Beer here!!!! Getttttt your cold BEEEER here!!
Batting 1st:
The Pauper
Made only from pilsner malt, hops, and yeast, the complexity that results from these simple ingredients is staggering: floral hops, ripe pear fruit, sour apple, spicy cloves, candied citrus and a slight biscuit character on the drying finish ... a monks' session beer. 4.3% ABV.
Batting 2nd:
The Prince (Dubbel Vision)
Fermented on the yeast cake of the Pauper, this beer reinforces the notion that simple isn't the necessarily the same as easy. Uncluttered sparseness is kinda scary in an era of big, bombastic, over the top beers that we now know as the "craft" beer market. As a homebrewer, I know when to stand aside and allow that segment of the market to do whatever it does best. After all, when all is said and done, monk brewers of the Trappist monasteries make what are, in my mind, some of the most jaw-dropping beers on the planet from elementally simple formulations. They achieve great complexity through equally as great simplicity. Inspired by that ideal of brewhouse austerity, this Dubbel based simply on the grain/hops bill of an earlier Belgian recipe (The Pauper) with some added fermentables in the form of Belgian candi syrup and sugar. 8.5% ABV
Batting 3rd:
Cascades De La Orange
An American Pale Ale with a twist…of orange. Orange and coriander are very low in the profile, with the orange showing through a bit more with the help of the fruity Cascade hops. Think Blue Moon, but not watered down by the folks at Coors. 5.25% ABV
Batting Clean-up:
Sophia’s Choice
This beer is actually cleaning up---in the bottle. This is a beer I’m aging in Sophia’s bedroom closet and my first ever attempt at corking a beer. This is my example of a Belgian strong dark ale brewed in the Trappist fashion. A very dangerous beer that seems lighter than its (approximately) 8% ABV would suggest. High carbonation, peppery alcohol, spicy cloves, rum-raisin and caramelized figs. Simply sublime, well almost. I fermented this a bit high, so I have some fusel alcohol notes which are not uncommon for some higher gravity beers, but need to mellow out a bit. This beer should only get better with age (like my daughter), so I look forward to popping one open next Christmas. 8% +/- ABV
Batting 5th:
Cent-sational Blonde
Light and crisp. The IBU’s are on the low side, sorry hopheads, but there is a nice sweet/spicy balance to the beer. This is a good example of the great fresh taste of a homebrewed ale with an extremely clean finish. Very drinkable and should elicit wide appeal, even from macro lager drinkers. The secret lies in the name; Centennial as the bittering hop and left over Cascades as the flavor/aroma hop is a match made in heaven. 4% ABV
Batting 6th:
Bier De Table
Like its close cousin Belgian Saison, the farmhouse ales of northern France were rustic ales brewed on-site to sustain and refresh workers. But unlike today's “deluxe” versions, with their high starting gravities and potent alcohol content, the originals were “petite beers” of modest gravity, so the imbiber could finish the plowing instead of finishing by getting plowed. Low-alcohol but very flavorful beer; unlike a fruity, funky Saison, however, this farmhouse style combines restrained esters with clean malt character, straddling the line between a lager and ale. 4.13% ABV
Batting 7th:
I’m Especially Bitter (ESB)
This beer was designed with the goal of recreating a very traditional ESB (Extra Special Bitter) with authentic British ingredients. Keeping the grain bill as simple as possible and balancing the malt and hops has produced an easy to make authentic English ale and a more complex beer than an "ordinary" low-gravity bitter. 5.25% ABV
Batting 8th:
Harry Potter Butter Beer (AKA Caramel Ale)
My homemade candi syrup was key here, since it adds a wonderfully complex caramel flavor and aroma, but ferments out almost completely so that the final beer is relatively dry. Combined with the increased bitterness from the hops, the low final gravity balances the sweetness from the caramel flavors and gives the beer great drinkability. The rich caramel hits your tongue first, followed immediately by the unique bitterness of the Chinook hops. An ever-present maltiness holds everything together while the sip makes it's way to a dry, lingering finish. Butter in beer? Actually there is an “off flavor” produced during lagering that is often described as “buttered popcorn”, a result of too much diacetyl, but if I’m going to lager a beer for three months, I’m certainly not going to ruin it for the sake of Harry! 5% ABV
Batting 9th and Pitching (yeast) hehe:
Ratskeller Kolsch
This pale, light-bodied golden ale is copyrighted by, brewed in, and named for the German city of Köln. Kölschbier is traditionally given a long, cold aging period like a lager, which makes for a very smooth and clean beer. A small dose of German Hallertau hops cuts the richness of the malt. Very refreshing and a popular lawnmower beer for beer snobs who might even be fooled into thinking it’s a Pilsner. 4.5% ABV
