End-of-Year Recordkeeping:
1. 5-gal: Old Speckled Hen clone.
2. 5-gal: Holiday Cheer (Charlie Papazian recipe).
3. 5-gal: Apfelwein.
4. 5-gal: Vanilla Porter (Dry Dock Brewing Co. recipe).
5. 5-gal: Old Speckled Hen clone - modified.
Hard to believe that four batches of ale got brewed in this apartment last year. And I'd have paid money for any one of them at the sto'.
The biggest surprise was how fast the Holiday Cheer went at the New Year's Party. Two-and-a-half gallons (12 bombers) disappeared. The next morning, there were still plenty of bottles of macro- and microbrew beers sitting in their cardboard cases outside, right where they were before the Holiday Cheer arrived.
The most pleasant surprise was the first batch of Old Speckled Hen clone. It was amazing that such good beer can made at home with a little attention to detail.
It looks like the Vanilla Porter, extract recipe provided by Dry Dock Brewing Company, will be the underdog of '09. Overly vanilla, too tart and not enough body at first, it has developed into a porter that starts with strong vanilla tones and finishes smooth, almost more like a stout than a porter. Great mouthfeel, nice aftertaste (if a tad sour) and overall good beer.
Old Speckled Hen v2 was bottled on 01.24.10, so it should be ready for a trip to Steamboat Springs in a couple of weeks. We shall see.
