Old Beers are Soon to be New Beers

I made two beers a while back.  Probably 6 months. Maybe longer.

One was an old time Brown Ale.  It never got down to final gravity.  I think my diastic power equation failed me.  I used a large portion of brown malt and a very small amount 6-row.  It didn't work.  I planned on putting some Brett in the final beer to give it that old barrel flavor that should of been present in the 1700's in England.  Also added a bit of oak.  So instead of wasting the final beer I added the Brett and oak and decided to see what would happen.  The beer was at 1.034.  After six months its only down to 1.028.  I am going to bottle this in some sturdy bottles and see how it tastes. It currently tastes awesome. A bit sweet but it has a great depth of flavor.  I will be interested to see how it finishes out.

The other one was an Orval clone that  I am calling Opal Abbey.  Named after my high school band of course.  This one has a huge Brett nose. Fruity, funky yet clean.  I dont know how that makes any sense but thats also what it taste like.  It was actually pretty clean.  It smelled more funky and fruity than the flavor. I am going to dry hop this for a few days and then bottle this one up.

Hopefully we will have some tastings in the very near future with these beers.

Vorpbrew - Back in Business

It feels like I have not brewed a beer for fun in a long time.  Don't get me wrong. I loved brewing beer for the wedding but it's time to brew beer and not have to worry about 150 people liking it.  A brew day is coming and it will yield a Heady Topper clone.  I have been wanting to try one of the New England IPAs for a long time now.  Hope my version comes out good.

More importantly I finally went to my parents and got my tap gear that has been at their place since the wedding.  So that means Vorpbrew is back open.  I had a Mexican Mocha Stout last night and it still tastes great.  It really has not aged at all in the keg. Tasted the same as it did almost three months ago.

I also drank a Roosters Red when the Pens won the cup on Sunday.  After a year in the bottle it seems to be losing some of its punch.  One thing I need to keep in mind is this beer is now almost three years old.  Its losing some of its crisp sourness that it had last year when I first drank one.  Its becoming a more deep and rounder flavor.  I like it crisper. Just my preference though.

Can not wait to brew this IPA and get it on tap so I can have a nice beer to sip on the deck.  I also want to get my sour program back on target with my normal timing.

Up next: an actual brew day post!