from malt to tap

Belgian Ale

2012-09-30T15:30:00.001-05:00

Well it has been a long while since I posted and a lot of brewing and other beer work has gone on around my home so look for a few updates!

Today I stepped back from all grain and just did a kit. Mostly because I put off finding a recipe too long before the local HBS was due to close for the weekend. But all is well, I'm going round two with a True Brew (tm) Belgian Ale kit. A cool feature of this kit is the rock candy sugar.

About a year ago I brewed this same kit and it went very well and I was delighted to finally have a Belgian beer ON TAP in my house! This had been a goal for longer than I care to admit.

Now I must look into some all grain recipes for Belgians and pick something out. Cheers!

brewed: 9/30/2012
O.G. 1.058 (right on target)
secondary fermentation:
F.G.
kegged:
results:

European lager's were only made possible by global exploration

2011-11-17T12:27:00.000-06:00

Could it really be true that lagers would not have been possible without sailing voyages from half way around the globe? Would we even have lagers today or would we all be brewing only ales and stouts. Are there other yeast progeny yet to be discovered that could change the whole landscape of beer offerings?

The mystery of lager yeast has been revealed, read all about it here.

May Wheat

2011-05-30T20:37:00.000-05:00

brewed: 5/15/2011

Batch I (5 gal carboy)
4.75 oz Carapils
4.125 oz C-20

Batch II (6 gal carboy)
4.5 oz Carapils
4.5 oz C-20

repitched yeast cake from last month WPL 351 Bavarian Wheat Yeast

O.G. 10.56
secondary fermentation:
F.G.
kegged: 5/23/2011

results:

Getting ready for summer wheat

2011-03-28T13:42:00.000-05:00

brewed: March 27, 2011
O.G. 1.058
secondary fermentation:
F.G.
kegged:
results:

4.25 oz Briess Carapils (Dextrin)
4.25 oz Briess Caramel 20
7.6 lbs Muntons Wheat LME
1 oz Perle (German)
Bavarian Weizen Ale Yeast White Labs WLP351

This is a fast and easy brew session.

A 20 minute steep of the 8.5 ounces of grains in 1 gal. of spring water at ~160 degrees

Dropped that into the boil pot and topped it very close to the top. This was a little uncomfortable as I expected some boil over. Added in the hops and malt then boosted the temp up to boiling.

We were lucky, constantly eying the temperature I had no boil overs but a steady 212 rolling for 50 minutes.

Cooled down to ~120 with the water chiller and topped off the fermenter with cold water.

Next time I will suggest straining the hops a bit better so things get into the fermenter without delay and cooling the wort down to 100 degrees or less since I had to wait on the temp to drop before pitching. Since things went so smoothly and I still have almost 2 lbs of the grains on hand I will probably brew up several more batches of this throughout the summer. Reusing the yeast cake should make this interesting and only about $25 per 5 gallon batch!

Ted assisting with the Chillin' process

Word of the Day - Gambrinus

2011-01-03T11:30:00.000-06:00

This comes from Dictionary.com:

Word of the Day for Tuesday, December 28, 2010

gambrinus \gam-BRAHY-nuhs\, noun:

A mythical Flemish king, the reputed inventor of beer.

I would have suspected them to capitalize the first letter. I've heard of St. Arnold, but never Gambrinus, it's always fun to learn more beer trivia.

"It is also possible that the original Gambrinus was Duke John I of Brabant (1254-1298), who was called Jan Primus."

Could this be the origin of Primary Fermenter?

Cleaning the Soda Fountain

2010-07-27T10:42:00.009-05:00

In yesterday's post you could tell that this old dispenser was in need of some TLC. To get it ready for my hand crafted concoctions I need it to be up to the task and as we all know sanitation is the utmost importance. In a machine like this it means disassembly and attention to detail. So here is my Day Two with the soda fountain.

First you will notice that these taps are a bit different from the ones brewers usually see. The screw on the right side of each tap is an adjustment, it increases a gap inside.

Pardon the picture, it shows some residue from the NeverDull that I hadn't wiped off yet. That is good stuff for cleaning chrome surfaces.

Breaking down the tap we see a spring. This is nice because it puts the tap back into the closed posistion when you let go of the handle. Several times I have cause a little mess when cleaning lines due to leaving a tap partly open. That shouldn't be a worry with this unit.

The spring is held in place by the cups and the screw clamps it all into the valve.

On the left side you see the adjustment screw. The right tap has it comepletely removed.

There are two types of plastic grommets. The white ones are used for the final short line between the metal fitting on the coils from the ice water tank and the back side of the taps.

The red grommet is slightly larger and goes on the liquid out side of the keg.

Notice how that nasty soda had stained the plastic over the years. I had never heard of Teem soda until seeing this fountain. There are removable badges like this on the customer facing side of the unit to show what is being served.

From this top down shot you can see the coils in the ice water tank. It looks like there are more than 12 feet of tube for each tap.

I filled the tank with water and about 1/2 cup of bleach and let it sit for a few hours. That took care of most cleaning, I still had to scrub the top edges due to the overflow port. Obviously the overflow port keeps you from filling all the way to the top.

After all the cleaning was done it was time to get the system back together. Here you can see I've replaced the short lines with new tubes (thanks to the guys at Rebel Brewer). Doesn't that front look nice now. ;)

I'll say at this point that the Cornelius company made this gear very easy to take apart. It looks like I could have just removed a couple more screws and been able to take the coils out of the tank. Every surface seems to drain in a logical way. Notice the tube in the lower left - that will drain the water tank. Anything that leaks in the area shown here will drain through the short pipe poking out from the middle behind the taps in this picture. When it's all together that pipe is poking through the drip tray. So the drip tray is really draining any area you can expect liquids to be.

Next I fliped the taps up and remounted them. Only two screws and presto. The dispenser is ready to fill with water and connect the lines to my kegs!

Notice that shiny surface now.

Soda Fountain

2010-07-25T11:43:00.001-05:00

It must be good Karma to share your homebrew!

Yesterday an acquaintance called me up. He had inherited these soda fountains from his parent's skating rink. He just wanted someone to use them and remembered sharing a beer after work one day. Apparently they are pre-1985 Cornelius brand soda fountains and even came with a few kegs that still had pressure in them.

After doing a little research I found that other people have used these "pre-mix" machines for serving beer. The more modern "post-mix" machines blend carbonated water at the tap with syrup from a box. The syrup in a box is popular now and that's why we find so many used kegs! The post-mix machines do not lend well for serving beer. So here is my Pre-Mix Bonanza Beer Cooler experiment.

Rick is an appliance repairman so he showed me how simple these machines break down. Noting that the cover grill has to face the correct way for the fan to push air correctly. It looks like the fridge unit can be installed either way by just moving it's plug from one side to the other.

I'll be replacing these little hoses between the cooling lines and taps.

This part is filled with water. Each tap has it's own tube that you see running up and down through the ice water. That is the only thing between the kegs and taps. Pre-mix units are cool like that.

The first thing I did was fill the tank with water and bleach. I used a cloth to scrub the upper part because the overflow hole won't allow water to go all the way to the top.

The refrigerator coil shown here sits down in the water and cools it. There is a paddle which stirs the water. I believe it's purpose is to keep the tank from freezing up, I'll check the water temp after I get one running.

Fountains and tanks arrive at the Bonnie Brewery. Soon to serve a more important role!

Miscellaneous:

The Cornelius company - making kegs and equipment for many refreshing beverages!

Notes on Gravity

2010-06-27T19:33:00.000-05:00

Always read the Original Gravity (OG) before pitching the yeast. Measure the Final Gravity (FG) before bottling. After you bottle it the priming sugar will throw off the measurement and beyond that the carbonation would probably make it hard to read in addition to also having changed the density of the beer.

To calculate the approximate alcohol by volume (ABV) of the beer:
OG - FG * 129 = approximate alcohol by volume%
example: 1.045 - 1.015 = .030, .030 * 129 = 3.9%

Adjustments
Hydrometers tend to be manufactured for 60 degrees Fahrenheit (I wish I could find one that was designed to be read at room temperature!). So when reading the OG and FG some adjustment is usually required:

wort is 60F-No adjustment needed
70F-add 1 point
77F-add 2 points
84F-add 3 points
95F-add 5 points
105F-add 7 points

Fort Collins Retro Red

2010-06-06T16:12:00.000-05:00

My pal Ted brought me a 6-pack of Retro Red the other week for my birthday. THANKS Ted!

It has a great malty taste and the nose reminds me of a good boil session going on in the kitchen of brews past. Just the hint of Tettnang hops in there, the Retro Red seems to fit well with the 9D Irish Red Ale guidelines. Now to find a local retailer!

Bottoms Up to the Fort Collins Brewery

Bass clone

2010-01-11T20:10:00.000-06:00

brewed:
January 10, 2010

recipe:

1.5 teaspoons of Burton water salts
.5 lb Muntons Light DME
3.3 lbs Muntons Light LME
1 lb 2 row pale ale malt
1 lb 6 oz. corn sugar
1 lb crystal malt 60L
.75 oz. roasted barley
1 oz. of Northern Brewer hops at 8% alpha acids at the beginning of boil
15 minutes left:
.25 oz. of the same hops
1 teaspoon of Irish moss
1/8th teaspoon of yeast nutrients

WLP023 Burton Ale Yeast from White Labs

O.G.

secondary fermentation:

F.G.

kegged:

results:

BtFT

2010-01-11T18:50:00.000-06:00

Another go with Tom's "Better than Fat Tire" kit from Rebel Brewer

brewed:
January 10, 2010

O.G.

(dammit)

secondary fermentation:

F.G.

kegged:

results:

recipe:

1 can of Munton's Extra Light Liquid Malt Extract
Light Dry Malt Extract
Victory Malt and two others.
Hops?
Wyeast 3787 Trappist

Grains steeped in at 155 degrees and cooled for 35 minutes.
Bring to boil and remove grains.
Put in the first hops, about .5 ounces.
Add half of the DME and LME.
Then brought up to a boil and started the timer for 60 minutes.

With 10 minutes left add the next hops, about .75 ounce.

The last hops go in at 3 minutes left, about .75 ounce. These are for flavor.
Turned off the heat and added the last of the malts (Dry and Liquid). Cooled outside on the snowy deck then pitched the yeast the next morning.

Notes:This time we're using the Wyeast instead of White labs. I wish I had a batch of the other around to compare with this yeast when it's done.

Twenty Things...

2009-12-27T11:39:00.000-06:00

A short collection of beer facts:

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/beer

Cherry Stout

2009-11-02T21:48:00.000-06:00

Well here's something I've been anticipating for a while now. A while back I brewed the Cherry Wit recipe from Briess. It was good, but different in that I haven't really aquired a taste for something quite that dry. Don't get me wrong - I drank about 3 gallons of it. But I digress...

I had been holding onto the last gallon or so, waiting for this Imperial Stout to naturally carbonate. The goal was that I'd make a half & half with Cherry Wit on the bottom.

So tonight I broke out the spoon and (well that didn't work so well given the tap pressure and lack of a third hand) so the Cherry was pretty well blended all in with the stout. But I enjoyed it.

Mmmm, the adventures of homebrewing. This will send me searching for other straight up Cherry Stout recipes. The wife tried it and suggested a Vanilla-Cherry-Stout. Mmmmmm, off to ponder that now.

Donkey Tire

2009-10-19T19:54:00.008-05:00

Tonight I'm brewing up a "better than Fat Tire", so deemed by the LHBS proprietor.

Tom likes to use Victory malt as a main component which gives this a different flavor. I'm going to try it out.

A friend of mine, nicknamed Donkey, was killed on his bicycle recently. He loved a good beer so I'm calling this batch Donkey Tire in his honor. Maybe I'll throw a nut in it to match up with David's personality. ;)

brewed:
October 19, 2009

O.G.

secondary fermentation:
October 25, 2009
F.G.

kegged:
October 25, 2009

results:

recipe:
1 can of Munton's Extra Light Liquid Malt Extract
Light Dry Malt Extract
Victory Malt and two others, I'll have to pay closer attention next time. Dangit they kitted this up for me.
Hops see above.
White Labs Liquid Abbey Ale Yeast

Grains steeped in at 155 degrees and cooled for 40 minutes.
Bring to boil and remove grains.
Start 60 minute timer and pour in the first hops, about .5 ounces.
Add half of the DME and LME.

With 10 minutes left add the next hops, about .75 ounce.

The last hops go in at 3 minutes left, about .75 ounce. These are for flavor.
Cut off the flame and add the last of the malts. Cool then pitch the yeast.

Notes:
For the yeast this time they threw in Danstar Nottingham dry yeast. Dare I use it? Hmmm. No, I decided to wait it out a bit and pick up the Abbey Ale yeast.

Update Oct. 21: This morning the fermenter was eerily still. Tom says the yeast may hit the 18 hour mark before it does anything. We'll eagerly check on it after work! Also I'll be checking on the BYO recipe for Fat Tire, I think that one called for a Wyest pack.

This batch of beer was great. Very enjoyable and the flavor was not exactly like Fat Tire from the bottle, it was better. Tom's recipe lived up to the name.

Kegerator Part III

2009-10-17T19:43:00.005-05:00

Well this may be one of those things you often find in a hobby... there's always room for improving things a bit. Today I took some chalkboard paint and taped off a spot to list the beers on tap.

I think it looks great. So much for being humble.
There is just ONE more thing I have in mind (so far) and that would be to drill a hole from the freezer to the refrigerated compartment and then store the CO2 tank in the freezer.

Kegerator Part II

2009-10-11T10:28:00.006-05:00

After some deliberation and procrastination I finally moved the in-use kegs from the old fridge to the new one. That allowed me to move the remaining tap over and then I spent a few minutes making everything look spiffy with colored tape.

Now all the hoses, taps, adapters are easily identified. This will make changing them out a little easier and also the manifold will match up with the taps.

The shopping list now has been added for 2 pieces of hose for the CO2.

Final product? MMmmm, now I'm thirsty.

The inside view. After mounting the manifold there's not much else to do! I want to work a bit with placement and see if I can mount it out of the way as much as possible.

The one thing I really like about this fridge is the half-width adjustable shelves seen above the kegs!

Imperial Stout - October 4th

2009-10-04T17:33:00.007-05:00

Just finished putting two fermenters of Munton's Gold Imperial Stout in the closet.
Mmmmm, happy yeast should start the process soon.

I've brewed this all extract kit for a couple of years now and I highly recommend it if you like a smooth rich flavored dark beer. There's not a lot I think I could do to improve on it however Rebel did a special order for me so I had to get three. Now I must research and contemplate if there are any adjuncts or additions that might go well with it.

10 gallons should last me and any visitors throughout the winter. Since another 5 gallon batch is likely to come into play soon - I may have to supply it up to the Christmas party. Mmm, stout.

Even though this is a kit, I'll go ahead and record the specs.

brewed:
Oct 4, 2009

O.G. 1.009

secondary fermentation:
~Oct 18th

F.G.

kegged: 10/11/09
** Keg A has 5oz of priming sugar
Keg B will be force carbed

results:

MCB competition and grain tour

2009-10-04T17:11:00.006-05:00

Yesterday I went by to help unbox and ready beers for the MCB competition next week.

There were homebrews from as far away as Texas and several Northern states. We ended up with a large chest freezer-come-fridge filled up. And yet more are on the way since a couple of guys drove to Atlanta to pickup a load from the clubs down there.

Tom at Rebel showed Lynn and I how the external thermostat controls the power to keep the freezer at higher temperatures so it's a 'fridge instead of freezer.

We also got a tour of the grains, Marris Otter, a honey malt and an Acidulated malt (tasted like it sounds). One of the most interesting ones was the Cherry smoked malt.

Very nice day!

Kegerator

2009-08-23T10:14:00.001-05:00

Today I will be replacing all the lines between the disconnects and the shanks and two of the CO2 feed lines.
Adding colored tape to the lines so taps and CO2 feed will be simple to distinguish from now on.

Glossary & Miscellanea

2009-08-23T10:11:00.001-05:00

Miscellanea
----------------

Words & Abbreviations
---------
DME - Dried Malt Extract
LME - Liquid Malt Extract

LHBS - Local Home Brew Shop

White Cherry

2009-08-19T20:14:00.002-05:00

brewed:
Aug 16, 2009

O.G. 1.041

secondary fermentation: 8/22/09

F.G.

kegged: 8/22/09

results:
Even though I used a bit less tart juice than they called for this still had a dry and plenty tart taste in my opinion. The neighbors enjoyed it enough to come back for more and bring a relative. I'm holding off on finishing the last gallon to see how it might work as a half-and-half underneath the Imperial Stout. Plus it will have aged a bit more and Tom from the LHBS says this would probably mature well for a month or two. More on that later!

recipe:
Basically from Briess. 5 gallons

5 lbs. Briess CBW Bavarian Wheat LME
1 lb. Briess 6-Row Brewers Malt
6 oz. Briess Caramel Malt 60L
12 oz. Briess Bolander Munich Malt
4 oz. Briess Carapils Malt
2 qts. Knudsens Organic Just Tart Cherry Juice
- or -
4 lbs. pitted frozen tart cherries
.33 oz. Perle Pelletized Hops (9% AA hop)
1 Belgian Wit II Ale yeast WPL410 ( I subbed Wyest 3944 Belgian Wit per Tyler's suggestion)
1 tsp. Irish moss

They say to do a minimash with 4 gallons of water and grains, steeping it at 158F for 45 min. Since I was working with a smaller pot steeping in the kitchen I only did 2.5 gallons.

After the minimash I took it up to a boil and added the LME and let it boil for 45 minutes.

Added Irish Moss and continued boiling for 15 more minutes.

Cooled, pitched yeast the next morning 8/17/09.

On 8/19 I added the cherry juice. 1 qt of Knudsen "Just Black Cherry" from Publix in Goodlettsville. Since I didn't get the full 2 qts. needed I ended up going the next day to Publix in Hendersonville but they only had Old Orchard "Tart Cherry" (it contains ascorbic acid).

I'll let if ferment just a bit longer then do a secondary for two weeks.

Briess' specs:
Primary 14 days at 70F
Secondary 10 days at 35F
bottle condition

OG 1.042
FG 1.008
AbW 3.6%
AbV 4.5%
IBU 12
Color 10+ reddish

Paulaner Hefe-Weizen extract clone

2009-08-17T22:36:00.001-05:00

brewed:
Aug 16, 2009

O.G. 1.054

secondary fermentation: 8/22/09

F.G.

kegged: 8/22/09

results:

recipe:
From BYO magazine page 48
5 gallons

1.5 lbs. Briess wheat DME
3.75 lbs. Weyermann Bavarian Hefeweizen wheat LME (late addition)
2.1 lbs. wheat malt
.91 lbs. Pilsner malt
4.75 AAU Hallertau-Hersbrucker hops (1.2 oz./34g of 4% alpha acids)
Wyeast 3638 Bavarian Wheat
or White Labs WLP380 - Hefeweizen IV
1.2 cups of corn sugar for priming.

---------------------------------

Pop yeast bag.
Clean and sanitize gear.

Heat 4.5 quarts of water to 169F. Add crushed grains and steep at 158F for 45 min.

Boil 2.1 gallons of water.

At the end of the steep put 1.5 qts of boiling water into the "grain tea" steeping pot.
Put a colander over the brewpot and grain bag in it. Pour grain tea through the bag.

Bring to a boil then stir in the DME and add the hops.
Set time to 60 min.

At point where there are 15 min. left turn off heat and stir in the LME. Stir like mad then boil.

Cool wort, transfer it to the fermenter. Aerate and add water up to 5 gallon mark.
Pitch yeast and ferment at 68F.

Rack to secondary after fermentaion then bottle when it turns clear.

note: This fermentation was massive. The 2nd day I found the airlock was very mucky brown and krausen had leaked out through the top and down the side of the fermenter.
Definately use the tube instead of airlock when brewing this!

Fat Tire clone

2009-08-17T17:24:00.002-05:00

brewed:
Aug 2, 2009

secondary fermentation:
Aug 10, 2009

kegged:
Aug 10, 2009

results:
Tapping this on 8/25/09

recipe:

From BYO magazine page 21

I did a comparison with the first batch of this and a bottle of Fat Tire from New Belgian:
Mine had a slightly duller taste that was noticeable. My wife commented that there was a more "floral" nose/taste to the original New Belgian.

Of course my clone was visibly cloudier. I'm not filtering like the pros.

I'll have to take a sample to the LHBS and see what the guys there think. The certified beer judge will probably give me some tips.