The Forgotten Blog

We last left off so long ago,
When the winds were wicked and the brews were bold.
Now at summer's end we meet again,
Gone past the shore and through the fold.

Reluctant to leave the hot yellow sands,
We trade in our wits with disbelief
For the toil of the cool harvest lands.
At least we know we soon shall hear,
Through the falling leafs

Let's have a beer!

Now who says I can only make liquid art?? (Probably everyone who just suffered through that poem!)
Well, silly verses aside, it's time to get back to brewing.

It's only fitting that I write this on the cusp of reconfiguring the Forgotten Monk. My last post ended with preview of  how my Belgian Stout was supposed to taste. Suffice to say it came out as a Belgian version of the Austin Street Amber. It had all the trappings of a strong Belgian ale with no stout characteristics.

I had not planned on attempting this beer again until I tried a very expensive beer at Waterzooi. My trepidation with this beer began at its asking price of $8.75. Mind you the beer is only 6% abv. I thought to my self, and perhaps mumbled a little too loudly, this beer better be worth nine frikin dollars! The comely bartender assured me it was delicious and proceeded to pour the dark nectar into my tall, stemmed goblet. The brown liquid that filled my glass was nothing short of spectacular. Smooth hints of dark chocolate and black currants mixed with spicy coriander and muted hops made for delightful quaffing. My enjoyment of this superior beverage did not go unnoticed. As I sat at the bar and watched my friend finish her glass of red wine, she turns to me and asks, what beer should I have next? I smile, with the proud knowledge that my enthusiasm has converted her at least for the evening, to a drinker of fine ales. With my beer whisperer senses tingling I order us a bottle of Goose Island Sofia. From first sip the beer is a hit. But alas, the season for saison is creeping further and further away. As the cold weather gears, I realize it is stout season. My liquid journey must begin with the brewing of a Belgian Stout. The monk must not be forgotten!

This monk is going to have some kick to it. Chocolate, rye, and roasted barley to start off followed by some fruity Amarillo hops and finished off with a dose of coriander, nutmeg and ginger. As for god is good (yeast), nothing less then Abbey Ale yeast would suffice. Version 2.0 of the Forgotten Monk should be ready for Thanksgiving and oh how thankful I will be for it!

Quick recap:
Since the last post I have brewed the Forgotten Monk (Belgian Amber), the White Wolf IPA and the Amcoe IPA. The former being my first attempt at a White IPA and the latter my first straightforward IPA. Both came out wildly successful in that they were both crowd pleasing and me pleasing. Inspiration for the White Wolf came straight from a beer festival where I tried Blue Point's White IPA. I was awestruck at its complexity. It was the first of the style I had ever tasted but still to this day, the best. The White Wolf did come out how I wanted it, light and hoppy with a nice biscuity wheatness. The mix of hops and wheat makes for a perfect summer beer. On the nose grapefruit and on the back of the tongue coriander with tangy bitterness. There is something about Belgian Wit yeast that invites semi aggressive hop bitterness. In all, I love the style and can't wait to try more and improve my own.

The Amcoe IPA is a two hopped beer- Amarillo and Simcoe. Figure out the name yet? In the past I made double IPAs, Belgian IPAs, White and Black IPAs but never just an India Pale Ale. The start of summer seemed the best time to have a bitter, refreshing, session type beer easily enjoyed in quantity. The meshing of those two hops worked perfectly. Nothing groundbreaking but sometimes beauty lies in simplicity. This beer is like the  girl who doesn't need to get all dressed up to show that she's hot. Maybe I'm pushing it with the metaphor but you get the point. (I hope).

Now all this talk has got me thinking...

Why not start a beer series and call it the Forgotten Monk. i.e all the Wolf Brew Belgian style beers will be in the Forgotten Monk realm. For instance, the stout that's brewing now will be the Forgotten Monk's Black Death. Sound eerily delicious? I think so.
 
I also had a thought some time ago but never allowed it to come to fruition. Many breweries make single hopped beer in order to accentuate the individual flavor profiles. I have yet to make a single hopped beer, or even a SMaSH beer. (single malt and single hop). But listen to this... for my single hop series I would call it.... get ready..... readier..... get readiest for the Cyclhops  series!   Get it? Cyclops with an H-- eh? Single Hops Cyclops. Sounds like a winner to me. We'll see if it ever turns into anything more then an idea I thought of in the shower.

Anyway, my fixation this summer on IPAs probably came from my trip to San Diego in March. From the 7 or so breweries I visited came an immense appreciation for west coast IPAs. Not that I didn't enjoy them before, as the IPA has long been my favorite style, but having them in the state where they were created and perfected makes a difference. The laid back approach of that city paired with it's omnipresent beer culture is something a man could get used to.

Speaking of a laid back brew culture, Israel has quite the burgeoning beer scene. I had read about the Dancing Camel, the first microbrewery to open in Israel, (opened by none other then a former Brooklynite) but I found an abundance of brands making Israel Pale Ales, stouts, Belgian Wits, etc. At one store my cousin Eitan ran into a guy who worked for a brewery owned by someone my cousin had commanded in the military! Serious small world in the holy land.

Funny that Israel entered the beer scene before Queens! Soon though, Astoria will be home to the best borough's first brew house. Singlecut Beersmiths is supposed to open very soon and may already be opened by the time you fine people read this.

I hope this post hasn't bored you too much. Perhaps you had some free time at work that you spent indulging in my blabbering or maybe even a late night bedtime story. Either way, much obliged for your time.

Oh and no, I probably won't make a pumpkin beer any time soon. Sorry.

Cheers!

A Beer of Malt and Hops

As the smell of burnt bacon drifts across the room followed by a deluge of black ale, my eyes slowly begin to focus as the great orange glow takes hold of the shadows.

I blink twice and suddenly remember that it’s in my blood. No, not the alcohol from last night (well maybe that too), but brewing. As much as the morning light destroys the peace of night, it also awakens the body and mind. I am not in a song of ice and fire. This is a beer of malt and hops.

I am descended from a Keller, who is 93 years young come March . My grandmother was a Keller. Now she is a Wolf. Both names relate directly to the most superior beverage. And how has my grandmother lived so long? She adopted to her surroundings. Whether it be the only Jew in Georgia, or now in a temporary nursing home because of two fractures in her back, she fights on.

And as Ned Stark taught us when his head came rolling off of his shoulders: you either adapt or you die. And as we must adapt to dark from light, from warm to cold, and from a still summer breeze to the winds of winter…

so must we adapt from castle to one bedroom apartment with a crazy neighbors.

I must adapt or go thirsty.

In all stages of the brewing process change does not come easy. From cleaning the equipment in the bathtub and picking the hops out by hand to higher temperatures and tardy fermenting to an overflow while racking, I can only wonder if the taste of the beer will equal the labor it took to make it.

But my alternative? A fridge full of fizzy yellow water or overpriced micros. Not that the craft beer industry is all that bad, I just prefer my own creations. As for the fizzy yellow water… yeah, not going to happen.

But alas, inspiration does come from some of those overpriced micros. And we all know the famous idiom that imitation is the biggest form of flattery. Here I stand flattering the Brooklyn Brewery and Trader Joe’s. Yes, trader Joe’s.

Suffice it to say I spent a lot of money on the latter’s Black Ops, aged it for over a year, and rang it in with the New Year. The taste, from what I remember, was undeniably appealing, but the cost, well I’m glad I aged it for so long…

On the other hand, for five dollars, the TJ’s 2011 Vintage Ale gives you, “an amber-mahogany hue, abundant with coffee-with-cream colored, foam. The ample aromas are of cocoa and malt, with added notes of lemon and ginger. A single sip leads to the true discovery – mildly sweet and malty flavors, with a captivating suggestion of cocoa, citrus and spice.”

That’s right from Trader Joe himself, and I couldn’t have said it any better myself. What really struck me about this beer is not only its high quality and unique flavor, but it’s only 5 FREAKIN BUCKS! Until the Forgotten Monk is ready, go out and treat yourself to a 5 dollar bottle of trader joe’s finest product. Did I mention it’s 9% abv and comes in a 750ml bottle?

But enough about other people’s beers. I still have to learn how to best use my new place during the brewing process.

Suffice it to say, the Austin Amber was a bitch and a half to make. I was not prepared for the shortcomings my new home offered me. However, in hindsight, it was well… the beer turned out great so isn’t that all that matters?

The Austin Street Amber has the approval of Mr. Benedict Arnold.. oh I mean Andrew Schiavone himself. Though his family crest adorns the top of the bottle, one must never forget that the Wolf remains the leader of the pack.

This beer is crisp, easy to drink, not too bitter or too sweet and according to Andrew, doesn’t have an aftertaste. I could probably drink half the batch in a weekend. I think Andrew finally has a beer he can be proud of. He immediately said- you must make more of this! And I shall… as soon as honor is restored among brothers. In other words, when I finally beat him at trivia.

The Forgotten Monk is a Belgian Stout. It will have chocolate overtones with residual maltyness and nice spice from the Trappist yeast. I say ‘will’ because I failed to taste the beer upon racking. Now it sits untested in my closest patiently waiting for bottles. As light and easy to drink as the Austin Amber is, I expect the Forgotten Monk to be more on the heavy and chewy side. It’s got a ton of fermentables in it, including a pound of dark candi sugar and a whole lot of malt. If I get this bottled before the end of winter it will make for a great companion on a snowy night in.

As for my next liquid art... mayhaps a Scotch Ale with Rye or a nice Spring Kolsch. Or is it time to go back to the humulus lupulus and make a big east coast IPA? For now, cheers to 2012. May we all outlive the apocalypse or die with our favorite suds in our gullet.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot… Wolfbrew is coming.