A Tale of Two Brewers

Dry Hop-tastic

noreply@blogger.com (Eugene Kolankowsky) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Well I finally managed to get some free time this weekend, so I went and transferred my IPA into the secondary for dry hopping. The resulting image is beautiful. As I sit and stare at the wonder of whole leaf cascade hops slowly oozing their goodness into my beer I realized something. I've turned hophead. I'm not saying I'm hop crazy, but not too long ago, crazy hoppy beers were too much for me. Strong IPAs would be avoided. Now, I seek them out. There's nothing more refreshing than a light, crisp IPA. That one certainly sneaked up on me.

Other news I'm pretty excited about... my birthday is coming up in 2 weeks, which means I'm 2 weeks away from finally getting that lagerator. I'll just need to find some time to brew one so I can christen that bad larry.

It's been a relatively quiet week for brewing. That coupled with a splitting headache induced by plastic-bottle scotch doesn't condone a hugely creative post. So until next time!!

Beereview: t Smisje Catherine The Great Imperial Stout

noreply@blogger.com (Tantilloon) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 19:23:00 +0000

I won't deny it. Buying this beer made me feel a little fancy. It has a name like a white stripes album title, a price like a double whopper with cheese, and an ABV like a frat guy on St. Paddy's day. Seemed like a winning combination to me.

I've never heard of the brewery "De Regenboog Brugge" but it sure seems fun to say. Continuing our thread of analogies it sort of sounds like the name of a delightful gnome or hobgoblin but it probably just means something like "The Royal Brewery" or something plain Jane vanilla. For all I know it's the Coor's light of Belgiam, but I'll pretend it's more like the Budweiser of Germany (which is a lot better, if you didn't know.)

First, the review - t Smisje Catherine The Great Imperial Stout:

Is this "t Smisje Catherine, The Great Imperial Stout" or "t Smisje, Catherine The Great Imperial Stout?" I have no idea, either way: it's a mouthful.

This stout pours a very dark brown and is slightly cloudy, but it's not the solid black I'd usually expect in an Imperial Stout. It's a very active beer but there is very little lacing or head retention. The aroma is very fruity and sweet, almost like raspberry jam with spices. There's a very strong malty (or jammy) aroma and almost a complete lack of hops. Granted I have a cold, but this smells really good. It's like the scent I was expecting from Bad Elf but didn't get. At 10% ABV I'd expect to smell the alcohol, but it's not there.

The flavor is slightly bitter chocolate with a hint of raspberry or cherry. It tastes like the beer equivalent of those cherry filled chocolates, with a slightly hoppy aftertaste. There's a bit of alcohol harshness on the tip of the tongue and after swallowing, but it's not that severe.

Overall, I am very pleasantly surprised with this stout. It tastes like dessert to me, with strong chocolate and coffee flavors complemented by just the right amount of fruit.

After checking some other reviews, I'm apparently way off the mark on this. Maybe I do have a cold.

Have you tried this beer? Are they the Coors Lite of Belgium? Let me know in the comments below!

Oh my head... Math works.

noreply@blogger.com (Eugene Kolankowsky) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 14:00:00 +0000

This is what happens when I go downtown. Stuff doesn't happen. Wake up late, post late, Carpe IPA sits untouched. But you know what?

It's always worth it.

And here's why I'm not a beer snob, and more a beer geek. I had a bunch to drink last night, sure. And you want to know something? I spent barely anything. Why? Cause I was drinkin' good ol' PBR at $2 a bottle. Funny thing about PBR. It's not half bad. I mean, it's called Pabst Blue Ribbon because it won 1st place at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. That's some serious staying power. 119 years. That's a long time, especially in these days when dishwashers are as disposable as tampons.

Don't get me completely wrong. I started out the night at Mellow Mushroom. If you don't know what that is, than that's just too bad for you. It's only the best gourmet pizza joint ever. Of all time. On top of that they have a large selection of craft beers and 4 continuously rotating taps so they always have something new. While I was chowing down on pizza I had a Lagunitas IPA, a classic, and a Mojo Risin by Boulder Beer. It's the same way I drink scotch. First glass is the good stuff. After that it's the Clan MacGregor from the plastic bottle. After the first one or two, you're not really tasting much anyway.

It's just economical really.

But what is economical? You know what economical is. Economical is homebrewing. Have you guys taken the time to do the math? Break it down. Lets call a case of beer 24 bottles(Bcase=24). Lets also call a typical case of beer a case of.... Budweiser, 12 oz bottles (oz=12). I'll drink that. It's stereotypical American. We'll fix that price at $18 (P=18).

So number of bottles times size of bottles...

oz * Bcase = Ozc (ounces per case)

12*24=288 oz/case

Take P (price) and divide that by the Ozc...

P/Ozc=PPO (price per ounce)

18/288=.07 dollars

So for 84 cents, you get a 12 oz bottle of Budweiser. That sounds pretty good, actually. Quite cheap. Lets apply the same math to homebrewing. I'm going to put a cheap brewing session at $30. Standard homebrewers will put forth 2 cases of beer for every homebrew. So we'll put a case of homebrew at $15 (P=15). Lets apply that math again:

oz * Bcase = Ozc (ounces per case)

12*24=288 oz/case

15/Ozc=PPO (price per ounce)

15/288=.05 dollars

That's saving you 2 cents for every ounce of beer you brew. Considering you brew 576 ounces of beer every time you brew, that's some serious coin. That also means your expensive brew rig pays itself back after only... 40 batches of beer. Legally, if you're married, and living in Florida, you can brew 200 gallons a year. Therefore paying itself back in 1 year. 1 year! That's serious payback! Companies make investments in things that won't payback until after your kids are long and dead, or Trump's wig decays whichever comes first.

So go, go ahead and buy yourself that fancy rig... You now have the math to support it. I now leave you with this... mind = blown.

Now I'm going to take some aspirin and go to bed.

Beereview: Newcastle Founders Ale

noreply@blogger.com (Eugene Kolankowsky) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:00:00 +0000

I'm really excited to be posting about this. But we'll get to that.

I had a really good brew day this past Saturday. I brewed ATOTB #06: Carpe IPA. Starting early at 7am was nice, I was able wrap everything up by 1 and still have a day in front of me. A minor emergency did occur, however. I was assembling my rig while my HLT was heating up on the burner, when I plugged in my solenoid valves to my control box. That's when I noticed the shroud protecting the connected had melted slightly. The connection would work, and my water was coming up to temperature. Some wire strippers and wire nuts later I was able to hard-wire the valves into my box. Not ideal, but it works. I'll be looking for new connectors locally for a replacement.

I also noticed that my mash tun had a slow leak. It slowed down as the brew went on, but I think it's on its way out. I've been thinking about upgrading it for some time now, and I think it's finally time. I've looked at a few options on the net and I think I'm going to go for a keg with the top cut out and fit it will all my valves and whatnot I currently use on my Rubbermaid cooler. I'll probably add some features too, like a sight glass. I'm not looking forward to it being so much heavier... but maybe this is my way of slowly building a brew structure.

Now for what you all have been waiting for!

Got a message from the guys over at Newcastle. Turns out their releasing a new beer this February for a limited time only release. The brewers at Newcastle have been busy, because they've released a whole line of rotating seasonal beers. Look out for "Summer Ale," "Werewolf," and "Winter IPA." According to the website they have been in rotation, but I haven't seen it. Maybe as time moves on they'll become more widely available.

But no matter! Today I have here in my hands a bottle of Newcastle "Founder's Ale," which is supposed to represent the founding brewers that came together to make that which is Newcastle. Let's crack this one open.

Head retention is better than your normal Newcastle. Relatively quick to diminish, but a little more staying power than usual. Aroma is sweet, mixed with a faint touch of floral, grassy hops. The body is very much like that of Newcastle, it's smooth, slightly thin, and easy to drink. What is absent in comparison with Newcastle, is the dominant malty sweetness. This beer is much more balanced than Newcastle is. On an even scale the malt is presented with the hops. The beer is mildly sweet, mildly dry, and mildly hoppy. What does this mean? I think it all adds up together in a beer that is easy to drink, and easy to enjoy. I'd recommend this one to a friend that likes a good beer.

You've got until April before it's pulled from the shelves. Grab a bottle and let me know what you think. Post below!

Beereview: Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye

noreply@blogger.com (Tantilloon) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:10:00 +0000

At A Tale of Two brewers we're no strangers to ruthlessness. If a beer smells like urinal cakes, tastes like garbage, and its brewer hasn't sent us $200 via either PayPal, money order, or BitCoin (no checks please,) we'll let you know exactly what we think of it. Considering my usual penchant for alliteration, agressive titles and ales, Ruthless Rye from Sierra Nevada seemed like a good bet.

Ruthless Review: Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye

This IPA pours a dark golden color with a sudsy off white head. Unlike other mass-market bottled beers, the foam sticks around for quite some time and sticks readily to the glass. If nothing else, it's very photogenic but unfortunately that same quality also made it stick annoyingly to every surface in my mouth. The sensation was sort of like eating bologna, but much less fatty, much more bitter and with far fewer horse penises. I generally disdain foods that leave my mouth feeling soiled; considering the wicked case of cheese tooth I got earlier from some chili I wasn't in much of a mood to tolerate it in the drink I usually use to wash away cheese tooth!

The aroma is fruity hops with a strong malty undertone. It's got more of a pine note than citrus, combined with apples and spice. Overall, it smells like a decent IPA. The flavor is fairly generic, but far more hoppy than the normal Sierra Nevada. They claim that the Rye imparts a peppery flavor, but I didn't notice much beyond the extreme bitterness.

Overall, I'd give it about a 3 out of 5. It's too strong and bitter to leave out at a party and I didn't much like how it coated my mouth.

Have you tried this beer? Do you eat Bologna without wondering what is in it? Let me know in the comments below!

Winter Potpourri

noreply@blogger.com (Eugene Kolankowsky) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Every once in a while I notice that there's been many things left unsaid that has occured over the past few months. I like to get these items together in a hodgepodge of a post. Here's your Winter potpourri:

The results are in! I managed to win the crown at my work's quarterly (ish) beer brewing competition! I took home the viking helmet using my ATOTB #02: Clean Blonde recipe. I made a spinoff of it however that would be #02WD02. By adding some crystal malt to my bill, the beer had a lot more body. However the crystal turned the beer much darker that I expected, therefore I will be calling it my "Dirty Blonde Ale." Always, a nod to my competitors Paul and Jeremy. Don't think you will get this crown back easily.

I'm very surprised it's been so long since I mentioned this. A few months back I decided to go get my homebrewing tattoo! This is my second tattoo and it came out absolutely awesome. Working with my tattoo artist, Bobby at Cast Iron Tattoos, we came up with this awesome design. I thought to make a play on the ol' skull and crossbones, replacing the crossbones with stalks of grain. Inspired by the hop grenade at the Brewing Network Army, I decided to add a more realistic version to the top of my design. I gave Bobby a few pictures to work off of, and what came out was extraordinary. Coming soon will be my matching one on the other leg representing yeast and water, completing the 4 key ingredients for beer.

So I may have mentioned before... no, I know I have mentioned before that I coach the Pole Vault at a local High School here, west of Orlando, Olympia High School. I know I've mentioned it, because in the spring, that supports some of my brewing equipment every year. Well this year is going to be great. Some changes have been made, and I'm back to coaching one school. Got a great group of kids. I mention this however, because the head coach just got himself a Mr. Beer kit for Christmas. Before you scoff at it too quickly though, he's already brewed a batch and he's ready to move on. Excited like a kid in a candy store he says to me that he's going to the homebrew shop, and what does he need. The conversation went like this...

Me: "The store closes in 2 hours, you've got plenty of time. Walk in there and say you want the entire beginner's homebrewing kit."

Him: "But I've already gotten the beginners kit?"

Me: "No.... no you haven't..."

Well he's already brewed his first batch this weekend, and from the questions he's asked me it sounds like it went great. I already mentioned that I keg my beer, and he's already excited to move on to that. At this rate he'll own Sam Adam's by Summer 2016.

Finally, I believe... or want to believe, that I've managed to clear up my schedule enough to do some beer brewing. I'm looking to start this upcoming Saturday. I've had some shaky experiments in the past, so I'm going to start off with a few sure things and maybe try a few clones to see how some new ingredients work into the grain bill. I'll be starting off with ATOTB #06: Carpe IPA!

Beereview: Sam Adam's Alpine Spring

noreply@blogger.com (Eugene Kolankowsky) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Lets cover some news items first.

Thanks to all for putting up with my SOPA post. Like Nick said, we won. It was a landmark victory that show our voices can be heard on the internet.

I got an interesting email from DrunkenHistory.com. First off, it's a pretty interesting website that is based on the history of beer versus reviews and brewing today. It appears to be a new website and the idea is an interesting spin on your typical beer blog. I'm adding it to my RSS feed and we'll see where it takes us. Regarding the email, it was about monks and the beer they brewed. Apparently, the monks had a daily ration of beer. A 4 liter daily ration of beer. No wonder they were so peaceful. Kinda makes me want to go monk. And with those potent beers they brew? Holy cow. 4 liters of that stuff is like 8 liters of Budweiser... That's over 16 pints of your typical American beer. A day. That sounds fantastic. Well, he wrote the email to promote that we should make February 25th a day set aside to recognize monks and their contribution to brewing. Why? Why the hell not. Any reason to raise a pint to a good cause is good enough reason for me. So spread the word, February 25th is Brewing Monk Appreciation Day.

In other news, and relating to this beereview, Sam Adam's rolled out a new spring beer this year. That's all fine and dandy, except they replaced their very popular Noble Pils. So if you've placed an order for your spring keg of Sam Adam's seasonal... well it's probably too late now. You'll be surprised to find that you wont be getting Noble Pils, but the subject of today's beereview instead. Sam Adam's Alpine Spring.

I should note that Noble Pils isn't gone forever. But it might as well be if you don't live in the 49 states outside of Massachusetts. Noble Pils is now part of their brewmasters collection, which is difficult to find outside of Massachusetts. So from Florida, I bid you goodbye Noble Pils. Our relationship was short, but great.

ON WITH THE REVIEW!

Lets be honest with ourselves here "Alpine Spring" sounds more like a flavor of dryer sheet that it does a name for a beer. Actually... I think it actually is the name of a flavor of deodorant, but I can't remember which one. First pour out of the bottle has a pleasing white head to it, with a little more staying power than the typical mass produced beers. It's got a faint hoppy aroma, which does remind me a little bit of Noble Pils. Alpine Spring is definitely a more hop/malt balanced beer than Noble Pils was. Alpine Spring has more body, and the base malt is showcased very well. It isn't refreshing like Noble Pils was, but probably a better beer to enjoy with dinner. The American hop flavors are subdued, but modestly present.

I like it. I'm not wild about it, but I'd like another one!

What do you think about Sam Adam's new spring lineup? Let us know. And if you can think what that Alpine Spring deodorant is, let me know as well. Post below!!!

Beereview: Blue Point Old Howling Bastard

noreply@blogger.com (Tantilloon) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 20:49:00 +0000

Click for the Big Version

(Note: Congratulations to any of you who let your Representative know that you didn't want SOPA or PIPA! We won! Think about the power that was just exercised; can we harness it again to change the world? I'm encouraged by this and I hope you are too!)

I don't often buy beer because of the name; there are so many clever titles out there that I'd be bankrupt in about a day. I had to make an exception for this eye catching bottle though, as it features shiny bronze and silver lettering (oooh shiny) and a garish screaming zombie Moses. If there is such a thing as a tasteful screaming zombie Moses I'd be all over that too, but you take what you can get. The name "Old Howling Bastard" really sealed the deal on this one.

I found this interesting post about the label design if you want to see a close up photo of this local legend (apparently he was a crazy homeless guy, not a zombified Charlton Heston) It's a pretty creepy label, although I think seeing anything from Flying Dog has left me desensitized, intrigued by the macabre, and more likely to buy beer exactly like this.

So how does it measure up to my lofty expectations?

Beereview: Blue Point - Old Howling Bastard

This Barleywine Style Ale pours a cloudy apple cidar color with a thick head that quickly recedes into a steady but very thin film.

The aroma is sweet and hoppy with a bit of that citrus twang that I really enjoy. Not exactly what I'd expect from a barleywine as it smells more like an IPA.

The taste is... complicated. There's an initial sweet rush followed by an intensely bitter hoppiness closer to Arrogant Bastard or Hop Devil. It has a slightly oily aftertaste with an alcohol burn. At 10%, this beer can keep up with the best of them if you manage to keep it down.

Summing it up, this beer is HARSH although not low quality. It isn't something I'd recommend to many people but I do like how they didn't over-sweeten it to cover for the high ABV. It really is more like a weak bourbon than a strong beer.

Have you tried this? Is barleywine supposed to be this hoppy? Let us know in the comments below!

Anti-SOPA

noreply@blogger.com (Eugene Kolankowsky) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:52:00 +0000

Sorry I missed my Monday post, things have been busy! But I had to take some time from work and put this out there...

Don't worry. This is totally about beer.

I'm not going to shove this issue down your throat. After I make this comment I wont visit it again. I don't particularly like preaching, and every time I see one of those soap box guys on the street, I want to go and kick his stool out from under him. Well, I'm getting up on my stool, but I'll make it quick. I don't want my stool kicked out from under me.

If you haven't noticed on Google, Wikipedia, or Reddit lately. The internet is up in arms. The government is trying to push through legislation known as SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act), and PIPA (Protect IP Act). The idea of the laws are innocent, however the methods are dangerous. Effectively, the bills give the government power of total internet censorship. There's more, and I encourage you to check out what's on the web. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has a great one page summary of the dangers inherent in this bill.

Please read up and sign one of the many petitions out there that are against SOPA and PIPA. If these pass, sites like Wikipedia, Reddit, and most importantly, A Tale Of Two Brewers, could be shut down forever.

Sorry for the serious post. No jokes or funny pictures today.

How's this about beer? For every petition you sign, drink a beer. The more you sign, the better you feel! Drink beer, protect the internet. That's a lot you can do from your armchair.

Rockin Setup

noreply@blogger.com (Eugene Kolankowsky) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

When I first toyed with the idea to get a kegerator, I threw out the idea that we should put it in such a way that we could have the taps brought right into the kitchen. How awesome would that be? Cookin, maybe goin through the mail, when all of the sudden that inkling hits you, "beer!" Well the SWMBO vetoed that idea. And I dont really blame her. But I was at my friends house last night and... wow.

He had finished his 4 tap setup. The setup that leads right into the room with the pool table. It doesn't get more man-cave than that. You can see the picture of the inside setup to the right here. The wood is beautifully stained, and he's got some killer tap handles to adorn his tap. Don't hate the MGD tap, it's still sweet. He's always got a keg of Yeungling on tap, which i learned he switches out every month. That of which is impressive in its own right. Currently the first tap is his "Mexican Ale" (which he admits tastes like a wheat, so we dub thee "Mexi-Wheat"). The 4th tap (far right) is a winter ale, with a full body and some mild spices. Definitely tasty and filling.

Behind closed doors he's got a massive keezer, outfitted with every brewer's best friend, the Johnson Controls Temperature Controller. He's got a great collar that he built on the keezer, stained the same color as the back splash of his taps. He mentioned maybe adding more taps. When will it stop? 6 taps? 8 taps?? The man can drink beer. Out the back of the of the collar he's got his 4 draft lines running to the back splash running through the piece of insulated spa tubing, keeping the temperature of the lines cool just a little bit longer. It also appears to prevent the lines from kinking where they go through the back of the collar. Like I mentioned before, he's got one full keg, 2 corny kegs, and his CO2 tank in the keezer. And he's got room to spare. I predict that if he puts that CO2 tank outside, and really jams some kegs in there... He could probably fit 6 cornys and a full keg in there... probably 9 cornys if he gets rid of the keg. I'm pretty sure I've been to a few bars with a smaller selection than that, let alone craft brew. I don't mean to sound like I'm blowing roses here, but I'm thoroughly impressed by the setup. See below.

Oh, and his beers are really good too. Thanks Jeremy!

Feel like bragging about your sweet draft setup? Let me know, post below!

Beereview: Blue Moon - Grand Cru

noreply@blogger.com (Tantilloon) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 18:13:00 +0000

First, Happy New Year everybody! After reading Gene's post, I can't help feel that I could have done more to bring new readers to the site. I never figured out the whole "Post when you post on every social network site out there thing." I know the how of it, but I guess I'm just not good at the when. 2011 was a crazy year for everybody (especially for the wall street types who are now sleeping in their 1986 Chevy Astro van.) Let's hope 2012 is a lot better!

On that note, I was looking for an economical option to review this week and the new Blue Moon caught my eye. I have a love hate relationship with Blue Moon in general: I love that it brings people into the mindset that craft brew is something desirable but I hate that it pretends to be craft beer. That said, they have attempted to create a beer in my favorite variety by adding their "signature wheat" flavor to Belgian Abby Ale. Let's see how it pans out:

Beereview: Blue Moon - Grand Cru

No head at all!

The first thing I noticed about this beer is that it has a CAP. Almost all (or all?) the Belgian Ales this beer is trying to impersonate come with a cork and wire restrainer due to the extreme pressure involved when one of these bottle conditioned beers gets shaken up. The label for this beer clearly states that it is bottle conditioned, but I suspect that's about as valid as calling white bread with a pinch of whole wheat flour for color "9 Grain Whole Wheat."

This tribute ale pours a murky tan with almost no head retention whatsoever. I tried to pour it quickly to get a good photo but was still thwarted. Once it warms up a little it becomes very lively so this is less noticeable. The aroma is somewhere between month old lemons and public bathroom. It sorta smells like using lemon cleaner on a rotten deck. Similar to coastal wheat this is the urinal cake smell, although I have no idea what causes it.

How does it taste? It is extremely sweet, but it's a sort of nondescript sweet. It has a lot of spicy flavors but ginger really sticks out. It reminds me a little bit of ginger beer, except that it has this underlying sour wheat taste. It's hard to describe, except to say that it tastes like somebody let a ginger bread man soak in your blue moon for quite some time.

If you're expecting Belgian style quality from this non-craft product you're sure to be disappointed. If you just want 8.6% ABV for under 7 bucks than I suppose this is a little better than Colt 45. It really just tastes like somebody poured a blue moon into a bowl, added half a can of ginger ale, and added about a shot of grain alcohol. Not too good.

Overall, I'd say this borders on undrinkable. Instead of buying two of these, buy one real Belgian. I promise, it's a much better bargain.

Have you tried this? Let me know in the comments below!

Salutations, 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Eugene Kolankowsky) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Out with the old, and in with the new. I'm sure many of you did your duty to drink goodbye to 2011. I know Nikki and I did. Without delving into personal issues or national security, it was a rough year for the two of us, and we're both glad so see it off. In our recycling bin, the number of liquor, wine, and beer bottles mixed with the recyclable bag of tortilla chips, salsa, and gingerbread mix can attest to that. But the beginning of the year is a time of reflection of the past year, and foreseeing what may be in the future. Learn from your mistakes, and better, learn from the mistakes of others. Looking back onto my post almost exactly a year ago, it's almost embarrassing that most of the targets I've missed. But if you shoot at the prize fish in the barrel, you'll likely miss, but you're still walking out with a few dead fish. Let's rewind to last year.

Well, traffic did increase over the year. It hasn't double like I was hoping for, but it has grown steadily. While I'm not the internet superstar I dreamed of becoming we're making progress.

I did in fact buy my own t-shirt. And it fits great! I also got myself a DeMalt t-shirt, and I wear them to all beer related outings I go own. I also managed to make my own ATOTB business cards which look great as well.

While I didn't update my equipment as dramatically as I had hoped, I did manage to put a disconnect on my last stretch of high temp tubing which made my brewing a lot easier. Doing this has made me able to pump my hot water from the HLT, instead of having to lift the boiling cauldron of death up onto my Home Depot special backyard furniture and gravity drain it. Not only did it make my job safer, it also substantially improved my efficiency upwards to 80%.

The competitions... yeeeeah. About that. Aside my one work competition, I entered only one sanctioned competition this year. Which is about 1/3 of the competitions I did the year before. Ah well, chin up, move forward. We'll see how this year goes.

My most immediate goal this year is to finally catch that elusive hard cider. Finally it may be within my grasp. The SWMBO got me the book "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1580175201/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=atal03-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1580175201">Cider: Making, Using & Enjoying Sweet & Hard Cider, Third Edition</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=atal03-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1580175201" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />." Bring it on cider. You're mine.

Here's to 2012! Raise your glass and lets start this year brewing your mash off!

Oh, right. By the way, we're all supposed to die at the end of the year. So make this year count!

Right.

Christmas 2K11

noreply@blogger.com (Eugene Kolankowsky) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Oh the weather outside is sunny,

I don't miss my nose all runny,

I don't have much better to do...

Let it Brew! Let it Brew! Let it Brew!

The burner's lit and burning,

My tun is warmed and churning,

Adding hops and right on queue...

Let it Brew! Let it Brew! Let it Brew!

When the wort is finally cool,

I'll pitch the yeast and shake like mad!

The cork & airlock's new,

To the chest in the last spot i had!

Now the airlock's slowly bubbling,

There's nothing to find that's troubling,

Pull a draught off tap number two,

Let it Brew! Let it Brew! Let it Brew!

Cheers!

Merry Christmas from your favorite brewers here at A Tale Of Two Brewers! I hope you all are having fun opening gifts and drinking home brewed beer. Have a safe and happy holidays.

See you next week!

A Question to the Community: Can Conditioning?

noreply@blogger.com (Tantilloon) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 18:08:00 +0000

I originally thought of the idea of can conditioned beer on our trip to Colorado two years ago. I talked to the brewmaster about it at Keegan Ales last October (and promised him he could be the first to do it.) He told me he'd ask another brew master about it and get back to me. Well it's been over a year and he never responded to my follow up email, so I guess it's time to let the cat out of the bag.

There's a lot online about Bottle Conditioning and if you've ever had a really fine Belgian ale (or brewed your own beer without using a secondary fermenter) you're probably very familiar with the results. There's a layer of sludge in the bottom that, while not poisonous, can cause some very undesirable results in your lower GI should you drink it. Some people have no problem downing the bready residue but it's never recommended.

My question is this: since canning beer is the new rage in craft brewing, can you "can condition" a beer and still achieve carbonation and a quality product?

I can think of a few potential negative effects of using this method. These are all uneducated guesses (are they ever not?):

The top of the can is held on by pressure (like a bottlecap) but might not have the same threshold.
Pouring beer out of a can might agitate it a lot more than pouring from a bottle (resulting in more sediment being poured out.)
You can't see the sediment layer so it's hard to judge when to stop pouring
With the total absence of light, the yeast might not perform correctly.

A quick google search on the topic results in several hilarious yet unhelpful results. This was my personal favorite:

Can conditioning my hair with mayonnaise really help prevent hair loss?

While you work on that gem and discover quickly that body heat makes mayo go rancid all that much faster, if you've ever tried bottle finishing a beer in a can please let me know in the comments below. Even if you've never commented below but think you know the answer, I'm dying to know your guess.

If a tree falls in the woods...

noreply@blogger.com (Eugene Kolankowsky) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 14:00:00 +0000

What a weekend.

I went into this weekend with a case of Miller Lite, a keg of "Saa-wheat" homebrew, a 6-pack of Terrapin's Hopsecutioner, and a 4-pack of Keystone Ice.

And it's all gone.

Needless to say I'm writing this post with a pint of H2O versus my usual pint of beer. I went camping to celebrate a birthday party this weekend. Of course, when I say camping, I mean I stayed in a cabin with running hot water, a fridge, and a small kitchen. That's about as rustic as I get. Of course I'll raise a pint for anyone's birthday, it's always a good reason to do so. But for Nikki and I this weekend was so much more.

The exam the you may remember me complaining about for the past 6 months was finished at the end of October, and Friday we got the results. Words will not explain the emotion we both went through...

Because we both passed that stupid, stressful, and long exam. And for it we are now both licensed engineers in the state of Florida. We wanted to crack a beer right away, but we still had 2 hours to drive to the campsite. After finding out we passed, I wasn't sure if we had enough beer!

So this week I leave it at that. I'm going to go back and crash on the couch now, before I fall asleep and start typing junk on the keyboard.

Beereview: Stone Double Bastard

noreply@blogger.com (Eugene Kolankowsky) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 14:00:00 +0000

"Ye Shall Know The Bastard and The Bastard Shall Set You Free."

First I want to apologize. I was feeling under the weather Sunday, which is when I usually blog to my heart's content. I even had this beer that I was very excited to review. But I decided to end the night with a shot of Nyquil at 7 o' clock. I was out like a 60 watt incadescent, planet-killing, pepper spraying, light bulb. Thing with Nyquil is that it always leaves me incredibly groggy in the morning. Today was no different, except the grog never ended. Hopefully there's no brain damage.

To the point, I apologize. I know many of you count on coming to work and starting your Monday's off on the right side of the bed by opening up A Tale Of Two Brewers at 9 AM eastern, and read what exciting adventures I've been on. I feel responsible for all the heartache and lost productivity that may have occured.

Yeah right.

So I'm pretty stoked at a recent development. Our Publix really isn't that great. I could go on and on really. But I wont. The deli line is the worst however. It's so painfully slow that I can't help but imagine pushing the woman's face through the plate glass display when she's order 1/4 lbs of everything in the @%(*in freezer. I digress...

Well we were in the market for a new market. So I went to our new Publix just on the other side of the highway. To my delight, in it's shining glory, was a Knightly Spirits Liquor store. Oh yes. Finally at my front door do I have a stock of high quality craft beers. With a full selection of Stone's finest I might add. The gentleman there also assured me that if there was anything I was looking for that he could have it shipped, free, from their main store across town. Which has of 1,600 different beers. Oorah!

Which is where the Stone: Double Bastard comes in. Keep in mind, I can't handle Arrogant Bastard. I've said before, and I say again, the label rings true in saying that this beer is too aggressive for me.

Enter the SWMBO (she who must be obeyed), the SO (significant other), mission control, and any other words or phrases you might use (appropriate and not) to refer to your wife, Nikki.

As I foray deeper and deeper into beer brewing and zymology (the study of zymurgy, fermentation), I've discovered Nikki to be a hop head. Starting tame with beers like Red Hook IPA, she fell in love. Slowly we climbed the ladder. Before I knew it we had already bypassed greats like Terrapin's Hopsecutioner, Stone IPA, and Lagunitas IPA. Finally we were at a bar and I decided to test her. I saw on tap Stone's Arrogant Bastard and ordered her a pint. She took a sip and.... didn't even flinch. She proceeded to devour the pint like it was a lump of tofu at a vegetarian pie eating contest. Challenge accepted.

So today I bring you Stone's Double Bastard. This is I calling Nikki out. It's time to pop the cap. Double Bastard weighs in at a hefty 10.5% ABV. While I wait for the foam to die, I'll make a note that the head is thick, stout, and resiliant. Aroma is surprisingly faint of hops.

Needless to say she loved it, but it made her pause for at least a second to give a wide-eyed look of surprise and an audible "whoa." The hop bitterness isn't much stronger, if at all, than Arrogant Bastard's. I must note that while I write this she's poking and mocking me, and asking if she needs to finish it for me. No. Of course I can finish it woman. Go watch the X Factor woman. Really, Double Bastard isn't an intense IPA, but more so Stone's version of an Arrogant Bastard Barleywine. The body is thick, full, and chewy. The lacing grips to the glass long after the beer recedes. The hop strength is balanced with that alcohol punch to the larynx. Definitely a sipper (for me). It may be true that Nikki will be finished by the time I walk out into the living room...

Check out what I say about Double Bastard at my Pintley site here. If you'd like to follow Nikki on twitter she's at @NikkiDJ27. And please, if you think there's a Hop-Crazy beer that can take her down, please recommend it below. I need a suggestion.

Public Service Announcement and Beereview of Flying Fish Grand Cru Winter Reserve

noreply@blogger.com (Tantilloon) — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 01:43:00 +0000

We usually try not to bring non-beer related topics up on this blog unless it's important. Having been victims ourselves of a malicious attack which nearly resulted in a total loss of all our posts however, means this new information is something I feel is important to any of you using Google accounts.

Google has recently made available two-factor authentication across all their products. What does this mean? It means you need to authorize individual computers, iPhones, iPads, Commadore 64s, Wiis and anything else you might obsessively check your email from to login to Google. This might sound like a pain in the butt unless you think about what is specifically denied access. Basically, unless somebody steals your mobile phone or goes through a pretty rigorous password recovery process any PC, mobile device, Russian spy satellite, or Chinese bot network that you do not own cannot access your account.

If you use Gmail for your email then that means anybody who gains access to your account can submit lost password requests to PayPal or your banks, read all your email and chat logs, or make really embarrassing posts on your Facebook account. If those reasons aren't good enough for you, then I wish the person luck who inevitably steals your identity and leaves you with a bill from QVC for $1,000,000.

What can you do to protect yourself? Enable two factor authentication. Right now. Do it. Thieves would need to steal your mobile phone AND password to get access which is a lot better than just having to guess your kids birthdays or your name backwards.

Ok. off the soap-box and onto the six-pack.

Beereview: Flying Fish - Grand Cru Winter Reserve

Being a New Jersey-ite more by necessity than desire means it take a little longer for that Jersey Pride to build up to rabid levels. While I haven't tried any fake tan yet, eaten copious amounds of pork roll (basically SPAM made of pig who-knows-whats,) or actually bothered to complain about Jersey Shore I do enjoy a good beer. I'm proud to say Flying Fish makes a good product down in Cherry Hill NJ (which is more than I can say about White Castle for those of you who remember the first Harold and Kumar.)

This Winter Ale pours a bright amber color (totally clear) and is very active. There isn't much head initially but it maintains about 1/5" due to the high volume of bubbles. The aroma is sweet and cirtus with a slightly malty undertone. It doesn't smell sour or hoppy, just mellow.

The flavor is initially very sweet with a slight grapefruit bitterness underlying. It's initially very refreshing and smooth with no alcohol harshness. There isn't much of a lingering aftertaste and this seems like it would go very well with food. I'm not sure what Grand Cru is, but it tastes like a very good sweet lager.

Overall I like it a lot and can highly recommend it, especially considering a 6-pack is around $9.

Have any of you had Flying Fish? What'd you think? Let me know in the comments below!

Your One Stop Wishlist

noreply@blogger.com (Eugene Kolankowsky) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Alright so maybe you don't want to give someone glassware for Christmas. Maybe they're the bottle sort of person. Maybe they have a tendency to break things made of glass. Maybe their cupboard is overfilling of pints, pilsners, boots, and chalices. What can you get that special brewing someone? Lets break it down in price ranges...

Under $10

The Autosiphon - if the special brewer in your life is still transferring beer/wort/whatever from one vessel to another by sucking on the tube like he's stealing gasoline out of a cop car, he needs an autosiphon. Every brewer needs one. Not only is it more sanitary, but it is exactly 12.5 times easier than trying to manually siphon with a plane ol' racking cane.
The Thief - basically an autosiphon without the racking cane. I understand if you're as stingy with your beer as I am, you don't want any to go to waste. Even that little bit you dump into your test jar so you can measure your gravities. The thief you drop in, pull out, measure, and let the beer back into the fermenter. Someone was thinking, the thief is sized to fit a standard hydrometer inside.
The Blow Off Tube - it only takes the krausen shooting out of your airlock once to run to the store and get one of these. Never worry about getting your jackets nasty from fermenting in the closet again.

Under $50

American Homebrewers Association - like the NRA in the fact they fight for our right to brew. Not like the NRA in the way no one dies in their articles.
A Propane Burner - get your homebrewer out of the house! Nothing is so convincing then to spend an hour cleaning sticky wort off your kitchen floor. But seriously, these are a must-have for a brewer. Unless your brewer doesn't want one. But then he/she may also enjoy riding the Ol' Model T to work as well. Time to come up to the times of advanced brewing!
A Homebrew Keg - Depending on the situation, this could double as a prank gift. Once the homebrewer kegs his first beer, he's never going back to bottles. Even if he doesn't have a kegerator, get him a keg. It wont be long till he gets one. No matter what the SO (significant other) says.

$100-ish

A Beer Pump - All grain brewer? No pump? Put that man out of his misery and get him one. Simplifies the whole process... until you can't figure out why the stupid thing won't prime.
Mash Tun! - Nothing will thrust your brewer into the wonderful world of all grain like his own mash tun. Comes in any color you want, as long as it's orange.

Under $500

The Fermenator - You're spending $500 bucks on your fellow brewer? Don't expect me to reciprocate that gift. Well if you insist, dive into the king of fermentors. By Blichmann!

$5000

The Brew Magic System - Seriously? Seriously?!?!? Before diving into this, about halfway down this page there's a lovely "donate" button. Check it out. It's a really cool link. You're either married to your brewer, or about to get a restraining order. An awesome brew system that costs as much as your beat-up Honda Civic. A cheaper option would be to get him a Brutus 10 for $3... the plans for one that is.

You either love brewing or hate money. If you hate money, there's a donate button on your right.

Got any other great gift ideas? Let me know. Want to get me a gift? Lets talk.

The Only Holiday Buying Guide You'll Ever Need

noreply@blogger.com (Tantilloon) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 01:28:00 +0000

Toss away that Hammacher Schlemmer catalog. Shred the Sharper Image. This holiday season make that $20 for somebody you really like or $10 for somebody you only kinda like get the best present with the least amount of thought or effort (since that's what holiday shopping is all about!) With only $20 you could probably get "The best toothpick" or something from Hammacher Schlemmer, so why not get an awesome holiday beer pack instead?

I love holiday beer packs. It's all the awesome beer I usually buy with a free cup! What could be better than oddly shaped cups that fit poorly in the cabinet next to regular cups than free oddly shaped ill-fitting cups? Without any further ado, here's some of this year's winners (continuing with some of the Hammacher arrogance in order of worst glass to best).:

From left to right, the flute,
the pint glass and the Chalice

Beereview: Free Glassware!

#4 The only flute glass you'll ever need.
Ommegang 4-Pack
Just like most things in catalogs the title is probably a little misleading here. This is sort of a last resort glass for me because it's awkwardly shaped and doesn't hold an easily eye-balled measurement of beer. If you're not using a matched set it's inevitable that whoever ends up with this glass is going to get a much smaller pour.

#3 The world's sniftiest snifter.
Duvel
I love duvel and I love feeling fancy. Nothing feels quite so fancy as drinking Duvel out of a brandy snifter wearing only socks. While you can skip the socks and still achieve the desired effect, the snifter is a solid way to enjoy the sweetness and pleasant aroma of Duvel. It doesn't really feel like a beer glass though, which is why it's only in the middle of the list.

#2 The most English pint glass.
Samuel Smith
Now this glass feels like a beer glass! A kinda flimsy, thin, easily broken glass but still, it holds an entire bottle of Samuel Smith's! This is a really nice way to enjoy a beer that's not meant to be sipped or sniffed like some kind of sissy barleywine. It's the only way to truly enjoy oatmeal stout, so when it inevitably breaks it's time to just get another one!

#1 The Monk's best beer chalice.
St. Bernardus 4-Pack
This pack combines some of my favorite beer with an awesome chalice just like the monk holds in the picture. There's no better way to savor a Belgian Abbey ale than out of one of these oversize wide mouthed vessels. They hold about 12 ounces each, so a matching pair is a must when you're splitting that bottle. Chimay comes with a similar glass, but I personally prefer the St. B's!

Special Mention: Jones Soda
If you're purchasing a gift for a young child, beer and glassware are probably both poor choices. This Jones Soda deserves a special mention for it's sheer oddness. They have candy cane and pear tree soda! Watch out though, knowing Jones it probably tastes more like the tree than the pear.

What's the best thing about Holiday Gift Packs? They can be given to the same person every year!

Is your cabinet full of these types of glasses? What's your favorite? Let me know in the comments below!

Post Thanksgiving Roundup

noreply@blogger.com (Eugene Kolankowsky) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Welcome back to all who have survived Thanksgiving. Little do people know that Thanksgiving is probably one of the most dangerous holidays. To you that are still reading today: you have survived the trials and tribulations of many, if not all, of the following...

1 - Deep Fried Turkey Bombs
2 - The In Laws
3 - Burnt Stuffing
4 - The Inevitable Food Coma
5 - Gridlock Traffic / Airport Terminals
6 - Spilled Gravy
7 - Hunting Season
8 - Black Friday
9 - Cyber Monday
10 - "Occupy Thanksgiving"

Again, congratulations all you continued readers. If you know another reader who hasn't made it, my apologies. But don't bother unsubscribing him from his site membership, we love the inflated numbers.

Brewing update! My spiced witbier is about ready to be thrown into the secondary which I will end up doing tomorrow. It smells fantastic, and if it tastes half as good as it smells, I may be on to something.

Carbonation via the shake until your balls drop approach (see "the impatient method" here) worked quite well. I've carbonated both my wheat and my blonde and I'm relatively happy. I'm afraid the wheat might have too much citrus in it, which I'm hoping will age out of the beer. The blonde ale is quite malty, maybe a little more malty than I was expecting. I need a second opinion.

My burner paint job is still holding strong save one area. The burner itself (not the stand) is showing a little rust where the flames come in closest contact with the paint. This is acceptable to me! So it still looks great.

My oak aged beer is not fairing so well. After two months of aging the beer still tasted like garbage. Ok, not exactly like garbage, because I dont think my dog Sam would even drink it. I could be wrong. Well I decided to hop the crap out of it and eliminate any oak taste. Well hop the crap out of it I did. Now it tastes like you're drinking a bottle of lemon fresh Pine Sol, without the lemons. Which I suppose would just be Pine Sol. Now I really have to figure out what to do with it and get on to brewing more beer!

Any good close encounter turkey stories out there? Put your brewing pot to it's use of it's original calling? Let me know! Post below!

Happy Thanksgiving! Don't Kill Yourself!

noreply@blogger.com (Tantilloon) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 01:01:00 +0000

If you're anything like me you're probably scrambling around to pack your few scant possessions into a sack so you can get ahead two cars in the five hours of traffic awaiting you. Sound familiar? If not, I'm jealous. 3G hasn't gotten so good that I trust myself to make a coherent blog post in the car let alone my house, but I sure trust the spell checker at home better.

Being that tomorrow (or today for you readers) is Thanksgiving I'd like to wish you a happy one and leave you with this review - Gnomegang is awesome. Not enough? OK here's the real dirt:

Beereview: Gnomegang from Ommegang and Brasserie d ‘Achouffe

What's better than two of my favorite breweries getting together to produce a fantastic beer? Two breweries on two different continents, obviously. Ommegang has always seemed a little odd; they brew great Belgian style beers in Cooperstown, NY. I always wondered what the Belgian brewers thought of our American homage; apparently it's flattery.

Gnomegang is a unique pairing of the Chouffe Yeast in the primary fermentation and the Ommegang yeast in the secondary wrought by American Brewers. For a lover of Belgian styles and domestic pricing, I really couldn't go wrong. The fruity and spicy character of a Chouffe beer is preserved even though it was brewed to the high standards of brewery Ommegang. If nothing else, this partnership really shows that brewers are a global society with flavors and techniques that transcend local geography. But how did it taste?

Real Beereview: Gnomegang

Gnomegang is a very spirited beer and foams up quickly when poured. The aroma is fruity with a touch of grapefruit, typical of other Chouffe offerings. There's a slight yeasty aroma but nothing bready or unpleasant. When poured, the head sticks around for as long as needed and the dry spicy grapefruit aroma remains adding a pleasant nose to the entire experience.

The taste is very fruity; it's sweet without a lot of maltiness. It's initially spicy with the taste of cloves and more closely resembles La Chouffe than Ommegang. The main flavor seems to be citrus and fruit without any alcohol flavors (although it's 9.5%). The aftertaste is slightly bready but quickly yields to a citrusy sour sweet rush.

Overall this is a great Christmas Ale and I highly recommend it!

Have you tried any similar pairings from cross-continental breweries? Did you try Gnomegang? Let me know in the comments below!

Can't stand the heat?

noreply@blogger.com (Eugene Kolankowsky) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 14:00:00 +0000

I'm not going to lie. This is going to be a shorter post than usual. Stayed out late last night in down town Orlando, and I'm paying for it today. I don't know how my wife bounces back so quick...

I did get the chance to brew this weekend! This Saturday morning I brewed what I think is going to end up being a spiced witbier. We'll see. My idea was to have a spiced American pale ale, minus the hops. That landed me right in the realm of witbier and Belgian wheat beers. Currently my concoction is bubbling away in the closet.

While brewing I also took the time to try the more common method of force-carbonation that seems to be popular on the internet. My buddy Jeremy clued me in on this method which I had been ignoring for some time. Brute force. Crank up the regulator and shake the crap out of the beer. Results have yet to be determined.

I am excited to say that my new paint job on my Bayou burner is working fantastic. These burners are fantastic. I'm willing to bet money on that it's the first accessory home brewers buy when starting up. If you don't have one already, go out and get one. Especially right after Thanksgiving when they'll probably be marked down. The downside to these wonderful cookers are the paint job. If you've ever purchased a gas grille that cost less than $100, you probably know what I'm talking about. When you fire it up for the first time, all the paint burns off, leaving you with bare, rust-prone metal. Well I came across a can of high temp (2000 F) Rustoleum paint. I was skeptical whether or not the propane flame burns hotter than that. I suppose looking back I could have done the research, but I didn't. Well I gave my burner a nice coat of black paint and gave it a whirl. This stuff works awesome. After my first brew day which consists of almost 2 hours of heating the mash tun, and an hour and a half heating my wort, not a single bit of paint flaked off. So after 3 and a half hours of almost constant heat, this stuff stuck strong. It doesn't look like it plans on coming off either. For the love of god, if you have a burner, and I know you do, go pick this stuff up. For the $5 it's worth, it's no question whether or not to get it. Plus you can give your burner a little flair, since it comes in a few different colors. If you're burner's rusty, and I know you aren't going to brush any of it off, that's ok. Since it's Rustoleum it loves that stuff. Below is a photo of my burner after the 3.5 hours of burning. It looks great.

Stick a fork in me, I'm done. Use those burners for something good. Maybe even use it for what they're made for, and deep fry a turkey this week. Please though, don't blow yourself up. We don't have a huge cult of loyal followers yet, so we need every one we can get. Have a happy Thanksgiving!

Post Yeast Roundup

noreply@blogger.com (Eugene Kolankowsky) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 14:00:00 +0000

YEEHAW!

*ahem* Excuse me. It's been a long weekend of moving out the mother in law and taking care of things around the house. Not having the exam anymore is a blessing and a curse. Now instead of exercising my brain untill it's a pile of Gak, I'm exercising my body, laboring and doing stuff around the house that's gone to hell while I was studying.

Lets recap. Last week I talked about fermentation times. I've picked up some contradicting information in my few years of brewing and I decided to compare the few. The three opinions were "7 day fermentation," "7+ day fermentation," and "4 day fermentation." Check out the post last week before you read on, if you haven't already. But you guys are good readers. So I know you have. Right?

Here's my take. There's three (ish) very not distinct phases of yeast fermentation. Aerobic (with oxygen), Anaerobic (without oxygen), and the stationary phase. In the beginning we deal with all aerobic activities (not jogging). Yeast is taking in oxygen, minerals, and nitrogen in this phase to build up proteins to create healty little yeasties to get ready to send off to their first day at the booze plant.

I bestow this knowledge to you. Beware. I know chemists.

The anaerobic phase is when the yeast really starts kicking some tail. This is when the most important magic happens and alcohol is created. The yeast breaks down sugars, starting with the simplest, and finishing with the most complex. But like you or I, when the yeast do all this heavy lifting, there's byproducts. For us, it's sweat, poo, etc. For yeast it's chemical compounds like diacetyl, acetaldehyde, and hydrogen sulfide. All byproducts that give the beer a funky flavor. ALSO like us, given time, yeast will...

Clean up after themselves! Yes, unlike your gross college roomate, given time, yeast will clean up after themselves. They will reabsorb the above mentioned diacetyl and acetaldehyde. Given time the yeast will start to flocculate (fall out of suspension). Conditioning the beer all along.

If you couldn't tell already from the article, I am for the method of thinking that letting your beer sit on the yeast for a while is a good thing. 4 days is too fast, probably even 7 is too fast. The yeast need time to call out the laborers and dispatch the janitorial staff. Once your yeast is done bubbling like crazy, give it a few more days. Let it condition. This is another case for secondary fermentation, something which I'm a firm believer in. Sorry, BYO, but I'm going to have to disagree with your article.

Also thank you to the authors of Brew Chem 101, and Yeast. Both books I have read and honed my knowledge of fermentation with. You can find both books talked about right here at A Tale Of Two Brewers.

What do you think? Is 10 days way too long? Argue with me. I dare you. I know chemists.

Beereview: Blue Moon Winter Abbey Ale

noreply@blogger.com (Tantilloon) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 15:09:00 +0000

What will they think of next? There seems to be an assault on every season with some type of "X Moon" beer, and now they've even started adding suffixes. Don't be fooled into thinking Blue Moon is some kind of craft beer; it's made in huge batches which probably do double-duty for Coors light. Since we obviously have no standards here, why not review the latest from our Corporate Overlords Of Rotgut Spirits? (COORS, get it?)

Prejudices aside, I do like the original Blue Moon (usually at a chain restaurant when there's nothing more interesting,) so I was intrigued when I saw the mutant offspring of it and my favorite variety, Abbey Ale. It's sort of like hearing that your dog is going to make you dinner, you know it'll be disappointing but it's definitely worth a taste and probably won't kill you.

Blue Moon Winter Abbey Ale

This ale pours a dark reddish tan with a head that (much like other mass produced beer) goes away totally in about 5 seconds. The aroma is sweet and malty with a somewhat sour yeasty smell, probably due to the wheat. It actually smells a lot like Sam Adams, which I found somewhat odd.

They claim "a touch of wheat for a rich caramel flavor with a smooth toffee finish..." let's see...

The initial taste is sweet caramel which quickly gives way to a kind of funky wheat taste. It has a somewhat soapy undertone on an otherwise pretty forgettable flavor. There's just not much here to review. I would say that given the style they are claiming it's best enjoyed room temperature (but given the way it tastes I'd have to say stick it in the snow for a few hours prior to consuming.)

The aftertaste is yeasty and somewhat sour, although there's a pretty overwhelming sweetness covering it up. At 5.6% this beer is on the higher end of the X Moon family and I suspect they had to sweeten it up even more than usual. Another review claimed it was somewhat "bisquity," which confused me at first but now I think it's dead on.

Overall, I can't recommend this to anybody. Adding wheat (the signature in Blue Moon) to other seasonal varieties smacks of marketing rather than craftsmanship. I'd wager that they didn't necessarily call this Abbey Ale until it was already in bottles and based more on market research than flavor.

Have you tried this beer? What's your favorite (or least favorite) X Moon? Let us know in the comments below!

Yeastbound

noreply@blogger.com (Eugene Kolankowsky) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Life after the exam is wonderful. I got so much crap done this weekend it was amazing. So much so, I almost didn't have time to blog. Sawdust was flying, nails were shooting, and a lot of stuff got painted white. Most importantly, I still have all my fingers. One of my kegs got kicked as well, so that means brewing soon. Probably next weekend, but I have to wait for a parts order from MoreBeer.com to come in. I did a small rebuild on my mash tun, and I'll finally have a disconnect for it instead of my hose permanently attached to it. It doesn't sound like a huge deal, which is probably why it lasted so long. It's going to make life a lot easier. But for now, my mash tun is in 10 pieces. So no brewing right this second.

Got word from a fellow blogger on the internet. Raven over at at CookEatDelicious.com sent me a message the other day about a list she was putting together. So I went over and checked out her blog, and it's very nicely laid out. A lot of fantastic looking recipes. I brainstormed an idea about linking some of the beereview and food recipes, but that's tough cause I don't know squat about food, and she admittedly doesn't know squat about beer. Regardless, I'm sure some of you enjoy this blog for the beer sampling aspect of it, so go check out CookEatDelicious.

I'm way behind on my magazines, as I may have mentioned before. I've been finally pounding through a bunch of them and I came across an interesting article on yeast and fermenting. In the September 2011 issue of Brew Your Own says that a four-day fermentation is just right. Hm.

Why do I ponder you say? Well, maybe I just like to ponder thinks. To think, therefore I am right? So if I spend extra time thinking, that means I must really be somebody. It doesn't mean whatsoever that I'm stupid or anything... Nooooo. But I do have reason to ponder. When I first started brewing I had an idea drilled into my head by my how-to beer material. That idea was, once yeast has done their business, which takes a period of seven days (ish). Once those seven days go by, most of the yeast is dead. So if you leave your beer on the yeast, it's sitting on a vast graveyard of yeast corpses and will pick up some off-flavors and/or tannins in the process. Makes sense to me.

After a few books and an article or two I read another idea in multiple sources. Leaving your beer on the yeast after fermentation has stopped (remember yeast-graveyard) is actually a good thing. You see, the yeast isn't actually dead after the fermentation stopped. It's just tired and out of sugar (like a tween after Halloween). The yeast continues to do their thing slowly, cleaning out and conditioning the beer. Making the beer better by leaving it after fermentation is done. At this point in my education, this made better sense to me. If yeast was truly dead, we wouldn't be able to bottle-carbonate with priming sugar.

So now! I read an article that says a four-day fermentation is just right. Here the idea is that yeast has come a long way from the older days of a dried packet stuck under the lid of a can of malt extract. Before yeast starters. Before Wyeast "Smack Packs" and White-Labs' cool little tubes (which are a lot bigger than you expect them to be). For the old yeast, it took time for the yeast to get started. Now we pitch at hiiiiiigh cotton (er Krausen), and the yeast is hitting the ground running when it gets in your wort. Effectively starting on day three from my originally mentioned seven day cycle.

I'm going to leave you in suspense. I'll let you know what I think next week. In the meantime, let me know what you think. Check out the article, relate to your brewing processes and knowledge, and comment below!!!

(Important note: don't google image search for yeast, do google image search for white labs. Actually, let me handle it.)