Ginger wheat beer in the making

Inspired by Caldera’s ginger ale at the 2008 Oregon Brewers Festival, I thought that a wheat beer brewed with ginger would be a swell idea. I emailed Caldera’s brewer about their recipe, and he replied that they added ginger chips at flame off or hopback. Since I use neither a hopback or propane burners, I consulted a couple of other recipes and decided that 5oz of ginger in the final 20 minutes of boil should suffice.

The wort is chilling in the kitchen sink at this moment, and I’m hoping that I added enough ginger. The recipe was simple enough that if I need to increase the ginger for next time it’s no big deal – it’s only 6.6lbs of bulk light/wheat malt, 3/4oz of hops, a vial of liquid yeast, plus however much ginger I want to use. The ingredients cost roughly $30, so that’s a $3.60 6-pack. Nice!

I based it on “Lovebite Weisbier” in the Joy of Homebrewing. I’ll pitch the hefeweizen yeast before I go to bed, and we’ll see what the fermentation fairy brings in the morning!

Hopworks Inaugurator (Cultivator) Doppelbock

Who doesn’t love a beer released on the eve of Obama’s inauguration? How could it fail? What better way to celebrate than with a new beer offering from Hopworks? Of course, I didn’t have an opportunity to attend the release part on January 20th, but I did stop by for a pint a couple of days later.

Inaugurator is dark like a brown ale in the glass, mostly opaque but allowing just enough light to shine through that it’s not pitch black like a stout. Imagine a medium-roast coffee in a glass, if you will. The initial head subsides pretty quickly, leaving no foam or lacing on the glass.

As you might expect there’s lots of malt in this beer, with a hint of dry chocolate on the back of the palate, along with a slight tang in the finish. The tang is almost reminiscent of black cherries. Luckily for me, there’s just enough hops to cut the sweetness, but not so much that it ruins the malty flavor. This beer is smooth, rich and not too heavy. Some might consider it a sweet beer, and it’s certainly sneakily boozy, but it would be surprisingly easy to drink all night.

As an inaugural doppelbock, I’d say it’s dark, smooth, and a little surprising just like our new president.

Bard’s Tale Sorghum Beer: Revisited

I was at Fred Meyer the other day doing some grocery shopping when I noticed they had Bard’s Sorghum Beer on the shelves. What really caught my eye was the new design of the packaging – a complete departure from the previous pseudo-Celtic affair. A few months ago, during my gluten-free month, I had reviewed Bard’s Tale Dragon’s Gold beer and found it lacking. Not only was it spendy, but it was a shadow of what real beer is. But now that Bard’s Tale had re-branded as “Bard’s”, dropped the dragons and uncial script, and developed a whole new look, I figured it was only fair to give the beer another chance.

Poured into a pint glass, the beer has a golden honey color and is crystal clear. There’s little head retention, and some lacy foam on the glass as the head recedes. The main thing I noticed is that it’s  sweet on first taste, medium bodied, carbonated like a macrobrew – a medium bubble that’s like soda from a fountain rather than a can. It has a little metallic taste, slightly tangy from the sorghum, but not bitter. There’s a spicy, honey-like finish with a little alcohol flavor. In this case, the tang of sorghum seems to cut the sweetness of the beer, making it pretty drinkable.

I was really surpised to find that I enjoyed Bard’s re-branded beer. While it is still expensive, it’s less so than last spring, and they seem to have improved the recipe. They’re no longer calling it a lager, focusing instead on being the “original sorghum malt beer” which means all bets are off for style. It’s basically a sweet amber ale, as before, but not as rough around the edges.

Besides, I like the new packaging design. Good work, Bard’s!

Busy brewing day: Cider and Irish Stout

The Wonderful World of Apples
I was in luck this morning – the Braeburn cider people were there! Pre-fermentation, the Braeburn cider is crisp and tart and delicious to drink. This will be my first single-variety cider, as all previous batches were from a hodge podge of apple varieties. It’ll be interesting to see what the difference is between this cider and the one I’ve got conditioning in bottles right now. I’ve also made this one sulfite-free, and used local honey and cider yeast. I expect that it’ll be semi-dry and very appley.

And since I’m making cider, that means I have to drink some of last fall’s cider. This was made with previously frozen gallons of unpasteurized local apple cider, campden tablets, and cider yeast. Initially, it was very sweet. Then it became unbelievably carbonated and gushed out of the bottle. Now that it’s a year old, the carbonation has calmed down and the sweetness has reduced. It’s more of a semi-dry cider now.

Irish Stout with a local twist
Each year, I make a batch of Irish Stout for my friend’s St. Patrick’s Day party, which means I barely get any of the stout myself because all the party people drink it up. So I got wise and I’m making myself an early batch. I’m using the Toad Spit Stout recipe like last time, but I’m using Chinook and Willammette hops. I’ve also replaced the crystal malt with a rye crystal malt, and added organic roasted barley.

The best part is that I think I just unearthed a bottle of last year’s stout, so I’ll be able to compare the differences!

Moylan’s Hefeweizen

It’s a rare clear, dry, sunny day in November here in Portland, which means I had to go out for lunch to sit in the sun. With the rumor that Green Dragon is going to be bought out by Rogue Brewing, and considering that Green Dragon is 4 blocks from my office and has sunny outdoor seating, I had to head there for lunch. Which of course means beer!

Their rotating tap list can be overwhelming, but a gorgeous warm day like this calls for something crisp and light so I chose Moylan’s Hefeweizen. For a hefe, this is a very clear and golden ale. No wheaty haze at all. I was also surprised on my first taste at how sweet – but not sugary – this beer is. It’s the sweet of hay drying in the summer sun, not the sweet of caramel or candy. It’s medium-bodied and well matched to a sunny but not hot day.

While a delicious beer, I’m not sure it qualifies as a hefeweizen. The lack of haze or citrus flavor left it tasting more like a cross between a cream ale and a kolsch. Not that I’m complaining! It just wasn’t a hefeweizen at all.

Now I wish I could go back for another and sit in the sun some more, but work calls…