John Carrier

Some people have asked what I’m brewing now. Over autumn I added additional fermenters (5-gallon buckets and carboys) to my productive capacity, which has allowed me to accelerate both production and experimentation with new recipes.

I also have a lot to celebrate soon — the holidays, my older son’s bar mitzvah, my younger son’s birthday, and a new child’s birth, God willing.

Long story short, I’ve been brewing a lot of beer lately, and it’s been hard for my friends (and me) to keep track of what will be on tap when.

Bottled and drinkable:

• Pumpkin ale
• Holiday ale
• Orange-spice hefeweizen

Conditioning in the bottle:

• Lemon-spice hefeweizen, drinkable New Year’s Eve

In the secondary fermenter:

• Ferocious — a Surly Furious clone that Midwest Supplies formulated with the help of the furious folks at Surly Brewing, drinkable early January
• Imperial stout — a thick, hoppy, high-alcohol substance to be bottled late January and best served after 1 month to 1 year in the bottle
• Mead — a kind of wine made from fermented honey, possibly the earliest known alcoholic beverage, favored by Beowulf and his chums, ready by Rosh Hashanah (next fall)

In the primary fermenter:

• Roggenbier (pronounced like bloggin’ beer, not like Seth Rogen beer) — “rye beer”, actually mostly a wheat beer with the addition of rye malt that supposedly gives it a crisp, tart finish, good on a hot day, but this batch will be drinkable mid-January

On deck:

• Another plain-Jane or possibly fruit-enhanced hefeweizen
•  Vanilla bourbon porter

…both hopefully ready for the bar mitzvah and birthdays in late January and early February.

If you’ve noticed a heavy emphasis on wheat beers, there are two reasons. First, wheat beers are easy to make and don’t take too long (4-6 weeks) from the brew pot to the glass. Second, my wheat beers to date have been wildly popular, appreciated by beer snobs and wine-preferrers alike, I think because of the dearth or absence of aromatic hops in the recipes. I like ferociously hoppy beers myself, and the imperial stout and Surly clone will fit the bill, but everyone likes a good hefeweizen, even people who usually hate the taste of beer (like my wife).

After all the high-volume celebrations are over, I plan to spend a few batches in a hoppier place — double IPA, anyone? — and experiment with more of my own recipes, including finding a good style to support the addition of garam masala to the brewpot and my first chili pepper beer.

A final note: I’m always looking for empty beer bottles. I’ll be bottling 8-12 cases of beer over the next six weeks, and even with the holidays coming, I can’t drink that much myself. If you can set aside for me any pop-top (not twist-off) beer bottles you “generate” I will be much obliged.

Last night I bottled my fourth batch of hefeweizen.  Hefeweizen has been my most popular concoction to date; it has a broad appeal for beer-drinkers and non-beer-drinkers alike.  I believe it’s the lack of aromatic hops that does it.  People who like the flavor and aroma of hops really, really like hoppy beers, whereas those who don’t care for it find hops repellently bitter.  Traditionally, hefeweizen only contains a small amount of bittering hops in the beginning of the boil and no aromatic hops at all.

Following what I believe is a Belgian tradition of using fruit or spice flavors in place of the aromatic hops, I’ve augmented the Hank’s Hefeweizen recipe from Midwest Supplies with citrus peel, coriander, and ginger.  I got the idea for the spices from Rogue’s Half-E-Weizen (they are kind enough to tout their ingredients on the label) and the fruit idea from the tradition of serving hefeweizen with a slice of lemon (Germany) or orange (America).

Last time I used the zest of one navel orange, a teaspoon of freshly ground coriander seeds, and a teaspoon of powdered ginger.  This time, I swapped the orange for the zest of two organic lemons, and I doubled the coriander.  The result as of bottling time is a smooth, disarmingly mild, refreshing yet potent ale.  Give it four weeks to condition in the bottle, and I expect it to be my best beer yet.

I read somewhere that it’s okay to run while you’re sick, as long as the problem isn’t in your chest.

The sore throat I woke up with on Friday has officially evolved into a chest cold.  As much as I wanted to run 20 miles in this weather (snow-rain mix, 25-mph winds) I’m totally sidelined, with 6 weeks to go until the Las Vegas Marathon.  I hate this.  Now I’m just hyperdosing vitamin C and zinc and fluids and hoping it passes soon, before I get too far out of shape.

On the bright side, I got an early birthday present from my in-laws — a gift certificate to the homebrew supply store, which I think I’m going to invest in an additional glass carboy (for productive capacity while my other two are tied up with mead and imperial stout) and the store’s new Surly Furious clone kit.

<cough>Cheers!</cough>

PS…if YOU would like to get me a birthday present, please click on the link below and sponsor me for the Las Vegas Marathon on behalf of Chai Lifeline.  No donation is too small (or two large) and even a $1 donation will make me feel like you’re running with me the whole way.  Thanks!