Tag: teaching

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I’m Published!

Well, sort of.  At the least, two of my recipes are in a much more trafficked area than my website, and my name is attached to them. This turn of events is thanks to a friend of mine, known in the SCA as Sorcha Crowe, putting together an article on six-row barley for Zymurgy (the “official” magazine of the American Homebrewering Association–click the link in the sidebar and join up!).  She asked me if I had any recipes using six-row that she could use, and the rest, as they say, is history.

As luck would have it, my “historical” barley (the Bere) is a six-row.  Its progress in the field has been impressive–given another month, it may catch up to the winter barley in growth.  The Hana is still plugging along, but hasn’t really been as productive, which is somewhat disappointing.  (Overall, I’m not as impressed with the Hana as I would have liked–its germination rate seemed low, and now it’s not growing as well.  I may try selecting the better seeds, to try selecting for a better-adapted variety, but that’s a multi-year process…)

I have, at this point, most of the holes dug for the pier footings, to which I will attach a deck, and from there a pergola for my hops.  I hope to get the footings poured in the next couple of days; if I’m successful there, I should have hops in the ground after this weekend, and not a moment too soon.  The Sterling rhizomes have put up shoots, as have the Magnum and one of the Willamette.  The Cascades are lagging a bit, but if need be I can get a cutting from my “old” plants (which have reached their climbing strings, and are progressing as hops will do).

In the meantime, I think I have my class notes finalized for this weekend; I need to find a free minute or two to make copies of my handouts.  Atlantian University has found a site for a Summer Session in June, and my Lady Wife and I are combing our schedules to see if we can attend and present our classes (she teaches classes on Russian clothing).  Right now, things are looking positive.

On another positive note, I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to actually brew something by late summer.  Probably not “inside” in the Brewhouse, nor on a nice, shiny electric brew-rig, but brewing nonetheless.  There have been a number of people ask when I was going to start back up; for now, that’s the best I can offer–“soonish.”

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Some observations on barley

The biggest problem with growing barley, I’m finding, is observing the progress. On the one hand, brewing is a hobby for the patient–it’s all “hurry up and wait,” after all. On the other hand, watching barley grow is rather like–well, not to put too fine a point on it, it’s like watching grass grow.  (Makes sense, really, since that’s exactly what it is…) At least with the hops you can see progress on a daily basis.

So, everything has germinated. The Maris Otter and Halcyon are nearing the tops of their “cages”. The Hana and Bere are a ways behind that. I’m disappointed with the germination rate I got from the Hana in the field–of the 30-40 seeds, I’ve got maybe ten sprouts. (All of the Hana in the planter came up–it’s likely a soil issue, rather than a seed issue.)  The Bere is happy both in the field and the planter, with its second set of leaves up and the third set looking not far behind.

In the meantime, with less than two weeks to go before their introduction, I’m feverishly going over, revising, and correcting my class notes for the Medieval German Beer classes.  There are three, tentatively titled: “Period German Brewing Practices,” “Medicinal German Beers,” and “A Period German Pub Crawl.”  Thus far, the corrections are primarily fixing typos, and making sure my facts line up.  Of the three, I’m happiest with the Pub Crawl; it’s entirely possible that in the future I’ll fold the Period Practices bit into that one for a “mega-class”.  I’m hoping to have some medicinal herb people in the Medicinal Beers class, and to make it more of a discussion group.

Part of the fun for the Pub Crawl was looking at the various local beer names–“brands,” if you will.  A friend of mine was commenting on the wide variety of beer names available at the local liquor superstore, and the humor value in many of them… Well, our ancestors were no different in that regard: Butterfly, Toad, Choir Finch, Mosquito Mustard, and Raving Man are among the less vulgar names.  Some of them describe the feeling, or aftereffect, of the beer: Body-blow, Rip-Head, Blow-the-Man-Down.  The Lubeck offering of “Israel” was so named because of its strength: “People strive with it as Jacob wrestled with the Angel.”  (“Israel” is from the Hebrew for “wrestles with God”.)

Surprisingly, only a few of the beers were familiar to me, in terms of historical offerings: Gose, Israel, Broihane, Alt Klaus, Joben, and Mumme. Of those, I have only ever tasted commercial Gose.  (Mumme has become non-alcoholic, while Broihane morphed into a Pilsner, apparently.  I have practically no information whatsoever on Alt Klaus or Joben.)  Bock was not mentioned as such, although it was present if you know where to look–it derived from the name of its town of origin, Einbeck.  Indeed, it was searching for information on period “Einbeckisch Bier” that led me to the sources for my classes.

I’ll try to update again, either as “teaching-day” approaches, or soon after… And, I promise, pictures of barley (and hops!) will be forthcoming before long.

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Lots to do

So, the Brew Day is coming up (three days from now), and I’m only just beginning to approach being almost ready. Granted, I’ve got the grains, and specialty grains, and hops, and a nice yeast cake–so, in that sense, I’m ready. My gear is still in its latest phase (while I learn PCB design, electronics, PICAXE programming, and a host of other things); fortunately, that phase is functional. But there’s so much yet to do!

We’ve been having relatively decent weather of late, so we’ve cleaned up the back yard–but part of the assorted gardening/yard chores included splitting some spider plants. What were two large spider plants, hanging in windows in the living room, are now *four* moderately-sized spider plants, lounging in my Brewing Storage Room (avoiding a few early-spring frosts). On a somewhat related note, the hops (the ones the dog didn’t dig up) are showing signs of life–small shoots are up; I’m just waiting for them to really get going…

I’ve got electrical diagrams and parts scattered across my desk, and tons of paperwork to file, just to have room to work. I’ll probably do a bit of clearing of my Lady Wife’s sewing table–just don’t tell *her* that. And the Bar area is an unholy mess.

Why the frantic cleanup? Well, it’s spring, for one–time for cleaning. I’ve also been contacted by someone who’s interested in learning the Brewing Arts–someone from the local Barony, no less! And it’s a difficult thing to learn in a thoroughly messy environment. So, a bit of tidy-up is in order. Finally, if I’m to have *room* to brew, I’ve got to get a bunch of stuff bottled–the pyment can probably get bottled; the pear cider most likely can; the lambic should be about ready; my last two beers, the SMaSH and the Helles, are also coming ready for their containers. Egad, I’ve got to finish off a keg to have room, too… Ah, trials and tribulations…

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University, October 2008

Yesterday was Atlantian University, and I taught my long-awaited Intro to All-Grain Brewing class. (Well, long-awaited by me, anyway.) Things seemed to go pretty well. I think that I’ll stretch the class out to 2 hours next time, as that’s really a *lot* of information to go through in an hour; I felt a little rushed for parts of it. 2 hours would also give me the opportunity to bring in a bit of equipment to help describe what’s going on for the brew.

One thing that the class was good for was creating a number of new contacts. It seems that there are a number of folks both (relatively) locally and within a reasonable driving distance who want to learn to brew. Everyone who was in my class now has the URL for this site, as well as for my webpage; by extension, this means they have my email address, and we can arrange further hands-on classes at a later date. [2018 Edit: Those were my old blog and webpage; everything is here, now. -M]

Also, I let everyone there know about my upcoming Brew Day, a week from today. I believe I’ll try for ‘take two’ of the Kolsch that practically disappeared last weekend. I’ll have to use the Golden Promise malt, rather than the American Pale 2-Row that I used last time, but that should only improve the brew, I would think. Regardless, it’s more beer, which is always a good thing, right?

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Brewday, September 2008

Okay, so I’m all prepped (pretty much) for the brewday tomorrow. The plan, for me at least, is to brew up a nice Scottish 70/-; I’m aiming for an OG of about 1.038, but will probably go over. The plan is to go with Golden Promise for the base malt (a Scottish malt for a Scottish ale), and add a bit of roast malt (ground really fine) at the end of the mash–just in time for sparging. That should provide color, without adding a lot of roasty bitterness/astringency. We’ll see how that goes. Not much in the way of hops–3/4 ounce of Kent Goldings at 60 minutes, just for bitterness. Finally, I’ll ferment as cool as I can arrange (I may even empty out the lagering chest)–probably around 60F–with the Edinborough strain of yeast.

Then there’s the second batch: a nice Barleywine. This one looks to be interesting–it’s a ‘guest brew,’ being brewed by/with a friend of mine. The recipe itself is from a friend of hers, and it will be a real test of the new mash tun–it takes a whole lot of grain. It should be interesting.

Also, I’m expecting a couple of friends to show up (other than the Barleywine Brewer mentioned above)–one of whom *may* brew something; he might even be bringing someone new to watch. The other one is interested in beginning to brew himself; I’ve been trying to drag him to a brewing session for about 2 years or so now. Finally, success! My evil plan comes to fruition! (heh heh)

I’ll post more on this tomorrow, after brewing a bit.

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What’s coming up…

I’ve been asked to do a 1-2 hour class on all-grain brewing for the Atlantian Fall University in October. Shouldn’t be a problem, beyond deciding how basic to make it. Do I go as elementary as explaining that ‘beer is made (broadly) from malt, hops, water, and yeast,’ or take that as a known? I’ve got ideas; and whatever level I decide to take it, I can always ‘ad-lib’ it at other levels of detail.

I’m also looking at a Brewing Day on the 6th of September. I haven’t decided yet what to brew; I’m leaning towards a Scottish Ale, probably something in the 50/- range. I’m not certain if I’ll try for a second brew. I’m open to suggestions… I’ll have room in the lagering chest, so maybe a bock or a helles.