Out of the Bottle: Abbey Quad II

My last two blogs focused on my Blonde and Tripel. This one turns to the final beer I brewed: a Quad.

As I stated in my original blog post, the only real difference between this beer and the others is the amount and type of Candi Sugar. In the case of this beer, I made an amber syrup that bordered on becoming caramel if I'd let it boil much longer.

Let's start with the similarities between all three beers. The floral qualities of the Styrian Golding hops really impact the aroma and flavor of all three. Their fresh cut flower character is very prevalent, even though none of the beers is all that bitter. All three beers also have similar coriander and pepper spice aromas from the yeast.

The Quad adds some new layers that set it apart from the other beers. Let's start with the pour. Where the previous beers had nice clarity, the Quad is decidedly hazy. Its amber hue looks nothing like a traditional Quad, but is significantly darker than the other beers.

I like my Quads to have a red wine feel. This beer's flavors and aromas make it more like a Rosé. There are light cherry and red grape notes that sit on top of those of pear and green grapes. The beer also has a caramel component that I wasn't expecting. I'm guessing it's due to my prolonged boil of the Candi Sugar. The beer's body is almost as light as the Tripel, but not quite as dry and a little more syrupy. The carbonation is a little low for this style. Cherry, caramel and floral flavors linger through the finish. Alcohol provides some "perfect for a cold evening" warmth going down, but is well masked in the aroma and flavor.

Overall, this was a really fun experiment. Later on this year, I'm thinking of taking one final step with my base beer and brewing a Brown Sugar Dubbel just for fun. I hope all of you have enjoyed following what turned into a very eye-opening project.

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Out of the Bottle: Oak Aged La Petite Orange

I said in my previous post that I'd saved some of Northern Brewer's La Petite Orange kit to age with Sherry Infused Oak Cubes. The aged beer is ready to go, so let's see what the Oak and Sherry did. I've had more than a few Barrel Aged beers that were completely dominated by the wood and whatever alcohol (Rum, Bourbon, Sherry, etc) the barrel originally contained. In my beer, the oak and sherry are subtle. That's what I was shooting for, so I'm quite happy with that. The flavors and aromas from the original beer are still present. There's no point in revisiting them. What I really care about is the changes the wood made. Vanilla is the most significant contribution. There's also a very mild almond note at work. The Sherry really cuts through in the aroma. It provides an extra helping of dark fruits, plus a little more alcohol heat. The beer is definitely more wine-like than before. On a side note, I took my own advice and bumped the priming su

Out of the Bottle: Big Beers and a Haze

I'm doing a 4-for-1 with this installment, and will be bundling my finished beers going forward, rather than writing a blog for each. That should leave me space for more brewing oriented posts. This month, I've got beers I posted the recipes for back in November, December and January. First out of the gate is Enchanted Nightmare Imperial Stout. This beer is an amalgamation of extra grains and hops I had that were combined with some 2-Row and additional hops to create a 9.95% ABV Stout for the depths of Winter. So what if it wasn't actually ready until the Spring Equinox arrived? A beer like this can't be rushed. My beer pours nearly pitch black, and has nice ruby highlights. The head could stand a touch more staying power, but is appropriately dense. In the mouth, the body is a little lighter than I expected. The carbonation is very soft, and feels just about right for this beer style. When I bottled this beer, I was slightly worried that the whiskey and oak were a li

Kitchen Brewing Part 3: Sparge and Boil

The mash emerges from the oven. Now that we're finished with Part 1 and Part 2 of this series, it's time to Sparge. As you can see from the photo, the grains have absorbed a lot of liquid. In a traditional all-grain setup, your Mash Tun has a valve at the bottom to release the first running of Wort. The grains are then rinsed with the sparge water to extract any remaining sugars. My stove-top method doesn't afford such luxury, so a different method is called for. The grains have gained a little weight. There are a couple of choices at this point. One choice is to lift the grain bag out of Pot A and place it into the sparge water in Pot B to steep for 10-15 minutes or more. The other is to lift the grain bag up, put a colander under it and slowly pour the sparge water through the grains into the original pot. I prefer the former, because I get a better extraction rate from my grains. All that absorption means that the grains weigh a lot more than they did going i

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