Review of "Tis Not the Season" Hefeweizen

I brewed this hefeweizen during Teach a Friend to Homebrew day, at the beginning of November. I have decided to call it "Tis Not the Season" Hefeweizen, because German wheat beer styles are usually served during the spring and early summer, rarely during the cold winter months. However, it was my wife's turn to pick the beer recipe, as she had not done so for several batches, and she was craving a nice hefeweizen. So, to work I went, and I was fairly pleased with the result.

Brewed: 11/1/2008

Kegged: 11/10/2008

Original Gravity: 1.043

Final Gravity: 1.012

IBU: 14

Alcohol By Volume: 4.0

Carbonation Volume: 2.5 (13 psi at 40 degrees F)

The beer pours a cloudy straw color, sort of like one of those fiber-supplement drinks you see advertised on TV. I know this is not a flattering description, but it was the first thought that came to mind. The beer has a very pillowy white head that lasts for several minutes as the beer was consumed. This is perhaps the most pillowly head on a beer I have ever made. I imagine it is due to all of the wheat that was in the grain bill.

The hefeweizen has a very pleasant smell. The smell of fresh yeast is very strong, similar to the smell you get from Starr Hill's "Love" wheat beer, which is unfiltered. There is a spicy clove smell that is fairly strong, while the banana and other tropical fruit scents sit in the background (which is just how my wife likes it, as she can't stand bananas).

After a month in the keg, the beer has definitely smoothed out. It has a very fresh flavor that is nicely balanced with the light hopping that went into the beer. At first, I was not pleased with how the beer turned out. It seemed to be too light on body and there was a unpleasant bitterness on the back of the tongue. This has faded away, leaving a very nice and refreshing beer. I taste a creamy smooth mouthfeel, along with some faint clove, banana, and pear flavors. It tastes very much like it smells. There is a small bit of residual sugar on the back of the palate, but it does not build up or get in the way as you finish a pint.

While "Tis Not the Season" for a hefeweizen, I find it very seasonal, indeed.

Merry Christmas to you and may you find time for family, friends, reflection, and good beer in this crazy holiday season.

Homebrew Tasting - Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008

Our homebrew club had its second-ever homebrew tasting last Tuesday, December 2nd, at a member's house. Over 20 people attended the event and I estimated that close to 50 different beers and ciders were on hand for tasting. CAMRA members have been working towards having another tasting for several months now. Most people in the club state that lack of tastings were the one thing that they hoped would change as CAMRA moves forward.

Several notable facts about the tasting include:
- Excellent beer, ranging from sour Belgian ales to cider, to holiday spiced beers to hefeweizens, were available. I honestly mean excellent beer. I was stunned at the breadth of styles and skill that homebrewers here in Central Virginia demonstrate.
- Open tasting format that allowed the brewers to circulate and discuss their beer as it was being poured. This worked well for our loosely-organized club and allowed the brewers to receive feedback on the spot.
- Excellent food, including some homemade bread and cheeses. I was supposed to bring some spent grain bread . . . but sometimes life gets in the way.
- Impromptu live music provided when several attendees picked up our host's instruments and started playing. They were actually quite good.

Feedback provided about the event has us thinking of making the following changes for next time:
- Have better name tags so people can get to know each other's names without having to keep asking.
- Provide a sign-in sheet that asks people to list the beer they brought. Several people commented they wish they had something to write down notes on to ask for recipes and tips later.
- Have these events more often, as they are a lot of fun and what the homebrewing hobby is all about.


A great time was had by all. Thanks to our host and all of the CAMRA supporters who came out and tasted the variety and excellent beer that can be made at home.

Teach a Friend to Homebrew Day - Saturday Nov 1, 2008

In typical fashion, I am writing about this event well after the fact. But, it was a fun event, so I wanted to include some information about it on my blog.

The first Saturday every November, the American Homebrewing Association (AHA) organizes an event called "Teach a Friend to Homebrew Day." The purpose of the event is to help spread the word about homebrewing good beer and take the mystery out of it. Homebrewing is something anyone can do and it is not hard, especially once you see it done. I did a Teach a Friend to Homebrew event at my house last year and enjoyed it immensely.(http://wallacesouthbrewnews.blogspot.com/2007/11/teach-friend-to-homebrew-day.html).

This was the first year we had a homebrew store in town to help organize the event. Bob Cuddleback, over at the Fermentation Trap, invited our homebrewing club to come out and brew at the store for the event. He advertised the event to the Charlottesville area and we did the same on our club forums. So, I packed up all my equipment and headed over to the store around noon. I had a good time brewing along side Bob, as well as comparing equipment and stories with him. I also really enjoyed showing those that stopped by my equipment and discussing the brewing process.

Here are some interesting bullet points about the day:

- I brewed a simple all-grain hefeweizen recipe, which took about 6 hours.

- In that time, Bob brewed two malt extract recipes, a hefeweizen and a scottish ale. His comment was that he was glad I showed off my all-grain equipment, but also glad that he ended up with twice as much beer.

- We had between 15 and 20 people stop by and observe the brewing process.

- The most gathered around me as I started to mash out, and promptly had a stuck sparge (where no wort comes out of the mash tun). This is particularly embarrassing, as it implies that I don't really know what I am doing (which I am not always sure that I do). I was able to salvage the beer without too much effort, but still . . . Murphy's law.

- I got to try a couple of people's homemade wine during the day, including a truly excellent cherry port.

- Fellow CAMRA members Christopher and Mike came out and kept me company during the long brew day.

- Everyone seemed to have a great time.

Fun Homebrew Review: Centennial IPA - T Minus 16 months . . .

I wrote this homebrew review for a member of our homebrewing club not too long ago. It was a neat review, so I thought I would repost it here. Enjoy.

-------------------------

A friend gave me a bottle of his Imperial Centennial IPA more than a year ago now. I remember him saying that he did not know what to call it, as it really turned out a bit more like a barleywine than a true Imperial IPA. I suggested "800-pound gorilla" because the beer has so many hops in there, but my friend wisely avoided the primate reference. I also remember him saying that he wondered what would happen if the beer was laid down to age, but that it was unlikely he would do so, as he tends to drink them before letting them age. So, unbeknownst to my friend, I aged the beer and am finally getting a chance to drink it.

The beer pours an amber/red color that is almost edging on brown. The beer is very clear and I can easily see my hand through it. There is definitely carbonation in the beer, but the head is thin (about a quarter-inch thick) and course. The head lasted for about two minutes before slowly dissolving into the beer, though it left some lacing on my glass. There is a definite hop aroma to the beer, but it is rather thin. I sort of expected this, as hop flavor and aroma drop off as hoppy beers age. Many people often say you should drink IPAs and other hoppy beers quickly to get the hop presence. I also smell brown sugar, or a dark belgian candy sugar.

The IPA tastes very good. It has a definite bitter component, which nicely balances the sweetness from the imperial quality of the beer. As expected,a strong hop presence is absent from the beer. Aside from the bitterness, I don't get much hop character that I would expect in an IPA. I taste a dark sugar component, but without all of the sweetness. The beer finishes slightly sweet, but the sweetness does not really build on the tongue, so it is still easy to finish the glass.

Interestingly, the beer tastes a lot more like a belgian tripel than a barleywine, which differs from my friend's original characterization. The flavor is similar enough that I would probably classify it as a tripel, if I did not know the beer's history. The only thing that is not quite on style is that the beer has a bit more bitterness than a tripel would, so it might be an "American tripel."

Thank you for sharing your beer with me. I hope you like your "surprise review," even though I spilled the beans that I was going to write it a couple of weeks back. Cheers!

Review of "Double Down" Scottish 80/~ Ale

I must admit that this beer had me a bit concerned. As you may have already read, the day I brewed it was very eventful. Add to that experience that I have read a couple of negative reviews of the recipe I used and early tastes of the beer were a bit cloyingly sweet. However, the beer rallied nicely about a month after I brewed it and I am very happy with it right now. It is definitely a session beer and I am enjoying a pint of it right now.

Brewed: 9/20/2008
Kegged: 9/27/2008
Original Gravity: 1.050
Final Gravity: 1.018
IBU: 15
Alcohol By Volume: 4.1%
Carbonation Volume: 2.5 (13 psi at 40 degrees F)

The beer pours a brownish color with strong red highlights. It is fairly clear, when held up to a strong light, though under normal conditions, it appears opaque due to its dark color. The beer has a moderate amount of off-white head on it, which dissipates over a few minutes, leaving a light film on top of the beer. This film makes interesting patterns on the glass, as you enjoy the pint, which is called "Belgian lace." The 80/~ has a malty aroma, mixed with something nutty, maybe like toasted almonds. Hop aroma is completely absent from this beer, which is as expect from the style and lack of aroma hops.

The beer has a strong malt flavor. This is the first thing that hits your palate and lasts throughout the taste. This is a mild silky flavor in there, slightly reminiscent of an oatmeal stout, though it is much less apparent. The is no detectable bitterness to the beer, but it must be present to counteract the high final gravity of the beer. There is a slight honey flavor in the beer that probably came from the honey malt. A friend of mine says that specific flavor is something he does not like about this recipe, and I am tempted to agree. If I make the beer again, I will omit that specialty malt and go with more toasted bread flavor, probably from victory or a similar malt. The beer finishes with a slight prickle of carbonation, but leaves a hint of sweetness on the tongue.

This is the first true session beer that I have brewed. Session beers are those under 4.2% ABV and are very important in the British brewing tradition, where gathering at the pub for a couple of pints after work is the norm for the British public. If their common beer were stronger, people would be getting sloshed all the time, so the pub masters brewed milds and bitters that were session beers, i.e. beer with great taste that is refreshing, but not too strong. Brewing good beer like this is a challenge that I hope to undertake again soon.

A note about the photo: I write this post after spending the day at an apple festival with my family and the family of a good friend who is also a homebrewer. The leaves are beginning to turn and it feels like Fall. It was a great Fall day outside, clear and crisp, so I felt the need to take a picture of the beer outside, while rays of the setting sun showed the highlights in the beer, much like the highlights of the changing leaves.

"Double Down" Scottish 80/~ Ale

So, I am sure a lot of the other homebrewers out there have had boil-overs before. It is a common problem, especially when you first start homebrewing. At that time, you have no idea that boiling wart has the characteristic of explosively generating foam, much like boiling pasta water on steroids. However, I have been brewing for several years now; so, for the most part, I know what to look for and how to avoid the common pitfalls.

Enter important Tom personality characteristic #2 (the first is that I love homebrewing). I rarely sit still. I mean to say that I usually have a to-do list inscribed in my mind that clearly dictates all of the tasks that I must complete in a given weekend. So, it is very common for me to try to do multiple tasks at once. In this case, I was doing the following:

- Brewing the Scottish ale
- Watching my son (read, he was "helping", while my wife was at our daughter's soccer game
- Baking a batch of sourdough bread
- Mowing the lawn and doing other gardening stuff

So, add to this insane mix that my Mom calls to say hi. She has no idea I am doing all of this stuff and we had not spoken for a few weeks (Call your Mom, today!). So I pause to talk to her and to help my son do a jigsaw puzzle. Enter boil over number one. I caught it in time not to be extremely bad, but I still had to wipe off most of the pot and parts of the burner stand. I hang up with my Mom and get things cleaned up.

Things seem to be going well, so I toss in the hops and then turn to respond to a question that my son asks. BOOM. Boil over number two, this time with hops. I promptly curse, which is repeated by my son. It is just the way this brew day is going.

In the end, everything got done (the beer is fermenting away in the fridge now, the lawn is mowed, my son is still alive, the bread is fantastic, and I am still sane). I felt that the beer should be named "Double Down" for the two times that foam ran down the sides of the kettle.

The take home lesson is that you should enjoy the brew day (especially seeing how beautiful it was outside this weekend) and not try to do too much at the same time. Your beer, and your spouse/significant other/children/neighbors, will thank you for it . . .

American Pale Ale

I must admit that American Pale Ale (APA) has never been a favorite style of mine. It is probably the most commonly available style, with every brew pub in America making their own version. However, that said, it also allows a LOT of latitude when designing a recipe because there are so many different versions.

I was inspired to do an APA by two factors. First, the APA that I brewed for John's party this year was a huge hit. It was the keg that disappeared the fastest by a good hour or more. This in spite of the fact we had oatmeal stout on nitro tap (my personal favorite). The recipe is actually a modified version of the one I made for John's party, with different hops.

The second reason for the APA was a discussion at a CAMRA meeting a couple of months ago. One of the members was talking about mash hoping, a technique where you add hops directly to the mash. This is an excellent way to use old hops, as the technique does not really get extra bitterness out of the hops, but somehow results in greater hop mouthfeel. I really wanted to try this out and had 2 ounces of year old amarillo hops to use.

Brewed: 7/19/2008

Kegged: 8/7/2008

Original Gravity: 1.053

Final Gravity: 1.010

IBU (estimated, due to mash hopping): 48

Alcohol By Volume: 5.5%

Carbonation Volume: 2.7 (15 psi at 40 degrees F)

The beer pours an amber color, much like a dark honey. It has a chill haze at lower temperatures that vanishes as the beer warms. It has a nice off-white head, a little craggy due to all of the hops. It has a definite hop smell, more along the lines of an IPA than an APA, but not quite as citrus-heavy.

The beer tastes very hoppy. There is a fullness to the hop flavor that I have not made before, which I attribute to the mash hopping. I really have no idea how this works, but I like the end product. There is a bit of caramel on the back part of the tongue, but it is very subdued. The beer finishes very dry, as we can see with the 1.010 final gravity. This leaves the palate ready for more beer, but when I brew it again, I might increase the caramel malt a bit. The dryness is a bit out of balance and I would like a slight hint more residual sweetness. Overall, I am very happy with the product and will definitely try to brew this one again.

Partner Brewing

I brewed my Oktoberfest or marzen lager this past Saturday and put a post up about the brew day on our homebrew club (CAMRA) forums. One of the members of CAMRA, Billy, contacted me and stated he wanted to come over to help brew. I must say that this is my favorite part of this hobby. Homebrewing is a very social hobby and people always seem to want to help each other. Friendly chatter and helping hands make a brew day all the more enjoyable.

Billy is a relatively recent, but passionate, homebrewer. He had not seen anyone do an all-batch of beer before and he had lots of questions. It was rather fun to walk him through the process and his questions were insightful and well-thought out. We also had the opportunity to enjoy a homebrew or two and Billy seemed to like both the pale ale and chocolate-hazelnut robust porter that I have on tap.

Thanks for coming over, Billy. Sharing mutual interest in this wonderful hobby is what CAMRA and homebrewing are all about. For more information about CAMRA, see our website at: http://www.cvillebrewing.com/

Chocolate Hazelnut Robust Porter

This beer came from Jamil Zainasheff's book Brewing Classic Styles. This has become my favorite recipe book and I have had consistent success with the recipes it presents. I brewed this beer for my wife, who loves all things chocolate, because she is so tolerant of my hobby and because I used a good portion of my "marriage capital" when I purchased and built my kegerator. Thanks honey, I hope you like it.

Brewed: 6/7/2008
Kegged: 6/21/2008
Original Gravity: 1.076
Final Gravity: 1.022
Alcohol By Volume: 6.8%
Carbonation Volume: 2.2 (12 psi at 40 degrees F)

The beer features a full 8 oz can of Hersey's baking chocolate, which a friend wisely had me mix in hot wort in a sauce pan, rather than dump directly into the boil. The smell coming off of the brew pot was heavenly, even it if was 95 F outside on the deck when I made the beer. By the end of fermentation, the chocolate had settled to the bottom of the carboy, in a thick dark chocolate sludge. I was briefly tempted to try some, but then thought better of it. The porter had 0.5 oz of hazelnut extract added directly to the keg. The beer should age very well, given its large amount of dark and roasty malts and higher alcohol content.

The beer pours very dark. I mean like looking into a black hole dark. It's head is course and craggy, more like the head you would expect on an IPA, rather than a stout. The head is a dark creamy color, similar to the espresso stout I made last year, but not quite as tan. The head disappears quickly, which might be due to the high fat content in the chocolate. The porter smells of dark chocolate, with a very slight hint of hazelnut. It reminds me a bit of some of the chocolate shops we visited when in Italy, not sweet like Hersey Park's Chocolate World, but something more complex.

The first taste you get is roast. The roast character of the porter is more reminiscent of a stout. I think the robust porter naturally has this flavor, but the dark chocolate contributes to it as well. You get chocolate on the middle of the tongue, but it is more subdued than you would think after the smell. There is a bit of mocha on the back of the tongue, followed by just a hint of hazelnut. If I make the beer again, I will definitely bump the hazelnut extract up, perhaps to 0.75 oz of extract.

Overall, this is a enjoyable beer, but one that is complex enough so that you would probably not have more than a pint at a time. Cheers, honey, and once again I am glad a married a wonderful woman who enjoys beer and supports my exploration of brewing it.

Kegerator Conversion Complete

I have finished converting my kegerator so that it can use three taps. When I first bought the kegerator, I was amazed to discover that the refrigerator portion could accommodate three 5-gallon corny kegs. However, the draft tower only had one tap on it, which prohibited me from taking full advantage of the keg space. I thought of several different ideas on how to get more taps on the tower, but each idea had problems. The biggest problem is that the tower column is only 2.5" in diameter, which means that the faucet shanks would run into each other if they were anywhere near one another. Add this to the fact that if I drilled additional holes much lower on the tower, I would no longer be able to fit a pint glass under the new faucets.

In the end, I decided on adding additional space at the top of the tower. Here is how it worked:

• I saw a cool looking old champagne bucket that had wooden handles and a neat two color metal finish. I found it at a garage sale for $6.00


• I drilled a 2.5-inch diameter hole through the bottom of the bucket and its insulation so that it could slide over the draft tower pipe.


• I drilled three 1-inch diameter holes through the front of the bucket in a triangle shape, to fit the three shanks and faucet adapters.


• I mounted brackets to the bottom of the bucket and angled the brackets up through notches in the bottom bucket hole and attached them to the draft tower. They were spaced so that the bucket slid over the original draft tower hole to make the entire piece look seamless.


• The top of the brackets were mounted to the draft tower at the top, using bolts, nuts, and washers, so I did not have to drill a hole in the tower pipe. This would allow me to disassemble the bucket contraption and the original tower would still function (not that I plan on doing this).


• I put all the fittings together and poured a pint. This, actually, was after much adjustment and grumbling on my part, and at least one puddle of beer on the floor.
  

Here you can see my "frankenstein" of draft towers (yes, that is the blade of a sword on the wall . . . don't ask, it is a long story). I think it looks pretty nice and I can say I made it myself. It certainly cost less than a new three tap draft tower would have cost, which is around $300. I probably spent about $150, but that is because I bought two expensive forward-sealing taps. The actual parts, with normal taps, would have been less than $100. Cheers.

Beer Names for Bakers Party

I finally caved to John's request and named each of the beers for his summer party and family reunion. This is my least favorite thing to do, so I procrastinated writing them all down. However, I wrote a brief statement about each name, so I figured I would share them through the blog:

- Gusty Oats Oatmeal Stout - We brewed the two oatmeal stouts on an extremely windy day in March. It was cold and there were leaves and twigs flying all about. I would not be surprised if there were even oats gusting around that day . . .
- The Bends Oatmeal Stout (Nitro) - You get "the bends" when you come up from diving depth too quickly and nitrogen comes out of solution in your blood stream. This beer can do the same thing, as its wonderful flavors will make you want to deposit it directly into your blood stream via IV.
- Blazing Saddles Hoppy Red Ale - This hoppy red ale will leave you chuckling with its comic blend of smooth malts and jarring hops. We could think of no better tribute to the late Harvey Korman, who did so much to make us all laugh.
- Pissed Black Cat Stout - My neighbor's black cat has never been much of a fan of when I invade its territory on MY deck to brew MY beer. So, it demonstrated its hatred to John by taking a leak on my smoker right next to the brew pot. I can still smell that cat every time I fire the smoker up.
- Steamy Summer California Common - This beer style is more commonly known as steam beer, which is very appropriate, given the steaming sauna of a day we brewed it on. Hopefully, the day of the party will be a little less oppressive, but you can quench your thirst with this beer either way.
- Murphy's Law Dry Irish Stout - A fitting homage to the Baker clan's ancestry. This beer is aptly named because everything that could go wrong during the brewing process did. The beer's ultimate thumb in our faces was that it turned out so good.
- Short On Hops IPA - This india pale ale is anything BUT short on hops. Its name is a reference to the current worldwide hop shortage, which had me substituting three of the four hop varieties in the beer.

Belgian Wit

I have now made about eight beers using the recipes from Jamil Zainasheff's Brewing Classic Styles book, and I just love it. The recipes turn out fantastic and the book is full of excellent tips. Now, the stats:

Brewed: 4/19/2008

Kegged: 4/30/2008

Original Gravity: 1.056

Final Gravity: 1.011

Alcohol By Volume: 5.8%

Carbonation Volume: 2.7 (15 psi at 40 degrees F)

This was my first 1o-gallon batch, as mentioned in a previous post. I split the batch into two 5 gallon carboys, one of which I fermented normally and the other I racked onto pinot noir soaked oak chips to imitate the style of the Dogfish Head Red and White Ale. I will document the results of that experiment in another post. These tasting notes are for the batch that was fermented normally.

Belgian wits are supposed to be drunk fresh. They are yeasty and very tasty and I am happy with the results of my brewing. The beer appears cloudy and sort of glows a pale yellow-white color when held against a strong light. The wit has a thick pillowy white head that dissipates quickly, but leaves a nice lacing pattern on the glass. It smells strongly of yeast and orange citrus, which is no surprise given that the 10 gallon batch used the fresh zest of three navel oranges. In fact, the smell is one of the things I love most about this beer. The taste has an immediate zing from the coriander that settles into the orange. The carbonation leaves a trail on your tongue, but dissipates quickly. You next taste the yeast, which has a spicy aftertaste that finally settles on a firm smoothness. The beer finishes with a slight lingering sweetness.

I really like how this batch turned out. However, for the next batch I will back off on the coriander slightly, as it is a bit too strong. I also plan on increasing the carbonation a bit, as it could be a slightly stronger. Additionally, a member of our homebrew club recommended I add 1/4 tsp of lactic acid to the beer as I keg it to add a slight sour spritz to the flavor. The cloudy "white" color can also be pronounced by adding a tablespoon of flour wort when it is boiling in the kettle.

Overall, I am very pleased with this beer and how it tastes out of the keg.

Bohemian Pilsner

I meant to post this a while ago, but this review is timely as this is the very last bottle. Here are the stats:

Brewed: 1/19/2008

Bottled: 3/8/2008

Original Gravity: 1.061

Final Gravity: 1.011

Alcohol By Volume: 6.5%

Lagering Time: 5 weeks

I have been extremely happy with this beer, given that it is the first lager I brewed. The pils is very clear, probably the clearest beer I have ever brewed. It maintains its head for a long time, which is something, as most of my beer has a head that dissipates quickly. It has a clean taste, but with a definite strong hop backbone. In fact, I would say the hops are a bit too much and next time I brew the beer I intend to reduce the total IBUs by at least five. I detect a slight amount of honey in the palate, but not sweet. The finish is very clean and slightly dry.

One other thing I read about is that bohemian pilsners are made with very soft water. This makes the hops stand out a bit less spritzy (I know that is not a word, but it is what came to mind), but makes the flavor softer on the palate. I read that this can be simulated by purchasing cheap deionized water from Walmart or similar store. Substitute 50% of the water used to make the beer with the DI water and it will make the total water used softer, but still drinkable.

This is one I will definitely do again.

April was a Busy Brewing Month . . .

Ok, I admit it, I have been extremely lax about updating the blog, especially given all of the beer and brewing things I did in April. I keep telling myself that I will get around to posting to the blog, but never seem to make the time to do it. Here is a bulletized recap of the brewing and wine-making activities of the last month or so:

• John's Party Brew Day #3 - John and I brewed beer batches #5 and #6 in April, which included a Dry Irish Stout and a Pale Ale. The Dry Irish Stout resulted in a stuck sparge, so it took a LONG time, and we kept missing our temperatures; thus it was nick-named Murphy's Law Irish Stout. However, despite all of that, it tastes great.


• First 10-Gallon Batch - I brewed my first 10-gallon batch ever in April. I had borrowed a friends 20-gallon aluminum pot so John and I to make two batches of beer at the same time. While I had it, I figured I would try to brew 10 gallons of Belgian wit, which worked well, but still took longer than expected.


• First Brewing Experiment - I divided the 10-gallon batch into two carboys and finished each different. I used the first carboy as a control, allowing it to finish fermenting normally and just following the recipe. I tried to make the second carboy into a clone of Dogfish Head's Red and White beer, which my wife loves. This involved racking the beer onto 2 ounces of oak chips that had soaked in pinot noir wine for a week. It will be neat to try the beer side-by-side to taste how it is different.


• Kegerator - I got really lucky on Craig's List and bought a $1,000 kegerator for $150. It is only three years old and is in very good condition. It can hold three homebrew kegs and I am currently working on a method to outfit it with three taps. I am very excited about this project, as I will finally have draft beer at the house.


• 4th CAMRA Meeting - Our homebrewing club had its fourth monthly meeting and we had about 25 people show up. One of the members led the discussion about the Belgian wit category (very timely, as I had just brewed one and he had lots of good suggestions) and we talked about growing hops and organizing our first homebrew tasting event at the end of May.

I hope to write an individual post about most of these items, but if past performance is any indication, it might not happen for a while. I am especially interested in follow-up posts about the kegerator and the Belgian wit experiment. I also need to do a write up on my bohemian pilsner, as I am down to the last bottle.

Until next time, whenever that may be . . . cheers!

John's Party Brew Day #2

We did the second big brew day for John's summer party on March 22, 2008. This was another two batch day and we started nice and early. The first beer we brewed was a hoppy red ale from Jamil Zainasheff's book, Brewing Classic Styles. I am very interested to try this beer, as the description sounds wonderful. It should also work really well for John's party, as the its hoppy nature should pair well with the spicy seafood he serves. This beer maxed out the my mash tun, so I had to cut back on the base grain by a pound, as my mash tun can only take a total of 14 pounds. The brew session went very well and we hit all of our numbers.

The second beer we made was an India Pale Ale (IPA), also from Jamil's book. This batch called for four ounces of hops, which made it a bit pricey in during the hop shortage we are currently experiencing. But hey, John bought the ingredients, so I have nothing to complain about. The brewing process went very well and we again hit all of our numbers. The only problem with both of these brews is that the large amount of hops in each one meant that we could transfer less wort to the fermentors, as there was a large amount of hop and break material in the bottom of the kettle. This will mean we make about a six-pack less of each beer, but the beer should be of good quality.

The beer from the previous brew session was still finishing fermenting in my tool room (the coolest room in the house, which makes it ideal for fermenting ales, as it stays in the mid 60s F most of the year). So, this is the first time I have ever had four carboys of beer fermenting in the same room. It made for a cool picture.

John and I finished brewing just before dark, just in time to sample some of the brisket that I had been smoking all day long. The smell had been making our mouths water through out the brew session, and it turned out as good as it smelled. Yum!

Deckbuilder Dunkleweizen

I brewed this batch of beer for my good friend, Jason, who was a huge help in finishing the deck where I spend most of my brew days. It was a favorite of his wife, Crystal, and I was happy to provide them with a little thank you. The fact that it made three extra bottles that I could keep for myself is just an added bonus.

The beer is a very dark amber with red highlights. It has a decent off-white head that dissipates rather quickly. It smells faintly of banana and some clove, which is a characteristic of the German yeast and the wheat malt. As for taste, I just love this beer. Love, love, love! It is a malt explosion on your tongue. It is not sweet, as there is a definite difference between sweet and malty. There are some biscuity flavors in there, as well as faint hints of toast. The flavor has layers, with malted dry chocolate at the front, followed by the biscuit and toast, then something vaguely like dark honey, and finally the zip of spice that you expect from the German yeast. The beer finishes dry, which makes it very drinkable.

I will need to make some more of this beer soon, lest my wife, who also loves this beer, will send me out to sleep on the deck . . .

John's Party Brew Day #1

March 15th was the first brew day for the annual John Crab Party, that is held near the 4th of July. Three years ago was the first time I brewed for John's party and it was a whole lot of fun. Each year we have stepped up the number of batches we make for the party until we are maxing out this year - 5 batches for the party (the maximum number of taps John actually has) and 2 batches for his family reunion. It gives me a chance to brew with John, which is fun, and an excuse to make more beer.

The first brew day was a double day, so we started early at around 9:30 am. We made two batches of oatmeal stout, which was the hands-down favorite from last year. John wanted to try one on a nitrogen tap (he is an engineer and the problems presented by nitrogen taps and their finicky nature excite him). It was a beautiful day to be out on the deck, if a little windy. The temperature was in the low 60s and spring is definitely in the air. We finished the first batch mid-afternoon and had the second batch done before dark. We cleaned up just in time for a bowl of my wife's awesome chili and some fresh bread, as well as dinner and a nice evening with some out-of-town guests who were visiting for the weekend.

It was a great brew day.

I NEVER Want to See a Bottle Again!

I did a marathon bottling session today. That was for three batches - pilsner, dunkleweizen, and blackberry mead - which took six hours. I removed labels from about 70 bottles then sanitized and filled 144 of them. I had delayed bottling the batches for a number of reasons and this was the first chance I got.

I really understand why so many homebrewers want to keg. Why spend six hours cleaning and filling bottles when you can do it in 30 minutes and not even have to wait the two weeks for bottle conditioning. The cost is a bit of an issue (probably at least $150 for the keg, fittings, and the CO2 tank) and then I need to fit it in a refrigerator.

But, it might be looking into though, especially after today . . .

CAMRA Update

Well, it has been a while since I last posted, but I have big news on our homebrew club. We have decided on a name - Charlottesville Area Masters of Real Ale (CAMRA). The CRABS name did not work out because there is a group in Maryland that already has that name. We had our second meeting last night and had 23 people come out. The bar where we are meeting was full to standing room only. We are very excited about where this club will go and the interest people have shown in it.

If you want to learn more about CAMRA, head over to our website: http://www.cvillebrewing.com

More information will be forthcoming and I hope to remember to bring my camera to take some pictures next time.

Spiced Winter Ale = Gushy Mess

As it turned out, my spiced winter ale was a gusher. This beer was my first infected beer in a while. All of the bottles that we drank after a month and a half or so had a slight aftertaste and you could hear the head "sparkle" as you poured it. Further, if you did not serve it cold, very cold, it would gush. The wild yeast must have gotten in there prior to bottling, due to the pervasive nature of the infection (i.e. it was in every bottle). I think it was because I did not cool the wort fast enough to pitch quickly and I did not aerate enough, so my beer yeast got a really slow start.



To clarify what infection means if you are not familiar with it in a brewing sense, wild strains of yeast or other microbes get into your beer. Because beer is acidic and alcoholic, no pathogens (stuff that can really hurt you) live in beer. However, infections usually have off flavors that can make the beer almost undrinkable. In extreme cases, they make the beer smell and taste like newly opened band-aids or old socks. They also ferment sugars that normal beer yeast cannot, which super-carbonates the beer and makes it gush. This makes a mess and can lead to "bottle bombs." In the case of the spiced winter ale, the off-flavor was minimal, but you could taste it. The real issue was the gushing nature of it.



So, for next time, I have to make sure I cool the wort quicker and aerate more. I got an aeration kit from Northern Brewer, which should help. I also learned how to link my wort chiller into an ice bath using a cheap pond pump, as shown on the latest Basic Brewing DVD. I think these things will really help.

Bohemian Pilsner

Well, I have begun the new year with my first lager-style fermentation. I have never "successfully" done a lager before. My one previous attempt was to make a marzen (or Oktoberfest, as it is more commonly known) when I had no idea that you needed fermentation temperature control. The beer never really fermented, and the resulting beer, which really was more of a wort, was consumed by a friend who helped make the beer and felt guilty that it did not work out alright. It was in no way Sam's fault, as I really had no idea what I was doing.

I bought a temperature controller with some of my Christmas money and hooked it up to my beer fridge. This controller is basically a thermostat that you plug your fridge into and then the thermostat cuts the power on and off. This allows me to set the fermentation temperature to around 50 degrees, which is important to minimize dactyl (butterscotch flavor) production in lager and pilsner-style beer.

Also new to my beer process this year is active aeration using an aquarium pump and stainless steel airstone and my home made stir plate for yeast starters. The aeration really helps fermentation start faster and minimize wild yeast propagation. The yeast starter does the same thing by increasing the amount of active yeast you pitch into the wort. More on the stir plate, which was built out of a cigar box and spare computer parts, in anther post.

One of the other complicating factors in fermenting a lager or pilsner is that it takes about a week to 10 days to ferment and then another 4 weeks to "lager" in the fridge. So, we will see how it goes. Stay tuned for more information . . .

First Homebrew Club Meeting

Jamey, Christopher and I have been meeting a couple times a month for the past several of months to get our concept of a homebrew club ready. Well, now the invitation has gone out to a bunch of our friends and other people we think might be interested in brewing. The first meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 5th at 6:30pm at Court Square Tavern. The response has been favorable so far, and we expect more than 10 people to come out and join us.

The goal, at first, is to have meetings on the first Tuesday of each month to provide a social gathering of people who enjoy homebrewing beer, with the longer term idea of providing speakers, tastings, and other similar events of interest. We may also organize informal gatherings to go to breweries and maybe even go to the American Homebrewing Association Conference in Cincinnati (I am now an AHA Member - a Christmas present from my in-laws - thank you!).

Stay tuned for more details and check out our club's website and forums at:

http://www.cvillebrewing.com/