This Home Brewing Kit Will Produce A Drink For You In Less Than A Day

Plainfield brew shop readies its own suds - chicagotribune.com

Its now 2014, and it seems that interest in home brewing continues to rise; indeed, a Google Trends analysis shows that theres been a steady increase in home brewing kit queries since 2011. Many of these home brewing kits, however, require liquids to go through several days or weeks of fermentation before a drink is produced arguably far too long a period for beginners to go through the trial and error of concocting the perfect alcoholic beverage. Well, Idaho startup Ruckus Fermentation is offering the Bootlegger Bottle , which decreases that wait to less than a day. Google Trends show that home brewing kit has seen a gradual increase in search queries, beginning around 2011. Founded by Joshua Riley and Tushar Jain, Ruckus Fermentation offers patent-pending technology that simplifies the entire fermentation process, allowing for easier production ofwines, ciders, alcoholic cocktails, and others by literally anyone. All you have to do is pour your desired beverage mixture into the Bootlegger Bottle, close the lid, and let it ferment for at least 12 hours at room temperature. Homebrewing is a science, said Riley. This can make learning how to homebrew very complicated, and most times very expensive. Imagine investing hundreds of dollars and weeks of your time to make your own homebrew, and the end result isnt worth the bud light you pay for by the rack. While sales of home brewing kits have increased in recent years, the number of people who keep up with the hobby apparently dont match up with those entry stats. According to Riley, the majority of amateur home brewers dont continue with home brewing because of the amount of time and money that needs to be invested; theres little room for trial-and-error, and the rewards (if a drinkable beverage does actually result) dont make up for the amount of resources used. With the Bootlegger Bottle, those costs are drastically reduced. For many, Mr. Beer is their ingress into the world of home brewing; however, Mr. Beer beginner kits require many different pieces, and the fermentation process involves a 14-day minimum wait. This doesnt allow much opportunity for those starting out to actually play around, experiment, and actually enjoy the hobby. The Bootlegger Bottle merely requires the bottle itself and the companys BioEx Beads (the secret behind their quick fermentation process). Because of its simplicity, beginner home brewers can pursue the hobby with very few limitations. Said Riley: Other small homebrew kits like Mr. Beer have missed the point: nanobrewing isnt a way to make cheap booze, its a form of learning through trial and error. Nanobrewing should be simple enough to understand the first time, but complex enough for them to continue growing and learning how to make better alcoholic drinks.
Source http://tech.co/ruckus-fermentation-bootlegger-bottle-home-brewing-kit-make-alcohol-less-than-a-day-2014-05

It's called Imbib Custom Brews, and its the kind of thing at which Reno and its denizens have long excelled. All the details can be found at www.indiegogo.com/projects/imbib-custom-brews-help-us-find-a-home . Tell me a little bit about what you have going. My partners [Jason Green and Bart Blank] and I are working on a brewery that engages people in the process far more than your average brewery. We're all homebrewers, so we really want to brew beer and get it out into people's hands in a different way. One way is a club-based model that is based on community-supported agriculture, where somebody pays an annual fee, and they get a guaranteed quantity of beer once a month, and they also get a say in what we brewnot everything we brew, but some of the stuff that we brew. It's a new model. There's a few people around the country doing it, but it hasn't really been totally tested yet. That's one piece. Whats another? Continuing on the theme of engaging people, we know that there's a niche market for custom brews, for people's weddings, events, things like that. I've done this many times as a home brewerbrewed a beer for a friend's wedding. But again, we're trying to take it to another level where we would actually provide a service where we could provide a custom brew. Part of it is like a consultation process, where you'd taste eight different beers, you'd tell us what you like. We'd get a range of beers, you'd tell us what you like about each of those, and then we'd design a recipe around that. I suppose youd have specialized labels for a larger event. Exactly. Im getting the idea. Not only the recipe, but a custom package so that it demonstrates that the event is unique in some way. Part of our model is to really engage the home brewing community. There are a couple of home brew shops, one home brew shop that just opened up in Reno, and then there's the existing one. We still think that we would provide supplies in some ways, but we probably wouldn't launch a retail part of our business, just because Its probably not sustainable for three homebrew shops in Reno. Yeah, exactly. I see it as part of the Indiegogo campaign, it includes lifetime memberships and those sorts of things. You just started that off. What made you decide that method for getting funding? We have been working on this model for a little while. In a typical scenario, you would probably do the Indiegogo piece last. But we need both big and small investors. Indiegogo is obviously on the smaller side. But for us to get our brewery up and running, we have to have a physical space. Before you can even apply for a license, you've got to have a space. Right now we need that funding to get into a space so that we can get our licensing and really start putting out a product. We're fearful that if we wait until some of the other funding pieces come into place, just given the competitiveness of brewing in Reno, and the buzz we've built at this point, that might die out pretty quickly, and so we've been donating beer to a lot of events as home brewers, and we just felt like there were enough people talking about it, that this was the time to strike.
Source http://www.newsreview.com/reno/strange-brew/content?oid=13503149

Coffee at home: Brew like a champ with the right tools - Food & Drink - The Sacramento Bee

CDT, May 23, 2014 As the craft beer renaissance continues in Chicago's suburbs, one Plainfield home-brew supply shop is getting ready to offer up its own homemade suds. Chicago Brew Werks, a supply shop and taproom that opened about a year ago at 14903 S. Center St., will be offering its own Werk Force Brewing Co. beer at its taproom bar by next week, according to Amanda Wright, who started the shop with her husband, Brandon Wright. The supply shop has featured a small bar serving other craft beers since it opened. But after seven months of getting the required federal and state licenses, the supply shop is ready to become a brewery. "We just received our final state license about a week and a half ago," Amanda Wright said on Thursday. "We started brewing immediately." Amanda Wright said her husband handles most of the alchemy involved in creating new and delicious beers, and he has so far been crafting pale ales and India pale ales, more commonly known as IPAs. "He did a few of his staple beers, just to get us started," Amanda Wright said. The modest brewery features an electric brew house, which Amanda Wright said allows a bit more precision on the part of the brewer. "The kettles are actually heated by electric probes," she said. "It's a lot more efficient, energy-wise, and Brandon has a lot of ability to tweak the temperature more precisely, so he has a lot more control over the beers." The couple currently has just a two-barrel setup, meaning they are just producing small one or two-barrel batches, Amanda Wright said, "which is extremely small compared to other breweries." Still, a smaller production means the brewery can experiment and fiddle with different grain and hops combinations, she said. "Obviously everyone has hopes and dreams of big breweries, but we're able to do small, experimental batches," Amanda Wright said. "We're excited to be a small research-and-development brewery. We can do a lot more fun stuff that the larger breweries might not try out." These initial beers will only be sold from taps, she said, but plans are also afoot to sell take-away growlers of the product once they figure out how to balance demand. Right now, the team is brewing almost daily to build up stock, she said. "We are trying to feel out our demand in the taproom, to ensure we don't run out of beer on day one," Amanda Wright said. "Once we have beers on tap, we'll be consistently changing them." While her husband handles most of the hands-on brewing, Amanda Wright said she loves the sense of community that their shop has generated and enjoyed. "I love the community, and that everyone's enthusiastic about craft beer and being local," she said. "I like the energy of doing something new and making something with our own hands and able to serve the community that way." Brandon Wright said last year that he's enamored by the fact that small tweaks to a recipe can create a completely different brew, and that brewing is an art. "Except for using different types or colors of paint, we have grains, hops and yeast," he said. "We can totally design things from the ground up to suit our tastes and styles."
Source http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/suburbs/plainfield/ct-new-beer-place-plainfield-tl-0529-20140523,0,7067945.story

BC's craft beer boom fuelled by homebrewers |2| Brewed Awakening blog | The Province

13-14, 1814. As part of the Star Spangled Summer celebration, Baltimore craft breweries are offering a variety of beverages for locals and visitors to toast the Anthem and Americas victory (again) over Great Britain in the War of 1812 , which ended in December 1814. For example, with 12 percent patriotism in every standard drink, Baltimore-based Union Craft Brewings Anthem Golden Ale is a light golden ale brewed with American grown barley, wheat, corn, and oats, and lightly hopped with Columbus for bittering and a kiss of floral Mosaic. For a stronger taste of Baltimore try Flying Dogs Dead Rise Old Bay Summer Ale, launching this weekend for summer distribution in New York, Washington D.C., Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and North Carolina. If there is anything better than Baltimore brew, its Maryland blue crabs. To celebrate the 75th anniversary of Old Bay, Flying Dog Brewmaster Matt Brophy traveled to Baltimore to meet with the flavouring expert of McCormick, the iconic Maryland company that began in Baltimore in 1889, and owns the Old Bay recipe. With the basic Old Bay recipe scribbled on a napkin, and six months of development time, Flying Dog created a German-style wheat ale with a crisp dose of floral hops and familiar Old Bay notes of celery salt, white and black pepper, and garlic salt. A portion of proceeds from Dead Rise will be donated to True Blue, a program that advocates on behalf of the Chesapeake Bays 5,500 watermen and promotes sustainably harvested Maryland Blue Crab. Baltimore, founded in large part by hard-working, hard-drinking German immigrants, is home to a number of large and small breweries big and small, award-winning gypsy brewers, beer-mixologists, tap houses and sports bars, each serving the best of local ales, pills, IPAs and stouts. I found some of the city's best craft beers along with its best attractions and activities for a summer Beer-cation trail. It was a tough job, but somebody had to do it. VINTAGE BALTIMORE BREWS Pratt Street Ale House, Inner Harbor 206 West Pratt Street Dating back to 1888 when Pratt Street was first constructed in the heart of Baltimores Inner Harbor, the Pratt Street Ale Houses story is that of the neighborhood itself. In 1940s, the building was turned into the Pratt Furniture Company until 1980, when it housed its first bar and grill, P.J. Cricketts. In 1992, the Olivers turned P.J. Crickkets into the Wharf Rat. The brewery was added in 1993 and has created award-winning ales ever since, making Oliver Breweries Baltimores longest-running brew pub. Serving Olivers brews, the Pratt Street Ale House been named Best Brew Pub three times in the past decade by Baltimore Magazine and City Paper. http://www.prattstreetalehouse.com/ Baltimore Brew: ESBCask-conditioned, its an English strong red ale Pair with: Sports Legends Museum, Geppis Entertainment Museum BEERS ON BEERS ON BEERS Maxs Tap House, Fells Point 737 S Broadway In the heart of historic Fells Point by the Inner Harbor Maxs Tap House is legendary for having Marylands largest selection of local and imported beer with 140 rotating drafts, five hand-pumped cask ales, and a world-spanning collection of approximately 1,200 bottled beers in stock. http://www.maxs.com/ Baltimore Brew: Evolution, Stillwater Artisanal Ales Pair With: Frederick Douglass Museum, Robert McClintock Studio, Charm City Food Tour, Chost Tour POST MODERN BEERS Of Love & Regret - Stillwater Ales, Brewers Hill 1028 S Conkling St A beer company and art collective, gypsy brewer Stillwater Artisanal Ale has found a new home in Of Love & Regret, featuring famed brewer Brian Stumkes brews plus a menu crafted around them. Top selection is the Stateside Saison - Stillwaters flagship brew, Stateside Saison is naturally brewed with the finest European malts & fresh aromatic hops form the US & New Zealand. Baltimore Brew: Stateside Saison, Cellar Door, Autumnal, Existent. Pair With: Canton Waterfront Park MEET THE BREWERS Heavy Seas Alehouse, Little Italy 1300 Bank St Meet the Heavy Seas Alehouse brewers in the old Holland Tack Factory building, where the Alehouse combines the charm and character of the historic space with the bold industrial elements that occupied the building for more than 90 years making fasteners that went into major league baseballs, countless school bulletin boards and enough sofas to seat all of Baltimore. During the Civil War, the building served as a hospital for Confederate soldiers. Baltimore Brew: Heavy Seas Gold, Heavy Seas Cutlas Amber, Heavy Seas Powder Monkey Pale Ale Pair With: Reginald F. Lewis Museum, Star-Spangled Banner Flag House CRAFT BREWERY TOURS Union Craft Brewing, Woodberry 1700 UNION AVE Along the Jones Falls River in Baltimores historic Woodberry neighborhood, The Union Craft Brewery makes beer with reverence for tradition that unites old and new ideas, the science and craft of brewing, and the boldness and balance of flavor. Founded in the fall of 2011 by Kevin Blodger, Adam Benesch and Jon Zerivitz, brewing operations officially began in the spring of 2012 with the installation of a 20 barrel brewhouse and the initial launch of Duckpin Pale Ale. The brewery is open to the public for free tours and tastings every Saturday from 1-4pm. Happy Hour from 5pm 8pm Thursday and Friday. Baltimore Brew: Duckpin Pale Ale and Balt Altbier Pair with: Art on Purpose, Heavy Seas Brewery, Corredetti Glassblowing Studios COME FOR THE BREWS, STAY FOR THE BOOKS Eightbar at Atomic Books, Hampden Village 3620 Falls Rd Baltimore's legendary, alternative, independent bookstore specializing in zines, comix, self-published periodicals and fringe non-fiction now has its own craft beer bar in the heart of Hampden. No neighborhood says Bawlmer quite like north Baltimores Hampden, a 19th- century blue-collar mill town that has evolved into the epicenter of hipster Baltimore kitsch with original shops and an eccentric array of cafes mingling with the barber shops and pharmacies that keep this authentic, hard-working neighborhood real. Baltimore Brew: Elysian Brewing Companys Oddland series, which is a collaboration with artists from Fantagraphics Books (which Atomic carries) Pair With: Cafe Hon, Ma Petite Shoe WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO MAKE A NEW BEER AT ANY TIME The Brewers Art, Mt Vernon 1106 N Charles St Set in a grand Mt. Vernon townhouse, The Brewer's Art Crafthouse features 4 main beers and 20 seasonal beers brewed in house. Its beers have been named No. 1 on the Baltimore Suns list of Top 20 Beers in Maryland, CNBC named it as a Top-Notch Brewpub Brews and Esquire Magazine ranked it the number one bar in America. Baltimore Brew: Resurrection, Ozzy, Birdhouse, Saison Pecore, plus Brewer's Art remixes Pair With: Walters Art Museum, Maryland Historical Society DOG DAY AFTERNOON Pub-Dog, Federal Hill 20 E Cross St Nestled in Historic Federal Hill, the original Pub Dog is a locally owned and operated pizza and drafthouse serving up some of the best personal-size gourmet pizza and house-brewed craft beer. Its Dog Deal - two mugs of the same kind at the same time for only $4.50 Baltimore Brew: Imperial Dog, Bloodhound, Grand Mariner Ale and Fest Dog, Pub Dogs Oktoberfest Ale Pair With: Maryland Science Center, American Visionary Art Museum TAKE ME OUT TO THE BEER GAME Dempseys Brew Pub & Restaurant, Oriole Park at Camden Yards Oriole Park at Camden Yards, 333 West Camden Street Named after beloved former Baltimore Oriole Rick Dempsey, the sports bar is open daily on Eutaw Street at Oriole Park at Camden Yards for the ultimate beer experience among Orioles memorabilia and accomplishments of the Orioles Hall of Fame and the MVP of the 1983 World Series. Add to that 20 bottled beers, including 10 local and regional craft brews, plus some themed beer go-withs like the Black and Orange Burger, Camden Yards Crab Cakes, and the Dempsey Club. Baltimore Brew: Ricks Red Ale, Wild Pitch Wheat, Rain Delay IPA, and The 83 Golden Ale Pair With: Sports Legends Museum at Camden Yards, Babe Ruth Birthplace Museum COCKTAIL HOUR B&O American Brasserie, Inner Harbor 2 N Charles St Where American Dining meets the American Rail, the B&O is a combination of style and substance worthy of the legendary Baltimore & Ohio Railway's headquarters, complete with original Beaux-Arts architecture and touches from old B&O railway carriages, and dining cars like The York. B&O Master Mixologist Brendan Dorr ensures the cocktail menu is never without a beer-inspired . Baltimore Brew: Suds Bucket... (Recipe: Barenjager, Allspice Dram, Lemon Juice, and Allagash White Ale) Pair With: Inner Harbor Waterfront
Source http://www.examiner.com/article/brewing-up-a-celebration-baltimore-style

Reno News & Review - Strange brew - 15 Minutes - Opinions - May 22, 2014

Griffin Print Photo: Jon Holmes Over the past few years Ive designed a number of radon detectors; building them is an opportunity to work on multidisciplinary projects with a social benefit. Worldwide, naturally occurring radioactive radon gas seeps from rocks and soils, where it can accumulate in buildings at hazardous levels. The World Health Organization estimates that as many as 14 percent of lung cancers are due to radon exposure. In my work at Carleton University, in Canada, Ive used custom integrated circuits and specially programmed microcontrollers for my designs, but recently I wondered how I could make a detector with spare parts lying around my basement. It turns out that you can make a cheap and effective radon detector with five basic elements: a webcam, a funnel covered with copper tape and mesh, a voltage multiplier built from some basic electrical components, a box, and a computer. The system works because radon and some of its daughter products emit alpha particles as they decay. These alpha particles are responsible for most of the damage to human tissue that occurs when radon gas is inhaled, but they will also produce a slew of electron-hole pairs that show up as illuminated pixels should they strike the CMOS image sensor chip thats at the heart of many webcams. As alpha particles dont travel very far through solid matter, its necessary to cut away the protective cover over the webcams image sensor. Starting with a spare Microsoft LifeCam VX-2000 webcam (about US $20 to $30 online), I cut away the protective cover using a Dremel tool and covered the indicator LED with electricaltape. Putting the modified webcam into a dark, ventilated box and connecting it to a computer via a USB connection gave me a workingbut very slowradon detector. In order to make it more sensitive, I added an electrostatic concentrator to capture one of radons alpha-particle-emitting daughter products. When radon decays into polonium-218, the polonium is usually left with a positive charge, so it can be swept toward the webcams image sensor with a suitably shaped electric field. Some copper tape (VentureTape 1626) and a powder funnel (I happened to have a Nalgene 4252-0100 powder funnel on hand) is all you need to make a two-electrode electrostatic concentrator that creates a field of the right shape. I applied the copper tape to the interior of the funnel, making sure to preserve electrical contact for both electrodes. I used a bottom electrode size and spacing of 15 millimeters. I then stretched copper mesh over the top, soldered a few spots into position, and I was done. To get an idea of how the concentrator would behave and how strong a field I would need to generate, I modeled it using Comsol s multiphysics simulation software. For a concentrator 10centimeters high, I estimated that an electric field strength of 50volts per meter would suffice for collecting charged polonium-218. Although high voltages are required at the concentrators electrodes to create this field, they arent that hard to generate because, effectively, no current will be drawn between the electrodes. Photos: Clockwise from top: Ryan Griffin (2); Jon Holmes RadCam: Copper foil and mesh applied to a funnel [top] form the electrodes for an electrostatic concentrator that boosts the count rate of the radon detector. The high voltages required are provided by a voltage multiplier [bottom left]. The detector itself is a CMOS-based webcam with its image sensor exposed [bottom right]. I put together a 12-stage Cockcroft-Walton voltage multiplier driven by a bipolar 555 timer feeding a Triad Magnetics SP-4 audio transformer. The multiplier converted a 15-V supply to the 1370V and 990 V I needed for the upper and lower concentrator electrodes, respectively. Although you should be careful dealing with voltages as high as these, the voltage multiplier supplies so little current that an accidental contact shouldnt be lethal. I also used small (1 nanofarad) capacitors to avoid a dangerous buildup of charge. But again, be careful, and proceed at your own risk. Turning on the high-voltage concentrator improved the count rate of the detector by 25 times or more. Not bad for an old funnel and copper tape! I used Matlab software to control the webcam and also analyze the data. As the image sensor can potentially also detect less strongly interacting beta particles, I set the detection threshold, over which a pixel is considered to have been struck by an alpha, high enough to avoid noise and beta impacts. Also, when the sensor is struck by an alpha particle, an entire cluster of adjacent pixels will often register the impact, so its necessary to identify any clusters to avoid overcounting strikes. I used an 8-nearest-neighbor algorithm to find clusters. In all, it took about 100 lines of code. Calibrated with a Safety Siren Pro Series3 radon detector (about $130), my system counted 5.2 alpha strikes per hour in an ambient radon concentration of 159 becquerels per cubic meter. At this level of sensitivity it would take the detector about 20 hours to determine whether radon was present at levels recommended as actionable by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency with about 10 percent accuracy. (For the future of this detector, I am thinking of using electrostatics-modeling software to optimize the concentrator shape, electrode size, and voltage to make an even more efficient detector. It would also be interesting to rigorously calibrate the detector and observe activity dependencies on temperature, humidity, and the presence of airborne particulates.) If you build a similar detector yourself and start reading high counts, contact a professional (or buy a calibrated detector). It might be time for radon mitigation in your own home. This article originally appeared in print as DIY Radon Detector. Learn More
Source http://spectrum.ieee.org/geek-life/hands-on/how-to-build-a-homebrew-radon-detector

Brew Riot: Yet Another Example of Dallas' Craft-Beer Boom | Dallas Observer

Most of those stories involve an a-ha moment when they realized that homebrew could be both delicious and easy to make. Its part of what Chris Booth of Dans Homebrewing Supplies calls a snowball effect. Theres people that make homebrew, and then people drink their homebrew and theyre like, Really? You made this? And then they come in and they start making stuff, says Booth, co-owner and manager of the East Hastings store thats long been a hub for homebrewing in the Lower Mainland. Started by Dan Small, a legendary figure in local homebrewing circles who passed away last year, Dans Homebrewing has seen business boom over the past few years. Yet despite this chain reaction and the diversity of people who take to homebrewing, it takes a certain type to make good beer. Essential traits include attention to detail (measurements and timing can be crucial the length of the boil, when ingredients are added, for example); patience (conditioning beer, particularly lager, can take weeks); and cleanliness (the smallest contamination can spoil a whole batch, though this can also lead to some serendipitously delicious creations). Booth says a good brewer shares many attributes with a good chef. Someone thats got a good palate and balance. You dont need to be a rocket science, but if you know the science it definitely helps. A good sense of taste and judgment and creativity, says Booth, an experienced homebrewer himself. Overall, theres a particular mix of art and science, theory and practice to the process. You need to know some science behind the whole brewing process but then you have a lot of space for flexibility and creativity, says David Bowkett, a homebrewer who went on to set up Powell Street Craft Brewery in East Vancouver. Ive always liked doing things myself and being hands on. David Bowkett at Powell Street Craft Brewery in Vancouver. Im an engineer originally and I find it does tend to attract a lot of those types, says Chad McCarthy, another long-term homebrewer. theyre very much do-it-yourselfers, inventors that like to build equipment. This surge in interest in amateur brewing has resulted in an interesting mix of people that gather for the monthly meetings of VanBrewers , Vancouvers homebrewing society. Co-founded by Graham With in 2010, VanBrewers quickly gathered more than 100 members. A huge amount of homebrewers came out of the woodwork, recalls McCarthy. Tons of people like me brewing in their basements not knowing anyone else existed. VanBrewers quickly became known as a place to get inspiration and education. We offer quite the resource for people to improve, says Scott Butchart, who took over as VanBrewers president after With stepped down to focus on his job. Obviously when most people start out theyre not so great and they struggle a bit. People say they come to our meetings and they leave with 100 per cent more knowledge than they came with we have a really well rounded, well experienced group that can help you. VanBrewers president Scott Butchart with a sleeve of his homebrewed brown porter. That help comes from the collective knowledge of the many and variously skilled people who attend VanBrewers meetings. Such as the web designer with the award-winning barley wine; the opthalmologist who some say makes the best lagers in Canada; or McCarthy, an electrical engineer-turned lawyer whos a certified cicerone a beer expert on par with a wine sommelier as well as a national-rank beer judge. Im not as accomplished as a brewer but Im interested in the science of it and the judging aspect of it, training yourself to know what a beer should taste like and if it doesnt taste right, what might be wrong and provide advice to people, McCarthy says. (Theres) a little bit of an art to it as well as a science. Electrical engineer-turned lawyer Chad McCarthy is also a long-time homebrewer, member of VanBrewers, certified cicerone and beer judge. Hes pictured at an educational off-flavours class he taught last year. * * * With all this focused intensity among a tight-knit group of skilled crafters, itll come as little surprise to learn that some homebrewers can become obsessed. A phrase that seems to be in common use in brewing circles is going down the rabbit hole. And indeed, homebrewing offers a Wonderland of possibilities thats only limited by the crafters imagination and availability of ingredients. Tak Guenette left the rabbit hole for a brewing job at Steamworks in 2012, but he still burrows back into it several nights a week. Not content with his full-time position at the Vancouver brewpub, Guenette finds the time to brew up to four batches a week in the den of his apartment. I do have a bit more of a creative freedom to do odd things, Guenette says of his homebrewing.I can brew something exactly the way I want it, something with my tastes in mind. Steamworks brewer Tak Guenette with his homebrewing setup at his Vancouver apartment. Guenette says he began homebrewing because he simply couldnt find the styles he wanted to drink. Since then, hes become a local expert in lesser-seen English stylessuch as mild ale, which he often conditions in a traditional cask. He does admit his double brewing duty is slightly excessive. His fiancee, with whom he shares his apartment, likely agrees. We made an agreement when we moved in to a larger place, a one-bedroom plus den, that I put everything into that one small room so she can close the door and not look at it. And I think were both happy with that, he says. Guenette and With are just two of several homebrewers who have made the transition to commercial brewing. They got in when they were young, eager and looking for work. For established professionals in other fields such as Butchart and McCarthy, the idea of brewing full-time appeals, but its maybe not quite so practical. The hours are long, the pay is modest and theres concern that the aura of brewing would lose its lustre. I would like to be a professional brewer but I have a job that pays me well so its kind of hard to justify, says Butchart, 32, a purchaser/planner for an aerospace tooling company. Also, Id like to keep it my hobby and not make it work, a necessity to get paid. McCarthy, 41, did give some serious thought to putting his beer qualifications to work when he was between careers. For me personally, given how expensive Vancouver is to live in and that I would be starting at square one in a lot of ways, it didnt look realistic to me, he says. But, you know, my eyes are open. Stay tuned for part three
Source http://blogs.theprovince.com/2014/05/26/craft-beer-starts-at-home-how-homebrewers-are-fuelling-the-b-c-beer-boom-part-2/

How to Build a Home-Brew Radon Detector - IEEE Spectrum

Today, we hear from our beer writer, Steven Harrell, who judged the event. Way back in 2009, some Oak Cliff Dwellers brought together eight home brewers for a friendly competition behind Eno's in the Bishop Arts District. Five years later, on Sunday afternoon, this was the scene: Over 60 homebrew teams pouring 200-plus different beers for a crowd of over 1,500 people. Brew Riot is, without question, Dallas' best homebrew contest, is damn near the top of the list for beer events in general, and is perhaps the best single example of how Dallas' beer love has blossomed in the last few years. There's something refreshing about how homespun and community-based it is. Folks stream past booths pouring Dallas' most popular local beers like Peticolas and Deep Ellum to get a first look at the unknowns -- something usually foreign to the Dallas psyche. Suggestive labels that would never be approved by the TABC are proudly hung behind booths. Groups of homebrewers, normally very protective of their hard-crafted treats, freely pour them for any random person with an approved sample cup. Most times, I'd rather hear about your "great" food truck idea than about the brewery you've been "thinking about for awhile now." But at Brew Riot? Anything is possible. A few years ago, an unlicensed Lakewood Brewing Co. poured beer. Four Corners and Peticolas are also Brew Riot alumni who successfully made the jump to legit businesses. I talked to Stacey Spillers, who runs the event with her husband, Matt. She emphasized the importance of the home brewers to the experience. "It's very special to make something and choose to share it with someone else," she said. "It's their passion for their hobby that makes Brew Riot work. We wanted to create a forum for that exchange to happen." As a judge, I probably had more than my fair share of brews during the days leading up to the event. But, since it was a blind tasting, I can't fully give credit where it's due to some of those that I wasn't able to go back and track down once the official blinders came off. Either way, here are a few of my favorites from the event. If I missed any, feel free to tell me about it in the comments. Mox Nix Brewery, Texas Breakfast Stout-- My oh my. Founders Breakfast Stout is one of the country's most coveted beers, and these fellas made something even better. I can't overemphasize how good this was. The oatmeal, coffee, chocolate, and grains all blended with just enough milk sugar to hold it all together. I would buy a six-pack tomorrow. And then another the next day. On Rotation's Jalapeno Saison-- I actually blind-tasted this one at judging, and proceeded to tell my friends and family about it for the next week. Somehow, the brewers extracted the flavor of jalapeno without letting the spiciness overpower your palette. And, in a saison? You're crazy, homebrewers, and we love you for it. Steam Theory's Triple IPA-- Hops on hops on hops on hops. But, it wasn't overly hoppy. Does that make sense? Does anything make sense? We just want to live in our perfectly-hopped world without your judgement. The Manhattan Project's Half-Life American Pale Ale --The Manhattan Project team thoroughly dominated the day with four appearances on the scoreboard. My favorite brew from them was their American Pale Ale, just because it so fully fit into the textbook description of what it should have tasted like. After a day of cherry-chipotle-stouts and watermelon hefeweizens, it was nice to taste beer again.
Source http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/cityofate/2014/05/brew_riot.php

Brewing up a celebration - Baltimore style - National Resort & Spa | Examiner.com

25, 2014 - 12:00 am Copyright 2014 The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The ideal way to experience the elevated quality of coffee in Sacramento is to drop by one of the leading shops and enjoy a cup made with skill and precision. But the best coffee people want you to make great coffee at home, too. Several shops teach classes, many of them for free, on everything from coffee-brewing basics and home-roasting to the wonders of latte art. There are several ways to brew excellent coffee at home with plenty of room for innovation and tweaking. But there are a couple of fundamentals: You need high-caliber whole beans, and you must grind immediately before brewing. A quality burr grinder costs $75 to $200 or more (cheaper blade grinders shred the beans and compromise flavor). For some methods, youll need a kettle. Electric kettles are best and cost $50 to $100. For precision, use an instant-read thermometer to get the water to 195 to 205 degrees Fahrenheit. 1. Electric drip machine, $50 to $200-plus Most basic drip coffee machines dont get the water hot enough to extract the right balance of flavor out of the ground coffee. The Bonavita Exceptional Brew costs $169 and has a block heater that quickly gets the water temperature to 200-205 degrees. Further, the thermal carafe keeps the brewed coffee hot for hours. A hot plate and a glass carafe will make the coffee taste burnt the longer it sits on the hot plate. Coffee geek upgrade: I forgo the paper filters in my Bonavita (even with rinsing, I can taste the paper) and use a stainless steel filter from Able Brewing. The drawback? It costs $60. 2. French press, $25-plus This is one of the simplest ways to make good coffee. For a time, this method fell out of favor, mostly because poor quality beans tended to taste bitter with French press. But if you appreciate top-notch beans and use a coarser grind, you can easily achieve a full-bodied, expressive and nuanced cup of coffee in about 3 to 5 minutes. You heat water, put the proper ratio of coffee to water (standard is 2 tablespoons coffee for 6 ounces of water) in the carafe and steep for the allotted time. Push the filter to the bottom and pour. The nice thing is you can play with the ratio to get the strength of flavor youre after. 3. Aeropress, about $30 This simple little device has taken the serious coffee world by storm. Not only does it make a very good cup of coffee, but there are hacks you can apply to alter the process and make even better coffee. A stainless steel filter upgrade allows the coffee oils to add body and additional flavor to the cup. The drawback: You can make only one cup at a time. The advantage over French press: easy clean-up. 4. Chemex, $35 to $45 This elegant and simple device is a large, shapely glass carafe that showcases the pour-over method on a large scale. The one feature the manufacturer touts is the extra thickness of its paper filters, which are supposed to reduce bitterness. You add the ground coffee to the top of the filter, then slowly pour hot water over it. Takes about five minutes. Because the paper can come through in the taste of the finished coffee, you must pre-rinse the filters. A better solution is to use to use the after-market stainless steel filter by Able Brewing ($60). 5. Pour-over, also known as V60, $3 to $30 Before the advent of third-wave coffee, this was known as the Melitta method (after drip-method inventor Melitta Bentz). You place a plastic or ceramic dripper on top of your cup, insert a filter, add coffee and water. When you get the ratio down, youll have a consistently good cup of coffee. Call The Bees Blair Anthony Robertson, (916) 321-1099. Follow him on Twitter @Blarob .
Source http://www.sacbee.com/2014/05/25/6426301/with-right-approach-and-tools.html