Author: Jerry

I am a middle school math and science teacher who first stepped foot in the classroom in 1988. My first teaching experience was in Marinette, WI.
In addition, I started home brewing in 1998 and still enjoy the hobby - thus Fieldpointe Brewery.
I am also a licensed amateur radio operator - N0IMJ - and received my "ticket" in 1986 while attending college in MN.

March 2021

Maibock

Post author By Jerry
Post date March 21, 2021
No Comments on Maibock

Spring Break has come and gone just like that. It was a break from school related items but not so much at home – thanks to stimulus checks. Thanks C-19!

I was given work orders to start (continue?) on the main bath remodel. A few years back I installed a new tile floor – tore out the old flooring to the joists. New sink, vanity, fixtures, and a six panel solid oak door with trim. (I forgot how heavy those doors actually are.)

Anyway, the bath / shower was one of those one piece units they install before putting up the rest of the interior walls during construction. One discovers this aspect trying to remove the unit. No way it fits out the bathroom door into the hallway.

YouTube to the rescue! The solution to this predicament is to get out the saw and cut it into manageable pieces. The folks in the vids use a reciprocating saw. They do advise to use caution as to not accidentally cut any pipes, electrical wiring or anything else that might be back there. I know how my luck goes with these things so I used my oscillating multi tool instead. Much slower but with a much less likelihood of cutting into something one should not. It worked and my son and I were able to get the beast out of the house to the back of the truck for disposal. Thankfully the local “recycle yard” didn’t ask for any cash along with my trash. More places are charging to toss stuff out these days.

Out with the old and in with the new. Right? Not so fast. A four piece shower unit was selected and purchased from a local big box home improvement store. It is to come in three separate parts: bottom, back and the two side panels. An inventory error got me the bottom and the back. The two side panels are on back order until April 15 – a month from now. Good thing the second bath is in good shape and fully functional. The good news for me is that the project will not be rushed. The bad news is that other things are being considered for “improvement” in the meantime.

I have the bottom piece at home as the back part was too big to fit into my truck with the cap on – and I’m not taking it off. My truck and I like to keep our caps on. I’ll have to rent the truck at the store to get it home.

The bottom piece is what I needed to start anyway. The old one piece unit had the plumbing run on the inside of the wall studs instead up between the studs as is usually the case. Guess what? The bottom of the new shower unit won’t fit unless I move the copper plumbing to between the wall studs – about a 3 inch move. I strongly dislike sweating pipes as I have struggled with this in the past. However, good old YouTube has assisted me in this and I am getting better at it.

So, on Friday I shut off the water to the house and had at it. When they plumbed this place the only water shut off valves were on the main supply and the toilets. I’ve added them as I have remodeled over the years. My intent was to add them to this shower but there just wasn’t the room between the floor joists in the basement where the copper was run and all the other things that apparently had to be run between the same two floor joists. I guess none of the many other joists could accommodate all that was in this run – cables, drains, supply lines.

The oscillating multi tool was handy in getting in there to cut the existing copper. They really are handy tools to have, by the way. Getting in there with the torch made me apprehensive. By God’s amazing grace, prayer and YouTube, I managed to not set fire to the place and there were no leaks. Once water gets into the system again and there happens to be a leak, it is a full blown grizzly bear to fix. I know.

What does this have to do with a beer blog you ask? Good question. Because this was Spring Break (Did I mention that?) and that is when I have to tackle two things each year: taxes and brewing the Maibock. Since this project was handed to me, brewing was put on low priority – as was the previously planned local brewery crawl and brew session with David, Jeff and Mark. I understand that they made due without me. I am so proud of them! I would have rather put the taxes on low priority but it is nice have them done and out of the way.

So, taxes took up the first half of the break and the shower project the second half – almost. My goal was to get the new copper installed by noon on Friday so I could brew the Maibock in the afternoon. I ran long by about 45 minutes. Good enough. I was going to get in a brew session after all. Fantastic!

Coincidentally, Northern Brewer – my HQ for most things brewing, must have known that this was the second annual Miabock Spring Break brew session at Fieldpointe Brewery because an email featuring Mailbock, of all things, was in my inbox. How thoughtful! A different recipe from the original brew but I’m game. This obviously happened earlier in the week as I was able to sneak away and purchase the supplies from NB.

The MB (last year’s) was my very first lager brewed at FB. I can handle ales just fine but don’t have the dedicated equipment to produce lagers on a regular basis. This is the one and only that is produced each year (year 2). Temp control is whatever the ambient temperature of the garage is at this time of year. They tell me last year’s MB was good. Time will tell on this one.

This was another all grain brew – simple grain bill and hop schedule. It contains Weyermann malts, German Perle hops and Imperial L17 Harvest yeast. This is the same yeast used in the inaugural MB last year. Same type, not same yeast as it would be very nasty a year later. (I have to state this because Jeff and Mark can be more literal than me sometimes.)

As I now do with all my brews, I employ the “no chill” method. Once the brew session is over and the wort temp has naturally fallen to between 170 and 180° F the wort is transferred to a 6 gallon container to cool overnight. Yes, this prolongs the process but saves on water use and makes the initial brew day a bit shorter. Transferring the wort to the fermentor the next day is quick and the yeast is pitched. This method also works well for making yeast starters. The evening of the brew session a quick starter can be made and left overnight to be pitched the next morning. This is just enough time to wake up the yeast and get it going. Kind of like me and my coffee in the morning.

I did not make a starter for this one. I know that lagers usually need a bit more yeast to go at it and this is when I should have done so. But, I didn’t. The Imperial yeast pouch states: Keep cold. Pitch cold. Besides, I didn’t make a starter last year either but I do for most of my ales. Yes, that’s me – doing things unconventionally. It’s like me and guessing. I’m the world’s worst at it. Whatever I guess, the opposite happens. That is why I don’t play the lottery, among – other things.

The Friday afternoon brew session went well. I had Northern Brewer mill the grains for me. I can mill my own by hand but they have the power mill and I use the ingredients within a short time so I have them do it for me. I noticed that there seemed to be many grains that appeared to be whole. I don’t know if Weyermann malt is slightly smaller? They use a set mill gap at the store and I wouldn’t expect them to be readjusting continually. But there seemed to be a fair amount of cracked grains and grain dust so it probably will be OK regarding efficiency. I won’t actually know because I don’t take the time to measure the specific gravity and all. I have the ability to do this but I find that brew sessions are more enjoyable keeping it simple. Who has time to measure and record during a brew session when there is Sheephead to be played? (Which didn’t occur – sadly as this was a solo endeavor.) The stats really don’t mean much anyway.

The wort was left in the garage overnight to cool down to ambient temp. Saturday morning it was transferred to the new fermenter purchased specifically for this brew – a 30 liter Speidel unit from Germany. This was purchased from MoreBeer in California. I had noticed them in use in various articles in the brew magazines I subscribe to so I thought I’d give one a go. NB doesn’t carry them so to MoreBeer I went. (The third supplier I use is William’s Brewing.)

Why a new fermenter? Well, since this is going to be in the garage and not in the mostly dark basement, I wanted to use something that wasn’t clear. The Speidel units are opaque. I can see the wort level but not much else. For those not in the know: Light + Hops = Skunk. You will notice this in almost all imports found in light green bottles. There is one window in the garage pedestrian door but no real direct sunlight concerns. However, the fluorescent lights could be on at various times. Last year I put an unused empty garbage bag (again: literal Mark and Jeff) over the fermenter. Just cut a hole where the airlock is. Hopefully I won’t have garbage beer again for the second year in a row.

Saturday morning the wort was still on the warm side so I decided to wait to pitch the yeast until the evening when I got home from the retail job. I think this was a good move although I don’t want to wait too long before pitching the yeast. The longer the wait the more opportunity for other things to start working – usually sour producing bacteria. I think all is well. The fermenter airlock was showing signs of an active fermentation today. That is a great thing about the Imperial yeasts. They like to get to work right away. There isn’t much of a lag time. The beer will hang out there for a few weeks. It should lager near freezing for a good month but I don’t have the means to do that. My keezer is filled with kegs, bottles and cans with no room for a fermenter. It will be what it is.

Speaking of the keezer, I discovered my first leaking keg yesterday. One of the kegs had dispensed about an eighth inch of liquid over the bottom of the unit. I was able to find the guilty keg and replaced the beer out connector. After emptying the keezer and cleanup, all seems to be back in order. Not too much beer was lost. (Mark – it was the Silent Night Winter Ale. Jeff – I know you didn’t particularly like this one and wouldn’t care.) One of the additional benefits to a keezer cleanup besides a clean unit is discovering bottles of brew that had gone off the radar. There are a few brews that go back to Thanksgiving in there. I’ll fix that situation soon.

I didn’t think I’d have much to comment on for this entry. Guess I was mistaken. Here is the Northern Brewer Maypole Maibock recipe:

Malt

10 lb Weyermann Pilsner Malt
3 lb Weyermann Munich Malt

Hops

1 oz German Perle (60 minutes)

Yeast

Imperial Yeast L17 Harvest (Optimum Temp: 50-60° F)

Thanks for reading and Happy Spring!

January 2021

Russian Imperial Stout

Another brew day was underway – yesterday. (Kind of like how that rhymes.) If you missed it, a RIS was the theme. Being winter and cold and all it is a perfect choice. As I write this, SE WI is experiencing yet another winter weather event. From what I hear, southern WI has received more snow this winter than the great not so white north. Nice of it to share! Current projections has this event pegged at 10 to 15 inches with lake effect enhancement. Wasted on a weekend and not during the week when school could have been called. I shouldn’t complain, school was called due to the last winter event this past Tuesday and Friday was a non school day but for a different reason.

There isn’t a whole lot to comment upon with this brew. All went well except for the minor miscalculation in the sparge as I ended up with a tad more volume than there should have been. An extended boil evaporated the excess volume and added a whole lot of moisture to the brew garage. There was a heavy fog created by the process in the garage and looked kinda neat. Once the main door was opened, I knew the dry winter air would make quick work dissipating all that hard work the kettle put into making the clouds. Anyway, the garage sure smelled wonderful – and still does a day later.

I decided to go with a partial mash / extract route with this number. The grain bill for a RIS is pushing the limits on the equipment capabilities. The same needs to be done when entertaining a barleywine style ale.

This is going to occupy Mark’s beer fridge as the number 2 brew. Previously, he had the inaugural Belgian Quad occupying precious beer space. (See prior posts.) The assumption is that the Quad must have been OK as it didn’t hang around long. Or there was a drain or two that needed to be fed..

The beer is fermenting away in the conical – and fermenting it is. This is the second consecutive brew that is making a mess of the fermentor. This unit has been in use for a number of years now with no concerns. For some reason, these last two fermentations have been so vigorous that foam is spewing from under the lid seal. There is a blow off hose attached but for some reason the foam likes the shortcut route between the lid and unit. Perhaps it is the yeast? The last two batches have used Fermentis Safale S-04. Per usual, I make a 1 liter yeast starter and pitch that. It takes off in short order and goes to town doing what it does best. Seeing the results of a good active fermentation isn’t at all a concern. In fact, it is a very good thing. It just is making a dark, sticky, foaming mess on and around the fermenter. The unit is in the basement next to the floor drain if things should get out of hand so no worries there. One would think that the blow off tube would be the path of least resistance but apparently it is not. Once the foam fills the tube it becomes very resistive to the flow of escaping CO2 from what I can deduce. Interesting science going on.

This beer, as with all of the others of late, employed the no chill method. It is transferred to a 6 gallon container once the wort drops below 180° F. It then sits and cools overnight, transferred to the fermenter and the yeast starter added. This process eliminates the extra time and water normally used to cool the wort immediately after the boil to pitching temp. There have been no negative aspects to this procedure. It is a regular part of the brewing process here at the Fieldpointe Brewery.

Ok, enough already. Here is the RIS not so secret formula:

Grains

2 lb – 2 Row Brewers Malt
2 lb – Amber Malt
1.25 lb – Roasted Barley
1.25 – Black Malt

LME

9 lb – Liquid Amber Malt Extract

Hops

1 oz – Warrior at 60 minutes

Yeast

Fermentis Safale S-04

I just took another peek at the fermentor. What a mess! That’s Ok – I know good things are happening on the inside. Sure hope there is something left inside when this is done as there is a black lake developing on the floor again.

January 2021

Silent Night Winter Ale

I ran a bit long on that second brew that was planned for over Christmas break. It was finally brewed today at the Blauert Basement. It has been a good while since any brewing has taken place in Mark’s basement man cave. I was appreciative that he has been keeping up on his utility payments – water and electricity are helpful in brewing. I suppose we could have scooped some snow from the yard but I don’t know what would have been the alternative for the power.

Cortney and Jeff (in that order) stopped by for some free beer, snacks and four handed Sheephead. Mark had the movie Ford vs Ferrari on until Jeff came and decided the best place to sit for cards was directly in front of the big screen. Figures. Time out on the movie.

We play black queens as partners in four handed. Jeff was amused by the number of times he was dealt both queens and not much else in the way of assistance. All I could complain about was the persistent lousy dealing and the seven of spades that seemed to be in my hand more often than not. All in all it was some pretty balanced playing by Cortney, Jeff and myself. Mark topped off the card playing by cleaning house on the three of us on the final hand. The three of us went trickless against Mark. He tells us not to feel too bad about the situation because he is pretty good at playing Sheephead. At least that is what I think he says. Sometimes it is hard to tell what he is saying because he seems to have a meat stick in close proximity of his orifice quite often. They are still yacking about that final hand on the text-a-gram thing that the kids use – Mark being humble and all.

Eventually Jeff pulled the plug on the event and took off. “It’s about time.” could have been mentioned as he was leaving. Again, it could have been Mark with his meat stick muttering. Maybe it was directed towards Cortney? Anyway, the movie could resume without interference. Ford vs Ferrari is a great flick. I had not seen if before. I get ridiculed heavily because I don’t watch movies. Glad that this one now can be removed from the list of must see movies. There still are many more to go so the harassment will not cease.

Mark kicked his keg of Belgian Quad and is interested in a Russian Imperial Stout for his next beer fridge occupant. This number should fit in the schedule on our next day off in a week or so. Time for another Northern Brewer run soon.

The Silent Night is a Winter Warmer ale. Nothing too fancy about it. Some basic 2-Row with a little Crystal 60 and a tad of Chocolate Malt. It is unihopped with Willamette. The “warmer” part comes from the 2 lb of honey added at the end of the boil. Usually 1 lb is used but I had this honey in my possession from a couple of decades (yes, decades) ago when I was living in northern WI. Ironically, Jeff and I were teaching at the same school in Medford back in the day when I practiced hobby bee keeping. This honey is very dark in color. Not because it was old as honey keeps very well for many years. It was very dark from the start. Not sure what the source was. Maybe the bees collected road tar? Anyway, since I had these 1 lb jars around not doing much of anything, it was time to put some to use. Honey pretty much ferments out in beers so there will not be any perception of it in the finished product (unless it actually was derived from road tar). However, the extra alcohol production from it should be welcome in the drudgeries of late winter here in WI.

This is another “no chill” brew. I believe I have mentioned this in previous posts. I have found this method to be effective in that it cuts down a bit on the brew day. Yes, I do have to pour it into the fermenter and add the yeast the next day but not having to cool the wort and pitch right away is kind of nice. I do all my brews this way now and there have been absolutely no negative effects.

Ok. Enough jib jab. This is an easy one to throw together.

Malt

10 lb 2-Row Brewers Malt
1 lb Caramel 60° L
0.25 Chocolat Malt

Adjunct

2 lb Honey at 15 minutes

Hops

2 oz Willamette at 60 minutes
1 oz Willamette at 15 minutes

Yeast

Ferments Safale US-05

Thanks to Mark and Helen for the hospitality, food and fun. Thanks to Jeff and Cortney for stopping by, interfering with the movie, and watching as I did all the brew work. And special thanks to Martin Luther King Jr for having the day available for us to get together, celebrate and brew beer.

December 2020

Oatmeal Stout

A couple of days later than I originally planned but today is the first of two brew sessions over the Christmas break. Today’s is going to be an oatmeal stout (in case you missed it) and the second in a couple days is going to be a winter warmer. But first a brief COVID-19 City of Racine school update:

It appears that the original virtual window has not changed despite the WI Supreme Court issuing a stay on the original mandate of being forced to go virtual from November 27 through January 15. So, on Monday it will be back to computers and video cameras doing the instructing with in building education resuming on the 18th of the month. This is good news. (I guess?)

Back to beer. I’ve been holding onto the Bourbon Russian Imperial Stout that was brewed a few months back. It was time to do a taste test… and …. it ….. was……… disappointing. Sadness and Disappointment. It was thin, little to no oak and no perception of the bourbon. (I used Jim Beam Double Oak.) So I pulled out the recipe again and discovered a few things:

The thinness came from the omission of 6 lb of Dark LME that should have been added to the mix. I totally missed it – probably because I had it listed down the ingredient list as a late 15 minute addition (tucked in with the hop schedule). Or, most likely, because I’m getting old and forgetful. Nuts!

2 oz of oak cubes was not enough. I should have used the 4 oz as I had originally planned. I’m going to add the other 2 oz when there is room enough in the keg to do so.

12 oz of bourbon didn’t go far. I’m not sure how much was left in the bottle but I added it to the keg hoping that this makes the batch somewhat enjoyable to drink. Oh well ….. A bourbon infused dark ale.

The ingredient list on the original post has been updated to include the revisions of the missed LME and increased amounts of the oak and bourbon.

This number will have to be tried again next fall with the hope of better results. Bummer.

Onto the oatmeal stout: Time to get the gear setup in the garage and get going.

So far – so good. Mash went well and sparged / lautered very nicely with the addition of 1 lb of rice hulls. There are too many stories of stuck mashes when using oats so these were added for good measure.

Into an hour or so boil with two hop additions using US Fuggle hops. 1 oz at 60 minutes and another 1 oz at 30 minutes. So far it is looking and smelling somewhat stoutish.

More boring stuff: The boil went fine and the stout is now in the 6 gallon no chill container to cool off over night. It will be transferred to the fermentor tomorrow morning and the yeast pitched. A yeast started will be put together soon so it will be ready for pitching when the time comes.

OK, time to do the dishes, list the recipe and then post this thing.

Mash

8 lb 2-Row Brewers Malt
1 lb Caramel 60 deg L
1 lb De-bittered Black Malt
0.5 lb Chocolate Malt
0.5 lb Roasted Barley
1.5 Oat Flakes
1 lb Rice Hulls

Hops

1 oz US Fuggle – 60 minutes
1 oz US Fuggle – 30 minutes

Yeast

Fermentis Safale S-04 (starter)

Happy New Year!

December 2020

Fresh Squished IPA

Brew day today! I needed to get this one done so the fermenter is open for brew sessions over Christmas break – which starts soon. I may have to pick up another fermenter since today’s brew will take 2 weeks to do its thing and that is into the second week of break.

This is a Northern Brewer extract kit which I purchased at the time I purchased the makings for the Belgian Quad. The yeast and hops have been patiently waiting in the keezer for me to do something with them. Today is the day.

Speaking of the Quad, it has come around now with a bit more time on it. Mark is enjoying having his own keg of deliciousness and recently brought some to share. Lesson learned: can’t rush a quad. It needs its time to do its thing.

Before I get into the specifics of the Squished, some interesting things have occurred regarding in building education in Racine.

To recap: we had to submit a safety plan to the city and spent $40k to follow safety protocol in order to open our doors for in building education. We made it 14 weeks with no problems before the city issued a mandate to go virtual from the day after Thanksgiving to January 15.

What makes this interesting is that the city’s public schools have been virtual since the end of the 3rd quarter of last school year (2019-2020). AND, the city residents passed a 1 billion (yes, a “b”) school referendum on facilities that have been sitting unused.

Speculation is: parents are questioning why schools such as ours are making this work while the public schools are nonfunctioning idle units where they recently voted to funnel a bunch of cash. Perhaps the teachers’ union became a bit uncomfortable with the situation and persuaded the health department to issue the mandate to crush the opposition which puts kids and their families first.

A few days after the city virtual mandate, the WI Supreme Court issued a stay against the mandate. However, the city was quick to let school administrators know that the city mandate is still in effect and enforceable. In addition, the bus company was informed that it would be in violation if it resumed student transportation services. Being heavily invested in the educational side and not so much in the political state of affairs, I am not sure how the city administrators are able to pull this off = but they currently are.

So, we are reluctantly following the city issued virtual education mandate. Conclusion: it is terrible! Teacher / student interaction is now minimal to nonexistent. Classes are primarily lecture in nature because student input opportunities are greatly diminished by going virtual. What a mess. Our children are paying the price for this nonsense. This has nothing to do with safety and has everything to do with a person or group wielding political power. What is our society going to look like 10-15 years from now? Sadness and disappointment.

Sorry for the diversion there. This is supposed to be about brewing and beer related social interactions. I’ll try harder to get back on and stay on topic. Now what was I doing? Oh yes, the Fresh Squished IPA.

As previously mentioned, this is an extract kit produced by Northern Brewer. I enjoy brewing both all grain and extract beers. The extract brews work out nicely when school is in session (virtual or not) because of the time component: a shorter brew day. The anticipated Christmas break brews will most likely be all grain as I will have the time and I will be on break! I’m thinking maybe a stout and a winter warmer? Again I digress….

This particular brew was selected because Jeff isn’t quite the fan of some beer styles and becomes somewhat disgruntled when the brews are not necessarily to his liking. So, being a caring individual who seeks inclusion, I am attempting to satisfy Jeff’s interests and settle his concerns.

Interestingly, Jeff gave Mark’s Quad a “not bad” rating at the recent share. Now this isn’t implying that that he likes it. But then again, Jeff did not give it a “not good” rating either. Perhaps the boy is beginning to develop the taste for craft beers? More likely, it is a lasting effect of C-19: he just can’t taste it.

Jeff likes IPAs so this one should fit the bill for him and get him off the brewers back for a while. Here is the descriptor of the beer as published by Northern Brewer:

“Dripping with vivid flavors, Fresh Squished is the beer equivalent of visiting your local fruit stand. Flavors and aromas of grapefruit, melon, berries, lime and passionfruit drizzle into a faint herbal, piney background. The sturdy malt foundation of sweet crystal malts and toasty Munich concedes to this indulgent use of Citra and Mosaic hops to achieve remarkable balance. Pale copper in color, Fresh Squished is overlaid by a fluffy, rich beige foam cap, allowing the juicy aromas to ooze out.”

I’m always slightly amused when I read these descriptors because I know I could not write such an eloquent presentation. Mine would read along these lines: “It’s an American IPA with Citra and Mosaic hops in it and it is good.” Mine would take up considerably less space though.

I should wrap this up soon as the Packers are about ready to get their game on against Detroit.

Fresh Squished IPA Inventory:

Steeping Grain:

0.5 lb Caramunich III

Extract

9 lb Gold Malt Syrup

Hops:

1 oz Chinook (60 minutes)
2 oz Mosaic (flameout)
1 oz Citra (flameout)
1 oz Mosaic (dry hop)
1 oz Citra (dry hop)

Yeast:

Fermentis Safale US-05

November 2020

Keg / Tap Dispensing Update

Post author By Jerry
Post date November 29, 2020
1 Comment on Keg / Tap Dispensing Update

People who don’t have enough to do and have wasted their time reading previous posts know that Mark had expressed an interest in keg dispensing at his home. He is now experiencing the joy of having a keg dispensing system in his own home! Hopefully he hasn’t broken anything yet. I have not heard from him at all over this Thanksgiving weekend so I’ll take no news as good news.

His inaugural beer was / is the Belgian Quad from the previous post. The Quad is normally a six week brew (I think a little age on it helps) but this one traveled the fast lane and went to keg in four. Quality may have suffered a bit due to haste but some people are impatient and expect miracles. I just smile a lot and think things.

Anyway, I asked Mark to remind me to keg his beer the week before Thanksgiving week. He proceeded to remind me shortly after I asked him. That is Mark. I didn’t specify the implied time delay between my request and him following through. My bad.

He did eventually meet expectations – as he usually does. However, his reminder was something to the effect of me transferring the beer into a canister. A canister? Mustard gas and tear gas are in canisters. Mark, my friend, beer is put into kegs – not canisters. So much to be learned.

Mark did make the necessary accommodations to his precious beer fridge. He only lost half of his shelf space because the unit has half shelves in it. He cleared out the left side for the keg and CO2 tank with regulator. What worked out well is that there was a little “shelf” in the bottom back of his unit which accommodated the CO2 tank just fine. All said, I think it is working out well for him.

I’m sure I’ll get an update soon on his mostly borrowed draft system. He will probably ask me how long a 5 gallon keg is supposed to last or something along those lines. Answer: until it is empty. I had the extra equipment sitting around so it is good to see it being used.

I think there are a couple items in here for the FAQ page.

October 2020

Belgian Quad

Looks like it has been a while since there has been any action on this site – and for good reason.

#1 COVID-19 screwed up the 4th quarter of last school year. (Has it been that long?) We went on spring break for a week and never went back to the classroom for the remainder of the school year. I’ve been in the classroom since 1988 (Been an 8th grader for way too long.) and that was a whole new way of conducting classes, for sure. Didn’t like it one bit. Virtual school pulls big time.

#2 School started in Fall for another fun filled year of instruction. In fact, we just finished the first quarter: in building – 5 days / week. It went well in most respects thanks to David and his wife Nancy putting together a safety plan that the city approved. No major C-19 related issues and I can tell the kids prefer to be back in the classroom – being social beings and all. School priorities have cut down on all other activities – hobbies included. (Biking & Brewing)

#3 My keezer decided to retire on me two weeks into the C-19 hype. By then there wasn’t a chest freezer to be had in the Union. They were back ordered until the beginning of July (China) as I was told. That estimate was close as I was able to pick up a 10 cu ft unit by chance as I noticed one arriving at the store while I was there about the middle of the month. “Put my name on that one – I’m going to pay for it right now.”

The unit is in use but is a different setup than the prior 7 cu ft unit. That unit had a custom built collar on it for taps – 4 of them. I attempted to create a new collar for the newly acquired 10 cu ft unit and spent Labor Day constructing it only to find that I messed up by not accounting for the under lid design. A waste of time and $$. Time I could / should have been brewing. I tossed the collar and am using picnic taps – which are working just fine. I don’t know if I will try again in the future. The taps and handles are being stored in the time being just in case I become motivated to try again.

I was, however, able to relocate my beer stickers to the new unit just fine. (See prior post on this discussion.) Putting those things on magnets did serve the purpose after all. I’ll be laughing at (making fun of) Mark when his dear beer fridge bites it. He put his stickers directly on the unit. He claims he is more dedicated to his unit than I am to mine by implementing direct adhesion. Whatever…. I have a fully decorated unit. No hint of being a rookie with a naked unit.

Well, today I was able to address one of those items: brewing. Yesterday and today were supposed to be state teachers’ conference. I used yesterday as an in school work day – equivalent to a teacher’s in school suspension, I guess. And, I was able to purchase brewing supplies for today where half were used. (I bought enough for 2 brews. More on this in a bit.)

What was brewed? Good question! A poll was taken at this past Wednesday’s Mug Club session at Racine Brewing Co. Those in attendance got a chance to vote (tis the season – thank goodness it will finally be over in a few days) on the beer style. Since just one of the membership decided to take this seriously (Mark), he got top priority. No whining Jeff, you had equal opportunity to be there as well and vote.

I must digress as Jeff has taken our (Mark, David and myself) companionship seriously. He recently had a garage heater installed so that we can all hang out in his man-cave-garage. It is cool (I mean hot) that he has done this for us and we thank him for his thoughtfulness and generosity as the weather has taken a turn towards the cooler side of things here in Wisconsin.

By the way, Big Ten football just got underway and the Badgers won big over the Flat Landers to the south. The Badgers were to play Mark’s Nebraska Corn Suckers (I mean Pullers / Pushers) but WI knew it would be a cake walk so they canceled the meeting – in keeping with C-19 protocol. That is what you do during a pandemic – you cancel things and put a mask on anything that moves. Oh yes, you also go to a city that isn’t connected with you whatsoever to loot, pillage and plunder. Then you burn it down because it isn’t your town, people have insurance, and it is payback time. That makes it all OK.

Where was I? Oh yes – trying to rile up Jeff but yet commending him on his (and wife’s) generosity. Jeff and Angie are great people to know and hang with. I wonder when the big screen TV is being installed in the garage?

What? The beer? I guess that is what I originally started out writing about. After all the votes were counted (there were no hanging chads) the tally was: Belgian Quad = 1 vote. All other = 0 votes. (I wonder if the presidential election will be this easy?)

Settle down Jefferson, I also picked up supplies for an IPA. I will attempt to get that one done a week from Sunday. Yes, Mark’s came first – he showed up for Mug Club Wednesday. You decided to hang with David in your comfy heated garage. Go figure. Did you install a big screen and not tell us?

The Belgian Quad is in category 26 (Trappist Ale), subcategory D (Belgian Dark Strong Ale). Mark is going to take ownership of this brew for his Thanksgiving festivities – of which I won’t be invited, I’m sure. It should be good to go by then. He is venturing into the keg dispensing part of the hobby. I have enough equipment to make this happen so he will be good to go. I wonder if Jeff is ready to make the leap? He could keep his keg ‘o IPA in the man-cave-garage during these colder months. Mark has a full sized beer fridge and Jeff has a much, much smaller man-cave-garage beer fridge. BUT – Jeff has the Fieldpointe Brewery sticker in top position (1st place) on his unit. Thanks for showing the love, Jeff. I think Mark put my sticker on the backside of his unit – or underneath it.

According to the brewing software, the OG will measure in at 1.101 and the FG will be 1.024 for an ABV of 11.21% at 76% attenuation. I don’t take measurements but I believe these numbers will be accurate. Don’t think this one is child’s play, Marky Mark and your Funky Bunch.

So what’s in this bad boy? Here you go:

Mash:

9 lb Belgian Pils
7 lb Belgian Pale

Hops:

1 oz Brewers Gold (60 minutes)
1 oz Hallertau (30 minutes)
1 oz Styrian Goldings (15 minutes)

Adjuncts:

2 lb Dark Candi Sugar

Yeast:

Wyeast 3787 – Trappist High Gravity

Not a complicated beer by any means. Many times keeping it simple is better in the end. It should keep him and his family / friends (not me) jovial and warm this Thanksgiving!

July 2020

Keg / Tap Dispensing

Recently Mark inquired about draught beer for his home – such as what is needed, cost, etc. He is interested in the brewing aspect – but not so much as to do it himself. He is quite content on watching me do it. I am OK with that. He has hosted brewing sessions at his home. We get some card playing in (Sheephead) and some beer made. I really enjoy the brewing process and am glad to share the experience and the results.

Mark will need to understand that he will need to sacrifice the shelf space that he currently has in his beer fridge for purchased brews. A keg takes up space – not so much horizontally, but very much vertically. I thought about this myself as I contemplated whether I wanted to get another chest freezer for my keezer replacement or go with a upright fridge. I have a 4 four tap system and would like to keep it that way. Cramming 4 kegs into a fridge would leave no space for anything else. And, the fridge would have to be of a pretty decent size. That equates to more cash than I was willing to part with. So, I went with a slightly larger chest freezer (10 cubic ft). It will hold the 4 kegs easily and still have room for bottles and cans. The down side to it is that I have to make a new collar for it for the taps. Not a big deal.

Anyway, I digress. I told Mark that I have a keg or two for him to use. I purchased them when they were $10 – 15 for a used corny soda keg. In addition, he would need a CO2 tank and regulator. A gas in and liquid out connector with associated hose and he should be good to go. Oh, and yes. He would need beer. Wonder where that will come from?

If Mark wants to go “all in” on new stuff, then this is what he will be looking at. My go to homebrew shop is Northern Brewer in Milwaukee. Not too far away and have the stuff I am looking for – most of the time. Great service there too, by the way.

As luck would have it, NB sells a single keg setup for such an occasion! Everything except the CO2 keg is included with this price:

HOMEBREW SINGLE KEG SYSTEM WITH CORNELIUS BALL LOCK KEG

New 5 gallon keg
Dual Gauge CO2 Regulator
Gas line and connector – Fully Assembled
Draft line and connector – Fully Assembled

Mark would just need to pony up $179.99 for this setup and he would be well on his way to enjoy draft beer in a clean new system. But not so fast. He still would need a CO2 tank – with gas.

CO2 CYLINDER

5 lb – Empty

Well this doesn’t do much good being empty at $74.99. I think it needs to be listed that way because shipping full cylinders is a no no. So, in essence – for about $15 – 20 beans more you are purchasing the cylinder and the gas inside. When empty, take it back and exchange it for a full one for the $15 – 20, whatever it is. That is what I have been doing and all is well. The tanks have been in decent shape so I have had no problem with the exchange program. It’s kind of like what most people do for the 20 lb propane gas tank exchanges.

Now I may be able to help Mark out with a tank as well as I have three 5 lb tanks in my possession. Why 3? Well, I have one for the keezer at home. One for dispensing the brew that Mark, Jeff and others pretend to like at another location. And the 3rd one I recently picked up for former Principal Paul’s farewell party (the one that he hosted and bought the beer for). My tank at home and the second one have been registering low on content and I did not want to run out at Paul’s shindig. So I got a 3rd CO2 tank that is still unused. Principal Paul’s event was a while ago. I guess I was overly concerned on the gas issue. Well, it is available for use so if Mark wants to go this route, he can make use of it. Unless he is dead set on getting all his own equipment.

So Mark, if you ever read this, you can go “all in” on new stuff for under $300. If you would like to “borrow” Fieldpointe Brewery kegs and CO2 tank, it will be substantially less but new stuff is nice and shiny! Let me know what you think.

July 2020

Russian Imperial Stout

Today’s brew – currently underway – is a batch #2 of an RIS I made a few years back (January of 2013) I called that one Imperial Bourbon Barrel Stout at that time. This is a variation of that beer as I had to scale it back from an 8 gallon recipe to 5 and it is not going into a barrel this time.

Back then, I had purchased a recently emptied bourbon barrel from Woodinville Whiskey Co. of Woodinville, WA. I purchased the 8 gallon barrel back in August of 2012 and obviously didn’t get around to using it until January.

The result of that brew was fantastic. It was put into a 5 and 3 gallon keg. I made the 5 last and it aged very well. I lost track of the 3 gallon keg and rediscovered it a few years later. Still very good. In fact, at the time of this writing, I still have a few pints left in that keg.

The reason it is still here is because my keezer died on me two weeks after this COVID-19 thing broke out. By then all the chest freezers were bought up in America. I was just recently able to purchase a 10 cu ft unit from the big box store I have been working part time at for the past 22 years. I will be picking it up this next week. This is an upgrade from the 7 cu ft unit that I had so I have to make a new collar for it. I can reuse all the taps and such – replacing all the hoses. I think the extra space will be nice. I could just cram 4 kegs into the 7 cu ft model with not much room to spare.

The keezer’s demise brings up an interesting ongoing discussion that Mark and I have. He has a beer fridge in his possession and has been decorating it with all the brewery stickers that he has been collecting over the years. Most of them are from places that he has actually been to. He has done quite well – if your were to see it.

I also have the sticker thing going. Unlike Mark, I have not been to most of the places represented. However, I do not place my stickers directly onto the unit. I put them on magnetic material, carefully cut them out, and then place them on my unit. Mark claims this lacks commitment to the cause. I claim that I can “redecorate” at will AND when the unit ceases to function, I can easily remove them and place on the new unit – no need to start completely over. Mark still claims that I lack true dedication by doing it this way. Oh well…

I’m going solo on this brew today. Mark’s excuse is that he is in Alaska – he left here yesterday. This is his 50th state that he has been to. I have been to a few – OK, maybe a couple. Good for him in this accomplishment. His first text was him at an unnamed brewery, mask on and brew in hand. Jeff is probably cutting the grass lest the lawn police write him up for having a blade or two of grass longer than the rest.

I just cut the heat on the RIS in the garage and will let it cool down on its own until 170 F. I’ve been employing the “no chill” method lately for my brews and it works well. I guess the Ausies have been using this procedure for a long time now. Once at 170ish degrees I rack the wort into a 6 gallon container that I purchased from US Plastic Co. It sits overnight in the basement and the next day it is ready to be poured into the conical and the yeast pitched. What is nice is that this leaves all the crud in the bottom of the container and it is at cellar temp.

So, this RIS has been adjusted for a 5 gallon batch since the 8 gallon barrel was converted to serve as my house sour device a number of years back. The grain bill ended up at the 21 lb mark which is where my barley wine grain bill is. This amount of grain and strike water completely fill my Blichmann Boiler Maker kettle with false bottom. This thing is filled to the very tip top! 21 lb of grain for a batch is a good limit anyway and I don’t regularly make these big beers. I really should get another barely wine going but I still have bottles from back around the time the original RIS was brewed – no rush.

This beer will ferment for a couple of weeks – or longer. Afterward, it will be racked to a secondary fermenter where 2 oz of medium toast oak cubes and 12 oz of bourbon will be added. I haven’t decided on what bourbon to use. I know Maker’s Mark is a good one but I may just use Jim Beam as well. The beer will sit for a couple of months before being put into a keg. The plan is to keep it until December or January – when the weather is cold.

This will be my first time using the oak cubes because the barrel did the job on batch #1. Avery’s Samael is the beer that got me to liking oak in a big beer. To me, drinking a Samael is like biting into an oak 2 x 4 – I like it!

Just checked on the wort temp. It is at 183 F and is cooling faster than I thought it would as it is 85 F outside. I guess that is a big enough of a temperature difference to cause it to drop.

Not much else to report at this time so here is the recipe. Then it is time to “do the dishes” – cleanup the equipment.

Mash Ingrdients

14 lb 2-Row
1.5 lb Crystal 90 L
1.5 lb Cara-Pils
2 lb Flaked Oats
0.5 lb Chocolate
0.5 lb Roasted Barley
1 lb De-Bittered Black

Hops

1 oz Columbus – 60 min
1 oz Centennial – 45 min
1 oz Goldings – 30 min
1 oz Fuggle – 15 min

Late Addition

6 lb Dark LME – 15 min

Yeast

Safale US-05 (x2) (or starter)

Adjuncts

4 oz Oak Cubes – Medium Toast
750 ml Bourbon

July 2020

Zombie Dirt

Zombie Dirt was the brew to kick off the month of July. (It was actually brewed in late June but was kegged recently.) This is a brew that friend and co-brewer Mark likes to make / drink. It features the Citra hop and reminds both Mark and me of Toppling Goliath’s Pseudo Sue – which we snatch up whenever we can find it. The problem is that we have told too many people about it and so now they too are looking for it in the stores which is making it harder for us to find.

Anyway, this is the 4th batch of this one and has been a crowd pleaser all along.

This brew session was hosted by Jeff, who took time out of watering his lawn to assist. He had the garage all set up – including table and cards for many rounds of Sheephead. We raided his mini beer fridge while playing and brewing and ridiculed him for not having any beer stickers on it. (I even gave Jeff some Fieldpointe Brewery stickers.) David showed up and we got him to play a few rounds of cards and enjoy a beer or two with us.

Batch #3 was made for Principal Paul’s farewell shin-dig. (Somehow Paul ended up paying for this beer and hosting his own farewell party. Go figure.) The beer was a hit and the 5 gallons disappeared that evening – much to the disappointment of the late comers. Oh well …

Batches #1 & 2 were brewed in Mark’s dungeon. The first being a try and see. The second had some adjustments made – equipment wise. Incorporating the Northern Brewer “Depth Charge” device as a dry hop container made a noticeable change. We’ve got this one down now.

Zombie Dirt is a Northern Brewer recipe that is a take off of 3 Floyd’s Zombie Dust. It is very close to the 3 Floyd’s number.

The recipe:

MASH INGREDIENTS

-10.5 lbs Rahr 2-row
-1.5 lbs Munich malt
-0.5 lbs Carapils
-0.5 lbs Medium Crystal

HOP ADDITIONS & TIMES

-1 oz Citra (60 min)
-1 oz Citra (30 min)
-1 oz Citra (15 min)
-1 oz Citra (Flameout)
-3 oz Citra (Dry hops)
-1 oz Citra (Keg)

YEAST

Dry yeast Fermentis Safale S-04