Last month, I made my first homebrew for 2012. I started with an extract recipe that was a clone of Sierra Nevada porter. After primary fermentation for about two weeks, I transferred it to a keg, where I added 1 quart of Sumatran cold-press extract (courtesy of Commonplace Coffehouse), and a handful of dark toasted oak chips that had been soaked for a week in Bushmills Irish Whiskey.
After a week of forced carbonation, it was ready. I took a growler to this month's homebrew club meeting, and folks seemed to enjoy it. I know I do. I'm going to age it a bit longer in the keg to bring out more of the oak and whiskey flavors before bottling.
Update: Had a leak in my kegging line, causing loss of carbonation. Installed a new hose from the CO2 tank and I'm recarbonating. With lower-than-desired carbonation, I don't know if I like the taste of the oak in this one. Hopefully, leaving the oak chips in this long didn't do permanent damage.
Showing posts with label homebrewing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label homebrewing. Show all posts
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Wednesday, August 03, 2011
Extract Pale Ale for Club Competition
It's been a slow homebrewing year so far. In March, I made my first batch of the year, and extract saison (11B01) for my wife. I brewed this up in the kitchen while hosting my cousin John and two of his friends, all of whom wanted to learn how to brew. They have since brewed up several of their own batches up in Punxsutawney, though I've not had the pleasure yet of tasting any of them!
Anyway, I finally got around to kegging the saison last week while brewing my second batch of the year (11B02), an extract clone of Geary's Pale Ale. I brewed this last Friday and will keg this Friday. After force carbonating and trying out my new Beer Gun, I'll be taking a few bottles to the August meeting of the Indiana, PA Alesmiths (IPAs) for an intraclub competition. Should be interesting to taste everyone's version of the same extract/all-grain recipe, and hopefully mine will hold up despite its young age!
A colleague and friend of mine has been growing his own Cascade hops - last week he surprised me with a generous gift of a mason jar jam-packed with over 9 ounces of freshly picked hop cones (lightly dried). I'll be using some of these to dry hop the pale ale on Friday.
The cider I made last October is still sitting in a carboy in the cellar. I hit it with a lambic yeast mix and there's a nice white pellicle (sp?) sitting on top of it. Just have to figure out how to sweeten it a bit before kegging and bottling!
Three friends and I have also been putting together a nice 10 gallon all-grain system in a garage, including a nice counterflow chiller. We brewed a couple of batches this year, but due to various circumstances (busy schedules, old yeast, new system, etc.), they didn't turn out well. We hope to rectify that soon! And tuck this name away for a later day ... Indiana Brew Works.
Anyway, I finally got around to kegging the saison last week while brewing my second batch of the year (11B02), an extract clone of Geary's Pale Ale. I brewed this last Friday and will keg this Friday. After force carbonating and trying out my new Beer Gun, I'll be taking a few bottles to the August meeting of the Indiana, PA Alesmiths (IPAs) for an intraclub competition. Should be interesting to taste everyone's version of the same extract/all-grain recipe, and hopefully mine will hold up despite its young age!
A colleague and friend of mine has been growing his own Cascade hops - last week he surprised me with a generous gift of a mason jar jam-packed with over 9 ounces of freshly picked hop cones (lightly dried). I'll be using some of these to dry hop the pale ale on Friday.
The cider I made last October is still sitting in a carboy in the cellar. I hit it with a lambic yeast mix and there's a nice white pellicle (sp?) sitting on top of it. Just have to figure out how to sweeten it a bit before kegging and bottling!
Three friends and I have also been putting together a nice 10 gallon all-grain system in a garage, including a nice counterflow chiller. We brewed a couple of batches this year, but due to various circumstances (busy schedules, old yeast, new system, etc.), they didn't turn out well. We hope to rectify that soon! And tuck this name away for a later day ... Indiana Brew Works.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Earth Bread + Brewery Delivers
I suppose you could take that title to mean a few different things, but this past Monday evening, it was quite literal! Indiana Homebrewer Co-founder Emeritus Jon (aka santoslhalper) came back to western PA for a few days from Philly. On Monday night, he stopped in Indiana to visit a few of us who remain in town. Jon is now an assistant brewer at Earth Bread + Brewery in Philly.
'Round about 7pm, Jon and the rest of the crew (Dave, Justin, James, and Joe) popped over to my house for a tasting. Jon brought with him four growlers of Earth Bread + Brewery beers: Durham Strasse (a Berliner Weisse), 2bok4sur (a Doppelbock), Resin 2 Smile (an IPA), and Biere de Septembre (a biere de garde).
After those, we opened up a bottle of homebrew from an acquaintance of mine from work - it was superb sour Belgian ale and I hope that we'll get more soon. Finally, we cracked open the last four homebrews that a few of us have been working on with the 10-gallon all-grain system. We had a bitter, a saison, a lager, and pale ale.
All in all, a great evening. A big thanks to Jon for hauling growlers across the state for us. He left with a case of our homebrew, but I think we still got the better end of that deal!
'Round about 7pm, Jon and the rest of the crew (Dave, Justin, James, and Joe) popped over to my house for a tasting. Jon brought with him four growlers of Earth Bread + Brewery beers: Durham Strasse (a Berliner Weisse), 2bok4sur (a Doppelbock), Resin 2 Smile (an IPA), and Biere de Septembre (a biere de garde).
After those, we opened up a bottle of homebrew from an acquaintance of mine from work - it was superb sour Belgian ale and I hope that we'll get more soon. Finally, we cracked open the last four homebrews that a few of us have been working on with the 10-gallon all-grain system. We had a bitter, a saison, a lager, and pale ale.
All in all, a great evening. A big thanks to Jon for hauling growlers across the state for us. He left with a case of our homebrew, but I think we still got the better end of that deal!
Friday, September 25, 2009
A Busy Brew Night
Last night was our first brewing night in a couple of weeks and our last for a couple of weeks. Between some conflicts and travel plans, getting four of us together at once gets to be difficult sometimes.
Regardless, last night was productive. Joe brewed up a 10-gallon batch of pilsener, and while he was doing that, Dave and I were packaging a back log of brews. First, we bottled a 5-gallon batch of Joe's first pilsener. Next up was Dave's first 10-gallon batch of a bitter, which we split into half - two cases of bottles and a five-gallon keg. Finally, we ended with my last 10-gallon batch of saison (tasted great!), with five gallons going into a keg, and two cases of bottles.
Had a good brew night and finished all the bottling/kegging within our normal brewing night time. I have to say, I hate bottling and last night was not my idea of fun, but I'll appreciate it more when I can crack open a few of those bottles and enjoy some great homebrew.
Regardless, last night was productive. Joe brewed up a 10-gallon batch of pilsener, and while he was doing that, Dave and I were packaging a back log of brews. First, we bottled a 5-gallon batch of Joe's first pilsener. Next up was Dave's first 10-gallon batch of a bitter, which we split into half - two cases of bottles and a five-gallon keg. Finally, we ended with my last 10-gallon batch of saison (tasted great!), with five gallons going into a keg, and two cases of bottles.
Had a good brew night and finished all the bottling/kegging within our normal brewing night time. I have to say, I hate bottling and last night was not my idea of fun, but I'll appreciate it more when I can crack open a few of those bottles and enjoy some great homebrew.
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
My First 10 Gallon Batch
Short post. Tonight I made my first ever 10 gallon all grain. It was a simple saison recipe that I scaled up from a 5 gallon recipe that I did a month ago. The first batch of saison that I made on July 28 was kegged up two weeks ago and served at a party at our house. With 50 guests, several of them beer lovers and homebrewers, it took all of 3 hours to kill 5 gallons.
So, tonight I scaled up to 10 gallons. The only major changes were, hopefully, improvements. Last time I used a little wheat DME. This time, it was all grain. I used 16 lbs of pilsner malt, 2 lbs of wheat malt, and 2 lbs of honey. I used Hersbrucker and Hallertauer, and a touch of crushed coriander. Pitched with saison yeast.
I doughed in at 5:40 and pitched by 9:50, so not too bad for double the liquid volume!
So, tonight I scaled up to 10 gallons. The only major changes were, hopefully, improvements. Last time I used a little wheat DME. This time, it was all grain. I used 16 lbs of pilsner malt, 2 lbs of wheat malt, and 2 lbs of honey. I used Hersbrucker and Hallertauer, and a touch of crushed coriander. Pitched with saison yeast.
I doughed in at 5:40 and pitched by 9:50, so not too bad for double the liquid volume!
Sunday, August 02, 2009
Another IPA with Erick
Today I helped Erick make an extract IPA. We started with 1 lb Crystal 60°L and some leftover Belgian aromatic malt, crushed with a rolling pin and steeped for 30 min.
Once that was sparged, we boiled and added 3 lbs. XLDME and 4 lbs LME.
1 oz. Phoenix (60 min)
3/4 oz. EKG (15 min)
3/4 oz. Cascade (15 min)
1 oz. Cascade (1 min)
1/2 oz. EKG (1 min)
O.G. was a little lower than we'd hoped for at 1.040. Pitched at 70°F with 1056 American Ale, and he'll dry hop in secondary with another 1 oz. Cascade.
Once that was sparged, we boiled and added 3 lbs. XLDME and 4 lbs LME.
1 oz. Phoenix (60 min)
3/4 oz. EKG (15 min)
3/4 oz. Cascade (15 min)
1 oz. Cascade (1 min)
1/2 oz. EKG (1 min)
O.G. was a little lower than we'd hoped for at 1.040. Pitched at 70°F with 1056 American Ale, and he'll dry hop in secondary with another 1 oz. Cascade.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Brewing Update
So a couple of us have gotten together the last few weeks and brewed some all grain beer. Tonight was my turn as Der Braumeister and I opted to make a saison. Dough-in to yeast pitch was 3:45, and my new mash tun worked really well. Our efficiency was a bit low, but I think that might be a result of the milling.
- 8 lb 2-row pilsner malt
- 1 lb aromatic
- 1 lb extra light DME (boil)
- 1 lb wheat DME (boil)
- 1 lb honey (5 min boil)
- Hersbrucker (1 oz @60 min; 0.75 oz @20 min; 0.25 oz @2 min)
- 2 tsp coriander
- WL Belgian ale pitched at 70°F
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
My First Kegging Experience
So today, finally, after a long wait to get my equipment and some time, I kegged homebrew for the first time. And I am excited. Ever since my first few batches, I have loathed and continue to loathe one step in all of homebrewing: bottling. I do it; I help others do it. But I don't like it. Hence my excitement for kegging. And actually, the delay in kegging has affected my homebrewing output. I swore to myself that I would not brew another batch of beer after the Belgian ale (sorta Leffe clone) in April 2008 until I kegged it.
Well, short of helping some others brew and teaching the Brewpub and Brewery Operations course, I have not brewed at home since batch 08B03. Sad, I know, but I'm stubborn sometimes.
Anyway ... I've had five Corny kegs sitting in my basement for a while now, gracious gifts from my friend Tom, whose cousin gave him about 40 of the things from the Pepsi plant. A few weeks ago, I placed an order with Leeners.com for some connections, O-rings, and a few other gadgets in order to wash and recondition the kegs. Last week, I cleaned up two of them, then placed an order with BeverageFactory.com for a CO2 tank, regulator, and a couple of picnic taps. The tank and regulator arrived via FedEx this afternoon, and I got the 5-lb tank filled at the local oxygen gas place for $10.
So, after sanitizing two kegs with iodophor, I racked the beer from the carboy into the first keg that I'd purged with CO2. After putting some pressure on it, I submerged the bottom quarter of it in a bucket of ice water to try to cool it down as much as possible. For non-chemists, carbon dioxide gas dissolves much easier (i.e., with less pressure) in colder liquid than in warmer liquid. I've got about 10 lbs pressure on it right now and I shake it periodically.
After is cools down some more, I'm going to force the beer from the first keg to the second sanitized keg while holding pressure. This mixing/moving should help carbonate the beer more quickly that placing static pressure on it. My friend Tom does this up to four times (hell, he has enough kegs to do it). Hopefully then, the beer in the second keg will be cold and better carbonated, then I can really shake it up, roll it on the floor, etc. in order to mix in the gas. It should be ready for serving on Friday and Saturday for our family's reunion.
The beer itself? Well, it started out as a Belgian blonde-ish Leffe clone, but after 15 months in the basement, it's gotten a little richer than that. I took the final gravity today at 1.008, that's down from 1.072 - so we're looking at 8.4% abv. And it tastes darn fine ... can't wait to drink it in two days, rather than waiting three or more weeks had I bottled it.
Now all I need is a counter-pressure bottle filler ;)
Well, short of helping some others brew and teaching the Brewpub and Brewery Operations course, I have not brewed at home since batch 08B03. Sad, I know, but I'm stubborn sometimes.
Anyway ... I've had five Corny kegs sitting in my basement for a while now, gracious gifts from my friend Tom, whose cousin gave him about 40 of the things from the Pepsi plant. A few weeks ago, I placed an order with Leeners.com for some connections, O-rings, and a few other gadgets in order to wash and recondition the kegs. Last week, I cleaned up two of them, then placed an order with BeverageFactory.com for a CO2 tank, regulator, and a couple of picnic taps. The tank and regulator arrived via FedEx this afternoon, and I got the 5-lb tank filled at the local oxygen gas place for $10.
So, after sanitizing two kegs with iodophor, I racked the beer from the carboy into the first keg that I'd purged with CO2. After putting some pressure on it, I submerged the bottom quarter of it in a bucket of ice water to try to cool it down as much as possible. For non-chemists, carbon dioxide gas dissolves much easier (i.e., with less pressure) in colder liquid than in warmer liquid. I've got about 10 lbs pressure on it right now and I shake it periodically.
After is cools down some more, I'm going to force the beer from the first keg to the second sanitized keg while holding pressure. This mixing/moving should help carbonate the beer more quickly that placing static pressure on it. My friend Tom does this up to four times (hell, he has enough kegs to do it). Hopefully then, the beer in the second keg will be cold and better carbonated, then I can really shake it up, roll it on the floor, etc. in order to mix in the gas. It should be ready for serving on Friday and Saturday for our family's reunion.
The beer itself? Well, it started out as a Belgian blonde-ish Leffe clone, but after 15 months in the basement, it's gotten a little richer than that. I took the final gravity today at 1.008, that's down from 1.072 - so we're looking at 8.4% abv. And it tastes darn fine ... can't wait to drink it in two days, rather than waiting three or more weeks had I bottled it.
Now all I need is a counter-pressure bottle filler ;)
Sunday, December 07, 2008
Looking Forward to Brewing Again!
Crikey! It's December already. Time is flying. So, I've not brewed since April, and the secondary carboy now has some nice mold growing on the top of the last beer I made. I'm still going to try to keg the stuff to see how it goes, but I've distanced myself enough from that batch that I won't be horribly upset if it gets trashed (though I'm hoping it's not).
On Friday, Erick and I went out to our local homebrew store to pick up some carboys I need for a chemistry experiment (non-brewing, unfortunately) and we each placed an order for some supplies. Erick's going to brew the IPA we made back in January, in addition to a Belgian white he's going to make for his wife. I'm going to try an Abbey Dubbel for a change, and may or may not add some spices to it. We'll see.
Some local beer news of late: The Coney now has a Marzoni's tap (Avalanche IPA), which many of us here are extremely about; Marzoni's also has now two really tasty special brews on tap: Hoppy Saison and Bill's 5th Anniversary Barley Wine; Otto's has a great apple-flavored tripel available; and Scott at East End has been busy creating some great stuff for the holidays.
Our December homebrew club meeting is just going to be an unofficial gathering of whomever can show up - it's busy this time of year with holiday and family obligations. I finally signed up for a subscription to Brew Your Own, since I keep buying it at the newsstand price.
Over the holiday break, I'm hoping to get down East to see some friends of mine, including Jon, and to visit some fine brewing establishments.
Other excitement lately is that I finally got out for a day of deer hunting this year - the first time since 2000 or 2001. My cousin from Ohio got the one 8-point that roams our hollow, but I had a great time. Tomorrow, I was supposed to go to jury duty, but because this is finals week I was granted a pass. Bummer, because I could have sat on a murder trial (though I have an idea that lawyers aren't too crazy about having academics on juries).
On Friday, Erick and I went out to our local homebrew store to pick up some carboys I need for a chemistry experiment (non-brewing, unfortunately) and we each placed an order for some supplies. Erick's going to brew the IPA we made back in January, in addition to a Belgian white he's going to make for his wife. I'm going to try an Abbey Dubbel for a change, and may or may not add some spices to it. We'll see.
Some local beer news of late: The Coney now has a Marzoni's tap (Avalanche IPA), which many of us here are extremely about; Marzoni's also has now two really tasty special brews on tap: Hoppy Saison and Bill's 5th Anniversary Barley Wine; Otto's has a great apple-flavored tripel available; and Scott at East End has been busy creating some great stuff for the holidays.
Our December homebrew club meeting is just going to be an unofficial gathering of whomever can show up - it's busy this time of year with holiday and family obligations. I finally signed up for a subscription to Brew Your Own, since I keep buying it at the newsstand price.
Over the holiday break, I'm hoping to get down East to see some friends of mine, including Jon, and to visit some fine brewing establishments.
Other excitement lately is that I finally got out for a day of deer hunting this year - the first time since 2000 or 2001. My cousin from Ohio got the one 8-point that roams our hollow, but I had a great time. Tomorrow, I was supposed to go to jury duty, but because this is finals week I was granted a pass. Bummer, because I could have sat on a murder trial (though I have an idea that lawyers aren't too crazy about having academics on juries).
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Homebrew Club 1st Anniversary
Hard to believe, but tonight our Indiana Homebrewers Club celebrates one year of official existence. Well, not official in terms of being recognized by any actual authority, but at least official to those of us who run and attend the meetings, and official enough to The Coney, who graciously hosts our meetings every month.
Looking back, it's been a successful year. Our membership is modest but fairly steady, and quite satisfactory for a town of this size. We usually have between 10-15 members at each meeting. We try each time to have a point of discussion, whether its different styles of beer or tips & tricks of homebrewing or the hop shortage. And of course, we have a couple of homebrew samples each time to enjoy.
For our first anniversary, we've invited Bill Kroft, the brewer at Marzoni's Brick Oven & Brewery to come over to talk to us and bring a few samples of his terrific beer. It'll give the members a chance to talk to a professional brewer (who started as a homebrewer) about brewing, and hopefully get the Coney interested in tapping into some local micros!
For the coming year, perhaps we can start to cook up some more activities as a group. Helping Scott at East End hand bottle beers, or have some of us help out at the 2009 Pints for Pets (tentative date: May 30), or perhaps even get something started in Indiana. Only time will tell.
Looking back, it's been a successful year. Our membership is modest but fairly steady, and quite satisfactory for a town of this size. We usually have between 10-15 members at each meeting. We try each time to have a point of discussion, whether its different styles of beer or tips & tricks of homebrewing or the hop shortage. And of course, we have a couple of homebrew samples each time to enjoy.
For our first anniversary, we've invited Bill Kroft, the brewer at Marzoni's Brick Oven & Brewery to come over to talk to us and bring a few samples of his terrific beer. It'll give the members a chance to talk to a professional brewer (who started as a homebrewer) about brewing, and hopefully get the Coney interested in tapping into some local micros!
For the coming year, perhaps we can start to cook up some more activities as a group. Helping Scott at East End hand bottle beers, or have some of us help out at the 2009 Pints for Pets (tentative date: May 30), or perhaps even get something started in Indiana. Only time will tell.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Monkey Boy, Smokin' Joe's, and Another Batch Bottled
Yesterday, Dana and I went to Pittsburgh for the day. After having breakfast at Cafe 701 (isn't there a Cafe ### in just about every town?) with our friend Erick (also now a homebrewer), we got ready and hit the road. Well, I should say, first we did some stuff around the house and left around 11:30.
We decided the main visit of the day would be Phipps Conservatory. Dana wanted to see the spring flowers and also the newly opened butterfly forest exhibit. But first, I had an errand to run since we'd be on the right side of town - that is, get a growler of East End Monkey Boy, a really nice German Hefeweizen that Scott debuted last month. I was hoping to get some before it was gone (like the fate of the Cherry Grisette!), since I don't make it down as often as I would like. We strolled in at 12:45 or so .. absolutely empty, unlike every other Saturday visit I've had.
By this time, we were hungry, so we drove over to Shadyside for lunch at Girasole, a nice little Italian bistro on Copeland Street. Luckily, we got a table inside and not the patio, because half way through our meal the skies opened up for a nice shower.
After lunch, we hit Phipps and walked around for over an hour and a half. Nice place. While inside, a big booming thunderstorm passed - amazing how much water really comes down when the whole ceiling is made of glass! Dana picked up a neat little garden decoration - a tiny solar-powered 'lamp' with a hand-blown glass flower top. We put it out today, and as I write this I see it glowing in the dark out in the back yard. Kinda cool.
From Phipps, we took a slightly scenic drive through Schenley Park and over to Homestead, where we drove around the Waterworks 'mall' area. There's a Rock Bottom there, but we skipped that this time. I visited one in Seattle last summer, but wasn't hugely impressed - especially compared to our local scene. We killed some time, instead, in Barnes & Noble, where I read through a few beer magazines.
Next, it was on to the South Side. We tried to get a table at Fat Heads, but the wait was an hour! So we ambled down a block or so to Smokin' Joe's. We found no wait, and a nice tap selection. Between us, we had a Stoudt's Abbey Tripel, a Magic Hat Odd Notion Irish Red Ale, a Boulder Beer Obovoid Empirical Stout, and a Dogfish Head Burton Baton.
Slightly happy now, we decided not to eat there, but rather head across the street to Primanti Bros. Again, if you've not been to Pittsburgh or have been but not eaten here - do yourself a favor! The best place to have one is the original 18th Street location in the Strip District, but you can find them several places now, including PNC Park for a Pirates game.
After dinner, we were tuckered out form the day and drove back home.
Today, I bottled the Coffee Porter I made back in January. I'm a little slow this year! Anyway, it finished at 1.011 and tasted pretty fine. I hope it will be ready for the grand tasting during our Homebrew Club meeting on May 13!
We decided the main visit of the day would be Phipps Conservatory. Dana wanted to see the spring flowers and also the newly opened butterfly forest exhibit. But first, I had an errand to run since we'd be on the right side of town - that is, get a growler of East End Monkey Boy, a really nice German Hefeweizen that Scott debuted last month. I was hoping to get some before it was gone (like the fate of the Cherry Grisette!), since I don't make it down as often as I would like. We strolled in at 12:45 or so .. absolutely empty, unlike every other Saturday visit I've had.
By this time, we were hungry, so we drove over to Shadyside for lunch at Girasole, a nice little Italian bistro on Copeland Street. Luckily, we got a table inside and not the patio, because half way through our meal the skies opened up for a nice shower.
After lunch, we hit Phipps and walked around for over an hour and a half. Nice place. While inside, a big booming thunderstorm passed - amazing how much water really comes down when the whole ceiling is made of glass! Dana picked up a neat little garden decoration - a tiny solar-powered 'lamp' with a hand-blown glass flower top. We put it out today, and as I write this I see it glowing in the dark out in the back yard. Kinda cool.
From Phipps, we took a slightly scenic drive through Schenley Park and over to Homestead, where we drove around the Waterworks 'mall' area. There's a Rock Bottom there, but we skipped that this time. I visited one in Seattle last summer, but wasn't hugely impressed - especially compared to our local scene. We killed some time, instead, in Barnes & Noble, where I read through a few beer magazines.
Next, it was on to the South Side. We tried to get a table at Fat Heads, but the wait was an hour! So we ambled down a block or so to Smokin' Joe's. We found no wait, and a nice tap selection. Between us, we had a Stoudt's Abbey Tripel, a Magic Hat Odd Notion Irish Red Ale, a Boulder Beer Obovoid Empirical Stout, and a Dogfish Head Burton Baton.
Slightly happy now, we decided not to eat there, but rather head across the street to Primanti Bros. Again, if you've not been to Pittsburgh or have been but not eaten here - do yourself a favor! The best place to have one is the original 18th Street location in the Strip District, but you can find them several places now, including PNC Park for a Pirates game.
After dinner, we were tuckered out form the day and drove back home.
Today, I bottled the Coffee Porter I made back in January. I'm a little slow this year! Anyway, it finished at 1.011 and tasted pretty fine. I hope it will be ready for the grand tasting during our Homebrew Club meeting on May 13!
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Handbook of Brewing
So I purchased some books the other day for work (both research and teaching) and threw in a couple of on-the-border titles (meaning I don't use them yet at work but I might) that I found particularly interesting. Couple of food chemistry books, one on malting and mashing, and then Handbook of Brewing (2 ed) by Priest & Stewart.
Holy crap, what an awesome book for beer/science geeks. It's a CRC publication under the Food Science and Technology series (with almost 100 titles ranging from food analysis, drug residues in food, food toxicology, dairy science, and oenology, etc.).
Anyway, I think at some point I'm going to have to teach a food/brewing chemistry class as an elective. Fascinating stuff considering we're putting this in our bodies several times a day.
Holy crap, what an awesome book for beer/science geeks. It's a CRC publication under the Food Science and Technology series (with almost 100 titles ranging from food analysis, drug residues in food, food toxicology, dairy science, and oenology, etc.).
Anyway, I think at some point I'm going to have to teach a food/brewing chemistry class as an elective. Fascinating stuff considering we're putting this in our bodies several times a day.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Homebrewing a Blonde Abbey Ale
It's pretty crappy out today, like it has been all week, and the rain just keeps coming. Well, what better activity to chase away the March blahs than beer brewing!
This evening, I'm making a partial mash-extract Blonde Abbey Ale, based on a Leffe Blonde clone recipe.
To start, I'm adding 3.5qt of 155 °F filtered water to: 2.5lb 2-row pilsner malt; 4.0oz each Belgian biscuit, Belgian aromatic, German Munich malts; and 2.0oz honey malt.
I let that sit at ~141 °F for 30 minutes. Now, I'm borrowing a simple picnic cooler and putting the grains into a grain sock, so adequately mixing the grains is difficult and I'm sure I'm going to have cold spots in there which will affect the efficiency. But it's my first partial mash (PM), so not everything is optimal. My next step will be to buy my own mini cooler (this is Dave's cooler) and add a screen at the bottom so that I don't have to keep using grain socks.
While this was going on, I brought 2 gallons of filtered water to a boil on the stove. By the time 30 minutes was up, the water was down to about 200 °F. I added roughly 1.5qts of this into the cooler to bring the temperature up to ~150 °F, and I let that sit for 60 minutes.
At this point Jon arrived, and we chatted for a bit over a Weihenstephaner Korbinian, a German Doppelbock. He stepped out for an errand, and I prepped the sparge water by bringing the temperature up to ~178 °F.
Sparged and drew off enough liquor, as best I could ... difficult without a true grain bed. Regardless, I got at least 1.5 gallons of wort. Brought this to a boil, then added 6lbs of Extra Light DME, then added enough water to make ~2.5 gallons for the boil.
After the hot break, I added about 5oz of clear candi sugar and 1oz of Brewers Gold (6.8%AA). Boiled for 45 minutes and added irish moss and about 0.7oz of Hallertau Hersbrucker (3.3%AA) for flavor. Meanwhile, Jon had returned with Autumn, and we watched some goofy crap on YouTube, like Star Wars kid and the Sarah Silverman/Jimmy Kimmel video war (with Matt Damon, Ben Affleck) ... all the while sipping a nice Nils Oscar Imperial Stout, which I'd had before during a hedonistic RateBeer Summer Gathering in Stockholm (Jul 04). Good to try it again.
Boiled another 15 minutes, killed the heat, and put the pot in the sink to chill. Brought the volume up to ~5.2 gallons and checked the O.G. (1.072!). I then added a slap pack of Wyeast 1214 Abbey Ale and a year+old pack of Wyeast 1762 Abbey Ale II. Temperature was about 65 °F, so I capped it off and set the bucket next to the radiator.
And that, for a rainy Wednesday, is that.
This evening, I'm making a partial mash-extract Blonde Abbey Ale, based on a Leffe Blonde clone recipe.
To start, I'm adding 3.5qt of 155 °F filtered water to: 2.5lb 2-row pilsner malt; 4.0oz each Belgian biscuit, Belgian aromatic, German Munich malts; and 2.0oz honey malt.
I let that sit at ~141 °F for 30 minutes. Now, I'm borrowing a simple picnic cooler and putting the grains into a grain sock, so adequately mixing the grains is difficult and I'm sure I'm going to have cold spots in there which will affect the efficiency. But it's my first partial mash (PM), so not everything is optimal. My next step will be to buy my own mini cooler (this is Dave's cooler) and add a screen at the bottom so that I don't have to keep using grain socks.
While this was going on, I brought 2 gallons of filtered water to a boil on the stove. By the time 30 minutes was up, the water was down to about 200 °F. I added roughly 1.5qts of this into the cooler to bring the temperature up to ~150 °F, and I let that sit for 60 minutes.
At this point Jon arrived, and we chatted for a bit over a Weihenstephaner Korbinian, a German Doppelbock. He stepped out for an errand, and I prepped the sparge water by bringing the temperature up to ~178 °F.
Sparged and drew off enough liquor, as best I could ... difficult without a true grain bed. Regardless, I got at least 1.5 gallons of wort. Brought this to a boil, then added 6lbs of Extra Light DME, then added enough water to make ~2.5 gallons for the boil.
After the hot break, I added about 5oz of clear candi sugar and 1oz of Brewers Gold (6.8%AA). Boiled for 45 minutes and added irish moss and about 0.7oz of Hallertau Hersbrucker (3.3%AA) for flavor. Meanwhile, Jon had returned with Autumn, and we watched some goofy crap on YouTube, like Star Wars kid and the Sarah Silverman/Jimmy Kimmel video war (with Matt Damon, Ben Affleck) ... all the while sipping a nice Nils Oscar Imperial Stout, which I'd had before during a hedonistic RateBeer Summer Gathering in Stockholm (Jul 04). Good to try it again.
Boiled another 15 minutes, killed the heat, and put the pot in the sink to chill. Brought the volume up to ~5.2 gallons and checked the O.G. (1.072!). I then added a slap pack of Wyeast 1214 Abbey Ale and a year+old pack of Wyeast 1762 Abbey Ale II. Temperature was about 65 °F, so I capped it off and set the bucket next to the radiator.
And that, for a rainy Wednesday, is that.
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Jon's Homebrewed Milk Stout
My friend Jon, co-exec of the homebrew club came over to borrow "Clone Brews" and brought me a bomber of his latest beer ... a milk stout (which he named ??, I forget). He used a bunch of lactose on this one, and oh boy is it creamy!
Thanks, Jon! This'll be a great contender for March!
Malted milk chocolate nose, just a bit of lactic or priming sugar twang. Light coffee notes and sweet undertones. Dark brown-black clear with a thin creamy light tan lacing head atop. Medium bodied but very creamy, with light carbonation. Starts and stays quite sweet throughout, but not cloying. Some roasty notes with a creamy, tangy note. Clean finish.
Thanks, Jon! This'll be a great contender for March!
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Added the Coffee
A big thanks again to TJ at Commonplace Coffee ... he gave me a quart of cold-pressed Sumatran Mandheling coffee extract to add to the porter. I brought it up to boiling, then quick-cooled before adding to the secondary fermenter. Going to give it a couple of more weeks before bottling. Gotta get it ready for Febtoberfest!
Edit: In answer to Eli's question in comment 1: Yep, I boiled it last time, too. You're right in that boiled coffee can be harsh, but the difference here (at least I think it is) is that boiling/hot water was not used to extract anything from the beans, which will give that bitterness. Rather, the coffee was extracted using cold water, then the extract was brought to a boil. I suspect that if I let it boil for a while, the "cooking" reactions would impart harsh flavors, but it was just to do a quick sanitize and I cooled it down immediately. Only time will tell if this batch comes out as nice as the first one!
Edit: Adam, check out Toddy Coffee; this is the little device that my buddy TJ uses to make cold extracts. They use it for making really good iced coffee in the summer. It is indeed smooth!
Edit: In answer to Eli's question in comment 1: Yep, I boiled it last time, too. You're right in that boiled coffee can be harsh, but the difference here (at least I think it is) is that boiling/hot water was not used to extract anything from the beans, which will give that bitterness. Rather, the coffee was extracted using cold water, then the extract was brought to a boil. I suspect that if I let it boil for a while, the "cooking" reactions would impart harsh flavors, but it was just to do a quick sanitize and I cooled it down immediately. Only time will tell if this batch comes out as nice as the first one!
Edit: Adam, check out Toddy Coffee; this is the little device that my buddy TJ uses to make cold extracts. They use it for making really good iced coffee in the summer. It is indeed smooth!
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
IPA and Coffee Porter to Secondary
My buddy Erick came over after work today and I helped him rack his first batch of homebrew to secondary. The gravity was at 1.010, so looking good. Tasted pretty good. We dry hopped it with 1 oz. of Cascade flower at 7.4%AA.
After that, I transferred my coffee porter to secondary. I'll be picking up the coffee extract (going with a quart of cold-pressed Sumatran Mandheling from Commonplace again). Porter gravity was at 1.011 and tasted super.
Can't wait for both of these to be done!
After that, I transferred my coffee porter to secondary. I'll be picking up the coffee extract (going with a quart of cold-pressed Sumatran Mandheling from Commonplace again). Porter gravity was at 1.011 and tasted super.
Can't wait for both of these to be done!
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Beer, Books, and Yogurt
Both brews from this week (porter and IPA) are finished bubbling vigorously, but I didn't get a chance to rack to secondary today. With IUP's semester starting tomorrow, there were just too many others things to attend to.
Over the weekend, I was point towards a cool book site, where you can 'rate' and review books that you've read, share lists with friends, join discussion groups, etc. If you're a bookworm, and haven't already found it, check out goodreads.com. It's a free account, and you just need a valid email. I've kept a list of books that I've read over the years because every time I go to the library, I need to remind myself if I've read a book or not. It's particularly a problem with all the popular fiction I read where authors tend to make similar titles - like John Sandford's "Prey" titles, or James Patterson's nursery rhyme homages. I really need to read some more 'classic' literature, but by the time I get done with a day of technical reading, I just wanna unwind with books I don't have to think about.
Finally, in the spirit of fermentation, I broke out the yogurt maker tonight (first time in a long time), and made a batch for the week. One of these days, I want to try to make cheese!
Over the weekend, I was point towards a cool book site, where you can 'rate' and review books that you've read, share lists with friends, join discussion groups, etc. If you're a bookworm, and haven't already found it, check out goodreads.com. It's a free account, and you just need a valid email. I've kept a list of books that I've read over the years because every time I go to the library, I need to remind myself if I've read a book or not. It's particularly a problem with all the popular fiction I read where authors tend to make similar titles - like John Sandford's "Prey" titles, or James Patterson's nursery rhyme homages. I really need to read some more 'classic' literature, but by the time I get done with a day of technical reading, I just wanna unwind with books I don't have to think about.
Finally, in the spirit of fermentation, I broke out the yogurt maker tonight (first time in a long time), and made a batch for the week. One of these days, I want to try to make cheese!
Thursday, January 10, 2008
A Symphony of Bubbling
Walked into my kitchen this morning to find two 5 gallon primary buckets bubbling away nicely, with the metronomic clicking of two airlocks (not in synch, however). 'Tis a beautiful thing.
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Homebrew #2 for 2008 - Teaching a Friend
Two days in a row of homebrewing broke my dry spell quite well (hadn't brewed since August '07!)
Today, I tutored a buddy on extract brewing. Erick, also neighbor/colleague and fellow Indiana Homebrewers Club member, wanted to get started in brewing. He purchased ingredients for an IPA, his wife (for Xmas present) bought a carboy and bottling bucket, and I supplied some miscellaneous gear and my kitchen.
Erick came over at 2pm and I walked him through the extract brewing process ... by 5:30, the yeast was pitched and we were cleaned up. A bit shorter than yesterday!
Here's the recipe for Erick's IPA:
- 4 lbs. pale LME
- 3 lbs. extra light DME
- 10 oz 40 °L crystal malt
- 1.5 oz Nugget (60 min)
- 3/4 oz. each Northdown, Willamette; 1/4 oz. Nugget (15 min)
- 1/4 oz. each Northdown, Willamette, Nugget (1 min)
- pitched with Wyeast 1056
- O.G. 1.051
Today, I tutored a buddy on extract brewing. Erick, also neighbor/colleague and fellow Indiana Homebrewers Club member, wanted to get started in brewing. He purchased ingredients for an IPA, his wife (for Xmas present) bought a carboy and bottling bucket, and I supplied some miscellaneous gear and my kitchen.
Erick came over at 2pm and I walked him through the extract brewing process ... by 5:30, the yeast was pitched and we were cleaned up. A bit shorter than yesterday!
Here's the recipe for Erick's IPA:
- 4 lbs. pale LME
- 3 lbs. extra light DME
- 10 oz 40 °L crystal malt
- 1.5 oz Nugget (60 min)
- 3/4 oz. each Northdown, Willamette; 1/4 oz. Nugget (15 min)
- 1/4 oz. each Northdown, Willamette, Nugget (1 min)
- pitched with Wyeast 1056
- O.G. 1.051
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
A Warm January Day: Brewing, Tasting, Homebrew Club
Some days just beg to be taken advantage of ... and today is one of those days. This is going to be one long post; edited periodically.
10am: Filling up the brewing keg with filtered water and got the burner going. It's a bit windy on the porch, but sunny and warm.
11:30am: Just started the mash for my Commonplace Coffee Porter in a converted picnic cooler. 12 lbs 2-row pale; 1 lb British chocolate malt; 12 oz 60 °L crystal; 6 oz. dextrin malt; 4 oz. black malt; and 1 oz. roasted barley. Added 14 qt of 155° water and brought mash up to ~144° Letting it sit for 30 min.
While that's steeping, I'm trying out the connections of my newly-crafted wort chiller (same one from before, just better fittings). ... :( ... one of the hoses will fit but the other won't. That's confounding, as they're both garden hoses, and both fittings are the same. Well, the input hose is leak free, so I'll just have to hold the output over the porch railing. Back to the drawing board for that!
12:10pm: Just added 6 qts of 200° water to bring mash up to around 150° which is a tad low. In keeping with what I did last time, I'm going to take a few quarts of the mash and boil, then add back to the mash. I think it gives it a bit more maltiness - like a decoction mash.
12:15pm: Just finished adding the water above when the phone rings ... it's a reporter from the local paper wanting to know if he and a photog can come to tonight's homebrew club meeting. This day is just getting better and better. Time for a lunch break.
1:30pm: The starch test was good, ready to sparge. Forgot how much my keg cools down, so I have to wait a few minutes to get my sparge water up to temp again. I'll wait while sipping a Stone Pale Ale.
1:45pm: Startin' the sparge.
2:30pm: Sparging is done. Pulled off approximately 6 gallons of wort, then started the burner.
3:25pm: Windy out ... took a bit longer to get the boil going. After the hot break, added Cascade and Northern Brewer (used 3/4 oz. each) in a hop sock. Let 'er go for 45 minutes. Added the irish moss, and put in the wort chiller to sanitize.
4:40: Started chillin'. Got the primary bucket ready & sanitized.
5:05: Chilled to about 90°, transferred to primary bucket. Got just under 5 gallons, so I added a bit of cold water to bring to 5 gallons. S.G. at 80°F was 1.058, so that's 1.060 at 60°F. Pitched Wyeast 1056 and locked up.
7:00pm: Went up to Dave's for a pre-meeting meeting. We (Dave, Justing, and Eli) sampled a Three Floyds Dreadnaught and a 'black lager' homebrew. From there, we all went up to the Coney for the January Indiana Homebrewers Club meeting, where we watched a DVD on all-grain brewing after getting some pictures taken for the local paper. After the video, we sampled four different beers from various members.
All in all, quite a nice beer day.
10am: Filling up the brewing keg with filtered water and got the burner going. It's a bit windy on the porch, but sunny and warm.
11:30am: Just started the mash for my Commonplace Coffee Porter in a converted picnic cooler. 12 lbs 2-row pale; 1 lb British chocolate malt; 12 oz 60 °L crystal; 6 oz. dextrin malt; 4 oz. black malt; and 1 oz. roasted barley. Added 14 qt of 155° water and brought mash up to ~144° Letting it sit for 30 min.
While that's steeping, I'm trying out the connections of my newly-crafted wort chiller (same one from before, just better fittings). ... :( ... one of the hoses will fit but the other won't. That's confounding, as they're both garden hoses, and both fittings are the same. Well, the input hose is leak free, so I'll just have to hold the output over the porch railing. Back to the drawing board for that!
12:10pm: Just added 6 qts of 200° water to bring mash up to around 150° which is a tad low. In keeping with what I did last time, I'm going to take a few quarts of the mash and boil, then add back to the mash. I think it gives it a bit more maltiness - like a decoction mash.
12:15pm: Just finished adding the water above when the phone rings ... it's a reporter from the local paper wanting to know if he and a photog can come to tonight's homebrew club meeting. This day is just getting better and better. Time for a lunch break.
1:30pm: The starch test was good, ready to sparge. Forgot how much my keg cools down, so I have to wait a few minutes to get my sparge water up to temp again. I'll wait while sipping a Stone Pale Ale.
1:45pm: Startin' the sparge.
2:30pm: Sparging is done. Pulled off approximately 6 gallons of wort, then started the burner.
3:25pm: Windy out ... took a bit longer to get the boil going. After the hot break, added Cascade and Northern Brewer (used 3/4 oz. each) in a hop sock. Let 'er go for 45 minutes. Added the irish moss, and put in the wort chiller to sanitize.
4:40: Started chillin'. Got the primary bucket ready & sanitized.
5:05: Chilled to about 90°, transferred to primary bucket. Got just under 5 gallons, so I added a bit of cold water to bring to 5 gallons. S.G. at 80°F was 1.058, so that's 1.060 at 60°F. Pitched Wyeast 1056 and locked up.
7:00pm: Went up to Dave's for a pre-meeting meeting. We (Dave, Justing, and Eli) sampled a Three Floyds Dreadnaught and a 'black lager' homebrew. From there, we all went up to the Coney for the January Indiana Homebrewers Club meeting, where we watched a DVD on all-grain brewing after getting some pictures taken for the local paper. After the video, we sampled four different beers from various members.
All in all, quite a nice beer day.
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