I don't know why, but my "urge to brew" always increases during the fall. And, no, it has nothing to do with pumpkins. (Although it is always cool to field questions about or hear from folks who are brewing my pumpkin ale recipe!)
I brewed a lot in August - 25 gallons (5x 5 gallon batches). I was particularly proud of two of those: my German Pils (turned out perfect - crystal clear, grainy and dry) and my Wit (which was a first attempt at the style). Unfortunately, I did not clean/organize a lot in August, so the brew garage is a mess... and that saps my brewing motivation.
I have two fall projects in the works... One is a clone recipe, the other is a new process. I owe a 5-gallon batch of beer to a raffle winner, and he likes Iron Horse's Quilter's Irish Death. I have been meaning to clone that one since my era of closing down the Acme Grub Shack once a month... I have a couple of recipes in the pipe: one I made based on grain info from Iron Horse's brewer, and one from my LHBS. I'm hoping to get to these within the week, brewing half batches...
The other project has me very excited... I have a friend who has a house in Eastern Washington - Twisp actually. He has been growing a small patch of barley each year, and wants me to help him make it into beer! So, he gave me a very small (about 1/3 lb) jar of homegrown barley, which I am now going to try to malt. Of course, the eventual goal is to grow enough (along with our own hops) to brew our own 100% homegrown beer.
I'm working on a malting system that will be easy to scale up for when we get to that stage. From what I have read, one of the keys on the malting end is the ability to easily drain the grain periodically. It would be great to have a traditional British floor malting set-up, but that's not very practical. I'm thinking of something along the lines of Charlie Papazian's zapap system (I know, that system is actually for mashing and separating wort - but I see this as fundamentally the same process: separate he liquid from the grain)... Instead of a 5-gallon bucket, I'm looking for something wider and shallower.
I'll worry about drying and kilning after I get the malting squared up...
Monday, September 23, 2013
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Easter!
It was a beer-centric Easter. Big shock, eh?
Our tradition over the past few years has been to host the family - whoever can come - at our house for the big meal and festivities. Lately, this has dropped down to just my in-laws...
When it comes to food, they are probably my most critical audience (excluding the boys, whose taste preferences change seemingly week-to-week). This is not a problem (they have always liked everything I've ever made), but it is major consideration. The centerpiece of my Easter meal has become a home-cured ham.
My recipe has evolved over the years, beginning with a recipe that I found calling for a lot of dried dark fruits, salt, and tawny port. Then I discovered beer brine (thank you Sean Paxton at www.homebrewchef.com)! Note that at no stage did I actually smoke my pork (if you really miss that smokiness - which is often an additive rather than a process - you can either smoke your ham after it is brined, or use a beer that utilizes smoked malt like rauchbier or smoked porter) but technically speaking, ham is cured leg of pork...
This year, I forgot to buy my Dijon mustard (a critical ingredient in the "crust" of my ham). This forced another evolution this year (the recipe has stayed mostly the same the last couple of times)... I made a dry mixture of brown sugar, dry mustard powder, paprika, garlic powder, paprika, and savory instead of the usual mustard crust. And I opted for "slow and low" - 250* for 6 hours (covered for the first 5 hours).
Wow! The meat was the most tender ever! And it has spectacular flavor...
Here was our menu:
• Brined Mustard-Savory Ham (home-cured) w/ Gravy
• Scratch-made 3-Cheese Red Potatoes au Gratin
• Mashed Mixed Root Vegetables (3 types if sweet potatoes/yams, rutabagas, turnips, parsnips...)
• Steamed, Sautéed Basil Brussels' Sprouts and Kohlrabi
I accompanied my flavorful meal with a 750ml of Brasserie DuPont Vielle Provision - THE Saison.
Our tradition over the past few years has been to host the family - whoever can come - at our house for the big meal and festivities. Lately, this has dropped down to just my in-laws...
When it comes to food, they are probably my most critical audience (excluding the boys, whose taste preferences change seemingly week-to-week). This is not a problem (they have always liked everything I've ever made), but it is major consideration. The centerpiece of my Easter meal has become a home-cured ham.
My recipe has evolved over the years, beginning with a recipe that I found calling for a lot of dried dark fruits, salt, and tawny port. Then I discovered beer brine (thank you Sean Paxton at www.homebrewchef.com)! Note that at no stage did I actually smoke my pork (if you really miss that smokiness - which is often an additive rather than a process - you can either smoke your ham after it is brined, or use a beer that utilizes smoked malt like rauchbier or smoked porter) but technically speaking, ham is cured leg of pork...
This year, I forgot to buy my Dijon mustard (a critical ingredient in the "crust" of my ham). This forced another evolution this year (the recipe has stayed mostly the same the last couple of times)... I made a dry mixture of brown sugar, dry mustard powder, paprika, garlic powder, paprika, and savory instead of the usual mustard crust. And I opted for "slow and low" - 250* for 6 hours (covered for the first 5 hours).
Wow! The meat was the most tender ever! And it has spectacular flavor...
Here was our menu:
• Brined Mustard-Savory Ham (home-cured) w/ Gravy
• Scratch-made 3-Cheese Red Potatoes au Gratin
• Mashed Mixed Root Vegetables (3 types if sweet potatoes/yams, rutabagas, turnips, parsnips...)
• Steamed, Sautéed Basil Brussels' Sprouts and Kohlrabi
I accompanied my flavorful meal with a 750ml of Brasserie DuPont Vielle Provision - THE Saison.
Friday, March 29, 2013
Hops 2013
All the signs are pointing to spring here in the PNW!
Last year I repotted my hops into larger pots (fear of commitment keeps mefrom planting them in the ground!). I think this was at least part of the reason for my reduced yield - in 2011, I got several pounds of hops, but not even a pound in 2012, despite adding several new varieties. I am hopeful that I might return to higher yields this year!
When folks (homebrew shops, hop farms) start talking about selling rhizomes each year, I start checking my pots... Two weeks ago, I started to see things other than weeds starting to poke their green heads up! So, this past weekend, I weeded the pots (no small task!), and heaped done fertilizer and compost onto each family of new bines... Some of them were already close to 6" tall and looking to grab onto something!
Tomorrow, the plan is to string my twine. Fifteen feet of fun! By now, all of them should be getting talk enough to train to the twine... A few wraps clockwise will get them headed in the right direction! Depending on just how talk they are, I might also be able to leaf them up a bit as well...
Last year I repotted my hops into larger pots (fear of commitment keeps mefrom planting them in the ground!). I think this was at least part of the reason for my reduced yield - in 2011, I got several pounds of hops, but not even a pound in 2012, despite adding several new varieties. I am hopeful that I might return to higher yields this year!
When folks (homebrew shops, hop farms) start talking about selling rhizomes each year, I start checking my pots... Two weeks ago, I started to see things other than weeds starting to poke their green heads up! So, this past weekend, I weeded the pots (no small task!), and heaped done fertilizer and compost onto each family of new bines... Some of them were already close to 6" tall and looking to grab onto something!
Tomorrow, the plan is to string my twine. Fifteen feet of fun! By now, all of them should be getting talk enough to train to the twine... A few wraps clockwise will get them headed in the right direction! Depending on just how talk they are, I might also be able to leaf them up a bit as well...
Monday, March 25, 2013
Stout Stew
I received several requests for this recipe...
I will start with the unadulterated recipe:
2 T oil
2 large onions, halved then sliced thin
2 c carrots, chopped coarsely
1/2 c celery, chopped (I like to use the inner portion, including the lovage)
2-3 c potatoes, chopped in 1" cubes
4-5 T flour
1/2 t thyme
1/2 t salt or seasoned salt
1 t black pepper, ground
2-3 lb beef (suitable for braising - chuck, brisket, plate, etc.), cubed
2 c (16fl oz) Stout (I use homebrew ;-), but Guiness works great - American Stouts are more hoppy, and don't work quite as well, in my opinion)
2 bay leaves
1 t dried thyme (or 1 T chopped fresh)
This can be done in the oven (325°), in a dutch oven or heavy oven-safe pot, or in the crock pot.
1) Place the flour, thyme, salt, and pepper in a bowl or plastic bag - mix thoroughly. Toss beef cubes to coat. You can save any leftover seasoned flour to thicken the stew if you prefer it that way.
2) Heat oil in a heavy pan. Add onions, carrots, celery, and potatoes and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally until onions clear (about 5 minutes). Remove the veggies with a slotted spoon and place in your crock pot or dutch oven.
3) Add the beef to the sauteing pot and brown over medium-high heat. Remove the meat and add it to the crock pot or dutch oven (sprinkle with that leftover flour if you like a thicker stew).
4) Add the stout, bay leaves, and thyme. Top off with water just to cover the contents of the pot, if necessary. Cover and cook (325° oven for 2 - 2-1/4 hours; crock pot low: 8hrs, medium: 4-6 hours). Season to taste with salt and pepper.
A nice (and traditional Irish pub) touch if you are cooking it in the oven is to top the stew with dumplings (I use a buttermilk biscuit recipe, with added herbs) for the last 30 minutes (you can remove the lid to brown them if you like for the last few minutes).
So, not satisfied with an already excellent recipe, I started experimenting a bit. Lately, I have been using cocoa/ancho chile rubbed brisket in this recipe, and foregoing the browning step (because the brisket is already cooked). The ancho chiles add a subtle note, and the cocoa complements the stout amazingly well! I use the following recipe from Sean Paxton (The Homewbrew Chef):
http://www.homebrewchef.com/SmokedBeefBrisketwithChocolateAnchoRub.html
If you can't smoke this, or don't want to smoke it, you can cook it in a slow oven very nicely as well (this actually works best for the stout stew). I cook it on a broiler pan, or other metal baking pan, at 250° until the internal temperature hits 165°. Sometimes I use a beer brine (http://www.homebrewchef.com/PorkBrineRecipe.html) before doing the rub and smoking/slow roasting... This can be cooked, then frozen for later use. (This recipe works great for pulled pork if you use a small butt and make the stout BBQ sauce!)
I will start with the unadulterated recipe:
2 T oil
2 large onions, halved then sliced thin
2 c carrots, chopped coarsely
1/2 c celery, chopped (I like to use the inner portion, including the lovage)
2-3 c potatoes, chopped in 1" cubes
4-5 T flour
1/2 t thyme
1/2 t salt or seasoned salt
1 t black pepper, ground
2-3 lb beef (suitable for braising - chuck, brisket, plate, etc.), cubed
2 c (16fl oz) Stout (I use homebrew ;-), but Guiness works great - American Stouts are more hoppy, and don't work quite as well, in my opinion)
2 bay leaves
1 t dried thyme (or 1 T chopped fresh)
This can be done in the oven (325°), in a dutch oven or heavy oven-safe pot, or in the crock pot.
1) Place the flour, thyme, salt, and pepper in a bowl or plastic bag - mix thoroughly. Toss beef cubes to coat. You can save any leftover seasoned flour to thicken the stew if you prefer it that way.
2) Heat oil in a heavy pan. Add onions, carrots, celery, and potatoes and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally until onions clear (about 5 minutes). Remove the veggies with a slotted spoon and place in your crock pot or dutch oven.
3) Add the beef to the sauteing pot and brown over medium-high heat. Remove the meat and add it to the crock pot or dutch oven (sprinkle with that leftover flour if you like a thicker stew).
4) Add the stout, bay leaves, and thyme. Top off with water just to cover the contents of the pot, if necessary. Cover and cook (325° oven for 2 - 2-1/4 hours; crock pot low: 8hrs, medium: 4-6 hours). Season to taste with salt and pepper.
A nice (and traditional Irish pub) touch if you are cooking it in the oven is to top the stew with dumplings (I use a buttermilk biscuit recipe, with added herbs) for the last 30 minutes (you can remove the lid to brown them if you like for the last few minutes).
So, not satisfied with an already excellent recipe, I started experimenting a bit. Lately, I have been using cocoa/ancho chile rubbed brisket in this recipe, and foregoing the browning step (because the brisket is already cooked). The ancho chiles add a subtle note, and the cocoa complements the stout amazingly well! I use the following recipe from Sean Paxton (The Homewbrew Chef):
http://www.homebrewchef.com/SmokedBeefBrisketwithChocolateAnchoRub.html
If you can't smoke this, or don't want to smoke it, you can cook it in a slow oven very nicely as well (this actually works best for the stout stew). I cook it on a broiler pan, or other metal baking pan, at 250° until the internal temperature hits 165°. Sometimes I use a beer brine (http://www.homebrewchef.com/PorkBrineRecipe.html) before doing the rub and smoking/slow roasting... This can be cooked, then frozen for later use. (This recipe works great for pulled pork if you use a small butt and make the stout BBQ sauce!)
Monday, October 17, 2011
Brew Day Wrap-Up & 5 Month Update?
Great googly moogly! May 22nd? I just can't seem to maintain any kind of momentum here.
Today was a gloriously beautiful day in the PNW! It was a perfect brew day - we could not have planned it better. Robert arrived just after 10 AM (after doubling back to get his forgotten hops), and we started the day with some cleaning... Wouldn't it be nice if everything was clean when you got started? Yeah, right!
We got going on the brewing fairly quickly though. Robert always gets an early lead and finishes first, because he's still doing extract/steeping partial-boil batches! Today was no different - he already hit flame-out before I even finished my single infusion mash. Plus, I am always multi-tasking here at the house: doing something for my kids, or my wife, or cooking lunch...
He brewed up a batch of American Stout... Once his primary is done, he's going to rack it onto about 5 lbs of blackberries. I've never had a Blackberry Stout, but the LHBS owner says it's a great recipe. In a similar vein, I brewed up a batch-and-a-half of Dry Stout; I'll end up with 5 gallons of Dry Stout and about 3 gallons of Cranberry Stout. There was no collaboration in advance, and yet we still somehow ended up at fruit beers - both Stouts, no less!
I had a substantial amount of 2nd generation Wyeast 1028 (London Ale), so I split it up for our batches and got it reactivated with a bit of starter wort before the brew session. It is always confidence-inspiring to have a good-sized pitch of active, healthy yeast that get things off and running right off the bat! This yeast really gets mixed reviews on various forums, but I've always had good luck with it. But I always use Jamil's yeast pitching rate calculator and either pitch multiple packs/vials or do a starter.
The last 5 brewing months in review:
June: Hops were growing like crazy - I had to weld up some additional supports to keep them from pulling my cross-wire down. No brewing. Bummer.
July: Hops threatening to take over the garden - wife threatening to hack away at the hops (Something about having them winding their way into the corn?). Brewed up two batches of beer right at the end of the month for a leadership retreat: an Amber and an American Pale. Both were well-received, but folks were drinking very conservatively (it was late in the day and a short BBQ - everybody was playing it safe!), so despite having about 20 folks, we only put a small dent in the beer (more for later anyway!).
August: 2 kegs of beer delivered to leadership retreat... Brewed a quick batch of extract English Pale. Began monitoring my hops very closely in anticipation of the upcoming harvest!
September: No brewing, some cleaning around the "brewery". Began harvesting the first of my hops. The first few varieties ready were the weaker producers - a bit of a disappointing yield on my Cascades and Horizons (right around an ounce each of dried hops); looking at the others, I had to take comfort in the fact that they were faring better. The Chinooks did a little better, and I ended up with several ounces of dried hops.
October: Finished up the hop harvest/drying... Ended up with about 1/2 pound of Fuggles. I gave up trying to separate the Glaciers and Nuggets which had decided on near-symbiosis, and I just harvested them all together; this was the big haul - over a pound of dried hops in this batch! In fact, I had so many, I had to switch from a window screen to a sliding door screen to get these dried! And I brewed today!
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Non-Brewing Tasks
I wish I was brewing. But I need to recapture some fermentation space... I've got 15 gallons fermenting in the beer closet under the stairs, and another 5 going in the garage. I could easily fit a couple more carboys into either place (hybrids in the garage or ales in the house), or it would be nice to get a lager started.
Which brings me to the less fun non-brewing tasks related to making beer. There is always something to work on. Cleaning, organizing, racking, bottling, inventorying... I have delayed racking my finished beers (5 gal of Double/Imperial Red and 5 gal of Northern English Brown) because my kegs are not cleaned and sanitized. And I have delayed brewing my first lawnmower lager, because my new beer fridge had not been cleaned since I brought it home and my keezer needed a little interior wipe-down and reorganization.
So, instead of brewing more beer, this weekend was dedicated to some of those tasks that would enable me to brew more beer. Six 5 gallon kegs (and one more that is used for my kids' root beer). All in various stages of uncleanliness, ranging from absolutely filthy with god-knows-what dregs in the bottom to empty and rinsed but not really clean. I broke out the OxyClean, filled up a 40 qt cooler, and got to work. A couple of hours of elbow grease, and they were as shiny and clean as they were going to get!
Given the state of the kegs, I knew the beer lines were going to be a total loss, so I cut all the tubing off and threw it away. I scrubbed, then boiled all of the fittings (the beer-out connectors, the cobra taps) to make sure they were clean. Then I refitted them all with fresh new beer line in anticipation of new beer!
I also figured it was about time to press my new beer fridge into service... I got it a few weeks ago, and it is still not in use. I did clean out the freezer part right away, but then abandoned the project for other priorities. My wife would really like my hops out of the house freezer to make room for more food and she would really prefer if my yeast was stored someplace else as well. And it might actually be more my own fault when it comes to the yeast - I am really picky about what gets put into that refrigerator: nothing to smelly, nothing too hot, etc. (gotta take care of my yeast!).
My wife pitched in and helped me on the fridge cleaning (see what I mean?). The inside looks super, but there's not much we could do about the neglect on the outside. Maybe it is destined for a custom paint job? It's all plugged in and cooling down in anticipation of the goods!
Which brings me to the less fun non-brewing tasks related to making beer. There is always something to work on. Cleaning, organizing, racking, bottling, inventorying... I have delayed racking my finished beers (5 gal of Double/Imperial Red and 5 gal of Northern English Brown) because my kegs are not cleaned and sanitized. And I have delayed brewing my first lawnmower lager, because my new beer fridge had not been cleaned since I brought it home and my keezer needed a little interior wipe-down and reorganization.
So, instead of brewing more beer, this weekend was dedicated to some of those tasks that would enable me to brew more beer. Six 5 gallon kegs (and one more that is used for my kids' root beer). All in various stages of uncleanliness, ranging from absolutely filthy with god-knows-what dregs in the bottom to empty and rinsed but not really clean. I broke out the OxyClean, filled up a 40 qt cooler, and got to work. A couple of hours of elbow grease, and they were as shiny and clean as they were going to get!
Given the state of the kegs, I knew the beer lines were going to be a total loss, so I cut all the tubing off and threw it away. I scrubbed, then boiled all of the fittings (the beer-out connectors, the cobra taps) to make sure they were clean. Then I refitted them all with fresh new beer line in anticipation of new beer!
I also figured it was about time to press my new beer fridge into service... I got it a few weeks ago, and it is still not in use. I did clean out the freezer part right away, but then abandoned the project for other priorities. My wife would really like my hops out of the house freezer to make room for more food and she would really prefer if my yeast was stored someplace else as well. And it might actually be more my own fault when it comes to the yeast - I am really picky about what gets put into that refrigerator: nothing to smelly, nothing too hot, etc. (gotta take care of my yeast!).
My wife pitched in and helped me on the fridge cleaning (see what I mean?). The inside looks super, but there's not much we could do about the neglect on the outside. Maybe it is destined for a custom paint job? It's all plugged in and cooling down in anticipation of the goods!
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Planning Another Big Brew
I had a great time in April brewing with my Guard buddies; it really rekindled my brewing bug. I've been fairly active with beer-related stuff even when I haven't been brewing (but I have brewed 20 gallons in about 4 weeks time).
At drill this weekend, I pushed folks to get another brew date on the calendar. I knew that Kris needed to brew at least another 5 gallons for a wedding in July, so it was just a matter of 'when', not 'if'. We're going to shoot for either Memorial Day weekend or the weekend after drill (mid-June). Confirming that it was actually going to happen, the wheels started turning...
Kris told me that he was planning on brewing another batch of Bill's Citra Special IPA (www.olybrew.com). He brewed a batch about a year-and-a-half ago, and it was stellar. In fact, last spring when Black IPAs/Cascadian Dark Ales were getting a lot of press (and I was drinking a lot of different BIPAs), I began to think about how I would formulate my own Black IPA recipe. This recipe was the first one I thought of as a likely candidate: clean malt profile with a dry finish, and a bright hop character. What better way to contrast the darkness and tiniest hint of roast?
Also, Kris had inquired about brewing 10 gallons instead of 5, so that he could share one keg at the wedding and keep one for himself. Which is also great for me and the rest of our rag-tag brewing group, because that means we'll actually get some. It was then that it hit me - he could brew the Citra Special, and I could brew the Dark Side Citra! Then everybody could do the side-by-side, comparing the original recipe with my style-modified version of the same beer.
I guess I should start working on the recipe. This will have to be a pretty big yeast starter - 15 gallons at around 1.070 OG!
At drill this weekend, I pushed folks to get another brew date on the calendar. I knew that Kris needed to brew at least another 5 gallons for a wedding in July, so it was just a matter of 'when', not 'if'. We're going to shoot for either Memorial Day weekend or the weekend after drill (mid-June). Confirming that it was actually going to happen, the wheels started turning...
Kris told me that he was planning on brewing another batch of Bill's Citra Special IPA (www.olybrew.com). He brewed a batch about a year-and-a-half ago, and it was stellar. In fact, last spring when Black IPAs/Cascadian Dark Ales were getting a lot of press (and I was drinking a lot of different BIPAs), I began to think about how I would formulate my own Black IPA recipe. This recipe was the first one I thought of as a likely candidate: clean malt profile with a dry finish, and a bright hop character. What better way to contrast the darkness and tiniest hint of roast?
Also, Kris had inquired about brewing 10 gallons instead of 5, so that he could share one keg at the wedding and keep one for himself. Which is also great for me and the rest of our rag-tag brewing group, because that means we'll actually get some. It was then that it hit me - he could brew the Citra Special, and I could brew the Dark Side Citra! Then everybody could do the side-by-side, comparing the original recipe with my style-modified version of the same beer.
I guess I should start working on the recipe. This will have to be a pretty big yeast starter - 15 gallons at around 1.070 OG!
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