20th Brew-versary Extravaganza!

Ambrosio, The Fallen Monk

Starting a 4 hour boil on the stove, because its too cold  outside for propane

The goal of this beer is pretty straight forward – I wanted a Belgian-inspired beer with 1% ABV for every year I’ve been a homebrewer. As described in the recipe/brew-day post about this beer, I over-designed this beer so that I would get a 22-24% ABV beer if it attenuated as per the norms of the yeast I was using…an unlikely event given the high gravity (I ended up with 20.65% ABV…so its a good thing I over-brewed).

Days 6 and 8: Yeast was roused as on days 3-5.

~10 days post-brewday: WLP099 starter was decanted and added to the beer, along with 2 teaspoons of wyeast yeast nutrient.

25 days post-brewday: Beer’s gravity had stabilized (with ~ 10 points left to go), so beer was transferred to a carboy and capped the carboy with an airlock.

5 months post-brewday: Beer had fermented the final 10 points, and as such the beer was moved to my cellar (~10C) for long-term aging.

1 year, 8 months post-brewday: Beer was transferred to two purged kegs and force-carbonated to 2.5 volumes. Once carbonated, beer was bottled and placed back into the cellar for long-term storage.

1 year, 9 months, 20 days post-brewday: My brew-versary, and the “theoretical” first taste of this beer.

Aroma: An intense malt character dominates the aroma of this beer, behind which a plum-like fruitiness is apparent. Despite the high alcohol, there is no “hot” aroma or solvent-like notes.

Flavour: When cold, this beer is intensely malty, dominantly sweet, with only subtle hints of any yeast character in the background. As the beer warms these yeast characters come out more – dominated by stone fruit character (plums or dates), but with some subtle pepper-like phenolics. When you first take a sip the only indication of the high alcohol content is a subtle tingling heat on the back of your tongue; when swallowed this turns into a lingering heat in the back of the throat and a warm feeling in your belly. Overarching all of these flavours are flavours typical of vintage beers – notably a combination of sherry and port note from oxidation, and a more dried-fruit character to the ester component of the beer. The aftertaste is a long, lingering sweetness and a warmness in your stomach that can persist for hours.

Mouthfeel: Thick and luxurious, with a slight tingling sensation from the carbonation and alcohol.

Overall: The high sweetness and complex flavour of this beer makes it a great digestif to follow a meal, or to enjoy late at nigh while listening to music in the dark. The same characteristics make it a difficult beer to quaff a pint or two – a half-filled wine glass is the idea serving size. I do wish this beer was a little less sweet – something that could have been achieved by using simple sugars for 20% to 30% of the fermentables – but otherwise this beer came out much as I expected. An enjoyable beer – and one which should age well and be enjoyed for many years. I guess 20 years of brewing experience does pay off!