Bluebonnet Beer?

[Bill Lawrence]

Generally speaking, there has historically been homebrewed beer at the Bluebonnet to be consumed after the commerical tasting. In years past, our club has more or less prided itself in having the biggest variety (which is why the club keggorator has 11 taps). Perhaps I am being a bit presumptious in assuming that we would have beer again this year but I brewed up a Heffe for the event (and it's fresh). If we are indeed doing it again this year I would be interested to see what others plan to bring so it would be nice if you guys/gals posted up so we can all see what's on tap. Of course, if we are not doing it this year and I just missed the memo, please let me know. Thanks.

[BigWally]

I have a roggenbier that I was planning to bring.

I was not planning on taking any time off from work on Friday, so I am not really avaialble to deliver the keggerator and bar as I have done the last 6-7 years. The lines were cleaned after the Christmas party, but could probably use another rinse before the event. The bar is stored in the club's storage unit in Carrollton.

Who's taking care of this?

[EvilFrog]

I am planning on bringing a sour mashed hefeweizen. I call it Tinkerweizen. Pretty much your standard hefe other than the fact that it is tart.

I have not attended any club activities up until the last club brew day. Had a good time and hope to participate more in the club this year. Looking forward to meeting the rest of you guys at the BB. As I told Groovyslick (sorry groovy, I only know you by your handle) I will be there at around 1pm on Friday and would be happy to help out with any sort of setup tasks that the club might have.

[TheMacheteMasher]

EvilFrog how close would the Tinkerweizen be to a Berliner Weisse? The sour mash makes me think it's more lactic acid tart.

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[EvilFrog]

You are right, it is more of a lactic acid tart. But the sourness is much more mild than what you would expect from a berliner weisse though. The sour mash was shorter than you might do if you wanted something really sour. Think of it as tasting like a traditional hefeweizen that was dosed with a bit of berliner weisse. My aim was really to add sourness in proportion to the banana character to achieve a slightly under-ripe banana flavor. In other words, bright yellow banana flavor instead of yellow with brown spots banana flavor. Did I accomplish this? No, but I think the result is interesting and refreshing.

Next time maybe blending a berliner and hefe would be a more controllable way of getting the lactic acid/banana ratio I am looking for.

[TheMacheteMasher]

EvilFrog I have had this happen to me in a less than controlled fashion. The beer was drinkable but less than prime time. I've also noted the latic acid as less than desirable with aging I would suppose this is a beer you want to drink fast. My best attempt at a sour mash is still in fermentation. I inoculated with a full blast of Roeselare Blend 3763 to balance the latic funk. The thing is hairy if you are into that kinda beer.

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[Bill Lawrence]

Man, I'm sure glad that the one way values are installed on the beer lines in the kegerator. It sounds like you guys have all kinds of wierd stuff growing in your beer and I sure as hell don't want that stuff getting into my kegs.

[EvilFrog]

I've also noted the latic acid as less than desirable with aging I would suppose this is a beer you want to drink fast.

This particular keg has been sitting in cold storage for over a month waiting for its rotation into the kegerator. Perhaps I should pull a new sample and try it again before I commit to serving it at the booth.

Not sure if you had a similar experience but I noticed a somewhat atypical fermentation after the sour mash. I suspect that it is due to the lower post boil wort pH due to the acid from the sour mash. I tend to get pretty consistent results with Wyeast 3068 but this fermentation was more rapid and seemed to result in less banana esters than expected. Maybe the low pH inhibited the metabolism that ordinarily leads to greater banana flavors. Or possibly it is just masked by the lactic acid and the this is more reason to dial back the acid in the balance.

I would like to know how your Roeselare batch turns out when it is finished Machete. How many months into fermentation is it?

Don't worry Bill, no bugs post boil (in mine at least).

[TheMacheteMasher]

EvilFrog in my limited and self righteous opinion 3068 is a rockstar of a yeast. The esters of clove or banana has more to do with the pitch. I would assume you had more viable yeast for this pitch or fermented cooler. I have seen several sour mash techniques. If you took some wort aside and cultured items naturally occurring on the grain then added it to the large batch odds are you have mutant bugs. This is wild and hairy brewing. Check the batch or bring another as you have suggested. Bill has some pretty hairy brew that is quite good. If those bombers come out at Bluebonnet beware!

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[TheMacheteMasher]

I plan to bring a Brown Porter.

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[Bill Lawrence]

Ok, so far based on the posts it looks like we have a brown porter, roggenbier, heffe (standard) and heffe (soured). I think Mr. James is planning to bring a mild and I heard that Brian is also going to grace us with one of his concoctions (but of course he is too good to post with the "unwashed masses"). What about the rest of you winnies? Seriously, there are 11 taps on the keggorator and we need to have enough beer to fill that thing possibly more than once. Back in the day (when the club was much smaller) we had enough beer at this event to float a battleship, surely we can do better than this. Do any of you guys actually brew beer or are you all just a bunch of "consumption specialists"?

[Jimmy Orkin]

I can bring a Hefe and Roggenbier also. It will be the German Wheat and Rye pouring.

[ejonsson]

I'll have an ESB.

[MixnMatchBrew]

I'll be bringing a small keg of carmaleized mead to put on tap.

[Bill Lawrence]

Ok, that is a little bit better but we still need more, it's all about excess afterall. It is interesting that none of the fairer sex has posted up concerning their contribution to this holy crusade, I guess all that bad ass talk is just a lot of hot air. Yeah, I know how it works, wear a pushup bra and you figure you can just slack off and get away with it, well not this time, we want beer. By the way, I have changed my mind, I think rather than bringing a heffe, I'll bring a dry stout as well as an Irish red so we can get some variety going here, otherwise the wheat biers will be over-represented. Also, bringing meade is pretty over the top, good job there Wayne (we may need to offer liver transplant services and yes Kim, I'm thinking about you here). Come on guys/gals, post up, we have 11 taps to fill here and we will for sure need more beer than that because some of those kegs will float before the room crawl closes. Also, all I see are mostly postings from the old guys, where are the offerings from the supposedly "young studs" I hear so much about, is that just an urban myth as well?