Messages

61

Events / Re: GABF Tix problem...?

« on: July 31, 2012, 10:04:29 AM »

Made it through the regular site, finally.  Two tix for each session    .  Fortunately, when the countdown timer for each transaction timed out, it let me "save for later".  Then once it started working, it actually just let me click through them one at a time.

62

Homebrew Competitions / Maryland Microbrewery Festival HB Competition registration is open

« on: July 25, 2012, 08:56:49 PM »

The 5th annual Maryland Microbrewery Festival Homebrew Competition will be conducted on Saturday, September 29, 2012 at Union Mills Homestead, just north of Westminster.  Registration is now open for entrants, judges and stewards.  Entries must be received in the 2-week window between Sept. 1 - Sept. 15.  Open to big beers 6-10 abv, all except Sour and Smoke-flavored beers.

BJCP sanctioned and judged.  Excellent prize Sponsors including local and online HBS, liquor stores, and beer-focused restaurants.  And Best of Show winner's beer gets brewed commercially by Dog Brewing  Co. for draft sales at Maryland Buffalo Wild Wings restaurants, and bottled sales through local liquor stores.

Entrants, Judges, and Stewards should Register:  http://mdmicrobrewfest.brewcompetition.com/index.php

Cheers!

Steve Kranz
Organizer

63

Wood/Casks / Re: Woodinville Whiskey Co. barrel

« on: July 17, 2012, 10:06:30 PM »

The Biere de Garde was in the barrel exactly one month and the bourbon character is amazing.  Much stronger than the equivalent time in a 53-gallon Jack Daniels barrel.  I could gave gotten by with less time, but I didn't have the next beer ready to go in yet.  Woodinville is also a more intensely flavored bourbon (we visited Woodinville Whiskey Co. on our trip to NHC and brought back 5 bottles...yikes!).  Their Rye and Vodka are also excellent...I'm thinking my next barrel will be one of their Rye barrels.

I pulled the beer, and put beer #2 (a Wheat Wine) right into the barrel the same day.  After 3 weeks, the Wheat Wine is already getting oaky, with a faint hint of bourbon.  I figure to keep it in for another month or so.  By then, hopefully there will be another beer ready to go in.  No idea what yet, tho there won't likely be much if any bourbon character left in the barrel by then.

Maybe it's time for my first brett beer.

64

Equipment and Software / Re: Building a jockey box

« on: July 12, 2012, 05:41:22 PM »

Our club has a 4-circuit jockey box with a cold plate that looks exactly like the one you're looking at.  I bought it on eBay a bunch of years ago but I don't recall who the seller was.

I say go for it.

Our box serves beer nice and chilled, even if poured continuously.  We have used it for many a Club Night, camping trip, and Brew-Ha-Ha in the sweltering summer heat. It has never served warm beer no matter how quickly we poured.  We have the plate resting on a wire basket with ice packed underneath as well as on top and all sides.  It helps if the beer keg is pre-chilled and setting in a bucket of ice, but it's not necessary. We have been roundly impressed with how well it chills our beers.

65

Homebrew Competitions / Re: Delaware Battle of the Brews wants you!

« on: July 02, 2012, 08:25:23 PM »

Ron, it was good to meet and chat with you briefly on the floor of Club Night in Seattle, and I look forward to being at your competition in a few weeks.

Cheers!

66

Wood/Casks / Re: Woodinville Whiskey Co. barrel

« on: June 04, 2012, 08:22:53 PM »

I agree that a sulfur stick sounds like a bad idea - I'm surprised they would suggest that because the vapors can explode (see Gordon Strong's "Brewing Better Beer" for details on that).

If you are going to NHC this year, you'll get a chance to try Naked City's Opacity at Pro Night .  It is an imperial stout that was aged in a Woodinville Whiskey barrel that my club collaborated on.  It really turned out great (info here http://www.seattleproper.com/nhc-2012/opacity). 

We'll also have a few other beers aged in smaller barrels that we'll be serving both at club night and at a couple of hospitality shifts as well.

I'll be there, and will try to look for it!

67

Wood/Casks / Re: Woodinville Whiskey Co. barrel

« on: June 04, 2012, 08:21:32 PM »

Nice!  I expect to try this beer on club night 2013

No promises that there will be any of it left by then.   

68

Wood/Casks / Woodinville Whiskey Co. barrel

« on: June 03, 2012, 10:24:34 PM »

I ordered one of their 8 gallon once-used bourbon barrels. $183 including $38 shipping to Maryland.  Yikes, our club got a 53 gallon barrel thru our local micro a couple years ago for about $120.  But no one was ready to coordinate that kind of project again quite yet, so this barrel's all on me.

It arrived in one piece in spite of the barrel just being placed bare naked in an ordinary shipping box, i.e. no other packing materials, bubble wrap, etc. to protect it.  Kind of surprising.

I fashioned a rough cradle from two short pieces of 2x4 lumber and 4 triangle wedges cut from the same 2x4s.  Not knowing whether to expect leaks, the cradle & barrel are set up inside the pan from a rabbit cage.  But it has not leaked.

The barrel came with a little card that suggests rinsing and something else, maybe a sulfur stick.  Nah...I had a batch of fully fermented, hi-test Biere de Garde that was ready to go.  Our experience from our last barrel, and the advice from our micro brewer, said to just put the beer in as-is.  So after prying the wooden stopper out, I first flushed the barrel with CO2 to purge it of air (omg the aromas!), then into the barrel my Biere went.

I topped it off and stuck an airlock on it, and will start sampling in another week or so.  Happily, I have about a gallon of the original Biere to use for keeping the barrel topped off if my sampling gets a little heavy-handed. 

Cheers.

69

Homebrew Competitions / Re: Exploring the "one entry per subcategory per brewer" limit

« on: June 01, 2012, 05:20:39 PM »

Thanks for the feedback, that sounds like a reasonable and workable solution.

70

Homebrew Competitions / Exploring the "one entry per subcategory per brewer" limit

« on: June 01, 2012, 03:53:45 AM »

As a competition organizer, I tend to track the AHA's rules for the NHC, which includes a limit of one entry per brewer per subcategory.  The question has been asked of me why that limit is in place, and frankly I'm not able to come up with great-sounding answers.

I suppose the limit is in place to either somehow discourage cheating, or to discourage one brewer from monopolizing the category prizes, or...I dunno.  We could include a rule that says the *same* beer may only be entered once in a given subcategory.

If a brewer has two different Dry Stouts, or two different Wood Aged Beers, or even two different Fruit Beers using the same base beer but different fruits, or whatever else, it seems to me that he or she should be able to enter both of them in the same correct subcategory, rather than having to pick only one to enter.

I'm thinking of allowing brewers to enter as many beers in whatever subcategories they want, and if anyone has experience with any problems this has caused in the past, I would appreciate any feedback.

Thanks in advance.

71

The Pub / Re: R.I.P Doc Watson

« on: May 29, 2012, 08:28:37 PM »

Could listen to his voice day in, day out.  Doc was an unbelievable talent.  So fortunate to have seen him perform a few times.  I cried the day Merle died, and I'm cryin' today. 

72

The Pub / Re: Doug Dilliard - R.I.P.

« on: May 25, 2012, 08:33:53 PM »

Very sad, he was one of the first influences on my love of bluegrass and traditional American music. 

73

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: High temperature yeasts

« on: May 24, 2012, 11:23:44 PM »

The yeast you want to use is WLP-565, the DuPont Saison strain. You might want to pitch cool but ramp up to the higher temps. This yeast will stall if you let it get to normal temps. I have to add heat to the fermenter to get it to finish. It produces peppery/spicy phenolics. Hope you like Saisons and Farmhouse ales.

Definitely the yeast for you.  I let it start around 70-75.  Active fermentation will generate heat for a couple of days, and then you'll want to keep it up there for the yeast to finish..upper 80's or higher is fine.  I've done Saisons into the low 90's and they turn out great.  Our local micro (Dog Brewing) brews Saisons and other Farmhouse Ales for Stillwater Ales, and they use White Labs' 565 which they let get that warm in their tanks.

74

Events / Re: Chicago Region. Still judging?

« on: April 27, 2012, 03:19:43 PM »

Boy. Sad to think that asking a simple question is considered nagging. I didn't nag or put anyone down. I was just looking for an update. Maybe I should jump down the throat of some of the guys entering 30 beers and blocking out qualified entries. But I left that alone. Sorry to get your panties in a bunch.

No bunched panties here  , just responding to what I read.

75

Events / Re: Chicago Region. Still judging?

« on: April 27, 2012, 03:03:17 PM »

As a new judge this year (January), and having judged in two regions (Philly & Pittsburgh), I have a new-found appreciation for what it takes to pull off a regional NHC, and the folks who do it, and will never again nag a competition organizer for results.  No doubt they'll finish and report results as soon as they can.