Carlsberg Elephant is the wealthy man's malt liquor

After I graduated college, I went with David on a 22 day whirlwind tour of 9 cities in Europe. Denmark was the only country I hadn't traveled to before and long before there was a passion for beer stirring inside, I decided it was a good idea to visit the Carlsberg brewery outside in Copenhagen. I didn't try the their Elephant beer because I was too enamoured with the beers available at the brewery which weren't avail in the states. This beast is 7.2% and my guess is this is going to be too malty and alcohol infused for me. Let me start my scientific method though to confirm. Bottle to lips and tilt:

When I'm not enjoying Carlsberg Elephant, I drink martinis by my Elk Horns.

It actually has a surprising bite too it, but my early thesis is correct. The Elephant is big and boozy without a character to it. It's not sour malty like many of its European brethren because the alcohol cuts through. It is A LOT of alcohol, yikes. As I stare into the fireplace with a corncob pipe in hand, my conclusion is to call this a rich man's malt liquor. THE ISLAND rating.

Staropramen Czech Pilsner at the Amsterdam Cafe

I'm taking a break from my studies in San Francisco to check out a bar that I'm sure will become one of my favorites. Only 2 blocks away, the Amsterdam Cafe has over 20 beers on rotating taps with another 350 bottles in the refrigerators behind the bar. It's a sight to behold. There's a few beers that are $3 on Mondays and I take the only one I haven't tried yet, a Czech Pilsner.

The Staropramen is a fine drinking beer, although you get a bit of that sour malt that accompanies many of the cheaper foreign beers who brave the atlantic cross, but it's a dry and relatively crisp drinking beer that's perfectly fine for rolling solo to a bar during a the Monday Night Football game. THE ISLAND rating.

Napa Smith Lost Dog Red Ale ends up in the pound

Having to drive straight to LAX from work to catch a flight to meet my family in Napa Valley for the weekend, but the short window won't stop me from having my beer of the day though!The Parking Spot has crappy scenery though.

In honor of my destination, I'm having a local Napa brew from Napa Smith. There's a saying in Napa; "it takes a lot of good beer to make good wine." During harvest, the pickers work crazy hours and can only maintain their sanity by drinking the one thing that they're not picking - beer.

This is the third brew from Napa Smith I've tried and while the first one surprised me in the best of ways - napa-valley-wedding-day-1-napa-smith.html - this Lost Dog Red Ale doesn't warrant further sipping past what's left in my to-go cup. It tastes like they used an English yeast, but there's no backbone to the brew. The caramel and sweetness isn't there and it's rather lackluster to be honest. I'm looking forward to drinking more Napa wine and less Napa Smith this weekend. THE ISLAND rating.

Beer # 366: Dogfish Head Festina Peach is this summer's latest tart

After our libation filled 365 Beer Every Day Great Success party last night, I wake up, drag myself out of bed at 8:30am to drive 3 hours up the coast to attend my wine club's, Ampelos, annual summer bbq. Two red bulls later and I'm there with a smile in my face.

I know what you're thinking: why does this beer enthused weirdo also belong to a wine club? The answer lies in the subtle updating of a Chinese proverb. Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. Well for a birthday, give your son a box of wine and he will drink well. Give him a wine club subscription, and he will drink well for several years. Some gifts just keep giving.

It's the curse of a father in love with wine. Three birthdays ago, I asked for a membership for my favorite winery and have been grape-content ever since, although my collection is now stockpiling because I haven't the libido to drink a beer every day AND wine. I'm unfortunately mortal and have found my limit but that doesn't exclude me from taking advantage of free food and vertical flights of wine up in beautiful Solvang, CA.

Classic 2006 Pinot Noir with classic coke

The owners, Peter and Rebbecca, are both awesome and hilarious. Their story is also really fascinating. They were working in SoCal for Disney while their son studied Viticulture at UC Davis (THE place to study wine making). They bought the amazing land you see for their retirement, and one summer in between class their son asked if he could live in a trailer on the land and grow wine. Soon after, Peter and Rebbecca become sick of the corporate world and leave Orange County for the greener hills. They learned winemaking from their son, who now is the winemaker at the prestigious Sea Smoke, and then they began their own business. How often does a parent learn a profession from their son? 

They make really good wine and you should check out their Rho Pinot Noir or their Grenache if it's available. Under its influence, bearded people wear Justin Timberlake hats for the first time. It's science.

Even silly hats can't disguise a beer nerd

Driving 6 hours round trip for 4 hours of wine drinking and eating slow roasted pork can get me pretty thirsty for something light and refreshing. Good thing I have a low alcohol neo-berliner style weisse bier that's fermented with peach juice waiting for me at home. Also awaiting me is the disaster that is my apartment.  

Drinking Jenga!

The wheat beer style lays the foundation for a light and refreshing brew with a relatively low alcohol percentage for Dogfish Head, 4.5%. The style is also pretty sour, which makes it a good choice to partner with peach juice. I'm unfortunately not a fan of tart beers, evidenced by my dislike of every sour beer ever drunk and this one kinda assaults your tongue with that character. But there will certainly be those who like this style and the flavor, so if you like lighter beers give it a shot. THE ISLAND rating.

Rogue John John Hazenult Ale isn't double the fun

I'm home from dinner at Manchego, a BYOB tapas joint on Main Street, and full off of cheese and bacon wrapped dates. David is hard at work on another one of his projects and keeping in theme, we're pouring an experiment from Rogue. Rogue took their Hazelnut Brown Nectar and aged it in spiced rum barrels. How will this compare to the hazelnut ale we had last week?

I spy a Star Destroyer...

John John, thanks to the barrel aging, has really mellowed out hazel nut character and the rum makes the brew seem boozier than the abv says. The regular hazelnut was the first brown ale I have actually enjoyed this year, but the aging has taken a hazelnut ale and made it much similar to a brown ale. Boo. Give me that Original Gangster stuff! THE ISLAND rating

Coronado Mermaid's Red Ale doesn't lure me in with her siren song

I have a drinks at Surly Goat, which I haven't been too in a while and I'm stoked! Looking at the menu, the irony hits me...I've had most of these beers. At almost 330 beers, it was bound to happen somewhere. There are so many beers on the menu I want to drink for pleasure and not for the blog, such as the Stone IRS, Bruery Bierbauch, Deschutes Mirror Mirror Barleywine and especially the 12% Speedway Stout they have on freaking cask. Ain't something so hard to turn down when you know exactly what you're missing?! Just like turning away free chocolate chip cookies...

I'm gonna roll the dice with a San Diego brewery who's location and beer names I like, but who also has disappointed me fairly often with their output, although I do like myself a red ale. Tonight's choice is Coronado Brewing's 5.7% Mermaid's Red Ale.

This beer reminds me of...you know that old Dobie Gray song, "Drift Away?" What's that now? Walker, please play some of that soft and soulful rock...well if you insist:

I'm specificaly referring to the Dobie's chorus, drift away. The red ale is looking good, good as hell, but the flavor profile is off. The hops are in the forefront of the taste along with faint roasted flavors, but then everything fades to a bitter finish without giving me a beat to work with. It's an odd mix that overall, doesn't sit well with me. Yet, the Mermaid is drinkable because it's lacking robustness, so points for that I suppose. THE ISLAND rating

Shiner 102 Double Wheat doesn't dubbel the fun

After returning my tux from the wedding, I swung by H-E-B, which I discovered last Christmas, is the bees knees of beer selection in Houston. They have many Texas brews and a noteworthy amount of national craft brews, including a surprising amount from Brooklyn Brewery. They also have a solid selection to build your own 6 pack, which is a novelty to me. I have never seen this in California, New York, Washington D.C. or Utah (4 states I've visited).

I chose an assortment of Texas beer and California beer because ironically, I came to Texas to buy Cali beer because I've never seen it out there. It's called Beer Camp from Sierra Nevada and it's a pretty neat concept that is essentially like winning the Golden Ticket to Willy Wonka's factory:  Sierra Beer Camp. You apply via a video by mid July and in August this year, you and a chosen select travel to Chico, California, and spend a weekend brewing a beer which your group conceived. The flavors available here were a Black Juniper Ale, a California Common, and a Weizenbock. I also picked up two brews from the Real Brewing in Blanco, Texas.

With no time to drink I headed to the Astros game. It's been a while since seeing Minute Maid Park (originally known as Enron Field, not so much anymore). And oh how times have changed. Only two people on the team are hitting greater than .300. The Astros Pitcher had the only RBI for the day, after he cranked the first pitch of his second at bat 367 feet into the right field bleachers. After going ahead 2-0 against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Astros middle relief blew it. The story of the Astros sad year so far.

Can't complain about the seats though!

Back home I ran outside to play with our yellow lab, Snowball, and within minutes I was soaked. The high today was 96 degrees! And there's bugs in Houston. California has spoiled me so badly that I forgot how nasty it could get even on a beautiful day.

Snowball needed a cool-off pretty quickly, as did I, so I returned to open the Shiner 102.

Even in her old age, ain't she cute?

Shiner's latest anniversary brew is a 6.2% Double Wheat with Saaz and Washington Golding hops, a malted wheat ale. Their first anniversary beer, 101, was a pilsner and was quite delicious (Shiner 101).

It's a slightly sweet and malty, but overall bland. I wonder what kind of yeast they used because it has no banana or clove characteristics of a german hefeweisse or the tartness of an american wheat. As it pangs my heart to rag on my two hometown favorites, this Shiner 102 is as bland as the Astros offensive power. THE ISLAND rating

Pinkus Mueller Organic Hefeweisse is no sweet elixer

I bought this after trying the Pilsner at The Other Room Pinkus Mueller Organic Pilsner. The laugh behind that story is that we bought the Pilsner for $14 at the bar. I’ve seen it similarly priced at other bars. I was at Whole Foods recently and found the pilsner for a considerably different price:

$3.50. That’s nearly a 5x markup. Amazeballs. And I thought Highway Robbery ended with the death of Robin Hood.

Is that Freddie Mercury in the background?

 Unlike the these Margarita flavored candies my mom sent for my birthday, the hefeweizen is quite drinkable but forgettable. There are many other hefeweizen’s I would pick over this. THE ISLAND rating.

Aktien-braurei Anno 25 Hefe Weisse can't top tonight's story

After discovering Dogfish Head’s 90 min IPA last week at Mom’s Bar, I joined Matt and Nick G there to play pool and drink beers, ones that I couldn’t count as tonight’s beer. I’m going to perceive this week as a continuation of my birthday and pretend that 4 beers plus my beer of the day is defines a health conscious and socially acceptable evening.

The highlight of the night, however, was meeting a special lady. Not that kind of special lady. Nick G figured out this lady sitting next to us at the bar was connected in way to me. Through a couple of carefully phrased questions, we realized that she had dated this guy, let's call him Jeff (not his real name). This really surprised me because Jeff had dated a former boss, who was gay, for the last 5 years (up until my old boss died this summer, sadly). Throughout this process, I'm incredibly excited - like, wave my hands in the air while I talk excited - because she doesn't know what I know, which is the above information. She only knew Jeff as being straight. Things could get really juicy here in a minute. However, I do know that 'Jeff' was also in the company during some times of my boss' relationship with him (personal assistants deal with this crap all the time and know too much). Where does she fit into the time-line?

So I let her know that Jeff was gay, or at the very least bi. How do I know this? 5 years ago acquaintances of my boss saw him do things in a shower during a pool party, that would preclude him from being defined as straight (to drop some mild sauce on it). You should've seen her face! I just slapped a'ho with some knowledge. So, when did you date him? I saw the wheels turn as she figured out the dates and did the math, and it was priceless. 5 years ago. She even broke up with him because he was buying her flowers using my boss' credit card and being picked up using his limo. HAHAHA. God that must suck. This realization, even from events years ago, must be really awkward for a woman. She was probably sleeping with him whilst he was doing things with men that weren't even allowed in the Old Testament.

She was pretty shell shocked at that point. And I have to say, that moment was priceless. I didn't laugh out loud because I didn't want her to feel any more weird about that truth, but inside I was rolling. Afterward, she proceeded to play really terrible pool, so good work me for getting inside her head. But seriously, best night ever.  Nick G, excellent work. People don't describe me as being a dick, but I did tell someone the truth when maybe they didn't need or care to hear it. To that I say, eh, tough shit. That was hilariously worth it.

The beer has a body that is lighter than typical hefeweizens but does include the banana and clove flavors from a German yeast. It tastes immature though and isn't well rounded. THE ISLAND rating.

Marin Brewing Co's Hefe Doppelweizen confuses me like a bad accent

Coincidentally for the beer of the day, all evening I've been reading about homebrewing and specifically about a critical analysis/breakdown of award winning wheat and bock style recipes.

This beer notifies me in big golden letters that it's a Hefe Doppelweizen, which is German for "Yeast Double Strength Wheat Beer" (the 'yeast refers to a specific type unique to southern Germany), but underneath that Marin proudly proclaims, 'Unfiltered American Wheat Ale."

Color me confused. So let's say, just for example, that all my impersonations using a foreign accent sound Italian (sadly). Now, if I was impersonating Antonio Banderas but it actually sounded like Luigi from Mario Kart, you would mostly likely experience a moment of confusion before calling me and idiot and laughing at me - not necessarily in that order. That's what's happening upfront. It's confusing to reference the beer as one thing when it's really a different style, but labeling your beer as foreign in order to market your product better domestically, is hallmark American (that's my sneaking suspicion). Capitalism always wins.

At 7%, it's has close to double the alcohol a German Hefeweiss has and has a very clean profile. I'm tasting sweet banana, but otherwise nothing outlandishly German. As the beer warms up I can taste the American Wheat tartness, which is one reason why I chose a Kolsch yeast instead of an American Wheat when I brewed my wheat beer, Heisenberg's Honey Wheat. It's a flavor very specific to American Wheat yeast which I personally dislike.

Overall, like it's title, the beer is a confusing mix of American and German wheat flavors that don't appeal to me. While this won gold at three gold medals at the World Beer Championships in 1997, 2000 and 2005, the brew only received a B-- rating on beer advocate. After diligently reading tonight on styles, I've learned that judges grade based on criteria and not necessarily taste. For me, this is an THE ISLAND rating.

Also, Southpark's season opener "HumancentiPad" lost me after the second defecation joke. Is that a sign of maturation? If so, then shit...don't hangout with me cause I ain't gonna be fun no more.

Kona Koko Brown Toasted with Coconut services a summer bbq and the first preview of Heisenberg's Honey Wheat homebrew

Today was a big day! We gathered a group of 7 to hit the beach and do a run through for me and Tiff's joint birthday celebration. With 7 people though, there were no teams and there was always a shortage of fielders. Exhausting would be the word to describe the day. But back at the apartment, we dove into full bbq mode, or at least David and Matt did. I'm more of a people person.

Nic and Aj's wedding is in two weeks from today, and I can't wait to see them tie the knot! Nic brought a sixer of Kona Brown with coconut and it's today's beer o' day.

The fish that David prepared is amazing and these brat's were gone before I knew it. This is a brown ale with coconut, pretty simple. I'm tasting the brown ale and coffee and the coconut was either added late in the boil or during secondary fermentation, because it kicks in late in the sip. It's an interesting idea but not something that piques my interest. THE ISLAND beer.

Coastal Fog Smoked Porter can't beat combat shotgun training day

Nic R had the greatest idea for his bachelor party. Take a couple guys out and be taught be the best in the country on how to tactically use a shotgun. These guys were rated #1 in the world by Homeland Security (or so they say) http://www.americandefenseenterprises.com/index.htm

First, the beer. I wasn't a fan.

My new entrepreneurial book by the creators of the Brooklyn Brewery, a fascinating read

It was brewed in the 'San Francisco' style, which means it used the same style as Anchor Steam. This attributes to the fruity flavor I'm tasting, but overall it's a pretty simple beer and there isn't much here really. Easy drinking I suppose. THE ISLAND rating.

We learned everything from handling a shotgun, reloading, firing moving forward and backward, firing at multiple targets using cover, reloading on the run (the first picture above) and then house clearing, which was a little nerve racking.

The bachelor himself takes on three targets

Reloading

We shot over 120 shells over the course of the day and earned a terrible sunburn. We all agreed that this was a fantastic bachelor idea and party. I'm not a huge gun nut, I'll never own a gun, but I loved doing this. The instructors were serious and intense. The whole day was intense, from beginning to end.

Safety on!

There were other people firing nearby us and even though you we're protected by dirt mounds (in the background above), high rounds whizzed above our heads. We were obviously never in danger but it was certainly unnerving. I didn't even know how to shoot a shotgun at the beginnig of the day. The first two shots we fired as a group, I didn't even shoot because the safety was on and I didn't put one in the chamber. I was a total noob. But by the end of the day reloading on the run and firing at multiple targets was mechanical. I can only imagine what doing this everyday in the army could turn you into.

This was my favorite exercise, firing at 5 targets while moving between cover

I was given an Benelli M2 Semi-Automatic shotgun, which means I didn't have to pump it to fire. This terrified my initially, fearing that I'd accidentally put some buckshot into someone's leg. But as soon as I learned how to use it, God I was loving it. Not having to pump, I ran through some courses like a ninja. Once I returned it to the trainers, I already missed my Benelli. Single tear...

Nick G makes short work

The last sequence below was a lot of fun. Shoot three targets, then 'under fire' move back to cover, port-load a shotgun slug (enter a musket round directly into your chamber), take out the back target, then reload with buckshot for the final two. It was such a blast!

Bachelor Nic R does the last drill

Pros at the end of the day.

Ladyface Blind Ambition Belgian Abbey is still finding its way

Karl found a steal of a deal out in Westlake Village Saturday afternoon - wine tasting - 26 wines for $15 dollars. I know right? CrazyFunTime. Tiffany joined us for the trip out to Bellavino, a really cool restaurant Bellavino Wine Bar. I ended up actually sampling 15 wines, rather than getting drunk on all 26 (look at me being all sorts of mature). But then we went to Ladyface Alehouse house down the road and kept drinking, so, yeah.

AND hopefully I'll be as awesome as this guy later in life. Hey darling, you color and I'll drink! Everybody wins, yayyyy.

Her face lit up like it was Christmas when the tasting arrived. Then it fell when she realized it wasn't for her.

This isn't my first time at the alehouse but it was my first time seeing the Blind Ambition Belgian Abbey beer, so I went for it. 

 

I like the ladyface ales, but my chief complaint for the majority of their ales are that they're "too clean." With the exception of the Chesboro DIPA, the bodies of the beer are too light for the alcohol. However, the Abbey Ale doesn't succumb to the "too clean" problem. It's very drinkable with brown sugar and caramel notes, but it lacks the complexity I expect a Belgian Abbey to embody. THE ISLAND rating.

New Belgium Le Terroir is a sour b-b-b-b-bomb

After funghi pizza dinner at Jones in Weho with an old friend JBo, I get a call from David who wants to have our beers out of the apartment tonight. Luckily I'm moments away from beer haven Surly Goat and I drag Jen there with me to catch the Lakers triple overtime game.

It's a Warhead on steroids; a supernova of exploding sourness. It's incredibly tart and mildly refreshing. Guess what? I really, really don't like tart beers. I like trying new things, however, there has been only one sour ale which I consumed exactly halfway through the year (Lips of Faith Erics Ale) that has ever successfully wooed me. I will keep drinking American Wild Ales for the experience, but not the pleasure. THE ISLAND rating.

Coronado Orange Avenue Wit essentially Blue Moon's my tongue

I've been impatiently waiting for the workday to end and for David to return home to help my transfer my Belgian Red Ale to the carboy: Belgian Red Ale brew day. I'm dying to know how my first original recipe is shaping up and if the malt I burned (through user error during the brew process) can be tasted, or if it's negligible. Crossing my fingers for the later...

Touchdown! Gooooaaaalllll! Schwing, Schiwng, Schwung! During the transfer I fill a snifter up and the prognosis is excellent. It's still really sweet and needs time but the caramel flavor is spot-on as is the belgian sweetness. David and Karl are nodding approvingly as they taste. It's already pretty dank beer and Karl and David point out the sweetness could turn into alcohol, which would be a really good thing for this brew. I'm titillated to say the least and I'm eagerly anticipating bottling day. There is a hint of the bitterness at the end of the sip but it's very small and may disappear all together. We all agree this beer can only get better, and it's good right now. Here's to swimming with bow-legged women.



Karl picked out this Coronado beer, which none of us really know anything about the brewery other than it's in Saint Diego. This orange label is telling me it's a wheat beer brewed with honey and spices. Hmmm

The sexy coaster is a gift David returned with from Germany

This beer is really light and the orange is really mellow. It smells weird, a little musty, like the Old Sock Air Freshner I hang from my rearview mirror. Just kidding, that's no air freshner.

This wouldn't be a bad summertime beer, but some would argue this case for Blue Moon and only girls like the moon that's blue. I'm over it, as is Karl. THE ISLAND rating.

Landbrauerei Schonram Festbier doesn't make my day easier

I picked this up at Beverage Warehouse because it was cheap and seemed obscure, which are both probably bad signs, but something else is on my mind...

Every so often people ask me if I ever get tired of drinking a beer every day. During the first six months, I scoffed at them, but as of recent, there are some days when I really just don't want to have a beer. Don't get me wrong, drinking beer every day is like telling me that if I don't play the Call of Duty video game for the next several hours, then a child will die from cancer, or, that unless I copulate with a intoxicatingly beautiful lady then communism will prevail (God Bless America I say, as the madam wipes a tear from my eye)...

Still, some days I simply want to go to sleep, or like today, I return from the gym having purged myself from the Chipotle and Texas Pecan Pie I gorged on for lunch. My body is begging me not to inhale any other crap except water, but I still have a beer yet to drink...not that beer is crap. It's times like this that I have to remember the end goal and think of the beer as medicine and just throw it down the hatch. Good thing this beer was made for fast consumption.


This beer is a Marzen/Festival Bier. As expected, it was cheap and super malty and has an unexpected bite to it which isn't pleasant. THE ISLAND rating.

Also, Jenga survived the bbq last night. How long will it last?

Anywho, I'm trying to catch up on some old movies and I'm about to watch Barbara Stanwyck in The Lady Eve. Supposed to be great. 

On another note, before I started The Lady Eve, I caught the end of Michael Bay's PEARL HARBOR and even though I rank it last out of his catalog, I feel like the disastrous film wasn't entirely Michael's fault. He may have not been the right choice for an epic historical war film in the first place, but that script was TERRIBLE, just atrocious. Having Alec Baldwin cast as Jimmy Doolittle was an inspired choice and even he had trouble rising above some of the lines. Alec was still awesome though, duh.

Paulaner Salvator doesn't quite save my day

I don't like the way that AT-ST is looking at me...I have a bad feeling about this. Let's get out of here Han.

Not only did I split a Kogi Quesadilla and Sliders today for lunch, but my office CEO made an executive decision (I kid you not) and replaced the Oreo's in the kitchen with cookies looking exactly like these:

Seriously, who does that? You don't put a free kegerator next to the water cooler when you employ a bunch of alcoholics. You can't give the sluty secretaries in MAD MEN free contraceptives, right? I have a cookie problem; how could you, in good conscious, replace Oreo's with this crack? They might as well put out black tar herion and some clean needles every morning. I had two today. This is only the beginning.

Anywho, Paulaner Salvator has a whole lotta bock going on with deep brown nut and caramel roast.  It's a double bock and it's a little too intense for me, and it's not my style. THE ISLAND rating.

Seriously though, I kinda wish the AT-ST slayed more Ewoks in Return of the Jedi. This isn't helping:

The Original Steiglbock finishes off an eventful day making Home Brew #3

Ever since the success of my first home brew, the winter ale King Moonracer's Revenge, I've been telescopically focused on making two beers, a Belgian IPA and a hoppy Belgian Red Ale, which is inspired by The Breury's Loakal Red. We're bottling the Belgian IPA Monday. It's time to make the Belgian Red.

This is only my third home brew but I want to be ambitious in my beer-every-day year, so I rather than follow anyone's recipe I designed my own. I did a lot of research on malt and hops and decided on specific grains that will give the light and medium caramel malt flavor as well as the 'red' color I want, and then throw several grains characteristic of Belgians that will add sweetness and a big malt body to compliment the strong American hop presence. Where I really diverged is with the yeast. I researched a few Belgian Red Ales and most of them used Irish or English yeast. I really want that Belgian sweetness and ester complex that I enjoy so much, so I'm going the road less traveled with a Belgian Strong Ale Yeast and crossing my fingers.

UNTITLED BELGIAN RED ALE

Malt Extract:    Alexander's Pale Extract   6 lbs
                       Coopers Plain Light DME 2 lbs

Sugar:              Belgian Light Candi Sugar 1 lb

Grain Bill:         Caramel/Crystal Malt 40 L 6 oz
                        Caramel/Crystal Malt 60 L 6 oz
                        Belgian Special B 2oz (this is a really dark grain)
                        Caravienne Malt 4 oz                       

                        Aromatic Malt 4 oz            

Hop Schedule: Centennial (10.5%) .5oz at 60 mins
                       Centennial (10.5%) .5oz at 45 mins
                       Columbus(15.4%) .75oz at 30 mins
                       Cascade (6.6%) 1.25oz at 15 mins
                       Centennial (10.5%) 1.5 oz DRY HOP

Yeast:            Wyeast 1388 Belgian Strong Ale
                    

Potential Alcohol 6.8%
59 IBU's 

Starting Gravity 1.068

Color is 12 SRM (Copper/Red is 10-14 SRM).

Not only is this recipe my own creation, but I'm also making beer without David's guiding hand for the first time. David's in Munich so Tiff is thankfully helping me out.

Wort chiller? Check. Newly built spice rack? Check. Linus the Storm Trooper Cookie Jar?...Time to brew

Always have to drink a beer during brewing so I bought a Drake's Imperial Red Ale to inspire us. God that stuff is good.

Brewing was...a learning process today. There were moments of "oh, I was supposed to add the sugar then," and "what's that black stuff coming up?" HA. What could I do? What's done is done. It wouldn't the first time I learned the hard way. So I burned some malt; the worst that will happen is there will be some 'toasted' notes that I wasn't expecting in the beer, but there also may not be any difference. Just gotta wait and see.

So afterwords I'm enjoying today's beer pleasantly surveying my two alcoholic babies. David brought back several brews from Europe and today's brew is from Austria, the Steiglbock.

Belgian Red Ale on the left, the soon to be bottled Belgian IPA on the right

The Steiglbock is an intense lager and my first light colored bock. It has a surprisingly big malt characteristics which are...interesting...but it's not my type of party beer. THE ISLAND rating.


Thanks to Tiff for helping me out! Crossing my fingers, today was a day of many home brewing firsts (good and bad) and as always, excited to taste the outcome.