Joe the Butcher’s imperial stout

Posted on August 21, 2007 by Brian

A couple weeks ago while at Publix, Nicole struck up a conversation with our friendly butcher. As is the case with most of our conversations, the topic somehow turned to beer. Turns out, Joe is also a homebrewer! And as chance would have it, when Nicole went back to Publix earlier this week, Joe happened to have a bottle of his homebrew in the fridge at the store. Such happenstance became our good fortune, for he gave her the bottle for us to try!

This evening, we cracked open Joe the Butcher’s Imperial Stout. I must admit, I was a bit apprehensive. I’ve never really had another homebrew before. What if it wasn’t good? What would we tell Joe? What if it was great? Does that mean I suck?

Well, apprehension took a back seat when I tried the beer. It was quite good! The beer has some very nice qualities, including a sweet, roasted flavor with a little hop bitterness to balance it out. A solid effort! I would say it is better than anything I have brewed to this point, but it gives me hope that some day I, too, can brew a beer that is distinct and doesn’t taste the same as all the other beer I’ve brewed. :)

So kudos to Joe the Butcher! This is a guy that has it all, meat and beer. What a fantastic combination. I wonder if he does parties???

Posted in Beer | 2 Comments

when a brewpub goes bad

Posted on August 19, 2007 by Brian

This weekend I tagged along with my wife Nicole to Hilton Head Island to do some field work for an article she is writing for a Charleston-based food magazine. I was able to go as her travel companion and chauffeur, while reaping the benefits of some great food.

We were both very excited about this weekend, and Nicole did a lot of research to find just the right places for us to hit. Before beginning our food tour on Friday evening, she thought it would be a good way to begin for our first stop to be at only brewery on Hilton Head, the Hilton Head Brewing Company.

Once we were finally able to find the brewpub (and I use “pub” lightly), as it was hidden away in a maze of a 1980s-style shopping center, we came up to the door where they had the beers on tap written on a chalk board with a description of each beer. Their selections were a summer blonde, an IPA, an amber, and a porter. Seemed good, so we went in.

As soon as we walked in, I knew something wasn’t quite right. It screamed of “sports-bar”. When we sat down, I asked our waiter if they offered a flight so that I could sample their beers. He had no idea what a “flight” was, but he said he could bring a sample of each beer out. Not wanting to argue about semantics, I agreed to have the sampler.

The first beer we tried was the summer blonde. It wasn’t good, but it wasn’t too bad. No noticeable aroma, malt, or hoppy character, kind of like your standard light lager, except it did have an interesting tartness in the aftertaste. At this point I was still optimistic, because that style of beer is usually my least favorite, so I figured I would enjoy the other styles more. Unfortunately, it was all down-hill from there.

The next beer up was the IPA. I was surprised at the very creamy body of the IPA when I first tasted it. After that, I was just surprised at the lack of taste and the lack of hops. It kind of had the same finish as the blonde, a little tart, but not quite right.

The amber was where things really got interesting. I was amazed at first because this beer had no aroma. None. At all. The bar wasn’t smokey, and I wasn’t stuffed up. It just had no smell. It also had some really bad off flavors, including a very sour finish, and not the citrusy sour of casacade hops, just sour. It was so bad that we didn’t even finish the dixie cup sized sample we had.

At this point I was just praying that the porter would redeem our experience. After all, it looked like a nice, dark, chocolaty, stout. Nope. The aroma was that of dust. It tasted like they took our the uniform of our old CofC mascot, Dusty Clyde the Cougar, and dropped it in the brew casks. The after taste can only be described as “strange”. I renamed it the Dusty Clyde Porter.

After making our way through the sampler, we should have just cut our losses and left, but being the dedicated beer lovers that we are, we decided to each get a pint of the summer blonde, as it was the least offensive. I hoped it would get better as I acclimated myself to the beer, but I had no such luck. Somehow, I was able to persevere to the end, but it was not easy.

The purpose of my blogging is primarily to highlight great beer and share those beers and experiences with others. I don’t want to become a beer curmudgeon (although it is fun sometimes). However, it was obvious to me that the brewers at the Hilton Head Brewing Company really don’t care about their beer. They are in it for the late-night college crowd that shotguns their Michelob Ultra and downs shots of tequila. They should do us all a favor and just take out the brew kettles and use the floor space for something more productive, like a stage for the drunk college girls to dance on.

Oh, and the worst part? They charged us $2 for the sampler. Ugh…

Posted in Beer, Breweries | 7 Comments

beer calories and carbs

Posted on August 12, 2007 by Brian

The time has come for me to address a long-standing myth that has pained me to hear for many years: that “‘good'” beer has too many calories, too many carbs, and will make me fat.” While I readily admit, most good beers do have a few more calories and grams of carbohydrates than your average light beer, unless you are at a college frat party and need to slam 8 to 12 beers over a 4 hour period, it isn’t enough to make that much of a difference. However, if you are at a frat party, have fun with your Natty Light and you can stop reading here.

I will now submit my evidence. Below are a few samples of beers that are commonly found in most places: (amounts per 12 oz. serving; Source: calorieking.com)

Beer % Alcohol Calories g Carb
Bud Light 4.2 110 6.6
Miller Lite 4.2 96 3.2
Michelob Ultra 4.2 95 2.6
Guinness Draught 4.0 125 10.0
Samuel Adams Boston Lager 4.9 170 18.0
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale 5.7 175 14.1
Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale 6.6 214 19.4
Blue Moon 5.4 171 13.7
Bass 5.5 140 13.0
Olde English 800 8.0 220 14.6

I know some of you are now saying, “I told you so! Mich Ultra has 70 fewer calories and 12 fewer grams of carbs than Sierra Nevada Pale Ale! That adds up!” I grant you, it does add up. But have you considered what 70 calories is? It’s a piece of bread, it’s half a cookie, it’s one bite from a Big Mac.

Don’t get me wrong, if you like light beer, and there is nothing wrong with that, then that’s ok. I even enjoy a Miller Lite or PBR in the right setting: at the beach, camping, or a hot afternoon on the porch. My point is to those that drink light beer simply because they are afraid that the heavier beers will add to their waistline or they just haven’t given other beers an honest try. There is a whole world of delicious beer out there, and I encourage people to explore and find what they really like and not to settle for something simply so they can save 40 calories.

I guess it all depends on what your priorities are. If you have to have the cookies (and 4 beers to wash them down), then by all means, grab the nearest Miller Lite. Me, I’ll enjoy a Sierra Nevada and leave the cookie on the plate.

Posted in Beer, Practical Beer Tips | 9 Comments

flirting with disaster

Posted on August 5, 2007 by Brian

Today I moved the blueberry wheat into the secondary fermenter. If you recall from my post back on July 22, I mentioned that I did not strain off the whole hops or blueberries when I put the wort in the primary. Well, that provided for an interesting experience this afternoon.

After getting everything and starting the siphon, everything seemed to be going well until I got about 2 or 3 gallons transferred. Then I started noticing air bubbles in the tubing. Then more bubbles, and more bubbles. I figured that with so much gunk in the beer that the siphon got clogged down at the bottom. It got to the point where the beer actually stopped flowing.

So, trying not to panic, I pulled the siphon out of the beer and quickly cleared the opening and started the siphon again. All went well for a little while, but toward the end of the bucket, the bubbles came back again. I was able to get five gallons of the beer transferred, but I don’t know what effect all those bubbles will have on the beer.

I don’t think the batch will be ruined, but it certainly is not good for the beer. Once you have started fermentation, introducing air into the system can have an “oxidizing” effect on the beer. As it was described to me, it’s basically like a bottle of wine that has been opened, if you close it back up and come back a week later, it’s just not the same as it was when you first corked it.

I am planning to bottle the beer next weekend. Hopefully that process will be a little more predictable.

Posted in Homebrew | Leave a comment

August 2007 – Flying Dog Double Dog

Posted on August 5, 2007 by Brian

“Wow!” Was my reaction to my first sip of this beer. I was immediately struck by the creamy, sweet, and ridiculously hoppy character. A little later on I was struck by the 10.5% alcohol content!

Flying Dog describes this beer as a “Double Pale Ale” because of the high hops and alcohol content. It is an extremely rich and flavorful beer, and I now consider it to be one of my favorites. The color is a very deep amber, much darker than what you would normally see from a pale ale. The body is very creamy and thick, just coating your mouth as you drink. It has a very rich malty flavor, but the hops just cuts through it like a knife once it hits the back of your tongue. It is kind of similar to the Victory Hop Devil I wrote about last month, but the Double Dog takes it to a whole new level.

The one drawback to this beer is that it is so rich and hoppy that I really can’t drink more than one in a sitting. But considering that it takes me about an hour to drink one bottle and it has 10.5% alcohol, I really don’t need to drink a second. I think this is a great beer to have with a nice piece of bitter dark chocolate, or when you are engaged in the depths of conversation and just want a magnificent beer to sip on for while.

Be warned, this beer is not for the faint of heart. It may be a little intense for those not experienced with a wide variety of beer tasting. Then again, I encourage you to be adventurous and at least give it a shot! If you don’t, you might be missing out on something great.

Posted in Beer of the Month | 1 Comment

pilgrimage

Posted on July 22, 2007 by Brian

It is official, Nicole and I are taking a pilgrimage to Oregon in September. An entire week of brewery tours, wineries, and the great outdoors. Needless to say I haven’t been this excited since, well, the White Stripes concert I’m going to next weekend :) We are also taking Nicole’s parents, who I actually think are crazier than we are. It should be an awesome time!

This really is a dream trip for an aspiring brewer. Oregon is considered the microbrew capital of the United States. I do not know the exact figures, but there are more microbrews per capita in Oregon than in any other state. My hope is to be able to get in touch with a couple of the brewmasters out there and get some tips on how they got started, what the challenges are of commercial brewing, and what it is they love about the business (aside from sampling all their creations).

We have not nailed down an exact schedule yet, but we are pretty sure we are going to spend some time in these cities, among others, I’m sure:

  • Portland
  • Freeport: the home of Rogue
  • Florence: there is a Chowder, Blues, and Brews festival from the 21st to the 23rd
  • Eugene: we hear there is a Saturday market that we just can’t miss
  • Bend: home of Deschutes and great scenery

So if anyone has any suggestions for places to go and things to do, feel free to let me know. We hope to do other things than just drink beer. We would like hear some good live music, do some hiking, and eat some good food. I can’t wait!

Posted in Untamedbeer news | 1 Comment

homebrew batch #5: blueberry wheat

Posted on July 22, 2007 by Brian

Homebrewing is always an adventure. You never know where it will take you…

The batch I brewed up this weekend sent us in search of fresh blueberries. I had heard of a farm on John’s Island where you could pick them yourself relatively inexpensively, and since I needed between 5 and 10 pounds of these little berries, I thought that would be my best bet.

After a 45 minute drive to John’s Island, we stopped at a roadside vegetable stand/museum to ask where we might find this mythological farm. “You ain’t gonna find em here till next May,” was the response I got from the man working the register at the stand. It appears the late frost we had in April pretty much wiped out the blueberry crop this year. Thanks to Nicole, who had scouted out Publix earlier in the week, she knew they had blueberries on sale, 2 pints for $4.
So, instead of freshly picked blueberries from John’s Island, I used 6 pounds of imported New Jersey blueberries. I can just taste the juicy freshness :)  (actually, they aren’t bad. I’m sure they’ll be great in the beer.)

This batch is a blueberry wheat. I started with a recipe for a cherry ale and altered it by using a wheat malt extract, a wheat yeast, and blueberries. It’s pretty simple, really. I boiled the malt and bittering hops for an hour, then added crushed blueberries and the flavoring hops for 15 minutes at around 160 degrees for 15 minutes.

As a side note, I have learned that the reason you don’t add fruit to boiling wort is that it will “set the pectin” in the fruit and will create a haziness in the beer. So, in order to pasteurize (sterilize) the fruit, you put it in at the end of the boil for 15 minutes or so and it will kill off any unwanted critters from the fruit. This has been quite an education…

Another twist to this recipe from recipes past is that I did not strain off the beer before putting it in the fermentation bucket. I just dumped the whole mess in there, cooled it, pitched the yeast, and sealed it up, blueberries, hops, and all. This should turn out to be quite an interesting beer when it’s all said and done.

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popped!

Posted on July 8, 2007 by Brian

Homebrew batch #4: Who’s in the Garden Grand CruI have finally popped the strange cru! After weeks of waiting and trepidation, I can finally taste my first non-prepackaged brew. And how is it, you ask? Well, I think it’s pretty good! I think it is my best batch of the four I’ve done so far. However, I am quite perplexed, because it is still very similar in taste and body to the previous three, even though I used completely different ingredients and brands that I have before. More on that later.

This beer has a slight hints of citrus in the aroma. It smells kind of sweet. It’s not a hoppy beer, so there is little flower in the aroma. The color is quite a deep amber, which seems a little strange. I used extra light malt extract and honey, so I expected it to be more of a golden color. Maybe it’s because it was Muntons malt extract, and they are Brittish…

The flavor is quite light and has twists of orange citrus. Adding a wedge of orange really enhances the citrus flavor, much like it does in a Blue Moon. The aftertaste is actually a little sour. I did use sour dried orange peel in the wort, so perhaps that’s where that flavor came from. It does have different twists from my previous batches, but its malty character and finish still closely resembles the other batches I’ve made previously.

One other interesting tidbit about this batch is that it has a lot less head than my previous batches. It is still quite carbonated, so I think the conditioning is pretty good. I just miss the head :)

Overall, I think this is quite a solid effort. I got very good reviews from my friends at Bratfest 2007 in North Charleston over the weekend. That is very encouraging, but I am still quite perplexed about why it still has such a similar taste and body to the previous three batches. Is it the equipment I’m using? Does the plastic fermentation bucket have flavors ingrained into it after a few batches? Am I not sanitising the equipment well enough and the beer is getting contaminated? Is this how all malt extracts taste? Many questions, few answers. I need to seek expert opinions. Time to call on Uncle Wendell.

However, stay tuned, I have picked my next summer brew: Blueberry Ale.

Posted in Homebrew | 3 Comments

July 2007 – Victory HopDevil Ale

Posted on July 1, 2007 by Brian

Victory is a newcomer to South Carolina, one of the spoils of the recent repeal on the oppression of beer in our state. Victory is brewed in Downington, Pennsylvania, and has quickly become one of my favorite overall breweries. Everything I have had from them has been stellar to this point.

Victory HopDevil AleThe first Victory beer I tasted, and what has become one of my favorites, is the HopDevil ale. HopDevil is as the name suggests, quite hoppy. It has a very sour citrusy taste to it, almost like drinking grapefruit juice. I know that grapefruit juice can be an acquired taste, so this may not appeal to everyone. For being very hoppy, this beer also has a strong malt flavor, giving it an interesting twist. I guess that’s the “devil” part.

The color is a deep amber and the aroma suggests more to me of malt than it does hops. With Some very hoppy beers the hops almost knocks you over when you first get a whiff, but with this beer the hops really sneaks up on you when you taste it.

It has 6.7% alcohol by volume, so it is a little more potent than your average beer. This increased potency gives the beer a lot of body and really coats your tongue on the way down. The aftertaste is very persistent, but it is pleasant. While this beer is very good, I would not want to have more than two in a sitting because of the overpowering hoppy nature. This is best enjoyed with a meal or desert.

Posted in Beer of the Month | 4 Comments

what is a pilsner?

Posted on July 1, 2007 by Brian

I have learned what distinguishes many different styles of beer: lagers, ales, stouts, porters, pale ales, India pale ales, etc. But for some reason, the pilsner has escaped me. Perhaps other people are as puzzled as I am. Well, this afternoon I aim to find out what it is!

Before research (you have to trust me, I haven’t looked it up yet): My first impressions upon having a pilsner are that it is an awful lot like a lager. They have a similar light golden color, similar body, and similar taste. However, the pilsner seems a little hoppier. That’s probably why I’ve enjoyed the Victory pilsners more than the Victory lagers that I have had in my fridge recently. I’ve read in descriptions on various pilsner bottles that they use German hops in pilsners. Maybe that’s all it is.

After research: Yep, that’s all it is. A pilsner is an especially hoppy lager that originated in Bohemia. Oh…

According to wikipedia (which is always correct, I know), pilsners were first developed in Pilsen, Bohemia (which is now the Czech Republic) in the 1840s. Pilsner Urquell is a example of one of the original Czech pilsners. Czech pilsners tend to have a lighter flavor, while German pilsners tend to be more bitter.

Alright, here’s your homework. Get three beers, Pilsner Urquell (Czech pilsner), Beck’s (German pilsner), and any lager (Miller, PBR, whatever). Compare the taste and see if you can tell a difference. Let me know how it goes.

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