Interview- Scott from East End Brewing Company

In January on a trip to Pittsburgh to visit my in-laws, I went on visit to the East End Brewery. I had read about it awhile back and was really impressed with Scott's approach to brewing and sustainability. When I started interviewing brewers, Scott was one of the first ones I sent. I had debated sending him another email since I didn't want to seem pesky, but I'm really glad I did. Scott, quickly responded with some great answers. I'm glad I have the chance to make it back at least once a year and support a brewery with a great approach and great beer.

1. How did you get started? Were you a homebrewer first?
I was a homebrewer for about 8 or 9 years before quitting my day job
and turning my sights to brewing full time. Like any homebrewer,
starting with that first batch, there's that nagging voice in the
back of your head saying "maybe I can do this full time?".
I suppose I just listen to those voices in my head more than
the average person.

2. What were some of the challenges of getting started?
Ugh... where to begin?  I've repressed most of those memories.
  Building any business from scratch is challenging, and a beer-making
business even more so I think - the regulatory side can be
exhausting.  I did nearly all the installation personally
(plumbing, some electrical, evena bit of welding), nearly all the
graphics for the beers, the licensing with the state and the feds,
and of course all the recipes for the beers.  The big challenge was
figuring out how all this stuff works since I've never brewed
commercially before, but the DIY approach I took
left me quite educated... delayed by 8 months, but educated.

 3. You have a lot of great information on your website about 
 sustainability. Could you briefly explain what you do to be
sustainable in your brewery?
Everything we do here has an eye toward what I believe to be our
responsibility to conserve resources.  The brewery was constructed
in a re-purposed building, and almost entirely out of used equipment.
We're also set up to reclaim our cooling water used in each brew day,
and that hot water becomes the makeup water for the following day's
brew.  Our regular operation generates almost ZERO SOLID WASTE -
spent grain goes to a local dairy farmer, kettle trub and spent hops
go to a community garden for composting, and 100% of our
packaging - kegs and growlers, is reusable.  About once a month,
I take a kitchen sized bag of trash to the curb, and that's mostly
made up of trash people bring in to the brewery with them.

 4. What are the most important reasons for being sustainable in
your opinion? It's just the right thing to do.  I'm looking forward to
thenext step in this brewery's life where we can take some BIG leaps
forward on the energy conservation front - possibly a waste oil
burner for heating brewing water, roof top solar water preheaters...
I could go on.

 5. In a traditonal "lager" town of Pittsburgh, have you found it
hard to establish a fan base for the types of beers you brew, or
has there been a good reception?
While I agree that PA in general has a wonderful history of lager
brewing, Pittsburgh is definitely a "Pittsburgh" town - and by that,
I mean that people here really give first priority to the local guy, and
that has opened some doors for me with bar owners and getting them
to put the beers on tap.  Of course, that door comes slamming shut
if the beer isn't up to snuff, or if it just isn't moving well.  People
will support the local guy, but if they don't do what's right for their
business, they won't be in business for very long.  So, it's up to me
to make the beers interesting to their customers, to help them be
successful with it.
6. How is the hop shortage going to affect your brewery or
your beers? 
It's going to be ugly... and it's not just a matter of price increases
either.  It's a matter of not being able to get certain varieties of
hops AT ALL.  This, from a brewer whose flagship beer is
Big Hop IPA, which happens to make up about 60-70% of
total brewing production.  I'll be out of hops for it before the
summer is over, and I really don't know what I'm going to do.

7. What should people know about East End Brewing?
Well, most people assume we're a brewpub, as that's the norm in
this area.  While we have open tastings 4 days a week, I can't sell
you a pint of beer here.  And the only food in the place is what I
packed for lunch today, and I don't recommend that. That said,
if you'd like to try the beers and take some home with you, we're
open during Growler Hours Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from
5-7pm, Saturdays from noon to 5pm.  We've always got an ever
changing lineup of 6 or 7 on tap plus a couple bottle conditioned
offerings.  The place isn't very well marked, so check out the map
on www.EastEndBrewing.com before coming out.
Or call me at 412-537-2337 and I'll "talk you in".

8. What advice do you have for homebrewers?
Enjoy yourself - and brew frequently.  Try not to do to so many
extra steps that you come to dread your brew day, that way
you'll stay with it.  Oh, and be careful: You might just find
yourself in a chilly unmarked warehouse someplace, trying
to figure out how to put a whole bunch equipment together
to make beer!

Thanks for your time. I appreciate your participation.
And I really enjoyed my visit to the East End.
I live in Minnesota, but my in-laws are from Pittsburgh,
so I plan on stopping by the next time in town.

My pleasure Eric, and I hope to see you soon!
Cheers,
Scott

www.EastEndBrewing.com
BUY A GOOD FRIEND A GOOD BEER (TM)

Beer Review- Dogfish Head Chicory Stout

I've read a lot about Dogfish Head Beers and I've always been really interested to try some of their unique beers. As someone who enjoys trying to be creative with beer styles, founder Sam Calagione is someone I greatly admire. Dogfish Head is sadly not available in Minnesota, so finally on a trip to Chicago, I got my first taste. I tried the Indian Brown Ale, which was good, and I picked up a six pack of their Chicory Stout. I've really been into stouts lately, and this beer is brewed with chicory and organic Mexican coffee...it sounded excellent!

This beer pours a dark chocolate color with a two finger tan head that dissolves into a thin foamy layer. Immediately you pick up on the coffee/roastiness in the aroma. You can also pick up a bit of chocolatey and chicory presence as well.
I found it to be a very smooth and lighter body with a great creamy feel. It has very little sweetness, but instead has a great chalky coffee flavor and some bitterness. It feels closer to a porter in some ways because of how smooth it is, but the coffee and chicory really give it a unique taste and take away some of the roastier flavors that you would expect. A very, very good beer and one I wish I could have access to.

I'm going to hold off my Butte Creek review because I just picked up a couple other organic beers and I'll be reviewing them together. I also just got some great responses to some questions I sent East End Brewing Company that I'll be posting this weekend.
Salud!
The Bearded Brewer

Beer Review- Tripel Karmeliet

Let me start this off by saying that while I enjoy Belgian beers, I'm not fanatical about them. I enjoy aspects of a lot of Belgian beers, and in particular appreciate the complexity and craftsmanship that goes into them.
Of the Abbey Ales, I have found that I often times can only enjoy one or two before craving something darker, roastier or hoppier. I think that the complexity of flavors in a Belgian Dubbel can be kind of overwhelming at times, and while I can appreciate Belgian pale ales like Delirium Tremens and Duvel, I would have to say they wouldn't be my first choice of a beer to drink.
But Belgian Tripels are a dangerous genre of beer for me. There is something very refreshing if a Belgian Tripel is done right, and usually with ABVs in the 8-10 range, they can be easy to drink and not easy to stand up afterwards. With that said, I have been introduced to a new, and dangerous triple: Tripel Karmaliet

Poured into the official goblet (that's right, I'm that guy now), the beer pours a light golden color with a thick three finger white head that dissipates into a thin white foam. There is only a slight musty/yeasty smell that I normally associate with Belgians, but this gives way to a sweet, slightly caramely aroma with a hint of fruitiness.
It has quite a bit of carbonation and while there is a little hint of fruit, there is more of a caramel or candy sweetness. There is very little of the alcohol heat that I normally associate with Belgians. I wrote down "scary smooth and sweet" because I think this a beer you could drink a few of before you realized it. Overall, this is a beer that is probably going to become part of the rotation. Not to mention...I have this kick ass goblet that needs to be filled!

Later this week I'm going to review two other beers I brought back from my trip to Chicago, Dogfish Head's Chicory Stout and Butte Creek's Organic Porter.
Salud!
The Bearded Brewer

The Damn Map Room!

This past weekend my wife, 8 month old daughter and I braved 6 hours in a car to go visit some friends in Chicago. The time in the car was a bit rough on my daughter at times, but all in all it was a great trip.
One of the places that I absolutely had to hit on my visit was the Map Room in the Bucktown area of Chicago. Before I go on to my thoughts on the Map Room, I have to explain a bit of a back story.
My good friend Josh (who the Bangy Tangy is named after, and inspired several of my Belgians) is the person who introduces me to a lot of Belgian beers. Josh moved from Phoenix to Chicago this last year and has been telling me about the Map Room since he first got to Chicago. So in October, I took a long weekend to go visit Josh (and of course the Map Room). The plan all along was to hit the Map Room on Saturday. Friday we went to Goose Island Brewpub and Josh got food poisoning. So Saturday, I spent the day playing video games while he puked most of the previous night out. As you can imagine...we didn't make it to the Map Room.
A few weeks later, I read an article about it in the Great Lakes Brewing News, and then saw it listed in the Beer Advocate's list of best beer bars. As Josh put it "it made that Saturday hurt a bit more." So this time, we were getting to the damn Map Room. Friday we went out to lunch in the area, but then had a hard time finding it, and there was a small snow storm. Fearing a long commute back to the suburbs, we didn't go to the Map Room. I was starting to wonder if fate did not want me to go to this mecca of beer! Finally, on Saturday, we made it to the Map Room (after getting lost again) and I said that this better be the best fucking bar I've ever been to!
Well, it pretty much is.
We offer over 200 unique brands representing 36 different brewing styles from the U.S. and all over the globe. Whether you choose from of our 26 taps, a cask-conditioned ale on handpump, or one of our bottled beers, the quality and selection is world-class. The proper glass is always used for each style, then rinsed before serving to insure optimal head retention.

The Map Room certainly doesn't disappoint. The ambiance is exactly up my alley, with a long old bar, small amounts of tables, and a very laid back, old/shitty bar atmosphere. There is an eclectic mix of old National Geographics, maps, flags, atlases, and other decorations to complete the feel. And the beers...an extremely impressive list. I am going to spare the reviews because of the length of this post as it is. I had two drafts: the Three Floyds Alpha King, an excellent hoppy ale from Indiana. And also Dogfish Head's Indian Brown Ale, also very good. Overall, the bar was well worth the wait and I could have spent hours and hours at this bar. Next time, that's the plan!

We consumed a lot of great beer this weekend. I was a kid in a candy store at the liquor store because there were a lot of beers I can't find here that were available in Illinois. This week I'll be reviewing Dogfish Head Chicory Stout, Butte Creak Organic Porter, and Triple Karmeliet. But instead of reviewing all the beers we drank, I'll just give a quick run down of some of the great beers we drank:
Triple Karmaleit
Chimay Cinq Cent
Delirum Tremens
Duvel
Allagash White Ale
Allagash Grand Cru
Hop Rye IPA
Dogfish Head Chicory Stout
Dogfish India Brown Ale
Butte Creek Organic Porter
St. Peters India Pale Ale

There might be a couple I'm forgetting. I really enjoyed both of the Allagash beers, fell in love with Triple Karmaliet, and really liked both of the Dogfishes I had. I spent way too much money at the liquor store and could have kept going! Great trip, great beer, and of course, a damn good bar!
All in all a great way to end my spring break.
Salud!
The Bearded Brewer

Tale of Two Brews

Sometimes I make bad choices when it comes to fitting in time to brew. As you can tell from the amount of beer I brew, and the variety of beer, lets just say that I have a slight obsession. I was talking with a friend last night about how what I should do is choose 5 beers that I have made that really stand out and just brew those and perfect them. I've actually had that "plan" several times. But my problem is that I'm constantly inspired, either I read about a style, I try a new beer I really like, I come up with a cool name or concept, etc. The creative side of me is never satisfied, and thus I'm constantly brewing new beers.
The reason I mention this, is that sometimes I am so eager to get the beer brewed that every once and awhile I try to juggle to many things, while brewing because...well, I really want to get the beer brewed so I can move the focus on to the next beer I have stewing in my head. Recently, I had an experience of banging out a beer while trying to care for my infant daughter and help out my wife with some stuff, all at the same time. That was not a good idea...

El Jefe: This is a beer that I made for my oldest and closest friend, Jeff. I had been toying around with different styles and recipes for this particular beer for awhile and settled on a light, Belgian pale ale. I was inspired by beers like Stone Soup from New Glarus, and recently Springboard from New Belgium. Basically something light, fruity, with some interesting flavors but not overwhelmingly alchohly like say Delirums, or Duvel.
The brewing started off fine, but I ran into complications later in the boil, including missing the time I intended to put in the last of my extract, (supposed to be @ 15, and I put it in @5), due to a freaking out baby. I thought "I'll just let it boil for awhile longer" and so....that's what I did. I don't know what the official time was, probably somewhere around a 75 minute boil, which of course throws off my hop schedule. But since it wasn't intended to be a hoppy beer, that wasn't much of an issue. I bottled the beer this weekend, and it tasted nice and light with a hint of those Belgian flavors I was going for...we'll see how it pans out after some time conditioning. Bottom line...juggling a baby and beer making makes for a more stressful experience than I ever want it to be and hopefully doesn't result in shitty beer. If it ends up being good, I'll just chalk it up to my amazing skills :) Or more realistically the fact that in the end...its not that hard to make beer.

Irie Stout: Now for the exact opposite experience. I have this week off from work due to spring break, so I intended to get this beer brewed that I had been wanting to brew for awhile. I wanted to brew a Caribbean style stout, using orange peels and some spices to balance out the roastiness. I'm excited because I think this is going to be a very good beer. The recipe was extract, which was one less step than partial mashing, and I had plenty of time, no baby duties and a steady dose of Bob Marley playing during the brewing. I had intended for the beer to be at around 1.083 for starting gravity and ended up with 1.093, which is fine because I wanted a bigger beer. After the debacle with El Jefe, if this was the only thing to go wrong...fuck it! It's currently bubbling away and I'm excited for this beer. And the brewing experience was nice and relaxing, a great way to spend a snowy (still!) day in mid March.
For the record the following albums were listened to while brewing Irie Stout:
Babylon by Bus, Uprising, and Talking Blues.
Salud!
The Bearded Brewer

Beer Reviews- New Belgium, Millstream

This week I've been meaning to get to some beer reviews of some great beers I've been enjoying as I wait for a couple of my own beers to get ready. Let me just take quick minute to profess my love for New Belgium Brewing Company. On a trip to Colorado about 7 years ago, I really fell in love with craft beers after drinking beers from Boulder Brewing Company, Flying Dog, and New Belgium. My wife and I brought back a case of Fat Tire, and it became a habit that friends would bring us back Fat Tire or we would do the same if we were headed back from Colorado or Nebraska. This summer, the buzz in the Twin Cities was that Fat Tire bombers (along with 1554 and Mothership Wit) were coming to the cities after a 10 year hiatus. There were literally lines around the block at some liquor stores. I wasn't one who was waiting (I swear) but I was more than excited. Well, this past week, six packs and 12 packs of New Belgium have arrived, including Folly Packs (samplers) and seasonals. The Folly Packs included 1554, Fat Tire, Mothership Wit, and a limited release. In this one, its Mighty Arrow Pale Ale.

One other quick note, and this could be a post all its own....its important to mention that New Belgium is quite possibly the most socially responsible brewery in the country. They are employee owned, completely sustainable, wind powered, and participate in a number of causes.
You can check out more here: http://www.newbelgium.com/sustainability.php

Ok...enough of my long winded intro, onto the beer reviews.
The limited release included in the Folly Pack was Mighty Arrow Pale Ale:
This beer pours a bronze color with a thin white head. I think it has a really nice floral and citrusy aroma to it. I wasn't expecting such a solid pale ale from them since most of their beers tend to have a unique flavor profile, but this is a great pale ale. Its not overly hoppy by any means, and the body is fairly light. But there's a great caramel presence in the body and a slight biscuit flavor I'd expect from Fat Tire or 2 Below. Throughout the beer, the hops are definitely there, and there's just a nice clean flavor to the rest of the beer. A damn good pale ale, and one I hope comes around more frequently. I'd put this up with Summit Extra Pale Ale as a pale I'd buy when I just want a really good PA.

Springboard Ale: This is their spring seasonal and is more of what I was expecting of a New Belgium release. Here's their description: SPRINGBOARD combines oats, ancient Chinese herbs and Mt. Hood hops to maintain a balanced equilibrium for such an exhilarating ale.
It states its brewed with Wormwood, Goji Berries, and Schisandra. The beer pours a cloudy, light yellow, with a thin but lacy white head. It has a very sweet and fruity aroma, with a definite yeasty presence. A really crisp, but sweet beer, this is a very interesting, easy drinking ale. I think this could be an easy beer to drink a lot of, its sweet like most Belgian beers, but really crisp and refreshing. Overall a unique, great drinking beer.

The final beer for this review is not from New Belgium, but from what is quickly becoming another favorite brewery of mine,
Millstream Brewing Co. from Amana, Iowa. On his last trip back from Iowa, my friend Jeff brought up a six pack of Schild Brau Amber, their flagship beer. I was excited to try this beer, since the other two I've had of theirs have been excellent. This beer is an 11 time medal winner at the GABF, including 4 in a row. It's described as a Vienna lager. The beer pours a reddish, copper color with a thin off white head. It has a wonderful malty body with some caramely sweetness, and a touch of spicy hoppiness. Its interesting because despite its malty body and dark color, its crisp like a lager. Yet another excellent beer from Millstream, I can't pick a favorite of the three I've had, but I think I'm going to have to keep bugging Jeff to bring back more every time he goes down to Iowa. Here's my review of their Iowa Pale Ale and John's White.
Salud!
The Bearded Brewer

Interview with Roots Brewing Company

Number 5 in my brewery interview series is with Craig Nicholls, one of two founders of Roots Organic Brewing Company in Portland, Oregon. They been around for 3 years and were Portland's first all-organic brewery. Craig took some time to answer some questions:

First off, how long have you been a brewery?
We are having our third year anniversary This weekend 3-15. So 3 yr. old

How did you get started?
Both My partner And I got started home brewing, me (Craig) about 22 years ago, Jason about 15 years ago. We both worked for big breweries. I did my intern at Rogue Brewery, worked Bridgeport , Opened Alameda brewing in 96, left in 99, worked for three other breweries until I opened up Roots in 2005. Jason worked for McMenamins for eight years.

Did you go into brewing with the goal to be organic or to market to that niche?
Yes, Organic has been the plan for the last 7 years.

Has it been difficult for you to be able to find organic grains and hops?
Partly because of what we’ve done, it has gotten easier because we’ve created more of a demand and the maltsters are making more for us and everyone. So no it has not been difficult to access grain. Hops on the other hand are a bit sketchy, but we’ve always contracted so it has not affected us to much.

What are some things you do at your brewery to be sustainable or minimize your environmental impact?

All our spent grain goes to the pig farmers or compost, we compost our entire food waist in the restaurant, we use green chemicals in the brewery and in the restaurant, we use all organic ingredients or all natural when available and we recycle everything possible.

I noticed you were involved with Center for Environmental Equity, what are some other causes you've been involved in?
The Leukemia Lymphoma society, Locks of Love

How has the response to your organic beer been? Do you think there's a high demand for organic craft beer? Where do you see the market for organic beer going?
The response has been overwhelming as we had expected it to be. This is the time of change and the demand for organics has never been greater. The market is the way of the future.

Where do you see your distribution headed?

Its already going big time. We’re in the whole state of Or. Wa., and Cal. , and on our way to Id. , Alaska , and Az.

I suggest you check out their website, http://www.rootsbrewing.com/. In addition to making great organic beer, they are also presenting the North American Organic Brewers Festival in Portland this summer June 27,28,29. They also are involved in some great causes through their brewery and hosting art shows at their brewpubs. Definitely taking on a social element that I would want to emulate if I ever started a similar operation.

Thanks to Craig for taking the time.

Salud!

The Bearded Brewer

Monday Randomness

I will be posting some beer reviews this week, as well as reflecting on a less than ideal brewing situation with my last beer, El Jefe. I have spring break coming up, so I'm excited to brew a couple more beers in the near future. One being my version of a Foreign Extra Stout. In my recent "study" of stouts, I discovered a new favorite, Lion Stout, a foreign stout from Sri Lanka. I remembered reading an article in BYO by Jamil Zainasheff about this style, and was interested. Then in my quest to open my mind to stouts, I came across Lion, and have since revisited this article. So next week I plan on brewing Irie Stout, my twist on the style, which at this time looks like its going to be an organic stout brewed with orange peels and molasses just to add some interesting flavors to it. Anyway, I found this article about fermenting sugars that I thought was interesting:

http://www.geocities.com/lesjudith/HomeBrewingTips/AlternativeBrewingSugars.html

Thanks to people for checking in on my last post, my organic brewing essay. A special thanks to Chris at Beer Activist for including me in the session. I think my hits tripled this weekend as a result of being part of the session. It was a cool thing to reflect on and really interesting reading other bloggers' posts about the same topic.

Also, a special thanks to Marcus at Final Gravity. A very good blog (and great name!) and another brewer contemplating making organic beers. Marcus and I exchanged some emails about some recipes, and I'm honored that he asked me if I'd be interested in participating in a new series of interviews called the "Brew Crew" in which he'll be interviewing beer bloggers. Great concept, I'm always interested in learning more about the bloggers who share this hobby. I look forward to his future interviews. I encourage people to check out his blog.

Also, this week I plan on reviewing another great beer Jeff brought back from his last trip to Iowa, yet another good offering from Mill Stream Brewing Company. Also...New Belgium has brought six and twelve packs to Minnesota!!! Including a Folly Pack (sampler) with their pale ale and their Spring seasonal: Springboard. I'll be reviewing those this week. Stay tuned.
Salud!

The Bearded Brewer

My Organic Revelation

This post kind of feels like a "what organic brewing means to me" essay, but I was excited to learn that session 13 was all about organic brewing. So even though I try to post and interview brewers about organic brewing, I thought this would be a great opportunity for me to reflect on organic brewing, my evolution in it, and what I've learned about organic brewing.

First of all, I will be the first to admit that my family and I aren't perfect when it comes to organic products, we are getting better, but its not something that we exclusively buy. I think in some ways that has led me to be more interested in organic brewing because its something that I can easily do when I'm already spending "excess" money on my hobby.

My decision to try to brew organically was a gradual process. It started when I read Fermenting Revolution by Chris O'Brien and learned more about brewing history, the craft brewing movement and how sustainable a lot of small breweries are. This made me respect our 'beer culture' even more and the community that surrounds an industry that makes up 12% of the beer sales in the country. I thought "I need to support my local breweries, craft breweries, and in turn I can do some things responsibly in my own brewing."

I found Seven Bridges co-op and ordered some materials from them. But that proved to be really expensive for one batch, and something that I wasn't able to make the monetary commitment to. As a testament to the growth in interest, I was surprised that in the span of several months, my local shop, Northern Brewer, went from carrying a few organic grains to expanding to extract malts and hops. Needless to say, I was excited. I started brewing a few batches of purely organic beers. As hops became more scarce, and upon learning that USDA says that organic beers only need to be 95% organic to be certified (so hops don't have to be organic) I relaxed and just started substituting my recipes with organic grains and malts. Now, I first think "can I do this organically" when I start formulating a recipe, and I've begun to convert older ones.

Now for the "what have I learned " portion of this essay. First of all, I was born and raised in a small town in Iowa. I've seen first hand the effects of corporate farms on small towns and families who have been farming for generations. Secondly, I've lived in a liberal metropolitan area for the last 12 years and have seen the trendiness and increased interest in organic and local products. One way that small farmers are going to be able to survive in this current climate is to become organic farmers, and for people to make the commitment to support those local and organic farms. A couple of the things I've learned from my series of interviews is that breweries really appreciate the connection they have with organic farmers who are supplying them with their hops and grains. This is a mutually beneficial relationship, and something that helps support the community, and provides a better, safer product.

Another aspect that motivates me is that home brewing is an extension of the history of brewing; there was a time when many people were home brewers. Then it moved to a regional business. It's amazing to learn that 100 years ago, even the smallest towns had a brewery or two. Fresh, local beer used to be the norm. And as Daniel Del Grande from Bison said "60 years ago, all brewing was organic." I love going to a new state or country and finding their great local breweries or brewpubs. I feel like regionalism is what makes beer unique as styles and elements of the beer change in regions. That local tie is important to the beer culture, brewing history, and can be incorporated into supporting local and organic farmers.

Organic brewing is growing in popularity and it seems like a lot more breweries are starting to brew organic lines. It can't be denied that a large part of that is financial. It is trendy right now and so it makes sense for breweries to go that route. But, that really is a win/win for everyone. If it's making money, more breweries will start to tap into that, and that will increase the demand for organic materials, in turn helping out organic farmers, etc. Looking at it from the other angle, brewers I've interviewed like Bison Brewing, COAST, and Peak have all said "it just made sense for us to do this" because they live their lives trying to be organic and sustainable.

This blog has been an extension of my growing interest in brewing organically. I've been really humbled to see that people are interested in reading what I write, and that I've had the opportunity to interview organic and local breweries. That has helped me (and readers) learn more about organic brewing. From my personal perspective, I love home brewing because its something I can create, my friends can enjoy and gives me a sense that I'm doing something sustainable. Moving to organic just made sense, following that logic. The educator part of me looks at this blog as an opportunity for me to share my interest in organic brewing and "educate" people about organic brewing either through my trials and tribulations, or through interviews with people who really know what they are doing. If that increases awareness and people say "maybe I should try that," that's great. At the very least, home brewers, craft brewers and enthusiasts, and organic farmers and brewers are creating a culture, and an industry that is doing things in the right way in my opinion.

Salud!

The Bearded Brewer

Let the Lagering Begin!

Two weeks ago I was able to buy an old fridge from my neighbor across the street. It was the perfect situation because we just wheeled it across the street on a dolly from his garage to mine! No lifting, no moving it out of a basement, about as easy of a find as possible. It hadn't been plugged in for a year or so, so it was pretty funky. I cleaned it out and left the doors open for a week, and this weekend I built a shelf out of left over plywood from my bar, plugged it in, and put two carboys in it. Needless to say I'm fairly excited, even though its not in perfect condition, $75 to pay for a working fridge/freezer with hardly any work was about the best you could ask for. I'm excited about the ability to make bocks and some lagers, and also really excited about the extra storage space in the freezer for putting grains, hops and some additional brewing ingredients, like the 3 pounds of cranberries I have left over from a couple past beers.


My first real lager attempt, my Yinzer Lager, has been tasting good after about 4 weeks in the bottle. The beer pours a really nice light golden color with a thin white head that is fairly lacy. It's crystal clear with a faint fruity aroma. It's very crisp with a slight hoppy spiciness.
This beer was inspired by Pittsburgh beers like Yuengling and Iron City, but I don't know how close it is to either of those. One friend of mine said it had a nice "grainy" quality to it, which is good since I associate those flavors with what I was going for. My friend Brian, a native of Pittsburgh, said that its way too hoppy for a Pittsburgh lager but added, "that's not a bad thing at all."
Overall I was fairly happy with the experiment. The people who have tried it have like it, but I don't think it stands out. Personally, I'm not a big lager fan, and I made it just for the experience of making a lager. A special thanks goes out to Ted at Ted's Homebrew Blog for some consulting on the finer points of lagering.
Because of the fridge, I definitely plan on doing some more lagers, but I'm thinking about some more interesting ones, and I'm happy to know that I can achieve the crispness I was looking for.
This was a 3 gallon recipe and for those interested:
1.3 lbs Org 2-row
.25 lbs org Crystal 40
.10 lbs org Cara-pils
2 lbs org light dme
.40lbs rice syrup

.5 oz Saaz 60
.35 Saaz 15
.15 Saaz 1

Cali 2112 Yeast: Lagered for 4 weeks @ 40 degrees, brought up to 62 degrees for 1 week before bottling.

Stay tuned this week for a post on Friday in connection with the Session Series (check out Beeractivist.com for details). This month's session is related to organic brewing.
Salud!
The Bearded Brewer