Homebrew Wednesday – Super Brewers

Midwest Craft Brewers Conference 2015 – Quality Discussion

Brewers descended on Menomonie, WI on August 6 & 7, 2015 for the inaugural Midwest Craft Brewers Conference. This episode captures an important discussion lead by Michael Agnew of A Perfect Pint. Whose role is it to

Many interesting breakout sessions covered a variety of topics: legal concerns, insurance, financing, hop production, growing barley, and distributor relationships.

Keynote addresses from Clark Lewey of Toppling Goliath and Tony Magee of Lagunitas were a great way to open and close the conference. Keep an eye on the conference’s page for those videos.

Thursday evening was celebrated with a great social at Lucette Brewing’s new taproom and eatery.

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Bottling From the Keg

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When I started homebrewing, I bottled every batch. Like many home brewers, things changed when I got everything needed to set up a keg system and a co2 tank.

The only problem is that occasionally I need to take a small quantity of beer somewhere. While the Blichmann Beer Gun is great for bottling beer for long-term storage, many times I need something fast.

It doesn’t get much faster and easier than using a bottling wand in the picnic tap already attached to your keg.

How do you fill bottles on short notice or quickly? Please post below.

Slackin’ Off, Surly and Single-Hopped Beers

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So, this week’s a little different, and a little sweatier. My son and I had just spent about a half-hour trying to stand and walk. You’d think I’d have this mastered by now, right? But it’s way more challenging when you’re trying to walk on a 2-inch wide fabric belt between two trees.

After all that exertion, I wanted a nice, easy-drinking beer so I had a stout, which isn’t a traditional summer beer, but it works.

I brewed up 10 gallons for the farm tour at HoppyFarm.com and now I’m just hoping it finishes fermenting. We got to sample it on July 25, 2015, while taking a gander at one of the largest hop farms in the state! Brewers (home and professional) were there from about 11 AM until about 2 PM, give or take. The beer turned out great!

Surly Brewing Wort Give-Away July 19th was the AHA Rally at Surly, which was awesome! The taproom and courtyard are phenomenal. I should have been more of a social butterfly and talked to more strangers, but I wasn’t and I didn’t. Just pitched US05 yeast to keep it clean, and can fuss with it once primary is done. Post ideas in the commends.

Make sure you check out Josh’s video “The Meeting of the Minds” . . . or don’t since you may be scarred.

Hop 2 It recipe is in the May/June 2013 issue of Zymurgy.

Macaco Slackline 2 inches by 85 Feet long