Baby, Brews, and Brewery Tours

Since the Future Brewer has arrived, I obviously haven't had a ton of time or energy (thanks, sleep deprivation!) to do much writing in the Blog lately. However, there has been plenty to write about.

First off, the Future Brewer(FB) is doing great! Apart from a few nights where she doesn't want to sleep very much, it's been a dream having her around. We're here at just about 6 weeks, and she is really starting to enjoy being around us as well. She smiles at us all the time now. Especially when she hasn't seen one of us in a while. Coming home from work is even a bigger joy now.

Since the FB is out and about now, the SWMBO can drink my beer again! A few weeks ago we cracked open the first of Jennifer's Cherry Wheat. Unfortunately, it's underwhelming. There's absolutely nothing wrong with this beer, apart from a bit of over-carbing, it just didn't get that cherry flavor that I was going for. I used 2 pounds of Cherries in the recipe, but I probably should have used something closer to four or five pounds. Apart from that, it's a very easy drinking beer. Very light on the palate, just slightly bready, and with a bit of fruity esters.

This weekend I intend on getting around to brewing the Wedding Weizen. This is going to be brewed for my sister's wedding rehearsal dinner in a couple of months. I plan on making this beer with a pretty simple recipe. It will just be Wheat DME, a touch of hops, and Wyeast Weiheinstephan Yeast. This should bring out quite a bit of clove flavor for this Hefeweizen. Since this will be a group function, I don't really want to use a bunch of bottles for strangers. I plan on making the first, although pretty small, step into kegging: Party Kegs! These are small 5L kegs that will carb naturally, and can use a small tap with small CO2 canisters attached to pour with. I figured this would be much easier to deal with than 40 bottles scattered about the place.

In the final bit of news; I got to get out this past weekend and check out Triangle Brewing Company, in Durham. The tour of the brewery is well worth your money (it's free!) and the beer (also free!) isn't too shabby. The tour itself is pretty basic. You find out about the very basics in brewing beer, but details and specifics are left out for the most part. This is a tour more focused on the uninitiated and "new to craft beer" types. The beers themselves were hit or miss. Being the hop-head that I am, I started off with their IPA. This was an excellent offering. Finally, an American-style IPA that this area can be proud of and isn't just bitter beer. Maybe someone got the message? I also tried their Extra Pale Ale. Meh. An overly easy drinking beer that really has no character (especially hop character) and isn't worth writing home about. I had a sip of their experimental Habanero Ale, which tastes similar to the Pale Ale, just with some pepper flavor, and heat in the mix. An interesting beer to try, but there's no reason to have more than half of one. The other beers they had available, I did not try. I was hooked on the IPA and kept with that.

I'll try to keep the PPP updated with bits on the Wedding Weizen, and how the new "kegs" go in the future.

The Birth of the Pint-o-Lantern and Dobleve Te Effe Canes?

Not all Jack-o-Lanterns are born at the same level of awesome-ness.

This was my attempt at creating the world's first (I'm assuming so, because I never found any on google) Pint-o-Lantern. Through hours of hard work, I tried to recreate the illusion of a pint glass on a lit up pumpkin. Not the easiest of accomplishments. I did have lots of fun with it. Here's the work in progress:

I started out with a fairly tall pumpkin, and drew (to the best of my limited ability) a pint glass with a heavy head upon it.

Next, I "chipped" out the beer colored part by cutting out about .5-1 inch of the pumpkin shell. This was to ensure that the beer was lit up, but not super bright like an open hole.

Then, I put a full hole in where the head of the beer would be to make sure it was as bright, or as white as possible. I also dug the outline of the glass a bit deeper than the beer, so that it would shine a bit brighter than the beer. So I ended with this.

Now for the big downer. What is up with the Canes? No seriously, what is up with the Canes? They've lost 10 games in a row. They have not won a single game in a month. A MONTH! Plus, it looks like there's no end in sight, at least if they keep up with the way they are playing.

Yeah, they're playing the Maple Leafs on Friday, but honestly, the Canes are the absolute worst team in Hockey right now. And who would have thought that after last season?

So the question of everyone's mind is: Who's to blame? Well, that can pretty much be placed on everyone.

1. Jim Rutherford. He's now the manager of the oldest team in the NHL. He decided he wanted his younger stars to stay in the AHL one more year, even after a very good training camp, and instead signed older more obscure "veterans." He's still paying Peter Laviolette to not coach this team. He signed Mo to a three year deal after catching lightning in a bottle last "half-season." So of course there is no way Mo is going anywhere. JR is not going to pay 2 coaches not to coach, and then have to pay a 3rd coach to do a job. And therein lies the problem with JR being a "co-owner" of the Canes. He pretty much can never be fired or held accountable for his decisions.
2. Mo. You can shuffle lines all day long but it doesn't mean you can force chemistry. Plus, how about you play the younger guys that are called up. They're actually giving an effort and trying to win games. Stop playing your little favorites to the people who are under-achieving. Let the players earn their top spots.
3. Eric Staal. You needed to recover from your pseudo-injury you've had all season, instead of playing at 75%. You're no good to anyone if you aren't up to your normal level. You're taking up a roster spot that someone useful can take. Don't try to be an ironman just to hold that record, if you are hurt, take the game off.
4. The Carolina Hurricanes. Step up and play hockey. Get your crap together, and give a 60 minute effort. You're better than last place in the NHL. You're better than the Leafs. Much better.

Now show it.

Sorry for the Delay

It's been a while since I've been able to write up a new post on the ol blog. Part of that has been due to the fact that my computer at home has crashed and I have to share SWMBO's laptop. It also hasn't happened just due to being very busy at work, home and everything in between.

But the main reason for the lapse in posting is due to the fact that I've got a new assistant brewer growing inside SWMBO's belly! In just six short months I'll have the great responsibility of showing the next generation how to take pictures, how to properly berate the 'Canes (and they've deserved it lately), and how to brew awesome beer (but not partake until legally of age!). Just getting prepared for it's arrival has kept me from posting on here as regularly.

Without SWMBO's help drinking my beer, my pipeline is a lot longer, therefor, I can't brew as often either.

Thankfully, she can still go with me to the Canes games and do some hefty cheering. Although, lately, there hasn't been much to really cheer for. As of right now, the Canes are 2-4-2 and the only wins have come in the Shootout against Tampa, and against a Florida team who had just gotten back from playing in Europe. We even gave the Islanders their first win of the season just last night.

If there is a picture that can sum up how the Canes are taking this season, it's this one right here:

On the beer front, the IPA has finished fermenting and gone through the secondary, been dry hopped with and ounce of Cascade and Centennial each. It's even already been bottled; last weekend! I did get a chance to sample a bit that wouldn't fit into the last bottle, and it was pure hoppy goodness. I'm excited for two weeks from now.

C-Ward-O Defies the Economy and Other News

Today, Cam Ward signed a six-year contract extension worth an average of 6.3 million a year. And then he promptly laughed in the economy's face.

"Who says it's hard to get a good paying job these days?" he asks. Certainly it's not for the now 3rd highest paid goalie in the league. Personally, I believe that's about half a mil too much per year, but in terms of superstars, not too big of a deal.

What this really says, as Bubba over on Canes Country puts it, is that the Canes are here to stay and here to be competitive. It's a message to other players that may not want to play so close to the Tropic of Cancer, that this team is willing to pay for its superstars, and it's not planning on putting its fans through limbo, a la Phoenix Coyotes.

In other, only slightly related news: HOCKEY SEASON STARTS TOMORROW! It's aboot time eh! Although the Canes don't start play until Friday (in which there will be loads of tailgaiting. 70F weather here we come!) I still can't wait to be able to watch some hockey tomorrow night. It's been a long off-season, although not nearly as long as most, but it's very exciting to see how the '09-'10 Canes will stack up against the rest of the NHL.

In terms of brews, I was able to get a bit done this weekend. I ended up making a new IPA that I believe will kick the crap out of my last attempt.

First, a bit of some background. A couple of weeks ago, I decided to make my hop purchasing a lot cheaper. Previously, I had been buying hops in the price range of 2-4 dollars per ounce. That can get pretty expensive when your favorite beer styles are IPA's that require several ounces of hops.

So I decided to buy in bulk. Hops Direct has a good reputation for fresh hops and very competitive prices. So I took the plunge and bought 1 pound of Centennial Leaf (it's the main hop for Bell's Two Hearted, so obviously my favorite hop), 1 pound of Cascade Lead, 1 pound of Czech Saaz, and 1 pound of Magnum pellets. For a whopping total of 50 bucks (including shipping), I've got enough hops to last for quite a bit. Now, I have hops that only cost roughly 80 cents an ounce. So, obviously it was time to throw some serious hops into this IPA.

Here's the recipe. So a total of 8 oz. of hops. I honestly can't wait to see how this one turns out. I did find out that leaf hops are pretty hard to mess with. They don't like to sink down to the bottom of the kettle and tend to hang out on the top, and need to be stirred in quite a bit.

You may notice that I'm trying something new out with the recipe. It's a bit of a gamble on my part. I tried some First-Wort Hopping for this brew. It's a technique that is usually only used when Mashing is done, but I've somewhat forced it upon my brew. It's a process where you steep some of your late hop additions in your kettle after collecting your first runnings. For some reason that appears to be unknown, the flavor and aroma of these hops are retained during the boil, and not driven off. In blind taste tests, 11 of 12 people apparently prefer the first-wort hopped beer over the other.

Since my brewing does not use any mashing, I added the first-wort hops while the brew was at about 150F after I had steeped the grains, and after I added my extract. Then with the hops in the wort, I slowly brought the brew to a boil. This technique may, or may not work, because when mashing is performed with grain, it lowers the pH of the wort and is able to use the hops better. I haven't really read anywhere that said that adding extract does or doesn't do this, but everywhere I've read about first-wort hopping doesn't know about using it with extract. If nothing else, I will have just increased the bitterness of the beer. Not a horrible thing to happen to an IPA.

As I'm writing this, I'm testing out the Milk Chocolate Porter (formerly Stout). The flavor of the beer actually came out pretty balanced and smooth. Very surprising. It's got a nice light malty and roasty smell to it, and a pretty sweet and lightly chocolatey flavor. It's very easy to drink. So I'm disappointed that it's not a Stout like I had aimed for, but I'm pleasantly surprised on how the beer came out itself. Easily one of my better tasting beers, even if I missed the mark on the style.

Let's Get Back into This!

Bleh, it's been a bit too long since I've written in here. Quite a bit has actually been going on that's kept me from posting. So we'll get it going.

A New Car!

The SWMBO and I recently picked up a new 2010 Honda Insight. Yep, a hybrid. I gotta say, I really enjoy driving it. It's a very interactive car. Through a dash-screen, it tells you if you are driving with a "ecological mind" or if you're using more gas than you have to. A 3-D display in the speedometer glows green if you are driving with gas-sipping practices, blue if you're a little lead-footed, and teal if somewhere in between. Plus, having a car that gets better that 50 mpg (unless you're driving in the "Blue") is definitely pretty nice. It'll only be nicer when gas prices start really creeping back up.

Now, on to the brews. The Belgian Witbier got down to a nice acceptable FG. 1.011. It was promptly bottled and is now aging along with the IPA. Speaking of the IPA, I'm learning more and more about making better beers. A lot of the learning process is making mistakes and figuring out what you've done, and what you need to do to correct it. I did an early tasting of the IPA after 1.5 weeks of aging, and although "green" I learned a bit.

The main point I used is that I need to use a lot more finishing hops if I'm going to want the flavor and aroma I want from my hoppy beers. My IPA really didn't have much flavor in the way of hops other than bitteness. ; It was pretty dissappointing. Including dry-hopping, I used 4 oz. of hops. When I plan another IPA, which may be soon, I'm easily going to double that amount. However, most of those will be late-additions.

I easily hit my targeted IBU's with my IPA. It's plenty bitter, but there wasn't much actual hop flavor. I was really looking forward to some citrus notes from the hops, but there really wasn't any. I probably didn't need any of the Summit hops I used, I just should have used a lot more from the other hops. So I took that lesson to heart and made an American Pale Ale.

The Pale Ale is a really simple quick recipe. Here it is as follows:

• 6.6 lbs. of Pale LME
• 4 oz Crystal 10L
• 4 oz Crystal 120L
• 4 oz Dextrose (to boost the final ABV)
• 1 oz Centennial at 20
• 2/3 oz Centennial at 12
• 1/3 oz Centennial at 10
• 1 oz Centennial at 7
• 1 pack of Nottingham Dry Yeast

Hopefully, with only late-additions will help this beer have the proper hop flavor that's it's supposed to have, rather than just bitterness.

We'll see...

Big Boss Brewery

Last evening, the SWMBO and I made a trip to Big Boss Brewery, and their adjacent pub to sample a few of their brews. Their beers, while more malt-oriented for my tastes, were very good.

Of the seven (I believe) beers on tap, we sampled five of them: The Helle's Belle Belgian Pale Ale, Bad Penny Brown Ale, Angry Angel Kolsch, their Porter, and an Altbier (German Brown Ale).

All of their beers were as they were supposed to be, The Belgian Pale was sweet, fruity and peppery; The Brown Ale was caramelly, nutty and chocolaty, the Porter was nice and roasty and chocolaty, the Altbier was a bit nutty, clovey, and peppery, and the Kolsch was forgettable, just like Kolsch's should be. Seriously, not knocking on their Kolsch, they're a super light-style Ale that is basically not supposed to have hardly any flavor.

Big Boss Brewery was one of the local guys I was calling out earlier to make a "house" (non-seasonal) IPA. I actually got to get some answers while there on why they don't. I was able to ask their head Bartender, Jesse, about this. He explained that the brewery has a three-year contract with their hop supplier and that they are bound to those prices. From the sounds of it, they entered the contract at the time of the hop shortage, so their prices to buy hops are very high still. Jesse said that they have an IPA recipe ready to go once their prices come back down and it makes financial sense. They've already got the labels and art for it as well, they're just waiting on the price.

Big Boss shows off their brewery on the second Saturday of every month. Be sure to check them out.

Where's the Hops?

As I 've stated before, I'm a hop-head. For some reason, the most common definition of hop-head is a drug-addict. Not in this case! I love hops. I love a good IPA, or Imperial IPA, or if neither are available, just a good American Pale Ale. I also like to enjoy locally brewed beer (the most local being my house!). However, this causes me to have a problem.

For some reason, Triangle area Breweries don't seem to want to brew strongly hopped beers! Now, part of this is unfair to say. The one area Brewery that does offer an IPA that sells in stores, Carolina Brewing Company's IPA, I haven't tried. Their Pale Ale is excellent though. It's definitely got some hoppiness to it.

Here's my beef. Out of the nine breweries or brewpubs located in the Triangle region, only three offer IPA's, the aforementioned Carolina Brewing Company, and two brewpubs located in Chapel Hill, Top of the Hill Restaurant and Carolina Brewery.

Yes, I realize that there was a hop shortage a while ago, and hop prices haven't come back down to cheaper prices. I know, I buy hops too. So sell your IPA for an extra $.50 or $1 a glass.

If you guys hadn't noticed there's a trend forming, or has already formed, in craft brewing. More and more people are enjoying heavily hopped beers. New terms like hop-bombs(where enormous amounts of late-addition hops are thrown in to make for an explosive hop flavor and aroma) are being thrown around because more and more people are starting to enjoy the flavor profiles that American-style IPA's offer.

Where's our version of Stone's Ruination, Bell's Two Hearted Ale (my desert isle beer), Dogfish Head 90 Minute, or even Sierra Nevada Torpedo? There is already a big market for selling highly hopped beers, and it's growing.

Don't shy away from the IBU's, crank em up!!