Doctor Duvel

I'm like a sommelier, but for beer.

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Location: Upstate New York, United States

Favorite Beers: Orval, Samuel Smith, Duvel, Hennepin, Oude Gueze, Chimay, Dogfish Head, Anchor Steam, and anything made by Trappist monks.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Wilco Tango Foxtrot

Lagunitas has a way with names and labels. The malty jobless recovery ale W.T.F. is certainly a case in point. It's good stuff and I'm thinking it's possible the beer I'm brewing (quite unintentionally) will resemble it slightly: Chunky, with a burnt edge or two reminiscent of amber malt, or a dark crystal. About the color of a strong-ass cup o' tea. Full-throated hops, particularly on the palate, help hold it together. Lingering raspiness, but from darker malts more than hops. It's a good, characterful brew in keeping with the house style over there. There are exceptions (like a really good pilsner, as I recall) but most of the line-up leans toward perilously maintained balances--chewy hops and gobs of malt duke it out on the liquid gridiron.

5 Comments:

Blogger Honkymagic said...

Are you up for posting a quick rundown on your grist and hop rates for that giant 19th century stout you've brewed a couple of times?

12:34 PM  
Blogger Jason said...

Wow. I'm doing an atrocious job keeping up with this blog. The 19th century stout is the last beer in Old British Beers and How to Brew Them. My copy is out on loan, but I'll be getting it back fairly soon. More in the next week or so, or, if not, nudge me...

9:26 PM  
Blogger Jason said...

Old British Beers and How to Brew Them, recipe 131:

Imperial Brown Stout (1856) Barclay Perkins. OG 107 [i.e. 1107]

For 1 Imperial Gallon:

3 lb 6 oz pale
11.5 oz amber
1 lb 10 oz brown
3.5 oz roast barley

Bitter with 4.33 oz Goldings and mature for 18-24 months.

7:59 AM  
Blogger Honkymagic said...

Thanks for posting that. It's a bit nuts (1 1/2 pounds of brown malt and 4 oz of Goldings for every gallon? Damn!), but I'm intrigued and going to try it once I take this West Yorkshire yeast through another beer or two.

Did you make your own amber malt or did you use a commercial roast?

7:36 PM  
Blogger Jason said...

I used commercial amber. Crisp once and Thomas Fawcett the other. The yeast I used was 1028. Tolerance is an issue. No idea if West York. is up for it or not. Oh and you might as well make a small beer while you're at it... Plenty of grain to pull off a light-weight session stout with the second runnings. Assuming you're crazy enough to attempt a five gallon batch.

8:46 PM  

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