Brew Batch #157 Dingo Took My Baby

Propping that wonderful Australian yeast from White Labs again on an Australian pale ale that hit the keg today with FG 1.002+0.000 @60F. This makes it a solid 6.5%abv. For pale ales that's a little high but it also crosses into the IPA range except that the IBUs are only 43. I'll enter it in a comp to see what happens score-wise, but the Pride of Ringwood, Galaxy and Summer combo is a distinct profile. 

Brew Batch #156 (and 156.5) Nonanal & Vanilla Cyanidine

A nice big batch of sour base yields 2 great experiments. Nonanal kegged 6/14 after being on 49oz of strawberry puree for 7 days with 4oz of white chocolate flavoring in the hopes of getting at least in the same ball park as SG's strawberry vanilla truffle sour. 6/16 I kegged the other 5 gallons after it had been on 61oz of dark cherry puree with 4oz of vanilla flavoring. It will affectionately be known as vanilla cyanidine, as cyanidine is a chemical compound responsible for that "cherry" smell. Both finished at 1.010 +0.000@ 63 to give a set of 5.6% summer sippers. 

2021 Beach Balls 5k

It's been quite some time since I've been on a regular "balls" routine. Quarantine should've helped but they would've all been local "balls" runs. Plus I've been rehabing a compressed nerve in my left foot with tarsal tunnel for about 6 months now. Started with the Quarantine Balls 10K. So I started at the Marina House where we were staying and just figured I'd run The Grand Hotel property onto the paralleling sidewalk the adjacent neighborhood was on. It was a humid glorious scenery filled morning with little to no breeze. Most in the area are or have had to redo their piers thanks to an active hurricane season last year, so I figured I'd just run till the sidewalk ended (not really certain where that would be). And it damn sure did. This was obviously an out and back but there's no foot pain, just unused thighs, calves and lungs. 

Brew Batch #157 Dingo Took My Baby

Using my new Pride of Ringwood hops to create (hopefully) a supreme Australian pale ale. I’m also going back to Wallaby Water (pronounced Wa-duh) and try them there for a unique twist. OG 1.052 + 0.002@ 85F, as I try to convert the OTB 🐍 over to my pump. Forgot about that when I broke it out this morning. 

Brew Batch #156 Nonanal

It's not what you think, but definitely subliminal. Nonanal is one of the compounds that makes strawberry smell and taste like strawberry. Look it up, I cant make this stuff up. So with mimicry being the ultimate form of flattery, I'm trying to emulate SG's Strawberry Vanilla Truffle and maybe beta it for a local brewery. But with some new refrigeration and dispensing equipment in hand I gotta fill it up. So this is kind of batch 156 and 156.5 as it's a 10 gallon sour base. First 5 gallons gets 49 oz of strawberry puree and minimum 4oz white chocolate flavoring. Not sure if I'll dip some nibs cause that'll push the cost up if it's scaled up. The other 5 gallons may get Meyer lemon puree or kiwi and bananas? OG 1.042-0.001 @45F. Should make for a nice 5%er

Colonial Cup 2021

Coming out of Covid the comps are slowly opening and as this one was postponed last year,  I wanted to give it a whirl. Only had When Doves Rye and No Taters on in time and they represented well but alas fell short on the jewelry.  When Doves Rye (33B) topped out at 35 with scores saying "great color and it'll be smoother in a year". No Taters, a crushable IRA, slid into a 36 with scores of "a touch too bitter for the style" but good clean ferm (the Simcoe is my guess). The only catch an IRA and 33B RIS medaled ahead of me. Ugh, South Carolina still eludes but I'm just getting started. Thanks for a well organized comp. 

Funk You, Funk Me. Funk it for Always...(that's the way it should be)

Not actually brewed by Formation Brewing Co, yet fermented in full by us. On 2/11/21 when Andrew McNally at CommonBond Brewers had about 16 extra gallons of his Zelda Blonde wort, RP and I put 10 gallons on Safale 05 and my 6 or so on some Wyeast 2565. Though Le' Arthur has lost most of his barrel character and his spirit has yielded doesn't mean that he is useless. Time to create FBC's House of Funk. So as of now those 16 or so gallons of blonde ale now sit on a blend of MO microflora harvested from Side Project Balaton #1 and Monday Night's Beyond the Clouds Brett dregs. We'll see what we see in the next 12-18 months.