NHC Grand Banquet

Strawberry Banana Wheat by the CIA

Friday

Brewers Expo

BNA8

The Lawn Ranger Cream Ale - Review

Satan and I stopped by Spec's in Austin for some local beers to share in Philly. We picked up one from Cedar Creek Brewery in Seven Points, Texas, called Lawn Ranger Cream Ale.

Appearance (0-3): Pours up a hazy pale yellow with a thick head that slowly dissipates to a thin layer of bubbles on the top. 2 points

Aroma/Bouquet (0-4): Smells of sweet malt, a slight citrus hop aroma. Smells tasty. 3 points

Taste (0-10): Starts off with sweet malt, hops in the middle, and finishes sweet on the back of the tongue. Perfect hop/malt balance, with medium carbonation. 9 points

Overall Impression (0-3): A nice summer beer in a nice 16-ounce package perfect for long, hot Texas days. Too bad I can't get it in Paradise.  :( 0 points

Total: 14 points

Blue Mountain Maibock

We decided to have a couple pints to let the Philly traffic thin out. A very nice Maibock. 

Louisville, Kentucky

I love Louisville. Here's why:

Pork Belly on a stick at Against the Grain Brewery ans Smokehouse. 

The sampler. 

See? I Told You So!

I have long maintained that the harder a beer is to get, the higher it is rated on beer rating sites. BeerGraphs.com now has Untappd data to back me up.

...ratings that were made at or within 10 miles of the brewery received slightly below-average scores (3.17). Once you get more than 10 miles away from the brewery, the average rating jumps up to 3.26. This level is roughly maintained up to a distance of 500 miles from the brewery, after which it sees a sharp decline all the way to 3.04 (750-1250 miles from the brewery). Lastly, check-ins more than 2000 miles from the brewery actually had the highest rating of any distance group (3.29).

Flying Saucer on the Lake

Satan and I left home at 7 this morning. Lunch at Flying Saucer, then Eastbound and down. 

First Stop - Uncle Billy's Brew and Que

We're picking up some local beers to share with our friends in Philly. Beer shopping is hungry work. I recommend the smoked turkey sammich!

Philadelphia, Here I come!

I'll be turning in early tonight.

Tomorrow, Satan and I leave for Phildelphia and the National Homebrewers Conference. We hope to wind up in Memphis. On Monday we'll head for Cleveland with a few stops on the way. We should arrive in Philadelphia Tuesday evening. Hopefully, I'll remember to update the blog along the way. You know how I am, especially when I'm drinking.

The return trip is a mix of beer and family. We're visiting family in Fredericksburg, Virginia (via Rehobeth Beach, DL) for a couple of nights. Then on to Athens, GA, and Tyler, TX before getting back home.

Wish us luck and pray for my poor, achy butt.

Twitter: @hiikeeba

Let's Start Calling it the "Alcohol Belly"

We've all heard it called a Beer Belly. However, beer isn't the cause, alcohol is.

The Washington Times quotes University of California food science professor Charles Bamforth as saying, “The beer belly is a complete myth. The main source of calories in any alcoholic beverage is alcohol. There’s nothing magical about the alcohol in beer, it’s just alcohol.”

Excessive alcohol consumption can cause a fluid buildup in the abdominal area, an indication of liver damage rather than simple fat storage.

Well, until I read that last fact, I was feeling pretty good about beer.

CYBI Citra DIPA Kegging Day

With the National Homebrewers Conference quickly approaching, I needed to keg this so I would be free to concentrate on other things for the rest of the month. The hopping schedule on this made it an expecially long ferment.

The recipe for CYBI Citra DIPA as I recorded it called for the hops at day four of fermentation. But, on review of the show, I should have waited till fermentation was complete.

Oops!

I pulled a sample at kegging, and was an opaque light tan.  Not clear at all. I have a problem with opaque beers that aren't black. So I may have to filter this.  But I will let it sit in the cooler for the two weeks, and hope that clears while I'm at the Nationa Hombebrewers Conference.

I liked the aroma! The flavor was a tad too bitter but that should drop out in a couple of weeks.

My original gravity was 1.067, and the final was 1.013, which gave me about 7% ABV.

Citra Wheat Kegging Day

The other day I finally managed to stop procrastinating and keg the Citra Wheat.

When I ordered the ingredients, I noticed a new yeast at Austin Homebrew Supply called Persica. According to the web site:

From the Pacific Northwest, this strain is fruitier than WLP001 with peach/apricot notes with a slightly lower attenuation. This strain has good diacetyl reduction capability.

So I was curious to see what this beer would wind up tasting like.

I noticed a white, almost pellicle like residue in the fermenter after kegging, and noted a slight sour smell. There was a fruity flavor to the aroma, nothing too out of balance, and that hint of sour. I did not taste anything sour, and thought the beer was quite good. I may be using Persica a lot more often.

My OG was 1.044, and my FG was 1.005, which yielded an ABV of about 5%.

Philly Beer Week Hammer of Glory STOLEN! Kinda.

In a daring heist, Philly Beer Week's Hammer of Glory was temporarily stolen Saturday. Or it went walkabout.

Maybe it had too much to drink, and went for some fresh air. A passerby found it under I-95 and returned it on Sunday.

I'm sure it was crowded at the venue, but how do you miss someone walking out with a sledgehammer? A sledgehammer labeled "Philly Beer Week"? And how does someone walking around the city with a sledgehammer go unnoticed?

I will be in Philadelphia in two weeks.  I will let you know if there are a lot of people carrying sledgehammers.

I Wish Grape Juice was Closer

Since my work schedule changed at the first of the year, I don't have as many opportunities to visit Grape Juice in Kerrville. They have a good selection of craft beers. Not a Flying Saucer selection, but Grape Juice is in a much smaller town. So when you see Green Flash, Dog Fish Head, Left Coast beers beside Rahr & Sons, Pedernales Brewing and Jester King, it's a place you have to visit.

What's particularly annoying is that Kerrville is just thirty minutes from where I live. They have the same beer distributors. And they can get beers that are unavailable here in Paradise. They are unavailble mainly because Keg One and Ben E Keith don't want to be bothered with bringing out into the Great Texas Craft Beer Desert.

Then I have to talk about Grape and Grain, my favorite "local" liquor store.  Keg One has been promising Ballast Point beers in the area for a couple of months. They want Sculpin IPA to be at Oktoberfest but don't want to bring the brand here for us regular Joes. It's at Grape and Grain.  Along with a couple other Ballast Point Beers.

Maybe I need to open a beer store here.

New Yorker Interactive Brewing Map

The New Yorker recently released an interactive map to chart the growth of craft brewing. It noted that Karbach Brewing grew 1112% and Austin Beer Works grew 394%. They also noted that only North Dakota and Vermont did not produce more beer in 2012 than in 2011.

Northern Brewer's Fathers Day Ad

I love the tag line "Because you can't drink a tie."

Paint Rock Bock - Tasting Notes

I tried the Paint Rock Bock a few weeks ago, and thought it was a little too chocolatey, as I mentioned earlier. Three weeks later, the chocolate has dropped out.  A few days ago, after the roofers finished replacing the roof after the hailstorm, I offered them a quick glass. Turns out, they were Bud Light guys. Go figure.

Paint Rock Bock

Appearance (0-3): Perhaps a bit too dark for the style. Pours up a dark brown with brownish red highlights and an off white head that falls quickly to a thin layer of bubbles. Slightly hazy, but it's hard to tell because it is almost opaque. (2 points)

Aroma/Bouquet (0-4): Faint chocolate notes, a hint of hop bitterness, and some alcohol. There's also a slight metallic tang. (2 points)

Taste (0-10): Starts with a hint of chocolate, some hop bitterness. A faint chocolate note, and a slight tartness. There's also that metallic flavor.  I sometimes get this in Shiner Bock, so I'm wondering if it's a result of the malt combination. Once you get past the first few sips, it's not so noticeable. It's medium bodied with a nice carbonation. Finishes with a hop bitterness on the back of my tongue. (7 points)

Overall Impression (0-3): While it might do well with more age (thank goodness I'm going to NHC in a few weeks), it's not bad. After the first few sips, I hardly even notice the metallic tang. I don't have any Shiner Bock here at the moment, so I can't say if it's close, but I can tell it's similar. I'm going to rebrew it, but I have to figure out this metallic taste out.  Maybe do all Vienna malt next time? The first time I brewed this, i sent it in to NHC, and one of the judges said it was metallic. (One judge said it was too complex, and the other said it needed complexity. Sigh. (2 Points)

Total: 13 points

Paint Rock Bock V. 3

I was not trying to clone Shiner Bock when I brewed Paint Rock Bock. I am looking for, in the words of Shiner Brewmaster Jimmy Mauric, my interpretation of Shiner Bock. So here's the recipe:

Paint Rock Bock

Dark American Lager

Type: All Grain	Date: 03/25/2013
Batch Size (fermenter): 6.00 gal	Brewer: Jeff Holt
Boil Size: 7.78 gal	Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 60 min	Equipment: Jeff's Equipment
End of Boil Volume 7.28 gal	Brewhouse Efficiency: 60.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 6.00 gal	Est Mash Efficiency 70.0 %
Fermentation: Ale, Single Stage	Taste Rating(out of 50): 30.0
Taste Notes:
Ingredients
Ingredients Amt Name Type # %/IBU 5 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 34.0 % 5 lbs Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 2 34.0 % 3 lbs 2.1 oz Corn, Flaked (1.3 SRM) Grain 3 21.3 % 1 lbs 4.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 4 8.5 % 2.9 oz Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 5 1.2 % 2.1 oz Carafa III (525.0 SRM) Grain 6 0.9 % 0.60 oz Northern Brewer [8.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 7 14.1 IBUs 1.0 pkg California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [35.49 ml] Yeast 8 -
Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.053 SG	Measured Original Gravity: 1.047 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.011 SG	Measured Final Gravity: 1.010 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.5 %	Actual Alcohol by Vol: 4.8 %
Bitterness: 14.1 IBUs	Calories: 155.0 kcal/12oz
Est Color: 18.0 SRM
Mash Profile
Mash Name: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge	Total Grain Weight: 14 lbs 11.0 oz
Sparge Water: 4.95 gal	Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F	Tun Temperature: 72.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE	Mash PH: 5.20
Mash Steps Name Description Step Temperature Step Time Mash In Add 18.36 qt of water at 163.7 F 152.0 F 60 min
Sparge Step: Batch sparge with 2 steps (1.06gal, 3.89gal) of 168.0 F water
Mash Notes: Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).
Carbonation and Storage
Carbonation Type: Bottle	Volumes of CO2: 2.3
Pressure/Weight: 4.71 oz	Carbonation Used: Bottle with 4.71 oz Corn Sugar
Keg/Bottling Temperature: 70.0 F	Age for: 30.00 days
Fermentation: Ale, Single Stage	Storage Temperature: 65.0 F
Notes
Created with BeerSmith

Citra Wheat Brew Day

I've been brewing a Citra Wheat beer for a while, just not recently. I normally use Citra for all hop additions, but I find using Citra for bittering a bit unpleasant.  So this time I replaced it with some Cascade, and only used Citra as an aroma addition.

I am also using Austin Hombrew's special Persica yeast. I'm hoping the promised peach/apricot notes will go nicely with the Citra.

It was a very humid day, and after brewing, nothing would dry!

Citra Wheat

American Wheat or Rye Beer

 

Type: All Grain	Date: 5/26/2013
Batch Size: 6.00 gal	Brewer: Jeff Holt
Boil Size: 7.97 gal	Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 60 min	Equipment: Jeff's Equipment
Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0	Brewhouse Efficiency: 60.00
Taste Notes:
Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU 7.00 lb Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 51.85 % 6.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 44.44 % 0.50 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 3.70 % 1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (60 min) Hops 16.6 IBU 1.50 oz Citra [13.00 %] (Dry Hop 4 days) Hops - 0.50 oz Citra [13.00 %] (10 min) Hops 7.1 IBU 1 Pkgs Austin Homebrew Persica Ale Yeast (White Labs #WLP 299) Yeast-Ale
Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.051 SG	Measured Original Gravity: 1.044 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.012 SG	Measured Final Gravity: 1.005 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.00 %	Actual Alcohol by Vol: 5.08 %
Bitterness: 23.7 IBU	Calories: 190 cal/pint
Est Color: 4.2 SRM	Color: Color
Mash Profile
Mash Name: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge	Total Grain Weight: 13.50 lb
Sparge Water: 5.37 gal	Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F	TunTemperature: 72.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE	Mash PH: 5.4 PH
Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge Step Time Name Description Step Temp 60 min Mash In Add 16.88 qt of water at 165.9 F 154.0 F
Mash Notes: Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).
Carbonation and Storage
Carbonation Type: Corn Sugar	Volumes of CO2: 2.4
Pressure/Weight: 4.5 oz	Carbonation Used: -
Keg/Bottling Temperature: 60.0 F	Age for: 35.0 days
Storage Temperature: 52.0 F
Notes
Created with BeerSmith