Outer Darkness from Squatters

The Utah craft beer I chose to enjoy on this trip to Smith and Morehouse is Outer Darkness from Squatters.

The beer pours with a thick, brown head. At least it looks that way in a Red Solo Cup.

Outer Darkness is a Russian Imperial Stout that runs at 10.5%. Creamy, chocolatey, and hoppy (65 IBUs).  I was not able to hazard a guess on the hops.  Too many flavors in this beer for me to try to pin it down.

By the way, this is the first Russian Imperial Stout that I've ever had.

It's a little bitey at the end of the taste.  I'm attributing this to the licorice added at the end of the boil and the oak conditioning.  The biting flavor disappears as the beer warms.  I may have chilled it too cold before opening.

When I opened it, I didn't realize that this was an oaked beer.  If I had, I would have cracked it open with dinner instead of drinking it as a late night campfire dessert.  I find that oaked beers are beers that are best enjoyed with food.

Consensus from the group around the fire is that it would pair well with hot wings or other similarly spiced and fried food.  I think the pork chops we had for dinner would also have been an excellent option.

Camping at Smith & Morehouse

Smith & Morehouse Res.

We motorhome-camped last weekend at Smith & Morehouse reservoir.   Normally we would tent camp, but my folk's motorhome was the only thing I had access to that would sleep all six of us going.

The only tech I used this weekend, other than the heater on the motorhome and a couple Coleman grills, is my phone for writing blog posts.  Having a tech-free weekend is something everyone should do.  It helps refocus the mind on what is important.  This is my second tech-free trip this year.  The first one was a working vacation to Capital Reef.

Weird Starter

If you've ever seen a starter do this, let me know.  Its WLP 566 - Saison II.  The black spots have me the most worried.

Side By Side Comparison - Homebrew Wee Heavy vs. 70 Shilling

These are the same beer, literally the same grain bill. The difference is the 70 Shilling was a second running on the Wee Heavy's mash. I filled my mash tun back up with 168F water and drained it again.

I was going to post my recipe here.  But it looks like when I updated my brewing software, the recipe got corrupted.

But its a fairly standard Wee Heavy recipe for a 7% beer with 8oz of Peated Malt, 8oz of Smoked Malt, plus sitting on oak chips for 3 weeks.

The 70 Shilling is a second running on the first.  It came in at 3%.

Upcoming Beer Topics

1. A side-by-side comparison of my 2012 Wee Heavy and 2012 70 Shilling Scottish Ale experiment.

2. Picked up more beers from Squatters for review.

3. A discussion of my gateway IPA.

4. Brewing the 2012 Pumpkin Saison.

5. Review of my 2012 Hazelnut Stout.

6. Review of my 2012 Double Hefeweizen.

2012 Pumpkin Ale - Part 2

I've been thinking about the pumpkin ale some more and something started getting me nervous:  when do I have to start brewing it?

My typical brewing schedule goes:  2-4 weeks primary, 2 weeks secondary, 4 weeks bottle carbonating.  And that's if I secondary.  For this beer, I think it will be worth it.

So according to that schedule, if I want to be absolutely sure it is ready for Halloween night, I have to brew it before the end of August.

Brewing in August is problematic for me.  I had to give up my fermentation fridge to my wife's new tattoo shop:  Liquid Jade Tattoos.  That means I'm at the mercy of my basement and cellar temperatures for fermenting.  My basement is currently 76F and my cellar is currently 78F and neither is likely to change substantially until mid to late September.

Solution:  Switching to a saison base and yeast for the Pumpkin Ale.  It should work.  I've never had a bad fruited, spiced, or herbed saison.

Here's the new recipe:
Fermentables
9lb of pilsen malt (mash)
8oz of 20L Crystal malt (mash)
12oz of Wheat malt (mash)
8oz of Biscuit malt (mash)

1lb of clear candi sugar (boil)

4lb of roasted pie pumpkins (mash) (I will substitute an equal amount of canned pumpkin because fresh pumpkin is not available)

Rice Hulls

Spices (added at flameout)
0.5oz Coriander
0.25oz Allspice
0.07oz Cinnamon (1tsp)
0.07oz Clove (1 tsp)
0.07oz Nutmeg (1 tsp)

Hops
1oz Hallertauer 60 minutes

1oz Citra 5 minutes

(edit:  my local home brew store was out of hallertauer, so I substituted 2oz strisselspalt)

Yeast
White Labs 566 - Saison II

Step Infusion Mash
120F for 30 minutes
153F for 60 minutes
168F for 10 minutes

OG = 1.067
FG = 1.019
ABV = 6.3%
IBU = 21
Color = 13L

2012 Pumpkin Ale

I'm not exactly a pumpkin ale fan.  But I've decided to make one this year.

My main problem with pumpkin ales is that they don't ever seem to be either pumpkiny enough our spiced enough or bready enough.

So I'm going to try to resolve those issues with the following recipe:

Squatter's Radio From Hell - Red As Hell Ale

This is a beer that I must admit I was hesitant to try. I mean, I like Radio From Hell (KXRK Provo FM 96.1). But naming a beer after a morning show on a radio station seemed a bit gimmicky.

The graphic novel style label adds to the gimmicky feel... at least to me.

I do like Squatter's Beers too.  As I stated in one of my previous posts, Squatters is one of the local breweries that I think has vastly improved their brewing with the recent change in Utah law that allows greater than 4.0 ABV beers to be sold at the brewery.

With that said, This is actually quite a good beer. I do enjoy Irish Red Ales and this one doesn't disappoint. It clocks in at 5.5% ABV in a 750 mL bottle.

The bad part of a 750 mL bottle is that I generally don't want to drink that much beer in a night. On the other hand, it's perfect for splitting two or three ways.

On the third hand, this is the first 750 mL bottle that takes a standard sized bottle cap, which means I can bottle homebrew in it at take it to parties with a couple litter swingtops.

The hop level is very subtile and complementary of it's rich maltiness. Plenty of caramel and light hints of fruitiness.

I'm not sure of the hop varieties used. They seem like English varieties, but I suppose some of the fruitiness could be coming through because of something like Citra, Calypso, or Williamette.

The color on this beer, though, is absolutely amazing. I've had Red Ales that are rustic and deep copper colored but I've never had anything that was this crimson without it having been fermented with fruit.

By the way, next time, I'm pretty sure I can drink the full 750 mL of this in one sitting. It is that smooth.

Epic Brewing Spiral Jetty IPA

Epic Brewing's Classic Series IPA - Spiral Jetty,named after the sculpture built in the Great Salt Lake by Robert Smithson (thepinkness of the water in the photo is from naturally occurring sulfur bacteriain the north arm of the Great Salt Lake).

Epic is currently my favorite local brewer.  When the Utah changed their lawsallowing for breweries to sell greater than 4.0% ABV beer direct from thebreweries, it changed the landscape of the beer scene.  Some breweries seemed thrive on thechange, while others seem to have lagged behind.

Epic came on the scene shortly after the change inthe law went into effect.  Theirbrewing philosophy is that they will only brew greater then 4.0% ABV beers.  I believe that their lowest strengthbeer is the Mid Mountain Mild at 4.5% to 5% ABV.

I’m not a big IPA drinker.  I know, it’s a sin to say it on IPA Day2012.  But it’s true.  It is rare that I find an IPA that Ilike.  For similar beers, I tend tofavor its bigger brother, the Imperial IPA.   In order to get the higher ABVs of IIPAs, brewers tendto use a maltier backbone and more residual sweetness is left in the beer.

Its even more rare for me to find a simcoe hoppedIPA that I like.  I know, another heresy.  But it is also true:  I don’t like a lot of pine flavor in myfood or drinks.

This beer has an excellent copper color and thehops highlight  citrus, piney, andfloral flavors and aroma.

I should mention that I have a little bit ofdifficulty differentiating between bittering “flavor” hops and dry “aroma”hops.  I tend to taste themboth.  Aroma hops come in softerwaves than flavor hops.

Epic Brewing has three other variations on thisbeer:  (Elevated Series) CopperCone Pale Ale, (Elevated Series) Hopulent IPA, and (Exponential Series)Imperial IPA.  Copper Conetypically ranges from 6% to 7%ABV and I tend to think of it as a Pale Ale Extra– meaning half way between a Pale Ale and an IPA in hopping.

Hopulent IPA weighs in at 8 to 9% and averages closeto a pound of dry hops per barrel (31 US gallons).  It is much more of an aggressive beer than either SpiralJetty or Copper Cone.

There aren’t many of Epic’s beers that I haven’thad the pleasure of trying.  TheExponential Series Imperial IPA is one of them.  Rest assured, I will steadily working my way through theirlist of beers

Ephraim Malt Shop

Work today took me down into central Utah. On the way back, stopped at The Malt Shop in Ephraim. It's a great, classic diner.

Ordered a quarter pound hamburger, curly fries, & a small vanilla shake.

Ice cream when I'm traveling is always a dangerous proposition because of my lactose intolerance. But I decided to chance it. I mean, how often do you get the chance to eat at a bonifide malt shop?

The shake was above the rim, so thick that I could not suck it through the straw for about 20 minutes.