Posts Tagged ‘home brew’

Hennessy Homebrew Emporium
470 North Greenbush Rd (Route 4)
Rensselaer, NY 12144
Call 283-7094 for more information.

November 7, 2009 is the American Homebrewers Association’s (AHA) 11th Annual Teach a Friend to Homebrew Day and Hennessy Homebrew Emporium in North Greenbush is participating in this year’s celebration.

Teach a Friend to Homebrew Day is an international event celebrated each year on the first Saturday in November with the goal of introducing people to the homebrewing hobby and establishing relationships with local homebrew supply shops and homebrew clubs. Hennessy Homebrew Emporium is happy to invite anyone who is interested in learning how to homebrew to stop by on Saturday, November 7, beginning at 11 a.m. To encourage participation in this rewarding hobby, Hennessy Homebrew Emporium will provide free grains for those who come by to brew and to learn.

In 2008, over 2,100 participants brewed approximately 2,800 gallons on Teach a Friend to Homebrew Day at 140 sites worldwide (including sites in Canada, Kenya, Denmark, and 40 states in the United States). This year, the AHA expects even greater participation.

“One of the great things about homebrewers is they are happy to share their knowledge and to pass on the joy that they find in homebrewing to others,” states Gary Glass, the director for AHA, “that’s really what Teach A Friend To Homebrew Day is all about.”

For information on how to participate in this year’s Teach a Friend to Homebrew Day event and to view the registered sites, visit www.beertown.org/events/teach/index.html.

Unless you are following my Twitter feed (and why aren’t you?), you would not know in addition to drinking beer – I also brew it. Mrs. Ohabeer encouraged me to start brewing in February 2009 and it is a decision I have not regretted. Prior to Big Brew Day 2009, I had brewed 3 beers: a not-so-good first Brown ale [Foamybeer Plain Brown Wrapper Ale]. an excellent (and getting better) Imperial Russian Stout [Foamybeer Itsa Stout] and (currently conditioning in the cellar) a cherry wheat for Mrs. Ohabeer [Foamybeer My Cherry Amore Wheat]. I had also done all of these brews pretty much alone and indoors. The concept of Big Brew Day was a bit daunting, but I decided what the heck.

For those unfamiliar, In 1988, May 7 was announced before Congress as National Homebrew Day. The American Homebrewers Association created Big Brew as an annual event to celebrate National Homebrew Day not only in the United States, but around the world.

Each year the AHA finds two or three recipes to highlight for Big Brew. Then hundreds of homebrewers register their locations for a communal brew-in to celebrate National Homebrew Day. They invite family and friends, or hang posters around town to advertise their brewing site. Then on the first Saturday in May everyone congregates at the brewing site early enough to join in a collective toast at noon Central time and get on with the brewing.

I chose to head up to Hennessey Homebrew Emporium for one major reason: FREE BEER! Unlike most Big Brew locations, Hennessey was giving the free ingredients for one of the Big Brew recipes – SS Minnow Mild Ale – if you joined them for the brew. Even though I was more than a bit nervous about doing my fourth brew in a parking lot surrounded by experienced brewers, a free 5 gallon batch of beer was too hard to resist.

My little slice of the Big Brew parking lot

I borrowed a friend’s Coleman camping stove, made a wort chiller (that copper coil on the left above), packed a couple bottle of Itsa Stout and 7 pounds of Smokey Pork Carnitas as bribing material in case I needed help. Packing the equipment for brewing is not unlike camping, so I decided to pack the car the night before using a checklist to make sure I did not forget anything. Of course, I DID forget two fairly crucial items: a lighter for the stove and a bottle opener. Thanks to running into a friend (and fellow brewer) I had a lighter. It turns out if you’re offering samples of your homebrew, SOMEONE will have an opener.

Back to that wort chiller (the copper thing on the left). I am quite proud to say it is my first DIY homebrewing project. I give a great deal of props to this article for laying out the build. Testing here at OAB HQ brought boiling water down to 70 degrees in 6 minutes. The water was a bit warmer and flowing slowly at Big Brew, but I was still able to break the wort in about 12 minutes. Of course, the water I was using for topping off was in a black pot (me not thinking) and raised the temperature back up to 80 degrees. So, I just packed the wort in the car without pitching the yeast and waited until I got home. Temp was down – yeast was pitched – and (as of two days later) things are bubbling nicely.

As I am still in the learning phase of this brewing thang, I went with the extract with specialty grains recipe. It was a bit strange setting up the stove and steeping the grain outdoors, but it did give me a chance to see many all grain brewers at work and check out their set ups. Specifically, I was hoping to find someone using a converted cooler as an infusion mash tun.

My brewing neighbors with a great cooler mash tun conversion

As luck would have it – that person was next to me. His system was quite nice and amazingly simple in construction. The cooler holds the mash at the proper temperature with little effort. Very efficient and – from what I could tell – not very expensive to make. It’s now on my list of upcoming DIY brewing projects.

I found it interesting the number of folks just dropping by to watch or hang out. As Hennessey Homebrew Emporium is on a main road – and as we were in the parking lot – many cars were parked along the road. That tended to attract the attention of people traveling down the road. Many of them stopped to see what was happening and some even took a few pictures.

I learned more than a bit on this Big Brew Day. I’m certainly glad I made the trip. The folks brewing were a great bunch. Everyone was sampling brews, checking out each other’s set ups, discussing whether one should or should not strain the wort (consensus was “strain”) and having a great time. Hennessey Homebrew Emporium put together a great event. So great – many of us hope they do one in the Fall without a Big Brew Day. We all agreed we’d even buy the ingredients for another event like this.

In any case, it has inspired me to see if I can get a group of homebrewers together in the Catskill region. If you happen to be in upstate New York near the Catskills – OAB HQ is in Roxbury, NY – drop by the OAB contact page and send me a note.

The idea of a bunch of brewers in my driveway brewing with BBQ going in the front yard and tourists driving by amuses me greatly…

The rest of the crowd and the obligatory food table

It is usually not a major surprise to find those passionate about beer are also passionate about BBQ. My obsession with BBQ is actually much greater than my interest in beer. I have yet to get into home brewing (a resolution for 2009) but I do have a full BBQ setup with three grills (wood-fired, charcoal and offset smoker – no propane in sight!) and a rough outdoor kitchen.

In my quest for great BBQ in New York, I headed off to Holy Smoke for my birthday a few years ago. This is the real deal folks. They put together an AMAZING array of excellent ‘que with all the usual sides. Great brisket. Amazing pulled pork. Smokey sausages. I’m not a rib fan, but Holy Smoke’s won me over. Add to this top quality array of slow cooked meaty goodness an absolutely incredible beer selection (including some very rare brews) and – well – I basically wanted to move in. Mrs. Ohabeer and I ate and drank ourselves into a stupor.

All this is to explain my excitement about the Holy Smoke 2009 Summer Kick-Off Party. Not only do you get great food and beer, but this year there is going to be a home brew competition. Given NY state liquor rules, I’m guessing there will be no sampling for the public, but smoart folks will know how to sort that out. If you’re in New York or planning to be here on June 6th, this is going to be a “must go” event. Drop me a line and maybe we can put together an Oh…a beer table.

HOLY SMOKE 2009 ANNUAL SUMMER KICK-OFF PARTY!
Saturday, June 6th, 2009
Noon – 5pm

BBQ – BEER – LIVE MUSIC
Plus… HOLY SMOKE HOME BREWERS CHALLENGE!
holysmokebbq.net : Route 6N 241 Mahopac, NY : 845-628-9795

Each year Holy Smoke throws a HUGE PARTY that has tons of Great BBQ Food, the Best Tap Beers on the planet and Great Live Music (this year provided by Jake and the Mountain Men) all held on our Great Lawn. We expect tickets for this event to be very well received, and sales are first come, first served.

Tickets/Details: $65 per person in advance only. Includes all tap beers, all-u-can-eat BBQ food &
live music. To purchase tickets, call 845-628-9795, email holysmokebiz@aol.com or stop by Holy Smoke to purchase directly — and enjoy some of New York’s Best BBQ while you’re here! All sales final. Must be over 21 to attend. Please bring ID to the event — security bracelets will b e issued.

Rain Date: Saturday June 13th (same times). If rain date is in effect it will be posted on our website at HOLYSMOKEBBQ.NET. See you at the party!!

HOLY SMOKE HOME BREWERS CHALLENGE
Three styles open for the judging: American or English Pale Ale, American or German Pilsner and American or German Weissbier.

Judged by a panel of guest professional brewmasters:
Scott Vaccaro — Captain Lawrence Brewing Co
Alan Brady — Blue Point Brewing Co
John Mish — Three Floyds Brewing Co.

Each style will have an overall winner and one will be judged to be the winner of the Holy Smoke Chalice Trophy (best in show). The winner will have their name, date and winning style engraved on the Chalice along with a Holy Smoke Gift Certificate.

RULES OF ENTRY
Must be 21 or older.
Each entry must have at least 22 oz. of sample beer available for each category.
Each brewer must be a ticket holder to the Summer Kick-Off and be in attendance to win.
There is NO additional entry fee.
Each brewer must notify Holy Smoke of their wish to compete by April 1, 2009.