The Littlest Brewmeister
He’s standing in front of my current system, ready to throw on some more hops. A real hophead, this one is…
Add comment January 12, 2010
Olde Engrish |or| How I Made a Malt Liquor
So I just racked off my second try at a lager. Now the first was a guttural failure, an attempt at a Marzen. It was nasty. But, since it was the perfect temperature on the outside walls of the basement, I figured it was time to give it another try! but it couldn’t be just any lager this time. It had to be epic. Mike found a link to a recipe. It was perfect. The website said it best:
You may be asking yourself, ”why is this so awesome?”. For starters it…’s the fucking recipe for Olde English “800″.
I figured it would be a fun time either way, so I collected the ingredients at Larry’s (MyLHBS) for a 10 gallon batch:
| Amount | Item | Type | % or IBU |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 lbs | Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) | Grain | 37.33 % |
| 6 lbs 12.0 oz | Pale Malt (6 Row) US (2.0 SRM) | Grain | 36.00 % |
| 5 lbs | Corn, Flaked (1.3 SRM) | Grain | 26.67 % |
| 0.25 oz | Cascade [5.50 %] (105 min) | Hops | 2.8 IBU |
| 0.25 oz | Williamette [5.50 %] (105 min) | Hops | 2.8 IBU |
| 1 Pkgs | Pilsen Lager (Wyeast Labs #2007) | Yeast-Lager |
.
Whew! Over 25% Corn (and a total of 5 IBUs)! I used about half of what they had stashed at Larry’s. Brew day was uneventful, and I forgot/gotAllLazy on the ferment, so here it is about a month later and I just got to thowing it in a keg and sticking it in the kegerator for some lagering time at 40°. So in another month or so (maybe a couple weeks if I get antsy…) I’ll throw on the CO2 and pour the inaugural brew.
2 comments January 5, 2010
Pumpkin Cyser Fail
So the wonderful pumpkin Cyser that I opened on thanksgiving had issues. Mainly, the mold. It was too bad to crack it open and find a nice layer of mold on the pumpkin and dots on the liquid. What went wrong? Here’s what I have figured:
- I killed the yeast (campden tablets) and then added more honey when I put it in the pumpkin. Therefore, I had a perfect breeding ground for organisms and no live yeast to counter it.
- I stored it at room temperature. The perfect temperature for most molds and wild yeasts. I did cover it with plastic wrap, but I am under no illusions that that helped the situation. It did keep the fruit flies off though.
- The wax did not seal. I melted a candle around the opening, but when I opened it up, I was surprised that the top came right off. Maybe there is a better wax I can use next time that is a bit more flexible or sticky or something.
I’m really glad that I did this experiment. And don’t misunderstand, I did still drink it. And it was tasty. I added 4 cinnamon sticks, a clove, and an allspice ball. It could have used even more spice. But it was a nice, semi-dry cyser. Next time I will either do the primary fermentation in the pumpkin or refrigerate the pumpkin. Something to combat the wild microbes.
1 comment December 6, 2009
Spiced Apple Cyser Update
I added some info to the Cyser post. Here it is or you can find it in the original post:
The ferment just finished up a couple of days ago. It’s sitting at about 0.990 for the FG. That’s what I call bone dry. So I will rack it off, sulfate it to attempt to settle out any remaining yeast, and then add more honey to back sweeten it. I’ve never tried to kill a fermentation before, so I will keep you updated on how it goes. There’s nothing like exploding bottles of what is supposed to be a “still” drink.
Add comment October 28, 2009
The Clogged Boil Kettle Canundrum
I have been through no less than 5 filtering methods to try and keep hops and other boil sediment out of my beer. I have read article upon article of what works for different people, and I’ve gotta tell you, many did not work for me in the least. So, for what it’s worth, I will take you on a little journey on how I discovered how to filter out hops and prevent clogging when boiling your hot wort.
The Main Issue: Whirlpooling.
Now perhaps I am not patient enough, perhaps I am too weak or uncoordinated, but I have never gotten a nice whirlpool at the end of a boil that settled all of the hop gunk and trubs into a pretty little cone in the middle of my boil kettle. I’ve tried it many times, but each time, I stir with all of my might, I let it sit for 15 or 20 minutes, I throw open the floodgates (the spigot) and let it drain into my fermenter. But each time, it clogs! Almost immediately, I get enough gunk on the mesh filter I have in the pot that it clogs it right up. Maybe I am an anomaly. Maybe I am impatient. but just puting a drain tube to the edge of the pot and whirlpooling does not work. I tried a couple different filters in the bottom, and still it would clog up. Bazooka screen – not good enough.
So I gave up on whirlpooling as the main form of filtration. I moved on to the hop bag. This is a brilliant yet simple and elegant solution for the filtering problem. All of your hops and other large items (spices, etc) go in a bag that floats in the wort as it boils. Then all you need to do is filter out the little bits that get past the bag and you are golden! Not only do you get a better filter, but you don’t have to wait for a whirlpool of any sort. Also, hop cleanup is a cinch – just take the hop bag out of the kettle, and empty the bag into the compost heap (or garbage, or whatever).
The Current Setup
So what I have now is as follows:
- A hop bag for all boil kettle additions that catches most of the large items needing to be filtered.
- Then, I still have my bazooka screen attached to a dip tube to screen out the rest of the gunk that makes it past.
Using this setup, I have never had a clog. Well, I take that back, there was one, but that involved mold buildup in the spigot. Did you know given the correct conditions and time, mold growth can become a hard, ball-like substance? Kids, always remember to clean out your spigot.
Add comment October 28, 2009
Spiced Apple Cyser
I made the cyser a couple of days ago. Nothing too crazy, here’s what I ended up with:
Spice Apple Cyser
Ingredients:
2.5 Gallons Fresh Pressed Apple Cider
4 lbs Clover Honey (from Costco)
Water to fill my 3 gallon carboy
Lalvin K1-V1116 Yeast reconstituted in a cup of water (80°) with a tablespoon of sugarI will add nutmeg, clove and cinnamon to the secondary.
Method:
This time I went the path of least resistance. I just dumped the cider in the carboy, followed by the honey, followed by some water to fill, followed by the yeast. No heating or anything. It was awesome, it took like 10 minutes, but it led to a lot of shaking. What I mean is that if you poor honey in at 60°, it won’t mix with anything without a lot of force. But a good 5 minutes of shaking and it seemed that the yeast did the rest of the work for me.
Numbers:
Brewed 10/13/09
OG: 1.095
It smells wonderful and I am anxiously awaiting my first chance to give it a try!
The ferment just finished up a couple of days ago. It’s sitting at about 0.990 for the FG. That’s what I call bone dry. So I will rack it off, sulfate it to attempt to settle out any remaining yeast, and then add more honey to back sweeten it. I’ve never tried to kill a fermentation before, so I will keep you updated on how it goes. There’s nothing like exploding bottles of what is supposed to be a “still” drink.
1 comment October 16, 2009
Fresh Apple Cider
On saturday my brother Dan had his annual birthday party which entails the following:
- 10 AM: Press Cider
- 2 PM: Walk to the Elysian for the 5th Annual Great Pumpkin Beer Festival
- 6 PM: Stagger home with Cider in hand for hot apple cider, and more importantly, Hard Apple Cider.
This is the first year I have had the pleasure of partaking in the event, and I must say, I am jealous that my birthday is not in mid-October (although it is my half birthday in a few days…)
The cider pressing is so much fun, because you just hack up apples and then press them until they give up all their tasty juices. Pristine, organic juice is all that comes out. If it had a label, it would read, “Apples.” I always love those 1 ingredient foods, like Libby’s.
So I snagged about 2 gallons of cider and I am planning on making a sweet Cyser with it, sort of like the Redstone Version.
Here’s what the pressing looks like, featuring me with my sister and dad on either side:
Add comment October 13, 2009
Fresh-Hop-Pumpkin-Peppercorn-Pale Ale
How’s that for a mouthful? Here’s one of my latest creations, using the hops from my mom’s garden and some other fall time pleasures…I’ll report back once I try it out. I’ll probably keg it this week.
Recipe: Fresh Pumpkin Pale Brewer: Alex Shafer Asst Brewer: Mom Style: American IPA TYPE: All Grain Taste: (35.0) Recipe Specifications -------------------------- Batch Size: 10.00 gal Boil Size: 12.27 gal Estimated OG: 1.051 SG Estimated Color: 6.5 SRM Estimated IBU: 82.0 IBU Brewhouse Efficiency: 76.00 % Boil Time: 60 Minutes Ingredients: ------------ Amount Item 15 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) 2 lbs Wheat Malt, Bel (2.0 SRM) 8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) 8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) 5.00 oz Sterling [7.50 %] (Dry Hop 5 days) 10.00 oz Sterling [6.50 %] (20 min) 8.00 oz Sterling [6.00 %] (5 min) 0.13 cup Cloves, Whole (Boil 5.0 min) 1.00 oz Peppercorns, Black (Boil 60.0 min) 1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) Mash Schedule: Temperature Mash, 1 Step, Medium Body Total Grain Weight: 18.50 lb ---------------------------- Temperature Mash, 1 Step, Medium Body Step Time Name Description Step Temp 60 min Saccharification Add 18.50 qt of water at 166.8 F 150.0 F 10 min Mash Out Heat to 168.0 F over 10 min 168.0 F Notes: ------ racked 10/07/09 - added 2oz sterling to string bag, 3oz to stretch bag
Add comment October 12, 2009
What you missed if you weren’t at the Elysian today…
Dick posing with his gourd
Tapping the Pumpkin. I totally snuck to the front of the line and got mine before most people. It really was something!
Add comment October 10, 2009
