A recent Miller Light commercial discussed putting fruits in beers. I've compiled a list of exceptions to the "No Fruiting Beer" Man-Law:
- Lime wedge in Dos Equis Amber Lager. I'm not sure why, but lime bits in this Vienna style lager is a tasty treat.
- Lime in Corona. Similar to above, but in this case the lime gives the beer flavor (Corona doesn't really have a lot of "flavor" of it's own.)
No-Gos:
- Orange Slice in wheat beers. Who the hell started that?
The upgrades to the RCBC have come out well. I've been able to stabilize my wort volumes, original gravities, and mash temps. Good thing, because I need to bring my A-game to the plate next weekend when we brew the club's bourbon vanilla porter.
It's like seeing your child ride a bike w/o training wheels for the first time. After nearly a month of upgrading I brewed the first batch in the newly renovated brewery. Here's a list of the additions:
Following a week of the plague, and vacation I am back in the saddle. Modifications on the brewery are complete, and I plan to brew a stout tomorrow, and perhaps something else Saturday. Last week Drank Tank and I brewed up some chestnut mead (custom recipe) which will be ready sometime in mid-late 2007, and I started another gallon of hard cider.
Went to Blowing Rock, Nc this past weekend and enjoyed a few more Sam Adams O'fest by the fire. Also hit the Six Pence Pub in town and had a few pints of Old Speckled Hen with some fish n chips...it was great! I can't wait to get my stout up and on tap with nitrogen!
Spent the weekend barfing and "blowing mud" as my buddy so eloquently puts it. Finally ate a full meal last night after 3 days of drinking gatorade. Did have a vision about our brown ale with chestnuts (actually my assistant brewmaster's idea). So I shelled a pound of nuts. It took almost two hours and my fingers still hurt! I guess an upcoming meeting will feature nut shelling...
Octoberfest tasting. The only survivor: Dogtoberfest from the Flying Dog Brewery. Not sure if it is a true lager/o'fest, but it was a damn good brew. Funny, it was the only one I enjoyed. Pete liked them all, but he was hammered and would have passed ram urine...
My buddy brewer from the mountains is bringing 50+ lbs of chestnuts tomorrow...Looking forward to some chetnut brown ale!
Anti-Hops unite against the troubling trend of maximum International Bittering Units:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/10/03/hops.fire.ap/index.html
Shout out to Tom Nolan, a homebrewer from the Winston Salem Worthawgs. He teamed up with the pro at Foothills Brewery (where the Worthawgs hold meeting) and brewed up an GOLD MEDAL Baltic Porter for the Great American Beer Festival.
http://www.beertown.org/events/pro_am/index.htm
I'm going to get out there this week to try it out for myself!
Ran across this article while searching for cider recipes:
http://www.columbia-dist.com/The_Articles/Cider.htm
Neat stuff. A particularly like the "Apple a day" commentary...
As my quest towards overdoing my brewing hobby continues I've begun slowly upgrading to a RIMS (Recirculating Infusion Mash System) brewing system. Basically, that means I am installing a pump that recirculates the mash, adding to efficiency and clarity of the wort. I mounted a "pumphouse" on the back of the brewery with valves and a recirculation loop to allow me to draw wort from the mash tun and pump it back over the top of the system. I'm also considering change the mash tun to a 15gal one I found at Wally World for $20. It would allow for more wort volume...
The nice thing is that most of these things are freebies (pump, valves). So the upgrade is mostly labor and design. I can't find my digital camera, which is why there are still no pics!
Why am I working on upgrades? I've volunteered to participate in the BBG Bourbon barrel stout project, and the grain bill is pretty tall!
As I've noted earlier I've had trouble with volumes and efficiency with the brewery. That said, I did wait and keg the irish red ale that was very low on initial gravity. I was pleasantly surprised. It is what I can best describe as a Mild Irish Red Ale. Drank a few pints while watching the Panthers game and didn't get sloppy drunk (unlike last week's brown ale that had me passed out in bed at 8:30). In fact, barely had a buzz. It's a great session beer.
Just goes to show you should never throw out a batch of beer until after you've tried it finished, and you should never count out the Panthers in a close game. Lucky? Good? I'll have a little from column "A" and a little from column "B" please...
(Sorry, no pics yet...)
This weekend I refurbished the kegerator and did some plumbling upgrades on the brewery. The CO2 lines were run from the back of the fridge, tank was relocated outside (the fridge) and the beer lines were replaced and rerun to make the doors close properly.
I added plumbing to the brewery to allow a hose hookup that routes to the top for filling the Hot Liquor tank and has fittings for the chiller hookups.
I also had a friend of the RCBC in town who is a mecanical engineer. I described my problem with a freebie pump being to strong, and he promptly drew up a simple diagram that limits the flow w/o deadheading (killing) the pump.
So simple, yet brilliant!
As cool as "Oktoberfest" sounds, I'm beginning to tire of all four syllables. Therefore I am nicknaming it "O'fest". Yes, the brewmaster, an efficiency expert...or just a lazy bastard.
Review of the Rusty Cutlass Brewing Co. Board of Trustee meeting on 9/12/06:
Members in attendence - Das Brewmeister, Captain Pete, Irish Jim
Meeting ajourned.
After miserable play by my Wolfpack and Carolina Panthers I was reminded that there still is good in this world...good beer. Another six-pack of Sammy's Oktoberfest to wash away the memories of a raunchy weekend. My Dog was again ill, and pooed on my carpet. I'm worried about him, mostly because he's lost 24lbs and all my expertise at GAINING weight does not seem to work as well on dogs (That and most Little Debbie snacks have chocolate in them).
Brewing Update:
Brewed 2 times this weekend, and continue to struggle with the efficiency of my brewery and wort volumes. I ended up with over a gallon "extra" on the first batch, and lower gravity than expected on the second. Irish Jim transferred his beer to secondary.
On Tap - 7-day mild (now much tastier after over 21 days), and Acorn Lager (still not ready).
Fermenting -Ultra-Light Irish Red, Strong that only made it to Brown ale.
Secondary - Imperial Cockhammer (Irish Jim's try at the Pittsburgh amber)
Bottle Carbonating - Hard Cider
Transferred the hard cider to secondary after a full month of primary fermentation. Gravity readings are below 1.000, which is weird when you are used to brewing beers. ABV will be at least 15%. We tasted the hydrometer sample and were pleased. Still has a "yeasty" aroma, but tastes smooth with just a hint of apple. Finishes warm but very clean. I think carbonated and chilled it would taste like an apple champagne. Next up, mead!
Lots to talk about! Been on vacation and let me tell you, Labor Day weekend was no bore! Here's a few stats:
- 4 Redfish caught (biggest was 29" and about 15lbs).
- 1 Stuntplane crashed into the ocean in front of the beach house.
- 18 bottles of Sam Adams Octoberfest consumed.
- 10 gallons of homebrew (2nd run of the Cockhammer Ale), brewed in my absence by my assistant brewers Irish Jim and Captain Pete. They all growed up!
- 1 Great Dane almost died from bloating.
- 31 years on this earth by yours truly.
7-day ale is the only thing left on tap. The Amber ale will be ready in a couple weeks, and I plan to brew this weekend if at all possible, and hopefully get another brown ale rolling sinceit is one of the favs.
Unable to decide on a name for my first original creation, an American Amber, I decided to name it post-humulously. Myself and assistant brewmaster Farmer Jim had formulated it specifically for our trip to Pittsburgh for a guy's weekend. We packed the kegs and headed for PA. After an afternoon in city traffic we stopped at the Church Brewery and had a Strong Ale. Not bad, but not ours!
After a jaunt at the Penn Brewery for German food and some dark ale we headed to the house for drunk-ass poker. We slayed the first keg like Beowolf on the Grendel...
Keg # 2 was taken out in similar fashion while boating Saturday afternoon. It got rave reviews. Everyone wanted us to bring more, and were willing to pay. Perhaps next time. I've got my own favs to brew!
