Midnight Hour Homebrew-blog

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2010-04-19T17:26:00.001-07:00

I've moved this blog here: http://blog.deanandadie.net/category/dean/brewing/

Barrelling Day

2010-04-11T08:46:00.000-07:00

All those fermenting vessels under the looming Merlot barrel contain Russian Imperial Stout. Yesterday the TAbc drained the beer into that barrel to condition over the summer. The first task of the day was to sanitize the barrel with 20 gallons of boiling water.The barrel sits high on its rack making gravity transfer tricky. The duck-in cooler gave us the necessary height.Surprisingly little

Alt Two

2010-03-20T08:25:00.000-07:00

My second try at an Altbier turned out better than the first. Alt One got an infection from the MiniBrew plastic conicals I was using. A tragedy, because it tasted so good coming out of the kettle.Alt Two is not my own recipe, but a concoction from Jamil Zainasheff's Brewing Classic Styles. Scaled up to 10 gallons the recipe is:Fermentables18 lbs Pilsner2 lbs Munich0.5 lbs Debittered Black

Tasting & Bottling Something Else

2010-03-08T19:18:00.000-08:00

It is 14.6° Plato and Something Else is three weeks old. Starting at 25.2º P, the big gravity beer weighs in at a small 6.2% ABV. Before putting it all away for conditioning a little evaluation is in order.There is a little ester in the nose. No hop aroma. The uncarbonated beer is sweet, bitter, roasty, "stout-like", and lacks much fermentation character. Tastes a little like an over-hopped

The Domestic & Something Else

2010-02-15T16:52:00.000-08:00

Read from the bottom up:Today I brewed The Domestic for a second time. It is a Classic American Pilsner, also called a Pre-Prohibition Lager. The recipe is from Jamil Zainasheff's book Brewing Classic Styles.12.5º Plato OG80% German Pilsner20% Flaked MaizeRest at 148ºF for 60 minutesMash out to 160ºFCollect 11.5 gllons2 oz 8.1% AA Perle FWH0.5 oz 3.8% AA Czech Saaz 30 mins1 oz 3.8% Czech Saaz 10

New Site For Brewing Questions: BrewAdvice.com

2009-12-29T08:45:00.000-08:00

A few people I follow on Twitter set up a nifty new site designed around brewing questions. Using technology from StackOverflow the best answers bubble up to the top of each question, meaning you need not search through a lengthy forum post to find the right answer.Surf on over to BrewAdvice or check out my profile there.

Basic Equipment

2009-12-09T07:51:00.000-08:00

One of my friends asked what equipment she should get her boyfriend so he could start making beer. There are many equipment articles out there and here is one moreNote: If I were to write this up again, I would recommend the Australian brew-in-a-bag method rather than all the all-grain equipment.I don't know what your budget is... you can easily spend a few hundred dollars for a good kitchen

Triple Digits Tasting Notes

2009-10-21T14:17:00.001-07:00

Triple Digits is gone. It was good with room for improvement. The hop bitterness was a little harsh and it should bee lighter. Here are some tasting notes:spicy clove phenolicsalcohol warmthyeast aromafine, thin headeffervescentcreamy malt, finishing drymedium bodyearthy hop bitterness lingers in the back of your throat

Oktoberfest At Christopher's World Grille

2009-10-20T20:01:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone for coming out to see me talk at Christopher's tonight. For an Italian, he makes some delicious German food.If you want to know more about making beer at home, read this post and come out for Teach A Friend to Homebrew Day on November 7th. The Texas Aggieland Brew Club will be making beer in front of the Village Cafe/Art 979 Gallery in downtown Bryan starting at 11am. If you

I Could Make Great Vinegar

2009-10-10T10:57:00.000-07:00

The nettle beer came down with an acetobacter infection. This is not a surprise because fermentation conditions almost encouraged it. When I made the beer, I was out of carboys after making a Newcastle Brown ale clone. Under the circumstances I used a 5-gallon bucket. Normally these vessels can make great beer, however none of my buckets have lids. I improvised a "seal" with some plastic

If You Saw Me On The TeeVee

2009-09-29T20:02:00.000-07:00

Thanks for finding me (see the interview video if you are a regular reader). Homebrewing is a rewarding, useful hobby. It can be easy or intricate, scientific or artful. For the impatient, join the Texas Aggieland Brew Club on Facebok and read about the process on HowToBrew. Or get in touch with me personally.The beer you saw me making was a three gallon batch of nettle beer. It is a recipe

How Do YOU Decide What To Brew?

2009-09-26T13:40:00.000-07:00

This post's inspiration comes from HopWild. It’s audience participation time and the question of the day is this; Where do you find the inspiration for the recipes you brew?Most frequently I make beers "to style". That is, I pick or design recipes based on historic beer styles. My focus is generally on brews rarely available in my area. The last such beer was a Belgian Triple and the next

Brown Fitzhenry Ale

2009-09-21T21:16:00.000-07:00

My wife Adrienne was in need of some design services for a logo and business cards for her consulting services. Happily a friend of mine, Roby Fitzhenry, works for a first-class graphic design studio: Always Creative. The three of us met over beers at Revolution Bar one evening to hash out a deal. He would provide some branding and design services and we would make beer and replace a toilet in

KBTX Interview

2009-09-17T16:25:00.000-07:00

I just wrapped an interview with Meredith Stancik from the local news station. She runs a feature called Saving You Money and this time around is spotlighting homebrewing. I got half a day off work to make some beer for the camera - an experimental one (read about it) - and chat about the hobby.The focus of the piece is how homebrewing is cheaper than store bought beer, which I believe is true.

Nettle Beer - A Beginning

2009-09-17T13:34:00.000-07:00

Nettle tea helps promote kidney function, reducing the risk for kidney stones and gout. I get attacks of gout when I am not careful what I eat and many of my family members have kidney stones. I do not drink a lot of tea, and rather than changing my habits (putting me dangerously close to sounding old) I thought it more appropriate to get nettles elsewhere. Enter homebrew.The cup of nettle tea

Tripel Digits

2009-07-11T20:46:00.000-07:00

On June 20th I made an approximation of a Belgian tripel.Tripel Digits5 US gallonsOG: 18% BrixFG: 8.8% BrixIBU: ~30Fermentables14 lbs 2-row1 lbs cane sugar60 minute rest at 152° F. 60 metric minute boil.Hops1 oz 8.1% AA Perle pellets 60 minutes1 oz 4.6% AA Saaz pellets 10 minutesBy the time I was done sparging I had 9 gallons of sweet wort and only enough fermentables for 5 (as planned). To get

Review: Rye of the Hurricane II

2009-07-10T20:02:00.000-07:00

This beer is delicious. I already have ingredients to make it again. Soon. It's almost out.Previously I made it without crystal 120, but that malt adds great body and plum/raisin maltiness. While it is full-bodied the beer is not heavy. Traditional British hops give it a earthy, muddied bitterness leading into a spicy rye and Hallertau kick. The finish is peppery, slightly sweet and just a

Rye Without The Hurricane

2009-06-04T07:06:00.000-07:00

Last September, a day after Hurricane Ike demolished Galveston, I brewed a great rye beer I called Rye of the Hurricane. It was about 20% rye, 5% munich and 75% pale bittered with Mt Hood & Hallertauer hops. The beer came out with a great dry earthy bitterness from the rye and Mt Hood. Five gallons of that beer lasted seven weeks; these day's I'm lucky to get two weeks out of a keg.Rye of the

Vigorous Fermentation

2009-05-18T20:29:00.000-07:00

I was glad the barleywine did not become infected because it blew the airlock off the first night of fermentation. I was fairly confident it was safe since it was just expelling trub and krausen. I don't normally ferment in carboys any more so didn't have a blow-off tube. This is what remains after racking. The interior of the duck-in cooler is a giant mess. That's one reason it's brewery

Barleywine, Bitter, Beer judging

2009-05-17T19:11:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, minutes before leaving for a beer-judging weekend trip to Oakland, CA, I kegged this year's Gnarly Barleywine. Even though it has been four years since the first and last time I made this barleywine, I call it "this year's" barleywine because it is a good enough recipe that I would like to make it yearly. Brewed on May 6th, this beer's beginnings reach back another two weeks to a 10

I Will Be on KEOS Tonight

2009-04-01T04:47:00.000-07:00

My friend Martin Codrington asked me to speak about homebrewing on his radio show tonight. Listen in to 89.1 at 6 o'clock. Sadly, I can not find a stream online link for KEOS, so if you are not local you will have to wait for the tape. I will point listeners at this blog as the jumping-off point for everything I talk about.If you are new to homebrewing I suggest digging into John Palmer's free

The Midnight Hour Brewery Goes Next-level

2009-03-29T09:27:00.000-07:00

I purchased a used 3-tier stand yesterday from a local homebrewer. In brief, it is professionally welded 2" box iron. The vessels are all converted kegs with weldless quick-disconnect fittings. Propane is hard plumbed up the center support.Before plunking down money Clint invited me to make a batch of beer with it. This is that beer's story.Clint and I started heating strike water around 9:15

Alt One

2009-03-08T10:02:00.000-07:00

Altbier is one of my favorite styles of beer, and this is my first attempt at formulating a recipe for it. To prepare for this batch, I read Altbier: History, Brewing, Techniques, Recipes by Horst Dornbusch. The Classic Beer Style Series book came through with helpful explanations.Fermentables:10 lbs German Pilsner3 lbs Munich3 lbs Vienna2 lbs Crystal 60Using reverse-osmosis water treated with

Grain Mill Hopper Construction

2009-03-01T10:52:00.000-08:00

In my pile of brewing equipment is a grain mill which I purchased from More Beer. I am a little embarrassed to say that the purchase was made at least eighteen months ago and I have yet to make use of it. Some weeks ago the Austin Zealots made a bulk grain buy and I bought fifty pound bags of 2-row and pale malts. Having all that unmilled grain around motivated me to start using my

Quickie: Do they blend?

2008-11-25T06:54:00.000-08:00

I am drinking a blend of half Costa Rican, half Yemeni beans roasted to full city. This blend has the deep notes I like from the Yemeni, but lacks the smooth Costa Rican flavors. Not sure if the South American bean is the right complement to the Arabian bean. Next I will try an even split between the Javanese and Yemeni beans. The people at Sweet Maria's are right about Yemeni beans — they