tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15419399380092319282023-11-16T10:22:41.073-08:00About the beerA home brewer blogs about winning the 2009 Sam Adams Patriot Homebrew Competition and about beer and brewing in general.David Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17281985750976667595noreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1541939938009231928.post-38260335418596691582014-11-25T09:37:00.002-08:002014-11-25T11:46:39.388-08:00Moving up to All GrainMy friend Andy wrote:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0.$end:0:$0:0">
I am just starting to investigate mashing so don't really know what is
involved. ... I was at a brew
store today and they pointed at a large modified tank cooler that they
were using for mashing. I guess I would be interested in what the proper
equipment would be in doing my own mash and also if the gains over
purchasing extracts are worth the additional investments in mashing
equipment.</span></span></span></blockquote>
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0.$end:0:$0:0"></span></span></span><br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0.$end:0:$0:0">It wasn't that long ago that I was in the same situation as Andy, and I thought I would respond to this in a more permanent way, in hopes it will help others. </span></span></span><br />
<h2>
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0.$end:0:$0:0">Why change from extract to all-grain?</span></span></span></h2>
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0.$end:0:$0:0"></span></span></span>
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0.$end:0:$0:0">I made the change because of two things:</span></span></span><br />
<ol>
<li><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0.$end:0:$0:0">All grain was cheaper per batch than extract (after you figure in the cost of some additional equipment). The cost savings is because you are buying grain and extracting the sugars (mashing) yourself, rather than buying LME or DME. It costs me $10-20 for a 5 gallon batch of all malt beer (adding fruit or other adjuncts might add to the cost). DME is close to double the cost, LME is a bit more, I think.</span></span></span></li>
<li><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0.$end:0:$0:0">Control over the process. When you mash you can control whether you get more or fewer long chain sugars (controlled by mash temp). That's really the main thing. When you use extract you are at the receiving end of someone else's process, and they are mashing at a specific temp (probably 152 deg F) which is sort of a typical medium bodied beer. </span></span></span></li>
</ol>
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0.$end:0:$0:0"><br />In making the change I gave up a couple things, too:</span></span></span><br />
<ol>
<li><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0.$end:0:$0:0">Time. On average it takes my 6 hours to brew a batch of beer using the all grain method, where it took 3 when doing straight extract, and maybe 3.5 hours doing a partial mash. So one question to ask yourself is whether your time is more valuable.</span></span></span></li>
<li><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0.$end:0:$0:0">Space. I now have about 3-4 times the equipment that I did when I did when I was doing extract. Some of that is stuff I would have gotten do do extract anyway, but mash tun with a false bottom is not one of them, nor is a hot-liquor tank. It takes a lot more space to store that stuff!</span></span></span></li>
</ol>
<h2>
<b><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0.$end:0:$0:0">So what's the proper equipment?</span></span></span></b></h2>
<h3>
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0.$end:0:$0:0"> Brew in a Bag</span></span></span></h3>
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0.$end:0:$0:0">The latest "innovation" in home brewing came out of Australia, where it is very popular. It is called <a href="http://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Brew_in_a_Bag" target="_blank">"Brew In A Bag</a>", and if I were starting all-grain again, this is what I would do. I use it now for small batches. Basically, you use a single pot to mash and boil. You can do this by using a fine-mesh bag (<a href="http://www.brewinabag.com/">http://www.brewinabag.com/</a>) to hold line the pot and hold your grain during the mashing process, when the mash is over, you simply (but with great effort, if you are making a big batch) remove the bag with all your wet grain and let it drain back into the pot.</span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0.$end:0:$0:0"><a href="http://cdn2.brewersfriend.com/biab5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://cdn2.brewersfriend.com/biab5.jpg" /></a></span></span></span></div>
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0.$end:0:$0:0"> With my 1.5 gallon batches on the stove, this is no big deal. With a 5 gallon batch and 10 lbs of grain (dry weight), I would need a pulley, which I really can't install in my kitchen. Why do it? Simplicity! If you are brewing outside, or in a basement, you just need to have something over the brew pot that you can use to remove the bag. Your equipment needs are small, and you get the same results as with any all-grain technique. However, you have to have a big enough pot to handle mashing with ALL the liquid you need to brew, and the extraction may be slightly less efficient than when you are fly sparging, so you need a little more grain (negligible cost, however).</span></span></span><br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0.$end:0:$0:0"></span></span></span><br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0.$end:0:$0:0"></span></span></span><br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0.$end:0:$0:0"></span></span></span><br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0.$end:0:$0:0"></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<h3>
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0.$end:0:$0:0">3-vessel Setups </span></span></span></h3>
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2b.$mid=11416889911799=2b80f923e07f90de397.2:0.0.0.0.0.0.$end:0:$0:0"> The more traditional method is to use 3 vessels:</span></span></span><br />
<ol>
<li>Hot Liquor tank - holds your hot water for mashing and sparging (requires a heat source). I have a 7.5 gallon aluminum turkey fryer pot that I put on top of my gas stove. When I was doing extract, this was my boil kettle.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhazTxrb_cePuvMutPdrxvmxiET6WRmaZhKCEb1La4hRYEBoWELu-Aqm0w4eLYeNwCIDdhlJ-5cohUeQnkRp49lPjvzachdLBSPx-DBOSxICbOyLJBreonG1zoH8MuNa_jLMotqFfyQf0Y/s1600/Brewing+015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhazTxrb_cePuvMutPdrxvmxiET6WRmaZhKCEb1La4hRYEBoWELu-Aqm0w4eLYeNwCIDdhlJ-5cohUeQnkRp49lPjvzachdLBSPx-DBOSxICbOyLJBreonG1zoH8MuNa_jLMotqFfyQf0Y/s1600/Brewing+015.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
</li>
<li>Mash/Lauter tun - This holds your grain at mash temp (or temperatures, if you are step-mashing). You can control mash temperatures in several ways,depending on your approach: direct heat, indirect heat (HERMS or RIMS, which circulate hot water from your hot liquor tank through a coil to heat the mash or circulate your mash water through a coil in the hot liquor tank to heat it), or infusions of hot water. Yup, it is confusing! I have a converted 10 gallon Rubbermaid cooler<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjeuwUGD-GijYyHHM1AP6PZQ9qyN_zC-InvODXNthBkR5EDNgbHZTCTKyIAliJEpcU7lY4hMcycZCC7tDdTLhAgW_c5EiwBvdreoe8Ijq-po7DDheeRWC6-P990NSaYBJ3Z5eiOS4DjX0/s1600/Brewing+004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjeuwUGD-GijYyHHM1AP6PZQ9qyN_zC-InvODXNthBkR5EDNgbHZTCTKyIAliJEpcU7lY4hMcycZCC7tDdTLhAgW_c5EiwBvdreoe8Ijq-po7DDheeRWC6-P990NSaYBJ3Z5eiOS4DjX0/s1600/Brewing+004.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
with a stainless false bottom, and use the infusion method. This way I don't need heat.</li>
<li>Boil kettle - this is where you boil your wort, simply enough. It needs to be big enough to do a full boil, which means roughly 50% -75% larger than your batch size. I have a 9.5 gallon stainless pot that is about 17" in diameter and covers two burners on my stove.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKQuIp054Rx9RqfCCLSx1tmw0klbHyg_DKwBDGjdsO30ooPji3YQj7Nr_ctK4ltgobHlFqDXMEsm80eS7CEZoVdUUpDfyGSaD-RJxbotpPN_YzebleFoAJmVXg6JQyp6jWBH5FUgxoN0Y/s1600/IMAG0053.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKQuIp054Rx9RqfCCLSx1tmw0klbHyg_DKwBDGjdsO30ooPji3YQj7Nr_ctK4ltgobHlFqDXMEsm80eS7CEZoVdUUpDfyGSaD-RJxbotpPN_YzebleFoAJmVXg6JQyp6jWBH5FUgxoN0Y/s1600/IMAG0053.jpg" height="191" width="320" /></a></div>
</li>
</ol>
Now, it is not sufficient just to get the 3 vessels, you also need a way to transfer the wort and hot liquor around. I started with the gravity fed method, which was highly dangerous! Because you have to get the hot liquor tank higher than everything else, you need to use milk crates or some sort of structure (there are lots of plans for this online) to create a stepped system, the lowest level of which is for the boil kettle and is high enough off the ground that you can just run off the boil kettle (which must be on a burner) into your fermenter. Everything else goes up from there! I was using a 7 gallon bottling bucket as my hot liquor tank, and had to climb on a stepladder with 7 gallons of hot water to put it up on its platform--talk about dangerous!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT7WqdSIf9nawCD676W0dXbQvvAtj9v6eVtzSMskMm9X6wFcqmEokPLdlWQUWd-CjKADOEyN6V7tmWfYwcFwG3DG5nUFvX5dF9ZjUdSeFqS9qauUrZYXrtB2leQVjfWoQKbLrV61FsR0c/s1600/IMAG0088.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT7WqdSIf9nawCD676W0dXbQvvAtj9v6eVtzSMskMm9X6wFcqmEokPLdlWQUWd-CjKADOEyN6V7tmWfYwcFwG3DG5nUFvX5dF9ZjUdSeFqS9qauUrZYXrtB2leQVjfWoQKbLrV61FsR0c/s1600/IMAG0088.jpg" height="320" width="191" /></a></div>
Better still is to use a pump! Not only does this save your back, but it will most likely keep you from getting scalded by falling 170 degree water! Probably the best $100 I ever spent! In the picture above, you can see the pump moving the wort from the mash/lauter tun to the brew pot, while the hot liquor tank gravity feeds sparge water into the mash/lauter tun. This simplifies the process considerably because you can push liquids uphill.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Brewing Structures</h4>
Some folks use brewing structures, which seem to me to best fit outdoors, especially if you can keep them in a shed or garage. These are permanently put together and often have burners and gas lines welded into them, along with pumps and control panels. The Brutus 10 <a href="https://www.blogger.com/(http://www.alenuts.com/alenuts/brutus.html">(http://www.alenuts.com/alenuts/brutus.html</a>)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.alenuts.com/alenuts/brutus_files/brutus80.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.alenuts.com/alenuts/brutus_files/brutus80.jpg" /></a></div>
is an example of an "open source" plan for such things, and if you would rather buy one, there are commercial examples like the Ruby Street Brewery (<a href="http://www.rubystreetbrewing.com/tp60/page.asp?ID=318741">http://www.rubystreetbrewing.com/tp60/page.asp?ID=318741</a>) which comes in a variety of sizes, as well as others made by Blichmann and More Beer, which are all excellent and work well. The biggest issue is that you need to have the space and good ventilation (hence garages, and outdoor brewing). My ex-wife kicked me out of the house (for brewing) because she didn't like the smell of wort boiling, so I ended up on the deck with my turkey fryer burner and my gravity fed set up. I aspired to something like Brutus, for sure!<br />
<br />
<h4>
Electric Brewing</h4>
The other option is to go electric! My friend Mike has an electric brewery he made himself, and it is really fantastic! <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijXU7DnQgxGD7m36yoV1t_zgnRpVrRv46t0_QoIBq3fTSBWtOt6t34CMk1YVC0h7Ftp353RDJrM108IwLrYDogPPJzIQ6o3oH44rOsaAsKu4CamihHxW977DfNaYTnZuEgsYNrxj4VBmY/s1600/2014-06-21+11.11.21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijXU7DnQgxGD7m36yoV1t_zgnRpVrRv46t0_QoIBq3fTSBWtOt6t34CMk1YVC0h7Ftp353RDJrM108IwLrYDogPPJzIQ6o3oH44rOsaAsKu4CamihHxW977DfNaYTnZuEgsYNrxj4VBmY/s1600/2014-06-21+11.11.21.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></div>
We can brew in his basement,as you can see. He has 2 pumps to circulate wort and transfer from place to place. Best of all, on a cold winter day, you aren't out in the snow and ice, you can be warm in the basement with no worry about exhaust fumes. You can buy or make (<a href="http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/">http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/</a>) these systems, but if you are going to make your own, you need to be really comfortable working with high-voltage systems in wet conditions--not for me! Next time I have a basement, I'm planning to buy the electric brewery equipment.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Conclusion</h2>
So, in the end, what do you need, Andy? It really depends how you want to do your brewing, and how much you want to spend for your initial investment. You can buy a lot of this stuff used on Craigslist as people either stop brewing or move up to some other system. Of course you can support your LHBS or buy online. I bought most of my stuff at Austin Homebrewing or Northern Brewer. David Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17281985750976667595noreply@blogger.com2Lowell, MA, USA42.6334247 -71.316171842.539974199999996 -71.4775333 42.7268752 -71.154810300000008tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1541939938009231928.post-33009878723018677052014-08-19T18:37:00.000-07:002014-08-19T18:37:07.907-07:00How I stopped worrying and learned to love the fruit!<b>Raspberry Porter!</b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<br />
For years I have been planning to brew a chocolate porter. I found a recipe in Zymurgy (July/August 2007) for a chocolate -cherry porter shortly after I started brewing, and I filed it away against the time when I could actually make it happen. It sounded great, but got lost somewhere in my pile of recipes that I had also saved against the time when I could get around to brewing them. Oops!<br />
<br />
Finally, last year I bought a can of raspberry puree, with the intention of making a chocolate raspberry porter--something in flavor that I imagined would be like the muffins of the same sort. This year, I finally got to make the beer, and it turned out to be both better, and easier than I imagined.<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Step 1: Brew the base beer</span></h3>
I had to start with a recipe, and found one on the internet that sounded interesting. Not the Zymurgy recipe, but another porter recipe, which I adapted a bit. Here it is:<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="full">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="BeerSmithTable" style="width: 100%px;"><caption>Ingredients</caption><tbody>
<tr><th align="left" width="22%"><b> Amt</b></th><th align="left" width="50%"><b> Name</b></th><th align="left" width="11%"><b> Type</b></th><th align="left" width="4%"><b> #</b></th><th align="left" width="11%"><b> %/IBU</b></th></tr>
<tr><td align="left">10 lbs</td><td align="left">Pale Malt, Maris Otter (Thomas Fawcett) (3.0 SRM)</td><td align="left">Grain</td><td align="left">1</td><td align="left">57.4 %</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left">2 lbs 8.0 oz</td><td align="left">Munich Malt (9.0 SRM)</td><td align="left">Grain</td><td align="left">2</td><td align="left">14.4 %</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left">12.0 oz</td><td align="left">Caramel Malt - 60L (Cargill) (60.0 SRM)</td><td align="left">Grain</td><td align="left">3</td><td align="left">4.3 %</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left">9.6 oz</td><td align="left">Melanoidin (Weyermann) (30.0 SRM)</td><td align="left">Grain</td><td align="left">4</td><td align="left">3.4 %</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left">8.0 oz</td><td align="left">Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM)</td><td align="left">Grain</td><td align="left">5</td><td align="left">2.9 %</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left">0.70 oz</td><td align="left">Northern Brewer [9.70 %] - Boil 60.0 min</td><td align="left">Hop</td><td align="left">6</td><td align="left">26.5 IBUs</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left">0.50 oz</td><td align="left">Northern Brewer [9.70 %] - Boil 30.0 min</td><td align="left">Hop</td><td align="left">7</td><td align="left">9.6 IBUs</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left">0.28 tsp</td><td align="left">Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins)</td><td align="left">Fining</td><td align="left">8</td><td align="left">-</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left">1.0 pkg</td><td align="left">SafAle English Ale (DCL/Fermentis #S-04) [23.66 ml]</td><td align="left">Yeast</td><td align="left">9</td><td align="left">-</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left">3 lbs 1.0 oz</td><td align="left">Red Raspberry Puree (12.0 SRM)</td><td align="left">Extract</td><td align="left">10</td><td align="left">17.6 %</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="full">
<h3>
Gravity, Alcohol Content and Color</h3>
<div class="col1">
<span class="item">Est Original Gravity:</span> 1.093 SG<br />
<span class="item">Est Final Gravity:</span> 1.023 SG<br />
<span class="item">Estimated Alcohol by Vol:</span> 9.3 %<br />
<span class="item">Bitterness:</span> 36.1 IBUs<br />
<span class="item">Est Color:</span> 25.5 SRM </div>
<div class="col2">
<span class="item">Measured Original Gravity:</span> 1.069 SG<br />
<span class="item">Measured Final Gravity:</span> 1.010 SG<br />
<span class="item">Actual Alcohol by Vol:</span> 7.8 %<br />
<span class="item">Calories:</span> 231.5 kcal/12oz </div>
<div class="col2">
</div>
<div class="col2">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="BeerSmithTable" style="width: 100%px;"></table>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Mash Steps</span></h3>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="BeerSmithTable" style="width: 100%px;"><tbody>
<tr><th align="left" width="19%"><b> Name</b></th><th align="left" width="54%"><b> Description</b></th><th align="left" width="12%"><b> Step Temperature</b></th><th align="left" width="12%"><b> Step Time</b></th></tr>
<tr><td align="left">Mash In</td><td align="left">Add 19.94 qt of water at 166.9 F</td><td align="left">152.0 F</td><td align="left">60 min</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left">Mash Out</td><td align="left">Add 10.05 qt of water at 206.2 F</td><td align="left">168.0 F</td><td align="left">10 min</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span class="item"><b>Sparge</b>:</span> Fly sparge with 1.47 gal water at 168.0 F </div>
<div class="col2">
</div>
</div>
What I wasn't thinking about was that this was already a high gravity recipe at 1.069--high for the style, anyway. On top of that, I was going to add Raspberry Puree that would add more gravity points on top of that to make it even stronger. Oh well, it would be a Raspberry imperial porter, I guess!<br />
<br />
So I brewed, and I fermented. And it finished at about the right final gravity, 1.020. The biggest trick was managing the temperature using a cooler and regular additions of ice to keep it under 70 degrees. The flavor and mouthfeel weren't quite what I imagined, being a bit thinner and less roasty than I anticipated. However it was good!<br />
<br />
<h3>
<b>Step 2: Secondary on Raspberry!
</b></h3>
For almost 3 weeks, the beer sat on<b> </b>raspberry puree. When I finally kegged it the gravity was 1.016, so another few percent of alcohol! I put it on CO2 at about 2.6 ATM for a couple of weeks<b>, </b>and it carbonated nicely.<br />
<br />
<h3>
<b>The results
</b></h3>
The beer has a really lovely raspberry flavor and aroma, but is not particularly sweet. It is really delicious, but<b> </b>does not have the chocolate overtones I would have liked<b>,</b> nor does it taste particularly like a porter. I think next time I brew it, I will change the base to be lower in gravity and use a robust porter as the starting point so it will have more of a standard porter starting point. Mind you, this is not a bad beer, but I expect if I were to enter it in a competition as a Raspberry Porter, I would get dinged because it did not taste like a porter, although the raspberry aroma and flavor are wonderful! <br />
This was actually not my first, but the first I did to really go with a bold fruit. Last year I co-brewed an apricot Saison with my friend Mike, and that also came out well, but apricot is such a mild flavored fruit, it was almost hidden.<br />
<br />
Please reply with your fruit beer experiences. I would love to hear what you have done that has worked, or not!David Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17281985750976667595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1541939938009231928.post-68169560027143499722014-07-08T13:24:00.000-07:002014-07-08T13:24:24.330-07:00The Importance of CalibrationSkipping neatly over the last twelve months since the AHA Conference in Philadelphia, it is time to get back to blogging. 2014 has been an interesting brewing year, and I will post on some other topic that have come up, but I wanted to start with one that is really critical, and I have been overlooking.<br />
<br />
When I started brewing, I started with extract and recipes that someone gave me. Since I was dealing with known quantities and gravities (add 6.6lbs of extract to 6 gallons of water), there was not a lot of need for calibration, as long as I could measure accurately.<br />
<br />
When I moved to all-grain brewing, things changed! Suddenly, it was much more complex, since the number of variables increased--something I understood at a high level, but didn't really appreciate. These are some of the things that affect your brewing:<br />
<ul>
<li>How good the crush of your malt is--finer isn't always better, you need intact husks to make a filter bed, etc.</li>
<li>Grain temperature</li>
<li>Weight of your mash tun (mine is a 10 gallon Rubbermaid cooler with a stainless steel false bottom) </li>
<li>What your strike water temperature is, and whether it will get your single infusion mash to the desired mash step temperature.</li>
<li>How big is your mash tun? Can you do a 5 gallon all-grain version of that Old Numbskull clone, or, because it would require 25lbs of grain, do you need to scale back the grain to 20lbs and plan to add some DME in the boil?</li>
<li>How much dead space is there in your mash tun, and how much water will the grain absorb? How much extra strike/mashout/sparge water do you need to get 8 gallons in the brew kettle?</li>
<li>What is your boil off rate? In other words, how much water will boil out of your wort each hour? This is critical, and it is affected by the strength of your boil, geometry of your kettle (as in how much surface area). A short fat kettle may boil off more than a tall skinny one because there is less surface are in the skinny kettle, even if they hold the same volume).</li>
<li>How much wort will the hops absorb?</li>
<li>How much dead space is there in your kettle? That is, when you open the valve in the bottom of your kettle, and let all the wort run out, how much will be left in the bottom? This shows a dip-tube to reduce the amount of dead space and get every last drop of wort that you can! <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://joekusterer.x10.mx/diptube3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://joekusterer.x10.mx/diptube3.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
</li>
</ul>
Whew! That's a ton to worry about, and that's why we often use brewing software. When I started on all-grain, I bought a copy of <a href="http://www.promash.com/" target="_blank">ProMash</a>, because that's what the BFD club members I talked to were using. I figured out all my parameters, and hey, everything worked. Every so often I swapped out equipment, which caused some minor changes, but things worked pretty well until I changed my brewing software to <a href="http://beersmith.com/" target="_blank">BeerSmith</a> and bought new carboys.<br />
<br />
Why would carboys cause problems? Well, I switched from glass to the plastic kind because of two things:<br />
<ul>
<li>The weight of the glass carboys is a pain. I'm really not interested in lugging so much around and risking my back!</li>
<li>Breakage! I read some stories about broken glass carboys that scared me, frankly! People have severed nerves, lost a lot of blood, etc., and for what?</li>
</ul>
So I moved from 6.5 or 7 gallon glass carboys to 6 gallon plastic. That meant my batch size had to go down, and that's where the trouble started! <br /><br />
BeerSmith is a fine piece of software, but I discovered that it was less "forgiving" than ProMash when it came to calibration. I had been making 6 gallon batches (that is 6 gallons going into the carboy, 5.5 gallons out after trub settled). I had also been kind of lazy about actually <b>measuring</b> the dead space in my mash tun and brew kettle. Only myself to blame there! I did calculate the boil-off rate, at least. But I plunged in with BeerSmith and used a sort of default equipment profile that was close to what I had--but not exactly. Finally, I used BeerSmith to scale the ProMash recipes from 6 gallons to 5, but wasn't using an accurate equipment profile so it (apparently) didn't work out so well.<br />
<br />
Suddenly my batches were coming out weird. Pre-boil gravities were low. I ended up with 4 gallons in the fermenter instead of 5. Original gravities (post-boil) were off, or required supplementing with DME. In some cases after I tinkered, I ended up with a higher post-boil gravity, and had to dilute---which was OK because I collected less in my fermenter than the recipe predicted. In short, things weren't working the way they were supposed to!<br />
<br />
This past weekend I measured the dead space in my mash tun and fermenter. I trust BeerSmith can figure out all the rest of the data from that, and I am looking forward to my next brew, to see how close I get to hitting my numbers. But the moral of the story is, measure, so you know how your equipment will behave! I will post a follow-up when I make my next batch.David Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17281985750976667595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1541939938009231928.post-58313185801260169532013-07-10T12:14:00.001-07:002013-07-10T12:14:10.764-07:00Adventures in Public TransportationThis is totally off topic, but I had to share the experience and the absurdity I found on a recent "commute" to Boston via public transportation. I normally work from home in Lowell, MA, but I had to go to the Longwood area of Boston for work, so I thought I would be virtuous and use public transit. Here's how it went:<br />
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<ul>
</ul>
<h3>
6:00 AM </h3>
<ul>
</ul>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I left home and drove to the Lowell parking garage. No traffic, got there in about 10 minutes or so, and I was feeling great! As I drive in, I roll down my window and stick out a hand to take a ticket. The guy at the entrance greets me with an open hand, too. Oops, he's looking for a $5 bill to cover my parking for the day! At that hour, there were lots of spaces, so I was quickly in the terminal, looking for the ticket office for the commuter rail train to Boston. No office, so I bought a Charlie Card for $30 in the machine there, figuring that was the way to buy my ticket. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I am struck by the fact that I have to go up and down several flights of stairs to get to the platform from the garage. It would be incredibly slow and inconvenient to do this with a rolling suitcase or in a wheelchair as the elevators are not fast or easy to get to.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Cost so far: $35</b></blockquote>
<h3>
6:18 AM</h3>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The train leaves Lowell for Boston on time! Great start, so far. I settle in with my bagel and coffee and prepare to eat breakfast while waiting for the conductor to pick up my ticket. When she comes around I offer my Charlie Card, only to find that it doesn't work on the train, only in the subway (so why sell them in Lowell?). I have to buy a paper ticket (no surcharge because the ticket office hadn't opened yet) for $8.75, cash only. The conductor is really nice, though, and she tells me about an app for my phone that I can use to buy a ticket for the commuter rail and just flash when she collects. I make a note to use it on the way home.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Cost so far: $43.75</b></blockquote>
<h3>
7:05 AM </h3>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
We roll into North Station and I head down into the subway (green line, E route). To do this, you have to actually EXIT the station, down a short flight of stairs, and then go into a subway entrance about 50 feet away. Again, if I had a rolling bag, this would be a pain, as the escalators are busy and narrow. There are 3 different flights. And this is a new station!</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Once I'm down in the station, I head for the turnstile brandishing my brand new Charlie Card. When I tap in, I discover that for my $35 I got a hunk of plastic--it doesn't actually have any stored value! Wish they had told me THAT up front! Off to the machine to feed the card $20 so I can use the subway. Once I do that, now I can use the subway, and off I go to find the Green Line train.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Cost so far: $63.75</b> </blockquote>
<h3>
7:35 AM</h3>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Miracle of miracles, I arrive at my destination. I am supposed to meet my co-workers and the client at 8:00, so I have time to get more coffee (I finished my original cup on the train). Nice to be early, and the worst I endured was a crowded train. Expensive, but a good experience.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
During the day, I download and install the Commuter Rail pay app that the conductor told me about, and so that is installed on my phone. I ordered up a ticket for the trip home, so that is all set as well. That's another $8.75.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Cost so far: $72.50</b> </blockquote>
<h3>
5:00 PM</h3>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I dash out of my client meeting to catch the 5:00 Green Line trolley back to North Station so I can catch the 5:30 train to Lowell. I get the trolley (using the Charlie Card again to pay), but it is delayed, so I arrive in North Station at 5:33 and the train is gone. RATS! Next one is at 5:50, so there's nothing to do but wait. On a beer related note, there is a Paulaner Bier "Garten" in the station waiting area, and it is open. Hefe can wait, though. Exhausted, I opt not to get one so can get some work done on the train home and not fall asleep. </blockquote>
<h3>
5:50 PM</h3>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The train departed on time--Yea! I spent the ride home watching recorded lectures for course I'm taking, and after 7 stops, I arrived at the Lowell station again. It is 6:40pm. I reverse the process of parking and hop in the car to go home!</blockquote>
<h3>
6:55 PM </h3>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I'm home. Tired and hungry, but home. It has been almost 13 hours since I left. I resolve never to take a job that requires me to do this every day!</blockquote>
<b>The total cost for the day:</b><br />
<ul>
<li>Parking: $5.00</li>
<li>Commuter Rail: $17.50 ($8.75 each way)</li>
<li>Charlie Card: $30 (sunk cost, this never expires, but has to be reloaded)</li>
<li>Subway fares: $4 (note that I loaded $20 on the card, so I have $16 left)</li>
</ul>
Out of pocket expenses are $72.50, but only $27.50 was for actual transportation ($16 still on the card is still available). For $27.50 I could park all day in Boston, but there would be more wear and tear on me (and on my car), fuel cost, etc. I do feel slightly virtuous (but dirty) because I took public transportation, so there's that.David Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17281985750976667595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1541939938009231928.post-80784786871498693482013-04-14T15:59:00.000-07:002013-04-14T15:59:41.161-07:00Apricot Saison and the AHA Conference 2013I'm getting ready for the AHA Conference in Philadelphia in June of this year.<br />
<br />
Brewing Apricot Saison in collaboration with my friend and fellow BFD Mike Damiano, and Patriot Oatmeal Stout. We brewed the Saison in a 15 gal batch on Mikes electric brewery, which was pretty freakin cool! I have about 4.5 gals on apricot puree sitting in my apartment right now, while Mike has the remaining 10 gals. So we have 5 for AHA and about 4 for each of us! This is my first fruit beer (unless you count a pumpkin ale I made right after I started brewing). Here's the info on how to add fruit: http://www.homebrewjunkie.com/2008/05/adding-fruit-to-home-brew.html<br />
<br />
After speaking to a couple folks who have done this recently, I think we may have been light on the Apricot, but we will see.<br />
<br />
Today I am brewing the Oatmeal stout, and I have had the difficult experience of trying to do a double infusion in a 10 gal cooler. I added another 2 gals of boiling water to the mash to get to Mashout temp (168 degrees F) and ended up with minor overflow. This was one of the most difficult brew days I have had in some time, and it all started with the grain crush. I couldn't get it to crush properly, and I ended up with the grain still in the husk, even though I conditioned it and re-milled it. I think there could have been two issues:<br />
<ol>
<li>I was using some Valley Malt 2 row that is now 2 years old, I think. It is possible that it isn't good anymore.</li>
<li>I was trying to mill the grain using a drill instead of hand cranking, as I usually do. I wonder if I milled too fast and it just squirted through.</li>
<li>(oh, yeah, I said two--well tough) I might not have sprayed sufficient water to condition the grain . </li>
</ol>
So from the start, my gravity was low. Of course, I had a hard time telling that because for some reason my refractometer seems to be messed up. The line you read is now on an angle, which is not so good. Also, the plastic cover doesn't seem to line up properly. I checked it with a hydrometer though, and it was accurate once I nudged it back to place and re-calibrated with some distilled water. I was shooting for a relatively high OG for the style, but ended up with 1.054, which is in the guidelines, but not what I should have had given the grain bill--that would have been 1.069! A major miss, that one! Of course the calculation was with Thomas Fawcett Maris Otter, not Valley Malt 2-row, so it might not have hit exactly, but I expected to be closer.<br />
<br />
<div class="uiStreamMessage userContentWrapper" data-ft="{"type":1,"tn":"K"}">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="userContent">One
cool thing that I tried (anyone but a brewing geek can stop reading
here) is to recirculate the boiling wort in the last 15 mins and after
knockout to cycle it around the kettle and the immersion chiller. Got
the fasted cool down I have ever had with that chiller, so I guess it
works! Thanks, Jamil, for idea.</span></span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjHGls3FFyeqe8TIxNqYvM4CqjAtM1unamqMHHPm9Dfj9vsjssFsS_Q_OVwdAiiWktr0HvdtLu1a-mFkCjDWFCHIL6gme8yvBhiw1yMbHEvBXO_uJ1Ua07zlPz9L7H-Ajo7_hAsAPPQcI/s1600/2013-04-14+18.33.09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjHGls3FFyeqe8TIxNqYvM4CqjAtM1unamqMHHPm9Dfj9vsjssFsS_Q_OVwdAiiWktr0HvdtLu1a-mFkCjDWFCHIL6gme8yvBhiw1yMbHEvBXO_uJ1Ua07zlPz9L7H-Ajo7_hAsAPPQcI/s320/2013-04-14+18.33.09.jpg" width="191" /></a></div>
Here it is in the fermenter. Notice that there is a TON of headroom, because I had to boil for 2 hours to get the gravity UP to 1.054. I only collected 4.5 gals, and then I pitched my dry yeast. I hope it tastes good, but we will see in a week or two.<br />
<br />
Next up for tasting is the apricot saison. I may get another can of apricot and add that in as well.<br />
<br />
Happy brewing!<br />
<br />David Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17281985750976667595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1541939938009231928.post-79369451970006677052012-07-30T16:59:00.000-07:002013-04-14T15:59:41.159-07:00A week in Belgium--Wow!Some time ago I received a copy of Beer Traveler Magazine in the mail. In it there were several beer vacation itineraries, including a two week trip to Belgium that caught my eye! You see, I had a big birthday this year, one ending in zero, so I wanted to commemorate it with a really fun and interesting trip. Accordingly, I decided to plan a trip around the itinerary they suggested. I'd like to share it with you because I think it worked pretty well, and I had an awesome time!<br />
<br />
First of all, I went with my girlfriend, who is not a big beer drinker, though she likes some beer and is a good sport about trying it. We didn't want to have to drive everywhere, particularly if we are drinking, so we opted to stay in two places and take trains everywhere--usually an easy option in Europe. We stayed in Gent (or Ghent or Gand, in English and French, respectively) and Antwerp (or Antwerpen or Anvers in Flemish and French). This allowed us to cover the West and South of Belgium from Gent and the North and East of Belgium from Antwerp. Only having one week limited us a bit, and we didn't want to just spend each day drinking, but sightseeing and enjoying Belgian culture as well.<br />
<br />
<div style="color: blue;">
<b>Day 1 (Sunday): </b></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifusnP0hyphenhyphenp3oMjNNzHsh6zdeEnLLTQ_Hx3KXG4omM3id-8Iy20VarBPeZjhngBhM46lDI7rbcu2xOEANXN8l3x7v32M9jlABE1uQx0YP96-rNW9CQic3_8FnBjDdJX_tL-coxk3brv03A/s1600/IMG_1744.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifusnP0hyphenhyphenp3oMjNNzHsh6zdeEnLLTQ_Hx3KXG4omM3id-8Iy20VarBPeZjhngBhM46lDI7rbcu2xOEANXN8l3x7v32M9jlABE1uQx0YP96-rNW9CQic3_8FnBjDdJX_tL-coxk3brv03A/s200/IMG_1744.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gulden Draak 9000</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Arrive in Gent
We stayed at the <a href="http://www.hancelot.be/indexeng.shtml">Charme Hotel Hancelot</a>, which was excellent! On arrival we discovered that Gent was having a <a href="http://www.gentsefeesten.be/en" target="_blank">big music festival,</a> which had free music and stages all over the downtown area. This was fantastic from an entertainment standpoint, but it meant that the bars and restaurants might be more crowded than normal--and reduced the beer menu at at least one place. Nevertheless, we headed into the Oud Stadt (old city) to check it out, and found that they had beer tents set up where you could purchase some pretty good beer, including Leffe Blonde, Leffe Bruin, Gulden Draak, etc. I LOVE a country with good beer, and so we enjoyed some music, some beer and had fun. I had a Leffe Blonde at one stage, and then a Gulden Draak 9000 (Quad) that was delicious while we watched a rock band at another stage. Then we went for Moules et Frites at a restaurant on De Graslei, which is a beautiful spot, but a main site of the festival to so hard to appreciate it for its beauty. <br />
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<b>Day 2 (Monday):</b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi65P8s2HB43cbNZt-1XSHcNVhIhSstHc77cHwGL2r9J0iElaphGrL80pndvm84st5S_CjRH6QRTTmZVlc9MKn-TdzxUDSmz15HJfNo1ZtztveZ10jdff7xsI9L64EgTUs-5q8282wLu9k/s1600/IMAG0677-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi65P8s2HB43cbNZt-1XSHcNVhIhSstHc77cHwGL2r9J0iElaphGrL80pndvm84st5S_CjRH6QRTTmZVlc9MKn-TdzxUDSmz15HJfNo1ZtztveZ10jdff7xsI9L64EgTUs-5q8282wLu9k/s200/IMAG0677-1.jpg" width="119" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Westy 12</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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What beer lover's trip to Belgium would be complete without a pilgrimage to <a href="http://www.sintsixtus.be/eng/brouwerij.htm" target="_blank">Westeverleteren </a>(Abbey St. Sixtus)? Not mine, that's for sure! Of course, if you are going to get there, it turns out that you must do it by car or bicycle, because public transportation is not even CLOSE to convenient--so we rented a car. I also wanted to bring back some beer, after all, <a href="http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/westvleteren-12/4934/" target="_blank">Westy 12 is supposed to be the best in the world</a>, so I tried calling to reserve a crate but was unable to get through at the right time by getting up at 4am! Nonetheless, when we got there, I was able to buy a six pack of <a href="http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/westvleteren-extra-8/4935/" target="_blank">Westy 8</a>, which also scores pretty respectably, at In De Vrede, their shop and restaurant. Of course, I had to have a glass of the 12, and I also tried the blonde (not so great, IMHO). The coolest thing was being there, which is one of those beer experiences.<br />
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After Westverleteren we drove toward the coast, and ended up stopping at a nice little town called Veurene to buy some bread, cheese, and meat. I, of course, had to get some local beer as well, and the woman we spoke with at the grocery suggested three: <a href="http://www.hommelbier.be/en/assortiment/poperings-hommelale/" target="_blank">Poperings Hommel Bier</a>, <a href="http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/deca-sporkin-veurns-reuzenbier/85973/" target="_blank">Sporkin</a>, and <a href="http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/boeteling-blond/48619/" target="_blank">Boeteling</a>, which I purchased and drank later. All three were good, but not great. Popering is an interesting place (we drove through it) for two reasons: It was a big WW I battlefield, and it has a hop museum and festival! I also caught sight of some hop bines growing along the road as we drove. All in all it was a good beer day!<br />
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<b>Day 2 (Tuesday):</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDfXRsvAfX4poKzkfVS6gw1WHmTOFEBkZID79YGRyL_GdkixQk0cGthuQeiX0B1sFHfu-CuBBSCUitU9MOZaSF4x-UvSTOyT9m2UBz7JzBICuIjxzBTfcr0SPJMMXCS2RID2oyuPN0AiU/s1600/IMAG0687.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDfXRsvAfX4poKzkfVS6gw1WHmTOFEBkZID79YGRyL_GdkixQk0cGthuQeiX0B1sFHfu-CuBBSCUitU9MOZaSF4x-UvSTOyT9m2UBz7JzBICuIjxzBTfcr0SPJMMXCS2RID2oyuPN0AiU/s200/IMAG0687.jpg" width="119" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihIXdl0hxZoOIifsknCiU2gT2Bn648w8TQJXKdhvUyYlb97U8tNLv9pIcPg7po33OsehgVuL-09gKSWrm7TqLoHL8mQOkfzNdCj_CQiswyxn6-qtLzHFf6Tbkro_n8cbtozQ1TD_ceN9o/s1600/IMAG0684.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihIXdl0hxZoOIifsknCiU2gT2Bn648w8TQJXKdhvUyYlb97U8tNLv9pIcPg7po33OsehgVuL-09gKSWrm7TqLoHL8mQOkfzNdCj_CQiswyxn6-qtLzHFf6Tbkro_n8cbtozQ1TD_ceN9o/s200/IMAG0684.jpg" width="119" /></a>We got up early and after breakfast we took the train from Gent to Brugges. While this is not the biggest beer destination on the planet, you can't go many places in Belgium without finding something beer related and (usually) interesting! Here we found the brewery De Halve Man, where they brew <a href="http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/brugse-zot/48109/" target="_blank">Bruggse Zot</a> and a couple other beers that are very nice! This it the ONLY brewery tour we took, and it is also the best tour I've been on anywhere. The woman who was our guide was extremely knowledgeable, and we (literally) saw the brewery from bottom to top, ending with a stop on the roof to enjoy the view! Along the way we saw modern and old brewing equipment including open fermenters, a kuhlschip, and stainless tanks and brewing gear. They no longer use the open fermenters or kuhlship, but they keep them around (probably expensive to remove) as sort of a museum exhibit. They also used to do their own malting, so you get to see the malting floor and kiln. We followed the tour with a lunch in the courtyard and an unfiltered Zot (only served at the brewery), then headed off to explore more of this beautiful city.<br />
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We stopped at the old Gruuthus, now a museum of unrelated things, but you get the importance of Gruit (or Gruut in Flemish) when you see how nicely this place was appointed! We finished the day with a stop at <a href="http://www.degarre.be/" target="_blank">De Garre</a>, with a glass of their own <a href="http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/tripel-de-garre/27985/" target="_blank">tripel</a>, which was quite nice. This place is a very cool old, old bar that is off in a tiny little alley you would only find if you are looking for it. Thanks to the article from Beer Traveler and the nice person at the Brugges tourist office, we knew how to find it, and surprisingly, so did a lot of others. We found a table on the 2nd floor and the bartender served us up there, which was great! Outside there was a nice little canal, and I would have loved to linger, but my wonderful GF had other plans: a birthday dinner in Gent at Faim Fatale, so back to Gent we went! Dinner was wonderful, as was the <a href="http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/rochefort-trappistes-8/5400/" target="_blank">Rochefort 8</a> that accompanied it-absolutely one of the best beers of the trip!<br />
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<b>Day 3 (Wednesday):</b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkCPkPZ2NdHPMNehxz5dvZcl2kgbjMiMZBeeBT9VU56YnAYRDIx-1KqFDH0VURbK3eH0ywivE6bdSu0FT6lEiwZywgBGFLpPnU6aBq7QXOR2WIVnnuR31BbLvz8zC4P91M2mzP6l9xu6I/s1600/IMAG0692.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="119" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkCPkPZ2NdHPMNehxz5dvZcl2kgbjMiMZBeeBT9VU56YnAYRDIx-1KqFDH0VURbK3eH0ywivE6bdSu0FT6lEiwZywgBGFLpPnU6aBq7QXOR2WIVnnuR31BbLvz8zC4P91M2mzP6l9xu6I/s200/IMAG0692.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(l to r) Bruin, amber, blonde, wit, all made with Gruit.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB0nNAWgKx42g7ezHUSNqBWpSje6v46axgT9uiB4WsExcZR1J3ZnTgFr-OimfEcdodpeSeuhFcmAG1n4OZDGRQzFEYQETF_jI2Rkyrc860XuQWRBBJE-XXT4sgYOu3eqbYW32ot8RDQKo/s1600/IMAG0694.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB0nNAWgKx42g7ezHUSNqBWpSje6v46axgT9uiB4WsExcZR1J3ZnTgFr-OimfEcdodpeSeuhFcmAG1n4OZDGRQzFEYQETF_jI2Rkyrc860XuQWRBBJE-XXT4sgYOu3eqbYW32ot8RDQKo/s200/IMAG0694.jpg" width="119" /></a>We decided that we needed to explore Gent more thoroughly than we had on Sunday, so we took the day and did it in a leisurely way. Our first stop was at <a href="http://www.gruut.be/EN_Beginpagina.aspx" target="_blank">Brewery Gruut</a>, the only brew pub in Gent, and one of the few women head brewers. Of course, I had to try the Gruut beers, since it is the only place I've been where they make commercial beer without hops! I was underwhelmed by the Wit (on the right), but the bruin and amber were delicious, and the blonde was pretty good. I would definitely buy some if it were available in the US! Alas, it is not exported yet. I discovered that you could get it in a number of places in Gent, at least.<br />
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After a visit to the castle, and a few interesting stops to watch the Tour de France and various bands, we ended the afternoon at <a href="http://www.waterhuisaandebierkant.be/en/" target="_blank">Het Waterhuis</a>, and here's where we hit a shortcoming of the festival: limited beer menu! I had a couple of nice local beers, MAMMELOKKER, and a Floris Frambozen, which was absurdly sweet. We struck up a nice conversation with a local retired gentleman, who is a sculptor and was very interesting. And we watched the end of the day of the Tour de France to see how it came out before we headed back to our hotel to freshen up, then out to dinner. No unusually good beer for dinner, however, just a Westmalle Dubbel.<br />
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<b>Day 4 (Thursday):</b></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5CFpfE193EH0TQUaKFpCtDEtTfKWjUTCseqUe3faF2oXR9Guv8wGk6yxHwem7ztaoRKpl_awP_aRVFJNxZ0VHChifo2dtaoykUrM9X5_llwRUd_Onkgg3Hlgit1VdFNcsVHu6U8nGVUo/s1600/IMG_1827.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5CFpfE193EH0TQUaKFpCtDEtTfKWjUTCseqUe3faF2oXR9Guv8wGk6yxHwem7ztaoRKpl_awP_aRVFJNxZ0VHChifo2dtaoykUrM9X5_llwRUd_Onkgg3Hlgit1VdFNcsVHu6U8nGVUo/s200/IMG_1827.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWNOWJyMBbFcBIQpw0FCg6-bkQGbnF85LVI2t49ZluXIb_4EciEihMLgbQhM3mP8x9M62gWh6xLdYN21WMFjV7W8V6rbKnRNlm88z4rXVc1NWslXhxxGZu2JcRLgC2cw_t36UdW6Y4Dmo/s1600/IMG_1825.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWNOWJyMBbFcBIQpw0FCg6-bkQGbnF85LVI2t49ZluXIb_4EciEihMLgbQhM3mP8x9M62gWh6xLdYN21WMFjV7W8V6rbKnRNlm88z4rXVc1NWslXhxxGZu2JcRLgC2cw_t36UdW6Y4Dmo/s200/IMG_1825.JPG" width="200" /></a>We decamped to Antwerp and settled into our hotel (the Hilton, right on the Groenplatz), before grabbing some bread and cheese and hopping a train to Mechelen, home of the <a href="http://www.hetanker.be/DeBrouwerij/tabid/38/language/en-US/Default.aspx" target="_blank">Het Anker</a> brewery, which brews Gouden Carolus. This is an interesting town, and unfortunately, one of those breweries (like Gruut) where you need 12 people to have a tour. They also have a nice hotel and pub at the brewery, but rather than head that far from town, we elected to check out the Vismarkt (Fish Market) area and have a beer there, then explore the town, and end up at another highly rated bar near the other train station. And that's what we did!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn0Cpuaw5fSUWl86b0V9J0LHHZjbwNKyNY3H9AVyc-T_cBOOpXGM4xPRalOLyz2IPATff3ucWSPwvzCexBFcEhf3zIxFDh0X97vXQ73ZYbm0holcPJQRzaKULcnJd9ilVrf7UWQsdd_Mc/s1600/IMAG0699.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO3mPuS1BSzam6kFp4TCLSLTOhlvyBRbvdZpFkn91vZGV7-n-CJxBkXZWcZd_bkEqQTndwFnpQ3Ypq2XyukrF8YQy2XH4iy9TvCXiF6jeAksf29dMkQru29fL42fCtFzDKbH68FjUJW0k/s1600/IMG_1846.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO3mPuS1BSzam6kFp4TCLSLTOhlvyBRbvdZpFkn91vZGV7-n-CJxBkXZWcZd_bkEqQTndwFnpQ3Ypq2XyukrF8YQy2XH4iy9TvCXiF6jeAksf29dMkQru29fL42fCtFzDKbH68FjUJW0k/s200/IMG_1846.JPG" width="200" /></a><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn0Cpuaw5fSUWl86b0V9J0LHHZjbwNKyNY3H9AVyc-T_cBOOpXGM4xPRalOLyz2IPATff3ucWSPwvzCexBFcEhf3zIxFDh0X97vXQ73ZYbm0holcPJQRzaKULcnJd9ilVrf7UWQsdd_Mc/s200/IMAG0699.jpg" width="119" /><br />
The bar we started at was Den Akker (on the Vismarkt), and we ended at T' Afspraak, which was a neat old bar with a nice modern, garden section. They had a very impressive beer selection, but between the two places, I had to try a number of the Gouden Carolus beers: <a href="http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/gouden-carolus-hopsinjoor/87287/" target="_blank">Hopsinjoor</a>, <a href="http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/gouden-carolus-ambrio/16432/" target="_blank">Ambrio</a>, and of course the <a href="http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/gouden-carolus-classic/4637/" target="_blank">Classic</a>. After that, we headed back to Antwerp (it is a 25 minute train ride), and had a nice dinner on the river called <a href="http://www.zuiderterras.be/master.php?lang=en" target="_blank">Zuiderterras</a>, where I had a <a href="http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/tongerlo-6-dubbel-bruin/7037/" target="_blank">Tongerlo bruin</a>. It was a nice beer, but the food was better than the beer. <br />
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<b>Day 5 & 6 (Friday/Saturday):</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVm6ES32IaJp24qG_g_iuuR0TL2fXyJHMlrXXT6CohX-m0zPZT2otIM-360JzpyM1W-2OVdwXYjyYlZzOPva4rmLOGHHH_HRU5DjQuHasrafuLm9PxJ7c6UNZQm3T0xGjKOMWA2N6dPqw/s1600/IMG_1849.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVm6ES32IaJp24qG_g_iuuR0TL2fXyJHMlrXXT6CohX-m0zPZT2otIM-360JzpyM1W-2OVdwXYjyYlZzOPva4rmLOGHHH_HRU5DjQuHasrafuLm9PxJ7c6UNZQm3T0xGjKOMWA2N6dPqw/s200/IMG_1849.JPG" width="150" /></a>You can't go to Antwerp and not see Ruben's house and museum. Pieter Paul Rubens was perhaps the best painter to come out of Belgium, and apparently quite accomplished in other areas as well. So on Friday morning, off to visit the house we went. I managed to set off the alarm one time by leaning too far over the rope in front of the exhibits, but it was a great thing to see! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikHzVgs5WDvZnsqx34dyce409RDBhzgd_PCbAFR4oJkdcKv2AVhGKFHeqMC-amcMrCVPjRy-2vREzP1WRCjsyY-s3e4RGgapkhXWdVMZYsYY0EDMFwdb8vJ6jX5g2IVqP2ysAsV-uICVA/s1600/IMG_1885.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikHzVgs5WDvZnsqx34dyce409RDBhzgd_PCbAFR4oJkdcKv2AVhGKFHeqMC-amcMrCVPjRy-2vREzP1WRCjsyY-s3e4RGgapkhXWdVMZYsYY0EDMFwdb8vJ6jX5g2IVqP2ysAsV-uICVA/s200/IMG_1885.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibANAmprvdVg5OJNhwsUNTlBpoqTJKYFwR5juUeapwHYSy1ScjOIT7gDku5R26HzJGiTwCk0c0-TrssbYqz1A_qLkTKot9I-P8e-G0bOTH7D0IDWoLRb33CygaTOefZht5lUjld3PukBA/s1600/IMAG0726.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="119" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibANAmprvdVg5OJNhwsUNTlBpoqTJKYFwR5juUeapwHYSy1ScjOIT7gDku5R26HzJGiTwCk0c0-TrssbYqz1A_qLkTKot9I-P8e-G0bOTH7D0IDWoLRb33CygaTOefZht5lUjld3PukBA/s200/IMAG0726.jpg" width="200" /></a>We followed up with another museum, and then searched the city for Kulminator, #8 on the<a href="http://www.realbeer.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=21980" target="_blank"> top 150 places to have a beer.</a> We found Kulminator, but discovered that it didn't open until 4, so we put it on the back burner until after dinner. We finally got there around 8, and I had a 3 year old Gouden Carolus (on draft), which was quite nice. I confess that I was underwhelmed by the bar, however. The article had led me to believe that this would be a really fantastic, happening place, but in reality, nobody in Antwerp seemed to know anything about it. It is truly a beer geek's bar, and there's no reason anyone else would go there. In fact, when I was in Antwerp on business in November of last year, I tried to find it, even giving the cabbie the actual address, and he couldn't find the place! Nevertheless, they do have an amazing selection of vintage beer, and we went back the next day (earlier--before dinner) and I had a 2001 <a href="http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/chimay-bleue-blue--grande-reserve/53/" target="_blank">Chimay Grand Reserve</a> (blue) and a <a href="http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/maredsous-10-tripel/2527/" target="_blank">Maredsous Tripel</a> (on draft) that were really wonderful, and we sat in the garden out the back. <br />
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I finished off the trip with a nice Duvel, while we sat in the Groenplaats watching the sun set. It was a great trip, and I had some wonderful beer and great experiences (lots of sight seeing not discussed here, too)! Belgium is a wonderful country to visit, and I feel like we left some great things to come back to on the next trip. The people we met were friendly and helpful, and we enjoyed the scenery, and even the rain! <br />
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I hope that the links I posted above will be useful. Gent, is a great city, and if the festival is not on, even more historic sights await. During the festival it is fun, but not quite as easy to view the medieval buildings in the old city. Antwerp is also beautiful, and has a lot to offer. We deliberately skipped Brussels because we thought it would be fun to be more off the beaten track. The only regret about that is that we didn't get to see the Belgian National Day celebration in Brussels, but that's OK! <br />
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<br />David Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17281985750976667595noreply@blogger.com0Lowell, MA, USA42.6334247 -71.316171842.586697199999996 -71.3951358 42.6801522 -71.237207800000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1541939938009231928.post-22942607273049415242012-04-07T14:21:00.002-07:002013-04-14T15:59:41.157-07:00Passover and beer--not a kosher combination!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It is Passover the Jewish holiday of liberation, celebrating the Jews' exodus from a life of slavery in Egypt, led by Moses. If you haven't seen <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049833/" target="_blank">The Ten Commandments</a>, or read the story in the bible, go check it out.<br />
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Each Passover, Jews all over the world stop eating leavened bread for the duration of the holiday (8 days) in sympathy with our brethren who fled Egypt without the time to let bread rise, as they were fearful of being pursued by Pharoh's soldiers and prevented from leaving Egypt. That the Jews ate matzoh then was driven by necessity, of course. <br />
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Today, the practice extends not just to bread itself, but to any food which might actually contain leavening (yeast or baking soda) such as breakfast cereal, or bagels, but also extends to those things that rise for other reasons, such as rice or corn. I bet you see where this is going! Beer is on the prohibited list, of course. Wine, which is also made with yeast, is not prohibited, AND we are commanded to drink <b style="color: blue;">four</b> cups of it at the seder!<br />
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Doesn't seem fair, does it? <br />
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Even worse, beer (as are other "<a href="http://www.oukosher.org/index.php/passover/article/which_foods_are_chametz/" target="_blank">chametz</a>" products--the link gets into some detail) are supposed to be disposed of before Passover starts. For someone with a beer fridge full of several batches of beer or expensive collected beer, this is just not an option! Luckily you can sell it to a non-Jewish friend, so there is no prospect of it being consumed, even by accident. <br />
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According to a conservative rabbi I consulted, the explanation of why beer is prohibited has to do with the fact that beer is made from malted barley, and the malting process causes the barley to be in contact with water for more than 18 minutes, which causes germination of the seed, and swelling of the husk (the 18 minutes is the significant bit). Thus it appears to me to fall into the same category as rice, as something that grows/swells not from leavening, but because water is introduced for more than 18 minutes. Hmmmmm.<br />
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One of the things I love about being Jewish is that EVERYTHING is open to interpretation and review. There is an old saying that if you put two Jews together, you will get three opinions. There are two branches of Judiasm (stick with me for a second, this will be clear): <a href="http://www.jewfaq.org/ashkseph.htm" target="_blank">the Ashkenazi and the Sephardic</a>. The Ashkenazi's are the main group in the US and come from Northern, Eastern and Western Europe (Russia, Germany, Poland chiefly). The Sephardim are from Southern Europe (Italy, Spain, Portugal) and North Africa for the most part. The Jews airlifted from Ethiopia in the '70s were Sephardic Jews. I bring this up because the Sephardic tradition ALLOWS the eating of rice during Passover! Right on!<br />
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So, in my own modern interpretation of Passover, while I come from an Ashkenazi background, I adopt the Sephardic traditions when celebrating this wonderful holiday. I eat rice, and I eat matzoh. And, under the principle that if wine (made with yeast) is allowed, therefore beer can't be disallowed because it is made with yeast. And if the Sephardim can eat rice, which plumps from water, that beer, therefore, should be OK for the same reason! Hooray, I'm Sephardic at least for 8 days a year.<br />
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For reinforcement, I think this is even backed up by Christian tradition, when the monks in Germany gave up bread for Lent, replacing it with Bock beer. OK, I'm stretching the point a little, but I think it is not entirely invalid. <br />
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And with that decision, I am going to drink beer during Passover!David Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17281985750976667595noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1541939938009231928.post-10648826999140131182011-12-30T18:07:00.000-08:002011-12-30T18:07:58.283-08:00I'm Back!Happy New Year, everyone!<br />
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I finally found some time to brew, helped by the fact that I took off this last week of 2011. It was a busy brewing week, and here are the (quick) highlights:<br />
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<strong><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">On Tuesday</span></strong> my friend Wayne came over with some honey from his bee hives to make some mead. Wayne gave me honey previously, and I used it two beers, a honey porter, and a tripel. This year's crop was apparently excellent (the sample I had was very good), so we made a<a href="http://www.northernbrewer.com/documentation/meadkits/ArtisanalGeneric5.pdf"> dry mead</a>. The process was incredibly simple, and today (Friday) the airlock is bubbling along merrily, so fermentation is going well from what I can see. I am looking forward to seeing how this turns out, as my previous attempt at a mead was a sweet mead, and came out quite well, but is a bit sweeter than I like it.<br />
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<div><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><strong>On Wednesday</strong></span> I brewed an IPA. I used the <a href="http://www.stonebrew.com/ipa/" target="_blank">Stone IPA</a> clone recipe as a staring point, but changed some significant things:</div><ul><li>I used English Maris Otter as the base malt instead of US 2-Row pale ale malt</li>
<li>I used Safale US05 as the yeast, rather than the WLP007 Dry English Ale yeast that Stone specified (still not their house yeast, I gather)</li>
<li>I swapped out an ounce of the Centennial aroma hop for an ounce of Citra. The Citra smelled heavenly, and I think I'll dry hop with that as well.</li>
</ul>Now it is no longer the Stone IPA clone, and my son recommended that I name it after our dog, Shayna. so it is now Shayna's All American IPA!<br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><strong>On Thursday</strong></span> I brewed an Oktoberfest / Maerzen. The recipe is 46% Pilsner, 46% Munich, 8% CaraMunich, and it smells fantastic! I am fermenting with natural refridgeration, so I hope that Mother Nature helps me out, and keeps the temperatures below 50 for January, and below 30 for February. It is tough to count on that, as she is fickle this year, and it has been unseasonably warm! In fact, my starter needed some additional time, so I let it go overnight, and then racked the beer onto the yeast cake this morning after I oxygenated it. As of now (Friday evening), it looks like fermentation is starting, but it is not yet at high krausen. <br />
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Last, today I picked up more malt (I feel like I am swimming in it) from the Malt of the Month club (see <a href="http://www.valleymalt.com/" target="_blank">Valley Malt</a> in Western MA), so I'll have to keep brewing or really be in trouble! BTW, Valley Malt is a really cool local maltster, and I'm happy to support them since they are doing some interesting things locally. The malts I have used have all been interesting. I used one of them in an American Amber ale in November, and I'm pleased with the results.<br />
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That's it for now. Hoppy New Year to all!David Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17281985750976667595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1541939938009231928.post-82674808690003398582011-08-24T20:24:00.000-07:002011-08-24T20:24:15.477-07:00Belgian Blondes, and more....It has been a while since I last posted, and thought I would catch up a little bit. I have not been brewing too much this year, in fact I think I have only made three batches in 2011:<br />
<ul><li>Honey Porter (using some local honey from my friend Wayne)</li>
<li>Wit (a summer favorite that didn't last the summer)</li>
<li>Belgian Blonde</li>
</ul>The Blonde was quite an adventure in fermentation, as I brewed it on July 7th. Since I live in Boston, summertime brewing is a risky thing, unless you have pretty good temperature control for your fermentation. I really don't, nor do I have a conveniently cool basement (I live in an apartment), so I have to do without or brew Saisons. Not that I don't like Saisons (I do), but I brewed them the past two summers, so I wanted something different. I ended up with the Blond, as I have a fair amount of Pilsner malt, and not so much Maris Otter (pale ale malt), and the Blonde is a nice light style.<br />
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My original intent was to make a fermentation chamber out of rigid foam insulation, as was described in a BYO magazine article. Finding the materials wasn't as easy as I hoped, and I bailed out on that for lack of time before my brew day. Instead, I improvised a fermentation chamber with a large cardboard box, an air conditioner, and a temperature controller--and a sleeping bag. It worked as well as I could have hoped, and the temp of the wort stayed on target through the fermentation, and there were no off flavors when I kegged the beer. Hooray!<br />
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Next up, is an experiment with locally grown malt from<a href="http://www.valleymalt.com/Valley_Malt/malt_of_the_month.html"> Valley Malt</a>, located in Western Massachusetts. I joined the Malt of the Month Club with another BFD member, and got my first shipment a while ago. I now have 25 lbs of 2-row pale ale malt to work with, and I'm dying to try it out--but I'm waiting for the cooler weather first! Next post: the results!David Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17281985750976667595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1541939938009231928.post-28463966297612270052010-12-23T14:27:00.000-08:002010-12-23T14:28:27.634-08:00Happy Holidays!<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hola brewing brothers and sisters! </span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It is about a month since I brewed the three beers, so I thought I would post the outcomes.</span></div><ul style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><li><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="color: blue;">Stone IPA clone</span></b>: It has been in the keg for about two weeks and initially clogged the dip tube with hop particles. After I cleaned out the tube, I've drunk several glasses, and the hop particles seem to be almost gone and it is clearing nicely. The hop flavor is strong, as you would expect, and it is quite clean! I think this one is a winner. Next time, I will dry hop using a hop bag to reduce the particulates!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="color: #674ea7;">Patriot Oatmeal Stout (or Maple Ave Breakfast Stout, if you prefer)</span>:</b> Also in the keg for a couple of weeks, but no dry hopping, so no clogged dip tube! Delish! Just as good as the one I brewed for the competition, I'm looking forward to drinking this all winter. The caramel, roast and malt flavors are balanced perfectly, and it is a treat! I took some to my friend Andy's house when we watched the Bears/Packers game this week, and it was great!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><b style="color: #b45f06;">Czech Pilsner:</b> I just kegged this last week and stuck it in my fridge to lager for a while. Even when I kegged it, it was brilliantly clear, having been hanging in an unheated porch for the past couple of weeks after the fermentation completed. All the yeast seems to have dropped out (well, most of it) and the flavor was pretty nice, with just a hint of DMS. I'm looking forward to the completion of lagering so I can start drinking it in ernest--probably around the middle of January. YUM!</span></li>
</ul><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'm thinking about my next beer, which will probably be a honey porter, since I still have a bunch of Wayne's honey left. The Tripel I made with it turned out great--I wish I had kept more of it!</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Happy holidays to all, and great beer to you!</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">David</span></div>David Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17281985750976667595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1541939938009231928.post-46861229899610713932010-11-28T19:36:00.000-08:002010-11-28T19:36:35.552-08:00Three days of Brewing: Day 3, Czech PilsnerI'm writing this on Sunday, and day 3 was Wednesday, so this will serve as sort of a wrap up.<br />
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Since Wednesday was the day before Thanksgiving, I had to take care of a couple things in the morning before I started brewing, but I did manage to mash in around noon. The technical part of the mash and boil was pretty straightforward, and I hit my numbers until the end of the boil, when I discovered that I had more evaporation than expected, and my gravity was higher than expected after the 90 minute boil.<br />
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I had a couple of visitors on Wednesday as well: Bill Grinley and John Kalinowski--both brewers and BFD members. Bill is an extract brewer who wanted to learn more about doing all grain, but he missed the start of the mash and arrived as I was in mid-vorlauf. I enjoyed having the company and a chance to talk beer and brewing with them both, especially as it made the brew day go a bit faster.<br />
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My biggest concern on Wednesday was that my Oatmeal Stout was not really fermenting as expected. In fact there was no airlock activity on Wednesday morning, and I put in another sachet of yeast to try to get things going. Nothing happened the rest of Wednesday, and I was away Thursday and Friday, but when I checked on it Saturday, it was bubbling away. For that matter, the IPA had pretty much slowed down, and the Pilsner was bubbling along normally, holding about 54 degrees. Whew! Everything is working, as far as I can tell.<br />
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Happy Thanksgiving, and happy brewing to all! I will follow up with tasting notes on these three brews as they finish fermentation and are ready to taste.David Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17281985750976667595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1541939938009231928.post-23218214561828543702010-11-23T12:13:00.000-08:002010-11-23T12:13:04.128-08:00Three days of Brewing: Day 2, Oatmeal Stout<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLjQtlsMNhtDHtJE1HkgPllXpLLncpncB33fa2OKoW3dpMSh5vt6_AUqRnNzO2sD1ySWuqCpD0RY6s2B1o56K_K7-t8hsXxT2LWV82wMChha4wdpa-6BAl5IWodEBRvQNyWR8nDSRrGy8/s1600/IMAG0097.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLjQtlsMNhtDHtJE1HkgPllXpLLncpncB33fa2OKoW3dpMSh5vt6_AUqRnNzO2sD1ySWuqCpD0RY6s2B1o56K_K7-t8hsXxT2LWV82wMChha4wdpa-6BAl5IWodEBRvQNyWR8nDSRrGy8/s200/IMAG0097.jpg" width="119" /></a></div>Before I get into today's activity, I have a post-script on day 1. The airlock on the IPA started jumping around 1.5 hrs after I pitched the yeast (or the wort, since the yeast was already in the carboy), and within 4 hours it had overwhelmed the airlock with Kraeusen. Luckily I was there, as my son and I were having dinner, and I was able to insert a blow-off hose before any damage was done. It was pretty fun eating dinner and watching the Kraeusen fill the tube (photo at left) and move through it. We moved the bucket and fermenter to a location that was in the mid-50's to cool it down so the fermentation temp would be around 68.<br />
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This morning I could hear the bubbles coming out of the blow-off tube like a heart beat through the wall of my bedroom! The temp of the carboy was still quite high, despite the fairly low ambient temp. Wow!<br />
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On to today's brew. Anybody who knows me knows that I love Oatmeal Stout! I won the Patriot Homebrew competition because it was one of the few beers that I brewed over and over to try to get it right. So now it is a regular fixture in my fridge, and I need a new batch. The recipe is published, but it still gets tweaked slightly every time I brew, and this time is no exception, as I subbed out Crystal 80 for Crystal 60, just slightly lighter, but otherwise not much different. I got an earlier start today, so now, at 11:30ish, I am pretty far along in collecting my wort. As it should be, Oatmeal Stout is dark, nearly opaque, and I'm getting excited about drinking it already! Of the 3 beers I'm brewing this week, this will be ready to drink first, probably in a couple of weeks. Here's why:<br />
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The IPA will ferment in a short time (really short given the strength of the fermentation), but will need to sit and dry-hop (addition of hops after fermentation, to add aroma) for a couple of weeks. The Pilsner is a lager, and will take 2-4 weeks to do the primary fermentation, then it needs to sit in the cold ("lager") for about 4 weeks to finish off and be ready to drink. The stout should be done fermenting and ready to drink in about 2 weeks. Nice! <br />
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Well, while I wasn't looking, I managed to collect about 8 gallons of wort in the boil kettle. I only needed 7, so now I'll have to boil for 90 minutes instead of 60 to get the right gravity. Still, not the end of the world, I think.<br />
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90 minutes later.... Well, the evaporation hasn't been as rapid as I thought, and my gravity is still low. I think. It should be up around 16.4 Plato and it is now around 15.0 Plato. Not the end of the world, but it has me wondering if I correctly measured the evaporation yesterday--or if this much heavier wort is just evaporating more slowly because it isn't boiling as vigorously. Hmmm.<br />
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Well, into the fermenter it went at 2:40pm, with a brand new bubbler-style airlock. If it blows through the airlock I have another blow-off tube and it is next the bucket!<br />
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Tomorrow: PilsnerDavid Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17281985750976667595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1541939938009231928.post-7811728693235836902010-11-22T13:51:00.000-08:002010-11-22T13:51:42.789-08:00Three days of Brewing: Day 1, IPAIt was tough waking up this morning. Days off without schedules are a rarity, but I dragged myself out of bed and got moving. I decided to try something new (to me) that other folks in BFD have recommended, which is to use "Malt Conditioning" (see http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php/Malt_Conditioning) to try to increase my efficiency. That took a few minutes to do, but didn't really add any significant time to my brew day, which is nice. I think it worked, as well, since I got about 80% efficiency in my mash--not bad!<br />
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I am sitting here now, several hours later, the boil has just ended, and I'm about to cool the wort down to pitching temp. So far, everything has gone very smoothly. Here's how the new setup looks:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWuWxF-MADLNvrk9B0MhRcyYM-UlfsAIY_p4CN9ecZ-RuxInm4Mod9Nt1zVYyRRRJcybLtqaYFfowlLqSP__bkPu5qh3nWDkvDm5NR4tHW89JuYHqRwaySwwurEs_UdmhDNm-hrIAHWI8/s1600/IMAG0088.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWuWxF-MADLNvrk9B0MhRcyYM-UlfsAIY_p4CN9ecZ-RuxInm4Mod9Nt1zVYyRRRJcybLtqaYFfowlLqSP__bkPu5qh3nWDkvDm5NR4tHW89JuYHqRwaySwwurEs_UdmhDNm-hrIAHWI8/s320/IMAG0088.jpg" width="191" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From top left to bottom left: hot liquor tank, new boil kettle, other pot for heating water for mashout. Toolbox with pump mounted inside, and mash/lauter tun (Rubbermade cooler). </td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The design of everything has worked as planned. In brewing, people dream about having brew sculptures they can use to brew. People build these sculptures out of metal tubing, or buy ready made ones, often for thousands of dollars. In truth, they are useful, but you can't use them in a kitchen--and that's where I brew! My brew sculpture was made by Maytag! I have no problem making five gallon batches with this setup, and my back is happy about the pump, since I don't have to lift heavy containers of hot (or cold) liquid! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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OK, so about this IPA. You can sample what I'm aiming for if you go to many liquor stores in the US. Stone IPA is pretty widely available, and is a great example of an American IPA.It should have about 7% alcohol by volume, which is a little higher than your typical macro-brew. Very hoppy (65 IBUs), light in color, and aromatic from dry hopping, it is a very drinkable beer--if you like IPAs. I like IPAs! A lot! Lately I haven't had enough of them, I think, so this should help. Here's what it looks like in the pot, cooling:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmB4-gGqHX86OaqwV7dK0VMTQtxmBk1PLbV2RodyjL_1qKuiQ1KWuxdXa5-FORcEgKv__7JKQ8E3k-tUxHwE1hrTosJcYakr0GI8JnnuYmoSg6BpXAadb3YPrjYyBvqBQyImauuT4tl1I/s1600/IMAG0092.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmB4-gGqHX86OaqwV7dK0VMTQtxmBk1PLbV2RodyjL_1qKuiQ1KWuxdXa5-FORcEgKv__7JKQ8E3k-tUxHwE1hrTosJcYakr0GI8JnnuYmoSg6BpXAadb3YPrjYyBvqBQyImauuT4tl1I/s320/IMAG0092.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Copper chiller in the wort. All the little flecks in the wort are hops or hot break materials (protein). Those will be left behind in the pot.</td></tr>
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbcf6R67YIRPe_dhoxzZIZPTN-7N2RczoaZ0zpSXPWsM1DsxPDT886vEjE5X6dnu-yIqWxRIRBzeCroTKK7iImh9R9W73xX-XH9JTCQFM8LP2G2Icor46Ro18H2_KB6CwLkjlUDg2JF8M/s1600/IMAG0093.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbcf6R67YIRPe_dhoxzZIZPTN-7N2RczoaZ0zpSXPWsM1DsxPDT886vEjE5X6dnu-yIqWxRIRBzeCroTKK7iImh9R9W73xX-XH9JTCQFM8LP2G2Icor46Ro18H2_KB6CwLkjlUDg2JF8M/s320/IMAG0093.jpg" width="191" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And now, in the fermenter:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The recipe was published recently in Brew Your Own magazine, so I decided to give it a shot. Aside from the evaporation rate on my boil being a little high, the only concern I have is that the 2oz of Centennial hops I added with 15 minutes to go are adequately utilized and give a nice piney aroma. I use a "hop bag" in my boil because I don't have a filter on the bottom of my pot that won't clog if I use pellet hops, which are the most commonly available (they look like rabbit chow). Pellets are great, but I think I need to make some modifications in my system, specifically doing a whirlpool and adding a counter-flow chiller to let the hops out of the bag. In time, I'm sure I'll get there. In the meantime, I'll hope for the best. Or hop for the best!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Tomorrow I'm brewing an Oatmeal Stout--the one I won the competition with. I need to toast some oats today so I will be ready tomorrow for the big brew. I will also gather my other grains for mashing, so in the morning I can just start crushing and brew sooner. </div>David Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17281985750976667595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1541939938009231928.post-84216164057698010292010-11-21T18:42:00.000-08:002010-11-21T18:42:23.760-08:00Rob's American RauchbierJust a quick shout out to my friend Rob North, who won this year's Patriot Homebrew Competition. Rob brewed the Rauchbier that is now available at Patriot's games during the 2010 season. I attended today's game against the Indianapolis Colts, and enjoyed one of Rob's beers. If you are going to the Pat's game, I recommend you get one, too!<br />
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As a public service, here's where to go in the stadium: Next to the McDonald's on the 100-level concourse in the North end-zone is the Sam Adams Brew Haus. That is the ONLY place you can find the winning beer, and you must get there before the end of halftime, because they stop serving after that. It is worth the effort! Great job, Rob!David Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17281985750976667595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1541939938009231928.post-75339654130306171892010-11-21T18:37:00.000-08:002010-11-21T18:37:51.051-08:00Back to Brewing - November 2010Whew! It has been a while since I posted, and while I have been active in the beer world, I haven't done a lot of brewing since May or so. A lot of time has been taken up with work, sure, but it also has just been too HOT in Boston to consider brewing much over the summer. I also was the organizer of the<a href="http://www.bfd.org/nerhbc"> New England Regional Homebrew Competition</a> (NERHBC) which took place on October 23rd, and that took up a lot of my time over the fall--and is a topic for another post!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.austinhomebrew.com/images/38-qt-Premium-Stock-Pot-th.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.austinhomebrew.com/images/38-qt-Premium-Stock-Pot-th.jpg" /></a></div>But now, I'm back! I just got a shiny new 38qt (9.5 gal) <a href="http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=12457">stainless steel brew pot</a>, which, with the help of my friend John Kalinowski, I outfitted with a 1/2" ball valve and a<a href="http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=12394"> Blichman Brewmomete</a>r. Cool! This is replacing a 30 qt (7.5 gal) aluminum turkey fryer pot which I was using as a boil kettle. It will be reuses as a hot liquor tank, however, and will retire my bottling bucket from that job! The net result, I hope, will be a more streamlined brewing operation, less lifting (keep my back intact) and, well, more beer!<br />
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The coolest thing about the new kettle is that it will fit over 2 burners on my gas stove. That means faster heating, and (hopefully) a better boil. I tested it out today and it heated 8 gals of water at about 1.75 degree every minute--since I'll probably be boiling about 7gals of wort, and that is a bit heavier, I'll still be happy with 2 degrees per minute.<br />
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I had forgotten that it is a bit of a challenge to get ready to use a new pot. From the time I got it (and yes, I could have ordered it pre-drilled) here's what I've been doing:<br />
<ul><li>Measuring out where to put the valve and the thermometer. Both are centered midway between the handles, and the valve is about as close to the bottom of the kettle as I could go without being on the curve. The instructions that came with the Bremometer said to put it a minimum of 6" above the bottom of the pot, but when I measured that, I decided it might just be at the top of the wort--not a good thing. So I went for 5.25" which is around 5 gallons, as I found out today.</li>
<li>Drilling it out. John came over with his step bit, <img align="left" border="0" height="91" src="http://www.stepbits.com/stepbit_gallery/Stepbit_05.JPG" width="200" />which is essential, and we drilled out in no time. The great thing about a step bit is that it doesn't create a lot of burrs that would cut the gaskets for the valve or thermometer, which aren't welded on. We still sanded it out though to make sure.</li>
<li>Leak testing: Once we screwed the valve and thermometer in, I had to make sure they didn't leak. That was surprisingly easy. I had one small drip near the valve, but that was easily fixed. I hardly tightened much more than hand tight, either! </li>
<li>Calibrating measuring stick: It may seem odd, but the pot was not marked anywhere to show how much is in it. I have another pot that has markings by quart, so I can tell how much liquid I have, but this new pot has none. So, I took my big mash paddle and added 1/2 gallon at a time, marking the paddle for each 1/2 gallon up to 8 gallons (much more than that and I'll have a boil over for sure! That took about 30 minutes, but it will make it easy for me to tell how much wort I collect and what is left after boiling. A little work on this now will save a lot of uncertainty later. The pot I had been using was marked on the outside, but that didn't tell me as much, so this time I am starting clean.</li>
<li>Cleaning: The last step, and one of the most important is to make sure there aren't any leftover oils from manufacturing or any other dirt that had appeared in storage, shipping or my own set up. So I took my 8 gallons of water and added 8 tbsp of PBW, heated to 140 and let it sit for a while. When that was done, I dumped the PBW solution into my old brewpot to make sure it was clean. A good thing, too! There was a layer of stuff that came off, and now my hot liquor tank (it holds hot water) will be good to go tomorrow as well.</li>
</ul><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqdddskYfAj4xHMeEt7MmQiRo39RuAQl0gOcxYYq3o0A8yUxhyphenhyphenoHv1pASXpcKHGNqzZSF-vv91lD7PCbYkYCgY1LPYzuadlwT-EKVJswMCRN10TOr-CLDiQGbWSr_1C2GQ8cmT95vVv74/s1600/IMAG0054.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img align="right" border="0" height="119" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqdddskYfAj4xHMeEt7MmQiRo39RuAQl0gOcxYYq3o0A8yUxhyphenhyphenoHv1pASXpcKHGNqzZSF-vv91lD7PCbYkYCgY1LPYzuadlwT-EKVJswMCRN10TOr-CLDiQGbWSr_1C2GQ8cmT95vVv74/s200/IMAG0054.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Here's what the new pot looks like now:<br />
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Tomorrow: Brewing for the first time in the new pot! I am taking time off from work this week to get some brewing in, as I have not done as much as I would like. Here's the lineup (remember, it is Thanksgiving week, so I'll be busy Thursday and Friday with family stuff):<br />
<ol><li>Monday: Stone IPA clone</li>
<li>Tuesday: Patriot Oatmeal Stout</li>
<li>Wednesday: Czech Pilsner</li>
</ol>More posts to follow on the next 3 days...David Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17281985750976667595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1541939938009231928.post-39279268945635331852010-05-04T09:02:00.000-07:002010-07-22T11:11:09.039-07:00Brew HaHa - shown on TV<h2 id="block-head">Schedule for "Brew Ha Ha" </h2><div class="view-content"><div class="item-list"><ul><li class="views-row views-row-1 views-row-odd views-row-first
views-row-last"> <span class="views-field-field-date-range-value"> <span class="field-content"><span class="date-display-single">6:00pm Sat, May 8</span></span> </span> | <span class="views-field-field-channel-value"> <label class="views-label-field-channel-value"> Ch: </label> <span class="field-content">10 - if you live in Cambridge</span> </span></li>
<li class="views-row views-row-1 views-row-odd views-row-first
views-row-last"><span class="views-field-field-channel-value"><a href="http://blip.tv/file/3628289">Online, click to view</a> - I hope you enjoy it! I had a blast working with the group that made it.<embed allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="350" src="http://blip.tv/play/AYHe0DkC" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="480"></embed> </span></li>
</ul></div></div>David Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17281985750976667595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1541939938009231928.post-38372244399388130702010-03-26T08:47:00.000-07:002010-03-26T11:34:49.420-07:00Starting to brew - some tipsEvery so often someone asks me how they can get started brewing. It's a great question, and since everyone who brews is a new brewer once everyone has a story. Here are my suggestions on what to do if you want to start brewing:<br />
<ul><li> Watch a video on homebrewing to see if it looks like something you want to do. Here's a good example: <object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/daCvVxvQzCM&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/daCvVxvQzCM&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object></li>
<li>Try brewing with someone else. If you don't know a brewer, look for a club in your area (see <a href="http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/pages/directories/find-a-club">http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/pages/directories/find-a-club</a>) on the Homebrewers Association website, or google Homebrew clubs in your area. Or ask at a local homebrew shop if you have one. When you contact a club, just tell them you want to learn how to brew and you are experimenting. Brewers are friendly people and I'm sure they will hook you up with someone who is brewing quickly!</li>
<li>Read a book about brewing. From my experience, John Palmer's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/How-Brew-Everything-Right-First/dp/0937381888/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1269617428&sr=1-1">How to Brew</a> is the best one going. He has lots of detailed tutorial information for your first batch, and a really useful amount of information on the science of brewing that you will be interested in later. I still refer to this book for information on a regular basis.</li>
<li> Get a kit for your first batch--but make sure it is fresh! Note that there are both equipment kits and recipe kits--you will need both unless they are selling a combo for beginners. Kits are usually graded for level of difficulty, so make sure you pick one that is "beginner" for your fist batch. There are some good options online at <a href="http://morebeer.com/search/102141/beerwinecoffee/coffeewinebeer/Home_Brewing_Kits">Beer, Beer, and More Beer</a>, <a href="http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/starter-kits">Northern Brewer</a>, or <a href="http://www.williamsbrewing.com/WILLIAM_S_HOME_BREWERIES_C9.cfm">William's Brewing</a>--or go to your <a href="http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/pages/directories/find-a-supply-shop">local home brew shop</a>. Fresh ingredients are key, don't let them sell you the dusty old kit that's been on the shelf for months--get one that is new and has fresh ingredients or don't buy anything!</li>
</ul>I would be remiss if I didn't mention sanitation. One of the worst things that can happen to your beer is an "infection". You can prevent this by (a) cleaning thoroughly using something like PBW or B-Brite; and (b) sanitizing everything the beer touches post boil with Iodaphor or StarSan. Why do I say "post boil"? Well, the boil sanitizes everything in it. After the boil, however, you will be putting the chilled wort into a fermenter using a racking cane, tubing, etc., all of which need to be germ free or you risk infection. A little extra effort will protect your beer!<br />
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In the end, brewing is supposed to be fun, so don't take it too seriously, especially the first time out. As Charlie Papazian says "Relax, have a homebrew!" You are making beer, after all, not doing brain surgery.<br />
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Good luck, and let me know how it goes!David Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17281985750976667595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1541939938009231928.post-42186264434003125322010-03-15T16:24:00.000-07:002010-03-15T16:24:05.324-07:00Choosing a successor!February 12th, I was fortunate to be invited to the Samuel Adams brewery to help judge the final 5 in the 2010 Patriot Homebrew Competition. There were five finalist beers to judge, an Alt, a Marzen/Oktoberfest, a Wheat, an IPA and a Rauchbier, and I was one of several on the panel who included most of the folks that judged this round last year, a couple new ones, and of course Jim Koch, founder of the brewery.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9BdQOmEoyoe_wb2_uoKxMQHq4QZriFpXIg8_lBYQjPfYj0q6oPS7pv8FLQRnEwwCpdE28gNikRYvokCUBjMOfubXqX_Y7ygzggJV1WZ-MGgzLEe-nYaUjQrbyokCrck_fsNyHdtd2uHs/s1600-h/IMG_0129.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9BdQOmEoyoe_wb2_uoKxMQHq4QZriFpXIg8_lBYQjPfYj0q6oPS7pv8FLQRnEwwCpdE28gNikRYvokCUBjMOfubXqX_Y7ygzggJV1WZ-MGgzLEe-nYaUjQrbyokCrck_fsNyHdtd2uHs/s320/IMG_0129.JPG" /></a></div>For me, this was a real honor, as I got to meet some folks who are beer and media celebrities--not to mention the group responsible for my win in 2009. Wally Brine (Loren and Wally show), <span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Carolyn Faye Fox</span></span> (Improper Bostonian) and Gail Ciampa (Providence Journal) whom I had met previously. Dan Hausle of WHDH came armed with some of his own homebrew to share, and Norman Miller, the Beer Nut (<a href="http://blogs.wickedlocal.com/beernut">http://blogs.wickedlocal.com/beernut</a>), Todd and Jason Ahlstrom of Beer Advocate, Mike Adams (WEEI) were the remainder of the panel. Let me tell you, this was a FUN group! Lots of jokes and personal stories during the tasting.<br />
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We tasted each of the beers in the final round and it was interesting to me that the panel members were checking the BJCP guidelines to learn about the characteristics of the beers and whether they were correctly represented. It occurred to me that this step really wasn't necessary, as the original competition had determined that these were good exemplars of their categories, and since they were all in different categories, judging them against style really didn't mean a heck of a lot! When you get 5 different style beers out, the only way to judge them is to say which beers you like best--which brings in a lot of personal taste elements.<br />
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After we tasted the fifth beer, the debate started, and we had to pick the top two . We asked Jim questions about what he was looking for in terms of selection criteria. For example, as the brewer, did he want the beer that seemed like it would be the most salable, and would be appealing to most drinkers? Since the previous two beers had been a Black IPA and an Oatmeal Stout, would he really want an IPA again so soon? How daring did he want to be? Lots of great questions--the answers will have to wait until the winner is announced, I think.<br />
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At the end of the day (when we got to taste some Mother Funk and some Noble Pils--a really nice beer), we chose a great beer as the 2010 Patriot Homebrew winner. I will be happy to make my way back to the Sam Adams Brewhouse on game day, and say "I'll have one of those!" All of the brewers that made it into the top five should be proud of their beer, as it was all very good--as it should be. This is a great competition, and I applaud Jim Koch and the Patriots organization for this pairing of football and beer, and for supporting the home brewing community! Thanks guys!David Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17281985750976667595noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1541939938009231928.post-42986023072995570052010-03-15T09:30:00.000-07:002010-03-15T09:31:38.507-07:00Brew HaHaI have not posted in a while, and I have had a number of different posting ideas floating around in my head, but have not managed to write about any of them. nevertheless, I need to bog about this one!<br />
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<a href="http://www.cctvcambridge.org/node/40706">Brew HaHa</a> is a documentary made by a group at Cambridge Cable TV. I was filmed for the documentary--making the Roggenbier actually-- and my footage made it in. Actually a certain amount of the brewing process shots (grinding grain, weighing hops, the different grains) were shot at my apartment, as well as some interview footage and actual brewing activity. It was really interesting to watch the film, which premiered last night at Cambridge Cable TV.<br />
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The story of the documentary is covered in the linked article, and I recommend watching it on CCTV (<a href="http://www.cctvcambridge.org/">http://www.cctvcambridge.org</a>) though I couldn't tell you when it will be on-- they have a program guide for that. It was an interesting experience, and I met some new and enjoyable people as a result--fellow brewers and beer appreciators both.<br />
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Anyway, when you find a time to watch the documentary, I recommend that you enjoy it with a beer in hand! I'll be interested in any feedback that you post. Enjoy!David Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17281985750976667595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1541939938009231928.post-84159621264474771972009-12-23T11:38:00.000-08:002009-12-23T11:38:34.288-08:00"Roggenbier! Gesundheit!" or "Adventures in Yeast, part 2"My most recent brew was a Roggenbier, which is a German style of rye beer. It is supposed to be formulated very much like a Dunkelweizen (dark wheat beer) but with rye instead of wheat. I've actually never had an authentic Roggenbier, so I'm not entirely sure what to expect, but we'll see.<br />
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The brew day was also complicated by the fact that a group of documentary film makers from Cambridge Cable TV (CCTV) was here filming my every move. Despite, or maybe because, of that, things went smoothly brewing the beer, from grinding to mashing, to lautering, to boiling, to cooling and then to pitching.<br />
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The joker in the pack was that I planned to used the left over yeast from a Hefeweizen I brewed back in June. I put it in a sanitized container in the fridge, and pitched it at the appropriate time. Luckily, I also had a spare, new, vial of WLP300 (the same yeast) just in case!<br />
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</div>Well, "just in case" turned out to be necessary, because 24 hrs after pitching, there was NO activity in the airlock. So, I dumped in my vial of yeast, and within a few hours it was off to the races. And then a very strange thing appeared in my carboy on day 4(see photo). It was kind of slimy looking, and not what you would normally see for krausen, but, my club assured me that it was OK.<br />
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I checked the gravity, and it was at 1.029, and was syrupy and sweet when I tasted it. Definitely not infected! So I keep the heat on, and let it continue. Yesterday, after all airlock activity stopped, and it sat for a bit, I checked the gravity again, and found it was 1.026. Strange, after several more days of fermentation at 66 degrees, I expected it to drop further. When tasting it, it was clear that it had attenuated more, as the sweetness was gone, and it was no longer syrupy in texture. I wonder if my hydrometer is off! It actually tasted like the beer is done fermenting-a little hop presence and very slight rye bite. But as I said earlier, I've never had a real Roggenbier, so it is hard to tell.<br />
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I am going to keg what I have and see how it goes. The beer will debut publicly at the documentary premiere, tentatively Wednesday 2/24/2010, 7-9 PM in Cambridge. More on that when it gets closer.David Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17281985750976667595noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1541939938009231928.post-10057488156228615632009-12-01T12:28:00.000-08:002009-12-01T12:28:57.279-08:00Brewing Oatmeal Stout-one year laterThis Sunday I stayed in on a beautiful fall day and brewed Oatmeal Stout. This one is not destined for the Sam Adams Patriot Homebrew competition, since I'm pretty sure they wouldn't let me win twice in a row with the same beer!<br />
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I set out to duplicate the award winning recipe, but ended up changing it a bit because I ran out of two of the ingredients--that's what you get for not planning ahead! I didn't have all the the Black Patent malt that the recipe calls for, so I made up the difference with Carafa II, which has a slightly different flavor, but we're talking about less than 1% of the grain bill, so it probably won't be noticeable. I also ws out of Dextrine Malt, so I substituted Wheat Malt since the dextrine was for head retention anyway. Again this is a small amount, about 1.3% of the grain bill. It shouldn't end up tremendously different from the original, but it will be interesting to taste.<br />
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The third change was less dramatic (I hope), which is that I replaced the liquid yeast in the original (White Labs WLP001) with dry yeast (Safale S05), which is essentially the same yeast. The lag time was a bit more than I would have anticipated, but it started up OK and is fermenting strong as I write!<br />
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One of the funny things about winning the competition is that people ask me all the time if Sam Adams can't "steal" my recipe. First, they paid me a royalty for it, so it wouldn't be stealing if they used it in a more widely distributed beer. Second, I published the recipe in BYO magazine, so it is in the public domain now. Third, all they would really have to do is tweak it slightly to get essentially the same flavors but with a different grain bill and it would be a different recipe. Not that I expect them to do that, since they are honorable people, but that's all it would take. Heck, I tweak it myself, every time I brew to attempt something different or just because I ran out of some ingredient or other.<br />
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Brewing for me is about creativity. I have a great time trying new things and tasting the result. If I like it, then I'm happy, if I don't then I'll try again (and find someone who does like to to give the first batch to). That's how I got rid of the first batch of Oatmeal Stout that I made--my brother in law loved it! I hope this batch is good, but there's always another one in the queue. More on it when it comes out.David Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17281985750976667595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1541939938009231928.post-83770854477989739912009-11-24T14:36:00.000-08:002009-11-24T14:36:27.677-08:00Oatmeal Stout Update - Thanksgiving Weekend 2009We're now 6 games into the Patriots regular season, which means the Oatmeal Stout has been on draft at Gillette since August, through 2 pre-season and 6 regular season games. We've got 2 regular season games to go, and hopefully 2 post-season games!<br />
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As far as I can tell, they have run out of the stout at EVERY game before halftime!<br />
At the Dolphins game on November 8, they were out by 12:30pm (it was a 1:00 game)! I was very disappointed not to get my beer at the game, I have to say.<br />
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Erica, at Boston Beer Co. tells me that the Oatmeal Stout was (is?) available at Bar Louie at Patriot Place as well. I was hoping to go before the most recent game (a resounding defeat of the JETS), but the line was ridiculous! Maybe next time. I did meet some nice guys waiting in line for the stout at the stadium who were coming back every game to get it--before they headed up to their seats in the 300 level. <br />
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It is really gratifying to hear that people like the beer that much--thanks guys! Go Pats!David Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17281985750976667595noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1541939938009231928.post-84366510686287714702009-11-24T14:29:00.000-08:002009-11-24T14:29:31.306-08:00Make way for yeast!I wanted to share my recent brewing activities, which I think are pretty interesting. Eight or nine weeks ago I decided to brew an English Southern Brown Ale, which I brewed once before, a couple years ago, and greatly enjoyed. It is an unusual style, having almost died out in the UK. Most of us are familiar with the Newcastle Brown or Sam Smith's Nut Brown, both of which are Northern Brown Ale--dryer and less hoppy. Northern Brown is strongly influenced by the brewing water of Newcastle upon Tyne, which is quite hard, and imparts a very distinctive character to that style. The Southern English was brewed in London, which had softer water, and is a sweeter style of brown ale, and lacking the hard water's influence. I think the Southern Brown is a very nice beer, though I like both styles--I was really attracted to it because I can't go to the store and buy it anywhere. That's a major point of home brewing to me, that I can brew beer which can't be found in the store anywhere--how cool is that????<br />
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Anyway, I pulled out Jamil Zainacheff's recipe for the Brown and planned my brewing day. One of the key factors in a beer like this is the yeast, and I picked up a vial of White Labs WLP002 English Ale yeast and made a starter to get the yeast going. The brew day went very well and I hit all my planned gravity numbers, pitched the yeast and everything was good! Very good, as I won a First at the <a href="http://www.bfd.org/nerhbc">NERHBC </a>with it!<br />
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One key question (as always, when a brew is done) was what to brew next. Since I had a big yeast cake with WLP002, I decided to do a British Best Bitter, another favorite of mine, that does best on that same yeast.<br />
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Again, the brew day went well. The big question, however, was how to rack (transfer) the Brown to a keg, while cooling the Bitter, so that the carboy (the fermenter, a big 6.5 gal glass jug) was not empty for long before I could add the Bitter wort to it. So, I set up my siphon and started transferring the Brown, but forgot how much ale I had (nearly 6 gals), and was taken by surprise when I heard the sound of splashing. Yup, the keg overflowed, and I had Brown ale all over the floor. It was a sticky mess!<br />
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I stopped the flow of the siphon, grabbed some bottles, and began bottling the overflow. When that ran out, I had to bottle some of the contents of the keg to get the level down sufficiently to avoid backflow into the CO2 if it ran out. There's not much that's worse than beer in your CO2 tank! Although beer all over the floor counts, too--and I had plenty of that! In the end, I got it done and bottled 7 bottles of Brown ale and got the Bitter fermenting VERY quickly, virtually no lag time at all. Cleanup, however, took some time.<br />
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A few days later, the fermentation was done and the yeast flocculated (a great word, meaning "clumped and dropped to the bottom" so there was a nice clear beer, with just the right level of alcohol and no off flavors! So I set to work planning my next brew. Bear in mind that I had been feeding and caring for the same yeast through two relatively low alcohol beers, and they were strong and healthy and ready to keep growing.<br />
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High alcohol beer (over about 7%) requires a good amount of yeast to start, particularly because as the alcohol level increases the yeast start dying off because too much alcohol will kill them. So if you have a lot of yeast to start, you can spare a few. My fellow BFDer, Mike Robinson published his English Style Barleywine recipe to the group, and it looked like a winner to me (Mike has more ribbons for his brewing than pretty much anyone I know--they cover both sides of a 10 foot rafter in his basement, and there are probably more--he's good!). So I got all my ingredients for the Barley Wine, including another yeast--this one a dry yeast with higher attenuation (it keeps working longer in a higher alcohol concentration) to work with the original WLP002.<br />
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Armed with all that, I started brewing the Barleywine on a Monday morning....<br />
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Things went generally well, but I did not get the starting gravity quite as high as I was expecting. However, I racked it onto the existing yeast, oxygenated, added the second yeast, mixed well and put in the airlock. Within 30 minutes I had bubbles of CO2 coming out of the airlock, so it took off pretty well. I was very pleased until the next morning I discovered that I had YEAST coming out of the airlock! The fermentation was extremely strong, so I had to pull the airlock and put in a "blow-off" tube, which is another type of airlock that uses a bucket of sanitizer as the airlock. <br />
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So the experiment worked. One vial of yeast produced three beers, one of which already won an award! I'll be bottling the barleywine soon, and maybe it will win something-- but even if it doesn't I'll have a great beer to enjoy for some years to come!David Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17281985750976667595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1541939938009231928.post-33652033318267166722009-10-04T19:40:00.000-07:002009-10-04T19:40:37.866-07:00A tale of two brewpubsAs a frequent traveler, one of the fun things I get to do is try out new brewpubs and beer bars wherever I go. This past week I was in Rapid City, SD and had to try out the <a href="http://www.firehousebrewing.com/">Firehouse Brewing Co.</a> with my colleague Charles. Anyway, off we went to Firehouse in downtown Rapid City, looking for some good beer! No doubt about it, it is a pretty building, and had a nice patio with outside seating--and we were there on a nice warm night, so that's where we went. For a Tuesday night, it was pretty busy, but we were seated immediately, very nice. Time for beer!<br />
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Our waitress informed us that they only had 3 beers on draught--a surprise there! Also, they have tasters, but you pay for 5 beers even when there are only 3.Not cool, since I want to try all three. So Charles goes for the Wilderness Wheat, and I have the Strong Arm Porter. The porter is not especially, er, portery, or even especially distinguished. It is drinkable though, and I enjoyed it. I followed up with a Firehouse Red, which also wasn't distinguished--frankly it was disappointingly ordinary, and even had some off flavors. At this point I thought I would ask our waitress about the beer--and this is where I was incredibly shocked! She knew NOTHING about beer, and was a self admitted whiskey drinker.<br />
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I can't help but contrast this with my favorite local brewpub, <a href="http://www.tapbrewpub.com/">The Tap</a> in Haverhill, MA. While they have had turnover in their brewers, the beer there is consistently good and consistently matches the descriptions. Haverhill, by the way is a little smaller than Rapid City (56,000 vs 64,000 population), but is part of the greater Boston area, so there is more competition. The Tap is all about beer. The last time I was there, my waitress Delsie, was able to tell me all about each of the beers. And about the brewer. And if she didn't know an answer, I'm pretty confident she would have been able to get me one. <br />
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If you are going to run a brew pub, it seems to me you really need to hire staff that know about beer to help sell your product. In this man's world, the only reason to go to a brew pub over and above another restaurant is because of the beer. The lure of fresh, regional beer is a big one for me, and I'm always looking for great beer, as I was in Rapid City. If you are ever in Haverhill, stop in at the Tap. If you are in Rapid City, go to the Delmonico Grill--it is across the street from the Firehouse, but the beer is MUCH better--and they know their product.David Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17281985750976667595noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1541939938009231928.post-52561029322501220822009-09-15T06:55:00.000-07:002009-09-15T06:55:52.158-07:00Season Opener at Gillette: Patriot Oatmeal Stout sold out before halftime!Oh, and the Patriots beat the Bills, 25-24! What a game! <br />
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My friend Craig was chiding me all evening (including the 2.5 hour ride down in miserable traffic) about how this season going to Gillette is less about the Pats than the Stout, and I guess to some degree it is true. At any rate, my arrival routine has changed so that instead of heading left up the ramp toward my seats, I now head right, and up the stairs for my beer! So it is a good thing, because Craig and I got our Patriot Oatmeal Stout just as the game started. JL from the Patriots organization told me <a href="http://www.patriots.com/alumni/index.cfm?ac=alumnibiosdetail&bio=261">Max Lane</a> was going to be at the Sam Adams Brewhouse at the half, so I figured I'd get his autograph and another Stout, but NO! When we got there, there were no white tap handles to be seen! The guy in front of me was looking for Stout too, but the woman behind the counter told us they had sold out!<br />
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OK, Boston Beer Co., the gauntlet is thrown! Let's see how much Patriot Oatmeal Stout we thirsty Patriots fans will drink at a game!David Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17281985750976667595noreply@blogger.com0