Batch 57 sweet cascade tasting notes

Pours brown with orange hues, big light tan head, cloudy/translucent.  Head stays/laces.

Smells like hops, grassy/piney/earthy, slight sweet malt behind

Mouth feel, thick.  Carbonation doesn't clean it up well.

Tastes like hop bitterness first, then a touch of pine/earth.  Sweetness underlies, but no escaping the plain bitterness. 

Finishes just plain bitter.  Don't really want more.

Overall, nothing like Stone's arrogant bastard, even though recipe is similar except the hop type.  The Chinook makes that much difference.  I did use more of the cascades, but the aa% is lower, or it should be.  Is it Roger's cascades, or cascades in general?  I think it's a combo, but I used store cascades at flameout, when the hop character should shine, and I'm getting nothing compared to the Chinooks.

Don't try this again.  Failed experiment.  Kinda buzzed, though.

Whoops on the pils

So, I've been working away on my sack of Weyermann's pilsner thinking it was their bohemian pilsner.  Wrong.  It is a sack of their base german pils.

I spotted a sack of the bohemian variety at Chicago Brew Werks in Plainfield when I was there a couple weeks ago, and realized the labeling for the bohemian says 'bohemian'.  The one I got just says 'pilsner'.

Oh well, still making pretty good beer.  Another 30 lbs to go or so, then I'll replenish with the originally intended bohemian pils, which won my SMaSH base malt taste test last year in the pils category.

Doh.  Slap on the (big) forehead.

Ideas for next weekend's brew

Spring is coming.  What will you want to drink on March 1?

Stone's Arrogant Bastard clone.  Hoppy, yet robust.

Yessss.

Back to the tried and true recipe:  7.2 abv, 9% caramel 120, 2 oz of chinook.  Go back and check notes on the base malt, I think half Maris Otter and half pils.

Or are we ready for a hop experiment?  We have the Vanguards here, maybe smash out with Maris Otter?  Hmmm.  Decisions decisions.

Well, I have a hoppy beer in secondary, so maybe I wait on the SAB clone for a week.  OK.

Batch 56 nut brown tasting notes

Pours brown, small tan head that lingers.  A little hazy. Laces OK.

Aroma, sweet malt, nuts, light freshness of spice.

Mouth feel, very slight cling cleared by carbonation fast.

Flavor, complexity here, hazelnut, malt, sweet, slight hop bitterness without real hop character (maybe spice). 

Finishes sweet, but clean with nut impression.  Pretty well balanced on malt side, maybe less crystal, more choc, but only slight change.  Could use a little more late hops, but stick with goldings.  Could reduce carbonation, but watch mash pH for better head.

Batch 63 Sweet Stout

3 gallon batch

Soak the following in 1/2 gallon cold water overnight in the fridge, whole not ground:
4-5/8 oz UK roast barley
5-1/8 oz Belgian debittered black
4 oz Belgian chocolate
Catch grist in strainer, add tea at beginning of boil
Cleaning out inventory of old roasted grains

Mash
3 lbs 13-5/8 oz Muntons Maris Otter (empty out sack)
1 lb dark german Munich
1 lb flaked wheat
12 oz mfb caramel 120
4 oz Belgian chocolate
1/8 tsp soda
1/4 tsp cacl

Mash at 150 df 30 mins pH 5.0
155 df 30 mins

TOG 1.060 into boil with roast tea

SRM (with tea) est 70

OG into boil (with tea) 1.057 (final runnings pot 1.034)

Boil 60 mins
60 mins 7 gr nugget 13.5% 20 IBUs
20 mins 14 gr glacier 5.0% 9 IBUs
15 mins 1/2 tsp Irish moss
10 mins 100 gr lactose

30 IBUs

OG into fermenter 1.062

Pitch with S-04 in 1/2 qt starter at 72 df, move to 60 df for primary.  2 days at 60, 4 at 63 df.

Rack to secondary 1/31/14, leave at 63 df.

FG 1.022 out of secondary.

Abv est 5.2%

Bottle 2/14/14 with 110 gr table sugar.  Yield 31@12oz, 372 oz.

Dark grains steeping cold

recipe ideas for this weekend

OK, almost out of stout, need to refresh the yeast, and re-stock for drinking purposes.  Especially this time of year.

Tasting notes show we need to add munich, bump up the lactose and caramel, try steeping the roast barley ahead of time, maybe only use chocolate in the mash for roast character.  Want to mash at higher temp and add a decent amount of flaked wheat for more body.

Earthy hops are appropriate.  Maybe try the glaciers that you just bought for aroma, on top of nugget for bittering.  Better go check your last recipe in the book.

Batch 54 Tripel tasting notes

Side by side with Chimay White Cinq Cents Tripel

Pours slightly hazy gold, big white even head, identical.

Aroma: original a little boozy, slight perfume, mine more malty, yeast. Very close.

Mouth feel: original a tad more toothy, but carb is identical, mouth feel very similar.

Flavor: mine has a little more malt bite, otherwise yeast dominant flavor, slight hop edge near the end.

Finish: almost identical, slight hop edge cleans palate nicely.  Original is more hoppy/aromatic/fragrant to finish on big gulp.

Overall: Wow, very good try, could back off on Munich a little, find a more perfumy hop for later in the boil, maybe add 5 IBUs at 15 mins with something piney like Simcoe, raise mash temp 1 or 2 df.

Pretty buzzed after this tasting!