Monthly Archives: November 2013

To Your Health

I subscribe to a weekly online post called the “Weekly Pint”. Always informative and usually entertaining. Last January an article caught my eye – drinking a hoppy beer like my preferred style, IPA, may reduce the chances of catching a cold. I love it when I can tout the health benefits of drinking beer….. The winter cold season is approaching so…..What do we need to do? Read on and find out.

I dove in to the article, as I read further I realized that I needed to temper my enthusiasm! The promising research showed that ingesting large amounts of humulone, a key ingredient in hops, the best part of my preferred beer style – see above in case you forgot that I love IPA’s of all kinds, yes some more than others – nonetheless they are all good, can actually be good for your health (a lengthy run on sentence). So how many IPA’s would I need to pound down to fend off Respiratory Syncyital virus? Just 30 beers at one sitting would provide enough protection to ward off the virus. Dang it….that would definitely max out my daily intake limits by – hmmmm somewhere in the neighborhood  of 10 times. Let’s hope that the researchers mentioned in the article will find more benefits of hops – in a more practical dosage!

http://link.weeklypint.com/view/5032e2fddc87ac0b4f0b2ce5tn1c.2e1/a70bbd88

“Humulone

512px-(S)-Humulone_svg

Humulone and its “cousins” adhumulone, cohumulone, prehumulone, and posthumulone are α-acids found in the resin of hops (Humulus lupulus). They are precursors to iso-α-acids, the predominant contributors to bitterness in beer. H. Bungener isolated humulone from commercial hops in 1886, but it wasn’t until 1970 that D. DeKeukeleire and M. Verzele determined its absolute configuration.” Facts from Wikipedia – a most trusted source!

Now you know……. probably mare than you wanted to know! As a bar trick you could use the information above to draw the molecule on a bar napkin and impress all of your friends!

Drink Local and Drink Responsibly

Bishop

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Dry Hopping Dilemma

I should not read any more! If you have been following along I am brewing an “inspiration” IPA based on my mistaken read of the chalkboard at the Lengthwise Brewery Pub out in the Marketplace, Bakersfield, California. The ale is designed to be a “Golden Wheat Red IPA” based o the combined three individual local beers on tap. I failed to report that the bartender had poured a mixed blend for some customers who gave the blend high marks. I just decided to try and brew that blend. Post with recipe located here;

http://wp.me/p1qlvz-ec

So here is my dilemma. I transferred the beer into the secondary carboy with 1 ounce of Amarillo hop pellets sitting on the bottom. Once the beer was transferred, I gave the carboy a nice swirl to get the pellets to settle. I then carried it out to my temperature controlled chest freezer. I now need to decide on a temperature scheme/schedule during the dry hopping phase. From my exploration of the web I find too many choices, schemes, schedules and opinions!

  • Two days at room temperature and then crash to 35 degrees for up to two weeks.
  • Five to seven days at low room temperatures then rack off and package.
  • Five to seven days at room temperature and then crash to 35 degrees for 2 days prior to packaging.
  • And too many variations to list!!!

My choice – the logic I like is; hold the beer at a temperature that will allow the aromatic oils in the Amarillo hops to best express their amazing aroma.  So, five days at 65-67 degrees then crash to 35 degrees for a couple of days to aid in clarifying the beer before I bottle. I am convinced that the beer will be very good!

While racking the beer into the secondary I noted that the fermentation was vigorous – the Krausen was thick and reached the lid of the primary. I guess that I was lucky that it didn’t lift the lid or fill the airlock. Note to self: consider a blow-off tube next time for the early yeast activity!

Transfer from primary fermenter to the secondary and hop pellets floating on top.

Transfer from primary fermenter to the secondary and hop pellets floating on top.

Hop pellets floating on top of the beer - kinda look like the rabbit pellets we fed them!

Hop pellets floating on top of the beer – kinda look like the rabbit pellets we fed them!

 

Evidence of the Krausen on the sides... gotta be a good beer.

Evidence of the Krausen on the sides… gotta be a good beer.

I bet some of you are thinking, is he going to drink that? Yes I am!

Drink Responsibly and Drink Local

Bishop

 

Golden Wheat Red IPA Update

I just had to share a quick update on the Inspiration Beer at the end of it’s first week in the primary fermenter. The original gravity, the OG, was 1.066. A week later it had dropped to 1.016! I am pleased with the progress. Tomorrow I will rack it over to the secondary and add 1 ounce of the Amarillo hops.

The first taste, that’s right, I couldn’t dump the graduated cylinder full of the beginning’s of a nice beer and let it go to waste, was very nice and not as hoppy as I had expected. I shared a taste with my son’s girlfriend and she found it drinkable. Patience Bishop, patience!

I am wondering if an ounce will be enough??????? Maybe I shouldn’t get too frisky and just stay with the original recipe! Thanks again to the great folks at Lengthwise Brewing in Bakersfield CA!

Drink Local, Drink Responsibly

Bishop

 

Inspiration Comes to Fruition

I hinted a couple of weeks ago about being inspired to brew something a bit unique. Well I made it happen today….the recipe was developed about a week ago from some inspiration found in a conversation with the bar keep at Lengthwise Brewing Pub in the Marketplace – Bakersfield California. I was attempting to order a beer and the big chalkboard had these tree words stacked above each other in the lower left corner of the board.

Golden

Wheat

Red

So, I ordered one…..it sounded like an interesting beer. The barkeeper smiled while telling me that those three were part of the tap line-up for the brewery. I had been fully aware of their Centennial and Double Centennial IPA’s, The Kern River Crude Porter, the Blonde as well as a host of guest beers on tap. It just didn’t dawn on me that these were three distinct beers. The ensuing conversation made me feel a little better. Apparently I am not the only ” cerevisaphile  – A devout lover of beers.”, that has made the same, I won’t call it a mistake, but rather the natural combining of those yummy sounding beer components. So I was struck by inspiration and went on my mission to build this beer.

The recipe; Partial mash – the easy way.

3 lbs light malt extract – the Golden portion

3 lbs of Wheat Malt extract – The Wheat portion

1 lb. Caramel Malt – crushed

½ lb. Crystal Malt 55 L crushed

2 oz. Black roasted barley – crushed – the crushed grains should add body and the Red portion of the inspiration.

2 oz. Centennial pellet hops – 1 oz. @ 30 minutes, 1 oz. @ 15 minutes

2 oz. Amarillo pellet hops – 1 oz. @ 55 minutes. 1 oz. in secondary a few weeks from now

½ tsp yeast nutrient @ 10 minutes, ½ tsp gypsum at beginning, ½ tsp Irish Moss @ 30 minutes

Grain placed in brew pot and removed when temperature reached 170 deg F.

OG is 1.066 – Fermenting at 64-68 deg F Aerated for 3 minutes prior to pitching Wyeast 1056 Ale yeast.

At two weeks I will check and transfer to the secondary then dry hop with the remaining Amarillo hops.

This should be a hoppy beer, not real bitter, but should have a good floral and citrus aroma.

Now the big challenge is to be patient!

Brewing notebook, malt extract, grains and hops. Ready to brew.

Brewing notebook, malt extract, grains and hops. Ready to brew.

Drink Local and Drink Responsibly

Bishop