Fall is right around the corner

I just got the news that I will have to move from the house I love.

I will miss you basement that holds all my carboybies. I will miss the covered back deck that sheltered me from rain, snow, wind (ok not so much the wind) and other stuff that falls from the sky. I will miss the chickens most of all. I don't think I can go back to store bought eggs.

I'm spending the week packing up my books, clothes, and beer equipment and racking beer into kegs and less fragile carboys. I'm going to keg and then cold condition the the American lager I was making in Joe's fridge. Among the list of other things I have to do in the coming month besides find at least a part-time job, is plan a more consistent brewing schedule, beyond the brewing I do at Coalition.


I did manage before I moved to rack my first ever lager and put it in the fridge. I'm hoping it will settle out a bit more and clear up. I can drink a little of it but I get that itchy throat afterwards. So this will be strictly a giveaway beer.

Haitus: A needed break or just plain lazy?

The last time I checked my blog I had just finished the Pineapple Kolsch and was getting ready to send it in for the Collaborator and the Fruit Beer competitions. Since then I brewed the Pineapple Kolsch at Coalition and it was a great hit and have steadily been working my way through some other beer styles. I brewed a braggot with rose hips and hibiscus that made leather-clad bikers smile and say "Cheers!" I helped design and brew up the LOLA Hibiscus Pale Ale for the event at Saraveza on July 23rd and pleased as punch when the piece in Brewpublic came out and I was quoted. Here it is!

I did a demo brew at the Oregon Brewers Festival at the Oregon Brew Crew booth and was pleased by the McGuyvering that I managed to accomplish with the help of strangers and my brewing partner, Joe. Joe spent a good portion of the time blowing bubbles and repeatedly trying to steer people to me, the point brewer on the batch. He thought it was great fun to tell each person who asked him what he was brewing, a different beer style.

I've been organizing the Coalator program at Coalition and brewing up some amazing beers with homebrewers. Coupling that with all the festivals and beer tastings around Portland and I can forgive myself for not being more diligent about writing in my blog. Time to turn over a new leaf before they all fall off the tree. The procrastinator in me wants to wait until September 1st and then start fresh but honestly, we (all the voices inside and outside my head) all know that I'll just blow that deadline off when it rolls around. So I will just play it by ear and bookmark the webpage on my browser and try to be more intentional in my goal to write more.

Fruit Beer. Who knew I'd make a good one?

I certainly had no idea that I would craft probably my best beer yet, and that it would be a fruit beer at that.

In anticipation of the upcoming Fruit Beer Festival at Burnside Brewing, I brewed an entry for the fruit beer homebrew competition. At first I wanted to brew something with dates, something dark strong and earthy, but then I found out that dates aren't in season right now and I didn't want to spend a lot of money. While crafting a kolsch recipe for the LOLA brew day at Lucky Lab, it hit me that I should brew a kolsch, and use pineapple as my fruit. I pretty much envisioned a light fruity beer with bright color and tartness, something refreshing and effervescent. I wasn't sure how much pineapple flavor I would get so I decided to dry hop with centennial to give it some citrus aroma, so that it would have the hint of pineapple even if I didn't get full on pineapple flavor.

I was super surprised to find that the pineapple worked amazingly well with the kolsch yeast and the Northern Brewer hops. Joe even asked if I had used any acidulated malt because of the tartness of it. Not only was there pineapple aroma there was huge pineapple flavor as well and the tartness made for easy drinking. I'm making this one instead of the shandy for summer drinking. The lightness of the beer itself is deceptive in that it is at least 7% alcohol and though much more heavily hopped than a true kolsch (which it isn't) everything worked well.

I was surprised to not hear any comment from my brewing partner Joe, who usually always has a little bit of advice on improvement. For this beer he literally said that for him he could detect no flaw in the beer. High praise, indeed, coming from a man who can tell the difference in malts and hops in a lot of beers. I submitted this with no aspirations of even placing. I think it was a solid beer but palates are subjective. I am going to submit this to the Collaborator competition though. It is an excellent beer.

A Kolsch By Any Other Name

I brewed a Kolsch once before.

It is a beer that does well at the lower end of the temperature range, 50-62, but can tolerate up to 70 degrees, though it gives you a different texture. I had been searching for a base beer for my entry into the Fruit beer competition. I wanted something that could carry a fruit fruit flavor in both taste and scent, or at least something that I could invoke with other means. then I had to decide what fruits I wanted to consider.

Dates.
Cherries.
Plums.
Marionberry.
Peach.
Pear.
Lemons.

For each of these I considered a style that would highlight the fruit. Given time and equipment I needed to make sure would be able to brew this with time to spare for a taste. The most awesome group of women beer drinkers, the LOLAs (Ladies of Lagers and Ales) were able to secure a brewing date with Ben Flerchinger from Lucky Lab to brew a beer for Lucky Lab. One of the styles considered was a Kolsch. I imagined something light, aromatic, fruity and tart. Just right for summer. While we developed the recipe for the brewery, I worked out a scaled down version. We are also planning on taking a bit from the main batch and making a fruit beer for the competition as well.

Well this beer is not a traditional Kolsch, more like a kolsch-inspired beer. I've chosen my fruit and I'm hoping it will complement the style. I resist the urge to tamper too much with the recipe and avoid adding to many extras to the secondary because I think I need a more layered flavor. I can always make it again and try something different.

Though I've been brewing I haven't been blogging.

I'd like to see that change in the upcoming weeks but I think that will depend on whether or not I find a job and can cultivate a bit more stability in my life. While I'm figuring out whether or not the goal I'd been working toward for the last eight years is one I really want or if it's time to focus on my passion I thought I'd post a few of my better recipes.

This is by far my favorite beer. I made this one for Coalition Brewery's Coalator Program. Not too hoppy, color was spot on with a rosy red hue. The only critique given was about the carbonation level, which I agree does effect how the flavors sit on the tongue.

People's Amber

14# Pale malt (2 row)
2# crystal 60
2# crystal 75
1# flaked wheat

1/2 tsp gypsum

1.82oz Centennial (10.5% aa) @60
1.25oz Mt. Hood (5.9% aa) @30
1oz Willamette (5.2% aa) @ 10

wyeast 1332

OG range 1.052-1.054

I had a lot of leftover grains and I wanted to use them before they got old. I kind of threw together this one and used some dry yeast I had sitting around. I was really pleased with how well this beer turned out. I'll probably make something similar for the Collaborator competition, but using all grains instead of extract.

Pant(r)y Sweeper

3.5oz CaraAroma
3.5oz Belgium Debittered Black
2oz Extra Dark Crystal
4oz flaked wheat
14.6oz Light DME
4# LME
1.6oz Malto dextrin

.5oz Centennial (10.6%aa) @fwh
1oz Cascade (6.1% aa) @ 60
.6 oz cascade @30
.4oz cascade @10

safale us-05

OG 1.061

Zwickelmania. Finally some down time.

February 19th marked my attendance at my first ever Zwickelmania. For folks who don't know what that is, in a nutshell it's the most important beer holiday in February. When all breweries are open and giving tours and tastings of their wares in all the land. It's pretty amazing actually. Here in Portland, where if you throw a rock you'll hit a brewery/brewpub/homebrewer there is no shortage of places to visit. The hardest decision my fellow homebrewer Joe and I had to make was where we wanted to go and whether or not we could hit over 5 breweries in one day if we weren't driving. We meticulously mapped out our route and come 1030am on Saturday we were in front of Breakside, patiently waiting for them to let us in and dazzle us with their creations.

I have to say that my initial visit to Breakside in January wasn't great. I wasn't terribly impressed with their selections and I thought that their concoctions were a little to out there and at times seemed like they hit you over the head with the flavors rather than take the subtle route. I was more interested in their 3 barrel system more than their beer, but at Zwickelmania they blew me away with their imperial brown poured through a randall filled with cherries and vanilla beans. They also had a gruit on tap that I made me want to go right out and try making that for some summer drinking.

Next up Joe and I took the bus to Upright and got there before the crowd hit the place. I tasted everything but the rye beer and the IPA, since I am still in the no hoppy beers part of the year and I just dislike rye. My favorite was the Saison. I could drink that everyday and still find something to love about it.

The rest of the day was pretty much a blur sadly. I don't think I had eaten enough to counter the serious amount of alcohol that I was imbibing. I know we went Widmer, Green Dragon, Beer Mongers and for some reason the Jolly Roger.

I can't wait for next year.

PCTBB

Finally, got around to brewing my entry for the Cheers to Belgium Beers in April. At the dart toss, I got low and light and having never brewed a Belgium before I am a little nervous. Joe offered up his Biere de Garde recipe for me but in my stubborness I decided to go it alone and brew my own recipe.

It is styled as a Belgium Pale and I hope with the fruit and spice addition in the secondary it will end up pretty tasty. Today was also the first time I had a chance to brew with my new kettle. My efficiency was off, a lot lower than I would like. I ended up with an efficiency of 69% but I was shooting for 75%. I manage to have exactly the right amount of water for the mash and the sparge, so no wasting water this time.

I did have Joe helping me today. Thankfully, he takes direction well and curbed his numerous urges to offer "suggestions" when I was brewing. I duct taped the airlock on the carboy and I'm hoping that helps it not blow out when it takes off fermenting.