I brewed this one while I had several days in a row uninterrupted to brew.  I only had certain ingredients available, but wanted to brew, so this was just a “filler”.

This  beer is full-flavored with lots of distinct malt flavor and an equally potent hop kick.  But all finishes cleanly with hints of aftertaste of what came before.

Brewed: 7/29/2020.  Distributed: 8/28/2020.

ABV: 5.0%   IBU: 52

Malts: Maris Otter, Caramel 20L, Vienna, Caramunich I

Hops: Chinook, Citra, Cascade

Yeast: White Labs WLP001- California Ale

This is a recipe kit from MoreBeer, sent to me to do a hands-on review.  It is intended to be a clone recipe of 3 Floyd’s Zombie Dust.  They call it a Pale Ale, but the bitterness level here puts it into more of an IPA category by my palate.

Bright and aromatic hop aroma.  Clean hop bite, followed by moderate malt sweetness, ending with lingering hop bitterness.  Overall fairly dry mouthfeel.  Hop aftertaste has some lingering bitterness.  Be sure you’re in a mood to pucker!

Brewed: 7/21/2020.  Distributed: 8/20/2020.

ABV: 5.9%   IBU: 55

Malts: 2-Row Brewer’s, Munich, Caramel 60L, Carapils

Hops: Citra

Yeast: Cellar Science Dry Yeast: Cali

This is a recipe kit from MoreBeer, sent to me to do a hands-on review.  It is intended to be a clone recipe of Sierra Nevada Hop Hunter.

Notable fresh hop aroma.  Slightly bitter hop bite at first, which is then followed by a clean bread-like malt taste, and finally some lingering hop bitterness.

Brewed: 7/12/2020.  Distributed: 8/13/2020.

ABV: 5.9%   IBU: 60

Malts: Xtra Pale, Flaked Oats, Caramel 15L

Hops: Bravo, Cascade, Crystal, Simcoe, El Dorado (hop oil)

Yeast: GigaYeast GY001 NorCal Ale One

This was brewed for the first time for Lora’s 50th birthday party, and hence the fun name.

Starts with a light sweet aroma.  Has a crisp bite at the beginning that spreads out to a broader hop flavor, then fades into nothingness.  It starts out fairly aggressive, but finishes smooth.  Kind of like an aggressively mellow beer.

Brewed: 6/26/2020.  Distributed: 8/13/2020.

ABV: 5.3%   IBU: 38

Malts: Maris Otter, Flaked Wheat

Hops: Calypso

Yeast: Wyeast 2206 Bavarian Lager

Lots of full-flavored malt in the aroma and taste.  Not overpowering, but can’t be overlooked.  Lager malt makes it go down smooth.  A version of a beer I made before that I loved.  But this time I had to substitute my recipe’s melanoidin malt for some aromatic malt.  It came out a bit more of a nutty malt flavor than the original recipe.

Brewed: 6/24/2020.  Distributed: 7/22/2020.

ABV: 5.0%   IBU: 58

Malts: Pilsner, Vienna, Cara aroma, Carafa II

Hops: Hallertauer, Northern Brewer

Yeast: Wyeast 2206 Bavarian Lager

Not the typical lager.  Reddish/amber color and strong bready malt flavors provided by the Munich malt.  The yeast gives it a quenching punch, with little detection of hops.

Brewed: 6/5/2020.  Distributed: 7/7/2020.

ABV: 5.5%   IBU: 31

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

Hops: Magnum, Citra, Galena

Yeast: WLP830 German Lager

This was the second beer made for Jim’s failed 60th surprise birthday party.  The first beer I called Get Off My Lawn as an homage to someone turning 60 and yelling and young kids in his yard.  It was hoppy and higher alcohol, so it was a bit more like someone yelling, “Get Off My Lawn!”  This one is mellower, but since it’s still in the “Surprise Birthday Series”, I carried forward the name, even thought it didn’t make much sense.

Slight malt sweetness with very minor hop bitterness.  This is definitely more of a malty tasting beer than hoppy beer.  Overall fairly mild, but still gives a tastebud tweak in the aftertaste with a bit of hops.

Brewed: 6/6/2020.  Distributed: 7/1/2020.

ABV: 6.2%   IBU: 34

Malts: Maris Otter, Brewer’s 2-row Pale, White Wheat, Munich Malt

Hops: Hallertauer, Citra, Columbus, Simcoe

Yeast: Wyeast 1056 American Ale

This was my first attempt at a high gravity IPA, and I was trying to create a recipe that would use a healthy dose of my bulk grains and hops that I may have overbought…  It was planned to be a 10% ABV, and hence the clever name based on CDC guidance that to kill the COVID virus you needed a disinfectant with at least 70% alcohol.

Anyway, gravity turned out lower than planned, and a last minute yeast issue had me using different yeast than originally planned.  So I ended up splitting the batch in two, and using two different yeasts.

Both versions have the common thread of a big punch of hop bitterness, a mild malt presence, and notable alcohol bite/aroma.  The batch fermented with East Coast Ale yeast has sweeter, fuller taste, and the batch fermented with the Vermont IPA yeast is a bit smoother.

Brewed: 5/25/2020.  Distributed: 6/19/2020.

ABV: 7.9% (Vermont IPA), 8.9% (East Coast Ale)  IBU: 154

Malts: Maris Otter, Viking Xtra Pale, Flaked Wheat, White Wheat, Red X

Hops: Magnum, Citra, Columbus, Falconer’s Flight, Amarillo, Cascade

Yeast: Gigayeast GY054 Vermont IPA, White Labs WLP008 East Coast Ale

Overall very mild.  Very little malt flavor, slight hop bite with mild hop aroma.

Brewed: 5/22/2020.  Distributed: 6/19/2020.

ABV: 5%,  IBU: 28

Malts: Viking Xtra Pale

Hops: Magnum, Chinook

Yeast: Wyeast 1056 American Ale

The America Homebrewer’s Association (AHA) promotes a “Big Brew Day” in the spring.  The idea being people around the world are brewing on the same day in a big event.  They put out one or two recipes for people to brew if you want to join in and be brewing the same thing as others.  This year’s big brew event I usually go to was cancelled (COVID), but I brewed from home on that day, and this is one of their recipes.

The taste is very hop forward with a hop bite, and a hint of yeast.  Finishes very cleanly, with lingering hop flavors.  Crisp and hoppy.

Brewed: 5/2/2020.  Distributed: 6/5/2020.

ABV: 6.6%,  IBU: 74

Malts: Brewer’s 2-row malt, Munich, Caramel 40L, Caramel 20L.

Hops: Columbus, Centennial, Cascade

Yeast: Wyeast 1056 American Ale