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!

Adventures of a Beginning Home Brewer

Starter Kits: Single Stage vs Secondary Fermentation

Let me start by saying I am a beginning home brewer. I have only been brewing a few years, so I’m not here to be your “expert” on home brewing. But, since I am still basically a beginner, I suppose I am an expert beginner home brewer! Adventures of a Beginning Home Brewer will be a place where I will offer guidance, share my successes, laugh off failures and struggles, and heck, maybe occasionally go off topic and just talk about beer stuff in general. So, crack open a bottle of your favorite craft beer and let’s get started!

So, you want to be a home brewer… Well, let’s start things off by talking about starter equipment as this is where any new home brewer needs to start. There are many pieces of equipment you will need to brew your own beer. The add-ons and upgrades are endless! But let’s not get confused with all that yet; we are beginners after all.

Here is what I suggest; buy a starter kit! Why confuse yourself with trying to get a pro kit put together with countless trips to the supply store? Depending on a couple factors, you could be set up and brewing beer for around 125 - 200 bucks. That is including the ingredients for your first batch, bottles, caps, everything! Most even come with an instructional DVD.

When buying your starter kit you basically have to make one choice; do you want a single stage fermentation set up or do you want to have secondary fermentation in your rig. So, what’s the difference?

 

(Single Stage Fermentation Start Up Kit)

 

 

 

(Start Up Kit with Secondary Fermentation)

 

 



In a single stage fermentation set up, you have one bucket that your beer ferments in. Like the name says, a SINGLE stage. In a set up with secondary fermentation you will do everything the same as in a single stage, but after the beer is done with the primary fermentation you transfer the beer into a glass vessel called a carboy for the secondary fermentation. Secondary fermentation is kind of a misleading name as the beer is pretty much fermented after the primary fermentation is done. The secondary fermentation is basically a place where sediment is removed to give your beer clarity and where your beer can age some. This is also where you would add hops for dry hopping when or if you eventually decide to do that.

My vote; go with the secondary fermentation. The whole brewing process takes weeks (mostly inactive time on your part though) and you have used quality ingredients. Not having the best beer you can in the end seems silly to me. It really doesn’t add much time as the only additional work is a little bit of equipment sanitizing and about 10 minutes of transferring your beer to another container. So pop for the kit with the extra equipment to make your beer as good as you can.

Here are a couple of kits you can buy that will have you set up and ready to go!   

 

Single fermentation kits:

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/brewing-starter-plus-kit.html

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/brewing/beer-equipment-starter-kits/essential-brewing-starter-kit.html (Does not include bottles.)

Kits with secondary fermentation:

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/brewing-starter-plus-kit.html (This is the set up that I started with and still use today.)

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/deluxe-brewing-starter-kit.html (Does not include bottles.)

 

There are additional components that you can purchase to add to your starter kit to make things a bit easier, but for now I would say you should just start with a starter kit and brew a few batches to see if you like home brewing. After that you can start dumping money into pimpin’ out your home brewery with fancy add-ons… We will address those add-ons down the road.

 

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!

Welcome To The Dark Side...Of Lagers

Last week August Schell's Brewing Company was kind enough to share with us their upcoming new beer:

Now I know for a fact that some of my readers are already "Wow, that's a dark beer, I'm not really interested".  But hold on, this one is different, and maybe you should think about giving this one a try!  For starters most dark beers you have probably had before are Ales, meaning it was brewed with top fermenting yeast and brewed at warmer temps.  This here is a Lager brewed at colder temps with a bottom fermenting yeast.  

Still not interested, wait there is more…

As a lager it will carry a nice robust taste, but won’t leave you with that heavy feeling you would get from a stout. And according to The Oxford Companion To Beer dark lagers can sometime lean towards a coffee or chocolate flavor more often than not they have a clean matiness to them with hints of caramel or toffee (Oliver, 2012).  Also the hops are going to be more moderate and forward in this beer then with others.  This will make this beer more familiar to those who like beers like Newcastle.  A lot of stouts and porters like to push past the 6% ABV barrier.  Not so with Dark Lagers which tend to be down around the 5% ABV, the Chimney Sweep above carries a 5.2% ABV.  This make Dark Lagers less heavy to consume and you can enjoy a couple without feeling the effects as much (but still, make sure you are drinking responsibly and not driving!)  These things combined make a beer, like Chimney Sweep, more in line with a pilsner then with a stout.  So if you are one of those out there seeking to increase their beer horizon and start adding darker beer, then this is my recommendation of a place to start!

Can’t find Chimney Sweep in your area? Then try one of these other great Dark Lagers:

Midwest:

• Chimney Sweep –August Schell’s Brewing Co. (Seasonal)
• Black Bavarian –Sprecher Brewery
• Dark Helmet Schwartzbier –Titletown Brewing Co.

National:

•  Black Lager –Boston Brewing Co.

Bibliography

Oliver, G. (2012). The Oxfor Companion To Beer. New York: Oxford University Press.

Kölsch: A Clear Choice to Start A Beer Blog

Winter is upon us, but to be honest I am not quite ready to give up the Summer Beers yet.  Among my favorite are the misunderstood hybrids from Cologne, Germany, or Köln for our German readers. 

The let’s start with the basics of what is a Kölsch.  According to the Oxford Companion to Beer uses the following definition:

“A Kölsch is a top-fermented local beer style from Köln, Germany.  Kölsch beers are characterized by a lightly fruity yeast note in the aroma and taste, as well as a pleasant hoppy bitterness” (Oliver, 2012)

The first thing to note in this description is the fact that this is a top-fermenting yeast making it technically an ale.  Kölsch came into popularity during the 1800s in response light colored Pilsners coming out of Bohemia, though it has been brewed as early as the 13^th century (Oliver, 2012).  To be a true traditional Kölsch it must be brewed within sight of the Cathedral of Köln, anything else is considered “Kölsch-style”.  In my experience drinking Kölsch beers they are the palest of the pale beers often appearing straw gold in color.  They should have a good head with small bubbles, and should have the aroma of white grapes or subtle fruity tones.  The taste should be clear, crisp with a thin mouth feel, notable hops taste, and fruity notes.  They should leave no lingering after taste in the long run.  Kölsch beers are also served in a special glass that looks like the below picture:

For those of you fortunate enough to get to drink a Kölsch in Germany the most recognizable is Früh or Gaffel.  These are the gold standard for Kölsch beers.  Now for those of you state side, fret not for there are plenty of good Kölsch-style beer available:

Midwest Locals:

• ·         Mankato Original –Mankato Brewery
• ·         Kayak Kölsch –Lake Superior Brewing Company
• ·         Zommerfest –August Schell’s (Seasonal)

National:

• ·         East-West Kölsch –Boston Beer Company (Seasonal)
• ·         Summertime –Goose Island Brewing

Recently we got to tour Mankato Brewery; you can see the video here:  http://youtu.be/LDRZhslDt78

Bibliography

Oliver, G. (2012). The Oxford Companion To Beer. New York: Oxford University Press.

Coming This Fall!

Hey gang. Time to dust off the old blog and get us rolling again. New content is coming and we will be focusing on beer styles and what makes them awesome.