The Sober Brewer

Will History Repeat Itself?

2010-04-21T15:17:00.001-04:00

1000 IBU

2010-03-15T07:57:00.003-04:00

Yes, that's certainly looks "very easy to drink" that's one hoppy M@$&*R F#%*&^R!!

BBC Mentioned in Southern Food Poll

2010-03-11T11:03:00.004-05:00

I received this email that BBC was mentioned as Jerry Broderick's favorite southern microbrew. Jerry is the executive chef at Harrodsburg's historic Beaumont Inn. Thanks for the nod Jerry! The article itself is a pretty interesting read, although I am a little disappointed at some of the chefs complete ignorance of beer as an ingredient and/or food pairing option. Maybe they will come interview me so I can say my favorite southern food is KFC. Oh well, I guess that means we just have to keep teaching.

Southern Food Poll

Two New Celebrity Spokespeople for BBC Beer

2010-02-04T14:15:00.004-05:00

Buy Bluegrass Brewing Co. Beer!!!!

That Sure Was a Tasty Midwest

2009-08-14T09:20:00.005-04:00

Bluegrass Brewing Company represented itself at the Great Taste of the Midwest this past weekend, sampling four of our specialty beers. The Great Taste of the Midwest, in its 23rd year, brings in about 6,000 people, eager to sample over 500 different beers from around the midwest. The event held in Madison, WI, separates itself from other festivals by requiring the brewers to pour their own beers, giving the public an opportunity to ask questions and interact with the ones who actually make the beers, not just a salesperson or brewery rep. We had a good time and learned a lot, below are some of the things we learned this year.

1. Heaven Hill is a far superior bourbon than either Woodford Reserve or Knob Creek (I know, it was news to me too)
2. It gets very hot and humid even in Wisconsin, which I thought was located in the arctic circle
3. If you smoke a cigar, the next day it feels like a monkey took a crap in your mouth.
4. Listen to the Garmin, not the person holding the Garmin
5. Chicago is the new Bermuda Triangle (don't even think about driving through it)
6. The streets in Wisconsin are not made out of Cheese, it's asphalt and concrete just like here
7. Don't take the shuttle after the festival (it is packed with sweat, beer and farts)
8. You can get a DUI on a bicycle
9. If you crap your pants in the mud, no one knows
10. Finally, the beer at BBC is pretty good stuff, of course you already knew that.

Here is some video of the festival:

Special Bonus Video from the BBC Documentary Corp.

never trust The Sober Brewer

Tragedy Strikes the BBC

2009-07-10T08:50:00.004-04:00

I know all BBC folks will be upset to hear that Tre was injured in a horrible grain accident. Despite all of Jerry's best attempts he could not actually appear upset about the incident.

Submitted by Beau Kerley

never trust The Sober Brewer

Transfering Lambic

2009-07-09T08:54:00.003-04:00

Here is a video we did showing how we transfer lambic style beer from the oak barrels in which it was fermented and aged into stainless steel kegs in order to blend it with other beer and carbonate it before we put it into bottles. This was my first attempt at video editing, this particular video taking me three weeks to put together, something a third grader could probably do in five minutes, so enjoy.

Free the Hops, Alabama Beer Debate

2009-06-17T13:03:00.002-04:00

Great video here of the Alabama legislature debating a bill lifting the ABV limit on beers sold in the state. If you want a good chuckle go to about 5:30 and listen to Alvin Holmes. Congrats Alabama, Roll Tide and all that.

What The ?

2009-06-16T09:03:00.005-04:00

Okay, so this has nothing to do with beer or brewing, but it was just about the oddest thing I've seen in a while, so I am sharing it with you right now.

I didn't even know there was a market for such a product...Oh, I guess I forgot about this guy.

Kansas University Football Coach Mark Mangino

The Sober Brewer Shows How to Use a Hopback

2009-05-29T12:14:00.005-04:00

Here's a video of us using the hopback to make the Rye IPA. Enjoy.

never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy

Beer's New Warning Label

2009-05-19T15:09:00.004-04:00

If you have trouble reading the text, get a magnifying glass, because I can't figure out how to enlarge this picture. Yes, I'm stupid.

The Sober Brewer.

Don't Be Soured On Valentine's Day at Bluegrass Brewing Co.

2009-02-07T10:34:00.008-05:00

Bluegrass Brewing Company is proud to intorduce the first of our Belgian Syle Lambic unveiling on Friday the 13th of February at 6:00pm. There will be music by local band Phiasco in the beer garden and local artists will be showing their wares on the stage inside. Chef Chad Harrison will be serving Drunken Prince Edward Mussels, Grilled rack of Lamb and a chocolate torte with a dark cherry reduction.

Lambics are Belgian wheat beers originating in the town of Lembeek in the Pajottenland. Traditionally fermented with airborne wild yeasts and bacteria present in the region, producing a complex acidic, sour, fruity and funky beer.

Brewed here at BBC in Dec 2007 and fermented and aged in charred American oak casks for over a year. A portion was blended with brown ale to balance the acidity and give a touch of maltiness and roasty flavors. Sweet Cherries were added to another portion giving a pleasant sweet-tart and fruity flavor. (Cherry Lambics are traditionally called Kriek or Kriekbier)

Only a handful of U.S. breweries have even attempted to brew lambics due to the risks involved in introducing wild yeasts and bacteria in the brewery. That is why these beers will only be sold in 750 ml bottles. These are the first two blends, there will be more to come.

ABV 6.0%
IBU 0
OG 14.0
Brewed on 12-09-2007

Here is a good article on Lambics that I found on the interweb. Hope to see you at the BBC on the 13th...you too one guy from Estonia.

never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy
The Wonders of Lambic Beer
By Aschwin de Wolf on August 3rd, 2008

If there is one beer style that can compete with wine in terms of complexity it is the lambic beer. Unfortunately, if lambic beers are known at all, it is typically because the name is also used for the sweet fruit beers that are produced by some macrobrewers. Traditional lambics, however, are rarely sweet and often quite sour. As a matter of fact, it is this sourness and spontaneous fermentation that distinguishes lambic beers from most other contemporary beer styles.

In 1996, Scientific American published an article by Jaques De Keersmacker called “The Mystery of Lambic Beer.” The blurb of the article says: “An ancient brewing technique produces a beverage so complex that it is still yielding its secrets to organic chemists.” In the article the author introduces the reader to the rich history of lambic brewing and discusses the complex organic chemistry of lambic.

Although lambic beers may be a “living anachronism” today, most beers were once brewed by exposing grains to the wild wind-borne yeasts in the area. 5000 years ago an alcoholic drink called Sikaru was made with roughly the same ingredients and proportions as traditional lambic. No hops were used in these brews. Contemporary lambic brewers do use hops, but only aged hops to preserve the beer, not to add flavor. The flavor of lambic beers solely reflects the (local) spontaneous fermentation of barley malt and unmalted wheat.

During fermentation, a variety of wind-borne and local microorganisms in the barrels convert the wort into ethanol, carbon dioxide and acids. Food scientists and organic chemists have identified a number of overlapping stages during fermentation of lambics: first, enteric bacteria and wild yeasts proliferate, followed by alcohol and carbon dioxide production by Saccharomyces. During stage three, lactic and acetic bacteria (such as Pediococcus) proliferate, giving lambic its distinctive sour taste. During the fourth stage, the dominant yeast is of the Brettanomyces genus, which is the microorganism that is associated with the distinct “farmhouse/barnyard” taste of lambic. During fermentation a film forms on the surface of the brew that prevents oxygenation and excessive proliferation of acetic bacteria. And, as if nature “intended” to create lambics, the alcohol and low pH in turn prevent the proliferation of enteric bacteria.

Although the resulting product, “straight lambic,” can be enjoyed in some local pubs in Belgium and is sometimes bottled (Lambic breweries and blenders Cantillon and De Cam have bottled aged lambic), it is usually blended with other lambics to produce gueuze (or geuze). The traditional lambic brewer blends lambic of various ages (for example 1, 2 and 3 years) to induce additional fermentation in the bottle. The resulting gueuze is sour, dry and complex. Another popular lambic style is to add whole fruits to a young lambic to induce a second fermentation. The most popular variety is Kriek, which is made by adding (sour) cherries to the lambic. Such lambics may smell sweet but the long fermentation period produces the distinct tartness, but with subtle aroma differences, of the unblended lambics or gueuzes.

Unfortunately, these traditional fruit fermented lambics often have to compete (if available at all) with beers to which fruit syrup is added to a lambic base, or even to another type of beer. Although there is a growing market for such beers, the shared use of the name “lambic” has the unfortunate effect that the traditional lambics, which require long production times (2 years or more) and reflect a unique brewing process, have to compete with such “simplistic” sweetened brews. Ironically, the increased popularity of these “lambics” have raised renewed interest in traditional lambic brewing, such as practiced by Belgian brewers and blenders like Cantillon, 3 Fonteinen, Oud Beersel, De Cam, and Hanssens.

As one book says, lambics are beers beyond the influence of brewer’s yeast (hence the importance of blending to create a consistent product). The author of the article reports that researchers at the University of Leuven in Belgium have identified 100 different kinds of yeast colonies, 27 colonies of acidic bacteria, and 38 colonies of of lactic bacteria in a single type of lambic. Such complexity is an exciting field of research for organic chemists and curious “molecular brewers.”

De Keersmaecker ends his article as follows:

“Lambic’s future rests with adventurous beer lovers and that small but enthusiastic segment of the population that goes out of its way to sample traditional ethnic foods. Lately this group seems to be expanding as more people pass up processed foods in favor of the old staples: fine cheeses, hearty breads, wines, abbey beers and real ales. Who knows? If the trend continues, lambic may be around for another 500 years.”

Green Gold Rush

2009-01-20T10:02:00.004-05:00

I have decided I want to be a farmer! I heard on the news that farming is a good profession, I use products grown on farms, I see with my own eyes farmers driving nice vehicles. It's obviously an easy way to make a living. Why haven't I thought of this before. So I called up a farmer to see what, if anything, I need to do to get into the farming business (I called early in the morning because I wanted to get stared right away and we know farmers rise early) The farmer I called asked me what I wanted to farm, I said, whatever is easiest and makes the most money. He then asked how much land I had available for planting, I told him, my whole backyard, and finally he asked about machinery for planting and harvesting, I answered I have a shovel and my wife's '98 Saturn and I'm rarin' to put it to work. After he called me a idiot and hung up on me I said to myself, "Self, maybe this farming thing has a lot more to it than I thought, perhaps I'll continue doing what I know and leave the farming to the farmers."

This is good advice for those farmers who have been calling me asking about growing hops. I don't grow hops I use them, I don't know the first thing about growing a hop. So stop calling me and call a hop grower. I know that last years Global Hop Crisis sent hop prices skyrocketing and thus has enticed farmers into looking for a quick buck by planting a few acres of this beer ingredient. But perhaps these farmers don't have the first clue what they are getting into. Greg Kitsock wrote an article in the Dec. 2008 New Brewer titled Green Gold Rush: Shortages Spawn New Crop of Hop Farmers in which he outlined some of the challenges of growing hops. Kitsock writes,

"They've got gold dust in their eyes," says Ralph Olson the the would-be hop farmers who phone (once a day, on the average) to pump him for information on humulus lupulus. Some of them are profoundly ignorant about the plant. "They think hops grow on bushes, or in clusters like grapes."
Olsen is a 30 year veteran of the industry and general manager/owner of Hopunion a Yakima, Wash. based supplier for the craft brewing industry. "Not to be discouraging, but I don't give them a very good chance," he says of recent attempts to grow hops commercially outside the Pacific Northwest.
"If you want to grow a few vines for educational purposes or so you can make a wet hop beer, that's a good deal. Otherwise, it becomes difficult."
Some popular hops, like Simcoe, Amarillo and Palisade, are proprietary strains. The companies that own them invested millions into their development and aren't going to willingly share their rootstock. Hops, like wine grapes are sensitive to the terroir, they might not adjust well to the local soil and climate. Sierra Nevada's Manley notes that the brewery once grew Mount Hood, but "it didn't work out; they'd have beautiful cones and no acid."
Hops are also subject to the withering blast of a variety of pests, from fungal diseases like powdery and downy mildew to insect invaders like aphid and spider mites. The chemicals used to treat the vines are closely regulated state by state. Fungicides and insecticides available in Washington or Oregon might be banned elsewhere. Regarding organic growing method, Olson is cynical, "I've helped people start a few fields; they last three to four years, and then something comes in and nails them."
Large hop farms automate the harvest process to the greatest degree possible. They use a top-cutters and a bottom-cutters mounted on tractors to wrest the vines from the trellises. Next, the vines are fed into the hop-picker, a backyard-sized piece of machinery that knocks loose the cones while screening out the leaves and stems. A basic picker costs $750,000, reports Olsen.
The freshly picked hops are next heated in kilns to reduce the moisture content form 80% to under 10%. Building a kiln will add "another million or so" to your bill, notes Olson. That doesn't even get into the costs of baling and pelletizing them.
Hop prices, Olson concludes, can fluctuate greatly. This year, he estimates, 9,000 more acres were sown with hops. Add that to the 33,000 acres already producing hops and there could be a glut, not a shortage, in a few years. He foresees a downward trend in hop prices starting this year and lasting three to four years before prices stabilize.
Hop farming isn't for the faint of heart, Olson suggests. "when I stared in 1978, there were 225 grower. There are 50-60 growers today." Olson pegs the start up cost of a commercially viable hopyard as $4-10 million. He can't name a single successful hop farm outside Washington, Oregon and Idaho.

So, to all you would be hop farmers, go ahead and do what you will, but I would continue with what I know and let the hop farmers grow the hops.

never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy

Here's a good way to cope with your own mortality

2008-12-30T08:14:00.003-05:00

Illinois man orders custom beer-can coffin

Bill Bramanti will rest in peace surrounded by Pabst Blue Ribbon memories

Bill Bramanti poses with a coffin he had specially made to look like a can of his favorite beer, Pabst Blue Ribbon, in Chicago Heights, Ill., on Saturday. While he doesn't need the coffin just yet, he's planning to use the casket as a cooler

SOUTH CHICAGO HEIGHTS, Ill. - Bill Bramanti will love Pabst Blue Ribbon eternally, and he's got the custom-made beer-can casket to prove it. "I actually fit, because I got in here," said Bramanti of South Chicago Heights.

The 67-year-old Glenwood village administrator doesn't plan on needing it anytime soon, though.

He threw a party Saturday for friends and filled his silver coffin — designed in Pabst's colors of red, white and blue — with ice and his favorite brew."Why put such a great novelty piece up on a shelf in storage when you could use it only the way Bill Bramanti would use it?" said Bramanti's daughter, Cathy Bramanti, 42.

Bramanti ordered the casket from Panozzo Bros. Funeral Home in Chicago Heights, and Scott Sign Co. of Chicago Heights designed the beer can.

Wormy Trip rollout party tomorrow at the BBC!

2008-12-26T16:29:00.004-05:00

Wormwood Triple (Belgian Ale) Unveiling and Absinthe Tasting

Saturday, Dec. 27^th

“Wormy Trip” is Bluegrass Brewing Company’s latest specialty beer to be released. “Wormy Trip” is a Belgian Trippel bittered with Wormwood (Artemsia absinthium) a bracingly bitter, clean flavored herb. The beer is brewed with 100% Pilsner malt with additions of Belgian candy sugar and honey. “Wormy Trip” is high in alcohol and golden in color with softly melding sweet, dry and bitter flavors and a powerful fruity and complex aroma.

ABV 10.2%

IBU 24

OG 21.5

Absinthe Tasting

BBC will also host an Absinthe tasting on the night of the “Wormy Trip” unveiling because of the similarities in ingredients. Absinthe originated in France in the late 18^th century and became popular very quickly with artists and literati. (Degas, Van Gogh, Toulousse-Lautrec, and nowadays Johnny Depp) Absinthe is made from liquor distilled from neutral grain spirits and herbs, most importantly “The Holy Trinity” Wormwood, Anise and Fennel. Absinthe is uniquely served in a tulip glass with ice water dripped over a sugar cube into the absinthe, creating a refreshing drinkable mixture.

The celebration will begin at 5pm and last until closing. The band “Hello Darlins” will be having a CD release party as well with music beginning at 10:30.

NASA Turns to Coors to Solve Drinking Water Problem

2008-12-12T09:23:00.003-05:00

For those of you who don't keep up with the latest in technology, it was recently announced that NASA has perfected a new water purification system that collects astronauts' urine and turns it into drinking water. NASA needs this technology because water is one of the most cumbersome and expensive payloads for manned space missions, approaching a cost of $40,000 per gallon. This new water recovery system, which will be located on the international space station, will cut the volume of water hauled into space by two-thirds, freeing up room on the space shuttle for four more astronauts.

This was all interesting when I read it in the newspaper, but I wondered what was the story behind the scenes at NASA, and how they developed this urine purifying devece. For those of you who would also like the inside story, urine luck, because the Sober Brewer's inside sources run deep at NASA.

One of the engineers working on the project agreed to speak to me on the record. Dr. Irwin P. Freely Pee hD informed me that the idea for the purification system was spawned during a night of heavy drinking at the Sugar Shack in Tempe, AZ. Dr. Freely and his other NASA cohorts decided to try and sober up by switching to American light lagers. Dr. Freely got a bottle of Coors light and took a drink. "It tasted as though someone had just peed into my mouth... How can a brewery take clean drinking water and turn it into urine?" And that, Freely said was the genesis of the idea. "What we did at NASA was what you laypeople might call 'hijacking technology' while we call it reverse engineering." Freely continued, "The good folks at Coors have been changing water to urine for decades, we can just follow that pathway backwards."

I thought it was fascinationg how once again the American macrobrew industry is helping advance civilization. The Sober Brewer salutes you Coors light, and your contribution to the space program. After all this I asked Dr. Freely how the recycled urine tastes, he said that it is ninty-nine percent pure but it has a little Tang to it.

never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy

Join Us at the BBC for the Prohibition Repeal Party

2008-12-04T14:23:00.003-05:00

PROHIBITION REPEAL PARTY IS FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5TH

Bluegrass Brewing Company (Shelbyville Road) will celebrate the repeal of Prohibition on Friday, December 5th, with nickel beers. The festivities will include a free soup kitchen, BBC employees dressed in 1920’s apparel, and 1920’s era music to help set the ambiance.

The 18th amendment to the constitution banned all alcohol sales. This “prohibition” lasted for 13 years, from 1920 – 1933. The 21st amendment was enacted on December 5th 1933 and repealed the 18th amendment. The 21st amendment is the only amendment to the constitution that specifically repeals another amendment. BBC will halt alcohol sales for 13 minutes from 5:47 pm until 6:00 pm to simulate the 13 years of alcohol prohibition. From 6:00 pm until 7:00 pm we will celebrate with 1920s prices of nickel beers. The free soup kitchen will consist of bean soup and corn bread and will run from 6:00 pm until the soup runs out.

This annual celebration is one of Bluegrass Brewing Company’s most popular events so come out and join in the festivities. For more information please contact BBC at 899-7070.

P.S. How did this guy lose the election?

The Future of Bartenders?

2008-11-21T08:29:00.018-05:00

Jet cars, hover boards and commercial space travel are not the only things we can look forward to in the future. Mechanized bartenders will provide excellent service without all the errors, long wait times and sass. Hopefully they can make a cyborg Jeff Gesser. (if we can mine for more metal on other planets...because he's a really big guy)

But what happens when the robots become self aware and take over the world making us their slaves. I would imagine they would be ticked off about doing the jobs Americans won't do, and force us to serve them beer. (My rendition of what that might look like)

never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy

Seriously, Youth of America, Stop Making Fools Out Of Yourselves

2008-11-18T11:12:00.006-05:00

And if that isn't stupid enough for you, check this out: proof of the decline of civilization

Why can't people just put beer in a dang glass and drink it anymore? See post below.

2008 Great American Beer Festival Report

2008-11-18T11:06:00.005-05:00

It's time again for the annual Sober Brewer GABF report. I know I'm over a month late, but if you want timely information and commentary, write you own dang blog. This is the time when I basically call into question the character, knowledge, ethics and "preferences" of the pathetic and unclean, yellow-bellied, lily-livered GABF judges. We will also take a look at the dope smoking, maggot infested, plastic banana, good time rock and roll, FM types known as the other brewery workers we came in contact with.

So let's start off with the judges comment cards we got back. As we've said before, this "should" be the most useful part of the competition. Having qualified (ha!) judges critique our beers, helps us get better because our own judgement and palate is clouded by our own prejudices. So what did the score sheet from one of our entries read under drinkability? (term stolen from Budweiser) One judge wrote "good, but lacks drinkability." Whereas the next judge wrote, "smooth-almost too easy drinking." Now I would agree there are degrees of drinkability, (OMG I can't believe I just used the word drinkability) but to be the exact opposite of each other? Somebody is dead wrong and therefore by the transitive property of wrongness, wrong about everything else and in general a crap human being.
GABF judge extraordinaire

Some of you might think that I'm just whining because we didn't win anything and this is all just sour grapes. Sorry, no, we actually won the gold medal for our Baltic Porter, where I'm sure we beat out the other two entries for the top prize. And in contrast to our previous medal-winning entries, I actually agreed that our Baltic Porter was a good example of the style. I guess even a blind squirrel (beer judge) can find a nut (good beer) once in a while. Just because they were right once does not excuse them from my scorn.

Onto the brewers we met while we were there. Most were nice, albeit egotistical and nerdy. But one person in particular who was the epitome of the contemptible brewer came to our booth trying to tell us about himself and his impeccable resume (like we cared). He planted himself in front of our booth, clogging up the queue that had formed behind him, and after many samples of our five beer selection and numerous asinine questions and comments, point blank asked us, "What exactly are you guys trying to do here?" Flummoxed by this, I responded the way any polite person would by saying that I didn't understand the question. Thankfully, our brewery cohort Sam Cruz responded with the right answer. Sam simply replied, "your wife."

Thanks Sam, I sure am looking forward to next year.

never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy

Newsflash: The World Has Officially Passed Me By and Landed in the Toilet

2008-11-13T10:43:00.005-05:00

Rejoice everyone, it has come to my attention that someone actually reads this crappy blog and has been jonesin' for an update. So I'm going to start it back off with a real kick ass post. Let's talk about the latest and greatest trend brought to us from the always imaginative youth of America...Anal Beer Bongs!

Here is the report from the TV show "The Doctors"

That's right, drinking beer or liquor orally, you know...through your mouth, has apparently become as "old fashioned" as beehive hairdos and wearing you pants up around you waist. From what I can gather the kids are getting drunk faster by these anal colonics, and it's not just prevalent among KU fans, it is a trend sweeping the country.

Now you might think that I would come up with some sort of "new beer" we are going to brew specifically for anal consumption. Perhaps naming it, "Colonale", "Buttweiser" or even "Rectum...damn beer killed um." But I'm not sure this is a laughing matter.

Please, youth of America, if as the great sage Whitney Houston said, "The children are our future," don't stick beer up your butt. Someday you will be old and probably regret having to wear diapers or empty your colostomy bags. Meanwhile, we'll continue to brew beer specifically for drinking...orally.

never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy

2008-10-03T15:14:00.011-04:00

News of the Weird: Wierd Science

2008-10-01T13:53:00.003-04:00

In July, microbiologists writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reported that the Malaysian pen-tailed tree shrew subsists on a diet of fermented palm nectar that is roughly the equivalent of 100 percent beer. "They seem to have developed some type of mechanism to deal with that high level of alcohol and not get drunk," according to one researcher, who hoped further study could help with human cases of alcohol poisoning (and other rare instances in which people ingest alcohol for purposed other than getting drunk)

I was under the impression that just such a drunkenness neutralizing drug already exists. When I was going to school at Adams college, our fraternity Lamda Lamda Lamda participated in the Greek Games. During which my good friend Poindexter gave my other good buddy Takashi a pill that counteracted all effects of alcohol in his system during the big tricycle/beer chugging race. That was intregal in helping us beat the Alpha Betas thus giving us a seat on the Greek Council. At least that's the way I remember it.

never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy

Local Hops at the BBC Harvest Festival

2008-09-25T12:56:00.006-04:00

Harvest Festival this Saturday at Bluegrass Brewing Co. Shelbyville Rd. from 3:30 to 7 pm. Showcasing beer from BBC, Browning's Brewery, Cumberland Brews and New Albanian Brewing Co. using some of these locally grown hops. Three canned goods for Kentucky Harvest is the price of admission. See you there.

What's the Matter Colonel Sanders? Chicken?

2008-09-12T10:47:00.004-04:00

By The Associated Press

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The secret's out at KFC.

Colonel Harland Sanders' handwritten recipe of 11 herbs and spices was to be removed Tuesday from safekeeping at KFC's corporate offices for the first time in decades.

The temporary relocation is allowing KFC to revamp security around a yellowing sheet of paper that contains one of the country's most famous corporate secrets.

KFC hired off-duty police officers and private security guards to whisk the document away to an undisclosed location in an armored car.

The recipe will be slid into a briefcase and handcuffed to a security expert.

For more than 20 years, the recipe has been tucked away in a filing cabinet equipped with two combination locks in company headquarters.

So important is the 68-year-old concoction that coats the chain's Original Recipe chicken that only two company executives at any time have access to it. The company refuses to release their names or titles, and it uses multiple suppliers who produce and blend the ingredients but know only a part of the entire contents.

Sanders developed the formula in 1940 at his tiny restaurant in southeastern Kentucky and used it to launch the KFC chain in the early 1950s.

Sanders died in 1980, but his likeness is still central to KFC's marketing.

"The recipe to him, in later years, was everything he stood for," said Shirley Topmiller, his personal secretary for about 12 years.

This news story ran on Sept. 9 2008. I thought it was interesting how tight fisted old Harland Sanders was about his precious 11 herbs and spices. But what's really in a recipe? I would say it is just a list of ingredients and quantities and methods? Recipes are good in a way, they breed consistency in the end product and continuity that carries over from one cook to the next. But recipes can also hamstring you somewhat. If you are a slave to a recipe you never adjust to changing raw materials or different equipment or new technologies, thereby actually being less consistent. This holds true for beer brewing as well. The actual ingredients and quantities in beer recipes are just part of what effects beer flavor. The four main ingredients in beer fluctuate all the time.

We'll start with the most prevelent ingredient: Water. Mineral content in water can flucuate year to year and season to season. When I was brewing in Michigan we got water analysis done once a quarter because the mineral content changes every winter. We theorized that snow took longer than rain to seep through the ground to the water supply, thus picking up more minerals. I don't really know if we were right but it made sense to us. When I was in Lawrence, KS they would switch periodically their mix of well water and water took from the local resivoir, thus the mineral content changed all the time. Here in Louisville we get our water from the river and it seems to always be consistent, but the temperatures sure do vary out of the tap. In the dead of winter we can get water at about 40 degrees, whereas the end of summer we are at about 85, which can sure make it hard to cool our wort down. All these changes require us to pay attention and adjust the mineral content in the water and schedule brews appropriately soas to maintain consistency.

Next two ingredients are Malt and hops: These being agricultural products, their quality is effected by growing conditions. Unusually hot, cold, dry, wet conditions affect the barley malt and hops that we recieve. Also pests and disease factor into the type and quality of malt and hops available to us small brewers. We recieve a malt analysis for each shipment of grain we recieve and alpha-acid ratings on our hops. We use this information to adjust the recipe in order to maintain the beer's quality and flavor profile.

Yeast is the final ingredient that has several variables. First of all maintaining superior yeast health and viability is one of the most important jobs in a brewery for consistency and quality. But as yeast is used over and over there is a condition called "strain drift" which is when the yeast become accustomed to the conditions you are placing it in during fermentation. Strain drift is not neccasarily a bad thing, but there is slight differences between the same yeast strain used at one brewery and another, and also slight differences between a new pure yeast culture and one a brewery has been using for a number of generations.

And finally there is variabiliy in brewing systems. The design and shape of different fermentation vessels and the caramelization and malliard reactions differ between direct-fire and steam systems,these are just a few things that can effect beer flavor and color. Also the accuracy of process measurement can vary tank to tank and brewery to brewery. There are countless other differences between what we do here, what other breweries do and what you do at home, they all effect beer flavor, aroma, color and consistency.

What I'm saying is, recipes matter and they matter a great deal, but they are not the only factor in what comes out in the final product. So what is KFC holding onto, a marketing gimmick I guess. But the Sober Brewer doesn't have any secrets, so I will take the lead and give you a recipes to three of our award winning beers. Brew them if you like and share them with whomever, because if you only use the same ingredients, you might get close, but it will never be exactly the same.

never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy

Smoked Porter (Gold medal 2003 GABF)
47% Pale Ale Malt OG 15.3 77% IBUs 90 min Nugget
29% Wyermann Smoked Malt IBU 38 15% IBUs 30 min Fuggle
6% Munich Malt Boil length 90 min 8% IBUs 15 min Kent Goldings
6% Caramelmunich 80 Attenuation 75%
6% Caramelmunich 120 American ale yeast
6% Chocolate Malt

Dortmunder (Bronze medal 2003 GABF)
80% Pilsner Malt OG 14.5 59% IBUs 90 min Northern Brewer
8% Best Caramel Malt Light IBU 28.4 20% IBUs 30 min Spalt Select
6% Carapils Boil length 90 min 21% IBUs 15 min Hallertau Tradition
6% White Wheat Attenuation 80% Whirpool hops Spalt Select
Munich Lager yeast

Oktoberfest (Bronze medal 2006 GABF)
48% Pilsner Malt OG 14.5 39% IBUs 90 min Hallertau Tradition
30% Munich Malt IBU 18.6 41% IBUs 30 min Czech Saaz
9% Carahell Boil length 90 min 20% IBUs 5 min Hallertau Tradition
6% Carapils Attenuation 72%
7% Caramelmunich 60 Bavarian Lager yeast

The Mittelfruh Code: Hop Varieties and How They Are Named

2008-08-28T14:46:00.006-04:00

With the subject of hop shortages on many brewers' minds, a result of the "Great Global Hop Crisis of 2008." There have been more than a few farmers in the area looking into the feasibility of growing hops here in Kentucky. Whether that will work out or not is irrelevant to me, what does interest me is what these new Kentucky grown hops be named. To properly name our new hop, we must first examine how other hops got their names. For that I turned to Mark Garetz's book Using Hops which talks about where different varieties of hops came from and the names associated with them.

Although there is only one hop species ( Humulus Lupulus) that is useful for brewing, there are many varieties, or cultivars, in that species. Each of these varieties has different brewing, growing and storage characteristics. Almost all of the hop varieties in use today are the result of hop breeding by hop researchers and not mother nature. In the early days, this consisted of selecting those plants that were desirable, but now more sophisticated techniques are used to create new varieties.

Garetz's book states that in order to keep track of all these hop varieties, common names are associated with specific varieties. Some of these names are traditional, while newer US hop varieties have their names chosen and sanctioned by a group consisting of the USDA and hop research centers. The newer names are usually chosen by the person responsible for breeding the original cultivar and sometimes by the hop brokers that have invested in growing the first commercial scale plots. The choice of names is fairly arbitrary, sometimes they are named after a place (Cascade, Mt. Hood or Willamette) and sometimes just a nifty sounding word (Tomahawk, Bravo or Warrior). Traditional European hop names often were named after the person or institution that bred or selected them, and also often have the place where they are grown included in the name, which is different than in the US where hops named after places generally have little to with where they are actually grown.

European hops names usually reveal something about the variety and in what region they are grown. The reason for this is that most of the important European varieties only produce the desired brewing qualities when grown in a specific region. Through many years of natural selection, varieties that are indigenous to the growing area have emerged, and these are called land races. These indigenous varieties are typically named for the place where they emerged, mainly because only one variety was grown there, so there was no need to be more specific. Some of these varieties are still grown in their place of origin and some are not.

European hops may have the same variety name as the place where they originated. But because these hops may no longer be grown in the place after which they are named, the place where they are now being grown is attached to the hop name as an adjective. For example, a common hop from Germany is the variety called Hersbrucker. It originated in the Hersbruck region. It is called a Hersburcker because it came from Hersbruck. Think of it this way, if you come from New York, you could be called a New Yorker. The "er" is always part of the variety name. If this hop was grown in the Hersbruck region, this hop would be called a Hersbruck Hersbrucker. But most of the Hersbrucker grown today is actually grown in the Hallertau region. Hersbrucker grown in the Hallertau region would be call Hallertau Herbrucker.

This gets confusing because there is also a Hallertauer variety. When it is grown in the Hallertau, it is called Hallertau Hallertauer. Now I'm going to throw one more curve at you: One of the most prized hops in the world is the noble hop Hallertauer Mittelfruh. This doesn't seem correct because there is an "er" on the first word. That is because the real name for this hop is Hallertau Hallertauer Mittelfruh. Mittelfruh means "middle-early" and has to do with the fact that this hop matured "middle-early" in the growing season. Hallertauers that matured at different times just weren't the same. So Hallertauer Mittelfruh is a sub-variety of Hallertauer. To shorten the name up, most people leave off the first Hallertau since all Halletauer Mittelfruh is assumed to be grown in the Hallertau region.

Now let's move on to British hops. In Britain, hops are not named after the place where they were grown, but sometimes are named after the person who selected the hop. Goldings is named after Mr. Golding and Fuggle is named after Mr. Fuggle. A lot of the newer English varieties start with the word Wye because they were developed at Wye university's hop research department. Examples are Wye Target, Wye Northdown and Wye Challenger. Sometimes they add the place as an adjective on the front of the hop name just like the Germans. Those Goldings grown in the east part of Kent are sold as East Kent Goldings. And sometimes there are British hop names that are arbitrary like the US Hop names, such as Northern Brewer and Brewer's Gold.

Other European hops don't follow any rules concerning their names. Saaz is named for the town near which it grows in Czechoslovakia (the town is now called Zatec in the Czech Republic). When marketed outside of Czechoslovakia, it is usually called Czech Saaz to distinguish it from the Saazer variety grown elsewhere. Slovenia grows hops and they add "Styrian" on the front of the hop name. Styria is actually not is Slovenia, but Austria, they probably added the "Styrian" because it sounded better and appealed to the old Austro-Hungarian Empire where these hops were marketed. Which brings up an interesting point about the marketing of Slovenian hops. Styrian Goldings is indeed grown in Slovenia, but it is not a Goldings variety. It is really Fuggle, but the hop merchants there called it Goldings because they thought they could get more money for them (since Goldings was more highly thought of than Fuggle). To this day, the strategy still works, Styrian Goldings are more expensive than Fuggle, yet you would be better off just getting the real English Fuggle, cheaper.

So what to call the new Louisville grown hop? The traditional German way, Louisviller Louisville. Or if the Louisville variety is grown in Frankfort we could call it a Frankforter Louisviller. I guess we should use the arbitrary US naming system, which is pretty much whatever we want. Cardinal hop? Derby hop? Barbaro hop? How about Thoroughbred? Let me know if you have any better suggestions.

never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy

Newest Member of the League of Extraordinary Brewers for Super Justice Friends

2008-08-20T17:12:00.005-04:00

Riley James Gnagy AKA Captain Adorable
Super Power: Adorability
Weaknesses: Bowel and bladder control

Miracle Beer Diet

2008-08-16T14:12:00.004-04:00

Funny video here, but I warn you if you are easily offended, incapable of recognizing sarcasm or humor, disgusted by women in bikinis, or are generally a killjoy, do not click play. In fact exit this blog, now before you upset yourself, otherwise enjoy.

Miracle Beer Diet by Liv Films (featuring Bikini and Underwear M - The most popular videos are a click away

Destination Kenya? No Way

2008-07-29T19:56:00.003-04:00

They didn't mention this on Globe trekker.

Beer bottle stuck in man's colon
Nairobi - Doctors in central Kenya have successfully removed an empty half-litre (one-pint) beer bottle from a man's colon, say reports, but how it got there remains a mystery.

The 26-centimetre bottle was removed on Monday from the colon of the 33-year-old man after two operations in Kiambu District Hospital, about 20km from the capital, the Daily Metro newspaper reported.

The hospital's administrator Patrick Okoth said: "The first operation was not successful, forcing us to perform a second one, which went fine."

Although the man, whose identity was not disclosed, said he had pushed the bottle through his rectum, Okoth said it was nearly impossible for the man to have done that by himself.

"It would have been too painful. He would have had to use a whole length of his arm," Okoth said, adding that the bottle inflicted "no damage at all" in the man's internal organs.

Instead, Okoth said the man could have been assaulted by other people, but that it was too embarrassing for him accept that, the Metro said in its story which was accompanied by an X-ray image of the bottle in the stomach.

Hospital authorities refused to allow the patient to be interviewed, citing patient-doctor confidentiality.

Off the Subject, But This Looks Like a Neat Show

2008-07-18T21:29:00.005-04:00

Zero Days Since Our Last Workplace Incident

2008-07-09T19:46:00.004-04:00

Finger meet keg...keg meat finger

Bluegrass Brewing Co. Focuses On Neglected Market

2008-07-02T17:53:00.014-04:00

Recent news about Miller High Life and Busch beers found on Brandweek, states that Miller Brewing Co. and Anheuser-Busch intend to target the 65 million outdoor sportsmen and women in the U.S. with new camouflage cans and related promotions. Nick Lake vice president of client services at Nielsen Beverage Alcohol Group lauded the new campaign of linking the two brands to hunting and other outdoor activities. "The brands index high with blue collar consumers 45-65 years old. Their drinkers also skew higher, compared with the general population, for such activities as target shooting, hunting, fishing, watching the Outdoor Channel or Country Music TV, and subscribing to publications like Field and Steam" says Lake.

The Sober Brewer Marketing Team also heralds this innovative new packaging tie in. Not only because we love the natural synergy of alcohol and weaponry, but the inevitable increase in sales volume from people losing their beer after setting it down.

Not to be outdone Bluegrass Brewing Co. has started focus grouping new packaging, designed to target a specific market which we believe has been ignored for too long. That is why we are unveiling BBC's new Argyle bottle. We hope to appeal to college professors, librarians and fans of Kansas University. We feel that this market skews higher than the general public for such activities as artisanal cheese tasting, role playing strategy games, online beer rating, anti-capitalism protests, studying Hopi Indian culture, wearing those round wire framed colored spectacles, watching public television and subscribing to The Economist.

To all those beatniks, we want to say, "you are not forgotton." We have a beer for you!

never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy

One more for you chickenhawker!

Meet The League of Extraordinary Brewers For Super Justice Friends

2008-06-18T09:05:00.031-04:00

We've been doing this blog for quite some time now and I got to thinking, you probably don't know anything about us here are Bluegrass Brewing Co. So I decided to write up short biographies of the brewers here. So I will start with our newest member Cody Mingus.

Cody was born on the dying planet Glutron where at the last moment his parents put him in a space pod and jettisoned him towards Earth. After arriving and being raised in the small town of Salem, OH, strange powers, presumably from our yellow sun, started to develop. Among these powers are the ability to clean and fill kegs and clean beer lines and taps. Unfortunately for Cody, remnants of his home planet made their way to Earth, causing his intolerance of gluten. You can find mild-mannered Cody working during the day managing BBC, but when work needs done in the brewery he heads to the employee restroom stall and transforms into Cody the brewer. Usually just by changing his clothes...there's not a cocoon or anything in there.

Mild-mannered Cody

The Transformation Process

Cody The Brewer

We now move onto Sam Cruz. Sam was a college student at IU and an avid homebrewr. One day, so the story goes, he was bitten by a radioactive sawtoothed grain beetle that crawled out of a bag of organic malt. Unbeknownst to him, the venom for the beetle changed his DNA giving him his own strange and special powers. The bite gave him the ability to scale brew tanks to clean the tops (the ladder is just there for OSHA compliance) and the uncanny knack for turning butterfly valves the wrong way. But he also filters beer like Superman...who he is not. Here are a few shots of this amazing spectacle.

Onto yours truly. After witnessing as a child the rise of the large brewers and the watering down of domestic light lagers. Jerry whose secret identity, Jerald Gnagy (don't steal my identity, jerkstore!) decided to fight back by becoming a brewer, and by training himself to physical and intellectual perfection. He planned on using the skills of intellect, science and technology, wealth, physical prowess and intimidation to combat the macrobrewer conglomeration. After that didn't work out so well he just decided to make a wide range of unique and flavorful beers for you enjoyment. You can recognize Jerry from his gadget laden brew belt, or riding in the "Brewmoblie" which looks a lot like a Tarc bus. Jerry came to BBC as a wealthy industrialist, playboy and philanthropist, after five years at BBC his is none of those things.

Finally, I thought we would "out" former BBC brewer Cameron Finnis, now with Cumberland Brews. Cameron also claimed to have the alias "Dr. Doom." I checked it out, and while he did in fact enroll at Brown Mackie college with a major in doom and a minor in women's studies, he never completed the required course work and residency requirements to obtain a doctorate in doom. So to be fair to all those that spent seven years in intense doom study, I cannot address Cameron as "Doctor" Doom. But I did find that he received an Associates Degree which makes him eligible to obtain a license in Kentucky as a registered doom practitioner.

Mr. Doom himself

So if you see us around don't hesitate to say hi. And you can be confident that all these bios are spot on accurate, without the least bit of embellishment.

Remember, never trust The Sober Brewer

Jerry Gnagy

Bluegrass Brewing Co. ranked 5th largest brewpub in region; 51st nationally

2008-06-11T16:45:00.004-04:00

The production numbers are in and Bluegrass Brewing Co. is the fifth largest brewpub in the south region, according to the Brewers Association. The south region includes brewpubs in the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North and South Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas. Out of nearly 1,000 brewpubs nationally we came in at fifty-one. Who was the largest in the south region? It was our fellow Kentuckians at Hofbrauhaus in Newport, with a whopping 3,240 beer barrels, placing them at number fifteen in the nation.

We produced 1,852 barrels of beer in 2007. To give you an idea of how much that is, one barrel equals thirty-one gallons or two full size kegs, or roughly 470,000 twenty ounce pints. It's amazing how much you people drink!

A few other relevant number for you:
-Craft beer as a whole grew 12% this year. Macrobrew's increased by 1.2%.
-Our production increased 10%, up from 1690 barrels in 2006
-Other area brewpubs:
Browning's 478 barrels, 550rd nationally; New Albanian 475 barrels, 558rd nationally; Cumberland Brews 365 barrels, 642th nationally.

Paul Gatza of the Brewer Ass. sums it up pretty well in The New Brewer, "Americans enjoyed 215 million more pints of craft brewed beer in 2007 than 2006. That means every American adult averaged one more pint of craft brewed beer than the year before. Cheers to another round for American."

Cheers indeed, thanks to everyone who came in and drank our brews and we're gunning for top 50 next year, and only you can make that happen...or I guess I could just lie. Either way is okay.

never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy

What Not To Do When You Are Not Sober

2008-05-29T09:09:00.005-04:00

Welcome To Our Brewub: Notice There Is No Pee In It

2008-05-20T11:14:00.004-04:00

What happens when you mix Trappist high alcohol beers, Europeans and technology: "The most incredible peeing in my life"

Coming soon: BBC's new bathroom game "Ass-troids*"

*by coming soon, I mean never

Back From the Craft Brewer's Conference 2008

2008-05-13T09:32:00.015-04:00

We're back from San Diego and the Craft Brewer's Conference. I thought I would share with you some of the pictures we took.

Here we see the excitement and anticipation for the conference. I kind of feel bad, because this guy had to pay for the whole seat, but he only used the edge.

A welcome reception was held at Stone Brewing Co. which was pretty fun. We got to see how good breweries run and then lament how crappy our breweries are, so we drink a bunch of free beer to forget. Here are some of the pictures:

We probably won't be invited back next year.

Another great part of the conference is the Brewing Expo. This is where you get to see the latest advances in technology and equipment for the brewery. Some breweries come back from the conference with shiny new equipment in tow, like this cable-vey grain moving system, or this kick ass stainless bottling line.

We also came back with a new piece of equipment. Something we have needed for a while, so we finally pulled the trigger now that we could afford it.

never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy

Top Ten Australian Beer Commercials

2008-04-29T10:40:00.006-04:00

With derby week upon us and the loss of Cameron to Cumberland Brews (Tribute video coming soon), I have been too busy to update the blog with any original content. So I scoured the youtube library and found a montage of some great Australian beer commercials. Eat your heart out Anheuser-Busch these are much better than the frogs, lizards and Turd Ferguson. I hope you enjoy.

The Sober Brewer Tips His Glass to Sam Adams

2008-04-10T14:53:00.003-04:00

It was recently announced that some Sam Adams bottles from its Cincinnati brewery may contain small bits of glass. In light of this development we have learned that Sam Adams has kicked off a new ad campaign featuring former Philadelphia Eagles all-pro linebacker and current actor, Tim Rossovich to be their spokesman. Rossovich was not only known for his fearless play on the football field and his cameos in Knight Rider and the A-Team, but he is also infamous for pulling crazy stunts. Rossovich liked to show the public how tough he was by eating beer mugs and and light bulbs. When asked for comment by the Sober Brewer, Sam Adams replied, "It was a perfect fit for our new product line, if we can show through Tim that ingesting glass is cool and hip, then possibly we can turn our gross incompetence into a net positive. It worked for Anna Nicole Smith...well, before she died." The Sober Brewer was not able to contact Rossovich directly and his agent declined to comment on the Sam Adams partnership, but did say, "Did you know that Mr. Rossovich was Tom Selleck's roommate, and they're still really close, I mean they talk like, every other day...isn't that cool?" He also added that Tim Rossovich was the most noteworthy celebrity attending derby this year.

This was disappointing news to us here at Bluegrass Brewing Co. We were in the process of developing a mug of fiberglass insulation soaked with beer. The purpose of which was to keep the beer cold for longer periods of time. But now that Sam Adams has beaten us to the punch, we are abandoning the program so as not to appear as copycats.

never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy

Louisville Determines National Championship

2008-04-03T14:32:00.003-04:00

Greetings again from the Sober Brewer's prediction department. Trust me, we will return to beer related topics, but this is too important a time in collegiate athletics to not make our final picks for the NCAA National Championship basketball game. And we know that you have been waiting with bated breath for the omnipotent authority which is the Sober Brewer, so that you can with confidence spout off at the water cooler, the check out line or the county drunk tank about who will win it all.

Our picks will be based on the winning teams proximity to the center of the known beer universe. The place that spawned such iconic personalities as Larry Birkhead and Roscoe P. Coltrane. The epicenter of fried chicken and brine trucks, and the final resting place of that great American hero, Barbaro, you know... the horse... whom I'm sure read all the get well cards we sent to him. Yes, the cultural mecca of the Appalachians... Louisville, KY.

Hey, you got a better method? Put it on you own damn blog. Jerk!

Let's take the UNC vs. Kansas first:

The University of North Carolina Hansblowers = 511 miles from Louisville
The University of Kansas Toucans = 553 miles from Louisville
The winner is North Carolina squeaking in at the buzzer by only 42 miles.

As for UCLA vs. Memphis:

The University of California Los Angeles Bruins = 2107 miles from Louisville

Memphis University Tigers = 404 miles from Louisville
The winner is Memphis in a rout by like, a million miles (do your own math).

And the national championship goes to the Memphis Tigers who received the heart of a champion from David Pagett, (Jewish Hospital doing the procedure) making Roy "deputy dog" Williams lament his decision to abandon him at that drafty old barn which is Allen Fieldhouse.

Hey Roy the jerkstore called, they're running out of you!

When did this blog stop making sense?
the Sober Brewer.
Jerry Gnagy

The Sober Brewer's Indubitable Bracket

2008-03-20T10:42:00.009-04:00

It's that time of year again, spring is in the air, potholes are abundant and brine trucks are parked all snug in their spots for another season. Oh, and we have the hoops, the roundball, the hardwood, irrational hope and the indigestion of defeat, yes it's March madness and we here at the Sober Brewer Institute of Oddsmaking are here, ready to put the "biscuit in the basket" so to speak, for you. So get your cold, hard cash dollars, rubles, rupees, loonies or krugerrand ready to lay down on our "locks of the eternity." Are you ready? Are you excited/pumped/aroused? Well, lets do it anyway!

Our first upset pick in the first round is the 2 seed Tennessee to be upset by the 15 seed American. You might be asking, How? Why? Are you a lunatic? Do these pants go with this shirt? Well let me ask you a question. Who do you think YOU are? Jeremiah Wright? Barak O'bama? What have you got against America huh? Love it or leave it man! USA! USA! USA! nuff said.

Our second first round pick is the 4 seed Pittsburgh to knock off the 13 seed Oral Roberts. I had a vision last night that if Oral Roberts did not win, God would "call him home." Unfortunately for Mr. Roberts, I'm still going with Pitt on this one. Come on, the dude is like 90 years old, win or lose he could be "called home" at anytime.

Now let's focus our attention on the Wildcats, but which Wildcats are we picking/jinxing? I pick the Wildcats from a Southern conference, who have had an undefeated conference record in their past, whose coach's first name starts with a B and whose arena is named in honor of a famous faculty member... that's right, I'm picking the Davidson Wildcats. Psych, Kentucky fans, Ha Ha. Seriously now, I am picking the Wildcats who squeaked into the tournament with an 11 seed, whose first year coach had some rough patches early on but finished third in their conference during the regular season, then was upset in their first conference tournament game. The name of this team starts with the letter K (OMG the anticipation must be unbearable). The Sober Brewer is fully invested in the Kansas State Wildcats!!

We also pick the Arizona Wildcats to destroy the evil Boob Hugginses, who I'm sure will be sweating out all his moonshine and ramp jelly (ewww stinky).

Oh and by the way, sorry Kentucky, you lose.

Now here's our picks for who will be in the Sweet Sixteen:

In the East: UNC, Louisville, American (USA! USA!) and Washington St.

In the Midwest: Kansas, Vanderbilt, Kansas St. and Davidson

In the South: Memphis, Pitt, Stanford and Texas

In the West: UCLA, Western KY, Xavier, and Arizona

There it is folks, The Sober Brewer's "Locks of the Eternity" lay down your life savings with complete confidence. Cameron will reimburse any losses you might incur (he is making out like a bandit as a mystery shopper).

And as always, never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy

Pinching Off a Leprechaun

2008-03-12T10:58:00.003-04:00

St. Patrick's day is approaching and I was thinking about all the customs attached to the holiday. What immediately comes to mind in this business is green beer. Love or hate the idea, putting coloring in beer can be fun and interesting, not only for the pretty green color while drinking but also the after effects.

First though, I thought about the history of the holiday's relics and how green became the defacto St. Patrick's day color. It started with the leprechaun, which is actually one of the fairies of ancient Irish mythology. He was feared because he hid from human view, but he was also revered because of his riches (pot 'o' gold). The leprechaun was later adopted by St. Patrick as a symbol of God. Like God, the leprechaun is hidden from view and has great riches for those who find Him (pot 'o' eternal life). Because the Irish believed that the leprechaun used the rich green countryside to conceal himself, the color green became associated with him as well as all things that have to do with St. Patrick and his day.

Drinking a bunch of beer also has its roots in the rituals of St. Patrick's day. There is more beer consumed in Ireland on St. Patrick's Day than there is on any other day of the year. This may be a practice carrying on St. Patrick's honoring of Brigid, the Celtic goddess of fire with "poteen" an Irish beer made from potatoes. St. Patrick is also credited with bringing the art of distilling to Ireland.

As far a green beer goes, it wasn't until the Irish settled in Boston, and faced ethnic discrimination that they chose to show their Irish pride by using the color green for all things Irish. Thus began the American tradition of green beer and wearing green. On a side note, pinching people who did not wear green was a reminder that leprechauns would sneak up on those who could be seen on this day and in order to remain hidden, and avoid the leprechauns, you must hide yourself by wearing green. Or maybe it was just a good excuse to cop a feel and talk about your green underwear.

Speaking of green underwear, some people have found that drinking a lot of green beer can turn your uh, ah, fecal matter, ahem, ah, green. There is a good reason for that. One of the dyes used in green food coloring, (FDA Blue #5) when metabolized in sufficient quantities (you might have to drink a butt-load, Ha Ha) combines with bile and forms a brilliant green color. This phenomenon is harmless, and does not happen to everybody who ingest blue #5. So if you indulge in green beer this St.Patty's day and you're still crappin' brown, relax, there's nothing physically wrong with you. But maybe a better choice would be to drink a nice Irish Stout instead.

never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy

Pepe le Pew Walks Into a Bar and Orders a Corona and Asparagus

2008-02-27T11:44:00.005-05:00

Picture yourself on a bright sunny day about to enjoy a bottle of imported beer, you pop the top and catch a whiff, and wonder if a skunk had just sprayed you. There is a good reason for this... the same compound that makes skunk spray smell so bad is the same compound that is in "skunked" beer. So how did the skunk get into the bottle?

It is a chemical reaction triggered by light. Skunky beer flavor is attributed to the compound 3-methylbut-2-ene-1-thiol or for easier notation furfuryl mercaptan. This is the same compound (mercaptan) that is found is skunk spray. We humans have a very low flavor threshold for mercaptan, we can detect its presence in quantities as small as .004 micrograms per liter. When beer is exposed to bright sunlight, significant quantities of mercaptan can form in mere minutes.

Specifically, what happens is riboflavin, which is produced by yeast during fermentation, absorbs energy from light at wavelengths of 350 to 500 nanometer. The riboflavin transfers the energy to iso-alpha acids (bittering compounds produced by boiling hops) which release free radicals that react with yeast derived sulfur compounds. Probably not coincidentally, amber colored glass, blocks the offending light wavelengths under 500 nanometers, which is why most beers don't have the skunky smell. While beers like Corona (clear glass packaging) and Heineken (green glass) have mercaptan as a central flavor characteristic. This is also why people are encouraged to stick limes in Corona bottles, in order to cover up the skunk stench. If you want to try an experiment, buy two six-packs of Heineken, one in cans and one in green glass bottles. Set them both in the sunlight for 10 minutes then taste them. The beer in the bottle should have a noticeable "skunky" smell compared to the cans.

Where else can we find this mercaptan? We find it in a step up from Corona... our urine. Specifically that smelly urine you get after eating asparagus. The culprit in asparagus is asparagusic acid, which produced methyl mercaptan in urine. A strange fact about this is that only 40% of the UK population produces this chemical in their urine, while 100% of the French population does. Even stranger is that 90% of the Israeli population and 75% of the Chinese, have no ability to smell the mercaptan-laced urine. Which begs the question, do people who like Corona also lack the ability to smell mercaptan, or do they just like the smell of skunk spray and urine? Who's to say.

never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy

What Brewers do - 04 - Unloading Grain Deliveries

2008-02-27T11:13:00.003-05:00

Unloading Pallets of grain is always fun, especially when they forget to send us a truck with a lift gate.

The Sober Brewer's Super Bowl Comercial

2008-02-08T20:12:00.001-05:00

Unfortunately we were a little short on the funds necessary to purchase air time for our advert...

O Brother, Where Malt Thou

2008-01-28T12:34:00.001-05:00

Last week I wrote about the "Great Global Hop Crisis of 2007," so this week I thought I'd talk about the rising costs of arguably the most important beer ingredient...Barley Malt. The barley malt market differs from the hop market in that barley has other uses, whereas hops are only used in the brewing industry. The main competition for the malted barley we use in brewing is barley grown for animal feed. As formerly third world countries become richer and the Chinese middle class grows and becomes more prosperous, those people want to eat meat. Consequently, feed barley demand has risen and the higher agronomic yield of feed barley varieties forces malteries to pay a premium to growers to insure that malting barley varieties will be grown in sufficient quantities. This phenomenon in and of itself would have been sufficient to push up the price of barley malt, but two other factors have also caused the upward spike in malt prices. The increase in biofuel production, and poor weather conditions in the three main growing regions: Europe, Australia and Canada.

As energy costs have skyrocketed, the demand for biofuels has risen. In the US the emphasis has been on corn derived ethanol, the result has been an increased demand for corn, from 400 million bushels in 1995 to more than 2 billion bushel in 2006 and consumption is now estimated to surpass 4 billion bushels from the 2007 crop. This requires the production of 26 million acres. Just two years ago, the US was the world's largest exporter of corn, this year it will need to import stocks. Corn is typically not grown in barley growing regions and therefore does not compete directly for acreage. However, the explosive demand from the corn-based ethanol industry has caused corn prices to double and diverted corn from traditional uses including animal feed. As a consequence, the feed barley prices has risen sharply. In Europe, the focus has been on biodiesel production from oilseed rape or canola. In the case of canola, this crop can be grown on the same land as barley and therefore is a direct threat to barley acreage. Until barley malt prices rise enough to make it more profitable to grow than biofuel crops, we will see farmers devote less and less acreage to malt-specific barley varieties.

Poor weather conditions in the main barley growing regions has exacerbated already low barley malt stores. It begins in Europe in the summer of 2006, where hot and dry weather caused higher than ideal protein levels in the barley crop. The rains eventually came late in the year, but at the wrong time and in too great of quantities, causing pre-sprout damage. The result was as much as 75% of the German, Polish and Czech crops were lost, translating into a 1 million metric ton malting barley shortage. In Australia, barley raised as a winter crop on the southeast, south and southwest fringes of the country suffered a drought in 2006. The conditions were so bad that many farmers turned animals onto the fields in an attempt to get some value out of the land. In other cases, farmers simply walked away, abandoning the farms. The Australian harvest expected to yield 9.5 million metric tons only amounted to 3.7 million metric tons. As for Canada, the 2006 harvest was better in quality but fell short of it's expected quantity, only yielding 9.5 million metric tons against it's estimate of 10.85 MMT.

Given the very poor crop in two of the three major growing region in the world, maltsters needed a good harvest in 2007, since all the grain in storage was to be exhausted come the 2007 harvest. It is expected that Europe will have a 2007 crop malting barley deficit of 335,000 metric tons. Since the 2007 harvest was being relied upon for immediate use due to the lack of 2006 crop carry over stocks, this places even more importance on the yield elsewhere in the world and on the 2008 crop. Meanwhile barley prices continue to rise.

So what does this mean for us at Bluegrass Brewing Co. and you the consumer? Not a whole lot actually. The barley malt situation is not as dire as the hop shortage mainly because there is malt to be had, the problem is that it is that we will be receiving lower quality barley at double the price. Not exactly the ideal situation but manageable. As for now we are not planning on raising beer prices and hopefully we can hold the line on quality. But as for the big picture, malt quality is fairly far down on our list of concerns, in our 15 yr old brewery, we just hope that the roof doesn't cave in on us.

never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy

The Sober Brewer's Tribute To That One Guy From Estonia That Visited Our Blog.

2008-01-22T13:45:00.002-05:00

As a tribute to our blog's recent visitor from Estonia, and also spurred on by a few pints of our Baltic Porter, we present this video. We apologize in advance for anything perceived offensive to Estonians. Please stop on by the BBC for a traditional taste of Estonia, our Baltic Porter. If you are lucky enough the Sober Brewers just might be singing again to contribute to that authentic mood.

Kick in the Baltic Porter
Baltic Porter is a real beer for real Nordic men and women. Baltic Porters were originally brewed strong in order to withstand the long travels from the UK to the Baltic Region. the Style was well suited to the cold winters in that part of the world. Baltic Porters (sometimes called Imperial Stouts or Double Brown Stouts) are jet black with a dense tan-colored head and have coffee, chocolate and toffee-like flavors and aromas, with some smoky and sulphuric notes. Warming alcohol strength and a full body, balance out a distinct bitterness originating from the German Hallertau Hops, and UK Black Patent malt
ABV 8.5%
IBU 42.8

Dude, Where's My Hops?

2008-01-15T11:50:00.002-05:00

First off, I'd like to apologize for the lack of updates from the sober brewer. I have been too embarrassed by my college football picks, to show my face on this site. But I feel I owe it to the one guy from Estonia that visited our blog to suck it up and write something down. So today I think we'll talk about the "International Hop Crisis," the factors causing it and of course our unwise and irreverent response.

For those of you that don't know, hops are one of the four main ingredients in beer, along with malt, water and yeast. Hops contribute bitterness, flavor and aroma to finished beer. The bitterness comes from compounds called alpha-acids present in hops and certain hop varieties have more alpha-acids then others, and that amount can vary from year to year. As a general rule, the higher the alpha-acid value the less hops you have to use to achieve the same bitterness level. It's important to talk about alpha-acids and how that effects the hop supply because over the past 35 years the development of high-alpha hop varieties has led to an oversupply of hop products, which in turn led to a reduction in prices obtained by hop growers. The reduction in prices caused many hop farmers to plant less acres, or to get out of the market altogether. As a result the number of U.S. hop growers has fallen from 515 in 1950 to only 45 in 2007. Which sets us up for what happened this year where a string of unfortunate events has led to a shortage.

Unfortunate event number one happened on Oct. 4, 2006 when a fire in a 40,000 sq/ft warehouse containing 2 million pounds of high-alpha hops, destroyed roughly 4% of the U.S. hop crop. Although on a global scale the loss of hops was small, the fire did serve as a turning point in the global pricing of hops.

Unfortunate event number two is the poor weather in Europe last year has had a large effect on the constriction of supply. In Europe, hops are not irrigated and when rain in not forthcoming, alpha-acid content and total yields drop. The average drop in alpha-acid content in the major hop growing countries from 2005 to 2006 was a whopping 43%.

Unfortunate events number 4,5 and 6 were severe storms in first, northern Idaho and Oregon where hail and heavy rains destroyed 450 metric tons of hops. Secondly, a similar event happened in Germany destroying 1,000 metric tons. And finally, two separate storms in Slovenia destroyed 33% of their hop crops.

Unfortunate event number seven affected U.S. high alpha hops during harvest. A suspected infection of Alternaria brought on by red spider mites, drastically reduced the alpha-acid content and turned hops from green to brown.

So what this all means is that there is not enough hop supply to satisfy global demand. In turn hop prices have nearly tripled which will undoubtedly bring more growers to the market, but their impact probably won't be felt for at least a year, possibly two. And since we, small craft brewers, don't have the buying power of the macrobrewers, we will have to settle for the table scraps that are left over.

I have painted a pretty grim picture for the immediate future of craft brewing, so you would expect the intelligent, prudent and rational response of a wise brewer, would be to brew more malt-forward beers, cutting down on hop usage in order to ensure and adequate supply for the rest of the year and possibly for years to come. Since the sober brewer is neither intelligent, prudent or rational, our brewing philosophy in the year of the Hop Crisis will be "Going down in a blaze of glory." We have finished brewing our highly hopped IPA and are planning on resurrecting the Homewrecker Double IPA and Amber Waves of Pain Double Amber. So be sure to make it into Bluegrass Brewing Co. (this means you too, Estonia guy) and get the hoppy beers while they last before we have to replace the hops with ditchweed, or worst yet, we have to start brewing light American lagers, gasp!

never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy

The Sober Brewer's Bowl Predictions

2007-12-31T11:41:00.001-05:00

Happy New Years!

It is college football bowl season and I must confess I haven't been following all that close this year. Nevertheless, I will make our first annual "Sober Brewer Bowl Predictions." The predictions will be based on the per capita beer consumption of the state the University resides in. So without further delay, here we go:

Dec. 31 bowl games

Armed Forces Bowl
California Golden Bears vs. Air Force Falcons
California drinks 26 gallons of beer per person per year, while Colorado consumes 33.4 gallons. The Falcons pull this one out.

Humanitarian Bowl
Georgia Tech Yellowjackets vs. Fresno St. Bulldogs
Georgia Tech wins this one with 29.5 Gal/person compared to California at 26

Sun Bowl
Oregon Ducks vs. South Florida Bulls
Oregon loses a squeaker with Floria drinking 33.8 gal/person vs. 30.6 for Oregon

Music City Bowl
Kentucky Wildcats vs. Florida St. Seminoles
Rest easy Wildcat fans you pull it out 36.8 to 33.8

Insight Bowl
Indiana Hoosiers vs. Oklahoma State Cowboys
Good for IU, they win in a tight game 28.3 to 27.0 (The loss of Eddie Sutton was a major blow to the Cowboys. He was good for another two gallons.)

Chick-fil-a Bowl
Clemson Tigers vs. Auburn Tigers
The tigers from South Carolina win 37 to 30.6

Jan 1 games

Outback Bowl
Wisconsin Badgers vs. Tennessee Volunteers
Big surprise, Wisconsin wins 38.2 to 30.2.

Cotton Bowl
Missouri Tigers vs. Arkansas Razorbacks
Mizzou and booger eater Chase Daniels win it 33.4 to 27.6

Capital One
Michigan Wolverines vs. Florida Gators
Florida swamps the Wolverines and spoils Carr's last game 33.8 to 29.3

Gator Bowl
Virginia Cavaliers vs. Texas Tech Red Raiders
Don't mess with Texas 37.4 to 29.3

Rose Bowl
Illinois Illini vs. USC Trojans
Illinois in a shocker 31.3 to 26.0

Sugar Bowl
Hawaii Warriors vs. Georgia Bulldogs
Hawaii proves legit as they beat the bulldogs 32.7 to 29.5

Jan. 2
Fiesta Bowl
Oklahoma Sooners vs. West Virginia Mountaineers
The most annoying song in the world (Boomer Sooner) is not enough to distract the Mountaineers, they cut their teeth on John Denver. WVU rolls 31.3 to 27.0

Jan. 3
Orange Bowl
Virginia Tech Hokies vs. Kansas Chickenhawks
The Hokies win as Kansas University only drinks white wine spritzers at the local "alternative" bar.

Jan. 7
BCS Championship Game
LSU Tigers vs. Ohio State Buckeyes
Bourbon St. carries LSU to the victory 37.1 to 33.5

There you have it, put your money down with confidence. But remember:
never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy

Updated Bowl Predictions:
Take every prediction I had and reverse it! I swear I could have done a better job picking teams out of a hat. Next year we will do the opposite, where the state with the least beer consumption wins. Take my advice and lay your money heavy on Ohio State, it's the Sober Brewer's "lock of the century."

never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy

Canada; The Global Scapegoat

2007-12-13T09:11:00.001-05:00

The face of Global Terror has been revealed and it wears a toque and plaid flannel!

Catherine Brahic wrote the following article for NewScientist.com:

Getting rid of vintage “beer fridges” – secondary fridges which many North American and Australian homes boast – could have a significant impact on household greenhouse gas emissions, suggests a new study.

Beer fridges are additional fridges that are generally used to keep beer and other drinks cold on top of a household’s primary fridge for food. One in three Canadian households has a second fridge, many of which are aging, energy-guzzling models, according to Denise Young, a researcher at the University of Alberta, Canada.

Young suggests that getting rid of older models, in Canada at least, would have an impact on energy usage. Her study analyzes industry data and the results of a national survey to look at the environmental effects of having beer fridges in Canada.

"People need to understand the impact of their lifestyles," says Joanna Yarrow, director of Beyond Green, a sustainable development consultancy in the UK. "Clearly the environmental implications of having a frivolous luxury like a beer fridge are not hitting home. This research helps inform people – let's hope it has an effect".

High demands

The survey that Young analysed was commissioned by Natural Resources Canada and suggests that 30% of households have two or more refrigerators. About 20% of secondary fridges are older models that are kept after the household buys a newer model as their primary refrigerator.

Having a second fridge for cooling drinks means more demand for electricity, and this demand is even worse when the second fridge is an older model.

The Canadian Appliance Manufacturers Association estimates that typical 1985 refrigerator models use 1060 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy per year, while a 1975 model uses 1580 kWh per year. In contrast, more recent and energy-efficient models can use as little as 380 kWh per year.

The survey shows that in 2003 about 65% of beer fridges were more than 10 years old. About 30% were at least twice that age.

Using the survey's information on the distribution of beer fridges and the data on energy consumption, Young calculated that the 65% of beer fridges that are 10 years or older consume 1165.7 million kWh of energy each year – roughly equivalent to the annual consumption of 100,000 average US suburban homes.

By abandoning beer fridges altogether, Canada's 11.5 million households could save 3500 million kWh each year, says Young.

Class divide

Young also found that low-income families were less likely to retire their old refrigerators to the garage to store drinks after buying a new model. She says this is probably because these households find the cost of running an additional fridge (up to $150 per year) too high.

She concludes that middle- to high-income families should be targeted by campaigns to remove old secondary refrigerators. Existing schemes encourage people to buy new more energy-efficient fridges by offering financial bonuses for each purchase – sometimes with a cash-back offer for handing in older fridges.

Young warns, however, that "these financial incentives may also induce a household to purchase a new unit earlier than they would have otherwise done so", which can actually encourage people to keep a second fridge.

Instead, Young supports government-run "round-ups" offering to pick up and dispose of old refrigerators. A 2006 study commissioned by the Ontario Power Authority showed that such programmes have been successful in the past, especially when they are boosted by information on how much money and energy can be saved by getting rid of the beer fridge.

But environmental effect of beer fridges depends on the source of electricity. "In Canada, there are major regional differences," notes Young. "In places where hydroelectric power is used, the greenhouse gas emissions are negligible. In places where coal or natural gas are used, the impacts can be substantial."

She calculates that a 1975 fridge in British Columbia – where most electricity comes from hydropower – is responsible for a negligible increase in emissions. But the same fridge in Alberta, where electricity is primarily generated from natural gas and coal, would be responsible for 1.4 tons of greenhouse gases every year.

In the words of the McKenzie Brothers, I say you global warming nuts can Take Off!

never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy

The Propaganda of Prohibition

2007-12-07T11:50:00.001-05:00

This week marked the 74th anniversary of the repeal of prohibition. I thought it would be fun to look at one of the tools that prohibitionists used to sway people to their side. "The Prohibition Alphabet" is certainly one of my favorites.

A stands for alcohol, king among men, who takes them to gallows or puts them in pen.

B is for beer, the slop of the brewery; it lead to the judge, and right to the jury.

C is for cruelty the demon we fear, who lives in the wine, the liquors, and beer.

D is for dram, a social or not; it leads from the moderate to the old drunken sot.

E is for early, when drunkards arise to add some more flame to their blood-shot eyes.

F is for fickle, we wish you to note the defect on drinkers, for license to vote.

G is for grog shop, a hell upon earth, where men are defiled from day of their birth.

H is for health, for happiness home, but all will be blighted in the foul liquor zone.

I is a pronoun, of dignified heft; but, bloated with liquor, there isn't much left.

J is for jug, the home drinkers pet; he fights the saloons but he is still wet.

K is for kindness; but she'll never know, who lives with a drunkard, but sadness and woe.

L is for liquor, the robber of life; he's cruel to children, and mean to his wife.

M is for millions who travel the road, in coffin and shroud, by the old whiskey goad.

N is for nickel, buys one glass of booze, though the children are hungry and the wife hasn't shoes.

O is for onion; its odors are rank, but not half so bad as a walking beer tank.

P is for plaster, a mortgage, or note, that's put on the house of the old whiskey bloat.

Q is for question; is a man really sane, who drinks of a poison that injures his brain.

R is for reason; where reason should be, is absent in men who go on a spree.

S is for slicker, a saloon keepers trait; for he gets all the suckers in town on his bait.

T is for trixter, the breweryman's suit; he'll take all you have, and your own soul to boot.

U is for uncle, our dear Uncle Sam; his battle with liquor is not any sham.

V is for virtue, the greatest of all; exposed through to liquor, this virtue must fall.

W is for will power, hard liquor destroys in the great and the small, the men and the boys.

X is for quantity; of course it's unknown, but equal at least to an old whiskey drone.

Y is for youth, an age of content; but liquor indulged will make it misspent.

Z is for Zion the church of our King, who judges a notion, a misguided thing when'er it is married by the foul liquor crew, and takes the blood money of cursed revenue. But let us, by voting the victory bring, and give to the nation a temperance ring.

Not exactly Longfellow, but see what can be accomplished with the clarity of thought, that sobriety brings? Just kidding, let's go have a beer.

never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy

What Brewers Do - 03 - Recipe Formulation

2007-12-05T13:05:00.000-05:00

A little insight into what the brewers do at the BBC. This time we share our process of formulating a beer recipe.

Validation for The Sober Brewer

2007-11-29T13:07:00.001-05:00

A couple of posts back I went on a tirade about the nonsensical beer judging we have encountered at the Great American Beer Festival. After each year's festivities are concluded and awards are handed out, the Brewer's Association sends us the judge's notes on the beers that we entered into the competition. These notes are supposed to help us brewers find out where our beer is in relation to what they are looking for. The feedback includes comments on the beer's Color and Appearance, Aroma, Bitterness, Alcohol, Style, Flavor and Aftertaste, Balance and Drinkability, Technical Quality and Carbonation. I thought you would be interested in some of the weird, almost schizophrenic comments that we received. Mind you, these are only from this year's judging, the past years' comments have been just as goofy.

First of all, let's look at the Oktoberfest. One judge says "lacks biscuit character in flavor" while another judge said "Biscuity" in flavor and "Biscuity and Toasty" in Balance. Strange, there would be a 180 degree disagreement, and what's with the overuse of the biscuity term? Did they both eat at Chick-Fil-A that morning? Another aside about the Oktoberfest, we sent it to another competition and again, no awards from the beer judges but it won the people's choice award...can you say Validation.

Next, let's look at the Anvil Steam, one of our all time favorites her a BBC. The general consensus of the judges was that it was a very good beer, only a little too much hop aroma. That's fine I can live with that, and since it was consistent among all the judges, it makes sense. But I do have one problem, and this happens all the time with these judges. On the bitterness section it read "Maybe to[sic] high." What's this "maybe," either it's too high, too low, or right on. "maybe" if you didn't have a spine made of linguine you could "maybe" give someone a straight answer, unless of course "maybe" you have no idea what you are talking about.

Moving on to the RIP VanWinkle Bourbon Barrel Aged Russian Imperial Porter. When entering a barrel-aged beer we have to specify first, what the base beer is, (Russian Imperial Porter) and secondly, what the beer was aged in, (Pappy VanWinkle American Oak Bourbon Barrels). So it must of came as quite a surprise to one particular judge who wrote "Almost has a bourbon Quality." Well duh. The same judge also had one of my favorite contradictions. On Flavor he writes "Very Woody" and on the very next line under Balance it read "Wood doesn't come through." I hope this guy finds some professional help for his split personality.

Finally we reach the Pilsner, and this is the one that validates my previous post about flawed beers doing better in competition. During the festival itself Cameron and I detected a high amount of hydrogen sulfide in both the aroma and flavor of the Pilsner. We determined that it was probably a function of autolysing yeast since the defect was not present in our filtered beer back here in Louisville. We were disappointed with what we sent and figured that the Pilsner certainly would be torn apart in the judging. Quite the contrary, this was the one beer of ours that went on to the medal round, just missing being awarded. But what held it back illustrates another weird judging comment. The judge wrote, "Well made beer, lacks some of the subtleties of a classic Pilsner." That's great Mr. Judge...care to elaborate on what exactly those subtleties are? I guess not.

As you can see this "feedback" we get from the GABF is as useless as the medals we receive. As long as you, the customer is satisfied, so are we. Besides, I'm fairly certain you know more about beer than some of these jokers.

never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy

Holiday Food and Beer

2007-11-21T08:47:00.000-05:00

Tired of looking like a nancy-boy, having to buy a Rose' to go with your Turkey dinner. This year try pairing your holiday foods with beer. The Brewer's Association has came up with some good suggestions.

Holiday Foods and Beer

After Thanksgiving, make sure you come to our junk food and beer pairing event on Mon. Nov. 26 at 7PM. For $12 you get eight half pints of BBC and Cumberland Brews beers, matched with our favorite junk foods. Email me at jerry@bbcbrew.com for reservations.

never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy

Ghosts in the Brewery

2007-11-13T12:11:00.000-05:00

It has recently been brought to my attention that we may not be alone in the brewery. Strange forces are causing apparitions that I want you to see, so that if something happens to me (disappearance, stigmata, hangnail) those of you that are left can call in an exorcist.

It started with Cameron noticing a strange face in some crud on our hand wash sink.

If you look carefully you will see the face of Albert Einstein. Does this mean anything? Is the spirit of Einstein watching us wash our hands? Or does it mean we should clean the sink area better. I don't know.

Next I noticed a face staring back at me when I was having a cup of coffee. Check it out.

If that is not a face smiling and winking at me then I must be going crazy.

And finally, the most striking paranormal experience happened when a bag of grain mysteriously fell over, dumping its contents. If you look closely you might be able to make out some letters spelling something.

This is really creepy.

never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy

Beer: The Liquid Defibrillator

2007-11-03T15:31:00.002-04:00

For those that didn't know, our good friend and colleague Mark Allgeier from Cumberland Brews, recently had an unfortunate episode. An uneasy feeling and shortness of breath led him to drive to the emergency room where it turns out he had a heart attack. Apparently, his heart stopped for about two minutes but started up again after a few jolts, bringing him back to life. Mark has been know to have a few beers from time to time and so I began to wonder what kind of effect beer has on a person's heart. It turns out that there is a wealth of information about how beer HELPS the heart.

In Science Daily it is reported that a group of Israeli researchers conducted studies on a group of men with coronary artery disease. They found that drinking one beer per day for a month produced changes in blood chemistry that are associated with reduced risk of heart attack. Specifically beer's high polyphenol content helps decrease "bad" cholesterol and increases "good" cholesterol, it also increased antioxidant levels and decreases levels and activity of fibrinogen, a clot-producing protein.

Some would argue that all alcoholic beverages have the same anti-clotting ability so it's not the beer that helps the heart, it's the alcohol. Well that may be true, but another study says that beer goes above and beyond in its beneficial impact on coronary heart disease. The study, by and Innsbruck Medical University team found that beer blocks "interferon-gamma-induced chemical processes." More specifically, beer offers an anti-inflammatory effect by blocking the interferon-gamma which inhibits the production of neopterin and the degradation of tryptophan by suppressing T-cell response. All right, I don't know what any of this really means but it sounds awesome. But the most interesting part of the study was the the same effects were present in alcohol-free beers, implying that it was the beer itself, not the alcohol that produced the benefits.

So what does this mean to us? Well maybe instead of going to the hospital Mark should have chugged a beer. Possibly, instead of the electric shock paddles they should have an emergency beer bong. And finally, from now on CPR won't be cardiopulmonary resuscitation but Can of Pabst's blue Ribbon.

never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy

The Sober Brewer's Guide To The GABF

2007-10-30T05:15:00.001-04:00

The Sober Brewer's GABF Report

2007-10-24T17:46:00.001-04:00

So we made it back from the Great American Beer Festival empty handed, having been awarded nothing for our beers. I had told Cameron before we went to Denver that if we won a medal I would write about how GABF awards are meaningless, and if we didn't win anything I would write about how they are the most important things in the world. That's just the way we roll around here. So here goes:

Awards at the GABF represents a major achievement for brewers and breweries being recognized as having the best Pale Ale, Pumpkin Cherry Stout or Gluten-free beer in the nation is an accomplishment that can make or break a brewery. The 1700 plus entries are judged by some the the most knowledgeable and well respected brewers, brewery managers, beer writers and doped-up, noodle armed, jean short wearing Colorado hippies in the world.

Now we at BBC have had our share of success at the festival. I can distinctly remember the beers that were awarded medals. We won the gold medal in 2003 with a smoked porter. I remember while I was smoking the grain with a mixture of apple and hickory wood, I went inside for something and when I returned, flames were shooting out of the smoker and my grain had been reduced to ashes. Our chef at the time Jeff Grubbs offered to smoke some more grain for me so I took him up on the offer. I watched him throw the grain in with a bunch of raw salmon fillets. Close your eyes and imagine the smell of smokey barley malt melded nicely with fatty fish, Yum Yum. But it was too late to make another batch so we entered the beer in the competition and won gold. The knowledgeable judges must have liked seafood.

The second medal we received was the same year with a Dortmunder. I remember the day I brewed this golden lager, that night the switch that controls the temperature of the brew tank broke. This sent the fermenting beer's temperature up to 78 degrees only about 25 degrees too warm for this style. But it was too late to make another so we entered the beer into competition and won the bronze. One cold argue that if the beer was brewed at the right temperature it could have taken gold, but I doubt it since Miller won the gold in that category in 2003. Miller? WTF?

The thirdGABF medal we won was last year for our Oktoberfest. Now we love our Oktoberfest here at BBC, but the 2006 batch just did not turn out right.Cameron and I would have a glass, shake our heads and lament that it just wasn't as good as our previous batches. Well as you probably guessed, the one beer we didn't particularly care for won the bronze. Go figure, I guess our palates are just not as refined as the hemp wearing California peaceniks that judge at the GABF.

The moral of my rant is that its very hard to win medals when our tastes differ so much from coast to coast. The Southeast is usually underrepresented because there just isn't any large national brewers from the south that can shape and influence the national palate. It is far more important to us to brew the things we and our customers like than try and focus on winning medals that nobody outside to the brewing industry cares about. That brings me to next years GABF strategy, we are going to purposely screw up in some way all five entries and see what happens...Brewery of the Year 2008?

never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy

One Too Many Pours and Seven Years Ago: Cumberland's Mark Allgeier Addresses The Sober Brewer

2007-10-16T12:31:00.000-04:00

One too many pours and seven years ago...


I decided to go into the brewery and restaurant business.
I thought about this alot on the way home due to a flashback
I had while listening to the awards ceremony at the GABF. I
recall a younger more eccentric time in my life while
traveling thru the west and hearing of this event. After a
couple of quarters for the phone calls home (no in 94/95 I
didn't have a cell) I headed the van to Denver. After a
quick wardrobe check as I had been camping for 2-3 weeks
straight my cohort and I rolled in and told them we were
from Kentucky. They then filled out two Hello My Name Is
stickers and off we went. (Warning : this check-in process
is completely outdated.) Well it didn't take long for this
young-en to figure there was alot of Great Beer out there.
Then Bang!!!!!!! The roar of the 2007 crowd awoke me from
my daydream" and the winner is" I heard over the amplifiers
......................Old Milwaukee Light gold medal winner
for the American Light Lager. I started back pedaling
bumping into some girls dressed like referees reminding me
as I turned ,"it was miller time". I ran right out of
there and took a deep breath and thought, what the fuck
is going on. No better yet what are they doing here? Is
it just me? What more does the future hold and are things
getting better. GABF is a great, well respected festival
but if I was you I would go as soon as possible before any
more improvements. I've got a funny feeling about a guy
named August Busch standing at the door of the festival
welcoming festivaterians, and as you walk up he smiles
strangely shakes your hand and then pushes you in a
large meat grinder like in that Pink Floyd video.

Back to why I went into the Brewery & Restaurant business.
For the same reason any of Kentuckiana is. Great Beer!  
Support Your Local Brewery,

Mark Allgeier
Cumberland Brews
1576 Bardstown Road
(502) 458-8727

Beer Marketing Terms and What They Mean Part Four: Frost Brewed and Brewed Longer

2007-10-09T11:13:00.001-04:00

I thought today I would explore Coors' "Frost brewed" and Bud Select's "Brewed Longer." I put these terms together because they are both equally meaningless. Let's start with the most asinine "Brewed Longer"

Anheuser-Busch's Bud Select used the phrase "brewed longer" along with "a clean finish" and "a bold taste" in its marketing campaign. This statement begs the question, what part of the brewing process is longer? and longer than what? I did find out that Bud Select lets their mash (barley and water mix) sit in the brew kettle longer than normal Budweiser, the effect of this procedure is not discussed, but we can theorize. By leaving the mash sitting longer before taking off the wort, you might get a more complete enzymatic conversion of starches to fermentable sugars, thereby leaving less residual sweetness and body in the finished beer. This can explain the "clean finish" statement because the beer will certainly taste more watery and thin, but it doesn't really jibe with the "bold taste" assertion. Maybe it's the same concept as minimalist art, where a plain box painted on a canvas can be called "powerful." The same with Bud Select, we could say, "There is absolutely no flavor here...what a 'bold' concept."

Now on to Coors' "Frost Brewed" I thought long and hard what frost brewing could possibly mean. Was the beer brewed cold enough for frost to form? I doubt that would be the case since unfermented beer needs to be boiled before adding yeast and if you cooled fermenting beer to 32 degrees or below, yeast would stop their activity. Also, after fermentation all beer is cooled to "Frost" temperatures, so that's not really an attribute specific to Coors. I finally decided they must be talking about the water used in the whole brewing process. They did make a big deal about Rocky Mountain water years ago, so I guess they are saying they use melted snow or frost to brew their beer. We know that the composition of frost and the melted frost, also known as water, doesn't change, it's still just hydrogen and oxygen. And frankly throughout the history of the planet with ice ages and evaporation of water into the upper atmosphere where ice crystals form, and the billions of times that snow and ice have formed, my guess is that every molecule of water on earth has been frozen at some point in time, so aren't we all frost brewing. To take it a step farther, throughout the course of human history, man and animals have drank water and excreted waste through urine, which eventually makes it back to the water supply, so wouldn't it be just as accurate to label Coors "Urine Brewed." You know, after tasting Coors Light, maybe this would be a more descriptive term.

never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy

What Brewers Do - 02 - Grain Removal

2007-10-03T15:51:00.000-04:00

An inside look at a day to day task of a BBC brewer. Removing spent grain form the Mash Tun.

Beer Marketing Terms and What They Mean Part Three: Fire Brewed

2007-10-02T10:04:00.001-04:00

A famous marketing term used by Stroh's brewing in Detroit advertised "Fire-brewed" beer. But what does this mean? Fire brewed has to do with the type of heat source used in the brew kettle to boil wort (unfermented beer). Hence the name, "Fire-Brewed" means that there is a flame or gas burner underneath the kettle adding heat. In fact, Stroh's was the last large US brewery to have a direct fire brew kettle. This is a departure from the steam jacketing heat sources used in most brewing systems. Steam jacketing is a heating system that generates steam in a boiler and recirculates it through a piping system that transfers the heat from the steam to the contents of the kettle. Both systems have their advantages and disadvantages, not only in the effect on the beer brewed but with versatility and maintenance. We'll leave the design of the systems alone and focus on each heating system's effect on beer flavor.

The main difference between direct fire and steam jacketing is something called "boundary temperature" which is the temperature of the surface metal contacting the wort. Direct fire kettles generally have higher boundary temperatures than steam. The negative effect of high boundary temperatures is the increased production of precursors to esters. Esters are compounds that are recognized on your palate as fruity flavors, which are fine in some types of ales but not really in the lighter lager styles that Stroh's was producing. The advantage of the higher boundary temperatures produce by direct fired kettles, is increased caramelization. This carmelization produces a richer red color and sweeter flavor that would have been appropriate for the Stroh's style and would have differentiated their beer from their competitors at the time.

I confess I have never had a Stroh's, but BBC also has a direct fire system, so we sort of carry on the Fire-Brewed tradition

never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy

Beer Marketing Terms and What They Mean Part Two: Beechwood Aging

2007-09-25T15:22:00.001-04:00

Our friends at Anheuser-Busch have long told us that their flagship brand Budweiser is "beechwood aged." What exactly does that mean to us?

Well, they do use beechwood chips in their lagering process. The purpose is not to add any beechwood flavor, in fact they boil the chips before they add them to their aging tanks to remove any oils or resins that can impart flavors. The purpose of the chips is to increase surface area on the bottom of their tanks where the chips settle. Suspended yeast in the beer will then settle onto this arrangement of beechwood chips allowing more yeast cells to be in contact with the beer during aging.

What's the benefit of contact with these yeast cells? During active fermentation, yeast produces many flavor compounds. Some of these compounds are desirable in the final product, others are not. After active fermentation and when in the process of going dormant and preparing for their next batch to ferment, yeast cells will draw in those undesirable compounds, thus removing them from the finished beer as they are filtered out. A couple of these compounds we are concerned with are acetaldehyde (green apple flavor) and diacetyl (buttery and butterscotch flavor) the latter being most troublesome in lagers because of lower fermentation temperatures. So when you can increase the amount of contact between aging beer and the yeast, post-fermentation, by having yeast cells collect on all these beechwood chip surfaces instead of a single layer on the bottom of the tank you can speed up the diacetyl removal process, thereby shortening aging time and moving the beer to the consumer faster.

Next up is "fire brewed" the old Stroh's line.

never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy

Beer Marketing Terms and What They Mean Part One: Cold Filtration

2007-09-17T18:02:00.001-04:00

I recently saw a neon sign in a store window that read Cold-Filtered MGD. It got me thinking about cold -filtration and what it means. First of all, as far as I know all filtered beer is cold-filtered. I've never heard of anyone filtering a beer while it's warm and there is a reason for that, which I'll address after we examine why beer is filtered.

Beer is filtered to produce a more stable and bright (very clear) final product. The filter removes small particles such as yeast and proteins that can make beer appear hazy. Why we filter beer cold has to do with two compounds found in finished beer, proteins and phenols. These proteins and phenols will bind together in a protein-tannin complex when cooled to temperatures near freezing. This complex is heavy enough to precipitate out of beer on its own if left undisturbed long enough. But, in order to move beer more quickly from the cellar to the tap, these protein-tannin complexes can be filtered out. If beer were filtered warm these complexes are not formed and the two constituents separately can pass through the filter, only to bind together again when the beer is chilled, causing haze. When beer is cold-filtered the complexes are intact and have a large enough particle size to be trapped in the filter medium.

So while it is true that cold-filtration is a quality enhancing procedure, using it as a marketable attribute would be akin to running as ad campaign stating, "Our beer is brewed with water." Which would be true of course, but all beers are brewed that way.

never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy

Training Video: 04

2007-09-12T21:21:00.000-04:00

Remember plenty of exercise helps build thirst for a nice pint of BBC beer...

RIP Michael Jackson; King of Malt Pop

2007-09-03T10:08:00.000-04:00

Many beer industry people have commented now on the passing of the famed beer writer Michael Jackson, most have included their stories about the time they met him. The common theme seems to be that their hearts were all atwitter as they approached Mr. Jackson, hoping that they would recieve some sort of blessing. Stumbling through their words with dry mouths and sweaty palms they would say something along the lines of "Mr. Jackson sir, do you remember that time in 1987 when you dropped your coaster? I was one of the four dorks that pounced on it." All kidding aside, I can't think of a more revered man amongst serious beer people.

I am obligated to tell you of my meeting with Mr. Jackson. We were standing outside our hotel in Denver following the Great American Beer Festival last year, when an elderly, disheveled, hunched over man shuffled over to me and snapped, "Get me a cab." I promptly told him that the valet would be of more assistance in that request than I would be, so he shuffled off. As I seen him climb into the cab I said to those around me, "Hey, that was Michael Jackson." Not exactly a life changing religious experience for me, nor for him I'm sure.

I will give credit where credit is due, Michael Jackson helped create the craft beer culture in America, giving life to an industry in which I make my living. He was a fantastic writer and critic who could bring the heart and soul of the world's breweries and pubs to those of us half a world away, and we will certainly miss him for that. With all that said, I respect Michael Jackson the most for getting paid to travel around the world drinking good beer and whiskey. That is an amazing accomplishment in itself.

never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy

Don't Enable this Drunken Monkey

2007-08-24T16:45:00.000-04:00

This being Brew at the Zoo week, I had the perfect post for this blog. Then I went over to Roger Baylor's blog, The Potable Curmudgeon, and realized he beat me to it. For those of you who have not seen the "Bear eats man at zoo's beer fest" here is the link.

Bear eats drunk guy

But not to be totally scooped, I see your man eaten by bear and raise you one violent alcoholic monkey.

never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy

A Practical Guide to Drinking On the Job

2007-08-19T17:24:00.000-04:00

I'm sitting here in front of my laptop at work trying to think of something interesting to write about, and I'm drawing a blank. After giving you such ground-breaking , hard hitting, Pulitzer prize type posts, I know I can't just settle for linking some article about beer in history,sports or politics. So I decided that I needed some inspiration...some liquid inspiration, so without a second thought I walk 40 paces to the bar and pour me a tall, cold one. On the way I look over and see some poor shulb at the bar in his suit and tie looking longingly at my glass of malty goodness, whilst he sips at his diet coke. That's when it hits me, I'm one of the lucky people that can overtly, drink on the job. Now, I don't mean to wave this in the face of cubicle dwellers, on the contrary my purpose today is to help you experience the kind of freedom and satisfaction that can be gained by drinking on the job.

First let's talk about who can benefit the most from drinking on the job:

Doctors--I know what you're thinking, doctors have to remain alert and have each brain cell functioning at peak performance. Well I say hogwash, doctors had beer for breakfast and martinis for lunch years ago, it was said that the alcohol steadied the surgeon's hand. I have no scientific evidence that this is true, but it sounds good to me. I did find a Canadian researcher, Psychologist Catherine Ortner, who found that students who had been given alcoholic drinks showed better judgment than those on soft drinks. I must ask, don't we want our physicians to have better judgment? Only the falsely pious tea-totaller would argue against that.
Judges/Lawyers--Judges of course should drink for better judgment(see#1 doctors). Plus with those long, loose fitting robes, you can pretty much hide a keg under there. As for lawyers they definitely have to drink just to live with themselves
Law Enforcement--Odd hours, stress, the looming fear that each day could be the day you get bumped off by fleeing miscreants or punk drug-addicts. They deserve a beer! Besides they run little risk of being nabbed by the long arm of the law, since they are the law.
Service Industry Workers--Putting up with irate, overbearing, demanding, non-tipping jerks can be made more tolerable only by putting on the liquor induced happy face. Fortunately we don't have a single jerk come to BBC so it's not necessary here. But if you don't love the products you're selling, how can you be trusted?
Performers/Artists--Look at all the great artists, Van Gogh, Caravaggio, Rothko, you will find a bunch of drunken slackers Am I suggesting becoming a drunk will make you a great artist? Yes I am. At the very least, you will stop caring so much about becoming great. This goes for actors as well, all the greats were drunk, Orson Wells, Robert Downy Jr., Lindsey Lohan. I rest my case.
Clowns/Buskers--To deal with screeching children, pancake make-up and the annoying squeaking sound tying all those balloon animals, you had better be drinking something. And until we walk a mile in those size 47 clown shoes, who are we to judge?

These are just some examples of jobs where drinking during working hours should be not only allowed but embraced and encouraged. If I didn't mention the line of work you are in, don't worry, your job probably also qualifies, just ask yourself if you job fits any or all of the main criteria: 1) long or irregular hours 2) dealing with annoying people 3) some form of labor

Now we should probably talk about the rare exceptions, the professions that I will not approve of drinking on the job.

Pilots--Not really because they can crash and kill us, but because I just don't need the delay from some pilot late for the flight because he drank too many yards at the airport bar causing him to deplane for a potty break. For what it's worth I think flight attendants should be able to drink all they want.
School Bus Drivers--Why? Because I believe the children are our future, teach them well and ...yada, yada.
Barbers--A dude with scissors less than an inch from my head needs all his faculties about him. I know to most folks this doesn't jibe with doctors being able to drink, but you just don't understand how important my hair is to me. Without my thick, luxurious, wavy hair, I would be nothing. So Barber...No drink for you!
Politicians--How else can we git rid of Ted Kennedy?
Jugglers--This is a clarification for the clowns/buskers. If your act includes juggling sharp or flaming objects, then you cannot drink. We just don't want to see you fail. Same goes for lion tamers.

Now that we have established just who is eligible to drink at work, now let's establish some innovative ways to get it done.

The Coffee Cup--Come to work with a mug clearly labeled COFFEE. People will naturally assume that the contents are just that. Only you and I will know that it is really filled with hooch. Occasionally blow across the top pretending to cool it down, this enhances the effectiveness of the scam.
Sports Drink Bottle--A little more tricky than the coffee since most bottles are clear. You might want to add a mix of fruit juice and clear spirit, since beer and bourbon don't have a very "sporty" appearance. This is also good if you sweat a lot when you drink, people will probably think you just returned from your mid-day workout. Suckers
The Aftershave Cover-up--Drink whatever you want but wear so much Old Spice people start tearing up within 10 feet of you. Even the most rancid alcoholic beverage won't be able to be detected through your toxic cologne cloud.
The Loaded Fruit--No, I'm not talking about Cameron after he gets a few beers in him. I'm talking about injecting an orange or grapefruit with vodka. When you need a boost just eat the fruit. If some health nut sees you peeling and asks for a piece, just smell the fruit, proclaim that it has turned sour and throw it away. Then try suggestions 1-3.
Become the Irreplaceable Employee--This can be quite difficult to accomplish but if you can become too valuable to fire, you will be able to walk through the office completely loaded, with a bottle of Early Times hanging from your hip and no one will dare bother you. I don't know how you can get to this point but I'm sure pictures of your boss in compromising situations can help make this happen.

I hope this helps open up a whole new world for you drinkers who have a working problem.*

never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy

*I am not responsible for anything that happens if you take this seriously.

Don't Drink and Drive: You Can't Afford Either

2007-08-08T11:40:00.003-04:00

Recently there has been a number of articles written about the rising prices of beer, most of which has attributed to the increase to the rising prices of grain. In the past year the price of beer has increased 3% on the shelves and 3.8% at bars and restaurants. At the same time barley prices have risen by 17% to the highest level in 11 years, and malted barley, which is the main ingredient in beer, has risen by 9%.

One reason for the increased price of barley is that with the increased demand for fuel, not just in this country but worldwide, ethanol production has increased rapidly. Consequently, the demand for the corn used for ethanol production has risen sharply, thereby sending the price of corn soaring. The high corn prices cause farmers to plant more corn so as to take advantage of the higher price. What happens when more and more acres are devoted to growing corn? Less acres are available for other crops, hence barley production has fallen, shortening supply and driving the price up.

I began researching for this post ready to find that the increased ethanol production was responsible for the rising beer price. But then I realized that the increased cost of barley malt only adds about 5 cents to the cost to produce a barrel (31 gallons) of beer. Where the real cost increase is coming from is the rising price of fuel, and energy in general. The price of shipping malt to our brewery has increased much more than the price of a bag of barley malt. Add in other fuel costs that get passed down to the brewery and on to you the customer such as farm equipment, transporting grain to and from malting houses and the energy used during the brewing process itself. Let alone the costs of a packaging brewery, with increases in glass bottle, cardboard, carriers and distribution. You can make a better case that rising energy costs have a much more profound effect on beer prices than rising barley prices. The jury is still out on the feasibility of ethanol as an alternative energy source, but if energy costs can be brought down by the increased ethanol production, it would be more effective in lowering the cost of producing beer than if barley prices tumbled.

I did leave out the largest cost component of beer. Taxes. Both federal and state taxes make up almost half of what it costs us to produce beer. Unfortunately, it's more likely that gas prices will drop to a dime a gallon, or I'll start growing barley malt on my bald spot than the tax on beer will be reduced.

never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy

Dunking Dionysus: An Origin of Beer Gaming

2007-08-01T15:29:00.001-04:00

Recently I came across an interesting piece of information in Tom Standage's book A History of the World in 6 Glasses. Standage was writing about the Greek wine drinking party called a symposion. During these symposia, regarded as the pinnacle of social sophistication by their usually all-male aristocratic attendees, the Greeks played perhaps, the first drinking game. The name of the game was kottabos, which involved flicking the last remaining drops of wine from one's cup at a specific target. The target would vary but some flicked wine at another person, a disk -shaped bronze target (an example is on display at the Speed Art Museum) or even a cup floating in a bowl of water, with the aim of sinking it.

I can't help but think that this kottabos was the genesis of "Dunk the Duchess" a beer drinking game I played in my college years and which I'm sure someone may be playing right now. I'll quickly run down how Dunk the Duchess is played. To begin, players need two full pitchers of beer and one glass per person, plus one extra glass. Float the extra glass in one of the pitchers (Pilsner-style glasses work best). Players then fill their glasses from the second pitcher and take turns pouring beer into the floating glass. Each player is responsible for the glass for five seconds after he pours. After the five second count, the glass becomes the responsibility of the next player. Thus, the perfect pour is one that causes the glass to sink in six seconds, thereby screwing the next player before he has time to pour. The player who sends the glass to the bottom of the pitcher must retrieve it and relieve it of its new found contents.

Sure kottabos and Dunk the Duchess aren't exactly mirror images of each other, but they usually result in the same sort of post-gaming behavior. Going back to Standage's book, as more and more wine was drank, some symposia descended into orgies, and others into violence, as drinkers issued challenges to each other to demonstrate loyalty to their drinking group, or hetaireia. The symposion was sometimes followed by the komos, a from of ritual exhibitionism in which the members of the hetaireia would course through the streets in nocturnal revelry to emphasize the strength and unity of their group. The komos could be good natured but could also lead to violence or vandalism, depending on the state of the participants.

Compare that with our modern day drinking games. As more and more pitchers of beer are drank, the drinking group usually devolves into an all out quest for easy women, a challenge of whose going to pay for pizza delivery and what pranks to play on the poor sap delivering it. And our own version of the komos, streaking across campus and mailbox baseball.

As you can see we haven't deviated very far from the ancient Greeks.

never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy

Training Video 03

2007-08-01T11:33:00.000-04:00

Training Video: 02

2007-07-24T14:10:00.000-04:00

The second video in the series on how I became a brewer at BBC.
this time Jerry teaches me to build a resistance to hot water....

Cameron-
Never Trust a Sober Brewer....

Stick This Beer Up Your @#$, No Seriously, It's Good For You

2007-07-17T11:27:00.001-04:00

We all know that beer tastes good, some of us know that it's good for you, but I bet you didn't know about this story by John Roach in National Geographic News.

Anthropologist George Armelagos from Emory University found traces of the antibiotic tetracycline in ancient Nubian bones. The bones dated between A.D. 350 and 550 and were found in present day Sudan, south of Egypt along the Nile river. Today tetracycline is used to treat ailments ranging from acne flare-ups to urinary tract infections. But the antibiotic only came into commercial use around 50 years ago. So how did tetracycline get into the Nubian bones?

Armelagos looked at how the ancient Nubians used grain and come across a recipe for beer. Now this was not exactly BBC's Pale Ale or even Budweiser, it was more like a thick sour gruel. The Nubians stored their grain used to make this beer in mud bins. It was then most likely, contaminated with streptomycedes, a soil bacteria that produces tetracycline. The Nubians would drink the gruel and probably allowed their children to eat what grain was left at the bottom of the vat. Traces of tetracycline have been found in more than 90 percent of the bones Armelagos' team has examined, including those of 2 year old children. The Nubians would have consumed the beer because it was tastier than the grain itself, and then noticed that people fared better and felt better by drinking the beer rather than eating the grain.

Armelagos said that there is a whole series of Egyptian pharmacopoeias (medicine books) that percribe beer for certain ailments. The ancient Egyptians and Nubians used beer as a gum disease treatment, a dressing for wounds, and even an anal fumigant (a vaporborne pesticide to treat diseases of the anus.)

This is all very interesting, but we at Bluegrass Brewing Co. are not advocating beer colonics, nor are we liable for any mishaps that result from said procedure.

never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy

What Brewers Really Do

2007-07-16T01:03:00.000-04:00

Video Clip of a day to day task for BBC brewers

Never Trust a Sober Brewer...

Stoned Rastafarian Carpenters, Plowing with Wooden Cats

2007-07-11T11:35:00.002-04:00

Biology of a Hangover

I admit it. I have overindulged from time to time. There's nothing wrong with tying one on once in a while. As long as you don't drive home (or to an ex-girlfriends house). Cleaning out the pipes, with a bunch of drinks can be "therapeutic." But as we all know sooner or later you will pay the price with a hangover. Today I thought we would look at the biology of a hangover, so we can understand what is happening to our bodies when we have a few too many.

1) Vasopressin Inhibition
When alcohol enters the bloodstream it causes the pituitary gland to block the creation of vasopression (also known as ADH). This causes the kidneys to send water directly to the bladder, instead of reabsorbing it into the body. This diuretic effect causes your body to become dehydrated. Headaches result from this dehydration because the body's organs make up for their own water loss by stealing water from the brain, causing the brain to shrink, in turn pulling on connective membranes causing pain. Another result of the lack of vasopressin is the loss of salt and potassium in those frequent bathroom breaks. Alcohol also breaks down glycogen in the liver, converting it to glucose which is then flushed out into the urinal (our whiz sure does have some good stuff in it). Those compounds are necessary for proper nerve, and muscle function, meaning you probably aren't getting any better at pool or darts and if you try to pick up those girls at the bar you will probably end up tripping and spilling your drink on them.

2) Congeners
Distillers know about these: Congeners = flavor. But to us: Congeners = Pain. Congeners are byproducts of fermentation, yet they are treated as toxins in the body. Drinks with high levels of congeners (bourbon, tequila, red wine) take longer for the body to process out than those with fewer congeners (vodka, beer, white wine)

3) Acetaldehyde
Alright, stay with me here, this is just biology101, these are just compounds and enzymes breaking them down, so lets go. A product of alcohol metabolism called acetaldehyde is created in the liver by an enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase and is actually more toxic than alcohol itself. Acetaldehyde is then broken down by another enzyme, acetaldeyde dehydrogenase, and another substance called glutathione. Together these two break down the acetaldehyde into the non-toxic acetate. Unfortunately, the liver's stores of glutathione run out when larger amounts of alcohol enter the system, leaving more of the toxic acetaldehyde in the body for longer periods of time. Too much of this toxin can negatively affect brain function to the point where the only remaining brain functions will be those controlling heartbeat, respiration and possibly those responsible for craving pizza and sex. Basically you become Al Gore.

4) Glutamine Rebound
A large contributor to the fatigue felt with a hangover is that the drinker will not sleep as soundly as normal. This results from the body rebounding from alcohol's depressive effects. Alcohol inhibits glutamine, one of the body's natural stimulants. When we stop drinking, our bodies make up for lost time by producing more glutamine than needed. The increased glutamine level stimulates the brain during sleep, preventing us from reaching the deepest, most healing levels of slumbers.

Pretty thick stuff I know, but interesting none the less. I think I'll celebrate the hangover with a few beers.

Nine Foreign Terms for "Hangover"
1) katzenjammer -- German for "the wailing of cats"
2) stonato -- Italian for "out of tune"
3) la gueule de bois -- French for "wooden throat"
4) resaca -- Spanish for "surf of the sea"
5) jeg har tommermen -- Norwegian for "carpenters in my head"
6) hont i haret -- Swedish for "pain in the roots of my hair"
7) ire Rasta coco ganja -- Jamaican for "stoned Rastafarian trying to split my coconut"
8) so to gi ko-ho! -- Vietnamese for "water buffalo plowing inside my head"
9) byt v druhom stave -- Slovak for "to be in a second state"

never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy

Training Video 01

2007-07-09T14:02:00.000-04:00

Asked many times how I became a brewer at the BBC, this video series gives insight into the rigorous training methods of Head Brewer Gnagy.

Enjoy and never trust The Sober Brewer...

Beer, More American Than Mom and Apple Pie

2007-07-03T11:56:00.001-04:00

Beer has played an important part in American history, and especially during the 4th of July. Independence day wouldn't be complete to most Americans today without downing a few brews alongside a grill full of hot dogs and burgers. In fact brewing goes back to the beginning of the country.

Breweries were owned by some famous revolutionaries, not just Sam Adams, but Charles Sumner, Ethan Allen and Israel Putnum all owned breweries in the newly independent states. The most famous brewer was probably George Washington. Known for his love of Porter style beer, I'm sure he was in his backyard at Mt. Vernon, flipping burgers and knocking back a few on Independence day. Washington once recorded an early beer recipe, which has been preserved in the manuscripts collections of the New York Public Library. Washington wrote:

"To make Small Beer
Take a large Siffer [Sifter] full of Bran Hops to your Taste.--Boil these 3 hours then strain out 30 Gall[ons] into a cooler put in 3 Gall[ons] Molasses while the Beer is Scalding hot or rather draw the Melasses into the cooler & Strain the beer on it while boiling Hot. let this stand till it is little more than Blood warm then put in a quart of Yea[s]t if the Weather is very Cold cover it over with a Blank[it] & let Work in the Cooler 24 hours then put in the Cask--leave the bung open till it is almost don[e] Working.--Bottle it that day Week it was Brewed.

Beer even has it's moment during the first 4th of July celebrations in Colonial America. According to Stanley Baron in Brewed In America, Philadelphia had its first 4th of July procession, celebrating the ratification of the Constitution, and it turned out to be an "elaborate, lively affair." He wrote, "the brewers were ten in number, headed by Reuben Haines, with ten ears of barley in their hats, and fashes [fasces] of hop vines, carrying malt shovels and mashing oars,... a standard carried by Luke Morris, decorated with the brewers arms, and the motto, 'Home brew'd is best."

Because New York Delegates to their state constitutional convention in Poughkeepsie delayed so long in agreeing to ratify, the celebrations there were held up until July 28th. On that day, though, New York had a memorable parade which "exceeded all previous demonstrations in the country." One of the brewers' flags bore this message: "May he be choked with the grains, or drowned in hot ale whose business it is to brew mischief" There were twenty brewers and maltsters in all who took part in the procession. The motto of the brewers was "Ale, proper drink for Americans."

On this July 4th make sure you enjoy a couple of good beers. It's Patriotic.

never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy

Kiss Your Ash Goodbye

2007-06-27T11:05:00.002-04:00

The smoking ban takes effect in Louisville this coming week. Whether it is a good or bad idea, only time will tell. It will be hard to measure economic impact for businesses, because so many factors account for upturns or downturns in restaurant sales. So lets take a look at some brewpubs that have already banned smoking.

Cumberland Brews here in Louisville, banned smoking in their restaurant in January. It was the result of the employees voting for it. I talked to Matt Gould, the brewer at Cumberland. He said that there hasn't been any drop in business, and that there have been people who have came into Cumberland specifically because of the smoke-free policy. Matt did add that sometimes there are more people outside on the sidewalk, where patrons can smoke, than there are inside, which can be a little difficult to deal with. But overall it has been good for them.

Peter Egelston, president of Smuttynose Brewing Co. and Portsmouth Brewing in Portsmouth, NH, who voluntarily made his brewpubs smoke-free over four years ago, spoke out on smoking bans in The New Brewer. Egelston said, "People assume that because I made the brewpub smoke-free, that I support smoking bans. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am adamantly opposed to any form of legislated smoking ban in bars and restaurants. I don't see why the government should act as nanny in this regard any more than it should force us to eat our peas and carrots at dinnertime. The very people who promote legislated solutions to the problem of secondhand smoke will soon be turning their guns on those of us who make our living in the beverage alcohol business. Mark my words." Don Younger, owner of the Horse Brass Pub in Portland, Ore. said, "If a smoking ban is such a good idea, why do they have to pass a law? If it's so great for my business, why am I already not doing it? They're telling me I am stupid, and I don't know how to run my own pub." I would add here, that the exemption of Churchill Downs exposes our city leader's inconsistency. If there is no negative economic impact, then what's the purpose of the exemption?

Tyler Brady, manager at Bluegrass Brewing Co. used to work at a 4th Street Live restaurant that voluntarily went smoke free. He said they lost a significant amount of business following the decision. Tyler added that he thinks a ban is too restrictive and would rather let businesses decide for themselves. If Government wanted to push businesses in a smoke-free direction, he would rather they use incentives such as tax breaks or lower insurance premiums.

My opinion is that if smoking is so bad and causes so much disease and death, then ban smoking altogether. I can't understand the inconsistency of a government that with one hand takes the cigarette out of your mouth and with the other hand collects the taxes from their sale. Tax revenue is the only reason I can think of why they won't ban cigarettes. Hell, it should be our patriotic duty to buy cigarettes in order to properly fund our government's important projects *cough* paint the bridge*cough*. Scott Lilly, assistant Jefferson County attorney was quoted yesterday in the Courier-Journal, "economic loss doesn't trump a law intended to protect public health." He was talking about business's economic loss, perhaps we should apply this to our elected leaders. Tax revenue shouldn't trump public health. Ban cigarettes completely or leave people alone, it's this convoluted middle ground that upsets everyone.

never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy

Ale vs. Lagers; The Real Story

2007-06-22T12:21:00.000-04:00

Scene at Bluegrass Brewing Co. Bar:

BBC Patron: Excuse me bartender, do you have any Lagers on tap?

BBC Bartender: Yes, we have a Vienna style lager and a Schwarzbier.

BBC Patron: What's the Schwarbier?

BBC Bartender: It's literally "black beer" in German, sort of a cross between a Stout and a Pilsner.

BBC Patron: I thought all Lagers were light beers.

BBC Bartender: Well no, Lagers are bottom fermenting and Ales are top fermenting.

BBC Patron: (confused look) ... how about a Summer Wheat.

Stop right here, Is the customer right, are all Lagers light beers or is the bartender right, Lagers are bottom fermented and Ales are top fermented. The truth is they are both right...and both wrong.

I thought today we would dispel the half truth which is Ale vs. Lager and top fermenting vs. bottom fermenting. The aforementioned customer is right in a sense, most widely recognized lagers are light in color and body with delicate flavors. Examples are Harp, Pilsner Urquell, Spaten lager and all our macrobrew friends (Bud, Miller, Coors). So it's understandable that there would be a "Lager=light beer" misconception. But that would ignore the vast array of dark lagers brewed around the world. Examples are Bock, Dopplebocks and Dunkels, such as Einbecker Ur-bock, Paulaner's Salavator, and Mexico's Negro Medalo. The real difference between Ale yeast and Lager yeast is their species.

We as humans have a Classification Genus (Homo) and species (Sapien). Well yeast has a classification too. Lager yeast's Genus and Species is Saccharomyces Uvarum while Ale yeast is Saccharomyces Cerevisiae. Both may be used to ferment any kind of beer. No matter light or dark, high or low alcohol, malty or hoppy, Ale and Lager yeasts are interchangeable. Most of the time we can recognize which beers are Ales or Lagers by the flavor compounds each yeast produces during fermentation...but sometimes we can't. Some Lager strains fermented at higher temperatures can produce fruity and estery flavor compounds normally associated with Ale yeast and in turn some Ale yeast under certain conditions can produce the sulfury and clean flavors associated with Lagers. So how can we tell the difference? We'll get back to that after we examine the bottom fermented vs. top fermented line used by our BBC bartender.

While it is true that the normal behavior of Ale yeast is to form a head at the top of a fermenter and Lager yeast generally sediments to the bottom, there are some strains that remain almost completely in suspension. It never made sense to me that yeast would stick in one place during fermentation. The truth is, apart from the yeast head on Ales and the sediment in Lagers, yeast is present in about the same concentration throughout the fermenting beer. If we took samples from near the top, the middle and the bottom of fermenting beer and looked at those samples under a microscope, there should be about the same number of yeast cells in each, regardless of Ale or Lager strain. So what is the only absolutely certain way to tell the difference between Ales and Lagers? We have to look at what they eat(ferment).

Strains of Saccharomyces Uvarum (Lager yeast) will completely ferment raffinose, a minor sugar found in unfermented beer, SaccharomycesCerevisiae (Ale yeast) will not. In contrast Ale yeast can break the link between melibiose and fructose (more sugars) and can ferment the latter, however they cannot ferment melibiose. Aside from any mutations in yeast strains this is the only way to tell the difference. Now practically, we can't taste whether there is any raffinose or melibiose in our finished beer, so you will still have to take the brewer's word on whether a beer is an Ale or Lager. But I hope you appreciate my attempt to set these half truths straight, and to scratch the surface of some brewing science. Now back to our bar scene:

BBC Bartender: Lagers are bottom fermenting and Ales are top fermenting.

BBC Patron #1: (confused look) ... how about a Summer Wheat.

BBC Patron #2: Actually, the difference is that Lager yeast (Saccharomyces Uvarum) can completely ferment raffinose, while Ale yeast (Sacchormyces Cerevisiae) can break links between fructose and melibiose and ferment the fructose but not the melibiose. These characteristics are unique to each strain.

BBC Patron #1: Wow, that's interesting, thanks for the info...Hey, let me buy you a beer, what would you like to drink?

BBC Patron #2: I'd love a cask conditioned raspberry flavored Hefeweizen.

BBC Patron #1: Oh...how odd. They don't have that here.

Never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy

Bluegrass Brewing Co. ranked fifth largest brewpub in region, sixty-fifth nationally.

2007-06-13T15:54:00.001-04:00

The production numbers are in and Bluegrass Brewing Co. is the fifth largest brewpub in the south region, according to the Brewers Association. The south region includes brewpubs in the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North and South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. (Everything is bigger in Texas, except the brewpubs I guess.) Out of nearly 1,000 brewpubs nationally we came in at sixty-fifth. Who was the largest in the south region? It was our fellow Kentuckians at Hofbrauhaus in Newport, with a whopping 3,200 beer barrels, placing them at number thirteen in the nation.

We produced 1,690 barrels of beer in 2006. To give you an idea of how much that is, one barrel equals thirty-one gallons or two full size kegs, or roughly 420,000 twenty ounce pints. It's amazing how much you people drink! Probably only a thousand of those are mine.

A few other relevant number for you:
-Craft beer as a whole grew 12% this year. Macrobrew's declined by nearly 2%.
-Our production increased 11%, up from 1520 barrels in 2005
-Other area brewpubs:
Browning's 498 barrels, 543rd nationally; New Albanian 475 barrels, 553rd nationally; Cumberland Brews 365 barrels, 636th nationally(That's huge for Matt on a two barrel system)

I want to top 2,000 barrels for 2007 and I can't do it without your help so pretend I'm your financial advisor. Here is a plan that I want everyone to commit to:
10% to Church or charity
15% savings for retirement
15-25% to the Government in taxes, and
10 beers per week in your local brewpub (come on, that's less than 2 a day)
Now that's a plan that will keep everyone happy.

Never trust The Sober Brewer
Jerry Gnagy
Brewer

Welcome to The Sober Brewer

2007-06-11T15:05:00.000-04:00

You may be asking "Why another beer blog? Why here? Why me?" Well the short answer is, I HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY! Now whether anyone listens/reads, well that's a separate issue.

We, the brewers at Bluegrass Brewing Co. decided that we would like to start writing down some of our thoughts and sharing them with you. Hopefully this will have some positive effects including: 1. Letting you, our customers, potential customer, adversaries and passing strangers know a little bit about us, our interests, beer facts (or at least the facts as I see them) and stories about beer and brewing that interest me and in turn, hopefully interest you. 2. Provide us an outlet to get our story out, get something off our collective chest, and learn something from our own research and feedback from you.

Now with all that said, I want to offer this disclaimer. It has been about ten years since I took it upon myself to do any writing, so please excuse all run on sentences, excessive, comma, use, and poor 'punctuation,":. I thank you in advance for your understanding (something my business writing professor told us never to do. Oops.)

All good blogs must be updated regularly. The responsibility of updating this blog will fall on my shoulders. I have also received commitments (not legally binding unfortunately) for material from our most valued and longest tenured brewer's assistant Cameron Finnis. Cameron is also the only employee of BBC with a valid green card. Also contributing will be our newest member of the brewery staff Sam Cruz, who will update us on the soap opera which is BBC on Wednesday nights. Others who will post from time to time will be Kylee "Miss BBC" Marcy, James "Miss 4th St. BBC" Wise and anyone else we can con into doing our work for us. Hopefully we can even get a word or two from our infamous owner and GM, Pat Hagan. ("infamous" means more than famous right?)

And now with the introduction out of the way. I hope you will find your way back to read the next update. (probably by this weekend)

Remember, never trust The Sober Brewer

Jerry Gnagy

Head Brewer,

Bluegrass Brewing Co.