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The Champagne of Blogs (14 unread)

Pre-Season: BBQ in the Rain

Posted: March 29th, 2009, 1:53am CET by Thom

My lovely wife picked up Barbecue Secrets Deluxe by Ron Shewchuk for me at the library a while back, and I haven’t been able to put it down since. This has caused a number of problems, including the fact that I can’t read about making BBQ without this weird Pavlovian trickle of drool running down my chin. The solution is to chew on jerky while reading, I’ve found.

Delicious BBQ with a Weber and a Smokenator

Shewchuk is apparently a hot dog of the competitive BBQ world (what kind of awesome job is THAT?), but more importantly, he writes with the kind of infectious glee that makes you want to stay up all night nursing a brisket to perfection. And so I’ve been dreaming about what the 2009 BBQ season will bring.

In the world of BBQ, I am puny, puny amateur. But this year might be a turning point. For one, I finally found a good BBQ store in Hometown Hearth and Grills. Having secured wood for smoking (cherry, alder, maple, oak) to go along with the Smokenator (my Smokenator review), I have also tricked most of the family into thinking there is magic in my grill. I am proud to say that people have requested my BBQ — yes, they have of their own free will actually asked me to bring BBQ to the family gatherings.

That said, BBQ season in Oregon doesn’t really kick off until June or so due to what I will charitably describe as variable weather conditions. But I want to go into the 2009 BBQ season at full speed, so I figured I’d better start early.

Three weeks ago, I set up the pop-up tent (a must-have for the year-round cook in Oregon) and invited the boys over for beer and BBQ. (Have you seen Dave’s insane recipe for Broken Shard ChardonnIPA yet?)

We had three kettles going for beer-brewing, while I had two racks of ribs going over maple in the Weber with the Smokenator.

I rubbed the ribs with a cup of brown sugar, two tablespoons of kosher salt, and two tablespoons of chili powder. They smoked for three hours at about 240 degrees. Mistake No. 1: too hot!

Then I let them rest in a foil packet in the oven for 215 degrees. Mistake No. 2: I forgot to put honey and whiskey into the foil packets.

Then I forgot about the ribs completely, since we were drinking Belgian Kriek beers like they were going out of style. I served the ribs almost straight out of the oven. Mistake No. 3: I prefer to let them rest for 30 minutes in the foil (but out of the oven) and then throw them on a very hot grill before serving.

All in all, the ribs were pretty good. Not great, but pretty good. It goes to show that pre-season is where you work out the kinks.

Today, I’m test-driving some sausages from Woodstock’s Otto’s Sausage Kitchen with cherry wood. I’ve never smoked anything with cherry wood before, so it’s good to try it when only my wife and I will suffer if it was a bad call.

Everyone needs some funny-looking boots for pre-season BBQ

But back to the pre-season weather: Making BBQ in springtime Oregon requires a certain dedication, I feel. It’s pouring down rain today. The Smokenator is sitting mostly under the eaves of the house because it’s too windy for the Pop Up Tent. I’m rockin’ a wide-brimmed wool hat to keep the rain off my glasses. My trusty cycling jacket from Shower’s Pass keeps me dry, and I wear a pair of white rubber boots from my Dr. Horrible Costume because my back yard looks like Dagobah (”Barbecue you make, hmm?”).

But no worries. A little rain now will make the summertime all the sweeter. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go check those sausages.
Standing Stone Brewing: Stand UP Guys

Posted: March 24th, 2009, 7:16am CET by Dave Selden

Editor’s note: we’re still sorting out all the content from our Bay Area beer trip - it’s taken a bit longer than we thought, but it’s coming. Again, we’ll put together a centralized list of all our stops, in chronological order, when we’re all through.

We got into Ashland a little late on the first night of our beer trip, mostly due to an unplanned stop in Eugene for a sit-down dinner (I thought we’d fast food it). After checking into 4 rooms at the Bard’s Inn, it was already 11:30, but we rushed over to Standing Stone Brewing anyway, since it was the first real stop of our trip. I’d e-mailed the brewery ahead of time (that’s how I got the hotel recommendation), but Thursday looked to be a pretty sleepy night in Ashland, and I wasn’t sure they’d still be open.

In fact, they were just about to lock the front door when 8 thirsty guys from Portland showed up. As our ringleader, I asked if we could sneak one beer in, and Adam, brewer, bartender, and all around nice guy, said yes.

We had the entire place to ourselves, but Adam poured us a round and answered questions for at least a half-hour. Talk ranged from their brewery size (tiny but impressively well-built, beautiful, really) to their energy saving efforts (solar panels on the roof, capturing heat from the brewing process), all while making us feel welcome and unrushed as we drank our excellent beers.

I had the Double IPA, which was a great way to start the trip - it’s a true West-coast style IPA, with tons of hop bitterness backed up by a healthy dose of alcohol and a nice floral character on the aroma. But don’t let me tell you about it: listen to Adam. He’s the Brewer (and a stand-up guy).
Growing Hops: What I Learned from Year One

Posted: March 23rd, 2009, 6:28am CET by Thom
Growing hops for the first time last year turned out better than expected: I actually had a decent crop and was able to brew a beer with it. And frankly, if I’d known then what I know now about growing hops at home, I probably could’ve made a much hoppier brew. (update: See the fresh hop ale recipe and homegrown hops photos.)

So here’s a few tips I’ll take with me into Year Two of growing hops at home:
1. Keep watering the hops. I grew mine in a raised bed, and it can get a little dry. Don’t soak ‘em, but keep it moist. Especially in the first year.
2. Don’t be stingy with the compost. Again, especially in that first year where you’re trying to get that little hops rhyzome to bloom. I used mushroom compost, and added a few handfuls to enrich the soil when I planted, and then once during the early summer. I think this year I might add compost a little earlier and a shade later.
3. Keep the bugs at bay. This was the biggest limiter I had with the hops in Year One. A little bug soap goes a long way when you start noticing little crawly critters on your beloved hops.
All in all, I can’t see why any homebrewer with a little patch of sunlight wouldn’t try growing hops themselves. It’s ridiculously easy and incredibly satisfying to toss your own homegrown hops into a batch.
Sellwood’s Muddy Rudder

Posted: March 22nd, 2009, 10:27pm CET by Thom

The Muddy Rudder in Sellwood

Trying out Sellwood’s Muddy Rudder. Lovely old wood décor. Feels very throw-back with old model boats and a bus or trolley sign from a few decades ago. Comfy benches and nautical knick-knacks mix easily with a decent beer and wine selection. The menu, however, isn’t the working-class pub fare we hoped for. Rather, it’s just on the wrong side of hippy and frou-frou. Still, we’ll be back again, because this place just feels right.
FirkinFest #7 and 8

Posted: March 22nd, 2009, 1:35am CET by Thom

Lucky Labrador’s Super Dog IPA was a bitter delicious hop bomb. Cascade hops, would be my guess but I’m getting drunk and prone to guessing.

And I managed to get some of the last HUB 150. Outstanding. A lady next to us said she didn’t like floral hop characteristics of the HUB 150. Which, to me, is like saying you don’t like America. Anyway, it’s a floral, citrusy hop syrup. Drink with abandon!

And I just found another ticket. Not sure what I’ll try next. I’ve heard good thing about the Rogue Ales Mogul strong ale. We’ll see…
FirkinFest # 6

Posted: March 22nd, 2009, 12:30am CET by Thom

FirkinFest joke:

How’s that beer? Firkin’ great!

Anyhoo. Am trying the Laurelwood Workhorse IPA. Delicious. It’s what I refer to as a full-mouth IPA, because it hits all the IPA notes with their blend of hops. Well played, Laurelwood. Well-played.
FirkinFest #5

Posted: March 22nd, 2009, 12:06am CET by Thom

Onto our fifth beer, the Roots Nevermind Pale Ale. Laura says it tastes like bug juice (in a good way) and Andrew says he’s annihilated his taste buds so can’t comment.

I think Roots Nevermind has a nice bitterness for only 35 IBU. I actually wonder if that’s a typo because it seems to have more bitterness than that.

Anyhoo. Wondering what to do with the last food ticket: cheese or sausage? Thoughts? Tweet us: @bsbrewing.
FirkinFest #4

Posted: March 21st, 2009, 11:52pm CET by Thom

Alas, my fourth beer is a little disappointing here at FirkinFest: the Lompoc C-Note is not oak aged. Just the regular C-Note on cask. Good as always, but the fact is that I can always get it.

Paging a beer snob, table for one!
FirkinFest #3

Posted: March 21st, 2009, 11:27pm CET by Thom

A little of the way through Rock Bottom’s Maltnomah Porter. It’s a very nice, sweetly smooth porter. No hops to speak of, but not treacly sweet either.

Also dove into the cheese from Steve’s Cheese. Delicious. All raw milk cheese, including a goat cheese from Pholia Farms, which the girls from FU Cheese visited last week.

True story: Pholia Farms is off the grid. They get all their power from solar panels, and they have a mini-turbine powered by a creek. I’ll post a link to the FU Cheese write-up later.
FirkinFest #2

Posted: March 21st, 2009, 11:07pm CET by Thom

Sticking with the Brewers Union, specifically “North Fork.” Yum. Like a bitter from jolly ol’ England.

Laura, however, jumped headlong into the hops pool with the HUB 150. She sipped and said, “I may have to spend my next six tickets on this.”

Be sure to check out this excellent opinion piece from the Brewer’s Union Blog about the over the top beers of the Northwest.

I don’t particularly agree — I think there’s room on the beer bandwagon for mild bitters and raging barleywines — but I’m thrilled that there’s someone out there acting as a counter to the big beer trend going on. And it was outstanding to have the owner there pouring with his own set up!
FirkinFest #1

Posted: March 21st, 2009, 10:53pm CET by Thom

Brewers Union Local 180 “That Dark Beer” is my first beer of FirkinFest. Malty coffeeness and amazing. A molasses stout. Steve from Steve’s Cheese said that’s where he’d start. And that recommendation is good enough for me.

By the way, it’s awesome to see Steve at these beer events. We also saw him at Saraveza for a beer and cheese pairing evening that the girls at FU Cheese wrote up.

Doors aren’t even officially open, and I can already tell it’s gonna get a little crowded.
Broken Shard IPA: A ChardonnIPA

Posted: March 15th, 2009, 9:07pm CET by Dave Selden
When we took our beery road trip to Northern California last month, one of the most unusual beers we sampled along the way was an oak-aged Hop Rod Rye at Bear Republic. They’d taken their standard brew, and cellared it for a bit in some old Chardonnay barrels. The bartender didn’t like the beer (said he was ashamed to be serving it), but I found it pretty interesting. The tartness of the chardonnay and big oaky notes paired well with the fruity, somewhat dry Rye IPA.

Yesterday, I brewed my own version inspired by the Bear Republic one. I considered a few options for getting Chardonnay in the beer:
1. Chardonnay juice added to cooled wort: this is the option I eventually went with. It seemed like the most true to the idea of a hybrid wine/beer. I would have preferred un-concentrated juice, freshly pressed, but I don’t know of a good source for that. Perhaps another time.
2. Bottle of Chardonnay added to fermented beer before bottling. This seemed like a good option, as I could have a high degree of control in the blending, but it seemed a bit like cheating.
3. Age beer on Chardonnay-soaked oak chips. I’ve tried this successfully with Maker’s Mark Whiskey before in my “Bourbon Spice Mystery Ale,” and been pleased with the results, if not the timeline. To retain the source flavor (whiskey), the chips need to be soaked a long time, perhaps 2 months or more. Didn’t have that much time this time.
4. Adding a bottle of non-alcoholic Chardonnay to wort before fermenting. I don’t know enough about how NA wine is made to know if there is fermentable sugar in there, and wasn’t willing to take the risk of a too-sweet IPA. Perhaps another option if this attempt doesn’t work well.
Here’s the full recipe:
- 2 lbs. 40 L caramel malt
- 1 lb. 80 L caramel malt, steeped with the 40L at 150 degrees F for 30 minutes
- 7 pounds extra-light malt extract added just before boil
- 3/4 oz. Cascade hops, boiled 60 minutes (I thought the citrusy flavor of this hop would pair well with the Chardonnay, and used lightly, adds a “basic” bitter element)
- 3/4 oz. Cascade hops, boiled 15 minutes
- 2 oz. Amarillo hops, boiled 5 minutes (Amarillo is my favorite aroma hop for IPA, with a ton of floral aroma)
- 2 pinches Irish Moss for clarity (don’t see too many cloudy wines)
- 2 pinches Wyeast Yeast Nutrient (since I’d be asking the yeast to do double-duty)
- 1/2 46 oz. can Alexander’s Pinot Chardonnay Extract, added to cooled wort
I pitched Wyeast 1388 Belgian Strong Ale once the wine extract had been mixed into the wort, which I selected based on the manufacturer’s description: “Fruity nose and palate, dry, tart finish.”

I plan on oaking the beer in secondary fermentation with some new American oak chips, for perhaps 2-3 weeks. I don’t want it to be tooooo oak-y, but that would be true to the Chardonnay spirit, so we’ll see.
Another Oregon Anniversary Brew: Hopworks 150

Posted: March 10th, 2009, 5:52am CET by Thom

After sampling Deschutes’ “Maiden Oregon” on my solo tour of Oregon’s Belgian Beauties, I am now on a quest to find other beers made to celebrate Oregon’s 150th birthday. Another present to unwrap? Hopworks Urban Brewery pulling out the big guns with 150 lbs. of Oregon hops.

“Is this even possible?” I asked after polishing off a growler that my neighbor apparently scammed off the folks at Hopworks. It was, in a word, a hopgasm. If “treacly sweet” describes something that’s over the top in sweetness, what do you call something so full of awesome floral bitterness that you knock down a growler without even thinking about it?

Delicious as it is, I’m pretty sure this 150 pounds of hops thing can’t be true.* In fact, it is totally pieced together from the Internet. This post will likely show up on snopes.com tomorrow next to the Nigerian prince scam, but I’m drunk so who cares?

First, my friend Brooke posted on Facebook that there was a beer with 150 lbs of hops at Hopworks Urban Brewery. I was like “HFS! For reals?” Because that’s how I talk on Facebook. And I accept that it must be true BECAUSE IT’S ON THE INTERNET.

Then, our neighbors show up tonight to invite us out to H.U.B. We decline because we’re stupid. And we’ve already got our Butternut Squash, Ginger, and Leek soup on. I tell my neighbor, “Oh dude, I heard about this insane hop-bomb at Hopworks. I think it’s a seasonal. You gotta try it and tell me what you think.”

Then two hours later, our neighbor shows up with a growler full of it! He says, “Dude, they totally did NOT want to sell me this! It’s the best bitter beer I’ve ever had! And when you blog about this later, use a ton of exclamation points!”

Anyway, Hopworks’ Oregon 150 Super Hopped IPA, which isn’t listed on the damn Hopworks website or the Hopworks blog (which is apparently updated about as often as I post on BS Brewing), is outstanding.

Floral, resin-y, grassy, hop heaven. Apparently they’re selling it for $6 for 16.5oz, according to Brewpublic. And apparently, they will not sell it to you in a growler unless you beg and plead like my neighbor, God bless him…

So I swear that I’ll call Hopworks tomorrow and get the straight story on the “150 pounds of hops” rumor. But in the meantime, get yourself over there and grab a glass; it’s a great reminder why Oregon’s such a great state for beer.

* And I stand in awe of the brewers at Hopworks. I spoke by phone to someone in the office (I need to talk to a brewer later) and they said, “yeah, that IS a lot of hops. But we used 150 lbs. in that batch.” Wow.
Bottleworks Seattle

Posted: March 5th, 2009, 7:34am CET by Dave Selden

Sometimes I forget how spoiled I am to live in Portland. We’ve got not one, not two, but three pretty fantastic beer stores in city limits, and even the grocery stores get special releases from breweries like Full Sail, Deschutes and even smaller local brewers like Laurelwood and New Old Lompoc. Great beer is everywhere, on premises and off.

I remember how spoiled I am when I leave Portland. Although I recently found a good place in my hometown of Des Moines, Iowa, most places I travel to have a real dearth of quality beer stores that treat beer properly and carry a significant number of bottles.

I recently found a gem of a beer store in Seattle’s Wallingford neighborhood: Bottleworks, a beer store that launched Brouwer’s Cafe, another Seattle favorite. They don’t have near the selection of Belmont Station, jammed as they are in a narrow storefront lined with coolers. But what they lack in space, they make up for in creativity.

Bottleworks had several custom six-packs on offer, one of which was the Thomas Hardy vertical shown above. You have to love the hand-written custom wrapper on the six-pack holder, but more than that, you have to admire the passion and care that stockpiles enough Thomas Hardy to offer six years’ worth at the pretty reasonable price of $49.99. They also had a 6-year vertical of Sierra Nevada’s Bigfoot available.

The vintage offerings weren’t limited to verticals, either. In fact, they had several atypical vintage beers available, ones that I have never seen or heard of being aged before: Urthel’s Hop-It, and Saison Dupont, to name a few. I thought it was especially cool that they hand-wrote the dates on the bottles since both those examples don’t include the date in any easily-discernible fashion.

Once again, this was a bit of a dangerous find, but a fun one. I ended up carrying a case of beer about four blocks, which tired me out, but has proven to be a worthwhile pursuit. As a matter of fact, I’m sipping on a 2003 Sierra Nevada Bigfoot as I write this … and a 2009 awaits. If you’re curious, you can follow my progress on our newish twitter feed …