Colorado Kitchen Brew

Yes, that's really me. I've had a lot of fun writing this blog for the last eight months or so. A lot of ground has been covered, but there's much left to do. My New Year's resolution is to take my brewing to a new level (which I imagine is the goal of all homebrewers). Drew Beechum's "Brewing on the Ones" article in the November/December 2012 issue of Zymurgy has inspired me to start experimenting with the SMaSH (Single Malt/Single Hop) brewing technique. My goal behind trying SMaSH is to get a better handle on what impact individual ingredients have on my beers. This is because it can be challenging for me to tell exactly what's doing what in a beer with six grains, six hops and a blend of yeast strains. Of course, I'll also pop out the more adventurous brews too. But my focus will definitely be on doing more with less this year. In addition to the new beers, you can expect more brewing advice gleaned from my experiences and those of fe

My Winter Warmer is ready for the Holidays. It came out just in time for the first real splash of winter weather we've had all month. Time to find out if this will be worth sharing with the family. When all was said and done, the beer finished with a 6.7% ABV, which feels just about right to me. It's not too strong, yet has enough heft to help warm you on a cold night. The beer pours with a dense dark cream head that falls to a nice patchwork quilt of foam. It has a deep walnut hue and pretty good clarity. Moving past the appearance, the nose is greeted with a generous helping of orange peel and cinnamon dominated mulling spices. There's also a light floral quality from the hops, plus hints of chocolate and molasses. These aromas flow nicely into the flavor. On the tongue, there's a good balance between the sweet, bitter and spicy flavors. Baking chocolate and molasses get things going, followed by good dose of cinnamon, orange peel, clove and ginger. Bittern

The last of my Trappist beers for 2012 is ready to pour. Time to see how my Dubbel turned out. Visually, the beer pours with a slightly hazy, deep mahogany hue. The small cream head is extremely dense and slowly settles to a patchwork quilt of foam. A nice latticework of lace is left in the beer's wake. There are a lot of similarities between this beer and my Quad , which I expected. Like the Quad, dark dried fruit aromas of prunes, raisins and currants are front and center. There's also just the slightest hint of baking chocolate. Pepper and coriander scents keep the sweetness in check. The beer's aromas transition nicely into the flavors. Sweet dark fruit flavors are out front, bolstered by a bit of chocolate. The bitterness level is just enough to balance the sweeter flavors. In the mouth, the beer is light and dry. Soft carbonation creates a nice tingle. With a final ABV of 6.5%,the beer is much lighter than my Quad and Tripel , which it should be. This

Even in the middle of winter, I occasionally want a lawn-chair beer that won't blow me away with a thick body, alcohol warmth and/or a wall of bitter. So in the midst of a season filled with brewing "big" beers, I decided it would be nice to shift gears and brew an easy-drinking English Brown Ale . Nutty malts, a mild earthy bitterness and a light body pretty much sums this beer up. This is also my last of use of West Yorkshire yeast for the year (I've gotten five brews out of one packet of yeast , in case you're curious). My beer should be pretty quick to finish due to its low strength. I'll report back in five to six weeks with the outcome. The 5-gallon recipe is below: Grains: 8 lbs Maris Otter 8 oz Victory 8 oz Brown 4 oz Pale Chocolate Hops: 0.5 oz Newport (9.8% a.a.): 60 min 1 oz Fuggles (4.3% a.a.): 10 min Total Boil Time: 60 min Yeast: Wyeast 1469 - West Yorkshire Mash Schedule: Saccharification Rest: 152F for 60 min Mashout: 16

After 12 weeks of patiently waiting, my Quadrupel is ready to go. It's time to see if the wait was worth it. Was it worth it? One word: Totally. Visually, the beer pours with a slightly hazy, deep mahogany hue. The small cream head is extremely dense and slowly settles to a patchwork quilt of foam. A nice latticework of lace is left in the beer's wake. The red wine effect I was going for is right there. Dark dried fruit aromas of prunes, raisins and currants are front and center. Pepper and coriander spice keep the sweetness from going out of control. A very subtle whiff of alcohol finishes the picture. The beer's flavor echoes the aroma. Although it leans toward the sweeter dark fruit flavors, there's just enough spicy bitterness to keep them in check. The alcohol is well masked, but adds a little warmth going down. Letting the beer warm a bit makes things even better, as some almond notes start to peek through. In the mouth, the beer is substantial and sl

It's amazing how some of the best commercial beers have a really straightforward list of ingredients. A beer doesn't have to be made of seven grains and five hop varieties to be excellent. My attempt at a Wee Heavy follows this theme by mimicking the excellent, yet deceivingly simple Traquair House Ale . Because the physical ingredient list is so simple, the real key ingredient is the boiling process. It's very time consuming, but the payoff should be worth it. To make a proper Wee Heavy, I need to heavily caramelize the wort. My (and many other people's) way of doing this is to take a gallon of the first-running of wort, put it in a second pot and boil it until there's only about two pints of thick liquid left. For this beer, 90 minutes of a vigorous rolling boil turned the wort into a nice syrup. As the liquid gets thicker, I reduce the heat and stir continuously to avoid scorching. The resulting caramelized syrup is mixed back into the rest of the wor