Christmas Gift Beer…

I’m always proud when people ask me if I can brew some beer for them to give as a present. It has happened every year for about three years. I have brewed beer for a co-worker’s husband’s Christmas gift, and her brother’s birthday, and now I have been asked if I can brew up another Christmas gift beer for an Aunt.

Now I know I am short on time to brew a beer and have it bottle ready for Christmas, but I am up to the challenge. So I asked a few simple questions. First, light or dark? and second what style of beer? My answers were “light” and “we normally drink Coors Light”. I know, I know Coors, don’t judge there is routinely Old Milwaukee in my fridge for L Bird and I in a pinch.

So with those guidelines I set about looking for something that was light and fairly neutral and the final guideline was that the ingredients needed to be in supply at the local homebrew store. I finally settled on a nice “lawnmower beer” of Cream Ale. Now don’t panic, this is a homebrewed cream ale so it won’t taste anything like the delicious but always dangerous Genny Cream Ale.

Here is the simplified recipe, adapted from Northern Brewer’s Cream Ale Kit.:

3 lbs of Extra Pale Dry Malt Extract

3.3 lbs of Munton’s Extra Light Malt Syrup

3/4 lbs of Honey Malt (crushed)

1/4 lb of Belgian Biscuit Malt (crushed)

1 1/2 oz Colombus Hops (Pellets)

Safale US-05 Yeast

Steep the Honey and Biscuit malts at 170 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove the grains, bring to a boil. Once the wort is rolling at the dry malt extract, malt syrup and 1 oz of hops. Boil for 50 minutes, then add 1/2 oz of Colombus hops. Boil wort for 10 more minutes, remove from heat and chill wort. Transfer the wort to the fermenter vessel, pitch yeast and top up with water to 5 1/2 gallons. Ferment to dryness.

So that’s what am I am doing while I am typing this, but I thought I would share this.

Yeah, do you see that? I see a smiling face on a misshapen head. I’m not sure if I’m creeped out or if it is that old Benjamin Franklin saying “Beer is proof God wants us to be happy.” and it’s a happy face. Or who knows as long as we are talking religion if I look again it could be a dove with the olive branch below it. Ah hell, maybe its just a sign this is going to be one great beer.

Yeah, that’s what I’m going with. Well I’m off for my final hops addition, so until then keep ‘em tippin’!

Pretty Things Jack D’or Saison Review

Its been quite awhile since I have done a proper beer review. I have been cutting back my drinking for a bit and on the occasions when I’ve had a social drink or two it has always been from a big producer. So I decided it was time to do a review, which brings me to Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project.

As I was looking for a beer, I have to say I was drawn in by the artwork and name on the label. I thought that “Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project” sounded pretty cool and home grown. Once I grabbed the bottle and read a little bit I was won over. The owners introduce themselves, tell us they draw their own labels, and brew their own beer in their tiny and creative brewery. Awesome, I love supporting small start ups. So on with the review:

Appearance: It pours a pale straw color and is slightly hazy. The head quickly dissipated, but the beer was very effervescent.

Aroma: The initial aroma was citrusy with some spicier notes. There were also some wheat and yeast aromas that were reminiscent of a hefeweizen .

Taste: It has a clean and crisp taste that gives way to a very slight bitterness. It was light, easy drinking and refreshing.

Overall: This is a nice beer, it’s drinkability is great. This is supposed to be a Saison which is traditionally a farmhouse ale style that is pretty open to interpretation. Their interpretation is nice, but it is nothing that stands out amongst the crowd. That is not saying that it is not a good beer, because it really is fantastic, but it isn’t going to stand out in a tasting of 10 Saisons. But even with that caveat it is definitely worth picking up a bottle or two. Plus hey you are supporting a small Mom & Pop brewery which is awesome in itself.

Keep ‘em ‘tippin!!