Homegrown Hops



I decided to experiment with growing my own hops this year. After doing some research online I decided to try planting the hops in pots. From what I’ve read these things can take over your yard if you are not careful so I figure a pot would contain them. Also, I wasn’t quite sure where in the yard would be the best location for the plant and, since pots are portable, this seemed like the best plan.



First Spout





I ordered the hops from Northern Brewer early in the year and they arrived in early-April. You don’t plant a hop from a seed but from a root cutting known as a rhizome. Turns out that hop plants have genders and if you get “male” plant seeds you won’t end up with any hops. So, by getting a rhizome you’re guaranteed to end up with hops. Northern Brewer has a minimum order of two rhizomes so I decided to try Cascades and Hallertau hops for some variety.

I waited until I was sure the frosts were over and planted the hops in late April or early May… I can’t quite recall when… and I the sprout popped out of the ground in mid-May.



Hops



After a few weeks in their first location near the house I decided to move the pots to a sunnier spot. They didn’t do too much at first but really started taking off in late June and July. The Hallertau was the first out of the ground but seemed to slow down after that. Right now it’s probably only four feet tall and only has a few buds forming. On the opposite end of the spectrum the Cascade plant had a huge growth spurt in late July it and is now a good eight feet tall and has several dozen flowers. I think that one will be ready to harvest in another week or so. I’ll post an update after the harvest.

The Cheap Light Beer Challenge




We're not drunks. This is Science!

 As this blog’s name implies, we here at Carpe Cervisia are big fans of beer. We’re fans of all good beers, IPAs, Porter, Stouts, Lagers, what have you.

Unfortunately great beers come at a high price. Most decent beers can run you $7-$9 per 6-pack. Also, they tend to be pretty strong in both flavor and alcohol. Sometimes you just want a beer: Cold, clear, and cheap. You want a beer with a little alcohol, but not too much so that afterward you can go back to working on a project without having to worry about destroying your house or losing a finger. This is where the classic American light beer comes in. However, which one is the best?

Inspired by the “Life in the Great Midwest” blog’s Crappy Beer Challenge: http://lifeinthegreatmidwest.blogspot.com/search/label/Crappy%20Beer%20Challenge we decided to do our own Cheap Light Beer Challenge to determine which of them is the best of the bunch.We limited the beers to cheap domestics since the point was to get quantity over quality. Most of these beers can be found in 15, 18 and 30 packs that cost about the price of a six pack of decent beer.

Here are the contestants:
Michelob Light
Miller Lite
Keystone Light
Coors Light
Bud Light
Busch Light
Natural Light
Strohs Light
Miller High Life Light

L & I finally got our schedules coordinated and we invited a fellow beer fan over in order to make things more fun. We put the names in a pot and picked them out and put them on a playoff style bracket. Miller High Life was the odd-man out so we decided to use that one up against the winner. Each of us had our own bracket and scored the beers to our own tastes. In the end we all had a different winner. I’ll list my results below, and I’m sure my fellow testers will add their own comments later.

First up: Michelob vs Miller:

I poured both beers and attempted to compare the color and aromas of both. However, once in the glass, the beers look pretty much the same. They both had the same color and complete lack of head retention. Michelob has some odor, mainly of stale and musty, while Miller had no smell at all.

Taste-wise Miller was very bland while Michelob had a strong flavor and, as such Michelob was the winner… at first. There was some delay in moving on to the next round, and my samples sat out for a few minutes slowly warming up. I kept taking sips of each and, as things warmed up, I began to realy be able to taste Michelob’s stronger flavor. The problem with that was that I really didn’t like the flavor. It was musty, moldy, and dank. Yuck… so I changed my winner to Miller Lite.

Second: Keystone vs Coors

This one was the easiest choice of the night. Keystone just plain stank and tasted like a metallic band-aid. Coors, while not wonderful, had no odor and was pretty bland. Winner: Coors Light.

Some beer was so bad it got dumped in the pitcher.

Third: Heck, does it matter?

I could write up all the results of all the rounds but they all were pretty much the same. All of the beers were remarkably similar. The all had the same mild yellow color, with no head retention. My notes on the aromas contain comments like: “no odor”, “stale” and “old wet corn”. Flavor comments include: “bland”, “weird metallic”, and “band-aid”. The winner of each round came down to the beer that had the least offensive taste.

In the end Strohs Light won the main contest. It then went up against the Miller High Life wild card. However, at this point in the contest I was sick of the whole thing and I felt that both beers were equally unpleasant. If I have to choose, I’ll choose Strohs. So congratulations Strohs Light, you’re the lesser evil!

I have to say I was really kind of surprised by the results of this contest. I’d expected that I’d find the light beer that I really enjoyed not the one that I could slightly tolerate. If I had to do it again I think I might have to take a second look at Miller, Coors and Natural Light. Those three were most bland and were knocked out in the first round due to their lack of flavor. However, when the flavor of all of these beers is some variant of moldy corn mixed with used band-aid, maybe bland is better. The main outcome of this contest, for me at least, is that I have no desire to drink any of these beers ever again.

Good Slogan!

Heavy Drinkers Outlive Nondrinkers, Study Finds

By JOHN CLOUD John Cloud Mon Aug 30, 6:55 am ET

One of the most contentious issues in the vast literature about alcohol consumption has been the consistent finding that those who don't drink actually tend to die sooner than those who do. The standard Alcoholics Anonymous explanation for this finding is that many of those who show up as abstainers in such research are actually former hard-core drunks who had already incurred health problems associated with drinking.

But a new paper in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research suggests that - for reasons that aren't entirely clear - abstaining from alcohol does actually tend to increase one's risk of dying even when you exclude former drinkers. The most shocking part? Abstainers' mortality rates are higher than those of heavy drinkers.

Moderate drinking, which is defined as one to three drinks per day, is associated with the lowest mortality rates in alcohol studies. Moderate alcohol use (especially when the beverage of choice is red wine) is thought to improve heart health, circulation and sociability, which can be important because people who are isolated don't have as many family members and friends who can notice and help treat health problems.

But why would abstaining from alcohol lead to a shorter life? It's true that those who abstain from alcohol tend to be from lower socioeconomic classes, since drinking can be expensive. And people of lower socioeconomic status have more life stressors - job and child-care worries that might not only keep them from the bottle but also cause stress-related illnesses over long periods. (They also don't get the stress-reducing benefits of a drink or two after work.)

But even after controlling for nearly all imaginable variables - socioeconomic status, level of physical activity, number of close friends, quality of social support and so on - the researchers (a six-member team led by psychologist Charles Holahan of the University of Texas at Austin) found that over a 20-year period, mortality rates were highest for those who had never been drinkers, second-highest for heavy drinkers and lowest for moderate drinkers.

The sample of those who were studied included individuals between ages 55 and 65 who had had any kind of outpatient care in the previous three years. The 1,824 participants were followed for 20 years. One drawback of the sample: a disproportionate number, 63%, were men. Just over 69% of the never-drinkers died during the 20 years, 60% of the heavy drinkers died and only 41% of moderate drinkers died.

These are remarkable statistics. Even though heavy drinking is associated with higher risk for cirrhosis and several types of cancer (particularly cancers in the mouth and esophagus), heavy drinkers are less likely to die than people who have never drunk. One important reason is that alcohol lubricates so many social interactions, and social interactions are vital for maintaining mental and physical health. As I pointed out last year, nondrinkers show greater signs of depression than those who allow themselves to join the party.

The authors of the new paper are careful to note that even if drinking is associated with longer life, it can be dangerous: it can impair your memory severely and it can lead to nonlethal falls and other mishaps (like, say, cheating on your spouse in a drunken haze) that can screw up your life. There's also the dependency issue: if you become addicted to alcohol, you may spend a long time trying to get off the bottle.

That said, the new study provides the strongest evidence yet that moderate drinking is not only fun but good for you. So make mine a double.

*Gulp* -- Are Beer Prices About to Go Up?

Published: Thursday, 12 Aug 2010 8:17 AM ET
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By: Cindy Perman CNBC.com Writer


A little bit of an alarming headline out of the UK this week: “Beer prices to surge.”

The price of a pint is about to jump to 4 pounds (US$6.30) there due to poor harvests in Europe and the Russian wheat crisis, the London Telegraph reported.

So, *gulp* — what does this mean for beer in America?

First, you’ll be relieved to know that most of the hops and barley used in the U.S. comes from North America. So, unless European brewers start ordering from the U.S., the issues over there shouldn’t have much of an impact on prices in the U.S.

Now the bad news — U.S. beer prices are up 2 percent year to date, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. And Harry Schuhmacher, publisher of the Beer Business Daily, said they’re going to go up again in September.

That’s due to two reasons: 1) Inflation in consumer beer prices (CBI) has lagged the increase in producer beer prices (PBI) in the past few years, and 2) Consolidation.

“[N]ow, brewers in the U.S. are much more consolidated and are putting profits over market-share gains,” Schuhmacher said.
In fact, the two largest brewers, AB InBev and MillerCoors already have price increases planned for the U.S., he said.

But Chris Ericson, owner and brewmaster of the Lake Placid Pub & Brewery, said it won’t be a steep increase.

“I think what we’ll see is a little bit more of a creep up in U.S. beer prices,” Ericson said. "I don’t see any dramatic spike.”

Still, both he and Schumacher agree that it’s a pretty good time to be a beer drinker.
“I think it’s an unbelievable time to be a U.S. beer drinker,” Ericson said. “You’ve got a lot of good choices — and a great value,” he said.

In the words of Homer Simpson: Mmmm … Beer.

Clarification: The two percent rise in beer prices this year is according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. An earlier version of this story cited the source as the Beer Institute.

My Hero

Did you hear the country song...

... by Billy Currington?

Pretty good at drinkin' beer!!!

I WASN’T BORN FOR DIGGIN DEEP HOLES
I’M NOT MADE FOR PAVIN LONG ROADS
I AINT CUT OUT TO CLIMB HIGH LINE POLES
BUT I’M PRETTY GOOD AT DRINKIN BEER

I’M NOT THE TYPE TO WORK IN A BANK
I’M NO GOOD AT SLAPPIN ON THINGS
DON’T HAVE A KNACK FOR MAKIN MOTORS CRANK, NO
BUT I’M PRETTY GOOD AT DRINKIN BEER

SO HAND ME ONE MORE
THAT’S WHAT I’M HERE FOR
I’M BUILT FOR HAVING A BALL
I LOVE THE NIGHTLIFE
I LOVE MY BUDLIGHT
I LIKE ‘EM COLD AND TALL

I AINT MUCH FOR MOWIN THICK GRASS
I’M TOO SLOW FOR WORKIN’ TOO FAST
I DON’T DO WINDOWS SO HONEY DON’T ASK
BUT I’M PRETTY GOOD AT DRINKIN’ BEER

A GO GETTER MAYBE I’M NOT
I’M NOT KNOWN FOR DOIN’ A LOT
BUT I DO MY BEST WORK WHEN THE WEATHER’S HOT
I’M PRETTY GOOD AT DRINKIN’ BEER

SO HAND ME ONE MORE
THAT’S WHAT I’M HERE FOR
I’M BUILT FOR HAVING A BALL
I LOVE THE NIGHTLIFE
I LOVE MY BUDLIGHT I LIKE ‘EM COLD AND TALL

I WASN’T BORN FOR DIGGIN DEEP HOLES
I’M NOT MADE FOR PAVIN LONG ROADS
I AINT CUT OUT TO CLIMB HIGH LINE POLES
BUT I’M PRETTY GOOD AT DRINKIN BEER
I’M PRETTY GOOD AT DRINKIN BEER

(SPOKEN) O HAND ME ONE MORE BOYS… THAT’S WHAT I’M HERE FOR

Pratt Street Alehouse Cask Night

I finally got myself to a Pratt St Alehouse Cask Night this past Tuesday. They were tapping two new beers and I just had to try them out. Since I can’t think of a better way to phrase it myself, I’ll simply clip their description from the announcement:

The Bishop’s Indulgence, an 8% stout brewed with cocoa nibs and vanilla beans (see the blog archive for details of the brew). As well as having a kilderkin of The Bishop’s Indulgence aged on American Oak on the beer engine, we will have a glass ended firkin of Best Bitter dry hopped with Maryland Chinook on gravity pour in the lounge for a more “interactive” cask ale drinking experience .

The Bishops Indulgence:

This is a great beer… if you like heavy chocolaty stouts… and I certainly do. Deep, dark and rich… Very much like a Guinness in weight but with a heck of a lot more flavor. The dark chocolate flavors and aromas were very prevalent with a hint of caramel sweetness to offset the bitter. Its oak aged, but I really didn’t detect much of the oak flavor but I think the chocolate overwhelmed it.

It was served in a 10oz glass which is fine for a beer like this. Believe me, you won’t want to chug this beer. It’s meant to be sipped and savored, like a fine Bourbon. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to risk drinking more than one glass of this delicious, but very potent, brew.

On a side note, one of my fellow patrons drove up from Annapolis simply to try this beer and he loved it. I appreciated the irony when I discovered he’s a Lutheran Pastor.


The Dry Hopped Best Bitter:

I’m already a fan of the standard Oliver Best Bitter. A Bitter is probably best described as the British equivalent to the American Pilsner. Light in alcohol it’s the perfect beer to drink if you’re going to be hanging out with some friends and drinking a few pints. It’s the perfect example of a Session Beer. However, unlike the American Pilsner, the British Bitter tastes great… Like most Brit Ales, Bitters tend to be low in hops. However, in this case they dry hopped it with Chinook hops.

I like using dry hops in my home brewing because while I love the flavor and aroma of the hops, I don’t necessarily enjoy the bitterness. Normally you add the hops to the brew kettle during the boil. The boil will release more alpha acids, and increase the bitterness of the final brew. Unfortunately, the boil will also cause the flavor and aroma components to boil off. With dry hopping you add hops to the beer after the fermentation is complete and let them sit for a while and leach the hoppy goodness into the brew. In this case you can see the big bag full of hops floating off to the right side of the firkin. (please note the artistic back lighting… very nice…).

Anyway, the beer itself was great. Nice and light weight wise, but full of the citrus flavor and aroma of the Chinook hops. Unfortunately I don’t know if they’ll make this one again, but I certainly hope they do.

I'd also like to point out the cool springloaded stand that the firkin is sitting on. As the firkin was drained, the springs were unloaded and tilted the firkin up at an ever increasing angle, thereby always providing the perfect pour.

As always, the atmospere and service was great.  Plus I finally got a chance to meet, and have a pint, with Steve the Brewer. Good times!

Green Flash West Coast IPA - Hospitality Suite is OPEN.

Well, I just restocked the Hospitality Suite with a full 15.5 gallons of Green Flash West Coast IPA!

I picked the keg up from Racers (but forgot to drop off a keg for the exchange so I had to pay the $30 deposit--no worries, though, I'll get it back).

Racers had quite a selection of kegs, mostly half kegs like the one I picked up. I think the selection this time was much better than before--a lot of beers I had never tasted.

Green Flash West Coast IPA is one that I hadn't tasted before, but the guy behind the counter recommended it.

I got it home and hooked everything up, and poured a small glass. The beer had been splashed around during the ride home, so the pour was very frothy. I did get a nice taste, though.

It's very hoppy--but in a good way. Full of smell and the hoppy taste is right there with it. I'll add more thoughts after I have enjoyed more of it. Overall, it's well-rounded, with a light body. The hops carries well through the tasting, but will likely turn off people who are not hops fans.

In the meantime, swing by the Hospitality Suite to try some.

International Bacon Day

Today is International Bacon Day.

Horray for Bacon!

One Hundred Ways to Use a Strip of Bacon

Mmm, bacon...

Amsterdam "Beer Bikes"?!? Why didn't I think of this?

Amsterdam lets "beer bike" ride on, with limits

Sat Aug 29, 6:00 pm ET

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – The beer bike will ride on in Amsterdam.

The outsized bikes, seating groups of people around a central bar, are something of a fixture in the city's center. But two accidents within two months prompted the city councillor responsible for transport to launch an investigation in June.

Following that review the city has decided to allow the bikes to carry on riding, a city spokesman said Saturday.

They will, however, need permits from the various city boroughs, and those permits are likely to come with restrictions on hours of operation and requirements for a sober driver.

While non-drinkers already typically steer the bikes, their size has also been an issue in some cases on the city centre's narrow streets. One of the better-known operators, PartyFiets.nl, offers two-hour tours on bikes that seat up to 22 people and carry 30 litres (7.9 gallons) of beer.

(Reporting by Ben Berkowitz; Editing by Louise Ireland)