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| Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. My name is Stan Shunpike and I will be your conductor this evening. |
There
are entirely too many things to catch you all up on if I dedicate an individual
post to each, so I’m launching the first ever “Inspirations From Inside of a
Mash Tun Omnibus Post.” There are many ways to look at this, and being that I
am a visual person, I like to picture the Knight Bus from Harry Potter. This omnibus moves quickly, the muggles will never see it, and it’s going to be a
bump-y ride. Take ‘er away Ernie. (Blogger’s Note: That’s two HP references in
as many weeks… what is going on?)
Also, by
way of facilitation, I will frame this omnibus as a question and answer style
of exchange.
Do any home brewing lately?
Yes,
though it wasn't my home. I was recently invited to help launch a new home
brewing venture in Centreville, VA called Donaubles Brewing Co. The home brewer
long intended to start brewing beer, and decided the stars were finally
aligned, though a watchful hand of a seasoned veteran never hurts. We brewed-up
a 5 gallon batch of Irish Red Ale, which is currently resting comfortably in
primary fermentation.
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| This may or may not have actually happened. |
A few
things to note: This was a partial-mash brew, and being that I've been in an
all-grain frame of mind as long as I have, I struggled to recall much of the
partial-mash process without consulting the directions. I also hadn't brewed
from a kit in while, so it was a re-learning experience for me. Also, if you
are setting out to home brew yourself, you ABSOLUTELY MUST acquire a turkey
fryer or similar type of single burner propane fueled cooking surface to boil
your wort. We had a pot of 2.5 gallons of water on his kitchen cook-top and it
sat there for 45 minutes, and only reached 170 degrees. Once we finished steeping
the grains, we moved the boil kettle over to his turkey fryer, and within
minutes… boiling.
Do brewing kits go bad?
Probably
not. Obviously, it will depend on the kit, and how the ingredients are
packaged, but for most kits, the yeast is powder, so it won’t go bad, and the
hops and extract are vacuum sealed, so they won’t go bad. The only real wild
card is the grain. Grain bought in a kit is pre-cracked so all you have to do
is add to the water and let it sit. Like so many food items, fresh-cracked
equals maximum flavor (think black pepper or coffee beans). But also like most
food items, just because it isn't fresh-cracked doesn't mean it will taste bad –
it just means it won’t have as much flavor. Same principle applies to your
brewing kit grains – they may be a little stale, but for the purposes of
home-brewing (especially out of a kit), the difference in the finished product
will be negligible.
Ever try Mr. Beer?
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| People, please. DO NOT BUY ONE OF THESE!!! |
I have
never made beer using a Mr. Beer system, and I do not own one. I have, however,
tried the finished product. It’s not good. I tried some Mr. Beer that was made
by someone who pays a meticulous amount of attention to process and following
instructions, so I know that this beer was made the way it was supposed to be
made… to the letter. The finished product was barely palatable. It was very
tart and thin, with practically no body at all. It felt like drinking a liquor
drink as opposed to a beer. But not a good liquor drink - a very flat, thin,
unsatisfying liquor drink. I maintain that Mr. Beer is to brewing what the
Easy-Bake Oven is to baking. Now I have proof.
Any new breweries to rant and/or
rave about in the local area?
It is an
exciting time to be living in the Northern Virginia area if you’re a beer fan,
as there is a lot of growth (not just Donaubles Brewing Co in Centreville).
Earlier this year, Bad Wolf Brewing Co opened their doors in Manassass, and the
reviews are strong. Bad Wolf has a fairly newish business model, where they
brew small batches, serve until the kegs are floated, and then move on to the next
style. There is a lot of turnover, so chances are, there will be something new
and different every time you go. Their place is small too, and coupled with the
small batch/quick turnaround of the beer, it creates a very intimate brewery
experience.
Sometime
in the next few weeks (we hope), a new brewery is coming to Lorton, VA called
The Forge Brew Works. I don’t know a whole lot about them yet, as they aren't open yet, but it looks as though their operation will be small too. They tried
to launch in late August, but are somewhere stuck in the big-government-bureaucracy
of Fairfax County. However, the last report was favorable, and they are
predicting that they might open this coming weekend.
How are the pumpkin beers?
I love pumpkin beers, but it is getting hard to find the ones I've never had before.
That doesn't mean that my local craft beer doesn't have lots to choose from,
but rather that it has the same ones to choose from, and I've already had them.
Yesterday, I went to my local Total Wine, and I noticed that the pumpkin beers
available on their singles shelf were all in bomber form, and I wanted to build
my own six pack. I also noticed that many of the six packs of pumpkin beers
were missing one or two, as though I wasn't the first person who wanted to mix
and match pumpkin beers. In the end, I did what the Romans had been doing and
built my six pack out of other six packs that I’m not sure were intended for
that purpose, but Total Wine got their money and I got my beer, so I suppose
all’s well that ends well. Still, would it kill the distributors to bring in
greater selection? The answer is yes, it would kill them, but the problems with
the distribution chain is a topic that demands its own post, and cannot be
sufficiently deconstructed within a paragraph of an omnibus post.
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| So wonderful. Want to drink them all! |
This is starting to feel like I’m the head
coach of a football team conducting a press conference.
Any random epicness you’d like to
write about?
A fellow
beer quester came up with an idea the other day which I think has legs. He has
proposed that we drink a new beer every day for 365 days in a row. This is
similar to the “Big Year” concept if you’re a birder. I think the idea is
solid, but I warned him that it will be hard to find 365 new brews given the
fact that, according to my Untappd profile, I have 585 uniques and I fear I am
on the verge of exhausting the local market. Though, I could always reset
myself and drink 365 different beers in a row. Either way, the idea has legs.
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| A Big Year is a tough thing to accomplish |
What do you have to do differently
on defense if you want to make the playoffs?
Playoffs?
Don’t talk about… playoffs? Playoffs? I just hope we can win a game. Another
game.
Any shameless plugs?
First of
all, all of my plugs are shameful, as a rule. If you aren't already on the
Craft Beer Drinkers Alliance train, you should check out their Facebook page and
see what all the fuss it about. These guys are local Northern Virginians, but
they are servicing a national audience at this point. It’s growing a lot faster
than this blog, and there’s a lot of helpful knowledge to be shared. Check them
out.
Also,
follow me on twitter @SousBrewer to stay up-to-date on all the beer drinking
shenanigans in real time.
Well, I
think that wraps up this first ever omnibus blog post. It could have been worse,
right? At least nobody got thrown under the omnibus.
Here’s
to craft-brewed happiness… Cheers!
