Adopt-a-Hop

So, Mike wrote to the listserv for OBC looking for someone to adopt some hop plants, and it appears I've scored some healthy Rhizomes for Willamette and Nugget Hops. I am hopefully meeting with him to retrieve those this evening at The Green Dragon.

After that, it's off to Dave's place to drop off his assorted bottles and breweriana that are currently at our place. and then back home for more cleaning and prepping for company this Saturday.

I'd like to maybe get some time in to brew a beer, but I'm not sure that is gonna happen. If so, it's probably just going to be something light and quick, like a blond ale. I'd also like to investigate the possibility of getting a kegerator. We'll see how the weekend unfolds and what craigslist has in store.

Also going to call that company again, to see if I can get someone on the phone that can tell me about selling me their kegs. If I can't buy what they need, I have a person in mind that can maybe make the deal. Maybe I can get a deal from him if I hook him up with a supplier :P

Iron Brewer 2 Judging Redux

IB2 judging was done last night at Max's Fanno Creek, after a false start last Wednesday at The Raccoon Lodge. My beer did not place, but then later someone told me they'd found another score sheet for me, which would have added an additional 35 points to my total score.

Honestly, that disappointed me a little, but I am not bitter. It was a fun contest to be in and I had some very nice compliments from a few pro brewers about the beer I submitted, and I guess that was all I really wanted - a little honest feedback.

Congratulations to Doug Savin and Alan Ruff, who took 1st place in both the People's Choice and the Pro Judging competitions. I am very jealous of the RR brews you won.

Now, granted I did not place, but a little advice for the organizers of next year's Iron Brewer -

* Please make sure that all beers get the same amount of score sheets, and they are all accounted for and tallied before announcing winners. Looking back, it seems I might have placed had the score sheets been properly tallied

* Have bottle forms and other paperwork on hand in case something occurs and someone has none. There are no printers at the bar, and the lack of bottle forms seemed to have the judges a little confused.

* Every other contest in the world seems to hand out prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. Why announce those as placing categories if the winners get nothing to show for it? The amount and value of swag handed out to the 1st place winners was pretty excessive, wouldn't you say? It should be divided up a little more next time.

Again, I would have handled it differently.

But then, I don't plan on being in a board or committee next year, either...

Someone else gets to carry the burden after November.

Of Barrels and Sour Beer

So, I had some of the Rum barrel Old Ale and the Bourbon Barrel Imperial Red last night. While neither was overly soured, it's painfully obvious that both barrels are infected with something, most likely Brettanomyces.

While a sour beer can be nice, it is a huge disappointment when it's not what you were going for. Several people have said they are flat out dumping their Impy Red, and for a home brewer, it takes a lot to say that because we usually hold out against all hope that the beer will somehow get better over time.

The sad thing is - because the Rum barrel is not stored at Dave's place, there is little chance of cross contamination.. but both beers have the exact same sourness, and it likely means that someone who participated in these 2 projects has an infection in their home brewery. I wouldn't blame anyone, hey it happens. It's more the fault of the people participating for not instituting more rigid standards and testing prior to filling the barrel.

At this point, we're going to get rid of all the barrels, step back, and try again using only fresh barrels from distilleries. If they last held liquor and have only been used once, the chances of contamination are far lower.

Here's hopin this can be worked out!

Searching for barrels

Our club is on the search for more barrels. Mark picked up two 30-gallon Brandy barrels today, and is on the hunt for a used White Wine barrel. Ron is looking for a small barrel for his place. Heck, even *I'm* passively looking for a smallish barrel (may look at getting the contact info for Mark's source, 30 gallons of BW in a brandy barrel under the stairs sounds SWEET!). I have a small 3 gallon one, and I have yet to age anything in it, but I'm thinking that toward the Winter I'll be making some beers that would be nice to have in that barrel for a while before I bottle them (Barleywine, Imperial Porter, Belgian Golden Strong, and Imperial Stout)

I still have 5 gallons in the Flander's barrel & 5 Gallons in the Old Ale barrel. I'll be putting 5 gallons in the Mead barrel in August, 10 gallons of a yet to be determined beer in a Brandy barrel, and perhaps another 5 gallons in the 2nd Brandy barrel whenever we get the recipe on that one.

As Jim said earlier today, "Maybe we should change the name to PDX Barrel Brewers"...

He might be right.

Russian River Brewing kickoff, Horse Brass

Went to the RR kickoff at Horse Brass tonight with Jeremie, Jenn, and Bree. Official start of RR sales in Oregon, with Pliny the Elder, Blind Pig, and Damnation making their debut. MMMMMMM, Damnation is officially one of my favorites.

Vinnie? Pretty damned cool, if you ask me. After getting cut off by god knows how many people, I finally pulled up a stool next to the man and had a good long chat before we took off. Told him about our club doing barrel aged beers, and what projects we had going.

He knew us as soon as I said it. Said he recognized the name of the club when he saw it on my shirt earlier.

I was floored.

Then he bought the table a round, and we talked a ton about the club projects. He seemed really impressed, and this makes me very happy, as well as proud of our club for getting the notice of such a famous barrel brewer from out of state.

We exchanged cards, and I'll be talking with him in the future about a possible collaborative project.

Also got to say hi to Carl and his wife (Belmont Station), and a couple that just moved up here from Austin, TX, whose names escape me for the moment (Hey, it was 3 damnations... c'mon)

OBF 2008 Follow up

Sad I didn't get to meet the brewcasters from The BN - just wasn't in the cards, I guess... Maybe next time :)

Note - I will NEVER try to go (for fun) to the OBF on a Friday or Saturday again.. EVER. That was just retarded, the number of people they allowed into that tiny little space. They either need to expand the area for the fest, or start capping the number of people they let in by doing flights. There was no way we could have gotten to any of the taps at 5pm, the lines were 200 deep at each tap. You couldn't even see what you were waiting in line for, and in fact it could have easily ran out before you got to the front of the line. It was like watching cows charging the trough at feeding time.

Nope, not this kid. We turned in our GC for tokens and bailed after dropping off the O2 stone with Jeremie at the OBC booth.

The plan for next year?

Tuesday - Fred's beer & cheese tasting
Wednesday - Brewers Dinner
Thursday - Taking day off, going to parade and opening ceremonies for OBF. Perhaps volunteering for a shift in the morning, and drinking in the afternoon
Friday - Taking day off, golfing in the Brew-AM
Saturday - Ninkasi Breakfast
Sunday - HUB Hangover Breakfast
Monday - Liver Transplant

Ninkasi Brewers Breakfast, OBF 2008

Saturday Morning found us at the Ninkasi Brewer's Breakfast, at Kell's in Downtown Portland. This turned out to be a really great time! The breakfast consisted of Eggs, Home Fries, Biscuits & Gravy, Bacon, and Sausage, along with Tricerahops IPA and Oatis Oatmeal Stout.

We had a few minutes to talk with Jamie and Nikos from Ninkasi, and this is a pair of really stand up guys. Cards were exchanged, and I'll be speaking with them in the future about some club work.