Black Pepper Saison

Not sure what happened on this brew, but I think it was a problem with DMS because the beer had a strange off taste. It wasn’t too bitter or too sour, instead, it had a sulfur aroma/taste that overpowered most everything else. I’m also going to blame high INITIAL fermentation temps – because I’ve used WLP565 up to 80+ degrees before and made an amazing Saison…but the difference here is that it may have started way too hot. The sample I tasted before bottling seemed very good. Really upset because I was hoping for a nice black pepper/citrus taste here – and it just didn’t come through. Giving this one only 50%, not good at all.

Xmas Eve IPA

Another basic IPA that could’ve been better if I had better temp control during fermentaion. 80% rating, nothing too great

90 Minute Saison

I tried to mimic the first Saison I did which came out perfectly. This time, however, it didn’t capture the same magic. Probably due to the bad temp control during fermentation. It was getting better after a few months of conditioning, but too little too late. Only gets 74% from me

2 pot mash IPA

I split the mash into 2 pots so I could try to see what happened if the grains had a LOT of mash water – with a smaller sparge. I couldn’t tell much of a difference in the end product. Again, it may’ve fermented a bit too hot. Planning to get a controlled temp fridge soon to fix this stuff. Giving this 75% because it was decent, at best.

Barumba Bumba Ale

The title is an inside joke with our dog, Yoga

The beer is probably the best dark ale I ever made. It had no metallic taste or bitter twang, just a great roasty flavor that got amazing after 3 months in the bottle. Even though it was good early, the beer improved by leaps and bounds after some conditioning. Giving this beer a 90% and glad to learn some lessons about dark ales. They come out best when I use NO tap water in the mash, and very very little dark malts, shouldn’t except .25# for my taste.

Mango Wheat Beer

Straight up Belgian

This beer came out good, but not great. I only boiled for 60 mins, and probably should have been 90 mins because of all the pilsner malt. This beer only gets 82% from me because it was only decent, not anything special.