Raspberry Wine (2020 Version)

With my expansive raspberry patch I am provided with a very ample supply of fruit.  Much more fruit than I had expected when I started the project and a lot more than is needed for the Sour Beers I'd initially planned to use them for each year.  This has driven me to find some new things to do with the ~100 lbs of fruit available to me each year.

Last year I used my excess fruit to make a Raspberry Wine which turned out to be fantastic.  There are many ways to make a raspberry wine - it seems that a lot of these methods don't end up using that much actual raspberry.  I found this article was very helpful for determining how much fruit to use (a lot of it).  I ended up using 40 lbs of fruit which got me 4 gal of very rich raspberry wine.

This year I have a bit more excess fruit (and am running out of storage for new fruit coming in) so I've decided to increase to 50 lbs of raspberry.  I'm sticking with the same amount of sugar as last time (10 lbs) which will likely reduce the ABV somewhat (should still be 10-11% rather than the 13 % the last one got to).

I will give the wine a couple weeks to ferment and then transfer off the fruit pulp and into secondary for 6+ months with oak to mellow.  I'll be using Campden tablets on each transfer to knock the yeast out (so this stays still) and to prevent oxidization.  I plan to back sweeten the final product to make a desert wine (like I did last time).

Recipe Details:

• 52 lb Raspberry
• 10 lbs Sugar
• 1 gal Spring Water
• 2 packets rehydrated Red Star Premier Rouge Wine Yeast
• 4 tsp peptic Enzyme
• Extras:
• 10 Campden Tablet added to fruit initially
• 4 Campden tablets added on transfer to secondary
• 2 oz of white oak toasted at about 350 F and then soaked in Port for over a year

Results:

• OG:
• 1.083 (20.1 brix)
• Volume:
• 5.5 gal
• Post Fermentation FG:
• 0.994
• Back sweetened FG:
• 1.021
• ABV:
• 12.55%

Brewing Notes:

• 6/19/29:
• Split 52 lbs of frozen raspberry between two buckets.  They take up more space than normal frozen so the buckets were almost full

• Added pectic enzyme and first dose of Campden table to the fruit at this point
• Mixed 1 gal of spring water with 10 lbs of sugar and heated until it had dissolved

• Poured sugar mixture into the raspberries
• Let the thaw over night
• 6/20/20:
• Re-hydrated two packages of yeast in separate glasses in room temperature spring water
• The fruit had thawed out by the afternoon and was very much broken down, reduced in size, and with a lot of juice released

• Pitched the yeast
• 6/21/20 - Fermentation was going pretty strong by the next day.  The fruit pulp was pushed to the top.  I periodically spooned it out of the way to allow for off gassing

• 7/1/20 - Fermentation has finished.  I scooped off the fruit pulp on the surface with a mesh strainer to prepare for transfer to secondary.  The pulp weighed 14 lbs - most of the weight of the raspberries is in the juice

• 7/4/20:
• Transferred the wine to a glass carboy for long term aging
• Added 4 crushed campden tablets 
• First used my auto-syphon to draw the wine into secondary but it ended up getting stuck once I got close to the bottom due to there being a fair amount of pulp left
• Ended up using the mesh strainer again to separate out the remaining pulp - was about 5 lbs left
• Added 2 oz of Port soaked Oak

• 5/16/21 - Transferred this into a bucket fermenter to settle out further.  Left a fair amount of solids behind.  Added 3 crushed campden tablets.  Measured the gravity as 0.994 and have 5 gal.  It is boozy and fairly tart.  I'm going to add sugar to it for backswesting which will bring out the fruit notes a bit more.  Going with 3 lbs for this one (used 2.25 lb last time).  I'm going to let this sit for a month before bottling.
• 10/3/21 - Bottled today.  The wine is at 1.021.  Collected 5 gal which netted me 52 12 oz bottles.  No signs of infection on the beer and given almost 5 months with the backsweetening I'd say this is pretty safe to bottle
• 3/31/25 - Tasting Notes - Very tasty.  The fruit character is very nice, it has a pleasant level of sweetness and booziness to it, and the balance is quite pleasant.  I think it is quite complex to sip and actually is fairly refreshing with the tartness.

Flanders Red Vertical Tasting - 2020

I have been brewing Flanders Red style beers and aging them for almost six years now.  In that time I've blended three vintages of beer.  Right from the start I've made a plain blend and a cherry blend.  These were done the goal of emulating the great Rodenbach Flanders Red.

My first blend back in 2016 was good but I felt like it fell quite a bit short of matching the quality of Rodenbach.  The main problem seemed to me to be the level of sweetness.  My beers are finishing out at 1.000 while Rodenbach Grand Cru has a slightly sweet finish that really balances the sourness nicely.

I've made two more versions of the beer since which I have backsweetened to try to get that sweet/sour balance.  I feel like the results are very nice so it's time for another comparison.  My recent blends are 100% aged beer while Rodenbach Grand Cru is 75% aged and 25% new - I may have an edge in complexity based on this.

I'll be doing another Tasting session of my beers soon (it has been a year and a half since the last one) and will be putting together some 2020 Flanders Red blends based on it.  This tasting session will hopefully prove some useful data points for my next blending session.

Flanders Red Vertical Tasting:

• 2016 Version:
• Overview:
• Blended using Two 1-3 year old Flanders Red beer
• Both beers chosen used Wyeast Roeselare Culture
• Bottled the blended beer immediately rather than letting the blend set - worked out okay as they were both already very dry
• Added 4 oz of priming sugar at bottling
• Tasting Notes:
• Aroma:
• Earthy and leathery Brettanomyces character.  A bit of overripe fruit.  Maybe a touch of vinegar.
• Appearance:
• Reddish brown and clear.  Pours with a think wisp of foam that is gone immediately.
• Flavor:
• A bit of fruity flavor up front which then transitions to sourness which then lingers to the finish.  It is a medium level of sourness.  Earthy and funky Brett flavor lingers in the finish as well
• Mouthfeel:
• Light bodied and very dry.  Light prickling acidity.  Very easy drinking and refreshing
• Overall:
• Bold flavor and aroma and fairly complex.  The earthy Brett character is probably the most dominant characteristic.  Pleasing level of acidity makes for nice drinking
• 2017 Version:
• Overview:
• Blended two 2-3 year old Flanders Red for this beer
• Used a batch made from Roeselare yeast and one from Yeast Bay Mélange
• Bottled the blend immediately
• Added 2 lbs of dark invert syrup for this batch to both carbonate and back sweeten.  Pasteurized in a hot water bath once it carbonated.
• Tasting Notes:
• Aroma:
• Fruity character dominates along with a slight bit of vinegar.  Also has a bit of caramel character.  Maybe get a bit of vanilla oak and wine character.  A bit of Brett earthiness kind of rounds things out but it is in the back ground
• Appearance:
• Brownish red and quite clear.  Poured with a thin bit of foam that lingered for maybe 30 s
• Flavor:
• Very fruity flavor up front which is cherry like.  The sourness (medium level) hits next.  It is balanced by a sweet, malty, and caramel character - the finish is a nice mix of the sweet and sour with a hint of vinegar.  A bit of Brett character in the finish as well.  Maybe a bit of chocolate mixed in too.
• Mouthfeel:
• Medium-light bodied and slightly sweet.  A bit of pricking acidity.  Pretty easy drinking.
• Overall:
• Very complex beer with lovely bold fruit flavors.  The balance between sweet and sour flavors is very nice.
• 2018 Version:
•  Overview:
• Blended using 4 Flanders Red aged between 2 to 3 years
• Used beers made with Roeselare, Mélange, and East Coast Yeast's Flemish Ale Blend
• Let this blend sit for 7 months in a secondary before bottling.
• Bottled with 2 lbs of invert syrup #2 and then pasteurized once carbonated to retain some sweetness
• Tasting Notes:
• Aroma:
• Fruity with earthy and leathery Brett character.  May get a bit of vanilla oak character as well.
• Appearance:
• Reddish brown and fairly clear.  Poured with a thin layer of foam that was gone quickly
• Flavor:
• Fruity character up front - cherry.  This smoothly blends into the acidity and carries into the finish nicely.  Has a slight sweetness that balances the acidity into the finish.  Has a bit of caramel mixed in.  A bit of Brett character rounds out the finish as well.  Maybe a bit of bready malt in there too.
• Mouthfeel:
• Medium-light bodied and slightly sweet.  Pretty smooth drinking with only a faint prickling
• Overall:
• Bold flavors and complex.  Has a very nice fruity character and a lovely sweet and sour balance
• Rodenbach Grand Cru:
• Overview:
• Most famous example of the Flanders Red Style - brewed in Roeselare Belgium
• Tasting Notes:
• Aroma:
• Fruity with a bit of earthy Brett character.  Maybe a bit of vinegar and faint oak.  Not sure but may also be getting a bit of noble hop aroma
• Appearance:
• Brownish red.  Fairly clear.  Poured with thin layer of foam that fades quickly
• Flavor:
• A bit of fruit up front along with a bit of bready malt.  Light sourness carries into the finish where it is balanced by a slight sweetness.  A bit of leathery Brett in the finish as well.  Might be picking out a very slight hop bitterness in there as well which I'd never noticed before.
• Mouthfeel:
• Medium-light bodied and very slight sweetness.  Very smooth, easy drinking, and refreshing
• Overall:
• Fairly boldly flavored and pretty complex.  A bit more mild in flavor and acidity than I remember.  Really easy to drink with the slightly lower acidity

• Comparison Observations:

1. The 2016 example is like a completely different style of beer with the strong focus on Brett.  More like a Geuze than a Flanders Red.  Interesting that it is the one unpasteurized example.  I wonder if the Brett has continued to work on the beer over the years.
2. 2017 and 2018 are very similar.  Both bold and fruity with a lot going on.  The balance and level of sweetness are slightly different between them, as are some of the secondary flavors, but I can't really state a preference for either one over the other - both excellent.
3. Comparing 2017 and 2018 to the Rodenbach I'd say the flavor profiles are fairly similar but mine are significantly bolder in both aroma and flavor.  They are a bit sweeter than the Rodenbach and a fair bit more sour.  Al the beers are complex in their own way.  I definitely prefer my beer
4. I think I'm on the right path with these beers!

Cherry Flanders Red Vertical Tasting:

• 2016 Version:
• Overview:
• Made with 2 Flanders Red I'd aged for 1-3 years (same beers as the 2016 plain)
• Beers used Wyeast Roeselare blend
• Aged the beer with 10 lbs of Pitted Sour cherries from Michigan for 4.5 months
• Bottled with 3.5 oz of sugar for priming
• Tasting Notes:
• Aroma:
• Candy-like cherry aroma followed by earthy and leather Brett character
• Appearance:
• Brownish red and pretty clear.  Pours with very little foam that is gone in a second
• Flavor:
• Mild cherry flavor up front that transitions to a light acidity.  Earthy Brett comes in next and lingers into the finish along with the acidity.  it has a slight nutty character in the background - almond maybe.  Also some mineral flavor in the finish
• Mouthfeel:
• Light bodied and dry.  Fair amount of prickly acidity.  Easy drinking and refreshing
• Overall:
• Flavor and aroma are fairly mild.  Nice complexity - a lot going on.  The cherry is more in the background than I remember
• 2017 Version:
• Overview:
• Made with 2 Flanders Red between 2 and 3 years old
• Both beers were fermented with Roeselare yeast
• Aged with 12 lbs of Montmorency Sour Cherries I picked myself as well as 1 quart of Black Cherry Juice.  Let the beer secondary ferment on the fruit for 6 months\
• Bottled with 1.75 lbs of Invert #3 syrup and pasteurized when it was at a good level of carbonation
• Tasting Notes:
• Aroma:
• Cherry aroma most prominent followed by some vinegar.  Also get a bit of Brett character.  Some sweet caramel as well
• Appearance:
• Reddish brown and fairly clear.  Pours with a thin layer of foam that settles to a thin ring that lingers for quite a while
• Flavor:
• Rich cherry flavor that lingers into the finish.  Medium acidity kicks in in the middle and melds nicely with the cherry.  Get some leathery Brett in the finish.  A bit of vinegar mixed in as well as a vanilla-like flavor.  The finish also has a nice bit of sweet caramel that balances everything
• Mouthfeel:
• Medium light bodied and a bit of sweetness.  Pretty easy drinking
• Overall:
• Really richly flavored beer.  Cherry is the star of the show but there are quite a few other characteristics that bring a lot of complexity.  Really nice drinking beer with a pleasant balance to the finish
• 2018 Version:
• Overview:
• Used 5 Flanders Red I aged between 2 and 3 years
• Beers were made with Roeselare, Yeast Bay Mélange, and a Culture I'd built up from Rodenbach's Foederbier
• Aged the beer on 14 lbs of self picked Montmorency Sour Cherries and 2 quarts of sour cherry juice.  Let this age for just about 6 months before bottling
• Bottled with 2 lbs of invert #2 to carbonate and backsweeten.
• Tasting Notes:
• Aroma:
• Fairly bright candy cherry aroma along with earthy and musty Brett.  Some caramel comes through as well.  Some vinegar mixed in too.
• Appearance:
• Poured with thick head which faded down to a think layer over the next minute.  Reddish brown and quite murky as the over carbonated bottle churned up the dregs
• Flavor:
• Rich cherry flavor hits up front and lingers into the finish.  Medium acidity kicks in after the first wave of cherry and compliments it nicely - this also lingers into the finish.  Slight sweetness int eh swallow combats the acidity.  Finish is rich with mineral, earthy Brett, and maybe some malt
• Mouthfeel:
• Medium-light bodied and pretty dry.  Very smooth drinking
• Overall:
• Rich and flavorful beer.  Cherries are the center of attention here but a bunch of other stuff is going on as well.  The acidity on this one is very nice - really makes you want another sip.
• Rodenbach Alexander:
• Overview:
• Grand Cru aged with Cherries
• Was discontinued for quite a few years as the Palm Brewing Conglomerate, which owns Rodenbach Brewery, didn't want to compete with another Sour Cherry beer made by their breweries.  It is back and fairly easy to find now in SEPA.
• Tasting Notes:
• Aroma:
• Candy cherry along with a bit of earthy Brett.  Some caramel maybe as well
• Appearance:
• Reddish brown and clear.  Pours with a finger of head that settles down to a thin wispy layer that lingers
• Flavor:
• Sweet candy cherry flavor dominates.  Medium level of acidity blends very nicely with the cherry.  A bit of chocolate comes through in the finish as well somehow.  Very faint Brett.  Finish has a sweetness that balances the acidity and rounds out the cherry
• Mouthfeel:
• Medium light bodied and fairly dry.  Smooth drinking
• Overall:
• Really bold cherry flavor.  It dominates such that not a whole lot else comes through.  Refreshing and drinks very nicely

• Comparison Observations:

1. Like with the plain, the character of the unpasteurized 2016 version is completely different than 2017 and 2018.  Very dry and Brett forward.  It is nice to find that the cherry still comes through albeit in a fairly mild way.  It is still nice but doesn't have the enjoyable sweet and sour balance that makes the style appealing
2. The cherry character varies quite a bit between them.  2016 is a bit muted with age.  2017 is kind of bright and candy-like while 2018 is deeper and richer.  Age could explain the difference I suppose.  The Rodenbach cherry is quite a bit more candy-like than with my beers.  No sure I have a preference for any particular one.
3. 2017 and 2018 are very close.  2017 has slightly less cherry and a bit more caramel.  Both are lovely.
4. I think my beers compare very favorably to Rodenbach Alexander

Arrogant Bastard Clone

I haven't been brewing as much as I would have liked recently due to my large landscaping project.  I've been out of hoppy homebrew for months now.  I've ended up buying a couple cases of commercial beer to tide me over but they're gone now as well.  Time to brew up my own.

Last fall I purchased several pounds of various hops from "Hops Direct".  The price per oz is a small fraction of what you'd pay at a homebrew store if you're willing to brew based on what you guessed you might need.  One of the hops I picked out was Chinook which is one of the more famous and popular American Hop varieties.  I'd used them once before (in an Amber Ale) and found them pleasing.

One of the most popular beers thought to prominently use Chinook is the famous Stone Arrogant Bastard (although they do not acknowledge it) which I had early in my days of drinking craft beer and found I was not worthy (or, more accurately stated, not able to handle the intense bitterness).  After many years I feel I am worthy now so I'm going to attempt to brew a clone.  I found a promising recipe on HomeBrewTalk which I'll try out - these folks have put in a lot of effort into the project.

Arrogant Bastard is listed in beers styles as an American Strong Ale which is sort of a catch all bucket for beers that seem to split the gap between Double IPA and American Barleywine.  I would describe Arrogant Bastard as a Brown Ale hopped like an IPA.  It's a strong and very bitter beer that also has a nice malt component to balance things a bit.  Like I said before they are very guarded about the details behind the recipe.

I'm following the clone recipe fairly closely.  I decided to trust the hopping levels which are agressive (I have slightly lower IBU hops so I am chickening out a bit) as well as the suggested use of ~13% CaraAroma.  The one significant difference will be that I'm using WLP 013 (London Ale) rather than WLP 007 (Dry English Ale) which is thought to be Stone's House Yeast.  I had a vile of this around and figured it should be fairly close and get me in the neighborhood of the desired attenuation (81%)

Recipe Details:

• Grain:
• 15 lb Pale Ale Malt
• 2.25 lb CaraAroma Malt
• 3 oz Acid Malt
• Hops:
• 3 oz Chinook (Leaf, 12.2% AA) at 60 min
• 1 oz Chinook (Leaf, 12.2% AA) at 20 min
• 1 oz Chinook (Leaf, 12.2% AA) at 5 min
• 1 oz Chinook (Leaf, 12.2% AA) at 0 min
• Yeast:
• WLP 013 London Ale
• Water:
• 10 gal spring water
• 5 gal tap water
• 1 tsp CaCl
• 2 tsp Gypsum
• 1 tsp Irish Moss

Process Details:

• Batch Size:
• 6 gal
• Mash:
• 150 F for 60 min
• Boil:
• 60 min
• Fermentation Temp:
• 65 F
• Primary Duration:
• 3 Weeks
• Secondary Duration:
• NA

Results:

• OG:
• 1.070 (Target 1.071)
• Efficiency:
• 66.5% (Target 67.46%)
• FG:
• 1.020 (Target 1.013)
• Apparent Attenuation:
• 70% (Target 81%)
• ABV:
• 6.56% (Target 7.61%)

Brewing Notes:

• 6/6/20 - Built a 1 litre starter using DME and set it up on a stir plate over night.

• 6/7/20 - Brewday - 11:30 AM to 4:00 PM Including Setup and Cleanup:
• Heated 6 gal of strike water (5 gal spring and 1 gal tap) to 180 F
• Milled my grain.  Added 1 tsp of Gypsum and 1 tsp of CaCl to the grain
• Transferred all the water to the mash tun and then cycled through the RIMS.  Settled out at 162 F
• Stopped the RIMS cycling and stirred in the grain.  Stirred well to eliminate dough balls
• Let the mash settle for 10 min - it ended up at 151 F
• Cycled the RIMS at 150 F for 50 min
• Heated 10 gal of sparge water to 180 F (50/50 spring and tap)
• Added 1 tsp of gypsum to the boil kettle
• Sparged.  Modified fly sparge was used by pouring water on top of the grain bed as it became exposed.  Collected 8 gal of wort
• Started heating the boil kettle after collecting 3 gal.  Had it to a boil shortly after the end of the sparge
• Boiled for 60 min
• Added hops at 60 min, 20 min, 5 min, and at flameout.  I put them in hop sacks to allow for easier drain off as these are leaf hops

• Added Irish Moss at 15 min
• Put the wort chiller in to sanitize with 5 min left
• Chilled a little slower than normal to give the hops a bit more time in hot wort.  Chilled to about 80 F which was as low as it would go in a reasonable time
• Collected about 6 gal of wort.  Let it fall into the bucket fermentor to aerate.  Pitched the yeast at this point
• Measured gravity as 1.070
• Moved the beer to my chest freezer fermentation set to 64 F
• 6/8/20 - The airlock was bubbling the next morning
• 6/9/20 - Beer has overflowed the fermenter and out onto the lid due to the bucket being so full and fermentation reaching it's peak - no further thankfully

• 6/26/20 - Cold crashed down to the high 30s to drop the yeast
• 6/27/20 - Added gelatin to further encourage yeast to drop
• 6/28/20 - Bottled today.  Used 4 oz of priming sugar.  Got 58 bottles of beer.  Measured the gravity as 1.020 (a bit higher than target).  The beer is pretty nicely flavored with a bitter kick.  I'll give it a few days before trying the first one.
• 7/24/20 - Tasting Notes - A very tasty beer.  The hops are star of the show here and it is aggressively bitter (although I suspect not as agressive as the real thing).  Chinook is a nicely flavor hop to my palate - this batch is a like very intensely flavored Fuggle which is nice.  The malt character is interesting enough to cut through the bitterness and provide some semblance of balance.  The hopping really calls on you to take another sip.
• Compared to a real Arrogant Bastard I found the hopping to be significantly higher and the flavors to not be consistent with what I'm getting out of Chinook.

Lesson Learned:

1. I let the mash settle for 10 min after doughing in before starting the RIMS cycle.  I found things were flowing very well for me the entire mash and it was easy to adjust the flow rate and pump speed at a balance that kept an even level in the grant.  I didn't have to touch the RIMS for the remaining 50 min of cycle time.  I will have to take that 10 min settle time approach again next time.

Spiced Flanders Red - Tasting Notes

This is a Flanders Red I blended up in late 2018 with the idea of recreating the flavor profile of Coke Cola via spices.  Flanders Red, with it's sweet and sour and fruity flavors, is somewhat similar to Coke in way (although also completely different).

To make it I used Vanilla beans, Orange Peal, Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Lemon, Lime, and Coriander.  I soaked this in Vodka to extract the flavors and added two doses into the beer.  No real way to tell how much to put in with a beer like this.  I wanted to make sure the spices came through nicely.  Definitely did that but may have overdone it slightly.

It was made up of 5 beers which were between 2 and 3 years old.  By themselves the beer were bold and complex.

I bottled about 8 months ago with extra sugar for back-sweetening and  then pasteurized a month later.  Here is the official tasting of this weird but interesting experiment.

Tasting Notes:

• Aroma:
• The spices come through very prominently.  Vanilla is the strongest with orange next.  It is very much like a coke.  Some Brett earthiness comes through faintly in the background
• Appearance:
• Reddish brown and a little murky.  Pours with just a think wisp of foam that disappears immediately
• Flavor:
• Bright, fruity, and sweet & sour flavor hits first.  The spices then come in, vanilla most prominent again but very well mixed with the other flavors.  This lingers into the finish along with an acidic bite.  Maybe get a bit of bready malt in the finish as well.  The spices are so dominant I don't get much base beer flavor.
• Mouthfeel:
• Medium-light bodied and slightly sweet.  Has a small amount of prickly acidity that hits the back of the throat on the swallow.  Easy drinking and fairly refreshing.
• Overall:
• A very interesting beer.  I think the spicing gives  it a very strong resemblance to coke.  The base beer blend was made up of boldly flavored beers but they didn't stand up to the spicing.  It doesn't really resemble a Flanders Red in any way - base beer doesn't come though.  So, while it is a very boldly flavored beer with a certain complexity it doesn't quite hit the mark for what I was hoping the beer would be.  Lighter spicing would be in the cards next time

English Barleywine VII

This will be my seventh version of English Barleywine which I've brewed on Memorial Day every year since 2014.  Every year has been slightly different (read about them here:  2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019).  Sometimes I use a recipe I'd tried before with some minor tweaks while other times I've experimented a bit (with varying degrees of success).

This year, like the last two, I've decided to try another historical version of the style as documented by the Shut Up about Barclay Perkins Blog:  1940 Truman Stock 1.  This was my idea at least but I had to make enough substitutions where I'd hesitate to make a strong claim of anything more than being inspired by the recipe:

• First, it leverages a malt called "High Dried" which is no longer made.  The alternate suggestion was Simpson's "Imperial Malt" which is described as providing Biscuit, Honey, and Bread Crust like flavors.  This, of course, couldn't be acquired from any of the brewing web pages.  Based on these descriptors I opted to use a 50/50 mix of Vienna and Melanoiden malt which provide some similar flavors to those described by Simpson's in their Imperial.  The Melanoiden at 45L will make this a bit darker than specified by the recipe.  So, it certainly will not be the real deal in terms of grain but I expect it will still have a nice malt profile as brewed.  Anyhow, we have a local Malt House here in SEPE which I've been really interested in trying out (Deer Creek).  I sourced the base pale malt and specialty malts from them
• Second, the recipe calls for heavy doses of Fuggle and Golding hops (8 oz and 5 oz respectively) to get 106 IBU.  I had 2.5 oz of Fuggles from last year for late hopping.  Instead of ordering a large amount more for bittering I opted to use some Cluster hops I'd already had from last year's harvest.  I used 5 oz to get somewhere close to 100 IBU.  These are whole cone hops and are fresh out of an unopened bag.  They don't really smell much like Fuggle or Goldings (a bit more flowery and citrus like) but I think they'll be fine for bittering.

I was able to use the right yeast at least, Wyeast 1028 London Ale Yeast, which is reported to be the Truman Brewery House strain.  The recipe also calls for Invert Syrup - I'll make my own which is an easy and very inexpensive thing to do.  Shooting for fairly dark Invert #3

I'll give the beer about a month in primary and then transfer to secondary with a bit of oak to age and mellow until early winter.

Recipe Details:

• Grain/Adjunct:
• 17 lb English Style Pale Malt
• 3 lb Vienna Style Malt
• 3 lb Melanoidin Malt
• 1 lb Invert #3
• 5 oz Acid Malt
• Hops:
• 5 oz Cluster (Leaf, 8.1% AA) at 60 min
• 2.5 oz Fuggle (Pellet, 4,7% AA) at 15 min
• Yeast:
• Wyeast 1028 London Ale Yeast
• Water:
• 1.5 gal spring water
• 5 gal tap water
• 2 tsp CaCl
• 2 tsp Gypsum
• 1 tsp Irish Moss at 15 min
• Extras:
• 2 oz of Toasted White Oak Soaked in Cabernet Sauvignon 

Process Details:

• Batch Size:
• 6 gal
• Mash:
• 155 F for 60 min
• Boil:
• 120 min
• Fermentation Temp:
• 65 F
• Primary Duration:
• 4 weeks
• Secondary Duration:
• 4 months

Results:

• OG
• 1.110 (Target 1.105)
• Efficiency:
• 72% (Target 69%)
• FG:
• 1.036 (Target 1.035)
• Apparent Attenuation:
• 65% (Target 65%)
• ABV:
• 9.89% (Target 9.19%)

Brewing Notes:

• 5/24/20 - Built a 1.2 L starter using Munich Malt.  Set it up on a stir plate.  No (or very little) sign of fermentation the next day.  Took it off the stir plate down in the basement and moved it to a warm water bath in the kitchen to see if a temperature increase can spur it into action.  I'll watch it through the course of the brew day and assess if further action may be needed
• 5/25/20 - Brewday - from 10 AM to 3:20PM - Including setup and cleanup
• Made 1 lb of Invert #3 sugar 

• Heated 10 gal of water (50/50 spring and tap water) to 180 F
• Weighed and milled the grain.  Added half the gypsum and CaCl to this
• Added 6 gal to the mash tun and cycled through the grant and RIMS until the system had settled at 165 F
• Stopped the cycle and stirred in the grain.  Stirred well to eliminate doughballs.  Had to add another gal of water to adequately stir things in
• Set the RIMS to cycle at 155 F
• Mashed for 60 min
• Added another 5 gal of spring water to the boil kettle and brought it up to 190 F for the sparge
• Sparged the beer.  I transferred a bit of water to the mash tun once the top of the grain became exposed to do a fly sparge.  Collected until I had 10 gal of wort

• Added 1 more tsp each of Gypsum and CaCl to the kettle during the sparge
• Started to heat the kettle after collected 3 gal.  Had it to a boil right around the end of the sparge
• Boiled for 2 hrs
• Added bittering hops at 60 min.  Put them in muslin sacks to make draining the kettle easier.  The leaf cluster smell amazing (need to make another beer with these soon)

• Added the invert sugar with about 30 min left to go
• Added Irish Moss and flavor hops at 15 min
• Added the Wort chiller with 5 min left
• Chilled the wort down to the low 70s
• Drained into the fermenter.  Let it fall a foot or so to aerate.
• My yeast had shown a good bit of activity once warmed up some I decided to give it a shot for at least a day

• Measured the gravity as 1.120.
• Collected 5.5 gal of beer.  Added half a gal to get up to 6 gal (which is 1.110)
• Let the fermentor sit at basement temperatures rather than controlled at 65 F as initially planned.  Also let the lid sit on loose rather than setup an airlock so this will be sort of an open fermentation
• 5/26/20 - No signs of fermentation the next morning.  I was worried enough to buy a second pack of yeast.  By the afternoon there was a nice layer of krausen on the beer and an estery aroma - I worried for nothing
• 5/29/20 - The fermentation has released a lot of esters the last couple days.  Krausen has fallen by this afternoon though.
• 6/20/20 - Moved the beer into the chest freezer to cold crash in the high 30s
• 6/21/20 - Added gelatin to fine the beer
• 6/26/20 - Transferred the beer into a glass carboy for aging.  Added about 2 oz of white oak which I toasted at about 360 F and soaked in Cabernet for the last year or so.  Measured the gravity as 1.038.  The has a nice mild yeast character and, while boozy, doesn't taste like there's much if any fusel alcohol - was a good fermentation.  I'll let the beer age until December.

• 12/5/20 - Bottled today with 4 oz of priming sugar and a rehydrated pack of wine yeast.  Got a bit less than 6 gal of beer after transfer from secondary and this netted me 57 12 oz bottles.  Measured the gravity as 1.036 (down a couple points during the 5 month bulk aging).  The beer has a nice combination of malt and ester as well as a fair amount of hop character and a bitter kick on the finish.  I'll let this carb up for a couple weeks before sampling.
• 1/31/21 - Tasting Notes - Bold malt aroma and flavor with pleasant supporting hop and yeast character.  It has a nice complexity in flavors as well.  Sticky and sweet which encourages slow drinking - not a bad thing with a 9+% beer.  The chocolate character is unexpected but very nice.  I used a couple ounces of toasted Cabernet soaked oak in this batch I wonder if that could be a contributor.
• 5/30/21 - Tasting Notes (2021):
• Aroma:  Caramel with toasted bread and a bit of fruity ester.  Some booze.  I think I get some herbal hop character in the mix as well
• Appearance:  Reddish brown and fairly clear.  Pours with a 2 finger head that slowly fades and leaves lacing on the glass
• Flavor:  Sweet bready malt and dark caramel character.  Some fruity ester in there as well.  Also get chocolate and some booze.  Get some hop character in there - herbal and grassy.  There is a medium bitterness on the finish balanced by sweet malt
• Mouthfeel:  Medium full bodied and a bit sweet.  Smooth drinking
• Overall:  Complex and boldly flavored.  This one has a nice contribution from hops and yeast
• 5/28/22 - Tasting Notes (2022):
• Tasting Notes (39 of 50):  
• Aroma (8 of 12):  Caramel, brown sugar, and toasted bread along with a musty and lightly fruity character.  Get a bit of alcohol coming through as well
• Appearance (3 of 3):  Pours with a 3 finger head that fades down to a thin layer after a few minutes.  Leaves lacing on the glass.  Dark reddish brown in color and pretty clear.
• Flavor (16 of 20):  Rich, toasted bread and dark caramel malt flavors.  May have a note of chocolate in there too.  The malt flavor lingers into the finish with a bit of sweetness and is balanced by a medium-light bitterness.  There is a slight bit of fruity character in the lingering in the finish but pretty light.  I may be getting a bit of herbal hop flavor in there as well.  Alcohol is pretty well hidden.  Maybe some oak in there too as I get a bit of vanilla.
• Mouthfeel (4 of 5):  Medium-full bodied and slightly sticky sweet.  Drinks very smoothly
• Overall (8 of 10):  This beer has a really lovely and rich malt character.  I think it's very complex and interesting to drink.  I like the kick of hop bitterness it has well which gives it a good balance and makes it easy drinking
• 5/28/23 - Tasting Notes (2023):
• Tasting Notes (39 of 50):
• Aroma (8 of 12):  Caramel malt and toasted bread.  A bit of mustiness.  Wine like character.  Some fruity notes - raisin maybe
• Appearance (2 of 3):  Reddish brown and very clear.  Pours with a thin layer of foam that quickly dissipates to nothing
• Flavor (16 of 20):  A mix of fruit and malt up front.  The finish is slightly sweet with just the faintest bit of bitterness.  It has a dark caramel and chocolate flavor that lingers in the after taste
• Mouthfeel (5 of 5):  Full bodied and a little sticky.  Smooth drinking
• Overall (8 of 10):  This is a pretty complex beer with malt character being primary and fruit secondary.  Flavor and aroma are pretty bold and rich
• 6/1/24 - Tasting Notes (2024):
• 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.
• 7/31/2025 - Tasting Notes (2025):
• Tasting Notes (42 of 50):
• Aroma (10 of 12):  Toasted bread and caramel.  A little bit of fruity ester in there and a bit of booze.
• Appearance (3 of 3):  Dark reddish brown.  Pours with a 1 finger head that fades down to a thin layer around the glass over several minutes.  Very clear.
• Flavor (17 of 20):  Toasty, bready, and caramel malt flavors dominate.  The finish is fairly sweet and there is a slight bitterness to balance.  Just get the slightest hint of fruity ester character.  A little booze in there as well.  Maybe get a bit of chocolate character as well
• Mouthfeel (4 of 5):  Medium-full bodied and a little sticky on the palate.  It's a smooth drinking beer
• Overall (8 of 10):  This is a very tasty showcase of rich malt character.  It has a nice amount of complexity even without much of a fruity component.  It's sweet and boozy but still very drinkable

English Barleywine Vertical Tasting - 2020

I will be brewing up a new Barleywine on Memorial Day tomorrow (my seventh version).  As is my tradition I'll be doing a Vertical Tasting of the 6 beers brewed so far to gauge their development over the years and compare their relative qualities (See my previous tastings here:  2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2019).

English Barleywine is a style of beer made for aging with their high alcohol, sweetness, and focus on Malt and Fruity yeast ester being the main sources of complexity.  The beers are typically very tasty young but, in my experience, they improve with age.

I've taken to the habit of drinking half the batch of these beers each year and then leaving the other half to age.  In support of this I only drink one of the aged beers each year.  It is a real treat to revisit these and, by rationing, I should be heading toward a point where I'll have 24 beers to sample side by side (in a mere 14 years from now).  May have to consider a swirl and spit method of tasting when it comes to that though as even doing a small tasting of each of the 6 current beers left me quite tipsy last night.

Vertical Tasting:

• 2014 Version:
• 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
• I aged half the beer on oak that had been soaked in Brandy.  I'd been tasting both of these each year but they're fairly similar so this year I'll just do one - the Brandy Soaked Oak portion.
• Tasting Notes:
• Aroma:
• Boozy.  Fruit ester along with a bit of bready malt.  Maybe a bit of honey as well.  Musty kind of aged sherry-like aroma
• Appearance:
• Light brown and pretty clear.  Pours with no head
• Flavor:
• Slightly fruity up front followed by malt which is like toasted bread.  Get some caramel as well.  The finish is kind of musty and blends the malt with a smooth aged alcohol character
• Mouthfeel:
• Medium-light bodied with a little sweetness.  Has a slight bit of astringency but not enough to be unpleasant
• Overall:
• Really richly flavored and nicely complex beer.  It's like a fruity and alcoholic caramel.  It has continued to age very nicely
• 2015 Version:
• Overview:
• Brewed with Maris Otter, Vienna Malt and down to 2 lbs of Crystal.  Still 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:
• Aroma:
• Has a pungent fruit ester character - sort of odd.  Very musty smelling.  Maybe get a bit of caramel and bready malt
• Appearance:
• Dark golden brown and clear.  Pours with a think layer of foam that quickly dissipates down to nothing
• Flavor:
• Fruity flavor up front which fades into toasted bread, caramel, and maybe a bit of chocolate.  malt lingers through the finish.  The ester character is sort of like an overripe peach maybe.  Some smooth aged alcohol character comes through in the flavor
• Mouthfeel:
• Medium bodied with a bit of sweetness.  Has a slight astringent bite
• Overall:
• Boldly flavored beer.  I think the fruity character of the beer is a bit overwhelming and not particularly pleasant.  Has some other things going on but that they are fairly far in the background doesn't help the complexity
• 2016 Version:
• 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:
• Aroma:
• Very strong musty and estery aroma.  Not a great aroma although it improves as the beer sits a bit.  Maybe a bit of wet cardboard oxidation smell.  Get a bit of malt coming through all this
• Appearance:
• Pours with a finger of head which fades down to a thin ring - leaves some lacing.  The beer is brownish red and clear
• Flavor:
• Really rich malt flavor up front - sweet and toasty and kind of Grahm-cracker-like.  This lingers into the finish.  There is a very slight bitterness in the finish as well.  There is a bit of fruity ester that comes through up front and a mustiness that comes out in the finish
• Mouthfeel:
• Medium bodied and a bit sweet.  Pretty smooth beer
• Overall:
• Really nice rich malt flavor to this one - very bold.  I'm very pleasantly surprised it still has a good amount of hop bitterness left at this point.  Not quite as much going on as the others in terms of fruit ester.  Still very nice
• 2017 Version:
• 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:
• Aroma:
• Light fruit and a bit of bready malt - might call it overripe fruit
• Appearance:
• Golden in color and clear.  Pours with a bit of head that quickly fades to nothing - logs of cascading bubbles though
• Flavor:
• The fruit from the nose very much carries over to the flavor.  I know what is in it so, this may be cheating, but it's a grape/white wine kind of fruitiness.  The finish is sweet bready malt.
• Mouthfeel:
• Fairly substantial body with a good bit of sweetness.  Slight astringency
• Overall:
• Has a very interesting fruit forward flavor compared with the other beers.  Lacking in the bold malt character.  The most mild of the group and, although the flavors are pleasant, not that complex
• 2018 Version:
• 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.
• Aged the beer on 2 oz of boiled and toasted oak
• Tasting Notes:
• Aroma:
• Light fruity ester and caramel malt.  Also pick up some herbal hop character faintly
• Appearance:
• Pours with a finger of head that fades down to a ring fairly quickly.  Leaves lacing.  Reddish brown in color
• Flavor:
• Toasty bread and caramel malt up front.  Yeast ester comes through next although it is mild.  The toast then rides through the finish.  There is also a fairly firm bitterness that balances the malt in the finish.  Get a bit of herbal hop flavor in the mix as well
• Mouthfeel:
• Medium bodied and a bit sweet.  Smooth drinking beer
• Overall:
• Really lovely flavor to this beer.  It has a bold maltyness with a very nice hop presence.  There is also a good yeast character that mixes well with the other elements and lends complexity.  Pleasure to drink
• 2019 Version:
• 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:
• Aroma:
• Herbal hops are pretty pronounced in this one.  Fruit ester also plays in the background.  A bit of malt but it's overcome by the other aroma.  Alcohol comes through in the background as well
• Appearance:
• Pours with a 1 finger head that fades to nothing fairly quickly.  Brown and very clear.
• Flavor:
• Toasty caramel malt up front.  A good amount of hop flavor comes in next and then the toasty and cramel-like malt character lingers in the finish.  This is balanced by bitter hop flavor.  There is a fruity yeast ester character that also comes through in the start.  It also has a pretty smooth alcohol component that comes through all this slightly
• Mouthfeel:
• Medium-light bodied and slightly sweet.  Very smooth.  Warming alcohol presence
• Overall:
• Very nicely flavored beer.  Really rich set of flavors with the malt being the star.  The hop flavor rounds things out nicely.  As the youngest beer here it's quite different in terms of prominence of yeast character.  I imaging this will become more apparent as it ages and the bolder hop flavors fade

2020 Rankings:

1. 2018
2. 2014
3. 2019
4. 2016
5. 2017
6. 2015

Raspberry Flanders Red - 2018 Blend - Tasting Notes

This beer was blended using 3 Flanders Red I'd been aging for 2-3 years back in December 2018 and then aged for another 8 months with almost 16 lbs of home-grown raspberries.  I bottled in 2019 with 2 lbs of invert sugar for back sweetening and then bottle pasteurized the entire batch to leave some residual sweetness as the beer was very dry after the aging and quite sour.

This is my second attempt at a Raspberry Flanders Red (see post on the first attempt).  I used 10 lbs of fruit last time.

I selected my base blend using tasting notes from my 12 fermenters of Flanders Red beer with the goal of minimizing the beer acidity as the fruit are plenty tart themselves.  I plan to do the same for the next batch but may shoot for an even milder beer.

My timing for the pasteurization and level of back sweetening weren't ideal for the batch as it ended a bit dryer than I would have liked (carbonation levels aren't too high at least).

I think it's high time to do an official tasting of this beer.  Some good lessons learned from this batch to aid in decision making for the next one (which will hopefully be performed soon).


Tasting Notes:

• Aroma:
• Strong aroma of raspberry.  Leathery and cheesy brett character comes through in the background
• Appearance:
• Red/brown color and a little murky.  Pours with a very thin foam layer that fades almost immediately
• Flavor:
• Very tart up front after which the fruit flavor comes through.  It is a rich and jammy raspberry flavor.  The finish is dry with a bit of acidity lingering with the fruit.  I think some bready malt comes through faintly as does some leathery Brett
• Mouthfeel:
• Light bodied and dry.  Pretty prickly on the palate.  Fairly easy drinking and refreshing - the dry sour finish calls for another sip
• Overall:
• I think the raspberry and base Flanders red get along very nicely.  The fruit dominates but the beer shines through enough to keep it interesting.  Definitely a little on the dry side of the balance scale - could have done with some more back sweetening