This past Friday…

The Cellar Nightclub | Rednyne Productions | Darkday Tattoo

Presented three local bands:

Six To Midnight
The band prides itself on their memorable live performances and their lyrics which express the experiences and roads traveled by band members, Six to Midnight will take you on an unforgettable journey.

The Coalition
Coalition are an original three piece rock band from North Vancouver, BC. The band incorporates a wide variety of influences that begin with the blues and move through bands like Nine Inch Nails and Porcupine Tree.

Delta Blue
A blues band from Delta, B.C.

Some of the photographs I took of COALITION:

Coalition Biography (short for The Melodic Coalition for Unity & Harmony through Sound & Music) was formed in November, 2007.

Coalition are an original three piece rock band from North Vancouver, BC. The band incorporates a wide variety of influences that begin with the blues and move through bands like Nine Inch Nails and Porcupine Tree.

Coalition are currently preparing to tour in support of their debut album which was officially released on June 10, 2011.

Sina Nazarian – Drums & Percussion Madness

Will Hodgins, Dylan Stickel – Guitars, Basses & Voiceboxes

Here is a shot of Delta Blue:

Delta Blue Biography: We are Delta Blue… a blues band from delta, b.c. We originally started off knowing eachother from high school, and we all knew eachother played instruments… we had just never heard eachother realllly play. Until that one fatefull day… we jammed, and from there it was just pure chemistry, within the first jam we had, we had written and rehearsed one of our favourite originals, “Took Away My Blues”. From that point on it didn’t take us long to realize that we should start a band, and take it seriously, So. here we are now, playing shows, and having a damn good time doing it. We are that little ol’ band from Delta, Who play the Blues.

We didn’t get a chance to take photos of Six to Midnight.

They played a rocking show! Here’s their bio:

Six to Midnight Biography: Since forming in August 2008, Six to Midnight has been developing their unique and powerful sound, infusing rock with soul, pop, and a hint of blues. Even at its young age, Six to Midnight is getting noticed throughout the Vancouver music scene. With Jordan Field (lead singer) trained both vocally and theatrically, Daryn Davies (guitarist) influenced by classic rock, Evan Jones (bass) developing distinct grooves, and Nathan Steinberger (drums) banging since the age of seven; have all been friends since elementary school. All musically talented, their strong chemistry finally lead them into becoming a full on entity. Self managed and self produced, Six to Midnight has recently been playing notable shows and gaining media attention by organizing such events as their fundraiser in Delta, B.C., which helped raise over $12,000 for the Haiti Disaster Relief Effort in February 2010. Six to Midnight recently completed their self-titled EP introducing the band’s diverse range yet distinguishable sound. The band prides itself on their memorable live performances and their lyrics which express the experiences and roads traveled by band members, Six to Midnight will take you on an unforgettable journey.

Oh, and here’s us enjoying the show at The Cellar Nightclub!

Full Gallery:

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DAVID’S DOUBLE CHOCOLATE STOUT RECIPE
(Source: Defalco’s)

Dark brown, roasty, malty smooth, with a distinctive chocolatey finish
O.G. – 1.049 F.G. – 1.012

INGREDIENTS:
6 lbs. dark malt extract
1 lb. domestic special pale malt
1 lb. medium crystal malt
1/2 lb. roast unmalted barley
1/4 lb. chocolate malt
1/2 lb. oatmeal
1/2 – 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa (add to end of boil)
1 oz. Northdown or Wye Challenger (bittering)
1/2 oz. U.S. Goldings (flavoring)
No finishing hops (add cocoa instead)
Yeast: Dried – 1 pkg. Windsor or Safale S-04 Ale Yeast
Liquid – White Labs English Ale or Wyeast #1968
1 pkg. Bru-Vigor (yeast food)
3/4 cup corn sugar (priming)

Rob and I were getting low on the wheat beer we made in our last batch. It was time again for home brewing. We chose a double chocolate stout and our preference was to make it from scratch. I found a great resource for ordering the individual ingredients in Ontario: Innovation Homebrewing Supply. This is what they said:

Hi Daman,

Thanks for checking out IHB.

We are currently in process of establishing a supplier for Dried Malt Extract. We will be carrying a light DME. However, if we substitute 500g of the DME with a pack of Muntons Dark Spray malt, and use Crystal 80 for the medium crystal malt, it will be very similar.

Oatmeal and Cocao can be found at the grocery store, and we have the rest of the ingredients, except for yeast nutrient.

I can have the kit packaged for you ASAP, with about a 2 week lead time to get the DME in.

Cheers,

Bryan Bornais
Innovation Homebrewing Supply
B&S Custom Brewing Equipment
ihomebrewing.ca
519-997-5175

I accepted the substitutions and proceeded with the order. Bryan later told me “Your Double Chocolate Stout kit is the hardest kit I have ever tried to make.” Which I thought was great! Soon my package arrived and it was time to brew! I have to mention how happy I was with the service from IHB. The ingredients were all packaged and labeled clearly. This makes a huge difference when stepping through the recipe.

PROCEDURE:
Note: If you are using Wyeast liquid yeast, prepare the yeast 24 hours prior to brewing! Activate the yeast by “smacking” it to rupture the internal pouch, thereby mixing its contents with the other con- tents in the pouch. Allow the yeast to remain at room temperature to swell. Check the packaging date on the pouch. If it has been over two months since it was packaged, allow an extra day for the pouch to swell up. If you are using White Labs Pitchable Yeast, simply remove from refrigerator and allow to warm up to room temperature during the brew session.

1. In a small saucepan, bring a gallon of water to 160°-170° and turn off the heat. Add the bag of grains and water salts (if used) and steep 30 minutes. Now, gently sparge (rinse) the grains with hot tap water (ideal temperature 168°) and bring the total volume up to two or more gallons in a stainless steel or enameled kettle (avoid aluminum). As a rule, boiling as much of the full five gallons as possible is best. Bring to boil and resume step #2.

2. Turn off heat and add malt extract. Return to boil, taking care not to allow wort to overflow onto your stovetop. Start timing now, continuing the boil for 5 minutes. Add the bittering hops (1 oz. Wye Challenger or Northdown) and boil 45 minutes. Now add the flavoring hops (1/2 oz. Goldings) and boil 10 minutes. Turn off heat and add the unsweetened cocoa. Stir thoroughly.

3. To facilitate cooling, we suggest placing your brewing kettle in the sink with 5 or 6 inches of cold water (A tray or two of ice cubes in the cooling bath wouldn’t hurt). Allow to stand for 20 – 30 minutes in the cooling bath.

4. For best results, we recommend using Wyeast or White Labs liquid yeast. If using dried yeast, while the wort is cooling, rehydrate the dried yeast. To do this, sprinkle the yeast into a cup of lukewarm (90° – 100°F) water and cover with saran wrap or tin foil. Let stand for 10 – 20 minutes.

5. Pour the cooled wort into the fermenter. Bring the total volume up to five gallons. Check and record the temperature and specific gravity at this time. Make the necessary gravity corrections for temperatures above 60° (Add.001 for every 7° above 60°F).

6. If the temperature is less than 80°, pour the yeast “slurry” and the packet of Bru-Vigor into the wort
and place the lid and airlock over the fermenter. Although ideal fermentation temperatures are lower, it is very important to get the fermentation started as soon as possible to avoid contamination of the beer. In any case, be aware that temperatures over 110° will most likely kill your beer yeast.

7. For best results, ferment at 60° – 75°F.

8. FERMENTATION: Double Stage – The beer will be ready to rack (syphon) when the rocky head subsides (2 – 4 days) and the gravity drops to approximately 1.016 or less. Syphon the beer into the sec- ondary fermenter. As soon as the foaming allows, top up the secondary with water to within 2 – 3 inches of the fermentation lock if your volume is short. Allow to ferment and settle until action has virtually ceased and the beer has clarified.
FERMENTATION: Single Stage – Allow wort to ferment for 7 days. Assuming your fermentation lock has stopped bubbling proceed to step #9, bottling preparations.

9. Check the specific gravity. This final gravity (F.G.) should read about 1.012 or less.

10. Prepare the priming sugar by making a simple syrup on the stove. Pour the sugar into a small saucepan containing a cup of boiling water. Stir to dissolve. Pour this mixture into the finished beer as you are syphoning it into a sanitized priming container. Stir well, but avoid excess splashing. Immedi- ately syphon the beer into sanitized bottles, leaving about an inch of head space. Use a bottle filler for ease in filling.

11. Allow beer to age at room temperature for at least two weeks before chilling. Peak flavor should be reached about six weeks and lasts several months. Note that longer aging may result in a smoother taste.

12. Chill and serve! Pour carefully so as not to disturb the small amount of sediment on the bottom of the bottles. Enjoy your homemade beer!

ALL-GRAIN RECIPE
9 1/2 lbs. domestic special pale malt
1 lb. medium crystal malt
1/2 lb. roast unmalted barley
1/4 lb. chocolate malt
1/2 lb. oatmeal
1/2 – 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa (add to end of boil)
1 oz. Northdown or Wye Challenger (bittering)
1/2 oz. U.S. Goldings (flavoring) No finishing hops (add cocoa instead)
Yeast: Dried – 1 pkg. Windsor or Safale S-04 Ale Yeast
Liquid – White Labs English Ale or Wyeast #1968
3/4 cup corn sugar (priming)

Mashing Procedure:
Heat 3 1/2 gallons of water to 168°, stir thoroughly, now dough your crushed grain in, making sure to stir constantly to avoid dry pockets of grain. Once grain is thoroughly mixed in, cover. Check temperature after approximately five minutes, it should be about 153°, plus or minus 4°. If it is noticeably colder or hotter, add boiling water or ice cubes and stir to mix in to adjust temperature. Stir mash every 10 – 15 minutes. After an hour of mashing, recirculate wort back through grain bed until it begin to flow relatively clear, not a lot of cloudiness. Now you may run this clear wort off into your kettle while you slowly sparge the grain with hot water at about 168°. Try to collect a total of at least 6 1/2 – 7 gallons. Bring to a boil for about 10 minutes, then begin adding hops as outlined above. Please note that when using all grain recipes, your original and final gravities may vary considerably from our predicted readings.

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