For my 9th beer, I made my version of an ESB. During the Craft Brewer’s Conference, I received some Riwaka hops from New Zealand, so I was eager to try those out.
This beer is named KRK after an acquaintance of mine who passed away on April 10. I only met him once, when I was working for a trading firm (he was a trader on the CBOE), but we stayed in touch via Facebook and had a few discussions about beer.
The special thing about John, however, was not his interest in beer, but his amazing willpower in his fight with cancer. He was fighting cancer for many years (the first time was over 10 years ago) and had a relapse over the past few months. He also helped a lot of people who were also fighting cancer, through his charity, Chicago Fight Club.
When I have my brewery, I will be donating proceeds from the sale of this beer to the Chicago Fight Club (or the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society).
The recipe for the beer can be found here:
http://hopville.com/recipe/205323/extra-special-strong-bitter-english-pale-ale-recipes/krk
This beer may very well be my best beer yet. I absolutely loved the hoppy aroma and the very unique hop bitterness imparted by the Riwaka hops. If I could describe the flavor better, I would, but it’s citrusy and different than the typical hop-citrus flavor. That’s all I can say. :)
