Smoked Porter, Cherry Blondes, and Water

The Cherry Blonde Ale turned out very well. It’s dry and tart, with a clean finish, and I think it is remiscent of champagne in a way. I asked my brother to give me some notes on it, and he found the hops to get in the way of the beer. I used noble hops, and I added them early, but I wonder how the beer might have turned out if I had boiled them longer, or, as my brother suggested, used aged hops like they do in the Belgian Lambics.

Here is what Joe had to say about the cherry ale:

“The beer pours a pink-tinted amber. Nice head but I'm not wild about the color. The nose is something like sweet cherries, but the flavor isn't sweet -- it's somewhat tart with mild bitterness. Nice lively mouthfeel, slightly dry. Not as refreshing as it could be since a bit of alcohol shows through. I think the bitterness and alcohol get in the way of that nice tart cherry a little bit... they clash instead of complement. I suspect it could benefit a lot from months of aging, as the bitterness mellows. Damn interesting homebrew that tastes pretty good, but it might get better.”

He later amended it, probably to spare my feelings:

“About the cherry tart homebrew I should have added that Kelly really, really liked it. She thought the cherry flavor was perfect and subtle. So I'm probably nit-picking about the conflicting flavors in there.”

My Fiance is also a huge fan of the cherry beer, and thinks we should keep as much on hand as possible for New Year’s. It would definitely be a good beer for drinking on the occasion. I’ll also be enjoying some with Thanksgiving Dinner, I think.

So, there you have it. It probably will get better with age in the bottle, as the hops diminish a little more and the cherry flavor comes through. The Wyeast Belgian Strong Ale Yeast really made a fantastic, dry finish in the beer, helped a bit by the addition of about a pound of turbinado sugar. (I like the Turbinado, as it doesn’t leave a chemical-like taste that table sugar can add, and it’s less expensive than buying Candi Sugar.)

I think if I brew another batch of this (assuming I can somehow lay hands on that many cherries again), I will definitely leave the cherries in the fermenter for far longer, possibly lagering the beer with the cherries in it after the initial fermentation.

The Smoked Porter is another interesting beer, which I have been waiting to try very anxiously. It tasted lovely with a nice, subtle, smoke flavor before it was bottled, but I’m wondering what a little carbonation will do to the smoke. It may bring it out a bit more, and subdue some of the maltiness, but I think it will still be very present, and will go well with the turkey I will be smoking for Thanksgiving. I’ll know for sure tomorrow, as it will be ready to taste tomorrow. A little more time in the bottle will do it good, but I’m happy it will be ready for Thanksgiving.

Tha porter came about as another of Joe’s somewhat experimental ideas. When he came into town last, he mentioned brewing, and I asked him what he wanted to brew. He suggested a long list of ideas, but the one that intrigued me the most was the smoked porter. On his list, he included “[a] smoked porter. I was reading about old British and American porters, and how they probably were a bit smoky from the wood fires that kilned and roasted the malt. Also both smoked beers and porters can be nice with various foods. Should be very drinkable, maybe a faint residual sweetness, chocolate-roasty but not too coffee-roasty, moderately bitter, subtly smoky but not TOO subtle. You should be able to taste the smoke without the beer tasting like bacon I think. Very dark color with tan or brown head.” Judging by what I tasted BEFORE bottling, I think we most likely hit this recipe on the head. It will be about 6% alcohol, but I don’t know exactly because my hydrometer shattered in a tragic stupidity-related incident on my part. It has a nice malty flavor without being sweet, and the smoke is subtle, but present in the lingering taste. I’ll write some final tasting notes after I try it, but that is the impression I got from the beer before it was bottled.

The next hurdle in my brewing career is one of water. I recently moved into a new house, and am moving my brewing operations with me. That way, when I am having a lazy Sunday at home, I can also be having a brewing Sunday AT THE SAME TIME!!! In the past, it was one or the other, as I lived a few miles from where I brewed.

The problem I am going to run into is that I am moving my brewing water source from a well to city water, which will contain either Chlorine or other chemicals which may cause some off-flavors in the beer. Since I am not yet an all-grain brewer, it is not considered to be a major drawback, but I can definitely tell a difference, and I don’t like it. Some brewers will say that to boil the water for 15 minutes before beginning your brewing is sufficient, but it really isn’t in some cases. For instance, a lot of water treatment facilities no longer use chorine, but use a more stable form of chlorine (I believe it’s called Chlorimide, but I may be mistaken), which will not be removed by boiling. So, I am shopping for a water filter.

There are a lot of things to consider about the water filter. Activated Charcoal seems to be the best option for removing the nasty chemicals and anything else, so I’ll most likely be looking for one of those. It is the same type of filter used for Brita filters and the like. I also need to consider whether to get an in-line filter or a tap filter, or, if I had my choice, a whole-house filter that would take the chlorine out of all of the water of the house. It’s probably overkill, but a man can dream, can’t he?

At any rate, I’ll be posting more on the search for water later. In the mean time, I have a smoked porter to try this weekend...