Greetings,
Just a reminder, Saint Arnold is tapping the last cask of Christmas Ale 2011 at the Stag's Head Pub tomorrow night at 7:30 pm. Be there!
Cheers,
Mason
Monday, December 19, 2011
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Black Bulldozer 2011
The Brewery has some production news.
Black Bulldozer 2011, my Black IPA, is in the fermenter and should be ready by New Year's Eve. It weighs in as 98 IBU and an O.G. of 1.086, so this MONSTER beer is not for the faint of heart. Thanks to my Brother-in-law Brad for the brew day help. I pitched my standby Wyeast 1056 American Ale strain and will ferment at 65 F. I'll keep it in primary fermentation for 5 days then transfer to secondary to dry hop on 2 oz. of Citra Hops until the 28th. Chill, Carb, Serve, Enjoy.
The Wizenbock is in the keg and chilling down to force carbonate. Great ester aromas, and a final gravity of 1.008. Great beer!
Winter Warmer in in the firkin and conditioning for the NYE party as well. I decided to forget the oak in the cask, as there's not enough time to get the correct oak character for this batch. My next cask aged beauty will be a British Bitter pub ale.
Tripel Rhino is in a secondary and still very active, even after a week and a half of fermenting at 64 F. Crazy yeast, guys. I'm going to bottle half of this and the rest will be on tap for NYE.
Cheers, and leave some stinkin' comments already!
Black Bulldozer 2011, my Black IPA, is in the fermenter and should be ready by New Year's Eve. It weighs in as 98 IBU and an O.G. of 1.086, so this MONSTER beer is not for the faint of heart. Thanks to my Brother-in-law Brad for the brew day help. I pitched my standby Wyeast 1056 American Ale strain and will ferment at 65 F. I'll keep it in primary fermentation for 5 days then transfer to secondary to dry hop on 2 oz. of Citra Hops until the 28th. Chill, Carb, Serve, Enjoy.
The Wizenbock is in the keg and chilling down to force carbonate. Great ester aromas, and a final gravity of 1.008. Great beer!
Winter Warmer in in the firkin and conditioning for the NYE party as well. I decided to forget the oak in the cask, as there's not enough time to get the correct oak character for this batch. My next cask aged beauty will be a British Bitter pub ale.
Tripel Rhino is in a secondary and still very active, even after a week and a half of fermenting at 64 F. Crazy yeast, guys. I'm going to bottle half of this and the rest will be on tap for NYE.
Cheers, and leave some stinkin' comments already!
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
All-Grain or Bust
It's finally winter here in Houston, and the cool weather has gotten me frisky to brew. I have some real news for you guys, so bear with me while I give you the rundown.
Next, my loving and eternally supportive wife saw fit to approve a few capital equipment expenditures for the LeGrue home brewery. Do you think I can write that off under the Obama tax plan (Branden, check that out for me)? Regardless, we have new toys! LeGrue's is officially all systems go for ALL-GRAIN brewing, just like the big boys! Had to do some modification, but all in all it is a killer setup for 5 gallon all-grain batches. I'll have a post that shows the system in action at a later date. Moving on....
Next up, Black Bulldozer Imperial Black Ale with a little Brettanomyces surprise, and an American Blond Ale for those who need training wheels. I'll leave you with the newest version of my logo. Let me know what you think! Shout out to Jeff Grant, the graphics genius that helped me to design this baby.
First and foremost, I became a new Dad in July! It might explain my absence in the blogospere of late. Bennett came a little early, but he's more than made up for lost time in his first four months. Here's the little guy on Thanksgiving. He's not too much help on brew day yet, but we're working on that.
We are also delving into the mysterious world of cask- aging my beer. The little guy to the right is a stainless steel firkin, only in miniature (know as a "pin", for the beer nerds in the crowd). It holds 5.5 US gallons and will let my serve cask ale or "Real Ale", which is defined as a 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".[1][2] The heart of the definition is the maturation requirements. If the beer is unfiltered, unpasteurised and still active on the yeast, it is a real beer; it is irrelevant whether the container is a cask or a bottle. If the yeast is still alive and still conditioning the beer, it is "real".
The inaugural LeGrue's cask will be tapped at our New Years Eve party this year, and it will be a delicious Winter Warmer Ale with fresh spices and aged over toasted oak for vanilla/ honey notes.
The inaugural LeGrue's cask will be tapped at our New Years Eve party this year, and it will be a delicious Winter Warmer Ale with fresh spices and aged over toasted oak for vanilla/ honey notes.
Now on to production news. I've got 4 batches in different stages of maturation right now. My annual Pumpkin Beer is on tap right now, and I currently have a Weizenbock ready to bottle. My brother in law Ryan was clutch this past weekend, helping me brew two batches in a day for the New Years Party: the Winter Warmer and a Belgian Tripel.
On a side bar, that damn belgo beer almost exploded in my kitchen! The yeast was so active that the krausen sealed up the air vent in the top of the fermenter, and as such it began to build pressure. When I took it outside to clean the airlock, it went off like a bottle rocket and sprayed yeast about ten feet high. The loud "whoosh" it made when I removed the stopper was very dramatic, and it scared the dog. I had to move it to another vessel and then put the rest in a1 gallon jar so that it would have room to expand this time.
Lastly, I made another Rye beer that I did a split fermentation with. I did half with a Weizen yeast for a traditional German Rye beer, the other half I pitched a Farmhouse Ale yeast for different effect. Next, I split the Farmhouse batch again and dry hopped 1 gallon and added oak to the other gallon, and bottled the rest as a control. Did you get all of that? In essence, I have 4 different beers from the same 5 gallon batch, with the goal of doing a side by side tasting of all 4 and comparing. I know it's nerdy, but it should be fun!
Yes, for those who were counting, I have 25 GALLONS of fresh beer available. Will I be able to find all of them good homes? Only if you all do your parts!
Next up, Black Bulldozer Imperial Black Ale with a little Brettanomyces surprise, and an American Blond Ale for those who need training wheels. I'll leave you with the newest version of my logo. Let me know what you think! Shout out to Jeff Grant, the graphics genius that helped me to design this baby. Cheers!
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Summer 2011 updates
Sorry for the long absence, kids. Been kind of crazy with work/ culinary school/ 8 month pregnant wife. Anyhow, enough apologies. My creative juices that have been flowing big time, and I've got some exciting stuff on the docket for the summer 2011.
First is Saison DeGrace, an American Farmhouse ale that I brewed last week. The malt bill includes barley, wheat, oats and rye and should have a ton of depth and complexity. It was fermented at 76F to maximize the yeasty effects, and I chose Wyeast 3711 French Saison because of it's ninja- fast attenuation and complex flavor. This batch will be bottle conditioned for at least a month, so look for it in mid August.
Next up, my Imperil Pilz. This is a monster lager, OG around 1.080 and heavily hopped w/ noble cones. Nothing fancy, just wanted a BIG beer that would be warm weather friendly. Should be ready in a month or so.
Lastly is a creation that I am super excited to try. It's an American-style Rye Ale that I'm going to age for 2 months on toasted French Oak. It's going to be hard to wait, but this beer should be AWESOME. Bottle conditioned only.
Taking requests as well. What LeGrue's brew would you like to see?
Cheers!
First is Saison DeGrace, an American Farmhouse ale that I brewed last week. The malt bill includes barley, wheat, oats and rye and should have a ton of depth and complexity. It was fermented at 76F to maximize the yeasty effects, and I chose Wyeast 3711 French Saison because of it's ninja- fast attenuation and complex flavor. This batch will be bottle conditioned for at least a month, so look for it in mid August.
Next up, my Imperil Pilz. This is a monster lager, OG around 1.080 and heavily hopped w/ noble cones. Nothing fancy, just wanted a BIG beer that would be warm weather friendly. Should be ready in a month or so.
Lastly is a creation that I am super excited to try. It's an American-style Rye Ale that I'm going to age for 2 months on toasted French Oak. It's going to be hard to wait, but this beer should be AWESOME. Bottle conditioned only.
Taking requests as well. What LeGrue's brew would you like to see?
Cheers!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Letter to TX House Committee
Mike Hamilton (R), District 19
Chairman- House Licensing and Administrative Procedures Committee
Dear Representative Hamilton,
As a lifelong resident of Missouri City, TX, I am deeply interested in the growth and vitality of our City as well as Texas as a whole. We all agree that it is in our state’s best interest to find constructive ways of addressing our budgetary challenges while still fostering a positive environment for small businesses to flourish.
That brings me to the reason for my letter. I am writing you today regarding House Bill 660, relating to the sale of malt liquor, ale, and beer by the holder of a brewpub license, filed by Representative Mike Villarreal of San Antonio. This bill would allow Texas brewpubs the right to make their products available for sale off-premise, a right that out-of-state brewpubs already enjoy within the borders of Texas. It is unfathomable that in this economic climate that our statutes would so greatly restrict local small businesses; the very businesses that will help us out of this recession.
Opponents of this bill say that it would open the doors for the unregulated sale of alcoholic products in dry counties, to minors, and other such “sky-is-falling” nonsense. Let’s address these arguments so their lack of logic can come out. The sale of alcoholic beverages in dry counties or to minors would be impossible because the brewers sell to either distributers or direct to retailers. That means that the wholesaler and/or retailer would have to be complicit in the illegal sale to the public. Why would a wholesaler or retailer purchase a product that they can’t sell to the end user or endanger their ability to sell at all by selling to minors? The answer is that they would not.
HB 660 would help Texas brewpubs, most of which are privately owned, grow and remain competitive in a rapidly growing industry. The benefits don’t stop there, however. This bill would allow Texas wholesale permit and distributor's license holders meet the exploding local demand for craft beer, enable retailers by allowing them to highlight local products, give Texas consumers greater access to the products they want, and help the state by creating new jobs and increasing tax revenues. In fact, an Economic Impact study conducted by the Texas Craft Brewers Guild found that statutory reforms like HB 660 could result in $680 Million of new annual economic activity, 6,800 new jobs created, and an estimated $57 million of tax revenue generated annually. Can we really afford to miss out on these benefits given the current job market, economic climate and budget deficit in Texas?
Our laws must not prevent our own small businesses from having the tools they need to be leaders in this industry– especially to the benefit of out-of-state businesses who are currently able to do what our own breweries cannot.
I trust you will vote Yes for HB 660 when given the opportunity in committee or on the house floor.
Thank you for your time and service to our great state.
Sincerely,
Mason D. LeGrue
PS: see this letter in The Loop Scoop
Chairman- House Licensing and Administrative Procedures Committee
Dear Representative Hamilton,
As a lifelong resident of Missouri City, TX, I am deeply interested in the growth and vitality of our City as well as Texas as a whole. We all agree that it is in our state’s best interest to find constructive ways of addressing our budgetary challenges while still fostering a positive environment for small businesses to flourish.
That brings me to the reason for my letter. I am writing you today regarding House Bill 660, relating to the sale of malt liquor, ale, and beer by the holder of a brewpub license, filed by Representative Mike Villarreal of San Antonio. This bill would allow Texas brewpubs the right to make their products available for sale off-premise, a right that out-of-state brewpubs already enjoy within the borders of Texas. It is unfathomable that in this economic climate that our statutes would so greatly restrict local small businesses; the very businesses that will help us out of this recession.
The craft brewing industry in the US is booming, showing double digit growth annually despite the country’s economic trouble. Even in light of the current repressive laws, Texas craft brewers are beginning to garner national attention and acclaim. Just imagine what Texas brewers could accomplish with laws that enable new brewers to more competitively sell their products! One needs only to look at Oregon or Colorado to see the potential in job opportunities and tax revenues. Oregon has permits for “Brewery public houses” that allows brewpubs to sell to distributors and/or self-distribute up to 200,000 barrels per year, and their industry has flourished. Oregon produces over 1 million barrels of beer per year, employs over 5,000 people in breweries, and generates an estimated $2.2 billion per year for the local economy.
In Texas, the wine industry experienced extraordinary growth after the legislature loosened restrictions preventing wineries from selling to consumers on-site. In 2003, the Texas Legislature changed the law to allow wineries to sell to consumers in addition to the previously allowed activity of selling to distributors; much like what HB 660 attempts to do (though from the opposite direction – brewpubs can already sell to consumers but seek the ability to sell to wholesalers and distributors). Since then, the number of wineries in Texas have increased from 46 in 2001 to 181 in 2009, jobs increased from 1,800 to over 9,000, and the economic impact has increased from $132 million per year to $1.35 billion in 2009 making Texas the 5th largest wine producing state in the US.
Opponents of this bill say that it would open the doors for the unregulated sale of alcoholic products in dry counties, to minors, and other such “sky-is-falling” nonsense. Let’s address these arguments so their lack of logic can come out. The sale of alcoholic beverages in dry counties or to minors would be impossible because the brewers sell to either distributers or direct to retailers. That means that the wholesaler and/or retailer would have to be complicit in the illegal sale to the public. Why would a wholesaler or retailer purchase a product that they can’t sell to the end user or endanger their ability to sell at all by selling to minors? The answer is that they would not.
HB 660 would help Texas brewpubs, most of which are privately owned, grow and remain competitive in a rapidly growing industry. The benefits don’t stop there, however. This bill would allow Texas wholesale permit and distributor's license holders meet the exploding local demand for craft beer, enable retailers by allowing them to highlight local products, give Texas consumers greater access to the products they want, and help the state by creating new jobs and increasing tax revenues. In fact, an Economic Impact study conducted by the Texas Craft Brewers Guild found that statutory reforms like HB 660 could result in $680 Million of new annual economic activity, 6,800 new jobs created, and an estimated $57 million of tax revenue generated annually. Can we really afford to miss out on these benefits given the current job market, economic climate and budget deficit in Texas?
Our laws must not prevent our own small businesses from having the tools they need to be leaders in this industry– especially to the benefit of out-of-state businesses who are currently able to do what our own breweries cannot.
I trust you will vote Yes for HB 660 when given the opportunity in committee or on the house floor.
Thank you for your time and service to our great state.
Sincerely,
Mason D. LeGrue
PS: see this letter in The Loop Scoop
Thursday, February 24, 2011
History of Beer
Here's a pretty cool timeline I found on the history of my favorite beverage. Enjoy!
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
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