Bare Hands Brewery Needs Your Support!

Over this past weekend Bare Hands Brewery owner, and master brewer, Chris Gerard suffered a significant head injury during a fall.  Chris is passionate about making people happy and making great beer.  He is expected to make a full recovery but the timeline is unknown.  As many small business owners who are starting up Chris did not have insurance for himself personally.  He is passionate about his craft and re-invested much of his profits into newer equipment and upgrades to the brewery.

As a result of this accident Chris is spending some time in hospital and his medical bills will be substantial. The family has setup a Crowdrise fundraiser site where people can make donations to help Chris and his family as they go through this tough time. You can find the link below to learn more how you can help lend your support.

https://www.crowdrise.com/raiseapint-helpchrisgerardandhisfamily/fundraiser/ryangerard

Help us "Raise A Pint" for the Gerard family and let's get Chris back to his family and his passion.  The craft beer community is just that...a community...let's prove it...

Dry Hopping 101

If you are a craft beer veteran or just beginning your journey you have probably heard the phrase "Dry Hopping".  But what is dry hopping?  What does it do?  Should you consider this as a homebrewer?

Before we discuss what dry hopping is and how it works let's first discuss how hops affect beer.  Hops serve as a bittering agent to wort to create beer that is flavorfull and not too sweet.  Without hops beer would just be fermented sugar water.  The earlier you add the hops to your boil the more bitterness is pulled from them increasing your IBU's.  Late boil additions of hops are used for flavor and more importantly aroma.  By adding hops at 5 minutes left in the boil and at flameout (0 minutes) you add more flavor and aroma versus bitterness.

So what is dry hopping?  Dry hopping is the addition of whole or pellet hops to the fermenting beer as it is in the process of fermenting or during secondary fermentation.  Hops are placed in a sterilized mesh bag to keep particulates from getting into the final product and are typically added 5-7 days before bottling
or kegging.  A major error that homebrewers make when dry hopping is not adding enough hops.  Often times homebrewers will add only an ounce of hops during dry hop.  That small amount of hops in a 5 gallon batch will hardly make a dent to your brew.  Most professional brewers recommend 3-5 ounces of hops for proper dry

How Beer is made in 1:57

Be Wise...Organize!

A good homebrewer knows that the key to great beer is proper (Borderline obsessive) sanitization after you have crossed into the cold zone of the brew day.  For you Brewbies (Rookie homebrewers) the cold zone is any stage after your liquid has stopped boiling.  This is the danger zone where bacteria can rear its ugly head. 

A couple of simple tips can dramatically reduce your chances of adding these unwanted guests:

• Organize!  Keep your brewing tools together.
• Create a simple equipment stand and hang the tools versus putting them back in the box wet or leaving wet tools in contact with surfaces.  By hanging your tools you allow them to air dry.
• Purchase an inexpensive plastic wallpaper paste tub.  They are narrow and long and the perfect size for your brewing tools.  Save some of the sanitizer to add to the wallpaper tub and give your tools a quick dip before hanging them on your equipment stand.  Why not give them one more dip in sanitizer?  Especially if you already have some made up.

Contamination can lead to esters, off/fruity flavors, diacetyl (buttery finish) and medicinal mouthfeel.  My equipment station was made from 2 x 4's painted white, metal hooks and a top made from dibond.  Depending on fermenting temperatures I can store my carboy under the stand on the concrete in my basement which is consistently between 68-70 degrees

Four Horsemen Closes Its Doors

After two years of operation Four Horseman Brewing Company has abruptly closed.  This past Monday via social media they posted, "We want to thank all of our distributors, local establishments, consumers and supporters for enjoying our beer over the last couple years.  This is a decision made by the owners after careful examination of the craft beer segment, future growth and other factors”  Ben Roule commented.

Ben Roule is one of four owners in the brewery.  They purchased the Four Horsemen branding rights but were never able to replicate the former microbreweries recipes.  Growing up in the South Bend/Mishawaka area many people were familiar with the first Four Horsemen Brewery which was located along Main Street in Mishawaka.  When the original Four

Sad Day....

If you live in the Midwest and head to your local craft brew store and find they have sold their last bottle or mini keg of Oberon there is only one thing that can mean....summer is over and in the words of "Game of Thrones" winter is coming....  It is an inevitable truth that summer can only last so long as a Midwesterner but its short months make you appreciate the time even more.

Calling All Breweries!

We're looking for a few good men...er women...er brewery owners.  We want to tour your facilities and highlight you on Brew From The Bend! 

Don't Be Shy.  Send your invites to Kringweiser@gmail.com 

-Cheers!