Beer Diary...

I picked up a couple bags of base grain for myself at Morebeer in Los Altos and since I was 'over the hill' as they say here, I decided to treat myself to lunch so I stopped in Los Gatos to sample some of the beers on tap at the Los Gatos Brewing Company on my way back to Santa Cruz. The last time I was here (over six years ago) the beers were for the most part pretty unremarkable so when I returned this time I was please to see that they brought in a new head brewer. I ordered a sampling of the beers that were currently on tap and began tasting my way through from light to dark beginning with a Pilsner style lager. I was immediately impressed, here was a beer I could relate to as it embodied the character of the style. Crisp, clean malt with a hop bitterness that bordered on the Bohemian and kept the malt in check. Next was the German hefeweizen which I was so impressed with that when it came time, I ordered a full pint to go with my lunch. This beer has a huge spicy, clovey...

In the fourth class of the five class series of brew school, the students brewed up a ten gallon all-grain batch of English ale. Because the wort is split into two five gallon fermenters (for ease of transport from school to the area that the beer ferments) it is a perfect opportunity to try out a couple different types of yeast. In this class we fermented one half with Whitelabs WLP002 English ale yeast and the other WLP004 Irish ale yeast. I just sampled the finished beer and I've got to say that the class did an excellent job of preparing the wort for the yeast as the attenuation reach 80% for both yeast types and the quality of the beer is excellent. Irish or English Each yeast imparted distinctly different characteristics to the beer. WLP002 is malt forward accentuating the crystal 40 that was used in the grain bill. The WLP004 has some apple/pear flavors with a crisp and dry mouth feel. Both beers are very enjoyable. It's surprising to experience such remarkable differe...

Besides multiple brewpubs and breweries located in Santa Cruz, we've also got a couple of good beer bars that are worth a visit. I recently stopped in for a quick pint at a popular Santa Cruz West side beer pub called the Parish Public House . You can find it nested in the row of retail shops in the Safeway shopping center at 841 Almar Ave. Santa Cruz, California. I can't decide if this place is humble or discrete, I guess it's exterior is discrete with a humble interior. You have to really be looking for this place to find it but it's worth the effort. When I entered on this quiet afternoon I was immediately assured of satisfying my thirsty desire by the sight of multiple taps of some of my favorite beers. The environment is simple but comfortable with a couple of elaborate tap handle displays that decorate the walls but more importantly were the numerous working taps behind the bar dispensing some good beer including Speakeasy's Prohibition amber ale and North Co...

I've got a small homebrewing problem which ultimately leads to a moral question of sorts. Here's the problem part. I have two five gallon kegs of beer that I don't care for that much. One I care for much less than the other. The first beer is slightly under attenuated because the yeast went dormant when I let the fermentation room get too cold one night and I was never able to get it up and going again which resulted in it being somewhat sweet even though it's suppose to be an IPA. In addition to that, it has a strange hop character to it that is the results of a strange, albeit creative, hop schedule which although imbued with good intentions, failed to deliver on the idea. Now, I wish that I'd thought twice before using that particular hop schedule. Fortunately I take good notes when I brew so I won't repeat this calamity. The second keg of beer is a pale ale which is extremely dry and consequently on the bitter side for the style. This beer I consider margina...

The final day of the Summer session of brew school is this Sunday and we will be tasting three of the beers that were brewed in earlier classes. These include a pale ale utilizing dry malt extract with steeping grains and three additions of hops, a German hefeweizen using only dry malt extract and one addition of bittering hops and a partial mash dry stout using liquid malt extract to supply most of the fermentables. Pale, Hefe, Stout The pale ale and the hefe were both bottled the second week of class and the dry stout we kegged on the third week and will be on tap for tasting for the final class Sunday. The ten gallon all-grain brewed last week (the fourth week) was split into two five gallon fermenters with Whitelabs wlp002 English ale yeast in one and wlp004 Irish ale yeast in the other. Those two beers I will keg and have for sampling several weeks from now. Interested students will have an opportunity to get together to sample those at a potluck at my house. I sample all of th...