I think the best way to get some research into beer styles is to go to a great beer pub and taste a whole bunch of examples right in a row.  That’s what the Dudes have planned tonight.  We are heading out to the Publick House in Brookline, MA to conduct some beer style research.

Yeah, that’s what we’re going to call it.

I think my plan is to have a few different saisons - just to get to know how the one I brewed stacks up.

I am sure I will taste a few examples of rauchbier to get me prepared for the next brew session.

If you are ever visiting the Boston area, make a trip out to The Publick House.  They have a great beer selection for your research needs.

I created a Pomegranate Cinnamon Red Ale for the Sam Adams Category 23 competition and got the results back last week.  I don’t have the sheets in front of me (I’ll update the post when I do), but it got a score in the “Very Good” range.  The amateur judge had some nice comments and the more experienced judge thought the flavor additions covered up the base beer.

I knew I threw it together so I am not really disappointed in the results.  I don’t think I am experienced enough to brew a category 23 beer that is going to taste great.  Thanks for the T-shirt, though.

I do have my sights set on the New England Regional Homebrew Competition in October.  By then, I will have 3 beers ready for review and will be more confident that they will come back with some higher marks.

We got a press release sent to us about the latest book from Jamil Zainasheff.  He co-wrote another one and this time it was with Chris White of White Labs.  It’s entitled: Yeast: The Practical Guide to Beer Fermentation.

I have to say that it’s one that I might have to pick up.  I think my beers have gotten a whole lot better since I learned about pitching the right amount of yeast and getting fermentation temperatures under control.

It’s not to say I know everything.  Hopefully the chapters on fermentation don’t just boil down to “get a fridge and a thermostat”…although that’s ultimately what every homebrewer should do eventually.  I guess I am looking for some good in-between steps.

Anyway, I feel I could benefit from learning more about the little critters and this book looks like a great resource.   

I was playing around with Google’s Insights for Search just to see how popular home brewing is as a hobby, from the search engine’s perspective.

I noticed there is a more than usual downward trend in the number of queries on the phrase ”home brewing beer” this year.

I know this chart is based on people searching for “home brewing beer” in Google, but I think it can be seen as a indication of the popularity of the hobby.  Do you think that there are less people getting into it or just less people searching for information about it? 

Are there more people that you know picking up the hobby of homebrewing? 

I can tell you it’s popular in my house.

Long week.  Can’t wait to go home and have a homebrew drinking Friday night.  I have a 9 month old hard cider that should be interesting to taste.  Plus, a few Irish Red warmed to about 55°F will be nice as well. 

I’ll take some photos of the pints if they last long enough.

Update: No photos.  Pints disappeared too quickly.

All right.  Time to rock the Saison recipe.  I have the hot weather to promote some high fermentation temperatures.  Now I just need to buy the stuff.  I am going with More Beer this time around.  I need to buy a false bottom to go along with the 10 gallon cooler I am going to purchase.  With that, some plastic tubing, and a special fitting, I will (should?) finally have my all grain shiznit together. 

No more stuck sparges - is the goal.

Other than that, it’s all about the ingredients:

Belgian Pilsner malt

Munich malt

Wheat malt

Noble hops (Saaz or Tettnang) 

Saison yeast

Not sure I need all those specialty malts.  I will probably add a pound of table sugar to the mix to dry it out, but I don’t need to buy that.

While at the ACBF, we visited the White Birch Brewing booth.  They are a very small brewery out of New Hampshire and part of a growing group of start up businesses known as Nanobreweries.  While there is no official definition of a nanobrewery, their output is really small (less than 7 barrels). 

Here is a grand list of nanobreweries across the US.

I read some other articles on the costs, time, energy, and legal stuff that goes into creating a nanobrewery.  From all accounts, the odds are stacked against you to make the operation profitable. 

Although I like keeping things that I find fun out of my “making a living” bucket (flies in the face of the ‘do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life’ adage, but it works for me), I praise these entrepeneurs’ courage and vision.

Hey Mike, let’s go to Juilo’s.