cellini's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Greatest Beer Ever Lost About 6 months ago I made this beer that turned out all wrong. It seemed to have been contaminated by some sort of nasty bacteria and tasted like leather. I dumped it all out. Except for one bottle that I gave to Minnie (one of my dogs) because she thought it was ok. Except that the whole swing-top bottle didn't fit in her bowl so I only poured out 4/5ths of it. For some reason I sealed the top rather than taking it to the sink and rinsing it out. Somehow the bottle got stuck in a drawer and I stumbled across it by chance last night. Curious, I opened it and poured the contents into a very small glass. Probably about 2 fluid ounces. I am sorry to say that this was the most complex, fascinating beer that I have ever had the pleasure of drinking. It had layer upon layer of dimension. Like old madeira. A wine-like initial taste with tones of raisins and figs following and then a port-like finish with a note of leather. Absolutely fucking fantastic. A towering accomplishment of an ale. A beer of epic, historic proportions. And there were only TWO FUCKING OUNCES OF IT! And I have no idea how to recreate it on account of having tossed the notes once I'd declared it a failure. Is this not the saddest thing you've heard all day? I have been brewing beer and experimenting with recipes since I was 17 years old. Finally, after 12 years of work, I reach the undeniable apex of my craft and there is only 2 ounces of the product and I've got no recipe. Ok. Think. What malt did I have around 6 months ago? It was food grade. It was that weird stuff from the health food store made for baking. Ah, it was unusual because it contained 10% maltose, which is an unfermentable sugar that surely must have contributed to the sweetness. And perhaps there is a common bacteria living in my kitchen that can digest maltose, even in the presence of 6% alcohol? Yes, now I remember more. The beer was fine when I bottled it. It was weird after it had primed. So the bacteria had been introduced during the bottling process. Ok, ok. So I brew with that weird malt again and I make sure to NOT properly sterilize the bottles after the beer ferments. The same bacteria probably still exists in my kitchen. What about hops? Hmmm. That's tough. I have no idea what hops I had around at the time. I should go and look at the archives of my old diary from that period and see if there are any references. This might not be impossible. I might be able to recreate this after all. Ah! I still have the receipt from my last hops order shortly before then. I can subtract the hops I have used in other beers that I made and DID keep records of, minus what I have left. The remainder will naturally be the varieties and quantities that went into the beer in question. Then it will be 6 months before I know if I got it right. I'll have to let the bottled beer go through all the temperature changes that it did before. First a cool period and then sitting there in a hot room with no AC all summer long. Like madiera used to improve after sitting in the hold of a ship for a circumnavigation. Ok. Maybe I can do this. I have some work ahead of me. 5:29 p.m. - 2007-09-24 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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