I suppose you could take that title to mean a few different things, but this past Monday evening, it was quite literal! Indiana Homebrewer Co-founder Emeritus Jon (aka santoslhalper) came back to western PA for a few days from Philly. On Monday night, he stopped in Indiana to visit a few of us who remain in town. Jon is now an assistant brewer at Earth Bread + Brewery in Philly.
'Round about 7pm, Jon and the rest of the crew (Dave, Justin, James, and Joe) popped over to my house for a tasting. Jon brought with him four growlers of Earth Bread + Brewery beers: Durham Strasse (a Berliner Weisse), 2bok4sur (a Doppelbock), Resin 2 Smile (an IPA), and Biere de Septembre (a biere de garde).
After those, we opened up a bottle of homebrew from an acquaintance of mine from work - it was superb sour Belgian ale and I hope that we'll get more soon. Finally, we cracked open the last four homebrews that a few of us have been working on with the 10-gallon all-grain system. We had a bitter, a saison, a lager, and pale ale.
All in all, a great evening. A big thanks to Jon for hauling growlers across the state for us. He left with a case of our homebrew, but I think we still got the better end of that deal!
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Monday, October 05, 2009
2nd RateBeer Pittsburgh Gathering
I didn't get a chance until now to write up something about the terrific beer tasting I went to back in August at the Sharp Edge Creekhouse. You can check it out at The Hop Press.
That was a good day!
That was a good day!
An Oktoberfest Wedding
On Saturday, my wife and I went to the wedding of one of her former coworkers/classmates. The reception was interesting in that it was an Oktoberfest theme. After the mass, we all went across the road to the hall, and the attached pavillion.
Before dinner, we all gathered at the covered, outdoor pavillion where a polka band played various German-Polish music. There were hot pretzels with mustards, and a veggie tray, and two beers on tap (Bud Lite and Yuengling, not real German beers).
The reception hall was set up with 10 different rows of tables. Roughly four tables per row. Each two tables were given a German region name, and each table of the region was given a German city name. This was a cool way to seat guests - find your region and city. Once you found your seat, the wedding 'table favor' was a nice dimpled beer glass with your name on a ribbon. Voila, you automatically had a way to get your beer for the rest of the reception.
The food was OK - brats, roasted chicken, potato salad and potato pancakes. And, of course, a German-chocolate cake.
The final touch - it was held in New Germany, PA.
Before dinner, we all gathered at the covered, outdoor pavillion where a polka band played various German-Polish music. There were hot pretzels with mustards, and a veggie tray, and two beers on tap (Bud Lite and Yuengling, not real German beers).
The reception hall was set up with 10 different rows of tables. Roughly four tables per row. Each two tables were given a German region name, and each table of the region was given a German city name. This was a cool way to seat guests - find your region and city. Once you found your seat, the wedding 'table favor' was a nice dimpled beer glass with your name on a ribbon. Voila, you automatically had a way to get your beer for the rest of the reception.
The food was OK - brats, roasted chicken, potato salad and potato pancakes. And, of course, a German-chocolate cake.
The final touch - it was held in New Germany, PA.
Sunday, October 04, 2009
The Hop Press
There's a new feature over at RateBeer, if you're not a frequent visitor. They've started a new blog/media service called The Hop Press for some of the more frequent contributors, rather than sticking with the weekly articles. It's still in some development, but the content frequency has increased and will hopefully offer more correspondences from beer geeks 'on the street'. The few articles I wrote (about one year) have been archived at Nate's Notes. I hope to add articles a bit more frequently now.
Friday, September 25, 2009
A Busy Brew Night
Last night was our first brewing night in a couple of weeks and our last for a couple of weeks. Between some conflicts and travel plans, getting four of us together at once gets to be difficult sometimes.
Regardless, last night was productive. Joe brewed up a 10-gallon batch of pilsener, and while he was doing that, Dave and I were packaging a back log of brews. First, we bottled a 5-gallon batch of Joe's first pilsener. Next up was Dave's first 10-gallon batch of a bitter, which we split into half - two cases of bottles and a five-gallon keg. Finally, we ended with my last 10-gallon batch of saison (tasted great!), with five gallons going into a keg, and two cases of bottles.
Had a good brew night and finished all the bottling/kegging within our normal brewing night time. I have to say, I hate bottling and last night was not my idea of fun, but I'll appreciate it more when I can crack open a few of those bottles and enjoy some great homebrew.
Regardless, last night was productive. Joe brewed up a 10-gallon batch of pilsener, and while he was doing that, Dave and I were packaging a back log of brews. First, we bottled a 5-gallon batch of Joe's first pilsener. Next up was Dave's first 10-gallon batch of a bitter, which we split into half - two cases of bottles and a five-gallon keg. Finally, we ended with my last 10-gallon batch of saison (tasted great!), with five gallons going into a keg, and two cases of bottles.
Had a good brew night and finished all the bottling/kegging within our normal brewing night time. I have to say, I hate bottling and last night was not my idea of fun, but I'll appreciate it more when I can crack open a few of those bottles and enjoy some great homebrew.
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
My First 10 Gallon Batch
Short post. Tonight I made my first ever 10 gallon all grain. It was a simple saison recipe that I scaled up from a 5 gallon recipe that I did a month ago. The first batch of saison that I made on July 28 was kegged up two weeks ago and served at a party at our house. With 50 guests, several of them beer lovers and homebrewers, it took all of 3 hours to kill 5 gallons.
So, tonight I scaled up to 10 gallons. The only major changes were, hopefully, improvements. Last time I used a little wheat DME. This time, it was all grain. I used 16 lbs of pilsner malt, 2 lbs of wheat malt, and 2 lbs of honey. I used Hersbrucker and Hallertauer, and a touch of crushed coriander. Pitched with saison yeast.
I doughed in at 5:40 and pitched by 9:50, so not too bad for double the liquid volume!
So, tonight I scaled up to 10 gallons. The only major changes were, hopefully, improvements. Last time I used a little wheat DME. This time, it was all grain. I used 16 lbs of pilsner malt, 2 lbs of wheat malt, and 2 lbs of honey. I used Hersbrucker and Hallertauer, and a touch of crushed coriander. Pitched with saison yeast.
I doughed in at 5:40 and pitched by 9:50, so not too bad for double the liquid volume!
Sunday, August 02, 2009
Another IPA with Erick
Today I helped Erick make an extract IPA. We started with 1 lb Crystal 60°L and some leftover Belgian aromatic malt, crushed with a rolling pin and steeped for 30 min.
Once that was sparged, we boiled and added 3 lbs. XLDME and 4 lbs LME.
1 oz. Phoenix (60 min)
3/4 oz. EKG (15 min)
3/4 oz. Cascade (15 min)
1 oz. Cascade (1 min)
1/2 oz. EKG (1 min)
O.G. was a little lower than we'd hoped for at 1.040. Pitched at 70°F with 1056 American Ale, and he'll dry hop in secondary with another 1 oz. Cascade.
Once that was sparged, we boiled and added 3 lbs. XLDME and 4 lbs LME.
1 oz. Phoenix (60 min)
3/4 oz. EKG (15 min)
3/4 oz. Cascade (15 min)
1 oz. Cascade (1 min)
1/2 oz. EKG (1 min)
O.G. was a little lower than we'd hoped for at 1.040. Pitched at 70°F with 1056 American Ale, and he'll dry hop in secondary with another 1 oz. Cascade.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
14 Years and a Good Steak
Yesterday was my 14th wedding anniversary. Hard to believe sometimes, but then again both of our 20th high school reunions were/are this summer. Anyway, to celebrate we went for dinner last night to Nap's Cucina Mia here in Indiana. We try to get to Nap's once a month and we never have a bad meal there. Nick, the son of the owners, spent a year in Italy for part of his culinary training. The menu is small, compared to other places in town, but the food is just freakin' outstanding. Homemade pasta & sauces, fresh local produce and meats, prepared while you watch (the kitchen is behind the 'bar' and place only seats perhaps 50 people).
Normally we get pasta, but last night I finally got the filet (mignon), frequently a special, and it was without a doubt the best piece of steak I've eaten in town. It's not cheap, but it is delicious. Superb crust, seasoned with salt, pepper, and maybe something else. Rich and buttery on the inside, and almost fork tender.
So if you're local and haven't been, or if for some reason you plan to visit Indiana - do yourself a favor and have dinner at Nap's.
Normally we get pasta, but last night I finally got the filet (mignon), frequently a special, and it was without a doubt the best piece of steak I've eaten in town. It's not cheap, but it is delicious. Superb crust, seasoned with salt, pepper, and maybe something else. Rich and buttery on the inside, and almost fork tender.
So if you're local and haven't been, or if for some reason you plan to visit Indiana - do yourself a favor and have dinner at Nap's.
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