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.