Leaky Faucet Pale Ale

As I sit here enjoying the Bam Biere from Jolly Pumpkin pictured to the right, I thought I'd throw out a quick update on the Leaky Faucet. It's sitting at about 1.021 as of this evening, still fermenting away, and tasting outstandingly bitter and mighty hoppy. As of now it's a bit lacking in balancing maltiness, but it could appear once it's carbonated.

And how did we get the name? Well, when brewing, sometimes the beer takes over. Not so much what you're brewing, but what you're drinking (Please refer to the most recent Fermentation Friday post below). While chilling this Pale Ale, I walked away for a moment while filling the sink - with the brew kettle in it. Justin found it one gallon of tap water later about to overflow, hence Justin coming up with Leaky Faucet Pale Ale (MB0019). Yup, I'm a dumbass.

Cheers,

Dave

Revenge of Celebes

It is possible that Dave posted about this beer some time ago... I'm actually pretty sure that he did. However, I just decided to crack Jon's Celebes Stout. I guess it has about 3 months on it now. Here's how it turned out:

Pours a dark black color with a small tan head that disappeared pretty quickly. The aroma was a little bit carbonic to begin with, but after I let it rest for a minute, the sweet coffee really came out. I also got big notes of bitter chocolate, licorice, and a little bit of burnt bitterness. The coffee flavor is very strong, but works with the flavor of the beer, as opposed to covering it up. There is some sweet caramel, anise, and some definite roasted barley flavor. There is a slight sourness to it in the finish. Very dry with a lasting bitterness on the tongue. Not very highly carbonated, and has average body for a stout. A very good brew for a style that is often just overpowering.

I'm very excited to try his Saison when it is done. I got a taste of it last week from secondary and it was magical. This kid knows how to brew. Also, keep an eye out for news on his table wine which he brewed yesterday. As for Muckney, we're waiting on our Missionary Position and Pale Ale in primary so we can brew some more.

Finally, I still have about a half case of the Dark & Mysterious in the basement, so if anyone in the area would like to try it, let me know.

Banzai!
Justin

Fermentation Friday

Thanks, Travis, for hosting.

This month: Craziest Concoction (intended or otherwise)

Should I take the easy way out and talk about the successes of Batch XI Dark IPA (MB0011) and Rising Sun Sesame-Ginger Red Ale(MB0014-T3)? Nah, let's talk flub ups.

The story begins like many, with an idea. Justin was all about making a porter with a twist. After several days of playing with a few ideal additives, coffee, chocolate and the like, he decided on going the unconventional route and make it a cinnamon porter. Throughout his research, though, Justin found that there was little information on this topic and consulted the brewers at some local brewpubs. We finally settled on adding two cinnamon sticks near the end of the boil.

On brew day, everything was going smoothly, including multiple "tastings", which started to take their toll towards the end of the night. Due to our slightly inebriated state, it seemed like a great idea to add, oh, say TEN extra cinnamon sticks. Six to eight weeks later we had a porter that smelled of Close Up Toothpaste and tasted of Big Red and coffee. Needless to say, Oops.

So what did we learn? Well, first off, 12 sticks of cinnamon is too much. Both Justin and I do believe that the beer would have been solid if we would have stuck to our recipe and not over indulged in the cinnamon. We also learned that beer and brewing don't mix.

Wait! No! I didn't mean that! I -

(EDITORS NOTE: Due to Dave's final comment in the last blog post, he is currently being treated for insanity and dementia at a local hospital. You may leave notes of concern here.)

Cheers,

The Management

HFCITBFA

This is how I would text someone to describe Kuhnhenn Raspberry Eisbock. Holy freakin' crap is this beer freakin' amazing. (Freakin's are added to make our beer site family friendly.) The only way I can describe it is that it has all the best characteristics of a great beer married with all of the characteristics of a great port. Check my rating, if you would like. This beer has tons of chocolate, raspberries, caramel, alcohol, fruit, and everything else that gets me a little soggy. The depth and complexity of flavor is pretty much indescribable. My only complaint is that it only comes in a 6.5 oz bottle and that I can't get it at my neighborhood bottle shop. If you are a fan of beer, wine, or any other thing that makes you truly appreciate the heights of human achievement, find a bottle of this stuff. Beg, borrow, kill, steal, mame, riverdance... whatever you have to do. I really wish that I had more bottles so I could age a few. I'm sure a couple years would do wonders. However, I am impatient and had a desire for instant gratification last night.

I would like to apologize that it has been so long since I have posted, but I've been busy and most of my posts aren't related to brewing since Dave has all the specifics about our beers written down in his little notebook. Muckney Brewing exists out of his kitchen since the rules committee of my household has deemed my apartment / kitchen too small. (Rules for Living With Jess Sec. 12.4 Article 15 pg. 4) I would like to give a shout to the Bearded Brewer for all of his kind words about our brews and assure him that we will be providing full ratings of his very soon. I especially appreciated that he didn't say the Dark and Mysterious was outright gross, which some people have implied. Dave and I both know that we were about 10 sticks beyond too much cinnamon. There is a lot to be said about not conducting an Imperial Stout tasting while brewing at 9 in the morning. We live and learn. I'm looking forward to the *REAL* Missionary Position as I envisioned it. It should be as big and bad as the first, seeing as how the lock was bubbling after about a half an hour.

Banzai,
Justin

Brew Day

So take two on The Missionary Position (MB0020) was Saturday. The process went off without a quip, and it's bubbling away nicely (this time with a blow off tube from the start) and will be for the next couple of weeks. We also brewed a yet nameless pale ale (MB0019), that will hopefully be a Muckney staple in the future. Yeah, we need a house brew. This should be balanced well enough to entice even the most casual of drinker. Yeah, I'm a bit optimistic.

Other than that, all is well on the MB front. I'm out of town on business this week, so check the TravelBLOG for updates. Mad Anthony's was a good spot tonight.

Cheers,

Dave

Holy Crap we started making labels!!

So I've been playing around with making labels over the past several months, but never really finished one. . . until the other night. Behold the awesomeness that is the first Muckney Brewing label. MB gives you Ides of March RIS! (Degree of awesomeness felt is linked directly with you opinion of the following artwork)



Cheers,

Dave

Some Homebrew Reviews

I haven't posted any homebrew tasting notes recently, so I figured I'd throw some out there.

Eagle and Child Mild
I like me a good bitter, hence the reason we made one. The issue is I didn't follow the hop schedule and ended up with an underhopped mild (yes, my fault, Justin had booked by this time). And there's some minerally quality that I'm not quite sure about, but I think has something to do with the extract. Any rate, here's what I had to say about it.

Pours an orange-ish copper with a small, white, fizzy head that dissipates quickly to a small, white film. Nose is off, slight extract twinge with some caramel. Flavor is caramel and mild bread with a surprising dose of bitter. Notes of apple and white grapes as it warms. Finish is dry and after had a bit of extract/mineral twinge to it, which detracts from the flavor a bit. Not bad overall, but there's definitely room for improvement.

Aroma:5 Appearance:2 Taste:5 Palate:3 Overall:11

Jon's Celebes Stout

Jon was gracious enough to share a bottle of his coffee stout. Made with cold pressed Celebes coffee from The Commonplace Coffeehouse, the sweet stout balances the coffee well, or is it the other way around. . . I don't know. Any rate, here are my notes.

Pours black as night with chocolate, frothy head. Nose is all coffee with a touch of sweet chocolate and caramel. Taste is sweet with chocolate and dark fruit, mild raisin with the coffee kicking in towards the end and melding with the bitter well and continuing mildly into the after before giving way to a silky, chocolate flavor. The mouth feel is thin and oily with a mildly watery feel early. This is a tasty stout. I kind of sense some lactose or brown sugar sweetness, but according to Jon, there be no such thing in it. I guess I'm crazy, but we all new that.


Aroma:8 Appearance:3 Taste:7 Palate:3 Overall:16

Cheers,

Dave

Ides of March Bottled in June - Plus the next Fermentation Friday is set

Almost three months to day after brewing, the Ides of March RIS and Quercus borealis are FINALLY in the bottle. Justin and I got together after dinner and two hours, three bombers, and four cases of sanitized glass later, we're sitting on two cases of each rendition.

So how are they tasting at the moment? Fantastic, actually. The QB has really balanced out, leaving an oak-ie, bourbon-ie nectar suited only to be imbibed during a cold winter's eve. The RIS is pretty balanced itself, with a nice dark fruit and roast character with a moderate bitter. I'm excited to see what they are like carbed up.

Up next, More Missionary Position (MB0020) and an American Pale Ale (MB0019). Both are happening Saturday as a prelude to a celebration commemorating the 28th anniversary of my escape from the womb.

And on an unrelated note, Travis over at CNY Brew is hosting this month's Fermentation Friday. Check it out and join in the blog-tastic fun.

Cheers,

Dave

Finally! Some New Brewing News!!

So I guess this is what happens when you brew a lot of big beers - lots of lag time. We finally transferred The Missionary Position (MB0018) to secondary! We hit a final gravity of 1.025 (corrected), which was a few points higher that what we were aiming for, but it's all good. Especially the taste. The past two weeks have really helped it meld together and start to cover up some of the alcohol hotness.

Justin and I did come to the conclusion that we're going to forgo the dried mangoes in this batch. I must say that I lobbied pretty hard for this. I felt that we have such a solid beer already, why add to it. Justin wanted to go for it. There's good reason for his insistance. The beer's name revolves around mangoes (bear with me). Using some rather loose logic, A mango-infused Belgian Strong Ale reminded Justin of a Monk on a Mission into some tropical location where he would find mangoes and begin using them in his Trappist-style ale. So that story, along with a tongue-in-cheek sexual reference, and there you have it. But at any rate, with the promise that we would brew another batch of this soon using mangoes, Justin conceded. So MB0020 will be The "Official" Missionary Position.

Also on deck is an American Pale Ale (MB0019), the infamous Stone Soup ASA (MB0021), and, some other tasty treats that are yet to be determined. Oh, and the first all-grain Muckney offering. More on that later.

Everyone have a good night. I gotta finish a beer.

Cheers,

Dave

TravelBLOG Update

Check out Part Deux of my DC trip over at TravelBLOG.

Cheers,

Dave