Brewty and the Yeast

West Coastale

2011-10-09T15:32:00.000-04:00

Like many pioneers before me, I have left the world I know for a taste of Adventure, a flavor that happens to go very well with beer.

This young man has gone west. In a single 3,000-mile leap, I've left the beaches of South Florida for the east-bay area of Northern California.

After a little more than two months in my new Pacific Coast panorama, I withdrew my brew gear from slumber and embarked on a familiar yet excitingly new experience -- Brew Day.

Since the Thai Breaker Brew Day earlier this year, I've been holding onto a sealed bucket of mixed grains, a handful of hops, and a packet of Safale US-05. Having left behind my heavy-duty propane double-burner, I relented to return to the electric coils of the kitchen stove. But a Brew Day is a Brew Day, and I was pumped anyway.

I decided to take the brew-in-a-bag route for this all-grain recipe which proved to be very manageable in an indoor setting.

My First West Coast Brew

The recipe was very simple and scaled down for a one-gallon batch, but it's enough to make myself feel more at home out here on the Left Coast. So, if you'd like to follow along and cheers along with Brewty and the Yeast's first West Coast Ale, peep the notes below.

West Coastale	Batch Size:	1 gal.
Brewed By: Brent Fedor	Efficiency:	65%

Mash

Malt Name	Wt. (lbs.)	% of Mash
Crystal (20L)	2	76.9
Flaked Oats	.6	23.1








Total Weight	2.60

Hops

Hop Variety	Alpha Acid %	Amt. (oz.)	Boil (min.)	Hop IBU
Magnum - Pellet	15.2	0.25	20	49.7
Kent Goldings - Pellet	4.75	0.25	10	9.3







(template courtesy of BeerFormulator.com)

Beer Stats

Estimated Beer Color	SG	ABV(%)	AA(%)	Balance Value (BV)
19 SRM	1.058	6.4	82.8	2.53
19 SRM	FG	IBU	Calories	Target BV
	1.010	59.0	252 (per 16 oz. Pint)	ANY

Session Notes

Yeast Strain(s) Used: Safale US-05
Fermentaion Temp: 68°F
Sanitized one-gallon jug with Iodophor. Mashed for 60 minutes (brew-in-a-bag method). Removed the brew-bag and boiled the wort for 60 minutes. Added 0.25 oz. of Magnum hops at 40 minutes. Added 0.5 teaspoons of Irish Moss at 45 minutes. Added 0.25 oz. Kent Goldings hops at 50 minutes into the boil. Covered the brewpot at the end of the boil to bring most of the hop sediment up the sides of the vessel for easy removal. Chilled the brew in an ice bath, filtered and funneled into the sanitized one-gallon jug, and pitched the yeast at 75-F degrees.

The Cure for Spring Fever: Five Top Spring Beers

2011-05-02T13:52:00.000-04:00

One day, you catch your reflection in the rear view. A bead of sweat swells and then disappears into your stocking cap. Uh-oh! You've caught it. Spring Fever. The only cure I can think of starts with “B” and ends with “Ahhh…” as in “a nice glass of beer -- ahh!"

We’ve waited long enough through cold Winter months for a chance to shed our sweaters, park ourselves under the sun with a refreshing brew to keep us well-basted and not too wasted. Despite warm afternoons, you might still catch hints of Winter and spend chilly evenings halfway between craving a crisp, light lager, or a downy and warming ale.

Whichever side of the pint you stand, here are a few perennial and seasonal beers that’ll help you shake off Winter blues for warmer Springtime hues.

Shiner Bock Spring Ale Dortmunder


Shiner Bock Dortmunder

Your afternoon begins with Shiner Bock’s Springtime seasonal beer, Dortmunder, a Spring Ale. The light, sweet grains perfumed by floral blooms and cut grass tell you that it’s perfect for warmer weather. This 5.5%ABV brew is an excellent thirst-quencher and partner to grillside get-togethers.

Barbãr Belgian Honey Ale

Barbãr Belgian Honey Ale

From Brasserie Lefebvre, the 8%ABV is well-hidden and can refresh and warm you within the same glass. The subtle taste of honey and citrus draw you in like bees to Spring wildflowers.

Houblon Chouffe Dobbelen IPA

Houblon Chouffe Dobbelen IPA

Belgium’s Achouffe Brewery finds a balance between sweet red apple and an earthy farmhouse cheese (a famed characteristic of Belgian beers). It’s a creamy, golden ale, finishes dry, and at 9%ABV it’s a great India Pale Ale for coasting into a cooler Springtime evening.

Abita Strawberry Harvest Lager

Abita Strawberry Harvest Lager

Abita Brewing marks the peak of our local strawberry season with a light, smooth lager made with real strawberries. At 4.2%ABV, Strawberry Harvest Lager drinks clean, crisp, and finishes with an intense hit of berry goodness.

Southampton Publick House Double White


Southampton Double White

Southampton Publick House brews a golden, Belgian-style witbier of 6.6%ABV with red apple, citrus, pear and dewy grass notes. The “double” represents the strength, but could also suggest how it plays double duty for daytime and nighttime enjoyment.

All of these beers may quench your thirst no matter what time of year you pour them (stash some of the seasonals in your pantry like a good beer nut). But for the next seven weeks until the Summer Solstice, let these picks chip off the icy winter chill and put the Spring back in your step.

Cheers!

Brew-Thai and the Beast

2011-04-26T17:23:00.000-04:00

Hello, Brewthers and Sisters!

This weekend was a great one -- one to top most of the homebrew sessions in which I've ever partaken. Justin came up with the genius idea to develop a Thai-themed brew, an idea he'd been batting around since we sampled The Bruery's Tradewinds with its rice and Thai basil adjuncts and extras (excellent beer -- I highly recommend it).

With this taste of inspiration, Justin aimed for much more savory elements and a stout heart (milk stout, that is) to carry the flavors through while still keeping the final product a beer, not just a carbonated soup.

So, on to the brewing! We decided to go blond and remove anything from the grain bill that would take this past a deep gold. From there we scaled a traditional Thai recipe to what we thought would be the right proportions become a well-balanced layer in our "blond milk stout" base.

Being that we're still experimenting with this recipe, I won't bother to share it yet. When we give it a taste after a couple weeks, a "Part 2" will be posted. I will say, though, that the wort itself showed a lot of potential. Both elements, the brew and the Thai, seemed to play off one another very well.

Brew-Thai!

So, while we were brewing, and we brew outdoors since I'm using a propane double-burner to heat everything, we had a little woodland creature join us. She became sort of a mascot for the evening events. Take a look:


Aww...

But then as night fell, our mascot transformed from a cute, feathery friend into a blood-thirsty killing machine!

THE BEAST!

You can see her eerie, glowing red eyes up at the top of the haunted old Queen Palm tree. Sinister... several times through the night I was extremely glad to not have been born a mouse or roach or whatever this owl hunts because there is absolutely no warning when this stealth bomber swoops down on you! Not a flap of the wing, not a screeching battle cry like the eagle or hawk, just death. Or grazed ankles.

So, she was harmless to us and I'm very glad she didn't end up landing in our brew, or adding any of her own spices, especially when I came up with idea to cool the wort by floating it in the pool. I'll leave you with this final image of our Thai brew just chillin' in the pool and bid you all abrew.


Chillin...

Iron Brewer: Battle COCONUT!

2011-01-22T19:20:00.000-05:00

Oh, man...Christmas comes twice this year!

Bx Beer Depot is hosting an Iron Chef-like "Iron Brewer" homebrew challenge where the ingredient all contestants must use is coconut. If there was ever a sign from God that I am in the right business, it's this. I love coconut and I love beer.

The contest rules state that all you have to do is incorporate coconut as a flavor -- use any style of beer you wish!

Check out the details below:

Iron Brew Home Brew Competition 1:00 pm

Please bring (4 )22ounce bottles to the competition.
There is a $5.00 entrance fee for this event, winner takes all! The winner also gets to choose the next special ingredient!
To judge without an entry, the fee is $15.00 Event is limited to 40 people, so RSVP by Feb 3rd

BX Beer Depot
2964 Second Avenue North
Lake Worth, FL 33461
Phone: 561-965-9494
Tues: 11-7 (EST) Wed: 11-7 (EST) Thu: 11-7 (EST) Fri: 11-10 (EST) Sat: 11-5(EST) Sun: 12-5 (EST) Mon: Closed
Email: sales@bxbeerdepot.com

A Year of Beer: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

2010-12-23T00:47:00.001-05:00

Hola, brewfans! It's been a great year so far... here's my personal homebrew roundup.

Hopscotch ESB
Imperial Stout
Vanilla Saison
Chipotle Ale
Mango IPA
Earl Grey Bitter

With each of these, I've had my yeas, nays, and bitter disappointments that I'll share with you here.

Hopscotch ESB
Wow, this was my entry into the Samuel Adams Longshot 2010 Contest. It's based on last year's Independence ESB which seemed to pair so well with sushi and grilled beef. This year's batch held onto warmer fermentation temperatures which coaxed a bit of butterscotch out of the yeast and formed a cushion against the bite of hops that sat in the carboy while the brew ate up as much fermentable sugar as I could allow.

The Good: Again, wow... the butterscotch flavor definitely developed and held up like a champ with the heavy IPA-like hoppiness that we have grown to adore on this side of the Atlantic.
The Bad: Only time will tell. As with the heritage of ESBs you can expect a certain level of bitterness that I have seen diminish with age. I'm holding onto a gallon jug, or "growler" for my imbibers familiar with the lingo, in expectation of a beautifully clean and harmonized mug of love.
The Ugly: Didn't win the contest.

Imperial Stout
Again, wow. This was the brainchild of Justin Thrasher, your next favorite gastronomical genius, which was based on an affinity for Imperial Stouts. As his first homebrew, he ambitiously sought to challenge the niche palate for a strong and seriously sumptuous stout. Long story short -- friggin' success. This is my favorite stout of all time.

The Good: At 11.5% ABV, the stout is extremely smooth and drinkable. It's versatile as both an appertif, companion to a meal, dessert ingredient, or nightcap. The double-chocolate of "Block Jaysus Imperial Stout" is a pendulum from dark and bitter to sweet and milky. We're keeping the details of the grain and hop bill under wraps as this is the most sought-after homebrew we've seen this year.
The Bad: Only five gallons were made for this breakthrough brew.
The Ugly: Only five gallons were made for this breakthrough brew. And the natives are getting restless.

Vanilla Saison
Serendipity, baby! Thanks to a wonderfully hot summer, this attempt at a bohemian pilsner became a golden ale, and with the right tempering and conditioning, thus was born the first Saison of the season.

The Good: Thank God for small miracles. The pilsner malts lend themselves to the best flavors we can get out of our yeast and hops. Think of teamwork at its finest.
The Bad: Well, let's just say that we aimed for Germany and ended up all over the Belgian countryside. This particular Florida Summer beat out the lagering fridge and made the yeast have to deal with much warmer temperatures than desired to form a cool and clean pilsner.
The Ugly: Whoa... talk about patience as a virtue. With a complicated batch of beer, such as this tempermental brew, we need to wait until the marriage of the vanilla sugar primer with the funky, hoppy "pilsner" base is complete. Carbonation is good, timing is bad, thirst is ugly.

Chipotle Ale
Thank you, Rogue, for such an inspiring idea. Here we are, in the budding Summer months looking at what we should brew next. Justin approached me with the idea and as we reviewed the grain and hop bill (basically the gateway to a recipe) on the side of Rogue's Chipotle Ale. I found the potential recipe to be a little young or at least a bit too dry for my taste. So, we tweaked the recipe a bit and wound up with this:

Grains: Pale Malt (2-row), Victory Malt, Crystal Malt (45L), Munich Malt, More Crystal Malt (British 120L), and finally Chocolate Malt (American)
Hops: Cascade (bitterness) and Willamette (flavor and aroma)

The Good: Oh, mama... this was a keg-carbonated batch. We started the brew with sweeter Ancho Peppers and then added a Chipotle Pepper syrup. The ruby/amber ale coasted across with a cornbread-like sweetness and body. Then, in a flash, the Chipotle hits the back of your throat with a pleasant hint of heat. Drunk at a 40-degree Fahrenheit or lower temperature, this is an unassuming thirst-quencher and an inimitably welcome addition to any Summery barbecue, Autumnal stew, or fireside Winter Warmer.
The Bad: Didn't brew enough to make it to Springtime.
The Ugly: We really didn't know how much pepper to throw in the brew, but we luckily reserved the heat for the final priming syrup. The Chipotles were brewed in sugar-water to add to the fermented ale and could be tested for potency before we threw them heat into the batch.

Mango IPA
South Florida, you know. Late Summer into early Fall, the Mango trees hang low with the most fragrant, succulent, and intoxicating fruits this latitudinal zone has ever known. So, being the good ol' boys of the new South, Justin and I brewed an IPA with the copious crop of mangoes this season had to offer.

The Good: Oh, what pickin's we had. There was no end to the amount of fruit we could cram into this next batch of beer. We ended up boiling about ten pounds of pureed mango in with the grains.
The Bad: Not a lot of mango came through on the end product. We did, however, find a lot of marshmallow sweetness and just a hint of tropical tartness. We could say "less is more" but we would have loved to see more mango.
The Ugly: Fiber, anyone? This was a cloudy beer loaded with leftover fibers from the boiled mango. Pretty color, but shady texture.

Earl Grey Bitter (a.k.a. Earl Grey Bit'er Biscuits)
Inspired by British bitters, the subtle, bready, highly drinkable (or "session") beers, I decided to brew a tea and biscuits batch made with real Earl Grey tea and a high level of biscuity malts to create this anytime treat.

The Good: Lack of time. I didn't allow myself to bottle soon enough after brewing to capture the desired tea and biscuits flavor, so I let it sit. Had I bottled after about a week, we would have seen a different product -- something right on target, I presume. But, in all ways American, I procrastinated and created a lame-duck lucky strike in what I consider to be the first Imperial Bitter. At almost 9% ABV, the Earl Grey Bitter blows away any of its would-be compatriots in namesake. The yeast folded over on itself and created noticeable banana and spice aromas that transform the biscuits into a cake of sorts. The heat of the alcohol produced makes this brew a real Winter treat with warm and lingering flavors.
The Bad: Way off target. I should have bottle much earlier. I'm going to have to repeat this (repeat this) and bottle much earlier than the four weeks I allowed on this inaugural attempt. But I know I'll reserve a few gallons for my next batch of Winter Warmers and let them to take their time and ferment into a much higher alcohol by volume (ABV) percentage.
The Ugly: British Royalty. Hahaha... oh, I just mean the ones that have no real power (tongue in cheek joke). Long live Queen!

So, I hope you've enjoyed this Year of Beer in Review as much as I've enjoyed being there for all the good, the bad, and the ugly of it. If you have any questions, you're always free to write me at AskAHomebrewer@gmail.com, or follow me on Twitter @askahomebrewer. Most recipes and advice are available on all the listed brews for this year.

Starbucks Selling Beer and Wine

2010-06-26T00:33:00.000-04:00

Du-uh!!! As if they wouldn't be able to make it work!

Oh, hey, friends... How've you been? I'm good, thanks. Now back to the great brew news!

I wrote about Starbucks' foray into another adult market offering tasty premium beverages with their launch of two secret beer and wine bars in a Pacific Northwest test roll-out. Just as they kicked the market in the beans with their ubiquitous coffee shops, they brought people more of what they want:
A great environment to sit back and relax with carefully crafted brews.

But the secret's out -- Starbucks won't have to disguise any of the new beer and wine bars with a phony mustache and glasses like the two test joints which were named after the cross-streets at which they were located. You'll now start to see these rustic, somewhat industrial lounges under the flowing locks of the lady in the green circle, Starbucks be thy name.

I'm looking forward to getting confused when I go out for coffee but end up in line for beer and wine (one's for me, one's for the lady over there with the awesome shark socks).

To commemorate this debut, here's a recipe for a great homebrew beer, black as freshly brewed Venti cup of Joe, but crisp and rich with roasted malt off the top, and finished with grassy, spicy hop notes. Add a bit more "wildflower nectar" notes (I realize how much I sound like Martha Stewart here) with an aroma addition of Willamette, the best hop in the world*.

As always, if you have any questions from what you see here or anything about beer and brewing, drop a line to AskAHomebrewer@gmail.com. -- top question for the month of June gets a $10 gift certificate to Midwest Homebrewing Supplies.

Café Vienna Lager
(5 gallons, partial mash)

Ingredients:

    * 1 lb. Vienna malt
    * 0.5 lb. dark Munich malt, 10° to 12° Lovibond
    * 0.25 lb. malted wheat
    * 1 lb. lager malt
    * 4 lbs. unhopped amber malt extract syrup
    * 1 oz. Perle hop pellets, for 60 min.
    * 0.5 oz. Hallertauer hop pellets, for 20 min.
    * 0.5 oz. Spalt pellets, for 20 min.
    * 0.5 oz. Willamette hop pellets, for 10 min. (Brewty and the Yeast suggested addition)
    * 0.125 lb. coarsely cracked (not ground) light-roast coffee beans
    * 1 broken cinnamon stick
    * 14 g. dry lager yeast or liquid culture (Brewty and the Yeast suggests Wyeast Budvar ACT2000)
    * 3/4 cup corn syrup

Step by Step:
Heat 1.5 gals. of water to 132° F, crack and mix in malts and malted wheat. The mash should settle at 121° F. Hold 30 minutes, then remove 3 qts. of liquid from the mash and boil it 15 minutes. Stir heated mash back into the mash tun. This should raise the whole mash to 137° F or so. Hold another 30 minutes, then remove 3 qts. again and bring to a boil. Boil this 15 minutes, add it back to the mash tun, raising the whole to about 152° F. Hold here for 60 minutes, then lauter and sparge with 2 gals. of 168° F water. To this runoff (about 3 gals.) add extract syrup and bring to a boil. Add Perle hop pellets, boil 40 minutes. Add Hallertauer and Spalt pellets, boil 20 minutes. Brewty and the Yeast option hop addition -- Willamette pellets, boil 10 minutes.

Remove from heat, set in ice water to cool, and add coffee beans and cinnamon stick. Steep at least 15 minutes, then chill and top off to 5.25 gals. with pre-boiled chilled water. At 75° F pitch dry lager yeast or a liquid culture (I’ve had great luck in this recipe with Wyeast 2308 Munich, Brewty and the Yeast suggests Wyeast Budvar ACT2000 "Smack-pack" yeast -- pulls out a little more flavor with higher flocculation). Seal and ferment for two days at 65° to 70° F, then place in a cooler (50° to 55° F) for a week. Rack to secondary and, if possible, place in a cold place (40° F or below) for three to six more weeks. (Otherwise, maintain at 50° F for three or four weeks.) Prime with corn sugar and bottle. Age cold (40° to 50° F) six to eight weeks, space permitting.

Notes:
Experienced decoction mashers will probably laugh at this primitive partial-decoction-mash recipe. I know it is not quite a usual triple decoction, but it seems to work for this recipe. If you have a better all-grain Vienna recipe, go with it. If you are going to mash at all for this recipe, I strongly encourage you to try it as a decoction, if only for the lovely color you can produce by boiling the mash.

Extract brewers who can’t even partial mash, don’t worry; an additional pound of amber dry malt extract will give you enough body and fermentables to make this work. I would suggest steeping some cracked Munich (see mash recipe) in your brewing water before you add the extracts, for color and grain aroma.

Dark-roasted coffee should be avoided, because it will darken the beer. You want to give a hint of coffee and cinnamon, not make them the dominant flavors, so don’t steep them in the cooling wort too long, but just long enough to give some brownish color and coffee-cinnamon aroma.

From "Brew Your Own" Magazine's website, Recipe published 2009: Café Vienna Lager

CHEERS TO BEERS!

* Yup. Willamette hops are the best in the world.

Bottling your Homebrewed Beer: Team Effort

2010-05-16T12:29:00.000-04:00

Oh, what a beautiful Sunday morning here in South Florida. The birds were chirping, the eggs were frying, and I was boiling priming sugar and bottlecaps to rack up our latest brew. My usual bottling buddy was on the road, so I had intended to fly this one solo.

But here's a little secret -- Bottling sucks. By yourself, bottling is a nightmare and you end up tracking around sticky footprints from spilled beer, you sweat your butt off making sure that everything stays relatively sanitized, and it's going to take you HOURS... ugh. The last time I bottled a 5-gallon batch, I was working with my friend Justin. Let me tell you, one extra person on the job makes it so much easier. I think that day we saved about an hour and a half compared to how long it takes me by myself. Maybe I'm inefficient, or maybe I'm frigging right. Get a buddy when you bottle. Or be that buddy. The world will be a better place.

So, this morning, besides being another great moment to interact with a finely crafted homebrew, I thought, "Well, I just so happen to have my family all here with me, so that means I have slaves... I mean "assistants" that can help me cap this last batch!" My parents were more than happy to help and just then my brother showed up... of course, ready to lend a hand.

With my mom rinsing the bottles, my dad filling them, my brother capping, and me checking and racking, we bottled every beer in less than a half hour. In total, I spent 20 minutes prepping the priming solution, 30 minutes bottling, and 10 minutes cleaning up, so I just shaved another 30 minutes off a job that used to break my back for 3, sometimes 4 hours.

I can say that having somebody there to help you is a valuable time-saver for sure, but I'll also offer that sharing what could be a very uninteresting and painstaking job with your friends and family can turn all you hated about bottling into something you'd look forward to the next time you're ready to do it.

Exbeeriment: Got Gas?

2010-03-22T23:35:00.000-04:00

A little while ago, my friend Justin called me with an out-of-the-blue question: what beer do I drink most? Well, for the ones I can remember, it's the relatively easy-to-find Samuel Adams Boston Lager. He then asked me to compare it to Guinness. "What's the difference between the two of them?"

Immediately, I started rolling out words like "mouth-feel," "head-retention," and "body." I like the bite it has versus the softer, chewiness of a draft-style Guinness.

"Right, the crisp versus the velvet," he agreed.

That's when the room went dark and the Mad Scientist adjusted his half-cocked spectacles, his gigantic, sinister shadow projected against the wall as lightning tore through the sky... "So, what if you could swap their bodies?"

After the lights came back on, I thought that what Justin was asking wasn't too far off from where modern brewing production and last century's kegging innovations have left us today. Carbon dioxide charges up the local draft at your favorite watering hole. Macro-brewed bottles and cans leave the production line with carefully measured atmospheres inside. Guinness (and other pub favorites) rolled out with nitrogen-charged "widgets" to capture that just-poured creamy perfection right from the six-pack.

So if the air we drink comes from something other than a colony of flatulent yeast, that is, from pressurized tanks and widgets, what's stopping us from swapping bodies and seeing how the flavors stand up against the gas that makes them fizz.

After a few beers and a little more brainstorming, we came up with a great idea -- drink more beers. Then we put together a little experiment (or "exbeeriment" if you will... and if you won't, we'll find someone who will). Can you switch the bodies and still get an enjoyable potable? Only science can help us now. Read on, MacDuff!

STEP ONE: Sam Goes Flat

We took a bottle of Sam Adams Boston Lager and put it under vacuum in a Foodsaver canister and ran the pump three times.

STEP TWO: Pump It Up

Once the Sam was flat, we poured the limp imbibable into whipped cream dispensers, one with an NO2 (nitrous oxide) cartridge, and one with a CO2 (carbon dioxide) cartridge. Then we poured a couple beers into ourselves. Following the directions for the whipped cream dispenser, we twisted on the gas for each canister to let the liquid inside dissolve the gas from the cartridges.

STEP THREE: Put out the Fire

Our burning curiosity (and thirst for science experiment beer) was ready to be extinguished, so we lined up our Frankenlagers along with a control (Sam right out of the bottle) to see which one would rise to the top.

THE RESULTS:

We had five samples of the Boston Lager.

Control
NO2 fully charged in the canister
NO2 with excess gas released from the canister
CO2 fully charged in the canister
CO2 with excess gas released from the canister

We found that the control (sample #1) stayed true with a medium body and typical crisp flavor and mouthfeel. The head was dense and slowly disappearing. Our second sample tasted a lot like a beer from a mostly dead keg. It seemed to pick up a metallic taste and the body was thin. The head was nice and lacy, though. Third on the list was the decompressed nitrous oxide lager. It had a nice flavor carried by a creamy body. The sample glass was left with a light and even lacing of head. The fourth sample really delivered a stronger caramel flavor. However, the body was quickly dying. Before it went completely flat, the fully-charged CO2 sample #4 had a very even and clean head, almost like the sheet of suds on top of a sinkful of water and dish soap. Sample 5, seemed to be as close to the original as we would get from the other 3 recharged beers.

THE CONCLUSION:

Yeah, you can mess with the bodies of your favorite beer by modifying the type and concentration of gas dissolved in the brew, but would it taste any good? Our favorite turned out to be the 3rd sample. The excess gas was released from the canister, allowing the beer to dispense as it would under its own dissolved gas power. The head stayed put and out of all the samples more carbonation remained visible after 10 minutes. The flavors carried very well over a blanket of velvety bubbles which seemed to mellow out any of the residual bitterness.

So, there you have it -- science has served up another way to enjoy our favorite beers. I hope this will inspire a new world of renovated ales and face-lifted lagers in the years to come, and if not, I just hope you all learned something today. If you did, please email me at AskAHomebrewer@gmail.com, because I think I can get a government grant for this kind of thing.

Do You Believe in Magic?

2010-02-07T10:39:00.004-05:00

Have you ever seen a sign over your local bar saying "Free Beer Tomorrow?" HAHAHA... very funny, barkeep. I'll come in tomorrow and the same sign will be there. The jokes on me.

This time, nobody's laughing -- Bx Beer Depot is hosting a Magic Hat Brewing Company tasting with free samples of beers you've probably never tried. The Magic Hat #9 you may have seen at a few taps around town (Bru's Room in downtown Delray gets a shout-out). Yes, #9, great from the first peachy/hoppy sip down to the last finger-licking ring of head you wipe off the inside of your pint glass.

Come check out the Magic show... details below. I'm heading to Bru's Room now for another pint or 12. Yes, I know it's 10:49 in the morning -- I guess I'm running a little late.

Who?
Lauren from Magic Hat Brewing Company

What?
Free Beer Tasting! Magic Hat's Spring 2010 collection likely to be on the menu.

When?
February 12th from 6:00 until 7:30pm

Where?
Bx Beer Depot
2964 Second Avenue North
Lake Worth, FL 33461
Phone: 561-965-9494
Email: sales@bxbeerdepot.com

Why?
Uh, maybe you didn't see "Free Beer" written above.

How?
Any way you can.

Merchandise Links?
Nostalgic Humor Tin Sign : Free Beer! Tomorrow

Ask A Homebrewer: Ladies' Night

2010-01-26T22:44:00.002-05:00

hi bfiddy,

this isn't technically a homebrewing question, but a more basic beer question for the ladies -

if a girl is going out on a first date with a guy who knows and loves beer, what are a few beers that she can order that will totally impress her date? also, what beers should she avoid asking the bartender for?

thanks!

sammy

Simple (sort of)! But, this may take a little homework. If you're already a beer fan yourself, find out if the restaurant you're headed to already stocks your favorite brew. Avoid anything that has the word "Budweiser", "Anheuser-Busch", "Coors", "Miller", "Heineken" or "Corona" on the label. That is unless you totally f-ing love that beer. Then own it. Drink it with all your heart. That should be impressive enough, especially if you ask whether they "have it on draft."

I guess there's something about meeting a girl who knows she enjoys beer from a keg gives a guy an instant sense of comfort and a steady foot on common ground.

If the restaurant doesn't have the beer you usually drink, go by style. Light beer drinker? Stick with Lagers and Pilseners. Going for a little more body? Ales, Lambics and Belgians may be more eyebrow-raising. Looking for a liquid dessert or hearty night-cap? Stouts, Barleywines (a little more rare), and Porters would have you casting dreamy gazes over the top of your perfectly poured pints.

However, if you're not too well-versed in the word of the Im-Bible, here are a few of my favorite beers that I think are are girl-friendly and sure to score you some points on the ever-so-important first date.

Light-Colored (lighter beer flavor) Beers: Peroni, Sam Adams Light, Pilsner Urquell

Fruity Flavors: Leinenkugel's Berry Weiss, Sam Adams Cherry Wheat, Wild Blue or Blue Paw (blueberry-flavored), Banana Bread or Leffe Golden Blonde (banana and Juicy Fruit flavors)

Strong Flavors: Sam Adams Boston Ale, Dogfish Head 60- or 90-minute IPA (pale ale with bitter, but floral hoppiness),

"Safe" Beers (these will be somewhat impressive and easy to drink): Blue Moon (with an orange slice), Hoegaarden, or Yuengling (from this country's oldest brewery, c. 1829).

Of course, a beerie like me would suggest any oddly-named beer to try in front of your first date so long as you don't grimace at the just as likely oddly-flavored fermentable the waiter puts in front of you.

I hope this helps, and if not, I hope this helps you get drunk... on good beer.

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
Got a homebrewing question?
Beer on the brain?
"Ask A Homebrewer"
AskAHomebrewer@gmail.com
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CHOO CHOO... Pull Into the Depot!

2010-01-12T20:40:00.002-05:00

Hello, South Florida!

There's plenty more to do if you're into brew down here in South Florida. Our friends at Bx Beer Depot are offering classes on the schedule below.

Homebrew Class Dates

January 16th: 10.00 am until Noon( See below for home brewers social starting at noon)

January 21st: 6:00 pm until 8:00

In this class, we cover everything you need to know to brew a great batch of beer your very first time. We cover the ingredients and equipment needed. We will brew a batch on site while you watch and of course, taste some home brew.

Class cost $ 25.00

* If you are already a home brewer or you are coming to the class on January 16th, join us right after the class for our monthly home brewers social and brew session starting at noon. Bring your brewpot or just come to join us for food, home brew and fun. Call store for more details.

2964 Second Avenue North
Lake Worth, FL 33461
Phone: 561-965-9494
Email: sales@bxbeerdepot.com

Ask A Homebrewer: What Kind of Beer Should I Make?

2009-12-04T19:23:00.004-05:00

Hi, B-Fiddy:

I am about to start my first batch of beer and I'm not sure how to start? I mean, i'm about to get the supplies and I don't know what kind of beer to make that would be easy and of course taste good! HELP!!!!!!!

-- Brian

Hola, Brian:

Good question! A lot goes into creating a beer, not just personal preference, but environment, too. The part of your question that stands out the most to this homebrewer is that you're looking for something "easy." For beginners, that boils down brewing from a kit. Nothing easier in homebrewing than ***sanitizing first***, pouring water, popping a can of extract, cooking, cooling, dumping in yeast, and waiting for the brew to do that voodoo it do.

GETTING STARTED
So, start with a kit that doesn't have any grains to boil. Just a kit with a can of hopped extract and a packet, vial, or pouch of yeast will get you rolling. Follow the instructions that are included with the kit, or come back to me and I'll walk you through it.

BREW THE RIGHT BEER FOR YOUR LOCAL AMBIENT TEMPERATURES
Next, and this may be a commonly overlooked variable, is selecting a style that will work with your surroundings. Assuming that, for you, any brew will do, you should be aware of the temperature at which you'll be settling your yeast to work at all the fermentable sugars in your future beer.

LAGERS: Lager yeasts are great for lower temperatures. We'll say environments between 45 and 55 degrees Fahrenheit will do the trick for the first part of brewing. When it's time to bottle or put your batch through secondary fermentation, regular refrigerator temperatures will do. That is, being at around 33 degrees Fahrenheit will help your lager develop its best flavors over the next 2-3 months.
ALES: Ale yeasts are much more forgiving than lagers and can be brewed in more homes without the use of advanced cooling/heating equipment all year 'round. There's a wide variety of yeasts that are classified as "ale yeast" and just as wide is the range at which these yeasts will operate. You have a range, depending on the strain of yeast, from around 60 degrees to about 85 degrees Fahrenheit. The upper edge of 75 degrees to 85 degrees includes many Belgian, Farmhouse, or other "wild" beers with their odd sweet-sour-fruity flavors.

Visit White Labs' Yeast Search to check out the details on the varieties of yeasts out there and match it to the average ambient temperature in your garage, cooler, refrigerator, pantry, or hall closet where you'll be fermenting your brew.

Well, Brian, I think that's about it! First, limit your searches for brew kits to any that don't require you to boil grains or hops for the EASIEST method of brewing. Second, think about where you live and where the brew will ultimately be made. You can then narrow down your search to a style that would suit your brewspace, whether it be indoors, outdoors, in cool temperatures, or in the sweltering heat of South Florida. Whatever you do, whatever you brew, keep it clean and you should be successful.

Regards,

Brent "B-Fiddy" Fedor
AskAHomebrewer@gmail.com

Ask A Homebrewer: Where Do Homebrewers Come From?

2009-11-24T23:17:00.003-05:00

Anybody who loves beer is a homebrewer at heart. You start out flirting with a bottle or 12 at a party... then you start bringing them home... then you fall in love once, twice, many times over with different ones. Then it becomes a part of you. It completes you. You want to make it your own.

Here's where you find the help.

How do you get started brewing beer? Where do you get beer supplies? How do you know you're doing it right? You'll have tons of questions, and I can give you the answers.

So, ask a homebrewer. Leave a comment or send an email to AskAHomebrewer@gmail.com... we'll get you brewing.

Bx Beer Depot - DecemBeer Events

2009-11-24T23:07:00.002-05:00

I love Bx Beer Depot -- I'll be stopping up there this Thanksgiving weekend to stock up for my next brew. And I'll probably be making another few trips for their DecemBeer events (see below)

DECEMBER 5th
Lagerhead Brewers Social
Noon until 5:00
Join the Lagerhead Brewers for a Social Event to promote and learn about the hobby of home brewing. We will brew a batch of beer and have available samples of beers that we have made along with a potluck. The Lagerheads are a fairly new club whose goal is to increase the appreciation of beer through socialization and education. Meet some of the members and help to support the cause.

DECEMBER 11th
BX Beer Depot Christmas Party
6:00 until ?
Join Bx Beer Depot to celebrate the Holiday Season with an all you can eat and all you can drink beer lovers extravaganza. We will have music by the Branch Floridians, and Dan Oliver the Beer Guy will be making his infamous wings. We will be partying in style on the Intracoastal. Please RSVP as soon as possible (see contact info below).

$ 20.00 per person in advance
$25.00 the at the door

2964 Second Avenue North
Lake Worth, FL 33461
Phone: 561-965-9494
Email: sales@bxbeerdepot.com

Homebrewing For Dummies? How About the Rest of Us?

2009-11-09T23:05:00.005-05:00

I've spent a lot of time in bookstores, libraries, online forums, bars, and gazing starward through the bottom of many a bottle and mug to find out how to make my beer at home like the beer I've enjoyed outside my home.

A lot of homebrewers are either inspired by craft and microbrews, fed up with or federally prohibited to imbibe commercially available beers, or just plain chock full of pioneering spirit to create a brew that they can call their own.

I'm one of those... all of the above.

But back to the neverending research and curiosity -- I think there's not one guide out there that can lay down a recipe for a fool-proof beer. There's no homebrewing for dummies. To be sure, dummies don't drink -- they pose in shop windows or tell jokes from the knee of a self-conscious comedian.

And dummies don't make beer. Adventurous, inventive, sud-loving folks do.

So, here's a how-to on making beer for the evolved dummy. Foam-o Sapiens.

Get acquainted with a style you want to make.
Hit your local grocery store, liquor mart, brewhouse, triple-x jug, and define the taste you seek.

Find the right ingredients.
Chances are, if it's on the shelf, somebody's already leaked the secret formula for your favorite beer. Pick up ingredients at fine local shops through places you can find through Brewer's Roundtable homebrew supply page, or online purveyors such as Midwest Homebrewing and Winemaking Supplies. If you're local to South Florida, check out my local shop, Bx Beer Depot, which offers brick and click ordering (in-store and on-line).

FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS!
When they say your yeast requires a certain temperature, stick to it. Use ice packs, heating equipment, or other temperature controls to make sure your yeast is chomping away at sugars at the most comfortable temperature ever. Otherwise you risk off-flavors or stuck fermentations which can lead to beer infection.

Other instructions lean heavily on keeping your workspace clean. Yes. People back in the early days of beer died before what we call middle-age. Baseball players, by ancient standards, would be considered community elders, praised for their wisdom and legendary tobacco-spitting abilities. We have come a long way and a lot of that has to do with cleanliness. We can sanitize the heck out of our food and drink to keep us from catching illness from that which should provide us sustenance and inebriation.

Share your beer.
You might never know that the weird-tasting beer you made in the garage is actually spot-on for a beer you've never tried before. I entered the 2009 Samuel Adams Longshot contest and found out my Imperial Pale Ale would probably be a hell of a barleywine if I give it a little time to sit. All it cost me was FedEx postage and the judges at the Longshot contest gave me their best review. Another brew I did was an ESB -- my girlfriend, typically not a beer-fan, raised her eyebrows at first sip and found it a perfect pair with sushi. It's not always your place to say if the beer you make sucks or rocks.

And if you feel you have nobody to share with, drop me a line. I'm there for you, buddy.

Well, that's the short and dirty of homebrewing for those of us who aren't dummies. For any questions on detailed instructions or comments on beers you've made or want to make, leave a comment. Hoperators are standing by...

Summer Brew: The Season Ends

2009-10-12T19:50:00.007-04:00

Alas, the season for the Summer Brew has come to an end. If you're still finding Sam Adams Summer Ale on the shelf at your local store, see if they also have boiled peanuts and plug tobacky behind the counter. It's over.

But, if you're anything like me, you've had your fill. Enough with the citrusy notes. So long to crisp, clean, non-cloying cold ones. I don't want to slice another lime to balance off the lip of a Corona.

I want spice. I want heavy malts with caramel, cocoa, and coffee hinted at every sip. I want a seriously strong brew to keep me warm on those bone-chilling Florida nights. Good bye, Summer Brew! Hello, Oktoberfest! Hello, Samiclaus! Hello, Pumpkin Ales!

Here's three things I'm looking forward to in these coming cooler months:

1) Brewing outside the narrow alley of ales. I live in South Florida. My attempt at making a summer brew turned into a sour, gueuze-like concoction (still good, but not on par with the style I wanted). TOO HOT in the garage for my lager yeast. But now, I can turn back to the lagers as the temperatures drop into the low 70's. Very happy. Ales are pretty tolerant of the upper seventies and Belgian yeasts can be good into the mid-eighties. Fahrenheit.

2) Oktoberfest. Explanation shouldn't be necessary, but in case your head is still clouded by summer brew, this is the time of year that the perfectly balanced German Märzen beers come out to play. Sam Adams has a great entry in this market. Beck's does alright (odd for a native). Countless brewpubs have their own delicious home-baked versions (see here for a directory).

3) Strong beers. Now's the time of year that you can stomach a heavier beer. The summer brews are built to be light and refreshing. That usually means more water and less alcohol by volume. Hey, it gets hot out and you're going to be thirsty. You'll sweat out the water and keep more of the booziness. In Fall and Winter, this kind of brew will only lead to more bathroom breaks. Go for the higher-octane brews, like a Samiclaus -- an Austrian brew weighing in at a solid 14% ABV. Sam Adams has an impressive (of course) version of a Russian Imperial Stout. This is a hefty 9.2% ABV. And who can forget America's new favorite, the Pale Ale. A lot like an Imperial brew, its higher alcohol content makes good for keeping a beer tasting fresh, but it also keeps you warm as the leaves start to fall from the trees.

So, say "aloha" Summer Brew. Until we say "aloha" again.

Chinese Beer Therapy

2009-09-21T21:18:00.006-04:00

I'm interested in all things natural, holistic, alternative, and effective when it comes to living the High Life. When it comes to medicine, I think old remedies have fallen off the shelves to make way for dark green dreamy concoctions and bright orange rocket fuels to keep your cold and flu symptoms at bay. But I never feel quite right after I come down off the 'tussin trip.

So, I turn back to the ancient Chinese secret of food therapy. Not really a secret, Chinese Food Therapy echoes into today's more natural lifestyles and has deep ties to grandma's old-school remedies like hot chicken soup, hot teas, or lemon juice and honey shots.

Recently struck with a cold, I decided to give myself a refresher on what would help me balance my Yin and Yang to get over this illness in a hurry.

Looking through the list of food characteristics, Cold-Cool-Neutral-Warm-Hot, I found one site that puts beer right there in the "cool" section. Cool!

The "Cool" foods are supposed to help tone down fever, which is a symptom of what the Chinese Food Therapists refer to as Wind-Heat ailments. So I'm waiting for that tell-tale bead of sweat to break on my forehead so I can run, er, feebly shuffle down to the fridge and pop a Beck's Oktoberfest.

It's Chinese Beer Therapy. Doctor's orders.

Ice, Ice Baby -- Brewing an Ice Cold Beer

2009-09-02T21:07:00.001-04:00

I had a new experience. I was brewing a new batch of beer, a California Common or Steam Beer, and after boiling the wort (this was the first time I didn't have an overboil), I was ready to cool the brew and pitch my yeast.

A pound of ice is roughly a pint of water. Eight pounds of ice melts into a gallon of water. This is valuable info for those of us that haven't saved enough as homebrewers to buy an immersion chiller or other contraption to bring our wort to the proper temperature before we throw in our yeast. I remembered this tidbit of information the night before the brew and I stocked up on 20 pounds of ice first thing the next morning.

So, here was my thought. After boiling about a gallon and a half of water, grains, hops, and malt extract for about an hour, I figured I'd have boiled down to a little over a gallon of wort. Then I'd splash the wort into my fermenting bucket, toss in the ice, check the temperature, and then pitch the liquid yeast into the mix. Done-zo.

Well, after all the boiling, I did just as I planned, but I freaked out when I took the temperature. It was 46 degrees Fahrenheit.

I thought to myself, "Oh, crap. This is too cold." My head is spinning, because I never read anything about the wort being chilled too much, or having too cold of an environment to pitch in the yeast. Every instruction guide I can remember reading or watching tells me to get the brew down to 70 or 80 degrees and you're ready to rock. Should I reboil? Should I leave the bucket out in the sun for a while? Rather than risk contamination, I just crossed my fingers and poured in the yeast. With pains in my stomach, I sealed the bucket, cried a little bit, and put on an airlock to keep the bugs and germs out of the liquid gold within.

I felt a little sick as I moved the bucket to the corner of the garage, listening to the sloshing and knocking of all the ice cubes still floating in my brew.

Days passed and I saw no signs of life in my brew. I usually wait for the top of the bucket to bulge and listen for the gurgle in my airlock as the yeast eats the sugars and burps out alcohol and CO2. On the third day, I was angry and desperate to get any kind of action from my bucket of disappointment. So I shook it. I shook the bucket and walked away.

Minutes later, BURP! HAHAHAHA! I woke up the yeast... or more accurately, they were doing just fine in there. Maybe a little sluggish sitting in the hot garage, but living it up on the fine brew I concocted. What a relief -- the baby burped!

So, I guess the point was made very clear by Charlie Papazian, the homeboy of homebrewers everywhere, when he said "Don't worry; have a homebrew." Trust me, readers, don't worry. When making beer, there's only three things I've found that are crucial to success.

Keep your equipment clean throughout the brewing process,
Watch the temperature when boiling and fermenting,
and "Don't worry; have a homebrew."

Stay cool, homebrewers.

The Beer Diet

2009-08-09T16:32:00.002-04:00

There is a Miller Lite at the end of the tunnel. Love beer but hate the gut? Then follow along this helpful guide to the Beer Diet -- a way to keep your favorite potables and lose the potbelly.

For years, I've been told to keep everything in moderation. Your body is basically a slowly leaking balloon that can handle as much as you can stretch it out. Pushing it to the limits, as we know from a common childhood pants-peeing moment of filling a balloon with too much air too many times, can weaken and destroy what should otherwise be a simple system of filling and releasing in moderation. Never too much, never too little.

There are many jokes and viral videos showing a version of the Beer Diet that involves exercise (running to the bathroom, dry-heave abs training) and food portion control ("reverse peristalsis", or being too hungover to ever want to eat again). But these are again based on over-consumption of an otherwise pleasant part of a responsible diet.

Plainly put -- don't drink too much alcohol and you won't be packing on the extra Calories. You'll also avoid catching a severe case of the Munchies, often an after-the-fact preventative measure to avoid a crippling hangover.

OPTIONS:

If you're drinking beer at a rate of 2-3 per night on average, you're adding anywhere between 300 to 500 Calories into your system per night. That can mean a whopping 3500 Calories per week, which is roughly the amount of Calories in a pound of fat. Living a low-impact lifestyle, you may actually never see the bathroom scale again.

Because of your belly.

It'll be big.

Avoiding this problem, however, is not as difficult as giving up your favorite after-work snack.

Option 1: EXERCISE MORE! You can always up your activity level by taking a few flights of stairs instead of an elevator, spend an extra 10 minutes lifting weights (a 12-pack weighs 18 to 21 pounds), or walking briskly around the grocery store when shopping for more brews.

Option 2: CUT IT OUT! Take one beer off the menu every time you drink and you're sparing yourself a spare tire around your waste at the end of the month.

Option 3: LOW-CALORIE BEER IS STILL BEER! With the lowest mainstream option weighing in at a measly 64 Calories, you can still unwind without having to unbuckle your belt. The Beer Diet skinny is that Anheuser-Busch is even testing a 55 Calorie beer in select cities to capitalize in a nation looking for a lower calorie version for everything in their fridge and pantry.

Option 4: QUIT DRINKING! Just kidding.

The Beer Diet, no longer a joke, is something anyone (legally allowed to drink) can do to keep enjoying the High Life (or High Life Light) without falling victim to your own vices.

Just Say No.

Simple Beer Brewing Saves Time, Money, and the Environment (Part 3)

2009-07-30T22:22:00.001-04:00

Part 3 - The final installment in this Simple Beer Brewing series is one that is near and dear to my heart. Not only am I a homebrewer, I'm a tree-hugger. I think the two go hand in hand in that both take time, education, and a passion for living well. So please read below and see how these environmentally-friendly tips can help you brew Green Beer.

Save the Environment
Mother Earth loves a cool, frosty mug of beer after a hard day. So, why not make her day even better by keeping these tips in mind when brewing beer at home.

Dollar stores have pre-measured gallons of water ready to boil, chill, and dilute your future beer. They come readily available in recyclable containers that can also be used to measure and pour sanitizer, serve as a makeshift airlock for your brew, and can be chilled or frozen -- then sanitized -- and used as an ice-pack to chill your wort at the moment before pitching your yeast.

Again, One-Step Sanitizer is a great choice for savings. It degrades into non-toxic, food-safe compounds -- sodium carbonate, water, and oxygen.

For everything else you may need for brewing beer at home, go local or buy in bulk. This cuts out the use of fuel to move material from supplier to your hands.

On the other hand, when the consumer (you) is also the brewer (you, again), you save fuel that you'd otherwise spend on drive to the local supermarket, bar, or packie to get your fix. You may also save a life! Don't get drunk and drive. If nothing else, it sets a bad example for others who might end up pinning you between your car door and the Pearly Gates.

Beer brewing at home can be pretty easy, but so is anything you're prepared to handle. Follow the steps above and you'll save yourself plenty of time and money while also minding your impact on the environment.

As always,

Be good,

Be love,

B. Fiddy.

Starbucks To Sell Beer and Wine

2009-07-22T06:48:00.001-04:00

Ah, Santa did get my letter!

Starbucks, after serving up a hot, steaming cup of financial losses this year is looking to re-invent some of its closed stores with a new coffee and tea house that also sells beer and wine.

The whole thing kinda reminds me of the time the Simpsons went to Australia. They all end up in a bar where Marge tries to order a coffee.

Marge: I'll just have a cup of coffee.
Bartender: Beer, it is.

With a one-store rollout in Seattle this Friday, the “15th Avenue Coffee and Tea inspired by Starbucks” will now expand its brew selection from lattes to lagers, chai teas to chardonnays. Also on the menu, snacks. I tell you, that's pure genius putting alcohol and snacks together in the same place.

I say "Bra-vo, Starbucks," for finally giving me an excuse to dunk a cruller in my beer.

It seems like a fine idea and proper setting to start in Seattle, not only because it's the HQ for Starbucks, but also because of the fine selection of west-coast brews and wines at their disposal.

No word yet on whether their beer and wine will be under their own label or if they're sourcing local favorites.

Stay tuned!

Simple Beer Brewing Saves Time, Money, and the Environment (Part 2)

2009-07-09T22:21:00.002-04:00

Part 2 of Simple Beer Brewing is about Saving Time. You know the saying "Time is Money." Yeah, well, I spend my money on beer. So the more time saved, means more beer! Logic rules.

Save Time

Read the recipe before you start brewing at home. Gather the materials you need and place them in sequence. Knock them off the list as you move toward keeping your eye on the brewpot. Overboiling is almost inevitable. All the sugars and proteins make for very quick-rising bubbles. Very sticky, quick-rising bubbles. The first time I brewed took me four hours. One of those hours was spent scraping and scouring the burnt, sugary waste of over-boiled wort. If you wanted simple beer brewing, organizing and minding your craft will help.

Clean and sanitize before brewing. Keep sanitized equipment in your sanitized 5-gallon bucket until ready for use. The quickest way to sanitize -- One-Step. This is a great one step powder that requires no rinsing (less time at the pump!) to make all your brewing equipment ready for the big show.

Keep ice and ice-packs on hand. Water can be made from ice pint for pound. This may come in very handy when you're cooling your wort to get ready for fermenting. Throw in a bag of ice and you're cooling the brew while adding the proper volume of water for fermentation.

Digital thermometers are invaluable. These handy devices give you an instant reading to keep tabs on how hot or how cool your project is. Some new stovetops, like this one from Bosch Appliances, will even watch the temperature for you, run alarms for boilovers, and heat the wort in record time with induction technology.

One very hot tip I came across was in bottling. The hardest, most time-consuming part of bottling for me has been sanitizing and cleaning them before I pour my carefully crafted home-brew into them for bottle conditioning. This tip was to bake your label- and residue-free bottles in the oven. Seal your bottles with a little piece of foil. Stick them into a cool oven and start baking for an hour at 338 degrees Fahrenheit (170 degrees Celcius). Let the bottles completely cool before you bottle. You can keep oven-sanitized bottles indefinitely so long as you don't break the foil seal. This may take up to two hours, depending on the conditions of your brew kitchen. But, trust me, it's almost a "set it and forget it" step in the process that you'll be very happy you took.

Simple beer brewing may be based on your own patience and experience, but these time-saving tips should at least make homebrewing "simpler."

As always,

Be good,

Be love,

B. Fiddy.

Beer Brewing At Home -- Simple Beer Brewing Saves Time, Money, and the Environment

2009-07-08T21:58:00.002-04:00

Brewing beer at home can save you in many ways; just like William Wallace saved the Scots. Except you won't be eviscerated hollering about freedom. You'll be drunk. Hollering about freedom.

In this series of posts, we'll cover tips that save you money, time, and the environment all while brewing beer at home. This first set of tips tells you how to save money when brewing beer.

PART ONE: Saving Money
Brewkits are readily available and can save you money with package deals (buy the piece, save a little; buy the kit, save a lot).

Alternatively, you can make a brew kit from household goods.

5-gallon buckets, standard for most brewkits, are found at most hardware stores, like Home Depot, Loew's, Ace Hardware, True Value, et cetera.
Plastic tubing (food grade), rubber grommets, and coolers are all easily found at these discount home improvement stores in plumbing, electrical, and miscellaneous sections.
Used pop-top glass bottles and plastic soda (or other carbonated beverage) bottles are pennies apiece or free with purchase of your favorite potables.

Gather these with a few other kitchen staples, and you can be brewing beer at home in no time.

As always,

Be good,

Be love,

B. Fiddy.

Happy Independence Day!

2009-07-04T12:04:00.001-04:00

POW! Right in the kisser... POW! Right in the kisser... POW! Right in the kisser

My beer is done. The IndependencESB has been launched in to the air and is raining down upon my tastebuds with deep caramel flavor, bittersweet hop finish, and slight maple and banana notes. Once upon a time, a homebrewer went by a different, more felonious name -- Bootlegger.

But thanks to forward and backward thinking beer-lovers who invoked the spirit of their forefathers. To paraphrase the words of the late, great Thomas Jefferson...

We hold these brews to be self-evident, that all men (and women)... are endowed by their Creator with certain unailienable rights... Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Hoppiness.

Freedom never tasted better.

Before Saturn Missles blow off 35% of your right hand...

2009-07-01T22:34:00.001-04:00

Check out Sally's 10th Annual 3rd of July Fish FRY! The Bx Beer Depot of Lake Worth, Florida put me on to this. To this date, they've got the best and longest lasting supply of rare brews, great beer supplies, and friendly homebrewer service in this part of South Florida. I know they put on a good event, so check them out at Bx Beer Depot!

But back to the main event -- Call for details on Sally's 10th Annual Third of July Fish Fry with live music from the Branch Floridians! $10 for fresh fish and brew? Yeah, it's going to rock.

BX Beer Depot, 2964 2nd Ave N, Lake Worth, Fl 33461

An Editor's Note

2009-07-01T22:14:00.001-04:00

Uh, apparently in Florida I can't sell my beer:

Statute 562.165 provides that an individual, who is not prohibited by section 562.111 (possession of alcoholic beverages by persons under age 21 prohibited), may produce beer for personal or family use, and not for sale in the following amounts:

(a) Not in excess of 200 gallons per calendar year if there are two persons over the age of 21 in the household.

(b) Not in excess of 100 gallons per calendar year if there is only one person over the age of 21 in the household.

Any personal or family production of beer in excess of the above amounts or any sale of such alcoholic beverage constitutes a violation of the beverage law.

So, I must cancel my offer in the previous post.

However, in searching for local beer statutes (check out the American Homebrewers Association website's legal section for your own local noose), I found the following special provision.

Special Provisions:
Beer made under the provisions of this statute maybe removed from the home for personal or family use, including use at organized affairs, exhibitions, or competitions, such as home brew contests, tastings, or judging. Beer used for this purpose shall not be sold or offered for sale.

A-HA, AHA. If any of you would like to enter my online tasting for the IndependencESB, please send me an email at bluribuschi@gmail.com and I'll send you details on shipping cost and nominal processing fee (to replace the bottles).

Come visit me in jail! I'll be making Pruno!

IndependencESP

2009-06-29T22:24:00.001-04:00

I have a hankering... the IndependencESB is going to be fricking delicious. Yes, because I tried some. It's not carbonated, but it's effing good.

Advance orders are available now. Limited batch of 48 12-oz. bottles.

Bottle Hymn of the Republic

2009-06-28T16:08:00.001-04:00

Ahem... and now I pay tribute to a homebrewing classic,

"The Bottle Hymn of the Republic."

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the brewing of the beer:

With primary fermenting-- secondary so it's clear;

Sanitizing bottles is a big pain in the rear:

To get my drinking on.

(Chorus)

Glory, glory, Hallelujah!

In a week, I'm drinking brew-ah,

Til my eyes are seeing two-of-ya!

I'll get my drinking on.

Stay Tuned --- IndependencESB, July 4th, 2009

Fosta's, Osstreeleeun fuh BEE-YUHH

2009-06-25T19:36:00.001-04:00

It's not so bad.

I remember reading that Foster's isn't the cream of the crop down unda. I finally found that they're selling the Foster's Premium Ale at Publix (grocery store) now and I couldn't be more tickled. I'm familiar with the old, blue "oil can," and this nice green meanie is a welcome addition to my favorite aisle in the grocery store.

Welcome, green weeah-do. Good on ya!

99 Bottles of Bleach on the Wall

2009-06-23T20:00:00.002-04:00

Hello, beerfans! Da beers, da-beers-da-beers-da-beers-da-beers-da-beers-da-beersssss.

Today was a fine example of how the only time I use caustic cleaning products is when I'm dealing with my beer or if I step in dog crap. By caustic products, I am of course referring to Clorox bleach, the homebrewer's cheap alternative to safer, more environmentally friendly products as found at fine purveyors such as Midwest Homebrewing and Winemaking Supplies (www.midwestsupplies.com).

But whatever, I tried to save a buck and at the same time I can pre-soak undershirts while the bottles disinfect. Maybe one day I'll try the dishwasher technique or just do a little One-Step presoak.

Because now my hands smell like a swimming pool and my fingertips are all glide-y and dry, I want to spend the $2.95 on a sack of One-Step and feel good about washing down the driveway. I don't even have to rinse the bottles, buckets, carboys, siphons, measuring cups, air-locks, spoons, and caps. That's both a savings in dollars and sense. I'm clever.

Well, that's the scoop on bottling. Bleach is for laundry and toilets -- both things that I think need a good chemical spank every so often. Take the sadism out of sanitizing and go with One-Step. Mother Earth will totally hook you up by c-blocking nasty germs from getting all up in yo' Kool-Ale.

The Pub

2009-06-21T18:19:00.001-04:00

People, people, people... do you have a local pub? I actually have The Pub. I'm not hyping up some local pub o' mine. It's called "The Pub." It's a chain, but, like none I've ever seen or enjoyed. It's not the one in the picture above, but it's pretty much just like it. Nestled perfectly amongst a bundles of other chain stores in a semi-upscale stripmall, there she waits.

For you.

For me.

Four-fifty a pint.

You might be lucky enough to have one of these near you. You may even have been one of the lucky ones to book a black mug in their Pub Club (some bars sell choice memberships that come with a house mug and many perks like a free birthday pint and discounts). If you were one of the Pub Clubbers and are leaving town, incidentally, let me know! Maybe you'd be so inclined as to bequeath the honor unto me as I have no plans to leave the area anytime soon.

And why would I? How far would you go to find such good grub, GREAT beer selection, and fried pickles? Don't say "Hooters." I know you want to say it, but don't. Don't even mouth the word silently. YESSSSS, they have fried pickles, good food, and beer. But it's "beer." Yeah, it'll get you drunk, but it doesn't taste right. At least not here in Florida. The lines are dirty or something. Maybe it's the plastic mugs. But I digress...

The Pub. I love The Pub. As I was saying they offer so much more than a local bar built on distribution lines and local favorites on tap. They even have a Pub Passport that pushes patrons to petition pints of potables from a list of 55 brews (bottled or pulled). I don't know about you, but I love a challenge when it comes to consuming, especially beer.

So, where was I going with this? Oh, yeah... the end.

The Waiting Game

2009-06-21T11:44:00.001-04:00

"Today, Tomorrow, and the Rest of My Life"

Okay, that's the title for my memoirs on drinking beer. I don't know what kind of "memoiries" I'll actually have left in my hop-soaked brain after devoting a lifetime to drinking, brewing, and drinking beer, but I'm sure glad I already have a title.

Back to the title of this entry, though, I am referring to the waiting game played by all of us homebrewers bent on making the world as happy (or drunk) as we, the competitive brewers, are.

When we order crystal malt, Munton's malt extract, Wyeast 1056 American Ale smack packs, hop pellets and bottle caps, we wait.

When we're boiling the wort, eyes peeled for a boil-over, we wait.

When we've cooled, poured, and pitched into primary fermentation, we wait.

We wait through secondary fermentation.

We bottle and wait through the conditioning.

Then one quiet morning, springing from bed, we rush downstairs to crack open a bottle of breakfast. It's time. It's beer.

Ah, that brewtiful, golden baby bubbling and drooling over the side of your glass. It's okay; you can lick the side of the glass. After your first sip, you know that all the waiting was worth the reward in that glass lovingly clutched in your drinking hand.

Thank you, Charlie Papazian!

And thanks to Alan McLeod of A Good Beer Blog fame... I hope to see my beer reviewed on your website some day.