Do It Yourself brewing
2nd Cold War Brewing at Zymurgy Brew Works
These photos were taken Thursday evening at Zymurgy Brew Works & Tasting Room in Torrance; the only do-it-yourself, brew-it-yourself brewery in Los Angeles. I was there to brew my Cold War Russian Imperial Stout for the second time; this time I would be assisted by Zymurgy brewer, Keith Edie. I got the recipe from my son who used it to brew his Sochi to Stanley Stout, modified slightly. Buddy and I were joined by our friends Dan, who took photos that I obviously didn’t, and Phil and Deborah who brought a picnic to share during the boils.
Long time readers may recall that I was the first person to brew at Zymurgy almost three years ago. I was there to help them learn their new system, and yes, there were a couple hiccups, but the end result was outstanding. I have one bottle left and it has only gotten better with time. I know there are a couple more bottles floating around out there; I also know their owners are going to be in for a treat when they finally crack them open. Continue reading
Zymurgy Brew Works Brewing Class: Hazy IPA
These photos were taken Thursday evening at Zymurgy Brew Works & Tasting Room in Torrance, where they held another in their series of “every once in a while” brewing classes. Thursday’s class was to learn how to brew a hazy IPA using all grain and was led by Zymurgy Brew Works brewer Richard Wirsing. Each of the attendees will receive one 22oz bottle of the beer they brewed at a later date.
Wirsing explained the brewing process, complete with the Brewers Association newly defined description of the “hazy IPA”. Wirsing even went so far as to pass around bags of various hop varieties so the class participants could have some say as to the hop profile of their IPA. Continue reading
Photos from the Zymurgy Brew Works Ribbon Cutting
These photos were taken Friday afternoon at the Zymurgy Brew Works & Tasting Room Grand Opening and ribbon cutting. The event was attended by friends and family, as well as Torrance Mayor Pat Furey and council members Mike Griffith and Heidi Ashcraft, several representatives of the Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce and several craft beer aficionados.
Attendees were able to sample beers that have already been brewed at Zymurgy and those that got there early enough were treated to some tasty, gourmet, bacon wrapped hotdogs. If you can get there before 10:00 PM Friday you can take advantage of the $1.00 off pints and flights; and you can book your future brew session for 15% off the regular price.
Zymurgy Brew Works & Tasting Room is located at 22755 Hawthorne Boulevard in Torrance. If you have ever been interested in homebrewing but did not have the space or equipment to do it, this is a great way to try it out. Visit ZymurgyBrewWorks.com to get more information and reserve your kettle. Cheers! Continue reading
Cold War Brewing at Zymurgy Brew Works & Tasting Room
On Wednesday evening, Tanya and I headed over to Zymurgy Brew Works & Tasting Room where we met up with co-founder Bill Baker to try out their new Do-It-Yourself craft brewery which is slated to begin their soft-open on September 10, 2016. My brew would not only add some beer to my collection, but it would give Zymurgy an opportunity to dial in their system and it would provide samples for future brewers to enjoy during subsequent brews. I opted to brew a recipe my son has for his Sochi to Stanley Stout; a delicious Russian Imperial Stout. The reason for this was primarily because I did not want to power drink five gallons of an IPA; I would much rather open one bomber every few months and this beer would be just perfect for that.
I had sent the recipe to Baker ahead of time in order to ensure that all the ingredients or applicable substitutes were available. One substitute was replacing the pound of Special B malt with a pound a Crystal 120 which was presented to me as C-120; I thought that sounded like an explosive so I changed the name of the beer to Cold War Russian Imperial Stout. Homebrewers will acknowledge that a Russian Imperial Stout is a pretty ambitious beer for the average homebrewer; Zymurgy was excited to do it as it was a pretty safe bet that this would be one of the biggest beers they will brew there. Continue reading