This is kind of a silly post for me, but I got to play with a new Christmas toy, and I think it’s going to be quite useful.
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My sister and her family gave Karen and I a cool multi-function Panini Grill for Christmas. It’s kind of like an uber-George Foreman Grill. It is a panini press (essentially what a GF grill is), a flat top grill, a flat top griddle, and a waffle press all in one. It has interchangeable non-stick plates, closes like a press, or lays flat to use both sides as cooking surfaces. So far we have only used it once for breakfast (see above) and it worked great. Typically for the same meal we would have had to cook it in two shifts, now we can do it all at once. I can’t wait to try the press and the waffle maker too. Thanks Nancy & Chip!
Looks like I just brewed the last beer for 2007, a Rye IPA or RYPA. It’s been a good year beer-wise, actually just based on number of batches (19 brewed, 25 total variations) it has been the best year yet!
Today was a pretty good brew day, five hours and fifteen minutes and 87 songs on the iPod. It was the first time I have used rye, it was the first time I tried a new “filtering” technique, I didn’t run into any problems, I transfered the Abbey Ale, I got to re-sample this years Cider (still needs to come up on carbonation), and I was off from work today – not bad. With the ground water being as cold as it is now my chilling time has really been reduced and as long as I stay on top of the janitorial through out the day I have become pretty close to hitting five hour days recently, shweet.
I’ve been meaning to try a recipe with rye now for a while. I have judged a couple recently, all of them IPAs, and I thought that would be fun to try. I’ve heard horror stories about people using rye and having awful stuck mashes or that the grain is so oily (I saw no indication of this) that it destroys head retention. We’ll see. I thought the spent grains smelt of pancakes and the boiling wort smelt of maple syrup so who knows what flavors are going to emerge.
I’ve been trying to think of a way to filter my wort from the kettle before it reaches the carboy. The biggest issue I have is with my pellet hops, especially in a hoppy beer like an IPA. With whole leaf hops when used in conjunction with a false bottom they form their own filter bed and the wort runs very clear. With pellet hops they are broken up into iddy-biddy pieces and are very difficult to restrain. I used to use nylon bags to put the hops in but this lowers their effective rate – clearer wort but less efficient hop usage, more expensive plus it was never that clear. People have talked about using a stainless steel scrubby as a filter, but I have never been able to figure out a way to attach the scrubby to the back of the spigot. I use a Bazooka screen in my mash tun to filter the grain matter from the liquid, so recently I have been toying with the idea of buying one for the kettle and seeing how that works, but this hasn’t happened yet. So today I figured I give the scrubby method a shot. What I did to keep it in place instead of attaching it was to lower it down on the inside of the spigot post chilling the wort with my long stainless steel spoon and actually hold it in place with the spoon. I figured out a way to jam the spoon in between the lid, kettle wall, and wort chiller and it actually held itself. Surprisingly it seemed to work pretty well. Except for maybe the first and last quart or so it ran almost crystal clear and never seemed to slow or clog. I did lose some wort by using this method, about a half gallon, but I guess that would have been a pretty trubby half gallon anyway that would have basically fallen out of suspension. So it seems like a pretty neat idea that I will have to try again, though I still think I may order another Bazooka screen.
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Oh yeah, the yeast seemed to be doing fine. I originally had a sanitized digital probe that I left in the starter to moderate the temperature. When ever it fell to low (60-62) I would soak the beaker in a hot bath to raise the temperature up higher (75ish) to help stimulate the yeast. I had to babysit it a little bit soaking it maybe three times over 36 hours, but appears as if it will be doing just fine. If I don’t see visual fermentation within 24 hours (longer than I am typically patient for) I will take out an insurance policy and dump a pack of neutral dry ale yeast into it too.
Nothing to special going on here, working on a heavily moderated yeast starter.
Heavily moderated? Why so you may ask, well the yeast is two months expired. I’m honestly not too worried that there will be some sort of action, I am more concerned just how much and when will it happen. I had bought this yeast and the WLP500 I’ve been using on the last three batches at the same time. I originally thought I was going to use this yeast. Well, things change and now is now. I plan on brewing a rye IPA in the next couple days dubbed the RYPA (stole that one from an idea from Jack Curtain suggested to Dock Street which was never used, so I am going to use it). Two pounds of rye, almost 15% of the grain bill, should definitely add a nice rye spice and maybe some slickness to the beer, plus Magnum and Willamette hops – nice!
Karen & I were invited out to dinner on Friday (12.21.07) by our friends Aimee & Jace for Aimee’s birthday.
Jace had received some gift certificates to a restaurant chain Roy’s Restaurant and there was one nearby in Philadelphia. He invited us to join them, their treat, sounds like a good plan to me. I had never heard of Roy’s before so I did what any modern idiot does and googled it. It turns out Roy’s specializes in Hawaiian Fusion Cuisine. I really had no idea what that meant, but it made me think of pineapples, fresh seafood, and the Polynesian from Disney World. After reading all I could on the website, I determined what my initial impressions weren’t off, but it also only appeared to be the tip of the iceberg. It appeared as if we were going to be in for a feast.
Here is what we ordered that I can remember:
First Course: Sushi & Cocktails
Lakanilau Roll – Kobe beef, snow crab, avocado, and asparagus
Another Roll with lobster, caviar, and asparagus
And a Hawaii Martini each with pineapple, vanilla vodka, and coconut rum
Second Course: Hot Appetizers
Crunchy Golden Lobster Potstickers
Kobe beef, jalapeno, and cheese dumplings
Vegetable spring rolls
Third Course: Entries and Wine
A bottle of Stump Jump Red (blend: Grenache, Shiraz, Mourvedre)
I had amazing U10 scallops, with fantastic mashed root vegetables, a roasted yellow pepper puree, a small piece of fresh bacon , and a tamarind sauce that I never needed to use.
Karen had some sort of fish that actually looked over cooked but tasted OK (the only real negative of the night)
Jace had lamb lollipops served rare with an amazing savory bread pudding (this is what I almost ordered)
Aimee had a scallop and shrimp combo with rice and micro-greens
Fourth Course: Dessert & Coffee
Hot Chocolate Souffle, a flourless chocolate cake with a hot molten chocolate center
Pineapple Upside-down Cake
Jace, Aimee, and I got coffees, Karen had a cappuccino and a hazelnut dessert martini
I would recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for a nice place to eat in Philadelphia. I was never able to see the final bill, but I know it wasn’t cheap, maybe $300+ for the four of us. But we were also eating and drinking whatever we wanted knowing that it was mostly covered by gift certificates. Thanks again Aimee & Jace.
This is a short Abbey Ale update. The picture and information are basically a week old. Not that long ago in the grand scheme of things, but long enough.
This beer blew a crazy long lasting thick chunky-monkey style kaursen. Partially it is because it is a third generation yeast that was used, partially because this yeast WLP550 blows big and fluffy anyway, and partially (in my opinion) because it is being fermented at slightly lower than optimal temperatures. I think the beer will turn out great, but I’ll suppose we’ll see in its own time. I plan on transferring it to a secondary fermenter sometime this week after Christmas.
Guy broke out some serious cellar meat, I think all of these had to have been traded for and some of these are very rare and sought after. I also brought along a few of the beers, the two Fat Dogs and the Ommegang and another guy from BeerAdvocate brought along the Older Viscosity, the ’05 Olde School, and the SurlyFest. I think the only beers we didn’t get to last night were the SurlyFest, Jahva, and the Kentucy Breakfast Stout – but please feel free to correct me.
I think my favorite three (they were all good remember) were the Ten FIDY, the Bourbon County Stout, and the Older Viscosity. Some of these beers were just amazing, in particularly being able to try them back-to-back-to-back like we did, it really gave you a perspective on how good some of these beers really were. Ironically it also seemed to point out how much hype there is surrounding some of these beers, especially the Dark Lord. I love this beer, it’s great, I’ve tried the 2005, 06, and 07 versions and they are all amazing, BUT next to some of these other beers . . . you realize there are better Imperial Stouts than the legendary Dark Lord.
Thank you once again Guy, I hope I can return the favor one day.
This year it was Mike, Robert, Mitchell, and myself that made the journey. We all wound-up with the day off from work so we decided to meet early for breakfast and head on up to Sly Fox in Pheonixville. We met at my house and I decided to kick-it local style and made pork-roll, egg, and cheese on kaiser buns for breakfast, they were banging. We then hit the pike and went we to Sly Fox arriving around 10:30AM. This year Sly Fox had 15 different IPAs available. Last year they sold it as one giant 15 glass sampler, this year they sold it as three 5 glass flights. I liked the impression of the 15 glasser better, but the 5 glass flights really only made sense. We stayed for quite a while have all three flights each, lunch, and a couple additional pints. The day was wacky in the best sense. We got home maybe around 5PM, that’s some serious IPA dedication. I’m already looking forward to next year.
Feel free to click on the links above to check out the pictures to form your own opinions on what kind of day it was.
Yesterday I brewed another Belgian-style beer, this time I am just calling it an “Abbey Ale” for now. Belgian-esque with no true BJCP guide to match it to. Hopefully reddish, spicy, and lower (6%) in alcohol then the other Belgian brews I’ve done.
Vader, Tripel, Dubbel, Abbey Ale
I’ve been on a Belgian beer kick recently which is humorous to me for a few reasons. One, I haven’t brewed any Belgian-style beers (not counting 2007) in years, and now three back-to-back. Two, often people choose to brew Belgian-style beers in the late spring and summer because the yeasts that are used are not as temperature sensitive as most yeasts and still work fine (some say better) with a warmer fermentation. Plus it often takes several months to age a Belgian-style beer before it is ready to be drunk, so if you brew in the Summer it would be aged properly by the Fall or Winter when you’d like to drink them. And three, I sort of brewed these “backwards”. I say that in the sense of I used the same yeast in all three batches (WLP550) and flipped the yeast from one batch to the next. Most times you would go from your weakest beer to your strongest beer alcohol wise, instead I did the opposite to help try and preserve the color of the Tripel. Knowing that the yeast will carry over a small amount of color from previous batches, and knowing that I really wanted my Tripel as light and golden as possible (though it looks reddish/amber above), I chose to start with the Tripel. I had debated doing the Abbey Ale next to avoid any color carry over from the Dubbel to the Abbey, but instead did the Dubbel second feeling as though the yeast would be more in shape to handle the Dubbel coming off of the Tripel. Dunno . . .
You figured I brewed the Tripel 10.20.07, the Dubbel 11.22.07, and the Abbey Ale (12.9.07) won’t be ready to transfer to secondary probably close to 12.23.07, so that is about two months that this yeast will have been “on beer” between these three beers. Hopefully that’ll mean that they are nice and strong and not weak and burnt-out. Hey, if the big guys can do it why can’t I?
Just finished the November Issue of BeerAdvocate Magazine, check out the ‘The Device’ on the cover, pretty cool.
BOOM! Page one there’s a picture of Ron Jeremy and the BA Bros, I love their sense of humor, ahhh. Per usual the articles in this issue are pretty tight and pretty short and don’t necessarily follow a full on theme, but at the same time they are informative and entertaining, just about what a magazine should be. First thing that is really worth note for me is the 9 Steps to Beerdom again, this time with Adam Avery from Avery Brewing Company in Colorado. Avery reminds me of DFH in some ways in that they started with one line-up of beers as there foundation, have progressed to a newer line-up of beers, plus have really pushed the boundary of high alcohol “extreme” beers. His story is very similar to a lot of the brewers stories that I’ve read: started as a homebrewer, became a broke-ass pro-brewer running there own deal, go big or go home, find your nitch and evoke the passion there, and always keep progressing.
Next was the cover story, or at least the story about the picture on the cover, ‘The Device’. ‘The Device’ is the brain-child of John Carnett a photographer and DIYer for Popular Science. Basically the idea came about to build a small-scale device that could showcase beer from conception to consumption. So you can brew beer, ferment beer, and serve beer all from this one device, sweet! He says that he tells his wife that it cost $4500 to make, so I’m sure it was a nice bit more than that. Fortunately it seems for him that this thing has been a huge success for him and he is now in the design phase to help develop similar devices both on the homebrewing level and the professional level, very cool. Ironically when asked how the first batch turned out he never got to try it! He accidentally left a hose clamp loose and went away on a trip only to return to the beer no longer in the device but everywhere else. The only thing I would want to change immediately to this device that could be easily remedied is the fact that it can only brew extract batches, no all grain. Neat idea!
There was later another long article on homebrewing (not really normal for this magazine) that was like seven pages long and was very broad. The time-line at the bottom of the pages was neat, it covered the modern history of homebrewing from the mid 1500s to present day. After that the article was very general to me, like a showcase to bring in new homebrewers. Some of the topics included: online resources, required reading, basics, “advanced tips”, award-winning tips, and a piece about brew-on-premise places. Kind of weak overall, but glad to see homebrewing get such a big showcase in BA Magazine.
And of course there were like some reviews, or something.
