Tools of the Trade

It's brew day again. This is an event that requires 8 empty firkins and at least a continuous 9 hour stretch of time that hopefully starts no later than mid morning. The understatement of the day is that ingredients are important too, and I hope I can scrape together $1600 to pay off my last grain bill so I can order more. There is about one batch's worth of Maris Otter in the millhouse at the moment, after milling out 200 lbs of the stuff for today's batch. Today's experiment is another batch of West Coast IPA based on Schrodinger's Beer. This time, instead of using the 14% alpha Sorachi Ace for bittering, I will be substituting something else with a lower alpha but using twice as much. I'm not sure what yet; there is a limited number of choices in the cooler. Us shed brewers operate under a different economy than the Big Boys (tm). As such, I'm also contemplating raising the price of a pint (proper) of this brew to $5.50 to pay for the 7 Kg of hops that will be going into it. I don't think this is unreasonable, as many places already charge this in urban locales that don't have to suffer the higher costs of delivery and the relative paucity of patronage. At least it's not the $6.50 that Pelican (a Big Boy (tm)) charges for a pint of room temperature bitter, with the justification that they operate in an economically and seasonably challenged location. And Rogue? Don't get me going on Rogue.

But this is not a blog about beer - it is a blog about tools. I have directed a few posts in the past to you, yes YOU, the prospective brewer and pub owner. This is another. As you progress your way into this silly business, it would serve you well to know how to handle a vast array of implements of de- and con-struction. A week ago, on brew day, my fancy shed brewery counterflow heat exchanger "blew a gasket". As $2500 in potential profits were being brewed at the time, this needed to be fixed before the end of the boil, so as to chill the wort on the way to the fermenter. There's nothing quite like sweating pipes while 100 gallons of wort boils a yard to the posterior, occasionally burping a gobbet of enthusiastic froth over the side and onto the floor, endangering life and limb.

Postscript: As I'm writing this in the cracks of time afforded during the brewing process, I have since weighed out the bittering hops. I went with Centennial for bittering, using 1.5 Kg instead of the 2.0 I had originally thought necessary. This harvest has an alpha of 8.8%. Total bittering hops weighed out at 3.5 Kg, which is the most I've ever used in a batch here at the brewery. I used the same 2.0 Kg of Glacier to partner with it as I used in the last batch of Schrodinger's.

Last week's repairs are still holding. For Christmas I would like a nice new Big Boy (tm) plate heat exchanger, so please put it on your list.

Schrodinger's Beer

Cask number 4 is being served. Cask number 5 is settling out on the stillage. Numbers 6, 7 and 8 are in the back cellar. And I still haven't written about Schrodinger's Beer. Many of you may be familiar with the famous thought experiment by physicist Erwin Schrodinger involving the unknown state of a cat in a box subjected to the uncertainty of quantum events. Is the cat dead, alive, or in a putative third state until observed? Same with this beer. It was an experiment. Many of the concoctions coming out of the brewery are.

I've written before about hoppy, high gravity West Coast style IPA's on cask, also referenced from "It's Pub Night", although slightly inaccurately, as I don't question the sanity, per se. I am tempted to use the verb "designed" when talking about how the recipe came about, but that always sounds so much like what the Big Boys do, instead of someone who has never had any formal training in the arts. So, I'll say that I hacked together the recipe, based on my first attempt at a biggie cask IPA over the summer called "Whatever". This batch was deemed too light on the bittering, as if there was a hole in the flavor profile, so I cleverly decided to double the bittering hops. Otherwise, same grain bill and finishing.

A further word about experimentation: Before the pub opened, during the hop crisis, I had very little choice as to what to purchase in the way of hops. As a very small brewery, the cash flow and uncertainty of a new business, especially in a small town in the woods, makes it unfeasible to contract with hop growers and suppliers. As a result, I ended up with spending $6000 on a few boxes of three strains: E. Kent Goldings, Glacier and Sorachi Ace. Never heard of the last one? I've found few brewers using it - that I know of, that is. It's a strange one, with a unique lemony (for lack of a better word) flavor and aroma. It's also 14% alpha. This hop is the driving force behind Union Dew, an unusual, unique and popular IPA, and which is the one beer that I continue to have to brew on a regular basis. Batch 11 was just casked up two days ago.

How does this relate to Schrodinger's Beer? Well, I wanted to see how it acts as just a bittering hop. 1 Kilo of this up front, along with 2 Kilos of Glacier, makes up the bittering. The finish is 3 Kilos of Cascade spread out over 15 minutes. Dry hop was 40 grams Cascade per firkin. I suffered through two weeks of nervous impatience before tapping the first cask. It has subsequently been pronounced delicious - the first firkin only lasting a day and a half. It's not over the top in any way, coming out at 5.9%.

Many of you American readers might not know what a sparkler is. It is a plastic device with small holes in it that is screwed onto the end of the swans neck of a beer engine. The effect of an ale dispensed in this manner is a creamer, smoother mouthfeel. In the UK it is a subject of much controversy, ofttimes caustic, with those of a generally Southern persuasion describing it as a "nefarious device" or the "work of the devil". I can handle cask ale both ways, but tend to prefer the common Northern inclination for drinking a sparkled ale. I have discovered, however, that this particular ale, and likely the bigger West Coast styles in general, is definitely better sans sparkler. So be it - that is the way it is being served. Come down and try a pint. See you at the pub.

Post Brewfest Post

It's taken until Monday, a whole week and more indeed, to catch up on all the things I didn't do this past weekend while attempting to participate in the KLCC Microbrewfest and our local theater company's performance of "Web of Murder". Not only was there a brewery to clean, and a festival to clean up after, but those of you in the business can imagine the sort of paperwork that can pile up in just a couple of days. Oh, and I had to brew more Dearth and Surfeit.

With our embryonic, traveling pub kit, we managed to go through a couple of firkins of ale in a festival that has never witnessed the utilization of shive-and-keystone firkins tugged through a couple of beer engines. Temperature control became an issue, as active, swirling bodies elevated the ambient temperature of the exhibit hall seemingly past the intended capabilities of the HVAC system. Wet towels and ice bags lowered our ale temperature to an almost satisfactory 14° C, but I would've preferred a couple degrees lower.

Pouring remained steady throughout the festival. The first guy who wandered by put on what I believe to be a genuine happy face. I had brought down two firkins each of Cumbrian Moor, a porter, ABV 3.2%, and our usual unusual IPA, the Union Dew, at 5.5%.

I haven't gone to this particular brewfest in years, as a participant of course. The principal unfortunate feature of this festival, and many like it in this country, is that the individuals serving the beer generally don't have any knowledge of what they are pouring. It is disappointing to taste a beer or cider and then be denied further enlightenment. After a wrangle with one of the festival monitors as to whether I could, myself, as owner and brewer, and with a valid service permit, draw one of my own beers, I did manage to spend a bit of time behind my own pumps. Otherwise, Dave did a splendid job fortifying the little gray punter cells. We received a slew of compliments from surprised festival participants with our ability to speak intelligently and coherently about what we are about and why.

At a dollar for a 3 oz. taste, I managed to try some interesting brews. Unfortunately I didn't take any notes, and it is too long after the festival to have many name recollections. Predominantly featured are big beers; seems like subtlety is sadly lost on the American palette. I would like to see more bitters, milds, casks; but alas I'll have to draw on my memories of some nice British festivals. The West Coast IPA is everywhere, with little variation as the battle for IBU's and ABV's continues to wage. There were a few foreign beers, including Belhaven Scottish and Youngs Double Chocolate Stout, both of which would've been nice on cask and a bit warmer. The Youngs did win best of show, which I find interesting given its cold fizziness. With my enthusiasm for heat, I was quite delighted with the Calapooia Chili Beer. Now there's a beer best served cold on the keg.

I'm not sure what festival to have a go at next. There is a firkin fest in Portland in March and the Blooms and Brews up near Salem in April sounds interesting. Money is still an issue with us, as we attempt to work through our first year of business in a slow economy.

And for all you sharp-eyed bar towel spotters, I just also noticed that the English flag had been surreptitiously inverted.

Another 180 - Fuggles and Goldings Oust Cascades

In a cart-before-the-horse move, I'm submitting blog post numero uno about a beer I haven't tasted yet. I had originally crafted a superb piece on Web 2.0 for my first ever at the age of 44 blog post ever (ever) and had to stash it away because it looked dumb the next day after a quick  read.

This beer that I haven't tasted yet, but want badly to write about, was just rolled onto the stillage, giving the finings a good stir. And I want to tap it now but know better. In another of my affronts to the citrusy West Coast IPA, ABV 6.7%, hopped up with palette numbing Cascades overkill, I have brewed a 2 UK BBL batch containing 3 Kg Fuggles, 2 Kg E. Kent Goldings, and 1 Kg Hallertau. Now I'm not trying to say that citrusy West Coast IPA, ABV 6.7%, hopped up with palette numbing Cascades overkill is not a good thing. I love the stuff. But where is the subtlety? Most breweries popping up in Oregon are brewing the same thing: [name of pet dog] Pale, [local geographic landmark] Porter, [obscure political reference] Stout, and [aggressive language] IPA (citrusy, ABV 6.7%, hopped with palette numbing Cascades overkill). And did I mention cold, gassy, and in a dimunitive 16 oz tumbler containing 14 oz of beer?

But not Dearth and Surfeit, at ABV 5.8% and two weeks old. It certainly won't be cold and gassy, and being housed in the proper lined glassware which is in turn housed in a proper public house, I have to ask myself "what could go wrong?"

Tonight. Yes, tonight will be the visit to the cellar with the tap, spile and rubber mallet. The pint glass. The eager palette.

Tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow the horse will be inserted in traditional orientation relative to the cart, and with pint glass in hand I can wax eloquent on Real West Coast IPA. Either that or edit that Web 2.0 post.