T-minus four days and counting

The next installment of “Keg Lines” in the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle will be this coming Tuesday.

Will they get it right this time?

Will my head actually explode at the immense levels of misinformation that they espouse?

Should I see my family care doctor for scripts  for blood pressure medication and Valium?

Only  time will tell. Stay tuned

Two Hearted Ale (the Binghamton Chronicles)

A few weeks back (May 16th, to be specific), the fam and myself went to visit some brewer friends in Binghamton, NY.  The trip was dual purpose as they were throwing a birthday party for their daughter, and we could bring our kids, let them run til they drop, then brew to our hearts’ content the following day.

It was a true brewing party.  RYWBC showed up from Hilton with our van packed with brewing gear…and one small bag for each of us because that was all the room I had left for “non-essential” items.  Al and his neighbors also had brews planned for the day.  In total, the goal was to brew two 5 gallon batches and one 10 gallon batch all while redirecting children and tending to the barbeque grills.  For my part in the brewing, I decided to pull a trusted favorite recipe out and brew my version of Bell’s Two Hearted Ale.  As this beer is not distributed into New York, this is really the best way for me to get my hands on it (legitimately…).

As a bit of back-story, let me explain how I came to brew my Two Hearted Ale clone.  Just about four and a half years ago, the wife and I found out we were expecting twins, much to our shock and eventual joy.  I decided that I had to brew something to commemorate their impending arrival.  My first thought was a barleywine to be cellared until they were of legal drinking age.  Then Stacie had this great idea to brew a beer, make a label for it, and hand them out as birth announcements.  Fantastic, thinks I… so… what do i brew?  I had heard of this beer called Two Hearted Ale, but I could not find any to samplle and try to dissect the recipe.  That left “the Google“.  I found quite a few recipes on various forums, and even a clone recipe that Northern Brewer sells under a different name to avoid trademark issues.  Finally, I found an old thread on the hbd.org boards that had a scaled down recipe submitted by David Bell himself (*note I have long since lost the link to this particular recipe, and it is deep deep within the Google machine at this point).

So, I had my base recipe, which I tweaked a little along the way based on what I could buy locally.  I brewed that first batch, and it was good.  Delicious… Mouth-gasmic.  I still by that point had not had the pleasure of sampling the commercial beer,and would not have that opportunity for almost a full year.  As luck would have it, I had brought a bottle of my homebrewed example to a UNYHA meeting the same week that another club member had brought in a case of Bell’s version.  I was finally able to do a side-by-side tasting.  My version was a bit aged, having been brewed the year prior, but the main points were still very much there.  I was overjoyed that I have cloned a beer on the first attempt successfully without ever having tasted the beer I was attempting to clone.

I’ve brewed the recipe a few times since, though never quite as successfully.  I was looking to change that in Binghamton.  My good friend Al proposed a great idea in that he would get the ingredients for me and provide the fermenter if I brought my gear down and actually brewed the beer.  That sounds easy enough.  Down to brass tacks now, this is what I brewed in Binghamton:

The recipe, for 5 gallons (brewed on 5/16/2010):

• 10lbs Rahr 2-Row
• 4lbs German Vienna Malt
• 1lb Biscuit Malt
• 1lb Victory Malt
• 3/4oz Centennial pellets(9.2%AA) as First Wort Hops
• 1 oz Centennial pellets (9.2%AA) added at 60 minutes
• 1oz Centennial pellets (9.2%AA) added at 10 minutes
• 1 – 1/2oz Centennial pellets (9.2%AA) added at 5 minutes
• 2oz Centennial Pellets added to secondary for 10 days prior to bottling
• White Labs WLP004 Irish Ale yeast

OG was 1.071 with 4.87 galls in primary (calculated OG was 1.069 at 5.5 gals, efficiency = 60%)

IBU was 70

color was 16-ish SRM

Now, a few things went a bit squirrelly with this batch.

• First of all, I was supposed to bring the yeast.  My preferred yeast for this recipe is WYeast 1084, as that was in the recipe that David Bell posted eons ago.  I mistakenly left the yeast in our fridge… in Hilton… and did not realize this until we were half the way to Binghamton.  A quick call to Al, and a prayer that he could get to his homebrew shop in time, and we had what I hope to be a suitable replacement.
• My volume was much lower than expected… This was due to a misread line on my brewing spreadsheet when we were measuring the strike water for the mash.  Rather than measuring out the 5 gallons as calculated, I told Al to measure out the 3.52 gallons that would be lost in the grains due to absorption.  Rookie mistake on my part.

So, Beer Gods willing, I will have a slightly stronger beer in the end.  I will just have about 6 less bottles of said beer when all is said and done (the 2 ounces of hops added in the secondary will suck up about 4 bottle worth of beer, plus the .14gallons I was short to begin with.  I should be lucky to get 4 full gallons out of this batch.  That is, of course, provided Al saves some for me.

We will update this post with some final numbers and tasting notes.  Keep an eye out for this in late June, early July.

Is this really how you brew???

For related articles in this series, please see: A rant and farewell to my computer and Bi-weekly rant on the Democrat & Chronicle

I did not want to read the paper today.  I knew deep within my bones that doing so would raise my blood pressure to near-fatal stroke levels.  You see, it has been two weeks since the last “Keg Lines” article ran in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.  I posted a pretty lengthy rant about the inconsistencies within the “How to Get Into Homebrewing” article.  The authors left the end of the article fairly open ended, as there is a lot of information to cover.  This week, they were to cover the possible ingredients that one can use to brew beer at home.  There are only four main ingredients.  How badly could they possibly screw it up, right?

I broke down and read today’s “Keg Lines” installment after brewing cohort Joel walked into my office shaking his head in disbelief.  He knew I had not read it straight away, as my ears had not yet turned red and neither was I convulsing in fits of rage.

Did you know that if you /facepalm while shaking your head that you run the risk of breaking your own nose?  Yeah, this was that bad.  So, following the postulation/retort format from last week, here we go:

• Sugar plus hops, yeast and water equals beer

This is not good. This is the title of the article, and already I am enraged. Really, really enraged.  I can see poor college kids already buying Fleischmann’s cake yeast and table sugar at Wegmans and an ounce of hops from one of the local homebrew shops that still remain unnamed in the article, throwing it in an empty unwashed milk jug and wondering why it tastes of toe jam, vomit, and apple cider.

Let me say this now.  Beer utilizes four main ingredients: hops, water, yeast and MALT!!!

• …there are four basic ingredients that are widely accepted as being necessary to make beer: sugar (mostly created from malted barley), hops, yeast and water.

Yeah, they try to redeem themselves here.  It does not work, frankly.  Yes, it is true that malted barley is the premier grain used in the the production of beer.  However, other malted grains are commonly used, which fall into the whole “Malt” category.  These would be Rye, Wheat, and Oats.

Other nonmalted grains are often used as well for flavor, head retention, and to lighten the body.  These would include unmalted versions of barley, wheat, Oats, Maize (some call it corn), and rice.

The “sugar” that these guys are trying to convey are the maltose that is extracted from the aforementioned grains through a process called mashing.  Without getting too in-depth, this involves steeping or soaking malted and crushed grains in water at a temperature between 140°F and 165°F for a prescribed length of time.  This steeping process will allow enzymes within the grains to convert the internal starches within the grains from starch into fermentable sugars (maltose) and less fermentable sugars (maltodextrins).  The more maltose present at the end of the mashing process, the more fermentable the beer will be.  Increased Maltodextrin (less fermentable) sugar chains present at the end of the mash, the more body and residual sweetness will be in the finished beer.

• Malts, as well as several of the ingredients we discuss in this column, are available to order online or at some local stores around town…

Really??  We have local stores that sell homebrewing supplies? What are their names, and where might they be located? Are there any such stores in nearby cities that might also carry homebrewing supplies?  Remember, think globally, buy locally.  Rochester’s economy won’t better itself without some help.  After all, you are the same guys that plug High Falls/Genessee every chance you get…with honorable mentions to Custom Brewcrafters, and even fewer instances where you even mutter the name of seminal local craft brewery: Rohrbach, are you not?

You are leaving new brewers with incomplete and inadequate information with which to start on their quest to this great hobby.

• Beers of the World is probably the best known homebrew supply shop within the Rochester metro area.  The guys there are super helpful, and they are willing to order special grains for you if you need something they do not carry, and you give them adequate time.
• Sunset Hydroponics is an up-and-comer in the homebrewing arena.  Their selection is pretty similar to Beers of the World, though they have the added bonus of allowing partial pound ordering of grains. They also have a grain mill in store for you to grind your grains there, should you not have a mill at home.  Their primary focus is still the hydroponics business, and their brewing knowledge might not be quite up to snuff, but they are trying.
• Niagara Tradition Homebrew Supply in Buffalo is a nice little shop that packs a truckload of ingredients, supplies and other odds and ends into a tiny shop.  I’ve been to their retail location a couple of times, and was impressed with the overall friendly atmosphere, selection and helpfulness shown towards an average schmoe off the streets (me).  I believe they also extend the 10% discount for UNYHA members, though you would have to visit in person or phone in your order to take advantage.

See?  That wasn’t difficult to do, was it?  My credibility has not suffered.  I am not selling out to corporate interest.  I am attempting to help those businesses that can best help us become brewers.

• Hops tend to be quite bitter, so this works nicely to add flavor and aroma to the beer.

• …there are several choices for hops that will give a beer a distinct flavor and aroma.

So, bitter is a flavor and aroma now?  Bitter is perceived on the tongue, though it is more of a mouthfeel…. You feel your tongue react to bitterness more than you actually taste bitter.

Here’s the straight poop:  Hops are added at various times throughout the boiling process that occurs after mashing and straining the grains.  The longer that the hops are in the boiling wort (beer without yeast), the more bitterness that is extracted from them.  Beer is generally boiled for 60 to 90 minutes. Hops added at the start of the boil will provide a majority of your bitterness.  This is due to many of the delicate flavor and aroma components being driven off by the extended boiling process.  Flavor and aroma are controlled by delicate oils and chemicals within the hop flower, and are very volatile in the sense that they are destroyed easily.

If you were to add hops with between 30 to 10 minutes left in the boil, you will extract a majority of your hop flavor.  You will also extract some bittering properties, however, this bitterness extraction is not as efficient as if the same hops were added at the beginning.

Hops added between 10 and 0 minutes left in the boil will also provide flavor, and lessening bitterness.  Their main advantage is the extraction of aroma compounds to the beer.  The more hops that you add during this time period, the more citrusy, spicy and even piney your beer will smell.

Every hop variety has its own strengths as to which component it would be best contributing to your beer.  Some varieties are multi-purpose, some are best at simply bittering, and still others are prized for the aroma or flavor they will provide.  The hop variety data book at Hop Union is a fantastic reference point for what hops will work best for a particular style, what hops you can use in a particular variety’s place, and other notes and average data for that variety.

• We recommend that you always boil the water you are going to use for homebrewing to rid it of any chlorine or other unwanted chemicals.

Let’s not get the cart before the horse here.  Check with your local water authority, and ask for a current report of your tap water.  If you are on a well, you should get your water tested, especially if you think Iron is present (Iron will make your beer taste like blood, which I cannot imagine is even remotely palatable).  Homebrewing reference books will be able to help a moderately inclined homebrewer modify their water chemistry with the use of certain brewing salts, such as Gypsum, in order to get the proper chemistry.

If you are truly concerned, simply buy distilled or Reverse Osmosis water from a local retailer, and use your homebrewing reference books and published tables of famous brewing water (Munich, Edinburgh, Rochester) to “build” your water up from scratch.

• Porters are much darker and have roasted barley, which gives it a smoky smell and taste.

Um…yeah.  This is an ongoing debate on many homebrewing forums, so I won’t beat them up too much on the inclusion of roasted barley in a porter.  One camp in the debate claims that it is not a porter unless it uses Black Patent malt.  Another camp will state that if the beer contains roasted barley, then it is automatically a stout.  The last camp are the non-style oriented and will tell you that the beer is whatever the hell the brewer wants to call it.  I am not aligned firmly with any particular argument.

Oh, and too much roasted barley will make your beer taste like a wet ashtray.  I guess that would be a smoky smell and taste, though not one I strive for in any of my recipes.

• Hefeweisens are German-style wheat beers that are cloudy and fruity. Many … choose to add a slice of lemon or orange to this style.

I am not a big fan of fruit beers.  I am even less a fan of fruit IN my beer.  Especially if I order a beer at a bar, and they add it without even asking if that is what I prefer.  Tony will likely disagree with me for this particular viewpoint, but….

People choose to do this with current Hefeweisens because they think it is the “cool” thing to do.  It just seems out of place for a style that often has banana and clove notes due to the yeast that is used.  It is a flavor clash, IMO, and fewer would unthinkingly ruin their beer with fruit if it weren’t shoved down our throats by the marketing giants of Miller-Coors (Blue Moon) and AB-Inbev (Hoegaarden).  Stop the madness sheeple!!!

• If lagers are more your style, think about a bock or a pilsner.

Sure.  Hop right on that, new first-time brewers.  Notice that the authors make no mention here of the need for temperature control in the 35-45°F range.  Go right ahead, oh young brewer, and brew a CAP (Classic American Pilsner) or a Traditional Bock at any time of year… at room temperature… and report back to me.  It may not be a vomit-inducing experience, but it will definitely NOT taste like the beer you intended to make.

Once again, a lack of research, or incomplete research does more harm than good with this series of articles.  These guys appear to have skimmed the holy grail of non-sourced material out there (Wikipedia), or they used the same researchers that Alton Brown did for “Good Eats”.  I promised myself I wouldn’t cuss, but really, this is just piss-poor.  I question whether these two have actually brewed before, much less brewed a batch of beer that did not smell of feet and taste of moldy yogurt.

In two weeks, they cover equipment and brewing a batch of English Bitter.  This should be fun.  My BJCP hat will be on to critique their recipe (which I guarantee will be just a Brewer’s Best kit beer…not that there is anything wrong with that…).

Really “Keg Lines” guys, you may never see this post… and your damned paper won’t allow commenting on your article…but just in case, make sure you actually do some research before your next article.

We want to bring more people into the hobby, not set them up to fail.

We want to promote our local businesses, not gloss over their existence.

We want coherent, well thought out writing with the correct nomenclature.

Is this too much to ask?

A rant and farewell to my computer

For related articles in this series, please see: Is this really how you brew??? and Bi-weekly rant on the Democrat & Chronicle

Well, my desktop computer has become “an unstable environment”. It seriously is moodier and has more issues than a high school cheerleading squad.

Unfortunately, this means that the last three recipes and brewdays will have to wait to be posted until I get a new harddrive, or at least get all of my data off the old one.

In the meantime, I wanted to mention an article that ran in the local paper here in Rochester. They have a bi-weekly column called “Keg Lines”, written by two local gents that proclaim to love all things beer (yet more often than not, their article sounds like a big shill for High Falls/Genessee Brewing…really, Dundee Honey Lager wins in a blind test over Stone IPA????…).

Sorry for the digression. The article in question was a quick and dirty primer about how to start up in homebrewing.

I have a few issues with some of the claims and omissions in this article:

• “So long as you are 21 years of age and older, do not brew more than 100 gallons per adult in the house each year and do not sell the beer you make, you are in the clear.”

This is not entirely true. Yes, the Federal government did set about a 100 gallon limit. However, this is not an ever-increasing tally for each adult in the household. You cannot pack a house full of 5 adults, and legally brew 500 gallons per year. The limits state explicitly that it is 100 gallons per annum for an adult of legal age in YOUR LOCALITY, or 200 gallons per household. Also, homebrewing might be legal on a federal level, but as with most things alocohol related, the Feds have left the decision whether to allow homebrewing largely up to the states themselves. Utah recently became one of the last hold-out states to legalize homebrewing. There are still a of states that outright prohibit brewing beer in the home, such as Alabama, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, and Oklahoma . Other states limit the strength of the beer that homebrewers are allowed to make (South Carolina with its insane alcohol cap at 5.5% for homebrew). And other states still whose laws are murky and non-committal like Louisiana, New York, Maine, Nevada, New Hampshire and New Mexico, where the law neither explicitly allows or disallows brewing in the home and said laws are largely untested. (Note, some of the legality information was taken from Homebrewing Is Illegal which seems like some items may be a tough out of date).

The bottom line here is this: Check with local and state statutes to make sure you really are “in the clear” when it comes to homebrewing.

• It turns out it is cheaper to make your own brew once you have invested in all the necessary equipment

Really? This might be true if you never upgrade your equipment, move to larger batch sizes, only brew all grain by mashing your grains yourself rather than using extracts, and you buy all of your ingredients online in bulk.

Take, for instance a standard alcohol level (6%abv) batch of India Pale Ale: Brewing with extract, this batch can easily cost $78.20 to produce 48 bottles… or $39.10 per case. There are many micro-brewed beers to be had at or below this price. That isn’t to mention that a “cube” of the common offender beers (Bud/Miller/Coors/Genny) costs around $16 for a case of 30 cans. Yes, we are comparing apples to Brussels sprouts here, but the ppoint is that the Keg Lines guys are setting potential new brewers up with a false expectation that they can brew and drink cheaper after the initial startup costs (about $150 for equipment alone), which just ain’t gonna happen.

In slight contrast, if I brew a similar recipe at the same alcohol level by bashing my own grains (all grain), the batch would cost around $53 buying the ingredients as needed. The cost drops to $32 if I plan ahead and purchase bulk grains and hops online…That still works out to the same cost as one of those ubiquitous “cubes”, which don’t take 6 hours out of a Saturday and i don’t have to wait for 6 weeks for a “cube to be ready to drink.

I won’t even get into equipment upgrade/replacement costs. Let’s just say that Stainless Steel or Aluminum kettles are expensive. Glass fermenters are expensive. Trips to the ER for cutting yourself on one of the aforementioned glass fermenters when you drop it runs $50 if you have good insurance (this does not cover rehab for possible damaged nerves, btw).

Hobbies are NOT cheap. We do not brew to save money. We brew because it is something we enjoy doing. It is one of the few hobbies that will provide you with something tangible at its’ conclusion…. And for the women out there, you know where we are and that we are safe (unlike certain sports, boating, cycling, and any extreme sports). OK, moving on now…

• So if you really like summer beers year-round but can’t find them in the store in December

Just a small gripe with this one. Apparently, these guys have never been to Beers of the World. You can very easily get out of season beers there. Maybe even the summer beers from last year. A reminder to beer consumers, look at the labels for “born on” dates, or “Best by:” dates. If they don’t have one and the bottle is dusty, keep moving (unless it is a strong ale, barleywine, or imperial stout…then buy them and send them to me. I will give you my address)

• A good place to start would be to pick up some literature. Designing Great Beers by Ray Daniels…

Wrong!!!! A beginning brewer will not learn much of anything behind processes and why we do things when and how we do them by reading this book. If any of you reading this decide to start homebrewing, save this book for later in your career, when you decide it is time to begin devising your own recipes. That is the main strength and point of “Designing Great Beers”, and it has served me very well every time I want to delve into a new style. Sadly, though it does not cover Belgian style beers, Sours or Lambics. For those, check out “Brew Like a Monk”, by Stan Hieronymus.

The authors do go on to suggest “The New Complete Joy of Homebrewing”, by Charlie Papazian, which actually is a decent introduction to homebrewing. It is fairly light-hearted, though I found Charlie’s attempts at humor a touch distracting and glib at times. The major points are hit upon in this book, and it covers all levels of homebrewing, from straight extract kits to triple decoction mashing.

An even better starting reference book that I recommend to everyone is “How to Brew”, by John Palmer. Not only is the 3rd edition of this book available in print, but the 1st edition may be found for free at http://howtobrew.com/. The print version, 3rd edition is slightly updated with some malt and hop information, but the online version is still very relevant, and more up to date than Charlie P.’s seminal tome.

Lastly, there are numerous books with just recipes for homebrewing. One to keep an eye out for is “Brewing Classic Styles”, by Jamil Zanaisheff and John Palmer. Jamil is the current “internet darling” homebrewer, having won many many awards at the national level. This book is basically filled with his own award winning recipes…every style. He has won that many ribbons.

• So, Keg Line guys, where do I buy equipment and supplies???

Yeah, the Keg Lines article definitely dropped the ball on this one. The Rochester area has two homebrew stores (ok, 3, but one of them is a satellite store). Most every other week, these guys shill for Genessee brewing company, I would hope under the guise of helping local commerce and not because they are on the dole. Yet, the one chance they have to truly promote local business, they fail.

Beers of the World in the Winton Plaza, Brighton, NY has the most experience in the area as a homebrew supply store. True, their main focus is in selling actual beer, but all of the guys there brew at home and are willing to help out and provide insight and guidance to newbies.

Sunset Hydroponics is the other local homebrew shop (LHBS in parlance). These guys are working into the homebrewing arena. They first started carrying supplies for homebrewing in 2007, and as time has gone on, they have taken suggestions for inventory and presentation from local brewers. These guys have an online store, something that Beers of the World does NOT have at the moment. Disregard their spelling errors, please. Their prices are decent both online and in-store. Plus, for anyone in the Rochester area, Sunset Hydro allows you to purchase your grain in fractional amounts. That means that if your recipe calls for only 1/4 pound of a certain grain, you can buy just what you need. Beers of the World, while a great shop, requires you purchase in full pound increments… then you and 3/4 pound of a grain you may or may not need for the next 6 months or more.

Those are my gripes with the article. I am waiting to see what the article covers next week with ingredients and styles to brew. I am sure I will have another diatribe by Tuesday evening.

I understand they are getting new brewers into the fold. I am completely fine with that, in fact, if they can increase members to the local club (Upstate New York Homebrewer’s Association), then kudos to them. What I am not okay with are the glaring omissions and errors and partial information that they are starting people out with. It’s like watching Alton Brown’s “Good Eats” brewing episode, only in print format.

Well, that’s about the end of that rant. We have a busy weekend, visiting some friends and brewing a batch on Sunday before we return home for the normal daily grind. Until we return, brew well and drink wisely.

The forgotten Irish Red

My wife and i realized the week before St. Patrick’s Day that we were seriously low on Irish Red (Potato Famine Ale).  Now, realizing that I did not have nearly enough time to turn around another batch before the sacred day of American debauchery (some would say douchebaggery….) I decided to cut losses and brew a batch to be enjoyed shortly after March 17th.  We brewed this on March 6th…. I finally bottled this on May 3rd.  Life got in the way, then other projects called to me.  Eventually, I forgot it was in the cellar.  So much for punctuality I guess.

The recipe used was a variation on our first batch of PFA, which can be found here: The Great Potato Famine

The recipe, for 5.25 gallons (brewed on 3/06/2010):

• 9lbs Maris Otter
• 1lbs German Vienna Malt
• 1lb British Mild Malt
• 1lb Cara-Amber
• 1lb Weyerman smoked malt
• 1/2lb Medium Crystal (about 55* Lovibond)
• 1/8 lb Black Patent
• 1/2oz Fuggles (4.7%AA) as First Wort Hops
• 1 oz Fuggles (4.7%AA) added at 60 minutes
• 1/2oz Fuggles (4.7%AA) added at 5 minutes
• WYeast 1084 Irish Ale yeast

OG was 1.067 with 5.3 galls in primary (calculated OG was 1.066 at 5.78 gals, efficiency = 71%)

IBU was 30

color was 17-ish SRM

FG ended up at 1.013

Mashed at 154*F for an hour and sparged with 180*F water until we had about 6 3/4 gallons in the boil kettle.  During the sparge, we added 1/2 oz Fuggles (4.7%AA) whole hops as a First Wort Hopping

Now, sadly, I appear to have lost my brewing notes for this batch aside for the recipe.  As mentioned above, this batch was just bottled earlier this week.  The gravity sample had a very nice body to it that is promising for once this is carbonated.  I still did not get the smoked malt character that I was hoping for.  It is just barely perceptible, and I want more.

Tentatively marking this one as a “Win with a revision clause”

Friday night musings…

So, I’m sitting here on a Friday night.  The kids are all in bed (finally, some quiet!!!), I have a decent Cascade IPA from Stevens Point Brewery ( http://www.pointbeer.com/ ) in front of me, and I am at my computer alone with my own thoughts.

Again.

Nothing good can come of this…

Actually, Good things are in the works.  On the brewery side of things, I am looking at some properties that have potential.  Yes, they are rough around the edges, and would all require some extensive upgrades/tear-outs, but this really is all about building up the Rock Your World Brewing Co. from scratch.  I’m just looking for now, no hard plans to put in an offer or anything obscenely crazy like that at the moment.

Second, I am thinking that Spring is here (even though the weather does not indicate such), and I need to get some brewing done!  The downside of this realization is that all of the beers in my immediate pipeline are long-term brews.  Last weekend, we brewed the Flander’s style red… that won’t be ready for at least 18 months under the best of circumstances.

I also have to brew the annual Barleywine/Ole Ale type thing.  I really, really like how last year’s Old Ale came out using the specialty strain from Wyeast.  This yeast strain is available starting this month (April), so I think I will have to buy a pack of that soon.  This beer stood exactly 12 months inside fermenters last time we brewed it.  That is a long time to be tying up yet another secondary fermenter.

July is when we brew the Imperial Stout (Romanov Family Portrait, f.k.a Vlad and Joe’s Rockin’ Imperial Stout), as well as Sanglant Pouces (our Belgian Strong Ale).  Each of these only stays in fermenters for 6 months total before bottling, but we are now up to 4 batches that will need extended aging.

Being Spring, it is just about time to think about the Dandelion Mead again.  I have 3 brewslaves ….brewmonkeys …. helpers this year that are more than capable of picking a few gallon sized bags of blossoms for me.  This wouldn’t be ready for at least 12 months as well, again, tying up fermenter space.

I still have to bottle the Irish Red I brewed in the end of February/early part of March… yeah, it’s a bit out of season…  I still have most of the last batch of Blonde from last summer, so that one is out to brew in the near term. What does this leave to brew?

I am thinking that a batch of Hippy Bro or Cleveland Steamer might be in order.  Both of these recipes are fairly quick-turn.  They won’t tie up fermenter space for long, and they will be ready to drink on the inside of 1 month for Hippy Bro and 2 months for Cleveland Steamer.  Maybe we will follow both of those up with another stab at a Dry stout.

Oh just to continue with the stream of consciousness here… Joel, Tony and myself are brewing a Chocolate-coconut Porter for the brew club that will be using Cocoa nibs for all of the chocolate flavor.  I suppose I should reserve a carboy for that one as well.  I have high hopes for this beer.  We are using the base recipe for our Tasti Sparrow Porter, only we are substituting the 1-1/2 pounds of chocolate malt out and putting the cocoa nibs in its place…. the coconut idea came to me when I was trying to figure out how much of the nibs would be needed.  I thought “Self, you need to add toasted coconut to this beer.”

When Self talks to me, I tend to listen.  He has good ideas….

Most of the time.

The one idea involving a donkey, hot wax and midgets didn’t really work out quite as planned……

Anyway, we’ve got some beer to bottle, some vehicles to repair, and hops to string up (Nugget and Willamettes are already 2+ feet tall!!!) this weekend.  I raise my glass of the quickly disappearing unicorn that is Genny Bock to each of you that suffer yourselves through my ramblings.

Have a good weekend, brew well, drink better, and don’t let the drink get the better of you.

Name subject to change…

Happy East-over to everyone.  That should cover both our Christian and Jewish friends and relatives, as both holidays coincided this year (again).

Now that that is out of the way… Rochester, NY, was blessed with some unreal beautiful weather this weekend.  Seriously, 86 in the first week of April for any city right on the Great Lakes is quite literally a Godsend.  I just couldn’t resist finally pulling the trigger on brewing that Flanders Red style ale.

I am undecided on the name at this point.  On the one hand, I want to name this Kick the Ginger.  Let’s face it, this beer is going to have just about every brewing-related microbiota thrown at it.  It is the red-headed step child… the one that does not belong.

On the other hand, I kind of want to tip my hat to the Flanders region of France (formerly Belgian territory), as that is the particular terroir for this beer.  Being that there is a Flanders region in what is now France, I think a toast to my ancestral roots is in order… and the fact that the only war the French ever had a chance of winning was against themselves.  In this instance, perhaps “Waterloo”, or “Where’s your Head, Joan d’Arc?”…

I’m open to suggestions on this one.  Really, I have time.  This beer won’t be ready to drink for nearly 2 years.  Here is what we did for this one:

The recipe, for 5.25 gallons (brewed on 4/4/2010):

• 10lbs Munton’s Pale Malt
• 3lb Weyermann Vienna Malt
• 2lb Weyermann Light Munich Malt
• 1/2lb Weyerman Dark Munich malt
• 1/2lb Cara-Munich II
• 1/2 lb Flaked Barley
• 1/2lb Malted Wheat
• 1/4 lb Aromatic Malt
• 1 oz Hallertau Mittelfrau (1.31%AA) Added at 60 minutes
• 2 oz Czech Saaz (1.31%AA) added at 60 minutes
• WYeast 3763 Roeselare Blend yeast in a 1/3 gallon starter

There are few notes to the recipe and the batch.

• The recipe is loosely based on Jamil Zaneisheff’s Flander’s recipe as listed on the Brewing Network site http://beerdujour.com/Recipes/Jamil/The_Jamil_Show_-_Flanders_Red_Ale.html
• Changes to grains and the primary yeast strain were based on what I have available to me locally, as well as notes from other brewers regarding having better success with the sourness of the Roeselare blend being the primary strain.
• Both of the hops used were aged for approximately 2.5 years.  I’ve had them in the freezer since 2007, and just have not had the opportunity to use them until now.  The Alpha Acid contents listed above were calculated in my trial version of Promash.
• I threw a couple of handfuls of homegrown Nugget hops into the mash, as I have heard that doing so will help to keep grain dough-balls to a minimum.  FWIW, these hops have been left on the drying rack in my garage since last year’s harvest, and I only added them for the hop oils to break up the grains a little.  I did not add enough to promote bittering or flavor (though the mash did have a nice fruity hop aroma to it)
• I missed the mash temperature by a few degrees.  We wanted to mash at 154*F to promote mouthfeel to combat the drying action of the wild yeasts.  Instead, the mash stabilized at 150*F, so I added an additional 1/2 gallon of boiling water to the mash to bring the temperature into range.
• MAKE SURE YOU CHECK YOUR PROPANE LEVELS!!!!  I was damned sure I had enough propane to eke out this brew.  I turned the gas on, light the match, and barely had flame.  I turned the sparge off, ran to the store, then had to run to the ATM because the store’s network was not accepting cards, then busted ass home before I lost too much heat in the boil kettle.
• The color ended up being darker than I expected at probably around 20 SRM instead of the calculated 16 SRM.  It is a beautiful red color, at least.
• Throughout the boil, I added an additional 0.6 gallons of wort into the kettle to compensate for excess boil-off.  This affected our brewhouse efficiency negatively, and I ended up with an original gravity of only 1.073 rather than the expected 1.085.  It does work out in the end, though, as I ended up with 5.75 Gallons in the primary (plus the 1/3 gallon starter), so I hope to end up with more final product than was originally planned for.  Overall efficiency for the day was 66% vs. our normal 70 – 74%.

In all, it was a great Easter for us.  I got to brew beer.  I got to be outside.  I got to spend quality time with the kids, and kiss boo-boos and clean up driveway rash from bike spills.

Quick update

I’ve been away for a few days… OK, so, my computer took a child-induced vacation.  It is still acting flaky and I am slowly preparing myself for the eventual hard drive replacement.  First, I have five years worth of brewing recipes and seven years of kid photos to back up.

The local homebrew competition was this past weekend (March 23rd).   The results are posted here: http://www.unyha.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/UNYHA2010RESULTS.pdf

Long story short, I placed 1st in the Light Hybrid ales with Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and also took a 2nd in “lighter stouts” for the dry stout which we brewed here: http://wp.me/sPKrL-failte

Our club meeting is in 2 weeks, at which time we will find out the scoring for our entries.  At that time, I will update our previous competition announcement post.

’til then, brew well and drink better

Goin’ Wild, Baby!!!

I have been bitten by the “wild” beer bug.  That is, I have come to love sour and otherwise funky beers.  I almost think that this is a natural progression for beer geeks.  We get into it all with the quaint stout or brown ale (most likely Guiness or Newcastle on special at the random pub or dive bar).  We quickly realize that “Wow, beer can have flavor, unlike that straw-yellow piss water I have consumed en masse for the past X years”….

Then, stouts and browns and porters don’t “do it” for us anymore.  We want more flavor.  Our sights turn to Pale Ales, and IPAs and Double IPAs (I will NOT call them Imperial IPAs… they were never brewed for any imperial court in Russia). With which we imaple our tastebuds with lupulin and alpha acids, destroying any further attempt at tasting for the remainder of the evening.

THEN, we decide that hops are not enough.  We need ALCOHOL!!!!, and we will demand more of it.  Because we are American.  And we need everything BIGGER!!!!  MORE, MORE MORE!!!!! More hops, more malt, more ALCOHOL!!!! oh, wait, we just made a barleywine.  Personally, I prefer the English style, which is much more malt-forward than is its American counterpart.  I think that the higher alcohol content (7-12% ABV) mixed with the insane levels of hops used in American barleywines clash in an unpleasant, unbalanced manner that creates a harsh outcome.. unless you age them so long that the hop bitterness recedes to English levels.  Oh yeah, Imperial Stouts (yes, orginally brewed for Catherine’s court in imperial Russia way back in the before time), Baltic Porters and a variety of Belgian beers also fall into this realm.

Speaking of Belgian beers… Their often smooth flavor profile and higher alcohol contents lead them to being both a session beer, and unintended night-enders.  Dubbels, Tripels, Quads.  As the monks would say, these beers are “digestible”.   Thinking of the current season, these are the perfect Lenten beer.  Full bodied, lots of carbs.  When the monks were fasting, they would want these beers in their coffers (specifically the Dubbels and also Doppelbocks in the lagering ages).  They would fast and not eat, so they needed nutrition from something, and beer fit the bill.

I digress, though.  This is primarily about going Wild.  Embracing the unintended and natural fauna that surrounds us.  Brettanomyces, Pediococcus, Lactobacillus… Acetobacter.  Lambics, Flander’s Reds, Oud Bruin, Kriek, Geuze.  These are what I feel represent teh culmination of the beer journey.  Once you can appreciate these beers, you can appreciate pretty much any beer.  The range of natural wild yeasts used can provide a multitude of flavor and aroma sensations.  From the very tart and sour to the downright funky and musty.

My goal is to brew a Flander’s style Red Ale.  I’ve just about narrowed in on the recipe.  I’ve go the majority of ingredients, most important being the yeast strain (Roselare Blend).  I love, love, love the beer Duschesse de Bourgogne as well as Rodenbach Grand Cru.  I want to make one of these.  The major downside to this project is the fact that I will be losing a fermenter for at the very least, 2 years.  Even after this 2 year period if finished, I am likely to relegate the equipment used to brew only sour beers.  Many of the wild yeasts mentioned above are known to be difficult to clean with traditional methods.

It will be safest if I simply dedicate a full set of fermenters to wild beers.  Recipe an dbrewday notes are to follow once i narrow in on the ingredient list.  Stay tuned, same beery time, same beery channel.

and yes, I just used the word beer in an adjective form.

Competition time!

« Previous Page — Next Page »

• Categories

  • Beer Geek
  • Brewing
  • Rants and Raves
  • Uncategorized

• Blogroll

  • Beercraft
  • UNYHA

• Rock Your World Brewing

  • Follow on Facebook!
  • Follow on Twitter!

• Recent Posts

  • Sarah Palin in All Nude Review: One Night Only Dec 21, 2012
  • Welcome to Spamalot!!
  • Black Friday sneak preview
  • Justin Beiber Appearing Live!!!
  • The art of aging gracefully

• Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries RSS
  • Comments RSS
  • WordPress.org