Category Archives: Homebrewing

Homebrewing, random thoughts, Technology

Day after Xmas… at werk.

I came in today thinking i’d be feeling creative and write a post. Well, here I am at 12:30 EST with no such creativity, but at least I’m writing. I plan to blog more in 2009, but then again, I think “Write more” was my resolution for 2008, and that went basically nowhere.

there are three other people in my group here today with me. I think there are maybe another 5-10 people here in addition. Makes sense to open the office for alllllll of those people, eh?

i got a new flash for my camera for xmas … Nikon SB-600. i don’t know what i’m doing with it, yet. guess this also locks me into Nikon, not that it’s a bad thing. the grass is always greener over at Canon…

my girlfriend is out shopping for her family’s party tomorrow. i’m sitting in the office freezing with the other people, all of whom are wearing jackets or other heavy attire. it’s current 39 outside in NYC.

i plan to brew on Sunday – an imperial stout. my last porter didn’t come out so great. a bit lacking in body, a bit too much alcohol burn, not enough vanilla. still very drinkable, just not fantastic. 5/10.

my inbox is barren, facebook is dead, no one’s on twitter, and even my rss feeds aren’t entertaining me.

why is it that we’re here today? i guess this is the entitlement society i keep hearing about. even Hale and Hearty doesn’t have a full selection of soups today.

yes, i’m bitter. and cold.

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Beer, Homebrewing

The Power of Yeast

Well, after a little over two months in secondary, we finally got around to bottling my latest homebrew, a porter. When I transferred to the secondary fermenter, I added a whole vanilla bean that was soaked in Jack Daniels for a couple of weeks. I also added the Jack Daniels. Unfortunately, there’s not much vanilla flavor; next time I’ll add another bean and cut them open, but there is a nice caramel flavor to the uncarbonated beer.

The big lesson with this batch is the effects of yeast on the beer. I used a Burton Ale yeast from White Labs. I should’ve known better (he says now), as I don’t really care for the “twang” of Bass Ale. Well, in my porter, you certainly get that Bass-like yeastiness. It was certainly interesting to see just how much of an effect the yeast has on the beer.

It’s not my best work, but it is still drinkable. It’s actually a bit lighter in color than I’d like. Maybe with some carbonation and time it will improve. I hope so, because I was planning on using some as gifts!

Labour Day Porter 2.0

12-C Baltic Porter

8.0 lb Dry Light Extract

1 lb American Chocolate Malt

.5 lb Caramunich® TYPE III

.5 lb British Crystal 55°L

1.0 oz Fuggle (4.0%) – added during boil, boiled 7 min

1.5 oz Super Styrian (7.0%) – added during boil, boiled 20 min

1 oz Super Styrian (7.0%) – added during boil, boiled 60 min

8.00 fl oz White Labs WLP023 Burton Ale

1.0 ea Vanilla (whole bean) – added dry to secondary fermenter

Results generated by BeerTools Pro 1.5.2

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Beer, Homebrewing, Uncategorized

IPA Update

1 Comment

Yesterday, Sunday, I transferred my latest India Pale Ale (IPA) from primary fermenter to secondary. While secondary is technically a misnomer (no further fermentation takes place), it clarifies the beer and lets the last bunch of dead yeast cells and hop detritus fall to the bottom of the carboy.

One of the joys of homebrewing is taking a gravity reading, which tells you the density of your beer, where 1.00 is plain water, and everything above it is, in this context, beer. Homebrewers check the starting gravity, then the gravity when transferring to either a secondary fermenter, bottles/kegs, and/or both. A hydrometer checks the gravity by taking a sample of the beer and placing it in a beaker. You then read the hydrometer as it floats in your oh-so-precious liquid. My final gravity (FG) was only two points off what the recipe said it should be (the recipe noted FG at 1.014; mine was 1.016). This just results in a bit less alcohol in the beer, but I’m not sure how accurate everything is, anyway.

To avoid contamination, the sample is never returned to the rest of the beer. However, it is completely drinkable, and I always drink it to see how my beer’s coming out.

And holy cow, was that sample good. It was almost exactly the taste I want from an IPA. It was bitter, without being too much so for a hop-head like me. I do think it’s a bit thin in the malt department; next time (and there will be a next time) I’ll be sure to add another pound of malt extract to counteract the bitterness.

I also added a half-ounce of Amarillo and half-ounce of Simcoe, the two hops used in the beer, to the secondary fermenter. This is known as dry-hopping. It doesn’t contribute to the bitterness of the beer, but adds to the delicious aroma.

A few weeks in the fermenter, then bottle day, then I can drink a few weeks later!
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Now playing: The Doors – Twentienth Century Fox
via FoxyTunes

Beer, Homebrewing

I bought fish supplies, and I don’t own fish

4 Comments

One of the, shall we say, issues confronting homebrewers is equipment: you never have enough. I buy something new seemingly every brew day. All purchases, so far, have been good purchases, and result in better beer.

Saturday was brew day; I believe it’s batch #9 since I started. Building on the success of my last batch, Wazzup Wit, I formulated a recipe, and submitted it for comments on a couple of beer forums.

This, however, brings about another issue homebrewers have: how much advice to take when brewing beer. It takes some time to wade through the comments, and separate the proverbial wheat from the chaff. when i posted my recipe.


Simcorillo IPA

14-B American IPA

BeerTools Pro Color Graphic

Size: 4.84 gal

Efficiency: 6.62%

Attenuation: 78.6%

Calories: 212.42 kcal per 12 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.064 (1.056 – 1.075)

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Terminal Gravity: 1.014 (1.010 – 1.018)

|===============#================|

Color: 11.7 (6.00 – 15.00)

|==================#=============|

Alcohol: 6.61% (5.50% – 7.50%)

|================#===============|

Bitterness: 95.8 (40.00 – 60.00)

|================================|

Ingredients:

7.0 lb Dry Extra Light

1 lb Crystal Malt 20°L

8.0 oz Caramunich® TYPE I

1 ea White Labs WLP051 California Ale V

1 oz Simcoe (11.9%) – added during boil, boiled 60.0 min

2 oz Amarillo (8.0%) – added during boil, boiled 20 min

1 oz Amarillo (8.0%) – added during boil, boiled 7.0 min

.5 oz Simcoe (11.9%) – added during boil, boiled 7 min

.5 oz Amarillo (8.0%) – added during boil, boiled 0 min

0.5 oz Simcoe (11.9%) – added dry to secondary fermenter

.5 oz Amarillo (8.0%) – added dry to secondary fermenter

Schedule:

Ambient Air: 70.0 °F

Source Water: 60.0 °F

Elevation: 0.0 m

Notes

Late extract addition – first time experimenting. Added 3lb DME at 60 minutes, 4lb at 15 minutes.
Mash temp for grains: 150F. 45 minute steep.
Created yeast starter (first time) following Palmer’s How to Brew method (http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter6-5.html)
Aerated wort for ~5 minutes using fish tank oxygenator.

Results generated by BeerTools Pro 1.5.9b

Beer, Homebrewing

Ah, homebrewing

It’s nice to have a Friday off where I’m not sick to the point of incapacitated.

I’m brewing a Belgian Wit today. Getting a late start, but that’s OK.

I’ve not brewed in a few months, so it’s a good feeling to be boiling, cleaning, and sanitizing again. I formulated my own recipe, with a few aspects slightly out of style, but I think it’s going to be a good brew.

Formulating recipes is probably the most enjoyable and most frustrating part of brewing for me. I don’t know a lot about it yet, and often, I feel like I shouldn’t ask for input, because I’ve not contributed enough to a forum. I don’t know the individual ingredients (hop and malt characteristics) well enough to know what goes well with other things, but I’m learning. It’s definitely fun, though, to start a recipe in BeerTools Pro and add and subtract different ingredients, the time during the boil to add them, and how much of each to add.

This recipe is a completely original creation with no input from anyone, other than reading other recipes and combining the best of each; which is usually how I cook, anyway. It should be a good summertime beer, though the alcohol level (a hair over 6% ABV) is a bit higher than it probably should.

 

Wazzup Wit

16-A Witbier
BeerTools Pro Color Graphic

Size: 4.36 gal
Efficiency: 75.0%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 203.9 kcal per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.061 (1.044 – 1.052)
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Terminal Gravity: 1.015 (1.008 – 1.012)
|================================|

Color: 2.57 (2.0 – 4.0)
|============#===================|

Alcohol: 6.02% (4.5% – 5.5%)
|================================|

Bitterness: 17.0 (10.0 – 20.0)
|===================#============|

Ingredients:

6.6 lb Liquid Wheat Extract
16 oz Cara-Pils® Malt
.5 oz Styrian Goldings (4.2%) – added during boil, boiled 60.0 min
0.5 oz Saaz (4.40%) – added during boil, boiled 20.0 min
0.5 oz Saaz (4.4%) – added during boil, boiled 7.0 min
1 oz Bitter Curacao/Bitter Orange (Peel) – added during boil, boiled 5 min
.5 oz Corriander seeds – added during boil, boiled 5.0 min
1.0 ea White Labs WLP400 Belgian Wit Ale

Notes:

Partial Mash – 30 mins @148 degrees

Results generated by BeerTools Pro 1.5.0b