Batch #137 - "Jaba~Escher" Pumpkin Ale

This pumpkin ale is the third and last batch using the pumpkins raised in our back yard in 2011.  That 36# Lakota Sioux pumpkin behind Jaba is the actual squash baked, grille roasted and frozen back then, ending up, finally, in this ale.
I'd better plan on raising more pumpkins in 2014, because this ale won't last long.

Cheers!
MT

Batch #136 - Rock Bottom Fresh Hops Pale Ale

I rose early one Sunday morning in late August to harvest these fresh hops.  I filled a bicycle pannier with them before dawn, and was brewing with them by 10:00 am, same day.  I used 4 ounces of hops flowers in the boil for the first 40 minutes, then introduced a second infusion of 2 oz from 30 - 60 minutes of the boil, and a third infusion of 2 oz from 45 - 60 minutes, using exclusively this fresh hops.
The resulting beer is not very bitter at all - in fact, it's downright sweet and quite floral in its after taste, a very interesting and delightful ale, if you're not exclusively fixated on super-hopped, cheek-cavingly bitter IPAs.
Cheers!
MT

Batch #135 ~ Bohemian Red Ale

There is a roasted barley called "Cara Bohemian", which I have combined here with "Cascade" and "Citra" hops, for a delightfully rich ale that reminds me of Autumn, crisp breezes and a hint of snow on the peaks, as silly as that sounds.

This photo was taken a few years ago in early October, on the Hay Park Trail, looking over the red Gambrel Oak and the golden Aspen trees, to the peaks around Independence Pass.

All I really know is that I'm really glad I brewed ten gallons of this Ale, rather than five.  C'mon over and have a taste!

Cheers!
MT

Batch #134 ~ Granary Gold E.S.B.

An invitation from the "Yampa Valley Sustainability Council" to teach a homebrewing class at the old Hayden Granary, led to more than just this Batch of Ale.  There I met twenty-some beginner and wannabe homebrewers, plus the two young gentlemen launching Steamboat Springs' first modern micro brewery, Butcherknife Brewing Company.  There and then may have been the start of a Steamboat Springs Homebrewers Club, based around a brew pub.  Cheers!

We brewed this batch of ESB from malt extract, so we could keep the time withing a few hours, in a barn, next to a big sliding door, open to the railroad tracks.  Primary fermentation began in earnest in the carboy that night, in the car, while I stayed in Steamboat.  Upon driving home the next day, I was surprised not to be pulled over, the scent of fermentation was so strong in the car.  Thankfully, no spillover occurred, and I got this batch safely home to finish becoming beer.

MT

Batch #133 - Coriander Brown Ale

I've always enjoyed the flavor of coriander seed, dried, cracked and boiled in the wort before fermentation begins.  It adds a super-nutty flavor, which gets along nicely in a brown ale.

Here's to the coriander plant, gives us cilantro and coriander, and gives a late summer homebrew a bit of character.

As for the butterfly, this one didn't fly quite right because somewhere along the way she lost a bit of wing.  I think this handicap might have been in play when I took her picture, climbing from one lily to the next, rather than taking to her wings.

Just another welcome guest in our garden this Summer.

MT

Batch #132 ~ Lavender Rye Ale

Okay okay, I'm done for now with the Lavender experiment.  This final batch is still aging in the bottles, but an early test indicates that this recipe may be well settled.  I am now studying the needs and desires of the lavender crop in our front yard, because there's nothing like "growing your own".

Speaking of growing our own, the rye grains used in this batch of ale came from organic grain trials at the high school garden and greenhouse we established in Carbondale, CO.  I planted a few hands full of the rye seed we harvested there in 2012, then harvested a small bucket full, some of which ended up feeding the yeasties that made this ale for me.

Grow on, grow on.

Batch #131 ~ "Lavender Overdrive" Pale Ale

It was just a five-gallon batch of homebrew, made with liquid malt extract, some hops, and a few too many Lavender flowers.  In my experiment with this herb as a bittering agent alongside hops, this batch represents "too far" in the lavender department.

However, rather than rush headlong to judgement, I have put a "best after" date around Thanksgiving time, to encourage the saving of these bottles for a more aged and experienced flavor.

We'll see . . .

Batch #130 - Belgian Saison Ale

There are particular combinations of malted grains, hops and yeast, when brewed together, will create a flavor that reminds me of a particular style of beer.  One of my favorite styles is a Belgian recipe called "Saison Ale" or sometimes called a "Farmhouse Ale", and I have brewed a number of variations on this theme.  Trying to imitate a treasured Belgian beer style can be daunting, because Belgian brewers are among the best in the world, and their brews are difficult acts to follow.
Our young daughter March, studying medicine at Trinity College in Dublin Ireland, showed me one of her favorite websites, actually a "facebook page" titled "Humans of New York", where she delights in an occasional character photographed and displayed there.
At first, I thought that March's delight with the photo of "Edge E. Sledgehammer", underground poet photographed in Grand Central Station, was worthy of a limited-edition homebrew label.  Just after I made the red label below in her honor, March noted another photo of a delightful lady, dressed for Spring, who won the day, and the above label has been printed and the bottles labeled.
In spite of all this labeling controversy, the beer hasn't changed a bit.  It's still a Saison Pale Ale, inspired by the brewing magicians of Belgium.  Cheers!

2012 Champagne Cider

Our local Heritage Apple Trees were all in a low production cycle during 2012, so I joined members of the R.F. HAMs Homebrewers Club in a bulk order of cider from "Big B's Cider Mill" in Hotchkiss Colorado, to brew this batch of Champagne Cider.  In spite of the label statement that it will be best opened after 15.April, I tried a bottle recently, and found it to be well carbonated and delightful.  Thanks Big B!  Nice job raising those organic apples!

Cheers!

Batch #129: Grille-roasted Pumpkin Ale

Here we go again, another unspiced Pumpkin Amber Ale, once again using grille-roasted pumpkin from my 2011 backyard garden.  180 pounds of  "Lakota Sioux" and "Cinderella" variety pumpkins have provided plenty of ingredients in the freezer for beer, pie and soup, until Harvest 2013.  The pumpkin gracing this ale label was grown by Patty Phelan in Carbondale, from seeds I harvested from those two big guys in my 2011 collection, so now I have seed from 2012, to plant in 2013.  But I digress - I saved a few bottles from the last two pumpkin ales before this one, and will have a little taste-test to compare them.

Post a comment if you want to be notified of the date for this, and I'll let you know!