#26: Dubbel 1.0

Brewed this Belgian Dubbel on February 13, 2010 (90 minute boil).  Featured ingredients are .75lb of Belgian Candi Sugar and .5lb of Uncle Ron’s honey.  The WLP530 (which I re-pitched into a Tripel a few weeks later) had a field day on the complex sugars and after an extra week of fermentation I had gotten 85% attenuation.  The resulting flavor is very fruity (dark fruits, such as prune and currant) so if fruityness is not your thing, you may not like this beer, but I feel it’s totally within style.

It was entered into 2010 National Homebrew Competition and will be entered into the 2010 Sam Adams Longshot Competition.  I’ll update this space with how it does!

OG: 1.076, FG: 1.011, ABV: 8.5%, SRM: 28, IBU: 20

#25: Foreign Extra Stout 1.0

So really, we’re going to start blogging again… promise.  To kick it off, here is a page for one of my latest beers.  I’ll be doing this for every beer and asking you, my audience of tasters, to leave comments below with your opinions of it.  I want to hear if you love it or hate it and, if you can articulate it, why you love it or hate it.  I’ll try to keep each page as up to date as possible.

Picture coming soon.

Brewed this beer on January 2, 2010 to kick off the new year.  It’s, as it’s name implies, a Foreign Extra Stout (13D).  Very dark in color and a wonderful, roasty, flavor.  I aged this beer in my Dad’s 5 gallon french oak barrel, after he conditioned his Zinfandel in it.  It took on a lot of the Zinfandel, which you can clearly taste in the finish.

It was entered into 2010 National Homebrew Competition in both the 13D (Foreign Extra Stout) and 23 (Speciality Beers) categories.  I’ll update this space with how it does!

OG: 1.085, FG: 1.011, ABV: 9.7%, SRM: 36, IBU: 40

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Is this really the first post on our site of the new year? It’s March…already!

Did we mention that we went to San Diego and San Francisco last year? It was a great vacation and we had lots of fun. We started our trip in San Diego, in town to celebrate Dennis and Lisa’s wedding. The wedding was beautiful taking place on a paddle boat in the Santa Barbara Cove in Mission Bay. It was a beautiful, emotional wedding and a fun, festive reception. We spent a few days in San Diego with Jason & Jess and Rob & Becky, taking in the sights, then went to San Francisco for a few extra days. Ryan took advantage of being on the west coast to explore local breweries (we called this his beer-cation) and together with Rob & Becky we saw Alcatraz, the Golden Gate Bridge, Haight/Ashbury, Fisherman’s Wharf and other sites. It’s a beautiful city and we experienced beautiful, sunny weather. One day, Ryan and I took a two-hour Segway tour in San Fran that took us all over the city. It was a blast and we recommend to anyone, in any city that offers tours, to experience the fun!

Since then, we’ve celebrated the holidays, I’ve lost my job, Ryan received an interim promotion at his, we spent time with friends for a long weekend in the Poconos (and then helped demolish the kitchen up there), I took a trip to Charlotte for my cousin’s baby shower and most recently we celebrated Ryan’s birthday. Our third wedding anniversary is coming up so we’ll be celebrating again at the end of the month.

Ryan’s still brewing and I’m sure he’ll write a big post about his accomplishments, including his 1st place win at a recent competition for his Oatmeal Stout. It received that recognition within the “Sweet, Oatmeal and Foreign Extra Stout” category and then was entered into the “Best in Show” category, where he placed 5th! I’m so proud of him, because this was the second biggest competition on the East Coast with over 800 entries!

Enjoy your St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, be safe and happy, and check back here soon for more updates!

Christmas 2009

So here I sit brewing an English Mild for our annual Poconos trip in January 2010 and I say to myself “hey, I haven’t blogged in a while!”  Christi is inside, warm, doing her own thing so I thought I’d throw a quick post up — while I’m still somewhat sober, as I’m on my fourth beer by 11:00am (this is a Defiant Christmas Ale, the other were my homebrewed Oatmeal Stout.

The pictures are up in my Picasa gallery.  I didn’t get as many as I usually do because, stupid me, I forgot to bring our camera Christmas Eve (when most of the action happens, as that’s when the kids open up their gifts).

I’d promise to blog more but, as I’ve made that empty promise before, I’ll just go back to brewing.  Cheers!

Busy, Busy, Busy

Hey everybody, sorry again for not blogging as often as I’d like.  Christi and I have been really busy and, with my new commute, I just haven’t had the time to write anything meaningful.

I’m brewing again!  Last weekend I brewed a Saison which, so far, is turning out wonderful… except for the (literally) explosive fermentation I had Sunday night, where the stopper/blowoff tube blew clear off the carboy, throwing yeasty junk all over the wall and carpet.  I’m still in the process of cleaning this up (again, time!) but should have it done tonight.

Christi (who is now Twittering!) is in South Carolina this weekend spending Mothers Day with her parents, so I’m rockin’ it solo for a few days.  I’m also brewing again on Sunday — a 10g batch of Irish Red for Kim and Matt’s Wedding in July — making it two weeks in a row.  Next weekend I’m brewing a Watermelon Wheat, which will hopefully be done in time for Memorial Day, and after that probably a Belgian Tripel, with the yeast repitched from my Saison, and a nice, hoppy, American Amber.

So, in short, a lot is happening in the brewery.  Oh yeah, and my new job is wondeful too   I’m going to be buying a Kindle to help pass the time on the train, as I’ve really taken to reading again.

Happy Friday!

Big Brew

I haven’t brewed in a while so I’m very excited for the coming of May.  Tomorrow (Saturday) is the Big Brew, for which I’ll be brewing the Saison Du Mont.  This will be my second all-grain batch so I’m really excited.

I’ll be home alone brewing while Christi goes to a baby shower in CT, so feel free to stop by and help or keep me company!

Happy Friday.

2009 Longshot Entries

Here is a picture of the three entries I’m sending into the Sam Adams Longshot competition this year:

I sent the same three entries — Oatmeal Stout, Franzie Hefe-Weisse, and Big Shave 2009 Scottish Export 80/– into the National Homebrew Competition too, so wish me luck!

First All-Grain Brew Session

Saturday I made my first all-grain brew, a Scottish Export 80/-.  This batch is going to be bottled and one case of it is going to be distributed to the winners of the Big Shave contest.  So far so good, we’ll see how it turns out!

The Big Shave: Prize Info

Congrats again to Ben Thomas and Rich Maple for splitting the Big Shave prize!  After exchanging emails with them for about a week we’ve decided on the prize: a batch of Scottish Export 80/-.

This batch is special for another reason: it will be my first all-grain batch.  Clocking in at 11lb of grain I am able to mash this in a 6g bucket.  While not perfect (temperature control will be a problem) I am definitely excited to get my first AG batch under my belt.

I’ll make sure to take lots of pictures and blog about it, so stay tuned.

2008 Craft Brewer Sales Numbers

Very encouraging data from the Brewers Association:

Boulder, CO – Monday, February 23, 2009 – The Brewers Association, which tabulates industry growth data for U.S. breweries, announced that today’s small independent craft brewers are gaining alcohol market share due to a shift toward full flavor beer and increased support for local breweries. From 2007 to 2008, estimated sales by craft brewers were up 5.8 percent by volume and 10.5 percent in dollars. Overall share of the beer category from craft brewers was 4.0 percent of production and 6.3 percent of retail sales. More than 1 million new barrels of beer were sold in 2008, and close to half of those barrels were beer from craft brewers.

Emphasis is mine.  Some shiny graphs:

I sure have spent more money on craft beer as of late, have you?