Patron Inspiration Series

At Bashore BrewHaus the only thing more important than the beer is the people that drink it. For this reason starting in 2010 I'll be launching a series of beers known as the "Patron Inspiration Series" or PIS (that's funny). This will be a series of beers made over the course of the year that will reflect some of our friends and the beers that they enjoy drinking. Over the course of this series, which will include 8 beers, I'll be putting out labels with a description of the beer and the person that inspired me to make it. This is my way of saying thank you to the people that inspire me to make the beers that I do. Without someone to share suds with drinking beer just isn't the same in fact its pretty damn boring. Look for the first of these beers to be released sometime shortly after the first of the year.

CHEERS!!

New Poll Question

We just posted a new poll question on the blog. Feedback would be greatly appreciated.

New Years Eve Brew Line Up

Whew! I've been busy. Last weekend I finished the 5th and final beer beer for our New Years Eve/Anniversary Party (1st beer ever was pour on New Years). As we get closer to the date we'll pass out more information on the party (ie. theme, time, what to bring...etc.) In the meantime make sure to try and keep the date open to at least stop in and celebrate with a pint or two. This year I wanted to brew big bold beers for the party and thats what I tried very hard to do. Here's a list of what to expect on tap that evening.

Kremlin Joe's Russian Imperial Stout batch #2 - A favorite of mine from our St. Patty's Party last year. Big, Bold and Thick just like I like my men - ~10%ABV

WarChild Quadruple - This is a Belgian Dark Strong Ale. Sweet and Complex with a lot of dried fruit charector up front - ~9.5% ABV

Palate Pulverizer DIPA batch #2- The return of a champ, this beer was on tap last year at New Years Eve, but there we only 1 or 2 gallons of it. This year we'll have 5 and enough to go around. Huge citrusy hop flavor well over 100 IBU, but enough malty sweetness mixed with boooooooze to balance it all out - ~8.5% ABV

Emma Rose Abbey Ale - Emma's beer!!! As many of you know Irene and I are expecting our first child in November. To celebrate here birth I decided long ago to brew a beer with her name in it. Emma Rose is sweet and spicey with a floral aroma created from....roses. Have you ever had a beer brewed with roses? Your answer will change soon. - ~7.5% ABV

Bashore BrewHaus 1st Anniversary Ale - This beer doesn't fit specifically into any style. It should be a spicey Belgian Christmas wheat beer...we'll have to wait and see! - ~8% ABV

As a side note I do have plans to barrel age a few of the beer for the evening, so there may be as many as 7 beers to go on tap along with a couple of hard ciders (providing there done) for a little change of pace that evening!

Brew Day 10/18/09 1st Anniversary Ale

This past weekend I brewed The Bashore BrewHaus 1st Anniversary Ale, my last beer in preparation for New Years Eve this year. I set out to brew an Imperial Wit (Belgian Wheat) Bier. I soon realize while I was collecting ingredients and brewing the beer that this was not a beer that would adhere well to any style guidelines. This beer is somewhere between a Belgian Triple/ Imperial Wit and Christmas beer given what has gone into it. One thing is for sure it will be a beer that is between 7.5 and 8 % ABV and it will have a heavy spice profile between a Belgian Strong Ale and a Wheat Ale. Here is the photo journal of the day.



Here are a few of the ingredients that I included in the beer...honey, coriander, grains of paradise, orange zest, beet sugar for dryness and head retention and brown cane sugar for a rum like sweetness.

This is a look at a yeast starter that I made for the beer....this is a very important step especially when brewing higher alcohol beers to first ensure that your yeast is working and secondly to create enough yeast cells to hopefully convert all the fermentable sugars in the beer to alcohol.

The Anniversary Ale will not be a hoppy beer as I only used a few ounces of hops to balance out the sugary sweetness.

Here's a look a the spent grains after all the sugars have been soaked out of them.....the grain bill is one of the main reasons that this is not a wit beer. It ended up being to dark for that classification.


Here's a look after the 1st and only hop addition to the beer. I used a nice mellow British hop so that it would balance the beer out without enforcing its will too much to drown out all the subtle flavors of the beer.

Here's a look at some of the spices and the brown cane sugar going into the beer. Along with the honey the cane sugar should give the beer a sweetness similar to a Christmas Triple, Sweet and Rummy....MMMMMM!

Here's a last look into the brew pot as the wort was being cool before it goes into the fermentor and has yeast pitched into it. If you look close at the picture you can see the orange zest along with the grains of paradise. One note here, this is the first time I have ever used fresh orange zest in a beer. Normally, I buy dried orange peel to use, lets hope it make a good difference.

Cheers!

Palate Pulverizor Brew Day 10/11

This past weekend I brewed my annual Double IPA, Palate Pulverizor. This is the one and only beer that I make that I use my home grown hops in. Aside from my hops I keep the hop bill pretty loose and use what ever is readily available, but overall I like to use a good amount of citrusy hops to get that West Coast vibe from the IPA. Here is a photo journal of the day!

This is the hop bill for this version of PP. From beginning to end 11 oz. of hops are added to make this beer extremely hoppy!


This is a look at the spent grains used in PP. I used 19 pounds of grains to bring the ABV of this beer to between 8.5 and 9%.

Here are some pictures during the boil of hop additions. As you can see it gets pretty crowded in there!

And there you have it a final version of Palate Pulverizor. Looks gross now but in about 2 months it'll be drinking good at over 100 IBU

WHO'S READY FOR NEW YEARS EVE!!!

Back Right Corner - Kremlin Joe's Russian Imperial Stout Batch #2 - 10%

Back Left Corner - WarChild Quadruple - 9.5%

Front Right Corner - Emma Rose Abbey Ale - 7.5%

Front Left Corner - Palate Pulverizor DIPA - too early to tell ~8.5%

Still got a few other goodies up my sleeve for the New Year, but I guess you'll have to be present at the party to find out about those.

CHEERS!!!

Your Friendly Neighborhood HomeBrewer

@ Bashore BrewHaus

Michigan Brewers Guild Inaugural Harvest Festival in Detroit

Here's a little bit of information on the first ever Michigan Brewer's Guild Harvest Festival in Detroit. Unfortunately, Irene and I will not be attending this festival as we already have a prior engagement that day.

Inaugural Harvest Festival - October 24th, 2009 - Eastern Market, Detroit

Inaugural Harvest FestivalPresented by the Michigan Brewers Guild and MetrotimesOctober 24th, 2009Eastern Market, Detroit
The Inaugural Harvest Festival will take place Saturday, October 24th, 2009 at the Eastern Market in Detroit. The Harvest Festival is a cooperative effort between the Michigan Brewers Guild and Metrotimes and we expect our combined efforts to result in one of the best local beer events in the region. The Eastern Market is one of the nation’s oldest farm markets and the area is rife with


brewing history. In its heyday, there were more than 40 breweries in the Market area and malt silos still stand as a testament to the rich brewing history. The Market will be open on Saturday so you may want to come early and check it out. We are expecting more than 40 Michigan microbreweries and brewpubs to participate and there will be nearly 200 different beers available to sample. The event will be open from 1:00pm to 6:00pm; Rain or Shine. Enthusiast Members of the Michigan Brewers Guild will be allowed to enter the Festival an hour early at Noon. The Festival will take place in the parking area near shed #5 and there is ample parking in the surrounding area.
The cost to enter the Festival is $35 in advance and $40 at the gate if tickets are still available. The total quantity of tickets is limited so advance ticket purchase is suggested. Tickets can be purchased here on our website, at participating member breweries and at select retail outlets. Please see the related post on the MASH (our blog) for an updated list of ticket outlets. 15 drink tokens are included with a ticket and each token is good for one 3 ounce beer sample. Additional tokens are available for purchase inside the Festival for 50 cents each. Live entertainment will be provided by local bands and food prepared by local restaurants will be available for purchase.
Festival attendees must be 21 years of age or older and have ID to enter. Designated Drivers are encouraged and DD tickets will be available on line at the gate for $5 each.
Please look for information to be posted on the MASH regarding participating breweries, ticket outlets and other information. The MASH will be updated as new information becomes available. Please feel free to make a post of your own if you are organizing a bus or have something else to share.
Cheers, and see you October 24th at the Eastern Market!

Email Subscription

This is a test....only a test. We added a new feature to the blog in the upper left hand corner that allows everyone to subscribe to blog posts by simply entering your email and verifing in your email. Typing blog enteries and then emailing everyone gets old and annoying so hopefully this will eliminate the middle man. I will send out one final email and let everyone know that its working properly. You can still check for updates on Facebook about parties, but the blog is the best way to get all information. So subscribe via email!

Cheers!