The Story of My Life

Saw this at www.comics.com. Somehow, it seems to fit.

A-B's Winter's Bourbon Cask Ale

The most recent of Anheuser-Busch's specialty ales is Winter's Bourbon Cask Ale. You may be sensing a theme here.

According to the press release, the beer is brewed with "dark roasted caramel malts and all-imported hops and aged on toasted bourbon oak casks and whole Madagascar vanilla beans" and will be about 6% alcohol.

According to Charlie Papazian's The New Complete Joy of Homebrewing, this could be an American Brown Ale. Sooo...

• 6 1/4 lb light malt extract
• 1/2 lb Crystal 90 malt
• 1/4 lb chocolate malt
• 2 oz Cascade Hops (~6% AAU) 60 minutes
• 1 oz Cascade Hops 5 minutes
• 1/4 tsp Irish Moss (last 15 minutes for clarification)
• Wyeast 1056 American Ale/Chico yeast

Papazian's recipe used black patent malt. I replaced it with Crystal malt for the Caramel malt. This should result in a beer with about 6.3% ABV. Now for the interesting part.

Recall, if you will, my recipe for Bourbon Stout. In it, I soaked 4 oz of toasted oak chips in 8 oz of Tennessee sippin' whiskey (If it had been made in Bourbon County Kentucky, it would have been called bourbon) during primary fermentation. Recall also my recipe for Holiday Beer, where I used three vanilla beans, added at the end of the boil and steeped as the wort cooled. However, in this recipe, the beer "aged on toasted bourbon oak casks and whole Madagascar vanilla beans."

So, in this aplication, I will soak the oak chips with chopped vanilla beans while the beer ferments in primary. Then I will transfer the beer to secondary, and add the chips and vanilla beans. I will age for one month in secondary, then keg and age another couple of weeks.

Any comments?

Christmas Beers

Over at The Brew Site, they are displaying their Advent Beer Calendar. They have listed some really great beers, including: Anchor Christmas Ale, Samuel Smith's Winter Welcome, and Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale. Some of their more difficult for me to obtain beers include: Rogue's Santa's private reserve, Mahr's Christmas Bock, and Biere de Noel.

New Base Recipe

After the favorable preview of the Christmas beer at the company Christmas party, I decided that this will be the base recipe for the future. But before I make that decision, I want to tweak a bit. When I brew this again, I am leaving out the cardemom.

• 5 lb dark DME

• 60L Crystal Malt 1/3 pound
• chocolatee Malt 2.5 oz
• Perle Hops 6% AA 3/4 oz 60 minutes
• Mt. Hood Hops 6% AA 3/4 oz 30 minutes
• Tettnanger Hops 5% AA 2/3 oz 10 minutes
• 3 vanilla beans chopped
• lager yeast

Steep grains in 1 gallon of water at 150F for 30 minutes. Strain. (Optional:You can bring a quart of water to 170F while the grains are steeping. After straining, slowly pour the water over the grains to sparge.) Add DME and bring to a boil. Add the hops as described above. At the end of the boil, add the vanilla bean. Cool to 80 degrees and pitch yeast. Ferment for one week. Bottle with 3/4 cup corn sugar.

Sampled the Christmas Beer

I took a keg of the Christmas beer to the office Christmas party. I served about half the keg to a few of the more adventurous folks there. Without exception, the beer went over well. Yes, I am quite proud of myself, thank you.

Austin Homebrew Cream Ale has been kegged.

Part of double brew Friday at Honey Creek brewery, the cream ale presented us with some challenges. After we boiled, and put in the fermenter, my brewing partner noticed one of our fermenters was leaking from the spigot. We didn't have another fermenter clean, so he reached into the beer and tried to tighten the nut. It didn't help, so we grabbed a clean, but unsnitized, carboy and put the beer in there. Folks, this one is gonna sting!

The beer wound up with an OG of 1055.

We kegged the beer the other night. FG was 1010. Alcohols is 4.12% by weight and 5.24% by volume. It was smooth and very clear. I can't wait until it's carbonated to have a full glass!

BeerTrips.com

Some folks travel to see exotic places. Some, to see stately architecture. Some, to eat. Now, you can travel to try beers you can't get in America!

BeerTrips.com has several European packages to Belgium, the Czech Republic, Scotland, Germany and even New Zealand.

Oh, Santa. . .

A Stressfree Brew Day

The key to a successful brew day is organization. Before you heat a drop of water, make sure you have your recipe, and all the ingredients. Making beer is more like baking than cooking: you can't substitute ingredients.

Then walk through the brewing process, checking off your items:

Bring a gallon of water to 170° and add your specialty grains. Do you have something that will hold a gallon of water and your specialty grains? Do you have a muslin bag to hold the grains? Do you need one? (I don't.) Hold at 170° for 30 minutes. Do you have a thermometer? A clock? A watch? Meanwhile, bring a quart of water to 150$deg;.

Put your strainer over your kettle. Do you have your kettle and strainer? Put the muslin bag into the strainer. Or, pour the liquor and grains into the strainer. Then, slowly, pour the quart of water over the grains to extract as much fermentable sugars as you can.

Add the extracts and stir. Spoon? Bring to a boil. Add the hops. As the wort boils, sanitize your fermenter and your strainer. Got bleach or iodophor? Once finished, pour the wort through the sanitized strainer into the sanitized fermenter. Top off the wort with chilled water, pitch your yeast when the wort is around 85°, and ferment.

Now you have a list of the items you need.

Brew Your Own's 2005 Holiday Gift Guide

Looking for that perfect gift for the homebrewer in your life? Head on over to Brew Your Own's 2005 Gift Guide. You can everything from beer glasses to kegs, clothing to travel. There's something on that list to satisfy any hophead.

And if you wanna buy me something, I could use three BYO back issue binders.

2005 Chimay Gift Pack

The other night I went to my favorite liquor store to pick up some microbrew beer, and discovered this Chimay gift pack. It contains a bottle of Chimay Trippel, Chimay "Red", and Chimay "Blue".

Belgian Trappist monks make beer to support their abbeys and their support programs.

Chimay "Blue" is a strong beer with an odor of fresh yeast coupled with a slight flowery touch. It is about 9% alcohol by volume. The beer improves with age and the year it was brewed is always on the label.

Chimay "Red" has a silky feeling with a slight bitter taste. It is about 7% alcohol by volume.

Chimay "Triple" has a golden color. It balances the flavor of the hops with fruity flavors. It is about 8% alcohol by volume.

The only way to enjoy properly enjoy a Belgian ale is to serve it in a goblet. Fortunately, this gift pack comes with one. It should be served around 44°.

If you find this gift pack, make sure you buy it! This is fine beer!

More Beer Quotes

"Prohibition makes you want to cry into your beer and denies you the beer to cry into."
-Don Marquis

"He was a wise man who invented beer."
-Plato

"...there is only one game at the heart of America and that is baseball, and only one beverage to be found sloshing at the depths of our national soul and that is beer."
-Peter Richmond

"Beer needs baseball, and baseball needs beer - it has always been thus."
-Peter Richmond

"Brewers enjoy working to make beer as much as drinking beer instead of working."
-Harold Rudolph

"I would kill everyone in this room for a drop of sweet, sweet beer."
-Homer Simpson

"What do you get when you take the P out of Pearl? An empty can."
-An old Lone Star joke

"Why is American beer served cold? So you can tell it from urine."
-David Moulton

Brewing on a Stove

First, get out your kettle. Pour in two gallons of water. Take the water to 150° and add whatever specialty grains you're using. Turn down the heat, and let the heat rise to 155$deg; and hold it there for 30 minutes to extract all the goodness. Then add another gallon of water. If you use a mesh bag to steep the grain, remove it. Add the malt extract.

Bring it to a boil. At this point, there is a lot of starch in the water, so be prepared for it to foam. When the foam rises, remove the kettle from the heat until the foam subsides. If you enjoy being light headed, you could blow on the foam. Once the foam stops rising, you've hit your first break. Turn the heat down, and let the kettle simmer. Start your timer. Add the hops. As soon as you add the hops, go back on boil over duty. Trust me.

Follow your recipe. At the end of the boil, cover the pot, and let it sit while you get the fermenter ready. Sanitize it. Then add 7 pounds of ice and a pint of water. Place the strainer across your fermenter, and pour the hot wort into the strainer.

You might have to add some water to bring the volume up to 5 gallons. As soon as the temperature is below 85°, pitch the yeast. Slap the lid on that puppy, stick a fork in it and call it done!

Oh yeah! Now clean up!

Off Topic Post

Now that the Holiday Season is here, we need to think about the enlisted men and women in our armed forces. These folks don't make enough money to be able to fly home with their families. All too often, the people who need it the most, can afford it the least.

I have a nephew who is in the Marine Corps (Semper Fi!). And while he has been able to save money for his trip home, others haven't.

Enter Ernie Stewart, over at Let's Bring 'Em Home. He collects money for plane tickets, and service men and women wanting a ticket, and matches them up.

I see those little magnetic, yellow ribbons on cars all over the place. Why not show your support in a more tangible way? LBEH is tax deductible. What better support can you give than by helping send one of our enlisted personnel a ticket for a plane ride home?

Thanks, and tell the folks at LBEH where you heard about them.

Small Scale Brewing

In light of my brewing partner's recent comment, I thought I would write about brewing on a smaller scale. Recall that we have been brewing 10 gallon batches in a 20 gallon kettle. But not everyone needs that kind of scale. You can brew a great beer in a small kettle on top of your stove, but you have to watch for boilovers. Once more, please refer to the Good Eats "Beer Show."

A small scale brewer needs:

15- 20 qt kettle	$30	Amazon
Probe thermometer	$17	Amazon
7 gallon siphonless fermenter (my favorite)	$30	Williams Brewing
priming tank	$20	Williams Brewing
strainer (my favorite)	$10	Hop Tech

You will also need something to dispense the beer from. If you're smart, you will have purchased beer in bottles you can cap. Or, buy beer in swing top bottles. NO CAPPING! Please, don't use the bottles with the screw off cap. While I have heard from long time brewers who have used them, I just don't trust them. The glass appears thinner than in a regular long neck bottle.

The accountants in the audience will have noted that my list costs about $100. Hey! You can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs.

Reality Sets In

While speaking with my brewing partner about kegging and planning our next brews, he told me he didn't want to do this every weekend. He has a hundred other hobbies, literally. He says he ADD: he moves from one thing to another. I've come to realize that while I have a hundred other hobbies, literally, I'm more obsessive/compulsive about it: I focus on one hobby at a time then I move on to the next one for a while. I forget that others aren't as interested as I in my hobbies.

So our brewing will now be at his schedule. He's offered the use of his place anytime I want, which I appreciate, but I will never take up him up on the offer. It's his property, his shed, his house, yada yada yada.

I may, however, resume brewing at home. I can do smaller batches on my schedule. At least until I lose focus and move on to whatever's new.

Christmas/Holiday Beer

The fine folks at Honey Creek Brewery (that would be me and my brewing partner) sampled their latest offering.

If I may refresh your memories, we brewed this beer in October. When we bottled half of the batch, we didn't have enough corn sugar. We kegged the other half.

My brewing partner and I sampled the kegged beer yesterday. The color was black, and there was a thick, foamy head. There was a hint of cardemom, or spiciness in the aroma. There was more bite to it than just a hoppy after taste, which I attribute to the cardemom. We were both impressed and intend to brew this beer regularly.

Until tonight.

I sampled one of the 1 liter bottles. These were severly under-carbonated. The beer was similar to the one I had last night. But it was flat. It was good! But flat.

Evolution Amber Ale

As a general rule, I don't think beers should have overly humourous names and labels. Just call it "Amber Ale" or "Hefeweisen" or whatever. In this case, I have to admire the guys over at Wasach Brewery in Utah. in response to the ongoing attempt to get Intelligent Design, and therefore religion, in Public Schools.

Happy Thanksgiving!

As I recover from too much beer and far too much turkey, I will be pondering the question: Why homebrew? It's so much work. It costs so much in equipment. You have to wait so long to get the finished product. And so on and so on. On the other hand it's cheaper than buying commercial beer.

Let's dispense with the last thing first. I purchased a 6-pack of Abita Turbo Dog last night for consumption on Thanksgiving Day. It cost $5.98 at my local liquor store. That's about a buck a bottle. An extract beer kit costs about $34. While most homebrewing books will tell you a five gallon batch with get you two cases of beer. In my experience, it's not that good. (Although I am willing to entertain the suggestion that my experience might be the problem!) I usually get 44-46 bottles. Almost 2 cases to be sure. That's about $.75 a bottle. Not a huge savings, but not too shabby. But if i want cheap beer, I can by a 30 pack of Miller High Life for around $18, which yeilds $.60 a can. And if I want till it's on sale. . .

I don't brew to save money. Never have. If I was concerned about price, I wouldn't have spent $300 on a kettle. That made my first batch about $7 a bottle!

I brew for the taste. Every once in a while, I enjoy a Bud. Or a Lone Star. Mostly, Shiner Bock, though. But sometimes, a nice Guinness is appropriate. Or a brown ale. Or an IPA. And what about sour mash beers? Bourbon stouts? For those, I gotta home brew.

1958 Lone Star Brewery Tour

Over at TexasBreweries.com, I just posted a 6 page tour of the Lone Star Brewery as it was in 1958. I found the tour in the March 1958 issue of Bru-it, a magazine for Brewery employees and distributors.

I have about 10 years worth of these little magazines. A lot of the stories are PR pieces about the Lone Star Brewery in San Antonio, or its employees, or its distributors. There are a couple of stories about the history of beer, about the brewing process, and other odds and ends. I need to catalog them, but I will eventually add more stuff to the Texas Breweries website where applicable.

The Portable Beer Cooler

I finally found my Camel 6-pack quiver. It holds 6 regular cans of beer, and 5 Silver Bullets. When I was working for the cigarette company back in the 90s, shortly after the premuim was put in the stores, Willie Nelson had one of his 4th of July picnics in Zilker Park. While driving down Lamar Blvd near Riverside drive, I spotted dozens of these slung over the backs of the concert goers. It's on of the most practical items RJR put out, and I still have three or for of them today.

Since I was feeling playful, I loaded a hops belt holster, a hops shoulder holster, a beer neck and a Camel quiver onto the guy modeling the Oktoberfest skirt. (Click on the traditional link on the left.) This guy is ready to par-tay!

Ancient Brewery served 64 oz Brews

A mountaintop brewery in South America, built by the Wari empire, precursor to the Inca Empire, around 600 A.D., has been discovered. According to archaeologists, wealthy, beautiful maidens brewed beer for extravagant parties, serving their beer in 64-ounce cups until the final blow out, where the patrons destroyed the brewer in 1000 A.D.

Link 1

Link 2

Link 3

Link 4

Double header report

We racked our double header beers to secondary Monday night. The stout was smooth and mild, the Cream Ale that wasn't contaminated was smooth. The "Airmpit" version, though, did have some off flavors. But that was expected due to the problems we had.

Beer	Original Gravity	Final Gravity	% alcohol
Oak Barrel Stout	1043	1012	3.18
AHS Cream Ale	1055	1012	4.42

Shiner 96 Presentation Box

I managed to get my hands on a Shiner 96 Presentation Set. Inside the wooden box, are a bottle of the beer, a mini poster, a brewery key, and a booklet explaining the reason for the beer.

Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance

The last brew session at Honey Creek Brewery was a bit of a bitch. We tried to do two recipes, one after the other. We had a couple of train wrecks. Combine that with our corn sugar fiasco (I should have boiled 2/3 cups regular sugar in a cup of water, instead of improvising with corn syrup), we decided we needed a checklist.

I have created a PDF file that should accomplish this. I did not create the first page in the file. That was stolen/borrowed from The Brewer's Companion. Click on the "Beer Books" icon on the right and do a search. The checklist, though, is mine.

Colonial Small Beer

Table (or common) beers throughout the colonial period were low in alcohol and lightly hopped. Called Small Beers, they served as a form of nourishment and at the same time made the water used in preparing the beer "safe" for drinking. Recipes were often corrupted, based upon what the settlers had available for brewing. molasses and other fermentables frequently substituted for malt.

3 lb light malt extract
1 lb molasses
1 1/2 oz Northern Brewer hops
Ale yeast

Add 1 gallon of warm water to brewpot. Pour in malt extract and molasses, stirring until dissolved. Add water to usual brewing depth. Bring to a boil, add hops and continue boiling for a total of 60 minutes. Cool wort and add water as necessary to make 5 gallons. Ferment with ale yeats at 68°. Prime and bottle, or keg, in the usual manner.

This recipe was in Zymurgy Vol 23 #5, Sept/Oct 2000, page 24. I would, in a heartbeat, link to an authorized online recipe, but there isn't one available.

I brewed this in 2000. It was nice little beer. I want to brew it again.

Beer Hops Inhibit Tumor Growth! But not American Beer!

Researchers at Oregon State University have discovered that a molecule that comes from the hop cone, xanthohumol, that prevents the formation of cancer producing enzymes. "Most beers made today are low on hops, however, and so don't contain much xanthohumol. But beers such as porter, stout and ales have much higher levels of the compound," the story says.

Stories like this make me glad I'm a hophead.

Austin Homebrew Cream Ale

Part of double brew Friday at Honey Creek brewery, the cream ale presented us with some challenges. After we boiled, and put in the fermenter, my brewing partner noticed one of our fermenters was leaking from the spigot. We didn't have another fermenter clean, so he reached into the beer and tried to tighten the nut. It didn't help, so we grabbed a clean, but unsnitized, carboy and put the beer in there. Folks, this one is gonna sting!

The beer wound up with an OG of 1055.

Bourbon Stout

Back in September 2001, I visited my family in Washington DC. One day, my uncle and I went to the Old Dominion Brew Pub near Dulles Airport. My uncle had saved me an article about their beers and I was particularly eager to try their Oak Barrel Stout. It was delicious! The beer was silky smooth with a hint of bourbon in the finish.

I knew I would never be able to age the beer in oak barrels to get that bourbon finish, so I ordered three pints and drank them very slowly!

Last week, in my AHA newsletter, there was this entry:

From: Marc Chaton >>> Maybe I could soak some oak chips in bourbon and then put into a secondary. Not a bad idea, really.<<< A great idea. I made a "Bourbon Barrel" stout by soaking 4 oz. of American Oak Chips in 8 oz. of Bourbon for a few days, then adding it to the secondary. The Bourbon flavor will start out fairly strong and mellow with time. Pete Clouston Lawrence Brewers Guild http://www.lawrencebrewers.org

As I mentioned yesterday, we ordered a Guinness Extra Stout kit from Austin homebrew Supply, and 4 ounces of American Oak Chips. When we started the boil, we put the oak chips into a clean airtight container, and adding bourbon. Next week, we will transfer the stout to secondary, and add the oak chips.

Here are the stats: OG=1043. Target OG was 1045.

This is too much like work!

I just returned home from Honey Creek Brewery after an all day brewing session. My brewing partner, in return for brewing lessons, bought to kits from Austin Homebrew Supply; a Guinness Extra Stout Kit, and a Cream Ale kit. He also purchased some American Oak chips. These are to be soaked in bourbon to make a bourbon stout. I'll post about that tomorrow.

Since I had the day off, I asked if he wanted to brew today. He said yes, and suggested we could brew both kits.

After the first batch and midway through the second, I complained that I was losing my focus. I opined that in the future we might stick to one kit per session, or, we could purchase another kettle and burner and do them at the same time. He said, "It's like serving two sentences concurrently or consecutively." I thought that summed up my feelings perfectly.

We both agreed to one kit at a time in the future.

Oh, my feet hurt.

Canadians Can Always Find Beer

A news report on the CANOE website announced Canadian security trial that was a resounding success.

In the interest of accuracy, I am reprinting the story here:

October 27, 2005
Military research technology group hails marine security trial as success By JOHN LEWANDOWSKI
DARTMOUTH, N.S. (CP) - If anyone can find a beer barrel in the vastness of the Atlantic Ocean, Canadians can.
A Canadian-led marine surveillance experiment that involved tracking a metal cask from Liverpool, England, to it's intended drop off point in Nova Scotia's Chedabucto Bay as part of a security exercise, is being called a success.
Using a diverse array of satellite, sonar, radar, unmanned aerial surveillance and stealth buoys, researchers were able to track the pretend contraband and eventually seize it as it was transferred between four vessels.
"The object of the exercise was to collect data from different sensors on a common incursion scenario into the Maritimes," said navy Cmdr. Anthony Cond, project co-ordinator for the $3.5-million Maritime Sensor Integration Experiment.
"Following it was the hardest part, especially when it's far out to sea. We want to be able to find out where these vessels are and watch them before they enter Canadian waters," Cond said at a news conference Thursday.
Cond said that in a post 9-11 world, knowing what's happening off Canada's coasts 24 hours a day is critical to marine security.
In the trial, a barrel was placed on a container ship and then dumped on the Grand Banks off Newfoundland, where it was retrieved by a fishing trawler.
From there it was taken to Nova Scotia and transferred to a smaller vessel which was then boarded by police who seized it.
An array of equipment was brought into play, including land, sea and air-sensing technology that allowed trackers to know where the barrel was virtually every second it was at sea.
They used the Canadian-built Stealth Buoy, which is designed to lay quietly on the ocean floor until it rises in response to propeller noise and transmits the target's location. The Silver Fox unmanned drone, which looks like a large toy plane packed with video equipment, was also deployed from land, cruising about 300 metres above Chedabucto Bay.
"We provided a live video feed to HMCS Toronto and the RCMP so they could see what was happening on the target vessel," said Lt.-Cmdr. Bill Walton of the Maritime Warfare Centre.
"No one on board would have seen it because the normal ship's running noise would have masked the sound of the (drone) and unless they knew where to look they wouldn't have seen it."
Researchers will now take the next several months to examine the data and try to refine the use of the technology.
Several departments and agencies, including the Canadian Forces, RCMP, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Transport, Environment Canada and the coast guard could all benefit, said participants.
Much of what they find will also be shared with other countries, such as the United States and Britain.

I think the first paragraph says it all.

Bottling Hookarm's Xmas Ale

I just got back from the Honey Creek Brewery, or the garage at my brewing partner's house. We bottled the Holiday beer. It was dark brown, almost mahogany colored, and had an aroma of bananas. That's probably a result of the ale yeast and fermenting at 70°. It tasted mild, though there was a bit of coffee flavor, a result of the black patent malt. The original recipe called for chocolate malt, but I didn't have the recipe with me when I was at Austin Homebrew Supply, so I punted.

The cardamom added a nice flavor, but it was in the background. The vanilla flavor I had hoped for wasn't there. Does anyone have any idea how to get a vanilla flavor in the finish?

We bottled about five gallons, and kegged the other half. I believe Xmas beer should come from a bottle. The final gravity was 1009. That makes the alcohol content 3.7% by weight, and 4/7% by volume.

One hitch in our getalong, however. When we got ready to bottle, we discovered we had no corn sugar. Crap!

Okay, don't panic. We consulted the texts. We used 1 teaspoon of corn syrup dissolved in a cup of water to prime the beer.

So here's the question, has anyone used table sugar to prime, and at what amount? And how much corn syrup should we have used to adequately prime the beer? Any thoughts?

World's top 100 beers - with reveiws

The Beer Advocate has released their list of the world's top 100 beers. How many have you heard of?

Holiday Beer - The Photo

Here's a picture of I took of my brewing partner stirring the Holiday beer we brewed Sunday.

We transferred the beer to secondary, and the gravity was 1011. The Original gravity was 1045. Here's the formula to calculate the percentage of alcohol by weight:

ABW = 76.08(OG-FG)/(1.775-OG)

So: ABW = 76.08 (1.045-1.011)/(1.775-1.045).
= 76.08 (.034)/(.071)
= 36.4 ?

I know the beer isn't 36% alcohol. So I headed over the The Beer Math Calculator and entered my figures. According to their math, the ABW is 3.4%. It also said my beer had 202 calories per pint.

I use ProMash to record my beers. It says my ABW is 3.49%.

I still don't know why my figure using the math came out 36.4. Anyone have an idea where I went wrong?

Capt. Charles Nimitz - Pioneer Brewer

The first brewery in Fredericksburg was located under the saloon at the Nimitz Hotel.

Charles Nimitz was a former merchant seaman from Bremen, Germany who was among the first colonists to arrive in town. Nimitz opened the hotel in 1852, and it quickly became the social center of the town, and was, before the rise of El Paso, the last real hotel between San Antonio and San Diego.

The German colonists brought their singing and debating societies, and the hotel was the perfect gathering place. By 1860, Nimitz was brewing beer under the saloon. Some sources report the beer was shipped as far as "Forts Mason, McKavett, Concho and Martin Scott," but since Fort Martin Scott had ceased to exist, and Fort Concho hadn't been established yet, the claim is unlikely. Local historian Elise Kowart speculated that an early photo of the hotel shows hop vines on several trellises along the side of the two-story hotel.

The Civil War brought shortages to the area, and the cellar brewery was converted into a cistern. The copper brewing kettles stayed in the basement until 1911, when Charles died. No one knows what happened to them after that.

The list of famous persons who stayed at the hotel is impressive: Robert E. Lee, O. Henry, Rutherford B. Hayes, Phil Sheridan, Ulysses S. Grant, Johnny Ringo and Jesse James. Charles' grandson, Chester W. Nimitz was born down the street. Chester would become Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Forces during World War II.

The hotel is now home to The Admiral Nimitz Museum of the Pacific War, run by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

I have written a book about Texas breweries. You can buy it here.

Boston Brewing Company announces Imperial Pilsner 2005 Harvest

Every year, Boston Beer Company founder Jim Koch travels to Europe to purchase hops for his beer. This year, to celebrate the 2005 harvest, his company is brewing a special Pilsener using Hallertauer Mittelfruh hops.

With the first sip, beer enthusiasts will experience an explosion of the Hallertau Mittelfrueh hops. This rare hops variety, considered to be one of the best in the world, is prized for its quality and aromatic characteristics. The intensity of deep citrus, spicy Noble hops flavor, is balanced with the slight sweetness from the malt. Due to the quality of the hops, this beer remains balanced and smoothly drinkable. The lingering "hops signature" is an amazing treat for hops lovers. The beer, which has a deep golden color and a rich, creamy head, gives off an intense and complex Noble hops aroma, very similar to what Jim experiences when he rubs the hops together in his hands during hops selection, to release the essence of the hops flowers.

A limited edition brew, Imperial Pilsner will only be available in select beer outlets.

The peltier Beer personal beverage cooler

Here are the instructions for building a personal beverage cooler. According to the story, it will keep your Guinness cold even in the sun! I hope the Nobel committee is keeping an eye on this.

Hookarm's Dark Holiday Ale - Again

This afternoon, we brewed our Christmas beer. Or, in our more politically correct times, our December beer.

It had a nice dark color, and a wonderful aroma. The Original Gravity is 1044. I expect the final gravity to be around 1010, and the alcohol content to be about 3.5 - 4% alcohol.

Hookarm's Dark Holiday Ale

This recipe is a result of having dead yeast at brew time. Then I broke my leg. Now that I'm able to get around, we're going to try to squeeze in a Christmas or, more politically correct, Holiday beer. I think we'll start with the base recipe and add the spices from the Jul Øl. So, without further ado:

• 5 lb dark DME

• 60L Crystal Malt 1/3 pound
• chocolatee Malt 2.5 oz
• Perle Hops 6% AA 3/4 oz 60 minutes
• Mt. Hood Hops 6% AA 3/4 oz 30 minutes
• Tettnanger Hops 5% AA 2/3 oz 10 minutes
• 3 vanilla beans chopped
• 1 tsp crushedcardamomm
• lager yeast

Steep grains in 1 gallon of water at 150F for 30 minutes. Strain. (Optional:You can bring a quart of water to 170F while the grains are steeping. After straining, slowly pour the water over the grains to sparge.) Add DME and bring to a boil. Add the hops as described above. At the end of the boil, add the vanilla bean andcardamomm. Cool to 80 degrees and pitch yeast. Ferment for one week. Bottle with 3/4 cup corn sugar.

OG = 1040

Normally, I would bottle this in a amber, 2 liter growler or bottle. You want to share a holiday beer.

Is Beer Losing its Fizz?

Here's an interesting article about the loss of market share the brewing industry has suffered as a whole. Beer is perceived to be a poor man's drink; not as varied as cocktails and wine. "Beer is suffering from a bit of an image problem. The core consumer of a cold brew is widely thought to be either the football-loving couch potato or anyone with a household income below $45,000 a year. But in today's Internet-savvy, consumer-driven culture, those are not exactly the beacons of a populace that increasingly buys well-designed home products at Target and flips longingly through the Pottery Barn catalogue."

This is a perfect example of what I call the "Snob Factor." Basically, the more expensive the activity (doesn't matter what it is), the more people want to participate to distance themselves from "the unwashed masses." Hence, beer snobs prefer Heineken over Bud. Wine snobs prefer wine over Heineken. And alcohol snobs prefer single malt scotch over wine.

I say, let 'em have their fun. Remember, beer is the civilized drink. Wine was made with wild fruits and honeys, no agriculture needed. But beer, well, you need agriculture to produce the grain, and you need civilization to support the agriculture. The next time a wine snob sniffs disdainfully in your direction as you quaff a brew, feel satisfied that you are continuing to support civilization.

I made it to Oktoberfest

I did make Oktoberfest this year, but only for one day. Normally, I help run the beer bars (think fox in the hen house) and am there all three days. This year, with a broken leg, I decided to work Sunday only. Here's the proof.

World's Largest Beer Can Pyramid!

If you live in Australia, you can bid on the largest beer can pyramid in the world! Assembled by the Melbourne University Activities Department, it consisits of 10,660 cleaned, empty beer cans, stands over 16 1/2 feet tall with 39 levels.

There is no indication that the build team is responsible for the onsumption of the beer, but the pyramid is conctructed of several pre-glued blocks.

Should you be the winner, the build team will reconstruct the pyramid at your place.

Those clever Germans!

German inventors have come up with a beer mat that will let the bartender know when the glass is empty.

Anheuser-Busch rolls out First Seasonal Ale

Anheuser-Busch unveiled Jack's Pumpkin Spice Ale, under the Michelob imprint, as their first seasonal ale. This first offering will be bottled but future beers will only be kegged.

Alton Brown on Beer

Thanks to the fine folks over at FARK, I ran across a site called Brian's Belly.It's a food and beer site. However, the most important thing is that he had an interview with Alton Brown. As a whole, it was a pretty interesting interview. What was interesting enough to be posted to this blog is Alton's comments about beer, reprinted below:

"The difference between someone who really appreciates beer and a beer snob is that someone who really appreciates beer will learn, understand and accept a wide range to the exclusion of nothing. Someone that learns and then uses their knowledge to exclude other things I see as a snob. Okay, if you don't like Bud don't drink Bud, but don't drink Bud because it's not hoity-toity microbrew. A lot of people in this country will drink a Foster's not realizing that in Australia, Foster's is held in lower regard than Bud is here. I don't how many times at home I've had sushi and Bud for lunch. When you taste something like Budweiser--which is mostly rice--and start tasting other beers like it, i.e. Japanese beers, you realize that they actually go well together.

"When I want to taste complex beer with a heady aroma, that's finely crafted, I'm not drinking Bud. You know what, I'd rather have a Bud than a Diet Coke for God sakes! I know that after mowing the lawn on a Sunday afternoon that a Bud tastes better than a Samuel Adams, it tastes better than an Anchor Steam, it tastes better than a Red Hook ESB, it tastes better than a Sierra Nevada, it tastes better than any of a hundred different regional microbrews I can name... all of which I like... but I really just want something kind of beer-like, you know (laughs)."

Well said, AB. Well said.

A Personal Announcement!

For those of you visiting this homebrewing blog and noticing a distinct lack of homebrewing articles, I have a short story to tell. On Sept. 21, I broke my right ankle and have been unable to do much besides sit around, type, and, being uninsured, watch my medical bills pile up.

This morning I put my unlucky sandals up on eBay to raise some money to pay my medical bills. Other people have sold sillier items for more $$, so I figure, "What the heck!" And, since I'm tired of begging you people to donate to me, now you can actually buy something from me! Or, alternatively, you can help me out by spreading the word! Tell everyone you know about the auction, especially those folks that are super generous.

Beer Quotes, Part 4

"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."
-Benjamin Franklin

"The easiest way to spot a wanker in a pub is to look around and find who's drinking a Corona with a slice of lemon in the neck."
-Warwick Franks

"They who drink beer will think beer."
-Washington Irving

"One of the hallmarks of the baby boomer generation is that it doesn't live like the previous generation. It hasn't yet given up jeans and T-shirts or beer."
-Ron Klugman, SVP, Coors Brewing

"I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts, and beer."
-Abraham Lincoln

"We old folks have to find our cushions and pillows in our tankards. Strong beer is the milk of the old."
-Martin Luther

The Good Eats Beer Show

I have mentioned the Good Eats beer show before. I found a link to a transcript of the show.

I especially like the beer family tree in the show.

    ------------------ BEER -----------------
  /                                                      \
  |                                                      |
ALE                                               LAGER
  |                                                      |
BARLEYWINE                     PALE-AMERICAN
  |                                    DARK          |
  |                                                      |
BELGIAN-FARO             DOPPELBOCK-BOCK
  |          FLANDERS      HELLESBOCK    |
  |          LAMBIC          WEIZENBOCK    |
  |          TRAPPIST                              |
  |                                     LIGHT-GERMAN
BITTER-ORDINARY              DARK         |
  |         SPECIAL                                 |
  |         X-SPECIAL                OKTOBERFEST
  |                                                     |
BROWN ALE                                  PILSNER
  |                                                     |
PALE ALE                                 RAUCHBIER
  |                                                     |
PORTER                              VIENNA LAGER
  |
STOUT - DRY
  |         SWEET
?????

Beer 101

As much as I would like to, I won't cut and paste the article. I'll retype it!

Kidding.

Here is a single excerpt:

Is there a proper way to drink bottled beer?

Put it into a glass. It drives me nuts when people drink out of the bottle or can. If you had a fancy wine you wouldn't take the cork out and drink it straight out of the bottle.

Fake Heineken Ad

In honor of Hurricane Rita now pounding towards Texas, here's a parody Heineken ad I found on the web! Duck and cover, folks. This one is gonna sting!

Buffalo loves its beer!

Here's an article that looks at the beers Buffalo, New York loves. Surprisingly, LaBatts comes out on top, mainly due to price. In second place, Coors Light!

O, to be in Munich now that Oktoberfest is here!

Prost, ladies!

I told you beer was sexy.

Oktoberfest in Munich kicked off yesterday. The 172st Oktoberfest lasts from September 17 until October 3. Some six million people are expected to visit 14 enormous tents, each capable of holding up to 10,000 people at a time, drinking some 1.453 million gallons of beer in the process.

Yahoo! News Oktoberfest slidewhow.

Asahi brews "Taste Changing" Beer

Asahi Brewing company has announced that it will produce Asahi Yeast Draft. It will be a bottle conditioned beer, meaning that after primary fermentation, the beer will be bottled with a bit of yeast, and will ferment a second time in the bottle.

History of Brewing, American Beer Styles

Much of this post I gathered from Fred Eckhardt's The Essentials of Beer Style. If you are interested in trying to copy one of these beers, here are your targets.

Notice the '81 and '87 Budweiser stats. Eckhardt noted that as Anheuser-Busch lowered the IBUs, making their beer less bitter, their share of market went up.

Beer	Original Gravity	Final Gravity	Alcohol by weight	IBU or hoppiness	Color
’81 Budweiser	1044	1008	3.7	15	2
’87 Budweiser	1044	1008	3.7	10.5	2
Coors	1044	1008	3.6	14.5	2.5
Miller High Life	1046	1010	3.8	15.5	2.5
1896 average	1052	1015	3.8	28	N/A
Bud Light	1036	1011	2.6	N	2
Coors Light	1035	1001	3.5	9	1.5
Miller Lite	1031	.998	3	19.5	2.5
Samuel Adams Boston Lager	1050	1017	3.5	35	3

25% alcohol?

A German brewer has brewed a beer that is 25% alcohol. He said he fermented it for 12 weeks. The last time I brewed a big beer, I had to ferment it for 6 months.

Frank Home Brewery - Bellville Texas - 1870-1918

One of three breweries in Austin County, the Frank Brewery lasted until the beginning of Prohibition. Fred Frank ran the brewery from 1872 until 1877. From 1877 to 1879, the brewery was known as the F. J. Frank & Bro. Brewery. From 1879 to 1880 it was the F. Frank Jr. Brewery. In 1880 Henry Frank was in charge. In 1882, Herman Frank took over. Originally, the Frank brewery produced top fermenting beer, or ale, but switched over to the more popular lager style. The brewery first appears in the Federal Tax records in 1872, but the 1870 Census listed a brewery in Bellville.

The brewery was started by Fritz Frank who had been a brewer in Germany. He made his living selling his beer in the predominantly German community. A "mom and pop" operation, the Frank Brewery was never large, but it was certainly long lived. It is one of five breweries in operation in 1875 that lasted until 1918. The brewery was located on the Frank farm about two miles north of the courthouse. When Herman Frank, Fritz's son took over the brewery, he also operated a racetrack on the farm to promote his beer.

When Prohibition closed the brewery, the Franks buried their clay beer bottles, mostly made in England or Scotland, in the old vat. The land has since passed out of the Frank family's hands, and there is no trace of the brewery today.

The new Oktoberfest "Frock"

Doreen Anders and Andreas Landinger, from Munich, have designed a more comfortable alternative to lederhosen. "With all that beer flowing at the fest you need to make sure your belly is free to take it in," said Landinger. They based their design on Scottish kilts, but they don't use tartans. They use colors that compliment the blue and white Bavarian flag. And according to one website, come in an artifical leather, like lederhosen.

I already have one kilt. I wouldn't mind an Oktoberfest version.

New England Beer Fest on October 29 in Boston, MA!

Taste the regional beery flavors of New England at one of the most respectful and educational beer fests on the planet at the New England Beer Festival sponsered by The Beer Advocate.

* Sample 125+ beers from a unique line-up of 30+ New England craft brewers.
* Learn more in our Beer Forum with Guest Speakers in panel-style discussions.
* Enjoy delicious food by the Sunset Grill & Tap and artisan waffles by the Waffle Haus.
* Meet some 250+ BeerAdvocate.com members, and thousands of other beer lovers!

Tickets are on sale NOW!

The History of Oktoberfest and the Beer

by BeerAdvocate 09-18-2002
First published in: Boston's Weekly Dig / 09-26-2001

The official sign of fall, for us, is the beginning of Oktoberfest! This festive celebration was established in October of 1810 by Prince Ludwig of Bavaria (crowned as King Ludwig I) in celebration of his marriage to Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen. The unusual thing was that the general public was invited to share in his celebration. At the time, such a thing was unheard of – nobles rarely associated themselves with the general public – however, some 40,000 Bavarians attended the celebration in Munich on what is now called Theresienwiese (the Teresa Meadow). Almost 200 years later, year after year, the celebration is held at the same location. "Wies’n" (the local term for the celebration, derived from Theresienwiese) is truly a Bavarian event that has become a celebration of life not only for Barvarians, but for all Germans and now the world, with some form of Oktoberfest happening in many cities and breweries.

Although major amounts of beer were had at the very first Oktoberfest, the event was initially built around its horse race and state agricultural show. The horse race has since been dropped, however the agricultural show continues and the festival has taken on many carnival characteristics. Oktoberfest now lasts 16 days, beginning in mid-September and ending on the 1st Sunday in October, with major Munich breweries sponsoring the event, up to 6 million attendees packing into mega beer halls and over 5 million liters of beer consumed every year. For information on this year's Munich Oktoberfest, go to http://www.oktoberfest.de. For more information about Oktoberfest in Fredericksburg, Texas click here.

The whole beer association/craze of Oktoberfest didn't really happen until 1818, with the introduction of food and beer stands. The common Munich Oktoberfest beer served at Wies’n contains only 4.5% alcohol by volume, is dark/copper in color, has a mild hop profile and is typically labeled as a Bavarian Märzenbier in style – an amber lager with bottom fermenting yeast at 45º-55ºF. There's confusion as to the origin of the style; however, it mostly likely came about hundreds of years ago, before refrigeration and before the first Oktoberfestbier. Beers brewed during the winter were kept in cold storage over the Spring and Summer months so that they'd keep. Some were also brewed to contain higher levels of alcohol to also help preserve. The label Märzen (March) soon signified beers brewed during the last months of Spring. These beers were then consumed over the Summer months when brewing was impossible due to the hot weather and bacterial infections.

Spaten, Paulaner, Ayinger and Hacker Pschorr are all exceptional must-tries, as they tend to be close in all aspects of flavor, smell and color. Usually reddish amber in color, very fragrant of deep-toasted malt, smooth, with the use of noble hops that make the beer spicy and herbal yet sweet and grainy. Domestic versions run the gamut, from being very close to their respected origins to brewing ale and calling it "Octoberfest Ale." Sam Adams, Harpoon, Brooklyn Brewing, Saranac, Beck’s and Pete’s are good examples of the former, more traditional lagers. Some breweries, however, simply brew an ale and call it an Octoberfest beer ... what’s up with that? Otter Creek and Wachusett Brewing just blatantly brew ale and slap "Octoberfest" somewhere on the label. Not to say these ales are bad, but these brewers have some guts to claim to be brewing one of the toughest beer styles when they're not.

For more info on these beers and beers in general, visit http://beeradvocate.com/beer/style/29/, as they will be reviewing Oktoberfestbiers throughout the season. In the meantime, pick up some Oktoberfestbier (or ale) while they are around. Then celebrate your existence! You have an excuse! Celebrate beer! Prost!

Homer Simpson on Beer

Mmm. . .Beer.

Alcohol is my way of life and i aim to keep it!

I'm gonna drink a lot of beer and stay out alll night!

I would kill everyone in this room for a drop of sweet beer.

All right, brain, I don't like you and you don't like me - so let's just do this and I'll get back to killing you with beer.

To alchohol, the cause of and solution to, all life's problems.

Bart, a woman is like a beer. They look good, they smell good, and you'd step over your own mother just to get one!

And now one from Marge:

Now Homey, you're getting over-stimulated. Let's go home and get some beer in you and then it's right to bed! - Marge Simpson

Beer Quotes, Part 3 - Jack Handy

"If you ever reach total enlightenment while drinking beer, I bet it makes beer shoot out your nose."
-Deep Thought, Jack Handy

"Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed - Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and all of their hopes and dreams. If I didn't drink this beer, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered. Then I say to myself, 'It is better that I drink this beer and let their dreams come true than be selfish and worry about my liver.'"

-Deep Thought, Jack Handy

Shiner 96

For the last few years, I have volunteered at Oktoberfest in Fredericksburg, Texas as a beer supervisor. (Seems kind of like putting the fox in charge of the chicken coop if you ask me, but the beer's free.) part of the fun of being "on the inside" is learning what beers are going to be on tap.

This year, for the first time anywhere in the nation, the Spoetzel Brewery will unveil Shiner 96, a Märzen beer, traditional at Oktoberfest.

I'm looking forward to this Oktoberfest! Hope to see you there.

Beer Styles

Back in the old days, before global breweries vied for market share, each city, even each neighborhood in a city, had its own beer style. As transporting the beer got easier, the neighborhood styles merged into a city style, and the various city styles merged into regional styles, and then into national styles.

Today, there are dozens of beer styles. However, your average convenience store only carries, at best, three or four.

One of my favorite sites is Beer Advocate. Their beer styles page is one of the best resources for learning about the various types of beer.

Beer Quotes, Part 2

"Oh, lager beer! It makes good cheer, And proves the poor man's worth; It cools the body through and through, and regulates the health."
-Anonymous

"People who drink light 'beer' don't like the taste of beer; they just like to pee alot."
-Capital Brewery, Middleton, WI

"Beer will always have a definite role in the diet of an individual and can be considered a cog in the wheel of nutritional foods."
-Bruce Carlton

"No soldier can fight unless he is properly fed on beef and beer."
-John Churchill, First Duke of Marlborough

"If God had intended us to drink beer, He would have given us stomachs."
-David Daye

British Beer Styles

In Britain beer, or ale, is brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of added carbon dioxide. It is also called "cask-conditioned" and "naturally conditioned" beer. There are a number of different styles and types of ale varying from malty, lightly hopped milds to dark and bitter stouts and porters. There are some 2,500 different ales available from 500 brewers in the UK.

Here's an description of the qualities of the most common British beer styles:

Bitter
These are highly hopped ales, ranging from 1030 to around 1055 OG. The most common type of draft ale, low in carbonation. Best Bitters are usually over 4.1% ABV.

Mild
An ale of low gravity and hop rate, hence rounder, usually slightly sweeter, and distinctly less bitter on the palate and in aroma than more highly hopped bitters. Mild is usually (but not always) darker in colour than bitter, through use of a higher roast malt or caramel. There are considerable variations in mild styles.

Porter
A dark, slightly sweetish but ‘hoppy’ ale made with roasted barley: the successor of 'entire' and predecessor of stout. Originated in London around 1730 and by the end of 18th century was the most popular beer in England. The fashion for the pale ales of Burton-upon-Trent ended the popularity of porter in the mid 19th century. In recent years, a number of brewers have revived porter.

Stout
One of the classic types of ale, a successor in fashion to 'porter'. Usually a very dark, heavy, well-hopped bitter ale, with a dry palate, thick creamy head, and good grainy taste contributed by a proportion of dark roasted barley in the mash.

Bottle Conditioned Beer
This is real ale in a bottle and secondary fermentation takes place in the bottle as a result of yeast left in the mixture after boiling.

Local pubs used to sell only the beer of the brewery that owned them. The cask-conditioned ale was drawn directly from cool cellars, around 50F, which allows the full bouquet and aromas of a well-brewed ale to be experienced. But, sometime in the 60's, the big national breweries had gobbled up most local breweries and the whole scene changed. Local brews were replaced with national beers. Then came the imports. German lagers began to grow in popularity. British brewers at first tried to ignore the trend and lobbied Parliament to allow the import of only small amounts of the European beers. But as demand grew the breweries saw dollar signs, or pound signs in this case, dancing before their eyes. They decided that the old bitter and mild ales should be brewed like the European beers, yeast removed, and carbonated with CO2.

In the early seventies, British ale lovers came along and formed The Campaign for Real Ale, or CAMRA. The group regalvanized the tastebuds and traditions of the British beer-drinkers. Their success in preserving British ales should be a model for any country attempting to preserve their own traditions.

Another important change is that the breweries have been required to release their stranglehold on their own pubs (and in many cases, sell them to private owners), and offer a far wider range of ales, lagers, stouts, local micro-brews and even pub-brewed ales (which of course is where it had all begun centuries before when every inn worth its own name brewed at least some of its own individual-recipe ales).

Sources:
Proper British Ale by David Yeadon
Visit Britain's Beer Styles page

The German Brewing tradition

Blatantly cut and pasted from the Deustche Welle Website!

A rose is a rose is a rose -- but that doesn't hold true for beer. As a beer-drinker's paradise, the vast choice in Germany can be mind-boggling. Here's a brief guide.

While beer is beloved throughout Germany, most people associate the malt beverage with big Bavarian men wearing lederhosen and green felt hats decorated with bushy brushes served a stein of amber brew by a big woman wearing a dirndl.

That's a common picture at Germany's largest beer garden, the Octoberfest in Munich Should you make it to Bavaria and finally utter those words you spent hours learning from a beginning German cassette, "Ein Bier bitte," you will receive a large glass mug of helles, or lager beer. It isn't as hoppy as your standard pilsner, hence it can go down quickly. The mug itself is a standard feature of Munich's beer gardens and you will hardly find it anywhere north of the Main River.

If you are looking for something more unusual, go to Düsseldorf. The city on the Rhine River is about the only place you can order an alt. It's dark in color and bitter in flavor, the second attribute of which is particularly useful on a hot summer day.

The opposite of the large beer mug in Bavaria is Cologne's stange, a tall, thin glass that holds 0.2 liters (0.4 pints) of Kölsch. Ordering one of these in Düsseldorf, a mere 35 kilometers away (20 miles) could result in a small run-in with the bar staff and customers who won't take kindly to the light-colored beer from the rival city.

One of the nicer traditions of drinking in a Cologne pub is the so-called Köbes, your waiter. The Kobeses are notorious for continually replacing empty beer glass with full ones regardless of guests' requests to the contrary.

Traditionally, a Kölsch could only be called that if the 157-meter (515-foot) high spires of the city's cathedral could be seen from the brewery. Even today, the term is a registered trademark in the EU, like champagne and cognac.

One of Germany's most popular beers is not a true beer at all -- or at least not 100 percent beer. The "Berliner Weisse" is a favorite summer drink in the German capital. There are two versions, one with the addition of raspberry syrup, the other with waldmeister syrup, which comes from the woodruff plant.

Chancellor Schröder has been known to enjoy a beer In the summer especially, Germans get their refreshment by mixing beer with sodas. Radler and alsterwasser are the most popular mixes, made up of half beer and half Sprite or orange soda (Fanta). Cola mixes are also widespread.

Yet if beer to you means just a bitter tasting malt beverage that should never be tainted with sugary sodas, Bamberg's rauchbier, or smoke beer, made with smoked barley malt, may be just what you're looking for.

If all you really want is a big kick, you might try a Donnerbock, or thunder bock, with alcohol content of 13 percent.

Beer Quotes, Part 1 - Dave Barry

"Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza." - Dave Barry

"Not all chemicals are bad. Without chemicals such as hydrogen and oxygen, for example, there would be no way to make water, a vital ingredient in beer." - Dave Barry

"The letters in 'Brace Beemer' can be arranged to spell 'Embrace Beer.'" - Dave Barry, referring to the actor who played the Lone Ranger on radio

"All other nations are drinking Ray Charles beer and we are drinking Barry Manilow." - Dave Barry

When I heated my home with oil, I used an average of 800 gallons a year. I have found that I can keep comfortably warm for an entire winter with slightly over half that quantity of beer. --Postpetroleum Guzzler, Dave Barry

Monks Sell out of the World's Best Beer

After being voted the World's Best Beer, monks at the abbey of Saint Sixtus of Westvleteren in western Belgium have run out of beer. The monks have no plans to increase production as a result of this new demand. They brew the beer to support the monastary, not to make a profit.

The Philosophers' Drinking Song by Monty Python

I am a big fan of Monty Python. And I love the Bruces, the Australian philosophy professors. Here's their song:

Immanuel Kant was a real pissant
Who was very rarely stable.

Heidegger, Heidegger was a boozy beggar
Who could think you under the table.

David Hume could out-consume
Schopenhauer and Hegel

And Wittgenstein was a beery swine
Who was just as schloshed as Schlegel.

There's nothing Nietzche couldn't teach ya
'Bout the raising of the wrist.
Socrates, himself, was permanently pissed.

John Stuart Mill, of his own free will,
On half a pint of shandy was particularly ill.

Plato, they say, could stick it away--
Half a crate of whisky every day.

Aristotle, Aristotle was a bugger for the bottle.
Hobbes was fond of his dram,

And René Descartes was a drunken fart.
'I drink, therefore I am.'

Yes, Socrates, himself, is particularly missed,
A lovely little thinker, But a bugger when he's pissed.

Yes. I am a geek.

Heinrich Kreische Brewery 1872-1884

Immortalized by the famous "Chicken House," La Grange was established in 1837. Though La Grange was untouched by fighting during the Civil War, during Reconstruction the town was torn by conflict and disorder. Local peace was disrupted in May 1865 as returning Confederate veterans robbed local German businesses and, on one occasion, threatened to burn down the town. La Grange began to grow as a trade center after the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway began service there in 1880, which helped put the local brewery out of business. In 1990 the United States census counted 3,951 people living in La Grange.

In 1846 Heinrich L. Kreische emigrated to Texas from Saxony. He settled in La Grange and worked as a stonemason, building the county jail in 1853 and the third county courthouse in 1855. He lived on the bluff overlooking the Colorado River with his wife Josephina and six children.

Bewteeen 1860 and 1870 Kreische changed his major occupation to that of brewing. He built a large brewery just down the hill from his home between 1870 and 1880, and by the late 1870s his had become the third-largest brewery and the state.

The slogan for the Brewery has traditionally been "Frisch Auf!" (Refresh! Look Alive!). The only documentation for this, aside from the traditional accounts, is a large banner with the words "Frisch Auf" now in the possession of the Parks and Wildlife Department. The banner is photographed with an undated, but probably brewery vintage gathering of people on Monument Hill. His ads also said "Bluff beer is good."

Like many other 19th-century Texas manufacturers, Kreische began his business on a small-scale and served a local market. He also retailed his product: he had a beer garden on the bluff and a beer hall in La Grange. At the time of his death, the brewery was a prosperous enterprise with good prospects; it, however, soon went out of business without Kreische's leadership. The Kreische brewery is now a ruin consisting, for the most part, of partial walls and piles of stone rubble. A large underground vaulted room is the only room intact. The state of Texas purchased 36 acres next to the Monument Hill state historic site in 1977. These acres include the ruins of the Heinrich L. Kreische family home and brewery. For information and a tour schedule, call park officials at (409) 968-5658. For state park reservations, call (512) 389-8900.

I wrote a book about the pioneer brewers of Texas. You can buy it here.

The Fruits of Our Labors

We got together Sunday, my brewing partner and I, to sample or creations, and to plan for the future.

Something is wrong with the Classic American Pre-Pro Ale. My brewing partner described it as smelling like plastic. "Remember those plastic innertubes you had as a kid? Whenever you opened the package, you were hit with that plastic smell." He hit the nail right on the head. It's not the best tasting beer I've ever brewed, but it after a couple of beers you get used to it. I give this one a 3 out of 10. And in the picture above, that beer is on the right.

The Austin Hombrew Hefeweiss kit was much better, although my brewing partner insists there's something wrong with it. He says it taste kind of metallic and buttery. I didn't notice it, so much. I noticed the fruit flavors of the hefeweiss, but nothing out of the ordinary. I give it 8 out of 10.

We made our Christmas beer plans, and will brew those a lot closer together.

No brewing this weekend

I had hoped to brew this weekend, but the smack pack yeast I had purchased appears to be dead. It has been almost a week since the pack was smacked, and they are still flat.

Initially, I was angry at my brewing partner because he had had some projects come up that prevented us from brewing sooner. But I got over that. It wasn't his fault. We should have scheduled the brewing time when we bought the ingredients.

Sooooo. . .

We are getting this afternoon to decide what to homebrew next. I do know that we'll will brew the Dark Lager, and at least I will brew Jul Øl. I'll let my brewing partner decide if he wants to brew Cream Ale or not.

I'll take some pictures of us sharing some beer, and I'll share the tasting notes when I post the pictures.

Spuds McKenzie's BudBone

While I'm waiting to brew Hookarm's Dark Ale (hopefully this weekend), I've been forced to cram this blog with other stuff. So here's some more breweriana, a real Budweiser collectible.

Back in the late 80s or early 90s, the local Budweiser distributor tried to get this "Bud Bone" into all the special events in our area. It was a neat idea, but, basically, a gimmick. (Today they are trying to push their alumnium cans, ala Iron City Beer. Can't the folks at Bud sell their beer on its own merit, without a gimmick of some kind?) I really don't know if it was connected with Spuds McKenzie, featured in a series of popular Budweiser ads and commercials, but it is called a BudBone.

This little rippah (imagine Steve Irwin saying it) is plastic, about 16 inches tall and made of plastic. Would have been nice if it was glass . . .

Probably not at an event, though.

Now, this Budweiser stein, or glass, or whatever is just a piece of my collection.

Malt

Beer is liquid bread. Bakers and brewers both use grains and yeast to make their products. Brewers just use more water!

Beer's base grain is barley. The barley goes to a malting house, where it is stored until certain enzymes in the barley loosens and softens the husk which allows it to absorb moisture more readily. Then the barley is placed in steep tanks where it sits for about 48 hours. The barley is ready for germination. The moist barley is spread evenly on the floor of a large compartment up to a depth of 3 to 4 feet. The floor is perforated and warm, humid air is forced up through the grain. This duplicates the conditions in the soil where the grain germinates. The barley begins developing enzymes that will convert the barley starch into food for a young plant. Fortunately for us, the same starch will become the fermentable sugars when the grain is mashed. The grain is then dried to remove excess moisture, and is now known as malt. The malt is then roasted to various degrees of color, for use in any of dozens of recipes.

The homebrewer takes the barley malt, cracks it and cooks it at certain temperatures to mash it. The mashing process converts the starches in the malt into sugars which the yeast will use to make beer.

Some malt houses mash the grains for us, and either dry or reduce the moisture in the resulting product. The process makes Malt extract, either dry or syrup, that allows the homebrewer to bypass the time consuming, and exacting mashing process, and get straight to brewing. A full grain batch of beer can take up to 8 hours to get into the fermenter, while a partial mash or extract only recipe only takes a couple of hours (including prep and cleaning time).

Beer In The News

The original Budweiser brewery, in the Czech Republic, has won regional protection in the EU, much to Anheiser-Busch's ire. A-B has been fighting the Budvar brewery for years, since the American company was the first to register the name as a tradmark. But, the story goes that Eberhard Anheuser, a German brewer who emigrated to the USA, is said to have used the name because of its reputation in his homeland. No matter who wins the legal battle, the little Czech brewery wins the PR battle, because their name is linked to the giant American brewery. There's no such thing as bad press, I guess.

Here's a link to more Deutsche Welle beer stories.

Camel Cooler Premium - c. Mid 90s

Back in the 90s, when smoking was still only bad for you, and not yet considered murder by big business, cigarette companies gave premiums away if you bought a certain number of packs. Sometimes it was lighters, sometimes shirts, and every once in a while it was something practical!

Here is a 6-Pack Cooler from Camel Cigarettes that I ran across while cleaning out my storage unit. Just barely big enough to hold 6 cans of the beverage of your choice, this was a pretty nice premium. Salem came out with one about the same time.

Critics of the tobacco companies often accuse them of pandering to minors, but if that's the case, why did they give away twelve pack coolers with Winston, instead of with Camel?

At any rate, any beer vendors out there ought to beware. Right now, beer is just bad for you. But there are folks out there trying to make the case that beer is murder by large corporations, and they are working to eliminate it.

Oops. Sorry. Got off on one of my rants. Won't happen again.

Wine vs Beer: Americans making the switch

Over a Vivi's Wine Journal, there was a recent post about a drop in beer consumption and an increase in wine consumption.

There are a lot of reasons for this, but the most important reason, I think, is the result of the recent round of brewery consolidations. As smaller brewers are absorbed into the larger breweries, the large brewers, eager to expand their market share, discontinue the absorbed brews. That's exactly what happened with Celis when they were purchased by Miller Brewing. Suddenly, those three rows of Celis beer became three rows of Miller Lite. As Miller, Budweiser, and Coors fight for market dominance, they squeeze out the smaller breweries, leaving the beer consumer with the choice between Bud Light, Miller Lite, and Coors Light. Yum.

Wine, on the other hand, celebrates different styles. There's a range of flavors that can be experienced in wine that the Big Brewers have, basically, eliminated in the beer world.

In Fred Eckerdt's The Essentials of Beer Style, he makes an interesting observation: every time Budweiser reduces the amount of hops in their product, their share of market increases. In other words, the blander the beer, the more people will buy it. This is also applicable in the food industry as well.

Another factor in wine's expansion is what I call "snob appeal." In my day job I work in the travel industry. Our clientele used to be the upper middle class. As the employees saw what the bosses were doing they decided to emulate them, and now our business is comfortably middle to lower-middle class. These folks are enjoying the things their bosses and their bosses used to enjoy.

Check out the original article, it's a fun read.

Yeast

Beer can be divided into two basic types: Beer made with Top fermenting yeast, and beer made with bottom fermenting yeast. Or, Ales and Lagers

Ales were the first beers made. Ale yeasts ferment at warmer temperatures, usually around 40-50 F. At that temperature, the yeasts contribute some flavors to the beer, usually a fruity taste.

Lager yeasts were mastered in Germany, and ferment at 32-38 F. These yeasts ferment out clean, contributing little flavor to the finished beer.

Generally, you can use ale yeasts in Lager recipes, and vice versa, but you will get some flavor differences.

You can also ferment Lager yeast at ale temperatures. That's what Anchor Steam beer does. Back during the Gold Rush, people from around the world flocked to California to make their fortune. Brewers brought their lager yeast and set up breweries. But they couldn't cool the fermenters, so they used open, shallow trays. This procedure created America's only indigenous beer style, California Common.

Today, you can purchase yeast in bags (or smack packs) or in little test tubes. to use the smack packs, you have to burst a smaller bag inside the bag a day or two in advance. The test tubes just brought just have to be brought to room temperature to be pitched.

It's still possible to get dry brewers yeast. But normally that only comes in kits.

Hubert Wolters, Frontier Brewer

Hubert Wolters Rock Bluff Brewery c. 1878-1888

Hubert Wolters was born in August 21, 1846 in Braunsrath, Bavaria. He studied for the priesthood, then studied brewing in Baden Baden, and wound up serving in the Prussian Army in the Franco-Prussian War, where he earned the Iron Cross. In 1879, Hubert had emigrated to Texas, and married Augusta Lindner in Comfort, and set out for San Angelo. Federal records show his brewery in Ben Ficklen in 1878. It is possible that he started the brewery before he was married.

Hubert bought a wheat beer brewery from Eugene McCrohan and moved it to his farm, at 201 South Browning, which explains why the brewery is listed in both Ben Ficklen and Fort Concho. Later, Hubert bought the Star Saloon on East Concho Street and was a prominent citizen for several years. Hubert's daughter, Margaretha (Maggie), recalled, in 1958, that hemade "good beer and all kinds of soft drinks."

In the late 80s, there was a dairy near the brewery and stored the milk in the cellar. In the March 16, 1889 Standard, there was a notice that there would be a cut in milk prices. Two weeks later, the brewery burned to the ground. The report in the March 30 paper said "it is suspected that the recent cut in milk prices had something to do with the fire." In 1958, Maggie would say the fire was set by "envious friends."

After the fire, Hubert's health failed and he took his family on a three-month trip to Germany. Hubert died on March 23, 1891 in San Angelo. Augusta, her mother, died April 7, 1935. In 1919, Maggie married H. C. Voigt of San Angelo and lived in the home in which she was born until she died in 1964.

I wrote a book about the pioneer brewers of Texas. You can buy it here.

The Old Set up

The photo was taken 8/12/2000. I don't have many pictures of me brewing. I was always too busy watching the pot for boilover. I started brewing outside to keep the mess down in the kitchen. On the left is my equipment collection, with sanitized fermenter ready to go. Behind me is my St. Pat's brew kettle on a way too small burner. I think I was using the wort chiller when the photo was taken.