271. Read. Look. Drink.

Chad on September 15, 2023

If you can’t make it to see the artwork in person, follow their Instagram account (@woodenwallsproject) and be sure to check out highlights of the progress of the newest piece, a mural by Japanese artist ONEQ, completed this summer.Drink.// Lion’s Roar Brewing Passionfruit SeltzerI’m a beer lover who got diagnosed with celiac a few years ago, and though I still enjoy going to breweries, it’s hard to find something appealing to drink. Even if there is a cider or a hard seltzer on tap, I’m usually scared off by the prospect of something overly sweet. So I’m glad I listened to the beertender’s assurances at Westfield, New Jersey’s Lion’s Roar and didn’t let the fruit keep me from sampling this find

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Hazy IPA’s downfall of craft beer

Chad on September 14, 2023

<!– SC_OFF –><div class=”md”><p>I’m sorry, I don’t understand it. I love IPA’s and for many years. This style has dummied down our palates as a faux cheaper way of tasting similar flavors with hops. Everywhere taking over. My take; fruit added to beer never worked, laughable, disgusting.. Then Ballast point started adding a subtle citrus flavor/s to compliment the type of hops used. It worked, ok sucked me in. Then now we have basically orange juice, artificial flavoring added to negligible amount of hops and guess what? Yeah hazy IPA’s. No. I taste no malt anymore or body, bitterness, just alcohol and orange juice, grapefruit juice and a pinch of possible hops. I can rant more but just wanted to get to the point.</p>
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What Nature Gives You — Sidra Pülku in Río Negro, Argentina

Chad on September 14, 2023

To find out, I’m traveling to Villa Regina, population 40,000, to meet two generations of cider makers, Mariana Barrera and her mom, María Inés Caparros. To get there, I fly over 700 miles to the province of Neuquén, in the west of the Patagonian region, then drive two hours east through orchards and vineyards to Villa Regina. An agricultural town with Italian heritage dating back 100 years, Villa Regina is roughly equidistant from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, located among the low-lying buttes of Río Negro’s Alto Valle region, where apples and pears have been grown for more than a century.

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Your First SMaSH Ale

Chad on September 13, 2023

Heat 1 gal. (3.8 L) water to 160°F (71°C). Add the milled malt and mash at 147-150°F (64-66°C) for 60 minutes. After 60 minutes, increase the temperature of the mash to 170°F (77°C) and hold 10 minutes for mash out.

While you’re mashing out, heat 0.75 gallon of water to 170°F (77°C) in a separate pot. Set a large mesh strainer over a third pot, 12 qt. Cambro, or other large vessel and pour the mash through the strainer to separate the wort out from the spent grains. Slowly pour the sparge water over the spent grain until you’ve collected about 5.5-6 qt. (5.2-5.7 L) of wort.

Pour the wort into a pot and bring to a boil. Watch closely, as boil-overs can happen. Add the 60-minute hop addition once the wort comes to a boil. With 15 minutes remaining, add the second hop addition, and at the end of the hour-long boil, add the final hop addition.

Chill the wort down to the recommended yeast-pitching temperature by placing the entire pot into an ice bath in your sink. When the wort has reached the appropriate temperature for yeast pitching, transfer it to a clean, sanitized fermentation vessel. Make sure that anything that touches the wort from this point on is sanitized.

Add the yeast to the wort, close the fermentation vessel, and shake it vigorously on and off for about 45 seconds to create it. Run a blow-off tube from the fermenter to a jar or a small pot filled with sanitizer. This will prevent air from entering the soon-to-be beer but will all CO2 to escape.

Within 12-24 hours there will be a decent amount of bubbling that will quiet down after about 3-4 days. Once this happens you can replace the blow-off tube with an airlock. Two weeks later, fermentation will be complete and you can package your beer in bottles or a keg.

The post Your First SMaSH Ale appeared first on American Homebrewers Association.

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