Going German this Summer (Also, What's Going On at C'est Bon Biere)

EDITED: Gulf Brew will be on July 30th, 2016.

Hello fellow craft beer lovers. I know it's been a while, but if you have kept up with our Facebook updates, you know we have been busy this spring. This weekend, we are shipping bottles of Night Shift Baltic Porter to Baltimore, Maryland for the National Homebrew Competition finals! We are pretty excited to have advanced to finals. Over 7,900 beers were entered this year, and it is an honor to have received a 1st place award in Round 1 (Not to mention both a gold and silver certificate for both beers entered).

Another notch in the C'est Bon Biere belt!

As many of you know, C'est Bon Biere is a "his and hers" brewery. All of the beer styles we brew are decided on by the husband and his better half. That's what the small. 'his' or 'hers' means on the top of every beer label. Many of the 'his' beers are Belgian styles, which are Taylor's preferred, and many of the 'hers' beers are stouts and porters, which are Sam's preferred. We have brewed styles from France, Belgium, and England often, but what about Germany? They have influenced beer styles all over the world for centuries. It is time for C'est Bon Biere to attempt some German style beers. So that's what we are doing this summer.

We will have three great offerings, honoring traditional German styles, adhering strictly to the German Purity Law (Reinheitsgebot) which states that beer shall only be brewed with water, barley, hops, and yeast. Before you start questioning my history, you are right, yeast was not technically part of the Reinheitsgebot in 1516. They didn't know what yeast was. It just magically fermented if you left an open container in the cellar for a few months... And before you question my history again, yes the Reinheitsgebot was updated in the mid 1500s to include barley and wheat. How else do you think beers like weisbier, hefeweissen, and weisenbock became so popular?

So, this summer we will be offering a helles bock, weisbier, and altbier. I See the Light Helles Bock inspired by the the light color and high alcohol content, is our first lager of the year. Add this one to our many Disney inspired beer names (Thank my wife for that one).

Second we have a German wheat beer, weisbier, with strong banana and clove aromas. This may be the first beer where we came up with the name before the recipe.

Sorry Vanilla, but we didn't copy you at all... Ours is different....

Finally, a hoppier German style beer, altbier. It's not as hoppy as many British or American styles many of us are familiar with, but it is much more bitter than the typical malty German beers. This one is named after the Hop Pig, a mascot known in many hop-growing regions in Germany, Belgium, and the Czech Republic. We picture the hop pig as a classy, upstanding individual who enjoys a pint of good craft beer.

Enough about our new beers, let's talk about what you came here for. Where can you try our beers? There are four beer festivals in south Louisiana that we will attend this year. We want to give you plenty of advance notice of when and where we will be, and of course give you a tentative beer list. This may change, of course, but you will be in for a treat regardless of what we are serving.

TOAST UNDER THE OAKS: June 18th at Nottoway Plantation in White Castle, LA
Serving: Weis Weis Baby Weisbier, Chateau Tripel, Night Shift Baltic Porter, Hawaiian Roller Coaster Belgian Pale Ale

GULF BREW: July 30 at Blackham Coliseum in Lafayette, LA
Serving: Belgian Missile Crisis Witbier, I See the Light Helles Bock, and Operation Fortitude Biere de Garde

NOLA ON TAP: September 24 at City Park in New Orleans, LA
Serving: Hakuna Mahopa India Porter, Barley Dog Dubbel, Blueberry Bread Pudding Barleywine, and Belgian Missile Crisis Wittier
BAYOU BEER FEST: November 12, at Southdown Plantation in Houma, LA. This will be our 4th year serving at the 4th annual Bayou Beer Fest. No other homebrewer can make that claim.
Serving: Die Hopfensau Altbier, Guilty Pleasure Chocolate Milk Stout, and Hawaiian Roller Coaster Belgian Pale Ale.

We hope to see you guys at one of these festivals. Be sure to spread the word about us to your friends and family. Give us a like on Facebook too. We love making good beer that people love to drink. Until next time, drink local, drink cart beer. Cheers!

What's in a Beer Label?

Call me an engineer, call me a nerd, call me a geek, but I love beer labels and packaging produced by craft breweries. My fondness of the packaging is only second the contents of the bottle (or can). Many of them have clever names and eye catching artwork to the point where we may be running out of names for different craft beers (warning: exaggeration ahead). Part of the reason for this is creativity that is possible when producing beer at a much smaller quantity. Another reason is small breweries jockeying for a limited customer base. When more and more craft breweries begin to produce beer, that means more beers vying for very limited shelf space. It is becoming increasingly difficult to get enough beers on the shelves, and ultimately into your fridge. But I digress...

Much more colorful than the typical big Brewery's silver, white, and blue cans.

Labeling requirements vary by state, but generally what you will find on most beer labels are the name of the beer, style of beer, name of the brewery, city it was brewed in, alcohol content, and a government warning. I love creating my own labels, and you can see many of them in previous posts. I make mine in Microsoft Paint. All of the labels must get approved by the state agency, and from what I've heard, it is a difficult task.

Other items that I've seen on craft beer cans are OG, FG, IBU, and ABV. I've seen OG much more than FG, and they stand for original gravity and final gravity.

Science time (I can't help it, I'm an engineer):
The OG and FG are measurements of specific gravity of the beer before and after fermentation. Alcohol content is calculated based off of the difference between the OG and FG. Specific gravity is a measurement of density relative to liquid water. Water has a specific gravity of 1.000.  This means that a strong barleywine will have an OG of 1.120, and a light lager will have an OG of 1.028. That same barleywine may have an FG around 1.080, while the light lager will have an FG of 1.008.




Specific gravity is measured with a hydrometer

I know... too many numbers. I bore myself sometimes... What I'm getting at is you can determine how much alcohol will be in a beer based off of the OG and FG. Here is a cool chart showing OG and FG ranges for beer styles.

ABV is an easy one, alcohol by volume (that's usually how you decide between "one more" and "I should not drink a 12% English Barleywine after drinking a six pack of Natty Ice"). IBU is international battering unit, and it describes the hop bitterness in a beer. IPAs have 60-100+ IBUs while light lagers have 10-15 IBUs. Pretty straightforward, especially compared to specific gravity. Now go surprise your friends with some newfound beer knowledge. Beware, you may get called a beer nerd.

Next time you get the latest craft beer in the bar or restaurant, ask to keep the bottle, and take a look at it. The breweries put a lot of effort and creativity into them. It's worth taking a look at. In my unbiased opinion, you can get so much more flavor out of a beer when you understand what you are drinking. With a little help from the beer label, I think you can enjoy your craft beer that much more.

Now what you all came here for: to hear about where you can taste some delicious homebrew from C'est Bon Biere. Our next beer festival will be at the 3rd Annual Bayou Beer Fest in Houma, Louisiana on November 14. C'est Bon Biere is proud to be the only home brewers to be represented at all three years of the festival. Come visit us, and try one of our three beers to sample: Belgian Missile Crisis Belgian Wit, Blueberry Bread Pudding Barleywine, and Chaos Theory Vienna Lager. Since this post was about labels, here is the label for our newest beer:

Be on the lookout for some new equipment upgrades from C'est Bon Biere. Until next time, drink local, drink good beer.



Two Blondes and a Belgian Walk into a Bar...

TWO BLONDES:

Since the new year, we have kept pretty busy over at C'est Bon Biere. We collaborated with a friend, Kiel Jenkin, to brew 10 gallons of a blonde ale, which we call "The Blonde Side".

Sorry for the obvious knockoff of The Blind Side movie poster... I wasted all of my creativity on the name.

We wanted to ferment the 10-gallon batch in two 5-gallon batches each pitched with different yeast strains, American ale and Kolsch. The idea was to test the effects two yeast strains can have on the flavor of the beer. The brews have been a smash hit among us and our fellow homebrew enthusiasts.

A BELGIAN:

Call me crazy, but I decided not to brew the seasonal Irish Red Ale this year. Maybe I'm just not Irish enough...
One of our flagship beers, the Belgian Missile Crisis, has been loved by all, so I wanted to give other Belgian style ales a try. The group of Belgian style ales will be known as "Barley's Series" in honor of our golden retriever and brewing mascot, Barley. The first of the series is a Belgian Dubbel

Cute puppy pictures! You know you want to try this brew.

The beer is dark amber in color and has a rich malty sweetness to it. The specialty grains used give it a moderate dark fruit flavor including raisin, plum, and dried cherry. We will see which flavors will be noticeable in our brew.

I have been trying other Belgian Dubbels that are commercially available to do some "research". I want to recognize these different flavors that are usually found in these brews. I recommend New Belgium Abbey as a good example of the style.

I'm excited to try this beer, and I know many of you probably are too. If you want to give any of our beers a try, just let us know. We are always happy to give people a beer they can enjoy. Until then, keep drinking local! Cheers!

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!

The Belgian Missile Crisis

It's one thing for Sam and I to like our homebrew. It's an entirely different story for other people to like it. We realized this pretty quickly after moving to Louisiana. Our friends and family from Louisiana have a much different taste palate than in Colorado. If our beer is to be successful, then our brews need to cater to the audience.

The first batch of beer that Sam and I brewed in Louisiana was a Belgian wheat ale. The recipe was made to be smooth (adding fresh orange zest and coriander), easy to drink (the least amount of hops in any batch to date), and light in color. Sam surprised me with a label for the beer bottles.

I'm sure you are curious as to why it was named the Belgian Missile Crisis. well, after brewing this batch, we pitched the yeast and capped the airlock on the carboy. The purpose of the airlock is to let carbon dioxide out of the carboy, while not letting air in during fermentation. This particular batch of yeast was extremely active. The fermenting beer bubbled up into the airlock and clogged it. From this point on, all of the carbon dioxide had no way out of the carboy. After a few hours of this buildup, EXPLOSION! I came home from work to an airlock that was MIA, a giant brown spot on the ceiling where the beer gushed out of the carboy, and streaks of beer caked on the walls, shelves, vacuum cleaner, and other contents of the closet.

It took a while to clean up, but I believe all of the hassle was worth it. We planned on bringing this beer to Bayou Beer Festival in Houma, Louisiana. It was a great festival, and we definitely plan on attending next year as well. After an impromptu brewing party at our house a few nights before the festival, we got a preview of how big a hit this brew would be. Our friends nearly wiped our fridge clean. The few bottles we had left, we took with us to Houma. It was great to see people try our beer and immediately ask us where they could purchase it. Some people even showed up for seconds, bringing friends with them.

Sam and I were not the only homebrewers there. We made friends with a group from Chalmette, LA. They are planning on opening their own brewery, 40 Arpent, in the next few months. I'll always encourage my friends to drink local beers, but these people were friendly, passionate, and had great beers. I like to say we knew them before they were famous.

I apologize to my family and friends who did not get to try this batch of Belgian Missile Crisis. This will definitely be brewed again in the near future. Like I said, it's important to find a beer that your customers enjoy. I was excited and surprised at how quickly we ran out of it.

Next time you try this beer, you might have to drink it at our house though. For those of you who are new to Sam and Taylor's homebrewing adventures, then next post you will get to hear about our new brewing toy at home. Until then, Cheers!