Beer Notes
With regards to my last entry, here are notes per beer:
- Chateau Jiahu was really good the second time around.
- Sahtea was OK. Too syrupy and cloyingly sweet in flavor. Didn't notice much juniper.
- Pangaea - wtf? BORING
- Schlenklerla - did not taste super bacony. Actually quite good. Drank it with smoked brisket, though. Maybe that made the difference.
- Pretty Things - really good.
- High and Mighty was partially used in a sauce and partially drunk by my wife! Oops. Sauce was tasty.
- Biere de Noel was skunked :( Spilled everywhere due to its enormous head but also went into the sauce above.
- Nogne was misery in a bottle. I am done with wild ales, ugh.
- A guest drank one RIS. I drank the other. Over-hyped much like other Stone products. One bottle left. I'll drink it a few months to see if there's a difference, but since aging beer is kind of over hyped too, meh. Stone's Bastard and Smoked Porter are good. Everything else I've tried is just marketing.
The Southern Tier and Bourbon County are still waiting for me. :)
I am participating in a homebrew swap through Metafilter. The barleywine will probably be sent out because the Sam Adams LongShot contest is only open to beers that don't belong in any other BJCP category. (protobeers like sahti, weird hybrid styles, etc. etc.)
However, I have a plan. It began with a wild hint of an idea and then slowly became fleshed out in my mind. The concept is: GINBEER! A beer with all the magic and meanness of gin. A beer that they would give you in the city of Lynn in response to an order of soda.
Here is the plan, so that in case of my death someone can continue this legend.
Start with a California Common (à la Anchor Steam Beer). Discard the caramelized malts and replace with flaked rye and wheat. Use a California Lager yeast, with noble hops for the aroma hops (I am thinking Saaz). Not sure what to use for the bittering hops yet. When primary fermentation is complete, prepare one or more combinations of the following botanicals:
- juniper berries (duh, either direct or via juniper tea or juniper infused vodka)
- coriander
- angelica root
- orris root
- orange peel
- lime peel
- lemon peel
- licorice powder
- cloves
- fennel
- cardamom
- cucumber
- cinnamon
- rosemary
I now have a glass carboy and a couple large plastic science-y containers, so I can try four different tinctures. Rack the beer on top of the botanicals in the secondary container, then prime and bottle after one additional week. To try a number of different blends I'll need a co-conspirator. (or at least I'll need to go for larger than a 5 gallon batch)
- Chateau Jiahu was really good the second time around.
- Sahtea was OK. Too syrupy and cloyingly sweet in flavor. Didn't notice much juniper.
- Pangaea - wtf? BORING
- Schlenklerla - did not taste super bacony. Actually quite good. Drank it with smoked brisket, though. Maybe that made the difference.
- Pretty Things - really good.
- High and Mighty was partially used in a sauce and partially drunk by my wife! Oops. Sauce was tasty.
- Biere de Noel was skunked :( Spilled everywhere due to its enormous head but also went into the sauce above.
- Nogne was misery in a bottle. I am done with wild ales, ugh.
- A guest drank one RIS. I drank the other. Over-hyped much like other Stone products. One bottle left. I'll drink it a few months to see if there's a difference, but since aging beer is kind of over hyped too, meh. Stone's Bastard and Smoked Porter are good. Everything else I've tried is just marketing.
The Southern Tier and Bourbon County are still waiting for me. :)
I am participating in a homebrew swap through Metafilter. The barleywine will probably be sent out because the Sam Adams LongShot contest is only open to beers that don't belong in any other BJCP category. (protobeers like sahti, weird hybrid styles, etc. etc.)
However, I have a plan. It began with a wild hint of an idea and then slowly became fleshed out in my mind. The concept is: GINBEER! A beer with all the magic and meanness of gin. A beer that they would give you in the city of Lynn in response to an order of soda.
Here is the plan, so that in case of my death someone can continue this legend.
Start with a California Common (à la Anchor Steam Beer). Discard the caramelized malts and replace with flaked rye and wheat. Use a California Lager yeast, with noble hops for the aroma hops (I am thinking Saaz). Not sure what to use for the bittering hops yet. When primary fermentation is complete, prepare one or more combinations of the following botanicals:
- juniper berries (duh, either direct or via juniper tea or juniper infused vodka)
- coriander
- angelica root
- orris root
- orange peel
- lime peel
- lemon peel
- licorice powder
- cloves
- fennel
- cardamom
- cucumber
- cinnamon
- rosemary
I now have a glass carboy and a couple large plastic science-y containers, so I can try four different tinctures. Rack the beer on top of the botanicals in the secondary container, then prime and bottle after one additional week. To try a number of different blends I'll need a co-conspirator. (or at least I'll need to go for larger than a 5 gallon batch)