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Re-hydrating and re-racking

Posted on 19. May, 2010 by Derrick.

матрациAfter a week of first fermentation, the 6 batches were ready to be re-racked into the barrel for 2nd fermentation. That meant that I had to get the barrel re-hydrated as it was dormant for 4 months.

From what we were told, the barrel will take up to 3 gallons of whatever liquid is put inside it. So the idea was to get the outside to re-hydrate first, put some sterilized water on the inside later. Then the final step, whiskey. Just to sanitize the inside and kill some of the buggies.

The next day after the barrel was re-hydrated we re-racked it in the barrel.

But before we did that we took gravity readings.

Mine = OG 1.062, mid point 1.017
PJ’s = OG 1.072 mid point 1.029
Kevin’s = OG 1.065 mid point 1.019
Tristans = OG 1.068 mid point 1.02
Tristan’s Friend = OG 1.065 mid point 1.019
Nick’s = (we don’t have an OG) mid point 1.022

Our OG averaged at 1.068 and mid point average of 1.021. Based on a handy online ABV calculator. It says that we are up to 6.17 ABV. Decent, and I imagine that it will be even more ABV when we take the final hydrometer reading.

And here is a really boring video about the process…

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Soulless gingered Irish red, aged in whiskey (pt1)

Posted on 07. May, 2010 by Derrick.

Several of us fellas will be doing a “going away” brew for our friend who happens to be a ginger and loves whiskey.

Here is the Partial mash recipe

1lb of Colorado 2 row
1/2lb Special Roast
1/2lb Cara Red
1/2lb Crystal 75
8lbs of extract light

2oz of grated ginger at 10 minutes
Crystal at 60 and 30 minutes
Fuggles at 10 minutes

Irish Ale yeast at 65-75 degrees

6 5 gallon batches will be made and re-racked into our Buffalo Trace barrel for 2nd fermentation. I emailed several of the big guys (Russian River, Boulevard, Avery, Lost Abbey, and The Bruery) and got some great feedback on how to re-condition our whiskey barrel. Some of our answers can be found here brewadvice.com

We will be force carbing 15 gallons with Korny kegs and then bottle conditioning the rest for all the brewers to take with them.

You can find a small write up of Nicks batch here. My photos from my batch are following.

The house smell amazing after i grated the fresh ginger.

This is my handy dandy brew tool iBrew.

Wort Chiller (notice I had some boil over.. oops)

I got close, the recipe called for an original gravity of 1.068. I think I’m more at 1.062

BREW DOG!

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The Golden Dirty Thirty (Saturday May8th)

Posted on 04. May, 2010 by Derrick.

This party is to celebrate Derrick’s and Annika’s golden birthdays. Derrick will be 30 on the 30th and Annika will be 27 on the 27th.

The party is “Dress like a catholic school girl”. It is not mandatory, but your hosts Floyd, Derrick, and Will will be dressed up in skirts. Please dress up, because if you don’t, you’ll make us look like idiots.

As always, the party is at our house aka “the man cave”. If you have never been to my house, you can RSVP on our Facebook events page or just comment at the bottom of the page and I’ll email you our address (make sure to fill in your email when you do comment)

We will have several good beers on tap. Since Sierra Nevada is turning 30 this year, and so am I, we are going with a beer theme. Sierra Nevada Summerfest, and Sierra Nevada’s “Old ale”. Old ale is so rare that only 35 people have reviewed it on Ratebeer.com and beeradvocate.com (Don’t ask me how I got it, cause if I told you, I’d have to kill you). I’ll even get a 1/4 barrel of Coors light to satisfy the non craft beer idiots (I mean that in the nicest way)

Summerfest is a delightfully refreshing example of a traditional style lager beer. While lighter in body than our ales, Summerfest displays significant hop aroma and a tangy hop bite. The long lagering period adds a smoothness that makes this beer a great summertime treat.

Old Ale is a blend of Imperial Stout aged eleven-months in oak bourbon barrels, and our malty Scotch Ale. This black beer has an intense aroma of roasted malt with pronounced vanilla and toasted coconut notes from wood aging. The flavor is smooth and bittersweet, with hints of caramel, toffee, and mocha. This full-bodied beer is filled with deep, rich and warming flavors.

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Inaugerate me into sour beers!

Posted on 03. Mar, 2010 by Derrick.

Sour beers is where it is at my little readers. They are wild and bold but clever.  Sour beer is like that girl you just can’t tame but you go back to time and time again without regard. This was reminded to me recently of Shakespeare’s “Taming of the shrew”

Petruchio. I say it is the moon.
Katharin. I know it is the moon.
Petruchio. Nay, then you lie; it is the blessed sun.
Katharin. Then God be bless’d, it is the blessed sun:  But sun it is not when you say it is not,  And the moon changes even as your mind.  What you will have it nam’d, even that it is; And so, it shall be.

Sour beer fest was the shrew and I was Petruchio trying desperately to get my palate to grasp all the nuances that were swirling around my little mouth. We had over 64 sour beers at our disposal and like a child in a candy store I had no idea what I wanted.

We were given 20 tickets to try 20 beers but I found that most of the volunteers didn’t give two shits whether I gave them a ticket. I may or may not have had more than my fair share. (Adam if by chance you read this, sorry). Of the beers I tried, I’ll give you my top ten.

1. Lost Abbey, Veritas 007 – Sour ale with Cabernet franc grapes, This beer (as I was told) was derived from Isabelle Proximus
2. Lost Abbey , Duck Duck Gooze – Nothing needs to be said about this one.
3. Jolly Pumpkin, Lambicus Dexterious –  A completely spontaneously fermented ale.
4. Avery brewing, Voltron – Dark, Tannic, sour blend from five barrels.
5. The Bruery, Oued Tart – Flemish red ale
6. Cascade brewing, Sang Noir – Bourbon barrel aged sour red with bourbicid and cherries added
7. Avery brewing, Vogelbekdieren – Blend of three sour beers from five barrels
8. Russian River, Supplication – Brown ale aged in pinot noir barrels.
9. Mountain Sun, Dirtry Justice – Strong Belgian red ale aged in merlot barrels with bugs
10. Cascade brewing, Nightfall Blackberry – Sour blondes aged with nightfall blackberries

So to the Pictures. Of which I didn’t take my usual 400 only 60 this time (as I’m sure that the people of sour beer fest appreciated)

Is this next picture of a raptor? I think it is!

After my soiree with my beer geek buddies, I headed out for some food with some of my favorite people of all time. The little sister, her Fiance’, and bonus BFF Soren went for some mediterranean food at the Med. It was fucking amazing after all the sour beers I had. We had close to twelve “Tapas” and mowed down on all that was seen.

It was an amazing night hanging out with friends and family.

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Move-over Movember

Posted on 06. Dec, 2009 by Derrick.

Hanging out with some new people is a good thing. Since joining the twitter universe, I had been able to find an underground network of uber-beer geeks. One of these geeks invited me out to Great Divides Movember party. Movember is a group of fellas dedicated to bringing back the Mustache and awareness for prostate cancer.

For those of you who never knew my father before he passed away, back in the day, my old man had a huge handle bar mustache. He also died from complications of his own prostate cancer. Add some great beer and it was a perfect event to attend.

PJ, our resident beer aficionado took us on a tour around the Brewery.  By the way, PJ has a rocking mustache.

We sat there and talked about beer, football, and video games. A good man night.

I purchased two of their numbered hibernation oak aged ales, we cracked one and kept another.

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A woman drove me to drink

Posted on 03. Dec, 2009 by Derrick.

Some time ago I had decided to start writing about my favorite beers, or better, the beers that I’d had and made me go “hmmm”. Then I took a sabbatical from drinking while I trained for my triathlon. Now that I don’t have to lose weight and I can wear sweaters to cover my buda, I’m back on the Beer Wagon. It all started with GABF back in September.

So I’ve decided to write once a week about the beers I had the previous week.  I’m not a craft beer connoisseur, but I’m not your average Joe Sixpack. I’d say I’m somewhat more of a beer geek with low aspirations. I’ll make a special trip for a special beer, but if you look in my fridge right now, you will find a corporate beer of one make or another.

This post is going to include the last two weeks of Beers.

Monday the 16th.

My little sister Annika and I rolled up to Twisted Pine’s tap house for a tapping party of their Northstar Imperial Porter.  Their tap house rules, we counted 5 dogs from the pubs patrons just roaming around. I’ve got to bring Guinness there, but only after we go on a major hike. Guinness loves beer and I have a feeling he would be an annoyance unless I take him out to open space.

• Northstar Imperial Porter:  I found this beer to have mellow roasted flavors, with hints of coffee with just enough acidity to please my pallet. I wouldn’t call it my favorite Porter, but it’s a good one. One worth buying again.
• Pumpkin Brown: This was Annika’s favorite beer of the night. Pronounced spice and pumpkin flavor. This beer was a bit to foo-foo for me but it would be heaven with some oatmeal raisin cookies and a nice roaring fire.
• Reilly’s Oak Whiskey Red: My favorite beer of the night. This is the beer that I think my father would have loved. Burbon, vanilla, and some oak flavor come to the mind. I’d keep a few of these around to enjoy on a cold wintery night when I want to feel nostalgic over my old man.

Thursday the 25^th

Turkey day. I spent the day with Kit,  Annika, and  Kits family. It was great company, great food, and as tradition says, we got a digital slide show of Cairo.

• Dogfish Head Punkin Ale: Unlike the Twisted Pine pumpkin,  Dogfish managed to tone down the spice, left subtle hints of spice and pumpkin. Much more enjoyable beer that twisted pines. I was a little bummed that I had only brought 4 of these to dinner.
• Life and Limb: A collaboration between two craft brewers, Sierra Nevada Brewing and Dogfish Head. Smooth and creamy, with lots of maple flavor, it was one of my favorite beers I’ve had in a long while. The dark American ale is what I think brewers need to strive for. Eccentric beer is only cool when it is drinkable. I think when brewers extend the boundaries they forget about drinkability.

Friday the 26th

Annika and I started the day with a little bit of golf in the morning (Coors in hand) then headed over to Oskar Blues in Longmont for some craft beer and food. The food was okay, I’d expected more but the beer was excellent. Even though we were in a brewpub owned and run but the Dales Pale Ale folks, I decided to go with some of the specialty beers.

• Lost Abbeys 10 Commandments:  A Belgian strong, typically a beer I would love but the beer was complex with rootie herb filled flavor. I was confused with what I tasted, sometimes I would pick up some fruits, raisins, apple maybe. It was a good beer but I think with being out all day I needed something more hoppy.
• Avery Brewing Co, Hog Heaven: An American barley wine. This beer is exactly what I was expecting. Piney hops explode off the tongue and I was happy once again.

Those were just the specialty beers I consumed. Here is the full list, Heineken, Dogfish Head 120 minute IPA, Boulder Beer  Hazed and Infused, Crabtree brewing Ginger Beer, Great Divide Hercules, Great Divide Yeti, Twisted pine Blond, Fat Tire, and of course Coors light.

Some random beer pics from the week.

Drinking up on Breckenridge mountain.

Drinking Rocky Mountain Pisswater out of my favorite mug.

Craft Beer next to Corporate Beer, blasphemy? I don’t think so.

Guinness’ new bottle opener. This is by far the coolest Idea ever. Anytime I’ve forgot to grab my key-chain, I simply just call the dog.

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