A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

Home Brewing

A good start with brewing will hopefully keep getting better

I figured I was about due for a homebrewing update.

At this moment, I don’t have anything fermenting. However, I have some things ready and am hoping to start one or two brews this week. I have the ingredients and such for a bunch. Some are easier than others and some are so I can take the next step in brewing.

That being said, I’m sticking with the one-gallon batches. Though it yields just 10 beers, I truly do like the smaller batches. It gives a bit , more freedom, I think, when doing the brews. And I’ve also found a semi-local (about 1:15 away) brew shop that will give me all the ingredients to the correct measurement and everything, so that’s nice. That way I don’t have to worry about screwing that up myself.

The Irish Red.

There is another, closer, place that has ingredients, too, in case I need something quicker.

For the record, I’ve finished four brews. I’m going to list them here with my quick thoughts. Several people have tried each and there’s been different reactions. I don’t think any of them have been bad, so I’m happy about that. They do seem to be getting slightly better as I go along though, which is good.

Please note the names below are what I give the beers. I think it’s fun to try and be clever with them. I also attempt to make labels for the bottles, though I’m probably going to stop that and just use small labels for the name as the bigger ones are a pain.

1. Pee Light (Mr. Beer kit, American Classic Light)

Not too bad, especially for my first one. I enjoyed it. I got pretty solid reviews from friends, but I think we all realized it was just the fact that it was homemade beer that really gave it a good taste!

2. Kiss Me Arse Irish Stout (Mr. Beer kit)

I really liked this one. I still have some left, so that’s nice. We found that drinking it while eating tootsie rolls worked wonders, too. It made it interesting, so say the least. Pretty good overall reviews. I’d make it again. I’d probably switch things up and add a chocolate malt, though.

3. Sláinte! (Northern Brewer Irish Red kit)

Not bad, but wasn’t my favorite. My brother loved it. Others enjoyed. It was my first one-gallon kit. I have two left and they are aging a bit and I hope to see if the taste changes a bit more to my liking. I think I had higher hopes for this one and they didn’t match my original hope.

4. TFTB – Thanks for the Beer (Mr. Beer kit – West Coast Pale Ale)

Named after my love of geocaching (TFTC!), this is a really solid beer. I tweaked the kit a bit and used some Amber malt with it. Has a bit of a fruity taste to it and it’s quite smooth. Probably a perfect summer beer, to be honest. It’s likely my favorite so far of the ones I’ve made.

Those are what I’ve done and I’ve liked the process so far.

The Irish Stout.

I always worry when I start a new hobby how far I’ll go with it. I’m really enjoying this so far and have liked the steady progress. I’m not sure, to be honest, if I’ll jump to the five-gallon kits because that’s a lot of beer. I kind of dig the smaller batches as if there’s a crap batch, there’s not as many to get rid of. Plus, having 50 or so bottles ready to go would be a pain!

Anyway, the future is looking good and I have a bunch in the pipeline.

These are probably in the order I will be making these brews. I have two one-gallon jugs now, so I can basically have two fermenting at a time. I like that because it’s pretty cool to see it all work. I also think I can use my Mr. Beer jugs for this, so I might be able to do more than two at a time if I am really up for it. But, for now, I think having two going at a time is enough!

1. White House Honey Porter (Northern Brewer kit)

The story goes that a few years ago, President Obama bought a homebrew kit for his chef. They came up with a few beers, including a Honey Ale and a Honey Porter. The honey is from bees Michelle Obama has on the premises, too. Anyway, some homebrewers filed a freedom of information act for the recipes, the White House listened, had some fun with it and released it. I’ve wanted to try it and Northern Brewer had one-gallon kits, so I got the porter to start.

2. Chocolate Maple Porter (Brooklyn Brew Shop kit)

I’m excited for this one. Not just for what it is, but because I’ll be using local maple syrup for the beer. One of my friends, Gid, makes maple syrup each year. He traded off a pint of his good stuff for some beer. Fair trade to me. Hopefully the beer lives up to how excellent his syrup is.

3. Peanut Butter Porter (BBS recipe, I got all the ingredients from brew shops)

Yeah, you read right. This has an ABV of like 7%, so I’m really looking forward to it. Plus, peanut butter? Um, yes please.

4. Caribou Slobber (Northern Brewer kit)

One of the originals I bought, too. So it’s time to give this one a go and see what it’s all about.

A future beer…

5. Black Dry Stout (BBS kit)

There’s never anything wrong with a good Irish stout! These were on sale for St. Patrick’s Day, so I purchased two of them. One I’ll brew as the recipe says. The second… I’ll have to see if I’m feeling crazy.

6. Smoked Cherry (BBS recipe, I got the ingredients from brew shops)

This one intrigues me. They say you should age it for six months. It might be tough, but I’m going to see what I can do. I might have to crack one or two along the way. For research purposes, of course. I’m debating getting a second set of ingredients and do two batches when I do this.

7. Blackberry Red Ale (BBS recipe, I got the ingredients from brew shops)

OK, first, this will be blueberry. I’m going to switch the fruit. But it sounds really food and I’m excited to give it a go.

Beyond this, I’m not sure. I’d like to mess around and come up with my own recipe. I don’t know what to do there, but I’m reading about it. So maybe something will come to me.

When I got the ingredients for one of the beers at a local place, I got some “replacement” items. In other words, ones that would work to fill in what they didn’t have. But I went to another place and they had what I needed, so now I have some “leftover.”

That includes:

  • A 1 oz. package of Nugget hops
  • A 1-pound bag of Munton’s Chocolate malt
  • A 1-pound bag of Weyerman Carabell malt

For those of you who brew, any ideas on what to do with these? Maybe the start of some wacky recipe? I’m doing 1-gallon brews, so keep that in mind if you have any ideas. I’d love to mess around and find something out there, so if you have ideas, please let me know! I want this to be my first recipe I’ve just concocted for no reason other than to try and see what I come with.

This has been a fun journey so far and I hope it continues.

I’ve also taken my beer to social media some. Check it out:

If you have Untappd (smartphone app — way cool if you are a beer person. I plan on reviewing it on this blog soon), I made a “brewery” on there where you can see all the beers and such. And for those of you who get to test the beer, I hope you’ll sign up and rate the beer!

I also made a page on Facebook, so feel free to like it. I update it with photos and updates and such.

Fundraiser: I am, again, trying to raise money for the Relay For Life. If you donate to me — a minimum of $5– you will be entered to win a super-sweet quilted lap quilt or pillow. Click here for all the information!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Notes from my noodle: Mar. 15

It’s been quite a while since I did one of these, so it seemed like a good as time as any.

To lead off, this weekend is St. Patrick’s Day. On that beautiful day, I’ll travel down to New Jersey to hit up a disc golf tournament. This is a tournament I look forward to every year because of how clean it’s run and how fun it is.

I’m ready for some disc golf this weekend!

The March O’ St. Pat’s Madness is likely one of only two or three PDGA tournaments I’ll play in this year, so I’m excited to see the weather should at least be decent.

The other blog I run, RattlingChains.com, is also taking part as a sponsor of the event. So it’s neat to have that be part of it as well.

I’ve actually had the chance to get out and throw a few times, lately, too. I think if I can just kind of plug along and stay calm and have fun, I have a chance — to not place last!

In the end, it’s my hope this is a sign spring really is coming. Hopefully, anyway.

****

Last weekend, I was contacted by a newspaper to cover a basketball game.

I won’t lie — basketball is one of my least-favorite sports to cover. It’s probably because I’ve never been a huge fan of the game. I don’t hate basketball, but I’d rather cover other sports.

Still, when money is calling…

It’s still fun to see a byline on a story I’ve written.

So I covered a sectional championship girls game. It was a sloppy game, but the end result was pretty exciting. The final four minutes really made the game something to remember. One of the teams scored on a three-pointer to tie it with under a minute to play. Moments later, the other team came down and responded with a wide-open three to take the lead for good.

And the best part about small-school basketball? The crowds were huge. And loud. And exciting.

After the game, I did my interviews and and soon after wrote the story. It was kind of nice tapping away at a story. I sent it in and all was good. But the next day, when this paper came out (a Sunday paper), I won’t lie — it was still quite a cool rush to see a byline on a story.

Even after my last stop at a newspaper — despite a sour ending — I still get a kick out of bylines. It’s a nice feeling to see your name on something done, so I’m glad I had the chance. And I’ll appreciate the check even more!

****

OK, people, I try — note try — to eat as healthy as I can. And, for the most part, I avoid fast food.

But this time of year is hard.

Shamrock shakes rule!

Why, you may ask?

The Shamrock Shake! I absolutely love this time of year at McDonald’s when they bring these bad boys out. I’ve been a fan of Shamrock Shakes for years and I usually limit myself to two or so a year. They are, after all, filled with sugar!

I’m at three this year. I know, bad me.

But they are so damn good.

I do wish they’d go back to the old-school way of doing things — in the paper cups with the shake already mixed. It’s not the same in these plastic cups and adding the mint mix.

It’s still pretty good though.

This year, I’ve also resorted to having them done without the whipped cream and cherry, which cuts out some calories and sugar.

Anyway, the ones I’ve had this year have been fantastic. I figure on one more this year and then I’ll let them go away for another year. If you haven’t had one, I’d encourage you to get one before they are gone for the year!

****

I’ll finish this post talking about beer.

As many of you may know, I’m learning how to homebrew. I have an Irish Stout finished and I think it came out really well. And with St. Patrick’s Day coming up…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hoohaaphotos/8560117238/in/photostream

I’ve truly enjoyed my Kiss Me Arse Irish Stout.

I’ve had some luck so far. The three that have been bottled and tried already have done really well. They’ve each received pretty good and honest reviews from friends. Nothing over the top, yet, but all pretty decent.

I also have an Irish Red bottled. As of today, it’s gone through that cycle and I can put one in the fridge to try it. Maybe that will be the beer to try when I get back from Jersey on Sunday?

It’s Irish, after all.

It’s been a fun process and I’ve slowly been stepping up from the easy process to a little harder. It’s been a heap of fun and I hope it continues.

Only time will tell.

I hope everyone has a fun and safe weekend and if you are out celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, remember to have a driver and be careful out there!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Getting more in-depth with the homebrewing process

By the time this actually posts, I’ll hopefully have three — maybe four beers — bottled and maybe a couple tested.

I was stoked when I successfully brewed, bottled and tasted my first homebrew, titled “Pee Light.” It’s not something you’ll see on shelves anytime soon, but I’m pretty happy about seeing it through and working on the process.

The reviews from friends weren’t bad. I enjoyed it, too. So hopefully that’s a good sign.

The best part about this is knowing I made beer.

The first beer from the HooHaa Brewing Company! Pee Light.

I. Made. Beer.

Awesome.

Alas, the road is still long.

Since my initial Mr. Beer batch of the Pee Light, I have brewed and bottled the Irish Stout via Mr. Beer. Currently, I have an Irish Red in a one-gallon carboy, fermenting up and getting ready for bottling. By the time this publishes, I’ll have already bottled it and hopefully started at least two more beers.

Since I started, I’ve done quite a bit of reading on the brewing world. I’m learning more and more about homebrewing and I can’t wait to keep moving forward in this process.

While I still plan on using the Mr. Beer system, I’m also going to start working with grain brewing. To do that, I’ve stepped up to the one-gallon setup, which I got through Northern Brewer. There are good and bad points to this.

The good is that it’s a smaller batch. For me, that’s nice because I don’t drink a whole heap of beer. I like to savor and enjoy. A one-gallon batch hooks me up with about 8-10 bottles, all pending.

Another positive? If the beer stinks, I don’t have to figure a way to get rid of five gallons worth (if I had gone the full brew route).

There are some negatives, however.

For one, I like to make sure people get a chance to taste the brew. But 8-10 beers can go quickly. And if I truly enjoy it myself, well, it stinks if I only get one. So I’m coming up with a different way to do “tastings.” The other negative — if you brew a really good beer, you only have 8-10! That’s OK though, because you can always make more!

But one thing I’ve realized is how much I love this hobby.

Like I needed another hobby, right?

Geocaching, playing disc golf, playing softball, running two blogs and photography isn’t enough?

Apparently not.

The best part about brewing is outside of the brewing day, the hobby is more of a patience game. I have gotten into full brewing yet, so I’m sure once I do that it becomes more time-consuming. Still, there’s a lot of waiting.

Readying the first one-gallon batch — an Irish Red Ale.

Plus, in the end, what a great payoff?

Eventually, I’m sure I’ll want to step up to the five-gallon setup. For now, I love the idea of one gallon. I have a few beers I want to make and I have a one-gallon recipe book that has me stoked to try some interesting recipes (and, to be honest, probably wouldn’t be a beer I’d want to have two cases worth!)

I also decided I want to make some brewing goals. These have no timelines, but are things I’d like to do.

  • Brew both White House beers (I have the porter set to be made, will need to get the ale)
  • Brew a full blueberry beer
  • Create my own beer (using no kits, through research, trial and error etc.)
  • Enter a beer in a competition (I realize to do this, I’m going to need to dive in much deeper and see how to develop my own!)
  • Step up to five-gallon batches

I’m sure there will be more goals I’ll eventually add. For now, these are the major ones.

This process, thus far, has been fun and I’m learning more each batch. The Irish Red was fun because I had to do more in-depth things, such as steep grains and add the hops and such. Some of the other recipes I’ve seen are going to require me to do more, such as longer boils etc. And I like that as it gives me things to learn each time, thus making it so I can ease my way into the brewing world a little more each time.

The best part is how fun it is. I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of beers I can brew and, one day, develop!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Homebrewing update: One bottled, another fermenting

The first batch is bottled and in the carbonation process.

I’m digging this homebrewing stuff.

In between applying and searching for jobs, it’s made for a great way for me to dive into something and learn. Who knew it was so in-depth, this homebrewing stuff?

Now, I’m currently using Mr. Beer. For my first two batches, I haven’t done anything more than the basics.

Right now, I have my first (American Classic Light) in the bottles. They’ve been in there a week and I’m going to give them another week or so before putting them in the fridge. I’m going with the two-week period many seem to say you should do for the bottling stage. I’ve kept them in a cooler, which has allowed me to keep a constant temperature.

The wort of the Irish Stout.

On the same day I bottled, I also started my second brew — St. Patrick’s Irish Stout.

The future is also going to hold a West Coast Pale Ale and a blueberry beer.

But, let’s go over what I have learned before moving to the next things.

One thing I’ve discovered is I’m really interested in the process. I’ve always paid attention on brewery tours I’ve taken, but all that talk — wort, mash, this that and the other — always meshed together. Now I have to actually understand this stuff.

With Mr. Beer, it’s a pretty basic thing (though, by reading several forums, there are ways to make it way more in-depth), which is good for now. From beginning to end, it takes me about 45 minutes to do a brew.

That includes sanitation, making the wort and getting it all ready.

But if I’m going to wait 5-6 weeks to drink this beer, I need to have more time invested in making it. That is coming, for sure.

There’s one thing I’ve realized with the first batch, which I bottled in the Mr. Beer plastic bottled — two gallons is a lot of beer. I have eight 1-liter bottles all set, which appears to be about a case of beer.

I used a hydrometer for the first time with my second batch.

As somebody who drinks maybe two or three beers a week, that’s a lot. And I want to brew beer to keep it running so I can continually try something new. With case after case, that’s going to be tough. Sure, I can bring them to people’s houses, but what if I get a crap batch? That’s a lot of bad beer to stomach!

So, I’m investing in a smaller item through Northern Brewer, a homebrewer supply company. They have it set up for one-gallon batches, which will apparently yield be 10-12 beers.

Not only that, I’m going to have to do more in-depth brewing, which is something I’d really like to do. You have to worry about hops and all that and when to put things in.

With my second batch of Mr. Beer (the stout), I used a hydrometer, which should tell me the estimated alcohol content when all is said and done. So I’m taking steps with each beer.

The West Coast Pale Ale has a booster to add to it. The blueberry will make me work with fruit. And when I advance to the one-gallon batches, I’m going to have to do a lot more.

But that’s OK because, in the end, hopefully I’ll have a nice brew or two that is worth sitting back and enjoying.

The ultimate goal here is to get a pipeline going so I’ll have different beers in different stages at all times. That way, there will be something different to taste every once in a while, which is nice. And the smaller batches will hopefully help me in keeping a steady flow of bottles so I can make sure I have enough to bottle the brews!

And, I hope the beer tastes good. I would like this to be something I do for a long time and maybe understand things more so I can come up with my own beers. I have some goals I have in brewing my own beer, which I’ll share in another post at a later date.

For now, I’ll keep waiting!

(Side note — if you are interested in seeing the process or more photos as I go along — more than what I do here — I made a Facebook page for “HooHaa Brewing Company.” Obviously it’s more for fun. If you want, feel free and like it!)

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

The first steps to my inaugural home brew are now complete

And then there will be beer…

I’ve wanted to do home brewing for a long time. Though I don’t partake in drinking beer as often as I did in my younger days, I still like to enjoy a fine pint or two every once in a while. I can’t say I’m a beer snob like others I know, but I stay away from the cheap stuff and when I have a beer or two, I like quality.

Usually that means something along the lines of Guinness, Smithwicks, Magic Hat or Samuel Adams.

But brewing my own … that’s always been on my radar.

My first brew — looking forward to see how it tastes when all said and done. Weeks away, but a fun process!

Doing a hobby like that is an investment. From the equipment to ingredients to bottles and everything else, it can add up. A few summers ago, while still employed, I looked into it at a local winery. To get all I needed (including a boiling pot, ingredients and a few other things), it was going to cost upward of $200 or so.

Yikes!

That’s not something I want to do when I’m not sure if I’ll enjoy the hobby. From everything I’ve read and researched, brewing is obviously an intensive hobby. You need patience and have to really pay attention to a lot of things. That being said, there are some amazing things you can do with your own brews.

But what if I dropped all that coin on this hobby and I didn’t like it? Those thoughts made me kind of put it on the back burner.

In the past, I had heard about Mr. Beer, which is a system that helps simplify home brewing. Basically, they give you everything you need to brew and the process is much easier. You don’t have to worry about some of the in-depth things, it cuts down on your time, and you can slowly learn about brewing.

It also should show you whether or not you are interested enough to take the next step.

With a few Amazon gift cards sitting around from the holiday season, I debated getting the Mr. Beer kit. It would give me something to work on during this continuing job hunt. And, I’d get to see about the brewing process. I did a lot of research on that and other kits, but hadn’t decided if I was going to buy it yet or not. There wasn’t any rush.

Then a friend told me he got one as a gift from somebody and, after looking things over, he knew he’d never have the patience for doing it. See, it still takes time. Mr. Beer says beer in 7-14 days, but reality is you’re looking at 5-6 weeks for a batch. My friend noted he’d either mess with it early to see what was going on, or he’d chuck it out the door getting annoyed.

So he handed it off to me, figuring I’d enjoy it.

Score!

I started my first batch Monday. It’s a Classic American Light, which I think is probably comparable to a Coors Light. The problem with that is I don’t really drink stuff like that anymore.

It’s a good way to test, though.

The whole process, from sanitizing to getting everything in the mini keg to start the fermenting process took all of about 45 minutes. It’s quite easy if you follow the instructions. I liked the ease of it, especially considering it’s my first go with it. I’m sure, over time, I’ll want to see the more in-depth things I can do. For now, this was fun. From mixing up the wort to getting everything ready, it was pretty neat.

I’ve already even moved forward a little bit with the Mr. Beer setup.

Armed with a discount for being a new member of the Mr. Beer website and a few extra bucks left over from Christmas, I also ordered some things from Mr. Beer — a couple of the mini kegs (for fermenting) so I could brew more than one batch at a time. They will hopefully be on their way soon, so I’ll hopefully be able to stagger some brews and have a constant flow of things going.

The next two I’ll be brewing is a West Coast Pale Ale (which was part of the initial group of stuff) and an Irish Stout, which I ordered from Amazon. I’ll be looking to get the Patriot Ale as I’ve found a recipe to make a blueberry beer, which I would love to do. I’ve long been a fan of blueberry beers, so I am interested in trying it.

This is a process, however.

My first brew, starting the process!

I see my brewing experience being a step-by-step sort of thing. I’d like to run with the Mr. Beer setup for a while so I can learn things and understand wort or hops or things like that. I want to take some chances and learn that way with a system that is a little more simple.

If I really like it, then I can see me taking the next step. That likely won’t be for 6-8 months — if not longer. And I’m OK with that because I don’t want to invest in the big things until I know I can financially do so and be able to get the things I not only need, but other things I may want to get. And, no matter what, I see myself continuing to use the Mr. Beer system as well. It’s too cool not to use it.

I’m in the process of gathering bottles for use (non-twisting brown bottles are best, from what I gather — ones like Sam Adams) and reading as much as I can about the brewing process. I’ll be blogging periodically about the process as it goes along.

For now, though, it’s time to sit back and let the process unfold and cross my fingers for some successful brews!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!