Paint My Words

I brew beer because there is something very special in the act of creation itself. There is an intangible quality so great in making a composition that you and you alone can experience.  Everyone of course can partake in the taste of beer, however only the brewer can taste the beer throughout its full lifespan; from grain to cup.  This Saison, this farmhouse ale is special. It’s similar to a Flanders Red, with a bit more wit beer acidity mixed in and a tad less color.  It is however very true to the farmhouse wild, unruly and funky nature.  It was brewed hot at 90 degrees according to the Saison yeast style guidelines.

Belgian Wheat – 7 gallon mash reduced to about 5.5 during racking

• 13 lbs 2 Row Pale Ale Malt
• 6 lbs torrid wheat
• Turbid mash schedule – boiling during the mash out to raise temps gradually
• Hop Schedule
  • @ 60 min 1oz Cascade
  • @ 30 min .5 oz cascade
  • @ flame out .5 oz cascade
  • 2 oz Pearl dry hop
• Belgian Strong Ale Yeast and SA04 Primary
• Yeast – Champagne Yeast in secondary for highest attenuation possible
• Lacic – malolactic – tartaric acid blend – 60z
• O.G. 1.088 – Reduced to around 1.070 by adding water post primary ferment.

Notes: The fermenting wort was moved to 90 degrees during primary for two weeks after the initial two week period held at 75.  I wanted to bring out some bubble gum phenols and esters. I did. It was than reduced to 70 degrees where additional champagne yeast was added.  The initial fermentation ceased at 1.040 so added some water and champagne yeast to raise the alcohol percentage and lower the final gravity. I noticed a slight pellicle on top after the first month of fermentation.  I’m guessing that this came from some of the critters in the brett, pedio and lacto in the Belgian strong ale strain mix, or it could have been from contamination.  Regardless, if anything, the spoilage assisted in building out the complex flavor rather than being a detrimental factor in the ferment.  Three months later and the young Belgian specialty ale, as it doesn’t really fit into any predefined category due to the alcohol content and flavor profiles. This ain’t a lambic, it ain’t a saison and it certainly isn’t a gueze.  It is a worthwhile and complex brew.

The flavor profile is beyond complex. The simplest comparison that I can use to describe it would be a mixture between a full bodied white burgundy and champagne.
The nose is of strong pineapple, apricots, banana, and other indescribably lush tropical fruits. The flavor goes a bit deeper than fruity acids and pungent esters with  subtle notes of funky barnyard, leather, perhaps horse collar.  The color is light, with an effervescent mouth feel. I pushed the C02 high with around 2bar. The head does not linger, however plenty of lacing remains on the side of the glass. Two cups of this brew is quenching with a higher abv (8%) and such satiating flavors.

This one is a winner. It would pair exceptionally well with spicy foods, meats of all kinds, flavorful soups and any other dish with strong spicy characteristics.  If I brewed it again, I would up the dark crystal malt profile a tad bit to add yet another layer of complexity.

I’ve spent the last two months working to recreate a previous composition. I began two canvases dedicated to this task. The works began with a layer of tar and sand, painted over again and again.  I pealed off the layers, like strips of peel from an orange.  I painted, repainted and painted again, using layers of polyurethane as the glue.  I created a suitable background for a composition, using my normal layered style, and after completion, I found that I liked the simplicity of the backgrounds more than the thought of disturbing the silence with additional painted forms. I am done.  Welcome to “Red Paintaholic” and “Purple Paintaholic”

I have been working on a manuscript over the last year or so which documents in principle my experience of cycling. The manuscript is well on its way to being completed.  These prints will be used as chapter dividers.  It’s not entirely fiction or non fiction, but rather a blending of the two – A Mark Twain if you will.  I spent the day today, carving a rubber block, cutting my hand, and producing these colorful cycling prints.  There are twenty in total. The rubber has been destroyed.

Grain Bill – 10 Gallons

• 33 lbs. – 2 Row Pale Malt (American)
• 1 lb. – CaraPils Malt
• 1lb flaked oats
• 1lb crystal malt

Hop Schedule

• 2 oz magnum at 90 minutes
• 2 oz Simcoe at 90 minutes
• 8 oz hallertau at flame out
• 8 oz hallertau dry hop

Yeast

White Labs California Ale Yeast (WLP001) – 1800 ml starter

Mash/Sparge/Boil

Mash at 150° to 152° for 60 min.
Sparge as usual

Details

• O.G. 1.085
• F.G. 1.010

I brewed this beer and fermented it out over a month. Temperatures where a little on the warmer side – 75-80 degrees, maintaining closer to 72 during the height of early fermentation. I let the temps rise after a few days.  Racked to secondary for two weeks and filtered off of the trub.  The nose is composed of a dense bouquet of orange, dry malt, and fragrant hops.  The flavor is a balanced blend of dry malt sweetness, alcohol and floral dense hops. The flavor profile is a mix between the Green Flash DIPA and the Green Flash West Coast IPA. The alcohol content is warming and covered well by the hops. If I were to brew this again, I would alter the schedule to produce a beer with a bit less fermentable sugar. The 9.5% alcohol or so will catch up with you. The flavor however is very satiating. Two of these beers is completely satisfying.  The head retention and lacing are simply amazing. The beer pours with a three finger dense white head, which remains until the last sip – perhaps due to the hops and the flaked oatmeal grist.  The recipe  idea while similar to Russian River’s noble experiment is not executed in exactly the same manner. Russian River’s brew is more delicate, this noble experiment with the addition of some higher alpha acid American hops tends more towards the traditional west coast IPA style.

Did I mention that with this amount of lupenin from the hops, you’ll be lucky to stay up past nine thirty?

Over the last two weeks I have been experimenting with rubber block printing and color combination. I worked away at the background and vase first, followed by a bit more detail on the flower pedals and the vase bottom. The results look stunning when compared as a series. Tulips redefined.  I made thirty of these, most of them completed over the course of the last 24 hours. More flower prints to come, perhaps a daisy or a pansy next.