American Farmhouse

Our American Farmhouse ale, reviewed earlier has recently received some pretty cool accolades:

• First place at the 31st annual Oregon Homebrew Festival in the "Saison" subcategory (16C) of the BJCP "Belgian and French Ale" category. This qualifies us (for the third time) to send this beer to the Masters Championship of Amateur Brewing next spring.
• Second place in the 5th annual "Alechemist Challenge" specifically dedicated to the American Farmhouse style. First place would've had us brewing the beer at Block 15 Brewing here in town, but at least we got to take part in a kick-ass free party and a $50 gift certificate to Corvallis Brewing Supply for our efforts.

This is the first time we'd ever brewed this style, and came up with the recipe simply and quickly based on what we thought might be good. It turned out way better than we could've hoped and we'll be making a ton more of this beer in the future, it's super yummy and damn easy to drink. I wish I had one right now.

OK, bragging session over. Happy brewing!

Hof ten Dormaal Blond

Belgian farmhouse ale
12.7oz bottle, 8%abv
Tildonk, Belgium

Appearance is dark gold with a thick lasting white head.

Aroma is fruity and clean and a bit spicy.

Flavor is rich and malty with some bread.

Mouthfeel is rich and creamy but with a crisp,  bitter finish.

Really, really nice beer.

Mikkeller Yeast Series

Pale ales brewed with Brettanomyces Bruxellensis and Brettanomyces Lambicus

These are a series these guys did of identical beers brewed with different yeast strains.

Interesting how different these two are.  The Lambicus has the expected funk and some nice spice, but is pretty mellow in comparison to the Bruxellensis.  It's got a similar underlying flavor but a much funkier notes and a ton of dry sourness.

Very cool to try them side by side.

Farmhouse tasting

Our homebrew American Farmhouse ale and Commons Brewery Urban Farmhouse ale.

Ours has a great spicy aroma with nice notes of fruity bubblegum.  Commons is very light in aroma, with a bit of grain and a tiny hint of fruit.

Flavor is similar -- Commons is light, grainy and crisp.  Very drinkable.  Ours is malty with a bit of sweetness and a good amount of smooth fruitiness.

Both finish surprisingly dry, but ours actually finishes a bit dryer and quite crisp and spicy.

I think ours compares very well.  I'd probably prefer the Commons on a really hot day, and ours any other time.  Both are damn good.

Beautiful Day

Gorgeous sunny day at the coast.  Fairly warm too, considering.  A bit windy down on the beach, but in town it isn't bad.

Manzanita is a great little not-too-touristy spot.

Spring is here...

...and the Cascade hops we planted last year are very happy about it.  Hopefully we'll get a good harvest in around 5 months or so.

Good Head

This is a little on the ridiculous side...

Homebrewed Belgian Strong.  Marvelously yummy, but this goes a bit beyond "Belgian Lace."