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Five Blades Brewing

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Ain’t No Hallertauer Girl – IPA

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Check out the rest of my recipes in the index.
Ain't No Hallertauer Girl wide

Bear Roots logoIt has been a little while since I have done a proper beer review, opting instead to do previews of the beers I am going to make. I was also in a bit of a rut this summer: heat, extensive travel, and brewing do not make an optimal mix for brews and reviews. Mostly, I was not super pleased with how my last few batches turned out–I will happily blame that on the goofball restrictions for the BrewUnited Challenge 🙂

Well, I am back on track! A new nano brewery/homebrew supply named Bear Roots Brewing Co has opened nearby and is issuing its first homebrew competition, focused solely on IPAs the prize is “bragging rights as the first local home brew recipe on our community tap and will also get their own customized pint glass that will sit above our bar.” As someone who 1) wants to support new and local businesses and 2) loves the idea of having my own customized pint glass above a bar I figure it is worth a shot! Entering more competitions is also the only way I can achieve my ubergoal of winning a best in show ribbon.

Read on and check out my German inspired American IPA: Ain’t No Hallertauer Girl.
(It is B-A-N-A-N-A-S)
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Brewcrafting: NHC 2016

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Part of the Brewcrafting series.

My future NHC medals.If you have not yet heard, the American Homebrewers Association (AHA) recently released the guidelines for the 2016 National Homebrew Competition (NHC). This will be the first year the competition will use the updated 2015 BJCP styles [PDF warning], so many homebrewers–especially myself–have been eagerly awaiting the release of these updated guidelines. The AHA mentioned last year the NHC 2016 competition will be a transition year and will only be using a subset of the new styles; it will be especially important to closely examine the competition guidelines and not the 2015 BJCP Guidelines, as there will be significant structural differences between the two. Fortunately, the relevant updated style guides have been included within the NHC 2016 guidelines, so stick with them and you will be A-OK.

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This is a good time for another installment of my Brewcrafting series, so take a look a the guidelines, read on, and let’s get ready for NHC 2016!

Bonus: take a look at the NHC 2015 Gold Medal winning recipes to help you plan your own!
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Brewcrafting: Prepping for BrewUnited

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BrewUnited Challenge logoAs I hope you are well aware, the 2015 BrewUnited Challenge is officially underway and I have been spending a lot of time thinking about the recipes I am going to brew. I have entered each of the three categories (Malty, Balanced, and Hoppy) in an effort to win the coveted BrewUnited Homebrew Hero award, which goes to the brewer(s) with the highest sum of entry scores. Word is that the Homebrew Hero will receive a cape as a reward, so the stakes are high! I thought this might also be a good time to discuss the different elements of the competition and examine how I go about building and brewing a recipe for a maybe continuing series I am calling “Brewcrafting.”

I know, I know, I can already hear you asking, “if you give away all your secrets will you not lose your advantage for the competition!?” Now, in both my personal an professional life I am of two core beliefs:

  1. Good ideas should be shared–a rising tide lifts all boats and all that.
  2. Good ideas are a dime a dozen–it is the execution of the idea that is important.

After all, if we remember Brulosopher’s Brewer’s Thumbprint xBmt we learned “that even when using the exact same ingredients, mash temp, and fermentation schedules, every brewer is going to produce a unique beer.” So really, if you glean enough from this to beat me in the competition you were probably going to beat me anyway. 🙂

Read on and let’s take a look!

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2015 BrewUnited Challenge is On!

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BrewUnited Challenge logoI am excited to announce the 2015 BrewUnited Challenge is now officially open for registration! My buddy Olan over at BrewUnited has been working feverishly to put together what is sure to be one of the most interesting homebrew competitions this year. On top of that, he has managed to secure some amazing prizes for the winners (and the list keeps growing). Heck, there are so many prizes on the line it would almost be more expensive not to enter!

The gist of the competition is as follows:

  1. Build a recipe for the handful of styles divided up into “malty,” “balanced,” and “hoppy” using all of the required malts.
  2. Choose exactly two of the types of hops from the list of available choices.
  3. Choose whatever yeast (including Brett) you want.

You might be asking yourself, “how am I supposed to make a Mild or Brown Porter using just Pilsner, Munich, and Crystal 60?” That’s the challenge! Just because you’re limited to Pils malt does not mean you cannot take that Pils malt and toast it in your oven to recreate something like Victory or Amber malt. I have already begun researching how to toast my own malts, perhaps I will even throw up a guide once I experiment a bit.

Just remember: there are only 100 entries available for each category, so be sure to act quick to secure your spot. Good luck and happy brewing!

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