After an extended break largely due to many, many things in my life changing, I'm going to try to pick this blog back up. I've progressed substantially as a brewer, moving from extract batches up to a very DIY ten gallon all-grain system. I've read and listened to a ton of material which has contributed to me becoming a better brewer, but more importantly I have brewed with far greater frequency.

I'll get caught up by sharing some of the things I've learned and by detailing out my process in the hopes that it helps others to really dive in to the hobby in the same way I have.

Two Brothers Heavy Handed IPA

On my continual search for great IPA's, I've come back to one which got good marks the first few times I tried it. Two Brothers Heavy Handed IPA is apparently made with hops which have never been dried (courtesy of their marketing materials which I received from our corporate chef as the unofficial beer taster of the company I work for.)

It pours a dark copper with a solid off-white head. As you raise the glass for your first sip, the hop aroma is immediately apparent. It's piney and grassy (notably not citrusy) and is accompanied by some sweetness from the malt. The taste is definitely hoppy, complimented by a hint of spice and isn't quite balanced out by the malt bill. This isn't a bad thing in my taste for IPAs. It finishes with a sweet note from the malt and then leaves you with some lingering hop bitterness.

I think there is something to be said for using the fresh hops. Both the aroma and flavor are very pronounced without being overly bitter.

Link: Aging Beer

I read an article in the New York Times today which just plain made me jealous.

There's actually some good content in there on some of the basics of aging and a cool enough setup to make any beer geek jealous.

Glunz Beer Expo

I am a lucky dog. Seriously.

A couple weeks ago, I managed to snag a ticket to an event that one of the local Chicago beer distributors puts on every year.

The format is essentially this: They get most of the breweries whom they distribute for to send a few reps and many many cases of beer to a convention center Chicago and pour beer after beer after beer for the folks who come. (Mostly buyers and a few friends.)

I'm not exactly sure, but there were somewhere on the order of 5o breweries pouring multiple beers each. They ranged from macro american fare (Pabst / Schlitz / LaBatts) to Belgians to some of my favorite American craft makers (Dogfish, Breckenridge, and Great Lakes.)

Being the beer geek that I clearly am, walking around a convention center and just being able to try new beer after new beer was unreal. My biggest (and only) complaint was the fact that I had to drive myself home afterwards, so I had to start spitting after the first hour or so...

In any case, I got to try a few special reserve type beers which blew my mind. Particularly the dogfish stuff. They have a crazy raspberry strong ale called Fort that's somewhere around 19-20% by volume, and still manages to be very drinkable.

I also got to continue my search for the perfect IPA, which went mostly unfulfilled. (Rather surprisingly.) Most of the IPAs I tried weren't quite balanced enough to be great. The only new one I tried which actually made me happy was Arcadia's HopMouth double IPA. Their head brewer was actually the one pouring, which made for some solid conversation over the beer.

All in all - awesome experience.

My Roommate is a Freak of Nature

In a nearly completely unrelated note to homebrewing, my roommate Eric has proved himself capable of a feat that deserves recognition.

He's always been able to down a beer far faster than I can. Far faster than anyone I know can for that matter. So when, about a month ago, we were out at a watering hole in Chicago which will remain nameless and he was out-chugged by another similarly freakish individual, his ego was noticeably bruised.

Thereafter, I didn't have to do much besides pull out the stopwatch to prompt him to crack open a can of Miller Lite or whatever other foul beer he had on hand, pour it into a pint glass, and proceed to run time trials.

He finally got a chance to redeem himself on New Years Eve. Thankfully his rightful place as the fastest beer drinker (to my knowledge) was restored, although by an extremely thin margin of victory, at 3.1 seconds.

Freak.

Naturally Priming a Cornelius Keg

A few months ago, I decided to try fermenting a lager for the first time in my (still relatively) newly acquired kegerator. Having bought one big enough to accommodate a full half barrel, a standard 5 gallon fermenter and a corny keg fit inside of the fridge just fine.

After the two months or so of fermentation and conditioning it took to actually brew the Czech -style Pilsner, I decided to try naturally carbonating the resulting beer instead of using C02 to force carbonate it. (After months, what's another week for the yeast to do their thing again?) Although I was tempted to try using some preserved, un-fermented wort instead of priming sugar, I got lazy and just opted to use priming sugar. As per usual, I followed Charlie Papazian's advice and used 1/3 of a cup instead of the normal amount you'd use to prime 5 gallons for bottling

I'd say that there is a noticeable difference in the end result. There's a bit less head when pouring the beer, and that which does form takes more time to develop. (Similar to what you'd see on a higher-gravity, higher viscosity commercial brew or on a keg-conditioned beer served at your local brewhouse.) The mouthfeel is definitely more delicate and you get bubbles that are somewhat akin to those you see in a properly poured glass of champaign.

All in all, it's worth the extra week or so to naturally condition the keg. I think I may just have to go for the gyle method next time.

As an aside - if you've got the capability to brew lagers, do it. It may have just been beginner's luck, but this is hands-down the best brew I've produced so far.

Oh You Evil C02 Distributor

In a moment of zeal about a month after I'd completed my kegerator conversion and actually had more than one Cornelius keg of brew up, I ordered a 2 port CO2 distributor (K242) and foam-free tubing kit (KX05) from Northern Brewer.

About a week later, I got a chance to install them both into the kegerator so it was possible to run two kegs at the same time, albeit only one through the faucet. (It's easier to keep the good stuff hidden from the room-mates that way.) However, I noticed that after I'd made these changes, even with both valves on the CO2 distributor closed, there was still a faint hissing from the CO2 regulator. So I got in the habit of just shutting the main valve on the regulator off as a precaution.

Fast forward to this past Saturday...

I'd kegged up my Czech Pilsner over the week and added some priming sugar to carbonate it. Unfortunately, I was starting to get a bit antsy to drink the brew since all of the tastings along the way had been very promising. So in my impatience, I dialed up the pressure on the CO2 regulator and left it to force-carbonate overnight.

And by the time I woke up on Sunday, all of the CO2 in my 5lb. tank had escaped. (In hindsight, this seems even dumber than it seemed at the time.)

So, I'll be posting a review about how well the commercial leak-detector stuff works at some point this weekend...