Batch #139 ~ Saison Pale Ale

Our dear ones Phoebe and Damien were married in Clermont-Ferrand, France, in the end of August, and they asked me to help them with the ceremony, a great honor.  It was truly wonderful to enjoy the French culture and cuisine, especially from the kitchen of Damien's Grandmother, Janine Mandard, a fine chef.

The French are unparalleled in the cuisinal arts of cheese and wine, and we did manage to find a few nice artisanal ales from the Auvergne volcano region.  I decided to dedicate my Summer Saison Ale to these French pioneers of the grain:

"poeme liquide" pour la France!

avec l'amour de michael

tre bon!
MT

Batch #138 ~ Lavender Amber Ale

Our niece Meghan Leon married her sweetheart Justin Monzon this Summer, and they asked me to brew a special beer for their wedding, an honor I could not decline.  This was my first batch of ale since last Autumn, so my cellar became somewhat empty, and my homebrewer's club somewhat deprived, until I managed to pick up speed with Summer brews.

The beer was a hit at the wedding, owing much, I'm sure, to the fact that it was the ONLY beer at the wedding.

Here's to you, Meghan and Justin!
Love,
MT

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