Evan!
Well-Known Member
My recipients were Bird, Cheesefood and Sean. Bird and Sean are reviewing the Winter Warmer and the Imperial Stout, but I sent the Smoked Porter and Steffiweizen to Cheese. With the exception of the Stout, these are all Partial Mash brews (the stout is the last extract/steep brew I did).
So, for your information:
WW: Honey Ginger Winter Warmer. Brewed with several ounces of freshly grated ginger root, plus some baking spices at the end. Fermented around 62f with a crackhead-blend of Bavarian Lager, British Ale and German Hefe yeasts. Lagered for about 5 weeks at 37f. It started out pretty massive and sweeter, but has since dried out considerably, and turned from a ginger-flavored sweet winter warmer to more of a ginger-centric brew.
IS: Imperial Stout (Or, Dark Horse v1.0). An imperial stout that started high and finished high. I think the FG was in the mid to upper 30's, but much of that has to do with the maltodextrin. Added 8oz of unsweetened chocolate to the boil, and 12 cups (not really, because the "cup" measurement on my coffee carafe isn't really a cup) of local artisan drip coffee added to the secondary. At first it was ALL coffee, but it has mellowed out in the past few months, and has also dried out a bit.
SP: Smoked Porter. Mashed with a few ounces of scottish peated malt, but otherwise, a straight-up porter. Because I had room in my new Lagerator, I cold-conditioned this baby at 36-39f for almost 2 months.
SW: Steffiweizen. Named for the wifey (she likes wheat beer). Not a true hefeweizen; I brewed a wit with a blend of Wit and Hefe yeasts, then strained the wort for the SW right onto the existing cake. So, the presence of the wit yeast negates the official hefe classification, but otherwise, it's a hefe.
Lastly, I sent Bird a few extras, since we had worked out something outside of the beerswap. As such, I would really appreciate any feedback on the rest of those brews, Bird.
So, on with the HONEST criticism. I mean it. Nobody is gonna hurt my feelings with a couple of "ugh"s or "ewwww"s.
So, for your information:
WW: Honey Ginger Winter Warmer. Brewed with several ounces of freshly grated ginger root, plus some baking spices at the end. Fermented around 62f with a crackhead-blend of Bavarian Lager, British Ale and German Hefe yeasts. Lagered for about 5 weeks at 37f. It started out pretty massive and sweeter, but has since dried out considerably, and turned from a ginger-flavored sweet winter warmer to more of a ginger-centric brew.
IS: Imperial Stout (Or, Dark Horse v1.0). An imperial stout that started high and finished high. I think the FG was in the mid to upper 30's, but much of that has to do with the maltodextrin. Added 8oz of unsweetened chocolate to the boil, and 12 cups (not really, because the "cup" measurement on my coffee carafe isn't really a cup) of local artisan drip coffee added to the secondary. At first it was ALL coffee, but it has mellowed out in the past few months, and has also dried out a bit.
SP: Smoked Porter. Mashed with a few ounces of scottish peated malt, but otherwise, a straight-up porter. Because I had room in my new Lagerator, I cold-conditioned this baby at 36-39f for almost 2 months.
SW: Steffiweizen. Named for the wifey (she likes wheat beer). Not a true hefeweizen; I brewed a wit with a blend of Wit and Hefe yeasts, then strained the wort for the SW right onto the existing cake. So, the presence of the wit yeast negates the official hefe classification, but otherwise, it's a hefe.
Lastly, I sent Bird a few extras, since we had worked out something outside of the beerswap. As such, I would really appreciate any feedback on the rest of those brews, Bird.
So, on with the HONEST criticism. I mean it. Nobody is gonna hurt my feelings with a couple of "ugh"s or "ewwww"s.