Cream Ale name

I've decided (unless I change my mind) on a name for my cream ale.

Thanks to everyone for the ideas.

I decided I want to utilize some alliteration. So the name will include the letter 'C.'

And, I wanted to use a noun and not a adjective.

So, I'm going to borrow an idea from "SubDriver" who suggested the name "covalent."

I'm going to noun the adjective and turn it into "covalency"

The name of my cream ale shall thusly be:

Covalency Cream Ale

Beer naming time again

Greetings. Let me introduce myself. I'm the author and custodian of this here blog. You haven't heard much from me lately because I've been preparing myself to receive a call from a lady or gentleman representing the world-famous Nobel prize organization.

OK, that's not true (duh!!!) but the combination of me being busy and pretty damn lazy has made posting around here a bit rare.

I busted my butt today getting a lot of things done so I could brew beer. And brewing beer is what I am doing.

I am brewing my 99th batch ever. It is my cream ale. I've brewed this several times and it has become quite popular in my immediate family. I think I have refined the recipe enough that it is ready for a name, AND I'm looking for suggestions. I have two beers with names right now: Metathesis Pale Ale and Carbon Black Oatmeal Stout. If you are astute enough (and I know you are) you will notice the strong connection to Organic Chemistry.

So, with that criteria, what should I call my cream ale. Here is the recipe if you need inspiration:

Partial Mash

3 lbs pale malt

1 lb honey malt

0.5 lb malted wheat

0.25 lb biscuit

Mash at 152° in 1.5 gallons for 90 minutes. Drain and sparge with 2 gallons at 168°

3.5 lb Extra light dry malt extract

1 oz Northern Brewer (7% a.a.) 60 minutes

1 oz Willamette (3.5% a.a.) 1 minute

Wyeast 1056 American Ale

Brew weekend

I brewed my Guinness Stout clone on Saturday night and bottled my Carbon Black Oatmeal stout. I have two batches to bottle during the next few days.

Here's my Guinness Stout recipe. It's from Clone Beers by Tess and Mark Szamatulski. Normally, when I clone a beer, I simply try to get close. If I get something I like, I do little to try to get it to be a perfect match. Cloning Guinness, however, is a different story. I want it to be as close as I can get it. Therefore, I try to follow the recipe as closely as possible. Here is the partial mash recipe I used:

Mash:
1.5 lb 2-row British pale malt
12 oz. roasted barley
4 oz. 55°L crystal malt
4 oz. flaked barley
3 oz acid malt
Boil:
4 lb Mountmellick LME
1 oz Target hops
0.5 oz Kent Golding hops
Pitch:
WYeast 1084 Irish ale

My Carbon Black Oatmeal
Partial Mash:
3 lb 2 Row British Pale Malt
1 lb flaked oats
8 oz. Munich malt
4 oz Belgian Special B malt
8 oz. roasted barley
Boil:
3 lb Dark DME
0.5 lb Light DME
1 oz Bullion hops (6 AAU) (60 minutes)
0.5 oz Willamette (4 AAU) (15 minutes)
Pitch:
WYeast 1098

This is a lot of stout, but it will all be ready for the cold of winter when a nice full bodied stout is just what the weather ordered.

Favorite reaction and a name for my beer

OK, the poll cleared nothing up. Since there was no clear cut favorite, I'm taking matters into my own hands.

I am going to name my pale ale after my favorite reaction I have never had a chance to run. I've always been a fan of metathesis reactions, particularly alkyne metathesis reactions. However, I have never had an occasion to run one.

I'm not sure why I like metathesis reactions so much, but the splicing of two distinct and potentially large molecules together to make a new molecule is really sexy.

I'm a big fan of Fürstner's work with alkyne metathesis. I had the pleasure of driving him to and from the airport once. Shown below is his recent sythesis of Latrunculin A (I stole this from his website).


The biggest use of alkyne metathesis is in ring closing, as seen above. This is usually followed by Lindlar reduction to the alkene. The controlled formation of a Z-alkene is an advantage alkyne metathesis has over alkene metathesis which can result in E/Z mixtures.

A major disadvantage is that E-alkenes are difficult to form. Birch reductions work great, but only in the absence of any useful functional group. When I was driving Fürstner to the airport in 2001, I asked him about this limitation. He just smiled a little smile and said, "we're working on it." That told me something was imminent. And it was. In 2002, Fürstner reported the following. Of course, at nearly the same time Trost reported a similar procedure. So it goes...


So, what does this have to do with beer?

Well, I am naming my beer: Metathesis Ale.

What's your favorite reaction you have never run?