Saturday, October 18, 2008

Modified English Pale Ale

Bindle-stiffs, gunslingers, comrades one and all! It has been a long time since we've posted. I think Walter K has lost his mind and has disappeared somewhere in the northwoods jungle. But, I have returned. Gone to that place where no person should go. Where time slows down and vision spreads out across the universe. Every instant last a thousand years as I peered into infinity and saw all the threads of possibilities extending infinitely forward and backward. Witnessed my own birth and the thousands upon thousands of possible deaths in the blink of an eye. I have returned to finish my Jedi Beer Training and submit the following report to the Master.

Since our last post, we discovered that our neigbor Q grows hops...yes, grows motherfucking hops! Aware of the worldwide hop shortage, he graciously offered to allow us to harvest the hops and use them for our beer. We studied for hours on the internet, learning how to harvest, prepare, and preserve the hops for use. So, one rainy day, we went out in our poncho's and picked hops for about 4 hours. Picking them involved standing about 25 feet in the air on a shaky ladder during a rainstorm (we'll at least for Walter K, but it's okay, his Dad is a hop-picker so he has some experience). After we picked the hops we put them on my sun porch to dry out. Because it was raining outside we turned on a space heater to help de-humidify the room. After 3 days they were ready. So, we used a vacuum sealer and have preserved them in air-tight plastic wraps.

There is only one problem. Our neighbor is not sure if his strain of hops is Golding or Cascade. Our impression was that the majority of the vines growing up alongside the house were Golding but that one or two of the vines growing in the alley were actually Cascade. So, we have quite a strange blend of Golding and Cascade.

We have made the first batch of beer using these hops and have basically tried to create a Modified English Pale Ale. Here's what we did:

--6 lb. Gold liquid malt extract
--1 lb. Light DME
--8 oz. Carapils, 8 oz. Caramel 60°L specialty grains

--1 oz Goldings at 60 min
--2 oz Godlings at 1 min

We also used a very similar recipe with the following modifications:

--1/2 oz Columbus at 60 min
--1 oz Amarillo at 20 min
--1 oz Amarillo at 1 min

This second recipe was taken from the Midwest Supplies. They describe this recipe like this: "
The Amarillo hop is perhaps one of the more uniquely flavored varieties to emerge in recent years, and the only variety that is owned by the farmer who bred it. This pale ale showcases ingredients found in the Pacific Northwest and is a great way to get to know the refreshing flavor of the Amarillo."

Finally, we are also kooking up a Holiday Ale also from Midwest Supplies. Here is the info on this brew:

"Happy Holiday Brew: Once a year folks eat, drink and are merry. We think this is a great time to impress your friends and relatives with homemade beer. This spiced ale will make egg nog a thing of the past. Our ingredients for this recipe include: 6 lbs. Dark liquid malt extract, 3.3 lbs. Amber liquid malt extract, 8 oz. Caramel 60°L, 8 oz. Special B specialty grains, 3 oz. of hops, 1 Cinnamon Stick, 1 tsp. nutmeg, 1 tsp. ginger, yeast, priming sugar and a grain bag."

Here are the directions:

--steep crushed grains 10-30 min
--add malt extract at boil
--1 oz vanguard at 60 min
--additional holiday spices at 10 min
--1 0z cascade at 2 min
(two stage fermentation recommended)

I think we will bottle this one in December and hope for the beer to be ready by the new year.

We will post the review of our Modified English Pale tonight or tomorrow when we tap the keg.