Back in the Saddle

Its been a busy and crazy month, with the birth of my son and a trip to Pittsburgh for a family emergency. Thankfully things look like they are going to turn out well with my wife's family situation, but I do not recommend flying last minute with a 3 week old and a 2 year old. Because of the craziness of figuring out how to handle a newborn and a toddler, I've been craving some brewing time. It's always a nice release for me, and isn't that what hobbies are for? Last week my wife's good friend stopped by for a couple hours to hang out with the kids, and I was able to brew! I brewed up another batch of the I.A.P.A. since I enjoyed this pale ale so much and after splitting half the batch with Jefe, whom I brewed with, I had already run through my supply.
Last year I was all about brewing Belgian Ales, and was happy that some recipes like Bangy Tangy, El Jefe and Burning Beard are definitely going to be permanent fixtures in the rotation.
Lately, I've been all about the hops. I have been trying to better my skills in brewing pale ales and IPAs and was very happy with the turn out of aforementioned IAPA and also the Bearded Fury. So I've decided to brew up another IPA, and I'm going to split the batch, conditioning half on mangoes because of the amazing Mango Mama IPA I had at Town Hall brewery this winter. I can still taste that amazing beer and have wanted to brew a Mango IPA ever since.
I've decided to return to extract brewing for the next couple of batches I brew to save time. I have been brewing partial mash batches for almost two years, but right now the extra hour and a half or so I could save by skipping the mash will allow me to brew more often. I for one have never been under the belief that one brewing technique was better than another since I've had good and bad brews made from every method, so I'm not worried about quality.
As for this IPA, I'm brewing up an all organic IPA, using 4 ounces of American Summit Hops I got from Seven Bridges. I put in a large order of organic hops this spring, and look forward to using these high alpha hops, that are supposed to be similar in flavor and aromas to hops like Simcoe and Cascade. It will be the first single hop beer I've made, so I'm curious of the result.

On another note, I traded some beer with Brian at Untamed Beer. I look forward to trying out some of his homebrew and some Southern beers he sent along. I will get to those reviews and I look forward to his thoughts on the Midwest and Bearded Brewing offerings I sent in exchange.
More to come...
Salud!
Bearded Brewer

Labels and labeling

Well the results came in from the BYO label contest, and I didn't win. To be honest I'm not that disappointed because there were some great labels that got in the mag, and I think my own labels are really good. Plus, art is in the eye of the beholder right? The main reason I enter the contest in the first place is a goal to better my skills from one year to the next and I think I've done that. I should probably learn how to use Photoshop or a similar program because that would probably allow me to make some better labels.
Which brings me to the subject of this post, my labels.
I've had some emails in the past asking me about my labels, how I make them, and what I use to put them on bottles. For starters, I use a really outdated program called Microsoft Picture It! for my labels. I know for a fact that if I learned how to use Photoshop or a similar program I could make better labels, but I'm really comfortable with my program and have been frustrated when I've attempted to use Photoshop, so for now I'm sticking with my old ass program. I have hand drawn, then scanned, some of my images, like my logo and the El Muerto logo. Other labels are a combination of clipart, fonts, and
other things.
As for the labels on the actual bottles, I use a couple different things and wanted to pass my tips on to those interested in putting some labels on your beer. I used to buy the labels at my local homebrew shop. They come from a company called 4th and Vine. The beauty of buying these is the access to their templates, which have a variety of sizes for bottles. I still use the templates, but have switched to a cheaper method of label paper. I buy the sticker project paper at Office Max or Target. They come in packages of 15 sheets, have a peel away sticky side, and can be used for a variety of bottle sizes. It got costly for me to buy 4th and Vine labels for both 12 and 22 oz bottles. With sticker paper, I can adjust the images to fit even odd bottles, like the pint bottle in the picture above. Another plus is that these labels come off very easily if you recycle your bottles.
I really enjoy this aspect of my brewing, it's another avenue to be creative and it's also fun to give friends a six pack with labels on the bottles.
More to come...
Salud!
Bearded Brewer

Beer Review- New Glarus Black Wheat

Summers for me mean a break from teaching, more time for brewing (unless I have a new baby like this summer) and going to Wisconsin to my parents summer home. Trips to Wisconsin means access to some beers not available in Minnesota, most importantly New Glarus. I have professed my love of New Glarus often in this blog, in fact one of my very first blog posts was about New Glarus. This small brewery in Southeastern Wisconsin rates as my number 1 brewery in the country. I don't say that lightly and the reason is that I've never had a bad beer from New Glarus. I have had beers of theirs I don't prefer because I'm not a fan of the style, or it's just a bit too experimental for me (Imperial Weizen comes to mind), but I've never been disappointed by the quality, creativity and sheer craftsmanship of New Glarus. They think outside the box and do it well, or traditional and do it well. That to me is the sign of a high class brewery, everyone can make a super crazy beer or a super hoppy beer. But to do all styles well, I think there are a handful of breweries that can succeed in all they brew. I have a lot of respect for their strong  "Drink Indigineous" credo, as they use a lot of local products in their beer to reflect Wisconsin. And even though it sucks for us Non-Wisconsinites, they only distribute in Wisconsin, which I think allows them to focus on quality instead of quantity.

My dad recently brought me two wheats from New Glarus, Black Wheat and Cracked Wheat. I'll get to the Cracked next post, but I've been loving the Black Wheat. It pours a cloudy black with a foamy, two finger white head. It smells like a porter hefeweizen...aromas of roast, caramel and chocolate, but also clove and banana. Its smooth and light, almost crisp in the finish. The "weiss" part of this beer dominates with the "black" taking a backseat. Sweet, clovey and banana flavors mix surprisingly well with the chocolate, caramel and roasted malt going on.  There is some lingering "porter-like" for lack of a better term, flavors that are present in the finish, but the roastiness is replaced by a nice clovey-sweetness that wants you coming back for more. I think this is a winter or spring seasonal, and I can see why. It gets you ready to drink light refreshing beers in the summer, but still has enough of a darkness/roasty quality to be really satisfying for a non-session beer. Another great New Glarus.

I will get to my Cracked Wheat review, along with a few others, and I'm going to attempt to brew again soon, so I'll keep you abreast with how that goes...maybe wearing a baby on my back? Not sure of the logistics, but the brew kettle is calling.

Salud!

Bearded Brewing

Beer Review- IAPA

It's been two weeks now since my son was born and we are adjusting nicely. But the itch to brew is starting to grow and I'm trying to figure out how and when I'm going to be able to start brewing again. At 8 weeks was the first time I brewed with my daughter, but I'm not going to be waiting that long to brew this time around!
When I do brew again, it will be another batch of this Iowa Pale Ale (or IAPA). As I mentioned before, this beer was the second collaboration with my best friend Jeff, whom I grew up with in Iowa and now lives up here in the Twin Cities.
I have been nervous to brew a pale ale for some reason. I feel like pale ales are the kind of beers that can be great, but at the same time if done poorly can be forgettable or just plain bad. I've had plenty of commercial or brew pub examples that fit that description. I remember reading an article by Jamil Zainasheff where he mentioned that his true test of a brewer is to taste their pale ale because it's simple to brew, but easy to do poorly.
It's been several years since I brewed a pale ale, and I wanted to make one that could be my "house" pale ale. Jeff and I's favorite Pale Ales are Summit EPA and Millstream's Iowa Pale Ale. In my mind, Summit's is a classic American pale ale, with a nice citrusy hop presence, a clean bitterness and a nice caramely-malty sweetness. Millstream's is probably closer to an IPA than a traditional pale ale, heavy on the citrusy hops, crisp and clean with more of a subtle sweetness. We were aiming for something in between and I'm happy that I think we nailed it.
It's rare for me to be this excited about one of my beers right off the bat. I generally really like the beers I brew, but I tend to tweak and over-analyze them. Both Jeff and I agree that the IAPA is excellent and doesn't need tweaking. I would put it in the top five of the beers I've brewed. Onto the review:
IAPA pours a clear gold with a finger of white head. Right away nice aromas of classic Cascade hops, grapefruity, with some nice caramel notes coming through. There's a pleasant citrusy hoppiness at first followed by caramel and malty sweetness. There's a bitterness that gives it a good backbone that balances well with the sweetness. It finishes with a lingering caramel presence and refreshing crispness.

Here's the recipe:
2 lbs Organic 2-Row
1 lb Victory
.75 Org Caramel 60
.25 Org Carapils

4 lbs Org Light DME (2 @ 60, 2 @ 15)
Hops:
.60 Organic Pacific Gem @ 60
1 oz Fuggles @ 30
1 oz Cascade @ 2
1 oz Cascade @ flameout

American 1056 Yeast

More to come...
Salud!
Bearded Brewer

Beer Review- Lost Coast Brewing

My parents are snowbirds that spend their winters in Tucson, Arizona and summers in Wisconsin. Before making the journey back to the Midwest my dad told me to look up a beer superstore he'd been going to called Total Wine and More and pick out some beers I wanted him to bring up. The selection was impressive and it was hard to narrow down the list. Aside from Alaskan Brewing Company, the rest of the beers I had him bring up were California breweries. Out of all the beer he was going to pick up, the one my dad insisted I needed to try was Lost Coast because he was impressed with their brown ale he had picked up before. My dad brews one of the best browns I've had, so I figured it must be good. He picked up their Alley Cat Amber Ale, and 8 Ball Stout along with the brown, Downtown Brown, and all three were outstanding. Onto the reviews:

Downtown Brown: Pours a nice mahogany brown with ruby red highlights and a finger of off white head. Nice aromas of toffee, malt, caramel and nuttiness. Right away there's a nice malty sweetness with great flavors of brown sugar, and nuts. Sweet and slightly roasty with a faint bitterness in the end. Very well balanced and a great creamy mouthfeel. An outstanding brown ale.

Alley Cat Amber Ale: Pours a cloudy amber with a thin white head. Nice aromas of malt, biscuit, and flowery hops. There's some nice spicy notes and caramel flavor right away. Very nicely balanced between biscuit, malt, and hoppy spiceness. Great mouthfeel, creamy with some hoppy bitterness in the finish. A perfectly balanced amber ale.

8 Ball Stout: Pours dark, chocolate brown almost black with a finger of tan head. Wonderful aromas stout aromas of caramel, roasted malt, coffee and chocolate. Smooth, creamy mouthfeel, with a great roasty flavor. A lot of caramel and chocolate milk sweetness going on as well. It finishes sweet and malty with a lingering roasty backbone. Another outstanding beer from Lost Coast.

Overall, I was really impressed. All very well balanced and highly drinkable, I wish I had access to more of their product. In the coming posts, I'll be reviewing the rest of the beers I got, which include Green Flash Brewing's Hop Head Red, a couple Alaskan Brewing Company beers, Anderson Valley Boont's Amber Ale, and a couple beers from Mad River Brewing Company.
Salud!
Bearded Brewer

New Brewer Arrives

Bearded Brewing has added the newest brewer to the fold, my son was born on Thursday. As a result, my summer will be filled with little sleep, diaper changing, trying to manage a two year old, and probably little brewing. I will continue to post when I get a chance, I have a lot of beer reviews I have yet to post, so stay tuned for those. I am going to try to sneak in a couple of brewing sessions. I have a Saison recipe I'd like to brew and would like to brew another batch of IAPA (review coming soon). I have to say I haven't been this happy about a beer I've made in a while. I generally really like my beers a lot, but can always find a few flaws, because I'm anal like that. But, the IAPA is a spot on pale ale in my opinion and exactly what I had in mind when I made the recipe. I want to brew another batch since I split half the batch with Jefe and he's got a case of it.
I still have to get to the reviews of all the California beers my dad brought me from Arizona, and also a new New Glarus he brought me down from Wisconsin...a Black Wheat... I love New Glarus, traditional or experimental, they always bring it!
Stay tuned, I'll try to post when I can...even if it's in a sleep deprived state.
Salud!
Bearded Brewer

Beer Review- Bearded Fury IPA

Well, no baby yet, so I'm going to get to another posting and review my recently tapped Bearded Fury IPA. I've felt for sometime that I haven't quite nailed the bitterness I want in an IPA. The Bearded Fury is definitely a keeper in my opinion, but I still feel like I can up the bitterness a bit more to just add some more of a bite. Regardless, I feel like this is my best IPA yet, so I'm on the right path. It's on the low end of the IBU scale, only at 43. Where the Fury does hit, is the citrusy hoppy sweetness I was aiming for. I think that the Fury is definitely the IPA to be added to the rotation, especially once I figure out this bitterness thing.
Onto the review:
Bearded Fury pours a cloudy orange with a finger of white head. Nice citrusy aromas of orange with some nice grapefruit notes. Right away it's sweet with some nice caramel presence in the body, but quickly it's dominated by citrusy, hoppy sweetness. There's some lingering bitterness in the finish, but as mentioned before, not as much as I would want. A nice balance of aromas and sweetness, this is an IPA that goes down nicely on a hot day.

Here's the recipe:
2 lbs organic 2-row
1 lb organic munich
.75 lb org crystal 20
.25 lb org Belgian carapils
Mash @ 152 for an hour
6lbs org Light DME
Hops:
1 oz Nugget @ 60
.50 oz Centennial @ 15
.50 oz Centennial @ 10
1 oz Cascade @ 1
1 oz Cascade @ flameout
1 oz Cascade Dry Hop
Yeast: Wyeast 1272 American Ale 2

More to come.
Salud!
Bearded Brewer