Cali Trip

We just got back from a family vacation to Southern California. While we were there we had a BBQ at my in-laws and my brother-in-law was nice enough to bring a couple growlers from TAPS Brewhouse in Brea, CA. Brewmaster Victor Novak makes some great beer so if you're in the area, I highly recommend checking them out. They'll also be at the GABF, so check them out.

I also made a trip to BevMo and picked up a few beers. Whenever I'm in Cali (or anywhere else) I always try to find some beers that aren't distributed in Utah.

1. Allagash Curieux - A Tripel Ale aged in Jim Beam oak bourbon barrels for 8 weeks - 11% abv
2. Dogfish Head Red & White - Malt beverage brewed with coriander & orange peel with Pinot noir juice concentrate added with 11% aged in Pinot noir barrels and 89% aged on oak barrel staves - 10% abv
3. Rodenbach Classic Ale - Flanders Red-Brown Ale composed of three-quarters young beer and one-quarter beer matured for two years in oak - 5.2% ABV
4. Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier (Original Schlenkerla Smokebeer) Urbock - A full bodied smoked bock beer for Bamberg's strong beer season (October through December) in fall. Brewed already in the summer time, it is matured for months in the ancient Schlenkerla rock-cellars underneath Bamberg. - 6.5% ABV
5. Stone Cali-Belgique IPA - A California style IPA brewed with a Belgian yeast strain. Not your typical IPA - 6.9% ABV
6. Stone Smoked Porter - As the name implies, a Smoked Porter. I love smoked foods and not to toot my own horn, but I have a smoker and I make some pretty mean smoked ribs and a real nice porkvshoulder. I definitely likes the smoked beers as much as I likes a good smoked pig.

Read more...

Great American Beer Festival 2010

My wife and I just ordered tickets to the 2010 Great American Beer Festival. 2008 was the first year we went and the plan is to go every other year. When we went in 2008 my wife was fresh out of knee surgery so she was still on crutches. We rented a Rascal-type scooter for her to ride around the festival (I'm surprised she didn't get a DUI). It was a blast but it would have been more fun if she was more mobile. I got to try Sam Adams' Utopia which was awesome. Other notables were Maui Brewing Company's Coconut Porter, and orange blossom ales from several different breweries.

This year she's totally healthy so we're really looking forward to it. Some of our friends are joining us so that's an added bonus. In 2008 we did the Saturday Member Session. This year we're doing the Thursday night session. I've heard people say that sometimes the Friday and Saturday night sessions can turn into drunken frat parties, so since the Member Session was sold out, we opted for the Thursday night session. If you've never been the the GABF, I highly recommend it. It's a great time for serious beer enthusiasts and a great way to introduce newbies to the world of craft beer.

Read more...

New Domain!!...and Turbodog update

So I finally bit the bullet and sank a whole whopping $10 to register the microbusbrewery.org domain. .com was taken, but maybe it'll be available at some point.

Turbodog Update: The Turbodog turned out really well. My friend from Louisiana said flavor-wise it was indiscernible from the commercial version. The only real difference was he said the body/mouthfeel was slightly lighter than the commercial version. That can be tweaked fairly easily, so I'd call this a success.

I really liked this brew. I was a little concerned about tannins since the sparge was a few degrees higher than other recipes I've made. There are definitely some chocolate notes here, but it's not overpowering. The hops are there as well, but in a very complimentary way and not overpowering either. There are some really balanced flavors going on here. I'd give this brew a B+

Read more...

Turbodog Clone

A friend of mine at work is from the New Orleans area and raved about Abita Brewing Company's Turbodog Brown Ale. I tried some of their brews at the 2008 GABF but to be honest it was at the end of the session when things were a bit hazy and I can't really remember exactly which ones I tried.

Abita describes it as:

Turbodog is a dark brown ale brewed with Willamette hops and a combination of pale, crystal and chocolate malts. This combination gives Turbodog its rich body and color and a sweet chocolate toffee-like flavor. Turbodog began as a specialty ale but has gained a huge loyal following and has become one of our flagship brews.

This ale pairs well with most meats and is great served with hamburgers or sausages. It is a good match with smoked fish and can even stand up to wild game dishes. Turbodog is also great for marinating and braising meats and cooking such things as cabbage and greens. Colby, Gloucester, Cheddar and Blue cheeses go nicely with Turbodog. It’s perfect with spicy Louisiana jambalaya or Spanish paella. Some even like it paired with chocolate!

I cracked open BYO's 150 Classic Clone Recipes and since I haven't brewed a brown ale for a long time I figured it'd be a great time to try this brew. The recipe as I'm brewing it is as follows:

9.75 lbs Munton's Pale 2 row

1.25 lbs Briess Crystal 80 (BYO's calls for Crystal 100 but my LHBS doesn't carry it so I went with 80)

.5 lbs Briess Chocolate Malt

.6 oz Chinook hops (90 minutes)

1.25 oz Williamette hops (5 mins)

1.5 oz Williamette hops (0 mins)

White Labs WLP004 Irish Ale Yeast

Mash with 17.25 quarts of water at 152 F for 45 minutes then raise the temp to 172 F for five minutes, then sparge at 172 F.

Follow the above hop schedule letting the wort rest for 15 minutes before chilling after the last hop addition.

Ferment at 65 F for 5-6 days. Cool to 45 F for 7 days then keg/bottle.

Rating: B+

Read more...

Berliner Weisse

I got to try a Berliner Weisse inspired brew at the 2008 GABF. The tartness reminded me of a lambic which is another style that I really enjoy and plan on brewing sometime in the next year (I have a couple bags of homegrown hops "aging" in the garage). I brewed the following recipe back in late April. I bottled it about a month ago but I suspect it will need to age at least three months to get the amount of sourness I'm looking for.

3 lbs pilsner malt

2.5 pounds pale wheat malt

.5 oz Kent Goldings for 15 min

White Labs WLP029 German Ale/Kolsch yeast

White Labs WLP677 Lactobacillus Bacteria

I mashed at 149 F for 90 minutes then collected approx 3 gallons of wort. I added water for about 5.3 gallons boil volume and performed a 15 minute boil. I pitched the lacto after chilling to about 80 F then pitched the yeast a day later. I'll post a follow-up in July or August after this has had some time to age and hopefully get nice and sour.

Update 8/2/2010: I tried some of this on 7/4/2010 and again on 8/1/2010. It's still not quite as tart as I'd like, but it was noticeably more tart on 8/1/2010 than 7/4/2010. I like this but it's different than the Berliner Weisse inspired brew that I had at the 2008 GABF. It definitely has some funk going on, but in a good way. In one sense, it has some similarities to some of the Belgian styles. I think this will improve with age and I'd make it again but will probably do a little tweaking. As of 8/1/2010, I'd rate this a C+/B-

Read more...