Let it Bee Honey Ale

My friend and neighbor keeps a hive of honey bees and posed this question a few months ago.

Can you make a beer using lots of honey and heather?

And of course I said yes. I do love an experiment in Beer.

Previously, I had made a few brews using honey. But even Indie's Honey Mutt Brown Ale was limited to a single pound of store bought clover honey. And I never used heather. So, when trying to figure out what to do with Ryan's honey and heather, I decided I would head towards a strong scottish ale. Heather was used in scottish brewing before hops became the bittering preservative of choice. Plus, I also had the remains of a 55# bag of Maris Otter Malt (from the UK) and some other random specialty malts (my recipes are always driven from a practical point of view).

Anyway, here's what I came up with:

12# of Maris Otter Base Malt
1# of local honey added during boil
2.25# of honey added as Wort was cooling (at 150 degrees)
1# Dark Wheat Malt
1# of Crystal 60
12 oz Carapils
8 oz of Aromatic Malt
2 oz homegrown heather
1.5 oz of Roasted Barley

And homegrow Nugget (bittering) and Cascade hops (aroma).

Originally, I had planned to Use Mangrove Jack's West Coast Ale Yeast, but my slurry had sat dormant for too long. So I ended up using dry English Ale yeast since it was the only backup yeast I had.

Anyway, this is a great beer. Very smooth, aromatic, and dry. And did I mention strong.

Let it Bee!

Untitled Beer. Please help with a name.

This week, I was finally able to sample one of me latest beers - an Imperial Stout that I began in January, 2013. I'm not sure if I'll ever make this again, but it sure was a great experiment in brewing chemistry.

But what to call it? Some initial ideas:

1. Holy S#*t, that's a strong Beer.
2. Beano Beer (or anything with the word Beano in it.
3. Anything with the word Dark in it (Preferably with a song reference)
4. Are you Experimental?
5. Ninja Warrior

What is the Beano reference you ask? Well, keep reading. Please be advised that the following notes are from my brewing log and include lots of beer geek speak.

January 13. Brew day. Opps mash temp is too high! 170 degrees. (I quickly dumped cold water in there to bring the Mash to 153 degrees). I think I should not be trying to shoot a video as I make a beer with 20# of grain. Oh, did I mention I was shooting footage for a video about brewing and fatherhood? My Mash water temp. got away from me as I was setting up the tripod. Duh. Anyway, everything else goes smoothly.

The specific  gravity of my wort at the end of the process was 1.089  and this was just a little lower than my target of 1.092, so no worries yet. I pitch the yeast.

BTW, for non-beer nerds, the specific gravity (SG) is an indication of how sweet the beer is - the higher the number, the more sugars in the beer. As the number drops, sugars are being converted into alcohol through the action of the yeast.

January 26. Almost two weeks have passed and my gravity seems to be stuck at 1.038. I take readings over a few days and agitate carboy. I also move the carboy to a warmer spot.

February 2. Specific Gravity is 1.036 and not budging. I try to restart the stuck fermentation by making a huge starter of US-05 and pitching while it bubbles away. This seems to get things going for a few days.

February 15. Specific Gravity has only moved 2 points, to 1.034. Doh! ( I actually have that written in my notes). I should mention that I've been tasting the beer as I go and it tastes damn fine, just a bit sweet. However, it's so roasted because of the pound+ of roasted barley that it's balanced. I think to myself  - I should stop messing with it. But then I think that I sure wish it was stronger. At this point it would be an Imperial Stout that's only about 7.2% ABV so it's really just a strong stout. What to do? I go to the Internet. I find out that I am probably lacking the enzyme needed to break down my sugars as I mashed to high. I find a fairly controlled experiment using Beano. The idea is that Beano will break down the unfermentable dextrins into sugars that the yeast can eat. Hmm...

February 17. I crush up two tablets of Beano and toss them in the fermenter. Seems harmless enough. Nothing seems to happen.

February 22. Something is happening. I see signs of fermentation. I decide to rack beer to a glass carboy hoping to spur things onward and it works.

March 5. SG = 1.025 and Beer tastes great. You can stop fermenting now!  

March 20. SG = 1.016. hmm. Still tasty. And strong too. but seriously - stop fermenting.

And so it goes through April and May. I take readings and taste samples.

June 19. SG = 1.004. This beer is so strong now that I think maybe I should dump it.

Are you kidding me? I'm not dumping anything. 

I think about adding vanilla beans or even splenda (a non-fermentable sweetner)
Instead,  I decide to dry hop with 1 oz. Warrior hops (this explains the Ninja Warrior name possibility). I hope the hop aroma will help mask the smell of alcohol.

July 5. SG = 1.004. I bottle this beer using very little priming sugar (1/3 cup). But I also only have about 4 gallons of beer now as I've been drinking it, err, sampling it all along. The ABV should be about 11.25%

This beer is carbonating in the garage as I read that the possibility of bottle bombs is high. But, I think I have been patient, so I don't see this happening. It did sit in the carboy for 7 months!

July 26. Taste test! After three weeks in a hot garage, the beer is carbonated perfectly. It's dark and thick and smells like roasted barley and alcohol. In fact, it reminds me of bourbon. I preffered the taste when it was sweeter, but my wife likes it (even though she drinks small quantities from a 4 oz tasting glass). I think the alcohol is going to fade a bit with age and hell yeah, this will be a great, festive holiday beer.

And yes, I have already brewed another Imperial Stout. I've already given this one a name - it's Jinx Removing ( classic Jawbreaker song). I know it's coming out perfect (and there will be no Beano). 

Cheers!

Otto's Baltic (Barktic?) Porter

Though it's not quite ready yet, My first attempt at a Baltic Porter taste pretty good. It will be the first of many batches.

When I racked the beer into the secondary fermenter, it tasted pretty alcoholic (it's about 8% ABV) and I was worried the roasted character wouldn't be strong enough. So...I threw in more hops. I'm pretty sure your not supposed to dry hop a Baltic Porter, so I only added a half once of Glacier and a half once of Cascade (homegrown!) hops. I think it was a good call. This beer has a unique spiciness, almost like liquorice that I've never had in any of the other brews. I'm not sure where this came from (Saaz hops?), but I like it.

Prost, Otto dog!

Trike Strike Irish Red Ale

Here is my latest beer label:

Tragically, I have the ingredients but no time as of yet to actually make the beer. My need for creative Christmas presents got the label underway ( It makes a good T-shirt ). So hopefully, the beer will be good enough to deserve the label. It will be a mix of Maris Otter Malt, some caramel malt, flaked oats, golden naked oats, and well, I haven't quite decided on the hops. I have some home grown Willamette, so they will probably be tossed in there.

I originally was excited to call this Fixed Gear Version 1 Irish Ale as I thought the tricycle - well, it truly is the original fixed gear cycle. But then I saw that there already is a fixed gear red ale. Really? And a pretty uninspired design concept. Theirs had a chainring. wow. Mine says ride. POW!

Of course, putting a trike on a beer probably wouldn't fly in the commercial world. It would be like putting a cartoon camel on cigarettes or something (oh wait, that's been done).

Trike Strike Irish Red Juice anyone?

Soulslinger Black Ale

So the recently bottled, but then unnamed black ale, is now named. This tasted pretty good going into the bottle when it was still flat and warm, so I think it should taste good enough to get it's own label (when it's cold and carbonated). So, over Christmas break beers at Taco Mac with my brother-in-law, we discussed some possibilities. The then working title was First Name Smith Black Ale, as I wanted to get this one named after Smith (Yes, it really is his first name) and this is what he goes by - at least on PS3.

Anyway, I thought it should have something more dramatic, and since Smith is a climber, I thought we should brainstorm in that direction. Not being a very good rock-climber myself (I struggle to do 5.9s), but knowing how cool some of the rock route names are, I asked Smith if perhaps there were some epic routes he had climbed and if they should be immortalized on beer bottles. Turns out there were a few with names suitable for a dark black ale.


Soulslinger.

That's what we decided on. It's a current favorite climb of Smith's in Bishop, CA where he boulders a lot. It's also a V9, which is a pretty frigin hard route up the boulder.

Yep. That's Smith on Soulslinger. Errr, thanks to ? for the shot of Smith (I'll get that credit in there). And yes, of course I did some work in Photoshop. I thought of slinging one's soul, which could be considered a bit dark, though I suppose it depends where your slinging it. So, I gave the label a bit a mystical quality, added the idea of duality (the two sides of Smith) and kept the basic slice of rock and climber.

Note to self: Change the lower landscape drawing to a more dramatic charcoal drawing of a distant mountain range.

Note to self:  Tweek the recipe a bit the next batch to get the ABV up to 9% (matching the V9 climb).

Barley's London Porter

New beer bottled: Barley's London Porter. It tasted great going into the bottle.

It was originally going to be called Otto's Big Bark Porter, but at 5.5% ABV, it's probably the lightest beer I've made. So, it's more like a gentle lick. And so the nod went to Barley. Otto will get Otto's Big DoppelBark, with goes much better with her name. Plus, she had a great bark complete with flying slobber that I have well documented in photographs.

So cheers to the new label.

I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.

Ever tried getting a Boxer to sit still?

Indie's Mutt Brown Ale: The Verdict

Indie's Mutt Brown Ale is ready. It is good stuff (Duh. It's beer.)

The taste and aroma of the Belgian aromatic malt is really apparent. If i liked Belgian Ales better that would be great, but I'm not a giant fan of Belgians. The beer poured a light brown/dark amber color. Next time there will be more chocolate malt. I'll bump it up from .25# to 1# of pale chocolate malt. Maybe. I'll give it about 40 more beers of consideration. Then tweak.

Next up: Otto's Big Bark Porter. Yummy.

Beer: Indie's Mutt Brown Ale

Indie's Mutt Brown Ale is bottled.

Now I try to be patient as it carbonates...I really, really want to taste it. Indie was a special pup, my first, and despite her barking flaws, she was an big sweetheart. I hope this brown Ale does her justice. I'm wondering it will have the intensity and drama that Indie's personality had. I've been drinking so much Oatmeal Stout lately (hmmm...does that sound bad?) that I think this beer will be tame by comparison.

I did add plenty of Belgian Special B Caramel Malt, some aromatic malt, honey malt, pale chocolate malt, and Munich malt. Plus, I tossed in some flaked oats because I like to pretend that beer is good for me.

Cheers to Indie Rock! You were the best.

The Mighty Quinn Oatmeal Stout Redux

The Mighty Quinn Oatmeal Stout (version 2) is bottled and labeled.

The re-shoot with Quinn, the mighty, didn't go quite like I planned. I had the boots, the shirt, the shovel, the helmet - everything I thought I needed. But I also got a big dose of (the) protest.

That's okay. Boy was tired and wanted to watch some Yo Gabba Gabba. I understand. And I can work with this. An Oatmeal Stout seems to be a good solid beer for those exhausted after a long day at work (Fuck yes I love a few after a 13 hour day of teaching). Why not just go with the slightly exasperated, more melancholy than I had hoped for, expression on his face?

I did. And I think I'm happy with the photograph I came up with. Grittier than I'd planned at first, but Stout!

Hopefully, this beer will best version 1 which for some reason, tasted great but poured with a mighty foam. This version scales down the hops a bit and ups the chocolate and crystal malts. Tasted great flat and warm when I bottled it, so I have my fingers crossed.

How I love thee...

Oatmeal Stout.

One of my goals in life, besides doing a Fulbright and raising a good boy, is to craft the perfect Oatmeal Stout. My mind has shifted to this goal last night when I bottled the latest brew - the Barley DoppelBark.

So up next is The Mighty Quinn's Oatmeal Stout (version 2). I was just working on a rough of the label:


I'm digging the boots and the gesture. There is some mighty in there. Quinn stepped into these not on my urge, but on his own. And it was frigin cute. Now I need to get him to do the same thing while holding a shovel above his head while I shoot from a lower angle.

Yeah...best of luck with this.

Quinn will never do the same thing twice. So, I'm sure this will be a battle of wills. And I doubt that me repeating "but Quinn, you'll have your own beer named after you" will help.

I should be working on The Mighty Quinn's Oatmeal Cookie.

Probably The Best Pantry Photograph Ever

But possibly not. I mean I do really like it. How could I not? It's Beer. Ten gallons of really good (I hope) home-brewed beer with an ABV of about 16% between them. And an added bonus - it's sitting next to 20 lbs. of pasta (Bucatini, another fave).

Wait, where were we...Oh yeah, thinking about photographs.

Photographically, this isn't going to become one of the images I exhibit, though perhaps, in the right context it could impress some meaning on the viewer. I'm thinking that a powerful photograph should transcend it subject, should shed some light on it. It should "set the stage" (as a former professor of mine at Ohio State used to say) for some meaningful dialog with the viewer.

This is not that kind of image.

I find gratification in the image not for it's formal qualities, or because it reflects some profound meaning. Let's face it. An photographic image is subject bound. It can't escape this fact. But I should separate whats great about the image from what's in the picture.

So while my pantry has never looked so beautiful, this is not a product of my photographic skill. Just my love for beer and pasta.