Zombie Apocalypse Wheat Beer: Part 3

Finally! Last Saturday we tried our first batch of homebrew. If you haven't yet, check out Part 1 and Part 2 to read about the process of making it.

We cranked open a bottle to have with dinner. It is best to pour homebrews into a glass rather than drink out of the bottle. The yeast sediment settles to the bottom and can upset your stomach. Plus, you can enjoy the beer more out of glass. See the color and smell the aroma awhile you leisurely sip your tasty brew. 

It smelled very banana-y like a hefeweizen should, so I was very happy. And, I was even happier when it tasted like a hefeweizen too! A little bit of spice, a little malty, and of course very banana-y. I was very pleased with the outcome. The only minor addition I would make a orange slice on top. 

We have a batch of California IPA in the fermenter now, I hope it comes out as well as this one did. Once we start developing our own recipes or try a cool kit, I will post another homebrew story. Thanks Michael for my awesome Christmas present!  

Seabright Brewery

source

Last weekend Michael and I went for a bike ride long the coast in Santa Cruz. It was a lovely clear and sunny day, but VERY cold. Afterwards, my frozen bones were ready for some warm food and a tasty beer. Michael told me about Seabright Brewery before, having been there when he went to college at UC Santa Cruz. So, we stopped in for dinner after our ride.

The place is an eclectic mix of college kids, old guys chatting at the bar, sportsfans, hippies, and surfers--- like the general population of Santa Cruz. I cannot find much about the history of the brewery, nor can I find an email address to contact anyone for more information. I will update this post later when I get more information. The website states that it features regular and seasonal beers. There is Neighborhood Night on Tuesdays (Michael says it is awesome) and live Music on Fridays.

Loved the veggie patty!

I got the Hawaiian Five-O Burger with no cheese and a vegan vegetable patty. The patty had real chunks of veggies, which was a nice change from a plain Garden Burger.  The pineapple was juicy and sweet. And it was not smothered in teriyaki sauce like most restaurants do, just enough to taste. No complaints! 

mmmm, garlic fries!

Michael got the Buffalo Chicken Sandwich, he had no complaints either so I assume it was good too! We both had garlic fries, which were very good. 

Ok, the beer...

Since were meeting some friends and knew we will come back, we decided to get full glasses rather than a sampler. 

An unholy ale and a smooth stout.

I started with the Sacrillicious Ale. The menu describes this beer as pungent, and that is right. I could smell the it minute I picked up the glass. It is very malty, but the malt is instantly taken over by the hops. I would describe this as a dirty red ale, because it is high in alcohol and is far from a classic red ale. Michael first had Oatmeal Stout. It is very smooth and I loved the hint of coffee. 

I totally see why this beer can make your nigh a blur.

Then I got hesitantly got The Blur. I torn between wanting a traditional Pacific Northwest IPA and being worried after reading the reviews on FourSquare about how strong it is. The Oregonian in me won out and I am glad it did. It reminded me of all the great IPA's back home. It is strong, but big on flavor. 

Light but very drinkable 

Then Michael tried the Loose Lucy Scotch Ale. It reminded me of a more flavorful and jacked-up Budweiser. A very drinkable beer, I see this going nicely with some spicy hot wings. 

I couldn't get a better picture,
but yeah, drawings of naked women.

I really liked this place, dirty beers to drawings naked women on the walls included. This was so my kind of place, we will definitely be coming here again. And hopefully the next bike ride will be warmer! 

Zombie Apocalypse Wheat Beer: Part 2

As I stated in Part 1, the next step in my beer making adventure was to bottle the beer after fermentation. The two or so weeks we waited for it ferment we collected as many beer bottles as we could. This meant drinking a beer with dinner almost every night and asking our friends to save theirs for us. When I asked my boss if I could have the empties from work, he gave me the fabulous advice of using Pacifico bottles. He said to soak them in soapy water and the labels will peal right off. And they did! We also sanitized the bottles with the solution provided in the kit before  filling.

When I got back from Oregon I checked the specific gravity and it was perfect. I waited eagerly for Michael to come home so we could bottle it.

Smelled so good!

It smelled just like a hefeweizen the minute he took the lid off. I was so happy all our earlier issues did not ruin it.

However, just as I thought that, I made another mistake. The instructions say siphon the beer into the other fermenter then add corn sugar packet. I add the corn sugar packet first. It foamed up instantly and I realized I did it in the wrong order.

I quickly siphoned it into the other container.

It was still pretty foamy so I figured it was not that big a deal.

Still foamy, phew!

 Next came the very messy part, the actual bottling. The second fermenter as a little spout on it so we just put it on the edge of the table and started filling. The spout sprayed everywhere at first and it took me a few bottles to get the hang of it. Once I got it down, it still took FOREVER to empty the fermenter.

It actually pours better if you hold the bottle farther from the spout.

As I filled, Michael capped the bottles. Our kit came with a nifty capper tool and bottle caps.

He complained that he only got to do the grunt work.

We probably lost about 2 beers due to the spout spraying. We put some towels on the ground underneath the spout to soak up the mess.

In the end we filled 47 normal bottles and 2 large bottles.

Ignore my messy living room...

The beer needs to carbonate in the bottles for 3 weeks. So Part 3 will be coming up soon.

Golden Valley Brewery

I spent Christmas this year in Oregon with my family, and Michael came too. It was nice to show him my hometown and have him meet my friends. However, there is not much to do in Hillsboro. So we drove a few towns over to McMinnville. There is the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum, home of Howard Hughes' infamous Spruce Goose.  While the museum itself is awesome, the cafe isn't anything special. So a quick check on Google Maps revealed a microbrewery nearby!

Golden Valley Brewery is located in the country side of the Willamette Valley. The building is a 1920s warehouse with huge local timber pillars. I felt like I was pioneer walking into the local tavern for a drink, a good way to represent Oregon.

It began in 1993 by Peter and Celia Kircher. I contacted Peter for more information about the brewery and he stated that "The key focus for our brewery is to produce consistent quality traditional style beers of great balance and rare complexity." Their aim is produce "more classic style" beers. 



The restaurant features a standard Oregonian brewpub food. For those of you not familiar with Oregonian cuisine, that means an eclectic mix of standard bar food, regional specialties, and anything else the chef feels like making. 

I had a Garden Burger, minus the cheese. It had sautéed mushrooms and nice crisp lettuce and red onions. No complaints! 

Michael got the Pastrami Reuben Sandwich. Rubens are his favorite and always orders one when he sees it on the menu. He said this was the best one he had in awhile!

Ok, now for the beer...

I knew it would be able awhile before we could be able to visit again, so we got a sampler to try them all.  The sampler has 10 beers, from lightest to darkest: 3rd Street Wheat, Perrydale Pale, American Pale Ale, Chehalem Mountain IPA, Red Thistle Ale, Exit 65 IPA, Atlas Elevator Bock, Tannenbomb, Dundee Porter, and Muddy Valley Oatmeal Stout.

All the beers are heavily loaded with flavor, but perfectly balanced. A good example of this is the Red Thistle, very malty but counterbalanced with the right kind of hops. This beer was interesting---in a good way!

I have two favorites. The first is the American Pale Ale. Slightly malty and a little citrus, very drinkable and smooth. This is a great beer to drink year round with any meal. My second favorite was the Muddy Valley Oatmeal Stout. It was so smooth, almost like drinking desert.

Michael liked the Atlas Elevator Bock. It is dark with a smokey/meaty taste. He collects growlers so I bought him one filled with the Bock.

I drove past by this brewery a million times,  I am glad we finally stopped in! They also have a pub in Beaverton if you do not have the time to drive to McMinnville. But I suggest you take the scenic route out through the Oregon countryside and get some good beer from Golden Valley Brewery next time you are in the Willamette Valley.

Sources:
http://www.goldenvalleybrewery.com/ranch.htm
Background information sheet provided by Peter Kircher, owner