Homebrew Review: Batch XXI

It's that time again. I figured I'd review something I hadn't yet. This time I'm going with the Stone Soup Ale XXI: The Mustachio'd Dark IPA. The name hearkens back to when our friend Jonathan at Monday Night Brewery was having some health issues, so, when The Boss (read: wife) wouldn't allow me to grow an actual "mustache", I immediately showed Muckney Brewing's support through our beer. The above links tell more of the story, so on to the beer.

Pours black with ruby hues throughout and boasting a creamy, one finger think khaki head with great lacing. Nose is floral and citrust hops, grapefruit and rose, with caramel undertones. Mild oxidation and extract notes. Taste is full of caramel and mild roast, with a mild to moderate bitter, followed by some resiny and citrus hop character. Mild oxidation and extract notes.

Overall, I'm a fan. It's not quite what I was looking for, but it's still tasty. Definitely something to build upon. It is rather thirst-quenching and quaffable, so it can't be that bad. The next Stone Soup Ale should be coming towards the end of March or early April, right after we brew the '09 Ides of March RIS.

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

Greetings from Denver (Sans luggage)

"It has been a long day - one full of home brew housekeeping, beer bars, flights, and lost luggage. I got into Denver at 10:30 PM local time to find that my luggage wasn't on the plane, which is awesome because I have no clothes."

That was the beginning of the post I started writing on Sunday night/Monday morning from the Quality Inn next to the Denver International Airport. Did I mention that at the time my luggage was still in Chicago? No? Well, it was. Luckily it showed up Monday afternoon. But such is life, and has no bearing on reporting this business trip that I'm on that just so happens to take me to one of beer Meccas of the US.

Ah, Colorado - the state with more microbreweries per capita than any other state in this great Union, and I'm currently trying to hit them all. The perks of being an outside salesman. I've been in Denver for just over 48 hours, and have hit no less than a half dozen beer destinations. It started Monday night after a long day of working and worrying whether or not I'd be wearing a wardrobe from Target all week. well, about 2 PM on said workday my luggage arrived at my hotel, putting an end to any worrying, and allowing me to concentrate on beer that evening.

After my last call on Monday, I hit up Bubbles Liquor Mart in Castle Rock, no less that 20,000 sq. ft. of booze with a moderately adequate beer selection. I picked up a bomber of Alaskan Amber Ale, which for a reason that escapes is somehow a fan favorite according to some locals. It was average at best. I guess it popularity is attributed to its novelty, since the likes of Fat Tire is so readily available. I then began the evening at Falling Rock Tap House, which, by any estimation is the best taproom that I've ever been in. Sixty plus on tap, and an unknown number of rare bottles helped satiate my thirst after a long day. Highlights of the evening included Duchesse de Bourgogne Flanders Brown and New Belgium Lips of Faith Eric's Sour Peach Ale on tap, and an at length conversation with Mark, GABF's assistant Cellar Master, concerning all things beer. That got me primed for a long night of a decent Pale Ale at Rock Bottom Denver while watching Alan Rodgers prove his worth in Green Bay and Michael Phelps winning gold in Beijing.

Tuesday found me ending my work day in Golden at the town's "second largest brewery", Golden City Brewing. "Largest" would have to be the most exaggerated statement I've heard in a while. Located in two houses that total no more than 2000 sq. ft., this little gem puts together a surprisingly delicious IPA, skunky and bready, and the perfect primer to an evening of brewery-hopping, with a baseball game thrown in the middle. I started at Great Divide Brewing's Tap room, a rather sterile tasting room attached to the brewery, with windows looking in on said libation manufacturing facility. This could be the best deal in the city, with up to 4 samples for free, and only $5 for every 4 following. I sampled seven, including Oak Aged Yeti, Hades Golden BSA, and two brewery-only small batch beers, Bee Sting Ale, which is GD's Samurai with honey and raisins, and an oak-aged coffee stout, which is said Yeti aged on espresso beans. I swear this brewery can't miss. A must visit when you're in town. Afterward I strolled down to Coors Field to watch The Big Unit lead the Diamondbacks to a victory over the Rockies. OK, I only stayed for three innings due to some crazy lightening, but while there I hit up Blue Moon Brewing's Sandlot brewpub at the ballpark for their seasonal Alt. I then headed across the street to Breckenridge at the Ballpark for dinner and a pint of 471 IPA. I then found myself at Falling Rock again for some more Duchesse, Oskar Blues Gordon, and some St. Bernardus Abt. 12 on tap.

This trip has been insane beer-wise so far, with much more to come over the next 48 hours, so stay tuned.

On the homebrew front, I transferred both the Dark IPA (MB0021) and the Saison du Muqunee (MB0022) to secondary before I left, the former dry-hopped with an ounce each of Amarillo and Cascade hops. Also, Justin informed me that he procured an ounce of homegrown hops this evening at the homebrew club meeting. I guess we'll have to make another IPA. Darn.

Have a good night. I'm off to bed.

Cheers,

Dave

Homebrew Week Update

Tonight I checked in on the Saison du Muqunee (MB0022) and the Stone Soup XXI Ale: The Mustachioed Dark IPA (MB0021). Both have had about 12 days to ferment out. The Saison was all the way down to 1.010, which is straight awesome. Some quick tasting notes:

Hazy yellow. Nose is wheat and slight funk. Taste is light and citrusy with dry peppery finish. Light alcohol flavor with lots of warmth. Slight spiciness. Mild wheat notes and a good dose of bitter.

This guy's pretty tasty so far. He'll be in secondary tomorrow.

Next I moved to the XXI Dark IPA. The SG on this guy 1.019, which is just a few points high, so I figured I'd let it go for a few more days before transferring, but it'll be a carboy before I leave for CO on Sunday. Tasting notes:

Pours Murky brown with amber hues. Nose is slight roast with caramel and mild hops. Flavor is subtle roast with lots of caramel and a weird mixture of fruits, cherry, raisin, lemon, grapefruit, slight apple. Moderate to high bitter and good grassy/piny/citrusy hop flavor. Slightly mouth puckering.

This will age in secondary for a few weeks on an ounce each of Amarillo and Cascade whole leaf hops to give it a hop-errific nose. Love it.

Cheers,

Dave

It's been one of those weeks . . .

Back to the grindstone this week after a fun-filled brewing week. Work has me in Northern New Jersey again, and really hasn't left me too much time for beer-related goodness. Except for a quick stop at Super Saver in Somerville, which produced a small haul, there's nothing to report. I'm hopefully going to break out of that lull this evening and find a decent beer bar.

On the homebrewing front - not much. The saison (MB0022) was starting to slow down as I left Monday morning, so it should be about done when I get back on Thursday, and it seems I have a leak in my lid seal on the Dark IPA (MB0021). Both will get some attention this weekend.

That is all.

Cheers,

Dave

I Love the Smell of Boiling Wort in the Morning . . . and the Afternoon

As I write this, the sweet smell of boiled wort still permeates throughout my house. It's been a long day, being another double-batch brew day at Muckney Brewing. Only this time I was a man down for the first batch, and was getting my all grain cherry popped throughout the second. Yes, MB went AG for the first time, but let's start at the beginning.

Today's first batch was a partial mash Dubbed Stone Soup XXI Ale, the Mustachioed Dark IPA (MB0021). I brewed this batch using leftovers from previous batches and a lot of hops. Everything was going well, until I had a stuck sparge. Grain hulls clogged up my mash tun's spigot, causing me to forgo a second batch sparge and add water to bring the boil to volume. Other than that, it was all good.

And then it was all grain time. Thanks to Nate for supplying the equipment and more so for walking me through the process. Overall, it was a good brewing session. There were a few quips, like setting up the rig and hooking up the wort chiller, but other than that, the Saison du Muqunee (MB0022-AG1) went off without a hitch. We did only get 68% efficiency, but I'll deal with that for my first time around. There's plenty more I'd like to talk about, but I'm spent. Time to go pitch the yeast and veg out for a bit.

Cheers,

Dave

Mustaches for Ulcers, er, Something

In a sign of solidarity with our brewing brethren from the South, I've spent the last several days attempting to answer the call of Johnathan at Monday Night Brewery to

grow [your] own mustache in support of this worthy cause . . .. With the help of our collective upper lips, we may just be able to eradicate ulcers (and specifically stomach ulcers) once and for all.

Yes, I have spent the last several days dodging questions from the wife concerning my shaving habits all in an attempt to do my part. Unfortunately, my plans were thwarted this morning while I was preparing for the day, so I will be unable to participate in Mustaches for Ulcers in the "traditional" sense. Instead, I will be dedicating the next batch of MB beer to the cause, creating Stone Soup XXI Ale, the Mustachioed Dark IPA (MB0021). OK, the name needs some work, but you get the idea. Trust me, it's better than the dirty upper lip I was sporting for the past 5 days. I wish puberty would kick in.

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.