Are you a computer geek?  Ever re-built your computer and thought to yourself, “Okay.  I’ve put everything I could possibly want onto my backup and now I’m ready to wipe this clean.” and then found out that the thing that you forgot to put on there is something that you felt was incredibly vital?  Not like anybody would die or anything, but that you’re really REALLY sad to have lost it?

Thus I have deleted all of my brewing records for the past 5 years.

So I start from scratch with the handful of recipes I’ve uploaded here and knowing that I was on batch #65 in Carolina (now entering batch #66).

It may be a little early for new year resolutions, but here is one:  It’s occured to me that if I hadn’t taken a little sabbatical here that I would have a lot more information stored away on the fancy-pants internet.  So the resolution is to get back on the horse or.. in this case.. the blogosphere.

Also - if anybody happens to have any recipes they’d liek to share to help me build my library back up, lemme know, eh?

Brew Calcs.

If you’ve got brewing software, you’ve probably got something that does this already, but if not, this can be really handy - especially that center column - though maybe I’m not necessarily happy knowing the caloric content of my beer.

Ignorance, after all, is bliss.

Oh my.  I made the horrible mistake of attempting to upgrade Wordpress from a super-early version to the current one.  Oh no, young Padawan. Such a thing must not be taken lightly.

Things have been *entirely* reinstalled, and so has Wordpress. Hooray!

Now, now we can finally see updates again. Good heavens, but that has been trying.

InBev wins.

“Bud will be our flagship brand and it will provide us with lots of exciting opportunities as we position ourselves in different markets like China and the U.K.,” InBev chief executive Carlos Brito said Monday.

“I am optimistic about Budweiser as a global company when I see other American companies like McDonalds and Pepsi that have done the same. And we have the footprint and the expertise to do so,” said Anheuser-Busch’s chief executive, August Busch IV, adding that the company would put “global growth at the disposal of our shareholders.”

I think I missed the part where Budweiser isn’t known internationally. After all, they were the official beer sponsor of the FIFA World Cup a couple years ago. In Germany. Home of beer that isn’t Budwesier (although it should be interesting to note that InBev owns Spaten and a lot more fairly good beer, but don’t be fooled. Their end goal isn’t great beer, it’s cashflow. Which.. hey.. it’s a company, right?)

I still can’t decide if this is a good thing for the craft market, or a bad thing. I was hoping for a position statement from the Brewer’s Association, but it hasn’t even appeared on the radar yet, today. Maybe that’s because they’re on Mountain time in the HQ. I wonder if this means we can consider Budweiser an import?

Report: InBev considering $46B takeover of Anheuser-Busch

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

This would fall under the category of, “How can you make A-B suck more?”

What is “In-Bev?”

Given the (multi-pronged) question:

If I wanted to start growing hops, where should I look? How much would I want to grow for brewing once every couple months? Is it too late in the year to start?

Okeedokee. I’m gonna take these in reverse order.

It is not too late in the year to start, but it might be difficult to find rhizomes this late. They sell out pretty quickly each spring.

So. Another step back. Hops are typically grown from rhizomes rather than seeds. The reason why is because people typically grow the female hop plant only. Female plants are the ones that produce flowers for brewing - if you grow from seeds you have no guarantee that you will have female plants. Also, if you have both male and female hop plants, your female plants will produce seeds in the hop cones, which some say will negatively effect flavor.

So - hops are big. They can be grown in pots with some success (assuming a large pot), but hop vines can grow 18-25 feet in length. Each plant can produce 1 - 2 pounds of hops, assuming they have a good yield. Here in North Carolina I have yet to produce enough flowers to brew with, but it should be noted that I put in my hops right before entering into a huge drought, so I kinda got screwed on that. (I have new ones going this year that look great so far.) So, in answer to question two: ONE. But then you’re brewing with the same variety every time. Make your own judgment. Nobody says you have to harvest all the flowers, either.

The last thing to think about is that you’ll have to dry your hops some way, as well. You can use them fresh but they will impart a very different flavor (wouldn’t stop me), and will mold and rot in storage.

If you want to start, I’d look at FreshHops. They sell rhizomes and have a good section on growing them. I also found the book The Homebrewer’s Garden by Joe and Dennis Fisher to be really helpful. They also have a lot of information on herbs used for brewing which gave me far too many ideas.

I don’t know if they widened the tents, or they didn’t sell as many tickets, or what - but I have to say that I had a better time at the WBF than I anticipated. It felt a little less crowded. Also, all in all, seemed that there were more brewers on hand willing to discuss their stuff. Maybe that extra $15 on the tickets was to pay for them to attend, and if so? Awesome.

On the other hand, their signs needed some editing… which is kind of embarrassing when you’re sponsored by a national publication.

Highlights of the festival for me were Sierra Nevada’s “Torpedo”, Ska’s “Decadence” and Jolly Pumpkin’s entire line. Holy crap. Wild yeast brewing in the States? Awesome guys. I applaud your work. Fantastic stuff.

The first Saturday in May (that’s May 3), is National Homebrew Day.

The AHA has released this year’s Big Brew Recipes - which both look really interesting.

One is a clone ofChiswick Bitter, created with help from the Fuller’s guys to honor Michael Jackson - this was apparently his favorite beer.

The other is a low-hop Blonde Ale - a recipe made to address the on-going hop shortage. Which.. I mean.. I have well over a half pound of hops in my freezer and my plants are starting to peak out of the ground. So I may not make this one.

The bitter, though, is a possibility.

Just ordered ingredients to make an American Wheat as well as a traditional Berliner Weisse. Oh, the bugs I will have in my brew stuff!

Yes, my friends, 75 years ago tonight 3.2 beer was legalized once more, signaling the end of Prohibition (though it wasn’t officially repealed via Constitutional Amendment until Dec. 5).

Raise your glasses in honor!

Cheers!

First, let me go on record by saying this: I love beer festivals. They’re awesome. I love being able to try different types of beer side-by-side with others. It can be an afternoon of wonderful education. Just a great time. I was really excited to learn, when we first moved down here, that there was a yearly beer festival in Durham. The first year I went it was fantastic. Big, but not overly large. Crowds, but not overly crowded. Good food, good beers, music on a grandstand and all that - just generally a good time. The following year they started one up in Raleigh which, while a long drive to and from my place (especially after an afternoon in the sun tasting beer), was still worth going to. The past few years it was pretty clear that every frat boy in the area had figured out that there was a beer festival because the prevailing aura at the WBF: Raleigh and WBF: Durham has really been turning from, “Awesome day about beer.” to “LET’S GET HAMMERED!”

This year? Wow. Nothing but irritated.

1) Ticket prices have been escalating sharply. Like 100% over the past 2 years. I’d like to think that it’s because they’re adding in all kinds of new stuff, or maybe more port-a-johns. I hope they’re recompensing the brewers for all the free product they’re giving away because I’m certainly not seeing any added value for my dollar. So, with me and S going together, plus gas, plus food that day, we’re probably looking at dropping well over $100 for the WBF in Raleigh this spring. Which… okay.. it’s a good time and all.. but that’s a big chunk of change for something that I’m going to pee out by the end of the day, and in the meantime, I get to be stuck in a tent over-crowded by frat boys pounding samples instead of appreciating them? Greaaaat.

2) Tickets went on sale at noon on a Wednesday. I got the e-mail on Tuesday, said, “Oh, I need to remember to do that.” Then I did this crazy thing called “work” on Wednesday, and didn’t really think about it. Now? Sold out. Okay, fine. They’re usually pretty good about putting tickets out at a few bars in the area so that you can grab them in person. Usually there’s some at Top of the Hill, maybe some at Milltown. This year? Let’s see… Raleigh, Raleigh, Raleigh, North Raleigh, Cary (might as well be Raleigh), Holly Springs (really?), Durham, and Winston-Salem. Honestly. You put some in Winston-Salem and not in Chapel Hill? Eff you, too. I mean, thanks for the location in Durham, but since every working person between Greensboro and Durham will be heading over there for tickets how long do you suppose those will last? I’d put money down that they’re sold out by the time I get out of work today. … Winston-Salem?

3) They’ve been over-selling like crazy the past couple of years. It has been NOTHING but over-crowded. At Raleigh last year I remember getting there about a half hour before the start of the festival and being lucky enough to find the back gate as it was opening and got in relatively quickly. I noticed, however, that after being there for 2 hours there were STILL people waiting in line to get in through the main gate. How is that gonna feel at $40/ticket? I guarantee that there are people there waiting to get in hours before the festival starts just so that they don’t have to watch people having fun through the fences while they wait for their turn to get in. I might be one of them. I can only assume that one of the reasons behind the price increase is that they’re selling fewer tickets, but I just can’t imagine that that’s true. Why would they sell fewer tickets when they can sell the same amount at twice the price?

So, maybe I’m just bitter about it because I wasn’t on the fast track to get a ticket. I don’t know. Maybe I’m like that kid who grew up loving this obscure band, and now they’re really popular and I can’t go see the concerts anymore because instead of playing at the local bar for a $5 cover, it’s a huge shitty arena show at $200/ticket. That’s kinda what it’s feeling like.

I really enjoyed being the guy who could ferret out beer festivals and bring my friends to them, and they would be full of people who love beer because it’s this amazing beverage. It was personal and fun. You could talk to brewers and try a sample and compare tastes with other people. It was subcultury and cool. Now, I’m waiting in line and getting shoved around by frat boys slamming down samples for $10/hr. I can get a better experience at the local beer bar, now. I won’t get to chat with any brewers, it’s mostly volunteers. In fact, to talk to brewers I might have to buy the $75 “VIP” ticket. Seriously? No.

Why go to a festival? Meh. Because I love beer and I can’t pass it up.

Now all I have to do is find tickets.