Brew #9 – Cidre Épicerie (AKA Grocery Store Cider)

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I’m getting close to having my cider recipe down pat. In fact, I think I’ve finally settled on a name — “Cidre Épicerie.” Simply translated to “Grocery Store Cider,” as all the ingredients (except, perhaps, the yeast) can be purchased at your local grocery store.

For about the first month of bottle conditioning, I was concerned that I might have ruined the batch, as I detected some off-flavor in early sampling. However, since first tasting this batch, the off-flavors have mellowed and the results are have been pretty enjoyable! Continue reading →

Craft beer — it’s about the story

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Now tell me, doesn’t this sound familiar?

“We wanted to make the ultimate San Francisco beer, but we also wanted to challenge people’s perceptions about what beer is. To take a beer the originated in the 1850’s, and put a modern-day…spin on it.”

Sounds a bit like an ad for the newest, coolest craft beer, right?

This is actually an excerpt from the Esquire Network’s new show, ‘Brew Dogs‘ — a show about two Scottish brewers, James Watt and Martin Dickie, who travel across America brewing beers of local flavor, and exposing “craft beer virgins” to the many flavors and enjoyable qualities of craft beer. In this excerpt, Watts and Dickie were describing a California steam beer, which they openly fermented on the rooftop of the Anchor brewery, on a quest to make the ultimate San Francisco beer.

'Brew Dogs' picture

James Watt and Martin Dickie of ‘Brew Dogs’ (Esquire Network / “Brew Dogs”)

As I watched the second episode of the series, which focused on San Francisco and the city’s historic Anchor Brewing Company, I noticed something about craft beer that I knew, but never really thought about: it’s about the story. Continue reading →

What’s Brewing? – 11/13/13 Update

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It’s been awhile since I’ve done one of these updates, so I thought I’d take a few minutes on my lunch break to share what’s been brewing — literally!

Two weekends ago (11/2/13) I had an enormous brew day where I brewed 5 gallons of bock (my co-worker, Derek, appropriately called it “NernBock”), 5 gallons of cider, and 1 gallon of a mini-bock (AKA, “NernBock Jr.”), which I collected from the spent grain.

This was my third all-grain batch and I’ve really been enjoying the whole all-grain process! I’ve also been thinking to myself, “WHY did I ever start with EXTRACT BREWING?!?” Continue reading →

A picture of my 8th homebrew, the hells lager.

Brew #8 – Helles Lager

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Holy WOW! This is a darn good brew! Back in June I made this Helles lager, and I’ve been very happy with it.

I intended to make this a traditional Munich style Helles Lager, but I substituted honey malt for the melanoidin malt as the original recipe called for. I was very happy I did! The honey malt added a nice malt sweetness and aroma to the beer, without changing the desired color. Continue reading →