Citrus-Mint Spring Kolsch

After staring at countless bags of dried mint from the garden for a while and wondering how I would ever use it up considering the amount of various mints that grow in the front yard beds all summer long, I settled on making a mint beer. I have used mint in small proportions in various beers and never in an amount that offered even a trace of the menthol trait of the herb. Lemon pairs well with mint and I thought it would provide a nice compliment and help balance the flavor. In the past I have made very lemon forward beers in a Kolsch style beer, and I happened to have some citrusy American hops around. And thus, a recipe was born. Hopefully this will be a nice refreshing spring beer.



Mint, Coriander, Chamomile, Lemon Zest



My friend Quinn was over and helped out with the brew day as well as an apple cider we made while the mash was resting. It was nice to have Quinn around to help zest fruit, which is a job I greatly dislike. While this started out to be a Kolsch, the yeast unfortunately was bunk and after a day and a half, I added Safbrew T-58 to the fermenter and it took off. So, in the end, it isn't a Kolsch at all. The result of the shit slant of White Labs was not only a waste of $8, but forced me to make adjustments to other recipes all week. This is not the first time that White Labs from my LHBS has not worked when purchased past its expiration date. At bottling I will assess the flavor and add a tea steeped with lemon zest to brighten the flavor and possibly more mint if necessary.

Citrus-Mint Kolsch Recipe:



Quinn zesting lemons

 Specifics:
Batch Size: 5.25g
OG: 1.050
TG: 1.011
SRM: 4.61
IBU: 29.7

Grain:
7 lbs. Pils
1 lbs. Wheat Malt
.5 lbs. Carapils
.5 lbs. Munich 10L
.25 lbs. Caramel 20L

Hops:
1 oz Hallertau at 60 min
.5 oz Hallertau at 30 min
1 oz Cascade at 10 min
1 oz Cascade at flameout

Yeast:
WLP 029 German Ale/Kolsch (didn't begin fermentation)
Safbrew T-58 (pitched at 1.5 days after fermentation did not begin)

Extras:
Dried Mint Leaves (three quart bags) at flameout
Chamomile (small amount) at flameout
Lemon (7, zest only) at flameout
Coriander (1 gram, crushed) at flameout

Notes:
Single infusion mash at 157F.

Farmhouse Ale



Van Gogh Farmhouse

Recently I was in the mood for a solid straight forward drinking beer, sort of a winter strength session beer. While my malty Biere de Garde sits in the fridge I thought of a bit lighter farmhouse style, lightly spiced with Belgian yeast character, but more quenching than winter beers tend to be. Farmhouse styles are probably my favorite beers. I like the diversity, the playfulness, creativity and rustic allowances that farmhouse beers encompass.

For the grainbill I wanted to use a blend of grain in the farmhouse tradition of brewing with what is available, so rye, maize, and wheat were utilized. The plan was to use pilsner as the base malt, but I only had 2 lbs. and finished out the rest with 2-row.



My Farmhouse



I stepped up the fermentation temperature over the first three days with a heating pad (low setting day 1 etc.) to amplify the Belgian yeast strain and it payed off with exceptional character and a really nice relationship with the spices. Unfortunately, I didn't record the amount of each spice in this recipe but I do remember that doses were limited. The entire reason I started this blog was to force myself into keeping better records of my brewing process, so this is a bit frustrating, but this isn't an exact sort of beer anyway.



The maize and sugar really lend a dry hand to the beer but it is extremely drinkable and at just over 6% ABV, I have a hard time not drinking a glass in 4 gulps and I don't see this one sticking around very long.

Farmhouse Ale Recipe:



My much more well done farmhouse



Specifics:

Batch Size: 5.25g

OG 1.052

TG 1.005

SRM: 5.4

IBU: 34.5

Grain:

4 lbs. 2-row
2 lbs. Pils
1 lbs. Wheat Malt
1 lbs. Munich 10L
1 lbs. Rye Malt

.5 lbs. Flaked Maize

.25 lbs. Carapils

Hops:

1 oz East Kent Golding at 60 minutes

.5 oz Tettnanger at 20 minutes

.5 oz East Kent Golding at 20 minutes

1 oz Czech Saaz at 3 minutes

Yeast:

Wyeast 3522 Belgian Ardennes

Extras:
Star of Anise at FO
Sweet Gale at FO
Lemon Zest at FO
Corriander at FO
Chamomile at FO

Notes: Single infusion mash at 152F for 60 minutes. Boil for 60 minutes. Cooled to 70F and pitched yeast.

Perry

While buying apple juice at the supermarket I noticed that five varities of pears were on sale for $1.99/lbs. and I grabbed enough Bartlet, Bosc, Comice, Red, and Seckels to make about 10 lbs combined. I put the pears in paper bags to set aside and let ripen for a few days.

I have always wanted to try making a Perry since it is difficult to find quality commercial examples but I have always found the cost of the fruit to be prohibitive so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get five varieties at a reasonable price. I don't know what types of pears are best suited to making cider but I am assuming that much like apples, they aren't the ones you find in a supermarket. I also am assuming that like apples, it is best to use a variety for cider making purposes.



Perry Helper

 My little sister was visiting from Grand Junction and I decided to enlist her in my Perry project. Lacey helped wash, cut, and juice fruit. After juicing the fruit I added 2.5 Liters of R.W. Knudsen Apple Juice and a quart of Knudsen's 100% Pear Juice to bring up to 3 gallons and dropped in a couple of Campden tablets and let sit overnight before adding the yeast. I had to use Munton's dry ale yeast out of necessity. A few days ago a slant of WLP Kolsch yeast didn't ferment and I had to use the Safbrew-33 that I had scheduled for a Maple Apple Cider with Belgian yeast, so the last pack of wine yeast in the house went to the apple cider. I was hoping to get to the store before making the Perry but it didn't happen. This is the second time that a White Labs slant from my LHBS has been bunk and it is beyond frustrating especially since most of what is stocked is out of date in the first place.

I reserved the pear skin and pulp and added 3 lbs. of boiled table sugar, a bit of brown sugar and enough water to make 3 gallons. I pitched a little Turbo Yeast on the mixture and let it work for 5 days before racking it to the "magical apparatus" to make a little pear brandy. I will dilute the distillate and age on french oak. I did the same process with the fruit skins last year when I made pineapple cider and brandy.

Wine Tasting Day



Pea Pod Wine



Recently I experimented with Pea Pod Wine and Milk Wine and the day to muster up some courage and try both of them has arrived. I am not afraid to tell you that I was a little frightened to drink the Milk Wine and honestly, I don't even like milk and the fermenting concoction was quite disgusting in appearance. The boozy cheese curds that I saved when racking to secondary did make a fairly good Milk Wine Tart, so how bad could the wine be?



Milk Wine with Fancy Label



Actually it is pretty great! The Milk Wine pours almost a water like clear. It tastes like a semi-sweet white wine. If you didn't know it was made from milk, one would just assume it was a grape wine. It is a tad boozy and did dry out to a gravity under one, it does retain a mild sweetness. I think I will continue to make milk wines from time to time and experiment with different flavors.



Two Peas in a Pod?



The Pea Pod Wine was an equal success, it pours a light golden color comparable to an oaked chardonnay. The aroma is reminiscent of the garden and the pea plants that created it. The pea flavor is noticeable in the wine but it is much dryer than the milk wine and really drinkable. I carbonated about a dozen bottles of the Pea Pod Wine with Coopers drops, and I am looking forward to trying some in the future but it isn't bubbly yet.



All in all, both wines are really enjoyable and has given me the bug to make more wine from the garden, unfortunately it is the middle of winter. For now, I am just sipping my wine, browsing seed catalog's and looking forward to another growing season that will include my first wheat harvest.

Big Beers, Belgians, and Barleywines Festival

I have wanted to attend the Big Beers, Belgians, and Barley Wines Festival in Vail, Colorado, since I first heard about a few years ago when I returned to Southeastern Wyoming for grad school. I finally made it down for the commercial tasting session of the 12th Annual event on January 7th. The festival lasts for three days and is filled with seminars and a homebrew competition (missed the submission date--again), but on the final afternoon there is a commercial tasting session that resembles other beer festivals with the exception that all beers are of a Belgian style and/or over 7% ABV. With very few exceptions, the beers were all big.

My friend Eric and I drove down on Saturday morning to Vail, a trip of about 3 hours. The snow started to fall as we climbed in elevation up and over the Continental Divide at 11,158 ft at the Eisenhower Tunnel (highest point on the interstate highway system). By the time we dropped into Vail, a few inches of snow had fallen and would continue to fall through the night, totalling apx. 10''. It was a beautiful Norman Rockwell snow that fluttered straight down and blanketed everything, not like the sideways snow of Wyoming's high plains I am used to.



Fellow Wyoming Beer Lovers



Our room wasn't ready, so we strolled around the village and got a little lunch at a French cafe and then caught a bus to the hotel holding the festival and jumped in line outside with the rest of the freezing and thirsty festival goers. After just a minute in line, a group of people from Wyoming, including my buddy Matt, who is also a home brewer, fell into line immediately behind us. Matt wasn't wearing a coat but he did come dressed with a pretzel necklace to keep him warm in line. It was nice to have some WY pals to enjoy the festival with, especially since our friend George had bailed on us to attend the Broncos/Steelers playoff game instead.



Birthday Card for George who Bailed on the Trip.



Writing about a beer festival is something that I find incredibly difficult to do and while there were many fewer breweries at the BBBBW, the high ABV of every beer made up for it. How many Imperials, Old Ales, Tripels, Quads, and Barley Wines can you drink in one afternoon? It was nice to find Saison's and Farmhouse beers mixed in as well as a few Biere de Garde's, although they were hit and miss as some were really sticky. Not only does the drinking make recall and writing about a festival difficult, but when there are so many beers at a festival it is extremely hard to keep track of everything. There were over 100 breweries represented and most bring 2-5 beers each, so I will not be able to do a proper review, but I will point out some my personal standouts.

One of the best reasons to attend beer festivals is to try beer from breweries one hasn't had, and I was quite impressed with Stronghold, a newly online brewery in Central City, CO that was basically using the festival for a coming out party as they do not yet have a tap room or package their product. According to the guys at the booth they have just recently put there beer on two or three tap handles in the area. The Delilah, a Mexican Chocolate and chili pepper stout was really delicious, as was the Bottomry Braggot, made with Orange Blossom honey.  The Bottomry was by far the best braggot I tasted at the festival.

Funkwerks and Crooked Stave, a couple of local favorites, really stood out from the crowd (I hope I'm not being biased based on my preheld love of these breweries). Funkwerks brought their flagship Saison, which was like a drink of water in the desert that I went back for a few times to refresh myself after all of the heavy and sweet beers. Funkwerks brought a new Imperial Saison, Tropic King, a Bourbon Dark Saison, and the annual Cherry Saison. This brewery just does not make bad beer and if you haven't been to the tasting room in Fort Collins, it is time for a special trip. Currently, Funkwerks shares brewing space with Crooked Stave, although it sounds like CS will be relocating to their own brewery which sadly will be located in Denver. Crooked Stave had two of the better beers I had all day, a Chardonnay Barrel aged Belgian with Brett that was that hard to hit quality of extremely drinkable and extremely complex. Possibly my favorite beer of the day was Crooked Stave's Wild Wild Bret Green, basically a pale ale fermented entirely with Brettanomyces. Wild Wild uses more than 3 lbs. of Galaxy hops per barrel and is a true achievement in brewing.



With Nathan from Altitude and Doug Odell



Wyoming was only represented by one brewery, Altitude, from Laramie. The brewer and I talked Pokes basketball and got our pictures taken with Doug Odell, founder of Odell's brewery. That was the other fun thing about this festival and while there aren't as many "famous" people from the brewing world as there are at the GABF, I mean, Sam Calagione poured me a beer, which is a fun thing. With the exception of the distributors, there were few booths that were staffed by people not associated with the brewery. One of my biggest complaints with most beer festivals is the lack of brewery representation at them. Part of what makes festivals fun is the opportunity to interact with the brewers and many summer festivals are staffed almost entirely by volunteers. Another complaint I have with festivals is when breweries go to a festival in their own region and take only their flagship beer or a couple that are in every liquor store in the area. It is an opportunity to give their customers something special and with so many beers to try if there isn't anything new or special I won't stop at that booth.

The distributor's booth's were packed with an amazing selection of Belgian imports but most attention seemed focused on the domestic craft brews.While it was nice to see the bigger brewers from other regions such as Allagash, Bell's, The Bruery, Boulevard, Dogfish Head (bringing 8 beers), Firestone Walker, Lost Abbey, Ommegang, Stone etc., it was great to find out what the numerous Colorado breweries were up to and just as some brewers such as New Belgium and Oskar Blues are outgrowing the region there is a seemingly endless stream of new breweries like Dry Dock and Stronghold popping up in the Centennial State. But it is safe to say that the format of Big Beers, Belgians, and Barleywines, was tailor made for one Colorado brewery in particular. Avery showed up with more than five beers over 9%, two of which were 16% ABV. The standout for me was the Coffeestopheles Imperial Stout, which rang in at 16.4% and was extremely complex, boozy, and delicious. 



Eric and I realizing too late we hadn't taken any pictures of Vail



In the end, it is easily one of the best beer festivals I have been to, and it is a nice excuse to spend a night in Vail and go to a festival during a period of the year when there are few to none. It would be nice to take a bit more time and enjoy some of the other events but I can really only justify paying for the tasting ticket and one night in a Vail hotel. Tickets to the tasting were $50, and the hotels have specials if you let them know you are with the festival. Ours was just over $200, which is fairly cheap (by Vail standards). After the festival we went and had wings and a nice steak before going out for drinks, however, the drink was scotch--I had my fill of beer for the day.

On Sunday the weather had cleared but my head hadn't quite. There were accidents along I-70, slowing traffic to a crawl. Eric was a trooper and drove us all the way back to Fort Collins just in time to catch kick off of the Broncos playoff game at his house.

Sauerbraten with Sour Beer



Sauerbraten and Potato Pancakes Mmmmm...



I am always surprised to see what a huge business cookbooks continue to be with the advent of the internet, but every time I go to Barnes and Noble (which I am also surprised to see still in business) there are oodles of them. As a fan of both cookbooks and bookstores, it is sad to think of them going by the wayside. I was pissed when large chain book sellers like Barnes and Noble were running out the small independent stores. That being said, I do enjoy browsing through the Wal-Mart of the book store world's aisles sipping an expensive coffee or lounging on a chair next to a cute girl and a strange man with an unlit pipe who curses under his breath every so often. I will be sad to see the big box book store go too. Not only do I enjoy book shops, I really like cookbooks--especially old cookbooks. They read like historical texts to me and I consider them primary source material on what people were eating at a certain time. I can get lost in a book with nothing but recipes using gelatin and the next thing I know I am making Tomato Aspic and a jello tuna salad in an artful mold. My favorite old cookbook is Cooking in Wyoming: South Pass City 1869-1969. The book is full of pioneer recipes that were the recipes of the grandparents and great grandparents of those providing them over 40 years ago. Man, did they cook with a lot of lard and suet back then. The recipe titles are something to behold even before digging into the sometimes horrifying contents of the recipes; Suet Pudding, Marrow Gut, Souse, Rolle-Pilser, Scrapple, Fracadeller, Hasenpfeffer, Dried Venison Meat Loaf, Wood Chuck Pot Pie, Savory Duck Faggots, Calves Brains, Bear Steaks, and many more. The recipe titles represent the varied immigrants who settled Wyoming, using old world cooking techniques and what was available--deer, antelope, pheasant, sage hens, elk, moose etc.--which is not unlike the brewing history in America.

My friend Lucy provided us with half a beef, in additon to Pronghorn and Elk meat this year. I thought I would look through Cooking in Wyoming and find an interesting way to prepare one of the antelope roasts and I stumbled on Sauerbraten. When I mentioned this to my mother, she told me how my grandmother would get so excited when their friends at a neighboring ranch would make Sauerbraten and the entire family would make the trip for the meal. It reminded my grandmother, who was German, of her childhood. This recipe hits home for me since both of my great grandparent's families on my mother's side emigrated from Germany to homestead in Wyoming, where they lived (barely) off of the land.

Sauerbraten is a roast that is pickled (sauer) for many days and then braised (braten) over a few hours. After doing a little research I had a lot of ideas on how to improve this basic recipe but then I decided to ditch them and stick to the guidelines in my cookbook, with the exception of incorporating some sour homebrew into the process. I have a number of sour beers around right now and finally settled on adding a Berliner Weisse to the brine, as well as the sour and smokey Lichtenhainer into the braising liquid, and finally using a Flanders Red to deglaze the pan and start the serving sauce. The marinade seems like it should have salt and sugar but I will leave as is. Also, I don't really like the looks of the Potato Pancake recipe provided, but I will stick to it. Hoping for the best as the sheepherder's mustard and pickled watermelon rinds from the book were tasty.

Sauerbraten with Sour Beer Recipe:



Roast out of the brine

 Day 1:

3 lbs. Antelope Roast

6 C water

1 C Vinegar

12 oz Berliner Weisse homebrew

1 large onion, sliced thin (from garden)

4 cloves garlic (from garden)

Several Bay Leaves

Dried Thyme (from garden)

Handful Pickling Spices

Black Peppercorns

Combine all ingredients and place in fridge to marinate. Make certain you use something non-reactive. The recipe says nothing about keeping the meat cool during the brining process, but I put it in the fridge. I would guess before refrigeration it was just kept dark and cool, and made only certain times of the year, not unlike historic brewing techniques.

Day 4:

22 oz Lichtenhainer homebrew

12 oz Flanders Red homebrew

15 apx. Ginger Snaps, crushed

Drain roast but SAVE THE BRINE. Pat roast dry and brown on all sides in oil in deep pan. Remove meat to roasting dish and add bottle of Lichtenhainer and enough of the original brine to braise. Cover and place in 325F oven until tender. In pan used to sear the roast, deglaze with Flanders Red. Simmer until reduced by 1/2. Remove from heat and set aside. When roast is tender, remove meat and cover with foil tent. Return Flanders mixture to heat and add strained braising liquid. Whisk in crushed ginger snaps until thickened. Slice roast and serve with sauce and potato pancakes. While there is nothing mentioned about ginger snaps in the original recipe, it is a common modern technique for thickening the sauce for this dish which interested me and I wanted to give it a shot. 



Cooked Roast



Potato Pancake:

3 C grated raw potatoes
3 Eggs (from back yard birds)

3 Eggs separated (from back yard birds)

Salt and Pepper

1 1/2 Tbs. flour

Add to the grated potatoes the yolks of 3 eggs, salt, pepper, and flour., fold in beaten whites and fry slowly in bacon fat until brown. (I added quite a bit more flower than called for and made sure to cook at a med-low heat. They were fantastic).

Tasting Notes:

The meal was absolutely delicious with the exception of overcooking the roast a bit. It was tangy and filling with the potato pancakes being a perfect accompaniment. My mother, my sister Juny, and my friend Quinn who recently relocated from Bozeman, MT, enjoyed the dish. We washed it down with a Korean pilsner called, Max, that Juny brought from the Korean market in Los Angeles.

Spiced Orange Ale Tasting

This was a holiday interpretation of the successful Orange Ale I brewed last spring and while I tried to keep the grain bill consistent there were changes due to what was available in my grain stores. The adjustments I made were an attempt to simulate the original recipe, which was admittedly an odd grain bill, but it worked really well. The one important addition is the relatively heavy amount of Ashburn Mild Malt, which provides a somewhat harsh, astringent sensation in the back of your throat that plays really well with the bit of caramel and the citrus. The substitutions worked as there is a nice malty and somewhat astringent backbone that blends deliciously with the oranges. The spices are noticeable but don't play with too heavy a hand (something I am guilty of from time to time). The malt and the oranges in this recipe can stand up to an even heavier spice addition if you like but I think this was just about right. It is somewhat reminiscent of mulled cider--especially once it warms and flattens, a great compliment to the season and the holiday's.  With the exception of it's warm weather cousin I made last spring, I have never had a beer remotely close to this. In the end, isn't that one of the best reasons to brew yourself?



Buck and I celebrating win over Jets



A Christmas Carol



I am not big on naming my beer and usually just call it what it is, or the best descriptor I can come up with, but for special occasions I might provide a name for fun. In celebration of the holiday's and upcoming NFL playoffs, I thought I would call this "Tiny Tim's Orange Ale." In the words of Tiny Tim, "God bless us, everyone, unless you are a Radiers fan." Just kidding, I am sure this beer tastes fine in Oakland.