Pictured is my final pint of English Pale Ale, brewed last September and poured and consumed tonight. (Yes, Butch, I hoard my homebrew -- yours, too; there's a bottle of your second batch of Autumn Amber in my fridge, if you're interested.) You may recall that my big complaint was that the beer wouldn't pour or hold a head (as shown in the photo below, which accompanied my original post).
Now four months later, the last two bottles poured with a creamy, persistent layer of delicious foam that lasted the entire glass. Are my glasses finally clean? Or does it get that much better with age? Oh, but they were good, friends -- cheers!
It’s almost time to bottle my fourth batch of homebrewed beer, a clone of Pete’s Wicked Ale brewed from a Midwest kit, which means I ought to finally report on batch three…The Experiment.
The Experiment came about like this: not long after my successful Irish Stout, some friends were gathering to brew again. I didn’t have the money to purchase another kit — but I did have a “can kit” left over from a misguided venture (retold here) into brewing a decade or so earlier when we still lived in Michigan. The can was a Munton’s Export Stout kit, containing hopped dark malt syrup and abridged instructions. I had a leftover packet of dry brewer’s yeast from my Irish Stout kit (I used a Wyeast packet instead) and, stealing an idea from a molasses stout recipe I’d seen online, I spent a few dollars on raw cane sugar to add to the mix in place of several cups of corn sugar. If all went well, I would have two cases of good dark beer for about five bucks.
I did not follow the instructions to the letter, but combined them with my past two brewing experiences – which means, primarily, that I boiled the ingredients longer. Fermentation was robust the first few days, as expected — the smell from the airlock was sweeter that the Irish stout had been, but with a whiff of hops. Unfortunately I forgot to take a hydrometer reading before sealing the primary fermenter, then dropped and broke my hydrometer during the transfer process. Since I had already drawn a sample during the transfer, I took the opportunity to taste the flat, room-temperature brew. It was sweet—not quite cloying, but sweeter than I had hoped—reminding me at first swallow more of a doppelbock than a stout (or even Samuel Adams Triple Bock, which Dad and I tried once and (like many others) did not enjoy).
I taste it again at bottling and was again struck by the sweetness. I had read that the raw sugar could lend a “rum” taste to the brew; I hoped the carbonated bottles would not be too sweet to be drinkable.
I opened the first bottle a few weeks ago. It was poorly carbonated, winey, and sweet. I drank about half the bottle and wasn’t crazy about it, but swirled the remained bottles and moved them to a warm place in hopes of further carbonating them. I tried another earlier this month, and while the carbonation was better, the head was still thin, fizzy, and brown, and the beer itself was simply too sweet for my taste. I probably should’ve used corn sugar as recommended, but at least I’ve seen something of the effect of raw sugar in that rummy/winey taste.
In the end, I dumped all but 12 bottles, which I kept for cooking. This weekend I cooked a pot roast in one – seared it first in a cast iron pan with olive oil, then put it in the crock pot with one bottle of The Experiment, two yellow onions (chunked), garlic salt, pepper, and Worchester sauce, and let it cook most of the day. The resulting meat was delicious – so the remaining 11 bottles will be good for something!
Well, it's more or less official: St. Michael and Albertville, Minnesota, have a Catholic men's group/homebrewing club called Bottomless Pint Brewers! We are finalizing a draft charter -- our preliminary mission statement is below.
Mission
Bottomless Pint Brewers seeks to create lasting fraternal bonds among its members by:
Encouraging the art and science of homebrewing, improving the knowledge base of aspiring brewers, and fostering the responsible enjoyment of well-crafted beer;
Reinforcing the joy and vitality of manhood and the essential role of men—husbands and fathers; sons and brothers—in preserving our families, communities, and country; and
Deepening the faith of its members through shared activities and casual conversation with other Catholic men, as well as other more formal opportunities for evangelization and catechesis.
We hope to ramp up slowly through this spring and summer. Activities under consideration for the club include:
Club brewing sessions,
Homebrewing-related discussion groups or guest speakers,
Beer tastings and club socials for members and their spouses or guests,
A “Theology on Tap” guest speaker series, with beer (of course) and topics relevant to Catholic men and their spouses or guests,
Pub outings, brewery tours, or brewing courses in the Twin Cities and the surrounding area,
And competitions or other special events.
We are in the process of being recognized and listed by the American Homebrewers Association -- that, and official membership cards should earn members a discount at Midwest Supplies and other local brewer stores. We are considering modest annual dues (on the order of $10) to help offset the cost of producing membership cards, to pay for shared supplies like cleaner and sanitizer, etc. We hope the discount and camaraderie will more than make up for this charge, but please feel free to weigh in with a comment.
If you think you may be interested in the brewing process, in brewing your own beer yourself, or even in just trying homebrewed beer, we would love to hear from you! Email us at bottomlesspint@gmail.com or find us on Facebook at Bottomless Pint Brewers. Cheers!
One of the cooler things I received for Christmas, as an aspiring brewer and literary type (also aspiring), was this t-shirt from The Brewing Network, which features Scottish poet Robert Burns's version of the old folk song, "John Barleycorn" (or "John Barleycorn Must Die") in the shape of a brewing carboy. The poem tells barley's story from planting to brewing as a ballad and a tale of heroic sacrifice. The words are below, but to hear a proper reading, check out the YouTube clip at the bottom.
John Barleycorn
by Robert Burns
There was three kings into the east,
Three kings both great and high,
And they hae sworn a solemn oath
John Barleycorn should die.
They took a plough and plough'd him down,
Put clods upon his head,
And they hae sworn a solemn oath
John Barleycorn was dead.
But the cheerful Spring came kindly on,
And show'rs began to fall;
John Barleycorn got up again,
And sore surpris'd them all.
The sultry suns of Summer came,
And he grew thick and strong;
His head weel arm'd wi' pointed spears,
That no one should him wrong.
The sober Autumn enter'd mild,
When he grew wan and pale;
His bending joints and drooping head
Show'd he began to fail.
His colour sicken'd more and more,
He faded into age;
And then his enemies began
To show their deadly rage.
They've taen a weapon, long and sharp,
And cut him by the knee;
Then tied him fast upon a cart,
Like a rogue for forgerie.
They laid him down upon his back,
And cudgell'd him full sore;
They hung him up before the storm,
And turn'd him o'er and o'er.
They filled up a darksome pit
With water to the brim;
They heaved in John Barleycorn,
There let him sink or swim.
They laid him out upon the floor,
To work him further woe;
And still, as signs of life appear'd,
They toss'd him to and fro.
They wasted, o'er a scorching flame,
The marrow of his bones;
But a miller us'd him worst of all,
For he crush'd him between two stones.
And they hae taen his very heart's blood,
And drank it round and round;
And still the more and more they drank,
Their joy did more abound.
John Barleycorn was a hero bold,
Of noble enterprise;
For if you do but taste his blood,
'Twill make your courage rise.
'Twill make a man forget his woe;
'Twill heighten all his joy;
'Twill make the widow's heart to sing,
Tho' the tear were in her eye.
Then let us toast John Barleycorn,
Each man a glass in hand;
And may his great posterity
Ne'er fail in old Scotland!
Photo by Trevor
I love The Brewing Network's other shirts and its "hop grenade" logo. I haven't checked out any of the radio shows or podcasts yet. It must be a small outfit, since the emails Jodi exchanged when ordering this shirt were signed "Linda, Justin's Mom."
Anyway, check out the reading below, then check out The Brewing Network.
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