First State Brewers Blog

So here are the brews I’ve done this year and those yet to come. E = Extract, EG = Extract with Grains, AG = All-Grain. I think that I may actually squeeze in one more 10 gallon brew taking my total to the 200 gallon limit since we are only spending a week in Atlanta for Christmas, which means I’ll spend the other week here in DE.

I have some of these recipes in the recipes section of the First State Brewers. I stopped posting any there because I realized not too many of our club members were all-grain brewers, nor did we get many hits to that section of the site. If anyone is interested in a recipe, just write and I’ll get it out there for you.

I wonder - do yeast starters qualify as brewing beer? I’ll be getting a pressure canner for christmas so I can brew some all-grain wort to use as yeast starters. By canning I’ll be able to stick them on a shelf and just pull off quarts as I need them (talk about fast compared to my current method). Nah… it can’t. You don’t drink yeast starters, and I think the law says something about consumption.

This will make our next trip to England a little more convenient. We won’t have to worry about when the pub is going to close!

New UK drinking laws start peacefully — for now
Thu Nov 24, 2005 10:32 AM ET
By Katherine Baldwin

LONDON (Reuters) - The introduction of extended drinking hours passed off peacefully across England and Wales but police said on Thursday the biggest test would come at the weekend.

The race against the 11 p.m. closing bell encourages Britons to drink excessively while the eviction of boozers from pubs all at the same time spurs the violence and vandalism that plague town centres, they say.

“At last adults in this country are going to be treated like grown-ups and given a little bit of choice about having a social life beyond 11 o’clock,” said Mark Hastings, spokesman for the British Beer and Pub Association.

Read the rest here

OK… So all you people out there that received a MoreBeer catalog in the mail, get that guilty look off your faces. You know who you are. Did you notice the testimonial on page 27? I just did today, and I nearly fell off the can when I saw it. If you didn’t get a catalog, or missed it - check out the attached image.

Between that and showing up in Zymurgy, its been a very weird month for me. Too bad they didn’t spell Delaware correctly.

I’ve got a 3qt starter of Dry English Ale (WLP007) on the stirplate as we speak. I’ll probably brew the Oak Aged Vanilla Porter on Friday morning. The rest of you nuts can spend Black Friday running around to shopping centers beating each other up for a couple of bucks off, but I’m staying home.

This batch I am actually going to use both chips and oak cubes to see if the taste is any richer. Cubes are more pricey, but I’m hoping they are worth it. I may also add a 3rd vanilla bean.

In addition to the Homegrown Pale Ale and Abbey Dubbel I have planned, I think I need to do some of the following soon too:

• Ommegang clone
• Coffee Porter
• Bourbon Barrel beer (maybe a clone of Stewart’s McBride Strong?)
• Maibock!!!
• American IPA

As you can see, I’ve got lots of stuff I want to brew… But they obviously won’t happen this year (Except maybe the Ommegang clone). I’ve got 2 oz of oak cubes that have been sitting in Jim Beam for a few months now, and a couple nights ago I put 4oz oak chips and 2 more oz of cubes in some bourbon as well. I figure that they won’t really go bad, and at worst I just give them to someone in the club to experiment with (once they are soaked thru).

Heard this on a local radio station.

Jane Hautanen (Jane Doe)

I brewed 10 gallons of Black Honey Ale this past Sunday, taking my 2005 year total to 175 gallons. The stuff was done fermenting yesterday, 48 hours later. Last night I added 4 pounds of honey to the primaries (2 lbs each), and within 10 minutes the airlocks were going nuts again, and tonight - done. Servomyces, pure O2, and some serious yeast starters have kicked my fermentations into overdrive - its incredible. My flavors and yeast aromatics have never been this good either… I’m really pleased with my system and techniques now.

And so - I will play with my techniques some. Two things have really been bothering me about my all-grain brews so far:

1. I can’t seem to brew a pale ale that isn’t somewhat hazy.
2. Some of my beers have awful head retention, particularly the dubbels and tripels I’ve brewed.

So, being the kind of guy I am I went online and found something I could potentially do to kill two birds with one stone - Add another step in my mash regimen. A 30 minute protein rest at 125 to 130 will break down the longer protein chains largely responsible for chill haze into smaller ones, reducing the problem. These shorter protein chains are also supposedly very good for improving head retention - so hell yeah!

I’m going to try the new protein rest step in two of my upcoming beers, an Abbey Dubbel and my Homegrown Pale Ale. The current brewing schedule for the rest of 2005 includes:

• 5 gallons of Oak Aged Vanilla Porter
• 5 gallons of Abbey Dubbel
• 5 gallons of Homegrown Pale Ale

I don’t think I’ll hit 200 gallons this year, but I’ll come close. The Pale Ale is going to use my homegrown cascade and nugget hops exclusively for both bittering and flavoring / aroma. I’m not going to dry-hop, but I’ll have plenty of late-addition charges to the kettle.

Meeting this friday… Woot! After the meeting I’ll be returning home to play hours of Resident Evil 4 with my best friend and tie a good one on while fighting hoards of monsters, the undead, and unholy possessed villagers. Life is good.

That’s right - the venue for the November meeting has changed from Scott Bieber’s house to How Do You Brew? in Newark. Joe Gallo asked to have the club come there and meet him, so this will be a great opportunity for all our members to meet the new management. He and his wife make wine at home, but don’t have any experience with homebrewed beer… so make sure you bring some samples for them to try!

Joe is also still looking for someone to give a brewing demonstration on Saturday - If anyone out there is interested, please contact him!

Researchers in Oregon say beer may fight disease. I heard this on the local hoity-toity classical music station. The anchorwoman said “of course there’s all that burping to contend with.”

Jane Hautanen (Jane Doe)

I didn’t brew this weekend. I was planning to - but then just didn’t. No time nor energy nor preparation. Instead I took the opportunity to enjoy the beers I have on tap, move the scottish to the secondaries… and that’s it.

Both the Nut Brown Ale and Witbier are on tap now. They’re both good. Not sure how long it will take to kick my Oak Aged Vanilla Porter - Its strong enough to where I drink one or two max. Next time I think I will bottle at least a case.

Next batch will be 10 gallons of black honey ale so I can give some to my dad for Christmas. He loves it, and has been rationing the few he has left. Unfortunately these won’t be ready until almost Christmas, so he’s gonna run out before then… but he won’t be without for too long. My friend Chris is thinking of buying a kegerator. That probably means that I’ll be brewing regularly for him as well - or at least 10 gallon batches regularly.

Joe at How Do You Brew wants us to have the November 18th meeting there at the store. I wrote to Scott to get the venue changed. Joe is also looking for volunteers to do demonstration brews the following day (Saturday). I unfortunately can’t because its my kids’ birthday weekend and we have plans to take them to the Philly Zoo. Anyone out there interested? If so, call or write Joe…