Norovirus Pale Ale

Adam and I did a brew the other day. We did a clone of Courage Directors Bitter. This is an English Style bitter. We got the recipe out of Clone Brews. I've never had the beer, but it got favorable reviews on beer advocate. It is made by a British Brewing company. I can't really figure out who owns the brewing company because it has been bought and sold several times along with several mergers and other weird managing arrangements. I do know that the name comes from John Courage who started brewing at the Anchor Brewhouse in 1787.

ESB's are a style that don't real get much play in the US. Probably because it is so similar to American pale ales but with more expensive imported ingredients. If you are into pale ales, American or otherwise, you should check out this style. It is similar to an APA but less dry and more British. We did this one partial mash, which is what we will probably do until we transition to all grain brewing once is warms up. We mashed three pounds of Maris Otter malt for this brew. I asked for British two row pale malt, but the guy at the homebrew store subbed in Maris Otter. MO is popular among homebrewers for its low nitrogen. It absorbs water well and is very easy to process. It had a very distinct and pleasant smell to it.

All and all the brew went well. Check the pictures out below (I need to get a real camera, the iphone camera just isn't cutting it). There was one major snafu though. As we waited for the wort to cool to yeast pitching temperature I started to get very nauseous. We ended up finishing the brew fine, but as soon as the lid was on the fermentor I had to run to the bathroom to empty out my digestive tract. As it turned out, I had the norovirus (basically a twelve hour stomach virus that involves sleeping with a bucket next to your bed.) I'm not sure how my illness will effect the beer as far as contamination is concerned. I observed that the beer began furiously fermenting quite quickly and kept up that rapid pace for 36 hours, then stopped dead. I haven't seen a bubble since. I'm not sure what that means. If any homebrewers read this, please let me know if you have any insight or advice.

I'll add one more thing. I was way too sick to clean up after brewing, so I ended up leaving the mess over night, something that I hate to do. It actually was about 48 hours before I was well enough to tackle the clean up. I had the foresight, however, to fill the brew kettle with water. I had dumped in a fair amount of Powdered Brewery Wash. This is a cleaner that I had picked up the last time I was at the homebrew store. Previously I had let it stand in the kettle for a mere 20 minutes. I didn't think it made much of a difference. This time when I went to clean the kettle all the trub and sediment washed right off with almost no scrubbing necessary. I was amazed. I highly recommend this product. I'm definitely soaking my pot overnight in PBW from here on out. That's about it. Enjoy the visuals.

Adam measuring out sugar, yeah it called for sugar

Yeast smack pack, these things are a pain

Doughing in

Heating the sparge water

The sparge

Boiling

What I'm drinking:
Sierra Nevada Southern Hemisphere Harvest Fresh Hop Ale
What I'm listening to:
Foo Fighters- The Colour and The Shape

The Perfect Pint

You may have recently seen the commercials from Samuel Adams about their new innovative pint glass. They have dubbed it the "Perfect Pint". Supposedly the glass was designed specifically for Samuel Adams' flagship beer, Boston Lager, which incidentally I am a fan of. The glass has a distinct look as you can see from the photo. It has a laser etched ring in the bottom that it is supposed to consistently release bubbles adding to the overall aroma and flavour of the beer. The bulb at the top of the glass serves two purposes. First it concentrates the beer away from your hand, so as not to warm the beer unnecessarily. Secondly, it is supposed to collect hop aromas. The thinner glass also is supposed to help maintain temperature. The rim is known as the "turbulator" which is meant to create turbulence as the beer enters the mouth in order to release more flavour.

All that sounds pretty cool, but also kind of like a bunch of bullshit. Needless to say I was sceptical. Over the summer one of my roommates bought me a Perfect Pint, so I decided to do a side by side comparison using the libation the glass was designed for. I got my boys together and we all bought a Sammy along with five other beers each from Pioneer on Columbus (Upper West Side NYC). After we were a couple deep and had a nice buzz I poured one Boston Lager into the Perfect Pint and one into a regular pint glass.

We each took a few swigs from each, cleansing our palette with water and peanuts between each glass. We then recorded our observations. All and all it was real scientific. All three of us were quite surprised at the results of our taste testing. James claimed that Boston Lager out of the Perfect Pint was much "brighter" with slightly more flavour. Adam observed that there was more carbonation, that the "hops/bitterness were brought out slightly," and that it had a more comfortable mouth feel. I believe that the glass really brings out the hop aroma. The flavour was noticeably better out of the perfect pint especially when it came to hops. We were all amazed at the sustained carbonation the glass provided. The bubbles were still going strong long after the conventional pint glass had settled down. The glass definitely lived up to the hype created by the ad campaign, especially considering we all thought it was a bunch of malarkey. We then poured a Sam into a Guinness pint glass which had a slight bulb at the top and thinner glass. It was no contest. The Perfect Pint triumphed. The dudes at Sam Adams know what they are doing. Please enjoy pictures from the night.

James and Adam playing hold em. I won.


Typical drinking pic. Notice that Adam is drinking beer out of a shot glass.


Matt Redleader playing the role of life of the party


We got Matt a sixer of chocolate milk because he doesn't drink.


James is engaged. Meems is one lucky lady.


Beer is not just a drink, but a state of mind.


A German board game we play.

What we drank:


What I'm drinking now:
Stone Pale Ale and Chatoe Rogue First Growth Wet Hop Ale
What I'm listening to:
Beatles white album and Rancid "and out come the wolves"

Beer Spotlight

I'm always looking for something new at the beer store. The other day I spotted Victory's Yakima Twilight Ale. This is one hell of an ale. It combines darker German malts with four varieties of Yakima valley hops. It clocks in at 8.7% abv. Twilight Ale is a seasonal beer available from November through January. It commemorates the late summer hop harvest. If you haven't had this beer get it soon before it's gone.

This is a great beer for hop lovers looking for something to drink in the winter. It is fairly dark, probably somewhere between a porter and a stout, yet it has the hoppyness of an IPA. It is the perfect beer to warm you up on a cold winter evening. There are some really bold flavours going on here but it still manages to be quite well balanced. Seriously, the sweet malt hits you right away but it is beautifully countered by some intense hop bitterness and aroma. very nice. Suprisingly this beer lacks a good head. Probably my only complaint. Despite the lack of bubbles i highly, highly recommend this one. cheers.

What I'm drinking:
Obviously the Victory Yakima Twilight Ale
What I'm listening to:
Bad Religion- Recipe for Hate
What I'll drink later:
One of these, not sure which one yet-