Fairbrae Brewers 2024
Hello, my name is Liam Schertler. I decided to brew a stout for the St. Paddy’s Fair”brew” Fest event because I like stouts. I’ll take any chance to brew one so hopefully you like stouts as well.
Homebrewer since 1995 when I was in grad school. Started with brewing from extract which is easier because this skips a step. However for about the last decade, have been brewing full grain which is the original, historical method starting from grain instead of extract which is derived from grain. Most beer I make tend to be Belgians (tripels or saisons), or hazy IPA’s. Occasionally I make an unusual stout or high gravity (i.e. high alcohol) beer. In the beginning, I brewed beer to get styles which were hard to find or buy. Lately though, it’s been pretty easy to get all these beer styles, especially IPA’s which have become very popular.
Beer: since it’s a St Paddy’s event, I chose a recipe in the style of Guinness Foreign Extra Stout. Most people are familiar with Guinness which is a stout, around 4% alcohol and for lots of people, an easy drinking beer, Guinness makes an Extra Stout which has a bit more alcohol and a more complex character which they export. The foreign extra stout is an even higher alcohol version (around 7%) which is a bit more flavorful than the extra stout that they export to select markets at a bit more premium price. I believe this is recently available in the US, but don’t know the details. Anyway, it seemed fitting for the occasion. It’s my first time making this recipe, but I’ve made several stout variations over the years.
Head brewer Steve Enders has been making tasty ales since 1996. Fun fact: his first brew was made in San Luis Obispo, in the building that would become Central Coast Brewing Co. We chose to make a west coast style Irish red ale because it blends some of our favorite elements of craft beer: the hoppy notes from some familiar varieties with modern yeast, plus the malty, robust, and colorful backbone you’d expect from a traditional Irish red.
Have been brewing with help from Shung and a group of online friends who talk about home brewing way too much to call it a hobby. Decided to brew a Wheat Beer because Boulevard Brewing’s Unfiltered Wheat is not available here in the Bay Area, so the closest thing is to brew a batch of American Wheat and add extra yeast to resemble the flavor of Boulevard Wheat that came to my liking during college drinking years. Will add a piece of potato to make this an ‘Irish Wheat’ beer.