The Goose Island Beer Co. was founded by John Hall in 1988 after reading an inspiring Delta Sky magazine article. Goose Island Beer Co. gets their hops from Elk Mountain Farms, one of the largest continuous hops farms in the USA. Learn more about the Goose Island Beer Co. and Elk Mountain Farms below and join The Hoppy Brewer in a Goose Island beer event on Thursday, August 11th, 2016. 

Tucked away in a secluded valley in Northern Idaho is Elk Mountain Farms – the place where Goose Island hops are grown and harvested. Head Farmer Ed Atkins shares the same passion and commitment to great beer as our brewers, and together they’ve worked to grow the farm from a 70-acre operation to a 1700-acre hop heaven. Here, over 50 different types of hops, including Goose Island favorites like Saaz, Amarillo and Cascade are cultivated along with numerous experimental varieties that could one day push the boundaries of beer for drinkers and brewers alike. Elk Mountain is more than just soil and plant life; it’s a laboratory, a studio, a blank canvas on which to paint the future of Goose Island beer.

Stay updated on our live music, beer events, and home brewing club meetings by checking out The Hoppy Brewer Events Calendar.

SRC: Learn about the Goose Island Beer Co. story at: www.gooseisland.com/our-story.html

This Kalyke Blonde is award winning Belgian Specialty Ale created by Scott Strain and Bobby Kros. In 2015, this Belgian Specialty Ale recipe was awarded Best of Show at the Sower’s Cup Competition. Enjoy making your own batch of this Kalyke Blonde for a simple yet intricate Specialty Belgian Ale using the recipe below.

Are you still chilling your wort using the ice bath method? If you’re ready to start brewing larger batches of quality beer you’ll want to upgrade to a wort chiller. When it comes to chilling a batch of wort, immersion chillers are the most popular among homebrewers. A copper immersion chiller is attached to a water source and then immersed into hot wort, allowing it to quickly cool down. Learn about our Premium Wort Chiller below.

CB-1

25′ x 3/8″ Premium Wort Chiller with VinylPremium, compact immersion chiller made with 25 feet of 3/8″, USA made copper tubing. It is intended to chill up to five gallons of hot wort in under twenty minutes. Our most popular product, ships unassembled in retail box with:

• (2) 3′ lengths of clear vinyl tubing
• (3) strong stainless steel hose clamps
• (1) 3/4″ heavy duty female swivel garden hose fitting

Chiller dimensions:

• 6.75″ coil diameter
• 6″ coil height
• 13.5″ inlet/outlet height

If you’re ready to start chilling your wort visit The Hoppy Brewer in Gresham to get your: Copper Immersion Chiller.

Click below to browse our:

Grains

Brewing Equipment

Hops

Burnside Brewing Co. was founded by Jay Gilbert and Jason McAdam in 2010. Located in the middle of Portland’s eastside, Burnside Brewing Co. is  a production brewery & pub with great food to pair with their craft beers. Learn more about the Burnside Brewery below and join The Hoppy Brewer in a Burnside Brewing beer event on Thursday, August 4th, 2016.

We are brewers who make great beer.  Starting in 2010 the goal of having an independent, creative brewery in the heart of Portland, came to fruition. After a Gold Medal at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver and 500 plus beers later, Burnside Brewing is proud to be a fixture on the inner east side along with other quality distilleries, breweries and small business owners. Our tanks are working seven days a week, on a 15 barrel system, allowing us to provide a wide variety of beer choices throughout the year.

Stay updated on our live music, beer events, and home brewing club meetings by checking out The Hoppy Brewer Events Calendar.

SRC: Learn about the Burnside Brewing Co. at: www.burnsidebrewco.com/brewery

This Rye Saison with Brettanomyces beer recipe was awarded third place at the 2012 Homebrew Alley 6 competition in the Belgian specialty ale category. This award winning recipe was created by Jacques Alcabes and Mathias Willner. If you’re looking for an interesting yet well-balanced flavor profile in your beer you’ll enjoy this Rye Saison with Brettanomyces.

Partial-mash recipe, 5-gallon batch size
Original gravity: 1.065
Final gravity: 1.015
Bitterness: 31.5 IBU
Alcohol by volume: 6.7 percent

3 pounds rye malt
2.5 pounds Belgian pilsner malt
1 pound brown Belgian candi sugar
0.5 pounds CaraWheat Malt
3.5 pounds extra-light dry malt extract
0.75 ounces Chinook hops (14.1 percent AA), 50 minutes
1 ounce East Kent Golding hops (5.7 percent AA), 15 minutes
.5 ounces Chinook hops (14.1 percent AA), 2 minutes

2 vials of White Labs WLP565 Belgian Saison I Ale
1 vial of White Labs WLP650 Brettanomyces Bruxellensis
2 packs (WLP565) in primary fermentation but no yeast starter. Rocked carboy. Yeast nutrient
and whirlfloc tablet for last 10 minutes of the boil.
1 pack of WLP650 in secondary

Mash grains for 60 minutes at 150 degree F, and boil wort for 90 minutes.

Fermentation: Pitch two vials of White Labs WLP565 yeast, rock the fermenter to aerate, and ferment for 3 weeks before racking to secondary and adding Brettanomyces and 2 ounces of oak that have been soaking in rye whiskey for about a week. (Also dump in the rye.) Allow eight weeks for secondary fermentation before kegging or bottling.

Hoppy Brewer is your one-stop-shop for homebrew supplies, equipment, and ingredients. Find hops, barley, yeast, kegs, homebrew equipment, kegging equipment, a beer making kit, and even books on home brewing and beer recipes. Browse our Grains here.

SRC: Click to read the Brewer’s Notes for this Rye Saison with Brettanomyces homebrew recipe.

Before you start fermenting your first beer you’ll need a clean fermenter. Using a fermenter with both liter and gallon markings will make measuring a breeze. This 30L plastic fermenter is ready to go with a pre-threaded hole which makes attaching a tap (included) for siphon-free bottling and racking an easy process, just drill it out the hole. Also included is a Fermometer-brand thermometer stick to keep your brew at the desired range. If your homebrew supplies are ready to go learn how to start fermenting your first beer below.

Primary Fermentation

Within a day or two of brew day, fermentation begins. As the yeast convert malt sugars into CO2 and alcohol you will see bubbles come through the airlock. The specific gravity will steadily drop and a cap of thick tannish foam called krauesen forms above the beer.

You may want to store your brew in an area that is easily cleaned, a particularly violent fermentation could cause a bit of a mess. Violent? Yes, violent. As with anything that builds with increasing gas levels, explosions can occur. Explosions are most common if your airlock fills with gunk essentially stopping the flow of gas out of the carboy. If your krauesen starts filling your airlock. You may want to initiate a blowoff set up.

Roughly one to two weeks from brew day, fermentation ends. Bubbles coming through the airlock become very slow or stop entirely, the specific gravity is stable and the cap of foam starts to subside.

Start fermenting your homebrew by visiting The Hoppy Brewer in Gresham to get your: Fermenter.

SRC: Learn more about fermenting your homebrew at: http://howtobrew.com/book/section-1/fermenting-your-first-beer/choosing-your-fermenter

The Firestone Walker Brewing Company is owned by Adam Firestone and David Walker, brother-in-laws. The love of beer has helped Adam (the bear) and David (the lion) craft iconic pale ales and barrel-aged beers over the last twenty years despite their relationship. Learn more about the Firestone & Walker brother-in-laws below. Join The Hoppy Brewer in the Firestone Walker Tap Take Over event on Thursday, July 28th, 2016.

David Walker

The Lion

British expatriate and Adam’s brother-in-law who brought a European twist to the proceedings. Together, they soon dreamed of building an unparalleled regional brewery, one that combined the authenticity of Old World craft with the innovative spirit of California.

Adam Firestone

The Bear

Growing up on the Central Coast surrounded by vineyards and winemaking, Adam’s gravitation towards brewing started at an early age.  The brewing ideas all launched in converted wine making equipment – mostly with mixed results.  But the hook was set when the first recipe for Double Barrel Ale was attempted.  All that was needed to take this idea beyond a pipe dream was a partner.  Many were approached with the idea but none were interested.  That is until he persuaded one lone Englishman who happened to be married to his sister.

Stay updated on our live music, beer events, and home brewing club meetings by checking out The Hoppy Brewer Events Calendar.

SRC: Learn about Matt Brynildson, the Firestone Walker Brewmaster at: www.firestonebeer.com/brewery/about-us.php

It may look simple but important things are taking place while mashing the grain for a batch of your favorite homebrew. Starches dissolve, enzymes break them down, and the yeast feeds on the sugars. Your job is to maintain the temperature during this process which allows the enzymes to their job. Complications can occur while mashing the grains; use this Troubleshoot the Mash guide if you find your mash going astray.

Troubleshooting the Mash

I can’t get the temperature of my mash to hold steady — it shoots up and then drops down.

The thick, porridge-like mash often develops hot spots, especially as the grains settle to the bottom of the pot or as the pot sits over a burner. Stir the mash gently for a few seconds before checking the temperature to be sure you’re getting an accurate reading. When warming the mash on the stovetop, only warm it for a minute at a time, then take it off the heat, stir, and check the temperature. It’s really easy to overshoot your temperature mark — warming it in intervals helps prevent this from happening.

My mash went over 153°F — is it OK?

Yes! As soon as you notice, stir the mash off the heat to bring it down below 153°F. You might end up with a slightly lower alcohol level and more malty flavors in your finished beer, but your beer will still ferment just fine.

My mash went over 170°F — is it OK?

Temperatures over 170°F effectively stop all enzymatic activity, meaning you can’t get more sugar in your beer. If this happened at the very beginning or end of your mash and you brought the temperature down as quickly as you could, the beer should be fine. (Also, beers often form hot spots as they warm — stir the mash for a few seconds before checking the temperature for the most accurate reading.) If it was definitely above 170°F for more than a few minutes, though, you might not have enough sugars to ferment the beer. Taste the wort — if it tastes sugary to you, then your beer is probably fine. But if it tastes like starchy water, then best to ditch this batch and start again. Better luck next time!

My mash went under 148°F — is it OK?

Yes! Put it on the heat for just a minute, stirring gently and checking the temperature. Take it off the heat as soon as it hits 150°F (it will continue to rise a degree or two after you take it off the heat). If it was below 148°F for a long time, you may end up with a thinner-bodied beer with a slightly higher alcohol level than expected, but your beer will ferment just fine.

My mash went under 140°F — is it OK?

Yes! See above, and then mash for an extra 15 to 30 minutes to make sure you get enough fermentable sugars in your wort.

Get ready to Mash the Grains by visiting The Hoppy Brewer in Gresham to get your: Stainless Steel Brew Kettle.

SRC: Learn more about Mashing the Grains for your homebrew at: www.thekitchn.com/brew-day-hour-1-the-mash-the-kitchns-beer-school-2015-217252

 

If you are over 21 and want to play Pokemon Go while leisurely sipping beer, look no further than The Hoppy Brewer. In fact, in a single sitting you can easily catch 6 Pokemon. A patron caught several during a single pint; these Pokemon included Evee, Nidoran, Pidgey, Rattata, Weedle, and Zubat. 

With 21 rotating beers on tap from breweries like Backwoods Brewing Company, Boneyard Beer Company, Firestone Walker Brewing Company, pFriem Family Brewers, and many more you are sure to find the perfect thirst-quencher for your Pokemon adventure. Check out our updated Tap List.

The Hoppy Brewer is also your one-stop-shop for homebrew supplies, equipment, and ingredients. Find hops, barley, yeast, kegs, home brew equipment, kegging equipment, a beer making kit, and even books on home brewing and beer recipes.

Pokemon, beers on tap, homebrew supplies not enough? The Hoppy Brewer also live events Thursdays and Saturdays. Check out The Hoppy Brewers next event.

Ordnance Brewing was awarded “Perfect Pints” Consumer Selection by Oregon Beer Growler Magazine for their RX Pale Ale. During the 2016 Hammer N’Ales Brewfest, Ordnance Brewing was chosen by the festival’s blind tasting visitors as an Oregon favorite Pale Ale. Join The Hoppy Brewer in a Ordnance Brewing beer tasting event on Thursday, July 21st, 2016.

Ordnance: RX Pale Ale, Boardman 5.6% ABV; 32 IBUs
Brewer’s Description: Pouring a light straw color, this ale gets its spicy flavor from a healthy dose of rye malt. The rye spice combines nicely with Citra and Mosaic hop aromas to create a beer that is perfect for day’s end, be it after work or a long day of outdoor pursuits.
Consumer Comments: Light, interesting, mild fruity hop flavor. Hoppy! Nose outstanding. Taste is OMG. Drama in my mouth. Well done! Very nice and exceptionally smooth, and not bitter. Clean and refreshing. Dry. I need to figure out how to get Loowit Brewing Company at: www.loowitbrewing.com/about-us-2/a keg of this into my RV. Light and crisp.

Stay updated on our live music, beer events, and home brewing club meetings by checking out The Hoppy Brewer Events Calendar.

SRC: Read more about the 2016 Hammer N’Ales Brewfest at: www.oregonbeergrowler.com/perfect-pints/archives/06-2016  & Browse Ordnance Brewing’s other Awards & Recognitions at: www.ordnancebrewing.com/awards.html