The Beer Thread • Page 131

I'm a big founders fan, I'll have to try that one!

 

Frootwood is really good, I wasn't expecting to like it very much, but it surprised me.

 

I had 2 Frootwoods. I liked the 2nd one a lot better once I knew what i was getting. I knew the description but it still took me off guard a little.

 

I found frootwood to be just okay. I don't think the whole beer came together for me. It was missing some unifying factor. It'd be a killer beer to mix in with Founders Imperial Stout, though.

 

I know a few people who mixed it in with breakfast stout who said it was incredible.

 

I brewed a NE IPA a couple weeks ago and I had my first pour of it last night. I have to say I'm very happy with the way it turned out. It was my first time really focusing on water chemistry so I was hoping/nervous I understood my water software correctly and made the right adjustments. There are a few things I'd still probably adjust for next time but I'm stoked it turned out as well as it did. Probably one of the best beers I've made so far.

 

Would be interested to hear a rough overview of your recipe! I have a few different NEIPA recipe variations in my beersmith, but I just don't have the opportunity to brew them and my work has too many hoppy beers on tap/coming down the pipeline for me to pitch trying out another one in the near future.

 

I think there are still some Frootwood bottles available in my area. I may have to grab one and give that a shot because I was just lukewarm on the beer by itself. The Breakfast Stout may help punch it up a bit!

 

The grain bill was a 50/50 split of 2-Row and Golden Promise for the base, White Wheat, Carapils, Flaked Oats, and a little Crystal 20. I'm not sure if the Golden Promise or Flaked Oats really add much so I've been thinking of getting rid of them next time. I used a small dose of Columbus at first wort hop for bittering and then had 4 equal charges of Mosaic/Galaxy/Amarillo. Each charge was 3 oz. and the plan was to do 1 at flameout, 1 for a 20-30 minute whirlpool/hopstand at 160-180ish degrees, 1 dryhop around day 4, and 1 dryhop around day 10. I forgot to do the flameout addition so I just had a big whirlpool dose instead. I also added a pound of wildflower honey during whirlpool for this batch but that was only because I'm bottling some for a gift and I wanted to have something included in it that was local to where they live. Let it ferment for 12 days before cold crashing and then kegging.

I used distilled water to start and then added salts to get to the profile I wanted. I went for a 100:200ppm Sulfate:Chloride ratio and a mash ph of about 5.4. I don't have a ph meter or anything to test so I was completely reliant on Bru'n Water for this stuff. I believe this was the biggest factor to get the mouthfeel to be really smooth and creamy.

I had a terrible efficiency in my mash for some reason and was about 8 points low pre-boil so I added almost 15 oz. of DME with around 10 minutes left in the boil to compensate. This ended up causing me to overshoot my OG a little bit.

Like I said, I want to try a few different things in future batches but for being my first legitimate attempt at this style I'm very happy with the results. I think having a flameout addition would really help to add some more hop flavor rather than just a big aroma (which is wonderful in this).

 

This is nearly identical to the one I brewed, but I didn't attempt the water. Liked how it turned out, so definitely going to brew it again and give water additions a shot.

 

I would keep the flaked oats, for sure. Any pictures of it in a glass? Curious on the haze. But your recipe is basically the same (minus the honey) to some I've come up with. What yeast did you use, Conan or London Ale III?

 

That'd be interesting to see if just making water adjustments would have a major effect or not on the beer.

I used London III. My home brew store only sells wyeast for liquid yeast so that's the easiest for me to get. The haze is definitely there.

 

Looks the part, for sure. I have a few different variations I'd like to try out but I just can't brew in my apartment, it's too hot for most of the year to ferment where I'd want it. Most of mine have between 50-60% pale malt (or maris otter, depending on the recipe), and between 12-18% oats, 12-18% wheat, and the rest is Crystal 10. I really want to experiment with what using rye in these recipes would do, too. As well as using a yeast strain like San Francisco/California lager yeast. I've read a couple recipes using that (and a yeast from a Richmond, Virginia yeast bank) which show promise.

 

Have you tried doing a cool water bath for your fermenters to keep them down in temp?
I had a rye IPA from bissel brothers not too long ago. It was different at first and took a couple sips for me to get used to it but it ended up being pretty good. Trying with the San Francisco/California strain would be interesting to try out and see what effects it would have.

 

Pretty much use London Ale III exclusively for all my ales now.


Cellarmaker made an amazing rye ipa called bangarang, so good. Alpine Nelson is also good which if I remember correctly is brewed with rye.

 

These were pretty much my thoughts on Frootwood. Decent beer, but it was missing something. I love the idea of a combo of cherry, maple, and bourbon together in a beer, but the execution of it just fell flat. If one of those areas had been accentuated a little more, Frootwood might've been a bit more palatable.

On a completely unrelated note, I've been drinking a lot of Half Acre stuff over the last week. Canned Double Daisy Cutter was solid, but the price point was a bit high ($14.99 for a 4-pack of 16 oz cans) for an 8% ABV beer when there are other imperial IPAs/pales on the market in Chicagoland for a cheaper price point (looking at you Ninja V. Unicorn). I also bought a four pack of Tuna, which was a decent pale. In the end though, I'd rather have gotten regular Daisy Cutter or Vallejo.

 

I can never pull the trigger on the higher end Half Acre stuff for that reason. Just a bit out of my price range

 

It especially hurts when they have Navaja at the same price point with a higher ABV...and it's a better beer that's easier to come by at this point. You can find that shit on any Binny's shelf now.

 

My local brewery is coming out with a NE IPA next week, excited to try it.

 

weird idea, but trust me - do a small shot of maple syrup before the Frootwood. It really makes that cherry pop. Intoxicated ideas are not always bad (but might lead to diabetes...)!

 

I haven't had any bissel but my buddy traded for some and he said swish is the absolute truth.

Yeah, I think Nelson is with rye. Unfortunately, we don't get any fresh Alpine. Every bottle here i've seen from them have been 4+ months old.

I .... think I will pass on that, haha. I get the right amount of maple from Frootwood, just want more tart cherry to balance the sweetness from the maple and barrel character and the 8% booze.

 

I taunt myself by looking at Treehouse beers on untappd and YouTube, knowing I'm very unlikely to ever try any of them :(

 

Next time i decide to trade for some, I got you.

 

I will owe you so much haha you're the best.

 

Lagunitas has a pretty cool sour