Musical Beer Bottle

I hope these guys find a larger brewer and distributor, this idea is amazing!

Tuned Pale Ale

Beer bottles labeled so you know how much to drink for each musical note. Way cool idea, and to quote them: "Get some friends together with a case, start a band, and get Tuned"

 

I saw this on Laughingsquid.com

Congratulations, Yuengling!

D.G. Yuengling and Son is now the largest All-American brewery, having just passed Boston Beer Co. in production a few weeks ago. Thankfully, Budweiser and MillerCoors do not count since they are no longer American companies and some of their production is overseas.

As a personal fan of Yuengling lager as well as Yuengling Black & Tan, I tip my glass to them. It is refreshing to see such a successful family owned & operated business.

-Mr. Beerd
Primary: Chilly FeBREWary Lager; Rastafar-Rye
Aging: Witch's Brew Double Pumpkin Ale; Edwort's Organic Apfelwein
On tap: Chilly Guestroom Lager; Dunkeldude; Shovel I.P.L.

Rick Santorum - Beer Lover

This weekend unlikely GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum did something I wish more candidates would do. And he did it without the hilarious and pitiful result that Hillary had four years ago.

From Chicago Sun-Times

 Santorum went to Millstream Brewery in Iowa and waxed lyrical about beer. I appreciate a candidate who can actually taste a beer and decide if it's any good. I can't describe typical American Beer consumption as anything other than lazy. Why oh why would you settle for Miller/Bud/Coors every time when five seconds of tasting a six pack that's almost as cheap (and possibly cheaper based on alcohol content) will tell you what types of beer you enjoy.




As Santorum went on, he displayed one of my main issues with social conservatism - he's willing to think about some important things like beer and be totally thoughtless on others. At the bottom of the Huffington Post article, he bares his stripes: "Instead of the story of the prince and the princess, there will be stories about two princes." Yeah, because gay marriage being made legal (or, more precisely, it was declared in violation of the state's constitution to ban it) will totally make it so all children are corrupted by stories about gay princes. The creepy stories we already have definitely make all kids sleep with 7 dwarfs, wear glass footwear, and stay in castles with large hairy and violent beasts. Not to mention kleptomania induced sing-alongs with Robin-Williams blue genies. Stick to drinking beer Rick, you won't have my vote ever.

It's Pumpkin Time

Boo-zers! It is that time again... this year's hop harvests are wrapping up and the pumpkin harvest is beginning to crank up! But what to do with all that pumpkin... make some ale! The first ale that yours truly ever brewed was a pumpkin ale, and it is still a seasonal favorite, and not just because of my love affair with the Great Pumpkin.

This season, I am rising the Great one up from the patch with four different batches of pumpkin ale, just so he knows I've been patiently brewing and waiting for him all year long.

With that said, allow me to discuss with you some things that, to me, make the distinction between optimum red-faced pumpkin madness and just your regular old boozehoundery.

First and foremost: USE REAL PUMPKIN!
Disturbingly often, one will hear of people trying to get away with making a pumpkin ale that contains 0.00% pumpkin, and instead creating the flavor of a pumpkin ale with spices only. A few notable benefits of using real pumpkin include: higher alcohol content, thicker texture that is characteristic of a fine pumpkin ale, and extra badass points for using big vegetables in your boil.

I've spoken with some brewers who are afraid to use pumpkin because of all the mess it makes, and thus, don't know how to use it. Thus, here's a quick run-through of how to do it right:

a) Get pumpkins: small sugar pumpkins are best, but a medium size like the one pictured furthest to the right will do as well

b) cut into halves, remove seeds and guts
(optional) add pumpkin pie spice

c) bake skin-side-up on 375F for ~90min.
The flesh should be cooked now. Take it out
and remove the skin and the stem. Now, add
it to your beer when you start boiling*

*Boiling your pumpkin for 60 minutes is pretty standard, but you will lose all the pumpkin flavor and gain all its fermentable sugars and the thick texture. I have heard of people adding pumpkin at the last minute for flavor, but I cannot speak in favor if this latter technique.

With that out of the way, let us now delve into the rest of what makes a pumpkin beer unique... the spices!

Typical pumpkin beers include such spices as cinnamon, allspice, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. I'm always experimenting with when and how much, but generally using 1-2 tsp (per 5gal of beer) of your preference of spices in the flavoring-aroma stages of the boil (30-10 minutes left). Adding a dash of vanilla extract at bottling is also occasionally done, I'll be trying this for the first time soon. I have heard of people adding powdered lactose (non-fermentable milk sugars) after fermentation ends as well, to really thicken up the flavor, but I just don't have the heart to do it. Ultimately, it's a matter of pumpkin-y preference, so do what sounds the most delicious to you!

That is all of my gourd-derived wisdom for you libation-lovers today. Spend this October and Halloween drinking pumpkin ales and getting into drunken mischief; may the Great Pumpkin be with you!

Infernally fermenting,
Mr. Beerd

[primary: Palouse Pumpkin Porter]
[secondary: Big-Ass Pumpkin Beer]
[tap 1: Rye Pale Ale]
[tap 2: The Great Pumpkin's Ale]

Inventive Brewing - "The Bacon Deluge"

An Uncommon Beer for the Uncommon Brewery. I don't have much to say about this other than that I love bacon, and I will be checking my end of the I-80 corridor for the pounders of bacon beer later this year. Expect an update when I get a taste - or get me a taste and I'll get you an update.

Cheers to inventive brewers.

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]

A Tribute Cocktail to the 1927 Mississippi Flood

As will typically happen given the reality of 24-hour news coverage, I got bored with stories about the Mississippi river flooding several days ago. Having lived through one serious flood in my life, I certainly empathize with those effected, but don't have any need to hear the same story thirty-five times in a row.
That said, Wednesday afternoon I heard a story with a different take on NPR - the music of the 1927 flood. What really caught me was when they played a section from Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe McCoy's "When the Levee Breaks". The legendary Led Zeppelin song - yeah - it was a cover of this song.

 

Inspired by the music of the 1927 flood, and in honor of the current flooding, I present to you my very own Muddy Delta Cocktail. 

Muddy Delta
1 oz American Honey (Wild Turkey Whiskey)

3 Tbsp Demerara Sugar

1/2 oz Dark Rum

Guinness

I know this recipe is in a funny format - I put them in the order you prepare and not the way I usually put things down. 

First pour the whiskey into a pony shot glass (1 oz glass). Set aside. Spoon the Demerara sugar into a wet ~10 oz rocks glass. Swirl the glass to make sure the sides are coated about 3/4 of the way up. Add the dark rum and then pop open your Guinness and pour it in. Before the Guinness has cleared, turn to whomever you are drinking with and say: "If it keeps on rainin'"- Eliciting the response: "Levee's goin' to break" - Drop the whiskey in and take a long slow drought.

A few notes about this cocktail: You may use brown sugar or raw sugar if you don't have Demerara laying around. Though a few bucks at a natural food market will get you enough Demerara to last you a year or two. There is (obviously) too much sugar in this cocktail. The intention is for you to have some sediment on the bottom and froth all down the glass when you finish.

Finally, here is the original recipe I started with, which got the response "Uck, it tastes like muddy water" from my taster.

Muddy Delta 1.0

2 Tbsp Demerara Sugar

3-4 Dashes Fee Brothers Bitters

Guinness

1.5 Oz Scotch

Beer Fast and Bacon

Ever since I came across the Modern Drunkard article on beer fasting, I have wondered what the experience would be like. I did a fast once - only 72 hours, but it was enough to go through a few of the thought processes that seem to go through fasters' brains and bodies. And no, this is not the part where I tell you about my bowel movements.

A recent successful beer fast by J. Wilson for lent was impressive. He brewed his own beer for the experiment, pictured above, and kept an inspiring blog throughout his fast. And, he finished it all off with a bacon smoothie.Check out his blog for the full details, but here is his video post for his 40th day.

Cheers to you J. Wilson.

Kirin Brewery Hit Hard by Tsunami

The earthquake and tsunami in Japan spared nothing and no one - not even breweries! Kirin's brewery in Northern Japan was hit hard. It sits right on the harbor and you can see the giant tanks of beer that have been knocked down. I just hope the next picture that comes out of this brewery is the workers having lashed the tanks together and creating a drunken raft to float on to safety...

Map of Kirin's Brewery in Northern Japan
Wikipedia Article about Kirin Brewing Company 

Yet Another Reason I Love Binder Clips

Ingenuity.  It is a perfect word to describe drinkers across the world.  No, it's not going to stop any wars, or save anyone's life.  And no, it won't even make your life all that different, but to me, there's something downright inspiring about this kind of thinking. 

Plus, I love binder clips.
 

 From Muteboy's Flickr page

Drunk Calculus

Hello, and welcome back to Redfacery.  I know it's been a long time, but I've been busy adventuring.

Back to the matter at hand:

Drunk Calculus:

Whenever you're planning on getting drunk, it's important that you have enough booze - there's nothing worse than having a place, and the time, but no more liquid joy.  

As I mentioned above, I just got back from adventuring.  Since I've been gone so long, I'm sure you could imagine that there was a considerable amount of planning that went into that there adventure; and you'd be right.  From the 3 calories in each Altoid, to the stashes of book matches littering the gear, everything had a purpose and a place.

But we screwed up our Drunk Calculus. 

We figured two strapping young men out in the woods for four weeks would be more than happy with the luxury of three bottles of whiskey.  Two high proof ones, and one crap bottle to finish first.

We could not have been more wrong.  175 beers and 6 bottles of ethanol later, we'd moistened our trail-dusted throats sufficiently.  Carting around 12 pack after 12 pack of unspeakably bad beers, it occurred to me that there is a certain mathematics that goes into drinking.  There are particular numbers for everything in the wide world of drinking: 17 shots in a fifth, 9 ingredients in a Slickheel Lemonade, 12 ice cubes in a tray, and even unknowable ones, like how many ice cubes Justin Bieber puts in his drinks. 

What's important to learn here is that you should follow this simple equation in the future when calculating how much booze you'll need to achieve the desired level of drunkenness:

Number of people is straightforward, but drinks per person can be a little tricky.  I suggest you think about how many beers a healthy 25 year old could pound in an evening, add how many appletinis a slim girl could drink and divide by two. I find that 6-8 is a pretty good number when I'm throwing a party, but 12-15 is much more reliable when it's just a few pals shooting the shit.

The drunk factor is the party index more or less - if you want a rager, then make it huge, just be sure to have adequate blankets + puke boxes for people who tap out without making it home.  I suggest here that you make it somewhat proportional to the number of people expected.  If there are only five people there, and you want a calm night, make it 5-10, but if you expect 25, and you want the party to take off around 1am and not look back until pepper vodka smells like roses, make it 35-50.

Humanity I love you because when you're hard up you pawn your intelligence to buy a drink.

  - E. E. Cummings

"Party Beer"

When choosing which "party beer" to buy, I think there are a lot more factors than are usually consciously acknowledged.  Whether you're bringing a six pack to a byob party, or stocking a fridge for a house party, what you pick out matters. 
A few years ago, as I hosted weekly pre-party power hours, one week I had forgotten to get the drinks for the girls who weren't drinking beer with everyone else.  I called a friend and begged him to stop by the distributor and pick up a case of Boone's Farm.  After pleading, and promising never to make him get it again, he did.  Rather than letting him carry it out, the clerk carted it out for him and loaded it into the car.  My friend couldn't show his face there for months without getting laughed at. 




I mention this story for several reasons:  Even when hosting a power hour, most of your guests have strong preferences on what they drink.  If you want them to come next time, you have to ensure they're happy, even if their drink of choice is... ...gross.  Secondly, the brand of booze favored varies among groups of friends, and over time.  Rarely are brands set in stone, but no matter what amount of beer you're buying, you'll make a better choice if you think about the size, type, and purpose of the party.

Personally, I have no go-to beer.  I drink or bring Lion's Head whenever I can with people from college, as it's a local beer in PA.  I drink or choose PBR quite often as well.  What's your go-to, and for what kind of gathering?

Homebrew Update - Drinking!

Well, this is certainly overdue.  I had the first bottle of Red Irish Ale two weeks ago, and it was delicious.  As I'd said, I was skeptical about it at bottling time.  The amount of sediment was off-putting, and the taste was overpowering.

I guess this makes me a little more experienced at brewing now, as I'm more willing to be comfortable with a strong taste or a doubtful beer.  Lesson learned - don't jump the gun.

The Red Irish Ale was just a shade or two darker than it could have been, and a shade or two cloudier than it could have been, but as my father said "I've bought ales at brewpubs that were worse than this." Now that's the kind of endorsement I love.

If you brew, I must recommend that you take the investment and buy a few cases of 22oz bottles (or pint ones if you'd really prefer), because it is worlds away from the labor that went into finding, washing, de-labeling, and sanitizing bottles when I made wine for years.  I'm sure there are many more erudite recommendations I could make, but in terms of hassle saved, having clean, unused bottles was a huge step up.  Next I think I'll spring for a bottle-washing brush, I'm getting tired of using the bent-hangar-and-rag method.

I'll include pictures when I get to it, but don't hold your breath - I'm away for the rest of the summer adventuring among other things - posts should be spotty.

Homebrew Update - Bottling

Last Monday, I bottled my Irish Red!  It came to exactly 24 22oz bottles - or 4 gallons.  I'd been prepared for the fluid loss, but 1/3 loss?? Must have been that 36 hours I didn't manage to check on it while it was in primary, and when I looked, the airlock had blown off the carboy, and flown almost 15 feet away.  It took me nearly ten minutes just to find the thing.

Anyway, here are a few pics of the bottling process:

Freshly sterilized bottles










The carboy as it losses contents...






Ant's eye view into the bottle

 Halfway there!








All done!  Now the trick is only to wait another two weeks - or a week from the time of this post.  Then it'll be time to drink.

After the preview I had from taking the hydrometer reading, I'm expecting it to be crisply hoppy, but chock-full of sediment.  Not exactly the ideal beer in my estimation.  But it'll be something to build on.  Update next weekend after I've tried a few.

Donkey Draughts

Well, now we all know what to feed our livestock.

Homebrew Update

Well, my first home-brew beer in a while is doing well.  I had to clean and put the airlock back on four times over the course of the first four days - one time it took me nearly ten minutes to find the body of the airlock and cork, as they'd flown nearly ten feet away.

I guess I'll have to learn as I do more of these.  I feel a little like I have too much sediment in the beer, and I'm hoping it really clears up over its time in secondary.  I won't really be able to call it red ale if it's opaque and brown.

Racked into secondary, so all that remains is to wait it out! Then condition, bottle, and finally drink.

Not sure what I'll make to follow it, but I'm thinking of starting another batch when I bottle this one, that way I'll have plenty of beer for the weeks I'm home during the summer.

Redface's Red Ale #1

What a week I had.  I felt like I accomplished a lot this week, from getting a job, to building a wood burning stove, to 'floating' at the math and science night.  But Friday topped the week off.  I stopped at the only brew supply store anywhere near me, and got all I needed to restart brewing.

It'd been a while, so in order to not screw everything up by being rusty, I relied on my wine-brewing sense to slow everything down.  That might've been the most important thing Jake and I learned when we brewed all those batches years ago - as long as you don't rush things, you'll end up with some good booze.  As simple as that. 

Well, anyway, here's my first solo brew:














This morning it was bubbling away - a sure sign that Booze is on it's way.

More to come on the homebrew front!

"Beer is a Popular Product"

Awaiting further developments on this one.  I really hope the end result is that the one guy who 'might face disciplinary measures' ends up getting fined some paltry amount - a far cry from the 25 cases he ended up getting I hope. 

Either way, it never ever occurred to me that someone would throw away beer that was expired, let alone that they would destroy it.  I will not sleep easy knowing that tonight some innocent beer will be ruthlessly destroyed just because the FDA has declared it unfit for consumption.

(By the way, click the post title for the link ;-)  )