At the end of it all I love beer. I love beer festivals. I love chatting to others who love beer. Even more, I love people that are this passionate about their hobby of brewing beer even if it is at great expense and no profit, but for pure enjoyment. That is where the money is at and that is where you will find the best beer! C'mon, you have no excuses and an entire year of practice and brewing to get through so you can showcase your brew at next year's fest! I plan to enter and have an interesting brew or two up my sleeve...let's hope for the best!
This was the first year that I attended the Southyeasters Summerfest mainly because my mate, Dom, managed to win a set of double-tickets from the kind folks over at League of Beers. At the outset I was not sure what to expect, but kind of readied myself to taste some probably okay tasting beer and drink beer out of bottles with some of the original brewery's labels still stuck on them (this is based on my home brewing career up to this point)...upon arrival, I was proven so badly wrong!!! Hosted at the South African Breweries in Newlands the energy and vibe was palpable as everyone was bouncing around in high spirits. The event is organised by the local home brewer's club, The Southyeasters, and aims to connect some ambitious home brewers with a thirsty audience. This festival involves meeting down-to-earth brewers going through great trials and tribulations to show off their pride and joy and tell you a few cool stories along the way. As is par for the course you can expect some food trucks to help fill that hole in your soul, some seats for when the tent gets too crowded and of course a massive tent “beweging” for shading and carbo-loading. This year even had some guys roasting an entire animal (for TV apparently) on this beautiful, beer-weathered Sunday afternoon. Most of the stalls far outshone my expectations with their branding, marketing and most important of all, exceptional tasting beer! Some of the guys I met have only been brewing for as little as two months and showcased what was basically their second or third batch, but still tasting pretty good considering. Of course there were some “seasoned” brewers who have been at it for more than 12 years showcasing their talents and aspirations to become more commercial brewers. Every single person at the festival was extremely approachable and open to discuss their recipes, brewing techniques and some of their struggles and hope-to-haves. Some highlights for the day included the IPA from Bad Dog breweries - the most popular beer of the day with some crazy fruity character. I also really enjoyed the experimental Chocolate and Chili Porter which had a handful of de-pipped green chilies added to the secondary fermentation making for a very interesting beer. It had a nice smokey porter up front and ended in somewhat of a "green" pepper flavor, not offensive at all I must admit. The guys promised some more chilly in the next batch to see what happens...would be keen to try that, I won't lie. The guys from Three Anchor Breweries produced an exceptional Weiss and their flagship English IPA also seemed to be quite a hit. Liam from MAC homebrew had some great beers on trial, my favorite being the Mocca Brown Ale - pure rich and creamy goodness! I must give him credit for going all out with branding - even selling some Oak chips for the experimental few among us. I picked up two bags to see what I can get out of it as I am quite keen to try it in my Black Rye recipe... One of my favorites was the Red Rye IPA from Oakfields Brewing which had a very smooth, full flavor to it with the perfect balance of bittering and aroma hops to make it a pretty remarkable beer (got one of my votes). I found myself going back for a couple of tasters of this brew, although the Festive IPA was also pretty good. The last beer that I enjoyed was an IPA from Triggerfish (one of the few commercial guys on the day) that was made from actual whole cone hops that were freshly picked and shipped all the way from George for brew day. It might be my imagination or just a great recipe, but it did give the hoppiness an extra punch that I enjoyed. There were so many guys representing and so many different styles and beers to try and I would honestly love to give you all a nod of my cap. Well done chaps! I think any home brewer should definitely make an effort to attend this festival to get a sense of what the possibilities are if you were to make a real effort. I would recommend it even more if you are not already home brewing and are wondering how hard it is. Just try one of the beers and start chatting to the guys - I can guarantee that nine out of ten times you will get the same story about how they got started with kits and buckets and how the brewery (or kitchen as the wife probably calls it) has progressed making you feel the urge to rush home and get started right away! At the end of it all I love beer. I love beer festivals. I love chatting to others who love beer. Even more, I love people that are this passionate about their hobby of brewing beer even if it is at great expense and no profit, but for pure enjoyment. That is where the money is at and that is where you will find the best beer! C'mon, you have no excuses and an entire year of practice and brewing to get through so you can showcase your brew at next year's fest! I plan to enter and have an interesting brew or two up my sleeve...let's hope for the best! Check out some more pics of the fest and once again a massive thanks to the guys over at League of beers for the tix. Mash appreciation my fellow beer brethren!
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I know we have been having some crazy hot weather recently, but I have had a special beer in the fridge for weeks now. I have been planning to cook up something nice to accompany it for when I crack it open and enjoy it, but I was never really sure what would work. Fortunately, I was able to chat to someone who had a hand in brewing this specialty beer and based on their recommendation (and despite the heat) it was time for some curry on this fine, lazy Sunday afternoon. This is no average brew, not something you sling down with your Sunday night toasted sandwich. This is not a beer that you consume while watching a game or even while doing a brew. This beer requires your full attention... Even though we are technically cheating by using one of the Spice Adventure packets, you have to admit that they are convenient and do taste pretty good if you put some love into your cooking! Seeing as the brewer's son recommended a good spicy, fruity curry (not hot, but spicy...which is different) we settled on a mild cape malay curry and did a spot of grocery shopping on our way home from cooling down over a pint at a local watering hole. We spent most of the afternoon on the prep work and getting the cooking out of the way while I was constantly taking the beer out of the fridge and re-reading the label like an excited kid who got a bike on a rainy Christmas day which he couldn't exactly use yet. I knew it would be worth the wait in the end as I have learned form the Kraken and the Champion's Breakfast that anything from Triggerfish is worth its weight in gold! Initially it had a very belgiany-blonde aroma with a strange "sweetness" lurking in there somewhere. I did not get a load of fruity hop as I would expect form an IPA, but definitely the malty vibes from the double blonde style coming up strong. The first sip sent my beer geeky taste buds on a new journey - firstly finding a deep wedge of creamy malt, followed by a slightly sweeter finish unlike the fruity-bitter I have become accustomed to from the IPA style. This is not to say that there is no bitterness to this beer as I feel that it is just enough to make this something that requires constant sipping which is exactly how any great beer should be! The sweet round-off had a bit of an alcohol kick, but it was more of an afterthought as if it was tapping you on the shoulder and pointing at the ABV percentage with a naughty smile. I can liken it to having left some fruit sitting in some vodka and you start taking small bites after a couple of hours - good fruity sweetness, but a definite yet delicate alcohol linger. If nothing else it is beers like this that made me jump head first into this exciting new world of South African beer culture - beers that force you to break out of a comfort zone and push your knowledge and appreciation both as a consumer and aspiring brewer. I have to tip my hat at the brewers for coming up with this one and acknowledge their effort to satiate an ever increasing thirst for something new. Pairing this with the Mild Malay Curry was absolutely amazing! The mild spiciness and the slight fruitiness from the chutney I added worked really well with the malty/sweetish combination from the beer. It was quite a different taste from having the first sip before a bite, and then having a second sip after taking a bite of curry - however both fairly enjoyable.
It is a bold beer that washes down well when shared with that special person in your life. Go out and get one, share it with someone and savor it over some of the smaller, more relaxed moments in life as they always tend to be the best. Cheers! After all your hard work and effort you have finally managed to get something that now resembles some kind of beer albeit flat. In this third and final instalment of my mini all grain brewing series we discuss the process of bottling, carbonating and finally enjoying your beer – well, enjoying will come as a seperate post, but you know what I mean...so without further adieu, let's pick up right where Phase 2 left us... Technically, to ensure that the fermentation is definitely complete, one should take a sample and do two separate hydrometer readings over 24-48hours. If the readings are stable it means that all the sugar has been converted with success and that fermentation is overs. This can take anything from five to fourteen days – all depending on your ambient temperature, yeast type etc. etc. but let me not get too nitty gritty. I find I get the best results if I leave my beer for two to three weeks in the primary fermenter. Yeast is a wonderful organism that eventually cleans up after itself so the longer you leave it the more sugar it consumes and the more trub will sink to the bottom leaving you with clear, clean beer. Magic in a bottle if you will...now on to priming and what it means. Priming is basically the idea of adding some more sugar to your fermented beer to allow the remaining yeast cells to start a secondary fermentation – this time occurring in your bottle – which is the cause of the fizz or “carbonation” as the pointy nose among us would quickly point out. Needless to say this needs to be a carefully calculated exercise as too much sugar will cause some WWII re-enactments (from your bottles and your live in lady) and too little will feel like you are just sucking on your grain bag. There are countless stories on forums and other blogs about "bottle bombs", but do not let those guys scare you. From my research I have found the two main methods with which to achieve carbonation, fortunately I have some experience with both:
To succesfully complete this phase of the brewing process using my preferred, batch priming method you will require:
My process for doing a batch prime
Now the impatient wait really starts and the eager need to taste your beer will at times become unbearable and drive you to moods worse than some of the craziest PMS you have ever seen. But be strong young Jedi for the longer you let the beer sit in them bottles, the better! The minimum recommended wait is two weeks for everything to get nice and bubbly and the extra sediment to drop, but I usually do a tasting after week just to see if it will be worth the wait in the end. Before enjoying your pint you want to get it in the fridge at least 24hours before to make sure you lock that CO2 in nice and tight. This concludes the mini-series on mini all grain batch brewing how to. I sincerely hope this has been helpful to you in some way and obviously this is not the only way to go about it, but this is the way that works for me. Drop some comments and let me know what you think or how you go about making your own all grain goodness.
Next up – in what I guess will be part four technically – serving your beer to your mates and getting them to give you some constructive feedback for your next batch. Until then, I salute you! Cheers. What do you get when you cross a Mexican, some Naked Mexican from Boston Breweries and some cajun/chilly spices? well that question kind of threw me too... My awesome colleague, Briceida, is a full blown, legitimate Mexican - a cheerful human who likes to eat biltong and sing the theme song to "Rocket Mongkees". Due to my incessant chatter about beer at work she eventually asked me one day if I had ever tried Michelladas. Frowning I did what every South African does best..."Huh? a wat se goed?" "Man, Michelladas...with the cerveza and the chilly spice and the ice?" This is something I have never even heard of before and according to her this is as common as Simba chips and equally cheap too as the expression goes . Officially an evening of 'burbs, beer and braai was set in motion. We could not have asked for a better summer's evening and soon the fire was going and the process got underway to construct this magical Mexican bebida. It is super easy to make and requires a short list of ingredients. This is how you go about making your own:
Awesomely refreshing taste, very light and very drinkable, but Bri is quick to warn that this is not for everyone so approach with an open mind. I thought it was quite fun and I can see myself keeping one or two cervezas in the fridge just in case the Mexican mood strikes. We ended up having a great time out in the suburbs, braaing up some lamb chops and eventually settling down with some more drinks and custom entertainment...damn this girl's got some pipes... Michelladas are perfect for those long summer days when you watching the game with some mates or when you are hanging around the fire out in the sun. But I found that it worked just as well for us rocking out the apartment braai on a sunny Friday evening. Go ahead and give this one a try! One of the sneaky things that Bri taught me about Michellada is that it ends up being an excellent hangover soother the next morning...just saying...
Wow, this first weekend of March was a humdinger for Cape Town residents with every interest trying to pry away some of your hard earned cash just after pay day. There was the Design Indaba at the CTICC, the Tattoo Expo at City Hall, the Cricket Test in Newlands, the Art Fair at the Waterfront and of course the Craft Beer Project's Beer Festival out in Constantia. All this on one weekend means that you would have to miss something and needless to say any opportunity for beer and you can count on me being there! Seeing as I spent Saturday at the Tattoo Expo it turned out that I would be heading to False Bay Rugby Club on the Sunday to get my fill of hops and truck-style food. Come rain or shine (which it did in the end) I would not miss it even though I ended up doing a solo mission. Turned out to be a pretty good idea though as it meant I got a chance to look at the Fest a bit more objectively. It also afforded me the chance to chat to some of the brewers and even allowed me time for some pics. I attended this same fest last year and I can honestly say that this time round the guys have really stepped up their game. It felt like there was much more on offer than just "come and taste our beer". Perhaps this is due to the fact that so much more of the population have caught onto the idea of craft beer (or whatever you choose to label it) and the variety it has to offer. With the usual local breweries like DPBC, Wild Clover, RedSky, Boston and CBC featuring as the most popular there was also a new entry by the name of Apollo - a recent start-up (co-brewing with RedSky) that has come to light after a period of garage experimentation. To be honest though I guess this is how everyone gets going and where I hope to end up one day! The guys are very nice and laid back and have some interesting takes on some classics. Another favorite of mine was the DPBC Imperial IPA which is absolute magic if you are a hop-head like me. Just before leaving I found the hop-infused Vodka shot from the guys at Beerguevara and some peeps were kind enough to let me photograph their experience, but in case you missed it be sure to grab a tot at the next fest! Apart from all the different breweries in attendance there were also some machines from SA Hot Rods, some delicious foods from The Grubbery, Meisies and The Chef's Bench to name a few and some live acoustic vibes to stew in for the afternoon. Unfortunately I could not hang around for too long as I would have loved to stay there most of the day, but I had brewing of my own to get to (and I was still aiming for a stop at the Newlands fountain on my way back to Town). I did manage to try one of the Apollo Amber Ales and smashed one of the Imperial IPA's with a delicious burger from The Grubbery. I have to congratulate the organizers for an extremely well run gig and for providing this beautiful beverage to the masses! Do not miss this one next year!!! At this year's installment of The Craft Beer Project's annual festival the guys from Beerguevara had an interesting addition to their usual brigade of beer brewing equipment - a hop infused Vodka shot! Gross as that might sound to some, I think it an excellent idea! I was fortunate enough to have a group ordering a round just as I passed and luckily the camera was at the ready...All in for a shot? This is how it went down: Did you try one of these beasts at the fest? Let me know what you thought of it in the comments...
Today was one of those days where a host of different situations culminate into a stream of events designed simply to show no mercy...we had somehow run out of coffee at home. Both the espresso and plunger variety might I add!!! First-world problems I know, but we have all been there: you lie in on a lazy Sunday morning and look forward to that first cup of freshly pressed black gold that will kick you in the teeth and make you suddenly sit up straight. Well, today we found that we had lost that bet and the prospect of leaving the house for coffee was akin to melting my face off with spoons that had been heated by blowtorch!!! Feeling instantly depressed I turned my attention toward the fridge and there it was - sitting under the same golden fridge light it has always been, but now somehow more attractive and appealing than ever. What is that you say there, valiant sir? A Beer for breakfast? But how can this be? What gods have conspired to make this happen? Standing proud and defiant with a mustache that would make any mere mortal cower, was this masterful mix between the legends at Triggerfish and the magic that is Deluxe Coffee. My two favorite things in the same bottle I thought as I had to choke back a man tear... The problem now was that it was just past nine in the am and surely one can not bust a cap at this time of the morning, but there are no rules on brunch! Right? Suddenly there was purpose to life and my Sunday now had some direction so without wasting a beat I was planting the idea with my lady to think of something for us to eat as I was determined to have this beer as “brekkie” today. Next think I know she mentioned scrambled eggs and started firing at me with questions pertaining to mushrooms, cherry tomatoes and what kind of bread is left for some toast. Water off a duck's back as now I have to figure out how to float the idea of dunking a beer at this hour, but I knew coffee would be my angle. Give it an hour and the caffeine headache will prevail... We managed to hold out until just after 11am munching on some rusks and other bits and bobs we found lying around – end of the month times turns the flat into some kind of post-apocalyptic wasteland with every inhabitant having to fend for their own survival. Magically brunch appeared in the form of gourmet-looking scrambled eggs with some chopped up goodies on toast alongside a dollop of my new favorite hot-sauce to spice things up. Now the idea of a breakfast beer did not look that bad at all. Black as night with just the right amount of fizz the first nose on this beer was a very strong smokey-stout feeling, but that first sip confirms a strong hint of a slightly different bitter lurking in the shadows ready to pounce on you. It was a bit of an unexpected easy-drinking pint with the brewer expertly fusing the two worlds of beer and coffee into an extremely smooth yet punchy pint. What makes this beer great is that the coffee taste is not overpowering this hearty stout, but it lends the perfect characteristic to the overall taste and smoothness which made for a very enjoyable breakfast accompaniment. If ever you find yourself in Roeland Liqours and you come across this beardy-fellow, greet him and make sure to take him and some of his friends home with you. One Sunday morning you will be making an epic brunch after a long night, or pulling out the skottel with some of your mates and then you will have the perfect excuse to have some beer before noon...now just don't blame me!
So the lady and I travelled down to the Eastern Cape before and after attending the wedding of some family friends in St. Francis (I'm, sorry they had Jack Black Lager on tap at an open bar so they are pure awesome!). Whilst down there I thought it would be a good idea to pull through to my home town of Port Elizabeth to go see my pops and brother for a short visit - I mean I cannot be that close on a visit from the Mother city and not pop in. Needless to say when the Bradley boys get together you can always bet on some beer to be part of the equation and nowadays Port Elizabethans are getting spoiled for choice with the brews available down at Bridge Street Brewery. This swish new affair is one of the first “craft” breweries in town brewing and selling their beer albeit it only at the pub itself. To be honest I find this quite awesome though as it makes it quite unique and encourages someone like me go out of my way to support their little operation. I must admit I have visited this brewpub on three separate occasions now, but I only had my camera for this last time. Every time I popped in it seemed to be buzzing with patrons eager to quench their thirst with some of the tasty English style beers available on tap. In true beer appreciation style they also serve some other “imports” from the Cape Town scene along with their four flagship brews – the Boar's Head Bitters, Black Dragon Double Chocolate Stout, Celtic Pride Pilsner and the Bowman's Cider. My favourite by far is the Black Dragon Chocolate Stout which I find to almost be a session stout...yes, you got that right I said session stout! A superb blend of smokey, malty and very mildly bittered black juice able to excite and tame your taste buds all at the same time. Next in line I would place the Boar's Head Bitter displaying a nice malty character and not as much bitter as you would expect from an English styled beer, but still another beer that can be consumed all night with the greatest of ease. The Pilsner displays a very grainy front lingering into some malty territory with an almost absence of bittering hop making this a very welcome change to the usual lager or ale available at every other brewpub. Sadly the cider was not available during my short two day visit so that will have to wait for later this year... Arriving for one pint on this relaxed Sunday afternoon we eventually ended up meeting some friends and even staying for dinner managing to get our order in just before the kitchen closed at 7pm. Don't forget to give the kitchen a nod as they serve down-right tasty burgers as big as side plates! Mix together top quality beers produced in house to the highest standards and an open, contemporary atmosphere and you are sure to please anyone from grudge to gran at this brewpub...I mean I was only in PE for three nights and I was there for two of them... Sadly my time in PE was too short and I was not able to chat to the brewer or one of the managers to take a closer look at the brewing side of this little gem, but at least I got to have a peak through the windows giving me a tiny peak into the world that is Bridge Street Brewery...maybe next time... Th only other drawback to this experience was that they could only fill three of the six spots on the taster tray, but I guess one can understand that the craft revolution is yet to take of in Port Elizabeth so it is harder to source ingredients and other breweries willing to send their goods to the Eastern Cape. Check out a gallery of pics from this visit and make sure to add this as one of your destinations if you are ever travelling round this part of our beautiful country! The next phase in this series of all-grain brewing is to get your sparged out liquid to start a good rolling boil. I have found that I do not get a great rolling boil with my little Defy, but at least it is bubbling and churning a little which is better than nothing I guess. As discussed in the previous post of this series I do my mash in the same vessel that I boil my brew so there is no reason for me to transfer much as I do my sparging straight into my boiling pot also. Ideally it is best to get the boil going as soon as possible and it is recommended to boil for a minimum of one hour. There are some grains that require a slightly longer boil time to ensure all the off-flavours are cooked off as is the case with a pilsner malt for example. It would be best to do a little research on the malts you are using or even just chat to your local grain slingers as they always have sound advice. In my case I was brewing a simple ale so I set my little oven timer to 60 minutes once I saw some constant bubbling has started. Boiling is the stage of the beer where you massively influence the flavour and aroma profile and careful planning and prep work can be your best friend. What I like to do while I wait for the boil to get going is to start measuring out my hop additions and leave it out on paper towels with the time at which they need to be added. At the same time - and arguably equally important - I start to make notes in my little brewing handbook (basically just an A4 bound book I keep in my brewer's chest) – I start writing out the base malts that I have used and in what quantities, the amount of water used for the mash, the amount of water I used to sparge, temperatures, any and everything...I even write notes on what I could adjust or possibly improve for the next session. The second major reason for boiling your wort is to sterilize the mixture. Ultimately the yeasties get to do their job best when they are the only little things feasting on your sugary mix. Further implications of the boil are far reaching as it helps to cook off any off-flavours and – at the risk of writing a technical document on the subject – it also exposes a lot of the proteins and other nutrients that eventually contribute to the beer's overall “performance”. Or at least that is what I remember reading... Basic recipes will tell you exactly how long you need to boil, what hops to add at what time interval which is usually expressed as boil time remaining (so generally if it says Cascade at 15min it means after 45min of boiling or when you have 15min left of a 60min boil). There is one specific line I remember from something I watched on beer brewing once: the earlier in the boil something is added, the more of the flavour it will affect, in contrast the later something is added the more it will contribute to the aroma. Not sure how accurate this is or if I remember it correctly, but I have applied this principle with most of my brews. For the last fifteen minutes of the boil I would place the lid half-way over the pot while it is boiling in an effort to sterilize it as we will need to cover the pot for my method of cooling (I just turn it every couple of minutes). Once your boil time is over there are two important things that need to be addressed:
With cooling as with many other things there are many ways to get around it – my method involves a big metal basin and lots of ice. I run some of my iodophor-water (as discussed at the beginning of phase one) from my bucket into the basin to create an icy-sterile-solution to ensure that nothing “jumps” into my pot when I lift the lid for temperature checks...all in my head...I know...SO when my 60 min timer sounds I cover the pot with the lid completely, remove it from the stove and dunk it straight into the icy bath. This process usually takes around 30-40min to get my wort down to just below 30 degrees. During this time you can rehydrate your dry yeast (if you like) by simply making a mix of two parts cold to one part warm water and then adding the yeast. Not sure if I do this correctly, but so far I have had it work for me and other times I just add the dry yeast straight into the wort – honestly I have been getting a better reaction/result out of just adding the dry yeast straight from the packet... I brought up in Phase 1 that I start sterilizing right from the beginning, but in case you have forgotten about that this is the moment to catch a sudden wake up. Around the 15min “boil time remaining” mark would be a good time to have this ready. I have the following items sitting in the iodophor mixture in preperation:
When the wort has cooled sufficiently I simply syphon it from my pot straight into my fermenter (after a couple more swirls and discarding the iodophor mix). To aerate the wort a bit (which helps the yeast I believe) I do not drop my syphon tube to the bottom so the running liquid makes bubbles and splashes and once completely transferred I carefully shake the fermenter a bit. Next I place the funnel in the top, drop in the yeast and then lock it all down with the airlock and rubber bung. Final step is to add some water to the airlock, and then I tend to cover it with a blanket and set it aside for two weeks. As you might have noticed I have not taken any gravity readings with this brew as this is geared to very basic brewing with minimal equipment. If you are interested in working out alcohol content or accurately determining if the fermentation is complete, this would be the time to get some of that wort into a separate tube and drop in your hydrometer. Some recipes come with a target Original Gravity (OG) and Final Gravity (FG) so you can compare yours to see if you are on the right track. This is something I will delve into in a separate post with another batch probably. If you would like to do a preview taster of your beer, this would also be the place to do so to give you an idea of where it is going... Check out some pics with some descriptions on this entire process and keep checking in for the third and final phase where I will discuss my version of batch priming, bottling, “maturation” and then the most important step of all – tasting and enjoying your beers!!!
My wheelie bin is my one-stop shop for my equipment and my notes and this contains what I used for brewing my first couple of mini all grain batches. Needless to say there are more things you can have and some things can be substituted with others, but for now these are the basics. Feel free to add or comment if you have something else that works. Mashing requires
Boiling requires
Fermentation requires
Bottling requires
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About me
Recently enlightened by the exciting world of craft beer I have been falling in love with new flavors, colors and smells. I do not consider myself a professional brewer (yet), but I am an enthusiast and passionate about beer and that is all that matters... Archives
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