Adventures of a Beginning Home Brewer

The Christmas Beer Miracle and the Gift of Easier Bottling

To me, the most tedious part of brewing is bottling. You have to sanitize bottles, the bottling bucket, all its parts, the siphon, the caps… And that is just the first step. Then you have to boil the priming sugar, rack the beer, fill the bottles, and cap each one of them individually.

The boil process in the beginning takes a bit longer, but that is inactive time while the stove does the work. In bottling it is all you, all the time. But there is some hope. You can make the process go by a bit faster. The trick? It’s all in the bottles.

When I made my first beer, my Ragin’ Red, I stupidly sanitized, filled, and capped 48 12 oz. beer bottles. It took forever! I did the same thing for my second beer. Then came the Christmas Beer Miracle and my home brewing life was changed forever.

When I brewed my first Merry Cherry Christmas Stout I had an idea. I wanted to have a beer with all of my friends and family for Christmas. Obviously this is impossible with the hustle and bustle of the holidays. My solution was to give everyone a Merry Cherry Christmas Stout that we would all crack open at exactly 5:00 pm CST on Christmas day so that no matter the distance between us, we would all have a beer together for Christmas. This is known in my circle as the Christmas Beer Miracle!

I decided it would be a nice touch to use 22 oz bottles so that everyone could not only have a beer together no matter where we all were, but also everyone could share the Christmas Beer Miracle with someone special they were actually spending the holidays with in person. That is when I realized the math.

 

(22 oz Merry Cherry Christmas Stout bottle vs 12 oz Ragin' Red Ale bottle)

Here is the deal; bottles come in all shapes and sizes. You can sanitize, fill, and cap about 48 12 oz. bottles, about 24 22 oz. bottles, or heck, you could even just fill a few half gallon jugs I suppose. I use nothing but 22 oz. bottles now. I basically cut my bottling work in half by only needing to sanitize, fill, and cap half as many bottles!

One quick tip: I have noticed that sometimes the bigger bottles may need a little extra bottle conditioning time to get the desired amount of carbonation. But we are just talking a couple days if it is needed.

 
Let’s face it; if your beer is tasty there is no one who will complain about their bottle having an extra 10 oz. in it!

Tis the Season Pt 2: Fine Beers, Fine Books

Need some holiday gift ideas for that Beer Geek in your life?  Well take a look because your answer might be in a book!

I have spent the better part of the last two years building my library of beer books.  Some books were worth there weight in Pilsner, others not so much.

Before we dive into the best, let's start with what I personally avoid.  I like to avoid books that talk about specific beers.  First off most of these books talk about beers that I will never drink.  Second, these books don't stand the test of time and breweries come and go.  I prefer books that talk about beers in general.  That way when I go to a store and by a "Eis Bock", I know what I am getting into.

So without further ado here are some of my favorites (Link to Amazon provided):

Tasting Beer by Randy Mosher: This book has it all.  The history of beer, beer/food pairings, the science of beer, beer styles and much much more.  This is my favorite book on beer and you will find no better.

 

Amber Waters:  The History of Brewing in Minnesota by Doug Hoverson:  This book was given to me by a former boss and it was the inspiration that started my love affair with beer.  This is a great history book about the brewing industry in our great state!

 

The Oxford Companion to Beer by Garret Oliver:  Let me begin by saying that this is not a book for reading.  This is an encyclopedia for beer.  This book is great for those Beer Geeks that see a new term and need a resource to look it up.  This is the ultimate resource for all things Beer.

The Brewmaster's Table by Garret Oliver:  Want the ultimate book about beer with food?  Look no further.  Not only does it give great pairings and recipes but comes with a great story

 

He Said Beer She Said Wine by Sam Calagione and Marnie Old:  Got a partner that like wine?  Maybe this is the book for you.  I found this book to by funny and informative as two experts in their field go back and forth about the differences and similarities between wine and beer.

   

The Brewmaster's Bible by Stephen Snyder: Finally one for the homebrewers.  I haven't found a question about homebrewing that this book couldn't answer.  The ultimate resource about my favorite hobby.  This book goes into detailed depth about a variety of hops, wheat, and everything else that goes into beer.

There are plenty of other great Beer Books out there, these are just a handful of my favorites reads.  So if you are looking for a great beer related gift for the Beer Geek in your life crack open one of these!

Adventures of a Home Brewer

Don't Fruit the Beer? Forget That!

 

Remember those Man Law commercials for Miller Lite? One was “Don’t fruit the beer!” I broke that law yesterday. Send the beer police if you need to, but if anyone should be arrested it’s the brewers of Miller Lite for trying to make us think carbonated water is beer.

Yesterday I started making my annual Merry Cherry Christmas Stout. I make this every year in order to facilitate the Christmas Beer Miracle… I will explain that a bit closer to Christmas.

Merry Cherry Christmas Stout was the first beer that I brewed with other types of additives. When I brewed my first one it was just a recipe kit from the beer supply store. It was a cherry stout that used cherry extract during bottling. It was good, but I knew I could do better.

Year two I decided to step things up. I wanted that cherry to really sing! So, I decided to, “fruit the beer,” and add some actual cherries in addition to the extract. I did a bunch of searching for info on beer forums and Yahoo! as I had no clue where to start. Here is what I learned.

The biggest thing in brewing is that anything that goes in the bucket needs to be sanitary. This applies to fruit as well. You can’t just grab a bunch of cherries from the produce section of your local grocery store and chuck them in there. You will more than likely infect your beer… I did that once with a nut brown and it is a headache.

Some home brewers on forums indicated that you should put the berries in with your beer at the secondary fermentation stage. This seems illogical to me on two fronts. One, you have to boil the berries separately to basically sterilize them. Some people are fine with throwing frozen berries straight into the secondary, but I am not willing to gamble on 5 gallons of beer getting infected. And two, you will lose some of the clarity of your beer, which is kind of the whole point of secondary fermentation.

So what do I do? I throw them in the boil. I am not saying its the end all correct way, but its how I do it. And it works! I mash up the berries to release more of the juices and then just chuck ‘em in during the last 15 minutes or so of the boil. This makes them sterile, saves me a whole separate boil later on, and helps my beer keep its clarity as I don’t bring the cherries along for the party when I rack the beer into the secondary fermenter.

 (Cherries in the Boil)

With most fruits you will want to use approximately one pound of fruit for each gallon of beer you are making. I have played with that a bit for my Merry Cherry Christmas Stout though because I still like to throw that extract in during bottling for a final kick. I try to make this beer palatable to my friends and family who are not into thick dark beers. The extra cherry taste and sweetness helps to accomplish this. No complaints yet!

Here is another tip; use frozen fruit. Using frozen fruit works the best because the freezing process breaks down the fruit. This helps release the juices into your beer to give you more of the fruit flavor. I found this tip online when I first decided to use cherries in my stout. Admittedly I have never used fresh fruit, so I can’t swear by this. But, it makes sense to me and I am happy with the end result. Why fix what ain’t broke, right?

Anybody else out there ever break this unjust man law and, “fruit the beer?” If so, leave a comment below with any tips you might have for the rest of us!

Tis The Season: Your Guide to Great Holiday Beers!

Looking for the perfect Holiday Gift for that Beer Geek in your life?  Or are you the Beer Geek looking for a little gift to put for yourself under the tree?  Here are some great ideas for the Holidays with links for your convenience.

Local:

• A Growler of Porter Fest from Flat Earth:  There was a point in my life where I only drank to gold stuff.  Then I found a brewery in St. Paul called Flat Earth and all that changed.  Thy are the masters of the Porter making it a blank canvas for over 20 different flavors from hot peppers to S'mores.  Available in Growlers only at the Brewery they release three flavors per week up through the holiday season.  

• Mankato Brewery Sampler Pack:  New on the shelves grab from one of my favorite new breweries of Minnesota.  This pack includes their standards Mankato Original and Stickum Alt as well as their first two Center Street Series, and IPA and Red Ale.

• Happy Holiday Ale Home Brew Kit from Midwest Supplies:  For the home brewer in your life!

 

National:

• 2012 Anchor Christmas Ale:  Every year  Anchor brews this ale but the Tree on the label and the recipe change every year.  I have know had this beer in 2010 and 2011 and each year it is further proof that Anchor has discovered how to bottle Christmas!

• He'Brew Holiday Gift Pack:  I got to give props to this Brewery for this great idea.  You get eight of the He'Brew line of beer, but that's not all!  Save the bottles as you drink them because this pack also comes with candles to turn your empties into a Menorah!  Also comes with a collector's glass to boot.

For more Holiday Beers I recommend that you check out the Four Firkins!

Stay tuned for more great holiday gift ideas for the Beer Geek in your life!