Tasted: English Bitter 2.0

Brewed only a short month ago, the English Bitter 2.0 lived a short and glorious life.  It was, as it should have been, enjoyed thoroughly and in large quantities; thus, despite its generally larger original volume of 5 gallons (as compared to the usual 4 gallon), it went swiftly into the night.  I think you'll see, the reason this beer went so quickly is defined in its score.

Appearance:  9
Aroma:  10
Style:  9
Bitterness:  6
Maltiness:  5
Mouthfeel:  5
Head:  5
Balance:  4

These marks earn the English Bitter 2.0 a 53 out of 55 and a percentage of 93%.

This friendly beverage, although lacking the grainy draw of its older sibling, brings you closer with its enticing aromas, clear bright body, and fully sufficient head.  This second generation proves to be closer to the eventual goal of a completely unobtrusive beverage that is drinkable in quantity and enjoyable in quality.

My only complaint is that it turned out a little bit too bitter.  I think that might have to do with the changes I made and the yeast I chose.  I think if I go back to the European Ale yeast and decrease the hops just a tad, this beer will be just where I want it to be.

Recipe: Session Bitter 2.0

Tasted: Rye Pale Ale 3.2

The almighty Rye Pale Ale.  Friend to all, savior to some.  As beers/recipes/flavors evolve, so do we in our ideals of what a beer "should" be.  This iteration of Rye Pale Ale arrived by the inspiration of Brewmaster Mike.  One day he was in the brew shop and saw a new hop that caught his eye.  This hop, Pacific Jade, supposedly has a very earthy, woody flavor to it that Brewmaster Mike thought would enhance the Rye Pale Ale.  This combination of new hop additions and a slightly lower mash temperature would culminate in a refreshing earthy noted beer that we would all enjoy.


Aroma:  7
Appearance:  10
Style:  7
Bitterness:  4
Maltiness:  4
Mouthfeel:  5
Head:  5
Balance:  5


These marks earn the Rye Pale Ale a 47 out of 55 and a percentage of 85%.  


The Rye Pale Ale, a well traveled beverage guides the consumer with its age and experience through an adventure through the backwoods just before dusk.  The journey begins in a field of rye where you sit enjoying some dried sunflower seeds, as the sharpness of the rye pinches at your nostrils and the sun beams light through a menacing cloud.  Your soon lead through a grassy meadow near a pine thicket as you search for cover from the ominous storm approaching, your sinuses cleared by the brightness of the needles.  Once hidden by the trees a hint of oak wafts through the air and in the darkness you realize that you are safe in the warm embrace of your guide and old friend, Rye Pale Ale.


This beer is a great variation on a theme.  The recipe that we've played with on and off has really surprised us all with every iteration.  I think this time around, the Rye exhibited itself appropriately.  It took what was changed and applied the flavors we chose as they should have been.  This beer is tough to mess up, and believe me, we have tried.  It just keeps coming back for more every time.  I think the only reason this beer received any negative marks is due to my own expectation of what I know of what the Rye is capable.  It wasnt quite as aromatic as it has been in the past, but that is most likely due to the change of hops we selected.  The style points that were lost were, again, due to my expectations.  I have preferred the version of the past to this one, but that does not mean that I did not enjoy it any less.  (In fact, at the time of this post, it is already gone!)  I think to fill out the numbers appropriately, this beer only needed a little more malt flavor and a little more bitterness.  This can be solved with a few simple additions of malt and hops (appropriate proportions to maintain balance, of course).  Other than that, this beer is fantastic and I would make it again in a heartbeat, as this style has become one of my favorites.


Recipe: Rye Pale Ale 3.2

Tasted: Chocolate Stout 2.0

The story of this beer is, unfortunately, not one I can call my own.  I have to credit Brewmaster Mike with this one.  I think, in an effort to find that one particular flavor, Brewmaster Mike has attempted time and time again a recipe which embodies the flavors contained in this Chocolate Stout.  Specifically, sweet, dry, and complex.  These flavors, in my own opinion, are a difficult combination to achieve due to their relative opposition to each other.  Nonetheless!  Brewmaster Mike has maintained his quest to find the answer to the burning question: How DO you make a beer sweet AND dry?  My metric may not be so favorable for this beer, particularly because of my own aversion to the style and flavor profile.  No offense is meant by this review; I merely mean to document my experiences so that we, as brewers and as a whole, can improve our skills.

Aroma:  6
Appearance:  8
Style:  6
Bitterness:  8
Maltiness:  3
Mouthfeel:  4
Head:  2
Balance:  3

These marks earn the Chocolate Stout 34 out of 55 and a percentage of 62%.  This beer comes at you like a coal black steam powered train of the early 1800's.  Black and intense, your eyes are met with a stark contrast between your surroundings and the flavor train barreling towards you.  Unfortunately, theres nothing that can stop it.  Once you've poured it, your nose is attacked by the pungency of chocolate malt.  Only a short buffer of creamy brown head cushions your plunge into its abyss.  A strange bitterness takes over as you imbibe.  It's not hops that are bittering this beer, but the dark and roastedness of the malt itself.  It bitters and dries this dark concoction to the point of astringency, leaving little room for the sweetness of chocolate to come through.  It is only after several convincing pints that you are able to realize the namesake of this fermented locomotive.  I think for my own purposes, I would change this recipe by reducing the amount of chocolate malt, adding a bit more darker crystal (maybe 60L or 80L), and mashing at a higher temperature (maybe 158).  I think this combination of recipe changes would reduce the malt bitterness and increase the amount of chocolate flavor presented in the bouquet.  In order to preserve the dryness desired by Brewmaster Mike, I also might use Dry English Ale yeast, rather than the Irish that was used for this one.  These suggestions, again, are merely based on my own desires and knowledge of the style.  As our skills improve, we will continue to produce better and better beers.

Recipe: Chocolate Stout (The Raven 2)
Style: Chocolate Stout

Tasted: Schwarzbier 1.0

Ah, the elusive black bear, I mean, beer.  This style, while little known, possibly due to John Q. Public's beer knowledge being severely dumbed down by Big Brewing, is a charismatic blend of soft chocolate, toffee, and coffee notes backed by the cleanliness of a lager yeast.  Having few choices to sample this style, I was lead by an example produced by my favorite brewery in the whole wide world (yes, I went there), Iron Hill Brewery of Newark, DE.  Their Schwarzbier was the best tasting dark lager I have ever had.  It was so tasty, it even impressed by very choosy wife.  Thus was the inspiration to make such a style.  After a brainstorming session with Brewmaster Mike, we came up with something we both thought appropriate.  I must applaud his gutsy use of the San Fransisco Lager yeast as it proved mightily tasty as well as the distinct lack of roasted barley in accordance with the style guidelines.  The resulting beverage suited the palates of many and has now been deemed, at least in my eyes, as a repeatable recipe/style at MSB.

Aroma:  7
Appearance:  10
Style:  8
Bitterness:  4
Maltiness:  6
Mouthfeel:  4
Head:  6
Balance:  5

These marks earn the Schwarzbier a 46 out of 55 and a rating of 84%.  The Schwarzbier is impressive in its vastly cavernous blackness.  Like a black hole of bitter chocolate and toffee this beverage sucks you in and reduces your taste buds to singularities.  The smooth caramel and bakers chocolate flavors roll off your tongue in a clean, refined bitterness that quenches as it fulfills.  Again and again you return to be bombarded with flavor by this robust dark liquid.  Being a malt-forward beer, I was afraid I wouldn't enjoy the Schwarzbier; however, it surprised me by being bitter enough to overcome the cloying sweetness I had expected.  The only changes I think I would make to this beer would be an attempt to balance it out a bit more.  As I have stated in the past, I enjoy a more bitter than sweet beer.  To suit my tastes more appropriately, I would probably add a bit more hops and maybe some simple sugars to thin out the body a bit.

Style: Schwarzbier
Recipe: Schwarzbier

The Electric Brewery: Phase 1

So, in an effort to assist Brewmaster Jay with his move and advance our brewing system, I have decided to move the brewery to my house.  Unfortunately, the only permanent location for the brewery is in my basement.  I say unfortunately because using a gas burning turkey fryer appliance in an enclosed area can be particularly dangerous due to the toxic chemicals (CO) and exhaust fumes.  Fortunately, this gives us the perfect opportunity to advance our brewing methods and system.  The design is fairly simple: replace the gas heat with electric heat.  However, the equipment though safer during normal use, can be a bit more dangerous and complicated to install.  The plan is to use the output of a proportional-integral-derivative controller (PID controller) to drive a solid-state-relay (SSR) connected to a hot water heater heating element (5500 Watt, extra low density (ELD)).  The pulse width modulated (PWM) wave coming from the PID controller will turn on and off the SSR a number of times per second.  The ratio of low voltage to high voltage (off/on) will depend on the feedback from the thermocouple connected to the kettle.  The end goal is to be able to set a temperature on the PID and have the element reflect that temperature in the kettle.  This, hopefully, will be a more efficient, safer way to brew.  According to our calculations, the only difference in this system may be the time it takes to heat liquids as the gas burner can, most likely, put out many more than 5500 Watts of power.  We will only really know the answer to this once the equipment is installed.

So far, the PID and element have been ordered.  I believe it will only take some low gage electrical wire and a dryer wall plug to finish the job, electrically.  Physically, I will need to have the ports welded into the kettle, which I will do as soon as all of the parts have arrived and I have figured out how they will all fit together.  I should have the element today and the PID should arrive in the next few weeks as it's on its way from China.

Electrical Heat Calculations: Electric Heat