Kegerators Blog

Grains used in fermentation the world ‘round have always been associated with being holy. In many cultures, the freedom from the rational mind that comes by drinking is seen as a way to become more open to spiritualism and the spiritual world. In the western world, during medieval times, it was thought that ale must be blessed by the priest in order that the miracle of fermentation could begin. Even today, there are monasteries whose main focus is brewing holy beer to sell and benefit the church. But, as always, for some, the beer brings them closer to their god, and for others, it brings them closer to their own demons.

Sacred grains such as barley, millet, rice, and even corn, have been well-respected for their ability to give the gift of inebriation to humans throughout history. Indigenous cultures have developed many different traditions surrounding the act of fermentation. One Viking tradition was to yell and scream at the wort in order to make the spirit within it angry, and therefore more potent. Other cultures sing around the beer to ensure the connection between the spirit of the plant(s) involved and the people. Some monasteries use a “blessed spoon” to stir the wort and excite fermentation, and other cultures have used rune carved oak staves which are dipped in the wort.

Everyone loosens up a little after having a drink. In many cultures, this loosening up has spiritual connotations. As noted in Stephen Buhner’s book Sacred and Healing Herbal Beers, the fermented sap of the palm is considered to help people’s spirits to detach from the material world.

Most beer fans have heard of the beer brewing monks, but they are, in actuality, an uncommon variety. While being famous for brewing, the Trappist monks actually have only seven brewing monasteries out of 171. It is estimated that by the year 1,000 as many as 500 monasteries were brewing in the western world. The reasons behind the church sanctioned brews were many – according to trappistbeer.net, the beer was made to provide healthy drinks for the monks, and attract new followers.

Around this time, it was common practice for brewers to seek out a priest to bless their brew with the power of god. In exchange for this service, the priest was allowed to drink the beer for free at the local pub. Eventually, this became a blessing from which a tax was collected by the church. Finally, the priests wound up giving their blessing “from afar”, and the church still collected the tax. Needless to say, it wasn’t long before brewers started thinking ill of this “hands-off” blessing technique, and this process halted during the 18th century, along with other church reforms.

With the coming of the industrial revolution, and the French revolution, many of the monasteries stopped selling their beer to the public. It became difficult for the low-tech monks that were left to make any kind of profit using their old world craft brewing techniques. Many monasteries still made beer for their own population, and kept the recipes alive through the difficult time that followed.

After two world wars, three, really, counting the cold war, and numerous competitive knock-offs falsely claiming to be monastic brews, the holy beer still kept flowing. Today, there are seven beers recognized by the International Trappist organization: Achel, Chimay, Orval, Rochefort, Westmalle, Westvleteren, and Tilburg (La Trappe). These are the officially recognized Trappist ales available today.

Holy men and women, monks, nuns, alchemists, and shamans still pursue the holy beer through ancient rituals and subtle manipulations the world over. Some seek out new plants to learn new brews from, and some recreate ancient recipes from their own culture or from that of others. Given the trials and tribulations the Trappists managed to brew through, I am sure that Holy beer will always be a part of human existence.

For many potential beer fans, gluten intolerance has stopped them from ever quaffing brews made with barley. Those times are now over. Gluten-free beers are popping up all over the country, giving those with Celiac Disease (intestinal damage due to gluten intolerance) a new opportunity to drink with impunity. Not to mention that traditionally, beers from around the world have been made with alternative ingredients, some glutinous and some not. Thee is even a gluten-free beer festival held in Chesterfield, England. Here we will discuss some alternatives to using barley malt in beer, and some substitutes that are possible.

Over two million people in the United States have been diagnosed with Celiac Disease. This represents a large market of potential beer drinkers who otherwise have few alternatives. Many health conscious people are also found in this category of non-gluten imbibers. Gluten is a protein found in such grains as barley, wheat, rye, spelt, and oats. As far as beer brewing is concerned, barley is a huge concern if one is interested in making a gluten free beer. Oats and rye can be a problem as well, depending on what flavor of beer you are planning to make.

Some common substitutes for barley are millet, sorghum, rice, corn, and soybean. The good news is that substitutions are possible. The bad news is that many of them do not taste very much like the stuff made with barley.

Many beers in Japan are now being made with soy or pea protein along with hops and sugar to produce a product known as “third beer”. This technology is fairly recent, but sales are booming in Japan. With a few more years of experimentation, these bold new brewing techniques may be perfected to provide a great new gluten free beer like product.

Traditionally speaking, in Tibet, Nepal, and the surrounding areas, beer made with millet or rice has been a staple drink for many years. This drink, called Chang or Chung can be made at home and features the use of ginger and rice flour yeast cakes to promote starch to sugar conversion as well as fermentation. For more information about making your own Chang, read Stephen Harrod Buhner’s book Sacred and Healing Herbal Beers.

One beer manufacturer that is ahead of the game as far as gluten free beers go is Green’s. Their gluten-free beers are made using Sorghum, Millet, Buckwheat and Brown Rice, and contain no allergens. Their beers boast a high nutritional value as well, with 2x-3x the Zinc and Selenium content of Barley, an increased Calcium content, and rich in B vitamins. Their beers include the Quest (trippel bock), Mission (amber), and Pathfinder (dark) ales, lending a huge variety to a specialty market.

Credit to the first craft beer made with sorghum is claimed by Bard’s Tale Beer with their flagship brew called “Dragon’s Gold”. This beer has made a fine impression and weighs in at 3.8%- 4.7%%, with a hoppy, floral aroma, and, of course, no glutens. The Bard’s Tale brewing company has made a commitment to producing gluten free beer for all, and is an example that other brewers will hopefully follow.

The market for gluten free beer has grown considerably in Japan, while regular beer sales are slumping. With new varieties of gluten and malt free beer emerging in the U.S., this could possibly turn into a burgeoning market.

As interest in ancient beers and brewing techniques is piqued, the world is seeing a proliferation of the technique of serving beer as a cask-conditioned ale. Cask-conditioned ale is also referred to as “Real Ale” in some circles, although there is a subtle difference between the drinks the two terms describe. Cask Ale is a very old and traditional technique for carbonation and serving of beer. Cask Ale is currently enjoying a revival due to the qualities it imbues on the beer that it produces.

A quick summary of Cask Ale conditioning: it is a process that affects the final stage of beer production. Cask ale is un-pasteurized, un-filtered, and carbonated with the natural action of the yeast that is used in the fermentation of the ale, and without the aid of artificial carbonation or nitrogenation. Some cask ales are served with the natural yeast included, and in others the yeast has been filtered out. If the yeast has been filtered, it cannot be called a “real ale”. The concept of “Real Ale” is promoted by an association called the CAMpaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), based in the United Kingdom. According to the CAMRA’s definition, Real Ale is: "beer brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous carbon dioxide". One method that brewers and barkeeps have discovered to keep cask ale fresh-looking and clear is to add “finings” to the cask. Home brewers will be familiar with the term “Irish moss” – this is a “fining”, an addition to the beer which causes free-floating sediment to fall to the bottom of the beer. Sometimes, cask ale is served at room temperature, but it is mostly available at cellar temperature (50 or 55 degrees) in most pubs.

Barkeeps doctoring the beer you say? One historical note about Cask Ale is that it is easy for barkeeps to do just that. In older times, barkeeps would add additional hops, finings, or even illicit herbs to doctor the beer. Some unscrupulous bar owners would take ale that was going bad and water down good ale with it and put it on sale, and others would add wormwood to the concoction to make the ale seem stronger.

Many fans of Cask Ale site their beers more subtle fizz as a main selling point. The lesser degree of carbonation, they claim, allows the more subtle flavors of their beer to be enjoyed. Guinness, the famous stout, imitates this more subtle cask ale carbonation, although by the means of different technology.

The degree of carbonation in Cask Ale is actually controlled via a device called a “soft spile”. Once the cask reaches the brew pub, the barkeep hammers this soft spile into the corked hole in the keg known as the shive. By judging the flow of foam through the soft spile, the barkeep eventually takes out the soft spile and replaces it with a hard spile, which allows no more seepage. Once this process is complete, the Cask is ready to be served, via a gravity feed.

Cask ale is becoming more and more popular in the United States, where it is still uncommon to find. The New York Times reported that one beer distributor, Union Beer Distributors, has had their accounts more than triple for cask ale sales in 2007. UBD is the leading cask ale distributor for the New York metropolitan area, and a strong indicator that cask ale is a fast growing trend, at least in New York City. Let us keep in mind that New York City sets trends internationally. Keep your eye out for cask ales at your local brew pub, you may be pleasantly surprised by this taste of the past.

With the rise in popularity of craft, micro, and home brewing, a slew of books have come out in recent years on these subjects. Some focus on cultural aspects of beer, some on nutritional aspects, and some focus on recipes. I will go over a few of the more popular titles on the shelf today, and relate them to my personal experience.

There is a book by brew scholar and professor of brewing technology at U.C. Davis Charles W. Bamforth called Beer: Tap Into the Art and Science of Brewing, in 2003. This book goes into scientific detail about all aspects of the brewing process, with a mind to a layperson’s understanding of the topics. This is an excellent book for those interested in the details of the process of making beer. This is a good place for a starting home brewer or beer fan to learn more about what they are drinking. Professor Bamforth also gives lectures from time to time, so keep an eye out for his name in your neck of the woods. This book may be a bit simplistic for the home brewer or beer fan that is already intimately familiar with most aspects of beer production. Still, if scientific terms speak to you, it is a worthwhile read.

Radical Brewing by Randy Mosher contains a cultural overview of beer, an amusing embellished timeline of the history of beer, and many recipes. Just to give you an idea of the breadth of beer covered in this book: Corinthian Steinbier, An English Bragot, c. 1500, Juniper Rye Bock, Black Pepper Porter, and Mister Boing Boing Cherry Barley Wine are all represented, for better or worse. The book also contains recipes for beverages other than beer, such as Finnish Sahti, Mead, hop-less Gruits, and wine. Randy’s writing is one of the most palatable ingredients in Radical Brewing – witty and full of humor. I recommend this book to any brewer. Even if you prefer traditional brews, this book is sure to open your eyes, and due to the amount of recipes, a keeper as a reference manual.

The book Wild Fermentation by Sally Ellix Katz is a wild foray into a subject which, for brewers, seems very dangerous. Most brewers do not want to mess with wild yeasts, due to the ease and commercial availability of good quality ale yeasts. But this book covers much more than just beer. It covers a wide variety of foods made with the assistance of fermentation, such as vegetable ferments, dairy ferments, and even ventures into the realm of vinegar making. The book does have chapters on beer and wine as well. This book is a little much for me to handle. The chapters are compelling and informative, but it is all just too much for me to handle at once – it is like learning 5 different trades in one workshop. I recommend this book to those who are capable at multi-tasking.

My favorite book about beer, by far, is Sacred and Healing Herbal Beers by Stephen Harrod Buhner. This book is a gem containing a well-referenced codex of ancient beers from around the world. The poetry and humanitarianism with which Buhner delivers into our hands the wisdom, folklore, and recipes of the ancient brewers is both astonishing and informative. Buhner makes one particularly thrilling correlation between a beer trend that is 700 years old and political maneuvering of the protestant movement in Europe – but I won’t reveal it here because I’m not that kind of person. Buhner also writes from a fairly neutral viewpoint, taking in with deep understanding the cultures about who’s brew he is writing about. This book has been dearly loved in my home brewery, where ever it has been, and my first handed-down copy had so much wort spilled on it that I had to buy a new copy recently. This book goes over the cultural aspects of beer primarily, and also contains some bizarre recipes from the ancients – some of which taste quite good! If you are a home brewer or a fan of beer history, you must get this book.

Brewing today is more of a science than ever. With advances in the specialty fields of micro-biotics and plant biology, this science is now receiving praise – and the degree programs – from the highest level of academia. The golden age of microbrews we are living in is giving more and more respect around the board to brewmasters, and has created a whole new field of academia – the brew scholar.

With more and more inventive and daring microbrews being created every year, we are seeing the ancient art of brewing given more and more attention. With a better understanding of what happens on the cellular level during each process of brewing – malting, mashing, fermenting, and kegging – efficient short-cuts and better ways of cleaning and sanitizing are becoming apparent. The advent of science of genetic engineering may provide even more efficient ways of fermenting beer as well. Already on the market is the product known as turbo yeast, which ferments quickly and more efficiently than most regular yeast strains. Alcohol fermented by the use of turbo yeast is used primarily as a fuel source or for distillates.

The use of Ethanol as a fuel source is growing rapidly. In Brazil, ethanol production is high, and new “flex” cars are being manufactured, which can run on either Ethanol, Gasoline, or a mixture of the two. U.S. president George W. Bush even visited there in March 7th of 2007, where he signed agreements with Brazilian president about importing alternative alcohol based technology from Brazil to the United States. The rise in value of Ethanol as an easy fuel to turn to has only increased opportunities for the Brew Scholar. After all, alcohol is most easily manufactured through the art and science of fermentation.

Speaking of which, there is a book by brew scholar and professor of brewing technology at U.C. Davis Charles W. Bamforth called Beer: Tap Into the Art and Science of Brewing. This book goes into scientific detail about all aspects of the brewing process, with a mind to a layperson’s understanding of the topics. This is an excellent book for those interested in the details of the process of making beer. This is a good place for a starting home brewer or beer fan to learn more about what they are drinking. Professor Bamforth also gives lectures from time to time, so keep an eye out for his name in your neck of the woods.

One interesting development in the birth of the brew scholar is that many respectable Universities are now offering degrees in brew science. The U.K.’s University at Nottingham has offered since 2006 a master’s course which is open to graduates as well as current brewery employees. Class topics include yeast efficiency, brewery design, and more.

At U.C. Davis, in northern-central California, malting and brewing are taught as part of the bachelor of science degree in Food Science or the master’s degree of science within the Food Science Graduate Group. This is where Professor Bamforth teaches. There are three tiers to the Davis brewing program. First is Introduction to Beer and Brewing, which gets the student familiar with the importance of beer as an international industry, and a basic understanding of how industrial breweries operate. Next is the theoretical class Malting & Brewing Science, which familiarizes the student with all aspects of industrial beer production from growing grains to the point of sale. Thirdly is Practical Malting & Brewing, where the student learns “hands-on” in the brewery and at the lab about analyzing beer and the links of that analysis with production methods.

With the golden age of microbrews going strong, it will be a wonder to see what these new brew scholars can do with beer. We are sure to see more interesting varieties and more efficient beer production thanks to these new degrees. Blue-collar workers finally have something to thank academia for!

It may seem impossible, but at one time in this our world, all ale was made without hops. Beer was quite a different beverage back then. Brewers were still experimenting with large varieties of herbs, trying to find the perfect addition to their malty brews. Of the many differing herbs, it is documented that our brewing ancestors used wormwood, marsh rosemary, yarrow, nettle, sage, and more to make differently inebriating herbal beers. Now that we are living in the golden age of micro brews, brew masters all over the country have been experimenting with ancient recipes and ideas about what can make a good beer… but will hops ever be dethroned from the throne of well-loved beer ingredients?

Though it is little known, hops has not always been an ingredient for beer. In the 4,000+ year history of beer, the dominance of hopped ale has only taken place over the last 700 years or so. According to Stephen Buhner in his book Sacred and Healing Herbal Beers, one of the first uses of hops in ale was that of breweries in the Netherlands in the 14th century. Before hops took over the scene, the most popular beer was a brew known as Gruit. According to Buhner, Gruit contained many herbs that had opposite effects on the drinker than hops. Gruit ale allegedly stimulates the mind, increases sexual drive, and creates euphoria, whereas the effects of hopped ale cause drowsiness, and subdue sexual ability (even if the anti-inhibitatory effect of alcohol does cause more pick-up lines to be used).

It is doubtful that hops will ever be widely replaced by another herb, given the static tendencies of the world we live in, but there is still a market for ale without hops. Some people disdain the bitter taste hops add to beer, some dislike the sedative qualities of the plant, and a few are even allergic to hops. For this niche market, beer can be made entirely without hops. To make ale without hops, it is necessary to look at the properties that hops have that make them so ideal for brewing.

Hops have a lot of beneficial qualities for beer. Beside the flavor, which is well loved the world ‘round, the antibacterial qualities of hops helped greatly to keep ale from spoiling. This must have been a great benefit for brewers in the age before refrigeration. Curiously, the use of other herbs to help ale keep is well documented from before the age of hopped beer. So what caused the huge swing in favor of hopped ale?

Buhner links the rise in popularity of hopped ale with the Protestant movement’s anti-drug sentiments. Laws forbidding the herbs used in Gruit were among the first anti-drug laws passed into law. Little did the hopped beer advocates know at that time, but this protestant sentiment would eventually grow into the temperance movement and result in prohibition.

One ale without hops that is making a strong resurgence is Heather Ale. Heather ale is a Gruit-style ale being made with heather instead of hops. The re-introduction of heather ale started in the land of its origin, Scotland. Fraoch claims that heather ale goes back to 2,000 B.C., with a tenuous life on the fringes of society for the last 4,000 or so years. In 1986, home brew shop owner and brewer Bruce Williams found a recipe for heather ale translated from Gaelic, and has been mounting a crusade to re-introduce heather ale to the world ever since. Williams’ crusade has turned out to be quite effective. Fraoch has now become the first Gruit-style ale to go “international”, re-establishing a tradition which was almost eradicated from the world.

One of the greatest benefits of home brewing, and of the golden age of micro brew that we are currently living in, is the ability to create new and unusual brews.  The freedom that comes with experimentation in this realm knows no bounds except those of one’s own imagination and ability.  With practice and planning, even these limits will increase, as the breadth of knowledge in these fields is naturally increasing.  As the golden age of the micro brew expands to even more unique and inventive realms, we are even seeing the list of strange and unique beer that is commercially available expand.

Micro brewers have been experimenting with unique herbal beers well into the origins of beer.  Numerous recipes are available for your edification in books such as Sacred and Healing Herbal Beers by Stephen Harrod Buhner, and Wild Fermentation by Sandy Katz.  Sacred and Healing Herbal beers is by far the most influential book on brewing that I have had the pleasure to read.  My whole career as a hobby home brewer has, in fact, been based on this book, as has that of many home brewers that I know.  It is considered in some circles to be the “bible” of strange and unique beer.

To the beer drinkers of the United States, though, even something as simple as a Belgian White Ale is often considered exotic.  While the yeasts of such ales certainly lend themselves to distinction, I wouldn’t call them unique beers.  To qualify for this category, we must take into consideration the following:

Does the beer have a unique buzz or side effect?

And;

Does the taste of the beer differ due to an admixture?

Yeast has an important effect on the taste of any beer, but this only one aspect of beer production.  The quality of the water, the types and mixtures of malts and hops, and especially herbal admixtures affect both of these factors greatly.  Inventive processes can also enhance the taste of the beer. 

Water is the highest presiding factor over the quality of a beer; it makes up roughly 90% of the beer.  I have found that the best beer I have ever been able to brew used as its base pure Alaskan glacier melt water.  The list of all-organic ingredients helped, I’m sure, although other organic ales I have drunk have almost lived up to the taste of that ale, most notably the Fishtale Organic Ale.  I would call these beers of the highest quality, and the Winter Wolf Stout that I made with the Alaskan Glacier melt water “unique” due to the process of collecting the water.

There is one commercially produced ale that I have discovered to venture into the realm of herbal admixtures, although I am sure more are to come.  I am speaking of New Belgium’s Springboard Ale.  It is an innocuous sounding name, but this ale is truly a unique herbal concoction brewed up in the guise of a Seasonal beer: a Belgian Ale with the bite of wormwood and the tonic properties of Goji berries.

The Springboard ale boldly forges ahead to reclaim space for herbal beer brewers.  Ever since the German beer purity laws, or Reinheitsgebot, adopted in 1516, and even before, the powers-that-be have sought to implement control over what manner of inebriation is allowed to the general public.  The only ingredients allowed by law in ale were water, malt, and yeast… hops were added to the list later, by popular demand.  The only other brew known to contain an active amount of wormwood ingredient is the infamous Absinthe, outlawed in the U.S. and many other countries, but still sought after and made by high class moonshiners in the United States, and, I am sure, in other countries in which its production has been outlawed.

Before the release of Springboard, the United States saw a proliferation of specialty ales – some of which contained herbs, others of which contained specialty yeasts.  A variety of Belgian Ales as well as Fraoch Heather Ale paved the way for the release of New Belgium’s Springboard by exposing the beer fans of the U.S. to more and more strange and unique beers.

In my personal experience, home brewers have been the first to experiment with wild and imaginative combinations in strange and unique beer.  I have drunk of the “Orge-Clops-Itar Ale”, containing the herb eyebright, which is regarded as a beneficial tonic for eyesight.  The brewer stated to me that the inclusion of eyebright was to help with night vision and goblin sightings.  Another unique home brew was the “Skull Crushing Hammer”, a beer made with the herb Yarrow.  The herb is said to have immense healing qualities when applied in a salve to open wounds, but when ingested, has inebriatory qualities that enhance the effect of alcohol.

Amongst home brewers is probably the best way to expose one’s self to an amazing variety of strange and unique beers.  It may not be the easiest to find home brewers bent on such strange brews, but it will certainly be a rewarding endeavor.  It might be worthwhile to enquire at your local home brew supply store about some of the “crazier” brewers that come into the shop.

When home brewing was outlawed with prohibition, it took another 50 years before the state repealed the ban on home brew, and now, finally, craft brewing is overtaking the ground it had lost over 200 years ago.  Thanks to the home brew revival, authors like Stephen Harrod Buhner and Sandy Katz, and bold brewers like New Belgium, we are sure to see a revival on the field of strange and unique beers.

Home brewing has always been a hobby with numerous possibilities for the financial benefit of the home brewer.  With the skills and knowledge of brew craft that many home brewers have, it is easy to make the jump from a hobbyist into a career brewer.  Some brewers start by opening their own local brewpub.  Others go to one of the many schools offering degrees in Master Brewing, hoping to land a job with a larger company that produces ales of quality.  Some brewers even go underground to sell their concoctions at parties and even speakeasies.  If you are thinking of a career in brew crafting, it is wise to look at many of the entrepreneurial options available to you.  You might just find the perfect new career you have been looking for!

Many home brewers love to brew beer, but have trouble making the jump to using industrial style equipment.  If you are confused by the array of home brewing products out there, just remember: with each jump in technology, you will be able to make more beer, more efficiently, more cost effectively, and more time effectively than ever before.  It is always good to keep your old bottling tools on hand in case you want to make a special gift bottle or limited edition ale.  But for the entrepreneurial home brewer, a move to Cornelius kegs and the larger regulation kegs is an important step.

Cornelius kegs are a great way to get to know how modern beer kegging works, and to experiment with carbonation techniques.  The set-up price is relatively small, and the savings in time that would otherwise be spent bottling is vast.  Another good initial investment is the kegerator, or kegerator conversion kit. A proper knowledge of how your Cornelius keg interacts with a draft beer system will help you greatly when you switch to regulation kegs.  Cornelius kegs are becoming harder and harder to find second-hand, but they are available as brand new or reconditioned units through many home brew equipment suppliers.  

Because of the size of the Cornelius keg (about 6 gallons), it is the perfect choice for the home brewer who wishes to gradually develop their brew shop and range of knowledge.  Most home brewers start out brewing batches in that range, and this will allow home beer production to increase without the need for a larger kettle – but this is the next step!  Once you have started to keg your beer, you will find it so easy to make large amounts, that you will want to increase your kettle size to around nine gallons.  A nine-gallon kettle takes only a little more time to brew than a three or five gallon one.  Many home kitchens are not built to accommodate such massive pots, though, so you will have to plan ahead to ensure success with this increased brew load.

You should always have a spoon or stirring paddle that can easily reach the bottom of your kettle.  Kettles with false bottoms and spigots can easily facilitate the exit of the wort from the kettle, which can be a real problem if your kettle is holding in excess of five gallons.  Because of the weight of the wort, you will basically have to not move the kettle until the wort has cooled.  If you are using a wort chiller to affect this change, you should ensure that the water lines can reach the kettle where it is placed.

The most important jump for the entrepreneurial home brewer is the use of the all grain brewing technique.  By using grains, you will save money over using malty extract, and as your batches become bigger and bigger, these savings will increase exponentially.  There are some more start up costs associated with this kind of brewing, but also many shortcuts you can use while perfecting this brewing technique.  Some find it distasteful, but the use of food grade five gallon plastic buckets can replace the need for a false bottom kettle, and a cleaned and sanitized camping cooler can also help with the mashing process, where maintaining temperature is so important.  If you consider yourself a bit of an engineer, and have a lot of room to work with, the three tier brewing system is the best way to maximize the efficiency of your all grain brewing setup.

The career of a brew master is a fun, creative tradition that is enjoyable for both the brewer and the drinker!  Remember that you need not have a degree to be a master brewer, but a scientific knowledge of brewing will only make it easier to repeatedly produce the unique ale that is yours!  Remember that an eye for invention and mechanical improvisation will save you tons of time and money in this effort, and good luck!

When planning a camping trip, most people remember to bring the tent, the sun block, and the sleeping bags.  But many folks forget that special addition that can make the trip all the more enjoyable after a long hike: the home brew!  Most camping trips can benefit from some home brewed refreshment, whether a small hike or a full-blown lake fishing trip!  With the advances in home brew serving technology these days, it can be simple for friends, families, or couples to brew up a fine camping trip!

If you are going to the lake, or on another kind of car or R.V. camping trip, bringing a larger home brew setup is a great way to enhance the trip.  If you have room in your vehicle and a generator, you can bring along your home kegerator, but most people opt for the draft beer cooler for such trips.  A draft beer cooler is basically a plastic cooler that has either a copper or stainless steel cooling coil placed inside (with lots of ice).  The beer from the kegs flows through this cooling system and out of draft spigots mounted on the front of the beer cooler, producing a cool and refreshing draft beer with a very lightweight and easy to set-up apparatus.

Either draft beer coolers or beer cooler conversion kits can be ordered online, making it even easier for you to focus on your brewing for the camping trip.  Considering the cost of keeping a generator on and kegerator plugged our whole camping trip, the draft beer cooler is a much more economical option for your camping trip.  Make sure you have extra supplies of ice for your draft beer cooler.  If the keg beer flowing through your beer lines is warm, it will melt the ice inside quickly, and it will need to be replaced.  It is a good idea to keep the kegs insulated in thick blankets to keep it cool.

For smaller camping trips, such as one to three day hikes, or walk-in camping, a smaller beer cooler with a few bottle conditioned brews can be perfect.  For colder weather hiking, a nutritious stout, porter, or malty scotch ale is recommended.  These ales will keep you warm under the crisp, cold glare of starlight in the mountains, and help you rest.  No cooler is really necessary for these trips, as an icy mountain stream will cool your bottles off rather easily.  For warmer weather trips, coolers are advised, although it may not be necessary if cold-water streams are along your path.  But for warmer weather hikes, a lighter ale is recommended, at darkest an amber.

One fun aspect of the biggest camping days of the year, namely, Labor Day, Memorial Day, and Fourth of July, is making the extra preparations necessary to build a bar for your camp out!  If you already have a home bar, you will be able to take some of your sturdier decorations out to the campground.  The main issue will be having plenty of seating available for your patrons, be they friends, family, or fellow campers.  Turning your campsite into a party zone can make you some exceptional friends!  To avoid any unpleasant interactions with authorities, it is advisable to disguise your mobile draft beer system.  You may want to read my articles Entrepreneurship and Home Brewing and Disguising a Mobile Beer Draft System if you are planning on setting up a campsite bar during such major party weekends.

Whether you are brewing up a fine camping trip for a small group, or for a large assembly, the mixture of draft keg beer and the wilderness is a pleasant surprise for all.  The association of home brew and the great outdoors is an apt one; brewing one’s own beer is healthier than accepting the bland corporate beers offered in most of the nation, and is especially refreshing after a constitutional in the great outdoors!

One rare treat in the world of craft brewing is the fortified ale.  A fortified ale is an ale that has a hard liquor, an herbal admixture, or both added to it before kegging or bottling.  This kind of ale is mostly seen in the realm of craft brewing or home brewing.  In the days before refrigeration technology was much advanced, it was common for barkeeps to mix new ales with older ones, enhance brews with wormwood to increase their potency, and for brewers to create fortified ales as well.  Now, the fortified ale is a rare commodity indeed, but one that is rather simple for the home brewer who is equipped to keg his or her beer.

The most effective use of the fortified ale that I have experienced has been that of an herbal tincture.  This process can be used to provide both flavor and increased inebriation to any home brewed ale.  I have found Anise, Star Anise, Mugwort (both root and leaf), and wormwood to all be effective herbal admixtures for fortifying ales, but it is certainly advisable to use such sparingly, as it is easy to add too much to our brew.  You need not fear for loss of the batch in such cases, though.  Usually the bitter or acid tastes die out with some aging (6-11 months, depending on the girth of your step-step).

If you plan to create a fortified ale, it is important to realize that if alcohol is used (say, a cheap rum, herbally affected or not) to enhance the inebriatory qualities of your ale, it will be necessary to force carbonate your beverage by the use of a beer keg of some sort.  The reason for this is that when the alcohol level of the beer increases with the addition of a hard liquor to the mixture, the yeast that normally causes the carbonation effect is killed.  I have found the use of a Cornelius keg to be handy when making fortified ales at home.  Common among home brewers, the Cornelius keg offers, at a reasonable price, a great chance to try fortifying one’s own ale while maintaining a proper level of carbonation in the beverage in question.

If you have a home bar, and you are a home brewer, a fortified ale can be a great addition to your selection of seasonal ales.  A brandy enhanced amber ale for fall, perhaps?  How about a winter stout with the extra zing of mint schnapps?  I find that one liter of 80 proof alcohol enhances the five gallon home brew batch quite effectively.  I recommend adding to this liter an herbal admixture of some kind to make your fortified ale truly special.  If you are brewing for summer, an apricot, cherry, strawberry, or apple infused rum could add that special something you are looking for.  The method of fortifying ales with special liquor is one that is seldom practiced among home or craft brewers – a chance to try something unique and different.

Many microbrewers these days are trying all kinds of admixtures for their ales, from Rogue’s Hazelnut Brown (Highly recommended), to Laguinitas with their Brown Suggah (made with molasses, very strong), to New Belgium’s Springboard Ale (fortified with a pinch of wormwood).  There are new concoctions coming out every month, it seems, and the atmosphere is ripe in the craft brewing world to bring forth the next level of unique brews: the fortified ale.