2010 February - Your Guide To Beer

Archive for February, 2010

Timothy Taylor Landlord Clone Recipe

Back in early 2007 when Wyeast first released 1469 West Yorkshire yeast my friend James and I brewed a bitter with it. The yeast was from Timothy Taylor so naturally we brewed a clone of their illusive Landlord (a “Strong Pale Ale” at 4.3% ABV) We based a recipe in Brew Your Own Real British Ales at Home which looked good to both of us, but we added a bit of extra hops at the end to up the hop aroma.

For malt we used 100% Golden Promise (a Scottish base malt), simple enough. The hops were a blend of East Kent Goldings, Styrian Goldings, and Fuggles. The water was adjusted to have a bit more sulfate, the gypsum also helped to keep the mash pH down on such a pale beer.

The yeast gave an excellent lightly fruity flavor that blended well with the earthy hops, but it was also one of the slowest strains to clear that I have ever experienced. Despite the low 1.043 OG after more than two weeks I was forced to rack out from under an inch of krausen because the gravity was no longer moving. As you can see it eventually cleared, but it took a couple of weeks of cold conditioning in the fridge after carbonation.

Landlord Clone

Recipe Specifics
—————-
Batch Size (Gal): 5.20
Total Grain (Lbs): 9.00
Anticipated OG: 1.043
Anticipated SRM: 4.6
Anticipated IBU: 31.2
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65 %
Wort Boil Time: 90 min.

Grain
——
100.0% – 9.00 lbs. Golden Promise

Hops
——-
1.00 oz. Fuggle (Pellet 4.00% AA) 65 min.
0.63 oz. Styrian Goldings (Pellet 4.20% AA) 65 min.
0.25 oz. East Kent Goldings (Pellet 6.90% AA) 15 min.
0.38 oz. Styrian Goldings (Pellet 4.20% AA) 0 min.

Extras
——–
0.50 Wirlfloc @ 15 Min.(boil)

Yeast
——-
WYeast 1469 West Yorkshire Ale

Water Profile
—————-
Profile: TT Pale Ale

Calcium(Ca): 74.0 ppm
Magnesium(Mg): 10.0 ppm
Sodium(Na): 8.0 ppm
Sulfate(SO4): 187.0 ppm
Chloride(Cl): 16.0 ppm
biCarbonate(HCO3): 18.0 ppm
pH: 8.23

Mash Schedule
——————
Sacch Rest – 60 min @ 151
Mash Out – 15 min @ 166

Notes
——-
Brewed 3/15/07 with James

Collected 6.5 gallons of 1.035 wort.

No problems in the brew, but topped off with .75 gallons of water because we came in under volume and over gravity.

Pitched right from a partially inflated pack of Wyeast, after 60 seconds of oxygenation. Room temp around 62 to start.

66 degrees and three inch krausen by 24 hours. Got a bit hotter the third day due to a sudden and unexpected March heatwave.

Back down to the mid 60s for the next few days.

3/29/07 1.010, but still has a big krausen. Hopefully this is just about done fermenting.

4/02/07 1.008 correcting for temp. Still has a inch of krausen, hopefully its done.

4/6/07 Transferred to secondary still at 1.008

4/08/07 Bottled with 3 oz of corn sugar for 2.15 volumes of CO2.

4/15/07 After a week the carbonation is pretty good and the flavor is smoothing out a lot. Very fruity.

7/06/07 This one took a while in the fridge to drop bright, but the flavor just kept getting better. I think we could have gone heavier on the hops, but for a light refreshing drinker it is just about perfect.

————-
Commercial Description:
Available filtered and pasteurized in 500ml bottles.

Ingredients: Golden Promise malt; Styrian Goldings, Goldings and Fuggles hops; Oldham Brewery yeast. First brewed in the 1950’s.

From Brew your Own Real British Ales at Home

Timothy Taylor Landlord
1.042 OG
1.009 FG
100% golden promise
30 IBU target
6 SRM

Mash:
151F (66C) for 90 minutes

Hops:
60 min hops: 1.1 oz Styrian Goldings, 1 oz Fuggle
15 min. hops: 0.45 oz Goldings, 0.3 oz Irish moss

Dave (17.5% ABV Eis Beer)Tasting

I’d been excited to crack open the second (and final) bottle of the ice concentrated version of my Hair of the Dog Adam clone. I got the chance at a tasting at my friend Dyan’s house two nights ago with a three other friends to share the boozy goodness. We actually had a few ounces left over (due to multiple batches of Supplication and Brute, not to mention a growler of Pliny the Younger) but it gives you an idea of the drinkability of Dave.

We drank it still and pretty close to room temperature, and it showed with a big alcohol burn. I would have liked to let this sit longer before drinking, but with my concern over oxidation I wanted to try it before it sat in the bottle too long. I’m going to try carbonating the last few ounce with my carbonator cap to see how it changes.

Dave Clone

Appearance – Dark brown, but still wonderfully clear when held to the light. The beer is still (expected since it wasn’t primed), but it displays some nice legs due to the alcohol and residual gravity

Smell – The oak really comes through with a big whiff of vanilla, as well as some subtler woody tones. The peat is present as well giving it a character reminiscent of Scotch, the big boozy character only helps to reinforce that impression. There is some bready/malty notes as well, but the wood and alcohol drown most of that out. Thankfully there is no oxidation.

Taste – A healthy spirit burn is the first thing I noticed, followed by a rich sticky sweetness. There are some great dark fruit notes (plum, raisin, date) that make me think of port (not that I drink port all that often).

Mouthfeel – Full, no need for carbonation. The alcohol burn is also a component of the mouthfeel, a first for me as a brewer.

Drinkability & Notes – 2 oz was plenty and the five of us didn’t finish the bottle, but that is what you have to expect from a beer this big. One oak cube in a 12 oz bottle was too much, but it was close to the right level since the tannins helped to tame the massive sweetness.

I’ll certainly try ice concentration again in the future, I’m thinking of doing it for my IPA and the barrel Flanders red just to see how it effects hops and acid (something this beer didn’t give an impression of).

Dave (17.5% ABV Eis Beer)Tasting

I’d been excited to crack open the second (and final) bottle of the ice concentrated version of my Hair of the Dog Adam clone. I got the chance at a tasting at my friend Dyan’s house two nights ago with a three other friends to share the boozy goodness. We actually had a few ounces left over (due to multiple batches of Supplication and Brute, not to mention a growler of Pliny the Younger) but it gives you an idea of the drinkability of Dave.

We drank it still and pretty close to room temperature, and it showed with a big alcohol burn. I would have liked to let this sit longer before drinking, but with my concern over oxidation I wanted to try it before it sat in the bottle too long. I’m going to try carbonating the last few ounce with my carbonator cap to see how it changes.

Dave Clone

Appearance – Dark brown, but still wonderfully clear when held to the light. The beer is still (expected since it wasn’t primed), but it displays some nice legs due to the alcohol and residual gravity

Smell – The oak really comes through with a big whiff of vanilla, as well as some subtler woody tones. The peat is present as well giving it a character reminiscent of Scotch, the big boozy character only helps to reinforce that impression. There is some bready/malty notes as well, but the wood and alcohol drown most of that out. Thankfully there is no oxidation.

Taste – A healthy spirit burn is the first thing I noticed, followed by a rich sticky sweetness. There are some great dark fruit notes (plum, raisin, date) that make me think of port (not that I drink port all that often).

Mouthfeel – Full, no need for carbonation. The alcohol burn is also a component of the mouthfeel, a first for me as a brewer.

Drinkability & Notes – 2 oz was plenty and the five of us didn’t finish the bottle, but that is what you have to expect from a beer this big. One oak cube in a 12 oz bottle was too much, but it was close to the right level since the tannins helped to tame the massive sweetness.

I’ll certainly try ice concentration again in the future, I’m thinking of doing it for my IPA and the barrel Flanders red just to see how it effects hops and acid (something this beer didn’t give an impression of).

Kybecca Wine Bar Gets Beer Props

Northern Virginia Magazine did a piece this month on Wine Bars. Fredericksburg’s kybecca wine bar & shop was among the featured shops. Locals know that in addition to wine, kybecca also boasts an excellent craft beer selection; both in the wine bar and in their store. Northern Virginia Magazine took note of this as well.

The Snyders’ commitment to craft beer is just as great, as evidenced by the dozens of artisan brews they showcase, including: a boatload of Belgians (Maredsous 6, Gulden Draak, multiple Chimay, Orval), the best of North America (multiple Dogfish Head, Unibroue, Bell’s Brewery) and even some gluten-free bottles.

See the complete article here.

Hat tip to City Beat Blog for the pointer to the article.

[ Original content posted at http://www.musingsoverapint.com ]

Holy Brew Founders Featured in Loudoun Independant Newspaper

Holy Brew founders Scott Kasper and Warren Brown were featured in a video interview and accompanying article in the Loudoun Independant newspaper. Holy Brew is based in Loudoun County, VA and their two beers are available throughout Virginia. Currently Holy Brew offers two beers. Heavenly Light is a light American Lager and Purgatory Pilsner is a “Deluxe American Lager.” During the interview they let on that they have a “hoppier” ale coming out soon.

It’s always a fun to see Virginia craft brewers get mentioned in the press. See the article and video interview here.

[ Original content posted at http://www.musingsoverapint.com ]

Smoked Stout – DC Homebrewers Anniversary Beer

There is something really wonderful about joining an organization right when it is starting up. I’ve been attending meetings of the DC Homebrewers club since it was founded in early 2008. It has been rewarding to participate in the club as it grows and tries to find an identity in a metro-area that already has several larger/older homebrewing clubs.

A couple months back I struck upon an idea, why not get club members together to brew an anniversary beer to celebrate 2 years of DC Homebrewers? I sent out an email to the club discussion list and got some interest. Someone suggested that we try to brew a beer with as many local ingredients as possible. Our definition of local was pretty loose, but we came up with barley malted/smoked by a local distillery, homegrown hops, local honey, and yeast from a local brewpub.

People were great about procuring ingredients and then bringing them over to my house early on a Sunday morning to brew. Once most of the people (ingredients) arrived we set about trying to put together a malt bill based on what we had on hand. For awhile it had a too-many-cooks-in-the-kitchen feel, but after awhile we hashed out what most people were happy with. We decided on a moderately strong stout/porter, in addition to the smoked malt we added plenty of pale malt fro gravity, flaked barley for body, and a complex blend of dark malts for depth and balance.

I contributed 1.25 oz of my own homegrown cascades (basically the whole harvest…), but luckily someone else brought some commercial cascades to supplement. This is intended to be a beer that will age well, so we were a bit more heavy handed with the hops (50 IBUs) to ensure some bitterness remains in a year or two, and we left out late boil hops since the hop aroma is the first aspect of a beer to fade.

The yeast slurry from The District ChopHouse (20th generation Scottish yeast) was gangbusters ripping through the beer quickly despite the low wintertime temperature of my basement. Scottish yeast is relatively mild in character and great in malty beers, but it will be interesting to see how this one is after so many repitchings.

The honey will be added to the primary fermenter after the initial fermentation dies down. This will preserve as much of its aromatics as possible because the honey will not be subjected to heat or the CO2 scrubbing of primary fermentation. Despite adding it late in the process I’m not expecting too much character from the honey in a finished beer with so much else going on.

Hopefully the club will repeat this process every February to make another anniversary beer. A six-pack of each of these beers will make it to the club’s anniversary meeting every January, with the goal (a few years down the road) of being able to sample 5-6 different batches once a year. We spent most of the boil discussing styles to brew in the future (possibly alternating between two different styles, tweaking them as time goes by), but it will probably be next winter by the time the format is determined.

If you want to see more pictures of the brewday take a look at the Flikr page.

DC HB Anniversary 2010 – Smoked Honey Stout

Recipe Specifics

—————-

Batch Size (Gal): 5.25

Total Grain (Lbs): 14.75

Anticipated OG: 1.075

Anticipated SRM: 34.0

Anticipated IBU: 49.9

Brewhouse Efficiency: 72 %

Wort Boil Time: 90 min.

Grain/Sugar

————–

61.0% – 9.00 lbs. Canadian Pale Malt

16.9% – 2.50 lbs. Wasmund’s Apple Wood Smoked Malt 6.8% – 1.00 lbs. Flaked Barley

1.7% – 0.25 lbs. Simpson’s Extra Dark Crystal

1.7% – 0.25 lbs. Carafa Special II

1.7% – 0.25 lbs. Belgian Chocolate Malt

1.7% – 0.25 lbs. English Roasted Barley
0.8% – 0.13 lbs. English Black Patent Malt

0.8% – 0.13 lbs. Coffee Malt

6.8% – 1.00 lbs. Honey (after primary fermentation)

Hops

——

3.50 oz. Cascade (Pellet 4.50% AA) 60 min.

Extras

——–

1.00 Unit Whirlfloc @ 15 min.(boil)

0.25 Tsp Yeast Nutrient @ 15 min.(boil)

Yeast
——-
White Labs WLP028 Edinburgh Ale

Water Profile
—————-
Profile: Washington DC

Mash Schedule
——————-
Sacch Rest 60 min @ 152

Notes
——
Brewed 2/21/10 With a big group from DCHB.

Smoked malt was from Copper Fox Distillery (Wasmund’s Whiskey). Didn’t look like it took a very good crush.

No water adjustments.

Hops 1.25 oz of my homegrown, 2.25 oz of year old pellets.

Yeast was a cup of slurry from District ChopHouse, 20 generations.

Shook to aerate. Violent fermentation by 12 hours.

The Argument for Boxed Wine

The perception that boxed wine is poor quality might be changing.

World Beer Festival Coming to Richmond

After being postponed last year, the World Beer Festival is coming to Richmond, VA on Saturday, June 12, 2010. All About Beer magazine sent the following press release.

The World Beer Festival Coming to Richmond
Presented by local charity, FETCH a Cure, the World Beer Festival is one of the premier beer events in the country

February 23, 2010 (Richmond, Va.) – The World Beer Festival, one of the top beer events in the country, will premier in Richmond on Saturday, June 12, 2010, on Downtown Richmond’s Brown’s Island. Produced by All About Beer Magazine, the World Beer Festival is a celebration of the world beer culture, offering attendees a sampling of hundreds of beers from more than 200 domestic and international breweries. Festival goers can also enjoy educational sessions by industry experts, food from a variety of local restaurants, plus live entertainment by local musicians. The festival is presented by local Richmond charity; FETCH a Cure, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping pet owners make better, fully informed decisions about caring for their aging pets.

“We are excited to bring the World Beer Festival to Richmond and are thrilled to be partnered with All About Beer Magazine,” said Joanne Silverman, director of FETCH a Cure. “Highly exclaimed within the beer loving community across the country, this festival is a unique opportunity for Richmonders to sample different beers from around the world while learning more about the history and culture of beer.”

All About Beer Magazine has produced the World Beer Festival for more than a decade. It is recognized as one of the premier beer events in the country, with Forbes.com, USA Today, and Wired all calling attention to it. Each year the World Beer Festival is held in Raleigh and Durham, NC, where each has sold out all tickets for several years running. In 2009 the festival added Columbia, SC to its roster of cities.

“We are pleased to bring our World Beer Festival to Richmond, and join its burgeoning beer culture,” said Daniel Bradford, Publisher of All About Beer Magazine. “We hope that the World Beer Festival-Richmond becomes a gathering place for all interested in the exciting world of beer – consumers, retailers, wholesalers and suppliers.”

The festival offers two four-hour sessions, from noon to 4 p.m., and from 6 to 10 p.m. General admission to a single session is $40 in advance, $50 day of the event, which includes beer samples, music by local bands, educational sessions by industry experts, and a festival tasting glass. VIP tickets are also available for an additional $35. VIP benefits include admission to VIP lounge, samples of special beers available only in VIP area, special VIP-area music, and free catered food in VIP area.

Tickets for the World Beer Festival will go on sale in late March at www.allaboutbeer.com. Subscribers to All About Beer Magazine have the opportunity to purchase tickets prior to their being offered to the general public. For more information on the Richmond festival, visit http://allaboutbeer.com/wbfrichmond.

I’ve enjoyed previous World Beer Fests in Raleigh and Durham, NC. I’m looking forward to attending this event closer to home. See you there!

[ Original content posted at http://www.musingsoverapint.com ]

Win a Trip to the GABF

Want to attend the Great American Beer Festival? Want to go for free? Here’s a chance to do just that, and contribute to a good cause at the same time. Pints for Prostates is giving away a trip for two for the event to be held September 16-18, 2010 in Denver.

The winner and a guest will get a chance to sample beers from an estimated 450 breweries serving more than 2,100 brews at the GABF. They will also receive tickets to one of the top gourmet beer events in the nation: The Denver Rare Beer Tasting II, along with visits to great craft breweries and special access to insider beer events.

The trip includes:

– Round Trip Airfare for Two to Denver (from anywhere in the continental U.S.)
– Three Night Hotel Stay at a Convenient Downtown Location (Double Occupancy)
– Two Tickets for Three Sessions at the Great American Beer Festival (Thurs./Fri./Sat. Nights)
– Two Tickets to the Denver Rare Beer Tasting II (Friday 1-4 p.m.)
– Hosted Pub Crawl with Rick Lyke, Beer Writer and Pints for Prostates Founder
– Special Access to Insider Beer Events to Meet Brewers and Taste Limited Release Beers
– Gift Cards for Lunch & Dinner at Denver Brewpubs & Beer Bars

The total estimated value of the trip is $2,500. The winner will be selected on Aug. 21, 2010.

Tickets will be available where legal at beer festivals and other events for a $10 donation or three for a $25 donation. If you cannot get to one of our events, you can still enter. Mail a check made out to “Pints for Prostates Inc.” for the number of tickets you would like, along with a self-addressed stamped envelope so we can send back your ticket stub(s) to: Pints for Prostates/GABF, 12673 Overlook Mountain Dr., Charlotte, N.C. 28216-6726. You must be at least 21 years old to enter and to take the trip.

All proceeds benefit the Pints for Prostates campaign, which supports programs to fight prostate cancer and help men and their families battling the disease. For more information, contact Rick Lyke at here.

[ Original content posted at http://www.musingsoverapint.com ]