Category: Homebrew

Pouring one out

I’m rather ashamed to write this, but yesterday I finally poured out a carboy of brown ale that I brewed on MLK Jr. Day (Jan 21st) that has been sitting in primary fermentation for 4 months. It was neglected because I’ve been busy with grad school, work, family, and projects around the house. Additionally, I never really wanted a brown ale, but the style is a favorite among my family.

Anyway, the dirty, dusty carboy was finally accessible again, and since I have no kegs to transfer it to, so I decided that it would be best to just cut my loss and move on. Out of curiosity, I managed to sip from the pour like you would from a garden hose, and I’m sad to report it wasn’t bad.

Now I must resolve to not brew again until I have the time to treat the beer appropriately. I also need to brew soon, since it’s beer season. Well, one of the beer seasons.

Internet Brew Battle

Since I don’t have anything of substance to post, I thought I’d link to fellow brew-bloggers at Monday Night Brewery who just ended a several month long internet feud with another brewer with a head-to-head tasting. Its been fun to watch, and laughs have been had (not being among the insulted parties). Both parties, I think, came away looking good since neither beer was a flop, and I think a weird internet camaraderie was formed.

You can see the shots fired by CNYBrew (some clever stuff), as well as the reasoned response. Finally, a use for tags that makes sense.

Smokey and Oaky

I’ve tapped the keg of Red Oak, and though it hasn’t yet carbonated, it’s a rather intestesting beer. First of all, it really kept the bourbon flavor, probably owing to the accidental introduction of bourbon that the oak chips were soaking in. Second, I used too many smoked chips, i think, for a milder beer like an amber. Third, despite the first two, it’s not bad. I think I may try it again using un-toasted chips in the future, but its not bad.

Hasty Brown

Michelle and I meant to brew together on Sunday, but because of a shopping error, the batch got pushed back until today. I mashed in around 10am again, which was pretty pleasing considering Ella has been running around and trying to help with the hot water. Shortly after mash in, she, Barley and I went for a walk in the brisk 30F but sunny weather.

Since Michelle was going to help brew, I let her pick the style and I put together a quick recipe; thus the name Hasty Brown.

Grain

  • 10 lbs (not 2lbs) domestic 2-row
  • 1.25 lbs Crytal 80L
  • 0.5 lbs domestic chocolate

Hops

  • 1 oz Glacier (5% alpha) @ 60 min
  • 1 oz Glacier (5% alpha) @ 10 min

Here’s a link to the full recipe in qbrew format. Hasty Brown

Instant Starter

I think I may have reached my pinnacle for home brewing innovation. Well, not really, but I had a great idea so simple and obvious, I thought I’d share it. It has to do with yeast starters. Instant yeast starters. We all know having a good yeast starter is the first step to making a great beer. And sometimes, you just want to quickly pitch a starter and get back to your Friday night. My standard yeast pitching method involves pitching 1 cup of DME with a pinch of yeast nutrient into a 1 liter beaker. I break out the nappy bag of DME that’s sticky from steam and humidity, pour a cup, and try to then get the DME in to the flask through a funnel without spilling or stopping the funnel. One of the two always happens.

My new method, as of tonight, is to buy a bag of DME, pre-measure in to ziploc bags with a pinch of yeast nutrient, then pack away in a safe container. Then, when it’s time to make a starter, just cut the bottom corner off a baggie and pour it into the flask. Add water, bring to a boil, cool, and pitch.

Instant Starter Easy Pour

I feel a little bad about all the additional baggies, but it’s really freakin’ slick. And its still less material than a pitchable yeast pack and like 4 bucks cheaper.

2008's hop inventory

Thanks to my “connections”, I’m now stocked up on hops for the year and beyond. I’m about to vacuum seal, but the varieties are somewhat astounding and most of which I’ve never used before save for Nugget, Amarillo, Palisades and Santiam. Naturally, I’m quite excited to be stocked in a year of otherwise limited selection and high prices, but there are two specific varieties that I’m itching to get into a beer.

1 pound hop cube

Amarillo is one of my favorites, and I’m going to have to brew another Amarillo Red. The meaty citrus flavor is just wonderful and filling in all the right ways for a hop-lover’s palate. Summit, a new variety, was highlighted in one of my favorite beers of 2007: Widmer’s W’ 07 pale ale. Right now I’m trying to get some tips for recreating the robust pale.

Some of the varieties I need to do my homework on because I’m not sure what they “do” yet. I’ll probalby have to enlist some help and do some fancy batch-splitting to try out the hops in identical smaller batches.

Anyway, here’s the rundown:

Domestic

  • Amarillo (~ 10% alpha)
  • Apollo (~ 20% alpha)
  • Bravo (~ 15% alpha)
  • Glacier (~ 5% alpha)
  • Nugget (~ 13% alpha)
  • Palisades (~ 8% alpha)
  • Santiam (4.8 % alpha)
  • Summit (~18% alpha)

New Zealand

Vacuum-sealing is fun, but takes some time. I usually end up cutting the bricks with one of my wife’s nicest knives, but towards the end, it was having some serious problems cutting. One look at the blade and it was clear why: The blade was thick with hop resin.

Hop Resin Blade

Toasty

Yesterday I racked the amber to secondary, where it was greeted by a pile of toasted oak chips that had been soaking in bourbon for a week. The smell of the chips alone, while delightful in its own right, was a bit strong. Hopefully 5 gallons of beer sitting on top of them for two weeks will impart a nice toasted bourbon barrel flavor without the knockout volatility of the chips alone.

Toasted Oak Chips

Red Oak mash-in

This morning I mashed in at 10 am to an overcast sky at roughly 40F. Things are going smoothly so far as recycling trucks go by picking up the waste of the past few days. I’m praying that the rain will hold off for another 2 hours, and that I don’t slip on the wet birch leaves on the deck as I carry hot pots of water out to top off the hot liquor tank.

Today I’m brewing a fairly simple amber ale. It’s just 2-row and Crystal 60 and 80, with 1.5 oz of hops. I’m hoping to keep the flavor simple since I’m going to try and oak chip the beer in secondary with bourbon soaked toasted red oak chips. The bourbon is supposedly to “sanitize” the chips (blocks weren’t available) but I’m actually hoping to recreate a bourbon barrel flavor. I probably should have tried this with a bigger beer, but the amber will allow me to taste how the oak affects flavor.

Red Oak

Grains

  • 9 lbs. domestic 2-row
  • 1.5 lbs Crystal 60L
  • 0.5 lbs Crystal 80L

Hops

  • 0.75 oz Chinook (12.2 % alpha) @ 60 min
  • 0.5 oz Chinook (12.2 % alpha) @ 5 min

Other

  • Yeast starter with Fermentis Safale S-05
  • 2.4 oz dark toasted oak chips (added in secondary, soaked in bourbon for 1 week)
  • pinch of Irish Moss near end of boil

Now I should get back to the mash. It’s probably just about time to sparge.

Psssshhhhh

Both kegs blew while company were over, but luckily, not until after everyone both had been sampled and and satisfied. The spice sludge that came out of the pumpkin keg was a little horrifying. The body looked like a cider that had been mixed with dirt. I tried two sips, but couldn’t manage the intense flavors and had to offer the last pint to the sink.

One of our guests is gearing up to start brewing cooperatively with her neighbor. She was asking about my setup and already seems to have a strong grasp on the basics, but wants to jump ahead to all-grain. Cool. Teaching friends to brew is fun.