Un Poquito Wylde Tasting

Now that my kegerator is fully operational again, and this keg is fully carbed, I can finally get around to tasting the micro saison I made with my local wild yeast. If you remember the grist was simple, half Vienna malt and half white wheat malt for an OG of 1.032.

For such a simple and small beer this thing has a lot going on. I think it's really cool to make a beer that is completely unique to your area. Unfortunately that's a hard thing to do here in South Texas where mold runs rampant most of the year. I probably tried harvesting yeast 5 or 6 times before I got this last round to actually work without any sort of infectious mold. All in all the flavors of the yeast are relatively mild. Brett character mostly. If I decide to reuse the yeast (which I did wash and save in a growler) I expect some more lacto/pedio character to develop.

Appearance is a ruddy straw color. From the tap a one finger pristine white head forms. The head sticks around quite a bit, that's thanks to the wheat.The head is a little bit alive, with rocky chunks of foam forming and dissipating. Beer is quite cloudy, yeast was not very flocculant. Even with a week of cold crashing, I may decide to hit it with some finings..

The aroma is interesting to say the least. A bit of crackery malt, and a touch of Czech Saaz pokes through, then just awash from the yeast. Solid Brett character, pineapple and other non-descript tropical fruits first, followed by danky bretty must and funk.

The taste follows suit right along with the nose. A bit of Czech saaz character makes itself known up front then gets washed away with Brett character. Tropical notes of pineapple and mango dominate the palate followed by a slight bit of musty Brett funk. A light bit of lactic sourness hits the back of the palate. Finishes dry, but that's too be expected.

The mouthfeel is surprisingly full for such a small beer. The large amount of wheat really helped with that, but there's also a certain silkiness to it that I believe to be coming from the yeast... a lot like what you would get from a saison yeast. I carbed it only to 2.5 volumes to keep it from being astringent, but it's not quite lively enough. So I think I'll up the pressure for a couple of days to see how that helps.

Overall it's a great beer, that's nice and refreshing as it's getting hot out. I think I'm going to try to let it live in the kegerator for a month before I completely finish it. I'd like a bit more acidity to develop. This yeast is interesting and could play well for a larger beer.

Edit 4/26: Decided to throw an ounce of Czech Saaz into the keg. I'm loving the character of the beer so far, but would really like some more hop character.

Kent Goldings Amber Tasting

I've been meaning to get around to typing up this tasting for a while now. My brother and I brewed this back in January and I've been drinking it pretty regularly ever since. In fact my half of it is nearly gone. This beer is by no means perfect, nor does it really fit to the style of your traditional American Amber. For one it's pretty modest in the alcohol content (around 5%) and it doesn't have the same caramel like sweetness (at least not as much as your typical American Amber does). But the biggest differentiation is the hop profile. I find most American Amber Ales to often times cross the line with American IPAs, but typically with more malty sweetness. Instead of going with your typical American citrusy hops I went with some nice soft Kent Goldings. I love the soft floral/fruity character that they add to the beer along with extremely smooth bitterness.

Overall I like this beer quite a bit, it's easy to drink and uncomplicated. The body is not watery at all, but I wish it was a touch more full. It's kind of brinking on being somewhat lager like in how crisp it is... not that it's a bad thing... but not what I was going for.

I'm not going to go into a full fledged tasting notes review on this, because this beer doesn't really call for one. But I will give you the gist of it.

It pours a nice amber with a dense head. Smells of bready malt and classic English hops (floral, a touch woodsy and fruity). The taste is smooth and uncomplicated. Easy to drink and refreshing, and a low enough ABV to not get into too much trouble with. The malt character is a bit bready with a touch of toffee and caramel. The hop bitterness is there, but not assertive, and the hop character takes the back seat. Finishes dry. The mouthfeel is crisp and full, carbed it to 2.5 volumes. Overall a nice beer... not exactly what I was shooting for, but may be something I brew again in the future to tweak a bit.

Gavroche Bier de Garde - Review

Commercial beer reviews aren't the norm for this blog. And why should they be? Any Tom, Dick or Harry can post something on Beer Advocate. But I find that the information on there is only useful when you're specifically looking for it. If I'm stuck between purchasing two different beers and can't make up my mind... sure I'll look them up on my phone to see the score, but I rarely read something that points me in the direction to try something specifically.


One of the very cool things about my job (department manager for a large Texas based retailer) is that I sometimes get my hands on products before they come to market in Texas. This beer that I'm about to review is one of those.

The main reason I'm going to review this is because I was floored at how great this beer was. To be honest, Biere de Garde is a style that I have very limited experience with. I've had the Flying Dog Garde Dog (not that great) and the Jenlain Ambree (not a bad beer) and that's it for the style. Speaking of the style everything I've read says the style is very loose and not all that specific, so I had no idea what to expect going into it.

This is the Brasserie St. Sylvestre's Gavroche. The bottle calls it a "French Red Ale", but really an amber biere de garde.

Appearance - Into an oversized red wine glass it pours a deep rudy amber with a two finger head that sticks around for a few minutes then dissipates into a thin lacy head that sticks around to the end of the glass.

Aroma - The first thing I get is sherry vinegar. Not in an assaulting or offensive way, it's actually quite restrained, but unmistakable. The sherry blends into notes of dried cherries and a flash of black pepper. It ends with a faint crackery maltiness and vanilla aroma.

Taste - Delicate malt sweetness with bits of caramel and vanilla that quickly fades into dryness. A flash of tartness with sherry vinegar, cherries and pepper mid palate. It ends with a small, but firm hop bitterness. The most amazing thing is that this beer is 8.5% ABV and tastes nothing like it. The beer is so wonderfully smooth that you could easily (like I did) end up a bit tipsy by the end of the 750ml bottle.

Mouthfeel - Smooth and delicate with a spritsy carbonation. The mouthfeel is not heavy at all, but still full and lively.

Overall - Everything about this beer speaks of restraint. The flavors are complex and all over the place, but so tight and controlled that everything has it's place and doesn't fatigue the palate at all. Deceptively smooth and refreshing but interesting enough to keep you thinking about all of the flavors until the end of the bottle.

Biere de Garde is not a style I've tried to brew before, but after drinking this I just may have to.

Nelson Sauvin Saison - Second Tasting

I keep meaning to get to a formal tasting of this mild, but I can't stop drinking this saison. In fact I only have 10 bombers and a handful of 12oz. bottles left. So I figured I'd better do another tasting.

Plus the hop character is quickly dropping out, and this beer is somewhat hop focused.

Appearance - Pours beautiful rocky head of tight bottles that just doesn't quit. After about five minutes it drops into a nice ring of lace. The beautiful golden color made me dub this beer "Lapin d'Or" which is French for "Golden Rabbit".

Aroma - The intensity of those Nelson Sauvin hops has died down considerably. The aromas of over ripe pineapples and passion fruit is still there, but not nearly as assertive. More spice comes through, as does some nice notes of lemon peel.

Taste - There's still that great impression of sweetness from the pils malt up front that's quickly washed out by the high carbonation. In the middle there's a lot of the same flavors as are in the aroma. The lemon peel character is definitely more assertive in the palate than I thought it would be, but not unpleasant at all. There's some great spice and those nice tropical fruit flavors as well.

Mouthfeel - Still what I expected it to be. The high carbonation makes the mouthfeel full, and the 3711 leaves some great silkiness. And of course the finish is long and dry, only more accentuated by the high carbonation.

Overall - This beer has really developed nicely. I think it's safe to say that it is now at it's prime. I don't want to hang on to it much longer as the hop profile will drop out too much. This is a very well balanced beer that's great for the summer.

Nelson Sauvin Saison - First Tasting

I should say that this actually is the third tasting, but I just got internet hooked up in my new house so... deal with it. The recipe for this can be found here.

I'll start off by saying that this is a really solid beer. I opted not to do any souring. However I did decide to dry hop for 7 days with the Nelson Sauvin hops. The hops are really assertive, a touch overwhelming actually. There's lots of over ripe pineapple with fresh passion fruit in the nose, all from the hops. I think these hops would be great in something that is something more straight forward and less complex... like a pale ale or IPA. Anyway... here's the rundown.

Appearance - Golden orangish in color with pale straw highlights. The head poured rocky and chunky, just like you would expect in a saison. It's nice and cloudy, which is how I prefer my saisons. I don't really like them to be crystal clear. Leaves some bad ass lacing.

Nose - Even though the hops are dominant, the first thing I get is a candy sweetness (from the pilsner malt). That really helps to accent the hop profile. Over ripe pineapple followed by mangos and passion fruit. Behind that is a bit of spice, lemon peel then orange, finished with a slight breadiness (from the two - row).

Mouthfeel - I carbed this up to a shade over 3 volumes (3.2 actually) so it's very spritzy and full. The bubbles are very fine which just adds to the sprity mouthfeel. It has a nice bit of silkiness too, I find that you get this a lot with that Wyeast 3711 French Saison.

Taste - I'm going to start with the finish on this one... which is long and dry. That's actually my favorite thing about a good saison, a long and dry finish. At first you get that impression of candy sweetness. In the middle there's a lot of the same that you get in the nose, but in different order. The spiciness is first followed by lemon and orange. The passion fruit comes next followed by the hop bitterness which is just enough to hold the beer up and keep it in balance. Right at the back you get the pineapple and mango then that candy sweetness impression that fades into the long finish.

Overall - This beer is solid. I can't say that I like it any more or less than my regular saison. It's just much different. I think that the dry hops are just a little too much, but if I let it set for about 2 months it should come out just right.

First Tasting: Hairy Little Monster

Not too long ago I brewed this funky rye hop bomb. And I'm drinking the first bottle now.

Appearance - Golden reddish in color. Pours a creamy frothy white head. You can't tell it from the picture because I accidentally over - poured and the foam went over the side.

Aroma - Nice noble hop notes, but I could use more. I probably should have dry hopped... oh well. Smokey and in a big way. There's no smoke malt in this beer, that's a total function of the brett l. Hints of sour cherry and some pepperiness (from the rye).

Taste - Big rye spiciness. There is some definite bitterness to it, but not from the hops so much as it is carbonation astringency. That malt is toasty as well... almost bready. I'm also getting the smokiness that was in the nose, and in a big way.

Mouthfeel - Very VERY full for such a dry beer. I'm not sure exactly what that's a function of... but I like it.

Overall - I think this ended up being a successful beer and pretty close to what I was hoping to achieve; which is a low gravity ale with tons of flavor. However I think that the brett character could stand to be more restrained, maybe use it as a later fermenter and not during primary along side a sacch. strain like I did. I also think I nice dosage of dry hopping would really be neat.