Cheers!! Grayson's Kiwit

Grayson's Kiwit. A kiwifruit infused Belgian Wit made with a hefewiezen yeast strain that provides a hint of banana. Prost!!

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

A Summer Ale

The 'Brewing Lamp' will be lit this afternoon for what looks to be an all day brew session. Three of us will be brewing a summer ale that will resemble Sam Adams Summer Ale. I'd be willing to bet it'll turn out better because that's the way it is around the Seger Brewhaus! With the help of Brett and Chris this should be a fun day to brew 20 gallons (twenty, yes!) of this brew. We'll be doing a partigyle again so lets hope my numbers are correct.
Brew on!

UPDATE: 18 Rad Rye IPA

The 1st runnings were boiled for 90 minutes and OG turned out to be 1.072. I was shooting for 1.090 so my efficiency was around 60%. I have to get some iodine. (If a little iodine is poured on a sample it will turn black when the sugars have been converted - don't put the sample back though :) ).
It's been a week and the fermentations been slowed down enough to test. I came up with 1.018 which is almost finished. I'd like to give it another couple days to try to get it down to around 1.010. The other "second runnings" have an OG of 1.020. Not so hot but we're mixing the two together to get closer to a session beer than an Imperial Rye Pale.
After tasting the sample of the 1st runnings I'm starting to have second thoughts about combining the two. It's going to be a very good beer. Adding the second runnings into it may stretch the taste too far. I'd like to call a meeting of the High Order of Peculiar Zymurgists to see what they think. The 1st partigyle may be a failure. If it is I'll learn from it and move on.

18 Rad Rye IPA - The Creation

Grab your paddles and pints it's brew day! Chris and I are doing a partigyle, a first for me (and Chris) but with any luck this'll create a double batch of rye ipa. I was trying to base this off Cromwell's IPA but the hops I needed just aren't available. I'm using Citra and Magnum in place of the Horizon and Centennial. Citra's a fairly new hop with lots of fruity flavors so this should be pretty cool to do. There's a lot of 1st's in this brew but with any luck it'll be a kick ass ale. As always I try to share my recipes for everyone to look at and tweak. I can't wait to make some bread out of this grain bed. I love rye bread. What's in the name? 18 is from the percentage of rye. Rad is a unit of radiation measurement. I always try to input something "submarine-like" into my names. After all it's Fairwater Brewing. We'll be outside most of the afternoon so come on by and grab a seat. I have plenty on tap and if the weathers nice I'll grill up some doggies.


Grain Bill
15lbs Pale
3.75lbs Rye Malt
18oz Crystal 80
4oz Roasted Malt


Hops
Magnum - 1.5oz @60
Citra - 1oz @60
Simcoe - 1.5oz @5
Amarillo - 1.5oz @0
Citra - .5oz @0

Yeast
For the yeast I'm using the Wyeast 1056 American Ale I harvested from the last Eric Stout I made. I have to admit I'm a little nervous about adding a harvested yeast from a stout but I'll throw caution to the wind today. It seemed to work well with my HoneyBell Hefe (to be blogged later).

According to Beer Smith I should have an OG of 1.089 which should be plenty for second runnings.

Now what am I doing and what's a partigyle? I'm running hot water (approximately 167 degrees) over the grains a second time to collect more wort. I'll collect 7.25 gallons of wort off the grain bed for my 1st batch. After I get that I'll continue to collect  6.5 gallons of wort for a second batch of weaker wort. Basically it's like running water over a tea bag a second time for another cup of tea. It'll be weaker but it'll still be tea.
After the initial fermentation of both batches I'll mix both together to create more even keeled ale. I'll have no idea of what the alcohol will be but I'll take an average measurement from both batches. Should be fun!

Bread Made from Spent Grains

After I started brewing using an all grain method called single infusion I had no idea what to do with the grains I used. I would have 12 to even 20 pounds of "spent" grains that would just get thrown away. They smelled so good I didn't want to just toss them into the garbage. After a few batches I decided to make bread with them. There are conflicting discussions on whether or not bread made from spent barley used for making beers is nutritionally worth anything. Maybe it isn't but I sure love the taste of the recipe I discovered below. The template isn't mine (if I find the website I printed this from I will definitely give them props) but I have tweaked it a little to my taste. If I'm using lighter grains I tend to go with honey as the sweetener, darker grains get molasses. The amount of flour varies batch to batch as well. If the grains are still a little wet I'll add more flour  in 1/2 cup increments switching between the wheat and bread flour. The result is a hearty slightly sweet bread that is hella-licious as a grilled cheese sandwich or with fresh thick cut German bologna. It's even better when you match the cheese to the bread and have a pint of the beer you made along side. Now that I've blown a few minutes of your time I've posted the recipe I use and the resulting bread below. If you try this recipe feel free to tweak and or comment about it here.

I made some changes with my latest batch. They're shown in red. To help relieve the grain of some of the unused wort I put it in a strainer and used the bottom of a coffee cup to pressed as hard as I could. (Jan 20th, 2011) 

3.5 (3 1/3) cups all purpose flour - Remember this varies from batch to batch depending on the wetness of the grain you're using.
2 cup wheat flour (could handle higher ratio of wheat)
2 tsp. salt
3 cups spent grain
¼ cup of sugar, honey or molasses (depending on the grains used when brewing)
¼ cup of slightly melted butter
1 egg (Beaten)
1 (1/2) cup of milk (usually use less, depending on how wet the grain is)

Yeast Starter
1 package of dry bread yeast (Quick rise)
1/2 cup warm water
1 tablespoon sugar (didn't need sugar this time)
Add sugar to water in a bowl and completely dissolve. Add yeast and cover with aluminum foil. Set aside for about 20 minutes. After 20 minutes you should see some activity in the bowl. When you're dough is ready roll the yeast to the bowl and knead it into the dough mixture.
Using the quick rise yeast I was able to skip the waiting period. I just added the yeast to warm water, waited about 5 minutes then added the batch to the dough. It rose great with no problems.


Mix the dry, then the wet ingredients until the dough is easily pulled away from sides of bowl and all the ingredients are mixed in well. It's a great idea to use a mixer with a dough hook.

Knead for 10 min by hand or 5 min by mixer. Slowly add yeast starter and mix well.

Shape into ball and let rise in oiled bowl until doubled (about 90 min) Punch down and divide. I usually get 3 average sized loaves out of this. Let it rise again in greased loaf pans or cookie sheet until doubled, (or slightly more as this is dense bread, takes about 1 hr.). Score top of loaves with a knife.

Preheat oven. Bake at 350F for 50 min, until deep golden brown. Spray loaves with water just before going into the oven and again 2 min into baking to make a crunchier crust. Rotate pans halfway through. Let cool for 30 min on baking rack before slicing,

See my results below:

From left to right:
Raspberry Porter, Cromwells IPA, and The Eric Stout
I've been a busy guy since the last time we saw each other. I've brewed several beers and there are three in the above photo. The other is a Marzen that isn't making me very happy. I know the reason why too and it's such a goofball maneuver that I don't want to share it. So I have 4 brews on tap at the "brewery" and 3 of them are awesome! I'm going to have to bottle some this week there are a couple competitions I'd like to throw my hat into. The "kegerator" is below.

I'll get into the creation at a later date. I have to go make some spent grain bread.

Here are my scores for The Eric Stout

 

About time huh? I was off making some more brews. I have a goal to have 4 on tap by the 21st. The latest is a 10% Imperial IPA that gave me a massive amount of trouble to start. It's finishing up fermenting now so we'll see if everything went according to plan. Now on to the scores! 

These scores are given to participants involved in homebrewing by certified beer judges. Although it sounds kind of funny this is a very real certification. The purpose of the Beer Judge Certification Program is to promote beer literacy and the appreciation of real beer, and to recognize beer tasting and evaluation skills. I haven't taken the exam yet but I hear it's very detailed. I had two different judges critiquing my entry. Angelo (the head brewer at Barley's Brewpub in downtown Columbus) and Jeff, a certified judge from the area. Jeff, I hear is a bear when it comes to scores so I was quite happy when I read his sheet.

1st up is aroma. Aroma is important in any food you eat isn't it? To be honest my stomach could be completely full and the moment I start smelling pulled pork my mouth starts to water. Who the hell smells a beer right? Some people (admittedly like myself) smell a beer before they drink it. Others just rely on their nose to add to the experience. If someone wanted you to try a beer that they swore was the best damn beer they ever had yet it smelled like a rhino pissed in it you'd probably give it a wide berth. Part of drinking coffee is that awesome aroma when it's being made isn't it? The same should apply with beer. I know not too many people take the time to catch all the aromas coming from their beer but they might be surprised what they smelled if they did. Take for instance a Bud. The next time you open a beer from Anheuser Busch or Miller be a "snob" and put it in a glass. Give it a quick whiff and ask yourself what you smell. I won't tell you what I smell so you can judge for yourself.


Aroma
Angelo - Nice roasty toasty with a hint of fruit, butterscotch and alcohol. 9 out of a possible 12
Jeff -  Medium roasted malt, faint alcohol, fruity esters, and very low diacetyl (pleasant). 10/12


Appearance - I've never used to pay attention to appearance but in the last 6 or so months I've been introduced to the possibility. It's a nice addition to beer when I think about it. I want my stouts to be black as motor oil and my IPA's clear with hints of red in them. It's not huge in my opinion. Seeing as it's only worth 3 of the 50 possible points for a perfect score it doesn't matter to them that much either. I scored 3/3 with Angelo and Jeff. Angelo called it beautiful.


Flavor - Obviously one of the most important factors in any food product but sadly a lot of people miss out on the different flavors real craft beers can have.
Jeff -  Medium roasty grainy malt, moderate bitterness balances (keyword is balance - Fred) without overpowering. Finishes dry from the dark malts or oatmeal (I used 12oz of real quaker oats). 17/20
Angelo -  Alcohol evident - not buggin me though, graininess is present, like the balance (bingo again with the balance!) - good roasty coffee flavor not over done. 17/20


Mouthfeel - The body and carbonation of the beer. Is it light and watery? Heavy and syrup like? Too much or too little carbonation?
Angelo - wonderful, enticing, coats the tongue on all sides 4/5
Jeff -  medium carbonation, medium body, creamy, slight warmth 5/5 (perfect!)


Overall Impression -
Jeff - very nice beer, hits all the right notes 8/10
Angelo -   WELL DONE - might be too strong or alcoholic for the style but I like it (I like alcohol) 8/10


Totals 
Jeff - 43/50
Angelo 41/50


I'm very happy with my scores. With all the mishaps that happened with it's production I can't wait to make this again and have it come out perfect.


   

The Wort Hog and the 46 degree goal.

Remember the fermentation chiller I built about a year ago? I believe it's time for an upgrade. A $10 upgrade to be honest. I'm trying to lager a few beers this year and in order to lager I need the temperature of the fermenting wort to stay around 50 degrees for about a month, maybe more. Try as I may the Wort Hog 5 leaks cold air like a screen-doored submarine. I planned on building a cabinet around it to help seal the seams but w/o the time I needed to make one (did I mention I don't build cabinets? I'm a computer nerd -when I'm working) I bought some duct tape and went to town. I also filled some spare boxes that were lying around with shredded paper and put them inside to kind of fill the void. I built the thing for 2 carboys but since I'm only lagering one 5 gallon batch I wanted to cut down the space the warm air could fill. Oh and I covered it in a few thick blankets for extra protection. I'm not proud of it ok but it works and works well I may add.
On my first run of the upgrade I chilled the ambient air (68 degrees) inside the Hog to 50 degrees in about 3 hours. I was happy but needed to push it to 46. From past experience the wort inside the carboy is about 3 degrees warmer than the ambient air and I need the wort to be as close to 50 as possible. I went to bed hoping it would cool further. It did. I woke up to a 46 degree chiller. Outstanding.
I had to try it with a 68 degree carboy. My thought is it takes a lot more cooling to remove 18 degrees of heat from 5 gallons of wort than the ambient air. I was right. It took almost an entire day to bring the air to 51 degrees. It stopped chilling there. I need faster results and a colder chiller. I'm conducting my next "experiment" today. I'm putting 5 gallons of 68 degree water in a tub full of frozen juice bottles for 12 hours. It should give it a nice jump start. If I can pre-chill the carboy to the desired temperature and then put it in the chiller the unit should hold it there without a problem.
We'll see.

Homebrewing Update

I'm brewing the biggest baddest IPA I've ever brewed (once again ha ha ha) in two weeks. Be ready sucker. 1 pound of hops and 16 pounds of grain. Sweet Sophia this is gonna be a muther of a brew. I'll be brewing it on my burner and in my new stock pot. I'm very excited. Next week I'm making an American Lager. Much smaller but using 4oz of a very popular hops, cascade. I'm trying to get my fermenter chiller (let's call him the Wort Hog from now on) to chill and maintain a temp of 47 degrees for lagering the Pils. To be continued.....

Cromwell's IPA

Named in honor of John P Cromwell a recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor. During WW2 Captain Cromwell, serving aboard the USS Sculpin, was under Japanese depth charge attack. Sustaining heavy damage Cromwell brought the ship to the surface to engage the enemy in surface combat. This gave the crew a chance to abandon the heavily damage submarine while he stayed on board. Possessing secret knowledge of US naval submarine tactics and movements he went down with the ship as she sunk to her grave preserving the vital intel the Japanese surely would have tortured out of him.
This is the second beer in a series I am making in honor of the men who served above and beyond the call of duty while under the waves.


Another first with this beer. It's officially my 1st all grain India Pale Ale (IPA) and once again I am very happy with the results. Up front and very hopped with a citrus flavor it mellows after the first drink to a smooth malt finish. Decently strong, this comes close to 7% ABV. I've made stronger but this has the alcohol burn - or hotness - hidden better than most. This is the first time I've used simcoe hops. I've always wanted to try them ever since I had Great Lakes Barley Wine. Simcoe has a clean pine-like aroma with hints of citrus. It's mainly used for bittering but has a less astringent attribute so it can be added later on instead of early in the boil. I only used 4oz of hops in this recipe and I think using the simcoe makes one believe I used more.


- Grain Bill - 
13 lbs 2 row
12 oz Munich
1 oz Crystal 20
4 oz Crystal 40


- Hops - 
1oz Horizon (60min)
1oz Centennial (10min)
1oz Simcoe (5min)
1oz Amarillo (0min)


- Yeast - 
Wyeast American Ale 1056


This was a tricky one. I needed the infusion temperature to be 150 and some bad calculations gave me 143 degrees which is very low for the 2 row I was using. I tried recirculating a gallon at 160, then 177, then finally I through caution out the window and sparged 1.5 gallons of 177 degree fresh water into the mash tun. This broght my temperature to the desired 150. I collected 6.5 gallons of wort from the infusion and began to boil.
During the infusion I usually get some time to relax, read, and maybe enjoy a stogie. Not this time. Running back and forth to the kitchen trying to heat the water/wort kept me busy for about the hour it's supposed to "soak". Just for the helluvit I let the mash go for another 30 minutes thiking I'd get a little more bang for my buck. I did. My attenuation turned out to be 81% - the highest I've ever had. Attenuation (use of the grains sugars for extracting wort).
Afterwards I boiled with no problems, added the hops when scheduled and my numbers turned out exactly the way I wanted them. OG = 1/065 and after 1 week at 68 degrees FG turned out to be 1.012.


It's sitting on tap right now and very very tasty! Sweet pine aroma from the simcoe hops, a citrusy stomping on the palette blends smoothly with a sweet yet dry malty finish.

PROST!

The Eric Stout

The Eric Stout

 

My 1st Oatmeal Stout and I couldn't be happier! "Chocolaty" with a roasty slight coffee finish. Smooth and light, easy to drink, too easy, I had 3 last night without noticing. Unfortunately this may be a one time brew and I'll explain why later. See red lettering. What's with the name? A friend of mine had me and another friend out to Oregon last year and after a few rounds he forced me to make a beer in his namesake. Nah I volunteered. It's an ode to the absolute blast the 3 of us had in Oregon. Drinking and hiking, hiking and drinking. Eric is a great friend to have and I'm more than happy I could make this for him. I can't wait to get back out there, I love Portland. I recommend going if you have the opportunity.

I think the brewing and friendship spirits where present when I made this. Even though there were multiple undesirable events it still came out great. I may even enter it into the National Homebrewers Competition in April.  

 - Grain Bill - 
10 lbs 2 Row 
8 oz Roasted Barley
1 lb Crystal 120
12 oz Quaker Oats (not the minute oats, I used the original)
12 oz American Chocolate Malt
4 oz American Black Malt

 - Hops - 
.5 oz Cascade (90min)
.5 oz Willamette (90min)
.5 oz Cascade (30min)
.5 oz Willamette (15min) 
  
Yeast  
Wyeast 1056 American Ale 


My strike water was 165 and once the grain was added it brought it down to 149. Panic ensued - not really but I was concerned about the temp. I needed 153 (yes it makes a difference, I found out with last years Christmas Ale) so I drained off about a gallon and brought it to 177 degrees then sparged back into the grain bed. Miraculously it did the trick and the grain bed was brought up to 153. This is one of the problems I encounter with not having a recirculated mashing system but I'm slowly getting there. If the mash isn't exposed to a heating source then the possibility of low temperature exists. 
After an hour of sitting at 153 degrees I "mashed out" with 170 degree water and extracted 6.5 gallons of wort.
Added the hops and brought the wort to a hard boil which boiled over once but was under control after that. In doing that I know I must've lost a bunch of the Cascade and Willamette in the beginning stages. Life goes on.
After a 90 minute boil and 2 hop additions I got ready for the cooling. I inserted my chiller and the damn thing ruptured inside the wort releasing a little hose water into the wort. After pulling the chiller out of the wort I threw the pot into a vat of ice water and salt. Salt? It was a whim. I read an article where it's possible to chill a can of soda in about 3 minutes submerging it in. ice water and salt. So I thought the same principle should apply here. It did. The wort cooled from 180 degrees to 70 degrees in about 15 minutes. Outstanding. 
I took an initial gravity reading (1.056) and pitched the yeast starter at 64 degrees. Then placed it into the fermenter chiller where it sat at around 68 degrees for a couple hours until the unit chilled it to 62 degrees. Fermentation started in about 12 hours (ALWAYS MAKE A STARTER! It really helps.).
After fermentation was complete (FG 1.016) I took it out of the chiller unit and placed it in a vat of water and ice bottles for about two weeks. It sat at around 46 degrees (yeah I know it's lagering temperature folks) for the duration. This is called crashing the yeast I think but I'm not sure. 
I kegged it and set the the psi to 30 for about 48 hours then dropped it to 5 psi. I'm not quite sure on the numbers but it feels great to me. The resulting brew is pictured above.

Cheers!   
 .    

The Christmas Ale of 09

Recipe:

Grain Bill

94% Marris Otter English 2 row Pale

2.5% Crystal 120

2.5% Victory

1% Black Patent

Hops

Horizon 9% Alpha added at 60 minutes

Secret Spices

Oh come on! It wouldn't be a secret if I told you. ;) I'll be nice and let you in on them after I have a few tastings.

Yeast

London Ale (Wyeast Labs 1028) I made a 1.040 gravity starter 24 hours prior

I started this yesterday (7nov09) morning about 8am. I had a very late night fixing my latest gadgetry. It's a called a mash tun. What's a mash tun?

In laymen terms it's a vessel where I can steep the grains used for making beer. When the grains are steeped at a given temperature they release sugars. These sugars are food for yeast. The yeast eats the sugars and produce alcohol. Why the late night? I had to rig the mash tun so the grains wouldn't get stuck in the drain valve. Normally an easy job but I ordered the wrong size (or so I thought) false bottom pictured above to the right. Anyway I fixed/rigged it and everything went pretty smooth.

After the grain gets soaked in the above mash tun (approximately 1 hour@155-160 degrees) it gets drained and hotter temp water is showered over the grains to rinse the leftover sugars off the grains. I didn't rinse the grains immediately like I'm supposed to so I missed some of the sugars. After measuring the gravity/plato my efficiency was around 55% of what I'm supposed to have. This means I'll have a 9.8% alcohol by volume in the beer instead of the 11 or 12%. This may also help me in the end so I may have screwed up in a good way. We'll see in three weeks. After I drain the mash tun and after a recirculation of wort back into the grain bed I bring the wort to a cautious yet ferocious boil. About 5 minutes I start to add hops. In the last minute of the boil I add the "secret spices".

I let it boil for another minute, remove it from the heat and stir it clockwise (doesn't matter which direction) to create a whirlpool effect. This pushes all the extra "floaters" to the bottom. When I'm done stirring I use an immersion chiller (above right) to cool it down. I highly recommend getting one of these. Before I had one I had to put the hot wort into an ice bath and wait sometimes 2 to 3 hours for it to cool. You have to let it cool before adding the yeast otherwise you can kill the yeast. With the use of a chiller the 200+ degree wort can cool to 66 degrees in as fast as 7 minutes! The faster the cooling the less time you wait and the less time the beer is exposed to the air which could lead to nasty infections. After the cooling I take a gravity reading with a hydrometer. It measures the weight of the sugar in the water. When the fermentations finished I'll take a second reading and the difference will equal the alcohol percentage. In this particular instance my OG (original gravity/initial reading) is 1.080.

So for now it's sitting in my fermenter chiller at 66 degrees.

Stay tuned!

.

Oktoberfest cont'd - I have KRAUSEN!

Krausen (pronounced KROY-zen) is the foam that appears on top of fermenting beer, proving that the little yeasties are performing as ordered.

I had to mess around the last couple days with the temperature. The frig I was using keeps it too cold and I can't put a thermostat on the frig because I'm using the freezer. I haven't been able to work on getting the fermenter chiller I built a few months ago down to 50 degrees so that's out of the question. I took the top of a plastic 50 gallon drum I used for a Halloween decoration (seen in the following post) and filled it with water and frozen Folgers coffee bins/containers. The last time I looked the beer was around 54 degrees. I'd like it around 50 but 54 is better than 64 so I'll take it for now.

Oktoberfest is never too late

I started an Oktoberfest this weekend. Grain bill is as follows:

44.9% Pilsner LME

44.9% Munich LME

10.2% Crystal (60)

I hopped it with traditional 2oz Hallertau. 1.5oz for 60, and the other .5 at 20 minutes.

I steeped the crystal in 3 gallons cold water and 1teaspoon of gypsum until I hit 170 degrees. It took the water about 25 minutes to hit the right temperature before I pulled out. I added a little too much water (about 3.5 gallons) then brought it to a boil before adding the pilsner and Munich which brought the boil volume to about 7 gallons. Once the wort was boiling again I added the first hop addition. At the 20 minute mark the other .5 oz went in. Still thinking I had too much water I let the it continue to rapid boil for another 40 minutes. This brought the total volume to 5 gallons which I think is a little less then what I wanted. Normally I like 5.5 gallons to make up for the hop and other "sludge" at the bottom of the fermenter. This way I get a full 5 gallons of beer (53 pints). I was able to bring the temp down to 69 degrees in about 10 minutes using a friends (thanks Brett) wort chiller. Tested the original gravity at 1.055 (my goal was 1.060). Pitched the yeast (White Labs 820 ) starter and brought it home to roost for 4 or so weeks in a waiting frig. Last time I checked the beer was at 49 degrees. A little too cold. I have to raise the temp soon or the yeast may act a little funny.

When it's finished I should have a nice amber lager that has 5.4% alcohol by volume.

In about one or two weeks I'm going to start a massive Imperial IPA that should blow the roof off any other IPA I've ever done. I'll be using 15oz of hops. My largest hop usage to date is 8oz. After that's started I'll make a Christmas Ale for the holidays.

Cheers!

Fred

Fermentation sign, the Amber has awaken!

It was a stretch but there is a very subtle reference to Dune in the title (yep very nerdly indeed). OK So I woke this morning to find the hefe at 62 degrees which means my chiller is working properly - awesome (like I expected anything else?). What else did I see? An actively fermenting Amber. What a relief to have this sucker finally kickin in on day 3. (Note to self....make a damn starter next time). I also need another "fermometer" for the second carboy.
My son caught my excitement this morning and wanted to know why I was jumping up and down making an arse of myself at 7am. I explained to him that "daddy's" beer is fermenting. Not too many 6yr olds know about fermentation. I explained that there are little creatures, so small that you can't see them, these creatures (I call them the Yeastie Boys for reference since the Beastie Boys are his favorite band right now) eat sugar in the beer and produce alcohol. During this time they "fart" leaving bubbles in the beer. He laughed and went back to his cartoon which I think is "Johnny Test" right now. It's about a boy, his dog, and his two genius sisters who perform experiments on them. Hilarity ensues.
Below is a video of some active fermentation. Not mine, only for demonstration purposes.

New Brews Brew News

I started a Hefewiezen and a West Coast Amber yesterday. Double batches can be a pain (especially w/no help) but "I do this for the people" ;). I wanted to start at 7:00am but didn't get going until 8. The entire process took about 5 hours. I'm trying to manage the time a little better so I can do less running around in the least amount of time. Brewing should be a relaxing hobby.
Both beers are in the process of fermenting. The hefe started very fast (under 12 hours). The amber is taking it's precious time. Sometimes it could take 48 hours before fermentation begins. It helps when a starter is made. It adds more yeast to the wort. More yeast means faster fermentation "liftoff". I made a starter for the hefe but not for the amber and the proof is obvious. Other than laziness I can't think of any other reason why I didn't make a starter for the amber.
When they finish I will have approximately 10 gallons of home made brew which gets put on a tap system I built. 10 gallons of wonderful fresh beer. Now 10 gallons equals 106 pints (16oz). I spent about $100 on both batches so for my beer costs me approximately 97 cents a pint or around $6 for a six pack of beer that even Budweiser couldn't make any fresher. That $100 is very expensive for homebrew too. Buying the ingredients one batch at a time gets pretty pricey. I'd like to buy in bulk but I don't have the storage yet.
Below is a picture of the last hefe I made. It had to have been one of my best batches to date. Zero complaints from all who drank it and I even had someone tell me he'd definitely buy a sixer the next time I made it. Cheers!

The Chiller

It's ugly but functional. I call it the Wort Hog 5. Not too bad for my first attempt. I am definitely not a handy-tool type guy. I learned a lot from this adventure so next time it'll be much prettier and have a higher efficiency.
OH. What the hell is it? It's a fermentation chiller. What's it do? It chills the wort (fermenting beer)to a set temperature using blocks of ice and a "hacked" thermostat. Ice (frozen plastic jugs) sit in the bottom chamber and when the temperature gets above a certain range set in the thermostat a small 12v fan (a computer fan I scavenged) starts blowing air across the blocks of ice forcing cold air into the upper chamber until the chamber reaches a set temp. Why do I want to keep fermenting beer at a certain temperature? It tastes better and I get to manage the flavor in each batch. Different temps make the little "Yeastie Boys" (what a cool name for a homebrewing club) produce different flavors. The example to the left is water only. It was a test run to see what the difference between the ambient air and the actual temperature of a 5 gallon container of liquid is. To my joy it's only 1. I found the plans for this online and after I fix some flaws in my work I plan on building another. The duct tapes gotta go. I'd love to make one out of wood.
I plan on utilizing this the first time come Saturday. The hefewiezen I'm making needs to ferment at 62 degrees. I made the same recipe a couple years ago fermenting at around 70. I can't wait to try this under controlled conditions..

Just a busy time tonight.

3 Posts in less than 3 hours - inspiring? Insightful? ingenious? No, just a very busy boy tonight I guess. Below is a short video about the reemergence of craft brewing in the US. As some of you may know I've been brewing my own for about 4 years and have loved every bit of it. My wonderful wife started me on this journey and I have never looked back. I may get tired of being a computer nerd, grow out of WoW (seriously?), or jaded with politics but I will never grow tired of creating great craft ales out of "good stuff".
I Am A Craft Brewer from I Am A Craft Brewer on Vimeo.
So here's to my brewing brothers and sisters on this late Sunday evening.

Robust Raspberry Porter

Switched/racked this to the secondary fermentor today. Final gravity is 1.018 (OG was 1.070) which gives me an ABV of around 6.8. I wasn't really shooting for this strength but I'll take it. I tasted a sample prior to adding the 3 pounds of raspberry pulp and this is really good. Too good. I've never made a porter and this isn't bad for a 1st attempt in my humble opinion. The raspberries should add a nice fruity flavor.

Cheers!