basement brewer

20 bbls of Porter

2010-04-03T15:00:00.003-04:00

Ray has been out with a bum shoulder and he asked me to step in and give Ryan a hand with the next brew. We made 20 bbls of Pullmans on Friday. I ditched out of work at noon and we were were cleaned up by 3:00pm We even managed to pretty much nail the gravity on this one. It's nice to be brewing again, even if it isn't on my setup.

Seven barrels of Dead Horse IPA

2010-02-27T22:39:00.001-05:00

This Saturday I finally found myself in the basement of the Elliott Street brewery making seven barrels of dead Horse with Ryan. The brew pub on Elliott Street is even quirkier than the Putney road brewery. It's going to take some getting used to down here in order to dial things in. I'm sure it will take a handful of times brewing down here before I get completely comfortable with the setup. We'll likley be looking at an eight to ten hour day to start. Hopefully I'll be able to dial that back after I'm dialed in with the equipment.

Back in the mash tun.

2010-02-20T23:07:00.001-05:00

I had been on a brewing hiatus for the past several months. Between logistical issues, work commitments, family life and ski season it has been challenging to find the time to brew beer.

With that said I put my boots on and climbed back into the mash tun to make 20 bbls of professor Brewhead Brown Ale on Saturday. I performed the typical tag team with Ray. He mashed in and took care of the back end of the brew. The great thing about brewing is it's scalability. For the most part all the ratios remain the same whether you are making 10 gallons or 10 bbl's. I'm happy to finally have my boots on again and look forward to helping Ray and Ryan out whenever possible.

17 bbls of Warlord

2009-10-31T22:16:00.001-04:00

Brewed up 17 bbls of Warlord IPA on Halloween. Things went pretty smooth. Making beer is fun no matter what scale you are brewing.

14 bbls of Dead Horse and Ten Gallons of Amarillo Ale

2009-10-13T06:31:00.001-04:00

It was a beer filled weekend, but no beer drinkin' weekend for me. Saturday afternoon I set out to brew with Ray and then do some of my own brewing in my basement as well. After making fourteen barrels of Dead Horse IPA out at the brewery on Saturday afternoon, I was too tired to make anymore beer on Saturday evening. Instead, I chose to relaxation knowing full well that there would be another opportunity to brew more beer before my weekend would come to a close.

Monday morning I seized the opportunity and got to it in the basement making ten gallons of my Amarillo Ale. I nailed the gravity and volume on this tried and true recipe. I'm finally building up some momentum in the basement. Hopefully there will be some more beers in the pipeline just in time for the holidays. On a side note Dave Warburton and I dropped of a couple carboys to get filled with cider at Dwight Millers on Monday evening. Fermentation season has returned.

Going Pro

2009-08-14T11:37:00.002-04:00

Well it's settled. I'm going pro. I'll still be brewing in the basement from time to time, but right now I'll be focusing on learning the ropes on my mentor's setup. Life is good, as well as the beer I make.

Chico Pale Ale

2009-06-21T22:35:00.000-04:00

Brewed the West coast style pale ale on Father day. Nice easy drinking beer for the summer It should be ready for the trip to Long Beach Island in mid-July.

Yeast Failure, changing gears.

2009-06-16T22:12:00.001-04:00

I checked in on the Pilsener Tuesday evening, and there was nothing going on with the fermentation. I suspected that the fermentation may be stuck as a result of underpitching the yeast. My suspicions were confirmed after I took the gravity reading. It was stuck at 1.044. It had been almost 72 hours and nothing was happening. Red flags are now popping up all over the place and I needed to make a decision. Ditch or pitch?
When brewing beer it is paramount that one pitch an adequate amount of viable yeast. In this case the yeast I used was obviuosly not adequate enough to jump start the fermentation process.
Ideally, one would like to see the fermentation lag phase commence within four to six hours of pitching the yeast. Three to fifteen hours is considered acceptable. Anyting longer than that and your risking uninvited guests to your fermentation party. Since I had already invested around six hours in this brew session, I decided to go for it and pitch more yeast.
The only hitch was that I didn't have enough viable lager yeast to pitch into this brew. Instead I pulled out theWLP 565 (Saison strain) and pitched it. This essentially will change the characteristics of my beer. Instead of a crisp clean lager, I'm now making a light farmhouse ale.
Ahhh....Alchemy at it's best. Well fermentation blasted off within a few hours, and it is bubbling away.
I'm taking a gamble here and hope it pays off. Best case scenario I'll make some fine beer. Worst case, I'll have wasted six hours of my time, a few dollars in material and have to pour some beer down the drain. Only time will tell.

Racked and Ready

2009-06-16T07:47:00.001-04:00

Sunday afternoon I racked five gallons of the ESB, and ten gallons of the Scottish ale to final packaging. These beers are now conditioning in the kegerator and will be ready to drink shortly.

Next up in the brewing docket will be a West Coast style Pale ale brewed with Canadian two row, a little crystal, and some malted wheat. This beer will be hopped with Perle and Cascade.
I have finally gained some momentum on the brewing front and plan on carrying on until my basement gets to warm for normal fermentation temps, and then perhaps will brew some freaky Belgian shit.

The German Pils

2009-06-13T17:00:00.002-04:00

I finally got down into the basement after a month and a half hiatus from brewing. Between being out of town, out of CO2, and spending time working on the first floor apartment I have found myself without any free time to make beer since end of April.
My luck changed this weekend when a window of opportunity opened and I brewed ten gallons of German Pils. This time around opted for not performing a decoction. So instead it was a single infusion brew, mashing in at 152f with 22 lbs of fine pilsener malt from Germany. I pitched a nice cake of WLP 830 from my yeast bank.

Scottish Ale & Strep Throat

2009-04-28T18:20:00.002-04:00

I was in eager anticipation to head up to Tuckermans Ravine Sunday night. As luck would have it, around two hours prior to the time I was supposed to meet up with Emily and Dave, I came down with something.
I started to feel a little bit off after dinner. By 8:30 PM Not knowing what was wrong I found myself laid out and horizontal in my bed making the necessary calls to bail on the trip.
Monday morning arrived and I was feeling a little bit better so I jumped at the chance to brew. I already had the grist milled and the water measured, it essentially became a no brainer on my end. The target gravity was 1.076, and I ended up with 1.062 essentially missing my gravity by a mile. The beer should still be very good, just not as much alcohol as anticipated.
Oh, and by the way, I made it to the doctor by Tuesday, and was diagnosed with Strep throat. First time on Penicillin since I had my wisdom teeth extracted in 1989.

ESB

2009-04-19T18:11:00.001-04:00

Today I brewed up a new ESB recipe that I have been working on for a few weeks. This experiment saw the introduction of Demura into the beer. I'm branching out a little bit more these days with the intruduction of more adjuncts into my brews. Lately it has just been sugar in various forms. Coming soon: beer made with six row, corn, and rice.
This beer was brewed so I could have a yeast cake availabel for the next batch of Strong Scottish Ale.

Bohemian Pilsener

2009-03-07T23:00:00.000-05:00

I brewed up the Bohemian Pilsner this evening. Special surprise visit from Heath Woods this evening. He gave me a hand in getting this one in the fermenter. It was brewing as usual here with this beer. Single decoction with WY2001. I can't get enough of this excellent beer. It's certainly one of my best recipes.

Yeast and a new pump on the way

2009-02-04T05:58:00.000-05:00

Yeast, among a few select other raw materials make beer. Different styles of beer require special elements to really make them shine. Yeast is one of those critical elements. Recently I ordered up some fresh strains of yeast for the Mid-Winter brews.
The strains I procured today make up the beers that you may have a chance to try in the next few months. Here is the short list:

WL San Francisco Lager
WL Edinburgh Ale
Wyeast Canada/Belgium Ale Private Collection Jan-March 2009
Wyeast Pilsner Urquell

I'll be fermenting at cooler temperature's this Winter with the expectation of making
cleaner tasting beer.

I also picked up a new pump for wort and hot liquor transfers.

Back in the mash tun

2009-02-02T12:12:00.002-05:00

I brewed up the Chocolate Stout last Monday. This was the first brew of the new year for me. Lately my time has been taken up by the usual barrage of Winter activities, solo and with the family.
I took advantage of some free time to myself and finally made it down to the basement brewery to start filling up the fermenters for 2009. I decided on the chocolate stout because it is such a solid beer in my arsenal. It's good to be able to rely on tried and true recipes from time to time. It lends to less of an ordeal in the whole brewing process since I'm not putting the time in to design something new. So with that said I think that I will continue to bring on the clones this Winter.
Happy Brewing!

Strong Scottish Ale

2008-12-15T21:23:00.002-05:00

Did I mention the strong Scottish ale that I brewed recently? On December 6th, I mashed in almost nine gallons of water with over thirty pounds of malt. The result will hopefully be one big ass beer chock full of all my favorite malty flavors. I may let this one sit in the conical for a few weeks if I don't get my brew on soon. I have been missing my chocolate stout lately, and think this may be the next brew on the docket. I should get my lager on because the cold room in the basement has been hovering at 53f.
Maybe, just maybe one or two more brew sessions before the end of the year. Billy and his family arrive in a few weeks, and I bet I can get him to help me out with a year end brew.

Sidetracked

2008-11-17T10:43:00.004-05:00

It would seem that I have been utterly sidetracked from brewing lately. It's not like the kegs are dry and the fermenters are empty, but I just haven't been able to find the time or inspiration to brew anything in the past few weeks. I like to have all my fermenters full this time of the year.

Keeping up with the standard

2008-11-10T21:07:00.002-05:00

Iz took the kids to visit her sister in Chelmsford Friday night. I was supposed to be painting the house, but with yet another cold & rainy day on the horizon I found myself with some free time on Saturday morning. I brewed up ten gallons of the AAPA and managed to rack some beer, and perform some general cleanup in the brewery.

The Parti-gyle

2008-11-03T07:52:00.000-05:00

Saturday morning I found myself with a little free time while waiting for the outside temps to rise above 40f so that I could finish up some house painting on the East side of the house. In true on the fly fashion I decided to make the 999 Barleywine. Mashtun capacity limitations prevented me from brewing up ten gallons, as a result I decide to collect second runnings and and make a small ale with Amarillo hops. Both brews were a success and they are fermenting away happily at 64f in my basement.

Unorthodox Brewing Practices

2008-10-26T08:20:00.000-04:00

I found myself with a five hour block of free time on Saturday when my sister took the girls for the day. My original plans were to spend the day on a ladder finishing up the trim on the east side of the house. Well moist weather ensued and I decided to head down to the brewery to brew something on the fly. I quickly milled up the grist for the Red Rye in anticipation that I would run into Ray and secure some yeast.
Unfortunately, Ray was not around. I failed to get the yeast I desired for this beer. Instead I made a rather unorthodox decision by deciding to pitch one of my Belgian strains into this batch.
Alchemy at it's best....

Ack!

2008-10-22T07:45:00.000-04:00

So I reformatted the layout of my blog and it reverted back to an old setting with outdated links.
Blechhhh! I want to use the old format!

Red Rye could get bumped to a standard

2008-10-20T07:56:00.002-04:00

The Red Rye may become one of the standards in brew the brewhouse. It is a fairly big beer that is made with 20% Rye and is aggressively hopped with Brewers Gold, Perle, Chinook, Cascade and Centennial hops. It received great feedback from those that enjoyed it this past weekend.
Speaking of my standard offerings...It's almost time to get them fermenters full for the holiday season.
Cast your vote and help me decide!

Dubbel bubbling

2008-10-15T07:45:00.001-04:00

The Dubbel is enjoying a very active fermentation. In fact the top blew off the airlock at some point Monday. Make note to self, when fermenting in glass carbouys: use a blow-off tube.

The Dubbel

2008-10-14T12:00:00.000-04:00

I brewed a Belgian dubbel on Sunday. Other then missing my gravity by a few points, It looks like it will work out nicely. I only made five gallons, so it may be awhile before this one is unveiled.

Indecision

2008-10-10T07:47:00.000-04:00

I'm very excited to make beer this weekend. I'm so excited that Isimply cannot decide what I would like to brew. I'm thinking perhaps a dubbel now, or maybe scale the Strong Scotish ale back and go with a five gallon pilot batch. Decisions, decisions.

Taking the show on the road

2008-10-08T07:58:00.001-04:00

As previously mentioned I'm getting together with some fellow brewers in Windham this weekend for a brew session.

Making ten gallons on the fly in someone else's backyard can be rather complicated. I'm scaling back to a five gallon batch this weekend. With that said, it's going be another behemoth brew not unlike August's DIPA which used an obscene amount of hops. I have decided on another DIPA, this time around instead of Warrior, Methinks I'll go with a combo using Willamette, Brewers Gold, and a third mystery hop to be determined.
On second thought, maybe I'll shoot for a RIS.

Productivity

2008-10-06T07:55:00.005-04:00

Despite the absence of the double decoction doppelbock brew session, this past weekend proved to be successful in other ways. I attended my OEC refresher, racked fifteen gallons of beer, and managed to get my haircut. Life is good. I'm supposed to be making beer with some friends up in Windham this weekend. Getting another batch in the fermenter before Sunday's run is going to be unlikely.

New brew not happening this weekend.

2008-10-03T07:51:00.001-04:00

On Thursday night it was decided that I really don't have time to brew this weekend. With everything I have going on it's simply going to be to hectic. Instead, I have decided to prepare for the next brew and button a few items up in the brewery.
With that said, I'm going to rack the Tripel and the Munich Dunkel. Five more gallons of the Red Rye will go to final packaging. I'll also get two additional kegs to cold storage.
Then there are the carbouys that need to be cleaned.

Scrubbing Kegs

2008-10-02T08:01:00.001-04:00

After putting the girls to bed for the second time last night, I ventured down into the brewery to rack beer to final packaging. B was slated to come over around 9:00 pm to meet me for a beer. We ended up cleaning a couple kegs and then filled them with the AAPA and the Red Rye. I still have ten gallons of the Munich Dunkel to rack as well as five gallons or Red Rye that got dry hopped with Willamette.
Let's not forget about the Tripel which is hanging out in the conical at this time. I'm still thinking I may be able to slip a brew in this weekend. I have since had a reality check, and am considering the Strong Scottish Ale for Saturday night.

To Decoct or not to decoct, that is the question.

2008-09-30T07:03:00.000-04:00

As mentioned earlier this week, my goal is to get the Doppelbock done this week. In true German brewing style I also plan on performing a double decoction mash for this batch. While the decoction process is not complicated, it does tend to be rather time intensive. Decoctions usually add about two or three extra hours to a typical five hour brew day.
My schedule is jam packed this week with the usual, plus my OEC refresher is coming up this weekend, which will take up Friday night, Saturday, Sunday morning. "Ay, there's the rub", I'll have to make a decision by Thursday if I plan on getting anything into the fermenter before the week ends. I could have a window for a single infusion mash on Saturday evening.

Double Decoction Doppelbock

2008-09-29T07:20:00.000-04:00

It's settled. I'm going to attempt to find the time to brew a Doppelbock this week. Complete with a Decoction mash. I have a massive yeast cake just begging to be dumped on, if you know what I mean. So, I just need to make a little room in the kegerator, and I should be good to go. Well there is one more item that I will need....Time.

BBF this weekend

2008-09-26T12:21:00.000-04:00

Iz and I are ditching the kids and heading to Boston this weekend to celebrate our ninth wedding anniversary and attend the Belgian Beer Festival. This will be the first time that we will be away from the children for an entire weekend. Hee-Haw!

Gravity Falling

2008-09-25T07:49:00.000-04:00

Tucker and his family arrived last night. They will be staying with us until Friday. Tucker got to see the brewery and sample some of the latest creations. Presently I have the Super Pilz, AAPA, and the Belgian Strong Golden ale on tap.
I took some gravity readings this week . The Munich Dunkel was at 1.o33 on 9/18, and the latest Tripel came in at 1.020 on 9/24. Both beers were aerated very well and started fermenting within six hours of pitching the yeast, so I'm quite pleased with how fermentation is going with these beers.
Once the Tripel reaches terminal gravity I plan on cold conditioning it for several weeks before racking to keg & bottles for long term storage. Yeah, I'm gonna need more of them Belgian Style 750ml bottles.

Beer recipes on the brain

2008-09-22T07:56:00.001-04:00

Now that Summer is over and I'm back in the basement brewing with some frequency, I'm finding myself thinking about beer styles and new recipes again. As a result I usually lay awake in bed thinking about mash schedules, decoction schedules, and breaking new ground in exploring different styles of beer that I have yet to brew for the very first time.
The latest styles keeping me up at night are Dubbels, Strong Scottish Ales, and German Lagers.

I have been refining the grist for the Old Chub clone almost daily as I continue to research this style, and more specifically this fabulous beer that arrives in a can.

Fermenting another Belgian

2008-09-21T22:35:00.001-04:00

Despite several setbacks the Tripel is chugging away happily in the the conical. Today was a rather challenging day in the basement brewery. For the first time in years I grossly missed my strike temperature. I had originally planned on performing an upward infusion mash. My plans were forced to change when my first infusion of the day fell short of it's target. I had intended to mash in the first infusion around 144F. I missed this temp by a mile. It came in at 137F.
This forced me to switch gears and do what I could to get the mash up into to 149-153F range. I missed this target as well, and ended up at 147F. It's at the extreme low end for mash temps. It's also the lowest temp I have ever done a single infusion mash. Fingers crossed that this will be a success.

On a side note I kegged the DIPA and five gallons of AAPA. I harvested several strains of yeast ans cleaned up the brewery. Next weekend it's off to the BBF in Boston, so it's likely I'll be taking a break from filling the mash tun next weekend.

Grain Bill Together for Sunday

2008-09-20T22:21:00.000-04:00

I completed the grain bill and got all the malt milled today for Sunday's Tripel. I even went so far as to make invert sugar for this beer.

No Marris Otter in the brewhouse

2008-09-19T07:49:00.000-04:00

Things are really starting to ramp up in the basement brewery. Hippie stopped over last night and helped me rack the Red Rye to secondary fermentation. It finished at 1.010 which is respectable. I'm interested in brewing this weekend, but it seems I'm pretty much out of MO 2-row, so I think a Tripel is on deck for Sunday morning. I have everything that I need for this beer aside from the invert candy sugar, which I can get together tonight after the children are in bed.

Strong Scottish Ale & more lager on the horizon

2008-09-17T07:53:00.000-04:00

I used some of the sweet wort from the Munich Dunkel that I brewed this past Sunday to get a starter going for a Strong Scottish Ale that I plan to brew very soon. I'd also like to use the yeast caked from the Munich Dunkel for another lager as well. I'm thinking about that Doppel Bock again or possibly a Maibock. It sure would be nice to be drinking beers the corelate with the seasons for once.

Munich Dunkel fermenting

2008-09-15T21:03:00.004-04:00

Hippie came came over Sunday morning and we brewed up twenty gallons of beer. I made a Munich dunkel, and he brewed a nut brown ale. I abstained from doing a decoction this time around. Instead I opted for a simple upward infusion mash which included a protein rest. The lager is fermenting away happily. I plan on harvesting the some of the yeast from this batch to use for a Doppel Bock that I plan to brew sometime this Fall or Winter.

Got Starter Started.

2008-09-12T07:58:00.000-04:00

I got a starter of WLP830 going last night. The WLP830 is my second favorite lager strain next to Wyeast 2001 . I like using the Wyeast 2001 for my Bohemian Pilzner and SMaSH recipes. The WLP830 lends a nice clean malty flavor to my German style lagers.

Brewing season is back!

Another Lager on the Docket.

2008-09-09T12:01:00.001-04:00

I'm planning on filling the the lager chamber with my next brew. Ideally it will be a single or double decoction Munich Dunkel. I'm planning on using up to 75% Munich malt in the grist. The balance will include Pilsner and German Cara Vienna.

The Red Rye

2008-09-08T08:20:00.001-04:00

I swung back into action on Sunday night and brewed a Rye Ale. It is a modified version of my Rye Pale Ale. This time around I bumped up the Rye from 14% to 20% of the total grist. I'm hoping to impart a nice spicy flavor with the Rye that will blend well with my bittering hops which area combination of Brewers Gold, Chinook, and Perle. It's S.G. was 1.062 and came in at 65 IBU's.

Three Cornies Conditioning

2008-09-05T07:00:00.002-04:00

I was over at my friends brewhouse last night to drop of the Super Pils for some additional lagering. While there I had an opportunity to sample two of my Belgians that have been in his cooler conditioning.
The Belgian Strong Golden ale is coming along nicely. I suspect it will ready for consumption in October. The Saison is evolving nicely. It has a strong yeast ester in the aroma which I found undesirable. Hopefully this will dissipate over time thus improving the aroma of this otherwise fine beer. On the other hand it may also cause the beer to dissipate very quickly.

Final Packaging for the Saison & Super Pilz

2008-09-03T00:30:00.001-04:00

Tuesday night I was back at it in the basement. I finally got around to bottling the Saison that B and I brewed back in June. For authenticity I borrowed a floor corker to bottle them in 750ml bottles. Five gallons of the super Pilz also got moved to a keg last night.
I'm throwing around some ideas of what I should brew this weekend. The Lager chamber is vacant, so I'm contemplating a Dunkel.
Let me know if you have any suggestions.

YI8- Stowebound

2008-08-31T22:00:00.002-04:00

Saturday afternoon I got together with some of my friends up in Stowe for Yankee Ingenuity 8. Taking the brewing show on the road required me to scale back on my usual volume . I figured that schlepping around 10 gallons of fermenting wort Sunday morning would be a little much. This required me to dial back to a five gallons for the event. I decided to make a DIPA. Since I had some warrior hops on hand I opted for something that I'm calling "Warrior DIPA". This beer has a whopping 101 IBU's and a starting gravity of 1.074. This brings current primary fermentation in the brewhouse up to fifteen gallons.

Finally got one in the fermenter

2008-08-27T07:56:00.001-04:00

After an eight week hiatus, I finally have some beer in the fermenter. I brewed my All American Pale Ale on Sunday morning. Fat squirrel and his family came over for breakfast,. After breakfast and we proceeded to the lab for some Sunday mashing. There hasn't been much to report because, well there really hasn't been much to report.

Somehow August turned out to be a very busy month. Between vacation, and visitors it seems that the month just zipped right on by. Grace is back at school today, and Winty has her first day on Thursday this week.

Four Carbouys in less then seven days

2008-07-14T08:30:00.005-04:00

Due to attrition and mostly gravity I was down to four carbouys about 10 days ago. Through the generosity of my friends I'm back up to nine! This really doesn't solve any of my supply issues or the heat for that matter. Presently I'm in a holding pattern for brewing until things cool off a bit.
Best guess is the next brew session won't be until after I return from my vacation in the Outer Banks.

Close encounter with Wally

2008-07-11T07:15:00.001-04:00

We went to see the Swampbats play in Keene last night. As it turns out Wally was visiting from Boston. Grace was very excited to finally meet Wally. The Swampbats ended up losing, but not before a bench clearing altercation, and an errant foul ball that knocked an elderly person on the head. Wow! What a night. Sadly the girls are still not ready for Fenway.

First Fireworks in Six Years

2008-07-04T22:36:00.000-04:00

We finally made it to the fireworks this year. This is the first year since Winty was born that we actually made it out for the fireworks. The girls absolutely loved it.

Boys night out

2008-07-03T12:40:00.004-04:00

Iz and the girls went to Lowell for the night. I got to hang with B, Murph, and Mr. Fuller. We checked out some Stone smoked porter from the roof of the Riverview and fished our night off at Murph's house watching the Sox get swept by the Rays.
Murph let me borrow a helmet for the ride home.

Three Carbouys in Less then Thirty Days

2008-06-26T07:57:00.002-04:00

It happened again last night. Another carbouy bit the dust. B was racking the Hefeweizen to final packaging and was preparing a five gallon carbouy as a precaution to deal with any excess volume issues. Well there were no volume issues, but while he was cleaning the carbouy it slipped and broke. Funny how glass and water always win. I'm now down to four
He cut himself pretty good. Luckily no stitches required.

The Saison fell slightly short of the target gravity, but landed well within range for the style. It came in at 1.063. We are going to ferment it on the high side with hopes to produce some nice esters from the WLP 565 yeast that we used. Due to it's relatively moderate rate of attenuation It will likely sit in primary fermentation for around three weeks and then get finished off with a dose of WLP 550 to dry it out.
Due to warm temps and capacity issues this will likely be the last brew for a few weeks.

Summer Sasion

2008-06-25T12:17:00.000-04:00

B and I are brewing a summer Saison today. I got all the malt measured up last night, along with the orange peels, ginger, and whirlfoc. I completed the final calculation for this beer today, and he going to mash in around 2:00 pm. I'll be blasting out of the office around 3:45pm on my bicycle for the ride home. At this rate I may fit in another hundred miles this week.
Brilliant!

The Hosfeld Rebound

2008-06-22T17:07:00.000-04:00

Mattie stopped by on his way back to PA today. We had originally planned on getting out for a road ride, but due to the copious amounts of thunder and lightning we decided to rack to beer and hit the Top of the Hill Grill for lunch.

A Hundred Mile Week and a Beerfest

2008-06-21T08:30:00.002-04:00

I managed to get in ~115 miles on my bike this week. It feels good to be getting mileage like this in. Today I'm hooking my friend Ray up by serving his beer at the Green River Brewfest. It is likely the first time that I will ever go to a beerfest and return home sober.

Gile Mountain Loop- Blue Ribbon Trail

2008-06-20T21:45:00.000-04:00

Friday morning Mattie and I had plans to meet the weasel in Norwich to ride the blue ribbon trail. Iz arranged a play date for Grace with some friends in Norwich.
We rolled out at 10:30 for Norwich. I dropped Grace off, and we met up with the crusty weasel and his friend Jim. We commenced the ride, and some very nice suffering, and singletrack. Matt was looking somewhat green and ended up booting on the climb. It must have been that "How about a nice greasy pork sandwich served in a dirty ashtray" comment that sent him over the edge.
We enjoyed two hours of singltrack bliss, with a nice easy spin back to the car.
Maybe you had too much to fast?

Long Weekend but no Brewing scheduled

2008-06-19T12:45:00.002-04:00

I have Friday off this week. All my primary fermentation vessels are full, so I'm pretty much at capacity right now. I had considered making some more chocolate stout this weekend, but for now have opted to simply take the weekend off from brewing.
Friday I'll be mountain biking with Matty and the Weasel.
Saturday I'll be doing a little bit of work for my friend Ray, by serving up his beer at the Greenfield Brewers Festival.
Sunday is up in the air. So, maybe I will end up making some beer this weekend after all.

More brewhouse damage

2008-06-17T12:12:00.000-04:00

I was inspecting the second five gallons of APA in Secondary fermentation on Monday night and noticed a hairline crack in the carbouy. This makes the second casualty in less then two weeks. WTF?

Fathers Day Fifty

2008-06-15T22:00:00.000-04:00

I had a slight change of plans on Sunday morning. Instead of the original plan of going for a mountain bike ride, Murph and I ended up cruising down Greenfield to drop off my Brother in laws cellphone before he headed back to Boston. It turned into my first 50 mile ride of the year. I had some close calls in May, but no Fifty milers. It was a brilliant ride.
We enjoyed dinner with the Eagle family. I even broke down and enjoyed about 12-16 oz beer yesterday. At around 9:30 last night I was finally able to reach my dad to wish him a Happy Fathers day. He's a good guy, I just wish he wasn't so opinionated.

Double Decoction at Dawn

2008-06-14T13:51:00.003-04:00

I brewed up the Super Pilz this morning. Winty and I woke up around 5:45. I rolled out of bed, made some coffee and doughed in at 6:40 am. I wrapped things up by 2:30pm today. It was a big day in the brew house for a big beer.
My original plans were to brew up the Bohemian Pilz, however after performing a double decoction I determined that I was going to be overshooting my gravity in a major way. As a result I adjusted the Hop profile to meet my new target gravity, and voila The Super Pilz was created. It's fermenting away happily in the lager chamber.

I have a brewing problem

2008-06-13T07:56:00.000-04:00

It certainly doesn't look like a drinking problem. Seems to me I have more of a brewing problem. I am compelled to brew to maximum capacity. With that said, I have had to make some minor adjustments to the styles I will be brewing in the next few weeks. The temps have jumped to around 73-77 in the basement. This is well beyond the acceptable fermentation range for almost any beer.
As a result I will be making use of my lager chamber. Saturday morning I plan on making some Bohemian Pilsener. Fortunately I can still make lager beers in this heat. The downside is it takes almost three months to complete the process.

There is one style that seems to fair well in with higher fermentation temperatures. This anomaly is the Saison , which is sometimes more commonly know as a farmhouse ale. So with that said as long as the temps in my basement stay above 70f, I'm going to brew some Saison. I'm in the process of growing up some yeast to an acceptable pitching rate, and expect to have my first Saison in primary fermentation sometime next week.

Spontaneous HefeWeizen

2008-06-11T21:00:00.001-04:00

Winter was home sick for the third day in a row today. Iz was also home for the third day and desperately needed to get into the office to get some work done. I seized the opportunity and left work early to be at home with Winty. I also seized the opportunity to make some beer. Nice Summer beer. So Lickity split, I was mashing in, and brewed up a nice super light wheat beer. With an OG of 1.043 this easy drinker will chime in around 4%. The perfect summer session beer.

I also had a chance to rack the Beach Blonde to final packaging. This is slated to beer I'm taking on vacation for the whole family to enjoy. I moved ~5 gallons of APA to cold conditioning, and ran out of room in the conditioning chamber. Inventory is looking up.

The cow parade

2008-06-07T23:27:00.002-04:00

The strolling of the Heifers took place on Saturday. Astrid and Buddy joined us for the event. It turned into a full on dairy feast complete with cheese, milk, yogurt, and of course ice cream.

Casualities in the Brewhouse

2008-06-04T06:13:00.001-04:00

While racking the APA to secondary last might I managed to break one of my carbouys. This is the second carbouy that I have managed to break in the past eighteen months. While I did escape injury, I did not emerge unscathed. While cleaning out my conical I managed to slice my middle finger. This is the second time in less then ten days that I have managed to cut myself while working down in the brewery. I guess it's time to get a basic first aid kit down there so I can stop bloodying up the towels.

On a postive not I did order two additional five gallon cornies this week. They should be in by Friday. This will bring the cornelius keg inventory up to nine, thus enabling me to have up to forty-five gallons of packaged beer. It's not a hobby, it's an obsession.

Temperance

2008-06-01T06:40:00.001-04:00

Starting today I'm embarking on a three week cleanse. Iz is doing a three week cleanse and abstaining from Alcohol, caffeine, sugar, and wheat. I'm sure I probably forgot something in there, but you get the point.
I'm going to give up alcohol for the next three weeks. Yes, you heard it right, no beer for Glib. As for those other things... I aside from alcohol my consumption of those others is rather limited. With that said wish me luck sailing the SOBER seas for the next three weeks.

The Classic APA

2008-05-26T22:00:00.001-04:00

I brewed up a classic American Pale Ale for my Memorial day mashing session. I dumped the cooled wort on the yeast cake from the blond that I brewed last week. I nearly sliced off the tips of my index and middle fingers on my right hand when my 14.6 gallons conical fermenter slipped out of my hands. Oh the ouch, and the blood. Luckily no stitches were required.
Close call.
This evening we enjoyed a cookout over at Carl's house with some great BBQ and some fine Belgian Ales.

All fun and games til Granddad shows up

2008-05-22T22:13:00.006-04:00

My father and brother showed up and surprised me last night to help me celebrate my 40th birthday. Hank, Carl and my sister also showed up as well as my in-laws. Much fun was had by all. As you can clearly see the girls were quite excited to see their Grand Dad.

Meanwhile, I got to blow some candles out, eat some ice cream cake, and enjoy some fine Belgian style beers for Rob Todd and the fine brewers at Allagash.
Thomas, Grace, Iz, and I also went to all-school sing this morning to hear Winter's class perform "Hang on Sloopy".

Forty it's the new thirty

2008-05-21T11:25:00.006-04:00

At least that's what it said on the inside of the birthday card from my Sister this week. While it sounds cliché, there apparently is some merit to this statement. As the photo albums came flying out on Saturday night everyone had an opportunity to review the kodachromed documentation of my forty year history. While reflecting I can honestly say I have enjoyed very many rich experiences in this life with minimal scat.

I guess I'm very fortunate to have a loving family, and have made many good friends over the years, as well some very good beer.
So after two children, and nearly ten years of marriage I'm full on back into brewing and riding my bicycle, as well as my snowboard.

Joyeux anniversaire!
Here's to forty more years of enjoying the ride.
By the way if forty is the new thirty, I certainly hope that I don't try and pee in my closet tonight.

Yeast Harvest

2008-05-20T23:12:00.002-04:00

I top cropped some 1056 American Ale yeast of off the Blond tonight. The Trub tripel appears to be done. The krausen has finally subsided. What to make next?

Sunday brew

2008-05-19T08:00:00.000-04:00

I was planning on brewing the blond over in Bennington on Sunday, but this party go in the way. Instead I decided to brew at home. I had everything ready to go. I ran into a few small obstacles like finding a mouse turd in the mash water, and running out of gas while heating my sparge water.

After dumping the water and cleaning the kettle I was ready to brew. I always keep a spare tank on hand. It took a few minutes to swap out the propane tank, and we were back in action. My friend Dave and his kids stopped by, and ended up coming back for dinner with the rest of his family. Funny thing about this weekend was I didn't get my swerve on until Sunday night. With that said I was a little worn out this morning.

The blond came out great. Hit my gravity, but missed my volume. I'm losing almost a gallon of wort to trub. I will need to come up with a false bottom in my kettle so I can reclaim more wort out of kettle. My ghetto set-up continues to evolve.

A suprise for me

2008-05-18T07:30:00.000-04:00

It poured buckets of rain Friday night, so Carl and I decided that a road ride would be in order instead of the originally scheduled mtn bike ride. We rolled out at 1:00pm from Greenleaf St. and headed towards Collins Road in West Halifax. Thirty seven miles later and 2500 feet of climbing we rolled back to Carl's house to hose off and sit in the hot tub.
We got cleaned up and then headed over to my house for dinner. Well much to my surprise when we arrived there was a party waiting for me. I'm turning forty in a few days, and Iz decided to throw me a low key party. It was a perfect event complete with BBQ from the Top of the Hill and Beer supplied by my friend Ray. Needless to say I would not be joining my friends in Bennington to make beer Sunday.

National Bicycle Week

2008-05-16T07:27:00.001-04:00

Along with it being national bicycle week, today is National Bike/Walk to Work Day. While I didn't ride in today, I will be riding home. I usually take the bus Fridays so I can slip in a ride home on Thursday or Friday. I'll be heading out for my first mtn bike ride of the year with Carl Saturday, and then big plans to brew beer in Bennington on Sunday with my scary internet friends

Mothers day Mayhem

2008-05-11T20:47:00.001-04:00

All fun and games until Grammy gets the accordion out. We spent Mothers day down at Grammy's house enjoying a cookout, fine music, good beer, and naturally the marakas.

Another stone in the wall & some racking

2008-05-10T21:51:00.002-04:00

My good friend Jim and I rebuilt the granite retaining wall out in front of the house today. We are in the process of landscaping it. With some more love and hard work the house will slowly become an asset to the neighborhood again.

I did get down in the brewery today for racking and final packaging. I put four gallons of the Belgian Strong Golden ale on tap and finally racked the Trub Tripel to secondary fermentation. It's present gravity is at 1.020. I'm hoping to get is down a few more points. My friend Emily's father is going to let me borrow his floor corker so I can bottle up these beers later on this summer. The Tripel will likely remain in secondary for a month or two,and then will be cold conditioned for another month. So it will likely be around August when this gets bottled.

Stalled operations

2008-05-08T20:50:00.000-04:00

I decide to hang with Winty instead of brewing on Wednesday. Needless to say my brewing operations have stalled out this week.

The Blonde

2008-05-06T09:38:00.001-04:00

I'm brewing up a classic Blonde ale this week. Wednesday I will attempt to brew after I pick up Winter from school. This can get very tricky, as I will also need to pick Grace up and make dinner Wednesday night. As long as my mash doesn't get stuck I think it will all work out. It's certainly is nice to see the fermenters filling up again.

Tripel still in active fermentation

2008-05-04T18:30:00.000-04:00

I checked the gravity on Trub Tripel Saturday and it has dropped to 1.030. I'm hoping this will finish out somewhere between 1.010 and 1.014 before it gets racked to an extended secondary fermentation. I have a very good feeling about this beer turning up as a medal winner.

Otherwise it was quiet in the brewhouse this weekend. Mostly cleaning up and racking beer to final packaging. I had big plans for a Blonde Ale on AHA homebrew day Saturday, but lacked motivation so I'll likely brew this one up on Wednesday this week.

Farmers Market in the rain

2008-05-03T22:46:00.003-04:00

We ended up walking to the farmers market in the rain . I converted the bike trailer into stroller mode and we took off to get the greens. They had a maypole set up and Winter's music teacher was orchestrating the maypole dance. The maypole isn't so much fun in the pouring rain.
My sister showed up and chased the girls around while Iz grabbed the greens and I got everything in order for this years CSA.

Recipe Designs

2008-04-30T08:13:00.000-04:00

I have recently found myself branching out beyond the usual ales & lagers I typically brew. This has lead to an increased interest in brewing more German style beers that may include one or more decoctions. As a result I have found myself researching and reading up on brewing styles that I haven't tinkered with. It seems I can never get my hands on enough brewing literature.

Four

2008-04-29T07:23:00.001-04:00

Grace hit four years today. Wow, hard to imagine how quickly they grow.
Happy Birthday Gracie!

Trub Tripel Going Ape

2008-04-28T07:58:00.002-04:00

So anytime I ever use a five gallon glass carboy for a primary fermenter, I always stick a blow off tube on the cap. In the end I'm always pleased with the results. The fermentation of these beers seem to always go crazy. I went down to the basement for some airlock sniffing this morning and found the catch basin for my blow-off tubes overflowing. This is a really good sign of some healthy fermentation going on. It looks like the yeast are really enjoying the trub. Go yeast go!

Trub Tripel

2008-04-27T21:16:00.002-04:00

I went ahead and brewed up a Tripel on Sunday. It seems as if I have been working on this recipe for a very long time. Well it all came to fruition today. Iz got called to work at the coop, and I had some free time to kick around in the basement since I wasn't going to be riding my snowboard today. I ended up dumping the wort on the cake from the Belgian Strong Golden Ale that I recently brewed with the WLP 550. I also added a tube of WLP 500 to one of the five gallon carboys just to see what would happen with addition of another yeast.
The brew session didn't come off hitch free. As it turns out there were several small children playing in the basement. As a result my attention was turned periodically to them. While transferring the chilled wort to the carboys I ended up with a little more trub then I wanted. So much so, that i became gravely concerned with the possible outcome of having to much trub in the fermenter. I did a little research on this, and discovered that trub is good. Yeast like it, and apparently people like the end result as well.
So there you have it my Trub Tripel. This sucker might be ready to drink by the new year. See link for recipe.

Butterfly Conservatory

2008-04-25T22:46:00.001-04:00

Winty, Grace and I made a trip down to Deerfield today to visit the Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory. We saw very many different butterflies, ans well as some poisonous frogs and a bearded dragon. If you have an opportunity to visit this place, I would highly recommend it.

Sushi experiment

2008-04-23T06:07:00.003-04:00

Grace and I made sushi last night. It turned out quite good, and oddly enough it was painfully simple to make. Grant it I didn't use any of that fancy fish. I'll need to quiz up the fish monger for the right tuna to use.

First Rate Week

2008-04-21T07:56:00.002-04:00

This past week gets my overall vote for the number one rated week of the year for me. I got to go on a date with my wife, ride my bike, make beer, get to Fenway, play with the kids, and ride my snowboard. More brewing on the docket this week.

Laps on Ripcord

2008-04-20T15:58:00.002-04:00

I did laps on ripcord and jaws this afternoon. The riding is still stellar! Hopefully Tuckermans next Sunday.

Fenway Fun

2008-04-19T23:59:00.002-04:00

Saturday evening I headed down to Fenway with my friend Todd and his neighbors Clover and Scott for some baseball action. Todd scored some standing room only seats which translated into a nice view from some seats in section nineteen. Manny cracked a two run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning tonight which turned the tide helped give the Sox a win over Texas. This was his 496 career home run.

Riding Pips Wheel

2008-04-18T18:52:00.001-04:00

I ran into Pip on the way home Thursday. He let me ride his wheel for a few miles before dropping me like a sack of potatoes on the climb to the Putney town line. Now if I could only figure out a way to brew more beer, get some skiing in, and fit one more ride in during the week.

Strong Golden Ale

2008-04-17T00:05:00.000-04:00

I brewed up ten gallons of a Belgian Strong Golden Ale yesterday. On Wednesday's I pick up Winty from school. Today I decided to try and fit in a late afternoon brew session. It turned into a success, and now I have a total of forty gallons in the fermenters. This is great news since my kegerator has been dry for over a week now. Winty helped with the mash in today, and Gracie helped me pitch the wort.

Ah beer glorious beer!

The return of the Belgian Golden Ale

2008-04-16T08:00:00.000-04:00

I made a yeast starter on Sunday with plans to ultimately brew a Tripel. Instead of ramping up the yeast from the get-go I'm planning on getting a few lower gravity beers out of this batch of 1st generation WLP-550. So with that said I'm going to revisit a brew session the Belgian Golden Ale this today, perhaps a Dubbel to follow shortly after, and then the Tripel. With that said at the end of the summer I should have a massive stockpile of Belgian Beers for consumption. Now if I could only find a corker!

Commuting home

2008-04-15T23:47:00.004-04:00

I certainly do enjoy the commute home on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It's early season, so I usually run into Pip heading North while I'm on my way South.
Only two near death experiences today due to clueless douche pilots.

Souther Tier Beer Dinner at the Sierra Grille

2008-04-13T22:39:00.002-04:00

Iz and I attended the Southern Tier beer dinner tonight at the Sierra Grille. This ended up being a rather spontaneous event for us. I happened to be perusing the Beer Advocate forum last week and noticed that the Sierra Grille was hosting one of their quasi-monthly beer dinners. This month the Souther Tier brewery was being represented.

Until last Wednesday I had never heard of this brewery. Initially my enthusiasm to attend was lukewarm. Then I remembered O'Brian's impeccable tasted for fine food and fabulous beer. This became a no-brainer beer adventure into the unknown. A beer dinner with a host of beers made by a brewery I knew virtually nothing about.
Well the dinner was great. The food was great, and the service extraordinary as usual.
One of the courses included a deviled egg with cheese, and pepperoni. Since I abstain from red meat we decide to have fun with the pepperoni. I present you with shiny happy meat.

Amarillo Pale Ale V2.0

2008-04-12T13:00:00.005-04:00

I brewed up my Amarillo Pale Ale this morning. After making the best of Friday evening's unfortunate circumstances I mashed in bright and early this morning. I did overshoot my gravity a mile, but eventually attributed this to coming up short in my final volume. I came up a gallon short today. I'll be able to backfill this batch with some Pale Ale that has been cold conditioning in the basement for several months. Next up on the schedule will be a Belgian Pale. Here is the Grist composition from this mornings brew This grist has pretty much become the base for my standard Pale Ale recipe. It makes a fine beer.

	Malted Wheat	8.333%
	Crystal malt	8.333%
	Munich malt	8.333%
Pale Malt		75.00%

Along with the Hop Schedule:

Hop, addition and the IBU's

Perle-Kettle		20
Centennial-Kettle		10
Amarillo- Middle		10
Amarillo- Late		5
Amarillo-Knockout		0
Amarillo- Dry Hop		0

Passive roller failure in the brewery

2008-04-11T22:00:00.000-04:00

It rained most of the day today, and Thomas and Co. were bailing out of VT end retreating back to New York. This meant dinner plans would be canceled. This also meant Iz was going to be headed to Chemslford for the night with the girls. I took advantage of this gift from Iz, and seized the opportunity to get brewing in the basement.
It all went according to plan until the passive roller on my mill stopped spinning. I was dead in the water Friday evening with 20 pounds of malt left to run through the mill. Bollocks! I had to remove all the un-milled grain from the hopper, and disassemble the friggin roller assembly. Talk about a major PITA. I broke the roller assembly down, cleaned it, gave it a little lube love, re-assembled it, and it still wouldn't turn.
I ended up backing the rollers out as far as they would go, and tossed a handful of grain into the rollers. It worked! I slowly dialed the spacing between the rollers to .038 and hooked up the power drill. The rollers were now spinning with the drill attachment on the mill. I then put the hopper back on the mill, and finished milling the grist for the next brew. This unforeseen project almost two hours to complete. With this time lost, there was no way I was going to be up until 1:00 AM making beer on a Friday night. Instead I decided that mashing in at 7:00 on Satuday would be a better idea.

Belgian & American Pale Ale

2008-04-10T12:11:00.003-04:00

It surely looks like rain on Friday and Saturday. With that said, I'm going to pull out all the stops and shoot for making some pale ale. Recipes to be loaded soon.

Commuting success

2008-04-09T08:00:00.001-04:00

I enjoyed the first bike ride of the year yesterday. It's so nice to just get out on the bike and pedal circles. I guess I'm almost ready to let go of Winter. My brother is supposed to visit this week for some spring skiing fun. If we get washed out this weekend, I'm planning on squeezing in two brew sessions. A Belgian Pale ale and perhaps an American Pale Ale. Gotta get them fermenters filled!

Back on the bike.

2008-04-08T15:29:00.003-04:00

I'm please to announce I'm getting back into my routine of riding home twice a week on my bike. Oh, what joy and delight this brings me. I'm very excited that Spring has finally arrived in Vermont. We'll enjoy some fabulous Spring like conditions for the next few days. I'm going to take advantage of this. Here's to reducing my carbon footprint.

Winter's first backyard goal

2008-04-06T19:12:00.003-04:00

Astrid was over for a play date this afternoon. The girls were kicking the soccer ball around, and Winter managed to score her backyard goal today.

Chocolate Stout Redux

2008-04-05T15:00:00.002-04:00

I brewed up the Chocolate Stout clone again this weekend. I aimed a little higher on the gravity. My target was 1.062 and I ended up somewhere around 1.068. The wort hadn't completely cooled to pitching temps when I checked the gravity it came in at 1.066 at ~78f. In order to compensate for the hydrometer's calibration set at 68f, I would need to add at least .002 points for accuracy. I'll have to dig up my calibration guide and double check this for accuracy.

This brew session went okay. While everything worked out fine today, I felt somewhat disorganized. I think I need to sit down and rethink the brew sculpture setup. I need to figure out a method that requires less lifting. Perhaps one of them fancy pumps should be added to my wish list.
I also picked up some Centennial hop Rhizomes today. This will be most excellent as I am looking forward to having my own hop flowers on hand.

Friday Snow event

2008-04-04T09:01:00.001-04:00

It's snowing again today. Gotta love it. Unfortunately it will turn over two mixed precipitation before going to an all rain event later today. It's Gallery walk tonight and both of the girls are having their artwork showcased at different exhibits. They having already been begging for naps today so that that may go the distance tonight. Astrid and Suzanne are also going to join us tonight.

Burnsie Sighting

2008-04-02T07:32:00.004-04:00

Burnsie was in town for his class on Tuesday night. We enjoyed a few pints over at Ray's place. We managed to throw some darts and engage in deep conversation with some interesting characters.