Ann Arborites, do you need some rich and delicious beer to sustain you in the chilly March weather? At Arbor Brewing Co. on Thursday night (March 10), big, roasty, dark-as-night beers will be on offer at the Stout Beer Tasting. ABC is at 114 E. Washington Street in downtown Ann Arbor, right between Fourth Ave. and Main St.
Beer tastings are at 7:00-9:00 the second Thursday of the month, and they are a heck of a lot of fun. Typically including 25-30 beers, the tastings feature a substantial buffet and a chance to try a nice assortment of beers and hang out with fellow craft beer enthusiasts. Oh, and let's not forget that there are door prizes at the end of the evening, too, such as glassware and brewery t-shirts. Tastings are generally around $25 in advance, $30 on tasting day.
Besides the discount, an additional incentive for picking up your tickets early is that these tastings sometimes sell out. The stout tasting was the first that Arbor Brewing ever put on, way back in 1997, and tends to feature a great combination of Irish stouts, milk stouts, coffee and chocolate stouts, imperial monsters, and other less common types.
If you come by, visit my station: I'll be more than happy to pour you a beer. Cheers!
PS: Next month, IPA's.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Thanks, Ray! Or: Dude, you saved my homebrew!
Ray Daniels, wherever you are right now, thank you! I should've read your terrific book, Designing Great Beers, sooner. It's an amazing book, and while other beloved books got me off to a great start with homebrewing, I think Designing Great Beers is the book that can take my homebrewing to the next level. With detailed information on every aspect of brewing, from water treatment to grain bills and hop additions, it's a treasure. What I found the other day is that it can even help with the little things, the things that in hindsight look simple. In brewing, simple things matter.
With my students on winter break, and their winter break not coinciding with my kids' winter break (not sure how that mismatch developed, since my employer is the dominant force in Ann Arbor), I had some time on my hands. The homebrewing bug bit me... hard... again, and I decided to brew two batches. The first was an absolutely huge imperial stout from an extract and specialty grain recipe developed by my dear friend Sean "Beer for the Daddy" Nordquist. After a little time with Beer Alchemy on my computer and going back and forth with Sean, I was good to go with the recipe, and the brew day went beautifully (nice job, Sean!). Dark as night, rich, and roasty with aromas of chocolate and coffee, the stout is now percolating away in the fermenter.
I had also been busily formulating an IPA to brew the very next day. I built the recipe on my way back from Utah and wrote a recent post about that experience, and since it was my first recipe formulated totally from scratch, I was particularly excited about it.
Although the brew day went well in many ways, my efficiency was poor. For whatever reason, my last couple of all-grain batches have suffered from low efficiency, with the grains reluctant to yield their sugars in the mash. Intent on hitting the right original gravity, I focused more on that than on volume. I ended up hitting my target gravity, but I was nearly a gallon short. A gallon less beer is a lot, particularly when you put in a whole day of effort to make the stuff. I was not entirely happy.
The solution, post-mashing, is obvious: either go with what you've got, or add some malt extract to bring the beer up to the right gravity and volume. I wanted to do the latter, but how to do so with reasonable precision? That's where Ray's book came in. I am reading it currently, soaking in gobs of information, and I remembered that he covered how to correct gravity in a really accessible, straightforward way. I grabbed the book, and before long I was sitting with a calculator and a scrap of paper figuring out exactly how much dried malt extract to boil up in a gallon of water so that I could hit the full five gallons without sacrificing the original gravity of the beer. Now, I'm not saying that you can't feel your way through this and just measure as you go, but nothing beats having hard numbers laid out in a readily applied manner. It was quick, it was easy, and it worked. I brought the beer up to volume, still hitting the gravity target, and now the IPA, too, is fermenting away. Ray's advice on this is not complicated; in fact, after reading it, I had a "now why didn't I think of that?" moment. But the point is that I didn't think of it, and he did, and he kindly put it into a very well-written book.
The IPA will be ready to rack to the secondary fermenter in about a week, where I'll dry-hop it and let it sit for awhile. As for the imperial stout, I'll bottle that in a little over a week, maybe two, and put those bottles away for a good long time to mature. It was great to brew up a couple of batches after going a long time without - it's the closest thing I've got to meditation nowadays. But the bug hasn't let go yet. Next up is a repeat of the special bitter I brewed nearly a year ago. That's still the fastest-consumed batch I've ever made, a real favorite around here. Time for more.
With my students on winter break, and their winter break not coinciding with my kids' winter break (not sure how that mismatch developed, since my employer is the dominant force in Ann Arbor), I had some time on my hands. The homebrewing bug bit me... hard... again, and I decided to brew two batches. The first was an absolutely huge imperial stout from an extract and specialty grain recipe developed by my dear friend Sean "Beer for the Daddy" Nordquist. After a little time with Beer Alchemy on my computer and going back and forth with Sean, I was good to go with the recipe, and the brew day went beautifully (nice job, Sean!). Dark as night, rich, and roasty with aromas of chocolate and coffee, the stout is now percolating away in the fermenter.
 |
| Looked and smelled like a chocolate milkshake in the kettle |
I had also been busily formulating an IPA to brew the very next day. I built the recipe on my way back from Utah and wrote a recent post about that experience, and since it was my first recipe formulated totally from scratch, I was particularly excited about it.
Although the brew day went well in many ways, my efficiency was poor. For whatever reason, my last couple of all-grain batches have suffered from low efficiency, with the grains reluctant to yield their sugars in the mash. Intent on hitting the right original gravity, I focused more on that than on volume. I ended up hitting my target gravity, but I was nearly a gallon short. A gallon less beer is a lot, particularly when you put in a whole day of effort to make the stuff. I was not entirely happy.
 |
| They looked so promising! |
The solution, post-mashing, is obvious: either go with what you've got, or add some malt extract to bring the beer up to the right gravity and volume. I wanted to do the latter, but how to do so with reasonable precision? That's where Ray's book came in. I am reading it currently, soaking in gobs of information, and I remembered that he covered how to correct gravity in a really accessible, straightforward way. I grabbed the book, and before long I was sitting with a calculator and a scrap of paper figuring out exactly how much dried malt extract to boil up in a gallon of water so that I could hit the full five gallons without sacrificing the original gravity of the beer. Now, I'm not saying that you can't feel your way through this and just measure as you go, but nothing beats having hard numbers laid out in a readily applied manner. It was quick, it was easy, and it worked. I brought the beer up to volume, still hitting the gravity target, and now the IPA, too, is fermenting away. Ray's advice on this is not complicated; in fact, after reading it, I had a "now why didn't I think of that?" moment. But the point is that I didn't think of it, and he did, and he kindly put it into a very well-written book.
The IPA will be ready to rack to the secondary fermenter in about a week, where I'll dry-hop it and let it sit for awhile. As for the imperial stout, I'll bottle that in a little over a week, maybe two, and put those bottles away for a good long time to mature. It was great to brew up a couple of batches after going a long time without - it's the closest thing I've got to meditation nowadays. But the bug hasn't let go yet. Next up is a repeat of the special bitter I brewed nearly a year ago. That's still the fastest-consumed batch I've ever made, a real favorite around here. Time for more.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Winter Beer Festival 2011
On February 26, Arbor Brewing Co. ran a beer bus to the Winter Beer Festival in Grand Rapids for those of us who wouldn't or couldn't stay overnight and were sane about the prospect of driving, and I had the pleasure of being on it. It was a nice bus, with reclining seats, DVD player, bathroom - number ONE only! said our friendly driver, and a cardinal rule: no pukers, again announced by our friendly driver. That's right, puking, even if contained, would be met with a $250 fine. Fair enough. Frankly, I love the beer bus.
Why do I love the beer bus? Simple. It got me safely - and warmly - to and from the beer fest, and the beer fest was amazing. True, I was only a couple of hours into the fest when I realized that my toes were so numb from the cold that you could probably chop them off without my noticing, but that was a small price to pay to attend this incredibly well-run, fun, friendly event. And I even ended up keeping all of my toes and thawing out in a day or two.
The state of Michigan craft beer is strong. The Michigan Brewers Guild now has over 80 member breweries, and the beer festivals hosted by the Guild are attracting record numbers of people. In addition, Guild Enthusiast memberships - for those of us who love and want to support the Michigan beer industry, and heck yes, I'm one - nearly doubled in 2010, according to the Guild. While the mega-brewers are on the decline, craft brewing is a growth industry around the country. In Michigan, where few growth industries are to be found, craft brewing is a bright spot.
We Michigan beer lovers are devoted to the success and enjoyment of that bright spot, and our beer festivals highlight what is truly a partnership between the brewers and those who love their product. Embracing the winter weather, we all tromped through the snow from station to station, talking with the brewers, sipping their elixirs, visiting the several camp fires or reaching up to the propane heaters to warm our paws a bit, and waiting for the ceremonial kegs to be tapped on the beautiful ice bar. We met new friends, reconnected with old ones, and put faces to names we knew from e-mail and Facebook.
Most of the lines, from the entrance line to the lines at most breweries' tables, were manageable. Every one of the beers I had was poured with a smile, and the brewers were happy to answer questions. The Michigan Hop Alliance - a group that I'm very excited about as they gain a foothold in this agriculturally rich and diverse state - had a nice display and some hops for sale, and I enjoyed a deep sniff of a bag of cascade hops while chatting with the growers.
Of course, I tried a lot of great beers, from barrel-aged monsters to winter warmers and experimental brews. In many cases, the festival would be my only opportunity to have a particular beer, and I didn't want to pass it up. That said, there were so many such opportunities that I had to pass many up, and all I can say is this: I can't wait for more of them this summer in Ypsilanti, when the Michigan Summer Beer Festival comes to town for two great days. In fact, I think I dreamed about it while snoozing on the nice warm beer bus on the ride back to Ann Arbor
While waiting for the summer fest, I'm going to continue to drink local and revel in my luck at living in the Great Beer State... And I think I'll also revel in still having my toes.
Why do I love the beer bus? Simple. It got me safely - and warmly - to and from the beer fest, and the beer fest was amazing. True, I was only a couple of hours into the fest when I realized that my toes were so numb from the cold that you could probably chop them off without my noticing, but that was a small price to pay to attend this incredibly well-run, fun, friendly event. And I even ended up keeping all of my toes and thawing out in a day or two.
 |
| Snow? Who cares? |
The state of Michigan craft beer is strong. The Michigan Brewers Guild now has over 80 member breweries, and the beer festivals hosted by the Guild are attracting record numbers of people. In addition, Guild Enthusiast memberships - for those of us who love and want to support the Michigan beer industry, and heck yes, I'm one - nearly doubled in 2010, according to the Guild. While the mega-brewers are on the decline, craft brewing is a growth industry around the country. In Michigan, where few growth industries are to be found, craft brewing is a bright spot.
 |
| Ceremonial kegs on the ice bar |
We Michigan beer lovers are devoted to the success and enjoyment of that bright spot, and our beer festivals highlight what is truly a partnership between the brewers and those who love their product. Embracing the winter weather, we all tromped through the snow from station to station, talking with the brewers, sipping their elixirs, visiting the several camp fires or reaching up to the propane heaters to warm our paws a bit, and waiting for the ceremonial kegs to be tapped on the beautiful ice bar. We met new friends, reconnected with old ones, and put faces to names we knew from e-mail and Facebook.
 |
| Yes, that's an ice hop cone |
Most of the lines, from the entrance line to the lines at most breweries' tables, were manageable. Every one of the beers I had was poured with a smile, and the brewers were happy to answer questions. The Michigan Hop Alliance - a group that I'm very excited about as they gain a foothold in this agriculturally rich and diverse state - had a nice display and some hops for sale, and I enjoyed a deep sniff of a bag of cascade hops while chatting with the growers.
 |
| The ice bar |
Of course, I tried a lot of great beers, from barrel-aged monsters to winter warmers and experimental brews. In many cases, the festival would be my only opportunity to have a particular beer, and I didn't want to pass it up. That said, there were so many such opportunities that I had to pass many up, and all I can say is this: I can't wait for more of them this summer in Ypsilanti, when the Michigan Summer Beer Festival comes to town for two great days. In fact, I think I dreamed about it while snoozing on the nice warm beer bus on the ride back to Ann Arbor
While waiting for the summer fest, I'm going to continue to drink local and revel in my luck at living in the Great Beer State... And I think I'll also revel in still having my toes.
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