Homebrew Tasting: Belgian Pale Ale - 3 ways

I have finally gotten around to tasting all three versions of the Belgian Pale Ale. This is a tale of success and failure. To remind you the three versions used all the same wort with a different yeast in each:

• Belgian Pale Ale with White Labs 575: Belgian Blend
• Belgian Pale Ale with Rochefort dregs
• Belgian Pale Ale with Achouffe dregs

I think the recipe for the wort worked pretty well. The color was dead on with a neat burnt orange tone. The malt backbone was solid, but really allowed the different yeast flavors to shine. I am becoming a bigger believer in how the Belgians brew with a very simple grist with the only complexity coming from yeast and the occasional candi sugar. And this may be the direction I try next year. I also think that I may need to change how I treat the yeast. From reading through Brew Like a Monk the Belgian brewers are very particular about the pitching amount. They typically underpitch compared to American brewers, but they can get away with this for a few reasons:

• They want more flavor development than most clean american beers and most of the flavor components are created during the yeast growth phase.
• They pitch very healthy yeast, coming from an active fermentation.
• They ferment at higher temperatures that promote cell growth and healthier cells.

575 Version - I must have been in a hurry when kegging this one because it picked up a Brett infection and a Brett strain that is currently in a strange phase. It seems I need these constant reminders to completely dissemble, clean and replace o-rings if going from a Brett to clean beer. And this beer got funky fast since it was sitting at room temperature in the brewing closet for a month.

Rochefort Version - Actually somewhat clean for Belgian standards. The beer is very drinkable, but not all that interesting or complex. Warming the beer up did help bring out more flavor. If I was to use this yeast again I would make sure that the malt and hop bill were very interesting. So I think it would do great in a Belgian Dark Strong or even a Belgian IPA.

Achouffe Version - The crowd favorite and without a doubt, felt "Belgian" to everyone. You could smell this beer from a couple feet away and the taste was equally intense.The famous Belgian phenols were strong, but not overpowering into the smokey or plastic level. The beer finished nicely dry and had a great malt backbone.

This was a neat experiment and great way for me to try several Belgian yeast strains at once. One thing that confused me about these beers was that they used the same wort and were carbonated to the same amount, but the head retention was radically different. I never thought yeast could have this much effect but it must.

2012 NHC Results for Achouffe Version

(Changed considerably after my initial taste, should have tasted a bottle before submitting)

Adding Wild Gooseberries to Beer

 After reading about the Hunter, Angler, Gardener, Cook going foraging for berries in the Sierras I became interested what type of berries could I find in San Diego County. Well, there are actually quite a few (blackberries, thimble berries, salmon berries, currants), but the one I was most interested in was the wild gooseberry. There are several varieties of the gooseberry in San Diego County, but the most abundant and convenient is the Fuchsia-Flowered Gooseberry (Ribes speciosum). Once I knew what to look for I saw them everywhere. They are located on trails in Poway, Clairemont, Scripps Ranch and most of the county.



First off, they are extremely easy to spot in the spring due to their beautiful and bright colored flowers. (flower picture borrowed from here). And then when the berries are starting to get ripe in late July the leaves turn a nice bright red color.







Now, here is the catch. These bushes have some crazy spines on them and they make picking difficult. In addition, these plants grow in the same places that poison oak does (also another way to find them). So look along stream beds that are shaded by Oak trees. The other unfortunate part is the berries ripe in btaches. I had to collect 3 or 4 times over 2 weeks to get a usable amount.






As I collected the berries I would give them a good wash and then into a ziplock in the freezer. From there I pretty much followed the directions on Hunter, Angler, Gardener, Cook.

1. 4 cups of Sierra gooseberries into a large pot. Barely cover the berries with water, cover the pot and bring to a boil.
2. Boil for 2-3 minutes. Turn off the heat and, using a potato masher or large spoon, crush the berries to a pulp. Do not blend.
3. Let this steep, covered, until it gets to room temperature, then pour everything into a container and let it sit overnight in the fridge.
4. Strain the juice through a sieve lined with cheesecloth or press with a juicer. This will store in the fridge for a week or so, as-is.

I ended up with about 6 oz of juice with a gravity in the 1.040s. The juice is delicious and has a very strong aroma. The flavor is difficult to explain: it has a good level of tartness and a is sorta candy-like. This juice was added straight to my Holiday Party Oud Bruin.

Homebrew Tasting: Dark Saison - Sour Version

For the most part my Dark Saison really came together. I tasted the beer about a month after fermentation and it was very rough and muddled. Even with the Saison yeast the beer had a decent amount of alcohol warmth, but that was to be expected for a 9% beer. I knew with time that this beer would end up being pretty nice. I decided to bottle a gallon of the straight version. Then another 6-12 oz bottles with Jolly Pumpkin dregs at bottling and  6 more bottles with Avery 15 dregs (I used a sanitized pipette to take 2 ml of yeast stored in White Lab vials) . I then had about 2.5 gallons that I racked to a keg and added dregs from Jolly Pumpkin and Avery 15. I was inspired to go sour after reading the Mad Fermentationist review his Dark Sour Saisons. And I knew this would go over well as a special keg to bring out this Fall and Winter.

One flavor that I forgot in my tasting notes was tobacco. I have heard that term so much, but never experienced it until it hit me after drinking my second glass that night. (Notice in the picture I only gave myself smaller 10 oz pours so I feel like I'm at a bar).

I'll be tapping the rest of the keg soon and give you feedback from others.