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Today was brew day. Hurray! It's a been a few weeks. As the winter is beginning to wind down, I decided to take the opportunity to brew one last darker beer. This is a Belgian Dubbel which, while still dark in color, isn't really a "heavy" beer. If I didn't screw anything up, it should be pretty drinkable, especially in the crazy Rochester spring weather.
Jeff and Angela came over and helped, so it was more interesting than normal.
Belgian Dubbel
Malt:
-11 lbs British Pale Malt
-1 lb CaraAroma
-1lb Light Munich Malt
Sugars:
-1 bottle (~1.5 lbs) Dark Belgian Candi Syrup (beet sugar)
Hops:
-1oz East Kent Golding hop pellets (5.5% AA, 60 minutes)
-1oz Saaz hop pellets (4% AA, 15 minutes)
-1oz Saaz hop pellets (4% AA, 5 minutes)
Mash:
-4 gallons of water at 162F for the mash
-Mash temp stabilized at 148F (where I wanted it)
-Mashed for 90 minutes
-Sparged with 4.75 Gallons at 168F
The gravity wound up at 1.070 (temperature corrected). The yeast was Wyeast 1388 Belgian Strong Ale. I was really happy that the mash temp came in where I wanted it, as I did not want this being too unfermentable. It's supposed to be a fairly light (in body) style, so I didn't want the temp to be too high in the mash. It came in at the temperature I was aiming for. The gravity also came out where I was hoping it would. I haven't brewed a Belgian in a long time, so I'm hoping this comes out well. The brew day was pretty much free of screwups, so I'm hopeful.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Beer Review: Great Lakes Blackout Stout
Blackout Stout, Great Lakes Brewing Company
I've been impressed with Great Lakes Brewing Company, as we've been seeing a lot more of it on tap around the Rochester area during the past year. I'm a big fan of stouts, so I decided to grab their stout last time I was at Beers of the World. Apparently, Great Lakes brewed the Blackout Stout in memory of the 2003 blackout that hit a large portion of the northeast. I remember not knowing about it until I left work, as the building I was working in at Cornell was on their own power grid that wasn't hit by the outage. It was a weird day, but turned out to be kinda fun cooking dinner in the kitchen at my dad's lab.
The Blackout Stout pours an extremely dark color, with a little light showing through around the edges. The head begins at two finger-widths, but settles to about a quarter-inch with some serious lacing on the glass.
Its aroma is one with a smooth roasted base. There are definitely some sweet caramel notes, with some lighter roasted notes, possibly brown malt or some dark toasted malt.
There is a mooth roasted bitterness with a touch of crystal malt sweetness. A serious chocolate character provides a nice layer on the roasted base malt flavor A moderate bitterness from the roasted malts and the hops hits the back of the tongue and mixes well with the smooth roasted chocolate flavor over the middle of the tongue. All these flavor mix to give a great finish.
As expected from a 9% ABV stout the body is heavy, but with a silky character that makes it go down easier than would be expected.
Overall I would call this a delicious imperial stout. The hops can become a bit harsh as you drink, but that's the only real complaint. The rich, smooth, roasted chocolate flavor works well with the silky body. This is definitely highly recommended, as the beers tend to be from Great Lakes Brewing Company.
I've been impressed with Great Lakes Brewing Company, as we've been seeing a lot more of it on tap around the Rochester area during the past year. I'm a big fan of stouts, so I decided to grab their stout last time I was at Beers of the World. Apparently, Great Lakes brewed the Blackout Stout in memory of the 2003 blackout that hit a large portion of the northeast. I remember not knowing about it until I left work, as the building I was working in at Cornell was on their own power grid that wasn't hit by the outage. It was a weird day, but turned out to be kinda fun cooking dinner in the kitchen at my dad's lab.
The Blackout Stout pours an extremely dark color, with a little light showing through around the edges. The head begins at two finger-widths, but settles to about a quarter-inch with some serious lacing on the glass.
Its aroma is one with a smooth roasted base. There are definitely some sweet caramel notes, with some lighter roasted notes, possibly brown malt or some dark toasted malt.
There is a mooth roasted bitterness with a touch of crystal malt sweetness. A serious chocolate character provides a nice layer on the roasted base malt flavor A moderate bitterness from the roasted malts and the hops hits the back of the tongue and mixes well with the smooth roasted chocolate flavor over the middle of the tongue. All these flavor mix to give a great finish.
As expected from a 9% ABV stout the body is heavy, but with a silky character that makes it go down easier than would be expected.
Overall I would call this a delicious imperial stout. The hops can become a bit harsh as you drink, but that's the only real complaint. The rich, smooth, roasted chocolate flavor works well with the silky body. This is definitely highly recommended, as the beers tend to be from Great Lakes Brewing Company.
Monday, March 9, 2009
And now they've gone too far.
Last week I setup my new media PC. I made sure to get an internal Blu-Ray drive for it ($100, eat that PS3!), and just finally got it to play my first Blu-Ray disks. Was the drive broken? No. Were the disks scratched? No.
First, the software included with the drive, Cyberlink PowerDVD 9, was the Deluxe version. PowerDVD 9 comes in three flavors: Standard, Deluxe, and Ultra. Ultra is the only one that has Blu-Ray functionality included. Any guess as to which they actually package with the player? That's right, Deluxe. Interesting that a Blu-Ray player would be packaged with software that you have to upgrade immediately in order to use with said drive.
PowerDVD9 Ultra was subsequently... 'acquired'.
The proper software, when loaded and reading the disk, actually gave me an error within the first three seconds. The error said something about not being able to process the contents of the disk. Huh? Alright. After a few searches on the intertoobs I found something wonderfully amazing called HDCP, High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection. Basically, this is hardware implemented anti-piracy scheme used by the ever-paranoid recording industry. This is a three pronged attack against piracy:
1. Devices go through an authentication process, whereby all devices being used to read, transmit, process, and display HD content need to be 'licensed' to perform those actions.
2. The data are encrypted while being transmitted, because obviously digimal piracy involves grabbing bits from the toob that connects the computer to the TV.
3. There are unique keys in these 'licensed' devices that help ensure that compromised devices can't be used. Blah blah blah.
So, what does this mean for me? My Blu-Ray player, graphics card, sound card, HDTV, and probably my AV receiver need to be HDCP certified/licensed/whateverstupidbullshited. I know the graphics processor on the motherboard isn't compliant, neither is the sound card. Hell, I don't know if my TV is even compliant, but that's moot with the rest of the hardware failing the compliance test.
The next piece of information I came across was that there's a program called AnyDVD HD. Running in the background, this software will remove copy protection schemes from any DVD that is playing, so the HDCP never gets initialized. This is a legal program that requires purchasing a license. I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around this, but I'll move on. I 'acquired' that license and now I can play Blu-Ray disks. Finally.
The recording companies are so damn paranoid about piracy that now I have to buy software to remove copy-protection from my legally purchased Blu-Ray disk, and upgrade the useless software that came with this drive so I can play said disk in my legally purchased Blu-Ray drive, with my legally purchased graphics and audio processors in my motherboard, transmit those data through my legally purchased HDMI cable, so my legally purchased HDTV can display this movie to my legally purchased eyeballs. This is the reason I refuse to pay money for anything that will help these companies get richer.
This just makes me want to pirate media MORE.
First, the software included with the drive, Cyberlink PowerDVD 9, was the Deluxe version. PowerDVD 9 comes in three flavors: Standard, Deluxe, and Ultra. Ultra is the only one that has Blu-Ray functionality included. Any guess as to which they actually package with the player? That's right, Deluxe. Interesting that a Blu-Ray player would be packaged with software that you have to upgrade immediately in order to use with said drive.
PowerDVD9 Ultra was subsequently... 'acquired'.
The proper software, when loaded and reading the disk, actually gave me an error within the first three seconds. The error said something about not being able to process the contents of the disk. Huh? Alright. After a few searches on the intertoobs I found something wonderfully amazing called HDCP, High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection. Basically, this is hardware implemented anti-piracy scheme used by the ever-paranoid recording industry. This is a three pronged attack against piracy:
1. Devices go through an authentication process, whereby all devices being used to read, transmit, process, and display HD content need to be 'licensed' to perform those actions.
2. The data are encrypted while being transmitted, because obviously digimal piracy involves grabbing bits from the toob that connects the computer to the TV.
3. There are unique keys in these 'licensed' devices that help ensure that compromised devices can't be used. Blah blah blah.
So, what does this mean for me? My Blu-Ray player, graphics card, sound card, HDTV, and probably my AV receiver need to be HDCP certified/licensed/whateverstupidbullshited. I know the graphics processor on the motherboard isn't compliant, neither is the sound card. Hell, I don't know if my TV is even compliant, but that's moot with the rest of the hardware failing the compliance test.
The next piece of information I came across was that there's a program called AnyDVD HD. Running in the background, this software will remove copy protection schemes from any DVD that is playing, so the HDCP never gets initialized. This is a legal program that requires purchasing a license. I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around this, but I'll move on. I 'acquired' that license and now I can play Blu-Ray disks. Finally.
The recording companies are so damn paranoid about piracy that now I have to buy software to remove copy-protection from my legally purchased Blu-Ray disk, and upgrade the useless software that came with this drive so I can play said disk in my legally purchased Blu-Ray drive, with my legally purchased graphics and audio processors in my motherboard, transmit those data through my legally purchased HDMI cable, so my legally purchased HDTV can display this movie to my legally purchased eyeballs. This is the reason I refuse to pay money for anything that will help these companies get richer.
This just makes me want to pirate media MORE.
Ugh, Monday
Quite the interesting weekend. I left work on Wednesday morning around 11am and took the rest of the week off. I had just finished getting some functioning that had taken me forever (lots of hardware communication issues), so I decided to have an extended weekend to relax.
I got my new computer parts on Wednesday afternoon. It was the summer of 2005 when I last upgraded my computer, so I decided to go all out and get a media PC put together to hook directly up to my HDTV.
There was a beer tasting on Saturday via Twitter Taste Live. I'll have to sit down and do a more in depth post on that later. Let's just say that the night ended painfully, and I don't remember going to bed. That'll happen when you drink a full (large) bottle of Dogfish Head Fort, Red & White, and a small bottle of Palo Santo Marron.
The World Baseball Classic is underway, as is MLB spring training. The USA crushed Venezuela yesterday 15-6. I'm considering starting up a second blog just dedicated to baseball. Gotta document another miserably disappointing season as a Mets fan. Huzzah.
I got my new computer parts on Wednesday afternoon. It was the summer of 2005 when I last upgraded my computer, so I decided to go all out and get a media PC put together to hook directly up to my HDTV.
There was a beer tasting on Saturday via Twitter Taste Live. I'll have to sit down and do a more in depth post on that later. Let's just say that the night ended painfully, and I don't remember going to bed. That'll happen when you drink a full (large) bottle of Dogfish Head Fort, Red & White, and a small bottle of Palo Santo Marron.
The World Baseball Classic is underway, as is MLB spring training. The USA crushed Venezuela yesterday 15-6. I'm considering starting up a second blog just dedicated to baseball. Gotta document another miserably disappointing season as a Mets fan. Huzzah.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Beer Review: Harpoon Celtic Ale
Harpoon's Celtic Ale
I had this on tap at J.B. Quimby's last night.
This beer pours a deep copper color with a two finger thick head. The bubbles in the head are large and coarse and pure white. After settling, the head remained thick enough to keep the beer covered.
The first impression you get from this beer is that it smells like lightly toasted bread. If there was any hop aroma, I wasn't able to detect it. Some British malt comes through in the nose, slightly offsetting the bread aromas. A minimal amount of yeast esters manage to poke through as well, lending a touch of a sweet floral aroma.
As with the aroma, the flavor of this beer is dominated by bread. There is a solid malt base that uses the bread and toasted notes to balance itself rather than hops. There do not seem be more than a token amount of hops as the hop bite was barely noticeable on the back of the tongue.
While not a light beer, this is an easily drinkable one. It's thick enough in the mouth so you know it's a solid beer, but it's thin enough to go down pretty quick.
Overall
Harpoon's Celtic Ale is not the most exciting beer, but you could do a ton worse. It's definitely a solid beer that should be really good on those cool rainy spring evenings. I would have enjoyed it more had I not been in a hoppy mood when I tried it. Don't expect an award winner, but this is a decent beer that's worth trying if you're not in the mood for hops.
I had this on tap at J.B. Quimby's last night.
This beer pours a deep copper color with a two finger thick head. The bubbles in the head are large and coarse and pure white. After settling, the head remained thick enough to keep the beer covered.
The first impression you get from this beer is that it smells like lightly toasted bread. If there was any hop aroma, I wasn't able to detect it. Some British malt comes through in the nose, slightly offsetting the bread aromas. A minimal amount of yeast esters manage to poke through as well, lending a touch of a sweet floral aroma.
As with the aroma, the flavor of this beer is dominated by bread. There is a solid malt base that uses the bread and toasted notes to balance itself rather than hops. There do not seem be more than a token amount of hops as the hop bite was barely noticeable on the back of the tongue.
While not a light beer, this is an easily drinkable one. It's thick enough in the mouth so you know it's a solid beer, but it's thin enough to go down pretty quick.
Overall
Harpoon's Celtic Ale is not the most exciting beer, but you could do a ton worse. It's definitely a solid beer that should be really good on those cool rainy spring evenings. I would have enjoyed it more had I not been in a hoppy mood when I tried it. Don't expect an award winner, but this is a decent beer that's worth trying if you're not in the mood for hops.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Beer Review: Drake's Crude Oatmeal Stout, Erie Brewing Company
Drake's Crude Oatmeal Stout, Erie Brewing Company
Pour
This stout pours a thick black, with a small white head on it.
Aroma
There is a light malty sweetness in the aroma, but it is dominated by the roasted grains (as would be expected). No detectable hop aroma.
Appearance
This is a black beer. I see no light getting through it at all.
Flavor
There is a nice roasted flavor that forms the base for this beer, but it is nicely balanced by a light crystal malt sweetness. It is dark and roasty, surely, but only has a very mild bitterness, probably more from the roasted malt than hops. This oatmeal stout is a very easy drinking beer, which says a lot for a stout.
Mouthfeel
This is a full bodied stout, with a very nice silky smooth feel to it from the oats.
Overall
This is a fantastic oatmeal stout, and I encourage anyone that enjoys this style to try it. There are just enough hops to keep it from being a malt bomb, and the texture from the oats makes it deliciously smooth.
Pour
This stout pours a thick black, with a small white head on it.
Aroma
There is a light malty sweetness in the aroma, but it is dominated by the roasted grains (as would be expected). No detectable hop aroma.
Appearance
This is a black beer. I see no light getting through it at all.
Flavor
There is a nice roasted flavor that forms the base for this beer, but it is nicely balanced by a light crystal malt sweetness. It is dark and roasty, surely, but only has a very mild bitterness, probably more from the roasted malt than hops. This oatmeal stout is a very easy drinking beer, which says a lot for a stout.
Mouthfeel
This is a full bodied stout, with a very nice silky smooth feel to it from the oats.
Overall
This is a fantastic oatmeal stout, and I encourage anyone that enjoys this style to try it. There are just enough hops to keep it from being a malt bomb, and the texture from the oats makes it deliciously smooth.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Update: Mocha Porter
The mocha porter is now in the secondary (after procrastinating for a week). The gravity is sitting at a nice 1.018, putting it a little over 7%ABV. The gravity sample tastes like a mix of dark roasted coffee, one of those 75% cocoa dark chocolate bars, and has a silky chocolaty body. This beer is still way young, but it's got some serious potential. I'm thinking I'll probably secondary it for about 2-3 weeks and see how it is then. Let me just say, I've surpassed all of my previous chocolate based beers with this one. Mmmm.
Three inches of trub at the bottom of the carboy! And it was thick, chocolaty stuff that took forever to get washed out.
Three inches of trub at the bottom of the carboy! And it was thick, chocolaty stuff that took forever to get washed out.
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