The Return of Misdemeanor Brewing!

So, it's been a long time since I posted anything. In that time a lot has happened. I've gotten married, moved to Illinois, and started grad school. All of those things have kept me from posting on here or even brewing, for that matter. All of that is about to change though, as I will be making my triumphant return to brewing tomorrow!

The last beer I brewed, The Black Tie Affair, ended up not working out quite right. It got to the gravity I wanted, tasted pretty good, but did not carbonate correctly. I think this is because of the super high gravity. That high of an alcohol content can effectively kill the yeast, and since I was naturally carbonating (i.e., using the dormant yeast in the beer) the sugar was never converted to CO2. Oh well. So much for that. ON TO THE NEXT BEER!

So, the next beer I'm brewing is one that I haven't done before. It's a Smoked Amber Ale. What does this mean? A portion of the malt in the beer was smoked with cherrywood, giving it a distinct smokey flavor. I got the recipe kit from Northern Brewer yesterday, and I must say, that malt smells like a campfire. Hopefully it won't be TOO smokey, but even if it is, it can be used for cooking!

This is also a new way to brew for me. This recipe needs something called a partial-mash. This is basically a cross between extract brewing (what I have been doing up until now) and all-grain brewing (something I've never done). As far as I can tell, it isn't all that different, so we'll see how it ends up.

I'm really looking forward to this brewday as it's one I've been planning since last year. The goal is to have this beer ready and drinkable for our annual pre-Christmas bonfire, Woodfest! This year will be Woodfest VI, and I wanted to brew a beer for it. That's why I'm brewing a smoked beer (since a bonfire naturally leaves everyone smelling super smokey). If it doesn't work out or isn't ready by then, so be it. But that's my hope!

Anyway, I'll probably post again in the next day or two to tell how everything went. Until then, have a beer on me!

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!

Lucky Number 7.1

Today I tested the gravity of my newest beer, the Super-Secret-Surprise Beer (hereafter called S3). S3 has actually surprised me. From the yeast starter to the reading today, every step has resulted in something that I didn't expect. The final gravity of this beer is 1.010, which means that this beer, which started at 1.064, weighs in at a hefty 7.1% ABV! This is the first time that I've broken the 7% mark, making this the most alcoholic beer I've made thus far. While this is exciting, I don't think this record will be standing for very long, since the next beer, the Black Tie Affair, will probably end up around 8% ABV if everything goes according to plan.

Other than the record breaking, the high ABV means that the yeast did its job and is most likely done. This means that in a few days (planning on Tuesday), I will rack the S3 to secondary, where it will stay for about a month before I bottle it. After tasting the beer, I really think that it will benefit from this extra month of aging. Knowing the style that it's modeled after, I can say very confidently that S3 as it is right now is not very true to the style. However, this is why we age it. Aging it will mellow out some of those strange phenols that I'm tasting right now, bring out the malt character, and improve the overall profile of the beer. It's drinkable now, but not great. Waiting will help.

Anyway, tonight my sister is coming over, and we will be tasting the Waldo Lake Amber Ale. So, in a day or so, I will be giving posting our tasting notes of this pretty awesome beer! You'll just have to wait until then to see how it turned out! (Hint: It turned out really well!)

Until then, all hail the Bierkaiser!

Picture Courtesy of fermentarium.com

You Got Your Beer in My Coffee!

Last time I talked about my new projects that I've been working on. One of these is my Espresso Stout. Well, the other day I finally secured the espresso that I'll be using with it! In town there is a little coffee roastery called Mama Mocha's. Sarah, the girl who owns it, is really cool. She worked with me to find a good roast that would fit my new recipe, and I think she hit the nail on the head! The name of the roast is "Smoking Jacket Espresso." It's a dark, smokey roast (as the name suggests), and I think this will meld really well with the rich malty goodness that is the Imperial Stout. If you like coffee and are in town, I think you should definitely check out Mama Mocha's Coffee Roastery. It's located in the Gnu's Room Coffee Shop and Used Book Store. If you DON'T live around, you can order from her website. Like I said, she's really cool, and she makes amazing coffee. There's no reason NOT to buy your coffee from her!

Anyway, there's something else that I should mention about this beer. I forgot to explain last time just how important this beer is to me. I said before that it's important because this the first time I'll be brewing my own recipe, but it has another source of importance. This beer is going to be brewed to commemorate my wedding! The future Mrs. Misdemeanor and I will be brewing this together to drink on our wedding day. This will be the first time that she has ever brewed with me (and possibly the last), so I wanted to make sure that this beer was special. Since I'm able to pick the name of this beer (did I mention that it's my recipe?), I decided to name it something befitting the occasion. So, after consulting my fiancée, I've decided to name it the "Black Tie Affair." This not only suits the occasion, but the fact that this beer will be unbelievably dark. I'm really excited, and I plan to brew a batch of this "Black Tie Affair" for many years to come!

Photo from Mama Mocha's Coffee Roastery

Strawberry Fields and Espresso Trees

The past two days I've been working on something fun. For the first time, I'm creating my own recipes for new beers! Until now, I've been using recipe kits from Northern Brewer. Now, however, I am taking a step to be a little more creative.

This all came about because of a post on the Northern Brewer forums about someone trying out an experimental Strawberry Ale. He had tremendous success, and posted the recipe online. So, using this recipe as a base, I tweaked it. First, I converted it from all-grain to extract. Then, I raised the gravity a bit, added some Carapils malt to it to get a bit more color, and changed the hops used. All in all, I formulated the recipe to conform to the Blonde Ale guidlines (BJCP #3a, though the beer will eventually be in category #20). After brewing this beer and letting it ferment for a bit, I'm going to rack it onto about 5-7 lb. of frozen, quartered strawberries. I'll let that sit/ferment/infuse for about a week, and then I'll bottle it! Overall, I think it's going to be delicious!

The other beer that I'm working on is an Espresso Imperial Stout. Basically what it is is a dark beer, high gravity beer to which I'm going to add some espresso. This will give it a nice flavor, and a beautiful, creamy white head. I'm basing this recipe off of another brewer who, in turn, based his off of the Brew Your Own Magazine. The all-grain version of this recipe won first place in its category (BJCP #21a) at the Upper Mississippi Mashout, a very prestigious homebrew competition. I'm changing the original recipe to conform more to the Russian Imperial Stout guidelines (BJCP #13f) so that it can be aged a little longer in the bottle. I'm hoping to use the espresso from a local coffee roaster here in town. She makes great coffee, so I'm going to talk to her about getting some espresso for this recipe on Monday (possibly).

I hope these two recipes go well. I'll be brewing/tweaking them over the next few months, so it definitely gives me a new creative outlet for my brewing and something to talk about on my blog! Also, due to the large number of batches I have in the works, I now have a brewing schedule written out so that I can make sure I get everything done that I want to before I have to move. I don't know if you can tell how excited I am, but I'm really looking forward to this! I'll give more info as it comes, but until then, "Prost!"

Picture courtesy of Julien Haler from Paris, France.

This Beer is Bananas! B-A-N-A-N-A-S

I went to go check on my beer today, and I noticed something interesting. The bubbles coming out of the airlock smelled extremely strongly of bananas. Now, this is pretty normal, but I thought I'd take the time to explain WHY it smells like bananas.

You may have heard of beer tasting or smelling like bananas before. This happens because the yeast, when fermenting, produces phenols that get in the beer. This is not altogether an undesirable trait, and in some styles, this is even a critical part of the beer! In Brew Your Own Magazine, Jamil Zainasheff (a prolific beer writer, homebrewer, and recent founder of a new brewery called Heretic Brewing) wrote a style profile for the German Hefeweizen. In it, he discussed the banana/clove taste that is consistent with the style. He said "The aroma of a good hefeweizen includes moderate spicy clove notes and fruity banana esters." This is definitely what comes to mind when I think of a Hefeweizen (one of my favorite beer styles, for what it's worth). He does caution though, "However, one of the most common mistakes in homebrewed weizen-style beers is having too much clove and banana character. Brewers might point to the BJCP [Beer Judge Certification Program] style guide which says these phenolic and ester compounds can range up to 'strong,' but do not think for a minute that it means a clove/banana bomb is acceptable." So, am I worried that I'm going to have too much banana flavor in my new Super-Secret-Surprise Beer? Well, yes and no.

I'll start off by saying that this newest beer is not a Hefeweizen. So, these phenolic characters aren't really what I want for this style of beer. There can be that hint of banana, but it's not really normal, especially not in any large amounts. That being said, I feel like I'm probably reading too much into the sniffing of the airlock. Every other time that I've brewed, the airlock has emitted some interesting smells that didn't end up in the final product. Also, even though it isn't traditional for this style of beer, I think that the banana flavor here would meld well. So, I'm not too worried about it.

I am wondering, though, why it's so strong this time compared to last time? After doing a little research, I think I know why. First, this is a new style of yeast that I've never used before. Different styles of yeast have different characters, and some smell more like bananas than others. But, more than just that, I think it's my fermentation temperature. Up until now I really haven't had to worry that much about controlling the fermentation temp. The combination of a cool apartment and tame yeast have allowed the temperatures to keep fairly low by themselves. Now, however, the ambient temperature in the apartment has risen, thus raising the original temperature of the beer. Also, this beer, as mentioned before, has been fermenting like crazy. At one point the fermenter even got up to 73 degrees. THIS, I believe is the main culprit with the banana aroma.

In the future, I will probably try to control the fermentation a little better. I can do this through a few different ways, but the easiest seems to be something called a Swamp Cooler. For now, though, I don't think I'll be able to do that, just because money is tight.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed learning a little more about what makes your beer B-A-N-A-N-A-S!