Beer Diary...

Homebrewing can be like an ancient religion, a cauldron full of dogmatic traditions and rituals. There are a lot of practices going on that are based on general assumptions that continue to be passed on year after year from brewer to brewer. One case in point - a mash tun insulation jacket. It looks technical, fits in with the consensus that it's stabilizing and prolongs mash temperatures (a good thing for sure) and creates the warm fuzzy sensation that all is right in the world while you're brewing your best bitter. But do you really need it? I'm not going to launch into my history of the "don't ask just do it, mind set". I've covered that sad tale Here . I just want to get to the bones about being able to brew a decent batch of beer. That skill doesn't necessarily require some of the practices that we use as homebrewers today. There are a few things I know from personal experience that have convince me that many things we do a...

an immedieate connection with strangers over one common denominator leads to opportunities possibiilites to help and gain help etc etc etc

This guest post is by Brady Umfleet I have been looking forward to visiting Schooner's Grille and Brewery for a few years now. I did try several of their beers at a local beer festival and wanted to make it to the source, but had no real reason to make it up north until I needed to pick my wife up from a conference in Pittsburg. Schooners Grille and Brewery is located in Antioch, CA east of Pittsburg on the way to Stockton. Their website doesn’t provide details as to when this brewery opened up, but it seems to have been about 10 years ago. The brewery is in the parking lot of a few big box stores. When I pulled up I noticed a farmer picking up spent grain from behind the brewery which I hoped was a good sign. Walking into the establishment you will find the host station in a vestibule. Interesting really, since it seems out of place. Near the host station is a cold case with 12 ounce bottles of their pale ale. As I normally do, I scanned the area for business cards, coaster...

I don't normally pimp myself out for reviews but I also don't rule out the opportunities for free beer either, especially when the beer is really good like this one. Affligem Blond Affligem's blond ale is a soft delicious beer with plenty of easy drinking qualities like fruitiness, and spice that work so well in Belgian styles of beer. A full rounded malt presence and low bitterness make for a very enjoyable drinking experience. But it is 7% abv. so that's something to keep in mind. I received a promotional package in the mail that included a bottle of the blond(e), a shattered drinking glass (insert sad face and a bit of whimpering here) and a small yeast taster glass. I don't know if there's a name for the small yeast glass but it's tiny and cute and I doubt I'll ever use it for anything other than the video I made to show how to use it. My video (which you can see here) is nothing like the slick promo (featured at bottom of page) that came lo...

It's true, good things do come to those who wait, at least this time, and here's why. I took an under-attenuated beer that I thought was destined for that long slow pour down the drain and instead, created something wonderful. First, a little background history. Back in November of 2011, I was getting ready for my return to San Miguel for the Winter and so was brewing a series of lagers that would age in cold storage here in Santa Cruz for the 5 months that I would be gone. My plan was to come back to a set of delicious beers including a schwarzbier, bock, dopplebock and a Munich dunkel. All went well with the exception of the dunkel which simply would not ferment lower than 55% of it's original gravity. (I discovered much later that I may have mashed at a higher then presumed temperature because my thermometer was out of calibration. While it read 152f. the actual temperature was in all likelihood 158f.) Unfermentables or l...