Blackberry Pale Ale

The primary fermentation is complete and I racked this ale into another carboy for conditioning. The ABV is currently at 5.14%, pretty close to my target. I will say that although it has a definite reddish look to it there isn't a lot of blackberry flavor. In fact there's a slight bitterness to it that makes me think of grapefruit. It should still be a fine beer in a couple of weeks.

Rat vs. Rat

Bad Rat


Good Rat

With Joy, Sometimes Sadness

I remember well the 7-Hop IPA as it was steeping, boiling and coming to life. What excitement as the yeast ate away at the sugars as it created alcohol. The tastings before it was finished and then the big day when it was cold and carbonated. But alas, today it is with much sadness that I bid adieu to my 7-Hop. Relegated now to the Nut Brown and Altbier I ponder my next IPA. Perhaps an Imperial? We'll see. But one things for sure. An IPA it will be!

Those Crazy Scots!

Check this out. It gives a whole new meaning to Good Rats. Or in this case, Good Rodent.

Okay, only me (Mr. Good Rat) and Mrs. Good Rat tonight but oh what a night. Awsome. A little chilly with the wind so I fired up the heater. BBQ chicken and corn on the cob and no, I had none of my brews because I'm saving them for the deck party, but Mike's Mango and a little Laphroaig and some Jimmy Buffett. Who could ask for more?

Brewing With Friends

Good Rat Todd and our friend Brad from Vancouver came over yesterday to watch me brew a batch of Nutty Brown Rat. They're hoping to start their own home brewing and wanted to learn from my mistakes. Before we could start the batch I led them to the tasting room where they were shown taps and instructed to have it. With the caveat that the Altbier needed to lager for a couple of weeks before it was truly ready to drink. That didn't slow them down since they not only tapped into the IPA but dived into the Altbier was well. I think they liked both. I can hardly wait for the Altbier to finish up.

What a beautiful day it was for brewing. We sat out on the deck and I burned some burgers for us during the brew process. The new Nut Brown will be a nice addition to the other two I have on tap. Hopefully I can restrain myself so there will be some left for the annual deck party.

Nearing A Disaster

Saturday night was somewhat of a wake up call because the IPA keg was empty. Tonight it's the Red Ale. That just leaves the Hefe. I guess a brew day is in my near future.

Uh Oh

I just got back from the Give 'Em Hell Harry Auction. While there I drank non-descript beer but it was free. Wouldn't any Good Rat opt for free beer over good beer? I had a little 12 year old Scotch to make up for it though. So now that I'm home I decided it was time for a glass of my Hopworks IPA clone. BUT, to my dismay, although it was the newest of my three brews it seems the tank was empty! Uh Oh! I guess that means it's time to brew another batch.

A Good Rats Spring Fling

Friday, a few Good Rats dusted off their ratting around clothing and made way for Portland. Before the day even got started however, I received an email announcing the launching of the Good Rats Facebook page. So we've gone public. Or more public. Or publicer.

Good Rat Todd picked me up and with him was a new GR recruit, Brady. We gathered GR Darren up and off we went.

When we first talked about this trip we thought about doing an east side adventure. But when the weather forcast called for no rain and mild temperatures we opted to head downtown. The first stop was the Deschutes Brewery. My personal agenda was to try a variety of IPA's so Hop Henge IPA it was. I could tell you about it's biscuity charachteristic etc. but I'm not. What I will say is the aroma was nice and hoppy and so was the taste and I liked it a lot.

The rest of our stops are not necessarily listed in the order we went to them.

As members of the Rogue Nation we headed over to the Rogue Brewery. Everyone decided to try the Mogul Madness Ale which was recommended by our server. It may not be a true IPA but it was plenty hoppy with a distinct mocha finish. It too was very good.

We headed for McMenamins Ringlers Annex. We wanted to show GR Brady a cozy corner (literaly) pub but when we got there we found it wouldn't open for an hour or so. We walked a little further to McMenamins Crystal Ballroom. By the time we left the Ballroom the Annex was open and we did a quick walk through for GR Brady's sake.

At Rock Bottom honestly, I don't remember what I had here.

At Kells Irish Pub Smithwicks was the beer of choice... of course.

At Henry's 12th Street Tavern Firestone Walker Union Jack IPA was my choice. It was a pleasure to have some Firestone because several years ago GR Fred and I discovered it on a business trip to SLO, CA.

Heading towards home we stopped at the Hazel Dell Brewpub where GR Jason met us. I call him a GR although he has yet to go ratting around with us. He told us we should head over to The Rock Wood Fired Pizza and Spirits for some great pizza in Vancouver which we did. Great pizza indeed.

I Thought Of A Cute Title For This But I Forgot It

Back from a trip to the drier side. Marie and I took the boys to look at CWU and had a nice relaxing weekend. Before we left I did a little research for brew pubs. You'd think a college town would have a few but I only found one. I guess starving college students can only afford Bud. The one I found was quite small but nice. It was tucked away in kind of an industrial part of town. They only have seating for about 20 people. It's very informal and there's a sliding door that was open for viewing of the actual brewery. The name is Iron Horse Brewing. They had six beers on tap. I tried the Black IPA first. I'd never had this style of beer before so I was curious. It was okay but I don't think I'd try it again. The Iron Horse IPA on the other hand was delicious. Most of the time I was there, if someone wasn't sitting and drinking like I was, they were coming in to have growlers filed. Apparently demand for their beer is greater than their supply because I was told they were going to have to out source the making of some of their brews. The next time I go there I think I'll try their sampler. If you're ever in Ellensburg this brewery is worth looking for.

Next door to Iron Horse is The Ellensburg Distillary. I planned to go inside but they had just closed as I was leaving the pub. I was told by the bartender they make whisky and liqueur. Their premier whisky is "Gold Buckle Club Frontier Whisky". It's a single malt, single barrel, cask strength whisky.

AHHHHH

Need I say more?

Glorious

This morning I decided to rack the IPA. The final gravity hadn't changed since I dry hopped. I am really excited about this beer. The color is wonderful and very clear. The aroma and taste seem to be just what I was after. It's cooling now and tomorrow I'll carbonate. I don't think Darren would mind if I take a couple 2 liter bottles to his party on Friday.

Kelly asked if our friend Jason (from the other end of our building) could be inducted into the Good Rats. Jason doesn't drink. What's with that? My first thought was how could we have a GR that won't drink with us. Then the light went on... DD! Not to take away from GR Delany but having another DD would allow GR Delany to imbibe with us. I think this could work. Welcome aboard Good Rat Jason.

PS. Jason is engaged to a very nice school teacher, a profession that's near and dear to my heart.

Back to the IPA. This morning while I was cleaning, sanatizing, tasting etc. my lower back started hurting again. This means only one thing. A call to Kaiser and I got into their emergency clinic. Standing, sitting and pacing did no good but finally after seeing a PA, DR and a nurse I walked out of there with Percocet. I couldn't get home fast enough to get some pain relief from yes, kidney stones. Again! It took two hours for it to kick in but I feel so much better at the moment. All that to say, it doesn't matter when the IPA is ready to drink because until I'm off the meds no beer will cross these lips. Because if it did "nothing good could come of that". So I hope this thing passes quickly.

And to Good Rat Ron. You may be retired from work but you are not retired from being a Good Rat. Next time you're over this way we need to plan a day to do some rattin' around.

Secondary Fermintation

Well, the primary fermination finished and it was time to transfer the beer (yes, it's beer now not wort) to another carboy. Before I did though I checked the gravity and it's coming down very nicely. Better yet I tasted it. The hop flavor was very evident but there's more where that came from. After it was siphoned I added 3, yes count them, 3 ounces of hop pellets. A couple more weeks of conditioning and we'll see just what happened. If you don't like hops... stay away.

Hopworks IPA Clone

Just the right temperature to add the grain.


Adding the grain.


After 30 minutes of steeping the grain comes out.




Adding the dry malt extract.

After coming to a boil the hops are added. Some for 60, some 15 and some 5 minutes of boil.

After the hour long boil the wort is quickly cooled by running cold water through a copper coil.

Once it's cooled sufficiently the wort is transfered to a glass carboy and more water is added.

The yeast was pitched and the carboy was placed in a good place awaiting fermintation.

More hops will be added in a few days.

This will be a happy hoppy beer indeed!

I Was Just Kidding

Wow, the response to my last post was almost deafening. I was only kidding. Of course I finished high school. For crying out loud. Not only did I finish high school but I'm an MIT grad and I've designed and built my own home brewery.

Many thanks to Assistant Brewmaster Ben Love of Hopworks Urban Brewery in Portland for sharing their Hopworks Organic IPA receipe. My thanks to J.P. Blount as well at Bader Brewing in Vancouver for helping me make a few adjustments for home brewing a five gallon batch.

I'm thinking sometime in the next month I'll be giving it a go but in the mean time either visit HUB or someplace that serves it like the Kelso Theater Pub. I'm telling you, if you like happy hoppy bear, this is the one!

Graduation and More

My parents would be so proud. After dropping out of high school they figured I was a lost cause. They said I'd end up in the gutter somewhere... if I was lucky. A bottle in my hand, puke on my face. Clothes that belonged in the dump, just like me. It could be even worse they said but they didn't really explain. Maybe they pictured me selling my body as a means of supporting myself. I don't know. A GED was out of the question. I was sick of school and nothing, nothing would get me back there. Until now. After a lot of work, study and drinking I received my dipolma last night. I invited some of you but I guess none of you really cared. Oh, you said you did but unlike the other graduates no one was there for me. But that's okay. When my name was called to receive my dipolma I stood to cheers and rousing applause by my peers. My pride swelled as the Professor read "Certificate Of Graduation. This certificate is awarded to (fill in my name). Has met the minimum (yes, I was striving to meet all minimum standards) requirements by the education staff of Bader College of Fermentation Science for recognition as an CERTIFIED ADVANCED HOME BREWER". Whoo Hoo.

Bellingham Weekend

My daughter thought we were going to see her for a belated birthday visit. My real motive was to check out Chuckanut Brewery and Kitchen. Voted 2009 Small Brew Pub of the Year by The Great American Beer Festival. And with good reason. They only had one of their award winning brews on tap today but there were five others I sampled. The Pilsner Lager is a silver medal winner. Weighing in at 5%ABV I found it to be dry, sharply bitter, somewhat flowery and effervescent. A very nice brew.

The other's I sampled were:

Kolsch German Ale, 4%ABV it was slightly fruity with undertones of malt.
Helles Lager, 4.5%ABV it had a medium body, bready (as a Helles should be), malty with
restrained bitterness.
Marzen Lager, 5.8%ABV, this amber brew was malty, caramelized and medium bodied.
Bock Lager, 6%ABV, this is a dark, strong, malty beer that is full bodied with restrained
bitterness.
Alt German Ale, 5%ABV, with zesty hop snappiness, full malt flavor and assertive brown color.
This was my favorite.

But that's not all. I finally got to visit Archer Ale House in Fairhaven (really part of Bellingham). A quick note, apparently they don't have their own web page but I've linked the name to a review that will give you an idea of what the place is like. This is comfy pub with charachter. They don't brew their own beer but they have a nice selection to choose from. We couldn't stay long and since it was early afternoon I decided to try the Lambic they had on tap. So it was Lindeman's Framboise (French for raspberry) Lambic. I've never had a Lambic, I've only read about them and I knew to expect a fruity taste. I also knew that Lambic's are fermented using wild yeast that falls in the wort (think of fruit that has fallen from a tree in the summer time and then ferments on the ground). That alone intrigued me. Anyway, it was incredibly fruity and somewhat sweet. Not what I'd really expected but very good. I wouldn't want more than a glass of it at a time though.

If the Good Rats ever get to Bellingham both of these places deserve our attention.

What A Day To Brew

Ahhh, what a fine day. I was waiting for a sunny winter day to head out to the deck to brew up some Red Rat Pale Ale. This morning the sun started to peak out from the clouds and I couldn't resist. Right now the grain is steeping and in a few minutes I will be straining them out and putting in the hops.

The best part of the process is the toasting of the new brew with some of the old. Matt, Marie and I all helped in that part of the process. Matt with the spice, Marie with the hefy and me with both, of course. I wonder if you mixed the two would it be spify? Huh... maybe I better try that next. Spify beer. Now that's funny.

While I'm Waiting

Having the capacity for 15 gallons of beer who'd have thought I'd run out. I've never had that much available at one time but I have the potential to. So turning lemons into lemonade (no, not the hard stuff) GR Matt and I took the opportunity this week to pick out seven brews we could share and sample from Olympic Drug. Dave Look happened to be stocking beer and gave us some insight into some of his stock. Dave said he's been brewing for about 15 years now although lately it's been mostly cider. If you're looking for something a little different go check out Olympic Drug and if Dave's there I'll bet he'd be happy to share his thoughts on what's in stock. Oh yes, although I didn't buy any there was some Smithwicks on hand too.

Yesterday we tried the "Gonzo Imperial Porter" brewed by Flying Dog Brewery, Denver, CO. This award winning brew is dark with a rich and malty body, intense roasted flavor with a kick of hops (7.8% ABV)

We also tried the "Celebrator Doppelbock" brewed by Ayinger Brewery, Aying, Germany. I'd read an interesting article about the brew in the November/December 2009 issue of DRAFT magazine. It seems it's a 100 year old recipe called Fortunator. The importer, Merchant du Vin, insisted on a name and label change. A few years after the beer was brought to the states Ayinger asked permission to change the name of their Fortunator to Celebrator. The little plastic goat ("bock" is German for goat) that hangs on every bottle can be saved and hung on your next Christmas tree as an ornament. This slightly carbonated dark beer had a nice malt and slight fruit smell with a nice malty flavor and a slight bitterness. (6.7% ABV)

Brews yet to be shared:

"La Chouffe" a Belgian Golden Ale brewed with spice brewed in Belgium. (8% ABV)

"Yeti Imperial Stout" brewed by Great Divide Brewing Co., Denver, CO. (9.5% ABV)

"Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout" brewed by North Coast Brewing Co, Fort Bragg, CA. (9% ABV)

"Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat" brewed by Jacob Lewinenkugel Brewing Co, Milwaukee, WI. (4.9% ABV)

"India Pale Ale" brewed by Avery Brewing Co, Boulder, CO. (6.3% ABV)