The grind.. (that is school)

My apologies for not updating this more frequently, but I'm busy, really busy. The work is incredibly complex, and we go through it VERY fast. We do only have 7 weeks to cover everything under the sun in the brewing world. This goes from raw ingredients (we spent almost 3 days alone on the malting process) and everything is covered by experts who, I'm pretty sure could take the entire 7 weeks to themselves and still have more to say. Its really quite amazing.

The brewing equipment is of particular facination to me, having never worked in a "full scale" brewery its all quite new to me.

Today was a very interesting discussion on hop utilitzation. This came to a massive crescendo (right before lunch) in which our teacher explained that addition times have nothing to do with IBU contribution. Now I understand that not everyone reading this is a homebrewer or pro., so I will explain a little in "laymens terms".

-Hops bitter beer, they are small green cones that smell quite fantastic when fresh. The aromas range from spicy and earthy to citrusy and fruity. I gotta stop using "y's" at the end of all my adjectives. We measure how much bitterness is in a beer (and how much hops contribute) in IBUS (International bitterness units). To give you an idea your average American lager ranges right around 15IBU's. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Now a more bitter "pale ale" such as Sierra Nevadas pale ale are higher, around, lets say 60 IBUS. Still with me? Good.

Brewers add hops at different times during the boil (the process of boiling the wort (unfermented beer)) at different times. Traditionally the bittering hops are added first, at the start of the boil. Then the aroma hops about halfway through the boil, finishing in the flavor hops, added towards the end of the boil. There are other additions used but lets stay with these for now. I (and many homebrewers/beerknurds) always preceived that adding hops at 60 minutes would contribute more IBUS than the later additions (such as the aroma and flavor additions). Now our teacher absoloutely BLEW MY MIND when he said it really doesnt matter. That if you added ALL the hops at the start of the boil, you would end up at around the same IBU number as if you added them in order (at 60, 30, and 15 minutes). To those who are wondering what I'm talking about you will just have to read more. For those who are homebrewers and the like know how big of a statement this is. Its huge. My brain still cant get around it. Probobly wont for the rest of the day. Though being damn tired isnt helping.

On a finishing note, got my first quiz back. Not bad, but a few points under the class average. Overall I'm pleased and will continue to work hard at improving this score. Dont worry, I'm passing with room to spare. Took my second one today and it blew me away. I think I did "ok". Up and coming classes concentrate more on styles and sensory (my strong(er) suit, and away from Chemistry and Microbiology (which I know nothing about)

If you enjoy reading this leave a comment, let mek now that people are reading this and it will encourage me to post more and more.

Cheers!

Matt

The first week.

The first week is a day away and I am completely blown away. We have spent the entire first 3 days, 21 hours in the classroom learning about nothing but barley and the process of changing it to malt. Its amazing. The classroom is literally inside Goose Island and the walls of its classrooms are amazing. Hopefully theres a little room for me.


On its walls are many a great brewer, see anyone familiar?




Today we started with hops, and a little "hop rub". 7 varieties, along with 2 different kinds of pellet hops. Very cool.


Well a test tomorrow and I'm off to study. Wish me luck, I'll need it.

A week ago...

The Chicago Blog-

So not moments after arriving to my new living arrangements I thought to myself "This isnt normal". It wasnt normal. It least not for me. Now up 17 floors I went, did I mention I'm not a big fan of heights? Into my aparment and I smile. "Hey this is pretty nice". Cool. Its 3 rooms, with a good sized closet and a small but functional and clean bathroom.



My first day was spent waking up early, VERY early by my standards. 7:00am. By 8 I was out the door and into the city, the giant black spire of the Hancock building overshadowing me, making me feel about as large as an ant. A quick walk 4 blocks away and I was on the EL headed to my new classroom/dining hall/hangout for the next 7 weeks. Goose Island. Goose island is north of downtown just a ways and only 5 minutes off the redline, I've been here once and loved it.



The main reason I went to Goose Island, and not one of the other 10000 places to grab a beer and bite to eat in Chicago was something of infinite beauty and a true culinary delight. The Stilton Burger. The Stilton burger is a half pound burger pepper encrusted with whole cloves of garlic and blue stilton cheese, all ontop of a nice dark brown bun, and this my friends, is the Legendary Stilton Burger. Yes, I know I talk about this burger alot, but with good reason, its really really good. So good in fact I've been there 3 days in a row now, and 2 of my trips crescendos into one of these great burgers, and it will continue to for the next 7 weeks, probobly more than most of you think is normal.

So my overall take on Chicago so far. Big, Fast. Clean. I dig it. It's cool, and I've only explored probobly .00001% of the city. Ok maybe a little more. So should you feel bored up there in Milwaukee (or wherever you are reading this from) come visit. And to quote a favorite Jonie Mitchell lyric "if you want me I'll be at the bar"...