Classic Rauch Review

My second lager was a Classic Rauchbier following the recipe in Brewing Classic Styles. I kind of messed up the brewday, ending up with 4 rather than the intended 5 gallons, and as a result the beer is probably a little too high gravity, sweet and overcarbonated.

Appearance: Very clear. Carbonation bubbles visibly rising from the center of the glass. Thick off-white head that dissipates a little too fast. Deep amber in color.

Aroma: Surprisingly not as smokey as I anticipated. The smoke is present but does not dominate. Clearly there is some classic lager malt aroma and sweetness. Does not smell like bacon or ham.

Taste: Again smokey but not overwhelmingly so. Not bacony or hammy. Malty and rich, but somehow it's not as sweet as the nose would suggest. Low hop bitterness. Probably too bitter, given the volume screwup, which reduces the sense of sweetness.

Mouthfeel: Moderate to thick body. Carbonation is lower than I expected, given the likely excess sugar. Perhaps there is not enough yeast left in the beer to carbonate quickly.

Overall: Tasty and refreshing. But, probably not quite smokey enough for my taste. For next time, get the volume, gravity, etc... correct.

Review of Cider

Normally I stick with beer, having only done 3 batches (one mead, and two cider) of other types of fermented drinks. Although branching out can be a good thing for the experience of trying it and learning something new, it's likely that one needs to have at least a few batches of a particular type of drink before the product starts to be really good. And, it can be frustrating for me to try something that doesn't come out as well as most of my beers. None of my non-beer beverages have been great, and sadly, this cider may be the worst of my three attempts.

Appearance: Very clear golden yellow. This glass was from the bottom of the wine-bottle, and had a little bit of yeast stirred up into it. No carbonation bubbles, as intended.

Aroma: Not sure what it smells like. I just smells. I think I detect some sulphur and sour apple smells. Doesn't smell like apple cider should smell.

Taste: Again, a faint hint of appley-ness but lacks good cider characteristics. It doesn't stay sour, but does have a sulphury quality. There's no alcohol burn or strong boozy notes. Quite dry, as expected since the final OG was around 1.000 or less.

Mouthfeel: Thin. No carbonation. Very dry.

Overall: Well, it's drinkable, at least to me. I don't really know what to make of it other than to say that it doesn't really taste like it should. It needs more sweetness, more apple like quality, and more overall good taste. Sadly, I made 4 gallons of it and may have to dump some. I suppose it happens to all homebrewers once in a while.

Lemon Drop IPA Hop Bomb

One of the local brew clubs is doing a single-hop experiment. Everyone is brewing the same recipe, but the late hop additions will vary. Each brewer will use only one late addition and dry hop variety, so that we can get a sense of each hop's chief flavor and aroma characteristics. I decided on Lemondrop hops since I thought I'd try something out of the norm for me. Apparently they have a strong citrusy, lemony quality.


Lemon Drop Hop Bomb
5.25 gallon batch
11# US 2-Row
1lb White Wheat
8oz C20

6ml Hop Oil - 60 min

1oz Lemon Drop, 4.6%, 15 min
1.5oz Lemon Drop, 4.6%, 0 min, whirlpool 15min
1.5oz Lemon Drop, 4.6%, flameout + 15min, whirlpool 15min
3oz Lemon Drop, 4.6%, dry, 7 days

US-05

Mash at 152F.

Expected OG/FG/IBU/ABV: 1.061/ 1.014/ 60/ 6.2%

Brewed 4/12/15
Hit my mash temps well.

Collected 3.5 gal first runnings, ~3.75 gal 2nd runnings, so about 7.25 gallons pre-boil.

OG was 1.046 pre-boil.


At flameout, added 1.5oz Lemon Drop hops, and turned on recirculating March pump. Fifteen minutes later, added second whirlpool addition. Beer was at ~180F. Waited 15 minutes, then cooled to ~90F and placed beer in 35F fridge.

Racked to carboy and pitched a few hours later at 70F, and placed carboy in 63F ambient.

Post Boil OG was 1.060. Spot on basically. Volume into fermenter was 5.75 gallon, including some trub and hop gunk.

4/15/15
Beer was in 55F ambient air. Moved to 63F. Nice krausen going.

4/19/15
No longer bubbling. Added 3oz dry hops.  

No Quarter Smoked Porter Review

Appearance: Deep mahogany body with thick tan head, which persists nicely and sticks to the side of the glass. Opaque.

Aroma: Smoky but not the smack in the face of smoke that a classic rauchbier could have. It's mixed in with some sweet maltiness and earthy hops. Overall moderately intense aroma.

Taste: Sweet malty, smoke seems subdued to me. Kind of some bready, roasty notes, mixed with smoke. Quite bitter in the aftertaste but the bitterness does not taste as strong as a DIPA. The bitterness blends well with the other flavors, perhaps surprisingly. Not too removed from a more normal robust porter.

Mouthfeel: Thick and chewy. Low-moderate carbonation.

Overall: It's very good, but I don't think it's as smokey as some of my previous smoked beers. The flavors blend surprisingly well, since I didn't think a the smoke would go well with the high bitterness.

I am beginning to think that flavors in beer are often more about the balance of flavors than their strength. Here, although it's very bitter, my tongue cannot simultaneously perceive very bitter and very smoky - instead the kind of blend into one. This same recipe but with less bitterness probably would taste smokier. You cannot turn everything to 11.