Happy New Year!

Here is a link to a National Post story on the top Beer books of the year:

http://life.nationalpost.com/2011/12/30/the-beer-frontier-best-brew-books-of-2011/

It was quite a 2011 for yours truly! Hitting beer number 1,000, multiple home brew batches, beer drinking in Germany, Czech republic and throughout Canada and the U.S. It will be hard to top it in 2012!

Here is to all my beer buddies, including but not limited to Sith@Heart, iRob, Doogie, Big Daddy, Dr. Haggis, Half-Price, NYBJG - you all know who you are!

Canadian Microbrews

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-managing/leadership/12-craft-brewers-shaking-up-the-industry/article2263636/

Coffee Porter - coffee time

Today (after 2 weeks fermentation) I added the coffee. I cold steeped about 1/4 pound of freshly ground coffee beans in a quart of cold water for 24 hours, and then added it to the carbuoy.

Homebrew: Coffee Porter

I have tried chocolate porter in the past, and was pleased with the results. This time I thought I would try coffee porter. It was also a good excuse to try and use a bunch of ingredients I had on hand...

Steeped at 150 (ish) for 30 minutes:

.8 oz black patent malt (500-600L)

1/2 lb. medium crystal malt (75L)

1/2 lb. chocolate malt

1.5 oz roasted barley (probably a no-no for Porters, but what the hell)

Bring to boil. Add:

.6 oz Northern Brewer hops (9.8% AA)

20 minutes later:

.8 oz. Willamette hops (4.8% AA)

25 minutes later:

.5 oz. Willamette hops (4.4% AA)

5 minutes later:

1 tsp. Irish Moss

Added water to make 5 gallons. I pitched Wyeast 1275 (Thames Valley) liquid yeast. However, after a day and a half it did not appear to be fermenting. So I added a pack and a half Coopers dry ale yeast. That appeared to do the trick. I guess we will find out.

After 5 days I racked to the carbuoy. Next step is to add the coffee. Still haven't fully decided how I am going to do that.

Homebrew: American Style IPA

A big thank you to iRob for his help with this batch. I used a clone recipe for Stone IPA as the base, but substituted the ingredients based on what I could get at the Vineyard.

Steep 6 oz. 40L crystal malt at 150 F for 30 minutes.

3.5 kg light dry matl extract

1.5 oz. Falconer's flight hop pellets @ 10.5% AA (bittering)

boil 45 minutes @ 3 gallons

.5 oz Falconer's Flight hop pellets

boil 14 minutes

1 oz. Cascade hop pellets @ 5.9% AA

pitch yeast Wyeast 1272 American Pale II (note - this was added the next day - my original yeast had turned)

1 week later: racked to carboy, added 1 oz. Cascade hop pellets (5.9% AA)

Beer in Calgary

Well, with Bottlescrew Bills, Wurst, Craft, and now Beer Revolution, a serious beer drinker in Calgary can actually find some good, non-mainstream brews on tap. Now all this city needs to do is work on the overly small number of craft breweries. I have high hopes for the Village Brewery!

I need to get this book

http://www.tnr.com/book/review/oxford-companion-beer