Sample Sacramento - Cool Beerwerks

Sample Sacramento heads to the hills.  Check out my visit to Cool Beerwerks and check back in the coming weeks for more Gold Country breweries.  

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Cheers!

Sample Sacramento - Jackrabbit

I have teamed up with Beers In Sac again for a series of articles called Sample Sacramento.  I will be visiting all of the Sacramento area breweries and sharing my experience and tasting notes. This week I wrapped up the West Sacramento Port District with Jackrabbit Brewing.

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Sample Sacramento - Yolo

I have teamed up with Beers In Sac again for a series of articles called Sample Sacramento.  I will be visiting all of the Sacramento area breweries and sharing my experience and tasting notes. This week I visited Yolo Brewing Company.  Only one more West Sacramento brewery to visit; Jackrabbit is next.

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Beer Week Geekery

Perfect weather for Capitol Beer Fest 

Sacramento beer culture is booming, we are quickly becoming a beer city and I am excited to watch us grow.  In the 6 short years since the inception of Sacramento Beer Week, we have grown from 8 to 38 area breweries within a 50 mile radius of our city.  Beer Week is a celebration of all things beer in Sacramento and it wouldn't have happened without all of the fine folk in and behind the scenes.  They are deserving of our thanks and a toast.  Here's to Sacramento, cheers!

Sacramento Beer Week is now a far enough behind me that I can see it without the haze of a beer glass.  There were a myriad of events that I wanted to go to, but I can't be at more than one place at a time.  Also, I was battling a cold and had to limit myself.  However, I soldiered through and had the best Beer Week that I could.  Below you'll find some highlights from my Beer Week excursions.

The festivities were kicked off at the CA Auto Museum with the Brewer's Showcase
Mraz Brewing Company Morning Star was my favorite of the night

New Glory's Wild, Wild West 100% Brett IPA has a subtle tartness that is balanced
by a cracker sweetness and tropical fruit.  This is one of the best beers I had all week

San Diego invaded Midtown with the Sacramento Beer Enthusiasts, a Facebook
group that organized a beer crawl that consisted of San Diego brewery tap take overs
Pictured are samples from Green Flash and Alpine 

Hanging with the brew club during the 21st Amendment Capitol City Brewer's Battle
The homebrew competition was held and Capitol Beer and Taproom

Another of my favorite local beers Bike Dog Brewing's Milk Stout
It is now available in bottles as is their San Dog IPA

The coveted Delirium Tremens glass, I got the fourth to last glass from Streets
They went through 10 cases of glasses in a hurry

I had an amazing evening at the Blackbird Beer Pairing dinner.
 Oysters, crab cake and lamb sausage paired with beers from Mraz Brewing,
  Bike Dog Brewing and Device Brewing.  

Barrel tasting at Track 7, Sour Blonde on the left and BBA Belgian Stout on the left

Capitol Beer Fest brought Sacramento's beer lovers together for the last official
event of Beer Week.  I had a great time and sampled oh so many great beers

Sample Sacramento - Device

I have teamed up with Beers In Sac again for a series of articles called Sample Sacramento.  I will be visiting all of the Sacramento area breweries and sharing my experience and tasting notes. This week I visited Device Brewing Company, check back often for more.

Art by Beerded Designs

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Art of Beer Invitational 2015

The wife and I had an incredible evening Friday, January 30th at The Art of Beer Invitational.  The event gathered 40 plus breweries, artists and food vendors in support of Ales for Autism.  Ales for Autism is a beer-centric organization with the goal of raising money for and promoting autism awareness.  Art made by local area artists and brewers was auctioned off with the proceeds going to Ales for Autism.  They hold many beer-centric happenings, with the Black & White Beer Ball coming to San Francisco Beer Week, February 13th; clink the link for tickets.

These oysters were shucking fantastic

Music played as the event kicked off with a VIP hour. Special beers were brought out by the brewers to be paired with food selections from Mikuni, ThePasta Queen, Blackbird Kitchen + Beer Gallery, Passione Pizza, and Sierra Nevada Brewing Company.  I did not have a bad beer the entire night and the food was all fantastic. There were a few options that really stood out, in both the food and the beer.  The food choice that really excited me were the oysters from Blackbird Kitchen.  The list of delightful beers that I tasted that evening are far too numerous to account for in this post.  I couldn't taste them all and I'm sure that I missed a few great beers.  Out of the many beers that I did taste, I managed to narrow it down to my top 14.  In no particular order:

I love their Milk Stout,
 with or without espresso

• Monk's Cellar Brewery - West Coast Tripel - Dry Hopped Belgian DIPA
• Monk's Cellar Brewery - St. Arnold Ale - Belgian Style Quadruple
• Sierra Nevada Brewing Company - Barrel Aged Bigfoot - Barleywine
• Firestone Walker Brewing Company - Velvet Mocha Merlin - Coffee Infused Oatmeal Stout
• Drakes Brewing Compnay - Batch 5000 - Belgian Strong Pale
• New Glory Craft Brewery - Wild, Wild West IPA - 100% Brett IPA
• Speakeasy Ales & Lagers - The Cover Up - Belgian White IPA
• Speakeasy Ales & Lagers - Cement Shoes - Dry Hopped American Strong Ale
• Bike Dog Brewing Company Espresso Milk Stout
• High Water Brewing - Sugaree - Maple Bourbon Pecan Pie Ale
• Almanac Beer Company - IPA
• Almanac Beer Company - Imperial Chocolate Stout
• Saint Archer Brewing Company - DIPA
• Calicraft Brewing Company - Buzzerkly - Sparkling Ale 

I eagerly await the day that they open a taproom

BA Bigfoot, awesome got awesomer 

I trust Firestone with my taste buds

This was the first of many servings of New
Glory's Wild, Wild West IPA.  It was hands
down my favorite beer of the night

I loved the Wild, Wild West IPA so much
that I never tried the Fear Itself.  The other
two beers are standards at the brewery

This is my second year attending The Art of Beer and I certainly look forward to next year.  The beers were as great last year as they were this year; the same goes for the food.  The venue changed since last year, but the new venue is better suited for an event of this size. The Art of Beer Invitational is just far enough ahead of Sacramento Beer Week to get me excited and to have enough time for a little bit of liver repair.  Check back with me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram often during SacBeerWeek for a peek into my beerventures.

Cheers!

Collabrewation

It was a damp, foggy winter morning in Oak Park when a portion of the UnderGround BrewSquad (my homebrew club) met for a demonstration brew day at Brew Ferment Distill.  On any ordinary group brew day, one can expect to find a melange of brewers brewing a variety of recipes on differing brew systems; this was no ordinary brew day.  This day we would collaborate.


I have only ever brewed alone, so it was a little strange, but also refreshing to share the duties.  I paired with my brewther Calvin.  Last year both of us placed in a homebrew competition called Go For The Glory.  With that in mind, we decided to use our award winning recipes as a base for our collabrewation Pale Ale.  We have dubbed it "Went For The Glory".  The other pairing was Calvin's usual co-brewer Peter, AKA Hobbs, and Mike, AKA Professor Vorlauf.  They brewed a Dusseldorf Altbier that they have named "Oh Meine Leber", which translates to, "Oh My Liver"

Calvin, The Prof., Hobbs and Me.  I'm stirring water that I allowed to get hotter
than I wanted.  I seem to do that nearly every time I brew.  Maybe I should install
a thermometer in my kettle, or I can just plan on extra stirring; either way.

Cal & I doughing in.  Doughing in is the process of  adding hot water to the
grain in stages.  Some grain, some hot water, then some more grain and then
some more hot water, etc... until all of the grain and the calculated water
volume has been added to the mash tun (that would be the cooler)

Kelfie (kettle selfie).  This was taken after
the collection of the first runnings which went
much faster than the second, but not as fast
as Cool Runnings

Hobbs is very excited about this hop addition.
That mesh is there to keep ash from the pallet
fire, err I mean fire pit out of the kettle

The brew day lasted a bit longer than I had anticipated, but it went well.  We were a little low in the temperature of our mash due to my guesstimations, but that was simple to correct with a small amount of boiling water. We hit the targeted original gravity and have a lovely active fermentation going as I type.  In a few weeks Cal and I will bottle our batch of beer and then after a few weeks of bottle conditioning, we get to say that we "Went For The Glory".



Cheers!

Sample Sacramento - Track 7

I have teamed up with Beers In Sac again for a series of articles called Sample Sacramento.  I will be visiting all of the Sacramento area breweries and sharing my experience and tasting notes. This week I visited Track 7, check back often for more.

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Cheers! 

Week 12 at Beers in Sacramento

Week 12, the last of my journey to become a BJCP certified judge is up at Beers in Sacramento.  The tasting exam is done!

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Cheers! 

Week 11 at Beers in Sacramento

Week 11 of my journey to become a BJCP certified judge is up at Beers in Sacramento.  This week's focus was on the brewing process and how it influences a beer.  The journey is almost over.

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Cheers! 

Week 10 at Beers in Sacramento

Week 10 of my journey to become a BJCP certified judge is up at Beers in Sacramento.  This week's focus was on the feed back that I good judge will give the the brewer on a score sheet.  These recipe adjustments are often a main reason that brewers enter competitions.

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Cheers! 

Hoppy Beerthday

Yesterday, 11/1/14, was the American Homebrewers Association's Learn to Homebrew Day.  It was also my 2nd beerthday (I brewed my first batch on Learn to Homebrew Day).  I met up with a few UnderGroundBrewSquad (my homebrew club) members and had a day of demonstration brewing at BFD.  We brewed 36 gallons as a club and had many local people stop by the shop to learn a bit and enjoy a brew or two.  I brewed the trial run of Holy MALTrimony, an Imperial IPA that I will ferment with Belgian Strong Ale yeast.  I plan to brew this beer multiple times to ensure that it is just right for the shindig celebrating the marriage of my good friends Janie and Nikki.

When I first started brewing, it was on a simple stove top set up.  At that point I was using extract, could only boil a little over 3 gallons, and had to top off (add water) to end up with 5 gallons of beer. My current set up is capable of producing 10 gallons (no need to top off) and I am using all-grain (no extract unless I want to).  The next step up in my set up will be kegging.  Check back in the future for a how-to post on turning a refrigerator into a kegerator.

My initial set up using a camp stove.
I still use the same assistant though.

My current set up at AHA Learn to Homebrew Day at BFD.

Photo credit: Calvin Crawford
Note the difference in light, I got started later than planned.

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Cheers!

Week 9 at Beers In Sacramento

The journey to my becoming a BJCP judge is in its 9th week at Beers In Sacramento.  This week I passed the entrance exam!

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Cheers!

Week 8 at Beers in Sacramento

Photo credit: The Wife

Week 8 of my journey to become a BJCP judge is up at Beers in Sacramento.  This week we discussed grain and its contributions to the beautiful beverage that we call beer.

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Cheers!

Tiny

William Edgar Fowler III was born on October 10, 1937 and passed almost three years ago.  He was a man of large stature both in size and of heart.  Friends of his called him Tiny and I called him Dad.  My love of music and food and drink most certainly come from being reared by this man.  In his honor, this October 10, 2014, I brewed a Wee Heavy (Strong Scotch Ale) that I have dubbed Tiny.  If you would care to try a Wee Heavy, I'd recommend AleSmith Wee Heavy.  I have seen it in bottles around the Sacramento area on occasion.  If you can't find that, another good option would be Belhaven Wee Heavy.  Here's to Tiny!

Cheers!

Tiny dressed as Santa, my sister and myself circa the late 80's

Week 7 at Beers in Sacramento

Week 7 of my journey is up.  This week's focus was on yeast's role in beer styles.  Travel yeastward with me over at Beers in Sacramento.

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Cheers!

Cafe Au Ale

Amanda Branahm of From House Parties to Housewife wrote up an article for Beers in Sacramento about the competition that I brewed Coffee Nap for.  She interviewed me and Deb of Rebel Confectionery & Jams.  Check out the article at the following: Cafe Au Ale


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Cheers!

Coffee Nap

My passion for beer doesn't end at visiting breweries and tasting great beers.  I have been interested in brewing beer since well before my being able to purchase it legally.  Even though my good friend Ryan and I dreamed of brewing beer back then, I didn't get started until Learn to Homebrew Day, 2012.  I have another good couple of friends, Janie & Nikki, to thank for the gift of Charlie Papazian’s book, “The Complete Joy of Homebrewing”.  Papazian's book tapped my appreciation and seeking of beer knowledge and lead me to John Palmer’s, "How to Brew".  The fact that Palmer has his whole book online for free, makes me want to hug the man.  He really makes brewing easy to understand and goes into the scientific details of the art of brewing.

Since beginning to brew in 2012, I have brewed many batches of beer and have started entering my homebrews into competitions.  One such competition that I will be entering is Café Au Ale, a coffee beer competition that is being held at a local coffee shop during Sacramento Specialty Coffee Week.  I brewed a Robust Porter to which I added a cold brew of Old Soul's Whiskey Dreams.  I have dubbed that beer Coffee Nap, follow the link for the recipe.  To help me with documenting the process, the wife took periodic pictures throughout the brew day.

Water in the kettle coming up to temperature.  The cooler is my mash tun (it's where the grain gets wet).  The paper bag is my grain and the little bags are my hops.

A layer of grain is being infused with 162° F water.

Another layer, this process is called "doughing-in".

More water, then more grain, etc...

After a few minutes the temperature is taken,
I was shooting for 154° F.  Not bad!

Three very important things are going on in this picture.  In no particular order of importance: calibration beer poured and tasted, enzymes are converting the grain to fermentable sugars (mashing) and notes are being taken.

After an hour of mashing I start the recirculation process know as the vorlauf.  A couple of quarts of the liquid, known as wort (pronounced wert), are pulled off and then carefully added back to the mash tun.  This helps to settle the grain bed and keep grain particles out of the kettle. The vorlauf is repeated several times until there are no particles in the wort.

Here begins the collection of the first runnings.
  Notice that the valve handle is only partially open.

The wort is poured over the back of a spoon
so as to not disturb the grain bed. 

The collection of the wort should go slowly
in order to avoid splashing which
would lead to oxidation of the wort
 and ultimately off flavors.

Every brewer needs an assistant, this is Brutus.
He was keeping an eye on the collection of the
 2nd runnings.  After the mash tun has been
drained the first time, another batch of hot water
 is added (167° F) and allowed to settle; this is
 known as batch sparging.  The vorlauf  is done
 again and the wort is collected in the same way
 as the first runnings.  Here I have the mash tun
 tilted in order to get all of the wort out.  I did not
 tilt until it was near empty.

Approximately one week later the yeast have
done their work of digesting the sugars and
producing alcohol.  Above you see a
hydrometer which measures the apparent
attenuation of the beer.  To put that simply,
as the yeast eat up the sugar the beer gets
thinner, the hydrometer drops farther.
At this point the fermentation is complete
and I added the strong, cold brewed coffee.
After a couple days the wife and I bottled
the beer.  

During the boil, hops were added.  The wort
was then cooled via my Immersion Chiller.
Notice that is is now dark outside, this brew
day took about 6 hours from set up to clean
up.  Here I am transferring the wort to my
fermentation vessel.  I move the hose around
and up and down in order to introduce a fair
amount of oxygen to the wort.  This gives
the yeast the oxygen that they need.  The yeast
will be added after the fermenter is filled.

The carbonation of my beer is done in the bottles by adding a little more fermentable sugar (known as priming sugar) to the beer just before bottling.  Then after a few weeks, the remaining yeast digest that sugar and produce the carbonation.  This picture was taken just ten days after bottling, note that there is very little head.  There is very little carbonation at this point, but I still have another couple weeks until Coffee Nap will be judged.

I am pretty happy with this beer and look forward to tasting it again in another couple weeks.  By that point it should be fully carbonated and the coffee flavor should have mellowed a bit.  I am also eager to have it judged, receive my score sheets and learn the outcome of the competition.  As of now it is an opaque black with burgundy edges.  The aroma is of a dark roasted coffee, bittersweet chocolate and dark dried fruits (i.e. raisins, prunes).  The flavor follows the aroma and in the same order but is paired with a subtle earthy hop presence that lingers in the finish along with rich coffee.  The mouthfeel is not quite ready to judge due to not being fully carbonated, but my initial tasting was pleasing.  It is creamy and has a medium-full body.  There is a soft warming in the chest from the, slightly higher than I was going for, ABV of 7.11%.  I am proud of my first attempt at a coffee beer and will most certainly brew it again.

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Cheers!