I wasn't sure what to think about my Surly Furious clone, which I am calling my Angry Ale. First of all, it doesn't taste 100% like Furious, which is fine. On first tasting, after a one week primary fermentation and and two week secondary with dry hopping, I think I may have dry-hopped for too long. The beer had a vegetable sort of astringency that really overpowered the malt. However, after leaving it alone for a week (only accomplished by going out of town), it smoothed out considerably. that malt character was starting to shine through, while still showing a ton of hops. After another week, it has balanced out even more and is a really good brew. I still like my Nick Adams better, but this is a pretty good beer.
Comparing this to the Nick Adams, there is considerably less yeast characteristic, perhaps the result of force carbing vs. natural carbing. Also, the additional hops that this received throw it a bit off-balance by comparison. Still, it is pretty good. The one really noticeable difference is how much clearer this beer is than others. I mean, its by no means the transparent, but it is substantially less murky than my past attempts. Which is kind of cool, although who knows. I guess all I can do is continue to drink and see how this one evolves.
By the way, I still have about 6 bottles of the Nick Adams in the fridge, and they are truly phenomenal. After the saison, I am definitely brewing up another batch.
Monday, March 29, 2010
The Draft System - A Work In Progress
Bottling beer is a real pain in the nuts: the scavenging, peeling labels, cleaning, capping, priming...pretty much the whole damn thing. Lets just say there isn't much romance in it. Thus, I introduce to you my new draft system.
Ok, it is definitely a work in progress. The fridge I bought for $40 is about an inch shy of fitting two 5 gallon kegs, so until I get around to building a collar for it, I will only have one beer on tap. Right now that is my Angry Ale. More on that later, but it is turning into a pretty decent beer.
The guts of the draft system in the Master-Brew Dual Gauge Keg Kit from Midwest Supplies. It came with a CO2 tank, two 5 gallon Corny kegs, all the tubing, and 2 picnic taps.
My eventual plan is to mount two shank taps on the door, but I want top see how my collar works out first. So for now, you still have to open the door to get to the tap. Yes, pretty hood, but it works.
I am still on the fence about force carbing the beer. There is some extra depth that is missing compared to natural carbonation, although it does cut about two weeks out of the brewing process. However, I think my next beer will be naturally carbonated in the keg (a saison, perhaps?). Hopefully I will get around to brewing that next week.
Ok, it is definitely a work in progress. The fridge I bought for $40 is about an inch shy of fitting two 5 gallon kegs, so until I get around to building a collar for it, I will only have one beer on tap. Right now that is my Angry Ale. More on that later, but it is turning into a pretty decent beer.
The guts of the draft system in the Master-Brew Dual Gauge Keg Kit from Midwest Supplies. It came with a CO2 tank, two 5 gallon Corny kegs, all the tubing, and 2 picnic taps.
My eventual plan is to mount two shank taps on the door, but I want top see how my collar works out first. So for now, you still have to open the door to get to the tap. Yes, pretty hood, but it works.
I am still on the fence about force carbing the beer. There is some extra depth that is missing compared to natural carbonation, although it does cut about two weeks out of the brewing process. However, I think my next beer will be naturally carbonated in the keg (a saison, perhaps?). Hopefully I will get around to brewing that next week.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)