News

Daniel Bryg’s American IPA

This beer won the first place in the American IPA category of the NHC’s 2016 first round in the New York judging center.

OG: 1.065
FG: 1.012

Mash at 149°F for 1 hour:

lbs malt
13 2 row
0.6 caramel 60
0.6 Carapils

Boil for 90 minutes with the following hopping schedule:

mins oz hops
75 2.75 Columbus
45 0.5 Columbus
30 1 Simcoe
5 1 Centennial
2 2 Simcoe

Pitch one liquid serving (200bil cells) of RVA 104 – Hoptopper Ale. Start fermentation at 65°F and increase to 70°F over 1 week. Add 4oz of sucrose after 12 days (1.017 SG). Finish at 1.012.

Dry hop at 70°F for 3 days with 1oz of each Columbus, Polaris, Simcoe, Mosaic.

Then more dryhopping for another 3 days with 1oz of each Amarillo, Simcoe, Mosaic, Centennial.

For those interested in mash water ion levels (ppm):

Ca+2 Mg+2 SO4-2 Na+ Cl– HCO3–
72 0.4 127 4 25 30

Brett Ballots, July Meeting on 7/11, + Picnic

Brett ballots are online.  Congratulations again to Jeff for his excellent saison.

Our July meeting would have been on July 4, so it’s postponed a week to July 11.  We’ll start on time (seriously) with a discussion of Daniel’s Bohemian Pilsner and then move into tasting and discussing both homebrew and commercial sessions beers.  Bring examples, and/or step up to coordinate the tasting.  (As of now, a few people were talking about it, but no one has actually signed up to lead it.  Add your name on the planning spreadsheet to do so.)  We’ll also recap the National Homebrew Conference (officially now called Homebrew Con).

The Brewnity picnic will be Saturday, July 16.  It’s (legal) park drinking and BBQing on the Hudson with homebrewers and beer fans from around the NYC area.  Save the date, and look for details in the next week or two.

Brett competition Monday + some housekeeping

Sign up for the Brett competition next Monday.  Sign up will close around 10am Monday morning.  Any beer with Brett is eligible.  Hopefully it’s there on purposes, but hey, if it tastes good…

The meeting will also include guests from Rockaway Brewing Co. and maybe some last minute details of NHC, which starts on June 9.
A few people asked for a reminder of where the spreadsheet with meeting plans is saved, so there’s the link.  Please add whatever you like, and include your name, so others know who to contact about upcoming meetings.

Andrew’s taking the lead on Instagram and Twitter.  We probably want to continue to post on our website, maybe tie social media into Facebook, and possibly improve the design of this site.  If any of that is up your alley, volunteer to help.  I’ll continue to host the website and can take care of technical aspects (including implementing a design if needed), but I’m not doing the social media or creative tasks.

The website also should probably have meeting announcements.  If you send a meeting plan to the group and want to put it on the site, I can give you access.  I can also post announcements if you send them to me ready to go.

We have a few invites to visit breweries.  We’ll talk about it next Monday.  If you want to coordinate Brewsers field trips, please take the lead.  (If we were a club with officers, you would be the Brewsers Chaperone.  But we aren’t, so you’re not.)

Finally, a heads up that the Yahoo Group is now set so replies go to the sender of a message, not the whole list.  All list memebers are still allowed to post with no moderation.  Just change the to: address when you want to reply-all.

This Monday, Brett Beers, + Group Brew

Our Amalgamation experiment/competition is this Monday.  Amalgamation is the Yeast Bay’s blend of 6 Brett strains.  If you brewed, sign up on the spreadsheet by 10am Monday.  If you didn’t brew, you still get to try some tasty Brett beers.  And, of course, after the competition, we’ll share any other homebrews that make their way to the meeting.

Our June meeting will include both our annual Brettanomyces competition and Flint Whistler from Rockaway Brewing.  Any beer with Brett is eligible for the competition.  On Thursday, May 12, Flint is hosting us for Rockaway’s Homebrew Thursday.  He’ll probably be pouring tastes of homebrew in their Long Island City tap room, and we’ll brew a 5-gallon batch of beer, half for an upcoming Homebrew Thursday and half for the June Brewsers meeting.  We’ll talk about the recipe this Monday.

See you Monday at 7pm at Brouwerij Lane.

April 4 meeting: competition winning brews

Hey Brewsers, congratulations again to Alex and Daniel for their first place beers in NHC first round.  Daniel has a few extra bottles of his beer to share with us, and we’ll talk about their beers, some other recent Brewsers beers to place in competition.  Bring whatever you like to share but especially any beers you’re working on for competition.

See you at Brouwerij Lane this Monday at 7.

Mary Izett & The Beer Week that Was + Group Barrel + NHC

Monday’s Meeting: Mary Izett & Beer Week

Monday’s Brewsers meeting is Cinco de Marzo (not to be confused with Cincomarzada), our annual celebration of not only beer but also other fermented foods and beverages.  This year, Mary Izett will talk about quick fermentation, including but by no means limited to beer.  If you somehow don’t yet own Mary’s excellent book, Speed Brewing, she will likely have a few copies to sell and sign.  You can also buy it in advance from Amazon or just around the corner from Brouwerij Lane at Word Bookstore (2 copies in stock as of last week; might be out of stock now).

Before Mary talks, we’ll look back at The Beer Week that Was.  Bring anything you poured or otherwise brewed for NYC Beer Week 2016, and we’ll talk and taste our way through the highlights of late February.  As part of that discussion, we’re having a mini contest of Brewsers’ beers made with the wert KelSo gave away for Brewpiphany.

Group Barrel Aged Tripel

The Brewsers’ Tripel barrel is being refilled on Sunday, April 24.  If you’d like to sign up for a five gallon share of the barrel, do so.  We have a few open slots.  We hope to place a group purchase and have ingredients in hand by Friday, March 11.

National Homebrew Conference & Competition

Registration time is almost here.  See the NHC website.

Also, if you registered for the national homebrew competition, the deadline to submit bottles is March 9. At the last meeting, Andrew volunteered to drop off bottles for folks. So, if you want, bring your bottles to Monday’s meeting, and he can drop them off at Singlecut.

Monday Feb. 1: The Packaging Geek Out!

No matter how great a beer you brew, it’s only worth drinking if kegged or bottled well, properly conditioned, and stored correctly.  This Monday at 7, the Brewsers will host Mike Steinschneider, Packaging Manager at Brooklyn Brewery this Monday.  Mike’s planning to give us a quick rundown of his job and then lead a discussion of not only bottling and kegging but also some of the last steps on the cold side of brewing—barreling, dry hopping, other late additions, and more.  Plus, rumor has it some special Brooklyn beers may make an appearance.  Mike will talk around 7:20 or 7:30.  We’ll kick off at 7 with a focused homebrew tasting.

See you at Brouwerij Lane!

Sours, KelSo, Party, Barrels, NHC, and Upcoming Events

Great meeting, Monday!  Thanks to everyone who brought sours.  Ballots/comments are scanned.

Congratulations to Paul for his winning beer, Cross Continental Tangeryne, made with 2-Row, Rye, munich, oats, wheat, carapils; juice of 5lbs homegrown california tangerines; Cascade and homegrown zeus hops; tangerine zest; yeast – 3711, Bruery Saison de Lente dregs, Orval Dregs.  Brewed 2/2/14 Bottled 3/17/15. 6.7% abv.

Also this week

Tonight

KelSo is giving away about 20 barrels of wort tonight.  It’s all claimed, but where there are 20 barrels of free wort, there will be good beer and good people.  Join the fun—which includes also the Bitter & Esters bottle swap/beer share—starting around 6:30 at 529 Waverly Avenue.

Sunday’s party

We’re celebrating at Brouwerij Lane on Sunday.  Bring beer, food, friends, pets etc.  We’ll have at least one keg of homebrew on tap.  If you’d like to contribute, email me.  It’s a kind and effective way to ensure you have an empty keg ready for whatever you’re fermenting now.

Other updates from the meeting

Barrels

We’re adding both a dextrin heavy beer and lacto to the NY Common barrel.  If your have a share in the barrel and a problem with pitching lacto, write the barrel brewers.  We’ll figure something out.  Otherwise, we agreed this should help push the acidity without a fundamental change in the character.  We also agreed that the Tripel is nearly ready.  Those with beer in the barrel should plan on pulling it in late April or early May.  In the next month or so, we’ll work out details for both pulling what’s in the barrel and refilling.  If you don’t have a share in the barrel but want to brew for the next round, get in touch.  We’ll likely have a few spaces and can work something out.  Worst (best?) case, we can explore getting a third club barrel.

NHC: National Homebrewers Conference/Competition

There was a lot of interest and good discussion.  Ian is coordinating and will send an update to the Yahoo Group list soon.

Other events

Alex Hall, president of the Malted Barley Appreciation Society, repeated his invitation for Brewsers to join MBAS meetings, each second Wednesday of the month.  MBAS no longer collects annual dues but asks for $2 per meeting (no more than $20/year) to sample a lot of great pro brews.

Jimmy’s Homebrew Jamboree tickets go on sale tomorrow, January 7, at noon.  At least a few Brewsers as well as a number of other NYC homebrewers will be serving beer.  Hope to see you there!

Email caseysoloff@yahoo.com to brew for the 4th Annual Pride of Brooklyn Homebrew Festival, taking place Saturday, April 16, 2016 at Littlefield.

This week in homebrew

Monday 1/4: Sours + more

We’re meeting!  Sign up for the sours competition.  Arrive at 7 for a feedback session on Matt and Drew’s stout plus samples from the Brewsers two 55 gallon barrels.

Wednesday 1/6: Free wort

KelSo wort pick up on Wednesday.  To get free wort, you must sign up with KelSo and optionally can also add your info to the Brewsers’ sign up for our March in-club competition.  Bitter & Esters bottle swap will be at KelSo at the same time, so bring something to share if you can!

Sunday 1/10: Party

We’re celebrating at Brouwerij Lane from 2 until at least 6.  Bring food, beer, and friends.  Let me know if you want to bring a keg.  Brouwerij has offered to let us tap a few for self-service.