We met the deadline for Chip’s block party and have also imbibed it in a boat. At the time of this writing it is coming up on 8 weeks old and my half of the batch is down to its last couple pints. Although it drank pretty well at under two weeks, I’ll allow as how it looked prettier about a week later, once the finings really took hold and the chill haze resolved. Let’s taste the Boat Bitter before it’s gone: Continue reading
I try to brew with the weather, harnessing the ambient temps in my unfinished basement for primary fermentation. Late summer means low to mid 70s, so it’s Belgian time; it’s also a good time to use up odds and ends to make room for hop harvest and restocks for the fall brewing roster, so last week’s brew session was a bin-cleaner Belgian Dark Strong Ale. Continue reading
On the left, Helles (90% Pils, 6% Bohemian dark, 4% Carafoam – multi-temp step mash); on the right, Czech pils (97.5% Pils, 2.5% Acid malt – triple decoction).
Reader Andrew posted this question earlier in the week:
I was wondering if you could give me some tips on increasing mouthfeel on my lower abv brews. Is there a way to get a nice low abv beer without it being sweet due to high mash temps/ increased specialty malt?
… and I thought it was a substantial enough topic to warrant its own post.
Substantial! Mouthfeel! #BeerJudgeJokes Continue reading
Oktoberfest is coming. Time to practice. Continue reading
the beer engine 