Last month, I helped Sean do just that. I have posted photos and instructions to make the task easier and hopefully more fun.

Using power tools in the pursuit of beer making/serving is good, clean fun. Just be careful when cutting through the top of the unit — there is a refrigerant line in the top!

Every new year brings about resolutions that we tend to forget about somewhere around the 20th of January. Usually, I’m guilty as charged. This year, I was determined to keep one of my big 2005 resolutions — to brew my first lager. So last night, Sean and I did just that. He brewed a bock, and I fired up a Marzen.

This style originiated in Germany in the 19th century as and is traditionally brewed for spring comsumption (März is the month March in German). it is also the de facto style consumed during spring fests in Germany. Since I am of German heritage, and my birthday is in March, it seemed fitting to brew a Marzen.

Using guidance from Oktoberfest, Vienna, Marzen, I forumlated the following recipe for my first lager attempt:

For 10 gallons, 85% efficiency:
9.1 lbs 2-row German pilsner malt
6.0 oz Crystal 60
6.0 oz Crystal 105
6.0 oz Caramel malt

1.5 oz Tettnang hops (leaf)
0.5 oz Saaz hops (leaf)
0.25 oz Hallertauer hops (leaf)

Mash in at 153 degrees for 60 minutes. (My actual temp as 150 — a little lower than I wanted)

Add 1.5 oz of Tettnang when boiling starts. At 45 minutes ad Irish moss. At 50 minutes, add the Saaz and Hallertauer. Knockout and pitch with Wyeast 2124 Bohemian Lager.

Expected OG: 1.056
IBUs: 25

Brewing notes
My mash extract efficiency was only 82% — a little lower than I was hoping. It probably serves me right for a formulation based on efficiency that high! Should’ve stuck with 80% and had a little more extract. I also didn’t collect quite enough wort to begin with. I collected 7 gallons, but ended up with 4.75 rather than a full 5 gallons in the fermenter.

It is bubbling away at 52F right now — we’ll see how this turns out in 8 weeks.

The awards banquet for the 2004 Multiple Sclerosis 150 Bike Ride was held earlier tonight, and Team Laughing Ass was recognized for “Best Dressed Team.”

Our eight-person team was the ninth highest fundraiser of the 55 teams registered (excellent!). Three of our team members were also named to the “Top 100 Club”, as they were in the top 100 individual fundraisers for the event: Stephenie Davis (#53), Debba White (#56) and Dave Stone (#85). As a result of their fundraising success, they will enjoy special privileges for next year’s ride.

Congratulations to you all, and I look forward to the 2005 ride.

You didn’t think I could compile a list like this, and not include a Laughing Ass offering, did you?

Here’s my winter warmer for 2004. The inspiration for this beer was as a reprise of my first holiday beer, brewed in 1994. For my 10th aniversary beer, I was trying for a beer that has enough maltiness to support a 7% abv, and still leave enough room for the spices of the season to shine through.

The spice bill in this beer is a variation of my regular beer spices: ginger (both crystallized and ground), cinnamon sticks, coriander (of course!) and brown sugar. As of now, the ginger and cinnamon are the most prominent aromas, but the coriander always adds a subtle almost imperceptible complexity to any beer it’s in. The molasses in the dark brown sugar adds some more depth to the beer’s amber malt flavors.

The reviews so far are good. One taster drank his bottle warm (10 demerits for doing that), but said the beer’s complexity was good even at room tempterature. He even said his non-beer-drinking wife liked it. Another taster called it “another crowd pleaser” and asked for more. I’ll be serving it on tap through New Year’s Day (unless it disappears more quickly), for those of you who know where to find me.

I hope you’ve been inspired to try tried one or more of these 12 fine beers. Feel free to let me know what you thought of them!

One of my favorite Trappist beers is also a good one for holiday celebrations — Westmalle Dubbel.

I remember this beer fondly from my travels in Belgium. During my first trip there, I attempted to try all of the Trappist beers I could find. Some (Westvleteren primarily) are scarce, but this one was almost everywhere. Since most restaurants served it, I had many first-hand chances to try it.

This is a great example of a food-friendly beer. It has a number of interesting flavors in it that play well with food: carmelized sugars, dark fruit, roasted malts and citrusy/vinegary aromas to name a few. I’ve had it with beef stew (commonplace in Belgium), bleu cheese covered burgers and London broil — this beer is exceptional with almost anything with beef in it. The abundance of flavors that unfold with each passing taste also makes it a great sipping beer.