Homework

I know, I know: it's a rough life!

Hypothesizing Zebras

So, this past Sunday Mr. Cicerone and Skip brewed up some dunkel to commemorate the wedding of their friend, Fred. Fred lives in Tanzania, where dunkel can be hard to come by. In the picture below, Fred is drinking the dread Safari lager, (possibly the worst beer Mr. Cicerone knows of,) while he helps Skip brew his first batch of African homebrew.


But this isn't a post about any of that. It's about draft beer. While we were brewing, Skip related some recent troubleshooting he'd done, mostly over the phone, with a homebrewer friend who'd recently started kegging his beer. The complaint was foamy beer. BEGIN LENGTHY DIGRESSION This is one of Mr. Cicerone's pet peeves: many homebrewers seem to believe there exist local variances to the basic laws of physics. Homebrewer forums are full of discussions about foamy beer, with assertions of "I always dispense at 4PSI." and the like. (The preceding example would only be OK if the entire keg were being served over the course of a couple hours, as it would go flat otherwise.) There are really only two rules for direct dispensing draft systems:

1) For any given serving temperature and carbonation level, there is exactly one regulator pressure that will keep that carbonation level constant through the life of the keg. CO2 solubility decreases as temperature increases, so to keep the same carbonation level if the serving temperature is increased, the PSI must also increase. Conversely, temp down, pressure down. Three variables: pressure, temperature, and v/v dissolved CO2. Many handy charts like this one illustrate the relationship. This is established physics, so accept it.

2) Rule #1 must be abided by. If the beer comes out too fast, restriction needs to be added to the dispensing line. For a given length, smaller diameter hose provides more resistance to flow, slowing the beer down. Micromatic has some great resources available on their website for understanding draft system operation. Check it out. END OF LENGTHY DIGRESSION

Anyway, (remember Alice?) As Skip related troubleshooting the problem Dave, the new-to-kegging homebrewer, was having with his foamy beer, I could see the punchline coming up. Skip asked about temperature, pressure, if time enough had been allowed for equilibrium to be reached, all of which seemed OK, before discovering that Dave was pouring the beer wrong, causing foaming. BEGIN NOT-AS-LENGTHY DIGRESSION A standard beer faucet or picnic tap has 2 positions: open, and closed. If the beer comes out too fast, see rule #2 in the previous digression. Choking, or partially opening the tap, causes turbulent flow, thus foaming. (This can be used to put a little more head on top of a full glass.) END OF NOT-AS-LENGTHY DIGRESSION There was nothing wrong with his beer or his setup, he was merely choking the tap, not opening it fully! I can't recall seeing this question asked of folks reporting problems with foaming in the forums and elsewhere, but I'd bet Dave's not the only one. Which brings us to the title of this post, inspired by the old saying, "When you hear hoofbeats, first think horses, not zebras." Of course, for Fred, you'd reverse that....

Wheatstock!

The grooviest week of the year, Wheatstock, is upon us!

Greetings and salutations!

The mother of all beer weeks is here! This year, we were able to coincide it with our 4th annual Wheatstock festival. Groovy, man!
The fun begins Wednesday, May 19th at 8 ish p.m. That's when "Bitter Wheat Symphony" takes the beer stage. Made with 50% wheat and fermented with a unique yeast from a very old Belgian brewery, this beer cranks the hop volume up to 11, with 95 IBU's of refreshment. Following "Bitter Wheat" on stage, will be "Sweet". Also brewed with 50% wheat, the hop volume is signifigantly turned down, and orange blossom honey was used. It was fermented with yeast from a charming little brewery in Canada, who stole it from a charming little brewery in Belgium.
On Thursday, get ready to groove again to the taste of "Cask-Ette" at 8 ish p.m. This is a cask-conditioned version of the upcoming 6th edition of "Summer Sunsation" (sort of a French Farmhouse ale this year) with Calendula flowers added to the cask. If you drink one beer in your life with Calendula flowers in it, make sure this is the one! On the second stage Thursday night is my favorite beer of the week! "British Fungus" will blow you away, man! If I close my eyes and think of the most delicous thing I have ever had in my whole life, and then I think about the most refreshing beverage I have ever drank in my life, and then think about what would happen if those two things combined, wow! I'd see colors and stuff and totally feel like I was trippin'! But that pretty much describes "British Fungus".
So then on Friday, it's been a long week and ya just need to chill out after all that excitement. Just lean back in your chair at 8 ish p.m. and get ready for the harmonious smoothness of "Harmony". It's just a mellow jam session between wheat, barley, buckwheat, and rye. Yeeeaaaaah, maaaaaan! Cool!
Be sure to dress like a hippie each night. Ya know, bell bottoms, peace symbols, long hair, tie die, short skirts with go-go boots, and all that crazy stuff that we all laugh about and say, "Somebody actually thought this looked good at one time?!" Every night we'll give out a seriously righteous prize to the grooviest, hippest, hippie. We'll probably have some other prizes too and play some fun games like "Hungry Hungry Hippie" and "Stoned or Not Stoned" for prizes as well.
Our liquors of the week are something new and tasty. We have three new Polish vodkas called Alchemia, which are distilled from rye. There's the original, Chocolate, and Wild Cherry. Seriously good vodka! This week you can get a Mocha Chill (Alchemia Chocolate, Kahlua, and coffee on ice) for just $5, a Chocolate Cherry (Chocolate and Wild Cherry with Coke) for just $4.50, or a Fruit Bowl (Cherry, peach schnaaps, cranberry, and orange juices) for only $4.
I like free stuff! Everyone likes free stuff! Studies have shown that you could dump your trash on your neighbor's lawn if you tell him, "It's free!". That's how powerful the allure of free stuff is. Hell, I don't walk around the trade show at the Craft Brewers Conference every year with 3 heavy bags of crap on each arm because I paid for it! I do it because someone said, "Free!" and I just get all giddy and can't help myself! With that in mind, I unleash this torrent of free stuff! Just go to http://aramdek.com/promo_pack.html, fill out the form, and they'll send you 3 balloons, a key chain, a pen, and a bottle opener all for FREE! Damn! I get all tingly just thinking about getting that package in the mail!
This week on, "We've Made Some Changes to the Menu", you might notice that we've made 16 changes to the menu (in addition to adding the Stuffed Turkey Burger and Chicken & Waffles to the regular menu). Come in and see if you can spot all 16! If ya do, I might give you some free stuff!
On your special plate this week, look for Risotto Balls, Spinach Lasagna Rolls, Pasties, Salmon IPA Burgers, Hawaiian Pizza, Bacon & Tomato Pizza, and Beer Can Chicken (Thursday-Sunday).
In summary: "Happy American Craft Beer Week!; three days of love and beer Wednesday - Friday; dress like a hippy, but skip the patchouli oil!; "Free stuff is the best, man!"; "There's free dog poop in my yard, if you're interested. Makes good mulch!"; and "Did I mention that we have five new beers on tap this week?".

See ya soon,

Doug
Fort Street Brewery
www.fortstreetbeer.com
www.facebook.com/fortstreetbrewery
www.twitter.com/fortstreetbeer
www.americancraftbeerweek.org
1660 Fort St.
Lincoln Park, MI
(313) 389-9620

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The Best Beer You Can't Buy

Rye Peppercorn Pale Ale, brewed here at Chez Cicerone. We here are enamored of this beer- it's great to drink by itself, as it is a moderate strength, with lots of interesting but not overwhelming flavors: Cascade hops, barley malt, rye, and black pepper. 'Tis a pleasure to have pint after pint. Brother-to-Mr.-Cicerone Uncle Dave insists that it should be on tap at all times here. Recently, he was insisting to a bar manager friend that he should have it on tap at all times... yeah, we'll see about that. (Uncle Dave can be insistent.) As I've written before, this beer is also great partnered up with many, many comestibles. A recent meal here featured this ale with some lovely grilled salmon fillet sandwiches on ciabatta, dressed with a mayo blended with dill and preserved lemon. Preserved lemon and black pepper? Oh, yeah. Citrusy Cascades, sweet malt/rye with grill-browned salmon? Oh, yeah.

You can't buy this beer, though you could make something like it if you're so inclined. If you're not the DIY type, you could try a couple great commercial beers that are not quite the same but do feature black pepper, Short's Nicey Spicey, and Dieu du Ciel's Route des Epices.

Cheese Pairing of the Day

Pecorino and Kolsch. In this case the Kolsch was homemade, and on the hoppy, dry end of the style. The pecorino is quite salty on its own, and the beer countered that enough to let the wonderful sheepy, fatty richness blossom. Both the beer and the cheese have a dry finish that would make this a great appetizer course.

Latest Fort Street Brewery News

The last cask at Fort Street was wonderful. Lively condition, and great fresh hop character without the grassiness some veterans of 'wet hopped' beers feared. This week, another variation on Piston Pale Ale. Doug tells it:

Greetings and salutations!

Ahhhhh! One week of being smoke free and I feel better already! The sky is a little bluer, the air a little crisper, the birds' songs a little prettier. How about you?
This Thursday, May 13th at 8ish p.m., we'll tap our 131st cask-conditioned ale. "Hoppywood" is the very popular, Piston Pale Ale (wheat IPA) with French oak added to the cask. No simulated bourbon barrel or second hand wood this time. Just plain oak. If you like red wine (with hops added to it), foods cooked over wood chips (and hops), or finding prizes inside your box of breakfast cereal, we think you'll love this beer. As always, we'll have some fabulous prizes for a few lucky folks in attendance at the tapping.
We have some new liquors at FSB. Last week we had a promo for one of them, and this week we feature some more. Shakka is a new line of fruit-flavored liquers. There's a grape, apple, and kiwi. These have a great fruit flavor without the syrupy sweetness of schnapps. This week you can get a Apple Shokk (Apple Shakka with Apple Vodka and 7-UP) for just $3, a Cinnamon Apple (Apple Shakka with a splash of Cinnamon Schnaaps) for just $2.50, or the refreshing and exotic Caribbean Kayaker (Kiwi Shakka and Banana rum) for the measly price of $2. Fan Club members, did you know that you can get 18.5 oz any beer for just $2.25 every Sunday and Tuesday?
Did you like that tequila promo we had last week, but miss out on getting some free tequila merchandise. No problem! Just go to www.cuervo1795.com/, give 'em your name and address, and you can get your choice of free tequila merchandise (I took the margarita glass, which I will probably give to someone at a Thursday tapping)!
Don't forget that Wheatstock is May 19-21 (Wednesday-Friday). This year, it's in conjunction with American Craft Beer Week (cards available at your local Hallmark store). We'll tap five different wheat beers (and I'm not talking about your normal run of the mill banana-clove wheat beers here)! There will also be prizes each night for the best hippie/Woodstock era costume. There could also be a special guest appearance by Woodstock artist Ravi Shankar (yes, he really did play there)! Check out our website or pick up a Woodstock program at the brewery for a list of the beers appearing.
This week on, "Specials!? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Specials!", you'll hear Nicole say, "Pizza, anyone?". You'll also hear (name changed to protect the guilty) say, "I don't need a job anymore! My parents said I could live at home forever!". And finally, you'll hear (name changed to protect the guilty) say, "What's wrong with coming to work 40 minutes late and not doing anything once I get there?"
Under your plate this week, you'll find a help wanted sign. On your plate, look for Black & White Pizza, Ham & Provolone Pizza, and Salmon Tacos.
To summarize: a smoke free society is a healthier, happier society!; "Bartender, what's this oak tree doing in my beer?!"; "Dude! Where'd ya get that cool Jose Cuervo glass?"; get ready for wheat beers and get yourself some hippie clothes!; and as always, "We've got a fistfull of dollars, but no fists to put 'em in!"

See ya soon,

Doug
Fort Street Brewery
www.fortstreetbeer.com
www.facebook.com/fortstreetbrewery
www.twitter.com/fortstreetbeer
1660 Fort St.
Lincoln Park, MI
(313) 389-9620

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Your Cultural Update

Opera On Tap is a monthly themed performance put on by a group of opera singers, at the Sidetrack in Ypsilanti. Good food, good beer, and good voices. Check it out!

What's New At Fort Street

Among other things, a cask of dry-hopped IPA! Whoo!

Greetings and salutations!

Every Red Wing playoff game this year has attracted absolutely zero interest so far. Until Sunday. Which, oddly enough, was the first game since the smoking ban took effect. So, was it coincidence, or instead of hating the Red Wings, do people hate smoking? I guess we'll find out at the next game.
This Thursday, May 6th at 8ish p.m., we'll tap our 130th cask-conditioned ale. In honor of the new state law, we've named this beer, "Smoke Free!". The base of the cask is the ever popular, and as yet unreleased, "Piston Pale Ale" with fresh picked, and then frozen, grown in Lincoln Park, Cascade hops. If you like hops, citrus fruit, or sentences that begin with the words, "You're wealthy old uncle wanted you to have this...", you'll love this beer! As always, we'll have some fabulous prizes for a few lucky folks in attendance at the tapping.
For our drinks of the week, we say, "Tequila for my men (and women)!" We've got $3.50 Margaritaville Margaritas and $8 Don Eduardo Margaritas and $1 off shots of any Don Eduardo tequila (Silver, Reposado, or Anejo). We'll also be doing sort of a mini promo for Don Eduardo tequila on Thursday.
Have you ever said to yourself, "Fort Street Brewery is the best! I wonder if they can help me cut my electric bill?" Well, the answer is yes! Just go to http://energyefficientnow.com/tfli_signup.asp, fill out the form, and they'll send you two free energy efficient light bulbs! I'll tell ya, no one else loves ya like we do!
Just a little heads up so you can plan accordingly; May 17 - 22nd is American Craft Beer Week (AKA, the Mother of all Beer Weeks). We'll celebrate by holding our 4th annual Wheatstock Festival the 19th - 21st. We'll tap at least four new wheat beer styles and give prizes each night for the best hippie costumes!
Don't forget that Sunday is National Take Mom Out For A Beer Day, aka Mother's Day. Mom needs a beer!
This week on "Smoke My Meat!", look for Shrimp Alfredo Pizza, Oven Fried Perch, Taco Macaroni, Chicken Fried Chicken, Risotto Balls, Navy Bean Dip, Rocky Mountain Oysters, and Beer Can Chicken (Thursday-Sunday).
To summarize: "Ahhh! Fresh air!"; "Ahhhh! Fresh hops in a cask!"; "1 tequila, 2 tequila, 3 tequila, floor!"; "These new bulbs will save me enough money to buy a keg!"; "Time to dust off my tie-dye!"; and "Let's Go Red Wings!"

See ya soon,

Doug
Fort Street Brewery
www.fortstreetbeer.com
www.facebook.com/fortstreetbrewery
www.twitter.com/fortstreetbeer
1660 Fort St.
Lincoln Park, MI
(313) 389-9620

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