Cream of Wheat, February 28 2010

While this may not be my breakfast choice, cream of wheat is my best descriptor of this recipe idea.  In between a Cream Ale and an American Wheat Ale is what I'm going for.  Kara came over and so did Jonathan from QUAFF.  Needless to say, we had a few beers and ended at Small Bar after the brewing session for yet a few more beers.  To boot, my neighbor went to Stone Brewing for a tour and more and brought me a growler of Old Guardian.  I was spent and decided to wait on the growler for a couple of nights.

Cream of Wheat, January 30 2010

5 Gallons, All Grain, Single Infusion Mash, 90 Minute Boil

6 lbs. Red Wheat
3 lbs. Pilsner
Single Infusion Mash at 148°F

1 lb. Dried Rice Extract (at 20 minutes, not intentionally)

1 oz. Hallertauer for 60 min.

White Labs WLP810 San Francisco Lager Yeast (vial straight, no starter), thanks Kara!

OG: 1.058 @ 66°F
FG: 1.013 @ 64°F
ABV: 6%

Tasting Notes: Easy drinker and wheaty-yummy.  Cranking up the CO2 to about 13psi to give it more sparkle.  Hopefully, that will also strengthen the delicate wheat aromas.  I typically achieve a lower final gravity but I'm thinking that WLP810 doesn't attenuate a well as WLP001.  Also, maybe I simply needed to pitch a higher quantity of yeast.

Image Source: 1895 Cream of Wheat. Digital image. Cream of Wheat - Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 15 June 2006. Web. 2 Mar. 2010. .

Los Abuelos Fortaleza Tequila

Guillermo and I with the Fortaleza Los Abuelos Tequila line-up.

I spend most Monday's at our local tequila bar, Cantina Mayahuel.  Needless to say, I've tried numerous tequilas and have learned so much from this gem in our community.  By far, Fortaleza (labeled Los Abuelos in Mexico) is my favorite.  Their blanco is undoubtedly the best.  A few have come close and I  challenge any new potentials to a side-by-side with Fortaleza.  In a Margarita, Fortalez Blanco gives the famed cocktail life, flavor, and smoothness.  While there is lots of competition for reposados and añejo, Fortaleza holds their own at the top of those lists as well.  While other distillers seem to have inconsistency among the types of tequila they offer, Fortaleza has a distinctive character present in all three of their tequilas.
Not long ago, we were fortunate to meet Guillermo Sauza, the General Manager of Fortaleza.  He sat down and chatted with us for at least an hour, answering our technical and whimsical questions centered around tequila production.  Great guy and with all that tequila he has at hand, there's certainly not a shortage of chillindamos!

Big Bottle Birthday

Inebriated adventures are in abundance around here.  Much so that I quickly get behind in blogging all the shenanigans.  Though my Big Bottle Birthday happened nearly two months ago, I had to post a couple of pics of that epic mid-week night.  Among other bottled beers we consumed that evening, the main event was a 6L bottle of Duvel:

Of course, we had help from family and friends.   Soon after dusting the bottle, the party got so out of hand that they had to shut down the grid.  The neighborhood went dark and we were forced to continue drinking games under candle light.

As to be expected, the 2007 Duvel was really good.  It was picked up at Hi-Time Wine Cellar in Costa Mesa, CA.  Hi-Time is a gem in Orange County and while this particular bottle wasn't inexpensive, they typically have reasonable prices and a great selection.  Big bottled beer is not economical, but hey, it was my birthday!   What does one do with an empty 6L bottle?  Not sure.  Got ideas?

American Pale Ale, February 20 2010

Its been a while since I've brewed this style and I miss it!  When I started brewing a number of years ago, everyone brewed pale ales and IPAs.  In fact, a friend and I called hombrewer festivals "IPA Fests" since the dominant homebrew served was IPA.  For years, pale ale seemed to be the only micro brew on tap and the flagship of every small brewery.  Today, its more difficult to find craft pale ale that's good.  In observation, the mainstream perception of "good beer" today is light styles such as wheat ales (though everyone likes to incorrectly call them hefeweizens) topped with a lemon, blondes, goldens, browns, and light lager.  Along with those standards you'll see the less frequently poured beers such as amber and IPA.  The logical step missing in many craft brew pubs is Pale Ale.  In my opinion, Pale Ale is a gateway beer to bigger and more interesting styles.  Another trend I've seen with pale ale is that its often beyond style.  I've had some pale ales clearly more on the amber side or even more like an IPA.  Mislabeling is always intentional for marketing to the masses.  That's why many call their wheat ales, "Hefeweizen" and in one example here in San Diego, a kolsch is called a Pale Ale.
We have an upcoming Club Only Competition for Pale Ale giving a great excuse for me to return to this great beer style.  My brother-in-law, Ed, came over with his brew equipment and some homebrew buddies and they cranked out two beers, an amber and a pale ale, all in the same time it took for me to brew my all-grain pale ale.  I'm hoping that Ed also submits his pale ale to the COC and maybe to the next one as well since the focus will be brewing with extract.
As for the local homebrew, the California Common is in lagering and will remain there for about 3 more weeks.  I will be sharing the milds with QUAFF during this Tuesday's club meeting.  I tapped out the Agave Smoked Porter yesterday and luckily still have the two agave milds on tap.  Last weekend we were in Utah and I was able to sample a number of good brews (more on that later).

American Pale Ale, February 20 2010
5 Gallons, All Grain, Single Infusion Step Recirculation Mash, 90 Minute Boil

4 lbs. Maris Otter Pale
4 lbs. Domestic 2-Row
1 lb. Vienna
1/2 lb. Munich
1/2 lb. Red Wheat Malt
1/2 lb. Victory (*slightly more than 1/2 lb.)
1/4 lb. Biscuit (*slightly less)
*I could use a digital scale!

1 oz. Homegrown Centennial hops for 60 min.
0.6 oz. Homegrown Centennial hops for 17 min.
1 Whirlfloc tab 15 min.
1/4 oz. Amarillo  for 10 min.
1/4 oz. Cascade for 1 min.
1/4 oz. Perle for 1 min.

White Labs WLP001 California Ale Yeast (vial to starter)

OG: 1.062 @ 66°F
FG: 1.015 @ 42°F
Kegged on March 8th, ABV 6.4%
Bottled some on March 17th for sharing and the Club Only Competition

Our house is still fairly cold so fermentation temps will be very low (60-64°F) but I know that I can count on WLP001 to pull through.

UPDATE 2/28: WLP001 is still chugging along though the krausen has been falling slowly over the past couple of days.  I should have put a thick blanket around the carboy during the initial ferment.  I just checked the ambient temp of the carboy's location, 58°F.

UPDATE 3/20: Been sampling for a few days now, good brew but is a bit malty sweet.  Next time, I'll wrap a blanket when the house is really cold.  For me, the sweetness hides the complexity of the malt but the hop profile is what I was hoping for.  On the other hand, this is a uniquely clean flavor profile for California Ale Yeast.  I wonder if I could have just increased the pitch rate and still fermented at this temperature to achieve a lower final gravity and less residual sweetness.  If so, this may be a golden ticket to chillindamos (happens to be better than heaven).

UPDATE 3/25: I usually force carbonate at my standard pressure for about a week before tapping.  Another week is often better.  The CO2 volumes have increased.  Also, maybe another week allowed some of the green qualities to dissipate.  Either way, I can't have enough of this beer! Delishioso!

California Common, January 30 2010

Beer is on its way, my friends!

I had a hANCHORing for a steam beer and it just so happens that house temperatures are ideal right now for fermenting this style. Michelle and I and our friend Kara have had a number of Anchor Brewing beers in the past few months and it reminded me of how much I truly enjoy their Steam® beer (that's right, the descriptor "steam" is a registered trademark by Anchor Brewing and thus the universal style is named California Common rather than a steam beer). I've brewed a handful of beers in this style in the past and you just can't go wrong! I spent the last two weeks dreaming of how I want this beer to be brewed (a clear sign of a serious homebrewing problem!) with the current storehouse availability.
In other news... The state of the kegerator is in recovery mode ever since the mass consumption that took place over New Year's. Currently on tap is the Agave Smoked Porter and the two versions of the Mayahuel Mild. The porter is already running low after bottling-out and a surge of consumption from the recent homebrew drought. The milds were also bottled-out for our club-only session challenge competition as well as to share with Larry at Cantina Mayahuel this coming Monday. Though in recovery, the kegerator is calling, "Feed me, Seymour!" I've realized that I need to start doing 10 gallon batches in the future just to keep up with the local consumption.
While in Big Bear I did manage to bottle out some of the homebrews to share with QUAFF and for the upcoming AFC Homebrew Competition. This past Tuesday, I shared a few beers with my fellow QUAFFers, the infamous Blueberry Wheat, Winter Warmer, and the recent Agave Smoked Porter. I've been genuinely enjoying sharing my beers at our club meetings. While it seems to be easy to please friends, it is the comments and appreciation from fellow homebrewers that is most gratifying.

California Common, January 30 2010
5 Gallons, All Grain, Single Infusion Mash, 90 Minute Boil

8 lbs. Maris Otter Pale
1 lb. Crystal 20
1/2 lb. Victory
1/4 lb. Biscuit
1/4 lb. Caravienne
Single Infusion Mash at 148°F

1 oz. Homegrown Vojvodina hops for 60 min.
1 oz. Spalt for 20 min.
1 Whirlfloc tab 20 min.
1/2 oz. Hallertauer for 10 min.
1/2 oz. Saaz for 10 min.
1/4 oz. Hallertauer for 5 min.
1/4 oz. Saaz for 5 min.

White Labs WLP810 San Francisco Lager Yeast (vial to starter), thanks Kara!

OG: 1.062 @ 66°F
FG: 1.014 @ 42°F
Kegged on March 8th, ABV 6.5%
*some bottled for sharing on March 17th, damn its good!

Image Source: This 1931 anti-prohibition march in New Jersey photograph occurs in abundant locations all over the web. There are many online entities selling prints of this photograph as well. While I found numerous descriptions, none identified the photographer or an authentic source. Considering its abundance on the internet without a valid origin, I feel this is a heritage photo and took the liberty to upload it to my own album.