Homebrew #2 - Oatmeal Stout

After a very vigorous pour, a one-finger head foams and resembles the carbonation of quickly poured Coke. I really wanted this stout to contain red highlights enhancing the appearance, but sadly, no red highlights are present in the head. The head retention of my stout is weak because foamy head vanished within 1-2 minutes after being poured. It was pitch black with no light penetrating the body. My first attempt at making a stout, looks like a stout. Hooray!

The aroma contains three distinctive smells. First, the oats are present, but are not prominent in the aroma. They add a nice malt character, but I wish there was more malt sweetness, so if I brew this stout again, I am thinking about adding more oatmeal into increase the sweetness through fermentable sugars. Second, bitter chocolate wafts and is quite pleasant. This is the most dominating smell within the aromatic profile. Third, Fuggle Hops are present, but they are faint. The earthy spiciness the Fuggle hops provided works quite well with the other smells. I really like this part of the aroma, so I am contemplating dry-hopping this stout with Fuggles or another hop varietal to increase the hop presence; only one way to find out! Overall, I am happy with the aroma of this stout, so with more brewing hours, I am hopeful to obtain a more prominent hop profile adding a subtle complexity to my oatmeal stout. 

The taste profile I was hoping for was something that would measure up to Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout. The initial burst of flavor contained a nice dark chocolate character. After this burst of chocolate had subsided, bitter coffee and roasted malts entered into the taste. The hop content within the taste was nearly non-existent, but the Fuggle hops crept furtively to the complete taste profile. The difference between the tastes of my oatmeal stout and Sam Smith was a mineralistic quality in my stout. This apparent mineral quality is most likely to the elemental composition of our water in Watertown, MA (just guessing...).
The mouthfeel of my stout was quite light. I normally want a thicker, fuller stout, but I feel that having a lighter mouthfeel allowed the chocolate and malt character to easily come through in the taste. The carbonation level of my stout was very low making the mouthfeel very aqueous in texture. I hope to alter this component of my stout when I brew this style again through the addition of oats, using dextrin malts or a lower attenuating yeast strain.
Overall, I am quite pleased with this stout. It is very quaffable leading my wife to say on multiple occasions, "Oatmeal Stout? Because its delicious." I have to mention the helpfulness of RandumInk during our night of brewing and the gift of a homebrewer's necessity, flip-top bottles. With Spring right around the corner, I am excited to transition seasons and brew an aromatic pale ale or a german weissbier. Hopefully they will turn out even better than this stout!

Cheers,
PandaMack

Shmaltz Brewing Company - Hop Manna

Hop Manna is a deep-rust color with surprising clarity. Since this beer used three hop varieties during an extensive dry-hopping process, I was expecting the finished product to have some level of haze, however, this IPA had clarity that parallels a clean, crisp pilsner. There is excellent head retention that creates a one-finger head, leaving very intricate lacing when it dissipates.
The aroma of this IPA is very assertive, but contains a wonderful brightness full of citrus notes of grapefruit. This explosion of grapefruit is most likely due the use of Cascade and Citra hops during dry-hopping because they have been described to contain a tropical fruit flavor. Along with this tropical fruit flavor, Hop Manna contains a piney hop character and a grain quality that reminds me of terrible breakfasts of fiber and bran cereals. As the beer warmed and was continuously agitated by swirling, the aroma developed a floral quality that was quite nice.

The taste profile was somewhat one-dimensional with the explosion of hops. This one-dimensionality lingered on the palate for what seemed to be an excessive amount of time after each sip. I personally enjoyed the taste lingering because it allowed for a continuous merging of each individual sip. As with the aroma, the taste profile also developed an added complexity after the beer had warmed. It produced a floral character that went well with the citric hoppiness and a hint of peppery spice.
I really enjoyed the full medium body of this IPA. There was a light level of carbonation that may have caused the mouthfeel to feel a little sticky or chewy. Even with this perceived stickiness, I found Hop Manna to be quite smooth and very flavorful.
I am slowly developing a true affinity for the He'Brew Beer side of Shmaltz Brewing Company (Other side = Coney Island). Hop Manna is the newest of the fifteenth anniversary collection that includes: Funky Jewbelation, Genesis 15:15, Jewbelation Fifteen in 22 ounce bottles and Genesis and Messiah in 12 ounce bottles.  Their beers are very flavorful and highly drinkable with an uniqueness and individuality that speaks to me. For all you hopheads out there, this IPA has an acrid character that will definitely please your palate. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Cheers,
PandaMack

Kiuchi Brewery - Hitachino Nest Beer: Three Days

On March 11th, 2011, the Tohoku Earthquake erupted from the oceanic floor due to the subduction of the Pacific Plate. The Tohoku Earthquake's magnitude was 9.0, the greatest magnitude recorded in Japanese history. Subsequently, the earthquake unleashed devastating tsunamis upon the Japanese coastline leading to the much documented nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Power Plant. Four hours south of Fukushima, the Kiuchi Brewery, located in the Naka, Japan felt these devastating forces causing sections of the their brewery to be unusable. One section that needed refurbishing was the fermentation area that contained the brewing tanks. The tanks were angled (imagine the Leaning Tower of Pisa) and needed to be straightened. Brewmasters were forced to extend their mashing period three days causing natural fermentation to begin with the mixing a lactic acid culture leading to a very unique product.
Designated as a Witbier on BeerAdvocate, Three Days' appearance is in stark contrast to BCJP guidelines for Belgian Wits. Instead of being golden or straw colored, Three Days is reddish-brown rust with a very dense, foamy head. The head leaves little lacings along the sides of the glass. The body of this ale is hazy allowing very little light penetration.
The aroma was predominantly vinegar acidity leading me to develop an image of salt-and-vinegar potato chips. This acidity gives way to a sweet malt character and a floral component.

The taste is very interesting. An acidic, vinegar quality was the first part of the taste profile that I detected. This acidity was followed by a malt character and brown sugar. To complete the taste, Three Days contained the traditional orange peel character of Witbiers along with a distinct raisin quality.
Three Days, at 8.0% ABV, is a very smooth ale with a light mouthfeel. There is a small amount of carbonation that helps assert the tartness on the palate.
Overall, this beer is truly distinct. To me, it combines multiple styles (Witbier, Berliner Weiss, Red Ale), but each complements other with methodical precision. It is very refreshing and quite easy to drink. A remarkable story of brewing ingenuity in the face of tragedy. If you see this beer on the shelf or on tap, definitely give it a try, its uniqueness is quite memorable.

Cheers,
PandaMack

 

Favorite Massachusetts Brewed Beer

Whenever compiling a list of “bests”, the challenge proves extremely difficult to narrow one’s choices objectively, therefore, I have opted for a list of favorites. In the realm of craft beer with its many styles and cultural and geographic interpretations of these styles, the challenge of developing a list of favorite beers was just to daunting. To alleviate this stress and tunicate the amount of beer to choose from, I decided to compile a list of my favorite beers brewed in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. To do so, I went through tasting notes, re-visited memories from local beer bars and breweries, and went through old beer fest catalogues. Upon completion of this “research”, here are my five favorite Massachusetts brewed beers (with a couple of honorable mentions).

5. Hoponius Union India Pale Lager – Jack’s Abby Brewing Company. 

American has an obsession with hops, easily observed with the increased production of Double/Imperial IPA’s and in some cases, the somewhat elusive Triple IPA. These IPA’s are geographically identifiable, the dank, hop forward West Coast IPA or the malt and hop balanced East Coast IPA. The brewers at Jack's Abby have taken this obsession in an innovative and interesting path, the India Pale Lager or IPL. The Hoponius Union, an IPL, is an exquisitely crafted beer with the clean, bright, crispness expected from lagering. The malt profile is full of caramel notes and this caramelization works very well with the hop forwardness that resonates from the aroma through the taste profile. A great beer from an up and coming brewery; Seek it out and I believe you wont be disappointed.

4. Be Hoppy – Wormtown Brewery, INC. 

On their website, Wormtown Brewery speaks of “creating something unique to add to the mix of the city” (Worcester, MA) and Be Hoppy brings this motto to reality. Turning geographically and cultural brewing tendencies on its “head”, Wormtown has produced a dank, dry, resinous hop forward ale that conjures up images of the Gas Lamp District of San Diego, California, not the industrial and hard working roots of Worcester, MA.  The aroma of this IPA is palate destroying even before the first sip. Citrus notes of grapefruit waft almost exclusively, but lemon and orange manage to appear to round out the aroma. The taste profile is everything I want in an IPA: citrus and hop forward without the piney-temperate forest quality that can somewhat overpowering for my palate. Also somewhat new to the beer in Massachusetts, Wormtown Brewery is creating a niche in the ever-expanding Massachusetts beer culture with their outstanding beer portfolio.

3. Cerise Cassee American Sour Ale – Cambridge Brewing Company 

Surrounded by MIT and prominent bio-tech laboratories, Cambridge Brewing Company is nestled in a refurbished mill producing celebrated beer and scrumptious food.  Of these celebrated beers, the Cerise Cassee is in a class by itself. The production of Cerise Cassee is a labor-intensive process that begins with 300 pounds of sour cherries followed by a Solera-style fermenting process that blends one year to eight year old vintages with the inoculation of three microbes: Lactobacillus, Brettanomyces, and Pediococcus. The resulting wild ale is a deep-rich mahogany that contains very little in the way of head retention and lacing. The aroma and taste are absolutely stunning with a sourness intensified by the high level of carbonation, hints of “funk”, most likely provided by the “Brett”, and subtle nuances of oak and vanilla from the barrel-aging process. A truly remarkable sour ale that is must try for all who love sour beer.

2. Ipswich Oatmeal Stout – Mercury Brewing Company (Ipswich Ale Brewery) 

The North Shore of Massachusetts is known globally as a purveyor of high quality seafood, however, unbeknownst to the seafood eating public, Ipswich Massachusetts has a brewery that is a purveyor of high quality ales and deserves the same recognition, the Mercury Brewing Company. The ale that is paving the way for this recognition is the Ipswich Oatmeal Stout. This stout provides everything you want in a stout in every single sip: a medium bodied mouthfeel that is silky smooth, chocolate that covers the entire palate with just enough coffee bitterness to round out the taste. I enjoy this stout so much that it became the vision for my latest homebrew project (more on that in the future). Brewed year round and at four dollars for a 22 oz. bottle, the Ipswich Oatmeal Stout will always have a home in my fridge.

1. Beerstand Berlinerweiss – Haverhill Brewery and The Tap 

 Situated on the Merrimack River, The Haverhill Brewery is housed in a building that in 1897 was home to J.M. Hickey’s Shoe and Leather Exchange. To pay homage to this shoe manufacturing history, the brewpub has adopted old shoe templates to act as tap handles. The beer that flows through these tap handles is award winning, but the preeminent star is the, Beerstand Berlinerweiss. As a fledgling homebrewer, I was shocked to hear from Brewmaster, Jon Curtis that the initial recipe for the Beerstand Berlinerweiss was developed and brewed in his home. I hope to one-day reach this level of brewing excellence. This Berliner Weiss “Bier” is the perfect balance of lemon zest sourness, pale malt and wheat backbone, and yeasty character. At 3.00% ABV with the perfect combination of taste and carbonation, Beerstand Berlinerweiss is my favorite beer brewed in the state of Massachusetts and a must try for any beer geek that visits the minuteman state.

I hope you enjoyed this best-of list,

Cheers,

PandaMack 

Honorable Mentions: Hey Diddle Diddle - Jack's Abby

                                  Slumbrew Porter - Somerville Brewing Company

                                  Red God - Cambridge Brewing Company

                                  East India Porter - Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project

Williams Brothers Brewing Company - Alba: Scots Pine Ale

Recently, I have tried to make an attempt to try English/Scottish beers that I continuously notice at Craft Beer Cellar, but have yet to sample. Due to the generosity of a friend, I was able to try Dr. Fritz Briem Gurt Bier and its wonderful carbonation and medicinal qualities were excellent. Gruit was an herbal concoction brewed in English and Scottish cultures before the introduction and utilization of hops. With this tasting still fresh in my mind, I decided to try a different style of Gruit: Alba Scots Pine Ale from Williams Brothers Brewing Company, a beer that I had passed up multiple times, but I decided to indulge.
This ancient style of beer pours a very unexpected deep-copper orange. When held up to the light, there is very little light penetration due to its significant haziness. The head is very thick and creamy leaving a thin film of carbonation across the entire diameter of the glass.
The aroma is full of wonderful caramel and butterscotch notes very indicative of its Scottish roots. There was a strong presence of malt sweetness and "hot" component that was welcomed and somewhat soothing.  When I purchased this ale, I imagined the smells of pine and spruces trees from a temperate boreal forest to waft from the glass, but there is very little in the way of a pine or spruce that is detectable in the nose.
The taste profile of this pint was very interesting. The caramel and butterscotch that dominates the aroma is very apparent in the front of the taste as well. At the back of the taste the pine peaks through with a hint of herbal grassiness. As the beer warmed, this herbal grassiness became more prominent, but never overpowered the sweet malt presence.
The mouthfeel is very creamy and had little carbonation. Since I conceptualized this stye of beer as an ancient IPA, I expected there would be more carbonation, however the low level of carbonation works very well with its creamy texture.
At 7.5%ABV, The Scots Pine Ale contained much more alcohol than I anticipated, but the viscous mouthfeel hid the ABV very well. With pine in the name, I had conjured up imagine of brewmaster, Bruce Williams, placing multiple boughs or numerous needle of Pine and Spruce trees into the boil, but these notes were not as present as I had hoped. All-in-all, this modern interpretation of an ancient style of ale was very enjoyable and I look forward to trying other ancient styled ales especially the Fraoch Heather Ale, Ebulum, and March of the Penguins.

Cheers,
PandaMack    

Bell's Brewery Inc. - Special Double Cream Stout

Quick!. Think of a state that has a prominent craft beer culture? If you are like me, the three states that instantly come to mind are: Oregon, California, and Colorado. After this initial search, I thought about the question more thoroughly are realized that Michigan, yes Michigan, has an equally established craft beer culture as the three aforementioned states. Michigan is home to such great breweries as: Founders Brewing Co., Dark Horse Brewery, Jolly Pumpkin, Kuhnhenn Brewery, and Bell's Brewery, the makers of today's beer, Bell's Special Double Cream Stout.
After sitting in my closet and fridge for an entire year, this stout pours very deep black. As the beer was pouring, it appeared to be more aqueous then creamy which was very surprising based on the name. There was a very small head retention and it contained no red highlighting.
The aroma from this beer was quite weak. There was no discernible hop character in the nose, but chocolate malt, subtle coffee, and oats are present.

The taste profile was much more complex than the nose. There is a huge malt character in this beer and the sweetness was almost to cloying for my palate. To go along with the malt character, this stout has a black licorice component  and a slight burntness.
The mouthfeel was creamy and medium-bodied. With that being said, I expected it would be even silkier. Also, this beer contained almost no carbonation, possibly due to the aging process.
Overall, I let my anticipation get the better of me for this beer. I enjoyed this stout, but it was a little to sweet. I wish this sweetness was balanced with a prominent hop character. If I were to have this stout fresh I think the hops would add the missing component to make this stout exceptional.

Cheers,

PandaMack

My First Homebrew - Red Ale

Ever since I discovered craft beer, I have had an urge to try and make products in the comfort of my own kitchen that could rival those produced by the craft breweries that I love. This past holiday season I received a homebrew kit from my awesome and truly understanding wife and I couldn't wait to put it use. Along with the kit, I received a red ale recipe and quickly went to work following the new year celebration. As this would be my first time brewing, I employed the help of two friends who had brewing experience to walk me through the intricacies and nomenclature of brewing. The afternoon of steeping grains, obtaining a rolling boil, cooling the wort, and transferring the liquid to the fermenter went very well with little in the way of obstacles. 

After waiting impatiently for fermentation to began, the air gauge began to bubble with the presence of carbon dioxide signifying the beginning of fermentation. Fermentation lasted for 3-4 days and then it was time to bottle. The bottling phase proved to be the most difficult of the entire process because I am a complete newbie to homebrewing and I was trying to do something by myself that I had never done before. After many tries to create a bottling siphon and being unsuccessful, I went and read Charlie Papazian's book, The Joy of Homebrewing. Now, feeling more composed and relaxed, I returned to the kitchen and the siphoning process went more much smoothly and I filled sixteen bottles with a very light red-brownish liquid. 

Since this is a blog about beer and beer reviews, I thought it would be appropriate to put my own brew up to the criticism and judging process that I apply to American and International craft breweries.

As I poured my first homebrew, I was presently surprised with its appearance. It was a coppery brown with very noticeable carbonation. The body was hazier than I expected, almost reaching light-blocking opaqueness. The head was very light and frothy dissipating to a half-finger head. 

The smell brought forth the image of grapefruit or orange concentrate. After getting past this dominating aroma, I was able to pick out two additional aromas: light malts and bready yeastiness. 

The taste profile had two very distinct phases. The first phase was an explosion of citrusy oranges, while the second phase contained a very sweet malt finish. I think this sweet finish was due to the ample amount of priming sugar I used during bottling. 

The mouthfeel was light, but I enjoyed the amount of carbonation. 

Overall, I am pleased with certain aspects of my first homebrew. First, I made through the process without having the pot overflow and having a major clean up session. Second, the color of the beer was its best feature and matched BJCP guidelines pretty well. Third, I really enjoy carbonated beers, so the level of carbonation in my homebrew was pleasant. With all those positives, there were some definite flaws in my red ale. The two major flaws were aroma and taste. The aroma resembled sweetened orange juice and the taste lacked a true presence of malt or hops. If I brew a red ale again, I am going to try and make something that rivals: Red Rocket Ale from Bear Republic Brewing Company or Hop Head Red from Green Flash Brewing Company.   

Rating based on BeerAdvocate's rating system:

Appearance: 3.5/5

Smell: 3/5

Taste: 2/5

Mouthfeel: 3.5/5

Drinkability: 3/5

Cheers,

PandaMack