Robust Porter Tasting

Third version of mine and Kathy's robust porter with some substantial revisions to increase body. Also tried a new yeast strain (previously Safale S-05). Brewed 09/17/16. 

Tasting notes: Roasty aroma with some mild yeast phenols, mild dark fruit and chocolate notes on the palate, medium- to full-bodied mouthfeel. 

Slightly overcarbonated with excessive head—but the body is right!

Robust Porter

Recipe Specifics
Batch Size (Gal): 5.5
Total Grain (Lbs): 13.6
OG: 1.070
IBU (estimated): 47.5
Brewhouse Efficiency: 79.8%
Wort Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Grain
#9  U.S. 2-Row (66.2%)
#1.75 Munich (12.9%)
#1.25 Chocolate (9.2%)
#0.75 Crystal 60 (5.5%)
#0.5 Flaked Oats (3.7%)
#0.33 Black Patent (2.5%)

Hops
1 oz. Northern Brewer (Pellet, 9.6% AA) @ 60 min
0.75 oz. Hallertauer (Pellet, 3.2% AA) @ 20 min
0.75 oz. Willamette (Pellet, 5.1% AA), @ 20 min
0.25 oz. Hallertauer (Pellet, 3.2% AA) @ 1 min
0.25 oz. Willamette (Pellet, 5.1% AA), @ 1 min

Yeast
White Labs WLP002 English Ale Yeast 

Water Profile
Profile: Carroll County, MD

Mash Schedule
Sacch I - 60 min @ 153F

Harvest Ale Bottling

Kathy and I bottled the cranberry wheat beer (our take on an east coast fall harvest beer) on 11/15/16. Pitched WLP590 in primary and then added 48oz cranberries in secondary (5 gal volume). Measured FG was 1.004, 93% attenuation.

No visible signs of contamination, and no signs of lactobacillus or pediococcus were present in tasting. However, such a low FG may indicate the presence of brettanomyces. We had no DME on hand, but in the future, we plan to culture a small amount of the beer with DME to test for presence of brett. 

Tasting notes: strong cranberry fruit with only mild tartness, definitive wheat notes but no other malt flavors, esters present on the nose but less-so on the palate, medium bodied, and a long, lingering finish.

Other notes: Gravity reading from the holiday stout is 1.024. Would like to see a better attenuation, with a FG in the 1.016-1.019 range. Should be fine given another week or two.

Harvest Ale

Recipe Specifics
Batch Size (Gal): 5
Total Grain (Lbs): 10.25
OG: 1.060
IBU (estimated): 19
Brewhouse Efficiency: 87%
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Grain
#5  U.S. 2-Row (48.8%)
#4.25 Pale Wheat Malt (41.5%)
#1 Rice Hulls (9.7%)

Hops
1 oz. Hallertau (Pellet, 3.2% AA) @ 60 min
0.5 oz. Hallertau (Pellet, 3.2% AA) @ 15 min
0.5 oz. Saaz (Pellet, 2.8% AA), @ 15 min
0.5 oz. Hallertau (Pellet, 3.2% AA) @ 1 min

Extras
#3 fresh cranberries (blended, two weeks in secondary)

Yeast
White Labs WLP590 French Saison 

Water Profile
Profile: Carroll County, MD

Mash Schedule
Sacch I - 75 min @ 150F

Brew day 11/06

Ian: First version of dark saison, the culmination of an idea that's been percolating, partly inspired by the dark saisons of Fantôme. Measured OG 1.045. Pitched WLP566 at 70F. Lag time less than overnight.

Chris: Holiday stout for Ian's winter solstice party based on a recipe from Ben VanderMeer. Measured OG 1.076. Pitched 2x S-04 at 70F, lag time approximately 12 hours.

What to pair with the beers at the solstice party? Mussels and Pie?

BrewDog releases a large catalog of beer recipes

So here it is. Every single BrewDog recipe. Ever. For free! #DIYDoghttps://t.co/74k7Qjdh0T pic.twitter.com/1lm1PKdGsb

— BrewDog (@brewdog) February 25, 2016

Transparency in the beer industry is always a good thing, and knowledge sharing is the best way forward for brewers and homebrewers alike. It's nice to see BrewDog contributing to this already rich tradition.

Of course, this is also a bold marketing strategy with basic instructions to brew like the BrewDog guys did early in their careers.

The recipes have a mix of units, which is likely a nod to the varied homebrew cultures around the world. The hop weights, however, are given in grams only - so American homebrewers will need to do the conversions by hand.

In addition to recipes, DIY Dog has cute infographics on the homebrew all-grain process and interesting tidbits like a very bold move involving the late Michael Jackson:

In 2006 James and Martin hijacked a beer dinner run by Michael Jackson, the acclaimed beer and whisky writer, and convinced him to taste one of their home brews. This was a defining moment in BrewDog prehistory, and that beer was the first incarnation of the ubiquitous Paradox. Aged in a variety of casks over the years, Paradox is dark, decadent and encapsulating. Can be enjoyed fresh; phenomenal when aged. 

What I find most interesting is that each recipe carefully details the packaging in which that beer is commercially available - clearly a marketing strategy. The project also invests in the lore of BrewDog's business, which amplifies conversation over any beer, commercial or otherwise.

Ultimately, this release reads like a very usable resource for comparing intent, execution, and craft in a commercial beer. I look forward to scrolling through this whenever I find a BrewDog beer with which I'm unfamiliar. It's always fun to see how ingredients and process evince themselves in a finished product.

Don't burn me again

Oh, this again.

Peppers feel like a natural addition to an experience involving beer. The simplest pairing in the book is having a nice mild bodied beer with a spicy dish. But what I don't understand is flattening this experience into the beer without making that beer stand alone. Highlighting the peppers, I feel, is a mistake. 

Lately we've seen the Ballast Point Habanero Sculpin, the Rogue Sriracha Hot Stout Beer, the Jailbreak Scoville Jalapeno IPA, among a litany of other primarily pepper focused experiences. The trouble isn't the choice of including peppers in a beer but the focus of the experience. Perhaps there is even a problem with the choice of peppers to include. American tastes for beer don't tend toward vegetal flavors but jalapenos are distinctly more vegetal than your average smoked pepper. Regardless, a beer that has a primary descriptor of pepper flavors evokes, at least for me, an expectation that I'm about to drink some peppers propped up by some bitterness and sweetness. Every time I give it a shot I leave myself wanting. Meanwhile, imagining the same beer without peppers with a dish that supplies these sensations makes my mouth water.

Rephrasing the experience of peppers and beer is almost always better to my personal tastes. Moving the addition of peppers into the background of the beer is far more attractive to me. For example, Stone's Xocoveza is a complex and gorgeous stout taking a respectful nod to the aztec beverage, xocolatl, which includes peppers. The pasilla peppers they use have a rich and bright character. In the kitchen, they can be used to add a lot of pepper character to a sauce or dish. In beer the pasilla peppers do just that, probably also because it isn't the focus of the Xocoveza but instead expands the experience of the malt, lactose, cocoa, cinnamon, and sweet and earthen hops (goldings and challenger). Peppers are just too strong to be casually used in simple recipes.

My only hope is that this series champions Flying Dog's strengths and doesn't have me slogging through a horizontal that I regret.