Brew Batch #152 Reinke's Revenge 2020 CoViD Edition

In it's 15th year of brewing it seemed only fitting that in the year of 'Rona I make Reinke's Revenge a mega stout. A few minor changes included some UK Kent Goldings on the tail end instead on Willamette, pushed the gravity to 1.131+0.000@65F to hopefully yield a 13.8% winter sipper. Then I'm planning some maple, pecan and ghost pepper additions. Should be as memorable as 2020 has been so far. 

Motown MASH 2020

Out of 228, I sent It Ain't Helen...Georgia and Wallaby Water (pronounced Wa-duh) for my Festbier and Australian Sparkling entries. 27 on the Helen (apparently shipping was not my friend) as it came across oxidized but I can tell you from the draft tap it's smooth malty goodness with a touch of bitter. Wallaby Wa-duh the judge was keen on. Typically, Pride of Ringwood is used, but I opted for some Galaxy and it came across slightly floral yielding a 32. Maybe it would fair well reclassified? 

When Doves Rye

A year to the day that the first batch of Ikigai went into Le' ARTHUR, we kegged up When Doves Rye. Still at a solid FG 1.031, this 11.5% barrel aged barleywine promises to be chock full of raisins, toffee and sweet tobacco leaves with a slight woody nod. After this, the plans for Le' ARTHUR are to top him off with blonde ale (possibly from a local brewery) and funk him up for 12-18 months. RP kept his share as-is from the barrel but Corey has decided his allotment would best be served with coconut, vanilla and cinnamon. Get your 8oz pour while supplies last. 

Brew Batch #151 KeeWeePe v1.1

Slid nicely into a keg today to give me a couple of lagers and a sparkling ale on tap to enjoy for the next little while. FG 1.004+0.000@ 54F to give a perfect 5.4% on probably a 10th or 11th generation Czech Pils pitch. It was a good one, going all the way back to the original "Pee" and Mas Salsa. Got this lager stuff down pat. 

Brew Batch #151 KeeWeePee v1.1

This is the batch "#2" that seemed to leave the keg so quickly for everyone. OG 1.045+0.000 @66F dead on. Needed a lager going whilst at the most magical place on earth. 

Brew Batch #150 Wallaby Water (pronounced Wa-duh)

Well, I had to drop back and punt on the hops for this one as I have misplaced my Pride of Ringwood but it hit the hydrometer with a good looking SRM and FG 1.004+0.000@ 65F to give a nice 5.5% malt laden experimental Australian Sparkling Ale for me. Should be ready Saturday for some tasting notes.

Brew Batch #149 Grapefruit Spiny Benthos

If this beer turned out as well as it wafted out of the keg, then we're all in for a treat. I've never tried cloning a beer directly but this was such a huge fav of mine prior to the $1B Ballast Point buyout that I had to give it a go. The Safale 05 got down on the sugars and FG 1.006-0.001@ 54F to give a superb overshoot of 7% at a 7.6% (no one will know the difference). And the grapefruit synergy of the peel and Cascade seems to be  an unstoppable Juggernaut to the nares. 

Brew Batch #148 Jake's Juice v2.3

Well, a final attempt at a recipe brewed as much as Reinke's now. All went well on BE and the yeast chewed more than expected. So in a week or so, I'll start whipping this one out of the tap in the hopes that it's dialed in! Only took about 10 years. FG 1.002-0.001@55F for 5.9% summer ending love. 

Brew Batch #149 Grapefruit Spiny Benthos

Being a monster fan of Grapefruit Sculpin it only seemed fitting for me to finally give it a go. I think I have the grain bill figured out but with 7 hop additions during the boil I'm hoping I don't' overshoot the IBUs or the overall profile. Then 2 more dry-hop additions of Cascade and Simcoe coupled with 2oz of grapefruit peel should get me there. OG 1.062+0.001@ 75F. 

Brew Batch #148 Jake's Juice v2.3

What I hope is the perfection of a honey kolsch after all these years. All grain, Vanguard hops, dialed in water chemistry and honey from within 7 miles of the house. OG 1.044+0.001@ 77F on Wyeast 2565 kolsch yeast. 

Brew Batch #147 It Ain't Helen...Georgia

Well after a painfully non-existent start to a double pitch of Munich 2203 lager yeast, a single 11gram sachet of Saflager 34/70 got this one moving. FG 1.004+0.000@ 64F to give it a healthy 6.5%. It has a wonderful color and will sit on gas and chill for the next month or so. I'm hopeful that this is a good start to a nice festbier but will be getting some blazing fresh packs to simply try this recipe on first before I make any changes at all. Gotta keep the lagers going this summer and right now there's only a Berliner that I didn't even brew in my keezer. Amazing how the neighbors can destroy this stuff during stay at home protocol. 

Brew Batch #147 It Ain't Helen....Georgia

Since I'm lager-less right now what better time than to try my hand at a festbier. Mashed in while at work today for 12 hours or so and hit perfect numbers at 1.054+0.000@ 67F. My only concern is the 2 smack packs of Munich 2308 I'm using. When you're used to pouring a quart of lager yeast, these 2 little things worry me about start up. 

Brew Batch #146 WBI (Wheat Beer Incident)

A quick turn and an unexpected early visit by the guy who wanted half of this batch got it into the keg today. FG 1.006-0.001 @55F gives this a healthy straight 5% yeasty. Not sure I'm a fan of the WLP300 strain. It did it's job but the profile is more balanced as opposed to the more banana lean I was looking for and got out of Wyeast 3068. 

Brew Batch #146 WBI (Wheat Beer Incident)

Another fan favorite already in the fermenter this morning that I haven't replicated since 18'. Using WLP300 this go around just to see what the profile is like. OG 1.042+0.001@74F. A little off but who can tell the difference between 5.2 and 4.6? 

Brew Batch #145 Shepherd's IPA

My "contractual" buddy batch hit the stainless today to begin it's gassy conditioning, so that I may ship HALF of it to Junk (aka the Franklin leg' train). FG 1.008+0.000@ 55F to give it 7.5%abv. Last batch was 7.2% but better BE and yeast chew helped a touch. Let's hope the catty grass dank is still a hit. 

Brew Batch #145 Shepherd's IPA

Can't believe it's been since 2018 that I first brewed this but after shooting my mouth off and owing Junk a case of bottles, this one hit the fermenter dead nuts at 1.064+0.001@75F. Should be spot on. See ya fresh on the lips in about 12 days. 

Brew Batch #144 CORNVID

CORNVID hit the keg today at 1.006 @ 58F. Needing a little time to crisp and lighten up this one should be a true wonder since it comes in at a healthy 6%. May need to post it on Untappd as CORNVID "Special Reserve" so that if it's quaffably destroyable we can go back and lighten the abv a little to the expected 4.5-5% range. Stay tuned and grab a P or Q when you can. 

10 ways to open bottle during quarantine

Neighbor "borrowed" or lost your spare/favorite church and you cant' leave to buy a new, no problem. You'll stay hydrated using these tips. 

1st (hopefully NOT Annual) Quarantine Balls 10k

Since my wife wants to run a half marathon before she turns 40, I let her rope me into this little beauty a couple of months ago not knowing the current "social" situation. Basically this company puts together virtual runs of all lengths and has you post them to their Facebook sight on Scouts Honor. So since the local nature trail is roughly a 7 mile out-and-back, I give you the May the 4th Be With You (aka Quarantine Balls) 10K-ish. Merry knocked out a solid 1:15:58 for her first ever race of this distance and placed 1st overall in the women's division while I slowly remembered why I don't do many of these long races anymore as the tenderness in my left knee began to speak to me at the end of my 6.6miles and a time of 1:05:15. Thanks to Junk for sponsoring with a new Garmin watch. Now where's the beer and ice packs?

Brew Batch #143 Die A Beet Us (DABU)

Pushing the effectiveness of insulin, DABU hit the keg today at FG 1.018-0.001@ 55F to give a 9% pastry attempt. Not the 12% impy stuff but just a pinch further than your average IPA in kick. Seems to have a nice foothold on the residual sweetness with a touch of roast. Booze is certainly there. Let's just hope the vanilla and chocolate notes waft well once on gas. 

Brew Batch #144 CORNVID

As we slowly come out of quarantine into a "Safer at Home" mentality, what could be better than 10 gallons of a heavily corn based Mexican lager? With alcohol sells on the rise almost across the board nationwide but an expected 2-3000 breweries forecast to close according to BA,  this one should keep the neighbors at bay while we at FBC keep the light stuff flowing. OG 1.051+0.001 @77F. 

Brew Batch #143 Die A Beet Us

My first foray into pastry stouts gave an OG 1.084+0.002@83F. This should hopefully give an 8% full bodied almost quaffable quarantine sipper. Mashed at high temps with 2 pounds of nilla wafers and an ounce of nibs. Then a pound of lactose and dark brown sugar for good measure and voila! Let's put it on nibs in the secondary and pass the insulin R.

St. Patrick's 2020

Well, I'm curious to know how many folks "gathered" to share pints of Guinness in this year of social distancing thanks to SARS-CoV-2. Nonetheless, dark drank is welcome here year round but with 292 confirmed cases on The Green Isle as of today I won't be sharing car bombs like I used to.

Brew Batch #142 Sergeant Poo v1.1 (aka War Dank Eagle's Daddy)

Kegged today with a wonderful turbidity, Poo v1.1 wafted wonderful citrus stink. I'll have to admit the aroma seemed the best of all. The only difference in this version is that it now has torrfiied wheat for all of it's wheat additions and WLP067 Coastal Haze as it's chewer. And boy did it gnaw it down, FG 1.010-0.001@50F to yield my first DDH DIPA haze at 8%. I can't wait to defend my title at Bruce Street with this entry. The next rank up from Corporal Catbox.

Brew Batch #141 Pill Roller v2.1 (aka FBC Go Pils)

Another FBC installment at ACSC, Go Pils. We did 10 gallons, 5 for them and 5 for us of the same beer to optimize our time and effort. So what is hopefully the last version of Pill Roller is also a wonderfully light and smooth offering at ACSC of this international pale lager. FG 1.009 +0.000@50F to make it a long range 5%

Brew Batch #142 Sergeat Poo (aka WDED) v.1.1

Trying my hand at Sgt. Poo (aka War Dank Eagle's Daddy) again with what turned out to be the actual numbers I should have had for AUfest had it not been for the unknown raw wheat issue. OG 1.070+0.001 @75F and labeled as v1.1 because I've replaced all wheat with torrified to see if that adds to the opacity and I'm doing some beta on White Labs new WLP067 Coastal Haze strain (their version of LA3) for a local brewery that's tinkering around with some new hazies in their line up.

2nd Annual Garden State

348 entries with Reinke's Revenge 2019 (33A) and Kemosabe (22A) in their respective classes duking it out! As of now, I'm still waiting on sheets from AWOG in NY, but even in just their 2nd year the Garden State Homebrewers have it together enough to have results and sheets posted in less than 24 hours from the awards ceremony! So another 34 for RR, folks are not digging the Amburana wood as much as myself and neighbors, but Kemosabe stroked a 34 as well and a silver. Our Injun' is on a roll. With Reinke's judges are believing it to be "spiced" but in reality everything in this Impy is from the amburana. This is the second 34 in a row with just about the same notes, so I'll be sitting on the rest of this keg. Jersey, check!

Brew Batch #140 Southie v2.1

Using Imperial's B63 yeast, this version of Southie got chewed up! A beautiful medium brown with some garnet highlights and an FG 1.004-0.001 @57F. This is the batch where I would have found out about the other hydrometer being off fo sho'. So the question is do I go with my missed OG of 1.083 or my expected 1.096 on this overnight mash. My gut tells me this one landed where it should have just like Reinke's did (actually overshot) so we should be sitting at about 12.2%. It's on gas and should be ready for a little sampling this weekend.

SNAFU's 2020 Winterfest

Another fine, well run comp by SNAFU! Almost dead step with KCBM, Kemosabe (22A) went 38.3 and a bronze medal, whereas in a crowd favorite head scratcher Reinke's Revenge 2019 (33A) slipped on a 35.3 out of 82 entries? Not complaining just thought it would be the other way around. I'll take my third sweet-ass looking medal from this club with pride! Noticed I competed against a few of them in ND.

24th AWOG

Came and went, was put on by the Niagara Association of Homebrewers, and as of yet only the winners have been posted. I would think after doing this for almost a quarter of a century that they could at the minimum load scores into the brewcomp software, but the link now redirects to their personal club's blog post. All I can tell you is that it was supposed to be a 500+ comp and I didn't medal under any of the "tabs" listed on the club's site. I'll update as score sheets come in. 
(update 3/9/20: sheets finally here! Kemosabe was sent for both 22A & 21A and oddly enough did better as a pale ale than DIPA. 35 for the PA class and 25.5 for the DIPA class. Though all bottles were filled at the same time, apparently the ones for 21A had better head retention and the profile was more preferred whereas the 22A bottles were perceived as "slick" and oxidized. Go figure, got a NY medal already anyway)

Brew Batch #141 Pill Roller v2.1 (aka Go Pils)

As I attempt hopefully this final version of Pill Roller (my Czech Pils that's been an International Pale Lager all of it's creation, in other words just not quite crisp and florally hoppy enough), RP at OTB thought who better to try it on than the military. So in a joint venture and partially funded by ACSC, PR v2.1 became a 10 gallon batch to be split and given in half to them under the Formation Brewing Co label "Go Pils". I also have been using my new hydrometer that I won at Hoppy Halloween and after an overnight mash on next to no grain for a 10 gallon batch got the OG reading of 1.030 (expected 1.043 @66%) and almost blew a gasket! So I tried ole faithful I've had forever. Long story short, a quick water test at 64F let me know that the new colorful prize was off almost 20 points and that's what I've been measuring by for months now. OG 1.048+0.000@64F

KCBM 37

KCBM 37th Annual Homebrew Competition held today and 3rd time was a charm. It's a circuit qualification the High Plains Circuit, Masters Championship of Amateur Brewing and Midwest Homebrewer of the Year. Scale ups by KC Bier Co and Red Crow Brewing took place for best German ale and IPAout of the 556 entries this year. But Table 21: Strong Ales, had redemption for myself as part of FBC. Kemosabe, entered into both 21A and 22A snagged a little bronze for DIPA at a score of 38. No longer will this hang heavily over my head. First comp of the year, 500+, bling...check!

Brew Batch #137 Reinke’s Revenge 2019

This almost annual labor of love slid in to the keg after being on an Amburana wood spiral for 26 days (just couldn't wait the full 4 weeks). I'm so stoked about the slight smoke and gingerbread notes of this Brazilian oak that I kegged it with the original spiral and another 2&1/2" addition to hopefully put it over the top and the wood notes prevalent throughout the kegs lifespan, however long that may be. FG 1.022 +0.000@60F to make it a solid and most potent version made 11%. Maybe this will keep me off of the barrel aged stuff that took almost 10 months to make.

Brew Batch #140 Southie-12 v2.1

As I came across this recipe the other day, I realized I hadn't given it a "go" lately. So here we are with hopefully a better version of 2.0. Continental base malt throughout, a pound of dark candi sugar and a pound of turbinado all give an OG 1.083+0.001@80F. Trying out Imperial's B63 Monastic strain as well. And since it cost me $15 at my LHBS, I can tell you right now that the Bier de Garde I've been dying to try will quickly come up on the horizon! Think I'll go have a Westie-12 to celebrate Southie's rebirth.

When the Doves Rye

The final installment of Ikigai went in to Le' Arthur today at 10.5% as a topper. Previous batches were 11.81, 12.08, and 10.24 so that means roughly the average going in was 11.5% Not too bad for a beer that got me my first medal ever at Jacktoberfest. Then again it AND my ability have come a long way. It'll hereafter be known as When the Doves Rye, in part because RP and I both agree Le' Arthur is the vessel and because when we were brewing the second batch (of four) of Ikigai to put in Le' Arthur it was an all 80s kind of day with Prince's "When the Doves Cry" keyed up at some point. Well, not sure what the demand is for a BA English barleywine in July, but Formation Brewing Co will have one. Did I mention we have about 2 gallons overage?

Brew Batch #139 Kemosabe

Kegged today with a wildly exciting opacity that I haven't seen since my first LA3 hazy use. The swill smacks of citrus and finishes with just a little musty. Got it on gas for some true sampling by Monday. FG 1.002-0.001@50F to bang out 7.7%! That Imperial A38 chewed it up like Silver on alfalfa hay!! Hi-ooooOOHH.

Brew Batch #138 Ikigai (again)

Slid into Le’ ARTHUR today with FG 1.031+ 0.000@60F to give a 10.24% addition. Sampling of what was already barreled had a nice mead like quality to it and a dangerous smoothness. And it may not take a year to finish this with as much spirit character that’s left. Only need about 3 more gallons and the other half of FBC is taking care of that later this week. So far blended abv’s are 11.81,12.08 and 10.24.