What is a stout?

A stout is a black beer. There are lots of variations and categories and styles and whatnot, but that is the essence of stout--dark. I decided to make this year's version of St. Patrick's Day Stout with some black malt and not much else. I skipped the roast barley. I didn't use chocolate malt. I stayed away from oats, too. I kept this one very simple. Took the first runnings and made one hop addition--that was it. The yield was five gallons at 1.048 (12ºP) and I pitched a sachet of Safale-05. It was a mild and mostly sunny day here in the State of Jefferson despite the calendar saying it is January.  I don't usually brew for Lá Fhéile Pádraig this early, but a little aging in the keg never hurt any beer, especially a stout. If you go to this website, it will tell you about different kinds of stout. If you go to Ireland and drink Guinness, Murphy's, and Beamish, you will find out about those kinds of stouts. Around here we get lovely beers like Obsidian Stout from Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Oregon, and Sierra Nevada Stout from Chico, California. Stout beer has many possibilities. I suggest that you brew up your own version, or at least encourage a homebrewing friend to brew one you'll like.

Non. Ian.

Amber obscura

Amber's Amber came out quite dark, a rich red-brown, but that's just fine. It flashes lovely amber-red highlights when a pint glass is held to the late afternoon winter sunlight streaming in the window. The flavor is very smooth, sweet and bready, and there is just enough hops to make the finish dry and clean. I like the balance on this beer here at First Tasting. It is Xmas Eve--a good time to tap a fresh keg. The carbonation is light and creamy, like a cask ale, always a good thing. I think we've got a winner!

HAPPY HOLIDAZE!


a.d. VIII Kal. Ian.

Amber's Amber

Yesterday my pal Amber--an aspiring homebrewer--came over to help me make a fresh batch. I was intending to make a brown ale as my lovely bride is fond of brown ales, but I didn't have the right combination of ingredients. I went with an amber and named it for my assistant. I've been experimenting with making beers from only the first runnings off the mash and skipping the sparge step. It's a bit wasteful as I have to nearly double the amount of grains I'd normally use, but I am curious about the flavor possibilities. I like to concentrate sometimes on one aspect of the process in order to learn a bit for another batch down the road. Grain flavors are complex and require much study and experimenting! We mashed 17 pounds of Briess 2-row pale malt and a half-pound each of Victory and Carafa 2 . Five gallons of liquor in the mash tun at 175ºF settled out at 152ºF for an hour. Then we simply drained the wort and we got about three gallons which the refractometer told us was 23% sugar (23ºP) or about 1.092 SG. John Palmer's wort calculator told us to expect 11ºP (1.044) when it was diluted in the kettle to seven gallons and 14ºP (1.056) when the boil reduced it to five gallons. We wound up with 13ºP (1.052) which I though was just dandy. I used a new hop, a California-grown organic variety called Horizon. We gave the brew 20 grams of whole cones (10.2% α-acids) for 60 minutes and 20 grams again for 30 minutes. We pitched it with Safale-04 at just about 4:00 in the afternoon and it was fermenting vigorously a few hours later. I think we've got a winner. Thanks, Amber!

Id. Nov.

Flat Tire II

It came in at 1.010 on the hydrometer, or 2.5 degrees Plato if you prefer. That's about my usual with liquid malt extract batches. I primed the two half-corny kegs (2-1/2 gallons) each with 100 grams of dried malt sugar that had been boiled in 12 oz. of water. The beer looked and smelled clean despite the large amount of globular yeasty flotsam. It gave off some pretty potent banana esters early in the ferment, but that seems to have dissipated. Isoamyl acetate** is the offending chemical, I believe, which I suspect is due to higher temperatures. I try to keep my ales below 70ºF but this one spent the first week right there before the cooling weather brought the closet down to 66ºF. I left a few quarts in the bottom of the carboy because they were too sludgy for my delicate palate. One should brew with fresh ingredients, just as one should cook and eat. Alas, I was stuck with some stuff that had been in the fridge a little too long, but I think I made the best of it. I'm expecting a nice golden ale out of it. I replaced my flat tube on my Stumpjumper with an older patched spare that has been holding up just fine to the rigors of my favorite single-track. I expect the beer will come through just as well.

**3-methyl-1-butyl ethanoate

a.d. IV Id. Nov.

Flat Tire

My Stumpjumper had a flat tire and I worked on that this afternoon. I brewed a batch as well. I had some extract and some hops and a pack of Safale and so I whipped up a brew. I had some old uncracked 60ºL crystal malt and I wanted to get a little bit of something from that without setting up the mill. I used a mortar and pestle instead, thoroughly unsatisfactory, but I managed to process about a half pound which I steeped in the liquor while the kettle heated. It produced some sweet, floral malt aromas and a bit of color. Good enough. I had an ounce of 9.9% α-acid whole Northern Brewer hops so I did half of it for an hour and half again for half an hour. It has been a long time between batches so I kept it simple. Everything needed a good cleaning and some freshening up, but it was a perfect autumn afternoon and it felt good to be outside and get the brewery going again. Flat Tire will be the perfect thirst quencher as well. Electrolyte replacement is an important part of my fitness regime. I make sure to replace all of them, many times over, especially after rides.

a.d. XVII Kal. Nov.