Category Archives: tastings

Munich Madness II

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German beers are certainly my favorite, although a classic German pils is probably my most frequently brewed style within that realm (19 batches since 2016). I haven’t done many märzens, and it seemed like a good seasonal style to explore again. My first version was Monks’ Fortitude Märzen, and it was an exceptional beer. Malt is at the forefront of this style, with Monks’ Fortitude hitting 1.055 with 71% Vienna, 25% Munich II, and 4% Carared malts. For my latest foray into märzens, I took a page from Brewing Classic Styles, via their Munich Madness recipe. Atlhough BCS is pushing 20 years old, it has stood the test of time as a handy reference, especially for styles that have been pretty constant.

My version of Munich Madness has been adjusted slightly from the original, primarily to lower the abv a bit. The original had a starting gravity of 1.059, so I dropped it to 1.054 to hit the lower bound of the BJCP style and also make it a bit more drinkable for my tastes. This was done by maintaining the grain proportions and dropping the amounts slightly, and drops the recipe from around 6% to the lower end of 5%.

Munich Madness II

  • 4.75 lb. pilsner malt (Rahr)
  • 3.5 lb. Munich I malt (Weyermann)
  • 2.75 lb. Vienna malt (Weyermann)
  • 0.75 lb. Caramel Munich 60L malt (Briess)
  • 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB, added to mash
  • 2 oz. Hallertauer Mittelfrueh hop pellets (2.7% alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB, 10 minute boil
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 5 minute boil
  • 3 pkg. Diamond Lager dry yeast (Lallemand)

Target Parameters

  • 1.054 o.g., 1.013 f.g., 5.3% abv, 19 IBU, 10 SRM
  • Full volume mash at 152° for 60 minutes, 10 minute mash-out at 168°
  • Claremont tap water, with Campden tablet, adjusted to hit water profile of 56 ppm Ca, 12 ppm Mg, 87 ppm Na, 89 ppm SO4, 110 ppm Cl, and 20 ppm CO3.

Procedure

  • Starting with 7.5 gallons of tap water, I added a Campden tablet and 6.25 mL of 88% lactic acid, followed by 2 g of gypsum, in order to hit my water profile.
  • I heated the water to 158°, and added the grains, holding at 152° with recirculation for 60 minutes before heating to 168° and holding there for 10 minutes.
  • At the end of the mash, I removed the grains. In total, I collected 6.75 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.045, for 70% mash efficiency.
  • I brought the runnings to a boil, adding hops and finings per the recipe. After 60 minutes, I turned off the heat and chilled to 80° before transferring to the fermenter.
  • I chilled the fermenter overnight down to 50°, before pitching the yeast.
  • I brewed the beer on 13 September 2024 and pitched the yeast on 14 September 2024. Starting gravity was 1.053.
  • I fermented at 52° until 30 September 2024, when I let the beer free rise to 60°, and then pulled to ambient (~74°) on 5 October 2024.
  • I kegged the beer via closed transfer on 12 October 2024. Final gravity was 1.012, for 5.4% abv.
amber beer with ivory head held aloft in dimpled German mug, with background of pink flowers

Tasting

  • Appearance
    • The beer pours with a tall and persistent ivory head; it is a clear and medium amber-orange beer.
  • Aroma
    • A moderate bread crust malt character at the forefront; slight spicy hop aroma behind that.
  • Flavor
    • Very rich, malty character dominates the flavor, with some bready notes. A medium-low, clean bitterness with a hint of spice is behind that. Yeast profile is clean. It is a very easy drinking beer!
  • Mouthfeel
    • Medium body, moderate carbonation, smooth finish that is slightly dry.
  • Would I brew this again?
    • This is a fantastically drinkable fall lager, which is interesting but not so interesting that I can’t have another. The malt character is excellent. I rushed this beer just a touch (relative to a “traditional” märzen) in terms of lagering, and a little more time would help it condition and clear to brilliance. Overall, though, this is a winner! [note added after the post was published – by mid-December, the beer had cleared to brilliant; so, a minimum of two months seems to be optimal for this style, recipe, and yeast]
  • Overall
    • 8/10

Live Oak Canyon Ale 2024

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As is tradition, I crafted a special batch for the Thanksgiving celebration, a multi-day affair with friends and family. This is a time when I like to roll out a special batch, often a bigger beer that can be savored in smaller (or bigger) pours. Last winter, I experimented with a wood-aged imperial red IPA, and it was so good that I decided to roll it forward into this year’s Thanksgiving beer. It was an extra fun brewing session, in that I hosted my homebrew club to assist with the brew day!

Stylistically, this is an imperial red IPA, or something like it. It’s very much a beer from yesteryear, in the thick of the IBU wars–big, bold, and unapologetically in your face. Versus the 2023 version, the 2024 edition is pretty much the same grist but different hops to reflect what I had on-hand. I used Moutere as my bittering hops, in order to finish out the ounce left in my hop stash; the addition of Centennial and Simcoe at the whirlpool and dry hop stages is different from last year (which used HBC 522 and Talus).

Live Oak Canyon Ale

  • 10.5 lb. 2-row malt (Briess)
  • 13 oz. caramel malt 120L (Briess)
  • 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB, added to mash
  • 1 oz. Moutere hop pellets (19.5% alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 0.25 tsp. BrewTanB, 10 minute boil
  • 0.75 lb. corn sugar, 5 minute boil
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 5 minute boil
  • 2 oz. Centennial hop pellets (8.1% alpha), 15 minute whirlpool
  • 1 pkg. WLP001 (White Labs), California Ale dry yeast
  • 1 medium toast American oak Beer Stix carboy stick, added to primary and carried over to keg
  • 2 oz. Simcoe hop pellets (12.4% alpha), dry hop in keg

Target Parameters

  • 1.092 s.g., 1.015 f.g., 10.4% abv, 113 IBU, 17 SRM
  • Infusion mash, held at 152° for 60 minutes and 168° for 10 minutes, with sparge
  • Claremont tap water, with Campden tablet, adjusted with minerals to achieve 58 ppm Ca, 23 ppm Mg, 54 ppm Na, 155 ppm SO4, 60 ppm Cl, 10 ppm CO3, -47 ppm RA

Procedure

  • Starting with 5.6 gallons of water, I added 4 mL of 88% lactic acid to neutralize the carbonates. Then, I added 2 g epsom salts and 2 g gypsum, to achieve my target water profile.
  • I heated the strike water to 161°, added the grains, and hit a 152° mash temperature. I also added 4 mL of 88% lactic acid, to adjust the pH.
  • After a 60 minute mash and recirculation, I raised the mash temperature to 168° for 10 minutes, before pulling the grains.
  • I had neglected to pull the sparge water from the strike water, so I had to sparge with ~0.5 gallons of water, which topped up my volume a bit beyond that which was intended. This meant a longer boil.
  • In total, I collected 5.35 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.055, for 70% mash efficiency.
  • I boiled for 45 minutes before starting the formal timer, which meant a 105 minute boil total.
  • After the initial 45 minutes of boiling, I began adding hops and other finings per the recipe, with corn sugar added at the very end.
  • After the boil, I chilled the beer down to around 78°, before transferring to the fermenter and chilling to 64° in my fermentation chamber and pitching the yeast.
  • I brewed this beer on 12 October 2024; it had a starting gravity of 1.085. Once pitching the yeast, I fermented at 64°.
  • I soaked the oak stick in water overnight, and then put it into the microwave for around 90 seconds to flash steam and sanitize. I spritzed the oak with StarSan, before adding it to the fermenter. The oak was added to the primary fermenter on 15 October 2024.
  • I kegged the beer on 31 October 2024, adding the dry hops in a baggie and also transferring the oak to the keg. I left the beer at ambient for this phase.
  • Final gravity was 1.016, for 9.3% abv.
  • I left the keg at ambient until 6 November 2024, when I removed the dry hops and oak, moved the keg to the conditioning chamber, and let it condition and carbonate at 34°.

Tasting

  • Appearance
    • This is a deep reddish amber beer, very clear, which pours with a persistent and fine ivory head. It’s very pretty!
  • Aroma
    • The nose has a citrus and fresh pine hop aroma at a moderate level, with vanilla-type woodiness and light caramel behind that. The wood comes through more prominently as the beer warms, along with a light alcohol aroma.
  • Flavor
    • Very bitter, with resin and citrus pith qualities, and a hint of fresh orange zest; there is a modest level of woodiness as the beer warms up. A light and sweet caramel flavor is at the back end.
  • Mouthfeel
    • Medium body, moderate carbonation, dry finish.
  • Would I Brew This Again?
    • This is a good one! I think that last year’s version was maybe a touch better; perhaps Simcoe and Centennial don’t quite hit the mark for what the beer needs. The recipe upon which I based this beer used a mix of Simcoe and Mosaic, so I might try those in a future iteration. Either way, this is a highly drinkable beer for as big as it is, even if in the “sipping beer” category.
  • Overall
    • 9/10

Quick IPA

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Sometimes I just need a quick IPA fix. I’m working through my hop stash, and threw together a recipe to finish off a few 2-oz. packages, targeting varieties that had classic citrus, pine, and resin character. The base recipe is just a typical classic American IPA, with a mix of 2-row, crystal, and biscuit malt. This time around, I aimed for a quick mash (30 minutes) and quick boil (30 minutes), to keep that brew day moving along!

golden slightly hazy beer with tall white head held in tulip-style glass

Quick IPA

  • 12.75 lb. 2-row malt (Briess)
  • 0.5 lb. crystal 40 / caramel 100 (Viking)
  • 0.25 lb. biscuit malt (Dingemans)
  • 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB, in mash
  • 1.25 oz. Topaz hop pellets (18.9% alpha), 30 minute boil
  • 0.5 tsp BrewTanB, 10 minute boil
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 5 minute boil
  • 0.75 oz. Topaz hop pellets (18.9% alpha), 5 minute boil
  • 2 pkg. New England East Coast Ale yeast (Lallemand)
  • 2 oz. Anchovy hop pellets (12.0% alpha), dry hop in keg
  • 2 oz. McKenzie hop pellets (11.7% alpha), dry hop in keg

Target Parameters

  • 1.061 s.g., 1.014 f.g., 6.2% abv, 68 IBU, 7 SRM
  • Full volume infusion mash, held at 152° for 30 minutes and 168° for 10 minutes
  • Claremont tap water adjusted to hit 100 ppm Ca, 19 ppm Mg, 87 ppm Na, 224 ppm sulfate, 110 ppm Cl, 20 ppm CaCO3, RA=-66, alkalinity=16

Procedure

  • I collected 7.25 gallons of tap water and added 6 mL of 88% lactic acid in order to neutralize the carbonates. Then, I added 7 g of gypsum and 2 g of epsom salt to hit my target water parameters.
  • I heated the water to 158° before adding the grains, and held the mash at 152° for 30 minutes, with recirculation.
  • At the end of the mash, I raised the temperature to 168° for 10 minutes before pulling the grains.
  • In total, I collected 6.25 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.051, for 63% mash efficiency. I suspect the low efficiency was due to the short mash time.
  • I brought the runnings to a boil, adding hops and finings per the recipe. After a 30 minute boil, I turned off the heat and chilled the wort down to 78°. Then, I transferred the wort to the fermenter and chilled to 66° in the fermentation chamber. This took about 6 hours, after which time I pitched the yeast.
  • I brewed the beer on 5 October 2024; it had a starting gravity of 1.056. I fermented the beer at 66°.
  • On 25 October 2024, I kegged the beer and added the dry hops loose to the keg; I put a hop screen in place on my floating dip tube.

Tasting

  • Appearance
    • Pours with a fluffy off-white head. A gold beer with moderate haze.
  • Aroma
    • I get some vanilla aroma as it warms; fascinating! As it warms caramel comes through more, along with (oddly enough) some berry. Moderately high hop-forward aroma, with pine, resin, and citrus pith qualities.
  • Flavor
    • Very bitter resin and pine hop character. Slight caramel quality at the back end, especially as the beer warms.
  • Mouthfeel
    • Very dry finish with a touch of astringency. Medium body, moderate carbonation.
  • Would I Brew This Again?
    • It’s a decent American IPA, very much in the old school. The berry quality on the aroma is interesting. It scratches my classic IPA itch, but is nothing exceptional. I gave it a 6, but the cool aroma bumps it to 7.
  • Overall
    • 7/10

Levitation Ale Homage

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I like my session beers, and I’m always looking for something creative and interesting. This is the core philosophy of Stone Brewing, so I was excited to see a recipe for their Levitation Ale. I’m not sure I’ve ever sampled it “in the wild,” but a session amber ale sounded pretty neat.

A few versions of Levitation Ale are floating around, and I used a version from Jennifer Talley’s Brewing Session Beers book. My version is a parallel rather than a clone, with some different hops and malts. The original recipe called for crystal 75, so I mixed crystal 60 and crystal 80, tilting towards the former because I was running low on the latter. I also adjusted the hops, so that I had Mt. Hood and Mandarina Bavaria, rather than Simcoe and Crystal. I also dropped the black malt, because it made the beer too dark. Finally, I used WLP001 versus an English ale yeast. With all of those changes, I should definitely deem this an homage (a la Denny Conn) rather than a clone. Either way, it was an interesting beer.

Levitation Ale Homage

  • 8.5 lb. 2-row malt (Briess)
  • 12.5 oz. caramel malt 60L (Briess)
  • 12 oz. caramel malt 120L (Briess)
  • 1.4 oz. caramel malt 80L (Briess)
  • 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB (mash)
  • 0.7 oz. Magnum hop pellets (12.6% alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 0.5 oz. Amarillo hop pelletrs (10.4% alpha), 10 minute boil
  • 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB, 10 minute boil
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 5 minute boil
  • 1 oz. Mandarina Bavaria hop pellets (6.7% alpha), 10 minute whirlpool
  • 1 oz. Mt Hood hop pellets (4.0% alpha), 10 minute whirlpool
  • 1 pkg. American West Coast Ale Yeast (Lallemand BRY-97)
  • 1.5 oz. Amarillo hop pellets (10.4% alpha), dry hop in keg

Target Parameters

  • 1.046 s.g., 1.011 f.g., 4.5% abv, 48 IBU, 15 SRM
  • Full volume infusion mash, held at 154° for 60 minutes and 165° for 10 minutes
  • Claremont tap water adjusted to hit 72 ppm Ca, 12 ppm Mg, 87 ppm Na, 127 ppm SO4, 110 ppm Cl, 156 ppm bicarbonate, RA=69

Procedure

  • I started with 7.75 gallons of water, treated with a Campden tablet and 4 g gypsum, heated to 159° before mash-in. I added the BrewTanB just before adding the grains, and then added 6 mL of 88% lactic acid to adjust the mash pH.
  • I held the mash at 154° for 60 minutes, with recirculation, before raising to 165° for a 10 minute mash-out. Then, I pulled the grains and brought the runnings to a boil.
  • I collected 6.9 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.039, for 72% mash efficiency.
  • I brought the runnings to a boil, adding hops and other finings per the schedule. The boil was 90 minutes long total, so the first hop addition wasn’t until 30 minutes in.
  • After the full 90 minute boil, I turned off the heat and added the whirlpool hops, whirlpooling for 10 minutes at just below boiling. Of course, it chilled down into the 180s relatively quickly.
  • After the whirlpool finished, I removed the hops and continued chilling.
  • I transferred the wort to the fermenter, chilled down to 68°, and pitched the yeast.
  • Starting gravity was 1.050. I brewed the beer on 24 August 2024.
  • I kegged the beer on 4 September 2024, with a final gravity of 1.014 for 4.8% abv. I added the dry hops in a bag, intending to remove them after a few days and add gelatin. Unfortunately, I forgot that they would sink, and so I couldn’t recover them. Ah well.

Tasting

  • Appearance
    • Deep amber beer with moderate haze; persistent but thin ivory head
  • Aroma
    • Light caramel malt notes with a good dose of citrus. a touch of pine
  • Flavor
    • Medium caramel malt flavor, against a strong orange/citrus and moderate pin character from the hops. Delicious! Medium-high bitterness.
  • Mouthfeel
    • Medium-light body, moderate carbonation, slightly dry, somewhat thin finish.
  • Would I Brew This Again?
    • This is a wonderful session amber ale, bursting with hop flavor and aroma. The haze is a minor flaw, but the flavor and aroma totally make up for it. I would love to try this with the original malt and hop combos, to see how it is. I might also add the black patent back in, to darken the beer. The malt body comes across as a little thin, so for a future version I might try Vienna or Maris Otter instead of plain 2-row, and/or mash at a higher temperature. Overall, this is a very drinkable beer!
  • Overall
    • 8/10

Beam Me Up Pale Ale 2024

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I love pale ales, and I love this recipe! I made this last year and decided to give it another try. I upped the hops a touch to get a little more bitterness, and the malt brands are slightly different. Either way, it’s basically the same beer – simple grist, simple hops, simple yeast.

Beam Me Up Pale Ale

  • 12 lb. 2-row pale malt (Briess)
  • 0.5 lb. Viking caramel 100 (crystal 40) malt – (Viking)
  • 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB, in mash
  • 2.0 oz. Cascade whole hops (5.5% estimated alpha acid), 60 minute boil
  • 1.0 oz. Cascade whole hops (5.5% estimated alpha acid), 15 minute boil
  • 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB, 10 minute boil
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 5 minute boil
  • 2.0 oz. Cascade whole hops (5.5% estimated alpha acid), 5 minute boil
  • 2 pkg. BRY-97 (Lallemand)

Target Parameters

  • 1.057 s.g., 1.015 f.g., 5.5% abv, 55 IBU, 6 SRM
  • Full volume mash, 156° for 60 minutes, 168° mash-out for 10 minutes
  • Claremont tap water adjusted with lactic acid

Procedure

  • I mashed in with 7.6 gallons of water at 162°, to hit a target rest of 156°. I added 5.5 mL of 88% lactic acid to adjust the pH.
  • I recirculated for 60 minutes during the mash, raising it to 168° for a 10 minute mash-out.
  • After the mash, I removed the grains. In total, the mash yielded 6.6 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.047, for 67% mash efficiency.
  • Once the runnings were boiling, I added hops and kettle finings per the recipe. After 60 minutes, I turned off the heat and chilled to 82° and transferred the wort to the fermenter. I continued chilling down to 66° before pitching the yeast, holding the fermenter at 66° for the primary fermentation.
  • I brewed the beer on 17 August 2024. Starting gravity was 1.057.
  • I kegged the beer using a closed transfer, on 1 September 2024. Final gravity was 1.013, for 5.8% abv.

Tasting

  • Appearance
    • Deep gold beer, clear, with a fairly persistent white head
  • Aroma
    • Slight caramel malty note, and a moderate citrus aroma. It has a very orange-like quality.
  • Flavor
    • Medium bitterness, with a floral orange quality. Light caramel maltiness. This is a tasty beer!
  • Mouthfeel
    • Medium body, moderate level of carbonation, smooth and slightly dry finish.
  • Would I brew this again?
    • This is a wonderful American pale ale recipe! I see no need to make any changes – it’s just plain tasty. The citrus character is fantastic!
  • Overall
    • 10/10