Not my usual, but nice

Beer brewing is an interesting hobby.  There is a lot of chemistry as well as some baking and cooking skill, which I suppose is also chemistry.  Back on March 5th I brewed what the recipe told me was an ESB.  Now, certainly I am not faulting Austin Home Brew.  In the hands of a more skilled brewer, this may be the best ESB ever.  In my hands, it is not at all unpleasant but I wouldn't characterize it as
an ESB at all.

Yesterday, Matt and I cracked open the first two bottles. Uncapping made the perfect "Pfft" noise that is musical to a brewer's ears.  At least with that noise, you know you probably don't have a dud. We poured it into glasses.  The color was a lovely orange gold.  It it pretty clear, but might clear more over time. It smelled like beer, but not like I expected though I couldn't place  the aroma.  So, finally, we tried that first taste.  It tasted Belgian.  Not like a really amazing brewed-by-monks Belgian beer, but like a pretty good attempt by an American brewery at a Belgian style beer. It wasn't the least bit unpleasant, but not at all what I was expecting.  As I continued to sip at the beer, some of the more ESB qualities began to shine through.  Perhaps the flavor profile will change over the next few days or weeks as well as it continues to condition in the bottles. I have also not yet cracked open the Party Pig so that might be a different experience than the bottles as well.

I am not unhappy about this beer, but I do wonder what I did in the process to cause this to happen.  We have a modified brown beer in the carboy as we speak so I'll be curious how that one turns out as well. That is kind of the fun part about beer.  After you do all the work, you have to wait a while to see what really happens. 

I also got a couple of books for my birthday.  Designing Great Beers by Ray Daniels and Radical Brewing by Randy Mosher.  I have already started devouring the Ray Daniels' book and I have already learned a few things that will help with our next batch - specifically about calculating the original gravity. 

Girls a-Brewin'!

Matt has been out of town.  Actually, out of the country.  He is in Toronto with his brother this weekend.  But I wanted to brew the next batch of beer, so I set out to do just that.  I invited our friends Andy and Emily over for some assistance and company.  The process went smoothly and the beer is fermenting away as we speak so I would consider it a success so far. 

Since Emily was helping me out with the brewing this week I got to pondering the role of women in home brewing.  I'm familiar with the history of brewing and that it had long been a woman's role in the household, but then the 20th century came and it became the domain of the college-age man.  There is a female presence in the professional brewing industry, but still don't hear a lot about women home brewers.  When googling the subject, you find some articles as old as 1994 and messages in forums wondering if there are any women out there, but receiving only a few responses.  It seems that beer hadn't been an interest for women until the craft beer boom in recent years, so it seems to me that brewing would be a hobby more women would want to get involved in. 

So, this weekend, with Emily helping me with my third batch of beer ever (and second brown) I wanted to celebrate Girl Power in brewing.  I really enjoy this process and I am getting more comfortable with my skills. I'm ready to move on to designing my own recipes. Maybe I can lead the way to a girls home brewing movement.  Who's with me? 

Beerthday Weekend

This past weekend, Matt and I had a Beerthday party.  Since our Birthdays are only a couple of days apart, it is easy to combine the celebration. We sent out the invites to a few friends to attend our Beerthday party at local brewery 5 Seasons. We had a great time and even got some beer related gifts (which weren't required, but our friends are awesome that way).  I enjoyed three of their beers. First, I had the Brave Sir Robin Brown, a slightly hopped roasty brown beer.  The I had their Red, which I don't see on their website but I found it very crisp and tasty.  Lastly, I tried their Stout, which also is missing from the website. I think everyone had a great time, which you can see in the photo because both Emily and Bill think it "rocks!"  Afterward we came back to our apartment and hung out, drank more beer and listened to Matt play guitar. 

On Sunday, we bottled our second batch of beer ever.  This one was the ESB we brewed a month ago.  The process went smoothly.  We even used my birthday present from Matt this year, the Party Pig.  He bought it on the recommendation from some friends who also home brew and the first use so far seems pretty cool.  It is kegging without all the hassle of kegging.  We also used the bottles that And and Emily gave us at our Beerthday Party.  The beer is conditioning in the closet as we speak and we should be able to enjoy it in about three weeks. 

The taste test of the beer was seemingly successful.  I liked the golden color of the ESB, the hops seems to be well balanced.  Even without being carbonated, I thought it was pretty good.

I have also been pleased with the clarity of our beers so far without going through a secondary fermentation process (also known as a clarification). It might just be beginners luck or the fact that we like to use a filter when pouring the beer in the carboy and again when we put it in the bottling bucket.

I have another brown recipe ready to go.  This time, I bought a "kit" from Austin Homebrew but added some additional malts to modify it a little.  I expect to be brewing that in a few weeks and we'll see how it goes.  Expect more updates from Beer and Now soon.

Brief History of Women Brewers

A friend of mine shared this article with me today. I love it! I feel like I am a part of a very ancient and sacred tradition - and I suppose I am.

Other tablets from Mesopotamia, ranging over a period of hundreds of years, suggest that most brewers were women, and that they undertook their occupation on both domestic and ritual scales.

I also like the fact that the article points out the role of beer in ancient Greek culture. Apparently, Wine was considered the drink of men while Beer was more feminine.

What I am most excited about is the resurgence of Women in Beer today. The article points out several breweries that have women in prominent positions.

Beer Brew II: ESB

After the most successful outcome of my first brewing attempt, I wanted to dive right into the second batch of beer.  This time I wanted to brew another favorite style - an ESB or Extra Special Bitter (or Extra Strong Bitter depending on who you ask).

I started by purchasing a recipe from a great website called Austin Homebrew Supply. Like the pre-made kit I bought at the local homebrew store, this included all that I would need to brew this beer. The difference was in the presentation.  Austin Homebrew puts together recipes and when you select them the website gives you options with different ways to put that particular recipe together.  It was a great option for my second brew.  (And my third since I already bought the ingredients but I'm getting ahead of myself).

Like my first brewing day, we decided it would be fun to invite a friend.  Andrew, who has brewed himself, came and spent the day with us.  We each enjoyed a Bare Kitty Brown as well as the brand new Wheaton Wheat that my Beer Yoda Bill brewed on the day we went to learn the art of home brewing.  As a side note, his beer was excellent as well. I began my second brewing with the typical process of cleaning and sanitizing and then I just followed the recipe.  This kit included a bag of grains for steeping, which the other kit did not include.  It was as easy as making tea. Once that was done per instruction, it was time to add the malt extracts and bring everything to a boil.  It boiled for 60 minutes with a bittering Nugget hops added at the beginning and then an aroma Kent Golding hops added in the last 5 minutes of the boil.  After this process was complete it was time to pour it into the carboy, take the original gravity reading and add the yeast. I don't think I still have quite the hang of the gravity readings down.  I recently broke my first hydrometer so Matt went and bought me a new one that included a tube with stand. 

Here is the beer boiling process.  

Here are Andrew and Matt helping pour the wort into the carboy.

Even Piglet joined in on the fun.

Here is Matt considering the Hydrometer reading.  It was 1.041 this time, which was lower than the recipe called for.  We figure that has to do with the amount of water we may have added.  I'm not terribly worried about it.  We still have no idea what the alcohol content is of the Brown and it hasn't affected the taste at all.  I suppose this is a skill I will need to perfect over time, but for now I'll just keep brewing. 

And the tasting of the wort, with the kitty timer looking on with judgment. It tasted like bread, which is precisely what it should taste like. 

Now the airlock on the carboy is bloop blooping away happily.  The house smells pleasantly like hops and in about two to four weeks we can bottle this batch and see what we have.  

Matt asked me yesterday if there was anything I found specifically difficult in the brewing process.  I don't, actually. I have always been good at following recipe directions. The cleaning process isn't too bad either, even though it isn't my favorite part.  

I have another kit from Austin Homebrew Supply in my pantry ready to be brewed. It is another brown - a recipe from their selections with a slight modification (extra dark malt to add to the recipe).  It will be my second brown and I am interested in understanding the differences. Once I get that one under my belt I want to get a couple books to help me design my own recipes. I just want to understand the basics that go into beer styles and from there I can make my own modifications.  I am excited about that. 

Introducing: Sphynx Cat Home Brew

Today, I opened my first bottle of home brewed beer. I wasn't sure at all what to expect. It was hoping for "Well, that's all right."

I was pleased to discover that what I had was "Wow, that is really good!" Now, of course, this is a beer brewed from a kit, but considering it was my first attempt I feel really good about it. 

Sure, it seems cheezy to name your home brew, but I am doing it anyway. My beer is named after my Sphynx Cat, Piglet. This first beer is the BareKitty Brown. And it is yummy.

I am excited to brew my second batch now. 

Atlanta Winter Beer Carnival 2011

Yesterday, Matt and I attended the Atlanta Winter Beer Carnival in Midtown Atlanta.  I just wanted to stop by to let you all know that it was a great time.  I loved the idea of a festival that wasn't just a beer tasting but offered other entertainment opportunities including roaming performers, carnival games and a fun house.

I thought the beer selection was interesting.  There were certainly several craft brews from all over the country but also a lot of more mass produced beers than I typically see at a festival.  There were several breweries I was unfamiliar with and was able to experience some new beers.  We tried Point Brewery out of Wisconsin.  I enjoyed their 2012 Black Ale and Matt liked their Pale Ale. We also tried Strangford Lough's two offerings, the St. Patrick's and the Legbiter.  I thought it was a micro brew out of Ohio based on the signs (that appears to be the distributor, however) but I have learned that they are a real Irish beer from Ireland.  I was also able to try Wild Heaven beers. Because they are higher alcohol beers I had been careful not to try it when out in a social situation.  Since we road MARTA to the Carnival I felt safe giving this one a try in a small dose.  Their Ode to Mercy, an imperial brown, was probably my favorite beer of the day.  It was complex with a sweet malty taste with a hint of a smokey tobacco flavor.

Just like other beer festivals we have been to in Atlanta, for some reason Bell's Brewery out of Kalamazoo Michigan (where Matt and I went to college) seems to be a favorite of this southern city.  At the Decatur Beer Festival, I stood in a very long line to get a sample. Their booth had the longest line at this beer festival as well.  We began to stand in line but then realized that we had some Bell's at home so decided to continue on. It would have been worth it, though.  

We did very much enjoy the non-beer entertainment as well.  The fun house was our favorite - what a great idea to have a fun house at a beer festival!  Matt also enjoyed the snow tubing!

Also at the festival were volunteers from Safe Ride. This worthy organization is a great service to anyone who enjoys beer in a social setting.  If you find yourself out and unable to get back home, give them a call.

In other beer news, Dogfish Head brewery was recently the subject of a misdirected tweet by an employee of the Red Cross.  Check out the story here. I assert that people who enjoy beer are a community and we can put our love of this art form to a very good use when we feel like it.