Banana Brett Saison

I talked about sour beers a few posts back. I explained to y'all some of the changes that occur when you incorporate wild yeast and bacteria into a beer in addition to brewer's yeast. I have been experimenting some with funking (adding wild microbes) beers and have finally been able to enjoy some of the fruits of my labor. In that previous post, I talked about a beer that I made with bananas and Brettanomyces (wild yeast). I didn't know what to expect when I first tossed them into the fermenter. I have to say, I am quite pleased with the results!

Appearance:  Golden yellow. Straw colored, but a muted straw. Very clear. No head to speak of.

Aroma:  Smells like Brett. Funky. Some horseyness/barnyard (but not in a bad way). Slight sour aroma probably resulting from acetic acid. All funk, no malt or hops.

Taste:  Extremely complex! Nice blend of sour and earthy notes. Slight hop bite, but it has largely faded from what the non-soured saison boasted. Mild caramel flavor. Mild toasty notes. The flavor has certainly improved since my last tasting (which I didn’t write up a post for, oops!!!).

Mouthfeel:  Very light. It seems a lot of the carbonation has faded a bit too. Feels as light as it looks.

Good beer overall. The hoppiness clashes a bit with the other flavors, overpowering them slightly. I will be interested to try this in a few more months.

Recipe Name:         Banana Brett Saison

Recipe Volume:      1 gallon

Yeast:                     White Labs WLP568 Saison Blend for primary fermentation
                                Brett cultured from El Cedro for secondary fermentation

Malts:	Amount
1. 2-row malt	8 lbs.
2. Vienna malt	1 lb.
3. Carapils	0.5 lb.
3. Honey malt	0.5 lb.

Brewhouse Efficiency            77%
Calculated Original Gravity            1.055
Caclulated Boil Gravity                   1.044
Measured Original Gravity             1.056

Hops:	Amount	Boil Time	IBUs
1. Nugget (13.5%)	1 oz.	60	49
2. Warrior (16.7%)	0.5 oz.	30	23
3. Saaz (2.4%)	1 oz.	1	0

Calculated IBUs          73

Event horizon imperial stout

I considered not putting up this post. I thought maybe I should just let this one die, but then I thought some more, and I decided that I don't want this blog to only be a chronicle of the successes I have in brewing. I would prefer it to be a tool for me to document my experiences and tell the complete story of my homebrewing adventures. So with that, I confess - this beer is bad. It's not just ok. It's not half-bad. It's all bad. I am extremely disappointed in it, and I came into making this one with the highest of expectations (I even came up with what I thought was a very clever name). Here are my thoughts. I will get it right next time!

Appearance:  Probably the only pleasant thing about this beer. It is extremely dark. Tan head that appears rich, but rapidly dissipates leaving behind some lacing.

Aroma:  Something's not quite right here. The smell is off. Not what I would expect in a stout. No maltiness to speak of. A cider-like aroma that might be due to the large addition of extract.

Taste:  A few good things, but mostly bad things. The taste is not quite as off-putting as the aroma. I went too heavy on the hops, which probably happened because I didn't think to adjust the amount we used after we got a poor extraction. The cider flavor clashes badly with the rest of the beer. Both the excessive hopiness and cideriness mask what could potentially be a good beer - difficult to tell though.

Mouthfeel:  Think coating in the mouth. Slight astringency.

:(

Grapefruit pale ale

It's been a while since I have put up a post on this blog. I have been very busy with some other things in my life. I have still been brewing, but just haven't had time to organize everything into a post. Hopefully more will be on the way. I am getting into brewing sour beers now though, so it might be a little while. Anyway, here are my thoughts on the grapefruit ale that I finished about a month ago.

Appearance:  Amber to golden brown color. Very little head that dissipates quickly leaving behind little lacing. I would like more staying power - might want to add some Carapils next time around.

Aroma:  Lots of grapefruit! Sticky sweet aroma. All fruit, I can't smell any distinct hop character or maltiness.

Taste:  Very heavy on the citrus. I can't tell if this aspect is coming mostly from the hops or from the juice I added. I think both in relatively equal proportions. Neutral malt backbone. No apparent off flavors.

Mouthfeel:  Medium-low carbonation. No effervesence. Clean finish.

Overall:  I am very proud of this one. I feel like I got exactly what I was gunning for.


Recipe Name:         Grapefruit Pale Ale

Recipe Volume:      5 gallons

Yeast:                     White Labs WLP060 American Ale Blend

Malts:	Amount
1. 2-row malt	7.5 lbs.
2. 6-row malt	1 lb.
3. Crystal 60	0.5 lb.
4. Munich malt	0.5 lb.
5. Vienna malt	0.5 lb.
6. Acid malt	0.25 lb.

Brewhouse Efficiency                      70%
Calculated Original Gravity            1.058
Caclulated Boil Gravity                   1.046
Measured Boil Gravity                    1.053

Hops/Additives:	Amount	Boil Time	IBUs
1. Chinook (12%)	0.5 oz.	60	21
2. Cascade (7%)	1 oz.	30	19
3. Amarillo (9.3%)	0.5 oz.	0	0
4. Cascade (7%)	0.5 oz.	0	0
5. Grapefruit juice	from 6 grapefruits	0	0
6. Amarillo (9.3%)	0.5 oz.	Dry hop (1 week)	0
7. Cascade (7%)	0.5 oz.	Dry hop (1 week)	0
8. Grapefruit zest	from 3 grapefruits	Dry hop (1 week)	0

Calculated IBUs          40

India pale saison

This is a review of my first attempt at all grain brewing. I decided to make a hoppy saison since I still don't have a good temperature control system. It turned out to be a smashing success - far and away better than the extract brews that came before it! Here's my review:

Look:  Orange-yellow, straw colored. Slightly hazy, but as a farmhouse ale I think it is fitting. Pours a lush white head that is rich and stiff (it can support a bottle cap). Lots of staying power. When the head dissipates, it leaves behind some beautiful lacing. The body on this beer really is spot on!

Aroma:  Spice and citrus. Slightly fruity. I am having trouble placing the particular spices. If I make this again, I will dial back the hops a touch. It is just a little bit too hoppy for the bitterness to play well off of the spiciness, which is what I wanted.

Taste:  Spice and hop character mesh well and play off one another. Again, a little bit too hoppy. Dialing back hops and bumping up gravity would benefit this beer.

Mouthfeel:  This beer has some nice body, but it is also pretty strongly carbonated. These two factors play off one another and make the beer seem light but not thin. The carbonation level accentuates the hoppiness, causing a slight puckering sensation when drinking. The overall result is a very strong but clean feeling beer.

I'm very satisfied with this beer, and it can easily be improved when making it a second time.



Recipe Name:         India Pale Saison

Recipe Volume:      5 gallons

Yeast:                     White Labs WLP568 Saison Blend

Malts:	Amount
1. 2-row malt	8 lbs.
2. Vienna malt	1 lb.
3. Carapils	0.5 lb.
3. Honey malt	0.5 lb.

Brewhouse Efficiency                      77%
Calculated Original Gravity            1.055
Caclulated Boil Gravity                   1.044
Measured Original Gravity             1.056

Hops:	Amount	Boil Time	IBUs
1. Nugget (13.5%)	1 oz.	60	49
2. Warrior (16.7%)	0.5 oz.	30	23
3. Saaz (2.4%)	1 oz.	1	0

Calculated IBUs          73

Pumpkin Ale

I got the beer team together about a month ago to brew a pumpkin ale. We decided to use whole pumpkins and roast them ourselves instead of canned. The results were fantastic! I am very proud of this brew. Here's a review and a few photos. Enjoy!


Appearance:  Golden yellow color. Very bright and warm. Evokes thoughts of harvest. Thin, off-white head that rapidly dissipates leaving little lacing.

Aroma:  Lots of spices shine through. Strong aroma of nutmeg and warm cinnamon. Also a slight nuttiness and a creamy smell present (possibly due to lactose). Warm fruity notes also present.

Taste:  Complex. Starts out sweet and slightly sour. Some caramel flavor comes through (would be worth bumping up when we give this another go - possibly more Crystal malt). Spices present on the back end of the taste. Neutral malt backbone present throughout, which works quite well.

Mouthfeel:  Medium-high carbonation level. Lactose gives slightly velvety feeling at start, which is cleaned up by effervescence.

Overall, a great beer! I am very satisfied with this one. It is going into my hall of fame.

Banana Brett saison - an exercise in funking beer

Ask any homebrewer with his salt what the key to good brewing is and you will often get three words in response:

Sanitize. Sanitize. Sanitize.
And this is generally good advice. However, on occasion when the brewer throws caution to the wind and opens up his brew to allow whatever floating through the air might find its way in, something amazing happens. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the sour beer!

Ok, so this is not the way many modern sour beers are actually made, but it harkens back to a previous era and the true spirit of what a sour beer is. Wild yeast and bacteria are present in our air. If you don't believe me, take a nice juicy steak and leave it out on your counter for a few weeks. While there are plenty of wild microbes out there that we would have no interest in ingesting, a select few can produce wonderful, mind-blowing results when cultured in a beer fermentation. Here are some of the key players that go into making sour beer what it is:

Brettanomyces (Brett)
This wild yeast is often suggested to impart "horsey, barnyard tastes and aromas." While this might not sound all that appealing, it somehow manages to work in many beers when present in the proper proportions. Brett also provides a hint of sour flavor to beer. This is accomplished by some metabolic pathways utilized by Brett yeast strains which result in the production of acids.

Lactobacillus (Lacto)
Lacto ferments lactose to lactic acid. I haven't used it yet in a brew. It produces a very sour beer.

Pediococcus
Anyone who is not interested in making sour beers should avoid this bacteria like the plague. Once it takes roost in brewing equipment, it is almost impossible to eradicate. However, for some sour beers, Pediococcus is a key component.  It is always used in conjunction with Brett. I have not used it yet.

Now that you have a bit of a primer, let me explain my most recent brew. I recently had a beer from Jester King, one of the boldest local breweries in Austin. This beer, called El Cedro, motivated me to try to brew with Brett. Since I have a stir plate and can make starters, I figured rather than going out and buying some, I would just culture it out of the bottom of the El Cedro bottle (it is a nonfiltered beer). I did this, brewed a saison, which I let run its course through primary fermentation, and then added the El Cedro starter and a couple of bananas. Results to come (but probably not for a few months). Here are some photos for you to enjoy and the recipe if you want to brew it yourself!

Oh and I almost forgot to mention, this was my first all grain brew!

Aldy preparing the mash

Egg drop soup?

Immediately after adding bananas and Brett

2 hours after adding bananas and Brett

Recipe Name:         Banana Brett Saison

Recipe Volume:      1 gallon

Yeast:                     White Labs WLP568 Saison Blend for primary fermentation
                                Brett cultured from El Cedro for secondary fermentation

Malts:	Amount
1. 2-row malt	8 lbs.
2. Vienna malt	1 lb.
3. Carapils	0.5 lb.
3. Honey malt	0.5 lb.

Brewhouse Efficiency            77%
Calculated Original Gravity            1.055
Caclulated Boil Gravity                   1.044
Measured Original Gravity             1.056

Hops:	Amount	Boil Time	IBUs
1. Nugget (13.5%)	1 oz.	60	49
2. Warrior (16.7%)	0.5 oz.	30	23
3. Saaz (2.4%)	1 oz.	1	0

Calculated IBUs          73

Imperial Amber Ale Review

Here's a review of my latest beer:

Look:  Deep amber/brown. Looks like it could be a brown ale, but has a slight reddish hue. Slightly off white head that leaves behind nice lacing on the glass.

Aroma:  TROPICAL!!! Lots of mango and some pineapple on the nose. This is likely due to excessive use of Simcoe hops.

Taste:  Fruit comes through first. Some mild malty undertones. Finishes with the mango and pineapple and a slight alcohol flavor. I think it could do with more bittering. Lots of fruit complexity, but since I was going for something hybrid between an amber and an IPA, I think it isn’t far enough into the IPA camp.

Feel:  Smooth and velvety. Feels like it has some real body to it. It is a bit on the heavy side and leaves quite a coating on the palate.

Overall it's not bad, but too much in the fruit camp for my tastes without enough bittering to balance. If I make this one again I will need to hop the shit out of it during the boil. I already added a lot of hops and still no bitterness comes through. The IBUs should be at least doubled! This would probably be a good one to go overboard hopping. The rest of the flavors would balance it nicely.

Here's the recipe:

Recipe Name:         La Mia's Imperial Amber IPA

Recipe Volume:      1 gallon

Yeast:                     White Labs WLP001 California Ale

Malts:	Amount	Gravity Points
1. Pale malt extract (DME)	1.75 lbs.	77
2. Crystal 120	1.75 oz.	3
3. Caramunich	1.75 oz.	3

Calculated Original Gravity            1.084
Caclulated Boil Gravity                   1.060
Measured Original Gravity             1.090

Hops:	Amount	Boil Time	IBUs
1. Nugget (13.3%)	0.2 oz.	90	45
2. Simcoe (13%)	0.15 oz.	30	24
3. Simcoe (13%)	0.15 oz.	1	24
4. Nugget (13.3%)	0.1 oz.	Dry Hop
5. Simcoe (13%)	0.2 oz.	Dry Hop

Calculated IBUs          70

Procedure
- Heat 1 gallon of water in a large pot.
- Heat 3 cups of water to 150-160 F in small pot, add Crystal 120 and Caramunich. Steep for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally (maintaining temperature is not vital). Remove grain bag and wash with water heated in large pot.
- Add 3 more cups of water, bring to boil, turn off heat and stir in 1.75 lbs. DME
- Return to boil and add 0.2 oz. Nugget hops
- Boil 60 minutes, and then add 0.15 oz. Simcoe hops
- Boil 15 minutes, and then add 1/4 tsp. yeast nutrient and 1/4 tsp. Irish moss
- Boil 14 minutes, and then add 0.15 oz. Simcoe hops
- Boil 1 more minute, then take off heat
- Top up to 1 gallon with chilled sterilized water
- Chill wort to 75 F in ice water bath
- Add wort to fermenter
- Aerate for a few mintues
- Pitch 3/4 of 1 vial of yeast