Back in April my assistant brewer helped me plant some hop rhizomes. Expectations were low, as first year hop plants usually do not produce a lot of hop cones. The goal this year was to develop a good root base in hopes the next year we would be able to harvest a small crop.
Well Isabel must have a green thumb because we had great luck with the hops. We planted two varieties, Willamette and Cascade and both produced a very good first year crop.
A few weeks ago I harvested the Willamette for a fresh hop batch where the hops go right from the vine and into the kettle. My assistant was as stoked as I was about our first hop pick. "Dada, hops, hops, hops!"
Two ounces were added to the beginning of the 60 minute boil for bittering.
What gives hops their magical super power? The yellow dust in the picture below is called Lupulin and that is the secret sauce of hops. Mmmm, Lupulin! (It helps if you say that in a Homer Simpson voice)
After the 60 minute boil another four and a half ounces were added to hopefully give the beer a powerful hop aroma. Without the prolonged affect of boiling, this hop addition should not impart any more bitterness to the beer.
The beer spent two and half weeks in primary and then was cold crashed in the fridge to end all fermentation and drop most of the sediment to the bottom of the fermenter.
Izzy Hop was bottled last week and should be ready to drink in another week or so. It should resemble Fat Tire with more of a hop kick and hopefully a little resinny characteristic from the fresh hops. I should probably save one for Isabel when she is old enough, but since it only weighs in at about 4.5% abv I don't think it will cellar that well.
It is no secret to anyone that I like beer, craft beer in particular. There is definitely a progression that is made when light beer drinkers expand their horizons to the endless awesomeness that is craft beer. Most start with an amber (Fat Tire) or brown (Newcastle) and then progress on to more robust beers such as IPA's, Porters and Stouts. Continuing on that progression, more and more people are taking it a step further and delving into homebrewing. Minneapolis and St Paul are home to 3 homebrew shops alone, if that tells you anything...
Last February, Kati's brother James showed me the ropes of homebrewing as we brewed a Maibock. I say we, but in reality he did most of the work. I was primarily there watching and drinking. I did learn a few things though. After that initial batch I was hooked. I just needed to get my own equipment so I could start brewing up batches of my own.
Luckily, James was an experienced brewer as was one of his friends, who we shall call Tickle**. As with most hobbies, James and Tickle had a glut of extra equipment laying around that they graciously donated to Butter Brewing. All I needed to get were a couple carboys, a recipe kit, and a few other odds and ends.
I wanted my first beer to be relatively easy and I wanted one that Kati would hopefully enjoy as well. With those two criteria in mind I picked a raspberry red ale. The brew process was pretty basic, no intensive hop additions, extra long boil times or anything really out of the ordinary. I also thought the raspberry would be a nice beer to finish off summer with. As it turned out I really didn't need to take Kati's beer preference into consideration since we found out she was pregnant with baby #2 as this beer was fermenting.
Below are some pictures of the brewing process.
Steeping the grains.
Grains steeped, yeast incubating, awaiting the boil
Tools of the trade. Yes, drinking a homebrew while brewing is a requirement!
Adding malt extract.
Wort after the hops have been pitched.
24 hours in primary. Active fermentation has begun .
After two weeks in primary fermenter, transfer to secondary.
The end result.
The first pour of Roadrash Raspberry Red Ale*
I was quite surprised with how well this beer turned out. I liked it a lot and I plan on this being the first repeat beer I do. I am planning on brewing it again in April to have ready for the beginning of summer.
Since the first brew I have done another 4 batches:
Granny Gear* (An aggressively hopped American Red ale based on Lakefront Brewing's Fixed Gear)
Burly Brown* (A roasted hoppy brown ale. This is the first beer that I strayed from the recipe on sound advice from James)
Stout 52* (A bold stout named for the temperature on the day of bottling. 52 degrees on December 26th)
Scotch Ale (Unnamed and currently in secondary)
* All naming rights licensed from Kati Mousel
I am not sure what style of beer I will brew next, but there are endless options and there are many styles I want to try out.
If you are ever around feel free to stop by for a sample or two.
It has been torture keeping the exciting news from everyone.
We are so excited that we weren't quite sure how we should share the news with the thousands ten readers of our blog.
So instead of trying to come up with the right words, we will let pictures speak a thousand.
I present to you the newest member of the Mousel family!
Salsa Big Mama
What else were you expecting?
I had to retire my Rocky Mountain Fanatik after Freewheel Bike Shop found a crack in the headtube of the frame. I was pretty much guaranteeing myself a broken face if I continued to ride it.
The Retired Rocky
My neighbor hooked me up with a bike that in many ways is my dream bike. What makes it my dream bike you say? Why I am glad you asked! Allow me to show you.
Last night I saw one of my favorite bands, the John Butler Trio, for the sixth time. They are an Australian band that is wildly popular in the Land Down Under and they have slowly gained headway here in the US. The first time I saw them was at the Trilogy Wine Bar in Boulder, CO with approximately 100 other people that were mostly Aussie’s living the ski bum lifestyle in Summit County. They have grown exponentially since then including headlining shows at Red Rocks and recently opening for the Dave Matthews Band in New York at Madison Square Garden.
The highlights of the show included:
* The Fitzgerald Theater— May be the coolest indoor venue I have ever been to, even John Butler mentioned what a classic place it was. 2nd row tickets didn’t hurt either!
* The extended intro into Treat Yo Mama that featured the new bass player simultaneously playing stand-up bass and didgeridoo. Impressive doesn’t seem an adequate description.
* “Ocean”- Always a top highlight of the show. For a sample of John Butler’s awesomeness, watch the video below. You won’t be disappointed.
* “Losing You”- Butler had everyone sit during the solo performance of “Losing You” and the place got so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Awesome.
* The intensity of a JBT live show. I am not a huge fan of the direction some of their new music is going, a little too poppy, but those songs are transformed in a live setting with extended instrumentals and the electricity that JBT brings to every show.
* Butler’s rant about how cold it was.
* Matt McHugh of The Beautiful Girls was the opening act and he did an acoustic cover of Pearl Jam’s “Black” dedicated to professional surfer Andy Irons who recently passed away unexpectedly. I could have left happy after that. It may be the top highlight of the night.
* Bells Two Hearted Ale on tap!
Lowlights:
* “That guy” was seated right behind me. For some reason known only to him he thought he needed to attempt to clap to the beat of every song and scream out either “Yeah John!” or “I love you John!” during every song. It took every ounce of my being not to rip his arms off. Beat clapping and “I love insert singer name here” yells are my top two pet peeves of concert goers.
* Nit picking lowlight: Every few years, Butler shakes up the lineup of the Trio. This was the first show I have seen with the new drummer Nicky Bomba and bass player Byron Luiters. While they were extremely good I did miss “ape-man” drummer, as Kati referred to him, Michael Barker and bassist Shannon Birchall. After all, 4 of the 6 shows I have seen were the John, Michael, Shannon line-up.
* More nit picking: After 6 shows I am still waiting to see two of my favorite songs, “Life” and “Earthbound Child” played live. Not really a lowlight, but every time I go I hope to get those two and so far no luck.
And because I am a huge dork and like to keep a record of these kinds of things, here is last nights set list:
Pickapart Used to Get High I’d Do Anything Don’t Want to See Your Face Revolution Banjo Instrumental Better Than Treat Yo Mama w/ extended intro Ocean (solo) Losing You (solo) A Star Is Born Ragged Mile Good Excuse Zebra C’mon Now
Since I possess 1/1000th of your multi-tasking skills it has taken me a little over a week to complete the videos that recap your überwältigend Oktoberfest. But after untold hours and a few choice words hurled at the computer I present to you the DeGeest Family Oktoberfest in stunning HD video. I hope you enjoy!
One year ago today we started this blog and announced to the cyber-world that we were expecting a little bundle of joy on April 13, 2010.
Can you see the similarities? It is hard to believe that a year has past since we got our first picture of little Isabel. We won't say that everything has been a cakewalk, but you won't hear any complaints from us either. We have a wonderful healthy little girl that entertains us to no end and we can't imagine life without her.
This past weekend marked another major milestone for Isabel. She got to go for her very first ride in her Burley. I think dad may have been the most excited, but I think Isabel liked it too...well at least the part she was awake for.
And to cover each of the blog's themes, a beer post. One of my favorite Colorado beers, Odell's 90 Shilling, made it's way to MN this summer. Back when Kati and I were dating, and I still lived in CO, Kati ordered 90 online and had it shipped to MN so she could surprise me with it when I came for my next visit. It was probably the most money Kati has ever spent on a 6 pack of beer, but it was definitely worth it. Now 90 is available in most liquor stores and best of all it is on tap at Turtles! Cheers!
Last Saturday the SBC hosted the 2nd annual Spoker Run. What is a Spoker Run you ask? It is a gathering of bike nerds riding vintage cruiser bikes on a pub crawl playing poker, hence Spoker Run. The event was the brainchild of Kati's brother James. This years run departed Arnies Friendly Folks Club and was followed up with stops at James and Suz's, Applebee's, the KC Hall, VFW, the Eagles Club and Turtles Bar and Grill. Riders drew a card at each bar including a PBR bottle top at James & Suz's rest stop. For those that don't know, PBR bottles have a playing card on the inside of the bottle cap.
Their is nothing like the site of 20+ riders cruising down the road on vintage bikes with the sounds of cards in bike spokes, bells and horns blasting as we took over the road. The reaction from people in town and at the bars was priceless. Reggie, a patron at Eagles, was so impressed with us that he bought us a round of drinks.
So here is a look at some of the bikes, the SBC Crew and a video recap of the night.
The SBC Crew:
Kati's Murray: (Photo stolen from Matt Notermann)
Butter's Murray Missile, which only made it half way through the run. Ah, the beauty of vintage bikes! Luckily, the run had its very own Sag Wagon...thanks Ron and Tyler. (Photo stolen from Matt Notermann)
Bike Nerd talk with Jake: (Photo stolen from Matt Notermann)
Needs no explanation:
Don't tell Schwinn their saddle is on a Murray: (Photo stolen from Matt Notermann)
From James's collection, licensed in the Ice Cream Capital of the World: (Photo Stolen from Matt Notermann)
