Loco Roja IPA

This beer was brewed for a unique home brew competition created by Peter Kennedy of Simply Beer called Iron Brewer. Iron Brewer brings together home brewers from across the country to create a beer from secret ingredients. Like Iron Chef which has one secret ingredient to showcase in all the dishes, Iron Brewer presents three secret ingredients for each brewer to showcase in one beer. After winning the third round with a Bourbon Infused Vanilla Bean Robust Smoked Brown Porter featuring Vanilla, Smoked Malt, and Centennial hops I was invited to compete against the winners of all six rounds for the Iron Brewer championship. In the Championship Round we had to feature Chili Pepper, Crystal 120, and Horizon hops.

When I first heard the ingredients I was surprised by the choice of chili peppers but the challenge of brewing a beer that also featured a strong hop character seemed like a difficult pairing. Then I decided I would just roll the dice and go for it and brew a vibrant red IPA (the red representing the heat of the chili peppers, and the color achieved from crystal 120) with chili peppers.  I didn't know how the hops would meld with the chili peppers flavor and heat. Having never used the Horizon hop variety before I wasn't sure of there flavor either. From what I read they were spicy and earthy. So that was encouraging. Nothing to crazy about the brewing process except I added three quarters of an ounce of re-hydrated and pureed chipotle chili peppers at end of boil to lay a foundation of chili flavor and what I thought would be enough heat. Here's the recipe.


After fermenting with an American Ale strain (Safale US-05) and racked to secondary I realized the heat wasn't where I wanted it to be so I created a red chili pepper tincture in vodka to boost the heat. The beer was dry hopped with two ounces of Horizon hops and keg'd. At which point I added the chili pepper tincture adding the heat to this hoppy red ale. After force carbonating I used a blichmann beer gun to bottle.

You can listen to the tasting of the championship round here, but long story short, I won! The Championship round had some really excellent beers, especially Jim Lavin with a chocolatey chili pepper ale and Jonathan Moxey with a delicious Red Chili IPA. After winning all I could say was "my jaw is dropped". It felt great to be recognized by my peers to have brewed the best beer that day. Looking forward to defending my title in the Championship Round of Batch #2.

8/28/11 Update: With the prize winning money from winning batch #1 of Iron Brewer I built a five tap home brew draft setup.  Nice to be done with cobra party taps at home and pour a pint from a stainless steel faucet. There were a few bottles leftover of this batch so I decided to enter this beer into the Delaware State Fair Home Brew Competition. There was a little age on the batch (5 months) but I thought why not, it fits into category 21a Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer.

Judging

Aroma

#1- Fresh herbal American hop nose. Pepper is a secondary aroma. Malt as well in the background with some caramel malt to support.

#2- Great classic amber ale aroma with hints of pepper hanging out.

Appearace

#1- Dark reddish-amber color. Creamy off white head with good retention.

#2- Color is deep amber. Great head retention.

Flavor

#1- Malt up front followed by hops and a bit of chili pepper at the finish. Some berry like fruity esters add a layer of complexity. Balance swings from malt to pepper spicy to hoppy.

#2- Sweet malt up front that fades as you wait for the slow creep of heat. 

Mouthfeel

#1- Medium body and carbonation. Carbonation adds fullness to mouthfeel. No alcohol warmth, but capsaicin warms the finish. Some creaminess. No astringency

#2- Carbonation is great. Hot on the finish.

Overall Impression

#1- A nicely balanced and well made spice beer. The base style comes through nicely and chili peppers are not overdone. A bit more of a malt balance would push underlying beer closer to the style.

#2- I like the blend of malt and chili peppers. I just can't help but wish it had more hop character.

#1- Grand Master III        36/50

#2- Professional Brewer   37/50   

Overall 37/50---Very Good (30-37)

First place in category winning Best in Style

Chateau Federal Saison

After living together for almost two years my house mate, Josh Tierney, is moving to Portland, Maine to brew for Allagash. Congratulation man! This batch of beer will be our last collaboration at the federal (our house). For this one off batch we pulled out all the stops. Using spices, fruit juice, and a unique yeast choice (for style). Our goal was to brew something that would age well and we could enjoy together for years to come. Taking stock of what was available at the federal we decided to push Wyeast 9097 English Old Ale blend (an attenuative ale strain and a Brettanomyces strain) into Belgian territory by fermenting warm and allowing the Brettanomyces yeast strain to develop (age min. 6 months) a sour and funky character. We also wanted to increase the tropical fruit flavors in the finished beverage so we kicked around the idea of using mangoes, coconuts, pineapples, papaya, and guava. To finally decide on using pineapple juice (best option at store). We then decided to add Coriander, Red Peppercorns, and Saffron to really promote the development of traditional 'Saison' flavors while it ages and melds together. With a starting gravity of 21*Plato (SG 1.084) and potential abv over 9% this is not a shy Saison and anticipation is the only word that comes to mind when thinking about this colloid aging in a glass carboy upstairs. Cheers Josh, looking forward to sharing one in Portland when it's "ready".

Recipe: American Two Row, Honey Malt, Belgian Aromatic Malt, and Acidulated Malt. First wort hopped with UK Golding. Bittered with Super Galena hops. With Cascade and Delta hops added near end of boil.  Ground Coriander, Red Peppercorns, and Saffron at end of boil. Fermented with Wyeast 9097 Old Ale blend.

100% Brettanomyces Brux. Pale Ale

An American style Pale ale 100% fermented with an isolated wild yeast called Brettanomyces Bruxellensis, instead of traditional brewers yeast Saccharomyces Cerevisiae. A hop bill like an American Pale Ale using Amarillo, Chinook, and Centennial hops for a classic grapefruit, pine, citrus flavor hop bite but with a yeast that will impart unique flavors.  Classified under the broad banner of American Wild Ales, one of the most exciting styles being brewed across the country.  This pale ale of sorts is meant to be dry, refreshing, and hoppy, but with a yeast character to add complexity, not overpower the beer.  Planning to keg this beer fairly young so it only has a light funk character that's (hopefully) leaning toward tropical fruit flavors from the yeast to interact with the citrus hop notes.

Grist bill of American Two Row, Munich malt, Flaked Barley, and Belgian Aromatic. Bittered with Chinook hops. Aroma addition at end of boil with Chinook and Amarillo. Dry hopped with Centennial. Fermented with Wyeast 5112 Brettanomyces Bruxellensis.

Raspberry Chocolate Stout

A dessert beer in one of the most obvious forms.  A full bodied stout recipe turned into a beer to make even St. Valentine happy. With the addition of a little raspberry concentrate at the end of boil you can twist an ordinary stout into a beer with a pleasant, but not overpowering fruit flavor (cloyingly sweet). The cocoa powder addition helps to accentuate the chocolate flavors already present from the specialty malts in the recipe. Stouts with fruit are brewed both seasonally and year round at brewpubs across the country since the 1980's.  The flavors of raspberry, cherry, and other fruits are obvious pairings for chocolate forward stout recipes to try this with. Last summer I brewed a Tart Cherry Porter with fresh fruit from my local farmers market that turned out very well, but the concentrate is very easy to work with and tastes great.

Simple grist bill of American two row, flaked barley, crystal 45, pale chocolate malt, and roasted barley. Bittered to balance with super galena. One and a half cups of cocoa powder and twelve fluid ounce of raspberry concentrate added at end of boil. Fermented with Safale US-05.


8/28/11 Update: This batch of beer was entered in the Delaware State Fair competition into the Fruit Beer category 20. As well as featured at my brewery in plannings first tasting event where I described it as follows: "Lava Cake Stout, brewed with organic cocoa powder and raspberries this, dessert in a glass has an aroma bursting of fresh raspberries and chocolate. The complex flavors of dark chocolate are layered with crystal malt, pale chocolate malt, and a touch of roasted barley with just enough raspberries in the finish."

Judging

Aroma

#1- Raspberry right off the bat, some chocolate sweetness, very slight roastiness.

#2- Raspberry and chocolate aroma initially. Toasted and caramel malt. No hops or fruity esters. Clean.

#3- Raspberry and dark chocolate evident right away. Underlying dark grain and low hop aroma as well.

Appearance

#1- Dark brown bordering on black. Tan head.

#2- Near opaque black. Medium, fizzy tan head, medium to short retention.

#3- Pours low beige head. Falls fast. Color is black.

Flavor

#1- Tart raspberries up front with some chocolate dryness. Low bitterness leading to additional fruitiness and cocoa powder. Raspberry prominent. Low roast with more chocolate as it warms.

#2- Tart raspberry to start. Chocolate supports with caramel malt. Earth hops. Well fermented, low residual sugar. Balanced beer with dry finish and subdued chocolate.

#3- Tart raspberry fruit with low level of chocolate. Moderate level of roasted grain. Not sure if chocolate is from powder or grain. Medium hop bitterness to balance.

Mouthfeel

#1- Medium body with medium carbonation.

#2- Medium body and carbonation. Low creaminess. Slightly warming.

#3- Medium carbonation. Medium to light body. Carbonation is soft and creamy.

Overall Impression

#1- Pretty good. Raspberry was spot on but overshadowed chocolate. A bit of roast from roasted barley would also help this beer tremendously. Also needs more body. Not bad.

#2- Nice beer. A longer lasting head with some residual sugars cold make this even better.

#3- First, a blend of fruit and spice (chocolate) better entered in cat. 23. That said, well made. Good use of raspberry but chocolate gets a bit lost in the dark grain flavors. Still, well done!

#1- Recognized    30/50

#2- Certified        35/50

#3- Certified        30/50

Overall 31.6/50---Very Good (30-37)

One thing I've learned from this To Style Series is how subjective judges can be. In hind sight if I had entered this beer into category 20 fruit beer with a base style of Porter instead of Stout and called it a Raspberry Porter with no mention of cocoa powder the beer may have fared better. Picking the best base style is important in many categories. Also, picking the right category is important. I think this is a fruit beer, but one judge mentioned it should have been entered in category 23 spice/herb/vegetable category because of the cocoa powder. I disagree, but this illustrates how important category placement can be and that if you say an ingredient is used in a batch, even just to play a supporting role, since you mentioned it it then becomes a major player in the minds of the drinker.

Entering your beers into competitions helps you get insight into your beer you otherwise wouldn't have. Most times judges offer constructive feedback about your beer and this will always help you to become a better brewer. 

Oud Bruin with Figs & Raspberries

My FunkHouse (beers with wild yeast and/or bacteria) is growing rapidly as of late last year and into two thousand eleven. I now have over thirty gallons of beer getting "funky". It's been an exciting new realm of brewing that's pushing my understanding of malt, hops, water, and Yeast (especially fermenter's besides Saccharomyces Cerevisiae). Watching pellicle's grow on the top of some, while smelling and tasting what's happening along the way.  It's amazing the flavor development taking place from the use of Brettanomyces Bruxellensis, Brettanomyces Lambicus, Lactobiccullus, and Pediococcus.

My next foray into the world of sours is an Oud Bruin brewed with Figs & Raspberries. Knocked out January 16th and pitched Wyeast Roeselare Yeast Blend 3763. I used this yeast blend in my Flemish style Red brewed November 2010 and the flavors are developing in the same direction I would like this Oud Bruin to go.

A layered grist bill of Munich Malt, US Two Row, Belgian Aromatic, Honey Malt, Belgian Cara 60, Briess Chocolate Wheat, and Thomas Fawcett Chocolate Malt. Target color is 15*SRM, a dark ruby edged color that fades to chocolate in the middle of the glass. A ninety minute boil for extra kettle caramelization and a more dextrinous wort.  At the end of boil four liquid ounces of Fig concentrate and Raspberry concentrate each was added at start of cool down and stirred in.  This is to boost the abv some and add a layer of complexity to this Bruin (may add fresh fruit from farmers market this summer when racked to 2nd). With a starting gravity of 18*Plato (1.072SG) this is no lightweight Oud Bruin. Looking for this one to be ready sometime early in two thousand twelve, tasting along the way to see how it develops. Did I mention, this is fun!

Saison d'Brettanomyces Bruxellensis

Fermented with a Saison yeast strain then inoculated with Brettanomyces Bruxellensis. Over the last few years this has become a very popular style across the country.  A great example of this reinvigorated style is brewed by Boulevard Brewing Co.'s Saison-Brett, which I've had the chance of trying and was quite impressed.  The use of Brettanomyces also helps to dry out the Saison, a problem in many American brewed Saison's. For me the Saison style should have a final gravity below 2.5*Plato (1.010SG), many of my Saison style beers I've brewed finished around said gravity but they still don't seem dry enough to compare to Saison Dupont, the definitive Saison. Fellow home brewer Jamey Barlow just kicked ass with his at Batch 300 the Bruery competition (I've had it, it rocked!).

Knocked out into primary January 16th. After fermenting in primary with a Saison yeast strain I racked to secondary where I inoculated the beer with Brettanomyces Bruxellensis (BB). I'll allow to age in secondary for 2-3 months at which point I'll begin tasting the beer to see how much BB character is present. Also, thinking about dry hopping at some point closer to bottling depending on how the flavors develop.

Recipe: American Pale Malt, Gambrinus Honey Malt, and Belgian Aromatic. First wort hopped with Citra, bittered with Super Galena, and finished with more Citra. Starting gravity of 17.8*Plato (1.071SG)

Framboise

This style of beer is part of the Lambic "family" of beers that have fruit added.  These are Framboise (Raspberries), Kriek (cherries), Cassis (currants), and Peche (peaches).  These four fruits are the most traditional in the Belgian brewing tradition of adding fruit to oak barrel aging Lambic beer.  Recently, American brewers having been adding all types of fruits to the fast growing segment in the brewing industry, American Wild ales, this link also provides a list of the top American Wild ales as rated on Beer Advocate.

The grist bill for this Framboise is based off of my Flanders style Red I recently brewed in November 2010 which I tasted last week and am happy with the direction.  A grist bill of Munich malt, Aromatic malt, Honey malt, Flaked Oats, and Chocolate malt.  A cup of Raspberry concentrate was added at end of boil to lay a foundation of tart berry flavor.  When raspberries are in season this summer at my local farmers market I will rack into secondary and add a few pounds of fresh raspberries for the punch you in the face kind of tartness. Fermented with Wyeast 3763 Roeselare Blend. I'm having a lot of fun brewing with wild yeast strains and bacteria. If you have the space you should have a go at it. 

German Pilsner

A crisp, clean, cold fermented Pilsner.  The subtle interplay of floral and spicy noble hops with a Graham cracker grainy malt flavor that is characteristic of the style is a thing of beauty.  Perfected in Germany but the new American renditions are new classics of the Pilsner style. Brewery's such as Victory Brewing's Prima Pils and Stoudts Pils.  With these American Pilsner's tending to be hoppier than their German brewed cousins. I brewed a few Pilsners at home last year. A pre-prohibition style Pilsner with Basmati Rice, a German style Pilsner with Sorachi Ace hops, and a Bohemian style Pilsner.  I also find full flavored Pilsners pair very well with Sushi.

Today's batch is a simple recipe of German Pilsner Malt. First wort hopped with Saaz and Tettnanger. Celeia hops for bittering and Saaz at end of boil. With a light dry hopping of Saaz. Fermented with Fermentis Saf-Lager 34/70.

This batch will be maturing for up to 8 weeks in traditional lager fashion. Cooler fermentation temperatures produce much more sulphur compounds than ale fermentation. Sulphur aroma and flavors fade with lagering (german for: to store). This is one reason for the longer maturation period of all lagers (35-90 days) compared to ales (10-28 days).