IPA #2 2021

My second IPA has a danky nose, not quite forest, but no citrus scents. Solid head, though; tiny bubbles on top that are dense and white. The overall color is darker than I intended but all that I could get  was amber liquid malt, so….there you have it.

The head is pleasantly ticklish on my lip, and the middle of the beer isn’t too intense. But the roasted elements of the liquid malt seem to show up and add an extra acrid quality to the finishing bitterness. As a result, there’s a little bit of a ‘roof of the mouth’ scouring element. I’m using my tongue to wipe away the flavors. Not because it’s bad, but because I want to cleanse my palate.

Call this an ‘almost there’. I think if the roasted qualities weren’t present, I’d have a beer I enjoy more.

Brew Date: 8/8/21

Steeping grains
3 lb Munich
3 Lb Lamonta pale
2 lb Vienna

Fermentables: 3 lb liquid Munich

Hops
1/5 oz Centennial, 1 oz Galaxy @60
.5 oz Galaxy, 1 oz Centennial @20

Yeast: Imperial’s Flagship (2nd use)

OG: 1.062

FG: 1.01

Added .5 Galaxy Aug 13
Bottled: 8/15

ABV: 7.0%

Cream Ale 2021

This isn’t hitting right. I can sense it in the nose, actually. This beer is off. It smells a bit like old paper.

Now, it’s reasonably malty in the midrange: some caramel there, and pleasantly bubbly too, so nothing sticks around long. However.

The finish? It brings back that old paper flavor. Not my best work, is all I can say.

Brew date: 3.6.21

Steeping Grains
3 lb Munich
3 lb Vienna
1 lb Digngemans Aromatic malt

Fermentables: 3 lb dry malt extract pils

Hops: 1 oz Willamette, .25 oz Falconer’s Flight @60

Imperial Pub yeast (2nd use)

OG: 1.06

FG: 1.012

Bottled 3/14

ABV: 6.5%

August Amber

The nose is somewhere between caramel and toffee; sweet but not so roasted as to get that more complex burnt quality.

The flavors follow this, I’m pleased to say, but there’s also an interesting dryness to the finish. It’s not exactly bitter-I don’t think the hops involved really push that note. But it isn’t a white wine thing, either.

It does cleanse the palate off nicely enough though, and encourage another sip. So that’s pretty good, at least by me!

Brew date: 8/22/20

Steeping grains
4 lb Gambrinus pale
1 lb Biscuit, Special roast, 2 row

Fermentables: 3 lb ExLME

Hops
.5 oz Nugget, 1 oz East Kent Goldings @60
1 oz East Kent Goldings .5 oz Nugget @5

Yeast: Imperial’s Tartan (3rd use)

SG: 1.06

FG: 1.01

ABV: 6.8%

June Cream Ale

So, the nose on this is sweet-malt sweet though it lacks that element of graininess-basically, this ale falls a bit more towards a maple syrup sweetness (not as sweet, but like that) rather than bread.

That isn’t bad, but I’ll confess, it wasn’t quite what I was hoping for. I very much like the bready qualities of the kolschs I’ve had, and I was hoping that the use of vienna and biscuit malts would bring that flavor a bit more forward.

That doesn’t quite seem  to be the case. It isn’t a bad beer though: it’s very light and bubbly, so it is easy to drink and sweeps itself off my palate like a good houseguest.

Do I wish it had a slightly different flavor profile? I do. Am I unsatisfied with how it tastes? I am not. It’s good.

Brew date: Jul 12

Steeping grains
1 lb Biscuit

3 lb Wyeyermann Pils malt
4 lb Weyermann Vienna malt

Fermentables: 3 lb ExLME|

Hops
1.5 oz Mt Hood, .5 oz German Blanc @ 60

Yeast: Imperial House (3rd use)

OG: 1.059

FG: 1.009

Bottled 7/18

ABV: 6.8%

Second Serving

So, after that last cream ale, I thought I’d try it again, but without the crazy alcohol.

The nose…isn’t bad but there’s something suggesting that I’m off a little. A very subtle hint of something sour. Maybe like bread yeast but definitely not appropriate to style.

That same flavor comes in at the very finish of the beer, a late guest to a party that just ended.

It’s a bummer, because I really tried to get this one right, after such a simple mistake.

Because it’s fairly clear, and pretty crisp. The malt does appear but it’s not overwhelming by any means and the ABV is far, far closer to what it should be, as opposed to my last effort.

However, it doesn’t quite finish clean and that throws it off. It’s not undrinkable. but I’d have difficulty promoting it to someone else.

Brew date: 8/4/19

Steeping grains
5 lb Ballad Munich
3 lb Vienna

Fermentables: 3 lb ExLME

Added .5 tsp Gypsum

Hops
1 oz UK Fuggle @60
2 oz Mt Hood @5

Added .5tsp Peated Moss at flameout for clairity

Yeast: Imperial’s Pub yeast

OG: 1.058

FG: 1.014

Secondary: 8/15

Bottled: 8/17

ABV: 6%

IPA 3 2019

If I get my nose in there, the is definitely pine notes and a little forestry wet grass too. That part is good, but I feel a little concerned because I have to work for it.

IPAs should be obvious when it comes to their hops.

And it’s not like the bubbles are shy: a steady, white head sticks around while I drink this beer, and provides a little palate cleanse.

Midrange has some fruit quality to it; dried apricots. I don’t hate this, but it’s an off flavor and one I’m thinking might be there because fermentation temps were a little high.

The finishing bitterness isn’t too strong, either. I can taste it, but it isn’t everything I hope for.

It’s a solid beer, and it tastes pretty good, I just wonder if it’s a hoppy red more than what I was going for.

That’s when I notice-holy crap did I add in too many malt sugars. What is up with me this year? 9% IPAs need more hops to balance them and I wasn’t even thinking about it, clearly.

Brew date: 7/20/19

Steeping grains
7lb Lamonta
1/25 lb C60

Fermentables: 6 lb Light malt extract

Hops
1.5 oz Mt Hood, .5 oz Centennial @ 60
.5 oz Mt Hood, .5 oz Centennial @p5

Yeast: Imperial Dry Hop (3rd use)

OG: 1.084

FG: 1.014

Secondary: 8/6, 1 oz Centennial & 1 oz Mt Hood added

Bottled 8/10

ABV: 9.5%

 

IPA 2 2019

Second IPA homebrew of the year!

The nose has a bit more citrus to it, less dank forest, but some of that foresty quality shows up too.

The reason this version has more citrus going on is because the OBC was gifted a bunch of Mount Hood hops and I figure; hey, let’s just use a bunch of these. So I deviated from the standard recipe in order to use them. I can’t be surprised that the beer is a little different.

The finishing bitterness is still pretty intense though and more old school bitter, piney so I’m keeping at least some of the qualities I’d expected. Good drinkin’ beer.

Brew date: 5/19/19

Steeping grains
7 lb Lamonta
1.25 Encore

Fermentables: 5 lb ExLME

Hops
1oz Centennial, Mt Hood @60
.5 oz Mt Hood @ 30
.5 oz Mt Hood, Centennial @5

Yeast: Imperial Dry Hop (2nd use)

OG: 1.077
FG: 1.014

2ndary 6/4: Added 1oz Mt Hood, .5 oz Centennial to secondary

Bottled: 6/8

ABV: 8.5%

The In Between

I was shooting for a brown and it’s…almost there? The flavor profile might be a little strong and the beer might be a touch dark. I just can’t quite seem to hold back on the dark malts, I suppose. Maybe next time half of each.

Nose has a pleasant chocolate quality and while it doesn’t fade out completely, it doesn’t come on too strong, either.

Still, this makes a decent enough porter wannabe. On the sweeter side, with the chocolate flavors but a tiny bit of roasted malt on the finish to shore it up. And it finishes drier than I’d expect, too. Quite drinkable, definitely a candidate for drinking another.

Brew date: 5/12/19

Steeping grains
1 lb Chocolate
1 lb Red X
1 Lb Carabrown

Fermentables: 7 lb ExLME

Hops
1 oz Saaz @ 60
.5 oz Saaz @ 30
.5 oz Saaz @5

Yeast: Imperial Tartarn (2nd use)

OG: 1.059
FG: 1.014

Secondary 5/25
Bottled 5/27

ABV: 6.1%

Devil’s Mother 2017

It’s that time of year: time to make the Mary McCleod again.

There’s a chocolate milk nose. It’s right up front and in your face. The chocolate runs through the entire ale but there’s a bigger roasted note in there too and it’s not entirely awesome. A bit burnt, turning the beer just a little harsh.

Although from the Devil’s Mother, a little harshness makes sense. Call it thematically appropriate, even if the style isn’t 100% behind it.

On some feedback I was told that it was the black prinz malt. Perhaps next time I should replace that with something else. But it’s tasty and it’s STRONG, but not obviously so. All in all, I don’t think too many tweaks need to be made to this beer.

Brew date: 10/15/17

Steeping grains
2 lb Chocolate
.5 lb Black Prinz
.75 Black patent
5 lb Maris otter
2 lb Opal 44
1 lb Gold Rush toasted Pale

Additional fermentables: 7 lb LME

Hops: 1.5 oz Nugget @60

Additions: 1/2 tsp Calcium Chloride (this is to make the water more like the water used in England, which helps the stout be more correct, stylistically).

Yeast: Imperial Dry Hop, 2nd use

OG: 1.14

FG: 1.05

ABV: 12.1%

The Wort Share

The Zoiglhaus periodically does an event called a wort share: they make the base beer and then for a fee, people can pick that up and a strain of yeast that they want, and then do whatever they like to it. More hops in secondary? Oak chips? Whatever!

So I thought I’d give this a go, using Imperical’s Monastic yeast as my selection.

I’m pretty pleased by how this worked out. The nose has a little Belgian peppery quality, but otherwise isn’t overwhelming. The beer itself follows up on this pepper quality on the finish. The middle of the beer has a caramel and roasted flavor happening but it isn’t cloying or sweet. The finish isn’t extremely clean-the effervescence is strong which is great, but the lingering flavors of sweetness and pepper from the Belgian yeast know how to hang out.

All in all, pretty tasty though.

The brew date was 8/11.

The malt bill worked out like this (from Zoiglhaus’s notes):

60% Vienna, 30% Munich, and 10% Pilsner

The OG is around 1.054. FG was 1.009, so the ABV at 6.1%.

Total IBU is around 20, which was achieved with a bittering addition of Herkules and three flavor/aroma additions of Hallertau Herbsbrucker.

I added Imperial’s Monastic Belgian yeast and in secondary, 1 oz of Chinook on 9/8 and bottled it on 9/10.