This is the reason you back up your computer

So, yeah, my laptop died. Well, it's not officially dead, but it's in the "Computer Hospital", getting a brain transplant. And as the title indicates, I didn't back up and/or print hard copies of my recipes. Now, we take decent notes, but not always when we're transferring and such. This came into play tonight while transferring over the Rising Sun Sisters, Ginger-Sesame Red Ale (MB0023) and Oiwai Ginger-Peach Red Saison (MB0024).

I transferred the Oiwai first, racking it onto a pound of dried apricots, split. Yeah, the one night Justin's not around, I have to cut a pound of dried apricots in half. Do you know how many dried apricots there are in a pound? I lost count after fifty. At any rate, the FG of this guy got down to 1.010, which was much lower than expected, and gave a very dry, alcoholic flavor with predominate ginger notes and mild hints of peach, which should be kicked up by the apricots.

So why apricots? Well, during an e-mail exchange with Johnathan from Monday Night Brewery, he suggested that, through trial and error, they found out the peaches don't really impart a "peachy" flavor, and I trust them, 'cuz they're from Georgia. He instead pointed me towards apricots, saying that they actually give a much more "peachy" feel to the beer, so I'm taking his word for it.

I then racked the Ginger-Sesame Red Ale over to secondary, on 4 oz. of candied ginger, referring (thankfully) to this post for the needed quantity. I knew I put all this time into this for a reason! The FG reached 1.019 this go 'round, which I'll have to (hopefully) compare to my notes when I get my laptop back. This rendition of the Rising Sun had a much stronger sesame nose, with toasted, roasted, and nutty notes. The candied ginger should only add to the nose.

In other news, The Missionary Position (MB0018) and The Actual Missionary Position (MB0020) are now officially carbed up, but will need some serious time in the bottle to mellow, as they're both really hot right now, but surprisingly drinkable, as I have had one of each this evening. Full tasting notes to come in about a month or so.

Cheers,

Dave

Bottling Marathon

Fifteen gallons in one night . . . piece of cake, right? Well, it was about five hours of cake - delicious uncarbonated cake. The Saison du Muqunee (MB0022), Stone Soup XXI - The Mustachioed Dark IPA (MB0021) and The Original Missionary Position (MB0020) are all in glass right now. Justin took part in this grueling endurance challenge of liquid packaging. Now all we have to do is wait a couple of weeks.

Up next?? - well, we're taking another shot at the Rising Sun Ginger-Sesame Red Ale (MB0023). We're also going to do our first Rising Sun off-shoot - A Ginger-Peach Red Ale (MB0024) in honor of my wife's new jobby job.

Stay tuned. Saturday's a brew day.

Cheers,

Dave

Leaky Faucet, TMP and TOMP

It was a housekeeping day at Muckney Brewing today. Both The Missionary Position (MB0018) and the Leaky Faucet Pale Ale (MB0019) needed bottled, and The Original Missionary Position (MB0020) needed transferred to secondary. The day went well overall, with a few minor annoyances here and there. Time for the specs.

I started the day by bottling the Leaky Faucet. After dry hopping it for just over a week, the beer had taken on a much fuller hop flavor and aroma profile. My only worry is that there isn't enough of a caramel malt backbone to balance out the hoppy flavor and bitterness. There's still something odd about the nose, but it is much less that before and will hopefully continue to dissipate over the next few weeks while it's carbing up. I have high hopes for this one, but I'm really skeptical that the final product is going to be anything stellar. We shall see.

After the Leaky Faucet, things started looking up. When I cracked the cork on the carboy holding The Missionary Position, I was greeted with a pleasant bouquet of fruit and spice accenting the sweet caramel malt. The taste revealed the same flavors and some subtle alcohol heat. I'm thoroughly impressed with our first attempt at a Belgian Strong Ale.

What impressed me more was the fact that we were able to duplicate our success with The Original Missionary Position. After I bottled TMP, I saved a couple nips to taste side-by-side with TOMP. They're definitely very close in flavor profile, though TOMP tasted a bit younger (makes sense) and has a more prevalent yeast profile (again, make sense). It makes me happy that they're so similar, so that we will be able to make a comparison between the beer with and without dried mangoes in secondary (2.1 oz. to be specific). We're planning on letting this bulk age for about a month before bottling.

As I alluded to in my previous post, this IS the Week of Beer and Brewing, since I'm on vacation. I was planning on brewing today, but time didn't allow for it. That means Thursday as turned into a two-batch day. I'm planning on doing the Stone Soup XXI Ale (MB0021) in the morning as a PM batch, and then, with Nate's assistance (more like guidance), tackle MB's first all-grain batch, a Saison (MB0022-AG1) using Wyeast's VSS Farmouse yeast. Oh, and I have to catch everyone up on my recent trips to DuClaw and Blue Mountain Breweries.

So stay tuned. Lots to come.

Cheers,

Dave

PS - Oh, yeah, um, if you can, pick up Stone XII. I'm drinking one now. It's tasty.

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