Fizzy Math
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
OK, whatever. The math in this video is probably a bit fizzy fuzzy, but I don't care. Drink more craft beer, and make your favorite establishments carry it.
The resources offered on that video are worth checking out, if for no other reason than they are wonderful ways to expand your beer horizons:
Selling Craft Beer
Craft Beer
Beer Advocate
Rate Beer
Cicerone
7 comments:
Please send this video to Kelly's.
Ok, this is only tangentially related to the post (I did not watch the video) but I need this blog's help. I have brewed extract for many years (off and on) and while some of those batches have turned out very well (kits with some specialty grains) many have been meh. I am interested in possibly making the leap to all-grain, but need to know that I can get better results with more time and effort. I am inherently lazy, as you should know by now, but am motivated by brewing beer that I like rather than beer I can tolerate.
You can email me at streaksblog at gmail dot com, if anyone wants to give me the full skinny. Or maybe we could figure out a way to ship your beer directly to my Oklahoma residence. I am good with that.
Streak-
I will await Smitty's response. Having sampled several of his brews, I can say he can definately straighten you out.
Streak:
Extracts can turn out well, and in fact, with some attention to detail and sanitization, you can even trick a beer judge into believing your extract is all-grain. I often brew extract when our winters get especially bitter because I can do it indoors on my stovetop rather than in my garage where I am fighting temperatures in the Zero range; the turkey fryer takes longer to boil, and the coolers don't hold the heat at 155 degrees for as long as I need them to.
Anyway...
Short answer: yes. For a slightly higher dollar investment, all-grain batches will give you a better product that doesn't have that slight extract-y taste. It takes longer but isn't harder; a few extra easy steps and a lot of waiting around as beer sits in an airtight cooler at a certain temp for a few hours...but hey, you can get other stuff done while you wait, which is a bonus. Mow the lawn. Wash dishes. Clean and sanitize equipment.
Lemme spend some time putting together a lengthier email for you.
One question: where are you getting your beer extract "kits" from?
Yeah, that is the thing, I have made some extract brews that I was very proud of, and that were very well appreciated by my friends. But others have just been eh.
I buy my extract kits from a local homebrew store. My last few have been kits that include everything in a box (don't remember the brand off hand) from dried yeast to the specialty grains already measured and crushed.
At least one question is about those kits. My homebrew guy (and he actually has a degree in brewing, not just some guy who started a shop) said that the malt extract syrup didn't have preservatives, so that isn't that tang. But I guess it could be those pre-crushed grains and using dried yeast. I have used liquid yeast in the past, but was having general problems and decided to simplify just to get drinkable brew.
But I guess it could be those pre-crushed grains and using dried yeast.
Getting pre-crushed grains is certainly expedient and keeps you from having to invest in a grain mill. Problem is, sometimes grains get over-crushed or, more commonly, the shipping process pulverises the grains more. When you get too much grain husk in your mash, you get some tang; sort of a medicinal flavor.
I am not a fan of dried yeast. First, you should never just pitch dried yeast in your wort. It will take it too long to wake up and start eating, and the gradual, slow increase in yeast that's awake and eating gives off flavors to beer as well, whereas pitching healthy, active yeast into wort is ideal. With dry yeast, you have to make yeast starters about a day ahead of time. Liquid yeast is the best. White Labs (in the vials) is fine, but Wyeast strains are tough and their packaging keeps them from getting light-struck.
I get a lot of my stuff from Northern Brewer. I like their kits, and for my own recipes, I like their selection of grains and such, and I like that they carry high-quality stuff.
Hey, Smitty, if you can shoot me an email at streaksblog at gmail, I can stop spamming your comment feed. :) Or Steve has an email address for me too.
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