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THE BEER AND GARDENING JOURNAL™

Brew something. Grow Something.


 * Beer »
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SAFE SEED PLEDGES ARE BUNK

September 26, 2022 by Chris Colby Leave a Comment

In the early spring, seed catalogs will start arriving. I always enjoy the new
year’s set of catalogs although one thing in most of them bugs me — safe seed
pledges. You’ve likely seen them, a promise that the nursery does not sell seeds
for GMOs (genetically modified organisms). Sometimes there’s a little badge that
goes along with it. I’m very pro-science and, given the title of this article,
you might expect me to launch into a defense of GM plants. But I’m not going to.
There’s no need to. Whether you believe GMOs are harmful or have a reasonable
grasp of genetics, safe seed pledges are complete rubbish.

We pledge not to sell you GMO seeds. We offer you this heap of complete rubbish
instead.

Why? Because GM seeds are not available to the public. No nursery anywhere sells
GM seeds to private individuals. If you are a farmer, you can purchase GM field
corn, soy, alfalfa, cotton, canola, sugar beets, and . . .  that’s basically
it. There are a couple other GM crops available, but they are mostly grown
outside the US. (Wikipedia maintains a list of what GM crops are available as
well as how much of each is being grown.) There certainly are not GM varieties
for the vast majority of garden vegetables and flowers. What about the Flavr
Savr tomato, you might ask? It’s not being produced anymore.

. . . just like every other nursery.

Nurseries participating in the official Safe Seed Pledge are pledging not to
sell you something they don’t have, cannot sell, and in the vast majority of
cases doesn’t exist. If you believe that GMOs are a distinct class of organisms
that are harmful to humans or the environment, they are treating you like a
gullible rube. Some even go so far as to say, “We will not knowingly buy or sell
and genetically modified seeds or plants,” as if there are unscrupulous seed
suppliers out there selling GMO rutabagas to unsuspecting nurseries on the sly.
Farmers have to sign contracts specifying what they can and cannot do with their
seed when they buy GMO crops. There’s no way a nursery could unknowingly buy GM
seed. And they know this. Safe seed pledges are “protecting” you from something
that doesn’t exist. It’s like Old Spice certifying that Krakengärd shampoo will
keep you safe from krakens.

An alternative to what, exactly?

Understanding GMOs requires you to know a bit of genetics and molecular biology.
How they fit into our food choices requires you to understand a little about
plant breeding and the history of agriculture. For those who are acquainted with
these things, it’s annoying to see nurseries flog for an anti-science position
at a time when conspiracy theories and “alternative facts” are having a large
negative effect on our country. For a while, almost everything in the
supermarket was labelled gluten-free. You could buy gluten-free sugar and
gluten-free salt. You could also buy gluten-free vegetables, gluten-free fruits,
gluten-free eggs and — I am not kidding —  gluten-free water. Were the companies
selling these products making life better for people avoiding gluten? No, none
of those items ever contained gluten. Gluten comes from wheat (and some
gluten-like compounds, that can cause problems for celiacs, come from related
cereals). A lot of companies preyed on the scientific ignorance of people to
make a buck, just as nurseries tauting their pledges not to sell GMO seeds are.



So that’s my first gardening post of the Beer and Gardening phase of this
website. I hope you like it. This is not the most popular sentiment among
gardeners, but I am not alone in holding it. And finally, I solemnly pledge to
all my readers to supply the type of gardening knowledge that will keep you safe
from kraken attacks, which kill the exact same number of people as GMOs do each
year. (What a coincidence, huh?) I care that much about you.

Krakengärd is manning the front lines of the battle against kraken. Like the sea
monster it has sworn to fight, Krakengärd is gluten-free and not genetically
modified.



Filed Under: Gardening, Uncategorized Tagged With: GM plants, GMO, kraken, safe
seed pledge


WELCOME TO BEER AND GARDENING JOURNAL

September 23, 2022 by admin 4 Comments

Welcome. Today, I’m launching this website that will, as the name implies, cover
two topics — beer and gardening.

Malt, hops, water, and yeast — in the hands of skilled brewer, that’s all it
takes to brew beer.

My coverage of beer will mostly consist of how-to brewing articles aimed at home
brewers. I will also post some general beer appreciation articles. As the
successor to Beer and Wine Journal, there are already almost 600 articles on
beer and brewing here. (There are fewer than 10 wine-related stories, which
should be a tipoff as to why I changed the name and focus of the site.) I have
been a homebrewer for over 30 years and have published 3 books — and literally
hundreds of magazine articles — on brewing. I will continue to cover beer and
brewing in a way that I intend to be accessible to beginners, but with enough
advanced content to keep long-time brewers engaged.

Tomatoes and melons are a few of my favorite garden vegetables

On the gardening side, I will cover both vegetable gardening and growing native
plants to attract pollinators. Over the years, I have grown a lot of different
types of vegetables. These include tomatoes, peppers, pumpkins, squash,
cucumbers, watermelons, cantaloupes, sweet corn, green beans, snap beans,
broccoli (and most of the other major _Brassica_ vegetables), and others. More
recently, I have begun growing native plants to feed the native bees and other
pollinators in my area. In Beer and Gardening Journal, I will discuss these as
well as pest management and plant diseases.

Native flowers blooming in my garden

This spring (2023), a major focus will be on growing plants to attract and host
monarch butterflies. I have set a goal to raise and release 240 monarch
butterflies in 2023. My previous record, set in 2021, is 77. I will, of course,
be growing milkweed to feed the caterpillars. I have several species growing in
my garden already and will add two more new ones in the spring. I will also have
numerous native plants flowering when the adult monarchs arrive. These will draw
the butterflies into the garden where they will discover the milkweed.
Throughout the Texas stage of their migration, I hope to have at least three
types of flowers in bloom at three different heights.  I will have weekly posts
updating my progress on this once the monarchs arrive.

The number of monarch butterflies in the main North American population has been
declining since the 1970s.

I will also discuss growing poisonous plants. Poisonous plants are fascinating,
often beautiful, and — grown responsibly — they are not a threat to anyone.
(When’s the last time someone ate leaves from your garden?) Each has its role in
nature, too. For example, my monarch butterfly project relies heavily on
milkweeds, which are poisonous. Also, roughly half of the plants in my garden
that attract hummingbirds are poisonous.

Castor bean, foxglove, and larkspur are wonderful plants. They are, however,
toxic.

At my home in Bastrop, Texas, I have an in-ground garden and several container
gardens — or one large container garden spread out over multiple locations, if
you prefer. In addition to being an avid gardener for over 20 years, I have a
PhD in biology and an amateur interest in botany. As such, there will be a fair
amount of science-heavy posts including those on botany, garden insects (both
pests and predators), garden spiders, plant diseases, pest control (esp. for
those wanting to avoid or minimize the use of synthetic pesticides), GMO plants,
and plant development, and evolution. As with the beer content, I will strive to
make the science-heavy posts accessible and relvant to all gardeners, without
“dumbing down” the material. So if you are serious about gardening, you will
learn things.

Here’s to beer! Here’s to gardening! Here’s to beer and gardening. Skål!

In the beginning, I will be posting a variable number — most likely 3–4 —
articles per week. I will initially post more gardening articles, as the site
already has 600 beer pieces, but that will even out over time. So please
bookmark this page and stop by often.

Filed Under: Announcements, Beer, Gardening


AWARD-WINNING CHILI

March 15, 2019 by Chris Colby 7 Comments

[Beer and Wine Journal mostly features content focusing on how to make beer and
some other fermented beverage whose name escapes me. Sometimes, however, we’ll
post a food-related article if it has a tie-in to beer. This is one of those
times.]

 

A lot of food blogs make you wade through some long, nearly-irrelevant personal
anecdote before they finally get to the recipe. I hate that. You hate that.
Everyone hates that, so I’ll keep this short and to the point.

Below is a chili recipe that I made and that won the 2018 Austin ZEALOTS Chili
Cookoff. This was the 15th year the ZEALOTS (my homebrew club) held the cookoff
in conjunction with the holiday party, so I was very honored to win. The recipe
is mostly a variation on a recipe I found in Texas Monthly and had made a few
times. That recipe, in turn, was a modification of a previous recipe that had
won some awards in CASI competitions. (What’s CASI? It’s like the BJCP for
chili.) This recipe has quite a few ingredients but is inherently simple to make
— just cook the meat and “gravy,” then add the spices and simmer. The biggest
key to success is using fresh spices. I’ve added some specifics about the spices
I used, but ordinary supermarket spices should work just fine. The second
biggest key is to simmer it as gently as possible — and stir frequently enough
that it doesn’t scorch.

This chili is spicy, but not ludicrously so. If you like kung pao chicken or
chicken vindaloo, you’ll be in the same ballpark of spicing level. Enjoy!

 

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Food Tagged With: chili


CONTEST KARATE (IV)

October 11, 2018 by Chris Colby 4 Comments

This is part four in this series — part one, part two, and part three can be
found by following the appropriate links. in it, I examine ways to increase your
chances of winning medals at homebrew contests. It all starts with brewing good
beer, but for the brewer who really wants to make a splash in his local homebrew
circuit, there’s more to it than that. 

There are different levels of contest competitors. Some brewers simply want to
brew a few beers and win some hardware at their local competition — and maybe
send a beer or two to the National Homebrew Competition (NHC). Other brewers may
wish to enter several competitions or compete in a “circuit” of homebrew
competitions. In a circuit, brewers score points for every beer that medals at
each circuit competition. At the end of competition season, there are awards for
the brewers who scored the most cumulative points. No matter how competitive you
wish to be, a little planning can go a long way.

If your main concern is your local homebrew contest, you will know (at least
roughly) when it is held each year. If you have your sights set on more than one
contest, you should likewise determine when they are held. Most contests are
held in the spring while the fewest are held in summer. Thus, many of the
contests you wish to enter may be relatively close together. How does knowing
this help you? It gives you time to plan your brewing. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Brewed For Thought


CONTEST KARATE (III)

October 9, 2018 by Chris Colby 2 Comments

In the first installment of this article, I discussed brewing quality beer and
entering as many beers as possible as ways to use “contest karate” to win medals
at homebrew contests. In the second installment, the metaphor somehow changed to
Sun Tzu’s opinions on waging war and I stressed the importance of brewing your
beer to stand out in a flight of similar beers. In this installment, I’ll
inexplicably switch to talking about — oh, why don’t we make it ninjas? — and
give further advice on entering homebrew contests. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Brewed For Thought


CONTEST KARATE (II)

October 2, 2018 by Chris Colby 6 Comments

Yesterday, I started a discussion of how to use “contest karate” to win medals
at homebrew contests. And, I gave the two most obvious pieces of advice — brew
high-quality beer and brew as many entries as you can manage. Today, let’s begin
to delve into some slightly less obvious aspects. Keep in mind that nothing in
this article is the equivalent of a knock-out blow that works every time under
every circumstance. Rather, this is a set of advice that — if heeded — puts you
in a position where you have a better opportunity to seize victory.   [Read
more…]

Filed Under: Uncategorized


CONTEST KARATE

October 1, 2018 by Chris Colby 3 Comments

These beers may win a medal at a homebrew contest. How will you know? If you can
snatch one before I make them disappear, the answer will come to you. (If you
were smart enough not to punch a hole in your computer screen, trying to grab
one of the beers in the picture, you are ready to begin your journey.)

This is an article about how to increase your chances at winning medals at
homebrew contests. At this point, a very valid question you may have is, “How
the hell would Chris know how to win medals?” Well, I used to enter contests
fairly frequently. And, towards the end of my contest-entering phase, I did
fairly well. Not ludicrously well, but I won a few medals. Much more
importantly, I’ve judged and otherwise helped out at numerous contests, and seen
how things work behind the scenes. My homebrew club (the Austin ZEALOTS), also
has a pile of guys who are big into the competitions, and I’ve learned a lot
from them.

For the purposes of this article, I’ll assume you want to enter contests and win
medals. If you simply want to continue brewing the beers you like, and
occasionally enter a couple, that’s great. The point of homebrewing is to have
fun. But this article is meant for someone who is looking to have fun by racking
up a huge medal count and is willing to put the time and effort into doing it.
So grasshopper — or cricket, or katydid, or whichever insect term you prefer —
let’s begin your training. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Brewed For Thought Tagged With: beer categories, contest, entries,
homebrew contests


SHOULD I DUMP IT?

September 25, 2018 by Chris Colby 2 Comments

One of the most-asked questions on homebrewing forums is, “Should I dump it?”
And, we’ve all likely been there. Something seems wrong with a batch and you are
starting to fear that the worst has happened. With experience, you can learn
which warning signs point to real trouble and which do not. For new brewers,
however, unusual aromas, sights, or flavors can cause a panic. Here is a quick
rundown of situations that lead brewers to ask this question, and what they
should do. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Brewing Questions Tagged With: contaminated, don't dump it, dump,
dump it, infected, off odors


BRUT IPA (V: CARBONATION AND PACKAGING)

May 24, 2018 by Chris Colby 2 Comments

This article has four sections preceding it — the concept of a brut IPA, the
grist, and the mash, the enzyme used to make a highly fermentable wort, hopping
and the boil, and fermentation.

German hefeweizen bottles are a great choice for packaging highly carbonated
ales, like this one.

Brut IPA is meant to be fizzy. And, there are a couple ways you can accomplish
this. As with any beer, you can force carbonate it in a keg, or bottle condition
it. However, given the high level of carbonation desired, you will need to
approach this differently, in some ways, from when producing a beer with an
ordinary level of carbonation. 

How carbonated should a brut IPA be? Given that this type of beer currently only
exists as a cluster of individual examples, you have some leeway to decide for
yourself. The average level of carbonation in an ordinary craft beer or standard
lager is 2.4–2.6 volumes of CO2. Anything over this should count as more highly
carbonated. For reference, Belgian tripels and Belgian strong golden ales are
often around 4.0 volumes of CO2, German wheat beers can have carbonation levels
as high as 5.0 volumes of CO2, and Champagne is often around 6.0. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Beer Styles Tagged With: balancing a draft system, brut IPA,
carbonation, force carbonation, residual CO2


BRUT IPA (IV: YEAST AND FERMENTATION)

May 22, 2018 by Chris Colby 1 Comment

This article has three sections preceding it. The first installment dealt with
the concept of a brut IPA, the grist, and the mash. The second installment
discussed the enzyme used to make a highly fermentable wort, amyloglucosidase.
The third installment discussed hopping and the boil.

Once you have boiled the wort and cooled it, it is time for fermentation. Brut
IPA is a pale ale to IPA-strength ale, so the fermentation should not present an
enormous challenge. All the usual advice — pitch an adequate amount of yeast,
aerate well, and hold your fermentation temperature steady — should be heeded.
However, there are two additional considerations — attenuation and yeast
nutrition.   [Read more…]

Filed Under: Beer Styles Tagged With: attenuation, brut IPA, fermentation, yeast
strain
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