Summer out here in Central California can be best described as hell’s furnace, and this past weekend it was very apparent. For the first time this year we’ve reached the mid 100’s, reminding all what hot is. With these high temperatures comes summer, and with the changing of the season comes Samuel Adam’s Seasonal Beer’s. When the temperature rises one desires a cleaner, refreshing beer, and Boston Beer has Samuel Adam’s Summer Ale to pair with the fires of hell.
Samuel Adam’s Summer Ale is an American Wheat that pitchess it’s brewing with grains of paradise and lemon zest as it’s selling point. The beer pours an awesome orange straw color with a thick, creamy head. As the brew is consumed a very nice white lacing is left behind. Aroma in this beer is light, a hint of wheat, citrus and a bit of pepper. Tasting the beer you’ll notice a substantial amount of sweet wheat, followed by a bit malt that finishes with a slightly spicy(grains of paradise?) citrus note. A little less sweetness would help this beer balance out better. Feel in the mouth is what you’d expect from a wheat and well carbonated, making it a good drinking beer in the heat.
For me, this is a good beer to enjoy on summer days, however others might seek a more balanced beer. If you’re looking for a refreshing wheat beer to check out during the months of summer, give this one a look.
So I’ve decided to start a new batch of Apfelwein based around EdWort’s Apfelwein Recipe. Instead of following the recipe I’ll be using four gallons of apple juice and a gallon of black cherry juice. I’d also like to keep it on the “less boozey” side so I can consume a fair amount of my craft instead of just a couple of the 8.5% ABV Rocket Fuel, so I’ll only be using a pound of dextrose instead of two! However the biggest departure from the original recipe will probably be the use of Safale S-04 Ale Yeast in place of the Red Star Montrachet.
What we have here is the raw ingredients for our Cherry Apfelwein Recipe.
4 Gallons of Unpreserved Apple Juice (Pasteurized and Abscorbic Acid is OK)
1 Gallon Pasteurized Black Cherry Juice
1 lbs. Dextrose (Corn Sugar, raises ABV in five gallon batches by 1%)
3 tsp. Wine Nutrient (Diammonium Phosphate)
1 11.5g Pack of Safale S-04
Original Gravity of 1.060, guessing on a Final Gravity in the .995-1.00 range for an ABV of around 6.3-6.7%
The plan is to ferment this in the low 60’s untill the gravity is steady, at which point I will rack the apfelwein to a secondary to clear and bulk condition. Should have an interesting color when completed, especially compared to normal apfelwein. Pic of the must after the jump.
In this little video from Fora.tv Dave McLean, owner and brewmaster of Magnolia Pub and Brewery, walks the audience through the science of beer. From the taste, pour, to the actual brewing process the amount of good information here will help anyone understand more about brewing.
Lately there has been a lot of speculation that Fox News is organizing these tea parties and all the protesters are just mad because “they lost the election”. First lets look at this “lost the election business”. I believe it could be said that we all lost the election, and several previous elections. The Federal Government is out of control and many people realize this, many people have been screaming about this for years and it has been true for years. We have lost our way.
I believe it was Rick Santelli from CNBC that got this whole business started, give credit where credit is due. These protests were going before the miserable pundits over at Fox News even knew what was going on. The only difference between Fox News’ coverage of the tea parties, and the rest of the media’s coverage of the tea parties is that Fox News has seen a glimpse of the truth and can no longer help themselves. The same belligerent retards that have belittled Libertarian ideals for so long now champion many of our views, how ironic.
Summer out here in Central California can be best described as hell’s furnace, and this past weekend it was very apparent. For the first time this year we’ve reached the mid 100’s, reminding all what hot is. With these high temperatures comes summer, and with the changing of the season comes Samuel Adam’s Seasonal Beer’s. When the temperature rises one desires a cleaner, refreshing beer, and Boston Beer has Samuel Adam’s Summer Ale to pair with the fires of hell.
