NYE 2011

Well, all the preparations are complete for this Saturday's NYE bash at the homestead.  I have all the beers brewed, fermented, and bottled or kegged for copious consumption.  For some of the readers that need a refresher course on beer nerd jargon, here ya go:

Original Gravity (OG): The Original Gravity is the specific gravity measured before the commencement of fermentation.

Final Gravity (FG):  The Final Gravity is the specific gravity measured at the completion of fermentation.

ABV:  Alcohol by Volume, stated as a percentage (e.g 6.5%). Most brewers and consumers are used to having alcohol content reported by volume (ABV) rather than weight. Interconversion is simple but the specific gravity of the beer must be known.

IBU - International Bittering Units : This is a measure of the actual bitterness of a beer as contributed by the alpha acid from hops. Because the apparent bitterness of a beer is subjective to the taste of the drinker and the balancing malt sweetness of the beer this is not always an accurate measure of the "hoppiness" of a beer. But, generally speaking, beers with IBUs of less than 20 have little to no apparent hops presence. Beers with IBUs from 20 to 45 are the most common and have mild to pronounced hops presence. Beers with IBUs greater than 45 are heavily hopped and can be quite bitter.

Example:

"Not knowing that the barleywine had an IBU of 68, Rachel took a big swig from the glass then twisted up her face as the hops assaulted her taste buds."

And now, the LeGrue's NYE Tap Lineup:

Triple Rhino:

• Belgian style Abbey Triple, originally brewed by and for Trappist monks in Europe.
• Light in color, malty, effervescent, very aromatic and deceptively strong. 
• Examples: Unibroque "Fin du Monde", Chimay "Triple"
• 32 IBU 9.2% ABV.

2011 Winter Weizenbock ( pronounced "veye-tsen-bock")

• Strong wheat ale, seasoned with cinnamon and nutmeg.
• Bready and balanced, with hints of banana bread and clove and a dry finish.Similar to Brooklyn Brewing's Winter Ale, but with a traditional weizen yeast character and dry finish.
• 12 IBU, 7.6% ABV

Brad's Big Bad Black IPA

• A black Imperial IPA, made with debittered dark malts that impart a black color and roasted flavor without the burnt toast astringency of a stout.  Think "hop-bomb" in technicolor.
• This is a HUGE beer, very flavorful and aromatic. It has a citrusy hop- forward nose, and a clean, balanced hoppy bitterness throughout the palate.
• Examples of the Black IPA or Cascadian Dark Ale style would be Stone Brewing's "Sublimely Self- Righteous" and Dechutes' " Hop in the Dark".
• 106 IBU, 9.8% ABV........ Bring it!

Pumpkin Pie Porter 2011

• My annual holiday offering that includes fresh roasted pumpkins and toasted spices, all wrapped in a smooth, malty porter package.
• Dark reddish brown color, and the aroma is all pumpkin pie.  The flavor is on the sweeter side, and has a caramel, toffee, toasted bread quality that is very nice. Great after a holiday meal, or any time if you're Brad.
• 36 IBU, 7.8% ABV

LeGrue's 2011 Winter Warmer Cask Ale

• This a my riff on the traditional beers brewed for cold months in Britain.  Medium- strong, roasty, malt forward with a nice, full body and holiday spices to make things interesting.
• Enhanced mouthfeel and low carbonation due to 3 weeks conditioning in a cask, and served in the traditional style.
• Similar to Saint Arnold's Christmas Ale with spices.
• 42 IBU, 7.4% ABV

Reminder

Greetings,

Just a reminder, Saint Arnold is tapping the last cask of Christmas Ale 2011 at the Stag's Head Pub tomorrow night at 7:30 pm.  Be there!

Cheers,

Mason

Black Bulldozer 2011

The Brewery has some production news.

Black Bulldozer 2011, my Black IPA,  is in the fermenter and should be ready by New Year's Eve.  It weighs in as 98 IBU and an O.G. of 1.086, so this MONSTER beer is not for the faint of heart. Thanks to my Brother-in-law Brad for the brew day help. I pitched my standby Wyeast 1056 American Ale strain and will ferment at 65 F. I'll keep it in primary fermentation for 5 days then transfer to secondary to dry hop on 2 oz. of Citra Hops until the 28th. Chill, Carb, Serve, Enjoy.

The Wizenbock is in the keg and chilling down to force carbonate.  Great ester aromas, and a final gravity of 1.008.  Great beer!

Winter Warmer in in the firkin and conditioning for the NYE party as well.  I decided to forget the oak in the cask, as there's not enough time to get the correct oak character for this batch. My next cask aged beauty will be a British Bitter pub ale.

Tripel Rhino is in a secondary and still very active, even after a week and a half of fermenting at 64 F.  Crazy yeast, guys.  I'm going to bottle half of this and the rest will be on tap for NYE.

Cheers, and leave some stinkin' comments already!

All-Grain or Bust

It's finally winter here in Houston, and the cool weather has gotten me frisky to brew.  I have some real news for you guys, so bear with me while I give you the rundown.

First and foremost, I became a new Dad in July!  It might explain my absence in the blogospere of late.  Bennett came a little early, but he's more than made up for lost time in his first four months.  Here's the little guy on Thanksgiving.  He's not too much help on brew day yet, but we're working on that.

Next, my loving and eternally supportive wife saw fit to approve a few capital equipment expenditures for the LeGrue home brewery. Do you think I can write that off under the Obama tax plan (Branden, check that out for me)?  Regardless, we have new toys! LeGrue's is officially all systems go for ALL-GRAIN brewing, just like the big boys!  Had to do some modification, but all in all it is a killer setup for 5 gallon all-grain batches.  I'll have a post that shows the system in action at a later date.  Moving on....

We are also delving into the mysterious world of cask- aging my beer.  The little guy to the right is a stainless steel firkin, only in miniature (know as a "pin", for the beer nerds in the crowd).  It holds 5.5 US gallons and will let my serve cask ale or "Real Ale", which is defined as a beer brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous carbon dioxide".^[1][2] The heart of the definition is the maturation requirements. If the beer is unfiltered, unpasteurised and still active on the yeast, it is a real beer; it is irrelevant whether the container is a cask or a bottle. If the yeast is still alive and still conditioning the beer, it is "real". 
The inaugural LeGrue's cask will be tapped at our New Years Eve party this year, and it will be a delicious Winter Warmer Ale with fresh spices and aged over toasted oak for vanilla/ honey notes.

Now on to production news.  I've got 4 batches in different stages of maturation right now. My annual Pumpkin Beer is on tap right now, and  I currently have a Weizenbock ready to bottle.  My brother in law Ryan was clutch this past weekend, helping me brew two batches in a day for the New Years Party: the Winter Warmer and a Belgian Tripel.

On a side bar, that damn belgo beer almost exploded in my kitchen!  The yeast was so active that the krausen sealed up the air vent in the top of the fermenter, and as such it began to build pressure.  When I took it outside to clean the airlock, it went off like a bottle rocket and sprayed yeast about ten feet high.  The loud "whoosh" it made when I removed the stopper was very dramatic, and it scared the dog.  I had to move it to another vessel and then put the rest in a1 gallon jar so that it would have room to expand this time.

Lastly, I made another Rye beer that I did a split fermentation with.  I did half with a Weizen yeast for a traditional German Rye beer, the other half I pitched a Farmhouse Ale yeast for different effect.  Next, I split the Farmhouse batch again and dry hopped 1 gallon and added oak to the other gallon, and bottled the rest as a control.  Did you get all of that?  In essence, I have 4 different beers from the same 5 gallon batch, with the goal of doing a side by side tasting of all 4 and comparing.  I know it's nerdy, but it should be fun!

Yes, for those who were counting, I have 25 GALLONS of fresh beer available.  Will I be able to find all of them good homes?  Only if you all do your parts!

Next up, Black Bulldozer Imperial Black Ale with a little Brettanomyces surprise, and an American Blond Ale for those who need training wheels.  I'll leave you with the newest version of my logo.  Let me know what you think! Shout out to Jeff Grant, the graphics genius that helped me to design this baby.

http://www.jeffreygrant.com/

Cheers!