Scottish Heavy 70 Schilling

On Friday, I brewed a Scottish Ale. I have done a lot of black beers and am trying other things until I have to brew Hookarm's Kentucky Common for another contest. I got the recipe from Brew Your Own Magazine:

Scottish Surprise Scottish Heavy 70/-
Batch Size (GAL): 5.00
Total Extract (LBS): 5.44
Anticipated OG: 1.034
Anticipated SRM: 21.8
Anticipated IBU: 20.1
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Actual OG: 1.030
Grain/Extract/Sugar
% Amount Name Origin Gravity SRM
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 64.4 3.50 lbs. Amber Liquid Malt Extract 1.036 30
18.4 1.00 lbs. Crystal 40L America 1.034 40
9.2 0.50 lbs. Honey Malt Canada 1.030 18
4.6 0.25 lbs. Crystal 120L America 1.030 120
3.5 0.19 lbs. Chocolate Malt America 1.029 350
Hops
Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.20 oz. Progress Pellet 3.40 20.1 60 min.

Yeast
-----
White Labs WLP001 California Ale

I originally named this "What's Under the Kilt?" but Satan, true to form, suggested "Scottish Surprise."

Announcing: Macht's Nicht Brewing Company

Whilst brewing Betty Faulker Bock a few weeks ago, Satan suggested the name Macht's Nicht Brewing Company for our little endeavor when some piece of equipment (which was desirable, but not indispensable) disappeared. "Macht's nicht," Satan said when I pointed out the disappearance. Macht's nicht, of course, means "It doesn't matter" or "Don't worry about it" in German.

The other day at work, when things were a bit slow, I began playing around with an idea of a stylized head of wheat. The concept is that it is like the wings of a military aviator, or, since Satan has jump wings, paratrooper wings. When I mentioned this to Satan, he contributed "Beerborne" as a slogan. I can see that on a T-shirt back, with a small logo on the right breast. Now, off to Cafe Press. . .

Houston's Old Magnolia Taproom Becomes Protected Landmark

Back in the days before Prohibition, Houston Ice and Brewing Company, aka Magnolia Brewery produced Magnolia Beer and Southern Select. In 1912, at the height of their sales, the brewery opened a taproom at 715 Franklin Street, one of ten buildings on the brewery's 20 acre site.

The brewery closed in 1918 when Prohibition struck. Later Howard Hughes would own a brewery that resurrected those famous brands.

Houston's recently enacted historic preservation ordinance has taken the Magnolia Taproom (Now called Magnolia Ballroom) under its protective wing. Now the building can be altered moved of destroyed only with the city's permission.

Cheers to the City of Houston!

The Device - Man's New Best Friend

Gizmodo has a story on this unusual contraption, called "The Device." It is an all in one beer making machine. You boil the beer on the right, it is fermented in the middle, stored in kegs on the lower left, and served through a cold plate on the upper left. See the video if you don't believe me.

2007 Dixie Cup Winners

I just checked the Dixie Cup site, and the results are up. Of course I didn't win anything, but I was hoping. . .

Beer Prices on the Rise

The Salt Lake Tribune is reporting that beer prices are set to rise fifty cents to a dollar a six pack over the next year. The story cites recent poor harvests and farmers switching to more profitable crops as the main cause, and price increases in glass, cardboard and stainless steel are contributing.

More worrying is the fear that it could slow the growth of the craft beer sector, 5% of the nation's beer sales.

The news worsened for craft brewers significantly in recent weeks. Firms that turn barley into brewing malt informed craft brewers of price increases ranging from 40 percent to 80 percent, and hops suppliers announced increases ranging from 20 percent to 100 percent, depending on the variety of hops.

The price of hops - which give beers their bitterness and aroma - has risen because of shortages across the globe, due in part to poor crops in Europe. Some European brewers are competing with American brewers for hops grown in the Pacific Northwest.

For years, hops were cheap due to a glut. That prompted growers over the past decade to replace hops with other crops, such as apples. Now, the amount of hops acres world-wide is about half the total of 12 years ago, says Ralph Olson, a hops dealer with Hopunion CBS LLC in Yakima, Wash. That has caused some hops varieties to quadruple in price over the past year, he says.

Build Your Own Beer Jacket

Despite being a product of National Lampoon, this is a pretty good idea. Watch the video here.

Of course, you could just buy a Beer Belly.

Dixie Cup Judging this Weekend

When Satan came down for Oktoberfest, he sampled my Kentucky Common and my Coconut Chocolate Stout. I entered those beers in this year's Dixie Cup contest. Satan wasn't a fan of the Kentucky Common beer. He liked the stout a bit better.

I am looking forward to the results of the contest, just in case. But I'm more looking forward to getting feedback about the beers.

Hookarm's Christmas Beer

It's that time of year again. Shortly after Oktoberfest, my thoughts turn to Christmas beer. Bascially, I made the same thing as last time.

• 7 lbs. light malt extract
• 1 lb honey
• 1/2 lb Crystal 60L
• 2 oz black patent
• 2 oz Cascade Hops (60 minutes)
• 1 oz Saaz Hops (2 minutes)
• 1 oz flaked ginger
• 6-inches stick cinnamon
• zest from 4 oranges
• California Ale yeast

Put the specialty grains in 6 gallons of cold water and bring to a boil. When the boil begins, remove the grains. Add the extract, honey, and the Cascade hops. Boil 45 minutes. Add the Ginger, cinnamon and orange zest. Add the saaz hops in the last 2 minutes of the boil. When the beer has cooled, pitch the yeast.

OG: 1054-1060
FG: 1018-1026
3.7% ABW
4.7% ABV

I brewed it out at Honey Creek Brewery. I hadn't been out there in a while, but I was eager to do a whole wort boil again. Everything went well, and the brew smelled of carrot cake. I wanted to bathe in it!

My original gravity was 1075.

I am going to let this sit until Sunday the 28th, then I will keg it and let it age for four more weeks.

Hookarm's Golden Ale - Keg Day

I kegged Hookarm's Golden Ale today. It is amber/orange with a grassy smell, probably the hops. It has a little of the extract twang that is common in my beers, because I don't do full wort boils. The hops are disappointing. I had hoped for more flavor but they have kind of mellowed out.

Overall, it's an okay beer when it's served warm and flat. We'll see what a week in the chill chest does.

Texas Great American Beer Festival Winners

Congratulations to Fredericksburg Brewing Company and Saint Arnold Brewing Company for their medals in the 2007 GABF.

Fredericksburg Brewing Company won a gold for their Pioneer Porter in the Brown Porter category and a Bronze for their Enchanted Rock Red Ale in the Irish Red Ale category. Congratulations, Rick!

The other Texas winner is Saint Arnold Brewing Company. They won a gold medal for their Saint Arnold Fancy Lawnmower beer in the German Style Kölsch/Köln Style Kölsch category.

Fredericksburg, Texas Oktoberfest Record Set

Just a few of the 385 kegs sold at Fredericksburg's Oktoberfest over 10/5-7. Last year's record was 325. These kegs belong to Glazer's Distribution, who supplied the German beer tent.

That's a record that's going to be hard to beat!

Every town needs a brew pub

What do Eola, Texas and Leadville, Colorado have in common?

They are both small towns with brew pubs.

For years, I have labored under the delusion that a brew pub has to be in a tourist town or a big city. But perhaps there's another business model. Maybe being a local restaurant that makes beer is enough.

Take Eola School Restaurant and Brewery, for example. Mark Cannon makes fresh beer and sells it for $2 a cup, and makes a pretty good bbq sammich. He's not pushing the hop envelope. His customers wouldn't stand for it. He's making a living making beer.

I recently visited Leadville, Colorado and Rosie's Brewpub. Rosie's does have more of a bar feel, and has a few more beers on tap. But they are catering to their customer base as well. I was there on a Friday afternoon, with nary a tourist in sight. Except for me, of course. I'm sure they do cater to the tourists, but when I was there it was a room full of locals.

Wouldn't it be great to have a brew pub in every town you visit? Not just in cities, but in small towns?

I Have Bugs

Back in June, I attended the NHC and listened to Vinnie Cilurzo's talk about sour beers. One of the things Vinnie said was to have two of everything when brewing sour beers: two fermenters, two sets of hoses, two airlocks, yada yada yada. I ignored every bit of that advice when I brewed my latest Kentucky Common and fermented it in my brand new stainless steel conical.

My next batch was a vanilla porter kit from Austin Homebrew. I sanitized the fermenter, then poured my new beer into it. I kegged it the other day. It was sour. I got bugs.

Anyone know a safe way to kill brett in a conical?

Colorado Largest Beer Producer

According to a story in the Denver Post, Colorado passed New York and, unbelievably, Texas to become the nation's biggest beer producer. Texas, in case you are wondering, has a Anheuser-Busch brewery in Houston and a Miller brewery in Fort Worth.

The Colorado brewing industry produced over 700 million gallons of beer.

A recent study commissioned by the Beer Institute and the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) also found that the beer industry, made up of brewers, beer importers, beer distributors, brewer suppliers, and retailers, directly and indirectly contributes $12.4 billion annually to Colorado's economy. The industry's economic impact includes 67,918 jobs - paying $3 billion in wages - as well as $1.6 billion in federal, state, and local taxes.

We could have that kind of economic benefit in Texas. If we would get off our butts and remind the Legislature who is supposed to actually run Texas. But they would rather impose civil fines on traffic tickets to increase revenues than support job creating businesses.

After the New Year, I will publish my letter to the candidates for the Legislature. I hope all of my Texas readers will write their candidates and let them know that we would like a vibrant beer culture here in Texas.

Hookarm's Golden Ale - Brew Day

On September 29, I decided that I was tired of brewing black beers. Earlier in the week I found my old recipe stash, and remembered that I always liked one I called Hookarm's Golden Ale. Even though they didn't send me a glass, I enjoy Sam Adams, and I thought this tasted similar, according to my old notes.

ProMash Recipe Printout

Recipe : Hookarm's Golden Ale

BJCP Style and Style Guidelines
-------------------------------

03-A Light Ale, Blonde Ale

Min OG: 1.045 Max OG: 1.060
Min IBU: 15 Max IBU: 33
Min Clr: 2 Max Clr: 8 Color in SRM, Lovibond

Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (GAL): 5.00 Wort Size (GAL): 5.00
Total Extract (LBS): 6.00
Anticipated OG: 1.051 Plato: 12.57
Anticipated SRM: 7.8
Anticipated IBU: 33.1
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Gravity SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
8.3 0.50 lbs. Cara-Pils Dextrine Malt 1.033 2
8.3 0.50 lbs. Crystal 40 1.034 40
83.3 5.00 lbs. Light Dry Malt Extract 1.046 7

Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.00 oz. Hallertau Pellet 4.50 22.0 60 min.
1.00 oz. Hallertau Pellet 4.50 7.4 20 min.
1.00 oz. Hallertau Pellet 4.50 3.7 5 min.

Yeast
-----

White Labs WLP051 California Ale V

Shiner Bohemian Black Lager

Lee, over at I Love Beer, recently posted about his current favorite beers. In the comments, I found this post:

If you can wait just a bit longer, you'll have another beer to add to this list. Shiner 97, which I seem to recall you liking, is coming back. Shiner's interpretation of schwarzbier was very popular as a limited-run anniversary beer and the Spoetzl brewery has decided to bring it back as a full-time addition to the Shiner family. It will now be called Shiner Bohemian Black Lager and will be available on tap in mid-October and in stores November 1. Eric Webber The Gambrinus Co.

It sounds like Anonymous, who responded negatively about my opinion of Shiner 98, is going to go on another crying jag. Sorry, dude (Or dudette. You didn't have enough courage to leave your name.), but apparently, other folks agreed with me about Shiner 97.