Well, the bottling was completed last weekend, and I can confirm the beer is carbonating. I will have pics of the bottling up soon, but until then I leave you with a beer joke from my friend JT:
After the Great Britain Beer Festival, in London, all the brewery presidents decided to go out for a beer.
The guy from Corona sits down and says, “Hey Señor, I would like the world’s best beer, a Corona.” The bartender dusts off a bottle from the shelf and gives it to him.
The guy from Budweiser says, “I’d like the best beer in the world, give me ‘The King Of Beers’, a Budweiser.” The bartender gives him one.
The guy from Coors says, “I’d like the only beer made with Rocky Mountain spring water, give me a Coors.” He gets it.
The guy from Guinness sits down and says, “Give me a Coke.” The bartender is a little taken aback, but gives him what he ordered.
The other brewery presidents look over at him and ask “Why aren’t you drinking a Guinness?” and the Guinness president replies, “Well, I figured if you guys aren’t drinking beer, neither would I.”
3/04/2009
2/16/2009
Racking to Secondary Fermenter
The first batch spent a week in the primary fermenter. After the kreusan fell back into the beer and there were no more bubbles coming through our air lock, we knew it was ready to rack over. The second carboy is smaller than the primary, because at this point, we want to minimize the amount of oxygen that comes in contact with the beer.
We sanitized all of the equipment used in this process. The beer is at its most vulnerable point, and if bacteria gets in the fermenter it can spoil the batch. Before transferring the liquid, we added more hops to the carboy for the dryhopping process. This brings a "fresh hop" flavor to the beer, common for many pale ales and IPAs.
The final step is to "rack" the beer from the primary fermenter to the secondary. This is done using a racking cane (which helps keep out the sediment) and a piece of plastic tubing for siphoning.
Even at this point in the fermentation, the beer tastes fantastic. Provided we didn't introduce any new bacterial ingredients, our beer will only continue to get better. It will spend another 7-10 days int the secondary fermenter until we bottle. Stay tuned!
2/08/2009
The First Batch - Alpha King Clone
The first batch is complete! While everything may have not have been perfect, I will have drinkable beer in several weeks. I decided to through caution to the wind and do an all-grain brew. I wanted to brew an IPA, but my brother-in-law wanted something milder. Therefore, I decided on a clone of Three Floyds Alpha King I got the recipe from brew365.com, though a few substitutes were made because of the availability of ingredients. Our recipe was as follows:
Grains:
12 lbs of 2-row pale malt
1 lb of crystal crystal malt (60L)
1/4 lb of CaraAroma
1/8 lb of Melanoidin Malt
Hop Schedule:
1 oz Centennial (60 min)
1/2 oz of Galena (30 min)
1 oz Cascade (15 min)
1.5 oz Centennial (5 min)
1/2 oz of Centennial (killed heat)
Yeast:
Wyeast Labs American Ale Yeast (1056)
Mash at 153 F for 60 mins
Fermenting at ~67
6.5 gallon and 5 gal carboys with bottling bucket
Unloading the grains
I weighed out the grains, and Buzz measured the strike water.
I weighed out the grains, and Buzz measured the strike water.
The strike water is added tot he mash-tun and heated to ~170 F
Then the room temperature grains are added to the strike water, and the mash is maintained at 153 F for one hour. Notice the Walmart [read shitty] probe thermother that only lasted 10 mins. Luckily we had another instant read!
After an hour the starches in the grain are converted to usable sugars. The liquid tastes sweet and malty.
After an hour the starches in the grain are converted to usable sugars. The liquid tastes sweet and malty.
We made our own lauter-tun from a 10 gallon Rubbermaid cooler. This would help maintain our temperature during the sparging process. At the bottom we inserted a false bottom that kept the majority of solids out of our sugary water.
We first drained the mash water into our brew pot before adding the 170 F sparge water
After a stir and a 10 minute rest the sparge water is also drained into the boil point. This process helps flush out the rest of the sugars and enzymes held in the grain.
The mash water is then brought to a boil to prepare it for the addition of hops. These are hop pellets, which are condensed hop flowers.
The hopping of the beers follows a specific schedule. The length of time a particular variety of hops stays in the boil determines which characteristics of the flower will be present in the beer.
After an an hour of boiling the hops, the finished product is the wort.
The wort was strained with a sterilized strainer to remove any solids that would quickly clog the filter in the funnel. After a good bit was removed, the wort was transferred to the primary fermenter where it was mixed with ice and cold water to dilute and chill the wort.
After the wort had cooled to room temperature, an original specific gravity reading was taken. We may have diluted a little too much, because it was a little lower than our target. However, there also could have been a mistake in reading the hydrometer. Specific gravity measures the density of the sugars in the water, and can be helpful in determining stages of fermentation and alcohol levels. The yeast was activated and added to the wort.
The fermenter was aerated to give make sure there is enough oxygen for the yeast to covert the sugar to alcohol and carbon dioxide. Then the carboy is sealed with a rubber stopper, and air-lock is added that will allow the expanding gasses to escape without letting air in.
And here is the finished product! Well, almost.... It will spend ~7 days in the primary fermenter. Once the fermentation slows down, the beer will be transferred to the smaller secondary fermenter. The carboy was covered and placed in a 65 F cellar. The chemical reaction should create enough heat to maintain fermentation at 68 F - just about perfect conditions for an ale yeast!
I almost forgot to mention that Roxy kept us great company during the 5 hour process. The word 15 hours after the yeast was added, is that the liquid has begun to form a foamy head, and gasses are escaping from the air-lock. Even if we screwed something up, its safe to say we will have drinkable beer of some flavor! I will make sure to post pics of the transfer when the time is right! Let me know what you think.
We first drained the mash water into our brew pot before adding the 170 F sparge water
After a stir and a 10 minute rest the sparge water is also drained into the boil point. This process helps flush out the rest of the sugars and enzymes held in the grain.
The mash water is then brought to a boil to prepare it for the addition of hops. These are hop pellets, which are condensed hop flowers.
The hopping of the beers follows a specific schedule. The length of time a particular variety of hops stays in the boil determines which characteristics of the flower will be present in the beer.
After an an hour of boiling the hops, the finished product is the wort.
The wort was strained with a sterilized strainer to remove any solids that would quickly clog the filter in the funnel. After a good bit was removed, the wort was transferred to the primary fermenter where it was mixed with ice and cold water to dilute and chill the wort.
After the wort had cooled to room temperature, an original specific gravity reading was taken. We may have diluted a little too much, because it was a little lower than our target. However, there also could have been a mistake in reading the hydrometer. Specific gravity measures the density of the sugars in the water, and can be helpful in determining stages of fermentation and alcohol levels. The yeast was activated and added to the wort.
The fermenter was aerated to give make sure there is enough oxygen for the yeast to covert the sugar to alcohol and carbon dioxide. Then the carboy is sealed with a rubber stopper, and air-lock is added that will allow the expanding gasses to escape without letting air in.
And here is the finished product! Well, almost.... It will spend ~7 days in the primary fermenter. Once the fermentation slows down, the beer will be transferred to the smaller secondary fermenter. The carboy was covered and placed in a 65 F cellar. The chemical reaction should create enough heat to maintain fermentation at 68 F - just about perfect conditions for an ale yeast!
I almost forgot to mention that Roxy kept us great company during the 5 hour process. The word 15 hours after the yeast was added, is that the liquid has begun to form a foamy head, and gasses are escaping from the air-lock. Even if we screwed something up, its safe to say we will have drinkable beer of some flavor! I will make sure to post pics of the transfer when the time is right! Let me know what you think.
1/26/2009
Here we go....
Well, today I bought "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing," and I intend to use this site to chronicle my newfound adventures in homebrewing. Though not always the case, I believe the mass produced American lager to be more suited to chugging during contests of beer pong and flip cup than actually drinking. My appreciation of finer beers has been cultivated over the past years, and the desire to brew for myself has always been strong. Therefore, without further dilatory, I shall dive head-first into the yeasty waters of the home brew. In the next few weeks, I expect to have all the necessary equipment and ingredients to begin my first batch. Stay tuned.
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