The Beer, the Blond, the Best

"Oh, Matilda! You're not what you seem" she screamed!

I guess Blond's really are more fun!

Sometimes you just come away shaking your head. What happened? Is it true? Does it really taste like that? Could I have actually made something that is as strong and drinkable as say... Duvel?

Yes I did!

The bottle says Matilda. Belgian Style Ale. Made by Goose Island. We've had it before. It's delicious... and professional.

Inside, Wolfbrew's Blond Hopshell. The consensus: "I really thought we were drinking Matilda." Why thank you, Leeza. Not because I made a replica of a Goose Island beer but because the quality of my product was finally up to par with the big guys! There is no indicia of homebrewness in this fantastic Belgian blond ipa. In fact, there's no overwhelming hop bitterness either. Maybe I just made a quality Beligan style strong blond ale. Ahhh but then the onslaught of American hops tingle the tip of your tongue and trickle their way down your awaiting throat.

"It's too bad you don't have more of this," cries Leeza.
"But we have Delirium." I'm quick to retort.
"Yes, but I want this one!"

And she shall have it. Along with anyone else willing to sip the suds of Wolfbrew's finest beverage. Little C's Lavender may be nice and tasty but The Blond Hopshell is nothing less than...

Strong, sweet, bitter and blond.

Cleverly conniving alcohol sinews its self
To Candy sugary sweetness,
Patiently pursued by hallowed Amarillo hops.
The blond bomb's buxom end
Leaves no man sans a friend.

Is this poem going to accompany the label of this fine brew? You bet your ass it will. All i need is some investors, some commercial property and some large scale brewing equipment. Good thing I have smart friends who will become rich lawyers... right guys??? ;)

Quick update:

Frankenstupp is bottled. Mets stink. Jet's need to score some touchdowns. Black IPA is on the way. Enjoy.

The Audacity of Hops

Brewing season is finally in full swing. Little C's Lavender is a big hit. My beautiful bride-t0-be has a beer-t0-be and the best man's brew is boisterously bubbling away. What next? Oh just a little thing called the hop harvest.
Today marked the start of what will be a bountiful hop harvest.

I'm not sure what face I'm making but those are fresh Chinook hops from the Stuart Family Farms. Who needs law school when you have a garden of Eden in your back yard? He even has bees!

Moving along, I finally got some hops in my yard. I hope to get enough for at least a batch or two. I've never actually used the type of hops that I grew but what's the fun of experimenting without surprises? My Horizon hops are high in alpha acids which ensure that they will be nice and bitter, just the way I like 'em.
Next year they should grow back even bigger. That's what she said?

It's quite remarkable how enjoyable it is to stand outside on a mildly humid August day picking hops. We've had so much heat that much of my crop is dried up. Stu's hops have flourished and we had plenty to pick. Just two guys and their dogs, hop resin on their hands, creaky ladders under their legs and no other care in the world. Well, except for the inevitable conversation. I will only say this, you can't change what you wrote about shareholders or out of state divorces. Let's just hope we had, as my mother always said, "minimal competence." Those of you who did not suffer through the hellish summer, you are smarter than I ever hope to be. For those that did, godspeed.

At least we have our hops.

We also have another beer brewing. As I mentioned, everyone seems to love the lavender beer. Especially the ladies (and Andrew). He paid me what I think was the highest compliment. He said this was the first beer he could see himself drinking at a bar. I'll take it for what it is and say thank you Andrew. I hope your new dog stops biting you.
For those of you who tried the lavender, you don't need any tasting notes. For those who haven't, well, it's a light colored, light tasting, lavender beer. There is more bitterness than I imagined and it doesn't come from the hops! Next year I will brew it again with Stu's honey.

I want to show you a side by side of how weird fermenting beer can be. First we have the Frankenstupp. So named for the best man and it's eclectic ingredients. Spicy Belgian Ardennes yeast, dark German and British malt, some wheat malt, big bitter American Warrior hops and finished with German Spalt and Styrian Golding hops. It is truly a creature not to be reckoned with.

To your left is the Frankenstupp frantically bubbling away. To the right is the Blond Hopshell right after I pitched the yeast. I've never had a beer layer like that. You may think it's silly but I find it fascinating. All that goodness to your right is now naturally carbonating in bottles pictured in the background to your left. Don't worry, it's not going to come out looking like that in your bottles. In fact, the beer is quite light in color, hence its name. It is the strongest beer I have made. I'll try it in a month or so but should take some time to mellow out. The Frankenstupp though, should be ready when else but Halloween. *Cue the evil laughter*

And that's it.

Please leave any and all ideas for new beers in the comment section. Don't be shy, no one will laugh at you. Hell I made a lavender beer.

On a side note, Kristin, I will make your naughty nurse. I was hoping my cherry tree would yield greater rewards. If you can forgive me and wait until next year I would be forever grateful. Or I could make it with preserves. Let me know when you get back from Aussie land.
Cheers!

Crazy? No, just happy.

Terry's new status message - What are u a pussy? dont be an asshole drink real beer -wolfbrew 4:33 PM
Ah, and the grassroots movement has begun.

Before I get to the recent flood of activity I have a little history lesson. You already know how I am linked to beer because of my last name. (If you don't, go back and read my older posts). Well here is another reason why I am destined to make beer.

Protestants.
You all remember the German Reinheitsgebot? It's the purity law that only allows beer to be made with malt, hops, yeast and water. What was it a reaction to? Well in part to those crazy Catlicks. Apparently, prior to the 16th century the pope and his minions had a monopoly on a vast number of herbs used for medicinal purposes, including beer. If you don't believe me, read Steve Buhner's book "Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers" where he writes "The historical record is clear that hops' supplementation of other herbs was primarily a reflection of Protestant irritation about 'drugs' and the catholic church, in concert with competing merchants trying to break a monopoly and so increase their profits." So after a thousand years of herb dominance, the Protestants protested and forged the way for that resiny green plant we have all come to love. Now if only we could forge the way for another member of the Cannabaceae family....

The Graduator
Although I haven't officially graduated yet, I am done with law school. The beer brewed for such an occasion was the malty bock-like Graduator. At first it was a bit too sweet for me, as I used a minimal amount of hops and a large amount of caramel malt. Now however, it has mellowed and become quite a good food accompaniment and even pretty good on its own. I am glad I got to celebrate with it among my **brator study group out in Mattituck, Although we were poor in sunshine we were rich in homebrew.





St. Andrew's Tripel
"This is definitely my favorite beer of yours," said the wise Rockin' Roshelli. Strong, spicy, smooth and refreshing. No, not Andrew, but his beer. Oh, and there's St. Andrew drinking a St. Ides...


Little C's Lavender
This delicious libation has finally been bottled as its muse anxiously awaits her first sip. The good news is that its floral bouquet is not overpoweringly intense and it tastes very much like a classic golden blonde. Remember, it was brewed with honey so there will always be that mild sweetness on the tip of your tongue which will lead to the slight hop bitterness on the back of your tongue. When you drink this beer, hold it in your mouth as try to pick out the distinct senses as the beer flows from the tip to the back of your tongue. (By the way, this could all be a bunch of nonsense. Remember, this beer is named after the Queens of BS)!

Blond HopShell.
Oh, did I mention that since the last time I wrote I got engaged? What better way to celebrate a new future than with a new beer? I have a really interesting picture of the beer but it's on my camera which I can't find so deal with this for now. Oh, and there is the most beautiful woman in the world standing by some buildings I never knew existed in NYC.
This beer, like its namesake, is going to be out of this world. Ardennes Belgian yeast, the most malt I have ever used, adjunct grains I have never used before and a ton of hops. This is going to be bold, badass and ready to knock you out with her beautiful blonde strength. Don't get in her way. I'd advise enjoying her when you have a whole day to kill and just want to sit around enjoying your surroundings. After one of these you won't be able to do much else. It will be a while before this beauty of a beast is ready, but it will be well worth the wait. There's nothing like sticking to what you love.

A couple of footnotes

The Reginale

I only bring this up because it is fermenting in my basement. Here it is on the left, with the Hopsehll on the right. Brewmaster Stu is making this for his Queen but needed to rent out my facility. I used twice as much malt and hops in the Hopshell but hey, i do crazy things like wake up one morning single and go to bed engaged! Gotta take risk, eh?
There's the Stumaster doing some backbreaking brewing. The things we do for women... oh wait, i mean beer.


Frankenstupp
Yes, it is time. Mein freund Herr Stupp will become Herr Braumeister. The creature will be of Belgian yeast, german dark malt, american hops and rye of unknown origins. As they say, Hüten Sie sich vor der Kreatur.




by the glimmer of the half-extinguished light, I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open...

Prost

Black India Pale Ale?

Can there be such a thing as a black "pale" ale? The answer is... well.... yes. Maybe I'll name mine the oxy moronic ale.

The first tidbit I learned on my west coast excursion is that Cascadian hops and roasted barley make for a delicious combination. More on this later.


St. Andrew's Tripel

A brief disclaimer: there has been some upheaval that Andrew got shafted in the naming of his beer. All those who want to voice their concern have the floor. I think this beer is an honor to him, but I'm bias towards its delicouss potency. Yes, it is quite strong in alcohol. Although I tried it prematurly- at the bequest of a certain fan- it had all the Belgian spiciness of a tripel but was a bit on the dark side. Coloration was a concern of mine because I used pale malt instead of the lighter pilsner malt. Color aside it still needs some aging to lessen the alcohol presence. Right now it is quite like Andrew; edgy, gingery and not too mellow but will always make for a good time. With proper aging it will simmer down and become refreshing. Am I talking about Andrew or the beer?


The Blond Hopshell

For this bad girl I will use the pilser malt to get a more authentic light color. I will not however, use cascadian hops. I'll save those for my India Black Ale. I refuse to say Black IPA, it's just not right. I was planning on bringing ingredients back from the old west but the store did not have a grain crusher, and I was not bringing whole grains in my suitcase. I am very excited about this beer. Big Belgian complexity with a bitter hop infusion. mm mmm mmm.

Now for the IBA/Black IPA/ CBA

This topic was actually debated at a recent beer conference. Yes, even beer people are dorks (look at me). The arguements were made: People will understand and be attracted to a black IPA because they already know they like IPAs. But you can't have a black and pale ale! Because it's bittered with hops, it's based on the IPA buuuuttt, it's dark and roasty so let's call it an India Black Ale (i like this). But no-one will know what that is. People didn't know what an IPA was until someone explained! CBA- Cascadian Black Ale- now this name is just because one of the two brewers who originated the style wanted to show where it was from... same reason IPAs have the word India- but the consensus was that east coasters wouldn't be too keen on the term because it's exclusive. I agree. No-one outside the pacific northwest even knows what the hell Cascadian means. It's a mountain range. (see image below). And everything in the region is named after it. Think of Colorado and their baseball team... people like their mountains.

So we have a new style of beer. It smells like citrusy hops but without the intense hop bitterness. The secondary flavors are of toasty roasted barley and dark grain. Imagine if Guinness smelled like dogfish head 90 minute.... pretty weird huh? Those pacific northwest hops have really strong grapefruit smells so it is quite odd to put your nose into a dark beer that smells of such citrusy hops. I thoroughly enjoyed the half dozen samples I had. The best might have been at Widmer. They make so many beers we don't get here. I enjoyed their W"10 Pitch Black IPA with some dragon wings. Spiciest wings ever. A friend I met out there said it best... Portlanders are intense about everything. Extreme and unique cocktails, beers, bars, music and hipsters... well the hipsters all look the same... just like in NY but with beeny caps and flannel shirts. Not my scene.

I predict the east coast will be invaded with black hoppy beers very very soon. Get ready. I'll have mine after the bar exam. Until then.... cheers.

Oh yeah... Little C don't think I forgot about you. Honey Lav shall be bottled this weekend.

Don't Stop Me Now

That's what she said.

It's only March and I've brewed four beers with two more are on the way.

A comm0n theme among my beers is their namesakes. I am on a quest to be a real law school dork and name a beer after everyone in my study group . I'm officially down to my last person, Dave Bloom. The Bloomenator? Dave's -oh shit i spilled my coffee-ale? Bloom's bubble bursting bock? We'll find an appropriate one soon enough.

As for everyone else, we started with the Ingvoldstout for the lovely Lauren. Then we moved on to Little C's Lavender for none other then Little C. Andrew was upset at being left out so I hurriedly honored him with St. Andrew's Tripel. I still think he feels he gets no respect. Maybe he's right.

Either way, it was time to honor the rockin' Roshelli. This is a woman who has done it all, UPenn, airforce, nurse, federal clerk... but she lacked that all important honorary beer. It was time to step up to the plate. I really don't remember how it came about but all of a sudden we were discussing whether a certain phrase was copyrighted, or trademarked or whatever was the right intellectual property issue. Four law students sitting at a bar having no idea what how to make sure we could use the term "Naughty Nurse." Kristin's biggest concern-- making sure the 'a' in Naughty connected to the 'a' in Ale. The genesis of Kristin's namesake was born.

Wait, I'm naming a beer after this?

But what was Naughty Nurse Ale to be? She loved Sam Adams Cherry Wheat and Ommegang's 3 Philosopher's. I thought about the amber malt I had lying around and then I thought about the two beers she liked. Then I thought about the cherry tree in my back yard. Ergo... Naughty Nurse Cherry Amber was born. Unfortunately, The Naughty Nurse will have to wait until the right season. We don't want to pop the cherry too soon...


Ingvoldstout, Naughty Nurse and Little C














That brings us to the next big beer, the Blonde Hopshell Belgian Imperial IPA. Big name, big beer. I want to raise the bar in homebrewing by pushing the alcohol content without sacrificing flavor. I dislike the really strong beers that leave a somewhat winy alcohol aftertaste. Beer is supposed to go down easy and I want to brew a big beer that slides right down. The idea is to have a Belgian Blonde, like Duvel, infused with with American hops and candy sugar. I'm using yeast called Ardennes, so you know it's going to be intense! Just like Germans tried to bulge through the American line, this will bust through your notion of beer... only I won't fail!


Soon We will be standing in front La Brassiere de Loup, or De wolfbrouwerij.












The next post will have tasting notes on St. Andrew's Tripel and Little C's Lavender so stay tuned! Plus I will recap my trip to Oregon... hopefully the Blond Hopshell will have some Cascade hops straight from the Cascade mountains! Soon this picture of me in Brugge will, like my beer, be juxtaposed with the American West Coast.

Cheers

Taking Chances

Well, this is a montage blog. A blogtage?

The Tripel is bottled. The Graduator is delicious. The latter having a phenomenally drinkable malt centered flavor. In other words, it's closer to the flavor and smell of what most people consider beer. Of course, it's high in alcohol and full bodied. I had it today with some spicy chicken. I thought I was opening my Double IPA but it didn't smell overwhelmingly of hops. It looked just like the IPA, same color, same head, but alas, it was the Graduator. Luckily, the beer was a fine accompaniment and actually mellowed out the spiciness, as opposed to the IPA which would have intensified the heat. After six hot wings the malty sweet Graduator was seriously good relief.

Onto the main course.

Little C and her lavender beer.
Phase 1
Open the lavender and realize how intense it smells!
Sift it around and try to figure out how much to use.

Get some floss and tie it around the lavender sack.
Stick it in the carboy.

Nothing to exciting. Just getting it wet so it sinks a bit.




Most importantly.... DRINK IT ALL!!!














As of now, it tastes like a Belgian Strong golden ale. If i were to puff myself up, i''d say it tastes like Duvel. The flavor mostly comes from the Belgian yeast. The lavender should add quite a unique and potent aroma. We'll see what happens. Right now, its a tasty honey belgian ale . In a week, it will be a lavender infused alcoholic flower in a bottle.


Figured I'd get a picture of Little C herself in here.


Cheers!

I Hope It Doesn't Taste Like Shampoo

Little C's Honey Lavender

The thought of a honey lavender beer never crossed my mind. In fact, The idea of lavender in general never blossomed. My intentions were to make a spruce beer in honor of my Alaskan fisher friend.

Two events changed my course.
1. Stuart had me try his mead.
2. An old friend suggested I "mead him in the middle."

The latter was suggested to me while sitting in a Williamsburg beer hall. Why not combine elements of mead and beer? Why not use lavender? Well, there was no reason not to. I still have no idea where he came up with meade me in the middle but he seemed to think he was a visionary. I went home, did some research, and found that honey and lavender go together like peanut butter and jelly. Maybe this kid was on to something.

My only concern was how to cook with lavender. Apparently, lavender is quite bitter. I love bitter beers, but usually the bitterness comes from hops, not flowers. Therefore, I decided to use the dryhopping technique with lavender. Instead of cooking the dried flowers and absorbing their bitterness, I would use them solely for aroma. I left the bittering work to my trusted green friends Glacier and Simcoe.

The two pounds of Minnesota Clover honey will more than balance any residual hop bitterness. The use of Belgian Ale yeast will add a nice spiciness that I hope makes for an interesting, unique and delicious beer. While I want this beer to have a strong hop presence, I'm hoping the lavender and honey aroma will leave first impressions of sweet and flowery. Once that occurs, imbibers will be less likely to notice any lingering hop bitterness. My hope is that this beer will allow non hopheads to try other hoppy beers without adverse reactions (i.e. my Double IPA!).


Speaking of which, to the left is my Mocha Porter and Double IPA with beautiful foamy heads. Who doesn't love some good head?

To the right is my very expensive and technically savvy cooling device. One cannot pour boiling hot wort into a glass carboy without disaster. Luckily, I have "created" a natural cooling system.

In addition, two plus two equals four.

Sorry, that's an old Norm MacDonald joke from SNL.
I'll just give a brief update of my other beers.

Graduator
This malty bock impostor is bottled and yet to be tried in its carbonated form. I probably should have tried it before writing this blog but I'm sure all my die hard fans will live without tasting notes. It should be malty sweet with some residual hop bitterness. It's my attempt at attracting Stella drinkers. You know who you are.

Belgian Tripel
This Trappist infused creation is still sitting in secondary fermentation. I've been slow on the alcohol consumption so I am yet to acquire the requisite amount of bottles. I'll get there soon enough. I am very excited about this because I love tripels. They are light in color, spicy and strong in alcohol. If this comes out right, there should be no real alcohol presence on the tongue. This means you are going to drink it, not realize how strong it is, have another one and then have trouble standing up. Now do Monks know how to make beer or what?

Until next time, thanks for reading and keep trying new beer!!

Cheers

P.S. Suggestions on what I should brew next are always welcome!
I'm thinking of remaking my Iggy Wit for the summer and trying a Bishop's Best British Bitter Beer. (I don't care for alliteration). Spruce beer is still an idea.

Sexy Hops

As I am on break, I have a boat load of time on my hands. I've brewed two beers and prematurely tried the Double IPA. Now what to do? The same thing you're doing right now; read about beer. First I'll give you some updates on my beers and then entertain you with tales of the "wolf plant."
Devil's Double IPA
As the image shows, hops grow high. This is what the Stuart's backyard looked like during the summer. Beautiful female cones of humulus lupulus. The next stage is harvesting the hops. Unfortunately, i missed out on this experience. What I didn't miss out on was the finished product. I used a boatload of homegrown Chinook and Cascade hops.


To the left is a great image of chinook and cascade being harvested. After they are taken off the vines they can be immediately put into a boil to make what we call "wet hopped" beer. In my case, I used them a few weeks after harvesting so it's not an official wet hopped beer, but it is fresh and delicious.







As I said, I opened my double IPA prematurely. It wasn't fully carbonated and the hop flavors were incredibly dominant. In time, the malt will balance out the hops a bit, but leaving the beer smelling of citrus and puckering your lips. By the time I write my next blog my double IPA might be gone! I can't help myself, I love these beers.


Belgian Tripel
This beer was another collective effort. I had my boys over to help.
I guess I forgot to mention the importance of these two pictures. A key ingredient to homebrewing is enjoying homebrews!! My staff here are quaffing a couple of Mocha Porters. Mike, however, may have had too many...















Over the course of the evening, we drank every beer in my fridge to the point where old Miller Lite's had to be used for consumption. (I did not take part in that). The yeast was finally ready to be pitched and the yet unnamed Belgian Tripel was ready to ferment. And what better way to end a night of brewing than by watching the Hangover? Ok, you're right,that wasn't enough... what's missing you ask? Cherry Valley.

The Graduator
Before I started brewing the Tripel I racked the Graduator. This process just involves transferring the beer post fermentation from one carboy to another. The purpose to to isolate the dead yeast to avoid off flavors. It also allows me time to acquire enough bottles for bottling. The beer can sit in the secondary fermentor for a while with no negative effects. In fact, it allows the beer to mellow and the flavors to come together.
Yes, I use my mom for help. She is the omnipotent preventer of boil overs.

Back to the Graduator. It's definitely NOT a bock. Tasting it immediately made us all say "IPA." Stuart's hops are just too overpowering. The beer should end up having nice balance of the hops and maltiness. We'll see what it ends up tasting like. My bet is a well balanced amber ale smelling very citrusy. Should be delicious.

Now, what you've all been waiting for. Sexy Hops.
During the break, I came across some interesting information. This information explains a lot about college and inevitably links me to hops.

First, as we all know, hops are members of the same botanical family as cannabis. (Don't try smoking them). What I didn't know is that hops are an aphrodisiac for men, yet a sleep inducer for women!! I can finally connect the dots to many nights in college.... Who knew the very reason I loved beer, hops, prevented me from getting any? Oh the bitter sweet irony of it all.

Of Wolf and Hops
Second, my name is linked to hops. Pliny, a 6th century Roman writer, was the first to write about hops. He called them.... get ready for it.... "Lupus salictarius," or "Wolf plant." Apparently they had a fondness for growing wild among willow trees and soil, like a wolf among sheep.




Thanx again for reading. Hope you can enjoy a delicious brew with me soon.

Cheers