Brew Dudes Homebrewing Blog

Beer Judging

On August 22, 2007

Took my first stab at formally judging homebrew this past Saturday (8/18). Drove out to Hubberston, MA to assist with the FOAM’s annual homebrew competition that they run in conjunction with the Blues n’ Brews festival which occurs the week after (8/25). FOAM is a great club located in central/western MA.

What a great time. I sat in on the Belgian Beer, Dopplebock and English Ale judging sessions (referred to as flights). Overall, most of the beers were really good and a couple were exceptional. [To whom-ever submitted the English Mild…damn I loved the aroma on that beer, if that aroma had carried into the taste…I would have stopped brewing until I found that recipe]

Anyhow, I learned a lot about the tasting and judging process. Got a chance to really exercise the palate. The basic process is to smell, look and taste… all the while converting your observations into words. Then comparing those experiences with the BJCP guidelines and seeing how close to style each beer had come. And talking to other judges and brewers in the room really teaches you what phenolic means or malty and grainy really tastes like… and how it can differ beer to beer.

Judging is a great way to advance your skills as a brewer. Once you learn how to taste the way ingredients work together you can better dial in your own recipes. Tasting and judging others work really helps you decide what is “good” and what is “great”. Often when tasting our own beers I think we can lose impartiality.

Fully recommend that anyone with brewing experience, volunteer at the next local competition to judge. It’s a great way to get yourself moving towards the next level of experience as a true brewer.

Thanks to the folks at FOAM and all the judges. I had a great time helping out and hope do do it again next year. By then I will hopefully have judged a few more comps.

Blues and Brews Festival

By John Krochune

On August 20, 2007

In Festivals

The dudes and friends have made it an annual tradition to attend the Blues and Brews Festival in Westford, MA. The main attraction is the many different local and not-so-local microbrews to sample along with some other great features such as Dr. Gonzo’s Uncommon Condiments (I can’t wait to try the Scotch Bonnet stew again). Plus plenty of Blues music to help you get your groove on.

I tend to leave my groove at home.

It’s happening this Saturday at the Nashoba Valley Ski Area, which is a change in venue from last year. From the looks of a few 10 day forecasts, it’s gonna be a hot one.

Maybe I won’t need that stew after all…

We will be documenting the event digitally, so look for a multimedia post early next week.

There is also a homebrewing competition being held at the festival and Brew Dude Mike will provide an update with his involvement with this year’s contest.

Wort Oxygentation Parts

By Mike

On August 15, 2007

In Equipment

I ordered this yesterday from morebeer.com. I have done a fair amount of ordering fom these guys in the past and I am usually pretty pleased. The customer service is generally quite good on technical issues and order issues. I’ll track how long the order takes to get from West Coast to East Coast.

oxygentation stone and regulator

I also ordered a new high pressure gauge for my CO2 regulator. I knocked over the tank when moving the fridge and smashed it. The regulator still works fine but I can’t tell how much gas is in the tank anymore. I also ordered a regulator cage to protect the gauges for the next time I knock it over. I’ll post pics of the replacement procedure once the gauge and cage show up with the oxygentation setup.

Happy Brewing!!

Wort Chiller

By John Krochune

On August 14, 2007

In Equipment

Now that I have a propane cooker, I need to get some other equipment. The most important item is a wort chiller. Since I will be brewing a larger volume of wort, I need something that will cool this larger volume from just under boiling temperatures to fermentation temperatures (around 70 degrees).

When you first start out brewing your own beer, you boil a concentrated wort that ranges from 1 to 2 gallons for recipes that make 5 gallons of beer. After you are done boiling it, you add it to your fermentation vessel with enough plain ol’ water to make 5 gallons. As you probably can guess, it’s a lot easier and quicker to cool 1 to 2 gallons of almost boiling wort to 70 degrees. I would take my boiling pot and let it sit in my kitchen sink in an ice bath for about 10 minutes. While the pot was sitting there, I would take 3+ gallons of spring water that were cooled in the fridge and pour them into my fermantation bucket. Pouring my wort into this cool water always brought the wort to a temp where I could put my yeast in and not be afraid of killing the little guys.

Why do you need to cool the wort quickly? Well, the faster you can get the wort into the fermentation vessel (just fancy talk for bucket), introduce yeast, and seal it up, the less chance there is for wild yeast to get into your wort and make it taste funky. Quick cooling means more control over the final taste of the beer.

After some research, More Beer looks like it’s the place for me to buy this piece of equipment. The free shipping offer on orders over 59 bucks is the biggest reason I am ordering from this site.

Here’s a photo of the one I want:

I have some other items I want to buy too. Once I get a moment to order it, I will let you know how the experience is.Here’s a post about getting my wort chiller.

Poor Yeast Prep

By Mike

On August 13, 2007

In Yeast

I brewed up a batch of ordinary bitter one week ago. I had a few unused smack packs of yeast, WY1028, but they were old and had warmed up some in a dying fridge. After one week the beer never took off. Brewing for the last ten years is supposed to teach you something about yeast prep, and most times I make a starter and use fresh yeast. NO MORE BAD YEAST! I am preparing to make a stir plate, so I can ensure good yeast everytime. I’ve got most of the parts together so I’ll document the build-out and post my process in the near future. I am using the recent BYO and Zymurgy articles for reference.

Here are a few pictures of my dead Bitter. Resting quietly next to a Blonde Ale that will get racked to secondary soon.

Fridge Front