Awesome Sauce IPA

Well, I can’t believe it, but I haven’t brewed in a few weeks, so my birthday weekend seemed like a natural fit to solve that problem.

This go around, it is my imperial IPA, Awesome Sauce IPA, which sits comfortably at an OG of 1.085 and 85 IBUs (on paper). This was not the actual recipe I wanted to make, unfortunately, because what I had written was nearly an all-grain batch, and I still do not have a mash-tun for my grains (next year, I swear!). I altered my recipe to match what I could make and my wallet could survive, which turned out to be a twist on a kit that was reasonably priced.

Coren was along for the ride on this one, which is turning out to be a typical occurrence, as she is regularly turning into my muse. I wanted to mention here that I really appreciate her for sticking it out with me when I’m brewing, which I’m sure is not the most fun for her. Thanks Cocoa!

So, let’s talk about this brew. This is a monster of a beer, as you can tell just by the stats, but the grain bill really tells the story. I came in at just over 10 lbs. for the overall amount of fermentables going into this batch, not to mention 6 oz. of hops during the boil and 1 oz. for dry hopping. Yikes, that is almost enough to stand up and salute you!

The product couldn’t have come together any cleaner, as it was all part of the now established process. I think Coren is right about me being more comfortable with each successive batch, which makes the process so much more enjoyable.

By the time I finished, I had it all said and done in easy 3.5 hours and felt pretty satisfied. The color, a nice amber color, is exactly what I was aiming for and the hops mingled together nicely, even if they were not the particular varieties I originally had incorporated into the recipe.

To ensure this big of a batch was managed properly, I downplayed some of the fermentables by only adding half of the rock sugar at flame out, which will be rejoined with the other half right about the peak of fermentation (dissolved in some boiling water and cooled, of course). This was something I picked up online as a way to ensure the yeast had a chance to make it through the growth phase, which I suppose was already in action for a while, but I saw no harm in it. Additionally, I made a growler’s worth of a yeast starter with the dry yeast it came with and pitched a smack pack of liquid yeast (Wyeast rules!), just because of how big of a batch this was.

The fermentation was not only active when I got up the following morning, but I had a full blown krausen-saurus on my hands! Anyone that needs advice on the use of a blow-out hose, let me advise you thusly: ALWAYS USE ONE! If I hadn’t, the brew room would have several ounces of ruined beer all over it.

When I get home, I’m going to probably set up the rest of the rock sugar and pitch it. As of now, I’m pretty happy with this run, but I want to make my recipe next time, so be prepared for this one to make another appearance in 2013 with a whole different profile.

As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte!

Update 1: Ok, hands down, this was the best fermentation I have ever had. It lasted at a good rate for well over 5 days, and really only slowed down at the 1 week mark. This was all thanks to adding the extra candi sugar I had left over, which probably puts my OG at closer to 1.080. I wasn't willing to risk taking a sample with such an aggressive fermentation, so we will have to wait and see.

 

Update 2: The fermentation FINALLY is done, and I gave it another 3 days to settle down and get some of the secondary fermentation done. As soon as it was done, I moved it over to my secondary and added the rose & heather flowers. I also added one more ounce of Citra for dry hopping, so watch out!

 

Update 3: The flowers were in for about 5 days when I removed them (so much easier in a muslin bag). I let the hops stick around for a full week before I trainsfered it to the secondary FV. I am looking to bottle this in just about a week or 10 days, allowing the flavors to calm themselves beforehand. I'm hoping for something around 9% ABV, so here is hoping!

 

Update 4: The brew is in the bottles, and even if I did this one on my own (my decision, so don't give Coren a hard time), it went really quickly. I ended up with a yield that was probably closer to 5.5 gal, but I think the ABV is going to be near the 8.5-9% mark, with the possibility of hitting over 9% (I'm smiling as I type this line). The aroma, taste, and color of this couldn't have possibly made me happier. In one week, I'll test the carbonation progress and most likely be putting these in the fridge. Can someone please speed up time/give me a kegging system so I can stop waiting so long?

Brewing Wish List

Good day to you all my fellow zymurgists!

I haven't been online in some time, so I thought I'd take a moment and share my most recent discovery, or rather, my thriftiness.

Having been in the online community for several homebrewing supply stores, I started actually crunching some numbers. Originally, I thought I was stuck paying several thousands of dollars to have the set up for all-grain, with some tasty add-ons, taken care of. Well, that is totally not the case.

After digging around Northern Brewer's site, I found that I could accomplish my goals for a touch over $1,500, and that is including tax & shipping!

The wish list currently stands at this so far, and I don't expect it to change a whole lot:

Megapot-15 Gallon (ball valve, brewmometer, false bottom)

Wort Chiller-3/8"X25'

Yeast Starter Kit 2L

Vortx Stir Plate

5 Gallon Keg System

CO2 Cylinder 10 lbs.

Double-mesh Stainless Strainer

Bayou Cooker

Deluxe All-Grain System-10 Gallon

JSP MaltMill Model A (Case Hardened Rollers)

Granted, that is still quite a bit of money, but I can very easily begin the process of saving up for it all, or do it piecemeal. I know the kegging, all-grain, and new kettle are the top of my list, but the rest of it are just ways for me to make the process, especially the end product, better.

I am also contemplating buying a old keg from a bar or distributor, taking it to a machine shop so someone can plasma cut the top out and use that as my new kettle. Considering that is dependant on the whim of the universe, I am not holding my breath for a quick turn around. Should anyone reading know someone that could help, I would gladly repay them with some home brew (wink wink).

Well, that is all I have for this post, but stay tuned. I have a few recipes I'm working on and some updates to old ones coming soon.

As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte!

Coren's Corner: Schlafly Fresh Hop Festival Review

I'd like to first of apologize for not posting in a bit. I've been crazy busy, and I have a post about our most recent beer to add, plus some updates to the white house porter.

That aside, this is the debut post from Coren. When she posts in the future it will be with the tagline Coren's Corner, so why not start with her first review?!

Without further ado...here is her post.
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         Why hello beautiful beer people.  My name is Coren and I confess...I am a beer geek.  Brian, the main blogger, has mentioned me a few times with some of the recommendations of beer (I am the big fan of Three Floyds Beer, and his occasional muse).
He has given me the opportunity to review a recent trip to the great city of St. Louis for Schlafly’s Fresh Hop Fest.  This event happened on October 27, 2012 and it was definitely one to remember.
Being the great guy that he is, Brian got me on the list to volunteer at this yearly event. Now, I have been to a couple beer tastings and festivals in the past, but I have never seen the other side.  Some of those events were good, a few were pretty bad and others left me wondering, WTF?  So, I had a pretty good idea of what was to be expected from an attendee.  However, being a volunteer for the first time, I was a little nervous, but anxiously optimistic.
Schlafly is well known in the St. Louis area, and to me as well: I am in love with their Oatmeal Stout.  If I remember correctly, the brewery has been around for over 20 years.  What makes the Fresh Hops Fest special is the fact Schlafly invites other breweries from around Missouri to participate and serve their own beers.  The only catch is each brewery must come up with a beer that is made with a special sort of fresh hop, hence the title of the festival.  For example, Urban Chestnut altered the recipe of their flag ship beer called Winged Nut by adding St. Louis-grown Canadian Red Vine hops.
Well, let’s get back to me volunteering.  My position was to man the Hefeweizen station (it is an American wheat ale, not a traditional hefeweizen, but never mind that). Now, you may be asking, “Why was there a Hefeweizen at a Fresh Hops Fest?”  It is as simple as this:  not everyone that attends these festivals is all about hoppy beer.
With me wearing my Schlafly Winter ESB shirt, I was ready to take on the masses as the festival opened at 2pm.  Beer geeks, homebrewers, hop heads, and beer festival-virgins started to head into the patio at Schlafly’s Bottleworks.  The weather that day was crisp and very fall like at roughly 40 degrees
With the mix we had in the crowd that day, the first timers would come up to me and ask questions like, “What exactly do I do here?” or “What beers would you recommend?”  I simply told them to just try each beer at least once, the go back to the ones you like.  And if you truly did not like any of the exceptional creations that were made for this day, come back to my station for a “safe” Hefewezein (also provided were Schlafly’s Oatmeal Stout and Pale Ale).
What I found to be somewhat amusing, I kept getting the same people coming back to me, but I figured, whatever floats their boat. I found myself being a bartender for a day, and you know what, I totally rocked it. At one point, I did have a line of about 10 people waiting, which I managed pretty well I think.  I also did kind of take over other stations and started to pour the other beers, when the need arose.  The enjoyment of being at such a fun festival was truly making me a happy girl and this made time fly so fast.
I enjoyed watching how men and women were so serious about tasting each beer.  They would first smell the aroma, look at the color, take an assessment, and finally take a taste.  That is how you figure out the different flavors and complexities the beer has to offer, which I now do unconsciously (thanks, Brian).
Volunteering gave me a radically different idea of what exactly a craft beer community is all about.  This collection of people are about making a good beer, sharing that with the world, getting feedback, and trying again.  You can love a beer and declare it as the most amazing thing since sliced bread, or utterly despise it.  Hell, you can bitch about it all you want and what was gross about it.  But, breweries take such pride in every one of their additions to the craft beer culture.  Craft beer is for sure making an impact in today’s society and it is certainly making “The Big 3” take notice.  And that good cause for that:  people want their beer to taste good, and that is why festivals like Fresh Hop are great to attend.

Homebrewing Club

So, I have been kicking this idea around for a while, and I think I'm ready to go full steam ahead finally. At this point, I'm looking to get about 10 people together and have our first "meeting" on Saturday November 3, 2012. Why that day? That is Learn to Homebrew Day, so it only seems like a good day to do it.

As of right now, I'm liking the idea of having a few different backgrounds represented, especially craft beer consumption backgrounds. I'm not going to say no to someone that considers the best beer one of the Big 3, but I'd like them to also want to learn more about beer as a whole and even want to try different kinds. The old adage from growing up rings true: I may not like it now, but I may like it when I'm older.

Consider this my open invitation to friends in the area that want to join a low-key homebrewing club that will look to meet roughly once a month and brew a different batch of beer each time. Of course, part of brewing beer is also enjoying beer, so we will be experimenting with some different kinds that everyone brings (I'd prefer it not being of the Big 3).

A typical meeting will be establishing who is the brewmaster for the day (gives everyone a chance to run the gambit, but allowing them to have extra brewers around for input and insights), brewing a batch, taste testing about 5-6 different beers (2 ounces per sample, to avoid angry significant others), and hopefully collectively learning more about this ancient beverage.

We may explore some time in the future if we want to establish this in a more formal club with officers, minutes, competitions inside & outside the club, etc. We can even consider entering someone into the Great American Beer Festival Pro-Am competition and get some recognition for the brewer, brewery, and our club.

That is all a seriously long way off, so let's focus on the immediate. About 10 people that want to learn about brewing, make some beer, drink some beer, and have a damn fun time. If you are interested, feel free to shoot me a message as a comment here or via your favorite brand of social media.

As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte!

Brewery Tour: Milwaukee Brewing Company

Oddly enough, I made my way to another tour while I was in Milwaukee. This happened to occur at MKE, or Milwaukee Brewing Company.

This place is really just a big brewing area, with no frills or sunshine. Does that matter if the beer is good? Um, not even a little.

When you walk in, you are given your pint glass (not a tasting glass, a full pint glass), which does have the tendancy to be themed to a current seasonal release. I like the incentive to return to get the newer glasses, or the certain "gotta catch 'em all" mindset.

Before your tour starts, you head over to the bar, and yes, you read that correctly. It is a full fledged bar serving full pints of their beers to the crowd. Some limitations do apply, but it is really cool to get that kind of service.

As soon as you have your beer, your guide summons you to watch a quick video introduction to the brewery by its owner. This might be the only ho-hum point in the tour for me, but you have to give a nod to the bossman at some point, so I'll allow it.

The tour transitions to the various equipment items (mash/lauter tuns, liqour tanks, etc), but not before you are told to make sure you have enough beer. I liked how this was less important to the tour guide and more allowing people to get hands-on and directly involved with the ideas behind each stage of brewing.

The tour ends, ultimately, with another beer, and a quick view of some of their bottling and storage aspects.

This particular tour really came down to having great people leading us around. They were funny, enjoying the day, and really cared about their product. This was a smaller tour, but fun in a totally different way from the other great tour I took (check the other posts!). I would highly recommend that you take this one on if you are looking for something else to do in the Milwaukee area.

As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte!

Brewery Tour: Lakefront Brewery

So, I just had a very long week last go around and never got a chance to post this, but I had to let you know about this and another tour I took with Coren (to follow later today). Lakefront brewery has been doing the craft beer thing since 1987, which predates my personal favorite brewery, Schlafly. I had been told by a great deal of folks that this was a tour that you just have to take, and with a rating of the 4th best tour in the country, how could I possibly resist.

If you get an early tour, which I have got to suggest as the best possible time, you get a coupon to get a beer at a local retailer after the tour is done (free beer rules!). All the tours get you the following: a pint glass, 4 samples of approximately 6 ounces (you can buy full pints before and after the tour, however), and a wonderful walk through the brewery.

I was a bit skeptical about a tour starting before noon being as fun as this was claimed to be, but I was proven wrong in the most delightful ways. For starters, the people giving the tours really do love their work, which is always a big plus for me. I don't care if they don't know much about brewing science, but I sure as hell want some energy! Well, we got that in spades. Our tour guide was one of their sales/marketing people, and she knows how to do it right.

As you walk through the building, you are getting the basic things you get with any brewery tour: this is a mash tun, that is a liquor tank, here is a lauter tun, etc. What made this tour different was the theatrics. We had a number of points where we were quized by the tour guide, with correct responses earning more free beer (yes, I did win a question). There were also times where we were given some neat insights into the world of Lakefront, including the legendary oversized mug of beer with the logo on it from a certain sporting venue. I especially liked how the audience was asked to participate, from naming one person the "hop princess," to having the group sing-a-long with the theme song to Laverne & Shirley as the actual bottling line from the show displayed its prowess.

If you have the time to be in Milwaukee and enjoy good craft beer, get yourself to Lakefront and take this tour. This was a total blast!

As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte!

Beer Review Challenge: 3 Floyd's & Mikkeller Risgoop

Ok, we are at the end of this rant of beers that were too good to pass up over the weekend. I'll be doing my best to avoid 3 Floyd's for a bit, as I feel like they have been the brunt of my posts (hint hint to my marketing team).

This is an interesting option for any brewery to make, especially in the way they did it. With this being  a collaborative effort from two breweries, I guess something different was bound to happen. The style of this beer, technically, is an American Barleywine, but I'm going to stop us for a second. Usually, when you say barleywine, you expect a dark color with a huge alcohol content to compliment some seriously complex flavors and aromas. Most of the time, you would be right, however, this is not one of those times.

3 Floyd's & Mikkeller used rice in this beer, hence the name, and that changes it in my eyes considerably. Rice has been used widely in Asia for thousands of years to make alcohol, but when you hear about it in beer in the US, most people in the craft industry think it is a gluten-free attempt or something from the dreaded "Big 3" to save on costs. Firstly, the gluten-free aspect is possible but unlikely because most breweries are going to use some kind of barley, but that does not mean it doesn't happen. Secondly, the cost of rice is actually higher in some cases than barley (the thing that is cheap and "ruins" beer is the addition of large amounts of corn, which the "Big 3" are extremely guilty of using).

So, what do we call this? I'm going to use the term they used on the label, which as rice beer, and make my decisions from there, keeping in mind that the style is that of a barleywine.

Color: Very golden, almost orangish to an extent. The rice clearly has taken the malt that was used in this and really lightened it up, almost to the point of being straw-like. It is very interesting to see something this light not be a pilsner.

Head: As is expected with the barleywine style, the head on this is wickedly strong and lasts like a certain battery-powered rodent mascot (not looking to get yelled at for copywright infringement here after all). I figure this may even be able to take some designs in it, along the same lines as a good Irish stout.

Aroma: The first word that came to mind was HOPS! Who would have guessed an American Barleywine, even if it has rice in it, has a huge hop profile? More or less everyone, which is my point. The citrus/floral notes mix nicely with some piney aromas, clearly giving me the impression of some American hops (Centennial, Cascade, maybe Columbus?).

Taste: Upfront, this beer smacks your taste buds with good hard bitterness, but it starts to soften as the sweetness of the malt and rice catch up. After a few sips, this beer was going down far too smoothly for a ABV of 10.4%, which indicates just how good the flavors are at masking it. The body of this beer, lightend from the rice, was a bit off-putting for the style. The after taste was the big no-no for me, due to being just too much bitter in an already pretty bitter beer. The saving grace was the finish here, because the rice gave it a clean and crisp ending, even with the after taste.

Overall: This beer was an attempt to rewrite the script on something that is still having its rules defined. The style of barleywine is as varied as anything can be, and introducing rice is a really novel idea. I enjoyed how it lightend such a big beer, and I suspect that they plan to work with it, should it be brewed again, to avoid some of the off-flavors in the after taste and possibly thicken its body a bit. I'd like to try it again in the future, and I'm curious if this will be revisited by either brewery in the future, but only time will tell.

Score: 7.5/10

As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte!

Beer Review Challenge: 3 Floyd's Munsterfest

Don't be too surprised, because it is time for another review! As I said in the last post, Coren got ahold of a ton of beer, so I'm just doing this in one big effort, one beer at a time. It is a tragic life being someone that drinks beer to learn from it and offer their insights, but I am willing to take up such a heavy mantle.

This time, we are looking into the Oktoberfest from 3 Floyd's, Munsterfest. For those that don't know the history, the beers given the brand Oktoberfest are required to be brewed within the city limits of Munich, Germany (sorry, Indiana isn't quite close enough for that one). They also must be made in accordance to the Reinheitsgebot, or the German Purity Law that says you can only use 4 ingredients: yeast, malted barely, hops, and water. On the latter point, 3 Floyd's was very accurate and used only those ingredients, at least that is what they indicated on the bottle.

The heritage of Oktoberfest beer is the Märzen, which is March in German. In the Middle Ages, the brewers had to make a ton of beer for the summer months in advance, like the month of March, because it was hard to make it then (no fridges makes room temp a hard thing to pull off!). When they would get to the fall months, specfically October, they needed to unload all of the left over Märzen they had left, so a party was held.

This party was used by a certan Prince Ludwig to celebrate his marriage. For this party, the brewers would have undoubtedly wanted to make something a bit more special, so we end up with Oktoberfest bier, something a bit bigger in every category. The Märzen party and Ludwig's reception merged into one at that time, and from that point forward, you have what most call Oktoberfest (the Bavarians call it die Wiesn after the place it is held, so who are we to judge?).

Now then, with the quasi-history lesson out of the way, which I hope at least one person appreciates, let's get to the brew!

Color: The traditional color of a festival beer is unmistakable, and they totally nailed it. A nice ruddy brownish-orange shows through the glass on this batch, but I'm always preferable to the slighty more brown than orange/amber colors. Still, a solid demonstration of the style.

Head: The style would dictate a head that is wildly strong and lasts until the party ends. They got this part right too, with a stupid thick head that has crazy levels of retention. I let it sit for a good 5 minutes (so agonizing to wait that long!), and it barely moved.

Aroma: The nose on this was slightly sweet and malty, but not as big as I would have expected. When this beer walks into a bar, it should stand shoulder to shoulder with them all, but I found this one's aroma lacking in the malty notes meant to celebrate the end of the season and Ludwig's wedding.

Taste: The malt is always the first thing you get from an Oktoberfest, and this was no different. It was very smooth and had a great sweetness to it, not to say the noble hops weren't present, because their earthiness helped to balance out the sweet of the malt. Again, the pieces were all in place, I just didn't get as much as I would like in the flavors. The body on this actually seemed to be a little watery too, very surprising for a beer with tons of malt in it, which is another aspect I was disappointed in.

Overall: This was a beer made in as much a way to uphold the purity law, but I found myself thinking the whole time that the recipe could have been bigger and bolder. The malt was there but not as forward as I would like it, which impacted the aroma's ability to draw me in and left the body of the beer a touch on the watery side. I would say this is in line with the style, but not the tradition of celebration. If you were looking for a beer this Oktoberfest, this is a good choice but there are some others out there that may be more worth your time.

Score: 7.0/10

As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte!

Beer Review Challenge: 3 Floyd's Topless Wytch

Good day to everyone and welcome to another review. Today, we have another 3 Floyd's brew (seriously not my intention; Coren cannot help herself when they have 4 or 5 bottles she has never tried at the store), Topless Wytch. This is a baltic porter, so you can expect it to have a lot of complexity and flavor with a decent ABV hidden inside it, so let's get to the details.

Color: This is a seriously dark beer, as the style dictates. The intersting aspect occurred when I held this to the light and could see hints of a ruddy brown color, so they might have avoided a true black by mixing with some different grains or additives (coffee or chocolate would be my guess from the color).

Head: Not a shock here, but the head was ok with minimal retention. The body of this beer and lack of hopping would not lend it to having a thick lather on top, but it is nice to see a touch of it here.

Aroma: Wow, this is what you want to see from a serious baltic porter on the nose. I was blasted by malty & roasty notes up front, but the hints of coffee/toffee started coming through as well. A lingering sweetness, possibly from chocolate or the malt itself, left me hoping the taste would be just as interesting.

Taste: First flavors that hit your tongue are chocolate, but it changed drastically into coffee and roasted malts. The complexity and balance of these flavors really made this an easy brew to down, but also made you want to savor it a bit longer. The body on this was good too, as it did match the style, even if I prefer it to be less watery, which was the case here.  The finish on this, which is what made me like the body a bit more, was just velvety enough to leave me very satisfied. The coup de grace was no harsh aftertaste, which coffee has a tendancy to do.

Overall: Never let it be said that I'm not a fan of what 3 Floyd's produces, but rather a hopeful critic that wants to have it all. Some of their offerings have not been up to par in my eyes, but this is not even in the same realm. The Topless Wytch is complex, different yet true to the style, and always makes you want the next sip. I'll be looking to get this again in the future, especially as we hit the colder weather.

Score: 8.5/10

As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte!

White House Honey Porter

Well, another brew day took place 9/29/2012 and it was a special session. I finally got off of my duff and made the honey porter from the White House, and I observed a few things that I wanted to share.
First of all, this was a very technical recipe for someone doing a partial mash, including some very specific measurements of the speciality grains. That is an odd decision on their part, but I applaud the desire to make something that is unique to them.

The other major observation was the ease of the day. It may be that the more batches I brew, or the continued exposure to the material, but regardless of the source, I found this was an extremely streamlined day. I never had the brain fart moment or had to may any corrections to the process, which indicates that the entire day is so nicely meshed within my mind now that I'm not second-guessing it anymore. I am not the only one that noticed this being an easier day for me; Coren also noted that this seemed like a day of brewing that went by with little to no hesitation or waisted effort.

To say that I'm excited about the noted improvements in my process and ability barely touches it. I'm all the more excited to see what the next recipe will bring, and the next, and the next.

Oh, and to hint at my next potential creation, it will be another dark beer and one I have blogged about already: Plowed Porter. That will be followed up by a new creation, that any and all hop heads will be happy to support...more to come later on this one, as I'm still tweaking the recipe.

If you still want to see the recipe of the White House Honey Porter, it is located here. I am going to add my own flavor to it, simply enhancing the malty taste and honey sweetness, but I'm not going to show my hand until it comes to fruition (never can be too careful these days with recipe plagiarism).

Stay tuned for updates!

As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte!

Update 1: The fermentation has been very strong on this one thus far, and only slowing down noticeably late last night, which leads me to believe I was able to do better than the 70% efficiency projected. I suspect that this beer will be stronger than the estimated 5.5% ABV, possibly closer to 7.0%.

Update 2: Not only was this porter showing some good signs as far as its fermentation, but the damned thing keeps going. It is now brew day + 5, and I'm still seeing a strong krausen and just enough CO2 activity in the blow off bucket that it makes me wonder just how long it can go. I'm thinking that when I had suspected a bit more mash efficiency I may have been pretty close, and I'm sad now I don't have a way to calculate it accurately. Cest la vie. I'm just looking forward to seeing this bad boy go into secondary, which I'd estimate is roughly 2 - 3 days away (I've nothing against letting it have its protein rest in primary, as I doubt the yeast cake will contribute any funky flavors/odors in such a short timeframe). I'll post when I go to secondary.

Update 3: I'm super impressed with this batch, simply due to how long the krausen has lasted. I'm at the point where I am going to move it to secondary in a few days, but this was a serious fermentation (lasted over a week, even if it was down to a crawl for the last 2 or 3 days). I'm looking forward to taking a sample from it and testing its ABV and flavor, but this was a seriously fun brew to make. My personal addition will be coming when I go to secondary, so stay tuned to see how that turns out.

Update 4: We made it to secondary! The aroma on this is really nice, sweet, and has some good malt on it. I did test it, and had some others sample it, and the result was just a solid beer. I added my secret ingredient to this as well, but I still need to keep some secrets.

Update 5: I took the secret ingredient out and I like the impact it had on this batch, but I'm a little apprehensive if it may have impacted the flavor too much. I may be overreacting, because everything I read said to relax and let the flavors mellow out during conditioning.

Update 6: Racked and bottled as of today, and the aroma is still great, but that flavor is a bit stronger than I'd like, but like I said last time, I'll let it ride. To keep this a true beer in the sense of the White House's recipe, I used honey from Harvard, IL in the original boil and I decided to keep it local with some Southern Wisconsin wildflower honey for the priming sugar (dark and really flavorful stuff). In 2 weeks will be the first sample, so here is hoping!

Brewery Work & Siebel

Through some serious personal reflection as of late, I came to a decision to lay the groundwork to achieve the goal of being a professional brewer, ultimately my own boss at my own brewery. I spoke with someone several months ago about how best to pursue this, and they gave me a list of ideas.

The first was to start homebrewing, which I can safely say is now crossed off of my list. To further that step, I mentioned in a previous post about all-grain brewing as my next big step, essentially to give me the understanding of what it really means to be a brewer (plus the ingredients will be drastically cheaper without extract being in the picture). The all-grain process will give me the pseudo-experience of commercial brewing, especially the clean up.

Next on the list was to start reading. I have already digested several books (thank you Kindle), and have a  number on my wish list to further my education. I even took a suggestion to price out some of the textbooks used by the MBAA (Master Brewers' Association of America) for classroom courses, and I think I found myself a heck of a deal.

With the all-grain brewing and "book learnin'" under way, the final step was to decide on a path to the formal education: apprenticeship or school. I could possibly find a brewery and apprentice the master brewer, but aside from getting one to say yes, it would mean no income for a significant time. The other option would be attending Siebel, a school in Chicago that offers a variety of brewing degrees, including the coveted WBA Master Brewer program. I like the school option, even if it would cost anywhere from $10,000 - $25,000, mostly because I can set my timeline to when I'm ready for it (and can afford it...damn do I hate loans).

There is a somewhat halfway step I could take towards the formal education in volunteering at breweries in the area, which I have put my name out to and am always looking to do what I can (if you know someone, let me know because I'll do whatever they need at the brewery for a chance to get exposure to the process). I also have some online courses through Siebel I can take that aren't as pricey and would give me the option to work from home on my coursework, a major saving grace.

I am putting myself on notice that if this is what I want, I need to commit to it 100%. Therefore, I'm going to be exploring the all-grain option, getting the books, and most likely (sigh) taking out a loan to start taking the advanced classes at Siebel. I am resolute in my dedication to my own happiness with this endeavour, so be prepared for the next phase in my brewing.

Oh yeah, and don't be surprised if you are invited to come by for a beer and tell me what you think. I'm always happy to have insights from others to hone my skills a bit more each day. Besides, when was it ever a bad day to drink a beer?

As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte!

Kewler Kit & All-Grain Brewing

Good morning my fellow beer geeks. I have some good news about my equipment situation. Currently, I am using a 5 gal brew kettle and doing partial mash recipes where I'm using some speciality grains. I am now in the process of saving up for an all-grain set up known as a Kewler Kit. It is somewhat of a MacGuyver looking contraption, but the idea is to get the experience making beer the way it is done on the commercial scale.

The Kewler Kit that I have my eyes set on will cost about $250, but it is whole lot better than the price tag of the Ruby Street setup I see in my dreams at roughly $3,000. It is a pair of retrofitted coolers you would see on the sidelines of a sporting event, but a gasket has been added to the each cooler.

The process of using the Kewler Kit is pretty simple, because you only add 2 additional steps compared to extract or partial mash brewing. The first is the mashing process, where you fill up the mash tun with roughly half of the grains and some hot water (about 150 - 168 F) and let it steep, just like a tea, for about an hour (less is also an option, but more does come with the risk of tannins leaching in from the grain hulls) and then top it off with the remaining grain and water. Once the hour is up, you move on to the other new step, sparging, where you use more hot water (170 - 175 F) to rinse the grains and get the last drop of sugar off of the mash. You should do what is known as a vorlauf during the sparging, which just means the first quart or two may be full of particles so you discard that before adding your newly mashed wort to the kettle to prep for the boil.

That's it. Nothing special or scary, but the benefits are such a trade off for the extra 2 hours of work. Those benefits to all-grain brewing are pretty serious, aside from the chance to get a hands-on perspective of commercial brewing. First of all, I can control the beer even more, because LME & DME (liquid & dry malt extract) are great for getting fermentable sugars, but they do not give you the body and complexities that all-grain brewing will. This will result total control over the clarity, color, and even more control over the flavor (squeal of delight). The other serious benefit is the undesired flavors that are unavoidable from extract become a memory because I'm not using the extract for sugars any more, and if for any reason I want to add more sugar for the yeast to eat, I can add adjuncts like wheat or rice, or some additives like beat sugar or molasses.

Ultimately, this is going to be a serious step forward in my brewing, and I'm excited to take it. I will be taking it one step at a time, like I have with everything else, but so far I'm pretty pumped. If I want to be a brewer professionally, this is the next phase in my evolution.

That is all this post has to it, but stay tuned for some more exciting news!

As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte!

Beer Review Challenge: 3 Floyd's Rye da Tiger

Hello and happy Friday all! I have another review for you to enjoy, courtesy of the one and the only supplier of challenges (Jeff excluded), Coren. Another shout of to her for providing this option, because it keeps my skills honed.

Color: Clear straw that clears slightly at the base of the glass. Considering that this is a double rye IPA, I'm a little surprised at this color, but I assume they decided to go with more pale malts to not conflict with the rye itself, hence the color.

Head: Decent head on the beer, even if the retention is minimal. The rye is the culprit for the lack of retention, clearly, but it is to be expected.

Aroma: Nice hoppy notes, starting with grassy and citrus aromas, pointing out a source of American hops (what up Portland!). For the style, I can understand wanting a hop that will stand up the tartness of the rye, as long as it doesn't overpower it. In this category, they nailed it.

Taste: The hops are front and center when you take the first sip of this beer, but calm rather quickly and acquiesce to the rye. The mixture of the hop and rye hits you about 2 seconds after it passes your tongue, so you get the bitterness of hops along with its flavor profile (American hops = citrus and/or piney), and then the harshness of the rye in a tart slap to the taste buds. This is a very balanced IPA for these ingredients, and the alcohol you would expect is not even hinted at, which I approve of highly.

Overall: This was a fantastic option for them to brew, although a challenge to find the balance with the adjunct and hops. The beer starts off strong and finishes easy, the sign of any good double IPA. The only misgivings I have come down to the color, simply because I want any double IPA, rye or not, to have some amber hues to it. It is a personal grievance, so I won't hold it against them...too much.

Score:  7.75/10

As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte!

Festival Review: Hop in the City

Ouch. Ouch. Yeah, I survived another Hop in the City and I'm aching as a result. This was probably my favorite one to date. So, let me give you the run down.

This is a festival that deals with roughly "all" the beers Schlafly will make in a given year. That may not be 100% true, because they have a lot of offerings so they may not have everything there, but they do give the choice to the attendee to enjoy over 40 beers, plus a special beer made just for the festival. We will get to the beers in just a second...

The festival itself was held at their downtown St. Louis location, The Tap Room. Making their parking lot the venue, along with some shut down streets, they had tons of room. The crowds were herded to one of four lines for tickets and age verification (which I was a part of and loved). The process was as streamlined as possible, and within the first hour of the festival being open, they sold out of their tickets (damn impressive). As they moved into the festival itself on the parking lot, patrons were able to enter a large tent and partake in the beers of their choosing.

Logistics aside, plenty of water was on hand, as well as dump buckets, for rinsing out glassware. This is something I have seen overlooked in a number of other festivals and just disheartens me: I want my samples to be as true to the flavor the brewer intended, so let me rinse out my glass is all I am saying.

I also have to applaud the decision to set up a bank of taps by the front door with fresh water for drinking. I have not noticed that before in other festivals, but it really does make sense and is another one of those simple aspects that can make a festival just that little bit better.

Now, one festival readily comes to mind where water was not handled well, and in combination with July heat, there were several very skunked and animated people walking around. This made for a rather awkward bit of confrontations, which I am still hopeful were restricted to the parking lot and not the streets. Hop in the City could not have been a better contrast to this; the people that exhibited some signs of being "buzzed" were monitored and then helped when needed. As a result of the water being so prevalent, I can honestly say I did not see any altercations or "stomach pyrotechnics."

The beer, which I grew to love dearly, was not a disappointment either. The festival beer, a pumpkin stout, was smooth and tasty. I also found the Galaxy IPA they made for the Heritage Festival (one I could not attend due to timing, unfortunately) used hops from Australia that give off citrus and fruity notes, almost a passionfruit aroma; it had a very good following at the festival.

There are number of seasonal favorites that had the crowd happy, but I found myself enjoying a variety of things as a result of the best volunteers to the volunteers, the beer fairies. They made sure we as volunteers had plenty of different things to try, and that we were always happy. A serious cheers to those wonderful ladies!

Overall, I  have to say this was something I needed: a beer festival that was well laid out, organized, and executed with the goal of providing good beer to a good crowd. Now, the only trick will be how can next year's be better?

If you would like to see more info about the festival that came and went, here is the link.

As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte!

Beer Review Challenge: 3 Floyd's Zes Zes Zes

Once again, the gauntlet has been laid before me and it is time for another review. Today, the selection comes from Indiana (yes, you can rejoice for a moment now, Hoosiers). While I am certainly not a fan boy of 3 Floyd's, I have found several of their beers to be quite good, so I'm hoping that this saison is not a let down. As long as this isn't in the same vein as the Kolsch they tried (suchThre a freaking fail!), I expect to be very happy.

Color: A lovely golden, albeit somewhat cloudy color greets you as you pour this beer. This is spot on for a good saison.

Head: The head is decent and has a retention that keeps up with it. I expected a bit more on the head to be honest, but I'm hoping the spices are the blame for the lack of head.

Aroma: The notes coming off of this beer are far milder than I wanted it to be, and a major left down. I do detect some hints of citrus or sweetness, but nothing very aggressive.

Taste: A very mild flavor that builds over time. While this is not your dad's saison, it is not a bad take on the style. I like the tang I detected on my palette, but I enjoyed how balanced that malt and spices were here. The aftertaste was a bit of a let down, unfortunately, because I want something that snaps on my tongue as it leaves if I am calling it a saison. There needs to be a bit more punch from the beer to reach the style's apex in my eyes. The body, however, was very nice and stands up to the flavors that are present.

Overall: This is an interesting take on the style, but I think it misses on a few key points. I always find a saison should be the representation of a farmhouse ale from Belgium or France, and I get hints of that with this beer, but it misses slightly here and there. I could say without a doubt that I would be happy to order this again, but there are a number of saisons out there I could suggest over this for style points alone.

Score: 6.0/10

As always, be merry and drink well. Slainte!

White House Beers

Well, if you have been one of the unfortunately few that did not see the news about this last week, then you missed out in a serious way. As was reported on by many a news agency, a blurb to most people, the homebrewers of the US not only heard that President Obama is an avid homebrewer in his own right, but that they have developed some unique recipes in the White House. Those beers were enjoyed by many in the past and continue to be entertainment points for select visitors today, but there is another aspect to this story that I find especially interesting: the beer!

The recipes that were release were for a honey ale and a honey porter, and they sound really great. They are partial mash recipes, so they don't require any great effort to make for the average brewer (save maybe for getting a hold of White House honey, to which you have my best wishes of accomplishing). The simplicity of these recipes, combined with some yummy history factoids, make this a really awesome moment in US homebrewing. What history is that? Well, according the the historians, this is the first time beer has been brewed on the grounds of the White House. Yes, many of the founding fathers were very proud brewers and distillers, but they never actually did it on the grounds of the White House. Pretty cool, right?

Well, here they are, the White House Honey Ale and the White House Honey Porter, directly from the White House Assistant Chef, Sam Kass.

 

 

 

Now, with those in front of you, it isn't that scary, right? I know most people are going to be upset about not being able to do the actual recipe with the honey they use, but do it in the spirit of the entire project: use local ingredients! If you want honey, use the stuff you can find around you that is the same wildflower honey, because the location, plants, soil, climate, etc are all going to make the honey a little different and ultimately a different beer.

 

If you would like, here is the video they used to demonstrate their brewing at the White House.

 



 

Oh, and just so I'm being open about it, I am planning to follow up the release of these with the stats they get on a typical batch (OG, FG, ABV, IBU, SRM, etc), because I am just curious if there is an impact from the local ingredients to the overall style, which I doubt but I'm still a curious beer geek.

 

I do want to ask now, for some serious answers, and I'll follow it up on Facebook and Twitter: which one should I make first? I definitely want to do both, but I'm curious if there is a demand for one of these over the other. Let me know which one you like and if you are lucky, I may be able to squirrel some away for you to try your selection when you see me next.

 

Well, that pretty much does it for this post.

 

As always, be merry and drink well. Slainte!

Beer Review Challenge: Finch's Facist Pig

This was an unexpected challenge tonight, as a result of the wrong bottle being opened for dinner. Ever heard of the happy accident? Yeah, any excuse to drink and review a beer is one of those for me. So, on with the review!

Color: Amber to slightly reddish hues make this look very warm and inviting, even if the title would dictate the natural fear of anything red for most Americans over 50.

Head: This is very common of a rye beer, in that the head looks good at first, but then cannot hang around. Unless the rye is balanced by an extra dose of hops, you will find this happens with anything with rye in it, but that doesn't had to be a bad thing. Since this is a red rye ale, I appreciate that there is a very slight head to this with no retention, because otherwise this would no longer be the red rye it was intended to be.

Aroma: A slight tartness is mixed with a very nice malty sweetness on the nose. The tartness, undoubtedly from the rye, does not appear to be over done but rather balanced in the aroma. This invites the drinker to explore more but gives some suggestions of what to expect, which I do appreciate in any aroma for a good beer.

Taste: A nice sweetness from the malt is really balanced on the palette with the tartness from the rye. I found that there was a body and viscosity to the beer that I simply didn't anticipate, but I certainly enjoyed. This beer finds itself a nice place after the second or third sip, when the flavors have finally hit the mouth and tongue without surprise. There is a lack of bitterness, that understandably was done to avoid conflicts with the tartness from the rye, but I find would have very much helped this beer. The aftertaste was good, even if it leaned toward the tartness a bit more.

Overall: This was a delightful beer to drink from the complexities it presented and the simple flavor I found myself enjoying. I was a little disappointed with the balance of the malt and sweetness not having a bitter component that may have enhanced it and actually highlighted the sweetness of the malt and the tartness of the rye. That being said, this was a very drinkable beer to enjoy once in a while with friends to show them the varieties of adjuncts and their impact on an established style.

Score: 7.0/10

As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte!

Beer Review Challenge: 3 Floyd's Moloko Milk Stout

Welcome once again to another round of the beer review challenge. This was a beer suggested by Coren (I know, you are shocked), but this is one of her personal favorite breweries, 3 Floyds. While I'm not one of their biggest fans, I do appreciate what they have done for the craft community. I also enjoy their ability to take beer and make it a bit more approachable by the common beer drinker.

Now, without further ado, the review...

Color: Very dark black colors, with no mixing of hues. This was definitely something that saw a healthy addition of black patent malt to arrive at such a color without tainting the flavor with excess malty or roasty notes.

Head: The head appears to be very light and then vanishes nearly immediately. This shouldn't be too surprising on account of it being a milk stout, but I would always like to see a beer this dark have some more head with it, or at least some retention of the little head it did have.

Aroma: The nose picks up very distinct coffee and roasty notes without any effort, which is not unpleasant for a milk stout, but unexpected. While it isn't unwelcome, to advertise this as a milk stout, I was expecting something more sweet on the nose than coffee-like. It may detour some drinkers at first whiff.

Taste: The initial taste is very velvety and smooth, with the aroma of the coffee matched in the taste with a slight bite of bitterness but not overwhelming. I am also surprised with the balance of the flavor within the confines of a single beer. The aftertaste does leave a lingering tartness from the coffee, but it isn't unbearable.

Body: The body of this beer is very much a stout, from the bounce in its viscosity to its smooth characteristics on the palette.

Overall: This is a beer that is very complicated from beginning to end, which I can certainly appreciate. I do enjoy the flavor of this beer and the balance it offers me, with one major exception. The use of the term milk stout made me think this would going to be a dark beer with a smooth body, but nothing was hinted at with the coffee, which caught me off guard to a point. I would probably get more into this beer the more I tried it, but on the first try, this was a bit more than I wanted in a milk stout. Maybe round 2 would be a different story...

Score: 6.5/10

As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte!

Beer Challenge: 5 Rabbits 5 Vulture

Well, thanks to some wonderful input and initiative from Coren, I have my first beer for the challenge!

I'm tasting the dark ale from 5 Rabbits, a brewery from Chicago, which they call 5 Vultures. It is an Oaxacan dark ale that is brewed with ancho chili, so you know there is some spice and life coming out of this one. Now, here are the results:

Color: The beer is a nice dark brown, with hints of amber in it, indicating something other than just malts may have been used to arrive at this particular spectrum. I assume the chili has an impact, but I'm not sure if they contribute to it completely.

Head: The head on this beer is very respectable. The viscosity of it is very clear after being poured and it has a good retention, sticking around for several minutes after the pour is long since done. I like that the color of it is the white color, so that would suggest very little in the form of adjuncts after the boil that would produce a darker head.

Aroma: Very subtle notes of malty sweetness escape this brew, indicating something that will warm you up on a cold/wet day. I do detect some of the pepper on the nose, but it is masked delicately by the malt.

Taste: The initial flavor is very clean, with the malt flavor coming right to the surface. There is a tinge of hops to balance it, but not very noticeable nor needed in this style. The pepper does make its appearance on its way down at first, but is quickly hidden by the malty sweetness

Body: For such a dark beer, I was surprised that it wasn't very thick or chewy. It actually came off as somewhat watery, which wasn't a bad thing, but was disarming considering the quality of the head and the color. I admit, that I was enjoying the mildness of it as a dark ale, along the lines of an English mild or a brown ale. Very easy on the palate.

Aftertaste: The malty sweetness gives away at the very end to allow some of the heat of the peppers to come to the surface, giving the beer a nice warmth overall. This really compliments the sweetness of the beer in the end and makes it very enjoyable.

Overall: This is a beer that could be enjoyed at a variety of settings, from the backyard BBQ to the Saturday afternoon watching football (yeah, that is for Coren), but it also has its place married nicely with foods. I find this would work well with pretty much any mild grilled foods, such as anything without any big flavor profiles or marinades. I definitely see this being a beer that a wide audience will enjoy and be able to appreciate. If there is any weakness in this beer it is that it may turn off some people via the aftertaste and the ingredients, but those will be sorely missing out on something that could be a new weekend treat.

Score: 8.5/10

As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte!

The Reason We Call it Craft Beer

Whether you are aware of it or not, there is a surge of homebrewing and commercial brewing throughout the US right now. As a brewer, this is a fantastic thing to observe considering it was back in 1979 and the wonderful President Carter that gave us the ability to brew at home, which were the seeds for a craft beer explosion we are reaping right now. 

That term "craft,” however, seems to have been confused amongst brewers big and small. I wanted to address this particular issue as a lover of good beer and as a brewer, so please bear with me while I dive in to my various aspects of this topic.

As a lover of good beer, I am excited with what I am seeing right now. For example, there are a number of beers coming out recently that are taking on new and unique ingredients that are typically reserved for other styles (i.e. the black IPA, smoky hefeweizen, Belgian IPA, etc). This is an awesome direction to take beer as it forces the masses of consumers and brewers alike to view the ales & lagers of the world as being capable of so much more. This has been refined over and over by the best of the craft community, such as Dogfish Head, New Belgium, Boulevard, and New Glarus to name a few. Their efforts to try new things while still staying true to the basics of brewing is not only good for the industry as a whole, but it gives us something we haven't had in a long time: new choices.

The varieties of things I have seen in the last 3 years are not limited to the use of the traditional ingredients, like malt, yeast, and hops, however. There are more and more users of fruits and spices, trading hops for some of their predecessors (i.e. juniper berries, ginger, etc), and finding unique recipes of old to reintroduce to the public. This is, again, what I like seeing, even if I don't like the actual beers themselves. The goal is to continue pushing the boundary of what is considered beer and redefine it for the next generation, all while keeping the basics of beer in sight. 

What worries me comes down to a fear of too much variety with no substance. As a consumer, I am seeing more and more coming out of the world of craft beer, and while that makes me happy, I am a bit nervous that we have a bubble building in the industry. I could very well be wrong, but as a lover of good beer, the last thing I want to see is something that hinders my access to the quality brews from around the world. If the variety gets too big, we may see a contraction instead of an expansion in the craft market, which could have long term downsides. 

The other perspective I have on this is that of a brewer, and it doesn't differ very much from the former. I personally love the creativity that comes from brewing, the ability to choose not only the style I am going to make, but the malts, the yeast, the hops, and any extras. I get to control the title, the ABV, the IBUs, and the overall delivery of the beer. This is true for every brewer, and I am always supportive of an out-of-the-box idea, because we never really know what will happen until we try. 

Reaching for the stars is great, but not at the expense of the basics. The direction I have seen several brewers taking lately is to try things that are not just unusual but ridiculous. From mushrooms and carrots, to cupcakes and candy bars, there are some very odd and off-putting ideas being floated around. Do I think it is a bad idea to experiment once in a while? Hell no! But the key to any experiment is to have a control, as any grade school science class will tell you. Without a comparison, how do you know if it is any good? Therefore, I would be more interested in trying variations on beers from a brewer, as they develop them over time, as opposed for going for the gold medal right out of the gate. 

So, my assessment as a brewer is one of caution as well. Be mindful of the basics and the tradition that is inherent in brewing, knowing that you can take a left instead of a right here and there. No one begrudges the creativity of the brewer that tries something unexpected, but many are leery of any beer made without the basics totally understood. 

I guess that makes both of my perspectives essentially the same, just for different reasons. As a consumer, I don’t want the variety to spread the industry to thin. As a brewer, I want other brewers to be more respectful of the basics before experimenting, and do it in phases. Overall, I guess that makes my message a simple one: slow down and enjoy what you have before trying to fix the wheel.

Going back to my earlier reference, the term craft beer is meant to imply that there is an art to brewing, which has a respect for the traditions, but allows for innovations. Brewing has evolved a long way in a few thousand years, and to forget that would be a shame. Without the respect for the basics, the entire concept fails and we are back to the days before 1979, and I for one refuse to consider the muddled urine the “big 3” make as my only option.

With that said, who wants to try a bourbon, bacon, and banana stout?  I never said I didn’t have a sense of humor, did I?

As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte!

Fire Build Oatmeal Stout

Well folks, I am back at it, and this time I'm stepping up my game a bit. I already have the LBDPA going, but I got my new carboys in the mail (yes, another set), so I decided I needed to keep the brewing going. Therefore, I give you Fire Build Oatmeal Stout.

It is going to be a milder stout, nothing imperial about it, but it is going to bring some complicated flavors to the game. For starters, I'm dialing down the malt on this recipe to a respectable quantity, but also keeping true to the style by adding some strong hops in small quantities. I think this will give the stout an overall balance that is very important with the amount of sweetness it may carry.

I also added some vanilla extract to the very end of the boil, just because I love the taste of vanilla in a stout, mostly because the sweetness of the malts mixed with the aroma of vanilla just make a stout jump out at you. The vanilla here is some decent stuff, but I wasn't willing to drop the cash for the vanilla beans or even some of the Mexican vanilla, but it is something I may consider if this batch goes really well.

Another fun thing this recipe is going to be getting is some aging with wood. I have some French oak chips that I will beging to soak in bourbon this weekend, plus some wormwood chips that are going to be boiled before being added to the carboy. Then, for 2 weeks, the stout will sit on this bed of extra flavor and coloring to add some unique complexities to the entire profile.

Well, that is all I have today.

As always, drink well, and be merry. Slainte!

Update 1: Well, a valuable lesson was learned on this brew. I pitched my yeast and as far as I can tell, everything was going just fine. Little did I know that the air lock was slowly becoming plugged, therefore becoming a cork. At 7:45 AM on a Sunday, I was informed that my beer was oozing all over the floor. After the short trip home, I was able to see the issue, and fixed it very quickly. I removed the blow out hose from the LBDPA and replaced it with the airlock, after it was cleaned of course. Then, the joyful task of getting out the ammonia and cleaning the brew room took place and lasted about 45 minutes. No, it wasn't fun, but it was a valuable lesson to say the least. Going foward, blow out hoses are a must for the first 4 days if not longer.

Update 2: I added the extra sugar to the carboy today. It was probably somewhere around 2 oz, but I wasn't worried about being accurate. This was an effort to 1) make up for the lack of beer from the episode over the weekend 2) add some ABV to make it a bit more "fun" 3) why the hell not? As I checked on it a few hours later and a few hours after that, the process appears to be moving along nicely, with a very gentle bit of extra fermentation taking place. I'm debating if I want to add some brown sugar to it now as well. Decision, decisions. Maybe I will wait for that on the next run of this recipe.

Update 3: Well, I still wasn't satisfied, so I added some high-end molasses to this batch. I added it roughly 12PM, but by 3PM it was fermenting like crazy. It is going so fast and hard now, but I figure it will slow down within 24 hours. I am going to let it settle down and then rack it 2 weeks from the day it was brewed. Then, when it goes into secondary, it will be sitting on some French toasted oak chips that have been soaking in bourbon for 1 week and some wormwood strips that have been boiled to release the oils in the wood. This is going to be a fantastic beer!

Update 4: This beer has been racked and is now on the French Oak chips that soaked in bourbon for 1 week and some boiled wormwood. The wood should impart some unique flavors and additional aromatics to the beer, in addition to upping the ABV (not a bad thing at all). The smell is a bit strong with the bourbon, but I anticipate this will mellow out as time goes on.

Update 5: Wow! This smells incredible! Complicated and woody, and there is a velvety aspect to the aroma, which I suspect is a result of the wood aging, malts, and bourbon mixing together. This is going to be a seriously complicated but fun beer. I'm so excited to try it, but I am giving it a full 3 weeks on the wood, so I need to wait until the 29th for a third racking to allow some filtering of the particulates from the wood and will only be 4-5 days in duration. Then, we will be bottling this brew and waiting another 4 weeks to sample it. Patience is a virtue, so they tell me.

LBDPA

OK, ladies and germs, I have some big news today. It is not only another brewing day, but this is Coren's first official beer! She has selected a black IPA, which she has dubbed the Little Black Dress Pale Ale.

To say that I'm having a total blast with this particular batch is completely understating the obvious. She bought the Brewer's Best IBA kit, but I spiced up the recipe for her just a bit, in order to make it a bit more interesting. We have 8 ounces of hops going into the actual boil of the beer and 4 more ounces going into dry hopping. Not only that, we also are adding some molasses and some chicory to the mix (I know, right?!).

Well, since we are in the midst of the boil, I am going to end the post here, but I did want to at least let the world know how excited I am about this particular batch, especially due to the inspiration and source. Great job on the recipe Coren!

As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte!

Update 1: When I got a chance to see how this was doing, I came into a world of fermentation. This is crazy fermentation! I am going to be adding the molasses either today or tomorrow, but at this rate, it may have to be sooner. Oh, and to really solidify the image of this particular batch's vigorous fermentation, I had to take the airlock off and use the siphon hose as a blow off vessel with a bucket of water. The water was bubbling so much, the entire room has a lovely hoppy aroma. So excited!



Primary fermentation 18 hours later

Update 2: The molasses is is added, only 2 days after brewing. The yeast starter has totally done what we wanted! The only thing I can say I learned from this batch is that the chicory should have been added with a grain bag, mostly because of how much it gummed up the process of the transfer. I am slightly concerned about it sitting on the chicory for longer durations, but nothing we can do about it now but wait and see. I'm anticipating the fermentation will just about finish by Thursday at the latest with the additional fermentables, so I should be racking to the secondary carboy that night, which means the first of four dry hoppings will take place. I figure every 5 days I'll add some more hops to it to help with the flavor and aroma, which hopefully will combat any extra tartness from the chicory.

Update 3: The fermentation has essentially reached its apex and subsided. I am seeing the color getting darker, which not only is pleasing, but it makes for a rather happy Coren. The krausen you see in the picture has completely dissipated and I'm waiting a few more days for any additional cleansing to take place. Then we will rack it to the 5 gal carboy and begin the 4 oz of dry hopping, with 2 oz per go. I anticipate this being done with this next phase in approximately 2 weeks from today when I rack to the bottles. The hop gods are smiling on this brew!

Update 4: Coren is a very happy girl after this past weekend. Not only was it Labor Day weekend, which meant an extra day to sleep in, but she racked her first beer! We moved it over the to the 5 gal carboy on Saturday and added the first 2 oz for dry hopping (Zythos and Cascade) and I will add the final 2 oz tomorrow night. We will be bottling after I return from Schlafly's Hop in the City festival on 9/15, and then it has another 3 weeks to condition before she gets to taste it. The racking was a really good idea because it was terribly needed with the amount of yeast in this batch, not to mention the extra amount of grains that settled. More updates to come with this one!

Update 5: The dry hopping is done on this bad boy and I couldn't be  happier. The best part is, when Coren smells this, every time she has a huge smile on her face that tells me, we did what she wanted. I am going to be out of town for a bit, but as soon as I get home we will be racking to bottles.

Update 6: The festival in St. Louis was insane (post on that to follow). I am please to announce that LBDPA is officially bottled and conditioning at room temp right now, and will stay there for 3 weeks. We will follow that up with a sampling and transfer the bottles to cold storage for further conditioning. We did an unconditioned taste sample and there is a lot going on in that beer, but I do see it finding its balance as it ages. Time will tell, but at least Coren is happy with her first custom partial mash recipe. Slainte!

Update 7: We tasted this for the first time after 2 weeks in the bottles and I'm cautiously optimistic. The hoppy flavors are so outrageous on this and clearly need time to calm down, which I'm hoping is going to happen after a few more weeks in bottles (2 or 3 more, then 1 week in the fridge). The malty flavors of this beer are present, but masked considerably right now, but they are fighting to show themselves. Now, the body, color, aroma, and head on this are so delightful and amazing, I just want the bitterness to settle down just a bit before I will call this a success.

Brewery Name

Ok, this is a point of frustration for me at this stage, so I'm going to vent. The brewery name or title of my brewing company that I want to have going forward is something I get asked about a lot, but I have no answers. None. Zilch.

This "writer's block" that has found me refuses to let go and it is becoming a sore point in my brewing thoughts. There are a number of names in there, but none that speak to me directly. I'm not going to use a name that I am not totally behind, because it needs to say something about me.

I think I have suggested to Coren about 50 names by now, but none that grabbed me. This reminds me of when I was younger and writing papers in high school and college. There were two rules that applied then: the paper should be as long as it needs to be to give your conclusion and the title shouldn't be forced. Well, if I take the advice from a time long long ago, then I need to reconsider the situation, but maybe I can mix in a little bit of my adult knowledge too.

Situation - I cannot think of a title for my brewery/operation.
Complication - I'm being pressured to create an answer by more and more bystanders.
Question - What should I name my brewery/operation?
Answers -

1. Nothing; wait until I arrive at the name naturally
2. Use one of the names I suggested already
3. Let someone else choose

Ok, so if I dig into any of these answers, I would ultimately end up either disappointed (2 & 3) or not achieving the purpose of this exercise (1). But, if we apply the ol' writing logic to it, there is only answer 1.

Well, if that is the case, the meaning of this exercise is to be patient and let the name come to me. No use in titling something until I have something worth calling it. Well, that leaves it there. I will leave it to the whims of the universe to help me arrive to the best name when the time is right.

As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte!

Beer Review Challenge

Ok, I'm ready to evolve my beer geek status into providing some honest feedback to others that are curious. I'm not going to claim any form of expertise in the arena people have been doing for quite a while longer, but I will always provide true, honest, and unbiased reviews.

So, here is my challenge to you, the world at large. Send me a comment here or on twitter (@chitownproud) and let me know what beer you would like me to review for you.

Now, the rules of the challenge are really simple. First, don't give your opinion to me before I try the beer, so I can avoid any/all bias before I try it. Second, give me a little time to get the beer (which may not always be possible, but I will make every effort) AND to provide my review. Lastly, if you disagree with me, that is totally fine, but let's keep it respectful and cordial.

If I haven't gotten a challenge by the end of a work week (yes, that means Friday), then I will select a beer I have either never had or haven't had in a very long time and provide a review. To avoid me picking things you don't like, just send me a quick note!

That is about all I got, but I look forward to your responses.

As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte!

Equipment Wish List

Ok, time for a wish list post. These are some of the items I would LOVE to have for my brewing going foward and my ETA on getting them. One small caveat before we start is that my absolute priority at the moment is to secure enough for a major down payment on a townhouse somewhere on the water in Northern IL or Wisconsin; I have to feed my kayaking habbit somehow.

So, item one on my list is a wort chiller, but I'm already torn. Do I go with the traditional copper coil or the plate version. I know that I may not have the ability to choose the plate until further down the road, but still, I like to be forward thinking. I am probably leaning towards the coil right now, but we will see what the time & budget fairy have to say. ETA: 6 months

Next, I am going to be exploring some options as far as larger blow off set-ups, like batches of hoses poised into a single blow off bucket. The reason for this is selfish, which I happliy admit, because I won't have to be as attentive to the airlock. The other reason for this is as basic as basic can get: it means I can make more beer, which means I would be able to have seasonal and annual recipes in rotation. ETA: 6-8 months

A small option that I will ALWAYS list as a homebrewer (which I expect to be regardless of reaching the status of brewmaster/owner), is to add more and more carboys. I last posted about 2 extra 5 gallon carboys that I got for a steal (still happy about that). Well, I plan on doing it again, but this time I will add a 6.5 gallon to the order. That will give me approximately 25 gallon secondary fermentation volume and 13 gallon primary volume. The true goal for 2013 is to reach 40 gallon secondary and 32.5 gallon primary volume, or for those keeping count 8 5 gallon carboys and 5 6.5 gallon carboys. ETA: ~ 2 weeks for the next purchase; 2013 for full capactiy

Something that I realized the value of after going through far too much effort to lager via an ice bath is a fridge, or wine cooler. Yeah, I know, but learning by going through this gives me that appreciation for the automated temperature management system a whole new appreciation. So, that is the bad news; the good news is that I am finding that there are quite a few of these on the internet and at really great prices. I'm actually emailing someone about possibly getting one right now, and I may very well be able to get it for less than $50! If I do, watch out, because I will be making lagers like it is going out of style. ETA: 1 month

One of the biggest pieces that I am thinking of right now is an all-grain set up, but this is going to be one serious long-term investment and saving project. The aforementioned fairy will be seriously watching this one for a while, as the cost will be between $2500-3000, so it is going to be taking a back seat for a while. ETA: TBD (Totally budget determined)

The last piece, which is something I keep getting told by other brewers is a way to make life seriously way more worth living, is a kegging system. This one I am really excited becasue this is going to be ramp up my ability to streamline my brewing and racking processes. Cost-wise, this is going to really slim me down to only having to clean/sanitize brewing equipment and the kegs themselves. Here is the real value: NO MORE BOTTLES (unless I draft some beer off for a present). The cost of this one is a bit high, but it pays me back really quickly. At $250, plus the cost of the CO2 charging, it is a small investment that I'm more than happy to explore. ETA: Maybe for my birthday in December (Hint Hint)?

There are tons of little things I would add to this, but this is where my mind is at for the future with larger items.

More updates with Feelin' It Pilsner to follow!

As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte!

Update 1: I got the new 6.5 gal and what was supposed to be a 5 gal. Well, the source ended up sending a 6 gal instead, which I'm not going to complain about. After a nice strong rinse with some PBW and StarSan, these boys are ready to go!

Beers In Progress & Updates

Greetings once again friends! Here are the new tidbits of joy about my pursuit of brewing great beer and becoming one of the lucky few to do what they love.

I am definately getting more comfortable with my brewing, and I'm starting to think long term. What does long term mean? Along the lines of potential locations for a brewery (my mind is focused on old brick buildings, a water wheel or by a creak would be icing on my cake). I am also starting to decide on potential names for my brewery, which Coren is helping with. I'm so picky about the details, but I know it will come to me when I'm ready.

I also just got 2 more carboys in the mail (massive discounts make me a happy boy). The next options I have been debating over is another point of contention. I have mulled over the Scorched Earth Ale, a black IPA (Coren's making this as her first beer, so news to follow soon), a Belgian Dunkelwiess, a stout, a barleywine, and an Oktoberfest. Well, it just so happens I just finished up my recipe for Loose Lederhosen Oktoberfest, so I think it is a safe bet that will be one item to use up one carboy. As if the timing was fated, my pilsner is FINALLY going into bottles, so I will have yet another carboy up for grabs (decisions decisions). Coren's black IPA will be one for sure, but that still leaves one more. I do want to start planning out Plowed Porter for brewing, but since the inspiration for that was Coren, it only seems fair to have her involved in its development, so I may need to wait about 2 months for the season to be right.

That leaves me with a single carboy to use, and I think the Dunkelwiess will be the one I look to next. I'm open to suggestions, but I'm trying to do this in a evolutionary style. Challenges are not something to be avoided, so bring on any and all comments you have here or on Facebook.

That is all I have for now, but stay tuned for more news to come, including some surprises when we get closer to the fall and winter!

As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte!

Loose Lederhosen Oktoberfest

Well, I've gone and done it again. I took the advice of some brewer buddies and some friends and this is the new recipe: Loose Lederhosen Oktoberfest.

It is a classic style Marzen, with Munich & Vienna malts, and uses Hallertau & Tettnanger hops for bittering and Tettnanger for aroma.

I am really excited about this one, and plan on brewing it as soon as I get the missing piece: a proper lagering chiller. I may have zeroed in on a sweet wine cooler that can do 45-65, which I can always drop even lower by adding some ice. Once I get this part figured (working on a lead via Craigslist), I will be brewing.

It is going to hit, potentially these stats:

Original Gravity:

1.056

Final Gravity:

1.014

ABV (standard):

5.55%

IBU (tinseth):

20.77

SRM (morey):

10.41

As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte!

Scorched Earth Ale

Well, as I teased in my last post, I waskicking around the idea for a smoked wheat ale. The kicking, however, has ended, and I have arrived to my next recipe: Scorched Earth Ale. I am going to be probably changing this one and taking a lot of advice from some brewing friends, but this is a drastic direction that I am curious to play out.

I want it to be similar to a rauchbier, but I want to go a step further by merging it with an American wheat beer. So, to accomplish this, I am using the smoked malt, but I'm sticking to the wheat malts that I think will get me as close to the wheat counterpart of a Marzen. This I feel will allow me to arrive to a slightly darker color of the rauchbier, but also allow me to stay true to the wheat beer at heart.

The hop side of this equation is the part I am REALLY debating myself about. I want it to be hoppy, but I'm unsure of the mixtures and the IBUs. I am going to be wrestling with this one and also looking into some suggestions from friends, but right now I'm aiming at the highest end of the scale I am comfortable with and then working my way back.

I know that I can continue to try making the typical beers, but I want to test my skills and perspective as a brewer to be further outside the box than expected.

I would welcome anyone's input or advice as this is still very early in the planning stages.

As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte!

Inspiration & Updates

Ok, so I know I have been away for a bit, but I have a good reason. The Feelin' It imperial pilsner is on its way (update on that thread to follow) and I had to make a trip to St. Louis for a wedding...and some beer.

Let's talk about that one for a second. In St. Louis, there resides a company called Schlafly, which became essentially a true guide in the wonderful world of craft beer. I not only learned about what I liked in beer, but learned about the brewing process, the various styles of beer, and overall the beer culture. For those reasons and many more, I will always hold Schlafly and brewers in general in a very high opinion (unless they make meh beer...mushroom beer, seriously?!).

As for the trip to St. Louis, Coren and I got to explore the Schlafly Tap Room (via a guided tour from a wonderful individual within that company. Cheers to you sir!), the Schlafly Bottleworks, and Urban Chestnut. Now, as far as the overall vibe, I always have liked Bottleworks more because I find it is just chill, but Coren liked the Tap Room for its energy. We both liked the beer at Urban Chestnut, but the service was just terrible; we had roughly 6 people behind the bar, and it took me asking for a second round to get one.

We wrapped things up with the wedding of two dear friends, where I presented them with their gift of a 6 pack of the Flint Hill Scotch Ale, from which I chilled and poured them a bottle and the response was very surprising ("Neither of us like dark beer, but that was super smooth. You have found your calling.").

We left St. Louis with: 6 Yakima Wheat, 6 AIPA, 6 Oatmeal Stout, and 30 Dry-Hopped APA. I am always finding it difficult to pass those as I move to attend to the pilsner, but I'm staying strong for a good day to break them open.

Now, the beer inspiration and updates. As for inspiration, I am kicking around an idea of a smoked hoppy wheat ale, and I think it may have 2 versions (a la the Plowed Porter). The first will be a late harvest wheat ale, with hints of smoke and citrus (Amarillo and Cascade) hops; should come in roughly at 6.5-7.0 ABV and 50-70 IBU. The second will be its big brother, and imperial wheat, where I ramp it all up and aim for 8.0-10.0 ABV (not going to be easy, but who doesn't like a good challenge) and 80-100 IBU. I'm still in the kicking around phase with ingredients, but I know that I am going with smoked barely and 2 row American pale. The wheat malt I am still debating on, mostly on if it should be American or German.

That is about it, but make sure you check out the updates on the pilsner. I am getting close to the end of secondary fermentation and nearing conditioning, so the results will be in shortly.

As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte!

Brewing this Summer...

I have been doing some serious crunching at work and at home, so I haven't been able to post lately, for which I apologize. That doesn't mean, however, that the brewing thoughts have stopped.

I have a few beers in mind for the next few batches. First up, we have the Plowed Porter, which was inspired by and had its recipe in part written by Coren McLeod, who heads up the marketing aspect of things for me. The recipe for it can be found here.

I am really excited about the challenge of making such a dark and complex beer, which explains another new recipe. I took the basic components of the Plowed Porter and made, with some input from Coren, a holiday version of Plowed, which will be brewed in the fall and allowed to age until the holiday season (approximately 2-3 months). The recipe is all booted up and ready for a view.

I am still kicking around a few others, but I already posted about the imperial pilsner I am going to be making next. A few of the others I have some thoughts on are a mixed up version of the Belgian IPA (American hops, Belgian malts, and English yeast), a cracked wheat hoppy ale with some biscuit malt, and there is also an Octoberfest in the mix.

Of course, when I get more specific about recipes, I will share those here.

Stay tuned for another festival review, even if it was terribly belated.

As always, drink well and be merry. Slante!