Recent Beers

Some of the recent beers I drank this week.

Tollymore Woods Vanilla Porter as your tour guide

This beer takes you on a walk through a forest of moss covered oaks, Sitting at the northern most foot of the Mourne Mountains.  The appearance of the beer is dark as the bark on one of the damp old growth oak trees, with it's off white to brown head arching it's way over the beer as the cobble stone bridges do over the Shimna River.   In the distance there is a smell of someone baking a sweet vanilla bread over a wood fire, roasty yet sweet.  You can't tell if that's the smell of the air or the smell of the beer, all you know is it smells so good. You take a sip of the beer and go a little further in to the woods, you taste roasted chocolate malt, burnt black malt, that is all mellowed by vanilla, with a finish that is smooth and clean. The beer felt and tasted so good in your mouth that you sip a little more and the forest is so beautiful you walk a little more. All the sudden you are out of the woods and you are out of beer. The forest you just walked through was Tollymore Forest Park of Northern Ireland and your tour guide was my home brew Tollymore Woods a Vanilla Porter.

Brew today, See you tomorrow.

 

A day of bottling

People of Beerville today I am bottling up my Vanilla Porter. I added in my last addition of Bourbon Vanilla in to the priming sugar for bottle conditioning. My wife and I took one last taste of the beer before bottling it and  it was GOOD. I can't wait till it is carbed  up and ready to drink.

Brew Today, See you tomorrow.

Brewing with the Catholic Church

The miracle of beer.

Monk with Beer Mug (Eduard Grutzner)

          Lets go to the Middle Ages of Europe and talk about beer. In the Middle Ages Beer was looked at as a miracle. People would mix their ingredients (brewing) and it would just turn in to beer. That is a miracle because in that time water was not safe. Even in some of the towns the water was pure poisonous. But brewing beer with it would almost purify it and the alcohol would kill most of the germs and bacteria. In that time they did not know about yeast eating the sugars and making alcohol yet, so when a brew came out right it was Divine Intervention. On the other hand when it came out bad it was Demonic Intervention.

The Catholic Church comes in to play here. In order to have a consistent good brew the people would turn to the Catholic Church. They would hang a Crucifix in their brew house or a six-pointed star or the sign of Solomon. These icons would help protect their beer from any demons.

Priest were often called to bless kettles of brew and often you would give the priest 3 pints of safe drinking beer for coming to bless your brew.    

St. Arnold the patron saint of Belgian brewers played a large roll in beer history. He earned his saint hood because of beer. His beer was able to heal the peasants from their sickness caused by the water. He would encourage them to  drink his beer he brewed at the abbey instead of the local water.  His beer was said to have the gift of health.

To this day breweries in Belgium will still have a Crucifix or a statue of St Arnold in their brew house.

The Blessing of Beer.

V. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
R. Who made heaven and earth.

V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with thy spirit.

Let us pray.

Bless, + O Lord, this creature beer, which thou hast deigned to produce from the fat of grain: that it may be a salutary remedy to the human race, and grant through the invocation of thy holy name; that, whoever shall drink it, may gain health in body and peace in soul. Through Christ our Lord.

R. Amen.

Brew today, See you tomorrow.

     

The brewer, The baker and the conversation maker

The brewer, The baker and the conversation maker

A few weeks ago I wanted to bake some bread.  I had just finished brewing my Beoir dorcha le blas vanilla porter, so I had a lot of spent grain leftover. So I thought, I have heard of people using spent grain in bread and I wanted to do it too.  I wanted to use this malt from the time I was mashing in with it because of its smell, Black Paten and Chocolate malt being so dark and roasty.  Just great for bread.  

WOW. The bread was really good 

Spent Malt Grain Bread Recipe 

1 cup warm water                  
4 Tbsp sugar                        
2 cups spent grains              
1 Tbsp salt                          
2 Tbsp oil (I used coconut oil)

3 - 3.5 cups bread flour           

1 pack of bread yeast             

       

1. Combine warm water with sugar and yeast and let sit till the yeast is dehydrated.
2. Add salt, oil, grains and 1 cup flour and mix well. 
3. Slowly mix in the rest of the flour.
4. Mix till you have a dough ball.
5. Flour your counter top and knead dough well.
6. Cover dough.
7. Let dough rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
8. Punch dough down and shape in to loaf.
9. Cover dough and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled.
10. Bake at 425 degrees F for 20 min then reduce heat to 375 degrees F for 10
11. Eat you AWESOME bread.

Brew today, See you tomorrow.

      

beoir dorcha le blas

Today I transferred my Vanilla Porter to secondary. This is the beer I blogged about in The unnamed one stout porter and now it has been named beoir dorcha le blas. 

Beoir dorcha le blas
Vanilla Porter
O.G. 1.058
F.G. 1.022 (could still drop a little)
ABV 4.7

Want some cake?

Wyeast 1084 yeast cake.

Brew today, See you tomorrow.

The Unnamed One. Stout Porter.

Take a step back in time with me. Imagine we are in Ireland in the late 1700's and we want a dark strong beer. All the street and river porters are drinking these amazing looking beers. We ask one man what he is drinking and he says " Oh this is a Porter".

 So today I will brew a Stout Porter.  I used European grains  with the addition of Flaked Oats.  I did "Mericaize" it.  I use American Hops, Mount Hood pellet and Centennial whole leaf. 

Brew today, See you tomorrow.

Quick History of Stouts and Porters

Come sit down and let me tell you a story

Originally back in my day a man who walked tall and protected his family, we called a stout man. Now back then the word Stout meant brave or proud.  Around the start of the 14th century the word stout transitioned to mean strong, but was not used in referring to beer till 1677. Written in Egertons 1677 manuscript he wrote about a strong beer, calling it a stout beer.  The expression stout porter was first applied in the 18th century, just meaning a strong porter. Later in 1820 Guinness used the term stout porter.

Now going back to the 1720's in London there was this brown beer that was real popular with the street and river Porters. Being so popular with the Porters, the beer got the name porter.  This beer had a strong flavor and took longer to spoil.  The beer would increase in alcohol as it aged and was one of the first beers that was aged at the brewery and shipped to pubs ready to drink.   In 1776 porters began to be brewed in Ireland. These porters were stronger in flavor. Shortly after  that in 1780 Guinness started brewing porters. .



Sit back down, this story is almost over.


  We are going to go back to modern times. In my young adult adventures in the 19th century I saw stouts and porters go from being brown beer to dark brown to black beer. This change in color was due to the introduction of Black Patent malt to the beer.

Moving to modern day. Are you still with me?....... Okay good. Now in the 21st century you can step in to your local tap house and order a porter and get a dark strong tasting beer, not always strong on alcohol but strong on flavor.  Or you can order a stout and get a even stronger tasting beer that will run most of the time stronger on alcohol than a porter.



Brew today, See you tomorrow


        

Down the Rabbit-Hole We Go

                 Oh my ears and whiskers! The White Rabbit.

Today I visited a brewery right in my home town, White Rabbit Brewery. 

White Rabbit Brewing Company

219 Fish Drive

Angier, NC 27501

(919) 527-2739 (BREW)

They invited me over to help them brew and they would pay me too! Pay me in Beer! That's like taking a kid to a candy store and letting them try all the candy.

'Who are you?' said the Caterpillar.


White Rabbit Brewing Company is a brewery that bases all their beers on the book "Alice's Adventures In Wonderland." . All their beers names come from the book, like: Tea Party Porter, Dunkin Dormouse Octoberfest, Cheshires Pumpkin Ale, Jabberwocky Tripel, and Drink Me Cream Ale just to name a few.
 

“Begin at the beginning," the King said, very gravely, "and go on till you come to the end: then stop.”  Lewis Carroll

I had a chance to talk with Owner and Brewmaster Kenneth Ostraco while I drank one of their Tea Party Porters, Which was amazing.  It being a Vanilla Bourbon Porter, It was strong on vanilla and bourbon flavor in the best way possible. But to focus on the quote above, Kenneth told me the brewery's story from the beginning to where he is looking to go with it in the future. He started off like most all other Masterbrewers, As a home brewer. White Rabbit has a nice size space with a tap house in the front and the brew house in the back.  The tap house has eight beers on tap at any given time and the brew houses air is full of malt and hops about twice a week.  Kenneth went on to tell me he is right where he wants to be. He has a good clientele and a list of clients waiting for beer. From our conversation, it appears that Kenneth didn't want his brewery to be like fire works, shoot to the top and fizzle out. " I want to take small steps and stick to my grassroots" said Kenneth.  He had told me he has had some big offers to help him go full size and become a full size brewery.  He went on to say "I do not want to jump into the deep end and have someone hand me two cinder blocks and see how long I can tread water".

   

 





I'm late / I'm late / For a very important date. / No time to say "Hello, Goodbye". / I'm late, I'm late, I'm late. The White Rabbit


Time to start Brewing.  We brewed three barrels of beer. Gryphon’s California Common, Rabbit's Nutbrown Ale and Pale in the Park.  Good times hanging out with Kenneth from White Rabbit and Adam from Homesteaders Brew Supply.

Brew today, See you tomorrow

Better Late than Never

Friday was Bottling day

The second best part of brewing, Bottling day. The first being the day you crack one open and drink it. I bottled up all of my 1610 Brown Ale. I primed the beer for bottling with honey. Now the honey should not play any part in the final flavor of the beer, Due to the yeast eating it all up. Yeast loves honey. I use a ratio of 3 TBSP of honey per gallon of brew. Hopefully it turns out good. One of my brewing friends told me it will turn out carbonated like Pepsi. But that's what I am here to find out.  Put weird stuff in your beer and see what happens.    

Here is one of the best things you can invest in for bottling. Its a spring loaded bottle filler. When you push the filler down to the bottom of the bottle and push down the spring is compressed and allows  the beer to flow and when you lift it up it stops the flow. When you pull the filler out of the bottle it leaves just the right amount of head space for the carbonation.  
Bottles all filled and done, Ready to sit for two weeks, If I can wait that long.

I even Filled up one of my Aviator Brewery growler. Can't wait to drink it and share with my friends and family. Because that's what brewing is all about.                                                                                        





































Brew today, See you Tomorrow

Give me one of those Hop Candies!

I went in to my local brew supply shop Homesteaders Brew Supply to get a few things (Star san and a bottle filler).  If you did not know today was my Bottling day. I know f***ing awesome. My 1610 Brown Ale is now bottled and conditioning, But I will do a follow up blog on that later.


Anyway, To todays topic. I was in the brew shop talking to the owner about recipes when candy caught my eye.  It was Hop candy, Made with real hop oils. The company that makes them is B Hoppy Candys. They have a few hop flavors , Like Cascade, Nugget, and East Kent Goldings.  As I was looking at them I asked him if they are any good. He reached under the counter and pulled out 4 or 5 sandwich bags with smaller sample pieces and said try them. So I did and WOW  I don't know which one I tried first but it was very hoppy but good.  If you like IPAs then you will like this candy.

B Hoppy Candies

They come in bigger pieces than what is in the picture. This is some sample pieces that I took home and I broke in to smaller chunks so my wife and kids could try. Lets just say they were not the biggest fans.  My three year old said in his words " its Buscusting". Ha ha I think they are an acquired taste that I have acquired.




In the picture Below is the packaging they come in.

Photo from Northern Brewer
http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/cascade-hop-candy-4-oz.html

Brew today, See you tomorrow

Brewers Yeast Bread

Last night I got a little crazy. I baked bread. Not just any old bread.  It was Brewers Yeast Bread.  I had some US- 05 yeast I had harvest from my Brown Ale that I needed to use, But I did not want to use it in another brew.  US- 05 coming from a dry yeast pack, So if I want to use it in another beer I will just buy another pack of it. That being said I still did not want this yeast to go to waste. So what was I to do but make bread.

Look how much it rose. Brewers yeast being slow growing, I had to add a little Bakers yeast. It came out to be around 1/3 bakers yeast and 2/3 Brewers yeast.

Tasting Notes

It smelled like yeasty bread.
It had a slight taste of beer, I think it came from the brewers yeast.
It was very good.

In the first  minute nothing but crumbs were left.


Recipe
Brewers yeast Bread


1 Cup warm water
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tbsp Bakes yeast
2 Tbsp liquid brewers yeast
3/4 Tsp salt
1/8 oil ( I used butter)
3 cups of flour

1. Mix water, sugar and and yeast in large bowl.  Allow the yeast to proof till it resembles a creamy foam.
2. Mix salt and oil in to yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time.
3.  Knead dough in a lightly floured surface until smooth. 
4. Place dough in a well oiled bowl and cover with a warm damp cloth.  Allow dough to rise until doubled in bulk, Around 1 hour.
5. Place dough in a small oiled loaf pan 
6. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes

Brew today, See you tomorrow

Yeast Harvesting Time.

How to harvest your yeast and wash it.

After you have either  racked all your beer in to secondary or bottles you can harvest your yeast.  

Okay, you say you just did that. Well look at the bottom of your carboy or bucket. You see all the leftover stuff down there. That is your trub and dormant yeast. You want the yeast, Not the trub. So we have to wash it.

How do you wash yeast?

Here are the steps to follow to harvest and wash your Yeast.

1. Get a pot of water boiling and put some Mason jars in it.
2. After a good boil (10 to 15 minutes) allow the water to cool.
3. Take the cooled water and pour 2 mason jars worth of water in to the fermenter with the yeast trub cake.
4. Take your fermenter and swirl it around until well mixed.
5. Let the liquid settle for 20 minutes.
6. Drain liquid in to clean boiled jars.
7. Let the jars settle ( put in to the refrigerator to speed up settling.)
8. Pour in just the top two layers in to a new jar. Leave the thick grayish brown stuff in old jar.(It's just trub.)
9. In new jar with what you just poured add around one cup of the boiled water (cooled) and swirl to mix.
10. Let the jar settle again and you will have good yeast to use.

Here is what I got from my last brew.

   What you see is. The top is the wash water, then there is a nice layer of white yeast and the rest is a mix of yeast and trub.

Good luck to you in your harvesting.

Brew today, See you tomorrow.