That's Some Useful Grain

I think one of the forgotten parts of brewing is what sometimes happens to the grains that are used in the brewing process. If you brew with grains at home you're most likely to just toss it. I found an interesting piece on what a few brewing companies do with the grain they've already used. Just head on over to CraftBeer.com to read it in its entirety.

I could understand if a few of these uses surprised you because they easily slipped your mind. Trust me, I didn't come to think of any of it either since I'm usually more concerned with the final product the grain assists in making.

A few of the interesting uses include the grain being used as fuel for a boiler to help save actual fuel costs, fertilizer (did you even know that spent grain is actually a good fertilizer for fungi? I sure didn't) as well as using it in foods such as bread.

That last one caused me to recollect something I was told during a visit to Full Pint Brewing in North Versailles. On occasion, Full Pint uses their spent grains in pizza crusts when the opportunity arises. Unfortunately I haven't had a chance to actually get out there and try one. That's definitely on my list, though.

Monday Rant: Bring on the Winter Warmers

I love both the summer and fall seasons when it comes to craft beer. I love having a zesty ale with strong hints of citrus, as well as a nice crisp pilsner you can only find during these same months. When the leaves begin to change color, I love enjoying buttery pumpkin ales and Marzenbiers with good caramel notes and a decent hop-kick.

We are now entering the most unexciting time of the year, at least in my eyes. Even though it still seems a little early (I'm sure many of us are getting used to our favorite seasonal beers being on the shelves earlier than usual) the winter warmers are starting to come out of the woodwork.

I've seen numerous Untappd check-ins including Full Pint Brewing's Festivus and Southern Tier's Old Man Winter. That tell's me that the warmer season is officially here.

Admittedly, the warmers aren't my favorites when it comes to beer. Many of them are very similar, to me. Loaded with spices. Some say that this season lends more opportunities to be creative for brewers. You're welcome to your own points, but I just can't differentiate when drinking many of these beers.

I will promise one thing for this season, though. I will be more willing to try winter warmers this year. I do enjoy Full Pint's Festivus and I love how it's named (I'm a huge Seinfeld fan). There is one winter beer that I'm looking forward too, though. Bell's Winter White Ale. One winter beer that's got a nice touch of spice, but is just different from many in the style.

New Civil War Beer Series

I'd hate to harp on the subject of history and beer once again, but when you really think about it beer is a huge part of world history. So, when I catch news of new beers like Frederick's Monocacy Brewing I get a bit excited.

Taken right down the street from Brewer's Alley in Frederick.

If you take a look at this article from the Frederick News Post, you'll see that Monocacy, Brewers Alley and the National Museum of Civil war Medicine have all combined to begin a series of up to nine beers celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.

Apparently the first of the possible nine is out. It's called Antietam Ale and was made in time for the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Antietam which was just last month. From what I read in the article, the beer seems to have a nice hop kick, but with a sessionable ABV.

I can't wait to see what the rest of the beers in this Civil War series will be and how some of the beer styles relate to their namesakes. I especially can't wait for the Gettysburg one, but you pretty much assumed that already, right?

Monday Rant: Beer and Frugality

I remember when I first began working when I was 16-years-old. It was around that same time that my father started my bank account. While I was in high school and college I remember having holes in my pockets when I had even the smallest amount of cash in my checking account. If I had any amount of money, it was sure to be spent at the nearest watering hole on beer and/or food.

Oh, how much fun those days were. Now that I'm in the real world., I've noticed that I've become more and more frugal. Not only in terms of reminding myself that I might not need to go out to eat or spend entire evenings at bars.

 Yes, I've become more protective of what's in my checking account, but just as much when it comes to what beer is in my refrigerator. I find myself overcome with guilt if I have more than one bottle of Dogfish Head Punkin Ale in a single night. I've found myself getting jealous if my father jams his head into the fridge and cracks open one of my other beloved pumpkin ales (Smuttynose, Saranac and Brooklyn Post Road).

I purchased a case of Yards Brewing Company's Ales of the Revolution in early July and I'm just now indulging in the second half of the case. Beer Snob Sr. bought me a case of Anchor Steam Beer for my college graduation this past May and I still have approximately half of the case left. It's almost as if I want to savor every drop. I get somewhat of a natural high just knowing I have certain beers in my kitchen.

Next, comes the possibility of beer reaching its shelf life. Yes, it's wise to save as much money as possible. Maybe not so much when it comes to conserving your beer. I need to develop a mindset of just drinking it, stress free, and making time to work off the calories once in a while.

Don't touch my damn beer.
 

Monday Rant: White House Honey Ale isn't a Big Deal

Hope everyone got to have some fantastic craft beer while celebrating Labor Day yesterday. I obviously took the day off from posting as this is a Monday Rant on a Tuesday.

Over the weekend the White House finally released the infamous home brewing recipes involving honey from the Rose Garden. If you want to find the actual source, along with the actual recipes of what's being brewed in the nation's most famous estate just click here.

From what I can gather, there was an online petition put together in order to force the White House's hand so that it would release the recipes for what's being brewed. I just don't understand what all of the madness is about. Who cares?

Is it really that important that we know the actual recipes for these beers? Why should any of this be considered public record? I find it intriguing that there's brewing taking place in the White House for possibly the first time in history, but I don't feel the urge to demand that I have the recipe, too. I'm quite content assisting my father in developing our own pumpkin ale recipe.

Full Pint Brewing Company: Growing Fast

I was privileged to spend a good portion of my day, yesterday at Full Pint Brewing in North Versailles. The brewery's Twitter account bio reads "Good people, good beer." In my opinion, this holds true.

I got to meet some of the brewers there as well as tasting some of the newer concoctions it has to offer. Over the last two years or so, Full Pint has gone from newcomer to a household name on the shelves at our local beer distributors.

Full Pint's current brew house

The brewery intends on releasing a new beer series entitled Beer Nerd Saison. I was fortunate enough to try the most recent batch, which was brewed with a helping of Elderflower. Expect to see this beer on local taps soon as mostly a draft-only release.

I was also lucky enough to try the recently released Night of the Living Stout by Full Pint, which features a strong, roasted malt presence with plenty of cocoa notes. That should be both bottle and draft.

Full Pint is also getting ready to expand. According to Jake Kristophel, the brewery is planning on adding to the current brew house and possibly adding more 30-barrel bright tanks. More Rumplepilsen and White Lightning for craft beer fans in this area can only be a good thing.

A new batch of Chinookie IPA being brewed.

Beer Review: Harpoon Bohemian Pilsner

Serving Type: Bottle

ABV: 4.7 percent

Appearance: Bohemian Pilsner pours a straw-colored gold. It has a thin and slightly fizzy, white head. The body is somewhat hazy, an odd characteristic for a pilsner, and doesn't appear to have much carbonation. You can see things through it, but they're very distorted.

Smell: This beer's initial aroma is a good helping of yeast. Some citrus and grassy notes follow behind that.

Taste: This pilsner is very malty on the front and the grassiness and hops seem to takeover as it rolls towards the back of your mouth. That translates to a rather weak biscuit/bready taste on the back of the tongue that you look for in pilsners. This wasn't a totally bad beer until that point. The flavor came off as rather weak.

Overall Rating: 

Overall Bohemian Pilsner is an attractive brew. The haziness of the body mixes well with its golden color. I was somewhat disappointed in the taste of the beer. I smelled citrus, but couldn't taste it. I also feel it lacked that trademark biscuit-taste.

Beer Review: Blue Moon Summer Honey Wheat

Serving Type: Bottle

ABV: 5.2 percent

Appearance: Summer Honey Wheat is a lovely chroma of golden honey. I've never seen any other beer that was meant to resemble honey come anywhere near as close as this one does. The body has a severe unfiltered look to it as you can see just about anything through it. I feared initially that it would taste watered down. The beer's head is bubbly, yet very thin.

Smell: With any beer that features honey, you expect the aroma to be floral and that's exactly what I got with this one. With the floral scent comes the sweetness of the honey and the wheat comes right behind that. Extremely appetizing. I also got the slightest scent of oranges or orange peel.

Taste: I wasn't expecting to have a party on my taste buds like I did when I took a sip of Summer Honey Wheat. I could have sworn that I was drinking honey on a biscuit, in a glass. This beer had a heavenly taste. The sweetness of the honey and the wheatiness of the rest of the body rocked my world.

Overall Rating: 

I've been really hard on Coors/Blue Moon Brewing Co. over the years, but I'm a man that gives credit when it's due. This beer tastes and smelled amazing. The only thing I'd prefer to be different is some extra thickness to the beer's body. I'm used to be disappointed with Blue Moon's seasonal lineups, but this one was a knock out of the park.

Monday Rant: Do Sam Adams Brews Feature Artificial Flavors?

I had quite a few different types of beers this past weekend in celebration of my graduation from Slippery Rock University. One of the first ones I had after I finished the last project in my collegiate career was Sam Adams Cherry Wheat.

Now, before I realized the multitude of the beers in the craft industry there were to try this beer was in the upper-echelon for me, as were other brews from Boston Brewing Co. As time has went on I've had a love-hate relationship with Cherry Wheat.

I've had glasses of Cherry Wheat that tasted like freshly-baked cherry pie and I've also had it taste like cough medicine which leads me to believe that Sam Adams beers sometime feature artificial flavoring. I've come across two other instances questioning ingredients with Sam Adams beers.

Around Christmas, I was able to review Sam Adams Chocolate Cherry Bock. I concluded that I had come across that familiar Robitussin taste when it came to the cherry flavor. I've also had chances to have Summer Ale, which is prominently featured on television commercials and boasts the inclusion of "grains of paradise."

Summer Ale doesn't ever seem to feature any actual lemon tartness on my tongue. I honestly don't pick up any citrus or tartness in the beer's flavor. Is Boston Brewing becoming so much bigger than other brewers in the craft beer industry that they can get away with possibly half-assing the ingredients of its beers?

We really won't ever find out. I've seen hundreds of commercials of head brewer Jim Koch talking about how great some of his concoctions are and I'm sure they were at some point. My question concerns whether or not Boston Brewing has come to be too commercialized and has its care for each product began to slip as we have seen with the major American brewing companies in recent times?

Since Boston Brewing is one of the figureheads of the craft brewing movement, I sure hope that isn't the case.