Yes, You Can Brew Bad Beer With Great Pots!

My last brewing session has turned out to be a disaster. Well, nearly, anyway. As anyone who knows my brewing knows, I usually stick to Scottish/English cask-conditioned style ales or German lagers and ales. I do do the occasional American influenced beer but never, under any circumstances, a Belgian influenced beer (try as I might, I just don't like them). Well, I recently did what I call a marathon brew day - two 5 U.S. gallon batches. This being all grain brewing, it literally takes all day and feels quite like a marathon (although, I can't say that from experience as I've never actually ran a marathon). And the styles? Well, both American influenced.

First, the disaster. I took my inspiration from a book I purchased recently, Jamil Zainasheff's Brewing Classic Styles. For those that don't know Jamil, he is perhaps the most award winning homebrewer in the U.S. Jamil also does an internet radio show that is really good (check out Jamil's Page on the The Brewing Network website). Now, I'm not knocking this book in any way - it is great and perfect for anyone wanting a basis for brewing a variety of styles. But, I did a take on what he calls a staple California/West Coast Red Ale. What I wound up with is undrinkable and perhaps the worst beer I have ever brewed. Two things definitely wrong. The biggest, the yeast - totally wrong for the style but I didn't know from the manufacturer's description. But please note, this was not a yeast mentioned by Jamil so no fault of his. The second is too much Pale Chocolate Malt making it too dark (I followed Jamil's recommendation but I think it is too much). If I didn't know better, I'd think the yeast I used was indeed a Belgian style ale yeast but it was never billed that way. Nonetheless, it was totally wrong for the grist and hop bill in this one. I'll say no more about this abomination.

Second, I looked at Jamil's American Amber Ale recipes and did a take on one that I saw but did change it quite a bit. I'm always on the lookout for a middle of the road type beer mainly for parties where we have not-so-beer-savvy guests and I think an amber usually fits that bill. This one I named "Auburn Amber" after the classic Auburn Automobile Company and put an Auburn Boattail Speedster image on the pump clip (label). I grew up near Auburn, Indiana where Auburns were made between the wars and my mother still lives there and is an avid volunteer at the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum. Anyway, there's nothing really wrong with this beer, it just has no character - completely nondescript. Not really what I set out for and in this case, I'm not exactly sure why. I would have expected a bit more malt character but it is severely lacking and the hops lend no real flavor either.

So, what does this mean? Well, I need to redeem myself, and soon. So, back to what I know and love the most. Do I taste a hoppy, well balanced British Pale Ale/Bitter coming? You bet! Maybe I'll get another Welsh Dragon if I really get lucky.

Cheers!
Neil

Finally! The BoilerMaker Update.

After endless harassment (OK, actually one casual comment) by my good friend, Tony Lerma, it's time to get the blog back to its main purpose - beer. Awhile back I complained about the wait for my new homebrew pots, Blichmann Engineering's BoilerMaker. I went on about how these should be the coolest brewpots on earth. Well, they arrived some time back now and I've had the opportunity to brew three batches of beer with them (15 U.S. gallons). Here is one of said pots in all it's glory.



As I mentioned in the previous blog, I purchased two 10 U.S. gallon versions of these marvels. They come standard in food grade stainless steel with a graduated high-temperature sight gauge to indicate the liquid level, the Blichmann stainless steel value assembly and the Blichmann adjustable face BrewMometer. Another feature is the beveled bottom with a lip to rest the optional false bottom on.


The first one serves as a mash tun with the uniquely designed false bottom. It is a combination of a manifold design and a "pizza pan". It is said to be optimal for mash efficiency. The jury is still out on this one for me due to other issues not associated with the pot.

The second pot serves as my new boil "copper" or kettle. It is seen here with the optional boil screen that is an improvement on the Bazooka screen, if you're familiar with them (I am, I've used two different ones in the past). It is indeed an improvement, in my opinion.




I am very pleased with the Boilermakers. As a brewing "copper", I could not be happier. The boil screen works great with little wort loss using my high-temperature pump. I use primarily whole hops and it does a fine job filtering them out. I haven't done a batch with a lot of pelletized hops so I cannot comment completely on how effective it is if one uses solely pellet hops.

As a mash tun, I'm pretty pleased. There is one fairly big annoyance, I have to admit. The probe for the BrewMometer (the finest brewing thermometer of its kind, I believe) is so high up on the pot that it renders the thermometer useless for an average 5 U.S. gallon batch of beer (assuming roughly 10-11 lbs. of grain in the grist). The probe sits too high to effectively measure the mash temperature. I emailed John Blichmann about this and his response was to increase the liquor-to-grist ratio (I have used 1.5 U.S. Quarts per Pound of grain almost exclusively). I tested this on two of the three batches I've done increasing the ratio to 1.75 Qts/Lb and it did improve it but it still doesn't put the probe in the middle of the mash where I think it should be. John said the design is as it is to avoid getting the BrewMometer too close to the heat source as to avoid exposure to excessive heat. That is fine for a boiling kettle, but, in my opinion, not necessarily so for the mash tun. The only situation a pure mash tun would be subjected to heat is for external heat applied during a step mash. In this case it is best to hit the mash tun with short blasts of heat, not prolonged heat so I would think the BrewMometer could hold up. Again, this is only my personal opinion and I'm not trying to deter anyone from buying one of these pots. I do understand that these are engineered for mass production and to be suitable for all uses but this, to me, seems an unfortunate consequence.

This fact, however, does not change my feeling about purchasing the BoilerMakers, I'm still very pleased and, despite their high price (at face value, anyway), I think for what one gets, the price is warranted. If unconvinced, price each of the Blichmann features such as the adjustable BrewMometer, the Blichmann stainless valves, the high temperature sight gauge and the food grade stainless pot itself and you should be convinced it is priced appropriately. In short, I am incredibly pleased with the BoilerMakers and don't regret purchasing them in any way. Finally, here is a photo of the Boilermakers in my now modified three tier brewery plant.

Cheers!
Neil

More Elbow and I Guess I've Always Been - British, Musically.

OK, I've changed my opinion. "The Seldom Seen Kid" is THE best CD from Elbow, no question. I cannot stop listening to it. It is absolutely brilliant and one of those CDs that is great from start to finish. I've even inflicted my own ten year old son, Evan. He can't get "Grounds For Divorce" out of his head. Now, hey, wait a minute. I didn't pick which track he would latch on to - he did!

I just finished watching VH1's "Classic Albums" on Judas Priest's "British Steel" for the second time. I have to admit, I was an absolute Priest-head in my younger days. My cousin turned me on to "Unleashed In The East" and I subsequently went into all the back catalog of 'Priest and followed them until, I think, "Painkiller", at which time, I lost interest and/or they lost focus on what they were all about. Shortly after this Rob Halford left the band so I have my suspicions. Anyway, I'm glad he and the rest have mended the rifts and is back with the band. Frankly, they aren't the same without him and "Angel of Retribution" is certainly a return to real form.

Anyway, this got me to thinking. In my youth, I pretty much listened to Christian rock music from a very early age. Although this continued and does to this day (although I still only really listen to the stuff I grew up on as the new stuff just doesn't measure up), I have to say other than a short delusional period of peer pressure in elementary school to listen to Kiss, Rush was the first band I was really obsessed with. I guess I haven't lost that as I just saw them again a couple of weeks ago and I must say, they haven't lost anything. Absolutely incredible. But, that is not the topic of this blog. It is Britishness. Many folks ask me about this Scottish obsession of mine and as I state on my website, www.ScottishBrewing.com, I can't totally explain it. But, as I think back on my musical tastes once I actually acquired my own, I can truly say that they have, for the most part, always been British.

With the exception of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Robben Ford, and short stints long ago of REO Speedwagon and Kansas, everything else that I've maintained listening to has been British. Gary Moore is and probably always will be my favorite guitar player and I love nearly all of his albums (though there are some "clinkers" in the catalog) and I'm also a huge fan of Peter Green and his Splinter Group. Motorhead, Iron Maiden, Tigers of Pan Tang, Judas Priest, Saxon, Rogue Male, Anvil, all were my early heavy metal days. The only American bands worth anything then were (and still are) Metallica and Anthrax. During all this I also got hooked on Marillion while Fish was still with them and every album they recorded is worth every cent - incredible stuff!

Now, it is almost exclusively British bands and artists that occupy all my listening. Elbow, Biffy Clyro, Idlewild and Roddie Woomble, Emma Pollock, The Hazey Janes, Stereophonics, Frightened Rabbit, Trashcan Sinatras, the list goes on. I also thoroughly enjoy Amy Winehouse, Goldfrapp, and Duffy. In addition I'm a huge fan of traditional Scottish music of which the list is endless - Peatbog Faeries, Stuart Cossells, Red Hot Chilli Pipers, Old Blind Dogs, Karine Polwart, Julie Fowlis, Jenna Reid, Runrig, Karen Matheson and Capercaillie, Jim Malcolm, Battlefield Band, on and on.

So, I guess I've always been British...

Cheers!
Neil