Strawberry Apfelwein

I know, I know - it's not beer. Still, it'll pack a punch, and I've been playing around with the idea of a cider/apfelwein for some time now. So, on a whim today at the grocery store I decided to pull the trigger while I'm waiting for some beer yeast to come in the mail (empty fermenters make me sad). I picked up 3 gallons of Tree Top 100% Apple Juice, checked out, went home, and got to work. Let me just say that a cider/apfelwein "brewday" goes MUCH faster than beer, and that was perfect given I didn't start until about 3 pm. I inoculated with Red Star Premier Cuvee yeast, and I'll add a couple pounds of frozen strawberries once the initial fermentation is finished. If all goes well I should end up with something in the 6-6.5% ABV range. I'll post results when it's all said and done. Depending on how this turns out, I may incorporate ciders into my normal rotation. Cheers!

Karbach Tour

On Tuesday I had the pleasure of taking a private tour of the Karbach Brewing Co. in Houston. It was an HEB-exclusive event to celebrate the 1st anniversary of Karbach's commercial canning release. The perks of making the 1.5 hour trip down? In addition to the tour - including a behind-the-scenes look into their barrel room (not included on the normal tour) - they fed us brats cooked with Barn Burner Saison, all the beer we could swallow, and a tasting glass. I even got to sample (thrice) a new West Coast IIPA they call Hop Delusion. Look for it on HEB shelves in May. If you're a fan of that style, this new offering is PHENOMENAL. Anyway, here's a few shots I took on the tour.

Brew Room: Mash Tun, Lauter Tun, Kettle, Whirlpool. Oh, and David.

Canning Room: Loaded by the layer into the canning line. Unfortunately,
they were canning at the time so we couldn't go in.

Barrel Room: The sneak peek most don't get to see.

Other Side of Barrel Room: Keeper of the to-be-canned pallets.
A heavenly sight indeed. 

I forgot to snap photos of the fermenters, but they were numerous and 90BBL each. Just a little bigger than the rigs us homebrewers use (HAH). If you're in the neighborhood, I highly recommend stopping by; great beer made by great people.

Cheers!