Month: August 2013

Ratebeer iPhone App

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As far as I am concerned, there are two major online databases for tracking, tasting, and documenting craft beer.  I use Ratebeer.com.

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It has a simple interface, I can make as little or as much tasting notes as I want for everything I try and I can even simply “tick” the beers I sample if I am merely counting or looking only for ones I haven’t had before.  I’m coming up on my 10 year anniversary as a member of Ratebeer and have logged nearly 2,000 different craft beers along the way.  Some, were full pints, some were samplers but each one a little adventure in it’s own right.

Until recently there has not been an official mobile app for Ratebeer.  Although there has been “BeerBuddy” for a while, I don’t think it is an officially sanctioned Ratebeer app.  Though the notes and ratings can sync between the mobile app and the RB site.  There has been a .99$ version of the app for a long time and about a year ago a free version was released, that gave you 3 free bar-code scans. (Ponying up the dollar for the paid version gave you unlimited scans).  A recent Facebook post from Ratebeer’s fearless leader Joe Tucker, suggested that there will be a new Ratebeer app released soon.  I threw my hat in the ring for an early review but haven’t gotten a response yet.  Possibly those privileges are reserved for media outlets that have readers/subscribers that number in the double digits at least.

As an iPhone user I will be watching and hoping for this soon and will post my experiences and observations here when I finally get my hands on it.

 

 

Dopplebock

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It has been a few years since I made a beer like this.  And I am sorry I waited so long.  Dopplebocks are, according to the BJCP, deep golden to dark brown, intense malty aroma, virtually no hops and fairly high gravity.  All of these are A-O-K in my book.  Supposedly, beers of this style would sustain monks during their time of (relative) fasting.  Sounds like splitting hairs to me, but they are delicious (the beer, not the monks and one of my favorite styles.  Also what’s cool about them is that traditionally, commercially produced Dopplebocks are often named ending in -ator.  Celebrator, Liberator, Consecrator etc.  I’ll have to think of something worthy for mine I guess.

The recipe I am following for the most part is posted on Ratebeer.com and when I made it last time, it turned out really well.  The fact that I turned it into an Eisbock had something to do with that, I’m sure.  I’ll be doing the same to this one and that process will be another post.

Today I am starting the starter, 1l of 1.035 wort and a Wyeast “smack-pack of 2308 “Munich Lager”  I chilled the wort in a growler and broke the inner packet and after about an hour, poured the contents into the growler only to find that the inner yest capsule never broke.  So I popped it, while still inside the foil packet and poured that in as well.  I just have horrible luck with those things.  Whenever a recipe calls for a WY strain, I immediately consult the converter chart for a White Labs equivalent.  This time the only HB shop I could get to in time had WY.  Anyway, everything was about 60F and I put the growler with an airlock in my kegorater set for 58F and I’ll watch for activity.  It’s still live yeast…and it’s still nutrients and it’s still a liter of wort.  It should be fine, right?

We’ll see I guess.

 

Whitstran Brewing Co.

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On my travels a few weeks ago I finally managed to stop by this place. For some reason it has evaded me in the many times I have driven by during my many Boise-Western Washington trips. Maybe it’s partly because “tri-cities” is a nearly perfect half-way point where I stop for gas and I cant convince myself to make another stop so soon, trying to make good time.

This trip, I was coming south from Ellensberg and had planned to turn off and head south on hwy 97 to Bend, OR the mecca of craft brew towns this side of the coast. As it turned out, the highway I wanted to take was closed due to wildfires somewhere. So 40 miles or so down the road was Prosser, WA. Hometown of former BSU all-everything Kellen Moore, and Whitstran Brewing Co.

I got there about 4PM and was tired and starving from the triathlon I had just run earlier that day in Ellensberg. I ordered a burger and fries and asked about a sampler tray. The beers were tasty and I was nearly finished with my food when another couple came in. I overheard the gal mention that she was a home brewer and she had a few questions about what they had on tap.

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About that time, an older guy came out from the back. Late 50’s or so, wearing shorts, a bandanna and a wild tie-tied T-shirt, drinking beer from a mason jar. I took a wild guess and assumed he was the brewer. I walked up to the counter and asked our server loud enough so the other folks could hear “hey, what are the chances a couple of home-brewers could get a little tour of the back”?

Tie dye guy perked up and said no problem, c’mon back. The three of us chatted a bit while a kid was weighing out grain for the next batch.  I asked if he’d ever done any ciders with all the orchards around, but no, he sticks to his dozen or so regulars and a few rotation seasonals.  He can hardly keep up as it is and cant afford the fermenter space for too many experiments.  I thanked for the tour and the chat, and paid my tab and was on my way.  I will have to try harder to make this a regular sop on my travels in the future.