Happy Thanksgiving

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." -John F. Kennedy

Be thankful, today.

Mmmmm, pie!

Shopping for Wine, Part II

I was not going to write a follow-up to my shopping for wine post. However, recently some wine mega-stores opened up in Tucson, and I wanted to give my experience.

Julie and I needed to do some shopping for wine for Thanksgiving. As a result, decided to give one of the new big wine stores a try. Upon entering the store, the first impression was the shear size of the thing. It was huge -- row after row of nothing but wine. We had our shopping list in hand so we starting down the isles.

The store seemed to be laid out by country first, then varietal, then winery, alphabetically. That was when we ran into our first problem. Recommended by a sommelier friend of ours, we wanted to find an Oregon Pinot Gris. However, looking for the American Pinot Gris section, we could not find it. We wandered all over the store without any luck. Finally, we had to ask someone. As it turned out, they lumped the American Pinot Gris in with the Italian Pinot Grigio, breaking their store layout already. We found that frustrating.

The second issue we had was the way the wines were laid out on the shelves. Unfortunately, the wines in this store were laid out alphabetically. Therein was the problem. Often when we shop for wine, we shop by price point. If I want a $60 Napa Cabernet, I want to look at all the $60 ranged Cabernets all together in an area. However, this store had $6 Cabernets next to $60 Cabernets. One would really have to weed through a lot of wine to get at what they want.

When we decided to talk to somebody about out frustrations, we found a gentleman with a name tag. We told him our plight, outlining the issue exactly as I did above, and this is what he said: "Well our store owner believes that if you spend more than $50 for a wine, you are just showing off." What? First thing, he ignored our comment altogether, and then insulted us to boot, which brings us to the next issue at the store: rude employees. If you want repeat customers, you do not insult their taste in wine.

One thing -- in fact, the only thing -- that the store had going for it was price and selection. You simply could not beat it.

Would I ever shop there again? I'm just not sure. They and good selection and prices, but they took all the fun out of wine shopping. As I mentioned in a previous post, I love shopping for wine. However, shopping for wine at a wine mega-store, I did not love.

The Resurgence of Brew Your Own Magazine

Many years ago, when I first started brewing beer, I subscribed Brew Your Own (BYO) magazine. It was a good magazine, for a while, until I got into more advanced brewing techniques, like all-grain brewing. I soon outgrew the magazine, as it was geared more for beginners. As a result, I let my subscription lapse.

I went for years, and did not give the magazine much thought. I held onto my subscription to Zymurgy, the American Homebrewer's Association's magazine, and that was it, though I have to admit that I found myself even just scanning each issue of that magazine and setting it aside.

Recently, about a year ago, I acquired a copy of BYO again, and was surprised. It had more advanced articles in it, and seemed quite relevant, so I subscribed again, just to give it a try.

The magazine continued to surprise me. People writing for it included Jamil Zainasheff and John Palmer, both important people in home brewing, and authors of popular brewing books.

The magazine that I had written off as a beginner magazine now had advanced articles too, which kept my interest. For instance, the latest issue has an article on building a RIMS/HERMS, which readers of this blog will note that I've been writing my own adventures of going down that path.

What surprised me most, however, was how relevant it was, especially compared to Zymurgy. Every issue, over the last year, covered the hop shortage in some way, where Zymurgy seemed to neglect the subject. In fact, one issue provided a hop substitution chart, which I keep close at hand, and refer to often (I should point out that Zymurgy finally gave one as well, last issue, but it is not as comprehensive as BYO's, and about a year too late).

What I'm trying to say, I guess, is if you have written off BYO, give it a second chance. You'll be surprised.

I'm not associated to BYO in any way -- just a happy customer.

I Hate Bottling

I absolutely love brewing, and almost everything about it. I love formulating recipes, selecting ingredients, mashing, sparging, boiling, fermenting, kegging, and imbibing. However, if there is one thing I've always hated, it is bottling.

I used to prime the beer in the bottle, using a bottling bucket, priming sugar and a spigot. I hated it. It was such a chore and would always leave a layer of sediment in the bottle.

Now I bottle straight from the keg using a counter-pressure bottle filler, just like the big boys, and I still hate it. Even though my bottles are
crystal clear, it always spews beer all over my kitchen and equipment. I end up with beer all over me, my hair, and my eyeglasses. It is a simply a task I detest.

Bottling usually entails a lot of screaming, cursing, and fuming. In fact, after a bottling session, I often swear that I will never do it again. I always do eventually, though.

I haven't bottled anything for about a year. This means that I have not entered into competition or given any beer away. It means that if I want to bring anything to a party, I have to bring a whole keg, which I really haven't even done for a long time, either. It also means that when the keg is done, it is done; I haven't been able to keep a couple of bottles around afterwards, to taste down the road.

I guess that I cannot go forever without bottling again. Just in case you cannot tell, though, I don't like it very much.

Shopping For Wine

I have not done a wine post in a while. It seems like a wine post would be good for the holidays, which are coming up quite quickly, so here goes:

You know, I love making beer. It is quite rewarding. However, almost equal to that is that a love shopping for wine.

As a man, typically, I hate shopping. Meat, underarm deodorant, and underwear: I hate it all. However, perusing shelves filled with wine bottles gives me great joy. The reason for that is that it reminds me of our wine travels. It is a trip down memory lane.

For instance, the other day, I was in the local Fry's Marketplace, a supermarket local to Tucson, in the wine section, and I came across a Cambria Pinot Noir, from Julia's vineyard. Seeing that bottle reminded me of being at Cambria, in the Santa Maria Valley, California. The drive there, we got lost among the vineyards, with an occasional oil pumping station mixed in-between, an odd sight, indeed. When we found the place, we parked on a hill overlooking that tasting room, with large tanks outside. There we tasted a plethora of wines, and bought a few.

Another bottle on the shelf that I found was a Rombauer Merlot. I remembered our stop at Rombauer, in Napa, the last stop on our wonderful trip to Napa. We had been to a mix of small boutique wineries and big mega-wineries on that trip. Rombauer had been on of the big ones. We stopped and tasted a bunch of wine, and were in and out, as we often are at the big places.

Sometimes, it is not even a memory about travels. Sometimes, it is a memory of just tasting a wine. For instance, if I see a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc on the shelf, I think of sitting on my back porch, sipping wine with my wife, watching the sunset, one of those big Arizona sunsets: orange and red, mixed with purple clouds. Each sip would fill our mouths with grapefruity goodness, the hallmark of a good New Zealand Sauv. Blanc.

So, there you have it. That is what it is like for me shopping for wine, and a love it.

Quick Tip: Storing and Reusing Star San

One of the drawbacks I had moving over to a stainless-steel conical is the amount of sanitizer I use. To sanitize my conical, I have to fill it to the top with sanitizer, to both sanitize and check for leaks. That is seven gallons of sanitizer.

Rather than waste the sanitizer, I switched to one that can store for long periods of time. I use Star San. Star San when mixed up, will store for months, as long as it is covered.

What I do is mix up my seven gallons, fill the fermenter, sanitize, check for leaks, and drain the thing into a seven gallon plastic bucket. I then cover the bucket, and set it aside. After that, whenever I need sanitizer for a particular task, say sanitizing a keg, or siphon hoses, I take a pitcher and remove about a gallon. I check the pH of that gallon to make sure it has not gone above 3.0 pH. If it is good I use it. I discard that gallon when I'm done. I've found that the seven gallons will last throughout the lifetime of the entire batch, from fermentation to keg, even if it takes several months to finish.

The other recommendation that they make is not to reuse it if it is cloudy. Well, I've found that there is a little haze even after I just mix it up. However, it will get really cloudy if a sanitize a lot of little parts, such a conical fittings, where I constantly am sticking my hands in it. I've checked the pH in that case, and sure enough, it usually is above 3.0 pH. So, my recommendation: if there is a little haze it is O.K.; if it is really cloudy, that is bad.

That is about it for storing and reusing Star San.