Tasman Red: my first encounter with a "Red IPA"

I was walking through the liquor store the other day and saw some bombers that looked new to me. Upon inspection I found out they are brewed by Boston Beer Co. as part of a specialty release of Sam Adams bombers. Today I picked up the Red IPA which they call "Tasman Red" for $4.99.

I have never officially seen the term "Red IPA" before on a bottle of beer, which really caught my eye. On top of that, red ales and IPAs are among my favorite beer styles, so hearing them both together got me all giddy. In my mind I was expecting something along the lines of Grand Teton's Pursuit of Hoppiness. I started searching around the internet because I couldn't remember exactly what style Pursuit of Hoppiness categorized it self as, and it seems that hoppy red ales are referred to as "American Reds." From reading a lot of recipes and drinking an assortment of beer, it is becoming apparent that the word "American" in front of a style (i.e. IPA, Brown, Amber, Red) usually means that it has more bitterness from more hops. However, after mentioning all of this I think it is important to point out that the Tasman Red is brewed with hops from Tasmania, which do have similar flavor profiles to American hops. Maybe the fact that they used Tasmanian hops instead of American hops is why Sam Adams went with the "Red IPA" label as opposed to "American Red?"

This picture does not does not
do the color any justice at all.
You can sort of get a sense
of the color at the bottom
of the glass.

The pour did in fact have a red glow to it, though more amber red than brick red, and produced a head that was pretty thick and very creamy (my "dirty" glass probably didn't help the head's retention). The nose was definitely very hoppy with strong pine notes and some citrus if you inhale deeply. Clear aromas of caramel also come through in the malt profile as well as hints of toffee.

The most prominent flavors of this beer are absolutely the Topaz and Galaxy hops from Tasmania. The bitterness engulfs your whole tongue as if you just ate raw hops and really is, I would say, the star of the beer. Like the nose, the hoppy tastes come through largely in pine notes but also with a level of citrus. There is also an apparent caramel flavor and breadiness from the malts, which really warm up the beer. The breadiness fills up your mouth, but the finish is still dry and hoppy.

All in all, I would say Sam Adams was successful in creating a Red IPA. Tasman Red has the hop profile of a super bitter IPA, while at the same time capturing the caramel, roasty malt, and bready flavors of an Irish Red Ale.

UPDATE: Foreign Extra Stout (HB#1) just about ready to drink!

November 22, 2011

This past Friday (November 18) was the end of the two week bottle conditioning period that the Foreign Extra Stout recipe called for. The two weeks is more of an estimate/minimum number, and from past experience and what I have read, weeks three, four, and even five may produce a more uniform beer with fully developed flavors.

On Friday, I opened a Foreign Extra Stout and poured it into a glass admittedly hoping the beer would be "done" and taste perfect. The taste had definitely developed more of a full finish, which was something lacking when tested after week 1. However, there was also a more prominent and somewhat off putting alcohol flavor for a beer only ~5.5% ABV. Honestly, it gave the stout a "homebrew-y" taste that comes across as semi-artificial and overly syrupy (molasses-y almost). When the glass was tipped so a small layer of liquid was at the top of the glass, you could even see a clear line where there seemed to be a water layer surrounding the dark extract inside (a bit hard to explain). I assumed the worst, which is that something went wrong during brewing or the fermentation. Everything from two small of a boil when adding the liquid extract to decontamination can cause off-tasting alcohol flavors. My main concern was that the off-flavor could be a result of temperature fluctuation that I experienced during primary fermentation. Needless to say, everything that could have went wrong was going through my head in order to sift through what probably did and didn't happen. In the end, I just have to wait to see if the alcohol off-flavor remains or settles down and allows the other flavor profiles to come through...

Fast-forward five days later to today (November 22) and the prominent alcohol flavor is no more. Now, let me point out that I only opened one bottle so it is possible, for example, that the beer I had on Friday (11/18) could have been some freak turn out, or the one I am having now is some miracle bottle that tastes delicious and not something brewed in a tub (not that it was...). I am hoping, and choosing to assume, that all the other bottles consistently taste as good.

The pour produced a big head on top of an almost black colored liquid. When the glass was tipped, the liquid was uniformly dark and did not appear watery around the edges. The nose has notes of chocolate, dark and roasty malts, and a slight rummy smell (perhaps the remnants of the overly alcohol flavors from a few days ago). The beer has a full bodied mouth feel with a robust malt flavor, though it does not taste as chocolatey as it smells. There is a definite bitterness that hits the back of the tongue during the finish, which I am happy to say is more full and complete, from the hops, though it is not overtly "hoppy" like in an IPA.

All in all, the Foreign Extra Stout is better then I could have imagined. It really does have a full taste that doesn't have that "homebrewed" tang that I was sensing this past Friday. I am now comfortable to say that the Foreign Extra Stout is just about done. Though, it is not unreasonable to think that the flavors could develop and settle out even more, thus resulting in an even better brew. Either way I'm marking Homebrew #1 as a success.

UPDATE: American IPA (HB#3) is now dry hopping in secondary

Hop layer now covering the wort

After the first day of riding at Keystone this year, I came home today and racked the American IPA to a secondary fermenter. Secondary is only really necessary for adding fruits, hops and/or other adjuncts to the fermenter or if you want to improve the clarity of the beer. In the case of the American IPA, I am racking to secondary in order to dry hop for two weeks. Dry hopping is simply the process of adding hops to the fermenting wort in order to create an intensely hoppy smell and maintain oils that are usually lost during the boil on brew day.

Wort being added to hops

I started the process by dumping 1 ounce of Centennial hops into an empty carboy. The wart was then siphoned out of the primary fermenter into the secondary fermenter. As the wort started filling the secondary, the hops became more and more saturated and eventually turned into something that resembles green pond scum (only not as gross). For the next two weeks I will agitate the secondary fermenter once a day to try and get the hops to sink from the top of the wort. However, I have to somehow agitate without aerating the water even the slightest bit in order to not effect the yeast's process.

If you have read the brew day post of Homebrew #3: American IPA, than you are aware of the the boil-overs and subsequent low gravity reading (the target gravity was 1.064 and I got a 1.060). I took a sample before transferring the wort into the secondary and the gravity was at 1.014 (it is supposed to be within 2-8 points of the target final gravity), which just so happens to be the target final gravity. Obviously my numbers were off to start with, so all the measurements will be a little skewed.  On an upside, I tried a little bit of the sample and am extremely happy with how the flavors are developing. The sample was super bitter and hoppy before being dry hopped, so the additional hops in the fermenter should push the hoppy aromas over the top. It is going to be tough to wait on this one.

UPDATE: Red Ale (HB#2) now in bottles

Bottling day set up

I realized very late last night that today was bottling day for the Red Ale (HB#2). In a hurry, I filled my plastic tub with water and Oxyclean, and I soaked as many bottles as I could find, which happened to be just enough. Today was a long day that started with de-labeling and scrubbing the bottles and ended with transferring and bottling. The process was more or less the same as the Foreign Extra Stout (HB#1), so I will not go into too much detail on the bottling process.

Cracked bottle

Great amber red color

We did have a few bottles break on us when being capped. The broken bottles, on top of only having 4.5 gallons of beer (instead of the usual 5 gallons), produced only thirty-six 12 oz bottles and three 22 oz bottles. It is a little under the typical forty-eight 12 oz-ers, but like I said, the volume was a half gallon less than usual (because some was lost on brew day when transferring from the kettle to the carboy), so it was expected.

The gravity reading was spot on the target at 1.013, so everything seemed to have gone as planned. In two weeks, this beer should be ready to drink....but I will probably crack one open in a week just to see how it is coming along.

UPDATE: First taste of bottled Foreign Extra Stout (HB#1)

I bottled my first homebrew, the Foreign Extra Stout, last Friday (11/4) and am supposed to wait at least two weeks before I opened one. Well, I only waited one week and decided I wanted to crack one open to see how progress is going.

First off, the cap came off with a hiss, letting me know that carbonation is building up. The pour into the glass gave a good sized head.

The taste was about what I expected, but the finish was a little weak. I feel like stouts generally have a lingering thick and malty after taste, but mine didn't have much going on after the sip. Like I said, though, I tested this a week early so the beer still has some conditioning to do. Hopefully the flavors will balance a little more and there will be a stronger finish. From what I am told, the beer will only get better in weeks 2, 3, and 4, so I am looking forward to see how this beer progresses over the next couple of days and weeks.

Homebrew #3: American IPA

After brewing a stout and red ale, I knew for my third brew I wanted to make something with a strong hop profile. India Pale Ales, one of the most bitter beer styles, are loaded with hops. Back in the 19th century when Britain was occupying and colonizing India, they had to find a way to preserve ales being sent over on East India Company boats. Hops are a natural preservative, so Pale Ales were loaded with extra hops to ensure the beer made it to India in drinking condition for Englishmen. The result has left us with what is now known as "India Pale Ales" which are generally characterized by more intense hops and thus higher IBUs (bitterness).

I decided to make an American IPA, which generally has a more citrus-like hop profile. Hops grown in the Pacific Northwest (i.e. Cascade, Amarillo, Columbus) produce bitterness reminiscent of grapefruit, which really adds a level of freshness to the hoppy bitterness when done well. Luckily Hop To It had an American IPA recipe kit all packaged out, so I didn't have to weigh out ingredients. It was slightly more expensive (~$60) than the last two brews since a lot more hops are involved. What really caught my eye about this kit was that after primary fermentation, the beer is trasnferred to a secondary where the beer is "dry hopped." I'll talk more about dry hopping when I transfer the beer.

Quick Notes:

-Brew Day: November 6, 2011

-Target Starting Gravity: 1.064 (Actual Starting Gravity: 1.060)

-Target Final Gravity: 1.014

-Target ABV: 6.5%

-Target IBU: 64

Ingredients (less the yeast):

Speciality Grains:
- 8 oz Cara Hell
- 6 oz Victory
- 6 oz Cara Pils (Dextrin)
-2 tsp. Burton Water Salts

8.5 lbs Light Liquid Malt Extract

Hops:
- 1 oz Columbus
- 1 oz Amarillo
- 1 oz Cascade
- 2 oz Centennial
- 1 oz Cluster

Process:

-Bring 5 gallons of water to 160 degrees F. Remove from heat and steep specialty grains for 30 minutes.

-Remove grains and drip dry. Add liquid malt extract.

-Once extract is dissolved, bring to boil.

-When boil is reached add 1 oz Columbus hops and boil for 45 minutes.

-Add 1 oz Amarillo hops and 1 oz Cascade hops and continue boil for 5 minutes.

-Add prepared Super Moss mixture (clarifying agent) and continue boil for 8 minutes.

-Add 1 oz Centennial Hops and 1 oz Cluster hops and continue boil for 2 minutes.

-Remove from heat and chill to below 80 degrees F via wort chiller.

-Bring volume to 5 gallons (had to add ~0.5 gallons).
-Aerate wort by dumping back and forth between fermenter and kettle a few times.
-Pitch yeast (Wyeast 1332 Northwest Ale) and seal the fermenter with an airlock.


Notes on brew day:

Gravity reading

This was one of the more eventful brew days I have had. There was a lot of things going on (and going wrong) so I didn't have much time to take pictures (hence the picture-less process section). The biggest issue I had was a boil over right at the first hop addition. Almost instantly after I added the Columbus hops to the boil, it started to foam up. I had my friend Andrew manning the kettle handles in case we had to move the pot off the heat quickly. Unfortunately, due to the large boil volume and Andrew's broken back, we didn't get the pot off the heat quick enough and had quite the boil over. A fair amount of wort got out of the kettle and onto the propane burner. This may sound harmless, but a few unfavorable things resulted from the boil over. First, boiled over wort got all over the propane burner which turned into a sticky mess and resulted in the propane burner going out quite often for about 30 minutes after the boil. Second, since the boil over happened right when I added the hops, I undoubtedly lost some hops, which isn't necessarily the end of the world, but it just means the beer I will be drinking in a couple weeks will not taste the way the recipe intended (though it will probably still taste good). Last, a boil over that dumps a fair amount of liquid out of the kettle can effect the gravity of the wort. The target starting gravity was set at 1.064, but my wort was reading at about 1.060.  From what I understand, the combination of losing liquid and the ratio of malt extract to water changing causes gravity readings to be off. Fortunately I was only a few points off so I think everything will be fine. It sounds like the only downside of my IPA will be that if I end up really liking it, I will have a hell of a time making it again, since recreating an identical boil over is not an easy task. So I will end with a Lesson Learned: Be ready for boil overs the second you add hops, and don't rely on a guy with a broken back to quickly lift 5 gallons of boiling wort.

2011 Boulder Brew and Music Festival

Boulder Beer and Music Festival 2011

A couple friends and I got tickets for the Boulder Brew and Music Festival at the Fox Theater this past Saturday. To be honest I didn't expect much since I had been to the GABF not too long ago with all of the nations best breweries, but the small size and atmosphere really created a festival that I would most definitely go back to next year.

At GABF, I would sample a beer or two from a brewery and move on to the next. I felt like I needed to try as many beers from as many places as I could, which left no time to go back and try ones again that I had liked. The Boulder Brew and Music Festival had about 15 breweries, most local but a few out-of-staters, which was a great chance to go around a try everything once and then go back and try the ones you liked again. It was also a good chance to meet some of the brewers and talk with them without feeling like you were holding up a line.

Walking into the Fox, I was most excited for Copper Kettle's Mexican Chocolate Stout, which was definitely one of my favorites at GABF this year. Needless to say I had my fill of the stout and was even able to talk to the owner for a bit. (He has a tap house in Denver that he runs with his wife and one other bartender. They brew 3 barrels at a time, which is not much, but he said they have been getting great business and plan on bottling soon.)

I also spent a lot of time at the Grand Teton taps drinking their imperial red, IPA, and coffee porter and talking to the guy behind the taps, who I learned was "in the family." Grand Teton's Pursuit of Hoppiness is still one of my favorite reds to date, and their IPA and coffee porter were right in line as well. Unfortunately, I'm having a tough time remembering the name of the IPA.

Odell's had a few bottles of Mountain Standard, which is a really hoppy Double Black IPA. I was lucky enough to get to try it, but it was gone by the time I went back for seconds. I will most definitely be looking for this in liquor stores.

Alaskan Brewing Company, whom admittedly I am not a huge fan of, really surprised me with their Winter ale. It had a great spice to it and a bit of a hoppy finish. It had me going back for more. They also had a White ale that was a little too flowery for my liking, but my roommate Zach decided to have the guy pour a mixture of the Winter and White which actually was quite the concoction. The spice of the Winter toned the floral notes down on the White and actually created something with a good balance of spice, citrus and flowers. Not sure how the Alaskan guys would feel about it though...

Last, I want to mention some cider I had that was like something I have never tried before.The Colorado Cider Company had a cider with hops in it on tap, and it was one of the most delicious (non-beer) alcoholic beverage I've had. It had the usual really crisp, dry, and carbonated flavors of a good cider mixed in with just enough hops to put some bitterness on your tongue and make you realize you are drinking something very unique.

This was only the second year of the Boulder Brew and Music Festival, but judging by the turn out I would say there will most definitely be a third, and I will be there.

UPDATE: Homebrew #1 (Foreign Extra Stout) now in bottles

This past Friday (11/4) after the first day of snowboarding of the year, I racked Homebrew #1: Foreign Extra Stout into bottles.

A few days prior I soaked all the bottles I collected (big thanks to Andrew) in ~10 gallons of water with 2 tbsps of OxyClean in it to get any sediment out of the inside and try and get the labels off. I let them soak for about 36 hours and then took each one and scrubbed the label/glue off with a sponge and used a bottle cleaning brush to get the inside clean. The de-labeling actually went a lot smoother then planned. Avery bottles, for example, would come out of the soak free of labels and with no glue, so little to no attention was needed. However, others, like Rogue, must have been glued on with rubber cement because I had to pick at them with my finger nail pulling off tiny little chunks at a time. I don't think I will be wasting my time with bottles like that if I can help it.

Come bottling day I boiled 5oz of corn sugar in 2 cups of water for 5 minutes. The purpose of the sugar is to add a little more "food" for the yeast to eat, and since the bottles will be capped air tight, no gasses can escape thus creating carbonation. It is important that the sugar water is mixed well through out the wort, but at the same time you want to add as little oxygen as possible, so I dumped the sugar water into the racking bucket first and then siphoned the wort in a whirlpool manner in order to stir things up with out aerating it. Once the wort was transferred it was time to start bottling.

I hooked up the bottling tool to the bottling bucket's racking spigot and began filling bottles. With the bottling tool, you just fill the beer bottle to the top and then when you pull to bottling tool out it is at the right level. Then the bottle is capped and that is it. Chris and I repeated this 45 times until all the bottles were filled.

With a 5 gallon batch I should have technically got 48 bottles, but somehow I miscounted and only cleaned 46, and on top of that a screw top got in their somehow which cannot be recapped. So I ended up with 45 bottles. I also donated one bottle's worth to science to measure the gravity and taste. The gravity was right on point at 1.014 and despite not being carbonated tasted quite delicious. It had some very good chocolaty notes to it.

The bottle filler. When the pin at the end is pushed against a bottle, it lets beer flow.

Filling bottles.

Mr. Bottle Capper

Foreign Extra Stout in test tube

So now the bottles need to condition for 2 weeks and carbonate before I crack one open. They will probably taste even better after 3-4 weeks once the flavors and everything settle.

Patience is a virtue in homebrewing.