Vote for Homebrewer of the Year

When you are voting no one peeks at your ballot. Yet, everyone wants to know what's going into your home brew. Given the freedom of information act our 44th President was asked the same question. What are you home brewing? Later the Obama Administration released two beer recipes a Honey Ale and a Honey Porter.

Homebrewers around the country are now brewing versions of these White House Ales. As a home brewer myself it's nice to see the president brewing. Now that it's election day I wonder who I would cast as Home Brewer of the Year. The Obama administration is on the ballot but after spending National Learn to Homebrew Day brewing & teaching answering questions; I see people are missing the details.


I answered questions new brewers have when thinking of all grain brewing. What kind of equipment is needed? What temperature should I mash at? Those questions were easy: hold the mash at 150F for 60 minutes in a large pot, pull out the bag of grains, boil with hops for 60 minutes then cool with a chiller. The equipment needed is dependent on the batch size, and brewing process. Noone asked about fermentation, yeast pitch control, or aging.

People peeked into the kettles searching for a recipe. I was brewing an American Stout. Not one person asked how the sweet wort would transform into beer. We chatted brewing politics about malts & hops forgetting how it would convert. My plan was to work with Scottish ale yeast for its esters and residual sweetness. I would ferment hoping that the hop additions would pair nicely with malt. If all went well the batch would yield a well hopped American Stout with an foreign export quality. The brewday ended with me questioning other brewers. I was looking for ways to speed up my process. Cooling, cleanup, and transferring take more time than necessary. I am thinking the next upgrade will be a heat safe pump for mash vorlauf and whirlpool cooling.

BTW, I received a care package containing a t-shirt and two sour brews. I am looking forward to using yeast from the House Saison. SSF, Thank You! +1 Homebrewer of the Year Nominee

One for me -1. 4. U

A great host can make the most of any situation and make you feel comfortable with little effort. This style of service is returning to Dallas in the form of a little brewery that could.

This Labor Day weekend I had the opportunity to visit with Brewmaster Drew of Deep Ellum Brewing Company (DEBC) in Downtown Dallas. The invitation was somewhat open but somehow I was to bring home brewed beer to this glorious event. Members of North Texas Homebrewers Association (NTHBA) were invited to the Labor of Love Fest of Ales sponsored by the brewery. The catch was your home made beer would be poured alongside commercial craft beer. In return for our effort Deep Ellum supplied base malts and Bravo hops so we may brew again.



The best seat in the house was offered up to club members in a measure unheard of. We could spend the day touring the brewery while also attaining valuable feedback from consumers & established brewers about our beers. I had prepared the American Pale Ale assigned to tap #4. It's name was "Continuous Confidence". The batch was freshly brewed three weeks prior using Deep Ellum's malts and hops. The challenge for me was to prepare a less than hoppy beer agreeable to hop lovers. The Bravo hop is a newish (second generation) supper hop. At four times the Alpha Acids than traditional hops Bravo can be described as pungent. For me its profile was a complete palette killer with spicy flavor and floral aroma. I wanted to tame this by presenting a balanced beer. I would use 1 ounce of the hot side and finish the beer with 2 ounces of the hops on the cold side. I wanted less bittering and less lupulin extraction. The hop schedule seemed wasteful. I'd leave much oils and resinous powder behind dry hopping cold but I also wanted to produce a beer I could drink if nobody else would.

I arrived with two beers. The other was an Imperial Southern Brown from my efforts with Team GBU. OG offered his reserve knowing I was running low on beer. The imperial was more my kind of beer. Hop balanced with enough malt to know quality and selection. The beer was not imperial in the sense of ABV at 5.2% it was only fuller than your typical brown ale. It was served from a jokey box alongside JB's Black IPA. We had fun with comparing hops to malt. I left with empty kegs nonetheless. Once things slowed down I was able to catch Deep Ellum Brewmaster Drew Huerter for a private pour. Direct from the fermentation tanks Drew served an exceptional Rocktoberfest. The beer is an Oktoberfest brewed with rye. I left for the night inspired.

BrewRiot 2012

This year I had the opportunity to server at Brew Riot 2012. I heard about neighborhood beerfest from fellow homebrewers. All of which were preparing beers for competitive donation. The preface was homebrewers and pro-brewers battling for bragging rights. The event benefits Dallas' revitalization of the Bishops Art's District. Divided into two sections everyone has a vote. The formal panel of judges selected winning entries based on beer style while the people's choice award is cast by marble. The team collecting the most marbles wins. The challenge for each team is to offer a wide varying of great beer.

This year I served beer with team Homebrew Headquaters. The decision to join was by happenstance. I was chatting with the team lead who happened to need some help. We decided my Wild & Bretted Bier De Garde would go well with their collection of fresh beer.

Preky Porter: Coffee Porter
White Summer: Witbier
BlackmanBrew: Bier De Garde
AHT: Pale Ale
Agent Orange: Soda Pop
Nice Pear: Pear Cider

Wednesday to Sunday was enough time prep the keg. I needed to crash it as much as possible then jumper for transportation. Onto the keg lees I racked a blended saison that tuned out peppery and malty. In the coming months the base beer should present a considerable amount of fermented hay with a balanced sour.

A brettanomyces beer with wild yeast is not for everyone. While serving people had love and hate responses. Wine drinkers were partially interested while farmhouse analysts slowly lost their marbles. I noticed the beer had less earth in the nose post crashing. The finish was smoother as well; however lower carbonation and more malt.

I spent the day behind the booth serving others with short trips to the Atticus Fonzworth Brewing behind us. They were serving an Extra Foreign Stout which caught my attention. My first pour of the day was a Jack Daniels barrel aged Triple by the Dallas Brewing Company. What a treat. I'm glad I had it early otherwise the delicate Belgian profile would be lost. I visited Dallas Home Brew for two pours of loving a 25% Rye Sasion and German Alt. Hats off to the rye it was just shy of sticky on the palette. There was one other booth visited but I'd fail to say I've forgotten.

Press Links:
http://sidedish.dmagazine.com/2012/05/21/beer-photos-brew-riot-2012-in-the-bishop-arts-district/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/brewriot/

Benevolent Offerings

A benevolent offering is usually collected specifically for those in need seeking assistance from the church. In this case The Church of Hi-Fi Audio Saints has shown benelovence for my 2012 series of homebrewed beers. The audio church is an assembly of do-it-yourself audio junkies who gather once a year in Dallas to showcase their creations. The event is open to storefront vendors and commercial audio as well.

I am family with the DIY crowd and so it made sense to offer handcrafted homebrewed beer in celebration of exotic audio. I had prepared a Trappist Rye, an aged Porter, and a Nutty Brown ale. The very promising Trappist Rye was youngest of the bunch. Brewed one month prior it's moderate Belgian phenols and rye spicy presence would be best in the coming months. The ale was force carbonated on-site while on lookers snapped photos of the keg shaking. The nutty brown was a hit for all who wanted an easy drinking beer. The porter was 9.6% ABV with a sneaky dark lightly roasted profile. Of the many who sampled I was glad to be in the company of highly capable geeks who happened to enjoy my offerings.  Thanks for your loving support!

Stuck Mash

A white-pasty-oatmeal-mucus brought my brewday to a halt. It formed under the false bottom during the mash. Attempts to clear the dip tube by piping, pumping, flushing, and forced air were to no avail. The entire grist was transferred to a secondary mash tun. Thus adding an additional hour to my all grain brewing process. With a willingness to "wing it" I had a wort which could also double as Maibock and a starter for a complex farmhouse Saison. I had every intention to produce a flawless styled Saison. After the transfer I forged ahead boiling and cooling. The brew a Farmhouse Specialty ale is currently fermenting.

The brewday also marked my anniversary as a home brewer to celebrate I pulled a gift from SSF of OverCarbed.com. The Local Mead was created one year prior. Therefore fitting the occasion. I recovered from an extended brewday with this craft honey wine.

The pour presented as a still cloudy blond with sweet aroma. Escaping with the aroma the was warm yeast with floral notes. The finish was dry with a touch of wild flower. I liked its mouth feel coating and sweet. Unlike malt honey is lighter on the tongue. I had found inspiration to brew its rival thus ending the brewday on a good note.

Acquired Sour

When I found out brewmaster SF had bottled his Funky Saison I wondered how it turned out. The beer had spent six months developing a sour earthiness. Being a Belgian styled beer brewed for the working class saisons can be fermented with strange things. SF had pitched a wild collection of yeast into the Saison in true farmhouse fashion. I was given the Saison and a Trappist Weisse. Once home the bottles stopped for a brief photo shoot and were chilled for sharing.

I had mentioned SF’s brewing practices to my brewpals before this time they could share my excitement. We served the Saison first. Unknowing to them the brew was decidedly sour. The malt sweetness had taken a back seat. The hop bittering pushed aside. What remained as tart forward with an earthy lemon grass complexity.

In silence I wondered if the Funky Saison was more sun-kissed than I could appreciate. I finished my pour and another. I had experienced sour by new measure.

My brewpals found reason to expect the unexpected as we poured the Trappist-Weisse. SF had crafted the second beer for a more agreeable palette. He wanted something refreshing not-bitter, not-sour. In brewing terms this is session beer an easy-drinking-malt-forward-brew. Session beers are also low-gravity-low-alcohol. SF had brewed a wheat beer using trappist yeast. I could see the correlation —a moderate gravity beer with sophistication. Confidence was returning as we poured more. Finishing both bottles we had spent the day brewing beer and drinking homebrew.

The next day I set out to find a sour beer on tap. I noticed the saison was sour forward and I needed a quick lesson in sours before reporting back to SF. I found Petrus Aged Pale Ale on tap however sour it was malt forward nothing like the saison. I queried SF for a lesson in sour beer. He assures the saison is a rarity and sours an acquired taste. I left with list of beers to try. I placed the saision bottle dregs aside for future use. I have since cultured the trappist bottle dregs. SF offered the recipe. It’s been converted for my own brew house efficiency.

SF’s Trappist-Weisse Beer: 5.5 Gallons OG 1.055 12 IBUs
7.75 lbs White Wheat
4.25 lbs Pilsner
0.75 lbs Rice Hulls

90 Minute Infusion Mashing:
6.5 gal Strike at 160°F
Batch Sparge:
3 gal at 170°F

Boiling:
60 Minute Boil
45 Minute Hops
0.75oz Hallertau
15 Minute Hops
0.25oz Hallertau