Welcome to my site!  Epiphany Brewing™, where Priests and Deacons always drink free!  If I ever open a pub, that will be the slogan.

The site exists to start the registered trademark process with the USPTO. 

5/6/2008 Site update!  Epiphany Brewing™ wearables are now available here!  Get yours and be the coolest kid on your block!  If you don’t see something you like, let me know and I’ll see what I can do to add to the line-up. Currently these are promotional items, so you are paying cost.  I might increase the cost in the future and donate the proceeds to charity.

Epiphany (Greek: επιφάνεια, “appearance” or “manifestation”) is a Christian feast intended to celebrate the “shining forth” or revelation of God to mankind in human form, in the person of Jesus.

My most profound epiphany was when I converted to Catholicism. A more recent epiphany was when I learned that “you can actually brew your own beer!?” It immediately made sense and I knew I had to brew.  Both revalations have been life altering and have brought me peace of mind.

Whats on tap?

  • Keg 1 - Jamils Strong Bitter - I was looking for a quick beer that I could finish in two weeks, and the recent Brew Your Own magazine (March-April 2008, Vol. 14, No. 2) had an ESB all grain recipe in it.  I did an old school sparge,  so it took a long time to collect the wort.  Very strong fermentation at 68F with 1968 Wyeast London ESB Ale.  I used gelatin as a fining, then used my new plate filter on this beer.  Waiting for it to carbonate.  It was quite tasty when it was flat.  It finished a little over 1.010.  Update 4/11/08 - the beer has been on tap for about 2 weeks.  It’s a fantastic beverage.  I’m letting it age a bit so the sharp edges fall off.  It was biting at first, with a low amount of diacetyl.  It reminds me very much of the pints I had in London, so it must be a good recipe!
  • Keg 2 - Raspberry Wheat Beer.  I did my first “brew-in” (much different from a “love-in” from the 60’s…) with some members of KROC.  5 of us brewed beer for a fellow homebrewer, Barry, who is recuperating from a major skiing accident.  That being said, this wasn’t my recipe.  It wasn’t Barry’s recipe either as I had to substitute most of the ingredients.  His recipe called for Hallertauer, I used Mt. Hood generously donated by the guys at Rock Bottom Brewery in Broomfield.  His recipe called for Wyeast 3942 (Belgian Wheat), I accidently used Wyeast 3944 (Belgian Witbier).  His recipe called for a specific Muntons wheat malt I wasn’t able to find so I used generic LHBS wheat malt (2 pounds liquid and 1 pound DME).  I also used grain for the base malt instead of malt extract.  What else, oh yeah, I doubled the batch size. Sorry if the beer is not what you’d hoped for.  I sampled it and it’s very easy to drink.  There is a light tartness from the berries and a strong yeast character.  It’s nice for the summer time.  This was one ugly beer when it was fermenting.  The krausen never really dropped. I had a solid bed of yeast on the bottom, but there was a persistent foam on top.  I don’t know if that’s normal for this strain of yeast.  OG: 1.048, FG: 1.010.
  • Keg 3 - Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA clone DRAIN POUR #1.  Brewed on 3/30/2008.  I did the reiterated mash technique on this beer.  I also did a protein rest.  Boiled down to barely 5g out of the kettle.  I’ll probably yield about 4.5g or so of finished beer.  Let the fermentation rise from 68F - 71F for the last few days of fermentation, then crashed to 45F over the last few days.  I increased the the boil hops to 6oz this time (.66oz additions over 90 minutes) so the “cloying sweetness” should be diminished.  There is a huge amount of yeast sediment - it was a very vigorous fermentation for 2 solid days.  I ruined this beer when I kegged it by using a NON FOOD GRADE SILICONE spray to lubricate the gaskets.  It tastes like WD-40 and is going down the drain.
  • Keg 4 - Denny Conn’s Rye IPA Clone DRAIN POUR #2  This recipe has 12 pounds of Pale Ale Malt, 3 pounds 4.8 ounces of Rye Malt, 1 pound 5.6 ounces Caramel Malt 60L, 8 ounces Carapils and 8 ounces Red Wheat Malt.  It also has 3 ounces of Mt Hood and 3 ounces of Columbus hops (I’m substituting Yakima Magnum).  Brew day is July 5th, 2008.  I ruined this beer when I kegged it by using a NON FOOD GRADE SILICONE spray to lubricate the gaskets.  It tastes like WD-40 and is going down the drain.
  • Keg 5 - Empty

What’s brewing?

  • Jamils Barleywine - I’ve taken Jamil Zainasheff’s barleywine recipe and added a few additional bittering hops to adjust it for altitude.  This beer is aging tertiary carboy where it will remain for the better part of a year.
  • Jamils Belgian Strong Ale - This beer is aging tertiary carboy where it will remain for the better part of a year.  It is going to be a great beer.  The amount of yeast at the bottom of the carboy was astounding.  It is a light redish brown.   The final gravity on this bad boy was too low for me to measure (my sample wasn’t large enough.)  The hydrometer bottomed out and sat on the bottom of the test tube.  It’s below 1.015, which is very dry.  I was looking for a 1.022 FG.  The alcohol vapors just poured out of the hydrometer test tube!

Kegs gone dry…

  • Smokey Wee Heavy - this is a strong Scottish style ale.  Perhaps too sweet due to the low amounts of hops used and the addition of dry malt extract to boost the original gravity.  This is aging quite nicely.

Beer Blessing
from the Rituale Romanum ( no 58 )

Béne + dic, Dómine, creatúram istam cerevísæ, quam ex ádipe fruménti prodúcere dignátus es: ut sit remédium salutáre humáno géneri: et præsta per invocatiónem nóminis tui sancti, ut, quicúmque ex ea bíberint, sanitátem córporis, et ánimæ tutélam percípiant. Per Christum Dóminum nostrum. Amen

 

 

 

 

Bless, O Lord, this creature beer, that Thou hast been pleased to bring forth from the sweetness of the grain: that it might be a salutary remedy for the human race: and grant by the invocation of Thy holy name, that, whosoever drinks of it may obtain health of body and a sure safeguard for the soul. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

(Translation by Fr. Ephraem Chifley, O.P.)

“From man’s sweat and God’s love, beer came into the world.” St. Arnold, Bishop of Metz 612 AD.

Interesting Links

Introduction to kegging - This is a video if you’re interested in kegging beer.

All Grain Brew Day - A write up on an all grain brew day using steam injection.

Brewing with Johnny Max - Johnny Max of BrewCrazy.com filmed a brew day.

Stones 10th Anniversary Party - fun with Dude Night and The Beer Report guys!