Raspberry Wine (2023)

This will be my fifth version of a Raspberry Wine (read about 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th).  This project has been great way to use up my embarrassment of riches produced by my large Raspberry patch each year.  I have been experimenting with different amounts of fruit and sugar (to achieve different ABV) as well as flavoring with spirit soaked oak to get a variety of flavors.  This year, I've decided to try some spices.

I've opted for a Coca Cola like set of spices here with vanilla, citrus, and a combination of coriander and nutmeg.  I aimed for a fairly subtle spicing level here (based on using the same spices in a Flanders Red before).  I'm hoping this melds well with the tart raspberry.

I'm using the most raspberries so far in this batch - 65 lbs.  I'm adding 12 lbs of sugar which should get me something on the order of 12% ABV.  I'm avoiding adding any water to this one to try to get as intense a raspberry flavor as possible.

I will let this ferment for a few weeks and then age in a glass carboy for about a year to mellow.  I'll backsweeten this (and sterilize with campden tablets) to end up with a sweet and still product in the bottle.

Recipe Details:

• 65 lbs Raspberries
• 12 lbs table sugar
• 6 tsp Pectic Enzyme
• 12 Campden Tablets
• 1 pack of Red Star Premier Cuvee
• 1 pack of Safeale S04 (British Ale Yeast)
• Extras:
• Zest of 2 oranges
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 0.5 bourbon vanilla bean
• 1 cup of Everclear

Results:

• OG:
• 1.092
• Post Fermentation FG:
• TBD
• Back sweetened FG:
• TBD
• ABV:
• TBD

Brewing Notes:

• 6/10/23 
• Filled two buckets with frozen raspberry which weighed out to be 65 lbs

• Added crushed campden tablets, pectic enzyme, and sugar to the raspberries.  The sugar will act to protect the fruit over night

• 6/11/23 - Rehydrated and pitched the yeast.  The raspberries had liquified and sugar had dissolved but it was still a bit cold
• 6/12/23 - Fermentation was underway by today
• 6/22/23 - Fermentation is still underway and the fruit solids have formed a surface for the wine.   I haven't done anything to mess with the fermentation this time

• 7/2/23 - It looks like active fermentation is complete.  Removed the solids and transferred the wine into a glass carboy.  Added 3 campden tablets during the transfer.

• 7/9/23 - Collected my spices in a mason jar and added Everclear to create a tincture.  Let this sit for a few weeks shaking the mix every few days
• 7/23/23 - Pitched the tincture into the secondary fermenter

Munich Dunkel - Take III - Tasting Notes

This is my third attempt at the Munich Dunkel Lager style.  It is a malt forward beer focused on the German Munich Malt.  It is a very drinkable and favorable beer that you don't find on tap very often here in the US.  So, it really is a nice thing being a homebrewer.  From previous experiences brewing this style I learned that 6 gal isn't enough - this time I decided to brew two kegs worth.  I'm thankful past me did that since current me is onto the second keg now.

The beer was made with only Munich malt and I performed a Decoction mash where you boil a grain heavy portion of the mash several times and add it back into the main mash to raise the temperature.  This darkens the beer, helps efficiency of sugar extraction quite a bit (got 85% for this beer when I was expecting 70%), and creates some malty flavors.  It makes for a longer brew day but I would do it again

The beer was hopped with Tettnanger and fermented down to 1.017 with Wyeast 2308 Munich Lager Yeast.  I have been drinking it since May.

I will definitely brew this beer again and would likely use the same basic recipe.  Anyhow, time for some tasting notes.

Tasting Notes:

• Aroma:
• Bready and malty aroma with maybe a bit of caramel in there.  Has a bit of lager yeast character as well
• Appearance:
• Golden brown and pretty clear.  Pours with a 1 finger head that fades down to a thin foam fairly quickly
• Flavor:
• Lightly toasty and bready malt character up front.  This fades into a slight bit of sweet malt character followed by a mild bitterness in the finish.  There is a bit of light lager yeast character in the mix as well.  The finish has a nice balance between malt and hop character although definitely more malty than hoppy.  There may be a slight bit of hop flavor in there as well - herbal.
• Mouthfeel:
• Medium-light bodied and pretty dry.  It drinks very smoothly and has a fairly crisp finish that urges one to take another gulp
• Overall:
• I really love the Munich Dunkel style.  I think this is a pretty good one.  The flavors are nice and it has a good bit of complexity.  It is also very drinkable and refreshing to have on tap here during the summer months

Pliny the Elder Clone - Tasting Notes

This was intended to be a clone of the famous Russian River Brewery's Pliny the Elder.  I had attempted a clone of the beer once before with unimpressive results and had thought that several more years of brewing experience would have improved my chances (I've started kegging since then for example).

I've adjusted my recipe here a bit (based on one published by Vinnie their owner/head brewer) and had some very nice bulk hops to use for it.  I hit my OG number pretty accurately so was off to a good start.  Unfortunately, I opted to use some saved yeast I had on hand which wasn't able to take the beer close to the 1.010 target (finished at 1.024 after an emergency second pitch) - was disappointing at the time but will give me a compelling reason for a third attempt most likely

Anyhow, I ended up with a very tasty beer that was a bit weaker than PTE but which probably tasted quite a bit like it (I haven't put in the effort to taste the real thing in the last couple months to say for sure).  I've been expecting a killed keg here for the last couple weeks but have been too busy to write this post.  Thank goodness for a rainy day so that I have the time and energy to capture this post before this beer is gone :)

Tasting Note:

• Aroma:
• Piney and citrusy hop aroma is strong.  Maybe there is some yeast aroma in there as well but can't really pick up any malt character through the hops
• Appearance:
• Pours with a 2 finger head.  It's golden in color and hazy.  It leaves lacing on the glass
• Flavor:
• Bold hop flavors up front - piney and citrus.  This is followed by a slight bit of malt character which then transitions to a pretty strong bitterness in the finish.  The balance is firmly on the side of the hops with just a small bit of malt sweetness in there along with lingering hop flavor.  There is a hint of alcohol in the flavor profile as well and maybe a hint of something I could imagine is yeast.
• Mouthfeel:
• Medium light bodied and pretty dry on the palate.  The firm bitterness makes this a nice drinking beer
• Overall:
• This is a boldly flavored hop forward beer.  I think the hop aroma and flavor have subsided a little bit over the almost 2 months I've had it in the keg but it's still plenty hoppy.  The haziness isn't an intentional trait here but it does look nice (if this weren't intended to be a clone of the clear Pliny).  This was intended to be a 7.9% ABV beer and I only managed to hit 6.3% but this is still a pretty strong beer - I like drinking it but it's not a beer to do 2 of on a week night.

English Barleywine X

This is my 10th attempt at brewing the English Barleywine style beer.  I have brewed one of these every memorial day since 2014.  It is a lovely style of beer focused on Malt and Yeast character and sometimes hops.  They are strong beers and are typically a bit sweet which are good features for long aging.  My intention is to drink half this batch (once it has completed a 4-5 month bulk aging period) in the winter and then to drink the other half over the next 25 years or so (1 beer a year - a gift for future Andrew).

I typically brew a different recipe each year (or at least make some modifications when I choose to re-do a recipe).  Read about my previous brews here:  2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022.  This year, I was thinking of trying to brew a clone of Goose Island's King Henry (a beer I haven't had).  The don't publish a recipe but gave some hints which fed into a recipe from a Seattle Home brew club (see here).  This was really more of a jumping off point but I used their malt bill pretty closely.

I'm shooting for a beer at about 10% this year which is strong but not providing a huge challenge for the yeast - a good strength for a Barleywine.  I've chosen to go for about 100 IBU of hops here which I'm hoping will keep a good bitterness for several years at least.  Finally, I'm using a yeast I hadn't tried yet - WLP 005 British Ale - which will give me another variable to evaluate for future recipe formation.

I've typically aged these beers with a bit of oak.  I think I'll leave this one oak-free in the aging.

Vigorous Fermentation Underway

It has been a fun and rewarding exercise brewing these beers.  Very much look forward to drinking this one.

Recipe Details:

•   Grain:
• 19 lbs Golden Promise
• 2.5 lbs Munich
• 2 lbs Caramel Wheat
• 4 oz Double Roasted Crystal
• 4 oz Acid Malt
• Hops:
• 4 oz Target (Pellet, 9.6% AA) at 60 min
• 2 oz Styrian Goldings (Pellet, 3.0% AA) at 20 min
• Yeast:
• WLP005 British Ale
• Water:
• 15 gal spring water
• 2 tspCaCl
• 2 tsp Gypsum
• 1 tsp Irish Moss at 15 min

Process Details:

•     Batch Size:
• 6 gal (Target 6 gal)
• Mash:
• 150 F for 60 min
• Boil:
• 120 min
• Fermentation Temperature:
• 70 F (Ambient Basement Temp)
• Primary Duration:
• 4 weeks
• Secondary duration:
• 4 months

Results:

• OG:
• 1.100 (Target 1.100)
• Efficiency:
• 69% (Target 69%)
• FG:
• 1.032 (Target 1.025)
• Apparent Attenuation:
• 66% (Target 73%)
• ABV:
• 9.0% (Target 10%)

Brewing Notes:

• 5/28/23 - Built a yeast starter (100 g of DME and 1 L of water).  Set this up to propagate over night
• 5/29/23 - Brew Day - 9:45 AM to 3:15 PM including setup and cleanup
• Heated 10 gal of spring water up to 180 F
• Milled my grain.  Added 1 tsp of CaCl and Gypsum to the mash (also added 1 tsp of each to the brew kettle at this time so I wouldn't forget)

Caramel Wheat - a new one for me

• Moved 8 gal of strike water to the mash tun and cycled through the RIMS until the temperature settled to 160 F.  Ended up overheating my strike water so I added some cool spring water to get the temperature down
• Stopped the RIMS cycle and added grain to the mash tun.  Stirred well to eliminate doughballs.  Let this settle for 10 min - ended up at 152

• Cycled the RIMS at 150 F for 60 min
• Heated 7 gal of sparge water to 180 F
• Fly sparged until 10 gal had been collected.  Started heating the wort after collecting 3 gal.  Had it at a boil shortly after the end of the sparge
• Added bittering hops with 60 min left
• Added Flavoring hops with 20 min left
• Added Irish Moss at 15 min
• With 5 min left I added the wort chiller to sanitize
• Chilled the wort down to 70 F

• Transferred to my fermenter - let the wort fall a couple feet to aerate.  Pitched the yeast during this transfer.

• Collected about 6 gal.  Measured the gravity as 1.100 which is right on target.
• Set this up to ferment at ambient basement temperatures (mid 60s)
• 5/30/23 - Fermentation has started very strongly - krausen pushed out the airlock (thought that might happen so I put the fermenter on a towel to minimize cleanup)
• 8/6/23 - Transferred to secondary fermenter for aging.  The beer is at 1.032 at this point.  I'm going to let it age for 4 months or so.
• 4/21/24 - Transferred to a bucket fermenter for a cold crash.  The beer is still 1.032.  I'll fine with gelatin tomorrow and plan to bottle in a week.  It has a nice balance between complex malty flavors and a firm bitterness - also quite boozy.
• 5/4/24 - Bottled today with 5 oz of sugar and a packet of rehydtrated wine yeast.  I got 54 12 oz bottles of  beer out of the batch.  I'll taste them for carbonation over the next couple weeks
• 5/19/24 - Tasting Notes - Bold flavors and a good deal of complexity in this one.  Very rich malty character here that is providing the bulk of the complexity.  I like the balance of the sweetness with the hops - makes for a fairly easy drinker - I could have two of these without palate fatigue (although would be unwise as strong as it is).
• 6/1/24 - Tasting Notes (2024):
• Tasting Notes (40 of 50):
• Aroma (7 of 12):  Malty (caramel mostly) with a bit of fruit.  Get a hint of alcohol as well.  Maybe a bit of hop in there too.  Nice smell but mild
• Appearance (3 of 3):  Pours with a 1 finger  head that lingers.  Leaves lacing on the glass.  Red gold and very clear.
• Flavor (17 of 20):  Malty with toasted bread and caramel flavors.  Get some fruity character in the middle - apple and maybe some raisin.  Net getting any hop bitterness.  The finish is mostly about the fruit character and is pretty sweet.  Get a hit of alcohol in the finish as well.  The flavors are bold and quite nice
• Mouthfeel (5 of 5):  It is full bodied and very smooth.  It is only slightly sticky on the palate.  Has a bit of warming alcohol character
• Overall (8 of 10):  I really like the fruity character of this beer.  It blends nicely with the malt and then takes over in a fairly subtle way (fruity but not extremely estery).  It is an interesting and complex drink
• 7/31/25 - Tasting Notes (2025):
• Tasting Notes (37 of 50):
• Aroma (9 of 12):  Fruity yeast ester, toasted bread, and caramel.  I get a subtle hint of booze in there as well.  It has a very pleasing smell.
• Appearance (3 of 3):  Pours with a 2 finger head which dissipates down to a thin layer after a couple of minutes.  Copper colored and very clear
• Flavor (15 of 20):  Caramel malt and light toasty flavor up front with light fruitiness.  The finish is only lightly sweet and it has a very mild bitterness which offers a fair amount of balance.  It has a slightly boozy flavor
• Mouthfeel (3 of 5):  Medium bodied and only slightly sticky on the palate.  Not exactly smooth but not harsh either.
• Overall (7 of 10):  This is a fairly dry version which is also fairly malt forward with fairly faint yeast ester character.  The flavors are nice but I wouldn't say it has that much going on.  It's pretty easy drinking with strength but a mellow alcohol character

English Barleywine Vertical Tasting - 2023

It is once again time for my yearly tasting of the English Barleywine I've brewed every Memorial Day starting from 2014.  I have been aging about half of each batch and doing one tasting of these a year to evaluate how they develop with age.  English Barleywine is an ideal style for this as they are high alcohol and sweet with helps them age and they are often malt and yeast ester forward so that they are still richly flavored even after hop character declines with a long aging period.

In general, I think this yearly tasting approach has shown that these beers continue to be very good with a lot of age if not improve.  Read about my previous tastings here:  2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022.  I plan to continue this tradition for many years to come.

I have been brewing with quite a few different recopies in my 9 beers so far.  All are focused on the core parts of the style.  Once I got to more than 6 beers I really struggled to do a proper tasting evaluation without getting really drunk and wasting the beer I worked so hard to make and store.  To avoid this I've started doing a score based evaluation of the beers.  I drink one a day blind to the details of how it's made to avoid letting that knowledge interfere with my judgement.  This has allowed me to both savor each beer and to compile some proper tasting notes.  For fun, I also rank the various beers against each other.

Anyhow, I'm excited to get to taste my 9 beers again

Tasting Notes:

• 2015 Version (Beer A)

• Overview:
• Brewed with Maris Otter, Vienna Malt and down to 2 lbs of Crystal.  Was trying for a more pale beer but ended up darker.
• Used Wyeast 1968 London ESB Ale Yeast
• Beer fermented from 1.096 to 1.006 for 12-13% ABV
• Aged with 1 oz of pre-boiled oak cubes
• Tasting Notes (34 of 50):
• Aroma (8 of 12)
• Dark fruit aroma most prominent - has a wine like character and maybe some apple.  Musty character to it - some oxidation maybe.  A bit of caramel malt in there as well.  Smells fairly strong in terms of booze.  Also a bit like a candy sweetness character.  
• Appearance (3 of 3):
• Dark gold and pretty clear.  Poured with a 1 finger head that quickly subsided into nothing.
• Flavor (14 of 20):
• Fruity flavor up front along with a dark caramel and toasted bread flavor.  Get a bit of a hit of alcohol in the middle.  This is followed by a bit of a musty and aged kind of flavor that lingers into the finish.  The finish has a mild bitterness that balances a fairly sweet character.
• Mouthfeel (4 of 5):
• Medium-full bodied and fairly sticky sweet.  There is a bit of a prickly character to the beer.  Has a warming effect.
• Overall (5 of 10):
• A fairly boozy and reasonably complex beer.  It has a fairly pleasing compliment of malt, fruit, and aged flavors.  The flavors aren't particularly bold in this one 

• 2022 Version (Beer B)

• Overview:
• Based on a historical recipe for 1954 Tennant's Gold Label.  This is the same recipe used for the 2021 version
• Used Marris Otter, 5 lbs of Corn (which is quite interesting) and 2.5 lbs of Invert #1
• Primary fermented with Whitbread Ale Yeast (Wyeast 1099) which is the Tennant strain
• Secondary ferment with Brett Anomalus (WLP 640) which is a "Yeast Vault" product which was isolated from historical English beers and thought to be prevalent in a beer meant to be aged (like this one)
• This started at 1.110 and ended at 1.020 (Brett took it down from 1.030) for an ABV of 12% ABV
• Tasting Notes (39 of 50):
• Aroma (7 of 12):
• Fruity ester character is dominant.  I'd say it's kind of tropical fruit and maybe peach.  I get a bit of caramel in the background.  Maybe a bit of oak in there too.  Some booze as well and maybe some hop character
• Appearance (2 of 3):
• Copper color and very clear.  Pours with a 2 finger head that fades down to a thin ring pretty quickly
• Flavor (17 of 20):
• Fruity ester character followed by nice caramel malt and lightly toasted bread.  There is an herbal hop flavor in there as well.  The finish has a medium bitterness which is balanced by rich malt flavor with a light sweetness.  A bit of alcohol character to it but it hides it pretty well
• Mouthfeel (5 of 5):
• Medium bodied and only a little bit sticky on the palate.  It drinks very smoothly.  Noticeable alcohol warming.
• Overall (8 of 10):
• Rich and bold flavors in this beer.  I has a great deal of complexity between yeast, malt, and hop character.  I really like the fairly firm bitterness in this one and the balance it achieves.

• 2016 Version (Beer C)

• 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 (37 of 50):
• Aroma (7 of 12):
• A bit of dark, overripe fruit along with a musty aged beer character.  Get a bit of alcohol and some caramel malt
• Appearance (3 of 3):
• Redish brown in color and very clear.  Poured with a 2 finger head which fades down to a thin ring quickly.  Continues to send up cascading bubbles for some time after the pour.
• Flavor (16 of 20):
• Bready malt and dark caramel up front.  A little bit of fruit in there but its fairly subdued.  There is also a bit of chocolate flavor in there.  Maybe some herbal hop too.  It finishes with a medium bitterness that is balanced by a slight sweetness.  Maybe getting a bit of oak in there too.
• Mouthfeel (4 of 5):
• Medium-full bodied and just a bit of stickiness on the palate.  Has a slight astringency.  Pretty drinkable for a big beer.
• Overall (7 of 10):
• It's a boldly flavored beer with good complexity.  Malt is the star of the show with this one with hops coming in second and fruity yeast ester a fairly distant third.  It's a nice beer

• 2018 Version (Beer D)

• Overview:
• Brewed using a historical recipe for Eldridge Pope's Hardy's Ale from the Shut Up about Barclay Perkins Blog
• Used a mix of 2 Row and Maris otter, 3.5 lbs of Flaked wheat, and 1.5 lb of crystal
• Used Nottingham yeast and, per instruction, allowed it to ferment in the 70s.  It was an agressive fermentation which produced a very strong and estery aroma.  The beer didn't turn out to be overly estery fortunately.
• Fermented out to 1.030 from 1.105 for an ABV of 10-11%
• This was the most aggressively hopped beer so far (7.5 oz of low alpha acid English hop in the boil) with an IBU target of 84.  Was very bitter just after fermentation but this had settled to a nice balance after 6 months of aging.
• Tasting Notes (37 of 50):
• Aroma (7 of 12):
• Some fruit and an almost spicy character (almost like candy).  Booze.  A bit of caramel malt in there as well.  
• Appearance (3 of 3):
• Dark brown and very clear.  It pours with a 2 finger head that lingers as a thin layer for several minutes
• Flavor (16 of 20):
• A little fruit up front followed by dark caramel and toasted bread.  Maybe a bit of graham cracker in there as well.  It has a boozy kick in the middle.  The finish has a medium bitterness which lingers and is balanced by a rich malt flavor with just a hint of sweetness.
• Mouthfeel (4 of 5):
• Medium bodied with just a slightly sticky mouthfeel  Has a very slight astringency.  Slight alcohol warming
• Overall (7 of 10):
• This is a fairly complex beer with a mostly malt forward character.  Flavors are pretty bold.  I enjoy the balance of it with some hop bitterness remaining.  Tastes like a very strong beer.

• 2019 Version (Beer E)

• Overview:
• Brewed using a historical recipe for Eldridge Pope's Hardy's Ale from the Shut Up about Barclay Perkins Blog
• Used a mix of 2 Row and Maris otter, 4.5 lbs of Flaked wheat, and 1.5 lb of crystal
• Used WLP 099 Super High Gravity which is supposed to be Eldridge Pope's house strain
• Fermented from 1.120 to 1.010 which is a crazy 16% ABV
• Hopped with 8.5 oz of Fuggle
• Aged with 1 oz Cabernet soaked Toasted Oak
• Tasting Notes (40 of 50):
• Aroma (7 of 12):
• Light fruit flavor - overripe dark fruit and maybe apple.  Musty.  A bit of caramel malt and maybe some toasted malt in there as well
• Appearance (3 of 3):
• Copper colored and very clear.  Pours with a 1 finger head that fades down to a thin ring after a few minutes
• Flavor (17 of 20):
• Fruity up front followed by a rich dark caramel and toasted bread flavor.  The finish has a medium bitterness and a firm and bold malt flavor which lingers.  It's lightly sweet in the finish.  It also has a chocolate kind of character to it.  A bit of booze in the flavor profile as well.
• Mouthfeel (5 of 5):
• Medium full bodied and a bit sticky.  Drinks very smoothly
• Overall (8 of 10):
• This is a nice boldly flavored beer with pretty good complexity.  It has a nice balance between fruity and malt flavors (and leans a bit more towards the malt).  Has a nice bitterness which balances the finish nicely.

• 2021 Version (Beer F)

• Overview:
• Brewed using a historical recipe (1954 Tennant's Gold Label) from the Shut Up about Barclay Perkins Blog
• Kind of an unusual beer in that it uses a large amount of Corn (5 lbs).  Also uses 2 lbs of Invert Syrup which is the first time I've used it for one of these beers.
• Used Willamette hops for bittering and East Kent Goldings for flavor
• Aged the beer with 2 oz of brandy soaked oak
• Fermented with S04 while the beer called for Wyeast 1099 Whitbread strain.  I'd understood S04 was a Whitbread strain but may not be quite the same as 1099
• Tasting Notes (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 noticable 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.

• 2020 Version (Beer G)

• Overview:
• Brewed using a historical recipe for 1940 Truman Stock 1 from Shut Up about Barclay Perkins Blog
• I ended up using Vienna and Melanoiden Malts with the idea of replacing the "high dried malt" called for (may have been way off base on these).  Recipe also used a lb of Invert #3
• Used 7.5 oz of Cluster and Fuggle in this batch
• Fermented with Wyeast 1028 London Ale which is supposed to be the Truman brewery's house strain
• Tasting Notes (39 of 50):
• Aroma (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

• 2014 Plain Version (Beer H)

• Overview:
• Brewed with Maris Otter and 3 lbs of assorted light crystal malts.  I was hoping for a light colored beer - got a bit darker than I'd hoped.
• Fermented with S04 and Nottingham
• The beer fermented all the way down to 1.016 from 1.101 which is 11-12% ABV
• Tasting Notes (40 of 50):
• Aroma (10 of 12):
• Fruity (raisin and apple maybe) along with a musty character.  Wine like.  Some caramel malt in there as well.  Has a bit of a spicy character as well and a candy like sweetness.  Pretty bold aroma.
• Appearance (2 of 3):
• Reddish brown in color and clear.  Pours with very slight bubbling that fades immediately.
• Flavor (16 of 20):
• Fruity and caramel malt up front.  Also has something like a maple syrup flavor.  There is a mustiness in the flavor.  Get a bit of booze in there as well.  Only the tiniest bit of bitterness to it.  The malty and musty flavors linger on the finish.
• Mouthfeel (4 of 5):
• Medium bodied and only lightly sweet.  It has a slight astringency.  Noticeable warming alcohol.
• Overall (8 of 10):
• Complex and bold flavors in this one.  This is an enjoyable beer to drink.

• 2017 Version (Beer I)

• 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 (42 of 50):
• Aroma (9 of 12):
• Fruity and oaky.  Also has a bit of a mineral character.  Also get a bit of caramel malt.  Has a musty character
• Appearance (3 of 3):
• Dark gold in color and very clear.  Pours with a 2 finger head that quickly fades down to nothing
• Flavor (18 of 20):
• Fruity up front followed by a strong dark caramel flavor.  Has a chocolate note to it.  Has some herbal hop flavor and a medium bitterness.  The finish has a nice balance between bitter and sweet malt character.
• Mouthfeel (4 of 5):
• Medium-full bodied and a bit sticky on the palate.  Smooth drinking.
• Overall (8 of 10):
• Very bold flavors in this one and a good amount of complexity in the interplay between malt, fruit, and hop character.  This one is very nice to drink.

So, the rankings this year are as follows:

• 2017 (42)
• 2014 (40)
• 2019 (40)
• 2020 (39)
• 2022 (39)
• 2021 (38)
• 2016 (37)
• 2018 (37)
• 2015 (34)

So, 2017, which was the lowest scoring beer last time, gets the high score this time and 2015, which got a respectable 38 from me last time gets a 34 this time.  The first beer got my lowest score and the last beer got the highest score (maybe my scoring approach wasn't good this time or maybe it was bad last time) - 2017 tasted damn good is all I can say.  Anyhow, this is one more data point and that's all.  

This was a very enjoyable 9 days

English Barleywine (2022 Version) - Tasting Notes

These are tasting notes from my ninth attempt at an English Barleywine.  I brewed this on Memorial Day 2022 based on a historical recipe from the Shut Up About Barclay Perkins Blog.  This beer underwent a a 9 month secondary fermentation with WLP 640 - Brett Anomalus which was isolated from English beers and thought to be a contributor to the original beer this recipe was based on (Tennant's Gold Label).  My 2021 batch used this recipe as well but without the Brett so it will be interesting to see how the two compare.

It has been in the bottle for about a month and a half now and tasting great.  Time to do an official testing.

Tasting Notes:

• Aroma:
• A fruity character is most prominent - it is a sort of musty and maybe somewhat tropical fruit flavor - very interesting.  This is the Brett based on the smell of the culture at pitching.  In the background I get a bit of caramel and bready malt.  Maybe a bit of booze in there as well.  Also so oak character.
• Appearance:
• Pours with 1 finger of head that quickly disappears down to nothing.  It is a dark copper color and is pretty clear.
• Flavor:
• Up front there is a fruit-like flavor this fades into a bready caramel flavor.  There is a bit of herbal hop flavor in there as well as an oaky and wine like character (some of it is sort of reminiscent of coconut even).  The finish has a medium-light bitterness that offers some balance to the slightly sweet malty flavors - these linger quite some time after the sip.  A bit of booze flavor in there as well but it's hidden behind the other flavors
• Mouthfeel:
• Medium bodied and slightly sticky on the palate.  A little bit of astringency on the palate and a slight alcohol warming effect
• Overall:
• This is a rich, boldly flavored, and complex beer.  The fruit character is different than any I've gotten from a traditional English yeast.  The yeast and malt flavors get along very nicely in this beer.  It is a strong beer but it's easy to drink due to the balance provided by the hop bitterness that remains almost a year after brewing

Sour Cherry Crop - 2023

 This post will track the continued maturation of my 4 North Star Dwarf Sour Cherry trees over their 4th season (read about Season 1, Season 2, and Season 3).  I've never felt like I was very good with plants so it has been a real pleasure to watch these trees grow from twigs to be 8-10 feet tall on my watch.

I got about about 2 lbs of fruit last year - enough to get a good sense for the quality of the fruit.  They are very dark and seem to me to have quite a bit more rich cherry flavor than the more famous Montmorency Sour Cherry.  Here in the fourth year I stand to get a lot more than that (maybe enough to make a beer out of).  I didn't do any trimming this winter - I'll have to keep my eye out with any problematic growth

They should continue to grow stronger this year if I treat them right - looking forward to watching this happen.

6/2/23

5/20/23

4/17/23

Growing Notes:

• 4/16/23:  Cleared away the weeds from the trunks of the trees.  Have a lot of flowers this year.  Even without fruit the trees are worth having for how they make for a very beautify yard picture:

• 6/7/23 - I've been picking for the last few days and there is a lot more to go
• 6/30/23 - The fruit is just about done.  Ended up collecting 8 1 gal freezer bags worth which weigh 39 lbs