Faro

A Faro is a Lambic beer that had dark candi sugar added.  The one example I've had (Lindeman's) was quite sweet but still had a fair amount of sour beer character along with some interesting cooked sugar notes (some fruitiness).  I've decided to give one a shot this year to go along with my Raspberry and Cherry versions.

I'm going to make an invert syrup for this.  These have a fruity character although are not quite like Belgian Candi Sugar.  I'm going fairly dark on it - maybe and Invert #3 (a dark brown color).  I found a good reference for sugar to beer ratio of 40 L of beer to 1 Kg of sugar.  I am making a 5 gal batch of this which amounts to 17 oz of sugar

My plan is to use up some of the unused fermenters of my Sour Blonde Beer - choosing some of the less interesting ones for this purpose (based on tasting notes).  I'll let this sit with the sugar for a short time (maybe just a few days) before bottling with some Champagne yeast.  I'll monitor the carbonation and bottle pasteurize to maintain some sweetness

For the blend of beers I'm going with:

• Fermenter #1:
• Overview:
• Aged with Wyeast 3278 Belgian Lambic Blend
• Includes beer that has undergone a lacto fermentation
• Mix of beers brewed with Pilsner Malt and Wheat
• Very lightly hopped beers
• Aged in a very full glass carboy with a vented silicon bung
• Tasting Notes:
• Aroma:  Earthy with a bit of overripe fruit (peach maybe) and a bit of a mineral character
• Appearance:  Light gold and very clear
• Flavor:  Lightly sour with a bit of fruity character.  Has some earthy character in there as well as mineral.  It also has a bit of bready character in the finish.  The finish is mostly acidity and this lingers.
• Mouthfeel:  Light bodied and very dry.  There is a bit of prickling on the palate from the acidity but not at all unpleasant to drink
• Overview:  The fruity character is nice and fairly bold.  It has pretty good complexity as well although the Brett is fairly restrained.  I think it has a pleasant level of acidity.
• Volume:
• 1 gal
• Fermenter #2:
• Overview:
• Aged with Bootleg Biology Funk Weapon #1 and a bit of Wyeast 3278 Belgian Lambic Blend
• Includes beer that has undergone a lacto fermentation
• Grain bill of Pilsner and Raw Wheat
• Very little hops in this batch
• Aged in a mostly full glass carboy with a vented silicon bung
• Tasting Notes:
• Aroma:  A bit fruity (overripe peach maybe) along with an earthy and leathery character.  Also get a faintly mineral character from it
• Appearance:  Light gold in color and pretty clear
• Flavor:  Lightly sour (very pleasant) mild brett flavors and a bit of overripe fruit.  The finish is a balance of acidity and mineral character.
• Mouthfeel:  Light bodied and fairly dry.  It has only a slight bit of alcohol prickling.
• Overview:  Flavors are fairly mild but are quite pleasant.  I think it has a fairly nice level of complexity.  Level of sourness is very nice
• Volume:
• 1 gal
• Fermenter #10:
• Overview:
• Aged with Omega Yeast OYL-212 Brett Blend #3:  Bring on Da Funk
• Soured a portion of the batch with Omega Yeast OYL-605 Lactobacillus Blend (L. Plantarum and L. Brevis)
• Mix of Pilsner and Raw Wheat
• No hops
• Aged in a bucket fermenter with a vented silicone bung
• Tasting Notes:
• Aroma:  Musty with a fruity and slightly spicy character
• Appearance:  Straw colored and a little murky
• Flavor:  Light sourness and some bready flavor.  Slight mineral character with some bready flavor
• Mouthfeel:  Light bodied with only a slight prickliness
• Overview:  Fairly mild in flavor and not all that complex
• Volume:
• 3 gal

Blending Notes:

• 10/30/24:
• Made my invert sugar as follows:
• Mixed 17 oz of table sugar, 1/4 tsp of Citric Acid, and 2 cups of water in a pot
• Set the pot over medium low heat and stirred all the sugar until it was desolved
• The mixture achieved a very slow boil and, over the course of 4 hrs, evaporated the excess water and developed a darkening color and some very nice aroma (fruit and toasted marshmallow)

•  Once I judged it complete I added some boiling water to it (a few cups) which makes the mixture into a thinner liquid that I can pour off once it cools
• Let it cool to room temperature over night
• Blended the beers:
• 3 gal fermenter #10

• 1 gal each of from fermenter's 1 and 2 (which have been temporarily combined into fermenter #2)
• 10/31/24 - Added the Invert syrup to the beer this morning

Pale Ale with Citra and Mosaic - Tasting Notes

This is the first hoppy beer I've brewed up in quite site time:  Pale Ale with Citra and Mosaic.  I decided to try a very simple and light malt bill (10 lbs of grain with 9 of that being pale ale and 1 lb being wheat).  I was hoping it would top out at about 4% ABV for easy drinking and I hit my numbers very closely here.

The star of the show of this beer was to be powerful American hops:  Citra and Mosaic.  I've had these sitting in my freezer for a couple years now and decided I should attempt to use up a large portion of them.  I went with 5 oz Citra in the whirl-pool and then 6 oz of Mosaic in the Dry hop.  These created very bold hop aroma and flavor in the beer.  I also bittered it aggressively with 3.3 oz of Chinook and Columbus.

I have had the beer in  a keg for a couple weeks now and it's tasting very good and is well carbonated so it's time for a tasting:

Tasting Notes:

• Aroma:
• Bold hop character in the nose.  I would say it is primarily pine with a citrus character.  I don't really get any malt or yeast character through the hops.  I would say it is as hoppy as Pliny the Elder
• Appearance:
• Light gold and fairly clear.  It pours from the keg with a 1 finger head that lingers for several minutes.  It leaves lacing on the glass
• Flavor:
• Very light malt and some grassy, herbal and slightly citrusy hop flavors up front.  This is followed by a fairly firm bitterness which lingers into the finish.  The bitterness is definitely the dominant character in the finish but there is a slight bready sweetness in there that offers some semblance of a balance to it.  I think the bitterness is nice - not a harsh character
• Mouthfeel:
• Light bodied and pretty smooth drinking.
• Overall:
• This beer packs a lot of hop character into a light package.  It's a pretty agressive beer with the level of bitterness here and the balance strongly towards the bitterness - I'd say it's much more like an IPA than a American Pale Ale.  I think this is the beer I would have expected to get with the simple malt bill. 

Pale Ale with Citra and Mosaic

This will be a new Hoppy beer to have on tap - I have been very busy recently and have had to buy commercial beer.  I'm hoping this will be a bit more flavorful than the typical commercial Pale Ale and I'll brew it to be a a low alcohol one at 4%ish

I have a lot of hops from a couple years ago which I'll attempt to start using up.  I'll generously hop this beer to that end.  I have some very nice smelling Citra which I'll use for a large charge of Flame out hops as well as a big dose of dry hops (using 6 oz of Mosaic.  I'll give the beer 1 week with these before kegging

Recipe Details:

• Grain:
• 9 lbs Golden Promise
• 1 lb Flaked Wheat
• Hops:
• 1.4 oz Chinook (Leaf, 12.2% AA) at 60 min
• 1.9 oz Columbus (Leaf, 14.6% AA) at 60 min
• 5 oz Citra (Leaf, 13.1% AA) at 0 min
• 6 oz Mosaic (Leaf, 11.4% AA) Dry Hop
• Yeast:
• US-05 American Ale Yeast
• Water:
• 13 gal spring water
• 0.25 tsp Citric Acid
• 1 tsp CaCl
• 1 tsp Gypsum
• 1 tsp Irish Moss at 15 min

Process Details:

• Batch Size:
• 6(Target 6 gay)
• Mash:
• 150 F for 60 min
• Boil:
• 60 min
• Fermentation Temperature:
• 65 F
• Primary Duration:
• 3 Weeks
• Secondary Duration:
• 2 Weeks in the Keg

Results:

• OG:
• 1.046 (Target 1.045)
• Efficiency:
• 75% (Target 74%)
• FG:
• 1.016 (Target 1.015)
• Apparent Attenuation:
• 64% (Target 66%)
• ABV:
• 3.8% (3.9%)

Brewing Notes:

• 8/18/24 - Brewday - 10 AM to 3 PM- Including Setup and Cleanup
• Heated 13 gal of spring water to 175 F
• Milled my grain.  Added CaCl, Gypsum, and Citric Acid to the malt

• Moved 7 gal of spring water to the Mash Tun and cycled through the grant and RIMS until the temperature had settled at 160 F
• Added the grain and stirred well to eliminate dough balls.  Let the Mash settle for 10 min
• Cycled the RIMS at 150 F for 60 min
• Heated 5 gal of spring water to 185 F
• Did a slow fly sparge until I'd collect 8.5 gal of wart.  Started to heat the brew kettle after collecting 4 gal.  Had it at a boil around the time the sparge finished
• Boiled for 60 min - added the bittering hops shortly after the start of the boil
• Put the yeast in a cup of room temp spring water to hydrate
• Added Irish Moss with 15 min left
• Added the wort chiller with 5 min left
• Added whirl pool hops at the end of the boil.  Ran the burner on low setting with a slow flow of cooling water to keep the wort at 180 F.  Let the hops steep at this temperature for 20 min

• Cooled the wort down to around 80 F
• Transferred to the fermenter, letting it fall a couple feet to aerate, and pitched the yeast

• Moved the beer to my fermentation chamber set to 65 F
• Collected 6 gal and measured the gravity as 1.046
• 8/19/24 - Fermentation was active by the next afternoon
• 9/1/24 - Added the dry hops to the beer
• 9/14/24 - Cold crashed the beer down to 36 F and fined with gelatin.  My schedule was delayed by a week due to unexpected hospital visit.  Hope to be drinking it soon now though.
• 9/15/24 - Transferred to keg and will carbonate over the next week or so before trying it  The FG as 1.016
• 9/30/24 - Tasting Notes - This beer packs a lot of hop character into a light package.  It's a pretty agressive beer with the level of bitterness here and the balance strongly towards the bitterness - I'd say it's much more like an IPA than a American Pale Ale.  I think this is the beer I would have expected to get with the simple malt bill. 

English Barleywine XI

This will be my eleventh version of English Barleywine.  I have brewed one every Memorial Day since 2014 - read about the previous versions here: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023.  This are high alcohol, sweet, and malty beers which continue to develop flavors as they age.  I typically brew a different version of the beer every year for the sake of variety.

For the beer this year, I have decided to revisit version 1 which was a recipe I came up with.  It is intended to be a fairly light colored barleywine with just a small amount of light crystal for accent malts.  This time I've switched base malt from Marris Otter to Golden Promise.

For hops, I'm going with a large charge of bittering hops in hopes of keeping a reasonable hop presence for the first couple years of drinking it.  I hopped at this level in the 2023 batch and it didn't create that strong a bitter profile but I'm hoping for more this time.  May have to increase the hopping in the next batch

The original beer used S04 and Nottingham yeast which produced a yeast character I've enjoyed in that 2014 batch.  It also ended up fermenting down to 1.016.  I am very curious to see if it manages the feat again.

I intend to let this beer ferment in primary for about a month and then let it bulk age in secondary for another 6-8 months.  I will age this batch with red wine soaked oak for some extra flavor.

Recipe Details:

• Grain:
• 20 lb Golden Promise
• 2 lb Crystal 10L
• 1 lb Crystal 20L
• 5 oz Acid Malt
• Hops:
• 4 oz Target (Pellet, 9.6% AA) at 60 min
• 2 oz Goldings (Pellet, 5.4% AA) at 20 min
• Yeast:
• S-04
• Nottingham
• Water:
• 20 gal of Spring Water
• 2 tsp Gypsum
• 2 tsp CaCl
• Irish Moss
• Extras:
• Red Wine Soaked Oak (6 sticks)

Process Details:

• Batch Size:
• 6 gal (Target 6 gal)
• Mash:
• 155F for 60 min
• Boil:
• 2 hrs
• Fermentation Temperature:
• Ambient Basement Temps
• Primary Duration:
• 6 weeks
• Secondary Duration:
• 6 months

Results:

• OG:
• 1.106 (Target 1.10)
• Efficiency:
• 75% (Target 71%)
• FG:
• TBD (Target 1.030)
• Apparent Attenuation:
• TBD (Target 68%)
• ABV:
• TBD (Target 10%)

Brewing Notes:

•     5/27/24 - Brewday - from 10 AM to 5 PM- including setup and cleanup (+ 1 hr for lunch and working out issue with propane tank hose)
• Heated 10 gal of spring water to 175 F
• Milled my grain.  Added half the CaCl and Gypsum to the grain

• Moved 8 gal of the strike water to the mash tun and cycled through teh RIMS until the system had equalized to about 165 F
• Added the grain and stirred well to eliminate dough balls.  Let this sit for 10 minutes before cycling.  The temperature settled to 156 F
• Cycled the RI(MS at 156 F for 60 minutes
• Brought 10 gal of spring water up to 195 F for the sparge
• Did a slow fly sparge until 10 gal of wort had been collected.  Started heating the kettle after collecting 3 gal and had the beer to a boil by the end of the sparge

• Added the other half of brewing salts to the kettle during the sparge
• Boiled for 2 hrs (stopped boil at 1 hr to change propane tanks and couldn't get valve to re-open at first)
• At 60 min hops.  The hops smell very nice.  Grassy and herbal.
• Rehydrated my yeast in room temp spring water

• Added the 20 min hops

• Added Irish Moss at 15 min
• Added the wort chiller to sanitize with 5 min left
• Chilled down to ground water temperature (~70 F)
• Transferred to fermenter.  Pitched  yeast during this

• Measured gravity as 1.106.  Collected just about 6 gal of wort.  So, pretty close to target.  I'm happy with this
• Set this up in the corner of the basement to ferment - it is in the high 60s
• 5/28/24 - The beer is off to a very strong fermentation.  I moved the fermenter to my utility sink as krausen is being pushed out the airlock

• 7/14/24 - Transferred the beer to secondary.  I measured the gravity as 1.036.  The beer is a bit sweet but not sweet.  It's also got a really nice ester, malt, bitter balance.  Added 6 sticks of red wine soaked oak

Capicola - 4 ways

This will be a second attempt at making a Capicola which is a cured piece of pork which is then air dried.  It uses what is essentially the neck muscle of the pig - this is a very nice little roast that has quite a bit of fat running through it.  It is typically sold as part of the pork shoulder roast (I bought it for years and was ignorant of its specialness.

Like last time, I will be salting this piece of meat at 3% by weight using the equilibrium method and then coating it in spices and then letting it dry out such that it has achieved a 40% reduction in weight.  Unlike last time, I will be making 4 of them rather than one (a big lesson learned for me after eating the last one much more quickly than the timeline to make one of these - which is at least two months).

I'll be experimenting with some different spice blends this time and am also going to try out smoking a couple of them (which I understand is done in some cases with the original Italian product).  I look forward to seeing whether this is successful.

Anyway, I've tried a commercial capicola and thought mine was superior.  It isn't hard to make these (just a few simple steps and then a lot of waiting) and they are inexpensive.  I feel lucky I learned about this type of meat and would recommend other try it.

Dorm Fridge Curing Chamber

Ingredients:

• Version 1:
• 1235g Pork Neck
• 37g salt (3%)
• 10 hrs Cold Smoke
• Red Wine to wet meat (Chiante)
• Spices:
• 0.5 Part Brown Sugar
• 1 Part Garlic Powder
• 1 Part Black Pepper
• 1 Part Herbs de Provance
• Version 2:
• 1471g Pork Neck
• 45g salt (3%)
• 10 hrs Cold Smoke
• Red Wine to wet meat (Chiante)
• Spices:
• 1 Part Garlic Powder
• 1 Part Black Pepper
• 1 Part Chipotle Chili Powder
• Version 3:
• 1453g Pork Neck
• 44g salt (3%)
• Spices:
• 0.5 Part Brown Sugar
• 1 Part Garlic Powder
• 1 Part Black Pepper
• 1 Part Herbs de Provance
• Version 4:
• 1335g Pork Neck
• 40g salt (3%)
  
• Spices:
• 1 Part Garlic Powder
• 1 Part Black Pepper
• 1 Part Chipotle Chili Powder

Process Details:

• 5/31/26:
• Removed the coapa from 4 boneless pork shoulders.  I located it using a seam of fat and pretty much just cut straight down from there.  I chose not to spend much time trimming the pieces
• Weighted out 3% salt, sprinkled it over each piece individually, and then moved them to 1 gal ziplock bags.  These were then kept in the fridge
• 6/14/24:
• I've decided to attempt cold smoking for the first time.  I built a soldering-iron based smoke generator which I'll use for this.  I'll convert a metal garbage can as a smoker.  Cold smoking imparts flavor but should be cool enough to not cook the meat or render fat.  There was set to be a night in the Low 60s/High 50s in a couple days which seemed like the closest to suitable temperatures I was likely to see in summer
• Picked 2 of the roasts to smoke.  Removed them from the bags and set them up on a cooling rack in the fridge to dry the surfaces.  This is important for safety as the wet surface is necessary for harmful bacteria to thrive

• 6/15/24:
• Built the garbage can smoker

• Tied up the meat for hanging with butcher string.  The surface of the meat had dried very nicely
• Started smoking the meat at 9 PM when it was in the mid-70s.  The smoker produces a good amount of smoke and is fairly cool.  I used hickory wood chips which produce very nice smelling smoke

• 6/16/24:
• When I checked on the smoker at 5 AM the chips had burned down to coals and there was enough heat to have maybe slightly cooked a small part of the roast (enough to cause a couple drips).  Added more chips to get smoke going again.  I removed the meat at 7 AM (10 hrs of smoking).  The meat has a very intense smoky character - very nice 

Post 10 hr smoking

• Poured wine onto the meat to wet the surface for spice adhesion (for the smoked version - the unsmoked were still moist enough on their own).  Rubbed the spices over the mean.  Wrapped them in a collagen sheet and then in muslin sacks which I tied tightly to hold shape.  Added a hanging string.

• Measured the weights at this point as follows:
• Version 1:
• Starting weight:  1235g
• Post smoking weight:  1165g
• Packaged weight:  1200g
• Version 2:
• Starting weight:  1471g
• Post smoking weight:  1367g
• Packaged weight:  1523g
• Version 3:
• Starting weight:  1453g
• Packaged weight:  1514g
• Version 4:
• Starting weight:  1335g
• Packaged weight:  1391g
• I'm shooting for a 40% weight loss from the starting weight so the final target will be:
• Version 1:
• Final target weight:  ~700g
• Version 2:
• Final target weight:  ~950g
• Version 3:
• Final target weight:  ~900g
• Version 4:
• Final target weight:  ~800g
• I've hung the meat in my temperature-controlled cheese cave to sit between 50 F and 60 F.  It is sitting about 70% humidity in there which should slow the drying process a bit and reduce dry ring
• 6/23/24 - Weights after 1 week of drying are:
• Version 1:  1073g
• Version 2:  1264g
• Version 3:  1341g
• Version 4:  1227g
• 6/30/24 - Weights after 2 weeks of drying are:
• Version 1:  1000g
• Version 2:  1192g
• Version 3:  1243g
• Version 4:  1130g
• 7/14/24 - Weight after 4 weeks of drying are:
• Version 1:  908g
• Version 2:  1083g
• Version 3:  1106g
• Version 4:  1000g
• 7/28/24 - Weight after 6 weeks of drying are:
• Version 1:  853g
• Version 2:  1010g
• Version 3:  1026g
• Version 4:  925g
• 8/10/24 - Weight after 8 weeks of drying are:
• Version 1: 816g
• Version 2: 966g (without wrapping 950g)
• Version 3: 975g
• Version 4:  878g

• I am going to call Version 2 done and give it a try
• Removed the netting and collagen (this came off very easily)

• The meat has a bit of green and white mold on it.  The cheese cave used to dry to meat had both green and white molds in it in the past - I expect this is where they came from
• Cut the meat in half and took a few slices.  No dry ring to speak of.  It probably dried to about 35 or 36% based on the final weights)

• The meat is very tender and has a melt-in-your-mouth character.  It has a strong smoke character throughout the meat.  It is quite salty but certainly not beyond the level of pleasantness.  The edge still has a lot of the spices left and is quite hot from the Chipotle powder.  Has a bit of a funky character to it as well.

• I think the cold smoking was a success.  The 10 hrs was definitely sufficient and I'm curious how the flavor would be if it smoked for a shorter period.
• 9/2/24 - Weight after 11 weeks of drying are:
• Version 1:  772g
• Version 3:  915g
• Version 4:  826g

• So, very close to the final target weights now.  I am going to let them finish their drying in the fridge over the next couple weeks 
• 9/13/24 - Final weights:
• Version 1:  750g
• Version 3:  900g
• Version 4:  800g

English Barleywine Vertical Tasting - 2024

Every year since 2014, on Memorial Day, I brew an English Barleywine in a practice inspired by the Sierra Nevada vintages of the Big Foot Barleywine.  It is a malty, fruity, sweet, and high alcohol style of beer that is well suited for aging.  I typically drink half the batch in the year it is made and then save the other half for aging.

This will be tasting of the 10 beers I've made so far.  Read about the previous tastings here: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023.

I used to do these tastings vertically but as I've accumulated more it's become impossible to do a pure side by side tasting (and actually enjoy the beers).  I like to assess how the beer do while aging in terms of quality so I now do BJCP scoring of the beers and I taste them blind, one a day.  This is an interesting test of my palate, and maybe doesn't lead to a perfect comparison, but it's nice to evaluate a beer without all the pre-conceived notions you have when you know how it was made.

Anyhow, the purpose of making these beers and for aging them for all these years has been to enjoy a really delicious beer style (one that I am more and more convinced gets better with age).

Tasting Notes:

• 2021 Version (Beer A):

• Overview:
• Brewed using a historical recipe (1954 Tennant's Gold Label) from the Shut Up about Barclay Perkins Blog
• Kind of an unusual beer in that it uses a large amount of Corn (5 lbs).  Also uses 2 lbs of Invert Syrup which is the first time I've used it for one of these beers.
• Used Willamette hops for bittering and East Kent Goldings for flavor
• Aged the beer with 2 oz of brandy soaked oak
• Fermented with S04 while the beer called for Wyeast 1099 Whitbread strain.  I'd understood S04 was a Whitbread strain but may not be quite the same as 1099
• Tasting Notes (41 of 50):
• Aroma (7 of 12):
• Musty with some overripe fruit and wine-like character.  A bit of caramel and some alcohol.  Nice smells but fairly mild.
• Appearance (3 of 3):
• Pours with a 1 finger head that lingers for about a minute and fades to a thin layer.  Reddish gold in color and very clear
• Flavor (17 of 20):
• Sweet and malty up front - toasted bread and a dark caramel character.  A bit fruity in the middle.  Maybe a bit of chocolate in there as well.  Some hop flavor as well - grassy and herbal.  Finishes with bit of bitterness but the balance is decidedly towards the sweet malty flavors.  Get a bit of alcohol flavor but it fits nicely.  Maybe even get something like a butterscotch character out of it.  This is a very nicely flavored beer with a lot of complexity
• Mouthfeel (5 of 5):
• Full bodied and drinks very smooth.  Leaves a stickiness on the palate.  Warming alcohol makes its presence known.
• Overall (9 of 10):
• This is a complex and very richly flavored Barleywine.  I think the combination of flavors and balance is quite nice (happy that it has hop bitterness left to it).  I think this would be a very good example of what the style is about and (speculation here) why one might age a strong sweet beer like this.

• 2018 Version (Beer B):

• Overview:
• Brewed using a historical recipe for Eldridge Pope's Hardy's Ale from the Shut Up about Barclay Perkins Blog
• Used a mix of 2 Row and Maris otter, 3.5 lbs of Flaked wheat, and 1.5 lb of crystal
• Used Nottingham yeast and, per instruction, allowed it to ferment in the 70s.  It was an agressive fermentation which produced a very strong and estery aroma.  The beer didn't turn out to be overly estery fortunately.
• Fermented out to 1.030 from 1.105 for an ABV of 10-11%
• This was the most aggressively hopped beer so far (7.5 oz of low alpha acid English hop in the boil) with an IBU target of 84.  Was very bitter just after fermentation but this had settled to a nice balance after 6 months of aging.
• Tasting Notes (35 of 50):
• Aroma (7 of 12):
• Dark caramel and toasted bread up front along with some fruit character and alcohol.  The smell is pretty bold and is nice.
• Appearance (2 of 3):
• Pours with a 2 finger head that lingers.  Redish brown and just a little hazy on this pour
• Flavor (15 of 20):
• Sweet caramel malt up front followed by a fruity character.  Booze hits next - has a bit of a musty and aged character I would say.  Not much in the way of hop bitterness to this one.  The finish is malty but I'd say it get balanced a bit by the alcohol flavor.  Pretty complex with some interesting flavors
• Mouthfeel (4 of 5):
• Medium bodied and only slight stickiness on the palate.  Drinks pretty smooth and has a warming character.
• Overall (7 of 10):
• It is a boldly flavored and pretty complex beer.  The malty character is nice but it isn't the primary profile.  The fruitiness is a bit odd and the booze character is interesting (has a softness to it which is not unplesent) and is probably the dominant character.   Has a lot of the character you would want and expect from an aged beer.

• 2015 Version (Beer C):

• Overview:
• Brewed with Maris Otter, Vienna Malt and down to 2 lbs of Crystal.  Was trying for a more pale beer but ended up darker.
• Used Wyeast 1968 London ESB Ale Yeast
• Beer fermented from 1.096 to 1.006 for 12-13% ABV
• Aged with 1 oz of pre-boiled oak cubes
• Tasting Notes (40 of 50):
• Aroma (9 of 12):
• Sweet malty and caramel aromas  There is a honey-like character in there as well.  It has a fruit character and a bit of booze.  I think it's a really nice smell and pretty bold.
• Appearance (3 of 3):
• Pours with a 1 finger head which lasts for a couple minutes before fading to a thin ring.  Red-gold in color and very clear
• Flavor (17 of 20):
• Sweet malt and caramel up front.  Has a bit of chocolate flavor as well.  There is a light fruit flavor in the middle.  Has a good amount of bitterness in the finish which balances against the sweet malt character.  Taste a bit of booze as well.  The flavors are good and pretty bold.
• Mouthfeel (4 of 5):
• It is medium bodied and has just a slight stickiness on the palate.  Drinks pretty smooth.  It has a very noticeable alcohol warming effect
• Overall (7 of 20):
• This is a complex and very flavorable beer.  It has a nice set of malt flavors and a good amount of bitterness to balance it.  It is a nice sipping beer and seems like a strong beer from the heat although it hides the alcohol well in terms of flavor and aroma

• 2016 Version (Beer D):

• Overview:
• Brewed with Maris Otter, 3 lbs of Rye Malt, and 1.5 lbs Double Roasted Crystal 120 L
• Fermented with Wyeast 1335 British Ale II
• Beer went from 1.093 to 1.012 which is 10-11% ABV
• It ended up forming a pellicle during aging although I never really picked up any flavors I'd attribute to wild yeast or bacteria
• Tasting Notes (38 of 50):
• Aroma (7 of 12):
• Fruity and wine-like character along with some caramel malt.  A little booze in there.  It's a pleasant smell but fairly mild
• Appearance (3 of 3):
• Pours with a 3 finger head that fairly quickly fades down to a thin ring around the glass.  It is red-brown and very clear
• Flavor (17 of 20):
• Dark caramel, toasted bread, and grahamcracker.  Maybe a bit of chocolate in there as well.  Just a slight fruity flavor in there as well.  The finish is mostly malt but it's not that sweet - it lingers in a nice way.  Get a fair bit of bitterness that balances the flavors in the finish somewhat.  Has some booze character in there as well but it's fairly well hidden.  I think this a really nicely and boldly flavored malty beer
• Mouthfeel (4 of 5):
• Medium full bodied and just a little bit sticky on the palate.  I this is pretty smooth and some mild alcohol warming.
• Overall (7 of 10):
• I really like the malt character in this one.  It lacks a bit in complexity but definitely has enough going on to be worth savoring.  I think it drinks pretty easily for a strong sweet beer (doesn't feel like it needs to be a sipper)

• 2017 Version (Beer E):

• Overview:
• Brewed with 2 Row and Golden Promise as base malt and 5 lbs of white wheat malt.  Only used 4 oz of Crystal.  This finally achieved my goal of a pale barleywine.
• Fermented with Wyeast 1335 British Ale II again
• I'd wanted to get a fairly sweet barleywine on my previous version but had kept on getting more attenuation than desired.  This time I finally got one to stop at 1.034 (from 1.098).  So this is an 8-9% ABV beer.
• The beer was aged with 15 oz of Rum soaked golden raisin along with 0.5 oz of oak
• Tasting Notes(34 of 50):
• Aroma (7 of 12):
• Fruity with an almost cider-like aroma.  Maybe some honey in there as well.  Get a bit of malt in there as well.  It's a pretty mild aroma but nice
• Appearance (3 of 3):
• Dark gold in color and very clear.  Pours with a 1 finger head that quickly fades to nothing.
• Flavor (15 of 20):
• Some fruity flavor up front with malt flavors in the mix as well.  The finish is fruity and malty.  There is no bitterness to speak of but it isn't all that sweet where it seems to particularly lack balance.  Alcohol is present in the flavor profile but not over whealming.  The flavors are nice here but it's somewhat mild and not a whole lot going on.
• Mouthfeel (3 of 5):
• Medium bodied and mildly sweet.  Drinks smooth.
• Overall (6 of 10):
• This is an interesting, fruit forward, barleywine.  It is tasty but not particularly complex.

• 2019 Version (Beer F):

• Overview:
• Brewed using a historical recipe for Eldridge Pope's Hardy's Ale from the Shut Up about Barclay Perkins Blog
• Used a mix of 2 Row and Maris otter, 4.5 lbs of Flaked wheat, and 1.5 lb of crystal
• Used WLP 099 Super High Gravity which is supposed to be Eldridge Pope's house strain
• Fermented from 1.120 to 1.010 which is a crazy 16% ABV
• Hopped with 8.5 oz of Fuggle
• Aged with 1 oz Cabernet soaked Toasted Oak
• Tasting Notes (40 of 50):
• Aroma (8 of 12):
• Sweet caramel malt and a bit fruity.  Has a musty character and a bit of booze.  It is a nice smell and pretty distinct
• Appearance (3 of 3):
• Pours with a 2 finger head that fades down to a thin ring over several minutes.  Red-brown in color and very clear
• Flavor (17 of 20):
• Sweet malty flavors up front - caramel and toasted bread.  Has a bit of fruitiness in the middle.  Maybe a slight bit of bitterness to it.  The finish of deep rich malt without a lot of sweetness.  The flavor lingers and is very nice.  The light bitterness gives it a bit of balance.  Alcohol comes though lightly.  This is very nicely and richly flavored beer
• Mouthfeel (4 of 5):
• Medium-full bodied and only slightly sticky on the palate.  It drinks very smoothly.  Slight warming alcohol character
• Overall (8 of 10):
• I really like the flavor of this beer.  It is primarily malty but has enough other things going on to give it complexity.  The remaining bitterness really helps it I think even though it is fairly light.  I think the finish is very nice where there is a richness that isn't overwhelmed by sweetness.

• 2020 Version (Beer G):

• Overview:
• Brewed using a historical recipe for 1940 Truman Stock 1 from Shut Up about Barclay Perkins Blog
• I ended up using Vienna and Melanoiden Malts with the idea of replacing the "high dried malt" called for (may have been way off base on these).  Recipe also used a lb of Invert #3
• Used 7.5 oz of Cluster and Fuggle in this batch
• Fermented with Wyeast 1028 London Ale which is supposed to be the Truman brewery's house strain
• Tasting Notes (39 of 50):
• Aroma (9 of 12):
• Caramel and toasted bread aroma most prominent along with a fruity character - raisin-like.  It is fairly strong and really nice
• Appearance (3 of 3):
• Pours with a 3 finger head that lingers for a few minutes - leaves lacing on the grass.  Red brown in color and very clear
• Flavor (16 of 20):
• Sweet malt flavor up front - dark caramel and toasted bread.  A bit of fruit character in the middle.  The finish is the sweat dark caramel flavor which lingers.  Maybe a very slight bitterness to it - balance is strongly towards malt.  I get a hit of alcohol on the finish as well.  It's got nice flavors and they're fairly bold.
• Mouthfeel (4 of 5):
• Medium full bodied and pretty sweet - sticky on the palate.  It drinks smooth with a little alcohol warming.
• Overall (7 of 10):
• A very malt forward beer.  The malt flavors are very nice and I like the strength and character of the caramel flavors on the finish.  Not the most complex beer with everything other than the malt being very much in the background.

• 2023 Version (Beer H):

• Overview:
• This was a recipe somewhat inspired by Goose Island's famous King Henry
• Uses Golden Promise as the base and a mix of Munich, Caramel Wheat, and double roasted srystal for a darker English Barleywine
• Bittered with Target and Styrian Goldings
• Fermented with WLP005 British Ale
• The beer fermented from 1.1.00 to 1.032 for 9% ABV
• Tasting Notes (40 of 50):
• Aroma (7 of 12):
• Malty (caramel mostly) with a bit of fruit.  Get a hint of alcohol as well.  Maybe a bit of hop in there too.  Nice smell but mild
• Appearance (3 of 3):
• Pours with a 1 finger  head that lingers.  Leaves lacing on the glass.  Red gold and very clear.
• Flavor (17 of 20):
• Malty with toasted bread and caramel flavors.  Get some fruity character in the middle - apple and maybe some raisin.  Net getting any hop bitterness.  The finish is mostly about the fruit character and is pretty sweet.  Get a hit of alcohol in the finish as well.  The flavors are bold and quite nice
• Mouthfeel (5 of 5):
• It is full bodied and very smooth.  It is only slightly sticky on the palate.  Has a bit of warming alcohol character
• Overall (8 of 10):
• I really like the fruity character of this beer.  It blends nicely with the malt and then takes over in a fairly subtle way (fruity but not extremely estery).  It is an interesting and complex drink

• 2014 Version (Beer I):

• Overview:
• Brewed with Maris Otter and 3 lbs of assorted light crystal malts.  I was hoping for a light colored beer - got a bit darker than I'd hoped.
• Fermented with S04 and Nottingham
• The beer fermented all the way down to 1.016 from 1.101 which is 11-12% ABV
• Tasting Notes (32 of 50):
• Aroma (7 of 12):
• A bit of malt and then a fruity and wine like character - maybe some raisin in there.  Has a bit of alcohol in the aroma as well.  Interesting aroma but fairly mild
• Appearance (2 of 3):
• Pours with only a thin layer of foam.  Redish brown and clear
• Flavor (15 of 20):
• Malty up front with toasted bread being the primary characteristic.  A bit of a fruity character next but it is faint.  No bitterness.  The finish is the toasty bready malt character.  Alcohol comes through in the end as well.  The flavor lingers for some time after the sip.  Flavor is fairly mild.
• Mouthfeel (3 of 5):
• Medium bodied and pretty smooth - not really sticky on the palate.  Maybe has a bit of prickliness.
• Overall (5 of 10):
• It is a relatively dry barleywine and not that boldly flavor or complex.  I wonder if there could have been some oxidation here.  Not a bad beer but definitely not as nice as most of the others

• 2022 Version (Beer J):

• Overview:
• Based on a historical recipe for 1954 Tennant's Gold Label.  This is the same recipe used for the 2021 version
• Used Marris Otter, 5 lbs of Corn (which is quite interesting) and 2.5 lbs of Invert #1
• Primary fermented with Whitbread Ale Yeast (Wyeast 1099) which is the Tennant strain
• Secondary ferment with Brett Anomalus (WLP 640) which is a "Yeast Vault" product which was isolated from historical English beers and thought to be prevalent in a beer meant to be aged (like this one)
• This started at 1.110 and ended at 1.020 (Brett took it down from 1.030) for an ABV of 12% ABV
• Tasting Notes (40 of 50):
• Aroma (9 of 12):
• Very fruity on the nose - tropical almost.  I get a bit of bready malt character in there as well in the background.  Also get a bit of alcohol.  Nice bold aroma in this one
• Appearance (3 of 3):
• Pours with a 1 finger head that quickly fades to nothing.  Very clear and dark gold in color.
• Flavor (16 of 20):
• Tropical fruit flavor up front transitions to a caramel and bready malt character.  There is a light bitterness in the finish but the balance is towards a slightly sweet malty character.  Get some booze in the finish as well.  It has a bold flavor and tastes nice
• Mouthfeel (4 of 5):
• Medium full bodied and slightly sticky on the palate.  Drinks pretty smooth.  Light alcohol warming character.
• Overall (8 of 10): 
• The fruit flavor in this beer is very interesting and I like it.  Malt flavor is very nice as well.  I also really like the bitterness in this one - even fairly light it helps the complexity

The rankings this year are:

• 2021 (41)
• 2015 (40)
• 2019 (40)
• 2022 (40)
• 2023 (40)
• 2020 (39)
• 2016 (38)
• 2018 (35)
• 2017 (34)
• 2014 (32)

My scoring this year had a big mover for 2014 from high in the rankings to the bottom.  It was very dark and tasted muted - I think it's possible I had a bad bottle (if so, the score should be improved next year).  Also, 2017 which was the surprise winner last time dropped back to the bottom here.  

I somehow didn't detect bitterness in my newest beer so my palate may not be a scientific grade instrument.  Tasting the beers blind is a very good way of eliminating the BS from tasting notes.

This is the only real way I can compare the beers given how many I have and maybe I'm collecting some real data with these scores rather than just noise (something that will only start to become clear after many more tastings in all likelihood).  I look forward to many more years of doing these :)

English Barleywine (2023 Version) - Tasting Notes

This is my tenth version of an English Barleywine - it was brewed on Memorial Day 2023.  This is the first time I've brewed this recipe.  It appealed to me based on the Malt Bill which was partially inspired by Goose Island's King Henry.

I hopped it fairly aggressively to get a beer that would continue to be bitter through quite a bit of aging.  I think a firm hop bitterness is nice in the style to offer some balance the malt character

The beer bulk aged for 9 months and is a pretty smooth product for being close to 10% alcohol.  It finished at 1.032 (I was targeting 1.025).  It has been in the bottle for a couple weeks now and is nicely carbonated.  Time for my first tasting.

Tasting Notes:

• Aroma:
• Caramel and bready malt character along with a bit of fruit.  Has a bit of herbal hop character and some alcohol aroma
• Appearance:
• Dark Reddish Gold and fairly clear.  Pours with about 1 finger of head with an aggressive pour - this fades to nothing after less than a minute 
• Taste:
• Toasted bread and dark caramel flavors up front (maybe a bit of chocolate even).  Get a bit of hop character in the middle and then a medium bitterness into the finish along with some sweet malt.  The balance is slightly towards the malt.  There is a bit of fruit in the flavor profile but definitely takes the back seat to the malt and hops.  It hides it's strengh well
• Mouthfeel:
• Medium bodied and fairly sweet - a bit sticky on the palate.  Fairly smooth drinking with a bit of warming alcohol
• Overall:
• Bold flavors and a good deal of complexity in this one.  Very rich malty character here that is providing the bulk of the complexity.  I like the balance of the sweetness with the hops - makes for a fairly easy drinker - I could have two of these without palate fatigue (although would be unwise as strong as it is).

Raspberry Sour Blonde (2024)

This will be my Raspberry version of Sour Blonde for this round.  Raspberries are a traditional ingredient with a lambic style beer and go very nicely with it.  In my last version (2019) I used 20 lbs of fruit which made a very strong fruit forward beer.  This time (even though I have at 50 lbs of frozen fruit available) I'm going to back that down to 15 lbs to give some differences to compare as I make these over time.

Raspberries are very tart on their own so I tend to choose more mildly flavored beer blends for these fruit beers.  I will use my tasting notes from last year to guide the selection of beers (will also shoot to use up beer from every one of my batches as art of that to make room to top up all my batches with fresh beer)

I'll give the beers a few months to absorb fruit flavors and ferment down to a stable level.  I'll bottle with extra sugar for backsweetening and then pasteurize.

For the blend this year I will go with:

• Fermenter #3:
• Overview:
• Aged with Wyeast 3278 Belgian Lambic Blend
• Includes beer that has undergone a lacto fermentation
• Mix of Pilsner and Flaked wheat malt
• Very lightly hopped
• Aged in glass carboy with 1 gal of head space
• Tasting Notes:
• Aroma:  Has a lactic sour kind of small along with some earthy Brett character and a bit of fruit (something like a lemon character off this one)
• Appearance:  Light gold in color and slightly hazy
• Flavor:  Lightly sour with something reminiscent of bready sweetness in the middle which is quite nice.  Has a bit of earthy flavor in there as well.  Has a little bit of fruit character.  The finish is a balance of acidity and that bready-like flavor
• Mouthfeel:  Medium-light bodied and dry.  The acidity prickles the back of the throat a bit
• Overview:  The flavors are slightly mild but it has some interesting flavors that give it a pretty good level of complexity.  I like the acidity in this one as well as that odd bready flavor in the middle.
• Volume:
• 2 gal

• Fermenter #4:
• Overview:
• Aged with Wyeast 3278 Belgian Lambic Blend
• Includes some beer that underwent a fermentation with lacto
• Mix of Pilsner and Flaked wheat malt
• Very lightly hopped
• Aged in glass carboy with vented silicone bung
• Tasting Notes:
• Aroma:  Overripe fruit (peach maybe) and a bit of earthy brett character.  Kind of smells like cider
• Appearance:  Light gold in color and pretty cloudy
• Flavor:  Lightly sour with a fruity flavor.  There is a bit of brett character in there as well - earthy and maybe leathery along with a mineral like character.  The finish is acidity along with the fruity character - gives the slight impression of sweetness although there really isn't any.  Get a slight bit of bready malt character to this on as well
• Mouthfeel:  Light bodied and dry.  It has a prickling sort of acidity that hits in the back of the throat
• Overview:  This is a fairly mildly flavored beer.  Has a fairly nice level of complexity - get quite a few flavors out of it even though they are all subtle.  A good level of acidity to this beer.
• Volume:
• 2 gal

• Fermenter #6:
• Overview:
• Aged with  ECY 34 Dirty Dozen
• Includes beer that underwent lacto fermentation
• Pilsner and Flaked Wheat Malt bill
• No hops in this batch
• Aged in a glass carboy with vented silicone bung
• Tasting Notes:
• Aroma:  Overripe fruit and some earthy and leathery brett character pretty strong.  Also get a mineral character
• Appearance:  Gold in color and very clear
• Flavor:  Lightly sour with a strong fruit character up front.  This is followed by an earthy brett character as well as a bandaid like flavor.  The finish is a balance of acid and brett.  Has a bit of a bready character as well
• Mouthfeel:  Light bodied and dry.  Very slight prickling of acidity on the back of the throat.
• Overview:  This is a boldly flavored beer with a pretty good level of complexity.  Got a fairly subdued level of sourness to it
• Volume:
• 1 gal

Blending Notes:

•     5/5/24:
• Weighed out 15 lbs of raspberries
• Measured out 2 gal fermenter #3

• Measured 2 gal from fermenter #4
• Measured 1 gal from fermenter #6
• Setup the fermenter to age in my cool basement

Raspberry Crop - 2024

This will be my eighth season for my backyard Raspberry Beds (read about 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023).  I have 4 varieties (Prelude, Joan J, TulaMagic, and Nova) each in a 2x30 foot bed.  I'm coming off of a bit of a decline year for the raspberries where I got 25 lbs of fruit and not starting with that many canes from last year.  I get busy on other projects and the beds end up getting overgrown with weeds which then stifle next year's growth.  I'm going to work to keep the weeds a bit more contained this year.  If this year doesn't help regain the strength then I may have to purchase some new stock for next year to replenish the beds.

Even so, 25 lbs of fruit is still a lot and I still have much of the fruit from previous years around to use in my brewing and cooking.  I will track the status of the fruit over the year for the record

7/14/24

4/18/24

Growing Notes:

• 5/27/24 - This has been a weak growing year.  I've decided to just eat the fruit rather than go through the effort of picking and logging what seems like will be less than 10 lbs even.  The grass has become a major chore to deal with.  I find that the first row I weed becomes overgrown before I've finished weeding the last one
• 7/14/24 - This has been a very disappointing year for the raspberry bed project.  I've been unable to keep up with the weeding.  Weeds have taken over the beds as well as the space between the beds.  I think this is going to severely limit the amount of growth coming out of this year..  I'm considering digging up the beds and starting from scratch next year at this point.