There is none better than an overnight mash to get brew day done by 10am! Even though this doesn't really need it, I wanted to try my hand at this style one more time for the summer to see if slight tweaks in hopping and a mega multi-generational yeast pitch would help. OG 1.033+0.001 @76 should yield a crisp dry representation.
We last heard from this batch in January of 24'. Well, 'Merica's 250th is here and what better day to finally keg this beauty. A compilation of 4 separate and blended batches of our "annual" favorite from 2005, this one sat in a John Emerald Spurgeon spiced rum barrel for almost 30 full months. Yield was monstrous as well considering the sleep! (About 13.5 gallons or more). The smell and taste are of absolute victory! ABV landed at 11.9% and the notes of barrel wood and pirate's liquid are a mélange of effort and patience. One keg will be of the barrel pull, a second of 3# red cherry puree and the third I'll hold out for now. Look for your 8oz pour at the taproom.
FG on this one 1.004+0.000 @66F with some gelatin for clearing as it seems that adding a whirfloc to anything nowadays is something I am painfully missing. Makes it 4.9% and lower than my last batch but those extra 4 points on the front end would've made the difference. Hoping this one is a bit more dialed into style so I can enter it into NGHC. Let's let it sit for a month to clear and see what happens. Onto the next batch!
Cold crashed on 4/22 in an attempt to clear it up as I forgot all about the Whirfloc. FG 1.010+0.000 @63F gives it a gulp-able 4.2%. And it has now yielded a slap full quart and a half of 2nd gen healthy yeast.
And just one week after a disappointing AL HB Cup, the same 2 beers, Little Sausage and HOLD FAST! represented here out of 286. The Vienna was pounded and included notes of monstrous oxidation (and a 22 overall, 😒). It was judged by pro brewer, Alex Spencer, from DC Brau. The heavy paper he noted was thanks to FedEx shaking it for an extra 2 damn days and making a fresh 3-day ship a 6-day endeavor. The Anchor "nod" came in at 31 with expected notes of a smidge more hop bitterness needed (next batch will have Perle to bitter then NW for boil and flameout) but still managed to snag🥉. I can mark DC off the list but really wanted them to have better entries from a shipping standpoint. May re-enter again next year for giggles.
Has come and gone with no jewelry again. Entered Little Sausages and HOLD FAST! with the steam style ultimately doing better. My Vienna gutted a 29 with notes of more complex malt profile and a more drying yeast even though FG was 1.007. Seems pretty dried out to me. HF! toed the line at 34 needing a smidge more NW hop profile. This I figured would be the case but thought those scores would be reversed? Either way both were noted to have clean fermentation profiles so maybe I’ll start bittering HF! with Perle and saving NW for later additions. Alas, my home state is becoming more difficult than all others to medal in. I’ve noticed it’s becoming easier to medal in larger comps with more of the same style than in smaller ones where they may be lumped into general categories ( ie “pale or amber” whatever) where related beers are judged against each other.
Coming in a smidge lighter "abv-wise" than the first batch with FG 1.008-0.001 @52F giving a 4.86%. For the style however, it's almost dead middle. Seems to have a good clear drop from being outside a week during a nice cold snap, but I'll need to make use of Whirfloc moving forward. It's headed for the 2026 AL Homebrewer's Cup. Wish us luck.
FG came in a bit lower than the last batch but is more in line with the style 1.006+0.00 @64F to make a soft sipping 4.5%. Snatched that thick 1st gen yeast cake off and have it ready for Cherrywood Baltic Porter to come. Funny, thanks to Winter Storm Fern, all I had to do was keg it and put it on the back porch for cold storage and carbing.
With the 2026 AL Homebrewer's Cup fast approaching, we at Beat-12 want to represent well. So, our quaffable steam style will be on display. OG 1.040+0.000 @67F, which is line with the last batch that yielded a nice 5.4% Anchor nod. HOLD FAST! beer's acoming.
Drink Me Potion was a bit of a letdown. Unbeknownst to me, GoodBelly changed their proprietary blend away from a heavier L. Bacillus load to a more "prebiotic" mix (whatever DE-111 is). This is turn did not sour the beer effectively nor enough after even 42 hours as 90+F temps. So after all the toiling with puréed blueberries/blackberries, it turned out more like an "off" wheat beer 😐. (Ultimately batch 1 was a dumper, as an update). I think the process was still good, from the 10-minute boil all the way through the edible glitter, just not the twang as past batches. FG 1.010+0.001 @57F for 4.3% (not sure the mega 001 pitch gobbled it up very well either)
Fresh LA3 chewed it down to FG 1.006+0.000 @61F to give it a solid 6.2%. It had that old familiar whiff headed into the keg. Should be a good OG batch for a little head-to-head action on Abstrax.
Man, this is gonna be an interesting batch in the head-to-head against the OG. Ultimately the final dry-hops were left off. CBB gave us some Abstrax samples they picked up of Citra and Mosaic, so the 2nd dry-hop of those was adjusted to liquid using the 5ml samples and a micro-pipette. Galaxy 2nd dry-hop was increased to 3.33oz but the others were converted to 2.5mls of Abstrax to give it roughly a pound per barrel hop addition that's more easily converted to bigger systems. I can tell you that when those bottles were cracked open they leapt from their containers! FG 1.005+0.0001@56F to give a solid 6% AND this was scaled down to a 5.25 gallon batch as opposed to 5.5. This doesn't sound like much but that's 1.5 gallon savings per barrel with only 2 single hop additions substituted OR an extra half barrel per 10 barrel batch. That more than pays for itself. Can't wait for taste off in a few weeks.
Having not brewed this recipe since 23' (and still owing a buddy 18 bottles of it), we at Beat-12 jumped at the opportunity to do a little R&D with it. It's been 7 years since this recipe was first brewed and though there have been minor changes to bittering at times, it's still a pretty consistent crowd pleaser (comps not included). So, when CBB got their hands on a sample pack of Abstrax, we were more than obliged to help with a potential scale up. This version of the recipe saved on both volume to brew but T-90 pellets to use. Ultimately, all is the same with only the dry-hopping schedule varying. For the Citra and Mosaic 3-day dry hop additions, we'll be using Abstrax instead. This saves roughly 2.67 oz of each per batch on a 1lb/barrel scaling. OG 1.051 +0.001 @75F on a fresh LA3 pitch.
Provided by longtime friend and reader, I couldn't turn down the opportunity to repost this. Beer Syndicate compiled a 10 point list of the most commonly mispronounced beer styles and a little of their history. I must admit I've read through it a couple of times and giggled at my "new" found knowledge. Find your inner Rauk Bee-Eh, here.