Beacon Hill Brewing

Beacon Adios

2010-03-15T17:07:00.000-07:00

I can look back over the past few years and say without a doubt, everything good that has happened has happened because of beer.

It started quite a few years back, when Ice House was the good stuff...but the obsession didn't really start until Jano invited me to brew with him 6 years ago. I broke his hydrometer while I was "helping" clean up, and thank baby jebus, was invited back. The hydrometer was replaced, and I still continue breaking the hell out of them to this day.

In the course of the past few years, I have met, hands down, some of the most intelligent and kind people that I have ever come across. Lifelong friends bound by the pursuit to create something special with their own hands that really gives meaning to the word "craft" and "artisan" that seem to be used so much these days. Wine, beer, mead, or seeking out and sharing rare beverages from around the world through trading or travel, these guys and girls are what I consider true individuals.

Just a few of the people I idolize with whom I've shared countless pints, shots, drams, tall boys, snifters, boots and mugs with over the years and have influenced my time at Beacon Hill and have encouraged, inspired and helped in countless ways:

Rodney will always be my partner. The brewing thing would have never happened without him. Late nights/early morning zymurlogical feats of strength with my brother. We have brewed a lot of beer together.

I've seen Alejandro turn Big Al Brewing into a reality, and look very fondly back to the days of panicked homebrew accidents in his garage and trying to figure out this crazy piece of equipment called a "pump". He's the homebrewer done good. He is living the dream.

Kevin Davey pursued his dream of making German beer by quitting his sweet plumbing gig, going to Seibel, graduating at the top of his class, and not giving up until he landed a job at Chuckanut where he continues to make world class brews.

Mark Emiley works tirelessly for the "cause". Encouraging and promoting homebrewing in Washington through the Washington Homebrewers Association and the Puget Sound Pro-Am. He is a recent BJCP Master Judge and is rumoured to have bugged the governing powers that be so much, they said "F!ck It" with %) 5060 and passed the bill unanimously to stop all of the late night phone calls. He makes some pretty awesome beer and wine too.

Tim Hayner also works tirelessly for the cause, organizing the first mead and cider clinic, Washington Mead and Cider Cup, and also an amazing judging clinic to help everyone understand these simple yet complex drinks. He's also as sweet as the honey he ferments, genuinely one of the nicest and coolest dudes you will ever meet. He's done so many favors for me over the years, he will automatically receive my first born if I ever have children. Over the last couple years, he has grabbed mead and cider bull by the horns, is promoting the hell out of it and is turning out some of the tastiest concoctions you could ask for. He has the ribbons to prove it. His Golden Mash Padel was a no contest and was very well deserved.

Jerome Seipp, my gourmet heavy metal older brother that I never had. His creativity seems to have no boundaries. Graphic design, brewing, cooking and music. He also works his ass off as arguably the most well respected beer judge out there and takes care of anything judge for WAHA. Our BBQ team is looking forward to him taking his turn in the smoke to knock out some Real, Killer, Puget Sound"Q".

Seattle Ratebeer Crew, Tom, Ben, Brandon, Alex, Bob, Clint, you guys have been responsible on quite a few occasions for an aching head the next morning after your generosity in sharing your beers from the far corners of the world and sparked many bouts of inspiration in brewing. You guys have been a great sounding board with honest critiques on beers that I've made...

Fellow Beacon Hill resident and Bellevue commuter Geoff Kaiser's Seattle Brewing News has grown into a very successful source of beery information for those in and around Seattle, and does a great job of promoting the beer scene. He too is responsible for many aching heads the next morning and providing great feedback , and hopefully it goes the same for him after hitting the taps in the basement.

Bek is my everything. Patient, understanding, kind and beautiful in every way possible . And she will love IPA's at some point, if it is the last thing I ever do....

The dream will be realized at some point. Maybe Beacon Hill someday. For now, it's time for Plan B. Stay tuned...thanks for reading, mom.

Stay thirsty,

Colin

Farewell Jim

2009-06-29T23:27:00.000-07:00

I received some surprising and upsetting news today about the untimely death of Brewer Jim Quilter. I was fortunate enough to brew with him for the 2007 Pugest Sound Pro Am, and pick his brain about opening a brewery on many other occasions. He was an extremely kind, generous and funny guy. A true individual who's advice and talks I will greatly miss.

Here's to you my friend, I'm raising a pint and hoping whatever there is in store for us when it's over, you and your Iron Horse will have endless miles of open road to ride, and a pint glass that is never empty. Thanks for the laughs, advice, and let's not forget the beer that has made so many people happy!

Raise a pint for Jim if you have a chance. Slainte!

Pro Am attempt #3

2009-06-24T22:55:00.000-07:00

Our Wit beer was chosen by Rock Bottom of Bellevue from the Pro Am to be brewed for the GABF this year. Just goes to show you what an awesome competition the Pro Am is because we didn't even place with that beer. I wasn't going to go to GABF this year, but now it will be the 4th year in a row, and the 3rd that we have a beer in the Pro Am. Brian Young is an awesome dude and luckily RB Bellevue is only a mile away from my work, and luckily Brian likes to get started late, so it will be a late afternoon, early evening brew. I'm pretty happy with the Wit. It's a refreshing summer time beer, good chugability factor, low alcohol, hanging out on the porch passing time sorta beer.

Puget Sound Pro Am

2009-06-01T15:27:00.000-07:00

2nd Place for the Fantome inspired Saison and 2nd for an English Style Barleywine called Ol' Teabagger, which is actually a Belgian Dark Strong that is two years old. No firsts or making it to BOS this year, but I'm pretty happy. Selection from the professional breweries is next Saturday for the recipes they want to brew. A great event with 300 entries that ran very smoothly. Nicely done everyone. It gives me the warm fuzzies to know awesome brewers/judges like you guys are out there.

SB 5060 signed today!

2009-05-06T19:19:00.000-07:00

This has been a long time coming, but as of today SB 5060 has finally been signed into a law. I got a phone call from Tim "Dr. Decoctor" Hayner while the sweat was still damp on his palm from Gregoire's hand shake. Check out this NPR audio snippet if you're not up to snuff.

Mark Emiley, you are an amazing guy. I look up to you and am proud to call you a friend. Tom Schmidlin, Alejandro Brown, Tim Hayner, mad props guys. Cheers to all the people who called in and hounded their legislators, I'm raising a pint to you guys tonight. Let the celebrations begin! Now if we can just start putting the rush on SB 5615....

Aporkalypse

2009-05-01T16:59:00.000-07:00

Cascade Brewing

2009-04-29T20:54:00.000-07:00

Not really sure where to start...It's been a while since my last post. The period key on my lap top is completely FUBAR, and there is no fixing it. It's kind of put in dent in my willingness to post using a ballpoint pen to press down on the spot where the period key once was. Luckily, the lovely Bekky has let me use her awesome laptop while she is away in Europe.

I finally made it down to Art Larrance's Racoon Lodge and Cascade Brewing. Art is legendary in the craft beer scene and is the creator of the Oregon Brewers Festival. Ron Gansberg is the head brewer and along with his assistant Curtis( who unfortunately was not there), conjure up some of the best Belgian Style and Belgian Style Sour ales I have ever had the pleasure of drinking. Correction : Belgian inspired beers. These are Northwest Sour beers. I have been hearing about Cascade since I had my first sip of the Apricot a couple years back at Uber. It was the very essence of apricot caught in an 8 percent beer. Awesome.

The brewery is beautiful, racks and rows of barrels giving off a patina like quality. Oregon red, white, and even port barrels with some bourbon barrels thrown in for good measure. It's hard to describe, and not to sound completely dramatic, although some of you will understand and hope you will chime in if you've been there, (and maybe I was just getting really, really drunk) the creativity is thick in there. I was trying to break down the samples I was having..smell, taste, what is that spice, how did he get that sweetness that finishes dry... I dunno. I've been to Russian River, I've been to Lost Abbey, which were all great places in their own right, but I felt like I was in...California? Ron's brewery was a comfortable place and I knew we were about to experiencing something very special. And boy-0 was it special.

We started off with a taste of the Blackberry that was clearing in the bright tank (freaking incredible) and from then on, we were treated to barrel taste after barrel taste. We played bucket brigade with the stemmed glasses as Ron slid between racks, pouring us tastes of his blends and creations. I can't tell you everything I got to try, but just let me say, there is going to be some pretty amazing stuff coming out of there in the future. I could get into lactic fermentation, the barrel characteristics, blending, carbonation, types of fruit, Ron's brewing Kung Fu...they are all a factor in an awesome product.

More stemmed glasses, bottles started popping, a side by side of The Vine and Cuvee de Castleton was set up. Poor Cuvee didn't have a chance . Small 1/6 barrel kegs were tapped, more bottles popped. Back down to the barrels to try some more stuff. The party was moved outside to enjoy the beautiful afternoon.

Thank you Art. Thank you Ron for your kind words and generosity. It was an afternoon I won't soon forget. Try these beers if you haven't already. Finer establishments will have them on tap and bottles. If you have, share it with someone who hasn't and spread the word.

Cheers all!

Russian Imperial Stout brewed!

2009-03-09T23:09:00.000-07:00

We got the Russian Imperial Stout brewed down at The Powerhouse over the weekend, hit a gravity of 1.106 and now it is doing it's thing. This beer will age for a few months and be put on tap around August/September (mmmm 10% beer in late summer). In the meantime, we found a wet bourbon barrel that will be filled with 50 gallons of finished stout, aged for a while and tasted periodically. It was fantastic being back in my hometown at the place I had one of my first craft beers. Tim Paddy is a top notch dude, and made a long brew day very enjoyable. Hope some of you will be able to come down and try this when it is ready, and if you can't I have a feeling there may be some on tap at Beacon Hill. Thanks Alejandro for the in on the barrel! More later.

Russian Imperial Stout

2009-02-10T12:11:00.000-08:00

Friday nights are being scheduled as brew nights from here on out... It gives us a chance to relax and not worry about being stressed out to start late and finish up because of plans on a Saturday night or having to get to bed to wake up for work if it's a Sunday brew.

We brewed one of our most complex and high alcohol beers, a Russian Imperial Stout. This beer has done pretty well in competition and I am very happy with the way it is evolving. The only problem I really have is keeping my hands off of it so it has time to age.

This particular batch was bumped up a little gravity wise and I increased a couple of the specialty malt additions. We ended up with a 1.110 original gravity from our usual 1.105, it's our most inefficient beer as we use 26 lbs of grain and only yield 6 gallons, our mash tun can only hold about another 5-6 lbs of grain. The 3 liter starter that was made proved to be explosive and the beer took off right away, blowing the airlock off the next morning. I could smell the sweet mess from outside the basement door :)

The 6 gallons that was yielded will be split in half, one getting put on a Stranahan's barrel stave I brought back from GABF soaked in whiskey, and the other half will get an addition of Theo cocoa nibs and a yet undecided local espresso. The whole batch will be bottles and left to age and condition in the bottle.

A great guy and great brewer, Tim Paddy has asked to brew this beer for The Powerhouse in my hometown of Puyallup. Along with Tim Hayner, we have scaled the recipe up and hope to brew within the next month or so. I was lucky to have been there when Tim Hayner brewed his awesome 16 Penny Pale for the ProAm competition a few years back, and I know Tim Paddy will do our beer justice. Now I just need to figure out how to get a full size barrel delivered from Denver.....

I'm planning on making another 6, hopefully 12 very soon,if we can incorporate another mash tun, and take it down to the National Homebrew Conference for club night.

Next Friday's brew will be a big hoppy IPA from all of the extra hops we have laying around, this batch will be split as well and aged on some very special wood that I am really excited about using. Stay tuned and cheers!

Blonde ambition

2009-02-01T10:36:00.000-08:00

Made our Belgian style Blonde yesterday. We've made a couple batches in the past that seemed to have been a crowd pleaser and also liked by some refined palates. It's a pretty simple recipe using only Pilsner and wheat malt for the grains, and a couple of spice additions at the end. I incorporated a new varietal of hops called Citra. They are a high alpha Hallertau relative, which were generously donated to some of us from Hutch of Rogue Issaquah as sort of a test run for what these hops have potential for. I'm really digging them so far.

Half of the batch of Blonde will be bottle conditioned and corked, the other half will age with a funky culture I've played around with on a previous batch of saison that was a huge success. I'm excited to see how the lemon and citrus aspects of this beer come through. The picture is what the last one looked like...I was really happy with the head retention and clarity, nice tight bubbles and very sessionable. Cheers!

For more information on new hop strain cultivation, check out this awesome article Mark Emiley wrote for WAHA after attending HopUnions hop school in the summer.

Jesus, is it almost February?

2009-01-27T11:51:00.000-08:00

We have done some moving around of things in the brewery operations and cellar space, and finally disposed of all of the former dead beat roomate's shit, to make room for more...yup, brewing stuff. My dear friend (and some of yours) Kevin is headed off to brewing school and we are stashing some stuff for him for the next few months.

With the addition of two new fridges (total of FIVE now), the draftiness and inefficient build of the house, my driving a vehicle that gets 10 miles to the gallon, and Rodney's 30 mile commute, I''m pretty sure we have the least green house and inhabitants in all of Seattle.I'm just waiting for someone to call me on it. We are in the middle of trying to figure something out, I promise hippies.

In other news, we have 10 gallons of Dopplebock bubbling away in Kevin's conical that was part of a very successful WAHA decoction clinic. I'm dumping the yeast tonight and brining it up for a diacetyl rest.The strain of yeast we used puts out a lot of sulfur, so basically the basement has smelled like a big fart for the past week or so.

I have a couple beers planned to make this week, including a variation of our Russian Imperial Stout, and another I'm planning on using an incremental sugar feeding method to boost the alcohol for a very special Halloween party that is in the works of being planned.

Cheers all and please check out Geoff Kaiser's awesome new page.

Greetings from Florida.

2008-12-24T20:18:00.001-08:00

Getting this thing up and running again. Stay tuned for a whole new blog. Same poor writing, same great beer.Hope everyone at homes hasn't lost anything to frost bite. Just got done with a huge dinner with the family and mixing up a bottle of tasty Athol Brose.Cheers all and have a great holiday!

Rock Bottom Brew and welcome back Geoff.

2008-07-09T22:45:00.000-07:00

I just talked with Brian from Rock Bottom of Bellevue about some final recipe adjustments and we are ready to brew Saturday at noon. I'm pretty excited as it seems like to guys at Rock Bottom have a lot of wiggle room and creativity. For a corporate owned brewery and restaurant,they are A-OK in my book. They turn out some great beers and I have been pretty happy for the most part and I know Brian will do our Saison justice.

Mark Emily's awesome Kolsch will be on tap starting tomorrow at Rock Bottom Seattle. I have had the pleasure of trying the original a couple of times and new it was a winner from the get go. Great job dude, and I can't wait to try it tomorrow!

Last but not least, welcome back Geoff Kaiser who has been on vacation to Italy for the past couple of weeks (bastard). Hopefully after all of the great wine and food he experienced over there,he still has an appreciation for all of the great beer and food we have here in out little corner of Washington. I need to rush out and get some beer in him before he completely turns into a cork dork. There still might be time if we hurry! Welcome back dude. We have some heavy pint lifting to do.

And here we go...

2008-07-07T21:49:00.001-07:00

As most of you may know, beer has taken a back seat for the past couple of months due to a few circumstances. Unfortunately Rodney is sustaining some back injuries and is trying to take it easy. He's doing great, but no more heaving 55lb grain bags up the stairs for a bit..I for one am in the process of trying to get into the best shape of my life after my back surgery and have cut beer drinking out for special occasions. There seem to be a lot of special occasion lately though. Our huge drop in cooler took a dump and we are somewhat limited on cold storage right now, but we are making due and have plans for a brewery revamp very soon, so come over and help get rid of some of our old stuff. We'll be back up and going in a couple of weeks.

So the good stuff: Saison Du Beacon took first place in the Belgian/French ale category at the Pro-Am competition. It was picked up by Rock Bottom Bellevue to be scaled up and entered in the Great American Beer Festival. I'm pretty stoked I must say. This is not only an honor, but it's also going to be a kick ass time. There is a bunch of us going down to Denver this year and is going to prove to be a great time no who wins what.I'm rooting for Mark Emily and Kevin Davey though. We'll all be down there rooting for each other. I will post the date of the tapping party when the beer is ready. Should be a great time.

I just worked the Seattle International Beer Festival this weekend and have to say it was an awesome experience.Yes, I carried a radio and wore a shirt that said "Beer Police" on the back. Probably got called a douchebag by a couple of people, but for that weekend, the few and the proud of us were above the law. Beer Police Brewtality. Lots of incredible experiences and I went away with some new friends as well. I won't have to worry about hotel rooms when I go down to Portland anymore:)

I just had the pleasure tonight of attending a dinner/beer pairing at Smith on Capitol Hill hosted by New Belgium Brewing. I was lucky enough to sit next to Peter Bouckeart and chat about brewing and the industry for a bit. If you have never heard of Peter, he's a pretty incredible guy. He doesn't believe in beer style, so some of you guys who read this would get along with him very well...Talk about artistic and passionate..jesus.

So future brews coming up in the future:

Out house IPA. You know it and love it. It will be here soon.

A series of Belgian Strong Ales, hopefully ready by Octoberfest along with a few others yet to be decided.

Funky stuff. No Lambics yet, but we do have a surprise up our sleeves that will rock your world. We have a 100 percent Brettanomyces Wit beer that is pretty awesome right now.

More Saisons of course. My favorite style.

I gotta run. Lots of stuff to do this week. Putting together a beer pairing with some of the best food in all of Seattle for the winner of the Belgian Category of the Novembeerfest competition. Yes, believe the hype. This place is that good (Hillary can I get an amen sista?)especially at the hands of Jimmy.

Last but not least, let me give a shout out to the soon to be opened Big Al Brewing. Alejandro, Jerome, Eddie and Noel, you guys are going to be great. We're all behind you and there to help make this place great.

Make beer not bombs,

Colin

It's been a while.

2008-06-27T18:54:00.000-07:00

I'm a slacker I know. My soapbox has been in the shop for repair, but now that it's out, we're ready to get this thing going once again. Yet another thing to waste time at work browsing over. More to come! Lots of really exciting news. BTW, we're going to Denver baby! Saison Du Beacon is in the Pro-Am..GABF here we come again.

Under the Brewers Kilt:Triple Decoction Epic Brew Day

2008-03-10T09:14:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, Tim and Rodney started a series of Scottish Ales using the triple decoction method of brewing.

The first couple of brews, a 60 Shilling (Mac 60) and an 80 Shilling) Mac 80 turned out excellent and have one them a couple of awards. These beers pack a lot of flavor into a malty, earthy, low alcohol beer. A long cool fermentation with a traditional strain of Scottish yeast lends a subtle smokiness and a smooth drinkability.

Yesterday marked Tim's 100th brew, and we all went down to hang out and help he and Rodney with the epic end to the series: The Wee Heavy. These beer have huge malt flavors, caramel, dark fruits, and will usually knock your kilt off with the alcohol strength.

Lots of brewers and friends showed up to support Tim and Rodney (there was also free food and 6-7 beers on tap, so that might have helped too!) and a good time was had by all. Here's a few pictures.

Decoctions are a very long process that takes patience and elbow grease. A few guys who showed up who were interested in trying it on their own brewing systems, were thoroughly convinced it was not for them after seeing what was involved. The amount of grain used surpassed the amount one mash tun would hold, so we hauled our brewing system down and simply mashed and decocted on two separate systems, lautered and sparged into one boil pot to get the volume (10 gallons) that was desired. Everything worked out great with a final gravity of 1.098, Tim is hoping this beer will be in the 10 percent range if all goes well with fermentation.

Like they say,"If it's not Scottish, it's Crap!". I strongly agree.

Liver Hardening March

2008-03-03T17:14:00.000-08:00

Tis the season for high alcohol beer. Strong Ale, Barley Wines and everything in between. Beery blogger and fellow Beacon Hill resident Geoff Kaiser is doing a great job on following what is going on around the area in what proves to be a sadistic but fun punishment to the liver. He and his girlfriend even found time to stop by on a double batch day to help dough in on a batch of our hop-blitzkrieged IPA.

Later in the evening found Rodney and I doing cellar work after brewing. We transfered our Robust Porter(roasty and chocolaty!), Berliner Weisse (getting nice and sour!) and took a sample of a very special beer that is becoming very complex.

Almost a year ago we brewed a Belgian Dark Strong. The yeast fermented this beer very quickly so it originally came out kind of hot (alcohol) so we let it sit to mellow. Almost 6 months later I got a wild hair and decided to dump a mixture of raisins reduced in Tawney Port into 5 gallons. We let it sit for another couple of months, then Rodney kegged it. The sugars from the raisins have naturally carbonated with some left over yeast in the keg. The beer is dark, rich and fruity, and very drinkable at over 10 percent.

I will try and somehow get this into some bottles and get it out to a few of you. Definitely one of the best beers we've turned out, and exceeds our standards for what a Belgian inspired beer should taste like. I think I'm going to go sneak another taste...

Make mine a Funky Dubble

2008-02-25T18:19:00.000-08:00

Rodney and I have been thinking about making an interpretation of a Dubble for a while now, and we're about ready to brew it in the next few weeks. We've been talking about flavor profiles and what we want to achieve.

A Dubbel is a very sneaky beer. Rich malts, fruits and chocolate with a velvety mouth feel. Complex beyond belief (at least the good ones are). A good Dubbel should be very attenuated and drinkable, but not thin, rich and warming.

We have a pretty good arsenal of tricks up our sleeves. One in particular is the use of Belgian Candi Syrup. As far as getting close to traditional, this is the stuff that is actually used. It is more or less a product of centrifuged caramelized beet sugar. Sugar is traditionally used in Belgian beers to increase the alcohol without increasing the body too much. These sugars and syrups also lend a ton of complexity to the brew.

So it has been decided to make a simple Dubble recipe, and to carry on our habits of experimentation lately, split the batch. Half will be left alone, corked and bottle conditioned. The second half will be taking the train on down to funky town.

5 gallons will be inoculated with a Lambic culture of all sorts of funky little critters and micro biota to age and sour over the course of a few months. After the first couple of months a concoction of cherries soaked in Bourbon, then reduced and caramelized and added to everything else a la Tim Hayner's Burnt Bourbon Cherry Stout, (I like to call it Haynerized, or Haynerizing the syrup). I present to you : Maker's Mark and the Funky Bunch.Not to be confused with these guys...

I'm hoping to achieve big fruit profiles in this beer, with a subtle tartness to balance out the richness and dark fruits with a hint of bourbon in the back ground. This may turn out to be a disaster, but it could be off the hook.This is what I love about brewing.

Porter

2008-02-19T18:32:00.000-08:00

We brewed a variation of a Robust Porter last night, lots of British Chocolate malt, with a tad of Roasted Barley and a nice addition of East Kent Goldings hops to balance things out. The 10 gallons were split between an Wyeast 1056, a neutral ale yeast and White Labs 002, an English ESB yeast. Kind of an experiment, we will compare the flavor profiles between the two. I am definitely expecting the 1056 to finish clean and really showcase the chocolate and roasted barley, and attenuate pretty low. The WL002 should finish a little higher and have a much more fruity taste. Time will tell. Hope to put half on tap and half and bottle half and give to friends.

Washington Homebrewers Association launched

2008-02-13T09:33:00.000-08:00

At long last the WAHA website has been launched. There has been much activity in the past couple of meetings and things seem like they are coming together. With a very knowledgable and kind dude named Steve Antoch, I will be assisting him with the educational aspects of WAHA. Basicaly touching on things such as theory, recipe formulation, techniques, equipment...all that good stuff. Steve came up with a great idea of a mentoring map. Someone who is just starting out can contact an experienced brewer via an online push pin style map that is in their area. The two parties can agree on a date and get together and brew a batch. Another cool idea is to have a Trouble shooting/ Evaluation Program that integrates the map as well. If someone wants objective feedback for a certain beer or is having problems with off-flavor, they can be set up with a judge in the area to help them out. I'm excited to be part of this and to try and help out! Big Al took me under his wing a few years ago and I have made it my mission to try and do the same for others in the name of good beer. Check out the website and the yahoo group. Join up and get brewing.

Catching Up (finally) and a matter of style

2008-02-11T09:58:00.000-08:00

What a whirlwind month and a half it's been. I have been resurected from my gimp like state and am now back on my way to being a strapping,somewhat young lad.

Competition season is right around the corner, and there are lots of plans for entering a couple of beers that are now ready, and also plenty of oppurtunities to hone the judging skills.

I was thinking the other day, and taking the BJCP study courses and then the exam has been the single most important thing I have done as far as brewing goes. It isn't all about making sure every beer tastes exactly the same and then ridiculing others that are sub par.It shouldn't be perceived as pretentious or snobby, and it isn't a secret beer society gestapo. The test is extremely hard and I'm sure others agree with me, there is a certain satisfaction when finished, and I came out of the classes with some people I didn't know previously who I am proud to call friends.There are always certain personalities (as with anything else) that can give something fun and educational a bad name.I've kind of started to notice though that they are the ones that haven't brewed anything to enter, or don't brew anymore. Hmmm.Competitions and the BJCP are a good thing(and lots of fun!), and there is a whole new group of judges coming up that are going to be very helpful and offer good feedback. After all, we will be judging each others beer in the same competition!

Coloring out of the lines (as Tim says) is extremely important, and is one of the things I like so much about brewing. Being artistic and having the balls to go for it. Push the envelope. Throw caution to the wind.Sometimes you have to go for it and learn what works and what doesn't.No one wants to be stuck drinking the same amber ale day in and day out.A couple beers we have made have turned out pretty awesome from a crazy spice addition or pushing the limits of the yeast.

I think it is very important to research the style (or base style) of the beer one is going to be brewing. Rodney and I will usually sit down with a couple of good commercial examples and discuss what we like and don't like about it, and come up with some ideas on how to achieve the flavors, aroma, and body that would make the beer drinkable and enjoyable. I try and research the history of the beer and learn about what made it how it is today, how it has changed, what others have done to improve on it as far as yeasts and brewing techniques.What is a good base recipe to start with? What characteristics will certains specialty grains contribute or hinder in this beer? What kind of hops do I have access to and will they be too cloying and cause this to be unbalanced?

Yeast management, propagation, and good fermentation techniques are key as well.If you have access to plenty of fresh, healthy yeast, or the ability to build up your own, you've halfway won the battle. Vinnie of Russian River has written a few times, and said to Adrian and I while touring the brewery, is you have to know what the yeast can and can't do for you.

If you have the ability to duplicate a beer to style time after time, then you have no excuse not to put your own twist or signature on it.Sure, it can get boring drinking textbook beers, but I have come to respect someone who can do it. They have done their homework and researched the history of the recipe. The same goes for someone who takes a shot in the dark and ends up hitting it out of the park. It's a fine line I suppose...

I can sum up what brewing means to me in a quote I read and is kind of my mantra, and hope to have this painted on the wall of my brewery someday....

"He who works with his hands is a laborer. He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman. He who works with his hands, his head and his heart is an artist."
-St.Francis of Assisi

Cheers everyone.

Berliner Weisse Brewed

2008-02-06T06:41:00.000-08:00

After a rather long break from brewing, we brewed our Berliner Weisse on Sunday. With only 11 lbs. of grain for a 10 gallon batch, it was our smallest beer to date with an original gravity coming in at 1.030. This beer was not boiled, but brought up to a temperature around 210. 10 year old Hallertauer hops were used at first wort (beginning of sparge) to add some preservative qualities, but little to no flavor and bittering.The wort was then cooled with our new monster immersion chiller, and then inoculated with a blend of a clean german ale strain, lactobacillus, and brettanomyces.This should be ready to drink by late spring and should be fully matured by summer. A perfect refreshing low alcohol beer for a hot day.

I will be updating very soon. Lots of cool beer stuff happening lately!

Happy Brew Year

2007-12-29T18:46:00.001-08:00

It's been a pretty tough week or so down here in Florida. Fishing, drinking beer, eating, drinking beer, lounging, drinking beer. I've had some time to think over the past year as far as brewing goes and I have to admit, as incredibly awesome as it was, I can't wait until what happens in 2008.I learned so much in the past year and met so many incredible people, and that will only carry over to the next chapter.Here's a few things I'm really looking forward to in the next year, in no particular order.

1.A series of crisp clean German lagers
2.A 3 part Bock brewing series via triple decoction (are you ready Timmy and Rodney??)--especially an Eisbock (Ice Bock)
3. Playing around with Brettanomyces and other bugs and microbiota
4. Continuing to hone BJCP judging skills
5.Yeast propogation and storage (slants etc)
6. The formation of WAHA and getting to meet other awesome beer people from around the state.
7. Making an awesome flavorful Berliner Weisse (recipe in the works!)
8.Using and understanding water chemistry and calculations.
9.Conicals!
10. More Belgian styles of course!

The list could go on and on, but that's the stuff that has been on my mind lately anyways. Last but not least, thanks to all of my awesome friends, brewing and non, for the continued support over the past year on our little operation. There will always be a pint waiting for you! Hope everyone has had a great holiday and has an awesome New Year's! I'll be at Uber on Monday checking out the new "Aurora Veranda". I'll be the guy sitting at the table with a cigar and Maharaja, trying to re-climate from this awesome Florida weather. Cheers!

Slacker

2007-12-18T11:31:00.000-08:00

That's me, but been pretty busy lately. Thanks to all who came out last Friday night and helped drain some kegs crammed into the basement like a can of festive Xmas sardines. I hope everyone enjoyed the beers we made. A shout out to Mark Emily for sharing his bottles and getting more people hooked on New Glarus Belgian Red and Rasberry Tart.Wisconssin rules! Thanks to James and Mike for sharing their recent batch of Belgian Golden Strong, keep it up, you guys are making some tasty stuff.Last but not least thanks Chad for bringing the tasty coconut rice balls over and keeping the "balls" jokes going the entire evening. I know everyone has been dreaming of your balls and can't wait for the next time they get to put them in their mouth. More to come later. Cheers!

Free Beer!

2007-12-08T12:23:00.000-08:00

We decided to pull the beer from the company Xmas party. It's a long story, but it will give us a chance to bottle and condition some stuff we wouldn't have been able to before. So we're going to have a little shin dig. Here's the invitation I sent out earlier today via MySpace...

Due to circumstances out of our control, the beer that was made for our company Xmas party will not be served there. INSTEAD: Will will be having a holiday keg draining bash at Beacon Hill Brewery next Friday the 14th. We will be providing five delicious hand crafted ales on tap and a mix of music that will guarantee to make you ass shake. We need people to bring food, so bring some stuff to soak up all that beer.

The first three were originally named for the company party but now remain nameless. Try them and give us some suggestions!

1. Belgian Blonde--light , fruity,citrusy and refreshing!
2.German Weizenbock--candy for grown ups! Cloves, dark fruit, rich and so smooth!
3.India Pale Ale-- a slap in your mouth of huge hop flavor!
4. Stairway to Heaven Belgian Golden Strong---yup, the last keg from The Ram!
5. The Farmer's Daughter--Belgian Farmhouse ale

RSVP to me if you're interested so we can figure out the logistics of getting everything set up, or if you need directions. Or just show up if you already know about it. Please be responsible about driving and plan accordingly. Cheers all!

The results are in and...

2007-12-08T11:56:00.000-08:00

It's a tie! Tim Hayner and yours truly decided to share the title. After some very precise measuring, we all agreed on the decision. Tim and I were both pretty even, but after pulling actual hairs to compare, we decided that even though Tim's whiskers were a little bit longer, mine were thicker. And yes, we're still talking about beards.Next year there will be a better structure of rules and judging, and hopefully some more participants! We decided that instead of exchanging cash, the losers will just have to buy Tim and I a round. Here's some pictures of the judging process.

The Beerded Ones

2007-12-07T08:58:00.000-08:00

The final decision will be made tongight at Casa Brown for the 1st Anuual Beard Growing Contest. I woke up early this morning and gave my precious whiskers a soak in a special concoction of special Zimbabwe cucumber juice and Himalayan honey harvested from a Sherpa who died from being stung 1000 times after harvesting it.It's very rare stuff...Anyways thanks to all of the wives and girlfriends who stood behind their men during this trying time.Pictures will be posted this weekend of the contestants, so stay tuned.

Winter Beer Fest

2007-12-04T12:09:00.000-08:00

Rodney and I headed down to Hale's Paladium for the Washington Winter Beer Festival last Saturday night. We met up with Tim and had a couple tastes before heading over to Brouwer's to grab a bite and to check out what was still on tap from the Big Wood Festival (all wood aged beers). A nice chilly walk back to Hales on the Burke Gillman trail and we met up with the Kevin, Shannah, Adrian and Laura. A good time was had by all. A nice intimate little beer festival all in all with some great people. Nothing spectacular was being poured, but the fact that after a while the tokens weren't being collected made it all the more fun. The newly acquired Iron Horse Brewery in Ellensburg won the peoples choice award with a Black Saison. It was pretty good, definitely one of the most interesting beers there. I talked with Jim Quilter for a while who was the previous owner of Iron Horse and said he sold it to some pretty young guys, so it should be interesting to see what new things they come up with. After the fest, we headed across the street to Ballard Bar and Grill for a couple pitchers and I schooled Shannah in the finer points of Big Buck Hunter. Chad soon showed up and as usual, had a party for us to go and crash in Wallingford. It was only a couple of blocks from Adrian's house so we went. Super nice people at the gathering, not really enough for a party, but the host went all out making traditional English deserts and wine punches, all extremely top notch! He is also an amateur distiller and beginning homebrewer and we shared some tips on brewing while taking sips of his home made shine from a mason jar. Very random end to a good night, but those are always the most fun.

Beacon Hill Brewery/Swimming Pool

2007-12-04T06:51:00.000-08:00

I'm really glad I decided to go down to the basement on Monday morning to check on the Stout we brewed the night before. As soon as I set my foot down on the floor I knew we were in for a long day. It ends up the foundation below the door has a crack in it and was letting water in.It had been raining for 24 hours straight and it wasn't looking good. Half of the basement had a couple of inches of standing water. Luckily most of our stuff is put away up out of the way and nothing was damaged. Unfortunatley, my landlords have three other properties with similar problems and they can't get anyone out here until Wednesday. Rodney and I played bucket brigade all day, filling up our 16 gallon shop vac and emptying it countless times, digging drain reliefs in the yard, going down to Lowe's to get sandbags, and finnaly some quick-krete. Rodney slowly built up a layer of the concrete and was able to stop the leak temporarily.Beers were in order ofter that and man did I have a couple. Let's hop it holds until tomorrow. Let the cleaning begin.

Beer de Blank, King Ben's Smoked Porter, IPA

2007-11-26T08:47:00.000-08:00

Saturday Rodney and I did a little busy work around the cellar, cleaning and controlling some of the chaos. I owe him some beers for doing the heavy lifting until I have back surgery in January. Three beers were transfered into their respectful secondary conditioning vessels. The Biere de Blank (not Blanc, but Blank) dropped from an original gravity of 1.072 to a final of 1.010. It is spicy,malty and warming and pretty damn tasty and a warming 8.1% ABV. It will get two months of cold conditioning before it is corked and bottle conditioned. Ben's smoked porter is still kind of young, but attenuated down to about a 1.022. A good couple of weeks in the secondary and I think this beer will come into its own. The IPA was transfered as well and I can't speak for Rodney, but this was my favorite, and I think the best IPA we have made so far. We kept the grain recipe the same as we always have, but Rodney played around with the hopping schedule using the idea of adding alsmost all of the hops in the last 20 minutes of the boil. This beer has huge hop flavor while not being overly bitter.I can't wait to try this with our new whirlpool chiller.Even more so, I can't wait until this baby is carbonated and sitting in my pint glass. I was excited and gave Adrian (the newest authority of hoppy beers on the scene) a barrel sample. I think it may have surpassed her standards, and she is my toughest critic.

Beard Related

2007-11-20T20:12:00.000-08:00

But still kind of beer related, since we were sitting in The Bull and Bush in Denver, and we were drinking a lot of their awesome strong beer, when we decided that having a beard growing contest was in order. The rules were a little fuzzy, I know that we were to all put in 20 bucks, and I know we were supposed to go until Christmas time. That's about it. Chris, Jano, Tim and I are all sporting some pretty impressive beards right now. Tim and Jano are looking pretty lumberjack, and I haven't seen Chris in about a month, but I have a feeling he is definitely not going to be easy to beat.

So the question is how do we determine the winner? Shaving it all off and weighing the beard? Dipping our face in a bowl of water to find out the absorption rate? Points for grooming and maintenance? Any suggestions would be more than welcome.

Weekend Update

2007-11-18T21:17:00.000-08:00

We took the weekend off from brewing, unless you count dropping in on Big Al and King Ben Friday night while they were brewing Al's famous Winter Warmer.

I attended the Aler's November meeting before dropping by. Tim and Micah handed out some pretty cool prizes for the winners of Novembeerfest. Rodney and I scored a way cool blue ribbon for our Russian Imperial Stout and a gift certificate to Islands restaurant down at Pike on 1st Ave. I brought some beer with me to share with some of the guys as I was told Larry was out of beer except for some kegs of the now defunct Pacific Crest Widow Maker barley wine. It was in vain as this meeting was the annual Winter Warmer tasting. I'm going to guess about 15 different winter strong ales from around the world. I held out as I had tried most of them,and saved myself till the end until a magnum of 2002 Hair of the Dog Doggie Claws was popped. Incredible!

Saturday night was spent at good old Uber Tavern, the whole gang was there and got to split some pretty awesome stuff including 2007 Doggie Claws on tap.

Our new immersion chiller for our boil pot was finished today, and I headed over to Bob's to pick it up and drop off a couple of beers for him to try. A little more welding and we'll be ready for some serious whirlpool action. I'm really looking forward to making some nice crisp lagers(drinking them too!)

We took some gravity readings of some of the stuff we have fermenting. Everything is doing well. Rodney's late hop addition IPA is awesome. The Biere De Noel has a few points to go, but is developing some really great esters and fruit notes. New batches of stuff on the way soon!

Washington Home Brewers Association

2007-11-18T20:05:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure Tim Hayner and Mark Emily ever take a rest from tackling amazing feats when it comes to promoting and getting people involved in home brewing, and organizing some prety great competitions.Along with the help of many other Washington beer making do gooders, we are about to see the Washington Home Brewers Association take flight. Here's what Tim had to say in an Email that I got today:

Gents

Thanks to all for a great first meeting to discuss WAHA. I’ve put together a few notes here to recap what was discussed and what is happening for the benefit of all, especially those who wanted to but could not attend. I also attached the agenda points and Mark Emiley’s first cut at a calculator for the Homebrewer of the Year.

First off, Tom will send an invite to all of you to join the Yahoo Groups “WAHA”. For now, we’ll use that as a central email list/forum.

Tom started out recapping his thoughts for this association which include promoting Washington Homebrewers and clubs, providing centralized information, providing a means to draw clubs and homebrewers together to share resources and generally help one another out. Something like what the AHA does on a national level, but at a local, Washington State Specific level.

Some other points discussed as purposes of WAHA include promoting beer education, providing a repository of information for new homebrewers, “Proselytizing & Evangelizing” that is promoting homebrewing in the community.

We talked about some of the functions of WAHA which will include forming a Washington Homebrewer & Club of the Year competition based on performance and participation in Washington competitions. It would also include some means of evaluating an individual or club’s involvement in the homebrewing community including holding competitions, workshops, working on other club’s events, educational events, etc.

Some things that WAHA can & should do include, putting up a website immediately including Washingtonhomebrewers.com & .org, WAHomebrewers.com & .org., provide a central calendar that all club websites can access and link to, be the central figure in the Pyramid “Wild World of Wheats” event beginning next February.

It was decided that since the BEWBMC is the most formalized in terms of club tax status (401c)?, these guys should be the keepers of the coin, that is, they would keep any funds coming and going for WAHA in their club account.

Some things that the Website should include in addition to the calendar, are contacts and links to the homebrewing clubs in the state and an easy way for a new homebrewer to search for a club in his area, current listing of beer-geek bars, pubs, breweries, brew-pubs, bottle shops and homebrew supply shops.

Some other things that WAHA should promote and be involved with include the bringing of the AHA National Conference to Seattle in 2009 or 2011 and flexing whatever political muscle available to help modify the onerous state laws as they relate to homebrewing, and specifically, beer.

Also sponsoring and hosting a table at certain events where beneficial. (ie, Homebrew Fair, WBG Events)

One thing that all WAHA members should be doing is compiling a list of Homebrew clubs and contacts. The clubs represented at the meeting are obvious, but there are quite a number in the Central, Easter, Southern and Northern part of the state. Please compile this information for future posting on the website.

We discussed the first event details, “The Wild World of Wheats” and concluded that 2-29-08 is the date to have all beer entries ready for selection by Pyramid. Each Washington homebrewer should enter his/her/it’s entry(ies) to their respective local homebrew club for initial evaluation; perhaps 1 week prior to the 29^th deadline. This evaluation would pare down the total entries to a maximum of (3) per club. Each club can charge what it likes, but suggested is $10 per entry. The clubs each put up $10 per entry which is payable to BEWBMC/WAHA. This will be one form of fund raising for WAHA. Because of the most excellent walk-in that Larry has, it is suggested that the clubs get their (3) max entries to Larry’s Brewing Supply for storage prior to the 2-29-08 deadline. Mark put together a hand out of his first cut at rules and advertising for the Pyramid event. (Mark, please pdf this to everyone).

With regard to action points, everyone will put together the contact information they have for clubs across the state, Steve & Nic will put together the website and post to the various brewer forums, and Tim and Mark will finalize the details for “The Wild World of Wheats” with Pyramid and try to glean any club info available off of Beertown.com. Jerome will put together 3 or 4 potential logos for WAHA prior to the next meeting for review and adoption. Everyone else should do their part by making damn good homebrew and drinking same.

We concluded the meeting by scheduling the next meeting to be Tuesday December 11^th, at Rogue Issaquah at 6:30 pm. There was no mention of the need to develop a secret handshake, but it is suggested by reference here.

Tim Hayner - President

"The Beer Engineer"

The Impaling Alers

It's very exciting, especially the thought of Seattle being the location for an American Homebrew Association Conference. There's a lot of work to be done though. Washington has some pretty ridiculous laws about transporting and consuming home brewed beverages.

It's going to be very cool to have some of the beers on tap down at Pyramid from the Wild World of Wheats competition. Especially since it's a five dollar cab ride from my house.

Thursday Night Brew

2007-11-15T09:43:00.000-08:00

Everybody at my work is sick and I'm no exception. This shouldn't be confused with "sick of work" which I always am anyways. I've been fighting it off for the past few days, but just have to come to the realization that I've got a cold. So in keeping up with taking good care of myself, we're going to do a batch of Weizenbock tonight in the nice cold damp air, this will be the final installment of the beers being brewed for a rather large party coming up. If I should start to perish tonight I will leave instructions with whoever is over: run down to the cellar and grab an ummarked 330cl bottle with a gold cap that reads Wesvleteren 12. Force the liquid down my throat, I will then die of pneumonia content and happy. This is my last request.

***The brew went great last night, we undershot gravity by a couple of points but I blame that on me measuring the grain. We usually buy bags in bulk for our base malts, but since this brew is over 50 percent dark wheat, I had to buy and weigh all of the specialties at once which I don't like doing. The whole crew showed up to hang out and have a couple of beers on the cold and windy night. Kevin pulled up in his plumbing truck and ran a hot water bib to the front of the house like it was nothing. How's that for having friends with skills? We pitched a monster 3liter starter of Weihenstephan yeast and it is bubbling away and a nice cool 62 degrees as of this morning. Prost!***

If you're tired of hearing me talk about beer....

2007-11-14T14:09:00.000-08:00

I don't really care. This is what this blog is going to be about. Maybe some music and food stuff too, but for now let's just keep the main thing the main thing. I think we may have an actual site up in the near future, but this will work for now. So here's a few things to keep you updated on what's been going on lately. Check back as I will be updating as aften as possible.

It's been a whilrlwind few months so far. Octoberfest 10 (the best party of the year, just ask anyone who was there, how much beer was there again??)The Great American Beer Festival, BJCP(beer judge) testing and study groups, Novembeerfest, and all of the sutff in between. Rodney and I took a few weeks off from brewing, but are back at it full tilt again doing some very special seasonal beers for a large party coming up, trying to fit some special beers in for us and our friends to enjoy, and a couple of collaborative projects with brewing guru Tim "the beer engineer" Hayner (Rodney and Tim are dong a series of Scottish beers with triple decoction--I've sampled the results so far and am very impressed!) That crazy Big Al is rumoured to have a smooth drinking Mexican Lager in the works, and will be brewing the famous Old Number 1 barleywine in the next couple of weeks.

In the works: a recipe inspired by De Dolle Stille Nacht. A lot of planning and preparation for an 8-10 hour brew day. The boil alone is going to be in the 4 hour range. Caremelly, fruity, and delicious. We're looking at about a year after conditioning and aging is all finished up. We will also be brewing Naughty Nikolai again, our Russian Imperial Stout. This batch will be bottle conditioned and aged, hopefully ready for consumption around this time next year. I have a couple Stout recipes I have been playing with lately and am excited to test them out. I have 2 lbs of cocoa nibs(thanks Jim!) from Theo that have been sitting around just needing to be used in something...hmmm.

We are in the middle of adding on to our system and getting set up to start putting out some awesome fresh lagers and a run of sour ales including a lambic and flemish red (or whatever else we decide to infect!) Doing these mean shuffling some things around on the fermentation side of things and getting extras of things we already have. So be ready to come on down to funky town in the next few months.

Time for a pint. Thanks for stopping by!