Happy Beer Day! I know, redundant!

April 7, 1933, FDR signed a bill known as the Cullen Harrison Act legalizing the sale of beer. It was the pee-cursor of the full repeal of the 18th amendment outlawing alcoholic beverages. It was indeed a good day for beer and a good day for the country. Today, we celebrate that happy beer day with an elixir that dates back over 7,000 years. Whether it is blond, amber, Pale, dark, porter, stout, lager, pilsner, kolsch, or any other form of ale, 2 things are sure. It will refresh and it will make you feel better (even if only for a short time).

Beer has been a unifying beverage throughout the world. When politicians are done arguing with each other, they sit down to a beer to hash things out and reach a common consensus.

Even throughout the sports world, beer is the unifying thread. Yankee and Red Sox fans may want to kill each other, but will put aside differences for a cold pint. Beer has this magical ability to unite people across regions, make people look better, and lead to countless bad decisions. Beer makes everything better. No matter where you are. To paraphrase Peter in family guy, “it’s like I went to heaven, but it wasn’t my time, so they sent me back to a brewery.”

Who are the beer drinkers?

While the Irish are stereotyped out as beer drinking hooligans, every society has its own version of beer. From British pubs to German beer gardens to Trappist monks, there is a love of barley and hops that is inescapable. Yes, that is right. Trappist monks. These guys make some of the best beer in the world. And, they don’t stop there. There are fine liquors like Benedictine, chambord, and frangelico to name a few. And, let’s not forget one of the most famous champagne makers: Dom Perignon. If you spend your days in quiet solitude, you need something to make life worth living. Here’s to the drunken holy Bastards!

Just remember that wonderful song, “When I was 17, I drank some very good beer.” So, let’s all raise a pint and celebrate beer in it’s myriad forms on national beer day!

Cheers! Slainte Mhath! Naz dravi! Prost! Salut! Happy Beer Day!

For you aspiring zymurgists, here is a little homebrew recipe I came up with recently.

Missing Ballot Munich Malt Ale

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Print Recipe

Prep Time 1 hour hr

Cook Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Fermenting period 28 days d

Course beer

Cuisine American, Artisan, beer, Homebrew

Servings 5 gallons

Equipment

• Visit a homebrew supplier for basic equipment

Ingredients

  

• 3 cups carapils malt grains
• 2 cups chocolate malt grains
• 9 Lb Munich Malt extract
• 2 oz Amarillo hops whole leaf
• 2 oz American Cascades hops pellets
• 2 ounce Hallertau Hops pellets
• 1 ounce Whitbred Golding Hop pellets
• 2 oz German Cascade hop pellets
• 1 Tbsp Irish moss or clarifying tablet optional
• 11.5 grams lalleland yeast or similar
• 3/4 cup priming (corn) sugar
• 1 cup water

Instructions

 

• Bring 2.5 gallons of water to a boil. Put grain malts into a cheesecloth bag. Put in the boiling water. Turn down the heat to a simmer. Allow to simmer for 40 minutes.
• Remove the bag of grains and whisk in the malt extract. Turn heat up to a boil. Whisk occasionally to keep from scorching.
• Add in the Amarillo hops. Continue boiling for 40 minutes.
• Add the American cascades and Hallertau. Boil for 10 minutes.
• Add the remaining hops and continue boiling for 10 minutes. You can also add in Irish moss or other fining ingredients at this point to help clarify the beer.
• Remove from heat and strain the liquid into a sanitized large tub/racking bucket.
• Transfer the strained liquid to a sanitized carboy. Then add cold water to fill to 5 gallons. Test the specific gravity, sugar and potential alcohol at this point.
• When the "wort" has cooled down to room temperature, Pitch the yeast. Then put a sanitized rubber cork with a blow off tube in the top of the bottle. Put the carboy in a dark room or closet where it won't be disturbed. Put a large container with a little water in the bottom next to the car boy. Put the end of the blow off tube in the container submerged in the water.
• During the primary fermentation, the first 3 days will be extremely active. Check the beer daily to make sure it isn't overflowing. Don't let the cork get dislodged.
• After 3 days the activity should be minimal. Switch the cork with blow off tube for a cork with an air lock with water in it. Make sure to sanitize this too. Allow to sit for another 11 days.
• After 2 weeks, it's time to bottle. Sanitize your equipment, bottles, and bottle caps.
• Boil priming sugar and water together. Allow to cool.
• Transfer beer from carboy to racking bucket. Strain if necessary. There will be a lot of sediment (about an inch) at the bottom of the carboy. Avoid as much of that as possible.
• Take measurements at this point.
• Whisk in the priming sugar. Then transfer the beer to sanitized bottles and cap with sanitized caps.
• Put the bottles in a dark room or closet where they won't be disturbed for 2 weeks.
• After 2 weeks in the bottle, they are ready to drink. Refrigerate and serve. Drink responsibly.

Notes

If this is your first time brewing, consult a professional brewer for a basic starter equipment set.

This recipe uses liquid malt extract. If you are a more advanced brewer, you may want to go “all grain.” That requires more advanced equipment and temperature controls. This isn’t a brew you would sell commercially. But, it goes down quite nicely at home.

Measure the viscosity of the beer to determine if it is done fermenting and what the final alcohol content will be. The hydrometer I use has measurements for specific gravity, sugar, and alcohol, so it was easier to read than ones that just have SG (which requires calculating the difference. In my case, the original ABV was 8, the final was 2. Take the difference. You get 6% ABV.

Keyword artisan, beer, homebrew, hops, kale, Malt, Munich Malt

If all this drinking is making you hungry, check out some of our great holiday recipes.