Author Archives: Bishop

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Having a little to aid in the brewing process.

I spent a sweaty day brewing up a kit beer that I have had in the fridge for a few months. It is an Amarillo Ale from William’s Brewing. It is not named after the Texas city up in the panhandle but derives its name from the Amarillo hops used in flavoring the beer.  It is an extract kit beer and easy to brew. Or at least should be. I have had a couple of batches go sour and I blame it on
some of the cat dander and other microorganisms they bring into the house. I went overboard on sanitation and exposure to environmental air currents. I also aerated the beer to help the yeast get off to a better start. The fast start may allow the yeast to out compete the potentially undesirable airborne yeasts and bacteria.

I have a request form my wife to do a Belgian Wit for her. She loves Blue Moon and claimed my last Belgian Wit was much better than the commercial varieties. I ordered up the materials from Northern Brewer…..another good choice for all things associated with brewing.

I will give you an update on the Amarillo Ale soon.

Humble Texas Beerfest – May 7, 2011

My good friend John  and I made a brief appearance at the Humble Beer Festival this past weekend. For you none Texans, the H in Humble is silent. We both were a bit dismayed with the brief part….. the entry fee was double what it should have been but as true lovers of beer we winced when the wallet opened and closed but we were treat to some outstanding samples. Now don’t be too judgemental of  John’s appearance. The photo was taken quite early in the event, probably no more than 5,  two ounce samples under his belt.  I just forgot to say, “1, 2, 3, smile.”

It really was a nationwide festival, Brooklyn to Seattle and a few “fereners” notably the Ruskies. Every sample was good! although a few were much better than others. We met some interesting folks, the guy with a hops hat wearing a kilt was interesting to say the least. He was part of the Foam Rangers brewing club. I asked a young lady with bright pink hair to pose with me and she complied. I shared the photo of me and my friend on Facebook and my mom commented – “I was sent to the office in 1945 for having hair that color.”

Many new and even 3 day old start-up breweries were plying their marvelous concoctions. My primary interest was to assess how some of my recent efforts stacked up against the professionals. And yes maybe just drink a few as potential brewing candidates. I think my brews compare well! Hooked up with a local brew club here in Kingwood, TX so my brewing knowledge will continue to grow.

As for my brewing efforts;

The batch of wheat ale made for Lindsay Waterman went sour due to….. just my guess, cat dander from my wife’s cats. We rebrewed, is that a word – I guess now it is, and I bottled it yesterday. The sample pulled prior to bottling to check the gravity was might tasty! tonight I boil a new one for my daughter Lisa. She asked for a special brew that her friends from the band ‘Downfall 2012″ to take on their summer tour. I will try to replicate the recipe I shared in an earlier post. The only change I will make is to dry hop an ounce of the Amarillo hops. So, why mess with a good thing…. just to see if we can make it better. I will not send the full 5 gallons out with the band….i willjust keep some brew to replace the sweat I lose in the brewing process.

Bishop’s Imperial Stout

This photo was taken on February 14th, bottling day – yes I know I am a hopeless romantic! I did sample the brew….. I had to pull a sample to check the specific gravity and I hate to throw anything away….. a lot like my Dad. Well, it was tasty but too, too sweet. I let it sit and sampled again in mid March. Not mature enough…. a lot like the Cheezit commercial checking on the maturity of the cheese used.Remember this was brewed on December 20th, 2010!  My Imperial Stout was not quite ready so back into the dark it went.

I had to brew a replacement Wheat beer for my little brewing buddy – Lindsay Waterman – because the “Waterman Wheat Ale”  picked up an infection…… soured the beer – I can’t wait to have a cat free brewing zone!!!!!! Back to the stout – I put a bottle in the fridge the day before and sampled it on Monday the 18th of April, Ahhhhh! It is definitely maturing nicely. I gave my son, Ben and daughter Ashleigh a taste of the second bottle last night and even though they are not stout fans they gave it good marks. I loved the smooth feel in the mouth and the flavor has really mellowed – not too sweet and much less bitter than the Irish Stouts like Guinness.

I think I will give it some more time and as it is about 10%-11%  alcohol. It is a special occasion beer/stout and the 2 cases should last many months. Let’s also hope that I am successful at getting the new “Waterman’s Wheat Ale” into the bottle without an infection this month! Damn cats!

Bottoms up – responsibly!

An Update – Summer 2012 – lone remaing, surviving 22 oz bottle of this incredible beer was consumed. It only improved with age…kinda like me! No, more like my wife. I must make a plan to do this one again!

Bishop

Drinking and Thinking

Texas Dark Amber Ale

This turned out to be such a nice beer. Very nice light tan head, good lace on sides of glass. I was working on a presentation on my laptop and decided I needed to kick back for a little bit. I went to the fridge and poured a glass from my “Tap-a-Draft” mini keg. I sat back and savored the unique taste you can only find in a fresh home-brew. The recipe was just a guess but it was based on some prior knowledge. The guess turned out superbly! I have had nothing but great compliments and that feels good, but I knew that it was one of the best beers I have crafted in my short brewing “career”.

So, I was thinking, I can’t share the beer in the fridge with everyone ( I am a little selfish with the actual beverage), but I can share the recipe. I hope that you wind up with the same results as I have.

I ordered all of my ingredients from Williams Brewing (www.williamsbrewing.com/), but I have used Northern Brewer (www.northernbrewer.com/) in the past and our local store in Houston called Defalcos (www.defalcos.com/) for misc. supplies.

6 lbs. of American Amber Malt Extract

1 lbs. 40 deg. Crystal Malt – steeped in 1 gal at 165-170 deg F

2 oz. Fuggles Hops –  pellet – 1 oz. at 15 min. and 1 oz. at 30 min.

2  oz. Amarillo Hops – pellets – 1 oz. at 45 min. and 1 oz. at 55 min.

1/2 tsp gypsum before boiling

1/2 tsp Irish Moss at 30 minutes

Liquid American Ale yeast pitched at 75 deg F

Boiled with 2.5 gals plus 1 gal steeping water –  Ozarka Spring Water. Final batch size was 5 gals. While brewing drank an Abita Springs Bock, one of my American Ales and sampled  my Imperial Stout that was about 6 weeks along to check gravity – OG wa s1.108 and now was 1.040…… too young and not far enough along.  I will sample a bottle of the stout around April 15th. I will report out those results.

OG. – 1.075

At 8 days transferred into secondary. Gravity was 1.022 at 68 deg.  F – FG – 1.015 at 68 deg.

Kegged into my Tap-a-Draft 6 L bottles after another 13 days in secondary. Used 2/3 of a Williams kit corn sugar to prime.  Sat 12 days at room temp before placing the first keg in the fridge. I have tapped and now drinking the final 6 L bottle –  April 3, it was bottled on 2/20/2011. It is very mellow now and has improved but was always excellent. Good beer doesn’t seem to last very long.

If you try it I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

Not Quite My First Beer

I am very proud of the latest brew. I have been brwing at home since 1993 or so. Took some time off and back at it for a year now. I usually do kit beers but this current beer is a partial grain batch and it is outstanding. I was sitting down for a light lunch and included this beer. I am not too good at the editing bit so the photos show up twice. Click on an image to see it enlarged. The beer looks dark and sort of is, amber ale extract and 40 Deg Crystal malt steeped prior to boiling. Used Fuggles hops and Amarillo hops and it is just perfect on the hopping side.

If you ask I can send the recipe out for those interested.

I have an Imperial Stout sitting right now. Brewed on the 18th of December and sampled this week. Nice but a little sweet. I will try it again in April.

In the fermenter is a Weizenbeer at the request of my daughter’s friend, Lindsay Waterman. She wanted a lesson and we made the beer on Wednesday night of this week. I will give an update when I transfer it to my secondary next week.

My lunch was nice, good cheeses, a harboiled egg and a great beer.

More where this came from.