Nanos, gravity readings and yeast?

This last week I spent my free time recovering from the Double IPA festival at The Bistro during SF Beer Week, reading up on some of the most interesting Nano-breweries in the country, studying up on hydrometers and how to read Original and Final Gravities and contemplating a yeast library.

I know, I know...that is a lot to think about in a single week. But with my current job being as boring as possible, I need to focus on something productive and enjoyable. So I sit and think about the last beer we (Eudaemonia Brewing) brewed the weekend of January 29th. This was the first time I fully understood the reason for taking the Original Gravity. I used to think this was a complex measurement followed by a more complex calculation. Not so, friend. And now, after looking around online, I found an Excel sheet that will not only calculate the potential alcohol percentage, but it will make the necessary correction if the temperature is off at the time of reading.

Thursday, I made the inaugural trip to my new local homebrewing store: The Beverage People. This place is a huge step up from my old homebrew shop, and the employees are all members of the Sonoma Beerocrats homebrew club, which I will be joining in the next few weeks. This place has just about everything you need to start and day-to-day, including barrels of grains and a refridgerator full of a diverse selection of yeast. I picked up two Brew Your Own special edition magazines that focused on growing and using hops, and 250 clone recipes, which I decided is what I am going to start with when I buy my own setup in the next few months.

I also watched a recent Brewing TV episode where they visited a homebrew club that was lucky enough to have a yeast specialist as one of their members. For some reason I find culturing yeast very interesting... not sure why. So after I figure out the dry hopping, sparging and yeast starter aspects of homebrewing... I will begin to explore the wonderful world of culturing.

Lastly, I discovered a great nano-brewery list on Hess Brewing's site that kept my attention for about 72 hours straight. This has to do with my desire to connect and volunteer/work with a brewer who is taking the next step into the world of commercial brewing. I could read the progress blogs of pico and nano breweries for hours. These entreprenuers are living the dream! You can find the list here: http://hessbrewing.blogspot.com