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Friday, July 31, 2020

Flanders Red Status Report - 2020

It has been over a year and a half since my last tasting of the 12 fermenters of Flanders Red style beer I've accumulated over the last 5 years (read about my 2017 and 2018 tasting notes).  It is a beer style that become more interesting as it ages due to the effects of oxygen exposure and the slow work of wild yeast and bacteria.  It seems that the Belgian sour beer producers typically only give their beer 3 years as they find that it becomes too acetic after that.  I'm past that age in many of the beers right now.  Belgians use barrels which tend to allow a lot of oxygen exposure though while I'm using a mix of Glass Carboy and plastic fermentation buckets.  Will be interesting to see if I'm building up too much harsh vinegar acidity


I plan to make 4 blends of beer this year:  Plain, Cherry, Raspberry, and a Raisin & Tamarind version.  I'll use the more boldly flavored interesting beers to make up the Plain and then the more mild flavored ones in the fruited blends.  I'd like to try to use a fair amount from each fermenter to leave room for some fresh top-up beer in each so that I can feed all of them with fresh beer.

Additionally, I think I'm going to try to empty a couple fermenters (by blending any remaining beer from them to the other fermenters) so I can bring in a couple new cultures so that I'll have a wider variety of blending ingredients going forward.

Anyway, onto the tasting (have a good couple days work ahead):



Fermenter #1
  • Beers:
  • Overview:
    • Aged in a glass carboy with a vented silicon bung
    • Primarily fermented with Wyeast Roeselare Blend.  Also have used Belgian Trappist yeast and Lacto for some beers in this fermentor
    • Malt bill consists of Pilsner, Munich, and Vienna base malt and then CaraMunich, Aromatic, and Special B specialty malt.  I also started using corn in the top up batches which is something Rodenbach does for mouthfeel
    • It has been aging with about 1 oz of oak which I'd previously used in my 2018 Barleywine
  • Status Notes:
  • Tasting Notes:
    • Aroma:  Fruity with and earthy and leathery character.  Also has a kind of mineral aroma
    • Appearance:  Light reddish brown and a little murky
    • Flavor:  Lightly sour with a bit of fruity flavor.  Slight earthy character.  Get a bit of bready malt.  Maybe a bit of mineral flavor as well
    • Mouthfeel:  Medium light bodied and pretty dry.  Has a bit of prickliness on the back of the throat on a big swallow
    • Overall:  Flavors are pretty mild but nice.  Has a fair amount of complexity

Fermenter #2
  • Beers:
  • Overview:
    • Aged in a glass carboy with a vented silicon bung
    • Primarily fermented with Roeselare Blend.  Also have used Belgian Trappist yeast and Lacto for some beers in this fermentor
    • Malt bill consists of Pilsner, Munich, and Vienna base malt and then CaraMunich, Aromatic, and Special B specialty malt.  I also started using corn in the top up batches which is something Rodenbach does for mouthfeel
    • It has been aging with about 1 oz of oak which I'd previously used in my 2018 Barleywine
  • Status Notes:
  • Tasting Notes:
    • Aroma:  Quite fruity with some earthy brett character as well as some mineral character
    • Appearance:  Reddish brown and fairly clear
    • Flavor:  Lightly sour.  Has a really nice fruity flavor up front that suggests a sweetness.  Earthy brett character comes in with the finish.  Some bready malt comes through as well
    • Mouthfeel:  Medium light bodied and pretty dry. Has a prickliness that hits the tongue and back of the throat.
    • Overall:  Pleasing fruit flavor is pretty bold.  Nice level of complexity

Fermenter #3

  • Beers:
  • Overview:
    • Aged in a glass carboy with a vented silicon bung
    • Primarily fermented with Roeselare Blend.  Also have used Belgian Trappist yeast and Lacto for some beers in this fermentor
    • Malt bill consists of Pilsner, Munich, and Vienna base malt and then CaraMunich, Aromatic, and Special B specialty malt.  I also started using corn in the top up batches which is something Rodenbach does for mouthfeel
  • Status Notes:
  • Tasting Notes:
    • Aroma:  Overripe fruit and earthy & leathery brett character
    • Appearance:  Brownish red and pretty clear
    • Flavor:  Light sourness.  Has a bready malt character which hits in the beginning.  Some fruit character comes next and earthy brett comes in the finish.  Something like a bitterness in the finish although this couldn't be hops at this point.  Also has a somewhat chocolate like character to it.
    • Mouthfeel:  Light bodied and pretty dry.  A bit of acidity prickling but in way harsh
    • Overall:  It has some nice bold flavors and is an interesting and complex beer.

Fermenter #4
  • Beers:
  • Overview:
    • Aged in a glass carboy with a vented silicon bung
    • Primarily used Yeast Bay's Mélange for the beer in this fermenter but also have some Roeselare fermented beer as well as some using Belgian Trappist yeast and Lacto
    • Some of the beer in this fermenter used Pale Malt and Victory instead of the Pilsner, Munich, and Vienna base malts.
    • This beer has been aging with with oak from my first Raspberry Wine since 3/7/20
  • Status Notes:
  • Tasting Notes:
    • Aroma:  Fruity with a earthy and leathery brett character.  Also get some mineral character from it
    • Appearance:  Brownish red and a little murky
    • Flavor:  Light sourness.  Has a strong fruity flavor that lingers into the finish and lingers.  Also get some earthy brett character that lasts - although it is quite a bit less prominent than the fruit.  Maybe get a bit of chocolate from this one.
    • Mouthfeel:  Medium light bodied and dry.  A bit prickly on the back of the throat
    • Overall:  Richly flavored and delicious.  Has a fair amount going on to bring complexity.

Fermenter #5
  • Beers:
  • Overview:
    • Aged in a glass carboy with a vented silicon bung
    • Primarily used Roeselare for this batch.  Also used Belgian Trappist yeast and Lacto
    • Played around with a malt bill of 2 Row and Dark Munich for this batch.  Also have some with the standard grainbill and corn.  Used maltodextrine in this beer as well.  
  • Status Notes:
  • Tasting Notes:
    • Aroma:  Very musty with brett character of earth and leather dominating.  Overripe fruit comes in in the background 
    • Appearance:  Reddish brown and a little murky
    • Flavor:  Lightly sour  Overripe fruit flavor hits up front followed by some bready malt.  There is then a mild earthiness which rolls into the finish
    • Mouthfeel:  Light bodied and dry.  Pretty smooth as far as these beers go - not much prickling
    • Overall:  This beer has some nice bold flavors and a fair amount of complexity

Fermenter #6
    • Aroma:  Very fruity.  Also has a mineral aroma along with earthy and leathery brett
    • Appearance:  Reddish brown and pretty clear
    • Flavor:  Medium sourness.  Fruit comes through first followed by leather and earth from Brett.  Also get bready malt  
    • Mouthfeel:  Light bodied and dry.  Some prickles the back of the throat on the swallow
    • Overall:  Some nice bold flavors with enough going on to bring some complexity

Fermenter #7
    • Aroma:  Over ripe fruit and a mineral character.  A bit musty as well
    • Appearance:  Light reddish brown and a little murky
    • Flavor:  Light sourness.  Has a lemon like character.  Some overripe fruit and a bit of earthy brett character comes through.  
    • Mouthfeel:  Light bodied and dry.  A little prickling acidity
    • Overall:  Flavors are pretty mild.  Not terribly complex range of flavors in this one

Fermenter #8
  • Beers:
  • Overview:
    • Aged in a bucket fermentor with vented silicon bung
    • Beer is a blend of Roeselare and a Culture built up from Rodenbach Foederbier.  Also used Belgian yeast and lacto on some of the batch
    • Used Maris Otter at the primary base malt, Maltodextrine for added carbohydrates for the long aging, and a cereal mash with corn grits
    • Aging with 1 oz Cabernet soaked oak
  • Status Notes:
  • Tasting Notes:
    • Aroma:  Overripe fruit.  I think I pick up some oak and wine in this one - vanilla.  Get a bit of earthy character as well
    • Appearance:  Light brownish red.  A little murky
    • Flavor:  Medium sourness.  Has a bit of overripe fruit and a fairly substantial funky flavor which is a bit different than the others - not entirely pleasant
    • Mouthfeel:  Medium light bodied and pretty dry.  Fairly smooth for one of these beers - not noticing much in the way of prickle
    • Overall:  Fairly boldly flavored.  Has an interesting flavor profile but not super complex.

Fermenter #9
    • Aroma:  Overripe fruit and a bit of mineral character.  Also get earthy funk
    • Appearance:  Reddish brown and a bit murky
    • Flavor:  Medium sourness with a fruity character.  Some mineral flavor along with earthy and leathery flavor.
    • Mouthfeel:  Light bodied and pretty dry.  Has a bit of prickling acidity that hits the back of the throat on the swallow.
    • Overall:  Fairly mild beer with a bit of complexity

Fermenter #10
  • Beers:
  • Overview:
    • Aged in a bucket fermentor with vented silicon bung
    • Brewed with a mix of Jolly Pumpkin, Lost Abby, and Russian River dregs.  Also used Belgian yeast and Lacto in some of the beers
    • Base malt was Maris Otter.  Also used Corn and Maltodextrine in some of this beer
  • Status Notes:
  • Tasting Notes:
    • Aroma:  Strong overripe fruit and a bit of earthy and leathery funk.  Also has a sort of spiciness to it
    • Appearance:  Reddish brown and fairly clear
    • Flavor:  Medium sourness.  Has a fruity flavor fairly well balanced with earthy and leathery brett.  Has a fairly prominent bitter bite in the finish which is pleasant
    • Mouthfeel:  Medium light bodied and dry.  Prickles the back of the throat slightly.
    • Overall:  Boldly flavored and has a nice bit of complexity.  Quite a pleasant beer.

Fermenter #11
  • Beers:
  • Overview:
    • Aged in a bucket fermenter with vented silicon bung
    • Brewed with East Coast Yeast Flemish Ale Blend
    • Used Maris Otter and Munich as the base malts.  Also used some corn
    • Took 2 gal from this fermenter in 2018 and didn't top it up so the fermenter is a bit more than half full.  I don't remember if this was a deliberate decision but it would have left it with extra oxygen exposure and less to eat
  • Status Notes:
  • Tasting Notes:
    • Aroma:  Has a fruity and wine-like aroma.  Smells pretty boozy as well.
    • Appearance:  Light brownish red and pretty clear
    • Flavor:  Medium sourness.  Has a really unusual, funky, fruity flavor and a pretty firm bite in the finish - maybe the same as the boozy character in the aroma (it may be I've picked up some Acetone which would be a first for me).  Get a sort of aged cheese character from it as well. 
    • Mouthfeel:Light bodied and dry.  Has some prickles on the back of the throat.
    • Overall:  Very boldly flavored but a bit too rough around the edges on it's own.  I think a little of this blended into a more mild beer could be a benefit

Fermenter #12
Yes, that is mouse poop.  I can assure you that there is none in the beer and that its presence here is 100% essential
  • Beers:
  • Overview:
    • Aged in a bucket fermenter with a vented silicon bung
    • Brewed using Roeselare along with Belgian yeast and Lacto
    • Used Pilsner and Munich as the base malts.  Also used Corn in this batch
  • Status Notes:
  • Tasting Notes:
    • Aroma:  Overripe fruit and leathery funk.  Get a bit of mineral character as well
    • Appearance:  Brownish Red and pretty murky
    • Flavor:  Light sourness.  Has a really bold fruit flavor with the leathery and earthy brett character coming in a close second
    • Mouthfeel:  Medium light bodied and dry.  Smooth drinking as far as these beers go
    • Overall:  Boldly flavored and very lovely taste.  Pretty complex beer.  I'd say this is the best of the bunch this year.
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Saturday, July 25, 2020

Arrogant Bastard Clone - Tasting Notes

Arrogant Bastard is a very aggressively hopped brown which was one of my earlier introductions to Craft Ale.  I brewed up this attempted clone of the beer using a recipe from Homebrewtalk written back in 2014.

This recipe calls for a hefty dose of bittering hops (although I went with a little less than what was specified) and a fairly healthy dose of late boil hops.  No dry hops used in this batch.  It utilizes Chinook hops for this only.

It has made a delicious beer which, based purely on memory, seems very close to the balance of Arrogant Bastard - very bitter with nice hop flavor and a bit of interesting malt character.  For the sake of science I will also do a side by side testing with the real thing


Tasting Notes:
  • Aroma:
    • Herbal and grassy hops are prominent.  A bit of caramel and toasted malt character comes through in the background
  • Appearance:
    • Light brown and pretty clear.  Pours with a thin layer of foam that quickly fades to nothing
  • Flavor:
    • Up front I get a bit of sweetness along slightly toasty malt.  In the middle a nice little punch of hop flavor (herbal and grassy here as well).  The finish is quite bitter.  The bitterness lingers for several seconds.  A fair amount of sweet malt also caries through into the finish which is pleasant but the beer is decidedly balanced towards bitterness.
  • Mouthfeel:
    • Medium bodied with a slight sweetness.  Drinks very smoothly.  It's a pretty big beer (which is apparent after a couple) but no noticeable alcohol warming
  • Overall:
    • 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.


Side by Side Tasting Notes:

    Performed with a batched canned on 6/9/20

  • Aroma:
    • The hop aroma of the real Arrogant Bastard is quite a bit stronger than my beer.  It has pine-like and slightly marijuana-like aroma where mine is more grassy and herbal
  • Appearance:
    • Arrogant bastard is maybe a couple shades lighter than mine but I think the color is about right.  It pours with much more agressive carbonation level and leaves lacing on the glass
  • Flavor:
    • As with the aroma, the hop flavor for the real Arrogant Bastard is quite a bit more prominent than mine - same pine and marijuana from the aroma.  Hops completely dominate the malt here - can't really pick out any malt flavor.  It is slightly more bitter in the finish and even less balanced
  • Mouthfeel:
    • The real Arrogant is very slightly lighter bodied than mine and is a bit drier
  • Overall:
    • They are a lot different.  Stone doesn't list the hops used in the beer (their flagship) which very well could give them license to have changed the hops over time to adjust to changing palates.  I strongly suspect they aren't using Chinook hops in this beer at this point (although it may be that they're using a more potent Chinook harvest than I am).  This probably shouldn't be a surprise as I brewed a clone that's over 6 years old at this point.  As for the malt, the color is very close - can't speak much to flavor though.  Stone's Arrogant Bastard is a really nice beer.  I think mine is also nice but it's definitely not a clone here in July 2020.
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Friday, July 10, 2020

Apple Cider Vinegar

I've decided it would be fun to start making my own vinegar.  It is a fairly simple and straight forward process where an alcoholic beverage has it's alcohol broken down into Acetic acid when exposed to oxygen.  It can be made from any moderately strong alcoholic beverage.  If this first attempt goes well I would plan to try to make some malt and beer vinegar.  My ultimate desire would be to try to make something like a Balsamic Vinegar.

This YouTube video outlined what seems like a very smart method of making a vinegar.  It involves taking the Acetic Acid culture from an unfiltered/unpasteurized commercial Apple Cider vinegar as the basis for your product.  This process builds up the culture which can be used again and again.  I'm going to use Bragg Organic Apple Cider Vinegar for this.

For the cider I'll use my Hard Apple Cider Take II which I made in late 2018.  It  is 6.3% ABV and was slightly back sweetened.  I think it will work pretty well for this.  It may take a month or two to finish up.  I'll provide status along the way.


Recipe Details:

  • 12 oz of Hard Apple Cider
  • 1 tbs of Organic Vinegar

Brewing Notes:
  • 7/8/20:
    • Mixed up the cider in a 1 pint mason jar
    • Put a cotton rag over top which I secured with the jar ring.  This will allow for oxygen exposure but protect it from bugs
    • Left it in the kitchen to age and develop
  • 7/17/20 - The cider has started to form a bit of pellicle.  Still smells like cider though

  • 7/25/20 - The pellicle is getting pretty thick now.  Starting to develop a bit of vinegar aroma but mostly smells  like cider still

  • 8/7/20 - Had a taste.  It has a pretty firm bit of acidity maybe a bit less potent than the Bragg version.  It still has a nice bit of apple flavor that cuts through and the slight sweetness of the cider (which I backsweetened and pasteurized) comes through quite a bit.  After tasting the mother culture layer fell and it's started to form a new layer.  I noticed the volume had dropped by a couple oz over the last few weeks (it's been very hot).  Making this has given me some confidence.  I'm going to try some malt vinegar soon.
  • 9/19/20 - Ready about my next vinegar experiment - Malt Vinegar
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Saturday, July 4, 2020

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.
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Saturday, June 27, 2020

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
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Saturday, June 13, 2020

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.
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Friday, June 5, 2020

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
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