posted by Jon
If you've never tried a Belgian IPA, I would highly recommend trying a Houblon Chouffe Dobbelen IPA Tripel. Our January beer is loosely based on it.
Ryan and I brewed this past Thursday. Ryan Beld was also invited, but like last time, he was extremely late. He still hasn't shown up. Brewing details after the jump.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Patience
posted by Jon
No, this is not about how you haven't gotten a new beer in a while and need to be patient about it. This is about what to do when you receive your next beers. Certain styles of beer get better with age, much like a wine. A couple of styles that do are Imperial Stouts and Belgian Strong Ales. When you get your next batch of beer, you will be getting a couple of six-packs, one of the Intruder and one of the Fekete Mokus. You've paid for both of them. They are yours. Do with them what you will. If you want to feed them to your cat, by all means do. I, for one, will be letting my Intruder sit for a while. These bad boys will condition in the bottle for years. They will be exponentially better tasting one year from now than they will be once you get them. And if you have a whole ton of self-control and can wait a couple of years, you won't be disappointed. If you don't believe me, try tasting a 2007 Goose Island Bourbon County Stout. A couple of you know exactly what I'm talking about.
No, this is not about how you haven't gotten a new beer in a while and need to be patient about it. This is about what to do when you receive your next beers. Certain styles of beer get better with age, much like a wine. A couple of styles that do are Imperial Stouts and Belgian Strong Ales. When you get your next batch of beer, you will be getting a couple of six-packs, one of the Intruder and one of the Fekete Mokus. You've paid for both of them. They are yours. Do with them what you will. If you want to feed them to your cat, by all means do. I, for one, will be letting my Intruder sit for a while. These bad boys will condition in the bottle for years. They will be exponentially better tasting one year from now than they will be once you get them. And if you have a whole ton of self-control and can wait a couple of years, you won't be disappointed. If you don't believe me, try tasting a 2007 Goose Island Bourbon County Stout. A couple of you know exactly what I'm talking about.
Monday, January 3, 2011
January, February, March
posted by Jon
I am on a bit of a Belgian-style Ale kick. Ryan is currently in Northern California and was able to stop at Russian River Brewing Co. a couple of nights ago. Russian River brews the best Belgians outside of Belgium. They have 4 Belgian-style ales in Beeradvocate's top 100 beers. Chances are, Ryan is also on a Belgian-style Ale kick. For the next 3 months, we will be doing Belgians. The plan is to do a Belgian Pale/Tripel in January, a Belgian Strong/Quad in February and a Belgian Pale/Strong (with Brettanomyces added) in March. If you've never had a beer brewed with Brett, you're going to be blown away. Pretty much everyone I know who's tried one hated it the first time. After you've tried a couple you start craving them. At least most of us do. You all signed up for beer club with the knowledge that you were going to get some crazy stuff. This will be your first adventure into crazy. If the yeast does what it's supposed to, it might be really crazy. Really, really crazy.
I am on a bit of a Belgian-style Ale kick. Ryan is currently in Northern California and was able to stop at Russian River Brewing Co. a couple of nights ago. Russian River brews the best Belgians outside of Belgium. They have 4 Belgian-style ales in Beeradvocate's top 100 beers. Chances are, Ryan is also on a Belgian-style Ale kick. For the next 3 months, we will be doing Belgians. The plan is to do a Belgian Pale/Tripel in January, a Belgian Strong/Quad in February and a Belgian Pale/Strong (with Brettanomyces added) in March. If you've never had a beer brewed with Brett, you're going to be blown away. Pretty much everyone I know who's tried one hated it the first time. After you've tried a couple you start craving them. At least most of us do. You all signed up for beer club with the knowledge that you were going to get some crazy stuff. This will be your first adventure into crazy. If the yeast does what it's supposed to, it might be really crazy. Really, really crazy.
Fekete Mókus
posted by Jon
On December 19 we brewed our smoked porter. In honor of our Hungarian beer club members it will be called "Fekete Mókus" (pronounced FEH-kuh-tuh MOE-koosh). While the boys brewed, the girls and kids celebrated the season with the building of a gingerbread house.
On December 19 we brewed our smoked porter. In honor of our Hungarian beer club members it will be called "Fekete Mókus" (pronounced FEH-kuh-tuh MOE-koosh). While the boys brewed, the girls and kids celebrated the season with the building of a gingerbread house.
I cheated
posted by Jon
This will be the first of a few catch-up posts, as I haven't had time to post about all of the recent goings-on at KSB.
We ran into a problem with the Intruder. The Intruder starts out with an original gravity around 1.082. It should finish around 1.020, giving it about 8% ABV. On November 29 I racked it off to the secondary and added the vanilla and oak chips. When I did this is was at about 1.032. After a couple of weeks I checked the gravity and it hadn't budged. It was right around 1.030. I tried adding dry champagne yeast. Champagne yeast is a yeast that can work at higher percentages of alcohol. I checked again a couple of weeks later and it still hadn't moved. If the beer is bottled as is, it will be lower alcohol and much sweeter than it is supposed to be. I brought out the big guns. That's right, the Von Bora. On December 22, I siphoned off a bit of the sludge and yeast in suspension from the bottom of the fermenter that held the Von Bora into the Intruder. The thought is that it would finish off the Intruder and it shouldn't really affect the taste. Within a few days the airlock was bubbling every 20 seconds of so. A week later it was bubbling even faster, every 10 seconds. It is starting to peter out now. I should be able to cold crash the Intruder and have it ready for bottling in a week or so.
The bad news is that if this is the best beer we've ever brewed it might be difficult to replicate it.
This will be the first of a few catch-up posts, as I haven't had time to post about all of the recent goings-on at KSB.
We ran into a problem with the Intruder. The Intruder starts out with an original gravity around 1.082. It should finish around 1.020, giving it about 8% ABV. On November 29 I racked it off to the secondary and added the vanilla and oak chips. When I did this is was at about 1.032. After a couple of weeks I checked the gravity and it hadn't budged. It was right around 1.030. I tried adding dry champagne yeast. Champagne yeast is a yeast that can work at higher percentages of alcohol. I checked again a couple of weeks later and it still hadn't moved. If the beer is bottled as is, it will be lower alcohol and much sweeter than it is supposed to be. I brought out the big guns. That's right, the Von Bora. On December 22, I siphoned off a bit of the sludge and yeast in suspension from the bottom of the fermenter that held the Von Bora into the Intruder. The thought is that it would finish off the Intruder and it shouldn't really affect the taste. Within a few days the airlock was bubbling every 20 seconds of so. A week later it was bubbling even faster, every 10 seconds. It is starting to peter out now. I should be able to cold crash the Intruder and have it ready for bottling in a week or so.
The bad news is that if this is the best beer we've ever brewed it might be difficult to replicate it.
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