Homebrew X: Belgian Stout

At long last, another post: This spring I brewed Northern Brewer's limited edition Mustache Envy Belgian Stout, concocted for Men's Health Month (Mo-vember). I brewed the week before hernia surgery, so the wort spent a little extra time in the primary fermenter and a lot of extra time in the secondary. About halfway through the time in the secondary, I realized I had forgotten the oak cube, so I threw them in and gave it a little more.

This past Sunday I transferred it to the keg. I had planned to bottle this batch and keg a summery brew, but since I'm hosting a brew session this weekend and wanted something to sample, I changed my mind. Worse comes to worse, I'll use the homemade counter-pressure bottle filler Dad and I built to bottle off the keg.

After three days in the keg I dropped the pressure and pulled the pint pictured here. It pours a murky chocolate brown, with about a half inch of creamy head. The aroma is dark malt and oak. The taste is dark fruits, oak, Guinness and sweet red wine -- balanced, but with little discernible hop aroma or flavor. It is murky brown from top to bottom, like the Tahquamenon when it's running high with spring runoff, and it strikes me that it will get better with age. That's a happy thought, since it's pretty solid to start with!

If you're reading this and in the greater St. Michael-Albertville area, a couple of us will be brewing on Sunday from noon to 4 or so at the Thorp garage. Next up for me is Northern's California Common kit -- a hybrid brew (a lager brewed at ale temps) based on the authentic American beer style known as steam. (Anchor Steam is a long time favorite of mine, though whether it taste anything like historic steam beer I do not know.) Feel free to stop by and sample some Mustache Envy -- and if you'd like to brew, you're welcome to do so. Cheers!

Pledge Week at Tappa Kegga Bru!

Well, I made the leap: Last Sunday, I transferred my Northern Brewer brunch stout to a sanitized 5-gallon pin-lock keg and hooked up the CO2 to carbonate (three days or so at 20 psi), then on Wednesday I sanitized the plumbing, hooked it it up, reduced to 10 psi, and pulled the first pint. I purchased the entire set-up (including a mid-size fridge spray-painted gold and a bunch of extra equipment) from a guy on Craigslist, and unbeknownst to me, a small flat O-ring was missing -- as a result, when I returned for a second pint, the system had lost pressure, and a small pool of stout had formed on the top of the keg and the liquid fitting. I remedied that today, with a 40-cent purchase at Northern on the way home. Resanitized, reassembled, and works like a charm! (Photos courtesy of Gabriel Thorp.)

Reducing to serving pressure.

Clearing the sanitizer from the lines -- don't waste too much!

Satisfaction.

First Brew Session of 2013!

After a long, busy fall and winter, Bottomless Pint Brewers is holding its first club brew session of 2013 -- Sunday, Feb. 24, in Butch Nielsen's garage. We'll be there around 10 a.m. (after 8:30 mass) to start, so any time after that, stop by to brew or just visit and sample whatever's on hand.

If you have time, please email bottomlesspint@gmail.com to let us know you're coming. If you'd like to brew but don't have the gear, let us know -- we may be able to arrange for equipment, too!

Wicked Foam!

I opened my first two bottles of the Pete's Wicked Ale clone I brewed back in February. I hadn't really chilled the first, and as soon as I cracked it, it instantly foamed over -- I wound up with less than half a pint glass of good brown ale. What little I got was tasty enough that I wanted more, so I I put another in the fridge, thinking perhaps I jostled the first bottle or got a flukey one. Unfortunately, the second one erupted, too.

I'm chilling a couple bottles now -- trying to get them good and cold, recalling that gases dissolved better in cold liquids. It's possible that I didn't sufficiently or evenly mix my priming sugar (I don't rack to a bottling bucket, and stirring through carboy neck is challenging) but I've never had this problem before. Wish me luck!