Brew Batch #139 Kemosabe

Had to have something hoppy on tap with all these lagers and stouts so I tried my hand at a hoppy pale wheat. I think it could have come in a little lighter but this is just a "tip of the hat" to our masked friend which is why I used Cascade to bitter then Amarillo and El Dorado in the boil. A little Columbus to dry hop and I'll have worked up a brew around a great concept of a light colored hop juice that hopefully has a citrus feel with a bold musk follow through. Like you've been riding the range all day with your Injun by your side. OG 1.060+0.000@73F

Brew Batch #138 Ikigai (again)

Only need about 8 or so more gallons to refill Le' ARTHUR, so this can be chewing while I'm finishing up wrapping and building toys and the other half of FBC is at Disney. Then he'll knock out 4 or so gallons. Needless to say we're overshooting cause having a nice English Barleywine to sip on in February sure does warm the cockles. OG 1.110+0.001 @72F, just a pinch off from last batch but sitting on some healthy Safale 04 repitch.

2019 Happy Holidays

Trying my hand at Happy Holidays once again, I brought out the big guns. KeeWePee b3 and what was deemed Le' Arthur at the time of entry (the Rum Barrel Project batch #115 unaltered). KWP garnered a paltry 32, good but you're not going to place in this competition of 561 with anything less than high 30s I would think. Then the literal 9 month birthchild of myself and RP@OTB (which =FBC) bangs a 43, a 🥇 at it's table of 26 Smoke and Wood aged beers then my first ever solo or otherwise a 🥈 BOS out of the 32 tables! A great way to end the year, it's been a long one of trial and error but this makes it supremely worth it. Hell, I may stop doing comps now...…..nah. Thanks to St Louis Brews for putting on the, "final qualifying event for the Annual Masters Championship of Amateur Brewing (MCAB), and the final stop on the Midwest Homebrewer of the Year circuit".

Brew Batch #137 Reinke's Revenge 2019

Once more into the fray, a month later than last year's newly proposed Stout Day brew day, but nonetheless still in 19'. Same recipe as last year and hard to believe, but I overshot BE by 2 points. OG 1.106+0.000@69F sitting on top of some fresh Safale 05 from MCB v1.1. Now I've just gotta figure out if this will be straight Reinke's or will I meddle with it?

Brew Batch #136 Squeeze (beta)

All ten gallons kegged today, half lemongrass whirlpool half regular base. Come Monday, we'll do some sampling and blending with some Amoretti lemon and Soda Stream lemon essence to see if we can bring out just a pinch of that citrus profile. American hefe with a lemondrop kiss. FG 1.012+0.00@55F gave a 5.5% bevvy that's easily dialed back to the intended 4.5%. May need a beta batch #2 but we'll see what the consensus is before ramping up to 15 gallons. 

Brew Batch #135 Melted Chocolate Bars v.1.1

So no nibs in the secondary due to my impatience to see how the overall recipe itself improved. But 4 gallons of very "clear" sweet stout of some kind was kegged today (clarity thanks to "weather", a couple of nights near freezing works great, really just one). I plan on using that same Safale 05 cake that's still in the fermenter to work on something else come Monday. FG 1.014+0.000@55F gives us 5.25%. That yeast really chewed it down. A full 1.25 points further than expected, but in reality we're just getting some good sweet stout batches rolling for the ultimate goal of Postman's Route Peppermint Stout.

Brew Batch #134 KeeWeePee

Batch #3 is where I basically wanted to give some of the judges shut up juice and took the whirlpool additions and simply made them dry-hopping additions. Now I must say on the initial whiff it's a totally different beer to me but the base pils lager profile is still spot on. FG 1.000-0.001 @50F to give us a nice 5.2% crusher.

Brew Batch #136 Squeeze (beta)

Hoping to dial in a beta-beta batch for an undisclosed Sabco system at a local brewery, RP@OTB and I embarked on an American Wheat with "lemon notes". So 10 gallons, half base beer and the other half whirl-pooled on 2 ounces of freshly ground lemongrass currently sits on some good Safale 05. The base beer will also later be blended with some Amoretti lemon flavoring OR some Soda Stream lemon essence to see which of the 3 lemon-esque beers is both the best and easiest to brew on let's say a 15 or 30 barrel system. OG 1.054+0.001 @80F, which way over shot the 1.045 expected in part due to the overnight mashing.

Brew Batch #135 Melted Chocolate Bars v1.1

So the first batch was sooooo roasty astringent that I actually just poured it out after handing off a few growlers to Gold Truck and sampling a few pints. Out with the black patent and in with the oats for a softer mouthfeel. Nibs in the mash and 2 ounces of grated high percentage cocoa in the boil gets this revamped version. Had to really do a lot of reading to make this one doable again for me. Thanks to Chris Maybe at Northshire Brewery for sharing some tips. OG 1.054+0.000 @62F

2019 Blue Ox Brew Off

In a field of 52, KeeWeePee took gold for "lights" with a 42 (even beat out another PRX5) and Taking a Dunkels struggled with 28 in it's final comp. However, in L'Étoile du Nord where the days are rarely getting above freezing, I feel thankful to have marked MN off the list and snagged a sweet ass medal. I would've pegged that group more along the lines of stout only this time of year. Thanks to Patrick Sundberg at Jack Pine Brewery for hosting!

Turkeyshoot 2019

153 entries from the MD/VA area and with KeeWeePee and Jake's Juice v2.2 in the pack, I wound up with nothing to show for it. As of yet both scored a 26 with no sheets posted, so I'm not really sure where these recipes went wrong. And KWP was on a 2 for 3 gold streak? Alas, the Maryland medal didn't come in but it took three attempts in Pennsylvania too. I will say this, the communication by the comp coordinator was great and the scores were posted as the tastings took place so well before the expected 7pm CST. 

Brew Batch #115 Rum Barrel Project

Yep, roughly 9&1/2 months and 100 gallons of beer ago RP@OTB and I embarked on this journey that culminated this evening, like giving birth! Let's relive this tale in more detail, shall we? A whiskey barrel from Corsair, made it's way to MTG Country Club at which point John Emerald Distillery filled it with rum for 2 years for them. Having fantastic connections at the #1 bottle shoppe in AL afforded us the opportunity to do something special and outside my comfort zone. A kindred beer to Reinke's without the lactose made to roughly 18 or so gallons (that's where 3 gallons of Saban Spit was born) overfilled this wooden beauty (named Le' Arthur after Pat's gay barber) on 3/15/19, got "beaned" on 8/5/19 and ended up at FG 1.032 to yield 10.24 but closer to 11% I bet with "spirit" character. Now the fun part, being an FBC venture, all variants will be listed on Untappd as such but unfortunately taproom only (well, more of a beer trail since it's splitting to 3 different houses). Corey (barrel backer) has gone the route of all 5 gallons on a blend of toasted/untoasted coconut, Ceylon cinnamon and an added tincture of Tahitian vanilla beans made with the aforementioned rum. RP@OTB went with a cinnamon stick tincture made with John Emerald rum. And myself being in part a naturalist went for the split, original untouched from the barrel (2.5 gallons) and a toasted mallow and chocolate rendition. All names are pending, but I'll post them once they're on Untappd. Now to hot water treat it and refill it? 

Brew Batch #134 KeeWeePee

As batch 2 begins to lighten too much for my liking, and I have come accustomed to having lagers around now. I embark on b3. (Or v1.2, I can't decide). So on numero 2 the only thing I did was bump up the pils and subtract some 2 row. For this one I kept the grain bill the same but instead of whirlpooling the last additions, I'm simply going to use the same charges to dry-hop. Hopefully those looking for more "hop bite" will find it and I don't seem to have any complaints on the malt backbone so here's to hoping. Then again I need to remember this is a relatively unknown style for the judges and truly an unknown for me as I have never actually had one and just read about them. My only complaint is that I get folks writing about green apple and with a 2 quart pitch on this thing it's not from the yeast. Are they sensing the Nelson Sauvin and not identifying it as such? OG 1.040+0.000@69F should be just about perfect if it drops the way the last batch did.

2019 SCH ABC 12

A well run and efficiently posted comp put on by the SCH with 240 entries. Within that field were 2 of my own, End Chapter (11A) and KeeWeePee b2 (PRX5). All I can say is PA medal complete! EC wasn't bitter enough scoring 27 and KWP needs more bitter and malt backbone but was good enough for a 38 and gold. I've got to go back and check but KeeWeePee may be my workhorse on medals now. 3 golds if memory serves. Which is funny because b3 will take a tweak and hopefully begin to simply crush the judges minds.

2019 Badger Brewoff

Believing my talent had become substantially better, I revisited this one in WI to get that cheese medal. Looks like it'll be another year. Hadn't entered since 2017 but even KeeWeePee (33) and Taking a Dunkels (22) didn't fare well. Which oddly got great scores at a comp 2.5 times bigger. Maybe it was packaging but at this point when I look at the winner's list, the term "homered" comes to mind. But I will say scores were up quickly, just waiting for sheets for better understanding.

Brew Batch #133 Ikigai

As the window begins to close on Batch #115 (RBP), what better way to put that lovely wooden body to use than rebrew the one that started the medal craze to begin with 2 years ago. It's first all grain attempt with my BE set at a whopping 55%, I hit my numbers spot on. (with an overnight mash) OG 1.122 +0.000@69F. Just need to brew about 15 gallons more to fill Le' ARTHUR and the rest can be winter sippage. RP@OTB will be helping there then I may hit a buddy that owns a brewery for his Sabco system to brew the other 10.

2019 Grim Reaper Challenge

Tried my hand at my first ID medal and couldn't make it work. Nonetheless, it was a well run competition with great communication from the organizer Bill Baer. I was one of 17 brewers from Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Oregon and of course Alabama with 34 entries. Haven't gotten scoresheets yet but my long distance effort did yield a sweet Salmonid logo'd hat that I will gladly sport like I'm on the spawn. I'll give this one a "go" again next year especially if they drop entry requirements to only 2 bottles. (update: KeeWeePee 31, Octohop 35, not bad all in all)

2019 Hoppy Halloween Challenge XXII

A monster of a competition held in Fargo, ND put on by the Prairie Homebrewing Companions. This well oiled machine had 521 entries with KeeWeePee and Taking a Dunkels as two of them from Beat-12 Brewing Co, Saban Spit from Formation Brewing Co (of which I am half) and Come Sail Away from One True Bine. My first time entering this comp was 2017 with Ikigai (32.5) which oddly enough is on my short brewing horizon right now (spolier). RP@OTB snagged 36 on his mojito blonde while Saban Spit chewed up a 37.5 bronze! I guess that heat was just right as compared to his NSBO beer. Then in a mind awing shocker as I happened to stir in bed this morning at 12:30 and realize scores may actually be posted when a competition said they would be, there it was Taking a Dunkels 30! and KeeWeePee 40 min-BOS and gold. Again, this was one of the most well-run comps from communication about deadlines, to changes in delivery locations and receipt of OK entries. Win or lose, I couldn't ask for a more well-run event. Even though I can mark ND off the map, I may take a swing at a silver next year. 

2019 Old Forge Big Beer and Odd Ale

The adage, "You get what you pay for" fits this comp like a round peg. A BJCP 2015 guidelines comp that needed only delivery to certain addresses per the AHA website to be considered for qualified judging. Email the competition director and let them know if there is anything BIG or ODD about your ale to be put in those categories. I entered Sgt Poo (aka War Dank Eagle's Daddy) and Elvis Snacks. The "awards" were to be up sometime on 10/6 at least ($50, $25 +/- some plaques), but I had to email the comp director to yield a non-public Facebook page. Keep in mind this comp was limited to 50 entries only; however, there were only 20 participants, judges(4) and stewards. Score sheets finally arrived ten days later and had been filled out by drunken first graders with pencils who's stewards (if there were any) inverted my labels upon presenting them to the judges so that they were looking for dank in Elvis and banana, PB and cacao in my NEIPA? John, my national judge, even noted the chocolate in my porter and Ken took the time to write, "Is there actually peanut butter and cocoa in this" at the top of my NEIPA score sheet. So ultimately you spend money to send beer to Ken and Millie Carman for them to sit around like Good'ens and drink/score your beer "with Trolls" as the note said inside the received packet. What a monstrous waste of time and why would the AHA allow comp like this to be posted on their website? I should have known when I was told one of the shipping addresses sometimes didn't know what was going on with regards to receiving of the entries that I should have bailed. Should have sent them to Hans or 32nd So Cal competition where they can actually sort and manage a 6 pack of entries. And hell no, nothing's been posted yet!

Brew Batch #132 Jake's Juice v2.2

I had to go back and figure out why this was my version 2.2. So the 2.0 started with my AG conversion (McNally years), 2.1 was AG with water chemistry changes to match Köln then finally 2.2 I took the honey out and subbed more honey malt. This batch is also on Wyeast 2565 because this yeast seems to be more powdery and gives a more kölsch feel to the beer (though Jake preferred 1010 due to it's crisper finish and attenuation). I guess in essence this is more of a true kölsch because there's no honey and I had to sub Mt Hood on the fly. Maybe I should rename this batch Frank's Juice at this point, yeesh! FG 1.006-0.001@55F for a smooth sippin' 4.8% Even put it on some gelatin. 

2019 Delafield Brewhaus Schnapp Hans Cup

In an odd twist of comps, this one was not going to be able to have their awards ceremony on 10/26 at the Brewhaus so when judging concluded the comp director posted the scores and literally 24 hours later emailed the score sheets. Talk about efficient. So with 161 entries, I waded in with Sergeant Poo (aka War Dank Eagle's Daddy), End Chapter and Octohop. I mainly entered this comp because I have yet to get a darn thing in the state of WI and the medals are sweet ass! Plus there was of course the pull of the nice silver brew cup and ramp up at a pro brewery. But alas, WI is just as aloof as MN. Poo (21B7)  grabbed 37, End Chapter (11A) 36 and Octohop did much better in 22A with 35 than it's last attempt in the hazy category. Even with good feedback and decent scores, no Schnapp Hans bling. But I do plan on entering this one again next year fo sho'! Pics of medals and winners here. 

Brew Batch #132 Jake's Juice v2.2

The only batch brewed almost as much as Reinke's returns as I attempt to perfect it. But to my surprise I had no Vanguard hops, so Mt Hood was subbed on the fly. I also used Wyeast 2565 for as much kolsch character as I could get. Jake enjoys the American 1010 strain but I had to go for the authentic version of this recipe. OG 1.042+0.00@71F. 

Brew Batch #131 KeeWeePee

In an attempt to quash the under pitch quandary, I revisited this mid to upper 30s 1st place winner and attempted to decrease the abv a touch. BUT with an over night mash and a little bump in BE I still ended up with 6.2%. FG 1.002-0.001@55F

2019 New South Brew Off

I entered this year in support of my brew buddy over at One True Bine because he wasn't able to do so last year. After finding out he would actually be staying here and not moving, he didn't have anything brewed to send. So I reluctantly sent Octohop as 21B (that is now more 22A) and Taking a Dunkels (10B). Well, Octohop scored poorly with 29.5 but out of 150 entries TaD raked in a gold medal with a 37! So I now have gold, silver and bronze from the same comp in TN from TaD, WBI and Corporal Catbox v1.0. My comp entry days are more than complete in The Volunteer State. Wish I could just get any of that bling in Pennsylvania! Thanks to The Clarksville Carboys for a well-run and timely comp, I'm looking forward to the score sheets. And congrats to Andy Howell. I stopped counting his medals at 4, but then again, he did win gold nationally with his Pale Ale with the AHA. 

2019 Hot Balls 10K (in the Fall?)

Turn out was meek this year but at 97F with heat index that's what I would expect. 1:10:48 for a total of 6.6mi on the Pike Road Nature Trail that parallels Meriwether Road all whilst pre-hydrating with Edmund's Something Cold (so much better than the Coors from years past). I realize that technically it's fall but with a streak of 90s on the forecast, it's definitely still hot. This year's sponsors are Junk's Honkytonk Leg Service and a brewery I've visited twice this summer. See ya next year, I hope.

2019 AU Oktoberfest

Came and went with 5 new offerings from Formation Brewing Co., Granny Whitlow's Blackberry Cobbler, War Dank Eagle's Daddy, Elvis Snacks, Come Sail Away and Saban Spit. The most disheartening thing about this year is that the app that was used again was used less than last year and apparently didn't yield accurate counts? All I can tell you is that FBC had 3 beers in the top ten of Homebrewer's Alley. Not sure which ones and even after emailing the coordinators a week ago they can't seem to provide anything. Yep, dunzo with AUfest until vote tallying is replaced by at least hanging chad! 

Brew Batch #128 Elvis Snacks

My final contribution to the Formation Brewing Co for this upcoming weekend's AUfest is kegged with 118mls of chocolate extract at an FG 1.012-0.001@60F to give it a mouth watering 8.8%. The yeast went crazy wild with banana esters but attenuated WAY more than I thought it would. Alcohol tolerance for this strain is in the 10% range but I never thought it would chew it up this much. Tells me my Baltic Porter base needs a little more body if I want to push it impy. We'll see how it's received this weekend.

Brew Batch #131 KeeWeePee

I felt utterly compelled to revisit this recipe after reading it's scoring sheets. For my first attempt at the style it garnered some of the highest scores (other than Orange Creamsicle) right out of the gate even winning 1st in a 400+ comp. Then it got "homered" in Malt Madness XIII by 2 other local PRX5 entries only to get a 36 in the next comp. So IF BJCP's goal in scoring is to be consistent across the board why the notes about detracting green apple (acetaldehyde) if I'm using Nelson Sauvin. I understand the ones about oxidation sweetness which can be caused at the time of bottling and certainly doesn't help if scoring is to be done weeks later (Junk drink'em ASAP) but the 36 in the next comp when my bottling is the same way is perplexing. So, to take care of the acetaldehyde comments since this was pitched lower in yeast count, I just threw it on about 2 quarts of Czech Pils yeast that should have it done in 5 days! OG 1.048+0.000@72F, which means I overshot my BE this time using the overnight mash. So hopefully the mega yeast pitch won't push me right back to 6.5% like last time. I was trying to come down on the abv.

2019 BREWS Lager Only Competition

Put on by Beer Renegades of Everett Washington, this was a chance to let Más Salsa shine! Unfortunately being in a category with 64 other lagers (8 others in my category) proved a little difficult and with a 34.5, Más walked away with nothing but my first attempt in WA state. So Mas winds up it's comp run with a 33.6 and some room for technical tweaks. But in my heart it'll always be a 37. 

Brew Batch #130 Sergeant Poo (aka War Dank Eagle's Daddy)

Into the keg with just a bump up on dank and abv than Corporal Catbox v1.2 (aka War Dank Eagle) at FG 1.012+0.000@62F giving it 7%. This was my first time using Imperial's A23 "Juice" yeast strain and I am happy with it. Smells like a touch of 9th grade armpit. Let's see how it does at AUfest this coming up weekend.

2019 Salt City Brew Club Competition

A well run comp that had results and scores posted at least the same night. Out of 171 my 3 entries did well and snagged my first and only NY state medal. Communication with the comp director was good when I had questions, thanks Steven, and I'm just waiting on scoresheets. Mas Salsa (2A) and End Chapter (11A) both received 35 with Taking A Dunkels (10B) grabbing 36.5 and a silver. 

Brew Batch #130 Sergeant Poo (aka War Dank Eagle's Daddy)

As a back up to Octohop, I conjured up another hazy "leveled-up" reminiscent of Corporal Catbox v1.2 (War Dank Eagle). So Sergeant Poo (aka War Dank Eagle's Daddy?) will be another possible offering at this year's AUfest in Auburn, AL. A hopefully higher abv and dankier version of the lower ranking brew from last year. Who knows, we may make it all the way to Capt. Colostomy? OG 1.064+0.001@79F 

Brew Batch #129 Octohop

Having three under the age of 6 will make you an Octonauts fan, but after watching it on Netflix reruns on loop you may be reaching for Octohop. Kegged at 1.010-0.001 @54F to give an 8.4% bevvy that has a sweet dankness to it. Fearing the profile would come across muddled was my only concern and no hop shines through except possibly Bru-1 (aka Pineapple Express). So goal was 80 IBUs, 8% on 8 hops...check, check & check. AUfest entry? I'll know in 4 or 5 days.

1st Annual Farm Hand Brewing Co Homebrew Comp

Zoomed right by and left decent scores on some of my beers but no medals. After yet another harrowing Fedex delivery in which there was no one to sign for the package on a Friday my box was sent back to the facility for the weekend, reloaded and delivered only to yield 2 broken bottles on two different entries. Taking a Dunkels and End Chapter took a 30 each, Más Salsa a 34 and KeeWeePee finished it's current comp career on a 37. The results were posted early via their Facebook page as far as BOS but I am still medal-less in the state of IA! (9/5/19 Update: every beer got 2nd place)

Brew Batch #129 Octohop

An AUfest beta batch, that if it works out will simply be an entry. The goal here was to yield an 80IBU, 8%, octo-hopped NEIPA. Bittered on Centennial, whirlpooled on Comet and Simcoe, with a 7 day dry-hop of Bru-1, El Do and Loral and a 3 day dry-hop of X04190, X06297 (Lotus) and X07270. This will be mind blowing or muddled. OG 1.072+0.001@79F

Malt Madness XIII

Put on by the Lehigh Valley Home Brewers came and went today. I missed this one last year as I was cutting my teeth on all grain brewing and was only able to put 2 brews in this go around. KeeWeePee, a gold medaler from last month got a 28.5 (bringing it's average to down to 33.8) and Mas Salsa eked out a 31. Needless to say, there was no bling tonight from PA. This state is showing to be as elusive as NC on getting actual metal from. But I've still got my Punxsutawney Phil autograph.

Brew Batch #128 Elvis Snacks

As the pairing of One True Bine and Beat-12 Brewing Co's join forces for AUfest, Elvis Snacks is our first attempt at a new offering for this year's festival. A Baltic porter with 2oz of cacao nibs in the mash and 10 ounces of PB2 powder in the boil being fermented by Wyeast's 3068 at low temps to yield that familiar banana blow up you find in my WBI brew. Hopefully it'll behave the same way in this higher abv setting. Tentatively, I'll put 2 more ounces of nibs in the secondary, judge the isoamyl acetate and see if we need to tweak it with some extract to give us that infamous peanut butter banana sandwich Elvis supposedly craved.

Brew Batch #127 End Chapter

Today we keg a beer to celebrate the anniversary of the brew buddy that pushed me to AG and a string of medals along with better water chemistry post Seibel. I honor his move to Leavenworth with this, my first attempt at a Best Bitter (at least from the abv stand point). So FG 1.006-0.001@57F to give a hefty 4.1% and upon first sippage as it sits on 40PSI, this one has a cheeky malt backbone from the Maris Otter and a nice bitter "I need another" finish. But wait, he never moved. So this brew puts his yakety ass just around the corner as his wife got pegged here for another year, atleast. I hope this brew scores triple gold and the neighbors guzzle it cause I ain't brewing it again. Maybe...

2019 SNAFU SCC (Single Category Competition)

Then I entered SNAFU's SCC for fun with WBI.i2! (Wheat Beer Incident, incident again!) now known on Untappd as Taking a Dunkels, only to score a 31.5 and a silver! So 2 silver medals for the weekend on beers I didn't think had those kind of chances. Thanks to Kim P and Southern Nevada Ale Fermenters Union as Fedex once again tried to jack me on shipping.

For What It's Wort 2019

I registered early enough to be #'s1,2 & 3 and wish I had the jewelry to match BUT Shepherdess did snag a silver (33.5) at this year's comp hosted by Destihl Brewery. There were only 166 entries this year but I feel good to have repeated in the medal contention. Cabana Boy hit a 31 with KeeWeePee hitting a solid 33 and receiving some good feedback. Thanks to the Abnormal Brewers, White Oak Brewing and Keg Grove Brewing Co for the organization and ramp ups.

Brew Batch #127 End Chapter

A year ago this month, on of my brew buddies was to move to Leavenworth (where he truly belongs) after getting me transitioned to all grain brewing. To celebrate his departure, I whipped up a nice little recipe called End Chapter, a British Bitter. Now with the 11 A&B subcats being really only different by the OG spread (1.030-1.039 and 1.040-1.048) this one could go either way, but definitely won't be a Strong Bitter due to the lack of IBUs and abv. OG 1.035+0.001 @75F, but on some potent LA3 that could drive it on down a bit. And guess what, he's still here so I gotta share. 

2019 US Open

Hosted at The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery this competition marked 2 things for me. My first medal in a comp bigger than 400 (443) and my lowest score ever (lower than PBnJT! with it's 19). So when it all shook out Shepherdess scored a 33, KeeWeePee 36 and a gold medal then Creekbed a 12.5 (and I  think a note to not enter ever again). So I really covered all aspects of a big competition at once. Thanks to the Carolina Brewmasters for hosting a well run competition. 

Brew Batch #126 Mas Salsa

Kegged and put on 40PSI today with an FG 1.006-0.001@ 47F to hopefully give us a nice 5.5% IPL "Mexican-crafted" lager. I even put it on a little gelatin to really drop it clear but maybe retain some of that nice Vienna and corn nuance. I'll give it a couple of weeks (or at least until the next asphalt buckling heat wave) and try it. Patience on these with cold conditioning seems to be the key.

Brew Batch #126 Mas Salsa

Loving the lagers this summer, I had to try my hand at another new unofficial "style". Mas Salsa will hopefully be a destroy able Int'l Pale Lager crafted in the Mexican style, yep a Mexican lager! OG 1.046+0.01@ 78F currently sitting on a sh'ton of Czech Pils yeast (2 full quarts). It was nice to actually brew and hit numbers for the first time in three batches. This will more than likely be my only July brewing as this will take a couple of weeks to ferment out well and I'm running daddy Daycare. 

Brew Batch #125 WBI.i2! (Wheat Beer Incident, incident again!)

So by throwing some golden LME in, the gravity at least got up to 1.046+0.001@77F. Kegged today with a much darker color from that very addition I believe with FG 1.008-0.001 @46F to give it a 5.25%abv which is pretty much on par with last summer's medal winner. But now that I've discovered my wheat "malt" is actually raw unmalted, I feel a rabid compulsion to brew it the BEST way before summer's end. Having said that my neighbors will be enjoying a serious helping of some sort of weissbier. I really learned a lot of deduction having done this batch " twice in the last 20 days! 7/14/19 Update: now known as Taking a Dunkels on Untappd

Brew Batch #125 WBI.i2! (Wheat Beer Incident, incident again!)

What was to be WBI in it's purest fell consistently short yet again with an OG 1.030 +0.001@77F! As I mentally beat my head against the wall arriving at the same BE and "think-tanking" with RP from OTB, my only conclusion was to go back and check my grain. This was literally the same recipe that won gold and silver but at 38% BE. Then I read that the 20lbs of white wheat I bought from Morebeer had been mislabeled "malted" when in fact it was RAW! So the 30% or less of pilsner in these last 2 batches doesn't have nearly the diastatic power that it would need to convert the wheat! Which also explains the slightly lower numbers for Shepherdess and the fantastic opacity. So I now know to basically list it was raw barley in BeerSmith and reorder some truly malted wheat for WBI. For this batch, I added 3.15 golden LME I had in the hopes that it will at least have some body this time. But I'll be brewing this mutha again and getting it right before summer's end!

Brew Batch #124 WBI (Now known as WBI.i)

What ended up as a terribly low BE on the original WBI recipe will forever be know as WBI.i (Wheat Beer Incident, incident). FG 1.004-0.001@44F to yield a whopping 3.54%abv. So this massive brew will be split between Beat-12 and OTB to give us 2 distinct Radler's. Mine will go on 1/2 gallon of cran-pomegranate and as much pressure as I can put it on. I'll need to blow through this as the real deal WBI will be hot on it's heals into the same keg. 

Hogtoberfest 2019

This Hogtoberfest was sponsored by The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club est . 1887, not the FL comp where the FedEx lady murdered my entries like Ace Ventura 2 years ago. And in my quest for a medal in each state, I came up with (drumroll please) 3 Honorable Mentions (with a cracked neck on one entry) and 2nd place for Cabana Boy in 29A. But they were ribbons:( So my quest for metal medals will continue with Malt Madness XIII later this summer. I'm thankful after a FedEx shipping let down that they even let me compete since all of my entries were late getting there. Thanks Katie Donaldson, groundhog Prez! Score breakdown as follows, Creekbed 26, Shepherdess 29.5 (HM), Pacific Rimmer 31.5 (HM), KeeWeePee (HM) and Cabana Boy both 38.

Brew Batch #124 WBI (aka Wheat Beer Incident)

I can't tell if I forgot that extra 2 pounds of pilsner malt (during family weigh out distraction), or the mashing at 140 or if the overage in boil volume of 6.75 instead of 6.4 gallons (again, "Come look at this Matilda Jane sale") got me the OG 1.030+0.00@70F but we're about to have the first radler at Beat-12. Damn! Marriage and Procreation, they'll get you every time. Have no fear, I'll be rebrewing immediately and simply dumping right back on to that active yeast slurry. We will have BANANA.

Brew Batch #123 Shepherdess IPA

Kegged for a final 6.96% at FG 1.008-0.001@50F. I hope to have it in Hogtoberfest in Punxsutawney on 6/22 fresh! This batch was by far the most tiresome hazy I've done, I'm glad they all aren't this way or I'd go straight lagers from here on out. But every Shepherd needs a Shepherdess! Not as many hops per volume on this one and the ones used were of a softer variety than the ones in Shepherd's, but the recipe was made to match. I'll pull a trub pint tomorrow night, back it to serving pressure and hop what little hop bite seems to be apparent is gone by bottling Wednesday. From a cost standpoint this one is half the hop investment, just hop it turns twice as fast. 

Brew Batch #122 Creekbed Cream Ale

Still using the SMB tablet method of kegging so see if this controls any air uptake. FG 1.006-0.001@53F to give the same ole 5.9%. So from a QC standpoint this batch is easily repeatable with a BE of 66% and solid numbers. Slowly loading the keezer for what looks to be the hottest summer in a long time. Wouldn't have it any other way for the return of Hot Balls. My only notice is that it seems to be a bit more cloudy than I remember. But I'm sure some settling and keg conditioning will drop it brighter. Did I put that whirfloc in?

2019 Das Boot

Put on by the NJHopz club and a well run comp that was judged at Czig Meister Brewing Co. The winners list is posted here and as you can see Gettin' Lei'd got a little gold! (41 overall), with Cabana Boy and Pacific Rimmer garnering 33& 28 respectively out of 281 entries.  No score sheet posting just yet but something tells me Rimmer is past it's prime and would've faired better in the 18B category. I can now mark NJ off the list. 

Brew Batch #123 Shepherdess IPA

Every Shepherd needs a Shepherdess, it's how we're built. Took a "rib" from Shepherd's IPA in the form of the grain bill and FWHops. Then over the next few days will dry-hop on AU Ella (Lil' Galaxy), Comet (Lil' Citra) and Hallertau Blanc for that extra kick of white grape kick. Like most female shepherds, this one will be aromatic and juicy but to which end of the spectrum and will you be able to handle it? OG 1.060+0.00@73F

Brew Batch #122 Creekbed Cream Ale

A fan favorite and a 32.5 getter at Happy Holidays, so I did it again for the summer comps and yardwork. BE good at 66%, OG 1.050+0.000@ 66F so we look good. Hopefully we'll have 5.5% grainy goodness in about 10 days thanks to the mega Safale 05 pitch intended for RBP topper. 

Brew Batch #121 KeeWeePee

Kegged this little beauty today and pulled 2 quarts of the best looking Czech pils yeast you'll ever see off of it. FG 1.006 +0.000@60F to give it a 6.2%abv. Higher than what the category calls for 4.5-5.8, but after lagering at least a month as the weather warms outside who's gonna be able to tell the difference on this crusher. Will be doing Pill Roller v1.2 with the yeast slurry, it's too monstrous not to that way it'll be on in the heat of the summer. The NZ hops are definitely distinct. There's a slight lime grass note to the aroma and taste. Excited to see where this one goes

2019 Hammerdown Brewcup

Another fine competition sponsored by Braxton Brewing Co and The NKY Hombrewers Guild. Out of 320 Gettin' Lei'd scored a 35.5 and a 🥉 (out of 18 in SHV 30A), Cabana Boy got a 37 (29A with 6 entries, which by the way was higher than Orange Creamsicle got last year which tells me this was a tough category) then A by S layed the egg with a 24.3(only 7 entries, so I'll be reading up on the scoresheets). RP @ OTB snagged a gold for Blackbeer Feels, his first attempt at a black IPA if you can believe. Amazing, they had almost the same number of entries as IBU Open and have managed to have the scores AND sheets up within 2 hours of awards ceremony. IBU a month later, nothing. 

2019 Arizona Spring Classic Homebrewing Competition

My only AZ entered competition and ended up with nada. However, out of 186 entries and Fedex screwing up the delivery which meant my bottles took 8 days to deliver I feel pretty good about Addition by Subtraction getting as 31 and Gettin' Lei'd a 27.5. Feedback is pretty much what I expected meaning A by S needs to be a little more crisp and I'm putting too much in the descriptors for entries like Lei'd where nuances like the banana can no longer be perceived. Would have come out better pointing out coffee by itself and seeing if the coconut was noted. But above all else, I like the fact that the comp organizer let me know when and in what condition the entries were received. Communication is best, and they posted scores and sheets light years ahead of IBU (which still haven't been posted). 

Brew Batch #121 KeeWeePee

And to finish the morning, my New Zealand Pilsner. I've been reading about the PRX5 category so long that I had to take a swipe at it. So with a 75 minute boil (for the pilsner base), a light sprinkling of Nelson, Motueka and Wai-iti at difference places in the boil and a hefty pitch of Czech pilsner slurry greatness awaits. OG 1.054-0.001@57F. Even updated the style parameters on German Pils in BeerSmith so I can match it up better next time. Fermenter full for the next couple of weeks. 

Brew Batch #119 Aotearoa v1.1

Then a quick dash to the house allows for kegging of Aotearoa v1.1. After reading the feedback on "#1", I surmised that perhaps I should simply replace the MO in the grain bill with 2-row so the sweetness wasn't perceived as oxidation. The only problem is the Safale 05 I used crunched the hell out of the wort and dropped it to FG 1.004+0.000@ 72F, to give it 7.1% abv and a drier finish. So the PA I was shooting for on this batch has possibly ended up being my intended IPA from v1.0! I'm going to have to practice this batch a little more to hone in the BE of my system and nail down this recipe. I love the the grassy/earth finish of these NZ hops. They are here to stay in my arsenal. 

Brew Batch #120 Pacific Rimmer

Starting a busy day in the brewhouse by kegging Pacific Rimmer. Thanks to the loan of some fridge space for crashing by RP@OTB, I was able to quickly keg this one but with a disappointing 4 gallons thanks to trub/hop loss. Did a 5.5 gallon batch, so the worst thing that can happen is this one turns out stellar. The LA3 I used was on it's last flocculation leg as it appeared to drop out a little faster than I remember, so I tossed it (6th gen though). FG 1.010-0.001 @46F gives it a nice 6.56%. Hopefully it blends the fruit and pine/grass profiles of the all Aussie/NZ make-up. 

Brew Batch #120 Pacific Rimmer

Another hazy specifically to enter in the Colonial Cup just to see if I can snag some jewelry on one other than Shepherd's. Using the same grain base as Corporal Catbox v1.2 (aka War Dank Eagle) to hopefully give it that opaque orange some of the other well known hazies are notorious for. However, I'm currently on a NZ hop kick so this one features Comet, Nelson Sauvin,  Waimea, Galaxy and Wakatu. Figured Pacific Rimmer was appropriate. OG 1.058+0.001@ 72F for that LA3 to start on.

Brew Batch #118 Cabana Boy

Trying to keep a Berliner on tap to throw the neighbors a growler filling curve ball, Cabana Boy filled a keg slap up to the gas post after adding 32 ounces of pineapple juice and 90mls of coconut flavoring. So far, these have fared as well as most of my hazies. Orange Creamsicle was my first gold medal, Smurf Whizz was just fun/funny to drink and this one should keep later Pale Ales and IPAs on tap a little longer. FG 1.002-0.001@57F for a hefty 4.4%.

Brew Batch #119 Aoteaoroa v1.1

With slight change in grain bill ridding it of the Maris Otter and simply replacing with 2-row, I'm hoping this one doesn't come across as sweet and misperceived as oxidized. Same everything else. Better BE this time and OG 1.058+0.000@66F. I noticed on the previous score sheets everyone wants their PAs more bitter almost pushing low level IPA bitterness as opposed to relative balance. We'll see if this one scores any better cause I can assure you the keg kicked so fast at the tap that there was no oxidation.

2019 IBU Open

Then there was the Iowa comp with 365 entries that after doing this for years could only muster posting my failure the next day some 18 hours after start of awards ceremony. However, my previous silver medalist from Port City tagged a 35 with A by S a 31. Score sheets not available and according to previous sources that have been in this comp, I may not see them for 2 weeks (even electronically). So 1 of 3 and a little burn out. Lemme brew some fresh entries and see what I can do with some old favs with new twists. 

2019 Port City Plunder

Then I dipped into Wilmington, NC for round 2 of the evening put on by the Wort City Brewers. No coincidence that with 252 entries folks in NC (home of Asheville) were ready for a little SHV NEIPA cause Mab's grabbed some silver there. Unfortunately reggiebeer was used and they're currently on a learning curve of how to post scoresheets? So no idea how Addition by Subtraction and Gettin' Lei'd fared. I'll update this post later when that comes in. (update 3/28/19, Mab's pumped a 40, A by S 27 and Gettin' Leid 28, reading over score sheets)

2019 Star City Throw Down

For yet another brew off weekend, Star City Homebrew Throwdown started it off at 5pm CST with Mab's Milkshake and Addition by Subtraction in attendance. But out of 114, no bling was to be mine from Old Dominion. Mab's garnered 34 with all notes pointing to "interesting" but the BJCP world isn't ready for milkshake IPAs. Addition by Subtraction the inadvertent lager eked out a 28. Weird, a lot of the final notes stated "no faults" but gave little else as to why it scored the way it did. My only beef is that this comp took almost 24 hours to post scores and only had minimal entries. Other than that the score sheets posted relatively quickly with many of the hometown crew getting medals. 

Brew Batch #118 Cabana Boy

As spring creeps upon us, I opted into an early Berliner to enjoy. Not as wild as Smurf Whizz and more closely tied to Orange Creamsicle, this Berliner will be on fresh coconut and mango (haven't ruled out vanilla). OG 1.035+0.005@102F (yeah that's correct), letting lacto work on it for 48hours prior to crashing for 1056 finish.

2019 Suwanee Beer Festival

After being "robbed" last year, I was determined to medal in this comp. So I pulled out the big guns in Rasta Reinke's Revenge and my new "pea-shooter" Mab's Milkshake. Rasta took a bronze with 37.5 and Mab's fared much better than previous with 33.5. Thanks to my neighbor blowing the keg, Rasta's run has ended by medaling in 3 of 4 entered comps. 206 total entries judged. And btw, I wasn't "robbed" I just obviously needed to up my game. Just wish they'd come down off the $9 entry. That may keep me from entering again now that I've placed. 

Brew Batch #116 Gettin' Lei'd

Slid into the keg with a little SMB (new method I'm trying to deplete oxygen pick-up) along with 118mls of banana and 15mls of accenting coconut flavorings. FG 1.016-0.001@48F to give this sweet stout base a 6.2%abv. It was only on Kona coffee beans for 30 hours but it had a massive almost acrid impact. I'm hoping as the carbonation flows in some of that will balance out and I found in the trial runs of mixing that the banana accents the toasted coconut very well. Start grabbing samples in a week.

2019 Winterfest

Put on by SNAFU with 129 entries duking it out. This was a Rasta Reinke's, Aotearoa and Mab's Milkshake (1st time entering) event and it did not disappoint! Rasta garnered it's second 🥈 with 36.6, then Aotearoa and Mab's dragged the totals down with a 26.5 and 24.5 respectively. But I can now "check" NV off the list.

Brew Batch #117 Additon by Subtraction

What was a carefully laid plan for the Pill Roller v2.1 perfection became a missed 10min boil addition then eventually a 5 day dry-hop of aforementioned missed Saaz boil. But with a monster lager yeast pitch (Wyeast 2278) fermentation was spent in 5 days, with a 3 day free rise to 68F and a final dry hop to be completely done by today with FG 1.0004-0.001@51F to yield a superb 4.8% pale straw Saaz nosey bevvy. Into the keg and let it sit just a bit. Then which comp shall this on achieve bling in?

2019 Romancing the Beer

In my mediocre attempt to perhaps medal in every contiguous state, I entered Romancing the Beer in Camarillo, CA. My farthest western comp yielded good scores but no jewelry. Reinke's Revenge 2018 37, Aotearoa 29.5 and Southie v2.0 28 out of 335 entries. All I can say is that the "stout" table with 27 entries must have had some incredible scores and after some "missing" entries initially I feel lucky to have gotten the scores I got. Thanks to Courtney for tracking them down. Like I've said the best comps have the best communication, medal or not! 

2019 War of the Worts

At 652 entries this is the largest comp I've entered and received nothing except good feedback and miniBos for Aotearoa at 29. Southie v2.0 reached 31 and Reinke's Revenge 18' held the midground at 25. Thanks to the Keystone Hops for organizing this monstrosity and hopefully I'll do better next year. Comp #2 for the weekend down! 

2019 Extravaganza!

288 entries and hosted by the Bluff City Brewers & Connoisseurs yielded some bling for Rasta Reinke's (mis-categorized as 33A) with a silver medal and scoring 33.5. This is the comp that RP and I tried to Formation Brewing Co "carpet bomb" it. I had 5 entries and I think he ultimately had 6 entered (snagging a bronze and 2 HMs). Aotearoa garnered 35.6 with the rest of them including Reinke's 18' falling below 25, yeesh. The first comp of a multi-comp weekend!