Unofficially Summer
So I haven't been particularly diligant in updating the brewlog, but with exams and graduation, thesis presentations, papers, and new job stuff, brewing (or writing about brewing) hasn't been tip top priority.
New job! Of course, the first line of business. I feel like I've written about this on here already, but a quick glance proves otherwise. I guess I've just been telling everybody I see on an everyday basis, but to make it Dierksenkougan official: I got a job at the plant at Bell's! And not a crappy, bottle-monkey, line slave position, but a learning-intensive, meaningful job as a cellarman (which deals with everything in between brewing and packaging, namely fermentation foremost, as well as filtering, carbonating, dry-hopping, yeast cell counts, and lots and lots of transferring with giant complex German hoses that I haven't quite figured out yet. I finished my first official day today, half safety training and the rest of the day shadowing various other cellarmen in their daily duties; today I did a CIP (clean in place) with parecetic acid to a 200 bbl tank to get it ready for a batch of Oberon, and learned how to count tiny little yeast cells (both dead and alive) to determine proper pitching rates for the brewers and figure out yeast vitality. Cool, nerdy stuff. Looks from here that it'll be a weekday 9 to 5 job, forty hours a week, so full-time, with a nice full benefits package, and some good work experience in one of the nation's top breweries. All in all, a great experience, especially just coming out of college.
On that note, I graduated, as long as my grades that are released tomorrow are on par, which they should be. Yep, not that exciting.
What else...what else...Hannah's on tap, and as I'm typing this, I'm kinda wanting one. A very good batch, exactly what I was shooting for, and really took well to being put on draft. A nice long-lasting head, perfect orange color, good wheaty full flavor. I imagine it will go fast. Also on tap is Dierksenkougan's first soda, with extra special thanks to Matt Troup for putting the hard work in by squeezing 4 pounds of limes and lemons. Dk Limonade is all natural, just filtered water, sugar, and fresh lemon and lime juice, carbonated up like crazy on my dual-gauge. Very popular around here. I like it especially with whiskey (of course). I was sure to buy a new stainless steel shank (the beer shanks are chrome) to handle the acidity. Making soda is super fast, and really easy, and it tastes great, and its nice just to have some on tap for when we want it, so I imagine that we'll make more pretty soon. I'd like to make another fruity pop, but there are some demands for a homemade root beer, but I might squeeze in an orange cream or raspberry soda before that, depending on how things pan out digging up the right root beer ingredients, which apparently contain up to 17 different obscure plant roots and leaves and so forth.
Nothing brewed since the last post...the Rozenbier ("Rose Beer" in Dutch) is happily sitting in a cold secondary. I haven't given her a taste quite yet, as I've had enough beer to keep my kegs full and ready to swap out. I imagine she'll fill the position of whatever's next to go, though I'm tempted to keg Annabelle soon, since I'm itching to have her on tap for the first time.
Old ale is still on deck, as with the Malt Liquor. Other ideas include a hoppy pale ale with lots of German hops (a German Blend similar in premise to my American Blend I use in Big Sky IPA), as well as a strong Belgian wheat beer made with a substantial amount of honey, sort of like a summerized tripel, possibly with similar German hops or perhaps some strong American varieties to give it some IPA-like character. Bell's Right and Left Bank Ales, which are both outstanding, are the primary inspiration.
Happy Graduation to everyone who did, and hopefully this summer brings lots of beautiful, early Saturday morning brew days to write about very soon. I'm hoping the new job doesn't curb my enthusiasm for brewing on my time off, but I don't suppose it will.
Take care,
Sam
New job! Of course, the first line of business. I feel like I've written about this on here already, but a quick glance proves otherwise. I guess I've just been telling everybody I see on an everyday basis, but to make it Dierksenkougan official: I got a job at the plant at Bell's! And not a crappy, bottle-monkey, line slave position, but a learning-intensive, meaningful job as a cellarman (which deals with everything in between brewing and packaging, namely fermentation foremost, as well as filtering, carbonating, dry-hopping, yeast cell counts, and lots and lots of transferring with giant complex German hoses that I haven't quite figured out yet. I finished my first official day today, half safety training and the rest of the day shadowing various other cellarmen in their daily duties; today I did a CIP (clean in place) with parecetic acid to a 200 bbl tank to get it ready for a batch of Oberon, and learned how to count tiny little yeast cells (both dead and alive) to determine proper pitching rates for the brewers and figure out yeast vitality. Cool, nerdy stuff. Looks from here that it'll be a weekday 9 to 5 job, forty hours a week, so full-time, with a nice full benefits package, and some good work experience in one of the nation's top breweries. All in all, a great experience, especially just coming out of college.
On that note, I graduated, as long as my grades that are released tomorrow are on par, which they should be. Yep, not that exciting.
What else...what else...Hannah's on tap, and as I'm typing this, I'm kinda wanting one. A very good batch, exactly what I was shooting for, and really took well to being put on draft. A nice long-lasting head, perfect orange color, good wheaty full flavor. I imagine it will go fast. Also on tap is Dierksenkougan's first soda, with extra special thanks to Matt Troup for putting the hard work in by squeezing 4 pounds of limes and lemons. Dk Limonade is all natural, just filtered water, sugar, and fresh lemon and lime juice, carbonated up like crazy on my dual-gauge. Very popular around here. I like it especially with whiskey (of course). I was sure to buy a new stainless steel shank (the beer shanks are chrome) to handle the acidity. Making soda is super fast, and really easy, and it tastes great, and its nice just to have some on tap for when we want it, so I imagine that we'll make more pretty soon. I'd like to make another fruity pop, but there are some demands for a homemade root beer, but I might squeeze in an orange cream or raspberry soda before that, depending on how things pan out digging up the right root beer ingredients, which apparently contain up to 17 different obscure plant roots and leaves and so forth.
Nothing brewed since the last post...the Rozenbier ("Rose Beer" in Dutch) is happily sitting in a cold secondary. I haven't given her a taste quite yet, as I've had enough beer to keep my kegs full and ready to swap out. I imagine she'll fill the position of whatever's next to go, though I'm tempted to keg Annabelle soon, since I'm itching to have her on tap for the first time.
Old ale is still on deck, as with the Malt Liquor. Other ideas include a hoppy pale ale with lots of German hops (a German Blend similar in premise to my American Blend I use in Big Sky IPA), as well as a strong Belgian wheat beer made with a substantial amount of honey, sort of like a summerized tripel, possibly with similar German hops or perhaps some strong American varieties to give it some IPA-like character. Bell's Right and Left Bank Ales, which are both outstanding, are the primary inspiration.
Happy Graduation to everyone who did, and hopefully this summer brings lots of beautiful, early Saturday morning brew days to write about very soon. I'm hoping the new job doesn't curb my enthusiasm for brewing on my time off, but I don't suppose it will.
Take care,
Sam
posted by Sam Reese at 11:01 PM
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