English Pale Ale @ 6.6%

Source: Bottle from Company Beer Swap

Overall: 4/5

A – Amber honey color with about one finger of pure white head. Light sticky lacing

S – Sweet buttery toffee. Pleasant maltyness

T – Starts with a smack of vanilla with a hint of something very different (Lavender?) on the finish.  Throughout the palate there is a strong movie-theater-style buttered popcorn flavor – which is a product of diacetyl.  While this would be a flaw in most brews – it is in perfect balance in this beer and I assume purposeful.

M – Sudsy but smooth with good carbonation.

D – Very drinkable but not what I would consider a session beer at all.  This is a beer you’d want cold with good BBQ – something I aim to try in the coming months.  Definitely something I’d consider a summer brew.

Overall very good.

For this brew I steeped cara rye and melanoidin malt then brewed with a munich malt extract and spaltz for the bittering and aroma hops.  The date sugar, caraway seed and white pepper entered the boil for the last 15 minutes.  OG came in at 1.064 and FG at 1.008 – which by my calculation means a 7.3% brew.  Fermentation took almost 16 days – and the beer didn’t taste right till about three weeks after bottling.

The beer pours to a cloudy deep amber with a caramel head.  Light to no lace – in general I think I need to adjust some things in my brewing process to improve the head retention.  The beer starts with a mild sweetness which I feel has a good balance between a subtle date-flavor and a more intense bready sweetness. The beer comes off as spicy – almost salty – on the pallet then transitions to a solid toasty finish with hints of a strong tea.

The beer has a nice solid carbonation and medium mouthfeel.  I definitely wanted something maybe a little chewier – but I’m not unhappy with the result necessarily.  The beer is definitely gulpable.

Overall I’m happy – the big thing was the balance of the date, caraway and pepper… which I feel is spot on.  Just need to transition this puppy in to a repeatable all-grain recipe.

Beef Ribs

Beef ribs hit the irons first.  Mark (y’all remember Mark) picked up some mesquite wood – so we went that route with black pepper and salt for a straight forward prep.  The grill held pretty constant between 200 and 225 for around 4 hours – which wasn’t long enough… but did a lot better than I thought it would.  I was actually pretty impressed that we were able to keep the heat as constant as we did considering I forgot my chimney starter.

The beef ribs came out fine – probably needed to go a little lower on temp for another two hours – and I overdid it on the pepper. The smoke (which ran maybe a quarter of the time) was spot on – with a killer smoke ring in the meat.  Honestly, though, I think I’m going to stick with brisket if I want beef and pork if I want ribs… brisket is just easier to deal with for what seemed like the same result.

Dessert

We had a ringer last year with a smoked dessert pizza. It’s essentially pizza dough with fruit over a sweet ricotta cheese filling smoked in barley smoke.   We’re looking to give it a face lift – mostly focusing on presentation.  I’ve got three preps I’m looking at now – super interested what you think.

1.) Regular rounds – whole berries

2.) Cream-puff style

3.) Flavored cream rounds – half berries

I’m leaning toward #3 – but I’m not sure I’m sold…

Whatever.  I honestly wasn’t that excited about “Pirates Gold” anyway.

So back to the fermenter.  It’s an extract and specialty grain ale – an Amber Jewish Rye recipe brewed with date sugar and pepper.  I’ve got a certain flavor profile in mind here and will keep adjusting the recipe till I get it right – the name will be “Hot Date” which is fun if you know me (my girlfriend is a Jewish redhead).

This brew day went MUCH easier than my last. I think the biggest thing was going from the kettle to a bucket for primary fermentation – SO much less work than going to a carboy.  I gave it about two days till the bubbles had calmed down a bit and then moved to the secondary – which might have been early based on the books I’m reading but I wanted enough activity to push the oxygen out of the top of the bottle quick.  I know with an ale I could go straight from the bucket to the bottles – but brewing with date sugar left a lot of crap in the beer – I want to be able to see when the beer clears.

I hope it clears.  *fret*fret*fret*

Anyway – wanted to post so people didn’t think I gave up already.  I’ll throw up some more notes on the beer soon.

Most of what I know about beer I’ve been told by others or read.  It’s the information that made me fall in love with drinking beer – so I can’t hold a grudge… but it amazes me how little I know and how much I thought I knew I had wrong.

Take the term lacing.  I thought it had to do with the bubbles that floated around on top of the beer when the head went away – nope… it’s the bubbles that stick to the glass as you tilt to drink. I have claimed several beers poured to no head – then I found out I was probably pouring my beer wrong (learn how to do a proper pour)… or worse yet just didn’t know how to clean a beer glass.  Oh – and my personal favorite… from childhood I thought you were supposed to pour a beer to dry chilled glasses.  Nope – you’re supposed to rinse the glass in cold water.

I feel like I missed so much. There again – I can’t wait to learn more.

Brewer: Dark Horse Brewing Company, Michigan, US

American Strong Ale @ 7.5%

Source: Bottle from Hawthornes Beer Boutique and Gourmet Eatery

Overall: 4.5/5

Appearance: Black.  Poured to a finger-thick smooth head – chocolate in color with red highlights and great retention.

Smell: right off the bat I get a surprisingly pleasant floral minty aroma with a hint of charcoal. Very different.

Taste: This beer is downright complex.  It starts with a sort of bland bitter charcoal but once the carbonation hits you get a burst of roasted malts and coffee.  On the finish – a light chocolate flavor backed up by a sweetness… almost a light berry flavor.

Mouthfeel: Great carbonation – medium bodied. Could probably be a little thicker to go with the dark flavor

Drinkability: Too bitter and not smooth enough for more than one or two – but a delicious one or two they are.

Brewer: Dark Horse Brewing Company, Michigan, US

American Stout @ 4.5%

Overall: 4.5/5

Appearance: Black.  Very thick head about a half finger that’s reddish chocolate in color.  Dissipates quickly, leaving a thin light lace that is clumpy with long legs.

Smell: Toasty Malt and blueberries with a slight hint of alcohol – as the beer warmed the malt and blueberry smell went away, however.

Taste: NOt nearly as much blueberry as I expected given the smell – really more part of the finish than anything else.  I think they add a bit of a sour note to the body – which balances the toasted malt very well. VERY stout.

Mouthfeel: Light and carbonated – but not thin.

Drinkability: This is a slow sippin’ session beer – one I can easily imagine with some early spring smoked meat or a night of good cigars. Probably perfect with butter and muffins first thing in the morning.

Overall – this is a fabulous beer. A bit on the pricey side ($30 for a 22oz bottle) – I think this would be my bottle of choice for a really nice BYO Thai restaurant.

Brewer: Brouwerij De Dochter van de Korenaar, Belgium

Tripel @ 8.5%

Overall: 4.5/5

If you buy keep in mind the short shelf life (there is a use by date on the side) and make sure the bottle stores upright – there is a LOT of sediment in this bottle.

Appearance: Golden orange with a full thick finger and a half head – excellent retention. A little cloudy – lots of tiny bubbles.

Smell: Cheerios, strawberries and peaches.

Taste: Pine up front – surprisingly bitter. Almost melony – but not overly so.  A spicy bitter citrus on the finish.

Mouthfeel: A little more than medium bodied and sudsy… almost chewy. Much heavier than I’d have expected by the color. Very dry finish.

Drinkability: Wouldn’t call this a session beer – but very gulp-able.

Anyone out there know of a good one?

Brewer: St. Peters, Suffolk, UK

German Pilsner @ 4.2%ABV

Overall Score: 3/5

Serving: 12oz bottle poured in to chilled mug.

I have two sorghum beers I’ve never tried in the fridge.  As usual – I’m starting with the one I feel I’m least likely to fall in love with.

Brewer: Anheuser-Busch, Missouri, USA

Sorghum American Amber @ 4.0%ABV

Overall Score: 2.5/5

Serving: 12oz bottle poured in to chilled mug.

Appearance: light red – almost like honey. Poured to a fizzy finger-high head with almost no retention – reduced to a non-sticky patchy lace

Smell: bready. Something almost chemically – like pvc – and slightly bitter.

Taste: Apples shine through – enough so that if you told me this was a cider I wouldn’t have questioned it.  Sweet – with a lightly malty aftertaste.  No idea what sorghum tastes like to know if it’s in there.  Overall – nothing offensive.  I actually might prefer it to most of the Busch offerings.

Mouthfeel: Very light and crisp – lends itself well given the apple notes.

Drinkability: It’s a gulp-able beer – nothing really daring or offensive.