Pig is dead and I've started into bottles on McLuckey Ale 2.
I did share the pig during a get together at Boone's place. It went over pretty well. Boone's reaction was perhaps the best example of what happened.
Me: "Keep in mind, I made this one for me, so I got a little more aggressive with the alcohol and the flavors."
Boone: *takes a swig* "Whoa, this is a lot...uh...sharper than the first one...I LIKE it."
Me: "That was the goal...let's see what 5 of them do..."
Yup. 'Twas good. 'Tis still good. And a great way to manipulate relatively small details in the recipe and see the results. This thing is a witbier by name only. Essentially I just used the light maltiness and subtle spices of a witbier as a blank canvas for my idea of the ideal hop flavor of a light beer. This beer is a touch more bitter than batch 1, but it mostly comes through as a dryness. The aroma is just wrong for the style, but very floral and nice in general. The beer is good throughout. The only weakness is that the adjuct came through towards the end of the beer....definitely alerting you to the fact that something was done to this beer for the pure interest of alcohol.
My next beer is a partial mash kit sitting in the kitchen. Details and awesomeness to follow.
-James
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Space Cowboy IIPA
Peoples finally released space cowboy IIPA (or DIPA, whichever you prefer) yesterday. I met up with a Zwierite, his roomy and a first year to partake in this brew I've been hearing about from the brewers.
This is a different recipe from Hop Killa, and uses a new cultivar of hop from New Zealand called Galaxy, thus the extraterrestrial name. It is also dryhopped like whoa hey on Amarillo and Centennials. This beer sits at ~95 IBU and a touch north of 9%. For the first time ever, Peoples has enacted a two snifter limit for this beer...and that was a good idea.
The aroma isn't dominated with the piney notes of bittering hops. Mostly all you get is the floral aroma of the hops used in the dryhop. The flavor is fantastic. Extremely well balanced all the way through the beer. The finish of this beer is fantastic. With every DIPA I've had, except hopslam, there's a good healthy slug of hops and the warm wash of the 9%. This beer doesn't have that. There are hops...there are lots of hops, but it isn't a punch, more of a shove. The flavor transitions nicely into the finish without being abusive. And you don't taste the 9% at all, although you do feel it after a couple snifters.
This beer may have overtaken Hopslam as my favorite. The jury is still out, but as I type this I'm gathering up all my growlers to get filled. I love this beer, and will definitely enjoy it during its short existence amongst us mortal souls.
-J
This is a different recipe from Hop Killa, and uses a new cultivar of hop from New Zealand called Galaxy, thus the extraterrestrial name. It is also dryhopped like whoa hey on Amarillo and Centennials. This beer sits at ~95 IBU and a touch north of 9%. For the first time ever, Peoples has enacted a two snifter limit for this beer...and that was a good idea.
The aroma isn't dominated with the piney notes of bittering hops. Mostly all you get is the floral aroma of the hops used in the dryhop. The flavor is fantastic. Extremely well balanced all the way through the beer. The finish of this beer is fantastic. With every DIPA I've had, except hopslam, there's a good healthy slug of hops and the warm wash of the 9%. This beer doesn't have that. There are hops...there are lots of hops, but it isn't a punch, more of a shove. The flavor transitions nicely into the finish without being abusive. And you don't taste the 9% at all, although you do feel it after a couple snifters.
This beer may have overtaken Hopslam as my favorite. The jury is still out, but as I type this I'm gathering up all my growlers to get filled. I love this beer, and will definitely enjoy it during its short existence amongst us mortal souls.
-J
Thursday, September 22, 2011
McLuckey Ale batch 2
I bottled/pigged McLuckey Ale batch 2 Sunday night. I do love the pig. It is well carbed and nice and cold now. The flavors don't get a chance to really mature or blend in such a short amount of time, but for this beer it's not a huge deal, since the flavors are so mild.
I did get roped into bringing the pig to Boone's tomorrow night, but I'll keep the bottles to myself. So, I'm, uh...testing the pig to make sure it's ready for public consumption.
Keep in mind, I bumped up the IBU with an earlier addition, and the ABV with about a pound of corn sugar.
The aroma is just as great as the first time. Color is still darker than it should be, due to the extract nature of the kit. Carbonation is still a little light.
The flavor is purely dominated by the citrusy flavors of the hops. No noticeable bitterness, but I definitely killed off the maltiness (at least when cold). This is definitely over that fine line that I brushed with batch 1. However, I still love it. The result is a very high aroma, complex, slightly sweet beer with no off flavors. The style is unrecognizable. This is almost the opposite of a malt beverage, where there are no hops to perturb the flavor of the malts chosen. This is almost a hop beverage...enough malt to make it bearable and not bitter, but none of the actual malt flavors.
I definitely crossed a line with this beer, but I don't regret it. It's still a flavorful brew, it just doesn't have a style to live in.
-James
I did get roped into bringing the pig to Boone's tomorrow night, but I'll keep the bottles to myself. So, I'm, uh...testing the pig to make sure it's ready for public consumption.
Keep in mind, I bumped up the IBU with an earlier addition, and the ABV with about a pound of corn sugar.
The aroma is just as great as the first time. Color is still darker than it should be, due to the extract nature of the kit. Carbonation is still a little light.
The flavor is purely dominated by the citrusy flavors of the hops. No noticeable bitterness, but I definitely killed off the maltiness (at least when cold). This is definitely over that fine line that I brushed with batch 1. However, I still love it. The result is a very high aroma, complex, slightly sweet beer with no off flavors. The style is unrecognizable. This is almost the opposite of a malt beverage, where there are no hops to perturb the flavor of the malts chosen. This is almost a hop beverage...enough malt to make it bearable and not bitter, but none of the actual malt flavors.
I definitely crossed a line with this beer, but I don't regret it. It's still a flavorful brew, it just doesn't have a style to live in.
-James
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
(mostly) not beer related
I have had several excellent citrusy IPA and DIPAs recently. Zombie dust, Cream Dream IV, and Hop Whore were all great beers.
McLuckey Ale v.2 is in bottles and the pig. This beer is for personal consumption and tailgating. I expect to raise the PDI.
The main purpose of this post is the following Collegehumor post:
http://www.collegehumor.com/article/6604827/the-47-types-of-hangover
Now...personal experience: not 1 (I'm a bad Michigander), 2 (cancun), 4 (multiple Kent. Derbys), 6, 9 (9 irish bros), 11 (hunting season), 14 (ASMS in SLC), 29 (Spirit Quest), 32, 35, 39, 45 (ASMS in SLC and Denver). Part of me feels that the OSU spirit quest should have its own category. I mean, 2 am baklava doesn't happen often.
McLuckey Ale v.2 is in bottles and the pig. This beer is for personal consumption and tailgating. I expect to raise the PDI.
The main purpose of this post is the following Collegehumor post:
http://www.collegehumor.com/article/6604827/the-47-types-of-hangover
Now...personal experience: not 1 (I'm a bad Michigander), 2 (cancun), 4 (multiple Kent. Derbys), 6, 9 (9 irish bros), 11 (hunting season), 14 (ASMS in SLC), 29 (Spirit Quest), 32, 35, 39, 45 (ASMS in SLC and Denver). Part of me feels that the OSU spirit quest should have its own category. I mean, 2 am baklava doesn't happen often.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Sun King Cream Dream IV
So, got back in town from a wonderful wedding and got back into the local swing of things. Noticed that Black Sparrow had posted that they had a beer from Sun King named "Cream Dream IV." I was intrigued, but not interested...until I went to Sun Kings website. The full name of this beer is "Cream Dream IV: A New Hop." A teasing beer name and Star Wars reference? Yes please.
The description teased further. "A straight forward West-coast imperial IPA, with mango, grapefruit and hints of lime-zest coming from the use of American citrus hops."
I took the hint that this was probably dry hopped with citra hops, and was rewarded. The smell immediately caught me, since it actually smelled a lot like a really strong version of McLuckey Ale. The balance was very good for a 9.4% Hop-centric DIPA (i.e. not as well balanced as Hopslam), and the flavor was spectacular, with a great floral finish. Now, it tasted like there were a lot more of the citrusy American hops besides citra, and citra may not have even been dominant in the dry-hops on the hop bill...but it was definitely there...and I loved it.
-James
The description teased further. "A straight forward West-coast imperial IPA, with mango, grapefruit and hints of lime-zest coming from the use of American citrus hops."
I took the hint that this was probably dry hopped with citra hops, and was rewarded. The smell immediately caught me, since it actually smelled a lot like a really strong version of McLuckey Ale. The balance was very good for a 9.4% Hop-centric DIPA (i.e. not as well balanced as Hopslam), and the flavor was spectacular, with a great floral finish. Now, it tasted like there were a lot more of the citrusy American hops besides citra, and citra may not have even been dominant in the dry-hops on the hop bill...but it was definitely there...and I loved it.
-James
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)