Barleypopmaker's Beer Blog

Firebrick

Today’s choice is August Schell’s Firebrick Vienna lager. Vienna Lager is one of my favorite lagers to drink, but there really are not too many of them out there. Vienna lager is one of the beers that is complex in its simplicity, if that makes any sense. The malt profile should be soft, yet flavorful. What is commonly misunderstood, is that caramel flavors are not appropriate in this style or in Oktoberfest. If you don’t believe me, take a look at other review sites and see how often they review Oktoberfest or Vienna lagers with caramel tones and give it high marks. Sure, the beer may taste good, but if you are evaluating it against what the brewer says it is, you need to pay attention to the parameters of the style. If caramel is not not appropriate, or hop aroma is not appropriate, you cannot give the beer an overall score of an A+ if the brewer states its a Vienna lager. You can however, note in the overall impression that you liked that flavor, but it should not be shown in this style of beer. Make sense? 

Vienna lager and Oktoberfest fall under the same major category, European Amber lager with Oktoberfest being the slightly larger brother of the Vienna Lager style. With that, lets take a peak at this beer. 

The aroma is quite clean, with a real nice Vienna malt character. Toasty and slightly nutty aroma. The malt aroma here is very nice, with not much in the way of hop aroma. There is a bit of sweet malts in the aroma as well. I don’t think it is strong enough to detract much, but it is borderline. Nice clean malt profile. (7 points) 

The color is a rich coppery color, with very good clarity. The head poured was small, but dense and long lasting. (3 points) 

The flavor is quite good. A nice toasty malt flavor with some mild sweetness. There is a touch of hop bitterness. and a slight citrus note, that is not appropriate. The bitterness balances the malt very nicely and the lingering toasty malt finish is my favorite aspect of the flavor. All in all the flavor is quite good, and the only thing inappropriate is the citrus flavor, even though it is light. (10 points) 

Mouthfeel  is medium light, with a nice creamy feel.  Carbonation is good. (4 points) 

Overall I think this is a very good Vienna style beer, but has some minor stylistic faults. The citrus in the flavor is not per style, but does not make for a bad beer, its just not right for the style. I think the best quality is the lingering malt finish, which is pure toasty Vienna malt. Vienna lager should be Oktoberfest’s little brother and I think this beer fits that bill.(6 points) 

In the end the score is a misleading 30 points, which would equal about a C+. The beer is actually better than my grade indicates. The reason is because I scored the flavor so low because of the inappropriate citrus flavor. But in the end the beer is quite drinkable.

Beer Taste Wheel (Can Be Downloaded on Beer Evaluation Page)

Since this beer blog’s main focus is the evaluation side of beer culture, I just realized I never posted anything on sensory training, and how one could do this at home on their own. I do want to say that in order to taste beer, you don’t need any special training, you already have all the tools you need with your eyes, nose, and tongue; you just need to listen to them and trust what you perceive. However,  it helps a great deal to take a BJCP course (or other course like it), and take the test to validate your skills, especially if you want to judge competitions. But all that aside, I have met people with no formal training who could identify flaws and evaluate beers like no other, and the other way around. However, if you want to hone your skills, practice, or simply learn exactly what Diacetyl tastes like in beer, or how oxidation tastes, you can doctor beers to help teach yourself what these flaws or beer attributes taste like.

In some cases, you already have an idea of what you are looking. For example if you have ever had microwave popcorn with butter flavor, you will have a idea of what Diacetyl is like. Diacetyl is butter flavor that is used in a lot of artificial butter microwave popcorn. If you have ever made a spit ball and chewed paper to get it wet, you have an idea of what flavor would be in the beer for a stale or oxidized beer. But the way the flavor or aroma interact with the beer and various other flavor components can throw you off a bit. So this is where this type of training really comes in handy, and you can do this at home by yourself, with some friends, or in a homebrew club.

When doing this doctored beer lab, I find that some newer people even have a hard time detecting any difference in the concentrations given. So don’t be afraid to bump some of them up a touch for your first time through. The idea is to be able to detect these levels, then over time you can reduce the amount used to see how low you can detect the difference. It is best to first do labs like this with a beer like Budweiser or Miller, basically a very neutral low flavor and aroma beer. You taste an undoctored sample side by side with one where you have put in an additive. As you progress, you can try to doctor other beers with more flavor and aroma to see how the flavor and aroma components interact and change with the stronger malt or hop flavor and aromas of other styles. Many people just stop at the Budweiser sampling when they get a feel for what “sour” is. I suggest at least doctoring a few more intense beers with the same concentration just to see if you can detect it.

Below is the recommendations for doctoring beer from the BJCP Exam Study Guide, this is a basic lab that covers the major flaws in beer. The BJCP also sells a sensory training kit, if you are interested you can buy one there http://www.bjcp.org.

This is just the basics, you can use other additives to taste for different flavors, for example you could dry hop various hops to see the affect they would have on the beer. Get creative and you the possibilities are endless. For example, if one had the time, they could make small batches of beer without hops, that accentuate specific types of malt. You could also make a basic base beer with a light malt profile, and hop it with a single hop type to learn what type of bitterness, flavor, and aroma each hop adds to a beer.

For a lot more on this topic, I highly suggest Tasting Beer, by Randy Mosher or for even more advanced (and a much drier read) information, Evaluating Beer.  As always when relating to this subject, the BJCP website is a good source of information as well, and its free.

Garde Dog, a Bière De Garde

I am a bit excited to try this one today for one reason. I have never had a commercial example of Biere De Garde. Biere De Garde means to Beer that has been kept, or stored. This is because traditionally, Biere De Garde was a French Ale, brewed in early spring, then kept or lagered in cool cellars until the warmer summer months. Biere De Garde can be either blonde, amber, or brown. Just by pouring this, i am assuming this to be the blonde variety. Also, from those I know who have had traditional examples of the style, each ale usually has a “house” flavor from the cellaring where it is stored. I don’t think this beer will have that character but we will see.

In the aroma I find that toasted malt is the dominant aroma, followed by some mildly floral hop character. Aside from the toast, there is some spicy tones to the beer, which I am not sure if it is from the hops, rye, or yeast but I am suspecting from the use of the rye malt. There is an underlying peachy sweetness. I do not detect any real cellared character or funkiness. Just a good solid malty brew. (9 points)

The color is a pale gold and quite clear. The head was quite thin and dissipated quite quickly. This style should have a good amount of head. (1 point)

The flavor is quite full of toasted malt as well. Some fruity esters, again similar to peaches, and a slight hop bite. The hop flavor is slightly herbal and the rye lends a spicy note to it. I feel the beer finishes out a bit too sweet. For the style, the malt balance is nice when compared to the hops. It definitely takes to the front lines, but lacks a bit of depth I would look for here. I get quite a bit of toasted malt, but not much else. I know that this is the paler version of Biere De Garde, but a bit more depth would make the beer a bit more interesting. The spicy and herbal character are my favorite. They linger long into the finish and taste quite good to me. I do think I get t touch of alcohol here, but at only 5.5% I am thinking it is more the herbal tones than real alcohol here, but I am sure the alcohol is playing a small factor.  (14 points)

The mouthfeel is medium with some high carbonation. No astringency. Overall the feel is very smooth and velvet-like. (4 points)

Overall this is a very good beer, but is lacking some depth in the malt arena. I think the toast character is nice, and the spicy/floral/herbal tones are very nice. But a bit more complexity, even in this paler version, would have been nice. Still, I think it’s an easy drinking beer with some definite high points. One other nice touch would have been to dry out the beer just a bit more. I my perception, I felt if finished out a bit sweet. (7 points)

In the end, I gave this beer a 35 which is a very good beer, or a C+ to B- in my opinion. Per the style the beer fits quite well, but is lacking some depth and minor tweaks that would make this an excellent beer in my opinion.

Hops

Ahhh, hops. Every brewers friend. It balances sweetness with it bitterness. It adds flavor and aroma to many styles of beer. Even in beers where you may think there is no hops, chances are it is there in the background providing just enough bitterness to prevent the beer from appearing sweet, even if there is not much hop aroma or flavor. But the focus on hops is almost always the Alpha Acids, and to a much lesser extent the beta acids. Since the focus of this article is not on those two components, I will only briefly brush through their role in hops before I hit on the main topic of my posting, co-humulone.

Almost all the matter that benefits beer is found in the lupulin in the hop cone. You can easily identify lupulin in the hop cone as the yellow powdery and slightly sticky substance under the cones of leaves (see picture below). The alpha acids, which when isomorized in the boil, contribute bitterness to the beer, as well as some mild preservative qualities because of their antiseptic properties as well. The Beta acids also contribute a slight bitterness, however, since they don’t isomerize, but rather become soluble through oxidation, high amounts of beta acids can contribute to off-flavors such as a vegetal aroma for example. This lupulin also has the other oils and resins that contribute flavor and aroma as well as co-humulone.

Lupulin

So why is understanding co-humulone important? By understanding what it does, you can control the type of bitterness your beer has. If you have ever had an IPA with say 60 IBU’s (International Bittering Units) that you just loved, but then had another that was stating it was also 60 IBU’s but you found the bitterness quite off-putting, it could have been the co-humulone level of the hops used in each beer. In short, it is the level of co-humulone in the alpha acids that will dictate the type of bitterness the beer will have. Higher co-humulone hops tend to have a more bracing or harsh bitterness, while lower levels of co-humulone tend to have a softer more rounded bitterness. Think Amarillo, and the type of bitterness it provides compared to Chinook.

So here is where you can really start to have fun with recipe formulation and playing with hop varieties. I consider lower co-humulone levels to be that of 25% of total alpha acid, anything below 20% I consider to be quite low. Most of you nobel hop varieties fall in this range (15%-25% co-humulone), but some American varieties, some of the newer varieties in particular fall in here as well. See the bottom of the post for a list of low co-humulone US variety’s of hops.

Now there is some debate on if co-humulone really affects the type of bitterness. From my personal experience, it does. I have brewed a few IPA’s using the traditional Chinook, Cascade, Centennial, and other “traditional” American hops, and I have made IPA’s using the newer varieties like Amarillo, Glacier, Simcoe, and Horizon. I found that I prefered the newer varieties as opposed to the traditional. I never knew why until I discovered the effect co-humulone level has on bitterness.

I do have to say though, that if you are brewing for competition, it may be a good idea to add a small amount of higher co-humulone hops to the boil. The reason is that judges, and other beer geeks, have come to expect a certain type of flavor and bitterness when it comes to American IPA’s. I have found that all low co-humulone IPA’s seem to be described as “not having the bitterness expected for an IPA” and such. I don’t really think that is the case, but rather the bitterness is more well-rounded and not as sharp. My low co-humulone IPA’s are quite bitter if you pay attention, it’s just the bitterness is…..different. But keep that in mind if you enter one in a competition.

Below you will find a link to a hop data sheet, you can use this to research hop varieties from the US, UK, Germany, and other countries. These data sheets are helpful for finding a particular hops alpha acid, beta acid, and co-humulone range as well as getting aroma profiles, primary usage, and alternatives if you can’t get that particular hop near you. Below that I listed the low co-humulone American hops I know of.

Hop Union Hop Data Sheet

US Low Co-humulone varieties

• Amarillo
• Citra
• Glacier
• Crystal
• Golding
• Hallertau
• Horizon
• Mt. Hood
• Santium
• Simcoe
• Tettnang
• Vanguard

I am excited to say that I have decided to add some new content to this blog. Very shortly I will begin interviewing Wisconsin craft brewers. I have a list made of the breweries and am gathering my contact information for all brewers I want to interview. I do have my first interviewee, David Oldenburg, the brewmaster at Titletown Brewery. Dave should prove to be  great interview. While at Titletown Dave has won both a Silver Medal in the 2008 Great American Beer Festival (GABF) for their Railyard Ale, a Düsseldorf altbier and a Bronze in the 2009 with Dark Helmet which is a Schwartzbier. The date and time need to be finalized, but I am shooting for early February to get together with Dave. A few other brewery’s I am going to try to line up are Hinterland, Stone Cellar, Hops Haven, as well as some larger craft brewers like Furthermore, Lakefront, and New Glarus just to name a few. Hopefully I can schedule interviews with everyone on my list and keep this idea going.

Great Divide Belgica

There is a little joke in the homebrewing community that sometimes when someone screws up a beer, they just call it a Belgian, because many times the flavors in that style are unique to the type of yeast used. Maybe also sometimes wild fermentation of the sour beers can leave some novice brewers to believe that if wild yeast or bacteria get hold of their beer, they can call it a Belgian whatever, and that’s OK. I’m sure that is not what Great Divide did, but a Belgian IPA made me think of some I have tried in competition that were obvious contaminated IPA’s that the brewer was trying to pass off as Belgian. I do want to go on record as saying that a screwed up beer and Belgian style beer are not one and the same at all. So,  with that little story out of the way, lets get on with the review.

As you may have noticed, I added two easy links to the right side of the page. One is to the full guidelines from the BJCP with all the beer styles, you can download this PDF to your computer or print it out if you want to have access to these at all times. I also added a link to a scoresheet so you can see what criteria I am using and scoring system. There is no Belgian IPA style so technically this is a specialty beer. And as I pointed out in past entries, you need to identify the base style (in competition the brewer needs to specify what the base beer was) and what the special technique, ingredient, or other aspect that makes this beer a specialty beer. A quick look at Great Divides website leads me to believe that I should treat this as an IPA with Belgian yeast used (even though they used Belgian Pilsner malt, its mostly the yeast that will add the Belgian Character) So it looks like they tried to take  Belgian Pale Ale and combine it with an American style IPA.

In the aroma there is a nice blend of Belgian yeast derived phenols. It’s cloves, spicy, and slightly peppery. I get some floral and grapefruity citrus hop aroma as well.  Malt wise the beer offers what I call a clean sweetness. Not quite corn-like but not much in the way of toast, caramel, roast, or other typical malt aroma.  I think the blend works very well here, but would like a touch more hops in the aroma. This bottle is just a bit weak in hop aroma for an IPA, but hop aroma does diminish with age. (8 points)

The color is a straw yellow with some very good clarity.  It poured a very nice head with some great lacing.Color seems bit low for both an IPA and Belgian Pale. (2 points)

The flavor is interesting. The beer is mildly sweet up front and finishes dry. What is interesting is the blend of Belgian yeast flavors with the grapefruity hop character. There is also some mild fruitiness, almost pear-like which softens the grapefruity bite. The malt flavor is slightly grainy, with some crusty bread flavor. Yeast wise, I am not a fan of the combination with the bitterness from the hops, but I can see its appeal that some may like. The hops and yeast flavors take center stage though without a doubt and the malt just barely supports the other flavors. As the beer warms, I also got some alcohol which was not in the aroma. (13 points)

The mouthfeel is medium/light with some higher carbonation, which leads to a bit of acidic feel. (4 points)

Overall, I have to admit that right off the  bat I really didn’t enjoy the beer. But, when evaluating a beer you sometimes need to look beyond if you like the beer or not, and look at the beer subjectively instead of objectively. If you look at what the brewer was trying to do, I think they did a good job of blending the two styles in a way that showcases what they intended to. Each beer style within this beer, was brewed well and had all the key components. Some fruitiness, yeast derived phenols, hop flavor/aroma/bitterness, and was fairly well balanced. I would just think a bit more IPA and touch less Belgian in this style would have been a bit better. (7 points)

For a Belgian IPA I score this beer a 33, which would be in the B- range if you were to try to put a letter grade on it.

If I were to put a personal twist on the review, I would say the spice from the yeast is odd with the hops, and does not work for my taste. But you can’t do that in judging, sometimes you have to put your personal feelings aside and look at what the brewer accomplished. There are times you are stuck judging styles you don’t particularly like, and often those are the best categories for you to judge. You tend to put personal taste or aroma preferences aside and pay closer attention to what the guidelines are for that style. They may not be as fun to evaluate or judge because you don’t like the style, but often those are the ones you leave the most subjective feedback.

Homebrew Competition

A friend of mine from our homebrew club, The Manty Malters, has produced some very fine beers lately, and I keep telling him that he should be entering these in competition. First of all, he will get some great outside feedback aside from members of the club, but I am confident he will be taking some awards. At our holiday party this past weekend he was telling me he would like to send beer off, but is unsure about how to package and ship his beer for competition. So, this post is for Brian, and others like him who may be a bit unsure about how to send beer in to competition.

First, you need to find a competition to send to . There are two spots you can look that I know of. First is the Homebrewers Association competition calendar, and second is the BJCP Calendar. You will have to look at the specific rules for each competition because not all competitions are open to all categories of beer, and some are club only competitions. Club only competition means your club needs to be a member of the AHA to enter.

What competition you enter is important too. For the best chance at getting great feedback, regardless of winning a ribbon or medal, you want to enter a large competition or one with a great reputation. Smaller competitions are great too, and each will have some great judges. However, usually (but not always) the smaller competitions also have limited numbers of judges and many times some beers are judges by inexperienced or non-trained judges. But on the flip side, your chances of winning a medal or ribbon (if that is all you are looking for) are better with a small competition. After all, a decent beer has a better chance of placing in a competition where your category has 5 entries, compared to a larger competition where you may be up against 18 to even hundreds of other entries. But a win in a large competition just feels so much better. For some of us though, as long as you get solid and honest feedback, that is what we are looking for.

So, now that you found a competition and made sure the beer you are entering fits the category you are entering (This is very important. You want to make sure you read the guidelines and enter your beer where it fits best. You may have set out to create a dry stout, but if it is sweet you are better off entering it as a sweet because that is what the beer is.), you are ready to ship.

Being a shipping clerk and working in the shipping and receiving industry for 17 years, has given me some insight into how to ship these bottles with the least chance of breaking, while still not costing an arm and a leg. I will run this down for you here, then give detailed description on how I pack for competition or trades. The trick is to prevent the glass from hitting each other, double bag the beers (I will explain why later), and pack the box tight so there is no play inside the box at all. The box should feel like a solid mass with no internal movement. If you follow those rules alone, your beer will make it to its destination safely.

Attach Label

First you want to attach the proper label as required by the competition. You are not allowed to have any markings on the bottle or the cap, so you need to affix the paper label with a rubber band. I also suggest making sure the beer is not cold when attaching the label because the condensation can make any ink you use, run, or make the paper so wet it will rip.

Wrap it with foam, bubble wrap, or newspaper.

Next you want to wrap the beer in a layer of foam, bubble wrap, or newspaper just enough so that if two bottles do make hard contact, they will not clink together or make any sound.

Wrapped tight

As you see, you want enough foam or wrap to make a nice barrier. I also leave enough at the top and bottom to protect the neck and bottom. To hold it in place you can use any type of tape.

1st bag.

Now for the bagging. You want to use this first bag as a catch-all for when the carrier handles the package too rough and it does cause some breakage. The foam will help prevent the glass from cutting the bag (as long as you can foam inside the bag first)if it breaks, and the bag will help contain the beer.

2nd bag

Now here you can do it one of two ways. You can bag each bottle in two bags, or do as I have done and place a few bottles that have been placed in smaller bags, in one large ziplock bag. What this does is give you an additional layer of leak protection. If UPS or FedEx (Never ship beer USPS to competition) detects any leaks, your package will be stopped right there. So this way, even if you have breakage, your package will get to the destination.

Layer large shipments

If you are sending many bottles, you will want to place a large layer of foam in the bottom, then place a layer of bottles. On top of that, place more foam, then your next layer of bottles. You also want to make sure that the sides, front, and back are all packed tight too. In this picture, there is a layer of 4 bottles below this, then a layer of foam, and a partial of two bottles here.

Pack it tight.

Last, you want to make sure you pack the box tight with foam. You want to force the top down so that you can pick up the box and shake it, there should not be any movement. I can tell you that FedEx and UPS handle packages a lot rougher than you think, and putting a glass or fragile sticker on the box does little for how they handle it. So pack it very tightly, that is your best protection. If there is no movement inside the box, you will be fairly safe, and foam and bubble wrap are cheap. So don’t be afraid to use them. Newspaper works good too, but can easily compress. DO NOT EVER use packing peanuts. These allow heavy items to settle and there is a lot of movement allowed by packing peanuts. These are best used for lighter items in bigger boxes, but should never be used for heavy or fragile items.

I hope that helps with how to ship beer for competition. If you have any questions, feel free to comment.

O'Fallon's Cherry Chocolate Beer

Today I will taking a look at O’Fallon’s Cherry Chocolate Beer. I picked this up simply because the label appealed to me. For some reason the label made me think about my childhood and those sodas we would get at the holidays. I guess you could call it an impulse buy.

When doing a fruit, vegetable/spice, wood aged, or specialty beer you always need to know the base style. Seeing as this is a fruit beer, I went looking for what the brewery says is the base style. For O’Fallons, all I could find is that they say it’s a dark wheat beer, so I am assuming the base is going to be a Dunkelweizen, but in reality that could mean a darker American wheat as well. But for sake of evaluation I will go with the Dunkelweizen. With that, lets take a look at it.

The aroma is dominated by artificial cherry that reminds me of maraschino cherry. The chocolate follows closely behind, and is the artificial chocolate flavor I talked about in the post “Chocolatizing Your Beer“. Behind that is some toasted malt, but not much else that I can pick out. I don’t get much in the way of dunkelweizen, not even any of the esters or phenols you should get in the wheat beer. Still, I don’t exactly think that was the goal. If I had to describe this beer to anyone as simply as possible, it just smells like a cherry cordial you just bit into. The cherry and chocolate are a bit overdone and artificial for my taste. (5 points)

The color is a muddy brownish read, and it poured a decent head. The head disappears quite fast. The beer is quite cloudy, probably from yeast which was in the bottle. (2 points)

The flavor is not far off from the aroma. It’s not as sweet as the aroma suggests though. The cherry is artificial in flavor and reminds me of drinking the juice from the maraschino cherry jar. The chocolate is muddled in a dry and candy-like impression in flavor only (without the cloying sweetness of candy). Think of chocolate flavored hard candy and that is the type of chocolate flavor we are dealing with here. Together the two flavors remind me of chewing on the last bit of a cherry Tootsie pop, and this is even more clear in the aftertaste. The good news is there is some toasty malt flavor that is picked out with some careful attention and there is definitely some low hop bitterness. The bad is that aside from some toasty malt, there is not much support for the wheat beer side of this beer. The beer may be a bit better with some real cherry and some type of real chocolate or use malts to get the chocolate character. Very rarely do flavorings cut it when they are the focal point of the beer. (9 points)

Mouthfeel is medium-light, with some slight powdery astringency sensation in the mouth. (3 points)

Overall, the beer is not bad and pretty drinkable. The only negative points I have is the artificial aspect of the beer. The cherry and chocolate are both artificial in both the aroma and flavor. It is sad really, because both flavors are easily added to beer with real ingredients and the results is so much better. To me, this comes off more like a cheap novelty than a serious go at a specialty beer. Still, in the end the beer is avoids being so sweet you can’t enjoy it. It is drinkable, and aside from stating on the website it was a dark wheat, the label is quite honest about what it brought to the table. (4 points)

In the end, I score this beer a 23 which is equal to a C or C- in my book. The artificial parts of the beer just don’t do it for me. So its OK, but nothing to really rave about.  Is it really a fruit beer then? Or more a chemical beer? You be the judge.

     There are some brewers who take great pride in not brewing to any particular style, and I think there is nothing wrong with that. There have been times that I have just brewed a beer for sake of brewing something I think would taste good, with no particular style in mind. I think many brewers have done the same. But there are those who think style guidelines or beer styles are not needed or a waste of time. This point of view I do disagree with and here is why.
     Without style guidelines, a brewer has no target to make a desired product. Sure you can brew anything you want, but it is much easier to give your audience a preconceived notion of what they may be buying or drinking. For example, if I were to hand  you a bottle of beer and tell you it is a Bavarian Heffe, chances are you will have a general idea of what to expect. If I handed you a bottle of beer and said, “here try this” and then tried to describe what it is, sure you may get an idea of what to expect, but how do you convey this message as quickly and efficiently as possible? By grouping the beer into specific named category, the consumer knows what is expected of the beer in general.
     Even if you are brewing for fun and brewed a beer with no style in particular, how you tell a friend what the beer is like when you hand it to them? If you are like most brewers I know you will say something like “Well, its like a porter if you put a German twist on it by combining a porter and and weizen.” Well you may not have brewed to style, but used beer styles to tell your friend what you either were shooting for, what you ended up with. Like it or not, style is helpful in brewing to help communicate general assumptions.
     I feel I am very forgiving when it comes to style when I am simply drinking a beer, but when judging a beer or drinking a commercial beer that is listed on the label as a specific style, I am looking for that beer to be within the description of that style. I couldn’t buy a Pontiac Vibe and tell you its a Dodge Viper so why would I accept that in a beer? In competition you need to be fairly strict on style, but be forgiving in an informal environment. That’s just my take.
     Here are some guidelines links for anyone interested.
Brewers association Style Guidelines
BJCP Style Guidelines

     Now just for fun, let me tell you a story on what inspired me to write this post. Back in September I judged in the largest homebrew competition in Wisconsin, and was paired up with another judge who I ended up having a very rough session with. Rank is not a a sign of judging quality but it can be a gauge of experience. I learned that this guy took the exam several years ago and at this point was an apprentice or recognized, I don’t recall offhand but either way I was the senior judge at the table. All seemed pleasant and he stated he was excited to be judging Oktoberfest beers seeing as it was his favorite style. “I consider myself sort of an expert on this style.” he said.
      So all was going horribly once we started the flight. He hated every beer at the table and we spent a long time on each beer arguing over almost every beer. Beers that did not fit the style well, he scored high and others that were OK he scored low. In one particular beer he was trying to tell me the caramel character in this beer is OK for the style and that hop aroma is appropriate. Hmmm, you tell me (Oktoberfest Style Guidelines).  Finally as thing were obviously starting to get a bit more heated, he says to me, “Well, obviously you are not familar with the American Oktoberfest style, which this beer obviously is.”  Aside from thinking in my head that he was a pompous ass,  I proceeded to remind him how judging works and you are supposed to judge the beer according to the guidelines set forth by the BJCP, and the category that the person entered the beer in, another judge stepped in and asked to taste the beer in an attempt to settle our dispute. Well, needless to say he agreed with me that the beer was not in style according to the guidelines. The moral of the story is that style guidelines are there for a reason. To have a set description to grade or compare a beer to. In competition, or any blind evaluation you cannot take liberties and change what you feel a brewer was trying to do. If the brewer gives you a beer and tells you its a stout, and it pours a fizzy yellow and has no roast to it at all, you cannot judge it as a different style against other stouts just because you feel its more like  a pilsner.

A beer geek, a beer snob, and a beer nazi walk into a bar. The beer geek orders a cream ale and the snob snorts, rolls his eyes, then asks for an IPA. All this time the Nazi walks out because the bar does not carry Sierra Nevada harvest ale and we all know that if a bar does not carry any Sierra Nevada its just not worth the time.
I was working on a post about this topic when my latest edition of Beer Advocate magazine came to my door. Inside was a very nice article about the very subject I was going to post on, so I deleted it. But now I thought, why should I not post my article on the matter just because someone else did it? After all, this blog is not a professional outlet, just my take on beer, brewing, and beer culture. So I thought I would go ahead with the post anyway.
For those in the know about beer, I am sure you have come across all types of beer enthusiasts of all different levels of interest and knowledge. But in my eyes there are three basic types of beer lovers, you have the beer geek, the beer snob, and the beer Nazis. Each has his or her qualities that make up the beer community and have an impact on beer culture. Let me cover the three types.
The beer geek, is someone who not only knows a lot about beer and/or brewing, but also understands that each beer has its place and like them or hate them, even the American lagers are a style to be appreciated for what they are. Websters defines a geek as: An expert or enthusiast especially in a technological field or activity. So in the beer world, a beer geek would be one who may be a self-proclaimed expert in beer, beer styles, or brewing. In my eyes it’s an enthusiast who has taken the time to try to learn as much as they could about beer and styles, and even though there may be beers or styles they are not fond of, they can respect the beer for what it is.
A beer snob is someone who thinks that any particular beer, brewery, or style is the best or maybe specific beer types, such as low alcohol beers or American lagers are not worth their time or inferior because basically they don’t think they are real beers. Snobs can be hard to get along with, but they usually do show a passion for beer. Many people today proclaim themselves as beer snobs, and refuse to drink anything other than extremely hoppy or very high alcohol beers. Anything less is not “in your face” enough for them. This is OK, but in all honesty they are missing out on the whole picture.
A beer Nazi is by far the worst. They take snobbery to a whole new level and think that only barleywines are good beers, or only beers from their favorite brewery are worth drinking, or if it doesn’t have 20 pounds of hops per barrel then the beer is crap. What separates the nazi from the snob is the strength of their convictions based upon their supposed knowledge of beer or brewing.

I think we all know at least two of these types of beer lovers. I’m not saying that if you are a beer snob, then you are a big jerk or anything like that, but I often wonder how one can truly claim to be a beer lover, enthusiast, advocate, or whatever and completely alienate a beer based on what style it is, who made it, or how extreme it is. After all, shouldn’t we be appreciating a beer for how good it is? How well it was brewed? And in some cases how true to style it is? I like to think so, but I know there are some who beg to differ and think that the envelope should be pushed at all times.
Personally, I can appreciate that, but more often than not I just want to enjoy a good well crafted beer regardless of how extreme it is, or who made it. Heck, I grew up on Bud Light, Michelobe, and Bush and once in a great while I get a craving for it. Sure it’s not my beer of choice and you probably will not find them in my fridge, but it’s not because I think they are crappy beers. They are just not what I usually want. After all, who wants a McDonalds hamburger when you have easy access to nice ribeyes for only a few cents more?
In the end, all I am suggesting is that it is OK to have a favorite brewery, a favorite style, a favorite beer, or a favorite type of malt, ect. But as a beer lover, I ask that you try to take a look at the whole picture and open your mind up to all the potential styles, flavors, and aromas that beer has to offer. I know most of you realize that a cream ale, or American lager can be tough to brew. There is not much flavor or aroma to hide behind, so you do have to respect that these brewerys can make a consistent product that is very tough to produce. I’m not saying you have to drink them all the time, but if your buddy offers you a Budweiser or Michelobe Amber Bock, don’t snort at him and turn your head to his offering. Try to look on the bright side and drink the beer for what it is, then go home and crack open that Imperial IPA

Stay tuned for Part 2, A segment on Beer Styles.

My Homegrown Hops

I am a huge fan of the technique called “Hopbursting”. I first discovered the yet to be named technique in 2006 on a general discussion of the possibility of eliminating the bittering hop addition, and instead using massive quantities of hops at the end of the boil. A few guys tried it and really seemed to like the results, so I then also brewed my first beer with all late additions in September of 2006. Most of my IPA’s and Pale Ales since the discovery of this Hopbursting technique, have been done this way with what I feel are outstanding results. I will provide a few of my own recipes at the end of this posting, two will be pale recipes and one smoked IPA recipe.
First let me explain what Hopbursting is. The technique is simple, you just increase your charge of hops and deliver them all to the boil within the last 20 minutes of the boil. The thought is that bitterness is imparted to some degree during even a short boil, and this is true. I have made some very nice IPAs with all my hops added in the last 15 minutes. They are nicely bitter and the aroma and flavor are bright and pleasing. I also find the bitterness to not be as bracing or harsh and seems to have a more round and soft character. The thing to not be confused about, is hopbursting is not just simply adding a large charge of aroma and flavor hops, ALL hops are added during the last 20 minutes. There are no 60 minute additions. You can probably get away with adding 30 minute and still calling it hopbursting, but the original technique adds them all within the last 20 minutes. As an example, in my smoked IPA recipe I add 7 ounces of hops all within the last 10 minutes of the boil.
So what are some the benefits of hopbursting? First and foremost, this technique gives you the bright and clear hop flavor and aroma that many people look for in a good IPA or American Pale. You can achieve these results without dry hopping, that of which I am not a personal fan of. Although I do enjoy dry hopped beers from time to time, I find the hop flavor to be a bit more grassy and raw than I like.
Another advantage is the bitterness I spoke of. If you don’t enjoy the harsh or bracing bitterness that some IPAs have, but yet yearn for intense hop flavor and aroma, then this is the technique for you. As I explained before, I find the bitterness to be more rounded and pleasing to the palate. The flavor also seems to shine more, where in traditionally hopped beers, the flavor seems to take a back seat to the bitterness. Don’t get me wrong, you will still see a good deal of bitterness, but it just won’t have the same feel to it.
Every technique has some disadvantages, and hopbursting has them as well. One disadvantage is that you lose more wort to absorbtion. So increase your wort volume based on how many extra ounces of hops you use. Also, hops are not all that cheap (but getting better again) so more hops will equal more cost. Another thing to consider is that if you don’t have a false bottom or good way of straining the wort, you will have a lot more hop matter to clog your spigot. One last thing I can think of to consider is your PH. If you measure your PH, remember that a high PH can make your beer appear more bitter than what it is. So with more hops, can come more bitterness than you want if your PH is too high. So pay attention to that.
All those things considered, Hopbursting is a good way to move more into the realm of hop flavor and aroma, instead of the just intensely bitter IPA’s. Below are some of my favorite recipes that I hopburst, and these all have turned out quite good. Keep in mind that the IBU’s for hopbursted beers probably appears a slight bit lower than what is listed. I also list the estimated OG and FG instead of my measurements.

Brass Monkey Pale Ale (My First Hopbursted Beer)
5 Gallon Batch

10.00lb   Pale Malt (2 Row)  US (2.0 SRM)
1.00lb     Caramel Malt – 10L  (10.0 SRM)
1.00lb     Victory Malt (biscuit) (Briess) (28.0 SRM)
2.00oz     Chinook [12.80%] (10 min)
2.00oz     Amarillo Gold [8.40%] (5 min)
0.40oz     Chinook [12.80%] (0 min)     -
1 Pkgs     US-05 or WLP001 or Wyeast 1056     Yeast-Ale

Single Infusion Batch Sparge

Mash in with 15 quarts of water at 165.9 degrees F. Mash for 60 Min at 154.
Batch Sparge with 4.75 gallons of water based on equipment.

Ferment at 62 degrees until done. No need for secondary.

Est. OG=1.60
Est. FG=1.014
ABV=6%
IBU=42.4

Land of Lincoln Pale Ale (This beer has taken a 1st and 3rd place medal in competition)
5 Gallon Batch

10.00 lb     Pale Ale Malt 2-Row (Briess) (3.5 SRM)
1.50 lb     Victory Malt (25.0 SRM)
0.50 lb     Munich 10L (Briess) (10.0 SRM)
1.00 oz     Columbus (Tomahawk) [16.10%] (15 min)
0.50 oz     Columbus (Tomahawk) [16.10%] (10 min)
1.00 oz     Cascade [5.30%] (5 min)
0.20 oz     Glacier [5.60%] (5 min)
1.10 tbsp     5.2 PH Stabilizer (Mash 0.0 min)
1 Pkgs     US-06, WLP001, or Wyeast 1056     Yeast-Ale

Mash in with 15 quarts of water at 165.9 degrees F. Mash for 60 minutes at 154 degrees. Sparge with 4.75 gallons of water per your equipment.

Est. OG 1.050
Final 1.012
ABV 4.5%
IBU 41

Emperor’s Hand IPA (Smoked American IPA) and Juniper IPA
5.5 Gallon Batch

Please refer to my home roasting post to get the instructions on how to make the home roasted malts.

12.00 lb     Pale Ale Malt 2-Row (Briess) (3.5 SRM)
1.50 lb     Gold Malt (home roasted) (20.0 SRM)
1.00 lb     Amber Malt (home Roasted) (22.0 SRM)
1.00 lb     Copper Malt (home roasted) (100.0 SRM)
1.00 lb     Deep Amber (home roasted) (60.0 SRM)
3.00 oz     Simcoe [13.40 %] (10 min)     Hops
4.00 oz     Amarillo Gold [8.90 %] (5 min)     Hops
1.00 oz     German Saphire [4.11 %] (0 min)
1.00 tbsp     5.2 PH Stabilizer (Mash 0.0 min)
1.00 items     Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min)
1 Pkgs        (DCL Yeast #US-05, WLP001, or Wyeast 1056 (chico strain)

Mash in with 20.63 quarts of water at 168.2 degrees F. Mash for 60 minutes at 154 degrees. Sparge with 4.5 gallons of water per equipment.

Ferment at 62 degrees until finished. No need for secondary.

OG 1.067
FG 1.016
ABV 6.26%
IBU 62.7

For Juniper IPA I added 1 package of Juniper berries soaked in 1 1/2 cups 170 degree water for 15 min. I added water and all. (Note – next time add Juniper to primary after fermentation is complete, or rack to secondary and add berries and water) Let sit for 2 weeks on berries.

Celebration Ale from Sierra Nevada

OK, let’s get this out of the way first off. If you see this bottle and think you are going to be buying a traditional festive winter warmer or Christmas ale, you will be sadly mistaken. If you know anything about Sierra Nevada, you will know they specialize in hoppy beers. Their Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is the primary exemplary style example for an American Pale Ale. Their Harvest Ale is one of the top 5 IPA’s that has ever crossed my lips. So it goes without saying that Sierra Nevada’s Celebration style would be nothing less than a celebration of hops. And it is, this American IPA style will work well for the hop heads, but those seeking spicy Christmas beers, or malty winter warmers will need to look past this one.

The aroma is classic cascade hops, with the white grapefruit citrus character. There is some pine and floral aspects to the beer as well. Although the malt does not take the center stage, it is also not off the stage. There is some mild bready malt, a little toasty malt, and small amount of caramel. All in all the aroma is fairly well balanced with a bit of leaning towards the hops. Some DMS is detected as the beer warms, small amount though. (A quick note about balance: Balance in beer does not mean that the malt and hops are equal, but rather balance refers to how the two support each other. A beer that is in balance may have more hop character than malt, but if the malt stands up to the hops well enough to prevent the beer from becoming unpleasantly hoppy, the balance is there. Same hold true for the reverse and other flavor characteristics. Balance refers to overall interplay between ingredients. ) (8 points)

The color of this beer is a thick copper with some haze. The haze is probably due to the dry hopping process which is where the brewer adds hops to the fermentor after primary fermentation has taken place. The hop oils can cause the haze. The long-lasting head is dense and rocky. (3 points)

The flavor is soft and malty, yet pleasantly bitter. The rounded softness from the malt is toasty and slightly sweet. There is also a nice caramel edge to it. The hop flavor is grapefruity up front and full of sticky resinous pine in the center. This gives way to a lasting bitterness that fades away slowly, the whole while you not only feel the bitterness but taste the hops. For an IPA, this flavor is full and quite honest. There is a lot going on, but nothing real subtle. I like that. (16 points)

The mouthfeel is medium and creamy. There is enough carbonation to work the palate and leave you wanting a  bit more. There is some mild astringency, but I attribute that to the hops. (4 points)

Overall the beer is quite good and worth picking up for the hopheads. However, there is nothing special about it that would lead me to tell you that you just have to go out and try this one. It is a well put together American IPA with a simple and honest (yet pleasing) flavor profile. I happily drink this beer, but yet wish there was a bit more about it to get excited about. After all, this is the Celebration Ale, they only offer it at this time of year. Give us a bit something special. (7 points)

39 points falls into the B+ or even A- category for me. Although a very good IPA, I wish for a special season offering it had a bit more appeal to set it apart from the rest of their beers. One things for sure, this beer is much better than Torpedo.

Like many other aspects of brewing, there is more than one method to achieve a specific end result. You have the Extract vs. All Grain methods (and those in between), dry yeast vs. liquid cultures, fly sparging or batch sparging (or even now sparge methods), and so on. So when it comes to adding chocolate flavor to beer, it should come as no surprise that brewers use various methods to impart chocolate character to  their beers. In this posting I will discuss my favorite method, which I have been using for years with great success, using roasted cacao nibs.

To add a distinct chocolate character to beer, brewers use roasted malts, cocoa powder, bakers chocolate, bar chocolate like dark chocolate,  cacao nibs, chocolate flavoring, or a combination of these. I have had beers that used all of these methods and some are better than others in my opinion. Out of these, the worst is the use of bar chocolate and Baker’s Chocolate. To make the chocolate into a bar, the manufacturer uses cocoa butter or other fats to bind the chocolate. You do not want these fats and oils in your beer, not only does it affect head retention, but fats go rancid fairly quickly. Chocolate flavoring can be OK, but many times it does not give you the chocolate character that goes well with beer. Most chocolate flavoring gives you a sweeter milk chocolate or chocolate candy flavor (maybe you remember Frederick Miller Classic Chocolate Lager from Miller Brewing Co).  The use of Cocoa Powder is pretty popular, but in all honesty still tastes like cocoa powder in the beer, but it can work. The use of malts to impart chocolate is probably the best, but can sometimes be tricky to really get that chocolate character you may be looking for. For, me the use of Cacao Nibs gives you the distinct natural bitter-sweet chocolate flavor and aroma, non of the fats, and does not give you that cocoa powder flavor.

Here is what Cacao Nibs look like.

Cacao Nibs are chocolate at is roots. They are the roasted and broken up pieces of the cacao bean. You do need to find the roasted nibs, and not raw. There is a difference. There are several vendors that sell Nibs, and I prefer these.

Scharffen Berger Cacao Nibs

You can add the nibs to the end of the boil for a small amount of chocolate flavor and aroma, or add them to either the end of the primary or in the secondary fermentor. The best way that I have found to impart the most the character from the nibs is to soak them in vodka for 24 to 72 hours prior to adding them. You use just enough to cover the nibs amount you want to use. For example, if you use 6oz for a batch of beer, the amount of vodka it takes to the cover the nibs in a small container is not enough to alter the ABV by anything you can detect by taste or smell. You do add the nibs and vodka to the beer. Just remember, only add enough to cover the nibs, no more than that.

So why the vodka you ask? Because there are volatile components to the chocolate that are not soluble in water. So for better extraction of the flavor and aroma qualities of the nibs, you need a medium like alcohol to draw them out. Vodka is neutral enough to do the job, while not affecting flavor or aroma in the small amount used for a 5 gallon batch of beer.  Another benefit is that the vodka is high enough in alcohol to sanitize the nibs prior to adding them to the primary or secondary fermentor.

So does it work? Yes, I have a special recipe I will share with you that I have done well with in competition. The extract version of the beer and the all grain version of this beer have both won awards. The all grain version also lost by only 4 votes in a “Best of the Fest” people’s choice award at a brewfest against 30 commercial brewers and one other homebrew club. The issue with this beer you can expect if you enter it in competition is that it is what I call a tweener beer. It is too dry to be a sweet stout, too sweet to be a dry stout, and does not fit in the oatmeal stout category well even though there is some oats in the recipe. But one fact remains, this is a very good people pleasing chocolate stout.

The 501st Vader's Fist Chocolate Stout

The 501st Vader’s Fist Chocolate Stout (All Grain Version)

Batch Size= 5 gallons

6.00 lb Pale Ale Malt 2-Row (Briess) (3.5 SRM)
2.00 lb Munich 10L (Briess) (10.0 SRM)
1.25 lb Chocolate (Briess) (350.0 SRM)
1.00 lb Caramel Malt – 60L (Briess) (60.0 SRM)
1.00 lb Oats, Flaked (Briess) (1.4 SRM)
0.25 lb Roasted Barley (Briess) (300.0 SRM)
1.50 oz Fuggles [4.10%] (60 min)
1.00 oz Fuggles [4.10%] (30 min)
1 tbsp 5.2 PH Stabilizer (Mash 0.0 min)
6.00 oz cacao beans (Secondary 7 days)
1 Pkgs US-05, Wyeast1056, or WLP001

OG=1.054
FG=1.013
IBU’S=33.5
SRM=40.5
ABV=5.3%

MASH INFO:
Single infusion/Batch Sparge/Full Body
Mash in with 14.38 quarts of water at 174. Should equalize to 156 degrees. Mash at 156 for 60 minutes.

Batch Sparge twice with 2.5 gallons of water at 175 degrees.
Boil for 60 minutes using the hop schedule listed in the ingredients section.

Add Nibs to primary after fermentation has ended, do not rack beer to a secondary. Just add the nibs to the primary fermentor. 2-3 days before adding them, soak the nibs in just enough Vodka to cover the nibs. Then dump them in, vodka and all, let sit on the nibs for 7-10 days max, 3 to 4 days seems about right. Add Milk Sugar if preferred.

501st Vader’s Fist Chocolate Stout (Extract Version)

6.60 lb LME Dark Traditional (Briess) (8.0 SRM)
1.00 lb Chocolate (Briess) (350.0 SRM)
3.25 oz Fuggles [4.10%] (60 min)
1.00 oz Fuggles [4.10%] (25 min)
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min)
6.00 oz cacao beans (Boil 5.0 min)
1 PKG US-05, Wyeast 1056, or WLP001

(For 5 gallon pot) Bring 1.5 gallons of water to 158 degrees and place grains in pot, place cover on pot and allow to steep for 30 min. Remove Grains and Sparge with 1 gallon of Hot Water in a strainer. Bring water volume to 4.0 gallons. Bring Water to boil and add LME and EKG hops.  Add Sterling Hops at 30 min in. Then Add Irish Moss with 15 min left in boil. Cool and add top-up water to fermentor as needed to reach 5 gallons. Soak nibs in Vodka for 2 to 3 days and add nibs and vodka to primary after fermentation slows allow to sit on the nibs for 7-days. If you have the ability to do full boils, add your usual water volumes for a 5 gallon batch.

If you have any questions, don’t be afraid to ask.

Raftman by Unibroue

Raftman is a Specialty ale with a base style of Belgian Pale Ale. What makes this beer unique is that it is brewed with smoked whiskey malt. What exactly that means as far as flavor goes, I have no idea. I have never experienced any non-distilled beverage brewed with Whiskey malt. If you recall from other Specialty ales we looked at, you will remember that the main focus of the judgment is based on the play and balance between the base style and what the special ingredient or brewing method is. This will be unique for me, because I am not familiar with what character whiskey malt brings to the table, but I will see what may prove different from other Belgian Pales I have had.

The aroma has that traditional Belgian yeast phenolic aroma. Spicy and inviting. There is some floral hops in the aroma as well as some sweet fruitiness. I wouldn’t say there is orange or pear, but it is a light and airy fruit. The malt profile is slightly toasty but more bready. Not much smokeiness carrying over from the smoked whiskey malt, you really have to search for it. But it becomes a bit easier when the beer warms. Overall, good phenolic character to the beer, but the lacks any special appeal. (7 Points)

The color is a semi-clear copper with a good deal of frothy and rocky head. The head disappeared fairly quickly. (3 points)

The flavor seems a bit thin to me. The malt profile is weak but has some biscuity character as well as some toast. Hop flavor and bitterness is low, but the hop flavor does come through nicely thanks to the weak malt profile. Again, the smokiness from the whiskey malt is extremely low. I had to really search for it, which sometimes leads me to wonder if it is really there or do I just want it to be there. There is an underlying fruitiness, and this time it is pear-like. The phenols are spicy and slightly peppery, and just at the level I enjoy (which is on the lower end of the scale). There is some low  initial sweetness, but the beer does finish dry which makes it easy to drink.  All in all the flavor is OK, but just seems to fall short of anything spectacular. (11 points)

The mouthfeel is a bit watery and too light for a Belgian Pale Ale style. There is no astringency or other odd feel to the beer here. ( 3 points)

Overall, the beer is just a bit too watery and does not showcase the smoked whiskey malt as much as I personally feel it should. There was nothing in the beer that brought my attention to anything different suggesting it was brewed with any smoked whiskey malt, or any other specialty ingredient for that matter. The phenol and ester profile fo the beer is good and at a good level. It’s just too thin and lacks any special character. (5 points)

I score this beer a 29, which is at the high-end of the “Good” scale. This would be a C+ in my opinion. It’s a drinkable beer with some good points, but just does not deliver what I feel it suggests.

Leinenkugel's Red Lager

Leinenkugel’s Red Lager is a Vienna Style Lager. In Wisconsin, this beer is affectionately called Leinie’s Red, and is a fairly popular beer. Not quite as popula

r as New Glarus’ Spotted Cow, but popular non-the-less. Although I feel Leinenkugel’s often caters to the masses with most beer being either very bland or over flavored with artificial flavors, they do have some good offerings. I have yet to find an outstanding beer, since they stopped making No

rthwoods Lager, but when they come out with something new, usually you do want to give it a try. A few of Leinies that I do enjoy are 1888 Bock, Creamy Dark, and Leinies red. This bottle of Leinies Red was donated to me, but I wouldn’t  mind having a few in the fridge for visitors because it may not be the best Vienna lager, but it’s not bad.

The aroma of this beer is very clean. There is a nice toasted malt character to the beer, with very little spicy hop presence.  In all honesty there is not much to the aroma other than the toasty malt character with some underlying  melenodian aroma. In sort is smells like a very small bock. There is no caramel aroma in this beer, but many times people mi

stake the toasty vienna malt for caramel character. If you pay close attention and think of how caramel smells, you will notice that this aroma is a bit different.

This is a very pretty beer. It pours bright and clear with a nice rich reddish amber color. It pours a nice head that lasts for several minutes.

The flavor is where the beer falls just a bit short.  The malt profile matches the aroma and although the malt flavor is soft, it is just a bit too small in my opinion. There is a slightly sweet aspect to the beer, but it does finish dry, as it should. The hop bitterness is just barely enough to balance, but it does its job. The Vienna malt flavor is very evident in the finish and fairly pleasant. The only thoughts I have on the flavor is that it could be just a bit bigger in malt side. Not very much, but just a touch more. The components are nice, just too small.

The mouthfeel is medium, but on the lighter side of that. The small addition of malt would bring that feel more into the medium range. All other aspects of the beer feel right on.

For a Vienna lager, I feel that this beer is a very good example of the style. It is clean and has the toasty quality that you should see in a Vienna Lager. The melenoiden character is nice and he hops are sitting where they should be for this beer style. The only downfall of the beer is that it is a bit small on the malt side. Although all the flavor and aroma components are there, they are fairly small.

In the end, I generously score this beer a 34 which is a very good example of the beer. A 34 would be a B- in my book.

     Roasting your own grains is an awesome way to add another personal touch to your homebrew. I love roasting my own malts and even make my own crystal malt from time to time. It is so easy, and all you need is an oven and some time. Roasting your malts doesn’t take more than 45 minutes at the most, excpet for crystal malt. Be aware that I have found from my experience that roasting your own malt seems to reduce the amount of sugars you get, but maybe it’s just me. But it also adds some awesome malt flavor so I am happy with the trade, just use a touch more base malt, no big deal. I have made several beers using only home roasted malts for the specialty grains. Granted, you don’t have the consistency of professional malts, but you have added more home-made factor to your beer. For more on this topic or how to do your own crystal/caramel malts I suggest buying Randy Mosher’s Book Radical Brewing, which is where I based my roasting methods off of.

• For Pale Gold Malt (est. 10 L), which has a nutty but not toasty flavor, roast your base malt for 20 minutes at 250 Degrees F.
• For Gold Malt (est. 20 L) that is malty, caramelly and rich but not toasty roast your base malt for 25 minutes at 300 degrees F.
• For Amber Malt (est. 35 L) that is Nutty, Malty, and lightly toasty roast your base malt for 30 minutes at 350 degrees F.
• For Deep Amber Malt (est. 65 L) that is nutty, toffee-like; with some crisp toastiness roast your base malt for 40 minutes at 375 degrees F.
• For Copper Malt (est. 100 L)that has a strong toasted flavor with some nutlike notes roast your base malt for 30 minutes at 400 degrees F.
• For Deep Copper Malt (est 125 L) that has a roasted, but not toasted flavor; roast your base malt for 40 minutes at 400 degrees F.
• For Brown Malt (est. 175 L) that has a strong roasted flavor, roast your base malt for 50 minutes at 400 degrees F.
• For Crystal/Caramel Malt soak 1-2 lbs of pale 2 row in just enough water to cover plus about an inch (make sure you use distilled, filtered tap, or spring water). Let soak for a few hours, but no less than 2 hours and no more than 24, I soak for 3 hours. Then Put grains into a pan and keep grains about 2″ deep then place into a preheated 180 degree oven (make sure you have a probe thermometer in the oven and not to let the temps inside the stewing grain to go above 160. If they do reduce your ovens temperature) for 1 1/2 hours. Then spread out grain into 2 separate pans and make sure the grains are no more than 1″ deep. Then increase temperature in over to 250 and let bake for 2 hours or until dry. Then if desired remove from oven for light crystal, or use the roasting guide above to create your own darker versions of crystal malt. Personally I like the 350 degrees for 45 minutes for a sweet roasty crystal malt. Experiment with 1lb batches and see what you like. I find that 1.5lbs is perfect, 2lbs seems to take way to long to dry.

Dogfish Head's Burton Baton

Today I have cracked open Dogfish Head’s Burton Baton, I believe this is a beer I got in a trade with simplybeer. This beer you would judge under the wood aged beer category with the base beer style being Imperial IPA.  I have been very excited to try this one because the only other notable wood-aged IPA I have had that I liked was Hinterland Brewery’s Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial IPA, I think you can only get it on tap when available. I don’t like that Hinterland’s website doesn’t really showcase their beer though. I think they have good stuff. They should model their site after  Titletown brewery’s site. They are also a restaurant and brewhouse, but at least the website showcases their award-winning beer. Come to think of it, I should make a trek up there to officially review some of their awesome beers. Ok, I digress, let’s get underway with the review.

Off the aroma is the distinct aroma of my favorite hop, Amarillo. I don’t know if they use large quantities of it or I’m crazy, but I would bet a paycheck on there is Amarillo in there. To me Amarillo comes across like sour pineapple with a hint of lemon. I love it and use it all my homebrewed IPA’s. So that sour pineapple and lemon comes through for me first, and it is bright and fresh. In the malt side, the dominant aroma is sweet caramel, with just a small amount of toast to it. I don’t get much in the way of traditional oak aroma, but there are some vanilla tones that you usually get from oak aging. Surprisingly, for a 10% beer I don’t get much alcohol. Overall the aroma is fruity, sticky, and sweet. I like it.  (9 points)

The beer is a thick copper color with a nice strong head to it. It is also quite clear. A very nice looking Imperial IPA. (3 points)

The flavor is quite complex and has a lot going on. Let me see if I can break it down effectively. First, up front I am tasting some sweet caramel and oak. Not much in the way of a citrus hop flavor that matches the aroma, but there is some hop bite to this beer. Mostly it is a grapefruity flavor from the hops instead of the sour pineapple, and the bitterness you get is nice and soft, not harsh. There is some toast, vanilla, and rich malty flavors right in the middle. In the end, as there is some bitterness fading you get the alcohol, and a lot of it. Here is where that 10% is hiding. As you breath, you get that boozy quality you get from a good scotch, but I like this a bit better. The sweetness cuts the alcohol just enough to make it enjoyable, but not so much as to make the beer a syrupy mess. This is a top-notch beer in my opinion. The flavor is complex and interesting, but there are enough major points sticking out so the whole experience does not become muddled. (18 points)

The mouthfeel is full and slightly chewy, as would be expected in a big beer. The hop bite gives the beer the initial feel of a medium/full or medium body but if you pay close attention you can feel the fullness of the beer. (4 points)

Overall, I feel this is an excellent meld between the wood and the Imperial IPA. This beer has become a favorite of mine. The aroma is bright and fresh as a good IPA should be, with just enough malt and other components to make the aroma interesting and draw you in. Then the flavor hits you with this almost overwhelming complexity, until you really experience the flavors. Then you can easily pick out the major flavors and play around with the more subtle underlying and supporting structures. Although I probably couldn’t drink many bottles of these, there is no way I would pass up on drinking this again. The only gripe I could muster would be that the aroma and flavor don’t seem to match up, but to me it doesn’t matter. (9 points)

I score this beer a 43, which is a solid A. I don’t score too many in te 40’s at all, and this one easily fits my 40’s criteria. It meets the style with no flaws, is bold enough but yet not over the top, and for this type of beer in particular, is complex enough to be interesting and not so overdone that you have a hard time finishing the glass. I feel this beer is easily a world-class example of an Oak Aged Imperial IPA.

Rustic Ale

Rustic Ale is an American Amber Ale from Capital Brewery in Middleton, Wisconsin. I really used to like the beers from Capital, and they still have some winners, but as of late it seems they have been going the way of the middle-of-the-road brewery with less than exceptional beers. They are just a touch better than Leinenkugel’s, whose beers are always middle of the road, or overplayed up as far as adding artificial flavors to the beer. Apple Spice or Fireside Nut Brown anyone?  But regardless, I have heard some good things about Rustic Ale and decided to give it a shot. So here is the review.

The aroma dominated by toasted malts, with a slightly sweet caramel character. Some breadyness is in there as well. There is a very low citrus hop aroma, and at first I didn’t really get any hops at all. Most American ales have a bit higher hop presentation than this one, but according to the guidelines hop aroma can be moderate to low, and this one is low. Perhaps even a bit too low. Although I like the malt presentation quite a bit, the beer would be better with just a touch more hops in the aroma. If they are trying to keep that low, they may have overdone that aspect in my opinion. 8 points

The color is a bright coppery hue. Although the description on the website states that the beer is cloudy, this beer in my glass is fairly clear. It poured a decent dense 1/2 inch head. Fairly good retention.  3 points.

The flavor is a bit thin. There is some toasty malt and some light caramel in the malt presentation as well as some nice citrus hop flavor. But there is also a prickly sensation from the carbonation. It is almost seltzer water-like. There is a dry feel to the beer as well. The beer is not bad, just not what I am expecting. The malt profile and hop bitterness seem to me to be just a bit low for the style, but the overall flavor is fairly good and balanced. The only real gripe I have is that the overall flavor is too thin and not nearly big enough. If the carbonation adds flavor to this type of beer, it is my opinion that the rest of the flavors are not contributing enough to the overall presentation.10 points.

The mouthfeel is just a bit too light. The feeling in the mouth is watery and not nearly as full as it should be. The carbonation may be too high, but my money is on the rest of the beer not living up to what it should. 3 points.

Overall the beer is quite drinkable and will appeal to a lot of beer drinkers. But for hardcore craft beer lovers, this beer will just barely satisfy your lust for malt and come nowhere near killing your hop craving. The beer could use a boost in malt and a slight nudge in the hop department. Other than that, the beer is good and quite drinkable. But is this a great example of an American Amber Ale? I say no. 5 points.

My overall score for this beer is a 29 out of 50. Which could translate to a C+. For those who don’t know, I use the BCJP guidelines and the BJCP scoresheet for my reviews. If you want to see the scoresheet to relate to the scores I am giving. You can view it here. The BJCP uses a 50 point scale for beer, with a score of 45-50 being and outstanding world-class example, 38-44 is an excellent example of style, 30-37 is very good, 21-29 is a good beer, 14-20 is a fair beer, and 0-13 is a highly problematic beer.

Whole Hog Six Hop IPA

     Today I will be reviewing Whole Hog Six Hop IPA, which is an American Imperial IPA. I really enjoyed Whole Hog’s Pumpkin Ale, so I picked up another four pack of a different variety. This was the beer boasting six hops.

     The dominant aroma is floral hops and sweet bready malt. There is not as much hop aroma as you would expect from a bottle boasting so many hops, but stating that a beer has six hops does not really say it contains copious amounts of those six hops, just that there are six. This marketing ploy did its job and got me to buy the bottle. There is more to the aroma than floral hops and bready malt. There is also a nice caramel presence as well as some underlying citrus notes and spicy alcohol. For my personal expectations of an IPA, the aroma seems a bit weak, but hops do dominate the aroma. It may not be the citrus hop aroma that most of us in the US have come to expect from our IPA’s, but it is hops dominant none the less. 5 points

     The beer pours a nice khaki head that grudgingly disappears. It is a solid golden color with some decent clarity. It’s not crystal clear, but most IPA’s are not. As a matter of fact, the more hops you add, the hazier the beer can be, especially if the beer is dry hopped. The color is very appealing. 3 points

      Up front the beer is slightly sweet but is quickly masked by a thick bitterness from the hops. What I find most disappointing is that the hop presence is almost all bitterness with no flavor derived from the hops. In a good IPA you can get flavor from the hops as well as the bitterness and it is this two-pronged attack that can make a bitter IPA enjoyable, because of the depth from the hops is more than just a bittering agent.   The bitterness lasts long into the finish, very long. Pulling the malt out of the thick bitter mess is a bit difficult, but what I do find I really like. There is a lot of toasted toffee In this beer which is very good, and very sad that it is masked. There is also a bit of alcohol in the flavor that you  really get as you exhale. As the beer sits and warms, more malt comes forward, the bitterness seems to even out, but the alcohol also becomes more noticeable. 10 points

     There is a drying astringent feel to the beer but I am wondering if it is from the hops. Body seems just a bit thin. Carbonation is good for the style. 3 points

Overall, the beer is lacking depth. There really is nothing interesting about this beer. The malt does not stand up to the hops in the flavor. There needs to be some balance to make a good IPA and this beer is just way too bitter. Most hopheads crave the flavor and aroma from the hops, they may not be looking for just a bitter beer. My guess if it were to come to it, is that the cascade and cluster hops were early addition hops and due to the high cohumulone levels of those hops, gives you that harsh and overpowering bitterness. Another guess may be that a bulk of the hops are early additions. From the aroma and flavor, it just doesn’t appear that much thought was given to hop flavor or aroma. Just building a bitter brew. I think the major drawback to this beer is a recipe problem, and not really a brewing technique problem.  4 points.

I give this beer a 25 which is a good beer on the scoresheet. I do think the beer is good for the taste of some, but for me is lacking any depth and balance. For me a 25 would be a C.