The Brew Times
Beer Cheese Recipe
Beer and cheese. I'll give you a second to take that in. Because that's how long it took me to finish the first IPA and bowl of racecar yellow goop. Having gotten that out of the way I can take my time with the second helping of both. The citrus like bitterness cuts the gooey texture and the floral bouquet contrasts with the savory saltiness. As for that lingering spiciness, the hops will first fan the flames and then extinguish them, readying you for the next dip into the pool o' gold. Containing two of the "Three C's," Centennial and Columbus hops, our API IPA brings the bitter. With the Centennial as a strong floral variety (add the hops early in the boil to maximize this) and the Columbus known for its bitter bent, there are copious amounts of pungent flavor to go with this decadent cheese sauce. Ingredients 3 T AP flour 2 T unsalted butter ½ cup milk ¾ cup IPA or any tasty brew 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce 1 tsp hot sauce (Sriracha or Franks) 1 tsp dry mustard 8oz block sharp cheddar cheese, not pre-shredded 4oz smoked gouda, not pre-shredded Kosher salt and cracked black pepper to taste Smoked paprika for garnish Directions Shred cheddar and gouda and set aside. Melt butter in a large pan over low heat. Mix in flour. Stir constantly until smooth. Stir in milk and beer. Raise heat to medium until it begins to simmer. Mix in Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and dry mustard. Continue to whisk until it begins to thicken Whisk in cheeses, a small amount at a time, allowing them to melt before adding more. Add kosher salt and pepper to taste, and pinch a small amount of paprika on top to finish.
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How to Host a Beer Tasting Like a Pro: Battle of the Brews
So you finally made a tasty homebrew you're proud of. Whatever type of beer you're into—from crispy pilsners to juicy IPAs—making your own liquid gold is a rewarding craft. But why keep all the bounty and honor to yourself? Isn't it time to break out of your makeshift brewery and break open your bottles for a tasting with friends? Hosting a homebrew tasting is entertaining, educational and completely kick-ass. But, there's more to a good time than just sipping a bunch of different beers. (Did we really just say that?) The rules of engagement for hosting a successful home brew competition can be as challenging as finding some Tardif de Bourgogne hops. But fear not fellow fermenters, we've got you covered. Here's how to do it: Step 1: Download the Free Stuff It's free, easy and only a click away. You can download our free How to Judge Beer and Beer Evaluation Sheet here. Print them, study them, and share them with your fellow competitors (more to come on who to invite). Step 2: Stock Up on the Other Stuff Other than beer, you'll need two essential things—Food and Beer Glasses. Don't fuss on proper food pairings, just keep the food simple and easy to eat. As for drinkware, glass is always best and most types are readily available to buy online or at your local brewery. Save the plastic cups for house parties. Step 3: Figure out your Format Before you can pick a winner, you need to pick the right type of competition. Just like beer styles, there are a lot to choose from. Here are a few of our favorites: Spectrum Tasting – These are when you compare beers from all different styles. A great way to explore the world of wort. Important tip: always start the lightest and lower ABV beers. Horizontal Tasting – Borrowed from fancy pants wine drinkers; this is a tasting of one style of beer. The trick here is to pick a style and have a few friends all brew their own spin on the same suds. Vertical – Borrowed from even fancier pants wine drinkers; this is a tasting from one brewer. (Psst, that's you.) So if you have the stash of a few different styles you've been brewing, then break them all out and let your guests go deep to into your greatest sips collection. The Pro Am – Like the golf tournaments no one watches on TV, this tasting is about comparing home brews to pro brews. Put your crew's creations head to frothy head against similar well-known brews. And taste how your skills stack up. Blind tasting – In this set-up, only the host knows what's in each glass. (Psst, that's you again.) You present your guest with each mystery brew and have them judge on its own merit. Even let them guess if they can name the style. All correct guesses win a high-five. (Optional.) Blind Judging - If you want to see who makes the best beer, this is your format. Recruit three people who know beer, but don't know who brewed what. Present them the unmarked samples and have them rank their picks. The Beer Tank - If you want to see who makes the best BS'er, this is your format. Inspired by the TV show "The Shark Tank," this set up is like the Blind Judging, but each brewer presenters his creation to the judges. They have two minutes to explain their process, display their label artwork and make wholly fabricated yet entertaining claims. Step 4: Taste Away You can't just crack a beer and knock it back. Well you can, but that's not going to help you appreciate the finer points of the pint. In fact, when tasting beer, you need all of your senses. Sight – You taste with your eyes first. Is the color and clarity appetizing? Is the head healthy or flat? Smell – Almost time to drink. But take three deep sniffs before you do. What do you smell? Hoppy? Fruity? Skunky? Delicious-y? Taste – Yes! Focus on your first sip. What flavors are standing out? Then note the finish. What flavors are hanging around? Touch – We're talking mouth feel here. Is it silky smooth? Light and bubbly? Flat and dry? Hearing – Did you hear that? It's sound of people having fun. Of course, all of your notes should be recorded on your handy tasting mat (download here) so you can keep track. Step 5: Celebrate with Wild Abandon Most tastings aren't about winning or losing. It's about celebrating the miracle that is beer and learning more about what makes it tick—and what makes you want to sip. It's about sharing your craft with others and enjoying the moment. That said, if you make the greatest beer of the bunch, then please feel free to do a victory lap and make everyone bow in your presence. 5 Types of Home Brewers to Invite: The Brewbie You have to start somewhere. Sometimes you need a jump-start and even if they've never brewed before, now they have to. These newbies are fun and always excited. The Macgyver This brewer can brew beer with a match and a tin can. He's always experimenting with new ingredients and processes and will have a lot of fun brewing stories to share. The Veteran Home Brewer He's been brewing before a bung was called a bung. He knows all the in's and out's and is not afraid to share them with you. The Beer Geek Smart, knowledgeable, and non-judgemental, this brewmaster will try anything and give her honest constructive criticism. 5 Types of Home Brewers to Avoid inviting: The One-Upper No matter what you brew, they've brewed it before with ease, and it looked cleaner, and tasted better. The Debater He takes being a judge way too seriously and loves to hear himself drone on and on. Even if you're in agreement, he'll still debate your choices. The Backseat Brewer This guy is full of fault-finding negative comments but swears he loves beer. Except no one has ever seen him enjoy one. The Closed Book This tight-lipped brewer refuses to share any recipes will leave out key steps in his brewing process, and will never tell you where he gets his ingredients. Let him drink alone. The Beer Snob She's picky, self-important, and condescending. No matter what you brew she will look down on you because you're not a member of her exclusive online forum. Download the Free How to Judge Beer and Beer Evaluation Sheet Use our free How to Judge Beer Sheet to easily learn and refer to the proper terms and aspects that go into judging beer. Then use the included Beer Evaluation Sheet to record all the different competing homebrews and score them based on their color, smell, taste, and feel. Download the scoresheet here. This post was written by Ben Applebaum and Dan DiSorbo, co-authors of several popular books including The Book of Beer Awesomeness. Learn more about their shenanigans at www.BADDideas.com.
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Interview with Anthem Brewing's Founder and Head Brewmaster: Matt Anthony
This month, our Craft Brewery Series limited edition recipe was a collaboration with an Oklahoma City favorite: Anthem Brewing. We replicated their popular Belgian Style Blonde Ale, Golden One, and we are thrilled to let Mr. Beer customers brew this delicious beer for themselves. We had a chance to chat with Anthem founder and head brewmaster, Matt Anthony, about how he began brewing, his favorite beer to brew, and the biggest challenges he faced when deciding to pursue his dream of opening a brewery. Q: Tell us a bit about yourself and Anthem Brewing: I started homebrewing back in January of 2001. As my love of brewing grew, I knew I wanted to try and open my own brewery. The vision was to create a Belgian inspired brewery, using old world techniques like open top fermenters. Belgian and barrel aged beers are hands down my favorites, so that was my vision for Anthem Brewing. After years of research, in 2010 I really started tightening up the idea and pursuing it. In April of 2012 I quit my day job and Anthem brewed its first commercial batch a few days later on May 2nd. Q: Tell us about your first brewing experience: My first brewing experience was with a Mr. Beer kit that my wife, then girlfriend, gave me for Christmas. The idea of making my own beer really excited me, and I was geeking out the whole time. It was hard to believe how fun and easy it was. I'll never forget getting to taste the finished beer a few weeks later. Not only had brewing it been fun, but the end results tasted great! A switch was flipped in my brain that day, and brewing became my passion. Q: What has been the biggest challenge in the transition from homebrewing to opening your own brewery? Realizing how different the two are. There is so much more at stake financially and with your reputation every time you brew a large commercial batch versus when brewing at home. Second, while the principles and science remain the same, the mechanics are pretty different, but you get used to it fairly quickly. Scaling up recipes is another interested challenge, because taking a recipe from homebrew scale to commercial doesn't usually scale linearly. Q: What is your favorite beer to brew? My Belgian stout, Uroboros. There is nothing better than the smell of brewing a stout first thing in the morning. Q: If you could share a beer with one person, who would it be? My uncle Loren who passed away before the brewery opened. Q: Any advice for new homebrewers? To homebrewers I'd say, never take yourself too seriously. It is, in my opinion, the most fun hobby of all time. People can get too hung up on things like BJCP style guidelines, and following a certain process that someone else insists you follow. Yes, beer is a science, but if you let it outweigh the art of brewing, you suck the fun out of it. Play and experiment. Brew the beers that excite you, and design recipes that appeal to your taste, not some rigid style dogma. Practice good sanitation religiously, everything else is up for experimentation except for that aspect. Don't be afraid to make mistakes, and don't be afraid of a batch not turning out. It's not the end of the world, it's beer, and you know how to make more! Q: Any advice for homebrewers looking to take the next step in opening up a brewery? Go volunteer at a local brewery. Spend as much time there helping in as many areas as possible. Having that awareness of just how different a production environment is from homebrewing, before opening your own brewery, is so crucial. You'll also learn quite a bit, including the things you do and do not like about their setup that you can apply to your brewery. Which can save you money and time down the road. Last, stay true to your vision and never compromise on it or your beer. Those are yours, and they are invaluable, so don't sell them short for the sake of efficiency or margins. Never let it stop being about the beer.
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Jamaican Jerk Chicken Recipe
Sun hanging low directly above, I tong the last of the juicy chicken off my half barrel grill, eyes and mouth watering from the smoke and spice. A scoop of rice, and I head to the hammock. The sweet desert breeze refreshes my hand as I free an ESB from the confines of the cooler. After a pop and a pour, I tear into the chicken while my beer settles. Succulent warmth, island aromatics, crisp char. The heat is building, so I take a pull off the pint. The piquant citrusy hops raise the temperature and the tang until the caramel malts balance it out, leaving a sweet herbal pimento wood undertone. With the chicken turned to bone, I revitalize my fire licked lips with each subsequent quaff until the day fades into dream. Just as you can bring the island to your hammock, you can also bring the brewery to your home with ourCamilla's Folly recipe. This is an excellent example of an ESB, balanced English hops and malts plying for your attention. Camilla finally got her prince and so can you. Ingredients ¼ cup soy sauce ¾ cup white vinegar ½ cup orange juice Juice of one lime 1 T ground allspice 1 T dried thyme 1 ½ tsp cayenne pepper 1 ½ tsp cracked black pepper 1 ½ tsp ground sage ¾ tsp ground nutmeg ¾ tsp ground cinnamon 2 T kosher salt 2 T garlic powder 1 T sugar 1 scotch bonnet pepper (or habanero), rough chopped 1 cup yellow onion, rough chopped 3 green onions, rough chopped ¼ cup olive oil 3 ½lb whole chicken (or 4 chicken breasts) Pimento wood (if available) Directions In a blender, combine soy sauce, vinegar, orange juice, and lime juice. Add the allspice, thyme, cayenne pepper, black pepper, sage, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, garlic powder and sugar. Add scotch bonnet, yellow onion, green onion, and blend, pulsing until smooth. With blender on high, slowly add olive oil. Set aside. If using whole chicken, cleave into 4 parts. Place in a non-metal dish and rub sauce into chicken, saving some for basting and dipping later. Cover and marinate overnight in refrigerator. Grill over charcoal (with pimento wood if available), turning and basting frequently until fully cooked.
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What's The Difference between Lagers and Ales?
Once you start getting into beer appreciation, whether as a brewer or just a connoisseur, you quickly find yourself facing a variety of different choices: pilsners, IPAs, bocks, browns, stouts, porters and so on. Each has their own features, but it can be overwhelming to understand them all. So, let's take a step back for a moment... Forget all of the types you see marketed. At its most basic, all beers can be divided into just two groups: lagers and ales. The division has to do with the types of yeast used and the fermentation temperature. So what exactly is the difference between lagers and ales? Types of Yeast All beer requires yeast to ferment. However, one of the differences between lagers and ales is the type of yeast used. The yeast used for ale production originates in the Old World, where people have been brewing for at least 7,000 years. Lager yeast, on the other hand, originates in the New World, specifically Argentina. At some point after Columbus discovered the New World – and we don't know exactly when that was – lager yeast made it back to the Old World. Most notably, it made it back to Germany, which is now famous for pilsners, bocks and Oktoberfests, all of which are lagers, not ales. Temperature of Fermentation Another difference between lagers and ales is the temperature in which the beer ferments, and this is determined by the type of yeast. Lagers are fermented cold, then left to stand for weeks or months in refrigerated conditions such as caves. The invention of artificial refrigeration has greatly impacted the production of lagers. Ale yeast, however, goes dormant in cold temperatures. As such, ale fermentation tanks are kept warm, usually around room temperature. Fermentation happens more quickly at higher temperatures, so the process in ale production occurs fairly quickly, and there's no need to store the ale for long periods of time. Look and Taste While taste is not used in categorization, it's still a notable difference between lagers and ales. Lagers generally have a crisper, cleaner taste, although other ingredients such as malts and hops can be added for flavor. Ales tend to be more full-bodied, sweeter and fruity in taste. This has to do with the fermentation processes. The faster, more aggressive fermentation of ales produces esters, which cause the taste of sweetness. Not having it sit for months does not allow for the taste to mellow, either. Overall, ales tend to have a higher alcohol content, but there is a wide variety of strong and weak beers as both ales and lagers. This is because the ale yeast is more tolerant of alcohol; very high quantities of alcohol kill lager yeast. Color, however, is not a difference between lagers and ales. Pale ales and pilsners, for example, are both light colored beers, but the first is an ale while the second is a lager. Ultimately, the type of beer you brew will depend on your brewing setup and, more importantly, the type of yeast you use in the process, as these are the two main differences between lagers and ales. Whichever you choose, there will still be plenty of room for variation dependent on your personal tastes. Looking for a Lager or Ale to Brew? Mr. Beer has some great brewing malt refills in both these categories, but there are two that really stand out above the crowd: the American Lager (a best seller) and our Bewitched Amber Ale. Our American Lager has a rich golden color, has an exceptionally well balanced, full malt flavor and mild bitterness, with a subtle hint of finishing hop aroma. This beer is the perfect example of the typical American lager style, a great beer for all occasions. The Bewitched Amber Ale showcases vibrant amber hues, velvety smooth caramel malt character, even bitterness and delicate citrus hop aroma. This amber ale epitomizes the characteristics that make this style a microbrewery standard.
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Irish Stout Beef Stew Recipe
Nothing says St. Patrick's Day better than beef stew enriched with Irish stout. This recipe was provided by forum member MichaelL. Thanks Michael! Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! Ingredients 2 pounds stew beef (sirloin preferred, chuck OK) Flour for dredging Salt and pepper, to taste 4 tablespoons butter ¼ cup canola oil 2 medium onions, chopped 2 cups beef stock 2 cups Guinness-style Irish stout 5 carrots 4 medium potatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes Directions Season the meat with salt and pepper, and dredge in flour. Melt butter with oil in large saucepan or a stockpot. Cook the meat in batches, 5 to 7 minutes, until evenly browned on all sides. Remove meat from pot, and cook the onions for 3 to 5 minutes, until soft. Return the meat to the pot, and add stock and stout. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for one hour. After an hour, add the carrots and potatoes, and cook for another 30 minutes, until the meat and vegetables are tender and the stew has thickened. Ladle into bowls for serving. Best if made a day in advance and refrigerated overnight to let the flavors meld together properly. Serves 6.
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Oktoberfest Pretzels Recipe
It doesn't matter if Oktoberfest is right around the corner, or far far away; whether we are "tying the knot," or simply celebrating National Pretzel Day on April 26th, whether we are giving ourselves a little reward at the bar while we daydrink, or making ourselves into their human likeness at the yoga studio, these salted brown benders are a staple of life. And because, "These pretzels are making me thirsty!" (Cosmo Kramer, 1991), I think I'll twist off the cap of this Bock and rehydrate. The Maillard reaction that causes the darkening of the tied bread creates flavors that have much in common with the caramel sweetness of the Bock. All we need now is some cheese dip and some more beer… You still have time to brew up a batch of our Baby Got Bock recipe for National Pretzel Day. With all those salty chews going down, you'll need plenty of amber libation to keep the pretzel party moving! Instructions 1 packet (1/4 ounce)active dry bread yeast 1 bottle (12 ounces) Bock beer 4-4 ½ cups AP flour 2 T unsalted butter, melted 2 T sugar 1 ½ tsp kosher salt 10 cups water 2/3 cup baking soda Glaze: 1 egg yolk 1 T water Kosher salt Directions In a small saucepan, heat beer to 110°-115°. Remove from heat. Stir in yeast until dissolved. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine butter, sugar, 1 ½ tsp kosher salt, yeast mixture and 3 cups flour; mix until smooth. Keep adding flour and mixing until a soft stick dough is formed. Spread some flour onto a cutting board or sanitized countertop. Knead dough on floured surface until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. Place in a buttered bowl, flipping once to allow butter to coat all sides. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place until it doubles in size, about an hour. Preheat oven to 425. Punch dough to release gasses. Spread some more flour onto a clean surface and put dough onto it. Portion dough into eight balls. Roll each into a 24 inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends and crossing them over each other and then pressing them onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. In a Dutch oven (avoid anything aluminum, as baking soda may react to it), bring water and baking soda to a boil. Drop pretzels, two at a time, into boiling water. Cook 30 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon (not aluminum); drain well on paper towels. Place 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets. In a small bowl, whisk egg yolk and water; brush over pretzels. Sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to a wire rack to cool. Serve with mustard or beer cheese dip.
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What are Balling Degrees, Hop Back, and IBU: Brewing Terminology Tuesday
Balling Degrees Balling degrees is a term referring to the sugar density in your wort. You can also describe the sugar density in your wort as Brix or Plato degrees. All three of these terms are interchangeable, and are used when determining the specific gravity and final gravity of your homebrew. Balling degrees was established in 1843 by Karl Balling, and is the oldest of the three measuring systems. Balling degrees measures your specific gravity to 3 decimal places. The best way to determine the conversion of your specific gravity to Balling degrees is to divide the number behind the decimal point by 4. For example, a gravity of 1.032 has 32 gravity points. Divide that by 4, and you determine that your beer has 8 degrees Balling. Hop Back A hop back is a device used to add a hoppy flavor and aroma to your beer using the oils that would have otherwise been lost had your hops been in the boil. Macro and micro-breweries can use intricate, large hop backs, while homebrewers can create a hop back with some simple equipment. The most common way to use a hop back is to run just-boiled wort through a chamber holding your hops into your wort chiller or fermenter. You would typically use 1-2 oz of hops in your hop back for a 5 gallon batch of homebrew. We have seen a lot of inventive hop backs in the homebrew community. Just remember the main goal is to get your hops as much surface contact with the wort as possible before you begin fermentation. What hop back device you use will also depend on your brewing set-up: if you siphon your beer from the kettle to your fermenter, you can use a strainer device at the end of the siphon with the hops inside. This way the hot wort would flow through your hops before reaching the fermenter. If you are using a Mr. Beer kit, you can use a strainer on top of the opening with the hops laying in the strainer. Pour your wort slowly through the strainer, over the top of your hops, straight into the fermenter. If you are looking for more ideas, here is HomeBrew Academy's "7 Ways to Filter Your Hops." IBU IBU stands for "International Bitterness Units," and is the universal system used to describe the hop bitterness in a finished beer. This isn't to say how bitter YOU perceive the beer, but what levels of class of bitter compounds are found in your beer. The IBU scale has been created by the American Society of Brewing Chemists. At large breweries, the quality control team will perform chemical tests on their beers to determine the IBU. This elaborate process involves all sorts of chemistry equipment and big, chemical words that hurt your head to read, but as more and more people begin to familiarize themselves with craft beer, knowing the IBU of the beer they are drinking can be very important to them. Therefore, this convoluted chemistry process is necessary. Now, if you are a simple homebrewer, how do you find the IBU without going back to school for your B.S. in Chemistry? Check out some of the many IBU calculators on the internet. They allow you to plug in your recipe and then does all the work for you! One of our favorites is Brewer's Friend IBU calculator: http://www.brewersfriend.com/ibu-calculator/ If even that is too much work, you can make educated assumptions on IBU based on the type of beer you are drinking. An average American lager will have an IBU somewhere around 10, meaning it isn't very bitter. On the other hand, a typical IPA will have an IBU hovering between 40 and 60 IBUs. This is because all the hop additions that are used in IPAs, therefore raising their bitterness levels. Below, you will find a chart of all the beer styles you could possibly imagine, and their general IBUs. Enjoy, beer nerds! Beer Style IBU Altbier Hybrid* 24-30 American Dark Lager 14-20 American Lager 5-15 American Light Lager 8-17 American Premium Lager 13-23 American Wheat 10-17 Barley Wine 50-100 Belgian Brown Ale 15-25 Belgian Dubbel 10-25 Belgian Tripels 14-25 Berliner Weisse 3-6 Bitter, Extra Special 30-35 Bitter, Ordinary 20-25 Bock Lager 25-28 Bock, German Lager 20-30 Bock, Helles (Pale) Lager 20-35 Brown Ale 15-20 Brown Ale, American 25-60 Brown Ale, English 15-25 California Common 33-45 Cream Ale Hybrid 10-18 Dopplebock Lager 17-27 Dortmunder/Export Lager 23-29 Dunkel Lager 16-25 English Mild 14-20 English Old/Strong Ale 30-40 Fruit Beer Hybrid Varies German Hefeweizen 10-16 Herb and Spice Beer Varies Imperial Stout 50-80 India Pale Ale (IPA) 40-60 Kolsch Hybrid 20-30 Lambics 11-23 Light Ale 10-15 Marzen/Octoberfest Lager 22-28 Munich Dunkel Lager 14-24 Munich Helles Lager 18-25 Pale Ale, American 20-40 Pale Ale. Classic 20-40 Pale Ale, English 20-40 Pilsner, Classic Lager 35-45 Pilsner, Czech Lager 35-43 Pilsner, German Lager 30-40 Porter 20-60 Porter, Robust 25-40 Rauchbier 20-25 Saison 20-30 Scotch Strong Ale 25-35 Scottish Brown 5-20 Scottish Export 15-20 Scottish Heavy 12.17 Scottish Light Ale 10-15 Smoked Beer 20-30 Stout, Dry 30-35 Stout, Sweet (Cream) 15-25 Vienna Lager 18-25 Weizenbock 10-20 Weizen 13-17
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How to Enter and Win a Homebrew Competition
As you continue to advance your brewing techniques, you might start to think to yourself "Dang… I sure do brew a pretty tasty beer." We've all been there; that one batch that just makes you realize you are actually getting pretty good at this whole brewing thing. So, the next logical step is to enter your beer into a homebrewing competition to see how it compares to other beers (and to see if other people agree that you make the best beers on the planet.) Here is a guide on what you need to do to prepare for your first homebrew competition. Timing is Everything Let's keep this short and sweet: you need to plan ahead to ensure your beer will be properly brewed, carbonated and conditioned to be at optimal flavor profile for the competition. If you see a competition 3 weeks away, you may want to keep looking for another competition a few months later. Depending on the type of beer you are brewing (light vs. dark) you will need to give yourself a good cushion for proper conditioning because those dark beers can take months to reach their best flavor profile. Check the Rules and Regulations Most homebrew competitions have a set of rules and regulations that you will need to follow to qualify. From the styles of beer that can be entered, to how the beer needs to be delivered for judging, each competition will have their own rules. You want to read these BEFORE you begin brewing as to not disqualify yourself before you even began. Make sure you check what styles you are allowed to submit for judging. Most competitions will follow the AHA style guidelines, so if the competition doesn't list anything, this will be the best document to follow. Brewing Your Beer Now for the most important part: brewing the world's tastiest beer. It doesn't matter if you are an extract brewer, a partial-mash brewer, or an all-grain brewer. However, you need to ensure that the method you are using and the style of beer you are brewing are compatible with the style guidelines. Besides that, the best way you can brew a good beer is to be as cautious as possible. Sanitize like there is no tomorrow, make sure you take readings of your gravity to make sure you are sticking to style, and be diligent that your brewing temperatures are consistent. That style guideline will be your most important asset. You need to make sure that you are getting the correct gravities, color, hops, ingredients etc. Once you have those basics of style down, you can add your own twist to the beer that you think will blow the judges away. Entering When you are filling out entry paperwork, keep a close eye on how many bottles they want you to send with your submission. Some require several bottles, and if you don't comply, you will be disqualified. If the competition isn't local and you need to ship your beers to be judged, make sure your packaging is strong enough to protect your bottles. Extra bubble wrap and packaging peanuts never hurt anybody, but a broken bottle could lose you your prize. You also want to label your package as "perishable food items" and "fragile" so the shipping company knows how to handle them. Last but not least, don't use the Post Office! No, not because they are terrible, it is because they prohibit the shipping of alcoholic beverages. You will need to send with UPS or FedEx. The bottom line: if you think you have a good beer, whether you are a beginning, intermediate, or advanced brewer, you have nothing to lose when submitting it to a homebrewing competition. Instead, you have the opportunity to learn how your beer stands up to others of its kind, and keep growing as a brewer. What's a Good Recipe to Brew? When it comes to brewing for a competition, brew something you love to brew and drink. This is key. If you aren't passionate about the beer, it will show in your final product. If you are looking for an advanced recipe from Mr. Beer to brew for a competition, we have a couple recommendations. Our Howling Red Ale is one of our most popular recipes, and for good reason. An amber red ale with a deceivingly mild flavor, this beer will creep up on you if you don't pay attention. A very drinkable beer, it is reminiscent of the finest of English ales, and is always a crowd pleaser. Another popular beer is our That Voodo That You Do. This brew is a little hazy and malty, yet balanced, but with a twist of spice from the wheat. Just the right notes all the way through, this is truly an award winning beer.
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Sausage in Beer Broth Recipe
The RV groans around each turn. Climbing the dusty trail through high desert bat country, all I can think of is getting us safely to our destination: Schwarzbier with sausage in beer broth. Some say it's not the destination it's the ride; I say enjoy everything this mad mad world throws at us. With the stabilizers set and the utilities flowing, we help ourselves to smoldering basins of grub and frothy vessels of suds. It's all malt and no bitter with this beer, and that allows all the flavors in the broth to come out. The sausage is the star in this pairing, it's smoky savory juiciness sweetened slightly by the light chocolate and vanilla notes. May the Schwartz Bier With You is our recipe named after the main line in the greatest space RV movie ever made. This is one of our most balanced beers. Slight hops, mellow malt, very sessionable. While brewing this recipe you'll find yourself asking, when will "then" be "now"…soon. Ingredients 1 (12 fluid oz) bottle or can beer 1lb smoked kielbasa sausage 4 red potatoes, unpeeled 3 carrots, unpeeled ¾ head of cabbage, quartered ¾ yellow onion, diced Fresh or dried Italian seasoning (basil, oregano, rosemary, and thyme) Kosher salt and cracked black pepper to taste Italian parsley for garnish Directions Rinse and quarter potatoes. Place in a large pot. Rinse and cut carrots into ½ inch rounds. Add carrots. Add seasoning, kosher salt and cracked black pepper. Add the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Turn heat to low, cover, and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 50 minutes. Garnish with Italian parsley leaf.
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What is the Difference Between a Porter and a Stout?
One of the biggest mysteries in the beer world: what is the difference between a porter and a stout? At first glance, they are seemingly interchangeable; dark beers with a nice foamy head. To the average palate, they even taste similar. The porter may seem a bit lighter and sweeter, but the difference can be hard to detect. So what is it then that sets these two apart? The answer, it seems, is not so black and white. Instead, you have to go back in history to the 18th century. According to A General Dictionary of Commerce, Trade, and Manufacturers, published in 1810, "Porter may be divided into two classes, namely brown-stout and porter properly so called… Brown-stout is only a fuller-bodied kind of porter than that which serves for ordinary drinking." Simply put, back in the day, a brown-stout was just a stronger porter. The Beer Connoisseur has a fantastic article on the full history of porters and stouts, but we are going to attempt to summarize it for you: In the 18th century, brown-stout was the name for a strong porter, because stout simply meant "strong" beer, and one could still find pale stouts during that time. The arrival of patent malt in 1817 changed the way many breweries brewed porters, since it could now be brewed cheaper using all pale malt. Some breweries began using only pale malt, while some used a mixture of pale, brown, and roast malts for their stouts and porters. In 1844, Whitebread, one of the top London porter breweries, was making 5 different types of dark beer: a porter, a keeping porter, a single stout, a double stout, and a triple stout. Their brewing books show that they were using a ratio of ¾ pale malt to ¼ brown malt for both their porters and stouts, but they were making one strong mash for the stouts, and then using that same mash a second time to create their porters. Therefore, due to the re-used mash to make the porters, the stouts were coming out stronger than the porters, which was the only difference between the two. The legalization of roasted barley as an ingredient in beer in 1880 began to change porters and stouts slowly but surely. While some breweries jumped on the roasted barley train, many others were adamant that the flavor of roasted barley was "inferior." So how does this history lesson play into the different porters and stouts we see now? Well between the 1800's and the craft brewery revolution that began in the 1970's, there was hundreds of years worth of different brewing recipes for both porters and stouts. These recipes all varied in their pale and brown malt ratios, as well as their roasted barley use. Therefore, breweries in the 1970's had thousands of different recipes that had been created over the years to try and replicate, further muddling the hard distinction between porters and stouts. Bottom line? Now a days, porters and stouts are whatever you want them to be. They are both dark, delicious beers, and each brewer can put their own unique spin on them, and label them as whatever the heck they want. And so the mystery continues…
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What are Bung, Diacetyl, and Winy: Brewing Terminology Tuesday
Bung The bung is the stopper for a keg or casket. The bung is placed in the hole that is used for filling up or emptying the keg, and the bung is usually placed in the keg during carbonation. Fun fact: the bung used in a cask for "real" beer, or ale, must be a wooden bung in order to allow the pressure during fermentation and carbonation to be released. Diacetyl Normally referred to as the buttery or butterscotch flavor found in homebrew. Diacetyl is a volatile compound that formulates in early fermentation, but begins to decrease as beers mature. There is a lot of science behind diacetyl and its formation, and understanding that science can help brewers better control it. According to the geniuses over at BYO, "While yeast cells synthesize certain key amino acids — such as valine, leucine and isoleucine — various intermediates are created in excess. In the case of diacetyl, the precursor is alpha acetolactate, which is excreted from the cell as the requirement for valine and leucine diminishes. Once outside the cell, alpha acetolactate can be oxidized to diacetyl." The thing to know is happy, healthy yeast will reabsorb diacetyl. This means that conditioning and maturing your beer with some yeast leftover will greatly increase your odds of removing that buttery smell and flavor from your homebrew. Also keep in mind that fermenting at warmer temperatures increases diacetyl production in your beer. So the best things to do to avoid diacetyl is to pitch healthy, happy yeasts, ferment at proper temperatures, and make sure you condition at proper temperatures to allow leftover yeasts to reabsorb any diacetyl that was created during fermentation. Winy This is exactly what it sounds like: a wine/ sherry type flavor in your homebrew. You might be thinking, "I love wine! What's wrong with this?" However, winy flavors usually result from the oxidation of your beer, and the other flavors that accompany that winy flavor are cardboard and paper. Yummy. Oxidation happens when your beer is exposed to oxygen, which degrades your beers flavors and aromas. Now, this isn't to say that anytime your beer comes in contact with oxygen during the brewing process, you're going to be drinking cardboard and wine later, it simply means that once your yeast is pitched in your fermenter and it has been sealed, you want to avoid oxygen contact at all costs. Same things goes for bottling time: it is best to do so "quietly," meaning you want to avoid any splashing, dumping, or all around agitation of your beer. Simply bottle, seal and leave it alone. This minimizes the amount of oxygen being introduced to your beer, and lowering your chances of oxidization. Our Brewmaster, Josh, will be discussing the oxidization of beer when bottling during this week's Livestream bottling and carbonating demonstration. The Livestream will be held Thursday, February 26th, from 6:00 - 7:00 pm MST. To learn more, make sure you join us using the button below! Plus, we might have a special coupon for those that join us live... guess you will have to tune in to find out! Check out our bottling livestream by clicking here.
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Chicken Poblano Mole Recipe
"Accept the challenges, so you may feel the exhilaration of victory." - George S. Patton. Today, I feel like trying something new, something different, something tough. I gather my ingredients, crank up some Manu Chao and charge in (for your enjoyment, here is Manu Chao's Youtube station, so you can get your groove on while cooking.) Soon, wafts of spice and pollo transform my kitchen into una cocina de la abuelita. My labor of love now complete, I fix a plato, pour myself a Porter Weisse and embark on "El viaje misterioso de nuestro Cocinero Renuente" (an episode of the Simpsons, where Homer eats several "Guatemalan insanity peppers" and goes on a mysterious voyage.) I swoon from the passionate complexity. Banana esters and clove from the brew add to the bouquet of spices in the dish. The porter malt serenades the bittersweet chocolate and toasted chili. Truly, victory never tasted so good. Ingredients 15 dried Mulato Chilies 8 dried Ancho Chilies 2 dried Pasilla Chilies 1 raw chicken, deboned with the heart, gizzard, and neck set aside for stock 3 cloves garlic, peeled 5 sprigs parsley, 2 for stock, 3 for garnish 1 onion, chopped ¾ cup blanched almonds ½ cup golden raisins 4 T toasted sesame seeds, half for puree, half for garnish ½ loaf baguette, lightly toasted and crumbled ½ tsp ground cloves ½ tsp ground cinnamon ½ tsp anise seeds 1 corn tortilla, fried and broken up 3 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped 1 chipotle chili 1 ½ squares unsweetened chocolate 1 cup lard Sugar, kosher salt, and cracked black pepper to taste Directions The night before, toast the dried chilies, (not the chipotle chili). Remove seeds and connective tissue. Soak chilies in salted water overnight. The day of, Combine 6 cups water with chicken heart, gizzard, neck, ½ cup of onion, 1 garlic clove, and 2 sprigs parsley. Simmer covered for 1 hour. Strain stock and refrigerate. Drain soaked chilies, discard liquid. With a mortar and pestle or blender, grind soaked chilies, 1 cup onion, 2 cloves garlic, almonds, raisins, half of sesame seeds, baguette, cloves, cinnamon, anise, tortilla, and cracked black pepper. Grind until smooth. Set aside. Blend tomatoes with chipotle until smooth. Heat lard in a pot over medium high heat. Brown chicken on all sides. Add chipotle mixture first, then add 2 cups of the chicken stock. Simmer stock until au sec (almost dry). Add soaked chili puree and simmer 2 minutes. Add more stock as necessary to keep hydrated. Simmer until chicken is done. Add chocolate and add sugar and salt to taste. Once chocolate is melted, serve with remaining sesame seeds sprinkled over top and parsley sprig. Serve with rice, beans, and flour tortillas.
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