Four Horsemen American Pale Ale Results

Rick James once said, "Cocaine is a hellova a drug." In my case, brewing beer is a hellova drug, and I've been obsessing over it ever since getting the opportunity to brew on a part-time basis with my friends at Four Horsemen Brewing Company about a month ago.

You may recall a post regarding my first day brewing a month ago here. As a quick recap, Stephen Foster (FHBC Master Brewer) tasked me with creating an American Pale Ale with only a few pointers, and instruction on how to use the Sabco Brew-Magic brewing system. From there, I dumped ingredients in with little regard to style and the resulting beer was so incredible, so amazing, that people flocked from all parts of the country just for a sip.

Ok.. in reality it was a good, solid beer, nothing more, nothing less... Not really an APA, probably closer to an AIPA. For my taste, it ended up just a tad too sweet and caramelly; a likely result of the intentionally high mashing temp, the dextrine malt, and 3 pounds of Crystal 50-60. The bitterness, as predicted, was able to cut through the sweetness quite well and the passion fruit/citrus aspect was a nice contrast to the the heavy malt backbone. The beer was well received from all accounts I've heard, so there is a chance it will continue to be brewed in the future.

The first batch sold rather quickly; in about a day or so. There were three more sixtels to be tapped, batch 2, 3 and a mixture of the two - one of which is currently being poured at FHBC for your drinking pleasure.

Just when I thought my craft beer hobby couldn't get any better, it has catapulted into awesomeness with this new venture. As you'll see in the next post about the last month of brewing, crafting beer is all about triumphs and setbacks, especially in the beginning. It's also teaching me a great deal of patience which doesn't come to me naturally. All of that aside, I'm looking forward many more brew days to come, and sharing with you all the results of my efforts!

Check out this beer, and other FHBC beers on tap Thursday through Sunday, with specific hours listed on their website here.