2009 NTHBA Homebrew Social, Sat 2/21 @ 1pm

[Guerra]

The Homebrew Social will be held at my home, 1pm Saturday, February 21st, at 7409 Avalon Dr. Plano TX 75025. A map will be posted on the front page of our web site.

We will have some appetizers, but please feel free to bring your favorite “bar food”. If you have a lawn chair bring it also.

The intent of the Homebrew Social is to provide us a setting where we can share our own homebrewed beer with other brewers, and receive feedback on our beers. This is especially helpful if you have a Bluebonnet entry that you are not quite sure what category it should be entered in.

This year Ken Woodson will be conducting a Beer Judging 101 presentation where he will go over the basics of beer judging. With the 1st round of Bluebonnet Judging just a few weeks away this is a timely presentation. Hopefully it will be to give you the confidence to try your hand at judging.

Orlando

[fratermus]

My schedule has normalized so this should be my very first NTHBA function. Thanks for hosting it.

I read in the newsletter that we are to bring samples of our work. Has anyone tasted a commercial mild ale? I've never had one and don't know if they are commercially available here. I enjoy drinking the low-grav mild recipes I've been making but have no idea what they're really supposed to taste like. If anyone knows what it's supposed to be like I'll bring a couple of bottles for feedback.

I am basically a newcomer to the modern hobby, having come back to the brewkettle in March of 2008. Before that I had made some batches in the dark days of the late 80s/early 90s. No one but me or my uncritical friends have tried any of my beer so the idea of giving it to knowledgeable folks is inspiring Nameless Dread. I remind you of the saying that while laughter is ok, laughter and pointing is not ok.

I do have a few extra cases of 12oz recappables if anyone would like me to bring them. In addition, since the article discussed farmhouse beers, I will mention that I have that limited release Wyeast Labs 3726 Farmhouse yeast cultured if anyone wants some. I'm replating the culture this weekend (the media is cooling down in the pressure cooker now) so I can make a few extra slants. They should have enough growth to be ready for refrigeration/storage after the social. If this is frowned upon let me know so I do not make a faux pas on my NTHBA maiden voyage.

[Mike Grover]

We look forward to meeting you next week! Mild ales are hard to come by here. Not only are no authentic milds imported to this area, they aren't real popular with American micros and brewpubs either. I believe that Fred David had a chance to try some recently in England - you might try to corner him at the social. We also have several club members who brew the style and have won awards in homebrew competitions with their creations. However, like you, many of us have rarely if ever tasted an authentic commercial example.

[fratermus]

Really enjoyed meeting everyone! I think brewers are good people, online and in person.

I really am grateful for the chance to try other brewers' beer and to get constructive feedback. You know it's been a good meeting when you leave thinking about how you're going to take a swing at a style you haven't brewed before.

This is a cellphone pic of me, in case anyone is trying to remember who the new guy was:

[BrotherhoodBrew]

I had a great time. There sure was some tasty beer and ciders there.

[kingsbrew]

That was a lot of fun. You guys are brewing some good stuff. I really want Jason to teach us how he brews his cider. That was awesome.

[fratermus]

That cider (Edwort's Apfelwein) is bizarrely simple. Takes about 20mins of time to prep; probably takes longer to prep the sanitizer and sanitize the carboy than anything else. Total cost $20-$25 depending on how much the juice costs. It does take a while in the primary so it helps to keep a spare carboy of it all the time.

Apfelwein original recipe, per EdWort (we did not sample this saturday)
Ingredients:
5 gallons of storebought, pure no-preservative apple juice (TreeTop is traditional)
2# dextrose
Red Star Montrachet dry yeast, rehydrated in a bit of tapwater if you like.

The only unusual procedure come from the fact that we have a lot of dry material (corn sugar) to get into the fermenter. The usual method is to pour half the juice out of the container, funnel some of the dextrose into the container, recap, and shake a few moments until dissolved. Repeat with the other containers until all the dextrose and juice is in the carboy.

Pitch. Let it go for a month or two at room temp until completely clear. I do mine for 2mos by default. Carbonate or not (the batches you sampled on Sat were primed with 4oz of sucrose).

It will finish out something less than 1.000; .996, .998, something like that and will be bone dry. Most people think it taste like a very dry white/bubbly and the apple is almost undetectable. I like it but it is too severe for some. ABV somewhere north of 8%. Ed designed it this way to mimic a particular apple wine in The Fatherland.

Because of the long primary I do recommend carboys or better bottles rather than buckets. You can do this in a 5gal container because there is no krausen. None at all. It can throw sulphur; you have been warned.

First variant we tasted in the garage
Same as above, only pitched Wyeast 3068 instead of Montrachet. Less dry, more apple, and IMO more pleasant. Definitely throws krausen so you will want a blowoff and/or a larger primary. Finished around 1.003.

The 3068 takes off fine in the juice straight from the smackpack. When working from pure culture slants I have had problems making juice starters. As with the batch you tasted, I actually made the starter in wort, chilled/decanted, washed the yeast with a bit of sterile tapwater and pitched. Worked fine.


Second variant we tasted in the garage
Same as the original, only no added dextrose; just juice with Montrachet in it. Even less dry and a bit more appley. ABV somewhere in the 6% range. I believe this one also finished in the low single digits.


Currently Carbing
I have a batch of 3068 with no added sugars carbing up. It has real apple nose and flavor that you don't have to search for; I feel like I'm getting close. Ended up around 1.004, 1.005.


This stuff is so drop-dead simple that there's no excuse not to make it. Watch for sales on juice (or grab it at Costco) and go to town. As of this writing the folks on HomeBrewTalk have made 11,384.5 gallons of the stuff since 2007. It is the subject of much experimentation with carbing, backsweetening, yeast selection, etc.

[chris mewhinney]

Great gathering on Saturday. Thanks for letting us trash your yard, Orlando.

Just so everyone knows, I've recovered emotionally from my little "incident" with the Schwartzbier keg. Do I know how to impress you guys, or what? Anyway, I've learned to never trust that all the parts that are supposed to be in a QD are actually there. I also learned that black beer does not come out of a white shirt. Thanks for giving me one of your spare gaskets, Orlando. (I have now purchased a lifetime supply...).

I was asking several of you about the pro's and con's of a Beer Gun versus a counterflow bottle filler, since I had to quickly bottle some kegged beer for the Bluebonnet. Both Fred and Orlando were very convincing (Fred likes the counterflow, Orlando the Gun) and I left there not having any idea which one to get. Ultimately, I went with the counterflow filler, mostly because Chris and Andy at HBHQ's laughed at me when I started to buy the gun. Anyway, this morning I tried the filler for the first time and guess what happened? Yes! I blew the stopper out of the first bottle and completely soaked my face and shirt (and lot's of other things in the garage) with...you guessed it...my Schwatrzbier.

That damned beer better win something!!

Chris (Black Beered) Mewhinney