My adventures in acquiring a chest freezer led me to Kmart. Today I got a 7 cubic foot chest freezer. Cheap. Hopefully not too cheap. I'll hook it up tomorrow.
Ellie and I drank some Light Ale this weekend. It was good. Carbonated ok. It will likely be better by Friday when we will have a beer party. Ellie really liked it. Will report more later.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Kegging the Bodacious Brown
Today I kegged the Brown Ale.
Yesterday I got the CO2 tank filled and cleaned the keg. I got the CO2 tank filled at Security Engineering. I was unsure who to go to to get it done. I did a real quick internet search and it was one of the ones that came up. I remembered that dad had told me to hit them up once I saw it on the interwebs. Also, I like helping out the little guy. So I'll give them my business. They were busy so I dropped it off and came back in a half hour or so. Even then they weren't ready.
I asked the man to educate me a little about the tank. I learned that my tank was made Dec 2010. This means that in Dec 2015 I need to retest or replace the tank. Also, I learned that my tank was a 5 lb. tank. They fill tanks based on weight. Once I got the tank in my hands I noticed it was cold. The magic of physics.
I got the tank home and filled the keg with some cleaning solution (water and oxyclean). I then plugged the CO2 tank in and at first nothing happened. Then, I twisted the regulator screw and bam, water out the spout. I couldn't stop it. The pour spout would not close. Water on the floor. Water on my kegging instructions. Water everywhere. I figured out the pouring spout top is screwed on and it was loose. Once that was sorted out, everything was all good.
So I filled the keg with cleaning solution and sealed it up and shook the heck out of it. Then I opened it up to scrub the inside of it. I can't fit my arm in there to do it. I thought I might get little Rachel to come over because I was sure I could fit her in there. Ellie told me no. That's when I figured I could fill the bath tub with cleaning solution and dunk the keg. So I did. And it let it soak for a few hours. And then I got a sponge and scrubbed the heck out of the outside. It looked better than before.
Ok so next day comes and I get everything cleaned and sanitized. First thing I think to do is to check the other beer. Here are the results:
Trippel - Gravity = 1.010
Notes: It smells better. Notice I said better. Not good. I think that nasty cat piss smell is not an infection but rather the yeast. I think I'll need to let it be for a while.
AltBier - Gravity = 1.017
Notes: Tastes delicious. Best beer yet! Not too hoppy.
Final Gravity of the Brown was 1.019. This gives an ABV of 6.4%. I tasted the sample and it tasted like a well hopped brown ale.
Ok. So now I'm trying to get the beer out of the fermenter. I sterilized the keg and tubing. MoreBeer included this siphon which fits over the carboy and then you blow to start the flow. Only I'm too retarded to know this and I think that you are supposed to suck. This meant that with every breath I was inhaling nearly pure CO2 and my lungs did not like that. I eventually give up and do it the old fashioned way. Once for the experience of doing so. Educational and all that.
So I filled one of the vinyl tubes with starsan solution and then dump it in the carboy. I then let the solution flow out into the starsan solution pitcher until there was beer. Then I moved the tube over to the keg and let it go. And it went all right. Fast. Too fast. It looked to splash around a bit and that is not good at this point. A lesson learned here is the following: Put the carboy up higher. Use books, step ladders, whatever.
Eventually I got it all in there and put the lid on it. It is currently in Ellie's closet and pressured to 12PSI.
Then the fun came of cleaning that carboy. The yeast on the bottom looked kinda gross. I tried to show Rachel but that was a failure. Currently, the carboy is sitting in the sink with oxyclean soaking in. I may let it sit overnight.
Overall success I'd say. The real judge of that will be this weekend when I drink it. Still not sure how I'm going to cool it yet. I'm trying to get a chest freezer but if not I guess I'll need to go old school and fill a plastic garbage can with ice and dunk it in.
On a side note I tried the light ale today. I threw it in the freezer for a couple of hours so it was nice and cold. It was still flat. Other than that it was good. I'm hoping it will improve by next weekend.
Yesterday I got the CO2 tank filled and cleaned the keg. I got the CO2 tank filled at Security Engineering. I was unsure who to go to to get it done. I did a real quick internet search and it was one of the ones that came up. I remembered that dad had told me to hit them up once I saw it on the interwebs. Also, I like helping out the little guy. So I'll give them my business. They were busy so I dropped it off and came back in a half hour or so. Even then they weren't ready.
I asked the man to educate me a little about the tank. I learned that my tank was made Dec 2010. This means that in Dec 2015 I need to retest or replace the tank. Also, I learned that my tank was a 5 lb. tank. They fill tanks based on weight. Once I got the tank in my hands I noticed it was cold. The magic of physics.
I got the tank home and filled the keg with some cleaning solution (water and oxyclean). I then plugged the CO2 tank in and at first nothing happened. Then, I twisted the regulator screw and bam, water out the spout. I couldn't stop it. The pour spout would not close. Water on the floor. Water on my kegging instructions. Water everywhere. I figured out the pouring spout top is screwed on and it was loose. Once that was sorted out, everything was all good.
So I filled the keg with cleaning solution and sealed it up and shook the heck out of it. Then I opened it up to scrub the inside of it. I can't fit my arm in there to do it. I thought I might get little Rachel to come over because I was sure I could fit her in there. Ellie told me no. That's when I figured I could fill the bath tub with cleaning solution and dunk the keg. So I did. And it let it soak for a few hours. And then I got a sponge and scrubbed the heck out of the outside. It looked better than before.
Ok so next day comes and I get everything cleaned and sanitized. First thing I think to do is to check the other beer. Here are the results:
Trippel - Gravity = 1.010
Notes: It smells better. Notice I said better. Not good. I think that nasty cat piss smell is not an infection but rather the yeast. I think I'll need to let it be for a while.
AltBier - Gravity = 1.017
Notes: Tastes delicious. Best beer yet! Not too hoppy.
Final Gravity of the Brown was 1.019. This gives an ABV of 6.4%. I tasted the sample and it tasted like a well hopped brown ale.
Ok. So now I'm trying to get the beer out of the fermenter. I sterilized the keg and tubing. MoreBeer included this siphon which fits over the carboy and then you blow to start the flow. Only I'm too retarded to know this and I think that you are supposed to suck. This meant that with every breath I was inhaling nearly pure CO2 and my lungs did not like that. I eventually give up and do it the old fashioned way. Once for the experience of doing so. Educational and all that.
So I filled one of the vinyl tubes with starsan solution and then dump it in the carboy. I then let the solution flow out into the starsan solution pitcher until there was beer. Then I moved the tube over to the keg and let it go. And it went all right. Fast. Too fast. It looked to splash around a bit and that is not good at this point. A lesson learned here is the following: Put the carboy up higher. Use books, step ladders, whatever.
Eventually I got it all in there and put the lid on it. It is currently in Ellie's closet and pressured to 12PSI.
Then the fun came of cleaning that carboy. The yeast on the bottom looked kinda gross. I tried to show Rachel but that was a failure. Currently, the carboy is sitting in the sink with oxyclean soaking in. I may let it sit overnight.
Overall success I'd say. The real judge of that will be this weekend when I drink it. Still not sure how I'm going to cool it yet. I'm trying to get a chest freezer but if not I guess I'll need to go old school and fill a plastic garbage can with ice and dunk it in.
On a side note I tried the light ale today. I threw it in the freezer for a couple of hours so it was nice and cold. It was still flat. Other than that it was good. I'm hoping it will improve by next weekend.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Bottling Light Ale
Yesterday I bottled the Light Ale. It had been in the Mr. Beer fermenter for 2 weeks now. I guessed we were done with fermentation. The Mr. Beer fermenter has a spout that I took a sample from and measured with the hydrometer. It was the same as last week. So we were good to go.
Step 1. Clean bottles. I went to the recycle bin that we have just for bottles that was in the back yard. It works good as a stopper for the gate. This ensures that the dogs won't escape even if the gate is not completely locked. It's works great. Since I've been using the bin as a stopper the dogs have not escaped. Anyhow I grabbed about 20 or so from the bin and put them in the sink. Some of these 20 have noticeable mold right on the top lip of the bottle. I put them in the sink with some Oxiclean and hot water. I be sure to fill all the bottles with the cleaning solution so they sink to the bottom. And then I wait for an hour or so. I think Ellie and I ate pizza and watch some American Idol.
After an hour or so the labels came right off. I peeled the labels off and put them in a plastic bag next to the sink which I threw out when I had all the labels off. I used a sponge to get the glue off the bottles. I then shook the hell out of the bottles with a little cleaning solution in the bottle and put them to the side. At this point there is no noticeable mold on the tops of the bottles but I held a couple up to the light and saw some in the bottles themselves. So after I got all the labels and glue off, I emptied the sink, filled it back up and mixed in more Oxiclean, and put the bottles back in to soak another hour.
While they were soaking I took the time to gather all the equipment I would need for the bottling process and start cleaning it all. I intended to use my bucket as a bottling bucket. I also intended to siphon the beer from the fermenter. I've never done this so I spent a few minutes figuring out how to use the starting wand. It's pretty cool. You put the thing in the fermenter with it about halfway pull out and just start pumping like hell. Soon, the liquid starts to flow and your good. I used this method to siphon sanitizing solution through the tubing. I started cleaning stuff with hot water and Oxiclean. I cleaned the bucket, the bottle capper, the sampler taker, all the tubing, etc.
I mixed up some sanitizing solution in the pitcher I use to fill the dogs' water bowls with. It looks to fill about a gallon or so. I some of the solution in the spray bottle for later use. I started to put things we were going to use in the pitcher. Things like bottle caps, sample taker thingy, etc.
Ok. So now I take the bottles and run a bottle brush through each of them and then rinse, shake up, and empty. They looked and smelled clean. I figured we were good to go. So, I looked at the MoreBeer instruction which call for 4oz of sugar for 5 gallons of beer. We've got 2 gallons so I figure 2oz should be good. The instructions called for 2 cups of water to be mixed with the sugar and boiled for 5 minutes. So I got 1 cup of water from the filtered tap and got it up to a boil and added 2oz of sugar. 2oz of sugar = 1/4 cup. I used a measuring cup. Then I stirred it up and let it boil for five minutes.
It on now baby. I opened up the fermenter. I attached tubing to the auto siphon. After putting the fermenter on the kitchen island I put the bottling bucket on the floor. The tubing was laid into the bucket and I put the siphon into the fermenter and pumped the wand a couple of times until the beer was a flowing. Since the priming solution was still hot I wanted until a half gallon or so was in the bucket before adding it. I didn't have enough hands here to do it right. I basically poured the solution from where was I standing and it splashed into the beer. Bad. No aeration at this point. I tried to put it out of my mind and steer the siphon to glory.
After the beer was transferred I set the fermenter and siphon aside and put some aluminum foil over the bucket to keep evil germs from my beer. I attached the tube from our siphon (after a rinse and sanitize) to the bottling bucket and attached the other end to the bottling wand. This thing is cool. It has a spring in it so that when I push the wand into the bottom of the bottle the beer flows. When I lift the wand a spring pushes forward and cut the flow off. So, first bottle up.
At this point the tubing is too long. So, it's awkward. I end of putting the bottles on the floor and pushing the wand into it. This makes a little mess with each bottle that aggregates into a large mess that I spent a lot of time cleaning later. Anyhow, the wand is great because if you fill the bottle completely full and then remove the wand, the volume displaced is perfect. I got about 20 bottles filled. I then set the bucket and tubing with wand aside in the sink to be cleaned later.
Now I've got the cap these suckers. The caps have been sitting the in the pitcher. I spray the capper and grab a cap and cap my first bottle of beer. The crimping doesn't look perfect. I wasn't sure at first if it really even worked. I tipped the bottle upside down to see if any would leak out. None did. So I guess it made an ok seal. Whether it was good enough to keep gas in there I don't know. I guess we'll see. I checked the first few that I capped. All seemed well. So I capped them all. Ellie helped a little toward the end.
Ellie's peeps were coming to town so I wanted to move the beer out of the spare bathroom. Since I had some sanitization solution I figured while I was moving the fermenters I would take a gravity reading. This also meant I could taste the beer. First up was the Trippel. It smelled horrible. Like urine. I guess adding too much yeast is not good. It tasted ok. But, I wouldn't invite anyone to drink that beer. No way. If it doesn't improve by the end of next week I'm going to throw it out.
Next I moved the Altbier. The air lock blew on this beer. I expected that it might be spoiled. I tried it. Not bad. The only thing bad here is that the beer had made a mess in the guest bathtub. There is a noticeable brown ring in the tub and it bothers me. I makes me feel like I ruined our beautiful guest bathroom. It's blue with pretty tiles. Well, it's not so pretty anymore. I think I'll put some effort into cleaning it later.
Lastly, I move the Bodacious Brown. I intend to keg it next week. It was clear. And good. Can't wait.
Then I start to clean up. I clean the bucket, the tubing, the fermenter, etc. I then move all the beer brewing equipment to the garage where new space has been allocated for it by the wife and I by moving the couch to the backyard. The more I think about it the more I like a couch in the backyard. The weather is getting perfect for it.
Step 1. Clean bottles. I went to the recycle bin that we have just for bottles that was in the back yard. It works good as a stopper for the gate. This ensures that the dogs won't escape even if the gate is not completely locked. It's works great. Since I've been using the bin as a stopper the dogs have not escaped. Anyhow I grabbed about 20 or so from the bin and put them in the sink. Some of these 20 have noticeable mold right on the top lip of the bottle. I put them in the sink with some Oxiclean and hot water. I be sure to fill all the bottles with the cleaning solution so they sink to the bottom. And then I wait for an hour or so. I think Ellie and I ate pizza and watch some American Idol.
After an hour or so the labels came right off. I peeled the labels off and put them in a plastic bag next to the sink which I threw out when I had all the labels off. I used a sponge to get the glue off the bottles. I then shook the hell out of the bottles with a little cleaning solution in the bottle and put them to the side. At this point there is no noticeable mold on the tops of the bottles but I held a couple up to the light and saw some in the bottles themselves. So after I got all the labels and glue off, I emptied the sink, filled it back up and mixed in more Oxiclean, and put the bottles back in to soak another hour.
While they were soaking I took the time to gather all the equipment I would need for the bottling process and start cleaning it all. I intended to use my bucket as a bottling bucket. I also intended to siphon the beer from the fermenter. I've never done this so I spent a few minutes figuring out how to use the starting wand. It's pretty cool. You put the thing in the fermenter with it about halfway pull out and just start pumping like hell. Soon, the liquid starts to flow and your good. I used this method to siphon sanitizing solution through the tubing. I started cleaning stuff with hot water and Oxiclean. I cleaned the bucket, the bottle capper, the sampler taker, all the tubing, etc.
I mixed up some sanitizing solution in the pitcher I use to fill the dogs' water bowls with. It looks to fill about a gallon or so. I some of the solution in the spray bottle for later use. I started to put things we were going to use in the pitcher. Things like bottle caps, sample taker thingy, etc.
Ok. So now I take the bottles and run a bottle brush through each of them and then rinse, shake up, and empty. They looked and smelled clean. I figured we were good to go. So, I looked at the MoreBeer instruction which call for 4oz of sugar for 5 gallons of beer. We've got 2 gallons so I figure 2oz should be good. The instructions called for 2 cups of water to be mixed with the sugar and boiled for 5 minutes. So I got 1 cup of water from the filtered tap and got it up to a boil and added 2oz of sugar. 2oz of sugar = 1/4 cup. I used a measuring cup. Then I stirred it up and let it boil for five minutes.
It on now baby. I opened up the fermenter. I attached tubing to the auto siphon. After putting the fermenter on the kitchen island I put the bottling bucket on the floor. The tubing was laid into the bucket and I put the siphon into the fermenter and pumped the wand a couple of times until the beer was a flowing. Since the priming solution was still hot I wanted until a half gallon or so was in the bucket before adding it. I didn't have enough hands here to do it right. I basically poured the solution from where was I standing and it splashed into the beer. Bad. No aeration at this point. I tried to put it out of my mind and steer the siphon to glory.
After the beer was transferred I set the fermenter and siphon aside and put some aluminum foil over the bucket to keep evil germs from my beer. I attached the tube from our siphon (after a rinse and sanitize) to the bottling bucket and attached the other end to the bottling wand. This thing is cool. It has a spring in it so that when I push the wand into the bottom of the bottle the beer flows. When I lift the wand a spring pushes forward and cut the flow off. So, first bottle up.
At this point the tubing is too long. So, it's awkward. I end of putting the bottles on the floor and pushing the wand into it. This makes a little mess with each bottle that aggregates into a large mess that I spent a lot of time cleaning later. Anyhow, the wand is great because if you fill the bottle completely full and then remove the wand, the volume displaced is perfect. I got about 20 bottles filled. I then set the bucket and tubing with wand aside in the sink to be cleaned later.
Now I've got the cap these suckers. The caps have been sitting the in the pitcher. I spray the capper and grab a cap and cap my first bottle of beer. The crimping doesn't look perfect. I wasn't sure at first if it really even worked. I tipped the bottle upside down to see if any would leak out. None did. So I guess it made an ok seal. Whether it was good enough to keep gas in there I don't know. I guess we'll see. I checked the first few that I capped. All seemed well. So I capped them all. Ellie helped a little toward the end.
Ellie's peeps were coming to town so I wanted to move the beer out of the spare bathroom. Since I had some sanitization solution I figured while I was moving the fermenters I would take a gravity reading. This also meant I could taste the beer. First up was the Trippel. It smelled horrible. Like urine. I guess adding too much yeast is not good. It tasted ok. But, I wouldn't invite anyone to drink that beer. No way. If it doesn't improve by the end of next week I'm going to throw it out.
Next I moved the Altbier. The air lock blew on this beer. I expected that it might be spoiled. I tried it. Not bad. The only thing bad here is that the beer had made a mess in the guest bathtub. There is a noticeable brown ring in the tub and it bothers me. I makes me feel like I ruined our beautiful guest bathroom. It's blue with pretty tiles. Well, it's not so pretty anymore. I think I'll put some effort into cleaning it later.
Lastly, I move the Bodacious Brown. I intend to keg it next week. It was clear. And good. Can't wait.
Then I start to clean up. I clean the bucket, the tubing, the fermenter, etc. I then move all the beer brewing equipment to the garage where new space has been allocated for it by the wife and I by moving the couch to the backyard. The more I think about it the more I like a couch in the backyard. The weather is getting perfect for it.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Gravity Readings
I bottled the Light Ale tonight. It's too late to write about it now. I'm going to bed. What I did want to capture was the gravity readings for all the beer.
Light Ale - 1.008. This gives a ABV of 4.8%
Trippel - 1.010 (tasted like piss)
Albier - 1.016
Eric's Bodacious Brown - 1.019. This gives an ABV of 6.4%
The Trippel tasted like piss. Literally.
Light Ale - 1.008. This gives a ABV of 4.8%
Trippel - 1.010 (tasted like piss)
Albier - 1.016
Eric's Bodacious Brown - 1.019. This gives an ABV of 6.4%
The Trippel tasted like piss. Literally.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Altbier
I'm in bad mood. I'll explain more later in this post. For now, if this seems short or incomplete, that's why. Also, I tired. And in a bad mood.
I ordered this batch from MoreBeer. I figured I got a replacement carboy. It's empty. Let's fix that. How I landed on Altbier I have no idea. Further, I have no idea what the hell Altbier even is. The internet says that it is German for "old beer". Whatever.
Dad came over to help. Amanda showed up too. Ellie showed up towards the end.
Ingredients:
1. 8lbs German Pilsner Extract
2. Steeping grain - 1lb Crystal 40, 4oz Chocolate
3. Hops - 1oz Northern Brewer 8.0% AA, 1oz Liberty 3.4%AA, 1oz Liberty 3.4%AA
4. Whirlfloc clarifier
5. 4oz corn sugar
6. White Labs European Ale Yeast (liquid) WLP011 strain - 1011TCH7087701
7. Servomyces (yeast nutrient)
According to MoreBeer we expect
1. OG = 1.051-1.054
2. SRM = 16
3. IBU's = 29-31
4. ABV = 5%
MoreBeer recommends a fermentation temp of 62F.
Results (thus far):
Gallons brewed = 5
OG = 1.056
Temp of wort at pitching yeast = 68F
Lag time = <12 hours (we made a starter with DME as per the John Palmer book)
The brew date was 3-5-2011 and the brewers were Dad and myself.
Also, we used Spring water from Albertsons.
We cleaned everything and made a sterile solution in the bucket as normal. We added 6 gallons to the pot and added our steeping grains. At 170F we removed the grains (took about 30 mins) and got the pot to a boil. We killed the heat and stirred in the LME (liquid malt extract). I poured, dad stirred. We then got back up to a boil and waited for the hot break.
Then we added Northern Brewer hops in a hop bag and the 60 minute count down started. 10 minuted until then end I added the servomyces and the wort chiller. 5 minutes until the end we added the Whirlfloc and 1oz of Liberty Hops. 1 minutes left and we added another 1oz of Liberty Hops.
We then moved the pot to the edge of the garage and started running water through the wort chiller. After a while the water was cool. I slowed the flow down and that really seemed to make a difference. I noticed the outflow was much warmer. When that felt cool to the touch the wort was at about 100F. Dad and I then moved it the wash tub next to the washer and gave it an ice bath. We used a lime as a stopper. We added two 5 lb bags of ice. And some salt. As some point I felt the need to stir it to cool a little faster. Boy, it really seems to cool quick so that was good. Then I took the gravity reading. Real close to what we wanted.
Then dad and poured the wort into the carboy. It was a good foamy pour. Made me feel good. Nice and aerated. Then we pitched the yeast and added the air lock. We then moved the carboy into the house in the guest bathroom in the tub. In case there was a blow out.
Speaking of which, this leads me to my bad mood. It is now Monday and I get home from work and guess what I found. Yep, the air lock blew off and it didn't just happen either. The krausen around the lid was completely dry. This must have happened during the night I never went in the morning to check. :(
I replaced the air lock and am now hoping for the best. We'll see.
I ordered this batch from MoreBeer. I figured I got a replacement carboy. It's empty. Let's fix that. How I landed on Altbier I have no idea. Further, I have no idea what the hell Altbier even is. The internet says that it is German for "old beer". Whatever.
Dad came over to help. Amanda showed up too. Ellie showed up towards the end.
Ingredients:
1. 8lbs German Pilsner Extract
2. Steeping grain - 1lb Crystal 40, 4oz Chocolate
3. Hops - 1oz Northern Brewer 8.0% AA, 1oz Liberty 3.4%AA, 1oz Liberty 3.4%AA
4. Whirlfloc clarifier
5. 4oz corn sugar
6. White Labs European Ale Yeast (liquid) WLP011 strain - 1011TCH7087701
7. Servomyces (yeast nutrient)
According to MoreBeer we expect
1. OG = 1.051-1.054
2. SRM = 16
3. IBU's = 29-31
4. ABV = 5%
MoreBeer recommends a fermentation temp of 62F.
Results (thus far):
Gallons brewed = 5
OG = 1.056
Temp of wort at pitching yeast = 68F
Lag time = <12 hours (we made a starter with DME as per the John Palmer book)
The brew date was 3-5-2011 and the brewers were Dad and myself.
Also, we used Spring water from Albertsons.
We cleaned everything and made a sterile solution in the bucket as normal. We added 6 gallons to the pot and added our steeping grains. At 170F we removed the grains (took about 30 mins) and got the pot to a boil. We killed the heat and stirred in the LME (liquid malt extract). I poured, dad stirred. We then got back up to a boil and waited for the hot break.
Then we added Northern Brewer hops in a hop bag and the 60 minute count down started. 10 minuted until then end I added the servomyces and the wort chiller. 5 minutes until the end we added the Whirlfloc and 1oz of Liberty Hops. 1 minutes left and we added another 1oz of Liberty Hops.
We then moved the pot to the edge of the garage and started running water through the wort chiller. After a while the water was cool. I slowed the flow down and that really seemed to make a difference. I noticed the outflow was much warmer. When that felt cool to the touch the wort was at about 100F. Dad and I then moved it the wash tub next to the washer and gave it an ice bath. We used a lime as a stopper. We added two 5 lb bags of ice. And some salt. As some point I felt the need to stir it to cool a little faster. Boy, it really seems to cool quick so that was good. Then I took the gravity reading. Real close to what we wanted.
Then dad and poured the wort into the carboy. It was a good foamy pour. Made me feel good. Nice and aerated. Then we pitched the yeast and added the air lock. We then moved the carboy into the house in the guest bathroom in the tub. In case there was a blow out.
Speaking of which, this leads me to my bad mood. It is now Monday and I get home from work and guess what I found. Yep, the air lock blew off and it didn't just happen either. The krausen around the lid was completely dry. This must have happened during the night I never went in the morning to check. :(
I replaced the air lock and am now hoping for the best. We'll see.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Updated gravities
While dad and I had the hydrometer and sample thingy out and sterilized I checked the gravities of our week old beer.
Light Ale = 1.009
Bodacious Brown = 1.019
After taking the gravity measurements of the both beers we drank the sample of both. The Light Ale is a little hoppy. And the brown was good.
Dad noted that the Light Ale smells good. Yes it does dad. Yes it does.
Light Ale = 1.009
Bodacious Brown = 1.019
After taking the gravity measurements of the both beers we drank the sample of both. The Light Ale is a little hoppy. And the brown was good.
Dad noted that the Light Ale smells good. Yes it does dad. Yes it does.
A Well Made Tripel
While MoreBeer had me on hold for the my equipment I got impatient. I went on the internet and found the Brooklyn Brew Shop. They offered kits in 1 gallon quantities. This was intriguing to me for two reasons. First, I wasn't sure I could drink 5 gallons of beer at a time. Second, I wanted to experiment as much as possible and this would allow me to make many more batches of beer. The kit contained a 1 gallon glass fermenter, a thermometer, tubing, air lock, etc. Very simple. They included a kit of grain and I chose "A Well Made Tripel." Their website can be found at http://brooklynbrewshop.com.
I took almost two weeks for it to get to me. By that time MoreBeer came through. Well, it's here, so let's do this. I invited dad over for brewing. I thought he would like to come over and see the process. We started around 12pm.
So, first thing I'd like to note is that this is an all-grain brew. These guys don't tell me anything useful about the kit either. I don't know exactly what grains I'm using or the really cool numbers on the hops. Couple that with the fact that the whole process took 6 hours and I got 1 gallon of beer and I think I can safely say this is the last go with Brooklyn Brew Shop. I mean it's the same amount of work for 5 gallons or 1 gallon. Also, two weeks went by before it got here and I think the grain may have been affected by that (it was already crushed).
Ingredients:
1. Grain. Type, Weight, unknown.
2. Hops - East Kent Golding and Saaz Hops.
3. Belgian Candi.
4. Safbrew S-33 Lot = 231605
According to Brookly Brew Shop we expect
1. ABV = 9.9%
Results (thus far):
Gallons brewed = 1
OG = 1.058
Temp of wort at pitching yeast = 70F
The brew date was 3-4-2011 and brewers were myself and dad.
When dad arrived I was already cleaning the equipment. He asked a little about the water used for beer. I mentioned that we want spring water and he looked at what I had an asked why I had purified water. Crap!! So I sent him out to buy me some more. By the time he got back I was done cleaning. We measured out our starsan and put it in the pitcher I use to water the dogs.
I was using Ellie's new pots. They are telfon coated and she yelled at me for using a metal spoon. Rightly so. Dad and I measured out 3 quarts of water and warmed it up to 160F. Then we put in the grains and began mashing it. I did my best to keep the temp between 155F - 145F. With about 10 mins to go in the mash I began to heat our sparge water. 4 quarts. I got it up to 170F. After an 1 hour total I mashed out the wort. This meant I warmed up the mash to 170F while stirring.
Dad and I got our brew pot and pour the wort over a fine mesh strainer into the pot. We got about half of the grains in there. So we sparged half of our water over it. Then we put those grains in a big ass bowl and got the rest of or grains from the mash pot into the strainer and poured the rest of the sparge over it. Real scientific like. We made a mess. It was fun and awesome. The wort did have a slightly sweet taste to it (I tried it). But the grains themselves appeared to me to taste sweeter. We should have run the wort over those grains twice. I'll remember to do that in the future. Dad and I both ate some of the grains. They taste great.
Now we get our brew pot on the stove and start boiling. The electric stove seems to take forever to get it to temp. Once the hot break came and went we added our first hops (East Kent Golding). I used a bag to put the hops in. I broke of part of a pellet and gave it to dad to try. That was fun. You could tell the taste just exploded intensely in his mouth. Haha. It did have an intense taste. Similar to Cascade but a little less citrusy. Then we watched "How It's Made" on TV. I learned how to shod a horse. Cool.
With 5 minutes left we added our flavoring hops (Saaz). I smelled this and noted that it had a little more of a woody smell to it. I added it to the same bag as the other hops. Dad noted how well the hops break from that pellet form to the sludgy form we say in the bag. When the sixty minutes were up we added the Candi. Dad stirred it up until the candi was dissolved and then we put it in the freezer. After that we focused on re-hydrating the yeast.
I put in 1 cup of water into the glass measuring cup and put it in the microwave until boiling. Then I put it in the freezer to cool. When it had cooled to 90F I added the yeast. After 20 mins we smelled it and noted a bready smell. Not bad. Not offense.
By now I was concerned as the brew hadn't cooled very well in the freezer. I decided to switch tactics and we made an ice bath. That worked real well. Especially since dad stirred it constantly. After that the brew cooled quickly. When it got to 72F I took a sample and check with the hydrometer. I was sad to see a OG of 1.058. This beer will never reach 9.9% ABV. The OG was just way too low. We should have sparged more. Oh well. Live and learn.
We poured the wort through the strainer again into a funnel that emptied into the fermenter. I then shook it up and we pitched the yeast. I shook it up some more. Then we installed the blow off tube and put in the bath tube with the other fermenter.
All in all I would say that things went well. Things I learned:
1. Run the wort through the strainer multiple times.
2. The freezer don't work well for cooling wort in a big pot.
3. 1 gallon of beer will take the same amount of time as a 5 gallon brew.
After we finished our beer we got to work on a starter for tomorrows beer. Dad will help with that too. I'll say that yeast smelled a little more sour but not as bad as the White Labs English Ale. I used a DME for the starter.
We finished around 5:30pm. I sent dad home at that point. Mom was getting worried. I then cleaned up. Then I went to the movies with Gma and E. We saw "The Adjustment Bureau." It was ok. They're angels. They are making sure we stick to the plan.
I took almost two weeks for it to get to me. By that time MoreBeer came through. Well, it's here, so let's do this. I invited dad over for brewing. I thought he would like to come over and see the process. We started around 12pm.
So, first thing I'd like to note is that this is an all-grain brew. These guys don't tell me anything useful about the kit either. I don't know exactly what grains I'm using or the really cool numbers on the hops. Couple that with the fact that the whole process took 6 hours and I got 1 gallon of beer and I think I can safely say this is the last go with Brooklyn Brew Shop. I mean it's the same amount of work for 5 gallons or 1 gallon. Also, two weeks went by before it got here and I think the grain may have been affected by that (it was already crushed).
Ingredients:
1. Grain. Type, Weight, unknown.
2. Hops - East Kent Golding and Saaz Hops.
3. Belgian Candi.
4. Safbrew S-33 Lot = 231605
According to Brookly Brew Shop we expect
1. ABV = 9.9%
Results (thus far):
Gallons brewed = 1
OG = 1.058
Temp of wort at pitching yeast = 70F
The brew date was 3-4-2011 and brewers were myself and dad.
When dad arrived I was already cleaning the equipment. He asked a little about the water used for beer. I mentioned that we want spring water and he looked at what I had an asked why I had purified water. Crap!! So I sent him out to buy me some more. By the time he got back I was done cleaning. We measured out our starsan and put it in the pitcher I use to water the dogs.
I was using Ellie's new pots. They are telfon coated and she yelled at me for using a metal spoon. Rightly so. Dad and I measured out 3 quarts of water and warmed it up to 160F. Then we put in the grains and began mashing it. I did my best to keep the temp between 155F - 145F. With about 10 mins to go in the mash I began to heat our sparge water. 4 quarts. I got it up to 170F. After an 1 hour total I mashed out the wort. This meant I warmed up the mash to 170F while stirring.
Dad and I got our brew pot and pour the wort over a fine mesh strainer into the pot. We got about half of the grains in there. So we sparged half of our water over it. Then we put those grains in a big ass bowl and got the rest of or grains from the mash pot into the strainer and poured the rest of the sparge over it. Real scientific like. We made a mess. It was fun and awesome. The wort did have a slightly sweet taste to it (I tried it). But the grains themselves appeared to me to taste sweeter. We should have run the wort over those grains twice. I'll remember to do that in the future. Dad and I both ate some of the grains. They taste great.
Now we get our brew pot on the stove and start boiling. The electric stove seems to take forever to get it to temp. Once the hot break came and went we added our first hops (East Kent Golding). I used a bag to put the hops in. I broke of part of a pellet and gave it to dad to try. That was fun. You could tell the taste just exploded intensely in his mouth. Haha. It did have an intense taste. Similar to Cascade but a little less citrusy. Then we watched "How It's Made" on TV. I learned how to shod a horse. Cool.
With 5 minutes left we added our flavoring hops (Saaz). I smelled this and noted that it had a little more of a woody smell to it. I added it to the same bag as the other hops. Dad noted how well the hops break from that pellet form to the sludgy form we say in the bag. When the sixty minutes were up we added the Candi. Dad stirred it up until the candi was dissolved and then we put it in the freezer. After that we focused on re-hydrating the yeast.
I put in 1 cup of water into the glass measuring cup and put it in the microwave until boiling. Then I put it in the freezer to cool. When it had cooled to 90F I added the yeast. After 20 mins we smelled it and noted a bready smell. Not bad. Not offense.
By now I was concerned as the brew hadn't cooled very well in the freezer. I decided to switch tactics and we made an ice bath. That worked real well. Especially since dad stirred it constantly. After that the brew cooled quickly. When it got to 72F I took a sample and check with the hydrometer. I was sad to see a OG of 1.058. This beer will never reach 9.9% ABV. The OG was just way too low. We should have sparged more. Oh well. Live and learn.
We poured the wort through the strainer again into a funnel that emptied into the fermenter. I then shook it up and we pitched the yeast. I shook it up some more. Then we installed the blow off tube and put in the bath tube with the other fermenter.
All in all I would say that things went well. Things I learned:
1. Run the wort through the strainer multiple times.
2. The freezer don't work well for cooling wort in a big pot.
3. 1 gallon of beer will take the same amount of time as a 5 gallon brew.
After we finished our beer we got to work on a starter for tomorrows beer. Dad will help with that too. I'll say that yeast smelled a little more sour but not as bad as the White Labs English Ale. I used a DME for the starter.
We finished around 5:30pm. I sent dad home at that point. Mom was getting worried. I then cleaned up. Then I went to the movies with Gma and E. We saw "The Adjustment Bureau." It was ok. They're angels. They are making sure we stick to the plan.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Tasted the Light Ale
I sampled the Light Ale today. It's far far better at this point than Mr. Beer ever was. Ellie noted, "It smells good." Yes it did Ellie. Yes it did.
Eric's Bodacious Brown
Well, I've got a smashed up carboy. I figure, if it doesn't leak, we can try it one time. So on Saturday Kevin came over and we brew up my first 5 gallon batch. Below are the particulars:
Ingredients:
1. 9lbs Light Malt Extract
2. Steeping grain - 1lb Crystal 40, 8oz Pale Chocolate, 8oz White Wheat
3. Hops - 1.5oz Cascade, 0.5oz Cascade, 2oz Cascade, 2oz Willamette
4. Whirlfloc clarifier
5. 4oz corn sugar
6. White Labs English Ale yeast (liquid) WLP002 - strain = 1002CIASKYA1
According to MoreBeer we expect
1. OG = 1.059-1.062
2. SRM = 22;
3. IBU's = 60-64
4. ABV = 5.8%
MoreBeer recommends a fermentation temp of 66F.
Results (thus far):
Gallons brewed = 5
Yeast = White Labs English Ale yeast (liquid) WLP002 - strain = 1002CIASKYA1
OG = 1.068
Temp of wort at pitching yeast = 72F
Lag time = <4 hours (we made a starter)
The brew date was 2-26-2011 and the brewers were Kevin Koch and myself.
The brew was done Saturday beginning around noon. Since we cleaned up pretty well from the night before cleaning the equipment went real smooth. Before Kevin arrived I had already cleaned the bucket and got some starsan in it. I noticed as we went along that the sanitization solution became increasingly cloudy which I learned indicates that the effectiveness of the solution is going south. I will be mindful of this in the future.
We set up in the garage same as before. Moved the cars out and opened the garage door for the propane fumes. We began by adding 6 gallons of spring water. We then put the steeping grains in a bag and in then into the pot. This recipe called for 1.5oz of Cascade hops to be added to the brew with the steeping grains. Kevin and I made the decision to just put the pellets in all by themselves without a hop bag of any king. It was cool. I turned the propane on and let it warm up to 170F. I made sure that I used a thermometer that was right from the bucket every time. I know that the brew is about to be boiled to it is a moot point but it is a good habit and it can't hurt. It took a little longer than 30 mins. Once the brew was at 170F I removed the grains and kicked the propane up to get a boil going. During this time I warmed up the Malt Extract in hot water in the tub next to the washer. Once again I tasted the grains as they came out. Wonderful! Also, the brew now looks very dark compared to the brew from the day before. At this point we can't even see the bottom and we hadn't even added the malt extract yet.
Once the water was boiling I got some scissors from the sanitation bucket and cut open the malt extract. I turned the heat off so the malt extract won't burn on the bottom. Kevin and I switched roles for this with him stirring and me pouring. He stirred with a stainless spoon that came straight from the bucket. We poured it all in and after that I kicked the heat back up and we waited for the hot break.
The hot break this time was a little different. We had boil going and the proteins positioned themselves on one end of the pot and left a small patch open to allow the heat to come off the wort. This one spot kept a rolling boil and thus pushed the proteins to their now location over and over. This kept the pot from boiling over. How interesting. I wonder if in the future, I could just keep a small patch free from the proteins if I can recreate such awesomeness.
After the hot break we added 0.5oz of Cascade hops. I tried some hops too. Same as yesterday. We now needed to boil the brew for 75 minutes total. With 10 mins left we added 2oz of Cascade hops for flavoring. Also, at this point we put in the wort chiller to sanitize it. I made sure to spray it with sanitization solution first. With 5 mins left we added the Whirlfloc. At flameout, we added 2oz of Willamette hops. Now I just had to try the Willamette and compare to Cascade. It was a little less...well let's say intense. I liked it better. Kevin liked Cascade better. Some like Coke. Some like Pepsi. Both are good.
At this point I ran out to the side of the house and ran the hose under the gate to the garage. Kevin and I moved the wort to the edge of the garage so that the outflow would pour into the driveway and down into the gutter. We screwed it in turned the water on. I also put on the lid. After I sprayed it with sanitizer. The water that initially comes out is hot. That whole heat exchanger thing really do work boss.
Now I want to make an ice bath in the tub that is next to the washer. I needed a stopper for the drain though. I looked all through the house. I thought I'm an engineer. I solve problems for a living. This can't be that hard. My solution was a lime. Worked great. Nailed it!
When the wort reached 100F we took out the wort chiller and rinsed it real fast and then moved the pot to the tub and started filling the tub with water and ice. I stirred it sometimes to help it cool. With a sanitized spoon from the bucket. Around this time I sprayed sanitization solution into the fermenter and swooshed it around. I had a lot of fun swooshing. Swooshing is the best. I was sure to cover the hole with my hand that I sprayed with sanitization solution. Are we seeing a pattern here? I turned the fermenter upside down and let it drip dry into the bucket.
Once the wort reach 72F we placed the carboy at the edge of the garage with a funnel on top. A funnel that we got from the bucket. We then poured the wort into the fermenter and got a real nice aggressive pour. Foamy to the top. We even spilled a little foam over. Which I quickly cleaned up. There was a little left in the pot. Mostly green hops. At this point we took a gravity reading using a suction thingy that came from the bucket. We got 1.068 reading. I think. It's a little tough with all the foamy bubbles from our rough pour in the way. Note to self. Take gravity reading before pouring in the future.
We then pitched our yeast which we had made a starter from the night before. I then got the air lock from the bucket and put it on. I added sanitization solution to the lock and we carried the fermenter to the guest bath tub. I figure if the air lock blows off it would be easiest to clean there. Also, I closed off the heat to that room so it would be a little cooler than the rest of the house. I was up late working for Ellie and before bed at about 2am I check on the beer and found it bubbling away nicely. It had begun to have a krausen as well.
The next day the krausen was large and in charge and the beer was fermenting nicely. We had a few inches to spare before it looked like the air lock may get clogged. Luckily it didn't. It's Wednesday now and I think the odds of a blow off are now remote.
The color of the beer is wonderful. You can also smell the fermentation when you go into the bathroom now. I wouldn't say it's a bad smell. But I wouldn't live in it.
Ok. Now a little about the yeast starter. Since we had only made a half batch the night before I had some left over malt extract. It thought it would be a cool idea to make a starter. So I put in some spring water into the flask after I sanitized it of course (don't remember how much) and added one cup of the malt extract. I got the amounts from the "How to Brew" book by Palmer. In it he references one cup of DME. Well I didn't have DME. I figured 1 cup DME = 1 cup syrupy malt extract.
I put the flask directly on our electric stove. I understand this is a bad idea. I won't do it again. I boiled up the wort and cooled it in the kitchen sink to 70F. We then pitched the yeast and covered it with aluminum foil.
Ingredients:
1. 9lbs Light Malt Extract
2. Steeping grain - 1lb Crystal 40, 8oz Pale Chocolate, 8oz White Wheat
3. Hops - 1.5oz Cascade, 0.5oz Cascade, 2oz Cascade, 2oz Willamette
4. Whirlfloc clarifier
5. 4oz corn sugar
6. White Labs English Ale yeast (liquid) WLP002 - strain = 1002CIASKYA1
According to MoreBeer we expect
1. OG = 1.059-1.062
2. SRM = 22;
3. IBU's = 60-64
4. ABV = 5.8%
MoreBeer recommends a fermentation temp of 66F.
Results (thus far):
Gallons brewed = 5
Yeast = White Labs English Ale yeast (liquid) WLP002 - strain = 1002CIASKYA1
OG = 1.068
Temp of wort at pitching yeast = 72F
Lag time = <4 hours (we made a starter)
The brew date was 2-26-2011 and the brewers were Kevin Koch and myself.
The brew was done Saturday beginning around noon. Since we cleaned up pretty well from the night before cleaning the equipment went real smooth. Before Kevin arrived I had already cleaned the bucket and got some starsan in it. I noticed as we went along that the sanitization solution became increasingly cloudy which I learned indicates that the effectiveness of the solution is going south. I will be mindful of this in the future.
We set up in the garage same as before. Moved the cars out and opened the garage door for the propane fumes. We began by adding 6 gallons of spring water. We then put the steeping grains in a bag and in then into the pot. This recipe called for 1.5oz of Cascade hops to be added to the brew with the steeping grains. Kevin and I made the decision to just put the pellets in all by themselves without a hop bag of any king. It was cool. I turned the propane on and let it warm up to 170F. I made sure that I used a thermometer that was right from the bucket every time. I know that the brew is about to be boiled to it is a moot point but it is a good habit and it can't hurt. It took a little longer than 30 mins. Once the brew was at 170F I removed the grains and kicked the propane up to get a boil going. During this time I warmed up the Malt Extract in hot water in the tub next to the washer. Once again I tasted the grains as they came out. Wonderful! Also, the brew now looks very dark compared to the brew from the day before. At this point we can't even see the bottom and we hadn't even added the malt extract yet.
Once the water was boiling I got some scissors from the sanitation bucket and cut open the malt extract. I turned the heat off so the malt extract won't burn on the bottom. Kevin and I switched roles for this with him stirring and me pouring. He stirred with a stainless spoon that came straight from the bucket. We poured it all in and after that I kicked the heat back up and we waited for the hot break.
The hot break this time was a little different. We had boil going and the proteins positioned themselves on one end of the pot and left a small patch open to allow the heat to come off the wort. This one spot kept a rolling boil and thus pushed the proteins to their now location over and over. This kept the pot from boiling over. How interesting. I wonder if in the future, I could just keep a small patch free from the proteins if I can recreate such awesomeness.
After the hot break we added 0.5oz of Cascade hops. I tried some hops too. Same as yesterday. We now needed to boil the brew for 75 minutes total. With 10 mins left we added 2oz of Cascade hops for flavoring. Also, at this point we put in the wort chiller to sanitize it. I made sure to spray it with sanitization solution first. With 5 mins left we added the Whirlfloc. At flameout, we added 2oz of Willamette hops. Now I just had to try the Willamette and compare to Cascade. It was a little less...well let's say intense. I liked it better. Kevin liked Cascade better. Some like Coke. Some like Pepsi. Both are good.
At this point I ran out to the side of the house and ran the hose under the gate to the garage. Kevin and I moved the wort to the edge of the garage so that the outflow would pour into the driveway and down into the gutter. We screwed it in turned the water on. I also put on the lid. After I sprayed it with sanitizer. The water that initially comes out is hot. That whole heat exchanger thing really do work boss.
Now I want to make an ice bath in the tub that is next to the washer. I needed a stopper for the drain though. I looked all through the house. I thought I'm an engineer. I solve problems for a living. This can't be that hard. My solution was a lime. Worked great. Nailed it!
When the wort reached 100F we took out the wort chiller and rinsed it real fast and then moved the pot to the tub and started filling the tub with water and ice. I stirred it sometimes to help it cool. With a sanitized spoon from the bucket. Around this time I sprayed sanitization solution into the fermenter and swooshed it around. I had a lot of fun swooshing. Swooshing is the best. I was sure to cover the hole with my hand that I sprayed with sanitization solution. Are we seeing a pattern here? I turned the fermenter upside down and let it drip dry into the bucket.
Once the wort reach 72F we placed the carboy at the edge of the garage with a funnel on top. A funnel that we got from the bucket. We then poured the wort into the fermenter and got a real nice aggressive pour. Foamy to the top. We even spilled a little foam over. Which I quickly cleaned up. There was a little left in the pot. Mostly green hops. At this point we took a gravity reading using a suction thingy that came from the bucket. We got 1.068 reading. I think. It's a little tough with all the foamy bubbles from our rough pour in the way. Note to self. Take gravity reading before pouring in the future.
We then pitched our yeast which we had made a starter from the night before. I then got the air lock from the bucket and put it on. I added sanitization solution to the lock and we carried the fermenter to the guest bath tub. I figure if the air lock blows off it would be easiest to clean there. Also, I closed off the heat to that room so it would be a little cooler than the rest of the house. I was up late working for Ellie and before bed at about 2am I check on the beer and found it bubbling away nicely. It had begun to have a krausen as well.
The next day the krausen was large and in charge and the beer was fermenting nicely. We had a few inches to spare before it looked like the air lock may get clogged. Luckily it didn't. It's Wednesday now and I think the odds of a blow off are now remote.
The color of the beer is wonderful. You can also smell the fermentation when you go into the bathroom now. I wouldn't say it's a bad smell. But I wouldn't live in it.
Ok. Now a little about the yeast starter. Since we had only made a half batch the night before I had some left over malt extract. It thought it would be a cool idea to make a starter. So I put in some spring water into the flask after I sanitized it of course (don't remember how much) and added one cup of the malt extract. I got the amounts from the "How to Brew" book by Palmer. In it he references one cup of DME. Well I didn't have DME. I figured 1 cup DME = 1 cup syrupy malt extract.
I put the flask directly on our electric stove. I understand this is a bad idea. I won't do it again. I boiled up the wort and cooled it in the kitchen sink to 70F. We then pitched the yeast and covered it with aluminum foil.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
MoreBeer Light Ale
Soooo, guess what kiddies. The equipment came with a Light Ale kit. I didn't plan on that. But when life give you lemons, make some lemonade, then ferment it, and drink it. Now, I also have a kit for a brown ale so I figure I'll make the light ale and only make a half batch. Then use some of the remaining malt extract (remember we only used half for making the beer) to make a yeast starter for the brown ale.
The ingredients that came in the kit include the following:
1. 6lbs Light Malt Extract
2. 8oz Crystal 15L steeping grains
3. 0.5 oz Cascade hops
4. 1oz Cascade hops
5. Whirlfloc
6. 4oz Corn Sugar
7. Nottingham Ale yeast (dry)
According to MoreBeer instructions we can expect:
1. OG = 1.038-1.042
2. SRM = 7.3
3. IBU's = 12-16
4. ABV = 3.8%
MoreBeer recommends fermentation temp of 68F.
Results (thus far):
Gallons brewed: 2.5
Yeast: Nottingham Ale (dry) - strain XX...XX02
Temp of wort at pitching yeast: 70F
Lag time: <12 hours
Fermentation temp: 72F
The brew date was 2-25-2011 and the brewers were Kevin Koch and myself.
The brew was done on a Friday evening after work. It was meant to be stormy and cold. We even had a bet as to whether it would snow the next day. All weather reports pointed to that it would snow. I bet Kevin it would not. I won. I win pizza. That's a good bet. Everyone wins.
Kevin arrives a little after 5pm with some of that Alaskan beer that I don't like too much. I don't care. I drank it anyways. We begin by cleaning the equipment we intended to use for the day. The pot, fermenter, bucket, spoon, etc., etc. We cleaned it in the kitchen sink using some OxiClean generic knock off. Then we filled the bucket with 2.5 gallons of tap water and put .5 oz of starsan in there. No we have a sanitization bucket. I also put some in a spray bottle. I then put everything that will touch the beer that can fit, into the bucket. This includes our sample taker plastic thingy, our air lock, big ass spoon, thermometer, steeping bags, etc.
Then we moved it out the garage. At this point I had moved the vehicles out giving us the place to ourselves. We got the propane burner out and assembled the legs to it and connected it to the propane tank. There are so many freaking safety features on these things that if there is not enough gas, too much, too much of an increase too quickly, etc. the thing kills the flame. Annoying. Good I guess though.
We then put our big ass pot on the stove and emptied some spring water into it. We were shooting for about 3-3.5 gallons. I have no idea how close we got. I'd say pretty close.
Then we put the Crystal malt into a steeping bag and but it in the pot. We turned the gas on waited until we got to 170F as per the instructions. I used a thermometer to check the temp that sits in the santization bucket when actually being used. I think with a 5 gallon brew it takes about 30mins to get up to 170F. But with 3 gallons it took more like 20 mins. So, after we reached 170, I killed the heat and let it steep another 1o mins. After 30 mins total we removed the steeping bag and fired the burner up. At this point Kevin and I each took a pinch of the grains and tried it. It was good. Smelled good. Tasted good. A slight hint of sweetness. The color of the brew now is a light brown.
While we were wait for the brew to boil I put the bag of Malt Extract in the tub next to the washer and filled it with hot water to make it easier to pour. When we reached a boil I turned the gas off and cut an opening with scissors that had been sitting in the sanitization bucket. Kevin poured the malt extract in while I stirred with a spoon to keep the malt extract from burning on the bottom of the pot. We eyeball it so about half of the Malt Extract is in the pot and save the other half for the yeast starter we will make later. We also tasted the Malt Extract and I noticed it was very sweet. Almost a candy taste to it. Very similar to the HMEs from Mr. Beer but tasted much much better.
Kevin an I waited for the hot break which eventually came and boiled up enough, even with 3 gallons, that I cut the heat at one point. But then the proteins settled and all was well. Kevin was amazed there is only one hot break and that after that the odds of a boil over are slim. He seemed to be unable to wrap his mind around that. Anyhow, now was time to add our hops. We opened the 0.5oz Cascade pellet hops vacuum bag with sterilized scissors from the bucket and tried to add half of them to a steeping bag and then put them into the brew. This means we are 60 mins away from cutting the heat. We both tried a hop pellet. WOW! It was bitterly flavorful, intense, strong, and a little citrusy.
Now we drank Alaskan beer and sat around the stove. Since we had the garage door open to let propane fumes escape it was a little cold. All the while we are doing our best to maintain a nice rolling boil in the pot. Five minutes before the end of the brewing, we add the Whirlfloc which I believe is a clarifying agent. MoreBeer documentation says it is a product made from seaweed. Makes me wonder if it is related to Irish Moss.
One minute to go in the boil and we add the 1oz Cascade pellet hops from vacuum bag which we again open with sterilized scissors from the bucket and tried to add half to the same steeping bag as the other hops.
After a total of 60 minutes we cut the heat. There seems to be too little wort in the pot to use the copper wort chiller so we take the pot inside the house and give it an ice bath in the sink. I use the ice from the freezer in the house. I added some salt to the bath in an attempt to lower the temp. I also made sure to cover the pot as much as I could (obviously I couldn't cover it when taking the temperature). I was careful to be sure that every time the thermometer hit the wort it was sterilized. At one point it became obvious that the ice bath needed more ice and Kevin went out to get some. He returned. We added more ice. In the end I think it took around 20mins to cool to 70F.
While the wort was cooling I got out the Erlenmeyer flask and referenced the "How to Brew" book by Palmer to rehydrate the dry yeast. After sterilizing the flask with the spray bottle I put a cup of water into the flask and heated on the stove top to 100F and added the yeast. By the time the wort was cooled the yeast had been hydrating for about 20 mins. It looked soggy bread on the bottom of the flask. It smelled yeasty. Good yeasty. Not the sour smell I've gotten from other yeasts.
After spraying sanitization fluid in the Mr. Beer fermenter we got the funnel from the sanitization bucket and poured the cool wort in. It was a good vigorous pour. Lots of bubbles everywhere. We then took a gravity reading and got 1.045. A little high. Not bad. I expected it to be little high since we used all the Crystal malt instead of half. We then pitched the yeast, made a yeast starter for the next beer (I'll discuss this more in the next post), cleaned up, and called it a night. We finished around 10pm.
One thing I did not do was compute the IBUs. I think I will do that sometime soon. Also, I think I'd like to add some gypsum to harden up the spring water a little. Other than that it seemed to go well.
The ingredients that came in the kit include the following:
1. 6lbs Light Malt Extract
2. 8oz Crystal 15L steeping grains
3. 0.5 oz Cascade hops
4. 1oz Cascade hops
5. Whirlfloc
6. 4oz Corn Sugar
7. Nottingham Ale yeast (dry)
According to MoreBeer instructions we can expect:
1. OG = 1.038-1.042
2. SRM = 7.3
3. IBU's = 12-16
4. ABV = 3.8%
MoreBeer recommends fermentation temp of 68F.
Results (thus far):
Gallons brewed: 2.5
Yeast: Nottingham Ale (dry) - strain XX...XX02
Temp of wort at pitching yeast: 70F
Lag time: <12 hours
Fermentation temp: 72F
The brew date was 2-25-2011 and the brewers were Kevin Koch and myself.
The brew was done on a Friday evening after work. It was meant to be stormy and cold. We even had a bet as to whether it would snow the next day. All weather reports pointed to that it would snow. I bet Kevin it would not. I won. I win pizza. That's a good bet. Everyone wins.
Kevin arrives a little after 5pm with some of that Alaskan beer that I don't like too much. I don't care. I drank it anyways. We begin by cleaning the equipment we intended to use for the day. The pot, fermenter, bucket, spoon, etc., etc. We cleaned it in the kitchen sink using some OxiClean generic knock off. Then we filled the bucket with 2.5 gallons of tap water and put .5 oz of starsan in there. No we have a sanitization bucket. I also put some in a spray bottle. I then put everything that will touch the beer that can fit, into the bucket. This includes our sample taker plastic thingy, our air lock, big ass spoon, thermometer, steeping bags, etc.
Then we moved it out the garage. At this point I had moved the vehicles out giving us the place to ourselves. We got the propane burner out and assembled the legs to it and connected it to the propane tank. There are so many freaking safety features on these things that if there is not enough gas, too much, too much of an increase too quickly, etc. the thing kills the flame. Annoying. Good I guess though.
We then put our big ass pot on the stove and emptied some spring water into it. We were shooting for about 3-3.5 gallons. I have no idea how close we got. I'd say pretty close.
Then we put the Crystal malt into a steeping bag and but it in the pot. We turned the gas on waited until we got to 170F as per the instructions. I used a thermometer to check the temp that sits in the santization bucket when actually being used. I think with a 5 gallon brew it takes about 30mins to get up to 170F. But with 3 gallons it took more like 20 mins. So, after we reached 170, I killed the heat and let it steep another 1o mins. After 30 mins total we removed the steeping bag and fired the burner up. At this point Kevin and I each took a pinch of the grains and tried it. It was good. Smelled good. Tasted good. A slight hint of sweetness. The color of the brew now is a light brown.
While we were wait for the brew to boil I put the bag of Malt Extract in the tub next to the washer and filled it with hot water to make it easier to pour. When we reached a boil I turned the gas off and cut an opening with scissors that had been sitting in the sanitization bucket. Kevin poured the malt extract in while I stirred with a spoon to keep the malt extract from burning on the bottom of the pot. We eyeball it so about half of the Malt Extract is in the pot and save the other half for the yeast starter we will make later. We also tasted the Malt Extract and I noticed it was very sweet. Almost a candy taste to it. Very similar to the HMEs from Mr. Beer but tasted much much better.
Kevin an I waited for the hot break which eventually came and boiled up enough, even with 3 gallons, that I cut the heat at one point. But then the proteins settled and all was well. Kevin was amazed there is only one hot break and that after that the odds of a boil over are slim. He seemed to be unable to wrap his mind around that. Anyhow, now was time to add our hops. We opened the 0.5oz Cascade pellet hops vacuum bag with sterilized scissors from the bucket and tried to add half of them to a steeping bag and then put them into the brew. This means we are 60 mins away from cutting the heat. We both tried a hop pellet. WOW! It was bitterly flavorful, intense, strong, and a little citrusy.
Now we drank Alaskan beer and sat around the stove. Since we had the garage door open to let propane fumes escape it was a little cold. All the while we are doing our best to maintain a nice rolling boil in the pot. Five minutes before the end of the brewing, we add the Whirlfloc which I believe is a clarifying agent. MoreBeer documentation says it is a product made from seaweed. Makes me wonder if it is related to Irish Moss.
One minute to go in the boil and we add the 1oz Cascade pellet hops from vacuum bag which we again open with sterilized scissors from the bucket and tried to add half to the same steeping bag as the other hops.
After a total of 60 minutes we cut the heat. There seems to be too little wort in the pot to use the copper wort chiller so we take the pot inside the house and give it an ice bath in the sink. I use the ice from the freezer in the house. I added some salt to the bath in an attempt to lower the temp. I also made sure to cover the pot as much as I could (obviously I couldn't cover it when taking the temperature). I was careful to be sure that every time the thermometer hit the wort it was sterilized. At one point it became obvious that the ice bath needed more ice and Kevin went out to get some. He returned. We added more ice. In the end I think it took around 20mins to cool to 70F.
While the wort was cooling I got out the Erlenmeyer flask and referenced the "How to Brew" book by Palmer to rehydrate the dry yeast. After sterilizing the flask with the spray bottle I put a cup of water into the flask and heated on the stove top to 100F and added the yeast. By the time the wort was cooled the yeast had been hydrating for about 20 mins. It looked soggy bread on the bottom of the flask. It smelled yeasty. Good yeasty. Not the sour smell I've gotten from other yeasts.
After spraying sanitization fluid in the Mr. Beer fermenter we got the funnel from the sanitization bucket and poured the cool wort in. It was a good vigorous pour. Lots of bubbles everywhere. We then took a gravity reading and got 1.045. A little high. Not bad. I expected it to be little high since we used all the Crystal malt instead of half. We then pitched the yeast, made a yeast starter for the next beer (I'll discuss this more in the next post), cleaned up, and called it a night. We finished around 10pm.
One thing I did not do was compute the IBUs. I think I will do that sometime soon. Also, I think I'd like to add some gypsum to harden up the spring water a little. Other than that it seemed to go well.
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