Messages

196

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: American Brown Style Guidelines

« on: February 23, 2012, 09:20:28 AM »

There are a number of subcategories like this in the BJCP guidelines where many judges associate the entire subcategory with a specific classic example. Fundamentally, that doesn't mean that an American Brown with Williamette or EKG is any less American Brown than the same one with Cascade/Amarillo.

But the key to winning ribbons in subcategories like these is to make it easier on the judges. You want to make a base beer that is recognizable by every BJCP judge (certified to grand master) as an American Brown versus relying on a more experienced judge in the flight to explain to the other judges, "Actually, American Brown typically/optionally may have those hops but it isn't strictly required."

Once you have that unmistakable base beer developed (and assuming you have sound brewing practices, non-infected, etc.), your beer is going to float into the top 10% of a flight just by that fact alone. Then you work on the subtle details that will push the beer into best of show contention because if by some miracle your Williamette American Brown floats into the best of show otherwise, you may not find an advocate to wax poetically to all the other best of show judges about it, and it will be eliminated fairly early.

These things are just the nature of brewing for competition versus brewing for your own enjoyment or even brewing for the enjoyment of others.

197

Kegging and Bottling / Re: HopRocket Randall Foam & Stopped

« on: February 08, 2012, 03:39:20 PM »

A long and artfully-arranged serving line between the Randall and the tap would likely serve the same purpose (increased restriction forcing CO2 back into solution).

Perhaps with an ice bath or see-through tank and waterproof rope lights or LED's or those flashing ice cubes and some dry ice to keep the line cold.  Just being imaginative--the unwashed masses might think it was really cool although you and I know the real magic is in the hops.

On a more practical note, I have been to a Randall-night at a local pub.  The foaming issues (one water filter housing) were so bad that the bartenders resorted to dumping or spooning out the foam to fill the beer glasses with enough liquid beer.  Big Sigh...
what's the point, then?!

I have like 8 ft of high restriction before and after the randall, 3/16" hose and it still foams like crazy.

198

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Opinion about posting Jamil's recipes

« on: February 08, 2012, 03:34:07 PM »

would love to see some downloadable brewing books. 

Brewers Publications has some books available on Kindle but only a handful.  Actually we are working on a new digital initiative beginning this year.  We will be investing in both epub format (works on most all readers) and a kindle format for titles.  The conversion process is note a quick thing as our books are not text only.  Text only books are pretty quick and easy but you start throwing in recipes, sidebars, charts and graphs and it can throw a lot of formatting out of whack.  

In any case, I have two of them in production right now.  How to Brew by John Palmer is first up on deck and will be followed by Sacred Herbal and Healing Beers.  This technology will also allow us to bring back out of print titles that have been requested (think the Lambic book from the Classic Beer Style Series).  I'd love to be able to have them all up asap but as mentioned it is more complicated than you may think though I expect it will get easier as time goes on.  I'd rather take the time and do them right if we are going to put them out there.  In the end with all the variables that come into play with these eReaders, I am doing what we can to ensure a good experience for the reader despite some technological limitations.  

Stay posted on new releases and when eBooks are released by following progress on:
Facebook facebook/BrewersPublications, twitter handle @beerbooks and the new BP website is BrewersPublications.com

Cheers~
Kristi

Great

199

Kegging and Bottling / Re: HopRocket Randall Foam & Stopped

« on: February 08, 2012, 11:30:05 AM »

I hadn't seen that but I did go glance at it now that you've mentioned it.

It is definitely an interesting idea but doesn't have that same "wow" factor that a randall has. But that thread did point out another good idea, I use a french press to introduce coffee to my beers by filling the french press with beer, adding the coffee, and steeping cold for a few days, then I push the handle down and dose the keg with the appropriate amount of coffee beer to get the flavor I am looking for. It seems like you could do the same thing with hops instead of beer and have an added amount of control over the final beer.

200

Kegging and Bottling / Re: HopRocket Randall Foam & Stopped

« on: February 08, 2012, 11:19:35 AM »

Our randall is not a hop rocket, so I can not elaborate on that product, but we use the "traditional" water filter housing technique but with a second chamber after the hop infuser. This cuts down on foaming significantly. OTOH if you are only pouring a couple pints at a time it may waste a lot of beer.

Also if it is clogging you might have it packed too full. Don't pack them in there. Just fill it and leave them slightly loose. The beer will cause the hops to swell significantly. Also be sure you didn't get any hops "dust" on any seals or inside the "filter" housing.

Any pictures? The second chamber doesn't have anything in it? I like some of the presentation aspects of Randalls but hate the waste introduced by the insane amount of foaming that seems inevitable with this setup since you're filtering carbonated beer through a billion tiny nucleation sites.

201

All Grain Brewing / Re: how to darken up my Bohemian Pils

« on: February 08, 2012, 11:16:41 AM »

Granted I do not do decoctions or brew pilsners, but in my Kölsches, I use a small amount of Melanoidin or Aromatic malt to push it into the 3-4 SRM range and very subtly increase the malt character. I suspect the same could be done with a BoPils.

I would be very leery of combining significant amounts of any character/crystal malt and still doing the decoction. Melanoidin, in particular, can be easy to over-do and when combined with a double decoction can lead to more of a beefy flavor than a beery flavor

202

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Opinion about posting Jamil's recipes

« on: February 08, 2012, 11:13:31 AM »

As JZ's publisher I have an opinion to share.

As there is a collection of recipes from Brewing Classic Styles and also considering that the recipes are the substantial portion of the book, I believe this would be infringing on the copyright.  See below from the copyright office.

"Copyright protection may, however, extend to substantial literary expression—a description, explanation, or illustration, for example—that accompanies a recipe or formula or to a collection of recipes, as in a cookbook. "  Emphasis mine.

That said, as publisher, I have been generous with offering permission to those who have asked to post a recipe or two offering proper attribution.  I prefer to work things out and have a great appreciation and understanding for the passionate sharing of information about brewing.  However, in the end it is my job to protect my authors and their work.  If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.  

As always if you have any ideas for books you'd like to see or an author to suggest, I'm always open to your thoughts.

Cheers~
Kristi Switzer
Publisher, Brewers Publications
kristi@brewersassociation.org
www.BrewersPublications.com

Well said!

One thing that would be nice is Kindle editions of the Brewers Publications books.

203

All Grain Brewing / Re: help interpreting BJCP scoresheet

« on: February 08, 2012, 11:12:02 AM »

I was also going to add that you should definitely expect something a little more verbose from a Nationally ranked BJCP judge.

I am kind of on the fence with regards to comments that this should have been entered as a specialty beer. It seems to be around 12% rye. In my mind a rye IPA is more in the 15-20% (like Denny's Rye IPA recipe) range. Ultimately it really only depends on one thing though: "Versions with a noticeable Rye character (“RyePA”) should be entered in the Specialty category."

If you haven't already gotten it, I strongly recommend Gordon Strong's book about brewing because it really covers aspects of competition brewing that no other book really does.

204

Going Pro / Re: How hard is it to be a pro brewer?

« on: February 08, 2012, 10:54:51 AM »

When I was visiting my folks in Colorado around the holidays, there were quite a few breweries that had tasting rooms with no food of their own but allowed you to bring in food. They were all pretty popular (Oskar Blues, Left Hand, Odells, Grimm Brothers, etc.)

Oskar Blues seems to keep a food truck specializing in BBQ parked outside their new production brewery in Longmont.. I didn't try any but it looked pretty nice.

I absolutely agree with the other posters, if you can't or don't want to do food, you shouldn't do a brewpub.

205

Classifieds / Immersion chillers for sale

« on: January 18, 2012, 12:48:21 AM »

I have two copper immersion chillers that I no longer use:

1 * 50ft "Super Chiller" 1/2" copper with brass hose fittings from MoreBeer (http://morebeer.com/view_product/19521/102204/Wort_Chiller_-_SuperChiller_for_10_gallon_batches_50ft_of_1_2_in_With_Brass_Fittings) [$109 new]

and

1* 25ft "Standard Chiller" 3/8" copper with brass hose fittings from MoreBeer
(http://morebeer.com/view_product/19515/102204/Wort_Chiller_-_2_25_ft_x_3_8_in_With_Brass_Fittings) [$62 new]

I am looking to get $40 for the 25ft one and $80 for the 50ft one. Buyer to pay actual shipping.

206

Classifieds / Re: Electric brewing stuff for sale

« on: January 17, 2012, 07:18:55 PM »

Lowering the cost of the entire system from $425 to $375 or $325 without the mashtun.

207

Classifieds / Electric brewing stuff for sale (sold)

« on: January 10, 2012, 05:54:15 PM »

I am looking to sell my electric brewing kettles, and possibly the control panel. Selling this to someone far away might be a little awkward since you won't be able to see it in action but if nothing else, the electric kettles will get someone interested in building an electric brewery pretty far along.

For prices and more information, you can look at my post in my homebrew club's forum here.

Buyer will pay actual shipping.

Thanks!

UPDATE: Sold!

208

Homebrew Competitions / The 18th Annual Boneyard Brew Off

« on: December 07, 2011, 08:28:37 AM »

Greetings,

This year the annual Boneyard Brew Off will be moving to January 14th (previously held in June).

Entry registration will not open for another week or two, but we are currently seeking judges and stewards. Please see this page for more information: http://www.buzzbrewclub.org/competition/volunteer-information

-Anthony

209

All Grain Brewing / Re: decoction mash

« on: November 11, 2011, 03:15:15 PM »

No doubt about it, a decoction can give you more body and a higher FG.  Its the bigger part of the OG boost.

I fixed that for you! A decoction alone isn't a silver bullet to do those two things. And incorrectly done, you could make a more fermentable wort using a decoction versus a single infusion alone. It is all about the parameters of course.

Once you start applying absolutes, you're really tempting the decoction opponents to jump in here  

Or, like many people, you may not be able to detect any difference at all.  And FTR, I'm not a "decoction opponent".  I've just done some experiments that make me question its value.

I really think that everyone should try it for themselves. I mean... it really wasn't that long ago that you were espousing decoctions

Ultimately, it is a journey I think every brewer should take.

210

All Grain Brewing / Re: decoction mash

« on: November 11, 2011, 02:12:28 PM »

No doubt about it, a decoction can give you more body and a higher FG.  Its the bigger part of the OG boost.

I fixed that for you! A decoction alone isn't a silver bullet to do those two things. And incorrectly done, you could make a more fermentable wort using a decoction versus a single infusion alone. It is all about the parameters of course.

Once you start applying absolutes, you're really tempting the decoction opponents to jump in here