Mt Rainier IPA

DESCRIPTION: A classic IPA with a single type of hops: Mt Rainier. I stumbled across this hops when Northernbrewer was out of Cascade and sent me this one instead with many apologies. Turns out this new strain which has been derived from Cascade really has something to it. Powerful resin aromas and strong citrus notes make this hop a perfect choice for a West Coast IPA. I also added 2lbs of dark wheat malt to get some more fruity tones in there along with a somewhat darker color.

BREW DATE: 05/26/2014

BOTTLING DATE: 06/14/2014

GRAIN BILL:

- 9lbs Briess 2-row Brewers Malt

- 2lbs Weyermann Dark Wheat

-1lb Briess Golden Light Malt Extract

MASH-IN: 

- 60 min at 157F

- Fly/batch sparge w/ 175F water

- 1.0403 OG => 5.3% Alcohol 

HOPS SCHEDULE:

- 1oz Mt Rainier 60min
- 1oz Mt Rainier 30min
- 1oz Mt Rainier 10min
- 1oz Mt Rainier dry hopping 2 weeks after brewing. 

YEAST: 

- Wyeast Northwest Ale 1332

TASTE NOTES: This one came out more like a Pale Ale, missing some of the typical floral characters of an IPA. Still pretty good though, very drinkable after 2 weeks on the bottle. Strong bitter flavor, very malty. Color didn't come out as dark as I expected, probably could use some more brown malt. Using only Mt Rainier hops was a nice experiment, but there is a reason to have different types of hops for base bittering and as aroma addition. Mt Rainier probably works best as aroma late addition. The Northwest Ale yeast settles and flocculates nicely and you hardly get any trub in your glass. 

Gatto Nero Schwarzbier

DESCRIPTION: A Schwarzbier is traditionally brewed in Bavaria, Saxonia and the Czech Republic. It's made by combining strong and malty base malts together with a fraction of darkly roasted and/or caramelized malts. The usage of Lager yeast and low temperature fermentation produces a malty, crisp, but at the same time intensely dark and flavorful beer. The Czech varieties tend to be sweet and heavy, whereas Bavarian 'Dunkles' is quite light and tart but with a touch of hops bitterness. The Saxonian style is probably somewhere in between. I personally like 'Schwarz-Koestritzer' the best. 'Schwarzer Steiger' from Dresden's Feldschloesschen is also not bad. This recipe tries to re-create the Saxonian style in the New World improvising fashion, by combining Munich & Vienna malts with Chocolate and caramelized malts. I figured that would get me close. German Perle hops is a more aromatic variety of Hallertau Mittelfrueh. I wanted to spice up things a little bit compared to a traditional Schwarzbier, without overhopping of course, so left it at 2oz total. The Pilsener Urquell yeast I used last time on my Bohemia Pilsener worked fantastic even at slightly elevated temps, so I decided to use that yeast strain again. Interestingly, San Francisco steam beers use the same technique, using lager yeasts at medium temperatures. It creates a unique floral taste, good example is Anchor Steam. So this will be a Schwarzbier steam, I guess!

BREW DATE: 03/29/2014

BOTTLING DATE: 04/27/2014

GRAIN BILL:

- 5lbs Briess Munich 10l Malt

- 5lbs Briess Goldpils Vienna Malt

- 1lb Weyermann Caramunich III

- 1lb Briess Chocolate Malt 

MASH-IN: 

- 60 min at 157F

- Fly/batch sparge w/ 175F water

- OG: 9.5 brix = 1.038 OG => 4.9% Alcohol 

HOPS SCHEDULE:

- 1oz German Perle 60min

- 0.5oz German Perle 30min

- 0.5oz German Perle 15min

YEAST: 

- Wyeast 2001 Pilsener Urquell Lager 

TASTE NOTES: 

Wow this came out much stronger than I expected, more like a Chocolate Stout than a Schwarzbier. Super malty, dark notes of toffee, mocca and tobacco, very dense foam and flavor. Not too bad though! The Perle hops gives it a really nice flavor, not too bitter but just right with a hint of floral and citrus in it, very faint. To really emulate Schwarzbier I probably have to cut the roasted malts down by at least 50% I guess. The Lager yeast worked out fine, no estery side notes, very clean taste. 

Gatto Nero! Cheers!