Tonight the Glen Ridge Home Brewers Association had a meeting at Fitzgerald’s 1928. A lot of very good homebrews were sampled, including several meads (the first time I’ve every had the pleasure).
Michael Kane, owner of Kane Brewing, gave a fantastic talk. He talked mainly about the process of moving from homebrewing to Continue reading
I finally feel healthy enough (after 2+ months of limited smell and taste ability) to open a Christmas gift from my wife Olivia: a bottle of De Proef’s Flemish Primitive Wild Ale (Surly Bird). As the name implies, it is a light Belgian-style ale (close to a Dubbel, perhaps), fermented with wild yeast and other critters.
Wow.
It pours with a nice, pillowy head. The first sense is aroma, of a strong smelly cheese. Like a Bleu, Stilton maybe, but smoother. More like a very soft, runny cheese, but way more pungent than Continue reading
Today I bottled the first installment of my Hoppy Gnome IPA. It’s a touch darker than I expected, but it smells and tastes great. The Citra hop is definitely featured, as was the plan, with no hints of the “catty” aroma (cat piss) that sometime is associated with Citra.
I managed a solid 81.8% mash efficiency, with my starting and final gravities hitting within a measurement error of the targets. At 7% ABV, it’ll pack a wallop, but it should be nicely balanced out by the 90.2 IBU’s of hops, plus a lot more aroma and dry hops that should make this a true hop bomb. Continue reading
Today I brewed the 2nd edition of my “Gimp Biscuit” ESB. Changes from the first version include:
Reduced base grist weight to reduce OG. Reformulated hop additions to keep BU/GU near .8. Substituted Fuggles in place of Challenger as the aroma addition. Continue reading
A coworker directed us to a great German beer bar this weekend (thanks, Rene!). Loreley in the Lower East Side has a great selection of German beers, especially Kölsch and Pilsner. The Gaffel Kölsch was delicious and crisp, and the Jever Pisner was one of the best I’ve ever had. But the hands-down winner of the evening was the Continue reading
Today I racked my Hoppy Gnome IPA off the yeast cake and onto the substantial amount of dry hops. It’s almost reached the target FG, looks great, smells great, tastes great. The citra hops smell amazing. This is going to be a good one. In about two months….
I had a pint of this (Volume 1: Foreign Stout) on my recent visit to Rattle N Hum. I am completely in love with this beer. I literally had a dream about it the other night. Thick head, big malty front end, thick but not syrupy, and a long, boozy, peppery finish. And peppery. Did I mention peppery? One of the nicest beers I have ever had. Kudos to the folks at Left Hand.
I finally was able to get over to the mid-30′s to visit a classic NYC beer bar, Rattle N Hum.
Immediately upon walking in the door, we overhear a passionate argument about whether Victory or Lagunitas is a better brewery. Feels like home. Continue reading
Today I brewed the first version of my Hoppy Gnome IPA. It’s a modified version of a Green Flash West Coast IPA clone that I made a few months ago (the clone was actually my first all-grain batch and was very successful). I dropped the amount of 60L crystal to lighten the color a bit, and swapped out some of the late hops for Citra. I hope this will give it a softer hop profile. Continue reading
I finally got around to bottling my oatmeal stout this week. Because I have been sick and still don’t have a lot of energy, I split the bottling work between two days (one half-batch per day). Continue reading