Gringo 2010 Review and other thoughts

Finally getting around to reviewing this beer. The Gringo yielded a little bit less this year, I only ended up netting about 4 gallons for some reason, and putting the majority of it in 22 oz bottles. It's a fairly popular beer amongst my friends and it's the kind of beer that is good to give to people because it is fairly accessible. As a result, my stash of Gringo disappeared quick this year. The Gringo came about a couple years ago, when tired of the Imperial craze that seemed to dominate the market, I set out to create an imperial something, and settled on a Mexican lager in jest. What started out as a 3 gallon smart ass beer, now in it's third year has turned into one of the beers that is really well received amongst those who drink it. Its basically a pilsner brewed at somewhat ale temps (I use the Cali 2112 yeast which claims to retain lager like characteristics up to 65 degrees). I then lager it for a couple of months. In the case of this year's Gringo, I was lazy about bottling and ended up lagering it for almost 3 months. The end result was a very smooth beer with some nice crispness and great clarity...clearly 3 months is the time frame for lagering it. In addition to the pilsner malt that dominates the recipe, I also use 3 oz of Centennial hops and 1 oz of Cascade in the last 15 minutes of the boil, the final touch is 1lb of Agave Nectar that goes into the secondary. One more note...it's not technically a lager due to the lack of lager yeast (hence the use of the more general "Cerveza" instead) and also it is not technically "Imperial" because it clocks in at about 6% (hence the "Imperialistic" label). Onto the review:
Pours pale yellow with a rocky white 2 finger head. Crystal clear. Aromas of agave, citrus and slight graininess. Sweet, honey like at first followed by citrusy flavors of lemon, lime and tangerine. Soft mouthfeel that finishes crisp with some lingering agave sweentess and the graininess again.

Other notes: I am not thrilled with the Funky Monk at this point. I think I used too tame of a Belgian yeast, or something. It's a bit unbalanced. I did split the batch kegging 3 gallons and keeping the other 2 in a 2 gallon fermenter. I'm going to be adding some oak chips to it and see how that works out.

Also, I'm exicted to go to the American Homebrewers Conference here in the Twin Cities. I got a media pass, which is awesome. Due to some prior engagements I'm not sure how much I can go to, but for sure am hitting up Thursday night's Pro-Brewer's night. Stay tuned for details from the event.

Last but not least, the beauty of teaching...summer break. As of today I'm on it (and already brewing). I plan to brew a lot this summer as last summer was busy with the birth of my son. On the docket, a Russian Imperial Stout, a gluten free IPA, another Jefe collaboration (this time a black wheat) and a couple other ideas I'm contemplating.

Salud!
Bearded Brewer