On Tour w/ Tim Lowly Ensemble

I'm currently on tour with the Tim Lowly Ensemble and headed for the East Coast. It feels good to be playing with great musicians in a bunch of cities across the upper East end of the country, in cities I've toured before. Our music is fairly mellow and simple, yet there are some really great musicians backing Tim with really amazing arrangements. Kind-of a fusion of folk and classical, but then classify it into a particular genre, is like trying to pick a BJCP beer style for one of your homebrews...ya know?

This time around, there are some differences to the punk rock tours of the past. Since there's a handful of artists with us, we'll be visiting some art museums as well. I have a much bigger interest in finding indigenous brews from Eastern breweries. I hope to hook up with a couple blogging brewers. I also look forward to connecting with people who come out to our shows.

For those reading this, and living in and around the cities/venues we're playing, I invite you and your friends out for a night of good music in a relaxed setting. I'd also like to meet other brewers across the country. At the same time, I'd love to get feedback on the best pubs for local beer (especially close to a venue), and would love some local brewer company. So, please let me know if you will be coming out, and if you have any recommendations for the good beer bars/pubs & maybe even brewpubs...773.655.34.63. Thanks.

The itinerary...

Fri, Jun 27/8:00P/Allegheny UUC (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
1110 Resaca Place/Cost: Donation

Sat, Jun 28/6:00P/Art Center/Warren, Pennsylvania

Sun, Jun 29/2:00P/Kirkland Art Center (Clinton, New York)
Power of Prog Festival/9.5 East Park Row

Sun, Jun 29/7:00P/The Miller Family Home
West Monroe, New York

Mon, Jun 30/8:00P/The Advent (Boston, Massachusetts)
30 Brimmer Street/Boston, Massachusetts 02108/Cost: Donation

Tues, Jul 1/8:00P/Pianos Upstairs Lounge (New York, New York)
158 Ludlow Street/New York, New York 10002/Cost: FREE

Wed, Jul 2/8:00P/St. Andrews Summer Series (Block Island, RI)
Chapel Street (there's only like 5 streets on the island)

Thur, Jul 3/8:00P/St. Stephen and the Incarnation (Washington, DC)
1525 Newton St NW/Washington, DC 20010/Cost: Donation

Fri, Jul 4/7:30P/Westminster Canterbury (Lynchburg, Virginia)

Sat, Jul 5/8:00P/The Good Cherry (Forest, Virginia)
14805 Forest Rd, Ste 234/Cost: $3

Sun, Jul 6/1:15P/Bedford CC (Bedford, Virginia)
1928 Moneta Road (Rt. 122 S. from Bedford)/Cost: Donation

Draft Party for the Crew

A draft party for the crew, that Holly hosted, was a great success. Everyone really enjoyed the Sterling Pale Ale, and 4 gallons were polished off with no problem. It really is a beer that gets better and better as you drink it. Partly because as it warms up some, the flavors and aromas build.

There were a couple technical difficulties. First of all, I forgot my bag of gear. And with that I didn't have a 4th line-out ball-lock connector. This was a pain, because borrowing a party tap from the other two leaking kegs resulted in a continuous dribble of beer. And 5 gallons of Ordinary Bitter was completely plugged up by some loose keg hops.

My friends over at TJ's, don't get many opportunities to try my beers, so it was cool brewing and offering up a special brew to them. It was so darn good, the Sterling Pale Ale may become an annual Springtime/Summertime ale.

Lastly I want to say thanks to Holly for hosting this keg tapping event. Her private courtyard is a perfect place for this kind of gathering. Thanks to Sarah for taking awesome photos. And thanks to everyone who made it out on such a busy day for events in the Windy City.

The Double Batch Mash

Yesterday may have been one of the most intensive brew days yet. A couple of new friends wanted to brew a double batch to cut down on the time and cost of brewing two batches on different days.

Recently, I met Michael as he was serving pints of great beer (Alpha King, Half Acre Lager, Red Seal, etc...) at the Heartland Cafe in Rogers Park. We talked about beer, and about homebrewing. Turns out a friend tried his hand at brewing with a simple extract kit. Both of them were interested in trying out an all-grain batch. So once again, I had the mashtun working at full capacity to produce enough wort for two full batches.

One of the beers was an IPA, and 6.25 gallons of wort was collect from the main mash to make a 5 gallon batch. It was boiled in an eight gallon pot by itself. This beer was brought to a boil first, and hop additions were added on schedule. The hops were provided by Christian. They came in a tightly vacuum sealed, one pound package. The freshest Cascade hops I've ever smelled. Absolutely wonderful! He bought them through Hops Direct, last year when they were only $38/lb. I'll have to check them out when they have more that just Perle for $57/lb.

The second batch was a smoked amber ale. This batch only received 5 gallons from the main mash Another 1.75 gallons came from a mini-mash with German smoked malt, dark crystal, and a little peat smoked malt. These smoked malts were strung up in two cheese cloth bags with a decent conversion in about 30 minutes. The mini-mash wort was allowed to boil by itself, so we could smell the smokiness on its own, and ended up boiling off a gallon to concentrate the smoke flavors and color. This beer was hopped much more conservatively with Hallertau, again provided by Christian.

The amber ale wasn't coming to a good boil because almost half a pot was hanging off the stove's edge. Yes, a little dangerous, but the whole volume wouldn't fit in the other 6 gallon kettle. This resulted in a staggered finish close to one hour.

It was a challenging brewday, and both Michael & Christian did extremely well. They learned about the entire process of brewing beer from scratch. Christian's hops were superior in quality, and I'm sure these beers will turn out great. Thanks guys, it was a lot of fun!

Below is the recipe for the main mash grain bill. Please click on these links to read about both beers. Cascade IPA & Smoked Amber Ale


The Double Batch Main Mash

Grains
14 lbs. Organic 2-Row Pale Malt
.8 lbs. Crystal 40L (5oz. Faucett Crystal 40)
.8 lbs. Faucett Crystal 60L
.8 lbs. CaraPils
.4 lbs. Belgian Biscuit

Main Mash Stats

Brewed: 6/8/08

Water Adjustment:
Strike...1.75 tsp Gypsum, .25 tsp CaCl, 1.5 tsp Acid Blend
2nd Sparge...1.75 tsp Gypsum, .25 tsp CaCl

H2O/Grain Ratio: 1.25
Mash Ph: 5.2
Sacch. Rest Temp/Time: 154°F/1hr
Mash Out Temp: 171°F
1st Batch SG: 1.060

2nd Batch Sparge Vol/H2OTemp/MashTemp: 5.5gal/174°F/167°F
2nd Batch SG: 1.030

Mash Efficiency: approx. 76%
Color/SRM: Deep Gold/9-11

London ESB vs. American 2

Up next on the brewing radar is a slew of back-to-back split batches to find out how two yeast strains ferment similar batches of boiled wort. The results should be very interesting, hopefully leading to a solid understanding of their overall contribution and individuality.

Two 4 gallon batches will result from the runnings of one large mash. Each will have the same water profile, original gravity, and ferment side-by-side. Each will be hopped with different varietals, yet have a similar schedule and IBU level/ounces at each contribution. I don't mind changing the hops in a subtle way, because the yeast will still contribute a lot of character in these beers.

An important thing to remember when boiling split batches is to stagger them. As one batch is chilling, the final hop additions are added to the second batch. This prevents late additions in the second batch from becoming "muddy" or aromatically "lost." Since I normally brew with two pots, I tend to stagger them, or consolidate late additions into the larger pot. This has made a big difference in the aromatics of all my brews.

My experience with these Wyeasts is very limited. I've only used American 2 twice, a long time ago, with good results. I've never used London ESB. Already, in their starter jugs, each strain looks completely different. I've noticed most English strains have a "clumpy" nature and a "fluffy" look, with bubbles that form beneath the surface of the yeast cake, then carry a clump as they rise through the beer to the top. The American 2 strain seems much more fine and compact. Already, it looks like American 2 completes fermentation quicker, while the ESB remains slowly active.

Navigate to
the other posts
in this series...

Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Finals

Dogfish Head & Fine Cheese

Two nights ago the Half Acre Beer Co. crew, my brother and I, had a great time joining Sam Calagione and David Phillips for an exclusive beer and cheese tasting at Sheffield's. Our taste buds were in bliss experiencing 12 excellent Dogfish Head craft beers on tap (many of which I had never tasted before). The cheese pairings were absolutely fantastic.

One beer was totally unexpected...Johnny Rawton, a hopped up pilsner style. It was super clean in both malts and hop bitterness. The hop flavors and aromas were also upfront and extremely clean, not what you would typically find with German varietals.

Having the chance to talk with Sam Calagione one-on-one was cool. He's totally rad, approachable, and had good advise about a brewing business model I have stewing in my mind. Randy Mosher was there, and it was great to sit and talk with him during the tasting. These are two brewers who have lots of experience, and enjoy talking about the craft.

David Phillips brought 10 cheeses (from The Cheese Stands Alone) that all paired very well with their respective beer. One in particular was outstanding...Humboldt Fog from California is an aged, two-layer, soft goat milk cheese, separated by vegetable ash with an attractive white rind.

While I was talking and tasting, tasting and talking, my brother jotted down excellent notes. Thanks David for letting me post them here. Below is a scan of the line-up sheet with scribbly notes and chili stains.

Clearer Wort

Batch sparging is really the simplest method to get the wort out. If you haven't already learned about it, I highly encourage reading from the source that spells it out so well...Denny Conn's article. If you haven't tried it yet, then I highly recommend you do.

Only after a few attempts, I've become a total convert to this method. But I have noticed the pre-boil wort was more cloudy than previous fly sparged worts. Denny says to lauter/drain as quickly as your system will allow. With the flow full blast, towards the end of both sparges, I noticed the line getting very cloudy.

Once I had a thick mash with lots of wheat. The flow was at least half it's full potential. So I sat there, waiting, for a long time. But then I noticed that the wort stayed crystal clear. I assume that the finer particles vorlaufed on top of the grain mass were not "pulled" into the middle and lower layers of grain. These tiny particles never found there way to the exit holes below the false bottom.

Then I applied this theory to a wort that was flowing unrestricted and strong. After about half the volume exited full blast, I crimped the hose to about half strength. Lo and behold, the wort remained clear towards the very end.

Inspiration at the Get-Go

I had to get myself a beer related gift this year. A $5 gift certificate, helped pay for a fun and inspiring beer book called Microbrewed Adventures, by Charlie Papazian. It has a similar motivational effect as Radical Brewing by Randy Mosher. I enjoy reading about these start-up and success stories, and the recipes look fantastic.

I especially like what Peter Bouckaert (New Belgium Brewing Company) said to Charlie about the use of herbs, spices and fruit. He said, "It all depends on the chemical nature of the flavor and character you are trying to finally end up with in your beer." He goes on to talk about how each herb, spice and fruit have different reactions (chemical decompositions), "but at each stage, the flavor & aroma effect can be either increased or decrease dramatically."

At the start of the year, I'm anticipating a great year of brewing. I'm already inspired to make some of the most balance beer possible. I also want to improve greatly on my herbal explorations. I also kind great satisfaction sipping on sour beers, so I've got plans to make the most mouth puckering beer possible.

Two nights ago, Mikey and I went out for our first commercial pints of the year. I introduced him to the Half Acre Lager. I'm quite pleased to hear such a good response from him. He liked how much flavor came from a beer of that color. I'm happy to hear good responses from many others too.

We also had Lagunitas Farmhouse Hop Stupid Ale, which was very bright and floral with solid bittering. And North Coast Old #38 Stout, which was super smooth, toasty, rich and delicious. Inspiring ales to say the least.

Looking Back on 2007

Looking back on 2007, it has been a productive year. I've brewed a total of 74 gallons. That's about a 54% increase over 2006. Not totally sure what to expect for 2008. I know I'll have some interesting work to do in relation to Half Acre Beer Co. And I'll be brewing at least a couple beers for my brother's wedding in October. On top of that, I really want to experiment with some very funky intentions.

Not knowing if I'd ever keep up with it, I started this blog in January. It's been a lot of fun compiling information, designing the layout of posts and the look of the blog, learning about HTML coding, taking & importing photos, and more. I'll admit my writing style is...well...a bit dry, so that is something I'll try to let loose on. One thing I like about it is that each beer entry contains evolving/updating content and photos. I also try to include as much information about each beer as possible. So when you read a new post, be sure to revisit them for updates on progress, and final tasting notes.

I've met many online brewers, and reading their blogs has been fun and informative. I've subscribed to just about all of them. There sure is a lot of great information among the double handful of us writing about what we're doing with recipes, equipment, processes, and more. I feel good about being a part of this virtual community and it's fuller experience.

I don't enter my beer in many competitions, but this year my Hop Blend IPA won 2nd place at the Schooner Homebrew Championships in Racine, WI. Up against the most entrants for a beer style, and a fairly cut-throat category, I'm honored to say the least.

Teaming up with Half Acre Beer Company has to be the biggest thrill this year. What a great team of people they are, and totally motivated to putting out the best beer possible. I get to brew small batches as a way to explore new beer offerings. I really look forward to what 2008 has in store for the continuation of my relationship and involvement with the growth of this fun beer company.

I can honestly say that I love brewing beer more than I do drinking it. Maybe it is because of my age? Maybe because I've had my fair share of it over the years? Maybe because of all the technical attributes in the whole process? Maybe because I do things for the skill and perfection of it? This past year has brought many understandings...how ingredients work together, how to decrease off-flavors at many stages in the process, how to increase mash efficiency, how to lay off on bittering hops for maltier styles, how to brew better test batches, and how patience really pays when aging beers that need it. By following solid recommendations for each beer style, and having a simple and dialed-in kitchen brew house, my beer usually comes out at a level that is close to commercial in quality. That is what makes this hobby even more rewarding.

I look forward to what 2008 has to offer. It should be another big one. One major area of change, is figuring out how sustainable this hobby can get. I also want to learn how to take quality photos of the finished beer. Sarah already has great cameras and lenses. Now I just have to tap into her knowledge and experience.

Well, thanks for visiting and returning to my site. I appreciate and value all of your comments and dialog. Lastly, I'll just wish a BIG Happy New Year to everyone! Cheers!

Brewing One Gallon Batches

I've brewed a good number of one gallon batches (view the list...here) in my day, and I'd like to share some things to consider while trying it for yourself. Overall, its a great way to experiment, to get in a small batch of something simple, to brew a batch as a yeast starter, or to use the vessels for tertiary aging with added flavors.

Both my Mother and Grandma drink cheap bulk Carlo Rossi wines by the 3 & 4 liter jug. Not really sure why, nor how they get through the whole thing before it gets even nastier. But, somehow it makes them happy, and I get as many jugs as I need.

I outfit these jugs with a #6 drilled stopper with a 3-4 inch piece of used plastic racking cane, and a section of hose for blow-off (view it...here). Then as kraeusen subsides an airlock goes in. For bottling, I simply drilled another small hole into a drilled #6 stopper, so a racking cane and a breather hose are inserted. Just snug in the jug, I blow to get the siphon going, and then lower the cane tip into the bottom corner as the beer nears the end.

The simplest way to make a one gallon batch is the extract way. I've had good results inputing all the ingredients into a recipe calculator. Everything is pretty much proportional to a full batch, and you can easily run a full-wort boil. Using a quality yeast is essential. Just cause its a small batch, or its a simple recipe for a quick brew, I recommend NOT using cheap dry yeast. Unless you are testing out yeast strains, go with the liquid yeast strain that is recommended for the style of beer you are going for.

I've brewed all-grain one gallon batches before using my "mini-masher," and the results haven't been all that great. Recently, I brewed four 1-gallon herbal beers, but the wort came from one 6 gallon mash. This is the preferred method, cause there is standardization, great quality is assured, and I get four experimental beers going in one brewday. In this case, with a measuring cup, I stir and pour equal portions from a 1 pint starter.

I usually will decant larger yeast starters before pitching into a full batch wort. Stepping it up, and letting it settle sometimes takes as long as fermenting a full batch. So, why not make this a productive use of time? I brewed the Official NBA this way, and it turned out pretty darn good, plus it revealed many broader qualities of Northern Brewer hops.

Though I haven't gone totally nuts with my experimental 1-gallons, in time I will. I have plans to make the most sour of sours, biggest of barleywines, and funkiest of funky beers. These jugs are great for doing this sort of stuff.

Lastly, these vessels work extremely well as tertiary aging vessels for a 3-4 liter portion of full batches. Use them to add oak to a sweet stout or hoppy pale ale. Add some fruit/spices/herbs to ambers, wheats and old ales. If you want to make something taste even older or funkier, add a packet of Brett, Lambic and/or Belgian yeasts. You can also make a portion of a full batch stronger by adding more fermentables and more yeast. Also, a 3-4 liter jug can be used to hold onto a bold beer for blending with batches in the future.

In the end, I think of brewing these batches as a way to try something different. I measure everything proportionally, as if I were brewing a full batch. At this proportionate level, it is important to weigh everything carefully using an accurate scale. I don't use a secondary with these beers. One downside, is that in the end, I only get about ¾ gallon of beer. But very recently, I found a primary vessel that can handle 1.5-2 gallons, and after transferring to a Carlo Rossi jug, the end product will end up at a full 128 ounces.

Smoked Beers

My first experience with smoked beer came when brewing my own. To this day, I consider that peat-smoked Scottish Ale one of my favorite home brews. It was very clean, and had an assertive, yet smooth smoke flavor and aroma. One bottle was set aside, and after a year's passing, it tasted even better.

I truly love the smoke flavor in beer...could really go on and on about it, but I wont. I'll just leave it at that.

My brother (in Seattle) was brewing extract based beers at the time (Spring 2006). We were going to brew the same beer (his steeped/extract; mine all-grain), and then make a trade. But at the same time, he wasn't brewing as often, and didn't have time to brew in unison. Oh well.

After brewing this one, I researched what commercial smoked beers were available in the stores. Among only a couple others was the finest example Schlenkerla. They are very good, and I think it is their Urbock I liked the most. If you enjoy smoked beers, and live in the Chicago area, I highly recommend a visit to the Map Room. They serve Schlenkerla smoked lagers on tap.

To learn more about them, I've read the book called Smoked Beers, by Ray Daniels and Geoffrey Larson. Also there's an excellent BYO article about tips with smoked beers by Scott Russel.

Ever since savoring my first smoked ale, I've been anticipating brewing more of them. Finally, the time has come. Up next is...Smoked Scottish 2. It will be bigger, fuller, darker and full of smoke.

A long awaited Rauchbier is finally in the works. It's brew day is planned for the beginning of January. It will be a tad bigger than the classic style, and may delve in the realm of a Bock. At around 56% RauchMalt, it will definitely be assertive, but hopefully smoother than silk.

No Hops...Well Then... No Hops!

What? No more hops? Well then, maybe I just won't put any in my beer.

It's true, I can't order most of the hops I prefer...like Hallertau, Tetnanger, Saaz, Cascade, Centennial, etc. For a lot of German style lagers coming up, I've had to buy alternatives to ideal German varieties. I'm not too concerned because my curiosity of hybrids is high. In fact, my last order of ingredients from Northern Brewer (NB)included enough alternative hops to get me through the winter lager season, and into the beginning of springtime ales. But, when it comes time to make an American Pale Ale with aggressive Cascade and Centennial hops, well, I'm out of luck. Again, I'm very interested in new blends of hops that wouldn't normally be thought of as a good mix for aromatic pale ales.

We are definitely in the midst of a serious situation. At the time of writing this, the only hop varieties currently available through NB are Admiral, Ahtanum, Boadicea, Crystal, Galena, Marynka, Newport, Pride of Ringwood, Progress, Sladek, Spalt, and Tradition. Most of these I've never heard of before, nor considered in any of my brews so far. I also wonder how much of these are available. It almost looks like availability is more of a concern than price hikes. Tough times indeed, and sort-of scary.

What can we do? Wait? It has been told by Northern Brewer that they have not yet received shipments from the 2007 hop harvest. When that rolls in, we may be able to resume our hop-headed impulses for the most intensely hopped IPA's. At the very least we can brew some more traditional styles.

Perhaps this shortage is trying to tell us something about our American ideals. Are we using too much hops? Sure hop-heavy Barleywines, American IPA's and Imperials taste great, but are they completely necessary? I'm starting to think they aren't.

I don't have too much to say about this shortage. I am a bit concerned, but at the same time, I am looking forward to using different/unusual hop varieties and perhaps hop alternatives. I am interested in growing my own, and harvesting some from "herbal" friends of mine who have some pretty old and massive hop vines.

On a positive note, this shortage has caused my brother and I to get started with our deeper interest in herbal/healing beers. We've had herbal beer ideas for almost a year now. If you are also thinking about shifting towards hop alternatives, I highly recommend getting started with this book...Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers by Stephen Harrod Buhner.

As for non-hopped ideas, I'm looking forward to using bittering alternatives. Among others, herbs such as alecost, betony, dandelion, horehound, milk thistle, nettle, sage and yarrow can be used. Aside from providing bittering properties, many herbs, roots and barks also provide additional health benefits. I have concerns about the cost of some of these herbs as well, but I intend on growing substantial herb plantings for brewing and cooking.

Undoubtedly, alternative bittering/flavor/aroma ingredients will cause beer to taste very different. Personally speaking, I've come to a point in brewing where my beer tastes as good as any commercially sold ale or lager. So I'm very interested in giving my beer a new twist by working into the recipes any good combo of herbs, roots and barks.

We are home brewers. We brew beers the way we like them. We have the ability to be as inventive with our beer as we want. This means that any truly creative or inventive beer style comes from new ideas and innovation, and ultimately from personal taste. Using hops with moderation and including alternative bittering/flavor/aromas can prove to be just as appealing as solely hopped beers.

I'm looking forward to posting about my first herbal beer experiments in the coming month.

The following list of links are blogs/articles related to the world wide hop shortage: I'll be adding to it as more are published

An article about the hop shortage by Gregory McLaw...
Will homebrewer’s get hopping mad or smile over the brew kettle

Beervana wrote about Northwest hop prices and the craft beer dilemma...
This Hop Shortage Thing May Be Serious

Leah Beth Ward of the Yakima Herold writes about how...
Hop Shortage Hits Home

Stonch writes...
Spruce up your ale

Travis writes...
Hops of Wrath

Ph

Here is a response to a question from fellow brewer/blogger Travis in Syracuse, NY. In my post about the Matrimony Ale, I talked about how the mash Ph was "bi-polar." I would take Litmus tests before and after additions of gypsum (Calcium Sulfate...calcium ions help to lower the mash Ph). Every time I'd add it, I'd get an acidic reading. Then after about 10 minutes, the litmus strip showed up red again...basic.

All-grain brewing requires one critical and initial step...the MASH. Its where all the grains are mixed with hot water, and allowed to rest at a given temperature for about an hour. During this "saccharification" period, enzymes in the malted barley grains become active and convert grain starches into food for yeast...fermentable sugars!

The mash can either be looked at simply, or more complex. In its simplest form, mixing hot water with grains will most likely result in a fermentable wort. How "fermentable" is the question.

In it's complexity, the mash is a sensitive thing. There are many variables contributing to the overall efficiency and activity of the grain's enzymes. The main variables are temperature, grain bill, acidity/mash Ph, and alkalinity.

I really like how John Palmer covers this topic in his book How to Brew.

Here in Chicago, I've noticed that my mashing come out fairly acidic. So their really isn't much I need to do to the water. When I dilute it with distilled water, in order to lower the Bicarbonates for certain styles, then the mash Ph will turn basic because the level of Calcium is also diluted. In this case I figure out how much Gypsum or Calcium Chloride to add in order to bring the Ph down/more acidic.

How much to add? It's not a matter of where the Ph will be. I look at the level of Sulfates or Chlorides that is more appropriate for a particular style. If I want more hop presence...more Gypsum. If I want more maltiness...more CaCl2.

Chicago Water Profile:
(Ca:34)(Mg:11)(Na:6)(SO4:25)(Cl:11)(HCO:106)
New York Water Profile:
(Ca:13)(Mg:4)(Na:11)(SO4:12)(Cl:21)(HCO:29)

In an Excel spreadsheet, I add to the base water (sometimes base is diluted w/ distilled) profile incremental additions of salts to get close to a profile that aids in the production of specific regional styles. A good gram scale helps in measuring salts on brew day, or simple measuring spoons will to just fine. Ever since I've been tinkering with salts and diluting with Distilled, I've noticed that the overall beer taste has gotten better...or at least more distinct.

Travis, if your water in Syracuse, NY is like the above example, you have a pretty darn good water profile. Fairly soft with low Bicarbonates...great starting point for all styles. You can definitely make some great pale lagers! If you are reading levels that are too basic, you will definitely need to add some Gypsum or Calcium Chloride (or combo) or acids/acid-malt to increase the level of Calcium Ions in the mix. Just try it, take litmus readings, and note any differences compared to a beer with more, less or no minerals with a similar malt bill.

Overall, I think its important to get into the habit of checking mash Ph every time you brew. Not so that it can be corrected in the moment, but it will provide good information when planning upcoming brews.

Calculating efficiency is kind-of complex. There are a lot of factors that play a role, and I'd say too many to narrow in on just one right away. Part of it is getting the gravity readings correct and pre&post boil volumes correct. As far as Ph litmus strip readings are concerned, it's important to take the reading at a cool/room temperature. Also, I'm under the impression that it takes a little while for the Ph of the mash to settle as well.

In the very end, if your iodine conversion test comes out positive, then sparge away! I have noticed that some conversions were much more "sticky" than others, but haven't recorded which ones. It's happened a number of times, and I'll take better notes next time it happens.

Not sure if I've helped any. But I think its worth getting into. Eventually we'll make sense of all this. In the mean time, the beer tastes great, and I'm not too worried.

Melding Belgian Beer & Mexican Food

There's absolutely no rules when it comes to pairing food with good home brewed beer. I'm not exactly sure why I served Mexican food with my summertime Belgian beer, but I think I was just craving them both. They actually paired pretty well.

The Belgian Pale Ale is smooth and simple. It has a malty sweetness and candy-like taste coming from the Indian Jaggery cane sugar. The bitterness level is low and the carbonation is soft. All this combined makes it a very drinkable beer. Everyone came back around for a second glass, and had their fill.

Thank you to my wife Sarah, David and my Mom for helping out with making the delicious dishes. Thank you also to those who brought other tasty foods. We had a nice spread of salsas and dips...a black bean & jack cheese dip, classic chunky salsa, Sarah's famous guacamole, roasted tomatilla salsa, and a spicy/creamy dip.

Thank you to everyone who came out last night. You all helped me to do something I'd never done before...to brew a batch for mass consumption. With a goal of downing 5 gallons, 17 of us did manage to drink a total of 2.45 gallons. I'm impressed.

It was so much fun. I will definitely do this again.

One last thank you to Sarah for taking some photos.

Bunch of Belgium Beers

Now that I've got a big healthy slurry of Belgain Ardennes yeast, I figure its a good time to get into a few belgian styles. Five gallons of Belgian Pale Ale I figure is a good starting point. Its now clarifying in secondary right now. Its a wonderful rich golden color. It has a medium gravity with low bitterness. No spices added to show how the yeast works. The fermentation temperature was in the range of 74-78*F.

Next up will be 3 gallons of a strong dark ale. The gravity should be around 1.082 with a medium dark color, and a bitterness from Styrian Goldings hops at about 35 IBU. Since it'll be racked into 3 separate secondary jugs, there may be room to play around with a flavoring experiment. Hops, fruit, spice? Anyone reading this have any ideas?

The last beers will be a mouth puckering sour pale ale and raspberry lambic. Not sure if I'll get to call them a Gueuze and Framboise, but hopefully they will get very sour. I'm planning to sour the mash for a couple days. Then ferment it with a blend of Ardennes and Lambic Blend. Then add raspberries to half of it. And finally let them sit around for a year or two before bottling.

That should be the extent of my Belgian attempts for this year. None of them call any of that coriander/orange peel flavoring. Maybe I'll get to those somewhere in the future...perhaps for David's wedding? Also, I'm very interested in brewing a Belgian/IPA style. David and I tried one of those at the Map Room a while back, and it was simply amazing. So maybe I'll make some room for Belgians again next year...cause I'm gonna have to try and brew that Tripel Karmeliet clone...right honey?

Kombucha - 1

First...what is Kombucha? I guess I'm not too surprised why just about everyone I talk to doesn't know what it is. I was in the same boat not too long ago.

Kombucha is the Western name for a fermentation of sweetened tea using lactobacilli and yeast cultures. The tea contains a symbiosis of yeast species and acetic acid bacteria. Species of yeast found in the tea can vary, and may include: Brettanomyces bruxellensis, Candida stellata, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Torulaspora delbrueckii and Zygosaccharomyces bailii. Find out more about its components, medical properties, history and preparation by visiting wikipedia.

Its distinctive and acquired taste can be summed up as acidic, sour, tart, bright. After a few experiences, I have grown love it...maybe even crave it at times. I would sum it up as a unique refreshing tart and fizzy beverage that stimulates the senses of smell and taste. Its a great aperitif as it wakes up my mouth and causes me to want to eat and drink a healthy meal. I like to compare it to one of my favorite beer styles...Gueuze. So, if I can make a steady supply, I'll get to enjoy a healthy/non-alcoholic "gueuzy" beverage and produced at a quicker rate at a much lower cost than commercial bottles.

After talking with David about getting into brewing kombucha as a daily tonic, I looked into buying a basic kit, or at least the culture itself. I'd have to order it through the mail, and its somewhat pricey. So then I fell upon a great blog where the Mad Fermentationist got a culture to grow after propagating it from a commercial bottle. I decided to give it a try to see what would happen.

In less than 2 weeks, it seems to be working. At least "whatever-it-is" is now about 4 times the size. It also smells healthy. Last night I added more ssweet tea, to keep it going. At this point I'm very optimistic. Hopefully, in about a month, I can start making some good tasting kombucha.

These pictures show the culture at about two weeks. You can see bubbles underneath a mass of culture at the top, and lots of strandy stuff in the solution. Its reminds me of a jellyfish.


After transfering it to a larger and broader glass bowl, I found out that it had a healthy thin "skin" or membrane covering the entire surface. Its very exciting to see it progressing so nicely. I will definitely add more parts/posts as it develops.

American Homebrewers Association

One year ago, for my 29th birthday, my wife gave me a 2 year membership with the American Hombrewers Association (AHA). I was quite surprised and happy to become a part of something larger/historic.

I wanted to share some of the benefits I've enjoyed.

1. Zymurgy - Their bi-monthly magazine dedicated to home brewing. There are some wonderful articles and recipes in there. Overall, its enjoyable.
2. TechTalk...email forum - Though I haven't asked/answered any questions yet, it seems as though every question gets answered thoroughly. I've been able to search the archives for answers to just about every question on my mind. Sometimes these are answered by well-known and respectable home brew authors and advocates.
3. Brewpub Discounts - Just the discounts alone have more than paid for the price of the membership. The closest brewpub for me is Goose Island and they offer a 20% discount on all food and drink for the whole party. I've visited Goose Island (Clybourne) throughout the changing seasons and love trying their seasonal and cask conditioned ales...simply marvelous.

Though I'm not very interested in competition, I think they host a good number of style specific competitions every year. Since they have a long lead time, listed in the events calender, I may brew some batches with it in mind (or my beers might correlate).

I've entered one competition last year in Racine, WI called the Schooner Homebrew Championships, but it was non-AHA. I pretty much know what I like and don't like about my beers. If I'm going for something authentic, I have lots of micro/large-scale commercial examples to base them off of. The best part about competitions is that you get your beer critiqued by more than one person, and the evaluation forms are mailed to you after the event.

All-in-all, I recommend becoming a member of the AHA. The benefits I mentioned above are really worth it. If your interested in sharpening your skills, participating in TechTalk will surely do it...with some practice that is. Zymurgy is a fun read! The discounts are really great, no matter where you are in the country...but for some reason...not in WA? The competitions and annual events are getting bigger every year, and members get discounts to it all.

Pellicle

After searching all over the web to find out what a young/developing wild yeast pellicle looks like, the best/only photos found were taken of either one fully matured, or shots at the microscopic level. You can find these through by clicking on "culture photos" at The Biohazard Lambic Brewer's Page. So after reading a lot and see these photos, I'm fairly confident that what's growing on my bulk aged Old Ale is in fact a pellicle.

I thought I'd post some photos of the Old Ale's "young" pellicle. And depending on how long it will age, or how the pellicle develops, I may post additional photos.

First, a little background on the Old Ale...

The beer was brewed for "Teach a Friend to Brew Day," on November 5th, 2006. The recipe was formulated using the book "Designing Great Beers." We hit an OG of 1.083, one point above the target. Fermented with a Scottish Ale yeast strain at a relatively cool temperature, it finished clean and fruity at a SG of 1.030. I thought this was a little high, but after doing a little more reading, it looks like that's a fine ending gravity.

This beer is designed to be bulk aged for a long time. In fact, I've extended aging until it looks like its done...in other words...indefinitely? During the brewing of January's Schwartzbier, we cracked open a bottle (the extra volume from primary to secondary). Here's how we describe it's youthful state...

A subtle malty sweetness lends to a fuller fruity sweet flavor. The body is fairly full with a touch of cedar, and a velvety mouthfeel. Effevescent with a light consistent head. A balanced medium hop bitterness carries subtle flavors of tangerine, grapefruit and mint.

The "loose" conception of this old ale is to purposely add to it an overall sense of great age. A number of flavor additions to help build its character will be...Lambic Blend yeast, dry hops, coriander & cardamom spices, perhaps some tangerine & red grapefruit rinds, and a very long aging period (bulk - 6 months, and bottle - 6+ months)...good thing I have a lot of patience!

The wild yeasts in the Wyeast lambic blend is causing the pellicle to form. Check out these photos of early colonization...

Dark Cherry Stout Man

It was getting close to the end of my shift over at Trader Joes, and I was growing tired both mentally and physically. The checkout lines were long with no end in site. A nice couple came up to my register and bought an unusual amount of frozen dark cherries (11 lbs!). Normally I would have made a funny comment but, my fatigue got in the way. The man made a comment about it himself saying..."That's a lot of cherries!" I returned, "sure is...what are you using them for?" He said, "they're going into beer. I'm making a cherry stout." Upon announcing that, I automatically became more alert and interested. I told him about how I'm about to put peaches into a lager. The fast pace of TJ's checkout lines only allowed for a brief discussion about our shared hobby. I'm thankful that it occured. It's nice to see homebrewers are all around. Until we talk again, I will simply name you the mysterious "Dark Cherry Stout Man." Now I'm wondering if you're putting all 11 pounds into a 5 gallon batch?

Following was added after original post...

Well Brian, it's nice to meet you. Hope your Dark Cherry Vanilla Stout turns out great. Take good notes. Its so easy to forget some of the details when you're formulating recipes in the future.

I decided to start this online journal to help me take better notes on my beers, and to keep my brewing interests fresh.

Current Beers

At this post date, the beers in ferment or bottle conditioning are…
Brewed at end of 2006

-Buckwheat Honey Dry Mead (bottled 1/25/07)
-Cyser Sweet Mead (bottled 1/25/07)
-Munich Dunkel (bottled 1/25/07)
-Old Ale (Tertiary - Lambic Blend, hop, spice & fruit additions for 6 months)

Brewed at beginning of 2007

-Schwarzbier (bottled 3/7/07)
-Base Lager (bulk primary, inde 1 gallon secondaries, bottled 3/11/07)
1. Copper Lager 2. Ginger Peach Lager 3. Dry Hopped Lager 4. Citrus Lager

-Czech Pilsner (brew date 2/18/07, secondary 3/8/07)