Karen and I built an immersion chiller to speed up our brewing. You can easily make one of these for your homebrewing. All you need is 25 to 50 feet of copper tubing. The 1/4 inch diameter tubing is cheapest and will work well. You will need two adapters to convert the 1/4 tubing to garden hose. HomeDepot has all these parts. You can get it all for about 20 to 30 bucks.

The chiller will shorten brewing time greatly. With all malt or partial malt recipes, the chiller will reduce the cooling time required prior to pitching your yeast to 15 minutes or less.

To use the chiller, you connect your garden hose to one of the inlets on the chiller. You connect another hose to the outlet. This second hose is just to direct the waste water away from you and the beer so any hose should work. (I have heard some people connect the hose to a sprinkler to water their yard at the same time.) After connecting everything together, you place the chiller in your brew pot and turn on the water.

It should be noted that the chiller should be cleaned just as all brewing equipment must be sanitized prior to usage. If your brewing method includes boiling the malt, you can sanitize the chiller by placing it directly into the brew pot during the boil to sanitize the chiller.

It has been sometime since Karen and I have brewed beer, but we are planning on brewing two batches over the Thanksgiving break.

We have already picked up some beer to drink during the homebrewing session. (This first is critical to the success.) Now, I just need to order the homebrewing supplies.

We are going to use pig kegs instead of Cornelius or Firestone kegs. Karen want to be able to transport the beer easily.

Karen and I have thrown our support behind the Alabamians for Specialty Beer. The organization goes by Free The Hops. The group “is a grassroots, citizen-driven movement solely committed to lifting the 6% alcohol by volume and 1 pint container limits for beer brewed or sold in Alabama.”

There are many beers sold that are not allowed in the state of Alabama due to these restrictions.

I am sitting on the back enjoying the free beer that Brian from the New Knoxville Brewing Company gave Karen and I while in Chattanooga, TN for the Southern Brewers Festival. (Sorry about quality of the web-cam picture)

The New Knoxville Brewing Company has been reborn many times from what the guys working the taps told us. Originally, the brewer was founded in 1886. According the company, beer is brewed in small 25 barrel batches using brick-clad brew kettles and open-top fermentation, which is uncommon in United States.

I have the Traditional Pale Ale and the India Pale Ale. The beers are very true to their styles. I would have to say that I enjoyed to taste of both, but the clarity was so so.

Karen and I had good selection of Paulaner beer at Redstone MWR's Oktoberfest this year. This year selection was limited to Coors, Becks and Paulaner. Karen and I only sampled the Paulaner beers.

The Paulaner selection included Hefeweizen, Oktoberfest (so course), Salvator, and Premium Pils.

The Premium Pils was a full body pilsner.

The Hefe-Weizen was a cross between a Germany Pilsner and Hefeweizen. It was not too fruity and more lingering in the back of the mouth like a lager. Heavier than a typical Hefeweizen.

The Oktoberfest was malty with very little hop tones. Sweet aroma the prepares the mouth for the sweet maltiness. Similar to the a honey brown, but lighter sweetness and malt.

The Salvator was very malty as a dopple bock should be. It was not dark. Its taste clings to the palate.

As the festival nears, the brewers and entertainment have been finalized.

The organizers of the festival have indicated that 40 different beers will be available for tasting. The beer will be provided by the following brewers.

Anheuser-Busch Inc. (Cartersville Ga)
Widmer Brothers Brewing Company (Portland Or)
Redhook Ale Brewery (Woodinville Wa)
Abita Brewing Company (Abita Springs La)
Big River Grille & Brewing Works (Chattanooga Tn)
Blackstone Restaurant & Brewery (Nashville Tn)
Bosco's Nashville Brewing Company (Nashville Tn)
Boston Beer Company (Boston Ma)
Carolina Beer & Beverage Company (Mooresville Nc)
Dogwood Brewing Company (Atlanta Ga)
Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant (Atlanta Ga)
Moon River Brewing Company (Savannah Ga)
Ragtime Tavern, Seafood & Grill (Atlantic Beach Fl)
Red Oak Brewery (Greensboro Nc)
Rock Bottom Brewery Restaurant (Atlanta Ga)
Rocky River Brewing Company (Sevierville Tn)
Spoetzl Brewery (Shiner Tx)
Sweetwater Brewing Company (Atlanta Ga)
Terrapin Beer Company (Athens Ga)
Thomas Creek Brewery (Greenville Sc)

If memory servers me, I believe that Thomas Creek Brewery and Widmer Brothers Brewing Company are new this year. I am not sure about Ragtime Tavern which may have been present last year.

According to the festival site, The Rounders, The Lee Boys, The John Cowan Band, and BoDeans will performing at the festival.

The nice thing about this festival is that everything goes to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. There is nothing better supporting a cause by tasting some great beers.

Karen and I stopped Il Vicino for beer and dinner tonight.  The staff was great.  Karen had the amber and was given a free oatmeal stout for us helping clear the outside table because the raining coming down on their condiments.

Karen enjoyed both beers.  She thinks the stout was a well-balanced beer with coffee over tones that didn’t overwhelm the style of the beer.  I had the IPA, which was not as hopped as most IPAs in the Colorado Springs area, but hopped well for IPA.  (Colorado Springs breweries over hop most beers.)

By the way, the pizza was great, too.

Karen and I started our evening out at the The WareHouse. It is one of the best restaurants in Colorado Springs. It is a converted warehouse. The owner actually lives on the third floor, the restaurant and art gallery are on the first floor, and the brewery is in the basement.

Karen and I both had the General Palmer’s Amber Lager. It should be first noted that this is not an ale. They describe the beer as “a Bavarian-style bock beer, deep amber in color and slightly higher in alcohol. Lagered for quite some time.” It is truly a dark amber with a heavy malt taste. The staff can fool you by calling it an amber, which would lead you think it is an amber ale. The key word is “bock”. If we had known that it was a bock, I think that we would have enjoyed the beer for what it was.

Karen followed the General Palmer’s Amber Lager with the SP Belgian Ale. She truely enjoyed this beer. The server behind the bar had to have new. Normally, the SP Belgian Ale is served in smaller brandy style glass, but he provided a full pint. Karen didn’t mind.

For my second beer, I had the Trolley Car, which is Northern English Brown Ale in style. We both enjoyed this beer as we walked through the gallery. The flavor was well rounded and very satisfying.

By the way, we had the Battered English Pub Chips without the topping. They were very good. I would suggest that you ask for the chipotle mayonnaise as dipping sause. You will thank me.

To end our evening, Karen and I headed over to Phantom Canyon Brewing Co to try an ale or two.

First, Phantom Canyon Brewing Co is situated in the center of downtown across the street from the Antlers. The building is the historic Cheyenne Building which had housed the Chicago Rock Island and Pacific Railroad in 1901.

Karen had the Hefeweizen while I had their Ginger Ale Beer. Karen's beer was very little in body and taste. My beer had little hint of ginger compared to what I had expected. The Ginger Ale beer is seasonal so get while you can.

Karen and I have headed into Judge Baldwin's to try some more of their brews.

Karen had the Champion Wheat and Belgian Biere de Garde. Karen thinks the Champion Wheat was very good. She said it would be a good summer beer with dinner. It was not over powering. Karen enjoyed the Belgian, too. She indicated it is similar to many other types of red ale.

I had the Cascade Amber Lager and Flanders Oud Bruin. The Cascade had a very good hop finish. It would please most anyone. The Flanders Oud Bruin is wild with flavors. It starts off with a malty fruit flavor, but transitions into an oak flavor similar to a fine whiskey's oak barrel taste.