All I Want for Christmas is a Pint of Winter Wamer

It's Christmas time over at C'est Bon Biere. We have made sure to decorate the beer room accordingly (Yes, we have a room called the beer room). Can you guess my favorite Christmas movie based on the decorations?

Fragile`... Must be Italian!

In honor of the Christmas season, we have decided to brew up a new batch of beer. Some of you might remember tasting our award-winning Christmas ale last year, Wreck the Halls. We brewed it with a big group of friends who were interested in learning how to homebrew beer. Instead of brewing the same great beer (which will happen in the future), we decided to create a Winter Warmer, a dark Scottish ale with an elevated alcohol content. So cozy up next to a fireplace/significant other/bonfire/dog/cat/space heater/leg lamp and enjoy a cold pint of  C'est Bon Biere's Frostbite Winter Warmer.
 

 

This beer was very exciting to make. After enjoying Maple Nut Brown Ale from Tommyknocker Brewing in Idaho Springs, CO (Just a short drive through Clear Creek Canyon from Golden), we decided to try and construct a brown ale similar to Tommyknocker's. From the original attempts at making a brown ale recipe, the maple syrup changed to Steen's cane syrup, American ale yeast turned into Scottish ale yeast, and the grain bill was increased to increase the alcohol content. Frostbite is considered a Scottish Wee Heavy with a modest alcohol content of 7.4%! 

I know next year we will definitely brew both winter ales, so everybody has a brew they can enjoy. Maybe next Christmas you can be the judge, and decide which beer you enjoy more, Wreck the Halls or Frostbite. What you will find out is that you can't go wrong regardless of which one you choose.

We hope everybody has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

When Did We Start Measuring Beer in Gallons?!

It seems like just yesterday we were handing out a 12-pack of our flagship beer, Belgian Missile Crisis" at the 1st Annual Bayou Beer Festival in Houma, Louisiana. At that time, it was the only homebrew we had available. We had a great time, and got great feedback about our beer. There was no question that we would be back!

Since that first Bayou Beer Fest, we have announced our branding as C'est Bon Biere, started kegging our beer, and have gained brewing experience and homebrew competition awards. That's right, C'est Bon Biere brews award winning beers.

This is my horn, I am tooting it because my beer is awesome.

This year was the second annual Bayou Beer Festival. There was an increase from 3 homebrewers last year to 21 homebrewers this year handing out 40+ beers. The turnout was great, and the feedback was even better. The Guilty Pleasure Chocolate Stout came in 4th place overall in the homebrew competition. What was more exciting was how quickly we ran out of beer at the festival.

In less than 3 hours, we handed out 15 gallons of beer. These included 5 gallons of Guilty Pleasure Chocolate Stout, 5 gallons of I Can't Believe It's Not Butterbeer Cream Ale, and 5 gallons of Oktoberfest. One group of festival-goers even remembered us from the previous year. I guess next year we will be bringing more beer!

Looks like our garage before Bayou Beer Fest next year.

For the first time in over a year, our home is beer free. Last Sunday was dedicated to brewing, so we could re-stock our kegs and keep those taps flowing. A batch of Belgian Missile Crisis was brewed, since it is considered our flagship beer. An easy to drink Belgian Wit brewed with coriander and fresh orange peel. A new Christmas seasonal beer was also brewed. It is a Winter Warmer, roughly 8-9% alcohol by volume (I mean 6% alcohol by volume) and brewed with Steen Cane Syrup. Take a look at the new label.

Give us a couple weeks, and we will have some beer back on tap. If you are interested in sampling some homebrewed beer, give us a shout. C'est Bon Biere is always willing to help people try different types of beer. Hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving!

Oktoberfest- 'Tis the Season

As I write this blog post, I am enjoying the wonderful transition to the fall season with St. Arnold Brewery's Oktoberfest. It is amber in color, with an up-front maltinees and little hop aroma. Most people will not know how to describe a true Oktoberfest beer. This is what many think of when they hear Oktoberfest:

Biggest thirst in Germany

 It is traditionally served during the months of September through November, parallel to the German Oktoberfest season. Traditionally, an Oktoberfest beer is amber in color, low hop flavor and aroma, and some spicy or herbal character to it. The malt flavor gives the beer a slight sweetness. In my opinion, the flavor and mouthfeel of a well done Oktoberfest exemplify what a true beer should taste like.

There are a few local breweries that are rolling out new beers for the fall season. Abita Brewing has a seasonal Oktoberfest. It is a good example of a seasonal amber lager. Covington Brewhouse also released a seasonal Fest Biere, their version of a seasonal amber beer. It has a great drinkability, which is especially good on these mild autumn days in south Louisiana. Over the weekend, I had the pleasure of sampling this beer with the owner of Covington Brewhouse. He and his staff are contemplating changing this beer into a regular year-long beer instead of a seasonal. I was all in favor of that change. Currently, Covington does not have a staple beer in with the maltinees, or the amber color of their Fest Biere.

At C'est Bon Biere, we are currently brewing up an Oktoberfest to last us through the short, yet pleasant fall season in south Louisiana. It will be a German style amber ale with up-front maltiness, and a slight spicy hop aroma.

Coming this Fall!

Also on the list of new beers is our easy-drinking Cream Ale. This is no regular cream ale. It has honey malt and vanilla beans added for sweetness. The style is typically a light-bodied, light-colored ale; typical to a blonde ale or light lager. This beer was modeled off of Cali Creaming' from Mother Earth Brewing in San Diego, California. The idea is to create a taste similar to cream soda. My I present to you: I Can't Believe It's Not Butterbeer!

If either of these sound enticing to your palate, feel free to stop by and visit us any time. We will be serving our beers at Bayou Beer Fest in Houma, LA this November 15. It has been a good few months for C'est Bon Biere in creating new brews and recreating some award-winning brews.

Thanks to everyone for keeping up with us on our blog and on Facebook. This is going to be a long road to starting our own micro-brewery, and every day, we inch closer to that success. Keep up with us for the latest news about the future of the Gonzales' future first brewery!

Don't Drink and Drive, Bike and Brew!

So its been a while since our last blog post. I hope everybody is enjoying their summer so far. We finally got the chance to spend some time with the homebrew club on a weekend bike ride. Check out the St. Tammany Trail to see all of the areas you can ride. It was a great time getting to meet other fellow homebrewers, and drink some beer in the process.

So the group met in downtown Mandeville on a Saturday morning. Half of the people brought bikes, and the other half of us rented bikes from the Shiver Shack, a great place to get everything from bicycles to snowballs. There was one tandem bike for rent there. Can you imagine riding one of these things!

Kermit makes it look so easy!

Thankfully, we all had separate bikes, and began the ten mile ride to Abita Brewing Company. Everyone there had been on the tour before, so it was nice to enjoy their beers on tap again. From Abita, we made our way back towards Mandeville, stopping at Chafunkta Brewing Co. We got a private tour from the owner, and got to grill him with questions about opening up his own brewery. He still has a full time job, and brews part time on nights and weekends. A huge time commitment!

It was also interesting to learn that the brewing equipment used at Chafunkta was handed down from Parish Brewing. The owner at Chafunkta has plans to upgrade his brewery to brew at a larger capacity, and pass down the old brewing equipment to the next up-and-coming brewery in Louisiana. Then it will be considered "third generation" brewing equipment for start-up breweries in the state. The tour of Chafunkta was great, because we got to spend time with a professional brewer and hear his story of starting up a brewery (Something that you know Sam and I are passionate about).

Finally, we finished with beer and lunch at Old Rail brewpub, recently named one of the top new bars in the New Orleans area! [Insert article from old rail FB] We were lucky enough to meet the head brewer at Old Rail, who gave us a tour of their brewery. The layout of the restaurant is interesting, because the brewery is visible from anywhere in the building. Old Rail recently received a silver medal in the US Open of Beer for their Extra Special Bitter (ESB) called Echo Sierra Bravo.

We had a great time riding bikes with fellow homebrewers, and meeting some professional brewers in the area. It's great to see the craft beer industry growing in south Louisiana. Remember to keep drinking local, support local craft brewers.

As for C'est Bon Biere, we have the Belgian Missile Crisis bottled (let me know if you would like to try some), and brewing our award winning milk stout Guilty Pleasure within the coming weeks. That will be ready by the end of summer, when the weather starts getting cooler. Thanks for reading, and keeping up with us here at C'est Bon Biere. Who knows, maybe someday we will inherit the same brewing equipment used by Parish Brewing, Chafunkta Brewing, and whoever else is lucky enough to begin their own brewery.

Mellow Brewfest Results

It's a good time of the year. The weather is getting warmer, vacations are on the horizon, and craft beer is gaining momentum across the state of Louisiana. Sam and I would like to say happy graduation to all of our friends at CSM, LSU, ULL, and all schools in between. Best of luck to all of you in searching for jobs, grad school, or whatever you choose to do next.

A couple of weeks ago, C'est Bon Biere showed up at Mellow Brewfest in Covington, LA with nothing more than an ice chest of beer and the shirts on our back. We must have looked ragged because they gave us some good looking festival t-shirts.

Now we look like professionals!

Plenty of homebrew clubs were there in full force, each with 6-10 beers of their own on tap. Not being a part of these groups was intimidating when we first got there, but everyone there was very friendly and willing to go out of their way and talk to us. Since then, we have made it to our first homebrew club meeting with the club Brasseurs a la Maison.

We made many friends at the festival, including a group from Metairie who served a delicious Lemongrass wheat beer. Surprisingly, our Chai dark ale actually mixed well with the lemongrass (All of the beers in the competition had some sort of spice or herb incorporated into the brewing process).

I know what many of you are thinking right now...

Don't worry, there were no "Bratwurst beers" or "Secret ingredient beers" there. The vast majority of the beers were very creative and delicious too. Who would have thought that out of 50 entries, C'est Bon Biere would come in 2nd place in the "Best of Show"!

Look who made it on the big stage!

We had a great time at the festival, made some new friends, and tried some unique beers that will only be brewed by homebrewers. As for what we have on tap the rest of the summer: the Belgian Missile Crisis will be ready in time for the summer months. The Guilty Pleasure Milk Stout will be brewed soon (it takes a while to condition and get its full flavor), and a new recipe for a Cream Ale is in the works.

Thanks to everyone who has been following our blog. It's a lot of fun to write about our hobby, and add some creativity to the mix. All you engineers out there, know that creativity is not our forte! I hope everyone enjoys their summer. Buy local beers, and try out some homebrewed beer too if you get the chance. Cheers!

Officially "Home"brewers!

I'm sure many of you have noticed that we have not posted to the blog in a while. There has been a lot going on for Sam and I in the past two months. I guess it's time to get you all up to speed. We have not had much time to brew since the Chai Dark Ale in the last blog post.

Since February, we have been tirelessly studying for the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam. For most of those who have not heard of the FE, it is a 6-hour exam that engineers take after graduating with an engineering degree.

 

We both took the Chemical Engineering specific exam. Both of us passed! It would have been awkward if one of us passed and the other did not. I'm glad all of that studying paid off. For the next four years we are Engineering Interns, working under Professional Engineers. After the four years of interning, we can take the Professional Engineering exam (PE).

We also bought a house in Gonzales, LA, removed 1200 square feet of tile flooring, replaced it with hardwood, painted the walls, and moved our belongings to our new house. Now that all of the hard work is done, the place turned out great.

We even have space for our beer tap and pint glasses.

As for our brewing adventures, we will soon brew the Second Line Black IPA. A slightly bitter, dark ale with coffee flavors and a hint of chocolate.

This will be on tap at our home along with the Blarney Stone Irish Red Ale. Let us know if you want to try one of our homebrew.

On May 10th, C'est Bon Biere will attend Mellow Brewfest in Covington, LA. We have three beers entered in the competition, and one beer in the People's Choice competition. Once those results are in, you will be the first to find out. Hopefully we can come home with another medal. If not, at least we can spread the word about Gonzales's newest homebrewers.

Craft Beer is Gaining Momentum

Homebrewing is not a common hobby in the southern states, especially Louisiana. It wasn't that long ago that it was illegal to homebrew beer in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama! What I am glad to see is the growth of homebrewed beer and craft breweries near our home.

The American Brewers Association released the numbers for 2013 craft beer sales. Craft brewing is a growing industry nationwide.


Soon C'est Bon Biere will add to these numbers.

This growth is becoming evident in southern states too. New Belgium Brewing (Fort Collins, CO) is building a new production facility in Ashville, NC. Abita Brewing Company recently completed an expansion that doubles their brewing capacity. Lazy Magnolia Brewing (Kiln, MS) is in the process of an expansion that will extend their distribution footprint well beyond the Gulf coast.

Stone Brewing Company out of California is also looking to begin constructing a brewery east of the Mississippi River. One of the states considered was Alabama. An editorial from the Anniston Star explains how the state has handled the situation.

The three-tiered distributing system is also the law in Louisiana among other states. Here is an over-simplified explanation of how it works (because simple is how I operate).

Currently in states like Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama there is no "Brand Owner" selling to "Retail Stores". There is no "Brand Owner" selling where the "Brand Owner" brews. States like Colorado, California, and Pennsylvania do not have these systems in place, and they have more craft breweries than most states (especially Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama).

The message that Stone sent to the state of Alabama was clear. Construct your laws to be fair to breweries of all size, especially the home-grown local businesses. I am glad to see the growth that craft beer has realized over the past year, and I can only hope that this trend continues in 2014 as well.

At C'est Bon Biere, we bottled the Shiva Blast Spiced Ale, and we are gearing up for our next homebrew competition. Happy Spring everybody, enjoy a craft beer (spring seasonal beers are coming out), and enjoy a homebrew if you can. Until Next time, Cheers!

Brewing Beer Like the Pros (Shiva Blast Spiced Ale)

There are many ways to brew beer. Most homebrewers begin by purchasing brewing kits, then making beer on the stove. These kits have either dry or liquid sugar extract which had been removed from the grains and condensed.

Sam and I brewed all of our batches up to this point by steeping some grains for color and flavor, then getting most of the sugars from sugar extract. Since we were actually using less grains, less water was needed when boiling the worth. This process is called partial-mash brewing.

After finally upgrading our equipment, we have finally converted to all-grain brewing. No more sugar extract for C'est Bon Biere! Our new system has the capacity to brew up to 10 gallon batches. It includes a 10-gallon hot liquor tank, a 10-gallon mash/lauter tun, and a 15-gallon stainless steel brew kettle. Here is a picture of the entire setup.

Looks like a real brewery now.

It was exciting to brew our first all-grain batch of beer. Once we got all of the valves and hoses leak-free, it was a breeze. It was much different brewing with 14 pounds of grain and 8 gallons of water.



A full mash. This is where the magic happens.

Another interesting thing about this batch of beer was the way we designed the recipe. A very easy to use computer program called BeerSmith allowed us to fine tune the recipe to specific color, alcohol content, color, and bitterness.

This beer was brewed specifically for an upcoming homebrew competition. The only beer category allowed is "Spiced, Herb, and Vegetable Beer". The recipe that we designed is a strong, bitter, German ale infused with freshly brewed chai tea, or as we like to call it, the Shiva Blast! To all of my friends who enjoy watching The League, you're welcome.



We wanted to have some fun creating this beer. It will have a wonderful aroma, mixing chai tea with the hop bitterness. Alcohol will be present in the flavor, with somewhere between 6-9% alcohol by volume.

In the end, I hope our first all-grain batch of beer will be as good as some of our previous batches. With this upcoming completion, the Shiva Blast will be competing head-to-head against the Belgian Missile Crisis. Fingers crossed for some positive feedback from there. Until then, cheers!

Shaping America's Youth, One Beer at a Time (Blarney Stone Irish Red Ale)

In preparation for St. Patrick's Day, Sam made a recipe for an Irish Red Ale. The goal was to create a red ale that was out of the ordinary. It still has the amber color found in most red ales, but with a little twist. It will be more hoppy than a traditional Irish beer. Irish ales are normally very crisp with very little bitterness. It also will have a hint of honey. Honey malt is used to flavor the beer, and honey is used to increase the alcohol content of the beer.

Naturally, we had a name picked out and a label designed before brewing this batch. The idea for this brew is to have our second rotating seasonal beer (after Wreck the Halls Christmas Ale). I present to you the Blarney Stone Irish Red Ale:

Last week, a student worker at the company where Sam and I work asked a favor of us. Her Process Design class at LSU had to write a report on an industrial process. Of all the processes to chose, what are the odds they chose beer? We were more than happy to invite them over while we brewed. They took notes, asked questions, and sampled some great homebrew. Along with the report, they produced a video documenting the beer making process. With their permission, here is the video:

Click our logo to view the video

They had a great time spending the afternoon brewing with us, even if we had a few hiccups (like running out of propane and boiling on the stove). We had some other friends spending the weekend with us who got to see the brewing process in action. They have enjoyed our beers for sometime, and they were glad to get the chance to brew with us.

Personally, these guys are the smartest in their class for choosing a fun process to write their report on. If I was grading their report, I would probably give them an A+. If you are ever in the Baton Rouge area, stop by and visit us. We always have beer on tap, and who knows, we might even be brewing a beer that weekend.

If you want to talk beer recipes, or stop by and learn about homebrewing. Give us a call or leave a comment. Cheers!

Bataille des Bieres Results

Recently, the Lafayette homebrew club, Dead Yeast Society, put on a homebrew competition. There were 4 categories of beer: Light Hybrid Beer, American Ale, Stout, and India Pale Ale.

Sam and I decided to enter our Guilty Pleasure Milk Stout. There were 19 entries in the stout category. Here are the results:

Pretty good for our first competition!

SILVER MEDAL!!! We are both very excited about the results. The stout had the most entries in it of the four categories. So to those of you who have tried this beer, thank you for your positive feedback. For those of you who have not yet tried this brew, don't worry, we will definitely be making it again.

You will notice there are three styles of stout listed here. If you want to read more about different styles of beer, mead, and cider, here is a good link explaining all of them:  http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/catdex.php

On another exciting note, we are finally engaged!

She almost cried!

For the wedding, we will be serving our homebrewed beer. Hopefully by then we have a few more award winners. Until then, Cheers!

Consistency is Key (Belgian Missile Crisis II)

When people ask me about homebrewing, I usually say the same thing. "It's easy to make beer, but it's hard to make good beer". I would like to add to this quote right now. I also believe that it is difficult to replicate good beer.

Sam and I cracked open our old recipe book and brought back the Belgian Missile Crisis. We brewed this Belgian wheat ale earlier this summer. In fact, it was the first batch we brewed in Louisiana, and it was a huge hit among friends, family, and beer lovers alike. You might remember reading a previous post about the response we got from this beer at Bayou Beer Fest.

C'est Bon Biere presents the new Belgian Missile Crisis:


Here is a rough sketch of the new label.

 The second batch of this beer has the same aroma with a hint of orange. It is very light, and easy to drink. It has very little hop bittering. The most noticeable difference between the two batches turned out to be the color. The new batch is significantly lighter than the first one.

Beer color can be estimated using a scale known as Lovibond units. The chart below explains:

The original Belgian Missile Crisis had a color around 7.5-8.0. The second batch is closer to 6.0. Now I know this may seem miniscule, but color plays a major role in matching the style, clarity, and whether or not people are willing to try your new beer.

One of the main causes of the color change was the amount of time it took to cool the wort down after the boil was complete. Previously, we immersed the boil pot in our bathtub filled with ice and water. It took about 45 minutes. The second time we used a wort chiller (25 foot copper coil with a hose attachment), which took only 10 minutes! The result is a clearer, lighter colored beer.

 

Think about the last couple of beers that you drank. Where do they fall on the color scale? Now take a look at the website of a local craft brewery. Where do their 5-7 beers fall on the scale? C'est Bon Biere will brew beers ranging from 5-30+.

As always, feel free to comment, share recipes, or talk beer with us. Currently on tap along with the Belgian Missile Crisis is the Double Fault American Pale Ale. Next in line to brew is an Irish Red Ale.

Cheers!

Don't Criticize me Bro! (Guilty Pleasure Milk Stout)

There is no right way to drink a beer. Some people chug their beer, some people nurse their beer. Others spill it on ping pong tables while listening to the newest music from Mumford & Sons. That is the true definition of alcohol abuse!


I used an eCard in the blog.. All time low!

When people are trying our homebrew for the first time, I like to be there to walk that person step by step of how they "should" drink the beer. It's almost like my baby that I don't want to be mistreated. Sam and I have referred to our beer as "our baby" while it ferments in the closet. I don't want to dictate how to drink our beer, I just want people to get a full appreciation for it. I am sorry to anyone who I have annoyed for doing this to you.

Here is what I look like when someone tries our beer for the first time, and likes it:



A "Friends" GIF... this is going downhill fast

Sam and I recently submitted our Guilty Pleasure Milk Stout to a homebrewing competition in Lafayette, LA. This means that our beer will be critiqued and criticized (constructively, of course). Here is what I look like waiting for the homebrew competition results:


SpongeBob is a little better...

  Hopefully we get some positive reviews, but the best part is that we will get a some great tips on improving this brew. It turned out to be a huge hit this winter, so improving it will be an exciting project. I will say that I did not expect people to be open to such a dark, thick beer. It turns out, people were more intrigued by the complex flavors of chocolate and coffee in a drink that was still considered beer. Whether it is chocolate, beer, or both, everyone has a Guilty Pleasure.

Keg Stands are for Poor College Kids

I love talking to people about my hobby of homebrewing. Usually the first question is "Is it any good?" or "How much does it cost?" To these I always say that it is easy to make beer, but it takes some effort to make good beer. The cost is much cheaper than your average night at the bar. On average, a 5 gallon batch costs just under $1 per 12 oz. beer. One time I was even asked "Can you make _____ Lite?" To respond, I turned to the water faucet and filled an empty pint glass. I handed it to that former friend and said "Here you go". I say 'former' in the nicest way possible.

 



Won't see this in our hallway

Sam and I finally took the plunge and dug deeper into our homebrewing hobby. Part of me was tired of manually capping 50 bottles of beer at a time, and part of me was tired waiting 2 weeks for the beer to carbonate. So instead of bottling, now it's time to start kegging. Now I know what some of you are thinking...

But you won't find any red Solo cups in this house. Sam and I recently purchased a three tap keezer with three 5 gallon kegs. Keezer is how us beer people lazily say "keg freezer". It's essentially an old box freezer with an external temperature control attached, to regulate the temperature. It can hold all three kegs at once.

 

And we still call this room "the office"

With this kegging system, we carbonate the beer inside of the kegs using a CO2 tank. The process is called "forced carbonation" The CO2 is pumped into the keg to pressurize it. Using this method, the beer can be carbonated and ready to pour anywhere from 2 days to 2 weeks. This means the process can be much faster than carbonating in individual bottles.



It has been fun making labels for all of the beer bottles, but we plan on still designing labels. It gives us something to do in our spare time, and gives me something to post other than pictures of ourselves. (Although I don't hear anyone complaining about that).

 

Sam and I have two homebrew competitions coming up in January/February. We will be entering two beers in these competitions. First is Guilty Pleasure, our milk stout, or sweet stout. It is flavored with unsweetened cocoa, and fermented lactose sugar. Second, is Double Fault, an American Pale Ale. You can see the label for this beer on our last post. This will probably be the lightest beer in color we have brewed to date, but by far the hoppiest.

 

With most of our beer being kegged now, I guess that means more people will have to come to visit us in Baton Rouge to drink our beer. Be sure to leave a comment if you want to try some of our brews, exchange recipes, or just have something important to say. Next scheduled brew will be an Irish Red Ale. We will keep brewing, so I hope you keep following.

Cheers!

Authors Note: To any college kids, keg stand lovers, or the easily offended: Please do not be offended by the title of this post. If you are, just relax and enjoy a homebrew. Don't have any homebrew? Enjoy a local craft beer.