The Whitsun release was an awesome time. Whitsun ran like water, and the first 24 people got a free Arcadia pint glass…one more for the collection! We got to sample the traditional Whitsun from draft as well as a firkin of Whitsun which had been crammed full of summit hops. They were both quite nice, but I preferred the firkin. There’s just something about real ale that I absolutely love. The extra dry hop added a wonderful apricot/peach flavor and aroma followed (surprisingly) by an incredible bitterness and dry finish. It's a great beer!
I also had the opportunity to meet some of the guys from the Shiawasse County Area Brewing Society (SCABS). Good group of guys. Some plan to enter a few beers in our comp. They would also like to talk about arranging some sort of combined club meeting.
Should have been there….
Friday, March 27, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Kegerator
I've had a chest freezer sitting around the basement for years doing nothing. Nothing that is except waiting to be turned into a kegerator!
The freezer itself was a $50.00 garage sale find. The hardware to convert it cost a bit over $500.00 (purchased online from Northern Brewer). But that does not include the kegs, CO2 tank/regulator if you don't already have them. All in all I have about $800 - $900 invested. Don't tell my wife.
One option when building a kegerator from a chest freezer is using a top mounted draft tower or coffin box but this entails cutting through the lid of the chest freezer. I chose the wooden collar method. It's fairly simple with less room for error and it does not permanently alter the chest freezer in any way.
The steps are really fairly straight forward; remove the lid... cut/drill and attach the collar... plumb the gas and liquid lines and install a temperature control unit.
This look at the insides gives a good indication of how the gas lines are run. One line comes from the CO2 tank to the input of a manifold or distributor. Then gas goes from the distributors (with a shut off valve on each) to the kegs where they are attached to 1/4" (grey) quick disconnects.
You will also notice a bead of silicone caulk around the inside edge. This is in addition to a bead of caulk that was applied to the underside of the collar. I'm going to believe those who told me this is enough to securely attach the collar to the freezer. If you have doubts you may wish to do as others have done and that is to attach one-by fascia board on the outside of the collar. This fascia should be a couple of inches wider than your collar so it will hang down over the body of the freezer thus providing a little more security.
Next is a look inside from the other end. The liquid lines are not connected in this shot but the attach to the backside of the shanks with a tail piece (1/4" barb), a rubber washer and shank nut. The keg end end uses a 1/4" (black) quick disconnect. You can also see the Johnson Controls temperature control unit. It simply mounts on the side (or wherever you wish) with two screws and the probe goes through a 1/4" hold drilled through the collar.
Here is the finished kegerator
and another shot. With no beer in kegs I had to toast the kegerator with a Bells Amber Ale.
The whole build can be viewed on my YouTube channel or at the Cass River Homebrewers page on Facebook (where by the way I just got a favorable thumbs up from James Spenser of Basic Brewing!).
The freezer itself was a $50.00 garage sale find. The hardware to convert it cost a bit over $500.00 (purchased online from Northern Brewer). But that does not include the kegs, CO2 tank/regulator if you don't already have them. All in all I have about $800 - $900 invested. Don't tell my wife.
One option when building a kegerator from a chest freezer is using a top mounted draft tower or coffin box but this entails cutting through the lid of the chest freezer. I chose the wooden collar method. It's fairly simple with less room for error and it does not permanently alter the chest freezer in any way.
The steps are really fairly straight forward; remove the lid... cut/drill and attach the collar... plumb the gas and liquid lines and install a temperature control unit.
This look at the insides gives a good indication of how the gas lines are run. One line comes from the CO2 tank to the input of a manifold or distributor. Then gas goes from the distributors (with a shut off valve on each) to the kegs where they are attached to 1/4" (grey) quick disconnects.
You will also notice a bead of silicone caulk around the inside edge. This is in addition to a bead of caulk that was applied to the underside of the collar. I'm going to believe those who told me this is enough to securely attach the collar to the freezer. If you have doubts you may wish to do as others have done and that is to attach one-by fascia board on the outside of the collar. This fascia should be a couple of inches wider than your collar so it will hang down over the body of the freezer thus providing a little more security.
Next is a look inside from the other end. The liquid lines are not connected in this shot but the attach to the backside of the shanks with a tail piece (1/4" barb), a rubber washer and shank nut. The keg end end uses a 1/4" (black) quick disconnect. You can also see the Johnson Controls temperature control unit. It simply mounts on the side (or wherever you wish) with two screws and the probe goes through a 1/4" hold drilled through the collar.
Here is the finished kegerator
and another shot. With no beer in kegs I had to toast the kegerator with a Bells Amber Ale.
The whole build can be viewed on my YouTube channel or at the Cass River Homebrewers page on Facebook (where by the way I just got a favorable thumbs up from James Spenser of Basic Brewing!).
Whitsun Release at the French Laundry
A special Whitsun release will take place this Thursday, March 26 at 4:00 p.m. at the French Laundry in Fenton.
Whitsun is Arcadia's summer seasonal ale and the French Laundry will be the first restaurant in the state to release this nice summertime quaffer. They'll also have a firkin of this tasty brew to tap it at 5:00.
For those of you that haven’t had it, Whitsun is a modern interpretation of a mid-19th century English spring and summer festival ale. It has a translucent orange color capped with a rich, creamy head, full-bodied, and a lightly toasted caramel flavor. The addition of Michigan honey contributes a uniquely smooth drinkability to this unfiltered wheat ale.
Head Brewer, Josh Davies, will be there to hoist a pint with you and answer any questions you may have.
I'll be there between five and six. I'm intrigued by the firkin!
Come welcome spring with me!
Whitsun is Arcadia's summer seasonal ale and the French Laundry will be the first restaurant in the state to release this nice summertime quaffer. They'll also have a firkin of this tasty brew to tap it at 5:00.
For those of you that haven’t had it, Whitsun is a modern interpretation of a mid-19th century English spring and summer festival ale. It has a translucent orange color capped with a rich, creamy head, full-bodied, and a lightly toasted caramel flavor. The addition of Michigan honey contributes a uniquely smooth drinkability to this unfiltered wheat ale.
Head Brewer, Josh Davies, will be there to hoist a pint with you and answer any questions you may have.
I'll be there between five and six. I'm intrigued by the firkin!
Come welcome spring with me!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Lumber Barons' Beer Studies 501 Reviewed
It was a great evening. 150 + people in attendance. I was very happy with the fact that we had a more than a dozen CRHBC members in attendance. Way to support the industry, guys! I didn’t think to take notes while I was there, but realized afterward that this would be a great thing to post here…so here goes.
We started the evening with Redwood Lodge’s Helles paired with a chicken and tarragon sausage served on a bed of lentils. This was quite nice. While the chicken sausage was quite dry (which stands to reason), tarragon is an interesting herb, and it melded interestingly with the young bock.
Next was Lumber Baron’s Hefe with a German sausage (shoot…I forgot to write the name down) and German potato salad. This was a great pairing. Weissbier has a natural, tart acidity to it, which greatly complemented the vinegar dressing in the potato salad. It was really nice. The Hefe, in my opinion, was spot on.
We then had Lumber Baron’s ESP paired with some good ol’ quasi traditional English bangers and mash and with a little dash of onion jelly. The pairing was quite nice. The two really complemented one another nicely. The ESB had a sweetness to it that was cut quite nicely by the garlic and onion components of the mash.
Next up (I believe) came an oatmeal stout paired with fresh Italian sausage (lots of fresh fennel), which was served with sautéed peppers and bowtie pasta. Beautiful! The stout had a wonderful, rich black licorice note to it that matched beautifully with the fennel in the sausage. This was probably my favorite pairing of the evening.
OK..at this point, I’m sure that the order is mixed up, but you get the idea…
I forget the next beer (it may have been Lumber Barons’ Irish Red), but it was paired with fresh chorizo and black beans and rice. Quite spicy, but very nice.
The last pairing for the evening was a spicy, hot sausage paired with Lumber Barons’ IPA. For some, the sausage was too hot and was only aggravated by the bitterness of the IPA; but anything spicy combined with IPA is an incredible pairing in my book.
While there was some difficulty with the sound system, and numerous tables of people there to drink beer (as opposed to taste, it was a wonderful night. Don’t forget to come next month. Lumber Barons’ has a tasting the third Tuesday of every month. I forgot to write down next month’s topic, but I will keep you posted.
We started the evening with Redwood Lodge’s Helles paired with a chicken and tarragon sausage served on a bed of lentils. This was quite nice. While the chicken sausage was quite dry (which stands to reason), tarragon is an interesting herb, and it melded interestingly with the young bock.
Next was Lumber Baron’s Hefe with a German sausage (shoot…I forgot to write the name down) and German potato salad. This was a great pairing. Weissbier has a natural, tart acidity to it, which greatly complemented the vinegar dressing in the potato salad. It was really nice. The Hefe, in my opinion, was spot on.
We then had Lumber Baron’s ESP paired with some good ol’ quasi traditional English bangers and mash and with a little dash of onion jelly. The pairing was quite nice. The two really complemented one another nicely. The ESB had a sweetness to it that was cut quite nicely by the garlic and onion components of the mash.
Next up (I believe) came an oatmeal stout paired with fresh Italian sausage (lots of fresh fennel), which was served with sautéed peppers and bowtie pasta. Beautiful! The stout had a wonderful, rich black licorice note to it that matched beautifully with the fennel in the sausage. This was probably my favorite pairing of the evening.
OK..at this point, I’m sure that the order is mixed up, but you get the idea…
I forget the next beer (it may have been Lumber Barons’ Irish Red), but it was paired with fresh chorizo and black beans and rice. Quite spicy, but very nice.
The last pairing for the evening was a spicy, hot sausage paired with Lumber Barons’ IPA. For some, the sausage was too hot and was only aggravated by the bitterness of the IPA; but anything spicy combined with IPA is an incredible pairing in my book.
While there was some difficulty with the sound system, and numerous tables of people there to drink beer (as opposed to taste, it was a wonderful night. Don’t forget to come next month. Lumber Barons’ has a tasting the third Tuesday of every month. I forgot to write down next month’s topic, but I will keep you posted.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Lumber Barons' Beer Studies 501
All,
Don't forget about Beer Studies at Lumber Barons'. We're having beer and sausage pairings this month. If you plan to come, you'll have to RSVP. Give them a call at (989) 891-0100 I'll be there...hope to see you too!
Don't forget about Beer Studies at Lumber Barons'. We're having beer and sausage pairings this month. If you plan to come, you'll have to RSVP. Give them a call at (989) 891-0100 I'll be there...hope to see you too!
Saturday, March 14, 2009
What's Everyone Brewing?
I've got a huge day of kegging and bottling today. I've got a Saison, Dry Stout, and Irish Red that I plan to keg and bottle this weekend. I normally would avoid bottling, but with competition season coming up, I want to be sure I've got something that I can send in.
I think that my next brew is going to be Mike Rogers' Wit. That thing was awesome.
I think that my next brew is going to be Mike Rogers' Wit. That thing was awesome.
First Post
Hi, All!
I'm hoping that we can use this as a place to talk about all things beer. My hope is that we all get used to checking this to ask and answer questions that other members may have.
I'm still learning how to use it, so I'm sure that there will be a few speed bumps, but I think it's worth a try.
Let me know if you have any questions.
I'm hoping that we can use this as a place to talk about all things beer. My hope is that we all get used to checking this to ask and answer questions that other members may have.
I'm still learning how to use it, so I'm sure that there will be a few speed bumps, but I think it's worth a try.
Let me know if you have any questions.
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