Misha's Brewing

Long Hiatus

2011-02-14T08:42:00.000-05:00

Whew! And what a year it's been, so far... On the home front, life has become extremely hectic--thus, my lack of attention to this blog, lately. Things are plugging along at their usual pace on the brewing front. The work front--well, it's become the cause for much of the business on the home front.

I've had at least two Brewing Days since my last post... In all, four batches: two smoked, two "regular." The smoked included a smoked mild and a smoked porter, using home-smoked malt (smoked over apple wood). In future, I need to let the freshly-smoked malt mellow at least a few days, as the smoke flavor was intense, and a bit acrid. The leftover smoked malt from that brew day is noticeably milder and more pleasant. Also, a mild ale seems not to be the best match to smoke, necessarily, as it lacks the full flavor to either compete with or complement the smoke. The porter, on the other hand, is coming out nicely.

The latest brew day included another iteration of my Kolsch-style hybrid, this time using Papazian's Cry Havoc yeast from White Labs. I haven't racked this yet, so haven't tasted it, but it appears to be behaving normally... The other batch I made was a sweet stout, which seems to be doing its thing nicely. Nothing to report; I'll talk about it more when I tap it.

The big news is that I'm trying to amass a large-ish stockpile, and I'll be having a blowout at the end of July--I'm anticipating 7 brews tapped at a time, plus barbecue and lots of company. The reason? I will have retired from 20 years in the Navy, and will need to celebrate, before going on to whatever Government Contracting job I can pick up between now and then. So, it's back to tweaking the resume for me; I'll try to update more often, but can't promise much for a month or two. Cheers!

Quick Mead Update

2010-11-26T14:16:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note on how the quick mead turned out: the pyment finished, cleared, and was bottled; the "traditional" mead was still cloudy as of Monday. I'm visiting with family (I hope everyone's Thanksgiving is/was well); we've cracked one bottle of the pyment.

Overall, I'd call it a mixed success. It came across as an off-dry red table wine. Its concord grape character was still quite evident; the honey was very subdued. I will absolutely have to do this again with "good" wine grapes--perhaps Riesling for a white; maybe a nice Cab-Sauv for a red. It will, I'm sure, end up even more wine-like. I'll probably sweeten it a bit further on the back end, as well: make it semi-sweet, and it will probably bear a strong resemblance to the Georgian wines I'm so fond of. If I did a bit less back-sweetening, I think it would have more of a wine character, despite the concord grapes.

One area that I'm simply amazed: it dropped absolutely crystal clear, "read a newspaper through it" clear, and all that in under a month. It's the most beautiful ruby red... Photos will be forthcoming after I get home, next week.

Experimentation Update

2010-11-03T20:05:00.000-04:00

Well, we're a little over a week into the experiment with quick meads, and I have a moment or two to spare, so I thought I'd give an update on where things are.

I had done two supposed "quick meads;" one a pyment, the other a traditional. The pyment (done from this recipe) started at a gravity reading of 1.109; as of about 6pm today, it was at 0.999 (!). It's not cleared at all, but fermentation does appear to be nearly over. Flavor-wise, it tastes like your typical concord grape juice; granted, at a calculated 14-1/2% ABV, it'll be quite sneaky... I'm probably going to rack it onto stabilizers and a little more juice & honey in an hour or so, but I may wait until tomorrow.

The traditional, done from another similar recipe, started at about 1.101, and has made it down to 1.038 today. The two are sitting side-by-side, and are the same temperature; I've even given the traditional a little more nutrient, yet it's still going much more slowly. Just goes to show how much wine yeasts like grape juice, I suppose... This one is a little more "typical" tasting--nice honey notes; the buckwheat used (I'll track down the recipe and link to it next time) gives it a lovely depth--and will be quite nice, once it ferments its way down to where it should be--I'd like about 1.010 or so, but even a little lower would be nice. I can always back-sweeten, after all. The original recipe had it go from 1.100 to 1.020 in 2 weeks; I'll let it go, and see where it is come Monday. Should be about right, unless the yeast decides to hang up completely.

Here is a picture of how they looked when starting; adding one of how they look now would serve no purpose, as they haven't substantively changed:

Experimentation

2010-10-24T12:15:00.000-04:00

So, while I've been lax in updating this blog, I've been (reasonably) active with some experimentation. My last brew day, one week ago today, saw one modified "normal" batch and one experimental, and I'll be whipping up two more experimental batches tomorrow evening.

The modified batch was a version of my (quite popular) Kolsch recipe, but with the volume turned up to 11. I believe it will end more like a pale ale than anything else. I was down to basically dregs on my current base malt stash, and decided to use it all; this bumped the starting gravity up about 25-30 points. I increased the bitterness by a similar amount, keeping the BU:GU ratio roughly the same... It will still be quite pale, I believe--something in the golden range--but with a firm bittering, and a solid malt backbone.

The experimental batch was based on the idea of caramelizing honey for a mead. Several folks have done so-called "bochet", or "burnt" meads, with the results being described as different, if not entirely to their liking. I was going for a slightly less "cooked" flavor, and hoping for an improved color. (Not that a straw-gold mead is a bad thing, but it's just a bit... well, overdone.) I took my "spare" pot (7.5 gallons) and emptied 10lbs of wildflower honey into it. With a touch of water to rinse the honey containers, the total volume was right about 1 gallon.


Honey, before the boil

All accounts that I've read regarding boiling/caramelizing honey indicate that it foams up quite a lot. I had planned on simply stirring like mad to keep it from boiling over; let me recommend instead using a very low flame. The stuff literally tried to crawl out of the pot.

45 minutes into the boil; still climbing the pot, but a lovely color.

I boiled for about an hour, all told; the honey turned a lovely deep amber, and even my kids commented on the "caramel" smell. A second word of warning for those who would follow in my footsteps: bees can smell the honey cooking. They will come to try to "rescue" it. Lots of them will. At the end of the hour, there were about 6 big bumblebees and maybe 15-20 honeybees swarming the pot. At least three of the honeybees gave their lives trying to grab some of the honey--they got "caught" by bursting bubbles, and fell into the pot. I don't think they'll throw the flavor off by much, though. At any rate, the end result is quite pretty, and is (still) fizzing away happily.

The mead and the Kolsch; the mead is the dark one just left of center.

As for tomorrow's adventures, I'll be throwing together some more meads--a few folks over on the GotMead forums have some "quick" meads, supposedly ready-to-drink in 3-5 weeks. We shall see... I'll try to document those with pics here.

Successful Brew Day

2010-09-20T13:46:00.000-04:00

Yesterday marked another successful brew day. All told, I got three batches done: one Kolsch (with/for my friend Dominick), and two that fall well into the "Kitchen Sink" category. They are looking more like brown ales than anything else.

An interesting thing to note about my "Kitchen Sink" beers, those I make out of the dribs and drabs of whatever ingredients I have on hand: they are, more often than not, the best things I've made. The Kolsch, for instance, is derived from a Kitchen Sink Kolsch I made two years back. My Impropmtu Ale was quite tasty, as is a Golden Ale (very Helles-like) that I have on tap right now--both "Kitchen Sink" style. So, while you never really know what you're getting, I have high hopes for these.

What was perhaps the most fun was doing the same beer back-to-back, with the same techniques, and watching the numbers fall out identically. The pre-boil gravity was spot-on; post-boil, same. Efficiency was identical. Not to brag, but while I knew I had my process down, I didn't think I was *that* good at this!

I did change a couple of things up between the batches. The grain bill was identical, but I added an ounce of Maltoferm Black to the second one. This changed it from a deep reddish brown to something approaching a porter. I also changed up the yeast--the first batch was dosed with California Ale yeast, and the second with a British Ale yeast. Regardless, they were both fermenting happily this morning, and (as mentioned) I have high hopes for them. Stay tuned for updates...

Two Pleasant Evenings

2010-09-02T15:01:00.000-04:00

As promised, I'm posting from Pensacola. Granted, I'm in the airport, on the way out, but that will have to do... I dined at Hopjacks Tuesday and Wednesday nights... I would probably have gone elsewhere, but there was a bit of a travel fiasco on the way here, so that evening was shot.

Tuesday night was a night for German-style lagers. I started with Gordon Biersch's Marzen, then switched to something a little hoppier afterwards. I can't recall exactly what, and I wasn't taking notes at the time, which I regret, because it was a lovely drink. The Marzen was pleasant enough, but didn't have enough of a hop bite to stand up to the pizza I ordered; something to remember for next time.

Last night, I went more British with my drinks. I started with a Fuller's ESB; again, it had difficulty matching up to the food (Belgian Fries, fried in duck fat--yummy); for the most part, though, I blame the saltiness of the fries. I moved from there to a Smithwick's, which did a lovely job of cooling down some Buffalo Wings. To finish up, I moved to an old standby, the Newcastle Brown Ale. The pleasant, well-balanced maltiness was just what was called for, short of moving to a "dessert" beer. I'm inspired to head down the ESB road again; perhaps I should dig out a Fuller's clone recipe; failing that, I may shoot for Smithwick's. All of that, of course, in between batches of my Kolsch, which is turning out to be quite popular.

Long delay, Pennsic, and a Trip

2010-08-28T13:28:00.000-04:00

Well, it's been far too long, again, since my last post. Quite a bit has happened, though, and I can even remember some of it to tell you about!

Pennsic XXXIX was the biggest occurrence. The weather cooperated, and a good time was had. I did a lot of learning at Pennsic University; one or two things I can even bring "home" and use elsewhere. There were only three real brewing/beer occurrences of great interest to me: Firstly, Atlantia has a Brewing Laurel again! Woohoo! I need to sit down with him & "talk shop" at some point. Secondly, I tried a phenomenal mead, called Moniack. It's from Scotland, and near impossible to get here in the States, but worth the effort. I've done a bit of digging, and I may be able to come up with something myself along the same lines, tastewise--but that's for a later post. Lastly, my beer flew! Well, not literally... I brought 6 kegs, or 30 gallons; 4 of the kegs were emptied by the Thursday of War Week, and the last two I tapped at Atlantian Court. They lasted about an hour, total, bringing my "record time to float a keg" down significantly.

In upcoming news, I'll be heading back down to Trimaris this week (Pensacola, FL, mundanely), and I anticipate spending a bit of time in Hopjack's. I'll try to get over to McGuire's, as well, but I make no promises. I'll try to post during the trip, especially if I find something tasty!

Into Every Life, A Little Rain Must Fall

2010-07-05T14:42:00.000-04:00

It's been an interesting couple of weeks around the household, thus the reason I've not posted as often as I would like. It began with a spate of Interesting Occurrences at work, which have kept me quite busy running hither and yon; those seem largely to have abated for the moment, but threaten to arise again in a month or so. Additionally, my dear Children finished the year's schooling, and headed to points South, to spend the summer with my sainted parents; all of which required a surprising amount of preparation. Then there have been the goings-on to prepare for Pennsic, which I will be attending for at least a week. There is too much to go into there...

Lastly, there is the brewing. It has been quite the interesting several weeks on that front. I've brewed twice since my last post, for a total of three batches, my most recent being number 101 since I began keeping records within the Barony of Lochmere. While working the 99th batch, my equipment rebelled, with a stuck mash, a disconnected lautering manifold, and several other uncomfortable issues. In all, to do that batch took the majority of a day, and was quite frustrating.

The 100th batch (a Barleywine), by comparison, went quite smoothly, until the ferment. Like a fool, I neglected to add Ferm-Cap when I pitched the yeast, so it frothed itself with merry abandon. Ordinarily, I wouldn't mind so much, except that it blocked the airlock, and built to sufficient pressure as to "blow its top," as it were, leading to a broken airlock (a simple fix--I've many spares) and about a half-gallon of unfermented beer covering the floor and walls. Quite a bit of clean-up was necessary; it wasn't how I had planned on spending the morning, but one plays the hand one is dealt.

The 101st batch has been blissfully calm; due to some vagaries of experience in the grist-milling and mashing phases, though, it will likely be unreproducible (and, by definition, quite probably sublime). All told, though, I can't (and shan't) complain about it, other than to hope that my next several batches go more smoothly. And there's the added thrill that I don't have to limit myself quite so much as I did--I'm not trying to hit a certain batch number by a certain date! Two (or maybe even three) batches per brew day, to the best of my ability, for the rest of the year--that's my story, and I'm sticking to it. Woohoo!

Warm summer-like days

2010-06-02T19:43:00.000-04:00

Well, even though summer itself is still 3 weeks off, the weather has started behaving like summer already... I need to put the finishing touches on my outdoor ice-powered keezer, so I can start using it. It just needs the finishing bits of caulk around the seams outside, then the internal tubing & a Cornelius keg poppet connector or two. Add the taps (I've got a couple of old spares) and it's golden! The first beer on tap will be my India Pale Lager, done with the snow melt from Snowmageddon. Beyond that, I don't know.

Meanwhile, some other experiments are moving along nicely. The dual-batch brew I did a couple of months back at Night on the Town were bottled this weekend; I'm still in favor of the all-grain version. The extract version has a much lighter mouthfeel--almost to the point of being thin--and a touch of a 'stale' cardboardy taste. The AG version is fuller and more flavorful, with a stronger malt profile to balance the hops. I'll have to see about doing that one as a full batch, and soon...

On the last brew day, I did a half-batch small beer from the second runnings of the main batch; the only yeast I had available was some dry wheat beer yeast (well, OK, I had some wine yeast, but I think EC-1118 would have been overkill). So far, I think it's done fermenting; still cloudy as can be, but that's the point of a wheat beer yeast, isn't it? I'll try to scrounge some bottles this weekend and bottle it up. Finally, the brew I did with the last of the killer bee honey (just what was adhered to the sides of the jar) and a bit of DME has dropped pretty clear; I don't think it'll amount to more than one, maybe two bottles... That should be done up this weekend, too.

That's all that's brewing here, at the moment. What do you folks have going on?

RIMS Build Complete

2010-05-26T18:54:00.000-04:00

I finished up my RIMS build, version 1, two weeks ago, and had the chance to try it out on my Brew Day this week. Considering that it was the maiden run of a basically untested system, things went remarkably well.

Someone out there, I'm sure, is asking, "what is a RIMS system?"... In a nutshell, it's a gadget that has been added to the mash portion of a brew-day. RIMS stands for "Recirculating Infusion Mash System." The 'recirculation' part refers to the constant recirculation of the mash, drawing the wort from beneath the grain bed and returning it to the top. On the way, it runs through a heat exchanger, which has an electrical heating element (scavenged from an old water heater) and the probe from a temperature controller. The controller detects the temperature of the liquid; if it's too cold, it applies power to the element; just right (or too warm), and it de-energizes the element. Thus, mash temperatures are maintained to within a degree or so, and the constant recirculation makes for a brilliantly clear wort.

I must say, that latter part of the equation worked out phenomenally. The run-off needed no vorlauf--in essence, the RIMS performed a continuous, 1-hour vorlauf--and it was brilliantly clear. Granted, I use pellet hops, which means that by the end of the boil, the wort is cloudy again with hot-break and hop residue; still, this has to be a step up, I would think.

My efficiency was low--only 68%--but I'm reasonably sure that I'll improve that as I brew more with the RIMS; I'd be quite happy to hit the mid-70's regularly. I also overshot my target mash temperature to begin with, which entailed adding cold water to bring temps back down. Ideally, I'd undershoot temp just slightly, allowing the RIMS to bring it up to my target. The extra liquid probably (possibly) hurt the efficiency.

All things considered, though, I think this is a step in the right direction to achieve some greater consistency in my beers from batch to batch for a given recipe, and as that was the goal, I'd call it a success!

For my next trick, I believe I'll re-re-do my wort chiller, and add in a recirculator there, too... Also in store, upgrading all of my pots, allowing for larger batches. So much time, so little money...

Guys' Night Out

2010-05-14T21:21:00.000-04:00

So, last night was the inaugural Guys' Night Out locally. This was in response to many many weeks of my Lady Wife heading off to a weekly Girls' Night Out. There was but myself and one other, but given the turnout (or lack thereof) for my Brew Days, I'm reasonably pleased with it. I hope to do these monthly; I'm keeping them "invite-only" for now, and the current invitation list has four names on it. Hopefully, next month will see more of us able to make it. :)

We dined at DuClaw, in Arundel Mills. I've been continually pleased with the brews there, despite my running commentary of "they're all extreme, in some way." The food is quite good, as well--I think their cooks are getting a little jaded for parts of it, so it lacks a certain crispness, if that's the right word. I probably should have had one of the new offerings on the menu--I will admit to having been tempted by the Kobe turf & surf--but I went with an old standby.

In all, the conversation was wide-ranging and good; combined with good brews and good food, I'd rate the evening a success. Plans for future Nights Out include several other brewpubs, as well as some slightly more eclectic restaurants. As ever, I'm open to suggestions from you, Readers. Any tips for the Baltimore/DC metro area?

End of April Updates

2010-04-30T21:36:00.001-04:00

Well, I managed to squeeze in two Brew Days this month; I'm right on track for my 100th such to come on the 4th of July weekend. Woohoo! Party at my place!

The first batch brewed was an "Oktober Ale"--the base recipe was for an Oktoberfest/Marzen, but I didn't have any lager yeast to hand, and didn't really feel much like futzing with it... The grains were half-and-half Munich and Pils malt; Magnum bittered it, and Hallertauer were for flavor and aroma. It's almost certainly over-hopped for style, but it's for me, and I'm not that concerned with it.

The second batch was last weekend's; I did a braggot. Again, the grain was mostly Munich, with a bit of melanoidin for some unfermentables. The honey was a gallon of Killer Bee I've had kicking around for a couple of years. For hops, though, I tried something new--Citra. It's 11% alpha, which is fairly strong, but the aroma!! Wow--mango and passionfruit. Nice, deep, and complex. From what I've read, it's not great for a bittering hop, despite the acid levels; I'd tend to agree--I can see it getting muddied with too long a boil. I used a bit less than an ounce of Magnum for bittering, then the Citra for aroma. Starting gravity about 1.130; I hit the whole thing with a wine yeast (D-47, one of my favorites). Initial airlock smells are great! I'm thinking this will turn into something quite lovely.

On the equipment side, I've been gathering parts to do a RIMS setup. I've got the heat exchanger done, and I have most of the parts for the control box. I'll post pictures as I get things assembled (hopefully this weekend). With luck, I can do a "dry-run" water-only test, see how it holds temp, this weekend, or maybe next; I'd like to have it basically functional for my next Brew Day at the end of the month. Hmmm... That means I'd need to build a new liquid return for the MLT, too. Well, back to the hardware store for me...

Brewing Experiment and Equipment Builds

2010-04-06T20:33:00.001-04:00

Last weekend, at Lochmere's Night on the Town event, I held a brewing demo and discussion. The topic at hand: the relative pros and cons of Extract and All-Grain brewing.

The brewing itself reflected this theme: two "half-batches" (2.5 gallons each) of as near an identical brew as I can make, one each in Extract and All-Grain. The basic recipe I tried to keep simple: I found a 3.3# can of Briess Munich liquid extract, and added a one-pound bag of Briess Pilsen Light dry extract; for hops, I went with two ounces of Hallertauer, one each at 15 minutes into the boil and flameout; WLP-838 was the yeast of choice. For the All-Grain, I had to do some math--the liquid extract, while named "Munich," is not, in fact, all Munich malt. So, I used 3.75 pounds of Pilsner malt and 2.3 pounds of Munich Malt. The hop bill and yeast remained the same.

The process went fairly smoothly. I had been worried about efficiency with so little grain in the mash-tun; it ended up being a non-issue. After topping up the All-Grain batch (to even out the liquid levels), it had a gravity of 1.056, giving me a 73% efficiency; the Extract batch had an SG of 1.053. The biggest difference apparent was, as expected, the color; I hadn't expected it to be quite as pronounced as it was, though. The Extract batch was a good 5 degrees or so darker than the All-Grain, not the 1-2 degrees anticipated. Regardless, it was interesting, and a good discussion was had, generally speaking. I hope to serve the brews at Lochmere's Investiture, this September.

In other news, I'm gathering parts to (finally) shift to a RIMS system. I've had the heating element for quite some time; I bit the bullet and started ordering other parts a couple of weeks ago. I received yesterday a PID controller from Auber Instruments, as well as a thermocouple. A solid-state relay and heatsink are en route, and should be here probably next week; most of what's left is plumbing. I intend to do it all in stainless steel, which means I'll probably build slowly, getting a piece or two at a time, due to the cost. Still, progress is progress. Photos will be forthcoming as more parts arrive.

What's going down...

2010-03-30T17:54:00.000-04:00

I've had my "Mk1" Scottish 80/- on tap for a couple of days now, and I've finally sat down to snap a photo or two. Part of my reasoning for waiting was to let it sit a bit & settle (for clarity) and to let the CO2 bleed off somewhat (it started by pouring 1" of beer with 8" of head). Here it is, though:

That is, of course, with a lamp directly behind it. Still, the color is nice; it's a bit hazy, but I'm not *that* picky (so long as it's for my own consumption). Flavor-wise, it's just about right on--not the same as I had in Glasgow last year, but well within the style guidelines.

Additionally, I've got hops again this year! The one Cascade rhizome which survived the winter of '08-'09, and managed not to get ripped to shreds by the dog, has put up shoots... Over 30 of them, to date...

This is early on, shortly after it started putting up shoots. I've got it trimmed back right now to the "most vigorous" 12--and once Spring is in full swing (in a couple of weeks), I'll trim back further to the best four. I've gotta give it to her, this rhizome is a tough girl.

In other news, I'll be teaching a class at Lochmere's Night On The Town this Saturday. The topic: Extract vs. All-Grain--Holy War, or Hype? I'll be doing side-by-side half-batches of a simple Munich-based beer, one extract, one AG, and discussing the various differences/pros/cons of each method. I hope to have the beer available for sampling at our Investiture in September.

No Green Beer, Please

2010-03-16T19:59:00.000-04:00

Whew! It's been too long since my last post, but it's been a whirlwind in Real Life (tm). Here's the latest:

Please stay away from the "green beer" tomorrow. It's completely a gimmick--food coloring in cheap beer. I object to the practice for a number of reasons. First, to a brewer who cares about his craft, "green" beer isn't done fermenting yet--it's not ready to serve, and likely doesn't taste good; not something he wants to foist off on an unsuspecting public. Second, to an Irishman who would be celebrating a Saint's Day, this would be a "holy" day, and they'd likely not be drinking to begin with. At least, not as much...

I've been able to sample Sam Adams' Noble Pilsner twice in recent weeks. As with a fair number of their offerings, my opinion is: well-crafted, but "meh." Would I order another? Probably, but I could be easily dissuaded by something else interesting. Again, I detect the presence of a gimmick; in this case, the "Brewed with All Five Noble Hop Varieties" bit. That's well and good, but by most counts, five is stretching it a bit. Most brewers only recognize four Noble varieties: Hallertauer Mittelfreuh, Spalt Spalter, Tettnang Tettnanger, and Saaz. The inestimable Mr. Koch is including Hersbrucker, which I understand as a variety of Hallertau (although I could be mistaken). None of this detracts from the aroma, which is where the majority of these hops show through--and "show through" they do. In that respect, this is a lovely brew. Flavor-wise, it's pretty much a Pilsner, and nothing I'd really call stellar.

One point of interest: The first taste I had of the brew was in a standard restaurant "tall" pint-glass... The second was from one of the "special" Sam Adams neo-tulip glasses. I was expecting a revolution in the tasting experience, and approached it as such. I'm afraid I was disappointed. The glass really didn't do anything for me. Still, if you get the chance, try it for yourself; your mileage may vary. If I was doing something wrong, or if the glass really floats your boat, I'd love to hear about it.

Another Brew Perking Away...

2010-02-25T19:24:00.005-05:00

I decided, after some soul-searching, to use my snow-melt to do an American IPA of sorts last weekend. I went with straight Warrior hops, and am (so far) quite pleased with how they have turned out--the smell was fantastic, and exactly what I expect from a good brew. It wasn't a SMaSH brew, as I used some Munich and Crystal malts; my main departure from the IPA realm was in my use of a lager yeast. That's right--this is a single-hop, American India Pale Lager. I named it "Snow Warrior," due to the snow-melt (duh) and the hops; my reasoning for lagering this brew is to continue with the "cold" theme. I anticipate that this will be quite lovely in mid-July...

All that aside, I'll be brewing again this upcoming weekend. I plan on being a bit more "traditional" this time; I'll probably do another English Bitter, although I've been hankering after an American Amber for a little while. I've still time to decide; with my Pacific Jade hops (combined with a few other things I've got laying around), I can probably swing something tasty.
In addition to my brew this weekend, my friend Elphinstone will be brewing something. I believe he plans to do a Bohemian Pils, or perhaps something more in the "lite lager" range (I believe he's using a recipe based on one or another Canadian lager).

I think my next "experimental" batch--possibly in the late March time frame--will be a single-malt, all Munich brew. I may lean a little traditional on it, and make it a lager--rather Vienna-like--but then, I prefer something a little more assertive in the hops. I guess time will tell...

Upcoming Brew Day

2010-02-08T11:04:00.003-05:00

Well, I'm in the midst of planning my next Brew Day. Right now, it's scheduled for the 21st of the month, but much of that "schedule" is really weather-dependent. We were snowed in this past weekend; the backyard hasn't even really begun to thaw, and I can't yet access my BrewStand. To top it off, there's another "killer" snowstorm headed this way, supposedly to hit us Tuesday night/Wednesday, and drop another foot of snow. I'm not sure we'll be dug out by the 21st...

While (ahem) "enjoying" the current winter wonderland, though, a thought struck me--all of this lovely, clean, frozen water, all around me. So, I pulled out my trusty AlePails (they were on the back patio, in a snowdrift) and filled them with packed fresh snow. I'm bringing them inside (as I find room for them) to thaw, and will hopefully be able to snag enough water eventually to do one batch of beer from snow-melt. I'm thinking something light and crisp, perhaps a lightly-colored AIPA, to be enjoyed mid-summer (when I can sit in shorts & a t-shirt outside and recall fondly the snow that made it possible)... A snappy name for the beer should be relatively easy, too. Ah, plans...

Brew Day Complete

2010-01-27T20:17:00.003-05:00

Another Brew Day happened last Saturday. I had planned to do one of my "main" brews, then an 'experimental' one. As it turned out, one of my brew buddies came over, and we brewed one for him rather than the experimental brew. No harm, no foul--two brews were planned, and two completed.

My brew was an English Pale or Best Bitter (they're the same style). It went well--I hit all of my temps, the mash proceeded without incidence, and (aside from a slightly lower starting volume than I would have liked) the boil was fine. Since I ended up with a lower post-boil volume, I had to top up with water, but as things went, the final gravity ended up basically where it should have been. I'm using the English Ale yeast from White Labs (WLP-002); I used my heating pad under the fermenter (the basement is a bit chilly), and primary fermentation seems to be pretty well done. I'm hopeful for this batch--it seems to be going quite well.

The second batch of the day was a Helles Bock. Again, the brewing went well; I think it'll end up basically where it's supposed to. We used a Kolsch yeast, which may dry it out a little more than is true to style, but in the end, that's the target. Not too hoppy; nice and malty, with a good crispness. I'm looking forward to trying it in a couple of months.

On a side note, I'm trying to finish up some partially-finished kegs; I'm working on my "SMaSH" French Wheat Ale, which isn't really a SMaSH--there were two malts. In the months since I first tapped it, it has mellowed quite nicely, and is displaying some lovely honey notes. Quite malty, and very pleasant. I might bump up the hop complexity in the future--it *was* single hop--but I'd have to leave it for quite a few months for the mellowing to work out. It's a good one.

Another Event Down...

2010-01-17T11:45:00.002-05:00

Well, another Baronial Event has been successfully navigated. Lochmere's Winter Revel was yesterday; my Lady Wife was the Head Cook, and I co-hosted a Cheese and Beer Tasting, in addition to having my Brew Cart on premises.

The feast (in the style of 'Georgia-the-Country') was phenomenal. Some of the presentation and preparation was perhaps not quite as it was in Georgia, but the flavors were all just right--and they were good. :) The Tasting went about as smoothly as I had honestly figured it would. One of the planned cheeses (a Swiss-style) went moldy and had to be tossed. The ideal venue would have been almost a classroom setting, instead of the "buffet-style" we had. All the same, it went quite well; we had the opportunity to educate more than a few people, and everyone enjoyed our offerings. The runaway hit of the tasting was a 5-year-old aged Gouda, paired with Schlenkerla's smoked UrBock.

The beers on tap were CC's Blackberry Stout and a Scottish 80/-. It's hard to say which was the more popular; predictably, the women were drawing more of the Stout, and the men more of the Scottish. I was most pleased with the Stout, personally--too often, fruit beers are overly sweet; this was nicely dry, but the blackberry flavor was quite easily discerned. It was crisp and clean, and very satisfying. The 80/-, though, confirmed my original impressions of it from when it was kegged--under-attenuated, and overly rich. It was certainly pleasant enough, and not what I'd call "bad," but not everything I was hoping. Still, I had intended it as a jumping-off point to make an 80/- to my taste, and as such, it fit the bill quite well.

Plans for the upcoming year

2010-01-09T16:41:00.002-05:00

Well, with the New Year revelries over, I thought I might spend a minute or two to come up with my brewing goals for the upcoming year. I don't think I'll do anything really "crazy," like I did two years ago--using odd ingredients, making some extreme-ish beers... No, I believe this year will be a bit more tame, as such things go. Here's a quick list, in no particular order:

1) I'm already planning my first few Brew Days. 23 January is the first one; I'm not certain when I'll be brewing in February, and March may or may not be a wash this year. If it is, I'll certainly try to get a second day in either in February or (more likely) April.
2) I've got a few equipment projects lined up for throughout the year... I hope to make a RIMS system for my BrewStand--I've seen quite a few very nice ones over on HomeBrewTalk.com. I just need to save a few pennies and get the parts.
3) I'm working (slowly, in my 'copious free time') on a translation of a period German text on beer. This one details the various beer styles brewed in each of the various towns of Germany, from circa 1550. The list is rather vague on details, but is still interesting for its historical value, and there may be a few nuggets to glean...
4) I hope to work on really nailing down one or two beer styles this year, brewing them repeatedly until I have them where I want them. I'm planning on doing English Pale Ales until I'm sick of them, and may start doing a couple of lagers towards the middle of the year.
5) I plan on doing a series of 'SMaSH' brews, trying to see the differences between, and strengths and weaknesses of, certain ingredients. In particular, I'd like to make a series of near-identical brews using some of the new hop varieties that have shown up lately, such as Alpha, Bravo, Tomahawk, Warrior, and Zeus. Yes, they're all high-alpha varieties; I have a reason for that, but I won't be disclosing said reason for quite some time to come, most likely.
6) I will be prepping my 'stash' to bring to Pennsic--I'm aiming for 8 batches (40 gallons) at least, likely with a preponderance of 2 or 3 styles, as yet TBD. If I work on my EPA's, they will obviously be a large chunk of the lot; quite probably, I'll do a number of Irish Red Ales, as well. If I can convince my Lady Wife to allow me a couple more carboys, then my output may increase; my last Pennsic, though, I brough 40 gallons, and returned with about 4--I'm not certain what the 'saturation point' really is, but at least for 3 years ago, I slightly exceeded it.
7) There are hints that I *may* be asked to brew some 'donation brews' for Pennsic. You know, to "convince" certain mercenary groups that battling on the side of fair Atlantia is in their best interests. I'd be happy to--provided I have the brew time in my schedule, and maybe some assistance in requisitioning the supplies. I may have a line on a "regular" Sanke-style keg to put said batches in, which would be interesting from many angles. More on this particular item as I know it.

And, as always, other things will likely pop up as they attract my attention through the year. But for now, at least, that's the list. What do you, dear readers, have brewing?

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-25T11:14:00.004-05:00

I hope everyone is doing well this Holiday season. The morning package-opening festivities have wound down at our house, and all parts of the dinner are at their proper stage (roasting, chilling, baking, rising, etc.). All is as right with the world as can probably be expected.

It did my heart good last night, listening to my two Daughters (ages 6 and 8) discussing what to leave Santa for a snack. "Something healthy" was elected for the solid part; the interesting thing was their discussion of what type of beer to leave him--whether he'd prefer an IPA (for its hoppy crispness) or a Brown Ale (malty sweetness). Wiser heads (my Lady Wife) prevailed, however, and Santa got a glass of milk. (For the record, Santa would have preferred the IPA; Mrs. Claus isn't such a hop-fan, and the Brown Ale would have been more her style.)

My web-site is undergoing changes, and I hope to have it back up fully early in the New Year. Please stick around, Dear Reader, for 2010--I've got quite a few things planned, projects to make, and (of course) beer to brew! Once again, Happy Holidays, and a Joyous New Year!

What's On Tap, 15 December 2009

2009-12-15T19:27:00.003-05:00

Well, it's been long enough since I've done an update, so here's what's perking:

On tap, I've got my First Class Pale Ale, and CC's Peachy Wheat. The Pale Ale is an American IPA; it was brewed the first of August. I figure I'm almost halfway done with the keg. It's got a bit of a haze to it, but is nearly clear despite that. It has a lovely aroma of Amarillo hops, a good malt backbone, and pours with a dense, rocky head that lasts to the last couple of sips. All in all, I'd give it a 3.5 out of 5, and "yes, I'll have another."

The Wheat is an American Wheat Beer/Fruit Beer; I brewed it 'way back in June, so it's a bit past its prime. For all of that, it's still quite wheaty, despite being a bit more "kristall" than I might like. The peaches that were added late in fermentation make a faint background appearance. I have to admit that I'm not a huge fan of wheat beers--I brewed this for my Lady Wife--and so I'm not as devoted to this as I might otherwise be. I'll give it 1.5 out of 5, and a "what else do you have?".

On deck are two more of CC's beers (brewed, as above, for my Lady Wife): Cherry Brown Ale and Blackberry Stout. I'm reserving judgment on the Brown, but think the Stout might be noteworthy, albeit slightly low on the blackberry. Additionally, I have an American Brown Ale that started life as an Amber--it was a "kitchen sink" beer, using up some of my random ingredients, and came out darker than anticipated. It is likely to be mediocre-to-decent... Then, there's the ones I'm really looking forward to: An English IPA and a pair of Scottish 80/- ales. The EIPA went into the keg last week; one of the 80/-'s was kegged a couple of weeks ago, and the second 80/- was just brewed thes most recent weekend. The IPA tasted extremely well-balanced, with a lovely biscuity maltiness combined with a firm bittering, that I think will be marvelous to behold. The first 80/- seemed a bit sweet and under-attenuated; I hope that additional time, plus some carbonation, will dry it out a little.

This past Brew Day saw me doing a tweaked repeat of the 80/-. The weather tried to help by being "more Scottish"--it was about 35 degrees F with a cold rain throughout. In spite of that, I managed to hit my temperatures and volumes to a pretty good precision--I was aiming for an OG of 1.054, hit 1.056. I got a lot of yeast pitched, fermentation temps have been satisfactory since then, and it has smelled magical from the airlock. If this turns out as it has the potential to do, I will likely have a new permanent 'haus' recipe in my stable.

More from Overseas

2009-11-29T17:44:00.002-05:00

As promised, this time around I'll opine briefly on more of the brews I had during my recent trip. Unfortunately, it'll have to be brief--I wasn't able to jot down notes as comprehensively as I might have liked. Nevertheless, here goes:

London's Pride (Fuller's): This was rich and malty. The hop balance was good. I could have had multiple multiple of these--more than I did, anyway.

Tetley's Draught Bitter: I had one of these in the airport in London. I found it to be a mild, flavorful session-type beer. Not bad, for being canned--the widget helped.

Caffrey's: This was from the mild/bitter family. It was thirst-quenching and dry, and overall quite pleasant.

Abbott Ale: I had this a couple of times, both from cask (served with a beer engine). It was tasty, but the first one I tried was from an old(-er) cask, and was getting a bit stale. The later one I had was pretty good.

Guinness Red: This tasted as though they went ahead and tried to sell a stout that they had messed up. It had the flavor profile of the stout, but tasted watered down. The marketing was accurate as far as the color--it was, indeed, red. Beyond that, though, I was disappointed to have to rate it a solid "meh."

Cairngorm Black Gold: A "Scottish Stout." This, in contrast to the Red, above, was good. Black Gold struck me, in fact, as a chewier version of Guinness' stout. Very rich and malty, and only 4.4% ABV. Quite lovely.

Kelham Goldihops: This had a similar hop aroma to my "First Class IPA". It is definitely in the pale ale family. It was session-ish, only clocking in at 3.8%, and tasty, but none of us could have more than a single pint, as it had a strong aroma of rotten eggs to get past. I'd have to try this from a different engine, or at the brewery, before I completely ruled it out, but for now, I'd pass on a second one.

Back from abroad

2009-11-14T10:39:00.003-05:00

I returned this week from my previously-mentioned trip abroad. In all, I visited Scotland and Norway; technically, I was in Germany for a couple of hours, but as that was just the airport, I won't count it. While in Scotland, I managed to visit a number of pubs and taste quite a few 'new' brews; Norway had a much more limited variety.

The main pubs in Scotland that stick out in my mind are: Waxy O'Connor's, and the Black Friar's. Waxy's had the most interesting architecture I've seen in a bar--flying 'bridges' between platforms, three or four floors (depending on how you count them). My favorite draught there was Caledonian Brewing's 80/- Ale. Yummy--a nice near-session beer, well-balanced, with a nice roastiness and overall a very interesting, complex maltiness.

The Black Friar's boasted an ever-changing lineup of beers on draught; the ones I tried were all good, but most seemed slightly un-balanced in some way or form. I need to find my notes, and will list what I tried at a later date.

Oddly enough, my other favorite beer for the trip was another Caledonian Brewing offering--namely, Deuchar's IPA. It didn't strike me so much as an IPA as a well-hopped 'regular' Pale Ale, but I won't quibble over terminology. Again, it was a good session beer, clocking in under 5% (lower, even, than the 80/-), with a good malt backbone to support the flowery hops. Either of the Caledonian brews I would rate as "yes, I'll have another." (In fact, in both cases, I did...)

Thoughts of Norway (and the other beers from Scotland) in another post.

A brief lull in activity...

2009-10-14T17:13:00.003-04:00

So, I'm going to be gone for about a month, maybe longer, in the service of Uncle Sam. I'm hoping that upon my return I'll have a few beer reviews and some good stories to tell, but in the meantime, it's going to be quiet.

There was a Brewing Day this past Sunday, and three batches were made, all told: I did an IPA, and friends made a Braggot and an Alt. So far, things seem to be going quite well. I had available on tap my Pils from a while back; it developed into the most phenomenally clear, straw-yellow, perfectly-headed beer I've had in quite some time. I was pleased. Of course, that keg is just about to blow foam--it was pouring perfectly, then (all of a sudden) it went 'muddy' on me from dropped-out yeast. I tapped the American IPA I brew back in August, after filtering it about 2 weeks ago; I may have to run it down to a finer filter (I used a 5-micron) to get *real* clarity. Still, that's what this is about--experimentation.

That's the updates for now; check back again after Thanksgiving!

When in Texas...

2009-09-29T13:34:00.003-04:00

Everyone gave me the same two bits of advice for things to do on my recent trip to West Texas: "Order one of those thousand-ounce steaks," and "have some Shiner Bock."

Although I managed to avoid the first (not easy, in a land where menus read: "Beef. And a few other things."), I decided I should probably have a go at the second. And so I did--twice, in fact; once on draft, and once from a bottle.

My opinion? While die-hard Texans (you know who you are) will probably consider this blasphemy, the verdict on Shiner Bock is: "meh." I really don't see what all the fuss is about. I mean, it's not bad; compared to your generic macro, it's much more flavorful. But I wouldn't rate it as particularly anything special.

Some of Shiner Brewing's other lineup, on the other hand, is quite nice. In particular, I enjoyed the two bottles of Black Lager I had. I didn't get a chance to try the Rauchbier (a smoked Helles), but I wouldn't hesitate to do so, if and when the opportunity presents itself.

In other news, this past weekend was Lochmere's Baronial Birthday. I had several things in bottle and on tap, and was pleased to sample the offerings of a couple of other brewers. But for that, you'll have to wait for my next post.

Not a braggart, I...

2009-09-17T16:51:00.004-04:00

But a braggot, maybe. I've been contemplating this one for quite some time, and am still not certain exactly what I'm going to do. I've got the honey--a full gallon of killer-bee honey, rich and tasty. To this, I'll add a basic beer-like concoction, and ferment. But what sort of concoction?

The grain bill is the obvious place to start. Malt will add a both color and a depth of flavor to the brew. But what to add? The BJCP guidelines seem to suggest that the braggot should be built off of a base beer style, but Ken Schramm indicates that it doesn't necessarily have to be so. I think that my course of action will be to do a basic, mostly light malt brew. I'll add some slightly darker grains, Special-B and/or a bit of Crystal 60L, just enough to add a reddish tint.

The hops are next on the hit parade. All of my sources call them "optional" in a braggot. I think a light hopping with something in a floral/noble bittering hop, just to cut some of the intense sweetness, is in order. Certainly nothing IPA-like; I'm thinking more the hopping levels of a mild ale, possibly even slightly less. I don't know necessarily what type of hops; perhaps a nice Hallertau?

Finally, there's the yeast to consider. Schramm's samples use Lalvin D-47, which supposedly flocs well and works to 12-14%. I think a better choice would be to start with a clean, alcohol-tolerant beer yeast, then perhaps finish up with something else in the wine variety, to "clean up" some of the residual sugar. A healthy lager yeast, combined with a cold ferment, could do marvelous things. But then, perhaps going straight for a wine yeast to start would be good. I'll have to play on Promash and look at starting gravity, attenuation, and alcohol percentages, then decide.

Lastly, while it's likely a while off, I'll need to consider containers. This won't be one to keg--it'll be far too strong for that. Small bottles will be in order. Perhaps after a light filtration and foce-carbonation. The bottles I've got on order from Shiloh Pottery will be lovely for presentation, too. I think I'll enjoy this process.

Recent events

2009-09-02T18:43:00.004-04:00

So, I returned last week from my previously-mentioned trip to Pensacola, Florida. Good fortune smiled on me, and I discovered a lovely place called "Hopjacks". I can't say much about it, beyond that it was one of the better bars I've found, and it had the added advantage of being a really cool pizza joint. The wait-staff/bartenders were all extremely friendly and helpful, which was a big plus. The pizza was great. The 36 beers on tap were good, too, not to mention the additional 50 or 60 or so bottled varieties. All in all, I'd rate it a 9 out of 10, were I the sort to rate these types of things.

This past weekend was Atlantian Coronation; we have our first Russian King and Queen (Tsar and Tsarina?). I was in attendance, with the majority of a set of full Russian court garb. It would have been a full set, but there were a series of delays, which resulted in the Shuba not being completed. All told, though, my Lady Wife did a spectacular job on it--I looked great!

I brought the Great Beer Cart to the event, as well; I had just gotten it all set up, when we were made aware that the site was dry--even though that particular fact didn't make it into any of the event literature... I had "intended" to tap the SMaSH Pale Ale and a Pils. Everything made it home, safe and sound, and I can now report that the SMaSH came out fairly well, with good malt-hop balance, while the Pils ended up nearly IPA-like in hoppiness. I shall have to revisit that recipe.

The upcoming weekend is a four-day, but I'm not yet certain when I'll be brewing next... I may have to attend the funeral of a close friend's wife, which really isn't the sort of thing to encourage the gaiety of a Brew Day. With luck (and planning), though, I can arrange one before Lochmere's Baronial Birthday at the end of the month.

Return from a veritable Beer Wasteland

2009-08-19T20:07:00.003-04:00

So, I've recently returned from visiting my parents in the lovely state of Georgia. Unfortunately, draconian beer laws there have only relatively recently been repealed, so good brews are somewhat hard to find. My father, fortunately, knows my preferences, and got a case of Sam Adams (perhaps my favorite non-homebrew beer) before I come down.

I've friends who goggle at the thought of me drinking Budweiser (from a can, no less!) at the VFW while in GA. I generally come back with the explanation that I'll typically choose the "best of what's available, for what I'm thirsty for" from whatever the selection is. Bud's good, for a mass-produced American Lager--I've got to give them points for consistency. But really, I should probably start doing something like ordering a Coke when I'm there.

My Lady Wife wants me to brew up a couple of batches of something--probably a "Premium American Lager"--and bring them, kegged, when we visit in December. I'm mulling it over--I've got a few things I'd like to put together, first, such as a filtration system for the beer. The HERMS project is on hold, temporarily, but it will probably get picked up again in a month or so.

Next week, I'll be in Pensacola, Florida. Does anyone have recommendations for good local brews?

Bonus Brew Day

2009-08-02T20:04:00.002-04:00

So, I had a friend over yesterday, and we did an India Pale Ale. The brew day wasn't planned (prior to Friday); really, it was a "drinking" day, with the brewing thrown in for fun. We were commisserating on not having been promoted again this year... But that's behind us, for now.

The brew went well; it's fermenting nicely--it'll be a lovely, hoppy, golden-amber brew. I also pulled the Dunkelweizen from the tap, and replaced it with the pale ale I did back in January. The dunkel was beginning to taste vaguely of nail polish remover, which is a sure sign it's going. There probably wasn't more than four pints left, anyway. The pale ale is a lovely, fairly "soft," floral thing. I'm not sure I'll go that direction again--it's good, but not exactly to my taste.

What I Brew, and Why I Brew It

2009-07-23T12:48:00.002-04:00

This topic has come up several times recently, and I felt that after some contemplation I should express my views.

The reasons I brew are many: I enjoy the actual process. Frequently, brew days are socializing times with friends. The "puzzle" of what style would be good, and what ingredients should go into making it, is enjoyable. And, of course, there's the end product. I brew beer at least as good as, and often better than, what I can buy. The beer I brew is also less expensive than store-bought, something I've put some time into achieving. And, finally, it's enjoyable to gather a group of my friends together, throw some meat on the grill, and have a good time--lubricated by some of my brew.

Something I don't care for, however, are those who drink solely to get drunk. Add to that group those who insist on only brewing highly alcoholic beers--constantly striving for over-10% batches. I'll admit, I've made a number of strong batches; I certainly don't think strong beers are inherently "bad." But I think that to truly call oneself a brewer, while limiting oneself to a single "style" (if "big" can be called a style), is to define "brewers" somewhat narrowly. There is great variety in smaller beers, and much complexity. They can require significant finesse. And they can be sublime.

All that being said, there is, of course, a place for everything. I'll be hosting a "Winter Warmer" competition at an event in January; I hope to have a good turn-out, and to see lots of really tasty brews. I may have some of my own to sample, but I won't be entering anything myself, of course (since I'll be running the comp). I should think about doing one for lighter, "lawn-mower" beers in the summer...

What's on Tap, 9 July 2009

2009-07-08T08:14:00.005-04:00

After a few fits and starts, here's what I've got going currently:

Tapped, I'm trying to finish off (finally!) the Dunkelweizen and the Sweet Stout. These two have been on-again off-again at the taps for several months now. The stout is good, but just a bit much for prolonged drinking; the dunkelweizen is likewise tasty, but it sneaks up on you with a kick. Recently finished were my Kolsch (Mk3) and the Hellesbock. The kolsch was in the last of my 'mystery' kegs, and remained over-carbed and foamy until the last 2 pints. The helles was lovely and malty, and I was actually surprised when it finished--I had expected another week or two out of it.

On deck, I've got a Pils, a Pale Ale, the two SMaSH ales, and my holiday lineup (two spiced beers--one Pumpkin Pie for Halloween/Thanksgiving, and another big one for Christmas). Now that I have a couple of kegs emptied, I can finally start getting my Lady Wife's requests carbed up. Her Cherry Brown will be first; it should be quite nice. The Blackberry Stout will be next--very stout, not so much blackberry, surprisingly purple. And the Peach Wit is awaiting the next free keg...

This weekend (Saturday!) I'm brewing again. I think I'll keep it to a simple Amber Ale; something with a good malt backbone and some nice hoppy spiciness. I've also got plans; as mentioned, Their Atlantian Highnesses have 'challenged' me to do a few brews, and things are in the works for them. Mainly, I've commissioned a stoneware aging crock for a half-batch of wine (going to split one, and do the other half in glass). While I was talking with the potter, I also requested a number of wine-bottle-size 'torpedo' bottles, for use at events and such. I should have all of that stuff in a couple of months (I hope).

Cascades and Newport

2009-06-28T15:43:00.010-04:00

Those of you who have followed my antics for the last couple of years (since before this blog) know that I include hops-growing in my hobbies, in the hopes of one day getting a harvest to use in a batch. I started out with two rhizomes of Mt Hood hops, but they mysteriously died shortly after putting out burrs. I replaced them with two Cascades rhizomes last year; I was able to harvest a few ounces from them.

One of the rhizomes sprouted this year, but it was nipped by birds (I'm assuming) before it could get more than a couple of inches long. The other one was dug up by the pup, as he went through that phase. Long story short, they both croaked. So, I ordered some more, rather late in the year (the order was placed in May, from Freshops). The rhizomes arrived on June the 12th. I ordered a new pair of Cascades, and inadvertently one Newport rhizome. They all got planted on June 13th.

The Newport was the first to sprout, but it withered and died within a week; I'm not sure what happened, exactly, but I don't think the rhizome was in the best of shape to begin with. No harm, no foul.

What follows are some photos of what the Cascades have been up to this month...

To the left, you will see the rhizomes, with the Cascades taking pride of place...

And to the right, the first shoot from the Cascades, 9 days after planting.

Here they are, four days later. These things grow like crazy!

And here they are, as photographed this morning (5 days after the last shot).

Watching them isn't quite as dull as watching grass grow; I've got nearly daily photos dating from their initial sprouting. I may be convinced to put up the series on the website (watching the daily change is interesting). Regardless, updates here in the blog will be forthcoming as the weeks go by.

Upcoming Brewing

2009-06-25T06:41:00.003-04:00

My plans for the next few Brew Days are, admittedly, still somewhat nebulous, but I have some ideas. I have, of course, been 'challenged' by His Royal Highness of Atlantia to do a couple of brews; they will require the gathering of some additional ingredients, but nothing exotic. They should also take a bit more time than your average beer to produce, so doing them sooner rather than later is something of a must.

I have two large containers of varietal honey (1 gallon each raspberry and killer bee) that I need to do something with; they've been sitting around for over a year, and are quite likely crystallized. Larriland Farms (a local pick-your-own) has announced that they're in their black and red raspberry seasons; a melomel may well be in order for the raspberry honey. (I just picked up the latest WineMaker magazine, which has a lovely article on berry wines; that should help, as I've not had much luck doing the wine thing with fruit--although adding honey has always helped, it seems.)

Finally, on the 'plain beer' front, I'd like to do a relatively simple, nicely-hopped Amber Ale again. They're refreshing and tasty. I need to get through the current stuff on tap first, though, and I would like to see how the Memory Lapse came out finally; if I can taste it before my next Brew Day, I may want to do a repeat or a tweak of that.

A Busy Week...

2009-06-21T09:24:00.005-04:00

This week has been crazy--in a good way, I suppose, but it's kept me from updating either this blog or my website as quickly as I'd like.

I started the week going to Boston for some work-related training. A good time was had. I had anticipated being able to find lots of Sam Adams available everywhere, and was pleased to be right. My only wish would have been to have more than Boston Lager and the current seasonal (Summer Ale, right now) available on draft. A bit of a pleasant surprise was finding both Harpoon IPA *and* Bass widely available on draft.

That was followed up by my 20-year High School reunion last night; I re-met many old friends with whom I had fallen out-of-touch, and was able to catch up on the latest in their lives, while still being able to reminisce about old times. It was fun--a bit loud, but fun.

On the SCA front, my Lady Wife is planning a new feat of garb for me to wear to Atlantian Coronation in August. If she has her way, I'll out-shine Their Majesties, Their Highnesses, and everybody, in a set of full Russian-style court garb. I'll be hoping for cool weather... In the meantime, there are a few other events reasonably locally that I hope to be able to attend.

Brewing-wise, the batch from the last Brew Day was racked onto its fruit (it's a Peach Wheat Ale); the Blackberry Stout is progressing nicely--still purple, and with oddly little blackberry flavor; the SMaSH Ale "twins" are kegged & carbed, just waiting for their time to come. Other brews are planned, or have otherwise been planned for me. A full slate, indeed.

The Stir-Plate

2009-06-03T20:44:00.008-04:00

As promised, here are some photos of my new stir plate:

This is it, in 90% of its glory. A few salient features to note: The knob on the far right controls the speed. The red switch in the center is power on/off (it lights up when on). The jack on the left-facing side is for the wall-jack.

Here, you see said wall-jack. I haven't yet firmed up the split in the cable with electrical tape, but that's not going to be either difficult or time-consuming.

Here it is, stirring away (at some water), full-bore. Note the nice whirlpool developed in the center. You can just make out the spinning white stir-bar at the bottom of the flask. Also, note the beautifully lit power switch. :)

All told, I don't think this even cost me $20 to make. The computer fan (the actual "driving force", if you will) was salvaged from a dead desktop computer. The enclosure I had purchased for my "greater" project, but subsequently realized was too small. I had the AC adapter from my other project (the HERMs Rig Controller), and only needed a female jack. The jack, switch, potentiometer, and knob I got at Radio Shack for under $10. Simplicity, itself.

I hope this has inspired you to make your own! I've certainly been bit with the do-it-yourself bug, after this. There's nothing like having a completed project, functional, made by your own hands, to make you want to create.

One project completed...

2009-05-27T21:27:00.002-04:00

So yesterday, after months (years?) of occasionally looking at a partial pile of parts, I finally completed one of my many lesser brewing projects--I now have a stir-plate, for yeast starters and propagation and the like. I'd put together the computer fan and magnet before, but couldn't get a dimmer switch to adjust the speed, and was having difficulty imagining how I'd support the whole thing. Enter the various online forums I habituate, and the thread here. A nice, step-by-step tutorial, complete with photos.

I already had a fan and a project box (fan from an old computer that's slowly being cannibalized for parts, project box that was going to be for the HERMs controller). The HERMs controller (which is complete--just waiting to amass parts for the final build) is going to be powered by a 9V DC adapter (wall wart); I simply got a matching jack for its plug to use in the stir plate. Purchased a rheostat/potentiometer, a knob for it, an on/off switch, and some magnets, and assembled as per the instructions. (Pictures will be forthcoming soon, if I get around to it...)

Add one stir-bar from the LHBS (Maryland Homebrew), and after a little practice, it works fine! Woohoo!

Brew, BBQ, family, and friends.

2009-05-24T16:47:00.004-04:00

If ever there was a recipe for a better Brew Day, I don't know what it is. Had a couple of friends over (could have had more--you know who you are!), BBQ'ed some chicken, brewed up a batch of stout (to become Blackberry Stout, when all is said & done), and generally had a good time. The weather has been decent, so we spent the day outside. The yard is dirtscaped (no grass to speak of), and it's a tad hot with no shade out there, but we all endured--copious amounts of homebrew helped, especially the wit. I'd say that a good time was had by all.

Next month will quite possibly be my last brew day until late September or early October--I'll be off on a business trip for about two months. Much experimentation and tasting will be in order while I'm out. I'll try to manage a brew in early July, but there's no telling. Hopefully, I can have the majority of the HERMs system put together by then.

My Lady Wife assisted with a tasting/judging at Sapphire Joust yesterday; she's now even more eager to bring general A&S standards to the brewing community. We (they?) have been a bit lax, or so it seems to me. I mean, the reason I didn't enter the most recent Kingdom Brewer is that I don't/didn't have anything that I would enter into an SCA event--even though a couple of my brews at the time were fantastic--just not documentable. Between that and the cognitive dissonance with the standards for containers, I'm not keen on doing SCA brewing competitions, generally. Maybe in future; we'll see.

Time marches on

2009-05-06T21:16:00.005-04:00

Well, the last Brew Day went remarkably well. Beer was brewed, so the important part was taken care of... Additionally, lots of people came over, and the whole event turned into a barbecue/potluck sort of thing. I'd say a good time was had by all... I was able to introduce a couple of people to mead, which is always entertaining; I'm proud to say that the response to my brews was overwhelmingly positive.

In other news, the next Brew Day will be on the 24th of May. I'll probably be following that up in quick succession with a Brew Day early in June. I need to clear out a couple of kegs to move some of the things currently aging; I should be able to empty one or two at the Barony's event at the end of May (On Target), so that should keep me in business for a while.

Progress on the HERMS upgrade continues. I'm waiting on some temperature sensors that I hope will work--I had absolutely no luck with the LM34's. I'm sure they're wonderful sensors (and I'd love to be able to get Fahrenheit temps without conversion from Celsius), but I just absolutely couldn't get the things to work. Hopefully the DS18B20's will do the job. I've got the relay working, and the LCD figured out, and I figured out the I2C interface last week for the clock and data storage. I've got to figure out the addressing for the EEPROM yet, but that shouldn't be a big deal. Otherwise, it's mostly just programming, with a little hardware to put together. Woohoo!

Brewing on Sunday

2009-04-23T20:23:00.004-04:00

This Sunday, at the request (insistence?) of my Lady Wife, I will be brewing a Cherry Brown Ale. I'm basing the foundation (the Brown Ale) on the Southern English Brown Ale recipe from Brewing Classic Styles: 80 Winning Recipes Anyone Can Brew. It looks like a solid brew, as have been every other recipe I've tried from the book. The plan is to let it primary as per normal, then rack it onto a can of Oregon Cherry Puree; allow it to re-ferment to completion, then keg. It should be a simple beer, and hopefully it will turn out well.

I also plan to attack the non-alcoholic brews again, trying another root beer. I believe I learned from the last root beer I tried (which ended up a case of gushers). In the grand scheme, as long as the flavor and mouthfeel are there, and there are *only* sufficient fermentables for priming the bottles, it should be OK. Or, it could end up a foul, vile brew. I'll be boiling up the 'regular' ingredients, less the sugar; cooling the 'tea' of sassafras root, etc., then adding the entirety of a bag of Splenda. That will give it non-fermentables for sweetness and mouthfeel. Carbtabs will provide sugar for carbonation. A bold experiment? Well, an experiment, at any rate. Time will tell how it turns out.

Back from Vacation

2009-04-13T20:44:00.004-04:00

San Diego was lovely. It's truly a nice town, with lots to do; the weather was good (when is it not, there?) and there was plenty to do and see and visit. To an extent, the only thing I could have asked for was to have a slightly less neurotic mother-in-law. Stereotypes? Who needs 'em!

In all, I limited myself quite a bit while there--mostly because I did most of the driving (GPS navigation systems are wonderful things). Partly because I didn't want to become a 'trained monkey' (my Lady Wife's words), expounding on the differences between various types and styles of beer.

We visited the Rock Bottom Restaurant in San Diego. It was really a nice place; my only true complaints would have to be that the fries were overcooked and too few (a minor thing, but really... are potatoes that expensive, these days?), and that the service was a bit iffy. We were a party of 9, which sort of explains it, but we were there at about 3pm, so it wasn't exceptionally busy.

Anyway, while there, I sampled one of the house beers: the Breakwater Pale Ale. It was truly a thing of beauty. Just the smell eased my burgeoning headache--lots of marvelous citrusy hop aroma, with just enough malt to balance. It was a lovely golden amber in color, and they brought it with a half-inch of creamy white head. The flavor was exactly what I had hoped; nice and crisp, and a marvelous contrast to the savory burger I ordered. On my scale of "would I order another," I have to give this beer a "yes, please. Two." Bravo!

Successful Brew Day

2009-04-04T19:00:00.005-04:00

Well, last weekend's brewing went well. I brewed my follow-on to the French Pale Ale (this one with Carawheat), and Sorcha brewed a wit based on the last one I did. The ale came out well, but I'm concerned about the wit--I couldn't get a gravity reading on it over 4 Plato, which is exceptionally low. I suppose about 5 lbs of DME could be added; basically a "re-do" of primary fermentation, but I don't think it'd be the same. Ah, well...

The Perry was bottled, as well. Initial taste tests indicate that it most resembles a cheap white table wine. This is not a bad thing--just not where I had expected it to go. I meant to bottle the Lambic, but that will have to wait until next time. It's got a lovely wood flavor (from the oak table leg) under the tartness. There's a flavor to it that I'm not completely fond of, but it's not off-putting, and will quite probably age out as it sits.

I'm continuing to amass parts for the HERMs build. Apparently, if you ask nicely, many electronics manufacturers will send free samples! So, a couple of parts may arrive before horribly long (I hope), and drop the cost of the build by a couple of dollars. Every little bit helps!

Lots to do

2009-03-26T19:18:00.005-04:00

So, the Brew Day is coming up (three days from now), and I'm only just beginning to approach being almost ready. Granted, I've got the grains, and specialty grains, and hops, and a nice yeast cake--so, in that sense, I'm ready. My gear is still in its latest phase (while I learn PCB design, electronics, PICAXE programming, and a host of other things); fortunately, that phase is functional. But there's so much yet to do!

We've been having relatively decent weather of late, so we've cleaned up the back yard--but part of the assorted gardening/yard chores included splitting some spider plants. What were two large spider plants, hanging in windows in the living room, are now *four* moderately-sized spider plants, lounging in my Brewing Storage Room (avoiding a few early-spring frosts). On a somewhat related note, the hops (the ones the dog didn't dig up) are showing signs of life--small shoots are up; I'm just waiting for them to really get going...

I've got electrical diagrams and parts scattered across my desk, and tons of paperwork to file, just to have room to work. I'll probably do a bit of clearing of my Lady Wife's sewing table--just don't tell *her* that. And the Bar area is an unholy mess.

Why the frantic cleanup? Well, it's spring, for one--time for cleaning. I've also been contacted by someone who's interested in learning the Brewing Art--someone from the local Barony, no less! And it's a difficult thing to learn in a thoroughly messy environment. So, a bit of tidy-up is in order. Finally, if I'm to have *room* to brew, I've got to get a bunch of stuff bottled--the pyment can probably get bottled; the pear cider most likely can; the lambic should be about ready; my last two beers, the SMaSH and the Helles, are also coming ready for their containers. Egad, I've got to finish off a keg to have room, too... Ah, trials and tribulations...

March Brew Day

2009-03-18T20:18:00.003-04:00

Well, it's around the corner. I'll be doing the follow-up to my SMaSH brew from last month: the same basic recipe, swapping out a pound of the base malt (which was all there was, last month) for a pound of specialty malt--in this case, I'm thinking some of the Crystal Wheat that I've got. I've had it for a while, and have been wondering what to do with it; without that, I'd likely go with a dark Munich malt or something similar. I'll be using the yeast cake from last month, as well--it seemed like a good yeast, once it finally got going.

The parts collection for the HERMS upgrade is moving along, as well. I've got the microcontroller, the temperature sensors, and a few other miscellaneous parts; there are a few things that I've ordered recently that aren't here yet. I think the biggest part of the actual HERMS upgrade will be a second pump. Moving up to keggles will be a "3.1" upgrade somewhere further on down the line. In all, I don't figure to have the rig switched to HERMS before August at the earliest, maybe September--although things have a tendency to leap ahead when I least expect them to.

Rig Update Update

2009-03-05T18:23:00.003-05:00

I'm slowly but surely getting the planning done for the HERMS update for my brewing rig. (I've decided, somewhat arbitrarily, that the update, when it comes, will make this Version 3.0 of the rig; I hope not to go much past about 5.0 in future.)

"Why," you may ask, "do you want to improve on a functional system?" The answer comes in several parts, most of which have been covered in other websites and blogs about HERMS systems:
1) Greater consistency between brews (greater repeatability);
2) Greater control over mash temps and steps;
3) Increased brew efficiency (arguable);
4) Increased clarity;
5) To satisfy my fondness for tinkering.

Of these, I'm claiming that #1 and #5 are the most important (in no particular order), with #2 coming a very close second. I'll believe #3 when I see it, and #4 hasn't really been a problem, for the most part--I've been thinking about filtering some of my brews post-fermentation, anyway.

So I'm still looking at going with the PICAXE--it seems most suited to my abilities (or lack thereof). I'm mildly frustrated (as I have been in the past) with the electronics side of things. The Venerable Guild of Electrical Engineers has kept their secrets well and truly hidden from the non-initiate; I'm picking up a thing or two here and there, and may even be able to explain some of it to the layman, when I'm done. And I'm gathering parts, one by one: a heating element has been acquired, and other parts are being negotiated for.

To bring the blog back around to "touch" the SCA, which I've been meaning to do for some time, a brewing contest has been announced for Sapphire Joust, here in Atlantia. I'm not sure that I'll be here for it, nor that I'm even going, but I'm contemplating entering something, just for the heck of it. Perhaps the French Pale Ale? Granted, it's almost completely undocumentable. But even getting just the feedback can be helpful, sometimes.

On the road

2009-02-28T10:02:00.003-05:00

First, an update, about last weekend's Brew Day: It was successful (perhaps predictably so), despite the weather. It went from merely cold, to cold and rainy, to sleet, to slushy snow, to cloudy, to breezy, to sunny and actually warm. I'm sure a couple of weather types were missed, but there's only so much time in a brew day.

The beer itself shows all signs of being good. There having been nothing darker than pilsner malt in it, it's going to be light in color. I turned the heat on the kettle before running off into it, so the heat caramelized the first bit of running as it came in. This should add a bit of color, as well as creating some melanoidins for mouthfeel. The Nugget hops had a better smell than I remember from the last time I used them; They'll add a (hopefully) good bittering, and a nice spiciness. The French Ale yeast seemed a bit slow to take off, but it was fermenting happily as of Tuesday.

In the meantime, I'm down in Georgia with my parents, helping out with a sick relative. I brought a pile of stuff to help with research into upgrading my Brew Rig. I've ordered a heating element for the heat-exchanger; I think I know what I'm going to use for the exchanger. The controller is going to be the difficult part; I've some ideas, though. This is going to be one of the slower equipment upgrades--the expenses for some of what I want to do could become somewhat prohibitive. But, I want to do this right, so--well, perfection takes time.

Equipment upgrades

2009-02-20T21:01:00.002-05:00

I'm brewing this weekend, on Sunday, and will be doing the initial run with a new sparge-arm. This one is much more elegant than the drilled copper hoop I had been using; I was inspired by a sparger I saw in the most recent Zymurgy. It's made of PVC, with a bolt and some washers providing the 'spray' aspect. I've extended it a bit so that the hose from the pump won't get any kinks, and I think it'll work like a champ. We'll see on Sunday, I suppose. (Photos to follow; I'll try to take some during the brew day.)

I'm also deep in the planning stages for conversion of my rig to a HERMS-style system. I've got the process flow mapped, and know what I need (in broad strokes) to make it work. I'm looking into various possibilities for automating the recirculating/heat-exchanging. I'm leaning towards something either based on the Arduino platform, or something that looks innovative (and, more important, simple) called "PICAXE". At this point, only time will tell. I am not, unfortunately, an electrical engineer, nor have I been a computer programmer for decades, so there's absolutely no telling how half-assed this will turn out. All the same, I'm optimistic.

SMaSH update

2009-02-11T20:24:00.002-05:00

So, I've become more intrigued by the SMaSH concept of brewing. I'm now certain that that's how I'll do my next batch (a week and a half from now); I think I'll follow that up with a slight modification for the batch after that.

Rather than doing a basic Pils-style beer, I'll probably use an ale yeast, most likely one that will ferment at slightly cooler temperatures (the unseasonal weather we're having right now can't last). Also, to help add a bit of complexity, I think I'll play the Scottish Ale game and caramelize the first runnings a bit. That should darken things just a hair. (I'm debating using a Scottish yeast; I may go that way, or I may use an Alt yeast...)

Then in March, I'll repeat the technique as best I can, and use the same recipe, subbing a pound of the base malt for the pound of carawheat I picked up out of curiosity, not knowing what I'd do with it. I'll probably even pitch onto the yeast cake from the earlier batch. If I play my cards right, I should be able to do a nice side-by-side taste test; this would show me exactly what (if anything) the carawheat is good for. Heck, I could probably continue the experiment, subbing out the carawheat for other specialty grains (Munich, Victory, Crystal 80, Honey malt, etc.), and finally determine what each of those specifically does to a beer. I could even go all-out crazy, and decide which basic one I like best, then spend next year playing with different yeast strains for that beer. The year after, I could go with different hops. Hah! If I didn't get tired of the same beer month after month, I'd have some interesting data to play with later.

Maybe I'll do this, but after next month, hold it to every other brewing session...

SMaSH brewing

2009-02-04T19:38:00.003-05:00

So, I've been feeling the urge to do something rather basic for a brew. Something to highlight the complexity possible from a very simple recipe. A batch using just one grain, and just one hop, fermented as far as the yeast will take it. A quick search of the various brewing bulletin boards (such as my favorite, the Green Board) showed that I wasn't the first to think of such a thing. They call it "SMaSH" brewing--Single Malt and Single Hop. The predominant brew for this seems to be Scottish Ales, but there are others. At least one person did an all-Munich Malt brew (which would be yummy); there was one I recall that focused on Golden Promise malt. Hops seemed to be whatever was available and to the brewer's taste; yeast likewise.
In considering this for my next Brew Day (the 25th of this month), I'm looking at what I have on hand. While I've got some Saaz hops, I think I'll save those, and use some Nugget--it's stronger, so I won't have to use as much for a balanced bitterness. The malt is a no-brainer; I just picked up a sack of Pils malt. Where to go with the yeast is really the question. Pils malt with a single hop looks a lot like your standard Pilsner-style lager, but where's the fun in that, really? I mean, there's a whole world of yeast to explore. Any suggestions from you, my loyal reader(s)?

Last week's Brewing Session

2009-01-31T08:00:00.004-05:00

Whew! I'm behind in my posting! Let's see, I had a Brew Day last week. I had thought about doing an American Amber ale, but decided instead upon a Helles Bock. The deciding factor for me was not wanting to have to get a variety of different malts (my 'stash' is running low) and not feeling up to doing multiple hop additions (I just wanted to brew, and relax). All told, the session went well. Keeping a rolling boil when the temperature is below freezing is difficult, but it was managed. It didn't take as much to chill things, either--pop the lid on the pot, let it sit for a while, then once through the (too-short) counterflow, inside. My biggest concern really was that a friend came over to brew a Scottish 80/-, and we didn't get around to it; I believe she'll be coming over to brew it tomorrow morning, before the Super Bowl. So, in short, progress. :)
In other news, I kegged the Pale Ale I did back in December. I'm gradually getting around to every bit of equipment I have to sterilize it, trying to get a handle on the mystery overcarbonation. I've got to pick up some bottles for the Pinot Noir (I'll do that today); that will also free up one of my 5-gallon carboys for secondary for the Helles. I need to bottle the 2 gallons or so of Pumpkin Beer I did on a lark--it actually looks decent; we'll see what it tastes like! And I need to get a whole bunch of already-kegged beer drunk. (Drank? Drinked? I need to look up the grammar for that...)

Event is over...

2009-01-18T12:57:00.005-05:00

Well, Saturday was the event. Despite the hurdles, it was a success. Now, as has been expressed to the people in charge of such things, *never again*. I suppose things could have been worse; as it was, we only had to jury-rig water. The alarm was disconcerting--it turned out to be from the boiler, to let us know that the electricity to the boiler had been cut, after a surge. The classes went well, although getting things started and finished on time was quasi-organized chaos. Nevertheless, things seemed by & large to go fairly smoothly.

Next on the hit parade: brewing next weekend. I think I'll do a basic amber ale--gotta have stuff ready to go for spring and summer, after all.

Books, books, and books.

2009-01-07T22:04:00.005-05:00

Well, the Holidays are past. I received many many many excellent books, the which I'm perusing as time allows. Unfortunately, time isn't allowing as much as it might--I'm organizing the Barony's event next weekend, and "utter chaos" is an apt description. Still, as I go through them, I'll try to post the quick review here. Additionally, I hope to have a couple of brews tapped in the next week or two, and I'll take tasting notes and share them with you, my loyal reader(s).

I'll start today with Beer: Tap Into the Art and Science of Brewing
, by Charles Bamforth. This was a delightful read--very interesting from a technical, brewing background sort of way. It's not something anyone should pick up who's trying to learn how to brew, although someone trying to become more familiar with that tasty beverage they're sipping could probably do worse. Mr. Bamforth writes with a good deal of insight, as well as the occasional wry bit of humor. My only complaint is that his Englishness comes through in a couple of places--although I believe he would deny it (based on what I read), he seems to have a bias (completely understandable) for his native British beers, and on one or two occasions in the book displays what I can only describe as undue disregard for several other beer styles (the Schwarzbier, for example, is dismissed due to its lack of popularity in Britain). Still, this is a minor quibble, and all things considered, I'd have to rate the book a four stars out of five.

For next time: Books on unusual fruit, on cider, and (of course) more beer!

Always a pleasure

2008-12-20T11:02:00.005-05:00

If there's one thing I enjoy more than drinking my own beer, it's enjoying the beer of others--especially if it's well made. If the 'other' in particular has managed to make the leap to commercial brewing, there's not just the beer, but also the reminder that 'yes, it can be done.'

My office had its holiday luncheon, in combination with the class graduation luncheon, yesterday at DuClaw's. I've met their brewer, Bo Lenck, and he was very nice--even gave me a tour of the brewery, one-on-one, impromptu. Bo 'used to' be a homebrewer (a successful one, if the rumors I hear are true), and moved on to brew at DuClaw (I'm not sure if he's one of the founders, but it wouldn't surprise me). DuClaw's brewery up towards Aberdeen will even give away yeast to homebrewers (WLP-001, for the most part; that's their house strain). Nothing like coming away with a quart or two of yeast slurry...

Anyway, one of the students ordered the beer sampler yesterday. Now, I've seen the beer sampler before--it always seemed to be six or seven taster-size glasses of their 'usual' lineup. What they brought out yesterday, though, was fully twelve sampler-glasses, with one of everything they have on tap right now... Venom, HellRazer, Alchemy, Blackjack, Full Moon, Misfit, Kangaroo, Bare Ass Blonde, everything. Eep!

I went for what used to be my favorite, back before the hop shortage (ah, the good old days!), and ordered a Venom. Wow! They tweaked the hop profile; obviously, they still can't get everything the way they used to. It had a harsher, back-of-the-tongue bitterness that's difficult to describe; regardless, for all that it's still like chewing on a hop, it's not as smooth as it once was. I guess it's back to the Misfit Red, for me...

Paulaner Oktoberfest Marzen Amber, and an upcoming brewday

2008-12-08T18:10:00.003-05:00

This is overall a fairly pleasant beer. It's got a triply redundant name (Oktoberfest beers are, by definition, Marzens, and the lot of them are amber), which is odd by normal standards, but fairly tame by brewing standards. On the pour, the beer shows its 'amberness,' with a lovely pour; carbonation rises during the entire glass. The head is moderate and white, and dissipates fairly quickly. The nose is rich and full of malt notes, with a hint of a certain something I can't put my finger on, but tells me without a doubt that this is a Paulaner beer (I've noticed this same thing in every other beer of theirs that I've tried). First taste keeps with this impression: richly malty, with the Paulaner 'tang' following. The hop notes are a subdued spicyness, just strong enough to balance the malt. The finish maintains the lingering malt, but is quite dry. While a bit stronger than my average daily quaff, it's still very drinkable; it definitely falls into the "I'd order another" category. Let's say, 3.5 stars out of five...

I'll also be brewing again on the 14th. I'm leaning towards a fairly simple APA recipe; not too strong, not too hoppy. I think the compressor on my lagering chest needs a new charge of coolant--it's "just" holding a nice, cool 58 degrees--so it's ales for me for a little while, I think. (Somehow, I believe I'll survive.)

Overdue Review

2008-12-03T20:40:00.003-05:00

I've been quite remiss about getting this post in; the Thanksgiving holiday will do that to a guy. So, without further ado, here's what I've got to say about my selections on tap at present.

First, the Scottish 70/-. It pours a nice light amber, tending towards the brown rather than the golden hue of some beers. It's got a bit of haze, as well. The head starts nice and thick (about 1"), then dwindles down to a ring of bubbles that chases the beer down the glass. I'm afraid it's a little astringent; I probably over-sparged, or somesuch (I'd have to double-check my notes), and I *know* it's over-carbonated. The aroma is malt, but only weakly so--I'm not sure what I'd do to fix that, for my taste. (In fairness, I've never had a commercial 70/- that I can recall, so I may not be imagining it right.) The alcohol level is low, probably about 3-3.5%, which is what I was aiming for, so it has that going for it. And this is the infamous 'ever-carbonating' beer; I'm convinced, now, that it's got an infection of some sort (perhaps a wild yeast strain--aside from the tannic astringency, there's no flavor indication of anything else, that I can detect). Not bad enough, perhaps, to dump, but not really good. I'll rate this as 'probably not my favorite style,' and move on smartly from there.

The Belgian Dubbel came out a bit more like I had imagined. It's a lovely deep copper color, with a creamy head that dissipates to the expected lace after a few minutes. The aroma is primarily malt, with a good bit of fruitiness from the yeast; the fruitiness tends towards the darker, dried fruits (plum) with some of the caramelized sugar coming through in the nose. The body is medium, and its flavor follows the aroma fairly closely, with a touch of something roasted coming through in the end. I might ask for the flavors to be a bit more 'in-your-face,' but it's certainly not bad. It is of a significantly higher alcohol content than the 70/-; probably in the 5.5-6% range, but it doesn't have a fusel heat. It goes down quite smoothly, probably due to its having a cooler fermentation than I necessarily would have intended. Still, I'd order another--but I'll tweak the recipe, the next time I brew it.

All for now; I've got beers (and wine and cider) to rack, a mead that needs bottling soon, and assorted other chores that must be done before my next brew day. I *plan* on getting to that Paulaner by this weekend, but time will tell, as always.

Budweiser American Ale

2008-11-16T12:39:00.003-05:00

Something you may not have every expected to see me do: a review of one of the new "micros" produced by the macro-brewers; in this instance, specifically Anheuser-Busch's Budweiser American Ale. Whatever else you may say about the macro-brewers, their quality control and consistency are second to none. (Granted, their quality may come into question...) The bottle poured exactly as expected, leaving a lovely one inch of head. It had a nice amber color, and retained its effervescence through the entirety of the drink. It smelled of hops, but not much malt in the nose. Upon drinking, its taste paralleled its aroma--lots of hops, no malt to speak of. It finished dry, with no particular aftertaste.

I'm guessing that they were aiming for an IPA; with a bigger malt profile, they may have even had a fairly respectable version. As it is, the American Ale is (while not great) quite drinkable, and far from bad--it passes the "I'd order another one" test, but much would depend on what was available--it might not necessarily be my first choice for what to order.

My next review: Paulaner Oktoberfest, and (probably) my Scottish 70/-.

Halloween Brew Day Recap

2008-11-06T19:40:00.003-05:00

The (inaugural?) Halloween Midnight Brew went nearly without a hitch. Technically, everything went as expected; socially, it went basically as expected, also.

In the social aspect, it ended up being just me doing the brew. Hopefully, next year I can convince a few more people to come over. Still, I often find that doing a solo brew goes more smoothly than doing one with others around. (I'd rather have a few others around, if only so I can chat with them as I go.)

The burners were lit precisely at midnight; by half-past, the grain was being mashed. A hair over 22 pounds of grain, it turns out, is about half of my mash-tun capacity. (Good to know, I think...) I even had room enough that I could have done two infusions, had I wanted. Three might have been stretching it.

Due to the lack of other participants, and looking at the time, and having had a really long day, I decided that I had fulfilled the spirit of my goal, and decided to allow the mash to go overnight. I picked up where I had left off at about 9:30 on Saturday morning, heating water for the sparge.

My experience with 'big' brews has shown me that my efficiency tends to suffer; I'm not certain of the mechanics of why, but I accept the 'fact-of.' I only got around 68% efficiency, as opposed to my more typical 75%; still, things were well within acceptable norms. The boil was remarkably well-behaved, and I only lost a couple of ounces to boil-over. The re-constructed pump worked well. I even heated up a couple of gallons of plain water to help with clean-up (especially the pump). The yeast had been pitched by noon, and active fermentation was underway by nightfall Saturday. I may tweak the spice blend, should I do this again--maybe ditch the nutmeg, add perhaps a little ginger, bump up the cinnamon. Still, come the end of a year, it will be a nice brew, I'm sure.

I haven't decided when my next brew day will be; probably the weekend before Thanksgiving. That's rather late in the month, but it's the only one I have really free; hopefully, my December brew day will be earlier.

Rebuilding a March Pump

2008-10-29T21:12:00.012-04:00

So, as promised, here's a quick down-and-dirty on how to rebuild a March Pump with a new head.

As you may recall, I dropped mine, and broke off the intake side of the head:
I ordered a new one from MoreBeer, and it arrived shortly, in good order (but for the shipping box...):To install the new pump head, first you have to take off the old one. This is accomplished by removing four screws, located on the 'face' of the head. (Sorry for the blurry picture; the arrows indicate the individual screws' locations.)Having pulled the head off, you're faced with another quartet of screws on the inner workings of the head:With these removed, you can pull things apart. You're now faced with the impeller assembly:
A bit of tugging, and the whole thing will come apart nicely, including the impeller (the spinny bit) and its axle:
A quick inspection revealed a problem for me, however: mold had taken up residence on the impeller!
So, after much washing and scrubbing and sanitizing of the impeller, I was ready to re-assemble. The re-assembly process is identical to the disassembly process, only in reverse. In all, not counting the 'break' to clean things, it probably took me about 10 minutes to have the old one off and the new one screwed on.
Note to self: Run sanitizing solution through the stupid thing during post-brew cleanup, otherwise I'll be left with the possibility of infected batches...

That's all for today--lots of pretty pictures. I'll be brewing Friday night, so check back after!

Pear Cider, and the UPS

2008-10-22T16:08:00.005-04:00

My Hard Pear Cider has been started. As promised, I will document its progress. I used 100% pure pear cider, not mixed with apple cider or with water. The only things I added were some fructose I had laying around (to bump up the OG, in the hopes of this ending up with a little residual sweetness), some pectic enzyme (to help it clear), and the yeast. Here is the cider, before going in to the fermenter:

Images of it fermenting, and further progress, will come along shortly-ish.

As for the UPS: I've had issues with my local UPS drivers. Normally, they leave packages sitting on my front stoop, not bothering to knock, or ring the doorbell, or even yell to let someone know that they've been by. To expand upon this, some of the local neighborhood teens find it amusing to 'liberate' things from people's front yards--normally pink flamingos and the like, but small packages aren't outside the realm of possibility. This week, they hit a new low.

So, as I was cleaning up from my last Brew Day, I accidentally dropped my March pump onto the cold, hard tile of my basement. Ordinarily, things get dropped around here all the time, to no particular damage, but the pump heads are somewhat fragile things--while they can handle the heat of recently-boiled wort, sudden blunt force trauma is bad for them. With the impact, the pump head broke. 'No problem,' says I, 'I'll just order me a new one.' So I did.

The pump head arrived on Monday. Again, the UPS driver dropped off the box at the door, with no notification to anyone (my Lady Wife was home all day) that he had done so. But a look at the box:
...Reveals that it was handled less-than-gently. Fortunately, nothing inside was damaged; still, I am less than pleased with them, and they will (again) be hearing from me.

Pears!

2008-10-19T19:14:00.003-04:00

So, I found a source for 100% pear cider (no apples involved, just pears). The sample was quite sweet; the price was right. So, probably tomorrow sometime, I'll be adding some pectic enzyme and some yeast; by this time next year, it will have fermented out, come clear, and been bottled. Hopefully, it'll taste as good then as it does now--albeit changed slightly by the alchemy that is fermentation.

I think an interesting thing will be to document this brew. I'll post occasional (monthly?) updates, including photos and the occasional tasting note. We'll see how this ends up.

In other news, I'll be racking the Kolsch tomorrow; I may well rack the Wit, as well. The wit has decided to kick into fermentation again--I suppose it has decided it likes the cooler temperatures in the basement now that autumn has decided to really kick in. (Another couple of weeks at this rate, and the basement will be at its annual 'cool' temperature level.) No telling how much longer it'll ferment--I'd be surprised if it were more than a week or so, though. Regardless, the Kolsch will go in secondary for a few days, then head into the chill chest for a bit.

I'm also ready for my next Brew Day--this one will be my Halloween Brew. A nice Holiday Ale for Samhain. (It'll be ready for next year's holiday season--or at least, that's the plan.) I'm still waiting to see what everyone thinks I should do for it--the poll is off to the right... Vote early, vote often!

Quick note...

2008-10-14T21:41:00.003-04:00

It's late, so this will be brief. The Brew Day on Sunday was a success; there were 5 of us (myself included) in total, and 3 brews were completed--2 all-grain, one partial mash. The Witbier was the final one of the day; I think it will be my favorite of the all-grain ones. The Kolsch was completed, as well, and my initial estimate is that it'll be as much like version 1.0 as to make no difference; we'll call this version 1.1. Version 2.0 will definitely see the hops scaled back a bit, although I'm not sure I'll cut all the way back to the recipe I based it off of.

I got an email yesterday from one of my brew-buddies, who happens to live down in Dun Carriag; it seems that the site for their War of the Roses event (for which I brewed the Wit) is dry. That's a shame; I'm really impressed thus far with how much citrus I'm detecting in the nose. I hope the brew can hang on to that until I find a venue to serve it.

In all, a good time was had, and beer was brewed. What more could you ask for?

Brew Day Coming

2008-10-08T20:15:00.004-04:00

It looks like this Sunday's Brew Day will be well-attended: at least three people have expressed the intention of coming. If things go as 'normal,' that's all that will be coming--but after University, the brew day may attract one or two others. Including me, I'm setting the over/under at 5, which is rather a large crowd.

I'm still planning on re-doing the Kolsch; one other brewer wants to do a spiced Saison 'half-batch.' Fairly simple brews, for the most part--the Kolsch, in particular, is straightforward. I need to hit Maryland Homebrew (my local supply store) for the yeast, hops, and about a half-pound of grain. I should probably refill a propane tank, too; I've got two that need swapping, and I'm not sure that the two that are hooked up will last the day.

The weather promises to cooperate this time, too. The last brew day was nearly rained out--Hurricane Hanna, or at least its remnants, was rolling through town just as the boil was starting. This weekend they're calling for clear to partly cloudy skies, and a comfortable 71 degrees F. We may be able to sit outside for large chunks of the brew day, even!

I should probably contemplate my Halloween brew, while I'm thinking of it. I've got it narrowed pretty well to two recipes; which one to brew is (as always) the question. Go with the 'bigger' (OG 1.090), more highly spiced recipe? With the 'smaller' (OG 1.075), more restrained one? Or mix-and-match? What say you, loyal reader(s)? I've added a poll at right to express *your* opinions. Let's hear it!

University, October 2008

2008-10-05T13:02:00.004-04:00

Yesterday was Atlantian University, and I taught my long-awaited Intro to All-Grain Brewing class. (Well, long-awaited by me, anyway.) Things seemed to go pretty well. I think that I'll stretch the class out to 2 hours next time, as that's really a *lot* of information to go through in an hour; I felt a little rushed for parts of it. 2 hours would also give me the opportunity to bring in a bit of equipment to help describe what's going on for the brew.

One thing that the class was good for was creating a number of new contacts. It seems that there are a number of folks both (relatively) locally and within a reasonable driving distance who want to learn to brew. Everyone who was in my class now has the URL for this site, as well as for my webpage; by extension, this means they have my email address, and we can arrange further hands-on classes at a later date.

Also, I let everyone there know about my upcoming Brew Day, a week from today. I believe I'll try for 'take two' of the Kolsch that practically disappeared last weekend. I'll have to use the Golden Promise malt, rather than the American Pale 2-Row that I used last time, but that should only improve things, I would think. Regardless, it's more beer, which is always a good thing, right?

Tasting Notes, 10/1/08

2008-10-01T21:07:00.003-04:00

Tasted tonight: three of my brews, specifically my Northern English Brown, my Russian White Mead, and my Unoaked Merlot. Tasters were: my Lady Wife and myself.

First up: the Brown Ale. This poured from the tap with a moderate
white head. (The first pint of the night had a perfect, 3/4-inch head.) The head dissipated within a few minutes, leaving a nice lace, and a ring of foam that chased the top of the beer down the glass. The aroma is of malt and fruity esters, perhaps a bit heavy on the fruit if anything. Visually, the beer is crystal-clear and a light amber-brown in color. The flavor mimics the aroma, with a nice malt forwardness balanced by the hop bitterness and some esters. It's a touch over-carbonated right now, so tastes a little thinner than it ought; the CO2 also adds a bite from the carbonic acid that really shouldn't be there. (Oh, the problems of not having independent regulators for the kegs...) It finishes rich, but a little dry. In all, a pleasant brew.

Second: the Russian White Mead. This is the third tasting of this mead; it's been in the bottle for nearly a year, now. It is scheduled for two more tastings, unless the next one shows vast improvement. This mead is hopped, which changes its aging characteristics drastically, compared to my 'usual' brews. It pours smoothly, with perhaps a bit of carbonation; the second glass had some bubbles in the glass, which may have been the result of agitation from the first pour. These dissipated quickly, and were not a factor in the taste. The color is a light gold, comparable to a lightish Chardonnay. Aroma and taste-wise, it is smooth, and not unlike a decent white; there's a backbone to it which is reminiscent of oak tannins, but not quite the same. Some oak would, in fact, probably benefit this mead immensely. It is definitely a dry mead, but not obtrusively so--it doesn't suck the water from your mouth like some white wines do. Well-balanced. I would call this good for the white wine drinker who's looking for something a little off the beaten path. Tasty, but my Lady Wife is put off by the 'grassiness' of the hops (which, to be fair, she tastes in nearly anything with hops in it).

Finally, the Merlot. Pours a deep garnet red. No carbonation, which is as it should be. The aroma is fruity and rich, promising a luscious richness. There is a backbone of oak and, yes, mineral, present, but it doesn't overshadow the sweetness, merely supports it. The flavor is all dark fruit and rich grape, again with the tannin support. It starts sweet and floral, and ends richly; the 'middle' leaves a little to be desired. There's a certain undefinable quality about it that says that it needs something. I had been aiming for the Georgian wines when I started this; it has the sweetness and mouthfeel, but lacks the spiciness and crispness of the Georgian reds. I believe a blend will do wonderfully to remedy this--perhaps 70%/30% Merlot/Gewurztraminer. I believe this one is ready to serve, and will age beautifully over the coming months (years?).

Ready for the Weekend

2008-10-01T19:40:00.004-04:00

Well, almost ready, anyway. I've got my handout typed up; I just need to make sufficient copies of it. I also need to get my teaching points down by heart, as best I can. And once it stops raining, I can grab my grain mill and make a sample of well-milled grain. Other grain samples are prepped; other than those, that's all I really need! The student count was up to 13 this morning; I can guess at four, and make some wild stabs at who maybe two others are. Double or triple the 'usual crowd' will be a great showing, for something beer-related. I'm pleased!

I've also just finished comparing my recipe for the Kolsch from last weekend to the recipe I based mine (loosely) off of--and the hopping was, in fact, much higher than it really needed to be. To wit, the 'basic' Kolsch recipe didn't have the late hop addition at all, only the bittering. Still, I rather enjoyed that bit of it, even if I would tweak it downwards slightly. I think I'll keep to my recipe for the next version, but use the Golden Promise malt as a base, rather than the standard American 2-row Pale that I use. Hopefully that will bump up the malt flavor enough to compensate for some of the hops; a third batch (perhaps as late as January?) will see the hops shifting, depending on what version two ends up like.

A Successful Investiture

2008-09-28T21:24:00.005-04:00

And yesterday a good time was had by all. (Or as nearly all as makes no real difference.) Our new Baron and Baroness were successfully invested, despite the weather; my Lady Wife did her (usual) spectacular job with the feast, and the daughters were as well-behaved as could be expected. Yea!

I had two beers on tap, starting at about 4:30pm and going until I came back this morning to gather things up & help with site cleanup. Served were: the Irish Red Ale that I brewed up at Night On The Town, back in April at the same site; and a Kolsch that I literally threw together from what I had available on a surprise brewing day back in July. Of the two, the Kolsch was by far the more popular; even in my opinion (for what it's worth) it was the better brew. The Irish Red is the one that I've been bleeding pressure off of for going on two months now; apparently, it's still fermenting, and isn't done deciding what it wants to be when it grows up. It still tastes green, very yeasty, and--well, not finished.

The Kolsch, on the other hand, was nothing short of spectacular. The only 'ding' I could give it was that I'll probably dial the hops back just a touch next time. While the balance wasn't bad, they overshadowed the malt just enough that (again, in my opinion) it wasn't what it needed to be. All the same, the Kolsch was tapped out--all 5 gallons--in almost exactly four hours. I literally poured the last half-glass for His (new) Excellency at 8:30. I think that's a speed record for a brew at one of our events. (Even at Pennsic, all 2 long hot weeks of it, they didn't make it through a measly 8 kegs--I came home with 3 gallons of brown ale. If they drank everything like they hit the Kolsch last night, I couldn't bring enough beer to Pennsic--we'd need another truck!)

So all was well for that; I was well pleased with the responses I got. Further, I've got my handout pretty much done for University next weekend; I just need to go over it through the week until I've got it down pat. Not a problem. Then, the next weekend, it's Brewing Time! Perhaps a Kolsch is in order...

Another Upcoming Brew Day!

2008-09-24T18:51:00.002-04:00

So, I have my Lady Wife's permission to have another Brew Day next month, although I suppose it could technically count for the month after. Yes, once the kiddies have gone to bed (following their trick-or-treating run), I'll be firing up the burners for the (hopefully) First Annual Halloween Midnight Brew!

I haven't completely settled on what to brew, exactly: right now, I'm leaning towards doing a nice, big Holiday Spiced Ale to lay down for next year's holiday season. I'll already have (hopefully) a new cider going for next year, meaning we'll be drinking the one currently in bottles here shortly. I'll have my lagering chest back after the Baronial Birthday this weekend, so a lager is a possibility. I rather thought, though, that given the (hopefully) annual nature of this event, a bigger beer to age until next year would be the best choice. (My other option is to do something that will be ready for January's event, but I'm not sure I want to go that way with a Brewing Event, when I can do something like that for a regular Brew Day.)

Anyway, that's my thinking at present. Stay tuned for further updates!

Revamped Beer Cart

2008-09-21T12:36:00.010-04:00

So, despite the (torn? strained?) muscle in my back, yesterday was spent re-engineering part of my Beer Cart (from which I serve my brews at events). I had initially only intended to make a 'cooler' for the chill plate (a box for the plate & the ice), but ended up re-engineering much of the 'working' part of the box. To wit, I switched which end of the cart has the tower, 'tweaked' how the non-tower side hinges with the cart, and built the box. Pictures follow:
This is the 'cooler' for the chill-plate. I know, black isn't necessarily the best color for it, but it'll be inside the cart when in use, so solar-thermal heat absorption shouldn't be too big of an issue.

This is the finished 'serving top.' The tower is now matte black and a couple of inches shorter, which (due to the geometry of things) actually buys me a bit of room inside the cart. To compensate for the color (again, thermal absorption) I cut up some of the blue styrofoam insulation scraps and stuffed the tower full of 'em.

I also managed to get everything hooked up & tested; no leaks were noted. I may have to play a bit more with serving pressure from the CO2 tank--the lines overall are longer than I really like, but that's unavoidable with the plate--but I should be able to make this work. As mentioned, the cart will see its first 'live' use at Lochmere's Baronial Birthday this coming weekend! (Now, to make sure the beer is properly carbonated...)

Long, strange trip...

2008-09-18T18:47:00.004-04:00

Or, at the very least, a long, strange week. I've been in a class all week, touching up some of my work skills. In addition, I'm overcoming a sinus infection that had me literally bedridden on Tuesday. With all of this, I haven't had much energy or motivation for beer (gasp! horror!), or for blogging about it.

Some of the other excitement for the week involved a glitch in the SCA event registration system (or, at the least, a miscommunication within it) that got the event I'm autocratting in January bumped from the schedule. I'm not certain yet how much action will be required on my part to fix it--the email I got regarding the issue seemed to indicate that it'll be taken care of by my Seneschal, but at this point I'm going to coordinate closely with him, as I don't want anything else to slip through the cracks.

Long weekend

2008-09-14T18:29:00.003-04:00

So, our long-awaited 'replacement yurt' arrived over the week (the reason for the name is a long story, best saved for another post). Its frame is much bulkier than the original's was; its canvas/cover is much lighter. The folks who made it (about whom I'll converse with folks via email, not in an open forum such as this) neglected to 'create' a set of instructions for it; several (necessary) holes were also undrilled. All that aside, I'm pleased to (finally) have it. Saturday was spent setting it up, only to take it back down immediately. Today we've been extremely busy running errands, not least of which to include taking the yurt to the trailer. This required reorganizing the contents of the trailer.

Additionally, I've been working (in my copious free time) on the Beer Cart. I've got to replace the beer lines; I'm also going to be building a cold compartment for the chill plate. I've several ideas for that. Other minor changes include a latch for the access door, to keep it from swinging open all the time as it had done.

To top all of this off, my Lady Wife has had a pile of sewing to do; we've had to clean the house up for an A&S Night we're hosting tomorrow, and I've got bunches of stuff from research materials I need to make copies of, in addition to working on my class for University.

So, to make a long, rambling post even longer, I've been too busy this weekend to do much posting; hopefully, things will smooth out this week, and I'll be able to add a bit more.

My 'rig'...

2008-09-10T20:55:00.004-04:00

All this time, and I just realized that I haven't really described my brewing system (which I refer to as the 'rig,' and my Lady Wife calls the 'monstrosity'--I actually like her term better). I'll give just a verbal description for now, and in various posts to come, I'll detail the individual pieces one at a time, the better to explain why I've got what I've got, and where I'm going with it.

I do almost entirely all-grain brewing at present. (I don't really count my wines into my brewing, as they're completely from kits; I'm moving more into doing fruit wines, but going very slowly with them, as I find that they're finicky.) I started my all-grain adventures fairly recently, back in 2004 (coincidentally, that's also when I really got into the SCA, after playing off-and-on for a number of years). The first batches were done on the stovetop, using plastic buckets for a mash tun and various things of that nature. My wife was quickly persuaded to allow me a turkey-fryer, the better to move me outside. One fryer became two, and about two years ago I finally built myself a three-tier brewstand (the original Monstrosity).

After a number of brews, and many minor upgrades (bigger burners, kettle upgrades, mash-tun tweaks), I finally (early this year) broke down and converted my three-tier stand to a two-tier. It will remain thus for as long as I own it... I much prefer not having to lift a kettle of water onto an 8-foot-high 'shelf' (where the HLT was originally situated).

The rest of my 'system' includes a 70-quart Ice Cube cooler for a mash-tun (detailed in an earlier post here)--it replaced a 40-quart Gott-style cooler. My kettle is a 10-gallon Stainless Steel pot purchased from a local restaurant supply warehouse. For a HLT, I use the 8-gallon aluminum pot that came with one of the original turkey fryers. For heat, I've got two LP-fired banjo burners, each at present plumbed to its own propane tank. A home-built immersion chiller and a March pump round out the important bits. Again, I'll detail the parts in later posts.

My brews are kegged (save the *very* rare exception); I've got eight 5-gallon 'Cornelius' kegs. I lager the occasional brew in a chest-freezer with a temp controller. I've got glass carboys enough for seven brews in various stages (eight, if one is getting kegged soon). Plus an assortment of other miscellaneous bits...

All in all, I'd guesstimate that my gear has run me upwards of $2000, probably not much more than $2500. But then, I like my beer just that much.

Recommended books

2008-09-09T17:57:00.004-04:00

So, I've been asked (again) what books I recommend for brewers. This isn't really an easy question, as there are so many books out there, and so many brewers, with so many systems, and so many different levels of experience. I'll give a rundown of what I'm telling people lately, and you can make up your own minds...

First and foremost, there's John Palmer's How To Brew. This book is an absolute must. Yes, I know a version of it is available online; do yourself a favor and buy the hard-copy (there's an amazon link off to your right...). Palmer goes through all the steps of brewing, starting with a simple extract brew, then leading you up through extract-with-grains and partial mash to going completely all-grain. It's very informative, explaining why the different steps do the things that they do, and which things exactly you'll want to do with which brewing style. There are recipes. There are some quite interesting nomographs, for those of you who are into that sort of thing. There are even descriptions of how to make some of your own gear (much like what I've built, although certainly there are others out there who can make it look prettier). If I could only have one book on brewing, this would certainly be in the running for 'the One.'

The second one in my list is by Jamil Zainasheff and John Palmer, and is called Brewing Classic Styles. This one doesn't really tell you much about how to brew, but it certainly will help you in deciding what to brew. It gives (at least) one proven recipe (in extract and all-grain versions) for every style of beer listed by the BJCP. I've brewed a half-dozen or so of these, and thus far they've all turned out fantastically. The recipes give a good starting point for recipes--by which I mean, if you're trying to brew a particular style, you need only 'tweak' the recipe to fit your setup; if you're trying something new, you can find a recipe that's close, and build on it from there. Once you have your brewing system pretty well established, and are comfortable with brewing beers, pick this one up--you'll be glad you did.

Third in the 'Grand Triumvirate' is Ray Daniels' Designing Great Beers. This one again is for the more advanced brewer, not so much for the beginner. It goes into many of the styles in pretty good depth, analyzing a bevy of award-winning brews from each style. It was from this book that I first learned of the "bittering to gravity ratio" concept, which has actually informed some of my brewing decisions for the last several years (although I haven't really mentioned it much). It's not exactly a smooth read, being slightly technical, but if you want to improve your brewing, it's certainly worth the time.

That's all I have time for at the moment; I'll cover some more of my favorite books in later posts.

A day late

2008-09-07T14:33:00.005-04:00

But, I survived. Brewday went fairly well, considering--torrential downpours during the first half, with rather strong gusts of wind afterward. Probably burned through more of the 'main burner' propane tank than I really like. First experience with the new mash-tun, too; it's nice, for being able to hold much more grain, but it'll take some adjusting to. Efficiencies were somewhat low for what I'm used to (I was typically hitting around 80%; the 70/- got 70% efficiency). Didn't hurt anything--the recipes were geared for 70%, so everything came out 'as planned,' sorta.

There ended up being three of us. My 'usual' partner-in-crime, my friend doing the barleywine, and my friend learning how to do all of this. All in all, I'd say the whole thing went fairly well. My next planned brew day will be the second weekend of October, I believe; I'll have to re-set the countdown.

Tomorrow's Brew Day

2008-09-05T19:24:00.003-04:00

Okay, so I'm all prepped (pretty much) for brewing tomorrow. The plan, for me at least, is to brew up a nice Scottish 70/-; I'm aiming for an OG of about 1.038, but will probably go over. The plan is to go with Golden Promise for the base malt (a Scottish malt for a Scottish ale), and add a bit of roast malt (ground really fine) at the end of the mash--just in time for sparging. That should provide color, without adding a lot of roasty bitterness/astringency. We'll see how that goes. Not much in the way of hops--3/4 ounce of Kent Goldings at 60 minutes, just for bitterness. Finally, I'll ferment as cool as I can arrange (I may even empty out the lagering chest)--probably around 60F--with the Edinborough strain of yeast.

Then there's the second batch: a nice Barleywine. This one looks to be interesting--it's a 'guest brew,' being brewed by/with a friend of mine. The recipe itself is from a friend of hers, and it will be a real test of the new mash tun--it takes a whole lot of grain. It should be interesting.

Also, I'm expecting a couple of friends to show up (other than the Barleywine Brewer mentioned above)--one of whom *may* brew something; he might even be bringing someone new to watch. The other one is interested in beginning to brew himself; I've been trying to drag him to a brewing session for about 2 years or so now. Finally, success! My evil plan comes to fruition! (heh heh)

I'll post more on this tomorrow, after brewing a bit.

Two memes

2008-09-04T20:24:00.002-04:00

So, I've noticed two memes of sorts, lately, in the news. The most recent is an interest in things Belgian, particularly the Lambic variety. I can't complain, really--maybe it will spur others who otherwise wouldn't stray from the Bud-Miller-Coors 'herd.' The overall view has been positive, although some of it has been a little backhanded. All the same, I'll admit that the Belgian brews aren't for everyone: the most well-known are either strong and/or sour; nearly all the brews from that particular area of the world are a bit 'odd' by most standards. I personally think that they're all good, taken at teh right time and place--but then, that can be said of nearly anything.

The other big meme going around, and one that I've been seeing for a little while now, is a renewed interest in 'smaller' beers. Not 'lite' beers, but the classic 'session' beers--going no stronger, generally, than about 4.5% alcohol by volume, generally hovering around 3.5%. They're certainly just as flavorful as their 'bigger' brethren; but for as 'normal' as they are, they seem to be tougher to brew. At the very least, tougher to brew well, particularly by homebrewers--we tend to go for the big beers, the 'Imperial' versions of whatever. Even going for the Scottish 70/- I'm planning for this weekend is a bit out of the ordinary; I don't know the last time I brewed something that was under about a 5% abv. Here again, I can't really complain--such things will typically only stretch the brewers' skills.

Silly idea about wood...

2008-09-03T19:29:00.003-04:00

So, a thought struck me as I was drifting off to sleep last night.

While the current material of choice for wooden casks is white oak, this certainly wasn't always the case. (I know that 'traditional' balsamic vinegar, for instance, is aged in as many as three different woods.) I would imagine that liquid-tight casks could be made from nearly any good, close-grained hardwood (fruitwoods, mostly). What sort of wood character would have been imparted to the brew by these?

Nowadays, we homebrewers have started playing a bit with oaked beers, adding oak chips to our fermenters & letting them soak in the brew for a while...

And this is when the light bulb went off: I've got a bag of apple-wood chips (nominally for smoking things) that I could use in the place of oak chips. I almost certainly wouldn't get the depth of character that I'd get with oak; I imagine it would be significantly more subtle, and I'd have to be careful what brew exactly I used it with, to not overpower the wood. But it would be interesting. And I can easily get similar bags of chips of different woods--cherry, maple, etc.

I've simply gotta try this. Something for me to play with over the winter brewing season, I should think. I imagine a nice Vienna lager, with maybe either apple and/or maple. If preliminary tests go well, perhaps a brown ale (or even a porter?) with some cherry.

Holy Foam, Beerman!

2008-09-02T19:58:00.002-04:00

So, last night I 'floated' my keg of Pilsner. Not a problem--I happen to have another one that's been aging for a while.

I decided, though, to tap (briefly) the Irish Red Ale I did back in April (at Night On The Town). I intend to serve it (officially) at the Baronial Birthday, at the end of the month, and I wanted to check on it--make sure it's worthy, as it were. The beer has been kegged for quite some time, and the keg has been sitting under the stairs in my basement, nice and cool, since shortly after it was kegged (about 2 months, if memory serves).

A comedy of errors ensued.

First, I broke one of my cardinal rules: Always connect the beer-out line first, bleed some pressure, and pour a pint (clear the lines, let off excess CO2, etc). Then, when all seems OK, hook up the gas-in line.

A stream of swear-words later, and after disconnecting the gas-in line (and doing what I could to clear the backed-up beer from it), I set about clearing up some of the sprayed beer from the floor and side of the fridge under the stairs. Remembering the above rule, I connected the beer-out line, and went to pour myself a glass.

It would seem that beer under great pressure can jet out of the tap, redirect itself off the bottom of the glass, and fling itself across the hand pulling the tap, across the tap tower, and against the facing wall... A few more swear-words later, and a bit of mopping up with a bar-towel, and I eased up the pressure relief valve to bleed some of the CO2.

A final, careful pull on the tap, and: foam comes pouring out, rather milkshake-like in density and flow. Well, at least a huge mess wasn't made. After allowing the foam to settle and dissipate a bit into beer (only about a quarter of a glass), I took a sip... It's not bad, allowing that most of the bitterness is from carbonic acid, caused by excess CO2. So, I'm slowly bleeding pressure off, a little at a time, and hopefully by the end of the week I'll be able to draw a regular pint of the ale and check its actual quality. Even if it's not good (which I think would require a thorough cleaning of the keg, and probably a replacement of the gaskets), at the least I've still got several other brews that are kegged and can be brought as backup.

Dry run of the new Mash Tun

2008-09-01T19:15:00.003-04:00

So, I got everything assembled last night, and filled the tun with a bunch o' water. This was both to make sure that the spigot's gaskets were holding (no leaking around the edges), and to check that the laws of physics weren't being broken inside--that it would indeed draw the water all the way down to the tops of the manifold slots.

Worked pretty well, except for some slight air leakage around the connection between the manifold and the inside end of the spigot--the blame for which I could easily lay at the feet of a lack of teflon tape to really seal it in there. So, not normally a problem--I've got a roll of teflon tape for just such situations...

Which led to my cleaning & straightening about 80% of my brewing storage area, looking for the !*@&%^* teflon tape. Not a bad idea, in and of itself, as I really needed to do such a cleaning (and now I really need to actually finish the cleaning), but not exactly how I had intended to spend my holiday. Anyway, long about noon, I finally broke down and asked my Dear Lady Wife whether she had seen my teflon tape--and, as such things are wont to work out, she had. (For the curious, it was in my truck, in a 'tool kit' she had put together to go help out a friend.)

Long story even longer, I managed to clean out a bunch of crap I didn't remember that I had (and that I didn't need), providing me with space in the storage area to clear off a bit of the bar, which is always a good thing. Now, to get my Dear Lady Wife to stop piling books & such on the comfy chair down here, so I might be able to relax in the quiet with a pint & a nice book...

More toys!

2008-08-31T14:01:00.004-04:00

This is my new lautering manifold. It's not perfect, but it'll do, I hope--its inaugural run will be on the 6 September Brew Day. The whole thing is of a piece, except for the connection to the drain fitting (the uppermost bit of copper, in the picture). So, it'll just pull out for cleaning. I started with a hacksaw yesterday putting in the slots (on the underside, not visible in the picture), but got smart today & pulled out the jigsaw with a metal blade. The whole thing, when attached in my new mash tun (a 70-qt Ice Cube cooler), sits evenly along the bottom. I'm probably going to get a bit of fluid loss with the design (it has to angle up to get to the drain), but as long as my grasp of fluid dynamics is good, I figure it'll be the same as or less than my fluid losses in the cylindrical cooler using the Bazooka screen.

My birthday haul...

2008-08-29T19:04:00.004-04:00

Yes, today is my birthday. Woohoo! 37 grand years. Anyway, I thought I'd show off a bit of the 'goodies' I've picked up today...

This would be from my mother-in-law... A bench-top bottle-capper, two (!) siphon starters, an assortment of in-line valves, some hose clamps, a hose cutter, and a 'sure-screen'. It's all got its use, but some of it will admittedly be staying in the plastic for now...

I also swung an Igloo Ice Cube cooler (70 qt) to replace my 10-gallon Gott-style cooler for the mash tun, and made some new liquid pick-ups based on this month's Brew Your Own! magazine. The latter were a necessity--the HLT didn't have any sort of pick-up at all, so I was losing about a half gallon of hot water per pot; the mash-tun was marginally better, but its pick-up was in the center of the pot (which sucks when a whirlpool is your primary 'filtration'). Moving the pick-up to the edge of the pot will help immensely, I think.

Then there was the sack of Golden Promise malt--but I was going to get that, anyway. :)

Time counts down

2008-08-27T16:27:00.003-04:00

As I approach the next Brew Day (the 6th of September), the Lochmere Baronial Birthday (the 27th of September), and Fall University (the 4th of October). At these, I'll be brewing, serving a brew, and discussing all-grain brewing, respectively.

The most complex of the three, from my current perspective, is the class at University. I'm not sure what level my 'students' will be, or how many of them I'll have. I don't know how in-depth I'll be able to or will have to go. Right now, I'm aiming at something rather conversational, easing an extract brewer into brewing all-grain. I mean, really, the only difference is the mash--for an extract batch, the extract manufacturer has done the mash and sparge for you. The question, really, is will I have to go into the enzymatic activity (why the mash works), or just describe the process (broadly how the mash works)? Hopefully, I'll be able to get with Sorcha about this beforehand.

Completely Off-Topic...

2008-08-25T21:51:00.002-04:00

In loving memory of Shiva, one of the best cats to ever grace us with his presence. Taken by chylothoraxis this morning. Catch yourself some tasty mice in your next life, big guy.

RIP. 2001-2008

What's On Tap, 24 August

2008-08-24T10:25:00.004-04:00

OK, here's what I have tapped, kegged, and in various stages of fermenting/aging:

On Tap:
Pils-style Lager
Northern English Brown Ale

Kegged:
Pils-style Lager
Irish Red Ale

To Be Kegged Today:
Kolsch
Sweet Stout
Belgian Dubbel
Dunkelweizen
Pumpkin Pie Spice Ale

Fermenting:
Lambic
Foxglove Chardonnay Pyment
Radish Mead
Cherry Wine

What's coming up...

2008-08-22T22:04:00.000-04:00

I've been asked to do a 1-2 hour class on all-grain brewing for the Atlantian Fall University in October. Shouldn't be a problem, beyond deciding how basic to make it. Do I go as elementary as explaining that 'beer is made (broadly) from malt, hops, water, and yeast,' or take that as a known? I've got ideas; and whatever level I decide to take it, I can always 'ad-lib' it at other levels of detail.

I'm also looking at a Brewing Day on the 6th of September. I haven't decided yet what to brew; I'm leaning towards a Scottish Ale, probably something in the 50/- range. I'm not certain if I'll try for a second brew. I'm open to suggestions... I'll have room in the lagering chest, so maybe a bock or a helles.

Welcome to the Blog...

2008-08-21T18:52:00.000-04:00

Okay, this is the first post in a new blog. It's always difficult to get something like this started; hopefully, I'll be able to keep it rolling for a while.

I'm Misha, and I'm a brewer. Not a large-scale, macro-swill, multi-billion-dollar brewer; I'm a homebrewer. I make about 5 gallons at a time, and I brew what I feel like drinking. So far, I've been pretty successful... At least, most of my friends seem to think so. Most of this blog will deal with my brewing.

I also participate in something called the Society for Creative Anachronism, or SCA, a group of history buffs who get together and "play medieval" from time to time. In particular, within the Society framework, I'm a Russian merchant from Novgorod, circa 1550. Parts of my blog will deal with the SCA.

Don't worry, you won't need a scorecard to keep up with this (I hope). As this progresses, it'll start to make more sense.

I hope you stick around for the ride!