This morning, I bottled the Petite Saison d'Ete into 43 bottles plus one 22-oz. bomber. Everything went smoothly and the whole procedure lasted about 3 hours, including clean up.
I did get some help from both kids today, too. The younger one put the bottles back in the cases after I capped them, and the elder (who was my helper on brew day) labeled the caps with a big S for saison. On bottling day, there really isn't much to help with, and I had done most of the work anyway before the were even out of bed.
The biggest thing I look forward to on bottling day is tasting the beer's progress. I have to bear in mind that the beer is flat (they carbonate in the bottles) and warm, but tasting still gives a good indication of where the flavor is heading.
At bottling today, the saison tasted surprisingly similar to Boulevard's witbier I just bought a week or two ago. When I opened the fermenter, I was struck by the pleasant clove notes, and wifey tasted banana and nutmeg in the sample I pulled. To say the least, I'm very excited about how this beer is going to develop in its bottle conditioning over the next 2-3 weeks.
Before I move the beer from the fermenter to the bottling bucket, I measure the density (specific gravity) of the beer with a hydrometer. By measuring the gravity before and after fermentation, I can tell about how much alcohol by volume (abv) was produced. With an original gravity of 1.044 (water is 1.000) and a final gravity of 1.005, we should end up with 5.2% abv. My target original gravity of 1.041 and target final of 1.008 projected an abv of 4.4%. Looks like my saison may not be so petite after all.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Boulevard Summer Seasonal: ZON
I headed to my corner beer store last weekend hoping to try something I hadn't had before. I just learned about a microbrewery called Tallgrass, out of Manhattan, Kansas. I wanted to try their oatmeal stout, but alas! it was not to be. The store carried another brew from Tallgrass, but not the Buffalo Sweat.
But they did have the summer seasonal from Boulevard Brewing Company here in good old KC: ZON (pronounced "zone"). Despite this seasonal being brewed for at least the last 10 years, this was the first I'd seen it. It fit the bill for being something new to me, so I grabbed the store's last six pack.
ZON is a Belgian witbier ("white beer"), a style that is characterized by very light color, a banana and clove aroma, flavored with coriander and orange peel, and having a light to medium body. Belgian wits often appeal to non beer drinkers, since the hop bitterness and alcohol character are both low, and the beer is filled with flavors that are not characteristic of American ales.
I loved this beer from the moment I poured. The color is a pale straw blonde, and very cloudy - as with many Belgians, it's best to swirl the last inch or two in the bottle to pick the yeast sediment back up into suspension and pour all of it into the glass. After all, it's the yeast that gives the wit so much of its personality.
The aroma was fantastic - prominent notes of cloves, and not as much banana as I was expecting. Most wits are best served at around 50 degrees F (about 10-15 minutes out of the fridge), and it's at these warmer temps that you can pick up more of the complexity. The higher degree of carbonation gives the beer a nice head that sticks around. ZON's flavor has a very mild herbal spiciness from the coriander, and the orange peel - which is easier to pick out - balances it nicely.
ZON comes in at 4.4% alcohol by volume, but the fruity and spicy profile hides a lot of that alcohol character that we're used to in the US.
I know that Boulevard distributes widely across the country. If you're able to pick up a six pack locally, you wont' be disappointed. And if you are, I'll gladly finish the rest off for you.
But they did have the summer seasonal from Boulevard Brewing Company here in good old KC: ZON (pronounced "zone"). Despite this seasonal being brewed for at least the last 10 years, this was the first I'd seen it. It fit the bill for being something new to me, so I grabbed the store's last six pack.
ZON is a Belgian witbier ("white beer"), a style that is characterized by very light color, a banana and clove aroma, flavored with coriander and orange peel, and having a light to medium body. Belgian wits often appeal to non beer drinkers, since the hop bitterness and alcohol character are both low, and the beer is filled with flavors that are not characteristic of American ales.
I loved this beer from the moment I poured. The color is a pale straw blonde, and very cloudy - as with many Belgians, it's best to swirl the last inch or two in the bottle to pick the yeast sediment back up into suspension and pour all of it into the glass. After all, it's the yeast that gives the wit so much of its personality.
The aroma was fantastic - prominent notes of cloves, and not as much banana as I was expecting. Most wits are best served at around 50 degrees F (about 10-15 minutes out of the fridge), and it's at these warmer temps that you can pick up more of the complexity. The higher degree of carbonation gives the beer a nice head that sticks around. ZON's flavor has a very mild herbal spiciness from the coriander, and the orange peel - which is easier to pick out - balances it nicely.
ZON comes in at 4.4% alcohol by volume, but the fruity and spicy profile hides a lot of that alcohol character that we're used to in the US.
I know that Boulevard distributes widely across the country. If you're able to pick up a six pack locally, you wont' be disappointed. And if you are, I'll gladly finish the rest off for you.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
How It All Started
I've been asked more than a few times what got me started in the hobby of making my own beer at home.
A few years ago, Alton Brown on Good Eats showed how easy it is to brew your own beer. I was fascinated that you could even do such a thing. My palette was already refining with my other favorite brewed beverage - coffee. I knew there would be equipment to purchase for homebrewing beer, and I didn't know that I'd enjoy the hobby enough to warrant the expense.
Just this last fall, I discovered that a coworker of mine homebrews. His next brew was going to be an oatmeal stout, and he invited me to join him. It was four of the funnest hours I'd had in quite a while. He walked me through all the steps of the brewing process. We shared leftover enchiladas for lunch, and I tasted a couple of his beers. My favorite was a pumpkin ale that he and one of his brew buddies had done, and it was exactly the kind of beer I would have paid for at the store. I was hooked.
A month later, he invited my whole family to join his for dinner, and to bottle the oatmeal stout. Our kids played games, our wives chatted, we got down to business. Bottling was simple - in fact, I found that nothing in the whole hobby was terribly complicated. And I enjoyed yet another of his beers with our spaghetti casserole dinner.
I saw from a couple of catalogs that I could get into all the equipment I needed for around $200. I saved my pennies and made the purchase, and I enjoyed my very first brew day this last January. When I cracked open my first amber ale six weeks later, I was speechless at how well the recipe had come together and how easy it was.
I have four brews under my belt now, including the saison that went into the fermenter just this last weekend. I think I'm going to be hanging onto this hobby for a while.
A few years ago, Alton Brown on Good Eats showed how easy it is to brew your own beer. I was fascinated that you could even do such a thing. My palette was already refining with my other favorite brewed beverage - coffee. I knew there would be equipment to purchase for homebrewing beer, and I didn't know that I'd enjoy the hobby enough to warrant the expense.
Just this last fall, I discovered that a coworker of mine homebrews. His next brew was going to be an oatmeal stout, and he invited me to join him. It was four of the funnest hours I'd had in quite a while. He walked me through all the steps of the brewing process. We shared leftover enchiladas for lunch, and I tasted a couple of his beers. My favorite was a pumpkin ale that he and one of his brew buddies had done, and it was exactly the kind of beer I would have paid for at the store. I was hooked.
A month later, he invited my whole family to join his for dinner, and to bottle the oatmeal stout. Our kids played games, our wives chatted, we got down to business. Bottling was simple - in fact, I found that nothing in the whole hobby was terribly complicated. And I enjoyed yet another of his beers with our spaghetti casserole dinner.
I saw from a couple of catalogs that I could get into all the equipment I needed for around $200. I saved my pennies and made the purchase, and I enjoyed my very first brew day this last January. When I cracked open my first amber ale six weeks later, I was speechless at how well the recipe had come together and how easy it was.
I have four brews under my belt now, including the saison that went into the fermenter just this last weekend. I think I'm going to be hanging onto this hobby for a while.
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Brew Day with Dad
It comes around for me about once every other month - brew day! Today's brew: the Petite Saison d'Ete from Northern Brewer.
I've never brewed a saison - I've never even tried a saison - but rumor has it it's a great summer beer. Northern Brewer says:
Today was a special brew day, because my 9-year-old daughter helped. She gets as excited about brew days as I do. She probably picks up on the positive energy from me and wants to share the excitement. But wherever she gets that energy, we did everything today together. We cleaned and sanitized the equipment together, weighed out the hops together, she stirred while I added the malt extract, and together we tasted the wort - the liquid before the yeast is added and truly becomes beer. She loved the sweetness of the wort after we added the malt, but she wasn't crazy about the bitterness after we started adding the hops. To be honest, neither was I (it'll mellow and develop over time), but it sure is fun tasting the brew at each stage of the process.
She did leave me to clean up all the equipment afterward by myself. Smart kid.
It'll be a hard wait, but after three weeks in the fermenting bucket and three weeks conditioning in the bottle, I'll get to taste my first saison. And maybe I'll have to name it to commemorate today's daddy-daughter brewing session.
I've never brewed a saison - I've never even tried a saison - but rumor has it it's a great summer beer. Northern Brewer says:
This session-strength Saison of summer pours tawny-gold and perfumes the air with tangy yeast and pungent hop aromas. The flavor is lightly earthy with spicy, flowery hops and a grain-and-bread malt character; caramel malt dukes it out with Saaz and Styrian Goldings through the middle before a palate-cleansingly dry finish.In about six weeks, we'll see how that pans out.
Today was a special brew day, because my 9-year-old daughter helped. She gets as excited about brew days as I do. She probably picks up on the positive energy from me and wants to share the excitement. But wherever she gets that energy, we did everything today together. We cleaned and sanitized the equipment together, weighed out the hops together, she stirred while I added the malt extract, and together we tasted the wort - the liquid before the yeast is added and truly becomes beer. She loved the sweetness of the wort after we added the malt, but she wasn't crazy about the bitterness after we started adding the hops. To be honest, neither was I (it'll mellow and develop over time), but it sure is fun tasting the brew at each stage of the process.
She did leave me to clean up all the equipment afterward by myself. Smart kid.
It'll be a hard wait, but after three weeks in the fermenting bucket and three weeks conditioning in the bottle, I'll get to taste my first saison. And maybe I'll have to name it to commemorate today's daddy-daughter brewing session.
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