Ahhh....another brew day, since oddly enough I didn't go to work at the brewery today.
Huzzah Homebrewing.
So today I brewed an alt bier. Made a two gallon batch, here's the grain bill:
3 lbs Pilsner
1.4 lbs Munich
0.7 lbs Caramunich III
1.4 oz Carafa I
So we mashed at 100 F for 15 minutes, then 122 F for 20 minutes, and lastly 150 F for 60 minutes.
Launching into the boil at 80 minutes I added 1 oz of Tettnanger (4.5 AA) then 0.25 oz Saaz at 20 minutes and another 0.5 oz of Saaz at 5 minutes.
We chilled it down to 76 F and shook it up and pitched. I know, everyone is thinking that I should use WLP036, but since the LHBS was out of it I ended up with WLP060. Hopefully it won't make to big of an impact.
Tis happily fermenting and in about 6 days I'll be moving it to the fridge to let it "lager" for about 3 weeks prior to bottling.
The OG on this one is 1.048
So as it turns out I don't have a good set up to truely make a lager, so this will be my "Oktoberfest Beer".
Sunday, August 24, 2014
Friday, July 4, 2014
Brewery B
So today I was brewing at Hootenanny Hollows Brewery B, my parents house. We made an extra special bitter.
5.5 lbs Maris Otter
0.2 lbs Crystal 40
0.2 lbs Aromatic
0.1 lb Crystal 120
0.1 lb Special Roast
Mashed for 60 minutes at 155 followed by a 1 hour boil. Cooled with an ice bath.
Tis interesting, I haven't used an ice bath to cool for a while. My immersion chiller cools wort soo much quicker. We'll be fermenting with WLP015. Planned to use WLP002, but the store was out, so we'll just have to carry on. It'll be fermenting in a Mr. Beer fermenter in the crawl space, since I haven't been able to track down a fridge to use as a fermentation chamber.
We'll see how it works out.
5.5 lbs Maris Otter
0.2 lbs Crystal 40
0.2 lbs Aromatic
0.1 lb Crystal 120
0.1 lb Special Roast
Mashed for 60 minutes at 155 followed by a 1 hour boil. Cooled with an ice bath.
Tis interesting, I haven't used an ice bath to cool for a while. My immersion chiller cools wort soo much quicker. We'll be fermenting with WLP015. Planned to use WLP002, but the store was out, so we'll just have to carry on. It'll be fermenting in a Mr. Beer fermenter in the crawl space, since I haven't been able to track down a fridge to use as a fermentation chamber.
We'll see how it works out.
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Beer Snob
Just don't...Don't be a beer snob!
Look, you might have strong opinions about a beer. You might like this that or the other, but its important to try beers and then have what you like. Two big points:
One: Don't be a Sheeple
Two: Don't spread your beer choice by the sword.
First off lets talk about sheeple. Just because everyone else likes a given beer, style, brewery or what have you, don't assume it will be your favorite beer. Right now it seems that West Coast IPAs are big and most people like them. Personally I'm not that big of a fan of the style. Does it mean that I won't drink them, no, I'll try them now and then. But I'm not gonna suck down these IPAs and tell everyone that they are the greatest thing ever. Sample beers people talk about, but form your own opinion. If a beer rating website gave a flavourless beer a perfect score, would you tell everyone that it was the best beer ever?
Second is after your made your opinions. Lets say after sampling beers you've determined that you really like Gruit. Lets also say one of your beer drinking friends will drink nothing but Light American Lagers. Are you right? Is he right? Listen, there is no right! You like what you like, he likes what he likes. You shouldn't make fun of someone for the beer that they like, well within reason. (If you are dealing with a big beer snob that will only drink dark lagers made by indigenous people in 3rd world countries brewed from ingredients hand picked by monkeys that were trained by Buddhist monks go ahead and give them a hard time). By all means talk to your beer drinking friends about why they like their chosen beer preferences. Explain what you like about your choice. Take them out and have them sample other beers, but be open to sampling their styles too. But don't force your choice on anyone. Craft beer has a wide field of options, as people have a wide range of tastes. If you are going to spread craft beer to your friends make your aim be to having your friends sample a range so they can make their own choices.
And you know, don't be a beer snob, don't believe your beer choices are better than someone elses. Don't be to proud to sample a different beer, perhaps multiple times before making a decision on it. And if you haven't tried a beer in a number of years, consider sampling it again, your tastes may have changed.
Look, you might have strong opinions about a beer. You might like this that or the other, but its important to try beers and then have what you like. Two big points:
One: Don't be a Sheeple
Two: Don't spread your beer choice by the sword.
First off lets talk about sheeple. Just because everyone else likes a given beer, style, brewery or what have you, don't assume it will be your favorite beer. Right now it seems that West Coast IPAs are big and most people like them. Personally I'm not that big of a fan of the style. Does it mean that I won't drink them, no, I'll try them now and then. But I'm not gonna suck down these IPAs and tell everyone that they are the greatest thing ever. Sample beers people talk about, but form your own opinion. If a beer rating website gave a flavourless beer a perfect score, would you tell everyone that it was the best beer ever?
Second is after your made your opinions. Lets say after sampling beers you've determined that you really like Gruit. Lets also say one of your beer drinking friends will drink nothing but Light American Lagers. Are you right? Is he right? Listen, there is no right! You like what you like, he likes what he likes. You shouldn't make fun of someone for the beer that they like, well within reason. (If you are dealing with a big beer snob that will only drink dark lagers made by indigenous people in 3rd world countries brewed from ingredients hand picked by monkeys that were trained by Buddhist monks go ahead and give them a hard time). By all means talk to your beer drinking friends about why they like their chosen beer preferences. Explain what you like about your choice. Take them out and have them sample other beers, but be open to sampling their styles too. But don't force your choice on anyone. Craft beer has a wide field of options, as people have a wide range of tastes. If you are going to spread craft beer to your friends make your aim be to having your friends sample a range so they can make their own choices.
And you know, don't be a beer snob, don't believe your beer choices are better than someone elses. Don't be to proud to sample a different beer, perhaps multiple times before making a decision on it. And if you haven't tried a beer in a number of years, consider sampling it again, your tastes may have changed.
Monday, May 12, 2014
Mead! Or Metheglin
So back in August, the 3rd to be precise, it was Mead day. You can find out more here ( http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/aha-events/mead-day/ ) I made up some mead. For this one I boiled up a gallon of water with ground ginger, allspice berries, whole cloves and cinnamon sticks. After letting it cool I added 3 lbs of wildflower honey. I added up some yeast nutrient and then tossed in a package of D47 yeast.
It hung out till the end of the month in primary fermentation. Then on 31 August I transferred it to secondary. It then hung out. I think this is the longest I've let mead go in secondary. I bottled it today, mostly because I figured it would be a whole lot easier to move bottled mead than mead in a fermenter.
This mead would fall in category 26A, metheglin. That is a spiced mead. Right now SWMBO is the only person who has tasted it, but seeing as how she has sampled every mead that I have made and says it is the best so far (even better than my award winning mead!).
Going with the theme of naming my meads after Norse Gods/Goddesses, this one is named Freya. (Not Fricka, please don't confuse the two). Happily it looks like this mead is not an exploder!
It hung out till the end of the month in primary fermentation. Then on 31 August I transferred it to secondary. It then hung out. I think this is the longest I've let mead go in secondary. I bottled it today, mostly because I figured it would be a whole lot easier to move bottled mead than mead in a fermenter.
This mead would fall in category 26A, metheglin. That is a spiced mead. Right now SWMBO is the only person who has tasted it, but seeing as how she has sampled every mead that I have made and says it is the best so far (even better than my award winning mead!).
Going with the theme of naming my meads after Norse Gods/Goddesses, this one is named Freya. (Not Fricka, please don't confuse the two). Happily it looks like this mead is not an exploder!
Saturday, May 10, 2014
Don't Fruit the Beer
So various people will say and post "Don't Fruit the Beer". I've known people both for an against this practice and as we approach summer, lets consider this. First off who should not fruit the beer, is this a rule for the consumer only? Should we put this restriction on the server of the beer? Or is it the manufacturer that should abide by this dictum?
Well, let's start with the brewer. First ask yourself is the Reinheitsgebot a good idea? While there is something to be said for brewing beer with a very limited ingredient list, I'm not convinced that there should be a law about it. Also, the Reinheitsgebot was replaced in 1993 and didn't actually say you were allowed to use yeast. But even just using certain types of hops or yeast can produce fruit like tastes or aroma. So it is possible to get that hint of fruit while only using water, barley, hops and yeast. But what of actually fruiting the beer. My own view is that if the brewer wishes to use fruit in some stage of production of his or her beer they should be allowed. They are crafting a product that they believe the population will like and buy more of so the brewer has more money to make more beer. While a single beer that isn't received well will most likely not shut a brewery down the brewer will most likely stop making that type of beer.
So the should this be a rule for the server or consumer of the beer? Next up lets consider going to a bar and ordering some beer with a big old hunk of fruit on the rim, probably an orange. Well for a starter if you are male another male will probably make fun of you, I'm not saying that is right or wrong, just that it will probably happen. But lets consider that piece of fruit, when was it cut? Was the knife and cutting board clean? How was it stored? I'm guessing if you got a dirty glass you'd complain about it, what about your fruit? Let's continue on though, if you have a piece of orange on the edge of your glass what will that do to your beer? Oranges and other citrus fruit have acid which will affect the head of your beer. Since a large part of how we perceive taste is based on smell if you have that fruit on the edge of the glass or floating in the beer you are going to smell that fruit and proceed to taste that fruit. There is nothing wrong with fruit, its good for you, but if you are using beer as the only method of consuming fruit you may need to rethink your strategy.
We'll blend right into the consumer, if you are home I'm sure you have clean fresh fruit so that is not your worry. But either at home or at a bar why are you adding this fruit to your beer? As mentioned above its going to cover us a chunk of the aroma and flavour of the beer. If you don't like that beer on its own, why consume it with that hunk of fruit, why not try a different beer or different drink? There is a large selection of beverages and a wide range of beers to chose from. The beer you drink should stand on its own merits, let it be presented in the way the brewer intended.
I won't go so far as to declare MAN LAW!! as others have to stop fruit and beer from ever crossing paths. A man can be a brewer and if a brewer incorporates beer in the process of brewing then let him do it. But again as the final consumer of beer I'm going to let that beer be enjoyed (or not enjoyed as the case may be) as it was brewed, not with a mask to cover most of the aromas and flavours
Well, let's start with the brewer. First ask yourself is the Reinheitsgebot a good idea? While there is something to be said for brewing beer with a very limited ingredient list, I'm not convinced that there should be a law about it. Also, the Reinheitsgebot was replaced in 1993 and didn't actually say you were allowed to use yeast. But even just using certain types of hops or yeast can produce fruit like tastes or aroma. So it is possible to get that hint of fruit while only using water, barley, hops and yeast. But what of actually fruiting the beer. My own view is that if the brewer wishes to use fruit in some stage of production of his or her beer they should be allowed. They are crafting a product that they believe the population will like and buy more of so the brewer has more money to make more beer. While a single beer that isn't received well will most likely not shut a brewery down the brewer will most likely stop making that type of beer.
So the should this be a rule for the server or consumer of the beer? Next up lets consider going to a bar and ordering some beer with a big old hunk of fruit on the rim, probably an orange. Well for a starter if you are male another male will probably make fun of you, I'm not saying that is right or wrong, just that it will probably happen. But lets consider that piece of fruit, when was it cut? Was the knife and cutting board clean? How was it stored? I'm guessing if you got a dirty glass you'd complain about it, what about your fruit? Let's continue on though, if you have a piece of orange on the edge of your glass what will that do to your beer? Oranges and other citrus fruit have acid which will affect the head of your beer. Since a large part of how we perceive taste is based on smell if you have that fruit on the edge of the glass or floating in the beer you are going to smell that fruit and proceed to taste that fruit. There is nothing wrong with fruit, its good for you, but if you are using beer as the only method of consuming fruit you may need to rethink your strategy.
We'll blend right into the consumer, if you are home I'm sure you have clean fresh fruit so that is not your worry. But either at home or at a bar why are you adding this fruit to your beer? As mentioned above its going to cover us a chunk of the aroma and flavour of the beer. If you don't like that beer on its own, why consume it with that hunk of fruit, why not try a different beer or different drink? There is a large selection of beverages and a wide range of beers to chose from. The beer you drink should stand on its own merits, let it be presented in the way the brewer intended.
I won't go so far as to declare MAN LAW!! as others have to stop fruit and beer from ever crossing paths. A man can be a brewer and if a brewer incorporates beer in the process of brewing then let him do it. But again as the final consumer of beer I'm going to let that beer be enjoyed (or not enjoyed as the case may be) as it was brewed, not with a mask to cover most of the aromas and flavours
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