Beervana

Two days later and I've finally got around to writing something about Beervana. We took the day off work and headed to the Friday night session. 

On our way down we stopped in at the Thorndon New World and mecca for the craft beer scene, the mighty wall of beer. We grabbed a couple of brews to try out before Beervana. I grabbed an Old Speckled Hen from Greene King and a world famous Hobgoblin from Wychwood Brewery, I'll get onto those brews soon.

We got to the flat, dumped our gear and went to find Hashigo Zake by far one of the best bars I've been to in years. The place is a mecca for craft beers from New Zealand and beyond. The bar itself was hard to find, but we found it on our second drive passed. I had a pint of DeadCanary from ParrotDog a VERY tasty beer. Right up my ally. Brian decided to go for his name sake, a Brian IPA from Emersons and Steph tried out a blackcurrant cider from Peckhams.

Cider Kir from Peckhams @ Hashigo Zake

Back to the flat for more pre drinks. I tried the Old Speckled Hen. I have heard lots about this beer, but to be honest, wasn't quite up my alley. A nice beer, but I'm not sure I would have more than one in a session, personal preference.

Onto Beervana we went. We decided this year we'd hit things a little different than 2011, mainly because we all tried the same beers last year, this year, we actually did some research and got beers we individually wanted to try then sampled each others. Worked out really well, we certainly tried more beers!! 

We started at the festive and real ale stands and started with a beer called Festivus from 8 Wired Brewing. Good beer and pretty much what you'd be expecting from a lambic beer, sour. At the same time we tried a beer called Marmalade from The Twisted Hop. If you like marmalade, then you'll like this beer. Also tried a beer from Aoteroa Breweries called Mata Carrot & Orange Cake another good brew.

We moved up and down the concourse and hit some other breweries, downed a curry, bratwurst and the finale was an Alpaca pie.

Best beer for me, had to be Funk Estates Black IPA followed closely by the 17% Stout from 8 Wired Brewing called Bumaye. A beautiful stout that has been aged in a barrel. Very smooth beer and just what you'd need at the end of a session like we had.

More than likely not the best idea but I tired the Hobgoblin after Beervana and again, not my cup of tea. I will definitely need to try it again, without so many beers under my belt!

All in all a good session, next in line is The Great Pacific Beer Expo in October. Tickets go on sale 1 September from www.cultbeerstore.co.nz

We had the normal day after feed and went to find ParrotDog a newly founded brewery in Wellington. I tried there BitterBitch last year and as above, tried the DeadCanary. From all accounts, they were closed, but I found out after the fact, never mind, they were a lovely bunch and the dude we spoke to seemed to be a little miffed we were there, but all good. We will be back to visit them and Garage Project at some point in the near future.

Brewhemoth Brew Day

Well, with Dropkick Murphy's pumping we finally got around to the brewhemoth brew day. We ended up just doing three brews, Centennial Blonde, Stone Arrogant Bastard clone and what was supposed to be a Black Pearle Porter isn't anymore....we'll call it a mild ale for now. Pretty happy with the day, we started a little later than planned, but it all worked out in the end. Shady brought over his new toy, an immersion chiller. Worked really well, got the wort to 30 degrees from a rolling boil in about 20mins. My backyard is now officially a swimming pool with the rain we've had over the week and cooling three beers on top. The things we do for beer.

20g of Cascade and 4oz of Lactose for the "Black Pearle Porter"

I thought I had enough chocolate malt, turns out I only half of what was required. So its not as dark as it should be and wont be as roasty as it should be. Due to that fact I ended up using Fuggles for bittering and NZ Cascade for aroma and flavouring. Give it fiveish weeks and we'll see how it turns out.

"Black Pearle Porter" at a rolling boil

Shady and Brian both popped their All Grain cherries with us all doing BIAB. We had two three ring burners as you see above and one 2 ring burner. Since Shady and I were onto it and here first we nabbed the three ring burners and got up to strike temps quickly. Brian came and joined the race soon after. Three mashes in and it was time for a beer.

Stone Arrogant Bastard with a rolling boil

We left it a little lat to get the sparge water on the heat, so all three brews were left mashing in for longer than expected and at lower temps than expected. None of us are all that worried about it, beers, beer and at this stage is just a hobby (yeah right).

We mashed out and got onto the boil. Shady was first to hit a boil and man, once the centennial hit the boil, my backyard smelt like a brewery. Brian was next with his 1.5oz Chinook hit, yet again a massive wave of hops filled the air. Next was me and the fuggles.....not much aroma there...

Centennial Blonde with the IC

Along we went with all the hop and other additions then onto cooling. The immersion chiller worked really well, especially on a coldish day, the water was fairly cold. It hits about 30 and tends to plateau for a little before hitting pitching temps.

Into the fermenters went all three beers, Shady and Brian are usignUS-05 and I'm using US-04. Give us at least 5 weeks and we'll see how the beers taste!

"Black Pearle Porter" cooling

And just as a teaser....the JD SMaSH in the glass....its still VERY dominated by bourbon on the nose and taste. Definitely one to cellar! Next time, I need to find a stronger beer. I just don't think a SMaSH has enough of a malt back bone to compliment the Jack Daniels. I think a Porter wiould be better and perhaps toast the chips as well. Might make that a project beer, 5L at a time.

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14/08 edit

Tested the gravity, down to 1.020 from 1.060 in three days!!! She was sitting at 22 degrees which is on the high end of S-04....Tasting the gravity sample now and wow, lots of hop nose, soft sweet taste with a kick in the back. Even SWMBO liked it....Litte watery mouth feel, hope it fills out. The maltodextrine should give it some mouth feel, little lacking at the moment. Give it 7 more days and see how it goes before I decide when to bottle.

Brewhemoth Brewday - Grains are here

Three guys, possibly four, maybe 5 brews. After some consideration I'll be brewing a Black Pearle Porter courtesy of BierMuncher over at HBT, BRoss will be brewing a Stone Arrogant Bastard clone from Brew 365and last I heard, Shady will be brewing a Centennial Blonde from BierMuncher over at HBT.

The fourth brew is possibly going to be a black ale loosely based on Tui Dark. The plan at this stage is to use a Black Rock Miners Stout extract tin, a Black Rock Dark LME tin and possibly a dry stout enhancer pack from Copper Tun. Some mention on HBT about throwing in some other hops as well, it likely I might. At the end of the day it could be a good brew!

The last an highly likely not going to happen brew will be a collaboration brew between all three brewers, depending on whats left over. I have roughly 2kg of base grains in my cupboard, so there is potential, obviously dependent on whats left over to brew a mini batch of something. Thinking a stout with some throw ins, maybe raspberry...not sure yet, time will tell.

Speaking of hops.....

 

JD SMaSH bottling

The time has well and truly come and gone to bottle. I've been sick, so haven't really felt like bottling. But today I bit the bullet and bottled.

12 500ml bottles from various New Zealand Craft Breweries and 24 745ml bottles from the Commercial crowd

 

 

Note the kiwi ingenuity and using a beer crate as a seat :-)

Shot of the beer after it'd been sitting for a while, still pretty light. All good, might be a summer ale yet.

Jack Daniels wood chips during bottling. Little bit of liquid gold left in there.

 Krausen line and trub left in the bottom of the fermenter

Lessons learned from the brew?

None really, not more than what you see below.

I have 2 30L pots now so I'm slowly working to proper all grain brewing. Get rid of the bag and use a pot or chilly bin as a mash tun. It'll work. Just need some time.

Next brew is a porter. Might throw in the rest of the Jack Daniels chips to use em up.

Watch this space!!

SMaSH

Well, I have bee  a little slack with updates but I've brewed a new brew.
With this one, I wanted something cheap, just to see if it was possible.

I settled on a Single Malt and Single Hop (SMaSH) but decided to throw some Jack Daniels barrel chips. I soaked the chips in Jack Daniels for a week before dumping them in the fermenter.

Porridge

Hadn't got my new pot, I was brewing alone and I had a 2 year old in the lounge amusing herself, so off I went. Note to self, 23 litres of water and 8kgs of grains makes for a VERY full pot. Once I finally get rid of the bag, it'll be better.

After sparging and just about loosing the grain bag on the floor on more than one occasion, I finally got a boil going.

Rolling boil with hop bag

I hit the OG of 1.072, pretty stoked about that, so off she went into the fermenter. A week later and in goes 50g of Jack Daniels barrel chips and about 150ml of Jack Daniels.

As you can see its pretty pale. I think that's due to the nature of it being a single malt. It was 8kg of Marris Otter, a pale malt, so the beer will be pale. I wasn't expecting it to be this pale though. Note that this pic is also after the chips and Jack Daniels were added. Not much colour has leaked as yet, but it was only three days.

FG was off a bit, aim was 1.015, I hit 1.020, so comes in at 6.8% not 7& abv. Suppose that's not really an issue right, only 0.5%.

I'll keep checking it, maybe every second day to see how the flavours develop. Last test, there was some distinguishable bourbon and vanilla flavours, quite nice.

Might brew again, but I'll use a darker beer, like a porter.

Watch this space in about 3 weeks for a taster :-)

Pale Ale show down

So, I finally got around to testing/tasting my Epic Pale Ale clone vs the real deal.

First off, I only used New Zealand Cascade. Epic used US Cascade only. I think this is a massive difference in the beer. I am a self confessed hop head. I like hoppy beer, I love the smell and taste of hops. Therefore I brewed my favourite Pale Ale.

First off you'll notice the haze in the clone (one the left). I'm not 100% sure why there is a haze and I'm not really worried by it. Second is the head on the clone. Its big and its lasts, all the way through. On the Epic, it doesn't.

  

Next is the aroma. This is where the NZ Cascade comes into its own. Biggest thing I noticed was more passion and tropical fruits from the US Cascade. NZ Cascade was more citrus and was much more dominant. Taste is very much the same. Epic have done an amazing job with their Pale Ale and I still rate it as one of my favourite beers, but, I think if they were to use NZ Cascade, it'd be MUCH better.

I guess it comes down to why you brew. I brew because I enjoy beer. I brew because I enjoy brewing. I brew for myself and SWMBO, but mainly for me. I enjoyed it and I will brew it again and again. House Ale I feel.

 On a side note, I managed to score a cheap pot. Its a 30L so a little smaller than my current brewpot, but it'd make a good mash tun. Just need to buy a weldless dial thermometer, sight glass and a false bottom, then we'll be good. Other thing to, got a 2 ring burner, so outside to brew now, not longer on the stove top stinking out the house.

I.R.A

Just a pic of the Irish Red Ale at bottling time.