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Maintaining Your Draft Beer System

Luckily, there isn’t a whole lot of maintenance that needs to be done to your draft beer system.

But here are some KegWorks pointers:

Keep both the inside and outside clean with normal cleaning agents.
Clean your beer lines every time you change your keg. Using a cleaning kit is the easiest way to do this. It only takes a few minutes and will assure your beer tastes fresh and crisp. This will also help to avoid sediment build up in the beer lines, which can cause foam.

Draft Beer Parts

Serving draft beer at home is much easier then you think. All you need is a home draft beer system. You may hear a draft system referred to as a keg tap, keg tapper, kegerator, keg pumps or picnic pumps. Below is a summary of all the types of draft beer products that we carry.

Faucet Handle
Sometimes called a faucet knob or tap handle. This is the lever that you pull on the faucet to make the beer come out. You can screw just about any faucet handle onto our faucets. Our kits come with a small, black generic one.

Faucet
This is where the beer comes out. There are lots of parts inside the faucet, so it should be cleaned regularly.

Shank
This is a long steel tube that runs through the hole you drill in your fridge door. The faucet screws into one end and the beer line screws onto the other.

Beer Line Jumper
This is a 5-foot long piece of dense, food-grade tubing that connects the keg coupler to the faucet/shank assembly. We provide you with the proper connectors to attach the beer line at both ends.

Keg Coupler
This piece attaches to the keg and actually taps it. There are six different types of keg couplers used throughout the world. Which ones you will need will depend upon which brand of beer you drink.

CO2 Tank
Most kits come with a 5-pound steel CO2 Tank. With this size CO2 Tank, you can serve about 5-7 half kegs of beer. Welding supply companies, fire extinguisher supply companies, and gas dealers can fill CO2 tanks. Look under "Gas" in the yellow pages in your local phone book for dealers near you.

Regulator
The regulator connects to the CO2 Tank. It steps the gas pressure down to a level that is right for dispensing beer. Most of our kits come with a double gauge regulator. One gauge tells you the pressure going into the keg; the other gauge tells you how much air you have left in your air tank.

Air Line Jumper
This piece of tubing runs between the regulator and the keg coupler. We provide you with the proper connectors to attach the air line at both ends.

Beer Line Cleaning Kits
Keeping your beer lines clean will help to make sure that your beer tastes its very best. Over time, your beer lines collect beer deposits that can affect the taste of your beer and even cause excess foaming. We recommend that you clean your lines after each 1/2 barrel.

Common Draft Beer Questions

What size keg will fit into my refrigerator?
A standard US quarter barrel measures: 12-13" high, with a 16" diameter. A standard US half barrel measures: 23" high, with a 16" diameter. European kegs vary in size, but are similar to US sizes.

The average CO2 tank has a diameter of about 6" and may be kept either inside or out of the fridge. There should be a little bit of room around the sides of the keg for air circulation. Also leave about 6"- 8" above the keg for the keg coupler.

So, that said, to know for sure if it will all fit – make sure to read online measurements carefully before ordering. If you are unsure – feel free to call. Or take a trip to your local beer retailer and ask for any empty keg. (They will usually charge you a $10.00 deposit). Then put the keg inside the fridge you plan to purchase to make sure that the fridge is big enough.

What size refrigerator should I buy?
That's a tough one for us to answer. It depends upon your space and your budget. We can't recommend any specific size or model because there are so many good ones out there. But we will do our best to give you some pointers.

It can be difficult to find a fridge that is small enough to fit under your counter and large enough to hold a keg. Compact fridges usually are not a good option either – they usually have a vegetable bin in the bottom, and a compressor which makes these hard to fit a keg.

We suggest you take your beer goggles off and measure!

How much beer is in a keg?
How much beer is in your keg is up to you!

Breweries no longer make whole kegs; they stopped about 35 years ago because they were just too heavy to lug around. Your options are the following:

1/2 keg: Holds 15.5 gallons, which is 7 cases of beer
1/4 keg: Holds 7.75 gallons, which is 3 1/2 cases of beer
Beer ball: Holds 5 gallons of beer, which is equal to 2 1/4 cases of beer.

If you are looking for something even smaller, you may be able to find a 5-gallon mini-keg.

What temperature should my draft beer be kept?
Draft beer is not pasteurized, so it must be kept cold, preferably between 38 and 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Temperatures above 45 degrees Fahrenheit could turn your beer sour and cloudy. So, keep it cool!

How long will my draft beer stay fresh once I have tapped the keg?
Once it’s tapped, draft beer will taste fresh for about 20 - 30 days. Longer than a few weeks it looses its fresh brewery taste and aroma. Craft/Micro brews often have a shorter shelf life.

How long does a 5-pound CO2 cylinder last?
5 pounds of CO2 should serve approximately five to seven half-barrels. Make sure that all airline connections are good and tight - CO2 can leak very easily. It’s best to leave the tank outside of the fridge if possible. You will get more air out of the tank if it’s kept room temperature.

Where can I get my CO2 tank filled?
Look in your local phone books yellow pages under the heading "Gas". There should be several gas distributors in your area. Just call a few of them and ask if they fill small tanks with CO2 (sometimes called beer gas). Also, call some local fire extinguisher suppliers and welding suppliers, sometimes they fill CO2 tanks. To fill a 5-pound CO2 tank usually costs between $7.00 and $11.00 depending upon where you live.

Why is my beer foamy?
There are a few things that can cause foamy beer: Warm spots in the beer line, or the keg itself, dirty beer lines, twists or kinks in beer line. Also, an unsettled keg can cause foamy beer. Let the keg settle for two to three hours before tapping it.

I'm planning on putting a draft beer tower on my bar, and keeping the keg in a refrigerator nearby. Is there anything I need to know?
Yes! Exposed beer lines may cause foamy beer. So, if the beer line running from the fridge to your tower is not refrigerated, you will most likely have foamy beer. There are commercial ways of actually refrigerating the beer lines, but they are VERY expensive. There are ways to reduce foamy beer in this type of situation:

Minimize the distance of exposed beer line - the shorter the better.
Wrap all the exposed beer line in thick foam tubing to keep it cool. Home Depot has it and it’s not at all expensive.
Remember to plug the hole in the refrigerator that the beer line comes from. Spray foam insulation works well.

Draft Beer Troubleshooting
On rare occasions you may experience foamy or cloudy beer, here are some great troubleshooting techniques.

Condition:	Cloudy beer Beer appears hazy and not clear.
Causes and Corrections:	Over Chilling Excessive low temperatures may cause hazy and cloudy beer, particularly when beer lies for a long period of time. Maintain refrigerator temperature at 36° to 40°F. Partial opening of beer faucet Open the faucet quickly and completely. Having anything warm on or near your keg When anything that is not cold, such as meats, vegetables, fish or fruits are placed on a keg of cold beer, the beer becomes warm long before these products chill down. This change in temperature can cause cloudy beer.
Condition:	Flat beer Foamy head disappears quickly, beer lacks usual zestful brewery-fresh flavor.
Causes and Corrections:	Greasy glass Do not wash beer glasses together with glasses that have contained milk or any other fatty substance. Lipstick is a fatty substance, be sure it is removed from the glass. Eating greasy foods while drinking beer can cause this too. Wash glasses thoroughly with a good detergent; do not use soap. Do not dry-wipe glasses. Allow glasses to air dry. Rinse in fresh cold water just before serving beer. It is best to serve beer in a wet glass. Beer Glasses should be used for beer and nothing else but beer. Improper drawing of beer into glass Open the faucet quickly and completely. Check and find the correct distance to hold the glass from the faucet when drawing. Proper foam should be a tight creamy head, and the collar on the average glass should be 1/2" to 1" high. Beer drawn without a head has the appearance of being flat. Not enough pressure Check CO2 tank; if empty, get refilled. Increase pressure if beer runs too slowly. Correct flow is to fill a 10 oz. glass in 4 seconds (approximately 8 oz. of liquid). Check that there are no obstructions in the airline. Check and replace the airline or CO2 regulator and gauge. Regulators will wear down, so be sure to replace after 4-6 years. Make sure CO2 pressure is ON; do not run the system off the keg pressure alone. Make sure temperature of refrigerator is not above 40° F.
Condition:	Loose foam Large soap-like bubbles, foam settles quickly.
Causes and Corrections:	See "Flat Beer" Causes and Corrections
Condition:	Off-tasting beer Often bitter and bitey. Sometimes completely lacking in flavor and zest. May also have oily or foul odor, carrying an unpleasant taste.
Causes and Corrections:	Dirty system Clean the entire system monthly or immediately after each keg is emptied. The faucet should be removed, disassembled and cleaned with hot water and a brush weekly. Inexpensive cleaning compounds, equipment and kits are available. Contaminated air line Examine air line and replace if necessary. Dirty air lines should be washed with a good cleaning compound normally used for cleaning beer lines, then rinsed clean. Old beer The beer in the keg may be old and past its prime. Buy a fresh keg.
Condition:	Foamy or “wild” beer Beer, when drawn, is all foam, or too much foam, and not enough liquid beer.
Causes and Corrections:	Warm beer The beer keg must always be kept between 38ºF and 40° F. Excessive CO2 Lower the amount of CO2 going to the keg; adjusting the regulator does this. Adjustments may not happen immediately. In a normal keg fridge set up, you should keep your regulator set between 10 and 12 psi. If a keg is over pressurized, pull the relief valve on your keg coupler for about 3 seconds. This will release some CO2 out of the keg. Wait about 15 minutes, and then turn your CO2 tank back on. Older regulators should be replaced completely as they do not last forever. Instructions for Connecting and Operating a Regulator Old beer lines Replace old beer lines. If you bought or inherited an older system, it would be wise to replace the beer line. Click here for replacement lines. Improper drawing of beer into glass Open faucet quickly and completely. Check and find the correct distance to hold the glass from the faucet when drawing. Proper foam should be a tight creamy head, and the collar on the average glass should be 1/2" to 1" high. Obstruction in faucet The faucet should be removed, disassembled and cleaned with hot water and a brush every few weeks. Worn faucet parts Replace worn washers as required. If faucet does not open wide, worn parts or entire faucet must be replaced. Click here for Faucet Rebuild Kits and New Faucets. Warm spots in your beer line Any warm spots in your beer line will cause foamy beer. All beer tubing should be kept inside your fridge. Long beer lines runs (6 feet or greater) can cause your CO2 pressure to be out of whack. A larger inside diameter of beer tubing may be necessary.

Common Draft Tower Questions

What is included with the tower?
All towers come with the faucet head and about 3 feet of beer line. They are fully assembled.

What don’t they come with that I will need?
You’ll have to get a faucet handle and mounting screws. The screw holes are already drilled into the base of the tower. Towers don't come with mounting screws because every surface is different and can require different types of screws.

Will any type of faucet handle screw onto the faucet head?
Yes. You can put ANY type of faucet handle onto your faucet head.

Where can I find a faucet handle of my favorite brand of beer?
If you can't find what you're looking for there, try asking the retailer where you buy your kegs. They may be able to help.

Does it matter if I use a 2 1/2" diameter or 3" diameter tower?
We suggest a 3” tower. To keep your beer line chilled and reduce foaminess, you will want to force some of the cold air from your refrigerator through your lines and into your tower. By using a larger diameter tower, there is more room for cold air to circulate up in the tower.

I have an older tower. Do you have replacement parts for it?

Each one used different pieces inside the tower to connect the beer line to the faucet so it is very difficult to match up those pieces. Most times it is just easier to replace your old tower with a new one because the replacement parts can cost more than a new whole one.

From our friends at Keg Works

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2012-02-06T13:04:00+00:00

Can I Run A Beer Tasting Session Without Tasting?

Here's the thing. I don't like to drink all that much on Sunday and really like to avoid drinking on Monday. It's not that I plan when I do but have always liked clear days. And, for other reasons, I have to stay clear anyway. But I was asked to present some IPAs to some good beery people tonight and, well, that's usually too interesting to pass up. So, I am going to get thinking about the stink of beer. I was over in northern NY Friday, bought a bunch of strong if not stenchily aromatic IPAs and plan to do a few experiments in smell-o-logy. I hope to finally prove the speed of smell. I am planning to see if anyone shouts out the word "parsley!!!" without prompting. And I also plan to see if we can find out how long beer people can go without actually sipping.

Should be fun. More later when the results start coming in. Any other experiments you suggest I impose upon the lab rats?

Update: A fairly focused range of beers can still illustrate a wide range of concepts about beer. I brought Oskar Blues Dales Pale Ale, Sixpoint Bengali Tiger, Stone Arrogant Bastard, Firestone Walker Double Jack, Anderson Valley Imperial IPA and Stoudt Double IPA. Beau's poured its Beaver River I.P.Eh. So here is some of what we thought about:

♦ Brand theme. Stone was compared to Sixpoint. Both have very iconic imagery but Stone conveys all that gargoyle content while Sixpoint is much more subtle... not hard while you think of it. Both identify but only one irritates. But does it matter as long as it identifies? Anderson Valley looked like a 70s album cover but we were unclear on Zep or Yes.
♦ Price point. The Sixpoint was the cheapest beer (at $5.00 per litre) but stood out with the Firestone Walker (at $12 per litre) as the more tasty two of the set. This got is us into a conversation about who is the market for beer that go from $12 to $20 per litre and beyond.
♦ Regionalist tastes. Stoudt at 10% had a butter note that got us into diacetyl while the Anderson Valley gave us hard water. I suggested this might be an east coast v. west coast phenomenon. We talked about some of the earthy notes in Quebec beers that you don't see elsewhere, too.
♦ Speed of smell. I clocked it at about 4 inches a second.
♦ Memory and taste. I wondered how much of taste and memory is the mind triggering taste associations as much as tastes and smell takes us back to a former place. I thought we unpack the mix of flavours in a given beer - and one that is very similar to the last and next beers - and our brain seeks to differentiate through distinguishing associations.

Finally, what I really learned is that you can lead a tasting without tasting. You get to ask questions and listen. I find that usually much more interesting than hearing what I think.

2012-02-04T18:58:00+00:00

Session 60: The 64 Ounce Jug Is Considered

The 64 ounce beer jug - or growler - is sufficiently interesting to the guys as Washington Beer Blog that they made it the topic of this month's edition of The Session:

These days people take growlers for granted. In my neck of the woods, growlers are a relatively new phenomenon. I don?t recall exactly when they appeared on the local beer scene but it could not have been more than eight or ten years ago. Maybe they existed in obscurity before. My memory fails me. Today growlers are everywhere. I think. Growlers are very common around the Pacific Northwest, anyway. I cannot speak to their popularity elsewhere. I?d love to know.

Unfortunately, by "everywhere" they mean large parts of the US. Growlers are only available at some breweries in my part of Canada. I have to drive an hour and a quarter to find the nearest growler fill. In Quebec, they are actually found pre-filled on the shelf in some retail shops, too. I have seen similar things, rarely, in the odd NY beer store instead of the normal tap fill but more and more they are showing up in grocery stores and even gas stations over there. It is a prudent sustainably green way to buy good beer you may want to have in a few days or so at a decent price. Once upon a time, they were galvanized steel pails served out a side window. But people can recycle them on you.

I actually discussed the growler as the fourth unacknowledged serving unit for beer back in Session 48. I was a year ahead of time. I like them a lot. Just wish I have access to them that is provided in a free society.

2012-02-02T12:40:00+00:00

Are There Different Schools Of Beer Thought?

Stan asked me to elaborate on something:

Could you elaborate on what you mean by 'beer thinking'?

Hmm... I think there is beer thinking. If there is anything, there is a lot of under-thinking about beer thinking. If I were honest with you, there is a lot of under-thinking about over-thinking, too. Not sure if there is over-thinking about under-thinking but that could be, too. And if there is beer thinking there must be schools of thought. Can we describe them?

♦ The School of Aesthetics: As a pleasure trade, beer is concerned with sensory experience and - as with any ideas of beauty, art and enjoyment - the sensory-emotional values of the individual. In a way, all efforts to elaborate the subjective experience of the aesthetic undermine its purity. Boak and Bailey observed in a tweet this morning: "we're going to run out of language for talking about beer soon..." But as we know, by any other name, a beer is a beer is a beer. The aesthete knows that there is no higher thought than moving into a less conscious experience... maybe I could put that in a better way... a less dictated experience with their perception of pleasure. Yet less of that can be more of something else - the drunk, the addled.

♦ The School of Empiricism: These place the emphasis on observational evidence. While still involved in what we may experience, objective is added to the mix. In this school we find the historians, the data miners, the mash bill reviewers, the home brewing replicators. Just as the aesthete is the neighbour of the short term drunk and the long term addled, the empiricist can lead us astray through the musty corridors of the library. They forget sometimes that the well stocked beer shelf in a store or a pub is the only library you really need. They also lead to judging. Where the aesthete might describe, empiricists judge. The county fair jam and jelly contest is a very fine thing and a blue ribbon a treat - but remember: judge not lest ye be judged.

♦ The School of Ancient Wisdom: These accept received wisdom or, in another way, believers that others - their betters - were and are wiser. When you read enough beer books about the same few notions, it does become pretty evident that not thinking can in fact occur. I blame Jackson who did a very fine thing in layering classification upon us but then did not enforce enough that it was only one mode, one approach. As a result we are left with broadly practiced rote based lessons. They are related to conservative pessimistic approaches like skepticism as it presents a doubtful outlook, doubtful that there is anything new to be said. It also gives rise to experts to tell you, for a fee, that you do not know what is right. They even tell you that something is off when it's simply not to their taste. Never mind that. You simply need to be told.

Ultimately, while each may have a place, each school distracts us from the good, that simple state of the moderate engagement with meaningful pleasure. When combined, they are disaster. Imagine a library where the best books were removed after a few weeks and taken out of circulation. Aestheticism meets empiricism. That is what we face here in Ontario with the restricted and regulated government store that stocks it shelves with temporary listings of good beer, our better's ideas of what the experts tell us to enjoy when and where they determine. And imagine a store that sells paperbacks for fifty bucks because there are only a few copies printed. The wise meets the empirical. That's what is being foisted upon us by short run swanked up brews which seem to have as part of their experimental goals a study of the best way to get wallets opened wider. But surely we have to forgive them. They know not what they do. Maybe. It is always truly wise to recall the first lesson of Thales.

Are there more schools? Many more no doubt and likely splintering schismists amongst these schools above each trying to set in stone a better more complex rule to define what for most really does not need proscription. They do as much harm as good. Each aggrandizes an aspect what is essentially a simple thing - the enjoyment of a malt mildly intoxicating beverage that has been enjoyed for thousands of years quite nicely, thank you.

2012-02-01T12:31:00+00:00

The Oldest Beer Joke In History... But Wuzzit Mean?

So they finally got to the bottom of a box of Iraqi cuneiform tablets dug up in 1976 and found some written by some guy trying to be funny as reported in the New York Daily News:

This one could also benefit from cranking up the laugh track:

?In your mouth and your teeth, constantly stared at you, the measuring vessel of your lord. What is it?

Beer.?

So there you have it: an ancient beer joke. (At least, a riddle referring to its taste, the authors say.) Perhaps something has been lost in the translation through all those many centuries. And since they were meant as riddles designed to communicate truths about life - "wisdom literature," as the authors call it -- perhaps gut-splitting hilarity was not the point.

Well, how many riddles today really bust a gut. Few. What I find more interesting are the underlying premises. The person has a lord. The person constantly sees beer. Perhaps he is saying that the measure of a lord's virtue is his generosity with the beer.

After clicking through various news articles of increasing seriousness, I actually arrived at the scholarly article upon which the story is based. Go to page 117. I don't know why the speculation is that this is the work of a student as there are two references to the impotency of a soldier as well as the ethical status of leaders - plus some sex and a bit of beer. Its a view from down there somewhere and it's a bit telling. Any other ideas? I know from the emails that you've been clamoring for a chance to play Mesopotamian cuneiform scholar so live it up.

2012-01-30T23:55:00+00:00

...Or, On The Other Hand, Should Incomes Be Declared?

The response to the post about the ethics of running a series of posts for a fee has been interesting - and, shockingly, far more civil that then outburst of Engerlander finger pointy hand baggery over at Taking the Beard Out of Beer today. It's as if they don't know that being in a beer community means you just don't say certain things? It starts out so innocently:

But when I got to the BrewDog page I was so incensed by their comments I actually chucked the book down in disgust. I don't think I need to go into why BrewDog do what they do, I think we're all familiar with their shock tactic methods by now, but it's one thing to thumb your nose at authority and it's another to tell outright lies. The comment, photographed right, is simply outrageous, the UK brewing industry closed? Yeah, ok lads...

Whaaattt?!?!? "Lies"??!??! "Outrage"??!??!?! Oh, misery. Oh, calamity. What has happened to our happy house where we all agree, we all get along?

Frankly, what annoys me the most is knowing that all the people in the conversation or at least most of them make money from the beer trade one way or another. It sure would help me a hell of a lot if I could get a sort of guide to the various interests at play that are not being admitted, the cheques that are cashed as we follow along with the allegations and counter charges. Perhaps someone can prepare a fully annotated version with a flow chart.

God forbid that people should have different experiences. When folk in the future suggest the best beer thinking comes from "pros" I will have to pull out this wee chestnut for review.

2012-01-30T02:21:00+00:00

What Is Local Beer From A Southern Ontario View?

What is local when it comes to beer or anything else in southern Ontario? Today there is someone who need not be mentioned drearily tweeting a series of xenophobic exhortations for we Ontarians to drink "local" beer. It reminds me of how the naivety of my former co-residents of Prince Edward Island were characterized by Halifax, Nova Scotian news columnist: PEI was too insular to be xenophobic. The Ontario comment is a bit different but still naive in its own way as it makes no effort to define "local" by any other standard other than political jurisdiction. Because we live in the province of Ontario, we should support Ontario stuff. Even if it is from very far away. And, presumably, even if it is bad or over priced.

Have a quick look at the map above. That is my quick calculation of the distance (in red) from the site of eastern Ontario's Beau's Brewing in VanKleek Hill to the border crossing between Windsor and Detroit, Michigan. It's a 758 km drive. Probably over 760 km now that I think of it as Beau's is on the east side of town. Taking that distance as the radius for a yellow circle, we reach the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the east of New Brunswick, south to the bottom of Delaware, north to within view of Hudson Bay and west to Michigan's Upper Peninsula. This is great news for me as my "local" now include many of the vibrant scenes within the north-eastern chunk of North American - aka the land of diacetyl acceptance, perhaps greater New Yorkshire of which my Easlakian home is but a sub-region.

Isn't this a rational point of view? If I am being asked to support someone I have never met to the west why not one I have never met to the south. Anything else is jingoism. Embarrassing jingoism at that. My "local" is all that until I get a better definition that relates to the beer and not the available funding marketing grants application policy or the irrational wholesale distribution regulations.

2012-01-29T13:33:00+00:00

England: Fuller's Vintage Ale 2006 v 2011, London

In December 2010, I decided that I had to get at the task of drinking the Fuller's Vintage Ales that I had been hoarding in the stash. I figured I needed to compare beers that were brewed five years apart and posted the '05 v. '10 results. Now, it's time for the second edition comparing 2006 to their 2011. First, one thing to note is that I am using 200 ml German glasses for this experiment. See, the thing is, this was the week that the pint was dissed to a lower point than I have ever seen it dissed. My choice of glassware reflects that brave new world where reasonable measures of beer are a thing of the past. Still, I am sure these tiny tiny Teutonics will not let down this litre of greatness as they are wonderful wee things in themselves.

I reviewed the 2006 back in the day. It has clearly improved according to that description... or maybe my powers of description have. It now gives off an aroma of fresh bright orange marmalade on malt bread. Oddly, the scent is much stronger than the 2011 which gives off some booze and a bit of beef broth with not a lot more... or at least not nearly as much.

In the mouth, again there is no question that the 2006 is a bigger more complex beer at this point in its life. It's got the malty smoked thing I noticed in 2006 and I get the green fig as well. But the texture is no longer what I likely meant when I wrote grain. It's more like baseball glove leather now. Quite sweet as well. But well cut by what I had called black tea hops. They are now melded much more neatly together to give a sort of rose water effect. The 2011, by comparison, tastes of beer. There is a fresh acidity but the malt is a bit undeveloped. I had a 2006 Thomas Hardy Ale yesterday and it informs that idea. That pleasant little variety of acids that are in both '06s of the last 24 hours sit dormant in the 2011's pear juicy sweet ball of pale malt. The '11's box and insert card tells me that the malt is organic but not the variety. In 2006, the malt was Optic which the OCB tells me is the most widely planted variety in England.

First 400 ml down. Unlike the 2005 v 2010 comparison, I would not suggest the younger beer is cloying. It has a rustic hopping that is a bit twiggy and a bit menthol. Goldings, organic First Gold and Sovereign hops were used according to the box. They give a bit of a licorice effect at this point which may unpack into marmalade with time. I will let you know in 2016. The 2006, by contrast, relies on Fuggles and Super Styrian hopping. The OCB tells me that the Super Styrian - as opposed to the pending Super Dooper Styrian - is itself a form of Fuggles. From my lost homebrewing days, my world of English beer is divided into three: Goldings, Fuggles and Northern Brewer. I think 2/3s of this are demonstrated before me. The older beer leans to the hedge. The younger is more floral. Quite content to be the Mayor of Simpleton in such matters, it's a distinction that works for me.

The head of the 2006 is worth comment - fine, densely packed off white bubbles giving a very appealing visual creaminess and a lovely maker of rich lacing. Otherwise the two beer appear to be quite similar. The elder is a bit clouded but I don't care about the sorts of things. Each a very attractive deep orange amber ale.

700 ml gone and I am just going to enjoy the rest.. This is as high a point in my beer experience as any - and one that only cost me about 15 bucks and just half a decade. I am little proud of me. I was very sensible to start this series, to start saving these beers. The process may well see me out now that I think of it. There are far worse markers of another year's passing.

2012-01-28T17:38:00+00:00

What If I Posted A Series Of Posts For A Fee?

I have been quite impressed with the idea Evan had to post an essay on Amazon and ask a very modest fee for payment. I have also loved and supported Lew's idea for the TV series American Beer Blogger funded through Kickstarter. They've got me thinking. The price point and revenue streams for writing about beer are minefields - ethical and otherwise. General search engine optimization ads on the blog are in decay due to aggregators like Google Reader [Ed.: waving hello to the 15,938 GR followers!] taking activity away. And direct support from the beer trade for all beer writing just isn't what it used to be - if it ever was. So, I am wonder what the response would be if I posted a series of posts on a certain topic I have in mind and asked for a fee. The plan would be to place a brief summary or introduction on the blog and link to the longer text of each essay which folk could follow if interested through a micro-payment process. Would the following elements of that sort of idea be interesting to you or a turn off?

♦ The price would be low, say 49 cents if that price point is available.
♦ The posts would be longer than usual around here and each would be on elements on single even greater theme.
♦ The theme would be a proposal for a rethinking of the elements of the consumer's relationship with beer.
♦ Through this exercise I would be preparing an system of thinking about beer that I may present through next autumn's Beau's Oktoberfest where I will be assisting with the preparation and presentation of their whole seminar series.

The point of this would be giving myself the opportunity and structure to work on a more detailed and lengthy bit of research with a sufficient if modest revenue stream to pay for the related expenses such as travel, research time and maybe beer that needs to spent.

My question is this: if I do this would it be incredibly irritating, of no interest or something you might be willing to participate in? Be honest. Tell me if you think I don't have what it takes. Let me know if it would drive you from following the blog and why. Let me know if you even like it. All thoughts and feedback most welcome.

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