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A Summer Harvest Wine

Tuesday, August 4th, 2009

from theweeklybrew

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For a while now I’ve been fascinated with the non grape/non berry wines out there. I have watched multiple videos on making nettle wine, read about pea pod, and even brewed a sparkling tomatoe wine once. But when I decided all this extra squash we have would make good alcohol my first thought wasn’t to make wine, it was to make a vegetable beer. However after some internet searching I have come to the conclusion that wine is the best way to dispose of my zuchini and crooknecks. So far I’ve developed a basic recipe/shopping list and want some input from you guys.

Things I need:

5 gal Plastic Fermenting Bucket
Campden Tablets
Pectic Enzyme
Wine Yeast
10 Oranges
7 lemons

Things I have:

Water (no brainer eh?)
15+ lbs Zuchini (Have alot of it, will get the rest from those desperate people trying to get rid of theirs)
5+ lbs Crookneck Squash
Yeast Energizer
Yeast Nutrient
Peppercorns
Chili’s
Basil
Honey (may need some more though)
Sugar (Will need about 10 lbs I believe)
Ginger (may or may not use some, haven’t decided)

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Brew Day Saison

Tuesday, July 14th, 2009

I’m finally getting around to brewing my Gooseberry Yarrow Saison. This beer has been a long time overdue, but what can I say? I picked up a nice French Saison yeast that is a special put out by Wyeast. I’ve been told that it’s less temperamental then the Belgian strain and has higher attenuation. This will help get that really nice dry finish. I also grabbed some grains of paradise and a book on designing beers. Once I get this book finished I’ll do a review. Also I added some beer to my cellaring collection. Deschute’s Black Butte XXI has been released. XXI is an imperial version of their porter. The bottle is now aging away next to my bottles of Mirror Mirror, Old Rasputin, Old Foghorn, and Languanitas Imperial Stout.

I have one concern about my aging beers though that I’m looking for advice on. How long does one age an Imperial Porter??

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12th Annual Barley Cup

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

mcmenaminsTo be honest I see why some of the guys at Capitol Brewers weren’t crazy to volunteer to judge this. While it is an event, it’s more Thompson’s oriented and less beer oriented. That being said it was still a beer event.

I’d planned on attending this with a few friends and Salem’s beer and wine meetup group. Both my friends though had to bail, and no matter how hard I looked I didn’t see the meetup group. Granted I didn’t know any of the people from the group that were going, so that didn’t help.

A beer competition doesn’t have to be a big social get together though, and so I headed to the bar. On an evening like this one the bar was the best place to be seated if you didn’t mind the hustle and bustle. With all the servers coming in and out you could order quicker, and the bartender kept your drinks full in between filling tasting trays. I ordered a tasting tray and joined three other guys at the bar. For awhile conversation was fairly dead, but it was no biggie. Conversation isn’t needed when your brooding about the fact that neither of your friends could make it.

I was about halfway through my tasting tray though when I got a nice surprise. Gary Nance from the Eugene location came and had a seat at the bar also. We discussed brewing and the pros and cons of making beer for a company like McMenamins. Gary was a cool guy. The guys at the end of the bar bought him a pint (I wasn’t impolite enough not to offer, but he’d told me he wasn’t drinking anymore) and we all got to talkin. After I finished my tasting tray I followed traditional McMenamins style drinking in Salem and got a compition beer mixed with Ruby. Turns out the Drunken Monkey IPA combined well with it.

Final results were

Restitution Brown – Mike White, Corey Blodgett
Pullman’s Porter – Gary Nance
‘Merican Ale – Graham Brogan

After we had all finished chatting I headed home for some dinner before heading to Venti’s for some heather ale. Bobby informed me when I got there that they’d just drained that keg the previous night. What the crap??? I so wanted to try some. Oh well. I had a couple pints while Bobby and I caught up on what’s been happening since high school. After I finished I headed over to the World Beat and watched some fire dancing.

Here’s a little video of some of it.

Fire Dancing at World Beat from 72mm Blogs on Vimeo.

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To Do List

Sunday, June 14th, 2009

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Today marks the end of my work week and tomorrow is the start of the weekend. The fact that I neither work tomorrow nor Tuesday means that I get to spend it doing catch up for the blog and my beer stuff. So here’s my beer to do list. Since your all so interested right? :)

Get a Deschutes Brewery Add On Here

I’ve talked to a couple breweries, and may talk to some more people, about putting some adds on this blog. The catch is this wont in any way pay the bills for this blog (although the hope is for this blog to pay for itself and eventually make a profit). Instead what they’re going to do is give me stuff to give to you guys in exchange for the add. Deschutes was the first to pony up. This brings me to my next item.

How do I give away a bunch of posters?

Deschutes came through with some framable quality promo posters for their beers and some stickers. When they first said they’d send me some posters to give away I was disappointed. I was really hoping to give you guys something like pint glasses or t-shirts. Truth is these posters are awesome and both myself and my family want some. Anyone with a bar at home needs one of these for their wall. The beers include Twilight, Black Butte, Mirror Pond, Jubelale 2008, and others. However tempting it may be to keep some of these I am giving them away though, so if you have good ideas for how to do this let me know in the comments.

Bottle my Uncle Fuggles Kinda Rye Ale

This is the longest name I’ve had for a beer, but it looks to be worth it. It’s spent the last to weeks sitting on lightly toasted oak chips and almost 2 ounces of Fuggles. I’ve been looking forward to this beer alot.

Get My Bike In For Repairs

My bike is falling apart. It’s been due for some maintenance and part replacement for a bit now but with the constant need to ride back and forth to Mt Angel that I had I could never find time to take in. Because of this the bike has been a single speed for two weeks thanks to a broken derailleur cable, the rear brakes are shot, and the rear tire gets more out of true daily. This doesn’t sound beer related, but I need my bike to get up to Silverton to see the guys at Seven Brides again. So there you have it, my bike getting fixed does have to do with beer.

Visit Pale Horse Brewery

This is Salem’s newest brewer in a long time and I haven’t even done my research on it. CapitolTapsfirst alerted me to their existence and I have now finaly tried both beers they offer. I’m hoping talking with the brewers will shed some light on this operation and its future here in town. Oh here we go, another beer related reason to get my bike fixed.

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No Updates Today

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

Hey everyone. Sorry I don’t have time to write a great blog post today. I’m gonna be in Sheridan without internet most of the day. See you guys tomorrow.

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Recap

Friday, June 5th, 2009

crcawebOk, I just gotta get my wits about me by recapin the mead process day

The first thing I learned today is making mead is different then beer.

Mead needs yeast nutrients and energizer. It also needs oxygen which is a no no for beer once fermentation starts. It would have been smart to look this stuff up before hand, but instead I waited till almost 12 hours after I pitched my yeast.

I learned that I’m a confident driver when no one’s in the car.

I don’t drive…. ever. So driving to Homebrew Heaven for yeast nutrient today was nice without anyone in the car.

All the training I did may not be for nothing.

I got a call Wednesday saying the home we were working on opening was dead in the water. Turns out there is still potential signs of life.

When one homebrews, one makes due.

This should be the homebrewers motto. I needed to stir my must today. Turns out a sanitized carboy brush does wonders.

I can’t pair beers with food, but I can pair beers with cars

Today I wrote a post that may get published at PorschePerfect where I paired different beers with different Porsche models. I think it turned out rather well. When it does get put up I’ll post the link here so you guys can read it.

Lastly, don’t post after 10 pm when you are bored and have a buzz.

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The Ultimate Dead Guy

Monday, June 1st, 2009

roguedeadguyThe beer I’ve been looking forward too all this time is finally going to be released… and I won’t be able to make it to Portland for a pint. On June 6th from 2pm-6pm the Horse Brass Pub in Portland, Oregon will host the kick off for John-John Dead Guy. What is John-John Dead Guy? John-John is a collaboration between Rouge’s brewer John Maier, and Rogue’s distiller John Couchot. It’s Dead Guy Ale that has been aged in the Dead Guy Whiskey barrels. What’s cooler is that when you order the dead guy it’s apparently accompanied by it’s family, Dead Guy Ale, Double Dead Guy Ale, and Dead Guy Whiskey. This quartet sounds like it could take on even the meanest of mafia families…. Ok, that was cheesy. But you got to admit that lineup sounds good.

So if you have time Saturday, and happen to be in the Portland area  head on over to Brass Horse and try one for me. I’m anxiouse to hear what it tastes like. Chech out the flier here

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It’s Bottling Time

Thursday, May 14th, 2009

beer-009Yesterday was my last OIS training, and tomorrow I’m back in class for at least another two days. With the class this week, and all the other stuff I’ve been doing I haven’t had much time for some of the things I’ve needed to get done. Planting the garden is a good example. Bottleing 10 gal of beer is another.

So you’ld think with all this stuff to do I’d at least have a start on some of it right? Nope, currently I am sitting on the couch procrastinating.

The idea of spending the next hour or two bottling beer, then going out and gardening just isn’t motivating me today. Maybe after lunch I’ll get started.

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Back In Mt Angel

Tuesday, May 12th, 2009

Im going to be in Mt Angel for training today and tomorrow, so expect my updates to be as lame as yeasterdays.

Yesterday I was back in Mt Angel for the first time since middle school, the first time I’ve been there since I turned 21. So where does a brewer go for lunch when in Mt Angel. Well I thought they went to the Mt Angel Brewery. Turns out it’s been closed for a bit though. Man do things change in a few years (ok so maybe like 8-10 years isnt a few, but heh).

Anyway,

For some reason when I found out I had to be in Mt Angel yesterday I thought I’d ride my bike. It would give me a chance to do a decent distance, on flat terrain, and would be fun. Problem was I wasn’t sure how long it would take me. Not remembering the terrain though, and guessing the distance from my memories of going up there with my dad I deduced at least 2 hrs would be necesary, I upped it to 2 and a half would be safe, and gave myself an hour onto that for lunch. So I left around 9:30 am to head up there, and rolled in to Mt Angel around 10:30 am…… There’s nothing to do in Mt Angel at 10:30 am. Heck the pubs don’t even open till 11.

So what does a beer lover do to kill 2 and a half hours in a town with nothing open. A beer lover rides out and visits the hop fields. Turns out it was time to twist the vines at the particular field I was at and I enjoyed watching people work on something that may eventually end up in my beer. In fact I took some pictures of the hop field….. While standing on the grounds of a seminary! Oh what fun it is to tempt lightning to strike you down on a sunny day.

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Oh yeah, Even with Mt Angel Brewery closed I managed to find at least one decent non import/non Coors beer. Glockenspiel had it on tap and it was called Celtic Copper Ale from Cascade Brewing. It was a pretty good beer, that is until I found out I had to give a urin sample for work right after drinking it. Good thing I wasn’t on the clock yesterday.

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And The Winner Of The Homebrewers Classic Is…..

Tuesday, April 28th, 2009

blueribbonI just recieved an email with the results of the Oregon Homebrewers Classic, and the winner is…. Not me. Well, kinda not me. Best in show went to Dick Blankenship and his Imperial Pilsner, but I did win 1st in the Spice/Herb/Vegetable category. That’s gotta count for somethin right? Actually it counts for a bit more then somethin in my opinion… I still can’t believe my Rose Red placed first in its category….

Well, I’d like to thank the Acadamy…

If you want to see the complete list of winners download here.

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