Redfacery Post #101; A New Introduction

Greetings boozers!

Mr. Redface has graciously invited me to write guest columns on beer and brewing. My designated mission is to share my adventures in home brewing with you, the debaucherous public. Hopefully, my experiences honing the art can serve to better inform you drunks on the other end of the boozing spectrum, where all the ingredients are mixed into your drink weeks (or months) prior to intoxication.

In future posts, you can expect to read about experimental brews I'm testing out as well as tips on improving your batches. I will also use this blog to document progress on larger brewing projects that I'm working on (coming this winter... my switch to all-grain & increasing my batch volumes; coming this spring... building a fermentation chamber).

I look forward to pouring you the bubbly, carbonated knowledge for which you are all thirsting. I will leave you for this time with a few photos of my most recently finished project...

After four long years of washing and cleaning bottles, I recently made the jump to investing in a kegging system.

This is a look into the mini-fridge.

In order to fit the kegs, the freezer
compartment had to be bent down
and into the back of the fridge, and
some plastic and insulation had to
be cut and removed.

This is the business end: the CO2 regulator, tank, and gas lines.

The fruits of my labor, my very first homebrew pint on tap!

A rye pale ale, it pours perfectly and tastes like
you could drink a dozen and still crave more.

Brew On!

Mr. Beerd

[Primary: The Great Pumpkin Ale]
[Secondary: empty]
[Bottles to drink: G13 Ginger beer, Copper ale, Slamboom Imperial Stout]
[On tap: Rye pale ale]

Oh Nein Meine Trauben

Earlier this week an awesome/awful crime was committed. Around 5,500 lbs of premium grapes were stolen in the middle of the night from a German vineyard. The gutsy thieves brought their own harvester and escaped with nothing but tracks in the mud.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/bild-787436-263023.html

Instead of the desperate work of professionals, I personally hope it was a pair or trio of home-brewers out to make the wine batch of their lives. How cool would it be to have a couple years worth of premium pirated wine locked away in your cellar? Just saying.

Brewmaster in Chief - Medal of Honor

Click Here for the first post on the Brewmaster in Chief

The Medal of Honor is only given to members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her life above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States."Army Decorations Guide

There are only three living recipients of the Medal of Honor, and more than half since WWII have been awarded posthumously. Last Friday, President Obama obliged the request of the most recent recipient, former Marine Sergeant Dakota Meyer, and had a beer with him on the Oval Office patio.

 Meyer's choice of Budweiser was replaced by none other than the Brewmaster in Chief's "White House Honey Blond Ale." Whew, dodged a bullet there Mr. President - switching out the adjunct-laden Bud for some good ol' fashioned homebrew. This summer the President and his (likely the guys behind 90% of the brewing) lackeys put down some Honey Porter. Sam Calagione, founder of Dogfish Head Brewery, has been giving help and suggestions to the White House, since they are just "experimenting."

All pictures and information were taken from the White House's own blogger site, http://obamafoodorama.blogspot.com 

A Day of Rosiness - Alpenglow

Brett did not turn up, so about a quarter to six I went down to the bar and had a Jack Rose with George the bar-man. Brett had not been in the bar either, and so I looked for her upstairs on my way out, and took a taxi to the Café Select. Crossing the Seine I saw a string of barges being towed empty down the current, riding high, the bargemen at the sweeps as they came toward the bridge. The river looked nice. It was always pleasant crossing bridges in Paris.

-Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises (1926)

 

 I saw this quote in Dale Degroff's Essential Cocktail, and it seemed to add the perfect connection to this cocktail. I always love retracing a literary giant's steps, and if I can somehow manage to do that while mixing a kick-ass cocktail, it's a good day. On to the Day of Rosiness...

You've made it this far. Don't stop now - finish that afternoon beer and move on towards the twilight of your day of drinking. Before it's time to get into some serious drinking later in the night.


Jack Rose
1.5 oz Applejack
.75 oz Lemon Juice
.75 oz Simple Syrup
.5 oz Grenadine Syrup

The Jack Rose is so surprisingly good it deserves its place among the cocktail greats, even though it is relatively unknown. I can't verify this, but according to Wikipedia several Washington Post writers got sloppy drunk attempting to order Jack Roses at 60 or so bars in DC. If I were those writers, I'd attempt to get an assignment researching as many cocktails as possible that way.

 I have always been a little puzzled that Applejack faded from its colonial glory. As you can see, our first president is "rumored" to have approved heartily of Laird's Apple Jack. When the alternative was Frontier Whiskey, you can imagine that he must have loved the slightly sweeter Apple-based liquor.
I have always carried a bottle of Applejack with any bar I set up, I think of its flavor addition as a welcome surprise in many cocktails. The apple finish it adds can smooth out a drink that would otherwise be too sour or have to much alcohol burn.

Other Apple Jack or Jack Rose resources:
Blog Post on Sloshed
Imbibe Article on Applejack

She was only a Whiskey Maker but he Loved her Still

Some drinks are meant to be sipped slowly. Full appreciation of these drinks requires attention to detail with drink ingredients and proper glassware.

Just in case you don't have time for all of that foofarah separating sober you and sauced you, there's always the one line jokes of drinking - shots. Not too much shakes your face like a nice stiff shot of high-octane ethanol. A good shot of whiskey down the hatch will tingle and burn up every limb. Toss back a few tequila shots and feel the now-rounded edges get slick.

While I do not usually drink shooters, I will mention the best one I have encountered in my time, the Liquid Cocaine Shot. A couple of these shots will get you a different brand of hosed than any traditional shot.

Liquid Cocaine
3/4 oz Jaeger
3/4 oz Goldschläger

Pour Jaeger into shot glass then slowly layer on Goldschläger. If done right the two will remain unmixed (don't worry, you don't need to be all that steady to get it to stay unmixed - if you have trouble, use the back of a bar spoon).

N.B. There are a bunch of other recipes for this, usually with Rumplemintz or º151, usually shaken with ice then strained into a shot glass. I only chose this one because it's the one I know, I can't honestly recommend any of the others having not tried them. Credit for the recipe goes to my friend Jake Itzkowitz.



I'm off to down a shot or two of Rye Whiskey. It's good to be back to Redfacery again.