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The Ban Is Lifted
The first fold was thus: I refused to drink beer made by Anheuser Busch due to some rudeness they once expressed towards bona fide German brewers at a World Cup game. At that moment I swore off drinking anything Bud. I regretted this very little, except in the case of Amber Bock. I'd grown to ... well, this is embarrassing, actually like that beer.
Upon a time, around two fortnights ago, I was strolling through a local supermarket and my eyes spied AB products and the "ban" warning went off - and was suddenly silenced. I realized that AB was no longer truly AB. They were now part of that Brazilian lot, InvBev. The Brazilians haven't scoffed at the Germans as far as I know (no, I'm not interested in any political barbs). Bingo, I'd discovered a loophole and could now resume my quaffing of Amber Bock. Thus and so I did. My small beer fridge is now always loaded with a twelver of Amber Bock.
The second fold of my ban: I proclaimed myself an enjoyer of craft beer and craft beer alone and thus my snobbery would not allow me to consume mass produced beers. Yet, if one were to peer into my aforementioned beer fridge that one would discover that it contains - in addition to the Amber Bock - cans of Miller Genuine Draft. How did I rationalize this?
Contrary to what you are likely thinking, I was not impaired by too much beer. I do not believe at all in over consuming. No, moderation is the only viable choice. Rather, I began to think thusly: hey, Sam Adams is an extremely good beer in all its incarnations. Is it not "mass-produced?" Indeed, it is. Have not commercial beers - such as Miller - won awards at beer festivals? Indeed, they have. Are not most people familiar with these beers? Yes, they are. Do they really taste as horrible as I've come to believe? Indeed, they d - all right, I suppose that's a subjective point.
There was no true reason to avoid these commercial beers other than my expression of disdain for corporate influence and my "beer snobbery." I had to get over all that and just be me. I like beer. Other people I know like beer. When people come to my house and I ask them if they want a beer, are they really going to be thinking: "Oh, yeah, give me an Oak Aged Double Arrogant Bastard please." Not all of them, at least. So, there's no excuse for beer snobbery. It's best to have beers that will appeal to a majority of people and from there a good beer educator can lead the flock to grainier pastures. Yes, of course.
Besides, some days I don't want a heavy beer I've got to think about to truly enjoy. I just want twelve ounces of a decent and refreshing beer. Miller fits that category. So does Michelob or Budweiser. They're "okay" beers.
Never fear, I shall not stray into Coors country. Ever.
Beer Wars
FINE! - A Vanilla Stout, I Hope - Part III
All right, you can tone down the rejoicing. It wasn't exactly what I'd hoped. Still, it ain't bad. My preliminary tastes lead me to believe it will end up being more of a porter than a stout - and there is no vanilla taste. I obviously flubbed that up. Super. The beer does have a fantastic burnt marshmallow aftertaste. I was very happy with that.
Well, here are some other vital stats:
- Final Grav: 1019
- Alcohol: 5.4%
- Bottles: 50
- Cost per bottle: $1.14
I'll give 'em two more weeks and then shalt be the time that the beers shalt be released!
FINE! - A Vanilla Stout, I Hope - Part II
It's chocolaty brown in appearance - muddy, really, but it will clear up. I was hoping for black. Yes, I wanted my stout to be black. But, no, I got brown. Perhaps it will get darker. It tasted all right; it was more like a brown ale than a stout. Maybe a good porter. Oh, and there was no vanilla flavor. I totally muffed that up, obviously. The gravity reading at this point was 1021. That was higher than I'd hoped it would be.
So, all in all, I'm disappointed. Oh, sure, it tastes okay. I have nothing against brown's and porter's. But, you know, this was like going to a movie thinking Angelina Jolie was in it and finding out it's Jessica Alba. Sure, Alba's fine, but ... you were hoping for Angelina.
More updates at bottling time.
FINE! - A Vanilla Stout, I Hope
At long last, I've gotten back into the world of actual brewing.
I set up a "brew fund" bucket on my desk at work so that others could have the opportunity to contribute towards a fine brew from Bottled Llama Brewing - and it worked. Their contributions paid for half of this latest batch. Thanks to all contributors! You'll be happy when the beer's done.
It will be a stout. I tried to make this a vanilla stout by adding some vanilla extract - since this is an extract beer. However, I did not get to do enough research and I'm just not sure if I added enough I could smell the vanilla in the wort - we'll see how it comes out in the beer. Here's the recipe:
6 lbs dark liquid extract
4 lbs light liquid extract
1 lb crystal 60
.25 lb chocolate malt
.25 lb roasted barley
3 tsp vanilla extract
3.25 oz Glacier hops
I brewed it Saturday, December 6th. I'll be transferring it to a carboy either the 12th or 13th. Bottling should likely take place sometime next week. Original gravity was 1060 - lower than I'd hoped; but, I just steeped the whole grains, I didn't mash them. See how long it's been since I've brewed! I should have done a mini-mash - that would have increased the starting gravity.
The yeast started working within a few hours of pitching and seemed to work fervently. I'm anticipating a low final gravity, which should give me a dry stout. Can't wait.
My First Taste of Cheap Beer and What It Really Meant
Herein lies Bottled Llama Brewing's contribution to The Session. For details on this month's topic, see the Bathtub Brewery. To learn more about the Session, click here.
After searching for my first memory of tasting beer, I decided it must have been when I was about twelve, maybe thirteen. (No one panic, this is not advocating underage drinking). I was with my dad at the house of a family friend. I vaguely remember being outside on a porch. There was a big Igloo-like picnic cooler nearby. It was full of ... wait for it ... Old Milwaukee.
Our family had moved to the Four Corners region of New Mexico circa 1981. My dad had a janitorial business and followed the work to a little town called Aztec. It was about twenty minutes away from Farmington, which was the 'big' town. It had a mall, you know; that's also where all the cleaning jobs were. I was in second grade. It was also a place full of cowboys - and their hats and their boots and their cheap beer. I'm glad I was not contaminated by those proclivities.
But many people were so contaminated and we even befriended them. One was the family friend mentioned at the outset. He had a double-wide mobile home situated on a good sized tract of land and, of course, horses. He always tried to be a friend to me, so I guess I won't complain much about his bucolic character.
Old Milwaukee was the beer he drank. My dad is not really fond of beer. He just drank it that day to be polite. Or maybe because he just doesn't know how to say no. He's not the most socially savvy person, eh. Anyway, that day on the porch he ended up with an open can and he and Joe thought I might want to try it. So I did.
Now this was some twenty-five years ago; I do not remember exactly what I thought the beer tasted like (I only know what I think of it now). I do remember that I didn't like it much. I think I must have made an odd face when I took a sip because I vaguely remember them laughing - you know, that adult laugh when a kid does something cute. That same laugh I use on my kids now, that innocuous chuckle that says, 'I wish you'd stay a kid longer; soon you'll be grown up and we'll be sharing a beer and talking about adult life and that's just not right.' That's a lot to say in a little laugh.
I don't remember what we were talking about or what time of year it was or the time of day or anything. I just know that I didn't really like that fuzzy beer stuff, but it was cool to be allowed to drink it and hang out with the men.
The Weekly Pint: Invasion of the Mothership
I haven't written one of these in some time. Is it because I've not consumed beer? Never may that happen! No, I'm just a slacker. I will now un-slack. Let's talk about wit's. No, not my lack-of in the mental sense ... no, the wit beer type of wits. More specifically, let's talk about Mothership Wit.
It's become something of an obsession. It's like the Mothership has some kind of weird tractor beam. I walk into the cooler over at the local beer place and I'm drawn right to it ... just like the Milennium Falcon to the Death Star.
Maybe it's the taste that draws me. I was first introduced to this beer at the Great American Beer Festival last year; it was part of a beer and cheese tasting hosted by Garret Oliver. It's sour and citrusy all at once. Coriander and orange peel dart through the piercing carbonation. It's that quality that is so good at scouring cheese from the palate. Yet, the sour/spicy nature is not overwhelming. No, no it's finely balanced.
Maybe it's the appearance that pulls me. Some may say it looks nasty; the uninitiated will think there's something icky in it. But it looks good to me. Following the directions on the bottle, I let the beer warm and pour about three-fourths into a pint glass; I swirl the remaing fourth of the beer to get all the lovely yeast stirred up from the bottle bottom. It's yellow, pale yellow and very hazy. No, hazy is not right - it's milky. Yes, a milky yellow. You know, when it's written it sounds like pus from a wound, milky-yellow. It's not like that. It looks cool. And tasty.
Maybe it's the organicness of it that entices me. No, that's not it at all; I simply wanted to mention that it's an organic beer for all you "green" types out there. I don't know exactly what entices me about this beer. It's just a good wit beer; a very good wit beer.
Until the next pint ...
FORE! On the Greens With a Pint and a Sweet Shirt
Fine, I don't actually play golf. However, if I was a golfer type I would wear a shirt like this:
You see, it's got a cool brewery logo on it. The Exploding Butterfly of Bottled Llama Brewing. You know you like it. Plus, the shirt is white. So, when you stumble and fall (and, yes, I would) the grass will stain it perfectly.
Go on. Buy it. Now. Go to our store and purchase this shirt and go play golf. Relax with a golf club and a pint of good beer.
Old Tasting Notes: Xingu Black
It is time for another beer from the Notes. For any who don't know about this series of blog entries, here's the scoop: I stumbled upon an old file that contained tasting notes from approximately two and a half years ago, possibly even older than that (definitely older than that - more like four or five years old). I decided to post these very sparse notes and I hope to eventually find these same beers again and evaluate them once more, just to see what differences are manifest.
This ninth beer of the Old Tasting Notes series is:
Xingu Black Beer. Very exotic, eh? Well, it says it's a black beer, a lager from Brazil. If one holds to the style guidelines of the Brewer's Association, one will note that there's a German-style schwarzbier and dark lagers. I'm not certain if Xingu falls into that category. According to its website, it's a Brazilian beer. Perhaps some Europeans emigrated to Brazil and, like mad alchemists of the Dark Ages, crossed brewing traditions of Europe with the brewing traditions of South America and thus birthed this black beer. I just don't know. Beer Advocategave it a "B" if anyone cares.
Amazon women made this beer. So, enjoy it or else!
Thus and so, on to the notes. The scorecards used contained five categories: Color, Collar, Boquet, Mouthfeel, Taste, Overall. At the bottom of the card there is a space to score the beer from 1 to 5. They're very generic scoresheets and notes.
COLOR - Very dark
COLLAR - Superb! Thick and stout-ish
BOQUET - Candy
MOUTHFEEL - Sweet - full
TASTE - Slight hint of candy - candi sugar? molasses?
OVERALL - Very good - even, not too sweet - interesting adjunct, molasses, liquor
SCORE (1-5) - 4
COMMENTS - Less head for a black - amber overtones. Could drink all night
So, let's mock my notes. "Less head for a black." It just sounds wrong and I don't get it. Once more, I note that I could 'drink this beer all night.' Wow. And, really, what craft beer is there that I wouldn't drink all night? Fine, yes, you're right, I wouldn't drink Bigfoot all night. Whatever. My other favorite part of the notes is Mouthfeel. I described the beer as sweetfull. Oh, wait, that's two words, sweet and full. Very nice, quite descriptive.
The next Old Taste will be organic. Until then, have an old pint. Er, no, just have a pint.
The Weekly Pint: Clawed, a Belgian Ale
Ah, it's been quite a while since I've written a Weekly Pint article. I've been so remiss! I must punish myself. Quickly, someone fetch a Corona! I must drink it for my shameful conduct.
This week's pint will be a homebrewed pint. The last beer that Bottled Llama Brewing crafted was called Clawed. It was an attempt at making a Belgian golden strong ale. Well, I mussed up the "golden" part, so let's just say it was a Belgian style ale.
We used Belgian pale malt and some Belgian aromatic malt and Sterling hops. The yeast was Wyeast 1214. The results were remarkable.
The beer was dull orange in color and smelled like a banana. Truly, I could get no other aroma out of it. The head was very white and thin. Alcohol content was only around 7%. I don't think my mash went as well as I'd have liked. Gravity was only 1060. Still, you could taste that alchohol.
The rest of the taste was spicy, fruity and as the beer aged bubblegum crept in. It was certainly one of the more creative beers BLB has produced. I'm anxious to make another.
Until the next pint ...