Tarantula

Sorry this post is totally unrelated to beer or homebrewing, but I just had to share.  I was taking a keg out of my garage to put outside for cleaning yesterday evening, and found this guy (or girl - I'm not sure which) by my side door.  Needless to say my heart skipped a few beats and I think I may have actually screamed like a little girl.  That is to say if little girls scream "Holy Sh*t!".  I guess these are fairly common in the hills and wilderness around here, but this is the first I've ever seen one. 

Maybe it was after my beer.  I'll have to name a homebrew after it.  Will be releasing it later today out in the hills where my running trail is.

Homebrewing: It's in My Latvian Blood

I was recently leafing through some of the memoirs written by my grandfather, who was from Latvia. Though most of the memoirs are in Latvian and have yet to be translated, there was a particularly interesting passage describing his obligatory entry into Latvian military in 1928.  He had been selected for the main headquarters company in Riga, which was tasked with guarding the Presidential palace, Ministry of Defense, and Parliament.  He describes his first day as a soldier:

"We repeated the oath being read by the company clerk.  We signed the oath with our right hand while holding a rifle in the left.  Thus, we became full-fledged soldiers in the Latvian army who would be responsible for order and freedom of Latvia, and give our lives to protect it. Then we paraded in front of the officers.  After that we were given a feast:  soup, roast, vegetable, rice pudding with cranberry sauce, and a bottle of beer.  That was my first bottle of beer that I had tasted.  Up to then I had only had home brewed beer."

My father had told me that typically, at least in the farming communities where my family was from, beer was brewed by the women of the household as part of the regular cooking and household duties.  In addition to brewing for the household, it was especially important for the many different festivals such as the St. John's day celebrations.  All the different households would bring their home brewed beers.  So there was much variety, both from household to household, but also by region as well.

I've always thought about trying to brew a Latvian style of beer but don't speak Latvian, and haven't been able to find an authentic looking recipe. (Most I have seen are from Estonia or Lithuania)  From what I have seen, I imagine the beers were probably wheat based, bittered with whatever flowers or herbs were native to the area.  Would appreciate any information, if anyone happens to know of styles or recipes representative of the type of farmhouse beer that would have been brewed in the late 1800's and early 1900's in Latvia.

Uz veselību!

Drink With The Wench

I'm real happy to be a featured blogger today on Drink With The Wench.  In case you don't follow her blog or on twitter, you should.  She has a huge knowledge of beer as well as a huge network of friends in the beer world.  And she's funny too!!  Check her out also on Twitter @TheBeerWench

Valentine's Day

Here is the dessert I made for my wife for Valentine's Day:  Dark Chocolate Pasta with raspberries and fresh whipped cream.  The only thing missing was the Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence which I drank during the Superbowl.

My New Kegerator

Last week I finally put the homemade kegerator together just in time for poker night.  I already had the fridge in the garage from my bachelor days.  I won't go into detail about how to do it step-by-step, but here's a good tutorial by blogger bsbrewing. 

A couple months ago I started kegging with 5 gallon cornelius kegs bought on ebay.  For dispensing, I use a 5lb aluminum CO2 tank with dual regulators.  Up to now I had been using the picnic taps, which worked fine, but they dripped a bit in the fridge after every pour.  So I decided it was about time to step up to some real faucets. 

My setup includes two Perlick stainless forward seal faucets, with 5 1/8 inch stainless shanks.  I really didn't need shanks that long, but figured if I ever use the faucets anywhere else, I'll be set.  Then last week I happened to be up in Northern California, so I picked up a couple Sierra Nevada tap handles. (Pale and Porter) I got the short ones so there is enough clearance for the freezer door and the taps can close all the way.  Here's the photos of my rig:

I have a very understanding wife!!!

 

What's wrong with this picture?  

One dry line.  I better get brewing!!!

My new Sierra taps, with my labels 

above to know what's really pouring.

"Brewing Alchemy"

Had to post his photo of  this awesome painting my mom just finished of the kettles at Sierra Nevada Brewery in Chico.  She had the pleasure visiting the brewery with some other artists recently to sketch and paint various areas inside the brewery and grounds.  Check out some of my mom's other work at Sierra Sky Gallery.  Thanks!
  
UPDATE:  Ken Grossman, founder of Sierra Nevada bought the painting!!  Congratulations Mom, and many thanks to Ken.  I'm not sure if the painting will be on display at the brewery or his residence.

Thoughts on Beer This week...

Was just thinking what an incredible week for beer this is. The Great American Beer Festival is kicking off, Oktoberfest is in full swing, and tomorrow is the 250th Anniversary of Guinness signing the lease on the St. James Gate Brewery. Sadly I am not at any of those events!!

But that's ok, I bought a couple bottles of Sierra Nevada's Estate Harvest 2009 and am enjoying that this evening while reading and living vicariously through all those at GABF and Oktoberfest who are tweeting and blogging about the fun.

By the way, I highly recommend the Sierra Nevada Estate Harvest. They brew with hops and barley grown on site at the brewery in Chico. This beer actually tastes like it was just harvested. Something about it just tastes so fresh and clean. Makes me excited to hopefully have enough homegrown hops next year to use in my own brew.

Dogfish Head Chicha

Dogfish Head Brewery is known for creating ancient beers based on cultural traditions or archeological finds.  They have just announced their newest brew which is Chicha.  Chicha is a South American, mainly Peruvian brew that is mostly made from corn.

Check out Dogfish Head's video about the Chicha - it's very cool.  The thing I find most interesting as a homebrewer is that we get so caught up in things like PH measurements, gravity, color, and other details.  And here we have native Peruvians brewing in their traditional way to make Chicha - they chew the corn in their mouths prior to the boil instead of germination!! It just reminds me that as a homebrewer I need to remember that you can make great beer by experimenting with different techniques and ingredients.

It's too bad the Dogfish Head Chicha is only available at the pub, I would love to be able to try some but don't think I'll be getting out to Delaware any time soon.

Tweet!! Tweet!!!

Let's see how this works. I have been very hesitant as I have little time as it is to update my blog as often as I would like. But I went ahead and joined Twitter. So please follow me on Twitter, and whenever I update the Blog, I will send out a Tweet. Click on the link at the top of my blog or just go here: http://twitter.com/karlisbeer and start following my posts. Thanks for your support!!