April post

posted by Jon

Wow, it's been a while. Anyone need an update? Jump now.

Biran (Belgian quad) has been bottled. Beatrice (Belgian pale with Brett) is still bubbling in the carboy but should be ready to bottle in the next week or so. Look to see bottles of the Biran and Beatrice arriving at your doorstop around the middle of June. Both of them will have to condition in the bottle a bit.

Dogen (IPA) will be brewed next week Monday. This one should be ready towards the end of June. Our Witbier will also be brewed soon. Ready in the middle of July? That's right, after going months without a new sixer you should be getting 4 six-packs within a one month time period.

Our June brewing will be another Imperial Stout. This one will be called Batch 20. It is inspired by Bells' Batch 10,000 (but will taste completely different). It will include 20 ingredients: 1) water 2) yeast 3) malt extract 4) flaked oats 5) chocolate malt 6) Belgian Special "B" 7) crystal 80L° 8) roasted barley 9) Belgian candi sugar 10) Molasses 11) Centennial hops 12) Nugget hops 13) Willamette hops 14) Yakima Magnum hops 15) yeast nutrient 16) Irish moss 17) licorice stick??? 18) honey??? 19) maple syrup??? 20) ????? Some spice maybe? Brown sugar? A vegetable? A stick? Vanilla? I asked Isaac for an ingredient to put in our beer and he replied "hops." Okay. No help there.

I'm starting to think about Autumn (too early?) and what we should have ready for that. I'm assuming that a Gourdon appearance is mandatory. The apple cider will also be back, in fact we will be doing 10 gallons rather than 5 this year. I hope your liver is ready for the abuse. Any other thoughts? No, we aren't doing a Scotch ale. Nice try.

While writing this I'm drinking the Bastogne (Belgian IPA). Is there anyone who doesn't absolutely love it? I feel that it has aged perfectly right now. The hops have faded and the Belgian yeast taste has blown up. I'm figuring that we will be doing this one again next year. I'd like as much feedback on the beers we're creating as possible. Which ones have you loved so far? Which ones have you hated, other than the Fekete Mokus smoked porter? That's a given, right?

The hops rhizomes were delivered to Kris, our resident garden keeper. They will probably in the ground in a couple of weeks (once the thread of frost is gone, which I suppose in Michigan isn't technically until August 1st).

Look for another update in a week or so, once Dogen has been brewed.