Game of Thrones Labels

As a group, we like doing themed beers.  In this case, 20 brewers (well, 19... I took 2 spots) brewed beers centered around the HBO show, Game of Thrones.  Previously we did the 12 days of Christmas, and next is a NASCAR theme.

I had not seen the show, but since I joined the group I have watched both seasons 3 times.  FUN show.  And a fun challenge for everyone.  If you are in a homebrew club, you should try it- it makes you think outside what you might ordinarily brew and try something new.  AND you walk away with some beers from your friends too!

Also, because I'm a complete geek, I got custom caps made for each of my brews. That's simply ridiculous, right?

Best homebrew class EVARRRRRR!

WOW- was last night's class epic.

We brewed a stout. I had all the ingredients separated out- so the students tasted each of the grains.

I brought 6 stouts of varying styles to sample- we compared head density and color, flavors, colors, hop levels- a WIDE band of stouts were represented.

BJCP stout guidelines for the 6 different recognized styles were compared.

I read the stout section out of a really cool book- Beer Craft.  It's got infographics, recipe theory, it's really cool.

Total and constant discussion of different grain characteristics, and we did the mash part of an all-grain beer.  (mash-out and boil is next week) This allowed students to have hands on time with all the steps- we discussed manifolds, different sparge methods, single versus multi-step mash, malting, grain types, different mash temps, mash tun types, etc etc etc.

Seriously- this was the best class yet!