Gringo '09

Last year I decided to make a hoppy Mexican lager. The Gringo was only a three gallon batch, I used the Cali Common 2112 yeast, and then lagered the beer for close to three months in my fridge. The end result is hard to categorize because I drank it in intervals, and never felt like I got a good idea of what this beer was. At first the beer was unbalanced, hoppy and light, with a clean finish. As the beer aged, the citrus came out more, and the final couple of bottles were quite good. I decided to brew up 5 gallons this time around, and make some adjustments. I think in the past year my knowledge of hops and appreciation of very hoppy beers has increased. With that knowledge, I knew more of what I wanted from the Gringo. Toning down the IBUs, I only used .35 ounces of Centennial hops for a bittering addition, and opting to add close to 4 ounces in the last 15 minutes. I also used mostly Pilsner malt and some light DME in the boil along with 2 lbs of cane sugar. The plan to round out the citrusy hops is to add 12 oz of Light Agave Nectar in the secondary. Even though I have a better idea of what I'm aiming for...which is a light bodied, extremely hoppy and citrusy beer with a sweet, smooth finish... we'll see what turns up. The key is patience, in my notes I wrote down that 10 weeks was when the bottles (the last two!) tasted great. Encouraged by those last bottles of last year's Gringo, I'm hoping that this time around what I have in my head turns out to be the end product.
Stay tuned...

Cherry Stout Review

For the Cherry Stout, I ended up doing something I've never done before, and that's splitting the batch up and augmenting part of the batch. I've been kegging my beer in 2.5 gallon kegs for several months now, and then bottling the rest of the batch. It's good for two things; helping my impatience and experimenting. I tend to be very impatient with my beer and the nice thing about kegging is that you don't need as long to carbonate and you can try out the beer without having to open up a whole (too often flat) bottle before it's ready. The other nice thing is what I did for this batch, which was add some stuff to the batch I wasn't kegging. At the time of the bottling, I didn't have enough bottles, so I decided to fill the keg and then transfer the remaining beer to a third vessel, this time a small 3 gallon carboy. Not impressed with the cherry flavor coming through I decided to add 16 oz of black cherry juice. In addition I decided to throw in a small amount of oak chips as well. The end result was quite interesting. There is a definite difference between the two versions. Here's the breakdown:
I'll start with the bottled/oak version:
It pours jet black with a foamy tan head. (Actually it is extremely carbonated, possibly due to the unfermented cherry juice?? Way too carbonated when you open it.) It settles down to a nice creamy head with some roasty, coffee and definite cherry aromas. A nice creamy mouthfeel. The cherry juice is present but not overwhelming. There is a lot of chocolate and sweetness throughout and a definite lingering smokey/oaky presence. The cherry juice is there, but not as cherry as one would expect. The oak is also evident, and creates some bitterness in the finish. What is lacking is the roasty/chalky presence from the other version. Not sure if it is the oak or the cherry juice, but one way or another, the roasty backbone is covered up some. Its faint, but not as present as I would have wanted. Overall, very nice and quite interesting. I used about .5 oz of oak chips, proof it goes a long way, because it's there without being overbearing.
Cherry Stout (original, kegged version)
Pouring jet black with a thick foamy tan head. There's some nice roasty/chocolately notes as well as some subtle cherry aroma. Much roastier than the other version. The cherry is much more faint in this version, it's present in the finish, a lingering cherry/acidic quality. There is some nice roasty, coffee, and chocolate flavors throughout this beer with a dry/chalky finish one would expect with roasted barley. Not as sweet as I was expecting, but I'm very pleased with this version. Despite the cherry being more subtle than I would have wanted, I really like the balance of the roastiness and sweetness. I think I could add more cherries, or opt for the juice instead of the frozen cherries, it's evident it takes a lot to truly come out. But I wouldn't want to detract from the roasted barley that is evident throughout the beer.

Here's the recipe:
1.5 lbs Org. 2-Row
.75 Crystal 60
.25 Carapils
* Mash for 45 @ 152
.60 lb Roasted Barley
1 lb Organic Chocolate
.25 Black Patent
* Steeped in 1 gallon of water @ 152 for 45
4 lbs Organic Light DME (1@ 60, 3 @15)
1 lb Lactose Sugar @ 1
1.5 oz Perle Hops @ 60
London Ale Yeast
42 Oz of Frozen Cherries in secondary

* One quick note, as I mentioned in an earlier post, and what I've come to realize was probably the lactose- I ended up with a very small drop from OG to FG (1.052-1.028). All appearances were that it was done fermenting when I transferred, so in the secondary I added a packet of dry yeast and this dropped it down a few more points. The end result was about 3.2 % abv. Despite that, it's really tasty and in some ways its nice to know I can knock back a couple without it being too much of a problem!
-On another note I'm brewing tomorrow night, The Gringo 09. I'll post more about this, but essentially a light beer using Belgian Pilsner Malt, Light DME and 4 oz of Centennial and Cascade Hops, and a Cali Lager Yeast. This year's version is going to feature 12 oz of Agave Nectar, not sure if I'm going to put it in the boil or wait and put in the secondary during the lagering period. More to come on my Imperial Mexican Lager.
Salud!
Bearded Brewer

Muerto 3.1 and other thoughts

El Muerto has been my biggest brewing project since I moved away from kits. I designed this label about 4 years ago and the beer has gone through many renovations. I started with a "clone" recipe of Rogue's Dead Guy, which was the first time I brewed a beer without using a kit. Over the years El Muerto has morphed, but I've tried to stick to an amberish ale. Its gradually become hoppier and more biscuity. The last time around, I felt like it was the closest to what I've had in my head all along. Using Organic Pacific Gem hops, I was able to get a nice bitterness that I think it had been lacking. Also, I was really happy with how much biscuit came through. But I still wasn't 100% satisfied with a beer that I want to become one of my staple beers. So this time around I upped the crystal, I felt it was missing some sweetness, and I also added more citrusy hops, using Cascade and First Gold. I still kept the Saaz hops in the final minute. I've done this since my very first recipe and I feel that the Saaz gives the beer a nice spicy finish that can be a bit unexpected. Last night I took a sample and it's not quite done fermenting, but the hops were very nice and the citrus I'm going for was present at this point. I plan on transferring it to a secondary in the next couple days. I'm eager to see how this turns out. More to come...
I have been waiting to review El Oso Brown Ale because I don't think it's quite ready yet. Brown ales in my opinion get better with age, and I'm hoping that will be the case with El Oso. There's some nice biscuit and nutty flavors going on, but it seems to be a bit thin and I'm hoping with age the flavors will round out. I also have been enjoying the kegged Cherry Stout, but want to wait until the bottles are ready to do a comparison. I put cherry juice and some oak chips into the part of the stout I bottled and I want to see what a difference it makes in the final product.
Stay tuned
Salud!
Bearded Brewer

Water Conservation Pt.2

Last year I wrote a post about my attempts to reduce some of the waste in my brewing. The biggest area of waste in all brewing is water. After visiting Summit Brewery, I noticed they reused their water and tried to come up with a way to do this. Collecting the water has been working well, but even after filling up 2 5 gallon containers, and usually a carboy to sanitize, I was still watching probably another 5-10 gallons go down the drain. Also, it has been difficult for me to always find a large chunk of time for brewing, so I've been trying to find ways to make steps shorter in time. I thought that the 15 foot garden hoses I was using for my wort chiller was probably a waste. On top of the bulkiness, and the space they took up, I thought that a shorter hose could increase efficiency. I went to my local hardware store looking for a solution, possibly a dishwasher hose or something along those lines. I was happy to find 3/4'' replacement parts to repair a hose. Similar to the barbed fittings for beer tubing, it was simply a barbed end and a female adapter, perfect! I cut my hoses down to about 7' and attached the replacement end. Last night after brewing El Muerto, I was pleased to see that my plan worked. Not only did I only go through the carboy and collect 10 gallons of water, I also cut probably 10 minutes or more off the cool down!

Another way I wanted to reduce water was to find a solution for buying plastic gallons of water. I use a basement sink that has a garden hose size faucet, so I needed to find a way to attach a Brita filter. I ended up buying a filter that you use to reduce cholrine and other chemicals for a shower head. I went to the hardware store and found an adapter for a garden hose and some piping to make the filter work with my sink. I can now fill up my brew kettle right from the faucet or simply reuse one container. Before I was running up and down the stairs to a Brita adapter in my kitchen, this has saved me a lot of hassle.
Just a couple of ways I've been trying to become more sustainable in my homebrewing.
Soon I'll be posting some thoughts (and recipe) on Oso Brown Ale which is ready, as well as an update on the Cherry Stout.
Salud!
Bearded Brewer

Organic Beer Reviews

It's been awhile since I've done a beer review of a commercial beer, especially an organic one. Recently I ran across Eel River Brewing Company, which is now available in the Twin Cities. Eel River is apparently the first organic brewery in the country, brewing since 1999. I picked up their IPA and also came across a bomber of their Amber Ale.

Eel River Amber Ale:
This beer was apparently the first certified organic beer in the country. Their flagship pours a a dark amber/copper color with a finger of white head. Some nice biscuit, caramel aromas with some nice citrus notes present as well. Wonderful biscuit flavors balanced nicely with some hoppy bitterness and lingering caramel sweetness. There's a lot of floral hop aromas and the caramel is present throughout. Nice soft mouthfeel and I really like the balance of the bitterness, biscuit and caramel. An excellent amber ale.

Eel River IPA: This was the first of the beers I bought from Eel River and it made me want to come back for more. An excellent IPA, probably the best organic beer I've had. It pours a hazy organish/amber with a foamy two finger white head. Great citrusy aromas. Right away there's some nice grapefruit, honey and orange flavors followed by some nice malty sweetness. It finishes with some nice hop and honey sweetness. There's a little bit of bitterness that balances nicely with the maltiness and citrusy sweetness. Great IPA.

Recently El Jefe and I made a run across the Wisconsin border into Hudson to buy some beers that aren't available in the Cities. Among them was a beer I've read a lot about but never had, Wolaver's Oatmeal Stout. Wolaver's also has been one of the leaders in organic brewing, since 1998 they have been brewing organically as part of Otter Creek Brewing Company in Vermont.
"Every beer we brew is a manifestation of our commitment to the welfare of the environment, the welfare of the farming landscape, and the welfare of the consumer."

Their Oatmeal Stout is as good as advertised. It pours jet black with a foamy light tan head. Wonderful roasty, burnt aromas. A great smoothness and roasty, chocolatey, coffee, and caramel flavors. The mouthfeel is perfect for an oatmeal stout, smooth and slick with some nice sweetness lingering in the finish. This beer is a great example of a oatmeal stout and one that I hope makes it way to Minneapolis.


Nice to see more and more organic beers available in and around the cities. These are two of the pioneers of the organic brewing movement. Hopefully breweries like Bison and Laurelwood will make it East as well.
Salud!
Bearded Brewer