Category: Front Page

The town of Pena Blanca in Chile suffers from so little rainfall that the region has undergone almost complete desertification. Since water comprises some 97 percent of beer that makes Pena Blanca a challenging place to open a brewery.  But thanks to a technique known as “fog catching,” not only has the region captured enough water to support plant life, there’s also enough to whip up a few brews.

According to the BBC, Fog Catcher Brewery only has three vats, producing only about 200 barrels a year.  But there’s something special about these beers: They’re all made from water captured from fog.  “The water from the camanchaca is of excellent quality and gives our beer a special quality,” said Miguel Carcuro, the brewery’s owner.

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Saison is dead, long live saison! For a style that has about as much cohesion as IPA these days, there are so many opinions on what saison is. Last week while I was in Brazil for a homebrewing conference, I spent many hours talking to two of my homebrew heroes: Drew Beechum and Denny Conn (authors of the fascinating book Experimental Homebrewing). Drew is one of the handful of people who deserve credit for popularizing saison’s range since I started brewing in 2005, but he is suspect when it comes to adding Brett to the style.

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I’ve been pouring through Denny Conn’s book on experimental brewing. We started homebrewing in 1979. Books on homebrewing these days are light years beyond what they used to be, but I’m not writing this to dis old home brewing books. Let’s be honest: without them many of us early birds would have missed the worm.
Hey, I’m experimental, but worms in beer? Ewe.
One part of Denny’s book was quite fascinating beyond homebrewing. Denny wrote about studies that offered wine tasters samples of wine, some from high priced, very well respected, wine bottles. Another had tasters comment on various samples of dark beer. The control being it was all the same wine, and all the same beer, some with food coloring added.
Even professionals were fooled.
Tasters offered descriptors one would expect for fine wine or dark beer. Roastiness and esters were found in beer samples that, in reality, weren’t there. “Fine” wine presented that way was perceived as superior. Continue reading “Inspection- Of Beer, Wine and Society”

New York has tapped into the craft beer boom, an industry known for its creative brews and one that is funneling billions into the state’s economy.

The craft beer industry in New York grew 59 percent between 2013 and 2014 as loosened regulations led to a surge in new breweries, cideries and wineries, according to a report released last month.

The report, funded by the state Brewers Association and the New York Wine and Grape Foundation, showed that the number of craft breweries more than doubled from 2012 to January 2015: 95 to 207 breweries. It’s led production to jump 54 percent from 2011 to 2013, to 859,535 barrels.

“We have said time and time again that New York produces some of the best craft beverages anywhere, and this report backs up exactly why we are focusing on growing these breweries,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a statement.

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Written by Dee Gross for My Husband the Mad Scientist

As always, Yazoo and Brandon Jones is a match made in heaven.  For those who do not know, Brandon Jones is the head of the sour beer and wild ale division at Yazoo, and, I might add, a member of our brew club Music City Brewers.  The most notable fact you need to know about Brandon Jones is his skill at hosting a good time.  I have always thoroughly enjoyed myself at any party in which he had held.  That is why I have given him the nickname of the modern-day Dionysus or god of revelry and…

Embrace the Funk Fest 2015 did not disappoint.

The day began with a bottle share in the parking lot. Continue reading “Embrace the Funkfest 2015”

The Cortland Beer Company (CBC), the brainchild of Cortland residents Dan Cleary and Terry Vestal, now co-owned by Dan along with Tom Scheffler and Dawn Zarnowski, is currently producing over 1,000 barrels of sudsy goodness each year. For comparison, a ‘barrel’ of beer equals two half-kegs (a half-keg is, apparently, the technical term for the regularly-sized keg you’re likely picturing in your mind), or 15.5 gallons. In other words, CBC is now producing 155,000 gallons per year, which is a small enough amount of liquid gold to avoid the cost-cutting tendencies of large-scale macro-breweries but enough to ensure both consistent quality and regular experimentation.

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MIDDLEBURGH — According to the Middleburgh Library, The Albany Ale Project, and Green Wolf Brewing Company, a revolution in beer is coming to this Schoharie County community next month.

A series of family-oriented events, culminating in “The 1780 Beer Challenge,” is scheduled for 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, May 16, in this Schoharie County community. The catalyst is a desire to celebrate beer, brewing and Middleburgh’s Revolutionary War history, as well as to raise funds for the library.

Activities will include a Revolutionary War encampment, colonial brewing and cooking demonstrations, 18th Century toys and games for kids, talks on the history of beer and hops in Upstate New York and the Schoharie Valley, a Schoharie Valley hops display at the library, beer samples from Green Wolf and MacKinnon Brothers of Ontario and Green Wolf brewery tours. Middleburgers BBQ and the bakery and gift shop Under the Nose will be offering barbeque and baked goods for sale, and Craig Gravina and Alan McLeod will be selling and signing copies of their book “Upper Hudson ValleyBeer.” The day will culminate in “The 1780 Beer Challenge” cask tapping and tasting.

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Written by Franz Hofer for A Tempest in a Tankard

Earth Day 2015 is now receding in the rear-view mirror, but it’s worth keeping the Earth Day ethos in mind whenever we fire up our brewing systems. With the annual Big Brew festivities rapidly approaching, we may even want to challenge ourselves to put some of the following ideas into practice.

The folks over at CustomMade have put together a helpful infographic in conjunction with a ten-step plan for sustainable homebrewing, and have been asking beer writers and bloggers to spread the news. Since it’s been a busy month in Tempest Land and I haven’t had as much time to dedicate to writing about beer (to say nothing of brewing!), I figured now would be the perfect time to post their ideas here. I encourage you to read all of Abby Quillen’s “10 Must-Do Steps for Sustainable Homebrewing.” In the meantime, here’s a quick outline of what you’ll find, followed by a brief commentary on a few points:

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