2018 Happy Holidays

So far my only entered winter comp (12/8/18)  and out of 606, I walked away with jack schitt. Of course to bring me back down to Earth, my brew buddy reminded me that I was on such a stellar tear of medal wins that a right correction was due. Creekbed was in 1B (26 score) and 1C (32.5), whilst out of a Sheep's Teet 21B and Lipsmackers 29A garnered 34 and 37.5 both with good feedback and easy corrections on both to push towards the 40s . My next hope is a total unknown with a stout bases only competition. 

Brew Batch #109 Reinke’s Revenge 2018 (Reserve)

The 13th brewing of this auspicious recipe has yielded the final version, that if ever I were to open a micro would be the "served" version. Learning from previous year's changes and the 2016 version at BlackStone with it's astringency gave way to this perfection. Deep, dark, smooth for it's 10.4% abv, with some great chocolate notes. The reduction of roasted grains and bump of midnight wheat and lactose addition has made this the one. So why not split it? That's exactly what I did. There are 2 great Reinke offerings this year (both available on draft only at Beat-12 Brewing Co , Untappd). Half is the "original" with the other being aged on Appleton rum soaked oak chips for 16 days. There will be no howler fills of it this year. FG 1.031+0.00@ 50F. It will however be making a stingy appearance for scoring at RISoff this year on 1/5/19. Stay tuned. 

Brew Batch #112 Southie-12 v2.0

Well, it's official. My attempt at revamping Southie was good but my BE was off so much that it'll be a dubbel this year instead of a BDSA. Color is good, it needs a touch more complexity put back and the esters are there, but at 7.88%, I need a little more fermentable bump. FG 1.008-0.001 @56F. Let's see how cold and carb treat it.

Brew Batch #110 50PSI gIMPY Brown Ale

Into the keg on 11/30 with 6 ounces of Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee dangling in the center (uncrushed). Pulled a sample and 3 days was plenty!! Still hanging on to a brown, albeit a darker shade of brown with prolific roast notes, I'm not sure we'll be able to pass this one off as a Brown Ale. The residual roast leftover after being the spawn of Reinke's Reserve has only been amplified by one of the top 6 coffees in the world. So what was to be a malty slightly thin brown-ness is now a coffee roast dark-ish browness. FG 1.014+0.000@ 64F to make it a gentle sipping 9.2%. Either way, a great beer to reminisce with The Enabler over, which is how the name came to be....

Brew Batch #112 Southie-12 v2.0

What was a totally revamped version of Southie from last year to be one of my best attempts at a Belgian Dark Strong, may end up as a Dubbel. Grain bill redone, use of continental everything where available with sprinkles of character malts that was to be an OG 1.097 ended up at 1.066+0.001@74F upon cold break and rack on to 3787 Trappist yeast. Yeah, bummer to say the least. Even with a 75 minute mash and adjustment down to 62% for BE, I still ended up at 60% on a grain bill only 2 pounds lighter than my last hazy. I don't get it. To the point I've already sanctioned more Belgian pilsner and dark candi syrup. Not panicking yet, I can still enter 26D at 8%abv but it'll have to do some dropping. (My next Reinke's PITA, pain in the neck!)

Brew Batch #111 Out of a Sheep's Teet

Kegged this morning before work and smelling luscious! FG 1.016-0.001 @53F to yield a 5.9% lactose laden version of Shepherd's NEIPA. Got it on 40psi so that I can get it into Happy Holidays next month and compete with 649 other entries as part of the Midwestern Championship series. If you've never had milk from a sheep's teet, this may be your bevvy?

Brew Batch #111 Out of a Sheep’s Teet

Since January I've done 8 batches of something hazy, with Shepherd's leading the charge and being responsible for me diving deep into water chemistry and how that one facet changes a beer's identity. So for #9 I returned back to the favorite and added lactose. The LA3 was a 4th generation pitch sitting on an OG 1.060+0.00@ 66F. Let's see if typically unfermentable sugars make a noticeable difference on this crowd favorite.