Tasting: Deschutes Jubelale 2008

Tasting: Chilled to ~35 degrees (f) from a pint glass.

Appearance: 3/3 Deep red in color, the beer is very clear with tiny bubbles.
Head: 3/3 Light, foamy, cream-colored head that lasts.
Aroma: 3/3 Light hops and mild malt.
Flavor: 3/3 Wonderful biscuity flavor, with very strong hops profile.
Mouth feel: 3/3 Light bodied, medium-high carbonation, very pleasant somewhat piney bitterness remains.
Overall: 3/3 A very good beer, great price, and flavor. Not as rich as some holiday beers.
Buzz: 3/3 % Good kick, buzz arrives early.

I determined later that the temperatures below 35 degrees really don't bring out the best in a beer.  Future tastings will be done at 45.

Tasting: Bridgeport Snow Cap Winter Warmer

One of the downsides to recording my impressions of new beers is that I have to have the energy to write something down before I crack it open, especially if the beer is from out of the area and I can't get another one.

Bridgeport Snow Cap Winter Warmer has a great label, I doesn't give the impression of trying too hard, just a nice festive winter theme.

Tasting: Chilled to ~40 degrees (f) from a large stemmed glass.

Appearance: 3/3 Beautiful mahogany/dark amber color, very clear where light can get through.
Head: 2/3 Nice cream head colored head that thins to a film and disappears.
Aroma: 3/3 Great lightly roasted malt supported by subtle, chocolate, coffee and toffee.
Flavor: 2.5/3 Lightly flavored, sweet with some hops, roast with toffee.
Mouth feel: 2.5/3 Medium body, medium carbonation, silky on the palette, not as thick as the aroma would suggest.
Overall: 2.5/3 A good beer, balanced, tasty, accessible.
Buzz: 2.5/3 Light buzz after 2.3 glass.

The label advertised full-bodied but didn't quite deliver. This beer gets extra points because it was very reasonably priced for a seasonal beer. So even though it didn't get 3/3 it is highly recommended.

Tasting: Wychwood Bah Humbug Christmas Ale

The shelves and aisles of my local stores are full of seasonal beer.   According to one chart I saw, this is peak season for limited offerings.  I doubt I will get through them all any time soon, and trying to purchase a decent selection is a costly undertaking with the price per serving much higher than the year-round beers. 

Tasting: Chilled to ~40 degrees (f) from a goblet.

Appearance: 3/3 Translucent orange with hints of red.
Head: 3/3 Nice head with very fine bubbles thick on the pour thins after a few minutes but doesn't disappear.
Aroma: 2/3 Nice hop aroma, subtle malt.
Flavor: 2/3 Nothing to really grab at; low carbonation, some hop bitterness, some sweetness, maybe some heat from the alcohol.
Mouth feel: 2/3 Medium to thick body, low carbonation, velvety on the palette.
Overall: 2/3 This beer doesn't make a lasting impression although it is good, and fairly balanced.
Buzz: 2/3 Light buzz after 2/3 glass.

The beer tasted better the longer I enjoyed it, it was a sipping beer, and hints of spice started to show as it warmed. 

Brew 9:Winter Warmer with Notes on Batch Sparging

Brad and I went in on our equipment for the first few brews, to reduce our exposure in case we didn't want to continue, and to help us get started faster. I bought the burner and pot for our first extract, he bought the Carboy and the rest of the equipment.

As we continued to brew, I slowly added to my equipment list until I had everything to brew all-grain, and now he is doing the same. Two weeks ago Brad and I brewed a Winter Warmer at his house, using his equipment with the exception of my Mash/Lauter Tun as he is still building his (more on that once it is done). We only had two vessels so I assumed that we could batch sparge, but the results were terrible efficiency.

After re-checking the procedure, I now realize that batch sparging still requires 3 vessels:

1. A mash/lauter tun (holds the grain over a false bottom)
2. A Hot liquor tank (maintains clear water at 170 degreees)
3. A boil kettle, or a runoff vessel capable of holding the total volume of Wort.

The reason you can't do it with two vessels is because you actually have to sparge 3 times to get decent efficiency:

1. After the mash is complete, add enough water to increase temp to 160, then recycle until clear, then sparge until the runoff slows.
2. Add half the remaining sparge water (heated to 170), recycle until clear, then sparge until the runoff slows.
3. Add the remaining sparge water (heated to 170), recycle until clear, then sparge until the runoff slows.

On low gravity batches, if you are willing to accept very low efficiencies, you can reduce the number of steps. Since we only had 2 vessels we added all our sparge water to the mash and drew the wort of in one large batch sparge. While our target gravity was 1.088, we only achieved an original gravity of 1.070, a huge difference! There was no way we could have achieved 1.088 with that equipment unless we lowered our yield to 4 gallons, and boiled off an additional gallon to thicken the wort.

What we did instead, once we realized our beer would have too much bitterness for the gravity we achieved, was boil 2 lbs of Dry Malt Extract (DME) into 2 quarts of wort and add it to the primary to boost the gravity to somewhere near our target and hope for the best.