ShuBrew

ShuBrew-a-Pa-Looza Tickets On Sale!

2012-01-12T20:59:00.000-08:00

Click this link or the one on the right of our homepage to get your tickets today!

ShuBrew-a-Pa-Looza Tickets

Ticket Presale

2012-01-04T11:00:00.001-08:00

Today we are beginning a limited time presale for tickets to ShuBrew-a-Pa-Looza. There will be 25 of the 75 tickets up for grabs.. First come first serve. They are $35 per ticket. Limit 4 per person and all sales must be in person. Cash or credit is acceptable. The event venue will be located in the north Pittsburgh area and is to be announced soon. The cost of the ticket gets you entrance, food, and a ShuBrew tasting glass (which is required to participate in the FREE beer tasting). The glass will be similar to this but may be slightly different...

Willy's Gillies

2011-12-13T17:45:00.001-08:00

This past weekend I got to brew, which I am happy to say has become a more common practice at my house as of late. It is my first shot at brewing a Wee Heavy, which is a Strong Scotch Ale.. this guy is so strong that he should weigh in at about 9.5% ABV if all goes well.

One requirement for everything to go well enough for me to hit my target alcohol percentage is that the yeast needs to ferment as efficiently as possible before ~~dying~~ becoming dormant. Perhaps the middle of December is not the best time to be brewing a Scotch Ale.. which I hadn't considered until my wife, dogs, and I are all sitting here shivering in our home. Scotch Ales need to ferment between 50-60 degrees Fahrenheit to maximize alcohol output and to create the proper flavors of the style. The bad news for us is that unlike most other ales which take just about a week or so to complete primary fermentation, our house is going to be an ice box for about 2 1/2 more weeks.

Thank God I have a patient wife, and dogs who cannot willingly choose to move out.

After primary fermentation is done the beer is going to sit and condition in my cold garage for the next few months to be bottled just in time for ShuBrew-a-Pa-Looza at the beginning of March. I promise I'm going to release more details about the event in the next week or so. So far plans are coming along; we have almost the full beer menu chosen and many of the food pairings decided, too.

I'm also going to be looking for a select handful of volunteers who would be willing to help serve or cook at the event. While I cannot pay you in USD, I will have some pretty fair compensation offerings for your time. Also, it is worth knowing that all profits for this event will be donated to a yet to be announced charity, so your time and efforts will be going to a good cause. I can only take some of those who volunteer, and it is best for people who are interested in enjoying all the food, beverage, and atmosphere to get a ticket rather than work the tasting. If you send me an email I will out your name on a list and once I figure out the logistics of everything I will let you know how and if we can use you. Thank you in advance to those who volunteer.

Email me

Judge a Beer By Its... Title

2011-12-05T15:38:00.001-08:00

With more and more details being worked out with ShuBrew-a-Pa-Looza I have spent a considerable amount of time trying to come up with names for my beers that do them justice. The title of a beer serves several purposes. There is the marketing value, which is important for brand familiarity and customer approachability. Also from a beer's title we want to be able to let the consumer know the story that the beer tells. Allow me to expand on the latter notion...

This is a partially borrowed thought, but one that has stuck with me for quite some time. In the movie Sideways which is about a quirky pair of wine-loving friends one character explains that her passion of wine goes much deeper than the taste or ability to get inebriated by drinking it. What kept her coming back for more was the story inside the bottle.. the one about the grape harvester that earned very little money to spend their afternoon plucking the sweet fruit from the vine.. and if the wine is old, wondering whether or not that person is still alive or not. My thoughts about beer are familiar to these. I often think about how the maltster toasted or smoked the grain.. or the reasons behind why a certain hop contains the characteristics that make one beer unique from the next just because it was grown in Washington instead of Germany. What really blows my mind is the history of the yeast in a given bottle. The yeast is the most important worker in every batch, and it is the only ingredient with life. Each strand has been around for many years and has evolved to work perfectly with certain styles of beer. More on the science of yeast in a different post, but it's fascinating to think about where each strand started.

Now that I've gotten way off track I'm going to try and get my thoughts refocused. Ah yes, the importance of a name.. So in coming up with names for my beers I need to make sure that they encompass my brand image while also outlining the story and theme of the beer. It needs to be memorable and comprehensible. At ShuBrew I've toyed with the idea of naming some of my beers after different styles of shoes that also play at the style of beer. For example, we recently created a Wee Heavy Scotch Ale named Willy's Gillies . ..gillies being a Scottish style of shoe, and Willy being a popular Scottish name.

We are looking for more ideas for our soon to be unveiled lineup of beers. I am planning on releasing a Cascadian Dark Ale... Otherwise known as a Black IPA. I had thought about using the name 'iPA D' (d for dark) but I don't think I'd get away with it. Besides that, it doesn't fit our brand.. lend me your thoughts for a killer Black IPA name that pairs as nicely with ShuBrew as these two pair with each other...

Jibber-Jabber

2011-11-28T14:43:00.001-08:00

An anonymous reader of this blog posted a comment this week and reminded me of something I have been hoping to avoid for a long time. What he or she reminded me of is that there is a lot of legal jibber jabber associated with owning and operating a brewery. The email I received kindly informed me that to their knowledge it is against the law for me to host a beer tasting like ShuBrew-a-Pa-Looza due to the fact that homebrewers are not legally allowed to sell their beer.

Before we get any further into this dictation I want to clarify with everyone that I have taken the appropriate steps necessary to ensure that our beerfest is done in a completely legal way according to counsel.. so there is no need to fret over that. Why I'm bringing this up is because too many breweries are facing legal issues that make it hard for them to do business or even start up with doing business. If it isn't licensing laws that are prohibiting, it's distributing laws.. and if it isn't that it's facing lawsuits from some of industry bullies.

There was a scene in the movie Beer Wars that described a scenario where Dogfish Head was being sued by Anheuser Busch because they claimed that the terms 'Punkin' and 'Chickory' were too vague to use in their beer names. It is never said what came of this suit, but DFH's initial reaction was "The name Natural Light isn't too generic?" This is an example of the legal pressure small breweries face, as the major pee-water breweries full intentions are to bully the smaller breweries into adhering to their rules.

As craft brewers we are not about adhering to anyone's rules.. we make our own rules. If there isn't a way around the law, we must get the law changed. There is much more to being a brewery than just brewing. As part of this adventure, I am anticipating the hard fights as well as the rewarding moments a small business owner works for. I won't be pushed away by the trials and tribulations of someone's legal jibber jabber.

I Am a Craft Brewer

2011-11-21T15:32:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was a brew day which was really rewarding because the last several weekend of my life have been somewhat booked in advance so to speak. I did a clone of the Sto ne/Nøgne Ø/Jolly Pumpkin Holiday Ale from a few years back. The recipe was located in the new Stone Brewery book in which I recently purchased and thought it would be fun to recreate a beer that I have never gotten to try.

Soon I will begin brewing for the upcoming beer festival we are having in March. Plans are coming along for the event.. Beers have been named, styles picked (for the most part) and we have begun deciding our pairing dishes. With your help we'd like to start getting word out for the event to ensure we have a good turnout and a lot of fun.

Anyone who has seen our old site is familiar with this video I've embedded onto the page. It means a lot to me due to what the message is.. So much so that we went as far as using the music from this video during our wedding ceremony. It's really more just coincidence that Sigur Ros happens to be a favorite band of mine and the music was used in this video.. But I wanted to have the shock effect. Stay tuned for more updates, enjoy the video, and have a good week.

Cheers,

ShuBrew

ShuBrew-a-Pa-Looza

2011-11-13T21:26:00.000-08:00

For a long time I have been quietly planning a ShuBrew beer festival but have consistently had excuses for why I couldn't do it or that the timing was not right. Today I was updating a post on our FaceBook page and recognized that of ShuBrew's 130 followers only a handful of them were people who have ever tasted our beer. Despite getting frequent requests to have an opportunity to taste our beer we just have not had enough on hand for a public tasting event... Until now.

We are announcing today that on Saturday March 3rd, 2012 we will be hosting ShuBrew-a-Pa-Looza, our very first public beer tasting. Some details have yet to be hashed out but I'm excited to tell everyone what we know they can expect. We will doing a tasting of five or six beers, all of which are our original recipes. Tickets will be required to get into the event and a price will be set in the coming weeks. Everyone who attends will get a custom ShuBrew tasting glass with the cost of their ticket. We also plan on serving a food dish with each beer that has been specifically prepared to pair well with the style of beer.

This event also serves as somewhat of a groundbreaking attempt for ShuBrew as two major business pieces will be unveiled during the tasting. Previously unreleased to the public, details about our business plan (including short and long term projects) will be presented to those in attendance. Furthermore the premiere of ShuBrew's Kickstarter video and pledge fund will be showcased.

The event is bound to be a lot of fun and have lots of surprises, too. Please keep checking in here or on our FaceBook or Twitter pages to stay up to date with more info about the event. In the next few weeks there will be information regarding the location, pricing, beers and more. Please spread the word and we look forward to seeing you all in March.

Cheers,

ShuBrew

Oh, Great Pumpkin, Where are You?

2011-11-07T07:10:00.000-08:00

It’s that time of year again; the pools are closed, the temperature is dropping and it’s back to school for the kids. Fall is here, which also means that new selections of seasonal beers are on the shelves and available for our testing pleasure. It’s always exciting to walk into your local six-pack shop or restaurant and find out what beers a brewery has to offer and this year has not been disappointing. There is an abundance of inviting flavors, ranging from Oktoberfests to Pumpkin beers each with their own unique features. Let’s begin with some of the Oktoberfests….

Oktoberfests are rich, copper colored lagers with an assertively malty aroma ranging from 5.3-6.0 percent ABV. These brews were primarily served at German Oktoberfests, but have been a more popular style for craft brewers. Oktoberfest is annual event that began over 200 years ago in Munich, Germany celebrating the German culture and more importantly; German beer. The 16-18 day festival that begins in late September and ends the first weekend in October have sprung up all over the United States due to the high percentage of people with German heritage, who wouldn’t want to go to a festival centered on drinking beer? In my hometown of Pittsburgh, PA Penn Brewery sells beer in half-gallon milk jugs that patrons carry around and drink while listening to traditional German music consisting of folk music, marches, and polkas. Some of the more well known domestic Oktoberfests include; Sam Adams Octoberfest and Victory’s Festbier. If you want to try a “real” Oktoberfest beer, try Hofbraeu Muenchen Oktoberfest, or Ayinger.

Another trend that’s becoming more popular amongst craft brewers and is currently produced by over 150 breweries is Pumpkin beer. The production of and ingredients in this beer style vary by each brewer. It can be made using real or canned pumpkin and a variety of spices that can range from ground ginger, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, and allspice. With an ABV ranging from 4.0-7.0 percent ABV, this ale is typically mild and has a pronounced taste of spices and a lingering sweetness. Due to its abundance in the new world, the Pilgrims may have been the first to brew with pumpkin. In fact, during colonial times good malt was not as easily accessible so in the first pumpkin beers, the meat of the pumpkin took place of the malt. Today, most pumpkin beers try to imitate a pumpkin pie flavor by utilizing a combination of spices that are used to create this popular autumn dessert. Some of the top rated or well-known Pumpkin style ales are; Pumpkin Ale by Selin’s Grove Brewing Company, The Great Pumpkin by Elysian Brewing Compnay, Pumking by Southern Tier, and Punkin’ by Dogfish Head Brewery.

It has become a tradition for ShuBrew to make an annual pumpkin beer during the autumn months. What separates our pumpkin beer from most others is what we choose to use as a base for our beer. The base recipe is a Belgian style Dubbel, to which we incorporate real pumpkin puree, sticks of cinnamon, anise star, nutmeg, brown sugar, and cloves. There is no skimping on ingredients here... and no additions of pre-blended ‘pumpkin-pie spice’ or canned ‘pumpkin-pie mix.’ Every flavor is intricately designed to add a different level of complexity which can take you on a Belgian brewery tour with one sip and back to your grandmother’s house on Thanksgiving with the next.

This year we had a single serving of our pumpkin beer released at a friend’s annual Oktoberfest party (we weren’t going for traditional) and chose to serve it directly from the oak barrel in which it was being aged. We did prime (carbonate by adding fermentables to the finished beer) the beer in the barrel but with it being not exactly an air tight container the final carbonation was very minimal. It had the mouthfeel of a casked beer that you might have had at a local brewery or pub. The beer weighed in at about 8.7% ABV.. and it sure felt like it, too. While there was a hint of alcohol on the nose the first impression when taking a sniff was focused on the pleasant combination of the cloves and ‘licoricey’ qualities of the anise star.

This beer needs a name... if you have an idea for one let us know.

Cheers,

ShuBrew

by Erika Shumaker

Hey Porter

2010-03-24T10:00:00.000-07:00

No, not the Johnny Cash single or Joey Porter the football player or even Michael Porter, the well-know expert in competitive strategy and management.  Whichever notion came to mind, we hope true beer fanatics thought of dark and smoky malts, roasted grains, and a flavor that offers the perfect combination of sweetness and bitterness, in other words a Porter.  In comparison to the vast selection of Pilsners, Lagers, and Pale Ales; the Porter has become a beer that is commonly overlooked despite its’ significance in the evolution of beer.

The name Porter was first used in the 18th century from its popularity with the street and river porters of London, but the beer itself prevailed in 17th century Britain as a result of consumer requests and it became the first truly engineered beer catering to the publics taste. There are many stories surrounding the origins of the Porter and being a centuries old style, there are differences of opinion regarding what a "true" porter was like along with variations from one brewer’s interpretation to the next.  An overall consensus is the beer is a combination of three styles; an old ale (stale or soured), a new ale (brown or pale ale) and a weak one (mild ale), with various combinations of blending and staleness.  Original Porters were substantially stronger than those of today; however, taxes during the Napoleonic wars drove the alcohol content down to modern levels.

Today’s Porters should contain mild notes of roasted grains and dark or chocolate malts which comprises the primary character of the beverage and produces the dark brown or black color of the beer. Underlying flavors and smells that can be detected from a Porter vary between coffee, toffee, licorice, and any other ingredients the brewer decides to add. The hoppiness of a Porter can range from bitter to mild, but is normally moderate.  For ShuBrew’s showcased Porter we are going to be adding vanilla and rum to the list of ingredients. The vanilla flavoring will be achieved from a natural vanilla extract and a tang of rum will come from soaking French Oak chips in rum and allowing them to soak in the beer.

by Erika Shumaker

The Beginning Part 2

2009-03-26T10:00:00.000-07:00

Forgive me for being so quick to write this second entry, but blogging is new to me and I am a little excited about it.. That, and I just finished working out so I am a little restless right now.

So starting where I left off, I had just decided to take a job working for Stone. The position I took had no influence on the brewing process whatsoever, but what I learned in the three months (yes, that’s correct. a whopping three months) I worked there was invaluable. I ended up working as a dishwasher in the restaurant portion of the brewery.

Okay so I take it no one needs to know about me scrubbing plates, but the meat and potatoes of this story is that I had a chance to learn directly from the owners and staff of one of the nation’s most successful breweries. Part of the reason why this industry is so appealing to me is that the only competition a craft brewery faces are the macro breweries.. or the makers of the fizzy yellow stuff. Craft breweries embrace each other as somewhat of an alliance against the Mudweisers and Boors of the world.

At any rate, I got out of the Corps and moved back east to Pennsylvania. CULTURE SHOCK. For the previous four years I had grown accustomed to having delicious ales when and where I wanted them. I hate to knock the Iron City’s of the world, but I needed more than they had to offer me now. Where were the craft breweries on the eastern United States? They seemed to be everywhere except Pittsburgh. We had a few here but they had not expanded in years.. things seemed stagnant.

While unpacking my things I came across the book I had purchased in California, years prior. “The Joy of Home Brewing,” by Charlie Papazian. I opened it and couldn’t put it down. There was no need for me to bitch and moan about not having the beer I desired readily available to me anymore; I would just make my own beer exactly how I like it.

..and make it I did. For fifty bucks I picked up a homebrewing starter’s kit from a broke college student that I found on Craigslist. Thank you, Craig! A few botched recipes later, I had created an India Pale Ale that I think would rival some of the award winners from our nation’s best breweries. I have been brewing ever since and have decided to pour my efforts into making ShuBrew a reality. There is a lot to learn and much to experience still but I know that I am the arrogant bastard that can finally bring deliciously quality brew to this side of the country.

Cheers,

ShuBrew

The Beginning Part 1

2009-03-25T10:00:00.000-07:00

A few years ago while I was living in San Diego, CA I stumbled into a store that would alter the way I viewed beer forever.  This store was like nothing I had ever seen before.  It was a hobbyist's store that specialized in selling equipment for brewing and also growing hydroponic gardens.  While the latter was of little interest to me, the idea of making beer in mass quantities at home did appeal to me.  I would only spend a total of $14.99 at HydroBrew that day, but it turned out to be the cheapest life-changing investment I have made to date.  The purchase I made was Charlie Papazian’s “The Complete Joy of Home Brewing,” and it sat on my bookshelf for about three years before I ever read it in it’s entirety.

About a year after the preceding events transpired, I had gotten really into drinking quality brews.  The fact that San Diego County then hosted three of the world’s top ten breweries according to Rate Beer and Beer Advocate was probably to blame for me taking up this relatively unproductive pastime.

I had decided to get a part time job while serving in the Marine Corps. My weekend outings at that point in my life often included taking my friends out to the Stone Brewing Company so they could take the brewery tour that I had grown to love.  Half the fun of course were the free samples, but what made the event memorable to me was seeing the brewing process and how everyone there was so greatly enthused with it all.  It was after one of these tours that I decided to get a job working for Stone.. Stay tuned.

Cheers,

ShuBrew