Wednesday, May 17, 2006

OBF, Nanobrewery Update, & Beer Quotes

Some of us Beer Bloggers are going to meet in Portland, Oregon at the Oregon Brewing Festival (OBF). We haven't decided upon the date or time, but we are narrowing-down the place; possibly the Rogue Public House in the Perle District. You can keep up with the discussion on Sudspundit.

Bad Ben NanoBrewery Update:
I transferred the Saison to secondary fermentation last Saturday; it's gravity is at 1.016.
Yesterday, I transferred the "Spring Fling" IPA to the secondary. It's gravity is at 1.010, with a starting gravity of 1.068. I'm dry-hopping it in the secondary, then I will transfer it to tertiary conditioning to get it crystal clear, although it is already pretty clear.
Tonight, I'll transfer the Poor Richard's Ale to the secondary. (I should have done this 5 days ago, but what the heck, I've been busy).
On tap, I have my American Brown Ale, the Oak-aged Imperial Stout, and the Belgian Strong Dark Ale. All of them are quite tasty! I had 3 mugs of Brown Ale last night after a hard & fast 10-mile trail run. Note to self: Don't do this again on a weeknight.








Some fun Homer Simpson Beer Quotes:

Son, a woman is like a beer. They smell good, they look good, you'd step over your own mother just to get one! But you can't stop at one. You wanna drink another woman! -Homer Simpson

Homer: Got any of that beer that has candy floating in it? You know, Skittlebrau?
Apu: Such a beer does not exist, sir. I think you must have dreamed it.
Homer: Oh. Well, then just give me a six-pack and a couple of bags of Skittles.

Thursday, May 04, 2006

Oregon Brewer's Festival: Participating Breweries

The OBF (Oregon Brewer's Festival) has finally published the breweries that are coming to the fest.

Here they are:

21st Amendment Brewery
Alameda Brewhouse
Alaskan Brewing Co
Amnesia Brewing
Anacortes Brewery
Anderson Valley Brewing Co
Ballast Point Brewing Co
Bayern Brewing
Bear Republic Brewing Co
Bell's Brewery
Big Horn Brewing Co
Big Sky Brewing Co
Big Time Brewing Co
BJ's Restaurant & Brewery
Bottoms Up Brewing Co
Boulder Beer Co
Boulevard Brewing Co
Boundary Bay Brewery
BridgePort Brewing Co
Butte Creek Brewing Co
Deschutes Brewery
Dick's Brewing Co
Elysian Brewing Co
Eugene City Brewery
Fearless Brewing Co
Fish Brewing Co
Flying Fish Brewing Co
Full Sail Brewing Co
Golden Valley Brewery
Great Divide Brewing Co
Green Flash Brewing Co
Hale's Ales Brewery
Hazel Dell Brewpub
Iron Springs Pub & Brewery
Jack Russell Brewing Co
Kona Brewing Co
Lagunitas Brewing Co
Laurelwood Public House & Brewery
Lost Coast Brewery
Lucky Labrador Brew Pub
MacTarnahan's
Magnolia Pub & Brewery
McMenamins
Moylan's Brewing Co
New Belgium Brewing Co
New Old Lompco Pub & Grill
North Coast Brewing Co
Old Market Pub & Brewery
Pelican Pub & Brewery
Pike Brewing Co
Pyramid Breweries
Raccoon Lodge & Brew Pub
Red Hook Ale Brewery
Rock Bottom Brewery
Rogue Ales
Roosters 25th St Brewing Co
Roots Organic Brewing
Russian River Brewing Co
Scuttlebutt Brewing Co
Siletz Brewing
Silver City Brewing Co
Skagit River Brewing Co
Snipes Mountain Brewery
Sprecher Brewing Co
Standing Stone Brewing Co
Steelhead Brewing Co
Stone Brewing Co
Tenaya Creek
Terminal Gravity Brewing
Walking Man Brewing
Water Street Brewing and Ale House
Widmer Brothers Brewing Co

It should be a good time in PDX this July.

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Big Brew Day Plans



Next Saturday, May 8th, is the American Homebrewers Association's "Big Brew Day." I'm a registered Big Brew site. With my own equipment, I intend to brew two 10-gallon all-grain batches at the same time. I haven't done that before. We'll see how much I time I can put into preparation for it, or I may just do my usual (one) 10-gallon batch.

I still haven't decided what to brew, although their all-grain recipe for "Poor Richard's Ale" looks interesting. If I brew a Kölsch, I won't be using their recipe; it will be another version of my own Kölsch recipe. The second brew will be something special. I have to decide by tonight, so I can get my yeast starter propogated in time.

Either way, I'll start brewing at 12 noon. First though, I'll have a nice, long trail run with some buddies. On tap for Brew Day, I'll have a few of my homebrews to sample, which will include: the last dribbles of my IPA, an American Brown Ale, an oak-aged Imperial Stout, and a Belgian Strong Dark Ale. We can also finish-off some bottled versions of Belgian-style ales that I brewed last year.
If you're in town, drop me a line for directions, and come on by.

Monday, May 01, 2006

Homebrewing Notes from the Weekend

Last Saturday my wife was called into work. I decided at that point to spend some time homebrewing, since I'd planned to spend the day with her, originally. I brewed an IPA, because I'm running out of the IPA that I have on tap. The basic recipe is below.

The Oak-aged Imperial Stout is finally kegged and carbonated. My son and I enjoyed having a few glasses over the weekend. What a wonderful elixer! It is a very complex and tasty brew that has been 5 months in the making. I just hope we don't drink it all before I have a chance to see how it will age further.
Now for the IPA recipe:

Spring Fling IPA
Beer: Spring Fling IPA
Style: American style India Pale Ale
Type: All grain Size: 11 gallons
Color: 10 HCU (~7 SRM)
Bitterness: 71 IBU
OG: Est:1.067 Observed: 1.068
FG: Est:1.015 Observed:
Alcohol: 6.7% v/v (5.2% w/w)
Water:
Grain:
6 lb. Klagas 2 Row Pale, Great Western
17 lb. British pale (Maris Otter)
1 lb. Weyermann Munich Malt
1 lb. Briess Crystal 40L
1 lb. Cara Pils
2 lb. Rahr White Wheat malt
Mash:
70% efficiency
156° for 80 minutes.
Boil:
80 minutes
Irish moss and yeast nutrient last 15 minutes.
Hops:
2 oz. Magnum (10.8% AA, 60 min.) Flowers
1 oz. Cascade (6% AA, 45 min.) Flowers
1 oz. Willamette (5% AA, 45 min.) Flowers
2 oz. Cascade (6% AA, 30 min.) Flowers
1 oz. Willamette (5% AA, 30 min.) Flowers
1 oz. Cascade (6% AA, 15 min.) Flowers
1 oz. Willamette (5% AA, 15 min.) Flowers
Yeast: Use large starter of Wyeast 1056
Brewing notes:
Chilled to 75° in 10 minutes with counter flow chiller.
1) Primary fermentation in glass at 72F for 5-6 days.
2) Secondary fermentation in glass at 72F for 10 days. Dry hop with 2 oz. Cascade pellets.
3) Tertiary conditioning for 3 - 4 days, add gelatin at this point for fining.
Carbonation: 2.2 volumes Keg: 9.0 psi @ 40°F