Where'd my beer go?

I bottled the Czech pilsner that Joe and I brewed some 2 months ago, and was disappointed that there were only 3 gallons worth of bottles (12x22oz, 10x12oz). I can’t remember how much we racked to primary fermentation, but I’m sure we lost a bit when we dry hopped in secondary (with 2+ oz of loose Czech hops), and maybe 1/2 gallon from all the trub after lagering.

I’m really curious if a hop back can give the flavor without loosing the volume. There has to be a more efficient way. What would the Germans do? (WWGD?)

Portlandbeer.org

When you have a website, you occasionally get requests to swap links. Part of this is to attract new readers, but more importantly, search engines like Google consider the number of links to a page when deciding on ranking in search results. Most of the link swap e-mails I get are seemingly random messages from websites that have nothing to do with beer or brewing. Last night I finally got one from another local beer directory site that was actually legitimate. So I checked it out.

Portlandbeer.org is two brothers keeping tabs on what’s brewing in Portland. I snooped around the site for a while until I reached the photo gallery, which has some terrific photos from in the Laurelwood Brewery and at OBF 2006. Fun stuff, if you like photography or beer.

Post-Organic Brew Fest

I’m a little disappointed that the event has the name NAOBF when OrBF is a great spoof of the traditional Oregon Brew Fest (OBF). But, besides the rain, that’s all I was disappointed with. The event was great fun, and the rain actually kept the crowds modest like the first Organic Brewers Fest a few years back. The quality of the beers seems to improving, though this year there were so many brewers and varieties that I can’t honestly say I had a full sampling.

Rinsing between samples

Ella joined Scott, Stephanie, Joe, Lindsay and I for an afternoon of beer talk and exploration, and she seemed quite content given the less than ideal weather. In fact, her presence allowed me to engage with a few strangers, including one of the organizer’s mothers.

Christian Ettinger of the any-day-now Hopworks Urban Brewery was representing for his beer so we picked his brain about where they had brewed this surprise entry, the future lineup, organic ingredients and more. The graphic designer has done an excellent job with the banner and the business card Ella took was tasty.

I was really pleased with all of the IPAs which I sampled. I have to agree with Scott and Joe that Alameda’s El Toro was probably the finest of the bunch, but they were all quite good. The surprises I thought were Root’s Chocolate Habanero Stout, McMenamins’ Saison and the mead – the first I’d had which didn’t stink.

Each year this event has been at a different place, but the last two years were probably the nicest. I personally hope Overlook Park sticks as it’s proximity to my home and the atmosphere of the park were very pleasant. Until next year!

North American Organic Brew Fest, #3

If you enjoy beer and have some interest in the state of organic brewing, you won’t want to miss this weekend’s Organic Brewers Festival. The previous two were very different events and the mood and crowd were much more pleasant than the Oregon Brewers Festival.

Lindsay just posted a list of the brewers participating and it looks like HUB will have an IPA at the event. Should be exciting – I’m really curious what the former brewers from Laurelwood and Pelican are up to.