Do you need any tomatoes? Some asshole put six plants in my backyard this spring and, looking out my window now, I can see that tomato production has gotten somewhat out of hand. So I made pizza from scratch Saturday, sauce included, but that only took about 10 tomatoes. I may have to start canning, which I hate to do.
On the subject of of things I hate to do: Remember when I ran that toad over with the lawnmower? The toad turned out to be okay -- no visible signs of damage, though I ruined his grassy habitat and think I may have given him a post traumatic stress disorder. Sarah and I felt bad about that, so we brewed a beer ("Hoppy Toad") in his honor.
After a couple weeks bottled (and through the magic of sorcery), the beer is now carbonated and ready to drink. I took a sample outside to share with the toad, but he never came around. I even used his favorite glass.
While I was outside I checked out some of our crops.
Hops are looking good. How'd that beer turn out? I've been meaning to brew something with Citra.
ReplyDeleteThe hops blend was really good (and I'm a big fan of Citra -- it's the second time I've used it), but I think I made a poor choice along the way with my malts/honey. I think it may have been the honey, but there's a slightly hot/sharp smell and taste. Not too hoppy, and maybe not overly boozy, but something a little sharp. It might also have been somewhat under-aerated, as it tastes kinda homebrewy.
ReplyDeleteIn any case it was a good first draft. I'll drink it for sure, and I'll brew it again with some tweaks.
The hops are second-season Brewer's Gold. They've gone nuts. Meanwhile, my second-season Kent Goldings never came back, and my replacement Nuggets are struggling to do much of anything.
I saw you're doing Cascades. That's a better choice, I'd say, than the european stuff I've got going. I don't have the capacity to lager yet, which might be limiting for what I've got growing.
Just guessing, but I'm wondering if the "sharp" characteristic may be from high attenuation, which could give you a thinner bodied, drier beer, likely compounded by using honey as part of your fermentables. Not sure what type of honey you used or when you added it, but it could also have imparted some specific flavors into the beer (especially if added at flameout), maybe that's part of what you're getting. My personal experience - I've found hop-centric beers like IPA's to be some of the hardest ones to "get right". Finding balance with an inherently inbalanced style is tricky, if that makes any sense.
ReplyDeleteWe'll see what I end up yielding from the Cascade, but I'm hoping it's enough to do at least one beer this fall. I'm also planning to do my first lager soon, now that I have proper temp control on my fridge.
Thanks for the insights. Here's my recipe -- if you've got any specific advice for the next time around, I'd definitely appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteSteeping - 25 min at 155^: 3oz Flaked Oats, 4 oz Biscuit Malt
Fermentables -- 6.6 lbs Midwest Gold LME, 2 lbs Munton Light DME, 1 lb MN clover honey (at 3 mins left)
Hops -- 1 oz Centennial (60 min), 3 oz Centennial & Cascade mix (thirds in at 20 min, 10 min, and flameout)
Irish Moss at 15 min.
Yeast: Wyeast 1335 -- British Ale II
Two weeks in primary; two weeks in secondary (with 1oz whole Cascade and 1oz Citra pellets)
OG: 1.034 (here's one of my issues: my OG read was definitely off, either due to poor mix of wort and water and/or the honey not being fully incorporated)
FG: 1.014
Recipe looks tasty. I've had good luck with that yeast strain, too.
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering if the sharp aroma/flavor could be from the dry hopping. Is it more of an astringent characteristic? I've had the best luck keeping the dry hop to no more than a week in secondary, otherwise you can get some of those grassy flavors that can really bitter the beer, but not in a good way, especially using relatively high alpha hops like Citra. Also, I got a great tip from a local brewer to add hops to secondary after they're at room temp (not cold), the oils impart much better for a greater aroma.
Actually, let me amend that...use room temp hops both during the boil and in secondary for better overall results.
ReplyDeleteThat might be it actually. It *is* sort of astringent -- that was the word I was looking for.
ReplyDeleteHmm. I think next time around I may shorten secondary to a week, use slightly more of each steeping grain,and possibly swap the honey out for another pound of light DME.
If the honey isn't necessarily the problem, though, maybe I'll give it another chance next time. I was hoping to get a little (and just a little) of that dry Hopslam smack.
Anyway, thanks again.