Messages

16

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Beer Comp Entries Up?

« on: March 11, 2011, 06:15:57 PM »

Who am I kidding?

It's be a Personal Best, though, right?

Judging in the morning.  The contest grew by 30%!  Up to 35 from 24 last year!

Got my reminder of the schedule tonight at 6:30.  Hadn't heard anything since early February...

Another factor is money.  The cost is dropping for the smaller comps and the prizes are getting crazy.  WEB was $1000 from NB for Beer BoS and $500 from Adventures in Homebrewing for Cider/Mead BoS.  AND they have prizes for each category winner.  I think entries averaged out to less than $4 if you entered 4 (#4 was free), so a $1000 payout is attractive.  Just for two golds last year I got $45 in gift certificates.  Easily made my entry worth it.

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General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Beer Comp Entries Up?

« on: March 11, 2011, 02:10:31 PM »

Homebrewing at the World Expo of Beer certainly took a leap in entries this year.  Nearly 900 a year after having just over 450.  Crazy growth in brewing, home and commercial, in Michigan.

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General Homebrew Discussion / Re: What type of hops should I grow?

« on: March 11, 2011, 08:11:58 AM »

CTZ just came out of copyright protection.  That should make it more available commercially as well.

I like having Crystal on hand as an American Noble.  It grows very reliably for me.  It's not a heavy hitter but it grows just right. 

One thing I would advise is to choose varieties with different harvest times.  It makes it easier to make room in the oast and avoid mixing.  It also helps with the harvest if you cross your bines around year four.

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General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Can You Volunteer to Judge NHC 1st Round?

« on: March 04, 2011, 07:31:53 AM »

Here is a good start for Indy.  But Bier isn't on there.  There may be others, too.

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General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Can You Volunteer to Judge NHC 1st Round?

« on: March 04, 2011, 06:33:49 AM »

Indy has a lot of very new breweries that are worth exploring.  The location of the judging is Sun King.  They're growing by leaps and bounds.  Either would be a good time.

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General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Can You Volunteer to Judge NHC 1st Round?

« on: March 03, 2011, 07:11:10 PM »

http://www.bjcp.org/apps/comp_schedule/competition_schedule.php

Look there for the closest site to you starting April 2.  If you're a BJCP judge you'll probably get an invitation.  If you're not, you may be asked to steward if they can fill the roster with BJCP judges.

22

Kegging and Bottling / Re: Carb level in cans

« on: March 02, 2011, 11:24:29 AM »

"You shouldn't hang me on a hook Johnny, My mother hung me on a hook once... Once!"

Just what I was thinking.

I wonder when contests will let us send in cans! 

There was a whole canning line in a storage shed around these parts a while back.  21A bought it but found a better one or one that fit their space better.  They have community canning facilities for pickles and beans.  Why not one for beer?

Back to the pressure problem.  An industrious person would volunteer for the job of traveling to EVERY market served by a brewery to try each of their products to make sure that it was properly carbonated in that location.  I mean, Quality is Quality.  All expenses paid, of course!

23

Ingredients / Acidified Lemongrass?

« on: February 28, 2011, 10:41:26 AM »

In searching for dried lemongrass to replicate a beer from Myrtle Beach's Southend Brewery, my friend found the best deal at an Asian market where the lemongrass was in 2 oz bags for $.33.  Since a quarter ounce at the supermarket was soemthing like $7 and we needed 2 ounces, it was a steal.  He bought all they had.  And we used one bag in a 10 gallon batch.

When the beer was done it tasted just like we'd squeezed lemons in it.  It didn't have a pellicle and everything should have been sanitized adequately.  Actually, we fermented in two carboys and the flavor is the very same between the kegs.  The acidity is so clean the only thing I'm left with is that the lemongrass was processed with citric acid or something else as an antioxidant. 

Now the obvious thing is to make a tea with it and see, but my friend isn't going about that with any speed.  3 months ago, we talked about that.  Since he has it all, I'm just making guesses. 

Has anyone heard of dried lemongrass having a sourness to it from additives?  It's so strong that I'd probably be better off calling it lemon AND lemongrass instead of just lemongrass for NHC.  It's pretty good and is so clean and refreshing, it stands out.

24

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: What's Brewing This Weekend - 2/25 Edition

« on: February 24, 2011, 09:42:50 AM »

2011 batch of Lenten Brew.  A group from church brews it.  We bottle it together about mid-Lent and it's ready for drinking on Easter.  A new take on Lenten Discipline.  (third year for it)  We don't drink the beer that we made just before Lent, during Lent.

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General Homebrew Discussion / Re: 19th century brewing techniques

« on: February 22, 2011, 05:42:47 PM »

If you find anything on this infamous chicken beer from early America, please share.  I don't really want to replicate it, but it's one of those things that seems way out there.

26

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Amylase Enzyme

« on: February 08, 2011, 09:17:21 PM »

And it's not my wife.  She doesn't drink beer at all.

So, I'm confused. If that's the case you'd think she'd drink Michelobe Ultra....

I'm pretty sure that she'd say that it tasted too much like beer.  I still haven't figured out what that means.  All beer, some ciders and a few wines, dry whites, mostly, evoke that comment.

It's my friend's wife.  I actually have no idea what this Mic tasted like.  Something like watered down grapefruit juice, I think.  And I hit the nail on the head, just a tad heavy handed.

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Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Amylase Enzyme

« on: February 07, 2011, 04:27:51 PM »

What about thinning it out with water?  It would be controlled and has precedent.

We were going to do this with a "wife demanded clone" of Michelob Ultra Tuscan Grapefruit.  We overshot the gravity by 25% (new mill) and it finished at 1.010 but could add a gallon of water should she not like the body.  Turned out that we beat that citrus bomb in the uncarbonated/warm taste test at bottling.  Still carbed it high for her.

And it's not my wife.  She doesn't drink beer at all.

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General Homebrew Discussion / Re: I think I have a problem!

« on: January 23, 2011, 05:59:08 PM »

I have taken a few readings and it's falling slowly. I was joking about the problem but was kind of wondering if yeast rousing is beneficial.

I think it only makes you feel better.  That's not a bad thing.

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General Homebrew Discussion / Re: I think I have a problem!

« on: January 23, 2011, 05:38:18 PM »

Talk dirty to it...  Best in the dark.

What makes you think there's a problem?  Have you taken a hydrometer reading?

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General Homebrew Discussion / Re: BJCP exam - vital statistics needed?

« on: January 22, 2011, 07:28:39 AM »

I was reading about a performance anxiety workshop at Julliard.  I know it sounds like it wouldn't apply here, but it just might help.  They teach that if you are going to feel nervous about something, practice is good, but practice under stress is better.  The only way to simulate the pressure you'd feel in the exam is to do something strenuous right before practice.  The example in the class was sending a pianist out to run up and down two flights of stairs twice and then return to the hall to play a piece. 

I'd also suggest having practice beers while practicing the written part.  Drinking under stress can have different effects than you would normally experience.  Maybe the graders have noticed some written slurring as they reach the last fifteen minutes of an exam.  Certainly on mine.