Well the Beach Brewery has to move. I was going to brew this weekend but the brewery is moving in two weeks. For many reasons it is time for a change of address. The new location should make for a good brewery and plenty of space for fridges so it may be time to start kegging. The only thing that has been holding me back is a lack of space for a set up. That problem may now have been over come. I will have to asses once we have moved in but it is looking good.
Only in America! I’m sure this application will be knocked back but I find it amazing someone has submitted such an application. As far as I’m aware it is a non trivial and a not completely inexpensive process to apply for a patent. Obviously this person has more money than sense.
This I particularly like, from the application “The basis for this invention is an event, referring to FIG. 1, occurring on May 2, 2004, in which the inventor (“he”) personally experienced a full-body teleportation while walking to the bus stop”. Stop it please!
Read it for a good laugh.
Most dangerous alkali metals react with water. Something you might not have seen before.
Like they say in the video I remember trying this with sodium at school. How much fun is Cesium though? This isn’t anything particularly amazing science wise but it’s fun to blow things up and it’s a great demonstration.
I tasted my bitter and my IPA tonight. They are very different beers but I am really happy with both of them. The bitter is a very mild and and the IPA is anything but delicate. The IPA is about 60IBU and was dry hopped with a bunch of Amarillo. It is very nice to be back to making some beer I really like after the last couple of disappointing brews.
The IPA is two weeks old so can still use a bit more time in the bottle but is showing all the signs of a very good drop. The hop flavour is pretty harsh as would be expected with so much hops and being so fresh.
The bitter is probably a little more bitter than I wanted but doesn’t have as much hop flavour as I would have liked. I think the East Kent Golding’s plugs I used were probably a little old and had lost some aromatics without dropping much of the Alpha Acids. The beer has still turned out very well and I think is a good example of the style. Unfortunately the bitter probably won’t last til competition season.
I have made a few in recent times and am starting to think that they do have the infection I originally thought they had. The group of beers I suspect of infection all have the same weird off flavour. They have also all become over carbonated despite being primed with low levels of sugar. I actually had one bottle explode the other day. Of course it was sitting on my nice pale carpet and of course it was a bottle of porter.
I think I will try and drink them quickly as they are still drinkable at present but I think they will go down hill. On a happier not the IPA I did was tasting great only one week after bottling. The bitter tasted good a bottling if not as hoppy as I would have liked. No sign of infection though. All the bad beers showed signs of infection at bottling so it should be good.
Then again maybe I just made some bad beer.
A good day was had by all, I think. Memories can be a bit hazy after all that drinking. Our local group of brewers participated in the “Big Brew Day”. This is an American Homebrewers Association event. However it is also a good excuse to get together. We had five brewers on the day. One brewer even did a double batch. Three guys did the “Poor Richards Ale” and two their own recipes. One was still brewing at 2100 or whatever time it was that I left.
Plenty of good beers on offer from the guys too. Everyone brought along a few bottles and a couple of guys even showed up with a keg or two which must be admired. Highlights of the beer tasting for me was Kai’s Saison. A sensational beer but unfortunately we knocked off his last bottle of it, a magnum. Have a look at Kai’s blog for details about that beer. There were plenty of other good beers too but the memory is hazy and Kai’s certainly stood out as the winner for me. He consistently makes beers that impress me, I should of paid closer attention when he was brewing.
A big thanks to Anthony for hosting. We appreciated it despite what people did to him on ahb. I wish I had brewed now. I was jealous all day watching the other guys brew. Next year I will brew.
See Kai’s blog post for photos.