Homebrew Tasting

Looking at the calendar during our brew day last week, Carl and I realized that two more batches of beer were going to be ready for consumption by week’s end which necessitated a tasting of all of our batches so far. The tasting would need to be sooner than later, as we had been drinking off of the kegs of earlier batches and had nearly ran them dry. So, after bottling the Hoppy Happiness IPA on Friday, we sat down with pen in hand and did the hard work of testing our final products. In an attempt at legitimacy, we poured modest 4 to 6 ounce tasters of all the beers before returning to what was left in the open bottles.

First up was the Pool-Pah Pale. As I have previously chronicled, the Pool-Pah has had a terrible life, slow start to fermentation, leaking keg; you name it and the Pool-Pah has endured it. However, we just couldn’t bring ourselves to dump the full keg. The nose had a backbone of malt but any aroma contributed from the hops was overpowered by a farmhouse-like funk and hints of cardboard (oxidization is no bueno). Slogging into the taster anyway, we did not feel a need to spit them out. The funk was not nearly as apparent on the palate, allowing the hops to come through and a hint of spice from the rye. The mouthfeel was quite superb, if you could look beyond the apparent flaws. Not our best work and we know it. Another batch is fermenting as I type, and the odds are much more in favor of it realizing its full flavor potential.

Thirsty Zymurgist score: 31/50

Washing away the Pool-Pah and disappointment was the Granfalloons Belgian Tripel served from a bottle. The nose is full of fruity banana and, far less pronounced, red berries, all accompanied by a hint of sweetness and alcohol. On the palate, the banana asserts itself early but is replaced by the sweet malt that sits lightly on the tongue which lures one into an increased pace in consumption which is not recommended, considering the alcohol by volume. As the initial mouthful fades away, the spices finally become noticeable but become usurped by a lingering honeyed alcohol finish. Absolutely delicious, the Granfalloons has earned high marks from all who have sampled its goodness. The only thing I would want to enhance is the spice characteristics. We use two different yeast strains in this one, and I am reading up on blended pitching rates to see if that will produce the desired effect.

Thirsty Zymurgist score: 45/50

Next up, we had the privilege of comparing two batches of the same beer; the Bagombo IPA. A privilege because I had previously exhausted my cache which constituted my half of the batch that I had brewed with my previous partner, Brian, but after helping his wife pack up their house for their move to Louisiana, I pilfered a bottle from his stash. Solely for Quality Control and recipe consistency checks, I assure you!

I poured my two samples side by side, whereas Carl opted to taste them back to back. The nose seemed subdued in Batch One, perhaps due to age, but still rang out with citrus and grassy earth tones. Upon tasting, my tongue comes under a wonderful two-pronged assault from bitter citrus and candy sweetness which never becomes full-out cloying. The malts bring it all into balance to make for a delectable quaffer.

More hints of toffee came out in the nose of Batch Two and a few sips revealed bigger body and more hop character than Batch One. The candy tones were much more in check, probably thanks to a more vigorous boil on the new propane stove. Batch Two finishes dry without drying out the mouth like some hop bombs have a tendency to do. With just a hint of alcohol (despite being 8.5%), I am glad that we have plenty of bottles to get us through these waning summer days.

Thirsty Zymurgist score: 39/50 (Batch One)

Thirsty Zymurgist score: 42/50 (Batch Two)

We then moved on to our American Strong Ale, Thieving Bastard. Although slightly higher on the IBU scale, this was poor placement in the flight due to its huge malt components. Wafting to my nose were some heady roasted malt tones, but the previous four tasters (despite our best intentions) were beginning to have an effect on my senses and I was picking up hints of teriyaki beef jerky. The palate revealed a sweet but not cloying malt bomb with a small appearance from piney hops. I love using an English yeast in this one because it gives such a luscious mouthfeel and produces hints of subtle English bitters. Again, the alcohol is barely noticeable but, as it was having an effect on me, I took my time with this one, which gave me ample opportunity to marvel at how close the dark brown fading to ruby color came to the beer we were trying to clone. I am looking forward to drinking on this keg exclusively one night.

Thirsty Zymurgist score: 43/50

We switched over our gas line (need to work in a splice) to the last, and certainly not least, of our homebrews; the Mother Night American-style India Black Ale. The nose is awash with many layers of hops that just barely give way at the edges to subtle hints of roasted malt and burnt caramel corn. On the tongue, the hops let their presence be known without ever coming completely off the rails and just as their bitterness and flavor fade away, the roasted malt rushes in, almost to say “me too!” With my emphasis on chocolate, rather than black, malt, this one turned more into a well-hopped porter than something more true to style, but as it is a new style amorphous in definition, it is also open for interpretation. Bottom line, the Mother Night is stupendously delicious and disappearing fast, so who needs definitions?

Thirsty Zymurgist score: 46/50

With our notes complete, we dove into the mostly full bottles and settle in to enjoy our Friday evening. If words don’t satiate your thirst and you feel a little left out from the tasting process, we are planning a Oktoberfest/Homebrew Tasting/Sending Me to UC Davis party and we have reserved sample bottles of all of our beers to be available there. Details to come, but if you are in the Spokane area in late September, contact me for information.

The Bagombo Strikes Back

After only a month of being drinkable, I had given away a fair share of my half of Brian and I’s first batch of Bagombo IPA (not to mention having enjoyed a few myself). I was then left with the decision to sneak into Brian’s basement to steal from his cache before he returns from Louisiana or brew up another batch, this time with Carl providing the assist. As I have yet to receive my ninja certification card from that cereal mail-in offer (6-8 weeks wait?!), my hand was forced into brewing another batch.

Of all the beers I have homebrewed over the years, this IPA seems to be the one that samplers talk about most. I like to think it is the grapefruit laden aroma and smoothly balanced overall taste profile, but I must admit that under my brewing partner at the time and I’s rather raunchy naming convention, it was the one with the most hysterically memorable moniker. Forgive me if I add to the lore here by not revealing the original name. It is sufficient to say that while it was seen as playful by most, it was found offensive by some and does not merit repeating on this blog. As in, buy me a beer sometime and I will probably tell you.

I rounded up the ingredients at the homebrew shop and headed to Carl’s. He had taken the initiative to get the patio cleaned and situated for brewing prior to my arrival, so we were getting water up to temperature and cleaning utensils in no time. We had to compound our brew day by also racking our two previous beers, so just after mash in we started the transfer of the Pool-Pah Pale to a cleaned and sanitized carboy. Stir grain, check transfer, clean something, repeat.

The mash went quickly with the extra work surrounding it, but without problem. The sparge came next, followed by the climb to boil, which provided us with a break in the action sufficient to get the Mother Night ASIBA racked into yet another clean carboy. Once to a boil, we added the first hops and spent the next 40 minutes cleaning another carboy to get ready for the incoming Bagombo, taking gravity readings on the Pool-Pah and Mother Night (while sampling for quality control, of course) and running inside to check on the Spain-Portugal match.

After the next hop addition, the times got closer together so an increase in focus was in order. Luckily, the match had ended and all other brew duties had been completed. We added copious amounts of hops over the next 25 minutes with some yeast nutrient and Irish moss thrown in at the appropriate times as well and then it was time for the ice bath. I am still pining for a wort chiller, but the ice bath method is pretty effective for this particular recipe as it is (I admit) mostly extract and therefore produced a relatively small amount of wort. I am still working on formulating an all-grain recipe, but, as I stated previously, this is the beer that gets the most positive comments from those that have sampled my brews and there are times where if it isn’t it broke, you shouldn’t try to fix it. In fact, I have made tweaks to the recipe from batch to batch (this is its 8^th incarnation), but always get the best response (and beer) when I return to the original recipe. Other than a slightly longer boil and satiating my new fascination with something more resembling continual hopping, this version does not deviate from the original.

After the quick and effective ice bath, we added the wort to the carboy, topped off with water and then took an original gravity reading. We moved the carboy downstairs to its warm resting place for fermentation then pitched the yeast and set the blow off tube. Some final clean up and then we headed over to the Flying Goat for some well earned beers and some food. It took plenty of work, but after a pint or so, that wonderful “job well done” feeling start to set in and we eagerly discussed what the outcome of our efforts will taste like.