Awesome day

Today was an awesome day in my brewing life.

I did what few brewers have ever done.

I brewed 6 beers in one day!!!!!!!!

While the rest of you were fighting mobs of people to get a Xbox for $10 off, I was brewing beer.

I started this morning in the vicinity of 10AM and finished around 10PM. I brewed the following:

Carbon Black Oatmeal Stout

Rye Pale Ale

Maifest Bock clone

Belgian Duppel

Metathesis Pale Ale (double batch)

All of these were partial mash recipes, so it took ever longer. I ended up with two 5-gallon pails full of spent grains. They are now sitting in my composting bin waiting until spring.

It was tricky at times figuring out what hops went where, but I did it. I had two batches going at all times. While my wife and kids decorated the house for Christmas, I brewed. I was very busy.

I will not have to brew for a few months.

back in the saddle again

I was recently offered an interim "promotion" to an administrative position at my college. I don't want to tell you what it is, but it rhymes with "Gene of the Smackulty." I quickly accepted the position only to find out later that apparently, I can't fire anyone I want.

I've been learning and doing a lot! This has left little time to brew. Thankfully, I've finally gotten things into a nice groove and have planned a few brews.

I just ordered the ingredients for 6 batches of beer. In no particular order:

Maifest bock

Metathesis Pale Ale x2

Carbon Black stout

Double bock

Rye Pale Ale

By Christmas, I should have a stout, porter, pale ale, and a rye pale ale ready to go. That should make me happy. Besides, that's what its all about.

R.I.P.

I finally dumped it.

It took me a while to build up the courage to dump 5 gallons of beer down the drain, but I did it.

This was my first total loss.

stupid, stupid, stupid....

I have brewed over 115 batches of beer in my homebrewing career. I would like to think I know what I am doing. Recently, I brewed a partial mash rye ale. I was excited because I had never brewed a batch with rye in it.

I have a large kettle in which I can boil about 4.5 gallons of wort. After boiling the wort and chilling it, I dumped it into my carboy. My carboy has a mark on it to indicate 5 gallons. After dumping the wort in, the liquid level was about a half-gallon OVER the mark!!!!

I spent several minutes trying to figure out how I had made a gallon of liquid out of nothing. Maybe I had somehow acquired divine abilities. Sweet. What should I do first with my powers?

After thinking for a few minutes I realize what has happened. I didn't create matter. I forgot to dump the sanitizing solution out of the carboy.

Stupid.

I'm a super poster!!!!

Ever since I said I was going to quit blogging, I've found myself thinking of a lot more blog post ideas. I've also found that since I quit, I've felt a lot less pressure to post anything. I can't seem to get myself to totally quit. Slow down, yes, but not quit. I've like the Brett Farve of posting.

OK, maybe not, but here I am. Not being retired from blogging.

Let me get you up to date on my brewing activities because they have been plenty.

Tonight, I once again pulled off an evening few would be able to do. I did all of the following without my wife's help as she was out supporting the family:

I fed 4 kids (corn dogs, sweet corn, corn chips, see a theme here. They love that type of stuff)

I entertained 4 kids until the Olympics came on. Then I made popcorn for a snack. I vacuumed up a lot of popcorn my 1 year old dispersed.

I got 4 kids to bed. PJs, stories, brushed teeth, potty, everything.

I brewed two beers. An American Pilsner lager and and Czech Pilsner. One extract and one partial mash.

I sanitized 4 carboys.

I racked a 10 gallon batch of beer to two 5 gallon carboys and dry hopped them.

I emptied the dishwasher.

I filled the dishwasher.

I cleaned my 10 gallon carboy.

It was a busy night and I'm ready to finally drink a homebrew and relax.

So, I was thinking to myself that after a night like this, I'm pretty super. And that reminded me of a story.

When I was young (around 4-6 years old) I loved Superman. Who didn't? One day I was playing in our basement, and I decided to declare my admiration of Superman to the world by writing a bold statement in red crayon on the white basement wall. I wrote:

I love Supper man

My mom was not amused in the least. She also pointed out that I wasn't a very good speller. But, in the end, it turned out to be prophetic. Well almost. I don't love Superman as much now days, but I sure do love supper, man.

Wort as a beverage

My wife and I recently took a trip to Puerto Rico. We picked the most perfect time. Minnesota was suffering from record cold temperatures and Puerto Rico was not. It was great.

While in Puerto Rico, I discovered a drink that is very popular in the Caribbean, but I had never heard of before. And it is related to beer.

Malta. No, not the island, the drink.

Malta is essentially wort that has not been fermented. Wort, of course, is what beer is made from. It is made using barley, hops and water. In the case of malta, it is bottled and carbonated.

In Puerto Rico the brand I had was Malta India. It was exactly what anyone who has brewed would expect. It tasted like wort. It was sweet, balanced with a gentle bitterness. It is not a refreshing drink and one that requires an acquired taste. For those unfamiliar with wort, imagine watering down some molasses.

My pipeline bursteth

I currently have 9 beers in my pipeline:

1. Imperial Stout 100
2. Metathesis Pale Ale
3. Generic pale ale #1
4. Generic pale ale #2
5. Oatmeal Stout #1
6. Oatmeal Stout #2
7. Guinness clone
8. Doppelbock
9. Grain Belt Premium lager clone

Four of these batches are for friends. I'm contract brewing now, sort of.

Lager picture

Here is a picture of a glass full of lager I made a few months ago. It never actually lagered as long as it should have. I was too impatient.

Since the winter months are upon us here in Minnesota and my lagering fridge is in my unheated garage, I was looking at the possibility of shutting the lagering portion of my brewery down for a while. No way!!! I went to Walmart and spent $10 on a really crappy heater. I connected it to my temp controller, switched it to the heating setting and I continue to lager by using a heater in my fridge to get the 52°F temp needed.

Right now I am fermenting a clone of Grain Belt Premium and a doppelbock.

beer 100

As you may recall, I've brewed a few batches of beer. Over 100 now to be inexact. For batch 100, I decided to do an imperial stout that weighs in at 10.0% ABV.

It's currently in the secondary chillin' over some oak. The gravity is now down to 1.028 from an OG of 1.098

Here are some pictures:

The big starter. I got this baby going. So big that when I gave it a good swirl, the entire thing erupted into a 6 foot geyser out of the airlock all over my kitchen. It reminded me of something. I had quite a mess to clean up.

Here the brew kettle:

Here's the fermentation

Here's the blow off tube. This thing was really bubbling. I was impressed.

I tasted some recently and it is strong and good.

Brew #100 is in the works

I finally found some time to sit down and plan my brew 100. It will be an imperial stout aged over oak. I'm shooting for 10% ABV. I am going to model my beer after the John Courage Imperial Stout recipe found in Clone Brews.

Here is my planned recipe:

Partial Mash

2.5 lbs Marris Otter malt.

12 oz British crystal malt

10 oz British chocolate malt

3 oz roasted barley

3 oz black malt

Boil

3.3 lb dark liquid malt extract

1 lb cane sugar

5 lbs dry malt extract

1/3 lb molasses

Hops (61 IBU):

1 oz Target (12%) 60 mins

1 oz Northern Brewer (10%) 60 min

1 oz Willamette 15 mins

1 oz Fuggles 1 min

Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale from a big starter with yeast nutrients.

During secondary fermentation, some steamed oak chips will be added. I'm not sure how much I will add.

Beer naming time again

Greetings. Let me introduce myself. I'm the author and custodian of this here blog. You haven't heard much from me lately because I've been preparing myself to receive a call from a lady or gentleman representing the world-famous Nobel prize organization.

OK, that's not true (duh!!!) but the combination of me being busy and pretty damn lazy has made posting around here a bit rare.

I busted my butt today getting a lot of things done so I could brew beer. And brewing beer is what I am doing.

I am brewing my 99th batch ever. It is my cream ale. I've brewed this several times and it has become quite popular in my immediate family. I think I have refined the recipe enough that it is ready for a name, AND I'm looking for suggestions. I have two beers with names right now: Metathesis Pale Ale and Carbon Black Oatmeal Stout. If you are astute enough (and I know you are) you will notice the strong connection to Organic Chemistry.

So, with that criteria, what should I call my cream ale. Here is the recipe if you need inspiration:

Partial Mash

3 lbs pale malt

1 lb honey malt

0.5 lb malted wheat

0.25 lb biscuit

Mash at 152° in 1.5 gallons for 90 minutes. Drain and sparge with 2 gallons at 168°

3.5 lb Extra light dry malt extract

1 oz Northern Brewer (7% a.a.) 60 minutes

1 oz Willamette (3.5% a.a.) 1 minute

Wyeast 1056 American Ale

Centennial brew plans

Recently, I mentioned that I was closing in on homebrew batch #100. Tomorrow I expect to do batch 99 (a cream ale). That means batch 100 is almost here.

So, what am I going to brew. Well, I asked for suggestions and I have decided to do a series of three special beers.

Here's the plan:

#100 Imperial Stout aged over oak

#101 101 minute IPA using locally grown hops (a friend of mine has some nugget and cascade hops). I will incorporate those and other hops.

#102 A style I have never brewed before. I'm still not sure what I am going to do, but I'm leaning towards a dark lager or a double bock.

None of these beers will be ready for a few months. I must first formulate the recipes. That could take some time. Then after I brew them, they will all require a certain amount of aging. I'll probably be drinking them in March of 2010.

Lager update

It's been a bit over 10 days since I started my lagers. I just raised the temperature of my fridge to 66°F for a diacetyl rest. The goal of this is to raise the temp enough to drive off as much of the diacetyl as possible while getting the yeast active enough to consume the rest. If the diacetyl is not driven off, the beer will have a butterscotch flavor. That is not desired.

After two days, I will rack to a 2° fermenter and start the cold temp lagering.

96 and counting...

By my calculations, I have brewed 96 batches of beer in my homebrewing career. I must admit, I'm starting to get the hang of it.

Obviously 96 is close to 100 and batch 100 must be a momentous brew. For batch #100 I want to brew something worthy of being batch #100.

At this point I have no idea what I'm going to brew. Here are my brew plans leading up to 100.

97: Carbon Black Stout
98: Metathesis Pale Ale
99: American Cream Ale
100: ?????????

I need your help. What type of beer should I brew for #100?

Since I only have two available fermenters (2 are full in my lagering fridge) it will take a while to get through 97, 98 and 99.

Suggestions, please.

Adventures in lager

Since I'm at the start of a lager beer temperature cycle, I decided to get another beer in the lagering fridge and take advantage of the cycle.

Alas, I have nothing that can be used to make a beer in the style of a lager.... or do I? Time for a pantry raid. Here is what I found in my supplies and here is my recipe:

Partial mash: 1.5 gallons H2O at 164°F added to the grains in a beverage cooler and mashed at 152°F for 90 minutes. Sparged with 1.5 gallons of H2O at 168°F (2 x 0.75 gal).

2 lb pilsner malt
10 oz Munich malt
10 oz Caramel 10°L

4 lb extra light dry malt extract

1 oz Northern Brewer leaf hops (8.5% a.a.) 60 minutes
0.75 oz Tettnang (4.5% a.a.) 15 minutes
0.75 Hallertau Select (1.5%) 5 minutes

2 packs of Saflager S-23 Fermentis dry yeast.

Fermentation at 54°F.

I'm pretty pleased with what I came up with considering I've never purchased anything with the intention of brewing a lager. In about 8 weeks, I will know what I have.

Lager beer

I am brewing a lager and will ferment at the appropriate temperatures for the first time ever using my newly acquired lagering fridge with a temperature controlling device.

I'm brewing a lager kit from Midwest supply. Here is the ingredient list:

6 lbs pilsner DME
2 oz. Munich
8 oz. Caramel 10°L
Saaz, Saaz, Saaz (3 ounces)
Wyeast 2001 Urquell Lager yeast

I'm boiling it right now.

For the fermentation, I'm going to start the temperature at 62°F for a day and then drop it down to 52°F for the bulk of the fermentation. After about 10 days, I will raise the temperature to 66°F for 2 days to drive off any diacetyl. After which, I will transfer to a secondary and lager it at 40°F for 6 weeks.

Wish me luck.

Lager is imminent

Crap! It's been a week since I posted last. I've been busy and just too lazy to write anything.

But, I have some news. A little less than a year ago, I got an old spare fridge for with which to lager beers. It didn't survive the move. The coldest I could get it was ambient temperature.

Well, I am pleased to report that I moved another fridge into my garage and IT WORKS!!!! (I was going to show pictures, but I'm not sure where my camera is. If anyone knows, please tell me).

I have not used it for beer brewing yet, but I did use it to chill some beer.

I still needed a temperature control device. Normal fridge temperatures are too cold for lagering. That has to be done anywhere from 40-55°F. So, I went on the eBay and found me this:

I need to add the power cable to it. I have an extension cord I will cut in half and wire it to and from the temperature controller. The fridge is set to its lowest setting, the temperature probe is put inside the fridge and the ETC cycles the power on or off as necessary to maintain the temperature. I plan on starting my first legit lager on Sunday.

Brewing... finally

I have finally found some time to brew. The end of the school year is always packed with non-brewing activities. In addition to finally having time to brew, I am motivated to get things in my pipeline before it gets too warm for proper fermentation. Right now the basement is perfect for ales, but it will not be by July.

In my pipeline I have an IPA, a Red Ale and my Metathesis Pale Ale. The IPA should be a pretty standard IPA, but the Red Ale deserves a little description.

First, I admit that this is a bastardized version of an Irish and American Red. The base malt (partial mash) was some Marris Otter I had sitting around. The red color (or what I hope will make it red) comes from a combination of 8 oz Special B and 8 oz Crystal (10°L). I got this idea off of forum somewhere, but lost track of what forum. So, I can't properly give it credit.

Next up: A wheat beer and a couple of stouts. I know, a stout is not really a summer beer, but my wife likes it (and so do I).

In the next few days, I hope to show you my latest improvement to my bar.

Beer for dummies...like me!!!

Crap!!!! It's been a week since I posted. Where does the time go?

I have potentially exciting news to announce!!! Well, it's actually exciting just for me. I would expect you, the humble blog reader (or stalker), to consider this to be no big deal. But, for me, it might be.

I have mentioned before that I live about 100 miles away from my homebrew supply store. I love my homebrew supply store. The staff is awesome and they have everything I need in a homebrew supply store. However, recently in my hometown, not more than 2 miles from my house a homebrew and wine making store has opened up. Currently, their offerings are quite modest, but there is hope. They will stock more as demand dictates, and they have promised to order anything we need and charge that same as my current homebrew supply store. This has potential.

The guys who started the store are big wine guys. That's what they know. Currently, they stock really simple beer kits for really simple and often crappy beer. BUT, as I said before, it's a start.

One item I saw that caught my attention was a 2 L bottle called "The Big and Easy Bottle Brew." It is a fully contained brew and drink system. It is a two liter bottle full of wort. A tablet of yeast is added and a special cap with a tiny hole is used to relieve the pressure. After two weeks, you have beer.

I decided to give it a try. I'm only 1 week in, but things seem to be going well. Here are some pics:

Here's the bottle in all of its glory:
Here's a close up:
Here's a picture of its nipple...I mean release valve:
Bonus question. In the background you will see a growler which I use to make yeast starters. Can anyone identify the brewery whence it comes?

When I consume the contents, I will report my impressions.

Irish Moss: A brief description

Clear beer is often a goal for many homebrewers, the standard being set by the commercial brewers. With modern brewing techniques and common industrial practice we have come to expect our beer to be crystal clear. When homebrewing, clear beer is not common. In reality, most homebrews are cloudy.

The two main culprits of cloudy beer are yeast and proteins.

As the yeast near the end of their job (i.e. when fermentation is ending due to lack of sugars) the single cells of yeast will clump together in groups of thousands and settle out. This is known as flocculation[1]. Different yeasts flocculate differently. Some yeasts settle out nicely and others do not. One strategy to get more yeast to settle out is to cool the beer (such as lagering) before bottling or kegging.

The other culprit of cloudy beer are proteins along with polyphenols and lipids (fats). While proteins are not necessarily small molecules, they are small enough to remain in suspension.

Beer can be clairified using Irish moss, a fining agent. Fining agents all work by making the smaller molecules aggregate into larger particles so they settle out of solution. This can be mathematically described by Stokes Law:

Where v is the rate of sedimentation, r₁ is the density of the particle and r₂ is the density of the wort, r is the radius of the particle, g is 9.8 m/sec² (a.k.a. acceleration due to gravity), and h is the viscosity of the medium. In other words, as the density and size of the particle increases it will settle out faster. In addition, a thinner wort will allow settling to occur faster.

Irish moss is Atlantic red seaweed[2] that contains k-carrageenan:
The k-carrageenan is a polymer of β-D-galactose-4-sulphate-3,6-anhydro-a-D-galactose. It is similar to starch or cellulose (i.e. comprised of thousands of carbohydrates). The negatively charged sulfate groups are thought to interact with the proteins in suspension. As the wort cools, more and more proteins interact with the k-carrageenan and the k-carrageenan adopts a more compact structure. The result is the molecular equivalent of marbles in syrup. After the churning of an active fermentation ends (4-5 days) the carrageenan-protein chunks settle out with the yeast.

Homebrewed beer is still often cloudy, but Irish moss does make a noticable difference.



[1] He he he he, I said flocculation.
[2] Yes, seaweed.