Pumpkin Beer – Brewday and Recipe

Posted on September 9, 2013 by Nick Ladd

2 Sugar Pumpkins were heavily roasted yielded about 3 pounds of sweet pumpkin meat.

2 sugar pumpkins were heavily roasted yielding about 3 pounds of sweet pumpkin meat that was pulverized and added to the mash.

Update: You can find a full review of this beer, here.

People seem to either love pumpkin beers, or love to hate them. Craft beer drinkers consume them in quantity each fall while a certain segment of ‘beer geeks’ gleefully rant about their disdain for the style and write them off as a trend (oh, the irony). Having been part of this latter group, I can confidently say that my tune has changed. In particular, I look forward to the yearly ritual of consuming high gravity samples like Elysian’s ‘Great Pumpkin’ and the signal of fall these beers represent.

Many craft pumpkin beers feature in-your-face spicing paired with a big residual sweetness. For this beer, I am shooting for something a bit different. While malt-forward, the focus is on toasty bready notes, and less on sweet caramel. This beer features low-spicing — hopefully allowing the heavily roasted pumpkin to shine through. The goal of combining a Maris Otter base with biscuit and honey malts was to produce a graham cracker like character, similar to what is found in pie crust.

Recirculating for mashout. Very nice orange color.

Recirculating for mashout. The malt bill and pumpkin produced a very nice orange color.

Recipe

Size: 2.75 gal
Efficiency: 70%
Attenuation: 72.0% (projected)

Original Gravity: 1.086 SG (Actually hit 1.077 due to pour efficiency)
Terminal Gravity: 1.024 SG (projected)
Color: 16.26 SRM
Alcohol: 8.2% ABV (projected)
Bitterness: 27.9 (projected)

Ingredients:
6.25 lb (65.4%) Maris Otter (Crisp)
1.3125 lb (13.7%) Munich TYPE II (Weyermann)
8 oz (5.2%) Biscuit Malt (Dingeman)
8 oz (5.2%) Flaked Oats (Briess)
6 oz (3.9%) Crystal 45 (Crisp)
6 oz (3.9%) Honey Malt (Gambrinus)
4 oz (2.6%) Belgian Caravienne (Belgian)
3 lb Roasted Sugar Pumpkin

8 g (100.0%) Magnum (14.5%) – added during boil, boiled 90 m
0.5 ea Whirlfloc Tablets (Irish moss) – added during boil, boiled 15 m
0.5 tsp Wyeast Nutrient – added during boil, boiled 10 m

1 ea Cinnamon (Stick) – Whirlpool 10m
.125 tsp Clove (whole) – Whirlpool 10m
.125 tsp Nutmeg (ground) – Whirlpool 10m

WYeast 1056 American Ale™
1 ea Vanilla Bean Soaked in Bourbon (1 bean in 2 oz. bourbon) – Secondary

Mash:
120 °F – 5m (Beta Glucan)
154 °F – 60m (Saccarification)
168 °F – 10m (Mashout)

Yeast Starter:
Final Volume into Fermenter = 2.25 Gallons
Yeast Required = 132 billion (per Mr. Malty)
Yeast Production Date: 8/16/13
Yeast Starter = 1L @ 1.040 on stir plate (per Mr. Malty) = 4 1/8oz. DME

Fermentation:
1. Chill to 60* F and keep at 62* F until activity slows (1 week+).
2. Raise temp to 70*F 2 days
3. Crash to 32*F 5 days

New Belgium / Alpine Super IPA Review

Posted on February 7, 2013 by Nick Ladd

New Belgium / Alpine Super IPA

The nature of the craft beer movement encourages trends. Currently, it seems that collaboration beers are all the rage. Stone does it all the time (even with homebrewers) as does Russian River, Deschutes, Hair of the Dog, and many of the greatest breweries in the country. Super IPA is a collaboration between one of the biggest craft brewers (New Belgium) and one of the smallest and most sought after (Alpine Beer Co.). At first glance, this seems like an amazing opportunity for a small and critically-acclaimed brewery to get distribution well-beyond their typical geographical influence. Unfortunately, while quaffable, this beer misses on many marks which would have made it amazing.

Beer Data:

Purchased: 10/5/12 at Whole Foods P Street, Washington DC
Consumed: 10/7/12
Bottled: No decipherable date on bottle
Alcohol: 9% ABV

Commercial Description from Website:

The Alpine Beer Co. and New Belgium have come together for the love of IPAs. This collaboration is hop-wonderful with Amarillo, Columbus, Simcoe and Centennial hops, bringing the bitter all the way to the front. A nice balance is present with Pale, C-80 and Carapils malts, but the tropical and citrus tones of the American hops dominate. This Super IPA pours a sheened copper and carries a bright, white head. Consider yourself a hero for getting an Alpine beer outside of San Diego.

Tasting Notes:

Aroma: Big green grassy raw hop aroma. Hops are quite resinous and herbal. This beer is dominated by Columbus hops, which are very rough around the edges. There are some nice mango and tropical fruit notes which seem bullied by the heavy piney and grassy characters. Little to no malt aromas are present on the nose; quite characteristic of Alpine’s other offerings. This beer smells like homebrewed beers I’ve had that sat too long on the dry hop. 5 / 12

Appearance: Very light copper bordering on golden. Off-white head with great retention. Clear, but not crystal clear. 3 / 3

Flavor: Big grassy raw hop flavor. Lots of resin on the palette. The flavor is pretty one-dimensional and dominated by the grassy / herbal hop flavor. There is a very light sweetness / honey character to the malt, but it is by no means easily perceived. This is a very smooth beer whose bitterness is quite low for the style, but balances with the dryness of the beer. This is where I see Alpine’s biggest influence. 11 / 20

Mouth Feel: Medium / medium low body. Average carbonation. Some astringency reminiscent of chewing on a raw hop pellet. 4 / 5

Overall Impression: Alpine is known for producing over-the-top hoppy beers with huge tropical fruit flavors and very lean malt profiles. I feel like this beer tried to hit those notes, but fell short in the hop selection arena. I can’t help but think that perhaps the need to produce New Belgium scale quantities of this beer forced the hand of the brewers into compromising on their hop selection; using massive quantities of Columbus hops which come off harsh, grassy and herbal in this beer rather than the more tropical varietals like Amarillo and Simcoe listed on New Belgium’s website. The malt is perfectly in line with Alpine’s tradition; dry and lean which would set the stage perfectly for a cleaner, fruitier hop experience. Unfortunately, this is where it falls short. 5 / 10

Score: 28 / 50 (Good)

Note: Evaluation done according to BJCP Scoring System. This beer was reviewed as a Category 14c. Imperial IPA.

Dark Horse Brewing Co. Crooked Tree IPA Review

Posted on January 10, 2013 by Nick Ladd

Crooked Tree IPA

In spite of my limited tenure in New York, I can already tell it is an exciting time to be a beer lover in the city. It seems like each new day brings news of yet another brewery distributing to the state. It is hard to keep up, but my liver is trying its best. When I saw that Bierkraft had tapped several kegs of Dark Horse beers, I hustled on over for a reasonably priced growler fill. Dark Horse has gained some following outside of Marshall, Michigan and I am excited to try the beers they send my way.

Beer Data:

Purchased: 9/17/12 at Bierkraft – 64 oz. Growler $11.95
Availability: Year-round (according to Dark Horse Brewing’s website)
Alcohol: 6% ABV

Commercial Description from Website:

Inspired by West Coast I.P.A.’s, but brewed with Michigan style. The Crooked Tree is heavily dry hopped to give it a big aroma of pine and citrus. The flavors are big, yet very balanced between fresh hops and malt. Often described as “grapefruit” our hops give this beer an excellent fruit flavor that finishes dry, crisp, and clean. It will pour a nice deep copper color with a bit of haziness. Because of our almost patented “Intense Transfer Methods” our Crooked Tree has won several medals in the India Pale Ale category.

Tasting Notes:

Aroma: This beer eschews the brash tropical and over-the-top hop aromas of trendy (and proprietary) hop varietals like Citra, Simcoe, Amarillo, and their New Zealand brethren. Instead, what is immediately apparent are the classic aromas of grapefruit with a hint of an herbaceous note, reminiscent of classic hops like Cascade and Centennial. Aside from the hops, there are fairly strong malt aromas of toasty biscuits and crackers. The aroma is very nice, but perhaps a little understated by measure of other American IPAs. As the sample warms, a touch of alcohol presents itself. 8 / 12

Appearance: This is not a pretty beer. Out of the growler came a muddy copper devoid of any exciting highlights. The beer easily produced a nearly white meringue-like head that unfortunately dissipated rather quickly (perhaps because the carbonation was low from the growler fill). The foam is quite sticky, likely due to the large amount of hops used. 1 / 3

Flavor: Lots of grapefruit are the initial impression; however, this is followed by a very large malt flavor. The malt is less in the range of sweet caramel and toffee and more in the spectrum of heavily toasted malt. I get the impression that there is a firm Munich or Vienna malt presence with perhaps some biscuit like malts (Victory, Special Roast, Biscuit, etc.). The malt is more reminiscent of an English IPA and provides an interesting, but stylistically incorrect, counterpoint to the classic American hop profile. The hops finish with a slight grassiness, likely from the dry hop. 13 / 20

Mouth Feel: This beer presents with a medium / medium-low level of carbonation likely the side-effect of the growler fill. This lends to an appealing almost cask like mouth-feel. There is a firm bitterness that balances any residual sweetness and finishes with a touch of grassy astringency. Quite quaffable for an IPA. 3 / 5

Overall Impression: I very much enjoyed the balance of this beer. Unfortunately, to me the hallmark of the American IPA category is an assertiveness that celebrates huge in-your-face hop flavors at the cost of balance. This is America, dammit, and more is not always less when it comes to the IPA category. The beer is obviously well-crafted with no technological faults. It is a great drinker that one could easily empty a growler of (I did), but I doubt it would win many competitions as an American IPA. 6 / 10

Score: 31 / 50 (Very Good)

Note: Evaluation done according to BJCP Scoring System. This beer was reviewed as a Category 14b. American IPA.

NYC Craft Beer Fest – Winter Edition Preview

Posted on November 24, 2012 by Nick Ladd

Winter Harvest – December 1

I love winter beer. I love beer festivals. When you combine the two, magical things happen. December 1st is the NYC Craft Beer Festival – Winter Edition which fulfills the festival half of the equation, but seems a bit light on the ‘winter’ half of the equation.

Gauging from the beer list that has been published, it looks to be pretty similar in size and scope to The Brooklyn Pour I attended in early October. I count 109 different beers or ciders from 64 different breweries. Frankly, for a festival billing itself as ‘featuring winter seasonal beers’, the list is very light on winter warmers or other body-warming styles of beer. The list is dominated by flagship brands with relatively few options to try things out of the ordinary or not readily available. Judging from the brands represented it seems that most are being brought by distributors and not the actual breweries themselves; a lost opportunity for breweries to win over the types of rabid beer lovers that attend these events. Mediocre list aside, there are a handful of gems on the list:

Dark Horse – Reserve Special Black Ale
Founders – Breakfast Stout – Commonly available, but oh, so delicious.
Heavy Seas – Loose Cannon – Not a Winter beer, but still outstanding.
Great Divide – Hibernation – One of the best winter warmers out there.
Maine Beer Co. – Peeper Ale – Not a Winter beer, but a great American Pale Ale.
Sly Fox – Christmas Ale – Solid winter beer.
Victory – Storm King – Classic Russian Imperial Stout

Originally scheduled for early November, Hurricane Sandy forced a change of date and venue. The organizers will be holding a supply drive for those in the Breezy Point neighborhood of Queens.

I’ll be there with a full review after the event has come and gone.

From the Cellar: 2010 Sierra Nevada Bigfoot

Posted on November 9, 2012 by Nick Ladd

2010 Sierra Nevada Bigfoot

Sierra Nevada Bigfoot was one of the beers that originally showed me the interesting evolution a well-crafted beer goes through as it ages. When fresh, Bigfoot is brash and hoppy, making no excuses for its intense bitterness, citrusy hops, and big alcohol. As it ages, the hops become more integrated and nuanced while allowing the complex malt to sing. The interplay of slow micro-oxidation with the malt and alcohol begins to create wonderful fruit and sherry-like notes that turn this beer into something very different than its fresh self. Straight off the packaging line, or with a couple years age, this is a delicious beer. Drink some fresh, but stash away a few to drink slowly and see what time can do to a well-crafted beer such as this.

Availability: Winter
Bottled: 2010
Alcohol: 9.6% ABV

Commercial Description from Website:

Our award-winning barleywine boasts a dense, fruity bouquet, an intense flavor palate and a deep reddish-brown color. Its big maltiness is superbly balanced by a wonderfully bittersweet hoppiness.

Tasting Notes:

Aroma: Big rich malt hits you first–reminiscent of thick dark caramel, molasses, biscuits, and toasted bread crust. There is a lot of fruit in here as well: prunes, light apricot, and a hint of lychee. The aroma is heavy and complex with plenty of oxidized sherry-like notes. Very little alcohol is apparent as are a hint of piney hops. 11 / 12

Appearance: Hazy somewhat muddy brown color with some rust-like hues. Upon pouring, a tightly bubbled tan head forms that persists until the end–quite impressive for a high alcohol beer. 3 / 3

Flavor: The flavor follows the aroma with superb rich malt and sherry-like flavors. There are more hops apparent in the flavor, but they are a shadow of their former self with some pine-needle like and slightly citrusy flavors. The hops are very apparent in the firm bitterness that is present. 17 / 20

Mouth Feel: This beer has a big sticky mouth feel that finishes just on the sweet-side of dry due to the big bitterness still present in the beer. 4 / 5

Overall Impression: This beer manages to be complex in different ways at both a young and well-aged stage in its life. At either age, it is not a subtle beer. The flavors are intense, the alcohol is big, and the overall impression makes you want to sit back and take your time sipping and dissecting the layers of flavor present in the beer. This is truly the best example of an American Barley Wine that I can think of. 10 / 10

Score: 45 / 50 (Outstanding)

Note: Evaluation done according to BJCP Scoring System. This beer was reviewed as a Category 19c. American Barley Wine.