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The Cellar The Official Newsletter of the Colonial Ale Smiths and Keggers In this Issue of The Cellar: ................................................................................................................................................... Spring Party 2011 2 ........................................................................................................................... O2 Free Closed Loop Racking* 3 ................................................................................................................................................ Tips from the Tap 4 ............................................................................................................. CASK Member Profile: Phillip Vaughn 6 .................................................................................. The CASK Calendar of Club Events and Competitions 7 Colonial Ale Smiths and Keggers Spring/Summer 2011 Volume 11, Number 4 Page 1 CASK Turns 10! CASK’s Tenth Year Anniversary By Harrison Gibbs On August 16, 2001, ten persons, including Don Welsh, gathered at the Williamsburg Brewery Company Store (the current site of the Williamsburg Aleworks) for the purpose of promoting the craft of homebrewing and beer appreciation. This was the first meeting of the CASK. The first club members were a mix of my friends and fellow law students and a few others who had begun buying homebrew supplies from Hugh Burns at the Williamsburg Brewery. By October, CASK had five new members and another four in November, and so forth. Early on, we had presentations on brewing in Jamestown and then Colonial Williamsburg after Frank Clark joined. Also by our third meeting, we were already selected to host one of the AHA Club-Only Competitions – Historic and Experimental Styles in 2003. CASK always had lots of homebrew being poured. Then as now, some members were interested in learning more about beer appreciation. However, everyone enjoyed the homebrews. In fact we rarely had more than one or two commercial beers, with the members bringing their homebrews. I remember the first December meeting had us trying eight different homebrewed stouts along with eight commercial varieties. We also were mighty proud of raising $35 at that evening’s raffle. Then prizes were what every the members brought in from their travels or extra pieces of equipment. That February, we elected our first officers. I was president, Rick Morris was Vice President, Steve Jack took over the newsletter, and Don Welsh became treasurer, a position that he didn’t know was for life. We ordered pint glasses, T-shirts, and regularly participated in Teach a Friend to Brew Day in November and National Homebrew Day in May. Competitions were not as common, but several CASK members entered the Dominion Cup at that time. The First CASK Logo. Article continues on page 5
Transcript of M$(^)'.F( !#$%&$$#'%()*%+,$#$%*%+-'*$% +, The CellarThe Cellar The Official Newsletter of the...
The CellarThe Official Newsletter of the Colonial Ale Smiths and Keggers
In this Issue of The Cellar:...................................................................................................................................................Spring Party 2011! 2
...........................................................................................................................O2 Free Closed Loop Racking*! 3................................................................................................................................................Tips from the Tap! 4
.............................................................................................................CASK Member Profile: Phillip Vaughn! 6..................................................................................The CASK Calendar of Club Events and Competitions! 7
Colonial Ale Smiths and Keggers Spring/Summer 2011
Volume 11, Number 4 Page 1
CASK Turns 10!CASK’s Tenth Year Anniversary
By Harrison Gibbs
On August 16, 2001, ten persons, including Don Welsh, gathered at the Williamsburg Brewery Company Store (the current site of the Williamsburg Aleworks) for the purpose of promoting the craft of homebrewing and beer appreciation. This was the first meeting of the CASK. The first club members were a mix of my friends and fellow law students and a few others who had begun buying homebrew supplies from Hugh Burns at the Williamsburg Brewery. By October, CASK had five new members and another four in November, and so forth.
Early on, we had presentations on brewing in Jamestown and then Colonial Williamsburg after Frank Clark joined. Also by our third meeting, we were already selected to host one of the AHA Club-Only Competitions – Historic and Experimental Styles in 2003. CASK always had lots of homebrew being poured. Then as now, some members were interested in learning more about beer appreciation. However, everyone enjoyed the homebrews.
In fact we rarely had more than one or two commercial beers, with the members bringing their homebrews. I remember the first December meeting had us trying eight different homebrewed stouts along with eight commercial varieties. We also were mighty proud of raising $35 at that evening’s raffle. Then prizes were what every the members brought in from their travels or extra pieces of equipment.
That February, we elected our first officers. I was president, Rick Morris was Vice President, Steve Jack took over the newsletter, and Don Welsh became treasurer, a position that he didn’t know was for life. We ordered pint glasses, T-shirts, and regularly participated in Teach a Friend to Brew Day in November and National Homebrew Day in May. Competitions were not as common, but several CASK members entered the Dominion Cup at that time.
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Spring Party 2011 Photos By Jeff Flamm
This year, CASK traded in the heat of the Summer Party for a beautiful spring day in May. The Spring Party was hosted by the Clarks (A warm CASK Thank You to them) and featured a “Name That IPA” Competition won by Phillip Vaughn and a huge raffle.
Congratulations to the winners of the Spring Party IronBrew, ”Lawnmower Beers”. The winner were:
1st Place: Phillip Vaughn with his Hoppy American Wheat,
2nd Place: John & Jared Smith with their American Pale Ale, and
3rd Place: Steven Davis with his Kölsch.
Colonial Ale Smiths and Keggers Spring/Summer 2011
Volume 11, Number 4 Page 2
Spring Party 2011 Iron Brew First PlaceHoppy American Wheat
By Phillip VaughnGrain Bill:
• 5lb White Wheat Malt (55.56%)• 3lb 2 Row Pale (33.3%)• .5lb Munich (5.56%)• .5lb Aromatic Malt (5.56%)
Mash: Single infusion mash @ 152 with 2 batch sparge infusions
Hops: Mash hopped with .75 oz homegrown cascade. With 5 minutes remaining in the boil I used 1 oz. each of Cascade, Centennial, Chi-nook, and Columbus. Dry hopped (in the keg) with .75 oz. each of Amarillo and Centennial
Yeast: Chico (S-05) primary fermented in the mid 60's for a week, then transferred to secondary (corny keg) and cold conditioned in the fridge for 2 weeks
OG: 1.049 FG: 1.010 ABV: 5.1 IBU's: Who cares/knows?
O2 Free Closed Loop Racking* * Nearly oxygen !ee
By Jeff Flamm
Here is a method to rack your beer from primary fermenter to keg (or keg used as a secondary fermenter) with minimal oxygen contact. In this setup I transferred the beer from a ported Better Bottle fermenter with valve to corny keg.
F i r s t y o u n e e d a beverage line jumper (Photo 1). The valve on the better bottle has a 1 / 2 i n c h o u t e r diameter (OD). I made the jumper using a short piece of 1/2 inch inner diameter (ID) siphon tubing and a piece of 3/8 inch ID x 1/2 inch outer diameter ( O D ) b e e r t u b i n g connected to a ball lock
beverage quick disconnect. Since this is a just a drain line without much pressure on it a simple slip fit between the two pieces of tubing is adequate. You also need a gas line jumper. For my setup I used a better bottle closure with 90-degree elbow, gas tubing and ball lock gas quick disconnect (Photo 2). You may have to soak the tubing in hot water briefly to allow it to slip over the connector barbs more easily.
Clean and sanitize you keg, beer line a n d g a s l i n e jumpers. Connect CO2 to the gas in port on the keg and purge the air from the keg (Photo 3). Leave a little CO2 p ressu re on the empty keg for the moment (just a 1 or 2 psi will suffice). D i sconnec t you r CO2 bottle from the keg. Now connect your beverage line jumper and CO2 line jumper to the keg allowing the keg to
vent through the open ends of both jumpers. This will purge the air from the jumpers. Do not connect a pressurized keg to the fermenter! Better bottles and glass carboys are not pressure vessels and should never be pressurized. Be sure your CO2 bottle is disconnected from the keg and any residual gas pressure is
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Photo 1: Beverage Line Jumper
Photo 2: Gas Line Jumper
Photo 3: Purge the keg using CO2. Be sure to vent an residual pressure from the keg before proceeding to the next step.
Photo 4: Closed loop rack system ready to go.
vented from the keg before proceeding.
Now that you have vented the keg and purged the jumpers remove the airlock from the better bottle fermenter and attach the closure with elbow. Next attach the beverage line to the valve on the better bottle. Your setup is now complete and ready to rack your beer to the keg (Photo 4). Open the valve on the better bottle. Gravity will start the siphon and the carboy will fill with CO2 from the keg as your beer displaces it (Photo 5). This will ensure very little O2 contact with your beer. There may be a little residual air in the jumper lines. Keeping the jumper lines vertical after purging them and as you connect them to the fermenter (a bit awkward) minimizes air contact since CO2 is heavier than air.
Prost,
Jeff
Tips from the Tap CASK Members Like You
“Tips from the Tap” is a new feature where we can share with each other all the little “tricks of the trade” that we have learned over the years to make the brew day easier. So if you have some tips to share, send them to [email protected].
Previously I discussed using a corny keg as secondary fermenter with blow off tube connected to the keg’s gas out port (The Cellar, November 2010). I also discussed using vodka instead of water or sanitizer in your airlock to reduce contamination and worries about backflow (The Cellar, June 2010). Since writing those articles I have found vodka tends to evaporate more quickly than water from the blow-off container. So for long-term storage in a fermenter (e.g. lagering) loosely place some plastic wrap over the blow-off container. This will reduce evaporation and help keep out dust and other contamination. I have not had an issue with evaporation using vodka in conventional airlocks for short-term primary fermentation. [A tip of the hat to Jeff Flamm for this tip]
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Volume 11, Number 4 Page 4
Photo 5: Closed loop rack system in action.
Plastic wrap placed over blow-off con-tainer to reduce evaporation and con-tamination
If you are unable to place your fermenter completely away from sunlight cover it. I have had good success placing a paper grocery bag over the carboy and then wrapping it with a dark towel. No skunked beer! [A tip of the hat to Jeff Flamm for this tip]
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Volume 11, Number 4 Page 5
Grocery bag placed over fermenter to block sunlight
Meetings were considerably smaller. When regular meeting attendance grew past fifteen, we moved into the brewery itself from the store. On winter nights this was something that required those strong ales. Since then the club has grown. At one time we had over 150 members on the rolls. That was before we purged the non-paying members. It was also good to have enough members to step up as officers. However, this area is still underserved by the membership.
While I have not been as active lately as I was (due to starting a family and going into private practice), I see CASK as being a great success story. Over the last ten years, I have seen the club really blossom. Meetings are well attended and the brewing events like Big Brew still have a great turn out. The club’s participation at the Dominion Cup in both entries and as judges has brought us closer to our brewing comrades in Richmond. CASK’s own Beer Blitz continues to be a great success. Interest in the Beer Judge program has been phenomenal.
Nevertheless some issues remain unresolved. When CASK began, the matter of incorporation was never completed. It is now time to incorporate as a non-profit 501c(7). The emphasis on homebrewing remains, but the size of CASK’s meeting often requires more reliance on commercial beers for presentations than homebrew, which is a loss. As CASK moves into its next ten years, I expect great things. More outside meeting activities, more cooperation with other clubs, and, of course, more homebrew are what I see in the Club’s future. Please lift up a glass of your homebrew with me and as they say in CW “Huzzah!”
CASK’s Tenth Year Anniversary (Continued from Page 1)
CASK Member Profile: Phillip VaughnFull Name: Phillip Vaughn
Hometown: Yorktown, Virginia
Town of Residence: Williamsburg, Virginia
Occupation: UPS Driver
Years Brewing: 3 years
Favorite Beers to Brew: I enjoy brewing beers that don't easily fit into the B.J.C.P. guidelines.
Favorite Commercial Brew: Its impossible for me to choose one favorite beer, as it usually changes on a daily basis. A few faves include St. Bernardus Abt. 12, Lagunitas Little Sumpin' Wild, Rodenbach Grand Cru, Sierra Nevada Stout, Schlenkerla Helles Lagerbier
Favorite Brew Pub or Beer Bar: For American beers its the County Grill in Yorktown. For Belgian and German beers it has to be the Biergarden in Portsmouth.
How did you started brewing?: My parents bought me a kit many years ago and I made a couple of batches but lost interest. About three years ago I picked it up again in earnest.
Type of Brewing (Extract, Partial Mash, All-Grain): I started brewing with extract and steeping grains, then did some all grain brewing using the "brew in a bag" method. I now have a more traditional all grain setup.
Why do you brew?: I brew because I enjoy the challenge of creating unique and complex beers. I love the fact that the process of homebrewing can be as simple or as complicated and in depth as you want to make it. I generally try to keep things uncomplicated.
Awards, Beer Related Associations, etc: 2011 CASK Spring Iron Brew winner, Winner of the Beach Brewing Company homebrew contest winner and creator of Sandshark Summer Ale.
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The CASK Calendar of Club Events and Competitions
Plan your brewing schedule now and hit as many club-only and other competitions as possible.
August - Mead (COC) / Cider TastingSeptember - Specialty/Experimental/Historical
(COC)September - CASK Fall Oktoberfest!October - TBDNovember - Hefeweizen (COC)December - Stouts
September 17, 2011 - CASK Oktoberfest and Fall Party, Bring your “German Party Beer” for the Fall Iron Brew.
October 8, 2011 - Blues and Brew, Gazebo on Main Street, Gloucester, VA
October 22, 2011 - Fifth Virginia Beer Blitz, St. George Brewing Company, Hampton, VA.
You, yes you, can add items to the CASK calendar and keep your fellow club members informed about beer-related happenings in the area!
Either:
1. logon to the CASK Message Board to find out how to add events to the calendar or
2. E-mail information about the event to [email protected]
The Cellar is a publication of CASK,
Colonial Ale Smith and Keggers
P.O. Box 5224
Williamsburg, VA 23188
Editor: Norm Schaeffler
Colonial Ale Smiths and Keggers Spring/Summer 2011
Volume 11, Number 4 Page 7
