Old Woodie

Managed to set aside some time Sunday afternoon to bottle and create labels for my newest brew, Old Woodie Ale. Deemed the "weird beer" by my father in law after I explained to him the concept I was going for. I kind of like it, "weird beer", it feels good.

Old Woodie should be ready to drink in about two weeks, so no review yet, but I can explain what went into it. I stuck relatively closely to the grain and hop bill for a big English Style IPA, I even used English Ale Yeast. Here is where things get weird, I decided in addition to the English Ale yeast I tossed in some wild yeast (Brett) and I also added 1.5 ounces of oak chips (I've used the cubes before, but never the chips, curious to see the flavor it imparts) and let the whole thing sit for close to six months. The ABV came out at 7.6%. So my beer is some sort of Old Ale-English IPA-Wild Ale Hybrid, consequently THE WEIRD BEER.

Stay weird,

HolzBrew

Baltic Porter Review

Opened a homebrewed Baltic Porter ("Blackheart") tonight that I bottled last year on April 6th and I wanted to see how it held up with one year plus of age under the belt. A couple of quick specs on the Balt-Port, 8.5% ABV, brewed with California Lager Yeast fermented at room temps, and German Tradition hops for flavor and aroma. Here goes in HolzBrew LSD (not the drugs, but look, smell, drink) review fashion:

Look: As you can see above from the shoddy cell phone picture, this mother is dark as night. No sunlight penetrates it's murky depths. An average-sized deep tan lacing clings to the side of the glass.

Smell: Major maple, caramel, and toffee aroma, not much in the way of hop aroma

Drink: Lots of flavors up front, coffee, toasty malts, a little chocolate, caramel, and even a little, dare I say, root beer flavor. Hop bitterness jumps in through the middle and back end to help round this off the palate and avoid a cloying sweet after taste. No major flavor from the hops other than some needed bitterness to balance out the malt. Stickiness on the lips.


I don't rate my own beers on the academic scale, but I enjoyed this one all the way through. I've got one 12oz. and a 22oz. of this batch left, not sure if it will make it another year.

Don't forget about the big dark beers during the summertime.

Once you go black...

HolzBrew

OBX 2009 HolzBrew was there

2 Cases of HolzBrew Hefeweizen made its way down to the OBX for the annual Memorial Day trip. All in all, I think it was pretty well received. If I may be critical for a moment I think next time I will skip zesting the lemons and throwing that in during secondary, I think it lent too much of a lemon taste, mixed with the spritzy carbonation it almost took on a Sprite-like flavor.

While we were down in the OBX I managed to taste a local beer, Black Lager by Weeping Radish. I suppose you would probably categorize it as a schwarzbier. It was OK, I was already a couple beers deep and enjoying my dinner, so I didn't really take any tasting notes. I remember somewhat of a cidery characteristic that was somewhat displeasing, but all in all it was an OK offering.

The trip itself was fantastic, plenty of cold beer, games out on the beach, and sun. Big thanks to everyone who came down this year. It was a great group of people, all just trying to relax for a couple days.

Oh yeah, CONGRATULATIONS TO DON AND KELLY on the engagement!!! Another OBX miracle.

Get Beached,

HolzBrew

Cans, Bottles, Reviews, Oh my!

A couple of new beers rolled through the HolzBrew household this weekend and I thought I'd share my thoughts with the world wide web.


Würzburger Hofbräu Premium Pilsner

I just love the way the name of this brewery sounds, Wurz-burger! Any German word with a "z" sounds cool and then throw in "burger", which sounds delicious, and you've got a winning name. Maybe I should rename the 'ole home-brewery "Holzburger."

I was talking to my buddy Richard at Norm's this past Friday and he said that this pils had been flying off the shelves and that he was a big fan. I figured it would be hard to go wrong. I love a good German pilsner in the summertime.

Look: Pale straw yellow in color with a wonderful bright white lace.

Smell: Spicy Euro noble hops up front. A subtle graininess in the back ground.

Drink: Medium body with an excellent crisp taste. Spicy hop bitterness with herbal notes, imagine lemongrass. Light graininess finishes, leaving a slight bite on the palate which drys this beer up as it finishes. I also detect a slight buttery note, which I know many disapprove of, but I find it pleasing as long as it is slight.

What's not to like? Nothing. This beer is a King of its style.

Overall: A+


21st Amendment IPA

Similar to Wurzburger this brewer has a pretty cool name ... and it distributes its beer in a can. I love having some great canned options such as this, for the summertime. Cans are just easier to transport.

Look: Pours up a yellow/orange color with average head that quickly dissipates (I've always noticed that canned beer doe snot pour up with a thick head, how come?).

Smell: Tropical fruit aroma amid west coast hoppiness.

Drink: Moderate body mouth feel with a slightly sweet maltiness (i.e. the tropical fruitiness mentioned earlier), generous hoppiness but not overly aggressive.

A great summertime option for the hophead on the go. Cans are great for the beach, pool, park, etc.

Overall: B+


Get 'burgered, get canned or get both,

HolzBrew

The Vikings are Coming!

Hide your valuables, protect the women and children, the Vikings are coming!!!

Fortunately these Vikings come in 12oz. bottles and are much more delicious than the Vikings of yore (that's right I used "yore"). I have been told that the following Scandinavian offerings have been approved by the Commonwealth, and should be in stock with the distributor (Hop and Wine) sometime in June.


Mikkeller (Danish)
Stateside IPA
Beer Geek Breakfast
It's Alive


Nøgne Ø (Norwegian)
Dark Horizon
Porter
Imperial Stout
IPA

Both of these breweries have received high marks on Beer Advocate. The cool thing about the Scandinavian craft brewers is that they have been highly influenced by the American wave of craft brewers from the 80's, 90's and 2000's. It's very cool to see that the creativity of American craft brewers have inspired and influenced those overseas.

Get an axe and a helmet with horns and drink Viking-style,

HolzBrew

45 bottles of beer on the wall

You asked for it and I brewed it. One batch of Hefeweizen brew for consumption while basking in the warm Carolina sun (can't come soon enough). I set aside some time this afternoon to bottle. This was a pretty straight forward hef recipe, as follows:

Fermentables

6 lbs. Wheat LME
1 lbs. Wheat DME

Hops

1oz. Sterling @ 60 mins
1oz. Cascades @ 20 mins

Yeast

Bavarian Hefe IV Yeast

Special Ingredient

Add the zest from two lemons during secondary fermentation

OG: 1.047 FG: 1.12 ABV: 4.5%

There are two things that make this brew a little different than a typical Hef recipe. The first is the previously mentioned "special ingredient" lemon zest and the second is the addition of 1oz. of Cascades at the 20 minute mark. My goal for the cascades is to bring out some of citrus flavors you find in Hef's. Meg has an aversion to banana flavors in wheat beers, so I intended to feature the lemon - citrus side. Was I successful? We'll find out in about two weeks.

It's summer time in DC! Have a beer and enjoy it.

-HolzBrew

BBC Challenge!

A buddy of mine passed this along to me yesterday and I have to admit it was a lot different than what I expected. Check it out for a laugh. Warning, if you are easily offended don't watch this video (seriously).



BBC makes some great stuff and they are donating some kegs to my friend for a charity event, which makes them a top notch brewery in my book.

Get Challenged,

HolzBrew