"School's Out" Stout a week later

It has been hovering between 66 and 68 ºF in the Main Fermenting Room (hall closet), and the brew has a creamy brown half-inch thick head. This has been a long, slow, steady fermentation. I'm used to a big, explosive action in the first few days, then a gradual tapering off. After a week the top of the beer is usually visible with a few islands of residual froth. I've never used this variety of yeast before--Wyeast 1338 or European Ale™. My regular source (7 Bridges) has this little descriptor:

From Wissenschaftliche in Munich. Full-bodied complex strain finishing very malty with full bodied profile, very desirable in English Style Brown Ales and Porters. Produces a dense, rocky head during fermentation. (emphasis mine)

I used Continental malts and hops with this batch, and I'm really interested in the so-called "German Ales" (Altbier and Kölsch varieties). Achieving proper lager fermentation temperature regimes is tough here at FSB. My hall closet rarely gets below 60 ºF and can get over 70 ºF on occasion--that says "ale" yeast (Saccharomyces cerevesiae) to me. I'm not much for "styles" when it comes to brewing. I almost never try to copy a commercial beer, and since I almost never enter contests, I don't build recipes around categories. My formulations are inspired not only by beers that I've tasted, but ones I've read about! I've never had actual Altbiers, only California-micro versions. I can't say I've ever drunk a beer from Köln. But the Germans are known for rich flavors from their decoction techniques and kilned malts, and I want to get that into my beers. I was weaned on the first wave of California micros, which used British descriptors (bitter, pale ale, porter, stout, etc.) for their interpretations. But these are mere labels. As a homebrewer, I have the freedom to experiment. I think this latest "stout" is going to have a unique flavor profile. Ultimately that is my goal--tasty, satisfying brews with the particular signature of the brewer and the brewery. What is a "stout," actually? Guinness would be the most famous example, of course, but that's just it. It is an EXAMPLE, not the DEFINITION. The American Homebrewers Association, god bless 'em, has a 289 KB file you can download that describes all the acceptable beer "styles" they can think of. They go on and on about all sorts of "stouts" and what the rules are for making and/or judging them. "Bah," I say. Dr. Michael Lewis, UC Davis professor emeritus of Brewing Science, had this to say about the word "stout" in his book of the same name:

To conclude, it was not difficult for us to decide that a stout is simply a black beer called a stout by the brewer who made it. (author's emphasis, p.66)

(STOUT, Michael J. Lewis, Brewers Publications, 1995, ISBN 0-937381-44-6. This book is part--no. 10--of the Classic Beer Style Series well known to homebrewers.)

In the end, a "stout" is what you make it. That sounds like a good credo for a homebrewer.






a.d. IV non. Mai.

"School's Out" Stout

Actually, I have twenty-nine work days remaining in the calendar. If this brew ferments out in two weeks, gets kegged and bottled, spends two weeks conditioning, and then two weeks in the fridge, it will be ready to quaff come summer vacation. The whole thing can take half that time, but I've found over the years that slow and steady wins the race. The beer is almost always better when you wait. Speaking of "School's Out" Stout, the Bazooka Screen™ made its debut on this splendid Spring day here in the State of Jefferson. (I've added the link to Zymico™ to the list below.) Here at French Street Brewery, we like stouts. This one had 5 lbs. of base malt, a Briess 2-row pale, 5 lbs. of Briess Munich, and 2lbs. of Weyermann Vienna malt. All of these ORGANIC grains were purchased pre-crushed from 7 Bridges in Santa Cruz. I had some odds and ends, not really adding fermentables, just color, body, and flavor, like a 120 ºL crystal, some flaked barley, and Weyermann Carafa-2, all three totaling a pound, also in the mash. I steeped a half-pound each of roast barley and dark chocolate in 2 quarts of liquor which I added to the kettle. The OG came out at 15 ºP (1.060) which means my kooky method was around 75% efficient. I doughed-in the grain with 14 quarts of 155 ºF liquor (municipal water from a lovely volcanic spring-fed creek, moderately soft, charcoal filtered, brought to a boil and allowed to cool, otherwise untreated). The mash settled around 140 ºF. I pulled out a gallon of the grain porridge and heated it to boil on the hot plate. This I added back to the mash tun, bringing the whole thing up 5 degrees. After some stirring, I added one gallon of boiling liquor, which brought the whole thing to a range of 149-155 ºF. Some mixing got things to blend a bit, 150-152 ºF seemed to be the final temperature. After 45 minutes I spray-sparged for 30 minutes with 170 ºF liquor, 3 gallons worth, then mashed out with another gallon, a quick fill-and-drain. The final gallon of liquor went in the kettle, bringing the volume up to 7 gallons. Organic Perle hops and a 70-minute boil produced 5 gallons of wort. I pitched Wyeast European Ale 1338 into the chilled wort, bunged the carboy with a foam stopper, and put it to bed. All in all, a great brew day.




a.d. V Kal.Mai.

Amquard Ale II & OSP VI

The Amquard Ale was moved to the refrigerator this afternoon. In a week or so we should get the first taste. I'm quite curious about my little "dry-hopping" experiment--one of these days I'll figure out how to get a rich hop aroma. We've also been enjoying the OSP. We had a bit of an issue with an under-carbonated keg, but I blasted it with 30 lbs. or so of gas for a week, and some tweaking and twiddling with the dispensing pressure produced a good draught. We've pulled a few pints since then and the brew has a sharp flavor and a dextrinous mouthfeel, but is also smooth and drinkable. The bottled version was a bit harsh at first tasting. We let it lager for a few more weeks and that has paid off. The flavors seemed to have married and the rough edges have been smoothed. The result? O'Connor's Stout Porter lives up to its name!




a.d. X Kal.Mai.

Beware the Ides

Tomorrow is the Ides of April--not nearly so fraught with literary danger as the Ides of March, but interesting nonetheless. The OSP has done well in the bottle, but the keg version was nearly flat. Not sure why, but I've been gassing it with a steady 30 psi and I hope to get it drinkable within the next few days. We bottled and kegged the Amquard Ale. Stephani and Amber will come away with a 2-Liter growler each, and will split 8 12-oz. bottles. My goal was a 6-pack apiece, but after kegging 2.5 gallons there wasn't enough left over, and the last bit in the priming bucket was pretty sludgy. I bottled a 12-oz. clear Newky bottle that had a bit of debris, we'll see how it settles out. I decided to play around a bit and added a cotton sack with two ounces of whole organic German Perle hops (from Seven Bridges) to the half-keg. I'd like to get a little hop aroma into this rather simple extract golden ale. It was a gorgeous spring day in the State of Jefferson, and we had a relaxed day here at French Street Brewery. I've got a bit of sanitizing left to do before I'm done with the brewery chores for the weekend. In the meantime I'm enjoying my favorite radio show, Craig Lloyd Faulkner's "American Rhythm," on KSOR 89.3 FM.




prid. Id. Apr.

I like beer cuz it is good

My new theme song for FSB is Psychostick's BEER. The "low-quality" movie link works great, or try youtube.