Paraguayan Wood is Good

Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron is fantastic. Pours deep and super dark with a creamy lacing reminiscent of a fine stout. Smells similar to Devil Over a Barrel with some hints of vanilla. Taste is rich sticky molasses, brown sugar, oaky, and whiskey. Great mouthfeel. The strange thing about this beer is that it incorporates all that is is good with Browns, Belgians, and Stouts, is very potent, but hides it extremely well in the taste. A real treat.

A+

Beer news

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/27/dining/27beer.html

Dry-hopping and adding oak chips to the IIPA

This is what a clump of Magnum hop leaves looks like.

The jug on the left has a little more than an oz of steamed oak chips and a teabag filled with the Magnum hops and Centennial hop pellets; on the right, only hops.

I could not get the siphon going even with a lot of effort (and a few colorful adjectives thrown in). So I had to pour the primary through funnels into each secondary. I bought an auto-siphon the next day. I really couldn't understand why this happened. Is there any scientific reason that siphoning 2 gallons from a 6.5 gallon carboy wouldn't work?

After a few hours the secondaries had cleared up significantly. There is little sign of fermentation. I'm hoping that this is due to the yeast starter, and is not a 'stuck fermentation'. We'll see how it tastes in a few weeks.

Here's a better picture of the secondaries.

Sposborth (regular) IPA from the past Spring

My friend Matt brought a ton of Sposborth up last weekend to sustain us while brewing last Friday. This particular bomber, which I brewed during Spring Break, had been sitting in his basement for a few months. Boy am I glad it aged so well.

The pint glass to the left holds the majority of the 22oz-er and then I poured the dregs into the smaller glasses. The glass to the right is nasty and yeasty. Guaranteed wind in a bottle. What really surprises me is the difference in quality from the top to the bottom of the bottle.

As for the beer, I think it tastes great, and many times better than the Sposborth Honey American Pale Ale. For the time being I don't want to add honey to any homebrews. You'll laugh, but I think it tastes like Furious.

The bad news is that there is none left, but the good news is that the current batch in the fermenter will be even better. When beer comes out this good homebrewing is so worth it.

Another random thought

Why not add a whole hop leaf to the glass of an IPA? Sort of like adding an orange slice to a wheat beer.

I'm thinking about the ways to get more alpha acids into my current IIPA, which I will dry hop tomorrow. Pictures to follow.

Random thoughts

1. Race-walking is stupid.
2. A warm Oberon tastes fairly bad.
3. I am out of IPA. Rats.
4. I prefer the AB etc. Grading system because there are fewer distinctions to make.

Fantabulous Belgian

Another in the string of Belgians, but this time its the real thing. De Dolle Stille Nacht Belgian strong ale. This one's a keeper. I'll admit I mostly got it because I like the little logo guy, this time in snowman form for the christmas edition. Very candy-sugary. It has a strong sour smell, but not so much a sour taste...just enough to balance the sugar well. I really like this. Too bad I'll probably never run across it again unless I go back tomorrow to buy the other one they had :(
A/A+.

A double-shot of Tripels...

...or at least they both tasted like Tripels. I guess the Stone Vertical Epic 08.08.08 is technically a Strong Ale? Who knows.
What I do know, is that these tasted very similar, or at least were similar styles. The difference being that the Two Brothers Oh Brother! was the vastly inferior version of the two. Both were a strong, yeasty type of beer with a definite sour hint...not like the 2 week old urine taste of the lambic you gave me at beerfest, but sour nonetheless. Both also had a stronger hop presence than you'd expect. They were also paler than they look in the picture. I give the Two Bros a C+ and the Stone a B+, with the understanding that I was supposed to age it for awhile and that it might get better if I did. I'm going to stash one away for awhile...maybe till next year's beerfest.

Straight Cash Homey

In anticipation of a dominant fantasy football draft, in thoughts of Randy Moss, and in tribute to the brewers at Lagunitas, tonight's feature is We're Only In It for the Money, a Belgian Style Triple. Looks nice, smells nice, tastes of yeast, pear, and smarties candy. Mouthfeel is slightly watery but reminiscent of champagne. Is slight fizzy and finishes sour.


B

Weyerbacher Double Simcoe

Solid. 9% ABV, Yikes. The best Pennsylvania IPA I've had bar none. 2xSimcoe is very rich. Luxurious? Yes.

At first this reminded me of Furious, but the more I have, the more it reminds me of 90 minute. In the parlance of my profession, Double Simcoe > Surly Furious.

Weyebacher Double Simcoe IPA: A.

Sly Fox Odyssey Imperial IPA

The bitterness overpowers the malt profile. Soft rye aroma and the scent of cascade hops. Definitely one of the area's better IIPA's. It's close to the A students but is slightly too bitter. It's much better than the other Sly Fox I rated, Rte 113, which I am re-grading to a C.

Later I will rate the Weyerbacher Double Simcoe. (Again.) As the Odyssey warms up the harsh finish is fading - or my palate is relenting - a welcome improvement.

I'd give Odyssey an AB.

Update: As this beer warms up it has improved quite a bit. Now grapefruit tastes are present and the bitterness is gone. Unfortunately, the beer almost is gone too. Time for Double Simcoe.

IIPA in the primary

My small batch IPA is now in the primary fermenter. Full boil, all grain was a success. I hopped it to the extreme with whole leaf hops this time, which was kind of cool. In a few days I'll rack to the secondary and dry hop, add oak chips, and then dry hop again. The only catch is that I have no idea what the OG is. Oh well.

Smells good already. Obviously, I'm excited to taste this batch. We made 2 gallons.

My next batch will be an IMP stout and then I'm going to make a Pilsner. I just ordered the ingredients. This time I'll brew only a one gallon batch. I like having control over all the ingredients and I hope it will get me to brew more often.

Make Mine a Smutty....Just not that often

Smuttynose IPA is bitter and tastes a bit like baby aspirin. Better as it warms, but just not great. I pick this up every so often in hopes it may become a go-to in a pinch. Like most lessons that go unlearned, it continually fails to live up to expectations. On a positive note, the bottle balances nicely on a mini-watermelon.

B

Great Taste Recap

A great time was had by all at the Great Taste. Here were some of my list that I can remember:

Surly Darkness
Surly Two
Surly Bourbon One
Surly Smoke
Surly Hell
Surly Coffee Bender
Surly Tea Bagged Furious
Surly Oak aged Cynic
Kuhnhenn Tenacious Cassis
Kuhnhenn Fourth Dementia Old Ale
Kuhnhenn Creme Brulee Java Stout
Short's Cup-A-Joe Coffee Cream Stout
Short's Anniversary Ale 2008
Short's Nicie Spicie
Livery Third Anniversary
Dragonmead Ring of Fire
Three Floyds AlphaNaught
Flat Earth Cygnus X-1 Porter
South Shore Coffee Mint Stout
Jolly Pumpkin Weizen Bam
Jolly Pumpkin Calabaza Blanca
Jolly Pumpkin Dry-Hopped Bam
Central Waters Bourbon Barrel Stout
Founders Breakfast Stout
Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout
Founders Bourbon Barrel-Aged Porter
Founders Cherry Ale
Founders Backwoods Bastard
Founders Barrel-Aged Red's Rye
Grumpy Troll Amnesia Baltic Porter
Dark Horse Plead the 5th Imperial Stout
Barley John's Raspberry Rosies Old Ale
Barley John's Dark Knight Returns
Flossmoor Station De Zuidentrein Kriek
Flossmoor Station 10
Flossmoor Station Sarge
Flossmoor Station Killer Kowalski
Flossmoor Station Sheol Barleywine

Extremely Overrated

I'm just not a big Dogfish 60 minute fan. Pours see through, is caramel dominant with some piney Ajax-like hops, and finishes with a sickly taste I can't place. Not sure of the hops used, but this is not a particularly solid IPA.


C

Homebrew Thursday

It's Sposborth time, Chez Spaeth style. Tonight I'm making a yeast starter - basically means I am making an un-hopped, scaled down (by volume) replica of tomorrow's batch and pitching yeast to it to produce a large and happy yeast population. The first picture shows the cooler, also known as the mash tun, where some grains are allowing their fermentables dissolve into water. I had heated the water to about 150 F on the stove before adding it to the grains. The grain bill consists of 2-row pale malt and a little bit of 15 L crystal malt.

The mash requires about an hour.

The second picture shows the now boiled krausen (?) cooling in a water bath in the sink so that I can pitch the yeast.

I'm looking forward to brewing this batch - the main step will be done tomorrow night - because it's a new process for me for a few reasons. One, this will be an all grain batch from start to finish. Secondly this will be only 2 gallons small, which means that all the water can be filtered and boiled, chilling will be easier, etc. And third I'm making an IPA and adding oak chips, which I've not done before. Probably cleaning up will be much easier. The dry-hopping of IPA is now standard operating procedure here at Sposborth Brewing Co.

Come to State College and I'll pour you a bottle!

Dogfish Head Festina Peche

As for the Dogfish Head Festina Peche, it is a do try for the fans of sour beers. I had one last night watching the Phelps-a-thon.

I read somewhere that Napoleon called Berliner Weiss style, which this is, the Champagne of the North, and while I'm not necessarily a fan of French warmongers, I do agree with the commentary. Call me a fan of Berliner Weiss. Festina has little to no head, but is crisp, very dry and well carbonated. I had a Prima Pils afterward and couldn't taste it at all. To some extent I would say the Festina was a super charged Prima.

Very enjoyable. B+

Brief window of internet access here at the beach

Hey...checking in from the beach in DE. Lots of good stuff has been enjoyed thus far.

First off-Flying Fish Hopfish IPA. This is one of my favorite IPA's yet. Very malty and flavorful, creamy, hoppy. Perfect balance of flavors-I could literally drink this all day and not get tired of it. Quite possibly the best thing ever to come out of New Jersey.

A+


Next was a trip to the Dogfish Head brewpub. Sampled there were the Shelter Pale ale, 90 min, 120 min, and the best of the bunch, the Palo Santo Marron. This is the one that's made in the crazy tanks made out of Brazilian rainforest wood. It's a strong ale that is kind of inbetween something like an oak arrogant bastard and a unibroue. I loved it. Very flavorful. I think it's going to be a year round bottle product, so keep an eye out for it soon if not already. I also really loved the growler of 90 minute that I downed yesterday. yum. I'm not sure I'd actually ever had it before. It's the perfect double IPA for me-very malty and lots of thick flavor. Not a hop assault. A+ all around for the whole experience.

Whoa Mama...

Minneapolis Town Hall Masala Mama IPA - I acquired this one via a trade at the Great Taste of the Midwest. I have never experienced some much flavor and balance in a regular IPA. Aroma is grapefruit and hop goodness. Perfect balance between sweetness and bitterness. I cannot say enough good things about this beer. Too bad it is in growlers only. Seek this beer out at all costs. Better than Furious.

A+

Yes, I'm switching to letter grades too, because numbers are lame.

Green's Discovery

So I saw this beer and thought that it looked interesting. A Belgian beer whose label boasts: "Green's Beers DO NOT contain any of the following: Gluten, Barley, Wheat, Crustaceans, Eggs, Fish, Peanuts, Soybeans, Milk, Lactose, Nuts, Celery, Mustard, Sesame seeds, Sulfur dioxide, nor Sulfites." So I thought I'd give this a try. I didn't have high hopes, and the beer didn't even live up to those. The best I can describe this beer is bad. It was very thin and tasted kind of like vinegar and killians. Just not good at all. Belgium should deport the brewer. 1.0.

How did nobody tell me this was going on?!?!?

Go Mallards!

Hop on Top IPA

My IPA debuts

My refrigerator is running

Too much beer...nah!

Zoe Tested, Barry Approved

Devil Over a Barrel is awesome; hearty coffee, chewy mouth feel accented with creamy oatmeal and a finishing hint of bourbon. Not over-the-top, but so delicious in how the flavors meld. I tend to agree with Pete that porters are "dirty stouts". Just not this one. Tyranena does it again.

A+

Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout

Last night while hanging out at my local bar they had new beer on tap. Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout. The first few sips of this beer were so bizarre that I couldn't tell if it was gross or too awesome for words. Ultimately I decided it was the latter and ended up drinking far too many. At 9% abv it definitely has a kick. The head on this was nice and thick, but not in an airy foam kind of way. The initial taste is extremely bitter with strong flavors of chocolate and coffee and the finish is extremely smooth. You can definitely taste both the hops and malt. This beer is extremely addicting and after the first one I wanted ten more. This might be my new favorite beer. I'd give this a 4.8.

Green Flash IIPA

Pours cloudy, tastes exactly like Green Flash IPA on roids. Rather one dimensional, mostly all grapefruit hops, little malt backbone, bitter, somewhat astringent finish. Hops are good, but this beer needs a bit of malty assistance.

B