Petite Saison

Brewed with Barley, Wheat, Oats, and Rice. First wort hopped with Saaz andCeleia. With East Kent Golding hops at the end of boil. Fermented with Wyeast 3711 French Saison. Simple recipe, but most likely a delicious beer. Step mash for today's brew to break down extra proteins in the large portion of wheat and oats in the grist. This was a great beer for the middle of Summer. Dry and drinkable, but spicy enough to be interesting. Some more noble hop flavors from dry hopping would be a nice addition to recipe. Styrian Golding, Saaz, or Tettnanger would add the needed hop flavor.

Farm Fresh Series: Tart Cherry Porter

This weekend at the farmers market there were some fresh Tart Cherries and Blueberries. I decided to brew a Porter with the cherries. I'll be adding the cherries directly into the primary FV as I did during knockout for the Strawberry Cream Ale. Both the cherries and previously mentioned strawberries were from Fifer Orchards in Wyoming, Delaware.

Grist Bill: English pale malt, Amber malt, Crystal malt, Coffee malt, Chocolate malt, Black Patent, and CaraPils. Six Pounds of Tart Cherries. Lightly hopped with Willamette. Fermented with Safale US-05.

Abbey Ale

After working with and living with my house mate, who is also a professional brewer, for over a year now we haven't done a collaborative brew yet. Which is kind of ridiculous. We're brewing an Abbey style ale with Citra hops and dried orange slices. A blonde 7% hoppy citrus Belgian style ale.

Grist Bill: Belgian two row, Munich malt, Biscuit malt, and Aromatic malt. First wort hopped with Saaz and Willamette. Citra hops for finishing hops along with dried oranges at end of boil. Fermented with the Westmalle Trappist brewery strain the White Labs WLP530 Abbey Ale yeast.

Smoked Session Stout

This is a beer I would like to serve using nitrogen. The beer would be greatly improved by this serving method. A firkin would also compliment the flavors in this Stout. It's a low alcohol but full flavored offering. It's your usual 'sessionable' Stout but brewed with over 30% smoked malt adding a delicious old world twist. As most beers had smoke flavor back in the day due to open fire malting techniques.

Grist Bill: Pale two row, Smoked malt, Chocolate malt, Roasted Barley, Crystal malt, Flaked Barley, and CaraPils. Hopped with Super Galena and Willamette. Fermented with American ale yeast WLP001. I do need to get some Thames Valley and/or London III yeast around for when I decide to do brews like this, but this one will be fermented with chico.

Copper Ale

Brewing up an easy drinking Copper ale tonight. Brewed with 24% Biscuitmalt to give this brew a bold bready character. Commercial examples of this 'style' of beer are Otter Creek's Copper Ale and New Belgium's Fat Tire. Both are very biscuity, malty, well balanced ales with enough hops to hold up to the malt but not overpower it. A style of beer that doesn't really have a category. It's American but doesn't have the American citrus hop character that Category 10 American Ales have. Copper ales are similar to German Alt beers but the yeast character in American Copper ales contributes more flavor than a traditional German Alt beers yeast that has a cleaner, lager like yeast characteristics.

Grist Bill: American two row, Biscuit malt, Aromatic malt, Dk. Munich malt, and Briess Xtra Special malt. Bittering hops are Super Galena, finishing hops are Willamette and Celeia. Fermented with Safale US-05.

BBQ Bourban Brown Ale

On Memorial Day this year I'm brewing a big brown ale inspired by the many barbecue's that are taking place today. To turn this brown ale into a barbecue inspired batch I'll be brewing with Smoke Malt, Molasses, and Ancho Chilies. Lending the delicious flavors of well done barbecue. Brown ales are the best style to pair with grilled and barbecued foods. This is because of the Maillard Reaction. Think toasting bread, searing a steak, the browning action of your favorite foods. The flavor of toasted bread, biscuits, seared and roasted meats, and dark beers are made from "a chemical reaction between amino acid and a reducing sugar, usually requiring heat. It is vitally important in the preparation or presentation of many types of food." Going to be aging this beer on house charred either mesquite, hickory, or oak chips soaked with Bourbon. Nothing like a Bourbon infused Barbecue sauce. The boiled wort has nice chocolate, toffee and caramel, with a ripe dark fruit pepper flavor from the Ancho chilies. Should be interesting.

Fin de Printemps Saison

An 'End of Spring' Saison. I've brewed a few different spin-offs of the 'Saison' style of beer this last year, a Black Saison, and most recently a Saison with red peppercorns and sumac berries. I've been very pleased with results. Today's will have no spices and be a more 'traditional' style Saison. I will be doing a step mash for extra added more traditional, time consuming, dividend paying, and multiple step taking process that is a step mash. This mash procedure will insure conversion and more importantly break down extra proteins that are in the flaked rye, wheat malt, flaked maize and flaked oats that will be in the mash along with malted barley. These other grains have a much higher protein content and these proteins can be broken down by performing a step mash.

One of my favorite styles of beer is Saison. Drinking them, brewing them, and cooking with them. Whether brewed in France, Belgium, America, or by some other independent spirited brewer they can be delicious. Thirsty quenching when either strong or 'sessionable'. Brewed with spices, fruit and can get better with funk. The possibilities are endless with this traditional farm hand field beverage.

Farm Fresh Series: Strawberry Cream Ale

Brewing up a Cream Ale today with fresh local strawberries and bananas. Brewing a somewhat traditional style cream ale by using flaked maize in the mash. The somewhat will be the addition of 6 pounds of whole strawberries and 3 bananas into the primary fermenter. Now, I recommend and prefer fermenting in glass for a couple reasons, plastic scratches much easier and never smells 'clean'. Regardless I've purchased a 7 gallon plastic FV for a 'Farm Fresh Fermentation Series'. The plan is to brew with whatever fresh local fruit's and vegetables that are available throughout this year's season at my local farmers market. First batch of series will be a Strawberry Cream ale. My friend Jon Talkington, Master Meadmaker of Brimming Horn Meadery makes a strawberry mead and has found that the addition of bananas to fermentation doesn't add much banana flavor but does seem to enhance the strawberry flavor. The flavor of strawberry is delicate and often difficult to brew with, probably a reason there are not many commercial examples (compared to blueberry for instance). I'm especially excited to brew something with cantaloupe, honey dew melons, and carrots later this year. Of course the randoms will be most fun, kohlrabi ale anyone?

Simple grist bill of pale two row, flaked maize, and honey malt. Barely hopped with Celeia variety and fermented with White Labs WLP009 Australian Ale yeast. White Labs claims this yeast "can ferment successfully, and clean, at higher temperatures."