GrapeHops Blog

Now, if you read the previous entry on brewing, we left off with the Wort in the fermenter, in the basement, bubbling a way, as little yeast monsters ate up the natural sugar and made your friend and mine, alcohol.

Well, two weeks went by and now we come to bottling time! We have to take all of that wort and get into our large-format (i.e., 22 ounces) bottles. While this isn’t as time consuming as the brewing (which takes about three hours from start to finish), it is a bit nerve-wracking because of all the sterilization that must take place (the key to brewing beer is the cleanliest of environment, and well, if you know me, you know how ironic that is).

So we started out by sterilizing everything (not like in home canning where you boil the jars but by using a no-rinse sterilization agent and dunking the bottles into it).

Next, put corn sugar in the bottom of the bottling bucket and siphoned the wort from the fermenting bucket to the bottling bucket. You want to do this with as little air exposure as possible to keep the beer from growing bacteria and skunking. Do not stir the wort in the bottling bucket (the pouring of the beer into the bottling bucket should churn the sugar enough to incorporate it into the wort.

Once in the bottling bucket, you siphon the beer into the beer bottles and then put the cap on (this is the only part of the process where it really does help having two people working as a team).

That’s it – store the bottles for at least two weeks (to get the carbonation going) and then you can enjoy (though apparently the longer you let it sit, the better). From our five gallons we got 24 22-oz bottles of beer (you do the math).

Now the question I have is to label or not? I think labels would look cool but do they stay on and can we get them off, when we want to reuse these bottles in the future for another batch?

So visiting breweries and talking to brew masters made me realize to get a real understanding for the brewing process, I needed to step in and actually make some beer. Many of you have seen those home brew kits (e.g., Mr. Beer) but that felt to me, like learning to bake bread via a bread machine. Yeah you get a feeling for the ingredients involved but not much else.

Now before I continue, let me give you my cop out. While I did use a huge vat on the stove to brew the beer, and I did cool this quickly (but not in a cooler) and I did move it to a fermenting bucket with an airlock for two weeks and I did move the beer from the fermenting bucket to a bottling bucket and I did use a tube (via vacuum effect) to move the beer from the bottling bucket into the bottles, and I did cap them, I also “cheated.” (Oh, and feel free to comment on my cheating here). I used a “kit” that came with all the necessary ingredients to brew our beer, a Scots Brown Ale. Yes, I know there are recipes, and I can buy and grind my own grains and flavoring ingredients and even make up my own recipes, but isn’t that like trying to make a beef wellington from scratch for the first time, without a recipe and/or pre-made puff pastry – you might be able to do it but would you really want to eat the results?

So I got my kit from The Home Brewery and it worked well.

And yes, my trusty assistant (aw, hell, who we kidding here – I made him do most of the work), Chris was by my side through the process.

First step, we had to heat five gallons of water in a large pot (and let me stop here to give a shout out to my brother, Andy, who got us a big ‘ol turkey deep fryer which is now doubling as our brew pot). Trust me when I tell you it takes a while to heat five gallons of water (to 170 degrees). While the water heats, you’re letting a cheesecloth filled with the “specialty grain” steep in there.

Next up, we took the pot off the heat and added the dry malt extract and hop pellets (the hop gives it that bitterness) and we stirred and stirred until it dissolved.

Then you boil it and continue to boil it for an hour. During that time, you gotta shove the green gunk from the bitterhops back down into the liquid (otherwise your beer won’t have as much of that bitter flavor in it).

Before it finishes boiling (45 minutes into the boil basically), we added Irish Moss. This stuff keeps the beer from getting cloudy.

Fifty minutes into the boil, we added the flavoring hops (okay – not really clear on what flavor the “flavoring hops” and this is the point where if I had selected my own recipe or made one up, I might have some more control over the end product). Oh, let me also note, after talking to a local beer geek last weekend, I learned more about dry malt (even tasted some) and got a better feel for how they affect the end product too.

Two minutes before the end, you add Aromatic Hops – and again, I’m assuming for smell but again because this was a pre-made kit, I have to trust them as to the type of aroma we were adding and whether or not it would be appropriate to a Scots Brown Ale. You wait to add them until the end so the aromas don’t boil away (kind of like adding fresh herbs at the end of cooking).

Now the fun comes – you’ve got to get this hot mass down to 75 degrees as quick as you can (you don’t want bacteria getting into it). By the way, you call this hot mass the Wort and you can buy a “Wort Chiller” to cool the beer down quickly. But lucky for us, the day we brewed it was about 20 degrees outside so we loaded it into a bucket filled with ice (today, we’re brewing a wheat beer and there’s snow outside, so we’ll stick it in that to chill).

Once the wort cools, you dump all of it into a fermenting bucket. If you ended up with less than 5 gallons of Wort, you can add cooled, pre-boiled clear water to bring the volume back to that 5 gallon mark.

Last step for the “brewing process” is to add the yeast. Sprinkle it on top of the Wort, it will get damp and sink eventually. Close up the fermenting bucket and hook up the airlock (which you fill with water or vodka – though vodka works better as an anti-bacteria fighter) and set it someplace cool and dark to do its work (we put it in our basement).

Now those little yeast monsters will eat all the natural sugar in the wort (from the hops and malts and stuff, creating alcohol and gas (aka CO2). After a couple of days, you’ll actually see bubbles in the airlock.

We left ours for two weeks, fermenting away before we bottled but that will be another entry.

Do you know I carry a small notebook with me all the time. In it I write notes for things I think would be good for my blog. The problem? I forget to write those notes into entries. Well, not any more.

So, in addition to going back and catching up on our trip to Piedmont Italy over the next week or so, I’m also going to do some beer reviews, brew pub reviews, and even a winery review or two.

So let’s get started.

Back in December, we headed over to Princeton for dinner one night, hoping to check out the Triumph Brewery there. We’d been to the one in New Hope (decent food and beer, not a big fan of the atmosphere) and thought we’d give this one a shake. Man was it hopping. We left our name with the hostess but ultimately were able to snag two seats at the bar (I prefer this when trying out beer/wine as you get some great insights from the bartenders … usually).

I ordered the sampler, which came with seven of their beers! Now let me give you some quick thoughts on samplers. I like to get the varied taste of multiple beers from a brew pub, but I find I’m usually burned out after five or so. Plus, I find a small sampler pour doesn’t provide enough to get a complete picture (e.g., head, and flavors that mellow or appear as the beer warms a bit). In my perfect world, I think all samplers would be 6 to 8 oz pours and contain four beers at most, instead of seven or eight 3 oz pours.

Like all places, they line the beers up on the bar (here in a cute semi-circular pattern) with the lighter beers on the left, progressing to the heavier beers on the right (and please note that heavier doesn’t necessarily mean darkest as the Imperial Stout was the fourth beer I tried that night).

I started with their Honey Wheat beer, though clearly not the season. It’s very light in color and body, light on malt and like the name has a subtle honey after taste with no carbonation.

Next came their amber beer. I don’t know why, but I’m a sucker for amber beer and this one did not disappoint me. Definitely thicker in body and feel than its predecessor (as it should be) it had almost a brown sugar scent, slight carbonation on the tongue and flowery hops on the end.

Number three was the German pilsner, which I could not pick up a scent from at all at first. They say when they balance this they move it more towards the hops, and they do. Once I drank a bit off, or maybe once it warmed up, I did pick up some slight citrus overtones in the nose. It had a mild fizz, less than the amber, more than the honey wheat.

Come December and January, I love a good stout and I could have enjoyed a pint of their Imperial stout with its dark chocolate aroma and taste, bitter near the end but oh so rich and creamy.

The winner of the night though was probably their CTZ IPA, light on my tongue, lots of floral hops, a bit bitter at the end and golden in color with a two finger head (this I saw because my companion did indulge in a pint or two).

It went down hill from here (but remember my warning, when it comes to tasting, I have a four or five beer limit before my taste buds are fried).

Okay, on second thought though, I’m not blaming my taste buds for my dislike of the pumpkin beer. My notes say, “flat, past its prime” and seriously, serving a pumpkin beer well into December? I’m going to stand by my notes. While it did have a bit of that pumpkin scent I like and an incredibly deep orange color, it left me wanting something with more body and flavor and had no business being served after the stout.

Last up for the night was their ESB out of the hand pump. There’s no head and if I didn’t know better, from the color alone, I would have thought this was the pumpkin beer. This beer definitely made me pucker with bitterness and very mild malt but I didn’t taste any hops.

So that’s it. That’s where the notes end – nothing about the food here though I do remember it being tasty and them being out of the cassoulet that sounded so good on the menu. I remember the menu as being a bit higher end than pub grub and the atmosphere was rocking with everyone from local college students to young, suburban professionals to families, to the not so young suburban professionals.

Anyway, I’d return for the food and atmosphere and probably to pick up some growlers because now I’d like to do some head-to-head tastes with some of our other local breweries.

Apologies, I thought I took some pictures but apparently I left my camera at home.

Sunday night, Paolo met us at the hotel at 6:30 and we made the trek out to Grado Plato in Chieri. It’s about a thirty minute drive from Torino, in the hills that border the city. Grado Plato started out in 2003 with a bar and beer making operation all in one room. Recently (August/September, I believe) they moved their beer production to a facility five minutes away, which allowed them to open up their dining room (personally, I think this would be a great setting for some live music on the weekends), though they still have some of the copper piping in the room as decoration.

When we entered we first spoke with Giorgio, the manager, going through our concepts and some ideas, then Gabrielle, the son of the brew master, who shared some of his ideas with us too. Both seem enthusiastic about the concept and eager to show off their product. Unfortunately though, their production had been limited of late because of the move, so we were only able to try four of their beers through the course of the meal (they normally have nine to 12 different beers in the works and an affiliation with Piazza Miestieri (which is another story).

When we arrived, while some patrons sat at the bar, we were the only ones in the dining room. However, it soon filled with patrons of all ages, enjoying beer in various size glasses, including a uber-mug that must have been a liter’s worth.

Now Grado Plato has it going on with the beer, in a two pronged attack; not only do they brew beer but they cook with the beer they brew! So for a starter, the chef (another Gabrielle), sent out a tasting plate containing their risotto with beer and speck. I’m going to be honest here, I applaud the initiative but found the risotto a little bitter from the beer. I think, if I were to try this at home, I might leave out the speck, and contrast the bitterness of the risotto with a drizzle of some really good (or some really cheap but reduced) balsamic vinegar. The other half of the plate was a tasty tasting of their tegole (think rough cut tagliatelle), in a simple tomato sauce with small bits of meat. The twist on this dish, is that when they make the pasta, they work a bit of their beer (their Spoon River) into the dough. I could have eaten a huge bowl of this stuff.

Ah, almost forgot, before we had our primi, they served their sveva birra chiara (aka light – not in terms of calories, in terms of color). This beer had a good head, was pale golden in color, left some good lacing on the glass and had a slightly bitter after taste. It did not have a lot of hops in flavor. If I’m hanging out on a hot summer day, this is the type of beer I’d reach for.

While enjoying our primi, they brought out their Spoon River beer, an amber beer that actually reminds me more of an IPA as it’s fruity and hoppy in flavor. It has very little carbonation and accompanies the rich primi rather nicely (probably because it is used as an ingredient in both dishes).

For our secondi, we’re brought out a plate with another two samplings. One is a scallopini of veal with a hops cream sauce. Again, like the risotto, I find the sauce a tad too bitter or off with no contrasting flavor. The other dish though, I could eat every week I think and never get tired of it, it’s a goulash, made with peppers, mushrooms and of course, more of the spoon river beer (Goulash alla birra, spezzatino di vitello picante, con pepperoni, funghi, birra Spoon River). My mouth is watering even now as I think about it.

With our secondi, Gabriele brings us their Sticher (aka Sticke in German) beer. It’s dark and rich, and once I again clarify in my mind the difference between port and stout, I’ll better be able to describe it (though I’m leaning towards stout). It has a gorgeous head, excellent lacing, chocolate undertones, and would stand up well to any dish with which you might pair a big bold red wine. It’s the only one of their beers made entirely of Italy (i.e., their other beers use American hops but this beer uses all ingredients grown/made in Italy, specifically from the area around Chieri). We all agree it’s our favorite.

For dessert, we’re brought another tasting, a chestnut tort with beer gelato (using their Melissa beer). Yes, you read that right, it’s gelato made with beer and before you wrinkle your noses, believe me, it was delicious, almost floral in flavor.

With dessert they served us their chestnut beer, San Felice, a brown beer (think Samuel Smith), named for the San Felice road that connects Torino to Chieri and along which chestnuts grow.

All, in all, another good night, with some really good beer and good food to go along with.

Saturday night, Paolo and his girlfriend, Francesca, met us at the hotel at 7:30 and took us to Birrificio Torino for dinner. Birrificio Torino produces artisanal beers, four or five at a time (including one seasonal, which unfortunately, they didn’t have this evening). When we arrived, the restaurant was rather empty but filled quickly with an eclectic group of people of all ages (from teens, to families, to “mature” adults). It definitely had a micropub vibe, with lots of dark wood, and bar that dominated one end of the multi-level room.

After we sat down, the owner came over and we discussed our concept with him and the tours we hoped to bring through. Once business was concluded, he suggested we order off the menu, and that they would serve us three different beers to accompany our meal. He also suggested we do not order appetizer, primi and secondi because the portions are generous.

So we split a mixed plate of sausage and cheese, and a delicious fried cheese dish called Tomino. Toma is a round cheese (that, like Pecorino, comes in different stages, young to aged), Tomino, is a smaller version. Here, they dredged it in a light coating of polenta, fried it lightly but enough so that when you cut into it, there’s an oozy center. It’s drizzled with a blueberry jam reduction, which contrasts nicely with the cheese. I think I could live off this dish. With it, they served us a pitcher of their Sahara, a Weiss beer that is milky in color, a small or weak head, has hints of citrus and really needs to accommodate light and/or fried foods so it goes well with the antipasti. Their description mentions being brewed with coriander, ginger and orange peel but we all detected only the citrus.

For our secondi, Francessca had a soup, while I had a filet of pork dish that came with sautéed apples, prunes and roasted potatoes – it rocked. Shannon had agnolloti and Paolo roast pork with juniper berries. With this, they served us Torino, a blond beer which appears darker than expected, is rich in body with strong malt flavor and a stiff head. It stands up nicely to our roasted meats.

Though we finished dinner but were too full for dessert, we still enjoyed a final tasting of their Rufus made in homage to the Egyptians who first pioneered the art of beer making (or so some say). The Rufus comes with a good thick head, like the Torino, is deeper than I expect in an amber beer, it’s almost thick brown with a cloudy color, has scents of chocolate and yet is a bit more carbonated than I would expect. I think we all agree the Torino is our favorite followed by the Rufus. As Paolo and Shannon are mostly wine drinkers (though they’re becoming equal opportunity drinkers on this trip as we try more and more beers), it seems we all prefer the richer, more flavorful beers to the light pilsners and/or blondes (Torino being the exception).

When we left Birreficio Torino some three hours later, the place was hopping with twenty and thirty-somethings, scrambling to get our table. All in all a good time, and we’re looking forward to bringing our group there for a tasting of their beers followed by dinner.

How to describe Eataly? I could say it is like Whole Foods on steroids but that doesn’t even begin to describe this Italian gourmet superstore. Located in the southern outskirts of Torino (a 15 minute bus ride from the centro), across from the Gallery 8 mall (which we didn’t check out), it’s definitely worth the trip.

Eataly overwhelms the senses and I found my eyes glazed over as we walked from the section devoted entirely to pasta and its condiments (aka sauces), to the one devoted entirely to wine, or the one to truffles (yes large white truffles sat in a display case; I do not know if they were real), to the one devoted to fish, or yes, what we came for, the one devoted to beer! And each section (there were more, wine, general household items, bakery, gelato, coffee, etc.), had its own restaurant/snack area with a smattering of tables around at which people sat enjoying their Sunday lunches.

We were on two missions though – one to check out the extensive beer department and the other to meeting friends from SlowTrav, Diana and her husband Micha, and spend an afternoon catching up. As we arrived a bit early, we checked out a chunk of the store before settling into the beer area, checking out the selection which includes not only artisanal Italian beers, but beers from the UK, Belgium, Germany, and even the US (yes, that was Brooklyn Lager on the shelves; I felt so proud). As I noted all the different producers, Diana and Micha found Shannon (who went to wait outside because cell service inside was spotty), and joined me in the beer area.
Then the “work” of the day began as we scoured the store looking for a place to sit where we could enjoy each other’s company and some food. Unfortunately, we hit the service hour dead on, and seats were hard to come by. We finally stood outside the wine “restaurant” and waited for a group to leave (took about 15 minutes) and we settled in for some spotty service but good food and wine. We split a mixed plate of cheese and another of sausage and meat, along with some bread, and an incredibly delicious bottle of Timorasso (Masso, I believe). I like the way someone, maybe Diana or Paolo described it, a red wine masquerading as a white, very dry, holds up well to food, and as Shannon said, with hints of honey on the finish. It actually reminded her of a dry Gewurtzraminer . I know, I know, we’re supposed to be on a beer tour but the counter in the beer area was completely full and really not conducive to four people dining together and wanting to talk. We may head down there though Monday to check it out thoroughly.

After enjoying each other’s company at lunch, strolling through the store and spending time together, Diana and Micha headed back to their B&B (the Baur B&B), and Shannon and I proceeded to contribute to the Italian economy by purchasing several beers, some Dolcetto that Micha recommended, chocolate hazel nut spreads, salt, capers, mushrooms, and anything else we thought we could easily (and legally) transport home.

Afterward, it was back to the bus, with laden arms to drop our purchases back at the hotel, before heading out for some more café research and dinner. We spent almost four hours at Eataly, and definitely could have spent more.

I’m beginning to think I like the idea of pumpkin beer more than the actual application. I know, a few years ago, when I first tasted some, it was wonderful, with a spicy scent of ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon, along with a taste reminiscent of pumpkin pie, but since then … I wish I knew which brand that was.

In the quest to find it again, and in honor of Halloween, I decided to do a pumpkin beer tasting on Saturday night.  We started out with a single bottle of Post Road (from the Brooklyn Brewery) left in our refrigerator from a beer run two weeks ago then we hit the nearby Buy Rite.  There we were able to procure two more pumpkin beers, Harvest Moon (from the Blue Moon Brewing Company) and Saranac (hmm… the website says it was last available fall of 2008 – wonder if we had some really old stuff).

But three beers for a tasting?  My “assistant”, Chris, decided that wasn’t enough, so we got back in the car and headed north, to Joe Canal’s, which has one of the largest selections of microbreweries around.

A while later because the traffic on route 1 is a … we pulled into their lot.  Waylaid for just a moment by a woman giving out Halloween candy or free shots of Dan Akroyd’s new Vodka (cool packaging, in a skull but $49 for a small bottle of vodka? Come on), we headed over to the beer aisle.

There, after some sidetracked discussions on IPA with a JC employee, we selected two more pumpkin ales, Smuttynose (which I always want to call snuttynose), and Weyerbacher (from good old Easton PA), not to mention some coffee stouts, some of the aforementioned IPAs, and not to be caught unprepared, a case of wine.

I never said this beer/wine hobby was cheap.

We returned home with our booty (and a sack of a dozen sliders – White Castle is right down the road from JC’s), and waited for our kids to go to their respective Halloween activities so that we could start our own festivities.  Since we were definitely in the cocktail hour when we finally started, I made some chicken and cilantro won tons to go along with the beer – not a bad choice, especially with the spicy dipping sauce.

Now for the process.

We decided to go with a double blind study, so Chris wrapped all the bottles in brown paper bags, and set out ten tasting glasses, five for me, five for him, then he left the room.   I took the wrapped bottles and laid them out randomly behind each pair of glasses, and numbered them, so that neither he nor I knew what we were drinking at any given point in time.

We poured all five out so we could compare color and head (though I’d just as soon forget the head – and please, wipe the smirks off your faces).  Then we began tasting – coincidentally, I almost perfectly set them up from lightest to darkest.

Here’s what we found:

Beer 1 – aka Smuttynose, had a great pumpkin pie scent and a bit of taste, though not the heady flavors of nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon for which I was seeking. It was a bit bitter at the end and had the lightest color.

Beer 2 – aka Postroad, had very little pumpkin scent or taste and I detected a bit of soapiness which could have been more of a function of my dishwasher than the beer.  Though, I have to admit, this was our least favorite.

Beer 3 – aka Wyerbacher, slight pumpkin aroma, definitely some spice on the nose but again, not as much in the taste, though I did get the essence of squash and, I thought, maybe a little caramel. It definitely was the most effervescent of the bunch.

Beer 4 – aka Harvest Moon, this one had no pumpkin smell or real taste – fine beer but just didn’t hit me as a pumpkin beer.

Beer 5 – aka Saranac, this one was the darkest of the bunch, not heavy on pumpkin scent but a good taste, again though, like all of the others, missing that hit of spice for which I was looking.

So in the end, I’d return to the Smuttynose or maybe the Saranac, but overall, I’m still searching for that pumpkin beer that screams fall and even Thanksgiving to me.