Get ready to cast your ballot because Tuesday, November 8th is election day. No matter who you’re voting for, a vote for beer is always the right way to go. Once you’ve made the tough choices, crack open a beer of your choosing and unlock this year’s limited edition badge. This badge is only available through midnight on Tuesday, November 8th, so be sure to get out and vote, then unlock your badge!
Small Brewers Caucus member Senator Gary Peters (D-MI) recently stopped by the Short’s Brewing Company production facility. As a small business advocate, Senator Peters is a co-sponsor of bipartisan legislation that aims to reduce excise taxes for small craft breweries in Michigan and across the country—the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act. “Craft breweries like Short’s are helping to strengthen […]
The post U.S. Senator Gary Peters Stops by Short’s Brewing appeared first on Brewers Association.
During a visit to Belgium to participate as a judge in the Brussels Beer Challange, Brewers Association (BA) Supply Chain Specialist Chris Swersey was honored by the Knighthood of the Brewers’ Paddle. This award is presented each year to individuals who have contributed to the brewing profession and the promotion of Belgian beer. Chris Swersey has served […]
The post BA’s Chris Swersey Honored by Knighthood of the Brewers’ Paddle appeared first on Brewers Association.
On Thursday November 3, Congressman Kevin Brady, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and Representative of Texas’s 8th Congressional District visited Southern Star Brewing in Conroe, Texas to discuss the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act (CBMTRA) and the Ways and Means Committee’s blueprint for tax reform in the 115th Congress. He was joined […]
The post Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee Visits Southern Star Brewing appeared first on Brewers Association.
The 5th annual Portland Beer Week is kicking into full swing as celebrations of all things beer take place throughout the Greater Portland, Maine area. Taking place between November 6th - 12th Portland Beer Week will feature a wide variety of beer-based events throughout the city. From brewer to bar to pint glass, the beer scene in Portland, Maine is thriving, so be sure to check it out!
This year we’ve got a new badge your those you in the Portland, Maine area to unlock. Check-in any beer at two (2) different participating venues listed below between November 6th - 12th and earn the “Portland Beer Week (2016)” badge. Be sure to add the participating location to your check-in for it to count.
See a full line up of events at portlandbeerweek.org and be sure to check out all the action on Twitter and Instagram.
Participating locations:
What’s your current position at your brewery? I am head brewer at Free State Brewing Co. in Lawrence, Kansas. What’s new at Free State and what’s next on the horizon? Free State continues to grow and adapt to the same changes and challenges that I see reflected throughout our industry from my BA board of […]
The post Steve Bradt appeared first on Brewers Association.
We’re nearing the end of election season, a time of year when we get to vote for president of the United States, members of Congress, governors, and, in some states, even dog catchers. Our elected officials on the state and federal levels are important to brewers and can greatly impact their day-to-day lives. It’s always […]
The post Florida, Craft Beer and Presidential Politics appeared first on Brewers Association.
Halloween is officially in the books, which means the holiday season is right around the corner! No matter what holidays you celebrate, the AHA wants to help you elevate your holiday meals by pairing homebrew or craft beer with your favorite seasonal dishes.
Before you can become an all-star beer and food pairing expert, an important lesson to learn is why beer is such a great food pairing experience. Understanding the beer industry as it relates to the culinary world, and having the right vocabulary to discuss your dish and your beer, is critical to breaking down how flavors interact the way they do. Knowing where to start is the first step.
The AHA is excited to invite you to our next Zymurgy Live webinar, Beer & Food Pairing for the Holidays with Julia Herz, Craft Beer Program Director at the Brewers Association, and Matt Bolling, Events & Membership Coordinator at the AHA.
I sat down with Julia to discuss the state of craft beer in the US and what we can expect to learn in her webinar.
Q: Before we cover food pairing in the webinar, we’re going to talk a little bit about the state of craft beer. Why is that so important to understand?
A: Understanding the state of craft beer as it relates to the entire beverage industry is critical. Where beer stands in the industry and how it’s viewed is closely tied to the culinary arts world, as well as the food that we have on the plates in our own homes. The future of craft beer is undeniably linked to our understanding—as homebrewers—of beer being a part of the food pairing experience.
Q: And what is the role of the Brewers Association in the state of craft beer today?
A: The BA is a powerhouse in the beer world. The work we do to promote and protect our small and independent craft brewers around the country, as well as the community of brewing enthusiasts, is unmatched. Not only do we have the AHA working to further grow the amazing homebrewing community around the world, but we publish books, we have a variety of educational websites and resources for all types of brewers, and we work to further educate and encourage the public to champion beer from their local breweries. We make the beverage of beer better.
Q: What do you do for the Brewers Association?
A: I am the Craft Beer Program Director at the BA. First and foremost, I am an educator and advocate. I represent craft brewers in all 50 states and publish our consumer-facing website CraftBeer.com as well as our professional brewer website, BrewersAssociation.org. I am also an author for the Beer & Food Course, which is available for AHA members to download at CraftBeer.com.
Q: If participants would like to learn more after watching our webinar, what tools are available for them to further expand their knowledge of beer and food pairing?
A: If you take the time to listen to the webinar and download the resources available to you at CraftBeer.com, then you will be further into your own journey of expanding beer knowledge than you would have ever thought possible. I will take your palate and your mind on a wild ride in this Zymurgy Live webinar, and you will have the tools you need to go even further. Go to http://ift.tt/1Ttcmi5 to download the Beer & Food course before (or after) this webinar. You’ll also find tremendous resources at that site that connect the sensory aspect of beer tasting to pairing.
Q: You instructed attendees to be ready with a pickle and a sour beer, as well as some domestic blue cheese and an American IPA. Can you give us a preview of what we’re going to be doing with those pairings?
A: I’ve picked two strategic beers and two strategic food styles for Zymurgy Live. I chose a sour-centric beer to harmonize with something sour-centric such as a pickle, which is often brined in vinegar—so you’ll get sour and sour. That could be a sweet pickle or a dill pickle. I would advise attendees to go with a low-garlic variety since you want that pickle to be as simple as possible. The sour beer could be a gose, an American sour, or anything lactic with a tart acidity that will help you understand the reaction I’m hoping to display on your palate.
Our other pairing will be an American IPA with blue cheese, which is a very popular combo because it works so differently with different hop profiles. Depending on the IPA you bring to the webinar—whether a homebrew or your favorite from a locally owned and independent brewery—we’re going to explore the different ways that blue cheese can pair with different IPAs. Just as chefs pair their culinary creations with herbs & spices to match the flavor of that blue cheese, we’re going to discuss how homebrewers can use hop varieties, carbonation levels, alcohol levels, and other aspects of the beer to create amazing flavor harmonies with the dairy fat in the cheese.
Space is limited! Reserve your seat now for Thursday’s webinar with Julia & Matt, Beer & Food Pairing for the Holidays.
The post CraftBeer.com Director Julia Herz Discusses Upcoming Zymurgy Live Session appeared first on American Homebrewers Association.
In an effort to continue “putting Florida breweries on the map,” the Florida Brewers Guild (FBG) worked with the Florida Department of Transportation during the 2016 legislative session to draft and pass a statute authorizing the placement of directional signs for Florida breweries. Rather than opting for a limited highway exit sign, the new law […]
The post Florida Guild Helps Pass Law Allowing Brewery Directional Signs appeared first on Brewers Association.
The football season brings out one of the best parts of fall – tailgating. To help celebrate this tradition of bringing people together, grilling, and icing down beers, we’re bringing you the Blue Point “Tailgate with Toasted” badge.
Get ready for the game and unlock the “Tailgate with Toasted” badge, by checking-in one (1) Blue Point Toasted Lager between 11/3/16 – 12/3/16.
For more information about Blue Point, you can find them online at BluePointBrewing.com. Be sure to keep in touch with them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for the latest!
Are you ready to #PourHard? Our friends a Left Hand Brewing sure are. This November, Left Hand Brewing is celebrating “Nirtovember,” a month dedicated to their deep, rich, and smooth nitro line up. This November is the perfect time as Left Hand’s nitro-style stouts are the perfect companion Stout Day on November 3rd, Nitro Fest on November 12th, and of course Thanksgiving. Just be sure, for the best drinking experience possible, to #PourHard.
Join in the “Nitrovember” celebration and unlock a brand new badge! Check-in to one Milk Stout Nitro, Wake Up Dead Nitro, Sawtooth Nitro or Bittersweet Nitro between November 3rd and December 3rd and you’ll earn the “NITROvember (2016)” badge. Be sure to capture your nitro goodness in all it’s glory and share it on Instagram with the hashtag #PourHard for a chance to win a Left Hand Brewing Stout Glass!
Learn more about “Nitrovember” at http://ift.tt/2fj4i3d and be sure to follow Left Hand Brewing on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!
By Bob Pease When I read this week that Anheuser Busch-InBev’s Carlos Brito thinks “consumers are a bit tired of choice,” I had to ask myself what he’s been drinking. After all, we are only a few weeks out from last month’s Great American Beer Festival, where a sold-out crowd of 60,000 beer lovers sampled 3,800+ […]
The post Big Beer Doesn’t Think Choice Matters. They’re Wrong. appeared first on Brewers Association.
Another year, another record number of entries for the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) competition. Once again, all 50 states entered the competition with 19 states sending more than 100 entries—up from 18 states in 2015. In addition to already being the largest beer competition in the world, this makes GABF the most geographically diverse professional beer […]
The post 2016 GABF Medal Winners Analyzed appeared first on Brewers Association.
It’s here: November is Caramel Cream Month, where we will be highlighting our classic and best-selling beer. If you haven’t tried a Caramel Cream Ale lately, you should. It’s a beer that was developed to showcase the wonderful caramel notes in dark crystal malts. In addition to the malt complexity and creamy mouthfeel, this beer finishes with a hint of vanilla from the use of fresh vanilla beans.
There are no substitutes for this very special American Ale.
To celebrate, we will be having special tasting events at select retailers throughout the month, check below for details. In addition, for the entire month of November we will be holding a ‘Caramel Cream Happy Hour’ where you can get a pint of Caramel Cream for $4 in our taproom — all day, every day.
Ale House, Palm Beach Gardens
Friday, November 5
8 p.m. – 10 p.m.
Palm Beach Gardens Ale House
Join us for a Caramel Cream sampling event with pint glass giveaways.
Total Wine, PGA
Wednesday, November 9
6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Sampling of Due South beers, featuring Caramel Cream Ale.
Crafty Crust, Tequesta
Thursday, November 10
7 p.m. – 9 p.m.
The Crafty Crust – Tequesta Shoppes, 131 US-1, Tequesta, FL 33469
The Crafty Crust will be featuring both Caramel Cream Ale and Maple Orange Imperial Caramel Cream. Buy Caramel Cream and get a Due South glass, while supplies last.
Total Wine, Wellington
Wednesday, November 16
6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Sampling of Due South beers, featuring Caramel Cream Ale.
Total Wine, Coral Springs
Tuesday, November 22
6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Sampling of Due South beers, featuring Caramel Cream Ale.
Total Wine, Boynton Beach
Wednesday, November 23
6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Sampling of Due South beers, featuring Caramel Cream Ale.
Whole Foods, Wellington
Tuesday, November 29
7 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Whole Foods Wellington
Shop and enjoy a Due South tap spotlight at Whole Foods in Wellington, featuring Caramel Cream Ale.
from Due South Brewing Co. http://ift.tt/2f1RDAT
via IFTTT
It may be Fall, but it’s never too late for some sunshine and awesome West Coast brews, especially in the land of the endless Summer. Home to some of the California’s best and most well known breweries, San Diego is ready to let loose the flood gates as San Diego Beer Week begins. Taking place November 4th through 13th, SDBW will feature everything you’ve come to expect from a great beer week — tap take overs, food pairings, rare beer tastings, and more.
We’re excited to be celebrating this year with an all new badge. Check-in to any beer within the greater San Diego area (75 mile radius) between November 4th – 13th and the “San Diego Beer Week (2016)” badge is all yours!
For a full line up of events, including the Guild Fest (November 4th), head over to https://www.sdbw.org and be sure to follow all the action on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!
With more than 1,600 homebrew clubs registered with the American Homebrewers Association worldwide, the AHA is reinstituting our Club Connection e-newsletter. This newsletter will hit your club’s executive officer’s inbox once per month with content focused on subjects for your next club meeting, growing membership, and improving participation in your clubs events. You can expect to find articles catered to clubs of all sizes—from starting a brand new club to re-invigorating your members’ passion for homebrewing.
We’re always looking for new ways to engage our club community around the country and around the world, so if you’re interested in writing an article on a successful club initiative, we encourage you to send a message to the AHA Clubs Sub-Committee with more information!
Club Connection will focus on two main areas for your club: executive officer resources and meeting topics.
Officer Resources
The Club Connection newsletter will be written by club execs for club execs. Though we highly encourage homebrewers from all walks of life to read the articles and let us know how their clubs have found success, this content will be focused on ways that your club’s officers can engage their members. Among other types of content, these resources will include website articles, AHA forum discussions, club-focused Zymurgy Live webinars, and much more.
Meeting Topics
Each month, the newsletter will point you to a suggested topic that you can use to motivate your club meeting. You can email the links out in your own club’s newsletter or utilize these resources in any way you see fit. We will occasionally unlock members-only content for all of your club members to enjoy—including Zymurgy articles and Homebrew Con seminar recordings.
Though we are thrilled to be bringing Club Connection back, we need your help to make it successful! Many clubs in the AHA database have incorrect email addresses associated with them. If you are a club officer or are on your club’s exec committee, please help us stay in touch by updating your club’s contact information.
The post Introducing the Club Connection Newsletter appeared first on American Homebrewers Association.
This month, celebrate the history and heritage of the British Pub with Fuller’s British Pub Month. Without Britain’s famous pubs, iconic beer styles like Pale Ale, ESB, and Porter wouldn’t exist. So this month, no matter where you live in the world, find your local British pub and raise a pint of Fuller’s in celebration.
By celebrating British Pub Month with Fuller’s, you can unlock a brand new badge. Check-in to any beer from Fuller’s during the month of November and the “Fuller’s British Pub Month” badge is all yours. Though you don’t have to be at a British pub to earn your badge, we recommend you find one nearby and experience a pint of Fuller’s in its native environment.
If a badge wasn’t enough, check-in to any two (2) beers from Fuller’s and earn a free Fuller’s imperial pint glass. Once you check-in to your second beer, you’ll receive a unique promotion code that can be entered to receive your pint glass (Open to US residents only).
Thanks for celebrating British Pub Month with Fuller’s! Find British pubs throughout the US at BritishPubMonth.com.
Rules & Restrictions: No purchase necessary. Visit http://ift.tt/2fdLQHq for Terms. Program open to residents of the US who are 21 years of age or older. Program begins on 11/01/16 and ends on 11/30/16, or while supplies last, whichever is earlier. © 2016 Paulaner HP USA, Littleton, CO. All Rights Reserved. Void where prohibited.
International Stout Day is a worldwide celebration of the iconic beer style, Stout. First brewed in the 1700’s, this beer style has a long history well worth raising a toast to. Cheers to stout’s delicious, roasted goodness!
Celebrate this year’s Stout Day by unlocking our “Stout Day (2016)” badge. Check-in to any “stout” style on Thursday, November 3rd (in your local timezone) and it’s yours!
Learn more about Stout Day and find an event near you at http://stoutday.com.
Live a Hoppy Life in these Homebrew Hot Spots Boulder, CO • October 31, 2016—Celebrating the thriving community and culture of homebrewing, the American Homebrewers Association (AHA)—the leading community for homebrewers—unveiled a list of cities across the U.S. where homebrewing is on the rise. By examining a number of factors including economic impact, proximity to craft […]
The post American Homebrewers Association Releases Seven Up-and-Coming Homebrewing Destinations appeared first on Brewers Association.
Craft brewing and homebrewing have long supported one another: a thriving craft beer community nurtures a healthy, growing homebrew culture, and vice-versa. Some cities are legendary for such pro-am symbiosis, while others are gaining well-deserved reputations as up-and-coming homebrew hot spots.
On your next beer vacation, by all means, visit San Diego, Portland, and Asheville. But you’d be missing out if you didn’t check in to these seven red-hot homebrew destinations as well. Homebrewers love them, and you should, too.
Boise is a growing city surrounded by plenty of room. “Some homebrewers may travel 30 to 40 miles to collaborate on a brew session,” says Scott Allen, president of the Snake River Brewers homebrew club. “People are willing to help out other brewers all the time, even on short notice.”
Boiseans see it all in four seasons: from subzero (colder than –18° C) in winter to more than 100° F (38° C) in the summer. Still, homebrewing here is a year-round hobby that draws inspiration from the local craft beer scene and Idaho-grown hops and malts. In the last five years, homebrewing has gained more and more acceptance as consumers have come to recognize that beer brewed at home can be superior to mass-produced commercial beer and can even rival that of many craft breweries.
But in the end, Allen says the main force behind the growing homebrew scene in this city of 215,000 is friendship. “The camaraderie of brewers is great, with people always wanting to get together to share beers, smiles, and laughter in this hobby of ours.”
Minneapolis and Saint Paul have long been a hotbed of homebrew innovation. But as in other cities on our list, homebrewing has exploded in the Twin Cities in recent years, fueled in part by a new wave of craft breweries. The area is home to more than a dozen homebrew clubs, including the three-peat National Homebrew Competition (NHC) Homebrew Club of the Year winners the St. Paul Homebrewers Club (2007 to 2009) and the winners of the 2014 NHC Gambrinus Club Award, the Minnesota Home Brewers Association. Locals have also taken home the coveted Meadmaker of the Year prize in seven of the last eleven years!
Since Homebrew Con (the American Homebrewers Association’s National Homebrewers Conference) was last held in Minnesota six years ago, legislative progress has enabled a boom in craft breweries, taprooms, and craft beer events. So expect lots of great homebrew, mead, cider, and professional beer when Homebrew Con returns to Minneapolis next summer, June 15–17, 2017!
As in other hot spots, homebrewing in Music City developed closely with the microbrewing and craft beer community. The city’s oldest and largest homebrew club, Music City Brewers, has incubated several generations of pro brewers since its founding in 1996. The club has actively participated in craft beer festivals for most of its 20 years, and at many of those festivals, it has drawn long lines thanks to the variety of high-quality beers being served.
Music City Brewers co-founder and treasurer Steve Johnson says homebrewers in Nashville bring a trailblazing spirit to the area. “While the craft brewing scene has been slow to bring in high-gravity beers due to restrictive legislation here in the Bible Belt, the homebrewers in the area have often taken the lead in brewing up a wide range of styles over the years,” he says.
Nashville’s presence as a regional crossroads has resulted in lots of new brewers coming into the hobby and community in the last few years, bringing their homebrewing experience from other parts of the country. Tennessee’s homebrewers have embraced their geographic advantage and worked diligently with clubs throughout the region—in Southern cities like Memphis, Knoxville, Asheville, Birmingham, and Huntsville—to bring a strong, creative, and highly competitive homebrew culture to the Mid-South and the Southeastern United States.
You know what they say: necessity is the mother of invention. So it goes for homebrewers in the Phoenix area. “Our state is still largely a macro beer market,” says Keith Mycek of the Arizona Society of Homebrewers (ASH). “If you want good beer, you often have to make it yourself; especially lagers and historic styles.”
Of course, living in the desert has its own challenges, leading to many early-morning and late-night brew sessions to avoid summer temperatures that can easily exceed 115° F (46° C). Brewers without means of temperature control might shift their focus to cider- and meadmaking during the summer months to avoid dealing with fermentation woes all around.
Of its staggering 500-plus members, ASH says it is especially pleased with the increase in female homebrewers it has seen in recent years. In fact, five of the nine club board positions are held by women, all of whom homebrew and have received recognition at local, regional, and national levels.
When asked about the success of the homebrew community in the Rochester area, Upper New York Homebrewers Association (UNYHA) president Keith McCullum gives much of the credit to the water. “We’re lucky to have phenomenal water,” McCullum says, “courtesy of Lake Ontario to the north and the Finger Lakes to our south.”
UNYHA is one of the country’s oldest homebrew clubs and has met regularly since 1979, with half a dozen shops in the area to offer supplies and support. The Rochester homebrew community includes a healthy mix of urban, suburban, and rural brewers, all battling a variety of conditions from limited brew space to sub-freezing temperatures. Overcoming such challenges means the area is full of creative problem solvers.
For UNYHA, growing the local homebrew scene means hosting an annual competition, social functions, and educational tasting events. And when it comes to brewing, bigger isn’t necessarily better. McCullum says he finds more homebrewers getting creative with small batches, either brewing smaller volumes or splitting a single batch into multiple experiments to dial in desired flavors and freshness.
A long history of beer and brewing in south Florida means homebrewing is nothing new to folks in the Tampa metro area. With a long list of homebrew clubs in the area (including in cities like Dunedin and Clearwater), the competitive scene boasts amazing homebrew, innovative homebrewers, and a tart tooth so strong a regional style has emerged: Florida weisse.
Heat and humidity make temperature control essential, but they also encourage homebrewers to explore such refreshingly heat-beating styles as tropical IPA, gose, and hefeweizen. And a number of clubs have found perfection through their exploration of sour ales and barrel-aged beers. Part of what makes the area friendly to a new generation of potential brewers is the increasing popularity of brew-on-premises businesses that help brewers learn about the hobby before going all in.
When asked what could make the homebrewing scene any better in Tampa, Gary Holmer of the Special Hoperations homebrew club suggested that being selected to judge a regional round of the National Homebrew Competition (NHC) would be a huge step forward. Well, get ready to take that step, Tampa—you’re hosting an NHC first-round competition in 2017.
It’s not hard to see why homebrewing has grown over the last 10 years in wine-soaked Sonoma County. Homebrewer Christal Farias says beer is in their blood! “Homebrewing in our area has been taking place for many years,” say Farias. “In fact, our now world-renowned wine country community was first established as a hop farming community long before our region become so densely populated by wineries.”
Christal is not only part of the homebrew shop Beer Belly Fermentation Supply, but also a board member of Knights of the Tap Handle Brew Club, two organizations that mutually support each another. Homebrewers in the Windsor area are blessed geographically, too. The weather isn’t just great for drinking beer and growing hops, but with ambient temperatures in the mid-60s to mid-70s Fahrenheit (upper teens to low 20s Celsius), fermentation temperature is fairly easy to control for any skill level of brewer.
And with breweries like Russian River, Lagunitas, and Bear Republic in their backyard, homebrewers in Windsor have no shortage of encouragement and solid advice.
* * *
Chip Walton is the producer and host of Chop & Brew and serves on the American Homebrewers Association Governing Committee.
The post 7 Homebrew Hot Spots to Visit Now appeared first on American Homebrewers Association.
What’s your current position at your brewery, and how did you get started in the craft brewing industry? I am director of brewing operations at Cape May Brewery in Cape May, N.J. Before that I was the production manager at Brooklyn Brewery, and prior to that I was a brewing shift manager for Heineken UK. […]
The post Jimmy Valm appeared first on Brewers Association.
Get ready to enjoy your ghastliest brews and celebrate Halloween with this year’s “Witch’s Brew” badge. Check-in to any beer between Saturday, October 29th - Monday, October 31st and it’s all yours. Whether it’s a trick or a treat you’re after, we hope you enjoy some great brews!
In this Power Hour, Ian Ward of BSG Select Ingredients presents the latest information about the barley crop, both domestic and international, covering yield volume and quality of the current year’s crop. Ian also discusses malt issues and malt economics. More than raw numbers and data, Ian also shares his expert insights on developing trends […]
The post State of the Crop – Barley and Malt Insights, 2016 and Beyond appeared first on Brewers Association.
Disclaimer: When a cartoon character gets electrocuted, its furry little body goes stiff for a few seconds and we get to watch its skeleton flash beneath its skin like an out-of-control discotheque strobe. A puff of smoke later, our protagonist enjoys a full recovery and gets back its normal business of dropping anvils on heads. We all intuitively recognize that immortality is a fact of animated life.
Reality, however, is not so kind, and mixing water, wort, or beer with electricity can be deadly. Unless you have the experience and know-how to do electrical work, do yourself a favor and consult a professional electrician before attempting anything related to wall juice. And always, always, always use ground fault circuit interrupt (GFCI) outlets or breakers whenever electricity and water have even a remote chance of meeting one another.
Electric brewing offers a number of attractive advantages over breweries built around propane or natural gas.
But going electric isn’t as simple as plugging into an outlet and getting your mash on. You need to have enough oomph to heat your brewery and crank out a brew day in a reasonable amount of time. And you need to do so without blacking out the neighborhood à la Clark Griswold. Fortunately, with a little simple math, you can figure out how much power you need and whether or not you’ll have to re-wire your house to get it.
Voltage (measured in volts) is the force, or amount of potential electrical “pressure” that a circuit offers. Everything you plug into an outlet—be it a coffee maker, a hair dryer, or an electric boil kettle—offers a certain resistance (measured in ohms) to that push. The resulting current (measured in amps) is a measure of the flow of electricity required for the given voltage to overcome the imposed resistance.
You can think of it like rocks in a stream (or islands in the stream if you prefer). A stream of a given depth and speed exerts a certain pressure on everything that gets in its way. That’s like voltage. If you plunk down a big boulder right in the middle of the stream bed, the flow has to accelerate around said boulder in order to move the same volume of water through the narrow restrictions on either side. The boulder is like resistance, and the flow rate of the water is like current.
Voltage is set by your electrical outlet. Most electrical circuits in North America deliver 120 volts, while those in Europe and much of the rest of the world usually offer 220 to 240. Having more volts means you have more electrical oomph available to power your devices. Resistance comes from what you plug into that circuit. And current is the flow of electricity that results from a given voltage trying to overcome the resistance your device provides.
Current is what gets you into trouble. Why? Because current and heat are directly related. In a very general sense, the higher the current, the more a device (resistance) heats up. Standard household circuits in North America are typically sized to max out at 15 amps of current (20 amps in some cases). Exceeding a circuit’s capacity in a modern house means throwing a circuit breaker. Exceeding it in older construction means burning out a fuse. And exceeding it in really old construction means burning your house down.
Thus, the fundamental question of electric brewing is this: How can I safely deliver enough heat to my brewery to complete my brew day in a reasonable amount of time?
Water is among the most stubborn substances when it comes to heat. It takes a tremendous amount of energy to raise the temperature of water, for reasons we won’t go into here (Google “water specific heat hydrogen bonds” if you’re interested). The practical upshot of this little fact of physical chemistry is that you need to deliver a huge dose of energy in order to boil water in a reasonable amount of time.
Heat is the amount of energy needed to raise something’s temperature. A typical 5-gallon (19 L) batch of beer might require in the neighborhood of 7 gallons (26.5 L) of water for mashing, sparging, and boiling. Let’s say that water comes out of your faucet at 60° F (16° C), and for the sake of simplicity, let’s say you want to bring the entire volume to a boil. In order to heat that amount of tap water to boiling, you need to provide about 8,900 BTUs (British thermal units) of heat, or about 9,400 kilojoules. For perspective, that’s about the same amount of energy contained in 50 standard Oreo cookies.
There’s nothing you can do about this energy requirement. It’s a simple fact of chemistry, and you can’t change it. You can, however, control two things:
If you’re thinking of an electric brewery, then you’re probably going to be using an electrical immersion element. These come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but let’s say for the sake of argument that you’re going to go with an element made for brewing, like the 4,500 watt and 5,500 watt elements sold over at TheElectricBrewery.com.
These are designed for a 240 volt power source, which is great if you’re in Europe. North American readers who run these at 120 volts, however, will only get a quarter of the rated power, so instead of 4,500 or 5,500 watts, you’ll get 1,125 or 1,375 watts, respectively. Fortunately, all standard-issue electric dryers and stoves in North America require 240 volts, which means that most houses in the United States, Canada, and Mexico have at least one 240 volt circuit available to power such appliances.
In fact, in most cases, power is actually delivered to our houses at 240 volts. When it reaches the house, the supply is split in two. Regular outlets are delivered 120 volts to power most consumer appliances and electronics, while a separate 240 volt circuit is maintained for stoves, air conditioners, dryers, and the like. Here’s why you might want to consider taking advantage of the increased power of a 240 volt circuit.
| Power output | Approximate time to heat 7 gallons of water from 60° (16° C) to boiling |
| 1,125 watts | 140 minutes |
| 1,375 watts | 115 minutes |
| 4,500 watts | 35 minutes |
| 5,500 watts | 30 minutes |
In other words, it’s possible to brew electrically using standard household outlets, but if you don’t want to wait around forever, you’ll probably want 240 volts. Furthermore, you won’t get much of a boil going with just 1,125 to 1,375 watts—just an anemic simmer. If you already have a 240 volt outlet for a dryer or a stove, you’re in luck. Just brew when you’re not doing laundry or cooking!
If, however, you don’t already have a 240 volt circuit, or if you’d like the option of baking a ham or washing and drying your entire collection of 14 brewery-themed work shirts while you brew, consult an electrician on what it would take to install one. It might be easier and less expensive than you think. And unless you know exactly what you’re doing, it’s probably much, much safer.
In most cases, brewers looking to produce to up 20 gallons (76 liters) one batch at a time will be well-served by a single 30 amp circuit by alternating between two heating elements: one to heat strike/sparge water and one to heat the boil kettle. This cost-effective approach only draws 23 amps from a 240 volt circuit. An added bonus is that the sparge water slowly cools over time, which helps minimize tannin extraction as runoff gravity drops and runoff pH increases. A well-built control panel like the standard panel offered at TheElectricBrewery.com includes features to easily and safely let you switch between two elements so you don’t overload your circuit.
Anyone with a 30 amp dryer line can easily brew up to 20 gallons (76 liters) at a time with an electric rig, and a 50 amp circuit lets you do considerably more, two to three barrels even, by running two 5,500 watt heating elements at the same time. This is also a handy setup if you’d like to mash a second batch while the first boils. Understand, though, that running two elements simultaneously will draw 46 amps from your 50 amp circuit. In some jurisdictions, the local building code may not permit consumer devices to use more than 80 percent of a circuit’s maximum current rating (40 amps on a 50 amp circuit), but the National Electrical Code (NEC) does allow you to exceed the 80 percent restriction if (1) the device is not a hot water tank, and (2) it isn’t run continuously for more than three hours. So while electric brewers who want to use two heating elements at once are probably fine with a 50 amp circuit, it’s a good idea to check with your local regulatory authority just to be sure.
The point of all this is that electric brewing is about more than just buying a device and plugging it in. You need to understand how you want to brew and how many simultaneously running electrical devices you need in order to do so. Then you can work backward to determine what kind of brewing equipment and wiring upgrades, if needed, will get you there. Evaluate your home before you start planning your brewery so that come brew day, you get the juice you need while staying safe and complying with local building codes.
For more information on electric brewing, check out the excellent resources available at TheElectricBrewery.com.
The post How to Estimate Power Requirements for Your Electric Brewery appeared first on American Homebrewers Association.
Just over a week remains of the 2016 Board of Directors election. I’m asking you to take 10-15 minutes to cast a ballot and help shape the future of the Brewers Association—your trade association. It’s an easy process and your engagement is critical, so please read the candidate bios and watch their video statements on the […]
The post Vote Now: Board of Directors Election appeared first on Brewers Association.
Mash grains and cranberries at 150° F (65° C) for 60 minutes. Sparge with 170° F (76° C) water.
The post The Fall (Cranberry Saison) appeared first on American Homebrewers Association.
By Dana Garves Many brewpubs are eager to implement quality control, but are hesitant for a number of reasons. The main concern is that quality control (QC) is too expensive for a brewpub budget. This is a common misconception; in the technological age, scientific equipment is available at affordable prices. Some believe QC is an […]
The post A Modern Brewpub’s Quality Control Program appeared first on Brewers Association.
Now in its 18 year, the American Homebrewers Association’s (AHA) Learn to Homebrew Day has become a highly anticipated staple of the fall season for thousands of people around the world. On the first Saturday of every November, hundreds of homebrew clubs, shops, craft breweries, beer bars, and individuals get together to teach their yet-to-brew friends the art of making beer at home.
In 2015, the AHA partnered with 360 sites around the world to celebrate Learn to Homebrew Day (LTHD). More than 5,900 people brewed 6,284 gallons (23,787.5 liters) of beer in 936 batches. We were proud to have 47 states and 10 countries teaching new homebrewers the ropes!
The AHA is exited to partner with LTHD site hosts again this year. Past participants will already be familiar with our marketing timeline, poster, press release, and free Zymurgy intro issues, but here are a few ways that you can take your own LTHD to the next level!
It might be called Learn to Homebrew Day, but that doesn’t mean you should limit the fun to just one day! Sure, the first Saturday of November might be the one day each year completely devoted to teaching the art and science of beer brewing, but we encourage you to expand on LTHD and make it your own!
The spirit of camaraderie can be stretched out into a Learn to Homebrew Week that culminates in a grand event on Saturday. Here is a sample timeline that you can adapt to bring in new (or not-so-new) homebrewers throughout the whole week, with a themed brew or presentation each day:
With 5,931 estimated participants in the 2015 LTHD celebration, we taught a lot of people to brew last year. If every LTHD site registrant were to commit to adding a philanthropic effort to their event, we could help our host communities around the country. Not only will partnering with a non-profit benefit your neighborhood, it will instill excitement and pride among your attendees. Here are some ideas.
In 2013, Colorado.com estimated that 43 million people visited its website to find information on the region. The Festivals & Events section alone registered 450,000 visitors throughout the year, with upwards of 10,000 people visiting some of the most popular event posts. It just goes to show that your tourism office is a sure-fire way to attract a new audience to your LTHD event. We don’t recommend inviting thousands of people to your site, but the added exposure is sure to bring in some eager new faces!
At a minimum, you can register your event with local tourism websites. If you want to take it even further, you could request that your local municipality endorse your event in a public space such as a park or public forum.
Yes, we know that it’s called Learn to Homebrew Day, but why should the learning stop at homebrewing? Brewing beer is just the beginning! We all want to stay true to the brew, but let’s not forget that there is much more to quality beer than brewing processes alone. Here are just a few ways that you can teach your audience about beer while also teaching them to brew:
The AHA’s new smartphone app, Brew Guru, will soon be launching a featured collection of content straight out of Zymurgy: An Introduction to Homebrewing. The app is free to download and offers users a 2-week trial AHA membership upon download. Attendees to your event can go home with catered homebrewing content, and a complete guide to setting up their first brew day all on their iPhone or Android device!
The post Relax, Don’t Worry— It’s Learn to Homebrew Day appeared first on American Homebrewers Association.
Make yeast starter two to three days ahead of brew day.
Using soft (less than 25 ppm bicarbonate), distilled, or reverse osmosis water, mash crushed malt and flaked maize at 150° F (66° C) in 15 quarts (14.2 L) water. Stir in first dose of calcium chloride and gypsum as you mash in. Stir mash every five minutes. (Add heat to keep temperature from dropping.) After 20 minutes, begin checking for conversion with an iodine test. Once test is negative (no starch indicated), or nearly so, collect 6.5 gallons (24.6 L) of wort from grain bed. (You can do this very quickly; for example, by batch sparging.) If possible, run off wort to your hot liquor tank (HLT). If not, run off to kettle and transfer to your HLT. This wort is your brewing liquor. Heat it to 152° F (67° C).
Quickly clean mash tun and combine 15 quarts (14.2 L) brewing liquor with crushed malts and flaked maize to mash at 140° F (60° C). Add second dose of calcium chloride and gypsum. Mash for 30 minutes, then raise temperature to 152° F (67° C). Stir mash when heat is being applied and raise temperature by approximately 2° F (1° C) per minute. (Do not add hot water to raise temperature.) At 10-minute intervals, take a reading of the density of the wort (by refractometer or hydrometer). Record time and specific gravity or Brix. Stir the mash and add heat to maintain mash temperature as needed.
Decide when to stop mashing based on the rate of change in wort density. (Eventually, mashing for another 10 minutes will yield only a few extra gravity points.) Heat the mash to 168° F (76° C) for mash out. Recirculate wort until it’s mostly clear and begin running wort off. Use remaining wort from first mash as sparge water (heated so that the grain bed temperature remains near 168° F). Sparge slowly to get as many sugars from the grain bed as possible. Do not use water to sparge at the very end (this will dilute the wort). Collect enough wort for a 90-minute boil.
Bring the wort to a boil, and boil for 90 minutes. Add hops with 75 minutes left in boil. Cool to 68° F (20° C) and rack 5 gallons (18.93 L) to fermenter. Aerate the wort thoroughly and pitch the sediment from your yeast starter. (Especially if your OG is over 1.100, aerate for one additional minute eight hours after pitching.) Ferment at 68° F (20° C) until primary fermentation ceases.
Rack finished beer to a keg and force carbonate to 2.4 volumes (4.8 g/L) of CO2. If you pitched an adequate amount of yeast, Ale of Asgard will condition faster than you might think. After a few weeks, pull a small sample and evaluate. Continue sampling every few weeks. Serve when ready.
The post Ale of Asgard appeared first on American Homebrewers Association.
Goose Island continues its 2016 Sour Sisters series by bringing you the Sour Sisters IV – Juliet (2016) badge. Juliet is a tart, jammy, complex ale fermented with wild yeast and aged in wine barrels with fifty pounds of fresh locally sourced blackberries, with notes of wood, tannin and spice.
To unlock the Sour Sisters IV – Juliet (2016) badge, simply check-in one (1) of any vintage of the Sour Sisters (Gillian, Lolita, Juliet, Halia, Madame Rose) from 10/24/16 – 11/24/16.
To learn more about each of the sisters, head over to gooseisland.com and be sure to get the latest from Goose Island on Untappd, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram!
Q3 Update The mid-year production survey made clear that craft brewing growth has slowed in 2016, but did that deceleration continue in the third quarter of the year? The answer is complicated, and illustrates the difficulty in nailing down any sector-wide statistics in an era where we are approaching 5,000 breweries with an increasingly diverse set […]
The post Has the Slowdown Continued? appeared first on Brewers Association.
Last week, the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act (CBMTRA), legislation championed by the Brewers Association, received its 51st sponsor in the Senate, Senator Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota. A few days later she was joined by Senator Barbara Boxer of California. Thanks to these two senators, the legislation now has more than 50 […]
The post 5 Reasons Why the Majority of Congress Supports CBMTRA appeared first on Brewers Association.
What’s your current role at your brewery? I’m the co-founder and brewer at Maine Beer Company in Portland, Maine. How long have you served on the BA board of directors? Since February 2015. What’s new at Maine Beer Company and what’s next on the horizon? We aren’t focused so much on volume growth at the […]
The post Dan Kleban appeared first on Brewers Association.
What happens when royalty takes a dip in the rum barrels? In this case, you end up with Bourbon Barrel Aged Pumking from our friends at Southern Tier. Rum and wood characters balance out the sweet & spiced notes that Pumking is known for. This 9.5% seasonal release is available for a limited time, so be sure to track it down.
Raise a toast to the ‘king this fall and you’ll unlock a brand new badge. Check-in to one (1) Rum Barrel Aged Pumking Imperial Ale (2016) between 10/22 - 11/22 and you’ll earn the “Rum Barrel Aged Pumking” badge.
Learn more about Pumking at pumking.beer and Southern Tier’s full line up of beers at http://www.stbcbeer.com and be sure to connect on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram (@STBCbeer).
For years, the word lager seemed like a dirty word that homebrewers and craft beer enthusiasts dared not utter in mixed company. I mean, who drinks lager? After all, aren’t craft beer and homebrewing, in part, reactions to Big Beer’s mass-produced commodities? Isn’t lager just ballpark seltzer?
Nope! Curious drinkers who get to know lagers understand that they’re not all fizzy, yellow, and thin. From the lightest helles to the darkest doppelbock, I think there’s a lager out there for everyone. I’ll take a well-crafted Czech-style Pilsner over a session IPA any day!
I love lagers, and I love brewing them. The bother with lager is that brewing authentic examples requires a level of technical precision and control that isn’t always convenient. Even if you use a relaxed method like Mike “Tasty” McDole’s riff on the Narziß protocol (a great method, by the way), you still need to initiate fermentation at around 45–55° F (7–13° C). The schedule is accelerated, yes, but you still need good temperature control to pull it off with Saccharomyces pastorianus.
And even if you do have a temperature-controlled environment, let’s face it. Sometimes we’re lazy and don’t feel like messing with it. Sometimes our lagerators fill with bottles of beer. Or, we grow a year older and find the prospect of lifting 50 pounds of wort into an open chest freezer less than inspiring.
That’s why I love to brew faux lagers. What’s faux lager, you ask? A faux lager is inspired by a lager style but uses an ale yeast at a cooler-than-usual temperature. Late autumn and early winter are great times of year for this because chances are, there’s a spot in or near your house that naturally hovers at or near a suitable temperature.
Here’s how I do it.
If you’ve been scared to give lager a try, I encourage you to dip your toe in the water with faux lager this winter. If you’re an ale devotee, you might just decide to stash away several batches of fake Pilsner to get you through the summer. And if you’ve been brewing traditional lagers for years, you might find yourself breaking the rules and smiling just a little more often.
* * *
Dave Carpenter is editor-in-chief of Zymurgy and author of The Illustrated Guide to Homebrewing. He is an avid homebrewer, an inquisitive traveler, and, despite his surname, an ineffectual woodworker. Dave lives in Fort Collins, Colorado, with his wife, two cats, and countless unfinished projects.
The post Fake Out the Cold: How to Brew a Faux Lager appeared first on American Homebrewers Association.
BrewDog’s #CollabFest is back - 27 bars synchronising taps to pour 27 collaboratively-brewed beers from the best craft brewers in the UK.
Every single beer on offer is brewed with a bar crew from one of BrewDog’s bars - be sure and ask them how they got on! In late summer each BrewDog bar pairs up with an amazing local brewery and the staff head over to create and brew a beer entirely of their choice. The style, ingredients, inspiration – all is up to them.
To earn this badge, simply check in any four of the 27 beers in a BrewDog bar over the duration of #CollabFest2016, whilst the beers last!
Discover more about the festival and the beer list here and don’t forget to tag your beer reviews with the #CollabFest2016 hashtag!
Craft Beer down under continues to boom and it’s time again to celebrate as Sydney Craft Beer Week kicks into full swing. Syndey Craft Beer Week takes place between October 21st - 30th and features a slew of unique events at over 70 different participating venues. SCBW is sure to satisfy your craving for craft beer goodness from all over Sydney and beyond.
Check out the festivities and you can unlock this year’s celebratory badge! Check-in any beer at three (3) participating venues listed here between October 21st - 30th and you will unlock the brand new “Sydney Craft Beer Week (2016)” badge. Be sure to add the participating location to your check-in for it to count toward your badge.
For more information, check out http://ift.tt/1go3xCOt and be sure to follow the festivities on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!
It’s once again time for us to release some more great core badges. As always, all badges are NOT retroactive. All badges were voted upon by the community, so head over and vote for your favorites for our next batch!
Remember, you can help decide what the next set of core badges will be by casting your vote over at http://ift.tt/15hLPwT.
This article was originally published in the May/June 2016 issue of The New Brewer—a bi-monthly journal published by the Brewers Association. As Brewers Association (BA) member breweries continue to grow and gain market share, looking to the future becomes more and more important. Small, independent brewers have specific immediate concerns, but identifying and addressing long-term problems […]
The post Protecting the Supply Chain appeared first on Brewers Association.
Four Peaks Brewing Company is doubling down on the pumpkin season with Four Peaks Pumpkin Porter and Four Peaks Double Pumpkin Porter. These brews provide a unique twist on the fall craze by blending pumpkin pie flavors with a chocolate and warming finish. Capture the aromas and flavors of autumn with the Four Peaks Pumpkin Patch badge!
To earn the Four Peaks Pumpkin Patch badge, simply check in two (2) of the following beers between 10/20/16 – 11/20/16: Four Peaks Pumpkin Porter OR Four Peaks Double Pumpkin Porter.
To learn more about the brewery from Arizona, head over to fourpeaks.com and be sure to follow them on Untappd, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram!
One bottle label to rule them all…
We received 126 entries in the 2016 Battle of the Bottle Labels contest. Thanks to all who entered!
Now it’s time for YOU to cast a vote and help decide who will be the 2016 Battle of the Bottle Labels champion. The two most popular labels will win awesome prize packages from contest sponsor GrogTag. Voting closes on Thursday, Nov. 3, 2016 at 11:59pm MT, and winners will be announced shortly after.
For all the background on the contest, see the original Battle of the Bottle Labels post.
The post Vote Now: Battle of the Bottle Labels 2016 appeared first on American Homebrewers Association.
Happy 6th birthday to us! Time sure flies when there are so many amazing beers in the world to check-in. A lot has happened in the past year and there’s so much more to come. We couldn’t have done it without you, so cheers to checking in beers!
Join us as we celebrate our sixth anniversary and unlock a brand new badge! Check-in to any beer between October 21st - October 23rd to unlock the “Untappd 6th Anniversary” badge!
If you happen to be in the NYC area, be sure to stop by one of our two parties and enjoy some awesome beers!
Cheers to you all and thank you again for continuing to check-in and drink socially!
