GoodBelly Trials: What I've learned

GoodBelly, a name synonymous with fast souring.  If you haven't heard about this probiotic you need to check out "Milk the Funk" on Facebook.  Or read this. ;)  Now this isn't going to be a technical breakdown of pH reading or a boring textbook style processes(s).   This is going to be notes on the way I prepare a basic Berliner Weisse or Gose style beer that's simple to read and understand.

Starting off you have a couple ways to create a fast soured beer.  On the ones I've brewed, I've found that a blend between the 2 popular techniques works best for me.  A quick boil for about 15 mins then onto a hot heating pad.  Which is set at about 100°.  Boring right?  Well, I found the magic happens before brew day.  It's all about a large Goodbelly starter.  

Live and Brew Free: Fuck HOA's

With today being February 1st, the anniversary of Jimmy Carter legalizing homebrew I wanted to give a little history of whats happening with me personally in relation to brewing.  I know its long, please bear with me.

March 2012 I was at the hospital holding my sleeping 2 day old son when my phone rang.  (Thinking it was someone congratulating me on my newborn son.)  It was the legal council for my Home Owners Association.  Asking me about my Homebrewing activities.  There was an anonymous complaint. Typical in our Association.

It turns out I have a fan of this site that was also on the HOA Board of Directors.  However this fan hates anything alcohol related and rules the community with an iron fist attached to a gross, fat hateful body.

For those of you out there that live inside Home Owner Association's understand the complete dominance they have over every little detail of your daily life.  This association follows the same pattern.

Daydream with Me; a Oaked Mead & Tasting Session

When I partake in Mead, I tend to think about life.  Goals, family, work, friends of the past and friends I see everyday.  This always gets me emotional.  Sometimes sad, sometimes happy, however the end result is the same.  I tend to daydream.  Something about the mythical part of mead, I'm sure.  Having nothing to do with the warming, almost liquorish concoction headed into my stomach, I'm sure its the history of mead, not the other delicious reason ;) ...But the result is always the same.  Finding a spot between the grinds of daily life and the depths of substance abuse.  And I'm ok with that.  That is my happy place.  A place to Daydream.  Typically during a tasting session (Using the label "Tasting Session" trying to make it sound as official as I can for my 2015 v2 "Hold my Hand into the Sunset" series) I started to think about another mead.  The goal was a Honey Whiskey. 

Building a Jockey Box, my way

This is something that I've always wanted to build and own.  Something that if built correctly, should have years and years of enjoyment.  Before this my problem was, not how to build a Jockey Box, but how to build a Dream Jockey Box.  Something that works, all the time, tossing costs out the window.  Now this is more difficult than it seems.  Most Jockey Boxes (JB from here on out) are build to sell and not built to use.  What does that mean?  Simply put, they are price point items.  A good example is this one.  Which is mostly achieved by cutting corners on the cooling element(s) or the coil length.

So let me explain my thinking when trying to build my Dream Jockey Box:

• Coil Only, the hate for cold plates are well documented.  The hate for coils is solely length related.
• So two 120ft stainless coil are needed.  Please do NOT use Copper. 
• I wanted 2 taps, since more choices are better.  (remember you do not need to use both at the same time)
• Solid Metal cooler.  Staying away from the toss-a-way red and blue cheapies that don't hold ice more than an afternoon.
• Everything stainless.  From the shanks to the couplers to the nuts, no brass (hey... except the taps, which I'm changing soon.)
• Needs to last 10+ years with solid 10 to 12 uses per year over 3 to 4 days at a time.
• No drip collectors since when camping no one cares anyway. 
• Make it look freaking awesome if at all possible.

So my list was set.  A double tap setup in a metal cooler.  All stainless parts.   Seems simple enough. :)  right? 

Cheap Beer Line Cleaner System

If you'd ask me about cleaning my beer lines, I'd say I do it about every 2 weeks, until I really think about it.  In reality it's about every 5 to 6 weeks.  Whats worse, I think I clean my lines more frequently than most other homebrewers.  (Currently I'm replacing my keggor which allows me to see how important regular cleaning is.)  I have 4 taps on my old system.  2 of which have stainless shanks.  The other 2 are chrome plated brass.  Let just say, don't purchase chrome plated brass if you are building a keggor. (they are replaced on the new system)  No matter what you have, cleaning is essential to good beer. 

My cleaning ways of the past was filling up a scotty keg with Beer Line Cleaner (BLC) and running it thru my system into a bucket.  This system, easy as it is, didn't allow me to re-circle the cleaning liquid as directed on the bottle.  It was a one time shot thru the line, shank and then out the Perlicks. If a line needed extra cleaning, I was out of luck.  Having to blend more BLC into the keg and waste more Co2.  I needed something better.

NHC Conference Guide, 2015 San Diego

After 4 years, the American Homebrewers Association's National Conference is back in San Diego this June.  Along with being my hometown, San Diego is a top craftbeer city, created by its homebrewing roots.  Why else do you think the AHA sent the conference back to San Diego only after 4 years?

The AHA has their own guide, which you should read if it's your first time, but you should also check out my guide below for the conference.  Which might be a little more focused than the AHA's.  (You can also read my Philly 2013 NHC recap if your interested.)

First things first, San Diego is a car city.  If you want to hit the local craft spots, you need a car and a DD or a Taxi/Uber.  The San Diego Trolley does work, only if the spot you're looking for is along its route.  Which, most of the time, it isn't.  If you do rent a car, the Town and Country Hotel has a great parking lot, which does happen to be next to the Trolley station at Fashion Valley Mall.  Which sadly is the only outside food within walking distance (more on that later).  

Parallel World #2 & Tasting Session

The cat's out of the bag, Trois is not a true Brettanomyces Yeast (As most of you know by now).  It's a Sac yeast with uncharacteristically ale like qualities to put it best.  You can read all about it on the smarter homebrew blogs (most of them are linked to the right of this).  So what about this beer with Trois not being Brett.  Well for one, its still a damn good beer and that's all that matters.

A couple years ago I did my first Brett Trois IPA called Parallel World, this rebrew only shares the same name with the first variant.  New and improved, completely re-engineered from the ground up.  I wanted this to be a tropical fruit bomb.  Inspired by Ed Coffy over at Ales of the Riverwards.  He sent me a fantastic sample of his Not-Brett Riverwards IPA.  Without getting into details, it was wonderful.  I wanted to base this recipe off his idea of what a Trois IPA should be, turning into what I envisioned as the perfect tropical Trois IPA. 

Tonga, Rustic Pale Ale & Tasting Notes

So what's a Rustic Pale Ale?  I have no idea, but if it was a style, this beer would be in the style guidelines.  I lusted to create what I envisioned as a perfect pale ale, in fact a perfect beer in general, crafted for me.  Light, a little rough around the edges (to satisfy my Sour/Siason needs) and hoppy on the back end.  So I guess calling it a Rustic Pale Ale fits for me, and isn't that the point? 

Aroma:  Medium to low "hop aroma" but well balanced with rye peppered notes pairing into soft green grape stem-ish aroma coming from the Nelson hops.  Medium to high hop aroma.

Appearance:  Golden Yellow, brilliantly clear.  Fluffy white head, lingers longer than I've seen on a pale ale.  The lacing down the glass is textbook.  Everything about this beer screams "Drink Me!" Don't the carbonation bubbles traveling up the glass in that shot look quaffable?

2015 America's Finest Homebrew Competition Results

As normal, I enter 2 beer competitions a year.  Quaff's, America's Finest Homebrew Competition (AFC) is a test place for my National Homebrew Competiton entries. AFC is a really large competition at around 600 entries and its local which I like.  I've always received solid feedback on the beers I've sent. 

This year I entered 4 beers into AFC, 2 of them are sold contenders, the other 2 are ok beers but really don't have a place in the BJCP guidelines.  It ended up working out as I thought and the 2 better beers metaled.

My thoughts are below.

Farmers Daughter 2013, Blend #2:  Scored a 41/50 Overall. Category #17B Flanders Red Ale. 3rd Place, America's Finest City Homebrew Competition 2015

Judge #1, Not Stated 39/50

Aroma: 9/12 Sour, Black cherries, hint of diacetyl.  Some vanilla notes that blend well and support the rest of the noted. 

Appearance: 3/3  Deep Red clear, moderate white head that lingers for several minutes.  Lingering lacey white head

Flavor: 16/20 Cherry fruitness, bit spicy, moderate sour character, some hop bitterness.  Bready, caramel maltiness that supports it all.

Mouthfeel: 4/5 Moderate in body and high in carbonation, light sweet finish

Overall Impression: 7/10 Great Job! Some of the sourness in the flavor overpowered everything else

The Naked: Series, What I've learned

In April 2014, I brewed what might be the best Pale Ale recipe I've encountered.  The recipe, posted on HomebrewTalk.  Is formulated from Russian Rivers Pale Ale, Row 2 Hill 56.  Using 100% Simcoe hops, created as a tribute to the hop that Vinnie saved from being pulled from the ground for being to aggressive.  As the story goes of course.  After my clone was completed I started brewing the second clone.  Keeping everything the same except fermenting it at a lower temperature (64° vs 66°).  Because I'm a homebrewer and the temptation to change something is overwhelming. This went on for 6 batches, not changing anything on the recipe, just enjoying the fruits of my labor.  Then Ed Coffey posted a link for a new hop variety I've never seen before.   Called Azacca which I still can't figure out how to pronounce.  (If anyone wanted to inform me how it would be awesome, I just call it Azz"ca") And his (Ed's) planned split brewday using this hop.  Showcasing big orange zest paired with pine notes according to the growers website, a couple clicks later it was being shipped to my house.

Upon arrival, I really didn't know what to use it for.  My original thoughts were a Saison to push the orange zest notes the hop advertised.  (Which I still should do) The idea slowly changed into a SMaSh beer to pull my thoughts concerning this new hop.  However, I remembered I hate SMaSh beers.  Using single malts just can't hold up to the hops. (My opinion)  But I've never brewed a single hopped beer...or have I?  This fantastic Russian River Row 2 Hill 56 beer that I've brewed 6 batches  is single hopped. 

Homebrew Presentation, It Goes a Long Way.

Sometimes it's not what's in the bottle, it's how the bottle presents itself.  Are the labels off?  Is the cap on straight?  Any signs of rust?  How's the fill level?  These are all honest questions to ask yourself before handing anyone a bottle of your homebrewed Beer or Mead.  Lets start the new year off right and forget your promises to hit the gym and focus on something important.  The hobby you love. 

A lot of thought goes into the way I package my homebrewed.  While I have no intentions of selling my homebrewed beer and mead, I do want it to look professional.  The level of cost(s) and how you get there is really up to you.  (All of the ideas below are gauged at homebrew that is NOT meant for competition.  For comps, a new bottle and some blue tape on top is about perfect IMO.)

Farmers Daughter 2013 Blend #2 & Tasting Session

Taking some Tasting Session notes while brewing at a buddies house in EastLake

Last June, I got together with Eric, Danny and Sisco to blend our 2013 Flanders Red Ale.  (Which we normally do each September, but the timing was off this year) Eric, Danny and myself all had variants of our house Flanders ready to go.  Plus, I always brew a clean malty beer for some added mouthfeel (if needed) during blending.  Here is a quick overview of the beers we used.

1. Eric brought his Flanders Red ale fermented w/ DeeperRoots Flanders House blend yeast*
2. Danny brought his Flanders Red ale fermented w/ DeeperRoots Flanders House blend yeast*
3. I brought my Gail Belgian Dark Strong, fermented clean w/ WLP550 Yeast
4. I brought my Invocation American Sour Ale , 100% Wild, which had really gotten clean and tart.
5. I brought my 2013 Farmers Daughter 2013 Base (recipe below) fermented with my house Flanders pitch (Called LB-Flanders) *1

Hold my Hand into the Sunset; Blended Brett Mead & Tasting Session

Everything looks so nice after a San Diego downpour

 *Update 12/11/2014 - There has been a lot of chatter about Brett Trois not containing any Brett.  To see a good story about it, please read this story. 

People seem to love Brett IPA's, Brett Saisons and even some Brett Wheat beers, so always confuses me when Meads are not included into this statement.  Lets go over the facts, meads are perfect avenues for honey to show off fruit and spices.  Brettanomyces during primary fermentation pushes these fruit phenolics and spices.  So creating a fruit forward mead, paired with a fruit producing yeast seems like the perfect combination right?  Well I think so, with some small issues that we can overcome.

If you've seen my other posts you know I love 71B for my meads. Its quick, its easy and it fly's through fermentation when treated right.  However, the more and more I use Brett Trois and Brett C, the more I want to explore what these yeast can do, especially in meads.

This started off as two meads, one clean and one Brett fermented.  The clean mead was a "Quick, lets make this while brewing this other IPA." mead.  The Brett was a little more planned. 

"Cit" Tronic IPA & Tasting Session

Citra was the cool hop before we even knew hops could be this cool.  Rising to fame in late 2008/09.  Bringing flavors most beer drinkers didn't know were possible.  That's what inspired this recipe.  Citra Blast was first brewed back in early 2013 (based on Kern River's Citra IPA), followed by a couple more re-brews tweaking this or that.  Until it was changed into "Cit"tronic IPA.  This beer is a beer designed for IPA lovers for what it isn't.  No big punches of dankness, pine or resinous hops.  Only tropical, mango flavors of citra.

For those of you keeping count, this was brewed 5 (starting with Citra Blast) times over the last 2 years, with this one headed in a slightly different direction vs the others.  The use of a hop back or a "Randel", if you wanted to use its trade name.  (I went into detail about using a Blichmann Hopback a couple years back and decided it was more show than go.  So I built a Customized Randel the way I thought it would work best and it does) 

Now what to fill the Randel with?  Pairing Citra hops with citrus seemed best.  Focusing in on Grapefruit zest and some pulp.  No rind.  Using the zest of 2 grapefruit and the fruit of one.  Peeling as much of the white rind as I could off.  Chunked it up with a knife and filled the Randel once the beer was carbonated.


Aroma: Grapefruit zest, maybe a little soapy.. from the zest?  Starts off on the sweeter side (grapefruit) then goes into a tart grapefruit zesty ending. I can't explain how big the grapefruit notes are coming off this beer.

Appearance:  Hazy, no clearing agents used in boil or keg.  (It also is going thru a hopback) Big foamy head which fades quickly.  Leaving solid lacing rings down the glass as you quaff it down.

Naked: Columbus & Tasting Session

This is a ongoing "Naked:" hop experiment using Russian Rivers Row 2 Hill 56 base grain. 

Columbus was the first modern hop downfall.  Columbus, being such a high alpha hop, was grown to excess though the late 2000's. Creating thousands of pounds siting outside the palletizing factories.  Farmers, unwilling to spend more money on palletizing this hop and enter it into a flooded market, sat in inventory for years.  Due to this oversaturation, Columbus had a low price point.  Almost to low to sustain.  Causing farmers to change over to different, more profitable varieties.  Homebrewers who knew a good deal picked this hop up by the pounds.  By then, the damage was done.  Homebrewers didn't want to spend much over the faux low price point on this hop they became accustomed to.  It also gave the hop a bad name to some newer homebrewers. Who looked at Columbus as a low cost, subpar hop.  The reality is, Columbus is a beautiful hop, very closely profile wise to Chinook and Galena (In my experience) which is why I chose to include Columbus into this hop experiment.

The parameters are the same.  The grains would stay the same as the Russian River, Row 2 Hill 56 Pale ale recipe.  The IBU's would be adjusted to stay the same as the original recipe.  The dry hopping would stay at 2 ounces.  The brew day was uneventful.  All the numbers hit spot on.

 
Aroma: Mr. Clean-ish, showing a little pine chemical nose to it.  Maybe even closer to Pinesol.  Big hints of a resinous dank character, only a big classic American hop can provide.

Appearance:  Amazing clarity.  (No finings)  The most brilliant golden sunshine yellow liquid makes this appear quaffable.  Carbonation bubbles were still running up the side of the glass as I wrote this. The head as the smallest bubbles I've seen using this base recipe.  Solid white head at about half an inch when poured correctly.  The head tends to linger for the duration of the tasting.  Which, appearance wise is awesome. 

Stumbling into my 1st Cider Part #3 & Tasting Session

 

 

Continuing on my journey attempting to make a quaffable cider, (if your catching up please read part #1 and part #2) With all the fermentation things done, this cider's ready to bottle.  I wanted to bottle all, leaving none on draft, so stopping any future (potential) fermentation is of vast importance.  I always try to avoid adding any chemicals into my beers or ciders.  So using any type of sorbates is out of the question.  Bottling with my Blichmann beer gun under pressure and pasteurizing them on my stove is the way to go.

Axis Of Evil, German Weizen & Tasting Session

Before I jump into this post, I wanted to clear up a couple things.  This beer was created for my wife and yes, its named "Axis of Evil" because I love her and she loves (tolerates) my hobby far more than most.  The name is a joke on how awesome she is when it comes to my hobby, plus it being a German Weizen helps a lot.  So, I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea concerning the history of the name. 

My wife has a taste for Hefe-weizen's.  The problem is I don't.  So when creating a recipe I had to make her convey what she wanted in the beer without me really understanding the style, flavor profile or understanding what she really wanted.  It started off as creating a recipe for a Orange/Lemon American style Hefeweizen.  I did a double decoction trying to get this right.  I thought the end result was spot on to the style I understood she wanted.  Come to find out she wanted a German take on the style.  The recipe was scrapped and I started over again.  (after 2 attempts BTW)

Switching to White Labs WLP300 was key.  I started using the WLP320 and hated it. Way to many esters for what we were looking for.  I also started this recipe looking for an American profile, which slowly changed over to a newer German feel.  WLP300's key a low fermentation temperature, under 65. (My target for this beer is 63.)  When starting low, you get a better balanced ripe banana to clove profile.  When starting above 67 I started to get a bigger green, unripe banana to harsh clove phenols created by the yeast.  I find this (What I call green banana) harsh and a red flag concerning a bad fermentation.  Now the harsher clove doesn't bother me as much, but it seems they are created together so you might as well stay low on the fermentation temps.

For the hops I knew I wanted to use hallertauer, mostly because I had a large amount sealed in the freezer.  Pairing this with a German Pils and 52% of various types of Wheat Malt.  The Melanoidien Malt was slid in to mimic a traditional double decoction mash.   Which for this recipe I didn't want to continue doing.  I can tell its lost some complexity, but not at the expense of the recipe.  I've found this beer a challenge overall, having brewed this 6 times, 4 on this final recipe I am happy to say this is right where my wife wants it to be.



Aroma: Hints of bubble gum paired with a background of clove.  I get a rounded malt sweetness that is almost "fluffy".

Appearance:  A solid white head that commands attention sitting on top of a ripe banana yellow hazy liquid.  This beer is solidly hazy. Which is needed for the style.  The lacing on this beer can not be forgotten, rings remembering each sip remain on the glass. 

Naked: Chinook & Tasting Session

This is a ongoing "Naked:" hop experiment using Russian Rivers Row 2 Hill 56 base grain. 

When starting this Naked: series I knew it would be an awesome hop showcase (want to know why?  Start at the beginning) Simplicity is the key, as in anything Pale Ale related.  That what makes this experiment so exciting as a homebrewer.  Using this grain base has really elevated my brewing and I am only on the 4th batch of this experiment.  

Chinook started as my go to IPA hop back in the early 2000's.  It was cheap, available and tasty as a bittering or an aroma addition.  Using Chinook as a single hop in a Pale Ale or even a small IPA isn't a new idea to me (or most anyone else) I just haven't been able to pinpoint a recipe worth creating in my mind.  Thoughts of 100% Vienna or Maris Otter bounced back and forth until this recipe base was settled on.

The taste profile for Chinook is classically American.  Big grapefruit, sometimes pungent suggestions of mountain pine and resin (especially as a dry hop) with citrus and fragrant dried herb in the background.  This hop is classically American and has seen a resurgence with the influence of homebrewers turning into professional brewers over the last couple of years.  At one point it even became harder and harder to find.  This is along the same lines as Centennial.  Both these hops have a deep history tied in with the rise of Homebrewers becoming professionals.



Aroma: Sweet dried herbs, similar to dried flowers or potpourri.  A resinous pine character at the end.  

Appearance:  Pilsner like, amazing clarity.  The picture above doesn't do this clarity justice.  Brite white head with larger than normal carbonation bubbles.  A little on the over carbed side.  Which creates a nice cascading bubbling effect form the bottom of the glass. 

Melody/Sensation Blended Mead Tasting Session

Sometimes the final product is nothing like the original intentions when crafting the recipe.  Originally two Meads, one Blackberry and the other a berry mix from Costco (Mulberry, Blackberry and Blueberry).  Both using 1.5# per gallon of fruit (added cold) dropped into secondary for 40 days after it was racked, cleared and racked again.  When pulling samples, they both felt like they needed something else, so what's a homebrewer to do besides blend them together?   

I pulled off 1.5 gallons of each Mead and blended.  Placing them into a Scotty keg.  Once blended I tossed them into my lagering fridge.  There it sat cold for about a month before I decided to bottle them with my Blichmann Beer Gun.  During this time they cleared up really well, bottling with a hint of Co2, creating about .5 volume with no clarifying agents.  The Co2 was just for some crispness on the final Mead.


Bouquet/Aroma:  Blueberries, strawberry and stone fruit.  Some crisp acidic or tart sharpness on the back end.  Some heat in the nose. 

Appearance:  Outstandingly beautiful.  Gem like clarity.  The sides are a rose colored plum, with the highlights almost ruby red.   

Naked: Simcoe vs Azacca Hop Experiment & Tasting Session

Russian Rivers' all Simcoe Row 2 Hill 56 Pale Ale might be the perfect Pale Ale.  To understand how well put together this beer is you don't need to be a hop head or a beer nerd.  Its perfectly balanced against the simple hop bill.  Tossing Simcoe on top of Simcoe to create a ubber drinkable Pale Ale.  Russian River has out done itself showcasing how beautifully Simcoe can stand alone in a recipe. But is this recipe built around Simcoe?  Or is this recipe build around a malt base that just works?  Personally, I think this recipe so well crafted that almost any hop will work within it's grain bill.  So I chose to put it to the test. 

The recipes are based off HomebrewTalk's.com Row 2 Hill 56 (R2H56) clone. (The recipe seems/tastes spot to the original.)  Then brewing another beer with Azacca Hops (same grains and expected IUB's) with all Azacca hops to test out the sturdiness of the recipe for a planned "Naked:" Single Hop Pale Ale Experiment using my personal favorite hop varietals. 

Azacca is a new highly talked about hop formally known as Experimental Hop #483.  This hop is going for the nitch IPA market.  With keywords of grapefruit, fresh citrus, orange, tropical, pineapple and fresh. Which, just about every hop is using now days.  Making the selection of a new hop very difficult for a homebrewer. 

Copying these 2 beers is the key, ensuring a spot on comparison by brewing them back to back in the same fermentation chamber.  Comparing the pros and cons of each single hopped beer paired together with the same base grain, hopefully better educating myself with this new hop "Azacca".

As you can see from the above picture, Simcoe (above left) has a small amount of chill haze compared to the Azacca (above right) which is much clearer. But the numbers and colors are spot on to each other, but how do they stack up?

Naked: Azacca Pale, Tasting Notes:

Aroma:  Big bunches of grapefruit pith (white meat), much more than the zest I smelled when opening the bag of  hops.  Somehow some orange and something resembling cascade are showing up in the backround.