HOPS – Homebrewers Of Pagosa Springs
Hello HOPS Heads,
As I was sitting on the floor in my living room, aerating a green chili beer that we had just brewed, I started to look at the carpet. I have dogs. Even with a regular vacuuming, there still manages to be pine needles, sticks and toy fragments scattered about the carpet. And then the question popped into my beer soaked brain: “Which came first, the vacuum or the carpet?” I mean really, who would be so sick in the head as to create a product like carpet without the advent of a vacuum cleaner? There is truly no other way to clean carpet effectively without a vacuuming device. Ok, on the other side, if the vacuum was invented first, who would want that noisy thing for a just hard floor? For if carpet had not yet been invented, you would now have a noisy, rolling sucker-thing to push all about the house. I’ll stick with a broom, thanks. Truly they must have been invented for each other at the same time. But by who? And now you know that I am a man willing to ask the questions others are afraid to ask... Anyway, since this has no point (like most of my Brewsletters) I will get back to the main focus – homebrew and fun fermentables.
Cheers, and happy fermenting ~
Randini the Beer Spammer
Tech Tip of the Day: I overheard a conversation where a person was trying to gain more ‘Mouthfeel’ in their beer. This is a term used to describe the total sensation of the beer in the mouth. That includes astringency, body, carbonation, warmth, etc. After thinking about it a bit I think they were talking about body. So how do you achieve more body in your beer? This is largely influenced by proteins and dextrins. Some people will talk about adding maltodextrin to a beer to achieve more body. I don't completely recommend maltodextrine but rather look at the choice of malts and your mash schedule. When all grain brewing, if you are doing a protein rest, either cut that back or eliminate it completely. If you are mashing in the 140-150 F range, raise the mash temperature to the mid 150's, say 154 to 156 F. Use more of a lighter crystal malt so the color will be about the same but more dextrines added from the malt. Oats, wheat and flaked barley also tend to add dextrines and increase body/mouthfeel. Another common one is CaraPils malts. This is what we primarily use and have had great success even with partial mash brews that include some extract. CaraPils also really help with great head retention. Higher carbonation gives the impression of lighter mouthfeel, so cut back on the carbonation. Look at water chemistry; chloride (as in salt - sodium chloride) gives a full mouthfeel -- but be careful and don't add so much as to make the beer salty. As usual, there are lots of different ways to experiment with such things. Have fun and brew on!
Quote of the Day: (Two, just for the heckuvit)
You are not drunk if you can lie on the floor without holding on. ~Anonymous
Reality is an illusion that occurs do to a lock of alcohol. ~Anonymous
HOPS Meetings:
- HOPS – New Business:
- Next Meeting: This coming Tuesday, the 24th is the next HOPS meeting, Pagosa Brewing Co at 6:00 PM. The YELLOW COLOR GROUP is up, so if you are in the Yellow group, make sure you have been in touch with your Color Group Leader (Jason) to find out what is in the pipeline.
- Style of the Month: Barley Wines
- FFO (First Friday Out) – The first Friday of February (the 3rd) we will meet at the Bear Creek at 6:00.
- Discussion: Some ideas we want to go over include the following:
A) Membership Dues – Time for us to squeeze some money out of you!
B) Durango Pub Crawl – we are working with the homebrew club in Durango about doing to gathering / pub crawl in March. Bring ideas on what you would like to do. Tastings? Presentation Topics? Just looking for ideas…
C) Homebrew Hoedown Plans – we need to decide if we are hosting another event. Last year we did it in June. Do we want to do it again?
D) BJCP Club Competition? Also paired in June with the Hoedown maybe?
RECAP OF PREVIOUS STUFF:
- At the last HOPS meeting we got to try some of Laura’s awesome Kahlua. Here is the recipe:
In a large, open crock pot cook on high for 3 hrs. stirring occasionally:
2 cups White Sugar
3 cups of Brown Sugar
3/4 cup of Instant Coffee (like Folgers)
6 cups of water
optional 2 Tablespoons of Hershey's Syrup
Cool and add:
2 Tablespoons of vanilla
51.2 oz 'cheap' vodka or whiskey/vodka combo
Drink, bottle or age. Enjoy!
UPCOMING LOCAL NEWS & EVENTS:
- Tuesday, January 24th – 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 Barley Wines. For more info on these styles, check out the descriptions listed on the BJCP website here: http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/catdex.php
- First Friday Out, February 3rd – 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 Bear Crack. See you there 6:00!
- Durango Homebrew Gathering / Pub Crawl – Sometime in March we are planning a get together with the Homebrew Club in Durango. This will probably include a homebrew tasting at Ska, along with tours & presentations then followed by a tour of beer spots including other breweries and Lady Falc’s. More details will follow as we get them.
NEWS:
- Ska 2012 GABF Pro-Am Homebrew Competition: Here is an email from Ska regarding the homebrew competition coming up:
Greetings Homebrewers!
Happy 2012 to all! Just wanted to let everyone know that we will be holding our annual GABF Pro-Am HomebrewCompetition during American Craft Beer Week again. The dates for American Craft Beer Week are May 14-20, 2012. Registration will begin in mid-late February but just wanted to touch base with everyone so you could begin to plan ahead. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Cheers,
Kristen Muraro
Events Coordinator
Ska Brewing Co.
Office: 970-247-5792 Ext: 35
Cell: 970-946-0715
225 Girard St.
Durango, Colorado 81303
- 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:
- February is Stout & Chops Month: Pagosa Brewing Co has over 13 different Stouts slated for the month of February. I have been getting bits and pieces on the lineup and I can tell you I CANT WAIT!!! And while you are at it, start growing out the beard for the Chops contest. Last year was a huge hit and they had some great prizes to give away as well. Chop it up!
FRONT RANGE & BEYOND NEWS & EVENTS:
· 2012 Rocky Mountain Microbrewing Symposium [RMMS XVII]
Friday, February 17, 2012 7:00 AM - 5:00 PM (Mountain Time)
University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
1420 Austin Bluffs Parkway
Upper Lodge
Colorado Springs, CO 80918
719-255-4552
Phone: (719) 255-4552 Email Us