Zappa Pale Ale

 I let my IPA keg get empty a few weeks ago which was a very sad thing - I've been very busy - and ended up buying a case of commercial hoppy beer which I've also consumed. So, it is high time to brew a new hoppy beer to backfill.  Recently I've been experimenting with different levels of dry hopping and have found that 8 oz of dry hops seems to provide more bold flavor than 6 oz and that hopping in the fermenter seems to be as good as putting half the hops in the serving keg.  These have been experiments with hops I'm fairly familiar with.  For this batch, I'll be trying a hop that is new to me and reported to be potent:  a New Mexico hop called Zappa

I purchased these last year from Hops Direct.  They are a low alpha acid flavoring hop and, per reports, are found to have a very strong pine and marijuana-like character.  The Brulosophy web page wasn't fond of the beer they brewed with the hop.  I'll use it for dry hopping only (going to bitter and provide hot side flavor with Columbus and Centennial as I've done in the last several hoppy beers) and have opted for a 6 ounce dose all in at 7 days.  Will be an experiment to see how I like this hop and how I might use the remainder of it.

For the grain bill I've gone with the ratios of grain used by Sapwood Cellars Cheater Hops (which uses Oats and Wheat) and am shooting for a beer in the 1.045 OG/1.015 FG/4% ABV range.  I'm not trying for a hazy beer here but that may be the outcome as the original is hazy.  The wheat and the oats will hopefully provide some interesting complexity and mouthfeel but will likely be far outshadowed by the hops used in this volume.  Other than that I'm using Golden Promise as the base malt as that's what I have on hand.

Finally, for yeast, I've been doing a good job saving money by saving yeast strains for reuse in jars, I'll be reusing some Imperial Yeast Juice her for this batch.  This is a reuse of the third pitch and will be the third beer I've gotten out of the yeast packet.  I think I'll try harvesting the yeast cake from this beer as well for a third pitch as well.  The yeast seems to be pretty strong still after 6 months in the refrigerator which is very nice - will be building a starter for this of course.

Anyway, I'll give this beer 1 week to ferment, then 1 week to sit on dry hops before moving to the keg, and then will give 1 more week in the keg to carbonate and settle before drinking.  A fast turnaround on these beers is a good think I think.

Recipe Details:

• Grain:
• 7 lb Golden Promise
• 2 lb Pilsner
• 1 lb Flaked Wheat
• 1 lb Flaked Oats
• 5 oz Crystal 10
• 2 oz Acid Malt
• Hops:
• 1 oz Columbus (Leaf, 14.6% AA) at 60 min
• 2 oz Columbus (Leaf, 14.6% AA) at 5 min
• 2 oz Centennial (Leaf, 10.1% AA) at 5 min
• 6 oz Zappa (Leaf 5.3% AA) at Day 7
• Yeast:
• Imperial Yeast A38 Juice (2nd Pitch)
• Water:
• 10 gal spring water
• 5 gal tap water
• 1 tsp CaCl
• 1 tsp Gypsum
• 1 tsp Irish Moss at 15 min

Process Details:

• Batch Size:
• 6.15 gal
• Mash:
• 158 F for 60 min
• Boil:
• 60 min
• Fermentation Temperature:
• Ambient Basement Temps (High 60s)
• Primary Duration:
• 2 Weeks
• Secondary Duration:
• NA

Results:

• OG:
• 1.048 (Target 1.045)
• Efficiency:
• 72% (Target 66%)
• FG:
• 1.018 (Target 1.015)
• Apparent Attenuation:
• 62% (Target 66%)
• ABV:
• 3.9% (Target 3.9%)

Brewing Notes:

• 6/26/21 - Built a started for a second pitch of my Yeast (it has been in a jar in the fridge for the last 6 months - jar showed good activity once warming to room temp).  Moved to the stir plate to propagate over night   
• 6/27/21 - Brewday - 12:45 PM to 5:30 PM - Including setup and cleanup
• Heated 8 gal of strike water to 185 F
• Milled my grain (ended up falling short on Golden Promise so I swapped in 2 lbs of pilsner.  Added CaCl and Gypsum to the grain so I wouldn't forget
• Added 6 gal of mash water cycled through the RIMS until it was a 170 F
• Stopped the RIMS and stirred in the grain.  Let the grain bed settle for 10 min

• Cycled the RIMS for 60 min at 159 F. The temperature was in the high 150s the whole time
  
• Heated 8 gal of sparge water to 200 F
• Drained the Mash Tun into the kettle.  Added sparge water to the top as I went until had collected 8 gal.  Started heating the kettle once 4 gal had been collected and had it at a boil shortly after collecting the target volume 
• Boiled for 60 min

• Added the bittering hops in a sack
• Added irish moss at 15 min
• Added the wort chiller and flavoring hops with 5 min left
• At flame out, chilled the wort down to about 200 F and let sit for 30 min of hop stand (settled down to about 190 in this window)
• Drained the kettle to my fermenter.  Let the wort fall a couple feet to aerate.  Pitched the yeast during the transfer 

• Collected about 5.9 gal and measured gravity as 1.050.  Topped up with about .25 gal
• Setup the fermenter in the basement since my freezers are unavailable for a controlled fermentation
• 6/28/21 -  Fermentation was proceeding strongly by this afternoon
• 7/5/21:
• Tasted the beer - it has a bit of hop character, although fairly mild, and a medium bitterness.  I think the hot side hops are a reasonable investment but no where close to enough.
• Added the 6 oz of dry hops.  Added these in hop sacks weighed down by stainless steel pipe fittings.  The Zappa smells a bit like pine and grass, maybe a bit herbal and perhaps a bit of citrus - pretty bold smelling.  Will be very interesting how that converts to flavors

• The beer still has a bit of krausen on the surface

• Applied CO2 to the fermenter after adding the hops to hopefully purge off some of the oxygen let in while I had the lid off
• 7/10/21 - Moved to the chest freezer to chill down to mid 30s for a cold crash.  Hooked this up to C02 at 1 psi to prevent oxygen from getting sucked in.  Once it was cold I added dissolved gelatin to clear the beer.
• 7/11/21 - Kegged today.  Flushed the keg with C02 by pushing out sanitizer.  Measured the gravity as 1.018.  The hop flavor is fruity and piney - I think it's very nice.  Saving off a couple jars of the yeast slurry for later batches
• 7/31/21 - Tasting Notes - The hop character is very strong in both aroma and flavor and I find it to be enjoyable.  It is a complex hop that creates many flavors by itself which is nice as well.  I've done a few samplings of the beer next to several fairly fresh Tree House beers and thought the level of hop character delivered by this beer was fairly close to them.  This is a hop I'd gladly use again - will try it as a component in a blend most likely.
• 8/28/21 - The keg kicked today.  Was a very good beer.  Glad to have another ready to go on tap today.

English Barleywine VIII

Memorial Day 2021 is here so it is time for another batch of English Barleywine.  This will be my eighth version to be brewed on Memorial day (going back to 2014) -  read about the previous versions: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020.  English Barleywine is a wonderful style of beer characterized by a strength on a similar level to a wine, a richness of flavor, and a deep complexity.  They are a beer that ages very well and continues to evolve in the bottle (see my 2021 vertical tasting notes).

I typically brew a different recipe every year.  This really highlights one of the great things about being a homebrewer - there is so much to explore and so many things to try.  That I'm still finding unique ways to brew a fairly narrow style of beer after 8 attempts is really cool.  

This year, I'm brewing another historical Barleywine - 1954 Tennant's Gold Label from the Shut Up About Barclay Perkins Blog.  I've brewed a few historical Barleywine from this blog and have been very impressed.  This one is interesting in that it contains no crystal malt and uses a large amount of flaked corn - this should make of a fairly lightly colored beer.  It is also fairly aggressively hopped and brewed to be over 11% ABV.

It calls for a 3 hr boil which I'm going to honor.  This should make hitting the high target OG a bit easier and will darken the beer a bit.  Will be a long brew day as a result.  I'll plan on fermenting fairly warm (low 70s), will give it 4 months on the yeast cake to finish out, and then secondary until the winter - I'm age on Brandy soaked oak this time.

Excited to be brewing again!

Recipe Details:

• Grain/Adjunct:
• 17 lb Golden Promise
• 5 lb Flaked Corn
• 2.5 lb Invert #1
• 5 oz Acid Malt
• Hops:
• 3 oz Willamette (Leaf, 5.5% AA) at 120 min
• 1.25 oz EKG (Pellet, 4.4% AA) at 90 min
• 1.25 oz EKG (Pellet, 4.4% AA) at 60 min
• 1.25 oz EKG (Pellet, 4.4% AA) at 30 min
• 0.25 oz EKG (Pellet, 4.4% AA) Dry Hop
• Yeast:
• S04 (2nd Pitch)
• Water:
• 15 gal spring water
• 2 tsp CaCl
• 2 tsp Gypsum
• 1 tsp Irish Moss
• Extras:
• 2 sticks of brandy soaked oak

Process Details:

• Batch Size:
• 6.25 gal (Target 6 gal)
• Mash:
• 149 F for 60 min
• Boil:
• 180 min
• Fermentation Temperature:
• 70 F
• Primary Duration:
• 4 weeks
• Secondary Duration:
• 4 months

Results:

• OG:
• 1.109 (Target 1.109)
• Efficiency:
• 74% (Target 68%)
• FG:
• 1.040 (Target 1.024)
• Apparent Attenuation:
• 61% (Target 76%)
• ABV:
• 9.2% (Target 11.3%)

Brewing Notes:

• 5/30/21 - Built a yeast started using 100g of DME and 1 litre of water.  Added about 1 cup of yeast slurry from a previous batch 

• 5/31/21 - Brewday - 11 AM to 6 PM - Including setup and cleanup
  
• Heated 8 gal of spring water to 180 F
• Milled my grain.  Mixed in CaCl and Corn

• Moved 6 gal of strike water to the mash tun and cycled the RIMS until the system settled at 160 F
• Stopped the RIMS and added the grain - stirred in well to eliminate dough balls.  Added another gal of water after stirring in the grain to reduce the mash thickness a bit
• Let the mash sit for 10 min prior to starting the RIMS cycle
• Cycled the RIMS for 60 min at 150 F
• Heated 11 gal of sparge water to 175 F
• Added CaCl and Gypsum to the boil kettle
• Did a fly sparge until 9 gal had been collected.  Started heating the kettle after collecting 3 gal and had it at a boil shortly after the end of the sparge.  Started the 3 hr boil
• Filled the mash tun with a second batch sparge.  Let this sit for 30 min.  Then slowly drained this into the kettle.  Was about 2 hrs left in the boil at this point - I filled until we had 10 gal in the boil kettle.
• With 2 hrs left I added the bittering hops

• Added the 90 min hops
• I cooked up a batch of Invert #1.  I used Terbinado sugar for this (along with 2 cups of water and 0.5 tsp of citric acid.  It is a bit darker than normal invert #1 but shouldn't darken the beer too much.
• Added 60 min hops
• Added 30 min hops
• Added invert with 20 min left

• Added Irish Moss at 15 min
• With 5 min left I added the wort chiller to sanitize
• Chilled down to about 75 F (which was about as cold as the tap water)
• Drained into my fermentation bucket.  Pitched the yeast as I drained

• Collected about 5.75 gal and gravity is about 1.122 - way overshot my target.  I'm going to add some water to get down to the desired OG (addition of about half a gal)
• I'm going to let this start over night without temperature control
• 6/1/21 - Fermentation is underway this afternoon 
• 6/2/21 - I've left this without temperature control and also without an airlock.  Fermentation is producing a very estery yeast aroma
• 8/1/21:
• Checked the gravity of the beer - it is 1.040.  

• It is a reddish gold in color.  It is a bit sweet and has pretty bold ester flavor.  Malt and hop flavors are prominent as well.  Tastes nice
• Transferred it to a glass carboy for aging
• Added 2 sticks of brandy soaked oak

• Added the dry hops as well
• 12/18/21 - Bottled today with 4 oz of priming sugar and a rehydrated pack of Red Star Premier Cuvee wine yeast.  The beer is malty and slightly fruity with a bit of brandy character.  Measured the gravity as 1.040.  Collected 5.5 gal of beer which netted me 54 12 oz bottles
• 3/6/22 - Tasting Notes - Bold flavors and a lot of different elements to pick out with this beer.  Quite sweet and pretty boozy.  I like the strong hop presence of this beer and the bitterness - the balance is somewhat to sweetness but the hops provide enough of a counter to make this a beer you feel like drinking rather than sipping.
• 5/28/22 - Tasting Notes (2022):
• Tasting Notes (39 of 50):
• Aroma (7 of 12):  Fruity with a sweet malty aroma.  Maybe a bit wine like.  Got a fair amount of alcohol on the nose
• Appearance (3 of 3):  Reddish gold in color.  Pours with a 1 finger head that fairly quickly fades down to nothing.  Very clear.
• Flavor (16 of 20):  Sweet bread malt and caramel up front.  This is followed by a nice bit of fruity ester character.  The finish has a bit of bitter kick that provides some balance to go along with the sweet malty character.  There is a bit of alcohol in the flavor as well but it's not harsh at all.  I don't think I'm getting any hop flavor in this one.
• Mouthfeel (5 of 5):  Medium-full bodied and fairly sweet.  Drinks very smoothly.  Has a bit of alcohol warming.
• Overall (8 of 10):  A boldly flavored and fairly sweet Barleywine.  Has a fairly simple malt profile and a restrained fruity character so not the most complex beer.  I do think it's delicious and very drinkable
• 5/28/23 - Tasting Notes (2023):
• Tasting Notes (38 of 50):
• Aroma (7 of 12):  Fruity aroma is prominent - musty and overripe dark fruit.  Has a wine-like character
• Appearance (2 of 3):  Golden and a little cloudy.  Pours with a 1 finger head that lingers around for quite a bit
• Flavor (17 of 20):  Fruity up front with a bold dark caramel malt character.  Also has a chocolate like flavor.  There is a bit of grassy and herbal hop flavor in there as well.  Fairly firm hop bitterness is balanced by a fairly sweet finish.  A bit of booze but it's well hidden  
• Mouthfeel (4 of 5):  Full bodied and a bit sticky on the palate.  Has a slight astringency and noticeable warming effect
• Overall (8 of 10):  Really nice bold flavors in this one along with a high level of complexity.  I like the bitterness and the balance it brings.  Makes it easy to drink for as sweet as it is.
• 6/1/24 - Tasting Notes (2024):
• Tasting Notes (41 of 50):
• Aroma (7 of 12):  Musty with some overripe fruit and wine-like character.  A bit of caramel and some alcohol.  Nice smells but fairly mild.
• Appearance (3 of 3):  Pours with a 1 finger head that lingers for about a minute and fades to a thin layer.  Reddish gold in color and very clear
• Flavor (17 of 20):  Sweet and malty up front - toasted bread and a dark caramel character.  A bit fruity in the middle.  Maybe a bit of chocolate in there as well.  Some hop flavor as well - grassy and herbal.  Finishes with bit of bitterness but the balance is decidedly towards the sweet malty flavors.  Get a bit of alcohol flavor but it fits nicely.  Maybe even get something like a butterscotch character out of it.  This is a very nicely flavored beer with a lot of complexity
• Mouthfeel (5 of 5):  Full bodied and drinks very smooth.  Leaves a stickiness on the palate.  Warming alcohol makes its presence known.
• Overall (9 of 10):  This is a complex and very richly flavored Barleywine.  I think the combination of flavors and balance is quite nice (happy that it has hop bitterness left to it).  I think this would be a very good example of what the style is about and (speculation here) why one might age a strong sweet beer like this.
• 7/31/25 - Tasting Notes (2025):
• Tasting Notes (43 of 50)
• Aroma (8 of 12):  Fruity ester character is prominent along with a boozy character
• Appearance (3 of 3):  Pours with a 1 finger head that settles to a ring around the glass in a few minutes.  Light reddish brown and very clear
• Flavor (18 of 20):  Caramel malt and fruity ester character up front.  It is sweet on the finish.  Very faint hop bitterness.  Booze is there but it's in the background.  It's a bold flavor
• Mouthfeel (5 of 5):  Full bodied and a bit sticky on the palate.  It's very smooth drinking.  Warming alcohol is present
• Overall (9 of 10):  This is a very nice tasting beer with bold malt and fruit character.  It has very good amount of complexity.  It's quite sweet and boozy as well

English Barleywine Vertical Tasting - 2021

The last 7 Memorial days I have brewed up an English Barleywine beer which was largely inspired by the vintage release model for the famous Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine.  One of the best things about brewing a yearly beer like this is being able to taste it over time to evaluate the impacts of aging (this is a beer that ages very well with it's sweetness and high alcohol) and then also comparing the various vintages.  Unlike the Sierra Nevada version, I am brewing a different recipe every year (or with at least some variation if the same recipe happens to be used).

As expected, I have thoroughly enjoyed doing these tastings and have found that they get more interesting every year as a new beer is added (you can read about previous vertical tastings here:  2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, and 2020).  I've resisted reading my previous reviews to hopefully give a fairer assessment of each of these beer.  The number of beers to taste becomes more and more of a factor - both for keeping the palate working properly and from an alcohol consumption standpoint.  Last year I barely made it through.  This year, for the first time, I think I'm going to have to spit out the beer (I'll drink the beer not used in the tasting at a more leisurely pace so it will not all go to waste).

I've typically been drinking half the batch of beer and then saving the other half for these tastings so I should have a good 24 years of beer for tasting each one of these batches.  I'm 42 years old so, hopefully have many, many more of these tastings in me.

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 tasted the brandy one last year so this year I'll do the plain
• Tasting Notes:
• Aroma:
• Fruity ester and caramel.  A bit wine like in the aroma. Boozy
• Appearance:
• Reddish-brown and clear.  Pours with a thin layer of foam that quickly fades to nothing
• Flavor:
• Dark caramel and sweet bready flavors along with a subtle fruit flavor.  The finish has a bit of bitterness and is countered by a hit of alcohol and a strong and rich caramel and chocolate flavor.
• Mouthfeel:
• Medium-light bodied and pretty dry.  Goes down very smooth with noticable warming alcohol
• Overall:
• Very richly flavored and complex - the finish in particular is very interesting.  The malt flavors are really the stars of the show here.
• 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:
• Fruity ester is strong - sort of overripe apple or maybe a cider.  Maybe get a bit of caramel a bit further in the background along with a bit of booze.  Maybe some honey as well.
• Appearance:
• Dark gold in color and pretty clear.  Pours with a finger of head that quickly fades to a thin ring.  Has a continuous cascading of bubbles from the bottom of the glass
• Flavor:
• Sweet bready malt with a fruity ester character - sort of apple like again.  Has a bit of bitter kick on the finish which is balanced by dark caramel flavors that linger along with that fruity ester
• Mouthfeel:
• Medium bodied with a bit of sweetness.  Fairly smooth with some alcohol warming
• Overall:
• Boldly flavored and very complex.  The finish is very nice.  Malt flavors are the star here but the ester has a fairly firm presence as well
• 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:
• Has a spicy yeast character along with a raisin-like flavor.  Also has a dark caramel and graham cracker aroma
• Appearance:
• Dark Reddish Brown.  Poured with a 1 finger head that fades down to a think layer over several minutes
• Flavor:
• Sweet bread, caramel, graham cracker and chocolate.  Pretty boozy in the finish.  Has a bitterness that is balanced by a really sweet and tasty maltiness.  Maybe has a little fruity ester in there but it is far in the background
• Mouthfeel:
• Medium-full bodied and fairly sweet.  Pretty smooth drinking
• Overall:
• Really nice bold flavors and a good complexity - very rich.  Malt really the star on this one.
• 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:
• Very fruity aroma - white wine like.  A bit of overripe fruit as well.  Maybe some honey in there as well.  Think I get a bit of bready malt aroma in there too.
• Appearance:
• Pours very clear and golden in color.  Has a 1 finger head that fades to a thin ring over a few minutes
• Flavor:
• Sweet and fruity flavor hits first followed by a light bready flavor and a small bit of caramel.  The finish is very lightly bitter and is quickly overcome by sweet bready malt that lingers along with some fruit.
• Mouthfeel:
• Full bodied and pretty sticky on the palate.  Drinks smooth
• Overall:
• Complex and interesting with some nice flavors.  Has a pleasant balance of fruit and malt
• 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:  
• Dark malt and caramel aroma - cookie like.  Light fruity ester character in there as well
• Appearance:
• Dark gold in color and clear.  Pours with a 1 finger head that is slow to fade.  Leaves some lacing
• Flavor:
• Sweet rich bready malt, some toast and dark caramel.  A bit of fruity ester in the background.  The finish has medium bitterness that is balanced by the rich malt flavors that linger for a bit.  A little boozy
• Mouthfeel:
• Medium bodied and lightly sweet.  Smooth drinking.  Warming alcohol is detected
• Overall:
• Complex with bold flavors.  Malt is the star of the show
• 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:
• Fruity ester character - overripe fruit.  Some booze in there.  Maybe a bit of caramel as well
• Appearance:
• Dark gold and very clear.  Pours with a 1 finger head that fairly quickly fades to a thin ring 
• Flavor:
• Fruity ester and sweet bready and caramel malts.  A bit of toasty flavor in there as well.  Has a chocolate character too it.  Gives the impression of sweetness.  Finishes with a medium bitterness that is balanced by rich dark malt.  Some booze in there as well.  Maybe get some hop flavor out of it as well
• Mouthfeel:
• Medium-full bodied and fairly sticky.  Smooth drinking with warming alcohol
• Overall:
• Very rich and complex beer.  Has a very nice combination of malt and yeast character
• 2020 Version:
• Overview:
• Brewed using a historical recipe for 1940 Truman Stock 1 from Shut Up about Barclay Perkins Blog
• I ended up using Vienna and Melanoiden Malts with the idea of replacing the "high dried malt" called for (may have been way off base on these).  Recipe also used a lb of Invert #3
• Used 7.5 oz of Cluster and Fuggle in this batch
• Fermented with Wyeast 1028 London Ale which is supposed to be the Truman brewery's house strain
• Tasting Notes:
• 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

So, I found all the beers to be very good this time (especially the chocolate character I've started picking up which could be either grain, oak, or age).  Putting together rankings was very difficult based on this.  The beers are all complex and have their own subtle variations.  So difficult to do any of them justice even by themselves and impossible with this many.  I find myself repeating the same descriptors which are accurate but really don't tell the full story of the differences between each beer.  Still, ranking them is too much fun to pass up, but there is a bit of arbitrariness to it.

2021 Rankings:

1. 2014
2. 2018
3. 2020
4. 2015
5. 2019
6. 2016
7. 2017

This tasting was a real endurance test for my palate and my stomach.  Even spitting out the beer this was testing my limits.  I don't think I can evaluate 8 of these beers in a sitting and give good notes let alone assess them against each other.  I think next year I'll start doing a small number at a time and apply a scoring system to them for ranking purposes.  I'm going to also drink these blind and randomized so that my knowledge of the beer doesn't have as much chance of influencing my review

Raspberry Wine (2021 Version)

Summer is just about here and we're getting close to ripening a lot of new fruit on my large raspberry patch.  I have at least 100 lbs of fruit left over from last year so, to make room for this year's crop, it is time to brew up another batch of Raspberry wine - this will be my third attempt (read about 1st and 2nd).

I'll be following the same basic procedure as the last couple times.  I'll start with 2 buckets of frozen raspberries which should get me close to 5 gal of wine, add sugar to get the starting gravity somewhere close to 1.100, ferment on the fruit, then move to a secondary fermenter with some oak for months of aging (maybe something close to 11 months).  At the end I'll back sweeten the wine, which will have dried out to below 1.000, to something close to 5 brix or 1.020 - this helps the balance of the wine quite a bit.

The last couple I've oaked at a fairly restrained level (a couple ounces).  This time I plan to up that slightly (maybe up to something like 6 oz) to see how it does with more oak character.  I also intend to shoot for a bit higher ABV than last time - maybe something more like 15% ABV than the 12-13% I got before. 

This is a pretty easy and fun process to make this wine.  Raspberry are so expensive so most people will typically water down their wine a lot more than I am here with 10lbs of fruit per gal of product.  I think using this amount of fruit creates a product with a great intensity of flavor such that it's worth the time and effort that went into growing and harvesting it.

Recipe Details:

• 54 lbs of raspberry
• 13 lbs of table sugar
• 0.75 gal of Spring water
• 5.5 tsp Pectic Enzyme
• 2 packets of Red Star Premier Rouge Yeast
• Extras
• 10 campden tablet

Results:

• OG:
• 1.110
• Post-Fermentation FG :
• 0.996
• Back sweetened FG:
•  1.020
• ABV:
• 13.79%

Brewing Notes:

• 5/29/21:
• Moved 54 lbs of frozen fruit to 2 brew buckets

• Added pectic enzyme and campden tablets to the fruit

• Dissolved 10lbs of sugar in 3/4 gal of water.  Added this equally to each bucket

• Poured 3lbs of granulated sugar over the top of the fruit to offer the fruit a bit of protection while it thaws and to also see how well it dissolves in the released fruit juice (I'm interested to see if a procedure where no water is added could work).

• Let this thaw over night
• 5/30/21:
• The fruit has thawed and reached basement temperatures (low to mid 60s)
• Stirred in the small bit of sugar that hadn't dissolved over night

• Rehydrated my dry yeast in lukewarm water
• Pitched the yeast into the fruit and gave it another good stir

• 6/19/21 - The wine fermented out pretty quickly (maybe a week) and left the solids forming a cap.  I skimmed the cap off today and transferred to a glass carboy for aging.  I added 3 campden tablet with the transfer.  Aging this with 6 toasted oak sticks (0.75x0.75x6 inches).  The gravity is 0.996 at this point.

Skimmed off lees

• 6/11/22 - Transferred this into a bucket fermentor in preparation for packaging - left a lot of solids behind.  Added 3 crushed campden tablets for this transfer.  Added 3.5 lbs of sugar to this one (did 3 lbs last time and 2.25 the time before).  Measured the gravity as 0.996.  I has a very potent flavor - sharp alcohol and pretty strong oak.  I don't think I'd want to drink this as is - hopefully the back sweetening will help.  I'll give this a month to age with the extra sugar and to drop clear again. 
• 7/24/22 - Bottled today.  Measured the gravity as 1.020.  Collected about 5.5 gal which netted me 57 bottles.
• 11/30/25 - Tasting Notes - This is a very flavorful and nice drinking wine.  The sweetness balances the fairly firm alcohol presence nicely

Dark English Mild Take III - Tasting Notes

I brewed up this Dark English Mild back in March and then kegged it in early April.  This is my third attempt at the style.  For those not familiar, as defined in somewhat recent history, it is a low alcohol, malt forward beer made to be consumed in quantity.  They are often dark and roasty but not as roasty as a porter or stout.  It is a beer you can find commercially here in the United States but you don't really get a "session beer" kind of price for them - makes so much more sense to homebrew and keg a beer like this.

I've been really enjoying this beer.  I have it on the keg with fairly low carbonation and serving at cellar temperature (12 PSI at low-mid 50s F) which really brings out the flavor nicely.  I think it's tasting great and the keg is starting to run low, so time to do a tasting.

Tasting Notes:

• Aroma:
• Smells of burnt toast with a bit of coffee.  Maybe a bit of caramel in there as well.  Very light bit of fruit character to it
• Appearance:
• Dark reddish-brown - petty clear when held to the light.  Pours with just a thin layer of head that fades to noting in a couple minutes
• Favor:
• Light roast and a slightly sweet bready malt flavor up front.  Finishes with a medium-light bitterness that is balanced by toasted and roast malt.  The roast lingers on the palate.  I don't really pick anything out that I'd attribute to hop flavor - maybe a slight herbal character to it.
• Mouthfeel:
• Light bodied and pretty dry.  Smooth drinking.  The lingering roast character on the palate calls on you to take another sip.
• Overall:
• A nice flavorful and fairly complex session beer.  It is light and easy drinking - having a couple of these in the mid-afternoon doesn't impact my ability to do some chores later which is nice.  I think it's a great style of beer and this is a very nice version of it.

American Pale Wheat Take IV - Tasting Notes

This is a recipe I've brewed 4 times now (2 in the last couple months since kegging).  It features a high percentage of Wheat and Citra Hops.  I very much enjoy the bold citrus flavors imparted by this hop.

For this batch I've gone with 8 oz of dry hop (this includes 2 oz of Amarillo) which is the most for these beers so far.  I split the hops in 2 batches:  One half at the end of fermentation (3 days) and the other half after 7 days.  On my previous batches I'd added half the hops to the serving keg.  I decided that might be causing some harsh bitterness/grassy flavor after my last hoppy beer so I opted for this new approach.

This beer has been in the keg for 3 weeks now and the hop flavor is holding up great.  I think this dry approach is very good and will use it next time.  Another potential difference from previous batches was that for this beer I purchased a small CO2 tank which I used to apply 2 PSI of gas during the dry hop and cold crash - this may have offered some extra protection from O2 that could have helped the beer - I'll also continue this approach

I can't say if this is really any better or worse than any of my previous batches or how the hop flavor compares.  I think the most I can say is if it's a good beer or not - which it is.

Tasting Notes:

• Aroma:
• Strong hop aroma dominates - is a citrus fruit (orange and grapefruit) and, a little fainter, piney character.  Has a bit of a sweet candy kind of character to it as well - also kind of reminds of overripe fruit.  Can't really pick out anything I'd call malt or yeast contribution here
• Appearance:
• Pours with a 1 finger head that fades down to a thin ring after several minutes - leaves lacing.  The beer is very clear and is a golden color
• Flavor:
• Sweet up front with a bold fruity hop flavor - citrus like the nose.  This lingers into the finish where it is balanced by a bit of bready malt character.  It has a medium level of bitterness that is then overwhelmed on the swallow by continuing hop flavor on the palate.  The flavor profile is overwhelmingly towards the hops in this beer but there is so much hop flavor that the bitterness is balanced by it  There is also a sort of vanilla like character in the mix in the finish
• Mouthfeel:
• Medium light bodied and pretty dry on the palate.  Smooth drinking without any hash bitterness
• Overall:
• Nice bold hop aroma and flavor to this beer with a good amount of complexity in the hop character.  I really like drinking this beer - the bitterness and dryness of it really call for me take another sip and to pour another pint.  Also a really easy drinking beer at 4.6% ABV.  I am pleased that the hop character has remained very strong after 3 weeks in the keg

Sour Cherry Crop - 2021

This will be my second year for 4 Dwarf North Star Cherry Trees (read about the first year here).  I got these as bare root trees and they started out pretty thin and spindly.  This was my first time attempting to grow a fruit tree but I thought the plants established themselves pretty well and was very happy to see that all 4 survived the winter.

This year will, like last year, be focused on keeping the trees growing and happy so that they can start producing a lot of fruit for me a couple years from now.  They are still pretty small and thin at this point so I've been reluctant to do any significant pruning.  I ended up cutting off some of the lower branches, those that were crossing others, and a few that were growing inwards.  I did this after they'd leafed out rather than in the winter due to uncertainty about the health of the plant.  Next year I'll opt for a more assertive pruning during the dormant winter months.

It's looking like I may get a bit of fruit this year.  There are maybe a dozen flowers between the plants.  This isn't necessarily a desirable thing, as the energy spent fruiting would be better spent growing at this stage, but it will be nice to get another sample of the fruit.  The two cherries that formed last year split before they were ripe unfortunately.

Anyway, it will be fun to watch the growth of these.  I will plan to capture monthly status on these through the season. 

9/12/21

7/3/21

6/7///21

5/23/21

4/29/21

4/7/21

Growing Log:

• 4/29/21 - I've given the trees blood meal and bone meal here since it's warmed up in the last couple weeks.  We've gotten a good rainy day in the last week so I haven't watered the plants yet.  Leaves are really coming out now.  I'm keeping them sprayed with deer and rabbit repellant to hopefully keep the leaves safe
• 5/23/21 - I've added more compost to the base of the plants and I dosed them with a gallon of nitrate rich fish tank water each.  They are growing vigorously so far this year.  I had to water them a couple days ago as there hasn't been much rain.  Gave them about a gal of water each
• 6/7/21 - Picked one of the ripe cherries (the plants grew half a dozen this year).  It is sour but also slightly sweet and has red flesh

• 2/5/22 - Did a little bit of pruning here in my second dormant season per this guide.
• 4/30/22 - Read about the 2022 growing season here