It ain't August yet

But we're back!

I opened a bottle of the School's Out Stout (# 161) and it gushed, geyser-like, all over the kitchen counter. Yuck, what a mess. Worse--the beer was undrinkable. Turns out I had five more 22-oz. bottles. They were all gushers. What a loss! Such a lovely brew, undone by, I assume, a sanitation problem.

Back to the drawing board for this fall. I pledge that the next brew I concoct will be cleaner and better organized. I figure gushers are a reminder not to be sloppy, and to put it all together patiently and precisely. Frankly, I'm surprised more beers aren't tainted when you consider the number of chances bacteria have of invading vessels and tubing and whatnot during the process.

There's a good piece from BYO by Alex Fodor on foaming. I'll be sure to keep this in front of me when I'm formulating the first batch of the season.



a.d. III Kal. Aug.

Feast of St. Vitus

June 15 is the Feast Day of St. Vitus, the patron saint of Bohemia. He's also the patron saint of dancers, actors, and dogs, and his name is invoked as protection against lightning, snakebite, and epilepsy. (Sydenham's Chorea, a neuro-muscular disease, is known as St. Vitus Dance.)

If you like beer, you know that Bohemia is a sacred beer zone in the Czech Republic, home to famed beer cities Prague and Pilsen. Bohemian hops--Saaz--are prized for flavor and quality, and are crucial to the clean, crisp flavors we expect from pilseners.

It is also the name of a delicious Mexican beer, Bohemia. Beer drinkers and bohemians, unite! Raise your glasses to St. Vitus!





FSB will be on hiatus for the next few weeks. Our summer sojourn takes us southward, to México, in fact! July is a lousy brewing month here in the State of Jefferson anyway, due to the summer heat. The blog will be back in August. The brewing season will resume when cool, autumn nights come back. ¡Adios!

School's Out!

The work year is over for us here at FSB. We celebrated that fact many times this past weekend, culminating with tapping the keg at Steph's party. The School's Out Stout (SOS) was explosively foamy at first. I sprayed a half pint of the stuff around, sloshed another few pints into cups, towels, and the cooler before finally managing to get a decent draught pull. It took an hour perhaps for the foam to finally settle and the pressure to equalize. The first dozen pints required no help out of the keg, but I had to push the last few out with a bit of gas (about 3-4 PSI). It was worth the wait. The sumptuous, layered malt flavors had drinkers "oohing" and "ahhing." There was a rich toast-and-chocolate taste right up front, and a spicy hop tang on the finish. The beer was full-bodied, but smooth and easy-drinking. SOS was a success!



On another note, FRENCH STREET BREWERY is now the proud sponsor of a page in THE BASEBALL REFERENCE. Stuggling right-hander BRAD HENNESSEY was available for only ten bucks. I get him for a whole year. C'mon, Brad, show 'em what you got. Bring glory to FSB!

Black Beauty: now cooler than ever

Yep, we shipped 'em from the main fermenting room to the refrigeration unit. Cold storage. Lagering time. 10-14 days at 42 Fahrenheit and we got ourselves a kickass brew. I just have a feeling about this one, the School's Out Stout. Ten work days left and we are gearing up for some serious R & R here at FSB. The 2-1/2 gallon keg should be in perfect condition on the 8th of June (a.d. VI Id.Iun.) for Stephani's GradFest.



a.d. XI Kal.Iun.

Black Beauty

We kegged and bottled the School's Out Stout today. Got to taste a bit of it when I siphoned it to the priming bucket . . . this one is a winner. Should be ready for Stephani's Graduation Party and our own end-of-the-school-year festivities. The final gravity was 4 ºP (1.016). The beer looked and smelled nice and clean. There was a big, thick sludge layer, and I managed 4-1/2 gallons of yield. I kegged 2-1/2 gallons, priming it with 2 oz. of corn sugar, and we bottled an assortment, priming at 2 oz. to 2 gallons. Steph gets a six-pack, K & K get a couple of 0.5 L bottles, and we get seven of the 22 oz. "Etna" style. This will likely be the last brew for a while as the hot weather is just around the corner. The Giants won today in unlikely fashion with Steve "Backup Catcher" Holm provding the heroics with a 2-run homer. Another gorgeous spring day in the State of Jefferson!





a.d. V Id. Mai.