Gastro Brewery Update!!!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything, so here’s what’s been happening at the Gastro Brewery.  First the Brewery has a new employee, a 3 month old black lab mix named Maximus, which we hired from a no-kill animal shelter.  We’re hoping that he brings the Brewery some good vibes. 

The Brewery recently produced a Belgian Strong Dark, at 8% ABV.  It’s a nice clean beer that has a great Belgian ester profile.  It’s very similar to the Delirium Nocturnal.  Here’s the recipe:

Meridius Belgian Strong Dark Ale

ABV 8%

11 lbs Belgian Pils

½ lb Belgian Special B

½ lb Belgian Aromatic

½ lb Caramunich 45*

1 lb Belgian Munich

3/4 lb Dark Belgian Candy Sugar 0 min

½ lb Cane Sugar 0 min

1 oz Tettnanger 4.5% AA 60 min

1 tsp Irish Moss 15 min

3 qt starter using Wyeast 1024 Belgian Ale

This is a great example of the style. The fermentation was right on target.  Although it’s not like you can have a lot of these, you certainly can have a couple and feel nice and toasty.

The Staff Vacation this year was to Aruba.  What A great place!  As soon as we got back, we cranked out our Harvest ale using our own home grown hops.   It’s basically a cross between blonde ale, and pale ale.  I used a commercial hop, Chinook, for bittering and then used the home grown hops for the flavor and aroma additions.  I was surprised on how it tasted after fermentation.  When I tasted a sample before I pitched the yeast it was very similar to most of my pale ales, but when I tasted a sample after fermentation it lacked that hop aroma and flavor.  It has a nice backbone with the Chinook, but the home grown Cascade and Chinook just didn’t come through.  Having said that, the beer is clean, and it taste good.  It’s a nice session beer.  Here are the vitals….

Maximus Harvest Ale

ABV 5.12%

8.5 lb American 2-row (organic)

4.8 oz Munich (organic)

1.5 lb wheat

7.6 oz American Caramel 20*

½ oz Chinook 11.4% AA 60 min

2.5 oz Chinook 10 min Home grown, AA % unknown

1.3 oz Cascade 0 min Home grown, AA % unknown

2 ea Wyeast 1056 American Ale

1 tsp Irish Moss 15 min