Tag: Beer

Lagunitas India Pale Ale

1) Lagunitas India Pale Ale

The first in the 2013 Taste 100 Beers Challenge. After eschewing IPAs for so long, why not make one the first in the challenge? Admittedly it’s not a style that I’m really interested in. Or, perhaps I should say it’s not a style I’ve been interested in historically but I’ve been reading For the Love of Hops the last week or two and I’ve decided to give hoppy beers another chance.

I picked up a 22oz bomber of this over lunch today along with a couple of other beers that will end up in this series. This beer pours a nice, sparkling gold color with a persistent fluffy white head. The clarity is excellent, something I’ve not approached with my own brewing. All in all, it is a pretty beer.

Right from the bottle there’s an intriguing combination of sweet cut grass and grapefruit aromas. These are not smells I remember from IPAs past. As the beer warms the citrus keeps flowering. Even after reading about the flavors the “C” hops bring for the last few weeks, this is surprisingly inviting.

The first sip is crisply bitter that just explodes into grapefruit that lingers well past the swallow, slowly fading into a tart, bitter finish. While I’ve never appreciated the gratuitous bitterness of IPAs I’ve had in the past, this works here. It’s backed up with a strong malt backbone. There has to be some good crystal wrapped around that base malt. At 6.2% ABV you get yourself into trouble because it drinks like a session beer. The recurring comparison I want to make is like drinking Squirt without all the HFCS.

On to the scoring…

Aroma: Huge floral/citrus aroma with a bit of fresh cut grass hiding in the weeds. The malt sits underneath and brings a bit of caramel that blends nicely with the floral notes. 11/12

Appearance: Deep gold with hints of copper. Brilliant clarity with a persistant, fluffy white head. 3/3

Flavor: Up front bitterness yields to a robust citrus flavor. I don’t think you’d get more grapefruit if you sliced on in half and started tonguing it. The citrus is balanced by a stiff malt backbone with sweetness to balance all of the tart/bitterness. The finish lingers on, eventually leaving you back where you started with the bitter. If I’d ding this in any way, it’s got to be the acrid aftertaste. On the other hand, it keeps you drinking! 17/20

Mouthfeel: Full body for an IPA. Maybe a bit sticky/resinous. Is this the style? Carbonation is appropriate. 4/5

Overall Impression: Had I known how good an IPA could be, I might have had one of these before now. Still wowed by the citrus that comes through with this. Definitely changed my “Why-P-A?” tune and I’m curious to know if this is indicative of the style or a special something something. 8/10

Scoring Total: 43/50
Binary Score: 1

Pouring and details

Here’s the end result. 2012B01 A.K.A. Black Squirrel Nutter. She’s lovely, brown, and crisp/sweet with a moderate nuttiness.

Stats:
OG: 1.051
FG: 1.016
ABV: 4.7%

Bottles remaining: 21 as of right now. Yikes! Between gifts, graft, and personal consumption, that’s half the batch in less than a week.

Time to make more beer! Maybe this weekend?

Released into the wild

It’s been a bit of a wait, but the first reviews of Black Squirrel “Nutter” have been favorable.

This is the second ever batch brewed by Circle Bar Brewery, which is a fancy way of saying me and my compatriots. Special thanks to Dan, Doug, and Gavin who stopped by and helped while away the hours. The day was a bit warmer than the first ever batch, which helps explain why we were accidentally smart enough to keep the lid off the kettle.

Nutter is an extract recipe for a nut brown ale and the first that used LME. The full recipe:

  • 1/2 lbs UK Dark Crystal — steeped
  • 3/8 lbs US Dark Chocolate Malt — steeped
  • 1/8 lbs Weyerman Crisp Roasted 2-Row — steeped
  • 3.3 lbs Hopped Light Liquid Malt Extract — in boil
  • 1 lb Light Dried Malt Extract — in boil
  • 1 lb Sparkling Amber Dried Malt Extract — in boil
  • 1 lb Muscovado — in boil
  • 2 oz Fuggle Loose Pellet Hops at 10 minutes to flame out
  • 1 pkg Coopers Ale Yeast

Specialty grains in muslin bag at flame on, heated to 160F. Rest for 30 minutes and then removed bag and squeezed into wort. Boil for 60 minutes with hops addition at 10 minutes to flame out.

Of note: No boil overs this time! Kit called for a partial boil of 3 gallons and then a top off. Since I have the kettle space I did full volume boil. I believe we used 6 gallons which after boil off and trub loss netted almost 5 gallons of beer. We did get to the 80F pitching temperature (yes, too hot) within 45 minutes. Pitched dry yeast on top of cooled wort (now beer) in a 6.5 gallon carboy. Airlocked and off to the fermenting chamber for three weeks. Ambient temps ranged from 58 – 64 over the period.

Bottle conditioned using 5oz DME (probably 1oz too much given carbonation) and rested at room temp for two weeks.

Tasting notes: Nice pour with possibly too much carbonation for the style. Head retention is passable but not great. Wonderful nutty taste with sweet/spicy finish. At 5.5% ABV, highly drinkable.

I’ll post the pour pictures and additional notes later. Would definitely do this kit beer again but am more interested in moving to all-grain doing BIAB so it may be a different path to nut brown goodness next time out.

Beer me, Marge

The new brew kettle has been ordered. The early Christmas present from the lovely Elizabeth was purchased earlier today as well. We won’t make a Christmas brew timeline, but I’m thinking a mid to late January First Round party is doable. I’m leaning Belgian White–but that’s because I drink the hell out of Blue Moon. Any suggestions / votes?

In other news, converting the garage into a neighborhood brewpub has jumped to the top of the to do list. Kind of funny that it wasn’t even on the to do list before yesterday afternoon. Reminds me of Grandpa Lehl’s basement bar, which was a totally awesome thing even to a 10 year old kid.

We do have to sort out yard implement storage and the like first…