It has been a while. I should have done this I don’t know how long ago. I could give excuses and reasons and all sorts of other things that don’t really matter. But ya know, life happens sometimes. I transferred the sake to the bottling bucket recently. I haven’t bottled it yet. I had hit…
It seems forever since we have talked about this. The sake is should finally be done. During the time of its birth quite a bit has happened. One of the big time events being the birth of my grand daughter. It seems that lagering the sake in one of my kegerators has worked in my…
In the fall of 2012 I was checking around for places that can measure hop bitterness in beer (read about it in my post “Finding Bitterness“). At the time Western Michigan University was in the process of putting together a lab to support the huge beer scene in Michigan. I received an email recently from…
In 1976 John Hindman and Charlie Konett were merely college friends. But it was then that they decided to also become business partners. The original Bilbo’s pizza came from this decision. Little did they know they would build a business that would not only last over 35 years but also be a haven for their…
April is an important month in the world of beer (and alcohol in general). April 7th is the official day that small beer was allowed in the US when prohibition was in the process of being repealed. Small beer was defined as beer of 4% alcohol or less. The 7th is referred to as mini…
Although bock beers are a malt forward beer, they still use hops as do most beers. The type of hops have been held in a category that some call “Noble Hops”. These are low alpha acid hops that carry a distinctive flavor profile. Also the majority of these hops are German in origin. An interesting…
This is a great brewing video. Charlie Bamforth walks us through the brewing process.
Lager beers take a bit more time than ales. They also require some more specialized equipment than ales. These contraints make them a bit more special when you are able to make your own. I consider myself lucky that I have the space to add them into my line up from time to time. With…
I am finally on the grand adventure of making sake. Before you can get into the fermentation process you need to prepare the koji. Koji is the enzyme that does the work of breaking down the rice (similar to the enzymes that break down malt during saccryfication). In the case of sake, though, it is…
Brewing sake takes a level of dedication that makes all grain brewing seem like child’s play. It isn’t that the process is hard, it is the time you need to devote to it. For traditional sake, you need to set aside two weeks with additions going into the mass twice a day. It is a…
