HOPS Pagosa

HOPS – Homebrewers Of Pagosa Springs

 

Beer. The final frontier. These are the voyages of the bar-fly Randini. His five beer mission: To explore strange new breweries, to seek out new concoctions and new intoxications, to boldly brew what no man has brewed before. My new monologue kicks ass. I walk around with Bum-Bom-Bum-Bom music rockin’ me wherever I step. I will kill them with my Awesome. I’m gonna start a new YouTube series that will rival ‘Planking’, ‘Whole Foods Parking Lot’ rap videos and ‘Tebow’ spoofs. It will be all about beer and fermented fun! Picture me cruising around Uzbekistan on camel back sporting a bright yellow uni-tard onesie with a black cape and mask. A giant beer mug logo on my chest. Maybe even rocking a cowboy hat just to keep it real for Pagosa. Yeah, I can see it. Imagine the fermentable treasures you could find! The ancient recipes used to conjure spirits from another time. I could sit in on indigenous gatherings with local libations - celebratory, spiritual, social and political (who can stomach any politics without tipping a glass?). Imagine going blind while experiencing agonizing abdominal cramps with foam coming out your nostrils in a foreign desert because of some rock-badger fece-laden hooch that was bootlegged in by Nazi infidel haters? Wow…

 

Maybe the Great Randini will boldly stay home and explore strange new brews in my own kitchen brewery. At least I can still wear my Super Beer-o outfit and I won’t smell like camel.

 

Cheers, and happy fermenting ~

 

Randini the Beer Spammer

 

Tech Tip of the Day: Ever brew a beer that just wasn’t bitter enough? Sometimes hops will lose their bittering capabilities over time (The older hops get the more Alpha Acid they lose. For example, if you have Admiral hops at 15% AA and store them at room temperature in a zip lock bag you can expect to lose about 27% of the bittering capabilities after a year, bringing them down to 11%AA. You can reduce this loss by storing hops in a freezer, vacuum packing them, etc.). If your beer needs more bitterness – and yes, there are freaks like myself out there that can never have a beer like an IPA too bitter – there are different things that can be done. One is to try a product called IsoHop, an isomerized alpha acid product made just for adding extra bitterness to beer. You can get it from MoreBeer and here is the link:
http://morebeer.com/search/103693/beerwinecoffee/coffeewinebeer/Hop_Bitterness_Extract.
Another option that some people have tried is to make their own hop extract or "tea". I have not tried it, but I can image it would be quite unpredictable. From the little bit of research I have done, most people caution against it. But… for the homebrew adventurers, if you started with a small amount (a hop pellet or two maybe) and made a tea, you could add it to a measured amount of beer. If you like what you have, you could amp it up to match your remaining volume. I have talked about doing this but never tried it. Looks good on paper… er, a monitor. If anyone has any experience doing that, let me know.

 

Quote of the Day:  A drunk was in front of a judge. The judge says, "You've been brought here for drinking." The drunk says, "Okay, let's get started." 

 - Parker

 

HOPS Meetings:

 

• HOPS – New Business:
• Next Meeting: This coming Tuesday, the 27^th is the next HOPS meeting, Pagosa Brewing Co at 6:00 PM. The RED COLOR GROUP is up, so if you are in the Red group, make sure you have checked your email for a reminder from your illustrious leader (Eleanor) to find out what is in the pipeline. 
• Style of the Month: Winter Ales and Seasonals.
• FFO (First Friday Out) – This has been changed to Friday nights for the winter season. The first Friday of January (the 6th) we will meet at the Brewery at 6:00. I know a bunch of people are traveling, so if you can make it, groovy!
• Discussion: Some ideas we want to go over include the following:

A)      Lots of Yeast! Joseph Read with Pagosa Brewing Co gave HOPS a $212.00 gift certificate for White Labs liquid yeast. The problem is that it is only good for one (1) 7 barrel pitch. That’s enough for approx 47 five gallon brews. Sooo, that’s alodda yeast, man! Let’s talk about when the Yeast Divvying Party will be. Basically it means free yeast for the entire HOPS club, and beyond! Put your brew hats on…

B)      Upcoming events listed below, like a group brew day? Big Beers, Belgians and Barleywine Festival in January? Homebrew competitions? Yeah, we’ll cover it all.

 

RECAP OF PREVIOUS EVENTS:

 

• Bulk Grain Buy – Special thanks to Tony with Pagosa Brewing for helping us out with our bulk grain buy from Colorado Malting Co. He was nice enough to store the grains for us and work with us. Now we have grain, soon we will have beer!

 

UPCOMING LOCAL NEWS & EVENTS:

 

EVENTS:

 

• Tuesday, December 27^th – HOPS Meeting: This coming Tuesday is the HOPS Meeting (normally the fourth Tuesday of the month). We will meet at Pagosa Brewing Company at 6:00 PM. This month we will be going over some of the upcoming events and agenda items above, along with the Style of the Month. This time is the Winter Ales and Seasonals. ‘Tis the season to be drinking... According the the BJCP, here is what to expect for this month’s styles: "Throughout history, beer of a somewhat higher alcohol content and richness has been enjoyed during the winter holidays, when old friends get together to enjoy the season. Many breweries produce unique seasonal offerings that may be darker, stronger, spiced, or otherwise more characterful than their normal beers. Spiced versions are an American or Belgian tradition, since English or German breweries traditionally do not use spices in their beer."

 

• January 6th - First Friday Out – The first Friday of the month we like to drink beer. Ok, we like to drink beer more often than that, but we usually get together somewhere around town, and this time around we will meet at the Brewery. See you there at 6:00!

 

NEWS:

 

 

• Beer at 6512 Blogspot is Back! - http://beerat6512.blogspot.com/ is a beer blog based out of Durango. Our neighbors to the West have a great beer scene, along with some great writers and this is a fun place to check up on the happninz. Erich Hennig, my brew-brotha-from-anotha-motha just joined the team. Check it out – I think you will enjoy it!

 

• Gluten Free Homebrewing – I have had some requests on information about gluten free homebrewing. I have some information about the details on such if you are interested in locating ingredients, etc. I will bring it to the HOPS meeting on Tuesday, or email me at randy@speeddirect.com for more info (rather than replying to this email and spamming the entire universe). That’s my job! :-D

 

• Local Beerlover Networking Website: Check out www.brewerfest.com for a social beer lover’s networking site. It works kinda like Facebook, only without all the loser teenagers counting how many totally irrelevant “friends” they can amass proving how completely lame they are. This site is actually cool! (Yes, a big fan of Facepuke here…) Joseph from Pagosa Brewing started this one up and it has some great photos of HOPS junk, plus it is free to join! Sign in and rock out with your beer out.

 

Pagosa Brewing Company News / Events:

 

 

 

Liquor Stories:

 

      Our tribute to local liquor stores that like beer, and not just crap beer, I mean Real Beer! Not all of them are cool enough to contribute to this kick a$$ Brewsletter, so be sure to treat the ones that do with some extra business. Usually you will get a hook up too!

 

Silver Dollar Liquors:

 

New 6pks This Month:

Boulevard Brewing                   Tank 7

-Farmhouse Ale

Alaskan Brewing                      Winter

                                                -Ale brewed with Spruce tips (grab a pint of this at DSP then get some from Silver Dollar to take home!)

Ommegang Brewery                 Three Philosophers

                                                -Belgian Style Quad with Cherries Added

 

Just Got Back In Stock

Northcoast Brewing                  Old Rasputin

                                                -Russian Imperial Stout

 

New Bombers This Month:

Stone Brewing                          Double Bastard Ale

-“Ye shall know the bastard, and the bastard shall set you Free.”

Port Brewing                            High Tide

                                                -Fresh Hop IPA

 

6pk of the Month:

Alaskan Brewing                      Winter Ale

                                                -“The taste is more muted when cold; gets more interesting as it warms up: sweet fruit, spruce, other spices. Very unique.”

 

Bomber of the Month

Stone Brewing                          Double Bastard

                                                -“Alas though, this beer has flavors that build, a cloying raisin sweetness up front, and a building earthy bitterness on the back end.”

 

 

Plaza Liquors:

 

Lots of new Winter Seasonals are in, including Ebenezer Ale from Bridgeport Brewing and the Double Bastard from Stone Brewing! Many more to choose from – come in and see the selection! Mention their ad on The Wolf or this Brewsletter and get 15% off!

 

Star Liquors (Durango):

 

 

 

FRONT RANGE & BEYOND NEWS & EVENTS:

 

• Big Beers, Belgians & Barlywine Festival, Vail Jan 5-7: This is the event for you if you are into imperial beer, Belgians, barley wines and anything else that gets the job done in a big fat hurry. I have never been to this event but have always wanted too. It’s not cheap but you could cut the cost if several people got together on hotels, etc. Anyone in? There is sooo much to do, including beer / food pairings, seminars, a homebrew competition (anyone interested?) and so much more. Lets kick this one around at the meeting.

http://bigbeersfestival.com/

Video on the goods:

http://www.bigbeersfestival.com/big-beers-events-schedule.html

 

• Company Looking For Homebrewer Guinea Pigs:  My name is Steve Pearson and I'm the President of QuestAT. We are a leading edge injection molding company that loves home brewing! We've been doing this for over 30 years and we understand the expense and disappointment that comes with the current home brewing solutions. We want our home brew inexpensive and fast! We have developed a low cost Unitank that will allow you to ferment, clarify, naturally carbonate and dispense your own special brand of beer all from our system, all with minimal work. If you are adventurous or would like to prove that you really can make incredible tasting beer at home, we would love to have you on our "Pre-release research team" of home brewers. – This is the opening of his letter. Basically it is a plastic tank fermenting system for all-in-one brewing. If you are interested in more info, send me a personal email (don’t reply to this Brewsletter). randy@speeddirect.com.

 

FOR SALE / FOR FREE / WANTED:

 

• Free Bottles - Need bottles? We have LOTS of extra around these parts. Let me know if you need any beer or wine bottles. For you, for free. 

• All Grain Brew Equipment Wanted – Yours truly is looking for some misc. all grain brewing equipment. If you have anything you are willing to part with, let me know and we can start bartering. ;-)

 

Anybody else have anything you want to list? Beer related or not, just lemme know and I will circulate your stuff around the universe. Well, my universe…

 

 

UNSUBSCRIBE – But if you do, you could be labeled a Nazi infidel beer hater. Who wants that as their title?