Burns Ale Fail

You know what sucks? Spending hours and hours not to mention the money involved in making a special beer only to have it suck. My 1933 Drybrough Burns Ale tastes thin, flat (body, not carbonation) and slightly like wet cardboard.

I know where the problem lies and you are probably way ahead of me based on that last descriptor... "wet cardboard". It's oxidation. 

I used my brand new, untried SS Brewtech 7 gallon Chronical for the first time and it worked like a champ. The Chronical did not come with a fitting for the racking valve so I bought a barbed fitting. I didn't pay much attention to what size and it turned out to be for 12" ID tubing which is larger than any other racking tubing that I have used. I am pretty sure what happened is that a lot of air was allowed to enter my keg during transfer because the beer was coming out with more force and volume than normal. I was concerned about it at the time and here we are three weeks later and my first sampling confirms it. 

For about 60 bucks I can buy the parts from SS Brewtech to do pressurized, closed transfers. That sounds like money well spent if it helps me avoid dumping another beer.

Guinness 200th Anniversary

 

I am about 2 years late to this birthday party. The 200th anniversary of Guinness being exported to the United States of America was October of 1817.

I found a six pack while shopping at Oppermann's Cork 'n' Ale in Saginaw, Michigan. Oppermann's is arguably one of the best beer and wine stores in my local area. I can spend a good hour or more just browsing.  As usual, I went in for one thing and by the time I left I needed a cart to carry it all. I was on my way to the check out counter when I spied a label I had not seen before. Guinness 200th Anniversary Export Stout!

As their story goes an order for several hogsheads was ordered from the U.S. in 1817. When Guinness decided to commemorate the occasion in 2017 they went back to their log books and discovered that the recipe was slightly different. There was no roasted barley which Guinness is known for. Instead they used black patent malt which in itself was rather special because black patent was nearly a brand new malt in 1817. 

The first thing you notice on the label is that this a 6% ABV beer. Compared to Guinness draught which is 4.2%. Then there is the color of the head. Everyone who has quaffed a Guinness draught knows the head is very light, almost white in color while the beer itself while still very dark is not as black as draught. This one is a creamy tan color. The aroma is roasted coffee and chocolate. You know you are not in for your average Guinness experience right away. The taste is much more roasty and complex than the draught version but still smooth. 

20 or more years ago I drank Guinness Draught all the time. It was one of the more "exotic" choices on the shelves. With the boom of craft breweries and more imports than ever available, Guinness had dropped off of my radar. This however has put them right back up there. I can't wait to hunt down Extra Stout (5.6%), Foreign Extra Stout (7.5%) and... cross my fingers... Antwerpen Stout (8%).

It pays to take your time and dig around the backs of the shelves when shopping for beer!

Beercation!

One of the benefits of being retired is that you don't have to wait for the weekend to do weekend stuff. So one Monday morning I said to my wife, 'let's take a beercation!"

Our first stop was a trip to Marshall, Michigan. Home of Dark Horse Brewing. The brewery that had it's own reality TV show on the History Channel. However upon learning that they closed their restaurant and the whole reason for going to Marshall was to meet with family for lunch, Dark Horse was out.

So instead we paid a visit to Grand River Brewery. Grand River is situated in the heart of downtown Marshall in an early 20th century brick building that I am told used to be a mercantile or general store. It looks the part and is quite quaint with a modern flare.

My plan was try new-to-me styles but a few old favorites called loudly. The first being (l-r) Summer Night Tree, a 5.6% Stout... then Black Penny Porter with an ABV of 6% and finally Sleeping Bear Scotch Ale at 8.4%. All were very nice representations of their style. Forced to chose between them, the Scotch Ale wins my vote.

Next came the two I had never had before. A Brut IPA called San Fiasco. It's 7.8% ABV and is crystal clear. It is so dry that it tastes to me like a hop tea. Not my favorite but I will try another somewhere else.

My palate has never like wheat beer but I keep giving them a chance. This time with Blanc Stare, a 5.5% Witbier. I am still not a fan. However the food was very good and the beer selection varied enough to satisfy any beer lover. Grand River is definitely worth a return trip.

After leaving Marshall we took a short trip west to Kalamazoo where of course a stop at Bell's was required. They have a production facility in town that offers tours but not on the day we stopped in. So we visited the brew pub and had lunch.

Bell's beers are not difficult to find in Michigan. You can find Two Hearted Ale, Porter, Oberon, Hop Slam and several others at the grocery store. What they had on tap that was new to me was a limited edition Session Lager. This one I liked enough to buy a six pack to take home. There is a Bell's store next door to the restaurant and to my surprise they also had six packs of Bell's Expedition Stout so I brought one of those home too.

Expedition is a Russian Imperial Stout (10.5% ABV) and except for Founder's KBS is my favorite big beer.




The plan that day was to also visit HopCat which is right across the street from Bells General Store but we didn't think the whole thing though. If we had, we would have ordered something small at Bell's along with a beer... they sell 5oz glasses for just two bucks!... and then go across the street and order another small dish with a beer.

Ahh well, lessons learned and a plan to put into place next time. Besides, a stop in Grand Rapids is also on the docket and they have a HopCat there too! But that's not our next stop.

Next is a jaunt north by north west to Holland, Michigan. My wife has had an urge to visit somewhere new on the Great Lakes that we haven't been before. Holland fits the bill seeing as it has a beautiful State Park beech with the famous Big Red Lighthouse protecting the harbor.

Since this stop was for my wife's benefit I really had not given much thought to breweries or brew pubs. I wrote it off as a decompression day at the beach. I had forgotten totally about New Holland Brewing. Oh. My. God!

First off, Holland, Michigan just as you might imagine was settled by the Dutch and Dutch heritage is wholeheartedly embraced by the town. There is so much to visit we didn't get to see it all. Sadly one of the sights we missed was the Windmill Island Gardens with its 200 year old, authentic Dutch windmill. Again, something for us to do next time.

New Holland Whitefish Po Boy with Fries

For those who aren't familiar with Michigan foods, we are as much a seafood culture as anywhere near the oceans. Instead of crab, shrimp or halibut we value Walleye, Perch... and Whitefish! So when I saw they had a Whitefish Po Boy on the menu I didn't bother looking at anything else. And I was right. The food here is awesome!

This time, a majority of my samples were things that were new to me. Just like Brut IPA, I have read an awful lot about Kombucha. New Holland's Kombucha IPA is 5% ABV and is made with lemon and ginger. It is a bit tart but not as tart as the next offering, Sour Ale with Mango. It has an ABV of 4.5% and tastes both sour and sweet like Sweet Tarts candy.

The next was a real surprise. Dragon's Milk White Stout. It is only 6% ABV compared to traditional Dragon's Milk which is 11%.  The white has all the rich, creaminess of a good stout without any acrid character associated with dark and black malts. I found it disarming and quite delicious!

Brewing display inside New Holland Brewing

The fourth sample in my flight was New Holland Dragon's Milk. It is a bourbon barrel aged stout which is very good and one that I buy often at my local grocer. What I really wanted to try was their Triple Mash Dragon's Milk which was released this past April. It was a limited release however and was all gone by the time I got there. Story of my life. it clocks in at a whopping 17% ABV!

All of this occurred on Monday and Tuesday. Our plan was to swing by Grand Rapids on our way home Wednesday but all that was thwarted by an endless hike in search of the beach at Saugatuck Dunes State Park and the bear.

It was an endless hike, seemingly all uphill, from the parking area to the beach, which we never found. We never found it because at the crest of a dune where we stopped to catch our breath we spotted unmistakable bear tracks on the trail. With still no sign of the beach and bear in the area it was time to call it a day.


Wednesday came early and we were pooped so the trip to Grand Rapids was scratched. Our plans there were to visit Founders Brewing and HopCat and since we have been to Founders a couple of times already it wasn't a difficult choice.

We left with a plan for for the future... when we go next to visit our family in Marshall we will start in Grand Rapids and hit the breweries that were left behind. Then since we missed the Windmill gardens in Holland we will visit there again and possibly make a more concerted effort to find that Saugatuck beach. Or at least track down Saugatuck Brewing Company ;) Then on to Marshall where I hope to include a visit to Dark Horse Brewing. Restaurant or no restaurant.

Length of Brew Day

How long is your brew day? Four, five... six hours? I began thinking about this as I was making some invert sugar for an upcoming brew and I realized my brew day has already begun! Or had it?

Recipe Creation:                                                                                                                                                    It starts days, weeks or maybe evens months in advance when the recipe is decided upon. In the case of 1933 Drybrough Burns Ale pictured, the seed was planted while reading Ron Pattinson's book, Scotland Vol. II.                                                                                                                                               Following the failure of my Dirty Bastard Clone attempt I decided to retrace my steps and begin with an historically accurate Scotch Ale and it doesn't get much Scotch-ier than Robert Burns right?                                                                So I scoured Ron's book looking at several strong Scotch Ales and settled on this one. Then I sat down with Beersmith and created a recipe using Mr. Pattinson's published version as a baseline. Everything in mine is the same except my invert sugar came out looking more like #3 than #1. Plus the turnover of Imperial Yeast at my LHBS is greater than many other brands they carry so I get fresher yeast and bigger cell counts to start with. Boom! Day One - recipe created.

Invert Sugar:

I don't always use invert  sugar but this recipe calls for it and I had the ingredients on hand. So I count this as Day Two. If you Google invert sugar you will find several different versions. The recipe I use comes once again, from Ron Pattinson. He is after the English beer historian. Here is what I do:

1 lb cane sugar. (not table sugar) Turbinado or Demerara are good choices. Brown sugar, molasses and Belgian or candi sugar are not. Anyone who tells you they are are not worth talking to so just walk away.

1 pint water

1/4 teaspoon citric acid

You will need a candy thermometer and a sauce pan.

Bring the water to a boil in the sauce pan. Turn the heat off once it starts boiling and slowly stir in the sugar until it has completely dissolved. Add 1/4 tsp of citric acid. I use the same stuff that my wife and I used when canning and preserving tomatoes and vegetables. Turn the heat back on and bring this mixture up to 230 degrees F. Stirring is a necessity during this whole process as is keeping a close eye on the candy thermometer. Once 230 F is reached I stir less frequently but here you want to continue ramping the temperature up to 240 F but do not let it go higher than 250 F. 

To make Invert #1 heat for 20 - 30 minutes. The SRM should be around 12 - 16

To make Invert #2 heat for 90 - 120 minutes or until you get an SRM of 30 -35

For Invert #3 heat for 150 - 210 minutes until the SRM is 60 -70

And Invert #4 heats for 240 - 300 minutes. It's SRM will be 275 - 375

Shopping for Ingredients:

So where were we? Oh yes, figuring out exactly how long a brew day actually is. In my case the only ingredients I keep on hand are those that have some shelf life. I buy my base malt in bulk and keep some hops in the freezer but specialty grains and yeast are something I buy on an as needed basis. Today was one of those days. A trip to my local homebrew store for some flaked maize, black malt and Imperial A31 Tartan yeast. Day Three - hanging out at the LHBS, Hop Craft Supply Co., and chatting with Brandon. Who by the way just got a shipment of homebrew sized, table top beer can sealing machines. Only $499... hmmm.

Yeast Starter:

A couple of days before brew day I will make a yeast starter. Traditionally I would make my starter and put it on a stir plate 24 to 36 hours ahead of time. Lately however I have been making a Shaken Not Stirred starter just 12 hours before pitching. Using the traditional method this counts as Day Four.

Brew Day Prep:

When ever possible I like to do some things the day (or evening) before the burners get lit. All of my equipment and utensils will get cleaned. I will measure out my water.... grind my grain and lately make my SNS starter. If that is the case, then this is Day Four. If I had used a traditional stir plate starter this is Day Five.

Brew Day:

And here is the day I used to think of as "Brew Day". Not all of these steps take an entire day but if you add up the hours it dawns on you that brew day is a lot more than mashing and boiling. Now let's see... today is Friday that means tomorrow is prep day and bright and early Sunday morning I'll flip the switch on the HLT heating element and hopefully be done before the heat of the day sets in.

Summer Doldrums

Summer is here and I feel lazy. I have been making beer and have plans to make more but for the moment I have run out of steam. Probably because there is plenty of steam outside! Daytime temperatures are expected to be in the 90+F range for the next four or more days. 

I did manage to produce three beers by brewing on three consecutive Sundays. Something I haven't done in a long time. Sunday, June 30th I made a Kentucky Common. Sunday, July 7th another Cream Ale and on the 14th I made one of Ron Pattinson's recipes from history... the original Russian Imperial Stout made by Barclay Perkins in 1848. 

Maybe it's not lazy I'm feeling. Maybe it's exhaustion.

The Kentucky Common is interesting in that it was almost lost to history. A beer that was produced in Louisville Kentucky right around the turn of the 20th century but then lost a few short decades later when prohibition was enacted. It is often cited as being one of a handful of styles that are truly American in origin. It was craft and homebrewers who stumbled across references to Kentucky Common and through their research have been able to tease out the recipe. 

One of those homebrewers posted her findings and resulting recipe in the homebrewtalk.com forum and that discussion has been one of the most active threads on the site since 2011. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/kiss-yer-cousin-rye-kentucky-common-ale.290419/

The grain bill will seem a bit unique to modern homebrewers. In it's simplest form there is only 6-row malt and corn grits. Some recipes include a bit of rye. If you can't find 6-row feel free to substitute 2-row but expect a slightly different flavor profile. Using corn grits will require you to perform a cereal mash. If you don't want to go through the bother you can use flaked corn instead. The rye is up to you. Keep it under 10% if you use it.

Here is the recipe I used. It comes from a craft brewer in Long Beach California called Ten Mile Brewing. They are said to produce the absolute best commercial example of the style in the U.S.

Mine is currently carbonating in a 5 gallon corny keg and it should be ready to tap. And with the temperature topping out near 95F today that sounds like a grand idea!

Dirty Bastard Fail!

A while back I made my first attempt at cloning one of my favorite craft beers, Founders Dirty Bastard. It has been in the keg and ready to tap for a week now and the verdict is...

The only thing remotely close to Dirty Bastard might be the color but even that is hard to say for sure because the beer is so damned cloudy! The aroma is almost unpleasant. The flavor is nothing like Dirty Bastard or anything close to being rich an malty. The only thing it has going in its favor is that it isn't completely undrinkable. At around 8%ABV, if you can get through the first half pint then you don't notice the flaws any longer.

My first thought was that it was the recipe. And I'm still not convinced that it isn't a crap recipe. The major disappointment I had when searching for a clone is that there is basically only one recipe to be found on the interwebs.... and it can be found everywhere. I don't know where it originated but some of the earliest postings of this exact same recipe come from website forums dating back to 2005. There was even a homebrew store selling a Dirty Bastard Clone kit at about that time that used the exact same grain bill. My theory is that this single recipe went viral with brewers copying an pasting it in every website, forum and recipe discussion until, just like a virus, it eradicated every other version that my have existed. 

So I decided to start from scratch with a proven, historic recipe from Ron Pattinson's book, Scotland vol. 2. I have my eye set on one called Burns Ale from Edinburgh's Drybrough brewery. It is a classic strong Scotch Ale and the ABV is close to Founders Dirty Bastard.

Problem solved right? Blame it on a rubbish recipe....but, to paraphrase Jimmy Buffet, it may be my own damned fault.

The ingredients I used were just as written in the clone recipe. The mash wasn't so far off as to have affected the outcome. However the boil might not have been vigorous enough. I discovered, and may have even mentioned in the brew day video that the Blichmann Boil Coil seems to hold a boil even with the power setting turned down to 50 percent. That may be enough to keep the wort boiling but it might not be vigorous enough to achieve volatilization to help drive off any or enough DMS. 

The thing that flipped the switch was a completely random press of a button at the gym today. While on the treadmill I decided to listen to a podcast . The one I arbitrarily chose was from 2016 with Brad Smith of Beersmith podcasts talking with Dr. Charlie Bamforth on the topic of boiling home-brewed beer. And it hit me... the almost unpleasant aroma is somewhere between wet seaweed and creamed corn. 

So now I have two paths to take. Either start from scratch with the Burns Ale and begin tweaking it to achieve Dirty Bastard status. Or re-brew the clone recipe I've already used but take greater care during the boil. I may just take both paths.

1880 Whitbread Porter 1.1

This aim of this brew session was to get the previous 1880 Whitbread Porter, which I really liked the first time around, to have just a bit more malt backbone. So a few changes were made to achieve that goal. I added some Roasted Barley. I mashed a few degrees higher than before which should give more body to the beer. And I used a different yeast which is supposed to give a marmalade character found in many English pub ales.

One other change to the making of the beer itself was that I used a different yeast starter making technique called the Shaken Not Stirred method which I wrote about in the last post. Oh, and I also made a tweak in how I heated my strike water.

The recipe is very similar to the previous version:

However looking at it now I wonder why I increased the black malt from 12 oz to 1 lb? And if that was a mistake should the roasted barley also have been 12 oz? The yeast I used was Imperial Pub A09 and I mashed at 154 F. 

I can see right now that I am going to have start taking more detailed notes and paying better attention to details.