Sunday, October 12, 2008

Happiness is a Brown Ale

The Bliss is just around the corner which means I need a beer to cover my price of admission. I have a Barley Wine I can take, but it probably needs a bit more time. I have a Saison, but I've gone Belgian the last two years. I thought back to a conversation at last years Bliss where it was suggested (with tongue in cheek) that I was afraid of hops. I'll admit that in years past, I wasn't as receptive to hoppy beers as I now am and I'm still not to the point where I'm ready to chew on a mouthful of hops like some of you are, but I'm digging a bit more bitterness in my beers these days. So, for this year's Bliss, I give you my Brown Ale.

16 Plato (1.066)
61.2 IBU

68% 2-Row Malt
10% Caramel Malt (40L)
8% CaraPils Malt
8% Wheat Malt
4% Chocolate Malt
2% Special Roast

1.38 oz N. Brewer hops - 8.8% aa (60 mins)
0.75 oz N. Brewer hops - 8.8% aa (15 mins)
1.38 oz Cascade hops - 6.3% aa (10 mins)
1.5 oz Cascade hops - 6.3% aa (0 mins) 10 min. steep
1.5 oz Amarillo hops - 8.5% aa (0 mins) 10 min. steep

50 mL 1st generation, Troegs house ale yeast slurry

3 comments:

Blue-eyed Devil said...

Sounds tasty...can't wait to sample it. Congrats on living the dream as a brewmaster! Very cool.

Hops, hops, hops!

Blue-eyed Devil said...

Oh, and any chance a small bottle of this might find its way to the Bliss (assuming it's ready)?

TCM said...

Unfortunately, that Red got dumped. The brett. character was nice, but it never got sour and took on a "band-aid" like flavor. I've got another going, but I went about it a bit differently, so no telling when it will be done.