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gak's Homebrew

Last updated: March 8, 1998

`Ualapu`e
Moloka`i HI 96748

Opened January 19, 1990.
Closed February 26, 1998.
Brewer: Richard Stueven, Paris Cunningham.

The original gak and gerry's brewery was in San Leandro CA. We moved to bigger digs in February 1993 and became gak and gerry's garage brewery and hockey haven. After a quick pass through Moloka`i HI, I started brewing in Kamuela HI in April 1996...then moved back to Moloka`i in June 1997, to try to open The Moloka`i Brewing Company. That didn't work out, so the plan now is to attend Siebel's course and find a job brewing somewhere.

(Whew.)

By the way, I got most of my homebrewing supplies from Rocket Suds.

My Opinion Of The Beers That I've Tried:
15.0 points overall

• 4C-IPA #114
  Style 6 - American-style Pale Ale
  • 15.5 points - Beer #26-2144, at the brewery, August 28, 1997
    Four-Carboy Incredible Pain-in-the-Ass. Golden, lots of haze, nice tight head. Lots of citrus aroma, a little spicy, and some grainy maltiness. Real good body. Carbonation a little high. Lots and lots of bitter, fruity, fresh hop flavors! Finishes too sweet. This will probably improve tremendously in a week or so, but I won't have the patience to wait. Brewed 8/6/97 from 100% pale malt, OG 1.067, 6.6% abv, 57 IBU from Chinook, Columbus, and Centennial hops. Dry-hopped with Cascade and Columbus.

• Cow Palace Ale #107
  Style 8 - Scottish Ale
  • 18 points - Beer #25-2066, at the brewery, May 6, 1997
    Dark amber, translucent, OK head. Alcohol and toffee aromas. Thick, creamy, sweet. Alcohol does a nice job of balancing the sweetness. Very warming finish. Lots of caramel/toffee flavor all the way through. OG 1.110, FG 1.040, 9% abv, 26 IBU.

• ESB #108
  Style 7 - English Bitter
  • 13 points - Beer #25-2065, at the brewery, May 6, 1997
    Orangey-amber, moderate head, opaque. Fruity hops, some DMS odor. Bitter, good body, moderate carbonation. Lots of hop flavor, some vegetal (DMS?) character. Long bitter-ish hoppy finish. OG 1.050, FG 1.020 - obvious fermentation problems.

• Hecubus IPA #124 (bottled)
  Style 5 - English-style Pale Ale
  • 15.5 points - Beer #29-2400, at the brewery, February 23, 1998
    Golden amber opaque, dense white head. Big East Kent Golding aroma blast! Big body, big hop flavor. A little sweet in the middle, then the hops come back and stay for a while. Nice clean finish...eventually. Brewed for Margaret Kelleher and Fay Huff on 1/26/98, OG 1.060, 58 IBU, 5.3% ABV. "Hecubus - because Moloka`i will suck the life out of you."

• Hefeweizen #106
  Style 19 - German-style Wheat Beer
  • 18 points - Beer #25-2045, at the brewery, March 20, 1997
    Dark yellow opaque, massive dense white head. Smoky banana aroma, very slightly citric. Big full mouthfeel, very very smooth. High carbonation, but it doesn't bite. Sweet wheat flavor is nicely balanced by banana phenol and a touch of tartness right at the end. Brewed 2/19/97. OG 1.060. Kegged 3/17/97. 6.6% abv. (!)

• Hefeweizen #113
  Style 19 - German-style Wheat Beer
  • 14 points - Beer #26-2143, at the brewery, August 17, 1997
    Dark yellow-brown opaque, high carbonation, good head. Clove aroma, a little tart. Good body, very high carbonation. Sweet, rather tart, fair clove flavor. Cloying finish. I've done better, but then this was an experiment. Brewed 7/30/97 from 60% wheat malt and 40% Munich malt. OG 1.050, 5.3% abv, 17.8 IBU from Saaz hops, Wyeast 3056.

• Ho`olehuagaarden Witbier #112
  Style 2 - Belgian / French Ale
  • 14.5 points - Beer #26-2103, at the brewery, July 31, 1997
    Yellow opaque, high carbonation, OK head. Smells citrusy, like oranges. Big body, big carbonation bite. Sweeter than it should be. Good wheat flavor with a lot of orange, and a generous hint of coriander. Finishes sweet but not quite cloying...the next attempt will be a lot drier. Pretty refreshing beer. OG 1.055, 14.9 IBU, 5.4% abv.

• Imperial Stout #111
  Style 11 - Stout
  • 17.5 points - Beer #26-2099, at the brewery, July 14, 1997
    Completely black, nice brown head. Alcohol aroma, sweet, licorice, coffee, maybe some chocolate. Thick, very bitter. Sweet in the middle with a BIG roasty finish. Warming late, a bit astringent. Very well received at the 4th of July party. Brewed 6/17/97. OG 1.074, FG 1.014. 120 IBU.

• Kahiko-Kine Altbier #115 (bottled)
  Style 18 - German-style Ale
  • 14 points - Beer #29-2350, at the brewery, October 27, 1997
    Red-brown translucent, fairly high carbonation, good head. Lots of fresh noble hop aroma. Good body, BLAST of hop flavor. Some bitterness on top of a fairly sweet beer. Brewed 9/12/97, OG 1.057, ABV 6.2%, 46 IBU from Hallertau Hersbrucker.

• Kahiko-Kine Altbier #120
  Style 18 - German-style Ale
  • 13.5 points - Beer #29-2369, at the brewery, December 27, 1997
    Brown, opaque, good white head. Good Hallertau aroma, a little sweet. Big body, sweet at first, with a malty-hoppy blast in the middle. Malty finish ends up just too sweet. It's not bad - it's better than most microbrewed Altbiers I've tasted - but I've done a lot better. Brewed 11/30/97, OG 1.061, 6% ABV, 33 IBU, Brewtek Old German Ale yeast.

• Kölsch #119
  Style 18 - German-style Ale
  • 12.5 points - Beer #29-2368, at the brewery, December 18, 1997
    Dark yellow opaque, thick white head. Fresh spicy green hop aroma. Fairly big body, lots of hop flavor. Gets sweeter as it goes down, until its almost-sticky finish. That's it...no more German ales until I can cold-condition them. This doesn't even remotely resemble a Kölsch beer. Brewed 11/23/97, OG 1.048, 5.3% ABV, 24 IBU, Brewtek Kölsch yeast.

• Pia Awapuhi #118
  Style 22 - Herb / Spice Beer
  • 15.5 points - Beer #29-2359, at the brewery, November 25, 1997
    Yellow opaque, thick white head. Strong spicy ginger aroma, like gingerbread without the ginger. Fairly light body, sweet wheat flavor with lots of ginger. Finishes pretty quick. Brewed 11/4/97, OG 1.037, 3.8% ABV 21 IBU, Brewtek British Pale Ale #2 yeast. Added 66 grams of peeled grated ginger root at racking time, then rested 10 days before kegging.

• Porter #110
  Style 9 - Porter
  • 11 points - Beer #26-2098, at the brewery, June 28, 1997
    Brown-black opaque, lots of yeast. Big white head. Some chocolate aroma underneath a lot of hops. Good body, way too bitter. A ton of East Kent Golding hop flavor, which lasts forever. My first batch after moving back to Moloka`i. I accidentally absurdly overhopped this one. Plus, I forgot to rack off the secondary yeast before carbonating it. I guess I could call it an India-Porter-Hefe-Ale...I'll be more careful next time. OG 1.044, FG 1.006, 64 IBU...I only wanted 30.

• Porter #117
  Style 9 - Porter
  • 16 points - Beer #29-2356, at the brewery, November 18, 1997
    Dark brown opaque, thick brown head. Very roasty aroma and flavor. Fairly thick, with hop flavor up front. Sweet-ish roasty finish lingers a long time. Brewed 10/30/97, OG 1.050, 4.3% ABV, 35 IBU, Brewtek British Pale Ale #2 yeast.

• Prince of Darkness Porter #125
  Style 9 - Porter
  • 18 points - Beer #29-2397, at the brewery, February 17, 1998
    (Paris brewed this one.) Black, nice tan head. Roasty aroma, coffee, some hops. Real nice body, lots of sweet - but not too sweet - roasty flavor. A little hop flavor late, right before a long roasty finish. Brewed 2/1/98, OG 1.050, 28 IBU, 3.9% ABV.

• Requiem Tripel #126 (bottled)
  Style 2 - Belgian / French Ale
  • 15 points - Beer #29-2399, at the brewery, February 23, 1998
    Dark yellow opaque, flat. Smoky banana aroma. Completely flat. Sweet, malty, lots of banana ester, lots of alcohol. Real tasty beer...too bad I didn't get a fresh bottle. (It's flat because this one was the bottled overflow from the rest of the batch. Otherwise, it's an excellent beer!) This was the last beer we brewed on Moloka`i; it was commissioned from us by teachers Margaret Kelleher and Fay Huff on 2/8/98, OG 1.062, 19 IBU, 6.8% ABV.

• Roasted Rye Et.Ale. #122
  Style 23 - Specialty Beer
  • 14 points - Beer #29-2381, at the brewery, January 1, 1998
    Amber opaque, dense white head. Fresh floral hop aroma, and a blast of rye! Big body, lots of nutty rye flavor, pretty bitter. The bitterness increases throughout the very long finish. It's a good beer, but I think it's overhopped...the rye doesn't come through like it could. Brewed 12/19/97, OG 1.046, 3.4% ABV, 30 IBU, Brewtek British Pale Ale #2 yeast.

    (Proper aging makes all the difference...here are the notes I took on one of the last pints out of the keg on January 20: Darkish amber, clear, good head. Smoky, malty aroma. Big body, bitter at first, then a big blast of malty rye. Malty, smoky finish with a great hop balance. If anything, it's a little too hoppy...the bitterness subdues the rye, and outlasts it in the finish. 17.5 points.)

• Scotch Ale #121 (bottled)
  Style 8 - Scottish Ale
  • 14 points - Beer #29-2383, at the brewery, January 9, 1998
    Red-brown, not quite clear, but quite flat, with no head at all. Lots of alcohol aroma, fruity esters. Thick, sweet, strongly alcoholic, woody. It's a fairly complex beer, but it's way too strong for the body. The alcohol overwhelms most everything else. Not bad, but not even close to #107. Fermented WAY too warm. Brewed 12/10/97, OG 1.114 (a new record), 11.3% ABV, 33 IBU, Brewtek Scottish Ale yeast.

• Trappish Tripel #116
  Style 2 - Belgian / French Ale
  • 16 points - Beer #29-2349, at the brewery, October 27, 1997
    Dark yellow opaque, good head. Banana, malt, citrus, alcohol aromas. Thick, but not sweet. Very warming, with lots of alcohol up front. Quite a bit of banana flavor, malty, a little acidic. Finishes pretty clean. Brewed 9/24/97, OG 1.068, 7.9% ABV, 21 IBU, Wyeast Abbey Ale. Conditioned in the keg.

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