Some of my #homebrew recipes.

May 21, 2012

I have previously written about how I come up with my own recipes for homebrew. Since I wrote that post in September of 2011, every batch since than has been of my own formulation. Some have turned out better then others. Whenever I’ve made a mistake, (be it the incorrect fermentation temperature, the wrong malt, hops or yeast.) I always treat it as a learning experience. It’s the constant evolution of a brewer. I want to learn to be the best brewer I can be. This is one of the reasons I haven’t brewed a kit or clone beer for awhile. I want the beer to be 100% my creation. I’m not saying I make the best beer or that I won’t ever use a recipe that isn’t my own.

I recently won an award for a beer I designed. The Tennessee Valley Homebrewers competition- the Homebruin cup, was held on May 12th. The judging took place at Calhouns on Kingston Pike near Pellissippi Parkway. The stakes for this competition were high, with best of show being brewed by Smoky Mountain Brewery for it’s affiliated restaurants. The Brewmaster, Marty Velas sponsored this contest in order to find a beer to enter in the Great American Brew Fest’s Pro-Am competition in Denver.  To enter, you had to be both a member of the TN Valley Homebrews and the American Homebrewers Association. When I first learned of the contest, my mind went to work. I started thinking of a beer to brew that would go good with Smoky Mountain’s bar-b-que heavy menu. I decided to brew a Rauchbier. I have mentioned this several times in previous posts.

For this competition, homebrews were divided into 4 main catagories for ease of judging. My Rauchbier was in the “other beers” catagory. I ended up with a bronze medal for my efforts. All the homebrews I have brewed and entered over the years, and I finally placed in a contest. I am very happy with this, and hope I can continue to brew better beers and win more awards.

So this post is supposed to be about recipes. I’ll be honest, when it comes to my recipes, I haven’t been keeping very good notes. I used to hand write every recipe and add them into a notebook I had. Eventually I started typing them and saving a word file on the computer. Currently I use an iPhone app called iBrewmaster. I find it is a very reliable app, and it automatically calculates and estimates original and final gravity. I will admit, I have been leaning a little bit too hard on this app to keep track of things. I need to at least get back to saving as a word file as well. That being said, I will list of few of my recent recipes below. If you have any suggested changes, or if you brew these yourself,  I’d love to hear from you. Add a comment and let me know. All my recipes are for a 10 gallon batch, so adjust up or down accordingly for your brew size.

Rauchig Berg Rauchbier (Rauchig Berg is German for “Smoky Mountain”)

Original gravity 1.052 Final Gravity 1.007 Abv 5.9%

12 pounds Weyermann Smoked Malt (bamberg style beechwood smoked)

1 pound light Munich malt

2 pounds 12 ounces of Weyermann Melanoidin malt

1 pound Weyermann Carabohemian malt

2 pounds Weyermann Vienna Malt

1 pound Weyermann Caramunich 1

12 ounces Floor Malted Bohemian Pilsner malt

3 & 1/2 ounces of Hallertauer hop pellets (2 ounces 60 minutes, 1 & 1/2 ounce last 30 minutes)

1 ounce Tettnang Hop pellets (added last 5 minutes)

2 XL “smack packs” of Wyeast 2206 Bavarian Lager Yeast* (see note)

1 tsp yeast nutrient added last 15 minutes of boil.

1 Whirlfloc tablet added last 5 minutes of boil

Mash grains with 7 gallons of water heated so when you strike the grains it stays between 150-154 degrees for 60 minutes. Sparge with 8 gallons of 168 degree water for 30-45 minutes.

60 minute boil following the hopping schedule above.

Rapidly cool wort to 50 degrees and aerate. I used a small oxygen tanks and a diffusion stone to aerate. Lager yeast is difficult to get going, and could use the oxygen boost.

* Note about lager yeast. On this recipe I made a 3000ml starter. I basically brewed a mini batch of this beer on my stove top, using grain bags for the mash. I did not want to have any chance of the starter affecting the flavor of this beer. I pitched 1 package of yeast to 1000ml of the starter in a erlenmeyer flask and put on a stir plate inside of my lagering fridge at 50 degrees. The rest of the starter I canned in pint jars. Over the next couple of days I stepped the starter up to 3000 ml by adding in 1 or 2 jars of wort. When I brewed, I cooled the wort down and pitched the yeast starter, and the fresh smack pack at the same temperature of the wort to avoid yeast shock. I then fermented this beer at 50 degrees (see my post about my chest freezer/ lagering fridge dying during this fermentation).

This beer fermented for a month. After fermentation, I cold crashed it to 36 degrees then filtered and kegged it. I lagered it at 34 degrees for a month. This is the most technical beer I have ever brewed, and I love it. I still have a keg and a half left. It is incredibly delicious. Nice and balanced with subtle smooth and in now way overpowering smokiness. I know someone who swears they hate smoked beers and that they all taste like liquid smoke and are nasty. I gave them a glass of this. They tried it, looked perplexed and exclaimed that it was good. They asked what it was and could not believe my answer. So, yes I love this beer. Honestly, I will work this one back into my brewing schedule as soon as I can.

Taurus Maibock

After successfully brewing my Rauchbier, I got on a German lager kick. I bought a smaller chest freezer that can fit exactly 2 carboys to use just for fermenting lagers.I came up with a simple recipe for a Maibock, after reading a dozen or so different ones. This is the last batch I brewed before I moved. I brewed it the Friday before the Thirsty Orange Festival and moved the lagering fridge and the batch into the basement of my new place as soon as the cool down was done and the yeast pitched. The movement of the drive helped aerate it. This batch is kegged and is being carbonated and lagered. I tried it when I kegged it, and it was great.

Original Gravity 1.062 Final Gravity 1.020 abv 5.5%

20 pounds Pale Ale Malt

6 pounds Munich.

4 ounces of Mt. Hood hop pellets. (2 ounces at 60 minutes, 1 at 30 minutes and 1 at 5 minutes left in the boil.)

Wyeast 2487 Hella Bock Yeast Stepped up starter as decribed in the Rauchbier recipe, pitched 3000 ml. Fermented at 50 degrees for a month. I had some this weekend, and it was incredible smooth after only a week of Lagering.

Toasted Hemp Seed Pale Ale

This was a recent batch that is still fermenting. I made this last year and learned a valuable lesson. DON’T TOAST HEMP SEEDS IN YOUR OVEN!! I did that last year and it smoked up my place so bad that I couldn’t see across the room. I couldn’t breathe right for a month. This year I toasted the hemp seeds in a cask iron skillet on a camp stove outside. It made all the difference.

20 lbs.  2-row pale malt

2 lb. Munich malt

2 oz. black patent malt

3 lbs. toasted hemp seeds

1 & 1/2 ounce Cascade hops (90 mins)

1 & 1/2 ounce Cascade hops (45 mins)

1 oz. Cascade hops (10 mins)

1 & 1/2 oz.  Cascade hops  (0 mins)

1 Whirfloc Tablet

3000 ml starter of Wyeast Rogue Pacman Yeast

Mash grains with 9 gallons of water heated so when you strike the grains it stays between 150-154 degrees for 60 minutes. Sparge with 8 gallons of 168 degree water for 30-45 minutes. 90 minute boil following hopping schedule as above. I used a combination of whole leaf and pellet hops. Currently fermenting at 70 degrees.

Last year this batch was a hit. It’s a basic Cascade pale ale, but with a slight nuttiness from the toasted hemp seeds. I can’t wait to see how this years batch turns out.

Wheat Beer

Original Gravity 1.052

I came up with this basic wheat beer recipe recently. I just brewed it this weekend. I ferment in 6 gallon carboys. With this batch I used 2 different wheat strains to make 2 different beers. One carboy I used Bavarian Wheat yeast to make a hefewezien. The other half I am fermenting with an American yeast strain. When the American yeast batch is done, I plan on adding blackberry extract at kegging time to make my yearly batch of what I can “Blackberry Bomber”. A few hours after this batch was in the carboys, I was worried because I did not see any activity. However, when I checked them in the morning, they had blown off the airlocks and were foaming out the sides. Here’s my recipe. Suggestioned changes are welcomed.

10 lbs pale ale malt

4 lbs torrified wheat

2 lbs floor roasted bohemian wheat

2 lbs Wyermann light wheat

2 pounds red wheat

2 lbs rice hulls

2 oz Cascade hops (60 minutes)

2 oz Willamette hops (5 minutes)

5 gallons fermented with Wyeast American Wheat Yeast

5 gallons with Wyeast Bavarian Wheat Yeast

Mash grains with 7 gallons of water heated so when you strike the grains it stays between 150-154 degrees for 60 minutes. Sparge with 8 gallons of 168 degree water for 45 -60 minutes. It’s important to use rice hulls in a brew like this because of the filter effect. Wheat tends to gum up your mashtun if you’re not careful. Stuck sparges are no fun and can ruin a brew day.

60 minute boil following the hopping schedule above

Stop and Smell the Hops IPA

Original Gravity 1.070 Final Gravity 1.011 ABV 7.99%

This is a big imperial sweet malty hoppy beer. It came out to 8% abv.

17 pounds of Pale Ale malt

9 pounds Munich Malt

1 pound Crystal Malt 60L

2 pounds of Vienna Malt

1 ounce Zythos hops  at 60 minutes

1 ounce Simcoe hops at 60 minutes

1 ounce Cascade hops at 60 minutes

1 ounce Magnum hops at 60 minutes

1 ounce Zythos hops  at 5 minutes

Dry hop with:

1 ounce Cascade hops

1 ounce Zythos hops

1 ounce Simcoe hops

2 ounces Crystal hops

1 Whirfloc Tablet

3000 ml starter of Wyeast Rogue Packman Yeast

Mash grains with 9 gallons of water heated so when you strike the grains it stays between 150-154 degrees for 60 minutes. Sparge with 8 gallons of 168 degree water for 30-45 minutes. I fermented this batch low, at around 64 degrees. I was told that the sweetness is caused by it being under attenuated from the low fermentation temperature. That may be true, but everyone I have let try this loves it and has been asking for more.

I plan on posting recipes in the future. I might even edit this one at a later time to include more. I’ve been out of stout, so I need to brew a batch again soon. I have a couple of imperial stout recipes, but I want to brew a basic irish stout. However, I can’t really bring myself to brew something that’s alcohol content is below 5%. Because of this, I will have to play around a little bit with my grain bill. I don’t currently have any beer pouring through the stout faucet on my kegerator. This is the main reason I want to brew this style. It is Mulberry season around here, and I am thinking of harvesting a couple pounds of berries. If I do, I will juice them and make half of the batch a mulberry stout. If I do, I’m sure it will turn out to be good.

A couple more things I wanted to mention before I finish this post. This Wednesday I will be working my 1st shift as a bartender at Suttree’s High Gravity Tavern on Gay Street. I’ll be behind the bar from 5-10pm. This is our soft opening this week before we announce to the rest of the world that we are open for business. This gives us a chance to get to know the sales computer system, and work out all the other little bugs before we are always busy. So if you want, come buy a beer and check us out starting on that day.

This Thursday at The Casual Pint, 6pm will see the debut of SAW WORKS BREWING (formerly Marble City). They will be pouring thier new Pale Ale brewed by Dave Ohmer. Dave made the step from assistant brewer at Woodruff to head brewer at the recently renamed and reformatted Saw Works. If you haven’t heard about this yet, check out this excellent post by the Knox Beer Snobs.

Well this is all for now. A week from this Wednesday I will be in Asheville for the last 5 days of the first Asheville Beer Week. There are a lot of really cool tastings and events planned, so make sure to check out the website and facebook page. My plan is to start each day out by posting a recap of the previous day and night’s activities that I attend. I might even live update a time or 2. So look forward to 5 days of blog updates in a row. I know I am.

Cheers,

Ratchet

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Another uninspired blog posting from yours truly.

May 15, 2012

It’s been a long time since I’ve updated this. It’s a combination of reasons. Mostly it was moving, followed by unpacking and settling in. I’ve been too busy to write. I’ve been too busy to go out much, or even drink beer. Life gets hectic sometimes. Much has happened in Knoxville in the last month since I’ve updated this site. Marble City hired a new brewer and changed it’s name to Saw Works Brewing. Suttree’s is closer to opening then ever and the Casual Pint is building a new site downtown. All this is already well known in the craft beer scene here in town, so there is no need for me to rehash it, just follow the links if you didn’t already know about any of these.

So I’ll just tell you what I’ve been up to with my brewing. Like I said, I moved closer to downtown. With this move I gained a whole basement to keep my beer, brewing supplies, kegerators and other stuff in. I was given another fridge to use how I see fit. I brewed a maibock right before I moved, and recently kegged it. Last weekend I brewed my toasted hemp seed pale ale in my new place. The next chance I get, I plan on brewing a wheat beer. I am hoping to brew a stout after that. With Suttree’s opening soon, my weekends are about to be full. Luckily I still have my planned Asheville Beer Week Vacation coming up at the end of this month.

It’s little over a month until Knoxville Brewfest. I am supposed to have a booth out there, but now I’m worried I will not have enough beer to bring. I know I’ll have a keg of my Rauchbier, my Maibock, Hemp seed ale, and hopefully some wheat beer. I wish I could have more, but the move really put a damper on my brewing. There just doesn’t seem like enough hours in a day to get everything accomplished.

Well that’s what’s been going on. I still don’t feel like my writing is inspired. I had to force myself to get this done. With everything going on, I feel a little burnt out. I am hoping this will pass.

Until next time,

Ratchet

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Report on the Thirsty Orange Brew Extravaganza @ThirstyOrange

April 19, 2012

This is my third attempt to write about last weekend’s Thirsty Orange beer festival in Johnson City. My original idea was to live blog from the festival. I even set up the page the night before. However, there was so much to do and I was so busy it just wasn’t possible to live blog. I hardly even had time to take my phone out of my pocket to check emails, text and tweets.
So here it is, almost a week later. Let’s see how much I can actually recall.
Here’s some background first. I am currently moving. Everyone knows that packing and moving is a big pain in the ass. Luckily I pretty much have a whole month to do it. I am renting a slighly bigger house on a hill that is closer to downtown. The view is pretty great and the fact that I have a whole basement to brew in is what sold me on the house.

Well, I have a brew schedule that I am trying to stick to. I didn’t want to try to move my fermentation fridge and carboys while they were in mid-fermentation. So I did what any slightly crazed beer obessessed homebrewer would do. I got up extra early Friday morning and started brewing. I ended up mashing in around 5:30 am. I figured, if I was going to move full carboys that I should do it right after brewing so the sloshing caused by the car ride would help oxygenate the wort. Yeast needs oxygen to help get it going. So as I brewed, I cleaned. I moved my small lagering chest freezer into the back of the van. Once I was done brewing my Maibock, I drove the whole set up to, and set it up in, the basement of the house I’m moving in to. I plugged in the fridge and thermostat control and put the two 5 gallon carboys to ferment at 48 degrees. I was done completely around 11 am. I then went over to the Downtown Grill and Brewery and picked up the Woodruff Brewing beer that I took to the festival.

I than went home and packed the van full of tubs, beer, kegs, ice and merchandise.  I then drove to Johnson City. Arriving there I quickly checked into my room. The festival site was at the Mellow Mushroom just down the road, so I headed there to meet with the organizers. I stashed the kegs in the walk in cooler, had a beer and taked plans for the next day. Well as you can imagine, I was exhausted from getting up at 4:45 am that day to brew. I knew Saturday was going to be hectic, so I went back to the hotel and passed out early.

Saturday morning, I rolled out of bed, made some crappy hotel coffee and headed to the site. I was still pretty tired and the crappy hotel coffee just wasn’t kicking in. Thank goodness one of the guys there, Andrew, had brought a carafe of great coffee to share. After “irishing up” a cup of it with a shot of baileys, I was good to go.

While crews set up tents and generally prepared the site for the days festivities, I worked on getting my table, kegs and jockey box set up. I was also on infuser duty. I had my own infuser to run beer through and the festival had it’s own. Responsible for the festival’s infuser was a cool dude (who I had the pleasure of working with) that they called Flipper. I showed him the ropes on how to pack it, how to set up the lines, etc. He picked up on it rather quickly and was able to take the infuser around  and fresh infuse different beers with different ingredients all day. It was definitely a hit of the festival.

Well once the gates were open, things were hectic. I still hadn’t completely set up my merchandise when a line began to form at my table. I was very greatful that the festival organizers had provided me with someone to assist me at my booth, as I honestly could not have done it by myself. Right at the start, I had a beer line break in my jockey box. My first clue that it occured was when beer started pouring out the sides. I lost the whole keg of chocolate ale that I had brewed for the Iron Brewer challenge. I had to cut the bad section of line out and rehook it up to a different keg.

Once all the kinks were worked out, the festival went really well. I did my share of drinking, slipping away from my booth a few minutes at a time to try other beers. I met more then a few really cool people, fellow homebrewers from all over and tried many great brews. It was also really good to see and hang out with my Knox Beer Crew friends who had made the trip up from Knoxville. They left before the end of the festival, but we did have time to squeeze into the on site beer photo booth and get our pictures taken.

Well I stayed until the very end, and was the last brewer set up and pouring until my ride came and got me. I packed up, said my goodbyes and went back to the hotel. After settling in, I went downstairs to get something out of the van and realized that there was a comedy show taking place in the hotel’s restaurant. I drunkenly wandered in and sat in the back unlit portion of the space and laughed for awhile. Then I wandered back upstairs and passed out.

It was a great festival and Aaron and his crew always put together a good event. As far as I could see, everything went smoothly and everyone had a fun time. If this happens again next year, you can count me in to be there.

Ok, will this is all for now. I don’t feel like this write up is all that good, but I had to post something. If you read this and were at the Thirsty Orange, please leave a comment with your thoughts below.

Cheers,

Ratchet

Announcing some of the Homebrew contest winners at Thirsty Orange

 

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Ratchet’s Reviews: Beer Books Edition.

March 30, 2012

Hey there readers, today’s post is about beer and books. Specifically books about or related to beer or brewing. Most of the books I’m going to tell you about, I have acquired within the last 6 months. I have found that beer books are like most beers, they have a shelf life. Sure some of these books will age well for decades, but some will be outdated in just a few short years. This is why when I am shopping for beer related books, I always check the year they were published. If you buy a ten year old guide book to the ”world’s best beers”, chances are a few of the beers and breweries featured are no longer in existence. Same thing with books on brewing. The basics of brewing haven’t changed for centuries. However, there is near constant evolution of equipment, ideas, styles, and ingredients. These older books might not have reference to newer hop varieties such as Citra, Simcoe, or newer “styles” such as Dark IPAs. I’m not saying that you should ignore all older books on the subject. For example, Charlie Papazian’s The Complete Joy of Homebrewing is every bit as relevant as it was when it was first published in 1984.

That being said, here are some of the books I have and my thoughts on them.

The Craft of Stone Brewing Co. by Greg Koch, Steve Wagner and Randy Clemens. Published September of 2011.

Ratchet Rating: 5 (out of 5) Pints. Suggested beer to drink while reading: Arrogant Bastard.

I picked this up in Asheville during my Christmas Beercation. I ended up with a signed copy that I purchased at The Thirsty Monk. This is a really slick book. Nice glossy full color pictures and well written. This book is a combination of things. First it’s a complete history of Stone Brewing Company. From the early days of homebrewing to one of the most respected craft beer producers and everything in between. If you’ve ever wondered how Greg comes up with the rants on the sides of the 22 ounce bottles, this book has that. Each beer that has ever been brewed by Stone has a description beyond just the style and ingredients. They go into the thought process and history of such famous beers such as Arrogant Bastard, Stone Smoked Porter and their Vertical Epic series. The book is written in a relaxed and no holds barred conversational tone. It’s just like sitting around talking to your friends over a few Stone IPAs. The book also features clone recipes to brew your own imitations of their well loved beer. It also has a section  on beer and food pairings by ”Dr.” Bill Sysak aka Master Pairings. This is in addition to incredible food recipes from Stone’s own World Bistro and Gardens. Whether you’re a Stone Brewing Company fan, a home brewer, a foodie or a craft beer novice, this book has something for you. If you haven’t picked up this book yet, switch over to Amazon, ebay or better yet Stone’s own website and order it now. You’ll be glad that you did.

The next two books I’m going to tell you about are beer style specific. First up is Farmhouse Ales: Culture and Craftsmanship in the Belgian Tradition by Phil Markowski. Published 2004.

Ratchet Rating: 3 (out of 5) Pints. Suggested beer to drink while reading: Fantôme De Noel

I borrowed this last fall from my buddy Shanezilla, who is a big fan of saisons. I just recently in the last few years started acquiring a taste for belgium style beers. I’m not really a big fan of farmhouse style ales, but I can appreciate them from time to time. This book is a pretty good attempt to trace the history of farmhouse brewing in both the North of France and in Belgium. This book was a little long, and I thought that the material could have been covered in fewer pages. However, I did enjoy learning about traditional farmhouse brewing and how the Saisons and Belgium style ales of today probably bear little resemblance to those historically brewed on farms in the Wallonia and Flanders regions of Belgium and France. There are a few recipes included for homebrewers, and the author encourages experimentation when it comes to brewing this type of beer. If you are a big fan of Saison, Sours, Belgium or Brett beers, this is your book. I did come away from reading this with an idea for a saison that I want to brew this summer.

The next style specific book to tell you about is Smoked Beers: History, Brewing Techniques, Recipes by Ray Daniels and Geoffrey Larson. Published in 2004.

Ratchet Rating: 3.5 (out of 5) Pints. Suggested beer to drink while reading: Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Marzen.

I purchased this book online. I got it to help me with my research to brew the best possible Rauchbier that I could. Previous to reading this book, I was already aware of the Bamberg style smoked beers as well as the peat smoked Scottish ales. Reading this book really opened my eyes to how many types and styles of smoked beer there actually are. The book is primarily a history and discussion of the style, going back to the early days of brewing beer when most malts were dried using smoke. Those early brews undoubtedly must have had some smoky flavors as part of their profile. As malting techniques advanced the smoked flavors in beer vanished except for a few regions keeping to the traditional ways. The Bamberg region in Germany is the most well known of these. After reading this book, I really want to visit there someday. This book is written in part by Geoff Larson, founder of Alaskan Brewing Company. They are known for their smoked porter, which I have not yet had the pleasure of trying. This book is well written, reads easily and also includes a few recipes and tips for homebrewers. I would recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in this style. Beer historians, homebrewers, smoke lovers will all appreciate the history, types and techniques for smoking malt. I just hope that my Rauchbier turns out as good as this book did.

Great American Craft Beer: A Guide to the Nation’s Finest Beers and Breweries by Andy Couch. Published August 2010.

Ratchet Rating: 4.5 (out of 5) Pints. Suggested beer to drink while reading: Your favorite anything.

I picked up this gem at McKays in west Knoxville. I was given a gift card for Christmas and used it wisely on this book. Great American Craft Beer is very well written, stylish and informative. More than just a guidebook, it has sections on beer and food pairings, stories from some well-known brewers, a bit of beer history and profiles of some of the best brew pubs in the country. This book cover only American breweries and beer. There are more than 80 styles of beer covered and 340 beer profiles featuring full-color photographs and illustrations of the beers and beer labels. Some of your favorites beers are surely featured as were mine. Because of this book, my beer “wish list” has grown substantially. If you plan on reading any beer books this year, this one should be near the top of your list.  Expertly written by Andy Couch of Beerscribe.com. Get this book, seriously.

The Beer Book, Your Drinking Companion to Over 1,700 Beers edited by Tim Hampson. Published October 2008.

Ratchet Rating: 4 (out of 5) Pints. Suggested beer to drink while reading: Any imported craft beer.

Another great find at McKays. I’ll let you in on a secret. I have a friend that works there and get books for the price McKays pays for them. Every once in a while, I’ll go over there, pick out a few things and hand them to this person to buy. This person comes over to my house after work where they are compensated with, you guessed it, beer. Alright, so yeah, this book. It’s primarily an encyclopedia of beer. Not just craft beer, it has history and information about the big corporate beers too. This is a beautifully produced coffee table book with full-page photos. Beers are arranged by country and geographical area. Anyone who is lucky enough to travel overseas should consult this book for craft beer choices.  I wouldn’t call this a comprehensive guide, just for the fact that the brewerys that are included, only 2 of their beers are featured. There are a few examples of it’s age (it came out in 2008) because some beers might no longer be produced by the brewers and some of the beer labels might have changed. This should not count against it however. It’s a great book with a lot of relevant information. This book is currently only $16 on Amazon. At that price, there is no excuse not to pick this up. Last I checked McKays had another pristine copy marked at only $10. That is well worth the price. Get this and you’ll be happy you did.

The Oxford Companion to Beer edited by Garrett Oliver. Published October 2011.

Ratchet Rating: 5 (out of 5) Pints. Suggested beer to drink while reading: ANY beer.

This is the definitive encyclopedia of all things beer. I heard about this book before it was available. I first got to see it for myself at a Knox Beer Crew tasting in January. I knew right away that I had to have it. The next day I got online and scored a copy. This book has a cover price of $65, but you can get it much cheaper than that. I scored my copy for $30 shipping and all, from eBay. I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!! I mean seriously. Pretty much anything you wanted to know about beer can be found in it. Want to know the true history of IPA? It’s in there. Want to know what type of acids are in a hop cone? It’s in there. When I first got this book, I was determined to read it from cover to cover. It really is an encyclopedia in alphabetical order. I got mostly through “A” before I was overwhelmed with information. I had to put it down and read something else. I do still plan on reading it all the way through, but not all at once. For now, it’s a great guide. If I want to look up a certain type of hop, a brewing technique, or a yeast strain this helps immensely. Anyone who is into craft beer should have this book. It is worth it’s weight in gold.

The last one is NOT a beer book, but I want to tell you about it anyway. Suttree by Cormac McCarthy. Published 1979.

Ratchet Rating 5 (out of 5) pints. Suggested beer to drink while reading: something cheap from a can.

Ever since I first heard about Suttree’s High Gravity Tavern, I wanted to go back and reread this book. When I broke the news, I knew I had to get a copy. I first read this book back around ’96 or so when I moved to Knoxville. I was living with a bunch of guys in the Fort Sanders neighborhood and there was a well-worn copy kicking around the house. Honestly, I remembered very little of what I read back then. I also didn’t get the street and neighborhood references being that I was new to town. I picked up my new copy at Central Street Books that is in the building that use to be the Corner Lounge. It’s fitting since that I got it there since ”The Corner” is mentioned a couple of times in the book.  The city of Knoxville is pretty much the star of this novel. I won’t comment much on the story other than to say I really enjoyed it. It’s written in typical Cormac McCarthy style with periodic long and almost hallucinogenic flowing descriptions. When I read it I could picture what Knoxville looked like back in the 1950s when the story takes place. Also from the sounds of it, certain parts of this town were a real shit hole back then. This book also spurred my curiosity of what Knoxville use to look like back in the day, to the point that I went to Union Avenue books and looked through the old Knoxville photographic history books they have for sale there. If you want an entertaining story, and a window back to Knoxville of old, read this.

I have 2 more beer books I’ve gotten recently that I look forward to reading.They were found at McKays. The first is The History of Beer in America by Yenne Bill. Flipping through it so far, it’s very intriquing. I can’t wait to throughly digest it. The next book is The Naked Pint an Unadulterated Guide to Craft Beer by Christine Perrozzi and Hallie Beaune. I haven’t even cracked this book open, but it looks good so far. I will report back on both of these books at a later date.

Well that’s my post for now. I do want to give a big shout out to everyone that came out to infusion night at The Casual Pint last Wednesday. It went over really well, and we do plan on doing it again in April. We picked one date already, but I realized later on that I already have plans that night. As soon as I talk with Nathan and nail down another date for our infusion of Woodruff’s Blonde ale run through fresh cut strawberries, I will let you know.

Until next time,

Cheers

Ratchet

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Infusion Night at @TheCasualPint and a report about our last #KnoxBeerCrew meeting

March 26, 2012

Appreciation of craft beer is growing at an incredible rate. It seems like every week a new brewery pops up on the otherside of the mountains in NC (where the laws make it easier then here in TN). It also seems that every week I learn about a new beer festival as well. Just today I found out about Asheville Brews Cruise’s new “The Best Firkin Beer Festival” taking place April 28th. So many festivals, so little time. I understand that beer festivals taking place almost every weekend is just a part of craft beer becoming so popular.  As I think about it though, even if had unlimited money and zero responsibility I would still pick and choose which beer fest I go to. If I went to one every weekend, I’m sure I’d find myself getting burnt out. A “festival fatigue” if you will.

Because of the amount of festivals taking place, it really takes something different and special to pique my interest. The upcoming Thirsty Orange Brew Extravaganza is one of those. This inaugural festival has been in the planning for over a year. It’s brought to you by the same crew that puts on the Kingsport Oktoberfest. I’m in constant communication with the main organizer, Aaron Carson, who gives me updates. Everytime a new brewery is added and everytime a special cask conditioned ale is made for this festival, I get a call from Aaron. I can hear the excitement in his voice as he lays out the new details. Him and his crew have worked really hard to bring a one of a kind experience to the often overlooked Johnson City, TN.  There is a lot more I could say about this festival, but honestly my man Don of the Knox Beer Snobs has already said it better than I could at his post here.

That being said, here is a list of festivals that I plan on attending this year, with a quick note about each.

Thirsty Orange April 14th, Johnson City.  I’ll be serving my Orange Ginger Pale Ale, A Chocolate Ale, my Hop Boom! IPA and a homemade cream soda. The Orange Ginger Pale Ale will be infused with shredded fresh ginger, mandarin orange slices and whole leaf Citra hops.

Beer City Festival, June 2nd in Downtown Asheville. The wrap up to Asheville’s first annual beer week. I’m actually planning on staying in Asheville for the last 4 days of beer week. There are many events planned and even a smartphone app being developed. Tickets are almost sold out, so if you plan on going, you better get one quick.

Knoxville Brew Fest, Saturday June 23rd at Southern Railway Terminal in Knoxville. I’ll be serving here as well. I plan on having a wild flower wheat beer, a stout on nitro, a Maibock and my Rauchbier. I should have my merchandise for sale as well.

Kingsport Oktoberfest, September 21st and 22nd, the streets in front of the Chamber of Commerce, Kingsport, TN. Last year’s event is still one of my favorites. This year it’s going to be bigger and better. I plan on serving my beer at this event, same as I did last year.

Great American Beer Festival, October 11-13th, Denver Colorado. This is the Grand daddy of all of the American Beer Festivals. 3 days, 450+ breweries. I’m saving now for this. The only drawback is that I’ll miss the Asheville Oktoberfest which is scheduled on the same Saturday this year.

Knoxville Brewer’s Jam, October 6th at World’s Fair Park. Knoxville’s first and premier beer festival. I always serve beer at this event as part of the Tennessee Valley Homebrewers club. There is an idea kicking around to team up with a few other Knox Beer Crew homebrewers and getting our own tent this year. We’ll have to see. Either way I’ll have some tasty beers to share.

These are all the beer events I plan on attending as of now, but it’s subject to change.

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Report on the Knox Beer Crew meeting last weekend.

Thanks to Jason and Beverley Anderson for hosting the tasting at their house. We had many new members show up and there was a great selection of beers shared. I brought a 2012 bottle of Sexual Chocolate that I traded for. We also got to try Brooklyn Black Ops,  Founders Curmudgeans Better Half 2012,  Dogfish Sah’tea, Mikkeller 1000 IBU, Avery Samael’s Oak-Aged Ale, Nantahala Trail Magic Barrel Aged Imperial Stout, Southern Tier  2X Stout, Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout, Ommegang Adoration Ale, Great Divide 17th Anniversary, Founders Imperial Stout, Cigar City Cubano-Style Espresso Brown Ale and a giant 3 liter bottle of Stone 10th Anniversary Ale opened as seen in the below video:

Also some really cool pictures as well (click to make big).

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Well I took my ABC course and should have my card soon. This means I’ll legally be able to pour high gravity beer at events. This is something that Johnson City’s attorney is requiring in order to serve beer at the Thirsty Orange. If you are going to work in a restaurant or bar in TN serving alcohol, this is required by the state. I learned quite a bit in that class including how sophisticated fake ids are now.

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Large corporate macrobrew has long been known for it’s rampant sexism.  Because of this, women haven’t always been treated equally in the beer industry when it comes to pay and respect. Thankfully this is changing. Craft beer is for everyone (of age), and there is a new group in town of kick ass women who want to spread knowledge, love and understanding of craft beer. They are the Barley’s Angels and they their first meeting coming up soon. For more information about how you can join and/or support this righteous group of sisters, and what they are about, check out Knox Hop’nings.

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One last thing as a reminder. This Wednesday I’m teaming up with The Casual Pint for our first beer infusion night. We’ll be running Woodruff’s Porter through my infuser packed with cocoa nibs and shredded coconut. If this event goes well, we plan on doing an infusion once a month. Please come out and support. I hope to see you all there.

More next week,

Ratchet

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Great for the #KnoxBeer scene @KnoxBeerSnobs @KnoxBeerCrew @KnoxHopnings spread the news @TheCasualPint @DtWineKnox

March 16, 2012

This…Changes…EVERYTHING!!!!

That’s how I feel about what I am going to tell you. Now, I might be getting a little over excited. It could be I’m blowing this out of proportion, but honestly I’ve been waiting for something like this for awhile. For about a month I’ve been giving a few of you hints about this. I had a meeting with the owners of a new establishment coming to downtown, and they gave me the go ahead to break the news. Knoxville is getting a new craft beer bar. Specifically, Knoxville is getting it’s first craft beer bar that is going to specialize in high gravity beer! It’s called Suttree’s High Gravity Tavern. It’s located in the space between Downtown Wine and Spirits and Morelock Music on Gay Street. It’s currently under construction with a projected opening the last weekend in April. I saw the plans and this place is going to be really nice! They are building it with craft beer fans in mind. It’s purely a bar (no kitchen) but they do plan to provide snacks for the thirsty and also to have something to help clear your palate between rounds. There are some details still being worked out such as the number of taps they’ll have (I’ve heard anywhere between 16 and 40 being discussed) but I was assured a majority would be high grav. There will also be a display cooler of rare and exotic beers as well. I was shown the design and can describe the decor as simple yet elegant. The back wall will have a little stage for music. This will not be a tv bar, but they do plan to have a 100 inch screen in the back. However, I was told it will only really be turned on for big sports games and the occasional movie night. I can’t wait for this place to open, and really hope it does well. If you are a craft beer fan, you’ll love this place.

Moving on to something else I’m a little more involved in. I’m teaming up with The Casual Pint to bring Knoxville it’s first ever beer infusion night. This is going to take place on Wednesday March 28 from 6-9pm. For those not familar with beer infusing, let me explain. We will be taking a keg of Woodruff’s Porter and running it through a randal packed with cocoa nibs and shredded coconut. The beer takes on those flavor characteristics. I did this at home months back when I first got my infuser and it was amazing. The beer seriously tasted just like a mounds candy bar. Other cities have been doing infusions for awhile. Asheville Brewing Company is famous for their once a week infusion night, where they blend unique flavors. One of the infusions became so popular, customers demanded they add it to their regular line up. This is how the beer called Fire Escape came into being. They infused peppers with their escape artist pale ale, and people could not get enough. Beer infusing has not been done before in Knoxville. For a unique taste and experience, I hope you come out and try it. We plan on doing this once a month if it’s successful. Every month will be something different. Some ideas we are kicking around for the future are infusing a blonde ale with fresh cut strawberries, running an IPA through fresh whole leaf hops or trying vanilla bean pods and cinnamon sticks with a stout.

One last thing I wanted to mention for this update is that Downtown Wine and Spirits has just gotten a new shipment of rare and hard to find beer. New to the store is Fantome Noel. They told me that they have asked for this beer for 5 years and got 6 of the 8 cases that came to East TN.  Achel Trappist Blonde, Shipyard Smashed Blueberry, Weissenohe Bonator Doppel Bock have also arrived. If you know about these beers, you know how hard they are to find. Much like the shipment of Sweetwater 420 IPA, these won’t be around long, so I suggest you get down there. Tell the guys Ratchet sent you and sign up for their email list. They just might hook you up with a discount.

Well that’s my exciting news.  Please repost and let’s help the Knoxville beer scene grow. The more we support things, the more beers the distributors will see fit to bring to this area. That translates into more variety available to us craft beer lovers.

Cheers,

Ratchet

Update: This news has been making the rounds since I announced it. Check out this great write up and one of my new favorite blogs, Stuck Inside of Knoxville: Click Here . Also Mero Pulse has mentioned it, and WATE had this video about it: WATE Story about Suttree’s High Gravity Tavern

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My great weekend visiting North Carolina breweries.

March 12, 2012

Beer people are good people. No matter where I travel, this always seems true. Craft beer fans as a whole are generous men and women who give to the community and love to share. The sharing takes many forms. There is often open exchange of ideas, brewing practices and special reserve bottles from private stashes. This is exactly what I encountered this weekend.

I’ve planned my trip to Bryson City for Nantahala Brewing Company’s Trail Magic Ale bottle release as soon as I first read about it online. This was shortly after the Winter Warmer Beer Festival in Asheville this past January. It was at that event where I had my first experience with Nantahala’s beer. After so many samples at a festival like that, things tend to get fuzzy for me. My distinguishing of beers pretty much degrades to “like” or “do not like”. When I tried Nantahala’s brews near the end of the event, they were definitely in the ”like” catagory. In fact, I remember having the Noon Day IPA and ATX Pale Ale, and how they really caught my attention. So when I got home and wrote my Winter Warmer post, I looked up Nantahala Brewing Company online. That’s when I found out about the Trail Magic Ale bottle release. Being the beer tourist that I am, this event seemed tailor made for me. I’m always looking for an excuse to get out and visit breweries. A limited edition release of a Bourbon Barrel aged Imperial Stout by a brewery not to far away? By one that makes really good beer? For me, that’s a sure shot.

Originally my plan was to arrive early Friday afternoon, spend the night at the Motel and then go to the bottle release the next day. I would follow that with a quick visit to Heinzelmannchen 30 minutes away then head back to Knoxville and be home by mid afternoon on Saturday. I had planned to brew another batch for The Thirsty Orange Beer Festival on Sunday. As far as my traveling partners, it flipped back and forth. First my son and his mom were going to go. Then they wanted to stay at home since they just got back from the beach and long driving times a few days prior. Then one of my Knox Beer Crew buddies was going to accompany me, but couldn’t get his weekend work shift covered. It looked to be a solo trip. I’ll tell you what happened, but first another story.

Last week I poured my heart, soul, money and time to brew a batch of Rauchbier. This style is a lager, which means it has a very specific temperature range the yeast ferment at. I have a old chest freezer that I got off of craigslist about a year ago that I use as a beer fridge and lager fermentation cabinet. This thing is a beast. I did have some problems with it several months ago. A repair guy came out, told me it had a leak and charged me an arm and a leg to refill the freon. My thoughts were that the fridge had worked well for the 8 months I owned it. If I had to get the freon refilled once a year, then it was still cheaper then buying a new one. During my beer’s fermentation, I was constantly checking the inside temperature with my infrared thermometer. The 1st couple of days it was spot on. The next  day the temp had gone up a couple of degrees. No big deal, I just adjusted the thermostat down. The next day it was a few more degrees higher. Ok, more tweaking of the thermostat. Thursday it was even higher. Oh crap, I thought. At this point the compressor was running non-stop. Thursday night before bed, I unplugged the thermostat interruptor and put the freezer on full blast. Than night I had nightmares of unpleasant off flavors developing in my beer. I seriously had dreams that were like a scene in a movie where the main character has every bad home brew cliche happen to him. I woke up in cold sweat at 4 am, hopped out of bed, went to my chest freezer and put my thermometer on the carboy. It was at 58 degrees, the upper temp range for that yeast. No, this can’t be happening!!!! Argh! There is no way I could sleep now. I got online and researched models, prices, locations and reviews of every chest freezer for sale in the greater Knoxville Area. Lowes and Home Depot seemed like my best bet. They are both near each other a short drive away from where I live. They both opened at 6 am. I took measurements of my freezer, my doorways, my carboys and my kegs. Then I drove down and did some comparison shopping at both locations. I ended up settling on a nice Maytag that had the capacity to fit several carboys and kegs at the same time. How could I get it home? My pickup truck died 2 months ago. Home Depot did have truck rental, but then I remembered that my son’s grandma had a van. I measured the inside of the van and realized a chest freezer could fit. That all being figured out, I still had to go to work. Originally, I arranged to get off work at 2:30 to head to Bryson City. When my boss came in to the office, I explained my appliance emergency to her. Lucky for me, I have the coolest, most supportive boss ever. She told me to go home and get it taken care of. I appreciated her offer, but being a good employee means not leaving my work unfinished. I worked quickly through my task list which included getting the billing out, and going to court to get a subpoena issued. I got home around one and borrowed the van. I went and purchased my new freezer, brought it home and quickly swapped it out. While this was going on, I somehow convinced my son and his mom to go with me on this trip. We ended up on the road around 5 pm, which was 2 hours later then originally anticipated.

Bryson City NC is nestled in the middle of the Smoky Mountains not to far way from Cherokee. The drive includes great views and scenery, combined with curvy mountains roads. We arrived around 7 pm. I checked into our motel and went over to the brewery. The Friday night pre-bottle release party was promoted as a beer geek bottle swap, so I came prepared with a cooler full of goodies. As I arrived at the brewery, the first thing I noticed was the building. It was huge space and beautifully done. I found a place to put down my cooler, went to the bar and ordered a glass of the Trail Magic Imperial Stout. As soon as I had my first sip, I knew I made the right decision to visit. After a few more minutes I went up to a group of guys wearing Nantahala shirts. I started talking with them, and they introduced me to the head brewer, Greg. We hit it off right away and he gave me a tour. Natahala Brewing Company uses a 10 barrel brewing system and several conical fermenters. As an interesting note, this system is the same one that R J Rockers started off with. When they upgraded, they sold their old equipment to Nantahala. Greg also explained to me about their system’s size limitations.  They could only fit so many pounds of grain in the mash tun at a time, so they have to do smaller batches if they want to brew a high gravity beer like Trail Magic. Due to the size of the building, they easily have room to install a bigger system with taller fermenters as they grow. We talked more about beer, and I showed him my cooler full of brews. I ended up making an incredibly amazing trade with him. As the night progressed, the party moved from the front tasting room to back in the brewing area. I met some really great beer lovers from all over and several homebrewers as well. There was a great couple from Upstate NY, some guys from Atlanta, a fellow homebrewer from Walland and another from Sylva.  There was even a couple who were hiking through the area who were invited by the brewery. So big shout out to Joe, Mike, Dan, KP, Kwesi, Dave, his wife and everyone who’s name I either forgot or got wrong. It was truly an honor to drink with y’all. Since it was a beer swap party, everyone brought absolutely amazing beers to taste and share. I opened a bottle of Sweetwater’s Dank Tank 420 IPA. The guys there from Atlanta told me that they couldn’t even get this there. I was astounded. They explained that word on the street was that it was so rare because something happened at the brewery and Sweetwater lost half of their batch. In addition to the Sweetwater Dank Tank, I had also brought homebrews. Some others did as well. Joe from Walland brought a great selection of Brettanomyces based brews that were really well done. I ended up trading hima couple of my homebrews for a bottle of his saison and a lambic. One of the brewery volunteers, Mike, traded me his Heinzelmannchen growler for a Sweetwater 420 IPA and a homebrew. That growler would come in handy the next day. After many hours of conversation and so many rare and amazing beers, the night ended. I walked back to the hotel and slept soundly.

Saturday at noon was the bottle release. To kill time beforehand, my son, his mom and myself walked around downtown Bryson City. We stopped for coffee at The Cork and Bean which is a really nice coffee shop in an old bank building. I really liked this place, and the employees there were super friendly.  At 11:30 or so I went to the brewery to hang out until it was time to buy bottles. They were offering to sell 4 bottles per person. All the fellow beer geeks from the night before were there, and my Knox Beer Crew buddy, Cutter, Showed up for the release. Noon came and we lined up for our bottles. I got my four and my son’s mom got 4 more for me. I overheard talk of them waiting until later that afternoon and possibly letting people buy up to a case. I was kidding with my son about needing a disguise so I could get back in line. Leave it to kids to take you serious because he immediately ran to the van and came back with Groucho Marx glasses with the fake nose, mustache and eyebrows. I went to the end of the line, and people were smiling and laughing at my attempt to get more bottles. The guys must of thought it was a good attempt too, so they let me get 4 more. All in all, I did end up with a case, which is good because I plan on sharing and trading them with friends who couldn’t make it.

Well, after saying goodbye to my new friends, we headed towards Heinzelmannchen in Sylva, NC. Let me help you out with how to pronounce the brewery’s name. It’s Hein-zul-man-chen. The brewery has a saying to help you remember. It’s “People pay attention when you ask for Heinzelmannchen“.  It’s pretty clever if you ask me.

I’ve met braumeister Dieter at last year’s Kingsport Oktoberfest. At that event he had a cocoa porter called “Chocolate Covered Gnome“. It is an amazing beer that blew me away the first time I tried it. I had a long conversation with Dieter who told me how to get the cocoa flavor in the brew. I’ve know many homebrewers that have tried, only to have the cocoa powder settle out in the fermentor. I have tried brewing with cocoa nibs as well but had some unexpected issues. He let me how he figured it out through trial and error and told me if I told anyone, he’d have to kill me. I know he was kidding, but when a big German guy with an accent tells you something like that, it’s best not to chance it. Seriously though, Dieter is one of the nicest guys in the brewing world that you’ll ever meet.

Well I was glad to finally get to stop in and check out his operation. Dieter brews oon a 7 barrel system that he described to me as being “Frankenstiened”. His brewery is small, offers samples for sale, but does not have an actual tasting room. His beer is sold by the keg and by the growler. They also sell jugs of soda, root beer and birch beer. My son got a jug of the root beer, and I had my new growler filled with Chocolate Covered Gnome. After giving Dieter a bottle of my home brewed Spicy Cocoa Stout and taking a few pictures, we headed out. Our next stop was Waynesville, NC where I visited Frog Level Brewing.

Frog Level Brewing is relatively new, having opened their tasting room just in the last few months. I walked in right at 2pm on Saturday which is their listed opening time. I could tell they weren’t expecting anyone that early, as the place was empty and the bar stools were still up off the floor. I saw someone on the back patio and went and spoke with him. It turned out to be the brewer, Clark Williams. He was as nice as he could be and apologized for not being ready. I told him it was fine, that I was passing through on a beer tour and wanted to drop by and check things out. He was painting tables on their beautiful back patio. He said that his assistant brewer should be in any time to pour beers, but if I wanted he was more then happy to wash his hands and come in and help me. I’m not one to interrupt a man in the middle of a project, so I thanked him and told he I’m in no hurry and was happy to wait.  Not a minute later the assistant (whos name I forgot, sorry) came in and we started talking. Frog Level is truly a nano-brewery that brews on a 1 barrel Sabco System. They have three beers that they brew. They also have a guest tap that had Heinzelmannchen’s Gnarly Gnome on it. The beers offered by Frog Level Brewing are: Catcher in the Rye (a Rye P A), Tad Pole Porter and Lily’s Cream Boy (a Cream Ale). I opted for a sample pour of all three. I enjoyed speaking with the assistant brewer who’s name I feel like an ass for forgetting. Half way through my sampling I felt a presence and looked over. My new buddies that Ihad met at Nantahala, Dan and KP  from Atlanta had wandered in. The Brewer, Grant,  joined us and we talked some more about his beer and the brewery. I could have stayed there all day, but I knew my son was hungry and eager to get to his favorite place to eat in Asheville, the Pizza & Brewing Company. Dan told me about a beer store that I should check out in Asheville, Appalachian Vinter. I told him I am a big Bruisin Ales fan. He insisted that I check out this new place. I felt conflicted by my loyalty to Bruisin, but took his advice. 

I drove to Asheville and arrived at Appalachian Vinter, which is near the Biltmore Village area of town. It is a great spacious store that sells wine and craft beer. In the middle of the store is a bar that had several taps of greatness. Their selection rivals Bruisin Ales, and the prices were lower as well. The store is owned by 2 brothers and I got to talking with one of them who turned out to be a really cool guy.  He said that he had just moved the store into that new place, and still didn’t have all his shelves put up. I dug the layout and the vibe. If it wasn’t for the waiting kid and his mom in the van, I could have spent hours sipping and talking beer. I plan on doing just that next time I go. I still got love for Bruisin Ales, but I think Appalachain Vinters will get most of my beer purchasing dollars in the future based on the prices. So thanks Dan from Atlanta for the heads up. I made my purchase and heading to my next stop, The Thirsty Monk.

Knox Beer Crew founder Matt Crowell and his wife Kristen were in Asheville for the day, so we planned to meet for beer at The Thirsty Monk in Downtown. While my son and his mom went to French Broad Chocolate, I went and had a quick flight of samples with Matt and Krissy. It’s always a pleasure to hang with local buddies while in another city. One of the things I love about that bar is that everyone there is a beer geek. Don’t expect to find multi-national corporate macro brews on tap, only the finest in craft beer. I met a really nice couple sitting next to me at the bar and we had a great conversation. I told them about the upcoming Beer City Fest, and the Thirsty Orange Beer Fest. I believe that they said they live in Maggie Valley and travel  often to visit nearby breweries. They were big fans of Frog Level Brewing as well. They seemed like genuinely good people, and I hope to run into them again sometime.

Well, I finished my flight of beers and said goodbye to Matt and Krissy. I met up with my son and his mom who were adventuring through downtown. We drove down Merrimon Avenue to Asheville Pizza and Brewing Company. My son was happy to finally get to play video games and have dinner. I only had 1 beer with my dinner, Shiva Ratri, a double IPA. By that time I was pretty tired from all the traveling and beer sampling. On the way out, I purchased a six pack of Shiva IPA cans. My son’s mother drove us home and I slept for most of the ride. I woke up when we were on the outskirts of Knoxville. I thought of the great adventure that I just had.  I might have spent all my savings this weekend, but I’m grateful that I had it to do what I did. I am grateful for the company of my son Orion and his mom, Mary.

 I’m glad I made some new friends this weekend and I hope we have the opportunity to enjoy beer together in the future. Thanks for checking out my adventure. If I met you this weekend and you are checking out my little hobby of a website, please leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you all. Until next time…

Cheers,

Ratchet.

(click on pictures below to enlarge).

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Posted by ratchetbrew

A few short items in this update for updating’s sake.

March 3, 2012

I am really trying to keep this website up to date, but I can only post so many “look at me, I’m at a beer fest” or “follow my brew day” post before it gets old. I do however, want to make a honest effort to post more often. Here are a few things going on lately.

EDIT: A SECTION OF THIS BLOG WAS REMOVED.

In other news, local craft beer market The Casual Pint has recently doubled the amount of beer they on tap. This place has really grown on me. The owner, Nathan, really goes out of his way to bring in some unique beers. They have also added patio furniture just in time for spring. They have some of the best craft beer happy hour specials in town, so head down there, grab a pint and relax. Tell them Ratchet sent you.

The Casual Pint, now with even more beer on tap!

Speaking of craft beer stores, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Bearden Beer Market. The weather is getting nice, there are more daylight hours and now is the time to get in shape. Every Monday at 6:30 is the fun run. Run, jog or walk, go at your own pace and have fun. $1 off all drafts when you get back to the shop. They are also having a Bar Stool decorating contest. If you have a structally sound bar stool that you’d like to decorate and donate, the Beer Market will give you a BBM shirt, growler and you could win other prizes. Make sure to check out their website for more details.

Go to Bearden Beer market’s website for more details

One other local beer news of note. Rumor has it that a new high gravity beer bar will be opening in Downtown. I know the name of it, I know where it’s located and I even know who is running it. I don’t know how much information the owners want announced about it at this point, so I’m keeping all this under wraps until I get the go ahead from them. With any luck I’ll get a Friday and Saturday night bartending gig there.

A few events of note coming up. Next weekend Nantahala Brewing Company in Bryson City, NC is having a bottle release party for their Trail Magic Imperial Stout. I plan on going Friday night for the beer geek bottle swap party, and Saturday at noon is the actual bottle release. I plan on going with a friend and fellow member of the Knox Beer Crew. If anyone else wants to go, I recommend booking your room now at the Relax Inn. The rooms are cheap and it’s only a block away from the tap toom. After the bottle release on Saturday, I plan on taking a short trip to Heinzelmannchen Brewery in Sylva, NC before heading back to Knoxville. I’ve also Just learned of Frog Lvel Brewing Company in Waynessville, so I muight as well visit there and end my trip in Asheville. I’ll have to see what my finances look like.

Coming up April 14, 2012 is The Thirsty Orange beer festival in Johnson City. I keep saying I am going to dedicate a whole post to this. For now, I encourage everyone to check out the website. I will be serving my homebrew at this event.

June 23rd 2012 at the Southern Railway Terminal in Knoxville is the Knoxville Brew fest. I will be serving homebrew there as well.

On the Home brewing front, I have been busy. Last week I brewed my entry for the Thirsty Orange Iron Brewer Competition. Tomorrow I am brewing a tradition German Rauchbier. I went all out when it came to the planning of this one. I have been researching the style for awhile, even going as far as buying and reading the book, Smoked Beers by Ray Daniels and Geoff Larson. I want this beer to be perfect. I even made an all malt starter, which basically a mini batch of beer to get my yeast going. My lager yeast is happily fermenting away at 50 degrees in beer fridge. This is the beer I plan on entering in this year’s Knoxville Homebruin Competition taking place in May. The stakes are high, with the best of show beer being scaled up and brewed commercially at Smoky Mountain Brewery. I don’t want to have unrealistic expectations, but even if I don’t win, it’s still a style I don’t mind having on tap at home. Speaking of home taps, my used fridge I turned into a kegerator is working out nicely. I have room in it for 6 homebrew kegs. I currently have 4 taps installed. My stout faucet will be here next week, and I look forward to have a my cocoa stout on nitrogen.

This is all for now. I will report back on my trip next weekend. One more thing to add before I go. If you are a craft beer lover in the Knoxville area, you should really consider joining the Knox Beer Crew. We are having monthly sampling sessions at Bearden Beer Market where members bring hard to find beers from their adventures and trades around the country. Last month’s sampling was a stellar line up. Hanging out with fellow beer geeks and drinking great brews? How can you resist? I plan on having some killer Imperial Stout at our next meeting. Hope to see you there.

Cheers,

Ratchet

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The Psychology of Scarcity, or My Thoughts on the Hopslam Phenomenon

February 18, 2012

Hello there. I did not plan to write this post; it just came to me this bright early morning in my kitchen. I was tooling around & boiling wort to make a starter for an IPA I’m brewing tomorrow. I am making an IPA because I (somewhat arrogantly) want to make something that is better then Bell’s Hopslam. I realize I might have lost some readers right there with that statement.  I can just imagine people thinking  ”Ratchet, you idiot, HopSlam is the bomb! Nothing you could possibly brew would be better then it!” and “Oh hell, there he goes again, what is wrong with this dude?” Well, here is what I am thinking. Yes I have tried Hopslam. I have read and heard about this “wonderful nectar of the gods” from websites, magazines and friends. Every time my favorite beer store, Bruisin’ Ales, gets some in stock it sells out almost immediately. The last time I was in Asheville they sold out of umpteen cases before I could get there. Luckily I have friends (well for now at least, let’s see what happens when they read this post) that share the spoils of their beer purchasing victories. My Knox Beer Crew buddy and manager dude of  Bearden Beer Market, Mr. Matty Mac was able to procure a case. He nicely and selfishlessly allowed members of the beer crew to purchase a bottle. Yes, we were all giddy with joy and anticipation. I saved mine until I had the right moment to savor it. The time came and I popped open the bottle and poured it into my favorite glass. I did all the beer geeks things. I held the glass up to the light and gazed at it’s amber color and creamy tan head. I took a big sniff to process it’s piney, resiny hop aroma. Then the moment of truth came, I took a generous sip.

You know when you were a kid and that one Christmas you really wanted that big G.I. Joe Aircraft carrier playset? You asked Santa for it (just to placate your parents, you knew it was just some fat guy in a suit playing the role). You made sure Mom and Dad knew it was on your list, and you told every Grandparent, Aunt and Uncle about it? Then the big day comes, you open your present and you get the Cobra Terror Dome instead?  It’s still something really cool that you like, that your going to get a lot of enjoyment out of, but it wasn’t exactly what you wanted and anticipated. You’re grateful to have it though. My Hopslam experience was like that. For me, it just did not live up to the hype. Don’t get me wrong, I like it a lot and if I ever have the opportunity I WILL buy it, but I’ve had other IPAs that I have enjoyed much more. Now, don’t crucify me for my opinion. I realize we all have different taste. It’s a subjective thing. I’ve met people who actually prefer Keystone Light to Hop Project. It’s not my thing and I try not to judge.

Which brings me to the hype aspect. I believe that for the most part, us humans are just instinct driven primates. Back in the day of hunting and gathering we survived by hoarding food for the winter. I think we are hard wired to respond to scarcity. Why do we go to Asheville and drop a small fortune on beer when there are perfectly good choices here in K-town? Because it’s all stuff we can’t get here! There are many studies showing that if you are lead to believe something is rare, hard to aquire or expensive, your enjoyment factor of that particular thing goes up. One study that has been making the rounds is the wine price one. In this study people were told that they were given different wines at different prices. They were told one wine cost more then another. They reported that they liked the higher price wine much more. The trick was that both wines were actually the same one.

All this got me thinking when I started planning my next beer. If I didn’t rate HopSlam a 5 cap on Untappd, could I do better? Could I brew something that I found more enjoyable? I started thinking about what I like in an IPA. I like hops (duh), but not necessarily bitterness, unless that bitterness is perfectly balanced by malt sweetness. I really prefer American Style IPA to English. I am a big fan of West coast style hop flavor and aroma. I also realize that Hopslam bills itself as “Ale brewed with Honey”. Ok, I can do that. I also know that with a name like “HopSlam” it had a big hop bill. Ok, no problem. So, when I sat down to formulate a recipe I knew I wanted something around 70 IBUs, made with honey, massively dry hopped with Simcoe & other West Coast hops and in the 7-9% ABV range. So I put together a recipe. I usually share my recipes, but not this one. I’m going to hold this one close to the chest to see how it turns out. Once it’s ready, I want to do my own taste test experiment with it. I want to have my own personal side by side comparison with HopSlam and a few other IPAs that I like. In the future I will post the recipe and results. Until then, I have this impossible to find, ultra-rare, incredibly hyped beer you just HAVE to try.

Cheers,

Ratchet

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Belated report on the TN Winter Beer Fest and more

February 9, 2012

Hey readers, I figured I’d update the ol’ blog and let you know how the TN Winter Beer Festival went. It was (insert positive exclamative adjective here)! I had a really good time.  As you know, the festival took place at the Laurel Valley County Club in Townsend. It was held in the clubhouse which is 2 stories. Upstairs had Depot Street and Smoky Mountain Brewery pouring their tasty concoctions. Downstairs had Woodruff and Marble City side by side. I wore my Woodruff shirt to the event and I’m glad I did. By the time it occured to me that I should ask for a volunteer t-shirt, they were out of my size. I knew most of the other volunteers, but since the event was limited to 180 tickets, by the end of the night, it felt like everyone knew everyone. Since I wore my Woodruff shirt and am a good friend and supporter of the brewery, I helped pour beer for them all night. The photographer for the Daily Times took a great picture of me doing just that, that you can see here.

As ticket holders came in the door, they were given a t-shirt, a pint glass and a poker chip. Each brewery had a large beer mug in front of their taps. People were instructed to vote for thier favorite beer or brewery by placing the poker chip in the mug. There was some stiff competition. Since I was representing Woodruff, and consider the Downtown Grill & Brewery my home away from home, I really wanted Dave to take home the “Best of Beers” trophy. As I was pouring beer I noticed 2 things. There were the tried and true beer connoisseurs who absolutely loved the seasonal, high gravity Captain’s Winter Ale. There were also more then a few people who weren’t necessarly beer drinkers, but came out to support the event. This crowd absolutely loved the Downtown Blonde, which also happened to be the lightest beer being poured. The combination of votes from craft and light beer drinkers turned out to be the winning combination for Woodruff. Dave took home the coveted trophy!

Dave Ohmer of Woodruff Brewing Company wins the Best Of Beers Award

 I do want to thank Dave for generously offering me the extra bed available in the cabin that he and some others were staying at  nearby. He offered it so I could drink and not have to worry about sobering up to drive home to Knoxville. I was going to take him up on the offer, but around 7 pm, my kidneys started to ache. By 7:30 I knew I was done sampling beers and had switched over to water. By the time the event ended at 9,  I was stone cold sober. I helped clean up, said my goodbyes & drove home to the comfort of my own bed.

I am vrey much looking forward to next year’s TN Winter Beer Fest. Make sure to check out Don’s post about the festival at Knox Beer Snobs.

One more thing before I end this really short post. April 14th is the Thirsty Orange Beer Festival in Johnson City TN. Check out this great post about it on Tattood Brew’s website. I am heavily involved in helping to organize this festival. I think my big claim to fame is that I came up with, and wrote the rules for the Iron Brewer competition. As we get closer, I’ll write a proper post about it. As for my next post, I’m thinking about doing a step-by step tutorial on the kegerator I’m building.

Until then,

Ratchet

Leave a Comment » | #knoxbeer, Beer Festival, Craft Beer, Drinking, home brewing, Knox Beer Crew, Knoxville Beer, Knoxville beer blog, Ratchet, seasonal, Tennessee Beer Festival, Winter Warmer, woodruff | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
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