Homebrew Junkie

Counter Top All-Grain Brewing Part 1

2010-02-27T10:45:00.000-08:00

Brewing up an all grain IPA on the Counter Top. Check it out.

Counter Top All-Grain Brewing Part 2

2010-02-27T10:43:00.000-08:00

Brewing up an IPA on the Counter Top! It's easy to do, just watch the video.

What do I do if I have a stuck fermentation?

2010-02-23T10:39:00.000-08:00

This question seems to come up a lot with both wine makers and beer makers. There are a few simple things that you can do to get the fermentation going again in your beer or wine.

First off, you want to take a hydrometer reading. You know what a hydrometer is, right? That little glass thingy that you probably broke far too many times and have had to replace. Anyway, this is THE only way you can tell what's going on with fermentation. DO NOT rely on airlock activity. I've had plenty of people say that their wine or beer is still working after months of just sitting in a carboy because they see bubbles coming out of the airlock. Please don't rely on airlocks. What happens during primary fermentation is that there is an ass-ton of carbon dioxide being produced. Since it all can't go up and out of the airlock or blow off tube it has no other place but to get dissolved into the solution of the beer or wine. So if you see activity in your airlock months after primary fermentation I can 99.9% guarantee that it's just residual co2. So always use your hydrometer.

Now, if your hydrometer is reading above 1.000 (for wines) or higher than you expect your final gravity to be for beer, then the first thing you want to check is your temperature. If your beer (ales only) or wine is in a cooler place . . . 65 degrees or lower, then the yeast tend to slow down and possibly go dormant. So I suggest to warm up the beer or wine and gently rouse the yeast up with a sanitized spoon to get it back into suspension. Let it know that it still has a job to do!

If this doesn't work then you can add more fresh yeast to see if it will take off.

If that doesn't work either then it could be your ph, especially with wines. If your ph is too low then your yeast will automatically die. You can use ph strips to see what your ph level is. Anything lower than 3 and it's too acidic for the yeast and the yeast won't take off. You can use some acidex to help drop out some of the acid to raise your ph level or you can dilute your wine down with some water. Water usually has a ph of 8. You can also cold crash your wine. Simply place it in an area that's close to freezing for a few weeks and the tartaric acid will naturally start to crystallize and drop out of solution. You'll see it at the bottom of the fermenter; this may take a few racks to get the desired ph level. Once your ph level is above 4 then you can add some more fresh yeast.

One other thing is alcohol tolerance. Yeast have specific alcohol tolerances. That means they can only grow and produce up until a certain saturation of alcohol and then the alcohol will kill them. You're going to have to check the alcohol tolerance of your yeast and base that off of the alcohol in your wine or beer to see if you've reached the max tolerance for that yeast. If you did reach the tolerance then you can possibly add more yeast that can handle a higher alcohol tolerance. If you do this then rehydrate the yeast in water first before adding. If you add the yeast directly to the alcoholic beer or wine then the alcohol could kill off as much as half of the yeast because it can't fully hydrate itself and prep its cells walls to do their job.

If you still can't get your fermentation going after all of that, then you may just have a permanently stuck fermentation. If the beer or wine is too sweet then you can blend it with another beer or wine that's similar to cut back on the sweetness.

Good luck and I hope you don't get any stuck fermenations!

Vinator Bottle Rinser: Review

2010-02-19T11:48:00.001-08:00

If you're like me, then you probably can't stand bottling wine or beer when it comes to that time. I used to mix up 5 gallons of sanitizing solution and soak my bottles, drain and repeat the process until I had enough bottles for bottling. What a pain in the ass that was, and on top of it, it was a waste of sanitizer and really messy. Well, that's when I started using the Vinator Bottle Rinser. Boy, this device saved me a lot of time and hassle when it came to bottling.

The Vinator Bottle Rinser has a very basic design. It simply has a strong spring on the inside that, when pushed down, squirts sanitizer up into your bottles. The great thing about the vinator bottle rinser is that you don't need a ton of sanitizer to sanitize a slew of bottles. It keeps reusing the same sanitizer. Two pumps and the bottles are sanitized and ready to go. It's really that simple.

I use mine all the time, especially when bottling wine. It's easy to use, compact and not difficult to put together.

So if you're not enjoying sanitizing your bottles then the vinator bottle rinser is the way to go. It will cut down on time, money and sanitizer. Give it a shot. I'm sure you'll wish you would have purchased one of these sooner!

Fermencap - S: Review

2010-01-22T12:18:00.001-08:00

Tired of always watching the pot while you brew your beer so you don't have any boil overs? Tired of attaching a blow off tube to your fermenter just in case if it blows its top? Well, Ben's Homebrew now has a new product called Fermcap-S. Fermcap-S is an anti foaming liquid that you add directly to your brew kettle or to your fermenter in order to prevent boil overs.

I'll be honest, I was a bit skeptical when I used this stuff. I wasn't sure if it was going to work. So I brewed up a batch of beer and just to try out Fermcap-S, I decided to make sure I had a decent foam going for a boil over. I added 2 drops per gallon of wort and immediately all of the foam subsided. I was amazed at this stuff.

One other great thing about fermcap-s is that you can now collect 7 gallons of wort in a 7.5 gallon brewing kettle. Why, because you don't have to worry about it foaming up and boiling over. You can squeeze more wort into your kettle for the boil. It's awesome. And, you don't have to worry about watching it at all.

Fermcap-S also works the same way in the fermenter. Add 1-2 drops per gallon of wort, pitch your yeast and fermcap-s will hold the krausen (foam) to a 1/2 inch. That's pretty freakin' sweet if you ask me.

And if you're at all worried about fermcap-s causing issues with head retention in the final product of your beer, then don't sweat it. After primary fermentation finishes, fermcap-s drops out of solution to the bottom of the fermenter, so you can just rack right off of it.

If you don't have fermcap-s then I recommend you get some and try it out. One vial lasts a long time and you're never going to have to worry about boil overs or blow offs with your beer. I'm definitely going to be using it with every beer that I brew. No more worries for me. And that's what I'm talking about.

P.S. I'll be demonstrating how it works in an upcoming video. Then you'll get to SEE what I'm talking about!

Happy 2010!

2010-01-13T08:41:00.001-08:00

Well, after a 3 month long hiatus from blogging, I just wanted to let everyone know that Homebrew Junkie is back! So all you homebrew junkies, don't fret. I have plans for new videos and new blogs. This year I'll be focusing more on using liquid yeast and reviewing liquid yeast. On top of that I'll be writing and doing a video on How to Make a Starter for your liquid yeast. We'll be doing some other crazy stuff like smoking malt and chipotle's for a chipotle smoked porter. I'll also be building and video taping how to build a hop trellis. I moved and need to build a new set up for the hops.

So I just wanted to give a shout out to everyone that there will be new things this year and if you have any other suggestions as to what you'd like video taped or blogged about, please feel free to leave those suggestions in the comment area.

Thanks. I can't wait. It's going to be an exciting year. I hope you all will join me!

Citra Whole Leaf Hops - Review

2009-10-13T09:55:00.001-07:00

Citra Whole leaf hops are a brand new hop that's just recently reached the homebrewing world. Citra hops are grown by Sierra Nevada brewing company and have been used in their Torpedo Extra IPA. The only thing known about Citra Hops is that they contribute a pineapple, mango and citrus flavor. Very unique and very interesting.

Just the other day I brewed up an IPA using nothing but Citra hops and when it's kegged and ready I'll be sure to report back and post my results on the hops. If you're interested in purchasing some Citra Hops you can do so right here at the low price of $2 an ounce: Ben's Homebrew
Get them while they last. And before I go here's my recipe for citra hops.

Citra Hop IPA

3 lbs golden light DME (60 min boil)
3 lbs golden light DME (15 min boil)
1 lb Local Honey (flame out)
1 lb 40L crystal malt
1 oz Citra First Wort Hop
2 oz Citra 20 min
2 oz Citra 10 min
1 oz Citra Dry Hop
2 pkgs US-05 Fermentis Ale Yeast

Pretty simple. We'll see how she shines!

Revision: 10-29-09

Kegged it up and force carbed it. It was super fresh. These are my notes: Big pineapple, piney aroma with a touch of onion. Lots of front-forward pineapple flavor, rounds out to piney flavor and leaves a touch of onion in the back end of the finish. Interesting. It's almost like a mix of amarillo, simcoe and summit all in one.

A week has gone by and the onion flavor is gone. I have to say that this is one of the most interesting hops I've ever brewed with. This simple recipe could probably win a medal because the flavor in this beer completely blows away any other kind of IPA I've ever had. It's so unique. I gave a pint to my sister and she said, with no hesistation: "Wow, this is good." And it is good. The flavor blows away any 60 min IPA.

If you haven't tried Citra hops, give them a shot as a single addition to really understand how they work. It's freakin' awesome.

Five Star: Star San - Review

2009-10-03T10:58:00.001-07:00

Star san, star san, star san . . . .you are my one and only friend! Ha! That's great. Seriously, though, Star san is my go-to sanitizer when it comes to sanitizing my homebrewing or wine making products and here are a few reasons why.

One of the greatest things about Star san is that it only requires a 30 second contact time in order to sanitize. The EPA requires a 3 minute contact time for any kind of sanitizer, so that's how many sanitizers are listed. However, Five Star has done their own testing and using the appropriate amount of star san per water, it yielded a 30 second contact time.

So what does that mean? Well, it means that you can actually put Star San in a spray bottle and spot sanitize equipment as you need to when you're homebrewing or making wine. I have a bottle on hand at all times. If I need to stir something up I spray the spoon down, wait 30 seconds and then stir it up. It's great for spot sanitizing wine thiefs, hydrometers, test jars . . .pretty much anything.

On top of having a 30 second contact time, the foam (and DON'T FEAR THE FOAM) will break down in wort and aid as a yeast nutrient. Can't beat that. One thing to mention, well, I already did, is that Star San foams a lot. I mean A LOT. Don't fear it. It's good for everything. The best part is that the foam acts as a barrier from other bacteria getting into carboys or buckets because when you rack over to a carboy the foam stays on top of the beer/wort/wine.

Another great thing about Star san is that when you're done using it as a sanitizer you can actually water your plants with it. It has a lot of phosphorous that's a great nutrient for plants.

On top of that, one sure sign to know that your star san has gone bad is that it will actually get cloudy. How's that for notification.

These are just a few reasons why I've switched to Star San. It's a great sanitizer and the only one I use now. A little goes a long way.

Infected Beer: Habenero Amber

2009-09-02T10:53:00.001-07:00

Here are a few images of my latest experiment. I didn't intend for this batch to be infected, but something happened and I don't know if it came from the actual peppers or from poor sanitation or what, but, it's infected. At this point in time I'm going to ride it out for about 8 months and see how it comes along. With more time the heat will subside and I may end up with a damned good hot and sour beer. It should be pretty interesting. There's no way I'm dumping this batch. I'll see what happens.

But for all of those who have a nasty white film on the top of their fermenter and it looks like this (yeah, pics aren't that great, but you can obviously see there is infection there) then the beer is infected. Ride it out, dump it or add some campden tablets to kill off the infection and keg it up and drink it fast if you want to save it.

9-15-09 Update:

Ok, I pulled a sample of this stuff. Everything smelled fine. I couldn't smell anything funky or sour to it. I took a hydrometer reading and it's final gravity is deadpanned at 1.000. I know US-05 is not this aggressive with its attenuation so something chewed at the other sugars and dropped it that low. Surprisingly, there was no sour or funky taste to it at all. There was definitely heat to the beer but it wasn't a "burn-your-freakin'-face-off" heat. It's not a session beer but I could see someone easily sampling two pints of this stuff.

I'm really stumped as to what is infecting it. It hasn't really formed an more film on the top so it's not growing a pellicle. I'll be kegging it up soon and drinking it.

So, for anyone who is interested in doing some kind of spicy pepper beer, two habenaros did the trick for me.

How to Brew All-Grain Beer - Part 2

2009-08-05T09:12:00.000-07:00

In this second part of the series I'll discuss how to batch sparge, how to fly sparge, at what rate you need to collect your wort with fly sparging. I'll also point out what gravity you need to watch for when collecting your final runnings of your all grain batch of beer. We'll also take a little detour from the all grain brewing session and check out some yummy cascade hops.

How to Brew All-Grain Beer - Part 1

2009-08-05T09:08:00.000-07:00

In this series I'll walk you through how easy it is to brew all grain beer. I'll be discussing water to grain ratio, mashing in . . at what temperature. I discuss my type of manifold and mash tun for all grain brewing. Check it out.

How to Brew 1 Gallon Batches of Beer - Part 1

2009-07-22T08:56:00.000-07:00

1 Gallon Homebrew Equipment Kits!

2009-07-22T08:50:00.000-07:00

Ben's Homebrew is introducing a new 1 Gallon Homebrewing Equipment Kit for the Casual Brewer. And here are some reasons why you should start homebrewing with this 1 gallon homebrew equipment kit:

Why do 1 Gallon Batches of beer?

* Short on time? It only takes 45 minutes to brew up a batch.
* Living in a dorm room or small apartment? 1 gallon equipment kits don't take up much space and everything can be cleaned in your kitchen!
* Don't know if you're going to enjoy a style? With 1 gallon batches you can do a bunch of different varieties to see what kind of styles you prefer and have a nice selection on hand for your friends and family to taste!
* Enjoy Lager beers? Well, now you can simply place your primary fermenter in to your refrigerator and make lager beers. No need for any other necessary equipment! Can't beat that.
* Bottling only takes about 20 minutes, so if you're short on time this is the way to go.
* Simply put, 1 Gallon batches are a lot of fun for the Casual Brewer.

Is Secondary Fermentation Necessary for Homebrewing?

2009-06-26T09:48:00.000-07:00

I get asked this question a lot and the answer is yes and no. Yeah, I know, that isn't really a good answer, but allow me to explain.

If you are doing any kind of standard ale like an IPA, Pale ale, Wheat, Stout, Porter, pretty much any kind of ale recipe, then you don't have to do a secondary fermentation. Just let the beer sit for 2-3 weeks for all the yeast to flocculate out and then bottle or keg your beer as normal.

However, if you are adding anything to your beer after it's done fermenting, that's when I suggest to do a secondary fermentation. Adding things to beer . . . what's that? If you are adding vanilla beans, fruit, dry hopping, coffee or anything else, then absolutely, do a secondary fermentation. Why not add to primary fermentation? Well, during primary fermentation there is so much activity going on that a lot of the flavors and aromas that you want to extract from the addition of other ingredients will more than likely get blown out during primary fermentation, which means you won't have as much flavor in your finished beer. This is the only time I do a secondary fermentation.

Lagers and Big beers (a.k.a. High gravity beers) need secondary fermentation. Lagers do because you need to rack out of the primary and into the secondary in order to actually "lager" your beer at 34 degrees for a month or so. With big beers, it's necessary to rack off of the yeast and let them sit to mature a little longer and finish up their secondary fermentation, and because primary fermentation may last up to one month with big beers. I've racked big beers from secondary to a tertiary (third racking) for a few months. Then I'll add new yeast and bottle.

So if a recipe calls for racking to secondary, ask yourself if you're adding anything more to that beer, and if you aren't then I wouldn't recommend racking. By not racking again you eliminate possible oxidation and contamination to your beer. Just have some patience, leave it sit another week in the primary and then rack off. All will be fine.

How to Clean a 5 Gallon Corny Keg

2009-06-24T13:32:00.000-07:00

Here's the latest video on how easy it is to clean either a purchased, used corny keg, or a corny keg that was used for homebrewing. Corny kegs can be purchased at Ben's Homebrew at awesome prices!

Fermtech Wine Thief

2009-05-12T08:47:00.001-07:00

The Fermtech Wine Thief is a must-have piece of equipment for both homebrewing and wine making. Why? The simple ease and design allows the user to extract samples from both beer and wine in a breeze. One of the greatest reasons to get a wine thief is especially if you're using carboys for fermenters. The thief makes it so easy to just pull a sample out. Simply insert it through the top of the neck and allow it to fill, pull it out and put the sample into a test jar and take a reading. I don't recommend taking readings inside of the wine thief because you can't spin the hydrometer to get the bubbles off of it, which can sometimes lead to an off reading; and another thing is that the bottom of the thief will drip a little, too. So it's much easier to pull the sample and put it into a test jar, let the foam settle down and take a hydrometer reading.

That's really all there is to the Fermtech Wine Thief, in a nutshell. They are simple and easy to use and work great. One other word of caution is to not use extremely hot water on them while cleaning because it can lead to stress cracks in the plastic. Otherwise, I suggest everyone have one of these in their arsenal of homebrewing and wine making.

Fermentis T-58 - Review

2009-04-23T09:06:00.000-07:00

Fermentis pretty much says that T-58 yeast is "estery with somewhat peppery and spicy flavor". And that does sum it up nicely, but it's not the entire truth. I've used fermentis T-58 yeast plenty of times and the biggest thing that I have found is that it definitely has a peppery flavor to it. It's not in-your-face peppery, but it's discernible enough to know that it exists. As for the esters . . . .I've never tasted any kind of esters using this product but that doesn't mean they aren't there.

So, what else about Fermentis' T-58? What can this T-58 be used for in brewing? Well, I'd say one of the best styles for T-58 would be a witbier. The pepper flavor really pairs well with the coriander and orange peel. I threw some ingredients together one time and decided to try this yeast out. I took a keg of it on vacation and my twin brother told me it tasted just like Blue Moon. I don't remember what I put in the recipe but I do know I used some older hops and some older malt that I just wanted to use up. But it did surprisingly taste very good. So I'd say that T-58 could pair well with any kind of wheat beer. You could possibly substitute T-58 for a Belgian yeast if you wanted to but it would all depend on the kind of Belgian you are making. I'd say you could potentially use it for a saison recipe too. And as for temperature range, I would keep it on the warmer side and go anywhere between 70-75 degrees for the best flavor.

The one thing that I absolutely hate about Fermentis' T-58 is its flocculation properties. Quite simply stated: it sucks! T-58 does not have medium flocculation like how Fermentis' claims on their website. It has poor, very poor flocculation properties. After primary fermentation this stuff will just hang around in your beer for weeks if you don't do something about it. The best way is to add some gelatin or some K.C. Super Kleer finings or to cold crash those bad boys out of your beer.

Other than that I think that Fermentis T-58 is a good yeast to use depending on the style of beer you wish to drink. Here's a simple recipe for a witbier using the yeast. Give it a shot, I think you'll like this stuff. And let me know how the beer turns out if you make the recipe! Cheers!

Witbier (Perfect for Summer!) *Note: This is a 2.5 gallon boil volume.

3.30 lb LME Wheat Bavarian (Briess) (4.0 SRM) Extract 43.42 %
3.30 lb LME Wheat Bavarian (Briess) [Boil for 15 min] Extract 43.42 %
0.50 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 6.58 %
0.50 lb Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM) Grain 6.58 %
1.00 oz Cascade [6.30 %] (60 min) Hops 12.7 IBU
0.50 oz Orange Peel, Bitter (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
1.00 oz Coriander Seed (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs SafBrew Specialty Ale (DCL Yeast #T-58) Yeast-Ale

A.L.C.Y. Brew Session - Imperial Tripel Partigyle

2009-04-21T08:53:00.000-07:00

Well, our fourth brew session took place for Ales and Lagers Carbonated with Yeast (A.L.C.Y.) brew club. Here are a couple pics. I wish I would have taken more but I was also taking video and being busy working on an Imperial Triple Partigyle brew.

This is my set up and this was when I first got there. You can see Geno in the background with his three tier system too.

This was the mash of the Imperial Triple. We packed in almost 50lbs of grain for the partigyle and I think it could have held another 5 lbs of grain easily! That's a shitload of grain! After mashing it I immediately started to vorlauf because it took almost 20 minutes to get a nice clean vorlauf going and by that time I was ready to sparge and collect.

The first runnings out of it were coming in at 1.100! That's what I wanted to hit but then I added another 4 lbs of sugar into the end of the boil and bumped it up to 1.170, which is a bit much so I plan on diluting it with some well aerated water in a couple of days.

And here are all the spent grains from everyone's mashes! After each person unloaded we all sampled the grain to see how much sugar was left. It was an interesting experiment. That's a lot of grain! And here's my recipe for the partigyle if you're interested:

40.00 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 90.91 %
4.00 lb Wheat, Torrified (1.7 SRM) Grain 9.09 %
3.00 oz Magnum [14.00 %] (90 min) Hops 45.3 IBU
1 Pkgs Trappist Ale (White Labs #WLP500) Yeast-Ale

And like I said, I added 4 lbs of corn sugar to the end of the Imperial Triple, so don't forget it if you try this recipe.

Amarillo Hops - Review

2009-04-16T10:44:00.000-07:00

Ahhhh, Amarillo hops. Amarillo hops been around for a while and they are a fantastic hop to use for any kind of straight up Amarillo pale ale or Amarillo IPA. Why? Well, first off, they are probably one of my favorite dual-purpose hops to use. Dual purpose, what's that? Well, Amarillo hops usually fall between 8-11% alpha acid content. That's a high enough alpha acid content to use them for both bittering and flavoring hops.

And as far as bittering goes, Amarillo hops give you a nice slightly clean bitterness. They have a high enough co-humulone rate (21-24) to give you enough of a bitter bite to your beer but not as much as say . . . chinook. But amarillo hops certainly make sure you know they are bittering your beer.

And the flavor of amarillo hops is outstanding. Amarillo hops are the only hops that I know of that give your beer a very distinct grapefruit flavor to them. Sure, there are plenty of hops out there that give plenty of citrus/lemon/orange flavor but amarillo hops are the only hops to give you grapefruit flavors. If you add enough for a flavoring addition or even dry hopping addition you beer will resemble something close to actually drinking grapefruit juice. If that's not for you then no problem.

So if you haven't used amarillo hops yet, I would highly suggest using them. Below is a recipe for an all amarillo Pale ale. Try it out if you wish and if you want to bump it up a bit more you can turn this recipe into an IPA with no issues at all, just by adding some more to the bittering and more for flavoring. Let me know what you think of the recipe if you brew it! And remember, the best way to figure out the profile of a hop is to use it in a single addition in a beer i.e. just use that hop through the recipe, no other hops.

And remember, all ingredients can be purchased through Ben's Homebrew.

Amarillo Pale Ale 5 gallon batch, 2.5 gallon boil volume.

6.60 lb LME Golden Light (Briess) (4.0 SRM) Extract 92.96 %
0.50 lb Caramel Malt - 20L (Briess) (20.0 SRM) Grain 7.04 %
0.50 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (60 min) Hops 21.9 IBU
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (Dry Hop 3 days) Hops -
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (10 min) Hops 15.9 IBU
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (0 min) Hops -
1 Pkgs Safale (DCL Yeast #US-05) Yeast-Ale

Growing Hops at Home - Video

2009-04-10T09:10:00.000-07:00

This is the latest video from Ben's Homebrew. Growing Hops at Home covers what kind of mulch to use for growing hops, what kind of string to use for growing hops, chemical fertilizers for growing hops, harvesting rhizomes, training hop bines, trimming hop bines, and warding off aphids and mites that may decimate your hops at home. Check it out and please feel free to rate, comment or subscribe! Thanks!

Information on Growing Your Own Hops

2009-03-06T08:53:00.000-08:00

Information on Growing Your Own Hops
Before you read the article, check out the Growing Hops at Home video!

Upon obtaining rhizomes, they should be stored in a plastic bag slightly moistened in a refrigerator. Plant rhizomes when you know the last frost has occurred. Rhizomes should be planted vertically with the bud pointing up or horizontally about 1” below the soil. First year “baby” hops have a minimal root system and require frequent short waterings much like any baby plant. Do not over water and drown the plant. Try not to soak the vine during watering, as that will sometimes encourage diseases. Don’t expect much growth or flowers the first year because the hop is basically establishing its root system. Full growth and maximum crops of flowers will be achieved during the second and third year. You’ll also want to trim back the first three feet of leaves to ensure that no mildew will affect the rest of the plant.

Support

Hops are aggressive growers given the right environment. It’s preferable to mulch or fertilize your hops with manure (horse or cow manure is great, just mix with soil before mulching so you don’t burn your hops) or miracle grow tomato fertilizer. If you use artificial fertilizer use it sparingly because overuse can potentially burn out the plants. They also need as much sun light as you can give them (8-12 hours is great). You can grow them vertically or horizontally. It’s easier for them to grow vertically. During peak times they can grow over 12” in one day so make sure you have enough space for them. Use strong twine or nylon string because as they get older and bigger they get heavier and need the extra support, otherwise the twine may break and the plant will fall. You’ll also want to select between 3-6 bines for growth and trim back all other bines that begin to form. Select the best looking bines in order to obtain optimal growth. When training the bines make sure you train them in a clockwise way so they grow with the sun.

Harvest

Harvest usually occurs late August and early September. At maturity, the hop aroma is at its strongest and is measured by crushing a cone and smelling it. The yellow lupulin glands in the cone become much more evident and plump looking when magnified. The cone will develop a drier, papery feel and in some varieties a lighter color as it matures. Some browning of the lower bracts is a good sign of ripeness. Squeeze the cones as they develop and you will notice they become more light and resilient rather than green and hard. The actual picking is self explanatory. For a great video on harvest hops check this out: Harvesting Home Grown Hops.

Drying

Simply place in a food dehydrator or on a window screen and let them sit until dry. With the screen method sometimes it will take a few days. Periodically check by squeezing them together. When dried, place in an air tight container and freeze for best results.

How to Brew a Batch of Home Brewed Beer Part 1

2009-01-22T08:33:00.001-08:00

In the first part of this video series I walk everyone through the start ups of brewing a batch of beer. I explain what specialty malts do, why I steep them in 1/2 gallon of water; why I add dry malt to cold water and why I exclusively used the Late Addition Extract Method when brewing extract beers. Check it out, I think you'll like it. At the bottom of the video will be the recipe. And Simcoe hops are now available at Ben's Homebrew.

3.00 lb Extra Light Dry Extract (3.0 SRM) Dry Extract 33.33 %
3.00 lb Extra Light Dry Extract (3.0 SRM) Dry Extract 33.33 % (Last 15 min)
1.00 lb Caramel Malt - 40L (Briess) (40.0 SRM) Grain 11.11 %
1.00 oz Simcoe [12.00 %] (60 min) Hops 23.0 IBU
2.00 oz Simcoe [12.00 %] (15 min) Hops 22.9 IBU
2.00 oz Simcoe [12.00 %] (10 min) Hops 16.7 IBU
2.00 lb Sugar, Table (Sucrose) (1.0 SRM) Sugar 22.22 % (last 15 min)
2 Pkgs Safale (DCL Yeast #US-05) Yeast-Ale

How to Brew a Batch of Home Brewed Beer Part 2

2009-01-22T08:31:00.001-08:00

Here is a video that finishes the 2 part series on How to Brew a Batch of Home Brewed Beer. In this video I cover adding the finishing hops, chilling it down, aerating the wort and adding the yeast. Check it out! Below the video is the recipe I used.

3.00 lb Extra Light Dry Extract (3.0 SRM) Dry Extract 33.33 %
3.00 lb Extra Light Dry Extract (3.0 SRM) Dry Extract 33.33 % (Last 15 min)
1.00 lb Caramel Malt - 40L (Briess) (40.0 SRM) Grain 11.11 %
1.00 oz Simcoe [12.00 %] (60 min) Hops 23.0 IBU
2.00 oz Simcoe [12.00 %] (15 min) Hops 22.9 IBU
2.00 oz Simcoe [12.00 %] (10 min) Hops 16.7 IBU
2.00 lb Sugar, Table (Sucrose) (1.0 SRM) Sugar 22.22 % (last 15 min)
2 Pkgs Safale (DCL Yeast #US-05) Yeast-Ale

Fermentis S-04- Review

2009-01-17T07:44:00.000-08:00

Before I go into the review of this yeast I am going to provide the profile of this yeast from the Fermentis website:

A well-known, commercial English ale yeast, selected for its fast fermentation character and its ability to form a very compact sediment at the end of the fermentation, helping to improve beer clarity. This yeast is recommended for the production of a large range of ale beers and is specially well adapted to cask-conditioned ales and fermentation in cylindro-conical tanks. Sedimentation: high. Final gravity: medium.

That wraps it up in a nutshell, but Fermentis S-04 is simply an awesome yeast. If you thought US-05 is a good yeast then S-04 is even better for certain styles of beer. The best thing I love about S-04 is that it's a monster. If you are looking to turn a beer around in a very fast way then this is, in my opinion, the only yeast to use. I've made ESB's, IPA's, Pale Ales, Porters, Stouts, and even lighter style beers like Amber Ales with this yeast. I've literally turned around a beer in one week using this yeast. It's a beast and just chews right through fermentation within 4-5 days tops with normal gravity beers (1.045-1.060). After 6 days in primary I'll keg it and force carbonate it and be serving it in one week!

Not only does S-04 chew through fermentation but the other great aspect of it is its flocculation ability. S-04 flocculates out hard and fast. In five days you'll see a very compact form of yeast sediment at the bottom of your fermenter. That's another reason why you can turn beers around really fast. You don't have to worry about waiting around for the yeast to drop out.

One other thing about S-04 is that it will leave you with a higher final gravity than US-05. I usually achieve an attenuation rate of 70%-75% with this stuff and that usually leaves me with final gravities ranging from 1.015-1.020. I've even used this stuff in an Oaked Scottish Wee Heavy and it turned out fantastic.

S-04 also has a very clean profile to it which allows the malts and hops to shine through even more, displaying the very core of your craft and your beer.

So if you are in a pinch and need to turn around beer then S-04 is the yeast for you. It's my second go-to yeast if I don't have US-05 on hand. If you haven't tried S-04 out I highly recommend doing so because you won't be disappointed. Fermentis makes some truly awesome yeast products and I can't wait to see if they put out other dry yeasts in the future.

Beginner Beer Equipment Kit

2009-01-10T08:25:00.000-08:00

So you're interested in diving into the home brewing hobby but you're not sure what kind of equipment kit you should purchase. Well, here's a beginner beer equipment kit that Ben's Homebrew sells. Listed below are the equipment pieces and some reasons why you should start out with this beginner beer equipment kit.

Beginner Beer Equipment Kit:

- Primary Fermenting Buck with grommet lid
- - Triple scale Hydrometer
- 3 piece air lock
- Easy Clean sanitizer
- 3/8" tubing
- 3/8" bottle filler
- Bucket Clip (for the racking cane)
- 24" racking cane
- Adhesive thermometer (for the outside of Primary fermenting bucket)
- Bottle brush
- Capper
- Home Beer Making

This is all the basic equipment you need to start brewing beer at home. The only other items you would need are a stock pot capable of holding about 3 gallons of liquid, ingredient kit and bottles.

Now why should you purchase just a basic equipment kit instead of a souped up, really expensive kit? It's really quite simple. Since you are just starting this hobby I always recommend starting with the basics first. Feel out the hobby and make a couple batches of beer to see how interested you are in home brewing. If your interest is piqued and you wish to upgrade to more equipment and products then take it from there. There is no sense in investing a ton of money into equipment when you are just starting if you don't know that you'll enjoy the hobby. Consider it a trial run of sorts. The kit also comes with a great book that gives you the overall basics of home brewing without getting too technical. The book includes recipes, tips, trouble shooting tips and other important information regarding home brewing.

When you feel you're ready to upgrade to glass carboys, kegging equipment or any other accessory then it's there for you to do that. But I highly recommend starting with the beginner beer equipment kit and getting a feel for the hobby. There is no sense in spending an obscene amount of money on a hobby that you just aren't sure you're going to enjoy.

But I'm sure you'll enjoy the hobby once you get started. Home brewing is very simple and very rewarding. So start today by purchasing a Beginner Beer Equipment Kit and an ingredient kit . . Hey, combine the two for a combo deal!