"Naughty Amber ... ale" brewing

Sounds dodgy huh?

This time I used orange and agave syrup in strong amber ale!

Actually, it's not my first time to use fruits in brewing. I brewed Belgian wit with Dan using grape fruits I can pick from the garden outside of my flat and also used the same stuff for brewing Saison Dupont clone with Josh. Belgian wit I brewed didn't go well, because of the other spice I added and the beer tasted odd. My friend said to me "weird flavour combination". Saison Dupont clone is still bottle conditioning, but I'm expecting to be pretty good. I added only grape fruits to saison, but nothing else. Saison's 'tart' 'grassy' 'fruity' can get along with 'citrus' 'sour' 'bitter' flavour of grape fruits. 

This time's brew's idea was totally came from nowhere. Well, actually came from the bar. I was thinking about trying some brown sugar or honey for the brew and I was staring at agave nectar that we use for making Margarita. Then, I was thinking about Margarita recipe. Cointreau is used to make Margarita as well as Tequila, lime, salt. Cointreau is an orange liqueur from France. Obviously this proves that agave syrup and orange is a good couple. 

My flavour inspiration from there reached to one idea 'caramel orange'. The beer smelt like just peeled orange and tasted great after the brew. The beer was pretty clear from a good rolling boil. I cleaned my gears more carefully than usual, too. It was very motivated from my trip to Galbraith's ale house. I was getting training on cask beer serving and brewed a batch of beer with the head brewer, Ian Ramsay. It was very motivational and educational. 

Absolutely fantastic experience before getting into industry. I am starting to brew commercially. The beer is called Funk Estate and starting with my favourite Black IPA. This Wednesday, 18th April is the Funk Estate's first brew day. I'm so stoked!

Recipe for Naughty Amber

Amt	Name	Type	#	%/IBU
4.00 kg	Pale Malt, Maris Otter (5.9 EBC)	Grain	1	53.3 %
2.00 kg	Munich Malt (17.7 EBC)	Grain	2	26.7 %
0.20 kg	Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (157.6 EBC)	Grain	4	2.7 %
1.00 kg	Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (78.8 EBC)	Grain	3	13.3 %
0.20 kg	Oats, Flaked (2.0 EBC)	Grain	5	2.7 %
0.10 kg	Chocolate Malt (689.5 EBC)	Grain	6	1.3 %
50.00 g	Fuggles [4.50 %] - Boil 10.0 min	Hop	10	7.8 IBUs
10.00 g	Pacific Jade [13.00 %] - Boil 90.0 min	Hop	8	13.3 IBUs
10.00 g	Pacific Jade [13.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min	Hop	9	12.4 IBUs
30.00 g	Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - First Wort 60.0 min	Hop	7	15.8 IBUs
50.00 g	Fuggles [4.50 %] - Dry Hop 0.0 Days	Hop	13	0.0 IBUs
100.00 g	Orange choped (Boil 15.0 mins)	Spice	11	-
250.00 ml	agave syrup (Boil 0.0 mins)	Flavor	12	-

The original gravity was 1.069. It was a lot lower than expected. From how the grain looked I'm guessing the grain didn't get milled enough. 

Beers in Singapore.

There were good beers in Singapore. This is my conclusion.
I visited Brewerkz, Ji Biru, Jungle Beer brewery (Barefoot Brewing), The Pump Room (brew pub), Red Dot (brew pub).
I met brewers, too. Aditya from Jungle Beer. Collin from Archipelago Brewery. Scott from The Pump Room.

The best beer pub was probably Brewerkz, as they had the biggest beer menu. However, I spent most of my time at Ji Biru. I liked The Pump Room a lot, just because I can have the best IPA in town there. Actually I better to say Clark Quay is the place to drink beer. I saw couple more places selling craft beer. There was a pub putting up Stone Brewery's poster on the wall and as I expected they had some of Stone beer in the fridge.

 

Big menu at Brewerkz

The Pump Room imported their brewing system from New Zealand

Their IPA was gooooood

Singapore is importing most of the product they demand in the country. Probably that is why they have so many options of imported craft beers. Craft beer production within Singapore is increasing, too.

Red Dot was little bit out of the way, but they sell some interesting beers and seasonal brews. The green beer they sell through the year was okay. They were calling 6.5% stout, Imperial Stout. Seems like the brewer doesn't like paying more tax to brew a proper Imperial Stout.

Jungle Beer is pretty new. Adi started brewing & selling the beer around August 2011. He used to work in the brewery in Scotland. His beer is unique, which he told me "Everyone is brewing main stream beer, so I will do something interesting".
He had a nice room upstairs with the view over the brewery with couches, pool table and beer taps. He has his brewery license and also bar license for that room, so actually he can throw a party there. Very cool!

Jungle Beer brewery and the VIP room. I liked the pool table and the painting on the wall. 

The beers in Singapore is not only Tiger beer, Heineken, Guinness or Hoegarrden. Singapore is a great place for someone who likes somewhere warm, eating Asian food and also love good beers. 

I was at Ji Biru every day