Video Review Gabrinus Chocolate Stout

Well we finally got a go at the Stout we made a while back. It's got a ton of roasted flavors, our best carbonation ever with a lovely caramel head, notes of bitter chocolate and not quite so much bitterness overall.
 As we talk about in the video we aimed low on the bitterness using Beamish Irish Stout that we tasted a while back as a reference point, figuring our friends are more likely to drink it. We also weren't quite sure just how much bitterness the roasted cacao would bring.
Overall a very nice drinking experience. It's smooth (not quite Guiness smooth but nice anyway) with a medium to light body for a stout and the proper color. There's just a hint of ruby coloring when held up to the light. This is certainly a fairly easy drinking stout that won't weigh you down as much as other beefier stouts. There are some nice malty notes in there too which play well against the charcoal flavors. There are no hop aromas, as it should be. We might say this is a tropical adaptation of a stout! Cheers and enjoy!



¡Ahora con versión en español!

Odysseus & the hurried home-brewers

Really we should have known better than to brew on a non-weekend day.  Apparently the beer gods did not approve and decided to throw a few Odyssean obstacles our way.
Obstacle the first: The beer supply store manager forgot the keys. Much conversation was had while we waited for the messenger to return with the keys...twice. We lost over an hour in our already tight schedule.
Obstacle the second; D'oh! In our rush to somehow try to reduce our normal brewing cycle to less than 5 hours...Solson dropped (and broke) the thermometer. A replacement was procured but it turns out baby thermometers don't go up that high.
Fortunately we had done this a few times and our unscientific finger dip test and eyeball steam test told us our mash temperature was probably OK. The amount of water we used for the mash was a bit more than we should have used, an oversight due to the rush. In the end it looked OK, and smelled proper.
Normally although theses obstacle would be bothersome they wouldn't be as critical except we were trying to produce our Red Ale to show it off to other brewers.
Even though we had our issues, some good things did come of our misfortune. We managed to streamline our "production" process by about 30 min. We also decided that we might want to make a dipstick to know our water volumes instead of eyeballing it, while also timing the approximate time to proper water temperature for reference.
Also mulled over the idea for a new recipe based on our honey porter. It will retain it's malty and sweet characteristics but with a different source of added sugar replacing the honey (it's a surprise) and a bit more charcoal. There's a reason behind the madness, but we'll explain the reasons behind such madness later.
Anyway we got our baby done and it should be ready for public sharing just it time. Let's hope that all all the bad mojo is gone and all that is left is lovely lovely red ale. Cheers!

Dos Amigos' Grambrinus Cacao Stout

24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case. Coincidence? -Stephen Wright-

We recently received a couple of organic Cacao pods from my sister in law, after sun drying and home roasting them, the natural question that pops up is: what to do with them?
Despite the several suggestions of mixing it with milk, we decided that we would mix them with malt (guess you saw that coming :-) ); and we decide to create our Dos Amigos' "Gambrinus" Cacao Stout.
We decided that we wanted a really dark Stout, so we target to get around the 37-38 SRM (this is the color scale and it means that it is going to be really dark) then, we needed to come up with the level of bitterness we wanted to have; this was an interesting discussion; we love bitter beers and the stout should be bitter as well (30IBU should be the lower level for the bitterness range) but, since one of the many beauties of beer is the flexibility to design it as you prefer, we decided to reduce the amount of bitterness so that the rest of our families and friend could better enjoy it (beside, we tasted a Beamish Stout which wasn't that bitter). With all this in mind, we finally came up with our own recipe and grain bill for our Stout and it was time to brew it.
Now, let me tell you the story that lead us to this peculiar name:

Gambrinus was a legendary king from Fresnes, Flandes, Belgium, the non-official patron of beer.

According to the legend, Gambrinus was a young glazier apprentice who fell in love with a beautiful young lady named Flandrine who reject him.

Unable to stand the rejection and with a broken heart, he decide to kill himself so; he went into a nearby forest; when he was about to do it, the devil itself appeared and offered a pact in exchange for his soul: "the devil with provide Gambrinus with a gift what would make him earn Frandrine's love and if not, he would teach him how to forget her".

The devil turn Gambrinus into a magnificent dancer and musician but, Frandine's love never came along. So, the devil, to fulfill his pact, had to teach Gambrinus an art to make him forget his broken heart, that wonderful art was the way of brewing a strange bitter beverage with barley, yeast and hop; he taught him how to brew beer and while he brew and drank from it, he forgot his broken heart and no longer remembered Flandrine. Beer made Gambrinos forget his lost love forever and it turn him into the king of beer.

Being chocolate the food for lovers, this is the perfect name for our Cacao Stout!!.

And now, the pictures :-)

These are organic home-roasted cacao seed, fresh and quality ingredients are key for brewing :-)

 We used 2 different kind of hops: Magnum and Hallertau to help bring up the malt and cacao aroma

 Prior to start brewing we need to make sure every thing is clean, right uncle Solson?

 Let's have a taste of our Cacao: Chunche... I mean... Solson approved!!!

 The malts and Cacao seeds smell is just wonderful!!!!

 When making hombrew... have a homebrew... or several!!!

 Final result... a big bucket of yummy malt and cacao seeds!!!

 Perfect mashing temperature: 68C during the whole hour!!! it is a great start

 After the whirlpool, this is our beautiful worth!!! the cacao aroma has no comparison!!!

 Fly sparge to make sure we got the maximum efficiency out of our grain bill, this takes a bit of time but it is totally worth it.

 Lunch break!!!

 On the surface of the mash you could see and taste the different malts we used and some bits of the cocoa seeds, we manage to extract almost all of the flavor from them!!!

 After the hot break, we started adding our hops

 

 After 45 min, we get the cooling coil into the pot for sanitizing

 Finally, get into fermenting bucket, add yeast and leave alone for 2 weeks!!

We are really happy with the final result and can't hardly wait to bottle it and of course, taste it.

Hope you have enjoyed this small insight to our Gambrinus Stout!!

Happy brewing!!!

3-for-1 Review, Golden and Red & Strawberry Ales

"Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder" - Kinky Friedman


Just like that the holidays came and went and we forgot to review a couple of beauties that were made just for the occasion(s).

The Dos Amigos golden ale was designed for spicy, grilled and fried food, to cleanse the palate without filling you up. It features a lovely golden near pale color with a very light body, tight white head with a fairly bitter and aromatic finish. On it's own that bitterness is a bit off-putting to most locals accustomed to local lagers (though Adrian and I love it), but when paired with food it's a different thing all together. I noticed a clear shift in the flavor of the hops as well. Alone it's almost floral and citrus, but washing down a spicy sausage off the grill the fresh, piney (to my palate anyway) notes from the Cascade hops become much clearer. The light body and low alcohol (less than 4%) means that you fill up on the food not the brew, and you can sip all afternoon long.

The Red Ale seemed to be a bigger hit with local drinkers. The roasted barley gives it a beautiful brownish red color and adds a lovely toasted/chocolatey finish. It's not nearly as bitter and the hops notes are more reserved than with the golden ale. It features a fairly light body (though still a bit more than the golden) with a slightly caramel head and is probably easier for most folks to drink on its own.

It took a mixed 6-pack to Guanacaste and got a split vote with a slight edge going to the Golden Ale...but of course we were grilling! Sit-around drinking seems to go to the Red Ale.

Brewing fruit beers is not easy, in order to showcase the fruit, you need to have a base beer that doesn't over overpowers it's malt or hop aroma and allows the fruit it self to come forward; also, the type of fruit you use is key to the success of the beer. I have to admit that, strawberry is not the best fruit to be use in fruits, it has a mild/gently aroma that struggles to overcome the malts and hops, you can (if you understand what you are looking for) feel a mild strawberry aroma but the fruit it self, provides a bit of astringency to the mouth feel; light brown in color, with a nice with head it is not a bad beer after all, but not the best we have brew. A very good learning experience but I don't think Dos Amigos will continue to work on it (we'd rather focus on our "Converter Pumpkin Spice Ale").

Our next project: Dos Amigos' Gambrinus Cocoa Stout.

Happy new year and happy brewing!!!

See you soon!!!

Let's brew some Pale Ale!!

"He was a wise man who invented beer". Plato

December just started and so, your calendar starts to fill up with parties, family meetings, dinners with friends... there is no single weekend with nothing to do!!!. Soon, the end of year celebrations will begin, which means that we will have to bear with "El Chinamo" in channel 7 and enjoy the bullfights (yes, I have to admit it, I do enjoy watching them).
All this scenario makes you think on the right choice of beer to brew, you need something you can enjoy at any moment, something smooth, that you can drink all night (or day) so.... how about a Pale Ale? yes, that seems to be the answer!!!
What should we expect from an American Pale Ale?
Aroma: Usually moderate to strong hop aroma from dry hopping or late kettle additions of American hop varieties. A citrusy hop character is very common, but not required. Low to moderate maltiness supports the hop presentation, and may optionally show small amounts of specialty malt character (bready, toasty, biscuity). Fruity esters vary from moderate to none. No diacetyl. Dry hopping (if used) may add grassy notes, although this character should not be excessive.
Appearance: Pale golden to deep amber. Moderately large white to off-white head with good retention. Generally quite clear, although dry-hopped versions may be slightly hazy.
Flavor: Usually a moderate to high hop flavor, often showing a citrusy American hop character (although other hop varieties may be used). Low to moderately high clean malt character supports the hop presentation, and may optionally show small amounts of specialty malt character (bready, toasty, biscuity). The balance is typically towards the late hops and bitterness, but the malt presence can be substantial. Caramel flavors are usually restrained or absent. Fruity esters can be moderate to none. Moderate to high hop bitterness with a medium to dry finish. Hop flavor and bitterness often lingers into the finish. No diacetyl. Dry hopping (if used) may add grassy notes, although this character should not be excessive.
Mouthfeel: Medium-light to medium body. Carbonation moderate to high. Overall smooth finish without astringency often associated with high hopping rates.
Overall Impression: Refreshing and hoppy, yet with sufficient supporting malt.
So, having this in mind Dos Amigos HomeBrewing, has taken the decision to brew a simple, yet delicious American Pale Ale.

Here is the high level of our recipe:

6kg of  Pale Malt
500gr of Crystal 30
1/2 oz of Chinnok @60min
1oz of Cascade @20min
1oz of Cascade @10min
1 wirlfloc tablet @10min

Here is the latest innovation from Dos Amigos HomeBrewing, we've modified our simple mill so that we can use a regular hand drill, this simple modification has help us to reduce... the pain of hand-grinding the grain bill :-)

 As you can see, it works really good!!!

 Mashing it @68C, the temperature keep constant during the 60min of the process

 Whirlpool, the smell we get is amazing, the sugars has converted perfectly and the taste of it is really sweet with lots of malt flavor!!

 We start collecting the wort and the sparge process, we fly sparge the mash-tun with ~4gal of water

 After 2 weeks of fermenting this is the final result, we got a really nice color, the hop smell was really perceived during the bottle process, thanks to the Chinnok added at the beginning of the boil, we are expecting to have a relatively high IBU (for Costa Rica standard) ~30IBU.

 We hope to taste it in a couple of weeks, when it finishes it conditioning process, we will get back to you with our review soon!!!

Keep on brewing!!!

Review: Dos Amigos' Spicy Pumpkin Ale

This beer got a full multi-person review over the meal for which it was brewed. Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and three kinds of salads all played along well.
Adrian and I had a sneak-preview the week before and it was already quite nice, but the extra week in the bottle further smoothed it out.
The breakdown: This beer has a lovely amber color with red tones when held up to the light. The head dissipates quickly but has a pleasing creamy off-white tone.
The flavor is sort of a medium maltiness up front with a prominent but not overwhelming spiced finish (kinda the point!) and very little bitterness. The finish is also crisp but not dry or astringent. This is one of the points that improved with the extra week in the bottle.
Overall the beer received very nice reactions from guests especially as an compliment to the saltiness in the food. One guest mentioned that it was the best beer he had ever tasted (perhaps a condemnation of our poor beer culture more than a nod to our beer) and another proclaimed it as her favorite Dos Amigos beer so far. High praise indeed!
One feature that didn't come through as strongly as we had hoped was the pumpkin flavor. Although present it was a bit faint, so next time we will probably be doubling up on the pumpkin.

After such a wonderful beer we can't wait until next year to make it again. Who knows we may not wait that long!

Dos Amigos Jimena Strawberry Ale

"The best thing about the future is, that it comes one day at a time" Abraham Lincoln.

I've come to realize that is it almost a year since my lovely daughter Jimena was born!. 

On a sunny morning, at 6:41am to be precise, on December 22, my wife and I were bless with the miracle of live, a joy so precious that continues to bring happiness to our family every single day.

So, while my wife has started to plan the party for her 1st birth-day celebration, rushing to define the menu, hiring the catering service, looking for tables and chairs, making the invitations, buying candies for the "piñata", thinking on what would be the entertainment for the kids invited to the party, etc; the obedient husband has being assigned with a single but, very important task: listen carefully to all the wifes comments and ideas regarding the party!!!

Make sure to agree to all her "suggestions" without hesitation. Although it is a simple task it must be perform with out failure as ti will drive severe consequences.

There is only one idea that beats in the homebrewer heart when a party is at sight: what should I brew?

But, in this specific event, it is not a just a party, it is the 1st birth day celebration of my beloved daughter so, what better gift for her than a beer recipe! it is something that will endure the passing of time and that Dos Amigos Home Brewing is glad to brew for her now and teach her how to do it in the future.

So, we have decided to brew a Strewberry ale!!

Brewing with fruits can be a bit tricky, you need to be very careful on how you sanitize your fruit and you add it to your beer, also, the fruit you choose to brew has to be taken into consideration, there are fruits with very strong aromas and others have just a mild aroma.

Per definition, fruit beers should showcase the fruit, allowing it's natural aroma to fill your taste, hop aroma should be very mild or absence and malt flavors should not be perceived or overpower the fruit character.

Knowing that we need to pay close attention to these details, we brewed with enough time to allow the fruit beer proper bottle condition, it will stay in the bottle for almost 1 month before it is tasted, this will allow to remove, as much as possible, any astringency (perceived as dryness) aromas that might be developed during the fruit brewing.

Here is the recipe we brew, hope you like it and, after December 22nd we will let you know how it turn out!!! I'm sure Dos Amigos CCO will have a nice review of it :-).

5kg pale malt
1.5kg munich malt
250gr Crystal 30
100g chocolate malt
1/2oz chinnok (11.8%AA) @40min
1/2oz chinnot (11.8%AA) @20min
1 wirfloc tablet @10min
1 S04 yeast
1.1kg strawberry puree

OG: 1.052

Ok... the process is pretty much standard for the all grain beer, but the strawberry puree required to be sanitized so, it was heated just below the boiling point to avoid ruining the strawberry, be very careful when doing this.

The grain bill... in our next entry, we will surprise you with our "engineering" project for the grinding process :-)

Mash tun ready!!!

 Our hand mill... for now!!!

 if you have never done an all grain beer... you are missing a great part of brewing... the smell of the grains

 Mashing in!!!

 Dos Amigos recipe book!!!! it is worth a lot of.... well... the stickers are hard to get!!!

 Getting our worth

 Boiling

 Checking on........... hops :-)

 Strawberry puree

 OG!!! not OMG... OG :-)

 Dumping our beer in the fermenter with the beer puree in it

We added the yeast, place the lid and leave it to rest. We decided to dump the whole strawberry pure in the 1st fermenting and not to rack it; this is one way of doing it, you can follow different processes but, that is your choice!!!

See you again soon!!!

Adrian.