Thursday, April 28, 2011

Poll: Where would you like to see NHC 2012?

Similar to what has been done for all our prior blog polls, this post takes a moment to memorialize the results we received on the most recent blog poll.  The reader’s response to the question “Where would you like to see the 2012 AHA Conference Located?” are presented below.  


With this year’s AHA conference in San Diego, CA coming up rapidly, we thought it would be fitting to see where our readers would like to see next year’s conference (which will not be announced until June).  As we have lamented in prior posts,  the conference has not been on the East Coast of the US in over 5 year and is overdue – apparently, our readers believe the same thing.

A criticism of this poll is that most people will vote for locations closest to them.  Therefore, this poll is more of a survey for where our readers (at least those that respond to a poll) are located in the US.  While there maybe a few who live to travel for conferences such as this, all things being equal, the less one has to travel, the more likely they will attend.  I can certainly buy this argument, given our readership (and our content) is very East Coast-centric.

Lastly, I’ll leave everyone with a bit of a rumor that I was privy to from a BJCP judge during a recent competition.  Apparently Gary Glass (Director of the AHA) was recently seen (by this judge) in Philadelphia scouting out potential venues.  This certainly doesn’t guarantee NHC 2012 being in Philly, but it certainly indicates the city is on the short list.  Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

We’d love to know what you think of the results and how the information may (or may not) be used. And if you are reading this, we’ve put up our next poll, which awaits your response.

Slainte!

-Jeff


"Everybody has to believe in something.....I believe I'll have another drink."
-W.C. Fields

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Happy Easter

Happy Easter from Lug Wrench Brewing Company!

Whatever your religious beliefs or thinking, we hope that you and those dear to you have a chance to enjoy Spring and the warming seasons (note that this happens much slower in New England than it does down here in Virginia).  If at all possible, savor a homebrewed beverage as you enjoy time with your loved ones (dinner here featured Mason Dixon Line Mead, as well as some other homebrew).

Cheers,

TW

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Untappd - Social Drinking Site

Last year, Lug Wrench documented a neat craft beer recommendation site called Pintley.  Pintley drew its list of beers from a database maintained by the company, and would use a user's past ratings to recommend new beers for the user to try.  The site is pretty neat, and allows the user to see what others think about specific beers, but the user cannot enter beers of their own.  Enter - Untappd.

Untappd is a social media drinking site.  It allows the user to develop a network of friends and see what they are currently drinking.  Untappd provides this information to the user in a giant list, much like Twitter's main feed.  It also rewards users with a variety of badges to help keep their interest and expand their craft beer drinking habits (I received the National Beer Day 2011 badge on April 7 for recording a beer on the anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition).  Untappd is configured to work with a variety of mobile devices, which makes it easy to record beers.

Probably my favorite feature of Untappd, though, is that the user can enter beer and brewing companies themselves.  One of the frustrating issues with Pintley is trying a new craft beer that was not listed in the service, so it could not be recorded.  Untappd solves that problem by providing the tools to enter the new beer or brewing company on the fly.  This even extends to homebrew, which is what I use Untappd most for.  When entering a new beer, the user can indicate that the beer is a homebrew, and it is kept separate from the other craft beers (though others can still check in drinking one of your homebrews).  The only downside of allowing user-entered data like this is that the data can be inaccurate (misspellings, multiple entries for the same brewing company, etc.).  But if this issue can be accepted at face value, for what the service is trying to provide, using Untappd is a whole lot of fun.  Drinking sessions can be be relayed directly to Facebook and Twitter.

Give Untappd a try!

Cheers,

TW

Monday, April 18, 2011

Midnight Mini-Wheats

Back in April, I posted an article about how to make a big beer smaller, but still keep the flavor.  The basic idea was to take a high alcohol beer recipe, in this case, our Midnight Wheat - Wheat Wine Braggot, and make a version of it that was lower in alcohol.  The base recipe is one of my favorite beers that Jeff and I have done together, but at 11% alcohol by volume (ABV), it is not a daily drinker.  Using some techniques I described in the previous article, I hoped to make a session beer with much of the same flavor as the original.  The recipe, entitled Midnight Mini-Wheats, can be found at the bottom of this post.

My friend, John, my wife, and I recently had an opportunity to taste the two beers side-by-side (wheat wine braggot is on the left in the picture).  This is the best way to compare similar beers, as it is easier to compare subtle differences when the flavor and aromas are so fresh in your mind.

Midnight Wheat - Wheat Wine Braggot (10.8% ABV)
Appearance:  The braggot pours extremely clear deep amber color, with a thin white head.  The carbonation bubbles are very fine, almost like champagne.

Aroma:  The braggot has a complex sugar aroma that is very apparent.  It contains hints of brown sugar, toffee, caramel, and even a bit of molasses.  The sugar character is also mixed with the sweet aroma of alcohol.

Flavor:  The braggot tastes much as it smells, with a layered complex sugar character.  Molasses is the key dominant character, and reminded the tasters of shoofly pie.  There were also elements of brown sugar and caramel in the flavor.  The tasters compared the braggot to a commercial beer, Lagunitas Brewing Company's Brown Shugga.

Midnight Mini-Wheats - American Wheat (3.8% ABV)
Appearance:  The beer pours a hazy deep amber color, with a thin white head.  The carbonation appears lower than the braggot.  The tasters suspect that the beer has not aged as long as the braggot and has not had a chance to drop out some of the malt fines, which makes it cloudy.

Aroma:  The beer is very neutral in smell, with a very faint malt aroma, but little else.  The tasters noted the lower carbonation level between the two recipes, which could prevent as much aroma development.  Additionally, braggot's higher alcohol may well have driven its complex and layered aroma.

Flavor:  The beer has a distinctive grainy character, much like one can get from straight pilsner malt.  The beer also has a slight bitter and sour edge to it, which was even more noticeable when the beer was younger and less carbonated.  The beer lacks any of the sugar complexity that makes the wheat wine braggot so interesting.  On flavor alone, they are very different beers and, as my wife said, the drinker would likely have no idea they were related unless told so.


In conclusion, the experiment to get the interesting flavors of the wheat wine braggot into a session beer failed.  While the Midnight Mini-Wheats is a good beer, it was definitely found lacking.  However, I am going to take some of the lessons I learned here and try again in the future.  For one thing, I will only try to get down to 6% ABV, as the braggot's alcohol contribution is so important.  The braggot also had a much larger honey character, so I will try to boost the honey percentage in the next batch, while increasing mash temperature to keep a solid body to the beer.  The next batch will also receive a higher level of carbonation.

Cheers,

TW

-------------------

Midnight Mini-Wheats

Recipe Specifics
-------------------
Batch Size (Gal): 5.0
Total Fermentables (Lbs): 8.5
OG: 1.039
FG: 1.010
SRM: 11
IBU: 29 (Rager)
ABV: 3.8%
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Grain/Extract/Sugar
---------------------
3.25 lbs Maris Otter Malt
2.25 lbs White Wheat Malt
0.75 lbs Torrified Wheat
0.90 lbs Caramel Wheat Malt (46 L)
0.33 lbs Caramunich Malt (56 L)
1.00 lbs Honey
0.50 lbs Rice Hulls

Hops
-----
0.75 oz Perle Pellet Hops (7.7% AA) at 60 minutes
0.75 oz Williamette Pellet Hops (5.6% AA) at 15 minutes
0.75 oz Hallertau Pellet Hops (5.0% AA) at 15 minutes

Extras
-------
1.0 Tab Whirlfloc at 15 minutes
1.0 gram Chalk in mash
1.0 gram Calcium Chloride in mash
2.0 grams Baking Soda in mash
1.0 gram Chalk in boil
1.0 gram Calcium Chloride in boil
32 drops of Foam Control in the boil

Yeast
-----
11 grams – Safale US05, Dry Yeast

Mash Schedule
-------------
60 min at 156°F

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Top 50 US Craft Breweries in 2010: Where Are They Located?

Every year at about this time, the Brewers Association puts out their annual list of the Top 50 Breweries in the US and the Top 50 Craft Breweries in the US.  Rankings are based on sales volume from the prior year, with craft beer breweries being defined a "small, independent, and traditional.   For the most part, these lists represent the household names in beer, with a few less know breweries jumping on and off from one year to the next.

Last year, I started tracking where the Top 50 Craft Breweries where located through out the US.  I was curious how they were distributed.  Which states claim the most Top Craft Breweries?  Are there more on the east coast or the west coast?  How many of them are close to me?  With the new BA ranking recently being published, I figured it was time to update the map and share it.

Below is the resulting map showing the locations of all 50 Craft Breweries from this year's BA ranking.

Overall, there were not too many changes to the list with California, Colorado, and Oregon taking the top positions respectively.  Many of the breweries changed positions on the ranking, but between 2009 and 2010, only four names changed on the list: Oregon's Ninkasi Brewery and Texas's Real Ale Brewing were added, while Colorado's Boulder Beer and Washington's Pyramid Brewery (as a result of a merger with Magic Hat) fell off the list.

A run-down of all the states with ranking craft breweries is listed below.

States with Top Craft Breweries in 2010
Rank
State
No. of Breweries
% of Total
YtY Change
1
California
11
22%
-
2
Colorado
5
10%
-1
2
Oregon
5
10%
+1
4
New York
3
6%
-
4
Texas
3
6%
+1
6
Massachusetts
2
4%
-
6
Missouri
2
4%
-
6
Vermont
2
4%
-
6
Wisconsin
2
4%
-
10
Alaska
1
2%
-
10
Delaware
1
2%
-
10
Georgia
1
2%
-
10
Hawaii
1
2%
-
10
Louisiana
1
2%
-
10
Maine
1
2%
-
10
Maryland
1
2%
-
10
Michigan
1
2%
-
10
Minnesota
1
2%
-
10
Montana
1
2%
-
10
Ohio
1
2%
-
10
Pennsylvania
1
2%
-
10
Tennessee
1
2%
-
10
Utah
1
2%
-
10
Washington
1
2%
-1

Harpoon and the Boston Beer Company still remain the closest breweries to me.  What about you?

Slainte!

-JW


"It's amazing to me that we've been able to go from invisible to infinitesimal to today we've gotten all the way to tiny. Someday I hope to get all the way to small."
-Jim Koch

Monday, April 11, 2011

Club-Only Competition - The Results

Back in the beginning of March, Lug Wrench reported on a unique situation, one that would test the metal of the two Lug Wrench Brothers' brews.  Both Jeff and Tom were selected by their respective clubs (the Charlottesville Area Masters of Real Ale and the Rhode Island Fermentation Technicians) to represent their clubs in the American Homebrewers Association (AHA) Club-Only Competition (CoC) for British pale ales - The Battle of the Bitters.  Jeff brewed an ordinary bitter, Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) Category 8a, while Tom brewed a special bitter, Category 8b.  Jeff and Tom sent samples into the competition and eagerly awaited feedback.

The results are in, and the bragging rights go to:  neither of us.

Amazingly, both of us scored almost exactly the same score - 33 points for Tom and 32.5 points for Jeff.  The score is really the icing on the cake of coincidence.  It is relatively rare to score almost exactly the same number of points for two beers (scores are out of 50 points).  Combine that with the fact we each, independently, decided to brew a beer for the CoC and then we were each selected to represent our clubs.  Now, to score the same number of points.  It is in a word . . . strange.

As for feedback, the score sheets were relatively detailed in both cases.  We have, in the past, complained about the lack of helpful feedback from homebrewing competition judges.  These score sheets were descriptive in what the judges observed and tasted in our beers and provided recommendations to improve the beer in the future.  Tom's sheets stated that the beer tasted more like an ordinary bitter because of its clean and smooth body and lack of hop edge.  Jeff's sheets recommended some more age to smooth out the hop character and to increase the yeast flavor contribution slightly.

Overall, it was a neat, if strange, experience to have our beers compete against each other.  If you have ever hesitated to enter a CoC or other homebrewing competition, give it a shot.  You never know what opportunities might present themselves.

Cheers,

TW

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Growing Your Own Brewing Ingredients

With those of us in the North East shrugging off what we hope to be the last of winter’s icy grasp, at this time of year, thoughts almost immediately turn to getting outdoors.  At our house, this typically includes the annual planning sessions for what vegetables or herbs to plant in the garden.  What do we want to attempt to grow that might, with a little luck, wind up on the kitchen table?

This year, I began wondering what I could grow that I might be able to feature in a future homebrewed beer.  I think I have this impulse every year, but the thought had enough momentum in my mind that I'll likely act on it.  Hops are the obvious answer.  I’m sure if you polled a collection of homebrewers, the majority of them have or at least have tried growing their own hop cones.  I’m certainly guilty after planting a Sterling and Centennial plant last season.  But for this year, I wanted to try looking for something different.

After a little searching, I decided to pick up a copy of John Peragine’s “The Complete Guide to Growing Your Own Hops, Barley, and Brewing Herbs  It seemed to cover exactly what I was looking for.  Plus, I’ve heard good things about the book, and at almost 300 pages, its packed with a lot of information.  So what the hell, right?


I’ll report back after the book arrives and I get the chance to thumb through it for ideas.  In the meantime, if anyone has the book or at least flipped through it, I would love to hear your thoughts.  Alternatively, if there are other books or references any readers might be able to point me to on growing beer ingredients (beyond just hops), I would greatly appreciate it.

Slainte!

-JW


"I drink with impunity ... or anyone else who invites me."
-W. C. Fields

Monday, April 4, 2011

Editorial: Sale of Goose Island to AB Inbev

Last week brought news of the impending sale of the craft brewery Goose Island to Anheuser-Busch InBev for almost $40 million ($22.5 million to Goose Island and $16.3 million to the Craft Brewers Alliance).  This announcement sent off a fire storm of commentary on craft beer forums and social media sites around the country.  The general flavor of these posts and comments, as least those I have read, was negative.  Something to the effect of "Goose Island is selling out" and "AB will ruin the beer forever."  The tone was usually shocked about the news and that such an event was unexpected and unbelievable.

I have a slightly different perspective on the sale of Goose Island.  AB InBev has a long track record purchasing other beer brands.  This has included a large number of craft beer brands from outside of America, including Leffe, Hoegaarden, Bass, and Spaten.  Purchases of these brands, along with the mass-market industrial lagers, have allowed AB Inbev to consolidate into the largest beer company in the world.  With the growth of the U.S. craft beer scene and AB Inbev's forays into the market with brands like Shocktop, it was only a matter of time before they started purchasing domestic craft beer brands.  It is my opinion that the purchase of Goose Island is another validation of the growth of the U.S. craft beer segment.  AB InBev executives must view the growth of craft beer as a threat and want part of the revenue stream.  Their attempts to gain access to the segment with their own beer have been largely unsuccessful, so the only real avenue left is purchasing established players in the business.  Goose Island seems a good candidate for this, given their size and history of making great beer.  The Goose Island purchase should be viewed, at the least, as expected, and possibly even a positive sign for the entire craft beer industry.

On the other hand, it is understandable why Goose Island customers are concerned about their favorite beers.  This concern should not be over "selling out" to the biggest brewing company, but because AB InBev does not have the best track record with preserving established brands.  AB InBev has incredible process control and can make beer that fits spec sheets down to the micron, but they are not usually as flexible and able to meet the seasonal and changing tastes of the craft beer drinker.  They also make business decisions at a much larger level, and as such, limited release crowd-favorite brands, may get cut because they do not make sense solely on a business level.

In conclusion, I view the Goose Island sale as a positive event for the entire craft beer industry.  This event will also likely become more prevalent as the craft segment gains market share, though craft beer drinker reaction may curb it initially.  As for the specific beers that Goose Island makes, we can only hope that AB InBev preserves both their spirit and their quality moving forward.

For more information, please see:



Cheers,

TW
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