Ninkasi reNew Irish Red Ale welcomes my new King Moonracer's Revenge Coasters

Ninkasi makes a different beer every year, and this is 2011's style. It's a 5.2% Irish red ale. The ReNew has a thin malt with slight caramel and hop bitterness. It's fun but not thirst quenching by any means. ARMAGEDDON rating. 

The highlight of my day was receiving these coasters from my friend Jamie R. I made a label for my first homebrew, the Christmas Ale King Moonracer's Revenge and she had someone make the label into a coaster. They're sturdy coasters and look great! I freaking love them. I've collected a ton of coasters this year and this is by far the best looking, probably because I spent way more time on the label than people spend on a coaster, but still; it's awesome. Thanks Jamie!

King Moonracer's Revenge: A Guest Blog by Karl Kalinkewicz

Since Walker and David are emotionally invested in the beer known Marina-wide as "King Moonracer's Revenge", I was asked to write a guest blog/review of the brew. As someone who has served as a companion and hand model many times for this blog, my credentials do not need to be provided. If you have a problem, too bad.

In my experience, most home-brews fall somewhere between "terrible" and "drinkable". Once in a rare while you get a beer that you think to yourself "I wouldn't be upset if I paid normal price for a six pack of this at the grocery store". King Moonracer's Revenge, I am pleased to report, defies the laws of home-brews and presents itself a complex and delicious winter beverage. Fittingly named after the ruler of the Island of Misfit Toys, KMR is a hodge-podge of flavors. You get a good, darker American lager taste, a hint of fruit similar to what you would get from a good hefe, and a malty, syrupy taste similar to what you would find in a Belgian dubbel. The beer could easy find a home as a member of the Sam Adams Brewmaster's collection, packaged in with the winter ale and some holiday porter . In all honesty, though no one at the tasting could confirm this with me, I thought the beer tasted a little similar to Sam's Blackberry Witbeer, with the
 fruit/hefe taste probably coming from the Tahitian Vanilla, but adding more of a darker taste pallet to the witbeer. The one knock I would have on the beer was that it could use a little more carbonation, something that may fix itself with a few more weeks in the bottle.

Walker's vision, along with David's know-how, has crafted a winner. If you want a taste, good luck. Much like the real King Moonracer, this beer is only making a short appearance (less than 10 bottles remain) and will soon be relegated to obscurity, maybe to make a quick appearance next holiday season.

Rating: B
  

King Moonracer's Revenge - Walker's First Home Brew

So Thursday night, January 6th is my first official tasting of the home brew. Let me tell you about the name first...

King Moonracer's Revenge is a different name for a Christmas Ale, right? Here is the story behind the birth of the name. About week before I made the beer, I woke up one morning already thinking of the beer's name. I wanted the title set it apart from other Christmas beers, so what's the least Christmasy theme there could be? REVENGE. 30 seconds later I was on Wikipedia looking up the story of Rudolph. Unfortunately, that red-nosed outcast didn't piss anyone off when he was put on the sleigh team, but I did find the most excellent of names, King Moonracer. When Rudolph runs away from the North Pole he escapes and finds the Island of the Misfit toys and King Moonracer rules them. What a rad name! So I started thinking...this guy is a Griffin, half Eagle & Half Lion and he's king of the abused children? He should be king of the world! But he has a good heart and cares about the tykes, but Santa gets all the credit for being jolly and spreading joy around the world. Do you know the King? Nobody knows about King Moonracer! But guess what? He secretly makes some great fucking beer. And Santa doesn't get any of it. Booyah! Revenge is his.

I found the elements and gave them to my Houston friend Emily H and she put together a hilariously awesome label, thanks Em!

I poured a few bottles for everyone and then opened up a few more. The feedback was really great! 

Karl came over and you can see his guest here: Karl's Guest Post. AJ and Nic and Jamie R joined us and my coworker Tiffany surprised the group and brought a cake! She went above and beyond, and the night suddenly turned into a festivus for the rest of us (cake was really freaking good ). I was momentarily overwhelmed all that was going on but then I started drinking! The best part of making a home brew is enjoying it.

How happy does this guy look?

She even used the same colors in the icing as in the label! Tiffany = Awesomeness

This beer is my first beer and the recipe can be found here: K.M. Revenge Home Brew Recipe. Obviously, an enormous thank you and credit to David who helped me pick out the ingredients and together we cooked up the batch. I knew nothing about making beer and his guidance at every step was crucial to this beer's success.

Speaking of this beer, it turned out better than I expected. It's really drinkable. It's a golden pale ale with a hint of cloves at the end that provides the much needed Christmas spice. When we bottled the beer, the clove was overwhelming but it turned out quite nice. 'Infamous Jamie R' says that "she would buy this in a bar" and AJ and Nic agree. I'm simply happy having my beer not suck, let alone people actually saying nice things about it.

There's only a few bottles left and I'm going to have a hard time not drinking as soon as possible. I'm so happy it turned out well and to those who came over to celebrate with me (all except 1 are some of my oldest friends who I have known for 8+ years) thank you, it was a really great night with wings, cake and beer. As for a rating, I too would buy this in a store. King Moonracer is a hit! Next year I will develop the recipe and brew another batch. Get in line now ;) TRANSFORMERS rating

YuleSmith Holiday Ale helps my bottle King Moonracer's Revenge

Returning home after a double dose of Mexican food and cupcakes - a rough life I lead - David helped me transfer and bottle my first home brew, the winter seasonal King Moonracer's Revenge! Two weeks more in the bottles and it's ready to drink, but we did sample and both believe it'll turn out well. The flavor profile is in the ballpark of what I wanted and as a first time brewer, I'm a happy man. Can't wait to taste final product!

YuleSmith Holiday Ale from AleSmith with my KMR home brew in the background.

A very intense hoppy nose which is not reflected in the taste.YuleSmith has a grapefruit, piney taste. My pants are still on but it's not a poor choice for a holiday brew if you chance upon it in the beer aisle. ARMAGEDDON rating

Delicious Goose Island Demolition accompanies my Home Brew's 2nd Fermentation

Goose Island has been good to me, so I picked the Demolition to keep my company as I siphoned my first home brew (code named King Moonracer's Revenge) into my 2nd fermentation tub.

Now the waiting begins...

That big glass tub is now sitting in my room with a towel wrapped around it and for the next two weeks my patio door will not be opened (to keep the temperature in the room steady) and the curtains drawn (young beer doesn't interact with sunlight well). Crossing my fingers for the best and I plan to bottle in about 9 days.

I bought this beer at Bristol Farms grocery store and it was quite good. It's a Belgian style ale with a doughy scent and a sweet full body that tastes of banana with a hint of spice. This would be an especially great beer to enjoy during a nippy December night. THE ROCK rating

Stone Imperial Russian Stout aids my first Home Brew!

 

This handsome devil was good. Roasted malt followed by coffee flavors. The hops are present but allow the stout to shine. I'm impressed by Stone's ability to mix a stout's character and their signature hops together for a well rounded and bitter-less brew. THE ROCK rating.

King Moonracer's Revenge begins

Tonight also marked my first foray into the world of Home Brew, with David as my guide. David has all the equipment and the background, so he helped me design the recipe and oversaw the cooking. It's purposes to be a Christmas Ale and will be bottled by the time we takeoff for the holiday break. It was a lot of fun to make and I'm already looking forward to my next batch, I'm eagerly awaiting to see how the spices I added turn out and I have a better idea of how to better cool the wort in our apartment, which is super important in the process.

I have picked a name and created a logo (to be revealed at bottling) which I'm really excited about: 

KING MOONRACER'S REVENGE

I think it's a sweet title for a Xmas beer and David agrees. It may sound weird but it won't after I tell you its origins...which I'll do when it's bottled. If you can't wait, wikipedia the story of Rudolph and you'll recognize the name. Here's the recipe:

8oz of Belgium Aromatic Malt
8oz of Crystal 10 
9 lbs Alexander pale malt extract
2oz of cascade hops 6 alpha acid
1oz of williamette hops 3.7 alpha acid (half added with 15 minutes left)

Yeast: Northwest Ale strain

Cloves- half a spoonful

During 2nd Fermentation, I plan to add two Tahitian Vanilla Beans for aroma.