I have draft beer in my house!

Posted December 28, 2009 by Brian
Categories: Homebrew

Tags: ,

I feel as thought I have turned a corner in my life. I now have draft beer accessible in my house. This could be both a blessing and a curse.

The blessing: kegging homebrew is SO much easier than bottling. This will save me hours of sanitizing bottles weeks of conditioning time. This is the second best homebrewing investment I’ve made, behind the wort chiller.

The curse: now that I have easy access to nips of beer without the commitment of an entire bottle, I may be perpetually buzzed. I need to invest in one of those pig livers…

My first beer on tap: Chocolate Cayenne Stout. Just as a teaser, the stout is very tasty. I’m going to post the recipe and do a full-fledged review of it later this week or next. I think I got the cayenne just right. It was a major cause of anxiety, as there is a fine line between pleasant tingle and “it hurts to pee.”

If you want to relive the experience of my first homebrew keg tapping, here it is in live video:

Oskar Blues beers aged in Stranahan’s whiskey barrels

Posted December 10, 2009 by Brian
Categories: Beer, Breweries

Tags: , , , , ,

Last night at Barley’s we had a flight of Oskar Blues beers that had been aged in Stranahan’s whiskey barrels and served from casks: Mama’s Little Yella Pils, Old Chub and Ten Fidy.

If you have never had a barrel-aged beer, or a beer served from a cask, please, I beg you, find a cask night or a barrel-aged beer at a fancy beer store and drink it. It will change your life.

Now, I’m a huge fan of Oskar Blues regular selections. I think Dale’s Pale is a staple for any session or camping trip, and Old Chub is one of my favorite choices when I’m looking for something sweet and malty. The whiskey oak-aged versions of these beers did not disappoint. They were delicious.

Mama’s Little Yella Pils

I started with the Mama’s Little Yella Pils. This was a very unique selection, as I’d never had a barrel-aged pilsner before.

The whiskey aroma was dominant, but more of the oak came through in the flavor. I would not have guessed this was a pilsner. It was a very tasty and unique combination.

My only criticism is that the body seemed a bit watery. The regular Yella Pils has a nice body and mouthfeel, so my only thought is that this was due to the cask. Either way, it was tasty and I wouldn’t call it a failure.

Old Chub

The Old Chub was the opposite of the Yella Pils. I noticed a lot of the oak in the aroma, but the whiskey came through wonderfully in the flavor.

Perhaps from the combination of malt, oak and whiskey, but I tasted a banana malt milkshake thing going on. It was smooth and delicious.

Ten Fidy

The barrel-aged Ten Fidy was a huge malt bomb wrought with whiskey and oak aromas. It was sweet, bready and smooth. Excellent, although if I had another, it may have put me on another planet.

My choice for best of the night was the Old Chub. It was somewhere in between the Yella Pils and Ten Fidy in terms of intensity and body, which made it a very smooth drink. The flavor was simply amazing. That’s the kind of beer that I could nip on all night.

Untamed-PSG Collaboration Coffee Stout

Posted December 7, 2009 by Brian
Categories: Homebrew, Recipes

Tags: ,

A couple months ago, I was approached by my friends at the Palmetto Software Group to brew a beer for their company holiday party/customer appreciation gifts/general consumption. After an evening to tasting a variety of beers at Barley’s they settled on a stout.

But not just any stout. They wanted 20 gallons, so we had the option of adding a variety of flavors to the four 5-gallon carboys during secondary fermentation. We opted on one regular stout, one coffee, one chocolate, and one bourbon oak.

Now that the beer is finally ready, I brought the coffee variety to the Upstate Brewtopians meeting this past Saturday. It was greeted with an extremely position response, and I actually took home the honor of winning the beer-pendant-trophy thing.

The coffee stout was voted best among 20 entrants in the open competition, so I am very honored and proud of my beer. It’s the first award of any kind I’ve won for my homebrew.

The coffee stout was jet black with a very apparent coffee aroma. The coffee flavor was right on, not overpowering or harsh. I used a cold extraction technique to add the coffee to secondary, and I think it worked very well. I describe the steps for the cold extraction below.

What I found most intriguing about it was the additional flavors I tasted in the beer. It was nutty and chocolatey, and I even tasted some vanilla. Despite the high IBU, I didn’t get much in the way of hops or bitterness. The malt and coffee were well-balanced with the hops.

The body and mouthfeel were solid for a stout. Not nearly as thick as my mythical Troll’s Blood (more on that in the coming days), but substantial and satisfying. In the past I’ve had trouble with thin stouts, but I think I’ve found the cure: more grain. Don’t be scared.

I do believe this is one of my best efforts to date. Good flavor, good body, and everything was in balance. I hope PSG and their associates enjoy it as much as I do.

Here is the recipe for a 10-gallon all-grain batch:

Mash
12 lbs 2-row
10 lbs Munich
2 lbs Crystal-120
2 lbs Chocolate malt
2 lbs Black Patent malt

Single step infusion mash at 152 degrees for 60 minutes.

Hop Additions
60 min:
2 oz. U.S. Golding
2 oz. Northern Brewer
30 min:
2 oz. U.S. Golding
2 oz. Northern Brewer

Yeast: Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale

Secondary
Cold coffee extraction (per 5-gallon carboy):

  1. Freshly grind 1/2 lb of coffee beans, preferably a medium roast.
  2. Put grounds and 24 oz. water into a sanitized container.
  3. Allow it to sit for 24 hours.
  4. Run the mixture through a coffee filter or fine strainer.
  5. Add the filtered coffee liquid to secondary.

Stats
Original Gravity: 1.070
Final Gravity: 1.021
ABV: 6.5%
IBU: 73
SRM: 50

from the Hop Press: an interview with Tom Davis, brewmaster & founder of Thomas Creek

Posted December 3, 2009 by Brian
Categories: Breweries, Interviews

Tags: , ,

My latest post on the Hop Press:

An interview with Tom Davis of Thomas Creek

Tom and his father, Bill, talked with me about why they got into beer, how Tom started brewing, and what gave him the desire to go out on his own and start his own brewery.

December 2009 – North Coast Brother Thelonious

Posted December 1, 2009 by Brian
Categories: Beer of the Month

Tags: , ,

Author’s Note: It has been five months since my last Beer of the Month nomination. I have been focusing a lot more on homebrew over the past few months, so I haven’t been drinking as much commercial stuff as I have in the past. Either way, that is way too long, and this December I am going to close out 2009 with a beer fury. As Mike Tomlin, coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, said after their recent loss to the Ravens, “We will not go gently. We will unleash hell in December.”

North Coast has long been one of my favorite breweries. My love of their beers began with the Old Rasputin Imperial Russian Stout, which I rank right up there with Great Divide’s Yeti as my favorite stouts on the earth. I finally got my hands on one of their legendary beers that I had not yet experienced, Brother Thelonious.

North Coast is a big fan and supporter of jazz music and named Brother Thelonious after famous jazz pianist Thelonious Monk. For each case of Brother Thelonious that they sell, North Coast makes a contribution to the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. They are also the official brewery of several jazz festivals, including the Monterey Jazz Festival.

Brother Thelonious is a Belgian-style abbey ale. Much like the musician this beer was named for, this is a smooth, yet complex brew. It’s a dark red ale, and the color forebodes the flavor within. It’s full-bodied, upwards of 9% ABV.

The aroma has fruit and spice all over it. Raisins, prunes and currants all dance together as if in a Sufi whirling ceremony. The finish coats the tongue in a sweet sugary glaze and lingers for many moments, leaving me in a Belgian trance.

I very much enjoy the mellow intensity of this beer. My senses cry out for more, and alas, I shall have another glass.

From the HopPress: Sour Beer – The Last Frontier

Posted November 19, 2009 by Brian
Categories: Beer

My first “real” beer post is up on HopPress:

Beer School: Sour Beer – The Last Frontier

It’s a style explanation of sour beer with a few recommendations to try if you’re adventurous. Since it can be pretty far-out, most casual beer drinkers haven’t explored the world of sour beer.

If you haven’t tried a sour beer, or if you have and didn’t like it, check out the post. Who knows, you might be able to get some ideas on something else to try. There are so many different varieties and possibilities within those styles, it really is like it’s own beer world.

my Hop Press blog has launched

Posted November 16, 2009 by Brian
Categories: Untamedbeer news

Tags: , ,

hoppress logo blueMy latest beer blogging venture launched today on RateBeer.com’s Hop Press. My introductory post went live this morning. You can get to my sub-blog from here:

http://briancendrowski.hoppress.com

My regular publishing day will be Thursdays. My first beer-related post going up this Thursday is going to be a feature on Thomas Creek Brewery from here in Greenville.

I thank you very much for your support, not only in getting me to this point with Untamed Beer, but also with my new Hop Press blog. I hope to step up my game and continue to spread some beer love throughout the interwebs.

Also, remember that Untamed Beer is not going away, you’ll just be able to catch me in another place as I continue my quest to take over the world.

hair cut

Posted November 13, 2009 by Brian
Categories: Untamedbeer news, Videos

Almost cut my hair
It happened just the other day
It was getting kind of long
I could have said it was in my way.

– David Crosby

RateBeer blog launch date changed to Monday, November 16

Posted November 9, 2009 by Brian
Categories: Untamedbeer news

Tags: ,

A quick update on my RateBeer blog venture:

The launch date for the blog has been pushed back to Monday, November 16. We’ll be coming out with some introduction-type posts for all the writers on Monday and then we’ll be commencing with our regularly scheduled programming after that.

My publishing day will be Thursdays, so look for my first “real” article to come out on November 19. I’m sure you’ll hear plenty more from me about it next week :)

Untamed Pumpkin Ale vertical tasting

Posted November 4, 2009 by Brian
Categories: Homebrew

Tags: , ,

Earlier this week I had a chance to do my first “vertical tasting” with some of my homebrew. (That’s the term beer geeks use when referring to tasting the same beer brewed in different years.) I saved a bottle of the pumpkin ale I brewed last fall, so I was able to compare it to the one I brewed a month ago.

If you’re curious, you can take a look at the recipes I used for these pumpkin ales.

The 2008 Pumpkin Ale was understated. Cinnamon and clove were still apparent in the aroma and it had a mild spice flavor, but I could tell the spices had dissipated somewhat since last year.

The beer was amber with medium body and a clean aftertaste. I do remember when I had this beer last year, it had a somewhat unsettling bitterness in the finish. The bitterness seems to have gone away.

Overall, I would consider this to be a pumpkin session beer. The spice is there, but it’s subtle. It wouldn’t kill my palate after having two or three.

For the 2009 version, I jacked up pretty much everything in the recipe: more malt and more spice. I tend to like flirting with edge of madness.

The first thing I notice is the darker color. The 2008 was a light amber color, the 2009 was a deep ruby red. (Perhaps a little too much crystal malt?)

The aroma of the 2009 is a startling blast of clove. The theme of this beer: clove. There’s a bit of cinnamon and some malt aroma, but the clove really stands out.

Taking a sip confirms the clove theme. Very spicy, with clove and cinnamon being at the top, with a little ginger tingle in the finish. It has a solid malt backbone and nice body. The clove aftertaste on this one lingers for a good while. Not much bitterness to speak of.

At first I was a bit turned off by the cloviness of the 2009. It is dominating, but it’s starting to grow on me. Nicole summed it up well as she put it, “It’s like drinking Christmas.” I like how intense the spice character is, but next year I will change up the proportion of the spices. I’ll take the clove and ginger down, and perhaps add a little more cinnamon and nutmeg. I may add a little allspice for good measure.

One of the lessons I took away from this exercise is that fresh beer is indeed the best. Many high-gravity and barrel-aged beers can mellow and develop new flavors over time, but typically, beer isn’t going to get any better with age. If anything, it may lose some of the hop or spice character. Even worse, you risk the beer becoming oxidized and tasting like cardboard.

So my advice is to drink up, drink quickly, and make more before you run out!