100 Gallons of beer and 2 feet of snow

I have been trying to increase my brewing production slowly every year. Last year i really didn't brew much due to moving and not having the time to dedicate to a day of beer making. This year I set my goal to reach the 100 gallon mark, and over the weekend I reached that goal by brewing my 100th Gallon IPA. Its really not much different from my other IPA's, just the addition of Melanoidin malt which will give it a redness.

 Just over 15 lbs of grain will make this my normal over-the-top alcohol beer that i love. Then add some Cascade hops to the Lauter Tun for that nice bitterness, and this one should be good and ready for the new year.

 This is the 3rd beer I've brewed in my new brewshop configuration, now that the weather had turned cold, and I am really liking it. Next year im planning on having a new garage and a new permanent brewshop so this is helping me to figure out what works best for me.

 It snowed the whole day while brewing but the brewshop kept warm with the burner going, it was actually quite toasty in there.

 Above was last weeks IPA which I siphoned off into a carboy for clearing and the new batch was poured onto the left over yeast. Pouring the new beer onto yeast that was used in a previous batch results in a quick start to the fermentation process. Normally it wouldn't really get going until the next day, this can create off flavors by allowing bacteria to settle in, but with this method it takes off right away. This is a video after just 2 hours.

As the yeast feeds on the sugars, it creates alcohol and co2, which you see bubbling out of the bucket and it the jar of sanitized water.

 Like i said, it had snowed all brewday thanks to the lake effect snow band parked right over top of us. This is how it looks right after brewing as Riley and I played outdoors before it got dark

And this is the next morning, we now have about 2 feet of snow on the ground and more coming. I can't wait to get the skis out tonight!

Cold Rain and Snow

It has been raining, i mean pouring, for the last 24 hours. When i woke up this morning I notice the backyard looked alittle different. It was still raining so i got an umbrella and the dog and I went out to see what was going on. When we got around the garage i noticed the lower yard had about 5 feet of water in some places. We now have a lake!!! I waited until it was light out and took the camera out to take some pics. It had receded about a foot in the last hour but was still pretty high.

I never thought the water would make it up to the grapes. I doubt it will have any negative effects on them though. The pond project though needs to be rethought, as the water completely submerged the lower pond. Good thing this part of the project has been taking awhile to complete, now i will have to figure out how to build it up higher. Maybe I'll make it smaller and build up the sides more to make it deeper.

Atleast the fish in the middle pond are happy, If i would have finished the lower pond this past year like i had planned those fish would have been long gone. Plus all the nasty water would have been pumped into the upper ponds, What a mess that would have been. As i was leaving for work the rain had turned to snow and it was starting to stick.

And now its just getting down right nasty.

Anyways, its been awhile, I won't say I've been busy, just hadn't felt like blogging lately. Nothing really going on, just been getting ready for the winter. I ran the Buffalo Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning, and finished in a time of 32:52 which is a PR in the 8k.

Then finished the race off with 6 beers before the crowds came in and was out the door of the convention center by 10am. Then it was off the Mom and Dad's for Thanksgiving drinking, i mean dinner. That race finished my running year in which all 5 races i ran were PR's, I'm hoping i can carry this momentum into next year. Hope Everyone had a great Thanksgiving!!!

Stein Beer

This weekend was the 16th brewing of Stein Beer at Ellicottville Brewing Company in Ellicottville, NY. Twice a year the brewery, with the help of the local homebrewers, brews a batch of authentic stein beer using granite rocks. The day starts off by heating up the rocks while inside the brewery the grains are being mashed and lautered getting ready for the boil.

The large blocks of granite will break down with all the heat into a more manageable cobble size and once the brewer is ready for the boil it is time to remove them from the fire. Placing several rocks at a time into metal baskets for transport into the brewery.

 Once in the brewery the rocks are then lowered into the boil kettle. The intense heat of the rocks produce a lot of steam as soon as it touches the boiling wort (unfermented beer) and continues with rolling boil for around 5 minutes.

Once the boiling has stopped the rocks are remove and returned to the fire while another set is brought in. This process will take place for the next hour or more until it is time to cool the wort and begin fermentation.
After that its time to get together and sample various beers from other homebrewers and EBC.

I already can't wait for the spring edition!!!
On Sunday I decided to make some chips since we were just going to lounge around the house and watch football all day. Depending on how much you want to make i take a half and half mix of all-purpose and whole wheat flour and add different spices to taste. For this recipe it was 2 cups all-purpose and 2 cups whole. The spices i never really measure, and sometime i couldn't even tell you what i added. This time is was habenero, red pepper, chili powder, franks hot sauce and salt. Add 1-1/2 cups of water and 1/2 cup of olive oil then mix. Knead the dough until all ingredients are incorporated and cup into about 3/4 to 1 cup sized balls. Roll out each ball until they are thin, I bake these on stone so i place the baking stones into the oven and pre-heat at about 450 before hand, then place on the baking stone. I watch until the dough starts to bubble and then i flip them.

After i flip i wait until the tops are golden brown and i remove and let cool. After they are cool i break into pieces and enjoy with some nacho "cheese" dip.

They taste great, and you can make them to taste however you would like, oh not to mention better for you!

Who doesn't love Brussel Sprouts?

It was a frosty morning when I woke up, the temperature outside according to my thermometer read 8 degrees, although weather man was saying it was 20. I think the thermometer is a little off but it was still freezing out.

With the temps falling the way they are I'm glad I finally renewed my gym membership.
Over the weekend it was time to rack off the last 15 gallons of fermenting wine into the glass carboys to finish fermenting and clearing up until January.

First up was the Cabernet Sauvignon, which I added some oak to at the beginning of fermentation. This is going to be a lighter version of Cab. Sauv. due to being fermented with out the skins. When we picked up the juice at Fulkerson, they had informed us that the skins had gone moldy and were not available. The skins are what gives the wine its deep red color. So this will be more of a blush, not what i wanted but it will still taste good.

After siphoning the wine into a glass carboy all that is left is the yeast at the bottom.

 And now its ready to hang out in the basement until January, see how light in color it is compared to the deep red De Chaunac next to it.

Next up was the 10 gallons of the Vidal.

 There, 30 gallons of wine, see how much clearer the Gewurztraminer on the right is compared to the Vidal. The Vidal still has the yeast suspended in the wine but in only 2 weeks it should look like the Gewurz., maybe clearer.

 Now i just have to forget about the wine for the next 2 months, although doesn't it look like I need to fill in that space in the middle with another batch?
We had gone over to my parents house to pick the last of the brussel sprouts in their garden so I decided I would make a quick meal with some of them.First I cut them in half and sauteed them in some oil, garlic, salt and pepper.

 Next I added about 6 cups of vegetable broth, spices to your taste and bring to a boil.

Then add some farfalle (or bowtie) pasta and cooked until done and add some corn starch to thicken.

And there you go, a quick creamy brussel sprout soup.

Cold weather motivation and another Mac-n-Cheese

Since the Wineglass I've been full of excuses not to run and today i signed up for the Buffalo Turkey Trot to give me a little motivation. With this colder weather it is also easy for me to not get out and run because of the weather, so I'm going to go and renew my winter time gym membership also. In the 4 races I've done so far this year I have run a personal best in each and would really like to close out 2010 with all 5 races being personal bests. The Turkey Trot is an 8k (or 4.97 miles) and my best time in the 8k came during the Shamrock race earlier in the year with a time of 33 minutes 14 seconds. Last years Trot was run in a time of 34 minutes 47 seconds. I really like the Trot course as the last 2 miles are downhill on Delaware Ave. into downtown, so I'm hoping to push myself at the end to come in at around 32 minutes. The Trot is a huge race in Buffalo and this will be the 115th running with 12,500 people expected.

Its a crowded race, so if i don't set myself up right at the start i could get caught behind some slow runners. Can you spot me? Hint, I'm somewhere behind the gingerbread man.
Last night I wanted to use some of the Miso I had bought at the store the other day so I searched for a recipe using it. I came across yet another variation of mac-n-cheese so I thought I'd give it a try and see how it stacked up with the others.
Ingredients:
2 cups raw cashews
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cups almond milk
1/2 cup canola oil
1 Tbs corn starch
1/4 cup white miso
2 Tbs lemon juice
2 Tbs horseradish (optional)

Finely grind the cashews in the food processor, then add nutritional yeast, onion powder, salt, garlic powder, pepper and blend in with the ground cashews.

In a saucepan combine milk, oil and corn starch, bring to a simmer and stir for about 5 minutes until the corn starch is dissolved.

With the food processor on, slowly add the milk mixture to the chashew misture and blend for around 2 minutes until smooth. Then add the miso and lemon juice and blend it in.

Then just mix with some pasta and you are done.

This was amazing, but i found it even better mixed in with some hot sauce.