Well......... after carbonating, the smoky blond is losing it's smoke taste profiles... No clue as to why.
I must investigate.......
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Smokey Blond Ale tasting
Smokey Blond Ale - 4.5% ABV. Light pale color (SRM about 5.3, IBUs 14)
MASH schedule was 148 degrees for 45 minutes. Boil was 60 minutes with Northern Brewer Hops at 5.6% AA for 14.3 IBUs
This beer was brewed specifically to be a BBQ "thirst quencher" and be lighter in body than my usual brew. To this end, my mash schedule and resulting fermentation hit it bulls-eye.
The beer is very balanced, there is no real hop bitterness and no real heavy malt sweetness. This allows the subtle smoke flavors to show up. It really tastes like my BBQ smells. Smokey oak flavors even after the first few sips.
It's finally got enough carbonation in it to really taste the beer. It'll be fairly effervescent to be compared to any commercial brew, but it is missing the malt sweetness of Shiner's Smokehouse Beer.
It's thinner than what I am used to, more like a commercial beer. It still has a protein hazy issue but I doubt this beer will last long enough for the hazy to completely disappear. This takes 6 weeks of cold conditioning.
MASH schedule was 148 degrees for 45 minutes. Boil was 60 minutes with Northern Brewer Hops at 5.6% AA for 14.3 IBUs
This beer was brewed specifically to be a BBQ "thirst quencher" and be lighter in body than my usual brew. To this end, my mash schedule and resulting fermentation hit it bulls-eye.
The beer is very balanced, there is no real hop bitterness and no real heavy malt sweetness. This allows the subtle smoke flavors to show up. It really tastes like my BBQ smells. Smokey oak flavors even after the first few sips.
It's finally got enough carbonation in it to really taste the beer. It'll be fairly effervescent to be compared to any commercial brew, but it is missing the malt sweetness of Shiner's Smokehouse Beer.
It's thinner than what I am used to, more like a commercial beer. It still has a protein hazy issue but I doubt this beer will last long enough for the hazy to completely disappear. This takes 6 weeks of cold conditioning.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Popcorn Pilsner
I'm not kidding... I was reading where a guy used 2 pounds of popped popcorn in a mash, and produced a CAP (Classic American Pilsner), a type of beer made by most breweries before Prohibition. 9 pounds pilsner, 2 pounds popped corn.
Consensus of those who have brewed it state it's got the nice CAP taste profile without using the flaked corn from the brew store.
A pilsner is basically just pilsner malt (usually 6-row if you are being strict to style) and noble Germanic hops and a nice lager yeast.
In early America, German immigrants began brewing the same beer, the cold crisp style took the beer drinkers by storm. Which is why this style dominates the commercial beer landscape, even today.
Because of American's dislike for the heavier, maltier tastes of pure German beers, American brewers turned to corn and rice to create an American Pilsner which was lighter and more effervescent.
Corn is my favorite to use to recreate this style. I was first introduced to it in an article in Brewing Techniques in Jan, 1994.
I made my first CAP that same year, which was received with joy. It's a damned hard style to make, but I have figured out a way to mimic the style using Ale yeast and long lager times in the beer cooler. I'd use an lager yeast except it produces awful flavors if fermented above 55 degrees.
Consensus of those who have brewed it state it's got the nice CAP taste profile without using the flaked corn from the brew store.
A pilsner is basically just pilsner malt (usually 6-row if you are being strict to style) and noble Germanic hops and a nice lager yeast.
In early America, German immigrants began brewing the same beer, the cold crisp style took the beer drinkers by storm. Which is why this style dominates the commercial beer landscape, even today.
Because of American's dislike for the heavier, maltier tastes of pure German beers, American brewers turned to corn and rice to create an American Pilsner which was lighter and more effervescent.
Corn is my favorite to use to recreate this style. I was first introduced to it in an article in Brewing Techniques in Jan, 1994.
I made my first CAP that same year, which was received with joy. It's a damned hard style to make, but I have figured out a way to mimic the style using Ale yeast and long lager times in the beer cooler. I'd use an lager yeast except it produces awful flavors if fermented above 55 degrees.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Why beer tastes "Skunky"
We've all had one or two bottles of a beer that tasted off. I know I have… most are imports, many have that odd "twang" of a slight sour taste or smell. Mostly imports in green bottles or clear bottles.
This is caused by blue wavelength and UV light, which causes a photochemical reaction with the isomerized hop compounds.
Brown bottles filter out this light, green and clear do not. Further, even being stored under fluorescent lights in a store can cause this reaction.
This is why you need to avoid beer in those bottles, if buying a green bottle import beer, hunt for the beer in cans.
This is also why I ferment my beers in dark closets…. Light it'll kill it!
This is caused by blue wavelength and UV light, which causes a photochemical reaction with the isomerized hop compounds.
Brown bottles filter out this light, green and clear do not. Further, even being stored under fluorescent lights in a store can cause this reaction.
This is why you need to avoid beer in those bottles, if buying a green bottle import beer, hunt for the beer in cans.
This is also why I ferment my beers in dark closets…. Light it'll kill it!
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