When breweries do nice things...

My favorite Texas brewery is hands down Real Ale Brewing Co. in Blanco Texas. These guys don't make a bad beer. One of their more notorious brews is Sisyphus. It's an awesome barleywine that's not too Americanized. Most American barleywines are just a stones throw from an Imperial IPA, but these guys do it right.

Back in December I got word from a friend that they would be giving away 5 gallon portions of the late runnings to homebrewers. I couldn't make it down there due to work, but my brother was on break from college so I sent him to pick some up for me.

The runnings were at 1.055. I decided to hop it like a pale ale. After the boil the gravity was 1.062.

Here's my hop schedule.

IBUs 43

1 oz. Galena 30 minutes
1 oz. Willamette 20 minutes
1 oz. Cascade 20 minutes
1 oz. Willamette 10 minutes
1 oz. Willamette 0 minutes

The late hop schedule kept the bitterness smooth with the flavors bright. I fermented it with dry Nottingham yeast. The one thing I didn't initially think about was that their mash profile was for a barleywine, so I ended up with something sweeter than I intended. The F.G. was 1.018.

I fermented cool at 66 degrees to keep the alcohols warm and smooth while still allowing for some ester production. I carbonated to 2.25 volumes.

Over all this is a very nice and drinkable beer. While it is a tad on the sweet side the alcohols are warm enough, and the hops bright enough, to keep it balanced. It's really great when breweries give back.