Imperial / Double Hefeweizen Homebrew

This beer is a good example of the iterations I go through when formulating a new recipe.  Originally, the plan was to make a California Common out of a Pilsner grain bill.  I quickly came to the decision that my brew areas were too warm.

So I thought, "maybe an estery Hefeweizen?"   So I took half Pilsen malt and half wheat malt started fooling around.  So I thought "make it big, use weird hops, and dry hop."   In short: everything you're not supposed to do.   I debated for a while on whether to call it an Imperial or a Double.  Eventually, I decided on "Double" because my goal was "twice what you typically find in a hefeweizen."

Here's what I came up with for my Double Hefeweizen:

Chimay - White Label Cinq Cents

I discovered in my cellar today that I had purchased a bottle of Chimay White and forgot about it.

One of the things I like about drinking Trappist beers is the history.  The monastery started brewing in 1862.  When you open a Trappist beer, you are opening up history.

You may have noticed in all my beer pictures, I use the same pint glass but tonight I'm using a snifter glass. There are very few beers and wines that I believe the shape of the glass actually has an effect on the beer drinking experience.   Belgian and Trappist beers are among the few exceptions.   This is because so much of the experience of these bees takes place in the smell.

Chimay corks all of their bottles.  Again, I don't much like corked beer because cork is susceptible to cork-rot.  I did not have that in this beer but I did once on a Chimay Blue.  The cork on this beer was amazingly easy to remove by hand.

Sierra Nevada - Southern Hemisphere Harvest

Today is the first day of real Autumn temperatures at my house. My outdoor thermometer is sheltered and always seems to read a little high. This morning it read 40F (4.5C). The house dropped down to 64F (18C).

So I spent this morning getting the house ready for winter. Mainly this means covering the evaporative cooler and making sure the boiler still works.

After all that work, I decided to crack open something refreshing: Sierra Nevada's Southern Hemisphere Harvest 2012.

This beer uses only freash hops from New Zealand: Pacific Hallertau, Motueka and Southern Cross.

I had it with some left over spinach, chicken, & parmesan pizza from last night.  Mmmm... nothing better than spinach pizza.

Squatters - Hell's Keep Belgian Style Golden Ale

This is probably my last Squatters review for a while.  I'll have to check my cellar, but I'm pretty sure this is the last of the beers I purchased at the brewery on my last stop.  It's kind of sad.

But Untapped just informed me that I've had 10 different Squatters beers in less than 30 days.  So, maybe it is time to move on.

I don't have a whole lot of experience with the Belgian Golden Ale style. I'm more of a Trappist & Lambic Belgain beer drinker.

A couple things to get out of the way:   1) Not a fan of the label art.  Be cartoonish or be realistic.  Don't be vague.  2) Foil wrapped.  Again, I ask "Why foil wrap a beer?"  This is not wine.   But if you want it to be like wine, make it easier to remove, like wine.   Besides, if prettiness is the goal, bottle caps can be pretty too.

Aesthetics rants aside, this is a great beer.

This beer is smooth with a bit of fruitiness with musty/earthiness thrown in.  The head on the beer is stiff and thick.  It reminds me of egg whites beaten stiff for a meringue.

Epic Brewing - Hop Syndrome Lager (Release #7)

Hop Syndrome is one of my favorites from Epic Brewing. It's an American Lager. It's also just about the lowest ABV beer that Epic brews.

Stats from the website:
Malts: Pilsner, Light Munich Malt, Carapils

Boil Hops: Calypso, Crystal
Hopback: whole leaf Aramis
Dry Hops: Crystal, Calypso

ABV: 4.8%

I think of this beer as essentially being a dry hopped American Pilsner. The body is thinner than a true pilsner without the corn flavors you would associate with a macrobrew.

The hop flavors are what this beer is about. Don't let the name mislead you, it's not a "hop bomb". It's a hoppy pilsner. And it doesn't take much dry hopping to hop-up a crisp Pilsner / American Lager.

Pumpkin Saison Fermentation Results

The pumpkin saison is finally bottled and in the process of carbonating.  I've been kind of sick for a while, so I've fallen behind on posts.  You can compare the beer results to what my original recipe and plan was here.

Pumpkin Saison in the bucket

Grain Bill
9lb Pilsen Malt
12oz Wheat Malt
8oz Biscuit Malt
8oz Crystal 20L Malt
1lb Belgian Clear Candi Sugar (added with 10 minutes remaining in the boil)

Hops
2oz 3.8%AA Hallertau 80 minutes
1oz 13.9%AA Citra 5 minutes

Spices (at flameout)
0.5oz Coriander
0.15oz Cinnamon sticks
0.15oz Clove
0.15oz Nutmeg

Fruit/Vegetables
3.62lb (58oz) of Canned Pumpkin Purée in the mash

Wing Nutz - Wings & Beer

Wing Nutz is a local chain in Salt Lake. It's a place I like to frequent to get my hot wings fix.

These guys have quite a variety of sauces and they aren't overly vinegary, like you might get at a Chili's or a Wingers (another local chain).

Also, they strictly do not fry their wings. I've had some sauces that are really good & some that are bad. I can't remember the bad ones, I don't order them anymore.

Actually, I don't order anymore. I let my wife order the wing combinations, because I can't remember.  So I'm guessing here:  chili garlic, parmesan curry, jalapeno honey BBQ, traditional, and southern hotties.  You can also get them as either chicken or "hog" wings.  Hog wings are pork shanks.