I'm going to lager my ale

What makes a good beer? Tradition? Ingredients? Knowledge? Of course, all of these go into a good beer. My first brew of 2008, Pine Tar Porter, is almost a great beer. I say almost because its still too sweet. The yeast is slow if not stopped (it's White Labs Cal V that I saved in the fridge after 2 batches) The SG is 1.022 if it was at 1.015 this beer would be great. So, I'm going to try something new: When I transfer my dunkel tomorrow I'm going repitch the porter with the lager yeast from the dunkel primary and see if it will balance it out. I'll keep you posted...

Mystery Pils

I've locked up my second batch for 2008 this evening at 8:00pm: my first pilsner all grain or otherwise. The mystery is that I don't know if the malt I used is US or Belgian in origin. I stopped in at the Michigan Brewing Co's new location to pick up some stuff at the Things Beer store. I asked the helpful employee to weigh out 8lbs of US pilsen malt which he did...maybe...because when I got home my receipt said Belgian pilsen malt. So, after a phone call they took care of monetary concerns (the Belgian is 50 cents more per pound) but there is no way to tell what I had so I did what any good brewer would do and made it into beer anyway. Belgian pilsen is slightly more modified than the US, which could mean I'll get a slightly higher gravity than if I had the US malt (that is if I don't have the US pilsen malt). If you haven't been to MBC's new location you should check it out. It seemed kind of sterile to me at first being in an industrial park building, but the bar in nice and it really made room for their increased production. I refilled a growler with the Rye Bock which was excellent. Well worth the stop and the confusion with my grain. I'll post the recipe soon

Is it really necessary to create more banter about beer on the internet?

I answer with a resounding, "yeah, why not." I've recently taken the step into all grain brewing (pun intended) and it really has chanced how I perceive brewing. I live in the great beer state of Michigan and am blessed with a cornucopia of brew from lake to shining lake, even our small town grocery store has a nice selection. This year will prove to be interesting with the ingredient shortages (have you seen the price of hops lately?) and with brewers always trying new ideas. I wish I would have harvested all of the hops from my garden instead of leaving a good pound or two hanging (I didn't use all the ones from last year so I didn't sweat it when I didn't get every last one...). So, with that introduction this is what I hope to bring to this blog: documentation of my journey through all-grain (some might say real) brewing, comment on the Michigan brew scene, hits and tips learned the hard way for other brewers. Remember: if you don't brew your own, support your local brewery!