1. 23 October 2010 · 06:10 PM ·

    LAGERS - Newest Member

    After attending a few meetings and events hosted by the Louisville Area Grain Extract Research Society, aka The LAGERS, I made myself an official member.  $10 well spent if you ask me. 

    Last Monday’s meeting was all about a very interesting brewing technique called ‘Brew in a Bag’.  This method was developed and found predominantly in Australia, where the sparging process is not needed.  To sum it up, the process is a very large scale steep.  A very large portion of grain is placed in an equally large nylon bag and steeped in a very large brew kettle.  The temperature can be controlled for acid rest and the like.  When the mash time is up, the bag of grain is simply lifted out of the kettle and the boil began.  This particular method seems to be the most convenient in very cramped spaces, but the loss of efficiency is one reason to keep with the traditional method using more pieces of equipment. 

    At this very same meeting, Joel the master brewer at BBC Taproom, announced that last year’s s barley wine produced more wort then they could ferment.  Lucky I got my LAGERS membership which got me a buckets worth of professionally mashed wort to play with.  Five and a half gallons to be exact.  Not to mention a discount at My Old Kentucky Homebrew and Liquor Barn for supplies.

    So with my new LAGERS membership perks I rushed home to make a Citra hopped IPA.  And if you are a home brewer, or beer lover in the Louisville Area, I recommend joining.  If you aren’t a Louisville local don’t fret.  There are plenty of homebrew clubs out there in the world (ie. FOSSILS or BOCK).  I highly recommend finding on in your area.