CCHBS News for April 2003
- April Recipe Specials
- Hop Rhizomes Have Arrived!
- Sure Screens in Stock
- Yeast Starters Made Easy
- Homebrewing Vol. 1 Back in Stock
- Book spotlight - How to Brew by John Palmer
April Recipe Specials
June’s Pacific Gravity style of the month is actually a group of styles: Light Ales. This category includes Blond Ale, Cream Ale and American Wheat beer. Since there are 3 possibilities, we have 3 April Specials, including 2 new recipes: Venice Cream Ale, Bikini Beach Blonde Ale and Kalifornia Kolsch. All three are on sale for $22.00.
This is actually a small change from the June list but since we'll be having wheat beers on special all summer, we decided to introduce a new recipe: Kalifornia Kolsch. Technically, it's a Kolsch-style ale, since Kolsch can only be made within the city of Cologne, Germany. Whatever you call it, this style are light in color with a nice balance between malt and hops.
Our second new recipe is Bikini Beach Blond Ale. This style is another great beer for summer sipping: light in color but full-bodied enough to fill out... well, you get the idea.
Finally, there's an old favorite: Venice Cream Ale. The Cream Ale style is a cross between ales and lagers. We normally recommend a California/American Ale yeast for this, but if you have a place to ferment this at low temperatures, try it with the San Francisco Lager yeast.
Hop Rhizomes Have Arrived!
If you're thinking about starting (or enlarging) a hop garden, it's planting time. To make it easier for you, we've got the following rhizomes in stock: Mt. Hood, Cascade and Nugget, all for $3.95 each.
Sure Screens in Stock
What's a Sure Screen? It's a stainless steel screen that's the perfect length to slip over the end of a corny keg dip tube. I've you've ever considered dry-hopping in the keg, or adding oak chips to reproduce the legendary Ballentine's IPA, you need one of these. Watch for an example of an Amber Ale that we dry-hopped in the keg at April's Pacific Gravity club meeting.
Yeast Starters Made Easy
If you've been wondering whether you should make a yeast starter before brewing, it just got easier for you. We've pre-packaged the correct amount of DME and yeast nutrient for only $.75, including instructions! Plus, we've got 1/2 gallon jugs for another $3.95.
Homebrewing, Vol.1 Back in Stock
There are 3 homebrewing books I regard as indispensible out of the nearly 40 in my library. This is one of them. There's simply no better reference for the extract brewer and it's got enough information to keep you going back to it as you progress. On a personal note I used a recipe straight out of this book to win my first ribbon in competition and can only hope that Al Korzonas publishes vol. 2 one day.
Book Spotlight - How to Brew by John Palmer
This is the book that I refer to most often today. If you're looking for one book that will take you from extract brewing through all-grain, this is that book! And it doesn't stop there - I've found no better source for accurately calculating water additions for step mashes. If you're interested in water adjustments, it shows how to read your local water report (using the L.A. report!) and how to calculate what to add to your water for the style you're brewing. Also, if you want to try before you buy, John has a website with the entire text of the first edition online at www.howtobrew.com but once you see it, you'll want to buy the book to get the final version.