Farmhouse Finale

Well, faithful readers, the farmhouse foibles have drawn to a close: Stone Blind Horses has finally been bottled! I pulled a sample prior to dumping the batch in my priming bucket, and the two weeks of dry-hopping with two oz. of French Aramis hops added some subtle interest without overwhelming the apricot flavor or the light peppery notes the Belle Saison yeast added.We'll pop open a bottle in a couple weeks and see how well it's carbonated.

Some of ya'll may have run into me at the Lexington Fest of Ales down at Cheapside Pavilion Friday evening. Tasty beers and much fun to be had by all, but no signage anywhere? Would a few sheets of posterboard and a Sharpie break the bank?

There were just boatloads of wonderful beers brought by both local and national breweries, as well as a couple from outside the US: Rodenbach from Belgium brought their delicious Grand Cru and Omnipollo from Sweden brought their lovely Bianca Raspberry Lassi Gose. My personal favorite sample of the day was the Salted Caramel Bourbon Aged Porter that Anderson Valley Brewing brought...keep an eye out for this one! :-)

Just a coupla weeks till BrewGrass20 and I'm starting to get pretty excited! This will be my first visit to Asheville, NC and I'm pretty cranked up about getting to visit some of the awesome breweries there, as well as visit a bottle shop or two and bring back some tasty beers that aren't available here in Kentucky!

Further Farmhouse Foibles

When I left you last, faithful readers, my bigass farmhouse, Stone Blind Horses, had been ported to a secondary on top of 60 oz. of apricot puree and a fresh packet of Belle Saison dry yeast and still very active. Well, it finally settled down and after a week of no noticeable activity, I ported the batch to yet another fermenter. Partly to get the brew off the yeast, but partly just so I'd have an excuse to see what the hell was going on in there!

Despite the extensive time in the living room, the repitch and all the other fumbling about, the beer's FG tested right at my original target of 1.010. The addition of the apricot puree and all the water included should reduce the actual ABV of the end result some, but I figure it's close enough for my meager mathematics. The tasting from the gravity test sample was OK: light apricot flavor, peppery in the middle with the 11% ABV being quite noticeable.

It's been sitting in my living room with no activity for a couple weeks now, so I popped the top and tossed in 2 ounces of Aramis hops pellets in a hop bag. I'm hoping this will bump up the spicy, peppery notes while it's fresh.

Thanks for dropping by for more Kitchen babbles!

Farmhouse Foibles

Having offered both my faithful readers an extended respite from my babblings, (and considerable time for you to reconsider said status as faithful readers...from this point, any time wasted here is surely your own responsibility!) I'm back with more babbling from the Kitchen!

Before I get into the latest Kitchen goings-on, I'd like to mention two absolutely outstanding books I've recently read: The Brewmaster's Table by Garrett Oliver and American Sour Beers by Michael Tonsmeire.

Pairing the right food with any beer can often turn a humdrum dining and drinking experience into something unforgettable. The Brewmaster's Table: Discovering the Pleasures of Real Beer with Real Food, by Garrett Oliver, is THE book on beer/food pairings. Engaging and informative, Garret Oliver provides not only wonderfully instructive pairing suggestions, but also a broad overview of the most common beer styles and their history. Throughout the book, he provides insight on how the way each style of beer produced influences which foods they best are paired, as well as specific breweries and beers that best exemplify the style. I've linked to Amzn's Kindle version, but if you prefer "real" books, The Beer Trappe has copies autographed by the author available! (Now there's a no-fail gift suggestion for the beer geeks on your gift list this year!)

American Sour Beers by Michael Tonsmeire (of The Mad Fermentationist fame) is a fascinating read for any homebrewer interested in the scary/dangerous but absolutely enthralling possibilities of cooking up your own sours or wild beers. He provides detailed information on both the scientific principles involved and practical examples of how respected, established breweries have deal with/overcome specific challenges involved with sour/wild fermentations.

Well, now that both ya'll have been caught up on what i've been reading, you're probably wondering "When's he gonna get around to talkin' about cooking up some beers?!?" Wait no longer, faithful readers...here is everything you never knew you wanted to know!

Ya'll may remember my first attempt at a raspberry wheat: Red Dress Raspberry Wheat. I pretty much pulled the same beer with a can of raspberry puree added. Results have been so-so...nothing really off, but nothing to get all "OMG" about... Pegged target OG and FG, with the 3# can of raspberry not making any significant changes.

May have been a little enthusiastic in my bottling process...at least one bottle had a good deal more puree leftovers than anyone would hope for...live and learn.

Next brew I tried cooking up was supposed to be a bigass farmhouse: 11% abv with a Saison yeast. Well, the Wyeast smcak-pack showed up pretty damn hot, despite the ice-pack ordered with....and I was a little concerned when it expanded, but never got "tight." I figured "close enough" and went ahead with the cook. Everything went smoothly till I dropped the wort into the primary and prepared to pitch that questionable smack-pack.  11$ ABV is a hefty beer and the yeast is gonna want an oxygen rich environment to get started so I dropped in the airstone, and turned the oxy on...and no bubbles at all! Dmn thing was empty as yesterday's shoes. I went ahead and pitched the questionable smack-pack with a wish and a prayer.

Two weeks in, with no activity showing from the airlock for at least a week, I ported the batch into secondary on top of 6# apricot puree. Gravity test showed the questionable yeast had only taken the wort from 1.088 to 1.055...a long way left to the expected target FG of 1.010! I'd been anticipating a stalled fermentation, so I had rehydrated a pack of Belle Saison to pitch into my secondary. (Completely beside the point, that 1.055 sample was incredibly delicious. If I'd had the equipment to keg half the batch then and there...)

So I've repitched on top of 6# of apricot puree. I expected some active fermentation, but we're at three weeks and i'm seeing a solid bubble every nine seconds: When it stops, i may have to port to a tertiary fermenter? It's nerve-wracking, but i'm sure the beer will be fantastic...

My Bucket's Got a Hole In It...I Can't Get No Beer

Lots of local excitement over the last coupla weeks: Beer Trappe had a ThreeFloyds tap takeover March 24th that was just fantastic. Boatloads of beer lovers enjoying 3Floyd's awesome brews. Some really interesting selections including several that I hadn't tried! Cimmerian Sabertooth Bezerker really surprised me--y'all know i'm not much for IPA's, but this one really knocked my socks off! Other great selections offered included the renowned Zombie Dust and Gumballhead, but I really enjoyed Space Station Middle Finger and Stack and Stabb.

Shamrock Patchens had a Deschutes tap-takeover to celebrate their further availability in KY? % of their beers on tap, craft beer questions during Monday night Live Team Trivia and t-shirts as additional prizes! :-) Their Zarabanda farmhouse was very tasty, as expected; the Fresh Squeezed IPA was surprisingly tasty. The prizes were nice, but with the large number of taps Shamrock Patchens has, a "tap-takeover" could mebbe consist of a few more beers. Tap takeover implies taking over all the establishment's taps...so Do IT!!! Make sure they have Corny kegs of your best brews, and some imaginative brews that might stretch our definition of beer a bit?

The last of last week's news: tickets are on sale for Alltech's 2nd Annual Lexington Brews & Food Fest. Last year's event was an absolute blast, and I'm sure this year will be even better. At least 50 brewers signed up and 10 local food vendors and local live music. It's being held at Heritage Hall again, so rain or shine or unseasonable weather, it's gonna be great.

 In a week or so, I'll be cooking up a second batch of Red Dress Raspberry Wheat. Last year's batch came out to great reviews, but I think I may add some chocolate this year, because who doesn't love chocolate and raspberries, right?

Anyhow, a friend of mine recently discovered the joy of a growler to go, and I thought I should prolly toss up a quick post on how I avoid those nerve-shattering clinks when your growler bumps into something while rolling around on the floor.

Side note: problems with getting beer back home safely aren't anything new, Reflected in the old blues tune Hank Williams covered on Honky Tonkin' "My Bucket's Got a Hole In It," folks have had trouble getting their beer back home long before craft beer became the hipster thing.  

The most common method for taking draft beer home these days is called a growler. A Growler is a half-gallon (64 oz) bottle, usually brown glass to prevent light-struck beer, You can purchase a growler at all local microbreweries, many craft beer bars, some liquor stores or even some deli counters. If the trend continues, you'll likely be able to pick up a growler at your local grocery or gas station soon! Most places that sell growler fills will sell you the glass growler, but nearly all are also ok with you bringing your own to have filled. 

Many places also sell 32 oz Howlers "half-size growlers" or other sizes; sometime these other options will be plastic, but full-sized growlers are nearly always brown glass bottles. (a few locations have added equipment to sell "Crowlers" -- these are a 32 or 64 oz cans that are sealed on location. pretty damn funky! They do require special equipment to seal, but they are light, less susceptible to breakage and easily recycled. I'm reasonably certain most of the following recommendation will work as well with Crowlers as they do traditional growlers.

  

One of the best ways to avoid worrying about your growler of lovely liquid gold crashing and cracking on the trip home is to arrive with your own "crash-proof" aluminum growler. I have been very pleased with my Hydro-Flask growler. It's double-walled aluminum, so it won't easily crack and spill all my tasty brew to go, plus the vacuum insulation help keep the brew cold on the trip home! 

The downside to this strategy lies mainly in forethought:  you pretty much have to be expecting to bring home a growler and remember to toss your fancy aluminum work of insulating art in the back seat before you leave, or clean it thoroughly after use and leave it in the trunk?

Even with a fancy pre-purchased and near unbreakable growler, you've still got to lug the thing around a bit. Unless you snagged a parking space right out front, you're gonna lug this thing around a bit. What you need is a growler-sized can koozie with a strap! When not in use, you can just scrunch this up and leave it in the backseat or trunk or wherever. It has a little padding, to prevent clinking and breakage; but the main advantage is the handy strap to help you carry your growler to the car with fewer opportunities to set it down and break it accidentally. The padding will also help keep it cool on the ride home. You can likely buy these online, but I snagged mine at my local Liquor Barn. They're inexpensive, fold up very compactly so you can keep one in the back of the car, they provide needed insulation to keep your brew cold, and a handy carrying strap to make sure they get to the car safely. If you're like me and like to collect a growler from all your favorite locations, keep one of these in the car!

The next option I'm going to mention can be combined with either or both of the earlier options. The Growler on Board Growler Seat is like a Baby Seat for your beers! It allows you to take several growlers home, with no danger of the klinking together and allowing their contents to soak into the back seat carpets. Growlers in koozies will fit with a little careful snugging, bare growlers fit just as expected. Upright, insulated and kept from the klinking!

             

 Well, both my dedicated readers are now as up-to-date on growler transportation as you possibly could be! Thanks for reading!

New Opinions on the "New" New Cook Book and Pumpkin Peach Jibbering

With a little more time spent with my "new" New Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, I have to admit my previous post may have been mistaken. The pages "feel" flimsier at first touch, but I think they're at least as sturdy as the original, and being ring-bound may keep them all in usable shape for much longer than my original New Cook Book. It's lasted for 30-some years so you'll definitely get your moneys worth! I'm pretty careful with any printed material, so even my original still looks good after 30 years...the binding is starting to let a few pages go from my favorite sections, though. :-(

Other news from the kitchen:  Bottled Rockabilly Pumpkin Peach Ale last Monday. I started out with the Peach of Resistance Pumpkin Peach Ale from Northern Brewers. This kit was very much a direct response to Bud's Superbowl ad, and Northern Brewers did a fantastic job with this one!

I added a considerable amount of Libby's canned pumpkin, as well as adding 4 vanilla beans to the fermenter for the second week of fermentation. Unless I need the primary, I've been deliberately NOT moving my beer to a secondary fermenter. Lazy, or just testing the necessity of this step in a brew where clarity is not particularly beneficial?

Pumpkin is subtle enough a flavor that some commercial pumpkin brews skip adding any altogether and settle for fooling your senses with pumpkin pie spices. Your imagination fills in the blanks. Your imagination is a pretty powerful thing, and some of the best "pumpkin" beers I've tried didn't have any pumpkin in them at all. I lean towards "more pumpkin flavor is better" in my homebrew, and am actually working towards some pumpkin solids remaining in the bottle to add both color and some solidity to the mouthfeel. (Pumpkin beers should be a little "chewy!")

Rockabilly Pumpkin Peach Ale....the prequel! (FG gravity test and taste pic)

That's enough babbling from the kitchen tonight folks...next week, growlers, growler koozies, and growler on board baby seats!

Drink like chimneys, smoke like fish and jump like crocodiles!

New Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book

Well, I finally broke down and bought a replacement for that lovely old standby I've used since my college days. Printed in 1981, this has been my go-to cookbook since I can remember. Its not like I have a shortage of active cookbooks, but this has always been the soft spot in my cooking heart.

I was hoping I could just replace that standby with a duplicate in better shape, but after much thought and consternation, I ended up buying a ring-bound 16th edition of the New Cook Book.

I have to say I'm not terribly impressed. The ring binder is nice, but the pages it holds won't stand up to nearly as much abuse as my worn out copy from 1981. And to be honest, the recipes are much vaguer. I want a cookbook to tell me "Put this much of this seasoning in, cook this for exactly X amount of time, etc." I'm not likely to adhere to those instructions, but I don't need my cookbook getting all interweb wishy-washy on me, nor do I need 12 variants of meatloaf. I'll variate my own damn meatloaf, thank you very much!

So, yeah, next picture of my cooking cupboard *might* include the newer New Cook Book, or perhaps I'll find an alternate?

Amazon Echo Unboxed in the Kitchen!

I put in my pre-order for Amazon's new voice-activated, personal assistant speaker doohickie they've named Echo some time back. It finally appeared on my front stoop, and here's what happened:

Damn, that sounded so dramatic and exciting! And I didn't even save pictures of the packing box! LOL! Here is a shot of the internal packaging, with a frosty beverage and a Sharpie to indicate both size of the box and bs level of this particular unboxing.

Anyway, after removing the Echo's box from Amazon's standard shipping packaging, I found a very plain, black box. Very mysterious looking and hi-tech "clean." Upon opening the black box, I was confronted with the high contrast, but still clean packaging seen here. No muss, no fuss. It looked cool and exciting and yes, it got my techie juices flowing...

Inside this lovely package we have the Echo itself, a 9.5"X3.5" tower speaker, a power adapter, a remote control and mounting device for the remote control. You can see a box of Kleenex on the Kitchen table in background of the first shot, this should give you a good idea of this item's size.

Before I move on, I want to point out...the magnetic mounting holder for the remote is one of the most awesome ideas ever! The Echo is very likely to become relegated to everyone's kitchen and making the remote so kitchen friendly was a fantastic idea. The "holder" is magnetic, so it will just slap right on your fridge and stay put. The batteries in the remote make them very friendly to slapping into said holder and staying put. The curves match, the remote fits well. An elegant and simple solution to an incredibly annoying occurrence--who hasn't misplaced a remote?

Anyway, app downloaded, batteries installed in the remote, Echo powered on. Wi-Fi info entered, and my Echo started getting friendly. Voice recognition is much better than expected, without any training. (A brief voice training session is available in the companion app, and continuing corrections are also available through the app:  the app lets you see what your Echo "heard" and make adjustments.) The connection to my home network was very simple, through the companion app. Absolutely no issues connecting to my Amzn account and streaming music nearly instantly.

The sound quality was considerably better than I'd expected, and perfectly acceptable for a small apartment/kitchen listening environment. It won't rattle your windows, and so needs an audio out.

Recognition of voice commands through speaking was phenomenal, Through the remote, slightly less so, but still considerably better than expected.

It's an attractive, effective device for music playback, especially if you are already tied into Amazon's digital economy. (Disclaimer: I am an amzn warehouse employee. I do not hold Amzn stock, though I do receive a percentage of my annual pay in stock. I am not being paid for this review.)

If the Amazon Echo had a line out audio connection, it would completely exceed my expectations and my needs. As is, it's going to be relegated to the furthest remotes of the kitchen, and likely to be forgotten soon...