First State Brewers Blog

Looks like scientists in Chicago are looking for some bitchy women to sample some cold ones.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-beer12.html

UIC to study if beer ingredient helps menopause
April 12, 2005

Can an ingredient in beer help relieve symptoms of menopause?
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago will get $1 million a year for five years from the National Institutes of Health to try to find out.
UIC is one of five botanical research centers nationwide awarded federal grants for research that will include studying hops — an ingredient in beer — for relief of menopause symptoms and chaste berry to relieve premenstrual symptoms.
”We’re trying to make some sense of it,” said Norman Farnsworth, a college of pharmacy research professor.
Scientists already are doing a clinical trial to see if two other plant-based, nutritional supplements — black cohosh and red clover — relieve such menopause symptoms as hot flashes.
The research reflects the reality that about 38.2 million American adults use plant-based supplements.
”Given that millions of Americans are using natural products, these research centers are critical to helping us determine whether and by what mechanisms botanicals may serve as effective treatments or preventive approaches,” said Dr. Stephen E. Straus, director of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, which is part of the NIH. AP

My all-grain brewing equipment has finally arrived… along with my counter-pressure bottling stuff. I can’t wait to use it - I’ve got one more batch of extract before I use it though - My dad wanted me to make him a batch of the Black Honey Ale. He loves it and has been rationing his last 6-pack for over a month now. Time to let him relax that a little bit. My first AG batch will be the Amarillo Pale Ale - I can never seem to have enough pale ale around, particularly with my best friend down in Dover - He loves the stuff. If only I had a 14 gallon brewpot, I’d actually brew a 10 gallon batch…

Today I’m kegging my lastest IPA (although it may be closer to just an APA) and racking the strong dark belgian to a secondary. I have a feeling that belgian will take a while to settle and smooth out - It was a really big beer. My brown ale will probably hit a secondary soon too - And from the sample I tasted, it is probably waaaaaay too hoppy to be a “Nut Brown”. Its probably closer to an american brown brewed with mostly English ingredients. C’est la vie… it’ll be drank anyways.

All of the cascade rhizomes survived. I’ve got shoots from all of them - one is already over an inch high, although most are just now poking out of the ground. No sign of the Nugget, Magnum, or Liberty yet - but they’re working their way up from a depth of 6 inches, so I’m not suprised. Now that I’ve done a little more reading on the subject, this year we’ll actually do what is recommended around trimming all but one or two shoots and stripping leaves below 3′ once the vines are big enough. Hopefully we’ll get a much bigger harvest than last year.

The gang returns today. I got a note from scott - apparently the crew is coming back from Germany today, loaded with pictures. I’m sure they’ll chew thru a couple MB of space on the webpage’s gallery.

Tasted my Rainy Day IPA. I apparently went way light on the late hop additions (15 minutes to 1 minute). Its probably just a pale ale with a little extra hop character rather than what people call IPAs these days - but then again I’m not a big fan of IPAs that strip the enamel off your teeth and burn the tastebuds from your tongue. Its a good beer - its just not an IPA. Oh well - next time I’ll double my late additions.

My strong dark belgian is done fermenting - It was about 5 or 6 days after pitching which is unheard of for one of my beers starting at 1.080 - That servomyces is magical. I used it in the Nut Brown I brewed yesterday - with in an hour I had some airlock activity, and it was expelling CO2 like mad this morning when I got up (8 hours later). I am a believer. I’m not sure its worth paying $14 at HDYB for it, but you’d be crazy not to get some from MoreBeer at $8. The extra $1.50 per batch is soooooooo worth it…

Speaking of MoreBeer, my b-day stuff is on its way. It comes in Tuesday - BOOYA! I also put in an order yesterday for three new types of stir bars for my yeast starters - One is your standard 2″ bar (I currently use a 1″ and it is woefully inadequate in a 2000mL flask) and then two that are shaped like a + … Check them out here. They should give a hell of a vortex, keep O2 disolved in the starter, and grow the hell out of some yeast.

I think one of my Cascade rhizomes from Jeff Ramberg is already sprouting… he he he. Growing your own hops is almost a moral imperative as a homebrewer - Even if they suck and you can’t use them in your brews, just the act of trying to grow them deepens your connection to the hobby/passion and makes you feel good. Man… I’m turning into a treehugger… Time to go take a shower and scourge the liberal from me.