Brett Table Saison Review

Appearance: Billowing, dense white head with excellent retention. Golden hazy body with lots of little bubbles rising up the side of the glass.

Aroma: Immediate impression of mild bretty funk. Not super fruity, just bretty. Maybe aspiriny smell. Earthy hop character and malt character is minimal. Pleasant. I don't get any notes of cherry, despite the name of the yeast.

Taste: Brett is the star here. Light funk, aspirin like notes, maybe a little bit of acidity. Hop flavor is low. Not much in the way of malt, as whatever malt notes one can get from a 1.030OG beer are surely covered by the brett here.

Mouthfeel: A bit thin and watery, unsurprisingly. Quite dry, but not highly carbonated enough to give it a tingly feeling like champagne. Does leave a bretty aftertaste.

Overall: Light in brett funk, refreshing and at 3.3% very easy drinking. I may brew a beer like this again, though since it's the parti-gyle of a 12% wheatwine, I will have to use a different recipe since I don't plan to brew another huge beer for a while. 

Chocolate-Cherry Stout

Appearance: Very dark body, billowing tan head with good retention. Decent lacing. No hints of reddish color from the cherries.

Aroma: Vaguely reminiscent of cherries and chocolate - so not overwhelming. Light booziness in the nose. Maybe some earthy hops.

Taste: Hard to place, light roasty quality in the body, with the chocolate and cherry coming through a bit in the finish. Alcohol is there, contributes to the dryness. Maybe a slight tannic quality in the finish

Moutfeel: Fairly light in body. Good carbonation.

Overall: Pleasant but not great. I wish the chocolate and cherry were more prominent so that it was very obviously a Black Forest stout. Next time I would use a little more caramel malt to counteract the dryness and bitterness.

Smokey Porter Dec 2016

Brown Porter recipe with 1/3 of the base malt as smoke malt, and Carafa III-Dehusked for the dark malt.


BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Smoke Porter Dec 2016
TYPE: All Grain

Recipe Specifications
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Boil Size: 7.00 gal
Post Boil Volume: 6.25 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal 
Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.050 SG
Estimated Color: 38.1 SRM
Estimated IBU: 32.3 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 76.4 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
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Amt                   Name                                     Type          #        %/IBU       
5.50 gal              Boston, MA                               Water         1        -           
6.00 g                Calcium Chloride (Mash 60.0 mins)        Water Agent   2        -           
3.00 g                Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 mins Water Agent   3        -           
5 lbs                 Maris Otter Malt (Muntons) (3.0 SRM)     Grain         4        44.4 %      
2 lbs                 Brown Malt (65.0 SRM)                    Grain         5        17.8 %      
1 lbs 8.0 oz          Smoked Malt (Briess - Cherry)  (9.0 SRM)  Grain         6        13.3 %      
1 lbs 8.0 oz          Smoked Malt (Weyermann) (2.0 SRM)        Grain         7        13.3 %      
8.0 oz                Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM)          Grain         8        4.4 %       
8.0 oz                Carafa Special III (Weyermann) (470.0 SR Grain         9        4.4 %       
4.0 oz                Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM)   Grain         10       2.2 %       
1.00 oz               Fuggle [4.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min          Hop           11       15.1 IBUs   
1.00 oz               Fuggle [4.50 %] - Boil 30.0 min          Hop           12       11.6 IBUs   
1.00 oz               Fuggle [4.50 %] - Boil 10.0 min          Hop           13       5.5 IBUs    
1.0 pkg               S-04 [23.66 ml]       Yeast         14       -           


Mash Schedule: 154F, Mash Out, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 11 lbs 4.0 oz
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Name                    Description                                          Step Temperat Step Time   
Mash Step               Add 15.06 qt of water at 167.4 F                     154.0 F       60 min      
Mash Step               Add 9.00 qt of water at 195.9 F                      168.0 F       10 min      

Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (Drain mash tun , 2.58gal) of 168.0 F water
Notes:
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Brewed 12/10/16. Mash temp a bit low - maybe 151F - 152F.

Got 7 gallons of 1.049 wort, and 5.9 gallons of 1.054 wort. 5.5 gallons into the fermenter at 110F, allowed to cool in the 25F ambient air, pitched rehydrated yest when 66F. Active fermentation ~20 hours later.

12/24/16: Kegged with sugar, aiming for 2.25 volumes.