Road Trippin'

Quick update now that I am back from Chicago.  I was actually in Chicago to drive a car from Chicago back to Boise, a drive which if anyone has done it before is both fun and extremely boring.  Of course I was able to do a few beer related things along the way.

While in Chicago, I managed to pick up three of the four bottles of beer that I was hoping to snag.  Only a few people might care or be impressed, but I managed to get a hold of a bottle of Bell's Batch 9000, Founder's Kentucky Breakfast Stout and Goose Island's Night Stalker.  Anyone who spends half as much time reading about beer knows those are good pick-ups and the rest of you probably just rolled your eyes thinking I have a problem...probably a little of both.  I also want to give a plug to a beer store in Chicago, Vrai Amour Wines.  That is the store that hooked me up with the Bell's 9000.  Matt and I had a great conversation with the owner about beer and got to talking about my plans for the brewery, after talking for like 20 min he said he had some 9000 in the back he normally saves for his regulars and said he would sell me one.  Thanks to Dave and sorry to the regular who isn't getting one now.

The first night of the drive back, I stayed in Kearney, Nebraska, which turned out to be a bit of a beer town.  The town of 30,000 had two brewpubs, although we didn't make it to one of the pubs, I managed to try some of their beers at Old Chicago.  I had a Brown Ale from Empyrean Brewing and a Lager from Platte Valle brewing, both solid beers.  No matter where you are in the US, you are probably closer than you think to good beer.

My other thought is from staying in Park City.  I had some misconceptions about the beer their because of the 3.2 ABW (4.0% ABV) law in grocery stores.  Note: When people talk about 3.2 beer, that is actually measured by weight as opposed to volume, so a bud light at 3.2% ABW is about 4.0% ABV, which isn't that far off from a bud light in Idaho that is 4.2% ABV.  Going into the liquor store, they had quite a good selection of craft beers, including a bunch of high alcohol styles like Barleywines and Imperial Stouts.  So don't be discouraged about finding good beers in Utah, they are there, just in the liquor store.

The coming weeks should have more blogging.  I am going back to Chicago next week for the Craft Brewers Conference and will be blogging daily.  A few more emails, meetings and phone calls are all that really separate me from letting the fun really begin.

Gotta Hop!

Three Wheats

Now for the third edition of the wheat beer piloting progress:

Wheat Beer
Style: American Wheat
Malt: American 2-Row, CaraWheat, Munich, Wheat
Hops: Amarillo
ABV: ~ 4.2%
Playlist: New Music Brewday, checking out all the albums I have gotten recently

Not that it is any different than the current amount of blogging, but this will probably be the only post for about a week as I am taking a trip to Chicago.

Right now the details of the lease are getting sorted out.  I wish it wasn't such a pain to agree to terms, never thought it would be, but it is business and both sides are just looking out for their businesses.  It is okay for me right now that it is getting delayed a bit, because it is giving me a little more time to get the last pieces of financing to fall into place.  Don't hold me to this, but on May 1st, Payette Brewing will likely have a home!  (Not brewing, just have possession of a building to start construction in)

I was planning for these three Wheat Beer pilots to be the first official tasting at the new location, but it looks like I'll have to make a new series of beers.  Since IPA is the overwhelming favorite in the poll, plan on the first customer tasting panel to be for the future Payette Brewing IPA.  Details to come, so be sure to check back (once a week is probably plenty right now).

Gotta Hop!

Round 2

Continuing on with my Wheat Beer pilots I make some blind changes to the next batch.  Since the last one is still fermenting, I have no reference for where to make changes, so I am just making minor adjustments to make a different beer to compare to.  I am going to use some new techniques for hopping this one, since I think the last one is going to be on the bitter side.

Wheat
Style: American Wheat
Malt: American 2-Row, Munich, Wheat
Hops: Sorachi Ace
ABV: ~ 4.2%
Playlist: Bill Simmons NCAA Tournament Preview Mega-Podcast

I have been using the Sorachi Ace hops quite a bit lately because they are relatively new (new to me at least) and I want to try out what sort of beer they could work in.  In some ways this is similar to my Citra hop experiment a year ago where I figured the Citra characteristics could work well in a Wheat Beer.  People enjoy a lemon or orange in their wheat beers (I personally don't do this, but I wont stop anyone, to each his own) so I am trying to get the lemon flavor from the Sorachi Ace into the beer so the fruit can be left out.

While I am brewing I am planning on writing a few posts that will run later in the week that don't deal with recipe development.  It is sort of getting boring for me and I am sure boring for a reader who doesn't even get the chance to try any (at least not yet).

Back in Action

It has been almost two weeks since I brewed and posted, unacceptable I know.  With the blog I have found I either have tons of time with nothing to say, or no time and too much to say.  In this case it is really just not enough time.

After going through a few cycles of my Amber, Brown, IPA and Pale with different yeast strains, I am going to do a few different wheat beers over the next 2+ weeks.  I am focusing on making an American Wheat as opposed to the German Hefeweizen.  The biggest difference in the two styles really comes from two byproducts of fermentation, 4-vinyl guaiacol and isoamyl acetate.  Those two produce the Clove and Banana flavors traditionally found in a German Hefeweizen and are not in American Wheats.  There is generally more hop aroma and bitterness in American versions, but they are not usually "hoppy" (although Three Floyd's Gumballhead is hoppy and delicious).

After that style and science lesson here are some specs for this beer.

Name: Suggestions Welcome
Style: American Wheat
Malt: American 2-Row, Munich, Wheat
Hops: Citra, Magnum
ABV: ~ 4.2%
Playlist: Going through the "J" section of iTunes, Jack Ingram, Jack Johnson, Jay-Z etc (good stylistic mix)