Dual Spires Black Lodge

Great name, even better beer.  Thanks to the generosity of another brewer who goes by the name "rlbois1" on homebrewtalk website I've been able to brew a new dark beer.  I didn't think I was alone in my love for this brew so I decided to get some other beer drinkers opinions.

This is the brew in question:

And here is the review from my wife and another fellow brewer (fwiw both drink a lot of great craft beers).  This beer was served from the keg.

Review 1:

• Creamy off white head
• Murky red colour
• Good carbonation
• Some hops and sorghum malt on the nose.  Balanced between them both.
• Firm bitterness
• Light body
• Some twang
• Licorice into finish with no esters.
• Last mouthful was "dry, lasting hop bitterness, nice tarry sweet balancing note"
• Overall a good beer 6 out of 10

Review 2:

• Rich aroma, sweet
• Strong hops on the tongue
• Candy syrup and molasses lingers in aftertaste
• Taste liquorice in the aftertaste
• Fuller mouthfeel compared to my other gluten free beers
• Lacing evident in the glass
• Fairly clear
• 7.5 out of 10 - Overall very drinkable. 

Thanks again to rlbois1 for the recipe which you can find here -> Dual Spires Black Lodge Ale

 

"What are you lookin at" IPA

Having just recently switched to kegging (in the last couple of months), I've been able to skip over the very long bottle carbonation times I experienced before.  And for my love of hop forward beers, it's been a blessing in disguise.

This recipe is based on the Punk IPA clone from BYO clone brew magazine and others opinions from Aussie Homebrewer forum.  If you don't like bitter IPA's this beer is not for you.  The bitterness comes on like a Scottish punk and punches you right in the face.  It tastes fantastic.  As always mouthfeel just isn't enough but it's always an area of continued research.

This beer is definitely going to become a staple in my keg rotation.

"What are you lookin at" IPA

Batch size:  20L

Recipe:

1.4 Kg Sorghum Syrup @ 60 minutes

350g Maltodextrine @ 60 minutes

54g Columbus (12% AA) @ 60 minutes

1 x whirlfloc  tablet @ 15 minutes

34g Ahtanum Hops (8% AA) @ 15 minutes

1 tsp Yeast nutrient @ 10 minutes

500mL Amber Candy Syrup @ 0 minutes

1.4Kg Sorghum Syrup @ 0 minutes

*** Cold Crash ***

Yeast Nutrient

2 x US-05 Yeast

50g Amarillo Dry Hop @ 7 days

Double IPA - Drinking

This would have to be my favourite beer so far.  I was happy with the amount of body (although it can always do with more), the abundance of hop flavour and the huge grassiness from all the dry hopping.

I passed it onto a local craft bar owner who rated it as the best gluten free beer they've tried yet.

I've also entered the beer in the Queensland Amateur brewing competition to get some critical feedback.  I'll be sure to post the results when I hear back.

As per the photo, it definitely looked the part.

Was it a hop too far?  No.  It turned out just right :)

Chinook IPA - Drinking

The Chinook IPA turned out very drinkable.  It had a nice amber colour (as per the picture), grassy flavour from the dry hopping and strong grapefruit flavours from all the Chinook hops.

Definitely need to brew it again.

A Hop Too Far? (IIPA) - Brewing

Ok, I confess.  I'm a hop addict.  Can't get enough of American hops.  So it was inevitable that I'd try and make a Double IPA.  This beer is a bit of a beast and if all goes well, should be quite drinkable.  Although the dry hops are listed I haven't reached that stage of fermentation yet.  The aroma coming off this beer at three days in is the stuff dreams are made of.  I expect this will come together very well in the bottle.

Also I used Calcium carbonate in an attempt to lower the acidity from the fermented sorghum, in the boil this time.  And I added the Amber Candy Syrup at flameout.  This should make for a nice amber coloured beer.

Recipe:
8oz Maltodextrine @ 60 minutes
1.4Kg Sorghum Syrup @ 60 mins
0.75oz Columbus Hops @ 60 mins
0.75oz Centennial Hops @ 60 mins
0.5oz Cascade Hops @ 30 mins
0.5oz Columbus Hops @ 30 mins
0.5oz Centennial Hops @ 30 mins
1 x whirlfloc tablet @ 15 mins
0.5oz Cascade @ 15 mins
0.5oz Centennial Hops @ 15 mins
0.5oz Cascade Hops @ 5 mins
0.5oz Centennial Hops @ 5 mins
0.5oz Chinook Hops @ 5 mins
1tsp Calcium carbonate @ 5 mins
1 tsp Yeast Nutrient @ 5 mins
500ml Amber Candy Syrup @ 0 mins
1.4Kg Sorghum Syrup @ 0 mins
*** Cold Crashed for 30 minutes ***
2 packets of US-05 American Ale Yeast

Dry hops
1oz Cascade Hops
1oz Centennial Hops
1oz Chinook Hops
1oz Citra Hops

Chinook IPA - Brewing

Continuing on with my Single Hop IPA Series (thanks Mikkeller for the idea) I thought I would trial Chinook.  Having heard some bad things about boiling Chinook for 60 minutes I decided to cut this recipe down to a 30 minute boil.

Recipe:
1.4Kg Sorghum Syrup @ 30 minutes
250g Maltodextrine @ 30 minutes
28g Chinook Hops @ 30 minutes
28g Chinook Hops @ 15 minutes
1 Whirlfloc Tablet @ 15 minutes
1tsp Yeast Nutrient @ 5 minutes
28g Chinook Hops @ 0 minutes
250ml Amber Candy Syrup @ 0 minutes
1.4Kg Sorghum Syrup @ 0 minutes
*** Cold Crash for 30 minutes ***
2 packets of US-05 American Ale Yeast

I also dry hopped this beer with 3oz (84g) of Chinook Hops at 7 days.  Sampling just before bottling I get Hop bitterness, hop bitterness and then a big dose of tropical flavours.  And I also put 1 teaspoon of Calcium carbonate post fermentation.

Fruit Beer - Drinking

Well this ended up being a huge success, although it was an expensive operation.  The raspberries definitely dominated both the flavour and the aroma of this beer.  It was highly regarded by glutenous brewers and they actually convinced me it was good (I wasn't originally sold on it).  The calcium carbonate definitely helped to keep the acidity down from the raspberries, otherwise it may not have been drinkable.

So to recap:
Very easy drinking
Strong Raspberry flavour and aroma
The beer is very tart like natuaral raspberries

Photo of the beer as taken by my wife: