HoppySlosh steps outside

An invitation for an evening of beer sampling is not something I'm in the habit of declining. All the more so when said invitation comes from the adventurous BeerGeek Dennoman. The man knows a thing ar two about beer, you see.

A thing or two.

Because there is no greater pleasure (*) than the sharing of beers, I extracted one of my last remaining bottles of Kohaku (the basic version, sans ginger) and two bottles of my recently conceived Vyverslyck, to give the man something to do once his sinuses clear up.

*  figuratively speaking of course. 

Sampling then: Home Brewery Tetten kindly provided a bottle of their Moustache, a clean, mildly sour spiced blonde. Notes of coriander were detected, and an undefinable, yet savoury nose made this an intriguing brew. I was particularly jealous of the clean, haze-free transluceny of this beer, which made my recent attempts at brewing seem all the murkier. I'm quite impressed with the Tetten crew's results: their Petrol was a pretty decent stout, and this Moustache, while not entirely the kind of beer I really enjoy, was skillfully brewed and gutsy. Looking forward to tasting more of their brews.

Next up was my final humble token of appreciation for this incentive:

A stout unknown to Dennoman. Yes, they do exist.

Novabirra, ironically not an Italian brewery but a Belgian collective, brew this cacao-infused stout which upon opening displays vehement yeast activity. In other words: we painted the kitchen sink a deeper shade of chocolate whilst trying to get this mama out of the bottle and into the glass. Initial nose was irony-metallic, something stout occasionally do. I suspect roast barley to be responsible for this, although the website doesn't mention this ingredient. Malted rye is used as well, but I'm not familiar with its effects on beer. After a bit of luxuriating in the glass, Big Mama's nose became more relaxed and pleasant, with cacao being noticably present in the background. Colour was on the lighter side of dark; more like a very dark Quad than an actual stout. Cacao flavours were present but not entirely to my liking: something acrid at the back of the mouth made me reluctant to continue. Not my thing, really. I'm guessing I like my stouts to be chocolatey and coffee-ish without those two ingredients actually being in them.

As an interlude, the host kindly showed me around his beer cellar, and the beauties slumbering therein. Put it this way: I'm more than happy to volunteer for a stint of house-sitting, if the need ever arises :)

From the cellar came two more bottles, both splendidy different and somewhat exclusive.

One was De Struise Brouwers' (as of yet still label-less) Weltmerz, one of their newer creations. A 3% ABV sour beer with apples, if I'm to believe Dennoman (and why should I not when he's the one providing the brew?). Incredible body for such a light beer, and a beacon of hope that one day, the term "light beer" will no longer be a sales word for lemonade-pretending-to-be-beer. This is one to watch; for sure: oodles of flavour, fresh and refined, quenching yet complex. I'd certainly like to get my hands on a few bottles of this, as a summer apéritif or a lazy sunny afternoon instant cocktail.

Last up (and swiftly impounding on the limits of my designated driver's tolerance for alcohol) was this beauty:

Bourbon. Vanilla. Stout. Goose. The human mind starts blinking from there onward.

I have professed my adoration of Goose Island's Bourbon County Brand Stout elsewhere on these pages, so my anticipation was soaring. And no mistake: this is of similar ilk, and similarly impressive. From the nose to the back of the throat and everywhere in between, this beer performs and takes the stage. Thick and almost syrupy, yet tinglingly carbonated, you get that absurdly, perversely sensual mouthfeel which make the BCBS such a velvet beast. On top of that, you get the vanilla, combining luxuriously with the bourbon, yielding a positively dessert-like unctuous beer, delectable and sweet. Ironically over the top yet checking all the right boxes at the same time.
It was with great reluctance that I forced myself to abstain from finishing my second helping of this black beauty, and a real shame to leave that glass on the table, making puppy eyes at me as I exited Denno's abode, into the sleet and the january snow.

Come back! Drink me! I know you want to...

Many many thanks, Denno, and my sincerest apologies for leaving you with that last glass of Vanilla. I hope you did it more honourably than the police allowed me to.

Greetz

Jo

Brewsflash: Brew#3 goes PSHT!

Rejoice! Jubilate! Be jolly and make merry! Brew#3 successfully spent the past five days carbonating in the hot room, and now looks a little something like this:

That's one happy brew

Carbonation looks rougher than it is in this picture, and those bubbles covering the inside of the glass are all gone now, two minute after pouring.
Lift this baby to the light to inspect color and degree of clearness:

No Instagram was harmed in the making of this picture

No, a clear brew is is not. Nor did I expect it to: my brewing skills have many different angles of possible improvement to them yet, and wort filtering, as well as many other clarification techniques, remain as yet untried. So I don't fret, even if, when all "Whoohoo I did great" sentiments are ruthlessly disposed of, I am not at all pleased with the color and overall presentation of this beer. Improvements are in order.

Ahhhh but the nose is a lot better. Cascade dry-hopping did wonders in terms of inviting the unwary drinker. Not yet at the point where the nose is luring me in, but we're getting there. And waaaay in the back, I can almost smell the Pacific Jade, which is now distant enough to give a subtle bubblegummy tease to the nose. Yes, this is what I had in mind. One out of two so far.

Mouthfeel is decent, on the watery side. The US-05 yeast is notably present, despite it being a held-back and inobtrusive fellow. Hops provide a nice, clean bitterness, as well as fruity-earthy flavours, which nicely complement the toastiness of the Münich malt. Almost in IPA-style, the initial bitterness and the hop flavours melt into a malty sweetness, which then sort of flows outwards again in a nice, lingering bitter aftertaste. Oh yes, I think this is very drinkable, and spot on to what I had in mind where taste and flavours are concerned.

Two out of three is quite okay for a third go: I think I'm getting the hang of the basics here. Brew#3 was supposed to be a stronger, heavier and more balanced spin on Kohaku (which was #2). As the Constant Reader may remember, I am aware of the many errors I made during the brewing of #3 which have hindered it in becoming all I wanted, but the main flaw that irked  me about Kohaku has been eliminated: that gap between the toasty malt and the hop flavours has disappeared. Yes, I wanted it to be stronger, but I know where I screwed up. Yes, I wanted it to be fuller bodied, but again, I know where I goofed.

What I'm left with is a beer I do not at all mind pouring myself another one of. A beer I can dig up out of the basement and pour for friends and guests. But most importantly, a beer which will serve as a basis for some proper experimenting. Do I need that bit of of Fuggles halfway through the boil? Is US-05 really what I want in this? Can I ditch those unmalted flakes or are they doing something for this beer? How do I get the color and clarity to a level which doesn't inspire me to call this one "Pond Muck"?

Seriously, you've no idea what a kickass hobby this homebrewing thing is. :)

So there you have it. Brew#3 shall henceforth be named Pond Muck.


"Veyversleyck" in Olde Dutch

May it prove to be a friendly companion and a worthy ancestor to future brews.

Greetz

Jo

Podge Belgian Imperial Stout (Alvinne)

That Dennoman, he sure knows his stouts.

One brew he kindly inlcuded in a trade is Alvinne's Podge, a bit of a known name among Beer Geeks, but one I was, until tonight, not acquainted with.

Why, Mr. Podge, pleased to make your acquaintance!

In the nose, the Podge is unlike any stout I know of. Intensely malty, more quad- than stout-like and almost a barley wine: a deeply boozy malt backbone, with touches of raisins and sultanas. In spite of the label's promises, no chocolate or coffee can be detected. If anything, this beer smells like Bush.

You're glad I have Google's Safe Surfing thingy enabled now, aren't you?

Bush beer, unlike the president or the female body part, has a comparable malty, savoury tang, upheld by a generous slosh of booze. Podge smells a bit darker, less whisky-like, but the similarities are striking.

Oh my. That booze is prominently present in the mouth as well: a warm and happy glow, immediately filling the entire mouth and slightly tickly at the back of the throat. Definitely a boozy beer.
Layered above and below and in between of the (not entirely unpleasant) booze are firm notes of dark malt. Not so much roasted as moderately toasted (a distinction which the Dutch language barely facilitates but which is nevertheless relevant here). All the way at the end of the experience, that promised hint of coffee can be detetected, subtly, teasingly even.

In all things barring the booze, this is a subtle beer, with oodles of malt variations, none of which ever really gain dominance. In fact, this lack of a dominant note makes the beer immensely rewarding and deceptively simple. Make no mistake though: this is a rich and complex stout, and the adjective "Belgian" applies, as an opposite to "American/Imperial": this is not big fat chocolate coffee bourbon bomb, but a clean, full stout, with a focus on the power of malt.

Dennoman, I am in awe of your stouts, and deeply indebted to your generosity. Quality over quantity indeed :)


Beer: Podge
Brewery: Alvinne
Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 10.5%
EBU: 48
EBC: 302
Served: 330ml bottle


Greetz

Jo

Brewsflash

Ah. Ah. Get it? Brewsflash? I do crack me up sometimes...

This weekend is Brew Weekend, with lots of things happening to quite a few brews.

Remember the RedCap and the BrueCap?  After more than three months, both are still utterly, well, still.


Like so, only less like so.

But fear not: science cures all. Remember how (and no I'm not deliberately doing that annoying "read my older posts" thing; consider it a necessity) the yeast in that particular brew was actually recuperated from a commercial bottle of Moinette? Since fermentation in the bottle wasn't happening, and the sugar I added during bottling wasn't being eaten by anyone, I decided to repeat the exercise and steal some more yeast.

This time from a particularly impressive Belgian IPA.




So I beheaded all my Brue'n'RedCaps, injected about 4ml of frothing, bubbly yeast slush into the bottles and recapped them (of course taking care to use appropriately coloured caps). This technique, for those interested in brewing-even-if-doesn't-directly-involve-inbibing, is called krausening and, if applied, is more typically a step in primary fermentation, but hey, I figured it would might work just fine during the bottling stage. The brew is banished to the hot room again, where, in a few days time, some carbonation should be happening.

Brew#2, the Torakun-redubbed-Kohaku, is all gone(*) so I'm calling that a success, even if there were some flaws I'd like to correct when I decide to revisit the recipe.

*) "gone" means I might have a few stashed away at an undisclosed location, for future study

The yet-to-be-named Brew#3, of which I spoke only briefly, is nearing the end of secondary fermentation. I'll be bottling it later today so expect a tasting session in a week or two.

And Brew#4 is bubbling away happily in primary. Despite having taken the lessons from Brew#3 to heart, I had a bit of a setback when the filterbed collapsed, leaving me with 5 gallons (sounds so much more butch than 20 liters) of wort sitting on top of 12 pounds of mashed-out grains and not moving anywhere at all. Some emergency patching of my filter bucket, accompanied by the liberal usage of four letter words and curses towards St.Arnoldus saw the filter bed fixed and the beer (phew) rescued from becoming sewage. I daresay this is going to be an interesting brew. Posted I will keep you.

Until then!

Greetz,

Jo

Black Damnation III Black Mes (De Struise Brouwers)

I've a thing for thick, black stouts. There's something about the style that's both massively macho, yet at the same time almost daintily boyish, which I find quite charming.

There's quite a bit of discord and misinformation floating about concerning stouts, and ironically, many of the classic stouts known the world over (I'm looking at you, Guinness), aren't very, well, stout. In fact, they're often (by today's standards) quite mild.

De Struise Brouwers were among the first in Belgium to embrace the American way of brewing stouts true to their name: massively roasted malty monsters, with the Black Albert as a flagship example. Using this exemplary beast, DSB have made themselves a mission: to brew a dozen beers (and I'm quoting the label here) "black as hell, filthy rich in the nose and with massive taste".

Even when I'm sort of partial to a brewery as I am to these guys, that's some bold cock-strutting which needs verification.

Black as hell: check 

Oh it pours like a big bad stout alright: oily and thickly viscous. Gloopy, yet with a surprising bit of head. Most of that head's gone after about two minutes, but what was there was a froth of large bubbles with a deep tan hue. That's one third of the label's claim accounted for.

In the nose, however, not much is happening at first. In fact, it smells a bit weak and irony. Not ironic, I mean iron-like. It takes several minutes of airing our before the nose starts to slowly blossom, and the iron turns into darkly roasted barly. Not much malt going on, and just a tiny hint of coffee/chocolate. A nice and surprisingly mild backbone of whisky peers through, but it's struggling. Odd, because this is (and again I'm basing this on the label which I can only hope to be correct in spite of a few grammatic errors) 100% Black Albert, aged in Caol Ila whisky barrels. Now both the Albert and the Caol Ila are bold and aromatic beverages, but the Mes smells, for want of a better word, a bit pinched. Restrained, rather than aromatic.
It really pays off to take your time though: once the beer warms up, so does its fragrance, and the smokey peatiness of the Caol Ila does come through eventually.

What a decadent mouthfeel! Thick and oily, smooth and velvety, almost spoonable.

If your eyes were in your mouth, then this what you'd be feeling.
If that makes sense.

Covered by this thick duvet of smoothness, there's plenty of aromas trying to grab the attention: burnt caramel, slightly bitter but mostly sweet, black roasted barley and of course whisky. Oak and smoke and, nicely subdued, a bit of peat. A lingering, acrid bitterness settles in the beginning of the throat, mildly alarming the uvula slumbering in its recesses.

Not only did you not know that little wobbly with was called uvula,
I bet you didn't  know people pay good money to have theirs pierced.

The heavily malted base only barely manages to offset to bitterness with an enduring sticky-sweet residual mouthfeel which is a bit anticlimactic when compared to how the beer entered the mouth. There's enough whisky notes going about to give credit to the lads at Caol Ila, but when compared to the actual dram itself, it's ultimately underwhelming.

Now don't get me wrong: this is a fine stout, and definitely recommendable to any beer lover with an interest in stouts or/and barrel aged brews. Coming from DSB, I'd expected a bit more.

Having said that, I realise that many of DSB's legendary brews have left me a but unsatisfied. The Black Mes is no exception, and while I certainly will not decline when offered one, this is not the go-to stout I'd be namedropping when thusly prompted.

But hey, finishing this glass is no chore. Not by a long shot.


Beer: Black Damnation III: Black Mes
Brewery: De Struise Brouwers
Style: Barrel Aged Imperial Stout
ABV: 13%
EBU: 78
EBC: 300+
Served: 330ml bottle


Greetz

Jo