A Reason for Every Season.

It's not a coincidence that your favorite major brewery pumps out seasonal ales with various characteristics when they do. Before my beer enlightenment I questioned why someone would release a fresh hopped beer in the fall when I was looking for a wee heavy or an Oktoberfest. I lamented not having super special seasonal stouts released in the summers when I had the most time off from work. One day I had an epiphany about beer seasons.

Rather then simply breaking down the beer seasons I wanted to make specific points about tradition, crop harvests, and alcohol.

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Belgian Single Review

My Belgian Single

Belgian Single Ale

Appearance: Tall and pale, Yellow/white, unmistakably belgian head with the charicteristically large bubbles and rocky foam head.

Aroma: Esters, and Breadiness, smooth charicteristic belgian scent. I could curl up for a nap with candle of this scent.

Flavor: Really soft flavors, as with the aroma. The low malt/low hop produced exactly what I wanted, a nice light, soft beer with no harsh or strong flavors. Very subtle and belgian, hints of bread, the yeast is apparent, just a soft lightly tart edge catches the back of the sip.

Mouth: Nice, I'm still dialing in the carbonation but the head is lasting and this is a nice way to pass the evening work hours with.

Overall: I am glad I made this. This is the kind of beer I can see pleasing a crowd. It could have been lighter, or a touch heavier. I just like it.

Rating: if I paid for this I'd rate it a A- for style. That said I wouldn't rush out to over pay for a belgian single or any other subdued pale ale. It was about 8 dollars in grain, and a dollar in hops, I am a fan.  If you figure 15 dollars in cost with a fresh pack of yeast, and 5 pints per gallon, that's .60 cents a glass. Charging 2 dollars a pint for this at a brewery would be like stealing (Profit = Good).

Scottish Wee Heavy - Stout

A Scottish beers are traditionally sweet while maintaining a low presence of caramel malt flavors. These beers were sweetened by condensing and caramelizing a portion of the wort then adding back that syrup to the main batch.

This normally wouldn't be a problem on a large scale system; the process would be to reserve a gallon of first runnings, and use an extra gallon of sparge water. Things get more complicated with BIAB and 1 gallon batches. It was time to get creative. I've decided that this will be 2 worts: a wort comprised solely of 2 row pale malt, a second wort made from maris otter, biscuit malt, and roasted barley would follow.

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Pilot Batch Pale Ale

This was our first effort as all grain brewers, mistakes were made, but the beer is surprisingly drinkable. The inspiration for this one was simple, to make a beer we couldn't screw up.

Keep it simple stupid is great advice for your first all grain brew. Nothing imperial, nothing with crazy adjuncts, nothing with complex techniques, a simple low gravity beer with a manageable hops schedule. You're going to feel rushed, you're going to forget things, having everything ready beforehand and printing a brew sheet will help keep you focused and on task.

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