Beer stuff!
I wanted to make Jaime Paglia an oatmeal stout, because that’s his favorite. When I went to the shop to get supplies, though, Greg (who owns it) told me that you really have to do a partial mash or all-grain to get it just right. I’m not quite ready for that, yet, so I went with my backup plan, and made a Southern English Brown Ale (this is a brown ale style that’s smoother and sweeter than the northern style, and not as hoppy as the American style). It went off without a hitch, and it looked and smelled wonderful when I put it into the bucket to start fermenting. I’m really excited to see how it turns out.
I also have an IPA that’s dry-hopping with an ounce of Cascade in the carboy. I checked the gravity on Friday, and if I did the math right, it’s about 7%, which is exactly what I was going for … and holy balls does it smell and taste great. It’s got exactly the right amount of floral and citrus notes, with some hop bitterness behind it all, and it hasn’t even conditioned in bottles, yet! I’m seriously considering entering it into a competition, so I can get some good feedback on it and find out if it’s as good as I think it is. For those of you wondering, it’s called Critical Hit IPA.
Speaking of beer, the most frequently asked question at DragonCon and PAX was some variation of “How’s the beer you made with Ryan?” Oh, you mean … this beer?
In a word: awesome. It exceeded our wildest expectations, especially considering that I think I made some mistakes in the brewing process. There was an amusing moment last week when I opened a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (the beer it’s based on) and after a few sips I thought, “It’s okay, but it’s no Wheaton’s Own Going To California!” Here’s the label that Joel Watson did for us. It was my idea to base it on the Sierra Nevada label and Ryan’s idea to include something from each of us (a d20 for me, an atom for him). I know we left Yeast off the ingredients list, but we decided that yeast could be awesome in this case.
For those of you scoring at home, Wheaton’s Own was suggested by Grant Imahara. We almost went with his revised name, Wheaton’s Pwn, but I can’t remember why we didn’t. It’s called Goin’ To California Pale Ale because we listened to Zeppelin IV while we brewed it, and it’s a California-style Pale Ale. It’s very low alcohol — I don’t think it’s even 5% — but it looks and tastes great, and that’s most important to me.
We did a 5 gallon batch, and split the bottles, so we each got around 22 for ourselves. As of this morning, I’m down to 8 bottles, so I’m rationing until the IPA is ready.
I’ve officially found a hobby that I love, and will do for the rest of my life. I’m excited to get a kegging system, learn to do all-grain, and start designing my own beers. I’ve even reached into the stars and plucked out a new dream: to own a brewpub someday. When I told Anne that, she said that she thought it would be awesome to do that, but I’d left something out.
“What’s that?” I said.
“You need to combine it with your dream of owning an 80s arcade. Think about that: it’s a brewpub where you make your own beer, serve a little food, and have the 80s arcade games you love for people to play.”
Does my wife know me, or what?
Wil,
If you’re interested in learning more things about brewing, I highly suggest you find your local chapter of the SCA. Brewing is a huge hobby in a lot of SCA groups (for reasons which I hope are intuitively obvious 😉 ), and even if nobody in your local group brews, I’m sure somebody in the general area does. Expand your horizons! Try wines, cordials, meads, the whole nine yards!
Catch me on G+ (https://plus.google.com/114361525816947129937) if you want more information.
I am loving the names. Critical Hit? Yes. Yes, indeed.
I’ve actually been enjoying following the discovery of this hobby for you. My dad tried his hand at homebrewing waaaaay back in the mid-80s when we lived in Ohio. I assume they turned out well as he did drink and share them with friends.
My “other brother” owns a pub up in Santa Margarita where he brews five of his own including an Oatmeal Stout and an IPA.. although the Scottish Heavy is my favorite. My sister and I even came up with a Scotty Heavy Turkey that we make for Thanksgiving and Christmas now and the gravy is an elixir of the gods. If you’re ever in the central coast, seek out Dunbar’s Brewing.
Down in SoCal we went to a place called the Bruery in Placentia, they basically started out much the same way you are. Try to get over there, it’s definitely worth it.
Wil,
I think Anne’s onto something. I would even travel to hit up such a brewpub! My husband and I have found that brewing is really some kind of fun!
We’ve made 11 batches of beer in a year: brown and red ales, IPA’s, mead, cyser, cider, and are starting to create our own recipes. Jeff’s made us a keggerator with three taps that fits two kegs. Mmm, tasty beer.
I agree with Trevor above that you should check out SCA brewers, but also think about entering your beer in county (and eventually state) fairs. A great place to get feedback and build your rep!
Cheers!
Build it and I will come.
Give me a few years to amass my fortune and I’ll help you build it.
Wil:
I’m a non-hardcore homebrewer (*cough*, Mr. Beer, *cough*) and understand completely the appeal. I absolutely love the idea of the 80s arcade slash brewpub. I love it so much, I would be first in line to donate my 70s/80s vintage two channel all Bang & Olufsen stereo to the venture:
Beovox M70 loudspeakers
Beomaster 4000 receiver
Beogram 4002 turntable
Beogram CD X compact disc player
Beocord 2400 cassette deck
Cheers, and keep up the great work.
I think you should consider “Fawkes’ Epicurean Ale” for a future brew at Wheaton’s Pub. It has a nice ring to it. And if you’re serving food I humbly suggest that “moonpies” be on the dessert menu.
I would totally go to Wheaton’s Radical Brewcade (you can have the name) and drop quarters into Mickey Thompson’s Grand Prix for hours on end!
Dude, I’ve had the same idea circling my brain for months!
Microbrewery + 80’s arcade games = Brent’s Barcade
It’s really cool that you’re into home brewing. Totally addicting way of life. You start with a few insulated coolers and plastic buckets and before you know it, you have a garage full of carboys and the neighborhood kids are debating whether or not you’re a mad scientist. 🙂
ZOMG!! If you were to open an 80’s style arcade/brewpub with awesome beer…i would pack up and move from NY to California to be a regular there. Seriously! You could call me Norm!
I’m not even a beer drinker and I found this incredibly awesome (love that label!). 🙂
If you ever decide to delve into making distilled spirits, please make one called “Desert Dresci”. ^_^
Bwahahaha!
Yes, this is going to happen. Fawkes demands it!
I would absolutely patronize a 80s-arcade/microbrew pub.
I would patronize it TWICE.
(a day)
…yeah, but is it organic awesome?
I just came here from John Scalzi’s blog and he is auctioning off a special edition of Redhisrts for charity. Have you considered auctioning off some of your beer for charity? I know a lot of us would be keen to partake 🙂
Just a thought and glad it turned out!
This is most excellent. Personally, I’ve never tried making my own beer, but I have many hop aficionados who have gallons brewing in their tubs or their darkest of closets. One of my friends attempted making some mead and learned quickly that mead isn’t….well…quick. It took two months for it to register 3% alcohol level.
I find it remarkably cool how beers are named. In your case, Led Zeppelin inspiration. In my case, a brew mistress brought kegs of her beer to a festival and one was a KICK ASS dark oatmeal stout. Being a dark brew lady myself, it quickly became my preferred keg and everyone else could suck on the Coors Light (wussies!). 😉 Yet as night fell and the festival fire grew, we had to come up with some way to discern when keg propped against the trees was the oatmeal stout. We were all out of glow sticks! So a friend of mine and I made a declaration and hence, “Second From The Left” was born. Brew Mistress loved the name. So when it was the first keg to go dry, she made another batch and christened it “Second From The Left”. Aaaaah.
If you open your own brewpub with an ’80s arcade, I’ll try to find a reason to come to Cali. I haven’t been there since I was 13 in ’82, so I’m due anyway.
If you haven’t already done so, don’t forget to get a stout for yourself going so it’ll be ready for the cool months coming up.
Kegging is easy and saves a lot of time, I haven’t bottled in 12 years. But, I still have some fond memories of bottling with my college buddies – its is a good bonding time. If you buy a used refrigerator to put the kegs in, look for a deep one with a flat floor (some slant up at the back. You can fit 5 kegs in one like that and drill holes in the door to mount the taps. You can run your CO2 line into the fridge to keep the kegs under pressure (be careful where you drill the hole for this if it is not in the door, some fridges have coolant lines in the sides).
If you build it, we will come.
Been brewing with my kids for a couple of years & we have had a couple of failures and a ton of really good beers – we love even the failures.
My oldest recently started partial mash brewing & as much as I think it is a lot of extra messing around, it does produce a better beer. All grain involves a lot more equipment than we want to get into.
I really love Belgian Beers – ales & wits but it hard to get good ones here. Partial mash makes some very good ones. We brewed a Dunklewisse, in bottle now, that is simple one of the best beers I have ever had – dark chocolate notes, spices and that “fat” felling that the best wheats & Belgians have.
Good luck to you guys & it would be great if you do decide to go commercial to hear your experiences.
So you go Second From The Left and straight on until morning, then?
Not really, no. That's a huge corporation trying to do something the corporate way. If I did this, it would be realizing a dream.
I am a Culinary Student *Only one more Semester to go!* And I would GLADLY run the food side of your 80’s arcade and brew pub idea! *I grew up in Alaska and my favorite place to eat was Bears Tooth which IS a brew pub* So yeah…if you need a Chef I’m your gal!!! I can cook a MEAN meal with beer *one of my favorite things to use in foods*
I’ve been following your awesome escapades in homebrewing and it sounds like a great time. I haven’t seen it posted anywhere, but can you tell us approximately what it cost for materials and such? The missus and I have been thinking about it, but not sure if its an affordable hobby for us to try out.
As for the arcadey brewpub, that would be the awesomest slice of awesome ever awesomed. I think your fan community/followers/cult would do anything possible to make it a reality.
My startup costs were about $230. Each batch I make costs me between $25 and $50 in materials, depending on a few random factors.
HOWEVER! You can get started for a little as $60 if you get a one gallon kit from Brooklyn Brew Shop. I'm not sure what the other online suppliers offer, but that's what I got my brother for his first batch, and he loved it.
Something completely different: Eureka.
At the end of last week’s episode Dr. Parrish says to Dr. Marten and Fargo, “I weep for Titan.” before he storms off. In the “previously on Eureka” bit in last night’s episode, he says “My condolences to Titan.”
I gather those were two different takes and some continuity person didn’t pay attention? 😉
YES!!
I improvised "weep" and it went into the first version, and they used an alternate version for the promo. Good catch!
Wil, there’s a kick ASS video game bar lounge arcade thing in Vegas called Insert Coin(s). http://www.insertcoinslv.com . It’s right on Fremont St. So first you need to come to Vegas and check it out, then you need to build your arcade bar like Insert Coins.
40-ish classic standup arcade games including the real old school ones like Donkey Kong, a bar where their TVs are hooked up to game consoles rather than showing sports, and private booths with bottle service that have two large TV screens each, connected to multiple consoles.
It’s an awesome place but maybe a little too “clubby” for my tastes what with the dance floor and the DJ; I bet you could do it better.
Oh, damn, now I has a sad. I was just in Vegas and did not know about this place.
Le sigh.
Don’t forget to check your local Craigslist listings for folks selling off gear… some are getting out of the hobby, a lot of them are just upgrading. You can get secondhand stuff for a fraction of the cost of new. Hell, I started with one each 6.5 GAL 5 GAL glass carboys, and bought another 6.5 GAL and three more 5 GAL glass carboys for about half what they would be new. Since they are glass, they don’t stain or absorb odor, and as long as they’re not cracked or chipped, they’re good to go.
Also, you can scoop up great deals on empty pop-top beer bottles on Craigslist too. A lot of the time folks are giving them away to a good home. You can also check with your local brew supplier, as most times they have folks drop off empties by the case there, and they can’t resell them so leave them for their customers to take home for free.
80’s arcade and great beer? I’d travel 3000 miles to check that out! But only if there is a “Suck my fat one Ale” available.
I’ve been really considering a little homebrew action myself, especially after reading about your excitement for it. And although my son is a wee bit young yet, I look forward to him being old enough to grab a beer with.
Glad yours turned out great and I can’t wait to hear how the other batches turn out.
I guess I only noticed because the “weep” line was one of my favourites from this season. That it was improvised by you makes it even better. Well done!
Anne is a genius.
The only thing I might suggest adding – a game room for RPGs. You know, the kind that takes up the entire attic space. Jukebox with 70s music, bar food, arcade machines, and Wheaton’s Own. I could get lost in a place like that.
I love a good roadtrip to CA. Leavin’ on a jetplane …
OK, OK, back to reality (but really, do I hafta?) 😀
ang
Somebody is investing in that business model:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=288662211148024&set=a.191630804184499.57185.147553578592222&type=1&theater
Wheaton’s Own is cool, but you’ll need camel packs or some kind of straw system….I can’t play Robotron AND Drink at the same time.
Thanks for the link. There is no homebrew supply within 100 miles of me and I’ve wanted to buy in bulk for awhile now. I have hesitated due to shipping costs (can be rather high on bulk extract). Austin Homebrew offers free shipping on purchases over $100.00 – finally I can do this in a cost effective manner.
Adding my voice to the crowd – this barcade thing would be a must-visit for me.
We, too, have a dream involving owning a small brewery, AND a distillery… and combining them with a bookstore. We want to go a step further though and have a working farm, so we can grow our own barley & hops.
Oh, to dream…
The perfect city for you to start your brewpub arcade is PORTLAND! Seriously. You know what I’m talkin’ about.
Dude. Your wife is badass. I like to think of myself as a badass wife, but Anne has me out-badassed by miles. I’ve just become her biggest fan, I think.
Anyhow, nice to visually see you at DragonCon! I hope you’ll come back so I can buy a book from you and actually say hi. And I’m fairly certain that you could get them to do a brewing panel with you on it, since that falls quite in line with a few of the different programming tracks. Hell, steal an empty room and have a beerfest where people bring their home-brews. I’m pretty sure that someone at DC could get that taken care of for you. I’d come. I’d PAY to come. Seriously. Do eeeet!
If you decide the Barcade needs to serve food, let me know. I worked in restaurants for years and have a pretty awesome repertoire that includes vegetarian dishes.
Wil you’re reaching into one of my own dreams as well. I’ve often dreamed of having a brewpub that combines setups for D&D sessions and Magic the Gathering, along with some really good old school arcade games and pinball machines…maybe even have some comic books for sale as well. Probably a crazy dream but I have to admit, it’s crossed my mind many times!
A combination brewpub & 80s arcade would be AWESOME!
You’re making me crave beer and I don’t even LIKE beer! 🙂
We went to an 80s arcade in a small town near here last weekend and played Ms Pac Man, Donkey Kong, Galaga, and Vanguard. They had over 30 classic games plus pinball. Very fun!
Clearly, this calls for a “Name the Barcade” contest.
Your dream reminds me of Chatterbox Pub in Minneapolis.
My husband wants to own a Brewpub, Bed & Breakfast
What an amazing idea. I hope this 80’s arcade/brewpub comes with rooms to rent, because i might never ever leave it
Your wife, is a GENIUS!!!
I would have to come out there from Chicago to spend a solid week there. No worries, I’ll bring my own hammock.
Indeed. Segaworks blew goats. We had one in Seattle. OMG. The lame was strong with that one.
But a decent brewpub with wicked fast wifi and 80s arcade units? Beer and get my Zaxxon on? Sold.
A Pubbrew Arcade! 110% Awesome.
I’ll be starting an apple mead (Cyser) soon, myself.
That sounds like the best place ever. I would so make a pilgrimage there. Only, uh, I might never leave.
Congratulations on your beer, Wil, but more importantly on finding a hobby you can truly enjoy and that could turn into more. That’s amazeballs. 😉
Keep getting excited and making things! Night!
I could see you totally opening up a bar that becomes a mecca for all geeks and gamers worldwide… There is a bar north of Seattle that caters to the geek community – you may want to check it out next time you are in the neighborhood.
http://www.afktavern.com/