Category Archives: Uncategorized

Another Try at Hop Water

One more time and I think I hit a winner. I used 1 gallon of spring water, pH dropped to 3.67 with citric acid and added 12 grams of Mosaic hops. I dry hopped it overnight in the refrigerator. My last batch used less than 12 grams per gallon and it was pretty good. I decided to bump it up to a full 12 grams and it is a winner. Color a bit more yellowish green than past batches but the biggest change is the hop flavor and a better hint of the hops aroma……….yes it really stood out.

I will continue to experiment and push the boundaries a bit. I won’t go for big jumps in how much hops to use but I will creep up in a controlled manner until I find the sweet spot where the essence of the hops shines without being overwhelming. My Growler Werks 128 oz. mini-keg does a more than adequate job with carbonation.

The color is subtle and the flavor/aroma is a perfect essence without being overwhelming. It is a very satisfying drink. I tried a splash of lemon juice on a prior glass but not this one……almost perfect even without the lemon juice.

Drink Local and Drink Responsibly

Bishop

HopWater…Hmm, Can I make it Myself?

I have been aware of the growing trend of breweries adding hop water to taproom offerings as well as some well known breweries offering hop water, i.e., Lagunitas, Sierra Nevada, as well as my local go to brewery, DECA in Porter, TX. DECA doesn’t always have it on tap but I have sampled the Lagunitas as well as the Sierra Nevada offerings and……….I Like! So now the question is, can a home brewer make something drinkable? Below is my first attempt……..two reviews near the end of the blog post.

Doing a search for recipes I found mostly recommendations for 5 gallon batches. That could have been an option for me but, alas, my kegerator died suffering a compressor failure and an $ 800 repair estimate on a used refrigerator. I do have the desire to rebuild but with a brand new refrigerator costing less than the repair estimate……and potentially a long life. The kegerator comes into play as the hop water recipes all require carbonation. Alternative are the counter type Soda Stream devices or, lucky me, I have a 1 gallon Growler Werks growler that has a potential for me to carbonate my first attempt. Another plus of 1 gallon batches is that I don’t have to drink a 5 gallon batch or wait for my buddies to help.

I was one of the early adopters for the Growler Werks crowd funding and among the very first recipients of the 128 ounce growler. It has been lightly used but if my hop water adventure is fruitful is a better future for it.
One good thing about the Growler Werks is the pressure gauge. A little explanation is needed here. Most recipes call for force carbonating at 30 psi. My growler’s scale goes to 15 psi and anything beyond that is a guess.

A walk through my process and first attempt. Duh, I decided on a 1 gallon batch. Best guess from my reading online was 5 grams of hops, juice of one lemon and a dash of gypsum. I chose to heat the water to near boiling and as it cooled to 170 deg F, I steeped the hops for 20 minutes in a hop bag I use when dry hopping my brews. Once cool, I squeezed in the juice of one lemon, a Meyer Lemon……more on the later, a dash of gypsum and removed the hops bag taking care to not squeeze it. I placed the pot in the fridge for 24 hours then transferred the liquid through Malitta coffee filters. I had on hand a fairly large selection of hops acquired from a store going out of business stored in my freezer. I chose Amarillo for my hops….Hmmm more later.

From yakimavalleyhops.com the Amarillo is described as; ”Amarillo® offers solid bittering properties in the 9-11% Alpha Acid range and it packs one of the highest myrcene oil contents (60-70% of total oils) of any hop. This gives it a very sweet citrus flavor and aroma that is closer to oranges than grapefruit.“ See above…..I used the juice of a Meyer Lemon, which may not have been to best choice. The Meyer lemon fruit is very yellow and larger, rounder and juicier than a true lemon They are much sweeter and less acidic than the more common supermarket varieties. Most recipes called for getting the pH into the 3.5 range and the Meyer Lemon’s acid content may have come up short there. . The skin is fragrant and thin when ripe and makes an excellent jelly…..Yum.

So, with the sweetness and less acidic properties of the Meyer Lemons and the flavor profile of the Amarillo hops……the hops flavor may have been masked. After the growler was filled with the cold hop water, I added a CO2 cartridge, cranked the pressure up well past the 15 psi mark, shook the growler to help force carbonate and let it sit in the fridge for 24 hours. After 24 hours I pulled a sample and shared it with my good friend…..taste was very citrusy but no detectable hops, in either aroma or taste. That said, we both agreed that it was refreshing and is a good zero calorie beverage for a summer day……even if it is February in Houston…..at 75 deg F and humid. About 24 hours later I sampled it again and I could finally detect the hint of hops. The hop water is very slightly cloudy and by day 3 it had more evidence of sufficient carbonation.

Day 4, very pleasant and after nearly 4 pints of the available volume the CO2 pressure had begun to drop. The flavor is still improving and begs for another round of experimentation. What will I do differently? Use store bought lemons for sure! Monitor the pH, this will require a meter and steep longer to pull more of the hop’s attributes.. Maybe two experiments with steeping; 1. dry hop for 24 hours at cold temperature, or 2. begin steeping at 170 deg F and then allow to steep for 24 hours. Hop selection may change to something like Citra, Mosaic or Centennial. I have lots of hops so there may be multiple iterations and taking good notes, not one of my strong points, will be a must.

Very cold and refreshing and with some carbonation.
Hint of color and tasty.
Adding a little more of the story to an earlier photo. After 4 pints the pressure has dropped but the hop water still seems to retain the carbonation.

I think I am going to like my experimentation and what a great way to reduce my weekly calorie intake, read that as maybe………. fewer beers…….not really a bad thing as creep closer to my 73rd birthday in Early March.

Drink Local and Drink Responsibly

Bishop

Barrel Aging Beers and Priming the Bottles

I have made 4 or 5 Russian Imperial Stouts since I first began brewing in 1991. I have always used charred dark oak spirals that had been soaked in bourbon and added to the secondary fermenter for up to 3 months. Every batch has produced very drinkable and enjoyable stouts. The last batch was one that I ignored for several years, the last 22 ounce bombers were 6 years old when consumed at the beginning of 2023. the beer seemed to continue maturing to the “not bitter end”! The complexity of flavors never ceases to amaze me. The last bottle was shared with a handful of folks at DECA Beer Company, the head brewer Cody was loving the slight molasses aroma, obviously from the use of brown sugar to prime the beers.

Beer lesson……priming homebrewed beers that that are bottles. I batch prime my beers when I bottle rather than add sugar to each bottle….a lot less messy. If it is not and Imperial Stout, I use corn sugar to prime. How much sugar? Well that depends on the style and and amount of carbonation desired. There charts galore out on the web to help new brewers figure out how much sugar, and yes, you can use many different fermentable sugars. How do I batch prime. I will take two cups of water….microwave it until it is plenty hot, add in the measured amount of sugar and stir to dissolve. I then cover sugar water and let it cool before pouring it into the bottling bucket. As the beer siphons out of my fermenter into the bottling bucket it mixes uniformly and well….the residual yeast in the beer eats up the sugar, adding negligible alcohol but primarily creates the CO2 required for the beer.

Filling a bottle from the primed beer in the bottling bucket. I use a sanitized plastic piece of tubing so the beer goes straight down to the bottom so as not to splash and add oxygen.

Many beers once primed and bottled can be ready to drink 14-21 days later. My Imperial Stouts take a lot more time, not necessarily to ferment, but to properly age and mature. Months and months down the road and continues to mature actually for years.

I would love to pick up a 5 gallon bourbon barrel for my home use. They can be found…..pricey maybe, but I think I will bite the bullet and attempt to really, really, barrel age my next batch. I would like to think that the depth and complexity of the beers will be amazing to say the least. I found this great guide that will help me out in that endeavor as well as give y’all a look at how it is done….lots of good info in the article and resources too. Enjoy……

http://secretlevelbrewing.com/barrel-aging-homebrew-in-5-gallon-barrels.html#preparing

Drink Local and Drink Responsibly

Bishop

No, I Haven’t Stopped Brewing

I have a couple of new brews to share and a kegerator build to share.

No, it is not a Shiner Juicy IPA. It is my first one that I have ever brewed, my first to grace my new kegerator and…. it is pretty damned good.

Since the Wit Bier i wrote about last, I have brewed and bottled a Honey Blonde Ale using honey from one of my apiary locations. Next up was a deviation from anything I have brewed in the past, it was a New England style hazy and juicy IPA. I didn’t bottle it but it is the first beer into my new kegerator…..see photo above.

The Wit Bier was a success but, ……… the choice of Citrus zest was not as good as the prior batch, at least according to my wife. Others tasting the current batch give it high marks but don’t have the reference point of the prior batch.

What made the prior batch special? The zest for the Wit Bier makes a bigger impact than I would have expected. I used a store bought grapefruit as well as a store bought Blood Orange. The lemon was a homegrown Meyer Lemon, sweet and very aromatic. At my wife’s request no coriander is ever used in my Wit Biers due to her dislike of it from my very first batch. The current batch was brewed with all store bought citrus. The brew store Guru, Preston Brown, down at “The Grain Cellar” in Humble, TX, has suggested using all blood orange in the future. Interestingly, if it is not in the stores it can be brewed with blood orange purée. I may have to research this approach.

Let me turn my attention to the kegerator. I toyed with the idea of using a chest freezer but finally settled on in upright refrigerator with the freezer on top. I brainstormed a little with myself, small storm and no sparks, and decided that top freezer portion could be used as a chalkboard as well as a magnet surface. I used chalk paint and framed it as if it were a real chalkboard. The space will be used to note which beer is on each of the 4 taps.

Chalkboard painted surface surrounded by 1X4 cedar boards. Should be more than adequate space.

The interior of the bottom portion will easily hold 4 Cornelius kegs as well as one or two commercial style 5 or 7.5 gallon kegs along with the Cornelius kegs. One concern is tap handle clearance for opening the freezer where frosty mugs will be located. I measured concern and maybe twice…… I decided to run a horizontal center line on the third 1X4 below the freezer.

The lucky mistake…..I sat down, drew the lines and drill hole locations and drilled the fourth board down, not the third. Crap! If I had drilled the third board down I would have intersected a molded obstruction not allowing me to properly secure the taps!
That molded strip would have caused an epic fail! It was a very lucky accident.
Four Cornelius kegs easily fir with plenty of clearance. Now…. to brew and keg!

First up was the aforementioned New England Style IPA. Lots of hops, very little up front for bittering, a good dose at flame out, another good dose steeped after the boil and three rounds of dry hopping. I have learned the this dry hopping schedule give the beer it’s haze and the citrusy hops provide the “juicy” part of the flavor profile.

Scientifically speaking, “haze is a combination of polyphenol and protein molecules that associate via hydrogen bonding and become visible,” explains John Palmer, author of How to Brew. Suspended yeast, which is different than protein-polyphenol haze, also causes cloudiness. There are some banter back and forth on this style, but to me it comes down to you and your preferences. Me, I can drink almost any and every style…….except for Sours……not for me!

First pour off the kegerator, the Hazy Juicy IPA……..not the Shiner version…..I just happened to score the tap handle, actually a box of various ones, from my Denver based daughter. (Repeat of top photo)
A toast to Texas and a hazy IPA.

In the fermenter now is a West Coast style IPA. “West Coast IPA — West Coast IPAs are known for the huge hop aroma bursting with notes of citrus and tropical fruits. Their malt character is understated, and they finish dry to let the layered hop flavors and aromas take center stage.” By JOHN VERIVE, Los Angeles Times, February 22, 2014.

This brew will be heavily dry hopped and should mirror the description from the Times article. Chinook for bittering, then good doses of Citra, Simcoe and Amarillo hops for very late addition, steeping and dry hopping. Should be kegging it in about 12 days!

Drink Local and Drink Responisbly

Bishop

Santa Barbara Discovery

I had intended to go to the Santa Barbara Brewing Company on State Street as my wife shopped, hopefully for something on sale! My destination no longer exists. So, plan B.

Gotta love it! Blue sky, trees in bloom and a horrible 66 degrees…..sans humidity. I was dealing with bees in Houston the past week @ 92 degrees and humidity that sucked big time!

Even better, the beers are very nice.

I went big on my first beer with the Vacancy IPA. Poured with a perfect head and the aroma was very pleasant. Kathy went with the Mango Day Dreamin and she enjoyed it.

Next up for me was the Mosaic – Pale Ale. I love Mosaic hops! Very nice….crisp and clean. As I ordered the young lady forced, twisted my arm and shamed me into sampling the 2019 Spring Seasonal-100% Mosaic hops. Wow!!!! I am sure glad I have no will power.

The beautiful clean Mosaic Pale Ale.

Institution Ale Company is based in Camarillo, I need to talk to my son-in-law about hiding this brewery from me for nearly 6 years!

Every beer poured was perfect! Why do I say that? They use a tall pint glass, clearly marking the pint line with very sufficient space for head on the beer. Much of the aroma of the beer is from the head. As those bubbles burst your senses are treated to Hop and malt aromas, my opinion!!!! It also looks great, the aesthetics of the presentation!

We didn’t try the food here but the items passing by our table heading to the lunch crowd visitors looked and smelled amazing. This place is high on my recommended breweries list!!!!

Just an FYI, our go to list in the area includes; Rincon, Island Brewing, and Brew Lab in Carpinteria. We have visited all 3 this week. Santa Barbara choices include Figueroa Mountain, the newly added Institution Ale Company and the Brewhouse.

More to come as we wander north on Highway 101 next week.

Drink Local and Drink Responsibly

Bishop

Correcting My Recollection

Correcting my recollection for my last post, Confirmation – Bees and Beer are Linked. My new apiary location wasn’t due to a response to my request for a yard closer to home, it was via serendipity.  I was in the Home Depot parking lot to pick up timbers and concrete blocks to set up some new hives. On the rack on the back of my truck were two empty hive bodies. I friendly guy asked if  was a bee keeper and I answered in the affirmative. He wanted bees!!!!!! Yee Haw!

This, if anything, reinforces the karma between bees and beer. Out of nowhere, kindred spirits are connected in the midst of 4 million people in the grater Houston area…..I say, it must be be undeniable proof proof that Bees and Beer are linked!!!!

Drink Local and Drink Responsibly

Bishop

Brewing My Wife’s Wit Beer

It has been in the fermenter for almost a week now. One more week and it should be done. I brewed this all grain beer on one of the many crappy wether days that have been far too abundant over the last few months. Not horribly cold, but very wet. How wet? Nearly 20 inches over the past several months. Not any gully washer rains, but far too many wet days.

Let’s talk beer and brewing. My SMaSH IPA, made with Mosaic hops and Marris Otter malt, is conditioning in the bottle as I Wait! Sometimes waiting is difficult. I now wanted to brew a beer that would match something that my wife would like! Brewing is good for her in that I manage to mop some and sometimes all of the kitchen floor during the beer making machinations. I found a very interesting Vanilla Cream Ale recipe and sent it over to Preston at the Grain Cellar in Humble, Texas. FYI, for non Texans, the “H” is silent in Humble. By the time I had arrived, Preston had reviewed the recipe and noted that he’d had all the ingredients on hand that I needed.

As I visited with Preston, I notice on the chalkboard was listed a beer callled, Wife’s Wit. Well, I cancelled picking up the Cream Ale ingredients and went with the Wit. Preston tells me it is very popular and one of his most frequently brewed beers. I liked the grain bill and the additions, excepting the coriander!

The citrus added an amazing aroma. The lemon was off of my backyard Meyer Lemon tree. The grapefruit off of a tree in a yard where I keep a number of hives. The grapefruit came off of a tree visited by my bees kept on the property. The orange, sad to say, was a store bought blood orange.

Brewing day always calls for savoring some excellent beverages. First up……..

To the best of my knowledge I have never partaken in Strain G13, nor have I ever sampled this IPA.

Although not winterish in Houston, I did go with a winter beer as the grains steeped.

This is a familiar Ale, I last had one this past October while visiting Portland.

Lastly, before all the work of boiling, chilling and racking into the fermenter, I enjoyed a non beer beverage.

2.65 fingers of Woodford Reserve Bourbon. In the background is tire with a little sleigh attached. In December my daughter drug it 13.6 miles, a half marathon, just because!!!

After 14 days fermenting I will bottle this brew and then wait another 30 as it conditions….that will test my patience!

Drink Local and Drink Responsibly

Bishop

The Hunt for an Antique Mirror

This may not sound much like brewing, beer drinking or an alcohol related post but please bear with me.

Two weeks ago …………….finally getting around to posting.

My wife is on a a quest, a mission, a wide area search for the perfect mirror to help create the perfect decor for her dining room. Our most recent foray across this broad this metropolitan area, home to nearly 5 million people, took us across a broad swathe of territory. The first leg was Kingwood to Friendswood, TX. No, the woodS aren’t close to each other. Only 50 miles, one hour and five minutes, barring any freeway shenanigans.

We struck out on the first stop. Internet photos on the website were, shall we say, misleading at best. The mirror was in perfect shape and size for my wife’s preferences. The wood frame was far from perfect…… yes, we could have spent many hours to clean and repair the damaged wood frame but decided to go to plan B and location B, the Cypress/Jersey Village area.

We took the 50 mile route to avoid crawling through the center of Houston. The homeowner wasn’t able to meet at our proposed time so we opted for lunch. The first Siri search put us at a smoke scented pub with two cars outside. Both were indicators of a poor choice. Then by happenstance we spotted “The Backyard Grill” just east off 290 on Jones Rd.

What an amazingly lucky choice. Great beer menu and the food was also very good! I had Odell’s – Rupture – A Fresh Grind Ale. It utilizes fresh ground whole hops. Beer Advocate rated it at 4.12 out of 5 and it hit my flavor profile nicely. Not overly bitter but very pleasant, pleasant( yes…pleasant twice) feel in the mouth and the aroma was also doubly pleasant. My wife went safe with a Blue Moon…….yes I know, not a real craft beer…… 40 plus choices for drafts on tap as well as a similar number of bottles and cans.

My grilled chicken, a half chicken, was seasoned perfectly and injected with 8th Wonder Rocket Fuel beer. One of the best, excepting my own grilled chicken, I have ever tasted. Moist and the seasoning rub was excellent. My wife had the Cypress burger, with sliced avocado on a great jalapeño butter bun.

https://www.thebackyardgrill.com/

Ok now, back to the mirror hunt. This “antique” mirror might have been barely of legal drinking age. I didn’t check the ID but maybe, barely 21 years old. We struck out on the mirror quest but we did drop a pin on the map for future dining and drinking outings. Now a short 33 mile drive back home.

On a Brewing note, I racked my SMaSH IPA over into the secondary…..yes I sampled the cylinder pulled for the gravity check, 1.056 to 1.012 – very nice and probably finished. I will dry hop with 2 ounces of Mosaic pellets for 5 days, then crash cool to 35 F, before bottling. I started with 12# of Marris Otter malt, 1 ounce of Mosaic at start of boil, 1.5 ounces at 40 minutes and 20 minutes later, 1.5 ounces at flame out. I added 1/2 tsp of Irish Moss at 30 minutes.

One another note, my first wine making effort is also ready to bottle. I have 4.5 gallons of wild Mustang grape wine begging to be bottled. I won’t back sweeten this batch. It is finished but I wouldn’t call it dry. It will still need to sit for about a year before drinking. FYI, wild Mustang grapes grow wild all over our area – often mistaken for Muscadines but they are distinctly different if you look at leaves. Also, Mustangs ripen at the end of June and Muscadines at the end of summer.

Drink Local and Drink Responsibly

Bishop

My Bucket List is Growing Exponentially

Maybe I should just quit clicking on beer related goodies from blogs and other beer related ads and email subscriptions sending me hoppy stuff! This morning in my mai was an email from CraftBeer.com sent by jay@brewersassociation.com. Thanks Jay, you highjacked my morning reading. The lead in was “Announcing 2018’s Great American Beer Bars”. How could I resist? 51 offerings, 50 states and the den of liars of Washington DC. I got carried away, there is a tab in the menu for “Travel”….. more for my bucket List! Damn!

https://www.craftbeer.com/breweries/great-american-beer-bars-2018

This website is just overloaded with food, beer, travel, beer, brewery info, beer, FESTIVAL info(now my head is spinning and not from the Bells Hopslam!) and more beer stuff! Let’s do the math, 51 Great American Beer Bars, I am weeks away from 67 – If I knock off 10 per year that puts me at age 72, BUT – something tells me the list will be updated every year! Hmmmmm, throw in a few beer festivals, local breweries and damn, I do love to eat…..I think I am short on the requisite years required! So, what should an old, no – let’s say a mature, beer drinker do?

My wife actually makes lists and scratches off the completed item. I have resisted the activity, yes, when I do I am more productive and accomplish more……well, not really more! I kind of like the spontaneous way I roll……..it does create a need for me to stock up on “round-to-its” – they are in short supply according to my wife…..LOL! OK, I’ll make a list.

Or……..

Maybe I can visit vicariously……if you are reading this blog and have hit one of the “Great American Beer Bars” on the list….Please send me the juicy details in the comments section…..it may help! I will accept your nominations too……

Drink Local and Drink Responsibly

Bishop

 

 

4th of July Blackberry Cobbler

I have a freezer still full of blackberries, a pantry full of blackberry preserves and wife that says, “No more Jam!” What’s a guy to do? Ok Hun, it is your birthday on the third of July, how about some blackberry cobbler and Blue Bell vanilla ice cream?

I will share a recipe that has had rave reviews every time I have made it and rave reviews from everyone that has made it themselves. The recipe is not original with me but I do give it proper credit…..it is just amazing and so simple to make!

MEME’S BLACKBERRY COBBLER

I added an extra cup of blackberries to this recipe from Virginia Willis’ Bon Appétit, Y’all: Recipes and Stories From Three Generations of Southern Cooking (Ten Speed Press, $32.50).

  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
  • 5 cups blackberries, fresh or frozen – Hand picked from a friends property just north of Kingwood.
  • 1 cup sugar, plus more if desired for berries
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • Pinch salt
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Vanilla ice cream, to serve

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place butter in a large iron skillet (I used a 12 inch cast iron skillet), place skillet in oven to melt butter.

Put blackberries in a large bowl. If they are frozen, let them soften a few minutes. Crush lightly with a potato masher. Sweeten with extra sugar if you like. ( I did!!!)

Whisk flour, baking powder, salt and 1 cup sugar in a medium bowl. In another bowl, combine milk and vanilla. Gradually pour wet ingredients into dry while whisking.

Remove skillet from oven. Add melted butter to batter. Stir to combine. Pour batter into hot skillet. With a spatula, scrape the berries into the center. Bake cobbler till it is golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the cake (not the berries) emerges clean, about 1 hour.

Serve warm with ice cream — and prepare for a walk down memory lane.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

DSC_5179

The start……this is what it should like on entry to the oven.

DSC_5181

This is what it should look like before scooping out into a bowl, just begging for a mound of Blue Bell vanilla ice cream.

My presentation is pretty Patriotic, the skillet is a red enamel, the cooked berries are beyond blue and the Blue Bell vanilla ice cream is as close to white as it can be. Have a great Fourth of July.

TTFN

Bishop