Brew Batch #45 REINKE'S REVENGE 2011

Racked over today to a healthy 1.022+ 0.00 @66F. Taste is nice. I had forgotten what a "green" Reinke's tasted like. Another few weeks and I'll be kegging and bottling this one.

Brew Batch #45 REINKE'S REVENGE 2011

Well, the last time I brewed I hadn't in almost 5 months, now as bad as it hurts to type it Reinke's was the last batch I brewed (#44) almost a year ago! So like I said last time if the Mayans had it right there will be 2 batches in 2012 which should conclude the rule of humanity on earth. It's a windy 70F day but as usual beautiful for brewing on the back porch. This marks the 7th time I've done RR and I think it's time to go back to the original recipe. No extra hops, oak chips, fruit blending. Just the original. So for this one, that means only 12lbs of dark malt, the usual blend of roasted barley, black and chocolate malts with additions of Galena, Fuggle and Willamette. That's how I'll brew it and bottle it; however, I do reserve the right to Randal some of the kegged version. But that's an after packaging augmentation, nothing to do with the actual brewing process. Merry is even helping with the stir action! OG 1.080@ 60F. Spot on!

New Year's Mimosa

I'll admit I've never had a mimosa but when my main squeeze suggested having them for breakfast I had to try them. Made traditionally with champagne and orange juice, she put a twist on it. We had orange pineapple banana juice mixed with some sparking wine (champagne) called Poema. Made in the Penedes region of Spain Poema Brut is a great double fermented fruity wine. You'll notice the fermenter and smack pack in the background, news on those to follow.

365.7!

I blog this because beer brewing/drinking and running I feel go hand in hand, since your only limits are yourself. For 5 years I have tried to run 365 miles in one year. Today I ran 3.3 miles to give me total 365.7 miles. It doesn't sound like much, but this is a one mile average for a year! If you miss just a day, you have to run 2 the next, miss a week and your weekend run becomes 7. Trust me it adds up quick especially if you get sick a couple of times and miss 2 weeks worth of training. I started in Maryland and am currently in Kansas, running the virtual TransAmerican trail. All 4,063 miles of it.

1st Beat-12 glassware

Almost available virtually nowhere is this handy tuliped bar pint. Not bad for a 1st run but all of the credit belongs to Merry as she has brought my vision to creation. Now how to get these on cafepress.

Winterized Hops

Covered with a 1/4" of Moo Nure after cutting the crown tendrils down to about a 1/4" and making sure the mound is nice and secure. Then covered with pine straw from the back yard. I have found that covering them with the pine straw not only insulates them a little but also keeps them weed free until they start to emerge in the spring. When it starts warming up and staying that way, the new hop vines will gently break through the moo nure using it as an energy source and appear as small white or off pink nibs. Nugget was transplanted to the trough and Sunbeam got a bigger pot (I'm still coddling that one).

Our Tastes-- Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary

For The Enabler's B'day we are sampling this brew. Proudly made with Fritz Maytag (former owner of Anchor Steam Brewer and at the time of this brewing a guest brewer with Sierra's Ken). The bottle alone is tuliped or fluted at the neck in the 22oz bottle with a bar top neck. It pours a black hole of night pulling in gravity of light black with a light gingerbread man head. Wowee! A raisin nose gives way to an explosion of pure coffee after tastes! To have such a fruity nose and a pure coffee taste is a dichotomy of life. The warm raisin Belgian hits your nose and initial taste only to have ground coffee explode onto your palate. This may be in my top 10 favorite beers due to surprise endings! Like books, cigars, or life situations in general this too flips you out. At 9.2% abv we likes it.