Fermentation Friday - Horror Story(s)

Aahhh... its Fermentation Friday once again! And, once again it's never too late...damn it!

This month Fermentation Friday is hosted by Pfiff! So check out his site for his post and the others who have contributed for this month. Here is my collection:

HORROR STORY #1
My first horror story comes at the expense of my first homebrew session. Let me explain. After visiting a local brewery and later bumping into a homebrewer, I wanted to brew my own. So, I bought all the gear and listened to the easy brewing instructions the homebrew shop owner gave me. The guy at the brew shop said "It's so simple you don't even have to write down any instructions...umm OK! So, I went home with a S.A. Boston Lager clone. I followed directions the best I could remember anyway and later that day the beer was fermenting in a dark closet. A week later I bottled, two weeks later I tasted. Well, it was a HORROR SHOW! I wasn't sure what is was supposed to taste like, but it really tasted rancid. It could have been the high fermentation temperature, or that it took hours for the wort to cool off, or who knows. All I know is that it had plenty of fusel alcohol flavors...yuck!

HORROR STORY #2
Each time I brew! Yes, I know. But, I like to try to hit each mark on the dot (mash, hop schedule, etc.) and sometimes it makes me nervous. I have a homebrew and relax, but I still get nervous. I check, double check, triple check and aahhh its time to sparge! I guess its because I'm paranoid of losing a batch, like my first experience. So, to me its kind of like a HORROR SHOW! I think I need to...Relax, have a homebrew!

Thank you contributors!

I would like to thank everyone who contributed to the September edition of Fermentation Friday! I tried to choose a topic that was unique and made people think a bit. I not only look forward to the next time I host, but also to the October Fermentation Friday edition. The next FF will be hosted by Rob @ Pfiff! We await his choice of topic.

A few beer events upcoming in San Diego:

Oct.1 Taproom: cask of Stone - chipotle smoke porter
Oct.2 O'Briens: cask of Alesmith - X extra pale ale
Oct.3 Beer for Boobs events II @ Port Brewing - $10 = pint glass & 2 fills
Oct.3 Hamiltons 2nd anniversary release (Pallet Wrecker-W.C. IIPA by Green Flash)
Oct. 9-11 GABF
Oct.25 Ballast Point 12th anniversary party
Nov.8 San Diego Brewers Guild festival
Nov. 15 Green Flash 5th anniversary party
Dec. 5th Pizza Port Strong ale festival

September Fermentation Friday!

Well, this month I am the host of Fermentation Friday, and the topic I chose was:

"What indigenous brewing ingredient have you used or would you like to brew with and what style would that beer be?"

It's never to late to contribute so to learn the rules of Fermentation Friday click HERE to learn more from Beer Bits 2 (the Creator!).

My indigenous brewing ingredient would be a type of food I grew up eating and is only found in a localized area, green chile! No, jalapenos I mean New Mexico Green Chile's. They are long, green (sometimes red) and can be found in mild, medium or hot spiciness. You can have this ingredient with anything eggs, burgers, pizza, quesadillas, pasta, burritos, steak well you name it. The green chili especially the extra hot version are very strong in flavor and can stand up to the caramelized flavors of grilled red meat. It is indigenous to southern New Mexico because NMSU germinated this tasty chile. Green chile is also healthy for you.

(antimicrobial capsaicin in chiles controls the growth of bad bacteries in our intestines. The capsaicin also stimulates tissues inside our stomach, widens the blood vessels, and fixes blood flow too, to prevent us from irritation. has the ability to reduce cholesterol and blood pressure)

Now, on to the beer! Naturally, in New Mexico there have been a few breweries who make green chili beer that range super spicy hot to a roasted green chile flavor. Their harvest beer there is the green chile beer, as the green chile is harvested this time of year. I have since moved from New Mexico, but often go back to get my fix as green chile is very addictive!

My recipe and style would naturally be a pale ale with the green chile added during the boil (seeds taken out). I would experiment with a small 1 gallon batch and add some green chile as a dry hop. I also think a saison, kolsch or fruit beer would make an interesting beer. For example: an apricot fruit beer with green chile would be tasty.

Where can you find New Mexico Green Chile? Since its a seasonal agricultural product it can be found in abundance in September and in New Mexico year round. Otherwise, your probably out of luck. Although, I have seen that Whole Foods market is selling the NM Hatch Green Chile as far as New York on a 1 day basis. Good luck on sourcing this limited product.

Below are the crazy indigenous contributers to the September Fermentation Friday!

Rob @ Pfiff: Where the wild things are

Steph @ brew.cook.pair.joy: Apple Ale

John & Mike @ BrewDudes: Indigenous Brewing Ingredients

Bunz @ The Panhandle Beer Snob & Redneck Brewery: Indigenous Ingredients

Chris @ B.O.B.'s Place Brews: Fermentation Friday

Damon @ Life With Beer: Mushroom Beers

keep em' coming:

Bryon @ HomeBrewBeer.net: Pumpkin Ales

Keith @ Brainard Brewing: Homegrown & Homemade

Matt @ A World Of Brews: Indigenous Brewing Ingredients

Jon @ The Brew Site: Fermentation Friday

Jim @ Lootcorp 3.0: Avocado

Thanks for all who have contributed, please keep them coming as it is never to late, Indigenous Cheers to everyone!

This Friday is Fermentation Friday!

Bust out your pens and join us this friday for Fermentation Friday! It is about homebrewers who blog about well homebrewing! Each month there is a different host and a different topic. This month it is me and the topic is:

What indigenous brewing ingredient have you used or would you like to brew with and what style would that beer be?

Please provide some history and description of ingredient.

Submissions can be sent to: mcat91@hotmail.com

September 26th is glorious FF!

Hello Fermentation Friday participants!
I will be hosting the next episode on the 26th. I wanted to choose a fun unique topic. One that would represent a bit of where you live. The special ingredient may be something that grows wild, is a (unique) agricultural product in your area or maybe you grow it yourself. So you here it is:

What indigenous brewing ingredient have you used or would you like to brew with and what style would that beer be?

Please provide some history and description of ingredient.

Submissions can be sent to: mcat91@hotmail.com

Cheers!

Fermentation (psuedo) Friday!

Here is my belated fermentation friday post. I'll get right to it,

Question: What advice would I give to a beginner foraying into homebrewing?

Answer: Get organized, sanitize, watch fermentation tempuratures, and have fun!

Does that count as one thing? Oh' well. When beginning to brew organization is very important. Writing/printing out a brew schedule can help with staying on schedule and not becoming disorganized, which can be easily done. Without proper sanitization one could screw up an entire brewday wasting money and time. Always, start out your brew day with sanitization and have that bucket around for the entire day, so you can sanitize anything on demand as you need. And finally, watch your fermentation temperatures! Your yeast package should have directions on the temperature your yeast play well at. This can be important as my first brew fermented at 85F, needless to say it did not come out well and as a result I did not brew again for awhile. Also, brewing at different temperatures will ensure that your beer will be inconsistant and may not be drinkable.

In the end making beer whether it is extract, partial-mash or all-grain can be relatively easy. You just need to be organized, sanitized and watch your fermentation temperatures (damn it, does'nt rhyme). It's really not that hard and all you need to do is well...decide what to brew!