Beer of the Day thread (and ci-derp)
#2162
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I think he was referring to the kid trapped between the crotch and the counter
I would never let small children be involved with the production of homebrew. Too much glass, to many hot things and you can pretty much forget about sanitation...
I would never let small children be involved with the production of homebrew. Too much glass, to many hot things and you can pretty much forget about sanitation...
#2166
They held a tasting event at Pharmacy in Dt Cary last night. Probably still have some on draft, I *Think* they brought 2 kegs... I'd call before heading over though, just to be sure. Pretty sure Saucer, and Boxcar wll get some. I know for a fact that Ted at Bottle Rev will get a keg; he's as big of a Baptist fan as I am. Oh, and if you are close by, there's a cask of Big Boss' "Aces and Eights" with Pure Intentions espresso available that is easily the best version of that beer I've ever tasted.
Yeah I'm a fan of Aces and Eights. We should meet up and drink slammin dark beer like distinguished champions.
#2168
My imperial belgian stout turned out pretty good. Almost exactly 12% alcohol with 77 percent attenuation. Initial taste impression is that it is smooth and balanced and probably not safe to drink in large quantities. Some roasty notes, some chocolate, some plum/raisin/fruit character hiding in the background. Nose is what you'd expect from a stout, with some fruity hints. Has a sneaky but significant note of smooth alcohol warmth which will hopefully disappear over the next month. No harshness. I would say that this recipe is a success so far.
I think it only came out to about 4-4.5 gallons in the keg, with half a gallon of yeast cake saved in the fridge for the next one. I think I need to do a slightly bigger mash next time.
I think it only came out to about 4-4.5 gallons in the keg, with half a gallon of yeast cake saved in the fridge for the next one. I think I need to do a slightly bigger mash next time.
#2171
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Scotch ales are a tad different. Never chocolatey, and rarely over-hopped, think more in terms being a rather strong brown ale, quite malty, frequently a bit sweet.
I rather fancy them.
I rather fancy them.
#2172
There are actually several scotch ale styles. They're going to get most of their flavors from malt and fermentation side effects with varying degrees of sweetness and dryness. Very little hop bitterness, not much in the way of adjuncts and with a relatively neutral yeast. With the higher gravity ones, you can get subtle fruity flavors from the yeast. No chocolate anything in scotch ale. You're going to get bread, caramel, sugar and alcohol flavors for the most part.
"Chocolatey" flavors are found in stouts and porters mostly. They are going to come from messing around with roasted barley, chocolate malt and similar things that go into stouts and porters. It's not so much that the beer ends up tasting like a fudge popsicle, but the fact that the roasty flavors and the bitterness combined with the malty flavors are going to remind you of dark chocolate or maybe coffee. If you do it right, it's very subtle and the beer ends up vaguely reminding you of chocolate (among 10 other things) rather than tasting like it. A local brewery here made a bunch of chocolate stouts and porters that are WAAAAY too chocolate tasting. It's like drinking a chocolate cupcake and I find it disgusting.
"Chocolatey" flavors are found in stouts and porters mostly. They are going to come from messing around with roasted barley, chocolate malt and similar things that go into stouts and porters. It's not so much that the beer ends up tasting like a fudge popsicle, but the fact that the roasty flavors and the bitterness combined with the malty flavors are going to remind you of dark chocolate or maybe coffee. If you do it right, it's very subtle and the beer ends up vaguely reminding you of chocolate (among 10 other things) rather than tasting like it. A local brewery here made a bunch of chocolate stouts and porters that are WAAAAY too chocolate tasting. It's like drinking a chocolate cupcake and I find it disgusting.
#2173
There are actually several scotch ale styles. They're going to get most of their flavors from malt and fermentation side effects with varying degrees of sweetness and dryness. Very little hop bitterness, not much in the way of adjuncts and with a relatively neutral yeast. With the higher gravity ones, you can get subtle fruity flavors from the yeast. No chocolate anything in scotch ale. You're going to get bread, caramel, sugar and alcohol flavors for the most part.
"Chocolatey" flavors are found in stouts and porters mostly. They are going to come from messing around with roasted barley, chocolate malt and similar things that go into stouts and porters. It's not so much that the beer ends up tasting like a fudge popsicle, but the fact that the roasty flavors and the bitterness combined with the malty flavors are going to remind you of dark chocolate or maybe coffee. If you do it right, it's very subtle and the beer ends up vaguely reminding you of chocolate (among 10 other things) rather than tasting like it. A local brewery here made a bunch of chocolate stouts and porters that are WAAAAY too chocolate tasting. It's like drinking a chocolate cupcake and I find it disgusting.
"Chocolatey" flavors are found in stouts and porters mostly. They are going to come from messing around with roasted barley, chocolate malt and similar things that go into stouts and porters. It's not so much that the beer ends up tasting like a fudge popsicle, but the fact that the roasty flavors and the bitterness combined with the malty flavors are going to remind you of dark chocolate or maybe coffee. If you do it right, it's very subtle and the beer ends up vaguely reminding you of chocolate (among 10 other things) rather than tasting like it. A local brewery here made a bunch of chocolate stouts and porters that are WAAAAY too chocolate tasting. It's like drinking a chocolate cupcake and I find it disgusting.
#2177
Haha, this is Scottish/chocolate discussion is too funny.
I just drank a bottle of "chocolaty" Scottish ale last weekend which I found to be surprisingly good. It was Harviestoun Old Engine Oil - Engineer's Reserve. Although it had a chocolaty note, I did not find anything about it being overpowering or artificial.
Clearly I do love me some stouts, but I too dislike any which have the characteristic of artificially added flavor, like as if they had a squirt of some "extract" added to them just before bottling. This includes not just the overly big chocolate flavor, but many of the coffee/peanut butter/peppermint/cinnamon/chai tea/sriracha/habanero/etc. as well. Though I don't claim to know exactly how they make them, I much prefer them to taste like they are actually brewed into the beer, as opposed to being a separate flavoring that was just added on top of it. It's hard to describe exactly, but there clearly seems to be a right and a wrong way to make them, as I've tried some which I thought would be disgusting, but actually were quite good, and others where I literally couldn't finish the beer. (and I never waste beer)
#2178
This year I experimented a lot with brown ales (heavy victory one time, spices another, etc), big belgians and porters/stouts (sweet, dry, roasty, etc). I'm combining the lessons from these experiments to make a really complex imperial stout recipe.
I also have done a bunch of cider experiments with different yeast, different juices and different dry hopping schedules. I still have about a billion things to learn about hops.
#2179
This is knowledge anyone could develop within a year or two of regular brewing. You can learn a lot of basic stuff from the internet in terms of grain/hop/yeast characteristics, but experimenting gives you all sorts of additional learnings about how doing x/y/z affects the finished result. The more you learn, the more experiments suggest themselves. Before like 10 years ago, all you had were a few shitty books and you pretty much had to learn everything through trial and error. Even today there are a ton of old wives tales about brewing, where people obsess about **** that doesn't matter.
This year I experimented a lot with brown ales (heavy victory one time, spices another, etc), big belgians and porters/stouts (sweet, dry, roasty, etc). I'm combining the lessons from these experiments to make a really complex imperial stout recipe.
I also have done a bunch of cider experiments with different yeast, different juices and different dry hopping schedules. I still have about a billion things to learn about hops.
This year I experimented a lot with brown ales (heavy victory one time, spices another, etc), big belgians and porters/stouts (sweet, dry, roasty, etc). I'm combining the lessons from these experiments to make a really complex imperial stout recipe.
I also have done a bunch of cider experiments with different yeast, different juices and different dry hopping schedules. I still have about a billion things to learn about hops.
#2180
Though I don't claim to know exactly how they make them, I much prefer them to taste like they are actually brewed into the beer, as opposed to being a separate flavoring that was just added on top of it. It's hard to describe exactly, but there clearly seems to be a right and a wrong way to make them, as I've tried some which I thought would be disgusting, but actually were quite good, and others where I literally couldn't finish the beer. (and I never waste beer)
I know exactly what you mean. It is definitely hard to precisely describe while also being overtly obvious during tasting. Funny how that works. But upholding that kind of brewing technique is always whats sets great beer apart or highlights a meh beer to me.
The internet is pretty great. I don't know what I'd do in a world where I couldn't sponge up such informative collective learning. MT.net and beer stuffs are perfect examples.