Beer style for your first batch? Does it matter?

Yes it does, pick something attainable, however, the exact style guidelines don't matter. People get too hung up on them. I think I chose an Alt Beer kit and it probably didn't taste much like one. I spent a long time telling myself it didn't suck. In retrospect the taste wasn't the point. It was what I learned. I learned so much from that first brewing session.

Process and practice yield far better results than focus on a style upfront. So rather than think about how you're gonna nail that Belgian Style IPA clone, just start with a basic style and recipe and get brewing. The whole process goes something like this...

• get equipment
• decide on a simple recipe
• research process
• decide on YOUR process
• buy ingredients
• brew & ferment
• taste
• repeat incorporating any changes you think will help

Think about styles later. Brew to your taste first. Still want some guidelines? Think about the ones that can help ensure success. How about this?

• brew an Ale 'cause they don't require low fermentation temps and lagering
• pick a high flocculating yeast (beer clears faster) to shorten the fermentation
  period (WLP002 English Ale is one of many you could choose).
• everything that touches your wort AFTER the boil could infect it
• don't worry about a secondary fermentation

Of course you'll probably do it your own way. Why not? That's half the fun. Hopefully you'll make a ton of mistakes and learn from them :-)

Beer Bits 2 is now The NonconFERMist

Just in case you missed the name change.

Nonconformist: One who does not conform to, or refuses to be bound by, accepted beliefs, customs, or practices.

Fermentation: The anaerobic conversion of sugar to carbon dioxide and alcohol by yeast.

NonconFERMist: One who does not conform to, or refuses to be bound by, accepted beliefs, customs, or practices while brewing.

Two Gander Farm & Honey

Not sure how many people out there try to include local ingredients in their brew. I've used local honey once in my cider with great success. It added subtle flavors I can't quite pin down. Not sweetness, but, earthiness and flowery qualities enhanced the dry cider working well with the sour funkiness that worked its way in there from the wild yeast.

Anyway, I found another local source of honey at the Farmer's Market at Great Valley. I don't know much about Two Gander Farm in Oley PA, but I did find a well written blog about them :-) (with lots of pictures of bees, hives and even a video)

The NonconFERMist

July 31st, 2010 will mark third anniversary of the first post to this site. Lacking a better idea at the time, Beer Bits 2 seemed good enough a name for the site. After over eight hundred posts and countless digressions I'm changing the name. From this point forward this site will be named.

The NonconFERMist

I brew beer the way I want to. I don't worry too much about styles. I'm not afraid to try something new. I challenge you to do the same.

(Ok I spent about 5 minutes making this decision. In some ways I've been thinking of it for a long time though. I'll sit on it for a while and see how I feel. Feel free to throw in your two cents :-)

Philly Beer Week iPhone app doesn't suck :-)

At long last we have an iPhone app for Philly Beer Week. Remember my mashup of Mr Brew Lounge's spreadsheet and google maps last year? Well, now I don't have to do all that work, for the most part anyway. First impressions follow...

• I like the colors and the wood theme.
• It is a free app :-)
  
• Seems like there's a twitter feed from Philly Beer Week piped into it. Just double tap to see the tweets.
  
• You can save your favorite events for planning purposes. I can't, however, seem to only see my favorite events on the map.
• Looks like you can lookup any event and get info about it, including a phone number that will dial if you touch it. Left a message on the answering machine at Exton Beverage just for fun :-)
• Tap on a pushpin and map the event and use those nifty multi-touch pinch gestures.
  
• It is location aware and apparently will find the events closest to you if you are wandering around looking for something. Pretty cool.
• If location is no matter then choose "soonest" and to see what is coming up ...er soon.
• Lookup events by brewery
• Lookup events by venue (I like)
• Lookup by neighborhood. (Don't cha just like the sound of that?)
• View a calendar list of all events or just your favs.
• ...and last but not least a Flyers playoff schedule is hidden away under the "more" button :-)
• Many of the features are available on the opening summary screen just scroll down.
• I'm sure I missed something, but, time for bed.

Nice job developers. Keep up the good work!

Link to iTunes web page for the app.

PhillyBeerWeek website.

Edit: Added a couple other features to the list, fixed typos and added the link to the web page.

Interlocking dolly system...

Just picked up two of these Silent-Master Interlocking Heavy-Duty Dolly (330 Lbs. Max) (Amazon link) at Costco. I've locked them together ad put my brewng setup on them. I can move the whole 16 gal system around with one finger on the concrete floor of my garage. I just wheel it out the door and unload it on brew day. Makes reorganizing the brew garage much easier while I'm in my cleaning phase.

Beer basement...nah...beer garage...

Yeah, so I've changed my mind about the whole beer basement thing. Not that any of you remember my whole beer basement project. Is this just an excuse to switch to another project? Maybe, but, hey I'm getting the garage cleaned out along with organizing the shed. The only problem I'll have is keeping it cool and plumbing, but, I have ideas for that. Although the latter is easier than it would have been in the basement.

Hey the kegerator is already here in the garage. Uh, on second thought that might not be a good idea. Who knows by the end of the night it might change to "the beer bedroom" :-)