Galaxy Pale Ale Tap Handle

A few years back, my homebrew club, The Central Valley Brewers Guild, ran a club experiment where we all brewed the same pale ale recipe and then a couple months later brought our brews to a gathering to compare results.  The idea was to see how our process affected the final brew, rather than the recipe.  The results varied quite a bit, showing that how you do things while brewing has as great an effect on the resulting beer as do the ingredients.  It was eye opening!

I really enjoyed the version I brewed and I’ve brewed it several times again in an effort to have a non-aggressive pale ale on tap for visitors.  The last time I brewed it, Don Oliver, Brew Master of Dust Bowl Brewing, was kind enough to share five ounces of Galaxy hops pellets for dry hopping.  I had really enjoyed his Galaxy Pale Ale and particularly his Red IPA, both of which rely on Galaxy hops, so I was hoping that dry hopping with them would bring some of that character to my pale ale.  It did – and it was a hit!  I served up a keg at our annual neighborhood Halloween party this year, and revelers blew the keg!  I’ll be staggering the dry hops over several days and this time maybe backing down an ounce to reduce some of the fruitness the Galaxy hops bring to the ale.

The recipe for my Galaxy Pale Ale is as follows:

Galaxy Pale Ale
10-A American Pale Ale
Author: Mark Ranes
Date: 3/30/12

Size: 10.56 gal
Efficiency: 75.0%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 211.53 kcal per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.063 (1.045 – 1.060)
Terminal Gravity: 1.016 (1.010 – 1.015)
Color: 8.8 (5.0 – 14.0)
Alcohol: 6.25% (4.5% – 6.0%)
Bitterness: 44.5 (30.0 – 45.0)

Ingredients:
23.0 lb (86.8%) American 2-row – added during mash
1.5 lb (5.7%) American Munich – added during mash
1.0 lb (3.8%) Carastan Malt – added during mash
1.0 lb (3.8%) 2-Row Carapils Malt – added during mash
1.5 oz (15.0%) Simcoe (13.0%) – added during boil, boiled 60.0 m
0.75 oz (7.5%) Cascade (5.5%) – added during boil, boiled 10.0 m
0.75 oz (7.5%) Centennial (10.0%) – added during boil, boiled 10.0 m
1.5 oz (15.0%) Cascade (5.5%) – added during boil, boiled 1.0 m
1.5 oz (15.0%) Centennial (10.0%) – added during boil, boiled 1.0 m
2.0 ea Whirlfloc Tablets (Irish moss) – added during boil, boiled 10.0 m
1.0 tsp Wyeast Nutrient  – added during boil, boiled 10.0 m
2000 mL Starter White Labs WLP001 California Ale
2.0 oz (20.0%) Galaxy (12.4%) – added dry to secondary fermenter, Day 7
2.0 oz (20.0%) Galaxy (12.4%) – added dry to secondary fermenter, Day 10

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Caesar Salad paired with Son of Wrath IIPA

I had the privilege of attending Dust Bowl Brewing’s first beer dinner Monday evening, where they paired five courses of food with beers brewed by Don Oliver, Dust Bowl’s head brewer.  It was also a privilege to share the evening with our good friends, the Josts and the Verscheldens:) We decided to meet at the Josts and take a fifteen minute stroll to Dust Bowl’s Taproom, to avoid any possible issues with driving and multiple ales.  We arrived at 6:30 and were greeted by Don and co-owner Brett Honoré at the door.  I loved that Brett mentioned my recent homebrewer profile in the Turlock Journal, that ran alongside a great article about Don and Steve at Barley & Wine, our local homebrew supply store.

We ordered up a starter ale for the evening and I got my favorite, Don’s Red IPA.  Sadly, this ale will probably be going away soon as it relies heavily on Galaxy hops that are just not available in the quantities Don needs to brew this beer (or the Galaxy Pale Ale as well).  Get it while it lasts!

Wild Mushroom Soup paired with Buckwheat Ale

Don was the Master of Ceremony for the evening’s event, and before every course, Dust Bowl’s chef, Abel Larios, came out of the kitchen and described the food we’d be seeing shortly.  That was followed up by Don describing the beer, and the nuances of how the beer and food flavors would either complement (sweet to sweet) or contrast with (bitter to sweet or salty) each other.  He announced the first course, a Caesar Salad, paired with his Son of Wrath Double IPA.  The saltiness of the anchovies in the salad paired beautifully with the aggressiveness of the hops in IIPA.  This pairing was a hit!

The second course was an amazing wild mushroom cream soup – chock full of chunks of mushrooms, paired with Don’s Buckwheat Ale.  When I broke the skin (cream soups do this:) an aromatic burst of mushroom assaulted my nose, and a taste followed, by the Buckwheat Ale, proved to be a truly wonderful experience.  I’ve always like the Buckwheat Ale, as it is one of the signature ales that Dust Bowl puts out there.  I’m hoping to see this in bottles for retail sales some day!

Crab Cake paired with Red IPA

The third course was an amazing, piping hot crab cake, smothered in Hollandaise sauce, with perfectly cooked asparagus arranged on top.  This was paired with my favorite, the Red IPA!  I mentioned to the ale server that the Red IPA was my favorite of the Dust Bowl brews, and he returned with an additional Red IPA after serving all of the other guests.  A very nice touch indeed!  The crab cake was perfectly cooked, and the Red IPA was a great paring to go with the flavors the course offered.

The fourth course was the main dish, an amazing filet mignon, covered in an mushroom sauce made with Don’s Stock Ale.  This was paired with a Scotch Ale that complemented the steak well.  The filet was cooked rare, to perfection, and the sauce made for an culinary orgasmic experience when paired with the Scotch Ale.  I savored this course and lingered over each bite.  I take great pride in my ability to cook beef at home, and rarely order red meat when I dine out, but this was one of the best steaks I’ve ever had in a restaurant.

Filet Mignon paired with Scotch Ale

We had yet to see a previously unreleased Dust Bowl ale, hinted at by Don in the weeks leading up to the dinner, so I figured we’d see it in the dessert course.  Sure enough, Don announced that we’d soon be enjoying a new beer to Dust Bowl’s line-up, a Russian Imperial Stout, paired with a raspberry drizzled chocolate lava cake.  The RIS was nice and dry, and paired beautifully with the sweetness of the chocolate cake.  It was a perfect final course to an amazing dinner!

Overall, for a first attempt, these folks hit a home run!  Don’s beers are a given, but the food we were served was amazing.  Cold dishes were cold, as they should be, and all four cooked courses arrived at the table at the appropriate temperature.  That’s no small task considering they were serving sixty plus diners.  Most amazingly, Abel’s filets were spot on!  I could tell there was much thought put into the beer and food pairings, and the result was exceptional.  Portion sizes on both the ales and food were perfect.  I left the taproom pleasantly full, not feeling bloated by a overdoing it on either.  The service by the Dust Bowl staff was top notch.  All of the servers worked the entire room, always there when you needed them, without being pesky:)

Raspberry Drizzled Lava Cake paired with Russian Imperial Stout

It’s no secret that I’m a fan of Dust Bowl.  It doesn’t hurt that I met Don through our love of homebrewing, and he has a following of us that realize he’s living the dream many of us homebrewers have.  These folks brew great ales, and have brought some much needed life to Turlock’s downtown.  They are exactly the kind of business we need to revitalize our beautiful historic downtown area.  I’m looking forward to more of Dust Bowl’s special events, if this is any indication of what is to come.

Here’s a photo gallery of the evening’s fun!  Warning – lots of toasts!

Well done, Dust Bowl, well done:)

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Happy Fourth Birthday to The LazyBrewer!

Today marks the four year anniversary of The Lazy Brewer!  I really wondered if I’d see this day.  I started this site as an experiment – of myself.  I wondered if I’d take the time to post regularly.  At this point, I’ve exceeded my own expectations and have posted 150 times.  The updates are coming less frequently, but hopefully they are of higher quality. The most highly sought out posts, via search engines, on the Lazy Brewer include my imperial red ale, my black IPA and information about Dust Bowl Brewing.

If the Lazy Brewer has made your life any more interesting than it already is, please open your favorite ale, and raise a toast (and maybe leave a comment:) to the Lazy Brewer.

Cheers!

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Water filtered and grain milled for Black IPA

It’s time to brew a Black IPA – or a Cascadian Dark Ale, as they are often called – again.  Steve and I brewed a Black IPA, loosely based on a Steve Altimari recipe, back in 2009, and it is one of the top page views on this blog.  It was an awesome ale, with a huge citrusy flavor and nose.  But, the Sinamar we used for “beer food coloring” to darken the ale, left the ale muddy and I want to try and avoid that this time.  I’ll be using a combination of Belgian De-Bittered Black Malt and Weyermann Carafa III to naturally darken the ale.  Both of these roasted malts bring lots of color, but very little roasty flavor or astringency.  I am hoping for a bit of roastiness, along the lines of Rubicon Brewing’s Capricorn Black IPA.  Also, I’ll only be adding half of the two pounds of dark malts to the main mash grist.  I read on one of the brew boards that you can still get the color by adding the dark malts for the last fifteen minutes of the mash, but it mellows the roastiness and rounds off the edge of the astringency.  I do have some Sinamar on hand in case I’m not pleased with the color of the wort after the mash, but I’m hoping not to use it.

I also changed up the bittering hops in this batch.  I’ll be using Millenium hops in place of the Magnums we used last time.  My home town IPA, Dust Bowl Brewing’s Hops of Wrath relies heavily on Mellenium hops.  In the words of Dust Bowl’s head brewer, Don Oliver, “Think big alpha plus herbal – delicious hop!”  I’m sold!  Finally, I’ll be lucky to get all thirty pounds of grain in my mash tun.  Here’s the updated recipe for Back in Black IPA:

Back in Black IPA 2
14-B American IPA
Author: Mark Ranes
Date: 2/16/12

Size: 10.08 gal
Efficiency: 75.0%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 347.04 kcal per 16.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.078 (1.070 – 1.090)
Terminal Gravity: 1.019 (1.010 – 1.020)
Color: 29.56 (8.0 – 15.0)
Alcohol: 7.69% (7.5% – 10.0%)
Bitterness: 79.5 (60.0 – 120.0)

Ingredients:
13.0 lb Pale Ale Malt
13.0 lb Maris Otter Pale
1.0 lb Cara-Pils Dextrine Malt
1.0 lb Carastan
1.0 lb Carafa III
1.0 lb De-Bittered Black Malt
1.0 oz Millenium (15.5%) – added during boil, boiled 60.0 m
3.0 oz Amarillo (8.5%) – added during boil, boiled 15.0 m
2.0 oz Simcoe (13.0%) – added during boil, boiled 15.0 m
1 tsp Yeast Nutrient – added during boil, boiled 10.0 m
3.0 oz Amarillo (8.5%) – added after boil, hop back
3.0 oz Simcoe (13.0%) – added after boil, hop back
2 ea Whirlfloc – added during boil, boiled 10.0 m
1000 mL Starter,White Labs WLP001 California Ale
1000 mL Starter, White Labs WLP002 English Ale
6.0 oz Amarillo (8.5%) – added dry to secondary fermenter

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Straight C IPA Tap Handle

Straight C IPA
14-B American IPA
Author: Mark Ranes

Size: 10.08 gal
Efficiency: 75.0%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 234.7 kcal per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.070 (1.056 – 1.075)
Terminal Gravity: 1.018 (1.010 – 1.018)
Color: 12.51 (6.0 – 15.0)
Alcohol: 6.94% (5.5% – 7.5%)
Bitterness: 57.5 (40.0 – 70.0)

Ingredients:
12.0 lb Maris Otter Pale Ale Malt
12.0 lb Northwest Pale Ale Malt
1.0 lb Crystal Malt 60°L
1.0 lb Cara-Pils Malt
1.0 lb American Munich
1.5 oz Columbus (15.0%) – added during boil, boiled 60.0 m
2.0 oz Centennial (10.0%) – added during boil, boiled 10.0 m
2.0 oz Cascade (5.5%) – added during boil, boiled 1.0 m
2.0 ea Servomyces – added during boil, boiled 10.0 m
2.0 ea Whirlfloc Tablets (Irish moss) – added during boil, boiled 10.0 m
4.0 oz Cascade (5.5%) – steeped after boil
2000 mL White Labs WLP090 San Diego Super Yeast
2.0 oz Cascade (5.5%) – added dry to secondary fermenter
1.0 oz Centennial (10.0%) – added dry to secondary fermenter
1.0 oz Columbus (15.0%) – added dry to secondary fermenter

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Merry Christmas!

So another year has gone by.  Life is still good!  Today I’m surrounded by family and we’re relaxing and sharing what life has offered us.  Like the rest of the world, we’re feeling the pull of finances but still we make the best of what life offers and count the blessings of what we have.  Our health is good, we have wonderful friends who share our passions, and in general we celebrate how well off we really are.

I’ve been absent here lately.  Life has just been busy.  I’ve brewed a couple times, made some cider for the first time and have a brew planned for next week.  Last night, three kegs blew at our annual Christmas Eve feast, and I now have no pale beers that I like to drink on tap.  It’s time to brew!  More on this brew next week.

In honor of the season, share a quality ale with someone you love!  Merry Christmas from the Lazy Brewer:)

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See you Saturday at Barley & Wine!

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Cancer is the devil.

Steve – thanks!  You’ll be missed:(

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Alesmith's San Diego Dark Session Ale

Anyone who knows me would laugh if I told them I was going to brew a session ale.  For me, life starts at 1.060 OG and goes up from there!

As a part of our schwag for NHC 2011, we were given a commemorative bomber of San Diego Dark Session Ale, brewed by Alesmith in San Diego (the picture of the bottle on Beer Advocate is mine:)  The ale was incredibly drinkable – sessionable even – but with enough lightly roasted hoppy flavor to meet my needs.  The recipe was published in the May/June 2011 issue of Zymurgy as a 5 gallon recipe.  I threw the ingredients into Beer Tools for a 10 gallon batch, adjusted the OG for my system’s efficiency, and I plan on brewing this on Labor Day.  A starter of the new White Labs WLP090 San Diego Super Yeast is bubbling away on the stir plate as I type this entry.  This is the second batch of ale that will be run through my new  fermenter.

The weather here has been so hot I just haven’t wanted to brew and Monday is the coolest projected day for this weekend.  Additionally, the 26 month old Sears refrigerator that I use for a fermentation vessel crapped out last week.  Thankfully, it is now up and running again after a $139 repair bill.  It’s time to brew!

Here’s the recipe I’ll be brewing on Monday:

Central Valley Dark Session Ale
11-A Mild
Author: Mark Ranes
Date: 9/5/11

Size: 10.08 gal
Efficiency: 75.0%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 194.62 kcal per 16.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.044 (1.030 – 1.038)
Terminal Gravity: 1.011 (1.008 – 1.013)
Color: 17.4 (12.0 – 25.0)
Alcohol: 4.32% (2.8% – 4.5%)
Bitterness: 31.5 (10.0 – 25.0)

Ingredients:
12.0 lb Maris Otter
1.2 lb Crystal 45
0.6 lb Biscuit Malt
0.6 lb Crystal 120
0.6 lb Crystal 75
0.6 lb Melanoidin Malt
0.25 lb American Chocolate Malt
1.0 lb Cara-Pils® Malt
0.4 oz Simcoe® (13.0%) – added during boil, boiled 60.0 min
0.4 oz Warrior® (16.0%) – added during boil, boiled 60.0 min
0.5 oz Simcoe® (13.0%) – added during boil, boiled 15.0 min
2.0 ea Whirlfloc Tablets (Irish moss) – added during boil, boiled 10.0 min
2.0 ea Servomyces – added during boil, boiled 10.0 min
0.5 oz Amarillo® (8.5%) – added during boil, boiled 10.0 min
0.5 oz Cascade (5.5%) – added during boil, boiled 5.0 min
1.0 oz Cascade (5.5%) – added dry to primary fermenter
0.5 oz Amarillo® (8.5%) – added dry to primary fermenter
0.5 oz Simcoe® (13.0%) – added dry to primary fermenter
2000.0 mL Starter White Labs WLP090 San Diego Super Yeast

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Lighted Logo in Bar

News Flash!  They are opening tonight, Monday, August 1, 2011, at 5:00pm!

I had the opportunity to visit the Dust Bowl Brewing Taphouse before their public opening on Friday and for a private opening on Saturday evening, compliments of brewmaster Don Oliver.  I took a bunch of photos to share what will soon be available to the greater Turlock area.  This place rocks!

The Dust Bowl Taproom will be opening sometime in the week of August 1-5.  Be there!

Dining Tables in the Taproom

Sidewalk Patio Seating

The Lighted Bar

Comfy Chairs to Enjoy an Ale

The Tap Menu

Hops and Grain!

Mr. & Mrs. Lazy Brewer

Brewmaster Don Oliver and Me

My Son of Wrath Double IPA (I named this ale:)

Taproom Food Menu (Click to enlarge)

Taproom Beer Menu (Click to enlarge)

View of the Taproom

Flight of Tasters

My French Dip Sandwich and Beer Battered Onion Rings

They Pour Honest Pints!

The Bar

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Today, I received score sheets for my two entries into the National Homebrew Competition final round.  The bronze medal American barleywine scored a combined 38.3 points and advanced on to the mini-Best of Show round.  It came in 3rd out of 252 entries in the strong ale category.  Here are the score sheets (click on the images to view a larger size version you can actually read:)

Cover Sheet Mark's Bigfoot Barleywine

Score Sheet 1 Mark's Bigfoot Barleywine

Score Sheet 2 Mark's Bigfoot Barleywine

Score Sheet 3 Mark's Bigfoot Barleywine

The Beanilla Porter scored a combined 34 points and did not place in the finals. I was surprised at some of the comments saying that the fresh vanilla overpowered the underlying robust porter style.  Upon further research in the BJCP style guidelines for spiced beers, they do repeatedly talk about a balance of the spice and the underlying style.  Strangely, this received much higher scores in the first round (and a first place regionally), and the level if spice was complemented several times.  Go figure…

Cover Sheet Beanilla Porter

Score Sheet 1 Beanilla Porter

Score Sheet 2 Beanilla Porter

Score Sheet 3 Beanilla Porter

All in all, this has been a good experience.  I was always just a bit wary of the whole judging process, and some of that is still there.  I can’t help but feel that judging beer ultimately comes down to very subjective calls by judges.  Aside from strong ales that didn’t meet the primary BJCP style guidelines, how exactly was my bronze medal barleywine better than 249 other strong ales?

The barleywine keg blew last Monday, but I’ve bottled eight bottles for potentially entering the ale again next year and see how it does after another twelve months of aging.  But, I also need to brew the barleywine again ASAP:)

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Lazy Brewer Photo Galleries

A photo gallery from the Lazy Brewer’s San Diego adventure has been posted.  Enjoy:)

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Table 30, with my favorite people, at the Awards Ceremony

We returned from NHC to blistering heat (over 100 degrees) in the San Joaquin Valley.  On top of that, our air conditioner crapped out, and we spent a very hot, restless night before a repair dude made it to our house yesterday.  All is good again!

The trip home for NHC was long, but uneventful.  After a couple days to detoxify my liver, I’ve had time to reflect on some of the things I learned at NHC 2011.

I learned that I can attended a three day beer conference and not over-imbibe, even though beer is available from 9:00 am to 2:00 am.  Never once did I have next-day blues from alcohol.  Every day, I had next-day blues from lack of sleep. The NHC conference is definitely a marathon event:)

My Bronze Medal for the American Barleywine

I learned what pride is.  Pride is being on a stage, receiving a medal for your brewing accomplishments, in front of the people who love you the most.  Nine of the ten people at my Grand Banquet and Awards Ceremony table were actively rooting for my ales, maybe even more than I was.  The look in their faces when my name was called meant more than the actual bronze medal.  They were proud and happy for me like they themselves had actually won!  I love you guys:)

I learned the power of social media.  The kudos I received via Twitter and Facebook were amazing.  Some of my Twitter buddies could be heard cheering from other places in the banquet room.  That was cool!

We are already planning on attending next year’s NHC in Seattle.  Family in Oregon that we can visit, the huge beer culture in Oregon, and the fact that I haven’t been to Seattle since I was a child, are all huge draws.  I’m planning on setting up a brewing schedule, that favors competition entries for next year’s NHC, in the next couple weeks. Additionally, I’m going to bottle some of the winning barleywine and see how it matures over the year.  It would be interesting to submit it again next year and see how it scores.

If you are a homebrewer, and you’ve never been to a National Homebrewers Conference, start saving your pennies now!  Next year’s conference in Seattle should be killer!

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Me and Gary Glass

Holy crap!  I won a bronze medal at the 2011 National Homebrewers Conference for my American barleywine!  I was so excited!  It was wonderful to have so many of my good friends around when it happened:)  And most importantly, it put The Central Valley Brewers Guild on the map.   I think I’m proudest of that:)

Many thanks to those of you who have reached out to me with congratulations!

Mr. and Mrs. Lazy Brewer

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My NHC Support Group, Steve, Me and Stephen!

Day three, the last day of NHC, has been amazing.  I attended four sessions led by brewing legends and another about homebrew club management and organization.  Today I attended the following breakout sessions:

Homebrew Club Organization Panel moderated by Drew Beechum

High Gravity Brewing with Patrick Rue of The Bruery

Recipe Building and Competition Tips with Gordon Strong

Collaboration Beers with Greg Koch of Stone Brewing

Workshop on American Hops with Matt Brynildson of Firestone Walker Brewing

The homebrew club panel was informative.  We’re looking for this kind of info as our club, The Central Valley Brewers Guild, grows.  Steve and I attended and we pulled a few good nuggets out of the session.  There was talk of having a pre-NHC workshop for homebrew club leaders at next years NHC in Seattle.  I’m definitely up for that:)

Greg Koch of Stone Brewing with his eyes covered!

Simply put, Greg Koch, of Stone Brewing, is an manic, crazy genius!  He body surfed our session and I’m proud to say that at one point I supported his left buttock as he passed over head.  It was a lively session with much info and frivolity.  My first NHC quote of the day came from the session.  During the Q&A session, someone asked if there was a chance of Double Bastard becoming a year-round Stone offering, rather than becoming available at the beginning of the holiday season in early November.  Greg quickly replied that it is offered at the “Beginning of Double Bastard season.” A great off the cuff line:)

The best session of the day was led by Matt Brynildson.  He is so much the “every man” brewer and relates incredibly well to the homebrewing community.  His session on American hops was full of useful information and statistics on American hops and their use in brewing craft and homebrewed beers.  He also offered up the best ale selection of any session I attended at NHC this year, and German style hefeweizen, Hemp Ale, Union Jack and Double Jack.  Thankfully I had saved my daily alcohol allotment for this session:)

Matt Brynildson of Firestone Walker Brewing

The second quote of the day came from this session during the pouring of Matt’s ales.  One of the NHC pouring volunteers, with (good) attitude, said to us, “I’ve got a lot of beer back there. You guys have got to hurry the hell up!” in our sampling drinking:)

We’re off to the Grand Banquet and Awards Ceremony in a bit.  Hopefully my barleywine and vanilla porter will bring home the gold!  Cross your fingers for me!

Me, Matt, and Stephen - taken by Dr. Tommy's son!

Cheers to Matt! Thanks for the awesome ales!

The volunteers make this conference as good as it is! Thanks!

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The CVBG Crew the NHC Club Night

Day 2 of NHC 2011 brought several new, amazing beers to my lips.  In my first session, I had the opportunity to taste Firestone Walker’s Saucerful of Secrets, a dark Belgian ale that has been mellowing in bourbon barrels for three years.  It was incredibly smooth and even with its high ABV, very very drinkable, even at 9:20 in the morning:)  I also enjoyed a Firestone Walker double IPA, some Pliny the Elder and another Russian River IPA, Hop 2 It, which uses a new still unnamed experimental hop.  Today I attended the following sessions:

Cooking with Beer with Sean Paxton, The Homebrew Chef

Historical Extreme Beers with Mitch Steele of Stone Brewing

Pragmatic Brewing with Denny Conn

The White Labs Hangover Kit!

The highlight of the day was Vinnie Cilurzo’s keynote address.  It was captivating hearing about the early days of his brewing career – the struggles and successes, and then the development of the Russian River Brewing we all know today.  On top of it all, Vinnie is a down to earth, humble man.

Tonight’s social event was the annual Club Night, where homebrew clubs from across the nation offer their best homebrews out to NHC attendees.  The best ale I had tonight was Nathan Smith’s double IPA, from the DOZE booth – a big, spicy IPA, but dry and lacking the overpowering sweetness that too many IIPAs have.

We enjoyed Club Night for about an hour and a half and then retired to our room for some much needed sleep:)

Yum! Firestone Walker's Saucerful Of Secrets - at 9:20 am

Oh, yea! This is going to be good!

Vinnie Cilurzo giving the 2011 NHC Keynote

Vinnie Cilurzo, Mark and Steve

I'll Have What He's Having!

Steve and Maggie Supporting Dust Bowl Brewing

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Yeast for a Year!

So today was a Charlie Sheen day at NHC.  Winning!

At tonight’s Pro Brewers night, the lovely Mrs. Lazy Brewer won a year’s worth of yeast from White Labs!  There were twelve certificates, each good for two vials of White Labs yeast!  Two raffle tickets were called, with no one responding and the third call was her ticket!  Life is good:)

Today I attended the following breakout sessions:

Brewing on a Budget with Chris Graham of MoreBeer

Hop Boil Chemistry with Colin Kaminski of Downtown Joe’s in Napa

Choosing the Right Yeast with Chris White of White Labs

Brenda and her (my:) Yeast!

All the sessions were good, but I really enjoyed the brew nerdiness of the hop chemistry and yeast sessions.  Very good info:)

On a sad note, the Town and Country Resort Hotel shooed the gourmet food trucks off their property.  Seems like a money grab move to capture the conference attendees food dollars.  Very very uncool…

The Hospitality Suite Brew Board, beers 17-30

30 handles at the Hospitality Suite

The Three Beerscateers! Onf for all and all for beer!

The conference opening toast!

My Twitter beer buddy @BrettGlenna

What the hell? A line for the mens room?

Incredible Hospitality Room Portable Cold Box with 30 handles!

The Floor of Pro Brewers Night

Me, Vinnie Cilurzo, a big-assed bottle of Temptation and Steve

Mark, Maggie, Steve and Brenda

Mr. & Mrs. Lazy Brewer

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2011 NHC Conference Flyer

Yesterday was a travel day to the 2011 National Homebrewers Conference in San Diego.  The drive was long, but uneventful, other than me just about dozing off while driving in Fresno.  I haven’t had an issue staying awake while driving for probably 25 years, but this morning I was just wiped out.  Brenda took over the driving from Fresno to Bakersfield, and while I didn’t actually sleep, I drifted on the edge of consciousness for about an hour and a half.  We got to the Town and Country Resort Hotel, the conference host, just before 3 o’clock, checked in, went and picked up our NHC registration materials, beer schwag and three lovely bottles of ale:)  Shortly after that we were enjoying our first complimentary ales from the conference hospitality room.  We visited with Steve and Maggie for a bit and then decided to head out to check out Green Flash Brewing’s new tasting room.  This will also be their future brew house in the coming months.

Green Flash Brewing Tasting Room

While the Green Flash tasting room doesn’t actually serve food, on the evenings they are open, one of San Diego’s gourmet food trucks parks outside the tasting room and serves up incredible fare.  Tonights food truck was Devilicious.  We enjoyed lobster and cheese sandwiches, fabulous burgers, BBBLTs ( the extra Bs were for all the extra bacon they throw on the sandwiches), truffled parmesan fries and some Fried Yumminess (tonight’s rotating Fried Yumminess was deep fried cheeseburger and pickle balls:)  The ales at Green Flash were incredible.  I had a Hop Head Red, a Green Flash Imperial IPA, a West Coast IPA and a taste of something they call Palate Wrecker – another IIPA.  All in all, it was a great way to ease into a three day beer conference.

The opening toast for the 2011 National Homebrewers Conference takes place at 1:00 pm today.  After that, there are three breakout sessions, and at 8 o’clock, the Pro Brewers Night starts, where over 45 craft breweries will be providing unlimited pours of their best.  Additionaly, the conference organizers worked with many of the San Diego gourmet food trucks to provide a mobile “food court” each evening of the conference.  Yum!

Green Flash Tasting Room

Having two of my beers in the final round of the National Homebrew Competition will make Saturday night’s Grand Banquet (a beer dinner – go figure:) and National Homebrew Competition Award Ceremony a special event.  Cross your fingers for my Beanilla Porter and annual barleywine!

Fun times ahead!

Fried Yumminess!

Green Flash Imperial IPAs

Green Flash Ales

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Sabco Fermenter

So I’m wanting one of these.  Bad!

A couple of my brew buddies, Wade and Steve, have fabricated similar fermenters using conversion kits to achieve the same general result.  My only concern with their setups is that they really can’t get into the top of the unit to check for cleanliness and scrub away fermentation funk.  The Sabco unit has a 4 inch port on top, secured with a tri-clamp that should make entry and cleaning a breeze.  All of the couplings utilize tri-clamps, so cleaning and sanitation should be easy.  I especially like the idea of being able to harvest yeast.  I also really like the idea of getting ten gallons of exactly the same ale since one of my five gallon carboys always seems to have a better/different fermentation.

They are not cheap, but run about the same as a quality, non-temperature controlled conical fermenter.  I’ve always worried about moving a full 14 gallon conical fermenter since they tend to be so top heavy, and my fermentation fridge is 50+ feet away from where I brew.  This unit looks more stable, and easier to handle and then muscle into my fermentation fridge.  Sabco has a nice video showing how the fermenter works.  I’m thinking of buying one, and then if they live up to my expectations, picking up another one and then ditching all of my carboys.  I’ve a a serious close call with a carboy that has me a bit scared – and I’m handing them with renewed respect.

I want to give Sabco a call before purchasing with a few questions.  I’d also need to rework a couple of my recently fabricated hoses, with stainless quick disconnects, to attach to the new fermenter, but that shouldn’t be too big of a deal.

So yea, lust!  Stainless steel lust:)

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Cookie Dough Brown Ale Tap Handle

I now have ten gallons of Cookie Dough Brown Ale sitting in a couple carboys.  I’d love to take credit for the inspiration for this wonderful ale, but that goes to my brew buddy, Stephen.  The idea came to him one day when he was sitting around (probably with an ale in his hand:) thinking about how to take his Brew Barn Brown Ale to the next level, and the idea of adding dark brown sugar and raisins to the batch came to him, to give it a deeper, cookie-like quality.  He brews the ale as an imperial, but I scale it back a bit in the OG to make it a bit more of a session ale.  This is the third time I’ve brewed this ale and it just seems to get better with every batch.  The one I have on tap right now is easily in the top five best ales I’ve ever brewed.

This beer was also my inaugural run using my new Therminator plate chiller, and I was on edge throughout most of the brew session, knowing that a big change was coming to my process at the end of the day.  On top of the chilling process change, I haven’t brewed for at least three months, so overall, the brew day was just a bit out of the ordinary.  I chased my mash temps, and I forgot to add the Whirlfloc tablets at the end of the boil. In the end, I made beer:)

Here’s the recipe for Cookie Dough Brown Ale:

Cookie Dough Brown Ale
10-C American Brown Ale
Author: Mark Ranes
Date: 04/25/11

Size: 10.08 gal
Efficiency: 69.06%
Attenuation: 79.0%
Calories: 212.53 kcal per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.064 (1.045 – 1.060)
Terminal Gravity: 1.013 (1.010 – 1.016)
Color: 24.6 (18.0 – 35.0)
Alcohol: 6.66% (4.3% – 6.2%)
Bitterness: 37.9 (20.0 – 40.0)

Ingredients:
12.0 lb Golden Promise Malt
8.0 lb Pale Ale Malt
2.0 lb Brown
1.0 lb Cara-Pils® Malt
1.0 lb Chocolate Malt
1.0 lb Crystal 120
1.5 oz Northern Brewer (8.0%) – added during boil, boiled 60.0 min
1.5 oz Centennial (10.0%) – added during boil, boiled 20.0 min
2.0 tsp Wyeast Nutrient  – added during boil, boiled 15.0 min
2.0 ea Whirlfloc Tablets (Irish moss) – added during boil, boiled 15.0 min
1.0 lb Dark Brown Sugar – added during boil, boiled 10.0 min
12.0 oz Raisins – added during boil, boiled 10.0 min
2.0 oz Centennial (10.0%) – added during boil, boiled 0.0 min
2.0 oz Northern Brewer (8.0%) – added during boil, boiled 0.0 min
2000 mL White Labs WLP001 California Ale
2.0 oz Cascade (5.5%) – added dry to secondary fermenter
2.0 oz Northern Brewer (8.0%) – added dry to secondary fermenter

Therminator Set Up

Overall, the chilling process with the Therminator went well.  Man, that plate chiller can drop the wort temperature fast!  I was a bit out of sorts with my anal retentive need to super clean the plate chiller though.  I had lots of problems with the March pump cavitating, while trying to repeatedly forward and reverse flush the Therminator.  And the hop bit just seemed to never stop coming out of the chiller.  Steve uses a sump pump for cleaning the chiller, and I got one for these from Mrs. Lazy Brewer for Christmas, but it was the one part of the system I didn’t take the time to flesh out all of the fittings for, so it wasn’t ready.  It will be the next time I brew:)

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