Coren's Corner: Cocoa's Nut House

Greetings everyone! Time for another trip to Coren's Corner, and this time it is a special one: my first day doing the brewing!

 We all know that I join Brian when gets the itch to boil a pot of wort. Hell, he even calls me his “malt muse.”  This time around, however, we shook it up a bit and I had the opportunity to do my very first batch completely on my own (with Brian within shouting distance, just in case).  

The reason this beer came to be was something like a daydream that hit me last week.  Brian already has laid out a schedule for himself on what he wanted to make for the next few months.  So, I figured if he knows when he isn't brewing, why not brew one of my own?  

So, the question came down to be what exactly did I want to make?  There were two styles that were stuck in my head:  nut brown ale or an ESB (Extra Special Bitter). What it came down to was, with this being my first brew, I did not want anything that was too complicated.  I decided to go with the nut brown ale.  Brian and I came up with ideas of what exactly I wanted to the recipe.  Ultimately, I wanted it to be nutty with a hint of vanilla.  Brian just ran with the idea and the results of the recipe came out with balance being the name of the game.

For malts, we needed some color, so we went with  Crystal 10L, Brown, and Pale Chocolate (roughly 25% of the grain bill). Brian also suggested keeping this close to its source, so he opted for Maris Otter and Mild to further compliment the roasty, nutty notes. We rounded it out with some extract to fill out the rest, some flaked oats for more body, and just for kicks, we added some honey at the very end to add to the dry finish.

Now, when it comes to hops, Brian is a real hophead, but he also respects the origins of a style. He restrained himself to using only British hops, which got us to about 28 IBUs overall.

The special ingredients were some actual nuts, which is not typically done in this style. Nut brown is a commentary on the color, not an extra ingredient. Brian thought we could slide by and use some roasted pecans in the very end of the boil, along with some whole vanilla beans, to enhance the flavor of the various malts. Smelling it I think he made the right call.

For a yeast, we just went simple and used Wyeast 1335 for the extra dryness in the finish of the beer. Plus, this one does a better job of cleaning itself up, which Brian explained means I get my beer in my hands faster!

Now, like I said, I've been right there with Brian for almost all of  his different brewing sessions.  But, since I was taking the reins on this one, I was a little nervous.  Brian has told me over and over again that rules 1 through 3 of brewing are the same: 1) Sanitize 2) Sanitize 3) Sanitize. I was pretty comfortable knowing what I did from watching him over the past year, so I wasn't worried about that. 

The other major rule, however, is to watch the clock.  I had to make sure I added all the ingredients at the right time in order for the wort to end up at the right gravity and taste good. Now, I'm not one to brag, but I was VERY much on my game that day, but I appreciated the fact Brian was there to help.

Can I tell you something though? I LOVED that immediately the beer was a nice smooth dark brown.  The hops added a great smell to it as we hit the different additions, plus, we added a our roasted pecans and vanilla right at the end.  I am very curious to see what impact they have on the overall beer.

I do have to admit that it was a ton more fun to make beer than watching it, so I know why Brian always enjoys this. The work afterwards, though, sucked. Transferring this to the carboy was labor-intensive to say the least. That part is very boring and back breaking, due to straining all the little bits out of the wort before adding the yeast.  It seems like it takes forever and I am an impatience person, but I did see the value to it as we got more and more stuff out of the beer that just didn't need to be there. Maybe next time Brian will just do that part for me while I get a refill on my pint (a girl can always hope!).

After a few days, I can say that Cocoa’s Nut House (still makes me laugh) is currently fermenting nicely.  I believe it will stay in the 6 gallon carboy for at least 2 weeks and then it moves to secondary to let some more conditioning to take place. We also get to reinvigorate this with a bit more vanilla and pecans for a few days before it goes to bottle. I am super excited to have this beer on a not-so-distant summer night in front of a bonfire!

I do want to take a moment to thank Brian for all of his knowledge and helping me gain the confidence to just want to make my first beer, let alone actually doing it.

I will for sure keep everyone updated on the process of the beer.  

Until than, Cheers!!!!

Coren

Pool Party Pale Ale

Greetings my friends of the humble malted barley! I hope you enjoyed our last post from Coren's Corner. I know I had fun going to the festival, so there is always that! Our next festival is coming up in Mundelein, IL in the parking lot of Tighthead Brewing Company. If you want to go, get some tickets here for 6/8!

It hasn't been that long since my last brew session, but you can't keep this guy away when he has the brewing bug. I decided to welcome the summer with two beers earlier, one of which was the Bloody Good Hefe (turned out so damn good!). The next one up is for the hopheads, which means I will enjoy this beer quite a bit (I might share...might).

This was a simple beer that I hyped up in two ways, rye and hop variety. I used flaked rye in order to get a bit more of a complex flavor from the malt and to also help with the head retention (rye, rice, corn, etc all have more protein in them than malted barley, so they can help in a big way here). Now, the varieties of hops I selected were all of the US, keeping with the American Pale Ale theme I set for myself, and they all needed to contribute something fun.

Why fun with the hops you may ask? Well, a certain someone that recently posted about a seminar blurted out a particular hop of a piney nature, and I decided I wanted to showcase the US hops for what they really do well: big bitterness and piney & citrus aromas. To accomplish this, we had 1 once of Simcoe up front with a modest 11.8% AA (Alpha acid, or the thing that makes beer bitter when boiled in wort). That was it until we reached the end with 2 ounces of Ahtanum to round out that citrus nose. So, that takes care of round 1 of piney & citrus, but what else can we do to show off?

Those of you that know me, know I love dry-hopped beers, so it was only natural that I would show off with exactly the same thing. We are going to have an extra 5 days of dry-hopping with 1 ounce each of Centennial, Chinook, and Simcoe, so we can fully appreciate the aromas of the Pacific Northwest.

Phew, just typing about it made me really excited to just get a whiff of this bad boy when it hits the bottling stage in a few short weeks (honestly, I may have drooled just a bit too, but it just sounds so good!).

So, the boil and everything went really well, as was expected. I had some Pale 2 Row and Crystal 20 L (that is 20 degrees Lovibond, which tells us beer geeks how much color we should get from the grain) steeping and some extracts, but nothing scary. There was a single late addition to help keep the beer balanced and not a hop bomb (hey, it isn't an IPA after all).

I used Wyeast 1272 American Ale II because it attenuates (changes sugar into alcohol) just about the same as 1056 American Ale, but it also is a bit better at flocculation, which is how fast the yeast finishes its work (better flocculation, the less time I wait for beer).

So, that is all I have about this brew day. But stay tuned for updates, per usual.

As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte!

UPDATE 1: Wow, the 1272 is strong to start, that is for sure. That must be why so many people want to use it as a reliable "house" strain. I can detect the hops, obviously, from the blow off bucket, but also a bit of malty nuttiness. Wyeast, you nailed it again. I'm looking forward to seeing this beast in a bottle soon. Check out that krausen (foamy head from fermentation); its crazy!

UPDATE 2: I moved this to secondary yesterday, on top of 3 more ounces of hops (Centennial, Cascade, Chinook) to enhance the aroma. We should be bottling this within a week and drinking it inside of 3. Hoppy goodness here I come!

Coren's Corner: Belle City Festival & Lakefront Seminar Review

            Happy Craft Beer Week to all of you wonderful beer people. If you haven’t noticed by now, Brian has a significant passion for craft beer.  Anyways, his love of all things brewing has seriously inspired me to take the bull by the horns and learn more about this great community.  This is why I’m trying to attend as many events as possible to expand my horizons. In fact, just this past weekend, I sat in a great seminar at the Belle City Brew Fest in Racine, WI that I wanted to share with you.

This was our first beer festival of the season (yes, we did go to one last month, but we were volunteers so it is a major difference).  There was about 20 different breweries all lined up inside the Racine Civic Center and Brian and I were getting anxious to try some great brews.

With this event being in Wisconsin, one could say a sizable chunk of the breweries from Wisconsin were on hand to represent their brand.  Lakefront Brewery, who has always held a special place in my heart, was there sampling their many beers.  Not only have I been on their brewery tour 10 times (I think the 11^th should be free…), but I truly love what this brewery has to offer.  Last summer at Top of The Hops, Brian and I had the opportunity to meet the owner and brewer of LFB, Russ Klisch.  With me being the big dork that I am, I was kind of nervous to meet him. Their IPA, Fixed Gear and IBA are among my favorite beers ever, but I did muster up the nerve to shake his hand and state how much I like his beer.  What I was pleasantly surprised with was how genuinely Russ wants to make good beer.

           Since that initial meeting, Russ does notice Brian and me when we attend any beer events he happens to be at.  Well, at Belle City, I walked up to the LFB table and said hi and mention that the newest inductee in the My Turn Series, Chad, truly hit the barley wine style dead on. Russ kindly said thank you and then let us know that he will be speaking at a seminar that day at 4 pm.  Brian and I knew this would be something we would not want to miss.

After beer notes began to overflow in our respective notebooks, Brian and I headed to towards the seminar. Of course, we were among the first to arrive, took our seats right in the first row.  Others began to join us, some rowdy, some tired, but all with a love for good beer.  Russ started his presentation letting people know a little history behind his brewery and how they started off.  Now, this was all well and good, but the blessing/curse was the fact Brian and I had a keg with a test batch of their IPA right in front of us. During the presentation, folks constantly were asking poor Brian to keep filling their glass, which did get a bit annoying. I don’t think he minded in the end, or at least I hope not.

           Anyway, Russ got into detail about barely is converted into malt and the way it changes the flavors of different bears. He actually passed around malted milk balls and other gains for everyone to try, highlighting the differences in the kilning process as the grains got progressively darker. He then ventured into the world of hops and started explaining why they are so important in a beer. At this point in the seminar, volunteers were pouring some beers so each person was able to try his creations. This was really useful though, because each person was able to experience the complexities of malt and hop varieties.
 

           One of the more interesting parts was how hops can be added at different times during the boiling process, which directly impacts what they do to the beer.  We found out that dry-hopping, for example, actually captured certain compounds better than boiling. This was only highlighted when the question came out of how to get different flavors/aromas from hops, like pine, and I just said, “Oh, like in Simcoe.”  At that moment, Brian, who knows plenty about hops and their characteristics, turned his head to me and proudly stated, “Great job….”

In the end, what really impressed me with the day was getting to spend time inside the mind of a very successful brewer.  Russ Klisch really impressed me with his knowledge of the beer culture and why he got into it in the first place.  His operation with Lakefront Brewery is truly one to respect, and I fully expect that to continue.  After all that was said and done, I went up to Russ and thanked him for his time.  Even though this was only an hour long seminar, Brian and I walked away smiling knowing this was the reason we keep going to festivals: the culture.

I am very excited to see what other beer festivals have to offer this year.  We will be attending Tighhead’s Beer Fest on June 15 and Glendale Beer Lovers Festival on June 22.  So, keep your eyes glued to this blog.  Plus, much more will be happening in the next couple of months as far as new beer and other reviews.

           And with that, to all the beer geeks out there, there is only one thing left to say: Prost!  

Grammatical Error Kölsch

Hey there brew fans, I have another update to provide you! Big Brew has come and gone for 2013, and I have a new batch at home fermenting away. What is Big Brew you ask? Well, that just so happens to be the day the American Homebrewers Association tries to get its members to all brew on the same day, with the same recipe. I wasn't keen on the recipe choices for this year (Belgian Blonde, English Dark Mild, and American Pilsner), so I went my own route with it and made a Kölsch, the history of which is partly why I wanted to. Ok, I also love the way these taste as the weather gets hotter, so sue me.

So, what is a Kölsch? It is a style that has a hodgepodge of origins, just like the city it originates from in Germany. Cologne (Köln in German) is in West Germany and was originally a Roman trading hub between Munich and London as it was located by the Rhine River. Those that remained after the fall of Rome began to explore the art of brewing, and eventually they formed a guild in order to protect themselves from unfair taxation and labor practices, but also to make sure they could control their craft.

The craft the guild wanted to protect was the use of gruit, or herb mixtures to balance the sweetness of the malt. Kölsch got part of its identity in this, because the guild would eventually give in to the pressure of the time to use hops instead of gruit. The heritage of the spicy, fresh, and effervescent gruit would not be lost, however.

What makes this evolution all the more interesting was that it took place roughly when the lager revolution was beginning to pick up steam throughout Europe, but especially Germany. Because of how set the guild was in its ways, they outlawed the use of bottom-fermenting (lager) yeast in Cologne and stuck hard to the ale yeasts. Though, they did in the end concede on the use of lighter malt varieties in order to get closer to the popular golden lager color.

So, the beer finally had its basic components and was gaining interest, only to have the two World Wars interrupt them and make the brewers have to go down to a trickle as far as production. It wouldn't undo them though, as they fought back to firmly establish Kölsch a style the world would know forever.

That is the heritage of this style, and the history always pumps me up to find my own way to express it in the present. My recipe uses flaked wheat, which is a bit of a throwback to the wiess version, but I kept it grounded in what is considered a true Kölsch with pilsner malt. The hops are all noble varieties, and no one would venture away from the proper yeast for this style, so it all was pretty simple. The only extra I added in here was some roasted paradise seeds that I crushed and put in right at the end of the boil, to enhance the peppery and spicy qualities of the hops, especially the Saaz.

Overall, the brew day went super well, and I was even able to try my hand at increasing my mash temp gradually instead of the lazy man version of setting it to 160 F and letting it ride. I figure that should give me a more interesting flavor in the end, not to mention a smoother finish. I'm very excited to try it again in a larger batch.

That is all I have for now, but stay tuned for a new post from Coren's Corner and a beer festival review.

As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte!

UPDATE 1: This was not a slouch at fermenting, which I am happy to see. The aroma coming off the blow off bucket is great and makes me want it to finish all the faster. I'd like to try this one again with a bit more wheat, especially red wheat, in the grain bill, just to see what it would taste like. Anyways, here she is after about 30 hours after pitching.

Bloody Good Hefe

"For a quart of ale is a dish for a king," William Shakespeare, 'A Winter's Tale'.

On this wonderful Talk Like Shakespeare day, it only seems fitting to offer up a new post in addition to some wisdom from the bard himself. The topic of the day is the beer made for my little sister, who is a fiend when it comes to the wheat beers of the world. This is my first wheat beer, but I really enjoyed the process behind it, starting with my research.

I dove into texts and different websites to discern the unique aspects of the wheat beer, and I came up with some interesting points. Wheat beers could be considered one of the oldest, if not the oldest, styles created by mankind. In fact, a crock was found in Kulmbach (north of Nuremberg, in the southern part of Germany) dating back to 800 BC that held the remains of a black wheat beer!

I was also blown away at another link to weissebier (white beer, due to the pale appearance), this time with the Reinheitsgetbot Purity Law of 1516. At one point, the production of weissebier was controlled by the duchy of Bavaria, until the original house's lineage and the rights passed on to another. The second noble house, the Wittlesbach, made the Purity Law, but not because they necessarily wanted the beer to be of the best quality. The law required beer to  be made from water, barley, and hops (yeast was unknown, so it is considered an unwritten but acceptable ingredient), which does in fact give a more "pure" brew to enjoy. The house of Wittlesbach, however, controlled much of the barley farming in addition to the weissebier production. So, in the end, the use of the law was more to solidify their monopoly on ingredients and a highly sought after product!

Even with the advent of the lagers in the 1800s, the weissebiers of the world not only thrive, but continue to evolve. This evolution brings me to my recipe for this offering to the masses. I wanted to take a route that will be similar to the old versions, living up to the Purity Law of 1516, with my own flair on the ingredients. I have had the raspberry,cherry, and I have had other fruit variations, so I began to contemplate the possibilities. I finally arrived at a mixture of my ideas and one I really like already: blood oranges and strawberries. The use of blood oranges is something Sam from Dogfish Head, in his infinite wisdom, decided to pair with the weissebier style, and it couldn't have been more successful. I wanted to take that and run with it by adding strawberries into secondary, offering a different aroma and a hint of extra sweetness for those summer days around the corner.

Unfortunately, Coren and I were unable to acquire the fabled blood oranges as they are very seasonal (I swear we tried!). So, to compensate for that, I used cara cara navel oranges at a lower amount due to their increased sweetness, and upped the quantity of strawberries from 3 lbs to 4 lbs for balance.

The process for this boil couldn't have been easier. The grains went in, the hops were added (2 ounces of German Hallertau, so nothing difficult), and the oranges were pasteurized  for 15 min before joining the wort in the carboy. All in all, this was surprisingly easy and quick, so it maybe a beer I try again with some other local ingredients (I have a few interesting ideas floating around up there already...he he he). The decision to go with the Wyeast 3068 is something I am very happy about, because I read a lot about the strain's wonderful esters and phenols and it makes my mouth water thinking of the banana and clove aromas mingling with the oranges and strawberries.

I am very excited to get this into secondary in a few more days, on top of the strawberries that are really looking quite tasty. The turn around on this batch may make it one I decide to turn into a year-round offering, but we shall see.

This will not be a very long fermentation, considering the amount of yeast I used, and the lower gravity of this (1.061), so updates should follow shortly.

As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte!

UPDATE 1: Holy crap! This guy didn't wait at all to ferment, and what a crazy krausen! I had to take a whiff, and this is certainly getting some serious orange and bready notes. The esters and phenols are already in high gear as well. The only down side to the 3068 strain is some sulfur being produced, but this goes away in secondary and conditioning. All is looking and smelling quite nice!

UPDATE 2: The strawberries have been added to the secondary after a nice long pasteurizing session on the stove. They added so much volume to the carboy that I had to grab a second one and add about 1 gal of the original recipe to it! Oh well, I will just have to suffer through 2 wonderful German wheat beers in a few weeks. Prost!

Festival Review: Schlafly Repeal of Prohibition

Greetings brewsters! I am so happy to be able to provide you this post, since I finally have a second to do it, about my recent trip to St. Louis for what is easily one of my favorite festivals, the Repeal of Prohibition at Schlafly.


This marks the beginning of the good weather for festivals, although that doesn't always hold true. A few years ago, the festival was on a day with a blistering 15F as the high. This year, we did quite nicely with around 70F, so no complaints at all.

Coren and I arrived on a Friday, albeit in less than optimal conditions: my cell phone was damaged beyond repair and I'd gotten a speeding ticket to start our trip. Did that stop us from getting to our destination or having a fan-freakin-tastic time? In short: not a damn bit.

As we arrived to the festival on Saturday, the stage was getting prepped for the band to keep our toes tapping all day long. One small note about bands at festivals: I really don't want you to be super loud or have a ton of lyric-heavy songs, because it means I cannot focus on my friends and of course the beer. As a result, I tip my hat to Swing DeVille for not only being a great group overall, but they didn't require me to shout to be heard. Huzzah!

Continuing on, this festival holds a dear spot in my heart because Schlafly invites guest breweries to show off their stuff. Past invitees have included Alaskan, Midnight Sun, Deep Ellum, and Shorts. This year, it was time for Iowa to represent, and they did with Great River, Backpocket, and Peace Tree.

So, as the festival started up, Coren and I took up our positions: pouring for Backpocket. This is a big deal to pour for one of the guests, so needless to say, I was pretty stoked. Coren was stationed next to me, so it was nothing short of perfection. As the festival started, however, we soon realized that she was in for a rough day. Her chosen beer was a touch over-carbonated, and as a result, she really had to focus on getting a decent pour to each patron. She gets some serious credit for holding strong and never backing down, even when she got the stink eye from a certain fella (yeah, I saw you...you watch your ass bucko).

The day continued on with little to no issues that I noticed, unless you count my allergies deciding that the festival was the best time to overreact to the world (seriously, I hate allergies). We managed to finish up our shift, and go about and enjoy the offerings around us and our buddies.

Coren was a HUGE fan of the Dirty Blonde from Great River, which shouldn't be shocking because it was a golden ale brewed with chocolate. I have to admit, it was probably the biggest WOW beer of the festival if for nothing less than its contrasting color & flavor.

For me, I was torn in a few directions with my choices. I poured a really nicely balanced Munich dunkel from Backpocket, which was located next to their peated bock that was meant for someone that likes a good scotch (THIS guy right here). I also found plenty of joy in the complex barrel aged farmer brown from Great River and the easy-drinking rye porter from Peace Tree. Each of them brought a nice hoppy offering too, so trying to name a favorite beer is just far too difficult for me (but I'm happy to keep trying them...he he he).

Schlafly, of course, had plenty of their wonderful beers available to try, including a few I was itching to get my hands on. The Belgian golden and Scotch ale were really just fun departures from the beers they have made in the past, and I was pleasantly surprised with how easy they were to enjoy. I fully plan to have more of each from my stockpile I returned home with over the next few months, so don't be shocked to see a review of either (wink wink).

Overall, this was a festival that can be crazy or easy, and I'm happy to say that this one went off quite well. Coren and I even got to see 2 beer festival newbies get their feet wet this year, one of which is the wife to a good friend and fellow beer geek (shout out to my man Stewart and his super cool wife Kristin!). I look forward to the next festival, considering how well this one went for us. Thanks to everyone that made this weekend one to remember: You know who you are!

As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte!

Banshee's Wail

Good morning malt fans! I have a wonderful brew day to share with you, as a result of some friends that wanted to see how brew is done. There is a bit of back story here, so I will start with that.

Kelly & Debbie, two wonderful ladies, have been in the housecleaning game for a while, and that includes my folks place. Well, I have made it a point to make sure they get to try any new offerings I have when they are available, and they are proving to be very capable and fun tasters. This lead to the questions of whether or not I'd be willing to brew with them some time, especially since Kelly's husband Jim was interested in the process ever since he tried Awesome Sauce IPA (I guess he liked it enough to want to do it on his own some time).

That lead me to a wonderful Saturday where we got to make something Coren asked for, and imperial Irish Red. I had to scratch my head on this one for a recipe, and I think we have either arrived at a bigger version of it in every category or more of an amber ale. I'm more than happy to keep playing with this recipe, but in the end, this should still be a fine sipper as the weather starts to get warmer.

The stats on this one are as follows:

• OG 1.074
• FG 1.020
• ABV 7.09%
• IBU 34.04

So, it will be bigger in every way possible, but next time I may scale the hops down just a bit, especially since this may end up being a bit higher than the 34 IBUs that I originally calculated. Age will always smooth that out if need be, but I think the extra malt I added in primary (he he) will help to balance this out a bit more.

As for the day itself, to call it anything short of a total blast would be an understatement. We started our day with getting things set up in their kitchen (holy cow, what an amazing kitchen), and then got the specialty grains steeping. I was able to keep the temp right around 158 for the entire 30 minutes, which I think was mostly due to a pretty strong burner on that stove. While we waited, Coren and I were treated to some of Jim's world-famous Bloody Mary's (yum).

As the day rolled on, Debbie and her husband Frank showed up, and I was able to provide some background to the type of beer we were making, and also allow them each to take turns with various steps, like hop additions and sparging the grains. They all seemed to really enjoy it, mostly because they really didn't believe it was all that easy.

The day wrapped up and we returned with the carboy fully loaded, aerated, and pitched with a full starter (.5 gal growler) and an extra smack pack of Wyeast Irish Ale.

The sample looked, smelled, and tasted great, and I am anxious to see the results of this bad boy!

As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte! 

UPDATE 1: The fermentation on this took off like a bandit! I sent a picture over to Kelly so Jim could see the result of our efforts, and I'm really looking forward to bringing a bottle of this over for us to try in a few weeks.

UPDATE 2: This has been bottled and is now in conditioning! I am happy to say I ended up with a fun beer, beyond what I had planned. The nose is AMAZING and the taste has a hint of the hops so as to give bitterness without being overt. The malt flavors mingled really nicely with the extra ABV we put into this, and she finishes nice and dry. I am pumped to try this in a couple of weeks.

UPDATE 3: Here is a fantastic view of the Banshee being enjoyed by Jim and Jake Thiel. Cheers gents!

Brewing Goodies

Greetings yet again my fellow beer geeks! I am happy to say that my next phase in homebrewing is upon me, as I stepped out and got some new gear! Recently, I acquired a burner, a 20 gal propane tank, a 7 gal kettle, and 2 kegs for conversion to MLT & keggle!

As it is, the kegs are the only big hiccup I have right now, because of two things. For starters, I need to make sure they are clean and purged of any gas. Why? Imagine trying to open up one that still has some liquid or gas at roughly 15-20 PSI. Yeah, I'm not looking to have that happen, so I'm working something out with a local brewer when he gets his keg washer up and running. I love the beer community for exactly that reason, because it was just an easy suggestion that made my day. Looking forward to that soon!

So, the next phase of my operation is to move the entire process outside. To accomplish this, I will need to do more than just rinse and cut the kegs, but also get some fittings to allow me to just pour wort and liquor (hot water) without trying to lift a nearly full keg of very hot liquid. So, I will have to go and get them bored out at the bottom and potentially add one of those nice Blichmann thermometers to each. This puts me at a stand still until I can figure out a way around it, but with all the machine shops in the area, not to mention family friends in the auto industry, I think I should be able to work something out. A couple of free beers ought to take care of it, right?

Once that is all done, all I will have left to do is get some support structure on the burner to support the keggle. The last thing I would like to see here is the entire batch of an all-grain recipe go spilling on to the driveway. I'll have to go MacGuyver on it a bit, but I think again the machine shops might be a good place to start.

My goal is to be outside brewing no later than 4th of July, which is convenient because I have a recipe worked up just for that day and I'd love to get started on it with this new system in place. I'll let you know what comes of it all as updates are available to me.

As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte!

Loose Lederhosen

Well, my friends, I owe you an apology. I haven't written to you in some time, but I have been very busy with March and totally forgot to provide any updates! Well, I have several posts to share with you, so let's get started.

The first topic to update you on was the other lager I made, my Oktoberfest Loose Lederhosen. As with the maibock, I decided I had to be respectful of the brewing tradition here and kept everything in accordance with the Reinheitsgebot, or the Purity Law of 1516 that says only a few special ingredients can be used: water, barley, and hops (later they learned of yeast, so it is considered an obvious addition to the list). As a result, I made sure to use as much of traditional malts and hops I could, so I stuck with Vienna, Cara-Munich, and Munich malts, along with some amber DME to get the color and OG just right. The hops I chose were as close to the money as I could get them, with Hallertau and Tettnanger.

All told, this beer clocked in with an OG of 1.056 and a respectable 26 IBUs. I didn't want this to be a knock your socks off beer, but rather something that will become more and more interesting as it cellars and conditions, considering I won't really be enjoying this until September.

The other part of keeping this traditional had to do with when I made the beer. Marzen, or March, is when the beer is made so that it can lager and age nicely during the hot summer months and be truly enjoyed when the weather starts to get cold again. Did I hear someone say football beer?

Well, the brew day went really and I have to admit, it was not a hard batch to get together. I might consider doing a winter version of this at some point by incorporating some late harvest or winter wheat to add some complexity to the body and flavor.

Stay tuned, because there will be more to follow with this one as it continues to age.

As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte!

UPDATE 1: The fermentation for this batch lasted just as long as the maibock, which surprised me in a bit considering the amount of yeast, even with the starter, was decent, but it was still a lower gravity beer. I'm not going to complain though!

UPDATE 2: The lagering has begun! The garage is sitting comfortably in the 30s, and even if it does go up to about 45 or 50, the carboy is sitting covered, and out of direct light. I suspect the temp inside is hard pressed to go above 40, but if it gets closer to 60 during the day and 40s at night, I'll end up cutting the lagering short and bottle it. Here is hoping the cooler temps can stick around just a bit longer!

Beer Community: Lagunitas & The Big Bad Wolf

So, I decided since this is a blog all about beer, it wouldn't hurt to comment on beer news I garner through the grapevine from time to time. We could be talking about new breweries, expansions, or industry shake-ups.

This post is dedicated to Tony Magee (@lagunitasT on Twitter), who was recently very active in support of his own company/employees, but small breweries everywhere. Plus, Chicago and the brewery formerly known as Goose Island got in there too, which makes me happy Tony still has love for his original city. Before we go any further, well done Tony, well done indeed.

So, according to his Twitter posts, some executive, the one that captured the contract with Goose Island, from AB-InBev began a process of wining & dining Tony. This was not the first time a decent sized craft brewery has been approached by one of the dreaded "Big 3," and it certainly won't be the last. Hell, it wasn't that long ago Sam from Dogfish Head had to turn someone down from another conglomerate.

Well, Tony's responses on Twitter were not only hilarious, but they proved a point that all brewers must respond to at some point: to sell or not to sell. While some will make the decision to give the reigns over to some faceless company that has to focus on investors and their returns, the ones that remain strong are the ones we need to thank for moving the craft beer industry to a point where the "Big 3" have to consider these moves more and more often. Why? They are losing business to the little guy, and that is seen as a problem. Why do you think we see more and more of the big guys joining up in the last 10-15 years? This trend will continue until there is an equilibrium, more or less, in the industry, or craft wins/loses totally to the "Big 3".

So, does that mean I'm upset when some craft brewery makes the decision to sell? Not necessarily, but the game that is being played is a simple one. The "Big 3" control so much revenue, and therefore have a lot of sway in the way the overall industry is directed. When they capture a craft label, it is to add another feather in their cap for additional revenue for the investors. If that stream begins to underperform, you will see it either be cut in quantity, quality, or just removed altogether. This is very plainly on display for the consumer that is savvy enough to see it with Goose Island; look at the bottle next time, because they are no longer brewed in Chicago or by the watchful eye of a GI brewmaster. The various offerings they have generated lately seem to be less and less underpinned with the goal of quality, sacrificing some ingredients for cheaper ones. And how the hell is 312 Urban Wheat if it isn't even coming from the 312 area code?!

Some breweries are taking a different approach to this issue by going to an local or employee-owned system. Schlafly in St. Louis recently took that stance, and not only are they thriving, they are showing strong everywhere you look, even expanding into new markets. So, selling, so to speak, can be done in a way that helps in terms of cash as well as perserving the atmosphere of the brewery when it first opened.

I guess the overall thing to take away from Tony & Lagunitas being able to stand up and say no should mean that in this industry tipped highly in the favor of the "Big 3" there are still beacons of hope. Hope in the original purpose of a brewery to be in it for the beer first, the money and glory all come in a distant second. So, tonight, raise a glass and say thanks to Tony and the other small local guys that you support; they are not alone!

As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte!

Beer Review Challenge: Spitefull Burning Bridges Brown Ale

Good afternoon once more! This is the dramatic conclusion (insert your favorite climatic music) to the Spiteful reviews. Again, thanks to Caitlin Malone for her help in getting these bottles. On to the review!

The brown ale style is a seriously ambiguous beer that can be so many different things. American versions are bigger in most aspects than the original source of England, but both are very good and share similarities. The malts and hops will vary from mild to aggressive depending on who is making it, but overall, you expect to have a balanced beer with bit more of a nod to the malt overall and maybe a glimpse of the hops at the end. The new trend, however, is to make this into the India Brown Ale, or a hoppy brown ale, which does make things a bit harder to narrow down. Ultimately, if it is brownish-reddish in color, with anywhere from 3% - 8% ABV, and low to high hops, you may very well have a brown ale in your glass (brewers do get to "decide" if that is what they intended to make, so be respectful if this isn't what you end up with each time).

Color: Brown through and through, but you cannot help be notice the tinge of heavy color, almost black in the right light. The head has a very fluffy, creamy, white appearance, which offers a nice contrast to the beer itself.

Head:  Wow! This is some serious head retention, begging the question about hop selection, protein use, and mashing methods. Very impressive.

Taste: The balance of a true brown ale is in the heart of this beer. A touch of malty sweetness is married to a hint of bitterness from the hops. The mouthfeel of the slightly chewy character, a nod to the presence of proteins and unfermented starches, helps to give the weight to this beer you really want to see. The aftertaste also was a welcome offering, as it started with the sweetness but cleaned up with the bitterness. Yum!

Overall: I am a big fan of brown ales, because they can be anything you want them to be. Small/big, malty/hoppy, thick/thin, etc. This was one of the best I have had in a long damn time. The delicate balance of these flavors with 7.5% ABV (oh yeah baby!) and the excellent head not only heighten the appearance, but it makes the entire beer a great offering. This is one I would gladly take again...and again...and again. I would consider whether or not this beer has something to offer year round by toying with adding some candi sugar or lactose to make it a milk brown ale (sounds so tasty), but this is one hell of an ale.

Score: 8.5/10

As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte!

Beer Review Challenge: Spiteful GFY Stout

Good afternoon brew crew! I bring you a quick bit of reviews I have been meaning to post. This was only possibly due to the wonderful and kind Caitlin Malone, so a big shout out to her on the help acquiring these.

First, a little back story on the brewery, because the brewers have a cool history to tell. As kids, they knew each other and played hockey together. As fate would have it, they would end up teaming up again when both were in situations they decided were not ideal, and the idea machine was roaring away. How about opening a bar? Well, in Chicago, there are plenty of those around, so that scrapped that plan. Eventually, microbrewery was tossed out and it was barely out there before they were off and running. Starting off as homebrewers, they have become the true definition of a small brewery, almost a nanobrewery. The thing I have to truly respect is that they get to do it all on their terms and have a blast the whole time. Also, from what I can tell, they appear to have no filter when it comes to interviews, which I can relate to at times.

Now, the beers I got from them are their GFY stout (it is up to you to figure this bit out, but I assure it is funny) and Burning Bridges brown ale. I'll do a separate review for each, so here we go!

GFY stout is a Russian Imperial Stout (RIS), which means most people already know where this is going. For those lacking the background, the style should have a ton of complexity in aroma and flavor, ranging from chocolate, coffee, roasted malt, and even some specialty items like vanilla or fruit. The body should be thick and viscious, with a oil-like color to match from deep brown to jet black. Lastly, this should be a bit of a bigger beer, from 8% on up.

Color: The color on this is on par with any others in the mix. A deep black with touches of brown when held up to a light. The head on this is a nice velvety brown color, which invites sipping.

Head: The beer surprised me to an extent with the amount of head on this draft, but it dissipated pretty quickly. Still, pretty good for a style that doesn't always have the best retention.

Aroma: Overwhelming notes of caramel interwoven with chocolate and coffee. Hints of sweetness and spice try to peak through, even if they are easily missed by anyone that rushes.

Taste: Coffee and roasted flavors are the dominate player here, but some sweetness does try to break through. I found the flavor just a bit of a let down considering the way the aroma made me keep rethinking, but still a very satisfying beer. The mouthfeel is what helped this out immensely, because this sticks to your mouth and keeps the velvety texture around for a while, allowing the bitterness of the hops to finally make an appearance as a bittering additive with the aftertaste to help cleanse the palate.

Overall: As far as RIS go, this is a very good example. The aroma is probably my favorite part, and it would be a total home run if the lingering features in the aroma could be more prominent in the taste. Still, I cannot deny a fantastic beer for what it is and ask simply to try oaking this bad boy and see what happens with some extended aging (salivating).

Score: 7.0/10

As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte!

Get Off Maibock

It is already proving to be a super productive brewing season at home this year, so I hope you are finding yourselves enjoying some quality brews.

I recently brewed up my Maibock for the year to usher in spring with a wonderful beverage. To prepare for this run, I decided on two simple points. 1) This was going to be a traditional German lager, down to the ingredients; 2) The finished product will undergo as much of a true lagering as I can muster.

The first part of that was easier to do than I anticipated, as it just required me to adhere to the Reinheitsgebot, or the German Purity Law of 1516 that stated beer can only be made with barley, hops, yeast, and water. To that end, I tried to collect only German ingredients for my malt and hops, which was not hard to do, with one small exception that I was able to get around: Munich LME is a pain to find, but still available.

The latter of this was what required research and careful purchasing. To lager this beer, or even ferment it at the proper temps, I had a couple of choices, but I opted to go big or go home. I got a digital temperature controller, a fermentation heater, a digital thermometer, and a refractometer. During the brewing process, the thermometer made things vastly easier and faster compared to the old analog thermometer I was using. The refractometer, a tool designed for testing specific gravity, only requires a couple of drops instead of nearly a pint of liquid, so I get to save more beer for the final product (huzzah!).

The temperature controller combined with the heater allows me to set a fixed point for the beer to be at and keep it within 1 or 2 degrees at all times. Considering this was my second lager, and I didn't feel like doing the swamp cooler thing again (way too much effort), I am totally pumped! The carboy is sitting in the garage, and the controller is keeping it between 48 and 50 degrees F, right in the wheelhouse for this Bohemian lager yeast. Check out the set up below in the attached picture.

With the fermentation having no issues temperature-wise thus far, I'm very optimistic that the lagering it will experience in the garage will go just as well (after a brief period for a diacetyl rest to clean up some off-flavors).

So, that is my lager update. I suspect this will be available for consumption sometime in late April as I want to give this a solid 2 months of lagering, but only time will tell. More to come as the brew develops!

As always, drink well and be merry. Slainte!

UPDATE 1: The fermentation on this is taking forever! I couldn't believe how fast it started and how consistently it was creating CO2, but I'm going to let it ride as long as it wants. I am aware of the lower temps bringing down the metabolic rate of the yeast, but still, it is fun to see it go this long. Plus, the blow off tube makes the hops aroma super strong in the bucket.

UPDATE 2: The lagering is upon us, and I am happy to say that the winter weather in Northern IL is not a hurdle to overcome this year. I am seeing consistent temps of around 30 in the garage, which is totally where I wanted it to be. Plus, a sample I took had a great color, insane clarity, and a nice subtle hoppy bite with malt undertones. I'm looking forward to this one!

Smooth Brew Stout

Well, it didn't take long from the last time I posted to get the desire to brew again. I decided to go with the appropriate brewing choice for the year, so I made the final stout of the season for me, and this time it is a vanilla coffee stout. I was inspired by some of the wonderful stouts I'd been enjoying, and it seemed a crime to not give it one more go befor I run into my spring beers.

 

The brew itself was pretty simple, mostly due to the fact that I dialed down the recipe to accentuate the speciality malts and ingredients. There was a generous amount of sugar and DME used in this batch to keep costs down, but I think the addition of the coffee will dial down the generic maltiness in a big way. It is going to be roughly 7% with approximately 50 IBUs, so it will be big enough for the season, but will not overwhelm the drinker. This will be a great one to have when the weather is still cold and the driveway needs shoveling.

 

The thing I'm most proud of about this batch is that it is utilizing Intelligista coffee (espresso to be specific). Not only is this a great coffee in its own right, a number of really amazing beers have used this exact same kind of coffee, so it is cool to have a connection to them. I  plan to brew up a pot of coffee, cool it down, and add it to the secondary, where I will add some more vanilla beans for dry hopping. From my research, this is the smartest way to do coffee, because it adds some bitterness/flavor/aroma without adding needless tannins. The vanilla beans, since they were mostly in a sterile enviroment (sealed bag), will not be boiled, but rather soaked for about 10 minutes in StarSan ("Do not fear the foam").

 

I suspect I should be enjoying this beer right around Valentine's Day, which will make this a fantastic gift for a certain malt muse (yeah, go on and keep on enjoying your new nickname).

This beer was a simple run, mostly getting me ready for my next batches that will be a real challenge: Maibock & Oktoberfest. Stay tuned for those as the season moves us along.

As always, drink well and be merry!

UPDATE 1: Here is a picture of the carboy after 24 hours of fermntation. I'm pretty happy with the results, to say the least.

UPDATE 2:  The coffee has been brewed (8 oz), cooled, and added to the secondary along with the beer. It smells so damn good!

UPDATE 3: A small sample was taken for myself and my resident coffee stout geek (AKA Coren), and we both thought this will need a bit more coffee. I am going to do it in small additions on bottling day, so watch out for that update!

Certifications & Cicerones

Happy New Year everyone!

I know it has been some time since I last generated a new post, aside from updates here and there. What can I say except that the holidays demand a lot of attention, especially when having great beer and enjoying good times!

Well, the holidays now over, so I can once again refocus my efforts on the world of beer. First of all, I'm in the process of reading some new material in order to better hone my skills at recipe design. This is helping me as I decide what I'd like to make and with what ingredients. So far, I have some fun ideas in front of me for 2013, which I'm hoping will be an even bigger year for my home brewing than last year (I already have 4 new ideas I'm toying with, and a total of 5 recipes I want to make before April).

Aside from reading all this new material (which I owe to a very thoughtful Coren, my malt muse), I have been exploring some new options. One thing I was handed not too long ago was an article of a guy my age that is working part-time as a cicerone, which is essentially the beer version of a sommelier (even if it does pain me to simplify it that much). The role requires the certificate-holder to be well versed in beer styles, the brewing process, the history of beer, an understanding of how to serve beer, and some basis in draft management system & etiquette. Needless to say, I'm intrigued, so I have researched it a bit, and well, I'm not too surprised that the first test is something I crushed with little to no effort, but also gave me a good idea of where to focus my studies. I'm officially a certified beer server, and with a simple request to one of the many industry amigos I have made thus far, I can save up & study for the cicerone exam, which is quite a bit more involved.

So, I'm pretty pumped about this, because it is a form of true acknowledgement by the industry to have something. Besides, when was the last time anyone ever said, "Being noticed is uncool"?

That confirms a goal to have the cicerone exam scheduled and completed no later than October 2013.

Now, the other test I'm exploring requires some serious consideration and time commitments. The BJCP, or Beer Judge Certification Program, is the program in place for competitions, as small as a local club contest all the way up to the GABF. The format is to take an online test of 200 true/false questions as an entrance exam, followed within 1 year by a full exam that includes tasting several beers and providing a score card.

I'm looking forward to bigger & better challenges that will allow me to improve my own beer knowledge and have some fun! Be prepared to hear more about these programs and my advancement through them, because I'm playing for keeps.

As always, drink well and be merry.