Double Brew Day

On Thanksgiving, I had a Bearded Brewing first, a double brew day. I was excited to have some time to myself (long story) and so I ended up brewing two beers, about 7 hours total.
I wanted to brew a malty winter ale for January-February, when the winter here is a killer. It's the beer I want after walking my dog, and having my fingers and feet numb and the hairs of my beard literally frozen. So last year I brewed one using spruce extract. Despite using less than recommended, the extract came out way too strong. For the first several months there was an overpowering medicinal quality to the beer. I've let several bottles mellow for almost a year now. The flavor is much better, and there's nice body to the beer. But there is still enough extract to detract from the overall beer.
This time around I'm beefing up some of the caramel and body, and using "minty" Perle hops to give it some of the spruce essence. I'm avoiding the extract all together, and focusing on a nice malty, caramel winter ale. I'm excited to see how it turns out and I used a starter, so hopefully that boosts the abv and has good effect on it as well.

The second beer I brewed was the first in the Across the Aisle series, the Bi-Partisian porter. I'm excited for this. I missed my strike water by a few degrees, which was really aggravating. Hopefully mashing at 148 degrees doesn't have too big of an effect. For some reason I missed my strike temp and had to add water to bring it up. I was running out of room in the 2 gallon mash tun, so I had to leave it at 148. Very frustrating.
But hopefully the beer turns out great. I'm excited for Dave @ Muckney's version as well. Stay tuned for more info on this.
Here's my organic recipe: (hops, grains and malt all organic)
2 lbs 2-Row
1 lb Crystal 120
.50 lbs Chocolate
.25 lbs Munich
.25 lbs Black Roasted Barley
3.5 lbs Light DME
1 oz Perle hops (8.5 AAU) @ 60
.50 oz East Kent Goldings @ 20
.50 oz East Kent Goldings @ 10
Wyeast 1056 American Ale

Also coming up, a much needed final 3 reviews of Ted's excellent beers, and a little about my Belgian Birthday Bash with the Brotino.
Salud!
Bearded Brewer

Winter Ales

The inevitable is happening in Minnesota, the dark times are on their way. Winters in Minnesota can downright suck, and the cold winds are already starting to blow and its only a matter of time before the snow arrives as well. When Old Man Winter rears his ugly head, it's nice to have some high alcohol winter ales to help get you through it!
I really enjoy winter ales, especially because of their variety. Some are hoppy, some are malty, some are roasty, some are spiced. It's great to have a style that is so wide open for interpretation.
The three beers I recently picked up are perfect examples of this variety.
Summit's Winter Ale not only takes the cake on these beers, but is also my favorite Summit offering. This winter ale is dark and roasty, malty and warming. The perfect beer when your face is frozen and you can't feel your fingers and toes. It pours a dark chocolate brown with some nice ruby red hues and a foamy finger of a light tan head. There are wonderful caramel/roasty aromas. Smooth, creamy mouthfeel with some roasty and burnt flavors, as well as some caramel and chocolate notes. There's no hop flavors, but some nice lingering sweetness and the creamy texture makes it smooth drink, even at 7% alchohol. Just a great beer in my opinion.


Flying Dog K-9 Cruiser Winter Ale:
I really enjoy most of the beers I've had from Flying Dog, and this one is no exception. Quite different than the Summit Winter Ale, this winter offering pours a deep amber with redish and brown hues and a finger of foamy white head. Malty and spicy aromas followed by a very malty taste. There's some graininess, as well as a bit of alcohol presence. Its sweet, but also a little bitter. Hardly any hop presence, this beer is smooth and well balanced. It finishes clean, almost like a bock. A nice winter ale.

New Belgium's 2 Below:
This beer is a beer I actually reviewed last year, but wanted to review it again because I was excited that it is now available in the cities. It pours a copper color with a foamy white head. Biscuity aromas, along with some bready, with some spicy hoppiness. Wonderful biscuit flavors and some malty sweetness. There's some floral and slightly citrus hop notes as well. This is quite different than the other two beers I reviewed. It's got a hint of spruce and is kind of a hoppier, spicier version of Fat Tire.

Of the three, Summit's Winter Ale is the one I will probably find myself drinking a lot of this coming winter. I tend to drink darker beers during the winter, and it fits the bill. I also am going to be making a second attempt at Frozen Beard Winter Ale. Last year's version would have been a lot better had I not added the spruce extract. In the coming week I will brewing a new version, without the spruce, and with some more hops.
More to come.
Salud!
Bearded Brewer

Green Beard Organic IPA

This has been a good couple of weeks for me in the brewing world. I was excited to have an article I wrote about organic homebrewing get published in the Great Lakes Brewing News paper.
Additionally, I was humbled to have such nice reviews of my beers by Ted @ Tedbrews. His feedback is great to receive, and after tasting his outstanding beers, I have a new bar set for me to reach in my own brewing. He was impressed with my Burning Beard Belgian Ale, I was also very happy with the turn out, feeling that it was one of my more well-balanced beers. I think my strength in brewing is the ability to make accessible beers without overdoing any elements. That works well for me with brewing Belgians and some of my more experimental brews.
With that said...hoppy beers are not beers I feel that I have gotten down. Green Beard is my first attempt at a partial mash IPA. Earlier this summer I brewed Hopshot IPA, an extract IPA made with an experimental hop concoction I got from Northern Brewer. It turned out well, but not as well I wanted it to.
For Green Beard, I bought all organic hops (at a very good price) from Seven Bridges Co-Op. All of the ingredients in Green Beard are organic, and I'm fairly happy with the turn out, but still not where I want it. Despite using Admiral hops, at 14% alpha acids, it still doesn't quite hit on the bitter end, I think I should have gone with 2 ounces...but onto my review:
It pours a nice golden color with a foamy white head. There are some nice citrus aromas, especially the grapefruit you'd expect from Cascade hops. It has a nice soft, sweetness with some caramel hints and nice citrus/hoppiness throughout the beer. It finishes clean with a nice crispness and lingering citrus notes. Overall a good beer, but misses the mark a bit on some of the bitterness I was aiming for. I think I should have gone with more bittering hops, and probably more hops throughout the whole boil.
Here's the recipe:
2 lbs Org. 2-Row
.5 lbs Org. Crystal 60
.5lbs Org, Caramunich
* 1 hour mash @ 150
6lbs Light Org. LME
Hops: 1 oz Admiral @ 60
.35 oz Cascade 15
.15 oz Cascade 10
.15 oz Cascade 5
.35 oz Cascade 3
1 oz Cascade 1
1 oz Belgian Admiral Whole hops -Dry hop
1332 Northwest Wyeast

* One more note... I've been disappointed with the carbonation. Two people who I gave bottles to commented on the lack of carbonation. I used the tabs, since I kegged half. I naturally carbonate kegs since I have yet to buy a CO2 tank (I use the charger). The carbonation level wasn't as bad with the keg, but still not as good as I want it to be. Not sure quite what happened with the carb tabs, but a disappointment because it takes away from the beer. Overall, a good beer, but not as bitter as I had hoped and the carbonation problem is annoying. Regardless, I am happy with the basics and think the recipe could turn out great with some tweaks.
Salud!
Bearded Brewer

Three Brews By Ted

I recently exchanged beers with Ted at Tedbrews. I've been reading Ted's blog for over a year, and have always been impressed with his experimentation, his great attention to detail, and his wealth of knowledge in homebrewing. Ted and I have exchanged some emails over time and most recently some brews. I was excited to read the reviews he gave my El Muerto and El Jefe recently, and look forward to his thoughts on the other four. While I don't have as wonderful of pictures as his wife took of my beers, I do have some reviews of the excellent homebrews he sent me.
While I've been excited about all of his beers for some time, I started with his Tripel. My favorite style of Belgian, I have been intimidated to brew this delicately balanced beer. After having Ted's I might have to pick his brain on some tips because this tripel was spot on.
Tripel: It pours a pale, straw yellow with a thin white head. Wonderful spicy, musty, fruity aromas...smells like a perfect tripel! The aromas are just the start, perfect carbonation and mouthfeel. It has a nice fizzy carbonation one would expect, and the creamy mouthfeel of the the style. Great array of sticky fruity flavors; peach, apricot, and citrus with some spicy notes in the finish. Also some nice dryness as well that Ted mentioned he was going for. This set the bar high for me as to what to expect of the rest of Ted's beers. This was a perfect example of a tripel.
Robust Porter: Porters, are another one of my favorite styles, especially this time of year. This beer was another excellent brew from Ted. This beer pours a jet black with a foamy off-white head. Right away, there's a great spicy, peppery hop aroma. In some ways the hop aroma reminds me of Old Rasputin by North Coast. The flavor is roasty and smokey with some nice chocolate and caramel notes. There's some hoppy-pepper presence with a bitter backbone. Perfect creamy mouthfeel with a nice chocolate, roasty finish. As I mentioned before, the aromas and hop profile remind me of Old Rasputin and in some ways the beer reminds me of a thinner version. Very solid, another outstanding beer from Ted.
Belgian Blue: The most intriguing beer out of the box, this beer is a Belgian brewed with 8lbs of blueberries. Being a guy who likes to experiment with fruit and Belgian yeasts, this was right up my alley. At 11%, I knew this would be a sipper and a very interesting beer. I was surprised by the pour, usually I make Belgian beers with fruit that are lighter in color and this beer pours a dark brown with some purple hues and a thin white head. Interesting aromas, very wine like with blueberry, grape, and plum aromas. Starts of with some fruity grape and blueberry flavors, as well as some subtle spiciness. Nice mouthfeel and carbonation, the beer is smooth and easy to drink. There is some nice musty/yeastiness in the finish, as well as another large amount of blueberry. Another extremely well crafted, nicely balanced ale from Ted. Interesting take on a Belgian as it feels almost wine-like with nicely balanced flavors and fruity aromas.

I look forward to remaining three brews, a Nut Brown Ale, an Old Ale and an IPA. More to come.
Salud!
Bearded Brewer

Ps: Despite Obama's convincing win, and the news that Pennsylvania went "blue" last night, the collaborative brew will still go on. Provided that Dave recovers, and hasn't had a sudden shift in ideology in the new "era of hope," I fully expect the Bi-Partisian Porter to be brewed as scheduled.:)