Blackthorn Pizza & Pub

I went somewhere new last night and fell in love. I went with an amazing group of men from Church to Blackthorn Pizza & Pub in Joplin with the promise of amazing pizza and a big selection of craft beer. Needless to say, both lived up to their promise well! I've found a new watering hole in Joplin that is 1, smoke free, 2, good pizza, and 3, big selection of craft beer on tap.

Mead Batch #2

This post is quite a bit past due, but I have my second batch of mead working away, aiming for it to be ready for Christmas. This batch was actually started on July 31, 2013...

I followed the same steps I did in my first batch, so I'll skip that dialog of the process. With the first batch, I added spices to create flavor. This time, I opted for something better. I used fresh blackberries and cherries!

All the ingredients ready to go.

I used Clover Honey this time (first batch was "wildflower") and the finest fruit Walmart had to offer.

Happy must (and a curious "helper" who wanted to taste the fruit)

Fruit is loaded and ready to go. Those cherries took a while to prepare...

And they're off to a good start.

Even though I poured out about half a gallon of water off the containers, I still had a lot of must left over. Fortunately, I still had the honey container, so I now have the 2 berry batches and one more that's plain. That plain one bubbled madly with all the extra honey for the yeast to feast on!

It's been almost 2 months and all the fermenting has stopped for the most part. I pulled the balloons off the two berry containers and tasted a sample of each before putting their lids back on (I was smart and saved them this time!). These two are turning out much better than the first batch already. They didn't taste like nail polish!

Next step will be to rack them into glass jars. I have two gallon sized jugs ready, they just need to be sanitized. I also need to get a hose to siphon the mead into the jugs. I'm not sure what to do with the plain mead. I might see if there is extra space in the jugs and add the plain into them.

I'm excited to see how these turn out with a few more months of maturing!

Mead - Lessons Learned and Batch #2

I learned my lesson the hard way with my first batch of mead. It was tasting so good too, but I wound up dumping over half of it out because it became so tainted it was sickening. What's the lesson? Never leave your mead in plastic bottles!

My hunch is that the alcohol was eating away at the plastic and it finally reached a point where it leeched so much that it turned the mead. It was nasty. I'll do the initial ferment in plastic bottles as others have proven it works well, but for batch #2, I'll actually rack it into glass bottles (as soon as I can find some cheaply).

Luckily it wasn't all lost and some of the mead is still good. It's my "plain" mead that still good. It was still in a plastic bottle, but a different type of bottle than the others. I'll be transferring it out into something glass soon to ensure it doesn't go bad. It's been 9 months so far and I love it.

Coming up next will be 2 more gallon sized batches and I'm going to be getting a little more creative this time. One bottle will contain a Cherry Mead (Black Cherry if I can find them) and the other will be Blackberry. I've got all the ingredients I need except for the fruit. As soon as I pick it up, I'll mix up the next batch and post again.

Stevens Point Brewing's 2012 Black Ale

Today's brew was from Stevens Point Brewing in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. It was their 2012 Black Ale and it can be summed up in one word: malty.

This beer is blacker than the night's sky. I couldn't see any light coming through the glass except for the faintest glow around the edges. It poured well, except the head disappeared long before I could take the first sip.

When I did get the first sip, the maltyness of the beer was quite strong yet very smooth. It's a dry malt too that has just a slight nutty taste. I like the overall taste and flavor.

A great, dark beer, but I tend to prefer them less dry than this one was. Still tasty though.

Left Hand Brewing's Sawtooth Ale

The third beer out of my latest 6 pack is a Sawtooth Ale from Left Hand Brewing Company. This is the second beer I've had from Left Hand. The first was their Milk Stout and was an excellent dark beer so I was hopeful for this one and it's just as good.

Poured dark golden with a nice thick head. When I poured it, it was to the top of the glass. It smelled slightly musty and different, but not in an off-putting way. It just made me more interested for the first sip.

First thing I tasted was the hops. A nice level of hoppy bitterness without biting back too much. You can also taste the rich malts. Great balance between the two.

Behind the hops and malts, I can also taste the mineraliness (is that a word?) of the wort. It's not as bad as some of the previous beers I've tasted, but it's still there. Adds a very slight metallic aftertaste but not bad.

As this beer warmed, everything but the malts faded into the background and I was left with a very nice malty ale.

Of the two Left Hand beers I've had, I think I liked the Milk Stout better, but this was still an excellent beer.

Kronenbourg 1664

This one was my International Pick of the latest custom 6-pack and it was, in a word, interesting.

It was a Kronenbourg 1664 from France. The photo was taken shortly after poured and you can see the head has completely faded away already. It was well carbonated and full of tiny bubbles. The smell was a little bitter and reminded me a little of a "big box" beer. Fortunately, it tasted much better than those.

First thing I noticed when I took my first sip was an almost sour taste. That soon transitioned into an almost sweet malt flavor. It was almost fruity, but I can't put my tongue on what fruit it may have actually been if any at all.

Overall, this is a decent French beer. Very drinkable if you can get past that initial slight sour taste. Plus, I get to add another country to my map... :)

Crown Valley Brewing's Black Cabin Smoke

Time to try and get back in the swings of things.

Today's brew is a new one from a brewery I've never heard of before: Black Cabin Smoked from Crown Valley Brewing out of Ste. Genevieve, Missouri. Another Missouri beer from just south of St. Louis. I plucked it off the shelf for a pick-6 just because it was from my home state.

Popped off the cap and it poured a beautiful dark amber. Didn't have much of a head and it soon faded to a thin layer, but the smell was great. Nice and malty with just a hint of smoke.

First sip was about the same way; rich malts with just the slightest touch of hops and woodiness that was followed by probably the best smoked flavor I've tasted in a beer so far. It was mellow at first, but long lasting which was nice.

Overall, I am quite impressed by the beer and I hope I will be able to run across more from this brewery.

That's it for today. Now, time to finish this delicious beer.

Mead Update, Wine and More - A Long Overdue Update

I just realized I haven't posted anything here since last year and it's almost April! Sheesh! No, I haven't given up my beer journey, but I have slowed down quite a bit with a lack of funding being the main reason.