Daily Archives: April 16, 2012

Throwback: Origins of the Brew Brothers

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Let’s talk about origins for a moment.  There’s a really nice home-brew club in Colorado Springs, Colorado called the Brew Brothers.  The history of that club and how it started is described nicely in the previous link!  The three guys pictured in the logo above were the founding members–me (James C (beermentor), Mike B, and Ray C … hence the name BC2 Brewers.  We started the first brew session at my house in Colorado Springs …

 

If I remember correctly, we actually started our discussions about brewing in 2002 but waited until 2003 to brew the first batch (we needed a good weather day!).  It was great fun — we started with partial mash brews (using malt extract).

 

This allowed us to start without a huge initial investment.  We had all brewed previously but we were all pretty rusty at it.  We didn’t have a lot of equipment at the time so the extract brewing was cheaper because we could use cookware we already owned.  As we got into it we obviously had to have some brews to sample (as well as a smoke).  You can tell in these pictures we were really enjoying ourselves!

  

The nice thing about brewing together is that everyone brings their own ideas, skills, and equipment.  There’s a lot of synergy in this type of activity!  We had three different recipes–I made a DoppelBock, Mike made a Porter, and Ray made an Oatmeal Stout.  Here are the labels I created to use on our bottles!

  

Another great thing about brewing together is the sharing of the brews!  Since we all made 5 gallon batches, we ended up with (typically) 2 cases and a spare 4 or 5 bottles.  We each gave the other two a couple of six packs each.  So you had a case of your beer and a case of the other two guys!  What a great experience and a wonderful origin to a great brewing tradition!  I will post more pics, recipes, and tales of the BC2 Brewers past …

Stay Tuned!

Beer Mentor

DC Brau … A mighty fine Washington, DC Brewery

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In December of 2011 I was fortunate enough to be visiting some friends in Washington DC who have the same “hankering” for good beer.  My friend Brian decided to tote me around to a few places I hadn’t been in DC, one of which is DC Brau.

I was pleasantly surprised … and not about the beer.  I had already had a six-pack or two so I knew what to expect.  I was surprised about how compact it was.  They really pack a lot of great things into a space under a Post Office.  Make the trek over and you’ll see what I mean.  They have a very comfortable tasting area.  The selection of beers they have is good (the beer is really good … give “The Public” a try!)  The day I was there they had a guy making brats/sausages–I wish I’d had one!  They smelled great.

Although the owners didn’t give the tour, they were serving up the beer (one of them is in the photo above).  This is kind of an upscale clientele hangout place though.  That’s not bad … just want you to know what to expect.  You’ll probably hear some pretty interesting conversations.  Maybe even some about the art in the place!

   

If you are in DC it is worth a trip over.  They are doing some great things with their beers.  They just celebrated their one-year anniversary.  You can tell by the wood casks above that they are not afraid to branch out into some experimental stuff too.  My hat’s off to them — I wish them the best (I’ll be back again … I want to try “The Corruption!”).

Beer Mentor