I saw this on the news last night and got the following email this morning:

“In the unlikely event that you haven’t already heard, a bill has been introduced in the Wisconsin Legislature to increase the fermented malt beverages tax by 400%, from $2/barrel to $10/barrel.  Granted, all of the (craft) breweries you probably enjoy pay a lower rate because they produce much less than 300,000 barrels per year.  Their effective tax (for the first 50,000 barrels of production), is half that, but a 400% increase is a 400% increase.

 Such a tax increase may not make a lot of difference in cost to you in the short run as a consumer (but also don’t believe the misleading couple pennies a bottle assertion made by tax advocates, because costs are multiplied as they go through the three-tier distribution system.  Also don’t forget that beer–unlike just about any other food product–is already taxed three times, at the federal level, with the tax at issue here, and then the state and county sales tax on top of all that!  (Imagine the uproar if we taxed milk that way.)  But a tax increase could mean a huge difference for the survival of some of our state’s great small craft brewers who are already operating on the financial margins as they put pride in quality beer above financial profit.  They can’t absorb a tax increase as easily as the macrobrewers, and as they pass along the resulting cost increases to the consumer–and with those increases multiplied through the distribution chain–even a relatively small price increase of $2/case, particularly in this economy, might be the straw that breaks the camel’s back, and some consumers may be encouraged to “trade down” to craft beer look-alikes from the out-of-state macrobrewers.  That’s bad for Wisconsin craft brewers and their employees.  And craft brewers going out of business ultimately means less selection for you and less great craft beer for which Wisconsin has been a national leader. “

Here is the actual bill, if you’re interested.  Makes me glad Im a homebrewer, since they’re taxing the barrel of finished product rather than the ingredients that go into the product.

BTW – Sorry the blog’s been empty for so long.  I’ve been playing around with Facebook and LinkedIn and toying with the idea of Twitter.  But, what Facebook has shown me is that I don’t have enough different things happening in my life to update a Facebook status regularly, let alone a Twitter feed.

I’ve always wanted to try making my own bock beer.  I tend to brew stuff that’s around the same gravity, and wanted to try a higher gravity beer.  What better place to start than with the beer style Pabst spread around the country at the turn of the 20th century?  Just kidding, I was hoping to get something close to Salvator.  It didn’t have to be a doppelbock, but I did want a higher gravity beer.

I had been hoping to brew a bock beer so it was ready in spring.  It’s the spring thing to do, right?  Well, I didn’t quite get to it, but last weekend I managed to squeeze out enough to brew my first batch of bock beer.  Does brewing it in spring count?

Aroma and color are dead on the money.  The fermentation has been going very well.  The only thing a little disappointing is the original gravity.  It’s not as high as I had hoped.  I was hoping to get 1.064 or higher.  My hyrometer measured a mere 1.056.  Mine will end up being more true to the American Bock found more in Texas and the Midwest.  I guess that’s fitting since I live in Wisconsin.

I hoping to bottle it in about 1 week.  So, check back then and I’ll let you know what the final gravity is and the alcohol content.  Then check back a couple weeks later and I’ll let you know how it tastes.

Never happen.  The folks at St. James Gate would have to be dragged out by Budweiser thugs before anything would come out of that brewery capable of being turned green.  Green beer?  Come on, that’s not real beer you’re drinkin’.  You want to be Irish today?  Host a pint of the good stuff, not the green stuff.  A friend of mine was kind enough to send this my way:

BTW – If you like the Irish pubs, why not check out my friend at the Waukesha Civic Theatre in Don’t Dress For Dinner and then head on over to House of Guinness for a pint after that.  They’re within walking distance of each other and I doubt you’ll be disappointed with either.

Remember the posts I had about the beer that just didn’t seem to want to ferment?  I have…scratch that…had 3 bottles left from that batch of beer.  I had one the other night for my birthday, and you know what?  It keeps getting better.  I’m tempted to save the last 2 bottles for a year or so to see what they taste like.  Everytime I open one, the head retention is better, the aroma more enticing and flavor more complex and full.  I’ll have to post the recipe for that one to share the wealth but its not readily handy as I type this.  But, keep an out for it and you’ll get an easy to make beer with some awesome quallities.

So, my latest homebrew incarnation turned out much better than I originally thought.  I bottled this honey weiss a couple days after Christmas.  I looked a little darker than I had been shooting for.  After just 2 weeks in the bottles, I cracked one open and it had poor head retention, was lacking in the yeasty noise you’d expect from a weiss beer, and had just an okay balance.  I thought, maybe I just didn’t give it enough time.  Plus, I hadn’t refrigerated the first one.

 So, last night I popped open another one after putting in the fridge earlier in the day.  What a difference a week makes!  The head was composed of an inch of tiny bubbles that didn’t want to simply go away.  Last week, the bubbles were huge and completely gone in about 2 minutes.  It had a nice yeasty nose with just a touch of honey.  It had a lighter mouth feel and it started slightly sweet with malty and honey flavors.  Then it finished with just the right amount of hops without becoming bitter.  Still a little dark in color but that’s not gonna change no matter how long it sits in the bottle. 

In all, it is one of my better brews and since I usually prefer darker ales and stouts that’s high praise.

This just plain sucks.  Tomorrow morning I was supposed to be taking a class at the local tech college on all grain brewing methods.  I’ve always used malt extracts in the past because, quite frankly, is quicker and easier.  I always steep some additional grains for added color and flavor, but instead of using 10 – 15 pounds of grain and steeping it for hours, I tend to use 6 pounds of malt extract and 1-2 pounds of grain.

I was looking forward to taking the class and learning the ins and outs of all grain brewing from someone who’s been there — while using someone else’s equipment to boot — without having to go through the trial and error method that usually leads to a lot of disappointment and loss of money before success is achieved.

But, alas, they called on Tuesday to say they are cancelling the class due to lack of interest.  They needed 2 more students to have the class.  They didn’t say how many they already had.  I live in Brew Town U.S.A. and there was a lack of interest.  Apparently, folks here are much more interested in consuming the beer rather than making it.  So, now I have a decision to make with this newly freed up 4 hours on Saturday morning.  Do I go to the supply store and get some ingredients for a new brew that would be ready right around Christmas, or do I finish all that yardwork that’s been staring at me for weeks?  I have a feeling I’m going to end up picking the wrong one…

It’s been a month now and I thought I’d pass along this update.  The last batch of beer has been a lot of fun.  The beer has conditioned well in the bottles and the last few have had a fuller feel with a little more hoppy after taste.  I’m telling you folks, if you’ve never tried making home brewed beer you really should give it a shot.  Assuming of course that you like beer.  Your tastebuds will thank you.  And the beauty is that you can try something different every time.

 ”Relax.  Have a homebrew.”  Words to live by, Charlie.  Words to live by.

So, a week ago I went ahead and bottled my beer.  I had cleaned and sanitized 2 cases of bottles for this endeavor and retaken the specific gravity reading.  Which was now 1.012.  I guess there was still a little fermenting going on.  Unfortunately, after I filled all 48 bottles, I still had some beer left in my bottling bucket.  What to do?  It’s alcohol abuse to just dump that out, right?  I did what any red-blooded Wisconsite would do.  I grabbed more bottles.

Now, all of my bottles get washed before I store them, but I always santize them before bottling.  You never know what might get in bottles that have been sitting around for a while.  But, I didn’t have the time to sanitize more bottles.  So, I rinsed out 4 bottles, filled them, and bottled them.

Usually I wait at least 2 weeks before opening a bottle.  It just takes a while for everything to get completely bottle conditioned.  But, after the day I had on Friday I was desperate for good news anywhere.  Plus, I have these 4 “extra” beers anyway.  So, grabbed one of them, popped the top and poured it out.

Ah-ha!  Finally some success.  What an interesting flavor.  Initial reaction is malty with a roasted flavor reminiscent of many stouts.  Then it has a crisp hoppy finish.  The beer has a chocolatey brown color to it.  Granted I hadn’t eaten anything in about 8 hours prior to driking it, but it had a pretty decent kick to it.  The Tumultuous Porter is a recipe worth keeping.  As the recipe says, it is hard to describe the flavor, but I’ve tried my best here.

Ol’ Charlie was right, “Relax.  Have a homebrew.”

So, I siphoned off some of the cooled wort to check its specific gravity to find out how much if any fermentation happened.  My original gravity reading was 1.040 which translated to a degrees Balling of 10.  My new specific gravity reading was 1.012 and a Balling scale reading of 3.  Its not the most potent brew I’ve ever made but, it did ferment.  Depending on which calculation you prefer to use it will put you right around 3.5% ABV.  I was hoping it would be closer to the 4-5% range.

So, with fermentation seemingly stopped, I guess its time to bottle.  I just hope the yeast is active enough to carbonate the beer after it gets bottled.  I’ve never had the fermentation completely stop before.  Especially after adding more yeast.  So, I don’t know if the priming sugar will be enough to get things going again or if the yeast is just not active.  Do I add some yeast along with the suger when I bottle it?  I’m thinking probably not.  I don’t need bottles exploding on me or geysers coming out of each bottle when they’re opened.  If it doesn’t carbonate though, I’m stuck with opening each bottle and adding yeast to it a granule at a time.

Well, I guess that’s not the worst thing in the world.  I’ve talked myself into it.  I shall bottle the beer and check it in 2 weeks.  If it seems flat, then I will add some dry yeast to each bottle and check them again in another 2 weeks.  If it’s still flat, I guess its time to dump it out and try a new batch.  Happens to ever homebrewer now and again, but it never gets any less frustrating.

As you know, I was going to add more yeast to my seemingly slow fermenting wort.  Which I did.  Then the reaction completely stopped.  I was a little freaked out and definitely confused.  So, I grabbed my well-worn copy of The New Complete Joy of Homebrewing, and went to the Appendix titled “Troubleshooting – Problem Solving and Bad Beer”.  There I found a section on prematurely stuck fermentation.  Charlie’s answer, “Stop worrying”.  Many malt extracts leave a certain amount of unfermentable content in them to add more body to a beer and that it would not be impossible that a beer with a OG of 1.038 finished with FG of 1.013 or even higher gravity beers that began at 1.055 finishing at 1.025.

So, I’m going to follow the advice of another homebrewer and siphon out enough wort to check the specific gravity.  If it’s in an acceptable range, I’ll bottle it.  Otherwise I might need to come up with a new plan.  Check back and I’ll keep you posted.  (Honest, brewing beer is usually not this difficult)