I currently have three beers in “regular” production. I brew each of these beers regularly, with small tweaks each time, with the goals of really learning my brew system, tweaking my process, focusing my brewing math, and refining the recipes. The beers are Gimp Biscuit E.S.B., Hoppy Gnome I.P.A., and Ghostly Juror Oatmeal Stout. My goal is to brew each of these beers four times this year. Continue reading
Tag Archives: beer
NJ Senate Committee Approves Small Brewer Bill
An amended version of Senate Bill S-641 unanimously cleared New Jersey’s Senate Law and Public Safety Committee. Each committee member’s office had received more than 200 phone calls/emails from NJ consumers promoting the bill. Good work, everyone.
There are still several more steps to go: vote in the full Senate, hearing/vote in the Assembly Committee, vote in the full Assembly and signature by the Governor.
Support New Jersey Senate Bill 641
For those of you who live in NJ, there’s an upcoming vote on an important piece of legislation that could significantly improve the regulatory environment faced by NJ craft brewers. If you like craft beer and would like to see more of it produced and sold in NJ, please contact the five members of the NJ Senate Law and Public Safety Committee by Friday, March 2, to let them know that you support the legislation as a craft beer consumer and ask them to VOTE YES on the bill. More details are available on the Garden State Craft Brewer’s Guild website.
Bottled: Gimp Biscuit
Today I bottled v2 of my Gimp Biscuit E.S.B. Still maybe a touch too dark, at roughly 11 SRM (thanks BrewMath app!). Still don’t have a great handle on water volumes with my brew system- I ended up with only 4.25 G Total. Apparent attenuation 81.6%. 6.8% ABV. Measured mash efficiency is good, though, at 80.0%.
I have high hopes for this one. Must wait three weeks before trying!
Glen Ridge Home Brewers Association Meeting
Tonight the Glen Ridge Home Brewers Association had a meeting at Fitzgerald’s 1928. A lot of very good homebrews were sampled, including several meads (the first time I’ve every had the pleasure).
Michael Kane, owner of Kane Brewing, gave a fantastic talk. He talked mainly about the process of moving from homebrewing to Continue reading
Flemish Primitive Wild Ale
I finally feel healthy enough (after 2+ months of limited smell and taste ability) to open a Christmas gift from my wife Olivia: a bottle of De Proef’s Flemish Primitive Wild Ale (Surly Bird). As the name implies, it is a light Belgian-style ale (close to a Dubbel, perhaps), fermented with wild yeast and other critters.
Wow.
It pours with a nice, pillowy head. The first sense is aroma, of a strong smelly cheese. Like a Bleu, Stilton maybe, but smoother. More like a very soft, runny cheese, but way more pungent than Continue reading
Bottled: Hoppy Gnome
Today I bottled the first installment of my Hoppy Gnome IPA. It’s a touch darker than I expected, but it smells and tastes great. The Citra hop is definitely featured, as was the plan, with no hints of the “catty” aroma (cat piss) that sometime is associated with Citra.
I managed a solid 81.8% mash efficiency, with my starting and final gravities hitting within a measurement error of the targets. At 7% ABV, it’ll pack a wallop, but it should be nicely balanced out by the 90.2 IBU’s of hops, plus a lot more aroma and dry hops that should make this a true hop bomb. Continue reading
Gimp Biscuit 2: The Quest for Peace
Today I brewed the 2nd edition of my “Gimp Biscuit” ESB. Changes from the first version include:
Reduced base grist weight to reduce OG. Reformulated hop additions to keep BU/GU near .8. Substituted Fuggles in place of Challenger as the aroma addition. Continue reading
Loreley
A coworker directed us to a great German beer bar this weekend (thanks, Rene!). Loreley in the Lower East Side has a great selection of German beers, especially Kölsch and Pilsner. The Gaffel Kölsch was delicious and crisp, and the Jever Pisner was one of the best I’ve ever had. But the hands-down winner of the evening was the Continue reading
Racked and Dry Hop – Hoppy Gnome
Today I racked my Hoppy Gnome IPA off the yeast cake and onto the substantial amount of dry hops. It’s almost reached the target FG, looks great, smells great, tastes great. The citra hops smell amazing. This is going to be a good one. In about two months….