See you tomorrow. The posting will have to wait until after 2008.

I'll be raising a toast with homebrew tonight. Wherever you are. Whoever you are. Have fun tonight and take care. :-)

2008 BB2 Homebrew Highlights

Just posted what I remembered about 2008. I found these forgotten moments in my archives;

• Over 300 posts in 2008
• "Does freezing beer hurt it?" became one of the most popular search referrals. Who knew?
• Started thinking about the homebrew blogosphere.
• Found my notebook :-)
• All grain brewing with Del
• Philly Beer Week: Eastern State Penitentiary & The London Grill
• Trasplanted some hops
• Picture published in Philly Newspaper :-)
  
• Gavin, Brian, Bryan, Jeremy, Jackie, John and more helped brew
  
• Made some rootbeer
• wrote a reflective post about being in the moment
  
• searched for the easiest way to homebrew
  
• Literally threw together some Joe's Ancient Cinnamon Orange Clove Mead and it was sweet, but, not all bad.
  
• asked "how long does it take to brew beer?"
• asked "where do you buy your brewing stuff?"
• lived to see a smoke free Pennsylvania
• PA also saw its first meadery
• Found an old forgotten mine of brewing info
• wrote about the financial crisis and homebrewing and how I planned to change my habits (which reminds me I just spent $20)
  
• BB2 readers inspired a beer (that's almost gone BTW)
  

This concludes our trip down memory lane. Next up, I'm actually going to try and look back at the entire homebrew blogosphere. 2009 is just around the corner. What did you do in 2008?

2008 Homebrew Blogging here and elsewhere. Starting a trip back in time.

I'm gonna Cue up the MP3s, pour a Troegs Pale Ale and fly through 2008 homebrew blog posts until I can't stand it no more. I'll need a little help in the form of an archive 'cause as a rule my memory isn't so hot. What do I remember without trying? Well lets see I think I remember my own stuff best.

Personally, Fermentation Friday ranks as one of my prouder moments. We started off with much more participation than I ever expected. I also remember a bunch of ideas like Homebrew News, Beer Crier, etc that didn't really take off. No worries. I'm hoping my writing improved, but, I'll need to browse the posts to determine that. Here's a bunch more things off the top of my head;

• BB2 subscriber and visitor numbers stayed pretty consistent
• made some good blogger acquaintences
• even won a bunch of tickets to the TAP NY beer festival by writing a poem (check the sidebar)
• brewing volume consistent with last year
• drank less commercial beer
• spent less money on beer related things, but, still had lots of fun
• light hops harvest this year
• demonstrated extract brewing to a bunch of people on teach a friend to brew day
• got the green light for The Brew Basement project from my wife
• brewed beer for 4th of July picnic like my grandfather did
• found my favorite way to brew (buy in bulk and brew several weeks in a row reusing the yeast)
• fell in love with the idea that everybody could brew their own beer
  

I'm sure I'm forgetting something. I'll add the links as I come across them. After I look back at my posts I'll be looking at everybody in the homebrew blogosphere. I may need to pour a second Troegs ;-)

More retrospective writing to come, but first a house clean up.

2008 Retrospective: A look back at 2008 BB2 polls

Thank you for participating in the 2008 polls. I always get a kick out of hearing from the homebrew blogging crowd :-)

All that effort put into things of the past. Was it meaningful? Have my opinions changed? These questions run through my head as I look back through the polls of 2008. What did I learn? I'll give it a shot.

We're a bunch of experimenting homebrew bloggers who continually try new stuff with our homebrew. Each of us have our own favorite sites to visit. Coming together to sharing our knowledge ranks up there pretty high. High enough for a bunch of us to participate in Fermentation Friday each month. We even think we're a little different than the rest with respect to our inclination, patience and technical abilities. I guess that is why we all gather here in the homebrew blogosphere on each other's blogs.

2008 BB2 Polls

• April: Who are you? Who reads this blog?
• May & June: Rename Homebrew Blogging Day results and the transformation.
• August: Do you think everybody could brew their own beer? Everybody's 2 cents and some results.
• October: One of the most contraversial polls was the Best Homebrew Sites (nominations and results)
• December: What kind of brewer are you? Are you more likely to brew the same recipe or try something different?

Hopefully I can use this information to improve my blogging. See you in the next retrospetive post where I take a broader look back at the homebrew blogosphere in 2008.

Dec 2008 Fermentation Friday is all about the YEAST!

Lets pop this post up to the top of the blog since its Fermentation Friday! December's Fermentation Friday is today the 26th. Check out this month's host, Rooftop Brew.

So it is true. If there were no yeast, there would be no beer. Malted grain, hops, yeast and water make up the four common ingredients of beer. Of course yeast brings something special to the plate. Aside from the brewer's tasks, the yeast is doing all the work of creating the alcohol and contributing to flavor. Did I mention that yeast is a living creature?

Each time we brew up a batch of beer we employ billions of these little buggers like a legion of aquatic biomechanical terraforming beasties to do our bidding. "Go forth and consume the fermentables!", we cry. Each homebrewer employs them in their own way, under their own conditions with varying degrees of care or carelessness. Yet, somehow the beer comes out very drinkable. Notice I didn't say, "the same".

So Andy wants to know how we do it. How do each of us realize the power of the yeast? Here at BB2 its a bit of a mess. I'm always changing. Over the years I've evolved. I employed dry yeast for a few batches in the early days. I wanted to improve the quality of my beer and heard that yeast made all the difference. Then I learned starters greatly decreased the lag time before visible fermentation. Of course all this yeast cost me a pretty penny over the years. After further research I discovered you could save your yeast. The plan for the short term storage involved some bottles with foil and even some growlers every now and then to hold the yeast slurry. That worked for a few batches, but, soon I forgot about my stored yeast. After all I wanted to try new styles and they often required different yeast. Today I ferment using the yeast cake of the batch before when possible. I've even taken to some of the better dry yeasts with good results. My current problem is the volatility of the fermentation when pitching onto a fresh yeast cake. I often blow off good beer in the process. I'm not short on solutions for this. I'll simply need to find out what works best for me.

If you think about it, these tiny creatures have trained us. The wort must have oxygen, warm wart that's not too cold or hot. We invite the yeast into our carefully prepared brew and feed it the best fermentables we have. The resident yeast in the house must take notice of this no? We worry about it, fret over it, check on it, feed it, cool it, warm it, wash it and protect it from other tiny organisms. The phrase "brewing beer" misrepresents the whole thing. It should be called "caring for billions of pet yeast".

So, how do we do it here at BB2? Well we've found ourselves balancing the yeasts lives with our own with respect to finances and time. We brew with high quality dry yeast and reuse the yeast cake at least three or four times. I will in the future use a larger carboy or remove some of the slurry to control the violent little buggers.

Image from Wiki Commons.

Easy way to clean up beer bottles after Christmas ;-)

So did Santa bring this for the kids or Dad? Merry Christmas :-)

BB2 Readers: It's all about you! 2008 Retrospective

I'm thinking about putting together a retrospective post or two for 2008. Could you do me a favor? Tell me about you in a minute or less. You know stuff like. (but not limited to)

name (real or online), site if you have one (if not, just as good), where are you from, a word or a sentence that describes you, why do you read homebrew blogs, what other things are important to you, do you like pina coladas in the rain?, OR...whatever you like

I'll go first...

• Adam
• http://beerbits2.blogspot.com
• homebrewer, blogger
  
• brew basement is under construction, English Ale yeast and racking onto the yeast cake, sharing a homebrew porter with holiday visitors

I'll pull it all together at the end and repost a recap. Happy Holidays!

Got a lump of coal for Christmas...

Recieved as a gift.

Lump of Coal Stout
Ridgeway Brewing
United Kingdom

From the label, "Much more than you deserve for Xmas this year. "

I'm not sure, but, I think somebody is trying to tell me something.

Fermentation Friday December 26th, 2008 @ Rooftop Brew

Andy and Matt have already posted for this Friday's Fermentation Friday hosted at Rooftop Brew.

Poll closed and next week's Fermentation Friday already underway!

Just checked my sidebar and it seems that Andy and Matt have already posted for the upcoming Fermentation Friday hosted at Rooftop Brew. You know, I think I like it this way. I get to read a few each day instead of trying to digest them all in one fell swoop.

You may have noticed that the recent poll closed. Thank you for participating. The polls help me discover your interests. Hopefully that will improve my posts. This time around the question put to BB2 readers was...

Are you more likely to brew the same recipe or try something different?

With forty seven votes cast and most of those votes falling into the "mostly new" and "rarely the same" categories we can safely assume we like to experiment. A substantial number of you said you were equally likely to brew a new or old recipe. Nobody said they always brew the same thing.

Again thanks for participating. If you get a chance, stop by Rooftop Brew and check out December's Fermentation Friday.

Dec 2008 Fermentation Friday Topic Announced @ Rooftop Brew

Andy at Rooftop Brew announced the topic for Fermentation Friday December 2008. Sounds like he's thinking about the brew year...er new year (hey I write my own material). Wisely Andy chose arguably most important topic of homebrewing. What are you waiting for? Go find out if my assessment is correct or if I've off my rocker.

By the way, you don't have to wait until next Friday to reveal your blog post. Why wait?

2008 December Fermentation Friday is next Friday! Andy @ Rooftop Brew

Edit: Andy has announced the topic for Fermentation Friday December 2008.

Andy at Rooftop Brew should be announcing his topic soon. I won't give it away, but, it has something to do with brewing ;-)

Thanks Andy!

Do you want to host? December 2008 Fermentation Friday

It is that holiday time of year. The last Fermentation Friday didn't really take off. Lack of lead time and Thanksgiving conspired against us.

I'm looking for an eager soul to host next Friday. Email me or leave a comment. beerbits2@gmail.com

Perhaps homebrew experimentation or recipe choice is a good topic considering the results of the poll?

Take the poll. So far BB2 poll says we're homebrew experimenters.

Brew the same beer over and over again? Not us. :-)

Take the poll.

Porter Kegged, Cranbic and the chocolate mini batch still waiting...

First let me just say I'm enjoying the sun streaming into the room here on a fine Sunday morning. Coffee, laptop, music and a house that's quiet for the moment. Its cold and crisp out there.

About Friday night. With some 2007 Sly Fox Odyssey on hand (mentioned here and here) and one bottle of Sam Adams Cranberry Lambic, Cranbic, we were gonna do something homebrew related. I just can't have a Friday with nothin' goin' on even as a father of three. Settling in with my paper and slippers doesn't do it for me. The Odyssey is a double ipa with a variety of hops. More than that its a yearly batch that caps off the IPA project at The Sly Fox. (click through above to get more info about the celebration). I didnt make it to The Sly Fox for the event, but, I did spend some $$ a couple weeks ago to get a bottle of the 2007 Odyssey. I'll pry open my wallet again for the 2008 version soon I'm sure. Although I've heard it might not live up to last year. I have to say 2007 was delicious. Just make sure you let it warm up a little in your glass and get one of those snifters or similar to really focus all that hop aroma. Reminds me of my visit to San Diego a while back. Ahhhh...the hops.

Cranbic, copyright Brian H., what can I say? Sam Adams just doesn't do this beer the way I think they should. I'm sure that's why it sells, [shrug] ;-). One thing I can say is that I didn't like it over 10 years ago and I still don't. Just too malty. I'd like this to taste like a Cantillion Cranberry Lambic. Not that they've ever brewed one. Which is all the more reason for me to do it. Del and Mr F. pleaded with me to not go there. "Cranberries are just too overpowering.", or something like that was said...anyway, we'll see. I'm kinda pig headed. Brian put me up to the challenge. Lets blame it on him if it goes horribly wrong.

On to the porter (coffee is running low BTW) kegging. Yep, it was there. We kegged it. Tasted it too. Not bad really. (hold on while I grab an ounce or two from the tap) Ahh...here we go. Color is light for a porter, nose is roasty and dark with some ale fruit overtones, up front the taste is of dark dried fruits, it lingers for a moment and then the wheat malt tangy sweetness confuses me, after that a nice chocolate malt finish. So, I like it, but, that tangy sweetness in the middle kinda hangs around as an aftertaste. No bad, just not sure about it. The special B probably makes this porter. After a couple more sips it really reminds me of some kind of trappist ale. No Belgian yeast here. Might be a good mod for this recipe though :-)

Now the question is still, "What to do with that chocolate mini batch?" A chocolate flavor has its place in this beer. The sweet slight tang might play well with the bitterness in the chocolate. I guess I'll just add the chocolate at bottling time in liquid form. Might mix it with the priming sugar. Always flying by the seat of my pants. Gotta love the adventure in it.

Ounce of homebrew gone, coffee gone, Christmas tree waiting outside and time is sliding away. Catch you later. Take the poll. You've read this far, what's another two seconds ;-)

Poll: What kind of brewer are you? So far you're a bunch of experiementers :-)

Haven't taken the poll yet? http://beerbits2.blogspot.com/

I'm wondering if I'll get anybody who just brews the same beer over and over most of the time. I know there are people who do it. Perhaps those people are not out here reading brewing blogs.

Anyway, happy Friday. Going out to get a tree this weekend. I'm actually hoping for some snow today or tonight.

Poll: What kind of brewer are you?

Don't forget to take the poll.

Here comes the weekend. Might get to brew sometime. Yes, even with the busy schedule. If I do brew, I'll probably go with something dark again. Will I go for something low abv. or something a bit higher and warming for those cold winter nights. I'll probably stick with the low abv until I have two untapped kegs on hand at once. That way I'm sure to keep the high abv stuff for special occasions and not drink it after work by the pint full! ;-)

Hey, I might even get to the Stonekeep Meadery this weekend.

Poll: What kind of brewer are you?

Some of us like to experiment. You know come up with that amazing beer that nobody else has ever tasted. Others perhaps feel good that they have a delicious homebrew bitter or IPA on tap all the time. Perhaps the style you like is super expensive and its cheaper to make it at home, like a Cantillion lambic. Maybe your new and you don't know yet.

My own habits have changed a bit. Even though I like to try something new every time, lately I brew old standbys every now and then out of sheer necessity. This comes from not buying commercial beer as much. Wouldn't want to run out of beer ;-)

Well, readers. What kind of brewer are you? Do you like to brew new stuff all the time or the same tried and true recipes? Take the poll. Leave a comment. Why not do both? http://beerbits2.blogspot.com/

QBrew installed :-) Brewing software for Linux, Mac, Windows.

I'll check it out and report back. I wish I had the latest version so I could use the import option. That's the price I pay for not knowing much about repositories and linux.

Thanks to The All Grain Evangelist for tipping me off.

QBrew in the sidebar...

Everyday I check my sidebar for the latest news in my "Five Recent" widgets. I found something quite useful recently.

The All-Grain Evangelist just covered an open source brewing software called QBrew. I'm in the process of getting it installed. This app runs on WIndows, Mac and Linux/UNIX/BSD. I want to get this running on my EEE PC.

Beer & Brewing Spending

I told you I would report my spending. I'm sure this is more for me than it is for you, but, here goes.

$56 @ The Sly Fox for holiday beer presents and a pint while I waited ;-)
$8 for Sam Adams Variety Pack on vacation
$19 for pints: 2 Sam Adams Octoberfest, Newcastle, Shock Top, Blue Moon
Thats $83 (cringe) over the last two weeks.

Ok this buying commercial beer at restaurants/pubs or convenience stores is killing me. So, although my spending is down. It is still more than I thought I would spend. Granted, it isn't all for me. Some of it is sitting in fridges or others helped drink it.

No more buying beer. No more buying beer. No more buying beer. Ok, I think that is helping.

BB2 Porter still in the fermenter.

Waiting for me to transfer it to a keg. The little gallon is waiting for me to figure out how to add the chocolate. All in good time.

Six gallons of homebrew gone. Five gallons in the fermenter. Holidays fast approaching.

It happens every year, a holiday party and hunting season. Most of this year's batch of 1620 and two thirds of another homebrew batch is gone. :-) Always good when you can share something you have made with friends and family.

What's next? Well its still busy this time of year. Not sure I'll have time for anything else right now. I do have that porter/stout/dark beer we'll call BB2 Porter in the primary. My taste test left me with good impressions. I can't wait to try adding some chocolate to the little gallon jug I put aside for a test. As for the rest, it's ready to be kegged.

I guess that should be enough for the holidays. Maybe I should brew one more.

Been in the woods...

Getting out of the car. Stepping onto the crunchy snow. Looking around to survey the situation.













Walking back the tram road. Finding a tree, log or stump. Parking my typically overly distracted self for a few hours here in the woods. Its good to be in the woods.