It's been awhile

We're big slackers. On posting, not brewing.

A brief summary of today for the multitudes not in attendance: The porter is more porter-like this time. We attribute that to fresher ingredients than last time. Half of it is kegged for our next brewing session, half is bottled, a quarter of which is reserved for contest entries. We determined that the beer is pretty spot-on for style 12A - Brown Porter, per the BJCP guidelines.

We put together a holiday spice ale from a kit I had and deferred the spring herb beer to next time. We also discussed maple syrup beer, more mead, and more porter. Wii bowled.

That is all.

Gravitas and Saranac Holiday Beer Reviews

Merry Christmas!

I brought one bottle of Gravitas home to NJ and let it chill for a day. It had been in the bottle for about 2 weeks yesterday, when I drank it.

Two words came to mind after a poking my nose in its frothy head and tasting a sip... GREAT SUCCESS! I think it hits the mark with what we set out to make: a rich, full bodied imperial stout with nice a hop flavor as well as hints of other sweet flavors, perfect for a cold winter night.

I was a little worried it might be too early to open one judging by some emails sent between the brewers who said they had opened one after a week and thought it was too early, but still tasty. Well I was worried for no reason. The head on the beer was massive, rising up to 2 inches after a proper slow pour down the side of the glass. I can't wait to see what it's like at week 3, hopefully even better than it is now. (Gravitas, above)






Every year Saranac Brewery (Matt Brewing Company - Utica, NY) puts forth a holiday variety pack, featuring 6 different beers. It's a 12 pack, so you get to try each one twice (unless you're a wimp that likes to share.)

I bought their holiday pack on Christmas Eve, planning to whittle it away over the holiday weekend. After opening and finishing a delicious Gravitas, I went on to try the Saranac Vanilla Stout. I could certainly smell the vanilla in the head of the beer, but it wasn't a distinguished flavor in the stout itself. It tasted like it had been muted and was actually fighting with the hop flavor of the stout rather than complementing it.

Next I noticed there was a real E.S.B. and thought I have to try this, as its something we jokingly labeled one of Grynch's bottles of Novemberfest that we dry hopped, and also because Andrew just made a batch of his own. (Speaking of Grynch, can you believe that guy didn't make a Christmas blog post?) I'm pretty disappointed in this one as well. It seemed almost flat, the hop flavor wasn't prominent. It didn't seem very bitter either. There is a bitterness, but it's too subtle and diluted. All in all I was just expecting more of a punch in the taste buds. There's a dry flavor and crispness going on in the aftertaste here that reminds me of a something you'd expect out of a very dry white wine. It isn't awful, but so far I've been let down of what I remember from last years holiday pack. Four more to come! (Saranac E.S.B., above)