AG#13 - TMS

I am slowly working may way through the milk stout, and getting to like it. A touch more alcohol would have made this really tasty, but it is a good beer for a couple of pints supped slowly through the evening.

And so on to my next venture. I was impressed with the Bluebird Clone, even more so when I walked into the Black Bull Inn in Coniston two weeks ago. Another year of fieldwork, another day on the hills, and a pint of Bluebird was in order. And I have to say, my attempt was not half bad at all. It perhaps needed a little more body, from a bit more booze, but the hopping was good, and the late hop technique of half my IBUs in the last 5 minutes of the boil gave great aroma.

That being so, I decided to recreate the beer, but this time I upped the malt bill. I was hoping for an OG of 1.056, but for a reason I need to look into, I only seemed to hit 1.052, and that was with a little more malt than I needed. Against this poorer extraction, I set a boil of East Kent Goldings, and finished the boil with 5 minutes of the rest of my Pacifica hops, which I had bought for the dark saison I brewed at the back end of 2012. Hoping for plenty of orangey hints from this hop, and, I have to say, I much prefer these Kiwi hops to their more abrasive US New World cousins.

The starter of SafAle 04 made sure that fermentation was well underway, after 7 hours of pitching.....it also meant I saved half the pack of yeast for another brew soon! My aim is for a solid 5% paleish ale, with a nice malty backbone, balanced out by English bitterness and some New World marmalade aromas and palate.

I wish!

 

 

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Milky Milky! It's a beer...it's a bread!

The milk stout has had plenty of time to sit and mature in the barrel now. So I gave it a taste today. There is still a bit of carbonation, but I think that I under primed it (I am cautious with this after a few issues) and much of the yeast I had left in the be was probably on its last legs after a three and a half week ferment.

It pours a dark, black/brown, with a thinnish tan head. On the nose, there is a bit of hop, but this is mainly roasted grains, almost burned toast. Tasting it, I am first struck by its creaminess, perhaps from the body the lactose gives it, but I know that the flaked grains often give a good texture to the beer. It is soft and bitter, as Mackeson's is, with the majority of balance coming from the roasted grains, and this is mainly dark chocolate and coffee, rather than the liquorice you get in some stouts. The roasted grain taste does linger, but does not kill the palate, which I have had in previous darks. I think the sweetness helps here.

 

But, not really a session beer; there's just a bit too much going on. So, what to do with 9 litres of the stuff? Well, I think this beer suits the unseasonably cold weather at the moment, and, with the addition of some crisps, nuts, or scratchings, this would be a great in-front-of-the-TV beer. But even I can't think this cold snap will go on for ever. Therefore, I needed another use for this.

I do, occasionally, get taken with baking bread. I love it, but I'm just not that good at it. Inspired by Paul Hollywood's new series on bread, I tried his basic bloomer, which came out amazingly well. So, this morning, I started his rye, ale, and oat loaf. The recipe just calls for ale, and uses black treacle. But I have used my stout in this, and, boy, it honks of dark beer....hope this isn't overkill. It looks very dark, and smells amazing. We have a bit of cheddar and a pot of Stilton still to finish from Christmas....maybe a few salad things, and some chutney, a cheese ploughman's tea looks on the cards!

 

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An odd bottle swap

In my other job - the dull one I have to do to pay the bills - I take a module whose concept I shamelessly nicked off a couple of academics in the States and Canada.

Called 'the Lifestyle Project', the unit asks students to plot out a course of 10 weeks of progressively more austere measures in their personal lives to eliminate or reduce aspects of their environmental footprint. Usually, people focus on travel, local food, water usage and the like.

However, this year, one student has focussed on trying to reduce his beer footprint, by brewing his own. And just to show that it works, we did a bottle swap (so it does not look like a gift in lieu of a good grade, right David!). And here's his attempt:

His gone kit rather than AG. I swapped for some Wailing Bike, and he's still around, so that's good.

The beer is well carbonated, and has poured very clear - probably less need to fine a kit beer. However, this just shows the real benefits of using real ingredients over extract. I expected it to be hoppy, given the colour, but their isn't the aroma you get from that big hit of late copper hops. Malt wise, this is pretty clean, almost lager like, and again, I think a few hops in the boil would have bittered this up (it is a little sweet in the balance for me). I also think that a mash might have dragged more flavour out of the malt. But, probably, the clincher would have been the yeast. Something giving a few more fruit characteristics would have made this a really decent first attempt.

However, Dave, a really good first go at zymurgy. I will be interested to see how you try and an environmental footprint out of this. Yes transportation costs may have gone down, but don't forget the extra processing that has gone in getting this kit up together.

Discuss.

Stuck....Again!!

Well the Milk Stout fermented rather well.....sorry, actually that is a lie. It fermented fine, until it stuck. So stuck, that the gravity has not dropped one iota since a week after pitching. I have now hit the fortnight, and I am really annoyed.

I followed someone else's recipe this time, not some fanciful dreaming of my own, so why should THEY get it wrong too? It just seems that me and roasted grains just don't get on. Is it the BIAB technique? Does that have some impact on breaking those dark, long chain sugars down? Not really sure, may have to ask!!

Well, completely at a loss, I googled some stuff on stuck ferments, and my last gasp solution is to introduce alpha amylase into the FV. Now, there should be some of this around already, but the idea is that this enzyme will get to work on those stubborn dextrins, and make the brew fermentable again. So, here goes, dark lovers. A teaspoon in, a bit of agitation.....who knows where this will lead! It may just be a bit dry, taste like rocket fuel, or stay as cloyingly sweet as it is.

2 gallons of Mackeson's clone, anyone?

Left Hand, Right Hand (AG#12) and Wailing Bike testing

Been a little while since I wrote, but only two brewing type things have happened during the hiatus.

Firstly, I have cracked open a couple of bottles of the Wailing Bike. Christ, this stuff is strong. Really interesting that although I used a big late hop of Motueka there is not a great hop nose here. Comparing this with the rather tasty Bluebird Clone (AG#10) I was really surprised. The hops are definitely aromatic, possibly more so than the Challenger I used in the Bluebird. So why the difference?

I am sure this is all about the yeast. The Belgian Trappist yeast I used (WLP500) is terrific, but it definitely does a certain job. That job is to make the whole beer taste and smell like a good Belgian should - fruity, estery, organic chemistry lab like!! I think that killed off any of the hop aroma I might have got. However, all is not lost, as the big hop hit on the palate is still ere, and it balances a strong ale out really well. Perhaps too well; it makes the whole thing rather drinkable, and counteracts the caramel sweetness from the crystal really well. So, whilst this beer is strong and sweet, the bite makes it dangerously suppable.

Took some of this to a party, and it went down rather well, with someone asking what brewery it came from!! 

Secondly, after drinking some great Milk Stout from Mikkeller at the Craft Beer Co at Christmas, I realised that it had been some time since I brewed a dark beer. I have had a couple of issues with dark beers in the past; I've made them too dark. I have used too many dark grains, which makes for a less fermentable pint, so the thing has always come out a little thin and too bitter/roasty - even for me!

This time, I consulted the web for guidance. I eventually found a clone of the infamous Left Hand Milk Stout that friends rave about. The reviews had been good. The unscaled, non BIAB, recipe is here. It is relatively involved, and, at such low volumes, I must have annoyed the folk at Hop and Grape getting them to crush 200g of stuff a few times. There was no need for CRS this time; the dark malts are good foils for a too low pH, and did change my water (more by luck than judgement having visited Waitrose rather than Sainsbury's that weekend! Wairose get their water from Church Stretton, under a very different geology). And, just to finish things off, there is a hefty dose of lactose!

This is now actively fermenting (and I mean bubbling like a mad 'un, not quite writhing like the Trappist yeast did), after adding a sachet of Saf-Ale US 05 yeast. I had used 04 in another beer, and was impressed, so I will be interested to see what happens here - it is an American recipe after all. However, after my lesson from the last brew, this yeast is supposed to be rather neutral in flavour profile, which should give the complex malts and bitering hops a chance to vie for supremacy. The unferemented wort tasted great - almost drinking chocolate with hops - so roll on next Sunday and barrelling!

Christmas Walk Around Round Up

So, here I am. Fresh as a daisy, the day after. A few new places under my belt, and definitely a few more to add to my emergency 'Lost in London and Thirsty' map.

After a bit of a nightmare due to Tube engineering work that were 'planned' but not flagged on the National Rail site, Ian and Julie and I ended up having to take Shanks' Pony to the first stop, the Bavarian Beerhouse in Old Street.

This is a large underground kind of place, and I mean that in terms of its location rather than reputation...I just stopped myself using the term 'bunker' in the context of a recreated Munich beer cellar, that's all. When it gets full, I suspect it is gets warm and noisy. However, we were the first customers in and treated to Erdinger Dunkel and Hefe Weisse to start. I suppose this kind of stuff is all a bit old hat now, but I do like Erdinger, it has just the right balance of banana/clove/bitterness for me. The Dunkel is, perhaps, less refreshing, but the dark malt does add a bit of toastiness that I really like. Anyway, this helped us wash down lunch of schnitzel and an array of sausages, sauerkraut and fries. Great drinking food!

A short step north from here, passing by some very attractive Victorian terraces into an empty space probably forever changed by either 1970's town planners or the Luftwaffe (with the same result one thinks), you arrive at proper old school corner boozer. It sticks out a mile (ma'am), but you also wonder how it does business. Stepping inside, you realise. Voted for again and again by their local CAMRA group, The Wenlock Arms really takes you back. A horseshoe bar dominates, seats against the outer wall with tables and stools. All it really needs is sawdust and a couple of spittoons  and this place is much more at home in 1912 than 2012. The beer was also good, Dark Star APA (has this got a tad weaker? The pump said 4.7%, but I am sure I drank it at 5%) and Rebellion Mild, but there was a selection of about 6 beers. The pub had a few locals and then visitors in, suggesting that people know about this place, which is all to the good. God forbid that we should lose this kind of place! However, if BITE is to be believed it lives in constant threat of 'redevelopment'. Oh, and a final point, the music playing was not obtrusive and great - Fleet Foxes (why do I always think of summer when I hear stuff from their first album , Stones, Elbow, Led Zep (Bron-y-Aur Stomp no less)

From there, we had a 15 minute walk up City Road to Angel - again not a part of the City I am that familiar with. We hit the Old Red Lion Theatre. This was an interesting place, full of period features, but the beer selection was on the popular side (Tribute, Wherry, and TT Landlord). Having said that the Landlord was in fine form; I've had worse pints in so called 'real ale' pubs in Southampton. It was crisp, hoppy with a little hint of sweetness that makes it so drinkable when its good. So no complaints there. The pub was busy, OK there was football on the telly, and then....it emptied. It emptied because, in the corner of the bar, is a box office where you buy tickets to the theatre that sits above it (I assume). An interesting first for me, and Julie has threatened to visit again next year for their Christmas show. I am just hoping that the punters hadn't been told this was West End show!

Ever onwards, we started our descent into the City. A few rights and lefts found us in northern Clerkenwell (I suppose) at the Pakenham Arms. Again, for mid afternoon on a Saturday between Christmas and NYE, the pub was quiet, with  dozen or so 'locals' at the bar - but no less welcoming for this! Julie tried the Sharps wheat beer, which was an interesting beer (none of the wheat beer of earlier in the day, this is a clean, slightly sweetish pale beer with a bit of bubblegum rather than the more interesting banana/clove thing). Ian and I opted for a pint of Nemophilia from the Botanist Brewery, based along the Thames in Kew. This was lovely, dark, roasty but not too bitter, and I am interested to try some of their other beers if they are of this quality. This pub was accompanied by some beer tapas (wasabi peas and crisps!), and another non-obtrusive but fantastic music selection (Stones, The Who, Pink Floyd....have these pubs raided my music collection?). Again, not an area I tend to visit too often, but the pub was great and would definitely go back!

There was a real sense of heading home, as we we took a short walk towards Lamb's Conduit Street, and went into The Lamb. We had been here last year, and it seemed a good place to stop before pressing on towards our final stop. Young's Winter Warmer was our tipple here - nice, but I always think it could do with being a but stronger and fruitier for a real winter ale. The pub was much busier this year than last and MUCH warmer - look, even Julie felt warm, so it must have been hot.

And then, finally, a dash through the rain towards Clerkenwell Road, and Leather Lane's Craft Beer Co. This has been recommended to me so many times, I knew I had to visit this soon. We managed to find a seat to perch on, as it was rather busy, and we spent a bit of time choosing our beer. The Craft Beer Co summed up everything I love and hate about the 'craft beer' thing. The beer was lovely....no scrub that...it was, in fact, gorgeous. But, at that price, so it bloody should be! We had three rounds here, and I managed to sample halves of the Mikkeller Milk Stout (utterly superb, really well balanced), a double IPA from Southern Tier in the US (resinous, pine, orange, amazing), and a final beer of Against The Grain's 'Scottish Charred' (a lovely sweet smoked beer, which does not predominate but does go on.....and on).

And my gripe? Not the quality? Not they hype? Not the beer snobbishness? No, just the bloody price ticket. In every pub, 2 pints and a half had come to less than £10 - that's not bad for Southampton let alone London, these days. But here, three halves came to £12-15. Utterly shocking! Yes, I know it's a prime location. Yes, I know these kegged beers have come in from abroad. Yes, I know some of these 'different', maybe even 'not to be tried again'. But, please! If you peruse the bottle list, it gets worse, with some bottles coming in at over £30. As I read this out aloud, I am sure I saw Dick Turpin leave through the back door. This is not about me being a skinflint or not appreciating 'craftmanship' or 'quality', this goes to the heart of my point last month. Beer in this guise is becoming a rather effete, middle-class product. That means those who cannot afford this kind of money end up drinking cheap, bland, mass produced pop. That is not only bad for choice, it's bad for beer.

Anyway, rant over (again). We finished up and Dr B headed North for Low Speedlink through the MEdway towns, whilst we walked up to Holborn and tubes to Waterloo, destination south coast. A great day - 3 miles, 6 pubs, 8 hours. We went from the swank of craft to the sawdust of Wenlock, through the gentrified Victorian streets via the Munich Beer Halls. Here's to another in 2013.

Christmas Crawl 2012

Oh yes....it's that time of year again. Time to scour the streets of London for a few interesting and recommended pubs. This year, there is a real mixed bag, some of which come from Pollard and McGinn's 'Around London in 80 beers', some from 'Beer in the Evening', and others from sheer pragmatism and the need to cut down walking times during a day that looks as if it will not be blessed with great weather tomorrow!

Our journey starts at Old Street, yet again in a part of town I do not know, and then heads north west, then south west, ending up in Clerkenwell (kind of). In between we should experience, a proper boozer, an old theatre  a Munich styled beer hall, and a homage to the craft beer revolution. The trip will look something like this:


View Christmas Crawl 2012 in a larger map

We start at the Bavarian Beerhouse on City Road. Alledgedly, we should be experiencing a bit of Deutsch Gastlichkeit whilst there; wheat beers and plenty of pork products - you know the thing....looks a bit restauranty, but we'll give it a go. A short walk north sees us at the Wenlock Arms. This looks like a really old school corner boozer, so I hope it's friendly. It has appeared in the Good Pub Guide numerous times, so I am expecting a  good pint at least! Then we plough on to towards Angel, and stop at the Old Red Lion, a bar/pub in a theatre (we shall come across this kind of things again, later!). I think it is fair to say that these three represent a bit of a 'give it a go' choice of places for a pint this year. They may be great, they be pants, but that's kind of what these crawls have become about. If they are good, they end up on my master map of London pubs, which always comes in handy in times of thirst in the Smoke.

The final three pubs represent something a little more familiar. A decent stroll from the Angel sees us in the north part of Clerkenwell, in the Pakenham Arms. Looks a little more 'up market', but the bottled selection looks good, and I am promised (according to the blurb) of a changing roster of draught beers. Certainly the photos suggest a good selection. Looking forward to that one. Continuing our walk south west, towards Bloomsbury, we end up at The Lamb in Lamb's Conduit Street. We went there last year, to this pub with an old theatre upstairs and fantastic tiled outer aspect. Hoping Young's Winter Warmer is on, and up to snuff, but I liked its cosy green leathered interior. Then, tiredly, we will make our way towards Holborn, and finish in the Craft Beer Company in Leather Lane. A new one on me, but this comes very recommended, and I am looking to spend a few minutes perusing my beer menu before making my final choice(s) of the day.

As ever, I'll be on Twitter as I go around