REVIEW: BANGARANG: No Nap (Coffee Porter)

There is something so comforting about a dark beer in the cold of winter.  The roast and chocolate, the hint of sweetness, a touch of toasty malts, it seems to invoke the natural atmosphere of the season.  It's something you can snuggle up to the fire with.  A good cup of coffee can do much the same on those dark and dreary days.  And of course, these two beverages make great friends.  The dark, chocolaty, roastiness of the beer and the coffee interplay beautifully if done well.  As a bonus, it makes for a great beer to pair with breakfast, whether on a Saturday morning, or Tuesday night.  Turned out just like I hoped the recipe would.

Look:  2/3

Pours a dark brown, almost black, see of lusciousness under a creamy tannish head that persists to a thick cap all the way down.  It is too dark to see through, but is super clear with garnet highlights.  Foam clings to the glass to the end.

Aroma:  10/12

The first thing to blast you from the glass is fresh cold pressed coffee!  Roast, chocolate, bold mocha.  Not like 2 day old coffee at work, fresh and vibrant, like smelling the coffee grinder after a fresh batch.  Under the coffee are notes of walnut skins, rich toffee, and biscuits.  There are also some mild dark fruit esters in the background.

Flavor:  16/20

Tastes like a barista prepared you the best cup of Joe.  Coffee dominates with mild roast and dark chocolate.  There is a low level of earthy hop notes that pair well with the roast and coffee, layered over bitter chocolate, biscuits, and walnut skins.  Hop bitterness is in the medium range and could use a boost to help the finish hit with a touch more oomph.

Mouthfeel:  3/5

Medium body gives way to a semi-sweet finish that is balanced out by the bitterness and roast which linger on the palate.  Medium carbonation helps to cleanse the palate.  There is something slightly off in the end, it sits a little flabby.  Needs to either have a few more IBUs or a few more points off the FG to give it a finishing punch.

Overall:  9/10

The combination of the base beer and the coffee beans is exquisite.  Hard to tell where the coffee ends and the beer begins.  The sweetness of the beer pairs well with the roast in the malt and coffee, and is balanced well with the bitterness of the hops.  Multi layered beer as the coffee kicks hard and then gives way to toffee, chocolate, toasty malts, and earthy hops below.  The stonefruit esters from the yeast play well with the cherry notes from the beans as well.  Again, the finish needs a little more punch to it, but otherwise a wonderful beer.  And at 5.5% you can have a few.

40/50

DIY Equipment: March Pump In Tool Box - Rebuild (Stainless Steel with Sample Port)

2 years ago for Christmas my Dad bought me a single present, the March Pump I had been wanting for quite a while.  Since I don't have a brew stand and have to tear down and move my brew house after every brewday the best option for my needs was to build it into a tool box.  I happened to have a tool box fit for the job as well.  Originally I had looked at BYO articles for the build, as well as a few others.  I opted to include an outlet along with the switch so that I can plug in other electrical equipment when needed like my vacuum sealer for resealing hops.  I also went with a flat light switch instead of the standard one that sticks out away from the surface, this will keep me from possibly catching something on it and accidentally turning it on while dry.

After a few years of using the original mixture of brass fittings with the aluminum camlocks I finally switched to all Stainless Steel.  This gives me the ability to know that there isn't any reacting of the metals, and allows me to use any SS safe cleaners with out worrying if that cleaner is safe for multiple metals.  And lets just be honest, the full SS looks sexier.  I scored SS cam locks for my birthday gift from my wife, and had some bonuses from work that allowed me to source the other pieces on eBay for a good deal.  On this iteration I also added a second ball valve on the out flow for bleeding off air and for pulling samples (thanks to the recent BYO article for giving me more info on this).

To make it easier on anyone wanting to build there own, I have included the original build of the pump into the tool box, and then updated the install of the fittings onto the pump head.

RECIPES: #72 BANGARANG: No Nap (Coffee Porter) & #73 Dark Dismay (Brett Porter)

I don't typically brew Porters.  Actually, I've never brewed a Porter in my 4 years of brewing.  You know, Porter, that obscure style, is it a less roasty Stout, or a more roasty Brown Ale?  But there is something wonderful about a good Porter on a cool night.  My inspiration to make this beer was from the Mad Fermentationist and his new book American Sour Beers.  In it he references a Vatted Porter made by a commercial brewery where they age a Porter with Brett and Lacto in oak tuns for some time.  I decided I was going to do the same, brew 10 gallons, and age half for funk.  My wife told me I always sour and play with Brett, do something different for once. O_o?  She suggested coffee.  So I went with it.  Half coffee, and half aged on Brett for funk.  I had gotten to enraptured in the idea that I wasn't going to miss out on it.

REVIEW: Bangarang: Neverland (American Sour Collabo w/ Falling Sky)

When the guys at Falling Sky and I set out to do a kettle soured homage to my Best of Show Gueuze, I wondered if we would ever actually get it brewed.  Scheduling conflicts continued to get in the way.  But we made it, and I am sure pleased we did.  The beer is a hit at the pub.  A new member to our church was talking with another member over lunch about how great this sour beer was he had at Falling Sky.  That other member then introduced him to me, the guy across the table from him, as the brewer of said beer.  It has been a cool experience to have conversations with people about the beer and the vision behind it.  My head is getting a little big, but it is hard not to, the beer is that good.

Look:

Pours a slightly hazy deep orange with a decent head to it.  The head is low as the beer is carbed lower than it should be for a sour.  It also falls a little fast, but sticks around as a thick cap, which for a beer this sour is really good.  Some spotty lace clings to the sides, but not much.

Aroma:

The first thing to jump from the glass to the nose is a big sour bite.  Like lemons, but less citrusy.  Very clean for a kettle sour.  Most kettle sours I have had are easy to pick out, but not this one.  Tropical and stone fruits follow, mostly pineapple juice and Kern's Apricot Nectar.  The malt is dominated by sweet honey notes.

Flavor:

A blast of sweet tarts hits the tongue first, makes you pucker up for sure, like sour patch kids.  Mild fruity hops come in next but are pushed away quickly by honey and toasty malts.  It is definitely a sweet and sour punch.  When it was a little younger the hops came through more with the pineapple and apricot, with a finish of Lipton Iced Tea powder. 

Mouthfeel:

This is a sour beer for sure, suck your lips off your face, but then it releases to a sweet, but light and crisp finish.  Faint bitterness.

Overall:

Very clean and sour beer.  Sweet.  Hints of hops play with fruit up front.  Would actually like more from the hops, so I dry hopped my second keg with Mosaic and Simcoe.  It also need a higher CO2 level, which up until this past weekend I couldn't really do (I finally was able to hook up my dual regulator giving me 4 lines at normal beer levels, and one tap at a higher level for sours, wilds, Saisons, Belgians and Hefes).  You really have to be in the mood to have your lips removed to drink this beer though.  Wish we would have made it in May so I would have the kegs in July and August when it was really hot and this beer would have been super refreshing.

REVIEW # 70: BANGARANG: Rufio 2.0 (1st Place Imperial Red IPA)

The rain is here, actually it is dumping buckets full everywhere.  The weather report says that there is possible flooding, and strong South winds that could down power lines and take out trees.  It gets dark by 6pm, and it stays dark until after I am already at work in the morning.  The temps are dropping as quickly as the leaves on the trees.  Fall is officially here.  And so is my Imperial Red IPA.  I love having this beer around at this time of year, malty, hoppy, dank, alcoholic, warming, comforting.  Needs a couple tweeks and we should have a house recipe.

Look:

Pours a clear deep red bordering on brown with definite ruby highlights under a 2+ finger thick khaki head that lasts forever.  Bubbles are tight and small, leaving a thick lacing all the way down the glass, alcohol legs sweep along the path of the sip.

Aroma:

A huge burst of resin and pine leap from the glass before it even gets to your nose, and gives way to a generic bag-o-hop-pellets kick from the dry hops.  Citrus pith, mild coffee grounds, sweet breads, toffee, fruit cake, tangerines, and spicy hops.  As it warms there is a faint floral soap note.

Taste:

Citrus rind washes all over the tongue at first sip, pith, resin, hop oils coat the entirety of the mouth, pine cones, and dank hops.  Below the initial burst of hops is a firm malt backbone, toffee, dark fruits, sweet malts, burnt sugar finish.  Spicy hops blend with the smooth but warming alcohol.  The finish is roasty, slightly ashy, and bitter, a pithy note lingers.  Touch of lactic sourness when really cold, I added 9ml of Lactic Acid to the sparge instead of 0.9ml, and it shows.

Mouthfeel:

Medium body gives way to a dry and bitter finish.  The alcohol, dextrins, and carbonation leave a good body keeping it from becoming thin.  Medium carbonation helps deliver the hops and wash the palate clean.  Lingering bitterness and alcohol warmth.

Overall:

The blend of hops and malts are pretty spot on for this beer.  The color is a tad dark, and the roastiness is too present in both aroma and flavor, need to dial the Black Patent back a hair.  Definitely need to avoid adding too much LA to the sparge water, detracts from a wonderful beer.  As always, my bitterness needs to get a crank up a notch or two.  Overall I am really pleased with the beer aside from the minor flaws, the worst of which is brewer error as opposed to recipe.

This beer took 1st place in the Imperial IPA category at the McKenzie Cider & Craft Beer Festival - Homebrew Competition

UPDATE: Let it grow, let it grow, can't hold it back any more...

Got this video clip from Matt Van Wyk at Oakshire Brewing this morning.  This is the blow off activity on my yeast pitch I gave him at less than 24 hours after pitching onto just under 1 barrel of 10* plato wort.  Ferocious!