Modified English Pale Ale

Bindle-stiffs, gunslingers, comrades one and all! It has been a long time since we've posted. I think Walter K has lost his mind and has disappeared somewhere in the northwoods jungle. But, I have returned. Gone to that place where no person should go. Where time slows down and vision spreads out across the universe. Every instant last a thousand years as I peered into infinity and saw all the threads of possibilities extending infinitely forward and backward. Witnessed my own birth and the thousands upon thousands of possible deaths in the blink of an eye. I have returned to finish my Jedi Beer Training and submit the following report to the Master.

Since our last post, we discovered that our neigbor Q grows hops...yes, grows motherfucking hops! Aware of the worldwide hop shortage, he graciously offered to allow us to harvest the hops and use them for our beer. We studied for hours on the internet, learning how to harvest, prepare, and preserve the hops for use. So, one rainy day, we went out in our poncho's and picked hops for about 4 hours. Picking them involved standing about 25 feet in the air on a shaky ladder during a rainstorm (we'll at least for Walter K, but it's okay, his Dad is a hop-picker so he has some experience). After we picked the hops we put them on my sun porch to dry out. Because it was raining outside we turned on a space heater to help de-humidify the room. After 3 days they were ready. So, we used a vacuum sealer and have preserved them in air-tight plastic wraps.

There is only one problem. Our neighbor is not sure if his strain of hops is Golding or Cascade. Our impression was that the majority of the vines growing up alongside the house were Golding but that one or two of the vines growing in the alley were actually Cascade. So, we have quite a strange blend of Golding and Cascade.

We have made the first batch of beer using these hops and have basically tried to create a Modified English Pale Ale. Here's what we did:

--6 lb. Gold liquid malt extract
--1 lb. Light DME
--8 oz. Carapils, 8 oz. Caramel 60°L specialty grains

--1 oz Goldings at 60 min
--2 oz Godlings at 1 min

We also used a very similar recipe with the following modifications:

--1/2 oz Columbus at 60 min
--1 oz Amarillo at 20 min
--1 oz Amarillo at 1 min

This second recipe was taken from the Midwest Supplies. They describe this recipe like this: "The Amarillo hop is perhaps one of the more uniquely flavored varieties to emerge in recent years, and the only variety that is owned by the farmer who bred it. This pale ale showcases ingredients found in the Pacific Northwest and is a great way to get to know the refreshing flavor of the Amarillo."

Finally, we are also kooking up a Holiday Ale also from Midwest Supplies. Here is the info on this brew:

"Happy Holiday Brew: Once a year folks eat, drink and are merry. We think this is a great time to impress your friends and relatives with homemade beer. This spiced ale will make egg nog a thing of the past. Our ingredients for this recipe include: 6 lbs. Dark liquid malt extract, 3.3 lbs. Amber liquid malt extract, 8 oz. Caramel 60°L, 8 oz. Special B specialty grains, 3 oz. of hops, 1 Cinnamon Stick, 1 tsp. nutmeg, 1 tsp. ginger, yeast, priming sugar and a grain bag."

Here are the directions:

--steep crushed grains 10-30 min
--add malt extract at boil
--1 oz vanguard at 60 min
--additional holiday spices at 10 min
--1 0z cascade at 2 min
(two stage fermentation recommended)

I think we will bottle this one in December and hope for the beer to be ready by the new year.

We will post the review of our Modified English Pale tonight or tomorrow when we tap the keg.

Juniper Pale Ale

This recipe is a variation on a previous recipe that BSB invented. Both are a tribute to the pine woods of the American Southwest. For this batch we've switched from Chinook to Cascade hops. I'm also attempting a "dry-hop" and an alternative infusion method. The idea is to foreground the bitterness of the Juniper while allowing the hops to provide more flavor and aroma. In the previous batch, it was difficult to discern between the flavors of the Chinook hops (which are also piney) and the Juniper.

Here are the details you monkeys!

Juniper Pale Ale
Fermentables
6 lbs Gold Barley Malt Extract

Boil Additions
1 oz Cascade at 60

Yeast
Wyeast 1056 American Ale

Method for hops and Juniper berries. I am soaking 1 oz of Juniper berries in vodka for 2 hours and then grinding the whole mix down with a muddler. The vodka is more or less simply to sterilize the berries. I am then pouring the berry mix and 1 oz of Cascade plugs (chopped in half) into a muslin bag which I will then place directly into the primary fermenter.

Corny Keg and the Dedicated Fridge

...would be an awesome band name. But now...you asked for it...you waited...you dreamed...you read our stupid blog...and now we have finally delivered. BSB is proud to announce kegged beer! The upgrade was made after an approximate 100 hours of bottling had taken its toll on the workers. Our keg system cuts my bottling time in half. We have also acquired a dorm-style mini refrigerator from a used appliance store on Lake St for a whopping $30 bringing total costs to about $200. All equipment was purchased in St. Louis Park at Midwest Homebrewing. Turned out to be about $30 bucks cheaper than our usual, the NB. Before we get ahead of ourselves, here are the specs:

--used 5 gallon "cornelius" soda keg (manufactured in Anoka, MN)
--5 lb CO2 tank
--dual gauge regulator (indicates keg pressure and remaining CO2)
--hand held picnic tap
--hoses and m/f connects

The dedicated fridge is an older Sanyo model with fake wood paneling. In order to make the fridge work we had to modify it somewhat. By that I mean, we had to rip the upper freezer section off (being careful not to bust any of the connections because the freezer is also the main refrigeration plate). After removing it from the top of the fridge we bent it back against the back wall of the inside of the fridge. This way, the plate on the freezer still works but directly refrigerates the whole inside. There is a temp control that we keep constant and measured by checking a plastic thermometer taped to the keg. We also had to saw off some of the shelving attached to the inside of the door. It looks like shit but, hey, who the fuck cares about the inside looks of dedicated keg fridge? Anyway, everything fits nice and cozy and cold.

Some notes on the process of kegging...
The first thing is to sterilize the keg and all equipment. Sanitize by soaking inside of keg for 15 minutes with sterilizing solution (B-Bright worked fine). Meanwhile soak other parts in a bucket of sterilizing solution. Connect C02 while keg is full and force water out to clean the tap and the hose. Alternately, take the tap apart and soak it with the rest of the equipment. Rinse once transfer beer.

Transfer the beer from the carboy using syphoning equipment--making sure not to suck up any of the yeast deposit. After transferring, close everything tightly and pressurize the keg to between 20 and 30 lbs. Quickly release the pressure valve to force out oxygen and repressurize. The Prickly Pear Ale was good after about 4 days of waiting. When ready to drink, lower pressure on the keg to between 3-10 lbs pressure depending on the level of carbonation appropriate for the style and to taste.

Some detailed description of the kegging process here.

The next beer we keg will be our Phat Tyre from the NB. Can you hardly wait?

Honey Weisen

This HW comes courtesy of the folks at Midwest Brewer.

Specialty Grains
8 oz Carapils

Fermentables
6 lbs Wheat LME
2 lbs Minnesota Clover Honey (1.5 lbs at 30, .5 lbs at 10)

Boil Additions
1 oz Styrean Goldings (60 min)
1 oz Styrean Goldings (2 min)

Wyeast Weihenstephan Weizen Ale #3068

Their description: "A refreshing beer for anytime of the year. 2 lbs of MN clover honey gives this brew a light, crisp flavor and an extra kick to boost the alcohol content.

SG: 1.054-1.058
FG: 1.010-1.012

IBUs = 19.5

This is our first kit from the Midwest Brewer. The prices for kits and equipment are a bit cheaper than the NB...plus it is a whole helluva lot closer off Beltine in St. Louis Park. Right now they are offering a special $1 32 oz bottle with the purchase of any kit. Sweet! Hope this HW tastes good.

Fat Tire Clone

I got this Phat Tyre Amber Ale kit from the NB.

Specialty Grains
.50 lbs Victory Malt
.50 lbs Briess Caramel 60
(both mixed together in the same bag)

Fermentables
1 lbs Pilsen DME (boil for 60 min)
6 lbs Amber Malt Syrup (boil for 15 min)

Boil Additions
1 oz Willamette (60 min)
1 oz Hallertau Select (15 min)

Wyeast #1762 Belgian Abbey II. Floculation medium. Apparent attenuation 73-77%. Optimum temp 65-75.

"Our Phat Tyre kit is copper-red with a fruity, slightly spicy aroma and a flavor that comes from a combination of yeast and hops. A blend of caramel and Victory malts creates a sweat, toasty, bready character that lingers from the aroma through the finish. Make sure to stash a six-pack for yourself, because this one's a crowd pleaser."

We shall see!

Prickly Pear Ale

A tribute to the Sonoran Desert...my own demonic creation:

Fermentables
6 lbs Gold Malt Syrup
3 lbs Organic Wildflower Honey (30 min)

Additions
1 oz Cascade (60 min)
1 oz Cascade (5 min)

3 (lbs) Red Prickly Pear Fruit (Tuna Roja)

Wyeast #1056 American Ale

For this experiment, I am seeking to make a floral and mildly citrus ale sweetened with the fruit of the prickly pear cactus. I purchased the honey from the Wedge Co-op--where it comes wholesale in refillable containers. The fruit was difficult to find. Most restaurants and groceries carry a green version of the prickly pear fruit (simply, "tuna"). I found one little supermercado on 28th and Blaisdale that carries the red version (tuna rojo). The owner explained that he and his brother prefer the red kind. So, for this recipe I purchased 3 lbs of the fruit. Peeled fruit (making sure to take off all of the inner part of the skin so only the red inside remains). I processed the fruit through my juicer to produce about 8 oz of puree. I added the fruit puree after pitching the wort into the carboy.

Preamble to the Constitution of the Industrial Beer Drinkers of the World

Beer drinkers and big beer corporations have nothing in common. There can be no peace so long as working people are forced to buy cheap disgusting excuses for beer, while the owners of the big beer corporations sip on the latest microbrew. Between these two classes a struggle must go on until beer drinkers organize as a class, take possession of the means of fermentation and establish worker-run breweries.

We find that the consolidation of breweries into fewer and fewer hands makes the brewer trade unions unable to cope with the ever growing power of the big beer corporations. These trade unions foster a state of affairs which allows one set of beer drinkers to be pitted against another set of beer drinkers, thereby helping defeat one another in the price wars. Moreover, the trade unions aid the big beer corporations to mislead brewery workers into the belief that they have something in common with them.

These conditions can be changed and the interest of the working class upheld only by an organization formed in such a way that all the drinkers of one beer, or all beers if necessary, cease beer drinking whenever a strike or lockout is in on in any department thereof, thus making an injury to one an injury to all.

Instead of the conservative motto, “freeze beer prices,” we must inscribe on our banner the revolutionary watchword, “abolition of the big beer corporations.”

It is the historic mission of beer drinkers to do away with big beer corporations. The army of production and consumption must unite, not only for the everyday struggle with capitalists, but also to carry on production when capitalism shall have been overthrown. By making our own beer, making it good, and drinking it ourselves, we are forming a new society within the shell of the old.