Beer Ratings!

Merry Christmas everyone!  Here's a round of reviews for you, featuring a lot of beers from the new LCBO winter release.  Be sure to grab the Breakfast Stout from the Founder's feature, a top notch Imperial Stout intensely flavoured with two kinds of chocolate and coffee.  If you are feeling cold, don't be afraid of it's foreign language name, the Sigtuna Brygghus Midvinterblot (Sigtuna Brewhouse Mid Winter Only), is winter drinking in it's essence.  Balanced sweetness, full body and warming alcohol do not disappoint.

Amsterdam Wee Heavy Scotch Ale
500 mL bottle. Dark brown with a thin beige cap. The heather really comes through, some Demerara, a hint of smokiness and medicinal phenolics. Only mildly sweet. Full carbonation, moderate body. Not for me.

Beau's Rudolphus IV
600 mL bottle. Pours hazy golden with a thick white head of foam. Aromas of mango, papaya, melon, orange, biscuit like malt, pine and a hint of yeasty spice. Flavour offers a hint of sweetness followed by a massive bitter hop bite. Hugely carbonated and waxy/sticky on the palate. Long lingering aftertaste of hop goodness. Good stuff.

Garrison Imperial IPA
500 mL bottle. Pours hazy amber with a foamy white head of lace. Aromas of tangerine, honey, beeswax, pomelo and grapefruit. Moderately sweet on the palate, followed by a bracing hop bitterness that balances out quite nicely. Medium plus body with slightly below average carbonation. Leaves a lingering sticky feeling on the palate. Not as dry as many; well done.

Beau's Burnt Rock Vanilla Porter
600 mL bottle. Pours black with a nice cap of khaki head. Aromas of bittersweet chocolate, coffee, Dr. Pepper, vanilla and raisin. Moderate sweetness with very subtle hopping. Thin on the palate with below average carbonation. Reminds me too much of a soft drink, sorry.

Beau's Doc's Feet Dubbel
600 mL bottle. Pours a rich reddish brown with a soapy white head. Raisin, over ripe pear, spicy hop, subtle bubble gum and yeast here. Mildly sweet contrasted well by the hops. Moderate plus carbonation but feels very light. A tasty, if Americanized, example of the style.

Founder's Pale Ale
355 mL bottle. Pours bright gold with a foamy white head that dissipates. Bright citrus and floral notes, herbal hop spice, subtle malt. Dry and refreshing with a long bitter finish. Crisp and clean on the palate despite the hoppiness. Very clean and well made. Average body and carbonation. A nice session beer.

Founder's Breakfast Stout
355 mL bottle. Pours black on black with a thick brown head of foam. Aromas of dark chocolate, rich coffee, almond liquor, cinnamon, deeply roasted malt. Sweet but never cloying, well balanced with the bitterness of all the coffee, chocolate and hops. Massively structured and thick with oats on the palate, moderate carbonation and a long lingering finish. Dangerously good.

Panil Enhanced
750 mL bottle, gushed like mad. Pours a hazy golden orange with a thick white head that never ends. Nose is funky with brett, white peach, ripe pear, cut grass and chamomile. A surprising note of sweetness here, contrasted by the overwhelming carbonic acidity. Moderate body with huge carbonation. Somewhat creamy on the palate with a layered finish of brett character. Interesting stuff; imagine a lambic with no sour.

Sigtuna Brygghus Midvinterblot
330 mL bottle. Pours dense black with a thin beige head. Aromas of rich chocolate, Demerara, sweet roasted grain and a hint of smoky earth. Moderate plus sweetness, balanced with hop and a hint of booziness. Thick and coating on the palate, slightly warming. A delicious winter drink.

Lake of Bays Old North Mocha Porter
750 mL bottle. Pours deep, dark mahogany with a thin white cap. Aromas of cocoa, sweet grain and a hint of coffee. Slightly sweet balanced by a slight hint of roastiness. Thin on the body for what I expect in a porter. Moderate carbonation. Sessionable.

http://www.ratebeer.com/user/169526/ratings/

so many samples, so little time

A set of mostly product sample reviews.  Tastes from F&M/Stonehammer, Muskoka and Amsterdam.  The highlight here was the Nickelbrook Naughty Neighbour on cask.  My soft spot for cask ale aside, I loved the fruity hoppiness and extreme sessionability of this brew.  If you can't find that (it's not unlikely), grab a tall can of St. Ambroise Pale Ale for a great, inexpensive, old world style pale that puts commercial macros to shame.

Stonehammer Autumn Bock
Draft. Pours amber with a thick tan foam. Roasted nuts, light cocoa and deep toffee. Moderately sweet with a clean lager finish. Mildly herbal hop. Average body and carbonation. Very pleasant.

Nickelbrook Naughty Neighbour Pale Ale
Cask. Pours pinapple juice with a well sparkled head. Hop notes of tropical fruit on the nose; pinapple, mango, citrus and a hint of pine. A mild touch of biscuity malt. Dry and light bodied with a slightly bitter finish. A great pale ale, really accentuated by cask format.

Stonehammer Light
341 mL bottle. Pours very light with minimal white froth. Grainy nose with a hint of apple. Taste is faintly sweet, some yeast notes and more pilsner malt. Thin body and moderate carbonation. Light beer.

Stonehammer Pilsner
341 mL bottle. Pours gold with a lacy white cap. Grainy malt with straw and toasty barley. Lightly sweet without as much bitterness as I expect for the style. A hint of herb like hop. Light to medium bodied with average carbonation.

F&M MacLeans Pale Ale
341 mL bottle. Pours medium amber with a white cap. Mild fruit, apple, pear, butterscotch and grain. Slightly sweet with just enough hop to balance out. Moderate body and carbonation. Not bad, just not all that interesting.

Stonehammer Dark Ale
341 mL bottle. Pours walnut with a thin beige cap. Nutty toffee on the nose, some grainy malt, but lacking. Taste is a little sweet, watery, slightly bitter on the finish. Light to moderate body and moderate to full carbonation. Leaves a lot to be desired.

Stonehammer Cofee Oatmeal Stout
341 mL bottle. Pours a thick opaque black with a short lived khaki head. Aromas of coffee, dark chocolate, subtle roast and woods. Creamy mouth feel, mild sweetness and a well balanced, bitter and roasty finish. Quite clean. Moderate plus carbonation. Tasty.

Muskoka Winter Weisse
750 mL bottle. Pours mahogany with a tight off white head. Soft cocoa, slightly smoky clove spice, a hint of banana and light caramel. Subtly sweet with a relatively clean finish. Average plus mouth feel, light to medium body and high carbonation. Let it warm a few degrees to enjoy a little more.

St. Ambroise Pale Ale
473 mL can. Pours a very light amber with a thick frothy white head and lots of lace. Aromas of biscuity malt, assorted spices, pine, citrus zest and candle wax. Moderate to full bodied, average plus carbonation. Bready sweetness with a nice bitter backbone and old world hoppy finish. Sticky on the palate. Very approachable.

Amsterdam Downtown Brown
473 mL can. Pours dark walnut with a thin white cap. Caramel, coffee, roasted nuts and a hint of butteriness, some woody hop. Dry for the style with a lightly roasty and mildly hopped finish. Above moderate carbonation. A little too clean on the palate. Not bad.

http://www.ratebeer.com/user/169526/ratings/

Switching to Kegging & Session Stout

About a month ago I decided to switch to kegging.  The main reason for this was that despite its start up cost, kegging is significantly easier than bottling.  No more washing and sanitizing bottles over and over again!  It also allows me to serve my beer faster from the date of packaging.  Carbonation via CO2 injection takes a mere week and a half on average, compared to the three week carbonation period required for bottle re-fermentation.  That being said, some types of beer benefit from bottle re-fermentation or extended ageing (which is much easier to do in bottle than in keg).  Therefore, my kegs will be used for simple day-to-day beers, while I will continue to bottle beers that are high in complexity, alcohol, funk, or a combination of the three.

A simple keg set-up consists of only a few parts:

Fridge:  Kegged beer and beer lines must be kept cold for optimal serving!  Any old fridge will do, so long as it can hold you kegs and lines and keep temperature between 35F and 45F.

Tap:  This is what you will use to control the flow of beer.  I opted for a 'pass-through' style tap, that is fitted through a hole drilled in the front door of the fridge.

Beverage Lines:  These carry your beer from the keg to the tap.  They must be food grade, and kept clean!

Keg: Homebrewers typically use soda kegs as they can be opened up for easy cleaning.   Your kegs have in and out fittings on the top, which connect to opposing fittings on the lines.  These hold 5 gallons, which is why most homebrewers also make 5 gallon batches.

Gas Lines:  These carry CO2 from your tank to your keg.  Without CO2 you couldn't carbonate your beer by injection, and there would be no pressure to force the beer out the tap.

Regulator:  This dictates the flow of CO2 of your tank.  Flow control is important to generate a good pour.

CO2 Tank:  Industry graded tanks for CO2 storage.  They hold your CO2.

After thoroughly cleaning and setting everything up (which takes a little bit of getting used to, and can be painstaking/messy) you are ready to hook up your beer.  Sanitize and fill your keg, and set the regulator to the correct pressure (this will vary based on beer style, storage temperature and a million other factors).  Allow to sit pressurized for 3-14 days until full carbonation is achieved.  Pour and enjoy!

I designed a simple recipe for a Session Stout that would let me make quick use of my fridge.  After receiving all my kit and checking to make sure it all works, I wanted something on tap ASAP.  This low gravity and low alcohol stout would take a quick 10 days to ferment and only 10 more to carbonate.

"Let Them Eat Keg" -- Stout/English Mild

OG: 1.039

FG: 1.011

ABV: 3.7%

IBU: 20

SRM: 35

Grain Bill:

5 lbs Maris Otter

1 lb Caramel 20L

1 lb Pale Chocolate Malt

8 oz Caramel 60L

8 oz Black Malt

Hop Bill:

2 oz Styrian Goldings (2.4%AA) @ FWH

Yeast:

1 pkg WLP002 English Ale Yeast

built to a cell count of ~160 billion

Brew Notes:

mashed @ 156F for 60 minutes

Fermentation Notes:

Fermented at 68F

Tasting Notes:
Pours just barely black with a thin beige cap that dissipates quickly leaving no trace.  Soft aromas of cocoa, woody hop and a hint of roasted malt.  Mildly sweet malt notes give way to a subtle roasted finish.  Mouth feel is moderate to low, low carbonation and thin body.

Although not a bad beer, I would certainly change some things next time around.  This lacks the gusto one usually associates with a stout, even if it was designed to be low-alcohol (it's a lot harder to get the same amount of flavor into a low ABV beer).  It comes off a lot more like a British Style Mild.  Next time this beer will be mashed higher and have oats added to the grist for more body and better head.  I'd also like to see a bit more malt character, I would up the 60L to a full pound, and perhaps change half of the Pale Chocolate for Chocolate Malt, and all of the Black Malt for Roasted Barley.  Hops could be increased as well.

Hope you enjoyed!

All Brettanomyces Claussenii Farmhouse Ale

I've been wanting to experiment with an all Brett brew for a while, and thought that I would put together a simple brew to see what this methodology has to offer.  While the original recipe was designed as a low alcohol table beer, the Brett attenuated amazingly well and this ended up around the 5% mark.

The Rural Refresher -- All Brett C Farmhouse

OG: 1.040

FG: 1.000

ABV: 5.3%

SRM: 5

IBU: 25

Grain Bill:

5 lbs Vienna malt

1 lb Wheat malt

8 oz Acid malt

8 oz Carapils

Hop Bill:

1.5 oz Czech Saaz (3% AA) @ FWH

1.5 oz Czech Saaz (3% AA) @ 10 minutes

Yeast:

1 pkg WLP645 Brettanomyces Claussenii stepped from a 1L starter to a 2L starter

Other:

1 tsp wyeast yeast nutrient @ 10 minutes

Brew Notes:

mashed @ 149F for 90 minutes

Fermentation Notes:

Fermented @ 78F

Tasting Notes:

Pours hazy gold with a one finger white head that leaves a pretty good lace.  The Brett generated really nice fruit notes of mango and pineapple that could easily be confused as heavy aroma hopping.  A slight hint of mustiness.  The mid palate gives way to the distinct biscuit flavour of Vienna malt, and it finishes off with a subtle spicy hop bitterness.  Moderate to full carbonation with a creamy wheat mouth feel.

I was really happy with the way that this came out.  I followed others' suggestions and pitched a massive amount of yeast to ensure a thorough fermentation, and had no issues with yeast laziness.  I'm amazed by the balance that the Brett gave this beer, it has a pleasant combination of yeast, hop and malt notes with no individual component taking over.