The Pils Report

Just finished kegging my Pre-Aged Pils. I had some problems with the keg, as one of the values has lost its gasket. I put it on the beer side and I'll just have to keep a tap on it. Also, once I looked more closely at a keg left it the basement by my house's previous owner, it turned out to be pin lock rather than ball lock. This is a pain, especially since I just bought a new lid for it. Oh well, maybe I can use it for a hop back in the new system I am designing. Overall the Pils seems to have turned out well. Darker color than I would shoot for with all grain, but for extract it looks ok. It finished at 1.014, with no noticeable hop aroma. I'm chilling it now to prepare for force carbonation, and I hope to drink by Labor Day.

Beer: It's What's For Dinner

My in-laws sent me a nice beer mug today, and a bottle opener that plays Rocky Top (Go VOLS!). Always nice to have good beer mugs. My pils seems to be about finished, so as soon as my new keg tops arrive tomorrow I will be putting it in the keg. If I can force carbonate it in two days I should have drinkable beer for Labor Day. Brew to belly in 8 days will be a new record for me.

Looking for Good Beer in Kan's Ass

I have to travel to Kansas a few times a month. Unfortunately it doesn't appear that this crowd has heard of BEER. There is only one kind of microbrew available, and that isn't too good. The average liquor store has half a case dedicated to beer, where in Colorado the average liquor store IS a beer store. This mystifies me, since Kansas shares a border with Colorado: home of Good Beer. Even the Missouri side of Kansas City seems to be beer friendly. I was introduced to a great Missouri brew pub yesterday, the 75th Street Brewery. They have a couple of GABF medals under their belt. Unfortunately, I was there at lunch so I could only check out their Root Beer. I saw the brewers hopping a batch on their 5 BBL system though.

Wet Hop Beers

There is a good article on the rise of wet hop beers at AOL Money and Finance. Wet or fresh hop beers are made once a year, usually on the day of hop harvest. There has been a huge rise in the number of wet hop beers released this year, with Sierra Nevada and Dog Fish Head both on the list. I also see that one of my new favorites, Deschutes brewery, has one called Hop Trip. I'll have to be on the lookout for that one. I've grown my own hops before, but I've always dried them prior to use. The ratio of wet to dry is 4:1 or 5:1 by weight, so brewing with fresh ones is sure to add quite a bit of water to your brew. It should be wonderful, hop-infused water though. Happy hopping!

Pils Update and State Fair Results

The Pilsner I brewed yesterday with 6 year old yeast has started fermenting. Two bubbles per second through the airlock 12 hours after pitching. Not bad. I guess dry yeast is good for something after all. If all goes well I hope to go from ingredients to drinkable keg beer in about 9 days. That is a little faster than I consume 5 gallons, so this should be sustainable. I also found out the results of the CO State Fair Homebrew Competition. Neither of mine placed, but it looks like my BooYah Brown was only one place out. Mike Rotert, Jim Fixari and Cary Floyd from my homebrew club KROC all finished with medals (about 10 for Cary). Congrats guys.