Bourbon Barrel Aged Coffee Oatmeal Stout - Zwei

I was alerted to a 15 gallon used Bourbon Barrel from Journeyman Distillery (thanks Jen Mackey) and was lucky enough to grab one.  Beings Founders KBS is my favorite BBA Stout I decided to brew a big Coffee Oatmeal Stout and fill the barrel.

Tasting Cherry Lambic

While I tried the raspberry version over a month ago I was hesitant to try this variant due to it being slightly ropey 'sick' when I bottled it. But it showed no indication of the pedio ropeyness when I cracked the bottle.  Lucky for me I had it pointed away from me, cause as soon as I took the cage off the cork came out like a bat out of hell.

Tasting Raspberry Lambic

I finally got around to tasting my Raspberry Lambic that was bottled in the beginning of October.  Not only was I pleased with the final product, nicely carbed, decidedly tart with a mild amount of funk and great raspberry taste.  It has an amazing dark ruby color and I got to share the first bottle with friends and family.

Bottling Michigan Lambic Framboise

 I finally had to time to bottle my 2 gallons of Michigan Lambic that I had aging on raspberries.  In May of 2012 I brewed a Lambic and allowed it to ferment for a year.  Then in May of 2013 I put 2 gallons of it on 5lbs of wild raspberries, 2 gallons on 5 lbs sour cherries and then reserved 1 gallon for use in a gueuze blend.  5 months later it was ready to bottle the raspberry version.

Valpo Brewfest and Old Ale rebrew

I got to spend the last weekend going to Valpo Brewfest along with visiting 3 Floyds and Figure 8 Brewing with my wife, uncle and 2 friends.  Valpo and 3 Floyds was a great time, Figure 8 not so much.

Adding fruit to beer, Sour Cherry Imperial Stout

Adding fruit to beer can be difficult, when do you add, how much do you add, how do you prepare the fruit and how long do you leave the fruit in contact with the beer are all things you need to decide.

Sour Mash Wit

There are many ways to add sourness to the finished beer.  Simply adding lactic acid, long fermentation with wild yeast and bacteria, acidulated malt and the only method I have yet explored till now the sour mash.