Guate Brewing

My name is Rodrigo by the way

Yep, we're still on, the good news is I don't have a lab report to turn in this coming week, so I can stay later. I'll be bringing a sample of my dark IPA for each of you.

I believe this might be of interest to Curtis, I just swung by D Caribe a couple of days ago and they're still out of DME with no ETA on the next batch, amber LME can still be had for Q64 per 3.5 kg in a gallon container.

If it's done by then (which it should) we might bar hop to this place a couple of blocks away, which should have my first commercial offering, I'll let you know how it turns out on tuesday to add to the suspense.

rappyfreak said:

So we are still on right guys? Curtis I can pick you up at your hotel if you want no problem.

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Yes, still on! I'll be staying in Z10 not far from Rattle & Hum so will just meet you guys there. Might take a ride back though.

Oh, and I'll be the old gringo with buzzed hair and beard -- both at least 50% grey now. Wearing some flavor of tropical print shirt. Of course if there are a bunch of other old cruisers from the Rio there that won't help you much, but I don't tend to see them at Rattle & Hum.

Will PM you both my Guate cell phone number.

pacayaforhops said:

Yep, we're still on, the good news is I don't have a lab report to turn in this coming week, so I can stay later. I'll be bringing a sample of my dark IPA for each of you.

I believe this might be of interest to Curtis, I just swung by D Caribe a couple of days ago and they're still out of DME with no ETA on the next batch, amber LME can still be had for Q64 per 3.5 kg in a gallon container.

If it's done by then (which it should) we might bar hop to this place a couple of blocks away, which should have my first commercial offering, I'll let you know how it turns out on tuesday to add to the suspense.

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Later? I'm an old fart -- 9 PM is my usual bed time! OK, maybe just this once...

Will check in w/ D Caribe and see what they have next week. I talked with them a few weeks ago about the logistics of shipping to the Rio and they were fine with that...call 'em up place an order, deposit payment in their bank account, and then they ship with Cargo Express or similar. Given their less than convenient location (I would have spent hours finding it without a cabbie) shipping to your locations might not be a bad idea either.

I assume that the DME/LME's they have are just some generic light color?

Wow, commercial offering...I'll be sure and keep a safe distance from you in case Gallo decides to have you taken out!

I have a few friends here in Guate with bar/restaurants who have asked me about brewing for them, but I have not wanted to hassle with it.

I'll see if I can leave work early, if not I'll get off at 7:45 and swing by.

My job's further away from me than D Caribe, driving over to pick stuff up is no problem, the problem is they've been out of stock on DME for about a year now. The DME is light color, but the LME is dark; my all extract IPA I'll be bringing over, came out at just under 20 SRM using 10.5 pounds of it for 5 gal, it has a slight toast to it with lots of caramel, not really what I'm looking for when I'm making pale ales or lagers (though it might be just what I need for porter, stout, bock, dunkelweizen or altbier; a man can't live off dark beer alone, I need my wheat beer, my kolsch, my lambic, etc.).

As far as my commercial offering... if it's carbed up by today I'll deliver tomorrow. It's an Extra Strong Bitter with more brown sugar in it than I'm used to using, it came out very nice though, considering the amount of sugar it has; low hops (willamette to about 10 IBU, which seems non-existent to me after drinking my IPA for a couple of months), slight diacetyl, thin body, very drinkable for a 6%+ ABV beer, the nose is reminiscent of irish cream; I'm hoping it'll be a big hit with the ladies, specifically the ones not used to drinking beer " 'cause it's too bitter".

I don't believe I need to worry about the brewery taking exception to my offering, it's been sold (the brewery, not my recipe) to a mexican company (most likely modelo) and the beer is coming out in the bar's name, not mine; so I believe it's all good for now. The bar's owner is planning on expanding to having 3 craft brews on tap at any given time, for now we're considering a 2 keg each brew, 1 keg every 15 days; we'll leave 2 kegs free in case any of them become more popular than we anticipated so we can ramp it up to 1 keg a week. It sounds like a fun project ($ too), so hopefully it'll take off.

Cool. What's the name of this bar serving craft brews?

Just kidding about the time: 8PM is fine. (Yeah right, just started thinking about shutting down my PC and getting ready to go to bed as I wrote this...time: 8:05!).

Yeah, it will be good to hear about this bar! See you guys later tonight. I will be the tall guy with curly brown hair, jeans and a white and blue striped polo shirt.

Ok... so we went, saw & conquered, I had a blast; the most fun I've had in years: made some friends with similar interests, took a look at the venue that'll be selling my brews, figured out where the cooler with the keg will be sitting at, found out there's a place they can get the kegerator at, had some decent beer at a bar for a change, made plans to swap some yeasts, hopefully I'll run into you guys on saturday at the bar, hopefully the 1 keg will last that long (seeing as how thursday and friday are the busier days at the bar), on the other hand if it doesn't; I'd know I have a winner.

All in all a very fun & interesting night, I hope we can repeat the experience every few months, hopefully with a growing community.

I agree Wayne, it was a blast, really enjoyed myself. Just bought a banjo burner to be able to boil faster, should be here by next week. We will definitely go ahead and swap yeasts. Will measure my stuck fermentation today and if still not lower than 1020 I will need your yeast urgently! Cheers!

Me too, had a great time, will definitely have to do that again.

But oh man...you guys kept this gringo viejo up w-a-y past his bed time and forced him to drink lots of good beer -- at least that's the story I'm going to tell my GF when she arrives in a few hours. I'm still not fully recovered, so I hope she's really tired from traveling and doesn't want to go out drinking!

Wayne: I was not paying very close attention when we went to the second bar last night, can you tell me the name of the bar and the street?

"Revolver", 15th st, between 2nd and 4th ave

Rodrigo, did your stuck fermentation ever move along? are we still on for the yeast swap?

No Wyne, took a reading yesterday and still stuck, when and where is it good for you to swap yeasts?

Any day after wednesday, 8:00 PM or after; friday/saturday AM or sunday all day.

As to where, let me know... if it's after work, anywhere around zona 9 to pradera is ok, if it's on the weekend, It could be joust about anywhere.

pacayaforhops said:

"Revolver", 15th st, between 2nd and 4th ave

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Thanks. Found it after posting this message, but it was too early in the day to be open.

Are they serving your brew yet? If so, how's it working out?

Back on the Rio now. Be back up to the City around mid October.

Yep, as of last thursday, it's been getting good reviews as far as I've been told.

What is the beer you have on tap there? Is it the one we tried?

pacayaforhops said:

"...It's an Extra Strong Bitter with more brown sugar in it than I'm used to using, it came out very nice though, considering the amount of sugar it has; low hops (willamette to about 10 IBU, which seems non-existent to me after drinking my IPA for a couple of months), slight diacetyl, thin body, very drinkable for a 6%+ ABV beer, the nose is reminiscent of irish cream; I'm hoping it'll be a big hit with the ladies, specifically the ones not used to drinking beer " 'cause it's too bitter". ..."

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No, It's the one I told you guys I'd bring in on wednesday. Next up the bar will be having porter on tap; just made it yesterday, should be done in about 3-4 weeks.

If all goes according to plan the bar will be having 8 cornies brought in with all the equipment needed to serve at the bar at about the same time the porter arrives on tap (& I'll be bringing in 4 cornies of my own for personal use), currently have ingredients for 5 more 5 gal batches ready to go.

The bar owner named it "Revolver Extra Bitter Strong", I don't mind the transposition or not naming it myself for that matter, as long as I get paid asking price it's all good (I think it's kind of like breeding dogs for sale, you can take great care in the breeding selection and raising the pups then register them as "Prince Ulf of Jutland" or whatever, but whomever buys them from you will end up calling them "scruffy" or some such anyways).

pacayaforhops said:

No, It's the one I told you guys I'd bring in on wednesday. Next up the bar will be having porter on tap; just made it yesterday, should be done in about 3-4 weeks.

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Great, I plan to be back in the City around mid-October so hopefully something is on tap then!

I have 10 gallons of mead ready to rack to secondary. I plan to rack to several smaller fermetors over fruit tomorrow. Picked up strawberries, pineapples, and sapote and plan to make about 2 gallons of each. Unfortunately, I missed mango season.

We plan to travel to the City on Tuesday. Probably be there for a couple of days and then a road trip to the highlands.

Do you guys want to get together again this Wednesday?

Anything still on tap at Revolver?

Sure, there should still be some ESB, chaps at the bar messed with the regulator and killed the carbonation, should be up to snuff on wednesday, it's had good reviews but not that many takers from what I've heard.

pacayaforhops said:

Sure, there should still be some ESB, chaps at the bar messed with the regulator and killed the carbonation, should be up to snuff on wednesday, it's had good reviews but not that many takers from what I've heard.

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Well, lets drop in and help out the sales. What time do they open?

Hey guys! Excellent I am starting in all of the home brewing stuff made my first batch blonde ale, don't know if the beer tastes as it should be but people that have tried it say is ok! I want to join the group but don't know where to, happy to see home brewers in my Guatemala!

Viso, you can join the club here
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/groups/cerveceros-ca-4/
and you can join us at the aforementioned bar on wednesday.

Curtis, I forgot to mention, I leave work at 9 on wednesday; I'd be there at about 9:20 & hang out for about an hour or 2 tops, have to get up early on thursday. I'll be bringing my german ale yeast in case Rodrigo shows up. I Believe they open at about 6:00PM.

Which bar is this you talk about? Where is located? Time of the meeting on wednesday? Thanks

pacayaforhops said:

"Revolver", 15th st, between 2nd and 4th ave

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I'll be there at around 9:20 PM, hopefully Curtis is still there by that time.

Please can you be more specific! Is this bar located in la cupula? Zone 9? What else can you tell me that is near by so I can locate the bar? I used to know a bar called lolita y revoler is this the same bar? Thanks

I don't mean to come across as a total ass, but at the risk of doing so: location was discussed 2-3 pages ago in this thread. (Here comes the ass part) Waiting for info to be spoon-fed to you is not going to help your brews, so you might want to get into the habit of researching (take this comment as you will).

15 seconds on Yahoo!:
http://www.facebook.com/antares.guate

pacayaforhops said:

I don't mean to come across as a total ass, but at the risk of doing so: location was discussed 2-3 pages ago in this thread. (Here comes the ass part) Waiting for info to be spoon-fed to you is not going to help your brews, so you might want to get into the habit of researching (take this comment as you will).

15 seconds on Yahoo!:
http://www.facebook.com/antares.guate

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Pacaya, come on he's a new guy with 3 posts, that was a little harsh.

Guys, forgot a bout a previous commitment, so I probably won't make it tonight, but should be back through the City again within a week.

viso88 said:

Please can you be more specific! Is this bar located in la cupula? Zone 9? What else can you tell me that is near by so I can locate the bar? I used to know a bar called lolita y revoler is this the same bar? Thanks

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It's in Zone 10.

viso88 said:

Hey guys! Excellent I am starting in all of the home brewing stuff made my first batch blonde ale, don't know if the beer tastes as it should be but people that have tried it say is ok! I want to join the group but don't know where to, happy to see home brewers in my Guatemala!

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Cool. See that you have joind the "Cerveceros CA-4" group. Pacaya has posted a lot of good info here about sources of supplies here in Guate (limited, but some things like LME avaiable). Welcome aboard.

Curtis2010 said:

Guys, forgot a bout a previous commitment, so I probably won't make it tonight, but should be back through the City again within a week.

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Ok, next week it is then...

Welcome aboard viso! Good to have another one here, if you need any help just holler. The bar is in front of Academia Europea on z10. Behave Wayne! Lol


Good thing it is next week Curtis, this week I could not make it, I have one of those nasty colds that are going around. We'll see you next week then

Thanks for the information! Get well soon Rodrigo! Hopefully I will meet you guys next week!

If anyone's interested, I have a culture of my wild bugs I can hand out as well, I just took a sample of my wild ale I'm brewing for my 30th b-day next year and it tastes like what I understand Orval trappist ale tastes like, lots of esters and phenols but not much acidity, color is clear copper, moderate fusels at this point but the bugs will take care of it in a few months. Here's a pic of the pellicle in the bucket (bucket wrapped in saran wrap to prevent over oxidation):



Fermenting with this culture in an unwrapped bucket will get you an acetic lambic in about 1 year or a proper flanders red; doing so in a carboy (or wrapped up bucket) will get you more of a trappist abbey ale character in about 6 months (I can hear Rodrigo's mouth watering all the way to here).

That pellicle looks perfect Wayne, very nice job, of course my mouth is watering!!! I'll bring the gerrman wheat yeast for you, really need your yeast Wayne.

Hey, great idea to swap yeasts, given that we can't buy them here. I just started banking mine last season. I currently have some popular strains banked: SafAle US-05, SafLager S-23, SafLager W-34/70, EC-1118 (for mead). If any of you are interested in any of these strains then let me know. I don't have them here in the City, but can send them to you when I get back on the Rio.

Just started my first brew with the banked US-05 about a week ago and it was definitely still viable -- good thing I decided to rig a blow-off tube!

Back in the City today, just returned from Chichicastenago...sure would be easier to brew in that climate than the Rio! In the City for a few days so should be around for this Wednesday if you guys are up for it ??

I just found this thread. I live in Florida but sometimes go to Guatemala. I adopted my 2 girls from there, so I go back. Nice country. Love Antigua. I may be going down there beginning of next year. If I do, Ill let you guys know and if you want some stuff, Ill bring it with me. Im happy to see a healthy homebrew group down there. While adopting my girls, I got to like Gallo. Drank alot of it in place of water.

Let's us know when you come back down. I used to live Bradenton, FL and captain charters for SunSail out of St. Pete (and a few other charter companies in SW FL). Great cruising ground in SW FL.

There are some better brews starting to trickle into Guate, like some by Brooklyn Brewery.