Beermaking tips bubble up, ferment in brewing class

GAIL L. RICHARDS

May 09, 2008 at 11:25AM AKST

For The Seward Phoenix Log

A dozen people hovered around a keg of beer last Thursday night in the basement of the library, sipping home brew out of paper cups and discussing the temperatures of their mash '97 or how long it took to sparge their grains.

Obviously, this was not the usual Seward kegger.

In fact, this was a group of home brewers with varying degrees of experience, who had gathered for the last of three classes that Ryan Reynolds taught on homemade beer brewing.

Reynolds, who learned the business of making beer from his father about eight years ago, is considered somewhat of a local brewmeister and favors beers on the darker side, such as stouts and porters.

"I’m brewing a nut brown ale at the moment with roasted hazelnuts that I hope will be fantastic, but I’m trying to brew some lighter beers as well," he said. "I would like to open a brewery here in Seward on down the road, so I’m beginning to work on styles."

Before members of the class sat down for instruction on advanced brewing techniques, they spent time sampling one another’s batches and swapping valuable trade secrets. The beers were as varied as the personalities that made them.

Eric Johansen’s jug held a smooth but hearty blend enhanced by a type of sugar used in the process. A collective and knowing "ahhhh" rose from others when Johansen explained that he’d used a special candy-making sugar, and that the batch had been allowed to ferment for four months.

The beer that Paul Tougas shared was milder, less sweet, and fermented for less than a month. Reynolds referred to it as amber ale.

Reynolds said most of participants in the class had some experience with home brewing.'a0Others, including Larry Harmon, are new to the craft. He recently bottled his first batch of brew and is anxious to see how it turns out.

Reynolds is excited to see newcomers to the craft.

"The more local homebrew in town the better.'a0I would like to get a club started and I know there’s some interest out there. If anyone has a big garage with a ping-pong table, they can be president," he said.

Intrigued by the creativity used by fellow home brewers, Reynolds listed a number of ingredients '97 such as fruit, spices and sweet potatoes '97 used to influence flavors.

He raved about the flavor of a dark chocolate porter that local brewer Tim Johnson brought to one of the first two classes. Yes, you read that right '97 chocolate.

"Anything homemade is great," Reynolds said. "Most beer you get at the store has been filtered and pasteurized to make it shelf-stable.'a0I like to think of it as the difference between a fresh loaf of multi-grain bread made at home with love as compared to the dead loaf of industrial white bread that’s been on the shelf for a while."

Reynolds said that he believes "any beer made with attention to detail, without regard for cost or time, and by a brewer who respects the craft is going to be a great beer."

The beer-making class, sponsored by the Seward Community Library, is the first in a series of new programs prompted by director Patty Linville.

"It’s been wonderful to teach a class because I’m learning a lot myself in the process," Reynolds said. "I’d like to do the class again in the fall if the interest is there.'a0Dark winter afternoons and rainy days make great brewing weather. It’s hard to be cooped up in the brew shed for nine hours on a sunny Saturday."

Gail Richards is a Seward artist and freelance writer. She can be reached at 224-2426 or gail@gailrichards.com.