Just about two weeks ago I finally got around to visiting the Sam Adams brewery while up in Boston for the weekend visiting some friends. To begin with, the brewery is in the middle of nowhere--it's in a small industrial park in an otherwise dead residential area on the outskirts of Boston. The brewery that's open for tours is actually their pilot brewhouse--they have much larger production facilities elsewhere in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania if I remember correctly. When we first got to the brewery, they were holding a small tasting in their hop garden/picnic area for their annual Beer Lover's Choice. The Beer Lover's Choice is an annual "competition" that Sam Adams holds to choose their newest beer. Consumers get to sample two options and vote for the winner. On the menu this year was a Czech Pilsner and an English-style IPA (I'm sure most west coast beer drinkers would cringe at the fact that they called it an IPA, but it's brewed in the traditional English manner--it's not an American, west coast hop-bomb). I was partial to the Pilsner and voted for it a second time (I had voted once already at the National Homebrew Conference). After voting, we began our tour. The tour itself was your standard brewery tour--nothing extraordinary for anyone who knows the least bit about beer and brewing. We sampled some grains, smelled some hops, etc. I was a big fan of our tour guide though (I think her name was Lauren). She had just the right amount of corny, tour-guide humor, and at one point she stopped in the middle of speech, leaned into me, and whispered something about having a few pints already (it was noon...awesome). Following the tour, we got to sample a few Sam Adams brews--their standard Boston Lager, their seasonal Summer Ale, and their limited released Brick Red, which is available only in Boston. Everyone's had the Boston Lager and the Summer Ale, but it was nice to try something new with the Brick Red. It was an Irish Red Ale that was sweet and malty from what I recall--a tasty and sessionable beer. On a final note, we also got a chance to smell an empty bottle of Utopia, a nearly 30% ABV beer produced every other year. The bottle (which is shaped to resemble a copper brewing vessel) had intense maple aromas, which is about all I could pick up.
Hefeweizen Brew Day!
This past Saturday I spent the day in my brewery, brewing up a Bavarian Hefeweizen for a family BBQ we're having in August. Things went very well overall. I had one hiccup in that my yeast starter didn't take off until nearly a day after I pitched. A 24-hour lag time with a starter was cause for a little concern, so I headed to the homebrew shop on Friday to pick up an extra vial of yeast before brew day. I'm guessing the slow start had something to do with the original vial being shipped from California in the hot weather (I had ordered ingredients online--last time I do that!). After my yeast scare, the brew day went great. For the first time, I had a really great mash efficiency--I usually hit about 65%, but this time, with some process changes, I hit 77%, which is perfect. The only problem was, I calculated my malt bill for 65% efficiency, so the beer had a much higher gravity than what I was shooting for. I could've watered it down to bring it within the parameters, but I figured I'd let it be. It'll just be a 7% ABV Imperial Hefeweizen; time to get the family wastyfaced! After the boil and cooling, I used pure oxygen to oxygenate the wort for the first time in order to aid fermentation (I've been having some issues with stuck fermentations). Although I can't say for sure, the oxygen seems to have done the trick. The beer's been fermenting all week at 70F, and it started spewing out of the airlock after 24 hours because fermentation was so active. It finally calmed a bit, and I'm going to clean up a bit tonight and probably replaced the airlock with a new clean, sanitized one. More updates on the hefeweizen when I pour the first pint in August!
N.J. State Fair Homebrew Competition
After a full day of brewing on Saturday, I headed over to the Sussex County Fairgrounds on Sunday to help judge a homebrew competition as part of the New Jersey State Fair. It was a relatively small competition compared to others I've been to, but they had a respectable 106 entries. In the morning, I judged the English Pale Ale and Scottish & Irish Ale categories. There were some really great beers entered--I believe first place went to a Scottish 80/- (the "/-" means Shilling--Scottish beers were historically named by how much tax was paid on a barrel), second place to a Irish Red Ale, and third place to an Extra Special/Strong Bitter (English Pale Ale). In the afternoon, after lunch, I judged the Belgian & French Ale and Sour Ale categories. I don't remember the winners here, but the entries consisted of Witbiers, Saisons, a Belgian Specialty Ale, and a Fruit Lambic. It was a fun competition to judge and I walked away with a t-shirt and beer mug courtesy of Krogh's (a brewpub near the fairgrounds).
Finally, this coming weekend I'm heading up to Cooperstown, NY for Belgium Comes to Cooperstown at Brewery Ommegang. The event is a Belgian beer festival with live music, food, bonfires, and camping on the brewery grounds to top it all off. I'm really excited and will be sure to provide an updated when I return!
No comments:
Post a Comment