Show 45: Portrait of a Brew Day
Prebeer Preamble: Today’s show changes things up, as we spend the entire episode in The Build-A-Beer Workshop. Back on August 19th, 2007, my brewing compadre Shawn and I decided we would brew up two batches of beer simultaneously. This would be Shawn’s third batch of homebrew, and the first on which he’d take point. Me, I thought I’d step up the complexity a bit and do a larger-volume boil. From these slightly ambitious decisions came two interesting brews and lots of hard-knocks lessons about homebrewing. This episode delves into that day deeply, and follows the fruits of our labor through till the end.
Part 1: The Day Itself. Highlights of our brew day, including a salty interjection or two when things don’t go our way. Plus, Shawn and I try to talk ourselves into a good mood, and give a little informaiton about how we came up with the recipes. What you won’t hear is the opressive sound of triple-digit temperatures.
Interbeer Interlude: Beer As Folk: “Peter Zein, part 2.” I continue my conversation with AleSmith Brewing Company’s owner and brewmaster. We talk a little about recipes, the hop “crisis”, and the future of AleSmith. Plus, Peter lets us in on how anyone can brew up their own version of one of AleSmith’s tasty brews.
Part 2: The Fates of the Beers. After their difficult births, each beer embarks on a different path. Shawn’s hoppy IPA gets a thorough going-over (and a name) from hop-headed friend-of-SoB Evo Terra, while my freaky Imperial Stout enters a contest on Wingin’ It 3D to see if it can out-Samuel-Jackson a similar beer brewed by Thomas from Flagstaff.
Liquid Literature: “Brewing Classic Styles by Jamil Zainasheff and John Palmer”. Speaking of Thomas, he delivers this excellent review of a brewing tome that should be strongly considered for any homebrewer’s library. Thomas has even taken at least one recipe for a spin. How’d it turn out?
Part 3: Lessons Learned. We once again flash back to brew day, and find Shawn and I in a reflective mood. Just what did we take from this less-than-perfect brewing experience that will make us better brewers? Tune in and find out!
February 15th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
Did Shawn dry hop his Ruination clone, from Evo’s comments I suspect not and I believe Ruination does.
The Dunkle turned out wonderful, more of the clove character was present likely due to the lower fermentation temperature here in the Winter time.
February 15th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
Actually, the Ruined Nation was dry-hopped, but for whatever reason it didn’t seem to “take.” Ironically, the next iteration of the New Guy (dubbed the Not-So-New-Guy) was also dry-hopped, resulting in a wonderful floral/piney bouquet.
Glad to hear the dunkle worked out. I’ve got a high-gravity dunkelweizen sitting in the secondary as I type this. Here’s hoping for a successful brew on that…
February 20th, 2008 at 9:23 am
Living in the Midwest, which has been frozen for, oh, about the entire month of February so far, I have to say, thanks for the timing on this show. It makes me appreciate the tundra wasteland in which I currently reside just a tiny bit more.
February 27th, 2008 at 7:54 am
Lol. I totally agree with CarrieP. The Midwest has been awful this year.
Another great show, Charlie. And I loved Tomas’ book review.