Hefeweizen

As summertime approaches, it's a good time to kick off a hefeweizen. And it's been a while since I've brewed this style of beer.

I stopped by my local home brew supply shop today, specifically looking to pick up some WYeast 3068, and got talking with the proprietor about a hefeweizen he'd just brewed.  He recommended an RVA yeast, and as it happened, he did have some of that yeast available!  Because I was specifically looking to pick up a liquid yeast, I had placed a small cooler with some ice cubes in the back of my truck, and this worked out well.

Brew Day: 22 Apr 2019

Partial Mash:
4 oz Munich
2 oz flaked wheat

Boil (20 min):
1 lb Bavarian wheat DME

Hops: 7 g German Perle (@ 20 min)

Yeast: RVA Hefeweizen I (pitched half of the container)

Addendum, 2 May: Transferred to secondary.

Addendum, 18 May: Bottled; got 10 bottles.

Addendum, 4 June: We tried this one recently.  Terri likes it a lot, and gets recognizable banana out of it. I think it's a little lighter in body that it should be, but other than that, the flavor is very nice.  I get a bit of subtle clove, but not much in the way of sweetness that I'd say that I would recognize as banana.  But then, Terri and I have come out that way before; one of the early hefeweizens we tried at SweetWaters was similar, in that I got some clove and Terri got some very forward banana, and our beers were from the same keg.

Addendum, 5 Jul: Drinking another one tonight; body is more along the lines of what I prefer, and the first couple of sips are heavy on the clove.  I don't know if this is due to the fact that I was preparing dinner and had sampled some tomato and avocado with some heavy salt.  However, the beer is really pretty good, and very drinkable.

YAGB: Yet Another Ginger Belgian

My first ginger Belgian turned out so well that my wife demanded that I make another!

Brew Day: 18 Apr 2019

Partial Mash:
8 oz Munich
2 oz flaked wheat

Boil (20 min):
1 lb golden light DME
8 oz table sugar

~1 oz thinly-sliced ginger added to the last 10 min of the boil (in a hop bag)

Hops: 14 g German Perle (@ 20 min)

Yeast: BE-134

Addendum, 2 May: Transferred to secondary.

Addendum, 30 May: Bottled; got 9 good bottles and one partial re-purposed soda bottle.

Tasting Notes, 25 June: These notes aren't the result of the first taste, but more so the result of repeated statements made by my wife about how much she LOVES this beer!  I really enjoy the beer as it's clearly a Belgian and the addition of the ginger really adds a nice flavor to it.  I can really get a nice ginger "burn" at the end of the taste.  My wife, on the other hand, likens this to the sah'ti that she likes, even though this beer has no juniper.  ;-)  However, the point is that she really, REALLY enjoys this beer, and that's really all that matters.

African Queen IPA

Not long ago, I ran across African Queen hop pellets, and based on reported aroma/flavor profile, thought that it would not only be a good IPA to try, but also a good addition to my next left-over IPA!

Brew Day: 2 Apr 2019

Partial Mash:
6 oz Munich
2 oz flaked wheat

Boil (20 min):
1 lb Golden Light DME
4 oz table sugar

Hops:
7 g African Queen (@ 20 min)
21 g African Queen (flameout)
14 g African Queen (dry hop)

Yeast: US-05

Addendum, 16 Apr: Dry hopped

Addendum, 20 Apr: Bottled; got 9 good bottles.

Azacca Pale Ale

My wife recently had an Azacca Pale Ale at Fine Creek Brewing, and she really enjoyed it.  I've used Azacca hops before, but in an IPA.  It was really good, but I don't want something as hoppy and bitter as an IPA this time around.  It turns out that NorthernBrewer has an Azacca Pale Ale kit, and I decided to use that, or at least the hop schedule, as the basis for my pale ale.

This will be the second hopped wort to be included in my next left-over IPA.

Brew Day: 1 Apr 2019

Partial Mash:
6 oz Munich
2 oz flaked wheat

Boil (20 min):
1 lb Golden Light DME
4 oz table sugar

Hops:
4 g Azacca hops @ 20 min
12 g Azacca hops @ flameout
12 g Azacca hops, dry hop

Yeast: US-05

Addendum, 16 Apr: Dry hopped.

Addendum, 20 Apr: Bottled; got 9 good bottles and 1 re-purposed 8 oz soda bottle.

Addendum, 4 June: It turned out that by the time this one was ready, I think Terri had maybe lost a bit of enthusiasm for the flavor.  She describes it as "not one of my favorites".  That's okay, I enjoy it just fine.