What Is 'Sasquatch Ale'? Homebrewers Will Decide

This Saturday, 2/11, I will participate as a BJCP Judge for the Sasquatch Ale Homebrew Competition.  This is the first Sasquatch Ale Homebrew Competition and it's being influenced by the impending arrival of the National Homebrew Conference, which will be held in Seattle this June 21-23. 

(Courtesy wahomebrewers.org):
"With the 2012 National Homebrewers Conference in Bellevue next June, the Washington Homebrewers Association is looking for a special beer that Sasquatch (the honorary conference organizer) can be proud to serve to conference goers. We're looking to Washington homebrew club members to come up with they consider to be the embodiment of a "Sasquatch Ale" capture a special, Northwest, "Sasquatchian" flavor.

But what is a "Sasquatch Ale?" Ask yourself, "What Would Sasquatch Brew?" We are looking to Washington homebrew club members to come up with they consider to be the embodiment of a "Sasquatch Ale." Is it malty? Hoppy? Dark? Light? Hairy? Mysterious? Spiced? Smoky? Mossy? Woody? Who knows? But we want you to help us discover this style by entering the "Sasquatch Ale Homebrew Competition.""

As you can see, exactly what 'Sasquatch Ale' is has yet to be defined.  The competition is limited to AHA/BJCP Category 23A, which is for 'Specialty Beer'.  This is a somewhat more loosely defined beer catagory, and opens up the brewer to get creative with any number of 'specialty' ingredients.  Per the BJCP style guidelines:

"The distinctive flavor character associated with the stated specialty nature (i.e. the specialty ingredient(s) the brewer uses) should be noticeable, and may range in intensity from subtle to aggressive."

So, as a judge for this competiton I (along with many other and far more experienced BJCP Judges) will get to make the call on exactly what 'Sasquatch Ale' is.  Good luck to all the entrants!  Judging will be taking place at Larry's Brewing Supply in Kent this Saturday. 

Drink responsibly and stay safe out there.

(Disclaimer: Yes, I am aware there used to be a beer called "Sasquatch Ale", which was brewed by Six Rivers Brewery out of California.  However, this beer no longer exists/is no longer in production.)

Patience Is A Virtue

Back in April of this year in a post titled, "Patience & Planning Ahead", I posted about the necessity of patience in the brewing and fermentation process.  I think, with my latest batch of IPA, I have finally realized the true benefits of patience and planning. 

Back in late June, I brewed an IPA for a competition.  The competiton is the Fly-PA IPA competition being put on by the Flying Bike Cooperative Brewery.  It's a cooperative members-only competiton to find Flying Bike's 'flagship' IPA beer.  The winner will have their beer scaled up and contract-brewed by Three Skulls Ales here in Seattle.  It's a rare opportunity for a homebrewer, like myself, to not only have their beer featured at a local pub, but to create what will be the first ever production beer created for the Flying Bike Cooperative Brewery; an important milestone for any brewery - or brewer.  I brewed a nice and hoppy Imperial IPA, with a final acohol level somewhere in range of 7-8 percent (7.75% ABV). 

A Beautiful Imperial IPA

The Imperial IPA I brewed stayed nestled in it's primary fermenter at 68 degrees for a full three weeks before I moved it from the fermenter to a 5-gallon keg for conditioning.  I had intended to let the beer condition for just a week or two before dry-hopping it, but I got so busy and sidetracked that I didn't get around to dry-hopping it until about a week ago (August 17th); which means the beer was allowed to condition for about 4 1/2 weeks before being dry-hopped.  This was not a bad thing. 

The beer was not carbonated during conditioning.  I only placed a gentle blanket of CO2 at 10PSI into the keg just after filling it, and then disconnected the CO2 line.  Two days after adding the hops (in a 'hop sock') to the keg, I began carbonation. 

Last night, I got the first true taste of the finished beer - dry hopped an all.  I was very pleased.  I can honestly say that this may very well be the best IPA I have ever brewed.  It was also the first batch where my wife, Lynn, was my assistant brewer.  So it was a great milestone for her as well. 

The aroma, appearance and flavor of my IIPA were all right where I wanted them to be.  I had to stop myself from going back for more.  I want to let the beer sit a few days longer, and then I'll bottle some this weekend for the competition.  After that, I can begin enjoying the rest for myself and bring some to a few friends for them to enjoy as well. 

I used a brand new recipe, concocted from scratch by myself, for this batch.  It is definitely a recipe I'll have to try again.  I had originally planned to use Simcoe hops for this batch, but I was unable to find any, so I used a combination of different hops as a 'substitute'.  Now, I have my hands on some Simcoe from this year's crop, so I'll have to try the Simcoe version as well and see how it compares to what I've got now. 

So wish my luck!  If I'm fortunate enough to win the Fly-PA competition, it won't be long before you'll be able to taste my beer on tap right here in Seattle.  If I don't manage to win, perhaps you'll be able to taste some anyway... but you'll have to find me!  ;) 

Drink responsibly and stay safe out there! 

My BJCP Classes Have Begun

Last Wednesday was my first BJCP class.  I've been so busy with other things lately that, frankly, it kind of snuck up on me.  I didn't get as much pre-class studying done as I would have liked, so hopefully I'll be able to keep up and do well on the October exam. 

I'm still on the waiting list for the exam, but I believe I have a good chance of getting in, since I'm not too far down on the waiting list.  The agonizing part is that, after testing, it can take 4-6 months (possibly longer) to get my results back.  That's a long time to wait to find out how well I did. 

The October exam will also be the last one given in the current format, which consists of a three-hour written exam along with four different beer taste-tests, which are brought out in half-hour intervals after the first hour and a half of the exam.  So it's important to pace yourself well, and be prepared to take a 10-15 minute 'break' from the written test to evaluate each beer brought out to you. 

In part because getting results takes so long, the BJCP is changing up the format of the exam starting next year.  In the new format, the written portion of the test can be taken online, while the tasting portion of the test must be scheduled at a differnt time, and of course in-person.  Since the new format online test will basically amount to an open-book test, it will be setup so that you have to answer each question quickly (i.e. No time to go 'look up' the answers).  Also, with the new format, 'Recognized' is the highest level you can achieve, even if you score a perfect 100 on the written test.  In the current format, it's possible (though unlikely unless you're just that good) to score a 'Master' rank right out of the gate if you do well enough on the written and tasting portions of the exam. 

It's too early for me to say how I feel I'll do on the exam, but I'm going to be studying hard and looking forward to the practice test we'll have later on in my class.  Week 1 of the class was a basic introduction, including judging procedures, a discussion of malting grains, and we tasted/evaluated some Light Lagers (Style Caterory 1) and Pilsners (Style Category 2). 

This weeks class will focus on preparing better beer scoresheets, the beer faults checklist (what causes 'off' flavors in beer and how to remedy them in the brewing & fermatation process), and we'll be tasting/evaluating some European Amber Lagers (Style Category 3), and some Dark Lagers (Style Category 4). 

We've only just begun and there's a long way to go.  So please excuse me if my posting slows down a bit in the next month or two.  I'll be busy studying all of the material.  Or, who knows, I may find that posting more about what I'm studying each week could help me retain more of the information as I pass it along to you.  I'll have to wait and see. 

Drink responsibly and stay safe out there. 

AHA Rally At Pike Brewing

Me with Charlie Papazian

Last night (7/10/2011), I attended an American Homebrewer's Association (AHA) Rally at Pike Brewing Company in Seattle, WA.  AHA Rallies are hosted by members of the Brewers Association (seperate from but related to the AHA - for samll, independent craft breweries rather than homebrewers), and are a great perk for members of the AHA.

Brewery owners and brewers are typically on hand at these AHA Meber's Only events to answer questions, give brewery tours, pour free beer samples, etc. etc.  It's a great way to meet fellow homebrewers and beer enthusiasts, get more into the local beer scene and to meet some special people.  I'd like to shout out a big thanks to Pike Brewing for hosting this event. 

The Pike Brewery (the part that the general public doesn't get to see)

On hand for last night's rally were:
Charles & Rose Ann Finkel - Owners of Pike Brewing Company, who hosted the event
Kathryn Porter Drapeau - AHA Membership Cooordinator
Dean Mochizuki - Pike Brewing's Head Brewer
And last but not least: Charlie Papazian - Founder of the AHA

I had a great time meeting a few friends and making a few new ones.  I also got a chance to meet Charlie Papazian.  I already know Charles Finkel and Dean Mochizuki.  Kathryn had her hands full with member relations, as many new AHA members signed up in order to attend this event. 

Here is a 9-10 minute video of Charles Finkel welcoming everyone and introducing Charlie Papazian:



(If the video link above is not working - click HERE to see the video - you may have to 'Like' my Beer Monger page on Facebook.)

I'll have to keep my ears open for when the next local AHA rally will be.  It was a lot of fun; and the only way to attend is to be an AHA member! 

Drink responsibly and stay safe out there. 

Brewing An IPA For A Competition

Brewing is an art, and all art has critics. Beer is no exception. Of course, just like art, the way a beer is perceived can vary from person to person. Our taste buds are unique; we don't all experience flavors in exactly the same way. So, when brewing an IPA that must appeal to the masses, what type of malt and hop profile do I shoot for? Do I want more Earthy/Piney hop character or would a more grapefruit/citrusy hop aroma and flavor win over more people? Shuld the hops fully dominate, or do I want a more balanced IPA with a slightly sweet malt character to compliment the hops?

These are the types of things I must consider when crafting my latest IPA recipe; since this beer will be for a competition. However, this will be a non AHA/BJCP-Sanctioned competition. That makes a difference. Why?

BJCP Certified judges must adhere to a strict set of rules when judging in an AHA/BJCP-Sanctioned competition. A beer cannot be judged on personal taste or simply how well you 'like' it over another entry. Each beer in an AHA/BJCP-Sanctioned competition is judged on its own merit by a specific set of criteria and how close the entry comes to meeting the definitions of the particular style category the beer was entered into for each of those criteria.

Also, in an AHA/BJCP-Sanctioned competition, there can be no style variations. For example, you could not enter, for example, an Imperial IPA or a Lavender IPA into the IPA category as defined by BJCP. Imperial has its own separate category and using Lavender would place any entry in the 'Specialty Beer' category, since it would not meet the 'classic' definition of an IPA.

In the competition I'll be entering, there are no such restrictions. Want to make a Cotton-Candy IPA? Go for it. How about an Oaked Honey IPA? That'd work too. So I also need to decide if I'll make a more traditional IPA for this competition, or if I'll get a bit more creative and add one or more special or unusual ingredients.

I'm planning to brew the IPA sometime this weekend, however, so I need to make my decisions and finalize my recipe soon. If I manage to win the competition, my IPA will likely become one of the very first beers to be brewed by the Flying Bike Cooperative Brewery, which is pretty exciting. So wish me luck!

Drink responsibly and stay safe out there.

The 2012 NHC Will Be In Seattle/Bellevue

The 2011 National Homebrew Conference (NHC) just wrapped up in San Diego; and it ended on a high note.  Why?  Because it has been announced that the 2012 NHC will be right here in Seattle & Bellevue, Washington!

That's great news and means I have absoultely no excuse to miss next year's NHC, and neither do you! 

Get into the spirit by watching this Pre-Conference video, which talks about the thriving homebrew scene in the Seattle/Puget Sound area:

Pre-2012 Seattle/Bellevue National Homebrewers Conference Video from WAHA on Vimeo.

Drink responsibly and stay safe out there!

The 33rd Annual NHC Starts Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the kick off for the 33rd annual National Homebrew Conference (NHC) in San Diego, CA.  I wasn't able to make it to this year's conference, but for those who can, there's a lot going on.

Happening right now are a bunch of pre-conference activities, including:

• Brewery tours
• Beer pairing breakfast
• Beer pairing dinner
• 30th St. pub crawl
• Hornblower afternoon beer cruise
• Golf at Riverwalk Golf Course

For details on these and other pre-conference events, take a look HERE.

There's also a Pro-Brewer's night, which offers attendees a private beer festival within the conference with 1800 of their closest homebrewing friends, clubmates, and professional brewers from across the country. This year, there’s also a pro-am competition taking place. Just to add to the fun!  The theme for this year's Pro-Brewer's night is Fun in the Summertime (Now, if only we could get a little Summer here in Seattle!) 

See HERE for a complete list of participating breweries for Pro-Brewer's night. 

Do you belong to a homebrew club?  The Club Night is for you.  You can attend just for fun, or get a booth for your homebrew club.  You can sign up for a booth space by contacting Roger Morrissey at ClubNight2011@seven4.com, and provide him with the following information:

• Club name, city and state
• Contact person’s name, email and phone number
• Do you need power?
• Do you need more than 10 ft x 10 ft space?
• Do you want to share a space?
• Do you need a table?
• Approximately how many beers will you have on tap and/or in bottles?
• Approximately how many members are coming from your club?
• Are there any clubs that you want or do not want to be situated beside your booth?

See HERE for the complete list of participating clubs. 

You can also drop by the Hospitality Suite to sample homebrews, talk with suppliers, etc.  The HS moves poolside after the conference's evening events.  You can look HERE for a list of participating clubs. 

I have some friends in San Diego now having fun.  I'll have to try and make sure I can join then for next year's fun.

Drink responsibly and stay safe out there.

Selecting A Keg Can Be A Challenge

Have you ever ordered a keg or been asked to supply a keg of homebrw for a party?  Whichever way you decide to go, it can be an agonizing decision to make.  If you order a keg, what do you get?  There's a nearly endless supply of beers to choose from.  You can save money if you go with a local brewery - if you have one.

If you go with homebrew, there's a whole other set of considerations.  Do you have a batch ready?  Do you have enough to supply the party?  Are you willing to watch a whole batch of your homebrew disappear in just a few hours - much of it to people you may not even know? 

A homebrew 'Cornelius' Keg

In the time before microbreweries and the proliferation of homebrewing, when the keg you'd find at 95% of parties would be Bud, Bud Light or Coors, this was not an issue.  Nobody knew what good microbrew or homebrew was, so everyone was content drinking the same old crap as always.  If you were lucky, your party host would splurge and perhaps get Heineken or Henry Weinhard's instead of Bud.  Ooh, fancy! 

Choices, Choices:
In most of today's beer markets, you can find a local keg source that will have a wide range of options for you to chose from, possibly even including some exotic choices from overseas.  We're fortunate here in the Northwest.  We have distributors that can get an amazingly wide variety of different beers in kegs from across the country and around the World. 

Distributors:
Going through a distributor, an unfortunate necessity in much of today's beer market, can mean wider selection of beers from farther away but it also means higher prices.  So the farther away you want your beer from, the more it's likely to cost you.  For example, I'm in Seattle, WA.  If I want a keg of Avery IPA (Colorado), it'll run me about $235 for a standard 1/2 barrel keg.  If I want to go even farther away, Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock (Germany), for example, would be about $225 for a 1/4 barrel keg (half the size of the $235 Avery keg from Colorado). 

If I go more local, but still through a distributor, the price drops a bit.  For example, I could order a keg of Elysian The Immortal IPA (Seattle, WA) for about $190 for a standard 1/2 barrel.  That's still a bit on the high side though, since we're still going through the distributor. 

Going Local:
The best way to go for ordering a commercial keg of beer, if you have the means, is to go to a local brewery.  We have several in the Seattle area, so when I need a keg I have some choices to make.  Going directly to the brewery instead of through a distributor can save you a lot of money. 

For example, that keg of Elysian The Immortal IPA from Elysian brewing right here in Seattle would be $190 through the distributor.  Directly from the brewery, however, the exact same keg of beer is only about $125 - $65 less.  That $65 saved could be used to order another 1/4 barrel from the brewery. 

So, if cost is your main consideration (and if your local breweries just happen to have some pretty darn good beer), it's really the best way to go.  The cost is much lower, and for the exact same beer you'd pay more for through a distributor. 

Going With Homebrew:
If you are a homebrewer, or you know a homebrewer, you have another option.  Rather than ordering a keg from a distributor or local brewery, you could supply some of your own homebrew or ask a friend to supply the beer for your get together. 

As mentioned above, there are a few different considerations if you'll be supplying homebrew as the kegs for a party/event.  Do you have enough homebrew available at the moment to supply what's needed?  If so, are you willing to part with all of that beer; as most kegs get pretty closed to drained at most get-togethers I attend.  Is the beer you have appropriate to the event?  For example, you don't want to serve up a keg of homebrewed Belgian Farmhouse Ale to a group of people who are used to or expecting something more along the lines of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale or worse, to a group of sports fans who are used to Bud and simply won't appreciate the hard work the homebrewer has put in on the beer. 

Several years back, I had the opportunity as a homebrewer to supply the beer for a friend's wedding.  It was a lot of work, but it was my gift to them.  I supplied 5 gallons of IPA, 5 gallons of Raspberry Stout and 3 gallons of non-alcoholic Root Beer.  Seeing a group of party guests enjoying your homebrew can be a really satisfying experience and worthwhile if you know those you'll be supplying the beer for will appreciate it. 

If you have the means, and if you know your party/get-together guests will appreciate the extra effort, go ahead and break out a keg of homebrew for your next party or get together.  If you don't have the means, find the best keg ordering option you can; be it a distributor or a local brewery, and try to order a beer those attending will enjoy.  If it's a special event, perhaps spend those few extra dollars and get a keg of imported beer from Germany or Ireland or Belgium.  Whichever way you go, make your selection one that everyone can enjoy - don't just shop for your own personal tastes. 

Drink responsibly and stay safe out there.

Beer, Beer Everywhere, But Only Some To Drink

Seattle Beer Week 2011 is a wrap; and boy did it wear me out.  I started the week strong, hitting several events per day the first 4-5 days, but faded a bit in the end, only hitting one event per day for the last few days.  Then, far too soon, I had to be back to work. 

This is what happens when you give Mrs. Beer Monger too much beer.

Back to the Brew:
Beer-wise, however, it was time to get back to focusing on my homebrew.  Luckily I managed to arrange things where I didn't have any brewing, bottling or kegging planned during Seattle Beer Week.  I had a batch of IPA that went into the primary fermenter on May 1st and batch of Oktoberfest lager that went into its primary fermenter on May 8th.  Both were good to go until at least May 28-29. 

Unfortunately, I didn't quite get to them on the 28th or 29th, but did manage to get everything taken care of yesterday (June 1st).  I moved my IPA from its primary fermenter to a keg and force carbonated it.  I wanted this beer to be ready for my annual crawfish boil this month.  I took a hydrometer reading to verify the beer had fermented out all the way and then gave the sample a taste.  It was flat and warm, of course, but otherwise pretty darn good.  Nice and hoppy, which I Love.  I may even dry-hop this batch in the keg to give it even more hop aroma. 

Time to get kegging.

Next, it was time to keg my Oktoberfest Lager and let it start its 3-month lagering period prior to carbonation.  As with the IPA, I tasted the hydrometer sample.  Wow!  Being the first lager I'd ever made, I wasn't sure what to expect, taste-wise, as this point in the process.  It tasted great; comparable to other commercial Oktoberfest beers I've had.  This is extremely encouraging, since I still plan to let this beer lager (age & improve) for three full months before serving it. 

I also still had a keg of Chamomile Ale in my fridge.  I bottled the other keg a few weeks ago for my last homebrew club meeting.  Now that the Chamomile Ale has had some time to mature a bit, however, it's gotten pretty good too.  The carbonation level is right and the Chamomile flavor comes through nicely. 

Ready to Drink?:
So, I now have three full kegs of beer in my beer fridge: the Chamomile Ale, the IPA and the Oktoberfest Lager.  At the moment, however, the only one of them that's 'ready to drink' is the Chamomile Ale.  I did 'quick carbonate' the IPA when I kegged it last night so it would technically be drinkable by tonight, but I plan to wait on drinking it until at least this weekend if not a full week. 

I have to wait until September to enjoy what these ladies are enjoying.

The Oktoberfest Lager, while it did taste great when I kegged it, still needs to lager.  I really don't want to rush things with this one.  A one-month lagering period would probably be sufficient, but I really want to let it go the whole three months and not start serving it until September 17th, the first official day of Oktoberfest in Germany this year.  Perhaps I'll have to do it up right and make a full, authentic German meal to go with it on that day.  Jäegerschnitzel anyone? 

What's Next:
Now I'm ready to brew again.  I can't do another lager yet, because I just don't have the extra fridge space for the fermenter.  I have been rather experimental with a lot of my brews so far this year (Chamomile Ale, my first ever Lager, trying the 'batch sparge' method, etc.), and I'd like to continue that trend. 

In all my years of brewing, I have never made a Barleywine.  A lot of patience is required for a good Barleywine.  It's not something that can be rushed, and I want to make sure I do it right.  So, I think my next batch will be my first ever Barleywine style Ale. 

I have a lot of things to consider, recipe-wise, but I have a feeling I'll want to shoot for a darker, maltier Barleywine.  I'd also like to try oak aging it.  I don't want to spend the money for an oak barrel right now, however, so I'll just use Oak chips (soaked in bourbon, of course).  I don't have a brew date yet, as I'd like to soak the oak chips in the bourbon for, at minimum, 2 weeks and, as I said, I'm still formulating the recipe.  I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Drink responsibly and stay safe out there. 

The Flying Bike Cooperative Brewery Meet & Greet Was A Great Success

This past Saturday, May 14, was the official Meet & Greet for the founding members of the Flying Bike Cooperative Brewery.  The event was held at The Stables, a great rentable space in the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle.  The Meet & Greet was the initial opportunity for the founding member/owners of Seattle's first Cooperative Brewery to meet one another, hear about the vision and direction for the Brewery from the Coop President, and to start getting to know each other and kicking around ideas of what they each want Flying Bike to be. 

When the space for the Meet & Greet was originally booked, Flying Bike was expecting maybe 100 people to be present; perhaps 125.  After all, the membership drive had just begun and was supposed to generate 300 members by the end of June.  Little did everyone know that the 300 member mark would be passed in a mere 5 days.  In fact, by the end of this event, there were a total of 374 Flying Bike mebers, including a few guests of members who showed up for the Meet &Greet and purchased their membership.  As a result, the Meet & Greet event had to be broken up into three different sessions (due to occupancy limits). 

Derek & Drew's IPA Showdown

At each of the three Meet & Greet sessions, members had a chance to pickup their 'Founding Member' pint glass and T-Shirt, sample some beers made by some of the Flying Bike board members, have a little food and hear a welcome and vision speech from Flying Bike Cooperative Brewery President, Jeff Hicks. 

Anyone interested in viewing the member welcome and vision for Flying Bike speech Mr. Hicks gave at the first session of the Meet & Greet can see it HERE on Youtube. 

Attendees of the first two sessions of the Meet & Greet also had the opportunity to vote on an 'IPA Showdown' between Flying Bike Board Members Derek Drennan and Drew Wilson.  Each had an IPA on tap to sample, and membes were encouraged to try both IPA's, decide which they liked best and vote for the winner.  I'm not sure which IPA won but both were pretty tasty.  In fact, demand for both IPAs was high enough that the third session of the Meet & Greet didn't have the opportunity to judge these two IPAs.  They were all gone! 

There are still plenty of steps Flying Bike has to take before they're ready to open their doors to the public.  The actual brewery itself is still in the planning stages, and a location has yet to be selected.  Now, it's up to the drive and determination of the board members and all 374 member/owners of Flying Bike Cooperative Brewery to keep on peddaling and see that this thing gets off the ground.
(See more photos from this event HERE.)

Drink responsibly and stay safe out there. 

Puget Sound Pro-Am Results & Big Brew Day 2011

Last weekend was the 2011 Puget Sound Pro-Am homebrew competition.  There were a total of 403 entries made by 109 different homebrewers.  By last Monday, the results were posted for the homebrew competition.  Congratulations to the winners! 

Just this past weekend, however, was the time for the majority of the breweries involved to select which homebrews from the competition they wanted to scale up and brew on their own systems. 

The participating breweries included:
Ram Restaurant and Brewery
Elysian Brewery
Big Time Brewery
Rock Bottom - Seattle
Rock Bottom - Bellevue
Big Al Brewing
Baron Brewing
Diamond Knot Brewery
Snipes Mountain Brewing
Naked City Brewing
Harmon Brewery
BJ's - Tacoma
Powerhouse Brewery
Issaquah Brewhouse
Silver City Brewery
Elliott Bay Brewing Company

Each of these breweries could select one of the homebrew entries from the competition to brew.  It was not necessary for the breweries to select a beer that placed well in the actual homebrew competition, but most did. 

Here is the list of what each brewery decided to brew:
Baron Brewing – Mike Ritzer’s Grunge Effect, North German Altbier
Big Time Brewing – Ken Reister’s Reisterbrau’s Czar Russian Imperial Stout
BJ’s Brewery Tacoma – Trevor Nichol’s Biere de Printemps Biere de Garde
Elliott Bay Brewing Company – Tim Hervyford’s Black Pepper Porter
Elysian Brewing Company – Travis Nye’s Rye PA
Harmon Brewery – Ben Schielke’s Expedi-ale New American Pale Ale
Issaquah Brewhouse – TBD this week
Ram Brewery Tacoma – Jonathan Permen’s Fruition Raspberry Biere de Garde
Rock Bottom Seattle – Jesse Perez’s Siberian Baltic Porter
Rock Bottom Bellevue – Dan Hansen’s Bohemian Pilsner
Snipes Mountain Brewery – Karl VanEvenhoven’s Cascadian Dark Ale
Naked City Brewery – TBD this week
Silver City Brewery – TBD this week

Recreational
Big Al Brewing – TBD this week
Powerhouse -Ryan McGee's Mai Sharona, Maibock
Diamond Knot – TBD in a few weeks

Once again, congratulations to those selected!  They will soon have the opportunity to see their own beer on tap at these breweries.  What an honor, and a great way to celebrate and share their homebrew with their fellow brewers and friends. 

I didn't have any beers ready to enter for this year's Pro-Am or this year's National Homebrew Competition, but I hope to have a few things ready to enter for both events next year. 

AHA Big Brew Day:
This past Saturday, May 7th was also AHA Big Brew Day.  It's an annual event where homebrewers are encouraged to gather together in groups to brew for the day.  Bringing along, family, friends, and anyone else interested in learning more about or getting in volved in homebrewing. 

For me, the closest place to celebrate Big Brew Day was at Larry's Brewing Supply in Kent, WA.  I didn't have the means to bring my own system down to Larry's (I brewed later at home - video coming soon), but I was there for the festivities (as well as there to assist with the brewery selections from the Puget Sound Pro-Am homebrew competition - so I was rather busy). 

There were plenty of brewers at Larry's that day, and everyone was having a great time and brewing batch after batch of beer.  The smells coming from all the brewing were amazing.  I took a short video you can check out, to see how crazy/busy it was, but also how much fun!  You may need to 'Like' Beer Monger on Facebook in order to see the video. 

As for myself, I brewed my Oktoberfest Lager this weekend.  Its currently sitting in it's fermenter at 42 degrees in my beer fridge, and I plan to slowly raise the temperature to 48-50 degrees over the new few days.  There it will sit, fermenting for three weeks before I raise the temp a bit for a dicetyl rest and then lower the temp again before kegging the beer to allow it to Lager for three months.  It should be ready to drink by September 17th, the first official day of Oktoberfest in Germany this year.

Drink responsibly and stay safe out there.

Sanitization & Infections

Yeast is the smallest ingredient in beer brewing; in fact it's microscopic.  But yeast is the crucial ingredient that gives us all of our wonderful brews.  Without yeast, there would be no beer.  So raise your glass and thank God for yeast!

Yeast is a living thing.  It's a micro-organism whose function in brewing is to consume sugar and oxygen, and produce carbon dioxide and alcohol.  What a wonderful little organism, isn't it?  As a living micro-organism, however, it will eat and interact with whatever you provide it.  This is why sanitization is so important in brewing.  Introduce a yeast to a wort or some brewing equipment that is unsanitary, and you risk introducing any number of undesirable micro-organisms into your beer.

Don't worry.  It's not possible to produce any pathogens from brewing.  There's nothing that will kill you or make you horribly ill or anything like that.  If an unwanted organism does make it into your beer, however, it can infect the beer and definitely impart some off flavors, smells, aftertastes, etc.  An infected beer is never a good thing. 

Sanitization & The Boil:
When brewing, you always want to use clean equipment.  I always clean and sanitize nearly everything my beer or any of its ingredients will touch.  Before reaching the boil kettle, however, full sanitization is less crucial.  Sure, you want everything to be clean and sanitary, but it's less important before the boil than after it.  That is, of course, because boiling your wort for approximately and hour would definitely kill any micro-organisms that might have found their way into your beer before it reached the boil kettle. 

After the boil is when proper sanitization becomes crucial.  Once your finished wort drops below boiling temperature, it becomes susceptible to infection.  If you allow the wort to come into contact with anything dirty or unsanitary, it has a chance of picking up something unwanted.  That is why it's important to keep the boil kettle closed while cooling the wort after the boil, and why you want to get the wort cooled and into an airlocked fermeter as soon as possible after the boil is complete. 

I Use 'Star San' Sanitizer To Sanitize My Brewing Equipment

Later, when you move your beer to a secondary fermenter, to a keg or if you bottle it, you must continue to make sure that anything that touches your beer is clean and sanitized.  Even though your beer may be finished fermenting, the yeast is still alive.  It's merely gone dormant after consuming all the available sugar and oxygen, but it can 'wake up' again if it finds a new micro-organism to interact with. 

One Piece of Faulty Equipment:
In my previous post, I was discussing the importance of patience in brewing.  I was becoming unhappy with the first batch of IPA I'd brewed this year, because it seemed to be a very mediocre beer, and I had been blaming my impatience in rushing the beer into the keg and into the glass.  I still maintain that patience in brewing is important and that I absolutely did rush that batch of IPA, but I discovered last night that was not the reason the beer was not as good as it could have been - and actually seemed to be getting worse over time. 

I was adjusting a few things in my fridge last night when I made a shocking discovery.  The bottom of my fridge was a bit wet and rather sticky.  Closer inspection revealed a slow leak around the liquid-out fitting on the keg I had been serving from.  The ball-lock fitting for the liquid out connection wasn't sealing securely and I had, apparently, had a leak from the keg. 

Ball-Lock Fittings (Grey = Gas | Black = Liquid)

Thankfully the leak was very slow and not serious enough to flood the fridge with beer or drain my newly-exchanged CO2 tank.  However, it seems that the leak in the connection was just enough to allow the beer in that keg to pick up an infection.  The ball lock fitting had a thin layer of yeast crusted around the edges, and I found the same sticky, yeasty liquid leaked liquid all around the fitting and even down the side of and under the keg.  Clearly, whatever had infected the crusty yeast on the keg had also gotten inside and spoiled the beer. 

I decided to dump the keg.  Why keep a beer around that doesn't taste good? Drinking homebrewed beer is supposed to be an enjoyable experience, not something that becomes work or a chore to be checked off.  That's no fun.  And since this beer seemed to be getting even worse, not better, I saw no reason to save it.  Who wants to drink an infected beer? 

A Wonderful Discovery:
If you'll recall from back when I brewed this batch of IPA, I wound up a bit under the 10 gallon mark.  In fact, I wound up with just slightly under 9 gallons due to equipment and evaporation losses.  That means I wound up having one keg with just under 5 gallons in it and one keg with just about 4 gallons in it.  Unfortunately, the keg with the leaky ball-lock fitting was the keg with 5 gallons in it.  Up to that point, I had been serving beer only from that 5 gallon keg and allowing the other keg to just sit near the back of the fridge. 

Well, last night after pulling the bad keg from the fridge and dumping it, I went to try a beer from the 4 gallon keg.  I was fully expecting the possibility that this keg either had an infection as well, or still suffered other detrimental flavor effects due to my impatience.  I crossed my fingers and grabbed a glass. 

Immediately after tapping off the beer I brought it to my nose and was very pleasantly surprised by an instantly citrusy, hoppy nose, with some subdued caramel malt aromas in the background.  I took a sip.  Amazing!  Despite my impatience early on in the fermentation and kegging process, allowing this keg to sit for a couple of weeks before tapping it really made a difference.  Sure, it still had a bit of haze to it, but even that was not as bad as the beer from the first keg.  This was a beer I wanted to drink; a beer that I would be proud serving to my friends and family.  Thankfully, the problem with the one leaky keg had not been transferred to this keg.  But it was a great learning experience about how easily beer can become infected and how important it is to always check your equipment for leaks or other faults. 

Drink responsibly and stay safe out there!

Patience & Planning Ahead

Brewing is an art that requires patience - not only on the day of brewing, but also in the days, weeks, months and sometimes years that follow.  A lack of patience can lead to undesirable results.  You don't want to interrupt an active fermentation to move your beer to another fermenter.  You don't want to be impatient about letting your beer condition a while before kegging it.  You don't want to tap a newly filled keg without allowing it time to settle a bit.  Etc. etc.  All of these things can lead to problems with your beer. 

Brewing also requires planning.  If you want to have a beer ready by a certain date, you have to plan well in advance to make sure you hit that date.  Take, for example, an Oktoberfest beer.  Since Oktoberfest is a Lager, it will take longer to ferment and condition as an Ale would.  Preferably, you want to age an Oktoberfest for several months and, ideally, they should be ready by mid September.  That means, if you want to make an authentic Oktoberfest beer and have it ready on time, you should be thinking about brewing it around May or early June at the latest to allow it sufficient time to ferment and condition. 

The Price of Impatience:
Sometimes, as homebrewers, we can forget about patience.  The result is a noticeable difference in the quality of the finished beer.  Take, for example, the batch of IPA I brewed back on March 20th of this year.  It was my first batch of homebrew in nearly seven years and, as a result, I was impatient.  I hadn't had any of my own homebrew in several years, and I was eager to take my first sip and enjoy the fruits of my labor.  So, I left this beer in the primary fermenter for only a week - and in the secondary fermenters for only one more week before kegging it.  To make matters worse, I started drinking that kegged beer almost immediately. 

I could taste a few 'off' flavors in my beer.  But I attributed this to it being so 'young', so I forgave it's problems and kept on drinking it.  Don't get me wrong.  It is by no means a horrible beer.  It has a good color, a good, medium body, holds a head quite well and has an overall decent flavor.  However, it does have it's share of problems, mostly associated with my own impatience.  It's hazy, it's a bit husky/grainy and it's slightly astringent.  Definitely not my best beer and nothing I'd be particularly proud serving.  As a result, I have resolved to work harder at exercising my patience going forward. 

Slow it Down:
The Chamomile Ale I brewed on April 9th, for example, has now been in the primary fermenters for 9 days, and I plan to leave it in those fermenters for nearly another three weeks before moving it to kegs and allowing it to continue to condition for another 3-5 weeks.  Admittedly, I may tap some of it just a bit 'young', so I can bring some to my next Impaling Alers homebrew club meeting on May 20th, but I'm taking my time with this one. 

I also recently learned something new about today's yeasts and how the strains have improved over the years.  For example, when homebrewing was young (back in the late 70's and early 80's), it was common to recommend racking your beer off the yeast in the primary fermenter as soon as primary fermentation was complete.  The idea was to get your beer off the yeast cake at the bottom of the fermenter so that your beer wouldn't pick up any 'off' flavors from the spent yeast. 

Now, that concern is mostly gone.  Most experts agree that, with today's yeast strains, you should only have to rack your beer off the yeast in the primary fermenter if you plan to do a true secondary fermentation (adding more ingredients to the second fermenter for the yeast to do it's job on) or unless you plan to dry hop your beer or add any fruit or other adjuncts.  Less racking of your beer means less chance of oxidation or introducing any contaminants that could infect your beer.  With today's yeasts, you should be safe leaving your beer in the primary fermenter, on the spent yeast, for up to four weeks before having any issues with the yeast imparting any off flavors to your beer. 

Adjusting My Schedule & Batch Size:
All of these considerations along with some equipment restrictions have made me rethink my brewing schedule and realize that I have to slow down a bit.  Originally, I had planned to brew an Imperial IPA this past weekend, but I had to reconsider due to the time my 10 gallons of Chamomile Ale still needs in the primary fermenters.  I only have one water bath with an aquarium heater to regulate the fermentation temperature, and that bath holds only two six and a half gallon carboys.  So, I have to wait until the Chamomile Ale is ready to be moved to the kegs and start conditioning in the fridge before I can brew another batch. 

Another issue is keg and refrigerator space.  I have a fairly large brewing fridge.  It's big enough to hold up to four full Cornelius kegs and my CO2 tank and regulator.  However, when I brew 10 gallon batches, that means two kegs per batch (unless I bottle half).  That would mean I could only have two different beers on tap in my fridge at any one time. 

That seems insufficient, so I have decided to drop down to brewing only 5 gallon batches for a while.  I'm sure I'll still brew the occasional 10 gallon batch, but if I stick to 5 gallon batches it will afford me many advantages.  First, I'll have room for two different batches at a time in the heated water bath I use to keep my fermenters at proper fermentation temperature.  Second, it virtually doubles my capacity to ferment and keg beers - since each batch will only be half the size of what I've been doing.  Finally, with only one keg per batch, I should be able to keep up to four different beers on tap at any one time in my fridge. 

What's Next?:
I still want to brew an Imperial IPA once my Chamomile Ale is done, but I would also like to make an Oktoberfest this year to be ready by mid-September.  Since each of these will only be 5 gallon batches, however, I think that should definitely be doable. 

My Chamomile Ale should be out of the primary fermenters and into kegs for conditioning on or about May 7th.  That means, I can brew my Imperial IPA on the weekend of May 7th or 14th and my Oktoberfest on May 14th or 21st.  I should have enough fridge space for the two kegs of Chamomile Ale and the fermenter for the Oktoberfest, while the Imperial IPA will ferment in my heated water bath. 

I also have a 5 gallon batch of strawberry cider in the works, but that should be ready to rack off the strawberries and into the keg by next weekend (April 23rd).  I plan to keg it and then fill some bottles from the keg a week later.  I will definitely have some of this cider to bring to my next homebrew club meeting. 

Drink responsibly and stay safe out there. 

I Popped My Judging Cherry

Today, I had the opportunity to be an official judge as part of the first round of the National Homebrew Competition - Northwest Region.  This was my first time ever acting as an official judge for an AHA/BJCP sanctioned competition.  It was a great experience, and makes me look forward to much more judging in the future. 

As luck would have it, I was assigned to judge BJCP Style Category 14 - India Pale Ale (pretty much my favorite style of beer).  This style section inclues the sub-styles of:

14A: English IPA
14B: American IPA
14C: Imperial IPA

During the course of my judging today, I tasted eight (8) different IPA's - 6 American IPA's (14B) and 2 Imperial IPA's (14C).  Of those eight, our tasting group sent on two for a 'mini-best of show' competition.  I was not a judge for that portion of the competition. 

As a first time judge, the process was enjoyable but slightly intimidating.  For each beer sampled (1-2oz), I had to fill out a complete BJCP National Homebrew Competition Beer Scoreshet.  All of the following sections had to be filled out in their entirety:

-Bottle Inspection
-Aroma
-Appearance
-Flavor
-Mouthfeel
-Overall Impression

All of these aspects, except for Bottle Inspection, are assigned a numeric score according to a scale.  Those points are added to create the beer's overall score (from 1-50).  I also had to comment on the accuracy to the intended beer style, the technical merit of the beer and my overall impression of its 'intangible' qualities.  I had 10 minutes to evaluate each entry in the competition, and then to discuss my score and it's aspects with the other judges score(s) and notes, so that we could reach a concensus on a fair score for each entry. 

This was a great first step in my journey to my BJCP Certification.  I look forward to my next judging experience.  It looks as though I may have another opportunity to judge near the end of April. 

Drink responsibly and stay safe out there.

IPA Brewing Video - Part 2 - Racking & Dry Hopping

It has now been 8 days since I brewed my batch of IPA on March 20th.

Today, I have a video for you, showing the process of racking (siphoning/moving) my beer from the primary to the secondary fermententation tanks. After racking the beer to the secondary fermenters, I will also show you the process of dry hopping the beer. You can view the video HERE.

I'll be back 6 days from now with a new video, showing the process of moving the beer from the secondary fermentation tanks to the kegs and starting the carbonation process. I hope you enjoy the video, and please 'Like' us HERE on Facebook.com.

Drink responsibly and stay safe out there.

Video of My IPA Brewing Session on March 20, 2011

My Brewing System

The video is now up for the batch of IPA I brewed this past Sunday. You can view it HERE.

The video covers the whole brewing process - all the way from grains to the beer in the fermentation tanks. For a detailed explanation of each brewing term used in the video (Mash, Wort, Sparge, etc.) please read my previous post, which detailed the process for this brew.

I hope you enjoy the video.

Drink responsibly and stay safe out there.

My First Batch of the Season

Water Being Heated in the Hot Liquor Tank

PLEASE NOTE - MORE PHOTOS FROM THIS BREW SESSION HAVE BEEN ADDED. PLEASE 'LIKE' US ON FACEBOOK TO SEE THE REST OF THE PHOTOS!

Yesterday, for the first time in a few years, I finally brewed again! This will be my first batch of many to come this year.

Overall, things went pretty smoothly. My only mistake was underestimating how much water I needed to use for sparging. I used 8 gallons to sparge, but I should have used 9-10. Don’t know what sparging is? I’ll get into that below. I also think I lost a bit more due to evaporation during the boil than I’d anticipated. As a result, the batch came out to be just about or slightly less than 9 gallons. I’m OK with that though. The whole brewing process went pretty smoothly, and in 4 weeks time I’ll have a nice, tasty batch of IPA ready to go!

I took a few photos as I was brewing, as well as a video. I’ll share the photos here as I go over the brewing process. The video will be posted as soon as I can find the time to edit it all together.

The Brewing Process:
Step 1: Relax. Don’t worry. Have a beer.
This is a saying I basically stole from Charlie Papazian, homebrewing pioneer and author of, “The New Complete Joy of Homebrewing.” The actual saying is: Relax. Don’t Worry. Have a homebrew. However, since I haven’t homebrewed in a while, I didn’t have any available to drink.

My Selection For Today's Step 1

The Brewing Process:
Step 2: The mash.
Beer is made from grains, water, hops and yeast. The first step involves cracking open your grains and then adding hot water to starting the mash. After the grains are cracked open using a grain mill (you want to crack the grain husks open, not crush the grain), hot water is added to the mash from the ‘Hot Liquor Tank’ (basically, a big kettle for heating up the water for mashing and sparging). The idea is to hold the grains at a temperature range of about 150-155 degrees. It is at this temperature that the ‘mash’ happens. That is, the starches in the grains are converted into sugars.

Grains to Add to the Mash

Yeast uses sugar and oxygen in order to create alcohol and CO2 (carbon dioxide) so this is, obviously, a very crucial step in the brewing process. You have to account for the temperature drop that will happen when the hot water is added to the room-temperature grains in the mash tun. To hit my target mash temperature of 150-155 degrees, I usually start with 170 degree water in the hot liquor tank. I also use a 10-gallon drink cooler as my mash tun, to help the grains remain in the target temperature range.

The Spiggot On My Mash Tun - To Allow the Wort to Flow into the Boil Kettle

The Brewing Process:
Step 3: The Sparge.
After the mash is complete, it’s time to sparge. Sparging is the process of spraying water over the grain in the mash tun in order to wash all the sugar from the mashed grain into the boil kettle. In my brewing setup I currently use a spinning sparging arm (called Phil’s Sparger – no longer made). This sits atop the mash tun and rotates while slowly and gently spraying the grains with hot water.

The Sparge Arm; Spinning to Gently Shower the Grains With Water From the Hot Liquor Tank

As the grains are sprayed with 170 degree hot water from the hot liquor tank, the spigot at the bottom of the mash tun is opened a bit to allow wort to start flowing into the boil kettle. Wort is what we call the sweet liquid flowing out of the mash tun. This should be a slow process. You want to make sure you wash out as much sugar as you can from the grain in the mash tun into the boil kettle. My sparge for this batch took 70-75 minutes. I wanted to collect 12 gallons of wort in the boil kettle, but I underestimated the amount of water I needed in the hot liquor tank for the sparge so I only wound up with about or just under 11 gallons of wort in the boil kettle.

Wort Flowing Very Slowly From the Mash Tun into the Boil Kettle

The Brewing Process:
Step 3: The Boil.
Once the sparge was complete and the wort was in the boil kettle, it was time to boil. I lit the burner under my boil kettle when the sparge was nearly complete and brought my wort slowly up to a boil. It’s important to bring your wort to a boil slowly to help avoid the possibility of a boil over (which can be a nasty, sticky mess!)

As soon as the wort reached a boil, it was time to add the first bittering hops and start the clock. The length of the boil can differ depending on the style of beer being made, but the average is right around one hour (which was the boil time for this particular batch). For the next half hour, I monitored the boil kettle; making sure the boil kept rolling but was not in danger of boiling over and gave the kettle an occasional stir.

A half hour in, or halfway through the boil, I added the second batch of bittering hops and kept monitoring the boil. I also got my wort chiller ready and started preparing my fermentation tanks.

The Brewing Process:
Step 4: Finishing Hops and the Cool Down.
When there was 5 minutes left on the clock for the boil, it was time to add the finishing hops. The hops added earlier in the boil were for bittering (imparting that familiar bitter bite to IPA beers). Finishing hops don’t add much bitterness, but affect the ‘nose’ of the finished beer; giving it that nice, floral hop aroma.

Just a couple of minutes after adding the finishing hops, I cranked up the heat on the boil kettle and plunged my immersion wort chiller into the kettle (I cranked up the heat for just a minute, since the cold wort chiller can knock the boil off for a few seconds). At this point, there was no water flowing through the wort chiller. The boil still had 2-3 minutes to go.

As soon as the boil clock reached 60 minutes, I turned off the burner and turned on the hose faucet, to allow cold water to start flowing through the wort chiller. You want to get your wort down to the proper temperature (in this case 68-70 degrees) as soon as possible.

The Brewing Process:
Step 5: Transferring to Fermenters and Pitching the Yeast.
The wort took about 10 minutes or so to go from boiling to about 68-70 degrees. Once the target temperature was achieved, I turned off the hose feeding the wort chiller and grabbed the first of my two carboys.

Unfortunately, I don’t currently own a fermentation tank large enough to ferment whole 10-gallon batches. So, I just use 2 6 ½ gallon carboys and put half the batch in each. (See my previous post regarding my ‘dream fermeter’).

I put just over 5 gallons into the first carboy, then stopped the flow and put the second carboy in place. I was only able to fill the second carboy to just under the 4 gallon mark. That means, my batch actually wound up being right around 9 gallons instead of 10 (just over 5 gallons in the first carboy – and just under 4 gallons in the second one).

As I said at the start of this article, I think my only error was not adding enough water to the hot liquor tank for the sparge. I ran out just a bit early, so I wasn’t able to collect a full 12-12.5 gallons of wort. I got a little less than 11 gallons. The rest was lost to evaporation during the boil.

Once the wort had been transferred from the boil kettle to both fermenters, it was time to pitch the yeast. You want to pitch (add) the yeast at the proper target temperature of 68-70 degrees. After adding the yeast, the fermenters get agitated (Shaken) for about 5 minutes. This shaking is to oxygenate the wort, since the yeast uses sugar and oxygen as its ‘food’ to produce alcohol and CO2.

Now we wait. After one week in the primary fermentation tanks, it will be time to transfer the beer to the secondary fermenter. This is done to get the beer off the trub (pronounced – troob), the layer of spent yeast that collects at the bottom of the fermentation tank. Once the beer is in the secondary fermenters, I will be ‘dry hopping’ it. Dry hopping is the practice of adding hops directly to the fermenter, in order to add more hop aroma and flavor to the finished beer.

After one more week in the secondary fermenters it’s time to either keg or bottle our beer. I usually do half and half (keg half and bottle half). Having my batch split into two separate fermenters makes this quite easy to accomplish.

I did manage to take a good amount of video as I was brewing this batch. I’ll get the video edited and posted up for you all to see as soon as I can.

Drink responsibly and stay safe out there.

On Tap For This Weekend

Hoppy Friday! I hope everyone had a fun and safe St. Patrick's Day! Now it's time to turn my attention to the approaching weekend. I don't know about you, but I've got big plans!

Time to Brew:
I've been rather annoyed at myself for slacking off on my homebrewing for the past couple of years, so I decided it's finally time to brew again!

This weekend, I plan to clean all my brewing equipment, head to the homebrew supply shop to pick up some new hoses and fittings, buy the necessary ingredients to brew a batch of IPA - maybe a double IPA, and then brew! I'm also going to go ahead and make a batch of cider. I haven't decided on what flavor yet, but I'm thinking strawberry or perhaps blueberry.

The gravity-fed, propane-fired brewing system I have allows me to make 10-gallon all-grain batches of beer. I can bottle or keg my homebrew (in 3 or 5 gallon Cornelius Kegs), and I usually do a half and half. That is, I keg half of each batch and I bottle the other half (for easier transport - the kegs are for home consumption).

Since it’s still a bit chilly in the Northwest (our avg. daily temperature is still in the low 50’s), I have two choices for keeping my fermenters at the proper temperature of 66-72 degrees for ale fermentation. The first option is to simply carry the fermenters upstairs into the house after they’re filled. It sounds simple, but the fermenters are pretty darn heavy when full!

An Aquarium Heater

The other option, and the one I’ll probably go with, involves using a tub of water and an aquarium heater. It may sound odd, but hear me out. I brew 10-gallon batches with my brewing system, but my largest fermenter (I use glass carboys as my fermenters) has a capacity of only 6.5-gallons. To get around this problem, I always split my batches into two 6.5-gallon fermenters – putting 5 gallons in each. Then, I simply place both carboys into a large tub of water, and put the aquarium heater in the water, set to about 68 degrees. I’ve found this a very effective way to maintain a steady fermentation temperature, even with the carboys sitting in a garage where the temperature can fluctuate quite a bit through the course of the day.

Splitting my 10-gallon batches into two separate fermenters, as I mentioned above, actually has a few advantages as well. Since I often keg half of each batch and bottle the other half, having the batch already split in two makes this much easier. Also, it’s very handy if I want to experiment with what effect different yeasts will have on the taste of the finished beer, by using different yeast strains for each half of the batch. I’ve found this method pretty useful over the years, in helping me determine the appropriate yeast for some of my beers. It also makes the fermenters easier to move around if necessary (you try lifting a container that holds 10-gallons of liquid).

My Dream Fermenter

I do have a 'dream fermenter' I’d like to pick up at some point, but it carries a price tag of $1,895 for the base 14-gallon model and $2,449 for the ‘ultimate’ model (with a rapid heating/cooling system to maintain proper fermentation temperature for ales or lagers).

I’ll try to make sure I take plenty of photos as I clean up my equipment and brew my batch of IPA. No promises, but I’ll also try to make a video of the brewing process as well for you all to see. That may take a few days longer, as I’ll have to edit it after shooting it.

Hitting the Books:
Next up is study, study, study! As my regular readers know, I’ve decided that I’d like to go for my BJCP Beer Judging Certification. It wasn’t until I’d made that decision that I realized what a large undertaking it really is. I was planning to take my first BJCP exam next month but, after looking over a sample test and study guide, I realized that I’m nowhere near ready.

The exam involves much more than just testing your taste buds. You must be able to identify and describe (in painstaking detail), the aroma, appearance, flavor, mouth feel, etc. of every style of beer outlined in the BJCP Style Guidelines, as well as name commercial ‘classic examples’ of each style, name the desired as well as undesirable flavor descriptors (such as acetaldehyde, diacetyl, oxidized, phenolic, etc. etc. etc.

It’s a mountain of material to memorize. Even the starting ‘interim study guide’ I picked up is a whopping 67 pages and covers such topics as the beer judging process, full details of the entire brewing process and it’s ingredients (including delving into the alkalinity, pH and hardness of your water and how to adjust these factors, different types of brewing malt and other adjuncts, etc.), information on the life-cycle of yeast and fermentation by-products and, of course, detailed information on each flavor descriptor beer judges utilize when judging beers.

There are some places you can find BJCP Exam study classes or study groups, but I think I’m going to study/prepare for the exam on my own. I was always a lone-studier in College and it worked out pretty well for me back then.

So, between hands-on brewing and written theory about beer, brewing, tasting, etc., my weekend is going to be all about beer. I’d just better not drink too much of it this weekend, though. I’ve laid out a pretty ambitious to do list for myself. I just hope, after all the studying, I don't wind up like THIS guy!

Drink responsibly and stay safe out there!

Cheap Beer? My Journey From American Lagers to Homebrew & Microbrews

How we percieve things can have a big impact on our definitions of certain things. Prime example: how do you define "cheap"? It can mean different things to different people. To Bill Gates, for example, a $50K Lexus is a pretty 'cheap' car - compared to what he could spend on one if he wanted ($300K Bentley anyone? $500K Mercedes?)

Then, of course, there are those for which the Lexus is far too expensive and their idea of cheap is a $15K Volkswagen or even a $10K Kia ($2K 1972 bug anyone? lol). For those who are financially-minded (that is - preoccupied with their finances), the beer world can sometimes be viewed in somewhat the same way.

I started drinking beer at around age 19 (not including the occasional, random high school party weekend). Like most young Americans, my early tastes of beer were the likes of Budweiser, Miller, Coors and Michelob. The fanciest beers that I ever came across back in those days were things like Henieken, Corona and mabe the occasional Dos Equis. Ooh! Exotic, huh? But let's not forget other beers from back then like Schlitz, Hamms, Rainier, Blatz, Pabst, etc.)

Mmm. Blatz! It must be a high-class beer. Note the tuxedos!

Homebrewing had been made legal again in the U.S. in 1978 and the first microbreweries were starting to appear, but they weren't even on my radar yet. Being a freshman in college, I was looking for any way to save money. So, even the 'name brands' I knew, like Bud and Miller, were more than I was willing to spend at first. I was attending Santa Rosa Junior College in Santa Rosa, CA and the closest supermarket to me carried a beer called Weideman's (No longer in business). Talk about cheap! It was a mere $2.99 for a 12-pack! To a college freshman in 1987, anything cheap was good.

$2.99 A 12 Pack!

It wasn't before long, however, that I began realizing the problems with drinking a beer so cheap. It didn't taste very good, it took far to many to even catch a buzz if that was your intention (remember, we're talking college freshman here...), and would leave you with bad headaches and hangovers if you overdid it a bit. So I went back to the standard American beers again, like Miller and Coors (but even back then I just wasn't a fan a Budweiser).

After a few more years in college (working full time and taking a few classes at night each semester), drinking things like Coors Light, Corona, MGD, etc. I decided it was time to branch out a little. My budget had improved a bit and I was starting to see some of these slightly more expensive brews in the store I'd been wanting to try.

It was around this time that I first discovered one of if not the first microbrew I'd ever had (at the time, I had no idea what the term microbrew even meant). It was a Red Tail Ale from Mendocino Brewing Company - easy to find in Santa Rosa - just one county South. After years spent drinking beer that tasted so bland, the Red Tail Ale blew me away! It had so much flavor and a beautiful deep amber color. Also, for the first time in my life, I knew what hops tasted like...and I liked it!

From there, I began experimenting with the other microbrews I was finding in the area, such as Boonville (Anderson Valley Brewing Company - launched in 1987), North Coast Brewing Company (launched in 1988), Marin Brewing Company (Launched in 1989), and other startups around the Marin, Sonoma and Mendocino county areas in California, where I was living at the time.

The more I tried of these new microbrews, the more I liked them. I started drinking less and less mass produced American lagers, and started drinking more and more micros.

Of course, still being a cost-conscious drinker, I became interested in homebrewing. My brother in law was a homebrewer and I was intrigued to learn that it could be possible to create microbrew quality beer at home, for around the same or even less than it was costing me to drink Miller or Coors.

I became hooked. I brewed regularly and after a few years I had switched from brewing on my kitchen sink with malt extract to using whole grains and making 10-gallon batches on an all-grain brewing system in my garage. I even picked up a 2nd refrigerator for my homebrew and started kegging my beer in 5 gallon 'Cornelius' kegs. These are the old 5 gallon steel containers that used to be used for holding soda fountain syrup. When the soda industry abandoned these containers, the homebrew community snapped them up.

A Cornelius Keg Beer Dispensing Setup

I continued to homebrew but also continued to explore and experiment with beers from other microbreweries I was learning about. I even tinkered with the idea of trying to start my own brewery (a dream I still have), but I just didn't have the financial backing to get it off the ground. Ask any microbrewery (or the new breed of 'nanobrewery') and they'll tell you; starting a brewery is no simple task - and a definite financial risk.

By this time, the beers I started out drinking (Miller, Coors, Corona, Heineken, Hamms, etc.) had become my 'cheap' beers. As Weideman's was to MGD and Coors, so were MGD and Coors to the microbrews, but to an even greater degree. It's like someone who's been eating bologna all their life and then finally discovered steak. Since then, my appreciation for good beer has only grown. I don't homebrew as often as I used to (I'm actually annoyed at myself about that, gotta get back to it!), but I'm always on the lookout for new micros to try.

Years ago, I never could have stomached the idea of spending $7-8 for a 6-pack. Why would I when I could have Weideman's for $2.99 a 12-pack - or Coors for $3.49 a 12-pack?

Over the years, however, my spending threshold has only gone up. In fact, just a few weeks ago, I spent $19 for a single bottle of Lost Abbey Brewing's Angel's Share (2008), and these days I'll regularly spend $6-10 on a single 22oz bottle of beer from my local bottle shop (or $1.50 to $6 on a single 12oz). In fact, most trips I make to one of my local bottle shops, usually wind up with me spending around $40-$50 - and on only around 12-15 beers (12oz and 22oz mixed). Clearly my tastest have evolved since my early beer drinking days, and my enjoyment of these beers has made me willing to pay the prices.

These days, my 'cheap' beers are things like Sierra Nevada Bewing Company's Pale Ale, Deschutes Brewing Company's 'Mirror Pond Pale Ale' (or their wonderful, seasonal 'Jubelale'), Pyramid Brewing's 'Haywire Hefeweizen' or 'Thunderhead IPA', Alaskan Brewing's Alaskan Amber, etc. Many of these breweries started out as microbreweries, but just kept on growing. It's allowed them to make a pretty decent product (FAR better than any mass-produced American lager, in my opinion), while still keeping costs relatively low. The average cost of a 12-pack of one of these beers is around $12-14 on sale at my local supermarket.

Now it's time for you to consider, is your beer budget holding you back? Are there beers out there that you're interested in trying but you feel they're beyond your budget? Believe me, I can still relate. There are still beers out there that give me pause when I see the price tag (there are some special and import beers out there than can run upwwads of $40, $50, $60 or even $70 or more per single bottle).

Now, I'm not telling you to go nuts and spend all your money on beer, but consider the occasional 'upgrade' and see what you think. Instead of spending $7-9 on that 12-pack of Bud. Splurge a bit and spend $12-14 on that 12-pack of Haywire Hefewizen or Mirror Pond Pale.

The next time you're having a get-together, however, consider upping your budget a bit. Rather than picking up a couple of 12 packs of Bud for $7-9/each. Head for the other end of the beer case and consider spending just a bit more for some Sierra Nevada Pale Ale or some Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale at $12-14 a 12-pack.

Already a 'regular' with these types of beers and want to take it a step further? Explore around and see if you have a bottle shop in your area (or even a 'high end' supermarket - many of which have a pretty good beer selection). We're lucky to have 4 in the Seattle area, but more and more bottle shops are opening up all the time.

When you find a place with a better selection, talk to the owners, ask around and start experimenting. Go ahead and pick up that $5 22oz bottle of Elysian Brewing's The Immortal IPA because you like the label, or that $6 22oz 'Arrogant Bastard Ale' from Stone Brewing Company just 'cause you like the name. You may find that you LOVE the beer inside! (There are MANY other great microbreweries I haven't mentioned here - watch for a future article detailing this beer reviwers best of the best!)

Just remember to keep experimenting and keep expanding your beer horizons.

Drink responsibly and stay safe out there!