Last night I managed to make it to both Venti’s where I had the Chocolate Chili Stout, and the Ram where I had a couple pints of ZZ Hop. While I recommend both beers I definitely prefered the Chili Stout.

Chili Stout

This beer was the best of both worlds for me. I love a nice warming chili beer, and I ♥ stouts. Definitely was my favorite beer of the evening. I wanted to shoot some vid of Venti’s basement, but Bobby wasn’t bartending so I didn’t know the person behind the beers. Filming in a small beer, without permission, and with a strange bartender is daunting.

ZZ Hop

A really great fresh hop ale. Tastes floral and green with noticeable, but mild hops, and some yeast flavors that I noticed more on my second pint. Definitely enjoyable, but not life altering good. but

The one thing I learned from last night was I need a new drinking buddy now that Kaylie has a boyfriend…. Call me strange, but it just feels weird to ask a girl if she wants to go to the pub when she has a boyfriend, so I don’t. Haven’t gone drinking with Kaylie since before her like 2 month hiatus. Time to start lookin for a new one.

If you want I have a time lapse video of me drinking the fresh hop and an choppy video from Summer In The City I never posted that I thought I’d toss up. Also you may notice these aren’t true beer reviews. That’s because I personally believe beer drinkers need to try a beer for themselves rather then read a review. If you want to know what the beers were like then try get out there and have a pint.

ZZ Hop Time Lapse from 72mm Blogs on Vimeo.

Untitled from 72mm Blogs on Vimeo.

Clapooia pub night from 72mm Blogs on Vimeo.

Note to Oregon homebrewers. Tomorrow is your last day to turn in entries for the Oregon State Fair Homebrew Compitition.

Temperature is something many begining homebrewers don’t think to worry about, yet it is perhaps the most powerful beer destroying force out there. Many brewers who have been meticulous about things such as sanitation have found their beers end with a funky bubbel gum, butter, or other nasty off flavors. The sad thing about this is that fermentation temperatures aren’t that hard to control. With the hot August nights upon us though it seems appropriate to cover basic strategies. The first thing to keep in mind when considering your options however is that the fermentation temperature of your primary will be slightly higher then the ambient temperature of the room.

AC - One of the easiest and most expensive methods of controlling fermentation temperatures is to drop the AC to a temp of around 65° F. For most people this is a little silly. Most of us can not afford to keep our homes this cold throughout the summer. Some people however have a separate fermentation room with it’s own separate AC unit so that they don’t have to keep the whole house cold. If you have a spare room with a window and a window mounted AC unit then this option is much more affordable. Even with the separate room though this can be an expensive option.

Water Bucket- I can’t think of the actual name of this method. What it consists of is a large bucket that your primary will fit in, an old tshirt, and a floating thermometer. There’s not much to making this one. You just place your fermentor in the bucket and fill with enough water to reach halfway up the side of the fermentor. Then dress your fermentor with your tshirt or wrap in a towl. The towel or tshirt will wick water from the bucket to the top of the fermentor. Just place the thermometer in the water and use small amounts of ice to maintain a cool constant temperature in the bucket.

Refrigerator- If you happen to have a spare fridge then you can always stash your fermentor in there. Use a thermometer to monitor the temperature inside the fridge and adjust as needed.

Son of Fermentation – This is perhaps the most infamous of the DIY fermentation chambers, and the most cost effective of all the options. Here is a video from brewyourown4life where he guides you through his setup and mods he’s made.

Earlier this month I ran across a series called Beer Nutz: Season 1 and thought I’d watch it. Let’s just say it’s a good thing they only made one season.

Beer Nutz is a show that follows two guys around the US as they explore the beer culture of various towns. They do everything from brewing to bottling, and cover things like food pairings. Perhaps my favorite part is that they visit famous craft beer landmarks in the towns they visit. Sounds good so far eh? Ya I thought so too. In fact I was downright excited for this series to arrive. The reason I was disappointed is that at every landmark they have someone explain some aspect of craft beer to them and then give them a rating to show how much of a beer nut they are. The ratings are done in kegs rather then stars. The premise may have been good, but the execution was cheesy as all get out.

The show has good production values, and lacks the let’s explore local culture aspect that many similar shows have. I enjoy this fact because it keeps it’s focus on beer, and beer alone. Also, the fact that it covers cities all over the US is great. The only cities I enjoyed watching though were San Fran, Portland, and Vancouver BC….. Okay….. Vancouver is in Canada. So maybe this show goes beyond the US. The brewers in each city though are interesting and for the most part knowledgeable. Fritz Maytag of Anchor and Alan Sprints of Hair of the Dog come across as brewing masters. These things make Beer Nutz: Season 1 a nice little watch once kinda series. I guarantee that you wont be popping it in for a movie night though.

So why write a post on it then? Because this is an Oregon blog and their segment on P-Town is worth watching. I loved seeing the guys up at Edgefield working the bottling line, having a tasting session at Hair of the Dog with Alan Sprints, and visiting Horse Brass pub and chatting with Don Younger. In fact Don Younger has the best quote in the series when he says, “Happy hours are for rookies and whores.” The show did an amazing job capturing Portland’s beer culture. I love the lady who says that PBR is the beer of Portland. In fact here’s a highlights clip of the Portland episode, watch it yourself. If you like the video then consider buying Beer Nutz: Season 1 for yourself.

So yesterday I decided to seal up the beers I have cellaring with a nice coating of wax. Sealing bottles with wax is just an added precaution to help preserve the beer in case the seals on the caps fail (which they do eventually). Also it can be an easy way to keep track of what year the beers were cellared. This time I used brown. With next years batches I’ll use a different color. By doing this I’ll know what year I put the bottles up.

Judging by the curiosity of the family though I guess sealing stuff in wax just isn’t done much nowadays. Sad thing too considering how much fun it can be. I even made a little instructional video for anyone interested.

Wax Dipping Beer from 72mm Blogs on Vimeo.

For a while now some of the members over at HomebrewTalk have been talking about making a video called “I’m A Home Brewer”. Obviously it was inspired by “I Am A Craft Brewer”. In fact probably 90% of the script is plagiarized from that original video. Give it a watch.

I hate this for the same reason I hate the original. It’s all about hating on Bud and not about celebrating beer. These guys do come much closer then Koch’s gang did though. But do people seriously think that making beer that tastes better then Bud Light is an accomplishment? The idea for this video had so much potential that initially I was excited. However after the first draft of the script I was so let down that I stopped following it until I finally saw the results today. In fact I remember when I first saw the original draft I was so disgusted I wrote my own version. Apparently I’m a git who feels the need to improve on this still though since I looked it up and am posting the version I rewrote.

I am a craft brewer
And also a homebrewer.
I love beer
And I make my own
Throughout history people around the world have made their own beer.
Over the years though that has changed
Around the time of the big three in America
Our homebrewing tradition died out
But it’s not dead anymore
Since 1978 brewing your own beer has been a legal option in the United States
But we’re not the only ones
There are brewers around the globe
A family
A brotherhood
Homebrewering is about independence
Creation
Curiosity
Collaboration
And unity
It is built on ancient foundations
And those foundations survive today

Well that’s as far as I got apparently. I remember there was a long bit about micro brewers and something about them sucking, but thankfully I never wrote that part. Really, I think about strange things on those long bike rides. As the film says though. Really, Don’t worry. Have a homebrew!

The Oregonians video of the festival

Hops and Barley has some tasting notes

Bill has a review more of the festival then the beers. Interesting read.

Mr Beer Drawing from 72mm Blogs on Vimeo.

2009 Craft Brewer’s Convention Keynote from I Am A Craft Brewer on Vimeo.

So why not write it today and toss it up? Well today looks busy too. I have several friends currently attending Corban College, and their time there is almost up. This means we will celebrate the coming of summer with a day of cards, Frisbee, and soda (dry campus). So today I’m posting a video that somebody showed me. Personally I think it’s rubbish. Then again the video didn’t go the way I expected and I now am in a blood feud with it. Check it out and let me know your thoughts.

I Am A Craft Brewer from I Am A Craft Brewer on Vimeo.