Grow Your Own Hops

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

This weekend was pretty good... Saturday we headed out to San Jose for the IBC Betta Fish conference they were having down there (Izzy loves bettas) and that was pretty cool. It's basically a competition where they judge betta fish that people have raised... and it was sponsored by a company that specializes in aquarium goods & other pet products... but yeah, very pretty fish. That's about all I have to say...

That night, we finally did something that we've been planning on doing for the last two months... and that's convert a whiskey barrel donated by Elevation 66 after a few uses for their special barrel-aged collection over the last year or so... and convert it into some planting pots to start growing our own hops. Step one, we took a few screws and set the ribbons that help hold the wood in place... and step two, we pull out the SAW!!!

After cutting it in half, step 3, we drill a few holes in the bottom so that water can escape and it doesn't cause a lot of problems (or so Izzy tells me).

That's basically it, you have two pots after that... so then you fill it with soil, plant your hop rhizomes about six inches deep... and before you know it, apparently we'll have these things growing up to a foot a DAY. That's incredible to me... so yeah, below is a before picture... and I'll keep you posted every so often.

Chinook & Mt. Hood Hops... they gon' be good...

These guys were actually already sprouting

in a Ziploc bag so... yeah, they're gonna get big

We also tasted our Torpedo Clone for the first time... and it really tastes like Torpedo. It's not quite an IPA... but it's a very hoppy pale ale, so it worked out perfectly. Remember, ours was a little bit of a watered-down version from what the Aunts will have ready next weekend... so we'll see how they compare shortly. We're extremely happy with the hoppy results... and remember, this cooking of the wort was a little questionable. (Pat on the back...)

Anyway, that's about it for this weekend... and I'm hard at work at preparing entries for my Alaskan trip... so hopefully they'll be coming up soon. Just need to compile all the pictures and get the best ones for ya... have a great weekend everybody!!!

Kegerator & Cellarmaker

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

 

Over the last few days, I’ve been going over some different options for utilizing kegs & bringing them into our homebrewing system. Bottles are cool & all… but they’re fairly bulky… bottle conditioning takes about two weeks… and for parties & gatherings, it’s just pretty cool to come walking in with a big keg of homebrew, set up the tap & let everybody try it at their leisure… and you don’t have to chase down bottles… or explain to them every time what they’re drinking. “This isn’t Bud Light?” You’re welcome. We’re in no rush obviously… but in about five months, we are planning on going to my mom’s big family reunion & we figure that’d be a great place to really let a bunch of avid beer enthusiasts try out some of our brews… and a keg may just be easier for transportation & just the driving around with a bunch of empty bottles on the way back. Some of the options are:

 

·     Keg with a tap – Simple enough, you have a keg or two filled with good stuff, a “cobra” faucet, tap it, CO2 tank hooked up pushes out the liquid gold

·     Picnic Cooler Kegerator – Essentially same setup but you run the liquid gold through a modified picnic cooler with coiled stainless steel tubing under ice to cool it down before drinking. Not a huge fan of this method as I’d just keep the keg in the cooler or something but… it’s an option.

·     True Kegerator – Basically you modify a fridge (or cooler that I’m trying to figure out) that will store the keg in inside, keep it cool, and then you have a tap hooked up on the door or top of the unit to easily dispense your chilled beverage of choice.

 

There are obviously pros & cons with each device ranging from cost of the setup… to whether you need to constantly ice or plug into an outlet to keep it cool… to ease of transportation… to overall esthetic… but like I said, we’re not in a major rush so we may just start with the kegs & a “cobra” faucet for now… and then advance our setup down the road… but yeah, if you have any suggestions, I’m all ears & quite adventurous with building my own units. I’ve looked at a bunch of websites & forums and have some ideas… but also have three roommates and a Jeep, not my own place with a Ford 350 out front to move it around. We’ll definitely keep you posted though.

 

Thursday night, I met up with Jackie D to get some drinks at Cellarmaker Brewing and try out their unique selections. They have a lot of the great west coast staples like various IPAs, session pale ales, etc… but one of their more unique offerings was their Coffee & Cigarettes Porter which… well, is exactly what it sounds like. Thanks to the combination of various roasted malts & brewing methods… it basically tastes like you spilled your cold coffee into an ashtray & then drank it. Now, it’s not quite as harsh & disagreeable as that would sound… like, there’s no filters stuck in your teeth or anything… but yeah, taste achieved. They had other porters to try as well that I preferred& frankly the even C&C wasn’t that bad, just not my particular taste when it comes to beer. I’d recommend their IPA & their regular porter. Great atmosphere, we watched a little basketball (Stanford lost) & then we headed over to Extreme Pizza to complete our “beer sandwich” in our stomachs of a good solid beer base, pizza & then beer on top (pitcher of Fat Tire).

 

Also, our hop rhizomes came in the mail...

So we're going to start growing some hops...

but it takes a few years... coming soon...

Well, Jackie D is officially here as a San Francisco resident… and my family is coming to visit on Friday for the weekend, so it’ll be a bundle of fun. We have plans to check out the Zoo & the Exploratorium… but you never know how things will turn out with weather, kids being kids & just deciding to do something else on a whim. We tend to do that from time to time too… but I’ll certainly keep you posted. Until then, have a great weekend everybody!!!