RHSC

Beer Blogging Buddies

I recently joined this social network for beer bloggers called "Beer Bloggers Unite." It's a very cool site where all kinds of beer bloggers can get together and share ideas, recipes, beers they like/dislike, etc. I was immediately welcomed by a gentleman named Marcus who owns his own restaurant in Ellenville, NY. He has a video blog called "Beer Blogging Buddies," where he and two friends sample different beers and rate them on a score from 0-100. It is hilarious. Not only do they appear pretty knowledgeable about beer, but you can tell they really enjoy beer. You can also tell that they really enjoy each other's company. The one thing I really liked about them is that they don't appear to subscribe to trends. They like what they like and are unapologetic about it (that also goes for what they don't like). I really like this blog and have added it to the list of blogs I'm following. It's a lot of fun and I recommend everyone give it a try. You can follow the link below:

http://beerbloggingbuddies.blogspot.com

Until Next Time,
RHSC

Citrus Wheat Beer

This is a nice crisp beer. It is comparable to Blue Moon, but not quite as sweet. I was able to get a nice citrus after-taste. Over-all, I was very happy with this beer. This was my first "kit-free" recipe that I put together from a mix of recipes. This recipe makes a 5-gallon batch. It has an approximate ABV of 3%.

Ingredients:

• 6 pounds Wheat Malt Extract
• 1 pound Crystal Grain (60 L)
• 1 ounce German Wheat Hops
• 2 Oranges, sliced
• 1 package (11 g) American Ale Yeast
• 3/4 Cup Corn Sugar (for priming)

Instructions:

• Steep grains in 2-3 gallons of water at 150 F for 30 min to 1 hour
• Stir in malt extract. Bring to boil for 1 hour.
• Once wort begins to boil, add 1/2 ounce hops (bittering)
• Add 1/4 ounce hops at 30 minutes into boil (flavor)
• Add 1/4 ounce hops at 45 minutes into boil (aroma)
• Add oranges in last 10-15 minutes of boil
• Chill wort quickly and add to fermenter with remainder of water.
• Pitch yeast and seal fermenter
• Ferment for 10-14 days. *Note: I did not use a secondary. If you wish to secondary, you'll want to rack to a secondary after 4-5 days, and then leave it in the secondary for 7-10 days.
• Boil Corn Sugar in 2 cups of water for priming solution.
• Pour priming solution into the bottling bucket.
• Transfer the wort from the fermenter to the bottling bucket. Let sit for 2-5 minutes. Bottle.
• Let beer stand in bottles for 14 days.

Until Next Time,

RHSC