Good Clean Fun

Last night was the weekly cyclocross race in town. Cyclocross, for those unfamiliar, is sort of a mutant love child of road and mountain biking. A simplified description would be that you put knobby tires on a road bike, then race around a mixture of pavement, grass, dirt, sand, and mud. All in all, a very good time.

The local race here is also in the evening, meaning you need a head lamp, and there's beer. Who wouldn't like that. The picture here is in between the fist and second races of the night (yes, there's only one gear). Most people, myself included, do both. You can check out the series here: Fifth Street Cross.

While I was fortunate enough to have a few good beers that night. The best by far was Sierra Nevada's 2007 edition of their Harvest Ale. A harvest ale, is a pale ale on steroids. Brewer's get hops shipped directly from the vines for a harvest ale, so that there's only a few hours is between picking and brewing. This creates an intense hops flavor that's hard to match with normal dried hops. I also happened to have Sierra Nevada's 2007 Celebration Ale, normally an top-tier IPA. I found this year's to have too much bite and not enough flavor. Alas. The harvest ale on the other hand had a wonderfully complex hops flavor of citrus fruits, rinds, and pine. Now lots of beers can have that, but the harvest ale, also had a near perfect mouthfeel that made it wonderfully balanced and oh-so drinkable.

Every Season is Beer Season

I'm thinking it will get colder eventually. Maybe we'll get snow by March, who knows. In the meantime, I'll be enjoying the bike trails and whatever beer finds me. Lately I've been making my way through a mixed case of Troeg's, Shenandoah, Penn Brewery, and Flying Fish. Here's a few of my favorites so far:

Troegs Brewing Co. - Dream Weaver Wheat - A nice, creamy take on the German hefe with a slightly lighter body. Very much like a beer creamsickle. [3.85/5]

Troegs Brewing Co. - Pale Ale - Lots of orange, grapefruit, and apple hops flavors without much bitterness. Tasty, but almost too smooth. [3.95/5]

Flying Fish - ESB Ale - A great session beer with a smooth caramel malt body and finishing note of herbal and grassy hops. Yum. [3.75/5]

Philly Beer + Parsonage Beer

Big weekend for beer. Saturday saw a trip through outer Philly with McKenzie Brewpub, Victory Brewing (dinner at right), The Beer Yard, and General Lafayette. Sunday has a late, as usual, batch of pumpkin beer brewing.

The highligh was McKenzie's Vautour Saison. Complex, spicy, hoppy, barnyard funk - everything you want in a great saison.

Here's the recipe for the pumpkin ale. It vaguely follows my recipe from last year of using a brown ale. I'll probably add spice as needed at bottling.

5# Marris Otter
3# Munich
1# Rye
1# 60L
.5# Wheat
.25# Special B

Mash at 150 for 2 hours
Add cooked meat of two small pie pumpkins to lauer tun

1 oz. Golding(4.5% AA) @ 60 min
.5 tsp Irish Moss @ 15
2 tsp yeast nutrient @ 15
Wyeast American Ale II
OG: 1.054
FG: 1.012

Spice at Bottling:
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger

Best Pilsner Yet

I'll announce it now: Since this spring, I've been on a quest in search of awesome pilsners. Tonight I had the best yet: Buzzard Bay Pilsner from Mass.

Mmm, hoppy, but with a touch of malt too. I have to hand it to this beer. It manages to pick up on the subtle, earthy and odd tastes of a true Czech Pils, while still amping up the hops a touch. Yes, I do like this beer. I should also mention this beer has a great appearance, a touch darker than normal, but with great head retention and lacing usually reserved for a wheat beers. Find this beer if you love a good pils. [4.15/5]

Find and drink it if you can. It's damn fine. More on this beer and the brewery.

Super Saison

This one's going to be good. I think. Probably, as long as it doesn't explode like the Grand Cru I made a year ago.

Super Saison
5# German Pilsner malt
3# Belgian Pale
2# Belgian Munich
1# Wheat
1# Light Candi Sugar

1 oz. Styrian Golding (4.2% AA) @ 60 min
.25 oz. Crystal (5.1% AA) @ 30 min
1 oz. Saaz (3.4% AA) @ 10 min
1 oz. Saaz @ 0 Min

.5 Tsp Irish moss @ 10 min
1 Tbs crushed coriander @ 10 min
2 Tsp yeast nutrient @ 10 min

OG: 1.076
FG: 1.007
IBU: Maybe I'll figure it out later
ABV: 8.6%

This might be ready around Thansgiving, or Christmas.

(That's not my exploded beer. Mine looked similar, but there was less foam on the fermenting bucket and more on the ceiling.)