beer

Back in the brew of things

February 16, 2016

On a cold day off, I decided to take advantage of things and brew a beer.

It’s been a while, too.

The one I chose? A kit from the Brooklyn Brew Shop – peanut butter porter. Yeah, it sounds awesome I’m thinking. And, in about a month or so, I’ll have the chance to tell you how it tastes.

Brewing day!

Anyway, I did all that was said to be done, but somewhere along the way, I must have done something wrong with this batch. I’m hoping I didn’t, but it’s highly possible.

The directions from the Brooklyn Brew Shop are easy to follow.

Sanitize. Mash. Sparge. Boil. Fermentation.

Bottling will come later. But for now, everything was easy enough. I measured everything out, but in the end, I still needed to add about a quarter of a gallon of water.

Maybe my boil was too much?

I didn’t think so, but it’s possible.

I also made sure to strain everything. But in the end, I still got a bunch of excess “crap.” So, honestly, I have no idea if I am doing something wrong or not.

So, this is what I did – and maybe I did some things that shouldn’t have been done, but even when I did things in the past, it seems to sometimes end up the same. So… here we go.

Mash

One mistake I made was the size of the pot for the mash. I should have used a slightly smaller one as I think it would have heated a little more even. I ended up adding a little water to the mash as it seemed to be burning on the bottom a bit, so I think it might have been a little dry. Also, it didn’t seem to heat evenly. I’d have a good temp in one spot, and not in another. So I’d mix it all up and heat a little bit to get it to the spot.

Outside of that, the mash seemed to be ok. Things looked fine.

The Sparge

OK, this is where things might have gotten dicey – but this is the only place.

With many kits I use, the sparge isn’t done. With the all-grain brewing, it’s a necessary step. One thing I’d like to figure out is how to brew in a bag as I think it would help me with several aspects. I need to do some research to figure out how the best way to attack that would be, though. I’d also have to find some good brew bags.

Anyway, with this one I did as the instructions said. I boiled up the right amount of water (actually may have had an extra cup or two in there) and got things ready. This is where I realized I had one issue – my strainer isn’t big enough to hold all the grain. I had to figure the best way to tackle this, so I put half of the mash into the strainer and did the sparge, and then did the same with the second half of the mash.

But, my thought here is – did the mash get too cool in that amount of time? Did I do something to mess up the normal way of going? If I am going to do this the regular way, I think I need to invest in a bigger strainer. If I am going to the brew in a bag method, I might not need to worry about it.

Outside of that, things seemed find. I got a nice dark wort, and it was ready for the boil.

Some goodies to add to the boil.

The Boil

Ok, here’s my question for those who know brewing – do I start the timer (the directions said 75 minutes) as it heats up, or not until it actually starts boiling? I didn’t start the timer until the boiling started as it made more sense and I think that’s how I’ve done it in the past (note: I haven’t brewed in a while and even longer for all-grain), so hopefully that was fine.

I did have one issue during the boil, though. I got the “light boil,” but on the low heat, it lost that low boil. So I had to crank it up (probably 10/15 minutes into the boil) to get it back to a good spot. From then on, it seemed to hold well.

Everything was added when I was supposed to (and with that peanut butter addition – it smelled good!), so it was time to continue on.

Cooling down

I put the pot into an ice bath and I had a mixture of water and ice, so the pot kind of bobbed a little. Eventually I axed the water and went with all ice, figuring that was best. I’m not sure if it was exposed too long, but that wouldn’t have done anything to the amount of liquid. Once I hit the target temperature, it was time to put it in the fermenting jug.

Fermenting

I set up the strainer and the funnel and started to pour. I loved the look of this porter. The smell was outstanding. If it tastes as good as it smelled, I will look forward to it.

But, there was a lot of junk still being caught. I thought most of it was gone during the sparge, but apparently not. It caught a lot and I think some might have even made it into the fermenter, which is fine as I can deal with it.

Still, I was looking for something a tad smoother (which is why I think brewing in a bag might be my best bet), so I got wondering as the jug started to fill – and it only got to about 3/4 of a gallon. Maybe a little less.

As per the instructions, I added tap water to bring it to the gallon line, but not sure what it will do having to add that much water.

Looks good, but we shall see in time!

End result

I didn’t take an ABV reading on this as I am worried I did something wrong, so I’m just going to figure it’s about (or a little less) than what is estimated for this brew. It definitely looks like a porter, so that’s good. However, you can see some floaties in the jug, but I am pretty sure that’s somewhat normal, especially for a gallon brew where I don’t necessarily do everything one might for a five-gallon or higher brew.

It’ll be about two weeks before I bottle it, then another two in the world of carbonation. From there, I’ll be able to test what this beer tastes like.

Final thoughts

I have several other kits from the Brooklyn Brew Shop that I plan on brewing up. The kits they have are incredibly excellent in regard to flavors and such, so I am looking forward to doing them (I have some stouts, wheat beers etc.), and I am hoping I can make the process a bit smoother.

For you brewers out there, any thoughts? Did I mess something up with this one, or should things be fine? Any tips for brewing in a bag? Or any other tips?

I am hoping after I finish these kits (again, I have several), I might be gutsy enough to think about going to the five-gallon brews, though I have to admit I like the smaller batches. That way, if it’s a beer you aren’t too fond of, you only have 10-11 bottles to worry about!

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

2016: Looking ahead

January 17, 2016

It’s that time of the year where I take a look ahead.

I am not a huge person for New Year’s resolutions. I think they are goofy and people tend to make them and never follow through.

Think about it — how many people do you think said they wanted to go to the gym more often? And how many do you think have already quit?

Exactly.

Instead, I try and make some goals each year and post them here. I’ve done OK with them the past few years, so we’ll see how this year goes.

Do I know I need to get into better shape, lose weight and things like that? Absolutely. My health is something I need to work on, but that’s not a resolution or a goal — that’s changing things in life and sticking with it.

Instead, these goals will focus more on things I’d like to do this year. We’ll see how it goes.

Geocaching

This goal is always on my list because it’s something I want to keep doing, but the biggest issue becomes time and finding people who are interested in going.

There’s always geocaching goals!

This past year was decent, to a point. I was a few caches short of averaging a cache find per day, but I did a bunch of travels to events and such. I don’t think I’ll be doing any major caching trips (though one event is possible), but there are a few things I’d like to do.

Average a cache per day (so, I’ll need 366 this year)
Add another state (or more) to my list
Place 10 new caches (not including events)
Host at least 5 events

I think this is a doable thing, so I’ll look forward to going at it. I only have one cache find so far in 2016, so I need to get going!

Home brewing

A total fail in 2015, I need to change this in 2016. And to do that, I already have purchased some interesting kits. I just need to get going on them and go through the process.

So my goal for 2016? Brew at least three beers. I’d like to think I could do more, but I want to make sure I at least get three done. Considering I do the smaller batches (one gallon), I should be able to pull it off.

I have some fun ideas for names and such, too, so we’ll see how it goes.

Just three beers. I’m hoping if I do those three, I’ll get the itch for it again and do several more.

Blogging

This is always on here as it makes sense, being this is a blog and all. So what king of things would I like to do this year for my blog?

Write a new “about” page
Post at least 250 times
Have a minimum of 12 posts every month (and avoid my “lags”)
Take part in or run a few other challenges, to keep things fresh.

I truly love blogging. And one thing I’d like to do is definitely get more back into the community aspect of things. I fall off on that sometimes, so I’m going to try and keep that up. That’s not a goal, per say, but part of the bigger picture of blogging. I am happy with how the blog is going and I look forward to keeping it updated for 2016 and beyond.

Board games

This is a new one to the yearly goals, and one I’m glad to have added because of how fun this hobby is.

Board gaming is becoming quite the hobby and the games are well beyond what many of us knew as kids.

Over the past few years, I’ve gotten into board gaming. It’s a lot of fun and the difference in games is amazing. My personal collection has grown, too, which is pretty sweet. So I need to make this part of my goals. But I can’t just say I want to play games, else that wouldn’t make sense. So in 2016, I’d like to:

Play 225 times (I played 181 in 2015)
Play 100 different games
Go to a game convention

The board gaming hobby is definitely a growing thing, and I’m glad to be involved in it. It’s a lot of fun, especially once one looks past things like Monopoly being the holy grail of board games. There’s a lot of amazing things out there, that’s for sure.

There are other things I’d like to accomplish, but I know might be tough this year. So I’m going to leave this new addition a little more simple to start. In future years, I’ll build it up.

Day Zero Project

I didn’t do much with this at all in 2015, which is really too bad. It doesn’t end until 2017, so I still have time (though the odds of me completing it are not good), but I’d like to cross off 25 items in 2016.

Obviously, I’d like to check off more than that, but I think that’s a good goal. Some of them, as I look at it, just won’t be done by the end. Those are for a variety of reasons, be it having the time, or the funds etc. But I still think, if I put my mind to it, I can get several of these done and chip away at the list.

Let’s see how 2016 goes for the Day Zero Project.

Travel

I’m going to scale back on this goal this year. By travel, it just means getting out and seeing some places. It might be day trips or overnight trips, but I want to see things.

So this could be covered in my baseball trips, or planned trips etc.

One definite part of this goal is getting out and seeing a minimum of five New York State parks. They are wonderful places and worth checking out. Hopefully, I’ll hit more. But I’ll leave it at five to start.

There are some obvious other things I’d like to do (Montreal, Maine etc.), but we’ll see how things go. The base goal here is to get out, see things, and take some photos of my travels.

****

With 2015 in the books, there are my goals for the upcoming year. We’ll see how I do with them. If I can remain focused, I’m sure I can make a good run at them all. Come next January, I’ll see how I did with these. I hope everybody else has a great 2016 and accomplishes all they would like to get done!

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

The Snommegang experience

March 9, 2015

For several years, I have wanted to attend a beer festival. I always thought it would be a fun experience to be able to try some decent beer, maybe get some good food, and hang out with some cool people.

Though the opportunity has been there before, I never have taken the chance until a couple of weekends ago, when I went to the Snommegang Invitational with my brother and his wife. The event was in its second year and the theme was perfect for this area, and for the winter we’ve been having. It was put on by Brewery Ommegang, which is a highly popular and well-known brewery in our area.

They teamed, too, with America On Tap, which is one of the top companies to put on beer festivals.

Some decent beers at this festival.

I’m going to call it straight here, too. I truly didn’t have the best of experiences. It wasn’t the worst, by any means, but I have a hard time believing I’ll go back to it next year.

First, it was $50 (plus a $3.50 fee). Many other festivals I’ve looked at in the past have been well less than that (in the $35 range), including a pretty big one (also put on by America On Tap) in Binghamton each year – with this year’s being the weekend before Snommegang.

Something to keep in mind, too, is that I’m not a heavy drinker. I like to taste and experience a good beer, which is why a festival seemed perfect. My goal wasn’t to get drunk at this, it was to enjoy the experience and have all my faculties when it was over. Simple enough, right?

But… if I pay $50 (plus fee), I expect to get a $50 experience. Instead, I felt like, at times, I was at a frat party.

Let’s start in the beginning.

When we checked in and such, we were given our tasting glass. I use that term lightly. Why?

Because the “glass” was plastic.

Now, I know many people who go to these festivals and they all have talked about how the glass is nice, rugged and one that will likely not break. It’s also a cool little keepsake. I know there must have been some glass glasses given out because I watched somebody drop one later in the day. It didn’t shatter; it bounced a little and … it definitely didn’t sound like plastic. It was glass.

So did they not plan enough glasses? Maybe only certain people got the glass? In my eyes, that can’t happen.

Think about it, though. You pay $50. And get a plastic 5-ounce pilsner-style glass (cup). That’s it.

Now, this was also outdoors. I knew this coming in, so I can’t – and won’t complain – that it was cold out. I dressed accordingly. I remember seeing something about heated tents, though, and that heat was done more by body heat, I think. But in the end, that actually wasn’t too bad. If they had massive heaters there, it would have taken up more precious space and it might have gotten uncomfortable in the tents.

The issue was how crowded it was. The tents couldn’t have been more than 15 feet wide or so (if that), and part of it was taken up by the tables for the breweries and space behind there. There were also random tables on the opposite side of the tent, and the only thing I saw on said tables were big jugs of water. So the people were crammed in. And people didn’t move. That says more about people than the festival, though. So you would get log jams all over the place. Squeezing through was not easy.

One thing to note – I realize the tents could only be so wide on the closed-off streets because emergency vehicles need a certain amount of room if they are called upon. Still, there are ways it seems like it could have been worked to give the people paying to be there more room.

Let me talk about the beers. I tasted many that day. Even if just a sip or two. I tasted a lot I liked, and many others I didn’t like. It was a good mix. When things were overly hoppy, I didn’t like them. But I did have a few stouts and other dark beers that were divine. But this isn’t reflective on the festival or organizers. This would be the same at any festival. It’s all based on personal taste.

There are many check-ins on my Untappd profile that I will be revisiting, that’s for sure. I also got to test things I’m not sure I ever would have, besides at a festival. I enjoyed the aspect of seeing some people I know and chatting with brewery reps and such. What was really nice is the amount of smaller breweries that were there.

One thing to note is I didn’t see any food vendors. Now, we were on a main drag, so there were places to go eat (midway through, we went and got some pizza), but I think the experience of things like this is when they bring in different food vendors. Unless I totally missed seeing any, I don’t think there was anything other than the local places to eat. Which, hey, that’s great for local business. But for those who just wanted to grab some grub and keep going, it’s a little harder.

The problem was the overall experience just didn’t live up to things I had hoped for. I brought my camera with me hoping to get some cool shots. But I was so crammed and rushing along with people behind me that there was no time to pull the camera out, so I got three or four shots with the iPhone.

Look, a lot of people seemed like they were having a good time. And I’m sure many people got their money’s worth (I saw a ton of people who seemed like they had tried each beer – more than once!). The brewery reps I spoke with were, for the most part, friendly and engaging. The few people who seemed to be connected with Ommegang were, as always, amazingly friendly and outgoing. That’s the experience you get when you go to the brewery, too.

But this is just about the festival. When I left (and I left a tad early, actually), I did so with the feeling that the experience just wasn’t worth the price of admission.

It’s a shame, too. I’ll probably never use the taster glass again (I likely would have with a glass one as it’s a perfect size when testing home brew), and I’m not sure I’ll ever attend this festival again. I’d love to attend the one they hold at the brewery itself as that seems like it would be a fantastic time and, probably, much more space.

A lot of people definitely had a good time. I’ve talked to a few people I knew who were there and it’s a mixed bag of reactions. Some really liked it and some felt the way I do — a fun time, worth the experience of trying, but likely not a repeat one. This was only the second year, though, so hopefully it will grow and continue to improve and maybe down the line I’ll give it a go again — as long as I get my actual glass!

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

2015: Looking ahead

January 4, 2015

Another year is in the books. Now, it’s time to look ahead.

I’m not one who is big on resolutions. Instead, I like to make goals and work toward them. I don’t do the weight loss thing, or exercise, or this or that like many do. I’ve found when I do that, I’ll go to a gym for a while and then fizzle out. I know I need to do all of the above and I’ve been working on that. But that’s because it’s for my health, not some silly resolution.

So, as I’ve done here for the past few years, I like to come up with a few goals I can aim for. These goals run a gamut of different things, so it’s always fun to see how far I get with each of them.

Let’s face it — I don’t always succeed, but I’m always pushing to attempt to succeed.

So, here, I present to you my annual list of goals. We’ll see how it all goes and by the end of the year, hopefully I am talking about how I succeeded in doing all of these. Some of these were done last year, so I am tweaking them slightly as they were ones I didn’t think I fully succeeded on in 2014.

1. Photography

This is easily the biggest goal I have this year.

Last year, I got away from taking pictures with my DSLR. I purchased a new one right before Christmas, so I am going to be working on using it a lot more. Further, part of my current Day Zero Project has a lot of photo-based things, so I want to work on those. Add in the monthly photo blogging challenge and other challenges and I want to use it a lot more.

My new camera needs a workout this year.

On top of that, next December will be the 10th year I have done an annual photo book. I have big plans for that and I want to go back to how it was when I first started that yearly tradition, which means stepping away from the iPhone as the main camera.

That being said, I won’t be leaving the iPhone completely. I love Instagram and the social part of it, so I am going to work on finding a good balance.

One part of this will go hand-in-hand with one of my other goals — travel. I want to visit more state parks in New York, which should give me many chances for photos (as well as geocaches), so it should be fun in that regard.

2. Geocaching

I didn’t find many geocaches in 2014.

In fact, it was the lowest total I’ve had since starting in March 2008. In 2014, I finished with 221 finds — an average of 0.6 per day.

I need to get into caching way more again!

Not good!

I say not good because it means I didn’t get out as much. Geocaching, for me, is a game that is fun because it gives me something to do outdoors and it gives me an excuse to go see and do some things. It’s also a nice way to get some exercise with walking and such.

So this part of my goal is several parts. The things I’d like to do include:

Reach 4,000 finds (I need 205)
Place at least 15 or so geocaches
Host 5 or more events
Average at least one find per day for the year
Add another state or country to my totals (hopefully more than one)

Some of this will require some travel. I have other geocaching goals with my Day Zero Project, so if I can do some of each, it will be a good thing. I also want to do more photos with geocaching, but I basically want to do more photos with everything, so that shouldn’t be so surprising!

Honestly one other thing I’d like to make sure I do is geocache with somebody I’ve only known through the internet — such as through blogging or Twitter. I have always wanted to do that for some reason, so 2015 seems like a good time for that.

Travel

My travel in 2014 was a tad limited, mainly because of the Summer of Baseball. An anticipated trip to Montreal (haven’t been there since 2009) never materialized and a few other places I was hoping to go didn’t happen.

So this year seems like a good one to try and take advantage of it.

Outside of Montreal, I’m not sure where else I’d like to go. But it could be a weekend getaway in New York, or a three-day geocaching road trip. It could be for some baseball, or for some brewery tours. It doesn’t have to be a 10-day European getaway (though that would rock), but something different would be nice. Maybe a extended weekend to Vegas? That would give some great photo ops and I am sure geocaching, too.

Part of travel, too, is meeting people. Maybe I’ll figure a way to set up a few geocaching events. Or I’ll look to play some disc golf. Or … anything. I want to expand some things when it comes to travel. It’s all about people.

I know I’ll get to places this year, and hopefully it will be ones where I can see things, do more and meet some people.

Better my blog

A repeat from last year, but I think this year I am ready to actually do this a bit more.

There are several aspects of blogging I am putting here that I feel will better this blog, as well as make it better overall for me. I want to expand blogging-wise, and I don’t necessarily mean by getting thousands of readers per day (though I could dig that).

Blogging to me, still, is about the community and having a place to express myself through writing. Whether it’s a feature, or a journalistic-style post, or something going on in my world, it’s my little place on the web. I don’t get advertising or anything like that, it’s just me.

But I do love visiting other blogs and talking with other bloggers. I learn as I read and peek around at other ones. I get inspiration and I’m always amazed by the talent and ability of other bloggers.

So, with that in mind, here are a few things I’d like to do this year with blogging:

Tweak my design a little (new header, maybe color scheme, maybe some other small changes)
Blog a tad more often and keep up with comments and such
Have, at a minimum, 250 posts for the year
Take part in a few challenges, as well as continue the Photo Blogging Challenge throughout 2015

Blogging is a fantastic community and a great activity. I don’t plan on making money through it, so I need to keep it on a personal level and continue to enjoy writing. Hopefully, it won’t change and I will enjoy tweaking and learning a bit more about the look of the blog.

Day Zero Project

This is a simple goal.

My current Day Zero Project goes through April 28, 2017. But I still need to be working to actually get 101 things done by then. The goal this year is to complete, at a minimum, 25 of those items. I’d also like to have several of them be in the “working on” stages.

I truly don’t know if I’ll get through the full list of 101 by the deadline. Some of the goals aren’t easy and might not be able to be done in time. But it keeps me reaching for something. As much as I would love to finish the whole list, if I can get through 75 percent of the items, I would easily consider it a victory.

Home brewing

I’m adding a sixth this year. And, much like the last one, this one is going to be somewhat simple.

I need to brew more!

I just want to brew more.

In 2013, the only beers I brewed were in December. I am hoping to do it much more often this year. I have ideas and thoughts for beers, so I need to see them through. I have some kits I still want to put together, and a few I want to order. Eventually, I want to work into three-gallon batches, and maybe the bigger, 5-gallon batches. Though, honestly, I like the smaller ones because it’s much easier to get through them if they are ones you don’t like!

The whole process is a lot of fun, so I look forward to doing several brews. For the purposes of a goal on here, I’ll say I’d like to brew a minimum of five beers, though I’d be shocked if I didn’t do at least double that.

There you have my 2015 goals. There are other things I hope to accomplish (such as playing disc golf more, learning more about the board game world that I’ve been getting into etc.), but these are the goals I hope to focus on. Come next January, we’ll see how I did. Until then, I hope you all have a great new year and follow any goals you are hoping to accomplish throughout 2015!

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

Back at it — brewing some beer for the first time in a while

December 11, 2014

It’s been a while since I brewed a beer.

So, I took advantage of a snow day to get a couple done up. And it was nice to get back to brewing. That being said, I hit up a couple of easy kits, but to me that’s fine as it got me liking things again. Which means I now need to start brewing more.

Two beers a fermentin’!

I have a bunch of things that I had gotten a while back — so I hope none of the ingredients have gone bad. I’m honestly not sure how that all works, but I’ll find out in a few weeks as these two beers start to take shape.

And then I’ll start brewing all the others.

I think what I’d like to do for the next couple of months is try to get some of these beers rotating and brewed. I only do the one-gallon batches, so it’s not too bad. This might mean a trip to a brew shop to get a couple of one-gallon jugs so I can have 3-4 fermenting at once. And I might need to get some new bottles to have them handy. The beauty of the one-gallon batch is that you only get like 9-12 beers out of it.

The initial reading off the first beer.

On the other hand, I do have a couple of two-gallon batches, so I can use the old Mr. Beer kegs for those.

I’m excited for these because I haven’t brewed in a long time. The smell on each was good and I had a slight taste of each, and liked the flavors. I’ll be excited to see how it moves along with the yeast and all the good stuff. Bring on the beer!

I’ll also have to think of the name for these beers as I like to keep the beers in my “brewery” on Untappd.

By this point, I had expected to be way further along in my brewing. I still have a lot to learn and looking at several feeds on Instagram makes me realize that. It’s amazing some of the things people know and can do when it comes to brewing.

For now, I just keep it simple.

And in about a month, I’ll get to see what these two beers taste like. Hopefully pretty tasty!

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