TROJAN WARRIOR BEER

brought to you by

ERRTHUM BREWERY


HISTORY

By 1994 Troy Errthum was tired of cheap watered down beer. This was mainly due to a team of Troy, Mike Formanek, and Troy Beam winning first(and third with a second team) place in a Coors Light pitcher contest. So it was that Troy started drinking Samuel Adams, Guiness, and others to be able to taste the liquid, and taste good it did! In 1996 Troy's friend, Dan Kruse, got into beer making. This was at about the time microbrews were running rampant in the market place. Needing to move onto something better, Troy with Dan and his girlfriend(at the time) Martha's help, started homebrewing in January of 1997. Kruse would go on to make wine "from the cellars of the Kruse Estate."

What Troy did not realize at the time was how much he was carrying on a family tradition. Troy's relatives, the Errthums and Hefels, were from North Buena Vista, Iowa, along the Mississippi River north of Dubuque. Here, since coming to America, his ancestors brewed and stilled all kinds of spirits. Grandpa Errthum made moonshine and also smuggled alcohol for Eastern Iowa during Prohibition. Even today, many an uncle and aunt exist who brew everything including: beer, schnapps, wine, and moonshine.

PROCESS

Errthum Brewery does not believe in making light or bad tasting beers. They do not use the more common powdered beer kits or that cheap plastic barrel kit you see on the shopping channel. Here is the general steps taken when making Trojan Warrior Beer:
  • all equipment is cleaned with an oxydizing agent
  • about a pound of special grains is crushed by hand
  • the crushed grains are then seeped in heated water for 15 minutes
  • 1.5 gallons of water(wort) is boiled for 1 hour in which time about 6 pounds of malt syrup, 2 types of hops, and Irish Moss are added
  • wort is then cooled in a sink of ice till it is under 80 degrees Fahrenheit
  • wort is added to a glass fermentor which already has 3 gallons of water that has been oxygenated, topped and sealed
  • after bubbling has stopped in the main fermentor, the beer is transferred to a second fermentor to make the liquid clearer
  • about 2-4 weeks after cooking, Ascorbic Acid and corn sugar is added, and then it is bottled
  • the bottles sit for at least another 2-3 weeks.

    • Of course this is just the basics. There is much detail work done during the process to give you a great beer!

    PRESENT

    I have dabbled with a lot of flavors and containers. With every batch I try something new to make my brew better. If you have any questions please contact me (email on main page).

    LINK

    The only link you need. I get most of my ingredients from these guys and bought my starter equipment from them. I also get stuff from New City Market at University and Polk in Des Moines, Iowa.
  • Northern Brewer


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