Shout Out

Occasionally we rookie homebrewers hit one out of the park. Last night I had a pint of Drank Tank's American Pale Ale. Now, I am known in our brewing circle as the "anti-hop", so any pale ale is a sketchy proposition...but not this one.

I dare you to have one pint. It's impossible. Usually IPAs and APAs are unbalanced (too much hops, not enough ABV and maltiness), but this one was spot on. Perfectly, and I mean PERFECTLY balanced. I think he would agree that the balance was luck, being that it was his first attempt at the recipe, but damn what a fine beer. I haven't been brewing much good beer thanks to experimentation and brewery changes, so it was nice to have a delicious brew from a fellow homebrewer's hand.

Thank you, Drank Tank. Let me bestow the highest honor I have, a haiku:

Thoughts on an APA

First apprehensive
Malt, hops balance perfectly
One is not enough

Double Bock (or not)

Drank Tank and I brewed a Dopple(double) Bock Sunday but it didn't quite come out that way...we were shooting for an OG of 1.077 but only made it to 1.060. So we ended up with what is barely a bock. No worries. DT wanted to use the 13gal fermentor he brought back from Tennessee, so that's what we did. It is fermenting away at 52F...

Of Monkeys And Footballs...

Last night I helped DT(DrankTank) brew his first all-grain last night, only he didn't check is grain order before we started and ended up 4.5lbs short on base malts. We salvaged the brew by using DME to boost the gravity to a respectable level (thanks to promash!). It was my favorite brown ale recipe, but we will have to see how it does with extract and grain.

Every time I brew with him it is an adventure!

Update

You would think that I would have more time working part time, but quite the contrary...I did get the Highland amber brewed and got the O'fest lagering. Drank Tank and I transferred the mead, and it is already about 17% ABV. Still too sweet, but hopefully a little more time will yield the gravity we want.