Batch #153 ~ Holiday Pale Ale

This is my 9th and final batch of ale for 2015.  Brewed outdoors on the 25th of November, this pale ale was infused in the mash stage with a single ounce of crushed juniper berries, just to see how the flavor would emerge as a trial run, before I commit to an infusion on another batch of ale, of double or triple that amount of juniper.  Juniper berries are the main spice in Gin, and I'm curious to see if they will be a welcome addition to a glass of ale.  First taste of the kegged ale is very promising.

We're just now heading into the "Winter Blossom" season, during which I prune our fruit trees and bring the fruit-bud covered branches indoors, to "force blossoms" in a vase of water.  This photo is of cherry blossoms, taken last March, about two months before the tree itself bloomed.

Cheers, and Happy Holidays to All!
MT

Batch #152 ~ Baltic Porter

This porter is my first attempt at a carefully timed Winter brewing session on the front porch of our home, where the sun, for about 4 hours, raises the temperature of air in the open porch to around 12 - 15° above the ambient daytime temp.  This means that when we have a sunny day in Winter, when the ambient outdoor temp is anywhere near 50°, I can brew beer on the front porch.  I tried it with this batch on November 13, and with the next batch #153, on November 25, both meeting with success.  This Porter came out tasting very fine, with an alcohol level of  4.5%.

We're all pretty happy with it, must say.

Cheers!

MT

Batch #151 ~ Belgian Saison Farmhouse Ale

I hope this ale is not my final batch for the year, but I brew outdoors with a large propane burner, and don't have an exhaust hood large enough to do it indoors.  Perhaps I'll relocate my brewing gear to the greenhouses at CRMPI, where there are always days in the 50's and 60's, and plenty of plants to soak up the CO2, but carrying full carboys on that gnarly road, home to ferment, keg and bottle, might be too adventurous for me.  We'll see.
Now that I am rigged for, and finally somewhat skilled in the art of kegging homebrew, it has become apparent that I cannot afford to take the Winter off from brewing, and deplete my stock of bottles or buy from the beer store.  We don't want to run out of homebrew, or there will be mutiny!

Cheers,

MT

Batch #150 ~ Pumpkin Ale

Contrary to the label photo, which I shot at the highway rest stop on Vail Pass last Winter, this Pumpkin Ale is made without spices of any kind, just grille roasted pumpkin boiled with barley malt and hops.
As for the crow, it looks abundantly fed, at 11,000 feet elevation in the middle of Winter.

Cheers!
MT

Batch #149 ~ Diesel Stout

My first ever batch of stout dates back to 1999, and I named it "Diesel Stout", after "The Diesel Lounge", a bar near Yale University, created by my younger brother Daniel's friend Brian Gilhuly, and still going strong today.  Brian is (was) a welder and metal sculptor, and he built much of the bar furnishings himself.  I am told by Daniel that Brian still has a bottle of my diesel stout on the back bar, which would make it the oldest unopened bottle of my homebrew, if the cap's still on.
Came across this photo on the internet, and couldn't find the name of the photographer.  If that is you, email me a high resolution file of the photo and your ups address, and I'll send you a few bottles of the 48 I filled and labeled (limited edition liquid poetry).  Deadline is December 31, 2015, when the last of these bottles will have been freely shared with my friends and family.

Here's to you, Diesel Lounge!

MT

Batch #148 ~ Imperial IPA

I wanted to see how high an alcohol content I could reach with my ten-gallon brewing system, and this here's the limit for 2015, an Imperial India Pale Ale at 9.0% a.b.v., brewed with Cascade and Citra whole leaf hops, and dry-hopped with a small amount of Willamette leaf hops.  I need to serve this one in 4-ounce beer glasses.
I served a short keg of this ale at Sustainable Settings Harvest Party in September 2015.  The food was incredible, and also serving their delicious fermented (and distilled) beverages were Aspen Brewing Co., Jack Rabbit Hill Winery and Peak Spirits from Hotchkiss.
The tatter-winged honeybee in the photo had been dining on dandelion nectar at my feet during a pruning workshop there last Spring, so I gave her this label.

Cheers!

MT

Batch #147 ~ Summer Altbier

Once again attempting to see how rich an ale I can make, I used 25# of grain and 3.3# of LME (liquid malt extract, or barley malt syrup), to make this 10-gallon batch, with a Munich malt and Citra hops recipe to come close to a German Altbier.  Initial starting gravity came to 1.075, which indicated a pretty strong ale, confirmed by a result of 7.5% abv.  One of the small kegs I filled with this Altbier was a wedding present for the celebration of some good friends, and it was appreciated by the wedding attendees, right down to the last drop.  This macro photo is of a tiny "Sweat Bee", named for its attraction to human sweat, who is also a great fan of my onion crop.  Some folks call this tiny insect (about 1/4" long) a "Metallic Bee", because of its shimmering color.  There are other colors of this general species, including a deep green color, but the few of those that visited my garden were too elusive to get any photos.
Cheers!
MT

Batch #146 ~ Lavender Rye Ale

This batch of Lavender Rye was easy to brew, because I've fine-tuned the recipe in three prior batches in 2012 & 2013, only one of which I considered less than desirable, owing to an over-use of Lavender flowers.  I bottled two cases of it for posterity, as well as two small kegs, one of which we had on tap when my cousins from England came to visit.  It was a big hit with them, since it was a smooth ale, with a 6.0% abv content, just right for sipping under the shade of the Apricot tree, while we caught up.
Cheers!
MT

Batch #145 ~ E.S.B.

Starting off my 2015 brewing season in March, I maxed out the grain bill with 28# again, only this time I made certain to achieve a full 10-gallon batch of ale.  I used  one ounce of Summit hops, two ounces of Liberty hops, and 12 ounces of fresh frozen hops from one of my wild harvests last Autumn, along the bike path enroute to Carbondale.  This ale came out  to 6.5% a.b.v., with a rich hops flavor, but not as bitter as an IPA might be.  This batch began my expansion into kegging, with the acquisition of several 2.5-gallon kegs, of which two stack neatly inside the new refrigerator I bought and installed under the stairs.  This makes for a ready supply of perfectly carbonated beer, especially for parties and special events, like a weekend camping trip with some hunting pals, who gave me some delicious Elk steaks in gratitude for sharing this ESB.
I captured this honeybee photo, up close and personal, with an Olloclip macro lens attached to my iPhone 4S.  She was so excited to taste the first Apricot nectar of the season, she paid my close lens no mind at all.
Cheers!
MT

Batch #144 ~ BIG DOG Strong Ale

Having learned that the maximum amount of grain I can fit into my brewing system, using 10-gallon food grade Rubbermaid Coolers, is 28 pounds of grain, I sought to brew a stronger beer. Reducing the water a bit, so that I end up with around 8 gallons of beer instead of 10, brings us to a relatively high 7.75% alcohol for this Strong Ale. My wife Jan found a T-shirt with this image of a Black Lab appearing to attempt to claim a fallen tree, as if its owner could throw it for a game of fetch. Seemed like the perfect image for this beer. Cheers! MT