IPA Clone Series: Firestone Walker Union Jack
Union Jack. Probably my favorite beer in the country. It’s over-the-top hoppy, but in a floral and sweet citrus sort of way. It has a big malty flavor, but it isn’t cloying in the slightest. I just love this beer. It unfortunately gets me in trouble because I have a habit of drinking it like it’s going out of style, but that’s another story.
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Sierra Nevada, Russian River, and Pliny the Younger
My Fiance and I had been planning a trip up to Northern California to tour Sierra Nevada, Russian River, and any other breweries we had time for (Lagunitas, Bear Republic, etc). It just so happened that US Airways had some disgustingly cheap flights ($80 round trip from PHX) during the second week Younger was to be released. Seemed sort of like destiny.
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Contrast of Citra and Mosaic (IPA)
Three Floyd’s doesn’t distribute out west, but with all the hype around Zombie Dust, I’ve wanted to try it for some time. I did get to sample their beers at GABF in 2011, but they didn’t have ZD at the booth. The beers I did try were fantastic, so I’m left to assume that the hype around Zombie Dust is merited. As such, I’ve had a ZD Clone on my to-brew list for awhile now. This isn’t a clone post though. There are a few ZD clone recipes floating around, and while I have my own inclinations, I’ve never tried the beer. The popular one on HBT looks damn, damn close, so don’t be surprised that this looks similar.
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Standard Bitter
I’m starting to fall in love with low gravity beers, and I really want to keep one on tap regularly. To accomplish that, I’m going to start brewing a low gravity batch each time I switch yeast strains. The nice benefit to this is, I get enough healthy yeast for 2-3 subsequent ferments. Since, I have a couple batches on deck that are going to use WLP002, we’re brewing a standard bitter today.
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Beer, Yeast, and Pizza?
We cook a lot at home, and while I don’t fancy myself a chef by any stretch of the imagination, I do know my way around a kitchen. So lately I’ve been leveraging my ample supply of brewer’s yeast to ferment other things… like pizza dough!
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Farmhouse Saison
Often my inspiration for a recipe comes from odd places; this recipe started at GABF last year. The good folks at WYeast gave me a certificate for a free smack pack, and while grateful, I completely forgot about it. Around a month ago i was going through a stack of papers, and found the certificate, which was expiring at the end of the year. My regular LHBS only carries White Labs, but we do have another LHBS in town that stocks WYeast. Now White Labs and WYeast have mostly the same strains, but there are a few that are exclusive. One which White Labs simply doesn’t have an equal for is 3711.
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Cloning Enjoy By IPA and Stone’s House Yeast
Alright, it’s time to roll up our sleeves and start talking about Stone’s special release IPAs. First of all, for those that haven’t had Enjoy By IPA, do whatever you must to try this; it is incredible. Go, drive, run, to the nearest store and buy a bottle if it’s available in your city. I’m not a BJCP certified judge, but this beer would get 48-49/50 if I were to sit down with a scoresheet. I think my single improvement would be 5-10 more IBUs, but it’s quite literally a perfect DIPA. No seriously, Perfect.
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IPA Clone Series: Blind Pig IPA
Just like the Ruination 10th Anniversary clone I brewed, this is a beer that I hadn’t planned on cloning. That changed when my fiance and I were back in California, and we happened upon some Pliny and Pig while we were out there. Turns out Kristen loves Blind Pig. I’m not throwing the word ‘love’ around loosely either; no, she seriously loves that beer. So I added it to my to-brew list. Clone Blind Pig we shall!
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Thanks For A Great 2012
I wanted to thank everyone for the readership, support, comments, and feedback over the past year.
From a brewing standpoint, 2012 was very good to me. It wasn’t without it’s missteps, but overall I think I made some pretty good beer. On the competition side, it was definitely a great year. I placed in all but one competition I entered, and had two beers place in BOS rounds.
Personally, I’m proud to have gotten this blog on it’s feet. It’s nothing without those that read it, so again, thank you.
Cheers to the New Year!
The Cold (and Boring) Side of Brewing
We’re always excited about a new recipe we want to try, our next brew day, or a new piece of equipment to brew with. Unfortunately, that same enthusiasm rarely carries over to fermentation, and that’s where the magic happens. Great brewers will tell you: “Good beers are all about fermentation”, “Fermentation, Fermentation, Fermentation”, etc, but despite the importance, it seems to be the least romanticized part of brewing. So I decided to write a post about how I care for my yeast, and what happens after the flame goes off. FYI, a lot of this might be repetitive for some brewers, but I’ve had a number of requests for this topic.
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