Chim-Chim-Cheree!

So, this past weekend was a very special one for me. It was the wedding of two of my best friends, Doran Smith and Nicolle Key (now Nicolle Smith). These two friends have been very close to me all through high school and college. So, their wedding was a very happy occasion to me. That's why I decided to brew them a beer. This beer was my Super-Secret-Surprise Beer!

As you can see on the left, I decided to name this beer The Chimney Sweep. While this may at first glance be a reference to some Mary Poppins flashback / euphemism for a bong, it is actually something much sweeter. I didn't include the back label, but this is what it read:

In Austria it is considered good luck to see a Chimney Sweep on your wedding day. In fact, it is such good luck that some women hire one to come to their wedding. Since Chimney Sweeps are hard to come by in Alabama, I thought I would give you one that you could have at your wedding... but with less soot!

The idea is the same as that of my wedding beer, the Black Tie Affair (which I will get to in a minute). Basically, it's a beer that they could have at their wedding, save, and enjoy on their first anniversary.

While this beer turned out to be a success (several were enjoyed at the reception), it was by no means my favorite beer. It was brewed from a Belgian Dubbel kit, but it was a bit off category. Basically, it was too sweet for a Dubbel. This could be due to a few reasons. One: It fermented too warm. Two: I over pitched the yeast. Three: I didn't get the wort to boil fast enough. Three: I UNDER pitched the yeast. Four: It just needs more time to age.

As of right now, I'm going to say it's reason four, though I suspect it is probably one of the other three. Now, that's not to say it's not drinkable. In fact, it is actually pretty enjoyable. However, it can be a bit cloying, and drinking more than one at this point is probably not my preferred method of imbibing. That said, we'll see how it does over the next year. It very well may mellow a bit and become freakin awesome! We'll just have to see!

As for the Black Tie Affair, I added the vanilla bean to it today. Basically I cut it open, scraped out the vanilla goodness, and dropped the all of it into the fermentor, husk and all. In about two weeks, I'll brew/add the espresso and a day later bottle! None of this is really news, but it's just an update to the state of the beer. Also, I'm working on a possible label for this beer.

For people who have wanted me to put labels on all of my beers (such as my sister), this last beer justified my decision to just mark the tops on most beers. Making labels is not fun. It's easy when you have more than one person to help cut out and apply the labels, but just like bottling, it can be a bit tedious if you have to do it yourself. Not to mention, label stock can get expensive quickly. So, for now, as I had decided earlier, labels will be relegated only to the "special" beers.

This weekend I was going to try to brew my Strawberry Blonde, but due to an oversight of mine, I never ordered the yeast for it! So, I'm going to order that today and brew it as soon as possible. If I don't get that in the next week, then it will have to wait until after the move, at which point it may have to become some other sort of beer due to the waning strawberry season. We'll see.

Anyway, that's all for now. Everyone enjoy their light summer beers! If you want a recommendation for something that is perfect for these crazy Alabama temps, I'd try the Gaffel Kölsch (or any other Kölsch for that matter). It's cool, crisp, and German. Not to mention it's delicious! If you're in Auburn, you can find it at Gus's Fine Wine and Beer. If you're somewhere else, go to any good beer shop and you should be able to find it! Until next time!

The Longest Time

Wow. It's been a while since I posted. I apologize for not giving you your homebrew fix in a while. Normally, I would talk about how brewing is a slow process and often not a lot happens over a long period of time, but in this case, I've just been too busy to talk about the MANY things that I have done since I last posted. So, I'll do my best to get you up to speed on what's been going on.

My Super-Secret-Surprise beer is done! I will be bottling it tomorrow and it will be ready in two weeks... just in time for the event for which it was intended! (Know what it is yet? no? I'll let you know in a week.)

Last time I wrote, the Vanilla-Espresso Imperial Stout was just a glimmer in my homebrewing eye. This Black Tie Affair beer, which is being brewed for my wedding is now about to be transferred to secondary! The future Mrs. Misdemeanor and myself brewed it about 3 weeks ago together. It went really well! She had never really payed very much attention to the brewing, but I think she enjoyed herself. After it was all said and done, the recipe came out to be this:

"Black Tie Affair"
Vanilla-Espresso RIS

OG: 1.102
FG: 1.024

0.5 lb Chocolate Malt (Steeped for 20 min. or until the temp reaches 170 F)
6.0 lb Dark Liquid Malt Extract (Start of Boil)
3.15 lb Light Liquid Malt Extract (Start of Boil)
1.5 lb Golden Light Dry Malt Extract (Start of Boil)
1.5 lb Golden Light Dry Malt Extract (End of Boil)

2.5 oz. Northern Brewer Hops (60 min.)
0.5 oz. Northern Brewer Hops (15 min.)

1 Tahitian Vanilla Bean (2 weeks before bottling)
0.5 gal Cold French Pressed "Smoking Jacket Espresso" Coffee (1 day before bottling)

So, there it is. My final recipe! Now, the beer isn't completely done yet. I rack it to secondary in a day or so, then it will age there for about a month. So, in about two weeks I will add the vanilla bean, and then a day before I bottle, I'll add the espresso.

As you can see above, the original gravity was 1.102. This is the biggest beer that I've ever brewed. I wasn't really sure how low this would fall (and consequently how high the gravity would go), but I found out today when I finally got to check it. It went down to 1.024. This means that, depending on what algorithm you use, the ABV is somewhere between 10.9% and 11.4%. Since most people put it at 11.4%, I'm going to call it 11.4%. This breaks my previous record of 7.1% handily. However, the thing that surprised me the most wasn't my ABV, it was how it tasted.

This beer, simply put, tastes AWESOME. Now, it's not done yet, but it is only going to get better! Once I add the espresso and the vanilla, I think that this could be one of my favorite beers. What does this mean? It means that I think I hit a home run on my first ever original recipe. Not only that, but my fiancée and I have brewed a beer that will be able to be enjoyed on both our wedding night and our first anniversary. This was the plan, and I think it is definitely going to pan out just as I wanted! Now, before I knock a hole in the wooden table trying to keep from jinxing myself, I should note that there is still a month and a half to go before this beer is ready to drink and a year before my first anniversary. A lot can go wrong in that time, but as long as I stay on top of it, it should be fine (better than fine if I play my cards right).

So, what's next? In a few weeks, I'll brew my Strawberry Blonde ale. I think it's going to be great too. If I do it right, it will be a real crowd pleaser. This is good since the last couple of beers I've made have been pretty exclusive to my tastes. Then again, it is MY homebrew. I can do what I want for myself since I'm the one making it. Of course, if I want the lovely future Mrs. Misdemeanor to keep letting me brew like I want to, I think I'm going to have to make things that we can share with other people rather than 50 beers that I will drink all myself!

After the Strawberry Blonde, I don't know if I'll brew again before I move. We'll just have to see how busy things get between then and now. Either way, I'll definitely try to keep this blog more updated than it has been! Hopefully after I bottle the Super-Secret-Surprise Beer, I'll give you another update. Perhaps I'll even give some more information about the beer! Bis Dann!

Photo courtesy of Duront. I liked this picture because the tuxedo, just like our Black Tie Affair is still very much a work in progress!