I truly appreciate all the time people have spent helping me out in various ways. I am very grateful to have met so many great people, and I will do my best to pay it forward as the journey continues. :)

So, thank you, everyone. (And keep drinking my beers!)

In order for me to seriously pursue opening a brewery, I need the education and experience. So, if everything goes according to plan, I will be taking this program in February 2011. Just a few months away, I will be working to save money for the time off I will be taking. Additionally, I hope to get an internship at a brewery after completing the program, for at least a few months.

This will all provide crucial preparation/knowledge for running the brewery. I can’t wait!

We decided to try our hand at brewing the much talked about “new style” Cascadian Dark Ale aka Black IPA. It’s similar to an IPA but (duh) darker in color due to the darker, roastier (I guess that’s not a real word) malts. If you want to read more about the style, go here.

Here’s the recipe with my hops selection:

http://hopville.com/recipe/311944/home-brew/cda-collabrewation

I will update once we have swapped and tasted all the variations!

Stadium Red Rye

I also call this one “Rubber Ring” red rye due to the rubber ring I found in one of the bags of grain… and because I’m a Smiths fan. :)

Rubber Ring

The recipe for the brew can be found here:

http://hopville.com/recipe/278568/american-amber-ale-recipes/stadium-red-rye—-rubber-ring-red-rye

For any interested homebrewers, the recipe can be found on Hopville at: http://hopville.com/recipe/253508/american-pale-ale-recipes/canasta

I gave it a try last week an was quite pleased with the results. A simple pale ale dry hopped with some Centennial hops for the final 7 days of fermentation. This was also my first experience using Wyeast Northwest Ale yeast. Pretty good clarity, excellent aroma, and the flavor was bitter yet refreshing!

Canasta Dry-Hopped APA

I also received some very nice feedback from them, as noted below:

“The results are in… We shared a twelver of this brew at tonight’s practice and all six of us agreed it was great! Not only was it a *god send* to have something frosty on-hand in our stiflingly hot rehearsal space, but the moment I took the first sip, I swear my first thought was, “Mmmm, dry and hoppy…” (forgetting, for a second, just how … accurately the beer had been named). We were all pretty blown away.

I gotta say… Practicing in our sauna-of-a-rehearsal-space twice a week for three hours at a time can get to be a real drag. But then suddenly, someone comes along, brews us a batch of super tasty beer and even goes so far as to name it after us… And then just like that, being in a rock band once again seems like the greatest thing in the whole world.”

Needless to say, I was very flattered and am glad they enjoyed the beer. Hopefully when I open Robey Street, I will be able to offer the Canasta beer as a seasonal brew! :)

This beer is named KRK after an acquaintance of mine who passed away on April 10. I only met him once, when I was working for a trading firm (he was a trader on the CBOE), but we stayed in touch via Facebook and had a few discussions about beer.

The special thing about John, however, was not his interest in beer, but his amazing willpower in his fight with cancer. He was fighting cancer for many years (the first time was over 10 years ago) and had a relapse over the past few months. He also helped a lot of people who were also fighting cancer, through his charity, Chicago Fight Club.

When I have my brewery, I will be donating proceeds from the sale of this beer to the Chicago Fight Club (or the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society).

The recipe for the beer can be found here:

http://hopville.com/recipe/205323/extra-special-strong-bitter-english-pale-ale-recipes/krk

This beer may very well be my best beer yet. I absolutely loved the hoppy aroma and the very unique hop bitterness imparted by the Riwaka hops. If I could describe the flavor better, I would, but it’s citrusy and different than the typical hop-citrus flavor. That’s all I can say. :)

The recipe can be found here:

http://hopville.com/recipe/174968/american-wheat-or-rye-beer-recipes/batch-008

Overall, I was quite pleased with the way this one came out, but it could have used a bit more hop aroma. The rye adds a bit of spiciness (peppery?) which I like, and the wheat adds a softness. I’ve received quite a bit of positive feedback on this one.

I was in Paris for 7 days, Amsterdam for 3 days, and Belgium for 2.5 days. A big shout-out and thank you to my AWESOME parents who invited me on the Paris trip, which of course led to me tacking on the Amsterdam and Belgium trips. I’m so grateful to have such great parents. :)

So, here’s a breakdown of my beer-related activities.

PARIS

In Paris, I went to two very cool places, thanks to recommendations from some beer friends. The first place I went to was Au Trappiste, a Belgian beer bar. Nice place, with a great selection of beer. I only stopped in for a quick beer, but was impressed with the selection.

Au Trappiste

I enjoyed a Duchesse de Bourgogne…

Duchesse de Bourgogne

Later that same evening, I went a bit off the beaten path (for a tourist!) to the highly recommended Academie de la Biere. It was a lovely restaurant with tons of great beers and delicious French/Belgian food.

Academie de la Biere

I enjoyed a Maredsous Dubbel with my onion tart dinner…

And a St. Louis Gueuze with my apple crumble dessert.

As for the rest of my Paris trip, there wasn’t a whole lot of beer involved, obviously. I did try a funny mainstream beer, however. Desperados, a lager flavored with tequila. :)

AMSTERDAM

Started things off right in Amsterdam with a trip to Café Belgique, a wonderful Belgian beer bar that I had visited back in September of 2009, as well. There I had La Trappe.

Next up was a stop at the infamous Gollem beer bar. That place was mindblowingly cool. Tons and tons of beers, knowledgeable beer staff… I was with friends who aren’t as into beer as I am, so I’m sure I bored them with all the beer talk, but it was a great time! I tried a Mort Subite Gueuze. I would have stayed for a few more, but unfortunately it was quite late and we had to make our way back to the hotel.

Taking Beer Notes at Gollem

My friends also took me past Beer Temple, “Europe’s First American Beer Bar”, boasting brews from over 20 American craft breweries. While we didn’t go inside, I did check out their offerings through the front window — not a bad selection of some great American craft brews! It was very cool to see some good American beer being sold overseas.

Beer Temple, American Beer Bar, Amsterdam

The next day, I got to check out Brouwerij’IJ, a brewery located in the only remaining windmill in the city of Amsterdam. I didn’t get a chance to go here on my last trip to Amsterdam, so I was very excited to try the beer. I had their “Columbus” and my friends tried two other brews. I thought the Columbus had a great aroma, but the flavor was, oddly, similar to the other two beers we ordered. I don’t know what the deal was, but that was a bit disappointing. I have heard great things about the Columbus from others who have been there, so maybe it was just an off batch. I will definitely be back to try it again in the near future. :)

Drinking Columbus at Brouwerij't IJ, Amsterdam

For the rest of my Amsterdam, I tried to get new and interesting beers when we were out and about. I’m working on creating a photo album with notes about each of the new beers I tried, so stay tuned for that.

Also…

Before I left Chicago, I had packed up 6 bottles of Robey Street homebrew to bring to my friends in Amsterdam. On my second day there, they invited me to their friend’s birthday party. I took this opportunity to bring 2 bottles of my beer to the party, where approximately 10 people sampled them. They tried some Batch #008 Wheat & Rye as well as my MLK & Cookie Stout. Overall, they both went over quite well. Depending on people’s preferences, some liked the wheat/rye, while others preferred the stout.I also got to meet a Dutch homebrewer who happened to be at the party, so of course I was ecstatic to talk to someone equally excited about beer and brewing!

ANTWERP

After my 3 days in Amsterdam, it was off to Belgium for a couple days. Before my trip, I had scheduled a tour of the De Koninck brewery, since I knew I’d be spending the day in Antwerp. As Antwerp’s only brewery, I was very excited to see it. The plant manager, Dennis, gave me a great tour of the brewery, which as been around since 1833. Interestingly, they made a serious upgrade of equipment (and technology) but maintained the old brewery & equipment for tours. It was great to see the changes in brewing technology over the years.

De Koninck Brewery, Antwerp, Belgium

A bolleke of De Koninck

Dennis was really cool and gave me several samples of their beers (De Koninck/bolleke, Blond, a bottle conditioned Trippel, and Winterkoninck), as well as a few to take back home to Chicago! I enjoyed all the beers I tried, but the Winterkoninck stood out in particular. Very well balanced.

Since I only had a day in Antwerp, my beer “sight seeing” was rather limited, but I did find an awesome restaurant called Het Elfte Gebod (The Eleventh Commandment) that was completely COVERED in religious statues, etc. I had a typical Flemish beef stew, frites, and a raspberry tart for dinner. Beers included a St. Bernardous Watou Tripel and a Mort Subite Kriek.

Het Elfde Gebod, Antwerp

Het Elfte Gebod, Antwerp

If you go to Antwerp, make sure to check this place out!

BRUGES

The following day, I set off by train for Bruges.

When I arrived, the hotel receptionist mentioned there was a brewery just a few minutes walk from the hotel. Naturally, that was where I went first. I went on a tour of the De Halve Maan (translation: Half Moon) brewery, makers of the World Beer Cup winning (2006 and 2008) Bruges Zot. They had a lovely restaurant and outdoor terrace, and most conveniently, tours on the hour. I had a Zot with some beer cheese soup before the tour.

De Halve Maan Brewery, Bruges, Belgium

Other than the brewery tour, I didn’t do many beer-related activities, but I did have dinner at the very wonderful Cambrinus. They had over 400 types of beer, which was very impressive. I drank a Belgoo Magus with my dinner.

Begloo Magus, Cambrinus, Bruges, Belgium

When I was in Antwerp, Dennis at De Koninck had recommended me to check out Den Dyver for dinner when I got to Bruges. Den Dyver is an upscale restaurant featuring dishes cooked with and paired with various types of beer. Unfortunately, the restaurant was closed on the day I was there, but I will most DEFINITELY be going back to check it out.

Restaurant Den Dyver, Bruges, Belgium

I believe that pretty much wraps up my beer-related activities during my vacation. I think this post is getting too long to go into any more details, but as I mentioned above, I will be creating an annotated photo album of the beers I tried over the trip.

1. Bourbon McElroy Imperial Stout (Flossmoor Station)
2. Joppy Joppy Joy Joy Jalapeno IPA (Flossmoor Station)
3. Oaky Rose Flemish Brown (Goose Island)
4. SupercalifragilisticCITRAalidocious (Goose Island)
5. Traditional Honker’s Ale (Goose Island)
6. A belgian blonde named Citrus (Goose Island Clybourn)
7. Coffee-infused Schwarzbier (Gordon Biersch Bolingbrook)
8. Ginger Twin India Red Ale (Half Acre)
9. Bighead APA (Mickey Finn’s Liberyville)
10. Hopsickle XXXIPA (Moylan’s Brewery)
11. Coffee Oatmeal Stout (Rock Bottom Chicago)
12. Argus’ India Brown Ale (Rock Bottom Lombard)
13. Imperial Stout (Rock Bottom Orland Park)
14. King of Hearts Imperial Red (Rock Bottom Warrenville)
15. Darkness (Surly)
16. Tea Bagged Furious (Surly)
17. Resistance IPA (Two Brothers)

Vienna Hot Dog

A VIENNA Lager fermented w/ sport peppers. GET IT?

Although Hot Dog beer doesn’t sound too tasty, so I have to rethink the name. . .

• 8 lb Vienna Malt
• 1 lb German Dark Crystal
• 1 lb Caramunich II

• 1 oz Hallertauer pellets @ 60 min
• 0.5 oz Hallertauer pellets @ 40 min

• Wyeast 2206 GF Bavarian Lager Yeast

Fermentation: SPORT PEPPERS (amount as of yet undecided)