This years AHA Big Brew Day will be on May 6th, 2017 and I’m inviting you to join me at John Smiths Bay to join in the global celebration of the greatest hobby there is, making beer! I’ve always wanted to brew beer on the beach and this year it’s going to happen! So come make beer with us!

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This beer is named after the famous Elbow Bear Resort here I Bermuda where the crew and I hang out at for some great sunsets and music. This is a great beach beer for the summer with only 5.4% ABV and very easy drinking. Truth be told this is my father-in-laws favorite beer and  I always try to have some on hand when he’s visiting.

The Elbow Beach Blonde starts with a solid base of 2 Row and Pale Ale malts and then adds some Crystal 20L for color and some Dextrose to mellow it out. Mashed in at 150F for 60 minutes and then batch sparked at 165F for an additional 15 minutes.

The wert is then boiled for 60 minutes adding the noble Tettnang hop per the hop schedule to give it a almost lager like flavor and aroma.

I’ll chill this beer down to 68F and pitch the rehydrated yeast and place it in the fermentation chamber where if further chills down to 65F. After 5-6 Days in the primary fermenter, once it reaches the final gravity, it goes right right in to the keg to be cold crashed down to about 38F and fined with gelatin 24 hours later to give it a great crisp, clear color!

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For this example I’m going to have my AppleTV use the VPN while other traffic does not. I’ll be using the latest build of Advance Tomato on my ASUS router and OpenVPN service from Smart DNS Proxy but this will work with most routers and VPNs though the setup might be different or manual.

Step 1: Assign Static IP Addresses to VPN Devices

The first step is to log in to our route and assign a static IP address to the AppleTV. We need to have a static IP address to assure the routing rules won’t change in the future if the AppleTV loses it’s lease.

Log in to the router and navigate to the device list, find the Apple TV and click the “Static” button below it. In this example my AppleTV is named Living Room.

The form will pre populate with the correct rules so just click “Add” and then click “Save” to save this rule. Also at this point make a note of the IP Address assigned. In this case it’s 192.168.1.120.

Step 2: Setup the OpenVPN Connection

Following your VPN providers directions, setup your OpenVPN connection on the router. One big change that we willed to make from their directions is we want to issue the –route-noexec command so we can setup our own rules.

In our case with Smart DNS Proxy VPN we will follow their manual directions to setup a connection to their New York server. The setup on the Basic tab follow their directions as follows.

Next, on the Advanced tab is where we are going to make our custom change by adding the –route-noexec command in the custom configuration box.

Add the certificate on the Keys tabs as directed by your provider.

And finally one the Routing Policy tab is where we can add our custom routing rules for the AppleTV. Here you will need that IP Address from earlier for the AppleTV, ours was 192.168.1.120. Add the IP Address and “From Source IP” and then click “Add” and then click “Save” to save all your changes.

What we just did was use the –route-noexec command to tell the router to not add any default VPN rules and then we added our own rule to the Routing Policy tab lets us tell the router what devices we want to send through the VPN.

Next click the Start icon to start the new client VPN and your AppleTV (or Roku, or XBox, or Play Station) will use the VPN default allowing access to geo-blocked services!

Step 3: There is No Step Three

That’s it, it really is that simple! Enjoy your video streaming!

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I recently visited Ireland with the family. While it’s not a direct flight from Bermuda it is a most amazing place that of course includes lots of great beer, great pubs, and amazing beer history!  Ireland is most famous for one beer brand, Guinness, which is located in the capital city of Dublin. Dublin is modern modern big city with some great dining and bars but in this adventure started when we trekked all over the Emerald Isle from East, West, North, and South!

Guinness

You can’t talk about Ireland without Guinness! Guinness is one of the most successful beer brands worldwide. While Ireland is it’s home it is brewed in almost 50 different countries today. Guinness is sold worldwide and accounts for 1.8 billion US pints of beer a year! It is also the best-selling alcoholic drink in Ireland where the Irish consume almost €2 billion of it annually.

During the day we opted for the standard tourist visit to St James Gate called the Guinness Storehouse. It was well worth the trip but remember it is a tourist attraction, kids and all!

Guinness Open Gate Project

Beyond the Guinness Storehouse to see the real action you need to get reservations for the Guinness Open Gate Project in the evening.That evening with a sitter booked to watch the children we headed back to the Guinness Compound to visit the Open Gate Project, Guinness’s experimental brewery. Here we spent a few hours talking with other beer lovers and sipping on some of Guinness’s craft and one-off beer selections surrounded by the equipment that makes these test beers.

Kilkenny and Mallow

After leaving the big city behind we made a stop in Kilkenny where we stayed in an amazing bed and breakfast near the Kells Priory. In this little town there was just one pub where we enjoyed a nice Guinness of course! Later we while making our way to Dingle we stopped in Mallow where we found Eight Degrees Session IPA on the menu at a fantastic restaurant. Also in Mallow we found a Tesco that had a few other craft beers, the McGargles Francis’ Big Bangin IPA quickly became my favorite.

Dingle Brewing Company

Our next stop took us to Dingle, a town on the west coast or Ireland. We visited the Dingle Brewing Company, here they only make one beer, a golden Lager. From the map we were not the first from Bermuda to visit this brewery!

Galway

Finishing our trip up the west coast of Ireland we visited the Oslo Pub, the original home of the Galway Brewing Company. Here we sampled many of their great craft beers, my favorite being their Double IPA named Of Foam and Fury. Also at the resort we were staying at we were able to sample several beers from O’Hares craft beers from Carlow Brewing Company.

Even with it’s rich beer history, there sadly isn’t a booming craft beer culture in Ireland. As we saw, it is alive and growing but like Bermuda it’s dominated by the big beer brands. Still, Ireland was an amazing place and highly recommend it for a beer-cation.

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Being such a tiny place, almost everything that we have is shipped on container ships. While I often try to use as many local ingredients when I can when brewing, such as our Bermuda Loquat Wheat and Bermuda Honey Porter, almost all our all of our beer and the ingredients we use for making beer are imported. Given this it’s no surprise that the big macro brews are found pretty much everywhere with Heineken and Carlsberg being the two most popular beers in Bermuda. Thankfully in recent times several companies are making inroads to introducing craft beer to Bermuda and you can find locally produced beer at two local breweries.

Pubs and Members Clubs

Pubs are everywhere in Bermuda and these range from traditional pubs to more modern clubs and restaurants. At a pub you can expect on average to pay $9 a pint or $7 a bottle for the major beer brands. Craft beer imports can be priced as high as $14 a pint on draft. One of our favorite pubs is Harry’s which we’ve reviewed before, so be sure to check out our review of Harry’s. At Flannigans/Outback you can find a great selection of German beers and an amazing service staff. Additionally Robin Hood is another great sports bar with indoor and outdoor seating!

In Bermuda there are also members clubs. There are private pubs that often allow tourists free or discounted entry. Drinks in members clubs are less expensive than in pubs and they are often steeped in history. One of the stand outs would be the Spanish Point Boat Club with amazing views of the great sound.

Distributer Stores

The big distributors on the island often run there own store fronts to sell their products.  They typically carry all the macro beers such as those from ABInvBev and Heinniken.  They also bring in some of the more crafty medium Brewers such as Sam Adams. Burrows & Lightbourne and Bavarian Brews are two I’ve bought from in the past. In fact Bavarian Brews has an app that offers custom beer orders from Germany at $12 a liter where you can mix and match or buy by the half case.

Package Stores and Grocery Stores

Almost all of the groceries and convince stores across the island sell beers from the big distributers. However, Sam Adams is about a craft beer as these stores get. The one stand out here is Miles Market as they personally import a large selection of craft brew from the US. Here all the best craft beer on the island can be found including beers from Stone, Lagunitias, Ballest Point, Dogfish Head, and more. It’s definitely not cheap but then again nothing in Bermuda is.

Breweries

The oldest brewery on the island is the Dockyard Brewing Company located at the Frog and Onion pub in Dockyard. You can get their beers on draft only at the Frog and Onion pub in Dockyard and the Pickled Onion, Hog Penny Pub, Barracuda Grill, and Victoria Grill in Hamilton. On De Rock is a new brewery founded in 2015 in Bermuda that has a slowly growing staple of beer. You can get there beer on draft only at Devil’s Isle in Hamilton and Northrock Brewery in Smiths.

Home Brewers

Also there is a slowly growing community of home brewers in Bermuda. These brewers make some amazing beers and freely share them with others. If you’re interesting in learning about brewing beer or want an introduction to local home brewers feel free to contact me.

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Loquats are a plum like fruit that is native to Japan and China but today can be found all over the world. Bermuda is covered in Loquat trees brought here by early settlers. The fruit begins appearing in the trees by the end of winter season and can be ready to harvest by April or May. We harvested a lot of them as they are small and then washed and froze them for a few weeks to rupture the cells and release the juice as well as kill any nasties on them.

This beer was based on a standard American Wheat recipe with some of the fermentables replaced by the Loquats in the boil, in the primary fermenter and again in the secondary fermenter! Northern Brewer was used as the single hop. 

This beer came out with as a very tasty, well balanced wheat beer, not too fruity but still with a great loquat flavor.  This recipe was a hit with local friends and will find it’s way to the keezer every season!

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Imagine my surprise and excitement when I learned that my northerly neighbors we’re celebrating their day here in Bermuda on Warwick Long Bay beach. It turns out it is a massive party with everyone enjoying the sea, sand and sun! Canadian music was played there was also the ACIB Canada Day barbecue and it all ends with a spectacular firework display, much like my childhood on the Detroit River!

Since this was our third year attending the massive Canada Day celebration we decided we had to up our game this year!

Better Food!

In previous years I was disappointed with the food at the event, there was nothing distinctly Canadian. I decided that we were going to have a dish to share with everyone, and the choice was easy as my favorite Canadian dish is Poutine. In order to make truly great Putine you need fresh cheese curds and the only way to get that in Bermuda is to do it yourself. Also I wanted a Bermuda twist as well so I also make oxtail gravy! Yes, I stayed up most of the night before making cheese curds and ox tail gravy then going out a drank all day on the beach!

Better Beer!

Canadian Beer is great, in fact, being mostly lower alcohol lagers makes it a great beach beer! But this is the Bermuda Beer blog so with the help of some some friend and the begrudging acceptance from my wife we served draft beer on the beach! We used a small CO2 regulator, tiny CO2 cylinders, and some picnic taps and buried the kegs in the sand with some ice to keep them cold. We brought five gallon kegs of two our beers, Elbow Beach Blonde and Sunset IPA, and served free beer to anyone who asked “Pardon, but what are those in the sand?”

More Fun!

Lastly we bought out our collection of pub games, way too many beach toys, and as many friends that can fit in a Suzuki APV (hint, it’s a lot!). Wish I would have taken more photos but I was too busy serving beer and losing at corn hole against 6 year olds.

So if you’re on the island of Bermuda next Canada Day, come by for a great time in the hot July sun!

UPDATE: Everyone keeps asking about the Freedom Festival flag we were flying, like almost everything, you can get it on Amazon.com

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I recently visited Grand Rapids, MI, which is not a direct flight from Bermuda.  Grand Rapids is such a great place for beer it hold the title of Beer City USA and was named Best Beer Town and Best Beer Scene by USA Today. The city actively promotes it’s beer scene and it’s Beer City Ale Trail which boasts 40+ breweries, that’s more incredible craft beer per square mile than just about anywhere else on earth.

On our way to Grand Rapids we flew in to Detroit, MI and drove the rest of the way. This was great because it allowed me to stop by my favorite home-brew shop Adventures in Homebrewing in Ann Arbor, MI. I picked up a few small part for the new Beach Draft Beer rig, but that’s another post to come. They ship everywhere in the world so if your looking for a great internet brew shop, please try these guys.

After the drive to Grand Rapids we stopped at one of the big Craft Beer restaurant chains, Buffalo Wild Wings. The whole crew loved this place with it’s great local beer menu, lots of sports on the TV, and some really freaking good wings! They are all over the United States and even let you take craft beer to go in giant cans!

But truly, the highlight of the trip was visiting one of my Top 5 breweries, Founders Brewing! I really can’t express enough how much I love these guys! At their brewery they have an excellent tap room serving a full menu and a kick ass beer garden if it’s not winter outside. Flights are available and a fun way to try lots of samples of their different beers. Thanks to Michigan Law, the brewery can even sell you beer to go!

I really wish we could have visited more breweries on this trip but that just gives us something to look forward to the next trip. If you love beer, I highly recommend Grand Rapids for a Beercation!

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The Bermuda Pink IPA starts with a solid base of Pale Ale malts and then adds some Crystal 20L for color and Pilsner malt to give this beer a moderate head.  It is a mixed hop beer employing a mix of Maximum and Palsiade hops giving it it’s hoppy and bitter profile leaving much of the aroma to the hibiscus flowers. 5 Days in the primary fermenter at 65F and 10 days in the secondary that included more hibiscus flowers and a long cold crash!

The end result was a VERY flowery beer that tastes more like a fancy tea than beer. The aroma was great and the color was amazing, it even had a pink head. It wasn’t a horrible beer but unless you really like hibiscus tea it would advised to cut the hibiscus flower additions in half to preserve more of the hop flavor.

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Also, keep in mind that all beers will warm up once they are poured into a glass s you’ll need to factor can also be accounted for in your settings for your refrigeration, kegerator, or keezer. A room temperature thin-shell glass will raise the temperature of beer by about 2℉. A room-temperature heavy glass chalice or mug increases the beer’s temperature by about 5℉.

Feel free to share this infographic (my first ever) and if you have any questions please post a comment below!

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Keezer (noun): a freezer that has been modified to serve beer from a keg

Every home brewer at some point as given a lot of though to tapping a keg at home and pour yourself beer? I certainly did when a few years back I built our first Keezer. However, we foolish didn’t bring it with us when we moved!  But every setback is a new opportunity and here we get to build a new keezer and for me the building is half the fun!

You can read all about the process and steps on the article at ageekdad.com, we won’t go in to that in this post where I’ll cover what I did differently.

While the total cost each project was about $1000 there were some big differences between them.

• In 2012 we built a 3 tap system, in 2015 we build a four tap system. This added an extra set of lines, taps, and a keg.
• The price of temperature controllers have plummeted in the last 3 years.
• We used chrome plated brass instead of stainless steel to save on the cost.
• Passed on the bottle opener and cap catcher this time, we rarely used it.
• And the biggest difference of all in 2012 we built it in Atlanta, GA and in 2015 we built it in Bermuda!

To start we had to get a new, or used, chest freezer to base the new keezer on. Unfortunately, unlike our first build it seems no one makes black chest freezers anymore so we settled for a white one. Actually two, we bought a used one from a friend but it turned out to be too small so we bought a new one as well.  Don’t worry the first one will become a fermentation chamber but that’s another post.

The rest of the parts were purchased at home-brew shops in the US and purchased locally at Gorhams.

One of the trickiest issues is getting the beer to pour right. Not too slow but not foamy either. This is a very difficult issue that requires a lot of complex math that crosses both liquid and gas handling equations that are impacted by:

• The diameter and material of beer line
• Temperature of the beer
• Alcohol content of the beer
• Tap vertical distance from the keg
• CO2 pressure in the keg
• Flow rate of the beer

Thankfully in the internet age there are many calculators online to solve the problem for you! I used this calculator to help determine the line length. It’s important to give this a lot of though beforehand or you might be buying new line(s) if you cut yours too short or decide the beer is too warm or cold.

Finally, instead of custom tap handles with chalk or whiteboard surfaces we instead printed our beer labels on magnetic ink jet paper which sticks to the keezer very well.  It also lets us put notes (coming soon, still conditioning) and warning labels (high alcohol content)next to each beer. If you’re interested and want to see what where pouring in our new keezer today check this page!

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Let’ she honest, there is nothing particularly inspired by Bermuda in this IPA. However, it’s name does follow the convention of greeting everyone you meet on the island. This is a great evening beer for the spring or fall with a solid hop profile at 56 IBU and 6.4% ABV. This is the most popular beer we brew and is a favorite among everyone. Needless to say this is a very mature recipe as we brew this beer more than any other! And yes, we have a Good Morning Session IPA and a Good Afternoon Pale Ale.

The Good Evening IPA starts with a solid base of 2 Row and Pale Ale malts and then adds some Crystal 60L for color and Pilsner malt to give this beer a  moderate head.  It is a single hop beer, a heaping helping of Centennial Hops giving it that classic IPA flavor and aroma. 5 Days in the primary fermenter and 10 days in the secondary give it a great crisp, clear color!

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