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

Dub Siren Saison

This is a Belgian/French Strong Ale done with the classic Saison Du Pont yeast.  With the acidulated malt, wheat and the bitter orange peel, it has the tart mouth of a classic Wit, but the wonderful phenolic nose of a Saison, plus a pepper bite.  Also, because I couldn’t get the DuPont strain to finish low enough, I brewed-up a Belgian Ardennes starter about three-quarters of the way through fermentation, and pitched that to get the beer to finish, so it also has a little bit of that Belgian funk present.  Think Avery White Rascal crossed with a Belgian Triple and you get close.  The recipe is the Saison Etè from the Woodland Hills HBWC Shop.

• 4 oz. German acid malt
• 12 oz. German wheat malt
• 8 oz. German Vienna
• 9 lbs. pale liquid malt extract
• 1 lb. Belgian rock candy sugar
• 1.65 oz. Styrian Goldings hops (bittering)
• 2 oz. Czech Saaz (aroma)
• 1 tsp. coriander seed
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorn
• 1/2 oz. bitter orange peel
• Fermented with Wyeast 3724 Saison yeast at 68-80, then finished with Wyeast 3522 Belgian Ardennes.

For the label, I started with a Mermaid theme, but found this wonderful Club-Princess mermaid and just cropped the top third of the photo, and “dubbed” her the Dub Siren.  It just felt right.  The QR code takes you here.

Brewed:  June 2011 from a birthday gift, and Bottled July 2011.  Excellent result, will definitely brew again.  Wife loves it.

Black Dog Jaggery Ale

Throughout his life, Winston Churchill would lie in bed for days, crippled by deep depression.  He described these periods as his “Black Dog” days.  What an incredible man who could still manage to work fiendishly during these bouts, commanding naval maneuvers or orchestrating The Battle of Britain while the “Black Dog came to visit, and lay on my chest”, as Churchill would say.  I guess naming his angst was his way of controlling and isolating it – it wasn’t who he was -- he wouldn’t let it define him.  It was this “other thing” that came to visit periodically, but could be tricked into eventually leaving, like a stray dog.

This English ale is exactly the kind of drink you might offer a man during those dark days, and our current ones – dark, strong, with a peppery mix of ginger, anise, cardamom and allspice – a tonic to warm the soul.  This one is for the strong of heart, as strong as the Lion of Winter himself.  My homage:

Fo’ when the black dog crush your vest,                                                Take a nip,                                                            Mister,                                                                                                                       You’ll earn the rest                                                                                           Fo’ kith, ‘n kin, and hearth, and valor                                               Blood, sweat, tears, toil, guts and pallor                                              Take a nip, and tuck it in                                                                                   and face the belt, like Gunga Din                                                                So’s brace yourself,                                                                                          with all your might                                                                                           With one good drink,                                                                                            For ONE more fight.

Bully for you Mr. Churchill.  Here’s the recipe:

• 3 lbs dark dry malt extract
• 3.3 lbs liquid dark malt extract
• ½ lb. chocolate malt
• ¾ lb. crystal 40L
• 2 oz. Cascade (bittering)
• 1 oz. Willamette (aroma)
• 6 gals. spring water
• 3 lbs. ginger (40 oz. after skin is peeled) – 30 oz. at 45 mins., 10 oz. at 5 mins.
• 1 lb. Piloncillo sugar (Jaggery)
• 1 lb. lactose
• Wyeast 1968 (English So., because it ferments-out with residual sweetness)
• Dry-hopped with black Indian cardammom, sasparilla, star anise, and allspice
• ¾ cup corn sugar (priming)

Brewed May 2008.  With the 3 pounds of ginger I was aiming for a huge peppery-heat flavor, but didn’t realize how astringent ginger can be – waited 8 months for the ginger to drop out, then dosed it with the other spices to develop more complexity and balance in the spice profile.  It worked.  Bottled April 2009.

A Winter's T'Ale

This is a winter-warmer, done in the style of Pyramid's Snowcap or Redhook's Winterhook.  It's a big beer, with 3/4 lb. crystal malt, 1/4 lb. chocolate malt, 9 1/2 lbs. golden liquid malt extract, 3 oz. Willamette, and fermented with the same Wyeast 1728 Scottish ale yeast used for the Christmas beer. The label is inspired by the stark, snowy days of November, and the bare Winter-time deciduous forests of Nebraska.  I saw Jeremy Irons play the lead in Shakespeare's "The Winter's Tale", and I've never forgotten the cool blue lighting used in the Stratford-Upon-Avon set.

I paired the the winter imagery with an equally stark poem.  My Uncle Bob is the "knarled tree" in the story.  At age 14, my parents were both dead, and I felt overwhelmed and lost.  Bob was a rough, harsh character, with lots of crazy ideas in his head, but he was literally the only one among my aunts and uncles who reached out to me.  His tales of my parents were like those Greek myths of fierce strength and tenacity, and kept me clear about who I could be.  I didn't have my father and mother, but I had their stories, and that kept me whole.    Thank you Uncle Bob for providing the windbreak this sprout needed to survive.

Brewed October 2008.