Colorado Kitchen Brew

I feel like my Kitchen Sink Barleywine is finally ready to review. It's been a long wait, but I think the results were worth it. Sink pours into my snifter with a deep chestnut brown hue that has decent clarity. A generous head provides nice retention and leaves a solid serving of lace behind. Pine, oak, orange marmalade, citrus and lightly toasted bread greet the nose. The hop aromas are way out front, but not overpowering. In the mouth, the 87 IBUs bring a forceful bitter bite that carries the pine and citrus from the nose, without being overly grapefruit happy. Malts are there with a toasted edge. There's not much sweetness to be found outside some of the hop flavors, but that's OK by me. The bitterness lingers long into the finish. The roughly 9.5% ABV adds a nice warmth going down, but the alcohol is otherwise well masked. Letting the beer warm to cellar temperature makes the experience even better. The beer's body is substantial from the large grain-bill an

The Pre-Prohibition American Lager (a.k.a. Classic American Pilsner ) has made a comeback. However, back before Prohibition, many American breweries were also producing Bock beers in addition to their pale offerings. With that in mind, I'm attempting to make a Pre-Prohibition Bock. I have no idea how true to form my beer will be, but I think the outcome should be pretty tasty. Although corn is now used as a cheap adjunct that lightens a beer's body and flavor, it was originally brewed with out of necessity. This is because the six-row barley native to America is harder to work with than European two-row. Unlike two-row, six-row barley is too high in protein to make stable beer. Using 20-30% Corn in the mash dilutes the protein and solves the stability problem.  Unlike my Classic American Pils , I'm doing a multi-step mash for this beer. The flaked corn is added after the Protein Rest. The Saccharification Rest is done at a fairly high temp to help give the beer

After five quick weeks, my Irish Stout is ready for St Patrick's Day. Time to see how it turned out. It looks right. The beer pours near black with a slight garnet hue. The head slowly falls to a thin quilt of foam and leaves a nice sheet of lace behind. The body is dry and very light. Perhaps too light, but not watery. Perhaps next time I'll add some flaked barley to help things along. The aroma and taste are right where they should be. Espresso is the overriding theme here. Strong coffee notes dominate the beer, while a bit of chocolate is in the background. Bitterness is light and has a roasted edge. There's only a slight astringency from all the roasted grains that's much lower than quite a few stouts I've tried. Adding the roasted grains after the Saccharification Rest seems to have done the trick. Overall, it's not bad for a beer thrown together at the last minute. Next time, I'll add some flaked barley and perhaps even out the roasted barley

Although my Wee Heavy blog about brewing this beer was posted in December, I actually brewed it in November. After a long wait, I feel it's finally matured enough to write about. Let's see what happened. First off, this is a very big beer. It has a large grain bill and an alcohol content of around 9.5%. The mouthfeel is dense and chewy, with very soft carbonation. It's definitely a meal in a bottle suitable for the coldest of nights. So how does it taste? Pretty damn good, if I may pat myself on the back for a moment. Heavily caramelizing the wort resulted in an intense toffee and roasted grain dominated beer. Bitterness is light and bolstered by the roasted flavors. Hops also add a bit of black tea and tobacco to the nose. The alcohol is almost too well masked, which makes for a very sneaky beer. Its heavy body keeps the brew from going down too quickly, but it's easy to get carried away. This beer is definitely a keeper. For 2013, I think I'll brew it a l

My Tribute to Westvleteren XII (and my use of this picture of it) comes to an end with a Belgian Blonde Ale. After brewing my strong Quad and Tripel , I decided to dump the Candi Sugar and just brew the base beer. This should help me get a good handle on what exactly the Candi Sugar is doing. When my beer is done, it will have an ABV a little south of 7%. As I've already said, there's no Candi Sugar to be found here. But there is the same mix of grains, hops and yeast as in my earlier beers. Even though they have a lot in common, I should have three very different brews when all is said and done. Here's the plan for five gallons: Grains: 7 lbs Castle Pilsen 6 lbs Castle Pale Ale Hops: 0.25 oz Magnum (14.9% a.a.): 90 min 1 oz Styrian Golding (4.8% a.a.): 20 min 1 oz Styrian Golding (4.8% a.a.): 7 min Total Boil Time: 90 min Yeast: Safbrew T-58 Mash Schedule: Protein Rest: 122F for 20 min Saccharification Rest: 150F for 60 min Mashout: 168F for 15