Anchors Aweigh!

With each batch of beer we brew our techniques improve a small notch up the scale. I would still place us in the novice category of all grain brewers but so far we’ve brewed products that are not only consumable but are entirely quaffable. To date we have brewed the following:

Summer wheat (2 batches)
Kolsch
Brown Ale – partial extract
Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout
Black Ale – from remnants of the Imperial Stout
Raspberry Wheat – 2 batches, one crashed
Strong American Ale

The Bourbon Imperial Stout is still awaiting bottling. All others have been bottled and the first three batches have been completely consumed.

Our biggest flaw, disregarding the one dropped carboy, has been recordation and measurements. We’re just not good enough at these yet. Despite this we were able to repeat the success of Dave’s wheat with Robert’s first batch. The recipes were slightly different due to availability of ingredients at the local brew supply store but we came fairly close to both the style and flavor we were shooting for.

Due to this success, Robert is already talking about repeating his recipe. This is a good thing. I don’t know one successful brewery that doesn’t have its foundation beer. Usually there are more than one. It’s your go to beer. The beer you know you can rely on when the selection at the brewpub starts looking like a list of exotic vacations to places you have no intention of ever visiting. So you order the old comfort brew, the one that brought you in the door to begin with and keeps you returning. For this reason, I’m dubbing the summer wheat style the BierWerkes initial anchor ale.

Robert named his brew Little Fingers Wheat due to the help we received in the bottling process from his young son. It is light and fruity enough for those hot summer days but still has enough body and hop flavor for any time of year. It would go great with a burger as well as a pork or chicken dish. I prefer something a little darker with my steak but for those used to drinking the mega-brewer lagers with everything, I know they would enjoy the pairing. The beer is already a hit.

We bottled two more batches on Thursday. We’ve now got two weeks to wait for the finished products on Dave’s second attempt at raspberry wheat and my Old Grover Ale.

The Old Grover was brewed on President’s Day and is named in honor of Grover Cleveland. It is an American take off on an English Strong Ale - all American ingredients except for the English Ale Yeast. Cleveland, along with his opponent for elective office, once agreed to limit their beer consumption to two glasses a day during the campaign. After a couple of days of soberly sticking to this promise they decided that it was not as well thought out as it should have been. They did not want to break their pledge, so to stick to it on principle they switched from the usual small bar-sized glasses to large tankards. This is American ingenuity at its finest.

Old Grover goes on my list as one of my Beeroes (Beer Heroes).

It is now time to plan the next batches. I am considering a black lager (Schwarzbier) but may hold off due to the long dual fermentation and lagering process – won’t be ready until almost summer. It is a good season for a bock or an American Pale Ale, though.

The days are getting longer and along with the increasing light we are slowly bringing this project out of the dark ages. Now someone enlighten me with a cold one!