Fall Brewing

Tuesday was double brew day. Brown ale and a new recipe for a traditional bock. I went bock with the intent of a) getting a good yeast slurry together, and b) I accidentally bought too much pilsner malt, so I'm going to do a double bock too and try to clean some of it out!

Brewing went well. The beers are both fermenting away. Hopefully in a couple weeks I will be able to enjoy it! Part of the Pale Ale Project included filtering, so I now have a plate filter. It works well and is nice when transporting beer to keep from stirring up sediments that settle out during aging...

Till the next time!

More Beer, Filtering, and Beer Runs!

So tonight I am "planning" to do my first filtered beer. I have a keg of brown, a keg of Pale, and a Bohemian pilsner, all of which I am planning to run through my new filter. I'm interested to see how it changes the taste profile...

This weekend I am hoping to brew another cream ale, and next weekend the smoked porter. I still want to do either more bo-pils or an oktoberfest. Man, so much beer to brew, and so little time!

Oh, and the second "beer run" is Saturday!

Winding down, and a beer run.

Summer heat is beating me down! Did get two more brews done, brown and (almost done) my first pale ale. We shall see how it turns out! Anywho, Drank Tank and I worked out a beer run through Greensboro. 5.5mi through the blazing hot sun and 4 bars (plus a homebrew at Derick's). Successful save the closed dive bar, but we adjusted fire and made it to the next place. Good times!

Another Ribbon for the RCBC

That's right, another second place.  This time for the now-coveted RCBC Just Brown Ale.  I knew I had a contender, and probably would have taken home 1st place if last year's Carolina Brewer of the Year and fellow BBGer, Jim Smith, hadn't entered an incredible Mild that ended up 3rd best in show.  I'm actually looking forward to entering it in a couple more contests to see if it places as well...

Bachelor party was a success.  Vienna went over very well.  All told the last 3 beers have been incredible, and I look forward to drinking more of them over the next couple months.  I've also started revamping the cold room, actually downsizing the serving fridge but adding a dedicated 4 tap tower.  Hopefully pictures to follow.

Hops are off and running full steam.  Some are several feet long already, even though they will probably take a hit thanks to the cold snap.  Either way, a new 10' trelles should help them produce a lot better this year.

Beer For Days...

Two weekends in a row brewing...good times.  Helped the Patrolman (Bayard) brew up some Oktoberfest, and followed up with an Irish Red (with Irish Jim's assistance, no doubt).  I'm finally getting comfortable with the brewery, and it shows as the last few brews have gone of without a hitch (knock on wood).  The awesome brown ale is already one keg down, and I am saving the other one for a friend's (Evan) wedding.  I need to get one of those vienna kegs cold and carbed...right now the only thing on tap is the less-than-desirable version of the cockhammer...

Kegging up...

15gal of Vienna and 10gal of brown.  I really need to get the sink setup in the cold room.  It's hard to clean hoses and carboys when it's 25 outside.  Cold hands!

Both beers seem to be good.  The Vienna needs some lagering to smooth out (actually, it's probably a better maerzen).  The brown ale appears to be a knock out, but I'm holding judgement until I taste it cold and carbed.

Santa's Bootstrap complete!

Bottled most of the bootstrap stout yesterday while brewing yet another attempt at a brown ale. Popped one today to check the carbonation level, and let me tell you it was one fine beer! I have the labels in hand and will be bottling the rest as soon as I get the second keg's CO2 right.

HOPS! DEAR GOD HOPS!

As the self-proclaimed anti-hop I've recently brewed a "hop closet" brown ale. It was a bit of all the leftover hops I needed to get rid of. I must say, it's a nice session beer, keeps the palate engaged, even after the 3rd pint. Plus, I don't have a bunch of folks kicking down the doors for a drink, as Irish Jim and Captain Pete are no fan of hops either.

Beer Brewing Blues

Right now I have only one good beer on tap, vienna. Otherwise I have a couple kegs of "different" brew. Today I'm going to bottle up a few beers for contest. I have some Scottish, Strawberry ale, and Vienna that will make it's way to the Shamrock Open in RDU. Otherwise I was sincerely dissapointed with my new attempt at brown ale...

So back to the basics. Tomorrow I am assisting a friend brew up a batch of Vienna for his wedding. From there we will start the great Maerzen brewfest. I'm going to attempt to brew 3 o-fest's starting with my standard one. These batches will lager until September, where I will probably crack a keg on my birthday (9/5). Talk about taking the style seriously!

I also plan on another brown ale (back to the original recipe), an american amber, CAP, and a german pilsner.

Drinking the beer...

Usually I am focused on brewing, but today I decided to review DRINKING beer. Had a few folks over for the games yesterday and we drank a few brews. I had some leftover brown ale, scottish, and O'fest on tap, and we partook.

Brown Ale was a bit more bitter than normal thanks to a tiny bit of trub (the "goo" that ends up on the bottom of the fermenters and includes pieces of hop) into the serving keg.

Scottish Ale is still strong with smoke flavor, but tasty (IMHO). I will probably bottle the rest of it since noone else seems to care for it. Maybe a few months of conitioning will smooth it out.

O'fest is delish, even with only a month of lagering. I might bottle some of it for contest in March, otherwise it will be enjoyed until the brown is ready again...

Too many good beers to drink!

Brown Ale Redux

Brewed a new version of brown ale yesterday after researching the style using Designing Great Beers, a book I got for Christmas. Brewing went fine...we will see how it tastes!

Back in the Saddle...

Well sorry for the delay, but it took longer than I thought to get into my car...

I'm back, for now. A lot has happened at the RCBC, but the most important thing is that I've started making good beer again! I had a few hickups transitioning to the pumped brewery, but the last four beers have been quite tasty. Thanks goodness, because I was starting to get really worried! Here's the current tally:

DRINKING
Transmission Fluid Red (Irish Red Ale)
Smokey Burnout Ale (Wee Heavy Scottish Ale)
Brake Fluid Lager (Octoberfest Lager)
Forty Weight Brown (English Northern Brown Ale)

FERMENTING
El Camino Equis (Vienna Lager [Dos Equis Clone])

NEXT UP
Blueberry Pie Ale
Cockhammer v2
Belgian Ale (abbey)
Hard Cider
Bock

Of Monkeys And Footballs...

Last night I helped DT(DrankTank) brew his first all-grain last night, only he didn't check is grain order before we started and ended up 4.5lbs short on base malts. We salvaged the brew by using DME to boost the gravity to a respectable level (thanks to promash!). It was my favorite brown ale recipe, but we will have to see how it does with extract and grain.

Every time I brew with him it is an adventure!

Next Up - Highland Amber

This Friday I am brewing a Scottish Ale using a recipe I found on the net. It's called "Highland Amber" and I hope to do it justice. This winter I'm going to try and brew a number of different styles:

Belgian (Farmhouse style)
American Lager (Sam Adams)
Bock
German Pilsner
EXPERIMENTAL (Probably the chestnut brown)
Porter

We'll see how many I get through since I will be moving to part-time work and doing some home remodeling!

Whoops, took a week off! Light Irish Red Lives On!

Well, I guess I wrote a lot the last couple blogs anyway. You could have broken them down into daily capsules. Anyway, tis a dark day, as the O'fest is gone, the Brown ale is still a bit bitter, and the pumpkin isn't quite ready.

ON TAP - LIR, Plain Ole' Punkin Ale(green), NQG Stout (Not Quite Guiness)
KEG CONDITIONING - Brown Ale x2
FERMENTING - BVIP*, O'fest #2

The Light Irish Red...This beer has been on tap since August, yet I can't get anyone to finish it off! Funny thing is, it's still a pretty fine ale, just very weak and light for a homebrew. I've been drinking it while watching football so as to not get lit and end up in bed at 7:30 Sunday evening. I've been very successful with the stout and the O'fest so everyone's gravitated to those, leaving the Light Irish Redheaded-stepchild Ale waiting for some love. I'm even going to bottle some of it for a contest in December, just for the hell of it...

*BVIP update: It is almost done fermenting. Actually it was almost done a week ago, but it seems I am supposed to let it sit on the primary yeast cake for 10-12 days at least since it is a high-gravity brew. This is not "mine", but property of the BBG.