batch #101: Holy Habanero, THEY'RE BACK!!

Yes, the rollercoaster monks are back, this time cruising in to visit Pandora, the magical planet in the recent blockbuster movie, "AVATAR". I wonder where they'll be heading next?

Cheers!

40 bottles

BATCH #100! - Yak Porter

Here's to the end of a long winter drought in my homebrewing practice. This Porter has a rich nutty flavor, and a significant kick, at 8.3% abv. Have yourself a nice, cool water chaser! I borrowed this Yak porter photo from JKirby's Travelpod.com blog. This label is in honor of a local Yak herd at Sustainable Settings Ranch in Carbondale, CO.

38 bottles

Champagne Cider Season 2009

Cider pressed from three different trees this Autumn:

Grange Cider Apple is from Billy's front orchard, small yellow-red cider apple on the highway fence line, picked in the peak of ripeness in October;

Zordel Cider Apple is from Mary Lou Zordel's yellow delicious apple, picked and pressed in the peak of its ripeness in October;

ICE Cider was picked and pressed in late November, from Joan Remsbecher's cider apple tree in the rear yard of Butch's Seafood Bar, when the apples had frozen hard and thawed several times.  This was the sweetest cider of the season, and I hope it will be among the best champagne ciders I've ever bottled.

Cheers!

Pumpkin Ale! Happy Thanksgiving! - Batch #99

Big Kahuna Apple Ale - Batch #98

My good friend's son wanted to learn how to brew beer, so he helped me with the brewing of this Ale. As we were completing the mash and getting ready to begin the boil, I said to Tait, "Do you think we should put in some cider?"

I had been pressing cider from "Mo", my backyard apple tree, and I was thinking of saving the rest of the grain mash to regenerate a couple of yeasts I had propagated from earlier batches of Ale. The cider replacing some of the grain mash, I thought, would increase the complex sugars in the beer, resulting in a higher level of alcohol, and impart a unique background flavor.

"I don't know, I suppose so," was Tait's response, as I poured a gallon of freshly pressed apple cider into the boil. I admit to some apprehension since then, wondering if I might have made a mistake. Well, after a few weeks in the bottles, I am pleased to report that this Ale is delicious, and quite a "high-test" brew.

The "Big Kahuna" label celebrates Mo's response to my pruning and fruit-thinning regimen, resulting in some big, beautiful apples. Finishing hops are local, still growing where a prohibition-era farmer planted them 70-some years ago.

Enjoy!

Scottish Ale and Return of MUDMAN Saison - Batch #97

The MUDMAN is back, for my Saison Farmhouse Ale donation to the Homebrewers Ball Oct. 17. My Scottish Ale yeast is back to work here, brewing a classic 90-Shilling Ale in honor of one of my heroes and founder of the modern environmental movement, Scotsman John Muir.

Habanero and Heather Ales - Batch #96

Here are a pair of unlikely cousins, born from the same mash, but fermented with different yeasts and bottled with different adjunct ingredients. The Heather Ale was bottled with essence of heather flowers, an old Celtic recipe I imitated from Fraoch Heather Ale, an historic Scottish Ale. The Habanero Ale is a popular recipe I developed years ago, with just a taste of the famous Habanero Pepper, the hottest little pepper in the world. The monks on the label are from a greeting card I found. That's the Helix Nebula behind them. Where you goin', guys?