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September is a great time of year.  NFL is starting up, the kids go back to school, the 95 degree days without A/C in your truck and pretty much gone and it is hop harvest season.  Essentially a little green leafy pine-cone type flower, hops are what add the bitterness and sometimes the piney citrusy flavor to beer.  Without them, beer would taste like malty alcoholic kool-aide.

About this time of year, a type of beer shows up in tap-houses and store shelves that is by definition a “seasonal” if any style every was.  The trick is to make a beer, generally a light to medium bodied recipe that you intend to hop up anyway, and pick a truck load of hops and dump them right in to the fermenter that same day..or even within a few hours if you can.  It’s kind of the idea of cooking a trout on a campfire 20 minutes after you caught it with your 2 lb test spinning rod, with a #0 Mepps Black fury.

IPAs and Pale Ales lend themselves best to “Fresh Hopping” simply because they are intended to have a lot of hop flavor anyway, but you could do it to anything I suppose.  There can be some logistical issue to account for however, as hops are generally used in a dried or pulverized and compressed “pellet” form most of the time.   Since freshly picked hops are approximately %80 water..or more and since a typical IPA may have up-to a pound of dried hops per 5-Gallon batch, and a 10 barrel brew system makes over 300 gallons at a time, that’s 60# of hops in dried form or about #300 fresh/wet.

That’s several wheel-barrel loads at least.

I was just at 10Barrel Brewing in Boise the other day and they had 4 separate “fresh hop” ales on tap.  Each likely brewed a week or two before with hops picked probably that day.  All were good, but a couple really stood out.

There are more than a few times during the year that coincide with beer happenings but the end of summer has “Fresh Hop” beers, Octoberfest and…closely following them both…”Pumpkin Beers”.  But that is another post coming soon.

I felt like I fallen behind a bit in keeping up with what was new and on tap in the Boise area.  After work today I started to rectify certain inequities in that area.

I’ve posted before about how Friday afternoons are kind of special at TableRock Brewing and today was no exception.  I arrived a little after 3pm and the “Friday special” was a Belgian Double IPA that was on the “beer engine”   It was listed at 119 IBUs but it sure didn’t taste like it. Big rich malty taste and body, and the Belgian yeast was not very prominent.  The high bitterness of a Double IPA probably over powered that a little, which is fine.  It went together very well.

There was no sense in leaving now as downtown rush hour was just cranking up…so I ordered another.  This time it was their new Imperial Russian Stout.   According to Ratebeer.com it was the only IRS they have made.  It was good, not over-the-top huge but black, a nice dark roasted bitter bite and enough bittering to keep everything in check and balanced.
I chatted with the Brew-Mistress briefly and figured I still had a little catching up to do so I headed to Payette Brewing.

Payette had a couple new ones on and they were both “fresh hop” beers or “Harvest Ales”.  More on that later. “Wet and Wilder” and “So Fresh and So Clean” was what they called them and apparently they were the same recipe but each made with different hops added at the end.  Chinook and Centennial, respectively.

Both were good, and Payette has little 8 oz glasses of their offerings so it is easy to try a few with out getting tanked or running up a big bill at $4 a pint or so.   While I was there I got to watch the first half of the BSU vs Fresno St game.  All I can say about that is I’m kind of glad I left before the heart breaking end.

Crooked Fence Brewing was a little further down the road but I saved them for the next day.

Can’t hit them all at once….people might talk.

A few of us HomeBrew buddies had a great idea a while back:  What if several of us pitched in (no pun intended) and brewed 5-10 gallons each and combined the finished, fermented brews into a single 60 gallon oak barrel that we sourced from a local winery. Then inoculated it with the dregs of a few well known and at least one not so well known commercial sour ales and..well…see what happened.  The theory then, would be that every 6 months or year, we “harvest” 5-10 gallons, bottle it and replace that part with a fresh batch of “new” beer.  Thus continuing the cycle..En Purpetuum..ad infinitum..ad nauseum… etc…

So, in the early Spring of 2011, that’s what we did.  We all agreed to make a similar recipe of a pale Belgian ale, I made a 10G batch as my contribution, and by late February we had the barrel filled.  Several weeks later, a peek in the bung hole confirmed that a pellicle had formed and after a few more months, several gallons were racked off and some of that was separated and fruit was added.  A “fresh” batch of beer was then added to replace the amount that had been removed.

The samples I got as part of my participation were pretty good.  The ones that had the apricot or raspberry were very good, but the plain ones were a little off. I’ve managed to go through the 12-15 12oz bottles that were my share already, making some of them last for over a year and enjoyed all of them, even the so-so ones.

A few of them (the fruited ones) were so highly carbonated that after opening them, the carbonation action would stir up the sediment at the bottom so vigorously that you had to open and pour quickly before the remaining beer in the bottle just turned into a self fueled murky foamy mess.  This got me only 8-9 ounces out of each of those.  They were the tastiest ones though.  I think the sugar in the fruit contributed to some unanticipated additional bottle conditioning.

Documentation of the project went by the wayside a bit,  but it is still going.  The idea is that this is an ongoing project, and every 6 months or year, 5-10 gallons are racked off and bottled, with some of those bottles possibly being saved and aged.  I’ve been thinking of doing one for myself but these barrels are typically 60Gallons or so and I can only make 10G at a time with my current setup.    My basement would be the perfect place to store one of these though.  I can just see it sitting there…souring away when I close my eyes…mmm   sourness…

The Mad Fermentationist documented his Solera project here, it’s an interesting read and he goes into a lot of detail.

As far as I am concerned, there are two major online databases for tracking, tasting, and documenting craft beer.  I use Ratebeer.com.

It has a simple interface, I can make as little or as much tasting notes as I want for everything I try and I can even simply “tick” the beers I sample if I am merely counting or looking only for ones I haven’t had before.  I’m coming up on my 10 year anniversary as a member of Ratebeer and have logged nearly 2,000 different craft beers along the way.  Some, were full pints, some were samplers but each one a little adventure in it’s own right.

Until recently there has not been an official mobile app for Ratebeer.  Although there has been “BeerBuddy” for a while, I don’t think it is an officially sanctioned Ratebeer app.  Though the notes and ratings can sync between the mobile app and the RB site.  There has been a .99$ version of the app for a long time and about a year ago a free version was released, that gave you 3 free bar-code scans. (Ponying up the dollar for the paid version gave you unlimited scans).  A recent Facebook post from Ratebeer’s fearless leader Joe Tucker, suggested that there will be a new Ratebeer app released soon.  I threw my hat in the ring for an early review but haven’t gotten a response yet.  Possibly those privileges are reserved for media outlets that have readers/subscribers that number in the double digits at least.

As an iPhone user I will be watching and hoping for this soon and will post my experiences and observations here when I finally get my hands on it.

The classic old school Johnny Cash tune never fails to stick in my head for a bit when i settle down for a glass of the so named style of beer.   Today’s example is the Bridgeport “Cafe Negro”.  this will be my first time trying this particular Porter.  Coffee is a common added ingredient with Porters as the coffee flavors and aromas seem to me a match made in heaven for the dark roasted slightly bitter style.   Whom ever first thought of the idea is probably rich right now, possibly even reading this blog post, maybe even at this very minute… as it warms the cockles of his heart.   Well…maybe not that last part…

Bridgeport is another Portland, OR brewery that in my opinion is safe in the “Craft Beer” fold.  That is to say, while widely known to be a craft brewer, they are not so known for extreme or risky beers.   Their “Stumptown Tart” series are interesting if unimpressive particularly the dishwatery Framboise variant.   The IPA is solid and is a mainstay in the PNW and a good example of a west coast IPA.  The Blackstrap Stout and the ESB are also good example of their respective styles and are regulars in a lot of refrigerators in the Northwest.   But I digress….

This porter is growing on me.   As it warms a bit, it is getting softer, something that it can barely afford, and the roasted notes are getting sweeter.   Definitely an easy Porter to drink, even if you are not a huge coffee fan.  But it for sure would help if you were.  Bridgeport’s website says that the custom blend of coffee from local Portland area roasting houses is infused after fermentation while the beer is “cold conditioning” or settling in cold storage.   Presumably this helps to maintain a fresh pressed flavor and maintains more of the volatile flavor and aroma notes that they are trying to capture.   Which they do.

Like I mentioned, even though the coffee flavor is very pronounced, showcased even,  it is soft, smooth, not bitter and easy drinking.  At 5.5% it is a middle weight in this area, and downing a couple of them would be no problem.

Because it’s mine…I’ll walk the line.

I don’t often quote Ned Flanders, but I cant help it this time.  Attributed to the nerdy do-gooder neighbor of Homer Simpson is the following:  “If it’s sweet and yella, you’ve got juice there fella’…if it’s tangy and brown, you’re in Cider Town !”  I suppose that is true but this is a beer blog and Homebrewing is the topic today.

At one level, the absurdly simple recipes for making Apple Cider can be very attractive to novice and experienced home-brewers alike.  I mean think about it.  Adding yeast to apple juice that doesn’t have preservatives in it and wait and…  And Nothing  That’s it.

When compared to brewing beer, you’ve got the first several steps already done for you.  you don’t have to grind the apples into grist, you don’t have to soak the apple pulp in 150F water, you don’t have to lauter, sparge, vorlauf  any of that.  You start, with what you work a few hours to get with beer.  Namely a solution of simple sugars at interestingly about the same specific gravity that an Amber, or Hefewizen or pale ale would be.  1.05ish

Now to be fair, saying that making hard cider is a simple as what I laid out in the beginning would be kind of like saying playing the guitar is easy. You just pluck the strings at this end and move your fingers up and down the neck on the other end.   I play a little guitar and I am sure even those who do not, would agree that it is just simply not that easy.  Technically you are playing the guitar..but noone would want to listen to you long, and in the same way, making cider that tastes like something you would want to share or even show off a little, takes a little more work as well.

I made a batch the other day and I complicated matters a bit, trying to get a more easily shared finished product.  I wanted a dry cider, which is not the hard part, as the sugars in Apple juice ferment so completely you can easily end up with a gravity of 1.000 and a very dry tasting beverage indeed.  I also wanted a lot of classic apple flavor.  Almost a sour apple candy flavor like a Jolly Rancher almost.   My first thought was that I would have to have some sugars remaining in the cider for it to taste like this and this would mean somehow stopping the fermentation process early, or by sweetening it after, which also has some complications.

I then stumbles across a thread in one of my favorite HomeBrewing websites where someone had used several different kinds of yeast with an otherwise identical recipe.  His results suggested that this fruity apple candy flavor could e achieved, or nearly so, simply by using the right kind of yeast.  You can read his experimentation parameters in the first post of this thread.

So, encouraged by this, I rounded up the ingredients for my cider.

• 3 Gallons of  “natural” apple juice.  Costco’s Kirkland brand.  No preservatives.  Not from concentrate.
• 1# of raspberry  Honey (I am assuming the name is from the kind of flower, not from adding raspberries to it)
• 2# of Granny Smith apples.  Chopped and blended to a puree

The honey was mainly just for  another source of fermentables, hoping for it to be a little less 1 dimensional, and the Grannys were also just to add a little complexity and tartness.   I split it into two kettles and added the honey in to one and the crushed Grannys into the other and brought both to a low boil for about 10 minutes.  Partly to kill off any bugs I may have introduced with the other two ingredients and also to get this back down to 3 Gal.

I chilled the kettles by immersing into an ice water bath and poured it all into a 3G Glass carboy, Granny sludge and all, and it barely fit.  I poured off a little to taste and take a gravity check.  1.066  A little higher than I had hoped/expected.  I was definitely sweeter than normal Apple Juice and it was apparent that Honey was part of it.

I had activated a Wyeast smack pack a couples hours before of 3068, typically used for Wheat Beers, and it was ready so I poured it right in the fermenter.  No starter.  Zero activity until about 6 hours and then it really took off.  There was not much head room in the fermenter so I am glad I used a blow-off tube. It has been going strong for a couple days now and I can see about 3-4″ of loose apple trub at the bottom.  I am a bit worried that I will loose to much cider in all the muck when I transfer the batch to secondary.  I guess we’ll see.

Again at one of my favorite places doing one of my favorite things.  Brewforia in Meridian, ID trying a couple beers that I have never had before.  It’s the day before Thanksgiving and I got a growler filed with some Scuttlebutt Brewing 10 deg Below Zero porter.  At least I think it’s a porter. I had it 4 years ago at the brewpub and it was not classified there or on Ratebeer.com the beer rating site I hang out at.  I think that its full bodied and roasty flavor will go well with the feast that is online for tomorrow.

On tap here at Brewforia is Brewdog Hardcore IPA.  It is a “double” which basically means it is a ramped up IPA.  Meaning more barley was used as compared to a “regular” IPA/  More barley means more sugars in the wort which means more alcohol in the finished beer. It also usually means a bigger malt body and feel as the finished product usually has more residual sugars after the yeast has consumed as much as it can.  whereas a regular IPA may finish at a final gravity of 1.015 or so, a “double” may finish at 1.020 pr 1.025.  the result is a beer that just feels heavier and a little sweeter and has a “wet” or full mouth feel.

In general brewers aim to have as much of the sugars in a wort ferment out or “attenuate” and this is express as a percentage.  70 or 80 percent attenuation, for example is how this is expressed. It goes without saying (but i will say it now) that if 70% of the sugars are fermented, then a double IPA will have a lot more sugars left over that a regular IPA will.  But since a lot more was in the unfermented beer to begin with, you also get a higher alcohol component as well.   All things being equal.

So this is a double.  The Brewdog “Hardcore” IPA is in fact “HardCore”.  Served in a tulip glass and having a very big up-front hop aroma, it is easily identified as a Double IPA.  Moderate malt flavors and plenty of residual sugars making for a full bodies almost slightly sweet beer.  Big hoppy bitterness that is more grassy and piney than the grapefruit and tangerine that is more prevelent in “smaller” single IPAs sometimes, but big and bold.   Nice.

The second was a Lagunitas “Fusion IV”  Listed as an American Strong Ale it has a definite Belgian character.  The yeasty fruity spiciness betrays this. The “Strong” part, yes!  It is 9% and has a kick.  I am surprised in fact that they served it to me in a pint glass.   Rather pale yellow, and lots of active effervescence with a nice thin but thin off-white head makes for an attractive glass.  The ABV is evident, even if it takes 20 min to feel it…  It is like a fuller bodied Belgian Strong.  I am curious what yest was used to make this and the yest is often the distinguishing characteristic of Belgians.   Stl pretty good even if it is one of the beers that tends to straddle styles.

Time to head home.  Cheers !