Focusing on 8 and only 8 beers... and some sours...

So we have made a decision as a team.  A monumental decision to focus on 8 beers.   We want to perfect these 8 recipes.  We want them to be competition worthy and commercial quality. And with two of our team members about to have babies, we will be brewing less often, and brewing larger batches. 10 and 15 gallons each time. But sports fans have no fear, Mark Anthony and I will still be making sours, and other test and crazy batches (hoptonite, a heady topper clone, etc).   But the team will be reducing brewing to about 1.5 x a month.  So, Ill be brewing a lot on my own as well.  For the most part I will be brewing 1.5 gallon test batches of our chosen 8.  

Here are the 8 beers we are really going to focus on.  We invite you all to brew along with us.  If we work together we can really make some great recipes.  We will begin this quest, after we make a pumpkin ale from the great people at Northern Brewer and a milk stout to sustain us through the winter (the left hand of fate).

The recipes will be posted on the right hand side of the blog near the top... under Hoptonite.

Desir et la Nuit -  Belgian tripel.  Our triple based originally on La fin du Monde.  My personal favorite beer.   Trying to find a better attenuating Abbey yeast.  The last batch was just a little too sweet. And I think we're going to up the spices a bit.   The beer is currently made to our liking, but not to BJCP standard, to get it to standard, we have to make it attenuate more completely. We also need more spice notes from the yeast, so we will be extending our acid rest.  The current plan is to use T58 and WB06 as the yeasts for this beer. WB06 is technically a wheat beer yeast, but it offers excellent attenuation and produces great esters. This will be a fascinating one for you all to keep up with as we are staggering the yeast additions.  I think this will do the trick.  I have seen on forums that people are using this yeast for La Fin clones, so I think we'd better try it.   We may also just break down and buy some Wyeast Canadian Abbey yeast. 

Allegement - this is our raspberry flavored Belgian blonde. I don't want to change anything about this beer. It's truly amazing.  We just need to find time to brew it more often.  This beer should be renamed MILF slayer.  Every woman who has tried it has loved it.  So if your SWMBO doesn't really like craft beer... this is the one to make. But be warned, you'll have to make it again and again. 

Ein Heldenleben - Munich Helles.  Triple decocted Helles.  It makes for a long brew day, but it is so woth it.  When we originally made this beer John was on the disabled list due to a torn Achilles (but he did manage to eat 10 lbs of pilsner like pop corn)  So his lovely bride Beth stepped up and we powered through the brew day. What we produced is technically the best beer we have made a nearly perfect example of the style.  If you can not lager, you can not make this beer.  Ale versions are just not the same.   

L'humble Moine - the Humble monk -  An abbey single.   This beer was an accident.  Mark Anthony and I were making a session-able Czech pilsner... and I accidentally pitched some washed abbey yeast I had on hand. The result was a beer that we all love.  We originally though of this beer as a Belgian blonde... then we came to learn more about the patersbier style.    It is a delicious entry level Belgian beer.  An easy drinker, and it never lasts long.   We have read recently that some patersbier recipes feature cinnamon and mace, or cinnamon and coriander.  So we'll experiment with that too. 

Saison de Pipaix clone -  This beer needs a name.  This beer is inspired by the last steam powered brewery in the world. Brasserie a Vapeur in Pipaix Belgium.  It is a spiced, orange colored Saison, and it is delicious.   We want the color to more closely match the deep burnished gold almost orange color of the original. This is the kind of Saison that makes your beer loving friends, who have only tried DuPont, Henepin, and Tank 7, take heed and show respect for your brewing mastery.

C4 pale ale -  Hey, sometimes you need something hoppy.  And we have certainly made more than our fair share of hoppy beers.  So very many... (and 15 more gallons recently)  This one will never be to BJCP standards, but we think it has huge potential.  We all felt like it could use a little more up front bitterness, and a bit more color.   An odd thing about this beer is that it actually tasted better in the bottle at about 6 -8 weeks than when it was fresh.  So we have work to do on our hop schedule and on our water chemistry.  Yummy delicious work to do.  

Belgian dark strong ale -  I have decided that we are the holy brotherhood of de abdij van cerise.  I'm not sure that the monks of St Sixtusabdij van Westvleteren make as much Belgian beer as we do.  We love abbey beers.  And we love BDSA.   I have been making this recipe since the dawn of home brew.   Our most recent batch is too approachable, this beer is for beer lovers not sorority girls. It is not nearly spicy enough but in fairness it is still delicious. So 5 of the 10 gallons is getting hit with Bourbon soaked oak chips and bourbon soaked cherries.  Hey why not?  Everything else gets this treatment.  And the next batch we will extend the acid rest to produce more ferulic acid and therefore more "phenolic" spice.  But other than that this beer is good to go.  A tried and true winner.

A Clean, clear cream ale!

Big John's Cream Ale -   Listen to me round eye.   You have to make Cream Ale.   It keeps your processes sharp, and it is delicious and easy drinking.  Your friends who don't like craft beer will still love this beer.  It is my house ale.  I have a friend who only drinks Miller Lite who will drink 2 or three of these every time he shows up.   John's recipe is an improvement on the recent 3 grains craze. John adds not only flaked corn but also flaked barley, which gives it more mouth feel, more "grain" taste, and better head retention.   An excellent beer.  I am always excited when I find a couple of these in storage.  I just found 6 of them, and I still have 5... ok 3,   Ok fine I'm out.   We need to brew this again.  

So there it is the 8 beers we will be focusing on.  The 8 beers that we think we can do some special stuff with.   You may be wondering... where are the sours?   Where is Hoptonite?   Well as to the sours, Mark Anthony and I will be keeping those alive and well.  We will protect our cultures, and keep them rocking.  We are about to bottle a sour, and when we do, we will certainly have another brew to put right on top of it quickly.   As to Hoptonite... to be honest, it is awesome, but it is also crazy expensive to brew.   A 10 gallon batch is well over $100.00.  So I will be brewing it solo in 2 and 3 gallon batches.    That is a little more pallet-able to the old wallet. 

I will say that we have reached a point where our home brew is superior to almost anything we can buy commercially, and that is very exciting.

Cheers!

End the Arguing... No more trolls

It's time to end the argument.  We all won anyway.   At the end of the day we all had beer.  Beer to share, beer to enjoy.  Yummy delicious beer.   So quit freaking arguing over how to make it.  Sometimes I feel like a broken record.  But here we go again. 

• Wort production method doesn't matter
• Barley doesn't know how it is being mashed
• Someone else's method may be better, or worse than yours
• The important thing is, that it is fun, and that it makes great beer. 
• If you spent $1000 on wort production before fermentation temperature control, you missed the point!

So is time to quit telling others that the way they brew is wrong.   Or that they are less of a brewer because they use a particular method.   You aren't more of a brewer if you use 3 or 4 vessels, you aren't more of a brewer if you use the latest state of the art eHERMS or RIMS system with a vent-less water heater and a bluetooth controller (although that is pretty cool)  You aren't less of a brewer if you no sparge in a cooler, or biab.  Enough. already! If you make beer, you are a home brewer.   

What prompted this latest rant?  A troll. A lecherous wart covered, dung eating troll with tusks and leathery skin.  The kind of beast that should be driven out of the kingdom (summon Arthur and the knights)... the internet troll.  

You know the type,the type who changed his on line name to "mstrbrewr" after his first Mr Beer kit.   Since then he's managed to brew a couple more times, but he has read and committed to memory everything.    His un welcome answers to questions are straight out of the books he's read. But not from his vast practical experience.   He's full of knowledge and passion for this hobby,  and he just had to share it all, now! Share it from his lofty position on the old couch in his mom's basement. 

Tonight a guy on one of the forums made a pretty innocuous comment about 90% efficiency with  brew in a bag.   The conversation was pleasant, until Tommy Troll chimed in.  He explained to all of us that "this was not possible".   He quoted Palmer, he quoted Fix.   What he did not do is show any compassion or share any experience.   He attacked.   In his dully honed opinion, "only fly sparge  could get a person to 90%."  Despite several people letting him know they had done it several times.   He then proceeded to explain that biab is "much less efficient". And I had had enough.  He was desperate to display his knowledge. To establish his prominence in the brewing community.  He is, after all, the new brew sage we have been waiting for.  

So here we go again.  There isn't one right way to brew.  Even commercial brewing is changing, many do not even have HLTs or Grants any more... opting instead for instant water heaters.  If you open your mind you'd know that.   My team and I are building a 1 BBL BIAB Recirculating Mash system.  You are welcome to use it (for a nominal fee) when you need to brew big, Are you really going to say no, because it's BIAB?

I am a classic example, and I was a classic fool.   I resisted biab for years.   I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that my fly sparge system was the most efficient way to make beer.  I knew my system so well that I could coax 78-80% out of it.   But on a cold and snowy day I joined a friend who was brewing in his kitchen with an electric turkey fryer. All grain BIAB.  Winter / Kitchen brewing was something I couldn't do.   We got 83%.  I checked, and re checked.  I tasted the mash, perfect.  I rechecked the mash extraction efficiency.   There was no where to hide.  I had to admit it worked.   I now get 82.5% efficiency consistently with brew in a bag, on my kitchen counter top.   But please,  yes. Explain to me how only fly sparge is real  brewing.   Because I was doing that before you were born. 

The world changes,  and we change with it.  By the way arguing about wort production... kinda misses the point.  I have correctly and precisely fermented average wort at perfect temperatures, and produced superior beer.  Once again malt has no idea it is being mashed.  Enzymes couldn't care less whether you biab, fly sparge, batch sparge, or no sparge.  After 3 or 4 years, of brewing you're ready to have really helpful experienced advice.  But not after 1 or two years of just reading and studying. Be kind. Be helpful, share your actual experience.  And remember almost everyone has read, and owns the books you are quoting.   If the real answer was in the book they would have found it already.   So don't sit around with the books in your lap trying to answer questions.    Believe me we've all read the books.   Ask questions.  

And finally, we don't need a new sage... but we could all use another beer loving friend. 

What the heck is a minor infection?

So you have heard the term minor infection before but maybe not known what it really means.   So what the heck is a minor infection and what can you do to prevent them?

An infection is an unwanted growth of mold, bacteria, virus, or fungus.   Generally we call the genus of an unwanted infection a germ.   When mold, or bacteria is wanted we celebrate it and call it fermentation or culturing.   Bacteria, Mold, Fungus (yeast), and virus are neither good or bad.  They just are.   They don't want anything.  They are merely programmed to survive.   They have no agenda, they support no political candidate.   But for our purposes it is good to look at them as an active enemy that is trying to lessen the quality of your beer.

Now when I talk about minor infections, I am talking about infections that are not big enough to overwhelm the growth and fermentation of your yeast colony.   I'm talking about minor infections that can live quite happily along side your yeast.  Infections like a relatively harmless a film yeast, or a myriad of other infections that can live down in the beer with your yeast, changing the flavor profile.

The variety and effects of minor infections is beyond the scope of this blog.  There are literally hundreds of potential minor infections.   The late Dr. George Fix talks about the role of minor infections in his seminal book "Principles of Brewing Science"  copyright 1999 Dr. George Fixx, and available through brewers publications.   He argues quite compellingly that post wort production of diacetyl and pentanedione are two of the most common flavor flaws in home brew.  Diacetyl tastes like butter, or butterscotch.   Pentanedion tastes like kind of like honey, but not in a good way. And further, that they are usually caused by minor infections.  There are other biological infections that can occur as well, but they tend not to be minor.  Infections such as common mold, film yeast (wild yeast), or Pediococcus (especially prevalent in keg systems that are not cleaned regularly).  Dr. Fix was a brilliant mathematician, and contributed considerable technical knowledge to the home brewing hobby.  Yes, the book was written in 1999.  But the point of the incredible scholarly research is still valid.   Minor infections are a major cause of off flavors in home brew.

So clearly a solution to minor infections must be found.

We are focused, therefore, in this blog on how to prevent minor infections and the off flavors they cause.  This is not a blog on all off flavors of home brewing. What processes, cleaning agents, and chemicals can we use to prevent off flavors from minor infections.

The late great Mankind (my brewing mentor) said, "if you don't like cleaning... you don't like making beer... you just like to make wort."   This was one of his many great sayings.   Now, I know many of you have taken um-bridge with some of Mankind's absolute rules of brewing.   But, his point is valid.   Making the beer, is fun and exciting.  Cleaning kinda sucks.   But the point is that you have to clean constantly to become a great brewer.

Soft Bristle Brush is a must have

 I am as guilty as the next guy.  I have been known to leave the dregs in a bottle on the counter for days.  I have been known to not clean my kettle until the next day.  And there is a rumor floating around that I almost never wash my brew bag on brew day.   So believe me this statement is not from a self righteous point of view,  you have to clean all of your gear before and after every brewing session.   Running Star San or PBW over and through your gear is not adequate.  Take out a soft bristle brush and get to work with your PBW, or Oxiclean Free.    Take your valves apart,  Get to work.  Consider it part of your next great brew.  The beginning of the next great recipe you are brewing.  Step one... Make your yeast starter, Step two Clean everything...

Here is a list of procedures I follow to clean my gear.

At the end of a brew day...

• General cleaning with hot water and mild detergent, and a soft bristle brush / sponge.
• Rinse all brew bags, hop socks, and tubing
• Oxiclean/PBW soak of valves, wort chiller, and brew bags, and possibly brew kettle (my electric kettle is aluminum so I don't use PBW or oxiclean)   
• Soak the Kettle element.
• Thorough Rinse of everything.  
• I let everything drip dry.  
• Re assemble
• Light mist of Star San into the brew kettle and into the valve to prevent growth of unwanted nasties.

During fermentation, nothing touches my beer that hasn't been, soaked, in Star San rinsed, and soaked again. I am known to break down my thief, my auto siphon, and thoroughly clean my tubing.  A quick soak in star san is not enough.  You have to clean everything.


At the beginning of the next brew day I thoroughly rinse everything with hot water and star san.

Occasionally I give my kettle elements a long soak in Oxiclean or PBW... which ever I have on hand.  And I really go to town with my little brush.   I do this when I'm bored, and my carboys are all full, like last week, and I just really need to do something related to home brew.

I don't use iodine/iodophor to clean.  But I know a lot of guys who do.   I don't want to stain my brewing gear.

I don't use bleach any longer either.  But for a stubborn system infection, or when trying to rehabilitate gear that was used for a sour at some time... you're going to need a bleach solution.   1 part bleach to 10 parts water for most instances.

Think it's overkill?  It really isn't.  It is part of brewing excellence.  Cleaning and Sanitizing are the first steps in brewing.   You should have these steps mastered before making yeast starters, or controlling fermentation temperatures.

Keeping your gear clean is one of the 3 big things that separates average brewers from great brewers. It doesn't matter if you brew with extract or all grain,  BIAB or 3 Vessel,  eHERMS, or traditional mash tun.   If you can master these 3 things... Cleaning and Sanitation,  Temperature Controlled Fermentation, and correct yeast pitch... you can make great beer.

Prost!

2xs the fun Brewday action for you... first the BSDA...

Yup... Im officially insane... no we're not, we're enthusiastic... No quiet voices in my head!... I will write this post... not you... filthy nasty little hobbitses...   I did it again 2 batches in a weekend.   Saturday morning the brew crew assembled early (well early for us) and we set out to brew a Belgian Strong Dark Ale...  And boy did we brew one.  A monster at 1.082  Pushing the outer limits of the OG for the style.

As you can see we milled our grains fine. Special thanks to MA the malt grist machine for coming early and helping me power through the grains.   We also sampled some amazing beers.   Ill let John make a comment below to tell us all what they were.    One of them was an all bret sour, so naturally the dregs got added to my bret sour.  Which should be ready by summer.

Now this was a partial mash batch.   Hopefully many of you have read my partial mash process by now.  It uses 3 pots.  The electric turkey fryer,  a pot to dissolve the DME/LME, and a sparge pot.  I know it sounds complicated, but it really isn't bad at all.   The set up allows you to brew high og beers in the turkey fryer.

We mashed 8 lbs of grains at 154 for an hour,   We used Rahr 2 row malt.  It is awesome.   Nutty and kinda sweet.   Love this malt.  We also used some biscuit, and some Cara 75.   Yes w used pale ale 2 row not pilsner.  But we did use pilsner LME. Then added the water in which the extract had been dissolved (3.3 pilsner liquid and 2 lbs of light DME, and 1 lbs of wheat malt DME)  Then we sparged to volume.   See?  Simple.  We nailed our gravity.   We were shooting for 1.080 and we came in at 1.082 after boil.     I'd love to tell you that the boil was uneventful but we kinda forgot to add the candi syrup.  So when we were transferring to the fermenter we stole some wort, brought it to 165 added the d180 to dissolve, then added more wort to temper it down to temperature, then into the fermenter.   There is always a solution when you screw up.  You just have to think your way through things.     We also removed a couple of cups of wort and used it to puree 6 oz of dried prunes.... yes prunes.  If you want a super raisin taste in your BDSA try prunes.   But put them in a bag and use them like a hop.   You don't want all that prune fiber in your final wort. I know it sounds crazy, but give it a try.

We chilled the batch using the 2 coil 50' set up.   We went from 212 to pitch temps in about 12 minutes.  Awesome.   But I have to say if the jaded chillers can do better... I still want one.

We pitched 2 different Belgian yeasts.   We pitched Wyeast 1214 Monastery yeast, and a pint of WLP 500 that I had on hand.   As of Sunday morning the batch was bubbling away nicely with a beautiful krausen.   Cant wait to taste this beer.

Bonus photo for you.  Starsan does some cool stuff.  in this photo we are sanitizing the aeration stone and the fermenter.   This weird star san snake just kinda formed itself.

And by sunday morning before church, the Belgian Dark Strong Ale was bubbling away.   Love that air lock action.  I don't ever trust it for determining if a beer is ready to bottle or transfer but it sure is cool to get some tactile confirmation of success.   Right?

This one is fermenting in the kitchen.  It is a Belgian after all.  I want those temperatures up at the high end of the fermentation range.   That is a real key to getting the belgian notes.  The color is spot on.  It is now Monday morning and it is still bubbling away nicely.  It is too dark to see much of the party the yeast is having inside but with the flash light on my cell phone, I can see things moving all over the place.

Thats all for now sports fans.  Prost!

UPDATE: 1/29/16  The BDSA fermented to 1.008.  French oak chips were soaked in bourbon, and then added to a secondary fermenter.  The BDSA was transferred onto the chips.  That was about a month ago.  The beer is ready for bottling.  It is oaky, but not very bourbony.  But it is delicious.

What the heck is Partial Mash?

First of all thank you for all of the questions and comments.  You all keep me on my toes.

Recently there have been a lot of questions about partial mash.   If you read this blog, you know partial mash is my favorite style of brewing.   there are so many advantages to partial mash for the home brewer.

Advantages of PM

• More fun than extract - you still get to mash grains and sparge and the fun stuff.
• It feels like brewing. Sometimes when I do an extract batch, it doesn't feel like brewing. I'm just heating up some stuff on the stove and throwing hops into a boil, for me mashing is the difference that feels like real brewing.
• Better Taste than extract  - Real all grain flavor -
• I defy anyone to tell the difference between a high percentage grain partial mash and an all grain brew. I think only industry people and BJCP judges might be able to pick out the differences.
• More recipe options than extract, you can brew anything.
• Less cost than extract - extract is expensive.
• More reliable than all grain or BIAB -
• The extract (DME) is an insurance policy that protects your needed gravity.
• You don't have to stress over pH levels water chemistry etc…
• Affordable equipment - electric turkey fryer is about $100.00  All in equipment is about $250.00
• Decotion and step mashing are available to you.
• It’s reliability is repeatable you can brew the same beer with the same results more easily.
• You control the amount and % of grain that you are using.  I have recipes that are 75% grain.   The DME is there as a buffer, an insurance policy if you will.
• Takes way less time than all grain. It’s about the same as BIAB

But what is partial mash?

There is a lot of confusion over what is partial mash.  Often brewers (especially on the internet)  define partial mashing as extract with grains.   And guys... that isn't partial mash.   

I would define partial mash as a brew where a significant portion of your fermentables come from a grain mash.  What portion?   Well that is up to you.  I have recipes where 75% of my fermentables come from a grain mash, with the rest coming from dry extract.   I always prefer dry, but sometimes you need a variety that isn't readily available as a dry extract, such as Maris Otter, Pilsner, or even Vienna.  

Does Partial Mash take special equipment?

No, not really.  You don't even have to have a brew bag, but it sure makes life easier.  You can use your extract set up for partial mash.   But if you want to make truly excellent beers, you will need to be able to boil full volume batches.  If you can't brew full volume, you will need to increase your hops.  How much?  depends on how much you are boiling. But at this point you need to get a decent brew calculator like brewtoad.com,  or brewersfriend.com

So how do I partial mash?

Well every one does it a little differently.   Basically, you need a way to mash your grains, and a way to boil your wort.  Chris Colby, the editor of beer and wine journal, uses a couple of 2 gallon beverage coolers.   He still does a vorlauf, and a sparge.   This takes him to full volume.   He tends to add his extract late.  With this method, you only need one big pot and one smaller pot for the sparge.

I do things a little differently. I have multiple mash tuns, after 25 years in brewing. But once, I started BIAB small batch, I realized that BIAB and partial mash could be the very best compatible processes.

So I soak my grains in a paint strainer bag in my electric turkey fryer.   After a 60 minute mash I pull the basket and set it on a grate above the turkey fryer to let it drain.   I then add 2 gallons of water in which I have dissolved my DME.   Then I sparge to volume. It is that simple.  

I hit my numbers or barely exceed every time.  I never have issues related to water chemistry.  I can make nearly the exact same beer every time I brew a recipe.   The flavor is as good as all grain (better than when all grain doesn't go very well).   And, most importantly it is a blast.  I still get to do the fun stuff, mashing, full volume boil, chilling, aerating, etc...

Where do I find partial mash recipes?

Here is one for you...

and here is what to avoid when looking for a partial mash

not a partial mash recipe

Partial Mash recipes are readily available on the internet,  but beer and wine journal is a great source.   I have many of them posted on brewtoad.com.   And, if you'd like, I am happy to convert any recipe for you.   But remember it is much easier to go from all grain to extract than the reverse.   As you search for recipes look for recipes that have a base grain in them.  Look for recipes that require a temperature controlled mash.  If they don't they are probably just an extract with grain recipe.

Give partial mash a try. It is fun... and I think truly a better process for homebrewing great beer.   This technique is fighting to find it's place in the post BIAB era.  Many brewers just jump to BIAB, which is fine.  Heck I brew as much small batch BIAB as any one.  Over 70 batches this year. But I have been brewing a long time.   I know how to adjust my water.  I know (or have a good idea) what is going on in my mash/wort.   So if you want to crank out consistently great beer... give this awesome method a try.

Answering a question... "do any breweries use partial mash? " Yes. Several brewpubs that I am aware of, but they do it because they don't have space for the grains.  But primarily it is a home brew method.

Answering another question... "can I do large volumes of partial mash?"... yes the largest I have done is 1BBL.  But to do 10 gallons of PM on a 5 gallon BIAB set up is easy.  Just adjust your hops to account for the partial boil

The best way to mill grains. .. for me

It is natural for home brewers to want to put into practice the technology and processes of craft or commercial breweries.  

All too often I hear about some brewer who has created some master piece of brewing technology in his basement or garage.   And usually one of the things I hear is that he was inspired by a brewery he visited.   

I have the same inspirations. I see some complicated system and think,  "jeez I'm a
Contractor I could easily build that. "  but we here at counterbrew and the turkey creek brewing association fight to protect a different approach.  

"The less technology, pumps,  tubes, etc.  You have involved,  the less you have to clean.  Since cleaning and sanitation are the most important ingredients, we fight to keep it simple"

Which isn't too day all of these things are bad.  The brau supply ebiab seems to nearly clean it self,  and I want one.  Santa, Honey, Mom, dad,  are you reading?

To this end I present my approach to milling grains.

I use a corona mill.   I prefer corona mills because the are multi takers.  They can actually make bread flour too.   And I love to bake bread.   My corona mill is mounted to a board that sits on top of a 5 gallon bucket.   That's it. No extra bucket,  no drill (unless the batch is huge).  After milling,  every thing goes back in the bucket.   Too pour the grains,  I lift off the mill. I set the mill to get a very fine crush.  I use the edge of a credit card to set the gap. 

"Don't you want to save time on brew day? "  No,  not really.  Brewing is one of the most fun things I do.  

"Aren't you afraid of a stuck sparge? " no, no I am not.  I use a bag,  or voile cloth even when I use my gravity system. 

Mill the grains how you want,  the point is keeping things simple allows you to focus on the real task... making great beer.  Our hobby has so many aspects which can bring you joy, and a sense of accomplishment.  For me it is all about fighting to simplify, to create a perfect recipe and to be able to repeat it.  For you it may be all about the engineering of brewing.  For others, it may be all about the biology.  But what ever you find your interest focused on I hope you'll do all you can to keep things as simple as possible.   

On another note, my beers we're very well received at Thanksgiving with the family.  I brewed up a centennial blonde for the occasion.  My ciders were enjoyed as well.  Finally, I had beer at a family event that everyone enjoyed.   Guess it's my own fault, in the past I have brought esoteric beers, and looked down my beer snob nose at people who couldn't enjoy a bourbon barrel smoked Russian Imperial Stout.   This year I made something we all could enjoy.

Sunday... double batch Sierra Nevada Pale ale clone... and "the dankness monster"... an extra hoppy Red Ale

Well first of all thank you for all of your kind comments about mankind's email.   He was one of a kind.

Sunday we are brewing again.  It is a day on a weekend... so, yeah we're probably brewing.   On saturday I'll be bottling up the Miller the muggle.   People are starting to break into the good stuff, so I have to shield it with more muggle beer.   If you don't "get" the term muggle, it is from Harry Potter, and it means non magical people.   Miller the Muggle is a beer designed for my non craft beer drinking friends.   But I have to tell you, it is pretty darn good.  Sunday... we brew.   Wonder how we brew so much?   Simple, we brew small batch. 

So here is a question... "what is the beer that got you into craft beer?"  I remember mine like it was yesterday afternoon.  It was a crisp fall day.  I had been doing some work for Dad at his home.  I was maybe 20 or 21, and I was dedicated to Miller Genuine Draft.   That is when it happened.  Dad came back from the store, he had some beer.   Some beer I had never seen before.  He put the beer in the garage fridge (a 1960s beast that was avocado green no less).  He said try one if you want.   The package said Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.  It was green.   It had magical pictures on   Pictures of a stream, and trees, and what I thought were pine cones.  "What the heck" I thought, "I'll try one".

The world changed.  Everything stopped. And that one that one crystalline moment is burned in my memory.  It was bitter, and sweet, and roasty, and citrusy, and flowery...  It was all over.   Standing in that garage with the Kansas City Chiefs on the Radio I was hooked.   Now my tastes have changed and grown over the years.   But I still love SNPA.   We'll be brewing it this weekend.   

One of my favorite things about no sparge BIAB is how easy it is to partigyle.   All you need is another pot.   So we'll be using the grains from the SNPA and some additional grains, and DME, and we'll be making an original recipe we're calling "the dankness monster"  We're basically trying to brew up a red colored citrusy pine forrest.