Sunday, November 13, 2011

B- Cider and Pumpkin Ale Continued...

Hey folks...

Tonight I'm drinking my Autumn Dream Cider... Overall I'm giving it a B-, I'm a little disappointed and I had high hopes for this batch. It tastes good, but I think it's a little too acidic. I can only drink one or two without feeling like I need to take a few TUMS... and it seems to be getting worse as it ages. The only real change I made to the recipe from last year, is that I threw in a few more handfuls of dried cranberries than previously and I think that is the problem. Now I know... Also, this batch does not seem to be clearing at all... I have some finings (additive to help clear beer, wine, cider, etc...) that I didn't end up using and I wish I had tried them. I still have them and will probably try them on my next cider batch.

Also, I have had my Pumpkin Ales sitting in fermentors for almost 5 weeks. Normally I am rushing things and doing things too soon, but I just have not had the energy lately. In this case, the extra time fermenting will only make things better. Anyway, between small home improvement projects today, I managed to gravity test these two and get them into kegs.

So, if you recall, I used two different yeasts on this 10 gallon batch. Yeast is the only difference here so this is kind of a learning experience. Like the Sam Adams Latitude 48 Deconstructed 12 pack, I can compare the difference a single ingredient can make. After starting with the same 1.079 original gravity wort, the different yeasts produced very different results...

The gravity samples...Wyeast 3522 Belgian Ardennes yeast on the left, Fermentis S-04 on the right. They look the same in this pic... (nice color huh?) but IRL, the S-04 cleared quite a bit more than the Ardennes.

The smells are also different... the S-04 smells mainly of pumpkin and malt pretty good... not much spice but nice. The Ardennes though... smells AMAZING! pumpkin, malt, and just the right amount of that Belgian funk... 

Also, also... The S-04 fermented from 1.079 down to 1.014. That is exactly what I was shooting for, and that makes the ABV 8.5%, right on target... But, the Ardennes started with the same exact wort and took it down to 1.010! A little drier, maybe thinner body, and 9.0% alcohol! That's a big badass Belgian!

After tasting both, I decided to go ahead and add more pumpkin pie spice to both as I kegged them. While I think the Belgian might have been interesting enough without the extra spice I wanted to keep the yeast the only variable for comparison so I did spice both. 

But there is going to be one other difference. See I only have room to force carbonate (the way I usually do it) one of these kegs in my kegerator right now... but there is another way to carbonate. As you would in bottling, once the yeast has consumed all the sugar it can in the beer (which, after 5 weeks, it has) you add a measured amount of sugar and put the beer in a sealed vessel (bottles or keg) The suspended yeast wakes up, fermentation starts up again producing CO2. Because it is in a sealed vessel, the CO2 has nowhere to go except into suspension, carbonating the beer. I decided to force carb the S-04 keg to have on tap first and keg condition (carbonate with sugar) the Belgian outside the kegerator while I am drinking the normal one.

To add the spice to the regular pumpkin ale, all I did was boil 2 cups of water and add 2 tablespoons of pumpkin pie spice. I boiled this for 5 minutes and added to the clean, sanitized, empty keg. Then I racked (siphoned) the beer into the keg, purged the headspace with CO2 from my CO2 tank and regulator. I sealed it up with 30 psi and put in the kegerator to chill. I'll leave it 30 psi for 24 hours and then reduce to serving pressure (12psi) and it will be ready to drink in about a week.

For the Belgian Ardennes I added 3/4 cup (if bottling it would be more like 1 1/4 cups) DME (dry malt extract) to the spice/water mixture and boiled for 10 minutes. I used DME as the sugar for priming (carbonating) but you could use corn sugar too... I don't bother cooling it after boiling, 2 cups of boiling water won't bring the temp of 5 gallons up far enough to hurt the yeast. Again, added this mixture to clean, sanitized, empty keg, siphoned in beer, purge headspace, and seal up with 30psi. But this one I leave out at room temperature so the yeast can do their thing... should take 2-3 weeks but then I'll be able to tap and pour right away after chilling.

So... that's it for tonight I guess. Well, I am planning next beer. Thinking a porter, maybe play with different yeasts or maybe vanilla in half... we'll see... I do want to brew again soon, now that I am brewing double batches, it would be nice to get ahead instead of living brewday to brewday... know what I mean?

Later..


Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Bison vs. Guinness Stout Day Challenge... Total Official Review!

This totally exciting thing happened to me... I was picked by Bison Brewing Company as one of a handful of bloggers to compare their Organic Chocolate Stout to the biggest commercial example of a dry stout, Guinness Draught. Not really sure if I'm out of my league here, but I'll give it a shot...

So, Bison Brewing sent me a tasting kit that included a bottle of their Chocolate Stout, a can of Guinness Draught, and a sweet Bison Brewing pint glass to add to my collection. This is the first beer I've tried from this brewery and the first stout of the year (totally been craving dark beers lately) Full disclosure, I totally have a wicked chest cold... and as I've said before my tasting skills are the worst... but here we go...


With a little help from a pouring assistant (my wife), I started by tasting them blind. SPOILER ALERT: I didn't need to bother... it's pretty obvious. This is like comparing Bud Light to Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. It's not even in the ball park... After the blind tasting, the cat was out of the bag, so I sat down with each and gave them my best analysis...

It's been a few years since I had a Guinness, so I feel like I'm looking at them both fresh. The Guinness looked nice, just shy of black in color with the tademarked off-white creamy head. At first sniff, I honestly can't really smell anything. No aroma at all. Taking a sip, mouthfeel is thin, light, and watery. Mild muted roasty malt flavor with a pleasant bitterness. Dry but maybe not quite dry enough finish.


And the Bison... this really isn't fair...  The Bison poured thicker, promising a thick silky texture. The color is black, like black black, like seriously... black. The real comparison in color becomes obvious when both are held up to the light... The light shows the Guinness to be more of a dark brown while the Bison holds up as just a shade off of the blackest black that ever blacked. The head on the bison was dark tan in color, not quite as thick and whipped cream looking as the Guinness. The head lasted well, though not as unnaturally long as Guinness... Bison totally kills it on the aroma... Dark roast coffee and unsweetened cocoa... and totally follows through on the taste. But the biggest difference here is the mouthfeel... Where the Guinness was thin and watery, the Bison was thick, viscous, and silky. It coated the tongue like the highest quality milk chocolate. While the texture was like milk chocolate, the flavor is closer to dark chocolate. I get black coffee, even french roast, or espresso... a nice lingering bitterness with very little remaining sweetness. The Bison ended with a nice dry finish that left me wanting another sip... GJ Bison, GJ... Later.