The Last of the Strawberry Blonde

I bottled the last of the Strawberry Blonde keg this morning yielding 10 bottles which are now stashed in the beer fridge. This recipe was a big hit and we will definitely make it again. The beer was a bit cloudy, even after being in the fridge for a couple of weeks. I'm not sure why - perhaps it needs to sit in secondary even longer or could really benefit from a good cold-break after the boil.

A note about the Kolsch: We killed the first batch at Foamstock. Neither of us were a big fan of it even though there was nothing wrong with it. The second batch is in the fridge now and although it has a better initial taste, the aftertaste is crappy - very green tasting or possibly some other issue. I'm going to let it sit another week and try it again. Even at its best, this recipe just isn't clicking and I don't plan on making it again.

If you want to try the Strawberry Blonde you better stop by soon - I don't see those 10 bottles surviving long around here.

Keep On Brewin'

The UFO Clone was so delicious and I squeezed the last of the keg into two bottles this morning. It didn't last long as everyone that tried it really liked it. Right now that recipe has a high probability of winning the Clone Wars and becoming a regular on tap here. Of course, its just the first one...

The Kolsch is good too, but still a little green. I rushed it so that I could give it away for a friend's party today. However, we might get lucky and get it back. Due to the tropical storm that is pounding our area right now, I am hearing the party has low attendance and that keg might make its way back to the fridge. I have my fingers crossed. In another week that beer will be really good I think.

The Strawberry Blonde hit the fridge today and I'll start carbing it up tomorrow. We are very excited and can't wait for next weekend to come so we can get in to it.

I have a couple of batches to brew early this week, so I'm getting starters and stuff going this weekend. Busy busy busy.

Update: We got the whole keg of homebrew back. Although we tried our best (we ended up attending the party in question), we could not kill the half keg of Miller Light that blocked our path to the Kolsch so it is back in our fridge.

Blonde Meets Berries

Batch 7 got racked on to 4 pounds of strawberries yesterday. I prepared the strawberries by removing the stems and slicing them in half. They then took a 15 minute bath in 160 degree water to 'pasteurize' and clean them up a bit and then spent a few hours in the freezer. Freezing the strawberries causes the cell walls in the fruit to rupture, releasing all the goodness inside when they thaw.

Once frozen, I dumped the strawberries in a clean primary and racked the beer on to them. Even though this is a secondary, I used a primary bucket for this operation since jamming four pounds of strawberries in to the 1 1/2 inch mouth of my carboy seemed like a pain - not to mention getting them all out later.

I have high hopes for this batch. The end result is supposed to have just a hint of strawberry flavor in the aftertaste. Jess is a big fan of Pete's Strawberry Blonde, so she is excited about this one as well.

Batch #7 - Strawberry Blonde

Brew Date: 7/20/08
Recipe:
30 Minute Steep of -
1 lb. Rahr 2-Row
1 lb. Cara-Pils
.25 lb. Flaked Oats
.25 lb. White Wheat Malt

Boil -
1 lb. Light DME (Breiss) 60 Minutes
.25 oz. Saaz (4%) 60 Minutes
.50 oz. Saaz (4%) 30 Minutes
5 lbs. Light DME (Breiss) 15 Minutes
.50 oz. EK Goldings (5%) 15 Minutes
1 tsp. Irish Moss 15 minutes
.50 oz. EK Goldings (5%) Flame Out
Wyeast 1056 American Ale (Washed/OJ)

OG: 1.060

Notes: Will secondary on to 4 lbs. fresh strawberries for 2 weeks, then rack off to clean carboy for another 2 weeks.

8/9: 1.016 (Moved off berries into carboy)