The Brewlog

Yesterday, The Brewers Association, which tabulates industry growth data for breweries in the US, announced that today’s small independent craft brewers are increasing their gains in the alcohol market share.  These gains are due to a variety of things, most notably the shift toward full flavor beer and increased support for local breweries.  Furthermore, beer’s popularity as America’s (and my own personal) favorite fermented beverage continued in 2008.

Below are a few charts and graphs with some interesting findings.

For more statistics visit the 2008 Craft Brewery Statistics

Sometimes there are certain beers you can’t live without; and a delicious IPA is one of those beers for me. There is just something really enjoyable about a rather bitter, yet savor-able, beer that just gets my taste buds in a good mood. With that said, we brewed, what is now, the third batch of Marina IPA (a.k.a. The 44th). One thing I am excited about is the fact that with this batch and the previous one being so close I am sure we will have plenty of chances to compare the differences in each batch. Thus, giving us a chance to experience what difference, if any, our brew setups have on the final product.

This brew day I gave my dad a call and he brought Rossco, our new brew day mascot, over.

Truly a beautiful site. A wort chiller is a MUST have item. Talk about making life easier.

We have been experimenting with different hop dispensing methods (in the boil). As of now, using a grain bag to hold the hops in is the easiest method but tends to not let whole flower hops move around as much. Not enough experimenting yet to notice a difference other than in the ease of straining. This time we let whole hops just freely float in the boil.

One reason Rossco is our new mascot, the fact he helps clean up spilt wort.

  

At about 4pm yesterday I recieved a little brown box in the mail at the office.  Long story short, I have in my posession a wort chiller.  And it proved itself last night to be worth every penny.

Andy and I brewed up another batch of the Marina IPA (aka the 44th) last night (late last night), and put the wort chiller to use immediately.  If you do not have a wort chiller, get one. Period.  We finished our boil, popped in the chiller, turned on the water, and no more than 5 seconds after water started coming out of the out tube it was PIPING HOT! Instant chillin’action.  Pretty damn sweet.  So we let it do its thing and had just about exactly the right amount of time to get everything else sanitized when it had droppped to a nice 82F.  We then finished the process as usual.  I can’t say enough how much this little copper device helps in streamlining brew-day.  Its totally awesome! (Thanks again Chrissie!!)

Yes, Kid. Yes you can.

Michigan Brewing Co., brewer of craft beers, announced that it has plans to produce a new product line: a craft beer for musician Kid Rock.

Kid Rock is working closely with Bobby Mason, the owner-brewer at the Michigan Brewing Co., on the design, naming and style of the beer.

“He’s working on designing the beer, he’s giving me direction, he’s tasting the beers,” Mason said. “It’s his idea, it’s his concept. I’m just working with him to make it happen.”

One big decision: Will the new brew be a premium-priced lager, or something priced more in line with the budget and tastes(?) of Kid Rock’s working-class fans? (See Caption)

Well, Kid, I’ve got a few styles/names for you.  How about “A Detroit Tale Scotch Ale”?  Or maybe “An Eighth or a Quarter? Porter”.  This is an important decision, and choosing the wrong fermentation designation can have disastrous results.  We all remember cross-dresser Ru Paul’s infamous bid into the celebrity-branded booze world, the ill-fated and ill-named “She-Male Pale Ale”…. talk about a heavy mouth-feel.

It is with great pleasure that I announce the newest addition to my homebrew setup…. A WORT CHILLER!

My girlfriend, Chrissie, ordered one up for me the other day for my birthday (thanks baby), and I can’t wait to put it into action.  The plan for this saturday is to make another batch of “the 44th” as I am dangerously low on my reserves from the first go around with this recipe.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it comes before then, or else its another slooooooooow chillin’ in the sink.  The coolest thing about it (aside from dropping the temp of my wort faster than 20 minutes) is a built in shut-off valve on the in pipe.  No running to the spicket when I need to turn it off… sweet.

Assuming I get it in time, I’ll let everyone know how it works out, but I’m sure its gonna be awesome!

California based Sierra Nevada Brewing Company has teamed up with microrefiner E-Fuel to turn wasted yeast into high-grade ethanol.  Thats right.  That seemingly useless muck that ends up in the bottom of our own empty carboys of homebrew (historically sold off by the big boys to be used as dairy feed, which may explain the relative ease of cow-tipping), is being used as biofuel to power Sierra’s delivery trucks and a few hundred other vehicles.

This is the next step in the natural progression for the green minded brewery.  Sierra Nevada already makes use of such technology as fuel cells and a massive solar installation.

“This has the potential to be a great thing for the environment and further our commitment to be becoming more energy independent,” Sierra Nevada Brewing Company co-founder and president Ken Grossman said in a statement.

Enjoying a good beer and helping save the planet.  Sounds like a plan to me.

Russian River Brewing Company has announced the shipment of one of my favorite Imperial IPAs.

From a local distribution stand point in the North Bay & the Bay Area we shipped most of the kegs of Younger out over the last few days to local bars, restaurants, and taverns.  Most places put it on tap the minute our drivers delivered it.  The same holds true for Southern California, Stone Brewing Company, our SoCal distributor received all their Younger kegs on Wednesday and have shipped many of the kegs already to your favorite on premise outlets.  Stone also received their draft Consecration and bottles of Consecration.

One of our local pubs has carried Pliney in the past and I, for one, am keeping my fingers crossed they have received a keg or two of the Younger. If you are near Redondo Beach, CA go check out Naja’s for yourself. And don’t worry, if there is no Pliney the Younger there are about 80 other beers on tap to choose from.

Get the full story at Russian River Brewing Company’s official website