Are you looking for a particular product?

En solde
Contact us
Login Or register

Written by: Dominique Labre, creator and lead member of the Ottawa’s Homebrew Society

If there’s something I know about myself, it is that I always had a glassware obsession. My love for a cool vessel to drink out of predates my years of homebrewing. I always had many variations of juice glasses, wine glasses, shots, coffee mugs, and espresso cups. There was a time when I could not drive by a Value Village or an antique store without having a quick look at their glassware section.

Thankfully, I always manage to control my urge to buy the massive 3-litre Steins, the obscure branding of a brewery or a sports team I’ve never seen before, or the slightly newer Stella Artois chalice to replace the faded and chipped one I had at home. I always had way too many cups on hand, as if I was about to open a café or a bistro! After years of having too many glasses and mugs, I decided to slim down the herd.

A purge occurred, and at the same time, I fell in love with the process of brewing beer. That’s when I decided to renew my love for glassware but also be more selective as to what I keep in the cupboard. I wanted to expand my knowledge of the different shapes, sizes, and origins of glass. It took me a while, but now I have fewer types of beer glassware, but I swear by these 5 styles:

The PintBonde Ale

The basic glass of beer you will find anywhere. From the dive bar downtown to the slickest gastropub in the nice part of town. With its thicker wall and bottom, it often has a bit more weight to it and that gives it a nice sturdy feel in hand. It is good for most styles, which makes it a great general glass to use at home or in bars. It’s an inexpensive glass to produce and therefore it will be what you’ll see in breweries and bars with their brand proudly painted on.

Overall:

The Teku/Bier SommelierAmber style beer

In recent years, TEKU has become the most recognizable glass in the beer world. A vessel that displays wine glass characters. The elegant base with a tall delicate stem leads to a wide cup where the liquid it contains can be visually observed and the aroma rises to a conical chimney-shaped upper rim.

It quickly became my go-to glass for all styles on a fancier dinner. It enhanced the experience of having a nice stout to the hoppier IPA.

Overall:

Belgian Style/TulipWhite or NEIPA beer

With a short stem and a nice, beautiful bowl. This type of glassware has a tulip shape with a rim that pushes out to capture the head and helps create this separation between the foamy top and the round body where the colour of the beer is what we focus on. That shape is incredible in hand, it captures all volatiles all the while allowing the head to form.

Overall

Goblets/ChaliceAmber style beer 2

A majestic work of art. This type ranges from heavy-duty thick glass (Leffe) to a thinner one (Stella Artois). With a stem of different lengths, they always move up to a very dramatic cup. The thinner ones will often have gold or silver rim and the heavy ones will feel like a massive and heavy drinking container that belongs in the hands of a king! The wide mouth is designed to highlight all the aromas being shot out of the glass. With such a massive look, they are made to enhance the look of the beer, by scoring the bottom of the glass creates a never-ending flow of bubbles and improves head retention.

Often used to serve European styles such as Belgians Dark/Strong ales, Dubbel/Tripel/Quads.

Overall:

 

Taster sizeStout Beer

Sometimes you just don’t want the full volume to consume. And no one likes a glass-half-full situation… So, get a sample-size glass!

In 4 oz. size, these are great, they also come in all shapes and styles: mini-pint, mini-barrels, mini-steins, mini-tulips, and mini-goblets. The list goes on and on.

What I love about my selection of sample-size glasses, is the ability to serve my guests a beer flight (4 sample sizes of 4 different beers) and share my most recent homebrews or local craft beers of the week.

Overall:

Of course, I could go on about the many more “Must Have” but I truly believe that with these few types you would be covered to serve all the best beers at home to your guests and always impress!

What I find important is the tactile aspect of selecting my glass. If the cup feels good in your hand or you like how it holds the beer, make the beer colour “Pop”. Then it’s the cup for you. For me it’s the TEKU, it always makes me happy to show how nice my homebrews look in a TEKU.

With its beautiful look, it elevates my beer nice and high above the rest of everyone else’s glass as if it’s a pedestal for nothing but the greatest of drinks. BEER!

 

Ottawa's Homebrew Society

The Ottawa’s Homebrew Society is a local club focused on connecting homebrewers of all levels of expertise, assisting them in improving their brewing skills and to introduce new beer lovers to the amazing hobby of homebrewing.

By Nathalie Coursin

Ah it’s finally here, this month of December that brings with it the official beginning of winter, but also the comforting time of the Holidays. What if this time, we took the opportunity to discover and brew a Christmas beer?

A bit of history…

Before sharing the recipe, let’s go back in time and go directly to the 18th century, in France or in Belgium. At that time, we brewed according to the harvest seasons, but we were also dependent on outside temperatures. The conservation of raw materials was a real challenge. Knowing this, imagine yourself in October at harvest time having to make room for new grains in your storage area. But you still have some grain left over from last year, but don’t like to waste… what do you do?

You make a final brew with the rest of your grains, the ones that have lost their flavour and character over time. Because you put a lot of malt in your brew, the beer becomes rather alcoholic, but the taste leaves something to be desired. To avoid this, you need to add spices. And here you are, in October, brewing a strong and spicy beer that will be ready for… December!

And from there to call this seasonal beer “Christmas beer”, it was only a small step for contemporary breweries.

… A pinch of marketing…

Even if the origin of the name “Christmas beer” cannot be traced with certainty, a correlation with the industrialization of beer and marketing in this industry can be seen. It is very common in France and Belgium to see an increase in the volume of beer sales during the summer and a decrease during the colder months. So how do you break this curve? You just have to make this October beer sellable and attractive to consumers by giving it a specific consumption time: the Holiday season.

And it’s true that it’s still ideal to drink during this period with its warm alcohol content, caramel notes and spicy flavours. As it is not a style in itself, the Christmas beer allows brewers to express themselves and to let their desires and their know-how take over. In France or in Belgium, each Christmas beer is different and their release becomes a mini-event for the breweries. They are even offered to their employees!

For a few years now, we have been observing a change of name to “winter beer” or even “Winter Warmer” in order to avoid that they are consumed only during the Holidays, but rather over a longer period: Great thing!

… And a cup of spices.

But where are we in Quebec, the country of winter by excellence?

Considering the number of references available at this period, it seems that they are not necessarily the best sellers of the moment. Still, some microbreweries have fun releasing an annual brew (with a bonus spice blend) during the holidays. Here are a few examples:

It’s your turn to brew!

If you too have a few old grains in stock and some spices in your kitchen, why not try your hand at making a Christmas beer that you can enjoy during our long winter months?

We found this recipe for you. Take it as a Christmas gift!

Written by: Dominique Labre, creator and lead member of the Ottawa’s Homebrew Society

On top of the ever-growing home brewing community, we also have access to a massive amount of information online and numerous published books on homebrewing. There’s so much information that sometimes it can seem overwhelming for brewers. This is why I condensed all the resources into an easy to follow, six-step process:

1. Identify what flavour you want to express in your beer

The first step is a simple but important one; the selection of your recipe. What do you want to brew and enjoy in the next few weeks? What will you want to drink come summertime? Something seasonal, experimental, simple, boozy, crushable, dark, pale? Or a classic thirst-quenshing golden lager? The list goes on and on. By narrowing down the style, you can select what characteristics your beer should have.

What will it be?

2. Choose your malts (Grain/DME/LME)

Once you have your style in mind, the recipe you chose will depend on the next few steps:

Often recipes that use extracts are easier and require less specialty equipment, unlike All-Grains recipes which are often labelled as a more advanced method and requires more equipment.

3. Calculate your water and water chemistry

This step is often debated among brewers. Many brewers I know do not do anything to their water and their beer comes out perfectly fine, whereas some others measure their PH level virtually every five minutes from mashing to boiling. I usually neutralize and adjust my water every 2 out of 3 brew days.

For us living in the Ottawa region, the water is quite good to brew with straight from the tap. Still, some minor adjustments to the water can make significant improvements to the final product depending on the style you are making.

If you decide to adjust your water, use EZWater Calculator to determine what addition you may need to use:

One step you cannot skip is calculating how much water you need to mash (Steep your grain) and sparge (Rinse your grain) in relation to your grain bill (total amount of malt). There’s a multitude of “Mash & Sparge Water Calculator” tools online, most of which are easy to use.

4. Select your hops

Once you have your recipe, you will be able to decide which hops you can use according to the style you want to make. The type and amounts of hops you chose will dictate your beer.

5. Choose an appropriate yeast strain and fermentation plan

A beer is not a beer unless it is fermented. Otherwise, it is just a very sweet grain water!

To finish your beer with the magic of fermentation you must:

Typically, one vial/packet is enough for a standard 5 gallons of homebrewed beer.

This step depends on the ABV you expect to reach and the vitality of your yeast. (The measure of yeasts readiness to ferment. This can be determined by the best before date or the manufactured date on the packaging) If the yeast is old or if your recipe advises you to use more than 1 yeast packet, you may need to make a yeast starter. (A mixture of yeast and wort to grow and strengthen your yeast mixture.) You should also consider:

6. Determine your finishing process (clarification, carbonation, and packaging)

The fun part is almost here! You can almost drink it! Once your beer is fermenting you can plan the next few steps:

Making beer is a fun and exciting experience; but be patient. You will make mistakes and often might not even see the faults in your beers. Keep brewing and keep learning!

 

Ottawa's Homebrew Society

The Ottawa’s Homebrew Society is a local club focused on connecting homebrewers of all levels of expertise, assisting them in improving their brewing skills and to introduce new beer lovers to the amazing hobby of homebrewing.

Written by: Paule Gosselin, columnist for Bière et Plaisirs magazine and author of the blog La Fleur du Malt.

The craze for quality microbrewery beers continues to grow and many people in Quebec are passionate about craft breweries. In fact, what trends are the most observed in today’s markets and what are the reasons? This is what this editorial will try to explain.

The Pale Ale trend

First of all, many microbrewery enthusiasts are turning to low alcohol beers in order to focus on the hop experience rather than the intoxicating one. It may sound simple, but there was a time when people tended to drink very strong, bitter, high alcohol American IPAs. That trend is now gone and has given way to a more focused and specialized search for hops. Instead, the average connoisseur today looks for vibrancy in the hop flavour profile, such as citrus in Citra or raisin notes in Nelson Sauvin. The Pale Ale allows the taster to perceive the presence of the hops without them being hidden behind an omnipresent residual sugar or a very high alcohol content, thus justifying the interest in the Pale Ale. In the same vein, brewers are also producing a large number of nanoIPAs, even beers below 0.5% alcohol, a trend that is expected to increase in the coming years.

The use of native fruit in brewing

Another trend that is emerging and gaining momentum in 2022 is the use of native fruit in microbrewing. The local and proximity production as well as the absolute freshness of the terroir are expressed and valued through the know-how of the brewers. One can think of chicoutai, pimbina, red currant, black currant, saskatoon, sea buckthorn, camerise or cranberry, as well as rhubarb or raspberries, as long as these fruity additions come from the vicinity of their brewing location. The use of these juices, which was previously unknown, is especially popular in microbreweries when coupled with the gourmet table. The result is a rewarding association for the consumer, who discovers a variety of local products and whose taste buds are sure to be delighted. In local breweries, these indigenous ingredients can be found in sour beers, goses, white beers, saisons and some blacks. Generally, brewers freeze these native fruits or berries at maturity when they are at their fullest flavour. This freezing process allows the fruit to release all of its moisture, all of its water, all of its juice; and therefore, all of its flavour!

The search for the perfect barrel-aged beer

Finally, the lover of microbrewery beers also likes to hunt, to search for rare, nesting products. This is indeed the phenomenon observed particularly for Stouts. There is a desire to discover, through the experience of drinking a beer, the most accomplished version of the range. The maturation of a certain part of a brew in barrels attracts the consumer, tempted by the experience of a different beer, matured, ennobled by the passage in barrels. This can be a woody barrel aging such as oak or maple wood, as well as a barrel aging that has contained different wines or spirits. Among the most common refinements, aging in Chardonnay or Riesling barrels, for example, or in bourbon or rum barrels for strong spirits. The final versions of these craft beers become rounder, more complex; they are ultimately richer, denser and offer the consumer a more complete taste experience.

Lastly

Other micro-trends are adding to those mentioned above: we are seeing more and more Grape ales, where the grape is at the centre of the creation. We are also seeing more beers that merge with the world of cider. In addition, the use of highly aromatic hops is tending to overtake the use of hops as a bittering agent. Along the way, I continue to taste everything and I will come back to you very soon with more observations on the fascinating world of craft brewing! To be continued!

How do you play with the sweetness and roundness of beer?

When you think of sweetness and roundness, you immediately think of one style of beer in particular: stouts. These dark beers are appreciated for their thick and sweet body. But what gives them these prized characteristics? Let’s take a closer look.

The sensation of sweetness is intimately linked with sugar. There’s a reason why desserts are so popular as a sweet treat! In a beer, sugar allows the production of alcohol. There are several different types of sugars in beer, such as glucose and maltose. Not all of these sugars can be used by brewer’s yeast. Each strain of yeast has the ability to ferment different types of sugar. Basically, there may be some unfermentable sugar left over at the end of the fermentation process. As you can see, there will be much more sugar left in a stout than in a lager. The roundness is rather the sensation of thickness that this residual sugar gives.

There are several ways to play with these parameters when brewing beer. When choosing a yeast, look at its attenuation. Attenuation is defined as the ability of yeast to consume the sugar in the wort. A yeast with an attenuation of 60% will consume about 60% of the sugars in the wort. You want more roundness in your beer: choose a yeast with less attenuation.

You can also play with the temperature of your mash. A mash made at 68 degrees Celsius will leave much more complex sugar and therefore more roundness. The type of grain used can also have an impact on the roundness. Flakes (e.g. wheat, oats) will also have this effect on the beer. Complex sugars also exist in commercial powder forms, such as lactose and maltodextrin. Lactose has a much more intense sweetening power than maltodextrin. One pound of lactose in a 5 gallon will give roundness and a very present sweetness.

Finally, adding chlorides to our brewing water will also have the effect of increasing the roundness and sweetness of the malts. The effect will be more pronounced if there are more chlorides than sulfates. In general, 3 times more chlorides than sulfates are needed to perceive a change.

Are you thinking of quitting brewing because you find it too complex or time-consuming to make a beer? Don’t worry, we’ve put together our top 10 list of tools to make your brewing life easier to start the year off right! 

 

#10: Sample thief

Taking a sample of our beer can be tricky if you use a glass carboy. We have the solution. The sample thief allows you to take a sample even in the tightest of containers. Then, simply transfer the sample into a measuring cylinder or insert your hydrometer into the sample thief and you’re done!

 

#9: Refractometer 

Did you know that a hydrometer is calibrated to take measurements at room temperature? This means that we have to wait for our sample to cool down or force it to cool down faster to take the gravity.  Don’t wait, use a refractometer! This precious tool allows you to get a gravity reading regardless of the temperature of the wort. Just add a few drops of wort to to the glass sample area, wait a couple of minutes for the wort to cool down and take your reading. 

 

#8: Fermonster 

Are you clumsy or affraid to break you glass carboy? Would you like something lighter than a glass carboy? Get a Fermonster! Made a food-grade P.E.T. plastic, it’s super light and easy to handle. Its large opening makes it easy to clean and dry-hopping using a nylon bad. You can even add a valve for sampling or bottling.  

 

#7: Fastferment 

The Fastferment is a conical food-grade plastic fermenter with the same advantages as the Fermonster. In addition, its conical base has a valve that allows you to easily dispose of the yeast at the bottom of the fermenter or to store it in a container for later use. It can also be fitted with an adapter for bottling from the base of the fermenter.  

 

#6: BeerGun  

It’s a well-known fact that oxygen is beer’s worst enemy. How can we avoid adding oxygen to our bottles? Its easy with a BeerGun! It’s a system that allows you to purge your bottles with carbon dioxide and then fill them with beer. Your beer will have minimal contact with oxygen and stay fresher longer.  

 

#5: FastWasher 

Tired of long hours cleaning your bottles so you can bottle your beer? Get a FastWasher. You can wash 12 to 24 bottles at a time with a system like this. You can also use it to sanitize your bottles! 

 

#4: Camlock connector 

Always screwing and unscrewing hose clamps? Would you like a faster option? Have you ever heard of Camlock connectors?  This connectors, are available with barbs or 1/2″ NPT.  you can adapt any type of brewing system with these camlocks.

 

#3: Kegging system 

Bottling takes a lot of time and a little help from a friend. What if you could put the beer in one container? Wouldn’t that be faster? Well, it already exists! We call it a keg. It takes a lot less time to fill it, it’s easy to clean and your beer will stay fresh longer.  Contact us and we will assist you in putting together a first class kegging system.

 

#2: iTap  

Love the idea of a kegging system, but don’t want to take it apart to bring your beer to a party? Install an iTap on your kegging system. It’s a tap that allows you to pour a glass AND bottle at the same time.  

 

#1: All-in-one brewing system 

Having a all-in-one brewing system takes up 75% less room and will also cut cleaning time from your brew day.  We wrote a great article about this. Go read it in our blog! 

First of all, what is an all-brewing system? It is an instrument designed to let you mash, sparge and boil your wort in the same vessel. Basically, it is a kettle with a pump, a heating element, and a control panel.

Whichever system you are looking at, they all share the same characteristics. You can easily brew 5 gallons of beer of up to 6-7% alcohol. Bigger systems are also available. They all come with a grain basket with a false bottom that lets the wort go out in the kettle. A pump makes the wort go back in the grain basket. So you mash and recirculate at the same time! After that, you only need to lift the grain basket to sparge. The kettle itself has an integrated heating element that allows you to boil the produced wort. Those systems even come with a heat transfer setup system to help you cool down your wort. The control panel allows you to control your mash and boil temperature as well as create specific programs.

There are several advantages to using one of those devices to brew at home. First of all, one device takes less space than a mash tun, a lauter tun, and so on. This also means less cleaning afterwards. Since you control all your parameters, you have better control over the quality of your product and get a better yield in the end. You will save a lot of time with it. It could take as less as 3-4 hours to have it all done.

The most popular systems are probably the Brewzilla/Robobrew and the Grainfather. Their price ranges from 600$ to 1200$. You think it is expensive? Just make some maths and you will realize that all the equipment those systems can replace is worth that price. Even one of our employees sells all his brewing equipment to buy a Brewzilla/Robobrew!

Still not convinced? You would like to try one before you decide? That’s possible. Here at the shop, you can rent one or brew at the shop with one of us.

Believe us, you won’t regret it.

At the store, we mill a lot of grain in a day! Milling the grains allows access to the malt contents for mashing. Malt milling is usually done dry, but did you know that malts can also be moistened for milling?

Humidifying the malts for milling has several advantages. Dry milling has the inconvenient of fragmenting the malts, which can cause difficulties when filtering the wort through them. Humidifying the malts generates fewer fragments and thus reduces filtration problems. In addition, the moisture added to the malts protects them from oxidation and increases the efficiency of our mash… And, let’s be honest, there is a lot less dust to collect!

Wet milling can be accomplished in different ways. A simple twin-roller crusher is sufficient for wet crushing. Wet crushing requires only one passage, while dry crushing may require 2 to 3 passages. Malts can be soaked before crushing. Malt can also be humidified directly during crushing. However, this approach requires more specialized equipment.

Here is a simple technique to use at home.

  1. Using a spray bottle, spray the grains to be crushed at a rate of 20 mL of water per Kg of grain.
  2. Stir the grains frequently to spread the water evenly.
  3. Let the grain absorb the water for 30 minutes.
  4. Crush the grains.

Easy filtration … Is it the end of rice hulls?

 

References

#10 – Gift Certificate

You don’t know anything about homebrewing? It doesn’t matter, give them a gift card and let them buy what they have been dreaming of for so long!

#9 – 1 Gallon Starter Kit

You know they want to try making their own beer, but you don’t know what they need to get there. Why not buy a starter kit with everything they needs.

#8 – Cleaning and Sanitizing

To make good beer, having clean equipment is super important! A good brewer can never have enough cleaners. We also have a variety of tools to help with cleaning equipment.

#7 – Books and Literature

It’s important to nourish the body, but also our mind! Help improve their skills by giving a book full of new knowledge.

All in One Brewing System (#5 and #6)

The equipment is taking up a lot of space and they would like to take it to the next level? Why not get an all-in-one brewing system? It doesn’t take up much space and the beer will be even better!

#6 – Grainfather G30 – All in one brewing system

The Grainfather G30 is a 30L brewing system.  It will free up a lot of space and the beer will be much better.  The Grainfather has a 3 year warranty and is able to be connected via Bluetooth to the Connect App.

# 5 – Brewzilla – All in one brewing system

The Brewzilla, like the Grainfather is an all in one brewing system which will save up space and make the beer even better.  The Brewzilla is of lesser quality than the Grainfather and has only a 3 month warranty.  Don’t get us wrong; the Brewzilla is an excellent brewing system.  Check it out.

#4 – SS Brewtech Fermenters

Dreaming of a stainless steel fermenter? We’ve just added models from SS Brewtech to our inventory!

#3 – iTap serving and bottling system

Making beer on tap? Would love to bring a few bottles to your next holiday party? Get them an iTap system. With the iTap you can pour or bottle directly from your keg system.

#2 – Water Profile Analysis

Want to start playing with water profiles when brewing? We offer a water analysis service. Knowing what minerals to add to the brewing water will help in making better beer.

# 1 – Workshops and online training

Don’t like to read much, but would really like to push the brewing knowledge further? We offer a wide range of training on various subjects. Come and brew with us or with our professional brewer!

 

Products

Information

Information

purchasing policies and conditions

Contact details

Location:

99 Crémazie, Gatineau (Québec) J8Y 3P1

Phone number:

819-525-6789 or 1-888-675-6407

Follow us

purchasing policies and conditions