Saison Links

Here are some references for brewing a Saison, a refreshing summer beer style produced in Wallonia (the French-speaking part of Belgium.)

• Saison Beer – Belgian Farmhouse Ale Recipes
• Brewing a Summer Saison
• Saison: Style Profile
• Saison For All Seasons
• The Way of the Saison

Craft Beer Characteristics Chart

Stout, Port, and Coffee cocktail

I've just watched this video showing how to make a beer cocktail using Russian Imperial stout, port, Sambuca, and coffee.  I'm a big fan of stout cocktails, and this one looks pretty good.  

The Beer Chick ladies get on my nerves a little bit, but they appear to know what they are talking about.  I may have to watch some more of their beer cocktail videos.

Brew Dudes Robust Porter Recipe

I really like the look of this Brew Dudes robust porter recipe, so I've posted a link to it:

http://www.brew-dudes.com/robust-porter-recipe/4776

Also, their brown porter recipe doesn't look so bade either:

http://www.brew-dudes.com/brown-porter-recipe/332

US Brewers Association Style Guidelines

The 2013 US Brewers Association Beer Style Guidelines have just been released.  While I don't believe a beer must match its style exactly down to the very last ingredient, SRM value, and IBU value (they really are just 'guidelines' after all) I've always found this style guide a useful tool in designing a beer recipe. I'm a firm believer in knowing what the rules are before before you start breaking them.

My only gripe is that while it contains guidelines for such obscure beers type as Grätzer or Bamberg-Style Märzen Rauchbier, there's no style guidelines for New Zealand Draught. I guess they don't drink a lot Speights in the US craft/home-brew scene.

The 2013 beer style guidelines are available for download from BrewersAssociation.org here.

Beersplosion.

One of my Otterbraus exploded today. It was my first ever beer bottle explosion.  Now I remember why I don't usually make beer in summer.  I also learnt why it's important to not store beer on the carpet in the spare room.

I was actually quite relieved when I found out it was a beer that had exploded.  I was in the middle of cooking up a batch of Goldenbrau with a new gas burner at the time.  I had temporarily left it boiling unattended when heard the bang, and I had visions of faulty gas burner induced fireballs engulfing my garage.

Still, I got to spend a pleasant evening cleaning beer off the walls.  The carpet still stinks like Zythos hops though.

Romp

A romp of Otterbraus.  Or possibly a lodge of Otterbraus, I'm not sure.

Labels

Here are all the Highetbrau labels I've done to date.  I am by no means a graphic designer, but I think they've turned out pretty good.

The aesthetic is intended to be psuedo-Germanic, taking inspiration from classic German beer labels, Euro-Disney, Motorhead, and cheesy German-themed restaurants.

Deep Creek American IPA

It shouldn't really have a label because I bought the wort pre-made from Deep Creek Brewery, and it has nothing to do with aquatic mammals, but I don't care - I'm calling it Otterbrau.

Media Sensationalism

Thanks for the sensationalism TV3, but I'm fairly certain that this teenager's death, caused by drinking two litres of home-brewed spirits in ten minutes, doesn't "put he spotlight on the growing home brew industry".

I'm reasonably sure that drinking 2 litres of top quality, shop-bought vodka in 10 minutes would still have the same effect.  

If anything, it puts the spotlight on New Zealand's binge drinking culture.

Beer Bottles

I just contacted a New Zealand based bottle company about getting a quote for a couple hundred 500ml brown glass beer bottles.  Turns out you can only buy them in a minimum quantity of 44506 bottles!  No wonder there's hardly any beer bottles for sale in New Zealand.

Fresh Wort

If you're in Auckland and interested in getting into home brewing, but want to ease into it, then this looks like a good place to start.

You can turn up at Deep Creek Brewery on the 29th January with an empty fermenter, pay $60, and they'll fill it up with 23 litres of unfermented beer (wort).

All you have to do is leave it to ferment for a week or two, and then bottle it.  You'll end up with 23 litres of Deep Creek Brewery American IPA.

That's pretty good value for 20 odd litres of craft brew.  I'm tempted to give it a go myself.

Certificate In The Craft Of Beer

I see that The Brewers Guild of New Zealand is introducing a 'Certificate In The Craft Of Beer' - a one day educational beer workshop. It consists of 3 NZQA unit standards, and covers knowledge of beer, beer heritage, styles, flavours, and matching beer with food.

It looks like it's aimed at those in the hospitality industry (i.e. bar staff) rather than craft/home brewers, but it still looks extremely interesting none the less.

Details can be found here.

Welcome to Highetbrau Country

Well then, this is the new Highetbrau blog.  Much like the brewing process itself, I only have a limited idea of what I'm doing.