Passion of the beer

Before I get started... no, there are no religious overtones in this blog. Any similarities of turning water into beer are purely coincidental and not related to any historical or mythological events.

Earlier this year  I took up the hobby of brewing my own beer. This is something that I had been wanting to do for a long time. My wife had hinted at picking me up a Mr. Beer kit any number of times for a holiday or birthday gift, but I always said "Nah, I'm not ready yet." And I knew that if I was going to try brewing, I didn't want to do the simplified commercial brew in a box (Not that there is anything wrong with that). I wanted to go as authentic as I could. That is partially why I had waited so long, because I had built up in my mind the cost, storage space and time it would take for the whole process.

Needless to say I took the leap this year, starting with some online research (http://www.howtobrew.com), followed up with me walking into my first home brewing supply store (http://www.beernecessities.com). The proprietor, Bob, set me up with a kit for my introductory brewing supplies and first batch of ingredients for a Brown Ale. Nothing fancy, just a bag of Dry Malt Extract, a can of Liquid Malt Extract with infused hops and a packet of dry yeast. Brewed, fermented, bottled and three weeks later I had my first home brew. Not bad. A little dark, but tasty. The wanna be artist in me had to whip up a label and thus Trouble Brewing Smug B@st@rd Brown Ale was born. 

If thou brews it, thou must drink it.

SMUG B@ST@RD

I realized pretty quick that even though I was not using a brew in a box  method, I am still in the infancy stages of brewing. Or better know as extract brewing or partial extract brewing (depending on the recipe).  I have a long way to go and more equipment to buy before I make the big leap to all grain brewing. But the journey makes the adventure.

Now the bug had bitten and it was time for batch number 2. This time I want to try an Amber Ale, and after 4 weeks I came home one night and cracked one open. Mmmmm tasty. Little darker then I wanted, or more to the point cloudy (a.k.a. chill haze). Opened a second... don't remember opening the 3rd or 4th, and vaguely remember pouring out half of the 5th before I poured myself into bed. One foot on the floor to stop the room from spinning, mind you. Woke up with a hangover I haven't felt since my early twenties. Four and a half beers??? Thus the brew was named Feaky Snucker, because if you don't pay attention it will sneak up behind you and kick you in the ass.

FEAKY SNUCKER

Batch three was a slight variation of Feaky Snucker, but a little less potent. Still getting chill haze even though I added some Irish Moss to the boil as a clearing agent. Still tasty, but a little heavy for summer consumption. I am hoping the long it conditions in the bottle the better it will be in the weeks to come.

So I moved onto brew number 4, an American Wheat. I purchased an Erlenmeyer Flask to get my yeast started in before pitching it to the wort (unfermented beer). Because of the change in my process the yeast was nice and active before I added it to the fermenting bucket. Normally I would check on the fermentation process the morning after brewing, to make sure everything is okay. During this batch however I didnt get around to checking on it till the second morning after. I was greeted with a surprise. The lid on the bucket was bowed up and the airlock was crusted over (I guess I really did get the yeast nice and activated!). I carefully removed the air-lock from the bunghole (bunghole (n.) The hole in a cask, keg, or barrel through which liquid is poured in or drained out), and CO2 came rushing out. I later learned I was luck that the lid didn't explode or that when I removed the air-lock that beer and yeast didn't spew everywhere. After the experience I felt it was only natural to name the brew Crusty Bunghole. This has been the favorite so far by my guinea pigs taste testers at work. Still hazy, but clears up nice when it reaches room temperature again.

CRUSTY BUNGHOLE

I really needed to kick this chill haze issue. After brewing I had been cooling the wort in an ice-bath, but I wasn't getting the temperature down fast enough to cause a "cold break" (Sounds like an 80's spy movie). The answer was I needed to get an immersion chiller to drop the temperature down to about 70 degrees in about 10 to 15 minutes. The ice bath was taking 45 minutes to an hour to drop the temperature. I could have just ordered one, but where's the fun in that? So I picked up some copper pipping, fittings and a soldering torch. Process should have only taken an hour, two at most. Needless to say, a day and a half later my wort chiller was water tight and ready for prime time. (At least now I know how to solder copper pipping, right?)

Wort Chiller or Mystery Science Theater 3000 reject

I decided to go with a simple Pale Ale recipe for the inauguration of my wort chiller. Everything went pretty smooth and they should be ready for consumption in another week or two. (Cheeky name yet to be determined... hmmm... Cheeky Pale Ale?)

Wort Chiller in action!

As all this has been going on I have found answers to most of my questions from reading web sites, forums and picking the brains of the guys at the brew supply store. I share with my coworkers the exploits of by brewing and they find it interesting.  My loving wife, whom doesn't like beer (yes, I still love her), listens and appreciates my interest (hence, why I love her), but its not really her thing.

So who can I share my passion with?

The answer came in the form of an email from a guy I know at work with a link to the Chicken City Ale Raisers home brewing club (http://www.ccarhomebrewclub.com).

Last night I attended my first meeting. It was frikkin awesome! Beer, food made with beer, beer, talking about brewing, and more beer. The group has several guys at my experience level, but most of the members have been brewing for decades. Its a veritable cornucopia of brew experience and passion for beer.  I am happy to say that I am looking forward to the next CCAR event and many more to follow.

Having a passion for a hobby is great, but being able to congregate with others who equally share you passion is priceless.

(Any similarities to credit card commercials... intended.)

It feels just like yesterday...

I would guess that over the years I have probably interacted with around 3000 people through school, work and social life. I have probably interacted with twice that many if you count people I have talked to whether its a clerk, waiter or sales person. These are just facts that we interact with people every day, most times only once and never see them again.

Supposedly with social media I have around 300 or so active "friends". Which I can say that a third of them I have never met outside of my computer. And most of the others I haven't seen in years, but its fun to see them on-line. I would really classify most of them more as acquaintances then friends, not saying that as a bad thing, just that I really don't connect with most of them other then passing comments. And I am sure they would say the same of me.

The term friend can be looked at is so many varying degrees. From someone you just met while having a beer; to people you have know since you were a child. There are probably just as many degrees of friendship as there are the amount of people you call friend. Most are really just acquaintances and not really true friends. It has become so common to call anyone that you know, and don't dislike, as a friend.

That being said... I have a test, or rather a qualification, that I have used over the years to gauge in my mind whom I would really call a true friend. It isn't something that can be used for people you see every day. It only works when a long amount of time has gone by since the last time you have seen or communicated with a person. (i.e. phone, email or god forbid a written letter.) No mater the amount of time that has passed since last  time you interacted with the person; it doesn't feel like a day has gone by. It feels like it was just  yesterday that you saw them and you pick right up with your relationship as if you have been talking to each other every day for years.

Just last week I had the pleasure of reuniting with a friend that I went to grade school and graduated from high school with. We hadn't seen each other in 20 years. People go off to school, move to other parts of the country/world, get married and start new lives; these things happen. But when it been 20 years since you have seen someone and you get together to hang out and then proceed to talk for 6 straight hours laughing and having a great time, just like you always did. Those are the  people in my life that I truly call friend and mean it from the core of my soul.

I feel lucky to say that I have had many people in my life that I can call true friends, because when I see them it feels just like yesterday that I saw them.