Brew 12:Hoppy Amber Ale

I really like Stone's Levitation ale.  At only 4.4% alcohol you can drink a couple without getting too buzzed, but it is very full of flavor.

I wanted to do something similar, and I found a reference to the ingredients, ABV and IBUs so I made up my own recipe to get me somewhere close and brewed it a week ago.  On Saturday I racked it to secondary, and had a sample.  It is a bit too sweet still, maybe another point of gravity is yet to be fermented,  but it tasted decent.  I will update this post once I taste it.

The brew was the fastest I have ever done.  The key is to set up a bit ahead of time, and to stay busy cleaning and clearing equipment so that when you are finished with the boil, all the other equipment is cleanded and put away.

I also paid close attention to the times on the chiller.  Brad is having trouble getting his temp to drop in less than 30 minutes, but for some reason mine is much faster, on this brew, it dropped to 80f in 10 minutes.

This brew is also the closest I have ever come to hitting the calculated OG, and volume.  I was within 0.001 of the inidcated OG, and within 0.3 gallons of the intended volume.

2:50 PM 3/7/2009 Achieved 170 in Mash Tun, mix water to drop temp slightly

2:56 PM 3/7/2009 Dough in @ 161, observe temp drop to 150

3:07 PM 3/7/2009 Temp = 145

3:19 PM 3/7/2009 Temp = 140, recirc started

3:23 PM 3/7/2009 Recirc 1.25 gallons temp to 150

3:32 PM 3/7/2009 Recirc 1.25 gallons temp to 158

3:40 PM 3/7/2009 Vorlauf started

4:10 PM 3/7/2009 Sparge Complete

4:30 PM 3/7/2009 Hops Added

5:15 PM 3/7/2009 Hops Added

5:22 PM 3/7/2009 Hops Added

5:27 PM 3/7/2009 Irish Moss Added

5:31 PM 3/7/2009 Flameout, Hops Added, Start Immersion Chiller

5:41 PM 3/7/2009 Temp = 80 deg

6:06 PM 3/7/2009 OG = 1.049

Tasting: Budweiser American Ale

I have only read one good review of this beer, and several ambivalent reviews. I think it would be properly classified as an Amber Ale. I have 2 favorites in this category: Deschutes Green Lakes Amber Ale, and Firestone Double Barrel Ale, and this beer is nothing like them.

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

Appearance: 3/3 Beautiful copper color, nice off-white head, champagne-like bubbles.
Head: 3/3 Light, thick head that lasts.
Aroma: 2/3 Very light hops, and maybe some malt?? .
Flavor: 2/3 Very dry, somewhat watery, some yeast bitterness, and light hops, no malt.
Mouth feel: 1/3 Very light body, somewhat overly carbonated.
Overall: 1.5/3 Not very ale-like, very light in flavor, aroma, and bitterness, a few weird flavors that are very subtle, but definately there.
Buzz: 0/3 No buzz after 22 oz.

This is not a bad beer, but it isn't a good beer either. It is the best Budweiser I have had, but not as good as some of the Michelob beers like Amber Bock. A bit more gravity wouldn't hurt, but this is a very drinkable beer.

After purchasing this beer, but before posting this review, I read a couple interesting posts on Beervana discussing whether or not this should be considered a "craft beer".  As you can see in my comments, I do not, for the following reasons, repeated here:

Craft brewers and craft beer generally avoid the use of adjuncts unless it is used traditionally, like adding Belgian sugar to a Trippel, and don't use ingredients that the style doesn't call for to change the appearance or flavor or the beer.

After tasting Budweiser American Ale (as an example) 3 things made me suspicious::

1. The head retention was much better than I have ever seen on a light-bodied ale.

2. The body was much lighter than the color would normally permit

3. There were some very subtle off-flavors that I haven't noticed in an ale before.

These could all be in my head, but the above, combined with the fact that the label does not claim "using ONLY the finest malts, hops and water" or something equivelent tells me that the beer has been engineered with adjuncts and ingredients to position it where Budweiser thinks it will be best received by macro-beer drinkers.

If any of the above are true, this is NOT a craft beer in my opinion.  It doesn't mean it isn't good beer, but the whole point of craft beer to me is to work to get basic ingredients to do what you want in the beer, accepting that there are tradeoffs, and trying to achieve the best balance with what you have.  I think adding chemicals to aid with head retention, or rice to thin an ale changes it into something else, and would be analagous to using acrylic paint to touch up an oil painting.  It may look great, but it is no longer an oil painting.

Fischer's Biere D'Alsace Amber Ale

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

Appearance: 3/3 Beautiful copper color, nice off-white head, champagne-like bubbles.
Head: 1.5/3 Light head thins quickly.
Aroma: 2/3 Light malt, and fruity, grape-like smell no discernible hops on the nose.
Flavor: 2/3 Sweet, malty, hint of fruit, no discernable hops or very light bitterness slight musty aftertaste from the english hops.
Mouth feel: 2.5/3 Light body with light malt lingering on the palette.
Overall: 2/3 Not very beerlike, very light in flavor, aroma, and bitterness, but I really enjoyed it. This would be a great beer on a hot summer day.
Buzz: 2/3 This beer has a serious kick considering how light the body is, at 6%.

The alcohol percent exceeds many beers with heavier body which makes me suspect some other fermentables are used. Fisher's is owned by Heineken.

Tasting: Firestone Walker Double Barrel Ale (DBA)

Firestone lists the malts for this beer as:Two-Row,Marris Otter,Munich,Crystal,Chocolate Color=16l
Hops: Bittering - Magnum, Flavor/Aroma - Golding, Dry Hop - Golding IBU=32

Tasting: Chilled to ~45 degrees (f) from a pint glass.

Appearance: 3/3 beautiful copper color, clear.
Head: 2/3 Light head that thins before the glass is half empty.
Aroma: 3/3 Understated hops, rich malt and hints of smoke and vanilla .
Flavor: 3/3 Wonderful pale ale with smokey oak, subtle malt and even more subtle hops, .
Mouth feel: 3/3 This beer has great body, not heavy, but silky in the mouth. Moderate carbonation.
Overall: 3/3 This is a great Amber ale, not an easy one to reproduce since oak barrels don't come cheap.
Buzz: 3/3 Good buzz after 1 glass, 5% ABV.

Tasting: Deschutes Green Lakes Organic Ale

I had this beer at the Deschutes Brewpub in Bend and my brother-in-law picked up a case and shared a 6-pack with me. I can get some of Deschute's beers in SoCal, but I haven't seen this one yet, so I am glad to have a few to enjoy until my next visit to Oregon.

This is the first organic beer I have had. It was priced the same as the other beers at the brewery, so there is no reason not to go organic in this case. This is properly classified as an Amber Ale, the bottle indicates that Liberty and Sterling hops are used.

Tasting: Chilled to ~45 degrees (f) from a pint glass.

Appearance: 3/3 Crystal clear, rich amber beer.
Head: 2.5/3 nice head of fine bubbles that disperse slowly.
Aroma: 3/3 Prominent hop aroma, almost mask an underlying rich malt .
Flavor: 3/3 Perfect balance of hops and malt, very subtle sweetness, and a bit of smoke.
Mouth feel: 3/3 Very pleasant mouth feel, moderate carbonation with prominent malt, then smoke and hops in the aftertaste.
Overall: 3/3 This beer is wonderful, second only to Black Butte porter among Deschutes offerings.
Buzz: 2.5/3 Medium buzz after 1 glass, 5.2 ABV.

I don't fully trust my judgment yet, but I think this beer may really take off for Deschutes. Amber Ales are a great style and very accessible to all types of drinkers and this beer is really good.

I really like the Deschutes labels. This one is a Topo map of Green Lake, and after looking at it a bit harder, I realized that the fictional lake is suspiciously shaped like the Deschutes brand.