Thursday, August 20, 2009

Homegrown Homebrew!





A batch of homebrew made with entirely homegrown organic hops is currently cold conditioning at work, the joys of working at a brewery. The style? Good question. I believe the recipe was something like, 8 lbs of pilsner and 2.5 lbs of caramunich II. Hop profile was brewers gold and nugget for bittering, and cascade and centennial for flavor and aroma. Its going to get more cascade and centennial dry hopped in the keg. Add some English Ale yeast and you have my first harvest ale. Harvested enough hops for another brew or so too.

Just sent four beers from work to the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, CO. Tavern Ale, Dortmunder Lager, Oak Barrel Stout, and Copperhead Alt Ale. I think our best bet for a medal is either the Copperhead or Dortmunder.
Hops next to a soybean field, soybeans are
part of the three crop rotation on the
Eastern Shore












Hops growing a hundred yards from a tributary of the Chesapeake













The second of three harvests

Saturday, August 1, 2009

America's first co-operative brewpub

Read about this new brewpub in a Beer Advocate and thought the idea was really cool. Check out their site at Black Star Co-op.

Could this happen in Chestertown?!?

Evolution Craft Brewery

Ventured to Evolution Craft Brewery in Delmar, De last weekend for a few tastings. It was well worth the trip! The tap room is beautiful and has a great vibe to it. Behind the bar is a large window showing the brew house. Got a tour of the brewery with a few tastings from the fermenting vessels thanks to my friend Wes, an assistant brewer there. Their beer styles are typical for a new brewery, but are very tasty, and only seem to get better with each new batch as the head brewer, Geoff, tweaks the recipes. Looking forward to returning to fill up my growlers.


Check out the head brewers blog at http://evolutionbeer.blogspot.com/