CLEIBU Tasting

Beautiful color and carb. Nice to be back.

Aroma - Subdued melon, pine and honey - 7/12  
Appearance - Slight haze, golden yellow, fluffy carb - 3/3  
Flavor - Honey sweetness, floral hop notes, slightly astringent citrus bitterness up front, sticky pine late and then a watery finish with some trailing pine bitterness- 11/20  
Mouthfeel - Watery and thin, nice carbonation - 2/3  
Overall - 5/10  

Total - 28/50

Not bad for a rushed and poorly thought out recipe using supplies available at the local subpar brew store. Can't quite seem to hit the hop flavors that I want on these IPAs. Might consider a kit just to see what hops they use or try a SMASH next. somehow always surprised that it's not just dumping a bunch of hops in.

Might use a little more oats next time and consider something other than Cascade...

#24 - CLEDRIS

Trying to recreate the DRIS in a somewhat scaled-down-refined sort of way. That was good, but it was a DM inducing sugar bomb that made my pancreas hurt. A lot. This was supposed to be a thick 10% stout, lots of roastiness, some sugary sweetness. Brewed and just bottled and just realized that I never posted it. 

NB - Had to change the recipe from the original because the brewshop somehow left the 1 lb DME out of my bag. Replaced it with brown sugar to get the ABV where I wanted it. Somewhat disappointed but hey.

Quick taste right now is pretty good. Very thick, viscous and hefty, nice roast but could be more intense, some nice earthy hop bitterness without a ton of hop flavor. Official review to follow once it's carbed up a bit.

Recipe below:
http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/315171/cledris

CLEIBU Racked

Racked the newest IPA to secondary today. Have been bleaching all equipment along the way to ensure that whatever infection was present is taken care of. The cider has no sign of infection from the last 6 months so, so far, so good.

It was nice to open a bucket again and see the process at work. Not a ton of hop aroma but a nice etOH burn if you stuck your nose in deep. Beautiful color, yellow with just a faint orange hue, gristy and opaque from all the wheat used in this one. The little hop nose is subtly floral, just a hint of earthiness. Hop taste is decidedly more citrus and pine forward, subtle floral notes. Hop bitterness is big without overwhelming, lasts long and picks up in the finish.

Held off on adding the dry hops today. Plan on adding them WED / THURS this week and then bottling next weekend.

Can't wait to drink #23 and time to start planning #24...

#23 - CLEIBU

Been a very long time since doing a gallon batch. Have done a couple 5 gallon batches and a gallon of cider with friends but family, kids and life have a way of getting in the way. Some free time tonight and finally getting settled offered the opportunity for the first batch since moving (6/6/14). 

Have been drinking the PA beers from time to time and believe now that the issue was an infection one (probably brett from the early lambic) rather than a water one. Although, I still think their water was terrible. 

Had to revisit the water calcs and everything else:
Skipped the protein rest
This one was 18 cups water (1.5 qt/lb) at 165 that leveled at 153 deg.
Sparged with 14 cups (24 cups -18 (from the mash) + 2 cups/lb grain) at 175
Boiled for 1 hr

Didn't have a chance to get to the really nice brew store so malt, hop and yeast choices were slim. Been drinking lots of stouts in the winter months and felt like a good IPA. A good, over-the-top IPA. 

Recipe below
http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/310746/cleuno

Still thinking that I will get to #50...

Peat Stout Tasting...

Aroma - Smoke, light roast notes, somewhat subdued - 7/12
Appearance - Black stable head, thick - 3/3
Flavor - Some roast notes up front, notes of coffee and chocolate, finish is huge smoke, tint of peat, some roast bitterness, long aftertaste of smoke, slight astringency - 13/20
Mouthfeel - Smooth and full, good CO2 levels - 3/3
Overall - 6/10
Total - 32/50

A tough one to grade. Again, not a fan of smoked beers. This one strayed a little too far into smoke land for my tastes, the start is pleasant, as are the background stout notes. It's odd that the smoke is subdued on the nose but then essentially punches you in the mouth when you drink it. So this one is good, well-crafted (I think) but don't love the flavors.

On the other hand, am very happy with the progression of this stout recipe, mouthfeel is on the fuller side, nice roast levels, great head and retention. Changes for the future would include even more oats / etc for fuller body, touch more roast, no more smoke malt. Otherwise good.

Hops! (#21) Tasting

Found this one while cleaning out the boxes for the move and was very excited. This one tasted great and I don't think that I got around to reviewing it (I didn't). It's got a couple months on it but here goes anyway.

Aroma - Dank, lots of pine hops, some floral notes, spice - 9/12  
Appearance - Big, stable head, great golden orange color - 3/3  
Flavor - Wheat and pilsner backbone, just a hint of of carmel sweetness and then some spice from the rye, hop flavors are primarily pine, again some spicy floral notes towards the end, pervasive hop bitterness that picks up towards the finish and drags into the aftertaste, some citrus notes and pepper on the back end - 16/20
Mouthfeel - Moderately full, creamy, perfect carbonation - 4/5
Overall - 8/10
Total - 40/50

This is really good (trying to be conservative on the scoring). Tons of hop bitterness but not overly so despite the calculated, unachievable 304 IBUs. The aroma is nice and the hop flavors are pleasant. Tastes more like an APA than a huge IPA. Some of this is probably due to the age on it and the pilsner / wheat backbone. Would really like to try this one fresh again. 

I like the spice from the touch of rye in here. Would probably decrease the wheat:pilsner ratio just a bit next time to make it a little more like a traditional IPA. Also would throw in some oats for some fuller goodness and change the dry hops to something a little more aromatic. The distilled water worked well, none of those off flavors that had been plaguing the process here.

Smoked stout tasting on Monday...

Peated RIS bottled

Today bottled the last of the PA beers.

The peated stout is tasting fantastic right now. Pitch black, lots of roast flavors, just the right amount of smoke, silky smooth mouthfeel. Tasting next week and looking forward to it.

On a whim bottled the last one in the closet as well. The X-mas Quad was tasting not as good. In fact it tasted like most of the beers from the tap water days. Still went ahead and will crack one soon to see if there was some miraculous (Christmas miracle?) transformation in the bottle.

Looking forward to getting back to OH and more space...

#22 - Peated RIS

Said I was done brewing here. I lied. I just had to. Thought of some other possible reasons for the off flavors including; the yeast, and temperature control. So I bought some new yeast and am working on better monitoring temperature. Again using distilled water in case that was the reason.

Inspiration for this beer: I had a De Molen Hemel & Hel on a recent trip. One of the best beers I've ever had. And a total shocker because it was smoked. I hate smoked beers. Now it was with peat malt, which I think was the best part about the taste, and it was amazing. So this is my attempted version of that. A big, black stout with peat smoked malt. Really up the roast in this one as well, tossed in a ton of dextrine malt and some oats to try for a really thick body. 

This will be the last one before the move back to the CLE. Excited to get set up back there and continue on the way to #50.

http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/137408/roastalgia-dris

OG - 1.073, OB -  17.8

Hoping this even comes slightly close...

Lots of Bottling...

Bottled several beers today. Fresh wine yeast pitched into the bottling bucket for all of them.

1. Pom Lambic. Perfectly clear, nice golden, yellow color. But after talking to a friend who's really good at this he pointed out that the Brett Lambic yeast used doesn't make something a lambic. It's just brett from a lambic. So this is actually an aged Brett golden belgian. Tasted good bite with a hint of esters in the back. No real flavor or much color from the pomegranate. Aiming for 4 volumes of CO2.

2. Oud Bruin. Smells great. Tastes great - sour, but not overly so. Great color and clarity. Not much on the nose however. Bottled to 3 volumes CO2. 

3. Biere de Garde. This had some of the same stuff in the Bruin floating on the surface. Went back and checked everything and don't remember intentionally adding any bacteria or anything, so maybe contamination? Will see. Again, nice color. Taste wasn't quite as malty as I was hoping for / should be, could be related to the low mash temp. 3 volumes CO2.

Tastings in the next few weeks...

#21 - TOOIBU IPA

Despite saying that I was done I had little to do yesterday and a bunch of hops left over in the fridge so....

Here's what I came up with. It also basically kicked the rest of the grains. I used distilled water this time to see if the flavor could continue to improve over the spring water. This is basically a hop monster, but am blending hops to see how that changes the flavor profile (hoping for the better).

Recipe below.

http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/108130/tooibu-ipa

OB 15.2, OG - 1.062

Hold it...

Brew project is currently on hold. Frowny face emoticon.

Reasons:
1. The water here in Pittsburgh seems to be the cause of lots of off flavors. I don't really feel like buying distilled and adding the necessary ions so... That's a big reason.
2. See #1.

The Citra IPA made with the spring water came out pretty good. Review to follow.

Will also finish drinking what I have, review, and post those.

Otherwise, can't wait to move back home.

Chocolate Stout and Citra II Bottled...

The chocolate stout has that background flavor of the Pittsburgh beers. This one was brewed with the new kettle but the usual tap water. Not much chocolate flavor. Will check it after a week in the bottle.

The Citra II is very promising. First brewed with bottled water. Nice hop notes, more importantly no off flavors! Just have to wait a week to see how it turns out now.

Citra Stats:
OB - 16, OG - 1.065
FB - 8, FG - 1.011, ABV - 7%

Yay!?...

Pine IPA Tasting...

Aroma - Some pine notes, bread - 6/12    
Appearance - Big creamy head, slightly on the darker side - 2/3    
Flavor - Background bitterness, light caramel malt notes, not a ton of hop flavor - 10/20
Mouthfeel - Full, smooth - 4/5
Overall - 5/10
Total - 27/50

Thought this one was drinking better early on. Has that same odor / taste that has plagued several of the previous IPAs. Again, it's drinkable, but not what I wanted. Have continued reading and wondering if it's oxidation. Granted I don't purge the secondary with CO2 but I siphon "quietely" and try to get as little as possible in.

Side note: Drank one of the Galaxy IPAs last night, which didn't have it as much. Now I'm really curious to try the new one with the bottled water to see if that takes care of it...

#20 - HNY14 IPA

Another shot at this IPA thing for the new year. Have only used the new pot for the stout, which is still hanging out in secondary; so I can't be sure if that was the problem or not. Will probably bottle that next week and hope to learn more. That being said there weren't much hops in it so may not learn much anyway. In another effort to combat the weird taste that has popped up tonight am going to try bottled water to see if that takes care of things. Could just be crappy Pittsburgh water. This is spring water from Ohio! There's always distilled water but that's just getting crazy.

Going to redo / retry the all Citra IPA. Will be using lots of late additions and dry-hopping. The goal for this one is Citramaxx as made by Market Garden Brewing in Cleveland, OH - A sublime beer that comes out once a year and is gone in days. Recipe below:

http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/94750/hny14-ipa
OB - 16, OG - 1.065, EOG - 1.081
Water - Rest/Infusion/Sparge - 10/10/8

Again OG low due to high volume. Next time going to have to decrease protein rest volume. Hopefully this whole spring water thing works...

Grapefruit Mead Tasting...

Aroma - Honey sweetness, flowers, grapefruit - 10/12    
Appearance - Clear, yellow-orange - 3/3    
Flavor - The fruit and the honey complement each other well, just a hint too bitter - 14/20
Mouthfeel - Effervescent, smooth, moderately full - 4/5
Overall - 8/10
Total - 39/50

Really has some potential. Could tweak the honey choice (leave out the darker one) to make it just a bit sweeter. The color is great, it's nice and dry, and I like the carbonation levels. Need to back off on the grapefruit just a bit to better balance this one out. Happy with a first try...

Pacific IPA Tasting...

Aroma - Not much hop aroma, hint of citrus - 4/12    
Appearance - Beautiful golden orange, creamy head - 3/3    
Flavor - Bitter, dry, bread and pepper notes, almost no hop flavors - 7/20
Mouthfeel - Good carbonation, smooth, moderately full - 4/5
Overall - 4/10
Total - 22/50

Not undrinkable but not that good. Will keep a bottle or two to see if anything changes but not something that I'll pour for awhile. Not even going to finish this one. The yeast is interesting in that it is a little bready, which I don't think that I like in my IPAs. Also don't think that the Pacific Jade helped at all either. Way to go!...

'TISTHE Saison Bottled...

Bottled the 'TISTHE X-mas saison today. Unfortunately, this probably didn't happen in time to have it for X-mas although it will be close. Color is great, crystal clear, still has the late bitterness / off flavors that has plagued many of the beers since moving to Pittsburgh and starting this. It's not terrible, but the saison doesn't stand out. Gonna let this one sit for a little bit before drinking...

Chocolate Stout Racked...

Racked the second attempt at the chocolate stout tonight. And I have to say...so far, so good. I had read that people complained that using cocoa made the beer "grainy" but so far I don't think that is the case. It's a good color, nice body, taste is middle-of-the-road. Lots of volume, which explains the slightly low OG. This is attributable to the new pot. The boil was not nearly as vigorous as before. 

Bottling the X-mas beers next week in preparation for the holidays...!

#19 REDUXII Stout...

Second attempt at the chocolate stout. Have recently made the switch to drinking more stouts. Am assuming that this is the first sign of my seasonal affective disorder setting in. Really like a good roasty, rich, chocolate stout, which I have still yet to make. The first one was very low OG (thinking due to grain crushing issues) and fairly bland, but had some nice roastiness to it. Have given up on cocoa nibs for flavoring because I think they don't do much in the 3 beers that I used them in. Contemplated and read about using hot chocolate packets, but am going to try pure cocoa powder before I stoop to that level. 

Sidenote: bought some Terrapin Moo-Hoo milk chocolate stout to drink while making this. Normally, I have been very impressed with what they make (Wake n' bake, etc.); but this one falls way, way, way, way, short (IMO). It actually tastes similar to my "failed" first attempt. For shame Terrapin. Anyway, recipe below:

http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/89644/reduxii-stout

OG - 1.065, OB - 15.9

Low again from the estimate. Think a bit high on volume again, the new pot didn't seem to develop as vigorous a boil.

Will be bottling the X-mas beers next...

Pot?...

So after reviewing the water report(s) the conclusion is: They are conflicting and confusing. I think to be totally accurate I would have to send off some of my own water for analysis; and that's not happening. Only because we're only here for a year. Otherwise I would. Totally. So for the next IPA I am planning on adding a little gypsum because it does seem that the pH may be high and the calcium a bit low. Who knows? 

To further confuse matters I also bought a new brewpot. Was wondering if the old one was contributing to some off flavors. Less likely, but it was just and old pot that we had lying around, and I wasn't entirely sure what it was made out of. New one is a 3 gallon pot from Food Warehouse. Shipped fast, $20, and looks great...