Thursday, August 05, 2010

Dragon Spit and Moose Drool

Recently, I brewed up my world-famous Dragon Spit Brown Ale and Dragon Spit II Brown Ale very close together.  Dragon Spit was one of my very successful recipes that used a Mr. Beer HME as a base.  Dragon Spit II was my attempt to recreate it without using Mr. Beer ingredients.

Sunday, I tried them side-by-side.  Just for the fun of it, I also added in a bottle of Big Sky Brewing Company's Moose Drool to compare how a commercial example of the American Brown Ale (Moose Drool is listed in the guidelines as one of the commercial examples).  Of course, I knew my beers would not really be the same as Moose Drool ... they use cinnamon for goodness sake, but it was interesting to do the comparison.

Dragon Spit I and II are very close.  For some reason, DSI has a lot more cinnamon flavor than DSII.  Probably too much.  Moose drool is more malty and has a noticeable roasted barley (coffee-like) flavor.  Even without the cinnamon, the Sheppy Brew beers have more hop flavors, and less of the rich malty character.  My beer model and I decided we liked Dragon Spit II the best, and Moose Drool came in third. 

I did decide that I will be retiring Dragon Spit I.  Next time I brew Dragon Spit II, I think I will cut down on the cinnamon.  I will add just a touch of roasted barley to get the flavor more inline with a brown ale.  I'm also going to change the yeast to Fermentis S-04 to accentuate the malts just a bit.  And, it will most likely be another all-grain batch.

I have no idea when the next Dragon Spit Brown Ale will make it into the brewing schedule.

I have to get my Rocktoberfest Lager going.  I promised myself I'd make Stone Soup IDA ASAP.  I really would like to get all-grain batches of Phat & Tyred Ale and Blackhawk Black Ale brewed.  There are a few new things I'd like to try soon (Breasty Bimbo Blonde Ale, Fox Sox Knox Rye Pale Ale, a new version of Eric's Red Ale, and a few others).  I probably should brew some Wetta Blonde Ale just to have some on-hand for the light-beer drinkers during the Thanksgiving / Christmas season.  Oh, and somehow I have to get time to make another X-Mas Ale.  And right now, my beer fridge is full, and I am pretty low on bottles.

So, it will probably be awhile before I am able to brew Dragon Spit again.
Posted by at 8/05/2010 12:04:00 AM
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4 comments:

  1. 1. I wish we lived closer together so I could participate in your tasting sessions.

    2. I wish I liked beer so I could participate in your tasting sessions.

    3. Moose drool and dragon spit? How lovely.

    4. Will you make one for me? Dark chocolate, please, and could you make it so it doesn't taste like beer at all?

    5. I know what you're trying to do, and it won't work (OK, maybe it will work--maybe this is the month that you'll win! Maybe I'll *let* you win if you craft a beer for me :-)
    ReplyDelete
  2. Hmmm... I do not know who the anonymous person is. I have a guess, but I hate to make the assumption that my guess is correct.

    1) I doubt it.
    2) That makes more sense than #1, but I still doubt you really wish that you liked beer.
    3) Yes.
    4) I really doubt you'd like any of my dark chocolate beers (chocolate malted barley). I do not know how to make a beer that doesn't taste like beer. I could theoretically make a cider or a mead, neither of which taste like beer, but I sort of doubt that you'd like those either.
    5) I'm not trying to do anything in particular. I won't presume to be close to winning until much later in the month. Even if I am close, as we found out last month, it is pretty impossible for me to catch up with one of your 10 post days late in the month.
    ReplyDelete
  3. Actually, I do wish that I liked beer, so that I could taste yours and say something other than, "yuck, it tastes like beer."
    ReplyDelete
  4. BTW, you win every month on the number of comments posted...
    ReplyDelete

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