Miscellaneous Musings: Big Beer Burnout and Bottles

The weather is getting progressively warmer and I'm officially suffering from what I call "Big Beer Burnout." Although Colorado's spate of April snowstorms provided cold nights of inspiration for bottles of warming Barleywine, Quad and Tripel, I'm ready to shift gears to lighter beers. Heavy, alcohol-laden brews have officially fallen off my radar.

I have quite a few of my big beers left that I can store in the cellar until Winter. I'll drink and write Out of the Cellar blogs about them when the cold returns. With that in mind, nearly two cases of my big beers from this year and last have been boxed up and put into cool storage.

Unfortunately, this leads me to my latest dilemma: bottles. A few months ago I recycled a huge quantity of them. The reason I did it, is because I had just re-inherited several cases of old-school returnable and swing-top bottles from my brother. I figured that with those in the fold, I was never, ever going to fill every bottle I had. Why let them take up space in the closet?

Oops.

Sticking two cases of beer in the cellar put a major dent in my bottle inventory. I now have four cases of beer on the way and (you guessed it) am almost two cases short on bottles. Of course, I'll just buy some of my favorite commercial beers and reuse their bottles. But it also means that I get to experience the "joy" of removing beer labels...again.

So please. If you see me headed to the recycling center. Stop me before it's too late.

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Out of the Bottle: Insert clever use of the word Wit here

My latest Wit was a hit at my friend's birthday party. He especially liked the beer's citrus components. Others found it to be light and refreshing. I heard no Blue Moon comparisons, which actually made me quite happy. Compared to My Wit's End , this beer is much closer to style. Unmalted Wheat is part of the reason, as there's much less grainy sweetness at work. Instead, the beer is crisp and dry. The bitter orange peel really does its thing. The peel's sharp flavor melds nicely with the sweet orange peel I also used. Coriander pushes the beer's spicy character along. If I were to change anything, it would be to dial it back a notch or two. Some light sourdough aromas round out the flavor and aroma. Despite the relatively low ABV of right around 5.0%, the beer sports a fairly hefty body. Overall, I'm quite happy with this Wit. Next time, I'll hold back on the coriander. Maybe I will even take a shot at a Turbid Mash, which sounds like a great sub...

In the Fermentor: Wood Aged Quadrupel-Imperial-Doppel-Barley-Weizen-Wee-Sour

Who says you can't have everything? Well, I'm doing just that by creating a beer that combines the best aspects of eight big beer styles: Quadrupel, Imperial Stout, Doppelbock, Barleywine, Weizenbock and Wee Heavy. But wait, there's more! The beer will be aged for year with everyone's favorite bacterias to make a Sour. On top of that, Sherry infused oak cubes will provide that little extra something. A massive grain-bill, plus a healthy dollop of Candi Sugar should push the alcohol content up over 11%. Compensating for the strength is a biting combination of Noble, English and American hops. A Decoction Mash gives the beer an extra bit of German character. Heavily caramelizing the First Runnings provides more depth of flavor than a standard boil. For that extra push over the cliff, 11 malts are working to make the beer one louder. I'm giving this one at least a year of fermentation before I even touch it. Here's the five gallon recipe: Grains: 4 ...

Birthday Brewing: Dark Session Saison

I've been asked to brew all of the beer for my friend's Birthday. It's in mid-August, so I have to get everything going right now . There will be five beers in all: Dunkelweiss, Wit, Saison, Dark Saison and Kölsch. Rather than post all of the recipes at once, I'm going to spread them out into separate posts. My Session Saison and SMaSH Kölsch were already underway before I was asked to brew the other beers. The Dark Saison below is an extension of the Session Saison. I've expanded the original recipe to make a darker beer. CaraMunich Malt adds a little caramel sweetness, while Carafa II brings a light dark chocolate edge to the brew. The rest of the beer is as it was before, with the same hops and yeast. Adding extra grains does push the alcohol content up a bit, but the beer still shouldn't break the 5% ABV mark. I'm anxious to try my two Saisons out side by side and taste the difference that two extra grains can make. For five gallons: Grai...

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