Brady
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Posts by Brady
American Craft Beer Week
May 16th
“This isn’t one of those fake holidays…No, this is officially sanctioned by congress, as of 2006. Which in my book makes it the equal to the separation of church and state.”
–Steven Colbert, May 18, 2008
May 17-23 2010 marks the 5th annual American Craft Brewers week. Organized by the Brewers Association, the week long event celebrates small and independent craft brewers with charity events, homebrew events, beer tastings, festivals, tours, dinners, and Declaration of Beer Independence signings among other things. Support for the week long celebration is very strong, evident by House Resolution 1297 – which supports the goals and ideals of American Craft Beer Week. To find out what is going in your area, click here. So take this opportunity to celebrate all the greatness that is good beer. Cheers.
WHAT”S TO CELEBRATE?
Beyond good beer, this is a time to celebrate the diversity and entrepreneurial spirit that makes this country great and makes our beer great. It’s that same spirit that that pushes us homebrewers to spend a bunch of money on equipment, drive our wives crazy (love you Cara / Amie), concoct new recipes, make up stupid names for those recipes, and share our homebrews with our friends. It’s also time to celebrate the momentum craft beer has seen over the last few years. It’s great to have the ability to purchase and brew such variety and declare our independence from commercial breweries who seem to brew solely for profit without regard for art and craft. The rise of craft brewing is evident in a few statistics from the American Craft Brewers Association website.
- Growth of the craft brewing industry in 2009 was 7.2% by volume and 10.3% by dollars compared to growth in 2008 of 5.9% by volume and 10.1% by dollars.
- Overall, US beer sales were down 2.2% in 2009.
- Craft brewer retail dollar value in 2009 was an estimated $6.98 billion, up from $6.32 billion in 2008.
- 1,595 breweries operated for some or all of 2009, the highest total since before Prohibition.
So take pride in what you create and drink. Celebrate your diverse palate. Have a homebrew – or a craft brew.
Low carbonation in your homebrew?
May 11th
Going all grain has certainly produced beers with bolder and more complex flavors, however we have had very inconsistent carbonation in our last 2 home brews. The good news is there are easy ways to try and correct the low carbonation in your homebrew and hopefully salvage for enjoyment. It’s no fun to dump your hard work down the drain.- Incomplete mixing of the priming sugar. Before bottling we added the priming sugar water and really did not stir it around at all so as to not introduce oxygen into the beer. Our theory is that the beers that are coming out with good carbonation were perhaps the first ones to get bottled (more priming sugar), and the ones without carbonation got very little priming sugar. The folks over at HomeBrewTalk have some good info on this.
- Some bottles were not sanitized properly. Some of our bottles we sanitized in the dishwasher and some we sanitized by hand. When sanitizing in the dishwasher, we do clean with detergent first and then sanitize with hot water. We believe there may have been soap residue on some of the bottles causing bad head retention – however, still does not necessarily account for sour taste in bad beers. See our post on using the dishwasher for more info.
- We had a guest “capper” while Brett was out of town. I was filling bottles and he was struggling a bit with the capper – has never home brewed. Perhaps some of the bottles were not sealed tight enough allowing oxygen into the bottle and thus infecting some of the bottles (could be the reason for the sour taste). We like to think this is the main culprit – because it’s easier to blame someone else for your mistakes. However, in all likelihood, this one falls on the homebrewer, not the friend.
Why brew your own beer?
Apr 6th
For those who home brew the reasons to home brew are obvious. But for those not as familiar, here are 3 core reasons.
1. Fizzy yellow beer is for wussies – Stone Brewing
2. Cost of beer
3. Satisfaction of drinking your own creation
FIZZY YELLOW BEER IS FOR WUSSIES
Why is fizzy yellow beer for wussies? The reason is because the popular American Pilsners/Lagars all taste the same. There is very little flavor / recipe distinction between the different beers. Don’t believe me, check this out. Recently, 8 friends (including myself) tested this theory. We poured Miller Light, Coors, Beast Light, Bud Light, and Natural Light into clear cups – so not even a blind taste test. One of us was able to get 3 out of 5. Beyond that, no one got more than one right. A few of us could tell Miller Light as it is a little less sweet. The Strand Brewers Club in LA Country found similar results. Check out the Beer Hacker’s Results – PBR is the winner. The reason all these beers taste the same is because the hop flavor is very muted, the malt flavor is extremely light, and they use corn and rice adjuncts in place of malt to provide the alcohol to the beer. Triple hopped my ass. The folks over at Home Brew Talk have pretty good discussion going on here.
So 2 questions for you?
1. Why drink beer that mutes the flavor of the core ingredients that make up beer?
2. Why “spend up” and buy Miller Light, Coors, and Bud Light over Beast Light, Natural Light, and PBR if the taste is indistinguishable.
COST OF BEER
Considering equipment a sunk cost, it is just as cheap to brew a quality home brew as it is to buy Beast Light or Natural Light. We just spent $26 to make 48 bottles of Rye Pale Ale. Two cases of Natural Light will run you the same.
SATISFACTION OF DRINKING YOUR OWN CREATION
There is nothing more satisfying than sharing your latest home brew creation with friends. While we have not been able to create a beer as good as a Stone (our IPA and Imperial Stout were good, but still not Stone), I still enjoy drinking and sharing my own beer more than any beer I purchase – with exception to the Oktoberfest we commonly refer to as “Pear Bear“.
Bottom line, you spend a lot of time with your beer. You should know it.
Using Bleach (Clorox) as a Cleaner and Sanitizer
Mar 23rd
Any home brewer knows the importance of proper cleaning and sanitation, but do you really know the impact those chemicals have on your equipment and beer. When we began our brewing adventures, we were using standard dish washing soap and Easy Clean for sanitizing from LD Carlson. Once we blew through the small container we began using unscented bleach to sanitize. Bleach is cheap and convenient (sitting next to my laundry machine which is next to where we brew).
Most sources in home brew lit (including Palmer & Papizan) make mention of unscented bleach as a good sanitizer as long as it is diluted one tablespoon of bleach to one gallon of water. There are 2 key things to be aware of:
1. The chemical agents in bleach (chlorine, chlorides, hydrochloride) will cause blackening and excessive corrosion to brass, copper, and aluminum. So all you copper mash tuners, beware. For example, the picture to the left is our brass Pipe Hex Bushing adapter that sits in the inside wall of our mash tun. After only two bleach soakings of 30 minutes each, you can already see the noticeable blackening and corrosion. To clean brass soak it in two parts white vinegar to one part hydrogen peroxide and soak for 15 minutes to remove tarnish.
2. Using too much bleach or not rinsing bleach properly can lead to off flavors in your beer or poor head retention. I know that I am too liberal with the bleach and hypothesize this could have contributed to the non-existent head in our last Irish Stout.
Moving forward we will begin cleaning with the percarbonate cleaner PBW from Five Star Chemicals. It will not corrode brass & copper and is recommended for cleaning plastic (fermentation vessels) and copper (Wort chiller we are about to build). More importantly, just purchased Star San for sanitizing – also from Five Star Chemicals. This is a no rinse sanitizer that home brew author John Palmer is a pretty big fan of – click here for more info. In searching online for Star San, I haven’t seen it much cheaper than what Northern Brewer offers it for.
In summary, don’t blame the bleach, blame the brewer. But since I have little trust in the brewer at times, I am going away from bleach.
Decemberists Drink Home Brew
Feb 11th
When people ask me what I want to be when I grow up, I now know how to answer. I want to play music in a cool band, live out West, and drink homebrew made with local hops. Decemberists bassist Nate Query does just that. Check out the video as Nate shares a Pale Ale Home Brew with fellow band mates. Lead singer Colin Meloy suggests Nate try a Malt Liquor next. Maybe Nate should infuse some local Cascade hops into a malt liquor recipe for an extra kick. Nice video from those cool cats at Current TV.
Book Review – The Complete Joy of Home Brewing
Jan 16th
“I was determined to know beans.” Henry David Thoreau
Homebrewers, like Thoreau, are on a quest for self-reliance. Popular homebrew literature provides the foundation for that knowledge, but is certainly only the beginning. So please use these posts as a base, a springboard into greater discovery. We ask that you add perspectives, add new reviews, or just browse through and take what you can from those who have done this before us. You don’t need to be an expert homebrewer or book critic (As you will be able to tell, I’m not) to add value here. We at DrinkHomeBrew value your perspective more than your credentials.
The Complete Joy of Homebrewing – 3rd Edition – Charlie Papazian
Relax. Don’t worry. Have a homebrew. This is probably the best and worst part of the book – a great mantra but highly overused. It’s on every other page. I’m relaxed, I promise.
Charlie Papazian, founder and president of the American Homebrewer’s Association and Association of Brewers, provides a very comprehensive guide starting from the basic equipment and ingredients needed, to more complex recipes for all grain brewing and mashing. I recommend this book to beginners or those looking to advance beyond kits or malt extract brewing. He makes homebrewing seem very easy and it is if you understand the basics, which he explains very well. The book is broken into 3 sections – Intro, Intermediate, and Advanced and is easy to follow for the first time homebrewer or somebody who has not done advanced brewing. At time of this read, we at drinkhomebrew.com have not tried all grain brewing, but feel very comfortable giving it a whirl after reading this book.
We also appreciated that he does not take a condescending tone throughout the book. Let’s face it, beer connoisseurs can be a cynical bunch. Papazian does not exalt all grain brewing/mashing as the only respectable way to brew. He mentions that he brews using malt extract just as much as he does all grain – it just depends on the amount you want to invest.
Lastly, this book is a great reference for homebrewers to return to when needed. The book provides hundreds of great recipes, brewing techniques, and easy to assemble equipment for the practical homebrewer. Charlie Papazian provides the fundamentals to brew great beer and begin exploring more complex brewing techniques. Remember … Relax. Don’t Worry. Have a homebrew.
Three key takeaways:
- Zapap lauter-tun – A cheap and easy way to separate liquid from spent grain when mashing. All you need is 2 buckets. For more info, buy the book, or check out this post: http://www.mainebrews.com/news/2009/04/zapap-lauter-system/.
- Great mash extract recipes to ease into the mashing experience. You don’t need to go from kits to all grain in one brew – but go for it – you got nothing to lose but $35. Our upcoming IPA used one of these transitional extra/mashing recipes that Charlie provides.
- Conversion metrics for using pellet hops verse whole hops.