The Brew Lounge Meetup and some breaking news...

Just got back from a great get together over at T.J.'s with some other TBL fans! This was the inaugural TBL meet up. Thanks Bryan!

Many a beers were tasted and many a beer related conversations were had. One particular convo was related to the Bryan and Lew show during Philly Beer Week. The event called, Yeah We Got That, should help underscore our area's claim to fame. Philadelphia and its surrounding area is "The Fertile Crescent" of beer. We have lagers, belgians, american ipas, dry stouts, oatmeal stouts, barleywines, berliner weiss, english ales, brown ales, spruce ales, ESAs, winter warmers, wheat beer, lambics, sour beer, scottish ales...ok this is becoming a brain drain...you get the idea.

Go see Bryan and Lew at TJ's Everyday on Wednesday March 12th during Philly Beer Week. They'll be talking about the breadth and depth of beer styles in this part of the country.

Cheers!

Wort's Going on Here...moves up!

Wort's Going on Here
Jeffrey got back into brewing recently if I'm not mistaken. His site has always had good beer stuff and now it fits into my Favorite Homebrewing Links list :-)

Cheers!

Brewvana moves up!

brewvana
an ideal condition of harmony, beer and joy

Well that pretty much sums it up doesn't it. Jay has substantial content on his blog and he keeps it real. What more could you ask for from your guide on the path to BREWVANA? Just added him to the regular rotation.

Cheers!

Joseph Priestley: Lived next to a brewery...

...and as you might expect interesting things happened.

Joseph Priestley: Discoverer of Oxygen

Next time you force carbonate your keg think of Joseph Priestly. Seems he was the first to perfect a way to artificially carbonate liquid. If you read the article above from the American Chemical Society you'll see he did much more than that.

Other related links:

• Wikipedia article about Joseph Priestley.
  
• Priestley is also mentioned in Michael Jackson's Beer Hunter - Appellations of a different nature
• as well as Michael Jackson's Beer Hunter - The local down in your pint
• interesting passage from History of Industrial Gases describing his experimentation at brewery in Leeds, England
  
• another mention in a piece called Yorkshire Square's in the Sam Smith's portion of Merchant du Vin site
  

See all things lead to beer ;-)

I'm a podcast listerner! Just listened to The Brewing Network's, The Session...

Yeah, Bryan over at The Brew Lounge used to...well still does from time to time ask me, "Did you listen to The Brewing Network show where they talked about..." After Kevin mentioned in comments here on the site, I finally broke down and listened. Don't know why it took me so long. Creature of habit I guess. The first episode I loaded on my ipod contained an interview with the brewer at New Glarus. Definately interesting. After that I proceeded to listen to one about cask cond. beer, berliner weiss and one about putting together a brewery. Didn't get to listen to the entire podcasts, but, enough to get a feel for the shows.

What did I think? I think I don't have enough time to listen to hours and hours of podcasts. Well, at least I don't feel like I do. When I tapped into that one about New Glarus I was a on an unusually long ride by myself to New York. So I can't say I'll be listening in often or maybe I will. My time at the gym could help.

About the quality of the show. It seems like they have really hit their stride lately. Some cool new opening sound bites seem to more accurately represent the quality of the show. Back in some of the earlier episodes there was lots of experimentation and locker room humor, not to mention wandering dialog. They were best when they didn't try too hard I'd say. The locker room humor seems to be part of their identity now and fits pretty well with the crowd they're trying to reach I'd guess. Hey, I liked it :-) They don't come off as taking themselves very seriously. That gets them a two thumbs up in my book. I do think you can learn something from these guys. I know Dan Carey from New Glarus taught me something about sour beer! I'll be going back to that interview.

So, I'm subscribed to all their shows in iTunes and I'll probably sample some more while I'm working out. We'll see were this ends up. I'm not used to podcasting yet so who knows. Where were these guys when I was commuting an hour every day!

Thanks Bryan for introducing me to their podcasts...like two years ago or something...heheh.

Cheers!

Pictures: Cantillon Night @ Dell's - Holy Sour!

(Don't forget about the sour homebrew posts below! Tell us what you know or don't know!)

Here are some pictures that Dell is sharing with us. Thanks Dell!

In no particular order. (especially doesn't match the pictures yet)

• Rose de Gambrinus
• Cantillon Kriek
• Vigneronne
• St Lamvius
• Cuvee des Champions
• Iris
• Fou Foune
• 1996 Geueuze
• Broucsella Grand Cru
• Lou Pepe Kriek
• Framboise
• Geueuze

How do you say cheers in this part of Belgium?

What people tell me about brewing Sour Beer...

Nate, Dell and Kevin chimed in on the last post about how to brew sour beer. Here is what I got out of it.

• it takes 18 - 24 months to make good sour beer (patience is a virtue eh?)
• be careful to not infect your non-sour beer batches by having dedicated equipment and or dispose of the cheaper equipment after you use it with the souring yeasts
• there are types of sour beer (Oud Bruin - Flemish Sour, others..)
• wooden casks are use to sour beer by exposing the beer to the right proportion of sour producing yeast
• some sour yeasts were mentioned (lactobacillus, brettanomyces [lambicus or bruxellensis] , pediococcus damnosus)
• Jamil Z on The Brewing Network Podcast talked about brewing sour beer
• Dell is no expert ;-) (I think he's being modest.)
• Dell has a large celler of beer. (I've seen it. He ain't kiddin' ;-)
• the book Wild Brews by Jeff Sparrow is recommended
• Pierre Rajotte's book Belgian Ale was mentioned by Nate.

Here are some other things I've found as well. Feel free to tell me whether or not these are any good. I figure if its on that there internet, it must be true ;-)

• I checked out Charlie Papazian's, The Complete Joy of Homebrewing and he says you can sour your mash or your malt extract, kill the sour bugs after its partially infected by boiling. Then you make your wort with it and ferment it. Anybody out there try this?
• Lambic Beer FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) from HBD.org - Seems to be pretty thorough, but, I haven't read it yet.
• Books mentioned can be found at the Brewers Association website store. I would link to each, but, they website doesn't allow for that. (I am a member of the AHA, but, I don't make money via them.) Amazon seems to have better prices.

The floor is still open. Anybody have something to say about sour beer? Release your inner sourhead!

How to brew a Sour Beer...

Original text of the post...

Heheh...gotcha! I'm not going to porport to know how to do this. I've never done it. Mostly for the reason that Nate brought up on the last post, contamination. I mean I could go find something online and link to it, but, I'm thinking that this might be more fun. So, go ahead show me whatcha got! I dare ya. Dell, I'm not letting you off the hook here ;-) See what you started. You sourheads are always causing trouble.


What do you know about brewing sour beer? Is it hard? Is it tricky? Will those bad bugs take over your homebrewery and give your dog a case of mange?


The floor is open...

Some good books are available. You may also find old (and new) homebrewing magazine articles are helpful.

Amazon: Books about brewing sour beer styles

Cheers!

Cantillon night @ Dell's place...

A nice evening drive out into the cold cold sticks...well sticks for around here I guess. All for some sour beer. Well not just any sour beer. This is the kinda sour beer that some people look high and low for. Some of these people will be descending on his house tonight. It would be cool to have an aerial shot of that ;-)

Here's a pre-Thank You my friend!

Post visit notes:

Wow, I don't think I can even spell half of these beers. There was an Iris, Kriek, Frambois, blended, non-blended, vertical tastings and so much more. Thanks to you and your wife!

PPS Since Dell responded in comment I thought I would add his name to the main post. Sometimes I'm very conservative about using real world names out here in the blogosphere.

Yule Porter homebrew is pretty good :-)

I guess I can say that it doesn't suck at this point. Bryan @ TBL seemed to like it. We both agree it has a nice nose. I've had a pint or two even though it isn't carbonated yet. Not bad...nice nose, full flavor...no off tastes...finish is good too.

Cheers!

Why I bought commercial beer again...

Note from the author added 1/23/2008:

In retrospect I realize many people who read this wouldn't know why this was a big deal. I've been attempting to limit my purchasing of commercial beer. Mostly because I want to save money, but, also to perfect my homebrewing. You can't drink it if you don't have it. Sometime back in Sept 2007 I consciously decided to do this. During that time I have purchased...

• two cases of craft beer (for guests mostly)
• at least 6 bombers of craft beer from local brew pubs (new releases, seasonals)
• one sixtel of craft beer (again for guests)
• brewed many many many batches of homebrew

I think I am serving homebrew most of the time. My homebrew is definately getting better! (I think so anyway.) The original blog entry follows...

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

In preparation for Brian and Gavin coming over to help keg the porter and play some pool I bought a sixtel of the Sierra Nevada ESB. This is the first commercial beer I've bought in a long time. Hey, with the last few pints of the dry hopped 1620 going bad and no other beer in the house I thought it was time. Picked it up over at Exton Beverage. Why the ESB? I'm not sure if it was the news of Patrick working for them now or one of the guys at Exton Bev. saying they just got it in and it is great. I was going for the Lancaster Brewing Four Grain sixtel, but, it was reserved. Looks like serendipity took over and led me down a path of good fortune.

Sierra Nevada's ESB (Early Spring beer) - from their website...
"Our ESB combines the best of English tradition with West Coast style. A blend of malts featuring British-grown Maris Otter is balanced with the earthy spiciness of hand-selected English and US hops. The ale is left unfiltered, which enhances mouthfeel and hop aroma creating a slightly reddish-copper hue."

How is it? Well, I love it. It isn't too hoppy or bitter. It isn't too high in alcohol at 5.9%. Gives you a dose of hops with a spoonful of malt to help it all go down just right. Not filtered eh? Cool. Maybe that is why it has an earthy (almost funky) nose. So this is like good homebrew eh? Be careful though. It goes down way too easy. Doesn't ESB stand for Extra Special Bitter? Eh...who cares. This one is tasty.

Ok Ok...I finally did it. I kegged the Yule Porter. The jury is still out on it though. I thought it was a bit too fruity with alcohol in the nose. Of course that was just my first taste not to mention it was warm and uncarbonated out of the carboy. We'll see. Egads that reminds me! I forgot to vent the air out of the headspace in the keg. Hold on...be right back. Jeez that sucks. I filled the keg with CO2 before I transferred the beer in so there shouldn't have been to much oxygen in there anyway... I hope. I do think I vented it once now that I think about it. Seems like I talk to much when friends are over and I get distracted ;-) Its all Gavin and Brian's fault!!

I'll have some tasting notes about the Yule Porter up sometime this week. I just wish I could find my original gravity reading or my notes! Sheesh...

Cheers!

Dry Hopped English Ale getting soapy at the end of the keg...

It is clear as hell, but, something is off putting as I pull the last few pints. Most of the keg was fine. The flaw is more accentuated here at the end. This is about the third time I've used my homegrown Cascade for dry hopping and well, I'm starting to see some problems. Hey, its an adventure and I'm ok with that. Perhaps I'll be using it for bittering or maybe flavor hops.

What's the lesson here? My homegrown hops may not be as desireable as whole leaf purchased from a store? Well, maybe. I haven't used whole leaf Cascade from the store so I can't make that assumption yet. Who knows it could just be the way I went about the dry hopping by putting the hops in a bag and lodging it between the dip tube and the wall of the corny keg. Another turn in the road. One this is for certain. I won't be using anymore of this Cascade for dry hopping.

Still got the homebrew blues. Nothing much happening. Still gotta get that Yule Porter out of the primary. I'll leave you with a quote.

"Pardon me for breathing, which i never do anyway so i dont know why i even bothered to say it oh god i'm so depressed."

Marvin (The Paranoid Android), Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

Yeah...homebrew posting slows to a crawl...

Just isn't in the air these days. Dunno why. The pendulum will swing back soon (I hope). Anybody else out there feeling the homebrewing blues?

Mr. Blue Home Brew

Quick Ref: Hopping Devices: Hopback, Randall, Infuser

The following is a list of links to resources about special hopping devices such as hopbacks, randalls, infusersresources on the web. I'll continually add to this list as I find more resources. If you know of others please post a comment here with a link. If you are interested to see what other resource pages I have created click on the "resource posts" label link at the bottom of this post or over there in the sidebar.

If you are looking for books about home brewing, including making your own equipment...

Amazon: Home Brewing

Grove has detailed descriptions on how to build your own randall on his blog...
http://blog.geirove.org/search/label/randall

Bodenshatz Brewing: Simple Hopback made with mason jar...
http://www.bodensatz.com/staticpages/index.php?page=20020429191318951

Paul's Beer Gadgets: Clean looking stainless hopback...
http://www.pjmuth.org/beerstuff/hop_back.htm

Maltose Falcon's Homebrew Club: builds a Hashback? Like a randal I guess.
http://www.maltosefalcons.com/clubgear/hashback/

Movin' on Up - Great homebrew blogs that I've added to my regular rotation.

Here are some sites I've been checking out. I thought it was about time to move them to my regular rotation. Good stuff! Check them out. Any quoted text came from the respective sites.

Muckney Brewing a blog with "incessant ramblings about beer, both brewing and drinking, in western Pennsylvania" by David and Justin.

Bearded Brewing Company is a blog about socially responsible organic brewing brought to us by The Bearded Brewer :-)

Freak Bros. Home Brew "Freak and E are on a mission to brew massive amounts of the finest beer known to man" and I'm hear to tell you they mean business.

Note: Any quoted text came from the respective sites.

The End

Ted praises book by Papazian

Edit: Purchased the book today. Just read the first few pages. Papazian really knows how to reinvigorate that homebrewing spirit! Thanks Ted.

Ted over at Ted's Homebrew Journal has an inspiration post referring to Charlie Papazian's book Microbrewed Adventures. Well, now I'm interested in it. (thanks Ted :-/) Looks like Barnes and Noble has it. Add it to my todo list.

• pickup fridge
• rack Yule Porter to a keg
• order malt extract
• order a keg setup for a friend
• go to B&N for Microbrewed Adventures by Charlie Papazian

Cheers!

Fridge, Yule Porter, Ingredients and Victory Brewing

I've been slackin' lately. All these are on my todo list.

• I have a free fridge to pickup (I'm thinking kegerator)
• Yule Porter is sittin' in the primary ready to keg
• Order some malt extract
• Order a keg setup for a friend

Lets stray from homebrewing for a minute. I witnessed Victory's Baltic Thunder release this weekend at The Drafting Room. Baltic Thunder is different than Perkuno's Hammer, but, give it a month in the bottle and it should smooth right out and be very good on its own. During the release there were many Victory beers and some Heavyweight too. The Heavyweight is getting long in the tooth in some cases and should be consumed now if you have any.

Oh yeah, had some Doug's Colonial Ale that was awesome. Malty & bready with some smokiness...wow what a treat. Thanks Bryan for hagnin' onto that one. The Jackldrikka (sp?) didn't fair so well. Turn to vinegar it has. Ah well. As Heavyweight fades into the past its ripples carry forth. Can't wait to see how Earth Bread & Brewery rises from the ashes over the next year or so.

Cheers!

Does freezing beer hurt it?

Quick answer.  No, it doesn't hurt the beer.  Wait for it to thaw and for the CO2 to reabsorb. Could taste a little flat.  If the can is distended, then it probably won't be very carbonated.  If in a bottle, careful the glass could have been cracked.

Interested in learning more about beer check out these books. Written by one of the most influential beer writers. (not me ;)

Longer answer...

Original post text...

I could Google this, but, I thought maybe this would be more fun. Does anybody know what happens when you freeze beer? Does it hurt the flavor?

Now, I have heard of eisbock beer. This is beer that is chilled enough to create ice crystals and then filter them out to increase concentrate the flavor and the alcohol. This is not what I'm talking about. Just the other day I left my kegs out in the cold and the temperature dropped enough to freeze it a bit in the tap tube.

You have the floor...

I edited this page to include the following referral: If you're interested in learning about beer, you should start with something like these books. Written by one of the most influential beer writers.

1620 Deux English Style Ale Dry Hopped and "Cask Conditioned"

How is it? Well, so far so good. The Cascade I dry hopped with is very prominent in the nose and somewhat on the tongue. Not bitter or tangy though...more grassy and herbal. It probably would have been better to add a little less whole leaf Cascade. I do like it though.

The carbonation is light as it should be and its probably a bit too cold right now. Makes it hard to really appreciate the nuances of the English yeast and light hops. I think I'll have to try this again with some Goldings instead of Cascade as the aroma hops. That substitution took something away from the recipe. I guess it really stands out now that I dry hopped with Cascade as well. A side by side comparison is in order since I still have some of the 1620 Deux that wasn't dry hopped or cask conditioned.

All in all a good beer. This is my first time priming in the keg and my first time dry hopping in a muslin bag lodged between the dip tube and the side of the keg. Works out pretty well I'd say.

Gotta get that Yule Porter kegged soon. It will be my first homebrew activity for the year. Well except for drinking some homebrew on New Years Eve. By the way I had the 1620 Deux, 1620 Cask and the Belgian Style Dubbel on tap that night. I also cracked open a bottle of the 2005 Dead Reckoning Barleywine. Still holding up :-) We drank some with Bryan's chocolate creme brule. Wow! What a pairing. (I may have been a little impaired at the time though so don't go by me.)

Happy New Year!