Out of Pod Experience

I live in WA state up right near a Rogue Brewery (OR) sister company.

Oh dear lord.

I've fallen in love with Shakespear Stout


I can't seem to drink hoppy ales anymore .. I'm completely stuck on stouts/porters.

Coffee, Chocolate, Oatmeal .. I can't get enough!



----------------- Awards


Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout

2012 Australian International Beer Awards—Silver
2012 World Beer Championships - Silver
2010 World Beer Championships - Silver (Best of 2010)
2010 European Beer Star - Bronze
2010 GABF—Bronze
2010 Northwest Conference (Thirsty Beagle)—1st
2010 Australian International Beer Awards—Silver
2009 Great International Beer Festival—3rd
2008 World Beer Championships—Gold(Best of 2008)
2008 Tesco Drinks Awardl—Runner Up
2008 International Beer Challenge—Top 50
2008 Great International Beer Festival—3rd
2008 World Beer Awards—World's Best Stout
2008 European Beer Star Awards—Silver
2008 NWBN Reader's Choice Awards—1st
2007 World Beer Championships—Gold
2007 Stockholm Beer Fest—Gold
2007 European Beer Star Awards—Bronze
2007 California Brewers Festival—3rd place
2007 NWBN Reader's Choice Awards—Runner Up Stout
2007 Australian International Beer Awards—Bronze
2007 Celebration of Suds—Best Stout
2006 NWBN Reader's Choice Awards—Best Stout
2006 World Beer Cup—Gold
2006 California Brewers Fest—1st
2006 World Beer Championships—Gold
2005 Great American Beer Festival—Gold
2005 NWBN Reader's Choice Awards—Best Stout
2005 Great International Beer Festival—Gold
2005 International Beer Competition—Silver
2005 Great International Beer Competition—3rd Place
2005 Australian International Beer Awards—Bronze
2004 World Beer Championships—Gold
2004 Great International Beer Competition—1st Place
2004 Brewing Industry International Awards—Champion
2004 U.S. Beer Tasting Championship—Pacific N.W. Champ
2003 Australian International Beer Awards—Gold
2003 World Beer Championships—Silver
2003 Real Ale Festival—Bronze
2002 World Beer Championships—Silver
2002 Australian International Beer Awards—Silver
2002 California Brewer’s Festival—2nd
2002 BIIA—Bronze
2001 North American Beer Awards—1st Place
2001 Australian International Beer Awards—Silver
2001 California Beer Festival—3rd
2000 Australian International Beer Awards—Gold
2000 Real Ale Festival—Gold
1999 U.S. Beer Tasting Championships—Grand Champ
1999 World Beer Championships—Gold
1999 Australian International Beer Awards—Silver
1999 California Beer Festival—2nd
1999 Colorado State Fair—3rd
1998 World Beer Championships—Gold
1997 International Beer Summit—Bronze
1997 World Beer Championships—Silver
1997 National Cask Ale Competition—1st Place
1996 World Beer Championships—Gold
1996 Wine Journal—Gold
1995 Colorado State Fair—Gold
1994 World Champion Stout (Wine Enthusiast)—Silver

I figure I haven't posted in a while... so thought i'd have another chat whilst on auto-pilot :)
Also eve client keeps crashing so it's making everything hard lol.

Why would someone want to use something other than hop? well... do you know hopps have one of the highest estrogen contents of any herb? no? look it up :P people give hop tea to women going through particularly hard times with their body. May also explain the large degree of manboob in heavy ale drinkers.

Otherwise, historical accuracy?

Mead has also been mentioned a few times, I've made a few different batches of this and it's also where i started with brewing. I can give a few great idea's for mead..... but i tend to keep them to myself. Also, i make a horrifyingly fun Chili mead... Interesting because it will make any other chili drinks seem weak, it's also fun to watch people dance after they down a shot.

Finally got round to my first brew in Iceland, something simple to get back into the way of things. Here's the details: Saturday 18th Brewday: Pan-Pacific Pale (name = WIP)

Hour long mash: Weyermann Pale Ale Malt, EBC 6.5 = 3.5kg
Wheat Malt, EBC 3-5 = 200g
CaraPils, EBC 3-5 = 500g
CaraRed, EBC 40-50 = 200g

Mash with 12l @ 69°C, dropped to 67 after 40mins, added 1.5L Boiling water to raise temp back up to 68 for final 20 mins of mash.

Batch Sparged up to 20L @ ~74°C

Preboil Volume: 20L; Preboil Gravity: 1.038

HOPS:
Amarillo, 9.5%: 10g @ 60min
Nelson Sauvin, 11.8%, 10g @ 30 min
Amarillo, 5g @ 10min
Nelson, 5g @ 10min
Amarillo, 2.5g @ 2min
Nelson, 2.5g @ 2 min

Postboil Volume: 17l, Original Gravity: 1.048

Pitched with Safale US-05 @ 20°C, 18/01/14 @ 23:15

Fermenting at stable 19°C. Excellent start, bubbling every 5 seconds within 12 hours of pitching.

Down to 1.012 within 5 days in Primary. Racked to Secondary, last sample was at 1.009. Letting it sit, will batch prime with around 150g DME and bottle at some point this week.

How does that sound? I was going for a fresh session Pale.

I've always loved my Stouts and when i was younger i would usually drink Guiness or Kilkenny. But i've been coming across some amazing stouts such as:

Charlevoix Vache Folle Imperial Milk Stout: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2807/35275/

My wife bought this for me because of the funny cow on the label. But holee-****! What an amazingly smooth, creamy and well rounded stout. It's has such a rich flavor with a much smoother taste than i expected and It's probably the best i've had. This is made in Quebec, Canada.

If i have to drink a "blond" beer, i'll have Stella Artois or this amazing beer i get flown in from Fremantle in Western Australia called Beez Kneez: http://danmurphys.com.au/product/DM_904642/matilda-bay-beez-neez-honey-wheat-beer

But reading all of the beers here, i'm going to have to head out and try some more of the brewing goodness that's been posted!

I'm kind of considering getting set up for home brewing. But you guys with your precision molarities and molalities got me intimidated.

Would it work if I just do it by intuition and feel? The way I do with baking bread, cooking sauces, barbecuing, etc.?

I make my own brew, stouts and porters mainly.

That would be awesome, I'd love to try some locally sourced US hops!

It's very easy really. People have been doing it for thousands of years.


This is the book you start with.


And for many, that's the only book you will need. What gets people intimidated initially is that a lot of numbers get thrown around. I see the OP has stats down well, for example. This is common in brewing. I tend to avoid all that, because I don't want to be thinking of all that when I drink my beer. It's said that a musician has trouble enjoying music and will always find faults with his own no matter how good it sounds.

So complexity is not necessary. I have yet to use a hydrometer - only for wine do I use it, because wine is not very telling about what level of fermentation it's at. Beer has foam in primary fermentation - lots of foam. You can get great brews just by following the instructions of the recipe to the letter.

There are two things that are critical. These two things, if you mess these up, will mess up the beer. Everything else, like being a little off on a measurement of ingredients, or having to use a "similar yeast" because the needed yeast, or hops even, was not available, will only mildly change the taste of the beer.


These two things that can wreck a whole batch of brew:

1. Sanitation
2. Temperature

I have yet to have to dump a batch because of sanitation issues. Temperature control has given me more headaches. Basically, if your temp during primary fermentation is not optimal, then that's how you end up with gushing, sour, sediment-filled beer. If you have a drafty house that swings in temp a lot, you will need to find a way to keep the temp constant where you brew.

Conquer that, and follow the instructions, and you will have success. All this other stuff with all these numbers and specialized equipment is merely an endeavor for perfection. Follow the instructions and keep the temp good and everything properly sanitized and you will get good drinkable beer every time.

The stuff that foams and blows out of the primary ("blowoff") can be used to make some very good meat soaks and beer batters. You get roughly 1 gallon of that stuff - the first half will smell better than the second. Use the first half for cooking, and the second half for hair.

Also if you take the traub from the primary and give it to your wife or girlfriend so she can use it on her hair, she'll look better too, and that plus the beer goggles is just double the win.

Here's a great list of recipes. The bourbon porter is one of my favorites, but I use real oak chips and Maker's Mark - I also make a variation, a "piratey" version, that I use oak chips and Rum for, and I add a lb of molasses to the wort too. Rum and chips go into the secondary during aging, 2 weeks.

They have the Burning Tsar recipe in there, from Papasian's book. I'm currently working on 5 gallons of Robust Porter, and the simple Dunkeleweizen is good too. I'm going to try Cream Stout next.

Yeah, I don't even look at "commercial" beer any more.


Another thing that confuses people is the malting process. You can choose to malt yourself or buy malt extracts. I use extracts because I don't have the space for the extra equipment. It costs more, but so would a bigger rent. There are two camps around this, and zealous too, but for beginners I say don't worry about it. Go with extracts to get started and if the brewing bug bites you, then the complexity of dealing with malting and mashes and all that is no big deal (you just need good temp control and a good timer).

Where? It's entirely possible you knew my sister - A veterinarian in Wasilla.