Between the Bluff

Session Beer Competition

August 24th – Session Beer Competition.

Bring your beers that are 4.0%-5.1% ABV to Ryan Thompson-Jewell’s for a session beer competition. Time, Sponsors and Prizes TBD. You don’t have to be present to win.

PS. there will be a pot luck and equipment sale so bring either.

Drop off locations: Post on the FB group or use the contact form to arrange a beer drop off. We’ll try to get a location posted.

BYO Recipes

The Brew Your Own mag. is a pretty good read from a home brewer stand point. The one huge complaint is that their so called clone recipes are a joke. Sorry but it is what it is. Many times I'll find the same recipe in multiple issues that varies by many ingredients and amounts. I'll also find major differences from what the Brewer's site says. Sure they can  tweak it for hop availability but they don't tell us the original either. Frankly they should tell us the source of a commercial clone recipe and any changes they made from the original.

Gluten Free Brewing

Paul and myself (Ryan) brewed a 10 gallon batch of Porter over the 4th of July weekend. We added two vials of Clarity-Ferm which reduces proteins in beer. One of which is supposed to be gluten. Now Paul talked to a doctor and we do need to find out more information about the tests and what proteins were reduced.  But so far its very promising that this will allow people with celiacs to drink homebrewed beer. Here is are article by Charlie Papazian on Gluten free beer.

Club Big Brew

We are planning a big club brew on Scott's 40 gallon system. Vote for a date here!

Hops are growing

My hops are climbing. I have some 3 year hops that are mostly 2ft tall with some higher. The second year hops are still about 6 inches tall. If you want to grow hops here are some things to think of. First off pick a hop that you use a lot. You will not know their alpha acid content exactly so I'd pick an aroma or flavor hop variety. Second, when you get the rhizome soak it in water before planting for a few hours. Third, once you do have sprouts setup a string or something for them to climb or they will find something. Its hard to move them after just a few days.  There are some articles on BYO magezine's site, Basic Brewing episodes and lots of info out there.

Support Surly

Surly Brewing plans to build a new brewery addition which requires some law changes. Support Surly Brewing in this effort.