Two Horded ale
It seems I may have not posted one of my brews from last fall. Its was a rush job. My freezer decided to stop freezing, and I had a 4 oz packet of nugget hops in there. I wanted to get them used up, so I threw a pale ale of sorts together.

9 lb 2 row
2 lb vienna
1/2 lb 20L
1/4 lb dextrine
.5 oz nugget 60
.5 oz nugget 45
1.5 nugget 15
1.5 nugget 0
05 yeast

I had some severe boil off that day, and ended up with a 4 gallon batch. I forced carbed it way to high. So between the nugget being nugget at 11 or 14 % and pretty good co2 burn this beer was not one of my favorites.

But now as its now several months later and the co2 has balance out, I think this may be a pretty damn good beer. It lost some of its major bitter or burn, cleared up very well. I get a Mt Hood type aroma out of it.
But the taste I get is where its at. I get citrus, subdued, but there. an almost juniper kinda thing. And oddly enough, a maraschino cherry note.

I was worried even as i was boiling this beer that it would be far to hoppy for me. But it really seems to be balanced. But it really shouldnt be.

Next up, the newest American Stout.
Last year I made this specifically for the Titletown Open. Right from the recipe creation that was its only intent. It took a second place. (to Brians stout) I was very happy with this beer.
This years batch I switched the cascade to the last edition and added an ounce more. Plus added Mt Hood.

Well I think if its possible, there is less aroma. But far more bitter. Tim from TCB mentioned, and i agree, that it is now more along the lines of a Cascadian Dark Ale.

Cascade hops yes, but they are overpowered by the biting taste of the Mt Hood.
Even with the addition of a 1/4 lb of the torrified wheat there is virtually no head. I am thinking this may be from the bag of my homegrown hops.

But its the body of this beer that worries me the most. It should have been motor oil like. The first batch was mashed at 152, this however was mashed at 157. That should have produce a beer that was at the very least as thick as the last batch. It is very thin. Thin. Thermometer problems?

If you just handed me this beer I would like it. But it is not a stout. Or its not what I look for in a stout. This years version will be back to the original recipe.

Got a text about @jcparsons3 cooking up a batch today. The rain was starting to move in so I took off to sit in during his brew.
He was originally going to help another guy brew a Scottish 60, but the guy couldnt make it, so he decided he had enough stuff to make an ESB.

Another one of the Rackers Tim was there with some Some Lagunitas beers to sample. Gotta admit, for a over the top hop beer, they were good. They were the Hop Stoopid, and WTF. Not so sure I would buy the Hop Stoopid, but the WTF was something I could buy again.

Well anyway, we were talking about sour beer. I I have been thinking of trying a slightly soured stout for a while. From the sounds of it, it seems to be pretty damn easy. And something that I may try to pull off sometime fairly soon.
I’m not looking for a pucker up sour kinda thing (but I’d be ok with that if I did) but something like the newest version of Guinness draught in the bottle. Not sure how it is when its in the can yet, but in the bottles its totally different lately. Got a bit more tang to it.
Thats all i want. Just a hint of sour. But I gotta admit that from everything I have read so far on souring, the general feel that i get is that it sounds easy,, but is hard to gauge the level of sour power. But I still wanna give it a shot.

Lastly, My latest version of Crop Circles (found in the 2011 recipes section) is now the final version. As I believe it is now what I was looking for. I made this beer for my brother in law who only drinks Bud, and he has requested more, so if he thinks its good, then its finalized.