Groovy! Acid wash yeast

Managing Bacteria in a Brewery

Even with using best practices to ensure sanitary equipment, the yeast may harbor an infection which grows with each re-pitching. Acid washing the yeast lowers the amount of bacteria passed from batch to batch. Brewers most often use acid washing as an emergency procedure to combat infection until fresh yeast can be obtained or as periodic maintenance. Some brewers wash every pitch to ensure absolutely every measure is taken to reduce bacteria in the brewing process. Unfortunately information regarding this practice is often conflicting or confusing.

How Acid Washing Works

Acid washing will lower the level of bacteria cohabitation with yeast. It will not rid an infection. We acidify the yeast slurry while keeping a low temperature to kill a large proportion of bacteria and weak yeast cells. Healthy, actively dividing and fermenting yeast produce an acidic environment naturally. We can utilize the ability of healthy yeast to withstand pH fluctuations to reduce the bacteria. Killing off weak and dying yeast cells is also beneficial because they excrete peroxides and autolysis factors which raises the pH of the total slurry and may contribute off flavors to beer.

Acid washing after several pitches can prevent a buildup of bacteria and weak yeast, allowing the healthy yeast to replicate and ferment uninhibited by bacteria and autolysis factors. Pediococcus affects yeast health by depressing yeast in suspension by up to 30% and increasing fermentation length while also producing high levels of diacetyl.

Acid washing has the potential to negatively impact yeast health if performed inappropriately or on certain strains of yeast. Time, pH, and temperature must be balanced to achieve the goals of washing while maintaining highly viable yeast for pitching.

Recommended Procedures

Overall goal:

Reduce yeast slurry pH to 2.0-2.4 range with food grade acid by constantly mixing at temperature range of 32-40ºF for 90 minutes.

Equipment:

Sterile recirculating reservoir with pump or sterile mixing reservoir and paddle.

75% food grade phosphoric acid.

Ability to cool or at least hold cool temperature.

Instructions:

Take initial yeast pH and temperature readings.

Dilute 75% phosphoric acid to 7.5% by a 1 to 10 dilution. The amount of 7.5% phosphoric acid required will depend on volume of yeast. We used approximately 40L (10 gal) per 100 gallons of yeast.

Start mixing yeast by paddle or recirculation pump.

Add 7.5% phosphoric acid using sterile technique (sanitize all connections)

Mix for 2-3 minutes and check pH and temperature.

Adjust pH by adding more 7.5% phosphoric acid or more water or yeast slurry

once pH range of 2.0-2.4 has been achieved. Start timer. Wash for 90 minutes. Maintain temperature between 32-40ºF.

After 90 minutes pitch yeast as soon as possible. Maximum storage for washed yeast is two hours

Winter Beer Festival Guide

NW winter beer events

There's chainsaw carving, gnomes and beer, lots of it. where have you landed in the soggy pacific winter? Probably a winter beer festival.So many to choose, so little time, here's my favorites thus far.

Chocolate and Beer – February 10- Seattle

Theo's chocolate pairs with Seattle hometown favorite; Georgetown brewing for a great event benefitting autism. Chocolate and beer pairings, blues music, Macrina Bakery, and georgetown brewing reveals Lisa's Chocolate Stout. This brew uses 76 lbs of theo chocolate. Oh yeah and they're doing chocolate stout ice cream floats. Count me in.

Klaus the Elysian gnome always makes an appearance at WBF

Winter Beer Festival - December- Seattle

This one is “ family” as one insider puts it. Pretty much everyone you'd like to meet in Seattle beer's scene without the overwhelming crowd. Enjoy wintery beers from within the cozy goodness of Hale's Palladium. Good if you like big beers and pretty lights. Bad if you need outdoors, sunshine, and huge crowds.

Funk band at Strange Brew keeps the crowd grooving

Strange brew -Late January - Port Townsend

Again, small and intimate. Taste the most interesting beers of the Northwest in historic hippie town. Everyone brings their weirdest to this one and its another small winter festival. Good if you like small events, interesting ingredients, being off the beaten path. Bad for those who abhor; road trips, sailors, funk bands.

more gnomes at strangebrew

Winter Beer Festival -Early December- Portland

Big, weekend long, high gravity celebration. USE PUBLIC TRANSPORT. This is staged in downtown portland, the current epicenter of craft beer for the NW. Big crowds, long lines, and crazy-good winter beer selection from all over. As with all large beer festivals, I recommend showing up early on opening day. Volunteers are at their least cranky and you get the best selection. After 6pm, most everyone is very, very jolly so be a safe pedestrian.

check out local hotties in der town

Alefest- spring- Leavenworth Wa

Head over brilliant highway 2 to Alefest. Oktoberfest may get all the crazy kids in their trachten, but trust me Alefest is where it's at. Check out Icicle Brewing Company, enjoy the emerging spring beauty of the north cascades and indulge in some of the best East of the cascades has on offer. Many of these breweries rarely get any distribution in westside markets, so make sure to brag to your I-5 bound friends about your ultra rare finds.

Want a career in brewing? Start at the bottom, then hustle

imagine yourself... brewer, bearded, and badass

Start your own.

Skip the fancy Siebel or UC Davis education. You will have so much debt, you will have to take a job at a large production facility to make the degree worthwhile. You're better off taking some accounting and business law classes and spending your time figuring out how to fund the brewery. Find a good lawyer, figure out what you're good at and recruit a business partner to do the things you suck at. In the meantime...

Start at the bottom

Cellar, brewing, and production jobs are extremely competitive and an unlikely option if you've only got home brewing experience. Homebrewers often fail in a commercial cellar and brewhouse. Production requires little creativity, a monotonous grind and daily simple frustrations like constantly breaking machinery. The autonomy, and flexibility of homebrewing are nonexistent until you get to be head brewer. Even then, you're listening to the market more often than being a tastemaker.

first assignment: disassemble, sanitize and reassemble. Try not to hurt yourself

Make friends and work for free if you want this route. Only your friends will get you in the door directly to the production floor. If you do get an interview, talk about how clean you are, how you're good at detail work and taking direction. Downplay your brewing genius. The last thing a cellarmaster wants is a newbie “ getting creative.” If your homebrew truly is the nectar of gods, bring it to the interview as a parting gift ,but don't talk about it too much. Your job is to get along with everyone and perform your job exactly as your boss wants. You will never get to brew if you can't learn how to clean a tank. Cellar takes their job extremely seriously. They also have a freakish sense of humor, prepare to get weird.

Once you've worked in production for a few years, decide if a brewing degree will take you to the next level. Make sure the pay jump is worth it. Even head brewers don't make bank, so decide if this will give you the authority, knowledge and clout in the industry you need to be successful. Apply to Siebel and UC davis even if you're not sure. The waiting list is at least 2 years.

Less competitive beer jobs include front of the house in a pub, customer relations, distribution, buyers for groceries, outside sales, events management, point of sale retail, and management. These areas capitalize on different strengths than production. If you have an ounce of people skills go for a beer-tender position. You will meet the most industry insiders, learn how to talk about beer and can easily move up the ranks to management or sales. Keep in mind that you can still love beer and make it on your own time.

like wearing costumes? I've got a job for you!

Learn the industry.

While you're at the bottom figure out everyone's role in the brewery and also what type of brewery you'd like to work for. Large production facilities have tons of resources to help you grow and have more industry clout. Trust me, it pays later to slog it out at big brewery for the street cred. You'll also gain a huge amount of professional experience in doing things the right way. Big companies tend to play it safe and you'll get a feel for professional conduct. Brewpubs have the most flexibility and inventiveness in brewing but also have tension between brewery and restaurant, and limited resources. On the upside you'll get opportunities to crosstrain as they have fewer employees. Job hop around to different breweries and locales. Never burn your bridges and always give credit to those who helped you grow. It's a small industry and feels like family for the moment. Balance being kind and looking out for yourself.

Get experience in different areas.

Offer to do ride-alongs with sales people. Jump in the lab and learn to do cell counts. Clean parts in the cellar and always take projects your boss hates. Mostly shut up and listen. Ask questions to find out what makes each person good at their job. What do they enjoy and what is challenging about their daily grind? Your goal is to find what you like and what you're good at. Like leaving work at the office? Don't be in sales. Hate doing the same thing everyday? You may not like being a brewer. Not much of a neat-freak? Get out of the cellar.

gnome liberation. A finer point of my skill set

Always be learning, and networking.

Brewing is literally the oldest science, so you have a ton of catch up. Take a beer serving certification program course (cicerone). Study the BJCP guide. Go to homebrewers meetings, learn the history and culture of brewing. Express your passion by educating yourself and teaching others. Building a network never ends either. Your network benefits your brewery too. If you can hunt down an available bar manager or new cellarman you will prove your value and good judgement to your bosses and have a friendly for office politics.

Drinkless in Seattle? Don't fret.

I got you. First off; Friday and Saturday Nights are for amateurs. Pros skip the crowds, opting to day-drink or go out on school nights. My favorite places to grab a pint, scarf some BBQ and talk shop in Seattle.

Triple Horn Brewing

Rick and Ray are two of the funnest, friendliest, guys you could hope to meet. Thank goodness they opened up a brewery and started hosting public hours. Ray's beer is delicately flavored, nuanced and well rounded. I dig their apricot wit and their IPA is fantastic. No food, so bring your own. Tucked away in a light industry part of Woodinville, the bar is surprisingly warm and welcoming. You can meet wine and beer industry people in a laid back setting.

Malt & Vine

I love this place. Proper glassware, insane selection and a patio (hooligan class seating) It's as if your beer nerd buddies opened a bar and bottle shop. They have 20 taps and a ton of wine, cider, and mead. Stuck in a strip mall you can enjoy a good sunset and the delights of a gyro shop next door. It gets pretty crazy early on weekends. Later, the crowd thins and all the best beer nerds are left to discuss minutia amongst themselves. This place gets extra points for the rad elf painting in the bathroom and function forward plastic tables outside.

Noble Fir

A good rotating tap list of beers I've always wanted to try. Not one off note in beer selection and nothing I've seen too often. Bottles are available as well. Strong offering of ciders as well. This place has the ambiance, staff and expertise to make it a beer lover's standard choice. Smaller and more intimate than Brouwer's Cafe and easily just as good.

Bitteroot

Noble Fir's kitchen was closed so I dropped by this little gem. Cool place, great BBQ, more whiskey than you can shake a stick at. It's the dry kind of meat and they give you the sauce choices. I did a curry type that tasted great. James, “the BBQ king” insists that the sauce must be optional, so I trust this place to stand up to his discriminating taste. Also serving solid selection of NW ales.

Brouwers cafe

Good LORD! The epic beer cavern of greatness. I could get lost in this beer list. It's like great museum, you could spend weeks in there and never see it all. The place is massive as well. Sitting at the bar is like being a the bottom a spelunking mission. Great beers. A beer list so deep you'll develop a liver problem before you try them all. This one could take me years to plow through. Friendly, helpful staff to guide you and frites! I love frites! I may live here for a while.

Uber tavern

Small and well armed an with excellent selection of beers and ciders. Nothing I didn't want to try in their cases. This is a great place to waste an afternoon and catch up on your NW beer news reading. Complimentary Beer advocate magazines and a fire pit make this place cozy and just right for chilling. Also they do kegs to go. 

Royal booze and burritos

So my dear friend Kelsey thought it would be HILARIOUS to slip me a habenero tequila shot. Many tears, and much bitching later, their delightful barkeep ran out and got me some milk. Awww. This place has great staff and it's really fun.  

Happy drinking and remember to tip your bartender!

Beer Snobs Suck

the fun out a room faster than a pack of IRS agents. I call myself a beer evangelist. Partly because I hope to bring the light craft beer enjoyment to as many people as possible and partly because craft beer is my higher calling.

Beer evangelism.
I'm at my best when I'm teaching and sharing my passion for craft beer. It's about pushing the craft beer agenda, but in a non pushy way. It's about spreading knowledge and creating joy in beer appreciation. I hate to see savvy beer drinkers use that knowledge to put less experienced beer lovers down. It's a sad waste of talent. Every domestic lager exclusivist is a potential craft beer drinker in my eyes.

On Domestic Lager and its fans.
I still drink Olympia, Rainier and PBR, and love those beers for what they are. I feel like people who claim to be better than domestic lagers are just missing the whole point. Of course it's not made from great ingredients and it doesn't delight the palette! It has it's place and time like all beers. Do I want a heavy, high ABV, hop bomb, IPA after running 3 miles in the summer heat? NO. (ok maybe a little) Truthfully sometimes I need a beer that's light and  refreshing.  Am I going to pair Oly with fine cheese? Hell no. am I going to pair it with a hot dog at a Mariners game? Fuck yeah I am.

I love malt liquor. It's so good.

Better check yourself, before you wreck yourself.
So check your ego at the door when you enter a holy house of beer. This isn't about how  many hop varieties you can detect by smell. Every time you put down domestic beer to make yourself look good you're doing craft beer a disservice. We're all in this together. The big compaines have legistlative sway that craft brewers don't.  And, you look like an ass. Seriously,  stop it.

Industry Truth.
Almost every brewer I know drinks domestic lagers out a of can fairly often. These people make, taste and talk craft. They live it. But they still want a cheap, easy drinking, lager, like most beer drinkers. Maybe it's because a cheap, craft lager isn't widely available.  (full sail's session is an exception)

A call to arms.
Beer is the drink of the people, I say bring them in and teach them something about craft beer, foster their curiosity and answer their questions and we may have ourselves a new craft lover. I challenge eveyone in the industry to try to find ways to engage domestic beer drinkers. There is a craft beer out there for everyone.

Craft Beer Ambassador Cheat sheet

Potential craft convert: I like hefewiezen/blondes/ wheat.
Beer Ambassador:  awesome. me too. which brands?
PCC: Pyramid/shock top/red hook.
BA: Cool. that recipe is based off this traditional german style,  except the original is a bit lighter, try some.
give them a taster and check their reaction.

PCC: I want something light ( with a " don't judge me look on face")
BA: yeah it hot in here! proceed with any number of dunkles, pilsners, or vienna lager styles.

PCC: That's so dark and heavy!
BA: dark colored beer can be low in alcohol and light in body. guiness is only 4% ABV and full of antioxidants
hand them a dry irish stout or dunkle
OR
BA: Do you like coffee or chocolate?
If yes proceed with taster fitting the note they enjoy.

So get out there and start doing something positive for the industry that produces craft beer you love so much!

Falling for Hops

Fluorescent flowers ripen during the waning summer of central Washington. Here a shallow dessert valley cut by river boasts long daylight hours and dry climate, making Yakima the national premier hop growing region. Sun ripened wind carrying resinous, herbal, and citrus aromas announce autumn's arrival.

I'm proud to brew with Yakima Valley Hops and to hail from an agriculturally important area. The northwest (Wa, Or, Id) together produce 30% of the worldwide hop crop. Yakima Valley produces 77% of the total domestic crop and about ¼ of the international crop. Brewing with Yakima hops means supporting Washington agriculture, minimizing shipping expenses, and using fresh ingredients for fresh beer.

My favorite way to celebrate hop harvest is by drinking and brewing plenty of fresh hopped beer. Fresh or wet hopping uses whole, unprocessed hops during the boil to add aroma and bitterness. Intensely aromatic fresh hopped beer can only be brewed and drank in late summer and fall. Flavors and aromas of hops appear brighter and more potent.

Get Hopped up on NW freshness

Make a pilgrimage to the Yakima Fresh Hop Ale Festival the first Saturday of October. Featuring 23 breweries showcasing beer brewed with hops picked no more than 24 hours prior to brewing. $30

Check out the fresh hopped beer at your local favorites. Two Beers in SoDo, Seattle has one on already, and I'm a big fan of the Apre's at Icicle Brewing Company, of Leavenworth which should be on soon. Big Al brewing in Seattle also has a yearly offering.

Brew a fresh hop your self!

Check out the OR vs WA fresh hop throwdown September 29^th at Nobel Fir, Ballard. 15 fresh hopped beer in one bar. This could get crazy!

Hood River Hops Fest is always a righteous party featuring great great beer.  This one is well worth a trip to Columbia Gorge September 29th. 

With love, from Oregon

Oregon's ability to promote itself as craft booze capital, USA always impresses me. They have Oregon state university’s fermentation science program, established wine making region and they throw great parties ( oregon brewer's festival). They're home to several outstanding breweries, and many more mediocre ones. We cant be wasting precious time on sub par beer, so here's my best of oregon.

Double Mountain: Hood River

Great pizza, great beer, awesome music. Matt and company makes this place an amazing hideout for locals and visitors alike. They're producing some fine sours and the perennially enticing Vaporizer dry hopped pale ale. The IRA and Brown also consistently bring balance and and unique flavors to the gorge. I'm especially bespotted with their kreik, sour brown, and kolsch. Word to the wise; the beer is so well balanced you barely notice the booze, please walk or get a cab!

Good if you like : sours, cow-punk, wood fired pizza, stand up bassists, hanging with locals, dancing, raucous friday nights, sweating.

Two Kilts Brewing Company: Sherwood

I was skeptical when my man Shaggy insisted Sherwood (suburb south of Portland) had amazing brews. Last time I checked, this area hasn't got a good beer for miles. Luckily I ate my words while downing deliciousness at Two Kilts. This tiny tasting room is hidden way out in a strip mall. Simple, pared down, and straightforward it's literally all about beer, there is nothing else. An older gent with two hussies in tow promptly left when faced with the lack of party atmosphere (suckers). Alex and crew really make each style sing. The heather ale brings light malt and wooly herbs in a way I've never experienced. Their imperial stout is literally one of the best, on par with Serpent Stout from Lost Abbey. Alex is a rock star and I will be keeping tabs on him. If you're in Portland, skip half the breweries you wanted to see in the city for this one.

Good if you like : Excellent beer, quiet alone time, talking to brewers, heather, imperial stouts, man skirts, more great beer.

Cascade Brewing Barrel House/ Raccoon Lodge: Portland

Same company two places! Both places have a selection of sours and dandy food.

The Racc also has some of Portland's finest bartenders that know their beer and make the best damn Bloody Mary in PDX. Cascade brews some great sours and other styles. I'm partial to day drinking in the lodge to avoid kids and hang out with their awesome staff.

Raccoon Lodge, good if you like; Hiding in basements, sours and american styles, bar food, dirty jokes, amazing Bloody Mary's, vintage bikes.

Barrel House has a wider selection of sours The beer list can be intimidating and rewarding. I suggest getting a sampler and going wild with as diverse a selection as possible. Atmosphere is relaxed and communal with big tables, open building plan and lots of light. Being part rat, I wait until dark to venture into open spaces.

Good for : impressing fellow beer nerds, making pucker faces, night drinking, second dates, mispronouncing foreign words

Les Caves: Corvallis

Leave the kiddies behind at Block 15 and jump next door to Les Caves. Holy hellfire! This is my kind of place. Not a frat boy in sight and everything is tasty, foreign and sour/tart/ funky. Allegedly the owners went to Belgium to import these sexy euro beers. I applaud, whatever they had to do, they got it right. The menu perfectly fits with the beer. Atmosphere fits everything else and its a great selection of beers you just wont find anywhere else. It's like stepping off a Flemish farm and into a beer cellar dream.

Good if you like: Pretending you're a foreigner, seafood and beer, delicate horsey flavors, fresh cut grass, mood lighting, farm living.