Craft Beers

What is a craft beer? There are actually a lot of definitions, and there is even a legal definition, apparently. A craft beer is basically a beer that does not use rice or corn as a major ingredient. The craft beer movement started in the 1970s to get away from the beer created by the mega breweries (such as Budweiser, Miller, Coors, etc.). The problem with craft beers these days is that they are trying to do exactly what they originally were trying to get away from. They are trying to take over the market and become leaders in the industry. They started as regional breweries that provided original high quality products to the people of that region. I recently read a blog post from "Top Fermented" about this subject that I really liked. He stated that these breweries are throwing around the word "consistency" lately. This is the same word that the mega breweries throw around. Each Budweiser is supposed to taste exactly the same. It's not necessarily about making good beer as much as it is about making consistently tasting beer. What about consistently good beer?

The blogger even states that making a product that tastes exactly the same year after year shouldn't really be possible. Think about it. You're using organic materials that change from year to year, not to mention that yeast is a living organism, which reacts differently from batch to batch. Even if you use the same materials each time, there will most likely be a slight taste difference. Will it be similar? Of course. The same? No. And it shouldn't be expected to be. This is one of the principles behind home-brewing. One of the exciting parts of creating your own beer is that even if you make the same batch again, it will probably display different characteristics each time. The craft beer industry started with this idea in mind, but these companies have basically become smaller versions of the mega breweries. They are more interested in creating a flagship beer with a few supporting styles and marketing them across the country and even world-wide. Don't get me wrong; you start a business to make money. No one ever goes into starting a business with the intent to lose money. And people typically don't like change, so they don't want their favorite beers to change. However, I feel like this makes it harder for smaller, truly local breweries to provide their craft beers to the community.

I like the idea of craft beers. The whole idea of using corn or rice is to control the flavor of the product. Using malted barley and wheat, without using rice or corn, allows for the unique complexities of the beer to come out. I even think it's okay for the beer to be different from batch to batch. Isn't this the same for the wine industry? The same style of wine from different years is not expected to be exactly the same. That's why we put emphasis on labeling the years of the wine. Why can't we do this for beer?

The author of "Top Fermented" is starting a small brewery in NC. His mission is to create good beer that has variability, as all good beer does. I really like this and am excited about his brewery. If more breweries took this chance with their beers, the beer industry would be completely different. They would be getting back to actually creating "craft beers."

Check out his post at http://www.topfermented.com/2011/06/01/real-beer-has-variability-or-mystery-brewings-mission-statement/.

Until Next Time,
RHSC

Chocolate Coffee Milk Stout

This is my latest batch. In fact, I just opened the first bottle yesterday. A friend of mine and his girlfriend gave me some grains and lactose for Christmas with the hope that I would make a stout. I had to collect the rest of the materials (malts, yeast, hops) on my own because they wanted to plant the idea, not tell me how to do it. I really appreciated that. This is my own creation that I put together from several different recipes.

Anyway, this beer turned out nicely. I'll have to play with it in the future, but it's not bad for a first attempt. Hopefully, they only get better the longer they sit in the bottles. It has a nice smooth texture, and tastes pretty much the way a stout should. It has a nice bitter punch (but not too bitter) up front, but it actually doesn't have a terribly bitter aftertaste that a lot of people complain about with  stouts. My first complaint was that although I added actual chocolate and coffee to the brew, I couldn't really taste them. As I continued drinking it, however, I noticed that these flavors were present as an aftertaste, which was actually very nice. I am not completely satisfied, but that in no way means I won't try again. Also, I am probably my own worst critic, since I made the beer. My wife, who doesn't like stouts at all, says that this wasn't too bad. The true test will come tonight: we're having a group of friends over for dinner tonight, and I usually try out my new creations on them. They love beer just as much as do and will tell me whether or not this is any good. I also can't wait for my friends who planted the seed to come over so they can try it.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound Coffee Malt
• 1/2 pound Chocolate Malt
• 1/2 pound Crystal Malt (40 L)
• 1/4 pound Roasted Barley
• 6.6 pounds Dark Malt Extract
• 1 ounce Fuggles Hops (bittering)
• 1 ounce Tettnanger Hops (aroma)
• English Ale Yeast
• 1/2 cup Hershey's cocoa 
• 1/2 cup good quality ground coffee
• 1/2 pound Lactose
• 1 1/4 cup dry Dark Malt Extract (for priming)

Instructions:

• Steep grains and barley at 150F for about an hour.
• Stir in extract. Bring to a boil for one hour.
• At 60 minutes (beginning of boil), put in Fuggles Hops.
• At 15 minutes, put in Tettnanger Hops.
• Stir in the cocoa at 15 minutes.
• Remove from heat after one hour.
• Once the wort has cooled a little, steep the coffee for 15 minutes.
• Pour into primary and pitch yeast.
• Primary for 7-10 days.
• Boil Lactose in 1 1/2 cups of water for several minutes and pour into secondary. Transfer beer to the secondary.
• Secondary for 7-10 days.
• Boil dry dark malt extract in 1 1/2 - 2 cups of water. Pour into bottling bucket. Transfer beer to bottling bucket and bottle the beer.
• Let stand in bottles for 10-14 days.

There are a few things I want to try differently next time. The local brew store did not have Irish Ale Yeast, so I settled for English, but I would like to get my hands on Irish Ale Yeast before I make this batch again. Also, I forgot to put the lactose in the boil at the last 15-20 minutes, so I put it in at the secondary process. I might try putting it in during the boil next time. A lot of recipes I have read say to put the lactose in with the priming sugar during the bottling process. I'm not sure what this would accomplish since lactose is not a fermentable sugar, and you're only adding it for flavor. Also, I think I might try adding a full cup of cocoa next time, and maybe some more coffee, even. I really want these flavors to be present in the beer, but not overpowering, so it will be a balancing act. I can't wait to try it again!

OG: 1.058
FG: 1.038
ABV: 3%

Until Next Time,
RHSC