Why?

• 3 kids, house, job, other hobbies all demanding of my time
• I have greatly reduced my consumption (and waste line)
• Variety – since I don’t drink that much, a single batch of beer will now probably last me 6 mos. or longer. I would rather buy good craft beer on occasion and have greater variety on hand.

So I will also be allowing this site to expire. I may still make my annual christmas brew, and maybe try a mead or two. Those activities will be instead be posted on my other blog baxafamily.com, so please feel free to check it out and subscribe.

Thanks to those who have visited and followed.

August will be a month of many brews, as I will be starting to brew the IBVP – Imperial Bourbon Vanilla Porter for the holidays. A grand total of 4 batches of this bad boy. I also want to get the Belgian Dubbel I have been itching to make done this month to try and take advantage of the warmer temps for fermenting. Time and weather will tell if I can get 5 brews started in one month, with only 3 fermenters.

I do have my centennial IPA fermenting away and will be dry hopping next week. I ended up having to make this on a weekday evening due to rain-out on the one open weekend day I had planned to brew on. I am not too keen on brewing on a weekday evening – it takes the entire evening and with 3 kids – I can’t do it that often. So in the next couple of weeks I plan on getting a couple more brews going. Stay tuned.

Lesson learned – if using peaches (or any other fruits) in fermenter, put them in a muslin bag, or put a bag over the siphon tube.

This is my first time brewing a wheat beer, and first time using citrus as well. All went well, except it was very difficult to zest the clementines because the are not as firm as an orange – did the best I could and zested an orange too. I am also trying to make use of the yeast properties by adjusting my fermentation temps to try and get a good balance of banana and clove – technique described to me by one of the B.O.S.S members. Anxious for this one – short ferment time and short condition time – a brew best when young.

Here are the details:

Yeast

Grains/Extracts/Sugars

Hops

Additions

Mash

Boil

Ferment

Rogue's Dead Guy Ale 2010

From Rogue’s website:

In the style of a German Maibock, using our proprietary Pacman ale yeast. Deep honey in color with a malty aroma and a rich hearty flavor.

Appearance:

Golden orange color, with a 1″ white head nicely laced and fine bubbles. Did exhibit a slight haze.

Aroma:

Bready with sweet maltiness are most prominent.

Taste:

Bitter up front that fades quickly with only slight hop note. Sweet and malty dominate then back to some bitterness at the back of the tongue.

Mouthfeel:

Fine carbonation with smooth medium mouth feel.

Overall:

I enjoy this one very much. Nice sweet and malty ale with nice bitter balance to the sweetness. Smooth mouthfeel and well masked 6.5% make this easy to drink (sneaky), could have more than one in a sitting.

Red Seal Ale 2010

From North Coast Brewing’s website:

Malt and hops are beautifully married in this full-bodied, copper-red Pale Ale. Red Seal is generously hopped for a long, spicy finish. An excellent accompaniment to grilled meats and rich sauces.

Appearance:

Orange/amber color, with a 1/2″ light tan head nicely laced. Did exhibit a slight haze.

Aroma:

Malty with hint of caramel, and a medium hop floral presence.

Taste:

Malt presence not as strong as in the aroma. Floral note with nice bitterness at the end.

Mouthfeel:

Medium carbonation with smooth watery mouth feel and a slightly dry finish.

Overall:

I like this beer, but wish there was more malt flavor for an amber ale. Not overly hoppy or bitter, and is easy to drink, could have more than one in a sitting.

Bell's Porter 2010

From Bell’s website:

A robust porter for all occasions. A blend of dark malts give this beer flavors of coffee and chocolate with subtle roasted notes. Gold medal winner in the Brown Porter category Brewers Association World Beer Cup 2008.

Appearance:

Rich Dark color, this poured with a tan head less than a half-inch and dissipated quite quickly.

Aroma:

Nice chocolate and coffee aromas.

Taste:

Coffee and Chocolate flavors hit you right at the beginning. Slight bitter ending – but no more than regular roast coffee would.

Mouthfeel:

Smooth, but a bit thin mouthfeel. Has a medium carbonation and a lasting dry finish.

Overall:

I think this is a good porter, a little sharp on the carbonation, and a little thinner than I want in a porter. Strong flavor is well balanced between coffee and chocolate flavors. I would buy it again, but may not be the first I would pick.

This is based off an apricot blonde ale recipe I found. I am substituting peaches for the apricots, and I am leaving out the fruit extract addition called for at bottling. I would rather the fruit flavor be too subtle than too much. I can always increase it for the next time it is made. The peaches will be added on Tuesday.

Since this is such a light ale, I opted to use bottled water for this to avoid any off-flavors my high bicarbonate water could impart. The only other potential issue is that my temperatures during the mash dropped more than I anticipated – 4 degrees. I think the smaller grain amount left more head-space in the mash tun and as a result – heat loss. I will have to get some foam to fill that space up prior to the hefeweizen being brewed this upcoming Saturday.

Here are the details:

Yeast

Grains/Extracts/Sugars

Hops

Additions

Mash

Boil

Ferment

I frequent craft beer centered websites, visit brewing forums, and started attending a brewer’s club, etc., but is that the only way to advocate great beer? The others attending clubs and websites are already interested in beer, that is why they are there. Advocacy should also be about introducing new people to great beer. One way to do this is to bring great beer to social events with friends and family. I do this often, but what about beyond your friends and family?

Last year, in my hometown, the town put on a summer concert series and the town handled the beer sales at the events. You are not allowed to bring any beverages in, so your choice in beer was limited to what they serve. Last year they served Bud and Bud Light or MGD and Miller Light, that’s it. So when they announced they were doing the concerts again this year, I started thinking about how nice it would be to have another option to the mainstream beer. This is where being an advocate for great beer comes in.

I sent an email to the mayor and village staff with a request to add at least one other beer option. I gave some reasons that hopefully were compelling. I highlighted the increase in the craft beer movement, the well-known American owned breweries (our town motto is “Home of Proud Americans”) and a list of regional breweries that would be good to show support for (supporting local/regional businesses). A staff member replied and indicated my email was forwarded to the mayor. I am eagerly awaiting a reply, but even if they choose not to change the beer line-up, I feel good that I am an advocate for great beer. Stay tuned for further developments.

How about you? Tell me in the comments what you have been doing to advocate great beer.