Recent Brews and Complications

I recently brewed two beers up with my brew-buddy.

We made a Rye-Ipa that was almost too simple to brew, and a smoked red.

The one I want to focus mainly on is the Red, because not only did we smoke the malts ourselves, we used partial-mash (bag technique) and I would like to explain how we did it.

First, we smoked the malts, and since we did not have a smoker, we jury-rigged a Turkey pan and some foil, and smoke the wood chips in an open grill.

The next step we took was to clip our grain bag (or a cheap laundry bag from the store) to just hover above the bottom of the pot. This way the grains don't burn for the hour long temperature maintaining spree. We also kept our thermometer clipped in to monitor these readings.

We used a large rubber band to keep the bag floating.

After brewing was complete, we wanted to make sure that any of the grain that sneaked through our bag was filtered. We used a simple colander for this.

The result? A carboy full of delicious smoked red just waiting to be bottled. The main complication that arose was lack of bottle caps. I realized today when I was getting ready to bottle that I forgot to buy bottle caps. This of course puts a damper on my bottling so I will have to postpone a while longer.

Pizza Beer

I discovered back in college that one of the most amazing combinations that this world has to offer, is a pizza pie and an ice cold refreshing beer.

Now, I feel that this is similar to the nostalgia aspect of traveling (where you grasp onto a beer you had while traveling and enjoy it way more than you normally would because you were having a good time). Of course some people would replace pizza with other foods, like sushi or wings, but in the end the idea is the same.

My first experience with my beloved pizza was with Real Ale's Fireman's #4. This light delicious Blonde Ale was exactly what the doctor ordered, and I have not been able to get away from the combo since!

What is your "pizza beer"?

100 posts!

This post is to thank you all for reading, and for supporting the wide world of beer and cigars.

Please keep drinking good beer and smoking good cigars! We need you to keep the industry going!

Partial Mash

So the day finally came. The smoked red we have been planning for months finally came into existence. We partial mashed this mother, and I think it is going to turn out rockin'.

What's a partial mash you say? This is when a good chunk of grain is used to add a more genuine feel to the beer, while the majority of the fermentables come from an extract. This is exceptionally easier than doing all-grain for those who live in apartments.

First step was to smoke the malts. We do not own a smoker and of course didn't feel like buying one for something like this, so we did a little rigging and came up with this. A turkey pan with three large holes. Foil on top with one exit the opposite side of the holes.

Result? A simplified smoker. Now for those of you who want some smokier than the bear malts, skip this and just buy a smoker, but for those who want lightly smoked... this works just fine.

I decided instead of using the classic mash tun to experiment with the grain bag method.

This is when you put your grains to be mashed into a grain bag and let them hover inside of a pot while boiling. This seemed easy, so I gave it a try.

Getting it all started was simple, maintaining temperature was simple (electric stove top), and waiting was of course extremely easy.

The difficult part came when the "sparging" step came into play. The bag of grain was heavy as hell, and to sit there and hold it and squeeze it was a pain in the ass.

Of course with this method, more delicious chunks make their way through all the "well planned" filtration systems, so using a colander to filter is not a bad idea. JUST DON'T FORGET TO SANITIZE!

Either way, our small partial mash was complete, and the brewing began with the extract and hops.

The final result? A carboy full of yummy red ale.

And after about twenty hours?

We will see how it all turns out in a few weeks!

Xikar HC Salomon Limitado review

I have had quite a few cigars, and thought I knew what a well made cigar was.

I was proven wrong after witnessing the wonders of Xikar HC Salomon Limitado. Don't get me wrong... the other amazing cigars I have had in the past WERE amazing, but so far nothing compares to this gem.

I had no idea when i was buying it that it was a limited release, nor did I think twice at paying ten bucks for this cigar (I had enjoyed other Xikar HC's in the past), but when I tell you that after an hour and a half of delicious chocolate notes from a medium-bodied cigar I was sold.

I had not even hit the halfway point at an hour, and at that point knew what quality was.

If you can find one of these little beauties, and like a medium to full bodied cigar that is extremely well-made, don't think twice about snagging it up.