Portable Kegerator & An Awesome Summer

This Memorial Day weekend I'm heading to Ocean City, NJ (where the only oil in the water is from the cast of the Jersey Shore) to kick-off what's sure to prove a pretty awesome summer. I'll be renting a house with a few friends, relaxing, and of course, drinking lots of beer! In fact, I'll be debuting my portable kegerator (nicknamed "R2Beer2") to bring some homebrew with me. Once you have a kegerator in your home, it's really hard to go anywhere and not have fresh homebrew on tap. So, I decided I needed a kegerator for the road!

R2Beer2 is a converted IGLOO Ice Cube Maxcold 70-qt. Roller Cooler that I bought at Target. It can hold a 3 gallon corny keg and have room for a few bottles/cans as well. The cooler keeps ice for 5 days at an ambient temperature of 90F, which is perfect for the summer. I drilled a hole through the front for the shank and attached a faucet to one end and an elbowed tailpiece to the other (just to save a little room in the cooler) where the beer-out line is attached to. I got a 4" long MFL bulkhead from Austin Homebrew and drilled through the side of the cooler to install it. I'll hookup a small CO2 injector to the bulkhead on the outside of the cooler for serving and the gas-in line is connected on the inside. The whole project took about 45 minutes to assemble; I think I spent more time determining which parts I wanted/needed and ordering them online! I'll be serving the last of my Imperial Brown Ale in R2Beer2 this weekend, and when I return, I'll be filling the keg with some Irish Red Ale that I brewed last weekend for a camping trip at the end of June, where R2Beer2 will really be put to the test.

After my return from Ocean City, I'll be gearing up for the unofficial DC beer week leading up to SAVOR next Saturday. Tuesday night is ChurhKey's East Coast Craft Beer Cask Party. Wednesday night (if it rains and I skip playing tennis) is a Three Floyds tasting at the Brickskeller. Thursday night is an Odell's tasting, again at the Brickskeller. Friday night, at the Brickskeller once more, is their sold out Lupulin Reunuless featuring an all-star beer cast (Ken Grossman of Sierra Nevada, Kim Jordan of New Belgium, Rob Tod of Allagash, Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head, Greg Koch of Stone, Nick Matt of Saranac, Bob Pease of the Brewers Association, Bill Madden of Mad Fox, and possibly the great Charlie Papazian). Finally, Saturday night is the main event, SAVOR at the National Building Museum, featuring 70 breweries and food pairings. And on Sunday, I shall take a break, relax, and have a beer. Following SAVOR week, I'll be heading to Minneapolis in mid-June for the National Homebrewers Conference, which will be legendary if last year was any indication--more on that later!

Enjoy your holiday weekends! Cheers!

Scandinavian Beer & Award-Winning Homebrew

Last weekend, I entered three of my beers in the Spirit of Free Beer homebrew competition hosted by BURP (Brewers United for Real Potables), a local homebrew club that I recently joined. Although my Helles and Lambic didn't do that well, my IPA took second place in its category out of 29 entries! The beer was given a score of 42 (out of 50), which I was really excited about. In my judging experience, I rarely give scores in the 40s (I judged the American Amber/American Brown and Oatmeal Stout/Foreign Export Stout flights at the competition, and I think I only gave one beer above a 39), so this was really an honor for me. I'll pick up my medal/prize at BURP's next meeting in June. On the homebrew competition note, I just shipped my Sam Adams LongShot entries (Cinnabon Porter) at the beginning of this week, and thankfully the package arrived safely. I've mentioned it before, but I brewed a robust porter bottled with cinnamon & vanilla infused bourbon. It came out quite well and has been met with good reception from my friends; the judging starts at the beginning of June, and I have my fingers crossed!

Following a day of beer judging at the Spirit of Free Beer, I had a bunch of people over that night for a little homebrew tasting event. I served my Helles, IPA, Brown Ale, Lambic, and the Cinnabon Porter. Each beer was paired with a different cheese (Laura Chenel Chevre, Keen's Cheddar, Abbaye de Belloc, Mascarpone, and Pleasant Ridge Reserve respectively) recommended by Garrett Oliver, brewmaster at Brooklyn Brewery and beer author. I emailed Garrett on a whim, and he was nice enough to get back to me pretty quickly...and from Copenhagen at that. His suggestions were excellent and the pairings went over really well. I'm planning on another tasting event sometime in the fall, and I think I'm going to do a British ale series for that again with some sort of food pairing (maybe chocolate this time!).

After my tasting this past weekend, I actually had the chance to meet Garrett Oliver in person on Tuesday night at the National Geographic Society in DC where he hosted a talk/tasting entitled, "New Beers of Scandinavia." All the beers served were from Denmark, Finland, Norway, or Sweden, and there was really some winners on the list. My favorite was definitely the Nils Oscar Barleywine from Nils Oscar in Nykobing, Sweden. It had rich malty flavors (caramel, toffee, and some biscuit) with a light floral hop character. For a barleywine, it was incredibly smooth and very well-balanced. Runners-up would be the Huvila-X Porter from Malmgardin Panimo in Malmgard, Findland and the always tasty Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast from Denmark (though Mikkeller actually contract brews all their beer). In addition to the beers, some small plate appetizers were served including Alaskan Smoked Salmon, Swedish Meatballs, and Venison Sausage. The event was a lot of fun and proved to be a unique opportunity to try what are otherwise relatively rare brews. The event was co-sponsored by the Brickskeller and BURP members actually volunteered with serving the beers and running the event.

I'll be brewing an Irish Red Ale this weekend in anticipation of a camping trip at the end of June, and I'll also be putting together a little portable kegerator using a rolling Igloo cooler that can hold a 3 gallon corny keg (and keep ice for 5 days at 90F). Pictures of that to follow in the next few days. Also, SAVOR is coming up in DC in 2 weeks with all sorts of special pre-SAVOR events going on in the city. I'll be attending quite a few and reporting back! Cheers!

Sam Adams Utopias

Yup, that's right, Sam Adams Utopias. And I tasted not one, but two different bottles of this rare and exquisite beer. Last Thursday, RFD in DC hosted a last minute Sam Adams tasting led by Mike Sheehan, the DC, MD, and WV District Manager for Boston Beer Company. It was a small group (maybe 20 people), which was really a perfect size for this type of tasting.

Mike served 6 different beers before opening the Utopias. First up were the three Sam Adams Imperial Series brews, which are pretty widely available: Imperial White, Double Bock, and Imperial Stout. In the interest of full disclosure, I'm personally not a huge fan of the Imperial Series, with the exception of the Stout. I find the hot alcohols in the White to be a little harsh, and I don't think it's particularly well-balanced. The Double Bock is better, but the malty sweetness can be a bit cloying at times. I do enjoy the Stout though, which is rich and complex with some smoky notes (my friend I was with blurted out, "Bacon!" as soon as she tasted it) that I believe are actually yeast derived as opposed to coming from the addition of smoked malt (though I could be wrong).

Next up after the Imperial Series were three beers from the Sam Adams Barrel Room Collection that are only available in Boston and Denver: American Kriek, Stony Brook Red, and New World Tripel. Despite not being a fan of the Lindemans version(way too sweet), I really enjoyed the American Kriek; the flavor was more reminiscent of fresh, tart cherries rather than an artificial fruit sweetness (the bottle reads, "AGED ON SWEET YET TART BALATON CHERRIES"). It wasn't cloying, but rather crisp and refreshing. The Stony Brook Red is supposed to be a Flanders Red Ale style, but I found it to have a significant barnyard character as compared to Rodenback Grand Cru for example. It's a definitely a tasty beer though--dry with the impression of sweetness from the yeast and a background oak note. The bottle reads, "BELGIAN STYLE WITH A HINT OF TART FRUIT AND TOASTED OAK CHARACTER." Lastly, the New World Tripel is described as, "GOLDEN IN COLOR WITH NOTES OF SPICE AND TROPICAL FRUIT." There was nothing particularly outstanding about the Tripel in my opinion (don't get me wrong, it was a very good beer; there's just nothing I can recall that stands out); it was your typical Abbey-style ale, but it was definitely well-balanced and extremely drinkable.

Finally, we come to the Utopias (and yes, it's actually "Utopias," not "Utopia"), the strongest real beer on earth clocking in at about 27% ABV. While other breweries produce stronger beers (Schorschbräu makes a 40% Eisbock, and BrewDog has their 32% Tactical Nuclear Penguin as well as their 41% Sink the Bismarck!), they are all basically distilled--the beers are brewed and then frozen to remove water, concentrating the alcohol content. Utopias are actually naturally fermented to 27% ABV without any freeze-distillation occurring. Served at room temperature, the beer is uncarbonated and is reminiscent of a fine liquor. Rich and warming, the beer has an inredibly complex flavor profile with notes of toffee, caramel, vanilla, oak, plum, smoke, and maple. It's very full bodied and almost slick on the tongue. The beer is far from harsh, and it's actually very quaffable, though it's certainly a sipper. I can think of nothing better than sitting by the fireplace on a cold winter day with a snifter of Utopias. And as if one bottle wasn't enough, Mike graciously opened a second bottle for a few of us after the tasting ended (and he even let me take the empty bottle home, which makes an excellent addition to my living room!). A bottle of Utopias is definitely pricey at about at least $150, but it is without a doubt a wonderful and unique brew. I can definitely see myself buying a bottle one day when I can bring myself to spend that much.

Before I sign-off for today, I want to take a moment and climb up on to my soapbox. Sam Adams sometimes gets badmouthed among the beer geek community for not being a craft brewery any longer or being no different than the big breweries. I can't tell you how many threads I've seen on various beer forums putting down Boston Beer Company, their products, and their values. To be honest, I really don't understand where this animosity comes from, and, pardon the French, but it's a steaming pile of bullshit. Yes, it's a public company, and yes, Boston Lager is available in just about every bar, supermarket, grocery store, and airport across the country, but in my opinion, that mainstream, widely-distributed beer has more flavor and complexity than some of the extreme beers being produced by smaller craft breweries. This tasting only confirmed my belief that Sam Adams was, is, and always will be a craft brewery at heart. Their Barrel Room Collection and Utopias speak for themselves in this regard, and they still support their roots via homebrewing events like the Patriot Homebrew Contest and the Longshot Competition. I think people forget sometimes that operating a brewery is still a business at its core. There's only so far you can get with a great, hand-crafted product; you still need to make smart business decisions and run a tight shift. Jim Koch has proven that good business and good beer can coincide, so cheers to Sam Adams for 25 years of excellence! Stepping off of soapbox now...

Reinitzgebot Updates, Scottish Ales, & Competition Season

It's packaging time at the Reinitzgebot Brewery (the name I've given to my homebrewery)! Tonight I plan on kegging 3 gallons of Imperial Brown Ale and 5 gallons of Rye IPA. I think I'm gonna be doing the "quick & dirty" forced carbonation method as opposed to my normal "proper" way, since I'd like to have some beer available on Saturday night for visiting friends. The Munich Helles I brewed a few weeks ago is lagering in my chest freezer; it's been there about 2 weeks so far, and I plan on leaving it there for at least another 2-3 weeks before kegging that up.

I also purchased ingredients last weekend for the first beer I've designed myself. It's going to be a spin on the Vanilla Bourbon Porter I made at the end of last year, but using my own unique malt/hop bill. I'm dubbing the beer Cinnabon Porter, which will have a base of Crisp Marris Otter malt and a blend of specialty malts, including Chocolate, Brown, Crystal 40, and Crystal 60. I was hoping for Kent Goldings for the hop additions, but the homebrew store didn't have any, so I ended up getting Styrian Goldings and Fuggles. On brew day, I'm going to soak 2 vanilla beans and 2 cinnamon sticks in a small amount of bourbon and let it sit during the course of fermentation. This infused bourbon will then be added to the porter at bottling (I'm bottle conditioning this beer as opposed to kegging). I'm planning on entering this beer in the Sam Adams Longshot Competition this year, which I just registered for. This year's Longshot competition is only for Category 23--Specialty Beers and entries are due at the end of May. I'll be brewing next weekend to get this beer done in time for the deadline.

In other brewnews, I attended a Scottish Ale tasting a couple weeks ago at the Brickskeller in DC, which was led by Bruce Williams of Williams Bros Brewing Co. in Scotland. It was a great tasting plus Bruce was an interesting and engaging speaker. My favorite of his beers was his 80/- (80 Shilling) Scottish Ale, a malt forward, but incredibly well-attenuated beer. Bruce also did a really cool experiment to demonstrate the different carbonation levels in various beers. Williams Bros produces only real cask ale or bottle conditioned beers--no forced carbonation. Bruce poured a number of different beers into small glasses including two of his own, a Budweiser, a Bud Light, as well as a glass of soda. Over the top of each glass he stretched a condom that had been filled with some Sweet n' Low. The Sweet n' Low acted as nucleation points to force CO2 out of solution and up into the condom. Depending on the carbonation level of the various beers, the condoms inflated to different levels. The condom over the soda looked like it was about to blow off the glass (ha, he said "blow off").

The tasting couldn't have come at a more perfect time--I'll be in Philadelphia this weekend judging the first round of the National Homebrew Competition, and I've been assigned to the Scottish & Irish Ales for the morning judging session. In the afternoon, I'll be judging IPAs. I've also signed up to judge the Spirit of Free Beer competition in Fairfax, VA in the middle of May, and I plan on entering a few of my beers in that competition as well. Lastly, I just signed up to steward the second round of the National Homebrew Competition at the National Homebrew Conference, which I'll be attending in Minneapolis at the end of June.

Till next time, cheers and beer it forward!

IPAs, IPAs, and More IPAs!

The last few days have been chock-full of IPAs for me. For those who aren't familiar with the style, India Pale Ale (or IPA) was originally developed in Britain to survive the long voyage via sea to India. Hops, which act as a natural preservative of sorts, were added generously to the beer to prolong its life and ensure it was still drinkable when arriving in India. The style has evolved in the U.S. to be uber-hoppy, with some beers falling into the Double or Imperial IPA category. In general, a standard IPA should have a firm malt base to support the high hop bitterness, and although emphasis is on hop flavor and aroma, the beer should be fairly well balanced.

My IPA extravaganza started on Sunday when I brewed a 5 gallon batch of a Rye IPA. I used about 3 lbs of rye malt to lend a slightly spicy note to the beer and increase the complexity of the overall flavor profile. This was my first time brewing with rye, and one thing I was not prepared for was the fact that rye malt has not husks. Malted barley comes in the husk, which acts as a natural filter bed when lautering the mash. When brewing with wheat, which I have done before, you generally add rice hulls to compensate for the wheat's lack of a husk. I did not realize that rye was also huskless. What all this means, is that lautering was especially slow and difficult. I just barely got enough wort out of the mash tun for my 5 gallon batch. In hindsight, I should've used some rice hulls or added more water for a thinner mash. In the end though, everything worked out fine...I relaxed, didn't worry, and had a homebrew! After my lautering issues, everything went fine--I gratefully avoided a boil over this time. I used about 3.5 oz of hops (Mt. Hood and Columbus), and fermentation was vigorous less than 12 hours after pitching the yeast.

Continuing on the IPA theme, I went to ChurchKey in DC last night for their Mikkeller Single Hop IPA Bonanza. Mikkeller is a Danish brewery that produces some really extraordinary beers. One of the cooler things they've done is their Single Hop project. They brewed 10 different IPAs all using the same exact malt bill and a single hop. Each beer uses a different hop as to showcase the hop's true flavor and aroma. ChurchKey managed to get all 10 IPAs on tap at the same time. AWESOME. J.T. and I went and had 4 oz samples of each in two 5-beer flights. The beers were:
MIKKELLER SINGLE HOP CENTENNIAL IPA
MIKKELLER SINGLE HOP CASCADE IPA
MIKKELLER SINGLE HOP AMARILLO IPA
MIKKELLER SINGLE HOP NELSON SAUVIN IPA
MIKKELLER SINGLE HOP EAST KENT GOLDING IPA
MIKKELLER SINGLE HOP TOMAHAWK IPA
MIKKELLER SINGLE HOP NUGGET IPA
MIKKELLER SINGLE HOP WARRIOR IPA
MIKKELLER SINGLE HOP CHINOOK IPA
MIKKELLER SINGLE HOP SIMCOE IPA
This event was really incredible; rarely do you get a chance to taste and compare individual hops. The most interesting for me were the Nelson Sauvin and Chinook. Although I've used Chinook in my own brewing before, I was blown away by the flavor profile when used alone. The hop had an inherent smokiness to it; it tasted almost as if smoked malt was used in the beer, though none was. The Nelson Sauvin, which I never even heard of before, is a hop from New Zealand with bold fruitiness and floral characteristics that was reminiscent of white wine (Sauvin == Sauvignon Blanc). I'm gonna have to get my hands on some Nelson Sauvin to use in an IPA; I'm thinking of doing a single-hop brew with it in fact.

That's about it for today. I'll be going to a tasting event on Thursday evening, so I'll have another update on Friday probably. This coming weekend I'll be brewing again (an Imperial Brown Ale this time), and then I'll have three beers fermenting at once--the ultimate trifecta! Till next time, cheers!

Fermentation Frenzy--A Homebrew Triathlon

Mike DiMarco should be proud--I'm running a triathlon...a beer triathlon that is. I'm brewing 3 beers in 3 weeks, and I'm already a third of the way there. This past weekend, I brewed a 5 gallon batch of a Munich Helles, a light lager that the BJCP describeds as having a "malty but fully attenuated Pils malt showcase" and "is not overly sweet, but rather focuses on malt flavor with underlying hop bitterness in a supporting role." The beer was made using mostly Pilsner malt, with a little Light Munich as well as Melanoidin. The hop bill was pretty simple--just some German Hallertauer at 60 minutes. For my first time brewing in my new place, the brewday went extremely well. My new stove was luckily able to bring 7.5 gallons of wort to a boil, though I had a small issue with a boil over, which took 45 minutes of scrubbing the stove with a brillo pad to clean it up. The one major issue I had was fermentation; this was only my second time doing a lager, and I didn't handle the yeast as well as I should've. Although I made a properly-sized starter using WLP838 Southern German Lager yeast, I kept the starter at fermentation temperature (about 52 F) instead of keeping it at room temp to grow the yeast. Once I pitched the yeast slurry, there was about a 72-hour lag time before fermentation really got going. In the end though, the yeast prevailed, and you can see the krausen forming on top of the beer in the picture above. I'll let the beer ferment out at 52 F before transferring it to the secondary and lagering at 34 F for at least a month.

While my Munich Helles is fermenting away, I'm going to brew a 5 gallon batch of a Rye IPA this Sunday, which should come out to be a hoppy and subtly spicy ale with a firm malt backbone. The malt bill calls for mostly American 2-row with a number of specialty malts, including Rye, Caramel 60, CaraPils, and a little Wheat. The hop additions are all either Mt. Hood or Columbus, and I prepared a starter last night using WLP051 California Ale V yeast.

Finally, next weekend I'll be brewing a 3 gallon batch of an Imperial Brown Ale using Maris Otter as a base malt with Brown Malt, Caramel 80, Caramel 120, and some Dark Belgian Candi Syrup. The hops include Columbus and Willamette, and I'll be using WLP001 California Ale yeast.

Tasting notes to come once all three beers are on tap...onward with the triathlon!

The Return of the Blog-O-Beer

I'm back like a bad case of herpes! I'm finally settled down in DC and just moved in to my newly purchased condom (umm, I mean "condo"...I'm still on the herpes subject apparently). Okay, enough about STDs! On to beer!

Along with my new home, comes a newly built kegerator. When I moved down to DC, I got a new 5.5 cubic foot chest freezer as a mini-kegerator in my temporary apartment. Now that I have my own place, I'm going to be using the chest freezer for lagering, and I moved my 14 cubic foot upright freezer down to DC from NJ. Last week I converted the upright freezer into a full blown kegerator with three taps. Despite a "small" snafu along the way, it's all setup and waiting for beer! I only need a drip tray and some tap handles to complete it, which are both on their way. Check out the pictures below!

I built the kegerator by drilling three holes through the door using a 1-inch hole saw. Shanks run through the door with faucets on the outside and 5 foot beer lines attached on the inside. The gas systems consists of a 5lb CO2 tank and a primary regulator connected to a 3-gauge secondary regulator, so I can control the individual pressure in three different kegs. My small snafu was the fact that one of the three holes I drilled cut through two wires in the door. I managed to fix the wiring by removing the back of the freezer door, digging through the insulation, and splicing the wires back together with. In a moment of stupidity though, I decided to plug the freezer in after drilling through the wires--this shorted out the circuit board in the LCD control panel on the freezer. Luckily, I was able to order a replacement control panel from Frigidaire--it arrived yesterday and everything is back to working order!

The only thing I'm missing now is beer. I'm going to be re-starting full-scale brewing operations this weekend when I brew my inaugural beer in my new home: a Munich Helles. I've setup an agressive brewing schedule for myself; I plan on brewing 3 weekends in a row in order to stock up the kegerator. The other two beers will be a Rye IPA and an Imperial Brown Ale. I'll have details plus pictures of my brew day after the weekend. Cheers!

Review: Vanilla Bourbon Porter

I'm finally down in DC and getting ready to start my new job tomorrow! I'm all moved in, and although homebrewing is going to take a break for awhile, home drinking is not! I picked up a 5 cu ft chest freezer yesterday to hold two kegs I brought with me (pumpkin ale and vanilla bourbon porter). Although my roommate may not be thrilled to have a chest freezer in the apartment, he certainly can't complain about fresh draft beer on tap! (Right JT?)

Below are some tastings notes of my homebrewed vanilla bourbon porter. I'm very happy with the way it turned it out...

Aroma: Strong chocolate aroma with notes of vanilla. Some hints of coffee. Very clean, no hop aroma.

Appearance: Dark, dark brown and almost black. There's a small tan head with decent retention. It looks almost creamy.

Flavor: Coffee and vanilla are the dominant flavors, with some dark chocolate. Medium bitterness with a very slight hot alcohol quality. The bourbon is noticeable on the finish, but is very faint otherwise. Some oakiness is detectable. No hop flavor.

Mouthfeel: Medium to medium-full bodied with a mild carbonation. A little astringent from the roasted grain

Overall Impression: For a nearly 10% ABV beer, this porter is extremely smooth. I would like the bourbon to be a little more apparent--I have a sneaking suspicion that the alcohol and water stratified in the keg, and that the last few pints are gonna be uber-bourbon flavored. However, I just took another sip now that it's warmed up a bit, and the bourbon is now noticeable. I gotta give myself some props for making an exceptionally clean and drinkable "big" beer!

Oskar Blues Ten FIDY

I'm trying to get better with updating this blog more often. I'm gonna start it off with a much overdue tasting--Ten FIDY, a Russian Imperial Stout from Oskar Blues. Oskar Blues is one of the few craft breweries that package their beer in cans, and kudos to them for doing it! Check out my post on light struck beer, and you'll understand why cans are actually the best packaging for beer.

Aroma: An initial blast of dark chocolate and coffee. After getting past the roasty notes, there's hints of dark fruits. No noticeable hop aroma.

Appearance: Almost jet black with a beautiful dark brown head (though the head retention was not great).

Flavor: Roasty flavors dominate with a background biscuity maltiness. Some fruity esters are apparent in the flavor as in the aroma. Despite having a whopping 98 IBUs (International Bittering Units), the beer is incredibly well-balanced and is even slightly sweet on the finish.

Mouthfeel: Thick and slick on the tongue. Extremely warming (it should be at 10% ABV) with a very mild carbonation level. Some astringency is noticeable, but that can be expected with so much roasted grain being used.

Overall Impression: A full bodied, well-balanced Russian Imperial Stout. Despite the high ABV and IBUs, the beer is wonderfully smooth and drinkable. Definitely a must have for the approaching winter months--this will keep you warm on a cold day! Plus it comes in a can, and we all know that everyone likes it in the can!

Oaked Vanilla Bourbon Porter

Over the weekend, I kegged up 3 gallons of my homebrewed Oaked Vanilla Bourbon Porter. The base beer is a robust porter, rich and chocolately, clocking in at around 8.5% ABV. After primary fermentation, I slit open two whole vanilla beans (if you don't know what fresh vanilla beans look like, see the picture above) and added them to the secondary fermenter for just over a week. While the beer was being vanilla-ized, I took a 200ml flask of Jim Beam Bourbon and put it in a container with about a 1/4 oz of medium toast French oak cubes. At kegging, I blended the vanilla porter and the oaked bourbon. I think I added a bit too much bourbon, but there's no harsh flavors--the beer is still smooth and very drinkable. It's carbonating now in the keg at about 12 PSI, and I plan on tapping it when I move to DC at the end of the month.

On the DC note, if you didn't already know, I'm relocating there to start a new job at the beginning of December. I'll be living with a friend in Mt. Pleasant for a bit, while I look for my own place, which means brewing is going to have to take a break for a bit. The good news is that I've stocked up on homebrew to sustain me for awhile; I'm bringing down the 3 gallon keg of porter, a 5 gallon keg of pumpkin ale, and a case and a half of flanders red ale. I'm planning on buying a small chest freezer (5 cubic feet) when I get down there for the kegs. Once I find my own place, I'm going to use the chest freezer for fermentation temp control and lagering. My existing upright freezer, which is a lot bigger (14.1 cubic feet), will be converted into a real 3-keg kegerator (with taps on the front and all). I just got a 3 gauge secondary CO2 regulator to control the individual pressure in each keg, and I've already got it hooked up carbonating the porter and serving the pumpkin ale.

Although homebrewing will be on hiatus for a little, I'm looking forward to exploring the DC beer scene a bit more. There's some great beer bars there, including RFD, Brickskeller, and the newly opened Churchkey (which has a daily rotating tap list), all of which I'll be frequenting often.

Homebrewed Pumpkin Ale Review

I tapped a keg of my homebrewed Pumpkin Ale this week, just in time for Halloween, and in turned pretty good for my first pumpkin/spiced beer. Before I get to the review, I just wanted to share with everyone that I'm going to be moving to DC in a month to start a new job. Homebrewing is going to have to take a hiatus for a bit as I'm living with a friend down there at first. Then, once I find my own place, I'll start the brewery up again! For my final pre-hiatus brew, I'm going to be brewing a Vanilla Bourbon Porter to keep me warm during the winter in DC. I got the yeast starter going last night, and I'll be brewing tomorrow on Halloween day. It's going to be a small, 3 gallon batch of a 1.086 original gravity robust porter (about 7.5% ABV). After primary fermenation, I'm going to split a full vanilla bean and let the beer age with it in the secondary for 2 weeks. Finally, at packaging, I'm going to fortify the beer with some Jim Beam Bourbon. The beer is definitely going to pack a punch, and will be a great "sipper" on a cold evening!

On to the Pumpkin Ale review:


Aroma: A sweet malt background of caramel and toffee, laced with spices reminiscent of a holiday spice cake. No hop aroma.

Appearance: Amber with an orange tint. Hazy, probably from unconverted starches in the pumpkin. Small, slightly off-white head that lingers while drinking.

Flavor: Cinnamon and nutmeg are most noticeable, with an initial malty sweetness. Some biscuit and bread-like flavors are apparent. The beer finishes a little bitter. It definitely tastes like pumpkin pie though. No hop flavor, though the hop bitterness is discernible (the lingering bitterness may also be caused by overdoing the spices a bit).

Mouthfeel: Medium-full bodied with medium carbonation. A little astringent, though not overbearing.

Overall Impression: I think the beer came out great for my first spice ale. I initially added the spices at the last minute of the boil, and after fermentation, I found that the beer was a little bland. I added another full dose of spices in the secondary, and let the beer sit for a week before kegging. It's definitely not bland anymore, but I think I overdid it with the second dose of spices; I should've showed a bit more restraint. If, and when, I brew this again next year, I'm going to do away with the boil spices altogether and also up the character malts a bit to bring the beer into a better balance.

Boycott Monster Energy

Check this out:
Boycott Monster Energy

The makers of Monster Energy Drink, Hansen Beverages, is trying to bully Vermont's Rock Art Brewery into dropping the name of their new beer, Vermonster, because "consumer will likely be confused with the two products." Sounds like a steeping pile of bullshit to me. Help support small brewers, not to mention small business owners, and boycott Monster Energy Drink (not that I would drink the shit anyways). Tell all your friends!

Homebrew: Pumpkin Ale

Despite the rain, I had a great day yesterday in my brewery putting together a pumpkin ale for the fall months ahead. This was a really fun brew; I got to use some unique ingredients, which was a welcomed departure from Reinheitsgebot-style brewing.

The interesting thing about pumpkin ales is that you really don't get much (if any) flavor from the pumpkin itself. In fact, you don't even need to use pumpkin to make a pumpkin ale--the flavors people identify as "pumpkin" are really pumpkin pie spices. So all you have to do is use a pumpkin pie spice blend in the boil and call it a pumpkin ale. But that wouldn't be any fun...I decided to use 6 lbs of pumpkin.

Before I even started brewing, I baked the pumpkin in the oven at 300 F for an hour to caramelize some of the sugars and produce some melanoidins. I then included the pumpkin in the mash with the grains, adding a pound of rice hulls to account for the husk-less pumpkin, thus preventing a stuck sparge. After mashing, I boiled as normal, using Magnum as a bittering hop and some Willamette as well as Saaz at 15 minutes for a little flavor. Also at 15 minutes, I added a cup each of cane (table) sugar and molasses. The sugar will help dry out the beer a little and lighten the body, balancing out the unfermentable sugars/starches in the pumpkin. The molasses will also help dry out the beer, while adding a unique flavor component to the overall character. Finally, at flame-out, I added a homemade spice blend containing 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ginger, and 1/8 tsp each of nutmeg and allspice. I'm fermenting the beer with a neutral ale yeast--I don't want any yeast characteristics overwhelming the pumpkin spices. Fermentation was extremely vigorous this morning (you can see the thick krausen forming on top in the picture above). The beer should be ready for drinking in 3-4 weeks, and I'm looking forward to serving it to the neighborhood kids on Halloween! Who the hell wants candy corn when you get have a pint of homebrewed pumpkin ale?!?!

Malt Madness Homebrew Competition

This past weekend I headed out to Allentown Brew Works in Allentown, PA to help judge the Malt Madness homebrew competition organized by the Lehigh Valley Homebrewers. The event was a lot of fun and I got to try some real interesting beers, especially because of the categories I judged. In the morning, I judged the Belgian Specialty Ale category, a sort of catch-all for Belgian-style ales that don't fit into one of the more specific categorizations. For example, I had some Belgian barleywines, Belgian IPAs, and oak-aged Belgian ales. In the afternoon, I judged Fruit Beers, which I was admittedly not a huge fan of--I officially hate raspberry now. I had a wheat beer brewed with kumquat, which I've never even heard of before, but from what I can tell belonged to the citrus family based on the flavor. There were two really great peach beers, an American Wheat and a Wit, which ended up being in our top three. The trick with the fruit beers is that you need to strike a balance between the base beer and the fruit. Many brewers struggle with this; the fruit needs to come through in both the aroma and flavor without overshadowing the character of the base beer. For example, some of the raspberry beers were just complete fruit bombs; there was no balance--they almost just tasted like a raspberry soda.

In addition to judging at the competition, I actually entered two of my own beers for the very first time--a Marzen (Oktoberfest) and a Weizen (aka Hefeweizen). Considering this was my first competition, I was happy with the results. I knew my Marzen was a little off style, so I was not surprised that it received a 29.5 consensus score (out of 50), which put me right at the top of the "Good" category ("misses the mark on style and/or minor flaws"). I know that sounds like a bad score, but it's not bad in the scheme of things (I haven't given above a 39 yet to a beer while judging). I was a bit disappointed with the scores on my Weizen, because I thought it was one of the best beers I've brewed yet. I got a 24 consensus score, which is still in the "Good" category, but I felt it deserved better. After reading the judges' comments though, it started to make some sense--here are some of the negative remarks:
--"No clove + banana"
--"low/med carbonation (needs more)"
--"very low aromatics overall for the style"
--"no head. fades fast!"
--"low carbonation affects other areas"
I think the last comment hit the nail on the head. I bottled the beer out of the keg a week before the competition, and although the beer was well-carbonated in the keg, I think it lost it in the bottle. Carbonation is a huge component of a beer, and if it's too low or too high, it could impact all the other components. The low carbonation made the beer seem lifeless and prevented aromatics from being lifted out of the glass. Next time I'll definitely try to bottle the morning of the competition! One thing that did make me feel better is that one judge wrote, "Not quite to style, despite pleasant drinking." So basicaly, I made a great beer, but it just didn't fit the style. That's the tough thing about competitions--with the exception of the specialty categories, it's not just about if the beer is good or not, it's about if you hit the style parameters. I had a good shot, but I missed the bulls-eye.

That's all for now! I'm heading to the Great World Beer Festival in New York City this Sunday, so I'll have details about that after the weekend. Cheers!

Helles Schlenkerla Lager

Once again, it's been awhile--life's been busy, but because of some recent events in my life, I'm going to really make an effort to step it up on this blog. I'm going to forgo a post about Belgium in Cooperstown since it was almost a month ago already--suffice it to say that it was AWESOME and I don't recall much! In terms of more recent happenings, I had a family BBQ this past weekend and served 5 gallons of homebrewed Hefeweizen on tap. The beer went over incredibly well--everyone loved it. Both my father and my aunts, none of whom are big beer drinkers absolutely loved it. It was clean, light, and refreshing--perfect for the hot August weather. And at 7% ABV (okay, it was an Imperial Hefeweizen maybe), everyone was feeling especially good! This was probably my most successful brew yet, and I'm going to be entering it in a competition (Malt Madness, put on by the Lehigh Valley Homebrewers and being held at Allentown Brew Works in Allentown, PA) this coming weekend along with my Marzen. I'll also be judging at the competition (obviously not in the categories I'm entering), so I'll provide some details on that after the weekend.

To kick-off my renewed efforts to update this blog more regularly, I felt it was only appropriate to start with some tasting notes. Tonight, I drank a Helles Schlenkerla Lager from Bamburg, Germany. This smoked helles (a German lager, similar to pilsner, but a bit more malt balanced) is unique in the fact that it doesn't actually use any smoked malt. The smoky character comes from making the beer in the same kettles and using the same equipment as the Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier (Original Schlenkerla Smokebeer), the famous Rauchbier. The end result is an interesting take on classic Helles...

Aroma: Sweet, pilsner malt backbone with and upfront touch of smoke. There's a slight spicy note in the aroma, and it's hard to distinguish if this is a by-product of the smoke or hop related. Besides the spiciness, there is no hop aroma. Some sulfur is apparent in the background as well.

Appearance: Light golden, almost bright with great clarity. A small white head is formed when initially poured but dissipates quickly

Flavor: Some smokiness initially gives way to a solid pils malt profile. The beer finishes rather dry with a slightly bitter aftertaste, and the smoke lingers in the mouth for awhile. There is no hop flavor and the beer has an exceptionally clean in terms of fermentation byproducts.

Mouthfeel: Medium-light body with high carbonation. The smoke gives the sensation that the beer is coating the inside of the mouth, leaving an impression that the beer is a bit heavier than it actually is.

Overall Impression: A great "gateway" beer for those afraid of trying smoked beers. The smoke is mild and welcoming. This smoked helles goes especially well with food (I had it with German-style sausage & peppers tonight); the smoke complements the meal, while the natural crispness of the lager is refreshing and cleansing.

Sam Adams, Homebrewed Hefeweizen, and the N.J. State Fair

Sam Adams Brewery Tour


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!

National Homebrewers Conference (long overdue)

Though it was over a month ago, I'm finally getting around to writing about my trip to the National Homebrewers Conference in Oakland, CA at the end of June. The short story is: It was AWESOME! It was such an incredible experience to be in the presence of so much beer and brewing information for 3 full days. Without writing a 30 page thesis, here's a summary of what I did at the conference, the people I met, and the beers I drank:

Wednesday, June 17
I flew into Oakland, checked into my hotel, and without a minute to spare headed over to Pacific Coast Brewing for a bite to eat and my NHC inaugural beer (Pacific Coast's Ultra Yellow, a "double maibock" style beer). An interesting note on Pacific Coast is that they brew all the beers extract, not all-grain. I'm not sure the exact reason for this (extract is more expensive), but I suspect it has something to do with available space for a full brewhouse. After the Ultra Yellow, I tried their Leviathan Imperial Stout for a night-cap and then it was off to bed.

Thursday, June 18
First thing in the morning, I headed over to the registration table to get my conference credentials, tasting glass, welcome kit (a bunch of freebies from different homebrew supply companies), and commemorative conference beers (an IPA and a Saison brewed specially for the conference). I started off Thursday's festivities by stewarding at the National Homebrew Competition for the Specialty Mead table. I've never really tried meads before, so it was an interesting experience. Since this was the second (and final) round of the competition, there were some top notch meads there. Among some of the more unique varieties was a raspberry-chipotle mead with a distinct spicy/smoky characteristic and a mint-lime mead that was crisp and refreshing. After the morning of stewarding, the conference officially began with the Opening Toast. Among the speakers were Jamil Zainasheff (award-winning homebrewer, beer author, and Brewing Network brewcaster), Gary Glass (director of the American Homebrewers Association), and Charlie Papazian (founder of the AHA and the "godfather" of homebrewing"). Following the toast, there were two sessions of seminars--I attended Water Kemistry with Colin Kaminski (brewmaster at Downtown Joes) and Funkification: A 100% Brettanomyces Spontaneously Fermented Mind Dump with Vinnie Cilurzo (brewmaster/owner of Russian River). I'm not gonna go into detail about the seminars here because it'll take way to long. If you're interested, shoot me an email and we can talk. I also don't remember much, because during the entire conference we were served beer from 9am till bedtime. Drunken lullabies indeed. Thursday's evening event was Pro-Brewers Night, a 3.5 hour beer festival with professional breweries from all over the country--though mostly California establishments, since we were, well, in California.

Friday, June 19
Friday morning brought two more sessions of seminars. I hit up Extreme Fermentables with Sam Calagione (brewmaster/owner of Dogfish Head) and Making Better Beer II: Advanced Homebrewing & Science with homebrew gods Ray Daniels and Randy Mosher. Early that afternoon was the Keynote Address given by Ken Grossman, the founder of Sierra Nevada Brewing Company (and a beerlebrity in his own right). Following Ken's speech I attended two more seminars: Yeast: Taking It To The Next Level with Dr. Michael Lewis from UC Davis' brewing program and a Going Pro Panel that was moderated by Justin Crossley (founder of the Brewing Network). That evening was Club Night, a 4 hour homebrew extravaganza. Instead of professional breweries having booths, different homebrew clubs setup booths and served their members' beer on tap. Some clubs had over 20 taps going at once! Club Night was a lot of fun, especially because each club had their own theme going on (check out some of my pics--link at the bottom of this post).

Saturday, June 20
After barely recovering from Club Night, I made it to two more seminars in the morning: Troubleshooting Panel moderated by James Spencer (host of Basic Brewing) and The Equipment Geek with homebrewer and self-proclaimed equipment geek, Kent Fletcher. In the afternoon, there were three tracks of seminars--I only made it to two: Maintaining Ideal Yeast Health: Nutrients Yeast Need with Dr. Tobias Fischborn from Lallemand (a yeast company) and Chocolate and Beer, a delicious event with Timothy Childs of TCHO (a chocolate company) and Roger Davis (brewmaster at Triple Rock). I skipped the third seminar session that afternoon because nothing looked that interesting and I was thirsty--I headed over to The Trappist for a beer, an awesome Belgian beer bar near the hotel in Oakland. Saturday evening was the Grand Banquet, which meant at end to the conference. The banquet was a three-course beer pairing dinner prepared by Sean Paxton, the homebrew chef. Each dish was brewed with beers from Rogue and was paired with a specific Rogue beer during the meal. The highlight for me was when the chocolate mousse (made with Rogue Chocolate Stout) came out garnished with real crystal malt (a sweet, caramel-like malted barley used in brewing).

Overall, the conference was a great success...for my mind and my liver! I learned a ton of new information about beer and brewing, and I tasted a bunch of awesome beers. I will definitely be attending again next year (in Twin Cities, Minnesota) and hopefully I can drag some friends with me (here's to you Sully/Mose!). If you haven't seen them already, here are some photos I took at the conference: NHC Pics

I'll hopefully have some additional post(s) later this week about my visit to the Sam Adams brewery last weekend, my brew-day yesterday (I brewed a hefeweizen), and the homebrew competition I judged today for the NJ State Fair. Also, this coming weekend is Belgium Comes to Cooperstown, a Belgian beer festival and camping extravaganza at Brewery Ommegang in Cooperstown, NY...more on that later! Cheers!

Beer Article (that I wrote) in The Wyckoff Journal

Sorry for the lack of posts the last few weeks, but I've been working on an article that was recently published as a front page story in The Wyckoff Journal, a local online news site. The owners of the site also run The Oakland Journal and The Franklin Lakes Journal, where my article was also published concurrently. Here's the link to my specific article, which is sort of a sweeping overview and introduction to the world of craft beer: Beer. I'm not going to use the article as a post here, because they were nice enough to link to my blog from their site, so you should go there to read it. I hope you enjoy it, and thanks to Charlie at the Journals for giving me this opportunity!

On a side note, I'm hoping to have a lengthy post by the weekend regarding my recent trip to the National Homebrewers Conference in Oakland, CA. I met some world-class homebrewers and professional brewers, tasted some great beers, and got bombarded with some incredible beerformation. Here's some pictures of the event as a prelude to my update: NHC Pics.

Blog-O-Beer Happenings: A Long Overdue Update

I know it's been awhile, so this is gonna be a long one (that's what she said). There's been a lot going on lately in my wonderful world of beer, so this post is gonna be a huge clusterfuck of unrelated updates, but that's what Napolean invented lists for.

1. SAVOR: An American Craft Beer & Food Experience

About 2 weeks ago, I was down in our nation's capital (Washington, DC for you geography all-stars) for SAVOR: An American Craft Beer & Food Experience. The event was AWESOME to say the very least. There was somewhere in the range of 60 different breweries there, each with 2 beers each. This wasn't your ordinary beer festival though--every single beer was paired with a small appetizer. The food ranged from meat skewers to little shots of soup to mini-lamb burgers to chipotle chocolates. The pairings were really quite well done. Basically, the SAVOR organizers put together a large and varied menu of appetizers, cheeses, and mini-desserts, and then allowed the various breweries to select two of their beers to pair with items on the menu. In addition to the main event, I also had the opportunity to attend one of the "salons" (small 20-person pairing sessions led by the brewers/chefs themselves). For the last hour of the evening, I attended Paradox or Parallel - the Curious Matter of Craft Beer & Chocolate , a chocolate and beer pairing with Hugh Sission of Clipper City Brewing as well as Kim Rigby and Brenda Nelson of Parfections. I think this was definitely the highlight of the evening--it was incredible to see how well chocolate and beer complemented each other. I think most people could see how a rich stout or porter would pair well with chocolate, but what about an IPA? You wouldn't think it works, but it was really a tasty combination. If I remember correctly, the truffle paired with the IPA had an orange filling and was sprinkled with sea salt on top. The orange in the chocolate worked really well with the citrusy hops in the IPA, and the sea salt on top helped to cut the bitterness of the beer (in fact, sometimes you'll see people sprinkle some salt in their beer if it's too bitter for them--I call these people first-class pussies). And, now for the icing on the cake: I met Charlie Papazian (president of the Brewers Association and the "godfather" of homebrewing) and Ray Daniels (author of Designing Great Beers), who actually hosted my salon! These guys are true beerlebrities (just coined another word--write that down), and as J.T. can attest, I was a bit starstruck....yes, I'm a huge beer-dork and proud of it! Oh yea, that's J.T. and I posing for a "red carpet" pic at the event (I'm the sexy guy making a funny face on the left, and J.T.'s the schmuck on the right).

2. BUZZ Off 2009 Homebrew Competition

Last Saturday, I headed down to the Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant in West Chester, PA to judge a homebrew competition hosted by BUZZ (Brewers United for Zany Zymurgy). In case you're curious, zymurgy is the scientific study of fermentation (not to mention the name of a kick-ass homebrew magazine published by the American Homebrewers Association). I judged the German Wheat & Rye beer category in the morning, where I tasted some Weizens, Dunkelweizens, and Weizenbocks--there were no rye beers (Roggenbier) entered. None of them were extraordinary in my opinion--I think our top beer in the category was under 40 points (out of 50), but apparently one of the Dunkelweizens went on to win Best of Show for the competition, which is slightly mind-boggling, but whatever. In the afternoon, I judged the Light Lager category, which was really interesting, because I basically had homebrewed versions of Bud Light and Heineken. The category includes Lite American Lager, Standard American Lager, Premium American Lager, Munich Helles, and Dortmunder Export. There were actually some pretty decent beers in this flight. One of the Dortmunder Exports was excellent--crisp and clean with a refreshing hop character. Believe it or not, light lagers are one of the hardest styles to brew, because there's no strong flavors to hide any mistakes or infections. It was a pretty fun day overall, and I came home with a nice bottle Iron Hill's FE 10 Anniversary Ale, a Belgian Strong Dark Ale, which I'm probably gonna save for the Fourth.

3. Independence Pale Ale & The July 4th Jockey Box
Speaking of the Fourth, I'm gearing up for another legendary July 4th in the Adirondacks, and got things rolling last Sunday with a long brewday. I brewed a clone recipe of the Lagunitas IPA, using 5 different kinds of hops (Magnum, Summit, Willamette, Centennial, and Cascade). The beer is fermenting strong right now and I'm going to move it to the secondary fermenter on Sunday, where I'm going to dry-hop it was 3/4 of an ounce each of Centennial and Cascade (I may just up it to an ounce so I don't have any leftover--the more the better!). The Independence Pale Ale, I've dubbed it, will sure to provide a Hoppy July 4th! Damn, that was awesomely corny. On top of getting the IPA ready, I've also been getting parts together to build a 3-tap jockey box (or draft box) to use with commercial kegs during the long weekend. Each keg will sit in its own bucket filled with ice, and the beer lines will feed into a 120qt cooler equipped with three 50 foot stainless-steel beverage coils, which will then feed into the faucets. I'm pretty confident that between the buckets and coil system, the beer will be Rocky Mountain cold when it comes out!

4. Upcoming National Homebrewers Conference

Finally, in less than one week, I'll be flying to sunny Oakland, CA for the National Homebrewers Conference. I'm heading out there on Wednesday next week and staying until Sunday. The conference will surely prove to be the ultimate beer event of the year (for me at least). On the schedule for the conference, I'll be stewarding at the National Homebrew Competition Judging on Thursday morning, followed by the "opening toast" in the early afternoon. There's also a couple of seminars that afternoon, of which I'm probably going to attend one on wood aging beer and one on brewing authentic German lagers. Thursday night is Pro-Brewers night (basically a regular beer festival with commercial breweries). On Friday morning, I'll probably go to seminars on extreme fermentables (with Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head) and one on advanced homebrewing science. The afternoon begins with the keynote address from Ken Grossman of Sierra Nevada, followed by more seminars (I'll probably go to one on yeast and a "going pro" panel). Friday night is Club Night, which means a beer festival with all homebrewed beer (different homebrew clubs have booths setup). Saturday means more seminars, and I'll probably attend a troubleshooting panel, one about equipment, one about quality, one about beer color, and another yeast seminar. Saturday evening is the Grand Banquet (a beer pairing dinner) and the awards ceremony for the National Homebrew Competition. I'm really excited about this mini beercation (there's one more; write that down), and I'll be sure to provide a detailed updated when I return. Until butter flies, drink your beer!

Reinitzgebot's Marzenbation

I opened a bottle of my homebrewed Marzen tonight. I brewed this beer back in March (Marzen = German for March) and it's been lagering at 34-35 F for about a month after fermentation was complete. I bottled it about 1.5 weeks ago. I think that besides my Southern English Brown Ale, this is probably one of my favorites. It was easy-drinking with a great malt character. I thought it would be fun to fully judge this beer with my review, and I've included scores for each of the sections as per the BJCP scoresheets. Also, for your reference, here's a link to the BJCP style guidelines for the Marzen (aka Oktoberfest), which I judged against: BJCP Marzen/Oktoberfest Guidelines. I tried to be as unbiased as possible, though it's tough, because, well, I did brewed it. Oh, and regarding the post's title, I've decided to name my home brewery, The Reinitzgebot Brewing Company after the famous Reinheitsgebot (the German beer purity law). And as for the name of the beer, you can figure that one out. Here it goes...

Aroma: Strong malt with hints of toast. Some background notes of dark fruit, though it's very faint. No hop aroma, and pretty clean. The fruit is inappropriate for the style if it's coming from esters produced by the yeast. I have a feeling the fruitiness here though is coming from the Munich malt, as it's very subdued. (9 out of 12 points)

Appearance: Medium copper with an orange tint. The clarity isn't great. Small off-white head dissipates quickly, leaving very little lacing. (1 out of 3 points)

Flavor: Biscuity and, like the aroma, there's a toasty aspect to it. Mild hop bitterness with no hop flavor. There's an initial malty sweetness that lingers a little, finishing sort of semi-dry (and maybe not dry enough for the style). Clean overall. (14 out of 20 points)

Mouthfeel: Carbonation is low to medium. The body is a little thin. No astringency and very smooth. (3 out of 5 points)

Overall Impression: A smooth, malt-focused lager. Carbonation is a little low--it could probably use a little more time to condition in the bottle. Increased carbonation will help a great deal with head formation/retention as well as the thin body. Quite tasty and very drinkable though--the flavor and aroma are really nice. (6 out of 10 points)

Total Score: 33 out of 50 points, which falls into the "Very Good" range.

So there you have it, I brewed a 33 point beer, which is something to be proud of. Yes, it's a 66%, but any score in the 30s is very good for a competition (plus 66% is better than I did on any college exam). For those who live in DC, I'll be visiting this weekend, and I plan on bringing a six-pack with me to share.

On the DC note, I'm heading down there for the weekend to attend SAVOR on Saturday, which I'm really excited about. SAVOR is a craft beer & food pairing event held at the National Building Museum. In addition to the main event, I also have tickets to a mini "salon" of beer and chocolate pairing--how could you go wrong?!?! Full update on that after the weekend!