Greetings from Alberta!

[Blue-Wolf]

Well, just a quick intro... Then on to the important stuff.

My name is Jason, and I am currently residing in Edmonton, Alberta. I became interested in home brewing when I was young, thanks largely in part to my father. Until recently, I have not done any of my own home brewing, rather, helped my dad with his.

Just before Christmas, I was given 3 Mr. Beer kegs from my dad and told that this was a good place to wet my feet. So, went out and bought American Light Classic HME, Canadian Blonde HME, and an Oktoberfest Lager HME and am in the midst of getting the process started. I am NOT a fan of the Mr. Beer kegs personally, although they tend to do a good enough job. I have a Bigger setup that does 2 6 Gallon brews at a time but haven't got around to using it yet as I don't have enough bottling supplies at the moment.

Hopefully I can make this Mr. Beer kit work well enough until I get my larger setup going the way I want. Eventually I want to try and do my own grains and whatnot, but all in due time. Patience, patience, patience... I have little of it, but here I go! :rockin: :cross:

Oh yes, and a pleasure meeting you all. I know I will gain some valuable tips and insight from alot of you.

 

[Blue-Wolf]

Racked my American Classic Light last night. Figure in about 10 to 15 days I should be able to batch and bottle it.

Smelled good but a little acidic at the moment. Should get a bit better in the next while I would imagine.

 

[Blue-Wolf]

As of this post I have now started a batch of Oktoberfest Lager, and a batch of Canadian Blonde. After these are done then I can start preparing my American Premium Lager... Uh oh, looks like I'm going to have to acquire some more bottles.

 

[Daren_Z]

Hello,

i'm also from Alberta. Nice to see somebody close by. The people here are great and have a very wide range of experience and skill sets. Most of them are engineers with little tricks that can help make make your brewing that much easier.

Enjoy making the beer, it is a fantastic hobby that rewards patience, understanding, and bold-faced creativity.

Have you joined the brewers guild here in Edmonton? There are many people there with tonnes of knowledge including the Canadian three time home brewer of the year Ray Duperron and the owner of Alley Kat brewery.

 

[Blue-Wolf]

Hi Daren,

Good to know that someone is local as well! Been dealing with Brew Crew allot as they are not far from me and haven't really tried anyone else for the most part.

So far I have enjoyed the whole process. Only thing is trying to do it for myself, by myself. My dad knows his stuff, so I rarely get to help other than brewing day when he needs my arms to pour things for him, or bottling day when he gets to watch me fill everything while he caps it all, and then doesn't share.

As for the brewers guild, no. I am not a member. Not even sure how to join or even if they would want a lowly noob such as me.

Maybe catch up with you some time and swap a couple beers and stories.

 

[Daren_Z]

Just go to http://www.ehg.ca/ Sign-up is $35. I'm not a member yet, but I will be joining next September for sure. I'm a student journalist, so I've already talked to a few of the bigger guys there for stories and features in the newspaper. It sounds like they have a lot to offer and they are always willing to help anyone out!

And for sure, Ive got a few beers on the way, but I haven't had anything spectacular come out just yet.

 

[BorealBrewer]

Hello from across the prairies!

Either of you guys play around with local hops or grains? I definitely don't restrict myself to local brews, but "100% Western Canada" beers are kind of my pet recipes.

Cheers!

 

[Blue-Wolf]

Hey there,

Nope, haven't done any other brews personally other than HME for beers. Want to eventually, but not quite yet. Been watching videos on processes and it seems fairly straight forward tho. Are there kits you buy for that, or do you make your own recipes, or both? Would like to try it someday. If you make your own, how do create your recipes?

 

[Blue-Wolf]

Well, ended up bottling my American Classic Light last night. All tested up good and ready, so guess I will see what happens with it in a week or 2.

 

[Blue-Wolf]

Figured since I Now had some spare time and an empty tub, it was now time to brew another batch. American Premium Lager is now fermenting.

 

[SwivelHips]

I am currently residing in Edmonton, Alberta.

No wonder you're blue, it gets pretty cold up there.

Just kidding, welcome to the hobby (obsession?), here's hoping your Mr Beers are successful and spur you to greater heights like extract or all-grain. It's not hard, and well worth it.

 

[Blue-Wolf]

Mr. beers are almost done, only 2 batches of it left to bottle. Already on my Brew House ones now. Thanks for the welcome, and yeah, probably an obsession.

 

[Blue-Wolf]

Heh, just noticed you are from Calgary. Gets darn cold there too.

 

[Blue-Wolf]

Figured I would post some pics of my current brews and some equipment.

Nothing too special, but it is mine. :fro: :rockin:

 

[Blue-Wolf]

And now the wife wants wine, so trying my hand at a nice Strawberry Kiwi wine. Figure it should be ready for bottling on February 7.

 

[Blue-Wolf]

Just got my brewing area organized, finally. Not much, but like I said previously, it is mine. Always room for expansion.

 

[Blue-Wolf]

Oh, and it gets covered, just uncovered it all for the picture so people could see what it looks like.

 

[boo boo]

Oh, and it gets covered, just uncovered it all for the picture so people could see what it looks like.

Ha, just going to tell you that

Welcome to HBT

 

[Daren_Z]

Hello from across the prairies!

Either of you guys play around with local hops or grains? I definitely don't restrict myself to local brews, but "100% Western Canada" beers are kind of my pet recipes.

Cheers!

Hello, I'm.interested about that as well, I know some brewers in the Edmonton area have no trouble growing hops -- some even have trouble getting rid of the vines in their backyard. However, I'm not sure about any local sellers. If I do find some I'll let you know as I am very interested in this as well. Have you come across anything?

 

[BorealBrewer]

One of the LHBS's in Wpg sells some local hops...I have some vines from a family farm in SK, and some cuttings from work...the Sask hops seem to be Cluster, or pretty darn close, and the work vines are Goldings. T and T Seeds here in MB sells "Hop Vines" in their catalogue, no variety given - with much, much research (including really p***ing off a greenhouse guy at T and T), I figured out that these vines were also Goldings

As far as local malt...Malteurope has a plant here in Wpg. The LHBS sells their malt - if you've ever had a Moosehead, my understanding is the base malt comes from the plant here. Some farmers I know have given me a bunch of barley (6-row, feed quality) to play with - that, with a little help from this forum, I'm learning to malt and brew with.

Now...recipes that showcase prairie malt and hops...that is the kicker! Seems prohibition and the macros pretty well killed any authentic "Manitoba Common" around here...if such a beer ever existed!

Do you have signature Edmonton/Northern Alberta/Alberta beer? I've never found it - but I admit I've never looked that intensively.

 

[Blue-Wolf]

Well, opened a bottle of my American Classic Light to test it out, a bit early but what the heck. VERY Clear. Tastes REALLY good, but just needs a bit more time to carbonate. Isn't bad at all, just want it a bit more bubbly.

 

[Daren_Z]

One of the LHBS's in Wpg sells some local hops...I have some vines from a family farm in SK, and some cuttings from work...the Sask hops seem to be Cluster, or pretty darn close, and the work vines are Goldings. T and T Seeds here in MB sells "Hop Vines" in their catalogue, no variety given - with much, much research (including really p***ing off a greenhouse guy at T and T), I figured out that these vines were also Goldings

As far as local malt...Malteurope has a plant here in Wpg. The LHBS sells their malt - if you've ever had a Moosehead, my understanding is the base malt comes from the plant here. Some farmers I know have given me a bunch of barley (6-row, feed quality) to play with - that, with a little help from this forum, I'm learning to malt and brew with.

Now...recipes that showcase prairie malt and hops...that is the kicker! Seems prohibition and the macros pretty well killed any authentic "Manitoba Common" around here...if such a beer ever existed!

Do you have signature Edmonton/Northern Alberta/Alberta beer? I've never found it - but I admit I've never looked that intensively.

After doing a bit of research, it is possible to buy hop vines here in Edmonton, but there will be the same problem you encountered where people probably don't know what they are.

Have you gone through the process of malting barley? I'm interested in maybe attempting one day, but I'm not much for following sciences to the line (I like to treat them as an art rather than a science).

As for Edmonton beer, there are three main brewers Alley Kat, Ambers and Yellowhead. Alley Kat is in my opinion the best, but the brewers there definitely import. Ambers has a lot of really interesting recipes, and from what I understand, they are trying to do a beer made with products from within a 100-mile radius of Edmonton. To my knowledge they haven't succeeded yet. As for Yellowhead, stay away from it. They seem to be trying to mimic Big brewery recipe's and business strategy like Molson--1 failed beer that they can easily mass produce and sell as cheaply as possible.

 

[boo boo]

Hello, I'm.interested about that as well, I know some brewers in the Edmonton area have no trouble growing hops -- some even have trouble getting rid of the vines in their backyard. However, I'm not sure about any local sellers. If I do find some I'll let you know as I am very interested in this as well. Have you come across anything?

I bought mine a few years ago from here http://www.richters.com/Web_store/web_store.cgi?searchterm=hops&search_catalogue_button=Go and as they come as a plant, I had no trouble getting them to grow, and with the season you guys get
compared to mine, you should have no trouble making a go of it.

 

[Blue-Wolf]

Well, I obtained an older full size fridge that I am going to turn in to a fermenting fridge, just have to wait for my controller to arrive from China now before I can move further with the project. Will take and post pics soon.

 

[Blue-Wolf]

Well, Racked my American Premium Last Night, and bottled my Canadian Blonde and Oktoberfest this morning. Also made labels for everything. Kills a bit of time I guess.

 

[Daren_Z]

I bought mine a few years ago from here http://www.richters.com/Web_store/web_store.cgi?searchterm=hops&search_catalogue_button=Go and as they come as a plant, I had no trouble getting them to grow, and with the season you guys get
compared to mine, you should have no trouble making a go of it.

I'll trt it out this year then,
Thanks!

 

[Blue-Wolf]

So, been a bit since my last update...

Strawberry-Kiwi wine is finished, turned out great.
Canadian Blonde Lager is done, turned out great.
Oktoberfest Lager is done, turned out good except for carbonation, so have it carbonating in my keg now.
American Premium Lager is kegged, carbonated, and ready to party.
Bought a new CO2 tank setup and a couple portable chargers.
Received all my parts for my Fermentation Fridge, so going to probably start that this weekend.
And nothing brewing at the moment, but have a Cream Ale on deck which will be started soon.

Phew! I need to slow down and drink more beer.