Project TGT is a GO. Repeat, TGT is a GO

I normally start these entries off with stating things like, ‘a lot has happened,’ or, ‘I’ve been so busy.’ I figured some things needed to change since I could hear every person that ever educated me on writing screaming criticism at my repetition. This being the case, shit is going to change. It’s about time to mix some things up, and luckily, some events have made it much easier to do so.

Rather than follow chronological order of beers brewed, I’m starting where I want this time. The main reason for this is because I was made aware this past week that people read this. That is pretty fantastic, but I feel like I owe the people that get here at least a little more ease of readability. I will be dropping a bit of the technical-speak, as well as some of the pointless details—again, to avoid being redundant. I might even try to make the brewing process look a bit more accessible to other people. Essentially, I’m going to try to start making this public notation more ‘public friendly.’ We’ll see how it goes.

Moving on, the piece of news that has me more excited than any of my beer ideas is the future of this hobby. I had a brilliant weekend catching up with good friends, both those I see regularly and those I haven’t seen in ages. Amidst good company and good drinks I was hit with the blatent realization that I know a lot of people in very convenient places. To make a long story short, I have commercial openings for serving beer. I’ve just got to flaunt the feathers a bit, and prove that I’ve got the skills to sell something worthwhile.

This is usually the point where I hit a downward slope of a bell-curve. Whenever I’ve taken a hobby to an heavily competitive/intense level, it usually chars the whole experience, and ‘ruins’ it for me. I had always come out feeling like I had ‘lost the enjoyment,’ or that I just took it too seriously now. All of the reasons I had originally embarked upon within the hobby were no longer ‘pure’, but competitively or adversely motivated. Eventually, I would just fizzle out, and slowly give less and less attention to the practice.

 In some respects, I feel that could happen again with brewing. In others, however, I feel it is much different. While I could go on and schpiel about how I’ve grown over the years, and blah blah blah—that’s not what this is about.  This is about beer, my experiments with the stuff, and the potential for what my projects may become. In short, there is no need to worry about my fizzling.

What matters from all this is that ‘the shapes of beer to come’ could be seen on the horizon. I now had venues to actually get in on the market, and now it was a matter of deciding what I should nail down to be the first impression. First impressions say a lot, and to jump in on an already unique and diverse market is a bit intimidating. I felt an initial beer should be something that displays brewing competency yet also has a distinctly unique signature. Something classic, but with a slightly new take—something with a personal touch.

The first thing that jumped out at me was the German Alt (or Alt[earoa]). At first I was hesitant since a brewery in Baltimore already opened its doors with an Alt beer (a damn good one too), but those wary feelings passed. My recipe was different from that, and it was good. Not only was it a solid, sessionable beer, but it had my personal, unique experience within it. I used only New Zealand hops—To make this the first beer that goes commercial would be an incredible honor for me. It would be my own personal thank you, and shout out to my favorite country in the world— the place where the whole love for, and idea of brewing for a career first entered my brain. There is no competition. This recipe had to be done.

Look at that clarity!

Tasting the Alt recipe right now, it is solid. Nothing wild, nothing adventurous, just a solid, toasty malt-driven, easy drinking beer with a hint of fruit from hops. A tiny adjustment to bring the ABV from 7% to the 5-6% range is the only fix I’m going to need. That will be easy enough.

As for the second (why two beers? You’ll see why…), inspiration hit me while visiting the Willow bar in Fells Point. We decided to hit up the venue after some coaxing from a friend who worked there (not really, though. She said good cocktails, and we said why the fuck not). Our friend began bragging about a cocktail she had invented, and after a few featured ingredients, I took a strong interest. When I pulled out my phone to record the list, I was quickly accused of potential plagerism. Understandable, but I quickly waved it off, simply stating, ‘I’m not gonna steal it, I’m gonna make it a beer.’

This garnered some serious enthusiasm, eventually materializing into another potential spot to host my product. Though it wasn’t verbally stated, I saw this opportunity as a challenge. I needed to make this cocktail successfully into a beer. What would be better than to have the first beer served at the joint to be a reflection of a cocktail invented by a staff member?

Plus, this shit would be FUN

It was either this or the jalapeno wonder that I fell in love with. Believe me the decision was VERY hard

The cocktail has no name—as far as I’m aware. There was talk of something Simon and Garfunkel related, mainly because of the rosemary involved (e.g. ‘Scarborough Fair’). Regardless, it is gin-based, with a balancing dose of grapefruit, garnished with a spring of rosemary, which was briefly lit on fire.  What came out the other end was a pleasantly fruity drink with a nice bouquet of rosemary and fruit, with a touch of smoke.

It took me very little time to figure out how to approach it. There was no other style I could think of that could deliver that variety of flavors other than a Saison. This would be a very different one however, and so I had to go a little outside of what I knew of the style. To get the gin flavor, I used the Gotlandsdricka technique of juniper-infused sparge water. For the grapefruit, I used the zest of a grapefruit as well as the juice near the end of the boil. I also used Simcoe hops to bring out a bit more of the fruit characteristic. Rosemary was added during the boil for aroma and a hint of flavor, and I added a very small, very conservative quantity of smoked malt to the profile.

In terms of yeast it was a toss up between two different ones. I eventually settled on making a 30L batch and splitting it into two 15L fermenters. One had a Belgian Saison blend yeast—my experience’s suggestion—and the other has an American Farmhouse blend—my adventurer’s suggestion. I’m actually hoping the Farmhouse blend wins out. It contains a bit of brettanomyces, which I think will help lend to the cocktail-nature of the recipe with a tinge of sour.

Guess which one is 'infected' with Brett....

Both are fermenting well, but since both have Saison strains, they will be fermenting for a long-ass time. For some downsides, however, there is sometimes and upside. I have also found—quite recently—that Belgian yeast strains benefit heavily from a little extra aging.

The discovery was made while raiding my beer fridge. I came across a few bottles of the ol’ Tarakena Summer Ale I did back in August. I thought I’d give it another go, and poured one from a bottle. My mind was blown in an instant. The Belgian character that had previously overpowered all the other flavors had subsided, and became a background characteristic. Everything else I put into the beer was on prominent display: the mint, chamomile, and ginger were in perfect balance, adding, a nice complexity to the beer, but not overpowering it in any way. I actually found it hard to believe I made the damn thing. I have two 335ml bottles left in the fridge, and I’m afraid to touch them. They will definitely be opened for the New Years dealie, and I will definitely be brewing that recipe again. Patience pays off.

Sexy, sexy, patience

And nothing has tested my patience more than the #3 Wheat wine. I’ve decided to give this one the benefit of the doubt—in terms of aging—and just try not to pay any attention to how badly I want to taste the finished product. It fermented damn well, finishing around 10.6%. It still is not as high as I wanted it, but now that I’ve found the secret to mash efficiency, I’ll definitely be doing this recipe again. After about 12 days in a secondary fermenter I emptied out the Sauvignon Blanc barrel, and transferred the juicy, beer-y deliciousness into the Tough Guy cask. I took little sips of it every day, and actually needed to transfer it out after only 3 days.

I knew that the barrel would infuse the beer with more than enough flavor in a very short amount of time—freshly made oak barrels do that. But I was expecting the Sauvignon Blanc seasoning to suck out at least a bit more of that raw oakiness. After all, the Sauv was undrinkable by the time I put the Wheat Wine in its place. All in all, though, the length of time doesn’t matter. I wanted the flavor, and its there. The Wheat Wine is now sitting in a purged keg for aging. I’ll probably tap it in another week or so.

That is one happy Tomcat

As for the other wheat wine (#2), I unfortunately encountered a noticeable diacetyl presence during a recent glass. I’m a little disappointed, but to be completely honest not too surprised. I rushed the hell out of that beer, partially because in my mind, I had already failed to get what I wanted. It is still a solid Wheat-IPA, but it is also out of style, not what I intended, too hoppy, and now has diacetyl. End result: enjoyable, but still disappointing.

At least it looks pretty

It was, however, a learning experience that I took advantage of very quickly. I wanted to prevent the Russian Imperial Stout (RIS) from obtaining the same buttery diacetyl taste, so I tossed in some champagne yeast to clean up any remnants the other yeast left behind. It also wouldn’t hurt to get a little boost in the ABV area, since the RIS is currently sitting around 9.6% (out of a potential 11%).  I could have been a bit more generous with the grains to ge the ABV, but that is an easy fix for the next batch.

With a little extra booze, this will be a proper RIS.  На здоровье!

This ‘easy fix’ is of course due to the new mash technique. I gambled a bit with the cocktail-style-saison, essentially betting the entire recipe on the idea that I would hit around the same efficiency as the RIS (e.g. 80%). I repeated the process in the exact same manner, near identical temperatures and—wouldn’t you know it—it came out at 81%. For the second time in a row, the mash worked out in an amazingly brilliant manner.

To put this as easily as I can, rather than get grains and aim(/hope) for a general area of ABV, I can now get EXACTLY what I want based EXACTLY on how much grain I use. The only factor that I need to have a better control over is getting a more thorough control over the yeast performance. Once that is handled, the only limitation to me making something precisely as I imagine it is to know my ingredients better.

This. Is. So. Awesome.

To top off this child-like excitement, I tapped the Coffee Vanilla Brown ale a few days ago. It is a dessert beer and a half. The malt profile already gave it great toffee, caramel, and hints of chocolate. That combined with the addition of the vanilla and the Jamaican coffee was just too much—too much in a really REALLY great way. The coffee also had some caramel notes, and gave a nice roasty touch to the beer, and the vanilla smoothes out all the ‘harsher’ flavors. The damn thing tastes like a cake. A delicious, boozy (8%), cake. If I ever make a brown ale commercially, I will definitely be choosing this variation. It may be worthy of being called a ‘holiday beer’. 

Got that glass on New Years a few years back. My coat had large pockets

In the end, the brewing lately has been a hell of a great time. I'm currently in light talk for a '5 Year Plan' for what will be referred to as Project TGT. I'm in the research phase at the moment, but as of now it is looking very feasible to start contract brewing, and soon turn the 'project' into something more. This is truly exciting stuff. But for all the excitement, I have to remind myself the lesson that I learned from brewing this week. I believed myself patient before, but I still need to increase my discipline. With sparging, fermentation, aging, and now with contracting, patience is is key. 

I'm still young. And I need to remind myself of this on a daily basis. I tend to rush things if I dont.

Wingfield's 'Willow'

Belgian Pilsner, White Wheat, Vienna, German Rauchmalt

Simcoe
American Farmhouse (WLP670), Belgian Saison Ale Yeast (WLP568)

Juniper Berries, Rosemary, Grapefruit (Zest/juice), 

A Taste of Royalty: Reviewing the fermented, and a Drop Worthy of the Court

We don't say hello. We say HAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYY

This was the week of enormous amounts of shit to do. My job has been stealing away the hours of my life lately, which isn’t a wholly terrible thing. The money is good, and I still am involved with brewing, even there. Plus I’m almost finished the entire Hitchhikers Guide series. Its pretty brilliant.

The gist of all that, however, is that the cellar was a bit disregarded. Fortunately, yeast enjoys a bit of alone time, and nothing bad happens if you give it a little extra time to do its thing. The only negative side was that on this particular day off, it all stacked up, and all had to be attended. One beer, needed to be prepped for aging, another needed bottling, three others had to be transferred to secondary fermenters, and—of course—one needed to be brewed! As I sat at work realizing all of this, all I could think was four words.

Son of a bitch

There goes my ‘day off’! Though when it comes to brewing beer, its always a day off. 

I did decide to make the next day a bit easier, and handle the bottling session after I finished my shift, the night before my day off. I almost forgot how much bottling the old fashioned way blows. After I pay the next bill on my car, I’m getting my own Blichmann bottle filler. I never want to do that again. I was itching in my skin thinking of all the ways I could have infected the beer on the way into the bottle, and how it could be infecting at that particular moment. All of that added to the fact that bottle caps, fillers, and dextrose cost more than keg cleaner, I was pretty unhappy.

But shit had to be done!

So, I suffered through it. The Gotlandsdricka was the one I felt should be bottled. When I transferred it to a secondary I snuck a taste and was….concerned. Yes, this beer was meant to be smoky, but damn…its really REALLY smoky. I was pretty unsure about it, seriously thinking whether or not it was worth keeping. I eventually settled on the idea that I should just wait it out until the finished stage to make that call. I’ve had a beer consisting of 100% peat-smoked malt, and that was pretty drinkable (all things considered).

It was a good thing I waited. When I tasted the sample after the FG reading, it was still smoky as hell, but significantly more drinkable than it had been. The sweetness from the juniper and honey began to actually shine through a bit more, and covered the harsh smoke-bite a lot better than before. I’m happy with my decision, and am pretty stoked to taste one next weekend. The two cases of bottles are conditioning in the cellar.

And now, some Russkie inspiration for all you big n' rich lovers out there

The next day I started by heating up the mash water for the Russian Imperial Stout. I was going to make the recipe Shiggy and I did in New Zealand, but couldn’t pass up a challenge from a co-worker. Basically it was to make a dark beer, and use more black barley than he used. In retrospect I cant remember how much it was in English units, but my recipe says 0.65Kg of Black Barley, so the challenge was less than that. I met his challenge, and decided I was going to go for the full monty on making it a Russian Imperial. English wheat malt, Maris otter, English ale yeast.

While the mash water was heating up, I transferred Wheat Wine #2 to a keg and purged it with CO2. I’m not putting it on cabonation yet, but just using the keg as storage for aging. The gravity finished at a predictable 1.012. Upon tasting it, it was floral in a major way—absolutely gorgeous to smell. It was also crystal clear, which is just what I wanted. Tasting it was a different experience, being super bitter hop-wise. It was a good balanced bitterness, but far beyond what I wanted. There was also a hint of diacetyl, which I didn’t get at first, but after a few sips it seemed to be lurking. Overall, its good—for a hoppy imperial wheat ale at 8.6%…

After I set the mash up—and tucked the mash tun in with its sleeping bag—I transferred Wheat wine #3 to a secondary. The gravity was brilliant: also landing at 1.012—roughly 10.6%. The sample I tasted was hazy, but since it was still fermenting a bit in the secondary fermenter, that made sense. The smell on #3 was just as amazing as #2, but was hinting at it being a bit sweeter. Upon tasting, the gravity difference between the two attempts was remarkable. #3 has a great balance compared to #2, and tasting them side by side, #2 definitely has some diacetyl, but the aging should help that a bit. #3 was also bitter from the hops, but less so, and the barrel aging should help subdue that harshness.

Oh, that’s right. I got the barrel in a few days ago. It is swelled, and currently being seasoned with New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. The barrel aging of the Wheat Wine wont be too long; the oak is still pretty fresh, and imparts a lot of flavor. I’ll be taking tastes every day or so, and when its at its prime I’ll put it in a purged keg to finish the aging.

No angels will be taking their share; not when a TOUGH GUY guards the barrel

I also transferred a brown ale to secondary. This was the Nogne O recipe that I did before, but this time—under the influence of my friends in Baltimore—decided it would be awesome to add coffee and vanilla to the recipe. Grant was around for brew day again, and the recipe went off without a single issue. Having someone to help lug stuff around, and clean is amazing (It's also nice to bounce ideas around with good friends!) The original gravity was 1.080, and the gravity going into the secondary fermenter was at 1.020, which I thought was high, but the other attempt I used this recipe for did the same after the primary. I’m just going to give it a long secondary fermentation and hope for the same result as the original. After a week in secondary, I’ll call it time to add the vanilla bean, and then with four days left add the coffee. It should be here by then….damn shipping.

At this point, I was sparging the Russian Imperial Stout. I was pretty nonchalant about checking the gravity, but thought I may as well stay consistent and check what I was getting straight from the mash. The gravity clocked in at 1.099, which gave me a start. Checking it progressively as I went on, even the sparge water was raking in massive gravity, the lowest, being 1.077! I had reached 22L of wort, and the preboil gravity was 1.085. After triple-checking that I recorded every single tiny detail of what I did, I may have enjoyed a bit of self-indulgent, mildly arrogant, prideful praise of my skills.

I’m only human.

While bringing the wort up to a boil, I transferred a German Alt recipe I did at work a day or so after the brown ale. Again, after being influenced by my Baltimore friends, I felt necessary to try and make a sessionable, malty, beer of which one could feel fine drinking gallons. I did some research on Alt biers because of one I had at a Baltimore local pub that left a lasting impression on me. My recipe found, I used small quantities of NZ hops, but let the malt shine through. I felt very successful after I tasted it going into the secondary. It was totally malt driven, with just the tiniest hint of full-bodied fruit—something like rich papaya, or mango, but more citrus characters. The only issue was that the gravity was too high. It’s going to be around 7%, and it should be in the 5% area. Luckily, that’s an easy fix, and I can knock the gravity down well enough. If it tastes good after being carbonated, I might have to do a 10 gallon batch…

To finish this entry off, 19.5L of Russian Imperal cooled down at about 1.095. I had to double pitch the yeast--since I completely blanked on making a yeast starter--so it should still ferment efficiently. I also made sure to toss some yeast nutrient in for good measure. It should turn out to be a mighty little beer, for sure, and in the future, I’m looking to tweak it a bit. Maybe add some smoke malt….peat smoke. I’ve always wanted that….

I also plan on aging the Russian Imperial Stout in the traditional manner. I will put it in a purged keg, and leave it outdoors. In the raw cold. It's not wildly cold yet, but it's the best I can do to replicate the long voyage from England to the Winter Palace. Historical accuracy, HO!

And finally, the lesson this week was that I may have finally found the mash practice to end all mash practices. The Russian Imperial stout came out with 80% brewhouse efficiency. For those not beer brewing nerds, thats basically the measure of how much sugar was extracted per pound of grain based on what the optimal rate would be. The short of it: I nailed it.

I hate to say it, but I may have to brew another wheat wine with the double mashing, and these new modifications. God help me, I will perfect one of these bastards…

German Alt, Wheat wine #2, #3, and the brown ale. Gorgeous! 

Coffee Vanilla Imperial Brown Ale

Maris Otter, UK pale, Eng Wheat, Munich, Crystal 20L, Amber, Brown, Chocolate Wheat

East Kent Golding, Columbus

Dry English Ale (WLP 007)

Vanilla, Twin Valley ‘Jamaican Me Crazy’ Coffee

German Alt(earoa)
American 2-row, Vienna, Munich, Crystal 60L

Nelson Sauvin, New Zealand Hallertau

Dusseldorf Alt (WLP 036)

Russian Imperial Stout
Maris Otter, Black  Barley, Crystal 80L, Eng Wheat, Munich, Cara-pils, Roasted Barley

Columbus, Willamette, Tettnang

English ale (WLP 002)