3/9/2010
 
 

Southern Star Brewing Brewer's Blog

     Pumpkins are good! Date:   11/23/2009   
Pumpkins are good!




Don’t quote me on this, but our long-term plans are to get a small bottling line and start putting out some one-offs in 22 oz bombers.  We are in the process of doing some test batches for these beers, and I am enjoying one of the first concoctions as I write this.  If  I had not made Skittlebrau at SA, this would be the most ridiculous brew I have ever made.  For a 6-gallon batch, I put 5 pumpkins in the mash, then “dry-pumpkined” the batch with a pumpkin that we smoked over hickory and pecan wood for about 6 hours.  It is about 7% and has a really nice pumpkin/smoke flavor.  It is insanely good, if you are into smoked vegetable beers (well, technically smoked fruit).  Further planned tests are for an imperial IPA and a slightly smoky bock.  If this project gets off the ground, you WILL see the return of differing permutations of the Rauchbier.  Cheers to weird beers!!!!!
   Posted by Dave

     Expansion Date:   9/15/2009   

 Hello all, as I write this the new glycol unit is being placed.  This is part of the first stage of the brewery expansion.  Along with the process chiller, we already have placed a 50-barrel fermentor and a 35-barrel brite tank.  They will be up and running as soon as the glycol system gets going.  The next phase of the expansion will happen late next month with the addition of two more 50-barrel fermentors that are in the process of being made for us in Nevada.


            I would like to thank all of you for your strong support.  This expansion project will help us keep up with the strong demand for our product, and will help insure that the brewery stays a health viable business for years to come.


Cheers!


Dave
   Posted by Dave

     Saison Date:   7/22/2009   

The 20th was a pretty special day here at the brewery.  Mark Kizer and Scott Wells came out and brewed their Saison, which is presently bubbling away in Dr. Seuss at a balmy 82F.  This spiced Belgian farmhouse-style ale is going to go perfectly with the last blistering days of the Texas summer.  The Saison is a complex beer, utilizing six different types of malt, three different hops, and even blended yeast.  In addition, Grains of paradise, coriander, bitter orange peels and fresh ginger were added to give a rich complement to the herbal, peppery taste imparted by the yeast.


            This, by the way, is the winner of our best of show homebrew competition, and will be entered in the GABF Pro-am division this year in Denver.  Mark, Scott; thank you guys for coming out and brewing the beer.  We had a great time hanging out with y’all and enjoying some of your other tasty home-brewed offerings.
   Posted by Dave

     Stouty Goodness Date:   11/20/2008   
We brewed the first full batch of Buried Hatchet Stout yesterday.  That was exciting.  I’m sure glad that Corey was here (the owner/brewer of the future Gulf Coast Brewing) to help, because I’m not sure that I could have pulled it off by myself.  For those of you unfamiliar with our brewing system, we have a 15 bbl brewhouse and 30 bbl fermenters.  That means that to get a full batch, we have to brew two batches one right after the other of the same beer.  This was quite a challenge yesterday, as the grain bill for 15 bbls was over 1700 lbs.  The trick is to empty the mash tun right after runoff so you can mash in again in time to begin knock-out of the first batch into the fermenter.  If you don’t hit that window, your day becomes VERY long (as if the day wasn’t long enough with this beer’s 2 hour lauter.  The runoff is very slow because the liquid is very viscous and has to run down through a really thick mash.  The bummer part of the brew day is that we were dumping final runnings that were 13 degrees plato.  That’s more than the starting gravity of most beers and would (if itself fermented) yield about 5.5% ABV.  Yikes.  It will be all worthwhile, as the wort that was boiled was an astounding 19 Degrees Plato, which when fermented will yield a beautiful black velvety 9%ABV stout which is the Buried Hatchet.  A beer that big needs a lot of yeast and we had to do some unconventional yeast harvesting.  I had to pull yeast from two fermenters and shoot some actively fermenting Pale Ale into it to get enough yeast to handle this monster.  Overall, I’m really stoked about this Stout.  Test batches tasted of smooth coffee and chocolate with no noticeable alcohol burn.  Awsome.
   Posted by Dave

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