Cooler weather makes for better brewing

A few weeks ago I made a batch of IPA. The weather was pretty cool, I think it was our first cool front of the fall. It was a random recipe I simply made up, but it turned out amazing. I believe part of the reason was that it was cool. The other thing was that I had a spot available in my beer fridge to help get the temperature down to the 60's within a day of pitching, and the 3rd thing was that it was a 5 gallon batch (those 15 gallon batches can be a pain to cool down in time to prevent oxidation of beta acids) and finally the 4th thing was the use of a hand made wort chiller. I really think oxidation has been one of the biggest nuisances in brewing. I would have expected sanitation issues or something else, but so far I think the main thing that has messed up the flavor has been oxidation. Anyway, after conditioning this IPA came out perfect to my taste. It was a little on the dry-hop side before conditioning, not totally balanced, but Americans don't really want a balanced IPA anyways. That's what makes us so badass. We can just defy traditional brewing methods in the name of innovation or novelty and come up with some really great recipes.

Just a few days ago (Nov 12) I brewed a dark brew, probably somewhere in between a porter and imperial stout. It's the same hops schedule as the IPA: Magnum, Nugget, Cascades but a much darker malt profile. I believe it was 12 lbs 2-row, 1 lb German de-husked Caraffe II, 3/4 lb Belgian Biscuit, and 3/4 lb British Dark Crystal. It sure came out dark looking, with a rich, sweet smell. I'm sure the bitterness of the bittering hops will be noticeable. I'm planning on dry hopping it with Willamette and possibly a half ounce or so of Cascade hops.

Though patience is a virtue, I'm not sure it's my strong point. During the lagering of the Dortmunder Lager, which has taken over 3 months, I personally went through more than 4 gallons and gave away almost as much. There was about 6 gallons of finished, fully fermented and dry hopped dortmunder lager, and the stuff that survives to this day is fantastic, though it's less than a case. Also the "Darth Porter" has been bottled. It has been aging since march, and I just re-bottled it to smaller bottles, and dry hopped about half of it. It has a pretty high alcohol content. I would guess around 9%, though I didn't measure the gravity on this one. Should be great around Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Finally the last beer I have sitting in the brew closet is a frankenstein of ales. Many of the previous batches we made ended up getting oxidized in the extreme heat of the summer. The brew closet was air conditioned better than the house, but not as well insulated. All it takes to oxidize your beer is getting it to sit at 86 for a few days. Anyways, since I was incredibly unsatisfied with these beers, I uncapped a ton of them and dumped them in a carboy with some sugar to cause another fermentation. These were at least 3 different kinds of beers, maybe 5. After fermentation, I racked it off the new trub and dry hopped it with Cascades. I don't know if it was the yeast, eating up all the defective flavors or if it was the antioxidants from the hops, maybe a combination of the two, but the oxidized gross flavor is gone. Not covered up, but disappeared. It's not the best beer compared to the current lineup, but it's good. I'd say it is better than what it was even before the oxidization. It's kind of a light amber ale, a little hoppy but balanced. Probably 6%. Definitely a learning experience.

Microbrewery On The Horizon?

didn't ever expect to even consider doing this, but a few friends who Mike and I have been sharing beers with have been talking about starting a micro-brewery and having Mike and I as the master-brewers. That would be really awesome in many ways! 1: doesn't need to be explained - opening a micro-brewery is just freakin awesome! 2: I've always had a dreams of entrepreneurship and if this thing takes off it would be a dream come true. 3: It could really work out well for us, as a way for me to bring in some income and still stay at home most of the time. 4: It could really take off and make mucho dinero because I believe it's the right place and the right time! The craft brewing industry is booming and it has yet to take Houston, and it's just starting here. It could be a crazy ride.

So far the accomplices are Mike Mike Mike and Josh.
There's got to be some kind of cool company name we could make of that. Something like 3Mikes Brewing

Where to Start?

I don't think I have the time to write about everything that has happened in my microcosmos of brewing since the last post, but I'll give a tiny update that covers a lot and then maybe later I'll find time to fill in more.

There were a handful of brews which I can't remember right now, I'll have to go read the labels and see if I managed to record them on my brewing log, but I believe I brewed a stout or 2 and something else that was pale with medium hoppiness. Then came the 3 week brewathon with Mike. We went to the homebrew shop and Mike was determined to fill every possible fermenter we had. We bought ingredients for about 3 pale ales (made up recipes), 1 Elissa Clone, 1 Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale clone, 1 Stone Darth Porter clone (oaked), 1 Rogue Dead Guy Ale clone (my personal favorite), a made up German Imperial Stout recipe (oaked), 1 Stone Ruination IPA clone (oaked) and 2 other brews, which I made from ingredients that I had bought right before the huge trip to the brew store. I believe one was a hoppy Pale Ale and the other was a red ale.

So far we bottled the Sierra Navada clone, a pale ale with Czech hops, a pale ale with Cascades hops, and another pale ale with a variety of hops, and the Dead Guy. The pale ales generally are pretty mild - we intended those to be people pleasers, the Celebration Ale was pretty hoppy, very good but a little overcarbonated, the Dead Guy came out great. It's got such a great malty aroma and medium-strong hoppiness. I don't think it tastes like real Dead Guy buy it's amazing. 5 gallons of the 15 of the mixed hop pale ale we set aside and I added a ton of dry hops to it, so it should be very aromatic with a good IPA hoppiness. I will be bottling that right now - like when I finish typing.

Needless to say my tiny beer fridge is loaded. Believe it or not less than 10% of what's in there is from our brewathon. If anyone wants to come over and have a beer - feel free.