FuzzyBrew

Zoo Brew, the beer tasting event at the Memphis Zoo, is coming up again on May 24.

Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased online.

Tickets are $35 for zoo members and $40 for non-members. VIP tickets are $55 for zoo members and $60 for non-members.

On Saturday, Boscos played host to Memphis’ celebration of National Homebrew Day, with close to 40 local homebrewers boiling wort on the back parking lot of the brewpub in Overton Square.

It was a cool morning with no rain, so conditions were good for the American Homebrewers Association Big Brew, which is celebrated by homebrewers from around the world and always takes place the first Saturday of May.

Homebrewers from the Bluff City Brewers & Connoisseurs and the Memphis Brewer’s Association marked the occasion this weekend. Boscos provided the space and gave each homebrewer free wort to brew with, as well as optional yeast. Brewers brought their own hops and created their own hop schedule and recipe.

Homebrewer Adam Steele assisted Boscos head brewer Adam Hargove in the brewhouse and got to experience brewing on the 7-barrel system. He filled the homebrewers’ kettles with either five or 10 gallons of wort.

To celebrate the Memphis Grizzlies’ playoff run, I brewed ten gallons of “Grit Grind IPA,” with Belma, Citra and Columbus hops.

Site manager Joe Barnes (left) helps homebrewer Stephen Russell carry a kettle to the wort chilling area.

At noon, Big Brew participants paused to join in on a world-wide toast. Ben Pugh (left) led the toast at Boscos.

Adam jumped in the kettle to clean it out and posed for a quick photo. Thanks for all your hard work Saturday, Adam!

The first Saturday of May is always a great day to be a homebrewer.

Homebrewers from around the world take part in the American Homebrewers Association Big Brew, an annual event to celebrate National Homebrew Day.

This Saturday in Memphis, homebrewers from the Bluff City Brewers & Connoisseurs and the Memphis Brewer’s Association will mark the occasion at Boscos in Overton Square.

The brewpub graciously provides the space and gives each homebrewer free wort to brew with, as well as yeast. Brewers just have to bring their own hops and can make whatever concoction they want with the wort.

In 2012, an estimated 7,100 people celebrated National Homebrew Day at 254 registered sites. About 1,500 batches created some 11,200 gallons of homebrew enjoyed around the world. Nine countries participated with registered AHA Big Brew sites, including 44 U.S. states.

If you’re interested in checking out the Memphis event and learning more about the hobby of homebrewing, come to the back parking lot at Boscos anytime from around 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

To toast the Memphis Grizzlies’ playoff run, I’ll be brewing a “Grit Grind IPA.” It will burst with citrus and resiny hops and smack your taste buds like the Grizzlies are smacking around the Clippers. (Hopefully, on Saturday, we’ll also be celebrating a Game 6 and first-round series win after Friday night’s game.)

Boscos will provide wort based on its Bombay IPA recipe, and all I really know is that it’s mostly two-row malt, with some crystal malt, and it has an original gravity of around 1.054.

I’ll be using Belma hops for bittering and Citra and Columbus hops during the boil and for dry hopping. Here’s my hop schedule, based on a 10-gallon batch:

1 oz. of Belma at 60 min.
1.5 oz. of Citra at 20 min.
1.5 oz. of Columbus at 20 min.
1.5 oz oz. of Citra at 1 min.
1.5 oz. of Columbus at 1 min.
3 oz. of Citra dry hopped for 7 days
3 oz. of Columbus dry hopped for 7 days

If my rough calculations are right, and they are indeed rough, that should get me IBUs in the mid to upper 50s and a ton of nose.

How does my recipe look? And are you brewing for National Homebrew Day? Let me know in the comments below.

This weekend, Nashville is bringing the funk.

The inaugural “Embrace the Funk Fest,” Nashville’s first ever sour beer festival, will be held Saturday, May 5, at Yazoo Brewing Company.

The festival, which runs from noon to 5 p.m., will focus on samples of wild, funky and sours beers — some extremely rare and hard to find.

The feature will feature several new beers from Yazoo’s Embrace the Funk series, including “Wild Child,” a dark, smokey sour ale with cherries; “Rufus,” the sour collaboration with New Belgium Brewing that debuted during Memphis Beer Week; “Drie Day,” a 100% brett fermented ale in Grand Mariner oak; plus, others that brewer Brandon Jones has in reserve and even more brought in from around the world.

Tickets are $50 per person and are very limited. To register, go to Yazoo’s online store. For more information, visit embracethefunk.com.