Westside California Common

This started out as a classic California Common, which is golden-to-amber in color, but I misread the recipe guide, and used 2 pounds of  chocolate malt instead of 2 ounces.  Luckily, the chocolate malt provided a nice roasty character that gave this beer a coffee-like back-end, without the burnt aftertaste.  Surprisingly balanced and smooth given the mistake.  Delightful!

• 7 lbs. light LME
• 1.1 lbs. Munich LME
• 1 lb. Crystal 40L
• ½ lb. Victory malt
• 2 lbs. Chocolate malt
• 1 oz. Northern Brewer 6.5% AAU (bittering)
• 1.5 oz. NB (flavor)
• 1.5 oz. NB (aroma)
• Wyeast 2112 California Lager, fermented at 62° with diacetyl rest at 68°, then lagered at 36°

Homebrewing is often about experimentation, sometimes accidental.  Here, I accidentally brewed a German Schwarzbier, which is a dark, roasty lager.  Not usually as dark and roasty as this one, but close.  The color here is closer to a Russian Imperial Stout, including the slight sweetness and high alcohol.  This one just gets better with age.

Brewed August 2011 and bottled September 2011

Firebreaks

Wildfires are mixed blessings:  they destroy homes and vast swaths of forest and foliage, yet a fire can be a cleansing event, clearing the forest floor of dead debris, and preparing ground for new growth.  2009 has been such a year for people too, killing off old careers and old companies with too many deadfalls, and making room for new enterprise. That’s both terrifying and freeing.  That fresh start comes with a human price:  lost careers, lost lives, and sometimes lost hope.  But the end to things also creates an un-crossable firebreak in our lives too -- there’s no hanging on to something that’s been completely destroyed: you have no choice but to build from scratch and create something new.  When the fire’s gone, weep no more for the old things.  Sweep the ash from your heart.  Build again.

 

This beer was brewed during the 2009 Station Fires in California, and took its inspiration from that fire.  It’s big, red and woody, with a firery intensity from the hops.  Miller may CLAIM to be tripple-hopped, but this one really is:  hopped for bittering, hopped for aroma, and hopped again after fermentation, creating a coat-your-tongue intensity reminiscent of Pizza Port’s Shark Attack, or Pike’s Tandem Double, both of which are huge, spicy, Imperial Reds.  Here’s the recipe:

• 7 lbs Ultralight LME
• 2 lbs. 2-row barley
• 1 lb. flaked wheat
• 1 lb. Crystal 75L
• 8 oz. rye
• 8 oz. Munich
• 2.8 oz. Carafa
• 1 oz. Magnum pellet hops (AAU13.1%)(bittering)
• 2 oz. Centennial pellet hops (AAU10.4%)(aroma)
• WLP 002 English Ale yeast
• 2 oz. Columbus pellet hops (dry hopped)
• 1 oz. French oak chips

Fermented at 68° for two weeks, then transferred to secondary for dry-hopping and to sit on the French oak chips for another two weeks.  Racked again to get the beer off the hops and oak, then cold-conditioned for three weeks.  Bottled with 6 oz. corn sugar.

The label features an amateur photo taken August 30, 2009, near the Mount Wilson Observatory.

Brewed August 2009, and bottled late-October 2009.

Crush Dubbel-Wit

This was supposed to be a classic Belgian Wit with a spicy undertone and easy drinkability, but plussed-up in the style of Avery's White Rascal.  I had consulted Jamil Zainasheff's Brewing Classic Styles podcast, which is usually an authorative source, but this one was hosted by a fill-in who suggested that the brewer use a softball-sized addition of citrus zest, and said that "you can never get too much citrus in this beer."  Well, I should've known.  By the time this one fermented out, the orange flavor was overwhelming, so I decided to make this a bigger beer to try to balance it out by adding more sugar in the manner of Abbey Triples.  That helped, but the acid balance was still off, so I dosed it with lactic acid to taste.  It wasn't the phenolic Avery I aimed for, but it did have a nice big citrus quench, reminiscent of my favorite orange soda, Orange Crush.

-6 lbs. wheat malt extract

-1 lb. oat flakes (for smooth mouth feel)

-2 lbs. table sugar (1/2 in the boil, and 1/2 during secondary)

-2 oz. Crystal pellet hops (bittering)

-1/2 oz. fresh Chamomile Tea from Market Spice

-2 oz. crushed Indian Coriander Seed (1/2 in last 10 min. of boil and 1/2 dry-hopped in the secondary)

-a whopping softball-sized ball of citrus zest from tangerines, navel & blood oranges, grapefruit & lemon, plus orange marmalade (to mimic the Curacao peel)

-fermented with White Labs WLP410 at 64 degrees

-carbonated with 5 oz. dextrose plus an extra 3 oz. sucrose (to obtain that "Belgian" fizz)

The label is a variation on both the new and old Orange Crush Soda cans.  I added Ethiopian Emperor Haille Salassie's image, not because it has anything to do with Belgian beers, but because the colors matched the Crush signature colors so perfectly, and Selassie's larger-than-life reign was so over-the-top extreme that it seemed to fit with this extreme, citrusy, huge Belgian wit.

Brewed September 2008 with additions in October, November and December.  My first "Extreme Beer".

January 2009 Update.  The carbonation and bottle conditioning made a huge difference.  It's shocking, but the beer is much closer to the Avery than I expected based upon how it tasted in the Carboy.  When my Father-In-Law brewed his Celis White clone he initially hated it, waited a few months, then loved it.  What is it about Wits that bottle conditioning seems to make all the difference?  I'm even getting a nice Belgian funk as well.  Wow, I love it.  Caution:  Truly "Imperial" on the alcohol side.