Honey Ginger IPA

Jefe and I bottled the Honey Ginger IPA tonight.

I got the idea from Randy Mosher's "Radical Brewing", a must for any homebrewer. He has it listed under his Holiday Brews. I took the liberty of of not using his standard IPA recipe (insert apology to Randy HERE), but instead using the one from Clone Brews by the Szamatulskis that is a clone of Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale (of which the original is in my personal Top 10... HopHeads Unite! Insert thanks to Szamatulskis HERE). The only difference there was that I did not dry hop (though, now I'm thinking I should have) to get the hoppy bite and pure flavor in the final beer.

I've been sipping on the non-carbonated version since we bottled and I have to say, despite the fact that I am not a big ginger fan (I actually used this recipe to be a gift for my wife and Jefe who are big ginger fans), I'm really liking it. Even uncarbonated, there's enough ginger *snap* to give it the zing it needs to feel good in the mouth with no gas. Unfortunately, there's not a lot of honey notes and that makes me bummed. I was really hoping for a sweeter beer we could share with friends and family as gifts, but alas, the dream goes on. Next time, maybe less ginger, and a stronger clover flavored honey.

Basically, here's the recipe:

Mosher's Honey Ginger IPA Base idea (IPA recipe plus 2 pounds of honey and 4 oz of candied ginger. I got both at Whole Foods.)
Clone Brew's Sierra Nevada Pale Ale recipe (minus dry hopping)
Primary fermentation for 8 days until most activity slowed
Racked to secondary, added honey and ginger and let set for another 2 weeks.
Added 3/4cup priming sugar, will let sit for 2 weeks for carbonation.

I'll post in a few weeks and let you know how it turns out.

Interested in trading homebrews? Email me and let the adventure begin!

Dallas 1759 Society

In honor of the beauty and legacy that is Guinness, the Dallas 1759 Society has been revived. I was unaware of her pevious demise, but evidently she could not be held down. Resurrection has taken place.

When you can, if you are in the Dallas are and understand the ramifications of the date above, drop by and join the list. But don't just join because it is there. Join because you care.

http://www.1759dallas.com

My member name is "brewmonk".

Reason For Fear or Reason for Pride?

I am working on a local business to help with funding for the abbey and as part of the research, I needed to get a good handle on the scope of beers that my mouth has enjoyed. After spending a couple of hours on the list, racking my brain for memories of nights at the house trying new and tasty recipes (see Frambozen post below) and mornings abroad enjoying fine micro-creations (yet to be posted journey to Colorado... Imperial espresso stout), I stopped and decided to take a head count.
What I am wondering now is this:

Should I be bothered by the fact that I am not even near finished with the list and have reached over 70...

or...

Should I take pride in the scope of gifts that I have been allowed to enjoy and simply enjoy the beauty and diversity that we have been allowed to create with the gifts that God has given us?

Pilgrimage to New Belgium

We were graced with the chance to visit the New Belgium Brewery (NBB) in Ft Collins, Colorado during our visit there earlier this month. Fortunately, we lived to tell about it.

We arrived around 4:00pm, just in time to miss the guided tours they offer. No worries. They let you take self-guided tours as well, giving you ample time to read the posters explaining the history and processes of the brewery. We took a good 20 minutes to plod the halls and ooh/awe at all the glory. It was great to see the place where the magic happens.

NBB is a very clean brewery, but not over-the-top shiny. It proves a modern/futurist facility without being showy and pretentious. One of the things I admire most about NBB is the heartbeat they carry for the footprint they leave in the process of making good beer. They have their own recycling area for old glass, they run on wind power from mills, they plant trees in your name at your 10th anniversary. Great place. Great people. Great mission.

When you take the tour, you are offered a free gifting of samples of any 4 beers they currently have on tap. How does one choose from 4 when there are 10 to choose from? In the end, I chose:
Fat Tire (You almost have to. I mean, come on. It's Fat Tire and you are at the brewery. How could you not?)
Abbey Ale (I've had it in the bottle and even on tap here in Tejas, but can't say that I've ever been a fan. However, there must be magic in the taps at the brewery because my palette was kindly surprised. Not too sweet, hints of banana and a great all around mouth feel.)
Test Beer (Sorry, no link. Can't get it anywhere else but at the brewery. Looked like lemon chiffon, brewed with chamomile. A great, bright taste and definitely worth a try if they still have it when you go.)
La Folie (Cask-aged, limited edition beer. They only make enough each year for around 3000-5000 bottles, depending on the year. If one year's batch is really good, they actually save a bit and mix it with the next year's batch, bringing legacy of taste to each new bottle. When you take the first sip, don't be surprised if your teeth fall out of your head. It is like drinking Granny Smith Apples that are on steroids: bitter X 10! But, oh the beauty and the uniqueness of it all.)

Oh, something of note. In the accident that I linked to above were two bottle of La Folie that we purchased for special occasions once we got home to Dallas. The bottles were thrown from the car when the window they were next to busted out just before we started rolling. After we figured out we were all still alive (though, admittedly in much shock) Jeff and I started looking in the surrounding are for items of value that would need to be collected. I noticed the NBB cap buried in the snow and immediately figured we lost both bottles. Much to my chagrin, however, both bottles survived, in tact, even after being thrown 30 feet in different directions. Miracle? Gift of God? I am reminded of Benjamin Franklin's declaration:

"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."

Greg's Best Beer Moments of 2005

2005 was the year of beer for me. In February I began homebrewing at the Abbey with my friend Callaway. This only heightened my curiosity about the great beers of the world, and resulted in a yet another sphere of liquid refreshment that I have become highly snobbish about (coffee and tea happened earlier).

I'm currently drinking the Unibroue Edition 2005 as the drink of choice to carry me over into 2006. This may be one of the best beers I've had last year. But I am thinking now about the best beer experiences I had in 2005. Here's what readily comes to mind:

10. Guinness at Fado's on St. Aidan's Day. Fado's has the best Guinness in town, and the Abbey-dwellers and a few extra friends had a couple of rounds whilst I took the honor of telling Aidan's story.

9. Old Stock Ale from North Coast Brewing Co. at Callaway's birthday party. Callaway had aged this strong ale for an extra year and shared it with me and his girlfriend Leslie, saying "you two have had the greatest impact on my life this past year." An honor not to be held lightly.

8. Smithwick's on St. Patrick's Day. This is a pretty good red ale, but the main thing was telling my friend Tim why Patrick meant so much to me. The next day he told me, "you know, after what you told me last night, St. Patrick's Day is one of my favorite holidays."

7. Kolsch homebrew. This was our first homebrew and man did it taste fine! I particularly remember having a few co-workers over and trying it out together. I haven't felt that much pride since Connor's birth. Needless to say, we were hooked on homebrewing.

6. Several special selections chosen for a reclusive night on St. Martin's Day. You can real all about it here.

5. Our first homebrewed Abbey single. Callaway and I had just begun trying all-grain recipes and this came out brilliantly! I felt like an authentic monk. The best beer we've made so far.

4. The Czar by Avery Brewing with Sean on the deck of the Abbey in March. We were both new to heavy beers, and we probably felt the effects more than we were counting on. But more importantly, we had a great conversation -- the kind that deep friendships are built on.

3. Chimay Blue at the Draught Haus. Chris surprised me with the news that he and Jenny were pregnant. I rushed to the bar and bought a bottle of Chimay's finest and we celebrated the news with gusto. Greer showed up late and announced that it was his birthday -- so we had to but another special brew for the toast...

2. Chimay White at the Dog and Duck. It was Maundy Thursday, so I bought a round of classy brew for my co-worker friends (and Sean) and told them that this was my way of washing their feet. Possibly the most vulnerable act I made all year (had to be there).

1. Pubcrawling in Portland with my beloved wife, Jolie. Portland has more breweries per capita than any other city in the world, and we didn't even scrape the surface on our vacation. Still, it was great to share fantastic northwestern beer with my best friend. Highlights were the Rogue Public House and the tour of Widmer Brewery.

Time with NoisyRagamuffin & New Belgium's Frambozen

I stole Scotty last night while his wife performed dreadedness on my wife's head. We traversed to Mockingbird Station for time under the Irish themery (not a real word) of Trinity Hall.

The night opened with Chips and Curry and the standard Franziskaner Hefeweisen. A great conversation opener.

I then went with the Samual Smith's Organic Ale while Scotty sipped their Oatmeal Stout. The thing I enjoy about the ORganic is knowing that all the ingredients have managed to make it through the brewing process and into the bottle without being touched by pesticides or additives. A true gem.

Amidst conversation of his son's passion for God and desire to know that he knows where he stands with the Creator, the two of us jumped out on a limb and ordered the Thames Welsh ESB. A delightful surprise indeed. We paired it up with the Hall's Pub Style Curry (Scotty's Vegetarian, mine with Lamb) and it made for a surprisingly strong and complimentary relationship. The sweet, smooth toffee and molasses of the Welsh ESB against the spice and punch of the Curry made for the "Who knew?" moment of the night.

Open theism, missiology and ecclesiology. Great converstaion deserves a great liquid. What better than Chimay White Label? In my mind, there is not enough goodness that can be said of Chimay White. I will not try to start in this post. Suffice it to say, the glory of Chimay definitely fit well, a fine match, for the time that Scotty and I were afforded.

"It is good when brothers dwell together in unity..." Psalms

And, here's one for the books. I had this idea last year upon first trying New Belgium's Frambozen. It is a beauty of a drink with only limited availability from October thru December and, seeings as I tried it late in the year, I was not able to employ my dream until tonight. The idea?

Frambozen over Vanilla ice cream.

I got the idea reading a site alst year of a porter that is renown for being poured over ice cream and served as a desert. When I tried the Frambozen last year, I knew this was the inevitable destination for this beer.

So, when Kelly and I visited the store tonight, I picked up some Fram and decided to pair it with Ben & Jerry's Homemade Vanilla. You know a Vanilla Ice Cream is good when you almost stop your experiment in beauty just to finish the scoops you've served yourself.

Nevertheless, the pour of the Fram proceeded and developed into a experience in bliss. Frambozen normally has a little twang to it from the raspberries, however this was calmed only a hint by the sweetness of the Vanilla. Truth be know, had I not poured the Fram myself, I would have thought that the drink could have passed as something from Cold Stone Creamery, it was that good. The sweetness of the Ben & Jerry's Vanilla over the twang and depth of the Frambozen is simply meant to be.

Try it.

You'll like it.

Live Oak Brewery

I had the opportunity to hang out at the Live Oak Brewery in the industrial area of east Austin last week. Ron, my "lead" at Central Market, Callaway, my #1 brewing companion and I headed over on Wednesday morning around 11 a.m. -- just as the winter blast was entering town.

Ron is good friends with Steve, the brewmaster. Callaway, by happy providence, just received his brewing internship there. I was just the third wheel, an interested observer and taster.

I don't normally drink beer so early in the day (I promise!), but I wasn't going to just stand there and miss out, either. So I began with their Hefe Weisen, recalling that Germans traditionally drink wheat beer for breakfast. I've been a big fan of this beer for quite a while. It is as close to a true German-style Hefe as I've found from a U.S. brewery, with the classic hints of bananas and cloves and a milder fruitiness than the typical American variety. Refreshing and creamy.

Next I sampled their Pilz. Again, the idea here is to remain true to the Bavarian tradition, using European malt, yeast and hops. And once again, this is a great beer for Texas heat and cooking. This a very good Pilsner, one I often enjoy at local Austin restaurants with a burger or pizza. It has the crisp backbone characteristic of Pilsner Urquell, though not quite as dramatic. And it hints at the floral aroma of Rebel and the breadiness of North Coast's Scrimshaw.

"So why didn't you guys open a brewpub instead?"

"Because we don't know anything about the restaurant business."

"Why don't you bottle your beers, instead of just delivering kegs?"

"Because the bottling equipment is the largest investment in any brewery."

I like their logic. And I like their humble ambition -- to simply make great beer for the locals, rather than trying to mass market themselves all over the place.

I tried the Liberation Ale next. This is a slightly heavy-bodied IPA, somewhere between the hoppy beers that have become so common in the Northern Pacific microbrew renassaince, and the maltiness of English pale ales. A really pleasant beer, though I would only pair it with thick, meaty foods.

As we were leaving, the owner called our attention to a rare beer they had snuck into the tap. Although it was on the Big Bark label, this was actually the Liberator. This is an extremely high alcohol Doppelbock. It was way too much to drink at 12:30 in the afternoon (good thing these were small samples), but I was very pleased by it. This is one to look out for if you can find it -- an exceptional sweet, malty winter warmer. Try the Ginger Man in Dallas or Alamo Drafthouse South in Austin.

I've been saying this since I've lived here and I've found no reason to change my mind -- this is the best beer in Austin (maybe Texas). At a brewing rate of 3,000 gallons per week of kegs sent to local pubs and restaurants, there's plenty of support for my opinion.