Oregon Brewers Festival 2003

This weekend’s Oregon Brewers Festival was a blast. I had a wonderful time trying various beers, and enjoying them with friends. It was a wonderful opportunity to try beers that are normally not found in the portland arena. On the second day, I had the wonderful opportunity to chat with Fred Eckhardt over a delightful Anacortes Pilsner. He had a number of wise words, and was a joy to speak with. The whole event really solidified my beleif in good beer. Only 363 days until the next event.

Nalgene Wet-Dream

For some reason I stumbled on over to the Nalgene website, and found a Carboy section that was full of really cool containers. Maybe some day I can get some of these cool toys. I imagine they’d work fairly well for brewing. The other gear is really cool too. Now if only I could get that stout into the keg…

Victory Blindness?

I tried Victory’s Prima Pils and Hop Devil this weekend. They are very highly rated on BeerAdvocate. The Pils was really not great, but the Hop Devil was excellent. It was one of the better ESB’s I think I’ve ever had. And yes, I know its an IPA. It is good, but I don’t think its #8 good. You East Coasters need to try some IPA’s from out here. I highly recommend Bridgeport, though there are too many to list. Go west young man!

Porter's Porter

Well, I kegged my robust porter on Sunday which I am calling Porter’s Porter after the dog. I tried it last night, and it still needs to carbonate a little more but other than that I thought it was pretty good. Not as hoppy as I expected, which is good cause I think it has a nice balance of maltiness and hops. Its a nice dark brown color from the chocolate and other roasted malts. I wish it had a little more body so next time I think I will add a little bit of Munich malt.

I also have a Kolsch lagering away which will be ready mid August. Its not my recipe but I thought I would give it a shot. I’ll let you know how it turns out. Also, look for some new recipes that I will be adding soon for the Porter and Czech Pilsner.

Blackbeard Flaked Barley Stout

I brewed the first batch in our new place yesterday. My dad joined me for the brewing, and got a more intimate feel for beer in its process. Partly because I had the ingredients on hand, and partly because I’ve been hankering the batch was Blackbeard Flaked-Barley Stout. Its a variation on the oatmeal stout with the key difference of using flaked barley instead of oatmeal.

With the abundant counter tops, brewing went pretty well. There were a few difficulties, but they were mostly due to trying to multi-task. I’m a bit concerned by the lack of closet space and the high temp in the house (up to 80F). I’ve wrapped the carboy, and now wait to see if it turns out ok. Krausen started in less than 24 hours.

I’ve added the recipe in QBrew format in the recipe section.

Back Online

My site has been somewhat static the last month due to a moving problem where horrible cat piss smell (imagine warm corona) filled the house. The carpet is being replaced, but I’m now getting back online and brewing my first batch tomorrow.

Beer Black Hole

I was just in Nebraska for a family wedding, and it was light beer or no beer for the whole trip. I chose no beer.

Actually, we did get bumped from a flight and spent the night in Denver, where I had a wonderful porter. It was strong enough to tide me over.