Fat Angel - Tasting Notes

Method: Extract
Specialty grains: US crystal malt, German dark Munich malt.
Hops: Chinook (bittering), Styrian Goldings (flavour, aroma, and dry hop) 
Yeast: Irish Ale (liquid)

ABV: 5.5% (the recipe suggests 4.8%).
Yield: 23 litres


Tasting notes: As you can see, it pours a lovely amber colour with an off-white frothy head. Basically, until I start all-grain brewing, everything is going to be a lovely amber colour.You get a fresh hit of hops on pouring, with hints of melon. On drinking you can taste the sweet malt with slight hints of caramel. The medium body carries the bitterness of the hops which lingers slightly on the palate. I don't mind this - it's quite nice. I may make this one again with an all-grain brew to see the difference that makes.

Jaggery Pale Ale

It's time to start experimenting! 


My new resolution is to move away from extract brewing, and to start brewing smaller batches of all grain beer. By brewing in smaller batches (11.4 litres which gives me 15 bottles) I can experiment more and have a higher turn over, hopefully developing a better sense for making beer.


This Jaggery Pale Ale is a recipe found in Randy Mosher's Radical Brewing which adds a twist to a classic pale ale recipe with the addition of jaggery and fenugreek.


Turns out, jaggery sugar, adds a maple flavour to the beer while the fenugreek enhances those tones in the final beer. It also has a lot of hops - 65g of East Kent Goldings in the flavouring boil which is approximately three times as much as I add to a brew twice the size. It will be interesting to see what it turns out like - I figure this would be a nice beer to accompany a curry!

Gravity: Original Gravity: 1.064 (target 1.076) Final Gravity: 1.010 ABV: 7.5% (target 6.5 - 7.3%)
Yield: 12 litres
Brew method: All-grain with US batch sparging.

Notes: Once again, my original gravity is off by almost ten points, which makes me think that possible my mash tun efficiency is quite low. The odd thing, is that I always seem to hit the ABV after fermentation. Go figure.

Long Trail Ale

We've got an all day poker match in a couple of months so I wanted a beer that would be easy drinking and in some way, remotely match the theme. I would have preferred a lager, but it's really the wrong time of year for them, and I have no way of lagering so I settled on the recipe for Long Trail Ale. 


It's a northern German alt-bier, and a motivating factor was the California ale yeast it uses. I've been wanting to make a few recipes that utilise that yeast, so I can reclaim some at the end to reuse.


It uses 4 different hops, and a touch of Wheat DME along with British Crystal malt as the specialty grain.

Frothy!

Gravity: Original Gravity: 1.046 (target 1.047-1.048) Final Gravity: 1.016 (target 1.011-1.012) ABV: 4.4% (target 4.6%)

Yield: 23 litres

Brew method: Extract with US batch sparging for the specialty grain.

Notes: It hasn't reached the recommended final gravity which, after reading a few books, I'm thinking might be down to the makeup of the DME that I'm using. A quick taste before bottling reveals a full mouth feel, almost oily, and a quick bitter finish. I think this will be a good session ale for the Poker match.

Shakemantle Ginger Ale

I like the idea of Ginger Beer, but I wouldn't want to brew a whole batch as I find them a bit too sweet after the first glass. This recipe is for a Wheat Beer, lightly hopped and flavoured with fresh grated ginger.

I decided to amend the recipe a little to make it a single hop beer (Fuggles all the way) as I'm entertaining the idea of taking it along to my first BrewShare at the Local Taphouse in May (the theme being single hop).

It's a simple recipe - possibly the simplest I've made so far as there are no specialty grains - just Wheat DME, Fuggles and grated ginger. I'm very interested to see how it turns out.

Fuggles.
I also find an IPA helps the process

Grated ginger

Gravity: ABV target 5.0%

Yield: 23 litres

Brew method: Extract 

Notes: This beer gets dry hopped with more fresh grated ginger, so I'm expecting it to a full fresh ginger aroma and taste.

Carnegie and Co. Stark Porter - Brewing Notes

I have never brewed a porter, or any type of stout before so I thought I would choose something  unambitious for my first one.

D. Carnegie and Co. Stark Porter is a, full-flavoured beer with plenty of roasted malt, toffee, chocolate and coffee flavours with a dry finish (according to the write up). It's brewed in Stockholm, Sweden and as such, should be a great beer for enjoying during the colder months. The simple list of ingredients and means I'm not too concerned if this goes horribly awry - something I wouldn't be happy about if I was brewing an Imperial Stout where the high starting gravity would require a considerably higher expense in grain or dried malt extract.


This baby should be ready for drinking in May, 3 months after pitching the yeast.

The beautifully black, inky, wort; a combination of chocolate, dark and black malts.

Gravity: 1.058 (Target 1.057). FG 1.020 (target 1.014) ABV 5.5% (target 5.5%)

Yield: 23 litres (target 23 litres)

Brew method: Extract with US batch sparging for the specialty grain.

Notes: The dark crystal, chocolate and black malt produce a beautiful black coffee colour which, because of the darkness, means I will get a better approximation of the correct colour for the beer. Most of my beers have the same colour profile because the local homebrew shop only stocks one variety of dried malt extract, so I am unable to get the lighter colours for my pale ales and lagers.


*edit* I haven't managed to hit my final gravity which a little disappointing. I'm not sure as to the cause of this - possibly the yeast was at the end of it's life. The brewing calculator still thinks I've managed to hit my target ABV so there is a plus. I'm wondering whether this will make this porter taste a little sweeter than it should. Who knows - I'll have to wait until mid-may before I'll know.

The Brewer's Assistant, showcasing the German Northern Brewer hops used for bittering

Hottest 100 Beers of 2011

The Local TapHouse have revealed the Hottest 100 Beers of 2011, as voted by the dedicated drinkers.

Stone & Wood came in top place with their Pacific Ale - a wonderful beer that uses the new varietal Galaxy hops, to impart passion fruit and citrus flavours to a beer that encapsulates Australia by the sea during summer.

I was happy to see some of my favourites feature in the list with Hop Hog sitting at number 3, Murray's Icon 2IPA at number 12 and Matilda Bay's Alpha Pale Ale scrapping in at 93. I am disappointed that my favourite of 2011, the Two Metre Tall Forester Ale didn't even get a look in, but I imagine that would be remedied by more aggressive marketing by the company, or even just wider distribution. It's a beer that certainly deserves a bigger audience than it currently gets.

So that is it for 2011. This year, we have the best of American Brewers on Tap to look forward to at the Local Taphouse in February, and the amazing SpecTAPular in May. I can't wait.

Magic Hat: Fat Angel

Magic Hat is a small brewery out of South Burlington in Vermont, U.S.A. While we were living in New York we found that there were very few palatable beers on tap, Magic Hat and Blue Moon being the two staples that we turned to. Many an evening was rescued by the appearance of the 'Magic Hat' above the bar tap and so this a homage to that upstanding brewery that made the bars of New York bearable.

Fat Angel is no longer produced by Magic Hat, however, it was the standard beer on tap so I have a fair idea how it should turn out. It's an American Pale Ale which takes crystal and Munich malts for the colour and flavour, and Styrian Goldings for the flavour and aroma. This beer is also dry-hopped, so I'm expecting a very tasty and citrusy beer by the end of it.

Gravity: 1.054 (Target 1.050). FG 1.016 (target 1.012) ABV 5.5% (target 4.8%)

Yield: 23 litres (target 23 litres)

Brew method: Extract with US batch sparging for the specialty grain.

Notes: I've upped the quantities so that I may get a full 23 litre batch out of the brew. So far, the recipe appears to have scaled well.