Gold Pass Ale

Though it's only officially summer today, it's never too early to start thinking about your pass for next season.  If you're like me, you might already be disappointing that once again you read about the Ski Utah and Ski Colorado Gold Passes and once again you just don't have the money to afford a $2000 snowboard pass.  Well, don't worry, I have crafted a Gold Pass of my own.  Gold Pass ale, an affordable and delicious malty golden ale that is sure to help you drown away the sorrows of not growing up rich enough to afford a Ski Utah Gold Pass.


The appearance is hazy and hard to see through like a big March dump up at Snowbird.  The taste is heavily malty, but not overly sweet.  It is a relatively strong beer, especially for a golden, coming in at about 5.8%, but it's unnoticeable in flavor and aroma.  Overall, I'm pretty happy with how this beer came out and can't wait to have some more!

Unfortunately, this week also came with a few home brew hardships.  The Gold Pass Ale was my first ever bottle bomb!  However, the cardboard and garbage bag took care of a good majority of the mess.

Likewise, in starting my next beer, I decided to brew a Belgian pale Ale after having Epic Brewing's Belgian IPA and Upslope's Belgian Pale Ale.  I really enjoy these styles and wanted to try out my own.  Unfortunately, my yeast got a bit aggressive and blew through my airlock!

I cleaned up the mess and all should be good.  I'll rack this one to a secondary next week, and by next weekend, I'll be brewing my award winning Chilli Pepper Pale Ale again!

I also stumbled upon an interesting quote today:  "Kids today who are 21 are graduating with better taste in beer than their parents," he says. "Before when you came home your father may have said, 'Sit down, let me open you a Pabst Blue Ribbon.' Now, it's, 'No, Dad, let me offer you an IPA."

(Source)

In my experience, if one were to trade "Pabst Blue Ribbon" for "Long Trail Ale," I think this quote would be spot on.  Though maybe some old timers would like to disagree?

I also almost forgot, my Vanilla Nut Brown placed third n the 4th Annual Greg Noonan Memorial Homebrew Competition in my hometown!

Slainte!

Radical Red

So, the day has come and gone.  St. Patrick's day in Utah was fun, though I still thin my last two in Vermont and Costa Rica top it.  However, this was my first St. Patrick's where I got to drink my own homebrew!

Radical Red, as I am calling it, is a dry-hopped red ale that with prominent, crisp, floral hop flavor and a malty to sweet back.  It's a red pale ale if you wish.  I tried it alongside a Hop Head Red from Green Flash not long ago, to see how mine compares.  Of course, Hop Head Red is a red IPA and was therefore much hoppier than mine.  Overall, I would say mine is more akin to a red than the HHR, but again, it's a red pale ale.

Overall, I think this beer is rivaling C.P.P.A. for my favorite beer I've brewed.  The Vanilla Nut Brown comes in a close third.  I received a few comments back on the VNB, and many of them commented on the low carbination of the beer.  I have rectified that situation here in Radical Red.  I used brown sugar rather than table sugar and it turned out quite well, there are no under carb issues in this one!  I will wait to see how this one ages before I decide if I will entire this batch of Radical Red in the Beehive Brewoff, or brew again before August.

Cheers!

Radical Red

Dry Hopped Red Ale For St. Patrick's Day

So, even though I have now lived in Salt Lake City, UT for almost three years now, I have never spent a St. Patrick's Day in the state.  No, it's not because of the alcohol laws, I have just had to be elsewhere the past two years, Costa Rica my first year and Vermont last year.  Anyway, a post on Reddit got me thinking last month, how can I make this St. Patrick's as memorable as all the others?  Why, brew beer of course!  So, I have had a recipe for a hoppy red ale for a while now, and figured now is the time.  As this is the first recipe I piecemealed together on my own I thought I'd share:

Dry-hopped Red Ale (Extract Brew):

6lbs Light LME
1lb Cara Red Malt, crushed
1/2 lb - Crystal 60L malt, crushed
2oz Black Roasted Barley malt, crushed
1oz German Perle Hops (60 mins)
1oz Crystal Hops (15 mins)
1oz Zythos Hops (5 mins)
1oz Zythos Hops (dry hop)
California Ale Yeast (White Labs California Ale Yeast WLP001)


Today, I just bottled the beer so it should be bottle conditioned and ready to go for the big day.  Though I still need to come up with a name, but I have a bit of time.  Suggestions are always welcome.

 

My set up

 

Wort with 3 of 4 hop additions

 Cooling the wort in true Utah style

 

 Bottled, now just time to wait....

On a side note, I have also gotten into m own craft projects, all of which are of course beer related.  Anyway, I recently learned how to make my own tumblers and coaster out of old beer bottles, so I thought I'd share my most recent work.  Utah doesn't have the greatest recycling program, so I decided to take matters into my own hands, and create beer accessories out of some of my favorites.

Cheers.