First State Brewers Blog

8.37%ABV - That’s what ProMash says my Strong Dark Belgian is at. Even though it is young, I snuck a sip of what was left over in my racking tube tonight and… I can’t wait. In 3 or 4 months this should be just amazing. I kegged it tonight and it is now sitting comfortably next to my Abbey Tripel that’s been aging since January. I mentioned some days back that our club should have a Battle of the Belgians sometime late this summer or fall since Scott and Marty also have Belgian-style beers in the works (Marty’s is probably in a keg by now, Scott’s may also be…)

I’m sick. I’m dying for a beer, but my sinuses can’t take it. I’ve been sipping on water all day, hitting the head every 1-2 hours because of it, and I still feel like someone shoved wool and barb wire up my nostrils. All the Claritin, Sudafed, and vitimins apparently can’t save me from pollen… At least I haven’t gotten a sinus infection YET :-\ So since I can’t drink beer, I’ve been doing activities I can enjoy - Like formulating recipes.

As much as I’m not a hophead, I can’t wait to brew the “Native Rage IPA” and assault our club members with it. With 2oz of Warrior hops (14.6%AA), 2oz of Tomahawk hops (14.4%AA) and 1.5oz of Chinook hops (12.1%AA), the 100+ IBUs should do a sufficient job of scalping some taste buds. The synaptic attack of 7.5%ABV and (hopefully) blood red color should fit the motif quite well too. Truth be told, most of the IBUs come from a 75 minute boil of Warrior hops which have a (reportedly) smooth bitterness, so my intent isn’t for this to be a “stunt beer”… But I don’t intend on it taking prisoners, either.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 3rd, 2005 at 6:40 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.