You got your music in my beer! You got your beer in my music!

I like beer. I like music. But for some reason, when you put the two together, it often turns out badly.

Let’s face it, there are a lot of jackass beer songs out there. From that beer song that everybody claims is by Weird Al when you know it totally isn’t, to that bad metalcore beer song (“Beer is good, beer is good, beer is good… and stuff” I know it’s supposed to be funny, it just… isn’t), to the innumerable interchangeable pop country anthems on the subject, you are pretty well assured that if something is called The Beer Song it’s going to be full of burps and dumb jokes and you’re almost guaranteed it’ll be terrible.

These Australian cats nailed it though. Finally, a Beer Song that I can dig. Check it out.

I had been meaning to do a beer & music post for a while but it took this song to inspire me to get it done. So what makes this song so much better? They make some of the same dumb jokes right? Maybe. But a couple of items stand out here. First, the music is actually really good. Second, they make some funny jokes too. Third and most importantly, they aren’t just singing about pounding Natty Light or whatever the Australian equivalent would be–it’s pretty clear these guys appreciate good beer and not just swill. To wit:

Well the Poms they drink it kind of warm
The Nordics drink it from a horn
The Germans drink it from a stein
The Irish drink it all the time

A lager, bitter, porter or an ale
Hefeweizen or a pale
Dubbel tripel or a stout
If it’s a light beer pour it out
You can pour that shit out

So thanks, ElbowSkin, for reclaiming beer songs from suckitude. I would love to buy the single–but I’ll be damned if I’m installing iTunes. So, I’ll just keep replaying the Youtube video over and over instead!

And now here is some more good beer music for your enjoyment!

A favorite from my college days, long long ago down in Carbondale. Jungle Dogs – Cold Beer

Seems like beer songs are obligatory for ska bands. Here’s Reel Big Fish’s song Beer

Here’s a sentiment that I don’t agree with, but a song I like. And I am pretty sure that these guys would make an exception for me (and any of you who actually read my blog). Tri State Killing Spree - Let There Never Be Another Beer Ever Drank

And another negative take but a great song, Jerry Lee Lewis – What’s Made Milwaukee Famous

Looking for beer songs on Youtube, I found a few I wasn’t familiar with previously, and some of them are even good! Here’s one by a guy named Dan Reeder called I Drink Beer, kind of a weird little folk number

And because I’m a sucker for German thrash metal, here’s Die With A Beer In Your Hand by Tankard

Here’s an honorable mention–I can’t say I’m thrilled with the song, but it namechecks some pretty great breweries and the video was partially filmed at Odell Brewing in Ft. Collins, CO. Which reminds me, it’s been a while since I begged Odell to start distributing in Illinois. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE or just send me beers, that would be OK too.  People Under The Stairs – Beer

Also, speaking of music and beer, tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day–have fun, avoid rookies where possible, make it home OK, and if you want some Irish music to listen to, check out this St. Patrick’s Day podcast I did a few years ago. http://radio.gen1.us/archives/345

Should I embed some bad beer songs too? Let me know! Or tell me your favorite that I missed.

View from the Franklin Street bridge Friday evening

Saturday the 24th, as I posted a while back, was the date for HOPS! Oktoberfest. Earlier in the week, the weather reports all predicted a nice sunny day, but as the week wore on, rain started creeping into the forecast. Friday evening, as I left work, it wasn’t looking too good.

And sure enough, the light sprinkling that greeted me as I arrived at the Bridgeport VFW that morning to set up soon became a full-on downpour. “Have faith,” advised Chris Etsch, a club officer and perpetually cheery guy. “This is gonna end before 2 o’clock and we’re gonna have a great day.”

A little while later Chris came into the building with a big smile on his face and said “What’d I tell you? Sunshine.” It was gorgeous outside. And I don’t believe we saw another drop of rain that day.

So from all angles, the event was a big success. The weather was agreeable, we had a great turnout, everybody had a good time, the roasted pig was amazing, the rest of the food was great too, and of course there was a ton of fantastic beer there as well.

I wasn’t able to pull together the spaetzle that I’d wanted to make, but the kassler was my best yet. It was completely gone within 20 minutes of being served and I got a bunch of great compliments on it (including one very nice fellow who told me it was the best pork he’d ever eaten). I got some compliments on my beer as well but I know it was not my best work. As always, next time it’ll be better.

Here are some photos from the event. At some point I must have forgotten I had a camera on me; I wish I’d gotten photos of the pig, or of my kassler, or of the amazing spread we served. Oh well.

10:47 am, setting up

My little bullet smoker, making kassler magic happen

Representing

With rain still coming down, we erected some additional tents

These tubs would hold kegs of some of the 70+ beers available

More tubs

Some of the kegs, awaiting ice

More kegs. They were still being carried in while I was taking these pictures.

A small fraction of the veal frankfurters and knackwurst that would be grilled over the course of the day.

The La Caja China pig roaster in full swing

This was early in the day. A respectable crowd already.

I’m making kassler again for the smaller Oktoberfest party my neighbor is throwing next weekend. We have the party every year and usually we drink a wide variety of commercial Oktoberfest beers in addition to having a German-themed cookout. However, one drunken night earlier this year, we decided that we’d each brew 5 gallons of Oktoberfest beer ourselves to have on tap for the event. So in addition to just being a great party, this weekend is a HOMEBREW THROWDOWN.

I think neither one of us brewed our Okfests strictly to style, but they’re both pretty impressive beers and it should be a fun time. And hey, it’s not like we have any BJCP judges coming. I don’t think so anyway…

HOPS!

I should start this post by apologizing for never following up on all those Iron Brewer posts. You can bet that if I’d won, I’d have been all over it, but alas I did not. Amy Gentry, a fine Northwestern Indiana homebrewer whom I met at Three Floyds to trade bottles in person and save a little on shipping, won with her very excellent and worthy and delicious “Belgian specialty ale” (read: IPA) called “It Must Have Been The Roses.” Congratulations to her and best of luck as she goes on to the championship round! I’ll continue to follow the action on the Iron Brewer website and if I’ve interested you in the contest at all, I urge you to follow as well.

However, that’s not what I logged on today to tell you about.

August 27th was the Midwest Brewers Fest, and I had a great time volunteering. I was there with my homebrewing club HOPS! and the homebrew pavilion was a madhouse; we ran out of beer by 4:30pm.  From what I could see, we weren’t alone; the other homebrewing clubs involved also ran dry early. So we checked back in to the volunteers tent and were told we were done for the day and could go drink. As usually happens with these things, I took terrible notes and couldn’t tell you 90% of the beers that I drank. I had a couple of enjoyable conversations with brewers, including a fellow from Great River Brewery in Davenport, IA, who had a very good coffee stout that I enjoyed quite a bit, though to be honest the other 2 beers I tried from them were forgettable. I hope to try their beers again and give them the consideration they deserve: start sending them this way, guys!

I also enjoyed hanging out with some of my fellow HOPS! members outside the structured (somewhat chaotic to be sure but structured nonetheless) confines of the monthly meetings. I’ve run into a few of them at Haymarket before, and I’ve spent some time bullshitting with Bob at his great bar Skylark (at Cermak & Halsted in Chicago, definitely check it out if you haven’t been, maybe my favorite spot in Chicago now), and I’ve even been to a BBQ in Paul’s backyard, but that was the first time I felt like I connected with a few of them and it was definitely a nice feeling.

But that’s not what I logged on today to tell you about either. Speaking of HOPS! though…

It is now 10 days until HOPS! Oktoberfest! On Saturday, September 24th, from 2pm-7pm, we will be holding our annual Oktoberfest party. It’s 5 hours of all-you-can-eat-and-drink wonderfulness for the low low price of $30 per person, and from what I understand it’s a great time. I have not been to one yet, since last year it took place on the same day as my 40th birthday party, and in previous years I was not yet affiliated with or even aware of the club (besides not yet being a southsider).

I’ve been waiting to post about this, holding out for them to update some of the information on the club’s web site and finally an updated beer list has been posted here: http://www.chihops.com/HopsBeer2011.html  For those too lazy to click the link, the beer list includes homebrews by myself and other members of the club, as well as donations from local craft breweries like Haymarket, Revolution, Metropolitan, Rock Bottom, etc.   The beer* list stands at 58 confirmed with more yet to be announced. I may bring a few bottles of cider as well, and I’m sure there will be other last-minute unannounced additions.

As for food, the site has yet to be updated but I understand there will be a whole pig roasted as well as sausages, sauerkraut, and a number of other dishes. I haven’t yet finalized my own contribution; I was thinking of making Kassler, a cured smoked pork loin, but the menu seems a little meat-heavy already (am I really saying this? Have I grown this old? how can there be too much meat?) and I’m contemplating making some homemade spaetzle instead. Sauteed in bacon grease. And hell, maybe the Kassler too.

The event will be held at the VFW hall in Bridgeport on Saturday, September 24^th. The address is:

Chicago Bridgeport VFW Post 5079
3202 S May St.
Chicago, IL 60608-6412

[google-map-sc zoom="13"]

Chicagoist wrote the event up a few years ago here: http://chicagoist.com/2008/09/15/review_hops_oktoberfest.php

Tickets are available from Brown Paper Tickets here: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/193891

I’m really psyched and greatly looking forward to this event; I hope to see a few of you there! (and yes, this event is what I logged on today to tell you about!)

* I guess calling it a “beer” list is inaccurate as it also includes some homemade wines, meads, ciders, and liqueurs.

Beer!

You are probably sick of me going on and on about this Iron Brewer thing by now. Well I have good news for you. It’s coming to an end!

The judges’ tasting was last night, and tonight is the contestants’ tasting and podcast. If you’re interested, you can follow here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/simplybeer (click the Batch 2 Round 6 link). The tasting is at 7pm Central tonight and I believe it will be podcast live.

Win, lose, no time to brood. Tomorrow is the Midwest Brewers Fest and I’ll be there all afternoon/evening. And my friends are doing a 5-year Dark Lord vertical tasting in the evening that I’d like to get to if possible, after the fest.  Sunday is the “VIP Party” for the fest, and also I may need to run in to Goose Island Clybourn and meet up with a guy for a homebrew swap. It’s going to be a big beer weekend for sure.

“When I read the description on your blog, I thought it was going to be a mess. But this is very well balanced. The flavors are there but more subtle than I expected.”

“This is a special beer.”

“You’re a mad scientist.” (to be fair, this one was from a member when I first told him about the beer, but he reiterated it last night)

Turkish Delight EESB label

So I’m excited about the contest, and doubly excited now that my friend (and fantastic artist) @wonderLlama has designed a label for the beer, which you should see to the left. He occasionally posts some art on his Twitter, and is a terrific guy besides, so I definitely recommend following him.

I’m also a little daunted at the expense of printing labels and packing and shipping all this beer but I should have it done by the end of the week.

At last night’s meeting, we also sampled the Belgian IPA that I brewed for the Midwest Brewers Fest at which I will be volunteering with the club. It was less successful, mostly due to the fact that it hasn’t properly carbonated yet. The club will be bringing the beer to the fest for me, and club president Bob Brown took the keg with him to make sure the CO2 levels are correct. If anyone’s a mad scientist of brewing, it’s that guy. Well maybe not a “mad” scientist but a scientist nonetheless; many of the guys in the club are way more well-versed on the technical aspects of brewing than I am. I’m more like an oddball aunt who makes you chocolate chip cookies but when you bite into them there are chunks of candied ginger in there as well.

Also, a little preview: the HOPS! Oktoberfest party will be held at the end of next month. I’ll be doing a post dedicated to that at some point, and most likely will brew something for it as well.  So watch that space (and this one!), as there’s going to be a ton of great beer and food there. Tickets are $30 each, I have a few to sell or they’ll be available through Brown Paper Tickets if they aren’t already.

Iron Brewer

The Batch 2 Round 6 brewers names were officially announced in a post late last night on the Iron Brewer website

Batch 2 Round 6 Brewers & Bios on the Iron Brewer website

In other news, I’m going to be volunteering with my homebrew club at the Midwest Brewers Fest in Plainfield, IL in late August. On Sunday I brewed a Belgian IPA for the event.

Midwest Brewers Fest

Well, Belgianish. IPAish. You know how I roll.

Previous: Weekend Brew Report – My Iron Brewer Entry | Iron Brewer update, recipe

UPDATE: The recipes have also been posted on the Iron Brewer site now: Iron Brewer Batch 2 Round 6 Recipes

Weird Berries by P_Breen, on Flickr

It’s now been 11 days since I brewed my Iron Brewer entry. I’ve checked the gravity the last couple of days and it’s been pretty steady, within a couple points of where I imagined it would end up (and I was hoping it would finish a bit high as I’m looking for a bigger bodied beer).  So tonight I transferred the batch to secondary fermentation where it will stay for the next 2 weeks and change, and I added some flavor elements to help it along.

First off, the recipe:

NAME: Turkish Delight EESB
STYLE: 23a. But kind of a really big ESB (hence the 2 Es) with spices but really not
TYPE: All Grain

Recipe Specifications
---------------------
Estimated OG: 1.065 (at 72% efficiency)
Estimated FG: 1.018
Estimated ABV: 6.2%
Estimated Color: 13 SRM
Estimated IBU: 32.2 IBU

Grains & Sugars:
---------------
Amount		Item
------		----
8 lbs		Optic Malt
1.5 lbs		Melanoidin Malt
1 lb		Victory Malt
8 oz		Honey Malt
8 oz		Caramel Malt 40L
8 oz		Flaked Oats
8 oz		Invert Sugar Syrup

Hops:
----
Amount		Type			Alpha		Time
------		----			-----		----
.25 oz		Northern Brewer pellets	8.7%		60 min
.5 oz		Galena pellets		13.1%		30 min
.5 oz		Galena pellets		13.1%		20 min

Other:
-----
Amount		Item			Use
-----		----			---
1tsp		Irish Moss		15 minute boil
1oz		Rose Hips		5 minute boil
1tsp		Lemon Zest		knockout
1tbsp		Toasted Fenugreek Seeds	Secondary
1oz		Rose Hips		Secondary

Mash schedule:
-------------

Single infusion mash @ 154 degrees. Mash out at 170 degrees for 15 minutes.

Boil:
----
90 minute boil

Fermentation:
------------
Pitch Wyeast 1450 Denny's Favorite at 65 degrees

So tonight’s operation involved siphoning the beer from the 6 gallon carboy I used for primary fermentation and into a clean sanitized 5 gallon carboy for further aging & clarification, or what’s usually called “secondary fermentation.”  Due to the time constraints of this contest, I’m rushing things a bit more than I normally would, but still probably less than some would. I’ll often let a beer age a little longer before bottling it than I strictly need to (although my neighbor and brewing partner Bob will tell you that once it’s in the bottle, I get impatient and often drink a few before they’re fully carbonated. But I digress) so a little rush here, though counter to my normal practices, isn’t a problem.

The beer started out on target with an Original Gravity of 1.065, and yesterday and today when I measured, the gravity was about 1.021. The trub (gunk and nastiness that collects at the bottom of the fermentation vessel) in this batch was particularly funky, and I want to give the beer plenty of opportunity to clarify before bottling it, so I went ahead with the transfer. Also, I took a sample.

The flavor is pretty much on target with what I was looking for, with a big bodied mouthfeel and some candylike qualities. But the rose hip flavor was not where I wanted it. The way I used the rose hips in the initial brewing process was that I made a homemade invert sugar syrup (as called for in my recipe) and simmered the rose hips in that syrup for 5 minutes. Then the syrup was added in the last 5 minutes of the boil.

I’d intended to add more rose hips for secondary fermentation but thought I’d just put them in the carboy and rack onto them. I read up on their use and found that they really need to be boiled for around 15 minutes to draw out the flavors and aromas, so I made a tea with a cup of water and another ounce of rose hips and added that to the secondary vessel.

Also, to reinforce the Turkish and candy flavors I’m going for, I toasted some fenugreek seeds, crushed them with a  mortar and pestle, and added them to the carboy as well before racking the beer in. Fenugreek is pretty recognizable as a curry spice, but is also common in Turkish cuisine. It’s aromatic and somewhat bitter, and another common use of fenugreek is as an artificial “maple” flavor in pancake syrup. At only one tablespoon in 5 gallons of beer, I’m not looking for it to be a major presence in the beer but rather to add to the depth of flavor and to add to the character I want in this beer. My hope is that it will reinforce the impression of sweetness (with the maple flavor), the “Turkish” theme of the beer, and hopefully also the bitterness and flavor of the galena hops.

I’m pleased with the way this beer is going. The flavors I’m looking for are not overwhelming, but they are there. The beer is well balanced and drinkable, though not a summery beer.  I look forward to tasting it in a few weeks, when the rose hip flavor has developed more, and again once it’s been carbonated.

Previous: Weekend Brew Report – My Iron Brewer Entry

About to boilover

Yesterday I brewed my entry for Round 6 of Iron Brewer Batch 2.

But let’s back up a minute. What’s Iron Brewer?

Iron Brewer is a homebrew contest that I first read about last year and have been interested in participating in since the beginning.  Due to some e-mail issues and schedule conflicts, I was never able to get into a round in the first iteration of the contest, but lucky for me they decided to do it again and finally everything came together and I managed to get in to the very last round.

The concept of Iron Brewer is similar to TV’s Iron Chef; for each round, 3 ingredients are chosen, generally a specific grain, a hop variety, and some other flavor element. Here are some examples:

Batch 1, Round 1: 

• Rye Malt
• Simcoe Hops
• Dark Belgian Candi Sugar

Batch 1, Championship Round:

• Chili Peppers
• Horizon Hops
• Crystal Malt, 120L

To be honest, I’d thought about entering previously but not felt inspired by the ingredient choices.  However, this time the ingredient list spoke right to my love of bizarre brewing:

Batch 2, Round 6:

• Melanoidin Malt
• Galena Hops
• Rose Hips

Now I’ve used Melanoidin malt, and it’s nice. The malt is kilned specially to develop the melanoidin compounds that give beers a rich malty flavor and full mouthfeel. Galena hops were new to me, but a quick read on them told me that they were a pungent, high-alpha hop but they also were described as having fruity, citrusy, candy-like flavors. The word “candy” stuck out to me and then the next ingredient, rose hips, made me think of the rosewater flavored Turkish Delight I’ve bought from time to time at various shops in the Albany Park area of Chicago.

Turkish Delight, if you’ve never had it (and have never read The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe, in which it plays a part), is a gelatinous candy of Turkish origin. It’s sweet and mouthfilling, sometimes rosewater-flavored, often containing nuts.

A beery interpretation of Turkish Delight? Why not? I signed up immediately and was lucky enough to get in. I had my recipe designed and my ingredients ordered within 24 hours.

The Iron Brewer schedule is a bit daunting. 8 weeks are allotted between the announcement and the due date. That’s not a lot of time, when you consider shipping time. Due to the holiday weekend, my ingredients were not shipped in the most timely manner, and I didn’t receive them until a week after the contest announcement. Brew day was yesterday. There are now 6 1/2 weeks left to finish this beer, bottle it, ship it and have it delivered, both to the contest organizer/judging committee and to the other brewers.

Which is another great thing about this contest. A typical homebrew competition, you submit 2 bottles, and those 2 bottles are tasted by the judges and no one else. In this competition, we the brewers get to taste each others beers, and see what the others did with the same ingredients. We get to discuss this with each other.  And we have some say in the judging as well, though minor.

Overall, I’m really excited about the challenge this presents, and the opportunity to have the results tasted by other brewers as well and get their feedback. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t most excited about the beer itself. It’s been a while since I did one of these oddball batches and I can’t wait to see how it turns out.

I’ll revisit this topic in the future and post status updates on the beer & the contest as they happen. I’ll discuss my recipe and my process for this beer, and the decisions I made in designing it. I’ll give tasting notes. I’ll discuss the contest process and the tasting, which will be broadcast live via internet from the Iron Brewer website. Wish me luck! And if any of you other Iron Brewers happen to stumble across this post, say hi in the comments.

Related: Iron Brewer recipe, update

Kentucky Man Invents Bourbon Powered Car - Kegworks Blog

Beautiful. Brilliant. Badass, even. But what a waste.

“The car will run on almost any bourbon, but she really purrs on Maker’s Mark” said Nilsson.

Oh. Well maybe it’s not such a waste after all. /bourbonsnob

Read about it on the Kegworks Blog. I heard about it via the Finch’s Beer Company twitter account: @FinchBeer.

Bohemia beer, photo by flickr user drewesque

Today is the Mexican version of St. Patrick’s Day, in which instead of wearing green and drinking cheap beer until you black out and pee on your neighbor’s dog, in America you wear whatever you feel like wearing but drink tequila until you vomit on the party host’s phone, something I haven’t done since I was 18 years old and a theater student at SIU. They were very gracious about it, theater folk you know.

Anyway, I have an alternate suggestion for today. Though I am not the world’s biggest fan of Mexican beers–they’re mostly versions of German lagers that are lighter-bodied for the hot Mexican climate–I do drink the occasional Negra Modelo or, my suggestion for today, Bohemia.

Bohemia is a Mexican beer that does manage to have a decent amount of malt flavor to it. It lacks that targeted hop bitterness that a classic German Pils would have, and the aroma suggests the possibility of some cheaper adjunct grains in the mash, but it’s drinkable and pairs well with Mexican food. You did plan on eating Mexican food today, right? In my experience with midwestern Mexican restaurants, even the ones who do not list Bohemia on their menus will have some on hand. Maybe because it’s what the guys in the back enjoy drinking.

Of course then you may have pissed off the kitchen guys by drinking their beer. Life is a balancing act, and this beer, at 5.3% ABV, should not seriously impact your sense of balance. Unless you drink them like it’s St. Patrick’s Day.

On the subject of Bohemia, I think I may start a new featurette called “Bad Beer Reviews.” I found this little gem on the Beer Advocate profile for Bohemia.

Smells revoltingly sweet. Lots of corn grain with brown sugar and little else. Just bland and sweet. While I’m surprised that it has a smell, it’s not pleasantly so. It’s like when you first discovered Lady Gaga had a penis. It may or may not have been a surprise, but it certainly wasn’t a pleasant one.

(Emphasis mine)  This lovely snippet comes from an Australian fellow who is using a photo of Dylan Moran from the Black Books days as his BeerAdvocate profile picture. By way of comparison, here is a Dylan Moran penis quote:

We’re born with one finger up our nose and one hand on our penis and we just get taller.

Now that’s funny. Actually, the Lady Gaga / penis bit isn’t terrible either. It just doesn’t really belong in a beer review IMO. Lady Gaga’s genitalia is one of those things that just doesn’t need to wander into my consciousness while I’m thinking about beer.

Or while I’m wishing you a happy Cinco de Mayo either, for that matter. So, uh, enjoy the day. And try not to think about Lady Gaga or her penis.

Disclaimer: I am of course commenting solely on the Americanized booze-related Cinco de Mayo celebrations and not the Mexican holiday that provides the excuse for excess.