Manny's vs Mack & Jack's

In my quest to find the perfect Pale Ale or at least brew the perfect Pale ale I have had a lot of time to think of Manny's and Mac & Jack's African Amber. Now I know that Mack & Jack's isn't a Pale Ale but they were once brewed by the same brew master. When I first moved to the Seattle area I fell in love with Mack and Jack's. I thought it was a flavorful full body beer with the perfect balance of malt and hops and a bit on the sweet side which I tend to like. Also the fact that it was an unfiltered beer appealed to me. I tend to like unfilitered beers becaue you can obtain more of the yeast flavor which really has a big impact on beer flavor. I can’t remember when I first tasted a Manny’s but when I did it instantly became my new favorite beer on tap. It is a more refined version of Mack & Jack’s. Now I know they are two different styles but there are several distinct characteristics to the beers. They are both unfiltered, they both have a sweet profile to them which can be somewhat accredited to the yeast. They also both have strong malt profiles. Manny’s stand apart from its predecessor with a strong hop aroma and flavor pallete. It is a very well balanced beer.
Unfortunately both of these beers are only available at your favorite bar or the brewery. This led me to adopt my own recipe for a similar beer profile with the same characteristics. I brewed an all grain batch with a friend several weeks ago and kegged it last night. The beer is still young but had a clean fresh flavor. Time will tell how this will turn out. please stay tuned for more on this.

Wasatch Beers, Utah

I was recently on a trip to Park City, Utah and was able to sample some various beers. The trick to making sure you have regular strength beers in utah is to buy by the bottle from the bar or at the liquor store. When you by a beer on tap or buy bottles from the grocery store they are 3.2%. Essentially they are a watered down version of what the beer is supposed to be. So if you don't want to be dissapointed follow that little piece of advice.

With that being said one of the beers I tried was a Wasatch Winterfest Seasonal Ale. @ 7.1% ABV it is a pleasantly balanced beer of malts and hops. The pour reveals a nice ruby copper colored beer with a nice tan laced head retention. It has a nice amount of caramel smoothness and a very complimenting addtioned of hop aroma and flavors. Some winter ales can be over powering but I find this one to be refreshing. I would give this beer an A-.

Winter Ales

This months post is about winter ales. I brewed a Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale this winter. It is on Keg now and there isn't a bad thing I can say about it. It has a nice copper color, hoppy floral aroma on the head, and the taste has the perfect balance of hops and maltiness.

the recipe is attached below.

12 lbs. American 2-Row
.75 lbs. American Caramel 80L
.25 Dextrine Malt
1 oz. Chinook 60 min.
.5 oz Chinook 30 min.
1 oz. Cascade 5 min.
.5 oz Centennial dry hop
.5 oz Cascade dry hop
.5 oz Chinook dry hop
White Labs WLP001 California Ale