So my wife has a favorite commercial brew, Sweetwater Sch'weat. After a string of porters and other dark brews for the winter she threw down the challenge to try and clone this brew. After some googling back and forth and some tweaking on my own I ended up with a recipe I liked.
6.5 lbs - 2 row
2.75 lbs - Wheat
0.5 oz - Amarillo (60 minute)
1 oz - Amarillo (5 minute)
In a fit of absolute frustration I had to tweak to this on brew day when I discovered the 3 lbs of wheat I ordered had come up short. Not by much but I added back some 2 row to balance it out and keep the OG where I wanted.
After a successful brew day with no issues of note and two weeks between the primary and secondary I bottled using 1 cup of honey. This one was tough for me because it is actually not my favorite wheat (if going hefe I prefer Widmer, its okay call me an Oregon beer snob I can take it) so tasting it throughout the process I was never completely sure if I was happy with it. It kept tasting bitter to me, but not like fun hop bitter, more like citrus bitter. The client kept insisting she was happy but I was weary, I've never dumped a batch and didn't want to start now. Finally 10 days after bottling we threw two in the fridge and went for it.
I have to say after all that I am happy with it, she loves it, says it may even be better than the original (don't worry, I know she is biased and just stroking my ego) and even I am happy with it. It mellowed some in the bottles I think and is crisp and refreshing, perfect for these very nice spring days in Georgia.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Sunday, February 19, 2012
A Tampa Beer Adventure
It started out as a work trip for Beck Wagnon Photography (beckwagnonphotography.com) and the fact that she asked me too come with and help out was more than enough to get me there. It turned into a lot of great beer and some great people and a very nice and casual wedding.
The wedding wasn't scheduled to start until almost 6 pm and we didn't have to be there until 3ish. My wife, the wonderful woman that she is, suggested we hit Tampa a little early and hit up a brewpub for lunch and a brewery tour before the wedding. Needless to say I didn't argue or complain. We started off for lunch at Tampa Bay Brewing (tampabaybrewingcompany.com) where we had the sampler. Samplers sometimes leave me wanting but this was a full sampler of a 9+1 beers and that made me happy. I say it like that because originally they didn't pour the hefeweizen for us since they said it had just been tapped and was pouring very yeasty. They brought it out to us later after they has drained some off but I appreciated that they cared enough about the quality of the product not to just serve us just anything. The hefewiezen is usually my wife's favorite and this time was no exception. Thanks to a few clever questions we got to talk to one of the brewers who had come in that day about yeast and some of their brews. Not an all inclusive conversation by any means but he was knowledgeable and helpful and clearly knew his stuff. I am man enough to admit that as we left I confessed to my wife that I hated that little shit because he couldn't have been more than 25 and was living the dream that is at least a decade off for me. At least he was cool.
After our lunch, which was also quite tasty I might add, we headed over to Cigar City Brewing (www.cigarcitybrewing.com) for the tour and tasting. I have had a couple of their brews before, I enjoyed one of their espresso beers but their Jai Alai IPA is a little much for me. Not bad just not my cup of tea. I must say though that the tour was one of the best I had been on. For $5 you get the tour, a draft pour of one of their beers from the tasting room, and a clean fresh pint glass on your way out the door. Except for the sorority girls who tried to hit on the tour guide the whole experience was excellent. I had specific questions about how they did the coffee infused flavor through aging instead of cold pressing and despite not being a brewer the guide was knowledgeable about their practices and was more than happy to chat away. During the tour I sipped on their pilot batch of a stout which was mighty tasty (I LOVE breweries that do pilot batches) and the misses enjoyed the Florida Cracker Belgian Wit.
After the tour we stopped around the corner at Total Wine and More which carries a lot of specialty brews and specifically a lot of brews that I can't get locally. As I started this post I was finishing off the saison brew from Swamp Head brewing in Gainsville FL. I will say I am not sure it was worth $19 for a 750ml bottle but it was a decent brew. I will be enjoying the rest of my haul over the next few days and will be peppering the internets with more and more as I go.
The wedding wasn't scheduled to start until almost 6 pm and we didn't have to be there until 3ish. My wife, the wonderful woman that she is, suggested we hit Tampa a little early and hit up a brewpub for lunch and a brewery tour before the wedding. Needless to say I didn't argue or complain. We started off for lunch at Tampa Bay Brewing (tampabaybrewingcompany.com) where we had the sampler. Samplers sometimes leave me wanting but this was a full sampler of a 9+1 beers and that made me happy. I say it like that because originally they didn't pour the hefeweizen for us since they said it had just been tapped and was pouring very yeasty. They brought it out to us later after they has drained some off but I appreciated that they cared enough about the quality of the product not to just serve us just anything. The hefewiezen is usually my wife's favorite and this time was no exception. Thanks to a few clever questions we got to talk to one of the brewers who had come in that day about yeast and some of their brews. Not an all inclusive conversation by any means but he was knowledgeable and helpful and clearly knew his stuff. I am man enough to admit that as we left I confessed to my wife that I hated that little shit because he couldn't have been more than 25 and was living the dream that is at least a decade off for me. At least he was cool.
After our lunch, which was also quite tasty I might add, we headed over to Cigar City Brewing (www.cigarcitybrewing.com) for the tour and tasting. I have had a couple of their brews before, I enjoyed one of their espresso beers but their Jai Alai IPA is a little much for me. Not bad just not my cup of tea. I must say though that the tour was one of the best I had been on. For $5 you get the tour, a draft pour of one of their beers from the tasting room, and a clean fresh pint glass on your way out the door. Except for the sorority girls who tried to hit on the tour guide the whole experience was excellent. I had specific questions about how they did the coffee infused flavor through aging instead of cold pressing and despite not being a brewer the guide was knowledgeable about their practices and was more than happy to chat away. During the tour I sipped on their pilot batch of a stout which was mighty tasty (I LOVE breweries that do pilot batches) and the misses enjoyed the Florida Cracker Belgian Wit.
After the tour we stopped around the corner at Total Wine and More which carries a lot of specialty brews and specifically a lot of brews that I can't get locally. As I started this post I was finishing off the saison brew from Swamp Head brewing in Gainsville FL. I will say I am not sure it was worth $19 for a 750ml bottle but it was a decent brew. I will be enjoying the rest of my haul over the next few days and will be peppering the internets with more and more as I go.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
First All-Grain Recap
It has been just a couple of short months now since I finally took the leap from brewing with DME to all grains all the time. I had enlisted the help of my father in law to build a mash-tun out of a 10 gallon rubbermaid cooler and was aching to put it to use. Add to that a 50 lb bag of 2 row sitting in my pantry taunting me and it was clearly time to get to work. I have always been one to do things the hard way first, and this time was no exception. The difference was this time I wasn't fully prepared for how hard I was about to make it on myself. The challenge that was before me was that I had not procured a grain mill and set aside to crack 8 lbs of grain by hand and whatever means I could.
When I started it already didn't seem like the smartest idea but I convinced myself that it couldn't take more than a couple of hours. Oh I was so young and naive. I had what I thought were a couple of good ideas going in. I was first going to load up a ziploc bag with grains, wrap it in a dish towel to keep to dust from getting too crazy and then tried to roll it with a rolling pin. I might as well have been rolling over a bag full of water, it was pointless and comical. That only lasted about 5 minutes before realizing that was a horrible idea.
Next I moved on to pouring a thin layer of grains into a shallow cookie sheet and again tried to crush the grains with a rolling pin. That worked a little bit better, a very very little bit better. This way I could actually crush some of the grains but again the grains moved very freely about in the tray and only a small amount actually ended up getting cracked at all.
The next plan doubled as the most effective and also a complete mess. My smarter half suggested that I could place one cookie sheet inside of the larger one I was already using and crack the grains between the two sheets. I went after this method first using the rolling pin just applying even pressure until I heard cracking, then using a rubber mallet to hit the top cookie sheet and crack the grain between the two again. The mallet worked somewhat faster but had the downside of spilling more grain out the side than any of the other options by far.
After about 4 hours of work I had finally cracked enough grain to start mashing in, it is then I realized the next challenge ahead of me was prepping water to mash in. As an extract brewer I had never worried about this, warming up the water and dissolving the DME was just part of the process. But sitting there tired from hours of work I realized that this time I had to not only heat almost 8 gallons of water to a much more precise temperature (158F was my goal here) but that this was going to take a lot longer than planned. At this moment I was glad I started brewing just after 4 AM,
Finally grains were cracked, strike water heated I put my new mash tun to work for about 70 minutes (batch sparge). The water looked clearer than I recall out of similar all grain batches but at this point I was well passed to point of no return and off I went into the boil.
An hour later I ended up with about 4.25 gallons of wort ready to be cooled and yeastified. (I know its not a word but how awesome is it). Two weeks later, bottled (though with too much priming honey because I'm an idiot and didn't adjust for the smaller volume) and then into the beer aging/conditioning haven that is my coat closet. Another two weeks then its time to try my creation, the end result is a smile on my face.
During fermentation and conditioning I had applied some lessons learned and convinced the smart one in the family to let me buy a grinder (though I still crank it by hand and I like it that way) and had duplicated the initial batch. A northwestern hopped Florida wild flower honey ale (I'm still pissed that the prez copied me) and had sent batch number 2 into the primary which much more ease and must better results initially. So the smile, was all because I had made good beer, despite all of the issues I had managed good beer once again. It wasn't quite as strong as I hoped, and the color wasn't 100% right, and the carbonation was a disaster even though I have yet to lose a single bottle. But it was tasty, and after I let it calm down very drinkable. I learned a lot that first batch, and learned more my second. Every batch is an adventure kids, so don't worry, relax, and have a homebrew.
When I started it already didn't seem like the smartest idea but I convinced myself that it couldn't take more than a couple of hours. Oh I was so young and naive. I had what I thought were a couple of good ideas going in. I was first going to load up a ziploc bag with grains, wrap it in a dish towel to keep to dust from getting too crazy and then tried to roll it with a rolling pin. I might as well have been rolling over a bag full of water, it was pointless and comical. That only lasted about 5 minutes before realizing that was a horrible idea.
Next I moved on to pouring a thin layer of grains into a shallow cookie sheet and again tried to crush the grains with a rolling pin. That worked a little bit better, a very very little bit better. This way I could actually crush some of the grains but again the grains moved very freely about in the tray and only a small amount actually ended up getting cracked at all.
The next plan doubled as the most effective and also a complete mess. My smarter half suggested that I could place one cookie sheet inside of the larger one I was already using and crack the grains between the two sheets. I went after this method first using the rolling pin just applying even pressure until I heard cracking, then using a rubber mallet to hit the top cookie sheet and crack the grain between the two again. The mallet worked somewhat faster but had the downside of spilling more grain out the side than any of the other options by far.
After about 4 hours of work I had finally cracked enough grain to start mashing in, it is then I realized the next challenge ahead of me was prepping water to mash in. As an extract brewer I had never worried about this, warming up the water and dissolving the DME was just part of the process. But sitting there tired from hours of work I realized that this time I had to not only heat almost 8 gallons of water to a much more precise temperature (158F was my goal here) but that this was going to take a lot longer than planned. At this moment I was glad I started brewing just after 4 AM,
Finally grains were cracked, strike water heated I put my new mash tun to work for about 70 minutes (batch sparge). The water looked clearer than I recall out of similar all grain batches but at this point I was well passed to point of no return and off I went into the boil.
An hour later I ended up with about 4.25 gallons of wort ready to be cooled and yeastified. (I know its not a word but how awesome is it). Two weeks later, bottled (though with too much priming honey because I'm an idiot and didn't adjust for the smaller volume) and then into the beer aging/conditioning haven that is my coat closet. Another two weeks then its time to try my creation, the end result is a smile on my face.
During fermentation and conditioning I had applied some lessons learned and convinced the smart one in the family to let me buy a grinder (though I still crank it by hand and I like it that way) and had duplicated the initial batch. A northwestern hopped Florida wild flower honey ale (I'm still pissed that the prez copied me) and had sent batch number 2 into the primary which much more ease and must better results initially. So the smile, was all because I had made good beer, despite all of the issues I had managed good beer once again. It wasn't quite as strong as I hoped, and the color wasn't 100% right, and the carbonation was a disaster even though I have yet to lose a single bottle. But it was tasty, and after I let it calm down very drinkable. I learned a lot that first batch, and learned more my second. Every batch is an adventure kids, so don't worry, relax, and have a homebrew.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
A DC Beer Trip
Recently my wife planned a trip up to the DC area for the weekend to shoot some amazing photographs. Really, it was a pretty rad trip (beckwagnonphotography.com check it out then check out her photo blog and come back, I'll wait...okay you back, cool then here we go again).
My wife is amazing, she really is, the reasons are far too numerous for this or any post to contain but here is one epic example. Whenever we travel I start off trying to find places to stop and eat along the way that aren't beer related. She digs it and enjoys it but isn't quite as all consumed as I am. I never want to make her feel like the only reason we travel is so that I can visit beer hot spots, I think that would be a bummer for her. But it always ends up a couple days before she starts to ask where we are going and what the plans are. I always give her a few options and she asks, "Why aren't we going to any breweries?" I justify it, there is usually one or two on the list anyway but at this point she is not about to let me mess it up again, this time my instructions are simple, scope out the breweries I want to go to. I, of course, have already done this, I know every brewery or beer bar within 20 miles of our expected route and within 50 of our final destination, I know what their best brews are and what seasonal beers they are carrying.
Long story short, wait, too late. Anyway our recent DC trip followed the same pattern and I couldn't have been happier. First stop was Bull City Burger and Brewery (http://bullcityburgerandbrewery.com/BCB&B/Home.html) and it was absolutely stellar. The food was actually a big highlight, they go for a big time local push and it pays off. As for the beer, absolutely top notch, absolutely. I had the imperial stout (served in correct glassware) and the doppelbock lager. Both were delicious and right on point, not only what you expect out each style but they also maximize the flavor. The staff is knowledgeable and was easy to talk to even as they got busier with the lunch rush. My better half went for the golden ale and her personal favorite the "Litteln Horny." That brew was part of a three part barley wine beer series they had done and this was the first and smallest of the bunch but it packed just the right amount of flavor and made her happy, which is always the goal anyway.
Dinner plans actually changed when she found a Dogfish head brewpub in Arlington. After braving a little bit of DC traffic we were seated quickly and had just ordered which eagle eyes spotted a mythical creation. The long sought and never found Bitches Brew. This was the brew featured on the (sadly) short lived series Brewmasters on Discovery channel last year featuring Dogfish Head Brewery. Since then we have searched far and wide in our local area and even on a trip to Asheville for a bottle to no avail. She spotted it up on their chalkboard and asked if they still had it, they found us one of the remaining bottles and we shared it over dinner. Food was good, nothing out of this world but it didn't matter that beer was wonderful, it was deep and complex yet smooth. My mouth is watering just thinking about it again.
Day two was a day actually in DC, and it included a lot of walking from the capital down the national mall and then up to Georgetown. Since we were on foot most beer places in DC were a touch out of reach but that proved to be a hidden benefit. We ended up in this little bar called Thunder Burger in Georgetown and it was quite the little find with an excellent tap/bottle list. I have to confess that now a couple of weeks later I can't remember what I had for my first or second round, but I remember that I enjoyed both the food and the beer. Enough so that given the chance to go back that little spot would be a required detour.
Day two ended with somewhat mixed feelings at Capital city brewing. When you google DC breweries it is the first result, yet when I asked around no one mentioned it, why was that, it sort of puzzled me. Then we went there, and it was on par with a Rock Bottom or Gordon Biersch (my bias against them has been mentioned before) but that was just the same. The beer was okay, nothing I even really remember and I only had one. The food was very standard fare, nothing special and nothing I even remember either.
That is it, two days traveling, 3 great beer finds and 1 meh result. Damn I love to travel with this woman.
My wife is amazing, she really is, the reasons are far too numerous for this or any post to contain but here is one epic example. Whenever we travel I start off trying to find places to stop and eat along the way that aren't beer related. She digs it and enjoys it but isn't quite as all consumed as I am. I never want to make her feel like the only reason we travel is so that I can visit beer hot spots, I think that would be a bummer for her. But it always ends up a couple days before she starts to ask where we are going and what the plans are. I always give her a few options and she asks, "Why aren't we going to any breweries?" I justify it, there is usually one or two on the list anyway but at this point she is not about to let me mess it up again, this time my instructions are simple, scope out the breweries I want to go to. I, of course, have already done this, I know every brewery or beer bar within 20 miles of our expected route and within 50 of our final destination, I know what their best brews are and what seasonal beers they are carrying.
Long story short, wait, too late. Anyway our recent DC trip followed the same pattern and I couldn't have been happier. First stop was Bull City Burger and Brewery (http://bullcityburgerandbrewery.com/BCB&B/Home.html) and it was absolutely stellar. The food was actually a big highlight, they go for a big time local push and it pays off. As for the beer, absolutely top notch, absolutely. I had the imperial stout (served in correct glassware) and the doppelbock lager. Both were delicious and right on point, not only what you expect out each style but they also maximize the flavor. The staff is knowledgeable and was easy to talk to even as they got busier with the lunch rush. My better half went for the golden ale and her personal favorite the "Litteln Horny." That brew was part of a three part barley wine beer series they had done and this was the first and smallest of the bunch but it packed just the right amount of flavor and made her happy, which is always the goal anyway.
Dinner plans actually changed when she found a Dogfish head brewpub in Arlington. After braving a little bit of DC traffic we were seated quickly and had just ordered which eagle eyes spotted a mythical creation. The long sought and never found Bitches Brew. This was the brew featured on the (sadly) short lived series Brewmasters on Discovery channel last year featuring Dogfish Head Brewery. Since then we have searched far and wide in our local area and even on a trip to Asheville for a bottle to no avail. She spotted it up on their chalkboard and asked if they still had it, they found us one of the remaining bottles and we shared it over dinner. Food was good, nothing out of this world but it didn't matter that beer was wonderful, it was deep and complex yet smooth. My mouth is watering just thinking about it again.
Day two was a day actually in DC, and it included a lot of walking from the capital down the national mall and then up to Georgetown. Since we were on foot most beer places in DC were a touch out of reach but that proved to be a hidden benefit. We ended up in this little bar called Thunder Burger in Georgetown and it was quite the little find with an excellent tap/bottle list. I have to confess that now a couple of weeks later I can't remember what I had for my first or second round, but I remember that I enjoyed both the food and the beer. Enough so that given the chance to go back that little spot would be a required detour.
Day two ended with somewhat mixed feelings at Capital city brewing. When you google DC breweries it is the first result, yet when I asked around no one mentioned it, why was that, it sort of puzzled me. Then we went there, and it was on par with a Rock Bottom or Gordon Biersch (my bias against them has been mentioned before) but that was just the same. The beer was okay, nothing I even really remember and I only had one. The food was very standard fare, nothing special and nothing I even remember either.
That is it, two days traveling, 3 great beer finds and 1 meh result. Damn I love to travel with this woman.
So out of date it is sad
So this is tragically out of date. When I last posted I was brewing from kits and making small minor variations and taking a few small risks every now and then. I don't pretend to by much further along but I'm all-grain brewing and I can safely say enough good batches behind me that I feel comfortable pressing the limits a little bit.
I guess it is time to start catching up, enjoy the ride.
I guess it is time to start catching up, enjoy the ride.
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