Bad News, Everyone
Monday, April 14, 2008 - 03:31 PM
One of my favorite places in Chicago, Goose Island (the Clybourn location) is closing at the end of the year. It seems they lost their lease.
It’s too bad. The Clybourn location is so much better than the Wrigleyville one (even if you don’t take into consideration having to deal with Wrigley Field being only a block away). I really hope they open a new location that’s on par with the current one at Clybourn. I just can’t see myself going to the Wrigleyville location all that often, particularly if it’s a “game day”.
What’s really ironic is that that whole area owes everything to Goose Island being there. I’m sure the area will thrive without Goose Island now, but G.I. used to be the only thing there. That area would not be what it is today if it wasn’t for Goose Island.
The article (more of a blurb really) doesn’t go into the details, but I hope it is something that can be resolved before the year’s end. (They’ve updated the article since I initially posted.) It looks like the issue is money. Hopefully the landlord (CRM Properties Group) will come to their senses and negotiate with Goose Island. (Or, like I said, they open up a new location. Hey, the Edgewater neighborhood is drastically lacking in brew-pubs!)
Sam Adams Recall
Tuesday, April 08, 2008 - 05:07 PM
In case you haven’t seen this elsewhere, I thought I’d shift into public service mode here and pass this info along.
Sam Adams is recalling some of their beer due to a potential hazard with the bottles. They’re erring on the side of caution with this (in other words, don’t freak out if you drink Sam Adams), but it doesn’t hurt to check.
Vanilla Porter
Thursday, March 20, 2008 - 08:05 AM
I decided to brew the Vanilla Porter again. That’s the third time for this one - that’s the most I’ve brewed a specific beer.
I had some issues though. First, I wanted to use the porter recipe that I came up with as the "base" for this, instead of the porter kit I’ve used in the past. But, when I had the chance to go to the homebrew store last week I didn’t have my recipe with me, so I ended up just getting the kit.
Second, I didn’t have any vanilla beans. I went to Trader Joe’s (where I’ve gotten them in the past) and they were out. Apparently TJ’s only carries them certain times of the year. That’s a problem. You see, TJ’s vanilla beans are 2 for $5. I went to Dominick’s and there they are $12 - for just one bean! Yikes! I decided to try vanilla extract instead (real vanilla extract, not imitation). A good part of homebrewing is experimenting, right?
We’ll see how it turns out.
American Ale and Guinness Clone
Sunday, February 03, 2008 - 07:17 PM
Well, this weekend I bottled an Amber Ale that I brewed a few weekends ago. This was just a Brewer’s Best kit - the American Ale (except I substituted liquid yeast for the dry yeast that comes in the kit). I tasted some during the bottling, and I have to say, this is a pretty damn good beer! Apart from not being carbonated, the beer already tastes “done”.
Before bottling I wasn’t too thrilled with this beer, just because I kept thinking that I should have done an original recipe instead of just falling back on a kit. After tasting it though, I’m really happy with it. I guess being “lazy” and just brewing a kit is better than not brewing at all!
Also, I racked my Guinness Clone to the secondary fermenter today. Not much to say about it, except I didn’t come close to getting maximum utilization from the yeast. That just means that it’ll be lower than expected alcohol content, and might taste a little sweet - which may actually be a good thing. (Imagine Guinness with just a touch of sweetness to it!)
I forgot to prep a wash for the yeast though, so I wasn’t able to harvest from this batch. I still have two bottles of yeast from the previous batch though, so I have enough to get through a couple more batches. I’ve yet to brew with yeast that I harvested from a previous batch, so we’ll see how it goes.
Coffee Stout
Sunday, January 27, 2008 - 11:44 AM
I thought I’d give a little update on the coffee stout that I mentioned previously. As I said, it really didn’t turn out the way I thought. Or, at least, that’s what I thought.
I decided to let it age in the bottle for a while before giving up on it. I tasted some this weekend, and it’s starting to taste pretty damn good! The flavors are starting to mellow and balance out. In particular, the coffee flavor isn’t as overly prominent as it was on first tasting. I’m actually surprised at how good it’s starting to taste. I think in another couple of weeks it will really be a top-notch beer.
Also, I managed to pick up a bottle of the Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout that the recipe was based off of, and what I ended up with really isn’t that far off from the original.
It just goes to show that, in brewing at least, sometimes patience really is a virtue. From my own experience, learning to be patient is one of the hardest parts of learning to brew. You’ve got this beer sitting there that you’re dying to try, and it’s really hard to wait until it’s properly aged before dipping in. To help make my point, a recent Basic Instructions dealt with the issue of patience pertaining to beer. (On a side note, beer really would be a good thing to study in science class, as the third panel suggests.)
On the other hand, it is good to taste along the way to learn how the aging affects the beer. I usually taste the beer during bottling to get an idea of where it’s at, then again after it’s been in the bottle for two weeks. This coffee stout has been a good learning experience for me in seeing how some beers get better with a little aging.