Brew Day, Batch 385: Irish Stout

Mrs. C. has been rather forcefully noting that of late we have no beers pouring that are on the black end of the color spectrum, and further, that she expects SOMEONE to do something about it. Ahem.

'Tis a simple beer, pale malt with 12ish% each of flaked barley and roasted barley, and one kettle addition of hops to 40ish BUs. Target gravity is low 40s, and fermentation today will be carried out by the Essex ale yeast that we make most of our beers with at Grizz. I do love me a pint of fresh Irish stout, and we should be enjoying this in about 3 weeks, just in time for 'the wearin' o' the green.'

Brew Day, Batch 383: Cream Ale

Well, here it is, my day off from work at the brewery. What to do, what to do...

I guess we all know the answer to that one. Today's brew will not be an exactly "by the book" cream ale as dictated by the Keepers of the Style Guidelines, but as brewer, I can call it what I wish. A classic cream ale is a hybrid beer, fermented warm like an ale, but then lagered, giving a beer with some fruity esters like an ale, but the clarity and crispness of a lager. Traditionally it is made from pale malt, supplemented with some adjunct, usually corn, in the manner of a standard American lager, but today's beer is made with just Pils malt. I'm also going a bit high on bitterness, a whopping 24ish, and a bit high but not too much so with late hop additions, as well. The late hops are the very distinctive Sorachi Ace, which has interesting notes of lemongrass and dill. This beer would actually fall solidly in the American Blonde Ale category, according to the KotSG, but I like the idea of calling it Lemon Cream Ale, so there!

The recipe for 10 gallons, such as it is:

13 lb. Weyermann Pils malt
1.4 oz. Saaz 4.5% AA for 60 min.
3/4 oz. Sorachi Ace 15.1% AA for 15 min.
3/4 oz. Sorachi Ace 15.1% AA at end of boil.

Mashed with 1 quart/lb. at 150F for 45 minutes.

Yield was 10-1/2 gallons of wort at SG 1.040, chilled to 69F and pitched with a starter of Wyeast 1007. Truth be told, one of the main reasons for this brew was to serve to grow lots more of the 1007 to pitch into an upcoming batch of altbier. Mmmm, alllltbeeeeerrr....

A Fabulous Brewers Night

See?

Brewers Night at Grizzly Peak is the 1st Tuesday of each month, 6-9 in the evening, when Brewmaster Duncan Williams hangs out and talks beer with interested parties, gives tours of the brewery, and pours a special cask of beer. (This last one was on the second Tuesday, owing to New Years Day.) Though it's my day off, I made the trip out with Mrs. C., and made it just a bit more fabulous with my erm, spiffy new shirt gifted to me by Skip and Cat, who KNOW I will have my revenge....

Brew Day, Batch 381: Buster 2012 (Delayed Post)

Today, I am racking 2012's Buster, which was brewed 2 weeks ago. I skinned out a typical "Brew Day" post, but with all of the brewing, noshing, and drinking I and co-conspirator Skip were doing, it kinda fell by the wayside. This year's Buster took a while to gel as a concept; I started with the idea of something on a line between English-y barleywines such as Thos. Hardy's, and Scottish wee heavy, and then thought maybe some non-traditional or archaic seasonings might be in order. Earthy herbs like sage and thyme were considered but ultimately left behind. As well, we thought that some heat-bearing spices like various kinds of peppers such as cayenne and Sichuan peppercorn might be interesting. After a bunch of tasting, smelling, and cogitating, we settled on these things:

Mashed 55# Hugh Baird Pale Ale malt at 153-155F for 90 minutes, with 1 quart/lb. of liquor, collected about 13-1/2 gallons of sweet wort in the kettle, boiling well as the kettle filled. When the kettle volume reached 12 gallons, we started timing; after 30 minutes, the kettle hops were added. We used 2.4 oz. of Northern Brewer at 10% alpha, selected for its notes of wood, mint, and tea. With 20 minutes left, we added 2 oz. of Fuggle, and 1t of dried ground ginger; Fuggle for its simple woody, earthy spice, and ginger for some earthiness and heat/zing. With 5 minutes left, we added 3 oz. of crushed Sichuan peppercorn for its subtle zing, and its exotic, sweet aroma. Our target BU level was 50, compensating for the high gravity wort.

Everything went fine until we chilled down and tried to drain the kettle into the fermenters. It seems that despite using low protein British malt and thus having a quite moderate kettle break, and using plenty of whole hops in the boil, the kettle simply would not drain faster than a trickle unless someone dredged a spoon across the drain strainer the whole time. Tiring, to say the least. Our leading hypothesis is that the cracked peppercorns were just the right size to evade the hop filter bed and lodge in the drain. Eventually, all the wort was in the fermenters at an impressive 1.113 density, and given over to a hefty slurry of Grizzly Peak's house ale yeast. After two weeks, it is still at 1.044, but steadily bubbling away; if it hasn't attenuated significantly more in a week I'm bringing in a 'relief pitcher.'

Having not yet had enough, I added 1-1/2 lbs. of British 60L crystal malt to the top of the mash, and sparged to collect another 12 gallons of sweet wort. This was bittered to an estimated 35BU with US Goldings in the kettle, plus 2 more oz. at 20 minutes. This yielded 11 gallons of wort at 1.042. At racking today, it is clear and clean at 1.011; we will be drinking this as soon as it is carbonated.

Brew Day, Batch 380: Rye Peppercorn Pale Ale

I have a day off from the brewery... what to do, what to do...

Awww, yeah. Fermenters are filling as I write this; not much to add except my standard 'can't wait to drink this....'

Terse Thanksgiving Post-Mortem

Man, was that gooood. Mrs. C. knows how to put on a feast. My favorites were both stuffing/dressings, and the wild rice, all with dunkel. Also with pumpkin beer. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to get back to digesting....

Thanksgiving at the House of Cicerones

Thanksgiving Feast 2012


Kiss yo’ mama soup (corn & crawfish)

Winter greens and citrus salad with pomegranate & pistachio

Turkey, brined in Oktoberfest beer

Oyster & eggplant dressing

Panettone, sour cherry, lamb & fig sausage dressing

Bourbon and pineapple glazed ham

Mashed potato

Brown butter & bourbon mashed sweet potato

Green beans with caramelized onion

Canned creamed corn for old fat guys

Giblet gravy

Pomegranate and port reduction sauce

Cranberry & sour cherry sauce

Pumpkin pie (made by Chef Tara)

Chocolate almond tart

Caramel ice cream

Real! Whipped cream


Beers:

Pumpkin Ale ✦ Porter ✦ Munich Dunkel ✦ Session IPA ✦ Atmospherium Saison ✦ Weizen Bam ✦ Saison Sorachi ✦ Ginger Wheat Ale ✦ Scotch Ale ✦ Dynamomium Double IPA ✦ many more

Brew Day, Batch 379: Nugget Pale Ale

Quite possibly my 'desert island beer,' this American style pale ale features all fresh Nugget hops. Nugget was bred from a Brewers Gold parent, and developed as a high alpha variety. As a kettle hop, it contributes a clean, bittersweet character much in the way Centennial does. As a bonus, it turns out that it (in my opinion,) contributes superior flavor and aroma character; in this beer it puts me in mind of marmalade. All of the base malt is German, and the resulting beer has some nice bready, toasty malt flavors which fit nicely with the hops. Toast and marmalade, mmm!

Sketchy recipe for 10 gallons:

13 lbs. Weyermann Pils
2  lbs. Weyermann Munich 2
1  lb.  Briess Crystal 40L

Mashed 1qt./lb. at 152F.

90 minutes total boil

3/4 oz.   Nugget 14% alpha for 60 minutes

1-1/2  oz. Nugget 14% alpha for 20 minutes

1-1/2  oz. Nugget 14% alpha for 5 minutes

Fermentation is being carried out by Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale. Can't wait to drink this one....

Brew Day, Batch 378: Mild Ale

Mrs. C noted that granddaughter Mia's 1st birthday celebration is coming up next month, and that there would be time to come up with a nice firkin-able beer to wash down that cake with. The assembled guests will be of all stripes, and I have found that pretty much everybody likes a nice dark mild. The beer is malty but not sweet, with crystal malt and chocolate malt flavors, balanced as much by a dry roast edge from some black patent as by the minimal hop bitterness. It's visually appealing, as well, with a clear deep brown color with a ruby cast to it. Here's what went in to it:

Mild Ale - 11 gallons

11   lbs. Muntons Maris Otter Pale Ale malt
3/4  lbs. Muntons Crystal 60L
1/4  lbs. Briess Crystal 80L
1/4  lbs. Fawcett Pale Chocolate
1/4  lbs. Black Patent malt

Single infusion mash, 1 qt./lb., mid 150s F. I used 1 tsp. chalk in the mash. At completion, I lautered and sparged until runoff gravity dropped below 1.010, then topped up the kettle to 12 gallons.

Total boil time was 90 minutes; one kettle addition 2.2 oz. Fuggle at 4% alpha for 60 minutes, for a target 18 BUs. Yield was approx. 11 gallons of wort at 1.036, perfect. Wyeast 1084, a decent flocculator, is doing the honors. Looking forward to a few pints of this in a few weeks....

So many tomatoes, but no more time.

For them to ripen, that is.

Hmmm, fried green tomatoes maybe? Never made them, not even sure if you use unripe tomatoes or a specific variety. Well, there's only one way to find out.

Presto! Fried green tomatoes, topped with shredded crab and a sauce made from whole grain mustard, mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, heavy cream and cayenne. With two saisons- Weyerbacher 17, and New Glarus saison. Both delicious, and great with the tomatoes. The New Glarus was drier and more effervescent, and absolutely delicious. The Weyerbacher was maltier, a bit fruitier, and good too, though the New Glarus got my vote.

(Guess we'll give the rest to Skip for picklin'.)

On Recipes

I've written about this before, but since I've been posting a lot of (half-arse) recipes, (you're welcome, Kenny!) I wanted to give a few words of general explanation about what makes it into the posted recipe, and what gets left out. I think it's clear to most moderately experienced brewers that these are not complete paint-by-numbers type procedures. I don't have the time or patience for that, and more importantly, every brewer and brewery has their own way of accomplishing certain things. There are, for example, three or four popular ways of chilling wort in a home brewery. Different ways of mashing, i.e. brew-in-a-bag, no-sparge, etc; different ways of sparging, i. e. fly vs. batch. I don't address water, which is a local source issue that each brewer must sort out. Fortunately for me living here in metro Detroit, I have a great water source that requires only carbon filtration to remove chlorine, and basic mineral tweaking as the grist might dictate. More about that one anon.

Some things that I do pretty much every time, that may not be noted:


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Coming Out of the Closet

Photo credit: Big Gay Uncle Dave

Not the 'can't tell anyone I'm gay' closet. (Still can't tell anyone that, 'cause I'm not.)  No, it's the 'homebrewer harboring fantasies of going pro' closet. I haven't been posting about this, (or much else, to be honest,) as I really think it's outside the scope of our blog, but I've been working on a business plan, and hope to open a small microbrewery in Detroit, hopefully in Eastern Market. To this end, I've been taking advantage of various friends in the pro brewing community and helping out (read: getting in the way and asking a lot of nosey questions) in their breweries. Much thanks to my buds at Corner Brewery and Liberty Street in particular. And recently I got accepted at U of D. Not University of Detroit, but University of Duncan. Grizzly Peak's Brewmaster Duncan Williams has served as the mentor for a number of the area's brewers. I am his newest lackey in the downtown Ann Arbor brewpub, helping to keep the beer flowing from their sprawling cellar to the throngs of thirsty pub patrons upstairs. I must say, that's no mean feat, either; this pub pours more beer than any other brewpub (and a fair number of production breweries,) in the state. So come on down for a pint at the Grizz, and don't be surprised if you see a short, stout, hairy sort scuttling about muttering about dry hops....

Beer Brunch 2012

THE MENU......
PIZZICATO
A plethora of olives, pickled quail eggs with Jolly Pumpkin La Roja
Skip's pickled green tomatoes with Jolly Pumpkin Weizen Bam*
CHIAROSCURO
Kiss Yo' Mama Soup (corn & crab) with Mr Cicerone's Robust Porter
BLUDGEON
Garlic shrimp and grits with Mr Cicerone's (famous) Rye Peppercorn Pale Ale
CATERPILLAR
Bitter greens, tangerine, blood orange, walnuts, lemon-ginger vinaigrette, hop candy crunch with Mr Cicerone's Dynamomium IPA
ANIMALS
Duck, pork, veal & pistachio terrine, La Roja pickled cherries with Mr Cicerone's Buster 2010
INTERMEZZO
Spooky Trail Farm wildflower honey with Mr Cicerone's Atmospherium Saison


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Brew Day, Batch 377: Pumpkin Ale

It's been a few years since I've gone to the trouble to make pumpkin ale for Thanksgiving, and Mrs. C. has decreed that we shall have some this year. My idea of pumpkin ale is an amber to brown malty ale, (with a distinct orange tint from said pumpkins,) with just enough spice to round out the flavors a bit. This year I decided to roast the pumpkins whole in my barbecue, which is a) easy, and b) might add a subtle smoky nuance to further round out the pumpkin and spice flavors. Here's how it went down:


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Oy! This is a tough one!

See all these awesome beers? None of them worked with the dish. We rarely have this much trouble, but this one has us stumped!
The dish? We can't be giving too much away, as it's for Beer Brunch, but it's spicy, and everything so far just makes the beer far too bitter.
Back to the drawing board....

And the winner.....

The contenders.....
Lips of Faith "Brett Beer" collaboration between New Belgium & The Lost Abbey (brewed at New Belgium).
"Escoffier Bretta Ale"  collaboration between New Belgium & Brewery Vivant (brewed at Brewery Vivant).

The winner? Escoffier. Hands down. More Brett character, more sourness. Complex, balanced, perfect.

Living the good life....

...with cheese and beer.

Manchego, Vella Dry Jack, Sartori Bellavitano washed in Raspberry Tart , Italian sheep's milk with black truffle. Spanish chorizo.

Mr Cicerone's Sorachi Ace Saison, Hacker Pschorr Oktoberfest, Mr Cicerone's Kolsch, Vivant  Contemplation.

This cheese is amazing! It's washed in New Glarus Raspberry Tart beer.

A smarter person would have just bought a jar of pickled beets....

....and used the juice. (It's for a Beer Brunch dish). (We also boiled and peeled 36 quail eggs.)

Oh! But then we wouldn't have been able to make a meal of those delicious beet greens! A small glass of Mr Cicerone's awesome porter while I was squeezing made it all worthwhile. In my He'Brew glass of course, as it's Rosh Hashanah. Shana Tova!

Brew Day, Batch 376: Session IPA V2

The keg gridlock here at Chez Cicerone is breaking up, and we're anticipating a bit of loosening of refrigeration gridlock soon, so I can resume brewing. This is fortunate, as I was getting awfully tetchy; I've been casting about for something to kill for the last few weeks. Today will be a second tilt at this windmill, wherein I lighten the color and toastiness on the malt side, while leaving the very pleasant hop bill substantially intact. Here's the poop:



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Pure. German. Malt.

Perfect.