A Beginners Guide - Homebrewing Video

This is a nice overview covering the process of brewing beer at home.  It is neat to see how the process varies slightly from person to person, and each time I get another idea or two for consideration.



Your thoughts?

A video about beer. What is there not to love?

A friend of mine saw this and posted to my FB wall.  It's worth the 7 and a half minutes for sure.  The content is interesting (it's about beer of course it's interesting) but what really makes it effective is his enthusiasm and excitement as he talks.  Enough of my commentary, check it out!

Ever think about kegging? A little how-to can be found here

A friend had a good deal on some used kegging equipment, and while we were going to wait for Christmas to "upgrade" to kegging, the opportunity seemed good.  I drive home the other night with keg, CO2 tank, regulator, hoses, attachments, etc.  Hmm, how does it work?

Of course, it's not rocket science, but I knew little of how it all worked, what parts were involved or what they were even called..  It's a new thing for me.

So I went to another friend YouTube and spent several hours this week watching videos on kegging.  Some good, some bad, some so shaky that they'll make you ill just watching

Craig Tube, as he calls himself has a series which I've found helpful.  He tends to keep it simple and I like how he talks about how to do it while at the same time actually doing it.  Check out the 4 part series (I still need to get through some of these).









Word of caution: Like all things, don't trust solely on what Craig has to say.  Check out other sources and compare what you hear with what others say as well as what your own common sense tells you.  Everyone has a different method, and most actually are pretty good.  Inevitably some could be called "better" than others, but those distinctions may or may not be so clear.  One persons "better" is another persons "different".  Keep it fun and keep it real.

Happy kegging!

Wort Chiller demo video

Perhaps I'm a bit more anal than this guy.  100 degrees still seems way warm to transfer.  The temp of the tap water makes a huge difference too.

Homebrewing & Craft Beer - Yeah, it really is this cool!

Well, we have yet to plan a vacation around craft beer... at least not completely...yet.

I found a video which inspired this post.

What is at the heart of homebrewing and craft beer obsession?  My quick answer.  Taste, passion, artistry, community.  And that may be somewhat of a chronology.

The realization of tasty beers turns into a passion for the different styles and knowledge of those beers.  Brewing brings in the artistry of creating such wonders.  With brewing come opportunities to further develop insights into ingredients, flavors, etc. (it's like discovering what is under the hood).  Finding like-minded people from which to learn and share completes the process, or it actually helps to begin the process again, but in a much more profound way.  Face it, we as humans thrive in community.

This is at least the way it happened for me.  I started off as the Lone Brewer-wanna-be, just under two years ago.  Wow, and two weeks exactly from today will be the first meeting of the new Brew Club I created.  (I find it hard to take the credit, but really it wouldn't have happened without initiating a few conversations, obtaining commitments, forming the Facebook Group, and them making some initial fliers.)  Check it out!  Brew Club of Seminole County

OK, you've read that.  Now watch this.  It really is this cool!

Dogfish Head founder Sam Calagioni on CBS This Morning

He always makes me proud to be associated with craft beer and brewing.

Check it out.




Ha ha, it's funny.  The host says there are 24,000 craft breweries in America.  Sam states there are 2,400, correcting him without telling him he was wrong.  Anyone else pick up on this?

Homebrewing and Aeration of the wort - Video

Oxygen is the enemy of beer.  But yeast need it.  The one time when oxygen is beneficial is just before pitching the yeast.  A properly oxygenated wort is good for the yeast and will promote good fermentation.

Here is a quick video on the topic.



Myself...I rock the carboy.  Rock 'n roll carboy.  It's important to shake it vigorously for several minutes.

Let's see what he has to say about the Sculpin

I've reviewed this beer as well, but there is something fun about wathching Chris with Beer Geek Nation review beers via video

It's almost like if you keep talking and saying impressive sounding things, you can effectively review a beer. (not to take anything away for Chris, whom I truly look up to.)

Check out my review here too. 

What are your thoughst on this beer?

I think this one will be on the drink list for the weekend

My wife expressed interest in trying this beer just this week.  I don't believe I've had it yet.  I do believe I've seen it though just recently at the local ABC store.  Hmmm, shopping time.

Let's see what Sam has to say about it.

Dry hopping

I clearly don't dry hop enough.  The two times I have, I've used a hop bag, which is a pain to remove from the carboy at the end of it all.  Upon viewing several videos on the subject, I've noticed not many of them actually use a bag...just dump the hops in.



It seems easy enough.  So, what was I scared of again?  No better way to get that hoppy aroma that some good ole dry hops.

Hopzilla video review

I should really start to do my own videos, but until them...





BTW, this Double IPA will be featured in the upcoming Dunerbrew IPA Tasting.  (I haven't had it yet...waiting for the Tasting.)

90 Minute IPA - Video (Dogfish Head)

"...Without being crushingly bitter."  What is the difference between the West coast IPAs and those brewed on the East coast? 



This is one of my favorite beers.

Did you know?  When the hops are added early in the boil, to be boiled for a full hour or longer, they contribute strong bitterness to the beer.  The longer in the boil, the more the hops will contribute to the bitterness.  Hops added at the end of the boil don't have time to release those bittering acids and thus contribute flavor and aroma to the beer.  It's a little more complicated than that, but that is the nutshell version.

Hoptimum - Video (Sierra Nevada)

This is an excellent IPA.  I really enjoyed it last year (the first I've had it) and now it will be released again in May.  These guys talk about it and try it for us.



It seems this may be Sierra Nevada's answer to Hopslam, and that's OK.  It would be an interesting comparison actually.

I like the hop-head graphic on the front of the bottle.  The big marketing draw for this one is the "whole cone" nature of the hops in this beer.  I guess that means they don't use the pellets.

My brewing stories aren't this interesting...

But maybe because I was a little more methodical in my approach.  At the same time, my first batch was far from perfect.  Check this out.



If you didn't notice, this video has close to 78K views.  Dang, I need to start videoing myself doing this stuff.

Cheers!

Racking beer into secondary fermentation (Video)

When I first started brewing I always racked to secondary fermentation.  Many have said that it is not necessary, and now I often just keep it all in the primary carboy throughout the fermentation process.  I keep it there for 3 week and then rack to the bottling bucket and bottle.

Before I go further, check out this video, which does a nice job of walking through the racking process, because there are times when racking may be the right thing to do.



Here are the three reasons that I would use a secondary fermentation vessel.

1. If the beer will be aged in the carboy before bottling.  A barleywine, for example, will be best after aging.  Also, the addition of dry hops or oak chips will work well in secondary.

2. If I plan to "clean" and cultivate the yeast for another batch.  Racking the beer off will allow access to the yeast bed at the bottom of the carboy for this purpose.

3. If another batch of wort is ready to go and dump into the original carboy on top of the existing yeast bed.  It's been expressed that this works well.  I've not done it, and most of the time it doesn't fit in with my brewing schedule and practices.  But, this method will present the new wort with plenty of yeast.


Some downsides to racking into a secondary vessel are as follows.

1. Increased potential for oxygen exposure.  The only time oxygen is a good thing is just before pitching the yeast.

2. Increased potential for infection.  This risk can be considerably low with proper sanitation procedures.

To use a secondary or not is a topic talked about frequently in online forums.  In a nutshell, keeping the beer in primary only will work fine.  Unless there is a purposeful intention, forgo the use of a secondary.

Beer: A Beautify Artistic Symphony (video)

Charles Bamforth talks about foam, lacing, aroma and the beaty of beer.



My first encounter with Bamforth was with his book Beer Is Proof God Loves Us.  And when I came across these short videos it was nice to put a face with the name.  I'll have to pull out the book again soon.

See also a similar post with Charles Bamforth, The Art and Science of Beer.

If nothing else, I'll call him interesting. Video Review

I found a review of one of the Mikkeller Single Hop Series beers on You Tube.  Which did I choose to post?  The Centennial, of course.



It continues to amaze me, the variety of personalities on You Tube.  I really need to set up the camera and do something.

Art and Science of beer - Video

The brewing process in a nutshell.

Two great things that go great together

What could it be?  Beer and Metal music, of course.  It seems Iron Maiden lead singer Bruce Dickinson is a fan of craft beer.  The rock and metal worlds are abuzz about the new video released by Iron Maiden, featuring lead singer Bruce Dickinson.  It seems the band partnered with Robinsons Brewery to come up with this new beer call the Trooper.



Here are several links to the story the Rock world at Classic Rock Magazine,  Metal Hammer, Metal Insider and Fox News, (watch too much and you'll want to bang you head).

The label says 4.8% ABV.  My question is this.  Why not 6.66% ABV?  If I were Iron Maiden and decided to make a beer, I'd make sure it had 6.66% ABV.  Just sayin.

Not sure when of if we in America will get the chance to try this one.  But here's to hoping.

Video Review (not mine), Two Hearted Ale

As strange as this guy may seem (in a good way), his passion, animation and enthusiasm for the beers make him effective.  In many ways I look up to him.  And this review is an old one of his... current beer review videos are up in the 500 count, I think. 

I did laugh when he called  7% ABV a Session Beer.  And I'm surprised he didn't mention the single Centennial hops in the Two Hearted Ale.

Check it out.



Don't ditch this blog for his, but you can find more at beergeeknation.com