|
July 1, 2004
Welcome to American Beer Month, a celebration of the wonderful
diversity that is American Beer. The campaign is sponsored by several breweries, and has organized a list of events taking place throughout the country during July.
This week, the campaign celebrates American Pilsners.
Congratulations to the winners of this year's 26th Annual National Homebrewer's Conference! This year's event drew over 4,443 entries from 1,058 homebrewers
in 46 states. The final round of judging took place at the National Homebrew Conference June 19 in Las Vegas. Special congrats go out to:
Jamil Zainasheff of Elk Grove, CA, who won the Ninkasi Award for winning the most ribbons.
Rod Romanak of Kaulua-Kona, HI, who won Best of Show Beer with a Robust Porter.
Joe Formanek of Bolingbrook, IL, who won Best of Show Mead with a Varietal Mead.
Bruce Franconi of Red Hook, NY, who won Best of Show Cider with a Specialty Cider.
June 30, 2004
A homebrewer's beer is now on tap at Barley's Tap Room in Columbus, OH:
"I think most home brewers would feel honored to be able to brew their own beer on a professional system and have it offered commercially for the public to enjoy."
Jay Wince, a homebrewer since 1995, won the pub's annual homebrew competition this month. His winning beer recipe, a Russian Imperial Stout, was subsequently brewed for sale.
How can I keep my fermentors cool in the hot weather? The Wine Wizard explains.
Here's a little history of Yuengling's, America's oldest brewery. From Inc magazine:
"But for all its charm, the old brew house at Fifth and Mahantongo, in the heart of this former coal-mining town about 100 miles northwest of Philadelphia, has emerged as an unlikely player in today's beer industry.
A remnant of a time when hundreds of tiny local breweries dotted the American landscape, Yuengling now somehow finds itself the nation's fifth-largest brewer, churning out 1.3 million barrels last year and bringing in more than
$100 million in annual revenue. All this as it celebrates its 175th anniversary, a milestone very few family businesses ever reach."
March 30, 2004
Getting your homebrew in the door.
Two New York actors use their homebrewing skills to make an impression on casting agents. From the New York Times (subscription required):
"Temperature is an issue — the issue — for Adair Moran and Nicholas Little, two young actors living in a studio apartment on West 73rd Street.
They're brewing beer there, and beer likes to ferment at a cool 65 degrees.
Mr. Little, who grew up in Vermont, where 65 degrees, he said, is considered "normal room temperature," is happy with the kitchen window wide open — and
is a stern monitor of its position. Ms. Moran, who grew up in Kansas City, Mo., and whose own body temperature runs cold, she said, is invariably sneaking the sash down.
"Actor Ale" is the end result of Ms. Moran and Mr. Little's beer making and window wrestling. In a city teeming with actors, Actor Ale is the couple's novel effort to
brand their faces into the memories of casting directors and agents."
March 22, 2004
The 2004 National Homebrew Competition...
...is just a few weeks away. Last year, this event drew 3,340 entries from all over the U.S. If you have a few bottles of especially
good homebrew, we encourage you to send two to this one. The window for entries is April 7 to 16. See the AHA website for details.
Proving once again: one skilled homebrewer will always make a better beer than a
brew by committee.
The Boston Marathon ain't got nothin on these folks.
Horst Dounbusch makes a strong case that a good brewer makes a good politician.
Problem is, neither Bush or Kerry look to be good brewers.
March 17, 2004
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
"And may you be half an hour in heaven before the devil knows you're dead."
And while you're quaffing a stout tonight, don't forget to toast a few other saints.
March 15, 2004
Don't worry, we have people working on that.
Scientists from Stanford University and the University of Edinburgh have confirmed what many beer drinkers have always claimed: that beer bubbles sometimes fall in the glass, as well as rise to
the top. From the Stanford Report:
"The answer turns out to be really very simple," Zare explained. "It's based on the idea of what goes up has to come down. In this case, the bubbles go up more easily in the center of the beer glass than on the sides because of drag from the walls. As they go up, they raise the beer, and the beer has to spill back,
and it does. It runs down the sides of the glass carrying the bubbles particularly little bubbles with it, downward. After a while it stops, but it's really quite dramatic and it's easy to demonstrate."
But I want more bubbles going up! What can I do to create more head retention in my homebrew? Mr. Wizard explains.
March 9, 2004
Some enterprising students at the University of Cincinnati have formed their own brewers guild. Their goal is to spread the homebrewing craft
on campus, and progress to all-grain brewing. From the News Record:
"The story begins with four college friends who, according to co-founder and president Frank Noel, fourth-year industrial engineering student, developed an interest in the beer brewing process from weekends of hanging out and trying different beers.
"We like beer," said Noel.
Noel said he and the founding members started drinking beer like many others.
"Drinking the 'Nati or whatever," he said. "Through the years we branched out, trying different beers and figuring out what tastes identify certain types."
After many weekends of doing home brewing experiments, Noel and the other three co-founders decided to make a go at forming a student organization."
What do you drink after climbing the Himalayas? Tongba, of course. From Time magazine:
"Upland Nepalis are avid home brewers, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the shadow of Kanchenjunga, the world's third highest mountain. Any self-respecting village north
of Dharan brews tongba, and the thirsty are welcome here. "One time I had tongba: after only two I tried to get up and walk and I couldn't," warns security guard K.C. Prakash Kumar.
"It's very strong."
March 8, 2004
New brews on the way. From the Merced Sun-Star:
"It’s the perfect blend of science and art,” Hall, 37, said from beneath a ball cap. “I just get all excited on the first brew day. I could hardly sleep last night.”
So what are these rumors we keep hearing? Is Saskatchewan barley really an aphrodisiac?
"
A series of Molson USA print and radio ads points out that the zinc in Saskatchewan barley is also common to oysters and truffles, known for their amorous properties.
"Here at Molson, we're constantly asked if our Saskatchewan barley is an aphrodisiac," one print ad states. "Those rumors are unfounded," the ad concludes.
Dwayne Anderson, who grows barley on his farm near Fosston in northeast Saskatchewan, said he likes the attention the campaign is giving his crop and province, although he was skeptical about whether his crop has special powers.
"We've never made it over a million people in Saskatchewan, so either we've been exporting a whole pile of people or this beer isn't working worth a hoot!" Anderson said.
Just to be sure, Ale has ordered a 55 lb bag. He hopes to organize a scientific test soon.
So what is Guiness's secret elixir? Anybody got a clue?
The Cobra offers some friendly advice on removing those pesky labels from your bottles. Thanks Cobra!
March 4, 2004
Nothing like a little bread wine from Grandma! From the Jamaican Gleaner:
"While most of the crowd flocked around the main entertainment area and the food tents, Grandma was perched under the gazebo on the top tier of the site. With her wines, créme de menthe, ginger beer and a titanic-sized pan of
sweet potato pudding, she attracted a steady stream of people who came for the pudding and stayed for the wine. A few, including Keisha Bowla and Lillian Davis from Meadowbrook Estate in St. Andrew, intoxicated by Grandma's brew and smitten
by her old-time charm, stayed for a spell to help her out. Slowed by age, and shuffling on her feet Grandma, dressed in a cosy pink and cream sweater and black and blue tunic, needed help to quickly slice and serve her pudding ($50 per slice)
and provide samples of wine (sold at $250 per small bottle). "We just came by and she appeared like she needed help," explains Bowla. "She's also nice and pleasant and very open, that's what drew me to her."
Grandma's bread wine recipe is included.
For a complete list of upcoming homebrew competitions, visit AHA's competition registry.
The second annual Hickory Hops festival takes place Saturday, April 3, in downtown
Hickory, NC. According to the website:
"Although Asheville and Charlotte have had fests for years, in only its second year this is already an up-and-coming event for our humble burg. Hickory Hops is being planned and organized by the Hickory Downtown
Development Association and hosted by Olde Hickory Brewery.
A beer festival is a celebration of beer, a gathering of the brewing clans. With brewers on hand to answer questions, it’s an opportunity for the beer neophytes and curious to learn and enjoy. A variety of beer, spanning
almost every style, will be available. Don’t let the selection overwhelm you, there can be a method to this tasting madness."
For a complete list of upcoming beer festivals, visit BeerFestival.org.
March 1, 2004
Lew spews forth on Ultra.
Somebody buy that man a beer.
BYO has just published an article on getting the most from your homebrew recipe kit.
To be honest, any kit bought on the Swami's advice adhere's to each of the points BYO mentions.
Here's a story of a very cool competition.
A group of homebrewers bring their best beers to the "BigFish", where they are judged by a trained panel. The winning beer is then brewed by the Midnight Brewing Company and put on tap at Humpy's
First there was Cold Spring Brewing. Then there was Old Stone Brewing.
Then there was Stone Brewing. So now, of course, comes Stone Cold Brewing.
Higher beer prices in Britain are not the result of higher hop prices, according to British hop growers.
February 24, 2004
Here's another article on the increasing number of college students who are taking up homebrewing. From The Orion Online:
"Because the shop does not sell alcohol, people of any age can legally buy the equipment to brew.
Junior Jeff James took advantage of that.
"We brewed a lot before we turned 21 so we could drink beer," James said.
He and his roommate split the initial cost of $150 in June and spend $30 to $40 for each five-gallon batch they make.
James said he started with the basic pale ale and then tried different recipes like pumpkin ale, where the recipe called for actual chunks of pumpkin.
"It's just fun to make a unique-tasting beer you can't find in a store," James said. "It's a very special feeling to get smashed off your own beer."
As in smashing pumpkins? Sorry, couldn't help myself.
A group of brewers in New York are working to revive the hop industry in the Northeast U.S., where hops have not been grown commercially since before
Prohibition. From Syracuse.com:
"Over the last few years, a small but dedicated group has worked to reinvigorate New York's hops. That group, the Northeast Hop Alliance, has had input from brewers, farmers and experts from places such as Cornell University.
There have been limited success stories already. Wagner Valley Brewing Co., in Lodi, Seneca County, introduced an India Pale Ale last year that uses New York-grown hops along with hops grown elsewhere. The Syracuse Suds Factory in Armory Square has used local hops in its Pale Ale.
Ithaca Beer Co. owner Dan Mitchell has been working on the idea since he wrote a paper on Upstate's hop industry several years go for a class he took at Cornell. He has been aided in his efforts by Duncan Hilchey, an agricultural development specialist at Cornell who did a marketing study on New York's hop industry.
Mitchell opened his microbrewery on Route 13 across from the entrance to Buttermilk Falls State Park in 1998 and sells his beer, including an Amber Ale and a Nut Brown Ale, across Upstate.
He's been itching to make a beer using New York hops, but he waited until he was sure he could use only New York hops."
For more info on this group, visit The Northeast Hop Alliance website.
February 23, 2004
Meet Lyle C. Brown, Virginia's first beer judge and accomplished homebrewer. From Fredericksburg.com:
"You have to get your nose down in there and get a good, long sniff," said Brown, who has a special flair for uncovering diacetyl, a butterscotch quality that is considered a flaw in most styles of beer.
"And then, of course, you have to taste it."
Unlike wine judges, who sip, swish and spit, beer experts must swallow their drink, in order to rate its "tail" or aftertaste.
Congratulations to John Marioni of Bothel, WA for winning the much-coveted Beerdrinker of the Year Award for 2004.
The annual competition, sponsored by Wynkoop Brewing of Denver, CO, features a panel of 11 judges and a nationwide contestant pool.
February 20, 2004
Stone Brewing recently announced its first ever "clone brew" homebrew contest. Dubbed the Stone Vertical Epic Challenge, the bastards are soliciting entries from
homebrewers everywhere, to be judged by Stone's staff for closeness to the real thing. How arrogant of them to think of such a thing!
Siebel has announced a new Master of Beer Styles and Evaluation course, to be taught by Ray Daniels and Randy Mosher, March 30 to April 1, 2004 in Chicago.
According to the announcement:
"...This three-day course builds on your knowledge of brewing techniques to expand your
mastery of recipe formulation and advanced brewing practice. Students are introduced
to each of the major beer style groups and sub-groups
with in-depth evaluation of the techniques used to create them. Not only
will you learn how to play by the rules in meeting the benchmarks that define
over 100 international beer styles, you will also learn how to break the
rules, creating exciting variations in your beers using unique
ingredients, yeast selections and alternative brewing techniques. In fact, this program will change
the very way you think about brewing. Extensive tasting of dozens of beer styles will train students in the
defining characteristics of ales, lagers, and specialty beers. Students
will also experience sensory evaluation of a selection of rare and unusual
ingredients that can give your products the unique character that
separates a good beer from a great one."
A good brew makes its own friends.
February 19, 2004
As noted on The Jack, beer is a food group all its own. Especially for college students. That's why he's advocating that
everyone homebrew.
"It's so easy, everyone should do it," Todd Stagnaro, a religious studies major senior, said. At 16, Stagnaro took up homebrewing and has cooked mead, hard cider and beer over the years. "We didn't get caught in the trap of
drinking Budweiser at an early age," Stagnaro said.
Great quote.
As found on the Brewboard, Thomas has put together a great little online tool for determining how much dry malt extract to use for a yeast starter.
February 16, 2004
Happy President's Day!
Here's a homebrewing recipe that George Washington wrote out in a notebook around 1757, when he was just a colonel and a
farmer in Virginia. The original document is archived at the New York Public Library.
To Make Small Beer
Take a large sifter full of Bran Hops to your taste.
Boil these 3 hours. Then strain out 30 gallons into a cooler.
Put in 3 gallons of molasses while the beer is Scalding hot,
or rather draw the molasses into the cooler and
strain the Beer on it while boiling Hot.
Let this stand till it is little more than bloodwarm,
then put in a quart full of yeast.
If the weather is very cold cover it overwith a blanket
let it work in the cooler 24 hours then put it into the cask
leave the bung open till it is almost done working
Bottle it that Day Week it was brewed.
Should I be concerned with fluctuating mash temperatures due to outdoor brewing? The Wizard explains.
Dr. Fermento ponders an afterlife filled with beer. From the Anchorage Press:
"If I step away from Christian beliefs for a moment, I can imagine an afterlife that includes cherished worldly effects, which for me would include beer. In Greek mythology, if I were noble or heroic, I might expect respite in Elysium,
the beautiful fields where those favored by Zeus realize dreams unfulfilled as mortals. The Elysian Fields were well described in the Aeneid, but my vision includes not chariot maintenance and semi-clad goddesses, but free-flowing taps,
oceans of brew and the lingering scent of hops - my reward for earthly deeds."
February 13, 2004
This Valentine's Day, be sure you pick the right beer to go with your chocolate. From the Alameda Times-Star:
"The right beer and the right chocolate or chocolate dessert can be a mind-blowing marriage that far exceeds the combination of chocolate and wine.
In fact, one of the hottest kinds of beer tastings these days is a beer and chocolate tasting.
Pete Slosberg, the Los Altos entrepreneur who created Pete's Wicked Ale in the 1980s, then sold the brand for a bundle in 1998, now makes chocolates under the "Cocoa Pete's" label.
Lately, he's been holding beer and chocolate tastings around the country. One happened recently at Pyramid Ale House in Walnut Creek.
But the American pioneer in these unusual pairings is Portland, Ore., beer guru Fred Eckhardt.
Eckhardt puts it this way: "The winos have been matching wine and chocolate forever. But I know that whatever wine can do, beer does a better job," he says.
"I thought it would be a great idea to make a study -- and deduct all the chocolate (and beer) off my taxes."
According to their press release, the 2-hour radio show will air on syndicated stations every Saturday from 11AM to 1PM EST. It is sponsored by the US Beer Drinking Team (USBDT):
"With an open "beer talk" format and great guests, Beer Radio draws on the hidden passion of beer drinkers. Each caller is greeted with, "cheers!', then tells of their favorite beer on the best day with their
beer buddies. Segments include; Beer & Fitness, Beer & Sports, Travel, Homebrew Report, Draft Report, USBDT Coach’s Report, USBDT News, Think B4U Drink! and more."
For more info, visit the USBDT website.
What do Potatoes, Limericks and Beer have in common?
February 12, 2004
A big Congratulations goes out to the state of Georgia, for passing HB 645 last week, eliminating the
alcohol limit on beers sold in state! That's awesome!
Now, if only North Carolina can get its act together...
It's not exactly Bridget's Love Potion, but these
herbalists are hot on the trail for some homebrewed love potion this week for St. Valentine's...
Emptybox makes some great observations on a recent article about Fritz Maytag, founder of Anchor Brewing in San Francisco. Couldn't agree with you more.
February 11, 2004
Have you tried brewing sake? Check out this story from Australia's The Age:
"When it comes to sake, I defer with the utmost reverence to John Gauntner, the man behind sake-world.com.
Any non-Japanese (he's American) who writes a regular newspaper column on sake in Japan and a book titled Things About Sake That Even Japanese People Don't Know has to be a fount of information. And he is.
He can tell you how many sake breweries there are in Japan (about 1800), how many brands (about 10,000), how many varieties of rice can be used in its production (65) and whether it is best chilled or warmed (chilled)..."
Be sure to bookmark Sake-World.com. We did.
"There's a public outcry about the health risks of home-brew, and governments are called to ban the offending substances.
The problem is that home-brewed alcohol is so widespread that it would be virtually impossible to stamp it out.
Fortunately, these words describe some of the brews made in Uganda, not the US.
Cheers to Chuck!
February 6, 2004
Winemaker magazine has done an article on the hardy and tasty Concord grape:
"Concord is widely grown in the northeastern part of the United States. It is also grown
in California and Oregon. An estimated 50% of the grapes harvested in the western New York and Lake Erie region are Concord. Much of
that crop is destined to be Welch’s grape juice, jelly and jam. Concord is also grown throughout Pennsylvania, Ohio and parts of Canada and Brazil for similar purpose. Grapeseed oil, a byproduct of the grape, is extracted and sold, often in health food stores,
for its beneficial anti-oxidative properties and bracing tart, woody flavor.
Concord grapes are high in flavor, pectin, acid level and usually low in sugar. To the winemaker, this means that amelioration
(dilution by water to reduce acidity) is an option without sacrificing flavor. Pectic enzyme should also be added to the grapes or juice and chaptalization (sugar addition) is almost always necessary to make an 11–12% alcohol wine.
Winemakers have learned to craft many styles of well-made wine from this bountiful, flavorful grape — from a deep, dark purplish full-bodied wine, to a red medium-bodied wine, to a pinkish blush light-bodied wine."
We recently received notice that the Number 72 car will make its season debut this month in the online Pro Stock gaming series. Go Team Homebrew!
Meadllenium VII is now over. The Central Florida Homebrewers Club has published the winners to this annual Mead-only competition.
Congratulations to all winners!
Speaking of competitions, the First Annual Brewboard Open has now been set! Through the hard work of Casey and IrishJny, the much-talked-about homebrew competition for Brewboard members will
take place in Charlotte, NC on May 22. The Carolina Brewmasters homebrew club has agreed to judge this event. So get your entries ready!
To see how this competition came into being, check out these topic threads from the Brewboard:
Looking to Organize a Contest
Who and How Many Would Participate
February 3, 2004
Ale's weekly chat should be a lot of fun this Sunday night (Feb 8). His guest this week will be Charlie Papazian, president of the Association of Brewers
and author of the homebrewing bible, The New Complete Joy of Homebrewing.
Meet the new brewing capital of the USA: San Diego, California.
I've used champagne yeast to augment my beer after primary fermentation, but now it's too dry. What can I do to correct? Mr. Wizard replies.
January 28, 2004
Congratulations to Big Woody, Big Nugget and Arctic Devil! These three barleywines took top honors at last week's Great Alaska Beer and Barleywine Festival. As reported by Dr. Fermento:
"The festival is a reward to beer drinkers because it combines big, heavy, mostly nocturnal beers from all over the nation under one roof for an awesome sensory experience. I consider this particular festival to be the most consumer oriented. Although it's designed to showcase Alaska beer,
brew from all over the world is there for tasting. Many of these beers make only fleeting appearances here, even though there's no intention of selling them later across the counter or bar."
Spephen Beaumont, of the webzine World of Beer, has proposed that we celebrate 2004 as the Year of the Lambic:
"I propose that beer aficionados around the world declare 2004 to be the Year of Lambic and go forth to spread the word about these wonderful beers. If you have already discovered the beauty of traditional lambics from Cantillon,
De Cam, 3 Fonteinen, Hanssens, Girardin and a handful of others, including the now-closed Oud Beersel, then become a lambic missionary and introduce others to the experience. If you have yet to try one yourself, then find a good beer retailer
in your area or get a friend to bring a bottle or two back from some place where they are available, forget everything you know about beer, and have a taste.
The crafting of a classic, labour-intensive and unapologetically artisanal beer is in many ways a thankless job, especially when said brew cannot command the high prices of more universally recognized gastronomic treasures, such as truffles and vintage
Bordeaux. For their perseverance, Belgium's dedicated brewers of lambic deserve all the support we can give them. So I invite you to join me in toasting the arrival of 2004 not with Champagne, but with its barley and wheat-based cousin,
lambic, and to continue celebrating this magnificent beer all year long, and well beyond."
Should you be so inclined to celebrate this wonderful idea by brewing a lambic-style beer this year, you may want to give yourself a Liddil Lambic Lesson first.
Brewing a lambic-style beer is, as Jim Liddil puts it, an anachronistic process:
"The grist is made up of 30-40% raw unmalted wheat with the remainder being malted barley. The mashing process is carried out using a technique called turbid mashing. Unlike decoction mashing the liquid portion of the mash is removed and boiled, leading to
poor conversion and large amounts of unconverted starch ending up in the finished wort. Whereas most brewers want the freshest hops, lambic brewers use hops that have been stored in the open for 2-3 years. The wort itself is not inoculated with a pure strain
of yeast. Instead the brewer allows the wort to cool overnight in open cool ships. This way any microorganism in the brewery can get into the wort and grow. These organisms include various bacteria and wild yeast. And finally, the beer is fermented not
in stainless steel but in oak casks for upwards of 3 or more years before bottling. So as you can see lambic is not your ordinary beer."
Long live Lambic!
January 27, 2004
Over at TexanBrewer, there's a nice recipe called SW Cream Ale with Oats that's in the fermentor. Leave Tex a comment or question about this recipe. It looks like a good one.
Over at Emptybox, the next brew on the agenda is an Oak-Aged Stout. Hopefully it'll be ready for St. Pat's Day...
Over at brew blog (lower case) an Extra Dumb Blonde Ale has just been kegged for the Super Bowl party. With any luck, the pale, lightly hopped brew will convert a few non-believers. And the Cats will win!
Here at BrewBlog (upper case), we're racking to secondary five gallons of Eine Klein Vienna Rocks Lager tonight. Can't wait to tap it.
January 23, 2004
A mead-making homebrewer builds a meadery in his yard and goes pro. From the Daily Tarheel:
"As a member of one of the area's many home-brew clubs, Bailey has made alcoholic beverages privately since about 1995. He chose mead because of minimal competition and the ease with which its main ingredient, honey, can be stored.
As one of five mead makers on the East Coast, Bailey is the sole in-state supplier of mead for local natural food stores."
We beg to differ.
January 21, 2004
The World Brewing Academy is offering a Concise Course in Brewing Technology over the Internet. This
web-based school:
"allows students around the globe to participate in English-language professional brewing training without having to travel. Our World Brewing Academy WBT Concise Course lets students study as their schedule permits, and allows them to
utilize the resources of their own brewery for practical application of their course materials. Our WBT program will use state-of-the-art Internet tools including audio conferencing, instant messaging, and "white board" facilities that will allow
our students to consult with our world-class brewing industry faculty."
The spring course runs February 9 thru May 5. Cost is $2,925.
C'mon, get hoppy, with a India Pale Ale.
January 20, 2004
BYO has published an interesting article on beer blending, which is a technique many commercial brewers in the U.S. and Europe employ:
"High-gravity brewing (or blending) is a technique the big US brewers use. American Pilsners are brewed with an original gravity (OG) around 14–16 °Plato (SG 1.056–1.064). After fermentation, the strong beer is diluted to a virtual OG of around 10–11 °Plato (1.040–1.044).
The big breweries brew this way because they can produce more beer with high-gravity brewing than if they brewed it all at working strength. A fermenter that holds 500 barrels of beer will end up producing 700 barrels of beer.
For homebrewers, a 5-gallon (19-L) batch of strong beer can easily be diluted to yield 6–6.5 gallons (23–25 L) of finished beer, more if you’re careful.
In order to successfully practice high-gravity brewing, you need to be able to produce a decent strong beer as the base beer. If you can do that, the dilution technique itself is very simple."
But hey, who's counting? :)
January 19, 2004
New York Press recently published a great little story on the New York Homebrewers Guild:
"They arrive to Brewsky’s stag, their dates for the evening the big bottles of beer they’ve toiled over and tweaked during the previous weeks. It’s a rowdy bunch that comes to this East Village haunt each month to swap
brews and discuss ingredients like car junkies looking under their hoods. Encased in brick and beer paraphernalia, Brewsky’s is the perfect headquarters for the New York Homebrewers Guild.
The Guild has been coming here for over 15 years. Barrel-shaped chandeliers hang from the ceiling, and beer iconography festoons the walls. A model train skirts the interior, each of its wagons displaying a different beer brand.
Blue and yellow streamers pay tribute to the owner’s Ukrainian roots, a nationality better known for harder stuff.
Tonight the place is packed and dimly lit like a speakeasy. Members pass around generic bottles of home-brewed hickory stouts and oatmeal ales. Somebody’s handing out a yeasty, dark Belgian-style ale called a Spinecracker.
They fill up their steins with gusto, nibbling at the graveyard of fries on the bar while talking shop and trading brewing adventures."
"The brew’s main ingredients are thermal brine water from the nearby health resort Bad Saarow, as well as spirulina, an algae,
and flavonoide, a plant extract commonly used in anti-wrinkle creams. Flavonoides are also known to protect against arteriosclerosis, high blood pressure and cancer.
Spirulina, with more than 100 nutrients including beta carotene, chlorophyll, Vitamin B12, has been described as one of the healthiest foods. Meanwhile,
brine water aids in digestion and maintaining metabolism and healthy blood pressure as well as helping the body rid itself of heavy metals and toxins
like quicksilver, lead, arsenic, amalgam or even chalk build-up.
But it is still beer, and too much of it could undo the fountain of youth effect and, worse, bring on a nasty hangover. Fritsche warns that moderation
is essential when drinking his "Anti-Aging" beer. After all, each bottle does contain 4.8 percent alcohol."
January 8, 2004
Meadllennium VII is just 23 days away.
One of the US's premier Mead Only competitions is scheduled for Saturday, January 31, in Winter Park, FL. This annual event is sponsored every January by the Central Florida Homebrewers Club. Entries are due Tuesday, January 26th. Entry forms and
information can be found on the club's website.
Some recent news from the November meeting of the International Hop Growers in Nuremburg, Germany:
"The countries in attendance reported their intended production for the previous harvest. Of course, the biggest news by all of the European hop growing countries present was the draught and its disasterous effects on hop and alpha production.
An unprecedented heat and a lack of rain combined to create climatic conditions not seen in the 20th century. Many reports from European countries estimated production is roughly 40% reduced from the previous year. Shortages are primarily in aroma varieties,
but surplus inventories from previous years have supplemented the 2003 crop and for the time being all is well. Potential shortages in the spring may affect some brewers. Alpha inventories from previous years are being purchased in an orderly
fashion from American suppliers but there is no apparent rush for alpha hops. The market is quiet and does not appear to be headed for a price spike at this time. All eyes are focused on the 2004 crop and what it will bring."
January 7, 2004
It's no bock, but it will definitely pump you up!
Portland Brewing recently unveiled its new "Governator" beer, in honor of the new California governor:
"The commemorative beer is being sold only in California. It's an extra special bitter ale that comes in a 22-ounce bottle with a label bearing a muscular figure posing like a body builder.
Chicvara, meanwhile, promises the quality of the brew is excellent, with a smooth finish and bit of a bite.
"It's no 'girly-man' beer," he said.
Rivers Flows with Real Ale. We like the sound of that.
How Fresh is Your Beer? From the BeerAdvocate.com:
"Beer is a fragile product. It should be treated like any other perishable food. You do ingest it, right? Despite popular belief, beer does have a shelf life. In time, even if the brew has been
pasteurized and triple cold-filtered, there will come a day when the beer will kick its heels up and go sour. There is nothing worse than tasting a bad brew. It will ruin your drinking session when that
mouthful of bacteria hits your taste buds and then the floor when you spit it out. You will never forget the invisible ninja organisms that assassinated your beer months ago."
December 31, 2003
What a nice way to end the year!
The Charlotte Observer just published an article about CJ in J's visit to HBA last week (registration required to read). CJ in J is one of the moderators of the Brewboard.
Speaking of the year-end, from the looks of things, there was a whole lotta brewin' goin' on in 2003!
December 30, 2003
Here's a great story on one family's Christmas tradition: brewing a batch of homemade root beer. From the Bismark Tribune:
"A bottle of home brew is more than the liquid inside. It's love and tradition. It's the memory of having one in your hand when grandpa's neighbor Erland Erlandson came over dressed up as Santa. It's the face someone makes the first time they try it.
Homemade root beer only kind of tastes like the root beer you're familiar with. It's loaded with sugar and yeast, which can be a combination potent in both your belly and the hall closet, where a bottle or two always blows up.
This year, though, the bottles aren't in the hall closet at Grandma's house. They're in the bathtub in the basement of my house, under a wool blanket. After years of washing bottles, mixing a batch of brew and capping it tightly, Grandpa passed on the tradition this year.
For the first time, my wife and I are responsible for the Christmas root beer. To me, this is big."
"At the brewery, Koch, his brewmasters, and I taste-test a new hefeweizen recipe and a new limited-edition beer, Chocolate Bock, both of which hit local bars and package stores next month.
When I ask Koch (pronounced "cook") where Sam Adams goes from here, he shrugs his shoulders as if he's grown tired of that question. He's sick of commenting on third-quarter performance financials
and ad campaigns. He doesn't want to retread last year's decision to produce Samuel Adams Light after years of deriding light beers. (He does later anyway: "Good beer drinkers sometimes want light.
They had no good choices.") He gulps from his small plastic tasting cup of Chocolate Bock. The man once known for being pushy and arrogant, who grew famous as the in-your-face, all-over-the-place
symbol of his own overachieving startup beer company, whose very voice became recognizable from his ubiquitous radio commercials, seems to have accepted his much quieter place in the beer world."
December 23, 2003
Beer Emergency at the North Pole!
"After three weeks of being on the market, Yukon Brewing’s Midnight Sun Espresso Stout has sold out in the territory, it was announced last Monday.
The company is making more, but it won’t be ready until early February.
"We were really surprised,” Yukon Brewing president Bob Baxter said in an interview Tuesday.
The company had brewed what was thought to be a three-month supply of the specialty beer."
We suspect Santa's elves got a hold of most of it!
Top 10 Guy Gifts this Holiday. See number 4.
The Siebel Institute recently announced its spring schedule for the Web-based Concise Course in Brewing Technology. Check it out:
"The World Brewing Academy web-based training (WBT) Concise Course in Brewing Technology allows students around the globe to participate in English-language professional brewing training without having to travel.
Our World Brewing Academy WBT Concise Course lets students study as their schedule permits, and allows them to utilize the resources of their own brewery for practical application of their course materials. Our WBT program will
use state-of-the-art Internet tools including audio conferencing, instant messaging, and "white board" facilities that will allow our students to consult with our world-class brewing industry faculty."
There's more to Sake than you think. From the venerable Fred Eckhart, on RateBeer.com.
December 18, 2003
An oldie but a goodie.
Here's a Brewer's Wish List from 10 years ago, care of the Brewing Techniques' archives:
"True to the age-old pattern of wintertime introspection, the closing months of the year provide an ideal time to take stock of one's brewing operation and to make plans for system improvements and modifications
for the future. Although countless ways exist for improving any brewing operation, if you had the financial freedom to choose one piece of equipment that would help you up-scale your brewing setup, what would it be?"
Do the use of hop bags diminish hop utilization? Mr. Wizard explains.
December 16, 2003
A couple of home wine-makers try to turn their hobby into a business. From the Tri-Valley Herald:
"Although humbled by the workload and the difficulties of growing a small business, the couple said they have no regrets about turning their hobby into their profession by plunging into the wine business two years ago.
"The winery is our future," Michael Eckert said.
In the meantime, both work other jobs to pay the bills. Michael works nights with Tri-Valley Community Television, filming various government meetings around the Valley. The work allows him to use some of his experience in the electronics
field. In fact, he met Vickie when both worked at Intel Corp. in the 1980s. To help cover expenses, Vickie continues to work as a management consultant for high-tech companies.
The winery consumes most of their time, however. "It is a job and a half," Michael said.
And on the 12th Day of Barleywine Celebration, what did your true love give you?
December 15, 2003
The Norwegians have a long history of brewing Christmas beers. From Reuters:
"In a tradition dating from Viking times, Norwegians celebrate Christmas with a mind-numbing range of yuletide beers.
Vikings used to drink bitter ale as a tribute to the Norse gods at the winter solstice in December and when Christianity reached the far north around the year 1,000, Norwegians started toasting Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary at Christmas.
Anyone who failed to live up to the ritual of mixing a special brew for Christmas -- and drinking it -- was ordered to pay a fine to the bishop or lose their property.
"This is serious stuff," said brew master Olaug Flakne at Norway's biggest brewery Ringnes. "You could end up being expelled from the country if you broke the beer traditions."
According to Ray Daniels, December is the perfect time to brew a traditional bock beer. From All About Beer:
"As cold settles into much of the country, a brewer's thoughts turn to beers with a bit more potency and bock is generally near the top of the list. December is a perfect time to brew bock beers because
you'll still be able to lager for about two months before the traditional mid-March tapping date."
December 12, 2003
Brew Your Own has just published several of the novelty beer recipes that were entered in the 1999 Dixie Cup, the homebrewing competition sponsored each year by the
Foam Rangers homebrew club of Houston, TX. Each year the Dixie Cup invites contestants to submit novelty beers, judging them in a separate, and often off-the-wall competition. For 1999, the novelty theme was Big and Stupid:
"Homebrewers who attended the 1999 Dixie Cup — The Fred Files — know that “The beer is out there.” The category description for the 1999 novelty category was also out there: Big and Stupid. The style guideline
described the style as: “Dedicated to those big and stupid beers that only a homebrewer could hope to love. Use your imagination, but it must be drinkable.” The brewer had to specify the reasons why the beer should be considered
stupid. As we found out, “stupid” is a relative term."
Buy your tickets now! The 2004 National Homebrewers Conference has been set for the weekend of June 17-19 at Rivera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV.
December 11, 2003
Do you enjoy your homebrewed brown ales and stouts? According to a cardiologist at the University of Wisconsin, they are good for your heart. From Beer and Health:
"Dark beer will prevent the formation of blood clots better than lager-type beers. This is the conclusion reached by Professor John Folts, cardiologist at the University of Wisconsin, USA. The downside is that dark beer is richer in calories, and obesity is also a risk factor in heart failure."
Brewing tip: Be careful not to over-carbonate.
The BeerAdvocate recently sat down and interviewed Crawford Moran, Dogwood's founding brewer:
"Crawford Moran is living the dream of many homebrewers.
"I was talking to my best friend on the phone one night and asked him what he was doing and he was waiting for his oatmeal stout to ferment," he says. "I was shocked. I didn't even know you could make beer at home.
So I spent the next three hours on the phone with him, racking up a good long distance bill getting all the details and the next day I was brewing beer."
To hear Moran talk, that telephone conversation was probably the key event that turned him down the path of founding the Dogwood Brewing Company."
December 9, 2003
Happy Birthday, AHA! Yesterday marked the 25th anniversary of the founding of the American Homebrewers' Association.
"On Dec. 8, 1978, Papazian picked up the first copies of the group's magazine, Zymurgy, from DFK Printing in Boulder. He and a few members of his staff then distributed it to a thousand home brewers in Denver and Boulder and mailed it to another thousand around the United States.
"Sometimes it seems to have gone so very fast," Papazian says. "This was a long journey, but I am looking forward to the next 25 years."
The not-for-profit Association of Brewers started out in Papazian's home, where he would teach friends about the history, culture and art of brewing beer.
"My friends found out that I knew how to brew beer," he said. "Then over time I began teaching classes from my home."
For the holidays, perhaps you're wanting to brew something outside the box. Well, Randy Mosher came up with these
Twelve Beers of Christmas. A brewer's dozen from All About Beer.
December 8, 2003
This is the time of year when craft brewers shrug off the bonds imposed by marketing and accounting departments and brew the beers that show off their skill and imagination. From Oregon Live:
"Whatever their color, these are mostly big beers designed to stand up to the cold and damp, as you might expect from styles such as "winter warmer" and "strong ale." Summer beers are thirst quenchers -- lighter and generally brewed with less of the malted barley whose starches are converted into the sugars consumed by those industrious little yeast cells that make the alcohol in beer.
The grain bill for seasonal beers may include twice as much malt as that for a light ale or lager -- and the yield is often lower. To keep the resulting high-gravity beers from tasting like sweet, thick gruel, brewers toss in more hops, whose bitterness and aroma counterbalance the sweetness of malt. Double, triple or quadruple the amount of hops.
Which explains those sobs coming from the accounting department.
"This is our opportunity to make the beers we wish we could make all year," said brewer Christian Ettinger of the Laurelwood Brewery and Pub. "Flavorful, knock-your-socks-off beers. We sell big beers all year around but not very much of it. This is a great time to blow through a lot of big beers."
"Don Smith, who eschews titles but administers the UC-Davis program at OSIsoft, said the software "takes the minutiae -- temperature flows, pressure, etc.," recording it to levels of seconds and keeping it for many years.
Bringing this capability to bear at UC-Davis, OSIsoft has enabled the enology division to know exactly what's happening in all of its six fermenters at any time and from any place in the world.
The bar graph on each fermenter shows the level of liquid and the kind of grape that's being fermented, the amount of sugar and the temperature within.
"We measure fermentation curves and make models to interpret whether the yeast is growing fast or not," said Roger B. Boulton, professor of wine processing and fermentation chemistry."
December 3, 2003
According to Syracuse.com, many microbreweries are introducing bigger and bigger beers, many in excess of 10% alcohol by volume.
Drink less, drink better.
Raise your glass. Seventy years ago this week, Prohibition was repealed.
According to a survey conducted recently in Canada, baby boomers have the lowest Beer IQ.
Of course, the survey failed to ask about bitterness units or yeast attenuation, but that's another story...
Dr. Fermento expounds on cooking and homebrewing for the holidays:
"Until a couple of decades ago, it seemed beer was considered nothing more than a blue-collar drink consumed by fat guys on couches juggling TV remotes as they drifted into food comas awaiting the big game. Maybe that's when I started liking beer. It certainly made it easier to snatch a can or two with somebody snoring in the other room.
Times have changed. For one thing, guys are doing a lot more cooking, and we're not just talking about Pop-Tarts and frozen pizza. I took on my first turkey dinner shortly after I started homebrewing. The sweet smell of hops rising from the stovetop opened a new cooking realm; the microwave suddenly didn't seem like the world's greatest invention.
It was in those early days of brewing that I decided that if I'm going to slave in my kitchen, beer's going to be served with meals. Wine doesn't hold center stage at my house, not even during the holidays, and not when there are so many great local beers."
November 25, 2003
Belgian beer - the taste explosion. Even children drink it.
The Brits have recently discovered the joys of backyard sheds, where they can get away and unwind.
"I love my shed. I brew my own beer and whiskey in it... my shed makes love like nobody else can!"
OK.
November 24, 2003
What to serve this Thanksgiving with your turkey?
"I am bucking the trend and going traditional this year. I am serving beer.
After all, when the pilgrims sought a spot for their permanent landing in America, they did so, according to their diaries, because they ran out of beer on the Mayflower: "Our victuals being much spent, especially our beer," one diary read.
Apparently, in addition to finding shelter and food, some enterprising pilgrims set out to refurbish the beer supplies when the group first landed at Plymouth Rock. Perhaps these inventive immigrants used roots or tree bark for this inaugural ale, since the pilgrims obviously hadn't yet started growing grain.
How much more traditional can you get than that?
So, it's with Pilgrim pride that I will be guiding my guests through an exploration of beer and turkey with all the trimmings on this most American of holidays."
"Some accounts report that a brewhouse was one of the first structures erected in the Plymouth settlement. Yet, Plimoth Plantation historian Carolyn Travers says that isn't so. However, she says, "they brought all the ingredients for making beer with them."
In Europe, even though beer had been in commercial production for a century or more, brewing was still apparently also part of a housewife's duties. So, it seems likely that the Plymouth settlers would have established domestic beer making as a matter of course in their new home.
They brought barley (the grain base of beer) from England and planted it among their first crops. There are no records of hops (the bittering herb in beer) being among the provisions on the Mayflower, so the settlers may have had to settle for oversweet, unhopped beer at the beginning."
November 19, 2003
One of the best ways to learn about homebrewing is by doing it with others, especially with others who've been brewing for a while. But where do you find other homebrewers in your area?
That question seems to pop up at least once weekly on the Brewboard. One of the best ways to find other brewers in your area is to browse
AHA's list of homebrew clubs. Chances are, there's a homebrew club within driving distance of where you live. Many of the clubs listed have been around for
a long time, and have stable memberships and active brewers.
If you don't live close to a listed club, maybe you could start one! One of the best ways to organize a meeting of like-minded brewers in your area is through a site like Meetup.com, one of the social networking websites that has grown in popularity. Meetup.com has
homebrewing meetup date set for Tuesday, December 2nd. Just enter your zip code, and Meetup.com will list the places in your area where you can meet other
homebrewers.
November 18, 2003
The San Leandre-based Draught Board Homebrew Club recently hosted a homebrew competition in conjunction with the Alameda (CA) County Fair.
From the Tri-Valley Herald:
"If you think you're good at sewing a quilt, pickling beets, decorating eggs or making bird houses, you can always get a second opinion by entering one of the dozens of competitive exhibitions at the Alameda County Fair.
It's also becoming a place where amateur brewers who make beer in 5-, 10- and 20-gallon batches go to have their home made lagers, ales, porters and stouts judged. Competing at the county fair is more about perfecting skills than
winning ribbons or prizes, said competition coordinator Bryan Gros of the Draught Board Homebrew Club. The San Leandro-based club has sponsored the Bay Area Brew Off for 16 years, and this is the second year the contest has been held in conjunction with the fair.
One thing that attracts many people to home-brewing is the ability to experiment with the basic ingredients in beer -- water, barley, hops and yeast -- and come up with something uniquely their own.
Jim Rossi of Oakley started brewing five years ago, and is now winning recognition at the national level.
"It's been a wonderful hobby," the 38-year-old electrical foreman said. "It's a lot of fun to take the grains, crush them in a big mill, boil them, steep them and ferment them. When it's done, you just go, 'Wow, I made this.'"
"Ahhh! You smell that," Collins said, lifting the lid where grains are being boiled during a recent gathering of the Tennessee Valley Homebrewers Club, formerly known as the Hillbilly Hoppers.
The five-hour process combines the key ingredients of malt, hops, yeast, water and specialty malted grains. After the brewing process, it takes a few more weeks of fermenting and settling before the beer can be guzzled.
"It's a waiting game, but there is nothing like the taste you get at the end," said Collins, an engineer by trade and president of the brewers' club.
"I can pour it into a glass and say I made this."
A molecular archaeologist traces the prehistory of our most celebrated beverage. From Time magazine:
"Long before grapes grew on Trellises in Napa and Sonoma, long before vineyards flourished in Bordeaux and Bourgogne, a sophisticated wine industry arose along the banks of the Nile.
From tombs, temples and palaces that date as far back as 5,000 years ago, archaeologists have uncovered clay amphorae stamped with seals that name not only the contents (irp, or wine) but also
the region in which the grapes were grown, the year in which the wine was produced, the owner of the estate and often some indication of quality, such as "good" and "very, very good." And who
is to say that wines like these cannot be made again someday, asks Patrick McGovern, a molecular archaeologist at the University of Pennsylvania Museum, including perhaps the mysterious elixir that supposedly drove Cleopatra mad."
Call it extreme wine making.
Amarone, a powerful dry, red wine from Italy, is slowly building a fan base. From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
"The popularity of this unique wine is inching up, Boscaini believes, because people are "starting to be bored with Cabernet, but they still want a big wine."
Heady Amarone boasts alcohol levels that reach 15% to 17%. But in the better examples, the astringent taste of alcohol is masked by the velvety richness of the wine."
November 17, 2003
It's that time of year again. The holiday ales are here.
What exactly is sake? Malaysia's The Star Online published this article yesterday on its history and its brewing:
"The term ‘sake’ has its origins in the word “sakaeru” meaning to prosper or flourish. sake, as we know it, is rice wine but it is really a brew. Like beer it is brewed from grain.
In the third Century, Korean migrants brought Chinese know-how to Japan and the first sake was made. But the Japanese introduced a peculiarity. In ‘bonding sessions’, all members of a village assembled
and began to chew up in their mouths, rice, chestnuts and millet. The mixture would then be expelled into a tub. Starches in the rice mixture, thanks to saliva, would be converted to sugar and so the brewing
(fermentation) process began soon after the tub was filled. If the process sounds unhygienic, take heart that only virgin girls were allowed to finish the brewing. Perhaps it was because sake was used in Shinto, the religious festival.
By the 20th Century (the Meiji Period of 1868-1912), sake brewing had become an industry. Landowners began brewing sake, merchants bought into breweries and brewery hands even saved up to invest in the business.
How it’s made nowadays: Short grain pearled rice is husked and polished, washed, soaked, steamed and cooled. Then koji (fungus covered rice that helps fermentation), yeast and pure spring water are added to it.
The mixture ferments for about four weeks and is filtered, skimmed, pasteurised and bottled. As with wine grapes, the climate and soil in rice growing regions interact, exerting an influence on the quality of the rice
and ultimately, on the taste of the finished sake. How much the rice is polished and milled also determines its classification."
November 14, 2003
John Palmer, renowned homebrewer and author of the book, How to Brew, has recently designed
a slide rule tool for homebrewers. From Bodensatz:
"On one side of the heavy cardboard slide is a Hop Bitterness Calculator which uses both of the horizontal slides. First you adjust the top slide to line up your boil gravity with your boil time in minutes. Then on the lower
slide there are two windows showing through - and you can use them in one of two ways. You can line up your desired IBU bitterness level with your batch size in the top window, and read the amount of hops required to achieve it in the
bottom window. Or you can adjust the bottom windows first to enter the amount of hops and their alpha acid value first, then read from the top window the amount of bitterness they will contribute to your batch size.
On the other side of the device the two slides operate independantly of each other. The top one converts a specific gravity at one volume to a specific gravity at another volume. Let's say for example you ended up with 9 gallons of beer at
1.050, and wanted to know what the gravity would be if you diluted it to 10 gallons. Or perhaps you collect 13 gallons of wort at 1.044 and want to know what the gravity will be if you boil it down to 10 gallons. Both are very easy to determine."
"According to the Su Vino Web site, www.suvinowinery.com, customers start the wine-fermentation process by selecting the juices for the drink. Customers also get to design and purchase their own labels for their bottles of wine.
Su Vino co-founder Tim Weinheimer said the winery gets its grape juices from countries around the world, including Argentina, Australia, France and Italy. However, Weinheimer said that 80 percent of the juices used come from vineyards in
California. Weinheimer said that homemade wine-making has become very popular partially because of the high prices of bottled wine."
Good luck, Beerhound.
November 13, 2003
The Scientific American reports that new technology in beer taps is making possible a two-second draft beer:
"Thirsty crowds know that where there's a beer, there's a wait. That's because the average draft pint takes at least 25 seconds to pull. Any slower, and the beer comes out flat; any faster,
and a frothy lager latte results. In the past two years, with profits shrinking, brewers have become keen to serve more customers without sacrificing quality, and they have sought technology to help.
Pouring beer quickly does not mean simply using bigger spouts. Draft beer's ticklish nature requires a fine balance between temperature and pressure. Most dispensing systems rely on carbon dioxide
gas pumped down into the keg to push beer up to a tap. Higher CO2 pressure would speed delivery--but produce a river of foam. Every brew needs a slightly different pressure to be served well....continued at Scientific American Digital"
Number three in the poll was mobile phones, getting 7% of the vote
Number two was the Internet, getting 13% of the vote
Number one was the nitrogen-filled widget found in cans of Guiness and other beers. The widget got 48% of the vote!
A story like that restores your faith in human progress, doesn't it?
Where there's a will, there's a brew.
As reported on the BBC, prison inmates are very good at turning fruit into booze.
November 12, 2003
A scientist has determined that dark beers are better for your heart. From WebMD:
"John D. Folts, PhD, professor of medicine and director of the coronary thrombosis research laboratory at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, tells WebMD that dark beer is rich in flavonoids, which have powerful antioxidant effects.
"It's about color. You can see the flavonoids in products on the shelf," he says. The rich flavonoid content makes red wine more heart friendly than white wine and purple grape juice a better choice for toddlers than white grape juice, he says.
Folts presented his dark beer-light beer study at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2003. Folts and his colleagues fed dark and light beer to dogs that had narrowed arteries in their hearts, similar to the narrowing
observed in people with heart disease."
Earlier this month, in the Berkshire Mountain town of Colrain, MA, the Ninth Annual Cider Day was celebrated. From the New York Times (registration required):
"Hard cider, nearly eradicated by Prohibition, showed signs of a comeback 20 years ago on the heels of the microbrewing movement. Like many early microbrews, artisanal ciders are labors of love.
Cider makers — some still holding day jobs as orchardists, emergency room physicians and cattle farmers — have tirelessly promoted their product in restaurants, liquor stores and specialty-food shops.
The proselytizing has paid off, and producers are seeing a loyal (and finally expanding) customer base.
Producers have been inspired by the trend toward sustainable agriculture — these ciders rely on fresh juice from local sources. Cider makers are constantly fighting the consumer perception that their products
fall into the same category as mass-produced ciders made from the concentrated juice of nondescript apples.
"Once you taste an artisanal cider, which usually takes about a year from the time you start fermenting, versus the stuff that's made in under a month, it's like night and day," said one of the panelists,
Roger Mansfield, whose Traditional Company is based in Culver, Ore."
November 10, 2003
"Dr. Fermento", of the Anchorage Press, last week wrote up a great review of Glacier's Brewhouse Black Rye Bock, so we we had to share with you his description:
"The other hot ticket this week is Glacier's Brewhouse Black Rye Bock, one of the creamiest, smoothest big-end dark beers I've had in ages.
It combines a rye, a bock and a Schwartzbier, and, leaning toward the last, it's almost coal-black and clear. A deep roasted aroma with chocolate notes rises
from the glass, which is adorned with a tight, tawny head. German hops spice the beer and balance the big malt character. It has a malty sweetness, but the bitter
chocolate notes and the rye come through and linger in a clean, snappy finish. The chocolate sticks around after the swallow, making it almost like candy, albeit with six percent alcohol."
That sounds like an awesome beer for the holidays.
It's the 21st Century, and A Woman's Place is in the Brewery. From the Boston Globe:
"Sistahs are brewin' it for themselves, and running breweries, too. Did you think you had to be part of Spike TV's demographic to make beer? History is packed with babes in beerland: the Sumerian brewing goddess Ninkosi;
the 12th-century nun Hildegarde von Bingen, who wrote a treatise on using hops to keep beer from spoiling (she was later sainted); and the industrious brewsters or alewives, the women who made almost all the beer in Britain until the 1500s."
The Few. The Proud. The sake lovers.
November 7, 2003
Get yourself on TV! Win fame and admiration!
As reported on the Brewboard, the Fine Living Network is producing a TV special on homebrewing. The show is to air sometime in the spring.
According to the Association of Brewers, the show's producers are accepting photos of homebrewing setups.
If you are especially proud of your homebrewery, you can email your photos to sulavala@yahoo.com. The Association of Brewers will be posting more details in the
coming weeks on beertown.org.
How can I tell if the potassium metasulfite solution I use to sanitize my equipment is still strong enough to do the job? The Wine Wizard explains.
November 6, 2003
Interested in becoming a Certified Beer Judge? You can find out how at Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) website.
The BJCP has listed online the locations where the certifying exam will be held in the next few months. Check it out.
The good folks over at Beer Advocate have organized an Extreme Beer Festival on January 17 at The Cyclorama @ the Boston Center for
the Arts in Boston, MA. So what qualifies as Extreme Beer?
- Beers made with no hops but plenty of heather and lavender.
- Beers aged in Jack Daniels oak barrels with an alcohol by volume of 20 percent or more.
- Traditional beer styles, but with double, triple or more hops or malt.
- Beers brewed with chocolate, peanut butter or espresso beans.
- Strong Porters brewed with Chinese candied ginger.
- Ales brewed with oysters or seaweed.
- Sharp tasting beers inoculated with various wild bacteria and yeast strains.
These aren't fancy imports from faraway lands, but rather handcrafted examples of beer being brewed right here in the US. They are highly artisanal and diverse, obtainable in many markets,
and they tweak the minds and palates of not only beer drinkers, but appreciators of wine and spirits - a positive crossover conversion for the beer industry.
Look what Santa's brewing for us this Christmas.
November 5, 2003
Stomp monopolies now! Free the grapes!
Join the grassroots campaign to overturn the wine laws in 24 states that currently restrict wineries from shipping their product direct to consumers:
"A wine war is pitting consumers-- who want wineries to ship directly to them-- against wine wholesalers, who are threatening consumers and wineries with jail time
if they bypass the middleman."
Ensure consumer choice. Free the grapes!
Ever thought of using a refractometer to measure your beer's gravity? Brew Your Own just published a nice article on its use.
For more information on measuring specific gravity, see also The Brewing Techniques article from Sep 1993.
November 4, 2003
You're no winemaker! You're a yeast wrangler!
From the Rocky Mountain News:
"Winemaker is kind of a misnomer for a human. The title should belong to the single-cell fungi that really make the wine: yeasts.
The human's job - besides being chemist, artist and farmer - is to ride herd on these guys. You don't just flip a switch on the Wine-O-Matic and watch them work.
They must be selected, introduced to their job, fed, nurtured and persuaded to die at the appropriate time. The yeast-wrangler also breaks up fights and cleans up after the critters. He has to stay
sharp because, like clothes hangers, these little catalysts can double their population in two hours. It's not unusual to find 5 million in one drop of fermenting wine."
This year's barley crop looks to be pretty good. According to the Billings Gazzette, the Yellowstone River valley is showing signs of a very good harvest this year:
"Six years of drought and record heat in July, August - and October - should have withered crops and expectations.
Yet, timely spring rains and plenty of irrigation in most areas have left farmers with high quality crops.
Beans, beets, corn and malt barley thrived in the hot weather and there was enough water in the Yellowstone River to offset the abnormal temperatures...
Malt barley is a main stay in the Yellowstone Valley.
"Our harvest went real well," said Leroy Gabel, who farms near Huntley. "It was excellent. We planted early and the river held up. We got lucky."
November 3, 2003
If you've considered brewing all-grain, but have thought the expense and effort to be too much for you, consider
Brewtopia's Tips on Making Easy 3 Gallon, All-Grain Batches of Homebrew. From the archives:
"Many homebrewers shy away from the idea of doing all-grain batches of beer because of all the extra equipment they think they might need. But the simple truth is that all-grain beer just tastes
so much better than extract. Brewtopia Events Director, Owen Ogletree, is an award-winning homebrewer and certified beer judge who will tell extract brewers on this website how to make simple, 3 gallon,
all-grain batches at home without a bunch of extra expense and equipment. Making 3 gallons of all-grain homebrew is very simple. Give these ideas a try, and we are sure you will find them fun and useful --
and you'll probably make the best beer you've ever had!"
It's a new month already, so while you're filling up your calendar, check out this month's beer festivals.
Sad news. Over the weekend, we learned that Tom Rutledge, founder and editor of BeerSouth.com and director of the annual Knoxville Brewer's Jam, passed away
last week. As one of his friends put it, "Tom was the beer scene in eastern Tennessee. He didn't invent it, but he sure did his best to promote it, all to little personal gain."
Please raise a glass in Tom's memory!
October 31, 2003
Hoppy Halloween!
Everyone's got a scary brewing tale. This one's from the Beerdedbastard over at RateBeer.com:
"It was a foggy Fall evening a few years back. I had volunteered to open up the brewery that Sunday night and work through the night to get a ahead on the
brew schedule for the week. When I arrived around 6pm it was already dark and long shadows fell across the front of the building. Daylight savings time hadn’t ended
yet and the evenings were getting cooler. As I turned off the security system and went around turning on the lights, everything appeared normal with nothing out of
the ordinary causing any concern. Just muffled sounds of a fermenting brew blowing off, a pump running and somewhere water was dripping. All normal noises in a brewery.
Little did I know what lay in store for me that night…"
According to the Barrel Room winemaking school in Ft. Myers, FL, winemaking is a lot like giving birth:
"The yearlong process of making wine mirrors the miracle of birth in many ways. It starts simply, with grapes impregnated with yeast and precious little else.
Over the course of months, it blossoms into something more than the sum of its parts.
So it’s not surprising that some of the hundreds of fledgling winemakers who took part in The Barrel Room at Sasse’s first year of winemaking felt like proud parents this month as they bottled their well-coddled grape juice, and finally got to take it home."
Click here for more info on the Barrel Room school.
October 30, 2003
Here are a few brewing blogs we've found lately. Some of these are very new on the Net. Check em out:
Texan Brew: Anyone who frequents the Brewboard has probably read a post or two from the Texan Brewer.
A Pint a Day: Lubricating the blog revolution with beer.
Emptybox: A blog by two homebrewers in Santa Cruz, CA
Brewblog: Aptly named, but we've seen the same name used somewhere else. We'll have to mull that one over.
October 29, 2003
In search of the perfect brew.
The Baltimore Sun has published a great story on the Cross Street Irregulars Homebrew Club, and a recent homebrew competition they held:
"Homebrewers like to say you can tell when you've stumbled onto their premises if your shoes sound like Velcro when you walk across the kitchen floor.
You can also tell when you've stumbled onto a meeting of a local homebrew club if you bump into a scattering of sticky-shoe folk clutching bulging brown grocery sacks outside the door of your favorite pub.
On a recent Tuesday night in Baltimore, a group of these sticky-shoe, self-professed beer geeks showed up with paper bags at Sean Bolan's Irish Pub on Light Street. They unloaded a dozen or so of their freshest
brews in an upstairs room and proceeded with an evening of ritual competition.
Outside, a chilly rain began to pour. Inside, members of the Cross Street Irregulars Brew Club did some eventful pouring of their own.
Despite the friendly jibes and general glad-handing, a homebrew competition these days includes a healthy measure of willful pride and zealous one-upmanship. With so many amateur brewers now having eight to
10 good years of experience under their belts (so to speak) and the heretofore suppressed knowledge of master brewers' secrets now unleashed by Internet newsgroups, today's mere hobbyists are making some of the world's most delectable mashes."
According to the News Tribune of Tacoma, WA, North America's "beer belt" streches from northern California to British Columbia, an area where a high concentration of microbreweries exist.
"Prohibition and industrialization killed most of these small local and regional brewers. In their place rose big and bland beer, designed to be produced cheaply and consistently. With few exceptions, American "Pilsner"
was a watery shadow of its old country ancestor.
So in many senses, the independent brewing explosion of the last 15 years is a revival of an older tradition. Nowhere is the revival stronger than here in America's "beer belt," stretching from Northern California to Vancouver, B.C.,
a "beertopia" of risk-taking small microbreweries, established craft brewers and quirky brew pubs."
October 28, 2003
The Japan Times recently spoke with Michael Jackson on the global appeal of malted barley:
"There is, peculiarly in British beer, and mainly, in fact, in English beer -- and it only really exists when it's cask conditioned and low in carbon dioxide, at natural cellar temperature -- a softness, a lightness, a tinge of acidic
dryness that has a life that is not artificially induced, but one of real live yeast, working in a cask. This results in a light tingle that renders the malty flavors so appetizing, with a strong sense of life and reality. It's the absolute antithesis
of any processed product. The pleasures that this affords are tremendous."
There is, however, a limit to the amount of malted barley the English will enjoy.
Just ask several folks who recently tasted Dogfish's World Wide Stout, widely acknowledged to be the strongest beer in the world. From
the Daily Record:
"Drinkers in Glasgow's Horse Shoe Bar who tested the ale yesterday were not impressed. Rob Arnott, 56, of Inverness, said it tasted ``like a really strong version of Newcastle Brown''.
He said: ``I would much rather have a pint of normal beer.''
Oil rig worker John Gowers, 50, of Howwood, Renfrewshire, said: ``It's disgusting. It makes me feel really queasy.''
And barmaid Lorna Robertson, 25, said: ``It's rotten. I don't know why anyone would drink it.''
Ah well. You can't please them all.
Wine flows where tobacco no longer grows.
Hard times for tobacco farmers are forcing them to turn to growing vineyards. From the Tennessean:
"Their old tobacco barn in Macon County is now a combined wine-tasting room, dinner theater and wedding hall called Red Barn Winery & Vineyards — or ''Napa Holler.''
Declining tobacco crops, the pressure of monthly bills and a passion for farming are spurring Tennessee's tobacco growers to make radical choices to reinvent their lives.
At Red Barn, eight acres of grapes have replaced the rows of tobacco. The day's work now involves fermenting, bottling, murder-mystery dinner shows, wine-and-cheese picnics and sitting on the porch, engaging in fellowship with the tourists.
The change, Glen Clements said, bothered him some at first. ''Farmers have to adjust. If you don't adapt, you're gone.''
October 27, 2003
Here's a great article on the Tippecanoe Homebrew Circle, a homebrew club in Indiana:
"He gave a toothy grin and placed two unlabeled bottles down on the table.
"There's nothing more disappointing than spending a lot of time on a beer and having it turn out bad," Matt Vincent, a West Lafayette resident, said. He poured a small amount
into a shot-sized glass and said, "here, try this," before handing out a drink that tasted like a wet hunk of sod.
In any other social setting bad beer would be frowned upon, but for the members of the Tippecanoe Homebrewers Circle, tasting the occasional failure is just as important as tasting a successful brew.
This is because the organization is not a club for drinking; they are enthusiastic hobbyists who take great care in their hobby."
This Halloween, have yourself a Little Beer of Horrors!
October 24, 2003
Today is Day One of the The International Mead Festival in Boulder, CO.
Looking for a cheap chest freezer for your homebrew? Or a used propane burner? You might check out Freecycle.org. As mentioned on the Brewboard, this
website allows you to post any appliance or article online, for anyone else to freely pick up. Everything listed is no charge. Think of it as an online, grassroots garage sale where everything is free! The result, of course, is less waste and more recycling.
"The Worldwide (!) Freecycle Network is open to all cities and to all individuals who want to "recycle" that special something rather than throw it away. Whether it's a chair, a fax machine, piano or an old door,
feel free to post it. Or maybe you're looking to acquire something yourself! One constraint: everything posted must be free. Just pick your city on the left and it'll link you to their website, or sign up with that city directly by
e-mail below. And, as Abe Lincoln once said, "Think globally, recycle locally."
This network is organized by "Downtown Don't Waste It," a nonprofit RISE recycling organization in Tucson, Arizona. It is run by local volunteer moderators across the globe who make each local group what it is — Grassroots at its best!
October 23, 2003
The trade group known as The Brewers of Europe recently met in Brussels to discuss the beneficial effect moderate beer drinking has on health:
"Beer drunk in moderation has the potential to protect against cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes and osteoporosis. These are some of the messages given to key policy makers, MEPs and European Commission officials at a major symposium held by The Brewers of Europe in Brussels on 15th October 2003."
This month, Winemakermag.com explores Rieslings, arguably the world's greatest white wine:
"Cool is the watchword for Riesling from start to finish — from where it’s grown, to how it’s made, to how it tastes. In warm climates, Riesling cannot sustain the acidity it thrives on and the
resulting wine is in danger of being short on fruit, too high in alcohol, unbalanced and insipid. Adding acid during winemaking can make the numbers look better, but it can’t restore the flavors that too
much sun bakes out. Look for grapes from upstate New York and elsewhere in the Northeast, from Ontario and British Columbia’s Okanagan, from Washington and the cooler parts of California.
If you can’t find a fresh source, frozen Riesling is an excellent alternative."
Here's a nice little bio on the City Planner in La Crosse, WI, who enjoys homebrewing with friends:
"He started in graduate school, when he said it was cheaper to make your own than buy. Now he and a few others guys at City Hall make their own, as Forgy's Brewing Company.
They donate a cookout, replete with their wares, to the Aquinas silent auction, and this year it brought in a $1,000 bid.
His best brew, he recalls fondly, was a honey wheat that he made when he was living in Florida. "That tasted excellent on a hot Florida day."
October 22, 2003
George Washington's estate, Mount Vernon, once had a thriving distillery business on its grounds. The nation's first President, upon leaving office after two terms in 1797, launched the enterprise, which
eventually produced nearly 11,000 gallons of whiskey a year.
Today, Mount Vernon is host to a group of professional distillers, who have gathered there to make a batch of Washington's famous recipe:
"Today's top whiskey makers spent hours Tuesday mixing, heating and cooling Washington's "mash bill," or recipe, of rye, corn and malted barley. They then ran their creation through a copper still atop an open fire.
Dalton looked relieved after sipping the creation, which he called spicy and aromatic.
"I had concerns about it. I mean this is so primitive," Dalton said eyeing the outdoor flame and ancient-looking pots. "I thought it would be a little murky, but that's not the case at all."
They're planning to age the whiskey in two barrels for a couple years, and when they think it's ready, they will auction off an estimated 96 bottles of it to benefit the Mount Vernon estate."
"Dana Johnson, an avid home brewer will have a new booth, representing the Association of Home Brewers, at the festival, featuring an audio/visual presentation of how to home-brew.
"The booth will provide a hands-on understanding of how easy brewing really is in your kitchen," said Association of Home Brewers membership coordinator Erin Fay."
Here's a beautiful headline: The Death of Cheap Lager
As reported by the BBC:
"Few tears will be shed by members of the Campaign for Real Ale at the demise of these low-strength, low flavour beers."
Few tears indeed!
October 20, 2003
You've just gotta love the brewing weather this time of year! It's perfect for just about any type of fermentation!
As Pamela Sambrook wrote in Country House Brewing in England, 1500-1900, brewers of old were very much in tune with the weather when planning their brewing schedule.
From All About Beer:
"Before the invention of refrigeration, brewing was much more strictly tied to the whims of the seasons, both on the brewing and consuming sides of the tun. The summer heat, availability of ingredients,
need for large amounts of quenching--but not too intoxicating--brews in the summer, and warming ones in the winter, all played a part.
October was generally regarded as the best month to brew. The barley harvest was in, so new malt was available and was widely believed to contribute to a beer that kept very well. Fresh hops added their own special charms.
Cooler fermentation temperatures made long-aged beers less vulnerable to frets and souring than March beers. And by October, the strong beer made in the previous year was starting to be tapped, and so the necessity of brewing a replacement became obvious."
Brew Your Own has published a short list of the world's top brewing schools:
"Dust off your book bag, because you're going back to school --- brew school that is. We'll show you
where you can go to hone your brewing skills, whether it's for a career in brewing or just for fun."
Ale in a day's work.
October 14, 2003
Raise your glass! We've been legal for 25 years!
On this day in 1978, President Carter signed into law the Federal Legalization of Homebrewing. The new law allowed for the brewing of up to 100 gallons of beer and 200 gallons of
wine per adult per year. In the original Congressional resolutions, there was some debate over how much to allow. At one point, the homebrewing limit was set at just 30 gallons of beer per
adult per year. But Senator Cranston of California weighed in with reasons to raise the limit to 100 gallons. From the AHA website:
"Beer must be aged to acquire an acceptable taste--meaning it should not even be tasted until 2 months from the day the yeast was pitched. And 3 months is better. Many homebrewers
have multiple batches going and with the standard 3-month aging period, the 30-gallon limit would penalize them by reducing the amount of beer they would be allowed to make in a calendar year."
Well reasoned, Senator! Here's to you!
As reported yesterday in Seibel mail, the European drought this past summer has destroyed this year's hop crop there. Joh A. Barth, one of Europe's largest hop distributors, has determined it to be a near total failure. Not one hop variety
grown in Continental Europe is exhibiting sufficient alpha acids for use in brewing. Some alpha values are off as much as 50%. Brewers are being told not to expect delivery on prior contracts.
"The drought which has lasted since mid-May, and was particularly pronounced in the vital months July / August, has given rise to an extremely alarming situation for all areas of agriculture.
The entire European hop industry is affected, especially Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovenia. As not only yields per hectare but in particular the alpha contents of the hops have suffered, we can say that
the crop has failed, especially in Germany. The alpha yield of the German crop will be less than half of last year’s figure.
The harvest began in Germany around August 20, about one week earlier than normal. First alpha values show that not even one (!) variety in continental Europe will come anywhere near the average of the last 5 years.
Delivery quotas of raw hops are also down by between 20-30 %, in extreme cases by as much as 50 %. The situation for aroma hops must be seen as even more critical than for bitter hops. In the first case the world market
offers few alternatives, whereas for bitter hops the world market does offer alternative possibilities."
It is uncertain how long this situation will take to trickle down to the homebrewing retailers. The previous two years have been bumper crops for hops in North America, and the enormous surpluses from the previous harvest had kept prices
below historical averages. The present shortage in Europe will likely work off the surpluses built up in the previous year.
October 13, 2003
Spread the good word about the joy of homebrewing. Teach a friend to homebrew.
The American Homebrewers Association is promoting its 5th Annual "Teach a Friend to Homebrew Day" for Saturday, November 1st. You are encouranged to invite your friends over that day and brew a batch of beer. You can register your
home on the AHA website. Early registrations will receive in the mail a free copy of Zymurgy for Beginners.
According to the Sun Link.com, the homebrewing and microbrewing business has come a long way in the past twenty years:
"Thanks to the efforts of microbrews across the nation and an ever-growing group of home-brewers, beer quickly is getting the respect it deserves.
It has taken only two decades for the term "micro-brew" to go from causing raised eyebrows to raised steins with a veritable explosion of small-scale breweries in the mid-1980s. The industry grew from a few to more than 30 on the West Coast within 15 years. There currently are 83 breweries and brew pubs in Washington alone, according to www.microbrew-nw.com, with 17 in Seattle.
Alan Moum of Poulsbo, a home-brewer since 1990, thinks the change has come about as a result of a change of mind.
"I think it's just a general attitude. People just started looking for real quality," Moum said.
October 10, 2003
Now back in a third edition: Cider: Making, Using and Enjoying Sweet and Hard Cider by Annie Proulx and Lew Nichols. First published in 1980, the book has helped tens of thousands of
cider-makers get started in the hobby. From the Baltimore Sun:
"The book's success reflected a renewed interest in making wine, beer and cider at home. It probably has also helped spur more interest by providing a handbook thorough enough to guide even a novice through the process of cider-making.
Reissued this past summer by Storey Books, the third edition retails in paperback for $14.95 and includes updates on the laws governing cider production as well as an evaluation of a number of hard ciders available commercially. If you're a cider
fan - hard or sweet - or just like to experiment with beverage-making, this is a guide you'll want to have."
This month, Stephen Beaumont explores what makes for a great bar.
Speaking of great watering holes, check out Beer Expeditions, an online directory of the best bars and brewpubs in North America:
"We'll help you find the good beer! Start your expedition right here. You will be taken to a page that will list the locations of the over 2000 breweries currently in known territory! Each brewery listing contains contact information,
a map to the brewery, and comments from other people that have been there!"
October 9, 2003
Two homebrewers recently imparted some of their brewing knowledge and beer appreciation on some college students. Spreading the word:
"I'm here to show them that there's more to beer than just American light lager," Knipling said, referring to the popular beers seen on TV commercials. "There's a whole realm out there.
My analogy is: McDonald's is everywhere, but very few people would say, 'That's the best hamburger I've ever tasted.'"
Stefanie Odett, the event organizer and leisure-learning director, bustled about before the presentation, preparing programs and plastic cups filled with fresh hops and malted barley for the participants.
"I don't know if students come for the free beer, or if they really want to learn," Odett said.
All of the students seemed interested, as they delicately sipped samples of the gold, amber, dark and specialty beers under the ornate chandeliers of the Union's stately ballroom.
They listened attentively as Knipling and Benson gave an intricate account of the history and process of beer brewing after a brief warning from student health services about the perils of drinking and the importance of drinking only if one is of legal age."
"Heist considers Hoptown IPA lighter in body than some of his beers. But most of us will find this beer, with 6.3 percent alcohol by volume,
very malty indeed. He adds a great deal of carapils and Munich malts, which, he says, give it a "velvety" character with no rough edges. Then, at the end of the brewing process,
he says he "pounds the hell out of it" by adding a large dose of aromatic hops, including Cascades, known for their citrus quality."
October 8, 2003
Holy hydrometers! Arnold is the governor?
What in the world is going on? Next thing you know the Chicago Cubs will win the World Series.
It's "a refined India Pale Ale with a smooth symphony touch."
The use of oak chips in winemaking has many of the French cooperages, who make most of the worlds oak casks for wineries, in an uproar. From the New York Times:
"Not surprisingly, France is home to some of the biggest makers of oak barrels. Yet while wineries here in Burgundy and elsewhere in France use oak casks to age some wine, winemakers outside Europe
have increasingly used oak chips to save money. To the horror of many in Europe, where the practice is banned, the foreigners sprinkle the chips into stainless steel vats, or stand oak staves in the vats, to give the wine a hint of oak flavor.
If used judiciously, experts say, the result can be remarkably evocative of barrel-aged wine. If overdone, chips can make a good chardonnay taste like, well, hardwood flooring."
October 7, 2003
The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has taken up the cause for cider. CAMRA is urging pub owners throughout Britain to stock and serve ciders and perries
from the country's small-scale cider-makers. October has been declared National Cider Month.
"Real ciders and perries are a natural living product made using nothing more than fruit and water. It is the different methods and varieties of fruit which give each one a unique and distinctive taste and aroma which cannot possibly be matched by the bland pasteurized national ciders.
"We want people to be able to try a real cider or perry in their local pub. We think they’ll be bowled over by how good they taste and urge the landlord to stock them on a regular basis. Small producers can’t compete with the huge national producers and it’s up to consumers to demand the real thing in their local."
The International Mead Festival, formerly known as Planet Buzz, is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, October 24 and 25, at the Broker Inn in Boulder, CO.
"This is "the" main commercial mead competition. This event hosts both a public tasting of commercial meads and a private judging of commercial entries. Over 50 commercial meads are projected to be entered for judging and available for taste by the public."
Yeasts are such wonderful little critters.
"You can put them into a jug with sugar and grape juice, and they can transform it into wine. There is some powerful symbolism at work there. Nothing is as weak as a single yeast, but when you take thousands of them together, each doing its job, then something magical takes place. Perishable grape
juice is transformed into imperishable wine. Something of ordinary value is changed into something of greater value."
October 6, 2003
The 2003 Winemaker International Amateur Wine Competition will be held next month. Get your entires in now (entry deadline is November 21st):
"The best homemade wines from across North America and around the world will compete for gold, silver and bronze medals in 50 categories awarded by a panel of
experienced wine judges. Last year we had entries from 41 American states, 7 Canadian provinces and 4 countries. Enter your wines and compete against the continent's best home winemakers!
You can gain international recognition for your winemaking skills and get valuable feedback on your wines from the competition's judging panel."
Homebrew Adventures is a proud sponsor of this event.
The King County Journal of WA wrote up a nice piece on Paul Shipman and his Redhook Brewery. This year's Winterhook is being readied:
"Shipman, a Mercer Island resident, continues to personally taste-test every new beer his company creates. He proudly describes the characteristics of this year's
Winterhook beer as having been brewed with ``extra special hops'' in addition to two-row barley, Munich Malt and Caramel 50/60 from England that, combined, give it a ``very malty, very rich'' taste.
``It's a beer that goes well in cozy fall and winter settings,'' he said.
Homebrew for a good cause.
One homebrewer is donating his beer for a fund-raising Oktoberfest, with the proceeds going towards a program to help fight drug abuse. Prost!
October 3, 2003
The Sentinel and Enterprise of Fitchburg, MA reports that 30 German berwery owners recently toured the Wachusett Brewing Company of Westminster, MA, not to learn their
secrets of brewing, but to learn their secrets of marketing. Specifically, they wanted to know how microbreweries in the U.S. compete with the big corporate breweries.
"What are they doing right to fight the big guy?" is the question the group was here to answer, said Horst Dornbusch of Cerevisia Communications, who arranged the tour.
The Wachusett Brewing Co. is one of the American breweries the group is visiting because the company is about to celebrate its 10th anniversary and because the three company founders used unique methods to get the equipment needed to brew beer.
Dornbusch said many of the small breweries in Germany are going out of business now that beer can be transported between towns. Up until recently, German breweries did not worry about marketing because laws prevented beers from being transported out of the town.
Now the family-owned small to midsize breweries are failing because the large companies are now able to sell their products throughout the country.
Jessica M. DuPont, the promotions and public relations manager at Wachusett, said event sponsoring was not something that occurred to most of the owners as a way to market their product.
"This joint is very similar to the joints that are going out of business in the fatherland," said Dornbusch."
FYI: Dornbusch wrote a superb book on the art of German brewing a few years ago, entitled "Prost!: The Story of German Beer".
Does this mean their marzen beers are brewed with a strong maltese taste?
Sorry. I couldn't resist that one. :)
Mashing Pumpkins.
Hey Charlie Brown! It's October, and that means its time for some Pumpkin Ale!
Traveling in Britain soon? CAMRA's new Good Beer Guide hit the stores today:
"The award winning guide has highlighted the top 4500 real ale pubs in Britain, with 284 of these coming from Scotland...
Each pub is visited regularly by members of CAMRA and is marked on service, value for money, atmosphere, decor and, of course, the quality of the real ale.”
October 1, 2003
Among the immigrant families of New England remains a winemaking tradition. From SouthCoast Today:
"During winemaking time I feel happier," Mr. Sousa, 57, said. "In the old country we always made wine at home."
Hundreds of SouthCoast Portuguese and Italian immigrants, plus a bunch of newer connoisseurs, carry on the tradition of home winemaking every September.
While local, mass-produced wines have gained some reputation as of late, these wine lovers have carried on the craft locally for many years."
The East Anglia region of Britain could soon become that country's new center for hop production:
"East Anglia may be about to challenge the "garden of England" as the national centre for growing hops.
Norfolk and Suffolk provide "ideal" growing conditions, which could see the region becoming as famous for hops as Kent is now.
During the 19th century, the region was a rich area for hops but it lost favour with farmers because the crop could grow as high as 16ft – needing a large workforce to bring in the harvest.
Now a new dwarf type of hop which grows to between 8ft and 10ft high has been harvested in an initiative in Suffolk – and is responsible for the turnaround."
The town of Independence, OR celebrated its rich hops heirtage with a festival last weekend.
"The small river town was known as the “Hops Capital of the World” from the 1890s to the 1940s.
In the 1800s, the hops harvest brought people from around the state to Independence for seasonal work in the fields.
The hops industry transformed the small valley community in the summer months to an active river town, doubling the population to 10,000.
By the 1940s, an estimated 25,000 people were coming to the area. One former resident said that Main Street would be so crowded it was hard to walk.
At the peak of the hops industry, Oregon had about 20,000 acres of hops, out of 43,653 acres in the United States, and Independence had one quarter of the state’s total acreage.
One of the farms in Independence, the E. Clemens Horst Co. was the largest single hop field in the world in 1934, with 500 to 750 acres."
September 30, 2003
The 5th Annual Charlotte Oktoberfest will be held this year on Saturday, October 11th, from noon to 9PM. Come on out and enjoy over 70 craft brews and plenty of music.
The Carolina Brewmasters homebrew club and Rheinland Haus restaurant are sponsoring this year's event.
Yesterday we blogged that beer consumption may help to build strong bones. Today, however, we are reporting that it has nothing to do with a big belly. Absolutely nothing. No relation at all.
September 29, 2003
If you're head is not still spinning from the GABF last weekend, then check out the festivals still to come in October! That'll get it spinning again!
Mr. Ruschman, how do you find the time to list all of them? You da man!
Australia's farmers see nothing but growth when it comes to growing barley. From the Northern Daily Leader:
"Australia is the world's leading exporter of barley, followed by Canada," he said.
"There are only 50 or so countries that produce barley [for malting] in the world.
"There are 140 to 150 that brew beer, so the market for barley is growing."
Mr Lewis said countries in Asia were increasing their consumption of the amber drop while Russia was considered a growth area for brewers.
The barley examined by the tour is yet to be named, although plant breeder from the Victorian Department of Primary Industries David Moody says
its research name is VB9926 (the VB stands for Victorian barley – not the popular green labelled bitter beer).
Remember, there is no such thing as a stupid question.
Just look at two questions that were recently posted to the Wine Wizard:
Can I add yeast to Mountain Dew or Sprite to make it into a “wine”?
and
Could I make wine in an aquarium or would the glue cause a problem?
So go ahead. Don't be bashful. Ask your question.
A recent study is looking into the favorable effect beer consumptionhas on bone density and osteoporosis:
"Dr. Jonathan Powell from Kings College London has put forward the hypothesis that beer may be a good source of silicon.
Using an American data base he was able to estimate the relative contribution of food and drink to the intake of silicon. It emerged that beer gave the
largest contribution with approximately 17%, followed by bananas (9.1%), white bread (4.6%), cold cereals (4.5%) and coffee (3.5%)."
September 25, 2003
Today is Day 1 of the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, CO.
Lew Bryson's new book, New York Breweries, got a nice plug on Syracuse.com yesterday.
The North Shore Brewers will be displaying the winners of their homebrew competition this weekend at the Topsfield Fair in Topsfield, MA.
"When the early 1990s home brew fad hit, Faulstich, a member of both the fair's vegetable committee and the North Shore Brewers, had the idea for an annual contest. But the plan hit some snags.
Because Topsfield was a dry town up until this month, the Board of Selectmen wouldn't allow the competition during the fair itself. It took three years to iron out the details, but eventually Faulstich and the North Shore Brewers agreed to hold the competition the week prior to the fair. In its first year there were 79 entrants, and the record is 179, Faulstich says.
Eight judges certified by the Brew Judge Certificate Program tasted this year's entries and evaluated them from 1 to 10 on each of five criteria. This year's best scored 44 out of 50 points, and the six beers that scored more than 40 points became eligible to compete in the BJCP national competition.
September 24, 2003
Attention brewers! The U.S. Department of Agriculture has scheduled hearings next month in Portland, OR and Yakima, WA to collect testimony towards establishing a Federal Marketing Order
limiting hop production to a specified annual allotment. The hearing is in response to persistently low hop prices, which have jeopardized the livelihood of nearly every small-time hop grower in the US.
"Michelle Palacios, administrator of the Oregon Hop Commission, said supporters of the proposed federal marketing order want to trim the Northwest’s hop supply by as much as 40 percent.
“I’m not seeing hop growers going out of business, but they certainly don’t claim to be making a lot of money,” Palacios said.
Growers have to approve the proposed marketing order, and a vote is scheduled in late October. But the marketing order is controversial and the vote could go either way, Palacios said.
Hop grower Doug Weathers said he is opposed to it. He worries that the market order would limit the production of aroma hops as well as oversupplied alpha hops used to add bitterness to beer.
“It’s really aimed at the alpha market,” he said.
The Oregon Hop Commission’s Palacios said such federal marketing orders to regulate the hop supply have been established and disbanded three times. The last one ended 17 years ago, and backers of the new marketing order note that hop prices began to erode in the succeeding years."
"I think it's a big victory for the growers," said Horsley, a barley breeder. "They should finally have a choice out there."
Robust has been the preferred variety for the past two decades, mainly because brewing and malting companies are scared to change their recipe for fear of offending dedicated beer drinkers, Horsley said."
Happy Birthday Mr. Guiness!
"Today we celebrate the 278th birthday of the founder of the Guinness empire, Arthur Guinness. Mr Guinness took his time in getting round to brewing stout, but when he did it, it was worth the wait.
He took a business gamble when he decided to focus exclusively on brewing stout but his determination and conviction paid off. So, why not raise a glass of Guinness t o the man himself!"
September 23, 2003
The Oktoberfest has officially started, and what we wouldn't do to be there....
Many years ago, a tragic beer shortage gripped Canada. Brewery workers everywhere went on strike, and since there were only a few breweries in operation, the beer-consuming populace was
faced with a grim reality.
And then Slim Dusty came to the rescue, and homebrewers have never looked back.
A former auto worker pursues his dream of a family-owned and operated vineyard, but it comes with some sacrifice. From the Rochester, NY Democrat and Chronicle:
"Dale Nagy bought his life’s dream two years ago: a vineyard by Seneca Lake where Merlot, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling grapes have grown well for almost 20 years.
He wanted to escape the high-pressure world of the auto industry in Ohio, where he had worked for three decades. He wanted to make wine, a craft he initially learned from his Hungarian father and Italian mother.
“I have a passion for wine. Life is too short to wait to do what you want to do,” said Nagy, who is 47.
Amazingly, a 531-year-old wine in eastern France is still producing a fine aroma and taste. A 1472 vintage, made 20 years before Columbus sailed!
September 19, 2003
Transport yourself to hop heaven. Brew Your Own magazine has published a primer on dry-hopping:
"The term dry hopping originated centuries ago with British brewers and was used to refer to adding hops to the cask shortly before it was shipped off to the customer. In fact, 1/2-ounce hop plugs were specifically developed
by British hop producers to be a convenient way to add whole hops to a keg or cask. Nowadays, dry hopping refers to any hop addition after the wort has been cooled. These additions can be done in the primary fermenter,
in the secondary or by adding hops directly to a keg. I have even heard of one homebrewer attempting to add one or two hop petals to each bottle of a bottle-conditioned batch! (It didn’t work though.)"
The Alaskan Brewing Company is a popular spot for many tourists to the north country:
"Tony Hand could tell a visitor to the Alaskan Brewing Co. pretty much anything there is to know about the beer brewing process. But most guests just want to try the beer, he said.
"People can come up and try all the beers we have and they don't have to pay for it," said Hand, who joined the brewery as a volunteer in 1989 and has been working there for 10 years. For the past two
summers he's worked in the gift shop, selling Alaskan T-shirts, Alaskan pint glasses, soap made with Alaskan beer, Alaskan hats and, of course, all types of Alaskan beer.
Lew Bryson sticks his neck out and says that we've been paying too LITTLE for our commercial beers:
"You’re not paying enough for beer.
I don't mean you, personally. I mean all of us, including me. We're getting away with increasingly good beer at pretty cheap prices. "Cheap" is relative, I realize. But look at the price differential between
mass-produced beer like Bud and Yuengling -- $4 to $5 a six-pack -- and craft-brewed beers -- $7 to $8 a sixer. Now look at the price differential between Sutter Home and Chateau Ste. Michelle, the difference
between the sashimi 'krab legs' and hand-picked lump crab meat, the difference between 80% ground beef and porterhouse, the difference between Maxwell House and your local micro-roaster's whole bean Sumatra.
Isn't the difference between Red Seal Ale and, say, Genny Cream worth that kind of difference in price? I say yes, and I say craft-brewed beers should start at about $10 a six. I know most craft brewers would agree."
Lew's right about one thing. That's not a popular Buzz.
September 18, 2003
Here's to the Hook. The Seattle Weekly salutes the founders of Redhook Brewery:
"Twenty-one years and one month ago, our beerfathers brought forth in Ballard a new brew, dedicated to the principles that Rainier and Olympia were not enough and that you shouldn't have to go to the liquor store to buy a brew worth drinking.
And they called it Red Hook and hoped that it was good and hoped other people would think so, too."
The Hop Fest in Madison County, New York drew a lot of brewers and hop growers last weekend:
"Several micro-breweries and hop growers were on hand discussing the re-introduction of hops growing in the Central New York region, offering samples of many different styles of beer, and educating people on the history of hop growing around Madison County.
There was also plenty of local historical societies on the grounds of Cottage Lawn offering information on the craft's rich history in the the county.
Musical entertainment, and the crowning of the Hop Queen, Mary Rose Durfee, rounded out the festival's activities."
New Jersey's Star Ledger recently announced the winners of its Best Homemade Wine Contest:
"Amazingly, two first-time winemakers share the grand prize Star-Ledger Gold Medallion of Excellence Award with a firefighter. Scott Clarke of Clinton Township, an Elizabeth fireman, wins for best wine made at
home, while winemaking partners James Caniano of Lodi and Cathy Scanlon of Brick, who work for the University of Medicine and Dentistry/New Jersey Medical School, also win a gold medallion for best wine made at a school
-- Grape Expectations in Bridgewater. It was their first try at winemaking.
"I can't believe it!" Scanlon said from her cell phone. "It's our first wine."
"This is like winning the lottery," Caniano added.
"Great!" Clarke said when told the news. "I never thought it was that good."
A few moments later, though, he had changed his tune.
"Believe it or not, I'm not that surprised."
Here's a few more words from the contestants. Congratulations to all!
Grape farmers say prices are little better this year. From the Associated Press:
"Prices for Thompson seedless, one of the most widely grown grapes for wine, raisins and juice concentrate, have increased from last year's $65 a ton to $90 a ton this year. Prices for white zinfandel have increased from $65 a ton in 2002 to $75 to $175 a ton this year.
The state's grape growers have suffered because more vines were planted in the 1990s. Growers also compete with countries where production and labor is less expensive.
"Things are definitely looking better," said Richard Garabedian, Raisin Administrative Committee president, one of 50 growers protesting in front of an E.&J. Gallo winery last year after they
were offered the lowest prices in decades. Gallo, the largest winery in the world, offered between $115 to $150 per ton in 2000, depending on the variety."
September 17, 2003
A homebrew newbie challenges Charlie Papazian to a brew-off:
"I didn't know the difference between hops and malt. I had a small idea that yeast was somehow involved. I knew that I liked the finished product of a microbrewed beer a whole, whole lot.
With the Great American Beer Festival coming up, with so many pros showcasing their brew talents, I found myself wanting to learn a bit about the ancient art.
So I decided to do what no one else has dared to do: I, a beer-brewing virgin, challenged Charlie Papazian, founder of the Association of Brewers and the man largely credited with making home-brewing accessible to the average Joe, to a brew-off.
We set up the ground rules. He would show his wife Sandra and me some tricks of the trade. Sandra and I would each brew a batch, and we'd all get together a couple of weeks later to taste the finished product.
I was a little intimidated as I headed over to Papazian's house. What structure could be worthy of holding the brewing secrets of such a revered beer-man?
Turns out, it was just a small garage. My first lesson about home-brewing: You don't need anything fancy to make a good home-brew. It's an affordable and accessible hobby."
"Steve Harrison, Sierra Nevada vice president, called the process nerve-wracking. Hopunion, hop-pickers, truckers and Sierra Nevada brewers all coordinate.
The hops come from Yakima vines to Chico wart in about 18 hours.
"It's a one-shot deal," said Ralph Woodall, Hopunion director of sales. "In one day they'd be gone."
Woodall said his pickers cut hops then, instead of taking them to the kiln to be dried and baled, they are put in onion bags and set in a single layer in refrigerated trucks so they don't compress
during the 12-hour drive. When they arrive at the 20th Street brewery, they're dumped from onion sack to boiling wart.
"It's fun," Harrison said. "Everybody likes doing the Harvest."
This process preserves the oils and compounds lost in the heat of the kiln, giving the beer what Woodall calls a "grassy bitterness."
A new 3-acre hop field on the brewery's grounds in Chico will be ready for use in about three years.
"Stout is one of the world's most popular drinks. Guinness alone is brewed in 51 countries, and Americans are among its most avid fans; only in England, Ireland and Nigeria is more of it downed.
Stout was popular with the panel, too. "This was enjoyable," said Eric Asimov, one of our regular panelists, after the tasting of 17 canned or bottled brands. "It's easier to accumulate world-class beer than wines."
Amanda Hesser and I, the other regulars, agreed, as did our guest, Richard Scholz, an owner of Bierkraft in Park Slope, Brooklyn, which carries 650 beers. He called stouts "lots of fun, with a wide range of flavors."
Make sure you pair up your hearty stout with a hearty meal.
And if you're in the Baltimore, MD area this weekend, be sure to check out the Irish Festival at the 5th Regiment Armory. All sorts of stouts will be featured.
September 15, 2003
The Statesman Journal has done a nice article on the present state of Oregon's hop growers:
"For years, hop growers have contended with low prices. Meanwhile, the hop acreage in Oregon has dropped by nearly a third; 5,780 acres were planted this year compared to 8,000 a decade ago.
A worldwide oversupply of some hop varieties has kept prices low.
Hops grown specifically for bitterness, such as Nugget, have become a generic commodity in the brewing industry. That’s due in large part to improved hop varieties that yield higher amounts of alpha acids, the bitter flavoring agent prized by brewmasters.
Extracts made from alpha hops can be stored for years. Further compounding the oversupply is a trend towards less bitter beer, even among European brewers.
“Last year, you couldn’t give alpha away for 50 cents a pound,” Weathers said. That’s $1 below the cost of production.
In contrast, aroma hops are known for their differences and demand higher prices. Brewers carefully select aroma hops, such as Liberty, Crystal, and Mount Hood, to impart specific flavors.
"Beer is ‘in’: no fewer than three thousand research projects and studies on beer have been conducted to date. Some of them also concern cancer.
Some really fascinating work has been done in this connection in Japan, the United States and Germany. The substance xanthohumol, which is present in hops,
seems to have an anti-cancer effect one hundred times that of green tea and soya. The U.S. has even granted authorization to place ‘anti-cancer beer’ on the market.
In Poland and the Czech Republic beer is prescribed and state-refunded for the treatment of urological conditions, because research has shown that beer is an effective
weapon against kidney stones. Beer also has an antibacterial effect, which is useful against helicobacter infection in the stomach."
This year's Santa Cruz (CA) County Fair has a sizable how-to homebrew booth:
"This year's home brew booth is a maze of contraptions with barrels stacked upon one another with tubes connecting the multiphase devices.
Also on display are several types of malts, barleys and hops, which, when mixed together in an endless number of ways, will produce a beer of some sort. Whether or not it will be appealing to the taste buds is another story.
"It's really not that hard of a procedure if you have the time to do it," said John Callahan, a member of the Redwood Coast Brewing Association. "Nothing tastes better than a beer that you make yourself."
Drink our beer. It's good.
September 12, 2003
The Keg Ran Out Club (KROC), a homebrew club based in Broomfield, CO, is hosting one helluva bash this year in conjunction with the GABF.
The Ninth Annual KROC World Brewers Forum
looks to be their best ever:
"The Ninth Annual KROC World Brewers Forum™ is one not to be missed. Speaking this year will be Ken Schramm (author of "The Compleat Meadmaker") and Britain's best homebrewer and beer historian James McCrorie as the Master of Ceremonies!
Our headline speaker for the event will be internationally renowned author and traveler, Michael Jackson, the beer hunter.
Proceeds from the event will once again help the American Red Cross, so please plan on attending. Admission is free, beer, mead and food will served and arm loads of give-aways can be had.
KROC's brewers have been hard at work producing some fine home-brewed beer to serve at the WBF. You can expect to sample a wide variety of styles including Imperial RyePA, Mead, Milk Stout, Oktoberfest, Scotch Ale,
Schwartzbier, and Wit."
The event will be held at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Denver, CO on Thursday, Sep 25th. Admission is free. The event starts at 8PM and lasts until whenever.
September 10, 2003
According to Australia's NineMSN, beer has taken on a more upscale image down under:
"Chardonnay-sipping sophisticates move over - the beer drinker's day has arrived.
No longer limited to the backyard barbie, beer is now being taken to the hottest dinner parties in town, provided it is the right brand and fresh, according to the consumer association's Choice magazine.
"Gone is the image of the thong-wearing ocker with beer gut and stubbies," writes Choice."
The fall harvest is upon us! If you're a cider-maker, and you're looking for an orchard in your area, there's no better place to start than
The Orchard Trail. The website has thousands of orchard listings throughout North America and beyond:
"The Orchard Trail section here is always a good starting point for finding an orchard near you. Caution: Always call ahead before you drive out to an orchard, as things
can change fast. I am always amazed at the complaints I get when an orchard loses a crop from hail - "We found them at AJ, drove all the way out there and they didn't have any apples."
No kidding - they had a hail storm yesterday! Some things are outside of my control! I try to keep the listings (several thousand) up to date, but there will always be some errors, I'm afraid."
September 9, 2003
In northern Kentucky, just south of Cincinnati, there's a Hofbrauhau restaurant and brewery, the only other one outside of Munich. And it's always Oktoberfest there.
"In German there is a word, "Gemuetlichkeit." Tolzmann said. "There is really no translation for it in English, but it basically means enjoy life, celebrate and have a good time with food and drink."
Few Germans in the area would dispute such poetry.
"It means that I am the beneficiary of a rich culture that has instilled a strong family and moral support system," said Mick Noll, owner of Strudel Haus, of his German heritage while cooking sausage dressed in lederhosen in the MainStrasse Village Thursday afternoon. "It also means I can proudly eat great food and drink wonderful beer."
Noll, whose great-grandfather immigrated to Northern Kentucky to work in agriculture, is an avid proponent of German heritage in the area.
"People wonder why we got the Hofbrauhaus here," Noll said. "It's because the German culture here is booming."
"Steve Smith of Cape Girardeau, who makes about 150 bottles of wine a year, took first place in sweet wines made with white grapes and second in sweet wines made with red grapes.
Smith, a towboat captain, said he's been making wine as a hobby since 1995. "I do drink a little of it," he said with a smile as he waited for the three judges to sample his two entries. But Smith said his wife is the real wine lover in the family.
In all, some two dozen individuals and wineries entered bottles of wine. Most of the entries came from individuals."
An Arkansas professor has patented a mechanized system for growing and harvesting grape vines, and it may revolutionize the labor-intensive wine industry.
Several California vineyards are already using Justin Morris's system:
"Morris’ humble and plain-spoken demeanor does well to camouflage his star status and accomplishments. He comes across as merely a big, burly guy with the looks and affable disposition of someone who enjoys life. Sitting behind
the director’s desk in the cinder block building that houses the University of Arkansas’ Institute of Food Science and Engineering, he talks for hours on end about his passion: grapes and the art of winemaking. "The art is in the finishing
of the style of wine that you’re trying to create. And it has to start back with the right variety [of grapes], grown in the right way, on the right soil and under the right conditions.
"It’s very, very involved."
The award-winning viticulturist and enologist has earned the respect of his peers around the globe, and several of his former students are said to be among the next generation of leading winemakers and researchers for the nation’s grape and wine industry.
With wineries now in every state of the nation, the demand for Morris’ method of mechanization could grow to be as large as the man who helped develop it."
September 8, 2003
Ever brew a British trippel? These folks did.
"It's styled after a Belgian tripel," Rubinstein says. "It's a simple recipe. It's brewed with Munton's lager malt and brewing sugar. We use our own house yeast,
which is a British yeast, the Ringwood. It's hopped fairly lightly with Kent Goldings for bitterness and a little British Fuggles for flavor. We do a little water treatment.
We add a little salts, like they do in Britain. That's it."
The result is an ale fairly light on the palate for its 10 percent alcohol content, though not as light as a true Belgian tripel.
And that is the point.
"We don't brew anything true to style," he says. "Basically, I brew what I want to brew. We do a big ESB at 6 percent. We do a beer called the Duke of Winship, which is
like a cross between a scotch ale and a porter. We're doing it just to have fun and brew good beers, and we do both."
Some guys will do just about anything for a brew.
Less than two weeks away from the start of this year's Oktoberfest.
Speaking of Oktoberfest, this is not a bad way to go.
The folks at Boston Beer Co. apparently hold an annual homebrew competition. The top three winners are flown to Munich for the Oktoberfest.
September 3, 2003
The new issue of Brew Your Own magazine features some great tips on getting the most out of your yeast:
"You make the wort. but it's the yeast that turns it into beer. What you can do to ensure that your fungal friends get off to a fast start and finish at the proper specific gravity."
The grass roots campaign to have the alcohol limit laws overturned in North Carolina, known as Pop the Cap, is organizing a
fund raiser on Saturday, October 18th. The goal is to seek donations from restaurants, bars and retailers who stand to benefit if the restrictions are lifted. PoptheCap intends to ask willing merchants to donate 25 cents per beer sold on that day.
But they need your help. If you live in North carolina and would love to be able to buy beers over the 6% ABV limit, contact PoptheCap and let them know you can help. They need volunteers to help sign up merchants and organize a lobbying effort.
If you are interested, please contact PoptheCap at info@popthecap.org.
September seems to bring out the beer festivals. Two of the biggest in the world will be held this month.
The Great Canadian Beer Festival will be held this weekend, Sep 5-6 at the Royal Athletic Park in Victoria, B.C.
The Great American Beer Festival will be held later this month, Sep 25-27 at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, CO.
For more info on beer festivals this month, check out BeerFestivals.org.
September 2, 2003
Mark your calendars now. Next year's National Homebrewers Conference will be held in Las Vegas, NV June 17-19th, at the Riviera Hotel & Casino.
The SeattlePI.com did a short interview last week with Paul Shipman, founder of Redhook Ale Brewery:
"In a batch there's 100 barrels. Now the average American who's an adult (drinks) about a barrel a year, approximately. But you
got to remember only half of the people drink beer. So the average person who actually drinks beer drinks about two barrels a year.
And the average beer drinking life is approximately 50 years. So what I say is when we brew a batch, we brew enough beer for one person for a lifetime."
Help this wine find its maker.
An award-winning wine at the Central Wisconsin State Fair last week is missing its maker:
"The grape wine's journey to the contest began in 1991 or 1992, when Nafziger was given the bottle by an elderly Marshfield couple. He met the couple when he purchased some wine-making equipment they wanted to sell. When Nafziger bought four 5-gallon carboys from the couple, they gave him a wooden 24-bottle pop crate with 24 ketchup bottles filled with wine.
The ketchup bottles were sealed with wax paper under the cap to prevent the wine from oxidizing, but Nafziger said air still was able to seep in.
Usually oxidized wine is considered bad wine. Most of the bottles had labels on them with the year 1971 or 1972. Nafziger figures because the wine has been aging for more than 30 years, the oxidization process turned the wine into an "interesting old sherry."
"It could be I misjudged that wine 10 years ago," he said. "The sharpness associated with oxidation had mellowed, and (Central Wisconsin Amateur Winemaking) club members had positive comments about the wine. Classic sherry is old oxidized wine that has aged to the point of mellowness."
Nafziger regrets not keeping in touch with the couple, whom he thinks lived along the 200 or 300 block of East Doege Street.
"I'm really sorry that I did not act earlier, when it would have been more likely that I could pass on this coveted recognition directly to the elderly couple," he said. "I remember them as being very old and very short."
His search continues. Anyone who has information on the mystery couple can reach Nafziger at 221-8090.
|
