This will be my first official Elf King Ale. I'm sick so I'm not in the mood to drink. So to pass the time I'll write the brew blog as it the day goes on.
It is New Year's Eve. Ellie is in the garage with me. She is doing the laundry. It's nice to have her here even if she doesn't help or even talk to me. She got this do-dad that turn anything into a speaker so she turned one of my old foam coolers into a speaker and it playing some music. It's nice.
Gonna try a pre-chiller today too. Let's see how that goes. Also used a stir plate for my yeast starter. It took some work but I got it work. It needs some tweaking though.
Ingredients are as follows:
9lbs 2row
1lb Crystal 15L
0.75oz Magnum 14.1% AA - 60minutes
1 oz Amarillo 9.3%AA - 5 minutes
1 oz Amarillo 9.3%AA - 1minute
WLP001 - Mar-24-12 - Lot# 1001CIIKONA1
Servomyces and Whirlfloc at 10min
5.2 during mash
Mash at 151-152
Missed my mash temp. It will be 149. I'm shooting for a OG of 1.048ish.
Sparging now. A little worried. Sparge looks light in color. I'm not getting the super awesome grain aromas I'm used to. I tasted the wort and it wasn't as sweet as I expected. I do have a throat lozenge in so maybe that matters. The grain was in the fridge for over a week. Maybe that matters. Maybe I should just wait until I measure the gravity before I freak out.
I want the sparge temp to be 170. I keep putting 170 in the mash tun but it maintains 150. This maybe the reason I've not been extracting the sugars I think I should. In the future what I need to do is have a thermometer in the mash tun during the sparge and watch the temp closely.
Wort looks thin and light. I doesn't taste sweet. I measured the pre-boil gravity. It came out 1.020. That doesn't seem like a lot. The wort was hot. It was on the burner already. Now I'm freaking out.
A thought on mashing. I should get a temperature dialed in to exactly what I want and THEN add the grain. That way I can remove the water if needed and heat it up or cool it down. I think I did that last time. Why didn't I this time. It's time to create a procedure. Just spend the day and make it. Then refer to it on brew day and make improvements the second I feel the need to. Not sometime later.
Ok. Waiting for the wort to cool now. The pre-chiller seems to be working. I can feel the copper coming from the ice bucket and it is nice and cold. The boil was uneventful. All went well. I've got that down pat.
One thing that did happen was that I turned the hose on too hard and the water from the hose found its into my wort. So if it tastes like total shit or gets some bacteria in it that likely the source.
All done. OG = 1.041. Very light. We should call this Elf King Ale Light.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Ale Industries Rye'd Piper Kegged
Kegged the rye beer. Did not go smoothly. I used the pump type racking cane and couldn't get the racking cane to maintain a seal so I would fiddle with it to try and keep the seal. This would cause a rough siphon. Then I tried to just use a vinyl tube and fill it with StarSan solution and try to get a siphon going that way.
I got the beer out but it was a mess. Way more yeast made it into the keg than normal. Way more splashing and oxygenation than normal. Not happy.
After that I pressurized the keg to 20 and shook the crap out of it for 15 minutes to get the CO2 into solution. Then I moved it to the chest fridge. After a few hours I gave it a go. I drew out a lot of yeast so I tossed that glass. I tried again and got an ok glass. It was carbonated. Still needed a little bit more but I tasted ok.
I should be ready for New Years Eve party. Let's just see.
I got the beer out but it was a mess. Way more yeast made it into the keg than normal. Way more splashing and oxygenation than normal. Not happy.
After that I pressurized the keg to 20 and shook the crap out of it for 15 minutes to get the CO2 into solution. Then I moved it to the chest fridge. After a few hours I gave it a go. I drew out a lot of yeast so I tossed that glass. I tried again and got an ok glass. It was carbonated. Still needed a little bit more but I tasted ok.
I should be ready for New Years Eve party. Let's just see.
Best Christmas gift evar!!!
I got the best Christmas gift ever. Ellie got a local artist to make me up some bottle labels and banners. The labels say "Elf King Ale" with a cute little elf with a mug in his hand. She made the labels in white and gold. People seem torn about which is better. She got me two banners. One says "Elf King Ale" and has the elf on either side of the text. I stuck it to my chest fridge. These look great. Thanks wife.
Mead Bottled
The mead has been bottled. I got five bottles from it. One bottle was promised to Brian Wolfe and was delivered today. The other four were placed with the other wine. Hopefully I'll forget about them and discover them many months from now. Otherwise I might get too eager and drink it.
One trick I attempted since I planned to keep it in the bottle for awhile was to blow CO2 from an empty keg into the head space to try and clear out the O2 from air.
One trick I attempted since I planned to keep it in the bottle for awhile was to blow CO2 from an empty keg into the head space to try and clear out the O2 from air.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Ale Industries Rye'd Piper
Last weekend Kevin and I brewed a Rye beer. It looks like it will be quite hoppy. I got the kit from MoreBeer.
Recipe:
11 lbs 2-row
1.5 lbs Crystal 75
1 lb Rye
4oz Carafa II
0.5oz Magnum 60min
0.5oz Northern Brewer 15min
0.5oz Northern Brewer 10min
1oz Williamette 2min
1oz Williamette Flameout
1oz Cascade Dry Hop
Wirlfloc 10min.
Servomyces 10min.
1 tablespoon 5.2 during mash.
WLP002 English Ale - Lot number 1002TLs7157321
Mash at 152F for 60min. Fly Sparge 168F for 45min.
Oxygenate for 1min before pitch.
I made sure to make a starter this time. I used two pints of water and one cup of DME. I made it happen the night before the brew. I'm not sure if this is too much since the John Palmer book claims pint water and 1/2 cup DME. I think maybe I should have done it step up style. I'll look more into this.
The fermentation really took off. It looked great. It had a great krausen for three days and then settled right back in. It is now fermenting in the bathroom in the bathtub.
I really need to start logging the AA units on the hops. A lot of beers come out too bitter for my liking. I need to figure out what amount of IBUs I like.
Also, I didn't give the beer an ice bath this time. I thought since it is December that just the tap water we be enough. I was wrong. We couldn't get that wort down to 70F. So, the yeast was pitched a little warm. Maybe 78F. We'll see if that matters. I think I'm going to use a pre-chiller in the future.
I wasn't as efficient in my sparge this time either. The estimated OG is 1.058-62. We got 1.055. I could tell that though before we ever measured it. The grains tasted a little sweet still after the sparge. What I need to do it sparge until I hit a gravity of 1.012 no matter how much wort I have and then boil down to 6.5 gallons or whatever. I think I will do this next time. Also, the sparge was faster this time. Not sure if that anything to do with it. Last time it was about 90mins. This time it was 45 mins.
We also improved our equipment from last time and bought a hot liqueur kettle. This meant that I could heat up mash and sparge water in one kettle and collect the wort in the boil kettle.
Also I improved my process by siphoning the wort from the boil kettle to the fermenter instead of a rough pour. I did a rough pour in the past to get O2 in the wort. But since we now have an oxygen stone that is not needed. The result it that we were able to siphon in the clean wort and leave the gunk behind.
I also cleaned the crap out of all the brew equipment the night before the brew. And by clean I mean really clean. It took all day. I even wanted to clean stuff that doesn't get used that often. I think I will do this once a year. Around Christmas time.
I think I will dry hop this brew in the keg. This will allow me to purge the air from the head space to keep the beer from oxygenating.
I'm also looking into my house water. I want to use it instead of buying water. Its going to require me to get educated about water and what mineral beer requires and why and how to adjust.
Recipe:
11 lbs 2-row
1.5 lbs Crystal 75
1 lb Rye
4oz Carafa II
0.5oz Magnum 60min
0.5oz Northern Brewer 15min
0.5oz Northern Brewer 10min
1oz Williamette 2min
1oz Williamette Flameout
1oz Cascade Dry Hop
Wirlfloc 10min.
Servomyces 10min.
1 tablespoon 5.2 during mash.
WLP002 English Ale - Lot number 1002TLs7157321
Mash at 152F for 60min. Fly Sparge 168F for 45min.
Oxygenate for 1min before pitch.
I made sure to make a starter this time. I used two pints of water and one cup of DME. I made it happen the night before the brew. I'm not sure if this is too much since the John Palmer book claims pint water and 1/2 cup DME. I think maybe I should have done it step up style. I'll look more into this.
The fermentation really took off. It looked great. It had a great krausen for three days and then settled right back in. It is now fermenting in the bathroom in the bathtub.
I really need to start logging the AA units on the hops. A lot of beers come out too bitter for my liking. I need to figure out what amount of IBUs I like.
Also, I didn't give the beer an ice bath this time. I thought since it is December that just the tap water we be enough. I was wrong. We couldn't get that wort down to 70F. So, the yeast was pitched a little warm. Maybe 78F. We'll see if that matters. I think I'm going to use a pre-chiller in the future.
I wasn't as efficient in my sparge this time either. The estimated OG is 1.058-62. We got 1.055. I could tell that though before we ever measured it. The grains tasted a little sweet still after the sparge. What I need to do it sparge until I hit a gravity of 1.012 no matter how much wort I have and then boil down to 6.5 gallons or whatever. I think I will do this next time. Also, the sparge was faster this time. Not sure if that anything to do with it. Last time it was about 90mins. This time it was 45 mins.
We also improved our equipment from last time and bought a hot liqueur kettle. This meant that I could heat up mash and sparge water in one kettle and collect the wort in the boil kettle.
Also I improved my process by siphoning the wort from the boil kettle to the fermenter instead of a rough pour. I did a rough pour in the past to get O2 in the wort. But since we now have an oxygen stone that is not needed. The result it that we were able to siphon in the clean wort and leave the gunk behind.
I also cleaned the crap out of all the brew equipment the night before the brew. And by clean I mean really clean. It took all day. I even wanted to clean stuff that doesn't get used that often. I think I will do this once a year. Around Christmas time.
I think I will dry hop this brew in the keg. This will allow me to purge the air from the head space to keep the beer from oxygenating.
I'm also looking into my house water. I want to use it instead of buying water. Its going to require me to get educated about water and what mineral beer requires and why and how to adjust.
Counter Flow Bottling
Now that I have kegged my beer I run into the issue of how to transport the beer to another location. I feel the best way is to bottle the beer. But herein lies the problem. How to get the beer from the tap to the bottle. If you just try to pour the beer into a bottle you get about 1/3 beer and 2/3 foam. This is due to a sharp pressure difference. One way to solve this issue is a counter pressure filler.
Now they make really fancy counter flow filler that you can buy. MoreBeer sells one for $70. I thought perhaps I could rig something up cheaper. So, the plan was to buy a stopper that fit over a bottle, drill a hole through it to fit a racking cane through it and attach the racking cane to the tap. You can then fill the bottles by burping the pressure from the bottle. I found an example of all this on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rx2-OMyb8fc
Sometimes I drag Ellie into this hobby of mine and I thought this would be a good excuse to hang together so I pulled her into this. We go together to Home Depot to get a stopper. She was smart enough to ask for help and we found what we needed. This is why I bring her along. After that I went home to drill a hole in the stopper and she got busy doing work stuff.
I didn't have the right sized drill so I try to improvise. The last thing I try is to attach a barrel sander to the Dremmel and ram it through. This in effect burns the rubber. The size may have been right but when I push the racking cane through all I get a black, gross rubber smeared all over the racking cane. So, I pull it off and have to scrub the racking cane really well to get the rubber off. It now looks more whitish on that spot of the cane and I'm sure all those little scratches that I made in the plastic when trying to get the rubber off will now harbor bacteria like a champ so I need to replace it someday.
Anyhow now it is obvious that I need a new plan and I grab Ellie invite her to come with me to work where there is machine shop and we can use a nice drill press and a variety of drill bits. So, we get there and everything goes as planned. We drill the stopper. It fits great. As we are leaving though she spots the eye wash station and out of curiosity opens it up to look in. Well, these stations are a one time use only type of thing. As soon as someone opens it some plastic tabs break off and activate the saline bags which now pour out like a water fountain. She frantically tries to stop the flow but with no luck. She ends up feeling real bad about the whole thing. I've got to keep my eye on her in the future. Anyhow, I went to work the next day and told the office manager about it. She found it a funny story. Back to the counter flow though.
So we get home and rig this thing up and it works great. I even used it to fill six bottles of Elf King Ale for poker night and took them over to the boys. They seemed to enjoy the beer.
Now they make really fancy counter flow filler that you can buy. MoreBeer sells one for $70. I thought perhaps I could rig something up cheaper. So, the plan was to buy a stopper that fit over a bottle, drill a hole through it to fit a racking cane through it and attach the racking cane to the tap. You can then fill the bottles by burping the pressure from the bottle. I found an example of all this on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rx2-OMyb8fc
Sometimes I drag Ellie into this hobby of mine and I thought this would be a good excuse to hang together so I pulled her into this. We go together to Home Depot to get a stopper. She was smart enough to ask for help and we found what we needed. This is why I bring her along. After that I went home to drill a hole in the stopper and she got busy doing work stuff.
I didn't have the right sized drill so I try to improvise. The last thing I try is to attach a barrel sander to the Dremmel and ram it through. This in effect burns the rubber. The size may have been right but when I push the racking cane through all I get a black, gross rubber smeared all over the racking cane. So, I pull it off and have to scrub the racking cane really well to get the rubber off. It now looks more whitish on that spot of the cane and I'm sure all those little scratches that I made in the plastic when trying to get the rubber off will now harbor bacteria like a champ so I need to replace it someday.
Anyhow now it is obvious that I need a new plan and I grab Ellie invite her to come with me to work where there is machine shop and we can use a nice drill press and a variety of drill bits. So, we get there and everything goes as planned. We drill the stopper. It fits great. As we are leaving though she spots the eye wash station and out of curiosity opens it up to look in. Well, these stations are a one time use only type of thing. As soon as someone opens it some plastic tabs break off and activate the saline bags which now pour out like a water fountain. She frantically tries to stop the flow but with no luck. She ends up feeling real bad about the whole thing. I've got to keep my eye on her in the future. Anyhow, I went to work the next day and told the office manager about it. She found it a funny story. Back to the counter flow though.
So we get home and rig this thing up and it works great. I even used it to fill six bottles of Elf King Ale for poker night and took them over to the boys. They seemed to enjoy the beer.
Elf King Ale
I think I'm going to make the American Ale my house beer. I kegged it and have been drinking it with friends and family for a few weeks now.
It has a slightly fruity smell to it that I think is from the Cal Ale yeast being fermented at 70+. I find it pleasing. I think I'm going to ferment that yeast just a little warm in the future. The also has a pleasant hop aroma. Not too much.
The only thing I don't like is that I feel it is too bitter. I'm going to dial down the bittering hops just a little. I want a neutral sweet/bitter taste. I'd also like a little bit more flavoring and aroma hops. But not much. Enough that beer people will detect and enjoy but not so much that non-beer people will find it offensive. I want a beer guy and his non-beer wife to show up at the house and both enjoy the beer.
Ellie and I have named the house beer Elf King Ale. Avery means "The King of the Elves". I like how it sounds. And I really like this beer. I think I will bottle one and send it off to be criticized so that I can improve it.
It has a slightly fruity smell to it that I think is from the Cal Ale yeast being fermented at 70+. I find it pleasing. I think I'm going to ferment that yeast just a little warm in the future. The also has a pleasant hop aroma. Not too much.
The only thing I don't like is that I feel it is too bitter. I'm going to dial down the bittering hops just a little. I want a neutral sweet/bitter taste. I'd also like a little bit more flavoring and aroma hops. But not much. Enough that beer people will detect and enjoy but not so much that non-beer people will find it offensive. I want a beer guy and his non-beer wife to show up at the house and both enjoy the beer.
Ellie and I have named the house beer Elf King Ale. Avery means "The King of the Elves". I like how it sounds. And I really like this beer. I think I will bottle one and send it off to be criticized so that I can improve it.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
O2 experiment failure
The O2 experiment was a failure. Why? Because both beers turned out great. The non O2 beer finished at 1.008 and the O2 beer finished at 1.006. The O2 beer tasted better. It was smoother. But the non O2 beer was very good as well.
Ok. So I didn't nail down my culprit of yucky taste. Below is a list of differences from the offending brews that I can think of.
1. The current brew was aged in the bath tube. The others in the chest freezer.
2. The current brew used a silicon air lock. The others used a water air lock.
3. The current brew used a glass thermometer. The other used an uncalibrated steel thermometer.
4. The current brew was brewed with Albertson's spring water. At least one of the other was Arrowhead. Although now that I think about it one of these Kevin's water. So this seems unlikely.
5. The previous brews were sampled at 1 week. The current brew was left alone for 3 weeks and then sampled.
6. Also fly sparged instead of batch sparged.
I think I'm going to mix them both in the keg and pour out what horrid abomination is in there now.
Ok. So I didn't nail down my culprit of yucky taste. Below is a list of differences from the offending brews that I can think of.
1. The current brew was aged in the bath tube. The others in the chest freezer.
2. The current brew used a silicon air lock. The others used a water air lock.
3. The current brew used a glass thermometer. The other used an uncalibrated steel thermometer.
4. The current brew was brewed with Albertson's spring water. At least one of the other was Arrowhead. Although now that I think about it one of these Kevin's water. So this seems unlikely.
5. The previous brews were sampled at 1 week. The current brew was left alone for 3 weeks and then sampled.
6. Also fly sparged instead of batch sparged.
I think I'm going to mix them both in the keg and pour out what horrid abomination is in there now.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Holiday Graff
Made some graff today. Ingredients:
4 gallons of pasteurized apple juice. No preservatives.
.5 lbs of Crystal 60L
1 oz of wheat
2 lbs Amber DME.
0.5oz Perle hops
Steeped the grains in 0.75 gallons of water at 155F for 30 mins. Rinsed with 0.25 gallons of 170F water. Added DME. Brought to boil. Wait for hot break. Add hops and spices to muslin bag and throw it in the wort. Boil for thirty mins. Cool to 70F. Pour into fermenter. Add the four gallons of apple juice. Add the yeast. Shake.
OG was 1.058. Tasted bitter and sweet. Also could taste the cloves and cinnamon. I'm worried when the sweet goes away it will be too bitter. We'll see. I'd like to give this out as Christmas presents.
Amanda came over to help. It was nice to see her.
4 gallons of pasteurized apple juice. No preservatives.
.5 lbs of Crystal 60L
1 oz of wheat
2 lbs Amber DME.
0.5oz Perle hops
.25 tsp clove
.25 tsp nutmeg
.5 tsp allspice
.25 tsp dried orange peel
1 cinnamon stick
WLP002 - Two vials.
WLP002 - Two vials.
Steeped the grains in 0.75 gallons of water at 155F for 30 mins. Rinsed with 0.25 gallons of 170F water. Added DME. Brought to boil. Wait for hot break. Add hops and spices to muslin bag and throw it in the wort. Boil for thirty mins. Cool to 70F. Pour into fermenter. Add the four gallons of apple juice. Add the yeast. Shake.
OG was 1.058. Tasted bitter and sweet. Also could taste the cloves and cinnamon. I'm worried when the sweet goes away it will be too bitter. We'll see. I'd like to give this out as Christmas presents.
Amanda came over to help. It was nice to see her.
American Ale
A couple of weeks back I made the American Ale kit from MoreBeer. Here are the ingredients:
9lbs 2 row
1lb Crystal 15L
1oz Magnum 60min
1oz Cascade 5min
1oz Cascade 1min
Yeast = WLP001
Mashed at 150F. I also did a more of a fly sparge instead of a batch sparge. The OG was 1.046. The estimated was 1.044-48 so I nailed it.
I bought some silicon air locks and have begun using them. This way I don't have to worry the water being sucked back into the carboy. Not that I care about the water getting in the beer (it is starsan water). I care that the beer is exposed to air.
Why I really wanted to make this batch was that my beer lately is not coming out very well. It tastes bad. The only change from good beer to yucky beer has been the oxygen stone. So for this batch after it is cooled we will pour half into one carboy and half into another. Then use the oxygen stone for 1 minute on one and shake the other. Then pitch the yeast into both. Each carboy got its own yeast vial. The yeast was good an active. Both tubes exploded when opened so I was concerned whether I got enough in there.
They both took off within 24 hours. Both had a healthy fermentation. They looked to ferment the exact same. I'll sample them next weekend and then we will see.
Another note is that I made sure to get the temp right. This maybe the reason for the yucky taste as well. So we will see if there is a difference.
9lbs 2 row
1lb Crystal 15L
1oz Magnum 60min
1oz Cascade 5min
1oz Cascade 1min
Yeast = WLP001
Mashed at 150F. I also did a more of a fly sparge instead of a batch sparge. The OG was 1.046. The estimated was 1.044-48 so I nailed it.
I bought some silicon air locks and have begun using them. This way I don't have to worry the water being sucked back into the carboy. Not that I care about the water getting in the beer (it is starsan water). I care that the beer is exposed to air.
Why I really wanted to make this batch was that my beer lately is not coming out very well. It tastes bad. The only change from good beer to yucky beer has been the oxygen stone. So for this batch after it is cooled we will pour half into one carboy and half into another. Then use the oxygen stone for 1 minute on one and shake the other. Then pitch the yeast into both. Each carboy got its own yeast vial. The yeast was good an active. Both tubes exploded when opened so I was concerned whether I got enough in there.
They both took off within 24 hours. Both had a healthy fermentation. They looked to ferment the exact same. I'll sample them next weekend and then we will see.
Another note is that I made sure to get the temp right. This maybe the reason for the yucky taste as well. So we will see if there is a difference.
Spiced Graff
Link to a holiday graff with spices that I will try today.
http://ahomebrewlog.blogspot.com/2010/12/holiday-spiced-graff.html
http://ahomebrewlog.blogspot.com/2010/12/holiday-spiced-graff.html
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Redemption failure
Redemption was a failure. Tasted just like the rest. Papery. Like wet cardboard. Not as obnoxious as the last batch but still there. I kegged it and I will drink it. It is drinkable. But yucky. I find some are more sensitive to the taste then others. Ellie and Kevin don't mind it. I do.
What I'm going to do now is an experiment. I will brew a batch. Same as always. But I will pour half in one fermenter and half in another. One of the fermenters will have the oxygen stone and one will not. Then we will wait a month and taste and see the difference. If they are both bad then we know it was not the oxygen stone.
What I'm going to do now is an experiment. I will brew a batch. Same as always. But I will pour half in one fermenter and half in another. One of the fermenters will have the oxygen stone and one will not. Then we will wait a month and taste and see the difference. If they are both bad then we know it was not the oxygen stone.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Graff
Fall is here and that means Apple Cider time. I'm just betting I can find some at the farmers market. I've made cider in the past and it came out very tart and dry. If only there was a way to improve it. And make it such that it is drinkable in a month or so instead of waiting forever.
Say hello to Graff: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f81/graff-malty-slightly-hopped-cider-117117/
From the above webpage:
For all non-scientific beerology purposes, this is a cider. (I know, I know....but its got hops in it!)
Jay Huff and his apple bee got me started on some experiments and this is what I have come up with.
I noticed Ed's Apfelwein tasted super hoochy until it was about a year old. When it's about a year old tho it does taste like a good cider, but doesn't have the body a good cider does.
So, how can I make something that will taste good faster and also have body?
1. Get rid of the wine yeast and use a clean fermenting beer yeast
2. Get rid of that cheap sugar and use some light DME
3. Balance the tart flavor of young cider by using specialty grains.
4. Later on, I found hops also helped balance the overall flavor. BUT ONLY A TINY BIT, DO NOT USE MORE THAN CALLED FOR
If you like a clean, malty, not too tart easy drinking cider style beverage then this is your drink.
Materials needed for a 5 Gallon Batch
Clean fermenting yeast I have used Nottinham and Safale-05, both are good
.5 lbs of Crystal 60L If you use cheap store brand juice, I reccomend 120L. Cheap juice tends to turn out a tad tart and this will balance it.
1 oz of torrified wheat ( head retention, I've never used more than 2oz)
4 Gallons of apple juice.
1 gallon of water
2 lbs of DME ( I use 1 lb. amber and 1 lb. light DME)
0.5 oz of you favorite hops ( right around 6% AA, I have used 18.5% AA summit hops before and it took a month after kegging for strong bitterness to blend nicely)
WARNING! IF YOU ARE GOING TO CHANGE THE AMOUNT OF HOPS USED, MAKE IT LESS NOT MORE, it's really just too bitter with any more.
Directions for brewing
Steep the 60L and torrified wheat in .75 gallons of water @ 155 degrees for 30 mins.
Sparge with .25 gallons 170 degree water and throw away grains.
Add DME and bring to a boil.
Add hops when boiling starts and boil for 30 mins.
Cool down the wort (if you choose not to cool the wort and just let the AJ do the cooling then your cider won't be as clear). I don't care about clarity so I just let the AJ do the cooling, but if you stick your pot in the freezer and let this get down to 70 degrees or so your cider will clear fairly easy. Pour the wort and apple juice into your carboy and pitch yeast.
Ferment 2 weeks at 64-68 degrees then keg or bottle.
I keg, and this stuff is VERY drinkable as soon as it is carbonated.
SUPERB taste and drinkability after 2-3 weeks of aging.
People bottling, it will have SUPERB taste and drinkability after the standard 3 week bottling period for carbonating.
I'm doing this....
Say hello to Graff: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f81/graff-malty-slightly-hopped-cider-117117/
From the above webpage:
For all non-scientific beerology purposes, this is a cider. (I know, I know....but its got hops in it!)
Jay Huff and his apple bee got me started on some experiments and this is what I have come up with.
I noticed Ed's Apfelwein tasted super hoochy until it was about a year old. When it's about a year old tho it does taste like a good cider, but doesn't have the body a good cider does.
So, how can I make something that will taste good faster and also have body?
1. Get rid of the wine yeast and use a clean fermenting beer yeast
2. Get rid of that cheap sugar and use some light DME
3. Balance the tart flavor of young cider by using specialty grains.
4. Later on, I found hops also helped balance the overall flavor. BUT ONLY A TINY BIT, DO NOT USE MORE THAN CALLED FOR
If you like a clean, malty, not too tart easy drinking cider style beverage then this is your drink.
Materials needed for a 5 Gallon Batch
Clean fermenting yeast I have used Nottinham and Safale-05, both are good
.5 lbs of Crystal 60L If you use cheap store brand juice, I reccomend 120L. Cheap juice tends to turn out a tad tart and this will balance it.
1 oz of torrified wheat ( head retention, I've never used more than 2oz)
4 Gallons of apple juice.
1 gallon of water
2 lbs of DME ( I use 1 lb. amber and 1 lb. light DME)
0.5 oz of you favorite hops ( right around 6% AA, I have used 18.5% AA summit hops before and it took a month after kegging for strong bitterness to blend nicely)
WARNING! IF YOU ARE GOING TO CHANGE THE AMOUNT OF HOPS USED, MAKE IT LESS NOT MORE, it's really just too bitter with any more.
Directions for brewing
Steep the 60L and torrified wheat in .75 gallons of water @ 155 degrees for 30 mins.
Sparge with .25 gallons 170 degree water and throw away grains.
Add DME and bring to a boil.
Add hops when boiling starts and boil for 30 mins.
Cool down the wort (if you choose not to cool the wort and just let the AJ do the cooling then your cider won't be as clear). I don't care about clarity so I just let the AJ do the cooling, but if you stick your pot in the freezer and let this get down to 70 degrees or so your cider will clear fairly easy. Pour the wort and apple juice into your carboy and pitch yeast.
Ferment 2 weeks at 64-68 degrees then keg or bottle.
I keg, and this stuff is VERY drinkable as soon as it is carbonated.
SUPERB taste and drinkability after 2-3 weeks of aging.
People bottling, it will have SUPERB taste and drinkability after the standard 3 week bottling period for carbonating.
I'm doing this....
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Redemption
Oktoberfest Ale was a disaster. First beer I've thrown out. It tasted so stale and gross. The most tolerant beer drinkers are Kevin and Ellie and they each agreed it was bad. It tasted like wet cardboard. I was sad.
Now comes the time where I try to figure out what has gone wrong. The last batch had a this same problem but it was drinkable. My analysis had lead to the following process improvements.
First the air lock doesn't hold any fluid. I don't know exactly why. I've got some theories, but it really doesn't matter does it. The bottom line is that there is a pressure issue and the fermenter sucks the fluid from the air lock into it and thus exposes it to air. I will use a blow off tube from now on.
The other big thing was that the steel thermometer was off. By about 10-15 degrees. This means that the mash was WAY hotter than it should be. I will now order a glass thermometer and calibrate every time I brew.
So I ordered the exact same grains as last time and decided I would try again. This beer will be the first one that I will name. It will be call Redemption.
Once I ordered the grains the packaging guy screwed up. Instead of Munich malt they packed me Vienna. At first I was mad but when I placed the order I gave special instructions that a ninja be drawn on the shipping box and the shipping guy actually drew me one. I enjoyed it so much I thought I give him a pass on the screw up and just roll with it. So there is a change in recipe. We will be using 4.75lbs of Vienna malt and no Munich. Here is the recipe.
0.5 biscuit
0.5 lbs. White Wheat Malt
0.5 lbs. Victory Malt
0.5 lbs. Special Roast
4.75 lbs. Vienna Malt
5.0 lbs. Pilsner 2 row (German)
0.5 oz 3.4% AA Liberty (60 mins)
0.5 oz 3.9% AA Tettnang (60 mins)
0.5 oz 3.4% AA Liberty (15 mins)
1 oz 3.3% AA Saaz (15 mins)
WLP036 - Dusseldorf Alt Yeast Lot number 1036TPP3142761
It was mashed at 152F on the thermometer. Which was a different steel thermometer then the usual one but was still wrong. But not as wrong. So the temp was actually slightly higher.
I made a mistake in the mashing. I meant to add 4.5 gallons to the grain and rest for an hour. I ended up adding 3.5 gallons. So, I didn't get very much in the first runnings. I had to sparge the bejesus out of the grains.
OG was 1.050. After a few weeks the gravity is 1.008. It tasted ok. Still a little stale and cardboardy but drinkable. I wonder if I have cardboard on the brain and so I taste it even if it isn't there.
I've saved one bottle of Sam Adams Oktoberfest and will do a side by side comparison and will report back.
I intend to keg the beer sometime this week.
Now comes the time where I try to figure out what has gone wrong. The last batch had a this same problem but it was drinkable. My analysis had lead to the following process improvements.
First the air lock doesn't hold any fluid. I don't know exactly why. I've got some theories, but it really doesn't matter does it. The bottom line is that there is a pressure issue and the fermenter sucks the fluid from the air lock into it and thus exposes it to air. I will use a blow off tube from now on.
The other big thing was that the steel thermometer was off. By about 10-15 degrees. This means that the mash was WAY hotter than it should be. I will now order a glass thermometer and calibrate every time I brew.
So I ordered the exact same grains as last time and decided I would try again. This beer will be the first one that I will name. It will be call Redemption.
Once I ordered the grains the packaging guy screwed up. Instead of Munich malt they packed me Vienna. At first I was mad but when I placed the order I gave special instructions that a ninja be drawn on the shipping box and the shipping guy actually drew me one. I enjoyed it so much I thought I give him a pass on the screw up and just roll with it. So there is a change in recipe. We will be using 4.75lbs of Vienna malt and no Munich. Here is the recipe.
0.5 biscuit
0.5 lbs. White Wheat Malt
0.5 lbs. Victory Malt
0.5 lbs. Special Roast
4.75 lbs. Vienna Malt
5.0 lbs. Pilsner 2 row (German)
0.5 oz 3.4% AA Liberty (60 mins)
0.5 oz 3.9% AA Tettnang (60 mins)
0.5 oz 3.4% AA Liberty (15 mins)
1 oz 3.3% AA Saaz (15 mins)
WLP036 - Dusseldorf Alt Yeast Lot number 1036TPP3142761
It was mashed at 152F on the thermometer. Which was a different steel thermometer then the usual one but was still wrong. But not as wrong. So the temp was actually slightly higher.
I made a mistake in the mashing. I meant to add 4.5 gallons to the grain and rest for an hour. I ended up adding 3.5 gallons. So, I didn't get very much in the first runnings. I had to sparge the bejesus out of the grains.
OG was 1.050. After a few weeks the gravity is 1.008. It tasted ok. Still a little stale and cardboardy but drinkable. I wonder if I have cardboard on the brain and so I taste it even if it isn't there.
I've saved one bottle of Sam Adams Oktoberfest and will do a side by side comparison and will report back.
I intend to keg the beer sometime this week.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Phat Quail Ale Thoughts
Took some Phat Quail Ale to David's for his birthday. People seemed to enjoy it. I took a larger bottle of it. The large glass bottles were the first to be bottled and they seem to tasted the least oxidized for some reason. So maybe the bottles had something to do with it. Maybe the oxygen cleaner I used to clean the bottles contributed. I remember a crapload of starsan in each of the bottles too but everything a read says that won't matter. One thing I didn't do was move my hot wort to the boiling pot via tubing. I let it splash in which would defiantly cause hot side aeration. Then later I hear hot side aeration is a myth. I don't know.
I think this batch of beer has taught me two things even if they are not true they can't hurt. Hot wort will be moved to the boil kettle via tubing. Secondary fermenters should be 5 gallons (not 6.5) to minimize air in the head space.
I think this batch of beer has taught me two things even if they are not true they can't hurt. Hot wort will be moved to the boil kettle via tubing. Secondary fermenters should be 5 gallons (not 6.5) to minimize air in the head space.
Mead
Made some mead. Can't remember the date. I remember it was the day that Amanda came over and told us she was getting married. I think it was six weeks ago or so. The ingredients as best I can remember for the 1 gallon batch are:
3lbs of honey (Ellie bought this fresh for me from a farm while on travel one day).
Water (don't remember how much)
Orange - cut into slices
20 raisins
WLP720 - White Labs Sweet Mead
I remember heating up the honey and the water but not all the way to a boil as it would adversely affect the honey. I cooled it, poured into the 1 gallon fermenter, shook it up, and then pitched the yeast.
Before I poured it into the fermenter I added some Go-Ferm. I tried to figure out how much but the units were all messed up. If I remember the instructions were all to measured out by mass. I'm trying to figure out how many table spoons it is and say screw it. I just sprinkle some in.
Also, I never took a gravity reading. Did I mention I was drinking this whole time???
After a couple of weeks I added some Fermaid-K to help the yeast along. Can't remember how much.
After a few weeks I gave it a sample. It tasted great. Still very sweet. The alcohol was strong as was the oranges. I can't wait for it to mellow. It think it will be great. In another week or so I think I will bottle it and store it somewhere in the house. I think I'll drink it in the spring when it starts to get warm in the house.
3lbs of honey (Ellie bought this fresh for me from a farm while on travel one day).
Water (don't remember how much)
Orange - cut into slices
20 raisins
WLP720 - White Labs Sweet Mead
I remember heating up the honey and the water but not all the way to a boil as it would adversely affect the honey. I cooled it, poured into the 1 gallon fermenter, shook it up, and then pitched the yeast.
Before I poured it into the fermenter I added some Go-Ferm. I tried to figure out how much but the units were all messed up. If I remember the instructions were all to measured out by mass. I'm trying to figure out how many table spoons it is and say screw it. I just sprinkle some in.
Also, I never took a gravity reading. Did I mention I was drinking this whole time???
After a couple of weeks I added some Fermaid-K to help the yeast along. Can't remember how much.
After a few weeks I gave it a sample. It tasted great. Still very sweet. The alcohol was strong as was the oranges. I can't wait for it to mellow. It think it will be great. In another week or so I think I will bottle it and store it somewhere in the house. I think I'll drink it in the spring when it starts to get warm in the house.
Oktoberfest Ale
Took a sample of Oktoberfest Ale. The gravity reading is 1.017. So we have beer.
When I opened the fermenter to take a sample I noted a slight sulfur smell. So now I scour the internets looking for what causes that. I guess all yeast kick off a little sulfur but it is usually not detectable. This seems more common for lager yeast though. Internet searches show that some folks detect some sulfur with WLP036. I've also read that stressing the yeast can kick off some sulfur. It's been temperature controlled at 70F the whole time. And I mean the fermenter itself has been at that temp (not the chest freezer). I read a little more and found that sometimes Pilsner can produce some sulfur but the only people to have issue were extract brewers. Of course there is the serious concern that this is from a bacteria infection in which case things will only get worse. Finally, it seems if the yeast are left too long in the fermenter they will eat each other and give off sulfur type smells. This is not really a concern for homebrewers. If it is simply from the yeast then we are in luck. Sulfur is one of those beer flaws that will go away with age. The beer is currently 2 weeks old. We'll try it again next weekend.
Other than that I tried some of the sample. It tasted...different. Not bad but it's flatness was bothersome. Of course it's not carbonated at this point but I never tasted a beer from the fermenter at 2 weeks and thought this needs carbonation bad. Ellie felt the same way. Not sure what that is about. The beer has a medium to light body and a light color. And finally, finally, finally the beer is not bitter. That's one thing that I can say that went as planned.
When I opened the fermenter to take a sample I noted a slight sulfur smell. So now I scour the internets looking for what causes that. I guess all yeast kick off a little sulfur but it is usually not detectable. This seems more common for lager yeast though. Internet searches show that some folks detect some sulfur with WLP036. I've also read that stressing the yeast can kick off some sulfur. It's been temperature controlled at 70F the whole time. And I mean the fermenter itself has been at that temp (not the chest freezer). I read a little more and found that sometimes Pilsner can produce some sulfur but the only people to have issue were extract brewers. Of course there is the serious concern that this is from a bacteria infection in which case things will only get worse. Finally, it seems if the yeast are left too long in the fermenter they will eat each other and give off sulfur type smells. This is not really a concern for homebrewers. If it is simply from the yeast then we are in luck. Sulfur is one of those beer flaws that will go away with age. The beer is currently 2 weeks old. We'll try it again next weekend.
Other than that I tried some of the sample. It tasted...different. Not bad but it's flatness was bothersome. Of course it's not carbonated at this point but I never tasted a beer from the fermenter at 2 weeks and thought this needs carbonation bad. Ellie felt the same way. Not sure what that is about. The beer has a medium to light body and a light color. And finally, finally, finally the beer is not bitter. That's one thing that I can say that went as planned.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
My First Recipe
So I thought we'd make an Oktoberfest for the season. Problem is that I should have lagered something up in March. Oops. I figured we'd use similar ingredients and make an ale. We'll call this Shane's Oktoberfest Ale. I found a wedding march recipe on the interwebs. I then used the ingredients I could find from MoreBeer and substituted as best I could the ones I couldn't get. Lastly I did some homework and picked a suitable yeast. Below is the recipe:
4.5 lbs. Pilsner 2 row (German)
2.25 lbs. Vienna Malt
2.25 lbs. Munich Malt
0.5 lbs. White Wheat Malt
0.5 lbs. Victory Malt
0.5 lbs. Special Roast
0.5 lbs.Biscuit Malt
0.5 oz Liberty (60 mins)
0.5 oz Tettnang (60 mins)
0.5 oz Liberty (15 mins)
1 oz Saaz (15 mins)
WLP036 - Dusseldorf Alt Yeast
I did my best to follow my process. Ellie came along part way through and kept me company. I did remember the 5.2 in the mash and the vorlof so I think I will put more effort into the documentation of the process to look at during the brew day. I used Beer Smith to help me out with the recipe. It claims I should have OG of 1.058. It turned out to be 1.055. I need to figure out how to bump it up a little. I only let the mash sit for 60 mins. Maybe I should let it sit 90 mins. Also, I should try to stir it up a little more during the mash.
The mash temp was 152F. I think ideal thing to do is to warm up 2.5 gallons to 190F and mash it in. Then use the extra gallon to dial in the temp I want. I know that 190F seems like a like but I transfer the water twice and seem to loose a lot a heat in the process. I would have a cool gallon next to me and heat up the rest of the water to boiling and use the two of them for the dialing in. Also, I came up short on the amount of beer. So, I should keep in mind to sparge more than I think I will need.
I noticed that the carboy during the first few days really heated up. So I had to lower the temp more than I normally would to get the carboy temp down to 70F. The fermentation was active. The krausen was good and foamy. The foamy part was not as contiguous as I am used to seeing. It was uneven like the Rocky Mountains. But smooth Rocky Mountains. Also, it was a slightly different color. More grey. With a hint of green. It smells good.
4.5 lbs. Pilsner 2 row (German)
2.25 lbs. Vienna Malt
2.25 lbs. Munich Malt
0.5 lbs. White Wheat Malt
0.5 lbs. Victory Malt
0.5 lbs. Special Roast
0.5 lbs.Biscuit Malt
0.5 oz Liberty (60 mins)
0.5 oz Tettnang (60 mins)
0.5 oz Liberty (15 mins)
1 oz Saaz (15 mins)
WLP036 - Dusseldorf Alt Yeast
I did my best to follow my process. Ellie came along part way through and kept me company. I did remember the 5.2 in the mash and the vorlof so I think I will put more effort into the documentation of the process to look at during the brew day. I used Beer Smith to help me out with the recipe. It claims I should have OG of 1.058. It turned out to be 1.055. I need to figure out how to bump it up a little. I only let the mash sit for 60 mins. Maybe I should let it sit 90 mins. Also, I should try to stir it up a little more during the mash.
The mash temp was 152F. I think ideal thing to do is to warm up 2.5 gallons to 190F and mash it in. Then use the extra gallon to dial in the temp I want. I know that 190F seems like a like but I transfer the water twice and seem to loose a lot a heat in the process. I would have a cool gallon next to me and heat up the rest of the water to boiling and use the two of them for the dialing in. Also, I came up short on the amount of beer. So, I should keep in mind to sparge more than I think I will need.
I noticed that the carboy during the first few days really heated up. So I had to lower the temp more than I normally would to get the carboy temp down to 70F. The fermentation was active. The krausen was good and foamy. The foamy part was not as contiguous as I am used to seeing. It was uneven like the Rocky Mountains. But smooth Rocky Mountains. Also, it was a slightly different color. More grey. With a hint of green. It smells good.
Phat Quail Ale Final Post
So about 1 week before I bottled the Phat Quail Ale I needed to dry hop it. This is my first crack at dry hopping. I made sure to clean and sanitize the new carboy and racked the beer over to it. Now I was not particularly careful about making sure not slosh the beer around too much. The beer ended up with a wet cardboard type taste. It's drinkable but not as good as it should be. It may have also been from the air lock which dried out a little bit and perhaps allowed some air to get in.
But I digress. After I transferred over I threw in the hop pellets and left it for another week. After the week was through I bottled the beer as normal and let it be for about 10 days. It carbonated great. Kevin loved the beer. He thinks it's the best ever. I think it could be if not for the one flaw. I guess Kevin gots skills and can look past the flaw and see the diamond underneath. I think I might give some to David for his birthday.
But I digress. After I transferred over I threw in the hop pellets and left it for another week. After the week was through I bottled the beer as normal and let it be for about 10 days. It carbonated great. Kevin loved the beer. He thinks it's the best ever. I think it could be if not for the one flaw. I guess Kevin gots skills and can look past the flaw and see the diamond underneath. I think I might give some to David for his birthday.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Phat Quail Ale Sample
Yesterday I sampled the Phat Quail Ale. One week from creation the gravity was 1.020. So this beer will have some body to it. That's good. I also tasted it. It was bitter. I don't know why it is that my beers always end up a little too bitter. I don't know what it is about the process that lends itself to that. I think what I will do instead of trying to figure it out is embrace it. I think in the future the 60min hops addition will be 75% of the required amount.
Another thing I will need to account for in the future is that the chest freezer average temp is going to be larger than the set value. I think what happens is that the compressor kicks on and even after it is switched off the freezer temp continues to drop for a couple of minutes or so. Thus, if I set the chest freezer for 70F the beer will likely be at 67F. So, the Phat Quail was fermented a little lower than I would have liked. No matter it was within range.
The fermentation went along nicely for a few days. There was a small krausen and decent amount of CO2 given off. Overall it seemed just fine.
Another thing I will need to account for in the future is that the chest freezer average temp is going to be larger than the set value. I think what happens is that the compressor kicks on and even after it is switched off the freezer temp continues to drop for a couple of minutes or so. Thus, if I set the chest freezer for 70F the beer will likely be at 67F. So, the Phat Quail was fermented a little lower than I would have liked. No matter it was within range.
The fermentation went along nicely for a few days. There was a small krausen and decent amount of CO2 given off. Overall it seemed just fine.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Phat Quail Ale
The decision was made to make some more beer. And so it began. I bought the ingredients from MoreBeer along with some some stuff to improve the process a little. I bought an oxygen stone and 5.2 which keeps the mash at a ph of 5.2 at all time. The oxygen is meant to get some oxygen into the wort after cooled. Yeast like oxygen.
I also downloaded BeerSmith. Just a trail version right now. But I am using it as best I can and am trying to determine if it would be a good tool for me to improve this hobby. The software allows me to create recipes and it tells me the color, bitterness, ABV, and so on. It allows me to define my equipment and manage my ingredients. After you make a recipe it will print you out something to help a little on brew day. Also, it has some tools to help with the hobby. For example, there is a calculator to help adjust the mash temp.
On the day before brew day I made a yeast starter. I added Fermaid K after the wort was cooled. Just a pinch. However much that is. I'm not sure whether I'm going to use Fermaid K any more. I think I'm going to dry for a different yeast nutrient in the future. I just don't get the feeling that the yeast are really benefiting from it. My starters always seemed more healthy without it. Could also be because I temperature control the starter at a cooler temp than in the past. I think I'll try a new nutrient anyway.
Onto brew day and I start by cleaning off all the gear. About half way through cleaning everything Kevin came over and took my two fermentors and and took them home to fill with his well water. So this is the first improvement I was looking for. Better water. Up until now I was using Albertson's spring water. It always made the beer alright. But Kevin's water tasted better and I expected it to make the beer tasting better. It could also be full of arsenic for all I know. But whatever.
OK so everything is cleaned up and by now Kevin has come by with the water. I think I may have figured out a way to keep the mash tun from leaking. The trick is to put some of the plumbers tape right where the rubber ring meets the hex nut.
I took a temperature reading of the grain and it came out to 40F. It was in the fridge for a few days so that's was why. I wanted a mash temp a little on the high side (around 154F) and BeerSmith told me use a strike water temp of 176F given all the variables. It said I should mash in with 5 gallons. My process is such that I heat the water, transfer to the bottling bucket, and pour in into the mash tun. Now, at that point, I should have checked the temp. I figured I would loose some heat so I heated the strike water to 180F. That wasn't enough. By the time I got the grain in the water the mash was around 146F. About 10F from where I wanted to be. So, I heated up a gallon of water to a boil and added it the mash. This got the mash up to about 151-152F. Kevin at this point gave me some lip. I should kick him in the baby makers. Oh well it will end up how it ends up. I guess it will end up pretty dry. This made me a little sad since I wanted it to be malty. That's what this ale was supposed to be like.
Then, as I was getting ready to drain the first running off into the boil kettle I forgot to do the vorlof. What is wrong with my brain?
And to top it all off, I forgot to add the 5.2. I was too busy worrying about Kevin's mouth, getting the right temp, eating and drinking beer, etc. that I forgot.
It was at this point with having missed the 5.2, screwed up the mash temp, and forgot the vorlof I decide that what I need is a checklist. I'm going to make one. I'm going to think real hard about the process and write it down so this type of game day screw ups don't happen anymore.
After I had cooled the wort I took a gravity reading and it measured at 1.056. This made my process at about 60% efficient. Not very good. I need to get it to 70%+. I think what I will do is be sure to mash for 90 minutes next time instead of 60.
The rest of the brew day was same old same old. Except that after we poured the wort into the fermenter we gave the oxygen stone a try. We left it running for 1.5 minutes. The fermenter was placed in the chest freezer and set at 70F.
It been 20 hours or so now and there is a healthy krausen and it's bubbling away.
Ingredients:
10lbs 2-row
1lb Vienna
8oz Crystal 75L
4oz Carafa
1lb Flaked Wheat
2oz Cascade (60 mins)
1oz Williamette (5 mins)
1oz Williamette (Dry hopped 10-14 days)
White Labs English Ale WLP002
I also downloaded BeerSmith. Just a trail version right now. But I am using it as best I can and am trying to determine if it would be a good tool for me to improve this hobby. The software allows me to create recipes and it tells me the color, bitterness, ABV, and so on. It allows me to define my equipment and manage my ingredients. After you make a recipe it will print you out something to help a little on brew day. Also, it has some tools to help with the hobby. For example, there is a calculator to help adjust the mash temp.
On the day before brew day I made a yeast starter. I added Fermaid K after the wort was cooled. Just a pinch. However much that is. I'm not sure whether I'm going to use Fermaid K any more. I think I'm going to dry for a different yeast nutrient in the future. I just don't get the feeling that the yeast are really benefiting from it. My starters always seemed more healthy without it. Could also be because I temperature control the starter at a cooler temp than in the past. I think I'll try a new nutrient anyway.
Onto brew day and I start by cleaning off all the gear. About half way through cleaning everything Kevin came over and took my two fermentors and and took them home to fill with his well water. So this is the first improvement I was looking for. Better water. Up until now I was using Albertson's spring water. It always made the beer alright. But Kevin's water tasted better and I expected it to make the beer tasting better. It could also be full of arsenic for all I know. But whatever.
OK so everything is cleaned up and by now Kevin has come by with the water. I think I may have figured out a way to keep the mash tun from leaking. The trick is to put some of the plumbers tape right where the rubber ring meets the hex nut.
I took a temperature reading of the grain and it came out to 40F. It was in the fridge for a few days so that's was why. I wanted a mash temp a little on the high side (around 154F) and BeerSmith told me use a strike water temp of 176F given all the variables. It said I should mash in with 5 gallons. My process is such that I heat the water, transfer to the bottling bucket, and pour in into the mash tun. Now, at that point, I should have checked the temp. I figured I would loose some heat so I heated the strike water to 180F. That wasn't enough. By the time I got the grain in the water the mash was around 146F. About 10F from where I wanted to be. So, I heated up a gallon of water to a boil and added it the mash. This got the mash up to about 151-152F. Kevin at this point gave me some lip. I should kick him in the baby makers. Oh well it will end up how it ends up. I guess it will end up pretty dry. This made me a little sad since I wanted it to be malty. That's what this ale was supposed to be like.
Then, as I was getting ready to drain the first running off into the boil kettle I forgot to do the vorlof. What is wrong with my brain?
And to top it all off, I forgot to add the 5.2. I was too busy worrying about Kevin's mouth, getting the right temp, eating and drinking beer, etc. that I forgot.
It was at this point with having missed the 5.2, screwed up the mash temp, and forgot the vorlof I decide that what I need is a checklist. I'm going to make one. I'm going to think real hard about the process and write it down so this type of game day screw ups don't happen anymore.
After I had cooled the wort I took a gravity reading and it measured at 1.056. This made my process at about 60% efficient. Not very good. I need to get it to 70%+. I think what I will do is be sure to mash for 90 minutes next time instead of 60.
The rest of the brew day was same old same old. Except that after we poured the wort into the fermenter we gave the oxygen stone a try. We left it running for 1.5 minutes. The fermenter was placed in the chest freezer and set at 70F.
It been 20 hours or so now and there is a healthy krausen and it's bubbling away.
Ingredients:
10lbs 2-row
1lb Vienna
8oz Crystal 75L
4oz Carafa
1lb Flaked Wheat
2oz Cascade (60 mins)
1oz Williamette (5 mins)
1oz Williamette (Dry hopped 10-14 days)
White Labs English Ale WLP002
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Tasting notes - Bitter and Cider
The bitter was bitter. The amount of bitter that the bitter was varied it seemed from week to week. Some days it seemed overly bitter. Some days a mild bitter. Overall it was good. I will say that the bitter was the best looking beer I ever made. It had the perfect golden/light red hue and a lovely head. It seemed perfectly clear. It seemed to clear up more and more the older it got.
One more thing on the bitter. The yeast seemed to gather on the top. So when the beer ran out, the last glass of beer was greeted with chunks. That's the first time I can remember yeast actually accumulating on the the top of the beer.
The cider fermented very well. It came out very dry and gave a slightly tart taste to it. I really liked it. It doesn't seem to popular to too many people but I will say that it appears to get better with age and the number of people that like it grows the older the cider gets. I now have two bottles, a carbonated and an uncarbonated. I'd like to wait until Christmas to drink them. We'll see if they make it that long.
One more thing on the bitter. The yeast seemed to gather on the top. So when the beer ran out, the last glass of beer was greeted with chunks. That's the first time I can remember yeast actually accumulating on the the top of the beer.
The cider fermented very well. It came out very dry and gave a slightly tart taste to it. I really liked it. It doesn't seem to popular to too many people but I will say that it appears to get better with age and the number of people that like it grows the older the cider gets. I now have two bottles, a carbonated and an uncarbonated. I'd like to wait until Christmas to drink them. We'll see if they make it that long.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Cider Bottled/Bitter Kegged
Ok. First off I bottled the Apple Cider. I took a gravity reading and it read 1.014. Now I went back through the posts and I could not find where I had captured the OG. I remember it being quite high. I think it was 1.080+. So, let's go with that. This leads to a ABV of 8.6%. Honestly, it could have been 1.090 which would give an ABV of 10%. I'm sure the gravity finished at 1.014 because the alcohol killed the poor yeast. Damn, that is high.
I tried a little bit of that sample and it tasted to me tart. Similar to wine. In fact I would say that this could be described as an apple wine. Now wonder the Germans called this Apfelwein.
Anyhow now comes the dilemma. To carb or not to carb. I bottled three without carbonation and then poured a sugar solution into the bottling bucket and got five more bottles out of it. So we'll see. I quickly put one of the un-carbonated bottles into the fridge and I plan to bust it out for the family reunion.
Onto the bitter. Let me start by saying this beer scared me a bit. After a day or so I saw some activity in the fermenter but not very much. I should add that the fermentation fridge was kept low (about 67F) and that is the lowest I've had it yet so that maybe what I'm seeing. There was almost no krausen on the top. The fermenter was churning like a boss so I figured to leave it. Also, the air lock was not very active either. All this worried me quite a bit. So, on Wednesday I took a sample.
The sample looked nice. This Bitter has a very pleasant color. I took a gravity reading and it measured out at 1.018. I felt much better at this point since I was sure now that the yeast had done work and had produced alcohol. That is assuming it wasn't infected which I determined next by drinking the sample. And it tasted like...beer. So again, crisis averted, everything appeared to be fine. In fact it tasted good enough that roommate Clare was ready to drink it as-is.
Fast forward to yesterday and I am getting ready to transfer to the keg and I take a sample. The gravity read 1.016. That is much higher that I thought. The mash temp was low (about 150F) and I expected it to ferment to a much lower gravity. Maybe the yeast wasn't as healthy as I had thought. I did travel via UPS through the California desert in late May. I don't know. I need a microbiological lab and a biologist in here to access these yeast. Until that happens I guess I get what I get. I sampled the brew and it tasted bitter. Maybe too bitter. I may have to let it sit for a awhile to mellow out. Probably not though. I'll likely leave it for another week and when it's chilled and carbed I'll likely drink it till it's gone. Aging be damned.
Anyhow, the 1.016 gravity gives the beer a finals ABV of 4.7%.
No more plans for additional brews right now. Stay posted for Best Bitter tasting updates though.
I tried a little bit of that sample and it tasted to me tart. Similar to wine. In fact I would say that this could be described as an apple wine. Now wonder the Germans called this Apfelwein.
Anyhow now comes the dilemma. To carb or not to carb. I bottled three without carbonation and then poured a sugar solution into the bottling bucket and got five more bottles out of it. So we'll see. I quickly put one of the un-carbonated bottles into the fridge and I plan to bust it out for the family reunion.
Onto the bitter. Let me start by saying this beer scared me a bit. After a day or so I saw some activity in the fermenter but not very much. I should add that the fermentation fridge was kept low (about 67F) and that is the lowest I've had it yet so that maybe what I'm seeing. There was almost no krausen on the top. The fermenter was churning like a boss so I figured to leave it. Also, the air lock was not very active either. All this worried me quite a bit. So, on Wednesday I took a sample.
The sample looked nice. This Bitter has a very pleasant color. I took a gravity reading and it measured out at 1.018. I felt much better at this point since I was sure now that the yeast had done work and had produced alcohol. That is assuming it wasn't infected which I determined next by drinking the sample. And it tasted like...beer. So again, crisis averted, everything appeared to be fine. In fact it tasted good enough that roommate Clare was ready to drink it as-is.
Fast forward to yesterday and I am getting ready to transfer to the keg and I take a sample. The gravity read 1.016. That is much higher that I thought. The mash temp was low (about 150F) and I expected it to ferment to a much lower gravity. Maybe the yeast wasn't as healthy as I had thought. I did travel via UPS through the California desert in late May. I don't know. I need a microbiological lab and a biologist in here to access these yeast. Until that happens I guess I get what I get. I sampled the brew and it tasted bitter. Maybe too bitter. I may have to let it sit for a awhile to mellow out. Probably not though. I'll likely leave it for another week and when it's chilled and carbed I'll likely drink it till it's gone. Aging be damned.
Anyhow, the 1.016 gravity gives the beer a finals ABV of 4.7%.
No more plans for additional brews right now. Stay posted for Best Bitter tasting updates though.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Best Bitter
For my first 5 gallon all grain batch I ordered up the Best Bitter from MoreBeer. Ingredients are as follows:
9lbs. British Pale
0.5lbs. Carastan
1oz Kent Goldings - 7.2% AA - 60 minutes
1.5oz Northern Brewer - Two bags of hops to make this. The 0.5oz was 8.5% AA and the 1oz was 7.9% AA - 5 minutes
1 oz Kent Goldings - 7.2% AA - 1 minute
All right so let's talk about what went down. I should have bought one of those classy programs like Beer Smith to help me determine how much water to use. I just saw somewheres on the interwebs that for 11lbs of grain you can assume 1 gallon of absorption by the grain. So I planned to use 4 gallons of strike water followed by 3 gallons for a batch sparge. My hope was that this would yield 6 gallons of wort.
Next problem, how hot should the water be. At the time I started this mash I had no idea why someone would mash at 145F vs 165F. I've since learned but I was just hoping to get something fermentable at this point. Internet says anything around 152F will work. Ok internet. We'll see. So, how hot should the water be? Again Beer Smith would have worked like a champ here. I'm thinking there's a lesson learned here. The grains where in the fridge for the last couple of days. I took them out a couple of hours before brewing to warm up some. I didn't bother to take a temp reading of the grain and do math and stuff. In the end I decided to heat the water up to 165F and put it in my mash tun to warm it up.
I was in the mash tun for a few minutes when it occurred to me that when I open the spout on this thing it should be a couple of feet of off the ground, not on the ground as it was at the moment. So, with four gallons of water in it, I lifted the whole mash tun up and put it on a coffee table that was hanging out in the garage. Well, right after I did that I guess gravity decided to be different enough that the mash tun began to leak. Great! :(
This is what failure looks like:
Ok. So now I add the grain to the mash mix it up as best I can and the temp measures 150F. Seems good enough to me let's do it. I close the lid and let it be for 1 hour. Towards the end of the hour I heat up 3 gallons more of water. I heated it up to 170F and now I run into a problem. I don't have an extra pot/bucket/container whatever. So now we have a logistics problem. I have my sparge water in my boil kettle. What do I collect the current wort into? With the help of Ellie and her sister we get every pot in the house and fill them up with sparge water from the boil kettle.
Vorlauf time. After about half a gallon pitcher the wort looks good to me. So, I poured the pitcher back onto the grain bed and empty the wort into a pitcher in what I think it 1 gallon at a time. How much did I get? I think 3 gallons Beats the hell out of me. I need to get some kind of measuring stick for the boiling pot. At this point I'm really starting the stress out since my sparge water has just been sitting in pots the past 5 minutes and it's cooling down more and more by the minute. I think I need to get a another bucket and gather the wort up that way.
Anyhow, we get the mash tun reasonably empty and fill up with with our sparge water and mix it up. Ellie wanted to mix the bejeezus out of it which just cools it even more. I told her to ease up but she really really wanted to stir that grain bed up. We closed the lid and left it for another ten minutes. During that time we sampled the first runnings. I was warm and delicious and sweet. Wonderful.
Now we empty the mash tun using the 1 gallon pitcher same as the first time. Here's a pic of the very last of the second runnings.
Here's what the boil kettle looks like:
That looks like less than 6 gallons to me. But I can't be sure as I have never really paid attention to what six gallons looks like and I don't have a measuring stick or anything. Also, since I use this pot to heat up the sparge water, I'm clearly not heating up anymore with this pot.
Here's a pic of the spent grain at this point:
It was around this point that the new roommate asked what one could do with spent grain. I told her you could all kinds of things with it just consult the internet. So she did. And am I glad she did. Now I've got barley breakfast bars, barley bread, even some barley balls that went with spaghetti that night. Nice!
Ellie was a peach and cleaned up the mash tun for me while I commenced to brewing. Everything else was pretty much the same as always. However, as suspected, we ended up with less than five gallons when all was said and done. I would estimate it closer to 4-4.5 gallons. Here's a pic of the final result:
One interesting note. I found the best way to clean all the gear after brewing was to use the garden hose instead of the kitchen sink. That garden hose sprays the equipment clean like a boss and since I have it out and about for the wort chiller we might as well use it.
9lbs. British Pale
0.5lbs. Carastan
1oz Kent Goldings - 7.2% AA - 60 minutes
1.5oz Northern Brewer - Two bags of hops to make this. The 0.5oz was 8.5% AA and the 1oz was 7.9% AA - 5 minutes
1 oz Kent Goldings - 7.2% AA - 1 minute
All right so let's talk about what went down. I should have bought one of those classy programs like Beer Smith to help me determine how much water to use. I just saw somewheres on the interwebs that for 11lbs of grain you can assume 1 gallon of absorption by the grain. So I planned to use 4 gallons of strike water followed by 3 gallons for a batch sparge. My hope was that this would yield 6 gallons of wort.
Next problem, how hot should the water be. At the time I started this mash I had no idea why someone would mash at 145F vs 165F. I've since learned but I was just hoping to get something fermentable at this point. Internet says anything around 152F will work. Ok internet. We'll see. So, how hot should the water be? Again Beer Smith would have worked like a champ here. I'm thinking there's a lesson learned here. The grains where in the fridge for the last couple of days. I took them out a couple of hours before brewing to warm up some. I didn't bother to take a temp reading of the grain and do math and stuff. In the end I decided to heat the water up to 165F and put it in my mash tun to warm it up.
I was in the mash tun for a few minutes when it occurred to me that when I open the spout on this thing it should be a couple of feet of off the ground, not on the ground as it was at the moment. So, with four gallons of water in it, I lifted the whole mash tun up and put it on a coffee table that was hanging out in the garage. Well, right after I did that I guess gravity decided to be different enough that the mash tun began to leak. Great! :(
This is what failure looks like:
So now I pour all the water back into my boil kettle and take the mash tun to the kitchen to tighten everything down. Then back to the garage to heat up the water again to 165F and pour into the mash tun. Right away leakage. It wasn't bad. Maybe a drop every 10 seconds. I figure I'll just put that the pitcher under it and move on. For sure, I will put more love into this mash tun before next time.
Ok. So now I add the grain to the mash mix it up as best I can and the temp measures 150F. Seems good enough to me let's do it. I close the lid and let it be for 1 hour. Towards the end of the hour I heat up 3 gallons more of water. I heated it up to 170F and now I run into a problem. I don't have an extra pot/bucket/container whatever. So now we have a logistics problem. I have my sparge water in my boil kettle. What do I collect the current wort into? With the help of Ellie and her sister we get every pot in the house and fill them up with sparge water from the boil kettle.
Vorlauf time. After about half a gallon pitcher the wort looks good to me. So, I poured the pitcher back onto the grain bed and empty the wort into a pitcher in what I think it 1 gallon at a time. How much did I get? I think 3 gallons Beats the hell out of me. I need to get some kind of measuring stick for the boiling pot. At this point I'm really starting the stress out since my sparge water has just been sitting in pots the past 5 minutes and it's cooling down more and more by the minute. I think I need to get a another bucket and gather the wort up that way.
Anyhow, we get the mash tun reasonably empty and fill up with with our sparge water and mix it up. Ellie wanted to mix the bejeezus out of it which just cools it even more. I told her to ease up but she really really wanted to stir that grain bed up. We closed the lid and left it for another ten minutes. During that time we sampled the first runnings. I was warm and delicious and sweet. Wonderful.
Now we empty the mash tun using the 1 gallon pitcher same as the first time. Here's a pic of the very last of the second runnings.
Here's what the boil kettle looks like:
That looks like less than 6 gallons to me. But I can't be sure as I have never really paid attention to what six gallons looks like and I don't have a measuring stick or anything. Also, since I use this pot to heat up the sparge water, I'm clearly not heating up anymore with this pot.
Here's a pic of the spent grain at this point:
It was around this point that the new roommate asked what one could do with spent grain. I told her you could all kinds of things with it just consult the internet. So she did. And am I glad she did. Now I've got barley breakfast bars, barley bread, even some barley balls that went with spaghetti that night. Nice!
Ellie was a peach and cleaned up the mash tun for me while I commenced to brewing. Everything else was pretty much the same as always. However, as suspected, we ended up with less than five gallons when all was said and done. I would estimate it closer to 4-4.5 gallons. Here's a pic of the final result:
At this point I found the color to be a little darker than I had intended. Also, the OG measured 1.052. The recipe called for 1.042-46. This probably has a lot to do with the fact that it was less than 5 gallons.
One interesting note. I found the best way to clean all the gear after brewing was to use the garden hose instead of the kitchen sink. That garden hose sprays the equipment clean like a boss and since I have it out and about for the wort chiller we might as well use it.
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