Aroma is bright and fresh. First taste is smooth with a slightly crisp snap of hops. Flavor develops fairly bitter, but finishes somewhat smooth.
4 out of 5 stars.
Destihl Drivin’ That Haze
All posts by micraftbeer
Homebrew Mosaic of Darkness
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.
Homebrew IRL (Initial Rye Lager)
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.
Homebrew Conan the Bitter
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.
Homebrew Cliff Adams
Sometimes I have Sam Adams and it’s absolutely delicious. Other times, not at all. I was searching out clone recipes for Sam Adams Boston Lager, and I decided to just make the beer that was in my mind for those delicious ones. This was my first attempt. Not there yet, so this is just a cousin. I’ll keep trying.
Sweet aroma of malt and lager yeast. Crisp bite that has a bit of hops and then cuts out cleanly. Left with a fairly sweet, light, bitter crispness.
Brewed: 4/5/2021. Distributed: 5/20/2021.
ABV: 6.0%, IBU: 30
Malts: Brewer’s 2-row, Vienna, Caramel 20L, Amber.
Hops: Hallertau Mittelfrueh.
Yeast: Wyeast 2308 Munich Lager.
Homebrew Random Amber
I made this beer because I wanted to try out a new yeast supplier. Since I’d made a lot of IPA-stuff recently, I wanted something a bit different, so opted for a hoppy Amber, using malts and hops I had on hand.
Slightly sweet aroma of malt with mild hop aroma in the background. Taste is starts off sweet and slightly thick feeling, but then has a slice of hop bitterness cut through and then dry things out. Ends with a cornoccopia of flavors of malt, yeast and some hop bitterness. Mild caramel malt flavor mellows on the palate and lingers.
Brewed: 4/1/2021. Distributed: 5/4/2021.
ABV: 6.2%, IBU: 51
Malts: Brewer’s 2-row, Munich, Caramel 20L, Amber, Flaked Oats.
Hops: Hallertauer, CTZ, Simcoe, Cascade.
Yeast: Imperial Yeast A07 Flagship.
Homebrew NEIPA 4.0
For this, I followed a lot of the base recipe from my NEIPA that I really enjoy, but I used different hops to go for something slightly brighter. I also tried using flaked wheat instead of flaked oats, simply because that’s only what I had available. In hindsight, I’m sticking to flaked oats on my NEIPAs going forward. And lastly, I used a new yeast. I really liked how this yeast worked out and will likely use this again in the future.
Fruity, citrusy hop aroma. Slight bite from the hops and yeast at first taste, which then transitions into a moderate malt taste, before slowly fading out and leaving some lurking hop bitterness and hints of yeast flavor.
Brewed: 3/27/2021. Distributed: 4/24/2021.
ABV: 4.9%, IBU: 56
Malts: Maris Otter, Flaked Wheat, Caramel 20L.
Hops: Columbus, Zythos, Amarillo, Simcoe.
Yeast: Imperial Yeast A38 Juice.
Lansing Brewing Angry Mayor IPA
Aroma is floral-sweet hops, with a sharp caramel malt smell. Taste is a level mix of floral hop flavors, moderate malt, and slightly dry crispness from the yeast. Finishes clean with mild balance again of all 3.
Blends much nicer, and more pleasant flavors as it warms. I’m not one for warm beer, I typically like it super cold. This one is definitely much better on the last half of the glass.
4.5 out of 5 stars.
Victory Dirtwolf
Thick, sweet aroma with occasional breakthroughs of sharp citrus smells. Flavor streaks out all over the palate, with resiny bite of hops that sits pretty bitter before slowly fading to leave a mild malt and yeast taste. Interesting, but a bit too resiny for me.
Best by Jun 23 2021, drank on 4/11/2021.
3.5 out of 5 stars.
Lansing Brewing Joe in Black
Sweet dark malt aroma. Very watered down taste, smooth but a very notable void of flavors. Slight dark malt flavor in the background, but no perceivable hops. Very drinkable at 4.2%, but the overall lack of flavor kind of makes you feel like- why?
3 out of 5 stars.