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

This was a new/unique yeast for me, and I didn’t realize until after I bought it that it would have this tangy side to it.  It makes for a unique taste twist, but won’t be one of my regular yeasts.

The aroma is bright and floral, full of hops.  Taste is bright and citrusy-tangy.  Finishes with a clean, mellow malt flavor, and bit of lingering hop citrus.

Brewed: 10/23/2020.  Distributed: 11/24/2020.

ABV: 7.2%,  IBU: 46

Malts: Brewer’s 2-row malt, Maris Otter, Flaked wheat, White wheat, Vienna.

Hops: Citra, Amarillo, Galaxy, CTZ

Yeast: Omega OYL-200 Tropical IPA

First off, this name is lame.  It was a placeholder until I could come up with something better to play off the Galaxy Hop name.  But I stopped thinking about it, and I got stuck with it.  Oh well.

There’s a sweet aroma, and an initial twang of hops.  It initially has a bit of a raw edge to it, that mellows out as it transitions to a mild fruitty hop taste mixed with some mellow malts.  Overall a “bright” Pale Ale I guess is how I’d describe it.

Brewed: 10/13/2020.  Distributed: 11/15/2020.

ABV: 5.5%,  IBU: 47

Malts: Brewer’s 2-row malt, White wheat, Flaked wheat, Crystal 20L.

Hops: Magnum, Cascade, Galaxy, Chinook, Citra

Yeast: Omega OYL-004 West Coast Ale

This recipe is a child of my Red Rye IPA recipe, Barbarossa IPA.  I wanted to make a version with less caramel sweetness and a lower alcohol bite.  Thus was born Little Barbarossa.

This beer has a nice fresh hop aroma, and a tastebud twinge from the malt, followed by characteristic rye malt slickness on the mouth.  Full flavor of hops with a rye twist.

Brewed: 10/9/2020.  Distributed: 10/30/2020.

ABV: 4.9%,  IBU: 69

Malts: Brewer’s 2-row malt, Red X, Rye, Carafoam, Crystal 20L.

Hops: Columbus, Perle, Amarillo, Cascade

Yeast: Wyeast 1056 American Ale

Clean and refreshing lager.  Clean malt taste, clean yeast taste, with no sweetness in either.  Slight hop edge to let you know hops are in there, but not hoppy.

Brewed: 7/28/2020.  Distributed: 9/18/2020.

ABV: 4.9%   IBU: 32

Malts: Xtra Pale Ale, Maris Otter, White Wheat, Vienna

Hops: Magnum, Northern Brewer

Yeast: White Labs WLP830- German Lager

This name is lame, I never was able to work it into something good.  But is based on the hops it uses.  Azacca is apparently some god of agriculture, and Centennial is obviously 100.

Strong sweet aroma. Crisp bite of hops bitterness that then fades into a smooth malt/yeast taste that mellows nicely. Overall very dry, crisp, and refreshing.

Brewed: 7/30/2020.  Distributed: 9/8/2020.

ABV: 8.0%   IBU: 50

Malts: Xtra Pale Ale, Maris Otter, Flaked Wheat, White Wheat, Caramel 20L

Hops: Centennial, Azacca

Yeast: White Labs WLP067- Coastal Haze Ale Yeast Blend

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