What Homebrew Are You Drinking Now? (2019)

Currently enjoying the final gallon of an India Pale Red I brewed in October last year. It started out a bit too bitter, but really found itself about three weeks after kegging.

I'm about a week away from first pour of another IPA, this one is Maris Otter + Mosaic/Galaxy. Excited to have this one back on tap. Last two batches of this recipe have been missing some foundational bitterness, so I added 1 oz of Magnum hops at 60min ... we'll see if that was a pinch too much.

 

My freshly tapped Weizenbock – 7.8% (as of last night, but now reposting)

Really like how this came out… The nose is banana, no denying that. Beyond that, you get a little bready caramel and clove in the background. Taste wise, immediately is banana which quickly changes to a fairly dominate clove/spice character, which was surprising to me, mid-palate with a little sweetness and a dark fruit/raisin note late on the finish. It’s more complex than I expected, in a great way. My girlfriend who doesn’t care for these styles at all (any hefe-yeast based beer) kept wanting more, which surprised me, but she made comment it was just a fun/unique flavor experience. I’d have to agree!


I’d consider this one a success. It’s still a bit young (and slightly undercarbed, shy of the 3.0 vol target yet), but over the next few weeks I think this one will be even more impressive for sure!

 

Repost from 1/1/2019. Barrel aged imperial stout brewed 1/1/2017. Bottle conditioned and it's holding up well! The booze has slightly mellowed and I didn't get any oxidative notes.

 

Wow, gettin kinda picky ,,,aren't we?

 

I keep changing my mind on the cream ale-ish or maybe CAP-ish batch that I decided to dry hop with Pekko. Last month it seemed delicious. But now the hop character has taken on a sort of grassy and eucalyptus-y character. Herbal to the point of being a distraction. I believe I have 6 or 7 oz of this hop left, and am considering using it only for bittering additions; high alpha may be the best thing it has going now. Or maybe my glass is dirty.

 

bacon,dill, porter.

 

Ok, now I’m intrigued... how does it taste?

 

The dill in theory would balance some of the caramel malt. Not so good this time

 

The bacon was whole other debacle.

 

A very clear and bit old Citra Mosaic IPA

 

Straight-up American Stout.

Fairly simple grain bill of 2-row, chocolate, BRB and a touch of C120.
All-Chinook hops to 65 IBU.
US-05 ferment.

Very happy with how this one turned out. Roasty, bitter baker's chocolate, touch of coffee and a decent hop bite, with enough residual sweetness to balance it out. It reminds me of some of my favorites like Obsidian and Sierra Nevada Stout, so I can't complain.

I fermented the other half of this batch with Hornindal Kveik, which turned out pretty tasty as well. But, the good 'ol US-05 version beat it out, IMO!

 

I am drinking a delicious pseudolager made with #1Gjernes Kveik (omega) with Pils malt, naked oats and Rye malt at approximately 5% abv and 30 IBU from green bullet hops. I I was VERY disappointed with this beer at first. It had a tart finish that made me think I had gotten a contamination with lacto , so I was very close to dumping it. The beer was a sort of test to see if my discount hops were still viable. I threw them all away last week. I was about to dump the beer as well but I remembered that I "always" get this with relatively low hopped beers and pils malt (I have 20ish allgrain brews under my belt by now), so I checked my water against local (Oslo) brewing blogs and Martin Brungaard and realized that I likely had too low buffering capacity. I threw in some sodium bicarbonate and mixed in my corny. The next day the beer was great. A big learning experience for me and now a great beer (a last), but I am regretting the kg of hops I threw away

 

Attempted Sam Smith IPA Clone - came out a bit low on ABV but pretty satisfied, so maybe more a wanna-be timothy taylor landlord. Used WY1469, very satisfied. Will crush better and add a touch more fuggles at the end next time...

 

Simcoe Azacca IPA

 

Hybrid ipa. 2row, Vienna, Munich, Crystal 40. A shit ton of centennial and Columbus in the boil like a traditional ipa. Then dry hopped day 2 of fermentation with all Columbus like a neipa. Fermented with Hornindal kviek. Definitely dank and some orange citrus playing in the background. Yeast is completely hidden unexpectedly. I’d reckon this is probably around 70-90ibu. I’m attributing the haze to dry hopping during biotransformation and no gelatin. Not bad for a 2 hour brew day.

 

More Weizenbock.

 

The blonde ale I brewed on Xmas eve! The hydrometer and my eyeballs insisted it was ready so I cold crashed and kegged on Thursday. Just tapped it. Mostly nice already, a little astringency in the background but good malt character and very clean. Should be great with another week of cold conditioning.

At my workplace I have to periodically get re-certified for my technical qualifications. In my homebrewing I'm usually making IPA's, sours, big stouts or Belgian styles so making a milder flavored beer with no place to hide imperfections is sort of a re-certification of my brewing skills. This one seems to be going well.