Funky Little Brotha

I just kegged up my beer that I'm calling "Funky Little Brotha" and it is on tap in my living room. Life is good. FUNKY-because it went through a primary fermentation of all Brett Claussenii and then I pitched a starter of Al's Bugfarm at 1.020. Al's Bugfarm consists of the following.

Al's Bugfarm Inoculated Oak Cubes (batch # 01)
brettanomyces lambicus (Wyeast)
brettanomyces lambicus (White Labs)
brettanomyces bruxellensis (White Labs)
brettanomyces claussenii (White Labs)
brettanomyces sp. (Fantome)
brettanomyces sp. (Jolly Pumpkin)
brettanomyces sp. (Russian River Wood Chips)
lactobacillus sp. (Russian River Wood Chips)
pediococcus sp. (White Labs)
oenococcus oennii (Wyeast)
saccharomyces fermentati (Sherry yeast)
kombucha yeast (oxidative yeast)

LITTLE BROTHA-because it is a partigyle brew off of a Belgian Dark Strong Ale that I did. Funky Little Brotha seemed like the perfect name to refer to this brew as. It is very easy drinking because its original gravity was only 1.042 but it did finish at 1.001. It doesn't have that acetic acid twang to it like a Flanders Red does; it is more of a lactic sourness. It reminds of me a Berliner Weisse more than anything. I think I am going to try and bottle some of this from my keg and see what the judges think of this one...just for fun.

Saison-a-thon This Summer!

Thanks a bunch to Al Buck from the Burgundian Babble Belt website for, once again, coming through with a sweet blend of yeast that he put together for us homebrewers to play with. This one that he sent me is a blend of five different Saison strains. Showed up just in time for my Saison-a-thon of a summer. Due to my ambient temp in my house being just above where I like it to be to brew a lot of the beer styles that I like I am going to take advantage of the heat and brew Saisons all summer since they tend to thrive in warmer temps during fermentation. The Saison I did about a month ago was fermented at 80F+ and it turned out great. I plan on playing around with the style being that it is very versatile and hopefully I get a few recipes dialed in over this summer so i have one that i can do every year for the warmer seasons.

Flossmoor Station Brew Day

Here are some pics of my brew day at Flossmoor Station Brewery. I had a lot of fun hanging out with Matt and brewing my Biere Bella recipe. Matt is a cool guy who knows how to brew awesome beer. Everybeer that I tried down there was great! I also got a chance to meet Michael Pelter, president of the B.O.S.S. Homebrew Club as well as a few other members. Everyone was great and it made the experience that much better having people to talk beer with.

Biere Bella

Hey all, I just got the results from the Titletown Open that was held this last weekend at Titletown Brewery in Green Bay and my Biere Bella--Belgian Golden Strong Ale (named after my beautiful little girl)took first place in the Strong ale category. The results say that my club is the "Marquette Area Homebrew Club" but really it is the "Bay de Noc Brewers". Not sure how that mix up occured. The competition was put on by the Green Bay Rackers. I'm still waiting for the results from the "Homebrew at the W.E.B." competition. That competition was held on the same day. The aren't announcing the best of show until May 16th at the World Expo of Beer. All other results should be posted soon.....I HOPE! Waiting sucks.