So this dude was giving away about 300 gallons of wort, as one of the thermocouplers (I think?) was fucacta'd in his kettle...He had mashed 300+ gallons, and offered it to local homebrewers...by the time I got to his brewery today, he had gotten rid of 150 gallons!
In any event, awesome dude, great copper brewroom, though I'd not been to his brewery before (Franklin's Brewery in Hyattsville, MD). Decided to make a Black Belgian IPA and a Pumpkin Imperial Stout.
Anyway, the wort was only around 1.050 "ish" according to him, so I picked up about 6 lbs of DME to go into it. 7ish points per pound, I'd wind up around 1.070 right?
Wrong. Had a great day of brewing, suds with the boys, and Ryder Cup, and the hydrometer read 22 brix for the BIPA, and 21 brix for the stout....ie 1.087 and 1.092 respectively.
Great news, except that all I had was a vile of each WLP 500 Belgian Trappist and WLP 002 English Ale, respectively. It looks like some have had good luck with the WLP 500 on higher gravity brews, but I am a little worried for poor old WLP 002...I feel like it might be outmatched by the gravity. In any event, as with all things brewing...we'll see!
The coolest part, however, is that for all the wort he has given away, he's going to schedule a homebrew tasting @ his place in a few months! Really great idea for wort that would have otherwise been dumped....love this guy!
http://www.franklinsbrewery.com/
PS Wouldn't you know it, less than 12 hours after pitching the British Ale yeast, those hard-working Brits have gotten to work, the bubbles are slowly but surely spitting out of my fermenter. Those lazy Belgians are still milling about probably talking about mussels and monasteries...though, according to the review above, the lag is pretty big for WLP 500.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Split Batch
Ok so this whole thing arose out of me wanting to brew 2 single-hop IPA's with identical grain bills. Assuming this works, I could be addited to this type of brewing. Basically the same amount of work on brewday, but an easy way to fill up two fermenters with simple 5-gallon batch equipment. In fact, in the future, if I am going to brew for a specific event/party (such as my bachelor party, which should be this spring), I will DEFINITELY do this, as homebrew stashes can quickly be vaporized by a party/event..
Here's the way I did it:
1.) Figure out boil gravity. I planned on extracting 7-8 gallons of wort, with a gravity of around 1.090. I ended up using about 23lbs of grain (presented another problem, my MLT is only a 7-gallon aluminum kettle...was right at the top during mashing)
Ideally, I would have 4 gallons of wort in each collection bucket, then top off with 2 gallons of water pre-boil. I ended up having 3.5 gallons of wort in each (collected 7 gallons total). Then I topped off each (I used extra fermenting buckets) with 1.5 gallons of water, basically using the following formula:
(1.090 * 0.7) + (1.001 * 0.3) = 1.063
In other words, 70% of my diluted wort had a gravity of 1.090, and 30% had a gravity of 1.001 (water, 1.000 won't really work in the formula)
2.) I did lose a gallon or so to boil off on each, and I used BTP for each brew (still can't figure out how to effectively use BTP for volumes/sparges, etc.)
3.) After boiling/cooling the first batch (with Citras), I was exhausted and hit the sack.
4.) I left the other batch of wort in a sanitized, covered fermenter overnight and boiled it the next night. Again, same deal, lost about a gallon to boil off (used Amarillos for this one), cooled and pitched
5.) around 36 hours prior to boiling the first batch, I made a 2 liter starter with WLP East Coast Ale yeast WLP008. I swished it up really well, poured half into the first batch one night, then the second night, threw the remainder into my other batch.
The weird thing is, my first batch took off almost immediately. Wild airlock activity after 9-ish hours. The second batch didn't have activty for 36 hours. I ended up sanitizing a spoon, grabbing about a half cup of cake off the top of the first brew, and stirring into the second. It began bubbling after about 30 minutes.
The only thing I can think of is maybe the 'overnight' wort wasn't oxygenated enough, but I know I stirred real well after the boil, and I think I stirred it well after it sat for 24 hours.
In any event, this was a really solid experience, hopefully the brews will be just as solid. I want to have these ready for labor day, so assuming I am down to a decent FG this weekend, I will bottle at that point. Ideally, I would dry-hop for a better nose.
This seems like it would be a great way to mess with adjuncts/hop additions and really test the final product, particularly since I topped off the wort prior to the boil. Actually, that was a question I had, does it matter if I dilute pre or post-boil extract style?
More to follow-
Here's the way I did it:
1.) Figure out boil gravity. I planned on extracting 7-8 gallons of wort, with a gravity of around 1.090. I ended up using about 23lbs of grain (presented another problem, my MLT is only a 7-gallon aluminum kettle...was right at the top during mashing)
Ideally, I would have 4 gallons of wort in each collection bucket, then top off with 2 gallons of water pre-boil. I ended up having 3.5 gallons of wort in each (collected 7 gallons total). Then I topped off each (I used extra fermenting buckets) with 1.5 gallons of water, basically using the following formula:
(1.090 * 0.7) + (1.001 * 0.3) = 1.063
In other words, 70% of my diluted wort had a gravity of 1.090, and 30% had a gravity of 1.001 (water, 1.000 won't really work in the formula)
2.) I did lose a gallon or so to boil off on each, and I used BTP for each brew (still can't figure out how to effectively use BTP for volumes/sparges, etc.)
3.) After boiling/cooling the first batch (with Citras), I was exhausted and hit the sack.
4.) I left the other batch of wort in a sanitized, covered fermenter overnight and boiled it the next night. Again, same deal, lost about a gallon to boil off (used Amarillos for this one), cooled and pitched
5.) around 36 hours prior to boiling the first batch, I made a 2 liter starter with WLP East Coast Ale yeast WLP008. I swished it up really well, poured half into the first batch one night, then the second night, threw the remainder into my other batch.
The weird thing is, my first batch took off almost immediately. Wild airlock activity after 9-ish hours. The second batch didn't have activty for 36 hours. I ended up sanitizing a spoon, grabbing about a half cup of cake off the top of the first brew, and stirring into the second. It began bubbling after about 30 minutes.
The only thing I can think of is maybe the 'overnight' wort wasn't oxygenated enough, but I know I stirred real well after the boil, and I think I stirred it well after it sat for 24 hours.
In any event, this was a really solid experience, hopefully the brews will be just as solid. I want to have these ready for labor day, so assuming I am down to a decent FG this weekend, I will bottle at that point. Ideally, I would dry-hop for a better nose.
This seems like it would be a great way to mess with adjuncts/hop additions and really test the final product, particularly since I topped off the wort prior to the boil. Actually, that was a question I had, does it matter if I dilute pre or post-boil extract style?
More to follow-
Monday, March 29, 2010
Beer from Grains
Did not post about this immediately after I did it, probably due in large part to the massive kitchen renovation that started the day after the night I did this. By "this", I of course mean my attempt to become a true purist in the world of homebrew: an all-grain batch.
What this really refers to is actually purchasing malted barley and other grains, get them milled, then extract the precious sugars and other nutriets from the endosperms of those grains through a process called mashing.
Finally, after the boil that occurs with all brewing, yeast is added, which metabolizes the solution called wort (rhymes with 'kurt'). This is a little more involved than extract brewing, but supposedly the results are much better. I chose to make a Belgian Dubbel, which should be a high gravity brown-ish ale with lots of maltiness, some esters, as ABV of around 7-8%.
You are able to see some pics of my set up and the mash to the left, though for some reason, I cannot get Picasa to permanently rotate a photo...including the one to the left of my modified 8-gallon aluminum kettle/mash tun (mashing vessel). Using a step-drill, I added a spout and screen (not pictured, but on the inside), and a thermometer to give continual readings of the mash temp (this and pH are two critical elements to mashing properly).
Here's a post of mine to Homebrewchatter.com, a forum that has many experienced homebrewers checking it throughout the day...I got many good responses, but was still not able to figure out why I was unable to get better efficiency (ie extract more sugar from the grains for my wort).
So I finally took the leap to AG last night. I had purchased an aluminum 8 gallon pot from a restaurant supply store (which it turns out, at which I was not allowed to shop, but the cashier decided to hook me up...only $30!).
Yesterday I went down to my homebrew retailer, planning on buying a simple screen/valve assembly for a cooler. No go. He didn't have any of THOSE left, however he did have an assembly to use an 8-gallon pot as a lauter tun. So I stopped by the hardware store, purchased a step drill, modified the pot for a valve, screen filter, and thermometer (also a purchase @ the HB store), but not before I had walked out of the homebrew store with the ingredients for a Belgian Dubbel and an extra fermentor:
1 lb Briess American Dextrin (carapils malt)
7.5 lbs Muntons English Maris Otter Malt
0.1 lbs Weyermann German Dehusked CaraFa II
0.5 lbs Dingemans Belgian Aromatic Malt
1 lb Dingemans Beglian Special B
1 lb candi sugar
1 lb honey (he had this AWESOME stuff called "Meadowfoam", which is truly delicious, to the point where I may make some meade from it)
1oz Brewers Gold pellets (60 min)
1/2 oz Hallertau (20 min)
1/4 oz Hallertau (10 min)
Wyeast #1214 Belgian Abbey Yeast
A couple of things happened:
1.) Always make sure there is enough room for a valve assembly to close if you are installing a thermometer in the same pot. After a tapestry of obscenities thinking I ruined a pot, I added an extra gasket so the thermometer is able to fit. (A friend of mine stopped by later and suggested to simply rotate the valve assembly...thank God for friends)
2.) As I was attempting to wake up the yeast by smacking the activator pack, a good bit of it splattered out on me (stain about the size of a softball on my shirt). I sanitized the outside of the package with some spray Star San and let it sit while I mashed/boiled.
3.) I realized that unless this beer REALLY sucks, I will likely not brew an extract again.
A couple questions:
1.) I came out with a 1.030 boil gravity. I measured immediately after lautering, but I feel like this is low. I used 13.5 quarts of water for the mash, and yielded just about 5 gallons of wort, and with 9 total pounds of grain, that only comes out to 16ppg. Isn't that a pretty miserable yield?
2.) Should I repitch more yeast? I want to not only make sure I get a good fermentation, but also that there is enough so I get a good carbonation.
3.) I had a full gallon of boil-off during the boil, so I added a little over a gallon of water. Since my charcoal filter was totally effed, I ended up using about a half gallon of filtered water and and a half gallon of UNFILTERED tap water. Problem?
Thanks in advance for the help!
Mike
In any event, the brew is still in the can and bubbling...it looks like that and the california common will be ready around the same time!
PS, cracked a bottle of the IPA on Saturday night and while a little undercarbed, it was amazing. Nice hop aromas, but very well balanced with a nice maltiness and a hop finish. Can't wait to drink more of these...
Sunday, March 21, 2010
California Not-So-Common / Extra IPA Update
Incredibly accurate information from an ever-reliable source regarding California Common/"Steam" Beer below, but Fisher and I decided to get the ingredients to brew this on the way to the store. Also took another important step in complete brewing freedom: did a partial mash/partial extract brew.
This basically involves extracting the sugars from malted barley as an eventual food/nutrient for yeast to gobble up and turn into CO2 and ethyl alcohol (and usually some other by-products that give most different beer varieties their flavor profile nuances)
Extract-based brewing basically skips this step, as someone else does it, then dehydrates the product (wort) and sells it to saps like me.
Really excited for this brew, will likely be ready 5-6 weeks out.
The Extra IPA is going into the bottles this week, and will hopefully be ready in about 2 weeks, more-likely 3. Had a medium original gravity, and when racking to the secondary fermenter, used plug cascade hops, and 2 oz of whole Mt. Hood hops for additional aromas. Had a taste today (uncarbonated), but it was really good. Hopefully my best yet. Not as happy with the stout, but more on that later...
On Steam Beer (California Common):
Steam beer may be defined as a highly effervescent beer made by brewing lager yeasts at ale fermentation temperatures. It has two distinct but related meanings:
Historic steam beer produced in California from the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s;
Modern California common beer, the official name for the beer family which includes Anchor Steam beer.
Historic steam beer, associated with San Francisco and the U.S. West Coast, was brewed with lager yeast without the use of refrigeration. It was an improvised process, originating out of necessity, perhaps as early as the Gold Rush. It was considered a cheap and low-quality beer, as shown by references to it in literature of the 1890s and 1900s.
Modern steam beer, properly known in the brewing community as California common beer, was originated by Anchor Brewing Company, which trademarked the name Anchor Steam Beer in 1981. Although the modern company has corporate continuity with a small brewery which was still making traditional steam beer in the 1950s, Anchor Steam beer is a craft-brewed lager. The company does not claim any close similarity between it and turn-of-the-century steam beer.
Explanations of the word "steam" are all speculative. The carbon dioxide pressure produced by the process was very high, and one possibility is that it was necessary to let off "steam" before attempting to dispense the beer. According to Anchor Brewing, the name "steam" came from the fact that the brewery had no way to effectively chill the boiling wort using traditional means. So they pumped the hot wort up to large, shallow, open-top bins on the roof of the brewery so that it would be rapidly chilled by the cool air blowing in off the Pacific Ocean. Thus while brewing, the brewery had a distinct cloud of steam around the roof let off by the wort as it cooled, hence the name. It is also possible that the name derives from "Dampfbier" (literally "steam beer"), a traditional German ale that was also fermented at unusually high temperatures and that may have been known to nineteenth-century American brewers, many of whom were of German descent.
This basically involves extracting the sugars from malted barley as an eventual food/nutrient for yeast to gobble up and turn into CO2 and ethyl alcohol (and usually some other by-products that give most different beer varieties their flavor profile nuances)
Extract-based brewing basically skips this step, as someone else does it, then dehydrates the product (wort) and sells it to saps like me.
Really excited for this brew, will likely be ready 5-6 weeks out.
The Extra IPA is going into the bottles this week, and will hopefully be ready in about 2 weeks, more-likely 3. Had a medium original gravity, and when racking to the secondary fermenter, used plug cascade hops, and 2 oz of whole Mt. Hood hops for additional aromas. Had a taste today (uncarbonated), but it was really good. Hopefully my best yet. Not as happy with the stout, but more on that later...
On Steam Beer (California Common):
Steam beer may be defined as a highly effervescent beer made by brewing lager yeasts at ale fermentation temperatures. It has two distinct but related meanings:
Historic steam beer produced in California from the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s;
Modern California common beer, the official name for the beer family which includes Anchor Steam beer.
Historic steam beer, associated with San Francisco and the U.S. West Coast, was brewed with lager yeast without the use of refrigeration. It was an improvised process, originating out of necessity, perhaps as early as the Gold Rush. It was considered a cheap and low-quality beer, as shown by references to it in literature of the 1890s and 1900s.
Modern steam beer, properly known in the brewing community as California common beer, was originated by Anchor Brewing Company, which trademarked the name Anchor Steam Beer in 1981. Although the modern company has corporate continuity with a small brewery which was still making traditional steam beer in the 1950s, Anchor Steam beer is a craft-brewed lager. The company does not claim any close similarity between it and turn-of-the-century steam beer.
Explanations of the word "steam" are all speculative. The carbon dioxide pressure produced by the process was very high, and one possibility is that it was necessary to let off "steam" before attempting to dispense the beer. According to Anchor Brewing, the name "steam" came from the fact that the brewery had no way to effectively chill the boiling wort using traditional means. So they pumped the hot wort up to large, shallow, open-top bins on the roof of the brewery so that it would be rapidly chilled by the cool air blowing in off the Pacific Ocean. Thus while brewing, the brewery had a distinct cloud of steam around the roof let off by the wort as it cooled, hence the name. It is also possible that the name derives from "Dampfbier" (literally "steam beer"), a traditional German ale that was also fermented at unusually high temperatures and that may have been known to nineteenth-century American brewers, many of whom were of German descent.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Bottled the Stout / Brewed the Extra American Pale Ale / Quandary
Bottled the stout two nights ago. For some reason, I am losing an average of a half gallon of beer @ transfer. Might not sound like much, but its almost a 6 pack! I'm going to start brewing 5.5-ish gallons. Had a taste when checking FG, which was right on target @ 1.012. Slightly less booze than the Brickhead Blonde. (~4.5% ABV) It was actually great as is, had that nice crisp mouthfeel that I love in a Guiness.
I will also use this opportunity to say that traditions in brewing/drinking are often kept alive for the wrong reasons. For instance, "British Bitters are better at room temperature, as thats the way they have always been drunk". Ahem. Yes, they are not my favorite to begin with, and to have them at 70-75 degrees is just about the most un-refreshing thing I can think of. I like beer cold, whether its a stout, an IPA, a porter, or a Corona. Maybe I don't get as many of the upfront aromatic notes and flavoring hops, but I feel as though I get enough. I guess I'll have to push back my timetable on becoming a judge @ the Denver Beer Festival.
Also brewed an extract brew purchased at Annapolis Homebrew modeled after Dogfish Head "60 Minute" IPA. One of the few problems I have with this store (they make their own extract in house, which is AWESOME), is that they do not tell you the specific ingredients in their brewkits. I'll have to email them.
In any event, this is an aggressively-hopped beer, to which I am likely going to add extra dry hops while in the secondary fermenter (the kit comes with some hop pellets which are added to the primary after 5-ish days), but I also purchased 2oz of whole, vacuum-sealed Mt. Hood hops, which have an International Bitterness Unit (IBU) of 4 to 6. I am going to put these into a muslin (cheesecloth) bag and submerse in the brew with the secondary.
I also think I may have found an easy way to lager a brew (ie brew a lager)...going to run it by some of my beer brewing cronies, but
http://brewphileatthebrickpile.blogspot.com/2010/03/bottle-stout-brewed-extra-american-pale.html
Oh ya, I did promise in the tagline of this blog that there will be some mis-adventure. Here goes:
-Was supposed to brew the Extra Pale Ale last night.
-Started.
-Have a standard sink with a basic adapter, to which I have a Brita faucet filter hooked up (primarily to get rid of chlorine and some other junk in our tap water)
-After removing and replacing it so much (with bottle washers and wort chillers - another post on that topic soon) it became worn
-Walked to Ace Hardware to buy a new adapter
-Returned home, installed
-Brita still spewed water everywhere...like a male, I tried screwing it in further, thereby stripping the threads and rendering my filter useless
-Go buy another Brita filter @ same Ace Hardware, install, begin brewing
-As I was about to add a muslin bag of steeping grains, i noticed small ball-bearing-like objects at the bottom of my brewpot
-My thermometer had broken
-Walk back to Ace to get another floating thermometer. They have candy thermometers (temp doesn't go low enough), nine varieties of meat thermometers, external, ambient thermometers, none that float...
I came home and cracked a Brickhead Blonde. Then another as I watched the Sabres lose to the Caps. Some days you eat the bar, and some days....well....she eats you.
I will also use this opportunity to say that traditions in brewing/drinking are often kept alive for the wrong reasons. For instance, "British Bitters are better at room temperature, as thats the way they have always been drunk". Ahem. Yes, they are not my favorite to begin with, and to have them at 70-75 degrees is just about the most un-refreshing thing I can think of. I like beer cold, whether its a stout, an IPA, a porter, or a Corona. Maybe I don't get as many of the upfront aromatic notes and flavoring hops, but I feel as though I get enough. I guess I'll have to push back my timetable on becoming a judge @ the Denver Beer Festival.
Also brewed an extract brew purchased at Annapolis Homebrew modeled after Dogfish Head "60 Minute" IPA. One of the few problems I have with this store (they make their own extract in house, which is AWESOME), is that they do not tell you the specific ingredients in their brewkits. I'll have to email them.
In any event, this is an aggressively-hopped beer, to which I am likely going to add extra dry hops while in the secondary fermenter (the kit comes with some hop pellets which are added to the primary after 5-ish days), but I also purchased 2oz of whole, vacuum-sealed Mt. Hood hops, which have an International Bitterness Unit (IBU) of 4 to 6. I am going to put these into a muslin (cheesecloth) bag and submerse in the brew with the secondary.
I also think I may have found an easy way to lager a brew (ie brew a lager)...going to run it by some of my beer brewing cronies, but
http://brewphileatthebrickpile.blogspot.com/2010/03/bottle-stout-brewed-extra-american-pale.html
Oh ya, I did promise in the tagline of this blog that there will be some mis-adventure. Here goes:
-Was supposed to brew the Extra Pale Ale last night.
-Started.
-Have a standard sink with a basic adapter, to which I have a Brita faucet filter hooked up (primarily to get rid of chlorine and some other junk in our tap water)
-After removing and replacing it so much (with bottle washers and wort chillers - another post on that topic soon) it became worn
-Walked to Ace Hardware to buy a new adapter
-Returned home, installed
-Brita still spewed water everywhere...like a male, I tried screwing it in further, thereby stripping the threads and rendering my filter useless
-Go buy another Brita filter @ same Ace Hardware, install, begin brewing
-As I was about to add a muslin bag of steeping grains, i noticed small ball-bearing-like objects at the bottom of my brewpot
-My thermometer had broken
-Walk back to Ace to get another floating thermometer. They have candy thermometers (temp doesn't go low enough), nine varieties of meat thermometers, external, ambient thermometers, none that float...
I came home and cracked a Brickhead Blonde. Then another as I watched the Sabres lose to the Caps. Some days you eat the bar, and some days....well....she eats you.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
A Fan's Review (although he means "brickhead blonde"
"Had the brick house blond tonight w/ an asiago cheeseburger decked out w/ red onion and horseradish i'm hooked
where can i buy a case or two?
not too hoppy or malty
a little fruity nose/flavor
nice long finish
blond/cloudy colors
nice carbonation
and after one
i'm seriously buzzin'
thanks
japjr"
I wish I could get rid of the chill haze...as I said after my first post, the blonde packs a punch.
where can i buy a case or two?
not too hoppy or malty
a little fruity nose/flavor
nice long finish
blond/cloudy colors
nice carbonation
and after one
i'm seriously buzzin'
thanks
japjr"
I wish I could get rid of the chill haze...as I said after my first post, the blonde packs a punch.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
I cracked and I cracked
Okay, so just about every homebrewer says that brews need at least two weeks of conditioning in the bottle, preferably three....well, not every one. One proprietor of a homebrew store says that she starts cracking them 3-4 days after bottling. After having caved to the pressure of impatience, I know why you should wait.
Homebrewing is effectively a massive test of patience. Patience for your wort to cool to an appropriate temperature, patience for your yeast to be ready to pitch, patience for your primary ferment to finish, patience, well...for your brew to bottle-condition properly.
Unlike most commercial breweries, which essentially use CO2 cartridges to carbonate their beer (after filtering out most remaining yeast cells), homebrewers are at the mercy of a simple syrup solution, made of a highly-refined sugar (corn, cane, maple, etc.) and water. This is added to the brew just before bottling, and the remaining yeast cells chow on this and produce a little more alcohol, and, most importantly, CO2 that is suspended in the brew due to the capped bottles which trap it.
So, after a measly 5 days in bottles, I cracked under the pressure of patience and after sticking a bottle in the freezer for 20 minutes, I cracked my first Brickhead Blonde. There was a bit of apprehension, but when applying pressure from one of my favorite simple machines (the lever) to the bottlehead, I had a pleasant surprise: a quiet yet unmistakable "tssst" that was emitted as the seal broke...carbonation had happened!
When I poured into the gorgeous hand-blown glass mug (one of several of its kind that were Valentine's Day gifts from my gorgeous hand-crafted-by-God girlfriend), I did notice that it did not develop the monster 1/2-1 inch head that a typical commercial/micro brew does. However, on first taste, I did notice that it was far less carbonated that I prefer. (A quick aside, I prefer beers to be nicely carbonated...even stouts. I have tasted a fair share of hand-drawn British Bitters and IMHO, the tradition of drinking flat, warm beer can stay right where it originated: Britain and Medieval times...like many traditions, this was borne of necessity, and frankly, it is not necessary to drink brews like this anymore).
Maybe this is akin to the father who convinces himself that his son is a great shortstop, when, in fact, the kid should maaaaaybe be playing second-string left field, but even with 25-40% of the carbonation I prefer, this beer was still excellent. The closest commercial comparison I can think of is a Sam Adams Summer Brew without the citrus notes. It had a nice alcoholic bite and a minimal hop aroma, but very refreshing...it also, might i say, packs a pretty solid punch even at a not-overpowering 7.38% ABV. I decided to brew an Imperial Blonde because unlike many homebrewers and brewphiles in general, I am not (at least, not yet) a 'hophead' as it were. This brew has a nice hop bite to it, yet is balanced with the sweetness of the malt, and, even though it is not fully carbonated, is very drinkable, to use the parlance of Miller-Coors.
As much as I do dig this beer, I am beginning to understand the obsession with hops. As I am not trying to brew for a beer pong tournament, I really enjoy savoring the complexities of taste with this brew, and frankly, that enjoyment will only be enhanced by additional (yet in-balance) hopping. Since my next brew is an Irish Stout, I will not be able to confirm this for a few months.
Next on tap: I am thinking Belgian Brown or Belgian Pale Ale....maybe with some extra aromatic/bittering hops.
More on the Brickhead Blonde in 7-8 more days.
To Your Health-
mp
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