Vienna Ale

Usually Vienna malt is used for lagers but I have always liked the flavor of Vienna malt, so I thought I’d give an ale a try and see what it turns out like

Pretty good! The malt is very forward, and it has a distinct caramel flavor. The brightness and clarity is strong for my efforts, and there’s a nice, white, persistent head on this beer giving it a great visual impact.

This beer is a little too sweet though. I think that if I’d amped up the bitterness on the finish that it would probably be better. This isn’t bad, but with a citrus bitterness to contrast the caramel flavor, I’d have something really special.

So, I have a path forward, and that feels good.

Brew date: 12/9/23

Steeping grains
6 lb Vienna malt
1 lb biscuit
1 bl American Honey
1 lb North Star Pils

Fermentables: 4 lb ExLME

Hops
@60, .5 oz CTZ, 1oz Wilamette
@5 .5oz CTZ, 1oz Willamette

Yeast: Imperial Flagship (2nd use)

OG: 1.07

FG: 1.012

Additives to water: 1 tsp gypsum

Bottled 12/17

ABV: 7.9%

IPA (2023)

Well…the nose is too faint. A pine scent is there but it’s like the forest is in another dimension, coming to us.

The malts are strong enough but I used some darker malts, giving it a darker appearance than maybe I want. The Munich is the most likely culprit. Still, the malt qualities aren’t bad, and they don’t outshine the hops.
And those hops make a good appearance on the finish. The bitterness isn’t overwhelming, it is just there to punctuate the beer.

This isn’t bad but the lesson really is: I need to dry hop an IPA, if I want to really get the qualities I’m expecting.

Brew date: 11/19/23

Steeping grains
7.5 lb Oregon Promise pale
.5 lb dextra pils (for body)
1 lb Munich

Fermentables: 4 lb ExLME

Hops
@60 1oz Chinook, .5oz Centennial, 1 oz Comet
@30 .75oz Centennial, .5oz Coment, .75 oz Chinook
@5 .25 oz Chinook .75oz Centennial, .5oz Comet

Yeast: Imperial Darkness (3rd)

OG: 1.07

FG: 1.018

Bottled 12/3

ABV: 7%

Devil’s Mother 2023

This year, it’s carbonated! Which is good, since last year I thought I could get away without adding bottling sugar.

The nose is strong; has a very roasty quality to it, with an undercurrent of chocolate. That’s promising, for sure.

The flavor…well, that’s a little sharp. There’s enough sweetness to keep the chocolate in the mix, but there’s also an alcoholic warmth when I drink this beer which seems odd. Most importantly though, the milk element of the milk stout is really lacking here. That’s a surprise to me, since I didn’t change the amount of lactose in this batch.

The other surprise was the ABV. That just doesn’t seem right, and I don’t know why. When previous years has me hitting double digits, and this year with a different yeast, I fall 3% short? That’s odd.

And I want people to know that it isn’t about the strength of the beer; it’s about consistency and flavor. This beer has a harshness to it where it should feel rounded and a bit sweeter.

In addition, drinking it doesn’t feel like a 7% beer. If you have enough ale, you get a sense of how your body reacts to these things and I’m not sure if I recorded my data wrong, or if I just feel weird!

Not a flop but not a hit, either.

Brew date: 10/29/23

Steeping grains
1.5 lb Chocolate
1 lb Carafa 2
6 LB pale 2 row
2 lb Crystal 75
1 lb Caramunich 3

Fermentables: 7 lb Ex LME

Non-fermentables 1.5 lbs Lactose
1/4. Tsp Calcium carbonate (chalk) (for mouthfeel)

Hops
@60 1 oz Northern Brewer, .5oz Kent Golding

Yeast: Imperial Darkness

OG: 1.104

FG: 1.05

ABV 7.3%

Inconsistency

I had a little trouble with this beer. The scents have a malt, mild honey like quality. It’s muted-at least with this beer-because there’s no effervescence to speak of.

Fortunately, the middle doesn’t have much in the way of pronounced flavors either. And the finish, while offering a little bitterness, doesn’t have a lot of ways to overwhelm what came before.

Now, while none of those things are bad, but there’s no bubbly here! Except sometimes when there IS and…well then the beer starts to take on a different dimension.

Except what I’m reviewing is this experience: which is subpar. If the carbonation was on point, this might be a much, much better beer.

Or if there were some consistency between beers that might help.

I wish I knew what happened: because clearly I did something right, but also something incorrect. I can still drink it-I can even still offer it to people, but I can’t say that this is a beverage that demonstrates my best skills.

Brew date: 7/1/23

Steeping grains
8lb Oregon Promise pale malt
.75 lb Dark Munich

Fermentables: 2 lb Pilsner extract

Hops
@60 1oz Hersbrucker, .25 oz Triumph
@10 1 oz Hersbrucker .75 oz Trumph

Yeast: Imperial’s House (2nd use)

OG: 1.056

FG: 1.01

Bottled 7/8

ABV: 6.23%

Bat Attack Amber (2023)

This beer, named by my friend Kim, was done with her (she did most of the work, I supervised) for the second year in a row for her annual Halloween party!

We sat down after the party to evaluate the beer (which was received well at the party, pleased to say.)

There’s a little caramel in the nose, the head is faint, but it is persistent. Only two weeks passed between brewing and imbibing, so I’m thinking another week might’ve added a little more carbonation.

Sweeter than expected, but no unpleasantly so. For me, the final notes are of graham cracker,

Kim: definitely picks up the grains. There’s a buttery quality too. It’s not offputting at all though. It’s more of a sensation, less a flavor.

There’s a nice density to this beer-it’s not too light and it finished really well.

She’s thrilled with it, I’m thinking that a potential diacetyl rest might be worth doing next year. This beer was brewed and bottled quickly. But I’m not mad about this beer: it’s very good.

The freshness of this amber definitely contributes to its positive qualities. It just pops in a way that it might not have, if it had been left for too long.

So we’re both very pleased with this amber: it’s ABV level gives you something to chew on, but it’s not going to wreck your palate, or cause you to leave the party early. We’re already looking forward to next year!

Brew Date: 10/1/23

Steeping Grains
7 lb Metolius Munich
1.5lb Crystal 15
.5lb Special Roast

Fermentables: 3 lb liquid pilsner malt

Hop additions
@60, 1oz Kent Golding, .5 oz Hallertau Mittelfruh

@5 .5 oz Kent Golding, 1/5 oz Hallertau Mittlefruh

1 Tsp Irish Moss for clarity

Yeast: Imperial‘s Flagship

Original gravity: 1.05

Final Gravity: 1.012

Bottled: 10/8

ABV: 5.1%

March pale

I swear I’ll get caught up to present brewing. I just started again last week!

Not a lot in the nose-kind of a pillowy malt effect, if that makes any sense. I can’t blame the hops on not being there, the beer is three months old, after all.

Still, the carbonation is solid, and the color is a nice amber. It’s a bit too bitter on the finish to actually be an amber ale, but I’m pleased to say there’s nothing distinctly flawed about this beer.

Not too bad, for being on the older side. I don’t notice any cardboard notes either, which would definitely signal a stale beverage. So I’m chalking this up as a win.

Brew date: 3.4.23

Steeping Grains
7 lb Cascadia pale malt
1.5 lb Cara 20

Fermentables: 4 lb Pilsner LME

Hops
1.25 oz Evergreen, 1 oz Ekuanot @60
.25 oz Evergreen, Ekuanot @ 30
.75 oz Ekuanot .5 oz Evergreen@ 5

Yeast: Imperial Pub (2nd use)

OG: 1.071

FG: 1.018

Bottled 3/12/23

ABV: 7.2%

Feb pale

That’s some head, right??

I used some new hops for this beer: Sephir and Kashmir and I did this because why not? I don’t know what they do. Unfortunately, due to the time between bottling and drinking, this beer isn’t able to give it’s best hop profile. I don’t hold that against it; I’ll try again next time.

I did keep the malt profile pretty simple, but there is as mild fruitiness that makes me wonder if this fermented a little hot, or is this an effect of the hops?

It’s not bad though. The nose is pretty strong but the rest of the beer is very mild. It’s definitely sweet but not overly so and I like the copper color.

Brew date: 2.5.23

Steeping grains
8 lb Standard 2 row
1 lb Caramunich 3

Fermentables
4.5 lb Pilsner malt extract

Hops
1.5 oz Cashmere @60
.5 oz Sephir @20
.5 oz Sephir, Cashmere @5

Yeast: Imperial’s Pub

OG: 1.068

FG: 1.014

Bottled 2/12

ABV: 7.3%

Sabotage Within

This did not turn out so well. I prefer to say that up front because I think it’s always better to front load information like that.

The nose has a little medicinal hit to it, which comes back at the finish. Really, that’s where it goes wrong and it’s enough to make this a disappointment. I’m not sure what’s got this beer off but I’m thinking two things happened urging my process:

First, I have been using a little less water when I’ve been cleaning bottles and I think that I may have to go back up to using a little more. While using more water isn’t ideal, neither is producing a corrupted beer.

Second, I didn’t produce a starter for the yeast. I have been overconfident with the volume of yeast I had available but it wasn’t enough. This delayed the start of the fermentation and could have provided a window where things could go badly.

I think this is less likely, as when I tasted the beer before bottling it seemed fine. If it’s infected, it’s usually pretty easy to tell right then. But having less-than-ideal bottles could be what turned this beer, because two weeks in contaminated vessels will make things go badly.

Brew date: 11/11/16

Steeping grains
4 lb 2 row
2 lb Munich
2 w lb C15

Fermentables: 4 lb EXLME

Hops
2 oz Columbus @ 60
1 oz Columbus @ 30
1 oz Columbs .5 oz Zythos @ 5

Yeast: Imperial’s Barbarian-2nd use

OG: 1.064

FG: 1.016

Put into secondary 11/30
.5 oz Columbus and .5 Zythos added to secondary fermentation

Bottled 12.4

ABV: 6.5%

Devils Mother 3: Mary MacLeod

There is something to be said for consistency. Doing the same thing, every time helps bring about results that are expected.

I’m pleased the say that it’s no different here: Mary MacLeod is a solid version of the Devil’s Mother. I just keep repeating that recipe, and it keeps on delivering.

The nose isn’t too strong and that is a slight ding against the beer. The dry roast coffee scent is there, if I dig into it but it’s not pushed at all. That is only bad because so much flavor is lost without olafactory stimulation!

(Sorry, I’m trying out some $5 words to keep from getting burnt out).

The beer itself though is solid as a brick. Full body, a touch of black licorice in there, almost certainly coming from the Black Patent malt, with nothing too sharp on the bitterness to make the beer too challenging to drink.

Brew Date: 10.22.16

Steeping Malts
1 lb black patent
1.5 lb chocolate
.5 black prinz

Fermentables/brewing malts
3 lb 2 row
4 lb Maris otter
7 lb LME

Additions: 1 lb Lactose

Hops: 2 oz Nugget @60

Yeast: Imperial Darkness

OG: 1.1

FG: 1.03

Bottled 11.13

ABV 9.5%

Foul Ball

Named because it almost hits, but there are a few errors here.

First, I mixed up the malt extract I meant to purchase, getting Light Malt instead of Extra Light. As a result, the beer has come out darker and a bit sweeter than I meant it to. Another reminder to pay attention to what I’m doing.

When I first opened bottles from this batch, there was a hint of citrus in the nose and the malt kept the finish from being too bitter. That was a good thing.

As time when on though, bottles have been coming up semi-infected, overly foamy and a bit sour on the end. Sometimes I got a proper ale but.. a few more misses than hits. What this experience is reminding me is that once a year, I try to just clean everything with bleach: carboys, racking canes, buckets: everything and I haven’t done that yet. It’s quite likely that some of my beers are suffering because of this.

So it’s time to run bottles through the dishwasher & bleach my carboys. Time to clean everything up so I can get better beers in the future. Maybe even take another crack at this and see what happens when I either mean to make a redder ale or get the correct malt extract.

Brew date: 7.10.16

Malts:
1 lb carapils
1 lb C 30
1 lb Special roast

Fermentables: 7 lb LME

Hops:
1 oz Mosaic 1 oz Galaxy @60
1 oz Mosaic 1 oz Galaxy @10

1/4 tsp Gypsum

Yeast: Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale (2nd use)

OG: 1.06

FG: 1.01

Secondary 7/29-added 1oz Galena hops

ABV: 6.8%