FOOLCiRCLE

So the other night Robert and I tried the 2005 and the 2007 Linvilla Hard Cider side-by-side.

 

This was kind of a treat to me. Not only did I get two try to similar beverages side-by-side, but it was the last two 2005 Ciders. In the picture the one on the left is the 2007 and the one on the right the 2005. Some similarity and differences in these Ciders. Both were made with fresh cider from the same orchard (Linvilla). Both Ciders finished below 1.000FG. Both Ciders never fully carbonated. The 2005 was fermented/aged for over 1 year before it was originally bottles, and the 2007 was fermented/aged about three months before it was bottled. The 2005 used a Dry Cider specific liquid yeast, and the 2007 used a Belgian-style (S-33) dry yeast. The 2005 Cider was very mild almost wine like when “fresh” and developed a more Granny Smith apple bite as it developed, and the 2007 Cider was more farm-housey in over-all flavor with a definitive apple nip.

Neither of these Ciders turned out how I had pictured the, but I thought both were fair. I’d like to be able to develop the carbonation more, and maybe brew a “bigger” Cider at some point that I can back sweeten with apple concentrate and spices. All-in-all making Ciders is a fun once a year or so project.

Is Prohibition still alive and well? What’s going on here!?

 

Well, there is definitely a movement with some to bring back Prohibition, but that’s not what I’m going to be talking about here. What I’d like to talk about is the unofficial 75th Anniversary of the end of Prohibition! That’s right, back on April 7, 1933 there was a change in the Volstead Act which changed the legal intoxicating amount of alcohol in beer from 0.5% to 3.2% alcohol. After the country had been dry for 13 years, this was some MAJOR news. The Eighteenth Amendment was completely repealed by the Twenty-first Amendment on December 5, 1933. So happy 75 years of brewing to our current brewing community!

So, what’s going on in the picture? Well, that is me at my wits-end I suppose. I dumped a case of homebrew. Only the third time in over 100 batches that I’ve ever done something like this, and the most I’ve ever dumped. This time I dumped about 20 bottles of Saturday IPA. Garrett and I had brewed a 20 gallon batch of this back in July. This was an awesome monster of a beer. My bottled beer took a very long time to carbonate. We used two different yeast, with one yeast the bottles did eventually carbonate, with the other they never did. So, I have been slowly opening beers from this batch since July to see how they have developed. It never developed. It was flat and the flavors became both overly sweet and slightly sour. I decided I couldn’t take it anymore, and … drain pour. It hurt, but I new it was the right thing to do, it was better for the beer. (Sorry Garrett)

So yesterday (04.05.08) was the 1st Annual (?) Cure For What Ales You (CFWAY) Homebrew Fest. Overall I’d say it was a smashing success.

Things were suppose to run from 1-5PM, so I figured I’d get there around noon with plenty of time to set-up and get organized. I showed up around 12:15 and felt late. The back room was already laid-out and filled-up with brewers, great. I then saw that the next adjoining room over they were starting to set-up tables too. So I put my stuff over there, it definitely felt like I was off to the side instead of being in the middle of the action, oh well. I brought along a cooler with 20 of my Belgian Dubbel style beer and a smaller cooler with 4 each of my Belgian Tripel style and my Imperial Stout, Vader. The Dubbel was my featured beer that I was slinging all day long and the one that was entered into the competition they had. The Tripels I leaked out at about 3:30 and the Vaders at about 4:00. I had a little wipe-off board in front of my cooler so I could adjust what it was I was serving. The Dubbels lasted almost until the end and the Tripels and Vaders basically were disappearing as they hit the table.

I got to try some cool beers yesterday, but not as many as I would have liked, mostly I couldn’t get out from behind my area. But some of the beers I got to try were a Belgian Single, an Imperial IPA, a Vanilla Porter, a Licorice Stout, a 14% Imperial Stout, a Smoked Porter, a Coriander Amber, and a couple different Ciders. It appeared as if there were many different levels of experience showcased at the event, some guys I talked to had just started homebrewing in January of this year and others appeared to have been homebrewing their entire lives. One guy had a massive set-up where it looked like he had six different kegs poring, wow.

Again, overall it was a really good time, only one minor flaw that stands out and that was my own fault – no food and water. I had arrived around 12:15 like I said and hadn’t eaten anything at that point nor drank or brought a lot of water. So after several hours of sampling, working, and not drinking any additional water my body needed a break and was in desperate need of some food to keep functioning properly. Basically I ran out of beer at about 4:30 and I was going to clean-up my stuff and then come back in and try to enjoy myself before the fest was over. Well I guess with the lack of water, food, and being weighed down with my coolers and such I had a rough time getting out of the place. Fortunately I had a bunch of friends there who were willing to watch out for me and cover my back, and before I knew it I was taking a break, enjoying a chicken pita sandwich, and a bottle of water. After that I was feeling much better. Next year, they need to provide free water and I need to remember to eat, one of those things I often forget.

But to end on a super positive note, as I was leaving to load up my stuff I was informed that I couldn’t leave (which I wasn’t planning to) because I had just won Best of Show! Wow, that took me off guard, in a good way of course. I don’t know if they made announcements or what, but I sure didn’t hear anything. As a prize for Best of Show I received gift certificates to How Do You Brew, Xtreme Brewing, Iron Hill Brewery, and a pound of hops of my choice – I took 8oz. of Cascade and 8oz. of Centennial – time for some C-Hop Pales Ales! Again, overall it was a really great time and I hope they continue to do it next year and the years following.

Well, it’s three days away, so I better give people a heads up if they have any interest.

This Saturday, April 5, 2008, is the 1st Cure For What Ales You (CFWAY) Homebrew Fest at Iron Hill in Newark, DE. I have included a link which has all the vitals straight from the horses mouth plus directions, so I am going to give mt two cents instead. It seems like these local guys who host the website CFWAY have a great idea to run a non-traditional homebrew competition at the ever homebrew-friendly local brewpub chain Iron Hill at their Newark, DE location. Their idea is basically this: get as many local homebrewers as possible (50 is the number I’ve heard) and offer them an opportunity to showcase their homebrew to the public. What’s the catch? Well, each homebrewer has to supply at least a case of beer to be consumed and judged for free. No entry fee for the brewers or public. The brewers get to show off there stuff and promote homebrewing, while the public gets to enjoy many tasty free homebrews. Plus there is a broad category competition going on where the brewers could be compensated for their hard work.

Sounds like a good time to me. How will it go? Who knows. I’m sure their will be a learning curve, for I have never heard of something like this, plus it is their first year giving it a shot. But, it has a huge chance to be a real success. I really have no idea how they are setting this up or running it, but I picture a typical (but smaller) brewfest scenario, but behind the tables will be homebrewers pimping their beers not pro-brewers. I am highly looking forward to this. Join the fun this Saturday at Iron Hill in Newark, DE from 1PM-5PM. Stop by and say “hi” to me if you’re not already a familiar face.

Sometimes I get sick of brewing the same old stuff, so I am going to revive some old stuff and create some new stuff too.

All I have been brewing recently is Belgian-style beers, and big beers, and extreme beers, and uber-hoppy beers – – enough already! It’s time for me to step up and start brewing for the masses, screw what I like. I am going to revive the Moore’s Light first and foremost. This will officially be the new house beer at The Calhoun. I want something that is easy-drinking, low in calories, and low in flavor. This way I can drink as much as I want, always quantity over quality, I’ll actually lose weight, and I won’t ever have to be worried about hoppy-burps or bad beer breath again.

Next, I am going to make a cider-pop and a Gatorade infused malternative. I’ve brewed two traditional British style ciders and no one seems to appreciate them, well you know what, I’ll give you what you want. I am going to make the best cider-pop you have never had – it will be sweet, and appley, and bubbly and have some sort of animal on the label, maybe a Lyger. Also, I’ve been interested in malternatives too lately, actually, I am just going to use simple white table sugar and make a high gravity rocket-fuel and cut it with lemon-lime Gatorade. That way it’ll taste great, get you drunk off your ass, and you’ll never have a hang-over again!

Moore’s Light, Lyger Cider-Pop, and Brian’s Hard Gatorade-infused Malternative, my mouth is drooling with anticipation – and I’ll have these on tap! Drink up my fellow beer-alternative lovers, drink up!

So I brewed in the first time in like two months yesterday, and you know what, it felt pretty damn good!

So I took off from work yesterday for two reasons; (1) we don’t get a break from New Year’s Day to Memorial Day so I wanted to take a break, and (2) I wanted to brew, – bad. I’ve been digging around in my older grains and hops trying to take inventory of what I have so that I can use it up before I buy new stuff. Looks like what I dug up was enough to do six scheduled batches so far! I’m going to be working with two different yeast strains and running three beers consecutively off of each strain. First strain is White Labs WLP060 American Ale Yeast Blend, which I have never used, and second is WLP001 California Yeast, my fail-safe.

The WLP060 is supposed to celebrate the strengths of California – clean, neutral fermentation, versatile usage and adds two other strains that belong in the same  clean/neutral” flavor category. Homebrewers have speculated that it may be a blend of the WLP001, WLP051 Cal IV, and WLP810 San Francisco Lager but this blend has never been proven. The additional strains create complexity to the finished beer, and will taste more lager like than just WLP001. Hop flavors and bitterness are accentuated, but not to the extreme of WLP001 by itself. While the WLP001 is the most popular strain, famous for clean flavors, balance, and the ability to be used in almost any style Ale. It ferments dry and has a very nice, soft malt flavor.

So with the WLP060 I have lined up a Gold > Amber > Porter combo and with the WLP001 I have lined up a Pale Ale > American Wheat > ABA combo. Yesterday I brewed the Gold. It is really an American Pale Ale in style brewed with just a touch (1 to 232 ratio) of extra specialty malt to lend toward a more golden color, plus it was brewed with all Brewer’s Gold hops (which I have never used before), so naturally I had to try to accentuate the hop profile plus lend a gold characteristic, thus Fool’s Gold. This beer is very different from Pyrite for all you old schoolers. The Amber will be reminiscent of the Angler Amber Ale, but is not a reproduction with just about all aspects of that original recipe changing. And the Porter that will follow is very kitchen-sinky, a nice way to eat up some specialty malts.

With the WLP001 combo, which I’ll start with my second attempt at an all whole hop pale ale. The first was the Homegrown Mild about a year ago, and that turned into a hot mess. But now I have a Bazooka screen in the kettle I can use, so I have higher hopes. And with these higher hopes I am hoping that because of using all whole hops plus a “strainer” I will pull clearer wort because this pale ale will essentially be a five gallon starter batch for a twenty gallon batch of American Wheat that Garrett and I are planning. Then to finish the yeast off I am making a second attempt at our ABA we brewed in the past, not quite the same recipe but similar enough that it should be familiar.

Oh, FYI for anyone that is still interested, the Bazooka screen in the kettle with pellet hops DOES NOT WORK. It clogged solid in less then one gallon of extraction. Wasn’t sure how I was going to handle the problem so I went with my gut, sanitized my hand and arm for two minutes, reached into the kettle (cooled wort) and unscrewed the Bazooka and ran things as before. Sure I had other options, but that’s what I did, deal with it.

So today is St. Patrick’s Day and I decided to let my Irish hang out a little, can you see it?

I went traditional with dinner with corned beef, boiled cabbage, mixed root vegetable medley (potatoes, carrots, garlic, turnips, parsnips), and soda bread. Karen actually made the corned beef and root vegetable medley on Sunday, I made the cabbage, and Sweeney’s bakery made the bread. For libations we enjoyed Irish whiskey from Jameson, Irish Cream from Bailey, and a stout from Fool Circle that pretended to be Irish today dressed-up in a Guinness glass. All was quite delicious.

So today was supposed to be the “official” release date of the new Honey Oatmeal Stout (HOS) that my brother and I brewed together. With the timing of it being ready just in time for St. Paddy’s we figured what better date then on the day. Well, we each got a case and I finished my last one tonight, I guess I wasn’t very good at waiting. At least I saved one for tonight. In all honesty, my friend had us over on Saturday for Irish supper and we drank over half of them that night, so at least it was in the right thread. Anyway, I thought the HOS we brewed turned out pretty good. It was about 6.5% alcohol, a little sweet, and a little roasty. The carbonation came up on it nicely, the honey was present in the aroma and apparently in the taste, though it could have just finished a little high. The roast, toast, and chocolate biscuits were all held back but available to add flavor. There could have possibly been more oatmeal to make it even creamier, though it was creamy regardless. It reminded me slightly of Garrett’s Black Honey Ale, and you all know I love me some black honeys. I’d say this beer was pretty good, but I bet we could brew it better.

So I am now officially a Certified BJCP Judge.

I received notice the other day that as of February 25, 2008 I was considered a Certified BJCP Judge – cool! Next up the ladder is a National judge, which is a judge with four times the experience of a Certified judge. I’m sure I’ll get there, just not anytime soon. So, I’ll enjoy being beyond Recognized for now.

Sometimes, you’ve just got to use the force.

This was going to be titled “Keg Rebuilding, Pt.4″ but I decided against it. (1) Nothing got rebuilt, it got destroyed. (2) Nothing got rebuilt, it got destroyed. And (3) nothing got rebuilt, it got destroyed. Oh, besides demolishing a liquid quick disconnect, I broke my 1/2” ratchet too, it now swings both ways freely – great… Discuss amongst yourselves.

OK, it’s official, keg rebuilding is the worst – though I’m sure it will get better.

So yesterday I finished rebuilding the four kegs I bought back in the beginning of January. It has taken me until now to get around to it because basically I thought it was going to be hard, boring, and dirty work – and it was. I started actually rebuilding the kegs last Wednesday. That is when I took the kegs apart and cleaned all the little bits. This wasn’t too bad and kind of interesting, and all in all really only took a little more than an hour, actually more. Then I had to order missing gaskets and wait for them to come in. During this waiting period I realized that by mixing up all the keg parts I basically amplified the amount of work I was going to have to do. So on Saturday I sat around and tried to dry fit all of the individual pieces to all of the kegs in hopes to get the best fit. This took quite some time. Then I took the kegs to my friends and spent over an hour and a half cleaning the outside of the kegs.

So, now that we’re all up to speed, on Sunday I finished cleaning the inside of the kegs and reassembling them. I started around 1PM and probably finished around 7PM. Most of the time it was like most of the homebrewing chores waiting for things to soak. But when I was physically working it was stressful to me since I really didn’t know what I was doing besides following some paper instructions. Plus the black parts (rubber) of a few of the kegs put off an awful black smear. And, it was almost unavoidable, but I got water everywhere. So I felt stressed, dirty, and wet – yuck! After all the soaking and rinsing I began to put them back together. Two of the four went together great and with no issues. One of the four had very “tight” posts that didn’t want to go on to well, but these posts didn’t want to fit well on any of the kegs while I was dry fitting them. The other keg that was having issues was having lid sitting issues. The lid would not sit tight. Actually it wouldn’t sit tight on any of the kegs. I tried to bend the latch on the lid to make it sit better but it didn’t seem to work. When the keg was put under pressure the lid seemed to hold and is still holding pressure now over 24 hours later.

After the kegs were cleaned and rebuilt I filled them and put them under pressure to see if I could tell if there were any leaks. One of them bubbled slightly on one of the post out puts, but after I depressed it and equalized the pressure it seemed to be fine. So it looks as if they are all put together properly. I then drained the kegs and put them back under pressure to store, under the assumption that it is a less likely environment for “critters” to survive in CO2 then ambient air. I will obviously still sanitize before use.

One thing I did notice when pressurizing the kegs while they were full of water had me concerned. My CO2 tank is “T”-ed and there is a line running to two kegs so that I could carbonate twice as much if I so chose. If I relieved the pressure in one keg, the other keg would “suck” water back up the CO2 line and push it into the keg being relieved. OK, no real big deal in this scenario and with water, but what if those were beer, or worse two different beers. So I wonder is there (1) a way to stop liquid from exiting through the gas input of the keg, and (2) if not a way to completely stop it, is there a way to stop it from going into the other keg? Also, some of the kegs I had a real issue pushing on and pulling of the quick disconnects. They really did not want to go in either direction I really had to force them. I don’t know if I was doing something wrong, or if they need to broken in or what, but they were so tight they were actually gouging the new O-rings around the top of the poppets. I didn’t like this one bit. I’m sure I will enjoy kegging in the long run, but for now it seems like a new royal pain in the balls.