Brew Batch #68 Jake's Juice

Ah yes, the final JJ's for the year (told him to make this one stretch!) I'm always amazed at the change in color and how this recipe has evolved. The swill taste has a definite "American" slight tart to it; whereas, the German kolsh 2565 reigned in the subtle sweetness of the same malt backbone. I changed nothing but the yeast and both times the same results. For me the jury has spoken and 2565 will be the stable horse for this one from now on, of course if Jake prefers 1010 he'll get exactly what he wants, just may have a separate fermenter going for me next summer. FG 1.006+0.001 @68F to give a consistent 5.91%

Making My Own Bourbon

I let the "first fill" drop down until this month and rotated to the garage instead of the house this month. The level was so low after the summer aging that I went ahead and added the other 750ml of single malt and 32oz of cold spring water to top it off! I'm hoping a lot of the first 32oz of spring water become the seepage and Angel's share in the attic. Next month I'll leave it up in the attic until January 1.

Our Tastes-- Third Eye Pale Ale

Last of some Collbran, CO bootleg, I'm finishing up some Third Eye Pale Ale, by SteamWorks Brewing Co. Now I'll admit I was a little curious about a brewpub that recently won silver and bronze at GABF 2015. The silver was for their kolsch, a style of which I've made more this year than in the last 3 combined! I used to tell people when they wanted to "experiment" from BMC (Bud Miller Coors) that a true pale ale was represented by Sierra Nevada. That still holds true but if you want to push the envelope a little beyond what's mainstream and readily available, this is my new rarity "class" suggestion. A wonderful medium bodied dark copper with thick white head. Nose holds a good balance of malt and hop with that hop lingering ever so gently on each sip. There seems to be a bit more malt sweetness on this one rather than on SN's offering where the malt is more subtle and the hops more forward. Heck if you can find them both on the shelf, dual them up.

Brew Batch #69 The G-Man

So after sipping on Muffin Man for 2 years and reading arduously on this beer style and taking the time to convert it to all grain for footnotes. I'm laying into gingerbread beer. In theory this should be nice and cold and ready to pass the gullet around late November. It was this or I bang my head against the gourd again this fall. Partially inspired by past spiced winter brews, I traverse into unknown territory with this one. OG 1.046 +0.002 @75F. Yeast harvested from this brew and either repitched or doubly pitched will ferment a milestone for Beat-12 Brewing I have approached with great trepidation. It smelled like Christmas in the last five minutes of the brew and I'm exited. I'm trying to decide if a well made base beer with extracts/spices is better and more easily/consistently made than a "from scratch" beer with fresh ingredients like pumpkin and ginger. We'll see how it sips soon enough.