Living the Dream...

Despite my promises to the contrary, I have been remiss in keeping this blog up to date with my beer adventures. There is only one thing more annoying than a stale blog and that is someone who does not keep promises. In my defense, I have been quite busy with above mentioned adventures, as well as having to be responsible with the (arguably) more important things in life.

Last week in particular was especially hectic. Monday was packed with working my day job, logging hours in preparation for the week to come. Tuesday is when the fun began, as Carl and I spent most of the day completing homebrew work. We had planned to brew a second batch of Pool-Pah Pale, but Carl finally got a taste of the first batch of Granfalloons, added his voice to the chorus of praise and requested that we try our hand at brewing a batch of it. Looking at my stock from the previous batch and seeing but five bottles, I heartily agreed to the recipe change. As we reached the various points within the brewing process where one finds oneself with a few minutes on their hands, we snuck in racking the Hoppy Happiness IPA and the Thieving Bastard. Despite the varying tasks, we kept all of our ducks in a row and had a rather smooth brew day. The Granfalloons ended up with a much higher Original Gravity, even though no recipe changes had been made, something I can only attribute to a more vigorous boil thanks to the super propane burner the Budge Brothers let us borrow (thanks again!). As long as it fully attenuates and the beer turns out anywhere near as good as the last batch, I will be satisfied. For the third batch, I will focus on consistency.

After some good brew work, I headed up to my girlfriend’s in Newport and a fire night in our friends back yard. I brought along a bottle of the first batch of Granfalloons and the reviews were unanimously in praise of its liquid goodness. After being humiliated by my lack of bocce skills, we turned in early in preparation for my next adventure.

I woke up super early in order to make the drive from Newport to Ponderay to put in a day working under the tutelage of Duane in the general operations side of a brewery (another homebrewer had already offered to help out with brewing). Our first task was to crop some yeast from the fermentation tank holding the Pale Ale. What began smoothly quickly turned to a frustrating experience as, by a confluence of small events, a hole formed in the trub cake and we began pulling beer instead of yeast. Giving the tank a little rest to settle out is the answer to that conundrum, so we set out to begin filtering and transferring other batches of beer.

Laughing Dog recently purchased a new filtration system that works very quickly because it works under heavy pressure. Having relied on racking only to clarify my homebrew, the whole filtration experience was new to me and I was excited to learn its intricacies. Before beer is pushed through, the plates within the pressure bell must be loaded with a fibrous papery substance called Cellite and then loaded again with diatomaceous earth. As beer is then added to the system, it is dosed with further diatomaceous earth, effectively creating a continuously “new” layer of filtration. The beer is then sent through a secondary plate filter as an extra measure to remove any impurities. If that sounds confusing in theory, just wait until you are staring at the eleven valves that control this thing.

As the filtration system was recently purchased, they are still working out the kinks and becoming familiar with the operation of such a complicated piece of machinery. However, the joke floating around that I had brought some inadvertent bad mojo began to take on weight.

We successfully transferred one 30 bbl batch before lunch time. After lunch, I helped with folding six pack cartons in preparation for bottling the next day and then Duane and I began resetting the machine to begin another transfer. It had seemed that a clog or two had appeared and a thorough cleaning also appeared to solve the problem. Unbeknownst to we all dealing with the problem, there was a nefarious clog hiding in the system that caused pressure spikes which forced us to shut down the system periodically and change the filter plates, a tedious process. We were able to transfer enough beer to suit the needs of bottling and kegging the following day before calling it quits on a twelve hour day. I appreciated seeing the side of being a brewery that doesn’t have to do with actual brewing because I know that will be most of my life when I become a brewer in the near future. Being a part of a less-than-perfect day at the brewery was also a good experience. This brewing thing is not all sipping rare beers and smelling hops, as some would believe. Rather, it takes a rare blend of brute strength, technical know-how, perseverance and precise finesse; namely, not a task for the weak of spirit.

Although my wonderful girlfriend did a fine job of melting the stress of the day away with a home cooked meal and her calming presence, sleep came quickly. I woke in the morning to drive back up to Sandpoint to do the whole thing over again, albeit on a smaller scale, by helping Mickey brew a batch of his porter at MickDuffs. We began an hour later than the day before and I was thankful. After admiring the new fermentation tank, we milled the grain and then set about mashing in, the most labor intensive and dirty part of the brew day there. Sweating in the muggy heat that preceded a spectacular rain storm, I began to feel gummy as the dust from the grain began to settle on my skin. After the mash and a transfer to the kettle, we began noticing that the water was not heating up as fast as it should. Mickey sent Duffy down to the boiler cave numerous times, but to little avail. The wort came to a boil, but it was not as roiling as Mickey would normally want, which I know can lead to some problems with a beer but Mickey was confident that everything would turn out in the end. We also tried a new procedure with adding olive oil to the yeast before pitching. A study that Mickey and I read proposed that the olive oil provides the same response from the yeast as aerating properly does. No word yet on the outcome, but I am interested to see what happens. Other than the troublesome boiler, the brew day went fantastic and I was paid for my work with a free growler fill and two Corny kegs! Thanks Mickey!

Finally, on Friday, in between putting in hours with my real job, I ran over to Carl’s house in order to keg the Thieving Bastard. Carl informed me that our problems with the keg that the Pool-Pah was in were persisting, despite changing the main seal. I swung by Jim’s Homebrew to pick up some more seals for the problem keg and for the two Mickey let me have (might as well be safe). After some labor and some scratching of heads, we completed our tasks for the day and I returned home to finish up some work for the day.

To wrap up this novel of a post, I will not promise a date by which reviews of our homebrews will be up on the blog, but the second batch of Bagombo IPA is almost ready to drink and the Thieving Bastard can be tapped tomorrow, so there are plenty of opportunity for reviews in the near future. Please, keep reading!

Brewing Stromhammer IPA

Last Thursday, I once again got the opportunity to help Mickey brew a batch of ale at MickDuffs Brewing Co. in Sandpoint, ID. I drove up to stay at my girlfriends in Newport the night before so that we could get an early start to the brew day. While the boiler was getting up to temperature, I began milling the grain into small garbage cans (clean, of course!). We ran out of cans, so we dumped some of them back into the empty grain bags. Once the boiler was ready to go, we began mashing in with me dumping the grain into the auger while Mickey stirred vigorously. Once we got the grains in the tun, we continued to stir as there was a bit of a problem with the mash consistency.

After a nice mash, we began sparging and then the slow transfer to the lauter tun. Our first addition of hops went in before the wort was even up to a boil and once that was added, we set to work cleaning the mash tun and the rest of the brewery. As we continued the boil, it was time for a well deserved lunch. Dave, the brewer from Laughing Dog in nearby Ponderay stopped by to chat with Mickey and he eventually invited me over to his brewery after I was done at MickDuffs.

Mickey and I finished cleaning after lunch and when the boil was complete, we ran the wort through the chiller and then into the fermentation tank. A little more scrubbing and then we were ready to call it a day, but not before a tester off of the zwickle of the new Gnarly Nine Barleywine. Still a little green, but aging deliciously, I am excited when it will be on tap again. Mickey needed to take off for the day, but I wanted to sample the product of my previous labor in the form of a pint of the ToeHead Blonde. Well balanced and light on the tongue, the blonde went down easily while I had my growler filled with some of the IPA.

Then it was off to Ponderay. Dave was not in evidence when I first arrived but I began chatting with what looked like a group of regulars in the tasting room. The man sitting next to me turned out to be Skip, who is currently the “head keg washer” while he waits for Laughing Dog to expand in August, at which point he will become the distiller of a line of liquors. As I was ingraining myself with Skip, Dave appeared with the owner and brew master, Fred. After some introductions, Fred made me goad Dave into giving me a tour of the brew facilities and he happily obliged. Fred and Skip came along and we eventually found ourselves leaning on pallets of grain, chatting about beer and sharing a growler of Arrogant Bastard that they had been cellaring since 2007. Fred then invited me to come and apprentice brew with him and Dave at some point in the near future. Fred and Mickey work at not competing with one another and there is much mutual respect, so I wouldn’t be stepping on any toes. I will seize any and all opportunities to expand my brewing knowledge, especially with hands on experience.

All in all, a very wonderful brew day and definitely worth the drive up from Spokane. I look forward to brewing with both Mickey and Fred in the future, but I have learned that the opportunities will be finite; I returned home on Friday to a letter from UC Davis informing me that I had been moved from the 2012 Master Program to the 2011 program, which starts in January. Great news indeed, but I now feel a little bit frazzled when faced with the logistics of what the life change entails. Anxiously awaiting the opportunity, but there is a lot of work to do still to get me to Davis in time. Stayed tuned for the ever developing chronicles of becoming a professional brewer.

Brewing at MickDuffs

While returning from a beer tasting on Schweitzer in north Idaho late last summer, my girlfriend and I stopped in Sandpoint to grab a pint of MickDuffs Gnarly Nine because the keg at the tasting had blown before we got a chance to try it. We saddled up to the bar to find that the head brewer Mickey was the one slinging pints. As beer geeks tend to do, we got talking and by the end of the night Mickey had graciously offered to let me come in and help him brew from time to time, as my schedule allowed. Mickey learned how to brew while working at Scuttlebutt in Everett and he seeks to pass on the favor by imparting his knowledge onto numerous eager homebrewers and curious friends from around the region.

On Thursday of last week, I drove up to MickDuffs to help Mickey brew a batch of their Tipsy Toe Head Blonde Ale. We began the brew day at 8 am, and as the boiler was heating up, we got to work milling the grains. Mickey is quite handy (a trait that is quite useful in this industry) and had modified the mill himself, and while it produces uniformly crushed grain it is also quite messy. Due to space restrictions, the milling portion of the MickDuffs operation is a little less than ideal, but Mickey has developed a system that maximizes their ability to produce wonderful ales despite any limitations.

We lowered the boom on the grain auger and with respiratory masks in place, I began putting the milled grain into the hopper while Mickey stirred the mixing contents of the mash tun. I would never consider brewing to be “hard” work, but there are some physical elements that can be demanding and after picking up that many pounds of grain, I am now convinced that being a scrawny guy is no longer going to cut it for me. The buckets that we used to transfer the milled grain into the auger produce a nice dust cloud when you drop one into the other, so I did that outside.

With all of the grains into the mash tun, I returned the auger boom back to a resting position and got to work sweeping up the grain dust that (unfortunately) did not make it into the brew while Mickey worked the levers on his brewing system to get the consistency he wanted in the mash tun. Everything was running happily, so we began cleaning and sanitizing the fermentation tank we were going to put our brew into at the end of the day. Fully steeped, Mickey began the process of transferring the wort to the brew kettle and once that was finished, I got to work on cleaning the spent grain from out of the mash tun. The man-way into the mash tun is just a little taller than I would like, but with outstretched arms, I was able to get the job done. The spent grain went into large plastic trash cans that were pushed outside to be picked up by a local farmer.

The heavy labor done for the day, Mickey put in our lunch orders as the brew kettle was heating up and we ate while watching the clock to make hop additions at the proper times. We finished our food and checked the carbonation level of the Strom Hammer IPA in one of the other fermentation tanks just before the brew was finished so Mickey showed me how to flush the wort chiller and then we transferred the finished brew to the fermentation tank and cleaned out the brew kettle. After spending some time with the final clean up, we were finished for the day and headed to the bar to enjoy a pint of Mickey’s previous labors, which in this case was his seasonal brown ale.

Just as with our previous session, I enjoyed my experience brewing with Mickey. His brewing knowledge is quite formidable but his personality is anything but so I was able to learn from him comfortably and easily. Both of us being beer geeks made it so we got along well and both of us knowing the value of labor made it so we could work well together. Any questions I had were thoroughly answered in a friendly manner and although I had to do most of the heavy lifting, I was never treated as anything but an equal. And as for the heavy lifting, I know what it means to pay ones dues.

After Mickey left for the day, I stuck around to watch my Buffalo Sabres in the NHL playoffs and was glad I did. I got the chance to overhear some random conversations amongst the customers as they contemplated the beer they were imbibing. Mickey produces a fine line of ales that are greatly appreciated by those that try them and the local following is strong. When I couldn’t help myself, I did chat with a couple of the customers about their beers and they were quick to sing its praises.

That’s what craft beer is all about. Mickey puts a lot of hard, honest labor into creating his ales and the people from around the region gather at MickDuffs to enjoy them, shedding their worries and cares for a few minutes while sharing a laugh and ultimately strengthening the bonds of community. MickDuffs works hard to be a part of their community and that level of commitment is reciprocated by the many customers in and around Sandpoint. Local ales for local people; it’s a beautiful thing.