Questions of Note: Dan Baker

When we look around we find breweries popping up everywhere, it almost seems like it happens over night.  The reality is building a brewery is a demanding process.  The side rarely seen by the outside world is all the paper work, the endless meetings (with backers, contractors, equipment, realators and on and on), build out on the brew space, I could go on but that is a different time and place.  After all that work running a brewery is at heart a labor of love.  This is bonus to the rest of us, otherwise we would have no beer outside our own homes. 

Dan Baker is one of those crazy people fighting the good fight to build a brewery home. We can look forward to Barking Cat Brewing Co. to be part of the growing Michigan craft beer scene thanks to his efforts.  And so to avoid me prattling on too much more, I will now share with you Dan's answers to the Questions of Note...

1.            What was the beer moment, when you knew you wanted to become involved with the craft beer renaissance?  

In Traverse City, MI - there was a place called 'The Brew Zone', a place where you could make your own beer under the watchful eye of a master brewer, etc.  He had a recipe, 'Hop Head Red'.  This was around 1998 or so.  I had been a Bells fan, but it was hard to get in TC at the time; the beer being made at the Brew Zone turned me on to another world of craft beer.  That place signifies a turning point for me.

 

2.            If you could have any beer in your hand right now, what would it be?  

I'm a 'homer' - Bells, Expedition Stout or Oracle.

3.            Can you describe your beer life in a song lyric/title?  If so what would you choose? 

 All that I could think of is 'What Have You Done for Me Lately?' - only because as a brewer, I am always trying to be better, and right now I am pushing to make better beer.

 

4.            Do you have a steady beer, or do you like to "play the field?"

 

Steady, go to:  always a porter.

5.            Crowded smoky bar or back porch watching the clouds float across the sky?

 Clouds, 72%, fall, cashews, chocolate porter, and a canoe trip down the Manistee in Mesick w/my wife.

And the lame one…

 

If tin whistles are made of tin, what do they make fog horns out of?

Liquid Nitrogen

 

Time for a pint...

In Passing

It seems odd to think of people who could become tall tales in this day and age.  Rarely do we think of someone who could become a Paul Bunyun or a Johnny Appleseed.  The thing is usually these legends are based on the life of a real person, someone whos life grew so large that their legend lived on after their passing.  Or we could spend more time focusing on things instead of people that we create legends out of products ...

But I digress.  That is something for a different day.

Today marks the passing of Michael Jackson (not that one, this one).  He left us behind on August 30, 2007.  He was a pioneer of beer writing and evangelism that set a high standard for others to follow.  The man spent thirty years teaching beer and beer history, reminding us of what we might lose. 

It wasn't that long ago that I delved through the Great Beers of Belgium.  Aside from a great guide for the beers themselves a fantastic source for the hows and whys in the creation of the beers. 

Take some time on this holiday weekend to check out a legend that only recently left us.  It will be time well spent.


Time for a pint...

Transfer: Green Tea Wheat

The wheat is now resting comfortably in its new lagering home (at least for the next week or so).  As a break away from a traditional cloudy wheat I am hoping this one will be a bit more crystal clear like a krystalweis.  At this point it is sitting at 5% alcohol and I don't see that changing.  The green tea comes through nicely.  There is a nice blend with the tea, wheat, and hop notes.  I was expecting the hops to be a bit more overpowering, thinking back to the day it was brewed.  They were very dominant then. 

 I probably should have used some Irish moss on this.  Not necessarily a planned thing but I haven't been using it lately.  I have been using the lagering unit to help clear the brews and it has been working fairly well. 

 

 

Time for a pint... 

Variety (available on BBC 4)

At one point in my life MTV played music videos.  But I remember when they were starting to change up their programming a bit (mid to late 80s, yes they were doing it way back then).  Not only were they trying out a game show or two (Remote Control was horrible but still a classic in my mind).  But they also were bringing in some classic British programming with The Young Ones and Monty Python's Flying Circus. 

There was a skit on the Flying Circus showing the great programming available on the BBC; every show revolved around poofs in some way shape or form, except for the show about the flying ace Biggles.  Kinda makes you think about our beer choices back in that time as well.  Every beer revolved around a similar theme and we were lucky if there was something that stood out (but was equally crappy). 

Wow, I am not sure what even brought all those thoughts up tonight.  My original thoughts for tonight were of a trip to a local used book store recently.  I go to the place usually looking for interesting cooking or beer related books (I picked up my copy of A Cook's Tour by Anthony Bourdain from this place many years ago).  Of course I always end up in the sci fi and fantasy section as well.  The two sections are on such opposite sides of the spectrum its crazy.  Cooking is right inside the doors when you enter the store.  Sci fi and fantasy is in the basement in a well hidden corner (makes you think they are trying to hide the unwashed geeks from the eyes of normal people). 

I did find a few new writers and titles I will be checking out soon, but what struck me more was the realization I had while looking through books in the basement.  I ran across quite a few names I had never seen before.  There was a time in the 80s (maybe even early 90s) when a good number of people holding high stress, high profile jobs began leaving those jobs in search of a new life.  Many turned to writing, so much so that we were seeing a glut of new books on the shelves bearing similar themes.  At the time the mantra was "breaking into writing is impossible, the market is saturated."

Has anyone ever mentioned to you that history is cyclical?  The themes are the same, it's the players that change.  If there is a glut in the market, how come new stuff is coming out all the time?  Every now and then (and lately a bit more often) we hear talk about all the breweries popping up.  People are leaving their chosen occupations hoping to stake a claim in entirely new territory.  The talk comes to how much more can we take?  How long till we reach a super saturation point? 

The real question should be when will the cycle change again?  It is then that what we are seeing now will begin to right itself again.  Explosive growth eventually reaches a plateau and levels off.  Makes you wonder what it will all look like when it reaches that point. 

Time for a pint...

Video: Stuffed Peppers

This was one for my youngest daughter Maggie.  She has been wanting stuffed peppers for a while now.  While I was at the farmer's market this weekend I ran across some really nice looking peppers so I figured it was time. 

The recipe as done here was perfect for 8 medium sized peppers. 

Recipe: 
8 Medium peppers (top and insides removed)
1 medium onion (diced)
1 zuchini (diced)
1 eggplant (diced)
2 tomatoes (diced)
5 mushrooms (sliced)
1 Carrot (sliced in half moons)
1 clove garlic
1 lb ground beef
2 cups cooked rice
salt and pepper to taste

Method:
These are actually pretty easy.  Saute all ingredients till soft.  Brown ground beer.  Cook off the rice if not already done (1 cup rice to 1 3/4 cup water boil for 20 min).  Mix it all together and stuff the peppers. 

Bake in the oven covered for roughly 1 hour.  Top with tomato sauce and shaved parm or asiago cheese.

Time for a pint...

Questions of Note: Stan Hieronymus

There are a few books that are must haves when you think about your own personal home brew library.  For me, I go back to these books on a regular basis, looking for information that might have slipped from my feeble memories. 

 

Stan Hieronymus maintains the Appelation Beer site, aside from just writing a couple books (and working on more, and this doesn't even bring up the magazine articles).  Though he claims that he is simply a journalist, it is through his work that quite a few people have learned the art of brewing and built upon their skills to become better brewers. 

 

 

And so this brings us to our questions again this week.  So I will delay no longer...

 

5 Questions of note and 1 lame one

 

1.         What was the beer moment, when you knew you wanted to become involved with the craft beer renaissance?

 

I’m not sure about the word “involved.” I’m a journalist and I write about beer. I collect stories, and there are a lot of great stories to be found.

 

2.         If you could have any beer in your hand right now, what would it be?

 

A fresh glass of circa 1980 Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Because that would mean I was a hell of a lot younger than I am now.

 

3.         Can you describe your beer life in a song lyric/title?  If so what would you choose?

 

“The Road Goes On Forever (and the Party Never Ends).” It’s on my business card.

 

4.         Do you have a steady beer, or do you like to "play the field?"

 

I have beers I drink over and over, but I can drink only local beers and go a long time without repeating one if I want. When we go out for dinner I am not going to order something new just because it is different, but may because it looks interesting.

 

5.         Crowded smoky bar or back porch watching the clouds float across the sky?

 

Like the beer I choose at any moment that’s awfully situational. Maybe we’re traveling and want to catch a sporting event on TV – that’s not cloud time. In the broadest sense, and at the risk of generalization, I would say an outdoor setting can make a beer better, while a beer can make a crowded (forget the smoky part) bar better. But so can conversation.

 

And the lame one…

 

If tin whistles are made of tin, what do they make fog horns out of?

 

Are those Reinheitsgebot fog horns Extreme fog horns?

 

 

Time for a pint...



Crazy turn of events

Murphy's law states "anything that can go wrong will go wrong at the worst possible time."  This isn't anything new.  Most of us have known old man Murphy for quite some time.  The problem usually comes when we forget about him.  That's when he sneaks up and says hi. 

He came to visit me last night while brewing.  It wasn't anything major but enough to give me a bit of a smack in the back of the head.  He struck twice last night, both times during the lauter.  The first time, I happened to be checking flow rates at the halfway point.  This is when I notice that the grain bed had formed a well in the center of the mash tun.  It was blaringly obvious that the center was not nearly as thick as the rest of the mash.  I think we might have developed a channel. 

The next attack came from an area that seems a bit more probable.  My hose managed to slip from the brew kettle to the garage floor.  I didn't lose much but I think this added with the odd filter bed added together for a hit on efficiency.  I came in about 10 points lower than expected.  Hurt a little but should still be a decent beer when all is said and done.

And now we move to today.  I had some time to make bread earlier.  I have started using the sponge method when I make breads; it seems to make a better loaf overall.  This is similar to making a starter when you brew.  Building the environment that helps the yeast do their job makes them stronger and healthier overall.  Happy yeast is happy beer and great bread.

In a way I have been using a brewing approach to making bread.  I am shooting for a certain size and look to the finished loaves.  The last time I did this I weighed each loaf out at 1lb 6 oz (precooking).  They were slightly smaller than I wanted.  This time I was going to go with a pound and a half.  That would give me three loaves and 3 ounces left over.  Of course I didn't wanna waste the 3 ounces so I divided it between the loaves. 

As it turned out, I ended up with some monsters.  Mind you, they came out great.  They are just slightly bigger than I want them to be.  The next time I make bread I may actually have narrowed down the amount I will be using for each loaf. 





Time for a pint...

Brewday: Green Tea Wheat (Kolsch)

Here we go, this should be a strange one.  The wheat is under way, and going like clockwork.  I don't have as much green tea as I thought, but this works for starting light anyway.  We could say I planned it like this, ya know, using a lighter touch to see how it turns out.  But we all really know that I don't usually work that way. 

Recipe:

7lbs Red wheat
6lbs pale malt

.5 oz Sterling (7% aa) 60 min
.5 oz Sterling (7% aa) 20 min
1 oz Czech Saaz (3% aa) 5 min

12 bags green tea added to boil kettle during lauter (remove when lauter is finished)

Mash:
110 degrees 20 minutes
152 degrees 1.5 hours

Boil for 1.5 hours
1 quart (starter) WLP 029 Kolsch yeast

There really isn't too much going on recipe wise for this beer.  The desired beer is something light and super easy to drink.  Of course, it should finish out roughly around 7 percent, so it may be light an easy but in the end it may have a hidden punch. 

Time for a pint...

Transferred: Heather Agave Mead

It was time but I also had to do the transfer today.  Tomorrow I will be brewing a Kolsched wheat, though I am not certain if I will be doing anything else to it as yet.  Let's get into the first thoughts and then we can step into other business.

The mead is finishing out at roughly 13.5% and is again a dry mead.  But wow, the agave is a strong force in this one.  There is a bit of tequila burn but only slightly.  I also found hints of vanilla, not sure where those are coming from as yet though.  Currently the tequila notes are so strong that the heather seems a bit drowned out.  It will be interesting to see how this one turns out after it mellows a bit.  I figure I may actually go to bottle next month with it. 

As I mentioned a minute ago, I am getting set for tomorrow's brew day.  I have some Saaz and some Sterling hops and I already have the Kolsch yeast starter going.  But after that I am not sure what direction I will be taking, other than the main base malt will be wheat.  I have considered using some spruce tips.  But I also have a few pounds of blueberries sitting in the freezer as well.  Of course I have been wanting to make a green tea beer for some time so that is on the table too.  Sometimes this being your hardest decision of the day can be a very good thing.

I hopefully will be starting a new part time job this week, working as a wine merchandiser (ya, stocking some shelves).  It is always good to get a bit more perspective on other aspects of the industry (beverage as a whole).  The physical I took today was probably one of the most invasive I have ever experienced short of my time in the Marines.  I don't want to go into too much detail but I will say that I did have to turn my head and cough. 

I do believe it is now time for a pint...

Video: Mushroom Risotto

chicken stuffed with tomato, onion, and cranberry and mushroom risotto

By the proliferation of rice mixes you find in the supermarket, you would think that risotto would be some mysterious and difficult thing to make.  The reality is, fresh made risotto is so much better than any rice mix you could buy.

Recipe: for 4 servings

1 cup Arborio rice
1/2 small onion (small dice)
2 mushrooms (sliced)
2 Tablespoon grated parmesean
1 cup Beer or wine
2 cups chicken stock

Method:

Saute the mushrooms and onions in oil till tender and translucent.  Add the rice cooking till it comes to a shine and looks like mother of pearl.  Deglaze with the beer and allow it to absorb into the rice.  Add some chicken stock and allow it to come to a boil.  Turn down the heat a bit (so the liquid doesn't evaporate).  The key here is really more along the lines of temperature control (as it is with most cooking). 
As the liquid is absorbed keep adding more stock a bit at a time.  The cooking time will be slightly longer than the normal 20 minutes or so of regular rice, but not by much. 

Notes:
The stock should be boiling.  Hot stock is more readily absorbed. 
Water or vegetable stock can be used and skip the cheese to make the risotto vegan

Questions of Note: Oliver Roberts

Our questions are answered by Oliver Roberts this week.  Oliver is the Brewmaster and manager at Wolverine State Brewing Co.   Wolverine is a rarity in the craft beer world; a lager brewery.  And just like ales have broken through with over the top and interesting beers, the lagers coming out of Ann Arbor are pretty amazing. 


And now we move into the main event...

1. What was the beer moment, when you knew you wanted to become involved with the craft beer renaissance?

-When I found myself homebrewing until 4am and sleeping on the couch next to my boil kettle during run-off because it was my only time to brew during a work week.

2. If you could have any beer in your hand right now, what would it be?

-A Firestone Walker Double Barrel Ale. You cant get this beer in Michigan and I was literally attached to it at the Craft Brewer’s Conference in San Diego this year.  I know its not a lager so I might get some flack for that but there’s something about the unattainable that is always so desirable when it comes to beer for me.

3. Can you describe your beer life in a song lyric/title?  If so what would you choose?

-Interstate Love Song by the Stone Temple Pilots

4. Do you have a steady beer, or do you like to “play the field?”

-I usually play the field with my own beers.

-

5. Crowded smoky bar or back porch watching the clouds float across the sky?

-Once upon a time it was the bar but with kids it is now a porch.  I am happy to say so.

And the lame one…

If tin whistles are made of tin, what do they make fog horns out of?

-Can’t be fog. Stainless Steel?!?!?

Time for a pint...

Obsession

I have been playing the game Borderlands on my Xbox, quite abit lately.  The game is a first person shooter (not something I would normally play).  The game play itself is nothing less than addictive.  There is a bit of an old west feel to it (brings up the old John Wayne westerns I watched with my parents as a kid as (as reruns ... I'm not that old dammit)). 

Have you ever run across a beer that though it didn't follow your normal drinking style, it became something all consuming with your taste buds?  We are coming into fall beer season.  This is a time for me for pumpkin beers and Oktoberfests.  I know that quite a few are already finding their ways into stores (I try to ignore that till at least September).  I am sure they are starting to make their way into your beer radar. 

A big one for me this time of year is Souther Tier's Pumking.  We are talking about a beer that tastes like a piece of pumpkin pie.  This is fantastically good, though not my usual style for every day drinking. 

In just a couple more weeks it will be game time.  I don't know about you but my next obsession is just around the corner.


Time for a pint...

Tech: Attaching Faucets

The newest addition to the project kegerator is the attachment of the faucets.  With this video I feel a bit more like Bob Vila than I ever thought I might want to (Welcome to this installment of This old Kegerator). 

Time for a pint... 

Larger Than Life

I had this thought recently.  Of course, it made perfect sense when I had it so I wrote it down knowing that it would be a post in the future.  The only thing I wrote down though were the words "Larger than life."  Granted these three words can lead a person down quite a few paths.  But I know I had something specific in mind.  (Have you ever felt like Sean Connery in the film Medicine Man?  "Haven't you ever lost something? Like your keys?"

For a good portion of today I have been trying to figure out what the cryptic message means.  I am drawn to two different destinations.  The first is of course beers and brewing.  The other lands in our mental image.  Seems like two different areas, unless of course when you consider that advertising has been building brands into our self image for many years now.  That isn't the direction I am going right now but you never know we might get back to that.

I had a job interview yesterday.  I haven't done one of these in quite some time.  It reminds me again of how much I really don't like talking about myself (hard to believe if you have been reading here for any length of time, I know).  You can call it a weird mental block but it is far easier for me to write than it has ever been to talk.  But aside from that, I am refering a bit more to talking about yourself in a positive way.  If you have been on a job interview you know what I mean.  I have always found a bit of self deprecating humor to be an easy way to diffuse the whole discussion away from directly addressing my flaws or positive aspects. 

I like to think that I am not the only person who suffers from this type of thinking.  It is normal for us to fall into our own universe of thought (or maybe I am the only one who thinks like this).  The crazy thing is, the descriptor "Larger Than Life" is not one that we ever give to ourselves.  For the most part we tend to have a name for people who begin to believe their own hype, and it isn't something pretty.  I like to think that the neutral (kinda the ph of mental sanity) position is to not realize your importance to the world around you.  The extreme ends of the scale fall into the thoughts of not being important to any one and then thoughts of thinking you are the most important thing on the planet. 

Beer and breweries fall within the same guidelines.  Honestly you could use this scale for just about anything really.  But the important part of this is how it is all portrayed.  There is the healthy version of hey are beer is great and all that, we even have the extreme of "our beers start from pristine lakes, carried by the bucketful by big breasted milk maids."  The funny part of all this, at one time it was the crazy that seperated it all (and still is for the mainstream).  I guess we have to decide how far into crazy we are willing to allow our psyches to travel. 

I am not sure that this has taken us to our destination of discovering what the term "larger than life" means in all this mess.  We did decide that it isn't a term that you give to yourself.  (reality) For the most part most don't even use those words as an actual descriptor anyway.  My thoughts here are when you are at that neutral ph place in your mind, you don't really see the hype that others are throwing around you.  Certain beers just like people to the outside world are "larger than life" the hype that surrounds them is so much greater than what they really are; a beer is still a beer, a person is still only a person (even Mother Theresa was simply a nun). 

Time for a pint...

Video: Pork Tamale

We can see the development of a culture by examining their food and drink history.  Of course, one of the biggest lessons to learn is the similarities shared by different cultures; though the food may be different in appearance, there are similarities in the finished product.  A good example of this is the tamale. 

The polish have their pierogi, we find different forms of egg roll in Asian culture, and in Italy we find the different variations of ravioli.  The way I learned tamales is by wrapping the masa around the filling.  The concept is fairly simple in execution.  But the steps that go into the process can be a bit more intensive.  This is the main reason why the families that I have known to make tamales have made it into a family event.  The family gets together and makes a day of it, everyone has their part to play in the preperation.

In the process of making these, I actually spent a bit of time getting the elements together before hand to ease the actual production.  In the end, after filming, we made it a family event and everyone here spent time finishing the rest of the tamales. 

Recipe:

1 lb pork shoulder
  dry rubbed with salt, cumin, and cayenne pepper
  Slow cook at 275 for roughly 3 to 4 hours (till tender) add enough water to come up roughly halfway on the meat

Sauce
1 can diced tomato (or roughly 1 lb fresh tomatoes)
1 ancho chili (seeds and ribs removed)
3 chili de arbol (seeds removed)
1 clove garlic
1/2 Tablespoon Cumin
1/2 lime juiced 
heat sauce till boiling then turn down to low and let simmer for 20 minutes.  blend till smooth in a blender

masa harina
2 cups Masa
2 cups water or pork stock (use the stock from the pork shoulder)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
.75 cup pork fat (butter can work to make the difference)
1/4 cup sauce
blend masa, fat, salt, and baking powder  then add liquid and sauce mixing thoroughly
Let rest for 20 minutes

Use either banana leaves or corn husks to hold the tamales (the husks need to soak so they can soften)

When making the tamale:
spread the masa on the husk then place some pork in the center adding a bit more sauce.  Fold the husk, placing into a steamer.  Steam for roughly 20 minutes. 

Time for a pint...

Questions of Note: Kathy Phillips

I am a huge fan of the radio shows (and podcasts) that are popping up, devoted to great beer.  It is a sure sign that better beer is becoming recognized by those who do not live it every day.  Kathy Phillips hosts the Better Beer Show, on station KFQD out of Alaska. 

The Better Beer Show is live every Saturday from 3-5pm.  You can also check the podcasts from the KFQD website.

Stolen from their site



 And now on to the questions...

1.      What was the beer moment, when you knew you wanted to become involved with the craft beer renaissance?

I discovered craft beer about 10 years ago, but it wasn’t until December of 2009 that I conceived the notion of drinking on the radio as a means of highlighting the craft beer industry here in Alaska.  Since I was the Program Director of a talk radio station, it worked out. I’ve moved on from that station, and I started a new incarnation of that original show last November called “The Better Beer Show”.

2.      If you could have any beer in your hand right now, what would it be?

The cheap answer is, “The one in my hand,” but I think you want something a bit more specific.  I prefer pilsners, wits, and hefeweizen, but also enjoy stouts, porters and barleywines.  I try to drink local, but do occasionally branch out to other regions or countries. Among my favorites are Midnight Sun Brewing Company’s Panty Peeler and Treat, Alaskan Brewing’s White and Summer Ales, King Street Brewing’s Pilsner and Cherry Wheat and Kassik’s Whaler’s Wheat.

3.      Can you describe your beer life in a song lyric/title?  If so what would you choose?

“Take It to the Limit”

4.      Do you have a steady beer, or do you like to “play the field?”

I like to play the field..life’s too short to drink bad beer, or to keep from trying all the great options out there.

5.      Crowded smoky bar or back porch watching the clouds float across the sky?

I prefer a back porch, but here in Anchorage, the weather can conspire against one…thankfully our bars have smoking bans in place, so if we can’t enjoy our patio, we can still enjoy a quality craft beer.

And the lame one…

If tin whistles are made of tin, what do they make fog horns out of?

If I had more delicious beer in me I may have answered fog…but having lived on a boat in Juneau for a few years, I can tell you they are usually made of a non-corrosive metal, with some plastic resin parts.  Unless you’re talking about the ones people take to ball games, which is a metal tube filled with I think liquid nitrogen.

Time for a pint...

What's on your label

In an odd turn of events, it seems like Founder's brewing just can't catch a break lately in new markets.  It wasn't more than just a few months ago that they ran into trouble in Alabama for both Dirty Bastard and Backwoods Bastard.  In Alabama you couldn't have the word bastard on a beer label (although it was ok for wine considering Fat Bastard wine was already available).  Now it turns out that the label for Breakfast Stout violates New Hampshire LCC rules for children in relation to alcoholic products.  

This brings to mind something I read earlier this week.  You see, the picture on the label for the stout is a cartoonish child eating a bowl of cereal.  Although the kid is on a beer bottle he is depicted doing something childish.  To me this falls into the misguided belief that only children watch cartoons, no matter the subject matter of the cartoon.  

As an avid watcher of cartoons most of my life, I can safely say that there are quite a number that children have no business watching.  

This frame here actually being fairly tame, is a glimpse of the type of stuff out there.  As crazy as it is, we tend to put so much into our perceptions of what we think is right and wrong that we tend to neglect actually looking at what the subject matter really is.  

Granted there is a case to be made for protecting the people who can't defend themselves.  But doesn't this actually fall back down to responsibility?  When we take away peoples rights to choose what is right and wrong for themselves, don't we take away their rights to responsibility for their own actions?  

And this is how we now tie back in to alcohol.  Are we honestly so afraid of children thinking that the pictures on the label are calling to them that we need to take the right to choose away from the parents? 

 

I am reminded of Bad Frog Beer (from the early 90s).  Their label art featured a frog flipping off the drinker. Of course this ruffled the feathers of some moms while shopping in the super market.  My question at the time was (and still is) "If you the label offends you, why are you taking your child down that aisle?"  

In the end it boils down to this, if a minor wants to get into booze they will get into booze.  It has nothing to do with what's on the label.  I know from my experience growing up, the only reason why the silver bullet was the one we drank was because it was easier to pick out.  And how about that, their were no cartoons on the label or anything.  

Time for a pint... 

Tech: Mash tun design

There are as many variations on a mash tun as there are brewers (even when you look at commercial breweries they are quite a few different ways of mashing).  The mash tun is the real corner stone of the brew house.  We always here talk of how big a brew kettle a commercial brewery has, as if this was the be all end all of what a brewery can do.  But really it is the mash tun that is the work horse; this is where you design what the finished extract will be. 

We are going to start this journey by looking at the design I use and then move on to variations of not only manifolds but also a few false bottoms. At the start I use the picnic cooler style of mash tun with a manifold.

This faucet design is a great way for controlling wort flow into the brew kettle. 

 As you can see here I cut slits into the piping.  This is a simple way for allowing the wort to flow through the manifold.  Another option for this would be to drill holes instead of cutting slits. 

The design I use for my manifold allows for easy break down and cleaning. 

From here we will look at a few other options that can be used when designing a mash tun.  The first design here is probably the most simplistic.  A stainless steel mesh hose.  For the most part this one requires almost no work to set up.  Next we find a copper manifold design for an drink cooler.  The drink coolers are taller giving a bigger grain bed to act as a filter. 

These next two designs are variations on picnic cooler set ups.  Even though they are set up in copper they can just as easily be done with cpvc.  The distinction between cpvc and pvc is an important one.  Cpvc is designed to withstand higher temperatures than pvc, when dealing with mash temperatures this can be very important. 



 Here we find a few false bottoms designs.  These can also be fairly easy to build, but you can just as easily buy them premade. 

 Though most of the designs you can find for false bottoms revolve around drink coolers, they can just as easily be made for picnic coolers as well. 

 Here is the layout for an easily built faucet. 

Finally, here we find a variation on the faucet design.  The use of the valve is what gives you better control in lauter flow. 

Time for a pint...

Bluring the Lines

In fantasy stories from time to time we run across a world that lives inside our world.  I am thinking of Harry Potter right now (mainly because we were watching the second movie earlier).  In those stories there is the magically world residing inside our mundane world threatening to cross over and expose itself at any given moment.  Many love these stories for what they are stories.  And then there are others who deride the stories because they are not "original," claiming that J.K. Rowling stole her ideas.  The thing is, this "theft" is something that has been happening for ages, maybe even as long as there have been stories. 

This isn't going to be a defense or attack at literary theft.  This is an exploration into different worlds, worlds that actually do exist inside the mundane world we all live in.    As crazy as it sounds, we see it everyday (or maybe we don't).  One of the worlds that lives on the outskirts is the gaming world.  To the mundane, this world is dominated by fat, lazy, basement dwellers, usually between two different age groups; pimply faced tweens or 30 somethings still living in their parents basement.  To think that a girl might be in this grouping (let alone a hot chick) is akin to unicorn sightings.  Yes, bigfoot has been spotted more often. 

Following in similar patterns, we find the dwellers within the beer world.  On some occasions those who live here are viewed the same as the mysterious gamer.  Granted drinking is a more socially acceptable form of entertainment but this is another place where the lines are blurred.  Playing games is also socially acceptable, as long as it is something that is socially approved.  Think about this, and imagine how these relate to each other. 

Still don't see it do you?  It's kinda like a Venn Diagram where the answer sits in the middle but the items on the outskirts rarely ever come close together.  Monopoly is a socially accepted form of gaming.  Throwing back a few beers while watching football is socially accepted drinking (remember that the majority still drink BMC beers).  Both of these activities can be mutually exclusive and perfectly innocent in the mundane world. 

We go to the other extreme and the world turns a corner.  A convention is when the worlds show a bigger glimps of themselves for the mundanes to gawk at.  Wait the beer world doesn't have conventions?  Well, for beer we call them fests.  This is the highest level where mundanes really intermingle with the magicals (was that too soon?).  Mind you, the interaction of the mundanes in either of these worlds tends to fall into safe zones.  They tend to stick within the areas they feel most comfortable. 

Where was I going with all this? 

I guess the long and the short of it is, we all live in a secret world of our own devising.  More often than not we begin to think our secret world is known to everyone, but the reality is, the person next to you is living in a world slightly different than your own.  And in that world, there may even be a unicorn (or at least a hot chick gamer). 

Time for a pint...

Video: Pasta

As we were making lasagna last night it struck me that most do not realize how easy it is to make pasta at home.  Granted this is one of the few items that special tools really are a must.  I of course make the pasta by hand but I use a pasta roller for making the sheets.  You could get a kitchen aid with pasta attachment but really I think that is superfluous.  The roller I used was a bit pricey (roughly $50) but a fantastic investment considering I have used it to make pasta for a few of the kitchens I have worked in as well as for the pasta I make at home.

Recipe
1lb all purpose flour
4.5 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon milk

This really is incredibly inexpensive and easy to do.  Fresh pasta is a world of difference from store bought dry pasta.  When you get a bit fancy you can do add different flavors to the pasta for quite a number of different combos.

Time for a pint...

Questions of Note: Robert "Wob" Wanhatalo

I have a few quick notes before we get into the main event.  We shall start off by giving the official kick off of the segment I call "Questions of Note."  This isn't the planned for day for when this segment will normally appear, but the Session post threw me a little off this week.  So far the response to the segment has gone nicely.  I look forward to how this progresses from this point on. 

Now to get me out of the way and move on to the main course. 

Stolen from the Hideout

Stolen from the Hideout

The responses this week come from Robert "Wob" Wanhatalo.  He is the brew master at the Hideout Brewing Company.  You can find the Hideout in northeast Grand Rapids hidden away, seemingly to keep it just that, a hideout. 

So now we find ourselves at the point of the story where we should be looking for a few questions.  Here they come now...

1.      What was the beer moment, when you knew you wanted to become involved with the craft beer renaissance? 

When I received the call from Ken McPhail, former owner of The Hideout Brewing Company, asking if I would like to come on board as his Assistant Brewer....I was previously just a big time beer fan, so it was a wild phone call.

2.      If you could have any beer in your hand right now, what would it be? 

Any beer....hmmm...I made a Pale Lager end of last/beginning of this year, and it was amazing. I called it "The Passion of the Lager." It blew me away, so I think I would choose that one, since I have to wait til I get more Galaxy hops to make it again.

3.      Can you describe your beer life in a song lyric/title?  If so what would you choose?  Song. Good question, as I am a musician too. I am a sucker for old Country music, so I guess right now I would say "I Think I'll Just Stay Here And Drink"-Merle Haggard.

4.      Do you have a steady beer, or do you like to “play the field?” 

Honestly, I like to play the field...I am a big IPA fan, but when I see something new and different and exciting, I have to give it a go. So, I would say I primarily play the field.

5.      Crowded smoky bar or back porch watching the clouds float across the sky? 

I like both, well, not really the smoky aspect of a bar, since there is no smoking in bars in MI anymore, but I like to go out. I also really like to stay in, aka sit on the porch, or go camping, or whatever. To be honest, as long as it is craft beer, I don't care where I drink it.

And the lame one…

If tin whistles are made of tin, what do they make fog horns out of?

FOG! ;-b

Time for a pint...

Session 66

The Session #66: The One Beer to Rule Them All

The Session this month comes from, Craig Gravina, at Drink, Drank; the subject: The One Beer to Rule Them All.  The first question we have to ask, what exactly does that mean?  Of course the thought process here is for the One Ring.  This really is a Tolkien reference.  What exactly is your one beer that could rule over all others?  Is it something you need to make or is it one you can already buy?

When it comes to beer, I am a player (of course outside of beer I am a major dork).  There are a few styles I tend to prefer over others but for the most part I tend to like pretty much all beer.  When you look at the beers already on the market there are so many variations on styles that it can be impossible to narrow down just one. 

As I sit here thinking on this, I am hit with images of the Kurgen, sword raised about to lop of his opponent’s head, screaming “There can be only one!”  (figure out that reference).  Maybe the quest to find the “one” follows a similar pattern.  We attack challenger after challenger looking for the one, many times finding the next better beer that redefines what it is we seek in a beer. 

It is no different when you brew your own beer.  Each batch is an improvement over the last batch.  We learn from our mistakes and find new and better ways to brew the next beer.  If you are like me, you rarely brew the same beer.  You may follow a similar recipe but there are so many things that can change the outcome of a formula to make a beer slightly different every time. 

Another way to look at this is through the eyes of the beer companies.  It wasn’t too long ago that the “King of Beer” was believed to have the greatest formula for a beer.  But in the end it was more marketing trickery that is now losing out because we find that the consumers have taste buds again. 

Maybe it is through this that we can learn our greatest lesson.  In beer as in life, the more you tweak something, trying to make it into the “ideal,” the more you shift this or twitch that, the less distinction you will find in the finished product.  It is only when something is allowed to stand on its own merits that it truly shines. 

Our taste buds continue to evolve as we age.  I think I will continue to happily explore, looking for that next flavor that will excite my palate.  Complacency in flavor as in anything can lead to the end.  As Sauron found when he placed his whole future in that “one ring,” all it took was a couple of hobbits to end his reign. 

Let’s find a pint…