Good things from down south.

So this week has been good for brewing. I want to congratulate Bob and Kevin for their stout and, though i know it isnt their favorite, i enjoyed the honey beer as a light, easy to drink beer with a different flavor to it. Also, im interested to see how that IPA turns out since i basically made the recipe on the fly, similar to our last two batches but with variations. 7 pounds extract, 2 lbs domestic 2 row, half pound victory, quarter pound barley flakes, ounce and a half summit, two ounces cascade, california ale yeast. Rest at 154F for 45 minutes. I hope I knew what I was talking about.

Also! The Brown Ale you guys made? Excellent. I was glad I was around when Bob cracked open a few bottles for the first time. A little heavier and darker than a newcastle, good flavor, hints of molasses, I think it will become amazing with age, but its great now. Makes me excited for our brown ale, but I dont even remember when that's gonna be done. We need to start keeping better track of stuff, somewhere other than in my head. Kevin's notebook is a good idea. I started to record stuff in my laptop, but then it became a pain. We should just buy a notebook.

Also, I've chosen a target date for opening a brewery/bar/whatever, and its my 28th birthday. Now I've thought about this, and that gives us 5 solid years to get our act together after Bob (and maybe Kevin) has moved up to SF. I dont see any reason that cant happen. Next stop, all-grain.

Do you know the muffin man?

Kevin inspired me to write. I would have to concur that it is a great feeling to brew a beer that is well received and tastes great. I would also say that the Stout is brilliant. We will have to send down the recipe for the porter which is also very good.

My main reason for this post, is our latest bottled beer which was called the Scottish Spiced Ale, we have now decided to call it the Drury Lane for reasons that will soon be mentioned. The basic premise of the beer is a brown ale, with spices; nutmeg, cinnamon, zest of orange and ginger. The spices are made into a tea which is thrown into the beer when putting it in the carboy, also! we added full sticks of cinnamon and grated ginger and zest of orange before sealing the beer. That part is not an exact science and was actually done in a slightly inebriated state. I detract, when we first tried it the beer was too spiced and was not tolerable, it was also not very carbonated. About a week later I decided to try it again, and oh man does it get better with age, the beer has little to no haze and a full bodied taste that reminds one of gingerbread. The gingerbread taste is where the name Drury Lane comes from, think Shrek and The Muffin Man poem. The beer can be intimidating at first smell but the gingerbread is not overpowering and becomes complimentary to the brown ale. Like the Stout and IPA this has become a favorite of people visiting our house. The beer is not something that you down or drink massive qualities of, but with a desert it is excellent. It is also a great way to start or end your night.

This has got me very excited because though your base beers are fun to make, I really think beer should be a unique flavor and idea. I can't wait to see what the Drury Lane taste like in a month. Check back later for my newest idea an Orange Stout!

Do you know the muffin man, the muffin man, the muffin man?
Do you know the muffin man who lives on Drury Lane?"

Our Stout is Delicious!

So far we have four beers that we have been able to drink: an Amber to start (came out weak bodied with an interesting aftertaste, after letting it sit longer it tasted better), then a Hefeweizen that was fairly good, and then a honey ale that had similar problems to the Amber (both were better after an extra week of aging).
Then along came the stout, a recipe I believe we got from the north part of CCB. It is amazingly delicious; full bodied, a wealth of flavor, and a refreshing aftertaste. At first it was fun to be brewing beer in general- its a fun hobby and you can get yourself drunk. But when you create a beer that could easily be served in any restaurant and tastes as good as any beer you've had at a bar/restaurant/liquor store/alley/park/etc. it raises the stakes. Now I know we can create marketable beer that people will enjoy.
I like the acceleration thus far; already doing partial mashes and kegging. I wouldn't be surprised to be doing full grain within two years. So raise a glass to CCB, because the future looks deliciously bright.

Hops are amazing things.

Until recently, hops were used only limitedly in the american style beers. We've all seen the sam adams commercial where they say they put a pound of hops in every batch. Personally, I'm not too impressed cause we used a fifth of a pound for 5 gallons last week, i know they're doing batches bigger than 25 gallons, and they probably arent using anything as strong as Summit. At the same time, they're doing something right, so I guess its just the style.

Regardless! Hops do more than just bitter your beer (although this is important). In addition to the alpha acids that isomerize during the boil and provide a bitter balance for the alcohol of the beer, hops also provide flavor and aroma to balance out the malty taste. These come predominantly from beta acids, and when adding hops for such things, one should add late in the boil, or dry hop, as they boil out quickly. Some hops, the 'Noble Hops' of central Europe (Tettnanger, Hallertauer, Spalter, and Saaz) are almost exclusively used for aroma and flavor and only slightly for bittering.

Beyond that, Hops also provide a stabilizing and preservative effect to the beer. In addition to balancing out the high abv of an IPA, this is the other reason they are featured heavily in it; to meet the original intention of the IPA (surviving long trips across the ocean). Lastly, hops also have an anti-biotic effect against gram-positive bacteria. If you think about it, thats pretty crazy. Hops appear perfect for brewing beer anyways, and then if thats not enough, they also provide an even better environment in the wort by preventing bacterial growth and so encourage yeast growth and alcohol production.

Lord knows they've got to be better than whatever was used for bittering before them. If we ever open up a higher-class brewpub and restaurant, I want a patio opening onto a hops garden off the back.

Today was an epic brew day. (Also, less bullshit than last time)

Today was intense. Allan knows already, but we went full bore on brewing and got all our shit done.

1) The California Pale was kegged and should be ready to drink as soon as there's room in the kegerator.
2) The Honeyed Wheat was bottled and should be ready in two weeks.
3) The carboys for both were cleaned and we racked the English Brown from last week into one. So far, looks perfect.
4) We switched up the old IPA recipe and brewed up a batch.

The IPA should be a good one. We kept the ounce of summit at the beginning as our primary bittering hop (which with 18.6% aau should make a pretty hopped up beer, even for an IPA). But then on the recommendation of the guy at Brewcraft, switched out Cascade for Amarillo. He says it has a smoother finish, losing the pine-y bite of Cascade, and has a kind of Apricot after taste. Figured it was worth experimenting with. Also, I wanted to give dry hopping a shot, and since the Amarillo's a little higher in alpha acids, we shouldn't lose any bitterness by not boiling the last ounce at all. I'm excited about this IPA.

Mid-week I plan on kegging the Oatmeal Stout, and then both the Pale and Stout should be ready by next weekend, as soon as the kegerator is empty. At the rate we're knocking back pints, that should be soon.

Also, I got a set of chisels sent back up to me from home, so i'll start carving tap handles pretty soon. You guys brew this weekend?

Oh the times, they are a-changin'

Beer has begun to regain its historical prominence. Way back when, before the mechanisms which turned wort into beer were even understood, every village had its own brewery, its own style, and its own loyal group of dedicated drinkers. Then the massive breweries came, the Anheuser and Coors and similar, and we got a hundred years of watered down, mass produced crap thats good for chugging on a hot day and not much else. But in the past twenty years, beer has begun to ascend back to its former diversified grandeur, and some might even argue, reached new heights.

We have a goal. Believing beer to be just as elaborate, diverse, and delicious as wine, just as compatible with a meal, just as sophisticated, and just as enjoyable as the international choice in alcohol, we aim to raise beer to that level, to the level where bottles are saved for decades, revered for their taste, and remembered. Where waiters recommend a crisp pale with a fish dinner, a pint of porter with a dessert, a beer for every occasion, because the stuff is just that good.

But admittedly, we're learning, and we have a lot to learn. But that means we're getting better. Give it time. California Coastal will be a name to remember. And our motto, with high hopes and lofty ideals, is Beer is the New Wine.

So go have a pint. Hell, have six. Indulge a little. If we succeed, there will always be more on the way.

Welcome to the REVOLUTION

Hey everyone, my name is Allan I am part of the California Coastal Brewing Group. This blog is all about the cause and solution to all of lives problems, BEER. As Joe will of course talk about later, we believe Beer is the new wine. I would say we are are at Step 7 of a 37 step process to world domination. We probably should have started at the start but oh well.

Steps completed so far

Step 1 - Brew a beer
Step 2 - Brew a beer that doesn't taste like crap
Step 3 - Drink delecious beer
Step 4 - Spread the love
Step 5 - Build Kegerator
Step 6 - Keg our beer
Step 7 - Drink delicious kegged beer





Check back later for more updates/progress