Batch #200 - "Liberty Mask Amber Saison Ale"

 

Brewed in April 2020, this Saison marks the dark time of the world, as we all learned about the emerging and expanding coronavirus pandemic.  There was much messaging confusion coming from the federal government, about masks, social distancing and other remediation strategies we the public should adopt, and the entire situation devolved into political divisiveness in the USA.  In many other countries around the world, the places where the virus was least damaging, were the places where the citizenry uniformly and universally adopted the correct practices to limit the spread of the virus.  In the USA, remediation strategies became completely politicized, so our infection and death toll was among the highest in the world, something we will have trouble living down.

Brewed with 2-Row and Caramel 200 malts, US Fuggle and Mt. Hood hops, and fermented with Mangrove Jack's French Saison yeast, this ale came home at 6.75% abv, with 23.5# total grain, owing to the finer grind setting on my grain mill.  Sparging takes nearly an hour with this fine a grind, but I am getting the most from the grain.

Cheers!

MT

Batch #199 - "About Time - Black Lives Matter" Wheat Porter

 

I brewed this "Wheat Porter" on March 7, 2020, after waiting three months for a sunny day just warm enough to brew a batch outside.  We had no severe cold during the winter of 2019-20, but just a long, slow, undisturbed stretch of seasonably cold weather.  

I would have to push harder to get more than seven or eight batches in this year, so we'll see what the weather and time allow. 

2-Row Malted Barley, Munich dark malt, Chocolate wheat malt, some Wheat liquid-malt-extract, and this porter finished at 7.25% abv.  Bittered with US Fuggle and Cascade hops, and fermented with Safale K-97 dry ale yeast, this porter is best enjoyed on its own, in small glasses.

Cheers!  MT

Batch #198 ~ Hoppy Red Ale ~ brewed November 2019:

I fine-tuned my grain mill, so that I could balance high a.b.v. and normal speed of sparge, so this batch achieves an a.b.v. of 5.75%, using 22# of grain, a good balance.  I used 17# of two-row barley malt and 5# of Caramel 150 malt in the mash, then Centennial leaf and UK Challenger pellet hops in the brew, and Safale T-58 Belgian Ale yeast in the ferment.  I dry-hopped in the secondary carboys with US Fuggle pellets, for a nice red colored, IPA-level hoppiness.

Cheers!
MT

Batch #197 ~ American Pale Ale ~ brewed September 2019:

While planning a bikepacking tour in the Snake River canyon between Oregon and Idaho, my pals and I began to educate ourselves on the history of the area, especially the flight of Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce tribes who did not want to adopt agriculture, but to continue living their wandering, hunting and gathering culture.  Many Nez Perce saw value in the agricultural practices of the homesteaders, and adopted them on land they acquired homesteader titles to, like this Native American farmer.  Hunter gatherer culture was deemed incompatible with agriculture, so it beacme impossible for the US government to envision a way to allow it to continue.  Like slavery in the south, the Native American genocide and land theft is a stain on the history of this country, founded on the ideals of democracy and freedom - but only for some.

This ale is made with only 23# of grain, but so finely ground, that the sparging process was really, really slow, but the final result was an a.b.v. of 7.5%.  Centennial leaf and US Fuggle pellet hops, with Safale US-05 American Ale yeast to ferment, this beer came home with a very smooth and powerful finish.

Cheers!
MT

Batch #196 ~ Rye IPA ~ brewed August 2019:

Named in honor of JD Salinger's landmark work, this "Catcher in the Rye" Rye IPA was brewed with 22# of two-row malted barley, 5# of Rye malt, 12.5 gallons of Basalt tap water, US Fuggle and Sterling hops pellets, Centennial leaf hops, and fermented with Safale S-33 dry ale yeast.  It was dry-hopped after primary fermentation with Horizon pellet hops.  Final a.b.v. = 5.75%

Cheers!
MT

Batch #195 - Wheat Stout

Aiming for a rich stout, but not quite at Imperial level, I used the full 29# of grain my system could hold, and held back on the amount of water used.  Instead of the usual 9.5-gallons I harvest at final bottling and kegging stage, this batch yielded 8.0-gallons of stout.  I used 2-Row and Chocolate Wheat malts, US Fuggle and UK Challenger pellet hops, as well as Northern Brewer leaf hops, 8 gallons of Basalt sparge water, and landed at 7.5% a.b.v.

Brewed in mid June and bottled in mid July, I think I'm going to take a break from the heavy beers, and get in a light batch of session ale, before summer is gone again.

Cheers!
MT

Batch #194 - Red Abbey Ale

Brewed in late May and bottled in mid June, this Abbey Ale began with 2-Row, Dark Munich and Cara-Aroma malted barleys, US Fuggle pellet and Northern Brewer leaf hops, and fermented with Mangrove Jack's Belgian Abbey dry yeast.  Infusing it all in 12 gallons of Basalt town water in the brewpot, I landed at bottling and kegging time with 5-gallons bottled, and 4-1/2 gallons in two small kegs, of a 6.5% a.b.v. batch.

Cheers!
MT