Highballer Pumpkin Ale

Beer Review: Highballer Pumpkin Ale

So as I mentioned in my last Blog I wanted to review some of the Ontario Craft Brewers Beers as well as some of the more exotic brews I may find in the LCBO or Beer Store.  

I already had some store away in case of emergencies so decided to crack one open. I picked it out at random and it happened to be the Highballer Pumkin Ale by the excellent Grand River Brewing, a brewery very close to my location. 

I've always like the distinctive bottle shape and label design by GRB I feel it gives it a real Micro Brewery feel. They also feature some Food Recipes to use with their Brews. 

So onto the Beer itself. Usually the first thing I like to do when trying a new Beer for the first time is to get a good whiff of the aroma. I noted a strong smell of Pumpkin which is no mean feat as I know from my own experience, brewing with Pumpkin is very difficult. It takes a lot of Pumpkin to get a little flavor. I also detected a slightly spicy smell but there would only be one way to know for sure.

The taste was a lot duller than I was expecting (not to be confused with boring). For me it was because the brew seemed to have a low carbonation, however the enhanced the flavor of the Pumpkin considerably. Letting the Beer sit on the tongue brought through the hidden the spice of Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Cloves and Vanilla. 

Of course the colour is a wonderful amber because of the Pumpkin but I did find the brew wasn't as clear as I was expecting, perhaps there is a hint of Wheat in there. 

Verdict: As with a lot of seasonal Beers I don't think I could drink this all night but that's the beauty of seasonal beers. To make use of what is around you and to make Beer out of it, especially Pumpkin, is to be applauded. GRB have made a Pumkin Ale which could rival any other brand throughout North America and I look forward to their next batch.

Brewing up a Grodzinski

Brewing up a Grodzinski

So here it goes my first Blog on my Beer adventures. I started Home Brewing about 2 years ago after visiting Creemore Springs to sample all their quality brews. It got me into thinking how may different types of beer there were to try and how here in Ontario in can be quite difficult to get decent beer from Micro Brewery's, although I am a big fan of Ontario Craft Brewers and I hope to bring you some blogs on their Beers in the future.

To the Brew

Name: Grodzinski

Style: Smoked Polish Wheat

About: This is the traditional smoked wheat beer of Poland. It has fallen by the wayside in recent years but Home Brewers are helping it to make a comeback. 

Ingredients: 

WLP011 European Ale Yeast

1 lb Briess Smoked Malt

1 lb Carared© Malt

6 lbs Wheat DME

1 oz Spalt Hops

Additons:

Irish Moss

Yeast Nutrient

Ingredients

The Process: I generally just do partial mash as I find I don't have the time for full grain at this point in time. 

I started out by bringing around 3 gallons of spring water up to about 68OC. After Milling the Smoked Malt & Carared© I added them to the pot and made sure the temperature stayed at about the same temperature. 

Start of the Grain Tea

I let the grains rest for about steep for 30 minutes ensuring the temperature never dropped below 65. After that I let the grains drain off before washing them in steeping water and removing. I brought the pot up to the boil before removing from the heat and adding in the Wheat DME. Once the DME had fully dissolved I brought the wort up to the boil once again and added the Spalt Hops. 

Once all the Foam had cleared

I Kept the boil rolling for 45 minutes before adding the Irish Moss and Yeast Nutrient for the final 15 Minutes. Once the boil was done I removed it from the heat and cooled it for 30 minutes with a wort chiller before adding the wort to the Primary Fermenter. I took the OG reading as 1.052 a little below the .56 I was shooting for, but I did use  a little less DME then the recipe I was following so it makes sense.

As Always the final part was to add the yeast, I had made a yeast starter the night before so added the slurry in the mix and decided it would be better to use a blow off hose as opposed to an Airlock, it proved to be the right decision as within 24 hours the blow off was bubbling away.

Fermenting

I left the Beer in the primary for 5 days before deciding to move in into a secondary as the bubbling seemed to have slowed to a sufficient amount. 

Once the Secondary was filled the Beer was looking a good cloudy colour I would expect from a Wheat Beer and also had a slight smoky smell. I managed to save some of the Yeast to hopefully re-pitch in another brew. 

Beer!!!

So there it is. It still has another couple of days in the Secondary before I move to kegging it. If you've made it this far then thanks for reading and please add any comments or contact me at @EyeBeerHolder.

PROST!!

 

Welcome to Eye Beer Holder

Content Coming soon....................