------------$----------

Bustin out of Trenchtown Album = The best ever!

The lips of the righteous teach many,
But fools die for want of wisdom.
The rich man wealth is in his city;
Do you hear, do you hear, can you understa-and?!
Destruction of the poor, is poverty;
Destruction of the soul, is vanity.
The righteous' wealth is in his Holy Pla-ace.
do you hear?
Those who have eyes, to see will see!
The rich man wealth is in his city;
do you hear, do you believe, do you understand?!
Destruction of the poor is poverty.
Destruction of the soul is vanity,
well hear me children!
The righteous' wealth is in his Holy Pla-ace!






My cup is running over
I don't know what to do
My cup is running over
I don't know what to do
No I don't know [no I don't know] no I don't know
[No I don't know] Yes I've got to cry, cry, cry
People let me cry, cry, cry
Said I fell a little bit better [cry, cry, cry]
If only I got to cry, cry, cry
Now that I, lost you
I've lost the best friend
That I ever knew
Now that I, realize
It makes me [makes me] it makes me [makes me]
So mad, tell you, my cup, running over
I don't know what to do
My cup is running over
I don't know what to do
No I don't know [no I don't know] no I don't know
[No I don't know] Yes I've got to cry, cry, cry
People let me [cry, cry, cry]
[Cry, cry, cry]
[Cry, cry, cry]
Now that I, lost you
I've lost the best friend that I ever knew
Now that I, realize
It makes me [makes me] it makes me [makes me]
So mad, tell you my cup, cup, is running over baby
And I don't know what to, don't know what to do yeah
Tell you my cup, running over
And I don't know, don't know, don't know what to do
Eh
No I don't know [no I don't know] no I don't know
[No I don't know] Yes I've got to cry, cry, cry
People let me [cry, cry, cry]
I'll feel a little bit better [cry, cry, cry]
But I got [feel like crying] [cry, cry, cry]
Ooh yeah [feel like crying] [cry, cry, cry]
Ooh yeah [feel like crying] cry, cry, cry [feel like crying]
Cry, cry


¸¨°º¤¤º°¨ ø„¸¸„ø¤º°¨¸„ø¤º°¨
¨°º¤ø„¸ Bob Marley,„ø¤º°¨
¸„ø¤º°¨ LEGEND ¤ø„¸
¸„ø¤º°¨¸„ø¤º°¨¨°º¤ø„¸ ¨°º¤ø„






Mr. Chatterbox how long will you live?
Always to receive but never to give
Always carry news all over the place
Mr. Chatterbox you are a big disgrace
You cheek and you tounge
A go let you down
And a when them let you down
We a go batter you around
Bif, baf, boof, those are the blows you're gonna get
Mr. Talkative, I know you will regret
Mr. Chatterbox how long will you liv
Always to receive but never to give
Always carry news all over the place
You cheek, cheek, cheek, and tounge, tounge, tounge
A go let you down
And a when them let you down
We a go batter you around, hey
Bif-an, baf-an, boof, those are the blows you're gonna get, hey
Mr. Talkative I know you will regret
Mr. Chatterbox how long will you live?
Always to receive but a never to give
Always carry news all over the place
Mr. Chatterbox you are a big disgrace
You cheek and tounge
A go let you down
And a when them let you down
We a go batter you around
Bif-an, baf-an, boof-an, thats the blows you gonna get
Mr. Chatterbox, I know you will regret
Ooh yeah
Mr. Chatterbox, ooh yeah
Mr. Chatterbox, ooh yeah
[Watch him] Mr. Chatterbox
[Who's-he, who's-he, who's-he, who's-he]
Mr. Chatterbox, ooh yeah 

French Saison Brett: Brettanomyces Experimentation...the funky train!

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Dank Funk: get your freak on people cause we about to get extremely funky up in this shit!

_____________________________________________________________________

Most of the beer world thinks beer is beer and for the most part...yellow fizzy beer.  When I explain Lager yeast, and Ale yeast to a non craft beer drinker I typically get a "does not compute" and overwhelmed look on their face, or they just don't care.   Talking Lager and Ale with an unknowing person will certainly put you into "beer geek" status in a lot of peoples minds.   Obviously this is very basic shit in brewing and in the craft beer industry.   With Ale's and Lager's now you have Brett.

Just so you now...

Brettanomyces is also yeast!

 I'm about to make another beer in the ever expanding Dank Funk series line up.   My first one in the line up is my Flanders Style Red Ale that is currently getting funkier and funkier by the day!   

Now....I'm looking to try some isolated Brett strains to understand their capabilities as funktifyers!   I'm a huge fan of Goose Island - Sofie, and Boulavard - Saison Brett...so I thought I'd give it my best shot at creating a funky saison like this.

I do have White Labs Brett C in my fridge though so that will definitely be one of the experiments.  I've read from Michael at the Mad Fermentationist that Brett C can give Pineapple flavors to a beer and I think that may work really well with this Saison.    Ryan over at Ryans Brews has recommended Brett L. as a nice fruity Brett that I think will also work extremely well with this recipe!  

I don't know a ton about Brett, but what I do know is from reading those two "funky" blogs, and also tasting a bunch of commercial funky beers over the last couple of years.   Some of these beers have been fantastic, some good, some not as good, and some down right nasty (IMO).  

Here is my recipe.  10 gallon batch.  5 Gallons with Brett C, and 5 gallons with Brett L.

French Saison with Brett (C and L)

Batch size: 10 gallons

malt & fermentables

%	LB	OZ	Malt or Fermentable	ppg	°L
58%	9	8	Belgian Pilsner Malt	34	2
33%	5	8	Vienna Malt	36	3
9%	1	8	Wheat, Torrified	36	1
	16	8

Original Gravity

1.040

Final Gravity

1.000

Color

4° SRM / 7° EBC

(Yellow)

Mash Efficiency 71%

hops

use	time	oz	variety	form	aa
boil	60mins	2.0	Goldings, East Kent	pellet	5.0
boil	10mins	0.5	French Strisserspalt	pellet	2.6
boil	10mins	0.5	Czech Saaz	pellet	5.0
boil	1 min	1.5	Czech Saaz	pellet	5.0
boil	1 min	1.5	French Strisserspalt	pellet	2.6

Dry Hop with 1 oz of Amarillo and 1/2 oz Citra hops

Boil: 13.0  for 90 minutes

Bitterness

26.8 IBU

Alcohol

5.25% ABV

I'll mash at around 149-150 degrees so I have a highly fermentable wort.  I want this to finish really dry!


Here is my plan for fermentation.   Create a small starter of Wyeast French Saison to be pitched with the equivalent of one smack pack into each 5 gallon batch.  Create a large starter of WLP645: Brett C. and a large starter of Wyeast 5526: Brett L.   Oxygenate as usual.   Pitch each 5 gallons with a small amount of WY French Saison and the large starter of Brett.  I want these to come out funky, and I think that this is the best way to go about it.   I'll let these both ferment in primary for about 2-3 months at around 65-68 degrees.   Sample and bottle them when they are ready.   I may dry hop them depending on how the flavor is at bottling time.

Bottle with sugar to have medium to high carbonation, and bottle condition to age for as long as possible. 

3.27.11 - Brew day went really well.   Beautiful spring day in Minneapolis.  Brewed in the garage with assistant BrewDog - Nala.   March pump worked awesome with the shut off on the 'out' side!   Mashout, Sparge, all worked great!   Evaporation rate was pretty huge and I ended up with only 9 gallons so I split it into 4.5 gallon portions.   I had created a yeast starter of French Saison yeast from one smack pack.  I like to under pitch this yeast.   (basically the equivalent of one smack pack per 4.5 gallons)  I also did starters for the two Brett strains but I don't think I got much activity out of it in the two days it had before brew day.   Hopefully it woke them up a bit so that they are ready to start eating away at the sugars.  Mashed in at 151 and after 70 minutes it was at 149.  Sparged at 167 for 20 minutes.   70 minute boil.  Didn't take a gravity reading but it's most likely around 1.045.   I really hope that this turns out!
 ***only thing that I'm worried about is that I strained the keggle right after the boil into two Ale Pales with out chilling it first. Then I brought them downstairs and chilled them with the chiller like normal.  It only took like 20 minutes to chill both of them!  My only worry is that I may have introduced some O2 into them while the wort was hot and draining.  I did my best to keep the tubing at the bottom of the Ale Pales and it should be all good!
4.20.11 -  Brett L. batch is smelling extremely sour.  Brett C. batch is much more restrained.  I might blend these in the end.  We shall see.
4.27.11 -  ONE MONTH since BREWDAY.  I smelled my Brett L, and C Saison's last night, and the Brett L is much more complex  with fruity, tart, sour smelling, and the Brett C is more barnyardy right now, and not a ton of fruit, citrus, or tartness in the smell.  That Brett L Saison is going to be amazing!
5.23.11 - Both have finished at 1.000!  Pellicle forming on the Brett L.  It smells amazingly fruity and tart with a little bit of barnyard.  Tasting the Brett L and the flavor is not as much fruit but more brett and finishes very dry and thin.  Brett C. batch doesn't have any pellicle, and has a pronounced barnyard, horseblanket brett smell too it but the taste and flavor is more sweet pineapple and tropical fruit with some funk in there as well.  Finishes more sweet then the Brett L.  I'm wondering if I should bottle them, and let them sit in the bottle for a long time until they "finally come around" or if I should just dry hop the shit out of them with 75% Amarillo/ 25% Simcoe, and bottle it up!
6.21.11 -  Sampled both again.  Brett C batch definitely has some tropical fruit, pineapple going on as well as some brett funk.  Brett L has massive pellicle now and mixed that up with the dry hops which should help to create a barrier for the oxygen.  Not quite sure about this Brett L yet.  Definitely funky brett going on.  I decided that the orange spicyness of Amarillo would be a good dry hop mix as well as a little bit of Citra which will complement the tropical fruit.  Citra smells like pure Mango and I think it'll complement this.  Bottling in champagne bottles in 10 days and carbonating to 3 volumes. 
7.12.11 - Bottled primarily in champagne bottles to 3 volumes of Co2.  Plastic champagne caps seemed to fit extremely tight as well as the cages so I'm hoping for great results and proper carbonation in a couple of weeks.   They will carbonate and condition at 75-80 degrees in my upstairs attic until they are ready to drink! 
7.27.11- First Sample of the Brett C. version -  Fully carbed after 2 weeks in the bottle.  Funky cheese in the nose to start off with.  A little bit of citrus and fruity hop aroma getting through but not a ton.   I did dry hop it with Citra and Amarillo but the brett seems to have overpowered it.  The taste is fantastic in the beginning through the middle with caramel, bread, wheatyness and hits you really dry and fruity on the end.   Not a ton of brett in the flavor.  It finish's a bit weird, maybe astringent (I really don't know what astringent means though)  It's got some kind of twang on the very end of the sip.   It'll be interesting to see how this ages.  

1/29/12 - Only about half of the cheap plastic corks have help the carbonation.   These corks from Midwest brew supply don't work consistently for bottle conditioning.  They do work for force carbonation though.  I pulled All the plastic corks out.  About half of them had held their carbonation.  For those that were flat, I dropped 3 sometime 4 coopers tabs in them.   I had experimented with 2 coopers tabs but they were way under carbed.   For those that were still carbonated, I simply pulled the cork out, and crimped a bottle cap on really quickly.   These are going to be fantastic in the summer!

_____________________________________________________

Funk (music): funk is a state of mind...."Mother Earth is pregnant for the third time, cause y'all have knocked her up. I have tasted the maggots in the mind of the universe...I was not offended, for I knew I had to rise above it all, or drown in my own shit."- George Clinton of P-funk

Funk (smell):  a usually objectionable musky odor emanating from human underarms and genitalia, especially in the male but to a lesser extent the female, resulting from glandular secretions and bodily functions. Infrequent washing and rapid bacterial growth intensify the odor. 

Funk (general): Soul + drugs = Funk

Dank: an expression frequently used by stoners and hippies for something of extremely high quality.

Decoction vs. Infusion Mash experiment with Abominable Snow Pilsner (v. 2011)

-

So there is a ton of debate on homebrew forums about decoction mashing and the importance of decoction mashing for certain styles of beers.    Traditional Pilsners, Bocks, Wheats, etc.   On one side there is the debate that it increases the melanoidins and "maltyness"  that can't be attained other then with a decoction mash.  On the other hand, there are those that believe that with today's fully modified malts, the decoction has no real purpose and an infusion mash does a perfectly fine job.   While I do believe that today's malts don't need the traditional acid rest, and protein rest, I do think that there is some benefit to boiling the grains to gain traditional maltyness.   

I decided that I'd find out for myself if it's worth it for me to do a decoction mash.   Since I already had brewed the Abominable Snow Pils with a decoction mash, and another tSnownami came around supplying me with another fresh batch of snow.....I decided that I was going to brew another batch of Abominable Snow Pils since it was very popular and 5 gallons went really fast last year.   I contemplated doing a Pilsner Urquel clone, or replicating my 2010 version, or even possible doing something like the Noble Pils, but the experimental, inquisitive part of my brain let me into the direction that it almost always does, which is experimentation to gain knowledge and experience.   This is why I decided to get the exact same ingredients and do the Abominable Snow Pilz with an infusion mash at the same step temperatures at which I did them for my decocted version. (148 degrees for 60 min, and 158 degrees for 30 min). 


Double Infusion brew day.

Mashed in at 148, had come down to 145 by 60 minutes.
Stepped up the mash temp to 157 with 2 gallons of boiling water. Rest 30 minutes.


Batch sparged at 166, so a little low there.  Wish I would've hit 168 like I did with the Decoction.
Overall, very close to what I had done with the decoction mash
I collected a little too much wort so I boiled some down in a seperate pot.  This is going to be the main difference.  It may lend some caramely flavors, but it shouldn't be any more then what was produced during the decoction steps.
I ended up with about 5.5 gallons.  Dumped the yeast cake from the decoction batch onto to this batch at 57 degrees.   Sitting in my fridge at 49 degrees and should take off much faster then decoction batch.

OG: 1.057
FG:  1.012

Difference's: (for experimental purposes)
1. Snow water from two distinct snow storms.  One that swept all the way across the nation, and then another that was an Alberta Clipper.
2.  Infusion:  Second mash-step and sparge were both one degree lower then the decoction brew day.
3.  Infusion: I collect extra wort to boil down a little bit.  Boiled down 1 1/2 gallons down to a thick 2 quarts then poured back into main boil at the very end of the 75 minute boil
4. Infusion: I ended up with about 5.5 gallons.
5. Decoction: I used three smack packs.  Infusion I used the yeast cake from the Decoction batch.
6. Surprisingly, the effeciencies turned out pretty similar.  I was expecting the decoction to end up at a much higher effeciency.  Infusion mash 71% vs. Decoction 74%

***I'll update in a few months when we do a side by side (blind) tasting of this beer!

TASTING NOTES-   It was decided that the infusion mash was the better of the two beers in a blind taste test by my homebrew club.   It's safe to say that you can make a great Pilsner without doing the decoction step.   It isn't exactly safe to say that I'm the best at even performing a decoction mash...yet.  Here are my notes as I remember them.


Infusion Version: A-
Appearance - Extremely clear dark straw colored Pilsner.  Fluffy white head that dissipated and leaves a sticky lacing.  Looking good!
Aroma -Malty and bready with a bit of citrus in the nose.   Very pleasant.  I'm always amazed at how much aroma FWH (First Wort Hopping) provides to a beer.  
Flavor - Flavor hits you up front with some caramel malts and slight toastyness.  Middle of the sip is really smooth (assuming from the Snow as the water source), and the finish of the sip hits you with a nice bitterness from the Saaz hops.   About exactly what I was going for! 
Mouthfeel -  Mouthfeel is nice and smooth, Thin to Medium Mouthfeel, and Medium carbonation.
Overall - This version turned out really well!   I'd probably ton down the FWH's a little bit and maybe take it down 5-10 IBU's.   Also add a little more toastyness, maybe a small portion of biscuit malt (?)   This was absolutely the better batch of the two.  You could also increase the body a tiny bit by adding the Melanoidin Malt.   My homebrew club thought that this one was by far the better version and they all assumed it was the decocted version.  It was darker in color, clearer, and just all around more balanced.

Decoction Version: B-
Appearance - Hazy light straw colored Pilsner even after months of lagering.  Fluffy white head that dissapated and leaves lacing on the side of the glass.

Aroma -A bit bready but the malt is really overpowered by the Hops (?)  Did I use US Saaz or something(?).   This is not exactly what I was looking for.

Flavor - Malty up front, but not as smooth in the middle as the infusion.  The end of the sip is much more bitter and astringent then expected, and the hops are citrusy, but also have a vegetal quality (jalapeno?) I'm wondering if I didn't quite do the decoction right and that I  possibly got some astringent tannins.    
Mouthfeel -  Mouthfeel is nice and smooth, Thin to Medium Mouthfeel, and Medium carbonation.

Overall - Not sure what happened to this beer.   My hop schedule was the same, but for some reason the hop profiles of these two beers are extremely different.   This beer definitely has some off flavor going on that I can't put my finger on.  Not as smooth as the infusion version, more bitter, and something just off.  Not clean and wonderful, and malty like I was expecting.

Conclusion (1) - It's possible that I used US Saaz(?) accidentally for this version which would account for the higher bitterness.   Not sure what that vegetal flavor was from though(?)
Conclusion (2) - I guess it's possible that I didn't boil all of the DMS out, or possible infection could have created that vegetal flavor, but it didn't really taste like DMS.
Conclusion (3) - It's also possible that my process was not exactly perfect for the Decoction.   The only thing that I can think of is that I didn't pull decoctions from the absolute thickest part of the mash and somehow this contributed to extra tannins and bitterness and somehow interacted with the hops differently then the infusion mash version.
Conclusion (4) - and this would be the worst case scenario. (1) + (2) + (3) = (4)

Either way, this experiment didn't come out exactly as planned and I'll most likely be doing something like this again.   What I plan on doing is to do a few more decoction batch's to get my decoction mash process down pat!  If these turn out the way that I want them, then I'll do another side by side at that point.  

Bell’s Hopslam vertical tasting! 2007_2010_2011

Okay, I know what you’all are thinking right away.   A Bell’s Hopslam vertical tasting?  Who is this idiot?  Who ages Bell’s Hopslam?  Well…it’s a bit of a long story.   It all started off when I bought three-6 packs of Hopslam last year.   My uncle had been raving about it as the best beer he’s ever had.   I thoroughly enjoyed my Hopslams but as a homebrewer I have a ton of beer around and at 10+% it took me a while to get through even two of the 6-ers, so after a month I had it sitting around my bar.   Then, my buddy came over to my house and saw the Hopslam sitting around and he says…

JJ- You like that stuff? 

Nick – Yeah it’s fucking fantastic, why? 

JJ- I got a six pack of that stuff at my house from a couple of years ago. 

Nick- Oh really?.. I say.  

JJ- Yeah man….I’ll give em too you, you can have em for sure.***  

***The reason my buddy had a 6-er of Hopslam lying around is because of his first experience with the stuff.   He bought it in 07, the second year it was released.   In Minnesota, DIPA’s were non-existent at that time and not knowing the strength of this high alcohol, yet extremely drinkable beer,  drank an entire 6 pack of Hopslam in one sitting.  That’s like 15 regular beers!   Needless to say, he didn’t feel too good the next day, hell, the next couple days.  I’m pretty sure this is what went down….

He felt so crappy that he didn’t want to touch another Hopslam ever again.   Hench his 6-pack sitting at his house with his fine wines for 3 years!  

That is how I came across vintage Hopslam and the reason why I hid some of the  2010 vintage from last year.  Long story right?

2011               2010               2007

Here are the juicy details and results of this epic tasting of arguably one of the best beers in the world.

Appearance –

2007 – Dark orange in color with a murky haze.  Darker then the rest.  Foams up initially and then head dissipates quickly.

2010 – Orange in color and a little cloudy but fairly clear.  Not as dark as the 07, but darker then the 11.  Once again, the head builds up and then dissipates quickly.

2011- Brilliant orange color, Crystal clear, pours with a nice head, but once again dissipates quickly. 

****As this beer ages, it definitely gets more haze, a shade darker, and looses head retention.

Aroma -

2007 – This smells a bit like a barley wine, malt, caramel, and honey is ever present.  Almost smells like a mead at this point.   Hops are not there at at.  Can detect a bit of oxidation in the smell.  A bit musty, but very complex.  Inviting!

2010 -  This smells basically like a barley wine.   Not much hops in the nose, but the malt comes through very well with caramel, toffee, and honey.  

2011 – Pineapple, citrus, and slight bit of piney hops are ever present.  As you pop the top on the beer, a rush of hops essence is sent dancing around the room.  

Taste -

2007 – The flavor of this one is all malt, caramel, and honey.  A slight bitterness on the end that doesn’t exactly taste like it’s from the hops.   The alcohol can’t hide behind anything as the malts have definitely mellowed leaving mostly the honey in the flavor.  Hops are non-existent.

2010 -  Tastes like a barely wine that’s been aged.  Malty, caramely, honey.  The hops are still there a little bit on the end.  Definitely good but lacking the hop complexity. 

2011 – Starts of with juicy hops, malt, and caramel, and through the middle you get the nice thick burst of tropical fruits, mango, pineapple, grapefruit, and then towards the end you get the rush of piney bitterness mixed with the slight alcohol.  The alcohol is mostly overshadowed by the bitterness when it’s this fresh.

Mouthfeel

2007 – thin      

2010 – Medium-Full bodied mouthfeel, okay carbonation. Sweet and dry

2011 – Medium-Full bodied mouthfeel with good carbonation- not syrupy like most DIPA. It’s also sweet and dry on the end with a slight touch of bitterness

Overall

2007 – Very interesting to taste this beer aged for so long.  It’s almost like it’s a completely different beer. .  It’s an extremely unique aged beer that you couldn’t even come close to replicating in a fresh beer.   Since it’s brewed with a large portion of honey, the malt, and honey especially take the forefront of the flavor over time as the hops fade.  It’s thinner and mellow, and very drinkable.

2010 – This is a tasty beer still as the malt base is definitely really good.   It’s drinkable

2011 – This is absolutely amazing.  Fresh hops take the cake on this one.  The honey restrains the bitterness by giving a nice sweet punch at you.  The honey also dries the beer out a bit and leaves it tasting thinner in the mouthfeel and less syrupy.  

Conclusion-

Although this was a fun experiment and learning experience in aged beer, my only conclusion is that HOPSLAM IS BEST AS FRESH AS POSSIBLE!!!  Yes, the aged versions were fantastic.  But fresh it is truly something special.  I will be drinking up all of the hopslams I have right away starting with the 2011 first.   If  you do accidentally have some hopslam in the cellar, my suggestion would to wait to drink it for 3 or more years.  By that time it’s a completely different beer! 

March 31st Meeting for the Twin Cities Coop Brewery at Grumpy's in Roseville (7pm-9pm)

Twin Cities Coop Brewery is putting together another exploratory meeting on March 31st at Grumpy's in Roseville from 7-9pm.   This a pretty nice central location for all in the Twin Cities, so please come on out to the meeting.   This will happen much faster if we get a lot of people interested, and a lot of people involved.  Especially if you have skillz!  Come on out!

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Headwaters Ale Wyeast ACT1000 vs. Wyeast American Ale II - 1272 for Black IPA

We as homebrewers we like to experiment......er.....At least I do.   And I'm constantly splitting batch's and experimenting with different aspects of beer.   I've been trying to be more scientific about it so I actually learn something.   That means, only changing one variable at a time.   I got some wort from the Brau Brothers Black Ale and split it into two batch's.    With the Brau Brothers beer, I'm doing a yeast experiment.   I thought, is there a better time then now to try the new Midwest Brew Supplies new yeast strain.  now that I think about it, I should've done a Midwest Brew Supply vs. Northern Brewer yeast strain competition...I guess that's for another time!  I used 2 smack packs each of the new Midwest Brew Supply strain - Headwaters Ale and then also a favorite yeast of mine American Ale II - 1272.   

Here are the initial details-
10 gallons at 1.058 or 14 Brix
2 smack packs each (Headwaters / Amer. Ale II)
Fermented at 64 degrees for 3 weeks
Transferred to secondary

Here are my initial observations:

Both the 1272 and the Headwaters 1000 took off in about the same time frame..12 hours.  The wort was properly aerated.  Both had massive blow-off issues.

I didn't observe much difference in the fermentation.  Both varieties had large krausens and blowoffs for almost a full week.  Huge 4+ inch krausens on both.  Then they both chugged along for another few days.   I made sure that they both fully fermented out by giving them an extra long primary fermentation and carefully shaking them a bit to get the yeast back into suspension.

Transferring to secondary there were definitely some differences.

Headwaters Ale -FG (1.008) 6.4% ABV- Seemed to be a Low to Medium Flocculation  that produced a very murky looking beer that definitely needs some additional conditioning.    The FG may have come down lower because more yeast was in suspension for a longer period of time.  This makes me think that it will produce a dryer end product then a typical American Ale yeast, ie, 1056, 1272.  Taste was similar to the 1272 but was a little bit less full in the mouth-feel and less malt characteristic shined through.
 ***There was a thin layer of slime, like krausen at the top of the beer.  At first I thought...shit, it's infected.  Tasted perfectly fine though.

American Ale II - FG (1.010) 6.3% ABV- Seemed to be a Medium to High Flocculation that produced a very clear beer.  Taste was nice and malty, a bit thick, hops shined through as this was a highly hopped Black Ale

Black IPA SIDE-by-SIDE tasting results -
4.16.11- Sampled side by side at the Nordeast Home Brew Club monthly meeting.  The Headwaters poured extremely cloudy even after 2 months in carboys and cold crashed for 3 days. The 1272 was extremely clear.  The hops shined through much more in the version of with the cleaner, crisper American Ale II.  The malt dominated the Headwaters Ale yeast.   The room was fairly divided as to which version people liked for this particular style of beer.  Some thought that the Headwaters mellowed out the hops which was a good thing.  Others felt like the American Ale II let the hops shine through and that was desired for this style.   So, the general consensus was that if you want the hops to shine through then utilize a highly flocculent yeast like Wyeast Amer. I or II.  If you want to go with a more malty beer, then the Headwaters Ale will do just fine.