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.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
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.
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