July 2014 hops

I desperately need to get out there and pull my first harvest of hops.

they are just begging to be brewed.

freshly dried hops thrown into the final 5 of a boil can NOT be compared!

the difference is undeniably there.

Stance

Cleaning and organizing my work space so i can start up a new project. 

sawdust and wood scraps piled high, it was important that i stay properly hydrated.

i looked down and found myself standing this way. 

i then decided that i am pretty sure that i always stand this way when i drink 

AND

i am pretty sure that this stance makes the beer taste better.

Words of wisdom

Buy Nebraska,

Drink Nebraska.

a poster from my barber shop, 1940's paper ad

buy local is too true for all states!

actually,  when "local" is expanded to a regional borders,  than the variation of land and microclimates should increase the variety of products. this is a win for the individual and for the self-sufficiency of the immediate locality.

(i am more than happy to drink beer from my neighboring states).

just for the record there is nothing wrong with imports either

(from outside our region but within the states or from outside the states), 

we just need a much greater presence/variation of regional product.

Bottling mulberry cider and beer closet storage

Last night wifey and i bottled our mulberry cider.

as usual i had too many projects and completely blew off running the cider into a secondary.

started july 14th, it had about 7 weeks in the carboy.

 from the fermentor

to the bottling bucket that has the priming sugar

to the bottle (we made it easy by using all gasket top bottles and growlers)

and then

to storage

for storage we have a basement closet dedicated to brewing supplies.

one of those small closets that are roughed in from the inside but looks finished on the out.

because the studs were exposed in the closet, when we moved in years ago i immediately built some quick little shelves between each stud, tall enough to hold 22 ounce bombers for storage and aging.

this closet gets no light and has the most even temperature in the house. perfect.

there is always that little bit in the bottom that allows me to ice and have a quick sample to get an idea as to what the final product is probably going to be.

even though it sat in the fruit for almost two months there was no tannin flavors, nor  was there any bitterness.

this will be very smooth!

Hops based inferiority complex

I was comparing some of this years hops from the yard:

the summers here are just not ideal for a perfect English Fuggles hops harvest.

when compared to the American breed Cascade hops the Kent breed is just damn puny.

on a positive note, under the leaves there is still some good lupulin. it will still be brew-able. 

American Cascade on the left and English Fuggles on the right

cup of inadequacy

Hops in mid july

The cascade hops is going strong. 

out of the 8 lines (3-4 vines per line) , i actually have one that is dying. 

tomorrow i will check if it was pests or the lawn mower. i have a feeling it was the mower.

Mulberry cider

Mulberry tree is in full fruiting.

With this we can make our mulberry cider:

2 quarts of mulberries

2 cups of sugar

4 gallons apple juice

champagne yeast

even careful picking of the fruit will leave the fingers a bit purple.

nothing though that soap can not take care of.

mulberry cider - mulberry fingers

 a quick rinse under running water, then put in a steamer so the mulberries can be brew clean.

i add the 2 cups of additional sugar to the water at the bottom of the steamer. 

when done steaming i will not want to get rid of the mulberry rich water at the bottom.

steaming should be a minimum of 20 minutes.

mulberry cider - steaming the mulberries

 after the steamed mulberries have cooled i will add them to the fermenter.

the order of ingredients to the fermenter:

2 gallons of apple juice, 

 mulberries, 

 mulberry/sugar solution, 

1 gallon of apple juice (to clean the funnel),

yeast,

and the final gallon of apple juice. 

mulberry cider - adding mulberries to the carboy

 i use vodka in the fermenter lock.

mulberry cider - just waiting for fermentation

 bubbling glory as fermentation had been 24 hours active.

mulberry cider - 24 hours of fermentation

in one week we will move to a secondary fermentor.

we will keep 3-4 weeks in the secondary.

Trippel refreshing

The word "refreshing" in action!

tipped trippel, nothing spilled.

Length of shower

St. bernardus as a pre-shower beer.

This belgium quadrupel is one of those ideal trappist beers.

i would highly recommend this beer for those wanting an excellent heavy yeast experience.

the deep color is as rich as the malt and yeast tastes.

where this beer stands out is the complexity of other flavor notes: from the fruits to spices to the candied sugar.

it is because of these other flavors, that for those whom are not familiar with this style may drink when cooler outside as it has a harvest beer sort of feel.

from their website:

Hops training

Thinning out the hop vines and starting the training up the leads.

These cascade hops are on the south side of the house. i use those auger style dog leash stakes at the base and run the line in a V up to the roof line. this creates shade on our south windows and a small archway to get to part of the back yard (and a place for spiders to attack when not paying attention).

i will run 4 vines per lead.

as soon as each vine gets about 3 foot i will trim the leaves off the bottom foot. this will help prevent any mold or havens for unwanted insects at the base. when each vine gets about 5 or 6 feet then i will cut the leaves off another foot up.

hops get wild growing fast so trimming is absolutely necessary.

one perk of this prolific growth is that there are always so many rhizomes that can be harvested for other brewers.

13 stars

The 37th thoroughly enjoying the 15th entering the Union!

Plains hardy hops

The hardiness of the cascade hops is really suited for the plains.

last nights snow didn't really stick from the warmth of the ground but that plus tonight's cold will challenge these newly emerged green glories.

(we will cover for the night, then a warming trend)

especially once established the hops will have to be managed pretty aggressively.

each spring i always offer up rhizomes to friends and friends friends.

alpha acid % = 4-7 

when growing your own hops the greatest challenge is knowing exactly what the AA% is.

in general my first picking of the hops or slightly early picking of hops will yield a lower percent.

outside of this we allow a little variance in the final product to keep the recipe interesting.

if truly concerned, say if i am making a batch for a special occasion i will buy some commercial whole hops make a tea and compare it to a homegrown hops tea. the taste comparison will let me know if i am  on the high or low end of the percent scale.

this knowledge will only let me fuss over the minor and maybe tweak a few minutes in the kettle here and there.

"citrus and floral" are its traits and it is true. 

we accept this as our house hops. 

first and foremost we like the profile, and second a brewer needs to have a "as geographically associated as possible" beer.

there are often complaints for how homebrewers get tired of the cascade profile from over use and that can happen. we have always been proactive in that we vary our styles quite a bit.

cascade is predominant in our pales and house ipas,  then we branch out for british pales. on top of that we throw in just about every other style of beer too to keep our palate diversified.

a final note:

the cascade is great because it works fine as a bittering, flavor and aroma hops although in this house we use more ounces in the last 5-15 minutes (aroma & flavor).

Ash Wednesday lunch

After work was able to get a simple lunch.

Lenten beers should be "big food" types.

for those of us home brewers whom truly appreciate its presence in our the history, 

these beers are an important way of life past and current.

there are many Lenten styles out there, i had never had this particular one but the name was intriguing. 

Coffee liqueur bottled

From december 6th post on making the coffee liqueur 

today was time to bottle. 

just under two months of conditioning in the growler.

simple syrup = 4C water 4C turbinado

1/2C coarse grind extra dark roast coffee

3C vodka

this yield came to two 16 ounce grolsch bottles and a 12 ouncer bottle.

had to empty out the copper tea strainer twice from the grounds.

smell was CRISP & CLEAN coffee smell!

drizzle over the top and with each bite dig into the pool of black awesomeness on the bottom.

flavor was perfect for our pallet.

store in the back of the refrigerator.

Craftsman bottle opener

Making sure today's new purchased worked well.

and it does!

the steel head is pretty solid. the gauge is thick and it is seated in the handle well.

perfect for the workbench and for toolbox. 

Coffee liqueur

A dash of homemade coffee liqueur on ice cream is a favorite.

decided to try to new recipe:

simple syrup = 4C water 4C turbinado

1/2C coarse grind extra dark roast coffee

3C vodka

will keep it in the cupboard for 4 weeks (next to the cereal/oatmeal bowls).

the only other duty is to give it a turn once a day before i make my breakfast.

nothing against vodka but we only tend to use it for liqueurs and extracts.

Church key

A pet friendly house: dogs, birds, three children and one gold rabbit.

fairly substantial,  3/8ths of a pound steel

i believe that this was another tokkyu hands acquisition.

8.18.12 hops

Will be able to harvest the next group of hops soon.

had to add a bit of the cloudy sky. we have had rain consistently throughout the dat.

makes the green, greener.

Hops in early july

25' and growing, glorious cascade hops. the upper third will be ready for harvest soon. this season has long vines and the upper third is far more advanced then the lower two thirds.

there are 8 hills, 3-4 vines per hill and tethered from the plot to the top of the windows on the south side of the house (20' of line and then starts to drape down acting as window awnings). cascade is hardy, productive and very very prolific. we keep tight reigns on its suckers so as not to overwhelm the plot. keeping it airy is the key, reduces pest zones and easier to care for.

cascade hops a real workhorse for our home brews, especially in our pales, ipas, porters, and big barley wines. 

in 1956 this hop was bred in the United States. it became available in 1972. it is the product of crossing a fuggles hop with a Russian serebrianker hop. cascade aroma is "flowery", "spicy" and "citrus-like". the alpha acid content ranges from 4%-7%. quite a bit of difference depending on the growing conditions.

New belgium barrel

One last image from the new belgium brewery tour.

they are in a place with demand to increase their barrel conditioned beers. in fact, they were adding on to the room for barreling. not only did this room have about a dozen (i should of took a count) but i believe he said that they will be receiving another 30 (i will find out about that number). 

there were a number of obviously different barrel styles and this was the oldest of the barrel styles. purchased from the wine industry, at one time it had to be dismantled, seamed with beeswax then re-assembled. there were other styles of barrels but the others were newer and didn't have the uniqueness of age as this one did. all come used from the wine industry. used because the vessel allows a bit of respiration yet does not yield any wood flavors.

i may have kissed the barrel when no one was looking.