Looking back over this PBC blog, I realize that I may not have said much, but I’ve enjoyed saying it.  Is it really a beer club?  Maybe, when enough of us feel like it.  Otherwise, it’s just a few people getting together to raise a few glasses, or to brew a new beer, or to go on a brewery tour, or… well, anything.  So, with a trip out of the country beginning Sunday, I felt trapped by Beer Week.  Of all the weeks…  So, limiting myself to just a few nights of the 10, and just a few beers each of those nights, I’ve enjoyed Beer Week in moderation.

The Beer Expo on Saturday led to a light Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.  Wednesday found me and Becky at Elephant and Castle meeting the Lord Chesterfield and a real member of the Yuengling empire.  While it felt weird that we weren’t at E&C for karaoke, Wendy Yuengling was nice enough to talk about what made Yuengling great—when you find yourself at a sports bar with $2 domestics (and nothing but), you can be sure that one of them is coming from just a few miles down the road.  They’re not really fighting for craft-brew dollars, even though they do consider their methods to be craft-inspired (a marketing mashup if I ever heard one).  While I may have moved away from them in recent years, it’s nice to know there’s a beer that people across the country associate with Pennsylvania (and go nuts over).  I mentioned to her that I consider Yuengling to be a gateway beer, making people stop and realize that there are more beers out there than just BudMillerCoors.  If a bunch of bikers can make the switch to light lager (while this lady drinks it heavy), anything’s possible.  Although, when you describe beers as “crafty-style,” I have to wonder…  Sounds devious.

Speaking of what’s possible, Yuengling isn’t letting their brewers slowly go crazy making the same beer over and over again.  True, they aren’t as nimble as a smaller brewery, able to throw nugmet, rosemary, and juniper berries into their beers, but still—every brewer needs to stretch his or her legs now and then.  I didn’t get to meet the head brewer, Mike, but Wendy told me that these past two years they put out a spring Bock (which I’ve heard good tidings of) and this year might be releasing a ‘Fest beer.  If it’s cheaper than Sly Fox, I’d grab a rack the next time I need cans.

And, nothing against E&C, but if someone orders a Black & Tan on friggin’ YUENGLING night, you make it with Yuengling Porter.  Let the Guiness handle go for a minute.  Part of me hates that this needs saying, but the rest of me now wants a real one even more.  Time to raid my dad’s fridge (I can honestly say that, from years of observation, Yuengling Black & Tan’s at the top of his list).

Afterwards, we treated ourselves to a burger and flatbread at Good Dog, with a Sly Fox Abbey Xtra and a Lagunitas IPA to wash them down.

Thursday night started and ended at the Kite & Key, where Victory, Stone, and Dogfish Head brewers sent a keg of their Saison du Buff for our enjoyment.  Supposedly, parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme was used to impart the Saison a certain bite, taking it “where Saison has never been” before.  The bite is hard to explain, but it’s awfully close to orange juice.  I’d have to make PSR&T tea and drink it side-by-side with this beer to really see the flavors in action.  Not to knock the beer—Becky, Joe, and I thought it was delicious.  Joe and I both estimated 6%, and were floored when we finally found a menu showing it as exactly 6.0%.  Becky enjoyed, at 9:30pm, the FIRST pint of Dog Fish Head Festina Peche poured that evening (possibly the top in thirst-quenching summer session beers).  From there, we tried almost every beer on the menu.  Stone took over the taps with all sorts of one-offs.  Dry hopped, double-oaked, vanilla-infused porter—all supremely sippable (although it’s good they don’t get served as full pints).  A Victory Uncle Teddy’s Bitter from the cask reminded me of a homebrew of ours that didn’t fully carbonate—theirs was a perfectly balanced malt-hop tea with just a hint of effervescence.  If every beer left that beautifully floral hoppy aftertaste in my mouth, I’d quickly forget how to drink water.

At one point, I glanced up just in time to see a biker trying to hop the curb miss, instead flipping over his handlebars and pulling his bike down over him.  Before anyone had a chance to react, he sat up, surveyed his limbs, and gave a thumbs up.  Some guys really know how to make an entrance.

Tomorrow night, we’ll split open some smoked beers to pay homage to the intrepid brewers who, hundreds of years ago while sitting around a bonfire thought, “I love the smell of smoke almost as much as I love drinking beer.  How can I enjoy them… together?”  Can’t think of a better way to wrap up my abridged Beer Week.

A year goes by quickly (provided you have enough beer to weather its ups and downs), and once again we find ourselves back in the throes of the leviathan that is Philly Beer Week.  What began a few years ago as a handful of events intended to pay proper respects and homage to Philadelphia’s proud brewing history and tradition has ballooned into over a thousand different ways to separate beer snobs from their money.  As a beer snob, I take offence to this.  But, as my good friend Stephen Colbert says, “the market has spoken.”  If restaurants, bars, and distributors can put on well-attended events that take in $60 a head for a few samples and a plate of food, then what’s the problem?

The problem for me lies in my belief that beer week was created to show people that craft beer is immensely accessible, and that most craft brewers embody a set of principles that quite a few beer drinkers (especially in Philly) aim for, be it environmental responsibility, quality (and when possible, locally-sourced) ingredients, and a commitment to the personal connection of brewer and drinker.  I’m quite pleased that the Beer Week website this year features categories such as Education, Meet the Brewers, and Competition (although I’ve heard that some of the competitions have little to do with beer), but sometimes it feels like the expensive and far-fetched events are more sizzle than steak.

With that being said, it would appear that quite a number of people, myself included, had a great time at Saturday’s International Great Beer Expo (the half-priced tickets didn’t hurt).  I got to meet two new breweries, Prism Brewing Co. and Harlem Brewing Co., that are both run by (if you ever can be considered ex-)homebrewers that got the itch to move to something bigger.  While HBC’s Sugar Hill Ale was a recreation of a traditional prohibition brew from Harlem, Prism’s Bitto Honey IPA and Tea Party Pale Ale were completely untraditional.  The Tea Party was brewed with a black tea, and tastes quite astringent in its leafiness.  It’s a great flavor… at first.  I’m not sure how a full pint of this would go down, although if I see it on a bar menu around town, I’d have to find out.  The Bitto Honey seemed to be an easier drinker, with a nice honey finish.  I would get a six-pack of this in a heartbeat.  It’s great to see people successfully making the move from 5 gallons to 500 gallons (and beyond), and even better to see homebrewers chasing that dream of having some appreciative beer drinker somewhere crack open their bottle, take a sip, and say, “Oh yeah—this is a great beer.”

The rest of the breweries there were, as always, pouring some of their best stuff.  River Horse, BrewDog, Hometown, St. Somewhere, Eel River, Gritty McDuffs, Original Sin, Ballast Point, Coedo, and quite a few others all contributed their wares to the masses.  It may be packed, but you’ll always run into friends—I could tell for a lot of people leaving Beer Fest, their night was just getting started.  If your night ended around a bonfire, enjoying that last beer before finally dousing the fire and heading to sleep, then you already know—that Beer Expo might be cheap, it might be crowded, but damn it—it’s just plain old-fashioned, beer-drinking fun.

It’s hard to believe that American’s are friendly drunks, but compared to our cousins-across-the-pond, we’re a bunch of Miss Congenialities.  Mostly because when Brits get drunk, they kill each other with broken pint glasses.  So, instead of looking at why so many people are angry and drink so heavily, they thought, “It must be the glasses that make them do this!”

There are about 87,000 alcohol-related glass attacks each year, with many resulting in hospital visits, Home Secretary Alan Johnson said as he introduced the two prototype shatterproof pint glasses.

“Glassing causes horrific injuries and has a lasting and devastating impact on victims and their families,” Johnson said. “I hope these designs will help bring an end to such attacks.”

Really?  Glassing?  That’s what you get when you move all of your jobs out of the country, create a police state, and attempt to guarantee 100% safety through legislation.  Good thing that could never happen here… right?

I just wish I had one of the glasses with me on New Year’s Eve.

When Philly Beer Week first kicked off with the Craft Beer Fest at the Navy Yard, I remember thinking, “WOW!  This has got to be one of the greatest things ever!  There should be beer week every month!”  But just as Tom Hanks learned in Big, be careful what you wish for, because it just might happen.  Don’t get me wrong: if the event sells out every time, why not offer it more frequently?  But now that we’re up to what—4 festivals a year?—it’s getting a little tiresome and EXPENSIVE.  Ticket prices have gone up (not much), and the novelty has gone down.  There’s now the Winter Beer Fest, the Craft Beer Fest (in March, which is no longer Beer Week), another Fest for Beer Week in June, the various Oktoberfest events, etc, there’s just too much to drink and too little time to appreciate it.

Bryan at the Brew Lounge quotes Jennie Hatton’s prediction for more than 1000 events at this year’s Beer Week.  Yes, it’s great that people are excited about good beer.  But with Beer Week turning into your standard chug-and-run-to-the-next-event format (like the Erin Express, but with better beer), it’s hard to get as excited about it.

How to remedy this situation?  Plan events outside of beer week!  Such as…

The Home Brew Brunch
Hawthornes Cafe (11th and Fitzwater) @ Noon, January 23rd

We’ve set up a brunch with the new beer café, Hawthornes.  If you haven’t been there yet, Chris (of Bella Vista Beer Dist. fame) and his fiancée Heather have opened a cozy tasting room complete with food, huge bottle selection, and a growler station (with an impressive list of options).  Come join us on Saturday, January 23rd at noon to share and sample home brews.  Space is limited, so leave a comment if you’re coming.  Feel free to stop by to taste a few sips and say hi if you don’t have anything brewed.  Feel free to send this info to any other home brewers you know.

We had a great brew last weekend—our holiday porter is bubbling away, and it smells fantastic.  I’m really excited to see how it turns out (although I can’t think of any brew I haven’t been excited to taste).  We had a few helping hands—Helene, Ant, Katie, and Cederic (some names have been changed to protect their top secret identities).  Helene is quite a beer connoisseur, but had never brewed before.  Ant’s always up for a few beers, and Katie was taking Cederic on a tour of Philly before he has to head home to redacted.

Other than the hop bag coming undone and spilling hops into the boiling wort, the whole brew went according to plan.  Temperatures were held, the cooling was quick, and Garrett Oliver’s extra yeast suggestion worked… too well.  The next morning, I came down to find a stream of wort leading away from the carboy.  The escaping gases foamed up, causing wort to clog the holes on the airlock.  After building up some pressure, the cap of the airlock went flying (I still can’t find it) and a geyser of beer shot up (scrubbing the ceiling is not fun).  Next time, I’ll leave the cap off of the airlock…

Becky and I finally made it over to Hawthornes Cafe for dinner, and it was great.  I thought the food prices were a little high at first, but then I saw the portions.  We talked to the owners, Chris and Heather, about a homebrew brunch some time in the next few months.  Anybody else up for swapping a few beers on a cold Saturday morning?

And another thing—I’ve really been enjoying the newest local beer mag to hit, Philly Beer Scene.  Anybody else reading it?  I liked the beer tasting they had a Raw Dawgs Saloon in South Philly—might have to hit that place up soon.

Garrett Oliver recently came to Philly for a night of debauchery high-brow discussion.  A bunch of us met up at Bishop’s Collar, and after Garrett finished mixing some beer concoctions behind the bar, we figured we could pick up a few tips.

We learned that he has a new beer encyclopedia in the works, covering all aspects of beer.  How such a thing could exist and not have to be split into 8 volumes is as-of-yet beyond me.  But if anyone is able to make such a thing not only readable, but enjoyable, it’s him.

We were also able to glean a very important tip from him.  Joe asked, “If there was one thing you could tell all home-brewers that would make a definite difference in their brewing attempts, what would it be?”  Garrett didn’t even blink: more yeast.  He asked if we use liquid yeast (sure), if we’ve ever run into the situation where we ever waited more than a day for the yeast to start bubbling away (yes!), and if we ever notice off-flavors in those batches (umm, yeah).  He said that if his batches aren’t bubbling away after 12 hours, he starts sweating.  There are two good reasons behind this (the 12 hour mark, not the sweating).  Pitching too little yeast puts the yeast into “reproduction mode” first, where they have to multiply to achieve sustainable numbers.  He said this produces a lot of esters that you may not want in your beer.  Also, it gives other bacteria a head start, creating even more chances for those tongue-twisting off-flavors to occur.  He said that the amount that most home brewers pitch is between a quarter to a third of what big-time brewers use.

His recommendation?  Buy two pouches of the liquid yeast and pitch them both at the same time.  A yeast starter would work too, but if you’re brewing on short notice (as we often are) two pouches should be sufficient.

Which reminds me…  We’re brewing this weekend, so if I’m going to get that starter going, I’d better go buy some yeast.

A new study has found that hops in regions of eastern Germany and central Slovakia have seen decreases in alpha acid content of 0.06% per year since the 1950s.  They’re blaming it on increased air temperature stemming from our misguided belief that the planet went through all the trouble of evolving us just to collect a few trillion tons of combustion byproducts.  Good job, planet.

I find the numbers a bit hard to swallow, since 0.06% x 50 = 3%, meaning that back in the ‘50s, brewing supply shops would have carried bags marked “Saaz (8%)” instead of the 5% they quoted in the article.

I’ve said it before, but it’s time to make hops illegal.  It’s the only way to get massive underground labs producing more potent strains (and way better names).  Purple Mystic Alpha Buddha (26%), anyone?

Yes, it’s true.  I’m horrible at remembering to blog.  But can you blame me?  Sure.

Truth be told, I haven’t been feeling very beery lately, since our last batch has yet to carbonate.  I had a friend try it, and even after explaining the situation to him, his response was, “Where’s the body?!”  Beer without carbonation equals sweet alcohol water.  Considering how many batches we have done that have gotten their fizz on, what was different about this one (we keep asking ourselves)?  It’s not that this one has absolutely no carbonation, but it’s way less than I’d like to see.  We’re talking a "sck” when opening a bottle as opposed to a “sckxxxxxxx”.

Possible Problems

• We added the water and dried malt extract right off of the stove.  It went in when we had about a 2 gallons of the wort in the bottling bucket, with 3 still to go.  Even if the heat killed whatever yeast was in that 2 gallons, the next 3 should have brought the temperature down.
• There wasn’t enough yeast left alive to carbonate.  But the heat and additional sugars should have brought them out of hibernation.
• Too much alcohol!  Even with the extra sugar water, the yeast were suffocated in their own excrement (thanks Kurt Vonnegut!)
• Improper sterilization.  Always a possibility, and there’s no way to know exactly how it happened.
• Time!  We just need to wait.

Possible Solutions

• Pour all of the bottles into a soda keg and pressurize with CO2.  After a day or two, we’ll have beer!
• Distill the beer and make whiskey.
• Suck it up and drink it as-is.

My guess is that we have too much alcohol for the yeast to quickly carbonate the beer, but given enough time, it will be good.  Of course, the problem with time is that you have to give it, well, time.  I guess I can use that time to catch up on my blogging…

Cheers!

We had a great time brewing the IPA on May 2nd!  A handful of people told me they wanted to come see the process, but when the grains went into the water, it was just me, Joe, and Ben watching the clock for the next ingredient to add.  Sandip was there for emotional support, but I get the impression he’s more interested in the final product…  If you’re interested in learning to make beer, come join us the next time!  It beats paying for classes or learning the hard way.

Here’s the recipe we used.  It’s based on the Yippee IPA from my favorite recipe book, the Homebrew’s Recipe Guide.  We went with all light malt extract instead of half-amber/half-light, added 2 lbs of honey, and messed with the hops a little lot.  This was the first brew that our cooling coil worked as expected, taking less than half an hour to get the temperatures down.  Not too shabby for $20 worth of copper tubing.  I collected the waste water and brought it right outside to water the grass, and all of our spent grains and hops went right into the compost pile.  No waste brewing!

It’s been in the carboy for just over a week now, and CO2 is still bubbling out slowly.  This weekend, we’ll be reracking it onto more hops and letting that sit for another week before bottling it up.  I had a smaller 1 gallon batch with some special ingredients that I put into growlers last night, and after a quick taste, it’s definitely what we were going for.  We’ll see how the big batch turns out soon enough!  Stay tuned for our next brew—we have to try another fruit beer for summer, since our last attempt, a cranberry wheat, left much to be desired.

If you have the book, take a look on page 56 for Ed’s Honey Oatmeal Stout.  We followed this recipe excepting the following items:

• Instead of Liberty hops for aroma, George suggested Mt. Rainier — more alpha acids with the same flavor.  Who are we to argue?!  Just by smelling these malts, you can tell it’s going to need some serious balancing.
• George didn’t have any black patent malt at the moment, but set us up with some dehusked Carafa instead.  The dehusking removes some bitterness, tasting mellower and smoother than whole grains.
• Grains went in at 175°F instead of 155°F, but with the heat off.  By the time the half hour soak was up, the temp was down to 160°F.  My excuse theory is that over any range of temperatures, a wider flavor profile will be extracted than if it was held constant at one temperature…
• We used buckwheat honey from a farm in Gardners, PA—always good to use local honey if you can.  Thanks Ben!
• The recipe called for 1.5oz of cascade hops for bittering, but we used 1oz of cascade and 0.5oz of centennial that I found in the freezer.  They’re only three months old and still smelled great.

Sampling a little of the wort immediately brought back tastes of Sam Smith’s Oatmeal Stout, and a little Big Black Voodoo Daddy.  Sweet, dark, but not overly focused on chocolate notes.  I tried eating some of the sweet, sludgy oatmeal, but the intensely astringent hoppy bitterness made it impossible to stand for more than 2 seconds.

Even though the book has a complete guide on using Starters for high-gravity beers directly above the recipe we used, we didn’t do it.  So, I immediately blamed myself when I looked at it on the morning of day 2 only to find the whole bottle completely still.  I asked my beerologist, Ed, who immediately suggested the starter.  He also said that dropping a sterilized aquarium air stone with a pump into the wort can give the yeast the oxygen they need to reproduce to numbers high enough for complete fermentation.

Luckily, Monday night brought me home to find a thick foam on the surface and an airlock bubbling away.  We’ll see if it’s enough…

Notes for next time

• Use a starter.  By thinking ahead 2 or 3 days, you’ll have enough yeast to immediately drown out any undesirable organisms that would create off-flavors.  I also won’t spend the next day wondering if we wasted $70 because it’s not bubbling yet.
• Plan & measure.  We measured every ingredient except the water, and didn’t account for the volume lost boiling the grains and oatmeal.  We should do a gallon extra (especially with our awesome new 7.5 gallon brew kettle—thanks Joe!) and rack it into a gallon carboy.  Then, hold that carboy at a different temperature.  See how it compares with the big batch…
• Strain properly.  We need a bigger funnel and cheesecloth.  How big do they make ‘em?

How will it turn out?  Only time will tell.  Two weeks, to be exact.