Belgian Mare Beer Blog

Building Walls

2012-01-28T18:16:00.000-08:00

Last week I took two days off work to try to get some work done on the brewery. This weekend I tried to finish what I started. Well, I did not get as far as I wanted, but then I always plan for too much. What I have got done was pretty good.

I build and framed an interior door. This is quite a task if, if one has not done it before. In the end it took a surprising amount of time to complete. However, now that it is done it looks pretty good.

The other task I accomplished was framing the partition wall. Since we plan to have a sales area, we needed to have an interior wall to separate the brewing and sales areas. This was not too difficult a task. The only problem was that since it is 9'4" from the concrete floor to the joists above I had to build the wall and then build a short extension to connect it to the floor above.

So I accomplished a good bit of work over the last two weekends. Hopefully, I will soon have some more videos and pictures to post.

New Life For an Old Bird

2011-12-26T15:46:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a good holiday season. Things are going well here at the farm. The most noteworthy occurrence has been the resurrection of one of our chickens. Maybe not a true resurrection, but a pretty good comeback.

Our last remaining Leghorn had been laying misshapen, wrinkly eggs for some time. Then she laid shell-less eggs for a while. This could be a real mess when she would try to lay in a nest that already had other eggs in it. The membrane of the shell-less egg would break and cover the other eggs in goop and make a mess of the nest box. Eventually, she just stopped laying all together. That was a few months ago.

Imagine our surprise when we found a perfectly shaped, extra-large white egg last week. The next day brought another. Then another the day after that. She has now laid an egg for four days in a row! Pretty good for a three year old Leghorn!

Doors

2011-11-26T14:34:00.001-08:00

A bit of progress has been made on the brewery as of late. We have put on one set of doors, the loft floor and the blocking on the first floor. We are moving forward. I have also, for the first time in three months, got some homebrews going.

Below I have posted a photo of the new doors and some videos for your entertainment.

Cheers!

The new doors are in place!

Two Articles On Beer Styles

2011-10-19T16:52:00.000-07:00

Below are two articles I wrote on beer styles. They have not been published before. I had intended to combine them into one article, as they are closely related, but decided that each worked better as a stand alone article. As always, I welcome your comments.

Cheers!

A Word On Beer Style

When considering the question of beer styles, the argumenthas an unfortunate tendency to, very quickly, become contentious and confining. Many persons, sometimes it seems to be themajority, simply will not accept a beer that does not fit their concept of anestablished style. One may hear them saysomething along the line of “It is a good beer, but not to style.” What does this mean? Is it a nice way of saying a beer isawful? (Looks good on you…) Who gets todetermine what a style is? Will the beerpolice arrest the brewer and take him before the beer judges? If it is truly a good beer, but not to style,is it then a new style?

Not long ago I read an essay in which the author, a beerjudge of some certification, stated his belief in the importance of brewersbeing trained to “recognize styles and to judge critically.” However, he then quickly stated that he oftenhad to “turn off” his critical tasting apparatus and simply enjoy the beer hehappened to be drinking. So it wouldappear that being sensitive to beer styles takes the joy out of beerdrinking.

Well, now isn’t this a pretty state of affairs. Perhaps we need to go back to the start andsee where beer styles came from.

The first thing that we all, as beer drinkers and creators,need to realize is that until recent times a beer style was a whollyunintentional creation. The firstbrewers did not sit in their caves, scratching their chins, and suddenly cry,“Aha, I have it. I will make a WelshBitter!” No, indeed.

Rather, beer styles arose as an artifact of geography and culture.In the early stages of brewing, up until the industrial era, people used theingredients that were readily available. Not all ingredients were available in all locations. Further, due to cultural norms, some ingredientswould be accepted in one area and rejected in another. So the origin of styleis a reflection of culture and geography.

As trade and transport became more efficient, brewers foundat their disposal previously unavailable ingredients. As might be expected, this lead to thecreation of new styles of beers. However, the creation of these new styles was still not an intentionalend. Rather, brewers experimented with new ingredients and techniques in aneffort to make better beer that would sell. Bear in mind that the first London Porter wasnot to style, if for no other reason than that the style did not exist. Then as now, the intention of every brewerwas to make good beer.

As new beers came to be accepted within a local area, theyoften came to be seen as characteristic of their region of origin. Thus we came to have Welsh Bitter and LondonPorter. But, again, the intention was not to create a style, but to createsomething people liked. The concept ofstyle was the outsider’s way of delineating regional variations. This was reinforced by local consumers’tendency to become stoutly loyal to the local product (style) and resist anychange.

In time, as beers became more available outside their regionof origin, the concept of style was created as a useful means of broadlycategorizing products and indicating similarities and differences. To this day that remains the utility of theconcept of style - a way of communicating similarities and differences to theinexperienced.

So why has style come to be so narrowly defined by such alarge portion of beer drinkers? I am notsure. Other than giving one the abilityto smugly state, “A good beer, BUT not to style”, I can see no utility in suchdefinitions. In fact, the whole conceptof rigidly defined styles is self-defeating. By defining styles too narrowly and attempting to enforce thesedefinitions through criticism, contests, and the like, innovation andcreativity are restricted. Remember, thefirst Stout was not to style, yet later it would become an accepted style.

What then is the upshot? Beer style, like any other system of categorization, is an artificialimposition from the outside. It is auseful, if somewhat unwieldy, concept that functions well as a general guide,but breaks down if definitions get too specific. Think about the categories onthe periodic table of the elements (metal, gas, rare earth, etc.). They are very useful in a broad sense, butthere still elements that fall between the categories. Further, if style is strictlyenforced, the creation of new styles, the beers that fall between the cracks,will cease. So I say to you, Dear Reader, use style as a general guideline,never forgetting that the point is to make good beer.

What Is Beer Style

What is style as it pertains to beer? It would appear that, to most people, itmeans a defined set of characteristics that cleave a beer to others with thesame set of characteristics and cleave it away from those that do not share that set of characteristics. To be useful, this set of definingcharacteristics should be agreed upon by the vast majority, if not a consensus,of beer enthusiasts and be easily recognizable. If only a minority agreed uponthe defining elements of a style or if these elements were so obscure as to bebeyond the ken of the majority, the style in question would have nomeaning. Thus, style is a matter ofagreed upon definition.

So why do we have beer styles? It is important to note at this time thattraditionally style was a matter of social evolution. Culture and geography would conspire and theresult was a beer style. To wit, thebrewer used whatever ingredients were available and socially acceptable withintheir locality. So, at least in theearly days of brewing, style was not a matter of conscious choice. Rather, style was a matter of necessity,massaged by society.

Thus, in its earliest form, beer style was a reflection,perhaps even an expression, of the brewer’s geography and culture. In short, our early brewers strove to do thebest they could within their respective contextual constraints and style wasborn.

The modern brewer faces far fewer limitations than hispredecessor. A brewer in Australia can easily obtain Irish Ale yeast anda Patagonian may have Munichmalt almost at will. Ah, FedEx, making avillage of the once wide world.

A literary analogy rises here. Who is the better poet: Oneworking within the framework of a sonnet, or one with the freedom of blankverse? Thence, who is the better brewer:One toiling within the limits of place and society or one with access to aworld of ingredients? I see in thisquestion the makings of a philosophical great debate and shall plea arespectful silence and return to the topic at hand.

To return, and summarize, the question of style has moved fromone of necessity to one of intent. Thisis best illustrated by comparing a double (or is it now triple) IPA to a Lambic. The former is completely contrived and markettargeted, the latter is so localized and specific in ingredients as to benearly impossible to recreate outside its place of origin.

So what, ultimately, is a beer style? It is a means of communication. It is a way to let others know what you aredoing. If one brewer were to say to another, “This is my cream stout,”regardless of the resultant product, the recipient has a notion the provider’sintent. Which leads to another issue(this slope does seem to be getting a bit slippery, does it not?)

What happens when interlocutors cannot agree upon theelements of a style? I cringe every timeI hear the phrase, “good beer, but not to style.” This phrase is often spokenwith a certain gravity of tone that bodes ill for anyone who should producesuch a beer. Given the precedingdiscussion, does such a statement have any meaning? Iwould opine, no. It seems to be a bitlike saying a table with six legs is good furniture but not a table. Whilestyles can be seen a pseudo-platonic ideals that aid in communication, theyare, as with all ideals, open to interpretation and ultimately outside reality. So what is to be done?

The upshot here is that all any brewer can do, if they wouldbe true to themselves and their craft, is to use style as a starting point andbrew the best beer they can. Use whatyou have, get what you can and make the best beer possible. Follow your heart. If you end up with a rauchbier, excellent, ifyou create a new style, so much the better. In the final analysis, the concept of established beer styles is mostuseful as a means of exploring new possibilities. The ultimate aim is to make good beer.

Sunday Work Day

2011-09-22T17:36:00.000-07:00

We tried for a work day last Sunday. About one in the morning I was awakened to the sound of the beeping of my computer's battery back-up. I promptly fell back asleep. When Annie woke me to take her out, I realized that I could not turn on the lights and remembered the previously- forgotten beeping. We finally got power back a bit after 1pm. By then, my JKD instructor had arrived and it was time to start kicking and punching each other.

In the meantime, a few brave souls labored with me, by hand, to get a few things done around the brewery. In a way, not having power was a bonus, it made us plan and work more efficiently. On Monday, with the power back on, I made some progress on the loft floor.

Such is life. Hopefully this Sunday we will have power and be able to inch the brewery a bit further along toward completion.

A Test

2011-09-14T18:29:00.000-07:00

A short time ago I was presented with the rare opportunity for a mass taste-testing. A friend of mine was having an anniversary celebration and asked if I could brew a couple of beers for the event. I immediately accepted. This would be an excellent opportunity to test my brews with a wider audience and to promote the nascent brewery.

My friend granted me free rein to choose what I would brew. I decided to do one traditional style beer, such as we will be brewing when we open, and one more modern style beer. Both beers started with a basic pale ale recipe of my own creation. One was lightly hopped and about 3.5% alcohol. The other was more heavily hopped, along the lines of an IPA, and had about 6% alcohol. Since I was using some of my own hops, I had no way to calculate IBU's for the beers. When finished, both tasted very good to me. I had hit my intended mark with both efforts.

The night of the big event came. I did not give the guests too detailed descriptions of the beers. I wanted people to try them without prejudice. I decided to put out the lower alcohol/bitterness beer first. I was very pleased with the crowd reaction. I received numerous compliments. Many guests noted that it did not "taste like any other beers". Perhaps the best compliment was the speed with which the keg emptied.

Once the first beer was gone I hooked up the second keg. These results were very interesting. The crowd was split right down the middle. Several guests complimented me on yet another good brew. However, just as many stated that they liked the first beer better and the second keg took much longer to empty.

What I take away from this is that I am on the right track. My recipes and style of brewing has a wide appeal. There is real potential for strong sales once we get the brewery up and running.

In other taste testings, I have noticed a definite prejudice against lower alcohol/malty beers. If you don't tell people what they are drinking, the results are 90% positive. If I say ahead of time "This is 3% alcohol and lightly hopped," I get a 50/50 split. One rather proud critic of all things beer boldly predicted the failure of our brewery because "Anything other than a double IPA is not worth drinking."

Given the results from my friend's party, it appears that there are beers other than double-IPA's that are worth brewing. The key getting people to taste them with an open mind.

As the Dog Said to the Cat: Roof!

2011-08-05T15:43:00.000-07:00

The boys from Bellows arrived early this morning to install the metal roofing. As the truck and trailer were backing in, I did a bit of a double-take; the trailer appeared empty! Was something happening that I was not aware of? Upon closer examination, it was apparent that the trailer did indeed contain the necessary metal roofing to complete the assigned task. However, given my inexperience in matters pertaining to the installation of metal roofing, I did not realize that the sum total of metal roofing necessary to cover a 16x32 foot building amounted to exactly a 1.5 inch stack of roofing. Weighing in a bit north of 600lbs, it constituted a decidedly dense load.

True to form, the fellows from Bellows engaged in the task at hand with the alacrity of seasoned professionals and upon my arrival the roof was in place and the crew long departed. Many thanks for a job well done.

Below is a picture of the new roof. I have also included a photo from little more than a year ago to remind everyone where we started.

Where we started ...

...where we are today.

Closing Up

2011-08-01T17:27:00.000-07:00

The fellows from Bellows have beenworking with their usual speed. They have closed up the building and we are awaiting the metal roofing. Their most recent doings included bracing the upper floor and adding a beam to stabilize the wall extension. Then they tar-papered the roof. So right now, things are fairly weather tight. They also trimmed the rafters and added a facia board. On the gable ends, they put in flying rafters and facia boards. It looksvery nice. The building is really taking shape.

All closed up.

Trimmed rafters and facia boards.

Interior showing loft braces. The new beam is at the very top of the photo.

The Boys From Bellows

2011-07-26T16:24:00.000-07:00

Over the last two days the boys from Bellows Construction have been out working on the brewery. They have made quite a bit of progress and are well ahead of schedule. Their next step is to put on the roofing. Once that is done it will be time for a siding party!

A few hours into work on Day One.

Near the end on Day One.

View from the lower pasture at the end of Day Two.

More Professional Help

2011-07-12T19:38:00.000-07:00

Not too much has been accomplished lately as I have been over-busy with farm stuff and it is now wedding season. A while back Andy and I started the sheathing. As you might guess this is somewhat difficult when done from ladders. Andy, however, is a good sport and we accomplished a good bit in the time we had available.

Andy is also a professional builder and the strain of the slow going was beginning to tell a bit. Finally, he said to me, "I'm a builder. You're a brewer. If I have my crew here, we can get this done in a day. You need to be setting up the brewing side of things." I do not doubt that he is correct. Furthermore, I was not treasuring the idea of trying to hoist sheets of OSB 30 feet up a ladder to sheath the back part of the brewery. I have a thing about risking the lives of my volunteers. So I agreed to have Andy's boss gin up an estimate on finishing the roof and sheathing.

A few days later Barry and Andy came out to look at the place. Like Andy, Barry is a nice guy with a lot of good ideas. The estimates he gave me are quite reasonable, so we have decided to go with his company to get the roof and sheathing done. Hopefully this will help speed up the process. At any rate, I will not be doing much on the brewery as I am booked the next three weekends for weddings and other minutiae.

I am hoping that once things get back to normal, and the more dangerous work is done, we can have another work party. It has been too long since we had one.

I will keep you all posted.

We got a few things done...

Driver

2011-06-27T20:05:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

Sorry for the off-topic post, but I forgot that I had a fire department drill tonight. It was a good thing that I went. Unbeknownst to me, the Assistant Chief had decided to make this the night of my check-ride on the tanker.

To give some background, our new tanker is a 410HP turbo charged, ten wheel drive, 44,000lb beast. Needless to say I had some apprehension about taking a check-ride in this particular vehicle. Then again, I never back down from a challenge.

Let me tell you, this thing handles like a dream. In fact that is the biggest danger of driving this truck. It handles so well that it could lull the driver into complacency. One must always keep in mind just how much weight they have behind them when driving this truck. Modern technology is a good tool, but no substitute for an alert driver.

I made two runs with the tanker, emptying it into a swimming pool and refilling it at a lake. I even managed to back it into the station on the first try. In the end, I passed my check ride, though I still need more practice driving, and am allowed to respond to calls.

Pretty cool. Yep I feel good.

More Chicken Stuff

2011-06-09T19:19:00.000-07:00

Still needs some work...

What week it was. The new birds are growing fast and needed to get outside fast. So I really needed to hammer on the coop. I worked on it from sun-up to sundown on Sunday and Monday last week. I was so tired that I fell asleep in the coop when I sat down to rest as the sun set on Monday.

We moved in a few adult birds and they made do with a tarp for roofing. This past Sunday I finally got the tarpaper on. None too soon as the first raindrops fell as I was driving the last nail. So it is now a secure little home for some of my birds. Trim work still needs to be done, but at least it looks

like a chicken coop.

New coop door.

I like to make my coops look nice. I decided to make the door out of one inch thick and 12 inch wide rough pine boards that we were given as scrap. The hinges and ring are reproductions made in Massachusetts. The window is a real antique salvaged from a home that was being remodeled. The birds seem to enjoy the view.

One of the monsters.

The monster chickens continue to grow. They are quite mobile and thus quite hard to photograph. Their patterns and colors vary somewhat, however most are patterned something like the lady in the photograph at the right. They learned quickly to go into the coop at night and were able to free range at an early age. Now they remain in a closed run until the hatchery chicks learn to go into the coop at night. With luck, soon everyone will be free ranging.

A Little Bit of Progress

2011-06-05T20:28:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is another farmer's market. Tonight was another night of cleaning eggs into the late evening. The girls have slowed down a bit, but I still have plenty of eggs to sell. Last market I sold 12 dozen total, let us hope for better this time.

The new coop is getting close to being done. I managed to get the tarpaper tacked down on the roof just as the rain started to fall. So I am still not truly finished with the new coop but at least the chickens do not have a blue tarp for a roof! Putting up drip edge and tarpaper is a real pain when you are doing it alone.

All chickens are now out of the house. The incubator and brooder are shut down until next spring when the idea of chickens in the house will once again seem appealing. I love having peeps around but admit that I reached my limit this spring.

Hopefully tomorrow I willbe able post a few photos of progress around the farm.

Back To Work

2011-05-23T18:52:00.000-07:00

Greetings!

I realize that I must first apologize for the long span between posts. The point was really driven home when I was recently asked if we had abandoned the brewery project!

I am here to assure one and all that we have not abandoned the brewery project. In fact we are just getting back to work on the brewery. The problem is that much of what has been done so far this spring has required small crews so we have not yet been able to have the big work parties of last year. But fear not for we shall soon have one!

The biggest thing we have worked on has been planking the roof. Loyal readers may recall that the last work party put up all the rafters. So the next step was to plank the roof. However, we were not able to get that done before the snow flew (The day the rafters went up we had ice on the deck and the nail guns were malfunctioning due to the cold).

Eager to get going, I started putting up the roof planks myself and realized that things did not line up. This got me concerned. I called in some professional help in the form of our friend Andy. Andy is a professional builder of many years experience.

Andy came out on a Sunday morning. It turned out that nothing was seriously wrong and over the course of the next three hours, ignoring wind and rain, we were able to plank one half of the roof. With Andy up top yelling down what size plank he needed, and me passing up the same, things went quite smoothly.

The following Sunday Tracy's Uncles Vin and Greg came up. This time Vin had the honors of the "Man on the Roof" while Greg and I supplied the appropriate sized planks. In short order the second side of the roof was planked.

So we now have a planked roof. The next step is to put up the cupola vent and then start with the roofing. After that comes sheathing the exterior. I had not wanted to use any OSB or plywood on this project. However, due to some inherent weakness in the structure, Andy suggested that we sheath the building with OSB before siding it. The weakness arises from the fact that instead of building 12-foot walls, as the original plan called for , we built 8-foot walls and then added a 4-foot extension. This was done to make the construction more manageable for small crews. While not exactly a mistake, it did leave us with a weak spot that we need to take care of. The easiest way to do that is to sheath the building in OSB. So much for idealism.

Once again we must thank the folks at Woodell & Daughters for supplying us with some mighty fine lumber.

Hopefully, the gap between posing will be a little shorter from now on. Thanks to you all for sticking with me, the blog and the brewery.

Some mighty fine lumber!

Vine on the roof with the hop trellis in the foreground.

Duchess contemplates a brewery with a roof.

Farmer's Market

2011-05-01T21:03:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is our first farmer's market. I have a ton of eggs and brewery shirts to sell. Hopefully we will have some success. I hope to create a proper blog entry soon, but I just got done washing eggs and it is midnight.

One In the Keg - Working on the Brewhouse

2011-04-11T18:24:00.000-07:00

Deep in the dungeon...

So I decided on which beer to brew and it is already in the keg! The best idea may have been to make a tried and true recipe, so that I could tell if force carbonating made much difference, however, I was in the mood for something different. I found a recipe in the original Clone Brews for a "Wit Dark". Essentially, this is a stout with dark wheat malt completely replacing the dark roasted barley.

After one week in the fermenter, I ran it into the keg and hit it with the recommended 40 pounds of pressure. After two days I decided to give it a try. Being new to force carbonating and kegging, one would expect that I might miss a few points on the first attempt. One would be right.

The point I missed was that while 40 pounds pressure is needed to carbonate a beer, 10 pounds is used for dispensing. So without turning down the pressure on the regulator, I happily put tap to mug and pressed the lever. The result was a blast of black fluid that hit the bottom of the mug and erupted in a geyser of foam. Worse yet was that the pressure coming through the line was more that the spring in the tap could handle. I could not turn off the beer!

As beer was spewing about our small cellar, I had to think fast. Turn down the regulator pressure! I reached for the regulator, but it does not have T-handles, a screwdriver is required. What to do? In desperation I grabbed a coin from my pocket and turned down the regulator pressure until the flow of beer stopped.

In retrospect, I realize I could have just turned off the gas at the tank, but that did not occur to me at the time.

But how was the beer? It was, and is, excellent. At the first tasting it was very smooth with a goody buttery roast flavor. As it has matured, the butteriness has faded and it has a bit more bite on the tongue. So there is still some conditioning going on in the keg. Anyway you cut it, this is a good beer.

Brewhouse Update

This past weekend proved a good one weather wise. I was able to get out for a bit and do some work on the brewhouse. I managed to get the studs put in on the gable ends yesterday and put in the last of the collar braces today. I was also able to get the benches put up in the greenhouse. Keep on the lookout, I will be setting up a work party soon!

Round 3 of Operation Monster Chicken has hatched. Here is a picture of one of the little boogers:

Keg It!

2011-03-27T19:29:00.000-07:00

I have been asked to brew up a beer or two for a friend's picnic, so I have decided to take the plunge and buy a kegging system. I got to thinking that a picnic might not be the best situation to introduce people to bottle conditioned beer. Having a kegging system will simplify things: I won't have tons of bottles to clean and won't have to keep explaining why there is sediment in the bottles.

I figure that a kegging system is a good investment. I can use it at various functions to help promote our beer and it will be much easier to move about that cases of bottles. The only problem is that the corny kegs are rapidly becoming obsolete so I will need to secure a few as soon as I can.

Now the question is what to brew for the first beer...

Monster Chickens

2011-03-21T18:30:00.000-07:00

While I have little to report on the beer and brewery front, there is much to report on the chicken front. We have been raising chickens for about four years and have kept several different breeds. Each spring we would order a new batch of peeps and make sure to get some in at least one breed we had never had before.

The first batch in the brooder. The infrared heat light played heck
with the camera's focus.

This year we decided to take things to another level. I got Tracy an incubator for Valentine's Day and we started collecting eggs. Our only full-sized rooster is a Buff Brahma, so we figured he would likely be the sire of any hatchlings. However, given that we have hens of several different breeds, what the final results will look like is anybody's guess.

Socrates checks out the new arrivals.

The first four peeps hatched out about ten days ago. They were all brown but their color patterns varied. All have feathered legs, indicating that they are indeed the offspring of the Brahma rooster. Yesterday and today each saw one more peep hatch out. These little ones are both yellow.

The first peeps are growing very quickly. They already have most of their wing feathers and starting to get their tail feathers. I do not remember having chicks grow this fast in the past. We can hardly wait to see what they will look like as adults.

A brooder is a nice place for a nap. The chicks do not seem to mind.

Brewery Update

Keeping an eye to the weather, I am hoping to get back to work on the brewery soon. After having much time to think about things and visiting a sugarhouse, I have decided to plank the roof of the brewery. The sugarhouse had a planked roof. It looked very nice and in 25 years had never had a problem with rot/mildew etc, and that was without a steam hood. The rafters are literally dripping wet for three weeks every year.

Given that we will have greater clearance over our boiler and will not be boiling off like a sugarhouse would, I anticipate that we will not have any problem with a planked roof. The big advantage to planking the roof is that it will allow me to work alone on the roof on days when no one else can help. It will also look much nicer when finished.

Early Ale Early Review

2011-02-28T18:45:00.000-08:00

An Historic Taste!

The first reviews of the "early ale" experiment are in. Recall that this was an attempt to brew one of the Durden Park Beer Circle recipes for a pale ale from the early 19th century. I had been wanting to try one of their recipes for some time and so I did.

I conducted the first tasting after about a week in the bottle. Harsh is the only word that can describe what it then tasted like. Very bitter, almost astringent, with a whopper alcohol bite and after taste. Some might enjoy such a beverage, but it is not for me. But remember, Dear Reader, that this is a bottle conditioned ale and taste evolution will occur.

At the week two mark, I took a bottle of said ale to the house of some friends. Without mentioning my initial distaste for the product I poured the glasses. Both of them liked it. Kristen especially liked the fact that it was sweeter and less bitter than most pale ales. She felt it was, overall, smoother than a typical pale ale.

That was interesting! Was this the same beer that had violently assaulted my taste buds barely a week before? I took a drink myself. What a surprise: The flavor had smoothed out marvelously and the alcohol bite was nearly gone. The harsh astringency had been replaced by a strong maltiness with a background of fruity hoppiness. It was the type of taste evolution that would make Darwin proud.

The question that remains is this: Does my latest effort really taste like a beer from the early 19th century? That is a tough question to answer. So many things have changed in terms of materials and supplies that any attempt to reconstruct an early recipe is an exercise in speculation. The fellows and ladies of the Durden Park Beer Circle are are well aware of that and take great pains to research the processes and materials contemporary with the beer they are trying to recreate and account for those differences when they create their recipes. So while we cannot know if we have matched the taste exactly, we are at least pretty close to what the original beer tasted like.

Nothing quite like a history lesson in a glass. Cheers!

Early Ale

2011-02-05T18:17:00.000-08:00

I have chosen to call my latest effort and "early ale." I did this because the term "old ale" has, for better or worse become a "style" and I did not want to confuse my readers and have them thinking that I brewed something I had not.

So, what is this "early ale?" It is something have wanted to try for some time. I adapted this recipe from the published recipes of the Durden Park Beer Circle, whose mission it is to recreate as closely as possible the recipes of the early British ales. Readers may remember that I reviewed their book of history and recipes in a previous post. Each recipe, formulated using archived notes and descriptions, is and attempt to recreate an actual beer that was brewed long ago. Long I have wanted to brew one of their recipes, but for various reasons had not.

Two things I like about the Durden Park recipes is they are all historical and simple. Brewing their recipes is like using a beer time machine, and one need not muck-about with protease rests and octuple decoctions. This is brewing at its raw best, when brewers brewed based on their experience, not on what they were told; each recipe being the distillation of centuries of experience.

The basis for this latest brew was a pale ale recipe from the 1820's. A very basic recipe, it called only for the use of pale malt and hops; one malt and one hop. I modified it slightly by adding some sugar to the boil in an effort to ensure a nice dry finish.

So how did things work out? I cannot say for sure, but I bottled today and the early result is encouraging. The raw beer has a good hop flavor and aroma with a strong malt base and a dry finish. I can't wait to pop open a bottle in a few weeks. Ah yes, the wait.

Discourse on Method

2011-01-24T18:38:00.000-08:00

When the idea of this brewery first began to take shape, we realized that we needed to simplify things if we were to have any success. The latest technology is nice, but we could not afford that. Even if we could, it would likely not be consistent with our ideal, our mission.

To that end, I have been experimenting with ways to reduce the brewing process to its essential elements. Regarding equipment, all that is needed is heat and containers. Perhaps a bit of tubing for fluid transfer would be a help. In the work-flow of most breweries, each step of the brewing process requires its own container. Given our situation, we need to keep the number of containers to a minimum.

The method I devised involved eliminating the secondary fermenter and the container for priming (bottling bucket). In the process I have previously used, the beer moves from the boiler to the primary fermenter to the secondary fermenter to the bottling bucket for priming then it gets bottled. In this new method the beer will move from the boiler to the primary fermenter then get bottled, thus cutting the number of containers in half. This is akin to brewing processes of the middle 19th century.

Using only single stage fermentation is not that uncommon a practice, especially among home brewers. I myself have only recently started using two-stage fermentation. Two-stage fermentation may yield a cleaner (less cloudy) beer and less sediment in the bottles, but does increase the risk of infection due to increased handling. Furthermore, beer properly conditioned in the bottle can be as clear as anything. The main reason I used two-stage fermentation was to reduce the amount of beer lost during the blow-off phase. I used to be a big believer in the blow-off phase, but that is the subject for another article.

As to eliminating the priming bucket, that was a bit trickier. Accomplishing that would mean I would have to prime the beer while it was still in the fermenter. I would need to mix the priming solution thoroughly enough to ensure uniform carbonation across the entire batch. I would also need to minimize agitation of the sediment. The two goals seemed mutually exclusive.

I finally decided to rely on some good old high school chemistry. To wit: If two solutions (in this case raw beer and the primer) are miscible (can dissolve completely each into the other) they will diffuse into each other and eventually form a uniform solution simply due to the kinetic energy of the constituent molecules. No mixing needed.

The final process involved two steps. First, the primer was poured slowly into the fermenter while the fermenter was very gently agitated to give the diffusion process a jump-start. The second step was to wait about 7.5 hours to allow the process of diffusion to complete its work. The beer was then bottled.

So how does this new streamlined method work? I have now used this on two batches of English bitter, with excellent results in both cases. Both times the final product had good carbonation and hop character with a crisp finish and no off-flavors. One reviewer, who is quite knowledgeable in things beery, asked how I managed to get such good hop aroma and still have such a clean, dry finish.

Ah, success.

Hemlock

2011-01-13T04:35:00.000-08:00

I did not specifically note, and have received a few questions about, what kind of hemlock was used in the hemlock beer. It was, as always, our good old New Hampshire hemlock tree and NOT the poison hemlock of Socratic fame.

Cheers!

New Outlet

2011-01-02T17:48:00.000-08:00

The Belgian Mare Brewery t-shirts have a new outlet. Microbe Brewer's Supply of Brattleboro, Vermont, has started selling our shirts. Ivan and Allison and their Microbrewer run a great little shop that can answer all of your brewing needs. So please give them your homebrewing business.

http://www.microbebrewerssupply.com/

Remember: For every shirt purchased, The Belgian Mare comes that much closer to reality!

The Blue Bird Of Happiness

2010-12-22T17:06:00.000-08:00

As many of you know, I have been keeping chickens and selling eggs for a few years now. If the latest "food safety" legislation does not put me out of business, I will continue to do so for as long as I can. Chickens are interesting creatures and tending them and watching them as they go about their daily semi-flightless avian business supplies a good bit of the entertainment and joy I get from living in rural New Hampshire.

Since this is the season of giving, I thought I would share an unexpected gift we received this spring. This year, we added a second coop and tripled the size of our flock. At the store where I work, which is also where I get my chicks, we had some left overs after all the orders had been filled. One bird was an odd looking creature that did not appear to be any of the standard breeds which we sell. That was probably the reason why it was left behind; no one knew what it was so it was never used to fill an order.

I am a sucker for the outsider and unwanted, so I paid my $2.25 and took the little bird home. As it continued to grow, we ralized that this was something we had not seen before. Clearly a heavy breed, it was colored differently from anything we had ever seen. I began poring over my poultry references and realized we had something special. This little lady was one of the rarest of the rare: A blue Wyandotte!

Blue Wyandotte chickens are quite rare and breeders charge a large premium for them. To think that we got one because no one knew what it was and thus didn't want it. Perhaps there is a bigger lesson here.

She has grown into a fine hen and has been a joy to have in our flock. I guess that makes he our "blue bird" of happiness. I hope you all find your own.

Our Blue Bird of Happiness

Building and Brewing

2010-12-20T20:39:00.000-08:00

All apologies for the tardy nature of this post. I was busy last night watching the Packers snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. The first time in 41 years I want them to win and they blow it at the last second! So I woke up this morning to talk radio discussing Bill B. being "clearly the greatest coach of the modern era." Ack! Ack!

Enough! On to brewing...

I accomplished a bit of work on the brewery. I managed to install about half the collar braces on the rafters before cold overtook me. About the time the level stuck to my hand I figured it was time to pack it in for the day. It was just as well as being up on a ladder, that was standing on a temporary deck made of ice coated plywood, was starting to work on my nerves.

Hemlock Beer

In the good news department: I tried some of the hemlock I bottled a week ago. It is excellent. With a few more weeks to carbonate, I am sure it will only get better. I was a bit worried that adding a pound of malto-dextrin might make it too thick, but the body is just about right. I used a bit less hemlock this time and it seems I may have found the right balance. Dear Reader, I will keep you posted as the taste evolution proceeds.

Czech This Out

As I write these lines, I have a Czech lager in the fermenter. This particular brew represents the first time in a few years that I have used a White Labs liquid yeast culture. I was a big fan of these during my time in Alaska, but could not find a supplier when I moved to New Hampshire. Now I have found one.

I am a bit concerned as the yeast took over 24 hours to show any sign of life. I am fearful of an infection. However, the yeast is going strong now and no odd odors have been detected coming from the fermentation lock. In fact, the brew smells pretty good. I will keep you posted.

The Past Crosses The Future

Today I cooked up an English bitter. This was a very simple recipe, of my own design, utilizing only Pearl malt as a base and some 90L crystal malt for a bit of flavor. I threw in one ounce of dark wheat malt to give a bit of spice. For hops, I tossed in two ounces of my own.

The big departure, for me, was the use of white sugar. Nearly twenty years ago when I started brewing, I made recipes that called for the addition of large amounts of white sugar. All too often the result was a beer with a cidery taste. I read that eliminating the sugar would eliminate the cidery taste. That seemed to work and ever since I have not let white sugar anywhere near my brews.

On this day I know not what muse of fermentation took hold of me as I perused my books of beer formulae, but upon seeing the prescriptions for English bitter that included varying amounts of white sugar, I was seized with the desire; no, compulsion, to brew with white sugar. Why, after a two decade hiatus, I should be so afflicted, I cannot answer. Still under the influence of the brewing muse I took three of the best recipes from my text and combined them to arrive at my final creation.

What shall come of this?

Weather Delay

2010-12-13T16:01:00.000-08:00

Saturday being the day of the Orchard School Craft Fair, I had my volunteers lined up for Sunday to put the roof on the brewery. Alas, for once the weather forecasters were right. Rain and ice were predicted and such we received. By eight in the morning the concrete deck of the brewery had quarter-inch thick layer of ice on it. Eventually the rain would melt away the ice but it was small consolation.

Tracy and I busied ourselves putting away anything that we felt might be damaged by the rain. That completed, all that remained was to speculate upon the likelihood of getting the roof on before spring or consider other courses of action we could pursue until such time as we were able to put the roof on the brewery. Many things remain to be done so I am sure we will find plenty to occupy us over the winter.

One bit of serendipity occurred at the craft fair on Saturday. A distant neighbor of mine who happens to be a welder, and has a large hop plant growing in his front yard, stopped by my table. We began discussing my ideas for converting the sap tanks I purchased to a boiler and fermenters. On the spot he came up with improvements to my ideas that will make it easier for us to run-off the beer without drawing off any of the sludge but would also facilitate the removal of the sludge and cleaning of the tanks. This almost makes up for the dismal sales we had on Saturday!

Throughout the day, we had many people stopping by my table at the craft fair to discuss the brewery. Word is getting out. We also handed out numerous brochures about the brewery. People are still excited about the brewery even though we are behind schedule. It is nice to see that our support is still strong and hear words of encouragement from our supporters.

Latest Brews

The New England Cream Lager turned out excellent. Remember that this time I put in an extra ounce of my own hops, for a total of three ounces. After more than two months in the bottle the hop aroma and flavor are both strong and citrusy with no hint of the usual lager/IPA bitterness without flavor. The addition of lactose made for a very smooth-bodied beer. So far, no one has had anything negative to say about this beer.

The rye lager came out as a very mild, earthy beer with a copper color. I was expecting a sharper rye flavor given the dark rye malt that was used in the recipe. It was still a good beer however, many drinkers found the flavor too mild for their tastes.

Today I bottled the latest batch of hemlock beer. This time I used less hemlock than in the past. I tasted some of the brew prior to bottling. At this point it is very mild in spite of the heavy addition of dark roasted barley. Given this recipe's history of dramatic taste evolution, I have no doubt it will taste quite different after a month in the cellar.

Rafters

2010-12-05T14:12:00.000-08:00

Another day's work.

Yet another brewery work day was a big success. This time we had 11 workers show up! They were in random order: John, Glenn, Greg, Sue, Tom, Vin, Tina, Krister, Dave, Devin, and Tom. Needless to say, putting up 50 rafters with 11 workers went pretty fast.

Last Sunday Vin had made a template for the rafters and they were cut to length. During the week I finished the cuts and shortened the rafters to fit the ridgepole. So today, all that remained was to get the ridgepole up and the rafters in place.

With all the hands available, getting the ridgepole up and the first rafters in place was none too difficult. Once we got the system down, the rest went pretty fast. Even setting up the temporary decking went smoothly.

It is my fault that we did not get more done. I had waffled on what type of roofing to use. I had finally decided on going with metal on stringers and had purchased the stringers. However, once we started putting up the rafters, it became apparent that we may need more stability. Now I really dislike plywood and OSB, but the fact remains that they will provide a more rigid roof. So after consulting with my volunteers the decision was made to go with the OSB. It won't be pretty, but it will be solid. If I had made this decision earlier, we could have had the material in place and would have finished today. Mea culpa.

Today was a good day, we got a bunch done. The place is really starting to look like a brewery. A big thanks to all our volunteers.

Sunday Framing Party

2010-11-29T12:43:00.000-08:00

The Comcast internet outage prevented me from posting last night. So let me tell you now, Sunday framing party was a big success. We had five people show up to help out: Ira Cass, Greg and Sue Taylor, and Vin and Tina Cass.

The day was clear, but that also means cold this time of year. When we started, the nail guns were too cold to function properly. So we took them inside to warm up while we nailed by hand for a while. The first item of business was to get to work on the wall extension. The wall extension is critical to our design as it will allow enough vertical space to raise the mashtun high enough to allow our system to be principally a gravity fed system. This will also create more storage space in the loft area. Krister had already cut the studs, so we were able to start construction right away. The wall extension went up surprisingly smoothly and needed little squaring.

We worked straight through to near-completion on the wall extension. then broke for a late lunch. Tracy had made her from scratch homemade piazza. This hit the spot as we were all getting a bit cold and tired by then.

Then we went out to put the last touches on the wall extension and start on the rafters. Vin showed me how to step off rafters and cut the first two. He must have known what he was doing: those first two fit perfectly. With the wall extension completed and the first two rafters cut, the sun was fading fast. So we decided to cut the rest of the rafters to length and call it a day.

The only framing left to do is the rafters and ridge pole. With luck, we can get a crew out this coming Sunday and get that done. Thanks to all who helped out!

Putting up the first section of the wall extension.

The studs in place for the next section of wall.

Vin and Sue working on the wall in the loft area.

A days work: The wall extension framed.

We are trying to get another crew together for next Sunday. If you are interested in helping out, shoot me an email: tim@belgianmare.com. Thanks!

Current State of Framing

2010-11-21T15:32:00.000-08:00

Given my recent incapacitation due to traumatic injury (ruptured tendon) I have been unable to accomplish much on the brewery. However, I felt it necessary to bring all of you up to date as to the current state of the framing process by posting a few photographs. Shortly (a matter of hours) before my injury, Krister and I had managed to place all of the floor joists for the loft (the last being placed as darkness settled across the land) and get to the point where we were ready to put up the wall extension. The following day, working alone, Krister cut the studs for the wall extension. So that is where we stand. Tomorrow I will purchase the lumber for framing up the roof. For this comingSunday, Tracy has organized a framing party. Hopefully this will give us a push forward, or at least we can have some fun!

The most recent photographs of the framing process are below:

Image 1 - First floor framing is complete.Floor joists for the loft are in place.

Image 2 - South side of the brewery showing two doors and four windows.

Image 3 - Interior view showing floor joists for the loft.

With luck, after next Sunday we will have even more interesting photo to show!

More Progress and a Setback

2010-11-16T14:44:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday we made good progress on the brewery. The first floor framing was completed and we also got all the floor joists in place for the loft. Let me tell you, trying to climb a ladder while holding the end of a 16 foot rough cut 2x10 should be an Olympic event.

Given Sunday's success we were looking forward to even more progress on Monday. It was not to be. While talking to Tracy out in the pasture, my foot came down wrong in the mud. Tracy heard the pop and down I went. I had to crawl out of the pasture. Needless to say I did not do much on Monday.

Krister came out and worked by himself. He managed to get all the studs cut for the second level. Hopefully we can get some more help for next week

For my part, I found out that I habe a ruptured tendon in my ankle. About 50 % of the tendon is left, so surgery has been ruled out for now. However, I will be in an air cast for at least three weeks and a full recovery is about 16 weeks. This may set the brewery back a bit.

The Shirts Are In!

2010-11-12T17:35:00.000-08:00

As you already know from the new header the t-shirts are in. The reader may judge for themselves, but I think they look pretty nice. The art work was done by Tracy, then I added the letters and we sent it to the printer. They guys at the print shop were pretty excited about the idea of a brewery being built just a few miles up the road.

So all we need to do now is to sell enough of these to pay for the brewery. So get out and spread the word. The more shirts we sell, the sooner we get this brewery going!

A Bit More Framing & T-Shirts

2010-11-02T17:20:00.000-07:00

Although felled by a raging fever, some work was accomplished on the brewery this weekend. On Sunday, our friends Tom and Kristen came out to check on our horse Aggie. Aggie was having trouble walking and with Tracy out of town I was not sure what to do. Kristen agreed to come over and check things out. Fortunately it turned out to be just a bit of muscle soreness. She even cleaned and redressed our visiting horse's cut for us. So she pretty much took care of the horses for us. Thanks, Kristen!

While they were here they decided to help a bit with the brewery. So we framed up the rough opening of one of the big windows. As we progressed with the framing, it became clear that I was fading fast. What had begun that morning as the subtle suggestions of an oncoming cold were developing into a full-blown nasal knockout. So once we finished the window framing we packed it up. By 6:00 PM I was comatose with fever. Happy Halloween!

The next day I was feeling better and Krister came out. We worked on finishing the last of the first floor framing and squaring the walls. We also started putting on the last of the top-plates. However, I had a dental appointment so we had to stop early.

Today I voted, as all of you should have done, and picked up another load of lumber from out friends at Woodell and Daughters. Most importantly, I also stopped at RJ's Sports and got estimates on printing up shirts for the brewery. Hopefully I will be able to place the order tomorrow and soon the world shall be wearing Belgian Mare apparel. With luck we can sell enough of these shirts to pay for the brewery!

First Floor Done (Almost)

2010-10-26T16:39:00.000-07:00

No pictures today as we worked until it was too dark to take a picture so my words shall have to suffice.

Krister showed up for the third day in a row. I am beginning to suspect that he may be more dedicated to this project than I am! However, Krister's nephew Wylie is one of our horses' biggest fans. When he heard that we had a fourth horse, he informed Krister that he "needed" a picture of said horse. So that was the first order of business. Given what camera hogs Aggie and Max are, you can guess how difficult getting a picture of Web can be. Once that task was completed it was on to the brewery.

As you might have guessed, we went right to it and finished up the last wall section we had put up as the sun set last night. Then we began framing up the last wall section of the first floor.

It quickly became apparent that we did not have enough time or lumber to finish framing this section. With the light fading fast, we decided to do what we could. In the end we were able to get most of the last section framed up and set it on the foundation.We used a temporary brace to keep it square until we could finish it. By the time we finished securing this last section to the foundation and bracing it we were out of time and lumber.

So we are very close to having the whole first floor framed up. Only a few doodads remain. Then we can start on putting in the loft. Then the roof. Exciting times.

A New Frame To Mind

2010-10-25T17:13:00.000-07:00

Two days of framing work.

This Sunday and Monday finally saw us begin the process of framing up the brewery. On Sunday Toma and Krister came out and we got started. Then on Monday Krister came out again and we continued the process. We have only one more section to go and we will be done with the first floor.

Conditions at the worksite were cold and wet the entire time, but we carried on. Krister and Tom are both much more experienced carpenters than I am. Over these last two day I have learned alot from them. Another thing that I have learned is that I cannot estimate lumber usage. I had thought that we had enough to fram up the first floor and loft. It now looks like we will end up just short of being able to finish up the first floor. Hopefully my financial estimates will prove more accurate!

Starting Construction

2010-10-21T18:17:00.000-07:00

Over the past few weeks we have had a good bit of rain. Still, between downpours we have managed to get two loads of lumber to the brewery site. With luck the rain will hold off and we can start construction on Sunday. I have been making phone calls and trying to rally the troops.

I really hope that at least one person who shows up on Sunday has some construction experience, as I have little. The description in my barn building book make it look like a fairly simple task; more a matter of determination than skill. It is such books containing such descriptions that often lead innocent persons down the path of self-destruction. At least I shall have a few friends with me as I tread that all too familiar road.

I hope to have some cool photos to post on Sunday night.

A Finish to the Filling

2010-10-11T18:30:00.000-07:00

Today Lonn finished backfilling the brewery foundation and did a better job than I ever could have with my little tractor. He even used the boulder piles to make stone retaining walls for the cellar entrance. Things look pretty nice right now.

I also made a trip to the sawmill today. I picked up the first load of lumber. I had hoped to make a second trip but that did not work out. However, I did get enough to frame up nearly all the first floor.

In the sad news department, one of the breweries I visited while I was forming the plan for our brewery has gone out of business. They lasted about two years after getting licensed. I remember that during my visit I noticed a few problems, though, at the time, they did not seem lethal to the brewery's success.

At the time of my visit, they had only been open about a month, but the owner told me that he needed to go back to his investors for another infusion of capital. They had invested heavily in a temperature control system that had not been properly installed and thus had to lay out even more capital to get the system fixed. Most notably, that had only two fermenters and little room for adding any others. That may have been their key weakness.

When interviewing brewers and brewery owners one principle emerged that nearly every interviewee touched upon. This was the importance of fermenter capacity. Big boilers are nice, but fermenter capacity was the bottleneck that determined a brewery's true capacity. As one brewmaster noted, "Your boiler is tied up for 90 minutes or so, but your fermenters are tied up for anywhere from two weeks to six months. You don't want to be stuck waiting for a fermenter to open up." The moral of the story: Have enough fermenters to enable production to keep going. That is why we decided to spend the extra money to have a full cellar built. I still sometimes wonder if we should not have built even bigger.

Learning from mistakes is best done vicariously so let us hope that I may avoid the pitfalls that some of my fellow brewers unfortunately stumbled into.

Admitting Defeat

2010-09-28T17:23:00.000-07:00

I tried. I tried very hard. I even dedicated my last couple of days off to getting the task done. It was just too much. The task I am referring to is finishing filling in the foundation of the brewery. I had thought that after all the work done by my friends, I could finish putting down the sand and then it would be a quick job to put in the last of the regular fill.

I made a real effort of it, trying to put in an hour after work each night, and then worked until it was too dark to see on my day off. This got me pretty close to finished with the sand, but drove home the point that trying to get the other fill in would be an enormous task. Unlike the sand, which was placed next to the foundation, the fill pile is positioned farther away, but still in such a manner that an excavator can easily scoop and place the fill. Using my small bucket loader would require driving down to the lower pasture and then back up to the foundation to deliver each bucket. Then I would have to shovel the fill into place. I began to have horrifying visions of being the latest unfinished foundation in rural New England.

Knowing that I very much need to get going on the superstructure of the building convinced me that it was time to take drastic measures. I called my neighbor Lonn. He came out, took a look around, and opined that he could probably finish the filling in in about a day. Decision made.

While I feel a bit defeated and deflated by not being able to finish the back-filling of the foundation on my own, I am happy to be getting on with things. Winter is coming and we need to get the superstructure started. I know most of my volunteers had expected we would have started on that a long time ago and so did I.

I do not know if we will be able to have things done by the end of October, but at least we will be moving on to the next phase of construction. Now where did I leave my hammer?

Greenhouse & Lager

2010-09-21T05:01:00.000-07:00

Greenhouse

Well, we did not quite get done but the greenhouse is nearly complete. We had to overcome missing and damaged parts and instructions so vague as to suggest that their relationship to the task at hand was mere coincidence. Yet we still managed to get the cover on and one of the roll-ups working. Hopefully, next year we will be able to get a jump on spring and finally get some good peppers.

Lager

On the brewing front I have been in a bit of a lager mood lately. I know this is a bit of a departure for me, but these new dry lager yeasts work so well that I decided to pursue this avenue. The first batch was the New England Cream Lager which was such a success when last brewed. This time I decided to experiment a bit and add an extra ounce of hops with 15 minutes left in the boil. I bottled this batch last night and was amazed at how much more hop character it has than the last batch. I expect this will be a good beer in a month or two.

The second lager I brewed was more experimental than the first. I use a new yeast and a new malt. The yeast used was the Saflager w-34/70. I bough this on a whim since I had never seen or heard of it before. The new malt was a dark roasted rye malt the homebrew shop had just got in. I decided to combine the two and see what would happen.

As you can see, the yeast went right to work. Even Socrates P. Qat was impressed. I also bottled this lager last night. The taste is very strong and malty, almost stout like, but with the characteristic lager tart ness. I also expect this to be a good brew after a month or so in the cellar.

LLC

2010-09-14T16:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a good day for us. We received word from the State of New Hampshire that the Belgian Mare Brewery is now legally recognized as a limited liability company (LLC). So I am now the owner of record for an unlicensed brewery that has yet to be built. There is a bit more to things than that.

In practical terms, this means that, unlike my wife, the Belgian Mare Brewery LLC is a legally separate entity from me. The most important aspects of this separation involve taxes and liability. However, we can now start using the name for other things such as making mugs or shirts to sell to raise money for finishing the brewery.

So, perhaps, this is not the most earth shaking event, but it does feel like we have passed a milestone and are a bit more real than we were a few days ago.

Making Things Official

2010-08-23T18:40:00.000-07:00

Things got a bit more official today. We sent in the papers to set up the brewery as an LLC (Limited Liability Company) in the state of New Hampshire. Included in this was a request for an official name. We should hear back in 30 days or less.

I was able of get some work done today, in spite of the rain. I put in quite a bit more sand fill and hoped that that would be the last before the regular fill. However, it now appears that I will need one more load of sand. Bummer.

Accountant & Solar & Aggie

2010-08-19T16:37:00.000-07:00

Due to a brief illness and and spending some time working with the horses, I have not got much done on the brewery since the last post. However, we did meet last night with an accountant. This was a very edifying meeting. We discussed the structure of the business, financing, taxes and many other things. I was greatly heartened to hear that my ideas for the structure of the business met with the accountant's approval. I had put a lot of work into the business structure, but I am no professional, so it was nice to have someone in the know give it the stamp of approval. So it looks the brewery will be an LLC that rents space from the farm.

The second part of today's entry, has to do with power supply. From the start we have wanted to be as off-grid as possible. Finding the necessary tools to accomplish that has proved problematic. Today, at work, I met a customer who has been living off-grid for the last fifteen years, or thereabouts. He showed me how a relatively small and simple solar-electric system can provide enough power to do all the pumping and lighting we will need at the brewery.

The only problem would be heating the sales area in winter. We came up with some ideas of using the boiler to do this. The drawback, would be that anything that could not be allowed to freeze would need to be put in the cellar each night. However, since we are not sure yet if the brewery would be open to the public in winter, this might not be a problem.

So, any way you slice it, I have got a lot of new ideas to consider for the brewery.

Here is a bonus:

Last Sunday we hitched Aggie to a two-wheeled forecart for the first time. She had been doing so well with the ground work that we felt it was time to try a wheeled vehicle. Well...

Hooking her up went well. Then when Roy asked her to go, she started bucking and ran through a ditch. Somehow Roy held on and got her stopped. Then he walked her out to his back pasture and drove her around for a while. She definitely does not like downhills, which lends weight to the theory that she got he scars in a cart accident. She really began to relax as time went on and, overall, the training went very well. We still have a way to go, but it was a successful day.

First Day In Harness

Slinging Sand

2010-08-09T18:02:00.000-07:00

Greetings, Dear Reader,

I apologize for the lack of activity this blog has experienced and the lack of photos in this posting. I assure you that much has happened since the last post. Mostly, this has been in small steps, hence my lack of posting, yesterday, however, experienced a big step.

Over the past few weeks I have been slowly putting in the foundation drain and drainage stone. This being a rather simple, if somewhat arduous task, I did it alone and did not request assistance. However, once the gravel was in place and it was time for fill, I was forced to admit the need for help. So I put out the call.

Great was my joy when upon Sunday morning no less than six volunteers arrived to help. They quickly divided into two teams of three, based upon family ties. So it was that the Bishop and Hogan Clans chose opposite sides of the cellar upon which to labor.

For my part, I drove the tractor, dumping sand on either side of the cellar as needed. Such was the pace work of the two teams that I was kept in a state of constant motion and was never afforded a rest. Many were the times when I heard the patriarch of the Bishop Clan call for more sand closely followed by the Hogans' protests that I was neglecting their needs.

When we finally called it a day, more had been accomplished than I ever dared hope. These guys had dropped the hammer like I never expected. Instead of a couple of hours of work and half the sand placed, I received more than five hours of work and all the sand was placed. It is truly gratifying and humbling to have one's neighbors give so much without compensation.

Well, not entirely without compensation, Tracy and I did provide our neighborly volunteers with a noon repast of pizza from the Alstead Village Pizza (excellent, as always). This was consumed with relish before returning to work.

When all was said and done, Sunday was a good day. My neighbors had showed up in force to assist me with building the brewery. We shared a mid-day meal. We got all the sand put into place.

When we finished, one young member of the Bishop Clan asked me how long I expected to run the brewery. I told him that I hoped it would last as long as I could last, hopefully another 60-plus years. He said that was good, because he had another 8 years until he reached 21 and wanted to buy a beer at the brewery he helped build.

Concrete Stands Alone

2010-07-08T11:54:00.000-07:00

In spite of blistering heat that turned me into a mass of sticky goo, I managed to remove the wood deck upon which the concrete floor was poured. All things considered, the operation did not take particularly long nor was it notably difficult. The key was to get the 2x8's out in such a way that a sheet of plywood did not land on one's head.

So far the concrete deck seems to be holding. So now I need to finish the foundation drain and fill in around the cellar. Then we can start on the building!

The Final Pour

2010-07-01T18:44:00.000-07:00

Greetings Dear Readers, I am happy to announce that we have poured the last of the concrete. I now have the biggest concrete box in the town of Alstead in my own back yard.

Regular readers will remember that the last time I left you, the cellar floor had been finished. The next step was for me to build a wooden deck on which to pour the concrete that would be the floor of the production area of the brewery. With some 2x8's from Woodell & Daughters, and bit of plywood from Home Depot, I managed to accomplish that assigned task. It was not easy to jockey those hemlock 12-footers into place, but I did it!

The wooden deck, almost.

With the wooden deck in place the next step was to put down some plastic to keep the concrete from sticking to the plywood. On top of that, steel reinforcements would be placed. "Rebar", as people call it, was placed in a cross-hatch pattern over the entire floor area. At each point where two pieces of rebar crossed one had to place a wire twisty to hold things in place when the concrete was poured.

At some point in time, some forgotten genius had invented and amazing tool for putting the little wire twistys in place. This tool resembled a bent screwdriver with a loose shaft. The genius of this particular tool lay in the fact that it was of simple design, simple to use, and greatly reduced labor. To illustrate the perfection of this device, I, who had never used one before, was able to effectively employ it in making a substantial contribution to the completion of this phase of the brewery project within minutes of being handed the tool in question. I hope that tool's inventor is enjoying a comfortable and well deserved retirement.

Plastic and 'Bar.

Once the rebar and plastic and forms for the various orifices within the floor were in place, it was time to pour some MUD! This time, the concrete truck arrived at nearly the exact moment we were ready for it. Given the height of the floor, the truck could pretty much pour where we needed it. I was amazed at how precise the driver could get. So for the next few minutes we engaged in the usual spread-and-wiggle routine common to both those who pour concrete and employees of adult entertainment establishments.

When all was said and done we had poured nine cubic yards of concrete, weighing 18,000 pounds on a wooden deck build by lil' old me. There are times when one feels a little bit satisfied with oneself.

The final pour.

The concrete is now done. A big thanks goes to Larry and his crew for all their excellent work. If you ever need some concrete work done, just call Valley Concrete of MA.

The next step is to get some lumber and start with the structure itself. It is amazing how far we have come, but we still have along way to go.

Last time we will see one of these for a while.

Cutworm Update

I am happy to report that the cutworm problem in our hopyard appears to be under control. I sprayed the hop bines with Captain Jack's Dead Bug Brew. This is a broadly effective insecticide that is created from a natural bacteria and is approved for organic gardening. After spraying, we have suffered no further damage. Let us hope...

Of Concrete and Cut Worms

2010-06-17T17:03:00.000-07:00

CONCRETE

I apologize for the lack of photos in today's posting. I promise more soon. To recap recent events, the floor of the cellar was poured. I had not realized what went into pouring a floor. I had assumed that being something of a liquid, concrete would seek its own level and then set. In this way a perfectly level floor could be had with a minimum of effort.

I was wrong. Floor concrete is amazingly heavy and likes to form lumps. So one must race about attempting to smooth the potential floor as best they can while the concrete truck driver continues to pour the heavy, sticky mass at a pace just slightly above manageable, all the while cackling evilly.

Once the last of the concrete is poured, the work begins. Making a floor of concrete involves one hour of pouring and six of smoothing. Fortunately Larry, our concrete guy, had sent one of his workers. In the end, he did an excellent job.

I am now working on building the wood deck that the brewery floor will be poured on. I will blog on that later.

CUT WORMS

Today brought to light a most depressing realization. I had had a few of my hop plants break off. I guessed that I had simply accidentally cut them while weeding. Today it was confirmed that we have cut worms in the hop yard. This could spell disaster. For those of you unfamiliar with cut worms, they eat around the base of a plant and eventually cut it off completely. So far we have lost three plants and a fourth is badly cut. I have sprayed with Captain Jack's Dead Bug Brew, hopefully that will help.

I will keep you posted.

Gravel

2010-06-06T18:20:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday's post was preempted by my brother-in-law's wedding.

Since my last post I have put in most of the foundation drain and finished putting down gravel for the cellar floor and compacting it. If you have never used a compactor before, it is a memorable experience. The model I rented bore something of a resemblance to a lawnmower. It was supposed to be bi-directional, but in reality it wanted to go in only one direction. That made heading into corners a bit of a trick. If one failed to execute a sufficiently sharp turn to avoid getting stuck in a corner, the machine would begin digging down into the gravel while knocking chunks out of the concrete footer. Nice!

I spent about three hours with the compactor. When I was done, the gravel was so compacted that it did not move as the compactor passed over it. However, I was also numb from the elbows down and my eyes could no longer focus.

So one can imagine my pain when I went out to check on things after today's thunderstorms, only to find that one part of the compacted gravel had sunk! How could this be? Alas, it was. An area that only a short while ago had been solid was now three inches lower and mushy. What to do? I guess add more gravel and compact it by hand.

After all, I need to be ready by Tuesday when we pour the floor!

Sealed Concrete

2010-05-23T16:37:00.000-07:00

Cellar work continues. A day or so after the forms were taken off a crane arrived took the forms away and placed the beams. Later that day, Barnaby returned and sealed the foundation. The next step is to put down some more gravel and pour the cellar floor.

Pouring Our Own

2010-05-19T17:59:00.000-07:00

The die was cast. Tuesday, May 18th, 2010, cellar walls would be poured. Heads were scratched. Nails were bitten. What would this day bring?

First to arrive was Barnaby, an employee of my brother-in-law's soon-to-be father-in-law, Larry, who was the mastermind behind the concrete. Who was mastermind? Read that sentence again.

Barnaby would prove to be invaluable. His skill in his trade is beyond question. More importantly, and rarely, he possessed the ability to educate and involve the inexperienced. He can also get a lot done quickly when a giant cement mixer is breathing down all of our respective necks.

Dave Hogan was next to arrive. Dave is a paramedic, which is twice as good as a uni-medic. He, like myself, knew as much about pouring concrete as brain surgery on catostomids. Bewilderment loves company.

Fortunately, Barnaby knew what he was doing. He gave Dave and me tasks to get the ball rolling. Soon Larry would arrive.

Before I could go any further, I had a task to perform. Something inside me felt a need to make an offering; it seemed the right thing to do. I considered a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon as an offering, but I had none left and it occurred to me that that might not be looked upon as much of an offering. So I decided on a homebrew and went down into my cellar. I had only two bottles remaining of my dry stout, one of my best beers. I knew, the moment I looked into the dusty case, that the dry stout must be my offering.

With a heavy heart. I grasped the bottle and headed for the frost wall. What good is a sacrifice if it is easy? Is it a sacrifice at all? Such were my thoughts as I placed the bottle of beloved homebrew at the base of the frost wall. I covered it by hand to ensure that it would not be broken when I started back-filling with the loader. May it bring good luck and may some fortunate soul find it ages hence.

Who shall drink of this?

Next to arrive, while I was sacrificing the bottle of dry stout, was Larry. Larry is the mastermind (for those of you still trying to figure out the earlier reference) of this cellar-and-deck design. Without him this would not happen. His idea, his equipment, 'nuff said. Except that he did not bring the trough extension. Someday we will forgive him.

Larry, Barnaby, Dave and myself started upon our tasks. Larry and Barnaby are no nonsense workers. The process went well, with Dave and me learning many new things. I back-filled the frost wall and built a ramp for the cement truck while the others set up forms and squared the whole mess. Progress seemed rapid, though events would prove otherwise.

Looks pretty good, eh?

Progress appeared good and we were confident of being ready for the cement trucks. Dave had to leave, but would return. The rest of us continued working. I saw the first truck. Then I saw the second truck. Gigantic Oshkosh cement mixers, in my driveway. I do not believe I have ever been so aware of this project as I was at that moment.

The driver of the first truck leaned out and asked how things were going. "Apparently a bit behind," was the only response I could manage. The driver said that was alright as he would need 15 minutes to get ready. He then asked what level I wanted the concrete mixed to. I could only respond that I was the owner and not the concrete person, but that I would ask Larry, who was the concrete person. I ran over and yelled the appropriate question to Larry. Hand signals completed the three-way conversation.

About this time Tom Coty showed up. Tom is a State Trooper. He owns a miniature donkey. In the ensuing whirlwind of activity I cut the last few form pieces and Tom and I jumped up on the catwalk to get ready for the pour. While Barnaby nailed the last few forms in place, the pour began.

I do not doubt but that the actual time elapsed during the pouring of concrete was relatively short. However, given the fact that the trucks arrived before we were truly ready, and that we did not have the trough extension, what followed made eternity seem a concept of brevity.

To this moment the details whirl in my mind. I hear Larry calling for concrete at various locations. Barnaby giving quick, explanatory orders to keep the process moving. All of us paddling and agitating concrete until our arms were limp. At some point, Dave had returned, but exactly when, I cannot say.

Eventually the forms were filled and we could relax a bit. Rebar and bolts were in place and concrete smoothed. Mission accomplished.

Happiness is a filled form.

Today, Barnaby returned with another worker to remove the forms. I got home from work and was amazed at what we had built. Dream is becoming reality.

Through this door shall pass the finest of ales.

The view from above.

The interior of the cellar.

This was a great experience. Larry and Barnaby managed to keep the process going while teaching amateurs the basics. Dave and Tom gave more than I had the right to ask of their time and effort. Even the cement truck drivers were consummate professionals.

We still have a long way to go. But I think we have the crew that can make it.

Breaking Ground

2010-05-12T18:16:00.000-07:00

I must first apologize for being a bit lax in updating this blog. These are busy times and I let things slide when I should not have. Hopefully I can make up for that by having something really worth writing about.

We have broken ground on the brewery! A bit over a week ago, Lonn Livengood brought out his excavator and his worker, Bob Diehl, started digging. I had visions of having a big ground breaking ceremony, maybe with a gold painted shovel. In the end, Bob jumped in the excavator and I took some pictures. Not much ceremony at all.

Two interesting artifacts were unearthed during the digging. The first to show up is a quart whiskey bottle for Petts whiskey out of Boston. It has a small chip but is otherwise intact. A bit of internet searching indicated this bottle may be over 100 years old. I wonder if there is greater meaning to this find? Is this a sign?

The second item is a bronze cow bell! The knocker is missing, otherwise it is in very good shape. I checked a reference book and it had a picture of a nearly identical bell and described it as a 19th century Norwegian cow bell.

Maybe we should name this the Bottle and Bell Brewery?

It only took a few days for Lonn and Bob to finish the cellar hole and put in an access road. This morning the concrete guys showed up. They put in the footings and the frost wall. This upcoming Tuesday we will be getting together to pour the walls. So now I am out beating the bushes for volunteers.

This is all moving so fast! Sometimes it is exciting, sometimes gutwrenchingly frightening.

Dear Reader, as we progress I will keep you posted.

Below are photos of the work so far:

Before work...

New access road...

Ready for concrete...
The footings....

The Last of the New England Cream Lager

2010-04-27T18:22:00.000-07:00

New England Cream Lager at Six Months

All good things must end. So it is with fine beer. Regular readers may remember last year when I put my hand to creating a new beer style. The result was my New England Cream Lager. This libation was the result of adding lactose, molasses, and my own homegrown hops to a deceptively simple grain bill. The result was anything but simple: A full bodied lager with exceptional smoothness and multi-layered flavor.

After this propitious start, only one question remained. To wit: How would the beer hold up over time? Would it age like fine wine, gaining smoothness and complexity? Perhaps, I should only be left with something akin to Murphy's oil soap?

Today was the final tasting to answer the foregoing questions. I had one of the 1 liter cobalt blue bottles New England Cream Lager remaining. Remember, this beer was bottled on November 1, 2009; it had now had the benefit of nearly six months in my cellar.

Upon the initial pour, things looked good: Carbonation was still at an appropriate level and the beer was crystal clear (it had been a bit cloudy in the past). The aroma was still the fruity-with-a-hint-of-sulfur and hops that I remembered from my last tasting. So far, so good. Now it was time for a taste!

The moment the beer crossed my lips I was taken by a sense of delectation. The body remained robust and the previously incredible smoothness was even more in evidence. The flavor remained a complex interplay of spice, bitter and sweet with a little fruitiness. The major difference from previous tastings was the hop presence.

Previously, this beer was notable for its whole hop flavor. The taste was like smelling hops freshly picked at the perfect moment. This time the hop flavor was more subdued. The overall bitterness was still there, but the actual hop flavor, as such, had melted into a soft interplay with the other flavors. However, it must be noted that this beer still retained more hop flavor than any commercial beer, or homebrew made with commercial hops, that I have ever experienced. Must be the horse poop I use to fertilize the hopyard.

The final verdict? After six months in the cellar, the New England Cream Lager remains a beer of the first order. Like any proper bottle conditioned beer its flavor had evolved without degrading. A true pleasure from the first to the last.

The Hops Are Up

2010-04-08T17:34:00.000-07:00

I realize this photograph is quite poor. The autofocus focused on the dead stem from last year instead of the new shoot. The new shoots are the blurred reddish things. However, right now this is the only photo I have. All apologies.

I was quite surprised when I saw the hop shoots this afternoon. I had checked the yard a few days previous and found no shoots. Even scratching back the soil a bit showed no sign of growth. I was worried, so imagine my relief, and surprise, when I found shoots about four inches long this afternoon!

This is a joyous event. After last year's losses and this winter's wet-and-freeze, I was a bit worried about the prospects for the hopyard this growing season. It looks like we have a good start on this year's crop. In fact, I believe this is the earliest start we have ever had. It is a good thing that hops are frost resistent, as I have a feeling we will have at least one more frost before the real growing season.

This year I am doing things a bit differently. I have applied some organic fertilizer and some lime. I had noticed last year that the soil was getting a bit acidic as evidenced by the spread of wild strawberries. With all the wet last year I believe nutrient leeching was also a problem, but I did not want to blast things with fertilizer so I went the organic route. With the application of a bit of horse compost we should be fine.

So it looks like we have a good start on this year's hop crop. Let us hope for good growing weather!

Site Work

2010-03-31T14:42:00.000-07:00

Right now it does not look much like a brewery...

In spite of the rain, I have been able to get a bit of work done on the brewery site the last two days. I have cleaned up a good bit of the brush. There are still a few bigger logs that will require some chainsaw work. Our woodpile from this tree is huge and I would guess that I still have about half as much to bring in as I have already brought in.

It was a real shame to have to cut down the big maple. At least we are getting a good supply of prime firewood. Some of the big pieces are rock hard. I hit one big chunk right in the heartwood with a freshly sharpened axe. The axe bounced out! It occurs tome that I may not be able to split these with the maul.

Larry and I have been discussing the concrete work. While I would still like to do the concrete span, it appears that cost will make that impractical. But we shall see. Either way we will still have the full cellar, which is key to giving this brewery a large enough capacity to be viable.

What remains to be done now is to get together some volunteers that are willing to do some concrete work!

Building Permit

2010-03-23T17:47:00.000-07:00

This will be a very short entry, but I just wanted to let all of you know that we have received a building permit from the town of Alstead. It also looks like we may need to redesign the foundation of the brewery, but we will have more on that later. A little closer...

Building Design & Reform School

2010-03-15T16:50:00.000-07:00

OK, so I missed a post...but it was my birthday. The important point is that I received a very nice gift for my birthday. That gift is a book on building barns and other such structures. Contained within that book is a set of plans for a building nearly identical to what I envisioned the brewery to be. This is significant because I was at a bit of an impasse as to how to build the structure I had in mind. I knew what I wanted to do, but getting there was a bit of a mystery to me.

This particular tome, which Tracy saw fit to bestow upon me as a birthday gift, broke that impasse. It shows how to do everything I need to complete the brewery. Framing walls, stepping off rafters, it is all in there. Most importantly, it has plans to frame up a barn that has 12-foot exterior walls. Given the height of the mash tun/boiler complex, we need the interior height provided by 12-foot walls.

So now we have a much more solid design for the building that will house our brewery. This is good because I submitted the application for the building permit today.

Still a long way to go, but things are coming together.

Aggie goes to school

In other news, our big girl, Aggie, namesake of our farm, etc. will be going to reform school this summer. As many of your know she is a real powerhouse when on her game, but there are some problems with, for lack of a better term."panic". Regular readers will recall that our friend Roy is the only person who has been able to bring her down from one of her panics. Roy is one of the best trainers I have ever seen, and remember that I started working with Dave Patton.

So the plan is to send Aggie to stay with Roy for a while. He will train her and integrate her into his farm. He will also train me. I need training as much as Aggie. The final goal is that Aggie and I will both be able to assist with the final cut of haying this season. Perhaps a bit ambitious, but I believe that Roy can make it happen.

Dear Reader, I shall keep you posted.

Nail Gun, Anyone?

2010-03-01T18:19:00.000-08:00

As groundbreaking time for the brewery draws near, I am looking into what tools I will need and acquiring as much material as I can. I have stockpiled what seems to be an obscene amount of wood. In fact, I am now stacking it outside as we have filled the shop. Still, I know that this is not nearly enough to complete the project. We are getting there though.

One of my neighbors suggested we have a local builder supply wall panels, thus speeding the construction of the building. Great idea! However, when I spoke to the builder he made it clear that he considered both me and the project idiotic. Naturally, I drove home fuming.

Then I got to thinking: What do I need to make wall panels that I do not have? A nail gun! I do not have one, but my neighbor Tom has one and he wants to help out on the brewery. I think my problem was solved before it began.

In retrospect, I am glad the builder was not interested in my project. He just saved me a lot of money.

Looking Back

2010-02-20T19:42:00.000-08:00

Wow. It is hard to believe that it has been a year since my initial dealings/tussles with the state and feds. Those, of course, lead to my go round with the town. Sometimes those meetings seem like a million years ago, sometimes they seem like yesterday.

The real question is what did I expect? I knew that, given our philosophy, this brewery idea would not move quickly. One cannot be as debt averse as we are and expect to move quickly - unless you happen to have large bags of money lying about the house. Deep inside I knew that we needed to be in this for the long haul. Perhaps that is part of the attraction of this project. Throughout the course of my life I have never been more than six years in one place, and that when I we quite young. Due to that, I have developed a tendency to feel a sense of urgency in all that I do. I try to do things alone, get them done quickly, and plan for mobility. Now I find myself part of a project that can only be long term in its establishment and, by nature, defies mobility.

Did I mention that this is a project I cannot do alone? That became apparent pretty early on. The beautiful part is that I never was really alone. OK, let me back up a bit.

My most significant action with regard to this brewery project was buying a book. True story. That is all I did. I bought a book and left it on the couch. Tracy found the book and read a bit of it. The book was about farmhouse breweries of Europe. She decided we could build one. It was all her idea.

Then things got interesting. At first, I feared telling anyone about this idea. Past experience had made me hesitant to express my ideas and face the, seemingly inevitable, ridicule of the homoboobian masses. But I did mention it a bit, here and there. That was when we experienced a great non-happening. Nobody laughed. Nobody thought it was a stupid idea. In fact, many people, some of whom I would have never guessed, thought it was a great idea.

I did not realize it, but the word was spreading to unknown quarters. That point was brought home when a total stranger knocked on my door and told me he wanted to be a brewer and that he had heard I was building a brewery. That was how I met Owen.

Owen would prove to be one of our most passionate supporters. Owen is a smart guy who wants to brew beer. I want to brew beer, so by extension, I too am a smart guy. External validation is nice.

The high point was when the town had the public hearing on our idea. So many of our fellow Alsteadders showed up to support us that one town official had to stand for the first part of the meeting. Noteworthy is that none of the threatened opposition materialized. All who spoke, spoke in our favor. It turns out that a lot of people, not just me, like the idea of starting a brewery.

So where are we now? Nearly a year later, we do not even have a hole in the ground. Are we losing momentum? I fear so, but hope not. The decision not to start construction last fall was a difficult one to make. I believe it was the right one but recognize the risks it entailed. In the end our strongest supporters did not abandoned us.

So now we move forward with our core support intact. Soon we will have a hole in the ground and the rest will follow. I promise.

Thanks to all who are along for the ride. The seats are hard and the road bumpy. In the end, no matter what happens, we will all have a story to tell.

Pannepot Grand Reserva

2010-02-16T17:19:00.000-08:00

During his recent visit, as a gift, our friend Owen left behind a bottle of Pannepot Grand Reserva, vintage 2006, "Old Fisherman's Ale". This is a 10% alcohol powerhouse that is aged for 14 months on French oak and then 8 months on Calvados wood. That gives me a few ideas.

Normally, I am not a big drinker of higher alcohol beers. The alcohol character is often a bit overpowering, to my taste. Then again, the only high alcohol beers I have had previously were all North American. This beer is the real deal from the land of high alcohol and long aging.

The Grand Reserva pours thick and dark with a brown head. The aroma is woody chocolate and vanilla with a hint of alcohol. The mouth-feel was very thick, almost oily.

The flavor was the biggest surprise for me as the alcohol did not dominate it. Instead the flavor was a robust oak and roast malt and a bit chocolaty. The alcohol supported and enhanced the overall flavor instead of crushing it. Excellent. Perhaps I should experiment more with the higher alcohol beers.

Thanks Owen for bringing this gem back to Alstead!

The Hop People

2010-02-01T18:50:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we received a visit from the rare and elusive hop people of western Massachusetts. Prior to this visit, we had only heard rumors of their existence. We were not sure what to expect. As the appointed time of their visit drew near, speculation as to their number of appendages and method of communication was rampant. What sort of creatures grew hops in western Massachusetts?

In the end, we need not have worried. With the exception of being horse owners, Tom and Lynn, as their names proved to be, were nearly normal.

As the story goes, about a year ago Tom got the idea of growing hops. So he did. In a big way. While most people start with a few rhizomes, Tom started with a few thousand. With a lot of hard work and a little luck, they got a harvest the first year. For their second year,they have telephone poles and cable ready to set up a more durable trellis. They even bought a pelletizer.

So it looks like Tom and Lynn are well on their way to an honest to whichever-deity-you-choose hop farm. This is great news for us. Having a source of hops so close by will be a big plus for the brewery.

Tom and Lynn are a real nice couple and we thoroughly enjoyed their visit and look forward to working with them in the future. We spent the afternoon exchanging ideas about hop growing and our nascent brewery. Tom and I even managed to sample a few homebrews, while Tracy and Lynn talked about horses, horses, and horses.

So let us all send out a good vibe for Tom and Lynn in the second year of their hop farm. I can't wait to visit their farm when the hops are in full bloom. I expect the aroma will be incredible.

Visit From A Friend

2010-01-25T17:29:00.000-08:00

Friend Owen is back in the United States for a time and stopped by for a visit. Any of you who have been following his blog are familiar with his brewing adventures. His escapades are enough to make any beer knurd jealous.

His time here was short, but I enjoyed what he was able to share. We discussed a bit about about brewing techniques and some ideas for the brewery and just shot the bull.

While visiting, he sampled the New England Cream Lager and Hemlock Ale. He declared both of them excellent, which shows that he posses either excellent taste or excellent diplomatic skills. I prefer to believe the former.

As a gift, Owen left behind a bottle of Pannepot Grand Reserva, vintage 2006. This is a 10% alcohol powerhouse that is aged for 14 months on French oak and then 8 months on Calvados wood. It gives me a few ideas for my own brew. I will file a report when I drink rare gem. In return, I sent him off with a bottle of the German Pale.

It was great to see Owen again. He has been a great supporter of our brewery idea since the beginning. We look forward to reading of his further adventures on his blog.

This upcoming Sunday, we will be meeting with some people who are starting a hop farm. The farm is in Massachusetts and sounds like great idea. I will keep you posted on what we find out.

The Ethics of Tree Cutting

2010-01-18T17:16:00.000-08:00

Today I cut down a tree. I did not quite cut it all down, it was a multi-trunk specimen and I only cut three of the four stems. I will soon cut the remaining stem and be done with it. Why did I do this? I pursued this course of action because I was told that the tree had to be removed before excavation of the brewery foundation could proceed. The tree is not actually on the site of the foundation, but is close enough that the excavator is concerned that enough of its roots will be destroyed to cause it to fall.

Whether one considers it strange or not, I admit to some ambivalent feelings while cutting down this tree. I did not want to do it but also recognized the necessity of doing so if the brewery was to proceed. Therein lay the conundrum.

The upshot is this: What right do I have to cut down a tree that has been growing for so many years in one spot, just because I want to use that spot for something else. What are the ethical considerations here?

We have a living tree, a beautiful specimen, that will take 40 to 50 years to replace, and I cut it down. I cut it down for my own convenience. Is this right?

I feel unable to answer these questions. The best that I can offer is that each time I cut down a tree I will make the best use I can of its wood. I will not waste what I have taken. That may be enough. I am not sure.

German Pale Ale

2010-01-06T15:59:00.000-08:00

My experimental German Pale Ale has now had time to condition in the bottle. I have tasted a few samples and have had others taste samples too. The verdict is a consensus: it is good!

German Pale Ale

To refresh my readers’ memories, I will give a rundown of the origins of the “German Pale Ale”. It arose from my continuing desire to do something different. In this case I came up with the idea of using proven dark beer yeast to brew a proven pale beer grain bill. So this experiment was a bit of a criss-cross of past successes. I always advocate such mix-ups of ingredients as a way to grow and explore. I am continually frustrated by brewers who live in a world of hard categories. To them, the world is made up of ale yeasts, lager yeasts, IPA’s Double IPA’s, blah, blah, and blah. Is it not the height of ignorance and irony for some alleged expert to declare, “A good beer, but not to style”? May God, or whoever may be in charge, never allow that I should live in such a pathologically defined world. Good beer is good beer; style is in the eye of the beholder.

So it is I found myself brewing “German Pale Ale”. I made a starter of Wyeast German Ale yeast. For grain, I used 6 lb Pale Pearl malt, 4 oz 40L crystal malt, and 4 oz Cara Munich malt. For hops, I used 1 oz of my own hops, which will be the subject of an upcoming blog. For a mash, I did a single temperature infusion. All in all, this was a fairly simple recipe.

The only difficulty encountered during the creation of this beer was that the yeast, like so many Wyeast products, was a slow starter. Even mixing up a starter in advance was not enough, this yeast was a dog. After 48 hours, it had shown little, if any, activity. In an effort to get things going, I racked the whole mess into another fermenter. That did the trick and within a few hours a vigorous fermentation was progressing.

When it came time to bottle, I added 1 ½ cups of dark dry malt extract. I have always preferred using dry malt extract to using sugar for priming. It seems to me that sugar does not give as thick and smooth a head to the beer as does dry malt extract. Further, when I sugar primed my beers it seemed that I often got a cidery taste.

So now three weeks have passed since bottling the “German Pale Ale”. As the photograph shows, it is a nice golden colored brew (Note the reflection of the alien in the mug. Word of this beer spread fast). The flavor is a smooth malty sweetness overlain by a surprisingly strong hop flavor. This is not the harsh hop bitterness of modern India pale ales or other hop bombs. Rather it is true hop flavor.

I do not know quite how to describe the hop flavor of this beer. I know of no commercial beer with a similar hop flavor, though it is probably closest to a traditional Kolsch. The best I can do is to describe the taste as reminiscent of the aroma of a bucket of freshly picked hops. Indeed, I suspect that those who have never picked hops for themselves may well not recognize the flavor for what it is. For me, as the grower and harvester of the hops used in this beer, it is a real treat to have them make such a significant contribution to the overall flavor of such a fine beer.

So there you have it, the “German Pale Ale” is a success. Perhaps a new style? I will let the drinker decide.

Does this only happen to me?

2010-01-03T17:12:00.000-08:00

I have never had this happen before...

Somehow I ended up with wort in the blowoff tube above the neck of the carboy!

Am I the only person this has happened to?

Merry Christmas - Descartes

2009-12-27T15:49:00.000-08:00

It was another Merry Christmas in our world. Cats, dogs, horses, chickens, and the fish all made it through the year and holidays in fine shape.

I have been fighting off a cold for what seems like a short eternity. Brewing and tasting have been curtailed as of late given that I cannot taste anything due to the cold. However, today I am feeling a bit better if still a bit tired. I hope to have tasting reports for the German Pale and Mixed Yeast beers for the next blog.

I am taking advantage of the down time to read some Descartes. I just finished "Discourse on Method" and am heading into the "Meditations". He is obviously a smart guy, but I can see why he was a bit frustrating for his family/contemporaries. By the way, if any of you have a chance to read the book Descartes' Secret Notebook, do it. It is amazing what this guy was able to come up with.

I hope all is well with all of you and you had a good holiday season. See you next week.

Trying Something Different

2009-12-20T18:08:00.000-08:00

Regular readers know by now that I like to experiment. So it is with my latest creation. I was trying to think of something different to do for a Christmas beer to go along with the traditional Hemlock Ale when I came up with this big idea.

The idea I finally settled upon was this: I would match a yeast I had used before with a grain bill I had used before, but had never used those two together in the past. Specifically, I decided to use a yeast I like for stouts and porters and a grain bill that I used for pale ales.

The yeast I chose was Wyeast German Ale, a fast working and powerful yeast, and one of the few Wyeast products I have received consistent results from. The grain bill was very basic: Pale Pearl malt, 40L crystal malt, Cara Munich malt. I also threw in 1oz of hops from my own yard.

Even though I made a starter, the yeast was very sluggish at the start. I racked it into another fermenter and made sure to aerate it thoroughly. After that, the yeast took off and worked vigorously.

A few days ago I bottled this creation. It came out very light with a surprisingly strong hop character. Unfortunately, I did not take an OG reading so I am not sure of the alcohol content. However, based on the amount of malt used, I would guess 4.5% alcohol would be about right.

Based on the sampling during bottling, it looks like I may have a winner on my hands. Only time will tell. Dear Reader, I shall keep you posted.

Mixed Yeast Update

2009-12-13T18:23:00.000-08:00

The mixed yeast beer has now been in the bottle for nearly a month. While it tasted good going into the bottle, which usually means a beer will taste good coming out, so far the result is a bit disappointing.

On the first tasting, which was at two weeks in the bottle, the beer had a distinct vinous character. However, as it is fairly low in alcohol, I feared it may have somehow become infected during the bottling process. Now, at nearly a month in the bottle, that character has subsided somewhat. The flavor has become much more mild and earthy, perhaps even somewhat bland. A distinct alcohol-like sting is still is still apparent, but not so much of the wine/sherry character.

Considering the dramatic shift in flavor character that has occurred in the last two weeks, I suspect the flavor evolution of this beer in not over yet. So even though I am a bit disappointed, I shall reserve judgment. We may yet have a winner on our hands.

Photography Show

2009-12-06T17:42:00.000-08:00

Just a shameless plug for my upcoming show. This is the Orchard School Christmas Art and Craft Show and sale. This year it is being held at the Walpole, NH, Town Hall. The pre-viewing is Friday December 11 and the main show is Saturday the 12th.

The Girls Are Back On-line

2009-11-29T18:25:00.000-08:00

Not much on the brewing front this week. I have three beers in the cellar and a fourth in the fermenter. I should have enough for holiday gifts with a bit left over for me.

The best news is that our older hens have decided to start laying after a two month layoff. The new girls have started laying for the first time. We are getting a steady four eggs per day with as many as nine. Production is enough that I have started putting eggs out for sale. How long this will last, I do not know, but last year we got eggs through the winter.

The young Leghorns are laying the smallest, whitest eggs I have ever seen. The older Aracanas are laying giant, misshapen green monsters. Must be the weird weather.

Closing The Hop Yard

2009-11-22T19:12:00.000-08:00

After an up and down year, that ended on an up note, the hop yard has been closed up for the winter. As my loyal readers may recall, early spring brought the promise of a big harvest as the third year hops reached the top of the trellis in only four weeks. Alas, six weeks of nearly continuous rain came close to spelling disaster.

In the end, half of the third year hops were drowned out. But an unexpected boost came when about half of the first year plants produce hops. The net result was a greater harvest than the previous year, but still less than the promise of spring. Such is the lot of the farmer.

So far, I have brewed two beers with this year's harvest. The first is the New England Cream Lager, which has exceeded all expectation in terms of flavor and hop character. I have never had a beer that has hop flavor like this one. It is like plucking a flower off the vine and popping it in your mouth. The second is another experimental beer that is on the boil as I write these words. Needless to say, I have high hopes for this beer too.

I confess to a bit of sadness as I took down the support lines and cut the dried vines. The surviving third year plants left stumps like small trees. I need to remind myself that this is just the natural cycle and that each stump represents a future harvest.

As I cut down the dried vines, I, once again, caught the aroma of fresh hops. It was the plants were telling me not to worry. We will all meet again in spring.

Creating A New Style

2009-11-16T18:21:00.000-08:00

I have never been one to accept sharp definitions of beer styles. When one views brewing as an art, as I do, the idea that a particular beer style is or can be a clearly defined target is anathema. All styles must be open to interpretation and innovation or they are dead. So perhaps it is both fitting and ironic that I would embark upon creating my own style.

I did not at first set out to create a new style. I simply wanted to do something that did not appear in any of my recipe books. Then it occurred to me that by avoiding all possible styles does one not effectively create a new style? Indeed, it treads into the realm of famous paradox: "The set of all things that are not the members of any set."

So what was the result of this desire for difference? I decided to create a "cream" lager. In defiance of the concept of lagers as clear, light, bitter beers, and ales as heavy fruity/malty beers, I would create a lager that was heavy and smooth, a little malty, and with a distinct, but not bitter, hop flavor.

I am only on the second batch, but I believe I am on to something. This second batch, after only 15 days in the bottle is among the best beers I have brewed. It is a bright gold, creamy, full bodied lager. The flavor leans toward the fruity (a bit like Steinlager) but with a strong malt presence. The hop character is distinct: I am reminded of the aroma of the hops on the day I picked them. It is not a harsh bitterness. It is more akin to tasting the whole flower of the hop.

How did I achieve this? I suppose I should not give away trade secrets, after all this may become one of the flagships of our brewery. Then again, in the spirit of brotherhood among brewers, I guess I can give out the basics so that others can interpret my new style. The ingredient list is actually quite simple: pale Pearl malt, 20L crystal malt, lactose, and my own hops. Oh, and a touch of molasses for priming prior to bottling.

So what name did I give this new style I created? After a bit of thought, I decided to honor both geography and content. I decided it should be known as New England Cream Lager. Let us hope that many will enjoy it and none feel compelled to define it!

A new style is born...

Mixing Yeasts

2009-11-08T18:36:00.000-08:00

A short time ago I was reading about the farmhouse ales of Flanders. A reference was made to "mixed culture" yeast being used to ferment those beers. I realize what is meant by the terms "mixed culture" or "mixed strain". Yet, given that understanding, my mind was sent upon another train of thought.

I began to think along the lines of a different type of mixed culture. I contemplated a type of mixture that went beyond the mixing of two or three closely related strains of ale yeast. Indeed, I conceived a cross cultural mix that would have made Victor Frankenstein shudder. Genius or madman, I was set upon my course. Only one mix would satisfy me.

So, Dear Reader, I must now confess to you that I committed the ultimate beer sin, an abhorrent crime against nature. I have brewed a beer using a mixture of ale and lager yeast!

While I know that committing such an abomination may well cost me both my regular readers, I could not turn away from my course. A part of me needed to know what would happen. So the deed was done. As we speak the fermentation is slowing down and the beer, if one may still call it that, will be transferred to the secondary fermenter in the morning.

What shall the final result be? That, I cannot say. Whatever the result, it shall be reported here for all to contemplate and consider.

Dark Lager

2009-11-01T17:47:00.000-08:00

After thinking a bit about which beer to brew I decided on a dark lager. I had tried to brew a dark lager a few years back. That effort ended with me being awoken in the middle of the night by the sound of bottles exploding. I had not tried again since then.

Why I decided on now as the time to once again tempt the dark side of lager beers, I cannot say. Perhaps it was simply the need to once again face that which had defeated me. Whatever the reason that compelled me, I, and my tasters, are glad that I did.

The recipe for this was a figment of my own imagination, flavored by my past experience. I started with a base of pale Pearl malt with some 20L crystal malt for a bit of flavor. Then I added a couple ounces of dark wheat malt for some sharpness in the flavor and a bit of color. The last ingredient was Kent Goldings hops.

For a yeast, I used one of my new favorites, Saflager dry lager yeast. This is a powerful, fast working yeast. When I bottled, only half the bottles were primed, with dry malt extract.

Unlike my previous effort, this time no bottles exploded. The result was a well carbonated (both primed and unprimed) dark lager. The flavor had a hint of hop bitterness with a very crisp sharpness from the wheat malt (and possibly the yeast) that was dominant and led to a dry finish. The unprimed bottles were slightly smoother, but very close to the primed bottles in flavor.

I gave this beer to several outside testers. I was a bit worried that it may be too sharp for some tastes. I need not have worried,it received universal approval. Ah, sweet success. I guess sometimes we need to revisit our failures to, quite literally, taste success.

Photography Seminar

2009-10-19T17:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's posting became today's posting because I was captivated watching the Bears, once again, snatch defeat from the jaws of victory and it was too late to write when it was all over.

The biggest news is that, for the first time since leaving Alaska, I will be conducting a photography seminar. This is something I have always enjoyed. I never pass up a chance to dispense my suspect knowledge upon the innocent masses.

The seminar will be held October 21, 7pm, at Toadstool Books in Keene, New Hampshire. This is a very nice bookstore that everyone should stop at if the chance arises. They are selling my photo cards, and they are selling quite well. I see this as a great opportunity to get my name out there and meet a lot of new people, plus have some fun in the process.

I will be covering several aspects of basic photography. The format will be that of an open discussion, with the audience determining what topics are most thoroughly explored. It will be a relaxed seminar that hopefully both the audience and myself will learn from and enjoy.

Brewery Update

2009-10-11T17:05:00.000-07:00

Lately we have been getting many questions about the status of the brewery. To recap, we have made it past the town boards and can go forward with the actual building. However, that took a while and it is now getting a bit late in the year (and showing no sign of drying out) so we have decided to wait until spring to begin construction. It was not an easy decision to make. We did not want to risk losing the momentum we have with our friends and neighbors. However, we also did not want to rush things under less than ideal conditions. By waiting until spring, we also will have more time to organize and secure any funding we may require, though we are still intending to do this on our own.

We are pretty excited that this is really going to happen. We have talked with our key supporters and they have reaffirmed their support. We can’t wait to hit it hard in spring. Regardless of the final outcome, we will have a whopper of a story to tell when it is all over. Now if I could just get some of that economic stimulus money…

Back on the Net!

2009-10-08T18:35:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

We have our new internet connection and it appears to be working well. So now I will (hopefully) be able to update this blog in a more consistent manner.

See you Sunday!

New Internet Connection Coming October 7

2009-09-27T18:31:00.000-07:00

As my loyal readers are well aware, we have been having huge internet problems. I have not been able to log on for nearly two weeks, since shortly after my last post.

Fear not! We have a new internet connection coming on October 7 that should not only be more reliable but much faster. So I ask that you be patient. Until that time I cannot gaurantee that I can make any posts.

I have many things to blog about, but for now I just want to let you all know that I have not abandoned my blog. I just have the world's worst internet service.

See you soon,

TIM

To Prime or Not To Prime - Continued

2009-09-13T18:11:00.000-07:00

Oh the pain of dial-up! I have not been able to get on the internet for over a week! This is too much. We hope to be getting a faster connection, sooner rather than later.

The to-prime or not-to-prime experiment continues. My latest test of the no-prime theory is with a stout. This is a very dark beer I brewed with a good bit of dark roasted barley and fermented with a Wyeast German Ale yeast culture. This yeast is an explosive worker. It creates a huge krausen and gets done quickly. I thought it might be an excellent candidate for bottling without priming so I bottled half with primer and half without.

The bottles that were primed came out as expected. They have a huge tan head that takes up about half the mug. They also have the strong chocolaty taste characteristic of the German Ale yeast. I forgot to put in the lactose during the boil, so they are somewhat light-bodied for a stout, but still a very satisfying full-flavored beer. Success!

Being just short of a month since bottling, I opened one of the unprimed bottles. As expected, the beer had much less carbonation, though it still managed about an inch of white foam at the top of the mug. The taste was excellent. Again, as expected it was noticeably, though subtly, different from that of the beer in the primed bottles.

The flavor of the beer from the unprimed bottle seemed to be a bit sharper. The chocolate flavor was definitely more pronounced. The flavor provided by the hops was also more noticeable, but still in the background, as it should be with a true stout. There was just enough carbonation to tickle the tongue as it slid smoothly by. Another success!

It seems that once again I have managed to get two distinct and excellent beers just by priming or not priming bottles from the same batch of wort. I am beginning to like this method. It has opened a new frontier of experimentation. Let us see what the unprimed beer tastes like in another month.

To Prime Or Not To Prime?

2009-08-23T16:16:00.000-07:00

The instructions that came with my first homebrew kit directed the brewer to spoon a bit of sugar into each bottle before filling to get things working so that the beer would carbonate. Ever since, I have always primed (i.e. added a bit more fermentable material) my beer when bottling. In time, I switched to the more reliable method of boiling up a solution dry malt extract and adding that to the bottling bucket. This gave more consistent results, but the idea was the same: Get the yeast working again so the beer will carbonate. Some brewers even advocate putting the primed and bottled beer in a warm place to “turbo condition” it. I have done that, you are drinking your beer in under a week, but the beer seemed a bit harsh and raw.

Now I sometimes feel like I am one of the last homebrewers who still bottle conditions their beer. Seems everyone owns, and is singing the praises of, CO2 tanks and counter pressure fillers. They do work slick, but perhaps we are losing something in the process.

In my search for new methods and recipes for brewing I came across a copy of the book Brew Your Own British Real Ale by Graham Wheeler and Roger Protz (1998 ed.). The first thing that struck me was how much simpler their recipes were that those in the American homebrewing publications. I tried some of the recipes, employing my usual brewing methods, and had good luck. See my blog post on recognition and mild ale for the result of one particular batch.

I then dug a bit deeper into the text and read the methods they advocated for brewing real ale. To me the most notable item was that they advocated not priming the beer when bottling. They did not advocate bottling the beer while still working (as some have suggested). In fact, they recommended maturing the ale in a barrel for a minimum of three weeks. The barrel should be allowed to vent so that volatile by-products of fermentation can escape. Then bottle without priming. Carbonation would be provided by the slow fermentation of dextrins.

To me this seemed a recipe for a big batch of flat yucky beer. It was too big a risk. So I ignored this advice, until the opportunity to test it presented itself.

It cam to pass that circumstances conspired and I found myself with a batch of beer in the fermenter that I was not able to bottle until three months after brew day. The fermentation lock had long since stopped turning over. Aha! Here was my chance to experiment with the Wheeler/Protz no-prime method. So on bottling day, I bottled the first half of the beer with no priming. The second half was primed as usual.

I am not a very patient person. After one week I opened a bottle of each. Both were flat and I was worried that even the primed bottles would not carbonate. After two weeks, the unprimed bottles had not changed much. The primed bottles had a healthy carbonation. I figured I would get at least half a good batch.

Wondering where I went wrong, I went back and reread Wheeler and Protz. It was then I noticed an important point I had overlooked previously. Unprimed bottle-conditioned beer needs at least a month, often much longer, in the bottle before it is ready to be drunk. That made sense.

So I forced myself to be patient. It paid off. After one month the beer from the unprimed bottles had a nice light carbonation with the traditional small head of real ales. Beer from the primed bottles had a big white head.

The most interesting part was the difference in taste. The unprimed beer was very smooth and earthy with a bitter bite on the back of the tongue. To me it seemed very traditional and pleasing.

In contrast, the beer that had been primed fairly attacked the tongue with a fizzy, bitter hoppiness. I suspect this has something to do with the interaction of the carbonic acid (from the higher CO2 concentration) with the hop resins. It was a great beer; however it bore little resemblance to its unprimed brethren.

In the end, it appears that I got two great beers out of one batch. So to prime or not to prime is not just a matter of convenience. It truly is a matter of taste and style. I have two more beers in the cellar right now, both of which I have left one half of the bottles unprimed. I eagerly await the results. To anyone who has not tried this with one of their beers, I strongly recommend it.

Harvest Time

2009-08-16T18:52:00.000-07:00

As many of you are already aware, what started out as a promising year for hop production took a decided downturn. Several weeks of non-stop rain played havoc with the plants and in the end half of the third year plants had died. Seeing plants that I had tended for so long wither and die was heart breaking.

However, all was not lost. The remaining plants continued to forge ahead. Even as their brethren (actually they are female, sistern?) turned brown and crispy, they held course and in time the spurs that become cones were visible. I did not dare hope, yet the cones continued to develop.

A few days ago I noticed a few cones that looked good enough to pick. So I got out the ladder and climbed up to see what was developing at the top of the trellis. I was quite surprised to see that a substantial number of cones had developed in the upper reaches of the plants. Many of the cones, though ready to pick, were smaller than normal. Still, a significant number were of good size.

I happened to be brewing that day, so I used some of the fresh picked hops in that brew. I dried the others and there are still more waiting to be picked. While the harvest will be nowhere near what we anticipated in the early spring, I do think it will be bigger than last year. All things considered, that is quite an accomplishment.

One nice thing about hops is that they tend to get stronger every year and spread readily. Given this, I suspect that the remaining plants will be able to fill in the gaps left by the departed. Our first year plants, some of which amazed us all by producing cones, should be on line for a good harvest next year. So let us be thankful for the harvest we got this year and look forward to next year.

We're In!

2009-08-02T18:25:00.001-07:00

At our last meeting with the planning board Lonn's revisions to the site plan were accepted. We have received our signed acceptace from the board. Now it is time to get moving!

Lonn and Larry are working together and we will soon be breaking ground. I need to get out and remove a few trees before then, but that will not be a problem. One is a nice medium sized maple. I hate to cut it. Lonn feels pretty strongly that he cannot dig the cellar hole without risking the tree coming down due to root disturbance. He has more experience than me when it comes to this, so I guess the tree comes down. Bummer.

Let us not lose sight of the good news. We have both the zoning and planning board approval and pre-approval from TTB. So we are in pretty good shape. Thanks to everyone who supports this brewery. We have a long way to go and your support keeps me going.

First Brew In A While

For the first time in too long I brewed. It was a bit of a rush job, but at this point in the game I have a good feel for what works. So I went to my grain box and grabbed a bit of this and that and a German Ale yeast culure that I had never used before. The result is a thick black brew that will, no doubt, be a winner. It felt good to be back brewing after three months. I will keep you posted on the results.

One More Meeting - Sad Hop News

2009-07-26T18:43:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is another meeting with the Planning Board. The purpose this time to show that we have made the requested revisions to the site plan. Lonn has delivered the updated site plan and everything looks good. Hopefully this will be the end of the meetings and we start digging!

Sad Hop News

Our hop year that started with such promise has turned into a struggle. With all of the recent wet weather, fully half of our third-year plants (our original planting) have fallen to root rot. It was tough to watch plants that had grown 13 feet in four weeks, that I had tended for two years, wither and die.

On the positive side, some of the younger plants seem to have recovered from fungal infections and are doing well. Also, the remaining third and second year plants are producing cones. So we will have a harvest this year. Granted, it will not be the harvest we expected in May, but we will have a harvest!

Things are Looking Up!

2009-07-19T19:06:00.000-07:00

No doubt my regular readers have been waiting for a report on the outcome of the zoning and planning board meetings. I apologize for keeping you waiting. In short, things went well. The zoning board gave its approval and the planning board gave its approval as well, with five conditions. So we go back on the 27th to show we have, or can, meet the conditions.

The threatened opposition failed to materialize. On the other hand our support came out in force. They arrived early and in numbers. It was strictly standing room only for the first meeting and they all stayed for the second meeting. No riots broke out, but our supporters made their presence and feelings known. It was very gratifying to have such a showing. We thank you all.

As before, the view from the driveway was an issue. We can take care of that. A few board members appeared to want to require that we cut down some of our 100+ year old maples as a condition of approval. Thankfully, the planning board chair made the point that the field of view was the issue, not how it was achieved. Particularly heartening was the zoning board chair making a point of going on the record as being against removal of the trees and for maintaining the integrity and character of our property. Without those trees, we might as well live in the ‘burbs. I say that as someone who spent four years on the tundra and learned the value of trees.

Many hurdles remain to be cleared, but we have got over two of the biggest. Let me state again how much it meant to us to have so many of our neighbors show up to support us. I do not believe that I have ever been so much a part of a community. Looking around the meeting hall that night, I knew that we made the right choice when we decided to move to Alstead.

Big Day Tomorrow

2009-07-12T18:45:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the big day. We finally have our public hearing with the Zoning and Planning Boards. We have faced a bit of last minute opposition, but have received much more support. Three of our biggest supporters are planning on attending and giving statements of support.

The support and enthusiasm from our neighbors has been tremendous. Sometimes I think they are more eager to get this going than we are! Having this kind of support is great. It really helps keep us going during the lean times when this dream seems so far away.

I do not know what will happen tomorrow. I hope all goes well and we can started on building this brewery. No matter what happens, you can read about it right here.

Public Hearing July 13

2009-07-05T18:40:00.000-07:00

It is official. We will be having our public hearing before a combined meeting of the Alstead Planning and Zoning Boards on July 13 at 7pm. We are looking forward to the opportunity to make our pitch. Several of our supporters are planning to attend. We have all been waiting for this for a long time.

Public Hearing

2009-06-28T19:32:00.000-07:00

We finally have our applications in to the planning board and the zoning board. Perhaps, they are not the best they can be (What ever is?), but they are in. I had spent so much time on them that I was getting a bit numb. At least they are in.

Now we await the public hearing. I am glad for that. I want the chance to make my pitch and see what happens. Several supporters have expressed their desire to attend. I hope they will.

I want the Town to see that what I propose will be a benefit to Alstead and has the support of the citizenry. Our brewery will make Alstead a better place. I truly believe that.

Our hearing will be on either July 13 or August 3. I hope for the earlier date but will accept either. All I want is the chance to get our plan, our dream, before the people of Alstead.

Let the people decide.

Still Working

2009-06-21T19:15:00.000-07:00

Not much new to report on the brewery front. We are still waiting to hear when the next combined board meeting will be held. I have been using the time to make some fine-tuning adjustments to our application. I just want to get this thing to a vote.

Public support for the brewery remains strong. We also have one store that has comitted to sell our product once we get going. As with so many things, it is just a matter of time and money!

In the sad news department, we lost two hens to a fox a few days ago. They were taken right out of the pasture in broad daylight. We are now down to eight laying hens. I intend to blog soon on the ethics of killing the fox.

Fortunately we have 16 peeps in the brood pen. This year we got a variety of breeds: Araucana, Buff Orpington, Leghorn, Rhode Island Red, and some kind of bantam. Once everyone is up and laying, we should have eggs out our ears.

Final Site Plan

2009-06-07T18:26:00.000-07:00

A short time ago we received our final site plan from Livengood Earth Works. This set us back a few bills, but in the end I feel it was worth it. Lonn is very thorough and has had many previous encounters with the town government. He knows what will cause a snag and has addressed those issues.

I have also been working at making a few changes to our application package that should make it easier to understand. Hopefully we can get this application officially accepted for review and get our day in the sun.

Dear Reader, I will keep you posted.

Max In Harness

2009-06-03T14:12:00.000-07:00

Today was another good day for the horses. For the first time ever, our Clydesdale, Ambrosius Maximus (Max), wore a harness. It is also the first time I put a work harness on a horse by myself.

Tracy was off on a trail ride, so I decided to spend some quality time with Max. Max has been getting markedly better about being handled and obeying voice commands, so setting a harness on him and seeing how he reacted seemed a logical next step. In the past, he had bolted during training sessions but this seemed more a case of bad manners and wanting to play rather than panic, as was the case with Aggie.

Things started a bit rough as Max wanted to munch the fresh spring grass, not pay attention to me. I finally got him to the snubbing tree and showed him the harness. No bad reaction there, though he was a still pouting about not being able to munch grass. Having last been on Aggie, the harness was ridiculously too large and needed a few adjustments. In the end it fit quite well.

With the distraction of the fresh grass, Max could not have cared less about the harness being on his back. So I let him munch for a bit then took him back to the main pasture where there is less distraction. Now it was time to see what he really thought.

I lead him all around the pasture and he never seemed to mind the harness at all. Then I thought, “I wonder if he can drive?” I was not sure he would take a bridle, and did not have one handy anyway, so I hooked the lines to his halter.

Progress was a bit erratic, but he took to driving well. Most of the time, I could get him within about five feet of where I intended. After about 20 minutes he was getting the hang of the voice commands and the pull of the lines.

We made one last triumphant lap of the main pasture then it was a reward of 45 minutes of uninterrupted munching among the wildflowers of the lower pasture.

Aggie Gets a Workout

2009-05-31T16:44:00.000-07:00

For myself and Aggie, my Belgian mare for whom so many things have been named, today was a good day. Roy Nilson came up to work with Aggie and me. His fiancée Lauren came along to assist and make some videos.

Many of you already know of Aggie’s panic attacks. The resulting explosions were dangerous for both her and whoever happened to be anywhere nearby. Needless to say, this greatly limited what could be done with her. In fact, I was pretty much at a standstill when it came to working with Aggie. So I was very happy that Roy agreed to come up.

From the start, Aggie was showing the nervousness that made her so hard to work with. She didn’t want to have her harness put on and spooked at the sound of a singletree being shaken. Letting down the harness chains caused a full-bore linear panic. That proved to be a good thing as it helped her realize that when she panicked, the chains rattled and hit her. When she stopped, the chains stopped. Success.

We continued on. The chains were lengthened with rope and the singletree added. Then a binder chain. Finally, the decision was made to hook her up to the chain harrow.

Hooking her to the harrow was a risk, as Aggie’s reaction proved, but ultimately it paid off. At first she panicked, but Roy was able to stand in and bring her down and get her to stop. That was amazing; no one had ever been able to stop one of her all-out panics.

Perhaps more amazing was that Roy was able to get her to settle in and start pulling. She was still a bit jumpy, but she was walking with the harrow. That was when the most fascinating and heartening event of the afternoon took place. After Roy had made a few laps with Aggie pulling the harrow, I saw a change come over Aggie. It happened very quickly, in the space of a few strides. Aggie went from being on the edge of panic with a scary thing behind her to just working. Something clicked in her mind and she realized that nothing was trying to kill her, she was just working. For her good efforts, she earned an apple.

About this time Roy handed her off to me. I was a bit nervous since I had never driven from the side before. I think Aggie was a bit nervous about the change of driver, but things went well. In fact, Aggie was so over being scared that she became bored and it was a bit of an effort to keep her moving. She was also clearly a bit tired so we decided to doff the harness and cool her down.

Then we went down to the lower pasture and Roy had me practice shortening and lengthening the lines on the fly and switching which side I was driving from. This gave me some practice time and gave Aggie a walking cool down.

So all things considered, this was a very successful day. Sure Aggie panicked a few times, but Roy was able to stand in and bring her down. In the end, Aggie went from being scared of the rattle of a singletree to being bored with pulling a chain harrow. All in the span of two hours!

Our work with Aggie is far from over, but I now have ideas on how to help her get over her fear, which helps me get over my anxiety toward working with her. Roy’s work with Aggie today was nothing short of amazing. He clearly cares deeply about the horses he works with and his fees are more than reasonable. I will definitely be having him back for a follow-up session.

Roy can be reached at: www.horseteamster.com

Hops & The Short Boil

2009-05-24T17:24:00.000-07:00

As regular readers know, we are very excited about the hop yard this year. This is our third year and, if conventional wisdom holds, it is the third year in which the plants begin to realize their full potential. So we have gone into this year with great expectations.

To date, the plants seem determined not to disappoint us. The rate at which they are growing is almost frightening. The first shoots emerged on April 24. As of today, May 24, the tallest plant is only about six inches from the top of the trellis. That is 13 feet of growth in four weeks! Last year that took nine weeks!

What will this mean in terms of harvest? I can only wait and hope.

Short Boil

Coming up through the ranks of homebrewing, I was lead to believe that the boiling of the wort could be no less than 90 minutes. The reason being that this amount of time was needed to get the protein to coagulate and precipitate. Longer boils were used to achieve a desired initial specific gravity.

I had always wondered if this was really necessary. When brewing with malt extract, I had occassionally used a rather short boil time. This seemed to work quite well. Would it work with all-grain brewing?

The reason for using a short (30 minute) boil time are compelling. First, the brewing process is shortened by an hour or more. More importantly, by boiling for only 30 minutes, a huge energy savings is realized. Given that we hope to have our brewery wood-fired, this is something that we needed to look into.

To that end , we brewed an experimental beer today. We did everything as we usually would, with the exception of the length of time we boiled the wort. Normally we boil the wort for 90 minutes. This time we boiled it for only 30 minutes. During the process it seemed a ridiculously short span of time. We had barely started boiling when it was over.

What will this new process yield: A more cost effective and energy saving way to brew? Garden fertilizer? Stay tuned Dear Reader, I shall keep you informed.

Thames Valley Yeast (Again)

2009-05-17T19:22:00.000-07:00

On January 31, 2009, a beer was brewed that was intended as a dark variant of a Welsh bitter. The yeast used was Wyeast 1275 Thames Valley. On May 17, 2009, that beer was finally bottled.

Three and a half months in the fermenter. I do not believe that I have ever had a non-lager beer continue working in the fermenter that long and still be unspoiled. At one month, the fermentation lock was still actively turning. Even on bottling day, the beer still had a ring of foam and the lock had not backed.

I admit that I was not optimistic when I began to bottle this beer. I did not even get the bottles ready before transferring the beer to the bottling bucket, as is my normal procedure. I wanted to see if the beer was still unspoiled and I had my doubts.

I should have cast doubt from my mind and kept beer faith. As I transferred the beer to the bottling bucket, I collected a sample. The beer was crystal clear and the taste is very good: malty without excessive sweetness. I encountered none of the harsh astringency or moldy viscosity that I had expected. If anything, the taste was a bit too mild for the intended effect. Although untended, the flavor and body of this beer are that of an excellent dark mild ale.

So why did fermentation take so long? I do not know. I have not been able to find anyone else that has used this yeast so I do not know if painfully slow working is a characteristic. I know only that this yeast worked slowly, but worked well.

It is interesting to note that the final gravity was still a bit high in spite of the long fermentation. Original gravity was 40 and the final was about 16, giving an alcohol content of about three percent. That is just fine with me, I am not into high gravity, I prefer high taste. Once this beer has conditioned in the bottle, I will give a full report.

So I missed the mark a bit in trying to create a dark Welsh bitter, but did create an excellent dark mild ale. I’ll take it.

New Hop Season Looks Good

2009-05-10T19:52:00.000-07:00

This year is shaping up to be a great year for hops. We decided to double the size of the hop yard and Dad and I put up some more trellis. Next year we hope to expand even more.

Our first shoots broke through on April 24. The number of shoots that the third-year plants are putting up is bordering on the absurd. It breaks my heart to have to prune such nice strong shoots, but if I left them all I would quickly be overrun by a hop jungle.

This is the first year that we trimmed rhizomes. Trimming rhizomes is recommended as plants are heading into their third summer, so for the first time we had plants that were ready to have their rhizomes trimmed. Once I had dug into the ground around my third-year plants, I was amazed by the amount of growth that had been taking place under ground. Some of the plants had sent rhizomes that went on for several feet, right out of the hop yard! Not only were the rhizomes long, but they were thick and loaded with active buds. I thought back to the scrawny, soggy, cheroot-looking rhizomes I had plunked down five bucks each for (half of which survived) and wondered where that supplier had gotten his.

When the trimming was done, I had a large pail of top quality rhizomes. Free! I had prepared more ground for planting and filled it quickly with the best of the trimmings. I then began looking for other places to plant. No sense wasting good hop rhizomes. We now have hop plants scattered about the property. Flag poles, cherry trees, garden fences: nothing was safe from being hopped. I still have a ton left over! So I am now in the hop rhizome selling business.

As I write this, May 10, my third-year plants are four feet tall with less than a month of growing. My trellis is 13 feet tall and last year the second-year plants topped out in nine weeks. It will be interesting to see how fast they will top out this year. I may need a bigger trellis.

Site Plan

2009-05-03T18:54:00.000-07:00

A small vacation and starting a new job kept me from the blog for a bit but now I am back. At our last meeting with the Planning Board, one member took issue with the format in which we presented our application. I admit I was improvising since I had not done a site plan review before. However, I was still disappointed because I felt we had addressed all the relevant points delineated in the site plan review checklist and the town does not provide much guidance on the format they prefer.

The head of the Planning Board then took up discussion and it was agreed that we had most of what they wanted in our application. On a few points, more detail was requested. So to keep the peace and get things moving, we hired a professional to draw up a site plan.

We have the first draft of the site plan and it looks very good. A few small details need to be changed, but nothing critical. The next step is to get on at yet another Planning Board meeting. Hopefully we are close to getting this moving.

Unemployment, Lager, & Honey Beer

2009-04-13T14:51:00.000-07:00

Long I had looked forward to the liberation of unemployment. Unfortunately, it did not long last, for today, my first official day of unemployment; I was offered another job by 2pm. At least I was able to get out and wander about in the woods and feel like I was unemployed before the call came.

Anyway you slice it: No more 3.5 to 4 hr.comutes. That means more time to build the farm and the brewery! Over the past three and a half years I had spent just under 100 days commuting in my car. That is plenty enough.

Lager Update

What a difference a week makes in the beer world. Still unable to leave well enough alone, I tried another of my lagers. Last week the lager was flat and sweet. This week it is well carbonated and quite tasty. As before, it tends toward the more fruity lagers such as Heineken of Steinlager. There is some cideriness, but I think that will pass as it ages. Based on results thus far, I would recommend that anyone who has not tried dry lager yeast to give it a try.

Honey Beer

Believe it or not, I still have a few honey beers left. After nearly four months in the bottle it has matured into a fine libation. The flavor of the dark honey is well blended with the dark malt but remains prominent. Overall it has a definite wine like character. Though not particularly thick, this brew in definitely on the mead side of beer. So forging ahead, heedless of given wisdom and brewing with dark honey when all said it was folly, paid off. Dare to dream.

First Lager Test

2009-04-05T15:53:00.000-07:00

I realize it has been only a week, but I could not wait to try one of the lagers I bottled last Sunday. As you can see from the photograph, it has yet to drop clear. Further, it has barely carbonated.

Given that lagers, by their nature, must be conditioned for long periods of time, trying one after a week was probably not the best idea. A few months in the cellar should set things straight. Then we will know if this experiment worked or not.

So I guess I really did jump the gun on trying this. The flavor is not bad, but does seem to be a bit sweet. Hopefully this means it has plenty of sugars left to ferment and carbonate itself.

My only concern is that the maple syrup had enough sugar to allow the beer to carbonate. I have not used maple syrup as a primer before, so this is an experiment. Let us hope not a failed one!

To my loyal readers: I will be posting only on Sundays for the near future. As I go through career transition and get the farm going for spring, my time is a bit limited. Thank you all for stopping in to see what I am up to.

Lager & Thames Valley Yeast Update

2009-03-29T17:01:00.000-07:00

Today I finally bottled the lager I brewed on January 19. Coming out of the fermenter it tasted very good. I would put the taste at about a Steinlager, one of the few commercial lagers I really like. Steinlager is a New Zealand brew that my college in River Falls, Wisconsin, used to serve. I also have fond memories of it from my time in New Zealand. I remember coming over a hill on Great Barrier Island, into Port Fitzroy, and seeing the little shop with the Steinlager sign. I bought two and Terry and I drank them on the front porch. That ice cold beer was such a relief.

This was my first brew with dry lager yeast (Saflager S-23). I have always been told that dry lager yeast is a bust. Not so. Going into the bottle, I am happy with the results. But I can’t leave well enough alone. I decided to prime it with a cup of maple syrup. We shall see how that goes.

As an update, the beer I brewed with Thames Valley yeast is now at almost exactly eight weeks in the fermenter and still very active. Suspecting an infection, I used a bottle filler as an improvised wine thief and sampled some. Surprisingly, it was quite good. I have never had ale go so long in the fermenter and anything good come of it. For now, it looks as though this will be a good beer.

I must admit I am pretty excited. I was beginning to fear that both these beers were going to be garden food.

Turning 40 - With Support

2009-03-23T13:49:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago I turned 40. Doesn't seem much different than 39. Though the thought that I am now heading into the "latter half" is a bit scary. I tend to be a bit Socratic and examine my life frequently. This can lead to some anxiety. I have done quite a bit, but have I accomplished much? What is the difference between doing and accomplishing? Is it the difference between homebrewing and building a brewery?

That brings us to the next topic. My wife, against all odds, managed to have a surprise birthday party for me. Seems she had been planning it for a month. I knew something was up because she engaged in several unprovoked acts of housecleaning. By chance, some old friends, Dana & Katrina, happened to be in the area and stayed with us for a night. It was good to see them again. Isle Royale is far away, but still a pivotal time and place for all of us. Unfortunately, they had to leave before the party started.

The party itself saw 45 guests. I think this is the biggest I have ever had. The support for the brewery was amazing. We shall have many volunteers when construction starts. It was great to see so many people so enthusiastic about our brewing adventure. It helped give me a recharge when my spirits were flagging a bit.

So I guess 40 does look pretty good after all. Now if you will excuse me, I have a few things to accomplish.

Thames Valley Yeast

2009-03-15T15:25:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had a yeast that just won't quit? It appears that I have one.

On January 31, I brewed a beer that was a Welsh Bitter recipe with some dark roasted barley. A dark bitter, if you will. The yeast, Wyeast Thames Valley, took well and after seven days I transferred the beer to a secondary fermenter. Then things got strange.

As expected fermentation slowed a bit. But it never quite shut off. In fact, during my birthday party, when the house got a bit warm, the yeast took off like it had just been pitched! Now we are entering our seventh week and the yeast is still chugging along. Given that the original gravity was only 40, how can this be?

Our house is quite cool so that may have slowed things. I may have also measured the original gravity when the wort was a bit too warm. These would account for a bit of what I am experiencing, but seven weeks in the fermenter?!? With no sign of stopping?

My fire chief opines that I will go down to the cellar and find a hand reaching out of the fermenter.

Dear Reader, I will keep you posted.

Moving Forward

2009-03-13T18:57:00.000-07:00

Last Friday the road agent for our town came out and we discussed his assessment of our existing entry. With most of the snow gone, measuring was a bit easier. In the end we agreed that only a small bit of the embankment at the driveway need be cut away to obtain the necessary 200 feet of view.

He also informed me that once the road is redone, it will be about a foot and a half higher than it is now. That will obviate most, if not all, of the need to cut away our embankment. This reconstruction of our road will take place either this summer or the next. We will not be open to the public until the fall of 2010, thus it is best that we leave reconstruction of our entrance until just before we open when we will know the final configuration of our road.

I have invited the Planning Board to come out and view the site for themselves so they have a good idea of what we plan to do. So far none have taken me up on the offer, but I do know that some of them are familiar with our property, so perhaps they deem it unnecessary. The next step is to send in the application.

Another (Big) Snag

2009-03-04T17:04:00.000-08:00

My how the worm squirms. After the elation of getting our brewery plan accepted yesterday, today we were hit with another possible brewery killer. The highway department called to say that we do not have a sufficient field of view from the end of our driveway.

The town requires 200ft. in each direction. On one side we have only 100ft. I am not sure how the line of sight is measured. Just standing in the driveway, one can see much farther.

I hope we can modify the existing entry. If we cannot we are sunk. There is no other place on our property where we could put an entry.

Bummer.

Acceptance - Brewery Update

2009-03-04T07:15:00.000-08:00

I must first apologize for my erratic posting. The dial-up internet has been nearly functionless the past few days. Thus, I have been unable to post to this blog according to my regular schedule.

From the last post, you are all aware that our brewery design was initially rejected because it called for the brewery to be located on the same tax lot as my residence. However, they did offer to consider our plan further if I sent them our floor plans, site diagrams, and anything I might have regarding the town and state’s position on our plan.

This started a whirlwind of faxing and emailing. I had to quickly draw up a more formal set of plans for the brewery building, scan in our tax map and add in the brewery, and search the town archive for the minutes from our meetings with the town. I also contacted the state for an opinion on my design.

The state responded quickly with an opinion that clearly allowed for our plan. The town even agreed to write a letter that it also regarded the plan as acceptable. This letter would later prove unnecessary, but it is good to know that they were willing to support me.

Having gathered together all of my information, I sent everything to the Alcohol Tax and Trade Bureau and settled in to await an opinion. We tried to avoid discussing our options if the plan were rejected. We did not want to get too far ahead of ourselves.

Surprisingly, we did not have long to wait for an opinion. In fact, the opinion came so quickly I was sure our plan had been rejected. I hesitated to open the email.

Success! Our plan was deemed acceptable! When we apply for our license, we need to include this information. This is a big relief. We were very worried about possibly getting approved now only to have policy change by the time we completed the brewery and applied for the actual federal license. So the fact that they accepted the plan and gave us an official date of acceptance has allayed our fears.

Where we sit now is that the federal, state and town officials have accepted our plan. The next step it to get the building permits and start digging!