How to Brew an Excellent Pale Ale

This afternoon, I am making a batch of my all-time favorite beer, which happens to be a product of my own design. This one is a New Zealand pale ale that I call Flipside. This is how it is made:

1. Put three gallons of water on some heat. I have a six gallon stainless steel pot that I put on the stove on medium-high, and a remote (wired) oven thermometer probe that I clip to the inside of the pot to keep track of the temperature. The thermometer itself has a magnet that I stick to the side of the fridge and an alarm that I can set for when it hits a certain temperature.

2. Once the water gets to about 150 degrees fahrenheit, add crushed pale ale and crushed carapils malted barley in two separate cotton sacks. Steep the giant teabags in the water for about a half an hour, keeping the temperature between 150 and 170 degrees. After a half an hour, transfer the grain sacks to a bowl to collect the remaining malt extract as it continues to drip. Pour this back in once it stops dripping, then discard the used grain sacks (although I've heard of people drying it out, grinding it into a powder and mixing it with bread flour).

3. Bring the beer-tea (called wort) to a boil.   

4. Remove from heat. Add six pounds of pilsen malt syrup (I have not yet invested in a full-mash setup). Stir it in, then put the pot back on the stove. Bring wort to a boil again. 

5. Once boiling, add one ounce of New Zealand Green Bullet hops. Stir it in. Set a timer for sixty min (the full boil) and another for thirty minutes.

6. At thirty minutes, add one ounce of New Zealand Pacific Jade hops. Stir it in. It should now look something like a swamp on the planet Jupiter, if such a thing was possible. Set the timer that just went off to fifteen minutes.  

7.  At fifteen minues, add one teaspoon of Irish moss (a fancy term for dried seaweed). This is to help clarify the beer. Set the timer for ten minutes. 

8. At ten minutes, there should be about five minutes left on the main timer. This is when I add the New Zealand Wakatu hops. It's also when I go run cold water in the bathtub, as well as dump in some icecubes and reusable ice packs to get it even colder. 

9. When the last timer goes off, remove from heat and put the heavy pot of wort in the bath of cold water, leaving the thermometer in there.

10. Once it gets to 100 degrees fahrenheit, I take it out of the bathtub, stir the hell out of it with a whisk until it gets all foamy, and then I run it all through a sieve and a funnel into a sanitized six and a half gallon glass carboy. At this point, I add another two and half gallons of water, then the yeast. I use Safale-05, a dry American Ale yeast, but I'm sure that other yeasts would also produce good results. 

11. Once everything is in there, I put on an airlock cap with some vodka added to the chamber (as a sterile liquid), then stash the full carboy either in the basement or in a dark corner of the house. It usually takes about a week or two for primary fermentation to complete. 

12. After that, I transfer it to a five-gallon carboy, where I add one ounce of New Zealand Taiheke hops as a "dry hop." This one goes in the garage, where it's much colder this time of year, which essentially "lagers" the beer. Once the freshly added hops all sink to the bottom, usually after another week or two, I bring it back inside, let it rest for a couple of days, then transfer it to a keg. After about a week in the keg with the CO2, it's fully carbonated. It's really better if you let the flavors meld for an extra three or four weeks -- if you can wait that long. 

While I don't consider myself a professional brewmeister by any means, this really is probably the best beer that I've ever had -- and I'm pretty sure that I would say that even if somebody else made it. 

Taste, of course, is subjective, but to me, New Zealand hops just seem to have a fuller flavor to them. Compared to other hops that I have used, it's kind of like the difference between strawberries from the farmer's market versus those that you buy at the supermarket. The berries from the farmer's market just taste more like strawberries, if that makes sense. 

New Zealand hops are easily among the best that I use in my own homebrewing operation. One more reason to want to move to New Zealand, I suppose.  

Good job, Apple

Apparently Apple figured out that Zach Sands the musician is the same person as Zach Sands the author. I wonder if that's from leaving the microphone on my laptop turned on. 

I'm mostly kidding. 

New Album Available Now

That didn't take long. 

You can now stream Embers, my newest album, on Spotify. Click here to listen. 

It's also on iTunes/Apple Music. Click here for the link.

And here it is on Amazon Music.

If you use a different streaming service, it might be available there, too, either to stream or purchase. If not now, then soon.  

If you like my music, please share it and add it to your playlists (and buy it if you really want to support the artist).

New album available soon

Embers was approved for distribution and should be available through streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Pandora, etc. very soon... 

I will post updates with links once it becomes available to stream and download on some of these sites.  

How to Write a Song (in Ten Steps)

For anyone out there who may find this information interesting and/or useful, I have outlined below my ten-step process for writing a song. I share this not only as a potential insight into the mechanics of creativity, but also with the hope that you might employ this approach in your own songwriting. 

We will always need people to write songs that can move us in one way or another. Why not you?

 

1. Practice. Not just to get better, either, but that's certainly part of it. When I practice, I'm constantly looking for interesting chord progressions, riffs and rhythms. When I find them, more often than not, that's what I end up practicing. Most of the time, I also record them with a handheld device for my own reference. Loop pedals can also be incredibly helpful here. The way I see it, a musician has to practice, so why not work on your own stuff when you do? The more I practice, the more of these "song parts" I accumulate, which I file away for later use. There have been riffs that have sat in my back pocket for months or even years before I did anything with them. That's just how it is sometimes. (It's also how I wrote three albums in 2017. I already had most of the pieces from years of rehearsal material; it was just a matter of putting them together in ways that made sense. For more on this, see steps 2-10 below.)

2. Build a song from spare parts. As I continue to practice, over time, these various parts start intermingling and coalescing into songs. Hey... this riff fits with this progression. This part can be played in the same key as that other thing I was playing, etc. That said, as a self-taught musician, I should note (pun intended) that I seldom know what key I'm playing in. I usually have to work it out afterward -- but my ear knows what fits together and what doesn't. I suspect that yours will, too. Keep in mind that most pop/rock songs, when it comes down to it, are often composed of maybe five or six chords at most. That's it. It's how you play them that matters. Knowing that, in my own songwriting, once I've got enough chords or whatever to form a verse part and a chorus part, then I've got the basic components of the song, at which point I can safely move on to the next step.  

3. Let the music tell me what kind of song it is. Once I've got that basic song structure of a verse and a chorus (and every once in a while a bridge), then I play it over and over, trying to listen objectively in order to determine what kind of song it is. Is this a love song? A protest song? A song about road trips? Old friends? Independence movements in former Soviet Republics? What emotions does it evoke? Figuring this out gives me somewhat of an idea in terms of where to look when it comes to writing lyrics, but I always start with the music and then write the lyrics. To me, the notion of doing it the other way around would be like starting with the paint before you even have the canvas set up. Besides, lyrics without any music is called a poem, and while these two forms are closely related, I find that they are generally not interchangeable. I tend to believe that the lyrics should be an integral component of the song, complementary to everything else. 

4. Start with the vowels. It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize that all we really sing are the vowels. Consonants may be used to add emphasis on a beat, but the notes are all vowels. So when I go to write lyrics, I start with the vowel sounds. As I'm playing these chord progressions/riffs/song skeletons mentioned above, I audition various vocal melodies, exclusively through the use of vowel sounds -- lots of oohs and aahs and eees, etc. Over time and with repetition, certain vocal melodies will stick. I find that whistling to myself can also be useful at this stage, as good vocal melodies tend to be inherently whistlable.

5. Words will eventually emerge. As I sing these vowel sounds, the vocal patterns will inevitably make me think of certain words. "Ah-oh" may mutate into "alone," for example. I write these words down, always on the lookout for certain words or phrases that I think might fit with the mood of the song. Generally speaking, I find that it's easier to start with the chorus, since that should be the biggest part of the song. When I sing the vowels of the chorus, I write down approximately how many syllables I need and what vowel sounds fit most naturally in whatever vocal melody that I found myself going back to. When figuring out the rhyme scheme, it's worth remembering once again that the only parts that really need to rhyme are those vowel sounds. Anything else is just a bonus. It's also good to be aware that plosive sounds (like "b" and "p") should probably land on the beats whenever possible.  

6. Build the song around the chorus. Once I've got the nuts and bolts of the chorus figured out, then it's a matter of writing verses that logically lead to the repetition of these lyrics that essentially form the gravitational center of the song. When writing the verses, I use that same method of starting with vowels and counting out the syllables on my fingers. 

7. Use the first verse to establish the pattern. Music (much like comedy, metaphor, etc.) is fundamentally about establishing patterns and then disrupting those patterns in interesting ways. So once I've got the syllable count and rhyme pattern of the first verse figured out, I use that as a template for the other verses. The first verse is always the hardest to write, even if it ends up being moved over to the third verse by the time I'm done. If the song seems like it's getting too repetitive, to the point where it starts to feel predictable, then I might add a bridge and/or an instrumental break to disrupt the pattern.

8. Continue to refine the lyrics. First drafts are seldom the best versions of anything. That's just as true with lyrics as it is with research papers. Personally, I find that first drafts are less intimidating if I just keep in mind that I can (and probably should/will) go back and revise my work. Does the song have a POV? Does it tell a story? Are there words that stand out like speed bumps when I sing them? The more objective I can be at this point, the better. I believe that it's crucial for an artist to be able to separate art from ego, and this isn't always easy. Sometimes I have to walk away from it for a few days and then come back to it with a fresh perspective. In the meantime, I might work on a different song, or some other project altogether.

9. Own the song. Once I've written a song, I usually play it over and over until I know the lyrics without having to look at a piece of paper or stop and think about it while I'm playing. If I can then play the same song on a different instrument, then hot damn. That's usually a pretty good sign that it officially works as a song and that I know it well enough to record it for real and/or perform the song in front of an audience. 

10.  Fill out the sound spectrum with other instruments. If you play in a band, this is where your bandmates can come in. In my case, however, since my last five six albums have just been me, I record the basic chord progresson or riff or whatever the song is built around and then listen to see where it needs more. It's like cooking and figuring out which ingredients you need to make the dish shine and be properly balanced -- and I like to taste it as I go. If it needs more upper-mid range, then maybe it's time to bust out the banjo or the glockenspiel. As indicated in Step 7, I'm not above throwing in a guitar solo here and there, either. Usually at the end of the recording process, I then go back and re-record that original part that the song was built around. I generally do the same with the drum tracks. 

At the end of all of that, I will have created something that did not exist before and that can now be shared with others. Through the use of digital platforms that were not available even ten or fifteen years ago, I can now reach audiences that I never could have imagined before. While it's arguably harder than ever to make a living as a musician, it keeps getting easier for independently produced music to reach a broader and more diverse audience. Follow these ten steps, and you can do it, too.

Creative CV

While my professional CV lists all of my education and work experience, so much of the work that consumes my time and energy is left out, as much of my writing remains unpublished or unproduced, or it simply is not pertinent to the jobs for which I am applying. In short, it is an incomplete reflection of who I am. That in mind, I thought I'd offer a reverse timeline of some of the creative projects that I've completed over the years, along with brief descriptions of the works themselves: 

Dummy (2022) - feature-length screenplay, horror-comedy about an evil ventriloquist dummy who seeks to control the world. 

Petrichor (2021) - album, eleven original songs of indie rock, self-produced.

Embers (2021) - album, eleven original songs of indie rock, self-produced.

The Adventures of Rocko and Socko: The Land of the Missing Socks (2020) - children's book, currently in development with a very talented illustrator.

Galápagos (2020) - children's book, adaptation of my original screenplay by the same name, currently in development with another very talented illustrator.

Pulse (2020) - literary novel that follows four interwoven storylines through a single day in America when everything changes, the result of an EMP bomb exploding in the upper atmosphere. 

Ticonderoga! (2019) - feature-length screenplay, historical comedy about the time that Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen won a decisive battle in the early days of the American Revolution without even firing a single shot. 

Galápagos (2019) - feature-length screenplay, animated family film about a giant tortoise named Darwin who is in a race against time to save his family from extinction. 

Better Days (2019) - album, ten original songs of indie rock, self-produced.

Snow Birds (2018) - feature-length screenplay, animated family film about a mismatched group of migratory birds who fly north for the summer, where they find their habitat being destroyed by a petroleum company. 

Subzero (2018) - feature-length screenplay, sci-fi/action/comedy about a scientist who goes to Antarctica for the long dark of winter, where she discovers a hidden world beneath the ice. 

Film Comedy and the American Dream (2017) - dissertation/adapted into a scholarly monograph, explores the relationships between popular comedic films and the American audiences that consumed them from the end of World War II through the 2016 US presidential election.

Good Night, Fahrenheit (2017) - album, eleven original songs of indie rock, self-produced.

Mechanical Bull (2017)  - album, eleven original songs of indie rock, self-produced.

Weather Patterns (2017)  - album, eleven original songs of indie rock, self-produced.

Mr. Spectator (2017) - blog, over fifty thoroughly researched articles about history, politics and culture.

[graduate school (PhD): 2012-2016] read a lot of books, wrote a lot of papers.

The Common Man (2012) - feature-length screenplay, biopic about Henry A. Wallace (FDR's Sec. of Agriculture, then his VP during WWII) that traces his unlikely rise and tumultuous fall in American politics. 

Moneymakers (2011) - feature-length screenplay, crime drama about two amateur counterfeiters who quickly get in way over their heads on both sides of the law. 

Return to Sender (2010) - feature-length screenplay, romantic comedy about a lonely man who travels to Eastern Europe to meet his online bride, where he gets caught up in an extortion scheme and a revolution. 

Borderland: Moldova (2010) - documentary video about Moldovan cultural identity.

Borderland (2009) -- blog, approximately thirty articles about living as an American expat in Eastern Europe. 

[graduate school (MA): 2007-2009] - read a lot of books, wrote a lot of papers.

World Famous (2005) - feature-length documentary video about one man's misguided attempts at achieving world fame.

Erosion (2004) - feature-length screenplay, psychological thriller about a man who gets shot in the head and then wakes up in a mental hospital with little recollection of who he is or how he got there. 

The Good Life (2002) - feature-length screenplay, broad comedy about a small-town loser who falls in with the local mob. 

[film school (BA): 1999-2002] - made a lot of short films, wrote some screenplays and a handful of songs.

If you are a producer or publisher, etc. who would like to know more about any of these projects, please feel free to send me an email at this link. 

Next?

Whenever I complete a big project, there are usually a few days in there where I'm not sure what to do with myself. Having been working on Embers full-time since the weekend after Thanksgiving, now that I'm done with it, the question looms as to what I should do next. In fact, it was my compulsion to remain productive in the interim that led to the creation of this blog.    

A few months ago, I wrote a detailed outline for a mystery novel, and more than likely, this is what I will work on. I also have about 30,000 words of a different novel written that just seemed to come from out of nowhere. I was on a roll with that for a couple of months, which I started writing immediately after having finished my first novel. Then my dad died, and I've had a hard time getting back into that project ever since. I figure that I'll revisit that one when I'm ready.  

I've also got several ideas for TV/streaming media shows, as well as a few more screenplays that I have fully outlined but have not yet written. For now, though, I think that I want to stay focused on writing books, at least until my work can gain some traction. The important thing right now is to reach an audience. 

As for music, I continue to practice every day, which is where the seeds that later become songs generally come from -- but only every once in a while does the muse strike and lets me know that it's time to write another album. In that sense, I don't necessarily choose my next project sometimes so much as my next project seems to choose me. I just roll with it.

Connecting the Dots

As a multimedia artist, I find that switching between different formats helps prevent burnout in any one area. More often than not, I have two big projects going at once, each of which more or less balances out the other. When I need to take a break from writing, I play music. Sometimes I bake bread. Then I get back to writing, ready to kick some ass. 

The proof is in the productivity. Over the past four and a half years, I have written: one dissertation/academic book, four feature-length screenplays in multiple genres, five albums (fifty-four songs) of original music on which I play every instrument, two children's books and a literary novel. I shall soon begin working on my second novel as soon as I figure out which one I want to work on. I have what I like to think of as a garden of creative ideas in various stages of development. 

Not even Amazon knows that Zach Sands the author is the same person as Zach Sands the musician. This is why I have created this blog, where I can link to and write about all of my different projects. It also gives me a place where I can write about random things like pretzel recipes, homebrewing and the challenges of recording music in an open room with my kids playing video games in the background.

As always, if you like my work, please share it with others.