CRAFTconditioned

It’s a good thing I recently came to terms with my complex relationship with sour beers because I just bottled my first sour batch. Before the holidays, I brewed a saison designed to be peppery by using alternate ingredients (toasted grains of paradise, Saaz hops) rather than the more blunt spiciness of peppercorns.

I used a saison yeast harvested from a friend’s batch. Although I ramped it up before brew day, I didn’t notice the off smell indicating it had gotten contaminated. Day two, after pitching it in the wort, I came home to a house smelling of rotten egg. Rather than panic, I let the yeast do its thing, hoping it would mellow out. The results were interesting enough to try bottling.

The beer is fairly effervescent with a tangy-ness from the yeast that plays off the peppery-ness from the other ingredients.  Due to the unpredictably of the batch, I only bottled half of it. I’m also storing the beer in a cold place to discourage any additional fermentation that might happen.

I have gotten good feedback from a couple of friends who enjoyed the first bottles (one brewer and one wine drinker). But, as the beer conditions, I suspect the instability will become more noticeable. It’s a shame this beer will likely peak during the coldest time of the year because it would be refreshing during those steamy DC summers.  I’ll be monitoring how well it holds up over the coming weeks.

Come get some while it lasts!

Coldest night in four years. At least these red ales seem to be enjoying the chill.

Today I bought myself a new year’s gift to help me achieve three of the goals I set for myself –  transition to all-grain brewing at home, brew more often, and keep experimenting.

I’ll be traveling for the holidays but, when I return in January, I hope to also achieve a fourth goal – brew with friends (who will hopefully help me set up and break in the new equipment!)

Brewing (and drinking) is always best when done socially. Today is Learn to Homebrew Day, a perfect excuse to get out and  brew with friends, whether you’re teaching, learning, or just there for the beer.

With the growing popularity of craft beers, there’s also been a growing curiosity about the brewing process. As soon as people learn I brew my own beer, I start getting questions about how it’s done. My typical advice to prospective brewers is to shadow a friend to learn the basic process and realize it’s not that difficult to create a pretty good beer. This is exactly what Learn to Homebrew Day is designed to encourage.

For those new to brewing, the American Homebrewers Association has some great resources. Also check your local homebrewers club or supply store. Many are doing demonstrations today or have specials on equipment and supplies. Most online supply sites also have specials today.

In a couple of hours, I’ll be supporting my local homebrew club with their public demonstration. In the spirit of the day, I also invited a few friends to join me. Whether you’re sharing a craft or just a craft beer today, have fun celebrating!

A [franken]storm’s brewing, which means it’s time to prepare to hunker down, assuming a worst case scenario. Preparing over the last week has been a two-step process. First, I needed to customize my emergency plans for the new house, then I needed to make sure I’m ready for this particular event — hurricane with possible flooding and power outage. I’ve discovered that brewing supplies have come in handy when preparing for emergencies.

Disclosure: In addition to coming from a family of worriers, I’ve done work for the American Red Cross over the last few years, so I have a particular interest in preparedness.

Since I moved this summer, I haven’t taken the time to update my emergency plan and supplies for the new location. Hurricane Sandy was good motivation. I’ve had a nagging to-do list in the back of my head since September, National Preparedness Month, so it’s just been a matter of taking the time to get stuff done.  This involves

•  Building a kit: I refreshed the supplies in my first aid kit and my “go bag”, including cash and updated copies of important documents.
•  Making a plan: I customized my plan with new evacuation routes from both my home and my neighborhood. I also updated my contact plan, coordinated with my housemate, family, and friends.
• Staying informed: I signed up to receive emergency alerts through email/SMS and pulled out my crank-powered emergency radio.

Since I expect to be hunkering down at home for this event, I made sure to have the supplies I might need on hand. I now live in an fairly wealthy, urban area where storms are seldom debilitating and the neighbors’ idea of preparing is apparently stocking up on gourmet cupcakes and wine. I didn’t see the run on standard groceries and supplies that are more common in the suburbs. This stage is where brewing supplies particularly come in handy.

• Potable water: Not only does a good emergency kit include a 3-day supply of water (1 gallon per person per day), an emergency water supply is also important for drinking and cooking, or even bathing and flushing toilets, should the main water supply get disrupted or contaminated. I’ve found that unused carboys or fermentation buckets are great for storage purposes. I made sure to fill a few in advance of the storm.
• Beer supply: Water is important, but having beer (or wine or booze) on hand provides another hydration source and helps to calm nerves. Booze can also be used to sanitize in a pinch. My homebrew supply has been depleted since the move, so I made sure to pick up a few commercial beers.
• Food supply: I usually have a kitchen full of ingredients. But it’s important to have some fast, non-perishable, no-cook foods on hand in emergency situations. Items high in protein are particularly important. For this event, I stocked up on instant-y meals, soups, chili, peanut butter, protein bars, soy milk & cereals, etc. Even if I don’t need these foods for this storm, they also come in handy for quick lunches at work or when I’m sick.

Now that I’m ready and just waiting on the storm to hit, there’s nothing left to do but kill some time brewing the first batch of beer in the new house! I’ll report back after the storm clears.

Last week, I met up with some homebrewing friends, Josh Hubner and Mike Stein, to celebrate their first commercial release, a collaboration with local brewery, Lost Rhino, hosted by Smoke and Barrel, one of the premier beer bars in DC. After refining the IPA recipe over a series of four trial batches, Josh and Mike approached Lost Rhino, where they volunteer, to produce the beer. Wandering Belgian is the result — a spicy, bitter IPA with soft citric notes. With help from a crush of friends, family, and curious beer fans, the supply kicked in just four hours.

For me, this event epitomized the state of the DC beer scene today – a community of beer enthusiasts who continually demonstrate a willingness to encourage and support each other from newbie to pro.

The Lost Rhino collaboration is a fantastic opportunity for Josh & Mike. However, it’s not the only example of how local DC breweries are supporting local homebrewers and nurturing the homebrewing scene. You saw it when DC Brau brewed Brian Barrows’ award-winning Belgian paterbier (which won a silver medal at the Great American Beer Festival last weekend) and when 3 Stars opened a homebrew shop this summer and invited the DC Homebrewers to hold a club meeting there. Of course, these are just a couple of recent examples.

The local beer bars have also stepped up to play multiple roles within the scene, whether it’s hosting unique (and often local) beer events (Churchkey, Rustico, and Pizzaria Paradiso among many others), sponsoring homebrew competitions (Meridian Pint, Mad Fox, and RFD, all this year), or hosting homebrewer club meetings (most recently, Black Squirrel and District Chophouse). Bars like these have contributed to the vitality of the scene, helped to raise the quality of the product, and bolstered the curiosity of the clientele.

It’s an exciting time to be part of the burgeoning craft beer scene in the DC area. As a homebrewer, a writer, an advocate, and a fan, I’m proud to be playing a part in its success.

DC-area drinkers, what are you particularly enjoying about the scene and what are you looking forward to?

When I originally thought up the concept for this blog, I was tackling the challenges of attempting to brew in a small, urban space. I wanted to share my research, experiments, and resolutions to benefit others struggling with similar limitations. But rather than research, compromise and whinge, I settled on a more assertive action plan. I moved.

A friend was looking for someone to share her row house. I was looking for a better home brewery. Did it meet my critera?

• Trade sketchy window units for central heating and air conditioning = better temperature control
• Trade closet for cellar = more storage for beer and brewing equipment
• Trade narrow kitchen with 30-year-old gas stove for wide kitchen with a  reliable model = safer, more convenient stove-top brewing
• Trade flights of stairs to get outside for brick patio with hose spigot just off the kitchen = space to use a propane burner for all-grain and larger batches.

Sounds right to me! And I fortunately met her criteria for a sane, financially-reliable, fun-loving housemate. Plus, I came with my own beer supply!

So, after two months in the new place, why haven’t I brewed anything yet? Motivated by an audience (you, readers!) I have started scheming. To further challenge myself, I outlined a few goals.

• Upgrade equipment to switch from extract to all-grain brewing. I now have the space and no excuses
• Increase my knowledge in one area with each batch, either through researching how something works, trying out new ingredients, conducting experiments, or practicing different techniques
• Teach a friend to homebrew. Brewing should be a social activity anyway
• Devise, experiment and refine the perfect red ale for enjoying soccer matches
• Brew more beer, at least tripling my brewing activity over the next year
• Enjoy more homebrew, preferably with friends

I’ll be referencing these, among other topics that interest me, in the coming months. Fellow brewers, how do you keep yourselves challenged?