You heard right! Tonight we’re celebrating with a little post St. Patty’s day brew.  And its Kinsleys birthday. Happy  birthday Kinsley! The weather is going to be beautiful so come on out around 7 p.m. and try one of our delicious beers.

Brewing: Rye Pale Ale

On Tap: Wit, Stout, IPA and Rye

Apologies that this post is a couple days late, I’ve been busy dammit!  But anyway, we had the pleasure of having one of our good friends, Doug,  in town from Cali last Wednesday night. Doug is our west-coast amigo (and, like, one of two people who comment on the blog) who from time to time enjoys a couple of our brews- at least that’s what he tells us!  So, needless to say,  Wednesday evening ended up being a “guerrilla tasting party” when a group of our best buddies converged on the beer cave to see Duggie.  It was truly a good time,and I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did!

Supplementary to the main subject of the post is news on the Rye Pale.  It ended up being just slightly high in FG so, unfortunately it was still a little sweet from the unconverted sugars.  Also, and somewhat oddly, I had kegged and carbonated it as usual and according to our carbonation chart, but for some reason enough CO2 did not absorb into the beer. Pretty frustrating considering the recipe is on the right track and the carbonation level would have made it all the better.  I wonder if the temperature of the beer during the carbonation process made it slower or less effective?

I posted the other day that we had a twice-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet Guinness’ Brewmaster, Mr. Fergal Murray, this past Monday. (twice because we saw him again that night at the Perfect Pour, heh heh…) It was an unforgettable experience and we learned A LOT about Guinness and the man behind the stout! We learned…

1. Fergal is the freakin’ coolest name ever.

2. (Quickly) how to properly enjoy a Guinness. I cannot divulge in writing because it is a rather fun and amusing experience that must be shared while drinking the beer!

3. That Fergal has the most pimp job in the world: It consists of traveling the world talking about Guinness and how and why everyone should love it! He gets to judge beer contests and watch soccer in the middle of the afternoon.

4. That girls don’t have an excuse not to drink Guinness. It’s relatively low in alcohol, lacks in high calories, and has very little carbonation (doesn’t make you gassy/burpy/farty). It tastes like coffee so if a girl enjoys coffee, she can’t say about Guinness, “eewwwwah. it doesn’t taste goodah.” BOOM.

5. And to wrap it up, Jamie and I are going to Ireland later this year, and if any other lads or lassies want to come along, yer mere than welcome te! (that’s right, spelled-out Irish accent)

Today has been a great day! Jamie, rob, and myself had the great honor of meeting the Guinness brewmaster! (more to follow on that fantastic experience in a bit)
But for now, there is a perfect pint pouring contest tonight at the Taco Mac at Lindberg. Try to come out and witness flawless beer, raw competitive emotion, and plain ol’ fashioned fun!

And that’s how Jamie and I roll. We took it back to a Sunday brew. Since Wednesday was so cold, we decided to take advantage of the perfect weather yesterday and brew a batch of Wit. We got started a bit early for a Sunday, like 8 o’clock early, but that’s what it takes! Hard work, determination, sacrifice, and not drinking the night before…

Everything went perfectly as we’re starting to dial in every time now on the wit. It’s just like clockwork… I would like to try a little something extra in the wit sometime. A little hint of fruit maybe. Just to zest it up every once in a while.

One thing we want to do (if it works) is oxygenate the wort as we transfer it into the fermenter. Jamie had the idea of building a T into the beer line and hooking the O2 up to it as the wort flows past. Pretty awesome idea. Now we’ll just see if we can make it work without blowing everything up.

And, yes, that IS nothing but a ball of wasabi... hey man, I'm kickass

We had great time with everyone who showed up last night for the tasting. The invite was very much last minute and we thought no one would show– so, like any right- minded person (or left-minded in my case) who invited people over would do, we left and went to eat sushi– only to return to the house as people started to arrive. To much supprise we managed to draw an awesome crowd and kill a couple of the Corneys in the process. 

Also, special thanks to a new-found-brewer friend ITP (inside the perimeter) Jamie, who, in spite of an Andrew Bird concert, ventured up to marietta to check out our brews.  Jamie and his brewing counterpart Ben can be found here: Its not about the Beer.  Can’t wait to try the brew from East Atlanta!

If the weather cooperates, we will try our damnedest to have another tasting next week. Updates to follow. Cheers!

OH YEAH! About the Rye brewing last Wednesday. Everything went pretty well. I will say, it is A LOT more work by yourself. And a lot heavier when lifting things… I did hit all my mash temps though, produced a beautiful golden/copper color, and it smelled great the other day when I checked on it fermenting.

The only things that went poorly were 1: getting the wort from the kettle to the carboy. Pellets make it tough, man. I ended up having use the racking cane and consequently sucked up more trub than I wanted. It settled out nicely though. I think I can clear it off the top. And 2: the boil-off was more extreme than I predicted. Almost 2 gallons in an hour. I guess you gotta learn from doing and from your particular equipment what affects what and revise it in the recipe. 

Regardless, I was actually extremely pleased and more confident after the brew. Even the numbers were very close, which has not been a big concern to me until recently. But I found a happy medium between the Art and the Science of brewing and I feel like I opened a new door of experience with this brew!

Looks like it’s been a while since I posted anything… Blerg. Sorry! I guess the weather, short days, economy, and my receding hairline have really put a damper on the mood.

In discussion the past couple of weeks, we have figured out that brewing every other week is perfect for us and the tastings. The “in-between” weeks will be used for experimental brews when possible and catching up on LOST. (you think I’m joking…)

Anyway, I’m using this week to brew a different Pale recipe I’ve worked on a couple of days. It’s actually a Rye Pale that should be light and crisp with a subtle hop spice and plenty of aroma. If all goes according to plan, it may be a very good spring recipe that everyone of all beer tastes should enjoy. 

There’s no tasting this week but the following week will be good to go and we’ll be brewing the Belgian-style Wit! I promise I’ll try to post more (with pictures) and follow up on results for the Rye brew.

Until then enjoy these pictures of Rob and I doing some cleaning…

Just letting everyone know that we are still brewing/tasting tonight around 7:30! Good Ole Georgia weather has once again taken a nosedive and it is supposed to be downright cold tonight! Ummmm… so, wear clothes… And lots of ‘em! We’ll have a fire right outside the brewlab and some brews to keep you warm on the inside!
Contact us if ya need!

-Steve Wags
The Travel Bug and the Sick Monsters have been plaguing us the past week. Jamie is just now starting to recover from his urinary tract infection- er wait. no… upper respiratory infection, that’s the one! Sorry Jamie…
I was away for five days and have just now gotten caught up with laundry, showering, and Christmas decorations. Decorations are only cool till it’s time for them to come down, right?
Anyway, we’re using today and tomorrow to catch up on beer to-dos so we have beer ready to drink within the next week. We’ll have IPA, stout, and everyone’s favorite Belgian Wit. I’ll post shortly to let you know for the next tasting!