Homebrewing: tips for apartment dwellers

With American Craft Beer Week right around the corner, I'm reminded of just how intensely the love for all things beer has permeated through our society.  'Beer' has become an incredibly popular hobby and passion way beyond the act of imbibing.  We were recently contacted by Andrew K, an avid homebrewer who just so happens to manage his craft in an apartment.  Andrew wrote up a post providing some really helpful advice for those of us not spoiled by ample space, basements, and garages.  Thanks, Andrew!  

5 Homebrewing Tips for Small Apartments

Homebrewing from scratch requires a lot of ingredients and equipment, but the payoff is unmatched! With these tips, even apartment dwellers can find the space to try their hand at beer making.

1. To make your mash, you'll need to heat your water to anywhere between 148 and 158 degrees (don’t just guess – use a recipe!). Before you even buy your equipment, make sure your stove gets hot enough: Some smaller stoves won't. Test it using a large pot of water and a thermometer. If your stove can't heat enough, you still have options. See if a friend has a gas stove; these are less likely to have the temperature cap that some electric models have. If the weather is nice and you can access a nice outdoor common area or a patio, invest in a turkey fryer. Add a propane tank, and you'll have your own outdoor beer stove.

2. The next step is to mash out, which means to kill off the enzymes that turned your starches into sugar. This needs a temperature of 170 degrees. You'll need to slowly raise the temperature, stirring to make sure that the liquid is heated evenly. If you're outside with your turkey fryer, this won't be too bad. If you're indoors, you'll feel hot and stuffy really quickly. Keep a bottle of water on hand, and you’ll make it through safe and sound. 

3. If you plan on sparging, you should probably enlist a friend. He or she can start boiling the sparge water while you finish with the mash (get it up to 178 degrees if you can). If you can't fit a helper in the kitchen or work area, keep someone nearby: You're working with five to seven gallons of liquid, and you never know when you'll need an extra pair of hands. That, and you’ve got a great opportunity to bring someone into the wonderful world of homebrewing.

4. You'll have to let the beer ferment in its carboy for weeks, and if you're using a five-gallon or larger glass carboy, it'll be big and heavy. Scout out locations before you brew. You also don't want the carboy to be subject to temperature fluctuations. Ales are fermented between 60 and 75 degrees; lagers should be kept in the 50s. If you're lucky enough to have an extra bathtub, you can use hot or cold water to help gently regulate the temperature. Otherwise, find a closet or somewhere away from direct light. 

5. You’ve waited for your beer to clear and ferment, and now it’s time to bottle! You'll need a lot of bottles, and they'll all have to be cleaned, sanitized and dried. Nothing fills up a small apartment faster than trying to lay your bottles out on a towel to dry, so consider a dedicated bottle drying rack. You can buy a collapsible one, but there are also a lot of DIYs on the Internet, like this one.

When he’s not homebrewing (next up: a west-coast APA just in time for summer), Andrew works as a Community Coordinator at Appliance Help, an online retailer of parts for Refrigerators and Fridges.

A malty day trip to Rochester, NY

So yeah, a bit of a dry spell as of late.  Fortunately, bierkultur is as dense and enticing as ever.  Today's post is long overdue: a record of/tribute to a recent* trip to Rochester, on search of things fermented.

James and I tend to focus on the beer of Gainesville, FL and Buffalo, NY, our respective homes.  But from time to time we do manage to get out and about to take in the beer magic of somewhere else.  Even less frequently we manage to write about it.  Rochester, NY is only about 70 miles from Buffalo, comparable in population size, and, our reason for making it beer destination, home to a respectable number of breweries, brewpubs, and beer bars.  As the trip was only a day trip, and my salary is not quite in the chauffeur range, we couldn't do it all.  But we tried our best.   Here are some highlights:

FOOD (with beer): The best food we had was at Dinosaur BBQ, a local chain of big roadhouse style bbq restaurant that just happens to have a great bar and beer selection (BA, or 'beer nerd friendly,' reviews).  Sure, we're not talking fine dining here, but from the  great sauces, fall-off-the-bone ribs, and damned good collard greens, Dino BBQ hit the spot.  Beers from Middle Ages (Syracuse) and Rohrbach (Rochester's brewpub) were prominent, which was nice to see/drink.  Even though Buffalo is only about an hour farther west, neither of these two breweries get much tap representation in Erie county (correct me if I'm wrong).  I find the ImPaled Ale from MA slightly odd (probably because I'm so American IPA saturated) but really enjoyable.  From Rohrbach, the Scotch Ale is by far my favorite though I also tried the Vanilla Porter.  I'm giving Rohrbach some love here because, the ultimate tragedy of the trip, we did not get to visit either the pub or the brewery.  We're coming back, we promise.

BEER SERVED AT A BAR: Two bars we had to hit up were The Old Toad and Tap and Mallet.  Both of these well-known and well-respected bars are frequently putting on beer events and serve as sort of central hubs for Rochester's beerfolk.  But they are oh so very different.  The Old Toad is an English pub.  And not like the kitschy touristy/collegey crap that so often comes to our American minds when you hear 'English' or 'Irish' pub.  The Old Toad is a legitimate, authentic, bloody public house opened in part by a real live Englishman.  The Toad has everything charming that a pub has to offer: traditional welcoming decor; beautiful wooden bar, stools and booths; a real 'pub food' menu; and even down to a less-than-comfortable-almost-scary-but-in-a-strange-way-reassuring washroom.  Oh yeah, they have beer (or should I say ale?).  With 15 taps (9 rotating) and 4 hand-pumps, not to mention a sizable bottle menu, the Old Toad goes way beyond your Fullers and Guinness.  The real ale is, for me, the big draw: not only will you see rare casks from breweries across the US, but even more exciting are the limited-release/one-off beers from local breweries.  Really looking forward to a return trip: give me something called pudding for dinner (with lots of meat and gravy) and a pint of something malty any day.  And we're talking real pints here, not the wimpy American version.  Stop by on Sundays or Mondays for trivia!

Tap and Mallet, on the other hand, is a more contemporary beer bar.  From their very own iPhone app that keeps you updated on their rotating 30 tap selection, to their active Twitter, and occasional blog post from the owner, Tap and Mallet aims to serve the 'modern American beer drinker' in full 21st century capacity.  The only thing they leave out is the pretension.  We were only there the one time, but even so we had really good service.  I mean really good.  When we first came in, I walked up to their bar decked with abundant taps and polished steel and started to check out the menu.  It was a semi-busy night, but the bartender was on his game and within 30 seconds was saying hello and reassuring me I could try a sample before committing.  It was just a nice customer/bartender interaction.  We ended up setting up in a booth and ordering some food (our server was very attentive as well).  The tap list was impressive and extensive enough that it really included something for anyone and everyone: local offerings, the 'big name' craft stuff (Stone, DFH, etc), some of the smaller guys, and a good deal of Belgian/imported.  Tap and Mallet is hosting five beer related events in March and April, so I hope to come back in the near future.

NEW BEER BEING MADE: You can't go on a beer-driven trip without visiting a brewery.  This trip, we visited Roc Brewing Company, a new brewery as of 2010.  Roc was like many of the new start-up breweries around the country, trying to define itself through its local ties and identity, when all of a sudden... at GABF 2011, Jim Koch of Boston Beer announces Roc Brewing Company as one of the two recipients of the newly founded 'Experienceship' Program.  This program aims to help new breweries develop and mature into real-deal industry players by not only providing some dough but opening up the vast business/marketing and brewing knowledge of Sam Adams to the new company (read more here).  This is obviously an amazing opportunity for the guys at Roc but also a solid confirmation that they had been doing the right stuff in the first place.  And now to some of those right things: first of all, the brewery and taproom are beautiful.  I mean really beautiful in the cool, modern, architectural kind of way.  Check the pics for yourself.  Second: oh my god are these people so freaking nice.  We parked it at the bar and quickly ordered a flight sample.  The bartenders (the owners) were incredibly talkative and welcoming, about beer, food, and anything else.  My nerdy friend decided at one point it would be a good idea to pull out her German language flashcards, only to quickly be picked up by Jon (one of the owners, who knows German pretty damn well btw).  Enter the next couple of hours: goofing off with doing our best at German vocab, talking about beer, forgetting how pathetic graduate student life can be, and oh yeah, drinking some awesome beer.  From the refreshing Golden Ale to our favorite of the night, the Chicory Cherry Porter, I was really impressed with their work.  We left only because our DD was getting all whiny about having to drive back to Buffalo.  But not without a filled growler and a new t-shirt!  I can't wait to see Roc beer in some bars around town.  I also can't wait to go back and visit the taproom, but I'm going to work on my German first.

Rochester was great.  I'm sure it still is.  One day anywhere is never enough to pass final judgement, but I can say I do want to go back as soon as possible.  Rochester felt like a beer city.  Sure, I only went to beer-focused places, but I got that feeling that there was something unified about the beer and the people who enjoy it in each place we visited.  The sort of hard to define quality that makes something good into something great, that makes a bar with lots of beer into a beer bar.  Yeah, that stuff.

-Aaron

*This is a lie: we went in November.

Guest post: Beer is big for small businesses

Recently, James and I were contacted by Brooke Dennison, an author who writes guest posts on the topics of business, marketing, credit cards, and personal finance.  Additionally, she works for a website that focuses on educating readers about small business credit cards.  Brooke was very interested in writing a guest post for the blog.  As we are very much concerned with the overlap of beer and business, we eagerly agreed.  Thanks to Brooke for the insightful post from a non-beercentric perspective.   

-A

Craft Beer Booms and Helps Small Businesses

Craft beer is becoming more and more popular each year, so new small business breweries have been established in order to meet the demand. Craft brewers currently employ about 100,000 people in the United States, and there were 1,753 breweries doing business for at least some part of 2010. That’s the highest total since the late 1800s. In fact, craft beer has become so popular that cities across the country have started special events for independently produced beer. (check out more stats here)

Events to celebrate this type of bear can be found from the east to the west coast, but one recent event in New York really put an emphasis on craft beer. New Your Craft Beer Week has been successful these past four years, and it has helped small businesses in the area gain the business of a wider range of people. This year, 150 bars, restaurants, stores, and breweries participated, and the organizers of this event expect that number to grow in the coming years.

During this week of great fun and flavor, people can buy a $10 “passport” to get great discounts at all participating locations. Each business that wanted to participate paid $250 for 35 passports to sell or distribute, which could pay off more than the entrance fee, and their business was also advertised in the promotional materials for the event. In the end, each business could have the potential to get a lot more out of this event than they put in because they have a great chance to pursue new customers.

It’s great to know in these poor economic times that craft beer sales are increasing. The Brewers Association reported that the craft brewing industry grew 9% by volume and 12% by retail sales in the first half of 2010, while the beer market as a whole declined nearly 3% by volume in that time.

Another great event in the country that really puts a focus on craft beer is held in Denver. While it is also a young festival, being only a few years old, it has grown to be extremely successful, attracting about 40,000 people this last year. One spokesperson for the Denver Great American Beer Festival said, “People really enjoy the diversity of flavors and the complexity of flavors that craft beers offer. I think also craft beer is really reclaiming its place at the dinner table, and people are discovering lots of wonderful food pairings and how exciting it is to taste beer with food.” Events like these prove how influential small businesses can be on a community.

Before events like these, some of these small businesses struggled to stay afloat. These festivals have helped spread the word about small businesses and about craft beer. More locals come to know and love these businesses, and tourists get to know their favorite destinations through the advertising, and all of these customers get the chance to expand their tastes beyond your every day, name brand beer. Without these events, who knows what would happen to the small bars and breweries we have come to know and love.

An ecocentric opinion on local beer

Kai Olson-Sawyer, a blogger at Ecocentric ("a blog about food, water and energy"), recently made a very interesting post about the importance of small local breweries in sustaining local cultures and traditions.  Buffalo's own Community Beer Works gets a very favorable mention, and rightfully so.  You know how much we love that sort of stuff.  Check it out!

Some of Kai's strongest points, and in my opinion the most important, are about the values that local craft brewers share.  At the end of the day, beer is beer.  It's how that beer is made, marketed, and enjoyed that separates what the little guys do from the big guys.  It matters a whole lot where the beer you are drinking comes from.  Remember that the next time you're at a bar with 57 different IPAs on tap.  Drink smart.  Drink local.  It actually does make a difference.    

-Aaron 

Kickstarter and beer

First of all, if you do not know what Kickerstarter is, go check it out.  Secondly, if you 1) live in the Buffalo area, 2) like beer, 3) like to support small business, or any combination of the above, go pledge some support to Community Beer Works, the soon-to-be-brewing nanobrewery in Buffalo.

In case you hadn't noticed, Community Beer Works is pretty focused on the idea of fostering a strong community centered around the consumption and appreciation for good local beer.  By 'Embeering Buffalo' these guys hope to help put Buffalo, NY on the map with other beer culture meccas like Portland and Asheville.  A Kickstarter project is perfect: what could be a better way to allow the community, the future consumers and appreciators, to actually make a difference in making this well-intentioned business a success?  Kickstarter claims to be 'the world's largest funding platform for creative projects' and accordingly most projects are what would be considered more art/music/etc types of creative.  But not only will CBW be creating interesting and thoughtful beers, more importantly they will be creating a bond  and identity for Buffalo's discerning beer drinkers.  This is made all the more powerful by the fact that those same drinkers can rightfully say "Hey I helped get this thing started."  I really, really like this.

CBW is not the first brewery to take to Kickstarter.  Just search 'brewery' on the page to see a few other small breweries calling (or who have successfully called) on their community to help get them off the ground.  As more and more homebrewers look to go the entrepreneurial route, I expect we will see a lot more of this type of thing.   

Cool stuff.



Also see:
CBW's own take on Kickstarter, prior to deciding to go through with it.


-Aaron

Fill 'er up: gas and growlers, Sunoco's Craft Beer Exchange

Browsing through issue #55 of BeerAdvocate magazine, I came across a news write up on a new concept being tested by Sunoco (the petrol company).  At a number of their APlus stores (the fancier version of their convenient stores) in the Buffalo area they have set-up a draft beer system where you can get your growlers filled.  The program is called the Craft Beer Exchange.  I am not sure exactly when they started this program up, but I have seen a few people in Craft Beer Exchange t-shirts and with their custom growlers, so I assume it is seeing some success.  I decided to do some investigating.

The Scoop: There are 12 APlus Sunoco locations in the WNY area that are set up with the draft systems.  The Craft Beer Exchange runs its own blog including an updated list of what EACH location has on tap.  I visited the location at the corner of Delaware and Kenmore.  After topping off my tank, I walked into the store and immediately saw a nice display of bottled beer, focusing specifically on the craft/micro selection.  The macro BMC stuff was still in its normal gas station-cooler location.  In addition to a decent spread of six-packs and bombers, they offered a 'create-your-own' six-pack for $9.99.  They also had an end-cap display with their growlers and even a limited selection of glassware (I think they had Sam Adams pint glasses).

Now to the taps: 12 draft lines, all visible on a tastefully designed bar area with the current offerings listed both on a chalk-board type thing behind the taps and a board with more info on each of the beers on the counter.  The attendant told me that with a growler fill I would get a free growler ($2.99) and even a discount on gas (!) per gallon.  Too bad I just filled-up.  The tap selection was not amazing but it did focus primarily on local stuff, including Ellicottville Brewing Company's Black Hops which I had not seen before anywhere.  The prices ranged from $8.99 to $16.99.  I got my brand new growler filled with the Black Hops and also picked up a pack of gum (because I could).

The Good: This concept definitely adds more convenience to the convenient store.  Where stopping to get gas before heading off to tailgate, etc. usually meant settling for some BMC crap, the idea of having good, fresh beer as an option is a nice change.  The selection was overall well-rounded with a few staples (like DFH 60 minute, Flying Bison Rusty Chain), some alternative options (McKenzie's cider), and some interesting more rare stuff (like EBC Black Hops).  With the additional bottle selections in the craft/micro display, you are more than likely to find something suitable.  And all at the same time as getting some chips, an Arizona iced tea, a tank of gas, a pack of cigs, etc. 

The Bad: What could be bad about this concept for the beer consumer?  On the surface, not much.  I will say,  however, that the whole thing felt a little weird.  You are still in a gas station convenient store.  While the clerks have apparently been trained in growler filling and draft line maintenance, I was still a little apprehensive.  And is it worth it?  There is a definite up-charge in paying 10-17 bucks for 64oz of beer in a growler as opposed to buying a six-pack of the same beer (72oz).  Then there is the whole 'craft/micro beer ethics' thing.  Being a beer consumer is not just about convenience or price.  I like to get my growlers filled directly at Flying Bison Brewery not because it's cheaper (although it is) but because I feel like my business is appreciated.  You can inhale a whiff of fresh boiling wort as you have a real conversation about beer.  It's this personal connection stuff that makes this industry different from the others.  

What do you think?  

Sunoco is using WNY as a staging-ground for this concept (which is a pretty good testament to our beer culture!) before looking at the numbers and deciding whether or not to expand the program.  I'm curious to see what will happen.

-A

Beer goes Pink: 'Chick Beer' and gender-based marketing

You cannot have a conversation about American beer culture without talking marketing.  For years, beer companies in the United States have devoted themselves to coming up with effective marketing campaigns for existing products or coming up with new products targeted toward a specific market (though often the 'new' product is very similar to an old one with a new fancy label).

Now in the past two decades, this model is being challenged by a micro/craft/good beer approach, which focuses instead on the product itself rather than the marketing.  But all you have to do is look at the sales numbers, the sports bars, and the beer commercials to know that the old model is still alive and thriving.

And now this.

I was reading over at beernews.org and I came across this video:

The beernews.org article does a good job of pointing out some of the many disturbing and almost outrageous aspects of this story.  But it made me think of a few things: Are we (participants in the culture of American beer) actually getting any better?  Are there not certain micro/craft/'good' beers that are specifically targeting a female audience?  Is scoffing at another insertberrytypehere wheat ale any better than buying some Bud after seeing a bikini-filled commercial?

Many American craft beer drinkers would see themselves as being as different as possible to a BMC consumer.  Maybe it's time we reconsider how similar and different the two really are.

-Aaron


P.S.  Maybe pink does have its place in the beer industry after all: 'Brace yourself for Pretty in Pink beers'