IMHammeredBrewing.com the Home Brew resource site.

2006-12-19T21:47:00.000-05:00

See, I'm still Kicking.....A Year of Beer.....Brewmaster Update.....Get Well Soon.....What's Brewing...Kicking: Yea, you can't get rid of me that easily. I'm still kicking and going strong. I know it's been a whole year since anyone heard from me, but that's just me recovering from web site burn out and working way too hard. That doesn't mean that there hasn't been brewing activity and more

2005-10-16T21:21:00.000-04:00

Where Do I Begin.....Successful Brew Day......A Moment About Football......Next Brew Day.......Where:Another week goes by in a whrilwind fashion. The older I get the faster time goes. I'm guessing that it isn't just me....Anyway, it has been a big week and I am already making bad on my quest to post more often. Shame on me....Beer season is upon us and the hunt can already begin. With

2005-10-04T20:56:00.000-04:00

Beer, Beer, Beer......New Brews......Brewing a Belgian......Pub Update......Beer, Beer, Beer:Okay, I know, its been a while since you have seen or heard my smiling face. I can't help it. It's been crazy foolish outrageous in our lives the past 6 months, really the past 9 months. This isn't an excuse, just the way it's been. Now, that means that I haven't done a very good job of keeping

2005-08-28T18:26:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday To Me....It's Been A While....The Beer Is Here....New Brews Update....Happy Birthday:I am in day 3 of my weekend birthday celebration. I don't know exactly why I'm in day three, but by now, I really don't care much. Everyone has been so very nice to me the past couple of days, that I feel like $20 dollars. I know, everyone is shocked to see that I am actually posting here, but

2005-04-04T11:29:00.000-04:00

Change Is Coming Soon....Next Brew....More IPA News....Opening Day....Change:It happens all the time. One of the lines for the IMHBC products is about to open up. Nitro Ranger Stout, the first addition anyway, is about to tap out. The keg is very light and I'm guessing one to two pints are left tops, if that. Not to worry, I have a very special keg ready, chilled, and waiting it's turn on the

2005-04-02T14:52:00.000-05:00

It's Hard To Be Humble....Mama Draft....Light Beer Isn't So Bad....Humble:Okay, I'm not the perfect brewer, but then again, no one is. A wise brewer once said two things that bear repeating. One, "we are just yeast farmers, if we treat them well, they will give us good beer....Two, " there are two kinds of brewers, the first is the brewer that has had an infected batch, the second is the brewer

2005-03-29T20:48:00.000-05:00

Oh Please....Troeg's Trogenator Doppelbock....IMHBC Pub Update.....Oh Please:I'm still in denial. I thought for sure the Mountaineers had the game won. Wow. I guess it isn't over until the fat lady sings and she didn't even warm up Saturday. That said, it's a proud of a Mountaineer sports team as I've ever been. What a great group of guys doing what they do and handling themselves with such

2005-03-23T19:25:00.000-05:00

Fear The Eers....Local Pittsburgh Brew....IPA Still Looks Good....Eers:If you haven't been watching the drama that is the NCAA basketball tournament, then you either live under a rock, or you're a true non-sports fan. Even a casual spectator can't help but get caught up in the hoopla that is the tournament. I have a special rooting interest as my alma mater is dead in the middle of the deal,

2005-03-16T20:10:00.000-05:00

St Patrick's Day Eve....Beer Store Success....Are You Ready....SPDE:Good evening web watchers and welcome to the I.M. Hammered Brewing Company Web Site!! And Happy St Patrick's Day Evening to ya!! It's the night before that magical evening when the beer flowing is generally black, or red, and sometimes green. Why green I don't know, but sometimes. My advice to all is that if you're out for

2005-03-14T20:13:00.000-05:00

Beer Store Bound....Big Time Bass Ale Sale....Getting Set To Brew....It's Madness....Beer Store:A pub owners work is never done, even if it's just a pseudo pub and not a real one. At least it isn't a virtual pub, well maybe to all of you out there it is....Anyway, the keg ran out again. I don't know how that keeps happening. I checked to see if there was a hole in it or something, but nope,

2005-03-09T17:06:00.000-05:00

I've About Had It....IPA Update....Big Events Scheduled.....Had It: I've about had it. No I mean it. This stupid posting site keeps screwing up my posts and I'm about to break stuff. I wrote for about 40 minutes the other night, tried to post, got timed out, then was told nothing was saved. Rather than break stuff like I wanted to, I practiced composure and turned everything off. I was

2005-03-07T20:08:00.000-05:00

Good Evening, Remember Me....IPA Update....There's Some Beer Here....I'm Thirsty....Good Evening:You remember me don't you?? I haven't been here in a few days. No excuse this time, just a little busy with normal everyday life. I have some time now so I'm writing. Hey, I probably should have a beer, I deserve it I've been so busy with everything. Well, if you don't remember me, I'm Mark, The

2005-03-01T21:12:00.000-05:00

Bell's Clone Gets Kegged....IPA Lookin' Good....Where Do We Go From Here....Bell's Clone:After 14 days in secondary I've finally gotten the For Whom The Bell's Tolls into kegs. The beer was crystal clear and had a very nice light golden color. It is light by Pale Ale standards for sure. The ending gravity on this beer was 1.012. With a starting gravity of 1.054, that brings the estimated ABV

2005-02-26T19:31:00.000-05:00

Fermentation Update....Big Foot Part Tres....Nitro Ranger Stout....Fermentation:As we enter into day 5 of fermentation of the most recent creation from the brew room, I must say that it is going very well. The yeast has risen to the top of this ale and the layers of yeast and foam on top of the beer is at least 4 inches thick. This bodes well as it means the yeast are finding the wort quite

2005-02-24T20:21:00.000-05:00

You Won't Believe It....Big Foot Part Duex....American Standard Lager....You:Well, I have to tell you all something that you won't believe. I am a card carrying member of the American Homebrewers Association. Yea, I know, you're all totally shocked by that fact. Well, anyway, with that membership you get a subscription to Zymurgy Magazine. Well, Jim Parker, the editor of this publication, is

2005-02-23T22:09:00.000-05:00

IPA Update....Already Planning....Big Foot 1999....IPA:Today is effectively day two of fermentation of Monday's IPA brew day. Good news for all of my hophead friends that frequent the IMH pub. The IPA is fermenting just like you'd like to draw it up. The beer is going gangbusters tonight and has the milky character with plenty of activity churning inside the fermenters. I like it like that. I

2005-02-22T20:07:00.000-05:00

Brew Day...Taps Change...Big Weekend With More To Report....Brew Day:Monday was my brew day. It was fantastic. I had a visit from the Old Parrot himself as Parrot Pete came up to help me with the brew day (and to get a couple of beers and cigars). Heck, we even made him a sandwich to keep him happy. Seriously, thanks to Parrot Pete for his help. He helped make a long brew day a lot more fun

2005-02-18T20:01:00.001-05:00

Brewing Is A Lock....Parrot Pete In The House....Kegging Of The Bell's.....Brewing:Monday Monday, la la, la lala la....la la, la lala la....Oh sorry, just lost in an old Mamma's and Pappa's song. Brewing is what I really want to talk about. It's pretty much a lock for Monday morning. I will be making starters probably Sunday morning and getting all of my gear and stuff ready to go on Saturday.

2005-02-18T20:01:00.000-05:00

2005-02-16T22:35:00.000-05:00

Monday Brew Day....Barleywine Tasting....Kegging Soon...Brew Day:Well, I've got the bug again. It's like the worst kind of thing you can get too. It's brewing season and I want to brew and brew and brew. I'd brew every day if I had the time and the equipment and, well, if it was like my job or something. Sorry, I kind of got carried away there for a minute. I need to get back to reality.

2005-02-14T11:29:00.000-05:00

Brew Update....Brew Demo Results....American Amber Ale...Brew:The For Whom The Bell's Tolls is doing very well. Primary fermentation is completed and the beer looks great. It has a clean orange hue to the color spectrum contributed from the victory malt and was beginning to clear nicely. I racked the beer on day 7 to 5 gallon secondary fermenters (glass carboys) and the entire process went

2005-02-08T19:52:00.000-05:00

New Brew Update...New Hops...Nothing Going On... New Brew Update: We are in day 3 of our fermentation and things are going very nicely. The beer is fermenting very actively and has that milky white hue to it that a brew in strong fermentation with lots of yeast cells going to town gets into. I couldn't be happier myself. The first thing I did this evening after hugging my real kids was to go to

2005-02-07T19:38:00.000-05:00

Greetings From IMHBC...Brew Day News...Brewing Demo... Greetings: Well, I'm back again after being off line for a couple of days. Sorry about that again. That darn real job got in the way again. It's one of those things that you have to do. My second job as an amateur brewer and faux pub owner is much more fun. I can drink beer while I do those jobs. The real one, unfortunately, sometimes

2005-02-02T20:13:00.000-05:00

Brew Day Set...Brew Your Irish Stout...The Spring Beers Are Soon Upon Us... Brew Day: Okay, we've been here before. Yea, brew day is scheduled only to crash and burn and be missed. This time, it's gonna happen. I have cleaned the brewing room and organized all as needed. There will be starter making taking place on Friday night in hopes of an early Sunday afternoon pitching. Saturday will

2005-02-01T19:48:00.000-05:00

Pardon The Interruption...It's Here...IMHBC Beer... Sorry: Once again my posting interface was on the fritz. I think I have that fixed for now. I'm back on line myself and I can circumvent when I have to. This should get posted upon closing because I'm direct to the site tonight. I apologize to all of you who might have been going to the site looking for some brewing insight, wit, wisdom,

Trolling Results...Pre-Prohibition Brews...Super Bowl Brew day...

2005-01-26T13:54:00.000-05:00

Trolling Results...Pre-Prohibition Brews...Super Bowl Brew day...Trolling:Well, I didn't have the success I had hoped for last night. I went to meet Scooter at the bar and there were some decent craft offerings there, but nothing really that new. So when I spied an old favorite from my past I had to have one

My Kingdom For a Brew Day...Drowning Our Steel Town Sorrows...Trolling For Beer

2005-01-25T16:25:00.000-05:00

My Kingdom For a Brew Day...Drowning Our Steel Town Sorrows...Trolling For BeerKingdom:Well, I don't really mean my entire kingdom, not that it's worth anything. I would like to get some more beer brewed though. I have all of the ingredients, I have the hardware to get my mill back in fighting trim, but now

Big Game...Waiting For The Maerzen...Few Days Away...

2005-01-20T15:37:00.000-05:00

Game:Pittsburgh's Heinz Field is a great venue for football. It is ultra modern,not a bad seat in the house, even in the nosebleed area, and the soundsystems and other amenities cannot be beaten anywhere. That said, why doesthe official beer of Heinz Field have to be Rolling Rock?? Ouch!! It's badenough that what was once a decent regional beer has been dumbed down towater status, how can

Pub News...Berliner Weiss Again...I Hope To Brew Again Someday...

2005-01-19T10:57:00.000-05:00

Pub News:The IMHBC's Pub has had some things tappening the past couple of days. Iknow, you're shocked and appalled to hear that. The first keg of ParrotPete's has finally blown gas. Empty! Not to worry, waiting in the wings isa good beer that will quench some thirsts right away. My Uncle'sDunkelweiss is up an running. This is one of the group brew beers that Jimand I did a few months back.

Beer Laws...Still Waiting For Brew day...Long Weekend

2005-01-18T13:35:00.000-05:00

Laws:In the most recent issue of Zymurgy magazine, there were some old antiquatedlaws that concern beer that are still on the books. A couple of them arefunny.Nebraska: It is illegal to sell beer unless the establishment is brewing apot of soup at the same time. (I don't make this stuff up)Ohio: It is Illegal in the state of Ohio to get fish drunk. (Ohio eh, I'mnot surprised by this one. I

IPA Musings...Pub News...Here We Go Steelers...

2005-01-15T14:03:00.000-05:00

IPA:I was sitting in the pub last night and I was sipping my 15 Minute AdditionIPA and I realized that it was a pretty good beer! Not trying to pat myselfon the back or anything (well, maybe a little), but this brew has abeautiful creamy head on top that lasts on the edges to the bottom. It hasa dirty golden color, nice clarity, and is filled with aromas of hops andfruit. There is a nice hop

Bocks...How Much Water...Winter Brewing

2005-01-14T08:55:00.000-05:00

Bocks:Well, the red suited mayhem has finally gotten behind all of us. Thedecorations are down and the kids are back to school. Everything should bea lot calmer in everyone's household now. That said, it means that it istime to start getting onto bock. No, not the classical music writer who wasdeaf. I'm talking about the strong German beers of the same name (thoughdifferent spelling). Bocks

Berliner Weiss...Brewing With Bacteria...Relax and Have a Home Br ew...

2005-01-12T20:43:00.000-05:00

Berliner Weiss:Jim from Country Wines got the task of brewing a demo last week. For hisdemo, he brewed a little known and little understood style of beer (at leastin the USA). He brewed a style called Berliner Weiss. This is a wheatbased ale that is fermented very dry and soured with certain bacteria duringfermentation. It creates a very light and effervescent beer that has acrisp tartness

Guest Tap Change...Brew Day Still Delayed...Equipment Repair...

2005-01-07T11:29:00.000-05:00

Guest Tap:Well, the old keg of Penn O'fest finally bit the dust. And at the requestof She Who Must Be Obeyed, a lighter point of view for the guest tap is nowin vogue. In fact, given our current aversion to carbohydrates, the guesttap will be containing lighter fare for some time to come. Now before youbegin telling me that I am committing blasphemy and such, let me just saytwo things. One, I

Top Twenty...Carb Your Enthusiasm...Just Keg Baby...

2005-01-06T11:27:00.000-05:00

Top Twenty:The AHA (American Home brewers Association) is on a quest over the next fewmonths. They want to know what your top twenty beers that you like the bestare today. I know, I know, that list changes monthly if not weeklydepending upon where you are and what beer is available to you. But that'sokay. What do you like today. I have already sent in my top 20. Just goto the AHA web site

Coors And Molson...Plastic Equipment...GABF Results Thoughts...

2005-01-05T09:40:00.000-05:00

C and M:Wow!! The number three brewer in the USA is working to merge with Molson.In fact, the deal in principle has been struck, it's up to the share holdersnow. Molson got it done by the controlling member of the Molson familyworking his way to a 51% ownership of shares. Clearly he wants the deal(you have to wonder why too). Coors isn't so sure of a thing. Molson is introuble and has been

Happy New Year...Brew Day Cancelled...Oatmeal Update...

2005-01-04T10:35:00.000-05:00

New Year:First and foremost, I want to wish all of the readers of this site a happyand prosperous new year. I hope that your 2004 was great and that 2005brings you even more joy and happiness (and beer of course). I look forwardto an aggressive and innovative brewing year in 2005. I hope to try somenew things including brewing a couple of Belgian styles. I also lookforward to another forward

Brewing Again...Cellar Work...Sam Adams Holiday Porter

2004-12-30T09:21:00.000-05:00

Brewing:As I stated a couple of days ago, it is important to get that first brew ofthe year in as quickly as possible. It pays homage to Gambrinus and makeshim smile down on all of your brews during the year. I was late last yearwith my first brew. I had some issues on a couple of batches too. Well,not this year. All of my brews are going to be good this year. I can feelit coming and I'm

Belgian Glassware...Aging Weissbock...Home Brewing Belgians...

2004-12-29T11:36:00.000-05:00

Glassware:One of the craziest things you see in a better bar that sells a lot ofBelgian beers is the glassware collection. Every Belgian style of beerseems to have its own specifically styled glass complete with brewery logoand name. The thought process is that each beer has specific nuances aboutit that the shape and openness of the mouth of each glass enhances for thatspecific beer. That and

Pub Review...Oatmeal Update...She Who Must Be Obeyed Is Fully Con verted...

2004-12-28T15:32:00.000-05:00

Pub:Thanks to the parental Drafts who have the little Drafts with them, She WhoMust Be Obeyed and I had the opportunity to venture out for a little us timelast night. We went to the chain pub called Rock Bottom. The local RockBottom has a very hot young brewer named Matt Carroll in the boots on hisfirst head brewer assignment. At 32 he is one of the younger ones out thereyou will find. I had

Santa Left Beer...Boddingtons No Longer The Cream Of Manchester.. .Another Word On Pete's

2004-12-27T13:55:00.000-05:00

Santa:Santa left me some beer. What a great guy he is. Of course he left it atthe wrong house and, ahem, Captain Ron had to bring it up to me. But it'sthe thought that counts right!! Well, he brought me a great case of the SamAdams Winter brews and this years case included the classic Old Fezziweg. Ihaven't seen this beer in years. A little research (the internet is awonderful thing) and

Ho Ho Ho....Holiday Cheer...First Brew Of The Year

2004-12-24T08:49:00.000-05:00

Ho:Well, it's that magical evening that every kid has been waiting for over thepast 364 days. Christmas Eve. I know I've been waiting for it. I want totake just a moment to say a couple of things. No, I'm not going to waxpoetic over this, just a couple of things. I want to thank everyone whovisits the site regularly. I have gotten a lot of nice emails this pastyear and the site will have by

More Cask Ale...The Mad Elf...Oatmeal Update...

2004-12-23T10:53:00.000-05:00

More Cask:Actually, I want all I can get. If you remember, there were two cask alesthat I sampled last weekend. Now there is one left to tell you about. Itis a beer that last summer, in my humble opinion, was the best IPA at thePenn Brewfest. It went up against about 12 other IPA's in the festival (andof course, I tried them all) and was outstanding. Well, I found Yard's IPAat the Sharp Edge

Cask Review...That Belgian Thing...Mid-Atlantic Still Behind...

2004-12-21T18:04:00.000-05:00

Cask Review:If you are a frequent reader you know that the post below this one talksabout cask ale. Cask conditioned ale is somewhat of a passion for me as itprobably is for most home brewers. Homebrew made with ale yeast is ineffect real ale if you bottle. The beer is naturally carbonated by theyeast and sits on yeast in the bottle. This enhances the aging process forfine homebrew. If your

A Few Days Off...Brew Day Review...Got Cask??...

2004-12-20T21:07:00.000-05:00

Days:I was unable to post for the last couple of days last week. I apologize forall of that. It's that darn real job thing that keeps getting in the way.But, on the bright side, I have finally upgraded my technology at thebrewery to get some on line time there as well as from my secret remotelocation. That means you might be able to get brewing knowledge, beerreviews, home brewing tips, and

Ho, Ho, Ho...Batch 100 On The Horizon...Sampling Sunday...

2004-12-14T09:54:00.000-05:00

Ho:Last Friday I got the chance to finally sample the St Nicholas Bock fromPennsylvania Brewing Company from the tap at the brewery. My suspicionsfrom the bottled version turned out to be correct. This years version ofthe bock is a big hit. The beer is very malty and dark with balancingbitterness probably from the noble Hallertau hop. It's all about the maltflavor with a hint of sweetness,

Pa Relaxes On Sunday...Tap Change Alert...Parrot Pete's...

2004-12-13T16:12:00.000-05:00

Relax:Well, since the State package stores have been allowed to be open onSunday's, there has been a lot of lobbying going on to allow beerdistributors in the great state of Pa. to be open on Sunday's as well. Eventhough this is the only state in the USA that doesn't allow beer and winesales in grocery stores, there was a secondary lobby among the bar owners inthe state claiming that is puts

St Nick's Tasting Today...Still Trying To Get A Tap...Weekend...

2004-12-10T11:17:00.000-05:00

St Nick's:Several of us are going to the brewery later today to sample the St Nick'sBock on tap. That would be the Pennsylvania Brewing Company. I have hadthis brew out of the bottles only this year, and I am noting markedimprovement over last years offering. The final taste test is of course thedraft version. If the draft is good, this years version is a rousingsuccess. This beer really

Frozen Yeast...Where Will It End...Stout Clone...

2004-12-09T09:29:00.000-05:00

Yeast:I got my most recent copy of Brew Your Own magazine the other night andthere was a fascinating article in there about storing yeast cultures. Nowculturing yeast takes some practice and you have to have a very clean roomin your house to do it. It's not that hard to do, but it is hard keepingthe yeast from getting contaminated even in the cleanest of environments.You can't do this in your

ESB Specs...A Tasty Ale...Starting To Clear...

2004-12-08T09:30:00.000-05:00

Specs:I plugged into the Beer Recipator on the internet to see how the ESB stackedup to style guidelines and to get some of the final specs based upon theassumptions of the spread sheet. I didn't do to badly according to thisdevice. I placed the overall efficiency of the system down to 68%. A veryrespectable number and the brewery has been running between 66% and 75% onvirtually every brew

Gurgling Away...The Next Brew...More Bottling...

2004-12-07T14:33:00.000-05:00

Gurgles:That's what continues to come out of the fermentation room. The ESB to benamed later is still fermenting pretty stongly. That's the way you like it.I should be able to transfer to secondary on Thursday or Friday night forsure. The color is looking right on and the starter took no time gettingthe brew going like gangbusters. By Sunday morning the air locks werewhistling Dixie and other

I Have Bubbles...Tweaked Recipe...Brew Day...

2004-12-06T10:51:00.000-05:00

Bubbles:Well, my need to ferment something has finally been quelled for the timebeing. After making a couple of 1qt starters on Friday, I pitched a mondoamount of yeast cells into my finished wort on Saturday (about 24 hoursafter making the starters, timing is everything). Within about 5 hours Ihad visible fermentation starting with co2 expulsion, and 17 hours later itwas a full fledged

Late Post...Samuel Smith's Nut Brown...It's December

2004-12-02T16:25:00.000-05:00

Late:Late post today. It is a mixture of being busy in my so called "real job"and of having little if nothing to say. There just hasn't been much beerexcitement for me the past 48 hours. In fact, there hasn't been muchexcitement at all the past 48 hours. I do have the garage spruced up forthe brewing the weekend. I do plan to make two, one quart starters ofWLP002, English Ale yeast tonight

Weissbock Revisited...Winter Brews Are Winners...Could It Be...

2004-12-01T11:03:00.000-05:00

Weissbock:We sampled our second round of the Weissbock this past weekend. It passedmuster with flying colors. It was great. The aromas of green apple andbanana are just wonderful and the beer is smooth as silk. This is probablydue to an addition of oats in the grist. The beer has some level of warmingon the throat and that nice tart wheat character. The foam is white as snowand this time it

AAARRRRGGGHHHH...St Nick's...I Swear I'm Brewing..

2004-11-30T15:28:00.000-05:00

AAARRGGHHH:Brew day cancelled again. Yes I had a good holiday and I hope all of youout there in suds land did too. But, in the process, there was no brew day.Not on Friday, Saturday, nor Sunday. The equipment continues to lie instate, so to speak, with no life or activity about it. There is no ESBgurgling in fermenters to talk about. There is no anticipation of brewingoatmeal stout this

It's A Celebration...Talking Turkey...I'll Brew Again...

2004-11-23T08:12:00.000-05:00

Celebration:Ale that is. I wrote a quick review of it on tap just the other day. Well,I just had the bottled version over this past weekend. As Butthead oncesaid, I have been to the mountain, and it was good!! Well, the beer wasgood. It had the same hop explosion that was evident in the draft example,loaded with centennial hops and possibly some cascade in the dry hop or hopback. Big malt

No Brew...Fat Dog Review...On Tap Update...

2004-11-22T19:33:00.000-05:00

No Brew:Yes, you heard me right. I had a bad feeling going into Friday that I wouldget squeeked. I did. She who must be obeyed put the kybosh on brewing. Ohwell, I had the feeling that would happen. What can I say. The good newsis, I have everything I need and can brew at the drop of a hat. How aboutthat!!! There might be some opportunity later this week after the holiday.I will keep my

Got Hops?...Starters Tonight...Winter Brew Shopping...

2004-11-19T10:10:00.000-05:00

Hops:Yea, I got hops. No, I'm too old to play basketball anymore. I'm talkingabout those beautiful little cone shaped dudes that house the lupulin andalpha acids needed to bitter and flavor beer!! They are your friends givingyou all kinds of medicinal benefit, and making beer that wonderful elixir oflife that it is!! So the gist of this bit is yes, I got hops. I got themlast night. Fuggles

Tasted Good...Brew Day Coming...Extract Version Requested...

2004-11-18T09:32:00.000-05:00

Taste:I got home and finished my honey-do list last night, then messed with thelittle drafts for a while, and then it was time. Time to unveil theWeizenbock and hoping that it had enough gas on it. Well, it did. Thisbrew is amazing. Jim, if you read this today, you outdid yourself on thisrecipe. Unbelievably good. If you live in the Pittsburgh area and want tostart homebrewing, you gotta go

ESB All Grain Recipe...A Cold WeizenBock Ready To Go....

2004-11-17T15:37:00.000-05:00

ESB:Well, I've talked about it a lot the past few weeks. Here is the recipe formy ESB. I hope to brew it on Sunday morning. My recipe calculator tells methat it is fine on bitterness and color, but that the ABV might be a littlehigher than the style guidelines. I say, why's that a problem?? It willjust give this brew the malty background it deserves. Here we go!!My Un-named ESB (10 US

Rogue News...Mash Techniques...Waiting For St Nick....

2004-11-16T09:05:00.000-05:00

Rogue:If you've been under a rock for the past 10 years you might not know whothis is, but if you're reading this site, I'm guessing you do. RogueBrewing under the watchful eye of their master brewer, John Maier, has beenmaking some of the best darn beer you've ever popped a top on. I am partialto the Shakespeare Stout myself, especially if you can get it on tap. Thelist of brews they have

Celebration Ale...New Bottle Shop...Sediment In The Bock

2004-11-15T12:49:00.000-05:00

Celebration:One of the best holiday brews that I have tasted in recent years is SierraNevada Celebration Ale. This is big full bodied ale that has an even biggerhop aroma, nice hop bite in bitterness, and good hop flavor on top of a bigmeaty malt background. This is good beer. Centennial hops are showcasedfor their piney and citrus notes for both flavor and aroma, and the maltsweetness seems

V Is For Victory...3-Barrel Dreams...Yeast Is In The House...

2004-11-12T09:20:00.000-05:00

V:I had a rare day off from my "real" job yesterday due to the Veteren's DayHoliday. I took advantage of that by cleaning up the yard and doing someother chores. The good news was that the son and daughter draft both hadschool yesterday. That meant that She Who Must Be Obeyed and I got thechance to go out to lunch. We went to a local restaurant that used to havea very good beer selection.

Bottled Bock...I Found My Yeast...Empty Fermenters

2004-11-10T09:12:00.000-05:00

Bock:Finally we got the Weizenbock in bottles. It is about 5 days later than wewanted it to be, but it's finally done. The finishing gravity of this brewwas 1.020 and the estimated ABV is 6.12%. It's a little light for a bock,but not too far off. The beer has a nice cloudy golden appearance in theglass. There are fruity and banana notes in the nose (pre-co2) and the beerhas a nice flavor and

I Think It's Finally Fixed...There's A New Keg In The House...Boc k Bottling Tonight (Finally)...

2004-11-09T09:07:00.000-05:00

Fixed:Low and behold, I believe the web site problem is finally fixed. Postingwas smooth yesterday and went with no problems. Let's hope so. The pastcouple of weeks have been permeated with dead air and no posts, or doubleand triple posts going up three or four days after they were written andsubmitted. I apologize to all for this inconvenience (though no one wasmore inconvenienced than me)

Penn Is Mightier...I Don't Get Out Enough...Where's My Yeast....

2004-11-08T13:12:00.000-05:00

Penn:The commercial keg of Penn Pils bit the dust last night. I know, a momentof silence is warranted........There. But that means I get to go getanother one. Oh happy days. I have also been given permission to get thePenn Dark this round, which I fully intend to do. Penn dark is this brewersversion of a Munich Dunkel, and it is a consistent award winning brew atmany of the festivals in this

Mr. Pete Goes To Washington...Technical Difficulties Fixed...Dunk elWeiss Kegged...

2004-11-06T16:43:00.000-05:00

Technical Difficulties:Well, I have now been assured that the technical difficulties in which wehave been trying to operate are now fixed. Are they?? Who knows, but theguy who emailed to tell me they were sounded like he knew what he wastalking about. I hope that they are fixed because I miss writing on thissite everyday. The past couple of weeks have been tough. If we are back inBidness,

Mr. Pete Goes To Washington...Technical Difficulties Fixed...Dunk elWeiss Kegged...

2004-11-05T14:32:00.000-05:00

Still Having Trouble....Weizenbock...Brewing Soon...

2004-11-05T00:22:00.000-05:00

Still:We are still experiencing difficulties in posting to the site. By the timeyou read this, it could be the weekend even though I am writing it onThursday. Wednesday's post still isn't up as of this writing. I don't knowwhat to tell you all. Be patient and we will fix whatever it is that isaleing us........Weizenbock:Ready for bottling and should be ready for drinking by Thanksgiving.

ESB....Why Ale....Brew Day...

2004-10-31T10:25:00.000-05:00

ESB:Here I go again. I have decided that my next brew will be another ESB. Ilove this style of ale. Amber in color with good hop bite and character,enough strength to get your attention but still sip several in a session. Ihave consulted and think that I have a good read on a recipe. I am shootingfor an authentic English type ESB this time. The last batch was more of anAmerican West Coast

Neo-Prohibitionists....Your Heard It Here....Pete Coors On Tour W ith W.

2004-10-27T10:41:00.000-04:00

Okay, I'm going to use today to get everyone up to speed on a couple ofitems that you may not be aware of.....Neo-Prohibitionists:What you say?? Well, trust me when I tell you that they exist. Thiscouldn't have been more timely for the homebrewing bible, Zymurgy Magazine,to run a very accurate and in depth story about it. There is a movement inthis country that is anti alcohol of any kind,

Double Vision....More IPA Notes....Bock Update

2004-10-26T09:49:00.000-04:00

Double Vision:I am still experiencing some technical difficulties and again have a doublepost. A thousand apologies to all of you readers out there. You know ithas to be technical difficulties because there is no way it could possiblybe operator error. No, I don't write this stuff after a "tasting" session,so get that out of your heads right now!! I hope to have all of thiscorrected today, so

Double Trouble....Pub Taps....Dunkelweiss Taste...

2004-10-26T09:02:00.000-04:00

Double Trouble:Sorry about the double post at the end of last week, and sorry for no Fridaypost. There were some serious system problems from the originating systemthat caused this double trouble. We were plagued with the dreaded AmberAlert hoax. It tied up an e-mail system that supports about 30,000 people.Nothing was getting in and nothing, more importantly, was getting out. Itis all fixed

Double Trouble....Pub Taps....Dunkelweiss Taste...

2004-10-25T09:10:00.000-04:00

Bottles And Kegs....Winter Brews Are Out...Phil's Pholly Up Next

2004-10-22T16:43:00.000-04:00

B and K:Friday!! That's the day the dunkel gets to get bottled. Well, at leasthalf of it is going to get bottled. Half of it will also get kegged. Suchis the life of a batch of beer. The yeast have done their bidding, andquite well it appears to me. Now comes time to put the brew into its finepackaging and allow the yeast one last hurrah before they go dormant, fatand happy. They will

Bottles And Kegs....Winter Brews Are Out...Phil's Pholly Up Next

2004-10-22T16:21:00.000-04:00

A Matter Of Style....No Worry's....Evil Empire Revisit

2004-10-20T09:27:00.000-04:00

Style:As some of you may have read on these pages before, brewing can often bemeasured by style guidelines. There are about 30 definitive stylescurrently recognized by the BJCP (the beer judging fraternity) and these arethe styles judged at competitions. Within each style are multipleiterations or variations of each of the styles. This can get veryconfusing, specifically if you are a novice

Restart....Soft Equipment....Brewing Weather...

2004-10-19T09:34:00.000-04:00

Restart:Yesterday I found something that you don't see very often. I racked thebock on Sunday and a funny thing happened. It seems to have "restarted" afermentation. Yeast has risen to the top of both carboys again and the beeris running out co2. It is almost like the fermentation started over again.It was day 8 on this brew and it worked really hard during the week, butthere it was. The one

Must Be A Brewery....A Taste Of Pete's....What's Next...

2004-10-18T09:58:00.000-04:00

Brewery:When I walked into the brew room on Saturday, I must say I felt a littleoverwhelmed. There were carboys everywhere and they all needed somethingdone. The cellarman was on the job, but it looked like a big one. Itactually was. On Saturday I prepped everything. I set up kegs to soakovernight to get the Pete's kegged early Sunday morning, and I had to soakthe secondary carboys too as

Brewing Grains....Rack And Roll....The Weekend Is Upon Us

2004-10-15T14:09:00.000-04:00

Grains:With all of this hullabaloo this week about brewing these wheat based beers,I'm sure it is prompting questions about grains that are used to brew.Specifically, what besides barley can you use to make beer?? This is anatural question and the answers are more than you might think. There areseveral types of traditional brewing grain. The key with most of themthough, is the ability to

Still Going....Commercial Keg Conundrum...Why Not...

2004-10-14T11:04:00.000-04:00

Still Going:That's exactly what the wheat beers we made last Sunday are doing. Thefermentation is still going. Here we are on day 4 and the primaryfermentation is still underway. It has slowed considerably and the brewshould be ready to rack either tomorrow or Saturday. That's the plananyway. The Dunkel should be ready to package on or about the 22nd and thebock should be ready to package

Fermentation....What Yeast Like....In The Cellar...

2004-10-12T09:28:00.000-04:00

Fermentation:I have to share this with you all. When I got home last night from my realjob, She Who Must Be Obeyed indicated that there were some strange noisescoming from the fermentation room. Now we have a couple of the recentlybrewed wheat beers on blow off tubes expecting some serious action in theopening stages of fermentation. I figured she was just hearing the usualgurgling sounds that

Parrot Pete, King For a Day....Brew Day Report....More On Bock... .

2004-10-11T10:54:00.000-04:00

King:Saturday was a fun day. The Nitro Rangers were on the prowl as we went to abig cigar expo at a local casino. Not knowing what to expect, but that wehad plunked down $80 each to go to the show, we entered the room. There wewere. Cigar nirvana. Booth after booth of cigars, all the best brands andsome I didn't know, along with tasting booths for fine scotch, bourbon, andother spirits that

Mashing Tip....No More Steam....Brewing Horizon....

2004-10-07T09:40:00.000-04:00

Mashing:If any of you out there have attempted to all grain recently, there are acouple of things that you probably have questions about. No matter how muchliterature you read, you just aren't prepared for mashing all grain untilyou actually try it for yourself. Here are two tips that will get youstarted out on your way and hopefully help you gain success on the firsttry. First and foremost,

Game On....Interesting Radio Ad....Big Brew...

2004-10-06T09:05:00.000-04:00

Game On:Yes, it's October and even though football season is in full swing, it meansthat the baseball playoffs have begun. The evil empire went down in flamesyesterday to that team you can't name 5 players from and I like it likethat. The end result when the series starts however is that we will beinundated with the team that is owned by the other evil empire that controlsthe US beer market.

Gurgling Away....Extract Thoughts....Waiting For Winter Brews...

2004-10-05T09:22:00.000-04:00

Gurgling:Yes, that is exactly what the "Pete's" is doing. If you go into thefermentation room, the co2 expulsion out of the carboys kind of sounds likethe noise Pappa Draft makes when he falls asleep in the big leather chair inhis den. Anyway, "Pete's" is fermenting like a champ and should be ready totransfer by Thursday or Friday night. The secret is of course a goodworking yeast starter and

Brew Day Results....Pete's Get Altered....Guest Tap Change....

2004-10-04T09:27:00.000-04:00

Brew Day:It was another chamber of commerce day outside and I must say a joy to beout in it all day. On top of that, it was a brew day and I like it likethat!! Brew day was long and hard though. Because of some time constraintson Saturday, I wasn't able to get everything ready like I had originallyplanned. I had to work on a couple of pieces of equipment, set up thesystem, and crush grain on

A Fungus Change....Cleaning Tonight....Brew Day Still On

2004-10-01T15:52:00.000-04:00

Fungus:Well, I went to pick up grain and yeast last night. There wasn't any IrishAle Yeast. HHHMMMMM, What to do??? Not to worry, I just picked up somedifferent fungus for my brew day. Instead of using the Irish Ale yeast inmy porter, I decided to try an experiment. In place of the Irish Ale yeast,in carboy number 1, I plan to use English Ale. That's a no brainer andshouldn't cause much if

Brewing Porter....Scottish Ale Thoughts....Brew Day Supplies

2004-09-30T10:20:00.000-04:00

Brewing Porter:Since I am brewing my infamous Parrot Pete's Porter this weekend, I thoughtit would be prudent to share some porter brewing tips with all of you outthere in homebrew land. Porter's origins are sketchy at best, but one thingis certain, at one time it was the hottest selling beer in England andIreland. Some say that the tax man began the demise of porter but othersbelieve that the

Happy Anniversary....Brewing Sunday....In A World Of Wort

2004-09-29T09:24:00.000-04:00

Anniversay:Yes ladies and gentleman (and in some cases I use those terms loosely), Ican't believe it either. It has been one year since the IMHBC Web Page hasbeen up and running and we're still going, just like that darn bunny on TV.I have been causing you to think, get angry, chuckly, chortle, and try newbeers for a full year now. I also hope I have given you some insight to thebrewing process

Cream Ale Revisited....New Products From High Falls....Brew Day

2004-09-28T09:44:00.000-04:00

Cream Ale:Okay, maybe it's just me or something, but I have to tell you that agingmakes homebrew better. Follow the homebrewing aging guidelines for yourstyle. It really does make a difference. Forget about all of this "bornon" dating stuff, you have to age real beer for some period of time. Why doI say this. Well, here is the big reason. These types of beers continue tomature and mellow in

Kegged....Steel City Cream Returns.....The Nitro Rangers

2004-09-27T13:36:00.000-04:00

Kegged:The good news from the weekend is really good news. The 10 Minute AdditionIPA is done fermenting. That's right, 14 days and done. Primary,secondary, and a terminal gravity of 1.008. I must have gotten the wort alittle on the fermentable side. That makes this brew a whopping 6.88% ABVwith an attenuation rate of about 86%, high for even California Ale yeaststandards. It is an IPA for

Parrot Pete Weighs In....That Widget-a-ma-call-it....Bellhaven Be st...

2004-09-24T08:45:00.000-04:00

Pete:Well, the Old Pirate weighed anchor and decided to put in his two centsworth. Check this out:Memo from Pete: I am going to have to get a job to pay for my habit of craftbeer. It came on me suddenly to love the widget. Since me and the Fodge weresummoned up to Chilly Drafts to sample Bemish's Irish Stout and Young'sOatmeal Stout, it was a cigar smoking, sloshing good time.... Chilly is

A Chilly Review....Is There a Better Brew Than ESB???....Autumn C hill....

2004-09-22T08:40:00.000-04:00

Chilly:I couldn't have said any of this any better, so I won't. Here is Chilly'stake on the new Samual Smith Oatmeal Stout in nitro cans:Sir, I have but a quick moment, for it is late. The Beamish was, on my palate, just a click or two down from a Guinness. Allthe same, just not at full power. Oh! But I must tell you . . . tell you of a magic potion . . . Yes! The Young's Oatmeal Stout, I thing

2004-09-21T11:32:00.000-04:00

Oktoberfest: That time of the year is now quickly upon us. The celebration in Munich opened this week!!! And there were record crowds!!! Of course Rueters news had to put the anti alcohol spin on it saying that it was a gathering of "beer guzzlers". Geeezzzz, can't anybody have any fun any more?? Anyway, happy Oktoberfest to all!! The gathering at Penn Brewery was last weekend and

Oktoberfest....Now What Do I Brew....Pub Ale

2004-09-21T11:30:00.000-04:00

Oktoberfest:That time of the year is now quickly upon us. The celebration in Munichopened this week!!! And there were record crowds!!! Of course Rueters newshad to put the anti alcohol spin on it saying that it was a gathering of"beer guzzlers". Geeezzzz, can't anybody have any fun any more?? Anyway,happy Oktoberfest to all!! The gathering at Penn Brewery was last weekendand unfortunately

Good Fermentation....Ivan In My House....High Water....

2004-09-20T10:19:00.000-04:00

Fermentation:I'm going to talk about beer right out of the gate today. Here you go!! Iwatched a fantastic fermentation of the IPA this week. Today is day 8 and Iwill be transferring to secondary tonight. I will let this beer rest for 8or 10 more days before packaging it. That means that it is just about timeto brew again. As always, life tends to put a little hitch in my get-along,but I

Busier Than....Brew Day Complete....Football Musing

2004-09-15T12:30:00.000-04:00

Busy:Yes, that has been my theme the past month or so. I don't remember runningaround this much for a long time. And I'm still busy. I spent yesterday inthat city up north on Lake Erie that I would rather forget. Luckily, thewarden granted me clemency and I was able to escape!!! I have beenpromising to be a better web host the past few weeks and that still goes.Look for me to post more often

Coors At It Again....Weekend Brew....NFL...

2004-09-10T09:14:00.000-04:00

Coors:Well, our good friends in the Rocky Mountains are at it again. The latestround of ads say it all as far as I'm concerned. As we all know, CoorsLight is about as bland and tasteless as water. In the latest add, Coorsall but admits that's true. The gist of the ad is that Coors is brewed andshipped cold at 34 degrees. The reason given for this is that they want togive you, the consumer, "

Busy....Brewing This Week, Or Else....Back To Normal....

2004-09-08T10:43:00.000-04:00

Busy:I am a busy guy this week. Sorry about the lack of posts. Holiday weekendleads to ineffecient work week. Anyway, I will get this posting thing moreon track here real soon. I think by this time next week, I will have mytime management back to where I can, well, manage it. I hope none of youout there are as crazy as I am this week.....Brewing:This includes brewing too. I hope to brew on