Rocktoberfest Taste Test

This beer was a bit on the outside of my comfort zone because of the pumpkin spice. Im not a fan of spiced or flavored beers but I wouldnt turn a pint down either. This brew was strange because at one week in primary it did not taste right. At two weeks in secondary, it started to taste like beer but it was still a little bland. 

It went into the keg at 21 days for a three day carb at 28psi. I decided to sample it about a day early to make sure it had matured to a drinkable batch. It had. 

Strange beer though, it starts as a rather bland ale and about a second after you swallow, the pumkin hits my nasal senses and the sip completes. This is the first beer that had two stages of flavor separated into phases. Weird. I think its naturally undercarbonated at just one full day on the Co2 so I will retaste when it is zinging with bubbles.  Very drinkable. 

A Good Smoke

The JR Cigars house brand is a good smoke. Whether you have the catalog or visit them online, they give you their alternative to the best brands out there. I find that for the price, their house brand won't disappoint. Enjoy. 

Oldham Ale Chili

Oldham Ale Smoked Chili

INGREDIENTS

80/20 ground beef

Chili beans in sauce 

Black beans

Jalapeño ranch style beans

Bell pepper

Yellow onion

Crushed tomatoes

Tomato sauce

SPICES

Salt/pepper

Worcester sauce

Montreal steak seasoning

Mexican taco sauce (Tapatio)

Hot Mexican chili powder

Regular chili powder

Brown sugar

Ale of choice

This recipe like most of mine comes with little or no measuring instruction. Depending on serving size and mixture preference (bean ratio to meat) you can tailor to your liking. Here are the steps.

In large chili pot, crumble ground beef and start to cook. As the beef becomes about half cooked, add tablespoon or so of both chili powders. Stir and continue to cook. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

Add 1 chopped onion and 2 bell peppers and continue to stir until beef is medium. 

Take off heat and add large can of tomato sauce and two large cans of crushed tomato. 

Incorporate mixture (no heat) add beans making sure to strain all beans from sauce exct the chili beans. Add them to the pot in sauce. 

Once blended and stirred, add both chili powders until desired spicy/heat value has been reached (your opinion). Add Montreal steak seasoning until it's tasted in each test. Add one cup (or to taste) of Worcester sauce. Add 1/2 cup of Mexican taco sauce(Tapatio). 

Start with one cup of brown sugar and continue adding until sweetness is reached to compliment the spice (heat). 

Add 12 oz of Ale

Place entire pot into smoker with your choice of woods for six hours at 275. Remove and let stand for 30 minutes before serving. 

NNB Home Brew Tasting Event

A Hydro&Brew sponsored home brew tasting party was held at the Northwest Nano basement brewery on October 12th. Some of the best home brewers from the region came out, growlers in hand to participate and govern our first ever 10 gallon batch of brew. As uncomfortable as events can be when they are one, not established, and two, no one has met yet, this jumped off great with introductions and favorite recipes. NN had the smoke house lit with cherry smoking a pot of Oldham Ale chili for hours as the brewers rolled in. Our sponsors, Jason and Jenny from Hydro&Brew brought the finished Oatmeal Stout and Baltic Porter from the beer day they hosted at the store. NN had its offering of Oldham Ale for the group to try and  critique. 

The second part of our day was running our first batch of a 10 gallon recipe through our newly purchased twin burner rig, an Imperial Nut Brown, we are calling, "Nutzo". Twenty six pounds of grain for the mash tun to convert. More on the brew later...

As the growlers came out, so did the tasters including myself. Our most senior brewer brougt this gem he called green as it had a pouch of fresh hops sitting in the bottom of the beer. Now, write this down, I don't like hoppy beer. I love hops, just not IPA's on steroids. So I grabbed a taster glass so I could take a sip, and set it down to rinse my mouth out with Ale. As I smelled it, I couldn't help but notice a pineapple note mixed in with a flowery onslaught of hops. As I tasted it I was surprised by the complex, fruity (but not flavored) aroma that seemed to permeate my nose and eyes as I swallowed a hesitant mouthful. It was the most complex beer I have ever tasted. It was the best IPA I have ever drunk up until the brewer reminded me it was not an IPA, rather an APA or American Pale Ale. Even better as I am in full support of revitalizing American brands in every part of our lives. 

I would say the Oldham Ale Smoked Chili was a hit as was the buffalo chicken dip and a cream cheese thing with bel peppers and ham chunks. Our brew den was tested both in ambiance and functionality. Three taps, a keg cellar, a shabby sheik humidor and a vintage record player spinning ACDC's iconic, Back In Black as the night wore on. 

Finally, the 10 gallon batch and the tutoring session I received from the attendees who can seriously brew beer. I would say my biggest confusion was around the sparging process and delicate nature of setting the grain bed. We (Jake and I) had previously treated these steps as "hurry up" sections of what can become a long process if you are brewing at the end of the day. Once they slowed me down and walked me through everything from the vorloff (sp) to setting the grain bed, I felt like the mash efficiency was rising as we continued to sample our brews and smoke cigars. 

The 1.080 OG

After pulling a test tube of post boils wort, I waited for it to cool to 65 degrees and plopped in my hydrometer for an original gravity reading.  1.080 right on the line!  The highest OG ever for our brewery. This small victory was conflicted with a slight error in measuring boil off and we ended the boil two gallons short of 10. So we will keg five and pull a special 3 gallon batch for the growlers. 

Join us next time for a taste test and review of the recipe!

A Scotchy Trip to Gotham

Day two and three of a business trip to Gotham landed us in the bowels of both Jersey and New York for some interesting business related to the sum of all retail fears. One thing about a business day in either location is the time it takes to travel around from meeting to meeting. Throw in lunch and a business happy hour, and it's a 12 hour day. New Yorkers are so maxed out with available time it's a small logistical nightmare everyday. 

Finding a good scotch is like finding a taxi, there are a bunch of choices and some are better than others. The two we tried on back to back nights were Cragganmore 10 and Talisker 10. Both were top notch with a major difference in smokey wood flavor in the Talisker. Cragganmore was smoothe and delicious. Both bottles were accompanied by La Gloria Cubano Series R Maduros and Bolivar Cafradias.

Our third night was the topper, it was the kind of can ride where you know your probably going to be late for the next meeting but somehow the cabbie pulls off the impossible and gets you to the curb in time and for less than you were anticipating. My buddy piloted his 52 Pacemaker from Miami to Libert State Park for this view everyday and night for the foreseeable future. So naturally we took advantage of location location location and socialized after a full day with government officials in Gotham. Loved the vibe with perfect Fall temps and a bottle of Jack as the sun set on the worlds foremost skyline. 

The end of our night was perhaps the greatest restaurant vibe I have ever experienced. This is the view from Liberty House in Jersey at the marina just outside Liberty State Park. Exceptional menu from sushi to steaks and again, another healthy Scotch list. After dinner we walked down to a private fire pit for hosted marshmallow roasting and home made chocolate ice cream.  On the desert menu were four top shelf cigars offered. The irony my buddy loves to mention is he has a 52 foot yacht with this view for a third of what it would cost for 600 square feet with a view of Jersey.

A Cigar And Some Shine

Occasionally, I have to work and this weeks trip takes me to the Big Apple for meetings.  As I was trying to understand the format of my blog, I conveniently decided that home brewing was the primary focus but travel and leisure when it involves beer or cigars is permitted. Embarrassingly, it's taken nearly 46 years to actually get here so yes, I'm an NY virgin. First stop on a Sunday is JR Cigars in Jersey!  

Heaven.  Wow.  Have you seen this place? I got lost in a aisle trying to figure out what not to buy. It's also cool to grab a cigar from the desk and smoke it while your browsing. Once my bag was filled, it was off to the attached bar and restaurant, cigar still in hand for a couple of pulls on the Boddingtons tap. The New York Football Giants were playing and getting killed, so the packed facility populated with old school mobsters and Jersey types took a while to navigate.  Once seated we flipped the pages of an incredible and cheap food menu. I love grub that comes in mounds and cost $6.95. At least 21 bottles of scotch lined the bar and as we transitioned the empty plates back to the kitchen, we partook in some Cragganmore and yet another stick. Being a Sunday in Parsippany, we closed the place at 6pm and headed back to the Hyatt.

Surprises tend to ruin a travel day but sometimes a thoughtful colleague can close the day one festivities with good judgement. As the flask came out, so did some snifters from the armoire.  Apple Pie Moonshine came pouring out coating the glasses with a thick film.  Amber colored and smelling of apple pie and jet fuel, I was hesitant.  Every time I have had some banjo playing hillbilly hand me some shine it was almost impossible to swallow. But I trusted my friend and all he said was, "just try it."  Apparently high end shine from pro stills is somewhat of a delicacy because this shit was killer. Not like tequilla in Tijuana, like the scotch we just drank-great. It reminded me of ether with baked apple pie. But extremely drinkable like high end Brandy. I was so surprised I inquired as to the legalities in ordering some mason jars from the shiner.  I'll get back to you on the pursuit of the shine.

Cleanliness Next to Godliness?

The most important responsibility in crafting great and consistent beers is perfect sanitary conditions. There are two stages to worry about. First, is the boil.  Since boiling at temperature is sanitary, few if any steps are needed to maintain a bacteria free brew desk. However, because small particles and residue can introduce off favors into your beer, please take the time to prepare your brew kettle and tools prior to starting. Second and most critical is the fermentation bucket. Once the boil is over and the beer has cooled, the game begins. Even oxygen can corrupt the beer. Anything set to touch that liquid needs to be sanitized in Starsan or the like. 

There are a few sterilization powders and liquids used in this industry that are food grade and safe. Always work with a 5 gallon wash bucket filled with 1-2 gallons of luke warm water mixed with your favorite sterilizer. This method allows you to pick and pull any tool or hose repeatedly from the bucket and remain crystal clean. I chose to wear sanitary gloves all the way to my elbow during the transfer phase from boil kettle to fermenter. This way even an arm hair will not find its way into the beer prior to fermentation.