Learn to Brew - Part III

Learn to Brew! 

This is the third in a series of posts on how to get started homebrewing. Click for Part I, Part II.

Part III: Bottle Your Beer

So it’s been a couple of weeks, and now this is it. The final push before you can sit back, crack a homebrew, and enjoy the fruits of your labor. The bottling process is a bit time consuming, but not nearly as long as brewday. Without further ado, let’s get this thing bottled so you can drink it soon!

Homebrew Recipe: James Brown Ale

Two admirers of your homebrew want a batch to split for themselves? This was a problem I was practically born to solve! There was some debate over what style of beer they wanted, but once a brown ale was settled on I was off to the races. This is a style I’ve brewed several times and I was eager to put my newly discovered all grain skills to work. Seeking to make an easy drinking but satisfying brown ale would prove to be a good test indeed.

Hacksaw Hop Growing

Gardening - it's probably my second biggest hobby after homebrewing. The wonderful thing about homebrewing as it has allowed me to blend the two hobbies together in the glorious pursuit of hop growing! I grew hops last year on a homemade trellis in 5 gallon buckets just off the back porch of my apartment. People called me crazy until they had the beer I brewed with the hops that I grew!

Now that I'm a homeowner I had this master plan to grow my hop plants up the posts of the pergola that I built in the back yard. I learned quite a bit... for example - hops don't like to wrap themselves around 4X4 posts very well at all. Halfway through the summer I made the move to some yarn lines dropped from the top.

Beer Tasting: Hardywood Park Bourbon Double IPA

Hardywood Park Bourbon Double IPA
9.4% ABV, 80 IBU 
Enjoyed on 8.9.14

A particularly arduous business trip saw me returning home on Saturday evening with only a few hours of sleep. True to form, I opened the fridge and found that my wife and personal beer goddess had gotten me a surprise: Bourbon Double IPA. If that won’t chase the travelling blues away, I don’t know what will!

One Year Old Birthday Bash

Seeing a keg at a 21^st birthday party wouldn’t seem all that out of place – but when you homebrew you get unique opportunities. How about bringing a keg of homebrew to a 1 year old’s birthday party? When you have mobile keg abilities and homebrew available, a multitude of gatherings suddenly transform into homebrew tasting sessions and conversions to craft beer are made.

Learn to Brew - Part II

Learn to Brew!

This is the second in a series of posts about how to break on to the homebrewing scene. For Part I, click here.

Part II: Your First Brew Day

Now that you have all of your supplies and ingredients for your first brewing creation, it’s time to walk through the first brew day. I’d like to give some serious props to John Palmer and his How to Brew for teaching me when I started out. He goes in to much more detail, and it’s a great read if you want to know more about the science and the “why” involved in brewing. Hacksaw read The Complete Joy of Homebrewing by the infamous Charlie Papazien before starting his homebrewing adventures. John Palmer is the preferred read but Charlie’s work – while dated - is still a classic and very helpful.

Homebrew Recipe: The Dunkel (Extract)

Once upon a time, shortly after I became a confident brewer, I had the dream that I was going to
revolutionize the beer world by inventing or pioneering a new style. In my pursuit, I thought to myself,
“what about a dark wheat beer, surely that’s never been done before!” Well, I emailed this to Hacksaw
Brewing, excited to share my genius. And then I remembered, ye olde dunkelweizen is a dark wheat
beer and has been around for quite some time. You win some, you lose some I suppose. Nevertheless,
I decided to take my realization and brew it up.

Small Batch Beer Company

What is one thing that makes attending a wedding even better? How about checking out a new brewery the same day! I am often times at fault for trying to cram too much into a single day, but this little visit with all of Mrs. Hacksaw's family was perfect. Small Batch Beer Company in downtown Winston Salem is about as small a batch as you can get to be a brewery. Take a look at the brewing system these guys use!

Beer Tasting: Green Flash Le Freak

Green Flash Le Freak Belgian Imperial IPA

9.2% ABV, 101 IBU

Enjoyed on 8.3.2014

I like to think of this beer as the nerdy kid who has a really hard time in high school. Then, when he gets to college, he learns to embrace his quirks, laugh at himself, and ends up rolling up to his high school reunion as the head of some multi-million dollar start-up company. In any case, this beer a prime example of when outside-the-box thinking has really paid off.

You Might Need A Beer Cave.

Hi I'm Lauren, the Mrs. Hacksaw half of things!

First there's something I should say, I really don't like beer.  I prefer a nice cider, a glass of wine, or a mixed drink with way too much sugar.  Oh but I do love this guy, my claim to fame in the "Lauren likes a beer world." However, one thing I do love is the creative aspect of being the wife of a brewer.  The beer names, the homemade labels, and the creative storage solutions that come with all of the crap supplies! I don't mean to scare any potential brewers off, it's great stuff, but where are you going to store a 24-quart stock pot and the rest of your essentials?

When we moved into our house we had this stunning closet...

I kid.  I mean seriously, how many jackets do you need, and how would you even hang them?  Before we moved in, I knew this would be much better used as a Beer Cave.

Learn to Brew - Part 1

Learn to Brew!

This is the first in a series of posts detailing how simple it really is to start brewing beer.  Tune in next week to get the schedule and procedure for your first brew day!

Part I:  The Tools

When I tell people that I brew my own beer, often I’m met with a look of disbelief.  Maybe some folks are impressed, but I usually get the impression that their first thought is “Really?  But you’re just a normal guy...” Truer words were never spoken (or thought).  I am just a normal guy, and there really is nothing special about me, or any other homebrewer, that gives us the unique talent to create our own delicious brews.  All it takes is a love of beer, a willingness to learn, and a few extra hours here and there.

My hope here is to convince anyone that if I can brew great beer, so can you!  This post will talk about the equipment you need to start out.  And really, it's not that much.  When I first started brewing I spent about $100 to get my equipment and my first set of ingredients.  Kits like these run about the same cost and come with everything you need except a pot, bottles, and caps.  Here, we’ll start by laying out the bare bones basics and throw in a few “extras” along the way.  (Note:  This post will talk about the requirements for extract brewing.  We’ll hit the upgrade to all-grain in a later post.)

Beer Tasting: Southern Tier 2XIPA

Southern Tier 2XIPA

8.2% ABV

Enjoyed 07.25.14

An after work invitation to the local Ogden tap house provided the inspiration for this delightful ale. While many other options were available I had not had this particular beer on draft before.

Homebrew Recipe: Sandy Toes Pale Ale

This delicious, summery, easy-to-drink Sandy Toes Pale Ale recipe was made in late spring with the goal of creating an easy drinking beer that could be enjoyed while sunning on the Wilmington beaches.  As evidences by the name, it did not disappoint!

Beer Tasting: Dogzilla Black IPA

Laughing Dog - Dogzilla Black IPA

6.8% ABV, 18.7 SRM, 69.3 IBU

Enjoyed 7.20.2014

My lovely wife came home with this one as a surprise after a particularly annoying week at work.  She’s a keeper, that one.

Recently I've noticed an uptick in the amount of black IPAs out there.  This style basically takes the dark, roasty malt character of a stout or porter and fuses it with the hop-centric flavors and aromas of an IPA. Dogzilla pours nice and dark, but not too thick, with a lovely cream-colored head, which recedes fairly quickly.  Immediately, you can detect the floral tones of the hops in the nose. There are not much of the coffee/chocolate aromas, but perhaps they are just muscled out by the hops. From the first sip, it’s clear that the crew at Laughing Dog nailed the balance on this beer.  It’s not too much of anything.  Nor do the dark malts and the hops clash in their battle for attention.  Rather, it starts out sweet and chocolately, gracefully fades to some floral hop flavors, and finally exits with just enough lingering bitterness to leave you craving another sip.  As it warmed, I noticed some dark berry type flavors shining through as well.

If you like stouts and IPAs, but are a little wary of the whole black IPA wave, I would highly recommend this one as a good starting point.  Unlike some others I’ve had, it doesn’t assault you with malt astringency and then hop bitterness.  Instead, the flavors get along like they were meant to be together.

--Jacob

Wort City Brewers - August Meeting

A grim and rainy weekend led into a rainy Monday which was finally brightened by some delicious homebrew sampling at the monthly meet up of the Wort City Brewers. This is my local homebrew club in Wilmington, NC and although I only joined a few months ago I cannot for the life of me figure out why I did not join sooner. Every meeting is like a mini-beer festival of which you not only get to try others beer, but you get to have lots of reviews of your own beer if you so choose to bring any. It is a downright paradise for homebrewers and beer nerds alike!

This was the first time the club had a meeting at local restaurant – Hops Supply Company – and although there were fewer attendees than usual, the homebrew samples and beer discussion were top notch as always. Before diving into some of the inspiring… and not so inspiring samples let me share a couple of interesting things from the meeting.

Beer Venture 2012 in The Triangle

After planning for several months, starting with a mere piece of printer paper, a marker, and the power of the inter-webs, BeerVenture 2012 finally happened as summer began.  This was our first attempt at cramming as much driving and beer-related tourism possible into one day.

Beer Tasting: Hoppyum IPA

Foothills Hoppyum IPA

6.3% ABV, 8 SRM, 70 IBU

Enjoyed 7.20.2014

Observations: This IPA from Foothills Brewery pours a wonderful deep copper color with a very thin white head. The aroma of this particular bottle was almost non-existent, although perhaps it was because it had been in my fridge for a month. The lack of aroma didn’t seem to impact the flavor as a solid clean bitterness came through. There is a hint of malt sweetness that really balances well with the bright citrus and slight pine notes. The medium mouth feel and slightly dry finish really round this beer out and leave you wanting another.

Conclusion: In a hop crazed world this IPA stands out with outstanding citrus flavor and a clean bitterness that balances well. A balanced IPA may sound like an odd term but it seems an apt description. Although a blast of hop aroma would have been nice it very well could be the longer-than-normal storage time.

--Ben

Brewery Visit: Three Brothers Brewing Company

Is it just me, or were beer and hiking made for each other?  There’s nothing quite like that first beer after a long day on the trail, and the brews from Three Brothers Brewing Company in Harrisonburg, VA were no exception.

My wife and I decided to get out of the 95 corridor for the day and head to the mountains.  Afterward, we were only 20 minutes from Three Brothers Brewing Company in Harrisonburg, so to Harrisonburg we went.  When we arrived, we ordered flights and were treated to an intense game of Jumbo Jenga on the outdoor patio. 

Homebrew Recipe: Plague of Darkness Stout

One of the first beers I brewed in my career was an Irish Stout that turned out anything but “stout”. When I set out to brew this beer I kept repeating over and over in my head that I wanted it to be STOUT! I wanted my taste buds to be hammered by roasty, toffee, coffee flavors and be overwhelmed by stoutiness. I may have gone a bit overboard with the darker malts… but learned a valuable lesson along the way.

Quadruple Brewday

Once or twice a year the stars align we go out of our way to ensure that Hacksaw Brewing and Down the Hall Brewing get to do a joint brew session. Typically Every time we up the ante on the scope and go bigger and better. This most recent QUADRUPLE brew day was no different… except it was by far our worst joint brew day to date. It wasn’t as if there was one major disaster that happened but more of a compilation of issues that resulted in this being the worst. Allow me to explain!

First off, let me lay out what QUADRUPLE brewday was all about. The idea was to brew two huge beers and then take the second runnings from each of those beers and create two more beers. Naturally we didn’t want a partial batch with the second runnings – we wanted a full 5 gallons. In order to accomplish this we had to go REALLY big on the first beers. I’m talking a Russian Imperial Stout and a Double IPA of which the goal was minimum 10% ABV. With the recent discovery that my wife enjoys bourbon barrel beers (because of the less bitter aftertaste), the Russian Imperial Stout would be hit with a heavy dose of bourbon soaked oak chips.

National Beer Expo - Richmond, VA

A couple of Saturdays ago, I was able to attend the National Beer Expo in Richmond.  Much to my chagrin, my lovely wife had to work and was not able to attend.  However, my friends Nathan and Chris made for solid companions on this beer excursion.

The Expo ran from 2:00-6:00 with almost 60 different breweries slated to attend, we didn’t want to miss any of that time but, we also wanted to be on our feet when 6:00 came around. A hearty carb-heavy lunch at Panera did the trick and then it was gametime. 

In my limited beer festival experience, I have always wanted to try at least one sample from every brewery in attendance.  I realize that in larger cases, such as the Great American Beer Festival, this is a highly ambitious—if not impossible—goal.  However, some of these east coast festivals seem to hover right around the realm of plausibility.  So, this was our strategy going in.

We found a parking spot (finally) and were on our way.  I armed myself with a notebook and bottle of water, while Chris and Nathan sported the most stylish pretzel necklaces you could imagine.  Oh yes, these guys are serious.