I’ve made this brew a few times before and it’s a good solid black ale.  The recipe came from a homebrew book, and they didn’t know what specific style it was, but I’m calling it a stout.  I brewed it once while doing a homebrew teaching, and it was in the middle of a snowstorm.  So the name came up to be Black Whiteout Stout just because it was a cool sounding play on words (I thought).

Dark, slightly sweet, and full-flavored maltiness.  Finishes fairly cleanly, but has a little malt sweetness in the tail end.

Brewed: 8/25/2021.  Distributed: 10/1/2021.

ABV: 7.0%,  IBU: 59

Malts: Brewer’s 2-row, Black Malt, Flaked Barley, Caramel Munich II, Caramel 80L

Hops: CTZ.

Yeast: White Labs WLP001 California Ale.

I sometimes think I like Blue Moon, or have favorable memories of it from the past.  But a clone recipe I’ve brewed in the past, didn’t live up to expectations.  So I decided to just brew a beer that matched my memories of what Blue Moon tasted like to me all those years ago.  It turned out refreshing, but not the beer I imagined, so I’ll be iterating on this again in the future.  The name comes from my neighbor, Bob, who loves Blue Moon.

Crisp sweet aroma of hops/malt/yeast (not sure which). Taste is equally crisp, and palate-clearing. Finishing taste is smooth, with some fruity hop flavor in the background. Leaves minimal aftertaste other some hints of mild hop flavor hanging out in the background. Clean, crisp, and refreshing.

Brewed: 7/23/2021.  Distributed: 8/19/2021.

ABV: 4.9%,  IBU: 28

Malts: Brewer’s 2-Row, Flaked Oats, White Wheat, Red Wheat.

Hops: Hallertauer, Citra, Centennial, Amarillo.

Yeast: White Labs WLP001 California Ale.

This was a new beer for me, based on a picture I saw somewhere.  I envisioned a super-bitter IPA with caramel notes and an overpowering hop bitterness to cut through a hot, humid summer day.

Sharp, sweet aroma of malt with hops in the background.  Initial taste is crisp hop bite, combined with caramel malt sweetness.  Followed by full-flavored hops and then lingering bitterness.  Powerful punch of hop bitterness, buffeted by caramel malt sweetness.

Brewed: 7/9/2021.  Distributed: 8/6/2021.

ABV: 7.0%,  IBU: 89

Malts: Maris Otter, Caramel 20L, Munich, Caramel 60L.

Hops: Magnum, Chinook, Cluster, Ahtanum.

Yeast: Wyeast 1056 American Ale.

This was my second attempt to try to make the ubiquitous “Wheat Beer” I always  had visiting those early microbreweries before “craft beer” was a phrase.  This one is closer than my last, but I’ve got one more step to go.

Sweet aroma of malt. Crisp taste that clears the palate. Tangy, but not sweet. Finishes fairly cleanly with slight flavor hints of hops in the background. Quite refreshing. .

Brewed: 7/4/2021.  Distributed: 7/30/2021.

ABV: 4.9%,  IBU: 27

Malts: Red Wheat, Maris Otter, Flaked Wheat, Caramel 20L

Hops: Magnum, Spalter, Simcoe.

Yeast: Imperial Yeast A07 Flagship.

This recipe pre-dated my Black IPA recipe, and was something I initially thought would be a Black IPA.  But in the end, it just turned out to be a smooth black ale.  I might change it up some next time, but it’s decent as it is anyway.

Slight sweet aroma of hops and mild black malt in the background. Crispness of taste that clears the palate, then dark malt slides in after that. Flavorful, but leaves the palate clear with a slight lingering dark malt sweetness.

Brewed: 5/10/2021.  Distributed: 6/8/2021.

ABV: 6.4%,  IBU: 68

Malts: Golden Promise, Carafa III, Munich, Carafa I.

Hops: Mosaic.

Yeast: Imperial Yeast A07 Flagship.

I wanted to do a lager to try out new pressurized fermentation process/equipment, and I thought a rye lager might be cool.  I was looking for a COVID-inspired name, so came up with IRL, which I learned what it meant during lockdown quarantines.

Aroma is faint sweetness like pears or some sort of light fruit.  Taste is initially pretty flat on the palate, then turns to a nice mild grain taste.  Not much notable hop presence, mostly overall clean malt-tasting lager.  No real detectable rye “spiciness”, other than maybe hints of a slickness on the palate in the background.

Brewed: 5/2/2021.  Distributed: 5/27/2021.

ABV: 5.5%,  IBU: 35

Malts: Maris Otter, Rye Malt, Munich, Caramel 20L, Carafoam.

Hops: Cascade, Willamette.

Yeast: Wyeast 2308 Munich Lager.

Cheesy name, but I wanted to try a new yeast from Imperial Yeast, called Barbarian.  Then I went super bitter with the hops, coupled with this yeast that’s intended to be for NEIPA.  I’m super happy with how it turned out.

Aroma is beautiful and fragrant of flowery hops.  First taste is bitter, yet at the same time somehow feels smooth on the palate.  Lots of hop flavors throughout, combined with the smooth mouthfeel.  Left with lingering hop bitterness.  Beautiful.

Brewed: 4/25/2021.  Distributed: 5/20/2021.

ABV: 6.7%,  IBU: 115

Malts: Brewer’s 2-row, Munich, Caramel 20L, White Wheat.

Hops: Hallertauer, CTZ, Citra, Galaxy.

Yeast: Imperial Yeast A04 Barbarian.