Review: The Search for God and Guinness

Guinness has been one of the most popular beers in the world for over 250 years.  There have been many rumors and stories told about Arthur and his family about how they brewed to save the world from whiskey among other things.  Some of the legend is true, some of it is not (isn't that how most legends are?).

Stephen Mansfield takes us on a journey through Guinness history with the tilt of looking at how God and theology played a part in the Guinness story.  Mansfield looks at Arthur's Protestant faith in a county that was devoutly Catholic.  He shows us how his children went various ways, some into brewing and some into ministry.  He shows how the Guinness' faith always played a part in creating an atmosphere at the brewery of compassion, care, and rebuilding Dublin into the thriving world city it is today.

Mansfield does a solid job of telling the Guinness story and weaving it into their faith and beliefs.  While I would have liked to have found out more about the business, the brewing, and the backgrounds of Guinness, that was not Mansfield's goal.  He accomplishes his goal of showing how an unwavering faith in God is not only compatible, but also benefited with beer (in moderation of course).

You can buy a copy through Amazon here if you'd like.  Buying through this site supports me!  I received nothing for reviewing this book, but I can receive if you shop through the link.  Thanks!

New Feature

So I've added a link at to the right of the page which takes you to a store on Amazon.  I put some things on there that may be helpful when brewing, especially if you're just getting started.  I'll add stuff as I think of it or come across useful things.  I hope this is helpful!  Whenever you shop through this link or the Amazon link below, it costs you nothing extra and helps support me!  I appreciate it!

Oatmeal Stout

Man, I really like a good oatmeal stout.  Especially when it's winter and it's an oatmeal stout I made.  A side note...I found a couple bottles of the first oatmeal stout I brewed in the fridge at my in-laws on Thanksgiving from last February.  I figured they weren't going to be finishing them, so I took them and enjoyed one and gave one to a friend who may like it more than I do!  They were delicious!

This is my fourth time brewing a variant of this recipe now, and it keeps on tasting awesome!  This is by far my most recurring recipe, which is interesting since I'm usually not too big on stouts these days...I guess I come up with too many IPA recipe's that are totally awesome!

Recipe:
5.5 gallon

Grain:
12.65# GW 2-Row
.65# Crystal 120L
.65# Chocolate (dark patagonia again!)
.3# Bairds Roasted Barley
.85# Flaked Oats

Hops:
.75oz Cascade (10.2%) for 75m
.75oz Cascade (10.2%) for 60m
1oz Cascade (6%) for 30m
1oz Cascade (65) for 1m
(note the two different alpha percentages)

Yeast:
Wyeast Pacman Slurry

Notes:
First time brewing this where I didn't have any problems or issues.  Original gravity came in at 1.072 (target was 1.074-close enough).  This was the second of two batches that I brewed today.  I prefer doing it this way because I can brew two batches in one day in about 6-6 1/2 hours instead of doing two separate batches of 4-4 1/2 hours each.  Way better.  I think I'll do it this way from here out and not have to take as many days brewing.
Update 11/28/11: Nothing happening in the fermenter.  I'm going to pitch a 1056 slurry in there.  Not sure what happened to the Pacman slurry I used.
Update 12/16/11: Bottled.  FG was 1.016.  Got 18 22's and 23 12's.  Not too bad a haul.

Blind Pig Clone

So I really like Blind Pig.  My wife likes Blind Pig even more.  So, this is my attempt at making it.  I searched some recipes online and then came up with my own based on those and on the info on the Russian River site.  We'll see how this turns out...Hopefully it's awesome!

Recipe:
5.5 gallons

Grain:
10.5# GW 2-Row
1.2# Crystal 40L
.5# Briess White Wheat
.5# Carapils

Hops:
1.25oz CTZ @60m (16.7%)
1oz Cascade @ 30m (6%)
1oz Cascade @ 15m (6%)
1oz Centennial @ 2m (10%)
.5oz Simcoe @ 2m (13%)

1oz Simcoe for 7 Days Dry-hop
1oz Centennial for 7 Days Dry-hop
1oz Cascade for 7 Days Dry-hop

Yeast: 
1056 Slurry

Notes:
I brewed two batches today (this was the second) and things went well.  Partially sunny day as well (rare for Portland in November).  Hit my marks all around.  Originally Gravity was 1.062 (target was 1.063).
Update 11/28/11: Nothing happened for a couple days, but now there's a ton of foam on the surface and it's fermenting away.  I came closer to the 5.5 gallon amount this time (instead of the 6+ gallons I'd been getting lately) so it's not flowing out the top, which is nice not to have to clean.
Update 12/16/11: Racked to secondary and added the dry hops.  FG was 1.016.
Update 1/27/12: Holy Cow!  This was sooo goood.  Started enjoying this on Christmas Day, and finished it off probably in about 10 days.  Man oh Man, you should brew this!

Heavenly Storehouses Laden With Snow

Christmas Ale time!  This being the first Christmas I am brewing means that this will be my first attempt at a Christmas Ale. I'm not doing any spices in this though as I don't want to screw it up and ruin it.  I loosely based the recipe off Widmer's Brrrr, although I don't know if I've had that one at all.  I just liked the malts in their recipe and the hops used, so it seemed like a good route to go.

The name of the recipe comes from the song "Indescribable" by Chris Tomlin, who got the lyric line from Job 38:22.  My wife thought that that was a really silly line before she found out it was from the Bible.  She still thinks it's silly, but at least it's biblical this way.  So since it refers to storehouses of snow and when I think of snow I think of Christmas, it seemed fitting.  Now if only it would snow here for Christmas...

Recipe:
5.5 Gallon

Grain:
9.5lb GW 2-Row
1.75lb Crystal 15L
1.5lb Crystal 75L
1.1lb Munich Light
1lb Carapils
.25lb Chocolate (Patagonia Light-a new tasty one they got at Brew Bros.)

Hops:
1.5oz Cascade (10.2%!!) for 90m
1oz Cascade (6%) for 30m
1oz Simcoe (13%) for 30m
1oz Cascade (6%) for 1m
1oz Simcoe (13%) for 1m

2oz Cascade (6%) for 7 days dry hop
1oz Simcoe (13%) for 7 days dry hop

Yeast:
Wyeast 1968 London ESB

Notes:
Smooth brewing day.  Less that four hours from setup to cleanup.  Gravity came it right at 1.069, which was a little low, but I'm not overly worried.  If the FG comes in below 1.020 then I'll hit my marks just fine.  I'm really liking brewing on the porch as I don't feel so disconnected from my family when I do brew since they're usually in the front room so it's nice being able to play with the kids while brewing!
Update 11/20/11:  So the yeast I used from my yeast supply didn't do anything so after about three days I dumped the wort into another bucket, tried to keep out the bad yeast (I didn't try to hard though) and added the new 1968 Wyeast London Ale Yeast.  Fermentation is going well.  I'll transfer in a couple days.
Update 11/23/11: Gravity is at 1.030, so this needs a few more days.  I shook up the bucket so hopefully that will help.  Flavor was really good though.  Spicy, yet smooth.  This should be great!
Update 11/26/11: Racked to secondary and added the dry hops.  FG was 1.024.
Update 1/27/12: Bottled this a while back and kegged about 2 1/2 gallons.  I'll save some for the long haul so I can try this again in five or ten years.  Flavor was very complex.  It was great with food and pretty good on it's own.  I'll probably not brew this again, but it was very good.

Lagering Up For Winter

So now that the weather is cooler it's time to break into the lagers.  The cooler temps needed to ferment make this a great one to make in the fall/winter/early spring around here.  This is actually my first attempt at a lager, so I'm excited to see how this turns out.  I fashioned a recipe loosely based on a Kona Longboard Lager and gave it a go.  I plan on racking this to secondary in a week or two and then putting it on the back porch for a month or two (so long as it doesn't get below about 30 at night).

Recipe:

Grains:
7.5# GW 2-Row
2.2# Briess Red Wheat

Hops:
1oz Mt Hood for 60m
1oz Hallertau for 30m
1oz Hallertau for 1m

Yeast:
Wyeast California Lager from Old Dirty Randy.

Notes:
Nice and smooth brew day.  Getting my groove on here at the new house and it's nice to brew on the porch.  Free from rain and easy to watch football while I brew.  OG was 1.052.  FG should be about 1.015ish to make this about 5%.  Hopefully this will be ready for Christmas (although this isn't the holiday ale I'm planning on doing).
Update 11/20/11:  Racked to secondary and put it on the back porch.  I'll deal with it again in 6-8 weeks.  OG 1.014.  ABV is around 5%, right on target.  Flavor is good, although I know that the lagering process will add and age the flavor.
Update 12/16/11: Tasted.  Clear, crisp, and tasty.  I'll keg this once a keg opens up, probably in a couple weeks.
Update 1/7/12: Kegged plus 8 12oz bottles.  I can't wait to try this!
Update 1/27/12: This is ok.  Nothing great, however it is fantastic when mixed with an oatmeal stout (Othello at the Horse Brass anyone?).