Appearance: Dark Golden with a thick creamy head
Aroma: Soft pine aroma with light hops
Taste: Creamy palate with bright pine notes…very pleasant

Overall: I have never had a juniper-infused ale, but I have been thinking of using that ingredient in an upcoming homebrew. So, when I saw this on the shelf at Rosauers it was quickly grabbed and purchased. I enjoyed this brew; however, it is not what I find to be a session beer. It is great for a pint or two. I can’t wait to brew my Northern Lights Juniper Rye PA…coming soon.

This evening Andy and I went down to the Bozeman Brewing Company’s tasting room. We started off with a Pumpkin Ale. We both thought that it was somewhat over-spiced with, in my opinion, the allspice taking over. My next brew was a Dry Irish Stout on a nitrogenated tap. This was excellent with a milky mouthfeel and great hints of coffee and smoke in the aroma like cowboy coffee. A great beer that I hope stays in rotation. I ended the session with a beer that is big in every way, the Hopzone. I refer to this ale as “Man candy” — heavy hopness, not bitter - hoppy, and a stiff belt of a heavy gravity Double-IPAish beverage. The Bozone never disappoints, they are always stretching their limits with new ideas and techniques. I encourage everyone to support this great local brewery whenever possible.

I finally bottled my latest two batches of homebrew, the Sticky Sweet Maple Honey Porter and the South by Southwheat Agave Ale. Below I will give my impressions of each patch as they went into the bottle.

Sticky Sweet Maple Honey Porter

Dark as the ace of spades and fully on the alcohol. The taste was mild on the roasted coffee notes and the high ABV lent a wine-like warmth. This will be a great winter warmer-type ale.

South by Southwheat Agave Ale

Definitely citrus notes in both the aroma and taste. The color is great orange-tinged straw yellow. Low flocculation caused a very hazy beer, but hey it’s a wheat ale…perfect!

This Saturday morning Olivia and I went up to Hyalite for a little hiking and check out the waterfalls. The weather was severely overcast with moments of sprinkles and glimpse of sunshine. Olivia loves to hike and explore rabbit trails. It was nice to see some old friends. Clark’s Nutcrackers were abundant and Golden-crowned Kinglets active fed among the spruce and fir.

With Election Day looming tomorrow, all the talk from the well-groomed media puppets is about character, experience and, even, the associations of the candidates; however, the one term I have not heard in quite some time is environment. It seems with the volatile state of economy and our current foreign policy engagements, neither candidate has or will address the environment other than tacit nods to global warming that were given during the early stages of the campaigns.

I think that issues such as resource extraction practices and wildlife/habitat protection should be pushed in front of future President with vigor. Leading a horse to water…or in all likelihood a donkey to water. As I see the current paradigm, the window of opportunity for securing habitat is closing with each passing year. We have to remain optimistic and positively influence our future President, so that these issues are dealt with in the true spirit of stewardship (a great word usurped by the right-wing).

Just my two cents.

Sometimes I choose not to go for a hike because there doesn’t seem to be enough time for it. Well, this evening that awful assumption was put to rest completely. With the nice weather and all, I rushed home after work and grabbed Miss Olivia for a quick loop up and down Kirk Hill. It was perfect weather for a hike and Olivia was had a great time.

The light was great and the air crisp, although the extent of the bird life was a few Red-breasted Nuthatches and Mountain Chickadees. A nice leg stretcher after was exactly what I needed.

Every year John Parker graciously leads the Sacajawea Audubon trip to Ennis Lake where the target species are scoters, loons (other than Common), and maybe a Herring Gull or two. While had a few gulls, but the waterfowl and loon numbers were way down. The lake was as empty as I have ever seen, but hey we’re out birding and the weather was great for Ennis (warm and windy). We had a great group with many good birders. Young Andrew continues to develop as a birder, and Peter was giving his calls and songs as usual. how someone can actually, first, know that many vocalizations, and, second, have the ability to imitate them is absolutely beyond me. We didn’t see any scoters or rare loons, but a cooperative Bonaparte’s Gull, two rather tame Great Horned Owls, and the first Herring Gull of the autumn.

* Notice brown washing indicating a first year Bonaparte’s Gull

Full Trip Report at WilderTrack.com

Tonight I brewed my South by Southwheat Ale. It’s a wheat ale twist a couple of twists - the use of agave nectar in place of honey, which I normally use, and Sorachi Ace hops (a Japanese variety that is supposed to lend a mild lemon/citrus flavor - perfect for a wheat beer). I am using the American Hefeweizen yeast from White Labs for this particular brew. Images of the brewing process and brewing particulars to follow.

Fermentables
2.5 lbs. - American Two-row Barley
1 lbs. -  Flaked Wheat
4 lbs. - Wheat Liquid Male Extract
1 lbs. -  Agave Nectar

Hops
0.5 oz. - Sorachi Ace 14% AA - 60 minutes
0.25 oz. - Sorachi Ace 14% AA - 15 minutes
0.25 oz. - Sorachi Ace 14% AA - 5 minutes

Yeast
White Labs American Hefeweizen (WLP320)

Steep American Two-row Barley and flaked wheat for 45 minutes at ~155 F.

Add wheat liquid malt extract and agave nectar, and return to boil. Add 0.5 oz. of the Sorachi Ace hops to the boil. Smell the goodness.

After the boil was over, the color was a tad darker than straw yellow - perfect for the wheat ale…I can’t wait to taste this one.

As the light faded into twilight this evening, thousands of Mallards descended upon the few remaining stubble fields south of Bozeman. I surmise that this event is my true herald of autumn, the small waves of migrating waterfowl honking overhead as they pass through the valley. Some may settle for the winter or, at least, a couple of weeks; others are on their way to points further, the Rio Grande Valley or Bosque del Apache…places I must visit. The snap is in the air and a blue autumn sky is accented by colorful Mallards and Northern Pintails.

Today I brewed a recipe of my own devices, a Sticky Sweet Maple Honey Porter. The intent of this was to have big porter with sweet tones of coffee, maple, and floral tones from the Fuggles hops and honey. In what follows is the recipes, images from the brew day, and the brew particulars.

Fermentables
7 lbs. - Dark Malt Extract Syrup
1.5 lbs. -  Honey
1.25 lbs. - Maple Syrup
1 lbs. -  Rye Malt
1 lbs. - American Black Patent

Hops
1.0 oz. - Fuggles 4.6% AA
0.5 oz. - Fuggles 4.6% AA
0.5 oz. - Fuggles 4.6% AA

Yeast
White Labs Irish Ale (WLP004)

Steep black patent and rye for 30 minutes at ~155 F

Add dark malt extract and 1oz of Fuggles hops. Bring up to a boil.

Add honey and 0.5 oz. of Fuggles hops at 15 minutes.

Add maple syrup and the remaining 0.5 oz. of hops at 2 minutes.

Postscript: The fermentation is healthy to say the least.