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Archive for the ‘Home Brewing’


German Hallertauer Crop Damaged by Storms

Published May 28th, 2009 in Beer News, Home Brewing | No Comments »

I just caught wind of this report from Charlie Papazian. Severe thunderstorms and hail ravaged Europe earlier this week, and the Hallertauer area, famous for its Hallertauer Hallertau hops, was severely damaged. For lovers of many traditional German beer styles, this is not good news.

One [Brewers Association] member from the Netherlands reports, “Staff of Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephaner [where the German brewing school resides], who live throughout the area, have all reported the complete destruction of hop fields in the region.” Other reports indicate that the damage was local in some areas and effected about only 25% of the region.

Also effected are several Sam Adams beers, including their flagship Boston Lager. According to Papazian’s article, it can take up to two years for a newly planted hop vine to yield a full harvest, so production may be effected for a couple years. Other Hallertau growing regions around the world may be able to fill some of the demand, but while their bitterness is similar, varieties grown elsewhere tend to have a floral note that Hallertauer-grown hops lack.

Let’s hope that the damage is not too widespread, especially if you homebrew with Hallertauer-grown hops. I have to imagine that Jim Koch would be able to get his hands on hops before your local homebrew shop would.

The Maine Switch Intros Homebrewing

Published April 17th, 2009 in Home Brewing, Maine | No Comments »

In a piece for this week’s Maine Switch, Karen Beaudoin gives a brief, if somewhat flawed, introduction to the art of brewing your own beer. Beaudoin’s piece gives a nice 10,000 foot view of what goes into making your own English pale ale, but a few of the scant details she gives are off the mark.

For anyone reading this who is interested in making his or her own beer, I’d recommend heading of to HomeBrewTalk.com for a thorough discussion of all things homebrewing. For the new brewer, the Beginners Beer Brewing Forum is invaluable. I know I spent (and still spend) a whole lot of time browsing through it while working on improving my own brewing. Discussions on HBT range from basic topics like blow-off tubes and sanitation to more advanced things like yeast culturing and building your own immersion chiller.

For the impatient who’ve already headed over to see Rob at Maine Brewing Supply and want to get to brewing already, a few comments on Beaudoin’s directions. Though probably not a real problem, 1.5 gal of water for steeping 1# of crystal malts is a bit much. According to Palmer and others, the ratio of water to grains while steeping should be less than 1 gal per pound for best results. A bigger problem, though, is the suggestion that you boil the water before adding the grains to steep. Get the water to about 170°F and then start your steep (after removing heat). And for goodness sakes, don’t squeeze your grain bag! Tannins are good in red wine; beer, not so much. Also, after steeping, you’ll want to increase the amount of water in your pot as much as you can without risking boil-overs. The less water you have to add to your fermenter to make 5 gal., the better.

Beaudoin leaves out several other details, such as cooling the wort, aerating it, and yeast pitching, but these are not so much errors as omissions. I’m sure editorial concerns were at play here, as some of the pics included in the piece definitely show later stages of the process. I’ve not doubt that whoever you buy your kit from will give you a set of directions that covers all of the basics. Anything that brings brewing to a wider audience is a good thing, in my opinion (as long as that doesn’t mean I can’t get some hops last minute when I need them). And Ms. Beaudoin, welcome to the wonderful world of brewing!

Homebrewing Now Legal in Utah

Published March 26th, 2009 in Home Brewing | No Comments »

Yes, I know that just about every other beer blog in the country is reporting this, but as a recent convert to the cult of homebrewing, I’m excited that our brothers and sisters in Utah can now proudly, and legally, show off their skills with barley and hops. There are an estimated 7,000 homebrewers in the state.

On March 24, 2009, Governor Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. of Utah signed into law legislation (HB 51) that makes homebrewing beer legal. The ‘Exemption for Alcoholic Beverage Manufacturing License’ was sponsored by Representative Christine A. Johnson and made Utah the 46th state to legalize homebrewing. The US Government made homebrewing legal on a federal level in 1978. Since then all but four states; Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Oklahoma have made homebrewing legal.

‘Home-brewing is a healthy and vibrant hobby in Utah as evidenced by the outpouring of support HB 51 received in the 2009 Legislature,’ commented Rep. Christine A. Johnson. ‘Many thanks to the American Homebrewers Association for thorough education, great committee testimony and association members who flooded elected officials with emails of support.’

Utah is the only state to have legalized homebrewing in the last decade, but hopefully it will not be the last. There is currently an active movement to legalize homebrewing in Alabama, and the AHA has heard from homebrewers in Kentucky, Mississippi, and Oklahoma who are interested in starting movements in each of those states.

BeerAdvocate.com has the full article.

The Return of Open Source Beer

Published June 17th, 2008 in Breweries, Home Brewing | 2 Comments »

Flying Dog Ales is reprising its Open Source Beer Project, but in the spirit of Web 2.0 hopes to make the 2008 version better than 2007.

Thus the following challenge:

We are looking to expand the Open Source Beer Project into the latest version 1.1 or 2.0. Seeing this is open source we thought we would solicit ideas from the People’s Republic of Flying Dog. We will be accepting concepts from June 18th through July 18th. If your idea is used you will win one of the limited edition Ralph Steadman signed bottles of Gonzo Imperial Porter that we released in 2005. Check out the contest page on June 18th for more details or email your idea to bullshit@flyingdogales.com.

My suggestion?

Integrate Twitter and/or Flickr into the process.

(Via Appellation Beer: Beer From a Good Home.)

Thanks, Stan, for bringing this to our attention. I’m a fan of Flying Dog’s beers, and I’m a computer programmer who happens to be a big proponent of open source software development, so this is a very intriguing combination for me. I’ll definitely be keeping tabs on their progress, especially if they follow Stan’s advice and add a Twitter stream to the process. I think the idea of community feedback directly, and immediately, influencing brewing is a great idea. For those of you interested in participating, this thing kicks off tomorrow.

I wonder if any of the breweries up here would be open to the idea of an open source brew. Hmmm…