Wallonia Watermelon Farmhouse Ale

Welcome back to Off The Hinge Brewing blog!  A quick update, part of the Camino beer has been kegged and is delicious!  The aroma is a burst with berries, up front hints of fig and coco mingle with Tempranillo and a touch of tannins that follow.  This was the American II strain beer.  The Belgian Strain is still in the carboy, but the last sample I took was outstanding.  Much better than the American Strain, which is saying a lot.  Enough on the old brews...

Summer Solstice is fast approaching and a refreshing beer would be nice to sip on during the upcoming heat wave.  I was thinking about grilling food in the summer and staples that go along with a good BBQ.  Watermelon was the only thing that my mind was focusing on.  Also, I thought of adding basil because of a watermelon salad I had recently.  However, my friend Mike suggested I should use mint instead.  I was convinced having had that combination in the past.

Having picked out my adjuncts the next step was to choose a base recipe.  Last May, my wife and I made a rhubarb saison, which was tasty and refreshing.  Traditionally, saisons are brewed in the winter months to be enjoyed in the summertime.  I know winter has passed, but spring is close enough.  I prefer fermenting Belgian beers at higher temperatures the yeast characters really come forward.

Fresh Watermelon Puree

A standard saison is fairly hoppy and around 5-7% ABV.  I was shooting toward 7, however not knowing the amount of sugar in the watermelon it will probably be around 8% with an O.G. of 1.066.  I also used El Dorado hops, which have watermelon characteristics to accentuate the flavor profile.  I also have a bunch of Lemon Zest hops from the Lemon Fractal beer and decided to use them, I have read they have mint like qualities.

First Wort Hop with El Dorado

At any rate it should be tasty.  If you make a watermelon beer, I have been told you need to use a lot of watermelon for the flavor to come through.  A watermelon is 90% water.  I used a gallon of watermelon juice and about three pounds of puree with a 1/2 oz. of Mint at the last 10 minutes of the boil to help sustain the aromatics of the watermelon.

Fresh Mint

I kept the malt bill simple with 78% Belgian Pilsner Malt, 14% Flaked Wheat and 8% clear Belgian Candi Sugar.  When using Pilsner Malt, I recommend doing a 90 minute boil to drive off the DMS.  I used Danstar's Bell Saison Yeast.   I have been told it is a combination of the Belgian and French Saison yeast.  I love the flavors of the Belgian strain, but it stalls out.  I love the French yeast because it will eat through all the sugar like a champ.  You get best of both worlds.  It is bubbling like crazy right now!  I hope to be able to share this with you all!

As a side note, "Wallonia," is a southern region of Belgium where Saison originated.  Until next time, drink good beer responsibly and be merry!


  

Camino De Santiago beer

  

Possible label

Welcome back to Off The Hinge!  First off, I want to report back to you about the Lemon Fractal Ale.  The first sip exploded with lemongrass in a not so satisfying way.  I was totally bummed out, but I was not about to give up on this brew.  Sharing a sample with Steve, he was reminded of our One Night in Bangkok beer.  A light bulb came on, why don't I toast some coconut shavings and dump it in the keg?  That should balance out the strong lemongrass flavor, but  that by itself just would not do, so I decided to get mad and add the coconut with some of JB's Whiskey that was aging on oak chips.  I dumped all that into the keg.  It is much better now!  Sometimes you dig for gold and come up with a pearl...

There are so many wonderful beers out there and I have been thinking about how to make ales that have a purpose and are not just pretentious.  I was walking to work a while back and thought about my trek through Spain and out of the blue I had a beer-like epiphany of sorts...  How can I take my experiences and turn them into a liquid journey?  I wanted to design a beer that encompassed the flavors I experienced on the Camino, so that my friends could taste this brew and maybe conjure within them an imagination of what it was like walking across Spain.  After some light introspection, I came up with an Idea, "The Soul Searcher Porter."

Why Porter?  This is a double entendre.  First, in a more idealistic approach, "Porter" is someone who carries things.  Being that I carried my rucksack across Spain, I figured it fitting for this brew.  Second, I loved Eastern Promise the Baltic Porter I made some time ago.  Now that the base recipe was decided on I had to think about the flavors of Spain.  

My Camino family and I ate figs and blackberries on the trail, and I also recalled a fig/blueberry Baltic Porter that Burnside Brewing made last year.  This beer was quite tasty, so I decided why not substitute blackberries for blueberries?  That was not enough to satisfy my idea of Spain, so I decided to pick up some Spanish Tempranillo and soak it in dark toasted oak chips.  A 20-25 mile hike a day called for wine in the evening and Spain is famous for its full bodied and flavorful Tempranillo Wine.  I think the flavors of the wine will work well with the dark fruit and dark berry.  I have not decided yet, but I may add some coco nibs and coffee to secondary?  Thanks to Bradley for reminding me about coffee, how could I forget such a wonderful drink!  There was plenty of coffee and chocolate intake on this trip, so it makes sense for me to do it.

You are rarely alone on the Camino, with that in mind I invited a few friends to partake in this brew session.  I wanted to thank them all for there help!  I also want to thank all the friends I made on my Journey!  I will never forget any of you!  That is it for now, I will probably do another post on this with more of the technical side and explain the experimental 3 gallon batch that was born out of this... Remember to drink good beer responsibly and be merry.  

Salud!

Lemon Fractal Fruit Ale

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

Snowpocalypse Pale Ale

The 17^th annual Slurp and Burp is coming up this March!  The 16^th annual competition was my first time entering a competition and I had such a great time with my wife and friends that I have to do it again.  Plus, this year it is taking place in my hood!  I wanted to brew one of my favorite styles for the event, which is Pale Ale.  

A side note, I will also be entering my Eastern Promise Baltic Porter, Pirate Hooker Stout, Year of the Horse IPA (maybe), Manneken Golden Strong (Tripel, opps!), and possibly the Ye Ole Jabberwocky Barley Wine.

I had everything planned out and the unexpected snow fall did not slow down the progress of this pale.  If you live in Portland, you know that just about everything shuts down with snow fall.  Fortunately, the homebrew shop was still open waiting for a delivery.  I thought about remaking my Whirlpool Wheat, which has a great tropical flavor.  I decided to create something similar, with less wheat and more variety as far as the hop profile.  A whopping 2 more hops!

My Brewing bud Gracie

My hope is that it will be a tropical citrus fruit bomb of a pale.  I first wort hopped with Amarillo.  Amarillo can be used for bittering because of the low cohumulone percentage, although it is often used for aroma purposes.  Cohumulone is one of the three alpha acids found in a hop cone, which are associated with harsh bitterness.  Amarillo has orange characters along with floral notes.  

The second hop I used is Meridian.  I have only used it once in the Year of The Horse IPA.  So, I don't know how it holds up yet, however I am confident it will be good due to the aroma.  According to firstwefeast.com, This Oregon hop was suppose to be a resurrection of an old forgotten hop Columbia, which is similar to Willamette.  What they found was something completely different.  The profile has been described as, sugar-sprinkled lemons and fresh fruit punch.  I don't know about you, but that sounds awesome.  

   

I used Mosaic for the whirlpool and I will dry hop also with Mosaic.  This hop is my favorite!  Tons of tropical notes along with cedar, blueberry, peach, and bubblegum.  Can't wait to taste how they all come together.

Rehydrating Yeast

I have recently been using dry yeast.  It is cheaper and you get more cells than you would with liquid.  It is easy to rehydrate.  To rehydrate boil 1 cup of water per packet of yeast.  Cool the water down to about 95-105 degrees f and pitch in your yeast and stir it up.  Why not just pitch straight into the beer?  Well, you can and it will most likely work, yet you will lose cell count.  John Palmer author of 'How to Brew' explains, "Dry yeast should be re-hydrated in water before pitching. Often the concentration of sugars in wort is high enough that the yeast can not draw enough water across the cell membranes to restart their metabolism. For best results, re-hydrate 2 packets of dry yeast in warm water (95-105°F) and then proof the yeast by adding some sugar to see if they are still alive after de-hydration and storage." 

Cooling down with no wort chiller just snow

It is going off right now, which is a great sign.  When you walk into my fermatarium the smell is something else.  If it taste like it smells right now I will be pleased.  That is all I got for today,  remember to drink good beer responsibly and be merry!

Cheers,

Year of The Horse IPA

Logo for the IPA

The Chinese New Year is one of my favorite holidays, mainly because it gives me an excuse to eat great Chinese food with my lovely wife!  I felt inspired to create a majestic beer with flavors resembling the day.  Hopefully this ale mimics the beauty and strength of the horse and the culinary gifts from the Far East. 

Citrus is often gifted during the New Year to bring wealth, luck and prosperity.  Keeping that in mind, my hophead went straight to IPA.  Also, due to the season I wanted something strong and decided to imperialize this citrus bomb.  I think this beer will bring luck to anyone who gets to drink this.  All kidding aside, I am very excited about this one.  

I added citrus zest from a Pamelo and an Orange.  I added ginger, because I love the way it compliments citrus and is also used in many Chinese dishes.  Double IPA's often use dextrose to reduce the malt presence, which helps to bring forth the hop flavors.  The sugar also dries out the beer and gives it a light body, which also promotes the hop profile (some people are afraid to use sugar in their beer because it can cause a green apple off flavors, however this usually only happens when the amount of sugar is 10% or more of the malt bill).   I decided not to use corn sugar, but instead I used rice syrup solids to stick with the flavors I associate with New Year.  This will do the same as corn sugar and probably will not add flavor, but I must stick with the theme. 

SOME DETAILS

Malt bill

                15 lbs. of 2 Row

                1 lb of Rice Syrup Solids

                3/4 lb of Crystal 40L

                1/2 lb of Cara Pils

Hop bill

               Horizon 14.5%AA

               Meridian 14.5% AA

               Citra  14.5% AA

               Mosaic 11.5% AA

               Nelson Sauvin 11.4%AA

Yeast

              Safale US 05 (x2)

Mash

              90 mins. @ 150 degrees f

Boil 

              90 mins.

I want to give a shout out to Steven Childs for his help.  Can't wait to share this beer with you lucky folks.  Remember to drink good beer responsibly and be merry.  

新年好!

Manneken's Belgium Strong Gold

I decided I should make a label for every beer I brew...

I just finished a great book, 'Brew like a Monk.'  You should read this if you are a brewer or into esoteric stuff.  The book inspired me to make a Belgian beer, which I have never attempted alone.  Why?  I have no clue.  I love the country and everything Belgian...Yes, that includes Jean Claud Van Damme.  It only makes sense that I get my hands dirty just like JCVD.

Why Manneken's Golden Strong Ale?  Manneken Pis is a fabled statue in Brussels, Belgium.  There are many legends about him, and on special days the townspeople hook him up to different Belgian beers and the little boy urinates wonderful beer to all the people of the city.  Pee that never tasted so good...

I wanted this beer to be unique, so with the Belgian spirit and inspiration from Russian River's, 'Damnation & Temptation,'  I developed a recipe that pays homage to both Belgium, California and my own ideas.  'Damnation,' is a Golden Strong ale aged on oak chips.  'Temptation,' is an American wild ale aged in Chardonnay barrels.  I wanted this ale to mirror some of those flavors without the tannins from the oak and Brett (Brettanomyces) from the barrel.

Serious business

I used a traditional malt bill of Pilsner malt and Sugar.  As for the hops, I used one semi traditional hop 'Savinja Goldings.'  This will add a touch of spice.  The other hop is nontraditional, 'Nelson Sauvin.'  This hop will mimic the wine character and add some fruit notes.  I used Belgian Ardennes yeast.  This strain is highly flocculent, attenuates nicely, has mild fruit esters, and a subtle spicy character.  All that means in a nutshell is that the beer will be bright, dry, well balanced, and refreshing.  Remember to drink good beer responsibly and be merry!  Cherrio

Deck The Hall N' Oats IPA

Possible Label?

Here are some updates.  Firstly, Pirate Hooker Ale won a silver medal in the first Portland Brewers Collective Stout Competition called, 'Stout Bout.'  I got home from Spain and found out there would be a stout competition in a couple months.  What better reason to brew some more beer!  I did not have much time, so I went to the drawing board and developed a recipe.  I wanted to enter more than one beer.  Time was against me so, I had to experiment by splitting a single 5 gallon batch into 3 different beers.  The first carboy consisted of one gallon with a sprig of rosemarry, the other gallon of stout had smoked black tea in it, and the last carboy had 3 gallons infused with rum soaked oak chips (Pirate Hooker Ale).  There was a great turnout with 34 entries!  I am already excited about next year.  I also wanted to thank Mark Gillette and the Portland Ubrew for making it all happen!  

Secondly, I just bought a beer gun!  Which, is an awesome device that allows one to bottle from the keg.  It also has a trigger which allows you to purge the bottles with Co2.  This pushes out the oxygen in the bottle and limits the possibility of oxidation.  Oxidation creates off flavors of wet cardboard and sherry-like flavors according to, John Palmer.  I just bottled the rest of my 'Stonemad Scotch Ale,' which is a delicious nutty Scottish ale.  Bottling with the new gun was a bit of trial and error, but worked out quite well.

Lastly,  I cleaned out the keg and filled it with a Baltic Porter that Steve and I made.  The stout competition and the weather were telling me that I needed to make another dark malty beer!  It finished a little on the sweet side at 1.022, which is fine and still in the guidelines of the style (1.024 is the highest Final Gravity for the style).  The Original gravity was 1.078 right on target, so it is still a strong beer at about 7.4%.  Can't wait to taste it carbonated. Further details to come...

I also made a bunch of mead, but I will save that for another time.

This weekend I collaborated with some fellow PBC members, Jordan Folks/ Michael Stinson/ Aaron Bach.  We decided on an Oat IPA.  The first I have ever brewed.  It was a great brew session and look forward to this awesome smelling libation!

The grain bill consisted of - 2row Pale malt, Melanoiden malt, Munich malt, Flaked Oats, and Honey.
The Hop bill included - Warrior for bittering, Simcoe, Homegrown Centennial, and a lot of Amarillo!

 

 

We split a ten gallon batch and Jordan opted to use Pac Man (1764) yeast from Wyeast and I chose British Ale (1098) yeast from Wyeast.  The Pac Man yeast is a private collection yeast with a limited release.  Rouge Brewery uses that strain.  According to Wyeast,  "This is a versatile yeast strain from one of Oregon’s leading craft breweries.  Pacman is alcohol tolerant, flocculent, attenuates well and will produce beers with little to no diacetyl.  Very mild fruit complements a dry, mineral finish making this a fairly neutral strain.  Pacman’s flavor profile and performance makes it a great choice for use in many different beer styles."  The 1098 profile on the Wyeast website states, "This yeast allows malt and hop character to dominate the profile. It ferments dry and crisp, producing well-balanced beers with a clean and neutral finish. Ferments well down to 64°F (18°C).  Till next time, remember to drink good beer responsibly and be merry.  Cheers!