Strawberry Cream Ale?!?!

So, we've been talking about making this beer for little over a year now. The original concept came from my assistant, 'Scuba' Steve, to add 60 lbs of strawberries to a beer style that is uniquely American and originated on the east coast. I said, "right on, let's do it!". The idea being that we'd present this beer on or around the fortnight that Wimbledon was happening...strawberries and cream...get it? The name of the beer was going to be Forty Love (40-0). Genius!(Well, at least we think so.) The timing just didn't work out for us to brew this beer for that time of year. We already had Graduation on tap the month before and we thought that back to back fruit beers would diminish just how unique both beers were. Fast forward to 2010. The strawberries we ordered were still resting comfortably in their cryogenic state;90 lbs of them, in fact. We have an open fermenter. We have grain and hops. We have extra yeast. Hmmmm. Long story short, Forty Love is being brewed as I type this. Instead of Wimbledon as the tie in for this beer, we will now be shooting for a Valentine's Day unveiling. Darn, aren't we smart? For the beer geeks out there-you know who you are- the grain bill is German Pilsner, American 2-row Pale malt and Belgian Cara-pils. Saaz and Strisselspalt hops. 18 IBU's. We're going to use our Chico yeast strain on this baby. Lager yeast could be used, too. But, this style calls for a warm fermentation and since we will be making our Steamer in a few weeks, I just figured ale yeast would be better. 60 lbs. of strawberries will be added into the fermenter at knock out, and 30 lbs. of macerated strawberries will be used in the dry hopping. I really hope it turns the beer a hue of red....we'll see! See y'all soon! PLB-boog

Big Beer Update!

Ok...so, the Imperial Stout and the Barley Wine have been made. Probably two of the highest abv beers we've ever produced. The Imp stout is a hearty 10.5% and the Barley Wine (tentatively named Rabble Rouser) is slowly creeping up on that number. Looks like we have a hearty batch of yeast in the house! The Imp is going to be transferred into a conditioning tank with a couple of oak spirals soaked in a yet to be determined substance. Probably port, but we'll see. Typically we would condition this beer for a few months before serving it, but I'm gonna be racking off a gallon or two every couple of weeks to serve, so we can see how this beer is aging. It won't be mentioned on the beer board, so ask the bartender...wink, wink...nudge, nudge. As for the Rabble Rouser, when it finally ferments out, we will dry hop it with some Centennial, Chinook and (hopefully if I can get my hands on some) a new hop called Citra that is pretty awesome. This will give the beer that hop aroma I like and add a little balance, too. FYI, this beer is over 100 ibu's!!! Look for the schwarzbier this weekend and maybe a new mild....wahooooo! cheers, kids! plb-boog

Our quest for world dominance!!!!

Greetings from the brew house! Now that I have hacked my way onto the website, be prepared for the daily onslaught of info and updates from the brew universe!!! I just dryhopped 5 gallons of Oatmeal Stout with fresh hazelnuts and vanilla beans for tonight. We are calling it Oatmeal Kooky (cookie, get it?)! Stop down and have a pint or two.... P(eace) L(ove) B(eer) boog....