OK, My Turn

I've thought about this a bit. Nearly everyone else has weighed in on this, so I might as well, too.

Budweiser ran an ad during the Super Bowl, I'm sure you know. They've been criticized for the tone of the ad, I'm sure you know.

If you read my blog you know I'm a homebrewer. If you know me, you know I happen to like Bud. It's actually a very good beer. I've always said the problem is not that Bud is bad. It's all about choice. Their are times when what I really want is an American pilsener. Just not all the time.

However, I have to partially agree with the ad. There are some in the craft beer community who are entirely too pretentious. I love playing with fruits, spices, herbs, flavors. Your beer doesn't have to have these to be good.

There's plenty of room in my fridge to have both Budweiser and an artfully crafted microbrew.

Am I Bad?

I have a Mr Beer fermenter. It's a concession to my physical state. I can't lift a big fermenter any more, so I have to make smaller batches. It's worked well for me.

I also just ordered a Mr Beer American Ale refill for it. The kits  make really good, not spectacular, beer. I needed something quick. It was on sale. It was on a site where I get a cash rebate. It just seemed to make good sense.

Of course , me being me, I couldn't leave "well enough" alone. So, to the regular ale I added, 1 tsp coriander, 1 tbs orange zest, 1 tbs cinnamon, and 1/3 cup molasses. My intent was to boost the alcohol slightly, and make this a heartier tasting ale, for the cold winter.

Did I succeed? We'll find out in a couple of weeks. Am I bad for using a kit? I don't think so. I've said for years, if you make a wort and use yeast. you're a homebrewer. All the rest is choice.

First Time For Everything

Well, I've done something I never thought I would do. I ordered a Mr. Beer refill. What can I say? I had the money, I got a rebate, and the beer is very good.

I ordered the American Ale. I'm sure it's a very good beer, but I can't just leave it alone. I have to do something. I was thinking of using it as a base for a holiday ale of sorts.

I would start with the can of hopped extract, and add a bit of brown sugar, molasses, cinnamon, and orange zest. I think it sounds yummy, and I have everything on hand, so it won't cost a penny.

I think I'll do it.

Stupid, Stupid, Stupid!

 

Sometimes, I'm really stupid. I mean, really, incredibly dense.

In my last post, I related the story of the delays I encountered in getting my supplies. I had ordered ingredients for 3 different beers, 2 ales and a lager. The original plan was to quickly get the ales done, so I would have beer while the lager slowly did its thing.

Because of the delay, I had to get the schwarzbier started right away. That left me with two sixpacks to last about 6 weeks. The math doesn't quite work out. What could I do? Maybe (cringe) buy some beer? Get a new fermenter?

My eyes fell on the bottle I used to use as my fermenter. I'm 61, and  physically disabled. I fall down a lot, and can no longer carry, or lift, 5 gallons of beer. That's why I use a Mr. Beer keg as my fermenter, now. Two gallons is an ideal size; easy to lift, enough to last awhile.

Suddenly, the heavens parted, a choir of angels started singing, and I realized something. Just because a bottle holds 5 gallons doesn't mean you have to brew that much.

Duh.

Finally!

I had intended to write this piece way back in early December. As family tradition dictates, we held our drawing on Thanksgiving to determine what style we would compete in on St Patrick's Day. The card came up (drum roll) Schwarzbier! The German black lager.

Our friend, judge, and Beer Snob, Will Siss, described it as an interesting choice, a beer that is  at the same time, dark in color, light in body.

This is my obligatory Will Siss plug. Please read him. http://beersnobwrites.com/

I had brewed one once, long ago. I had more hair, better balance, a house, a job. I felt it best to approach it as a new project, and not depend on memories of 20 years ago. In researching the style guidelines, I noticed that the fermentables looked very much like my favorite, a porter. An idea began to form.

What would happen, I wondered, if I simply took my porter recipe, and swapped out the yeast and hops? It sounded like fun, and an interesting experiment. I immediately put an order in with my brewshop, and that's where my problems started.

They were having trouble with their suppliers, and didn't have what I needed. I waited, waited, and waited a bit more. When it got close to a month, I called them. They were very apologetic, and tried hard to get something close to what I needed. In the end, the only change I had to make wasn't a big one. Instead of dark extract, I used amber. Still plenty dark enough.

Here's the final recipe -

====================================================
Spaceballs: The Beer
--------------------
Brewer: Joe Labeck
Style: Schwarzbier
Batch: 2.00 galExtract

Characteristics
---------------
Recipe Gravity: 1.049 OG
Recipe Bitterness: 41 IBU
Recipe Color: 45° SRM
Estimated FG: 1.012
Alcohol by Volume: 4.8%
Alcohol by Weight: 3.8%

Ingredients
-----------
Amber malt extract            2.00 lb, Extract, Extract
American chocolate malt       0.50 lb, Grain, Steeped
Crystal 120L                  0.50 lb, Grain, Steeped
Molasses                      0.33 lb, Sugar, Extract

Tettnanger                    1.00 oz, Pellet, 0 minutes
Tettnanger                    1.00 oz, Pellet, 60 minutes

Lager yeast                   1.00 unit, Yeast,
=====================================================


Anyone who knows me knows that one thing I love about brewing is naming my beer. Now, "Spaceballs" is not my favorite Mel Brooks movie. I do like how he takes aim at marketing. From Spaceballs: The Video to Spaceballs: The Placemat, you can see it everywhere. If you've ever seen the film, you know that as soon as I had a beer with  the word "schwarz" in it, the name was done.


Now, how to brew a lager? When I did it years ago, it was simple. Our unheated basement stayed around 50 degrees, perfect for a lager. A second floor apartment is a bit different. How do you bring the temperature down to lager level, without a massive cash outlay?


A roasting pan, a dishtowel, and a fan did the trick.

I checked the temperature after it had stabilized, and found it to be about 58 degrees. I think that should be fine.


Now, we wait. I know lager yeast works more slowly, so I won't even consider my next step until sometime in February.


I had brewed a porter some time ago, and I plan to hold a couple of bottles aside, for comparison.

Good To Have Friends

An old friend of mine sent me this graphic (Thanks, again, Ed.)

Some of these were old news, while others I was unaware of. It's a really neat poster.

I don't mind being told stuff I already knew, especially if it's done in a new way.

Busy, Busy, Busy

I thought about separating this into two articles. But, I figured, what the hell, it's all connected, anyway. So, here goes.

It's very rare that I'm ever stuck for what to brew next. In fact, I often have my next 3 or 4 brews all set to go. This time, however, it came time to brew, and I had NO idea what to do. I knew I wanted to continue alternating dark and light colored beers. I knew I wanted to make something a bit stronger for fall. After that, nothing.

As I often do when I'm confused, I reached out to my lovely daughter-in-law, and asked if she had any ideas. Bless her soul, she immediately came back with some wonderful inspiration.

The result? I'm making a chocolate-macadamia porter and a maple-oak amber ale. If the taste comes anywhere near what I anticipate, they won't last long.

Shortly after that episode, the same young lady sent me a link for  a home brew competition at a local restaurant.

The wheels in my head started turning, and I thought, "Well, how cool is that?" I've got two new beers lined up, and a competition to enter one in.

Now, all I have to do is get them both made, decide which is best, and submit my entry. If you're interested in doing this yourself, here's a link to their site.

http://piesandpints.biz/