3bbl kettles for Cerveceria Dos Aves

Each year we continue to grow. Slowly. It's a struggle to make a small brewery profitable and it's an incredible amount of work just to break even. But, with our recent gold metal wins in a national competition against professional brewers throughout Mexico the hard work is rewarded with a sense of validation. This is encouraging and the pride of the achievement has energized me to keep at it. We took first place for our Am. pale ale and R.I.S. 

Last year we took 3rd. place for our Belgian tripel and two years ago a gold medal for our barley wine. Needless to say, we are making some good beer now we just need to make a lot more of it.

We have commissioned a local welder to manufacture a set of 3bbl kettles that we hope to put into use by the end of September. This will reduce our current work load of eight back-to-back brewing sessions in a 17 hour period down to one in 8 hours in order to get our fermentors half full. As our sales increase we can then go to brewing two back-to-back sessions to completely fill the fermentors (6bbl). 

The next hurtle to overcome is the cumbersome bottling system we have in place. Filling corney kegs and force carbonating, chilling and then bottling is very labor intensive, not to mention a tun of cleaning. So, moving to the top of the wish list are a set of brite tanks and glycol chiller. 

So the journey continues leaving little time to blog but as events unfold I shall endeavor to keep you abreast. Salud!

Beer Competition In Mexico

The homebrewing hobby is really taking off in Mexico and naturally, along with that popularity comes the competitive spirit. A national homebrewer and professional brewers competition took place in Mexico City last week and a record breaking 172 homebrew entries were submitted.

Record breaking 172! What? Yeah, for those involved in homebrewing in 'the States' this number seems pretty insignificant. The number of entries for the recent American Homebrew Association competition had a staggering 7,823 entries submitted by 1,733 homebrewers so the Mexican event appears to pale in comparison but the hobby is growing rapidly in Mexico and this seemingly small number represents what will surely be the beginnings of a craft beer movement that compares with the early days of craft beer in the U.S. These low numbers compare to the number of attendees that participated in Boulder and Denver in the early 1980's. And like looking into a crystal ball, I can see the future of homebrewing in Mexico growing quickly in the same way it did (and is) in the U.S.



Spicy Irish Ale takes gold

There were 114 registered participants, judges and stewards according to the Competencia Amateur - Cerveza Mexico 2012 with 13 categories of beers. If you're a gringo you should go to the above link and check out how the beers are broken into styles, very interesting. And even more interesting to me is that the best of show winner was from the spiced/veg./herb category. Emilio Andrés Saldana Hernández took the ribbon for his spicy Irish ale called Tlaxco Lacandona (a loose reference to an indian tribe in Chiapas?). One of the prizes awarded was a scholarship to the Siebel Institute of Technology in Chicago.

Other exciting news to hear was that my friend and fellow homebrewer Francisco Kameko took the bronze for his Dunkelweizen in the wheat beer (Cervezas de Trigo) category. As a new brewer, Francisco participated in my homebrewing classes at Cabrillo College several years ago and now brews all-grain batches in San Miguel De Allende, Mexico (my home away from home) as well at at his home in S.F. Congratulations Francisco.!"The student becomes the teacher". Francisco was happy to receive the recognition for a beer that he had previously won an award for in California, a validating accomplishment. But, he said that submitting the beer in Mexico was a little difficult in that it needed to be sent by courier to Mexico city and the entry fee was an unusually high $70 usd.

Francisco takes the bronze

It feels good to know that the culture of brewing is becoming popular in Mexico. I'm looking forward to the expansion of the craft beer movement and a growing homebrewing movement. Maybe if more people start homebrewing in Mexico the prices for homebrewing equipment and ingredients will go down. As it stands, I can hardly afford it. We'll see. Cheers!

World Beer Cup 2012 Winners

The big news on the beers scene today is the announcement of the World Beer Cup winners and the most noteworthy (at least for this humble blogger) is the Gold metal placement for a Mexican craft brewery Cerveceria La Chingoneria. They took gold for their "Hazmela Rusa" in the Chocolate beer category. This is exciting news and a tribute to the efforts that the Mexicans craft brewers are making as they try to break out from the mass produced stereotypical Modelo/Corona swill. I have to say Congratulations to them, I'm a big fan of their beers and am glad to see they are being recognized in this way.

Winners List
Category 7: Chocolate Beer, 34 Entries

Gold: Házmela Rusa, La Chingonería, Mexico City, Mexico

Silver: X-1 Chocolate Imperial Rye Porter, DuClaw Brewing Co., Bel Air, MD

Bronze: Odin’s Raven, Alpine Beer Co., Alpine, CA

Here is the complete list of winners for the 2012 World Beer Cup submissions.

Competition Results For SC County Fair

Congratulations to all of the competitors in this years Santa Cruz County Fair homebrewing contest.
The following are the results from this years event. Please forward this to anyone you know that may have entered beer this year.

Competition Results SC County Fair 2011

9/10/2011

 

Best of Show Winner
Chris Scianni

Flight Winners - Flight Description - Beer Style

Robert Conticello - English Brown Ale, Porter - Mild
Harendra Goontilleke - English/Imperial IPA - Imperial IPA
Katie Lipton - Belgian Strong, Sour Ale, Strong Ale - Belgian Dark Strong Ale
Michael Lipton - Wheat/Rye, Belgian/French - Belgian Specialty Ale
Larry Lynch-Freshner - Fruit, Spice/Herb/Vegetable, Smoke/Wood - Classic Rauchbier
Sean McMasters - Stout - American Stout
Dennis Nolan - Mead- Braggot
Dennis Nolan - Cider - Common Cider
Gary Schilling - Hybrids - California Common Beer
Chris Scianni - American IPA - American IPA
Mark Taylor - Lagers - Standard American Lager
Chris Thomsen - Specialty - Specialty Beer
Zac Whitehouse - American Ale - American Pale Ale
Joe Williams - Ales - Scottish Heavy 70/-


Individual Awards

Award Level: First

Chris Casey 28 Other Specialty Cider/Perry
Robert Conticello 11 Mild
Robert Conticello 22 Wood-Aged Beer
Hoffner & Padilla 20 Fruit Beer
Michael Lipton 16 Belgian Specialty Ale
Larry Lynch-Freshner 22 Classic Rauchbier
Dennis Nolan 27 Common Cider
Gary Schilling 07 California Common Beer
Mark Taylor 01 Standard American Lager
Mark Taylor 05 Doppelbock
Chris Thomsen 23 Specialty Beer
Brian Valdivia 05 Doppelbock
Joe Williams 01 Dortmunder Export
Joe Williams 09 Scottish Heavy 70/-
Joe Williams 16 Belgian Pale Ale

Award Level: Second

Shailendra Bist 18 Belgian Dubbel
Dave Bossie 23 Specialty Beer
Mia Bossie 22 Other Smoked Beer
Cathy Carlson 26 Open Category Mead
Chris Casey 27 Common Cider
Robert Conticello 02 Bohemian Pilsner
Robert Conticello 14 Imperial IPA
Robert Conticello 16 Saison
Harendra Goontilleke 14 Imperial IPA
Hoffner & Padilla 16 Witbier
Hoffner & Padilla 13 Oatmeal Stout
Hoffner & Padilla 10 American Brown Ale
Adam Holter 16 Belgian Specialty Ale
Adam Holter 22 Wood-Aged Beer
Adam Holter 17 Berliner Weisse
Colin Kelly 01 Dortmunder Export
Jeff Klatt 23 Specialty Beer
Jeff Klatt 10 American Amber Ale
Paul Konopelski 23 Specialty Beer
Tim Landon 20 Fruit Beer
Robert Lauer 14 Imperial IPA
Carol Lezin 03 Oktoberfest/Marzen
Carol Lezin 02 German Pilsner (Pils)
Michael Lipton 13 Russian Imperial Stout
Marq Lipton 13 Russian Imperial Stout
Michael Lipton 18 Belgian Dark Strong Ale
Michael Lipton 23 Specialty Beer
Katie Lipton 18 Belgian Dark Strong Ale
Larry Lynch-Freshner 16 Belgian Specialty Ale
Larry Lynch-Freshner 06 Kölsch
Kirk Mathew 21 Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer
Kirk Mathew 18 Belgian Dubbel
Kirk Mathew 10 American Pale Ale
Kirk Mathew 16 Belgian Specialty Ale
Sean McMasters 23 Specialty Beer
Sean McMasters 13 American Stout
Dennis Nolan 28 Other Specialty Cider/Perry
Dennis Nolan 26 Braggot
Dennis Nolan 28 Apple Wine
Steve Rannals 23 Specialty Beer
Chris Scianni 14 American IPA
Chris Scianni 12 Brown Porter
Mark Taylor 14 Imperial IPA
Chris Thomsen 21 Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer
Tizoc Velasco 23 Specialty Beer
Zac Whitehouse 10 American Pale Ale
Chris Williams 09 Irish Red Ale
Joe Williams 23 Specialty Beer
Joe Williams 14 American IPA
Joe Williams 06 Cream Ale
Joe Williams 14 Imperial IPA
Joe Williams 10 American Pale Ale
Joe Williams 22 Wood-Aged Beer
Donna and Ron Winingar 09 Strong Scotch Ale

Award Level: Third

Dave Bossie 09 Irish Red Ale
Dave Bossie 09 Strong Scotch Ale
Matthew Burgoon 06 Blonde Ale
Cathy Carlson 24 Sweet Mead
Cathy Carlson 26 Metheglin
Robert Conticello 13 Russian Imperial Stout
Tom Geoghan 13 Sweet Stout
Jack Gobbo 14 American IPA
Harendra Goontilleke 14 American IPA
Adam Holter 15 Dunkelweizen
Carol Lezin 19 American Barleywine
Michael Lipton 10 American Amber Ale
Larry Lynch-Freshner 12 Robust Porter
Sean McMasters 18 Belgian Dark Strong Ale
Dennis Nolan 25 Other Fruit Melomel
Steve Rannals 06 Blonde Ale
Steve Rannals 13 Oatmeal Stout
Matthew Rohan 12 Robust Porter
Mark Taylor 23 Specialty Beer
Chris Thomsen 12 Robust Porter
Steve Tripp 08 Extra Special/Strong Bitter
Steve Tripp 08 Special/Best/Premium Bitter
Brian Valdivia 03 Oktoberfest/Marzen
Zac Whitehouse 13 Russian Imperial Stout
David Wholey 14 American IPA
David Wholey 14 Imperial IPA
Joe Williams 15 Weizen/Weissbier
Joe Yuhas 16 Saison
Steve Zabel 23 Specialty Beer