Beer Diary...

In this article I would like to explore the reasons we start the hobby of homebrewing and how we keep the hobby alive which ultimately leads us to more brewing knowledge and practices and consequently , better results in the quality of our beer.Most of us are motivated by a number of personal reasons when we start out making our own beer. Some might be... 1. The idea of duplicating a favorite beer 2. The challenge to creatively express ourselves through brewing 3. Saving money 4. Impressing family and friends 5. Furthering personal knowledge of the world we live in 6. The novelty of making an alcoholic beverage ....to name a few. No matter what our individual reasons are for beginning the hobby of homebrewing we all share a common desire, and that is to succeed in our efforts. To end up with something that is, if not an outstanding example of our favorite beverage, at least a halfway decent drinking beer that prompts us to move forward in our efforts. I'm not really sure what mot...

Si! Viva La Cebada en Mexico! Finally. It seems like it should have been an easy task to find a supplier of malted barley in Mexico, but it was quite difficult. I did extensive internet searches using English and Spanish words and phrases like malt and malto , barley and cebada , malta de cebada , lúpulo para elaborar la cerveza with no results until the other day. I was at the point of not caring if I found malt in Mexico or not when I just happened to stumbled upon http://www.maltayderivados.com/ The website indicated an entire inventory of brewing related materials and equipment but lacked details like individual items and costs. They did list a phone number and address ( estamos en la ciudad de pachuca hidalgoparque industrial canacintra av. b lote 14 a). I became very exited with the possibility of finding a source of malt, and rushed out to purchase a phone card to make the long distance call to their office. Returning home I scribbled out pertinent questions on a...

Drilling a hole by hand with a paddle bit. Using two packages of the Safale s-33 created quite the fermentation fury doing its job and settling out after only four days so I was able to bottle two cases of beer today. I once again have renewed sense of appreciation for kegging as the process of getting the beer into bottles was very labor intensive. Soaking the bottles over night, removing the labels, scrubbing inside and out, rinsing and sanitizing. Then racking the beer into another bucket with preboiled sugar, bottle filling and finally capping left me exhausted and thirsty for a good ale. Alas, I settled for another, you guessed it... Barrilitos . Now for two weeks of patience before I can enjoy the fruits of my labor. Of course I did some tasting during the process and I think this will be a good beer. The hibiscus addition was most evident with a tart dryness and since it is so young the flavor of yeast and residual sweetness is up front. The phenolics that I was expecting is ...

In my attempt to use local ingredients to add the flavor of the Mexican culture, I'm going to start with a wheat beer with the addition of j amaica (dried hibiscus flower) and tamarindo . Each has its unique flavor but they both impart a sour or tartness to the taste.The hibiscus is mildly tart and with tangy fruit and flower hints. The tamarindo is boldly tart with strong dried fruit flavors. I am using a Belgian style yeast ( safale s-33) www.fermentis.com/ that should contribute a large phenolic flavor and I'm hoping that the hibiscus and tamarindo will accent and support that with their tartness. Naturally, I was concerned about using too much of either of these so, I went with a conservative one ounce of the hibiscus and about a quarter cup of the tamarindo in my five gallon batch. The original gravity for this beer is 1.046 and I hope that it will ferment down to 1.008 but this beer is new territory for me so I will be happy if it ends up drinkable. One thing I w...

Dancers with Barrilitos on their heads. After a week in San Miguel I'm starting to relax into the Mexican way of life. We spent yesterday at the thermals enjoying a day of soaking in the hot springs and laying about the warm lawns playing cribbage and sipping cerveza . Today we went to a church gathering in a barrio north of town called Mexiquito for a celebration of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Food vendors sold home made g orditas , enchiladas, tamales and chicharron while throngs of proud parents paraded their young boys, (whom they've dressed up like the historical Juan Diego after he had his vision or the Virgin), around the courtyard. In the mean time, I haven't done much in the way of preparing for brewing except to browse around the markets looking for the materials that I will need for my upcoming brews and considering the local foods that can possibly be used for added flavor and cultural appeal. Since arriving in San Miguel I've been drinking a beer (lager) ...

The trip to San Miguel de Allende can be long. In this particular case, very long. I won't bore you with the ugly details except to say that American Airlines delayed our departure from San Jose long enough to cause us to miss our connecting flight on Aeromexico in L.A., consequently we had to spend the night and arrived in Mexico City a day later than we planned. We arrived weary but exited in Leon, Mexico in the middle of our second night of travel, claimed our baggage and took our place in line at the customs inspection site. The woman in front of us showed her passport and was instructed to press a large button on a glass panel that is used to randomly select persons for further scrutiny. She did so and the window lit up green, (the all clear sign) and she passed through with her possessions . It was now our turn. We showed our passports, handed over our forms claiming that we had nothing to declare and then took our turn to press the large button. Unfortunately, the panel t...