I had heard about this hop from someone on a podcast talking about IPAs and how certain hops had good characteristics.  I don’t remember exactly what characteristics, but I did remember the name of this hop- Idaho 7.

Fresh sweet hop aroma.  Slight caramel malt flavor with a bit of hop bite.  Finishes with a nice blend of malt and hop flavor, without a bitter bite.  Very tasty, belies the ABV kick hidden within it.

Brewed: 12/13/2020.  Distributed: 1/9/2021.

ABV: 7.5%,  IBU: 128

Malts: 2-Row Brewer’s Malt, Maris Otter, White Wheat, Munich, Amber.

Hops: Columbus, Magnum, Citra, Idaho #7.

Yeast: White Labs WLP001 California Ale

I fell in love with Dusseldorf Alt after visiting Dusseldorf one weekend while working in Europe.  My early attempts to recreate the beer were successful, but my more recent attempts never turned out as good.  I went back the yeast processes I used at the beginning, and brewing salt additions, and this batch turned out successfully recreating it.

Notable malt aroma and flavor, with a slightly bitter hop bite.  Both of these finish cleanly and allow a nice yeast taste to round it all out.  Flavorful, drinkable, and clean.

Brewed: 11/24/2020.  Distributed: 12/30/2020.

ABV: 5.4%,  IBU: 43

Malts: Munich Malt.

Hops: Spalt.

Yeast: Wyeast 1007 German Ale

This beer I brewed on the day after the Presidential election.  Planning it, I figured the day after would be either a day of celebration or great sadness.  But of course, since it took several days to count all the ballots, it was still up in the air on brew day.  This beer turned out much lower than planned on ABV.  So even though it wasn’t planned as a “Light Stout”, that’s what I ended up with.

Easy drinking with flavors of dark malt.  Goes down easy, either from the use of oats, or the low ABV.

Brewed: 11/7/2020.  Distributed: 12/23/2020.

ABV: 4.2%,  IBU: 46

Malts: Maris Otter, Flaked Oats, Black Patent Malt, Melanoidin Malt, Roasted Barley.

Hops: Magnum, Hallertau, Chinook.

Yeast: White Labs WLP007 Dry English Ale

I’ve been to Cologne, Germany a few times (Ford engineering offices there), and enjoyed some true German Kolsch.  The atmosphere of course is part of it, but I have been trying in vain to recreate the beer that my memory has put on high.  I haven’t gotten there yet, but this is another iteration on my journey.  I pretty much changed up everything from last time I made it.

Sweet aroma, slightly tart & crisp bite at first taste, which mellows quickly into a slightly sweet malt taste.  Finishes with slight hop aftertaste.

Brewed: 10/14/2020.  Distributed: 12/10/2020.

ABV: 4.9%,  IBU: 21

Malts: Brewer’s 2-row malt, Xtra Pale, Flaked Wheat, Vienna

Hops: Hallertau, Spalt

Yeast: Wyeast 2565 Kolsch and Omega Yeast OYL-044 Kolsch II

I’ve made this beer a few times.  After a few iterations a while ago, I honed it in to be where I wanted it, hence the name.  This particular batch I tried a slight  process variation on the dry hops, and it didn’t give me as great of a hop aroma as before.  So this one isn’t truly perfect…

Brown head of foam.  Decent hop aroma.  First drink gives a bite of dark malt, but is immediately backed up by bright hop flavor.  That then transitions out to a blended mix of hops and malt, with a mild dark malt aftertaste.  Still enjoyable.

Brewed: 11/4/2020.  Distributed: 12/10/2020.

ABV: 5.9%,  IBU: 58

Malts: Golden Promise, Brewer’s 2-row malt, Carafa III, Munich, Carafa I.

Hops: Magnum, Citra, Simcoe

Yeast: Wyeast 1056 American Ale