On Friday, November 13, 2009, Neil and Mat had the honor of being two of the five judges of the first annual Philly BeerCamp. Philly BeerCamp is a DIY beer event hosted by Philly’s favorite beer drinkers, Johnny Bilotta and Dave Martorana of Two Guys on Beer.
The event featured 10 local homebrewers pouring their homegrown brews and serving them up to nearly 200 guests at Independents Hall (“IndyHall”) in Old City. Attendees got to learn about ingredients, equipment, and the best-kept secrets behind Philly’s kick-ass DIY brews. Not to mention, there was fantastic complimentary food and craft beers. By the end of the night, the judges and the people made their decisions as to who brought the best beers…
People’s Choice
Jon Gross and Jason Marziani
Pumpkin Wheat
Jon Gross and Jason Marziani totally almost kinda sorta completely just about know what they’re doing when it comes to brewing beer. They completed a combined 12 batches of extract-based brews from dark ales, porters, and stouts to lighter reds, hefes, and wheats. As they
continue to refine their process in Jason’s South Philly, Italian Market basement, equipped with a 1940’s stove and a double basin utility sink they have yet to have a major explosion, knock on wood.
Pumpkin Wheat Ingredients
2 cans of Wheat Malt Extract
1oz bittering hops
1 tube of Wyeast Belgian white yeast
1oz Coriander
1oz Orange Peel
1oz Pumpkin Spice put in a large steeping bag during the boil process.
Judges’ Choice
Howard “Howie” Ross
Cherry Wood Smoked Maple Porter
Howard has been brewing with his friends Ari and Mike for the past 5 years. After just a few extract kits in the kitchen they were hooked. They immediately started looking for ways to take it to the next level and haven’t stopped since. Howard does 3-10 gal extract batches in his kitchen in Philly and 15 gal all-grain batches at their “brewery” in South Jersey.
Cherry Wood Smoked Maple
Porter Ingredients
1/2lb American Aromatic Malt
1/2lb German Crystal Malt
1/4lb German Roasted Malt
1lb Cherry Wood Smoked Malt
2 oz fuggles hops (3.6% a.a.)
16oz maple syrup
6.6lbs Light Malt Extract
Safbrew S-33 Dry Ale Yeast
Brewing Instructions
Mill and steep all the specialty grains as you normally would. Add the hops at the beginning of boil along with 1/4 of your malt extract. The remainder of the malt extract and the maple syrup should be added during the last 15 minutes of boil.