Pea Pod Wine

Every so often I run across a mention of pea pod wine, or a recipe in a book or magazine. Recipes are similar to most wines made from odd garden ingredients--the recipe calls for sugar, citrus fruits, and sometimes raisins. I am not a winemaker although I dabble a bit but I generally stick to cider and mead. That being said I am certain accomplished winemakers may cringe when reading about my process but most of the published accounts of pea pod wine seem very rustic, unrefined, and not all that sanitary. When I was younger my mother made a lot of wine but I was more interested in my fathers brewing than I was her wine making, now it seems I should have payed closer attention.

I would have loved to have more pea shells and I had been saving the majority of these in the freezer since I picked and shelled them from the greenhouse the previous spring. I was hoping for a bumper crop in mid-late summer, but it didn't happen. I tried to stretch my ingredients to get a 3 gallon batch making it worth my while even though the amount of peas I had were likely appropriate for half that amount.

The process I used was a combination of those I had read but in the end I just made it up as I went along in an order that made sense to me. Tasting Notes Here:

Pea Pod Wine Recipe:

Specifics:
3 gallon batch

Tea:
3 gallons water
2 lbs. pea shells
6 c sugar
Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes then cut heat adding the following:

1 orange thin sliced
2 lemons thin sliced
Cover and let steep for one hour. then strain into fermenter adding the following:

2 c raisins chopped
2 c dates chopped
1/2 c dried blueberries chopped
Added enough ice to bring to 3 gallons of liquid and cool to 70F and pitched yeast and additions:


Red Star Premier Cuvee, Dry Wine (blue packet)
1/2 tbs grape tannin
1/2 tbs fruit pectin
1/2 tbs yeast nutrient

Notes:
I also added a bag of mixed fruit (apples, grapes, strawberries) with the citrus fruit. It was leftover from a sangria party the night before at the bar and I didn't see any harm dumping it in. I only ended up with an OG of 1.042 but I assume the the sugars in the raisins, blueberries, and dates will raise the gravity to wine levels. Fermentation started almost immediately.

Beet Beer

What is it about beets? Some people find them a magical delight, Tom Robbins would agree as the root vegetable served as his muse for Jitterbug Perfume. Others, who likely have only had pickled beets from a can, treat them like Southern Comfort after a bad experience at the homecoming dance. In my opinion, beets are one of the great treasures of the garden.

It is getting near the end of the growing season even in the greenhouse with 12'' of snow last night (Oct. 25) and I recently picked the last of the beets deciding to try them in a beer. I have heard of beet beers from Magic Hat, O'dells, and New Belgium among others, but have never tried any of them so I am shooting blind here, which makes it more fun.

I knew I wanted to add beets multiple ways and at different times in the process and I settled on juicing some of the beets fresh and adding the pure beet juice to secondary while roasting some of the beets and adding them to the boil. I don't think I have enough beets to make a proper 5g batch and I am not certain I would like drinking 5 gallons of beet beer, so I went with a 3 gallon recipe as I recently did for tomato beer.



Juicing Beets



Beet Beer Recipe:

Specifics:

Anticipated OG 1.056

Anticipated TG 1.014

SRM 10.58

IBU 44.2

3 gallon batch

60 minute boil

Batch sparge

Grain:

5 lbs. 2-Row

.5 lbs. Vienna

.25 lbs. Oat Malt

.25 lbs. Golden Naked Oats

.25 lbs. Melanoidin

.15 lbs. Caramel 60L

Hops:

.5 oz Northern Brewer at 60 minutes

.5 oz Centennial at 15 minutes (these were fairly aged)

1 oz Hersbrucker at 5 minutes

Yeast:

Safbrew T-58

Extras:

2 lbs. of roasted beets to boil

1 g Corriander (crushed) at 5 minutes

24 oz fresh beet juice to secondary

Notes: Brewed on 10/28/11 by myself.

Drew 4.5 gallons of preboil wort and cooked down to just under 3 gallons. Cooled to 70 and pitched yeast.

11/2/11 Transferred to secondary, adding 24 oz of fresh beet juice. No discernible beet presence from beets in boil. Counting on juice for all beet character. The juice stained the batch a deep red immediately.

11/16/11--Bottled with 1/2 cup cane sugar

Berliner Weisse II



No better beer on a hot day



I love Berliner's and this was the second go-around brewing the style. Both turned out well. The first time, Eric and I brewed it together, using only the Wyeast Berliner blend and it was off the charts good. Light, refreshing, tart and delicious. I made a batch of woodruff syrup for that brew but we both discovered we liked it better minus the sweet and green addition--although it made it taste like a green Lifesaver. This time around I used a clean yeast and a pouch of Wyeast Lactobacillus and it is more tart and growing more sour everyday, while the Berliner blend seemed to age gracefully for a wheat beer and remained solid, if not better over time. I would recommend using the blend if possible but this is still very good.  I can't find my recipe for this but it was basically equal parts wheat malt and pils malt at a total of about 5 lbs. of grain and a 30 minute boil. For hops, keep it light and noble, we used Hallertau--no more than 1/2 oz at 30, or split it at a 1/4 oz first wort and 1/4 oz at 30 minutes. There are many ways to brew this including no boil and open fermentation, but for sanitary sake, I would recommend the short boil and a Berliner blend. Of course it is a style to get adventurous with, so let me know if you have success or failure using other methods.

Sour Dortmunder



Sour Dortmunder Export



My buddy Matt asked for a Dortmunder Export for his annual birthday beer a few years ago and I didn't have the time or space to lager a beer for him as I had a Maibock going at the time and I can only lager one beer at a time. I made him an Alt that turned out very well and scored a 36 in the AHA Regional in 2010, advancing to the mini-round, where it was stomped by my friend Jennifer's Kolsch. Anyhoo, I thought I would make him a Dortmunder for his birthday last year and I rushed it. Good advice here for lagering--don't rush it and make a huge starter. I split two gallons out and soured that with La Folie dregs and bottled the rest for Matt. What he really got for his birthday was hoppy saccharin bottle bombs. Worst batch of beer I have ever made. I got the stuff back from him and messily opened the gushers, pouring them into a bucket and pitched an ale yeast on it to dry it. Well, it got infected and still tasted like shit, so I put the lid back on until I figured out what to do with it. In the meantime, the soured version turned out awesome. I had never soured a lager before and never had a commercial version either. After many months I took the 3 gallons of shit beer and put it into a magical device that condensed the stuff into a quart and a half of delicious beverage once watered down to 50% ABV and aged on a little oak. All in all, it was a nice save and kind of fun to drink the delicious sour Dortmunder while turning the rest into drinkable stuff in the back woods.

I won't even bother with the recipe for this beer since it was such a disaster, but I will provide the heads up that souring a lager with New Belgium's La Folie dregs is a good thing.

Matt ended up getting a mediocre Pale Ale about six months late for his birthday. This year I plan to do better--especially since he took me to Willie Nelson for my birthday.

Sour Oatmeal Stout

I must admit that while I appreciate stouts and porters they aren't my favorite styles of beer. My father is the opposite and always asks when I am going to make a stout. I set out to make a stout that we both would like by souring an oatmeal stout with lactobacillus. I wasn't really sure what to expect but I was pleased with the results. The beer is light and refreshing on the palate, while the roasted malt characters cover up the tartness of the lacto. This is a stout that can be consumed on a 100 degree day in July and be refreshing, yet provide the chocolate, coffee etc. notes associated with a stout. I used a lacto culture that I keep around the house but either a Wyeast/White labs would be good I'd think. I wanted enough hops to stand up to the grain bill but not to overtake or slow down the souring. I was playing it by ear using my own culture (how much is too much?) while trying to balance aging etc.  I would be interested to know how sour it would be compared to mine. In the end the lacto added a lightness and refreshing nature to the beer while thinning the body a bit. Over time the sourness did not escalate as rapidly as I thought it might and it has stayed very stable.

Sour Oatmeal Stout Recipe:

Specifics:

5.25 Gallons

OG 1060

TG 1012

SRM 34.99

IBU 32.2

Grain:

5 lbs. 2-Row

1.5 lbs. Brown Malt

1.0 lbs. Chocolate Malt

1.0 lbs. Oat Malt

1.0 lbs. Oat Flakes

.75 lbs. Caramel 80

.75 lbs. Special Roast

.5 lbs. Kiln Coffee Malt

.5 lbs. Debittered Black
.5 lbs. Biscuit
.25 lbs. Crystal Rye

Hops:
1 oz Northern Brewer @ 60 minutes
1 oz East Kent Golding @ 5 minutes

Yeast:
Wyeast 1028 London Ale
Home Lactobacillus Culture--added to secondary
*if you don't have a lacto culture a pouch/slant of lacto would work very well

Notes:
Single infusion mash at 154F. Drew 7 gallons of wort and boiled to 5.25 in 60 minutes. Cooled to 70 and pitched London Ale. Racked to secondary after 14 days and pitched Lacto culture. Left in secondary apx. 2 months before bottling.

Holiday Rye

For the holiday's this year I wanted to make three beers to add some variety to the beer I give as gifts. I decided to make a spiced rye to go with the annual Cranberry Kolsch and a second go at my Orange Ale, which was very good but this time I will spice a little heavier for the season.

I really dumped in the malts with this one going a little overboard with the number of specialty malts. I must have already had a few beers before structuring this recipe because it appears I formed it while looking at the jars of malt rather than thinking it through.

I would have like to added some orange to this but I didn't have any around, so I added a 1/2 cup of Apricot Brandy to secondary. I used this brandy in secondary of an imperial wit and it turned out nice, so what the hell. I also dumped some frozen raspberries from the garden into secondary and I don't expect much from them but again, what the hell?

Holiday Rye Recipe:

Specifics:
5.25 gallons
OG 1.056
TG 1.014
SRM 18.71
IBU 45

Grain:
3 lbs. US 2-row
5 lbs. Rye Malt
.5 lbs. Crystal Rye
.5 lbs. Special Roast
.5 lbs. Flaked Maize
.5 lbs. Amber Malt
.5 lbs. Vienna Malt
.5 lbs. Mild Malt
.25 lbs. Caramel 60L
.25 lbs. Aromatic
.25 lbs. Melanoidin
.25 lbs. Carawheat
.25 lbs. Carared

Hops:
1 oz. Northern Brewer @ 60 min
.5 oz Centennial @ 20 min
.5 oz Northern Brewer @ 5 min
.5 oz Centennial @ 5 min

Yeast:
Safbrew T-58

Extras:
1/3 Cup Molasses at 20 min
2 oz Fenugreek at 10 min
Star of Anise, 3 stars--left whole at 5 min
Black Cardamom, 3 pods--seeds crushed at 5 min
2 oz Elderberries at 5 min
1/2 Cup Apricot Brandy to Secondary
12 oz Frozen Raspberries to Secondary

Notes: Collected 7 gallons of wort and boiled down to 5.25 gallons in one hour.

Tomato Beer

I have been wanting to try a tomato beer for a longtime but have never got around to doing one until this fall. This was the fall to make a beer with tomatoes as the plants were 10' high in the greenhouse and I am running out of applications for them while behind on canning. There isn't a lot of information out there on tomato beer--mostly people making inquiries in chat rooms but no recipes and no follow up. Generally the person is told to make tomato wine or to just add tomato juice to their finished beer, which we call Red Beer out west, but is called tomato beer elsewhere and that complicated my searches. I was on my own to make tomato beer.

My original plan was for a light beer, mostly pils and a little wheat malt with a touch of caramel, but a quick look at my grain stores forced me to change drastically what Tomato Ale would be. I had almost no base malts but I decided to piece together what I did have to make a 3 gallon batch. I mean, who was going to tell me that isn't how you make tomato beer? Mostly I was hoping to luck out. I added a pound of flaked maize to bring up the gravity and to counteract the maltiness from a third of the grain bill up to that point being Munich and Maris Otter.

I wanted to add the tomatoes at different stages throughout the process to have the best possible chance of imparting tomato flavor and aroma. I picked a bunch of tomatoes, washed them and then set to processing the fruit. I sliced some cherry tomatoes in half and dried them in the dehydrator to make sundried tomatoes which were added to the boil. I par-boiled and peeled some of the cherry tomatoes and soaked them in vodka in the fridge for a garnish for the beer and for bloody mary's. I juiced enough tomatoes to get 3 1/2 quarts of juice which I let separate with the thicker red juice sinking to the bottom and the clear tomato water rising to the top. I separated the two liquids a few times decanting through a fine sieve until all of the tomato water was clear and bright with a slight yellow hue. I ended up with about 1 1/2 quarts of water and 2 quarts of red juice. The thick red juice I added to the primary fermenter, while I reserved the more delicate and aromatic tomato water for secondary. I also roasted a baking sheet full of tomatoes to be added to the boil. Most of the tomatoes used were an assortment of cherry and grape varieties of different colors with some heirloom Black Ethiopian thrown in for good measure.

Tomato Beer Recipe:

Specifics:

3 gallon batch

Anticipated OG 1.046

Anticipated TG 1.011

Anticipated SRM 6.79

IBU 35.5

*OG/TG/SRM all likely higher due to tomato additions

Grain:

1 lbs. Munich 10L
1 lbs. White Wheat Malt
1 lbs. Flaked Maize
.5 lbs. Pils
.25 lbs. Dark Wheat Malt
.25 lbs. Maris Otter

Hops:
.5 oz Czech Saaz at 60 minutes
.5 oz Czech Saaz at 30 minutes
.25 oz Czech Saaz at 5 minutes

Yeast:
SafBrew S-33

Extras:
Apx. 30 Sundried Cherry Tomatoes at 20 minutes
Apx 40 Roasted Cherry Tomatoes at 40 minutes
1 oz. Dried Chamomile flowers at 5 min
2 qt fresh tomato juice to primary fermenter
1.5 qt fresh tomato water to secondary fermenter
2 sprigs fresh rosemary at flameout
2 oz fresh parsley at flameout
1 tbs fruit pectin to fermenter


Notes: I drew 4 gallons of pre-boil wort and boiled it down to 2.4 gallons in one hour (leaving room in 3 gallon fermenter for juice additions). After cooling I transferred to fermenter on 2 qt. of the fresh red juice, pitched yeast and fruit pectin. After 10 days in primary I transferred to secondary, adding 1.5 qt. of tomato water. After 20 days in secondary beer was bottled with corn sugar.

Tasting Notes: The beer actually smells and tastes like a tomato! I can't believe this worked so well, especially considering my makeshift grain bill. The aroma is the delicate scent of the tomato water that reminds of the smell of brushing against tomato plants. There is no presence from the rosemary or parsley. The beer is a little acidic but isn't far off from biting into a tomato filled with beer. Does that sound gross? Well, it's not. I am very pleased with how this beer turned out and the vodka soaked cherry tomatoes add a nice touch.

Although this worked out very well, the next tomato beer I do will have a more traditional grain bill.  I am not sure how important each of the four tomato additions was to the finished beer but I think the tomato water to secondary was the key addition. Another change I might make is to par-boil the tomatoes before juicing to kill any lacto that might be living on the skins, but so far I don't notice any infection.

If you have brewed a tomato beer or you decide to take one on, let me know how you did it and how it turned out.

Sahti

Last year New Belgium put out a limited edition Sahti in 22 oz bombers which according to a tour guide at the brewery, the Sahti would be a "one and done beer." Having never had a Sahti but having read about the style I was excited to try the New Belgium offering. I enjoyed the beer and picked up the rye in the grain bill but search as I might I could not find even a hint of juniper. This got me to thinking that I could make a Sahti inspired beer that actually tasted of juniper. In all fairness to New Belgium I did find the beer very drinkable and it has been months since I last tried a bottle. Sahti is a Finnish drink that is traditionally lautered through juniper boughs and is commonly associated with rye in modern times. Historically, Sahti was brewed before rye was introduced to Scandinavia and also before hops (Mosher 2004). Basically, for a modern beer I think we are looking for a lightly hopped, juniper scented beer with a rye character.

I can't quite remember how I formulated the grain bill for this recipe but a quick check in Radical Brewing by Randy Mosher shows similarity--at least with the amount of pilsner malt, although it looks like I made up the rest. I do recall agonizing a bit over whether or not to use the traditional bread yeast and decided on an ale yeast instead, figuring I would rather have 5 gallons of something drinkable than of possible nastiness. I went with Wyeast 3068, Weihenstephan, mostly because it was in the fridge waiting to be used in a Roggenbier that never happened.



My Sahti next to New Belgium bottle



To make certain the juniper character came through, I added the stuff everywhere I could fit it into the process. I cut juniper boughs from the backyard, I believe it is Rocky Mountain Juniper (Juniperus scopulorum), the leaves, bark, and berries of which, was used by native tribes of the Intermountain West and Pacific Northwest in healing teas. I turned the strike and sparge water into a tea by heating the water with juniper boughs and berries and also put boughs in my mash tun. I then filtered through the boughs while taking runnings. Finally, I added juniper berries to the boil.

In the end I think there is room to cut back on the juniper infusion and for the sake of simplicity, if I were to do this again I would go the route of a juniper tea for strike water, a single infusion mash at 150 or so, and berries for the length of the boil. Or one could go traditional and lauter entirely through juniper boughs, not boil the wort, and use bread yeast.



Making Juniper Tea for Strike Water



Sahti Recipe:

Specifics: 

Original Gravity 1.071

Terminal Gravity 1.018

Anticipated SRM 19.38

ABV 7%

IBU 8.5

60 minute boil

Grain:

9 lbs. Pilsner

2 lbs. Rye Malt

1lbs. Rye Crystal

1lbs. Carawheat

.5 lbs. Biscuit

.5 lbs. Oat Malt

.5 lbs. Honey Malt

Hops:

.5 oz French Strisselpalt (2% AA) at 60 min
.5 oz French Srisselspalt at flameout

Yeast:
Weihenstephan Wyeast 3068

Extras:
Arm load of fresh Juniper boughs containing as many berries as possible
-Use some to make tea from strike water, sparge water.
-Add some to mash tun
-Let runnings filter through more boughs in strainer as they flow into boil pot.

2 oz Juniper berries, crushed at 60 minutes

Notes:
I don't recall my mash schedule and it could be as complicated as you wish to make it. I think one would be fine with a sach rest at 150 F, or so. Drew 7 gallons of wort and boiled one hour, collecting 5.25 gallons.

Tasting Notes:
Appears a deep amber with a slightly tan head. Smells strongly of Juniper and tastes strongly of Juniper. This beer is polarizing and people either love it or hate it. I think it's quite good and would love to compare it to a Sahti other than New Belgium's. The beer is many months old now and the Juniper flavor/aroma, surprisingly, has not dissipated.

Hibiscus Rose Hip Blonde

I realized that this is the time of year where I would have already picked huckleberries and service berries from my property in Alpine if I still lived there and the only thing left to harvest would be the rose hips from all of the wild roses surrounding the house. Annually after the first frost I would pick the rose hips and dry them in the oven for use in tea and brewing. Since I no longer live there I brew with different plants available to me locally like chokecherries. I went down to my LHBS and bought a package of dried rose hips for $4 and started formulating a recipe. I decided to develop a red color in a pale beer by adding a good amount of dried hibiscus flowers harvested from the backyard. I have used hibiscus in small amounts in the past but this is definitely my most aggressive application of the flower. Hibiscus is tart and somewhat astringent and is popularly used in teas--Celestial Seasonings calls any tea that includes hibiscus, Zinger, and has trademarked the term. I supplemented my homegrown hibiscus with two tea bags of Sudanese Hibiscus and will use more in secondary if the color is not where I want it. Staying with the floral theme I used a good amount of dried chamomile flowers from the garden as well. I thought a blonde beer would make a nice  base for flowers and give a good opportunity to achieve the ruby/twilight color I am looking for.

Hibiscus Rose Hip Blonde Recipe:

Specifics:

60 minute boil

Anticipated OG 1.050

Anticipated FG 1.012

Anticipated IBU 25.5

Anticipated SRM 5.52 (prior to flower additions)

Grain:
7 lbs. US 2-Row
1 lbs. White Wheat Malt
1 lbs. Munich
.5 lbs. Carapils
.25 lbs. Acidulated
.25 lbs. Golden Naked Oats

Hops:
.5 oz Czech Premiant (7.1 AA) at 60 min
.5 oz East Kent Golding at 30 min
.5 oz Hallertau at 15 min
.5 oz East Kent Golding at 5 min
.5 oz Hallertau at 5 min

Yeast:
SafBrew T-58

Spices:
3 oz Rose hips at 5 min
3 oz Chamomile at 5 min
3 oz Hibiscus plus 2 bags Sudanese Hibiscus tea at 5 min
1 g Grains of Paradise at 5 min
2 g Indian Coriander at 5 min

-all spices crushed, all flowers dried

Notes:
Brewed on 10/19/11 by myself.
Collected 7 gallons of preboil wort but due to low propane supply I didn't get a strong boil and only lost 1 gallon of liquid in a 60 minute boil instead of 1.5 gallons expected. Didn't extend boil due to concerns of bitterness adjusting OG to 1.046; SRM 5.05; IBU 23.4.

Herbal Mead

I wanted to make a mead out of California Orange Blossom Honey and knew I didn't want to add fruit to let the honey shine through but I thought it might be fun to add flowers herbs and spices. A mead flavored with spices and herbs is generally called a metheglin but I insist on calling this an herbal mead so I won't have so much explaining to do, not to mention I find the countless names for mead variations a little obsurd. I left a third of the batch still and carbonated the remaining two-thirds with Coopers drops rather than trying to determine how much sugar I needed to bulk carb. The mead was almost immediately drinkable and quite sweet but the flavor additions are present and come together nicely. The orange blossom honey has a fantastic aroma that remained as the mead aged. Over time the mead has dried out and the sweetness has subsided. All in all a delightful mead.

Herbal Mead Recipe:

3 Gallons Water

3 lbs. California Orange Blossom Honey
2 lbs. Clover Honey
6 grams Sweet Gale
2 oz Indian Corriander crushed
.5 oz green cardamom crushed
6 grams dried chamomile flowers
4 oz Heather Tips
2 oz Woodruff
Few dashes powdered ginger

Wyeast 4766 Cider

I heated water to a boil and stirred in honey then cut the heat and added all of the flavor additions, letting it steep for 30 minutes with the lid on before cooling and transferring to fermentor and pitching yeast.

White Peach Farmhouse

I snagged a slant of WLP 670, American Farmhouse Blend, out of curiosity and without a plan of how to use it. The blend includes brett and also claims to impart mild tartness. A few weeks later I saw white peaches and nectarines for sale at the supermarket and an idea for a beer was formed. I purchased 5 lbs. of peaches and 3 lbs. of the nectarines.

I generally juice my fresh fruit, adding it to secondary and that is the approach I took with the peaches and nectarines which I pitted and ran through the juicer. I froze the juice and reserved the skins etc. that were discarded by the juicer to add to primary fermentation. I don't always do this but I figured this was a rustic beer and it would add character.

The grainbill is a bit cumbersome but I wanted to have a bit of maltiness and have it be a bit hearty as I was searching for a balance for the yeast rather than letting the brett runaway with the beer. I made a sour peach wit last year that was delicious but the peaches and light grainbill really accentuated the sourness of the beer and I wanted to make something distinctly different from that beer. I also have a bad habit of throwing in the kitchen sink when constructing a recipe while I am looking at the jars of speciality malts on my shelf.

White Peach Farmhouse Ale Recipe:

Specifics:
5.25 Gallons
Anticipated OG 1.052
Anticipated FG 1.013 (terminal gravity likely lower with bugs involved)
Anticipated SRM 9.1
Anticipated IBU 32.3
60 Minute Boil

Grain:
6 lbs. Pilsner
1 lbs. Light Munich 10L
1 lbs. White Wheat Malt
.5 lbs. Aromatic
.5 lbs. Oat Malt
.5 lbs. Golden Naked Oats
.5 lbs. Carapils
.25 lbs. Honey Malt
.25 lbs. Acidulated

Hops:
1 oz Hallertau @ 60 minutes
1 oz Hallertau @ 30 minutes
2 oz French Strisselspalt @ 5 minutes

Yeast:
WLP 670 American Farmhouse Blend

Extras:
5 lbs. White Peaches Juiced (reserve skins/pulp)
3 lbs. Nectarines, juiced (reserve skins/pulp)
--Added pulp to primary and juice to secondary

Water:
Well water from Ogallala Aquifer

Notes:
Single infusion mash at 155 and batch sparged to draw 7 gallons of wort. Boiled 60 minutes and cooled 5.25 gallons to 80 degrees before adding frozen peach/nectarine skins (refuse from juicer) to assist with cooling then pitched WLP 670.

After ten days in primary I transferred beer to secondary and added the peach/nectarine juice. Remained in secondary for 6 weeks before bottling with 2/3 Cup of cane sugar.

Tasting Notes:

The beer has a nice white head on top of an orange colored ale containing little peach and nectarine floaties. Peaches are dominate the aroma and are forefront in the flavor along with a bit of tartness that balances well with the malt and a hint of earthy brett. This is overall a very nice and interesting beer.

Planting of the Wheat

After months of badgering, I finally talked my folks into letting me plant a bit of the grassland on their property with winter wheat. The selling point was the use of some of the harvest for chicken feed. A few friends were in town for the Nebraska/Wyoming game and a Willie Nelson concert in late September and while catching up over a few beers we ran into a high school buddy, Clint Jessen, who is an organic wheat farmer east of Cheyenne. Clint answered a few questions I had about the process and when I needed to get the wheat planted (Oct 1, if crop is to be insured in these parts). When I asked where I could get wheat to plant, he replied, "From me!" Earlier that day I had just convinced my father to let me tear up some of his land and all of a sudden I had the info I needed and access to certified organic, kosher wheat. With the exception of the Wyoming loss, it was a really good day. I would love to plant some barley but this is generally winter wheat country while winter barley doesn't survive and spring barley is difficult at this altitude (over 6,000 feet). Anyhoo, I will hopefully have a crop to harvest in July, I am truly excited to grow my own grain for brewing. I am not sure how I will harvest and I may end up out there with a hand scythe, which would be cool in an old school way but would probably suck in actuality. Maybe if there were a saison for lunch I could get through.

I met with Clint the next week and picked up two 50 lbs. sacks of wheat, which according to Clint is enough to plant 2 acres if unirrigated or 4 acres of irrigated land. I will not be irrigating the crop and will be dry land farming--relying on moisture from the winter and spring to feed the wheat. My father has a bit of wheat farming experience from his childhood in Chugwater, WY and it came in handy. I was also fortunate to have the use of his tractors, a restored 1957 Ford with a spring rake, a new Kubota with a rototiller, and a lawn tractor with a spreader. The three tractors weren't necessary but it saved us from changing attachments on a single tractor, while the only spreader available fit only the lawn tractor.

October 2:

We first tilled up the area to be planted, then spread the seed and followed with the spring rake. The land was dry and what dirt I didn't ingest ended up in a thick layer coating my body. While we didn't end up with quite 2 acres it is pretty close and I think we got a nice spread of the seed.

October 6:

Two days of sustained winds up to 70 mph didn't do us any favors to keeping the wheat where it was planted.

October 8: 

7 inches of heavy wet snow hopefully saved the wheat crop that didn't blow away or wasn't eaten by birds. This was the only positive of getting 7'' of snow in early October.

Lichtenhainer & Steak

I am not usually one to pair food and beer and honestly as much as I like beer I don't generally enjoy having it with a meal and would prefer water or tea. As summer is winding down I was reminiscing about grilling the past few months and thought I would share a pleasurable pairing of beer and food I discovered. Lichtenhainer is not a style for everyone and most people I offer it to have a taste and set it aside. Think smoked Berliner Weisse. The quenching nature of a light sour wheat beer with the added smokiness is the perfect beer on a summer day to couple with a grilled steak. I actually quit drinking my batch of Lichtenhainer to reserve it for grilled meals. There are plenty of ways to brew this and I suggest a little research on the style or on Berliner Weisse for options, ideas, and inspiration. Brewing with Wheat by Stan Hieronymus should probably be the first stop. When brewing an ancient or extinct style a little history makes for a good tale when convincing your friends to drink the stuff. Also, it opens the door for creativity in the process. In the end, use pilsner malt a good amount of wheat a small amount of smoke and keep the hops light.

Lichtenhainer Recipe:
Specifics:
Batch Size: 5 gallons
Anticipated OG: 1.032
Anticipated SRM: 2.4
Anticipated IBU: 4.4
Boil Time: 30 minutes
Grain:
3.5 lbs. Pilsner
2.25 lbs. White Wheat Malt
.25 lbs. Cherry Wood Smoked Malt

Hops:
.5 oz French Strisselspalt @ First Wort
.5 oz French Strisselspalt @ 30 minutes

Yeast:
Wyeast 3638 Bavarian Wheat
Lactobacillus Culture

Mash Schedule:
I didn't write it down and won't speculate here but there are plenty of options with this one. It will turn out fine with a single infusion mash but likely improved with a more complicated approach.

Notes:
I drew almost six gallons of wort with batch sparge, added .5 Strisselspalt at first wort and boiled to just over 5 gallons in 30 minutes, adding .5 oz additional Strisselspalt at 30 minutes.

The Lacto culture was my homegrown stuff but either a Berliner blend on its own, or a Lactobacillus slant/pack with any mild yeast would work just fine.

Tasting Notes:
The smoke in this beer lessens over time as the sourness increases, sending it through different incarnations over time. It is very pale in appearance with a tight white head. Light bodied and very quenching. A great hot day beer and a fun one to surprise your friends with. The lacto helps this beer age much more gracefully than a typical wheat beer.

Fort Collins Meets Skagway

I went to Fort Collins last night with my friend Pete as he is gettting on his way to the west coast. We stayed the night and met up with our old freinds from Alaska and Wisconsin who have reloacted to FC. During the afternoon I had the opportunity to have a cider at Coopersmiths and test out this weeks Ferkin at Equinox, which was a nice hazelnut stout. The roasty malts covered up any taste of hazelnut but there was a slight scent of it. Then I trucked it up to the new tap house, The Mayor of Old Town, which has about 100 taps of choice beer. I ended up sitting down next to Owen, a sales rep for Oskar Blues, http://oskarblues.com/ ,who bought me a glass of the hard to find HGH. According to Owen, Home Grown Hops (HGH) is a strong ale (8% ABV) that is made from hops grown by the brewery on-site. It was absolutely a treat and the best Oskar offering in my opinion. Supply is limited due to the hop farm being couple of acres and it will likely remain a difficult brew to find. Currently, it is on tap at a very few select Colorado handles but I urge you to seek it out.

After sampling a few beers I met old friends at the Town Pump where I had the Town Pump Century Ale, an New Belgium O'dell brewed pale ale created to celebrate the 100th anneversiary of the smallest bar in Colorado. The beer itself has a malty finish where one would expect hops in the style and reminds me of a pale alt. It was delicious and between a handful of them, a Brewers win, and a few jello shots and everclear soaked cherries (town pump specialties), I was ready for an Old Style at the Stake-Out Saloon and my hotel room.

It was nice to see old friends, including Nate Dawg, who has been working at the Skagway Brewing Company in recent years. I have yet to try the beer but he has nice things to say about the stuff, so if your cruise ship docks in Skagway, have a pint and let me know how it is.

Saffron Blonde

My friend Pete stopped through town on his way to Oregon from Wisconsin. Pete and I met as 18 year olds working as ranch hands for the National Audubon Society at a camp in the Wind River Range of Wyoming. I moved with Pete to La Crosse, Wisconsin after college, and later to Skagway Alaska with him. Pete is a sailor, fisherman, and world traveler who always creates a buzz when he stops by on his wandering adventures. Pete brought along a lot of fancy cheese and spices, including a gram of saffron. I am not sure how much saffron it takes to impart a presence in 5 gallons of beer but I thought we should give it a shot, even at $14.50/g. I wanted to keep the grain bill light and wanted to use a little honey (1/4 lbs) in the boil but forgot to add it. I considered adding the honey to secondary but am worried the honey/floral character will overtake any chance of noticing saffron. I also added a pint jar of dried chamomile flowers from the garden and a small amount of crushed corriander. A little Munich for maltiness and a little light caramel malt for sweetness.

 Recipe:
5.25 Gallons

Anticipated OG 1.047
Anticipated TG 1.012
Anticipated SRM 4.63
Anticipated IBU 17.6
Efficiency 75%
Boil Time 60 minutes

Grain:
8 lbs. American 2-Row
1 lbs. White Wheat Malt
.25 lbs. Caramel 20L
.25 lbs. Munich 10L
.15 lbs. Acidulated Malt

Hops:
.5 oz Hallertau at 60 minutes
.25 oz Hallertau at 30 minutes
.25 oz Saaz at 30 minutes
.25 oz Hallertau at 5 minutes
.75 oz Saaz at 5 minutes

Additions:
1 oz Crushed Indian Corriander at Flamout
1 Quart Jar Dried Chamomile Flower (loosely packed) at Flamout
1 Gram Saffron Threads at Flamout

Yeast:

Safbrew T-58

Water Profile:

Wyoming Well Water

Mash Schedule:

Sacchrafication Rest @ 152F for 60 min

Mash Out @ 178F for 20 min

Notes:

Brewed 10/6/11 w/Pete

Collected 7 gallons of wort and boiled down to 5.25 g

Cooled to 70F and pitched Safbrew T-58

10/20/11 transferred to secondary
11/3/11 bottled with 2/3 Cup cane sugar

Spent Grains

What to do with spent grains? I have always composted my grains and they do make a great addition to a compost pile, but I always felt I could find a more productive use for used grain. I have read that people make dog treats after adding peanut butter. I commonly bake with my spent grains to add a certain rustic/homestyle/healthy feel to my baked goods. Whenever I have a grain bill that isn't too heavy with roasted malts, I will pull out a portion and spread it across a sheet pan, put it in a 200 degree oven until completely dry. After it is cooled I throw it in a bag and drop it in the freezer. Try to remember to write on the bag what beer it is from with a sharpie.

I made bread the other night with some spent grain and thought I would share the recipe.

Tomato & Swiss Bread Recipe:

Ingredients:
3 Cups warm water
5 Cups bread flour
1 Cup whole wheat flour
1 tbs salt
1 tbs sugar
1.5 tbs yeast
3/4 Cups Swiss Cheese 1/4 C reserved
25 Cherry tomatoes halved
3 Cups used beer grain
Assorted spices I used granulated garlic, black pepper, oregano and parsley.

Add sugar and yeast to warm water in mixing bowl and wait ten minutes
Add salt, grain, cheese, tomatoes and spices--Mix gently
Slowly add flour while mixing until a partly sticky partly dry dough is formed
Turn onto floured surface and knead in more flour until desired consistency is reached
Place dough in oiled bowl and cover with wet towel
Put in 200 degree oven and turn off oven
When doubled remove from oven and separate into as many loafs as you would like (I got a pan loaf and two baguettes from this recipe)
Either form into rustic rounds, place in oiled loaf pan or flatten and jelly roll for french loaf
Place dough back in oven and wait until doubled again
Bake at 425 until top is set and sprinkle with reserved cheese return to oven until browned

This also makes a great pizza crust just do away with second rise and up the temp to 500 or so. It can also be put in the fridge for a few days to make a crispier crust.

The grains that don't go to bread now go to suppliment chicken feed, now that we have 53 chickens and one

guinea fowl. The yard birds think of them as a special treat and it saves a little on buying chicken feed. The organic wheat my father and I planted last week should help suppliment the chicken feed as well as my brewing.

GABF 2011

I was fortunate to attend the Great American Beer Fest in Denver last week after EFD was given four complimentary tickets. Along with EFD and I were Mooch and Boner, two friends from high school who likely are referred to by more adult names by their co-workers and wives.

First of all the GABF is so great in scope that it is difficult to try everything or even locate everything you remember to look for. The GABF is unlike any brewfest I have ever attended but I will definitely attend next year, hopefully with a little better defined strategy to make the most of the event.

with Charlie Papazian

Honestly, I wasn't taking notes and didn't decide to start this blog until afterward but I was able to try some good beer from breweries not available locally. McKenzie Brewhouse from Pennsylvania was a standout, especially the Saison Vautour.

It was nice to see each of the four Wyoming breweries who were at the festival to all win medals. Altitude from Laramie took silver with their Tumblewheat. Wind River from Pinedale was awarded bronze for their Out of Order Porter in the Brown Porter category. Blacktooth, the new Sheridan brewery that I have not yet visited scored a bronze medal with their Wagon Box Wheat. Snake River Brewing from my old Jackson Hole stomping grounds won the gold medal with Pako's Eye PA, which incidentally just became available in cans. Snake River also scored a bronze medal with the elusive Le Serpent in the wood aged sour category.

Funkwerks, the start up brewery 35 miles south of here in Fort Collins took home the silver with their Saison. For anyone making a Fort Collins brew tour of New Belgium, Odell's, Fort Collins Brewery, Budweiser etc, be sure not to miss Funkwerks. The same goes for Equinox a small brewery and tasting room attached to the Hops & Berries homebrew shop. Equinox also medaled with a Gold for their O'Rion Irish Red. Crabtree in Greeley medaled with their Berliner and I have to say that I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the breweries offerings. That reminds me of a story... Last week I went on this blind date and after dinner and a movie things are going pretty well and we are necking in the car outside her house when she starts moaning for me to 'kiss her where it stinks'. So, I started the car and drove her to Greeley.

A last kudos to another regional brewery, Epic, from Salt Lake City won a silver with the Brainless on Peaches--a delicious beer, as well as a bronze with their Imperial IPA. Epic is doing good things in SLC and is now available in Colorado, so I don't have to drive all that way and visit Tom to drink their beer any longer.

Beginning of the Blog

I am an adventurous homebrewer who enjoys experimenting with what's in season. I do however have one great flaw as a brewer. Much to the dismay of my friends and myself I am likely the shottiest record keeper who has ever served up a cup of homemade beer, as most of my beer recordings are found on the back of an envelope. It's a ridiculous situation for one who brews as much and as successfully as I generally do. This blog is an attempt to force myself to keep better records, make more repeatable beers and have a little fun. In the next few weeks I hope to provide recipes and posts for most of the beers I currently have fermenting or bottled. I am excited about sharing my recent planting of two acres of wheat as well as a trip to the Great American Beer Fest in Denver last weekend where we ran into Charlie Papazian, saw some friends from high school and Eric pissed his pants, ruining his costume as a mid-30's suburban father of one. Eric is my brew buddy who lives just south of the Wyoming line, I brew a good share of my beer at his house. Just to be fair, he didn't literally pee himself but I couldn't help myself since he is the only one reading this blog.