Noble Square Brewing is moving!

Yes, that is right Brewbuds, Señor Brew™ is packing up the brewery and moving it about an hour north of its current location, to beautiful, wonderful, beautiful Thousand Oaks.

One of the first things Señor Brew™ did was to check out the water in the new location.  As you can see from this water report, the water looks mighty fine for brewing.  He hasn't run it through a water spreadsheet yet, but it looks like for most styles he'll be able to use it right out of the tap, after treating it for chloramines, and adding some calcium for yeast health.

The new location has natural gas piped out to a built in grill in the back yard, so Señor Brew™ should be able to use his amazing wok burner.  I believe that there are electric outlets in the same spot, so he can use his electric HLT heater as well.  Señor Brew™ can't wait to get the first brew in the new place going--probably a session ale, something that can be fermented out quickly to be ready for the housewarming party.

Then, just for fun, Señor Brew™ decided to look up who some of his neighbors might be.  According to this wikipedia article, notable current and former residents include Megan Fox!  I doubt she still lives there, but if by some chance Señor Brew™ runs into her, he will be sure to invite her over to give her a tour of the brewery and show her the keg named after her.  Then he'll tap that (keg).

2012 Home Brew Competitions

Hello Brew Buds!  Señor Brew™ intended to post this calendar before any of the competitions listed actually occurred, but he didn't. Sorry!

It's not a comprehensive list of competitions by any means, just the events that Señor Brew™ intends to compete in this year.  As you can see, most are in Southern California, where Noble Square Brewing is now based, but a few are national, and of course the list includes the Chicago Beer Society competition, where  Señor Brew™ is a member in exile.

The dates are an approximation of when Señor Brew™ needs to send in his entries, not the actual date of the contest.  If you're entering any of these competitions yourself, first of all, good luck. You'll need it competing against  Señor Brew™--look at all of his shiny ribbons at the top of the page! Secondly, check the sites for the competitions for the actual dates--Señor Brew™  may have them wrong, they may not be available yet, or he may be sending them in the early part of the entry window due to other circumstances.

America's Finest City, San Diego  entries were due 2/22 (Sr. Brew™ entered but did not win).
National Homebrew Competition entries were due 3/5 (entered, first round begins in April)
Mayfaire, Los Angeles entries due 4/12
California State Fair, Sacramento entries due 4/27
Orange County Fair, Costa Mesa entries due 5/12
Sam Adams Longshot, Boston entries due 5/25
Los Angeles County Fair, Los Angeles entries due early July?
Pacific Brewers Cup, Los Angeles entries due 9/6
California State Homebrew Competition, San Francisco entries due mid October?
Spooky Brew Review, Chicago entries due mid October

Please note that some of the above links go to last year's competition site if the 2012 site is not up yet.

It's Good To Be The King

It is good to be the king, especially when you're Omega King.  I finally got around to dry hopping and bottling a portion of the Omega King IPA.  I even made labels this time for the bombers I bottled as you can see from the above photo.

The only difference I made in the recipe was to use all 2-row barley for the base malt instead of a mix of 2-row and pilsner malt.  With all the hops in the recipe, I don't know if I could even tell the difference.

This beer was originally designed to be a clone of 3 Floyds Alpha King.  I'm not sure how close it is, I know I probably tweaked the recipe along the way.  I should do a side-by-side taste test to see how it stacks up.  The problem is, I don't know if I can get Alpha King in a bottle out here in California.  I can't say I've looked for it.

My label uses the font from the Alpha King label; I created my own letters if they didn't appear on the original.  The photo was scanned from a Disney book--all the mermaids are singing to the king. Having half a dozen young ladies in bikini tops sing to you is not a bad thing, even if they're half fish. In hindsight I should have photo-shopped a beer in the king's hand--I'm sure he would have been enjoying a nice IPA during the mermaid serenade if it were not a Disney book.  Unfortunately the labels are already printed and affixed to bottles.  I'll have to make that change for the next run.

At least one of the bombers is going be to sent out to my buddy Pete, who got me to formulate the recipe the first time.  He's a big fan of Alpha King, and I wouldn't have brewed this beer if it hadn't been for him.  He's got three little girls, so they'll probably enjoy seeing Ariel on the label too.

I've got a case of regular sized bottles ready, so stay tuned to this blog to see how this batch fares in upcoming competitions.  The recipe can be found by clicking the "Omega King" link in the first paragraph.

iBrewmaster app for iPad

I've started inputting some of my brew recipes into iBrewmaster, an app for the iPad. I've had it for quite some time, but haven't used it extensively. It seems very well put together, and the developers are constantly coming out with improvements to it.

It allows you to input your recipes, and it will estimate your IBUs, original and final gravities, alcohol by volume, and all kinds of other cool info. It even let's you tweak your recipes for individual batches.

You can customize your inputs, such as your brewhouse efficiency and the alpha acid levels of your hops.

My only fear is that I'll damage my iPad during a brew session, so I keep it far away from the action. It's not like I've damaged electronic equipment while brewing before.

Señor Brew™ wins a ribbon!

Fall Down Go Boom barleywine took 2nd in the 2011 Pacific Brewers Cup held by the local brew club, Pacific Gravity.  It scored a 41, which is usually high enough to take first, so someone must have scored unbelievably high in this category.  Señor Brew™ also entered his Oktoberfest, Slippy Piggy's Oktoberfest, in this competition.  It didn't score as well, which is strange, because this beer went on to take first in the 2011 Spooky Brew Review, the Chicago Beer Society's annual competition.  More on this to follow.  The barleywine was brewed right around New Year's Day, using the first runnings from the Superbowl Stout brew, before the dark malts were added.  The recipe for both can be found here.  (Both Fall Down Go Boom Barleywine and Superbowl Stout have taken home ribbons this year). Look for the Oktoberfest recipe in my next post.

What Brew Blogs Do You Follow?

Hello Brewbuds!

Señor Brew™ has a quick question for loyal readers of this blog.  What other brew blogs do you follow?  No, Señor Brew™ is not going to get jealous and hack the other blogs with TOS attacks (something he read about on the intertubes).  The reason for asking is because he recently cut a number of blogs from his "follow" list, because they hadn't written a new post in over a year.  Damn lazy brew-bloggers!

Señor Brew™ would like to replenish his list with new and exciting brew blogs and thought the readers of this blog might have some mighty fine suggestions for other blogs to follow (since they obviously already have excellent taste in what to read on the worlb wibe web).

Here is Señor Brew™'s current follow list--please take a gander (or goose, "what's good for...yadda yadda"):

Bearded Brewing Blog (a guy with a beard brews in Minnesota)
Brew Dudes (two dudes who brew co-author this one)
Chibebräu (Russ Chibe, meteorologist/lawyer/homebrewer, esq.)
HolzBrew (I forget, but it's well-written)
Homebrewed Beer (Ithaca is gorges)
Matt & Meg's Beer Brewing Adventures (Married couple brews together and don't mention fighting)
Monday Night Brewing (3 guys in Atlanta who homebrew with a plan to go commercial, which they have!)
Ted's Homebrew Journal (Another Chicago Homebrewer as are Russ, Matt and Meg above)
 
P.S.  The photo at the top of this post was blatantly stolen from the Monday Night Brewery Site, but I'm giving them a plug here, so I think it's ok.

Ooh, it's so shiny!

I realize it has been a long while since I've posted here to Noble Square Brewing dot blogspot dot com, so I wanted to throw at least something up to avoid having the website go the way of the dodo or myspace. Now it's more like the coelacanth, you thought it was extinct, but no, it's back. 

The above is a photo of my HLT (a.k.a. Hot Liquor Tank, a.k.a. the keg in which I heat up my mash and sparge water).  I finally got a hold of some bubble insulation, cut it to size, and duct taped it together, forming a tight jacket around the HLT.  It looks so shiny!  I have used it to brew since (hopefully more posts about that to come), and I have to say, it was an easy way to get the water hotter faster.  (Water hotter faster--say that 3 times fast, wait I just did, it's not that difficult).  The HLT is pictured upside down for storage, I don't brew with it that way, you big dummy Lamont.

Anyway, if any of you other homebrewers out there heat your water electrically, I suggest you insulate.  You'll heat your water faster, using less electricity, saving time, money, and the unicorns.  I don't know if this will work for gas heated HLTs, the insulation could melt.  Time to look up if I spelled coelacanth correctly.



Superbowl Stout takes 2nd!

Señor Brew™ just saw the results from the Inland Empire Brewing Company and Superbowl Stout took second place in its category.  I think this was a smaller competition, and had hoped to take home a 1st with a shot at best of show--the stout was really that good, although it could have degraded a little during or after bottling.

The results of the Maltose Falcon's Mayfaire competition are also in, and according to their website, Superbowl Stout didn't even place.  However, Señor Brew™ still isn't entirely sure that the beer was entered in the competition.  The entry fee cheque has yet to be cashed, and there was a screw-up with how the entries were picked up.  More on this to follow, especially if it turns out that the brew was not entered.