Welcome back, I have some exciting news! You may remember a little over a year ago Steve Childs created an American Barley Wine recipe that we brewed. The Ye Ole Jabberwocky, and it brought home a gold medal from the Slurp and Burp 17th annual homebrew competition! Other highlights included, Rob Woodruff (fellow Portland Brewers Collective member) won a silver for a mead and my Rum aged Stout was judged for best in show, but unfortunately did not place. Overall, I consider it a great success, so Cheers to the PBC!
Spring is a season for renewal and a time to renew ale with innovation, creativity and the human spirit. All week I had planned on making a Smoked Cherry Whiskey Russian Imperial Stout, however yesterday, I woke up and all I could think about was the warm weather and a refreshing beer. So, I developed a layered lemon beer.
My friend Jordan introduced me to a new experimental hop, ADHA 871 the "Lemon Zest Hop." He made a single hopped pale ale with this hop that I found to be quite unique. It came out of a breeding program in Yakima Valley. It is described as having flavors which include, clean, pleasant, floral, citrus, huge mint, herbal, mellow spice, thyme, Saaz like, cucumber, sage, and a touch of lemon. This innovation in hops is changing the ever evolving landscape of beer, which I deem to be a step in the right direction.
I purchased a pound of Lemon Zest hops after tasting Jordan's brew. When the hops had arrived the ideas were raging. I am a firm believer in using similar tasting items in one dish to achieve a range of depth in flavor, so I decided I wanted to bring out the refreshing elements of the lemon.
I am enamored by the creativity and hard work that goes into the beer making process. There are so many connections in the process from our ancestors of 10,000 years ago who propagated the barley fields, the modern retailer who sells the beer and everyone in between. The connections are like the Fibonacci Number Sequence, for instance, 1 connection leads to 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21... and so on. This idea also created a creative spin I put into this beer. Using the Fibonacci Sequence for the hop Schedule. This was not only to be more creative, but also a homage to the human spirit and the connectedness of the universe.
 |
| My outdoor brewing partner |
Now, that I have romanticized the process let us move on to the brass knuckles of this beer. First off, I really enjoyed the malt bill and yeast strain of my Mango Cedar Belgian Blonde. That being said, I used a similar grist only changing the US 2-row for Belgian 2-row. I have never used the Belgian malt so, I figured why not try it out? The yeast will be the same as the Mango beer, which was Wyeast's Forbidden Fruit 3463. This strain tends to leave a little sweetness, which I hope will balance the 6 oz of hops I used.
You may be wondering what other flavors did I use to add depth? I talked earlier about using similar tasting items to achieve depth these ingredients include, Lemon Grass that I grew last year and a small touch of real Lemon zest. That is about it the fermentor is going off, so that is a good sign. Remember to drink good beer responsibly and be merry. Cheers!
 |
| New wort chiller |
